101 Goals - Reboot

A few years ago I did a “101 Goals in 1001 Days” project and it was rather transformational (see here for a summary).

I started a second list but for various reasons got sidetracked so I have decided to start over. Looking at the list I still wanted to do most of the things on there so it’s probably 70% the same.

The full list is on Trello.

They are roughly arranged in sections, here are the ‘learning’ goals.

1 - Write a book on URM

I am giving a talk on Unlimited Register Machines at Strangeloop and want to do a LeanPub book about them.

2 - Quantum Computation edX

This course on edX is one of the best I have done, but I got distracted and didn’t finish it. Fortunately it is still available so I can revisit it.

3 - Watch all Teaching Company Linguistics Courses

They are called The Great Courses now but I will always know them as TTC. Will do the John Mcwhorter ones and some others TBD.

4 - Read A Student’s Introduction to English Grammar

I have long wanted to read this, I really enjoy Geoff Pullum on Language Log and want to have a proper understanding of my native tongue using modern linguistics.

5 - Complete Theoretical Minimum

Leonard Susskind has an amazing series of lectures teaching most of modern physics.

So far two series have corresponding books with exercises etc.

6 - Memorise opening of Beowulf

In the original second list was both to read it and memorise the opening, I did read it but this remains.

This is the bit I have selected, from the Heaney translation.

So. The Spear-Danes in days gone by
and the kings who ruled them had courage and greatness.
We have heard of those princes’ heroic campaigns.

There was Shield Sheafson, scourge of many tribes,
a wrecker of mead-benches, rampaging among foes.
This terror of the hall-troops had come far.
A foundling to start with, he would flourish later on
as his powers waxed and his worth was proved.
In the end each clan on the outlying coasts
beyond the whale-road had to yield to him
and begin to pay tribute.

Afterwards a boy-child was born to Shield,
a cub in the yard, a comfort sent
by God to that nation, He knew what they had tholed,
by long times and troubles they'd come through
without a leader; so the Lord of Life,
the glorious Almighty, made this man renowned.
Shield had fathered a famous son:
Beow's name was known through the north.
And a young prince must be prudent like that,
giving freely while his father lives
so that afterwards in age when fighting starts
steadfast companions will stand by him
and hold the line. Behaviour that's admired
is the path to power among people everywhere.

Shield was still thriving when his time came
and he crossed over into the Lord's keeping.
His warrior band did what he bade them
when he laid down the law among the Danes:
they shouldered him out to the sea's flood,
a chief they revered who had long ruled them.
A ring-whorled prow rode in the harbour,
ice clad, outbound, a craft for their prince.
They stretched their beloved lord in his boat,
laid out by the mast, amidships,
the great ring-giver. Far-fetched treasures
were piled upon him, and precious gear.
I have never heard before of a ship so well furbished
with battle tackle, bladed weapons
and coats of mail. The massed treasure
was loaded on top of him: it would travel far
on out into the ocean's sway.
They decked his body no less bountifully
with offerings than those first ones did
who cast him away when he was a child
and launched him alone out oer the waves.
And they set a gold standard up
high above his head and let him drift
to wind and tide, bewailing him
and mourning their loss. No man can tell,
no wise man in hall or weathered veteran
knows for certain who salvaged that load.

7 - Memorise 5 Borges poems

There is a bilingual edition of his poetry, want to read it and memorise 5 favourites.

8 - Complete Rosetta Stone Spanish

9 - Complete Duolingo Spanish

10 - Complete Pimsleur Spanish

Want to get better at Spanish, 3 good but different ways to practice.

11 - Fill all country names on a blank world map from memory

Realised my sense of where countries are in relation to each other was not particularly good, should not be too hard to fix.

12 - Get some sort of postgrad qualification

Always get green pasture syndrome thinking about academia

13 - General Game Playing

GGP is really interesting, there was a Coursera course about it and a really good website from Stanford. Mixes logic, computers and games in a way that intrigues me.

14 - Start using org-mode

Little one, but want to start using emacs’s org-mode

15 - Write me a scheme in 48h

I have never managed to learn Haskell properly, hoping that the Write Yourself a Scheme in 48 Hours approach works for me

16 - Purely Functional Data Structures

I have wanted to read this for a long time too.

17 - Write a book on infinity and the Surreal Numbers

I love the Surreal numbers, want to write a small book about them for programmers

18 - Read Modern Complier In ML

19 - Read Essentials Of Programming Languages

This looks like a good alternative/update to the interpreter/compiler part of SICP.

20 - Make Something With Truffle/Graal

Every time I see a talk on Truffle, I am impressed. For instance this talk from Curry On this year.

88 - Read Combinatorial Game Theory books

CGT was my favourate module at university, there is a series called 'Winning Ways For Your Mathematical Plays’ that is excellent but also recently a graduate level text and a new intro text were published.

28 - Write CGT lib in Clojure

The ideas behind my mildly famous rant about DSLs makes me want to do an embedded DSL for CGT in Clojure.

Aaron Siegel who wrote the AMS book above is also the author of the existing Combinatorial Game Suite