Sunday, December 19, 2004

If a Robot could draw what hand would it use?

If a Robot could draw what hand would it use?

Saturday, December 18, 2004

Exam: PHY101

Wrote the long PHY101 exam today. From 9:00am to ~2:45pm. Wow. I'm so glad I jumped to the 'long' problems at the end to start. It was all about getting this one question I wanted to get.



Came home and just relaxed. It's been a long exam period with lack of sleep and food.



Watched 3 episodes of, "Six Feet Under" season 3.



Later watched the DVD, "I, Robot". Had some interesting 'ethical' underpinnings.



Petit-P phoned later, something about a favour.



Friday, December 17, 2004

Studying all day for PHY101

Another long day of studying for PHY101. Went to bed ~@1:30pm. The exam is early tomorrow.

Thursday, December 16, 2004

Wednesday, December 15, 2004

Exam: MAT105 & CSC201

Today was the MAT105 exam @9:00am and the CSC201 [take-home] exam. I finished the MAT105 exam @~12:00pm and briefly chatted with some class mates then off home to finish the CSC201 exam. I had written it before and had until 3:00pm to do corrections. After having lunch and doing some other miscellaneous things got it done.

Monday, December 13, 2004

MAT105

Studying all day today for MAT105.



It's also ECY bornday today. I tried getting him a gift yesterday, it didn't work but maybe it's for the best. I also tried calling him ~@10:00pm but no answer. I knew he was working but I thought I'd try anyway. Eventually he phoned me @~11:00pm. Great person. He wanted to go to the Grande-M [at least on my suggestion] but since he's malade I didn't want to take a chance because of my exams. He's working a lot these days and he didn't go to school today but did manage to go to work. He also mentioned that he may go away for Noel. Excellent!







Sunday, December 12, 2004

Saturday, December 11, 2004

Exam: MAT190

Wrote the MAT190 exam today. 2-3 questions I didn't get perfect on, but should have known. Now onto CSC...





Friday, December 10, 2004

Exams: MAT108

After asking if my Prof. received my second version of my CSC201 Term paper he responded yes "coincidently [I] had just read it and gave it an, 'A'." Cool.



Wrote the MAT108 exam today. It's really hard to tell how that went. I'll wait and see. Now onto MAT190.

Thursday, December 9, 2004

Sunday, December 5, 2004

Books: Emotional Design: Why We Love (Or Hate) Everyday Things

"For example, I don't read fiction. I want to read facts about things I can apply in a practical way."



After reading this sentence I was thinking that maybe thats one of problems with people in the , "Computer" world. There's a tendencey for 'computer' people to also be into Science Fiction and Fantasy. Maybe they read and think so much about fantasy that they don't see that the work they are doing today effects all of us tomorrow. Or that they will fix problem XYZ but not today, but in the next/future version.

Saturday, December 4, 2004

An executive that just doesn't get it

"EA's senior vice president of human resources Rusty Rueff to staff at the company has revealed that the firm is contemplating a change to how it classifies jobs with regard to overtime eligibility." --- unfortunately the article goes on the reveal that basically he's going to do nothing.



Here's a link to the ea's spouse article referred to in the article.



Computer Ethics

Now that we are at the conclusion of my Computer Ethics class I was thinking about what some of the non CSC major got out of the class. What does a non computer geek think of the computer world. Some people in the class thought hardware was less reliable these days. With examples of hard drives and video cards dying being the most dominate. Though I'd agree with them on this I don't agree with their follow-up point being that software is now more reliable. Absolutely NOT!. How can a piece of software that used to run on a non multi-tasking OS be more reliable? It used to be the case that your word processor would run and nothing else. It was great. No interupts no pops nothing just productivity. Now look at what's happening, a machine fighting for resources, with an ever present chance of crashing. But I don't just have a problem with software after installing it, the problems start before you even open the 'box'. Have you ever read the EULA (End User License Agreement) it's all the 'legal' stuff you agree to before installing the software. Basically it says we take no responsibility for your machine and we do not guarantee our software will do anything we told you it would do. My God! Imagine if other industries took this view. "We stand behind nothing" - they would say. Are you likely to buy? Do we as customers not look for a warranty when we buy any major product? How can the 'tech' industry continue this policy? And with the lack of certification of the Computer Science field it's no wonder software is so poorly written these days. So what's the solution. First let's go about creating a set of ethics that all programmers will be taught as part of a formal education. No not the ACM code of ethics something that truly represents what is good for the customer. Secondly certification. Not Windows certification but certification in the same sense as Engineers do. Where once certified there's a certain expectation of professionalism knowing that the work you do can cost people's lives if not done properly.

Friday, December 3, 2004

Last Day of School & Harry Potter III

Today was the last day of classes. Now exam started.



I needed to get the car fixed before the XMas vacation. ~$420. Not great.



Watched the DVD, "Harry Potter III". Very dark. Unclear where this series is going.



Also handed in a second v2.1 of my CSC201 - Term Paper.