Past Events Archive

To read details of past events select event from the list below

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Barry Jones
Department of Computer Science
Vassar College
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
OLB Classroom 105, 5pm
The Composer's Intelligent Assistant
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Composers throughout the ages have used various algorithms or methodologies to help them in the process of creating music. More recently we have begun to see the use of computer-based composition algorithms in the creation of musical works.

Most computer-based algorithmic composers work independently of a human composer; however a computer system that works with a composer as an intelligent assistant offers the possibility of including authentic human emotions in the resulting composition. An intelligent assistant would need to understand the music that has been composed in the partially completed work to suggest possibilities that 'make sense' during the process of composition.

In this talk we explore the history of algorithmic composition. We introduce David Cope's experiments in musical intelligence to expose a broad view of the issues involved. We also explore the use of musical patterns in the composition process. In particular, we examine Joseph Schillinger's pattern-based composition methods. Comparisons are drawn between Schillinger's music composition methodology and Christopher Alexander's pattern-based architectural design methodology.

2016/01/04 07:50

<html><center></html> Matthew Lang
Department of Computer Science and Engineering
Ohio State University
Monday, February 16, 2009
OLB classroom 105, 4pm

Maximal Software <html></center></html>

Maximality is a property of software; just as we call software “correct,” “fast,” or “elegant,” we can call software “maximal.” Typically, when we design and reason about software, we are concerned with whether or not the software is correct–that it only does what is permitted by its specification. Maximality is a stronger property than correctness; maximal software is not only correct, but is capable of doing everything permitted by its specification. That is, maximal programs do not restrict the non-determinisim that their specifications provide. Though this property sounds exotic, it's something that–in many cases–we intuitively desire of our software. In this talk, we'll formalize this intuitive desire by defining maximality, discuss some areas where requiring maximality is especially important, and examine (as well as try to build) some examples of maximal software. We will also look at some challenges that we face when designing maximal software and the theoretical results that these challenges stem from. Particularly, we'll see that there are specifications for which no maximal implementation exists and that maximality is not compositional (we can't guarantee that a large system is maximal just by showing that it's built from maximal components). We will also discuss some open questions and exciting research opportunities surrounding reasoning about maximality properties.

2016/01/04 07:50

Grace Murray Hopper '28, the First Lady of Computing, 1906-1992, will be celebrated on her birthday, Tuesday, December 9, in the Computer Science Student Lounge, room 111. Refreshments will be available starting at 8:30am.

For more information on Grace Murray Hopper and her ties to Vassar College, go to: http://www.cs.vassar.edu/history/top

2016/01/04 07:50

Sponsored by the Department of Computer Science in honor of Winifred Asprey'38 Emeritus Professor of Computer Science

Thursday, November 13, 6:00 PM

Kenyon 132
Vassar College
Poughkeepsie, NY

Jim (“Cope”) Coplien is the father of Organizational Patterns, and is one of the founders of the Software Pattern discipline, a pioneer in practical object- oriented design in the early 1990s. He is a widely consulted authority, author, and trainer in the areas of software design and organizational improvements.

As one of the founders and proponents of Agile software development, one of Cope's passions is to root out dysfunction in widely but naively adopted software practices such as TDD and On-Site Customer that look good on the surface but which do harm in practice. He also is actively leading the work in Agile Architecture, in conjunction with CampScrum and the Scrum community. Most recently he has been working with Trygve Reenskaug to take the DCI architecture forward. He sits on the editorial board of the LNCS Pattern Journal.

He is also a researcher with affiliations to University of Manchester, and is a past holder of the Vloebergh Endowed Chair at Vrije Universiteit Brussel. He has also held affiliations with Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia, and is a past professor at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois. His current research lies in the areas of design theory based on broken symmetries in design structures, and in “entropic patterns” of product portfolio management.

Computer Science Department will host a tea, Friday, November 14, 9am for Prof. Coplien, in the CS Dept. Lounge. Students and faculty can meet informally with Prof. Coplien at this time.

Map: http://www.vassar.edu/visitors/

2016/01/04 07:50

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