http://blog.lib.umn.edu/lfitzpat/vdil/ Keeping up-to-date on Viz Lab happenings. en-us 2009-05-21T09:44:22-06:00 hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 http://blog.lib.umn.edu/lfitzpat/vdil/181099.html I don't remember the number of the last log, so I'm going to start with 45. Much has happened this year. I forgot to mention earlier, the reality of the Israeli attack on Gaza. For a month, students, faculty and staff raised money to help Gaza citizens who had no food, fuel or medical care. I asked where the... 181099@http://blog.lib.umn.edu/lfitzpat/vdil/ Sandy of Arabia 2009-05-21T09:44:22-06:00 http://blog.lib.umn.edu/lfitzpat/vdil/171471.html Saudilogue 41 OLD NEWS In an hour I go to the hospital for cataract surgery on my right eye. I am looking forward to more balanced vision. A rather humorous situation arose during one of my presurgical visits. As you know, there are ladies sections everywhere because men and women are segregated. So, I arrived for my appointment and sat... 171471@http://blog.lib.umn.edu/lfitzpat/vdil/ Sandy of Arabia 2009-03-17T08:58:17-06:00 http://blog.lib.umn.edu/lfitzpat/vdil/153094.html Yup. 40. This is the start of my fourth year here. As a service to you all, since I noticed while in the states that the national news there doesn’t carry much international news: • Congo erupted in violence again – 250,000 refugees have fled the rebel area. The dispute is over an oil agreement negotiated with the Chinese. The... 153094@http://blog.lib.umn.edu/lfitzpat/vdil/ Sandy of Arabia 2008-11-06T09:50:27-06:00 http://blog.lib.umn.edu/lfitzpat/vdil/137631.html • Are video games good for you? What can you learn from them? Is it a different kind of learning? I don't think there is "good" or "bad." Video games just are. I don't see a huge difference between regular games and video games, except that video games can be more immersive and have potential for being addictive. As to... 137631@http://blog.lib.umn.edu/lfitzpat/vdil/ 2008-08-04T13:36:39-06:00 http://blog.lib.umn.edu/lfitzpat/vdil/134236.html June 20 Gee – I didn’t realize nearly two months have transpired since my last communiqué. Spring semester is nearly done. Classes have finished, grades are in and I still have course files to make up for every class. Summer semester starts tomorrow. I have started packing for a return to the US on July 20. A month from today... 134236@http://blog.lib.umn.edu/lfitzpat/vdil/ Sandy of Arabia 2008-07-07T16:26:03-06:00 http://blog.lib.umn.edu/lfitzpat/vdil/125640.html Saudilogue 37 April 16, 2008 Day after tax day. I just got back from a new mall in Jeddah – the Red Sea Mall, located by the sea. Holy cats. Amazing. I’ll got back next week to take photos. Heads up, Jenny. I want to go to the Mall of America when I get back to see if the store... 125640@http://blog.lib.umn.edu/lfitzpat/vdil/ 2008-04-30T09:57:32-06:00 http://blog.lib.umn.edu/lfitzpat/vdil/123504.html It’s Thursday morning, (our Saturday). Very high winds have created a sandstorm. Branches have been blown down so the guys are trying to clean up the increasing mess. Farouky says that when the sand is this fine and the winds this high, the rains are coming. Ooooo. Could be fun. The internet is down again. Since the cables were... 123504@http://blog.lib.umn.edu/lfitzpat/vdil/ 2008-04-17T13:41:22-06:00 http://blog.lib.umn.edu/lfitzpat/vdil/121589.html Viz Lab Summer Grant applications are due by April 18, 2008. To apply for a summer grant you must fill out the Viz Lab access application (http://www.d.umn.edu/vdil/access/accessForm.html) and the Summer Grant application form (http://www.d.umn.edu/vdil/access/summerGrantForm.html). If you have any questions regarding the grants, access or the Lab, please check out the Summer Grant website or contact the Lab at 8093.... 121589@http://blog.lib.umn.edu/lfitzpat/vdil/ VLN - Viz Lab News 2008-04-07T12:10:05-06:00 http://blog.lib.umn.edu/lfitzpat/vdil/108849.html Hardware clean-up on Boyle and Burns is almost complete; check back next week for smoother-running machines. If you have frequented either of these machines, please stop by to make sure that required research software has been re-installed (currently we have re-installed 3ds Max 9, Office 2007, MATLAB, Groundwater Vistas and the Adobe CS3 design premium on Boyle).... 108849@http://blog.lib.umn.edu/lfitzpat/vdil/ 2008-02-08T10:50:44-06:00 http://blog.lib.umn.edu/lfitzpat/vdil/106850.html Saudilogue 35 Happy Hijjra – the Moslem new year. 1428 is gone and 1429 is just begun. There were celebrations yesterday at school. People wrote the worst incidents of 1428 on sheets of paper which were put through a shredder. Not a bad way to celebrate a new year. The Moslem calendar is based on lunar cycles and the beginning... 106850@http://blog.lib.umn.edu/lfitzpat/vdil/ Sandy of Arabia 2008-01-31T11:40:22-06:00 http://blog.lib.umn.edu/lfitzpat/vdil/104867.html All of you have been so helpful in our attempt to make documentaries, I thought I would share with you our next project, to be completed this summer. Zack and I appreciate your support. Thanks! Bill... 104867@http://blog.lib.umn.edu/lfitzpat/vdil/ 2008-01-23T14:41:25-06:00 http://blog.lib.umn.edu/lfitzpat/vdil/104042.html Date: January 28, 2008 Time: 7:30pm Location: Weber Music Hall Cost: FREE Faculty artist piano & composition recital features works by Beethoven, Chopin, and a premiere performance of Wegren’s Triumph for piano/synthesizer, electric guitar, bass guitar, drum set, two altos, and tenor. Wegren composed TRIUMPH at the Visualization and Digital Imaging Lab using the Kurzweil synthesizer.... 104042@http://blog.lib.umn.edu/lfitzpat/vdil/ VLN - Viz Lab News 2008-01-15T12:54:20-06:00 http://blog.lib.umn.edu/lfitzpat/vdil/100911.html Responding to questions about the "ceremony" for the wedding, there is none. What is called the wedding is the feast, the celebration of the marriage. The actual marriage takes place when the father of the bride meets with the groom and his father and a maazoom, a muslim cleric. The papers are signed. It is a done deal. Within Islam,... 100911@http://blog.lib.umn.edu/lfitzpat/vdil/ Sandy of Arabia 2007-12-03T17:02:42-06:00 http://blog.lib.umn.edu/lfitzpat/vdil/096145.html November 1, 2007 Happy Halloween, one day late. Well, folks, last night I attended a Saudi wedding. Wow. I had heard they were amazing. A student got married. She is really sweet and has had a heck of a life so far, so I wish her the best in her marriage. I went with two colleagues who are Saudi. I... 96145@http://blog.lib.umn.edu/lfitzpat/vdil/ 2007-11-01T10:29:29-06:00 http://blog.lib.umn.edu/lfitzpat/vdil/093844.html Aug 30, 2007 Hey, the world is full of little victories. I have another computer which successfully allows me to use Skype without me sounding like a verizon commercial. There are still some bugs to work out … and I can now listen to Minnesota Public Radio. Yippee. So, I just finished listening to the local station that plays Arabic... 93844@http://blog.lib.umn.edu/lfitzpat/vdil/ Sandy of Arabia 2007-10-18T14:04:15-06:00