I don't have much time to post, but today's test went well. It was very hard, but straightforward. I can stand hard, just not leftfield hard. Everyone took the full 3 hours to finish the test, but we all felt good about how we did.
Work decided to go retarded on me this week. As soon as I finished the test, I had to do work until past 6:00 despite the fact that tomorrow's test could be the hardest of the 5: Algorithms...
I'll let you guys know.
Also, John Kerry is a punk. Only that ass could say such a stupid thing and then blame Republicans for it him saying it. I'm not saying I'm 100% pleased with President Bush's performance, but I thank my lucky stars every day that John Kerry is not in power.
The way these test are organized, all of the graduate faculty who have taught or do research in the given area give questions. We don't know who gives what questions... except that it is obvious by the style of question.
So they usually give 7 questions and you answer 5. Three hours are given for the exam. This time, they gave 5 and you had to answer 5. Not good.
The first three were obviously written by the same professor and in a single word were ridiculous. The last two were the only questions not written by that professor. Those were relatively easy.
I give myself about a 20% chance of making it past this one. No big deal though. I'll just have to take it again in the spring if I fail. My goal in this round of testing is to pass 3 so there's still hope.
And just for Willy Harv's amusement, I've decided to blame this poor performance on President George W. Bush.
Other notes worth noting for those who like notes:
My iPod Shuffle has shipped and is in a FedEx facility in Suzhou, China as I type.
Sheriff Harry Lee has been making some provocative comments lately. This is really the talk of the town down here. More at NOLA.com.
Tomorrow's test is Computer Architecture. Hopefully I will do better.
The following image is a screenshot of the front page of University Recreation at LSU. The image there shows on the front row, from left to right: me, Dad, and Billy in costume. Apparently URec wanted their race to be represented by a prison bitch, an old man, and a butt pirate.
If that weren't enough, the main advertisement shows an image of me running in costume. (shown below) What the hell are these people thinking? There was a chick there in a Lara Croft outfit. LARA CROFT for goodness sake!! They chose a picture of me over Lara Croft... I'm not kidding. Someone should be fired.
Remember in high school... English I... We learned that precious method of expression otherwise known as the three paragraph report. I still use it frequently. It's the perfect way to organize ideas and to have them read and understood.
It starts with an introduction. A simple blurb about what they hell you are talking about and why the hell you need to say it. It puts everyone on the same, single page.
The next three paragraphs are the epitome of information transmission. If you can't come up with three main points or a paragraph to explain them, then you chose the wrong subject. You get a C for not knowing what the heck you are talking about. If you add an extra point or take a second page, then you are blabbing. The teacher won't even read it... just give you a C.
A conclusion to reiterate what points you made to really sync up with the reader.
I really wish all human communication was like that. On paper, organized, and meaningful. In one day, I've been frustrated with large amounts of irrelevant data, angered by missing data, and confused by disorganized information. For an entire day, I've been on the wrong page of a different book that hasn't been written yet. Perhaps I should require that all information be passed to me in the form of three paragraphs reports...
Perhaps one of the greatest shows ever made. I feel sorry for kids today that don't have The Adventures of Pete & Pete, Hey Dude, Salute Your Shorts, and let's not forget You Can't Do That On Television.
Despite all of those great shows, The Pete & Pete theme song may set it apart. Enjoy.
I really don't kow why I haven't heard about this... Apple has a new design for its iPod Shuffle. This is even smaller than the previous design which was pretty ridiculous. The key to me is that it has a built-in clip as seen on the right of the image. It also only offers a 1 gB version at a price of $80. (Free shipping and engraving) See more here.
So how did I find this out?
Well my previous mp3 player is officially not working. It has acted up since the day I got it and now it's just done for. I've been using it for the past month as a radio player. So I am now officially an iPod owner. I have ordered it and expect it to arrive in the next couple weeks although the estimated ship date was listed as "October".
I should know better, but it offered free engraving and I couldn't resist. I didn't want to just put my name and phone on it. I may tape that on later. Instead I just put the words "Don't panic." in nice friendly letters.
EDIT: It is now estimated to be delivered by Nov 7th. Ugh.
This is a blog that let's me rant about whatever comes to mind. I am a CS graduate student (LSU) from Franklinton, LA. Happily married for 7 years to Natasha with a beautiful little girl named Grace.
