Brian's World

Applicational

I’ve never liked it when I read stuff and get depressed. Today I was reading accounts of people’s experiences applying for internships at Google/Microsoft/Yahoo. I was bored at work, and felt like doing some research. I might apply to intern at a company like those three at some point like next summer, but I’m not sure yet… and today’s account sure wasn’t a booster. I read descriptions of interviews and stuff where people are asked to develop and algoritm for x or some code for problem y and I sit here trying to figure out what exactly the problem statement is. Now maybe my sources (generally blogs), weren’t as clear as the interviewer was. I know I don’t have the strongest grasp on the science part of computer science, but I think I have a fairly strong understanding of the computer part. If I’m given a problem that might exist, in the context of a scenario, I could probably generate a fairly effecient solution. If you tell me to design a program to compute <some term I don’t know> then I will probably do poorly at it. If you tell me you need me to design a program to track some statistics for words in a file, I might be able to do that. I’ve always placed heavy value on the applicational side of computers. Yes, theory is very important, but its what you can do with it thats most important. Maybe this relates to why I didn’t excel in DSA as much. Sure, a slow algorithm can be a problem; but it can be improved from several ends.. not just the source code. Hardware, operating conditions, input, etc all play factors.

Katie got her Macbook today. It was pretty neat to set it up with her. The worst part of the entire process was the hours of updates. I guess Windows machines are pretty much the same in that respect. Only in Linux do you get the ability to install the freshest copy of files during initial installation. I can’t say its had a huge impact on what machine I’ll be getting next. I’m going to try Openfiler on the machine with a bad motherboard. I can’t isolate specifically whats wrong, but Windows XP triggers it more frequently than Linux. Once I get my 2 external hard drives in a multiplatform filesystem, I should be ok if the machine completely dies on me. That conversion will be tricky though, right now they are Windows Dynamic Disks, configured for software RAID 0. Of course Linux understands none of this, so there will be some trick involved in copying >500gb of data into a temporary storage location that doesn’t exist so I can format and start again. I’ll try and update as the process goes.

My cell phone frustration has been growing at an exponential race. My Verizon Motorola v325 which is 2 years old is pretty much junk, whereas the battery is the most dense location of junk. I think the battery is ~95% scrap metal, and 5% actual charge holding stuff. I was barely able to send/recieve 20 text messages, and place a 2 minute phone call today. Then the “low battery” beep that is impossible to shut off. That constant beep really worked well with my desk in the library at work. I ended up shutting it down. My family is up for replacements, but I’m unsure where to go. I’m interested in getting a phone that can do more, I think. I see 3 different phone options really. Get a Windows Mobile Smartphone, get an iPhone, or get something cheap to hold me over the 6-9 months it will take for Andriod to hit production. If I was alone in this I would be much more apt to move quickly, but I’ve got this family plan attached to me. Its a saver on the monthly bills, but makes switching phones and everything a more challenging process (since 1 user doesn’t learn new phones quickly). I’m going to try and hold off 11 days until iPhone 2 ships and then I’ll make a move. I’m not sure what effect it will have on Verizon Wireless, or the phone industry as a whole. [No Verizon, I do not want you to try and push a Voyager on me.]

My boss is out from work until Thursday, or so the employee status program indicates. I planned on him being out part of today, and I had a few hours of work to do. I got done with that task in 2-3 hours, so I’m not sure what I’ll do to occupy my time tomorrow and Wednesday. There are a few neat ideas I have, but I’m hesitant to go too far with them knowing that a deployment in the timeframe I’d be there might not be possible.

Mom needs to buy mayonaise so I can make better sandwiches for lunch. She keeps reminding me she has bough luncheon meat (ham and turkey), but she hasn’t bought the mayo to hold the sandwich together. Looks like another PB & J is in the future.

Good night moon.