From early last weekend, I knew this week would be a little busier than normal. Aside from the normal class load which has unfortunately hit a little harder than expected, I had several other extracurricular events planned.
For instance on Tuesday I had a meeting with a CS counselor to discuss an opportunity to host some incoming CS honors students for a day on campus. She hasn't sent me the details yet, but it appears I will just show the prospective students what a first semester CS lab is like. Simple stuff, but it looks like it will be somewhat interesting. Even if it isn't, it will at least get my name out there for future opportunities.
Of course the second event this week was Spaf's talk, which I think I have expounded upon reasonably well already. Finally, I planned to go to the classical guitar concert earlier tonight after a quick workout at the RSC. Unfortunately, several things, including my 4:30 psychology class which lasted until 5:45, a late dinner, and a 200 word French composition prevented me from doing either. I usually don't let that kind of thing happen, but somehow everything seemed to pile up at once. That's the way it goes, I guess.
Tonight I had a great opportunity to listen to a talk given by about the myths pervading beliefs about computer security. He began with a short history of computer networks, explaining the related evolution of computer viruses and security risks in the fledgling internet. He then moved on to dispel the belief that virus protection software, open source code, and not opening email attachments will protect one's computer from malicious attacks. Not only was the talk incredibly informative— Spaf is, after all, a world-famous expert on computer security— it was also entertaining and sprinkled with jokes only computer science students would get.
Unlike many of the other students at the talk, I have an even greater opportunity to meet Spaf in the small CS honors seminar on Wednesdays. There, a group of freshmen including myself get to listen to him expand on many other topics in a smaller, more informal environment. I certainly plan to comment on how much I enjoyed tonight's talk.
It's stuff like this that really makes happy to be in college. I have the chance to hear phenominally intelligent people talk about what they've pretty much devoted their lives to.
Yesterday I realized the first real, tangible benefit of having my own Linux box running. Every *nix distribution comes with a built-in C compiler, so I decided to develop my first C project using Emacs, a *nix text editor, and gcc, the Gnu compiler. I couldn't have developed, tested, and turned in the project nearly as easily in Windows as I did using Linux. First off, I know that barring some obscure incompatibilities, the program I write on my home machine will compile and run nicely on the Solaris Unix machines the TAs use to test the projects. Second, I can test to make sure it will by simply uploading it to a remote machine using sftp (secure FTP) and testing it through ssh (secure shell). Once I finish doing that, I simply run the turnin program on the remote machine to submit my project. I can go through this entire process using the Linux command line instead of a series of big GUI programs in Windows.
Now the reason I say this is the first tangible benefit is that it is the first one that has impacted me directly. Linux's other highly-touted benefits like server security and open source code don't really affect me because I'm not a commercial sysadmin or kernel hacker. Basically, this C project was one of the first things that I could do better and faster using Linux.
On a related note, I also found it was insanely easy to access the C class newsgroup using the .
After returning to the dorm yesterday afternoon, I took a bit of time to get my desktop working with all the audio and MIDI equipment that I used to have hackishly connected to my laptop. Where the laptop used a somewhat finicky USB audio interface (discussed here), my new desktop uses the O so beautiful sound card I saved from my old desktop. I installed the card when I first built the new machine, but I didn't have long enough cords to connect it to the speakers and MIDI synthesizer on the top of my dorm desk. I finally got a chance to buy the cords and a bunch of other stuff over the weekend, and I now have everything I want/need on this computer.
As you may have figured out from the last couple posts, today was the first day of the second half of my freshman year. I don't know if the first day is much of an indication, but all my classes seemed to be about what I expected: French and math look like they will be a smooth continuation from their earlier counterparts; the C/C++ course is taught by the same professor who taught last semester's Java course; and the Freshman Honors Seminar started exactly like the previous session. The only class I didn't quite know what to expect from was the CS theory course which follows my C/C++ course. From the syllabus and the professor's introduction (or at least what I gathered of it through his thick German accent), it looks like the class will basically cover applied math like logic, number theory, proofs, algorithms, etc.
Overall, everything save French looks interesting, and I have a good feeling about at least the Mondays of the semester.
The Co-Rec opened today, and the group that got turned down yesterday night finally got a chance to begin working out again. I, for one, got a chance to use the lifting gloves my parents got me for Christmas and the boxing gloves I bought to go with them. I wasn't sure how much I would like the lifting gloves, but one workout won me over. O they were ever so nice. The boxing gloves, too, worked quite well, and I look forward to many more sessions with the Co-Rec's body bag.
