cellio | Shabbat (mostly)

Hey, CMU's new robotic receptionist (complete with personality) has made national news. It (she?) sounds like a neat project. I like that they are giving the robot a personality of sorts; an article in the local paper talked about her recent date with a vacuum cleaner, for example.

Friday night after services three different people who had been at the board meeting asked if I'm a lawyer. :-) One commented that another board member and I had been really going at it over that bit of wording; I explained that we are both CS types. (That board member and I were both at Transarc/IBM at the same time, as it turns out, though we did not work together on the same project.) Now I didn't perceive any actual hostility in that exchange; I think he understands this type of arguing. But I wonder if others, besides the person who talked to me, got an incorrect impression.

Saturday morning I read torah (and did the associated stuff, leading part of the service and giving a short talk). Afterwards I received the by-now-usual praise from various people. I think I have convinced one of them that I have no special background and he can do this too if he wants to; he said he would think about it and let me know next week if I can assign him a week.

Several people, over the last couple of years, have told me that I inspire them, either with learning or with participation. I find this flattering, but I'd rather they show me, not tell me. Is there some way I can move from "making people feel good" to "actually inspiring people to do"?

I didn't read the entire aliya this week (which is acceptable under our current practice), because I didn't have enough time to learn the whole thing. (I stepped in to fill a gap in the schedule.) I had promised myself that next time I would read the entire aliya; parts are assigned through mid-April, so this is not a problem. Heh. In looking at the schedule, it looks like I'm reading Tazria-Metzora. I guess I'm being punished for taking the easy path this time by getting the leprosy portion next time. :-)

My copy of Trope Trainer (software) came on Friday. I haven't installed it yet, but I'm going to fire it up soon. Looks like a good package, recommended by my rabbi, and I caught a sale.

Shabbat (mostly)

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