Sorry for my Long Absence

Although it’s been a while since my last blog post, it doesn’t mean that I haven’t been writing. For one, I’ve finally discovered Web 2.0 and joined the Facebook / Twitter crowd (as you can see by the tweets on the left).  Facebook / Twitter provides quicker feedback and can be done from a phone when on the bus or waiting in line.  Blog posts require an interesting idea or noteworthy event.  There are many interesting articles now that address web 2.0 culture.  One of my favorites is a series by Moses Ma who is a friend of many of my friends, but I have not yet met in person.  The first of his series begins here:  http://blogs.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-tao-innovation/200903/understanding-the-psychology-twitter. 

I’ve also become a blogger for the Huffington Post.  Meeting Arianna Huffington again was another perk for being at TED.  As it turns out, she has an interest in consciousness and invited me to contribute to her site.  Blogging there feels more like a community with co-bloggers to read and riff off of, an encouraging and supportive editor, etc.  It’s been fun so far!  For my Huffington Post entries, look here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-gino-yu.  Russell Bishop who is training me to write at another level.  Nury Vittachi, a friend and colleague at the University, has also taught me a lot about the commercial aspects of becoming a writer.  If you're in it for the money, the real money isn't in blogging, but its still in newspaper columns and syndication.

I am co-hosting a workshop on Meaningful Media with Stephen Schafer and John Stewart on June 10th (http://www.asiaconsciousness.org/meaningfulmedia.html).  We’ve also started a blog on the topic (http://meaningfulmedia.blogspot.com).  Mail me if you are interested in attending as it is invitation only and space is limited.  The Meaningful Media workshop is part of a larger Asia Consciousness Festival that is really taking shape, though time consuming.  We have over 30 events across a two-week period.  For the Toward a Science of Consciousness Conference, we have over 250 plenary, concurrent, and poster presentations.  Many interesting people will be in town and it will be very stimulating (http://www.asiaconsciousness.org).  We are hosting another Phusikoi event on May 2nd (http://www.phusikoi.org).  The About Consciousness team have also organized many film screenings as part of the build-up (http://www.aboutconsciousness.net/web/event.php).

I’ve also been teaching game development at the University that has also been taking time.  This semester has been a lot of fun with many industry visitors including Brian Jobling, Josh Rose, Louis-Guy Dumais, Trevor Chan, and Mark Leung.  The students really appreciate the industry perspective, though none may want to get into games anymore after hearing all the horror stories.  In addition to game development, I'm proud to be supervising several projects our MSc students are developing.

By far, the biggest news is that my wife and I are expecting our fourth child sometime in the next month or so.  She was conceived when my wife and I were in New York last year for the Creative Leadership Summit.  If you’ve got any good name suggestions (English or Chinese), please send them to me!