I've found that this research experience has really helped my learning speed. With no demonstrators hovering about and everyone equally engrossed in their own projects, I've had to push myself to learn quicker in order to get my work done. I'm quite confortable with mysql now, compared to the beginning of the project, when I had to read up on the basic steps to set up a Connection!
Yesterday I started learning the Korean alphabet, I continued with it today and am surprised at my progress. Not only am I learning quickly, but the most important thing is that I'm pushing myself to complete each lesson without procrastinating. Yesterday I read my first word (바나나), just now I typed my first sentence: 아이-라이크-바나나! \(ㅇㅂㅇ )*
This is the site I'm using to learn, highly recommended! When I first started learning Japanese, I printed out the alphabet charts to learn. The wonders of the Internet...for some reason I find Korean vocabulary harder to learn than Japanese, but being able to read everything (pesky kanji) should help. Right now, most of my vocab comes from watching and listening to 슈주 (Super Junior)...
I heard that South Korea are out of the World Cup...too bad! They were pretty much the only team I was interested in, mainly because I love the attire of the Red Devils (Korea team supporters).
*with bonus emoticon!
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Coffee, Red Bean and Lab Antics
- Today's displeasing discovery: a tall americano (or a substantial breakfast?) in the morning increases productivity during the day...in both coding and sketching (shhh)! edit: mild heart palpitations have prompted me to quit caffeine (yet again) since then. Stimulants are bad...
+ I came back from a smoothie-procuring trip to find this artistic chair pile-up:
+ HeyStaks abuse amuses us. Pro search queries: ant reproduction, scorpion reproduction, incidence of early onset of Alzheimer's disease in child prodigies...
~ Recently I've been worried about my laptop's health, I think I should really open it up to get rid of the dust inside. I've resorted to ghetto laptop-cooling by placing a fan directly behind it!
+ Now for today's happy discovery: Korean red bean cake for 75c and made with agar agar instead of gelatin! Very filling! Though with this very un-Irish weather, I wish I could get a red bean ice instead...
+ My very own command centre:
+ I came back from a smoothie-procuring trip to find this artistic chair pile-up:
+ HeyStaks abuse amuses us. Pro search queries: ant reproduction, scorpion reproduction, incidence of early onset of Alzheimer's disease in child prodigies...
~ Recently I've been worried about my laptop's health, I think I should really open it up to get rid of the dust inside. I've resorted to ghetto laptop-cooling by placing a fan directly behind it!
+ Now for today's happy discovery: Korean red bean cake for 75c and made with agar agar instead of gelatin! Very filling! Though with this very un-Irish weather, I wish I could get a red bean ice instead...
+ My very own command centre:
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Today
- Firefox 3.6.4:
"[...] Plus, hundreds of memory leaks have been remedied."
So that means...3.5 and everything before had "hundreds of memory leaks? ):
~ Worked with regex again...it's kind of like writing secret code...
+ I love writing methods for specific purposes...it feels like I'm doing something useful! This must be my favourite thing about coding (least favourite: debugging).
"[...] Plus, hundreds of memory leaks have been remedied."
So that means...3.5 and everything before had "hundreds of memory leaks? ):
~ Worked with regex again...it's kind of like writing secret code...
+ I love writing methods for specific purposes...it feels like I'm doing something useful! This must be my favourite thing about coding (least favourite: debugging).
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Microsoft visit and Kryder's Law illustrated
On the 15th, we all visited Microsoft in Sandyford Industrial Estate as part of the ODCSSS experience. We were given a brief tour during which we saw lots of orange balloons (to celebrate the Office 2010 launch), the shop (software packages for >€20!! And Sweet Factory...), gym, canteen (with champagne glasses ready for the launch celebration) and an office (accompanied by a story to explain the numerous Mac-adorned desks).
Note: many pictures were taken before I noticed a sign saying PHOTOGRAPHY PROHIBITED peeking out from behind a bush...oops!
