Jarada's Personal Page

The Rollercoaster Week

2010-02-01T19:35:00.001Z

Friday 29th January at 11:34pm - What an evening! What a week! It's been a wild rollercoaster of a ride, and we've only just reached the peak!

The above extract is something I posted onto my Twitter feed regarding last week, and which I think holds true. I had quite an interestingly busy and unique week last week and it almost seemed as if this week and last week would merge together.

It started off normally. Monday I went and spent the day in the office, followed by an evening at home. That evening I looked over my plans for the remainder of the week and instantly saw an anomaly... I was fully booked every evening of the week for social events, and also on Saturday as well.

Tuesday I had my usual day at Uni followed by my usual day at my local Student Union's pub quiz. Wednesday was Uni, work and then a trip to Stamford Bridge. Thursday was a full day of Uni followed by a most enjoyable cinema trip to see Sherlock Holmes. And Friday was a morning at Uni, the rest of the day until late at work, and a wild night on the town with my programme class mates at Las Iguanas.

Saturday I went paintballing with a group of friends, which was once again extremely muddy! And my group came second due to bonus points the other side picked up for a kamikazee run. Sunday was a day spent in work, followed by a well deserved evening relaxing.

All in all, it really was a non-stop week; although I can't say I didn't enjoy myself thoroughly, because the week was a lot of fun!

Dragon Age Origins

2010-01-24T12:12:00.000Z

Having played Dragon Age Origins for a good amount of time now, I actually think I am beginning to like it a lot. The game presents itself well, and the storyline definitely draws you in. The animation is superb, the sound effects excellent, and the gameplay well structured and enjoyable. That said, it is quite a gory game to play, so much so I actually turned off the persistent gore in the options menu, which made the game a lot more enjoyable, so I'm glad they kept that in the options.

The game itself has you play as a Grey Warden, a Jedi Knight of olden times if you will, peacekeepers and defenders against this horde of evil creatures called the Blight. After the initial intro section, you end up travelling the lands to try and gather everyone together in order to stave off this Blight while being seen as an outlaw and outcast by those ruling.

Before I go on, the intro section is most interesting. Depending on the race, class and sex you pick to play as, your storyline changes to reflect that, so much so that it gives you a unique entrance into the game compared to other characters people might pick. There are six locations, with a possiblity of twelve different intros, compared to what race and class you choose, and with minor changes depending on sex. And as I said, the choices you pick at the beginning influence how people react and see you along your quest.

So, you travel the land with your companions to gather people together to stave off evil. And along the way you pick up companions to join you and help you complete your quest. You can have a total of three companions travelling with you at any time, so you need to swap your party in and out to get the best out of them. The decisions you make during gameplay also influence the game heavily, and influence your characters. The game provides a way for characters to indicate their approval of your actions, and of course different characters will approve and disapprove of different things. I've had situations where one character highly approves, and another highly disapproves. There is also the option of romance along the way for some companions, if they approve high enough...

The game's camera angle is also quite fun, as it supports both top-down and behind-the-character views. Top-down gives you a very much Neverwinter Nights feel, eerily so, so much that when in that mode you could have someone look over your shoulder and say 'you playing Neverwinter?' The behind-the-character view allows you to play similar to Star Wars KotOR, and really shows off the superb graphics and feel of the game, and is where I play personally. But it supports both, with very quick transition between them.

Overall, Dragon Age Origins is an awesome game, and if you are an RPG fan over the age of 18, a must get...

UCL Second Term

2010-01-22T19:09:00.000Z

Woo! I've managed to get more then one blog post posted in a single month, and in the space of just under three days too! Amazing!

Anyway, onto the topic. As you may have guessed by the new ticker on the right-hand side of the blog, my second term at UCL University is well under way. So I thought I might give you an update on what is going on...

As you may know, I'm currently studying an MSc in Networked Computer Systems since September last year. The first term was definitely a lot of fun and was very interesting, but was extremely hard work to complete. The courses involved learning about the underlying structure of networks and, in particular, the Internet; learning about distributed systems used in the world and the procedures involved in keeping them secure; a look into operating systems and how they influence networking; and a final course in Network Performance.

