Brian's World

Raining Friday

Its Friday again, the same thing that happens every 7 days. I would really like to blog about uplifting news one of these weeks but thats just not how things seems to go. I’ve usually been able to say that amidst the problems, at least topic x is going well but I dunno, I’m having trouble identifying what that x topic is.

Classes ended for me at RPI, so I have Monday off to study for my finals which are next week. I’m finished with Intro to Perl, which was probably the best programming course I’ve taken here at RPI. For once the professor actually new what he was talking about, and if he couldn’t answer your question he could find the answer within 5 minutes of lecture ending. I wish there were more classes/professors like that, where you actually learn things you can use. For example CANOS (Computer Architecture, Networks, and Operating Systems) is pretty much useless. Sure, I learned some basics of computer architecture, but nothing I ever plan on using really. I do not plan on designed processors or motherboards. Some of the operating systems and networking concepts were interesting, but 3 weeks wasn’t enough to cover that portion of the class.

I frequently ask myself what I might want to do for a future career in life. I always imagined getting a degree in “Computer & Systems Engineering” would imply some ability to do practical things with a computer. So far I haven’t learned anything to that effect. I had always shied away from Computer Science because of its theoretical roots. I dislike learning theory that lacks an application, but I’m willing to spend time on the theory of something if an application requires is. Who knows what I’ll be doing with whatever degree I end up with.

A great example is Database Systems, a class who’s description and syllabus looked rather promising. Unfortunately I can say I’ve learned anything useful in that class. I almost know the theory behind building a database management system, and I’ve almost learned the practical applications of a database (given I already knew most of this stuff). Some of the really important topics like clustering and load distribution were out of scope, and the implementation I was really looking forward to playing with like crash recovery and database optimization were none existent. I guess I got some credit for taking it, but thats never been a reason I do anything.

I would consider sharing positive news about Concerto, but I don’t have anything positive to report at this moment. I have come up with a witty phrase that symbolized my views on the project, but I’m saving that for a later blog related to trees.

I’ve also started work on a pet project of mine, it has the potential to be neat but I’m looking for help. Essentially I need people to review something and offer some feedback, requests, etc. To do this you must be able to “sign” a confidentiality agreement. By sign I mean convince me you’re not going to tell anyone, or let anyone see you testing this out. No, I won’t be compensating you for your work until I made money off this, which given my luck won’t happen. But if you have good input who knows. P.S. I reserve the right to decline your invitation to help if I feel you may be in a conflicted position.

I guess I’m going to review some notes or something like for my finals. Dinner was unpleasant tonight. I wasn’t in the mood for Commons, so I went to the Rath and order a chicken tender combo. After waiting there for 15 minutes, while the 2 staffers left to help at the sandwich station, I finally got my food. The chicken was small, and the fries were just dumped on top, leaving no room for me to put any ketchup or anything like that. I ate half, and threw the rest away. I guess I should have eaten at Commons.

Thanks for reading. I hope you’re having a nice day.