We were the first ones of the day to see the Kinect video which was show at E3 2010, which frankly made me squirm with embarrassment for the poor arm-flinging folks onscreen combined with the games featured, especially the driving one and the one where you get to pet tigers and giggle (presuming you're a preteen girl). Our 'tour guide' also spoke to us about ~*The Cloud*~ (sorry), how Microsoft adapts to its competitors and interview tips. At the end we were given bing stickers and Office 2010 transfers.
Inside the auditorium
Moving on, the fast pace at which technology improves is one of the reasons I'm interested in Computer Science. Hence my hxc documentation of Kryder's Law! ...not really...
Monday, June 14, 2010
Memory Leaks and Ants
Friday, June 11, 2010
Things I Learned Today
- Having the right JARs set up properly in Eclipse is really important!
- Despite having exalted the helpfulness of Google in the previous post, it's important to check through a couple of things before running to Larry and Sergey's wonderful masterpiece: all in your code! Take note of the console messages, exceptions, and trace all of your variables and objects with Ctrl+click for any null pointers. Sometimes it can be a simple thing which doesn't necessitate hitting up your favourite search engine.
- For UCD-CSI people only: WaveLAN is evil!!!! I spent hours trying to debug what I thought were faulty SQL queries, but when I connected to eduroam, everything worked!
Since we, the interns, have been populating this lab for two weeks now, we've naturally been rearranging our workspaces (no, not Eclipse)...
Setting up Alvis' command centre
The stack of computers Mark has amassed...
Mark'smess desk
- Despite having exalted the helpfulness of Google in the previous post, it's important to check through a couple of things before running to Larry and Sergey's wonderful masterpiece: all in your code! Take note of the console messages, exceptions, and trace all of your variables and objects with Ctrl+click for any null pointers. Sometimes it can be a simple thing which doesn't necessitate hitting up your favourite search engine.
- For UCD-CSI people only: WaveLAN is evil!!!! I spent hours trying to debug what I thought were faulty SQL queries, but when I connected to eduroam, everything worked!
Since we, the interns, have been populating this lab for two weeks now, we've naturally been rearranging our workspaces (no, not Eclipse)...
Setting up Alvis' command centre
The stack of computers Mark has amassed...
Mark's
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Day...something
Had my second meeting yesterday, came out with a more concrete task for next week. I'm working with SQL, which once again makes me feel guilty for being less than enthusiastic about my Databases and Information Systems I class in second year. Working with remote data is confusingly scary at first, but I definitely appreciate the way this programme is pushing me to learn at a quicker rate.
Good resources for any type of self-guided research:
- Google: The power of Google saved my ass during my search engine implementation project, as well as a number of (initially) impossible assignments. There are definitely techniques to searching, but practice makes perfect. Don't just look at the first page of results!
- Forums: Again found via Google, hopefully there's a thread of more learned users who are discussing the exact same problem you're stuck on. Hooray for the web!
- Other people: Simply by discussing and/or your problem out loud, details/solutions you hadn't though of before may suddenly occur to you, even if your listeners cannot offer any enlightenment. Seek out classmates, friends, demonstrators, lecturers and any other people related to the field. With the ubiquity of social networks enforcing the concept of six degrees of separation, there's no excuse for not being able to find a suitable person to talk to.
CSI ant farm update: at first we didn't see any so we were sad, but they seem to move to different locations throughout the day...
Good resources for any type of self-guided research:
- Google: The power of Google saved my ass during my search engine implementation project, as well as a number of (initially) impossible assignments. There are definitely techniques to searching, but practice makes perfect. Don't just look at the first page of results!
- Forums: Again found via Google, hopefully there's a thread of more learned users who are discussing the exact same problem you're stuck on. Hooray for the web!
- Other people: Simply by discussing and/or your problem out loud, details/solutions you hadn't though of before may suddenly occur to you, even if your listeners cannot offer any enlightenment. Seek out classmates, friends, demonstrators, lecturers and any other people related to the field. With the ubiquity of social networks enforcing the concept of six degrees of separation, there's no excuse for not being able to find a suitable person to talk to.