Network Performance was probably the hardest course I have ever taken anywhere, even over Physics, due to it's high use of extremely difficult mathematics. I am so not a mathematician, so I really struggled with this course.

Another thing that really brought me down last term was 9am lectures, every single day. For those of you for which this is the norm, do understand that this was coming from an extra-long four month summer vacation with late mornings and equally late evenings, so I was completely unprepared for what was involved.

This term, it's a little different. While 9am lectures happen 2/3 times a week, I do get slightly longer lay-ins. I also get a completely free day on Monday, which I am using for work. But my afternoons that I used to have are now turning into evenings, so it's a trade-off from the previous term.

Of greatest interest this term, for me personally, is Network and Applications Programming, which is a purely programming course in C in which we program on TMote Sky's, shown on the right hand side. These small devices contain various sensors, buttons and LEDs, and a small radio chipset; and use an OS called Contiki that is specifically designed to work on memory-constrained devices such as these. We will be working to program a multi-hop routing algorithm between the devices which will eventually allow for a button to be pressed on one side of the room and an LED to flash on the other side, with each of the devices routing between each other to get things to the other side. This is what I came to Uni to do!

So yeah, all in all my course is definitely coming along nicely, I'm enjoying my time and learning a lot at the same time.

Into 2010: The Next Decade

2010-01-20T02:55:00.000Z

Heya all! It's been some time, yet again, since I posted. In fact, here's a fact for you; last year I posted just 5 blog posts. That's abysmal!

This year, I intend to do better. A lot better. In fact, I intend to once again get into regular posting of blog articles, but this time, I'm taking a slightly different approach to my blog writing. Instead of posting regular fortnightly posts, I'm going to keep 'running drafts' going. With this approach, I might have various different drafts around different topics running alongside each other, side by side. As I develop each blog post, others might get posted and/or created, until eventually I deem the post ready and it gets sent out.

This way, I will always have something I'm working on. It might be a weekly update, or perhaps it's information on a particular interest, or perhaps I'm reviewing a particular TV show/movie/software/website/etc.

I'm also planning on organising my labels better, although I'm not entirely sure the way to do that. Do you think I should be general about my labels (ie type of post, general area of where I'm posting) or specific (like I have now, individual topics)? I'm more leaning towards the former, but it means going through all my existing posts and updating their labels. Which I guess I need to do anyway...

To show my interest in blogging full-time again, I've gone and got myself a copy of Blogo for Mac, which I will be using to organise my blog posts without even having to be online. Which is awesome!

Right! That's all for now. Hopefully you'll see another new blog post in a future near you!

Moving Forward

2009-11-02T17:59:00.000Z

So. I've come back to that which is blogging. I'm starting to lean towards making a little free time to update you all on what's been going on. But it's been so long since I last posted a blog I'm just going to be brief on what has happened over the last few months.

So, last time I posted I was during my exams, right? Well, let me bring you up to date on that. I completed my exams and spent a wonderful few months waiting for the results. Then they came in... First Class Honours! So yeah, I was very chuffed. Getting a first was no easy task, and I had a fantastic time at Goldsmiths. The graduation ceremony in September was very good too; the robes, the speeches, the photos and saying goodbye to friends. It was awesome; photos available on Facebook.

Jumping back to July, and my birthday and summer party happened on the same day. I will be posting up pictures of that event onto Facebook in the near future, so if you're looking for them then keep an eye on that. The day went really well; I know a few friends who turned up and had a great time. The weather was perfect, and the food really nice (cooked by friends of my Dad's girlfriend Dana from Romania). Overall, the day went really well.

Speaking of Romania, in August I took a small trip out there with my Dad, Dana and my younger brother Andy. It was a most interesting trip. I got to meet loads of new people, as well as have the experience of seeing how people live on farms and the like, it was like going back in time! But the cities were all well developed and had some interesting differences to most cities, such as having cars going round a roundabout three times hooting their horn to show off a married couple. The reason I went to Romania was for a wedding of a friend of Dana's, and that itself was great fun, but the entire trip really was a lot of fun and very inspirational at the same time, and it was well worth going.

