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CMU Professor Randy Pausch's 'Last Lecture'
This is a bit of an unusual story for Slashdot- it's the "Last Lecture" of a professor at CMU who is terminally ill. His early research in VR has benefited everyone and even if you have never heard of Randy Pausch I think this is worth your time. It's a 2 hour long wmv filled with insight, laughs and wisdom from a man who has really done some amazing work. I've been watching it all morning and I think it would really be worth your time if you can spare it to listen to what he has to say. From virtual reality to education to stuffed animals and childhood dreams, there's a lot here worth your time.
Thanks drew for the link. Update: 09/21 15:44 GMT by Z : The link is already a little shakey, so you might want to turn to this cut up YouTube version of the talk instead.
Here is the good article describing the lecture, for those who cannot download the lecture itself.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07262/818671-85.stm
You can find the full version on Google Video.
To be honest you're probably not going to find a cure for Pancreatic cancer any time soon, even with a trillion dollars thrown at it. The problems with this form of cancer are:
1) It's in the endocrine system, meaning it has easy access to a lot of other vital organs that the cancer can spread to,
2) The pancreas is vital to survival (it produces insulin, as well as a host of pancreatic enzymes that the body needs to be able to process food and regulate metabolism) so you can't just chop the whole thing out if it becomes cancerous
3) It's nestled in the middle of a complex set of nerves, arteries and veins meaning that it's extremely difficult, and often impossible, to perform surgical or radiation treatments,
4) Screening programs often don't work, as the cancer is completely capable of developing without showing up in any blood tests,
5) This is the real kicker - the early symptoms of PC are identical to a host of other minor illnesses such as gallstones, back ache, indigestion or acid reflux. By the time the symptoms have become serious enough for the patient to go to the doctor with them, and by the time the doctor has ruled out all the simpler ailments the symptoms point to, it's almost always too late. That's why this disease has a 5 year mortality rate of 98% and a 1 year mortality rate of over 75%, along with being the U.S.'s most fatal cancer.
Even if we could implement an accurate and early-detection screening programme, the cancer is so aggressive that we really need a paradigm shift away from current radiation and chemotherapy treatments. It's not so much that we're lacking money in researching into new forms of treatment as it is we're lacking the knowledge necessary to advance in these areas right now. There are plenty of well funded people working to solve the problems of cancer - right now we're waiting for one of them to have the 'eureka!' moment.
The gift of death metal does not smile on the good looking.
http://www.mininova.org/tor/900739
Try that. I hope it's ok, I didn't have a chance to preview the wmv, no graphics on that machine.
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
I was in the 10th row, or so. The talk was given in the biggest auditorium on campus, with overflow locations in other big rooms watching it onscreen. I have to say that this really was one of the most moving, intense moments I've ever experienced. This was compounded by the sense that it was being shared with thousands of other people laughing, thinking, and occasionally crying together. At the close of his talk he received a standing ovation that did not even begin to wane after what seemed like ten minutes, until Randy Bryant (in my opinion somewhat rudely) brought it to an end. For that hour, all of CMU was on the same page. In the days since then I've had conversations with several people who were there, and my sense is that people will remember the talk and Randy Pausch's message for the rest of their lives. I know I will. Especially since he's a nerdy smartass just like me.
He is... under the label biggest dick and largest ego.
His ego is, I swear to God, bigger than that of Steve Jobs, really, no joke. When I was in school at CMU he required an Interview (uppercase I) to get into his class. What kind of professor tells undergrads that they don't deserve to have "an educational experience" in 3d, VR, game technology, etc?
I sumbitted. I didn't want to because i wholey disagreed with his philosophy of education. His class seemed interesting enough that i let it go. The interview went something like this:
Me: Hello, Professor. Your class sounds very interesting and I'd like to take it.
Randy: Hi. So your a white upper class yuppy student who thinks they deserves whatever they want. {sarcasm}Greeeeeaaaat.{/sarcasm} What aspect of my class are you interested in?
I swear on the holy bible it was the first thing out of his mouth! He still admitted me to his class... I emailed him back saying i wasn't going to take it.
Even though he was a complete ass-hole to me I still respect _some_ of the work he's done. One exception is this, I did a technology review of Alice at one point. It was not impressive coming from an experience of writing a 3d game engine and scripting system. He really does think he's "THE BIG SHIT" when in fact he is just "a shit."
That is just my experience with him. Has anyone else met the guy?
Dear Randy,
I'm sorry to hear about your condition. No one deserves it. My positive thoughts tonight are with you. May you live a painless and pleasant life that remains. Also, could you not be a prick to those around you?
javalizard
The problem is that cancer is not *a* disease. All cancers are different, have different causes, and are even sometime heterogeneous within one single patient, meaning some cancer cells will respond well to a kind of treatment, but not others. It only takes one surviving cancer cell to restart the whole thing. The odds of beating this soon are slim.