a journal of the plague and pestilence year

Hard to concentrate on anything while a European capital is besieged and shelled by Russia… The second horseman of the apocalypse (representing War) has joined the first one (called Pestilence).

Read the hiking story, L’île-montagne, written by Gilles Modica on his n-th traverse of Corsica, from South to North, of the mythical GR20 hiking trail. A gift from Florence at my p-th birthday party, after she spotted my blog entry on my few hours on that trail… While the author does not appear there as a particularly sympathique personnage, with a common form of mountaineering elitism, the call of the mountains and the intrinsic and wild beauty of the trail is undeniable. Renewing my desire to hike more of it. And the story is full of fascinating historical tidbits. As with so many mountain books, it reads better with a detailed map at one’s side, unless one is already familiar with every rock and every cow on the GR20. (There is a map at the start, but partial maps on the margin would have been more helpful. Esp. for a top quality editor like Guérin.) I also went quickly through two volumes of Arnaldur Indriðason‘s Inspector Konrad new trilogy, The Darkness knows and The Girl by the Bridge, in their French translation. Ending up rather disappointed with a feeling of déjà vu. For the first one, the themes of Indriðason are there (impact of the second World War, poverty, domestic violence, childhood memories, icefields). With the added annoyance of seeing the same events reported twice within a few pages. For the second, it brought back the memory of walking in the downtown Reykjavik cemetery, a few years ago, in less dramatic circumstances, but otherwise, I found the scenario rather lazy and the resolution predictable. With an added touch of supernatural, which I do not appreciate at all outside fantasy books!

Watched All of Us Are Dead, a (of course!) Korean zombie series.  At first as a way to temporarily escape the anxiogenic influx of horrific news from Ukraine with a brainless diversion… Despite my general reluctance for zombie movies. And then for the powerful satire behind the story! The construction of the network of the few teenagers escaping their former colleagues indeed proves rather efficient, with the characters growing into several dimensions, if the scenario is overly stretched, and too prompt to sacrificing a member of the group when tension goes down. Incl. some most unexpectedly, scenario-wise… But it remains biting, humorous, moving at times, full of references to the Korean zombie culture (incl. many to Last train for Busan) and the shortcomings of a competitive and inegalitarian society…

alternative realities for ISBA 2018

Reykjavik nights [book review]

While this is the latest book in the Erlendur series by Icelandic author Arnaldur Indriðason, Reykjavik Nights [or Reykjavíkurnætur] is also the earliest in the chronology of the series since it relates to the first years of Erlendur in the Icelandic police and to murders that took place in 1974 in Reykjavik. The book may appeal mostly to those who have already read (the) other books in the series, as it explains very little about Erlendur’s past and the reasons he is so fascinated by missing persons. It is however a great read, despite or thanks to very little action when touring the nights of Reykjavik and arresting drunks weekend after weekend. (There is a slight interlude when Erlendur takes part in policing the 1100 anniversary celebrations of the settlement of Iceland at Þingvellir where the Alþing, the original Icelandic parliament stood.) Actually, I find the detective part less than convincing but it hardly matters since the development of the character of Erlendur is very well conducted. With a constant focus throughout the series on themes like domestic violence and drunkenness. A very pleasant read.

a glacial PhD in Iceland [job announcement]

[Here is a PhD offer at the University of Iceland that may be of interest to some readers or their students. I would have been interested 30 years ago!]

The Department of Mathematics at the University of Iceland (UI) seeks applicants for a fully funded 3 year PhD position for the project Statistical Models for Glaciology.

The student will develop Bayesian hierarchical spatio-temporal models to the field of glaciology, working with a consortium of experts at the University of Iceland, the University of Missouri and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. The key people in the consortium are Prof. Birgir Hrafnkelsson at UI, Prof. Chris Wikle, and Prof. Håvard Rue, experts in spatial statistics and Bayesian computation. Another key person is Prof. Gudfinna Adalgeirsdottir at UI, an expect in glaciology. The Glaciology group at UI possesses extensive data and knowledge about the Icelandic glaciers.

The application deadline is February 29, 2016.

Detailed project description

Job ad with information on how to apply:

AISTATS 2016 [call for submissions]

At the last (European) AISTATS 2014, I agreed to be the program co-chair for AISTATS 2016, along with Arthur Gretton from the Gatsby Unit, at UCL. (AISTATS stands for Artificial Intelligence and Statistics.) Thanks to Arthur’s efforts and dedication, as the organisation of an AISTATS meeting is far more complex than any conference I have organised so far!, the meeting is taking shape. First, it will take place in Cadiz, Andalucía, Spain, on May 9-11, 2016. (A place more related to the conference palm tree logo than the previous location in Reykjavik, even though I would be the last one to complain it took place in Iceland!)

Second, the call for submissions is now open. The process is similar to other machine learning conferences in that papers are first submitted for the conference proceedings, then undergo a severe and tight reviewing process, with a response period for the authors to respond to the reviewers’ comments, and that only the accepted papers can be presented as posters, some of which are selected for an additional oral presentation. The major dates for submitting to AISTATS 2016 are

Proceedings track paper submission deadline	23:59UTC Oct 9, 2015
Proceedings track initial reviews available	Nov 16, 2015
Proceedings track author feedback deadline	Nov 23, 2015
Proceedings track paper decision notifications	Dec 20, 2015

With submission instructions available at this address. Including the electronic submission site.

I was quite impressed by the quality and intensity of the AISTATS 2014 conference, which is why I accepted so readily being program co-chair, and hence predict an equally rewarding AISTATS 2016, thus encouraging all interested ‘Og’s readers to consider submitting a paper there! Even though I confess it will make a rather busy first semester for 2016, between MCMSki V in January, the CIRM Statistics month in February, the CRiSM workshop on Eatimating constants in April, AISTATS 2016 thus in May, and ISBA 2016 in June…