So, what's new now? Well, I've now moved! That's right! I now live in central London, which is awesome. Having a lot of fun in my new flat. I'm also attending UCL to do my masters in Networked Computer Systems. Again, it's a lot of fun and although it's challenging, I'm definitely learning some pretty awesome stuff. Had to learn calculus!

And the future? Well, that's still to come. But this has been a quick wrap up. I haven't covered everything, but I thought if I was to get back into blogging there has got to be sometime. As for sorting out my labels; not really sure what to do with those... lol

Exam Season

2009-05-12T00:48:00.003Z

Hey ho! So I have been extremely busy lately, no doubt as many of you have noticed. I've stopped playing EVE Online and many other games to focus on my Uni and Business work. And luckily, I've got both of these out the way, the Uni because I'm finished, and my Business because I've taken a leave of absence.

The reason being? Exams!! My Univeristy Third year exams start on Wednesday, and go on for three weeks (two per week). I have my last exam on the 29th May, and from that date I am completely finished with University (I think, I might still get my Viva sometime in early June, we'll have to see...)

Anyhow, I'm only a month away from finishing my three year degree at Goldsmiths! So obviously, I have taken a break to pour every ounce of available energy into gaining this degree. Still, I have managed to find a little bit in my breaks to post this blog entry informing you all that I still live, and that I haven't forgotten my blog.

I've just been too busy to do anything else but work, and am now too busy to do anything else but revise!!

P.S. I will be organising my labels for the posts soon into various categories. Hopefully :)

Reset Button time... Again!

2009-03-16T18:05:00.001Z

Yo blog readers! I know what you are thinking! Another random blog out of the blue around a month after the last one and to be followed by more silence of a similar length. I always seem to open my latest blog post with 'I haven't posted for a long time because...' and I seem to have done it again! Well I am a busy person after all :P

Anyway, it's time once again to hit that reset button and try to start blogging more often. So, let me continue this blog post with what I've been up to over the past month or so since my last blog post...

Well, for work I've been doing a lot for the company I work for as well as a lot in my Uni project. I still have a lot of work to do in both, so I'm going to be busy on these two for a little while longer. On top of that, of course, I have all the lectures and assignments my other Uni courses are providing me with, so all in all work is really keeping me on my toes.

In my free time, I'm usually spending a lot of it browsing the latest news feeds and keeping an eye on Facebook and Twitter (see my blog post here if you want to know what Twitter is) , with the help of my trusty iPhone. I've also been watching anime and Star Trek DS9 a lot when I'm a little too tired to think. And of course one shouldn't forget the USS Andromeda!

That's not to mention I'm not busy at home too. I still have my usual duties to complete here and there. On top of all this, I am also going to the gym once or twice a week to do weights. Trying to build up some muscle! I have my own personal trainer who helps me with the weights and stuff.

So as you can tell I have very good reasons for my infrequent blog posts. I do have interesting things to blog about; it's just I need to find the time to blog it!

Anyhow, until the next long and distant blog entry, I'll sign off.

-- Post From My iPhone

Into 2009: A Blog Update

2009-02-13T22:30:00.000Z

It's been a long time since I've posted a blog entry. The reason being that I've been extremely busy. Even too busy to play games as often as I'd like as well, as my EVE Online Corp would know...

So! What have I been up to then? Well...

For starters the development of my Uni's third year project is well underway. It is quite a large project though and I'm not sure that I'm going to be able to meet all it's goals entirely by the time I have to finish it... but that's not too big a problem for the general public as I can easily expand it now I've got a stable framework.

The other large project that I'm working on is for the company I work for, worldflow. I am creating Java and PHP based web services for the project I'm working on using quite a few technologies I've only just met (not used to create the services, I know how to do that, but to organize all the code properly...)

Put those two large projects which take up the majority of my time anyhow, on top of my Uni, with it's lectures, labs and other assignments; the home based duties I have; the gym I'm just getting into; quite a few trips here and there; and watching Star Trek DS9 with my brother, and you'll begin to understand what's taking up my time.

I've also been keeping everyone up to date on my progress through other means. That is, through Twitter and (sometimes) Facebook. This often done from the comfort of my iPhone! In fact, I posted this very blog post using an iPhone app called BlogPress, a fantastic blogging app that hasn't crashed once despite the reviews that say otherwise.