I got my final revised class schedule today. Thankfully, both of my division change requests (1, 2) made it through, and I no longer have five 7:30 classes each week. Instead, I have three 8:30 French classes and two 9:30 CS labs. That alone significantly improves the forecast for the semester. Now combine that with the fact that I'm taking one fewer credit hour and have only two classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and the prospects for the rest of the year look very good indeed.
Now that people are beginning to trickle back from Christmas break, a bunch of us decided to head over to the Co-Rec to lift weights like we did over the course of the first semester. After braving the same painfully cold weather I mentioned in yesterday's post, we found that the gym had stubbornly remained closed despite the fact that nearly a third of the student body had already returned. Somewhat dejected, we headed back to the nearest warm building, namely my dorm, and decided to start up a pool game in the Rec. Lounge. We played for about two hours, during which time Audie and Kristy joined us on the other table. I'm sorry to say, the two of them beat Jason, a team of Jason and Matt, and then finally a team of Jason, Matt, and Michael. It was certainly a sad night for the males of the group. After we exhausted our desire to play any more pool, the seven of us decided to find a movie to watch. That didn't quite materialize as expected, as Doug and Matt left to do something and Audie and Kristy decided to go to bed. It ended up as just Jason, Michael, my neighbor Josh, and myself watching Michael's Pulp Fiction DVD; certainly not a bad ending to the night.
This morning's walk to turn in my second division change request left me colder than I think I've been since the February boy scout camping trip I took five or six years ago. During the four day trip, I don't remember feeling my toes until the very last day when we piled into heated vans for the trip home. Today I had the same lack of feeling in my lower jaw from walking into the -1° windchill over the entire half mile or so back to the dorm. I don't even want to imagine what the walk to my 8:30 French class will be like this semester.
Perhaps it's time to research buying a parka online. Update: I found and bought an arctic-quality parka and a new pair of gloves with more insulation and fewer holes than the ones I currently own.
Now that I'm back in my warm dorm, I realize I have absolutely nothing to eat for lunch. I suppose it's also time to venture back out to get something hot to eat.
I had perhaps the easiest, quickest, and least painful experiences I've ever had with Purdue bureaucracy today. The first thing I wanted to do when I arrived on campus earlier this afternoon was request a small change in my schedule. I went to the designated building, filled out one quarter sheet of paper, then walked straight up to the teller lady who typed in the request. It couldn't have taken any more than five minutes from the time I entered the building to when I left. After that, I was again surprised at how easy it was to buy my books. I didn't have to fight a crowd to find anything, and once I did, there was hardly any line to check out.
I suppose there may be some benefits to returning earlier than the majority of students.
Well, it looks like that time has come; time to start packing up in preparation to go back to Purdue tomorrow. Here's to the end of a month of relaxation and the beginning of my second semester of college.
The past few days have been excuciatingly uneventful. I've read a lot, surfed more, and spent a good deal of time doodling in . It seems Doug has been playing around with the program, too, and every once in a while we bounce our progress on various pictures off each other. The closest I came to doing anything interesting was for about fifteen minutes last night when Michael and Jason were shooting around the idea to go paintballing. That would have been an interesting new experience, but unfortunately it fell apart once we learned that the arena required 10 people for a reservation and had open games only on weekends.
Oh well. Given the choice between having nothing to do and having loads of schoolwork, I'd definitely choose the former. I just wish doing nothing was a bit more exciting.
Have you ever rearranged the furniture in a room and from then on just felt better every time you went in? I got that feeling tonight after I moved Sue's old wooden desk into the northwest corner of my room, replacing the old drafting table I had been living with for years. Its tilted surface made it difficult to use a computer and the lack of drawers made even minor organization difficult. Now that I have a large, clean, flat surface and copious amounts of storage space, I finally feel at home working at my desk. aaaahhhh....
As you may have noticed from the previous post, I've added a new anchor tag style to help differentiate links to local pictures from links to external websites. I hope the change is somewhat helpful.
Last night Jason had the inspired idea to throw a LAN party at his house. As I was getting ready to go, I had to explain to Sue . She just shook her head and laughed. Anyway, over the course of the evening the five of us played , a bit of , and about five minutes' worth of . I, unfortunately, had no experience with any of the games but still had a good time nonetheless. If we do it again, I think we'd all need to download the demo and play that for a night.
I talked to Dad about the party earlier this morning, and with a meaningful look in his eye he said, "Brett, if you ever want to have a LAN party here, I've got a 16-port switch you can use." He, of course, would like that as much as I would.