CSI ant farm update: at first we didn't see any so we were sad, but they seem to move to different locations throughout the day...
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Day 2
By the way, my project for the duration of my internship involves Twitter, elements of social search, ranking by reputation and the recommendation of reputable users. I'm pleased about the real-time relevance and potential degree of usefulness implied.
+ Thinking of giving the family desktop at home an Ubuntulicious makeover.
~ Spent most of the day doing some background reading...academic papers galore!
- However, said reading was done at a disappointingly slow pace...
the Computer Science ant-farm-in-a-wall?
+ Thinking of giving the family desktop at home an Ubuntulicious makeover.
~ Spent most of the day doing some background reading...academic papers galore!
- However, said reading was done at a disappointingly slow pace...
the Computer Science ant-farm-in-a-wall?
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Day 1 (of actual work)
Welcome to my blog! I'm a UCD student and ODCSSS 2010 research intern. Here, I'll be documenting my experience, with a bonus jumble of resource links and updates on my progress. I'm not very good at writing without being sarcastic/using cryptic references, but hopefully I'll get better at writing like a normal person!
Yesterday was the kickoff event for ODCSSS (Online Dublin Computer Science Summer School) 2010. All of the interns met in the Golden Harp room in the Guinness Storehouse. There were a number of presentations from both industry people - NDRC and Microsoft, who talked about cloud computing technology and Azure - and academia, with tea and coffee and a posh lunch in between.
At the end of the day, we took a self-guided tour and had a free pint in the Gravity Bar (fyi, Guinness is disgusting and I couldn't finish mine...). I feel like I could have introduced myself to more people, but I felt that I took a lot from the talks. See the rest of my photos in my Facebook album (if you don't have Facebook/aren't my friend...too bad!!).
the Golden Harp room
Today we moved into our workspaces...interns in UCD are based in either the fourth-year lab or in UCD CASL. I will be working in the lab, since it's closer to CLARITY, where my supervisors/mentors are based. I'm lucky to be working with such dedicated yet laid-back and understanding people...basically I don't have the strict time schedule that Ipanicked about imagined. There's also a good atmosphere with all of us in the lab.
my space
I got a keycard and a key! I'm a pro~
Things I did today:
+ Saw a squirrel playing (?) on the tree right outside the window
+ Tried out all of the games available on Ubuntu
+ Visited CLARITY
~ Briefly read through the Twitter4J library (which I'll be using)
- Just gave up fighting the Ubuntu terminal over ssh
Yesterday was the kickoff event for ODCSSS (Online Dublin Computer Science Summer School) 2010. All of the interns met in the Golden Harp room in the Guinness Storehouse. There were a number of presentations from both industry people - NDRC and Microsoft, who talked about cloud computing technology and Azure - and academia, with tea and coffee and a posh lunch in between.
At the end of the day, we took a self-guided tour and had a free pint in the Gravity Bar (fyi, Guinness is disgusting and I couldn't finish mine...). I feel like I could have introduced myself to more people, but I felt that I took a lot from the talks. See the rest of my photos in my Facebook album (if you don't have Facebook/aren't my friend...too bad!!).
the Golden Harp room
Today we moved into our workspaces...interns in UCD are based in either the fourth-year lab or in UCD CASL. I will be working in the lab, since it's closer to CLARITY, where my supervisors/mentors are based. I'm lucky to be working with such dedicated yet laid-back and understanding people...basically I don't have the strict time schedule that I
my space
I got a keycard and a key! I'm a pro~
Things I did today:
+ Saw a squirrel playing (?) on the tree right outside the window
+ Tried out all of the games available on Ubuntu
+ Visited CLARITY
~ Briefly read through the Twitter4J library (which I'll be using)
- Just gave up fighting the Ubuntu terminal over ssh
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