Needless to say I use my iPhone a lot. In fact, with over 1GB worth of apps, I've actually reached the maximum number of pages of apps allowed by Apple: 9 pages of apps (that's just under 144 apps on my iPhone!)

Anyway, as this is the second time I've written this blog post (previous version lost during posting due to lack of Internet; my fault entirely) I will finish here. Hopefully with this new iPhone app I should be able to post more reguarly, but time will tell!

Until next time... Live Long and Prosper!

-- Post From My iPhone

eReader for iPhone

2009-01-27T12:55:00.015Z

I will hopefully be bringing you up to date on what I've been up to recently in the next few days. I've just been so busy on my project and other Uni and work-based work lately that I haven't had much time to do much else, although my project is coming along quite nicely.

Anyway, down to this blog post which is a special blog entry that has been requested by a friend of mine on how to best use eReader for iPhone / iTouch, with screenshots! So let's get started.

Installing eReader on the iPhone

To install eReader on your iPhone, you require the iPhone firmware Version 2.0 or higher. If you don't have this firmware (found in Settings > General > About) you will have to update your iPhone through iTunes.

If you have the firmware, then you can install the app by either using the App Store located on the iPhone or through iTunes. Through iTunes, you can simply click on this link (iTunes link) to reach the iTunes page. Through the App Store, search for "eReader" and it's the first option.

When you have installed eReader, opening the app should get something similar to the following screen above.

Creating an eReader.com account

To upload any new eBooks to your iPhone eReader app, you need an account on the eReader.com website. Go ahead and create one of these now by following this link. Once you have successfully created an account, you can login to your eReader.com account and move to the next section.

Adding eBooks to your eReader.com Bookshelf

Once you have logged into eReader.com, at the top of the website, look for a link called "Bookshelf". Click on this link and it will take you to a page that looks similar to the image on the left. If you haven't bought any eBooks off eReader, this page will be empty. Any books you do buy off eReader can be found here.

If you want to add your own eBooks to your bookshelf, you can click on the link found in the top-right of that page that looks like the image on the right. Note that eBooks must be in .pdb format. If they aren't, you will have to download an eBook converter. The converter I use and recommended is from Stanza, and is Stanza's desktop client. You can also download Stanza from iTunes, and this is yet another good eBook app I highly recommend. More on how to convert can be found later on in this tutorial.

Clicking on the personal content link on the eReader.com website will take you to a page that is like a private section of your Bookshelf, and will allow you to upload your eBooks into your Bookshelf. You have 25 MBs to play with, and you can always delete eBooks off the website if you need to and they won't be removed from your iPhone / iTouch. So the space isn't a big deal unless you are trying to transfer eBooks bigger then 25MBs in size at any one time.

Transferring eBooks to your iPhone

Once you have all the eBooks you want on your Bookshelf, you can transfer them to your iPhone / iTouch. Your iPhone / iTouch will need to be connected to the Internet in order to achieve this, and you should be logged into the eReader.com website.

First, open eReader and click on the + button in the top right. You will be presented with the following screen shown on the left. Choose the option at the top of the screen labelled "eReader/Fictionwise shelf" and enter your eReader.com account details.

On the next screen, your iPhone will load in a list of all the books it can find on your Bookshelf, both from the eReader's bought books section and any books you've uploaded to your personal content section. Tapping on any book will ask if you wish to download the book to your library, which, if you accept, will promptly do so and respond with a message once it's downloaded.

eBooks on your eReader account will remain there until deleted off the iPhone. That means that even if you delete your eBooks off your Bookshelf on the eReader.com website, they will still remain on your eReader on iPhone's Bookshelf until you have deleted them there also, and vice versa. These two Bookshelf's are completely independent.

A final note before I end this section. eReader flourishes best with eBooks; that is, text. It doesn't do so well with multimedia .pdf files or the like. If you are looking for an app that does, you should try out Air Sharing (iTunes link) instead.

