Author Archives: admin

My Favorite Collection: Running States and Countries, January 2014

Posted on January 2, 2014 by admin

In 2013 I had many opportunities to add new items to my running collection — the states, provinces, and countries where I ran at least one mile outdoors (gyms do not count — it has to be an authentic outdoor … Continue reading →

Posted in Running, Sports, Travel | Comments Off

Duck’s Adventures

Posted on December 6, 2013 by admin

This is Duck. He is a photographer, never separated from his little camera, and he loves to travel. He joined our household back in August, just in time for a 2-week New York to San Diego road trip. Here is … Continue reading →

Posted in Duck the Photographer, Road trip, Travel | Comments Off

Running while Traveling: Finding Good Running Routes

Posted on October 14, 2013 by admin

Our recent cross-country road trip allowed me to add 4 (!) new states to my favorite running collection. The new items in the collection are Tennessee (Memphis), New Mexico (Santa Fe), Arizona (Page), and Nevada (Las Vegas – the glorious … Continue reading →

Posted in Road trip, Running, Sports, Tips and tricks, Travel | Comments Off

Data, Diverse and Mighty

Posted on August 21, 2013 by admin

I’ve been thinking lately about how many different types of data I actually worked with. Surely, there are indoor light energy traces that I collected and analyzed in an extensive study that resulted in 2 top-tier papers, a public dataset, … Continue reading →

Posted in Data science | Comments Off

For Injury-prone Runners: Tips and Tricks

Posted on August 18, 2013 by admin

This post is prompted by a few recent discussions on how to prevent running injuries. I am as injury-prone as runners come: a slew of biomechanical imperfections, a history of knee injuries, a comparatively larger frame, next to no sports … Continue reading →

Posted in Running, Sports, Tips and tricks | Comments Off

Ode to the 5th Week of a Training Program

Posted on August 17, 2013 by admin

Being a total data geek, I keep detailed digitized training logs that go back to December of 2009. I write down what I did – in running, cycling, hiking – everything, – and how it felt, keep track of benchmark … Continue reading →

Posted in Running, Sports, Training | Comments Off

Visualizations: my CV and my Research Statement as Word Clouds

Posted on July 30, 2013 by admin

As far back as I remember, I was a fan of clear, catchy, and entertaining visual data representations. Like those that often appear in the National Geographic or the Economist – the engaging ways of presenting scientific facts and data. … Continue reading →

Posted in Career and Leadership, Consumer technology, Data science, Data visualization, Internet of Things, Mobile computing, Ph.D., Technology, Wearable computing | Comments Off

Mount Washington Road Race

Posted on June 25, 2013 by admin

Last weekend I conquered Mount Washington Road Race, which has long been on my bucket list. This well-organized, unusual race did not disappoint; I would highly recommend it to folks that are up for its challenges. While only 7.6 miles … Continue reading →

Posted in Achievement, Highlights, Races, Running, Sports | Comments Off

Beautiful Pervasive World: Wearable Devices

Posted on June 7, 2013 by admin

Having seen nothing but my dissertation in the last 6 months, I have been tremendously enjoying an opportunity to scale back on writing and to catch up with the state of the world of innovative pervasive and mobile technology. Oh, … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Consumer technology, Highlights, Industry, Internet of Things, Mobile computing, Ph.D., Wearable computing | Comments Off

Convocation and Commencement

Posted on May 26, 2013 by admin

Our Columbia graduation ceremonies took a substantial part of this week and were amazing. I love graduating from Columbia. Growing up in the direst poverty and deprivation in the 1990s Russia, I could not dare to dream of getting to … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Achievement, Career and Leadership, Graduate school, Highlights, Ph.D. | Comments Off