Converting eBooks with Stanza Desktop

The final section, as promised, is on Stanza desktop. Once you have downloaded and installed Stanza desktop, to convert simply open any file that Stanza opens (and it supports a lot of formats!) and then go to File > Export Book As... > Palm Database. You can give your new .pdb file a name, save it in a secure location on your computer, and then upload the file to your personal eBook area on eReader.com.

Final Notes

I hope this quick sweep through eReader has been helpful for you! Feel free to leave any comments and I will get back to you as soon as I can. And of course, hopefully I will get back into regular blog posting soon!

Countdown to Christmas

2008-12-20T14:26:00.003Z

Christmas is fast approaching from all sides. This year, it really does seem to be sneaking up on me. Oh well... I will of course keep you up to date on all the happenings.

Since I got back from Computer Science 2008, I spent Thursday just relaxing around catching up on a few things, Friday organising what I need to get done and then tidying up the house a bit, then playing on EVE before going to watch a movie. Today I woke up late and have spent the morning playing with my younger brothers, Logan and Byron.

All in all, I've had quite a few unproductive days. So hopefully in the next coming week I can actually get some real work done. Anyway, until my next blog post!

Computer Science 2008 - Day 3

2008-12-17T23:00:00.003Z

Today was truely driven to research in the field, for everything we visited was trying to drive the field of computing forward. After waking up early once again, and having breakfast, we headed straight to the first talk, that of our chosen industrial challenge related to the future!

Track A: Industrial Challenge Session 1
- Air Traffic Control
- The Changing Face of Industrial Research
Track B:Industrial Challenge Session 2
- Finance
- Service Oriented Computing
Track C: Panel - Research Careers

We decided to go with Track A, which we promptly went to. The Air Traffic Control session was given by the company NATS (formerly "National Air Traffic Services Ltd."). NATS controls the air traffic control systems that operate in an around the UK and the Northern Sea, and offered us a fascinating insight into their basic operations and primarily the research problems facing the company.

Some of these problems include developing technology to support airspace design (the design of airspace to be more efficient and 3D made); modelling airspace change for safety, environment and delay, and whole network modelling and management, among others. They also pointed to SESAR as a major european research group, and the fact that research delivers both business benefits and opportunities, alongside increasing relationships with the universities that are researched with.

The next speech was on industrial research from BT, labelled BT Innovate. BT have 100 years of innovation behind them, the infrastructure to show for it, and the ability to provide numerous services to customers. In fact, BT takes an extremely low proportion of it's profits from the standard telephone numbers, so it is suffice to say that BT is no longer just a telephone service company, but a whole lot more.

The technology that BT offer include the development of fibre optics, which make things go further and faster, and the design of the 21st century network with new service capabililities on one network (a single IP network). As such, BT have migrated to this new network infrastructure to be able to offer more, better. But they still need more improvements. They still want to offer more high value services utilising the ever growing Internet usage over the next few years.

After a short break, we moved on to interdisciplinary research challenges. These include computer use in other sciences (or even beyond sciences) and look at big questions. The different strands are below:

Track A
- Engineering
- Nanosystems
Track B
- Open Data in Science (Cancelled)
- Physics
Track C
- Biosciences
- Medicine
Track D
- Psychology
- Humanities

We eventually decided to follow Track A on Engineering and Nanosciences (although due to Track B's late canellation in Open Data in Science, you could switch between them).

Track A started off with Engineering, which is said to be quite dependent on computing nowadays, in things such as CAD, solar-powered car's, satellites and modelling. We looked at how computers were utilised in real-world engineering environments, and particularly looked into agriculture, or precisely, "precision agriculture". This utilised computer vision (which enables computers to see) and the processing of digital images as signals for decisions, measurements and control. This is useful in agriculture to enable automated robots that are environmentally friendly and can look after, spray and de-weed the crops.

The robot used GIS/GPS to get the vehicle to the field, then would use the camera to locate individual plants. This would then enable real-time navigation and spraying. To detect the plants, a bandwidth detector is used (so dark colours would be the dirt, white colours the plants) and with a bit of processing (such as removing small objects and passing the results through a Kalman filter), the plants and their boundaries can be found and identified. Then, these plants can be checked whether they are weeds or not.

If you are interested more on this technology, you can view the Silsoe Research Institute and also view the Tillet and Hague Technology site (the robot we looked at was the Autonomous Crop Treatment Vehicle, which you can watch a video of there).

The next talk was on nanotechnology. This looked at technology that was being developed at nanometre size. To the layman, a nanometer is the length the fingernail grows in a second. Nanotechnology is the ability to measure and manipulate matter at submicron scales, and is applicable to Moore's Law.

With everything becoming more powerful and yet smaller, heat is an increasing problem. But there is also a problem with physics that can't be worked around. This is due to the limit of the size of atoms. The challenges for nanotechnology are to continue Moore's Law while going around current physical limits and keeping this all within a reasonable price range. This can be done using new devices and fabrication paradigms.

For example, the use of a single atom memory can be done using salts and not silicon, due to the increase in ions. Electronics can also be self-assembled, and the use of bio electronics can come together to help as well (using biological organisms to develop technology at a nanoscopic level). This could also be solved by rewriting software, but with increasingly complex systems this means increasingly complex software.

After lunch, we were presented with the final talk... on Quantum Computing. Unfortunately, I am not very good at mathematics or physics, and so this topic was way over my head. If you are a computer scientist who is interested in mathematics and/or physics and are good at it, then this subject may interest you more. And if you want to understand more on what was presented, then speak to Saqib. He understood it a lot more then most people there!

Before I close off this conference, I would like to provide a few more photo's of various locations around the college that I took at various times. First, a few of the external:

A view from my room

The main building at night

The Cavendish Building

Then, I also took a few of the rooms that were offered to us. This of course is not representative in any way of the entire university rooms, but just gives a small insight into the rooms we stayed in:

Our first impression

A nice bed

The desk in the room (with more shelves going up)
The phone - it's an IP Phone!
En-Suite Bathroom! Each!

Overall, this entire experience has been wonderful! It has been extremely worth attending, and I have not been disappointed by anything presented to me during my time here. It was all completely awesome and fascinating at the same time! To also meet so many wonderful people who are fellow Computer Scientist's in the field (including so many cool professors and businessmen) was an honour indeed. I had a great time and, if asked, would most certainly go again!! Thanks to Goldsmiths College, London, for giving me the oppourtunity to go, and to the conference organisers for such a fabulous conference; you know who you all are! :)

And that's me signing off. Phew!

Computer Science 2008 - Day 2

2008-12-16T22:30:00.000Z

I woke up at around 7:15 this morning, having set a few alarms to wake me up then. Breakfast was in the great hall, and was a nice buffet of stuff (pastries, and the full English breakfast). By 9am, we were all back in the auditorium for today's first speech on procrastination, called The Power of Procrastination. This was spoken to us by Jorge Cham, who is the same guy who has created the comic Piled Higher and Deeper.

The speech itself was extremely funny and well put together, and utilised Jorge's comic strip character's. All I will say regarding the speech is that procrastination is not like laziness. Laziness is not doing the things you have to do; where as procrastination is not doing the things we have to do, now! For the rest of the speech though, you really need the wit and charm of Jorge himself.

Next up was the first set of mini tutorials for that day. We had a wide range of different tutorials on offer, as listed below:

Track A - Natural Language Processing and Text Mining (Cancelled)
Track B - Self-Adaptive Systems (Creating systems that manage themselves)
Track C - Designing Technology for Human Values (Human-Computer Interaction)
Track D - Realistic Imagery (Cancelled)
Track E - Web Science (from Wendy Hall, who has worked with Tim Berners-Lee himself, on how we can't predict how the web will grow)
Track F - Computer Vision (Microsoft Research on Graphics and Maths)
Track G - Design for the Future Internet (BT Research on the new technology for the future of the Internet)

Obviously there were a wide range of different tracks available to us, and we could only choose one. We decided on Track B - Self-Adaptive Systems, and were not disappointed! This track focused on how we can engineer self-managed systems that have autonomous adaptation. And for those of you who were wondering, this topic literally shouts "Prolog!" Indeed, a lot of the early work done was, we were told, written in Prolog. So for those failing to find a use for the language in the real world, self-adaptive systems is one. A big one.

The systems themselves should change/update their behaviour dynamically in response to changes, without a human's aid. Such as self-configuring themselves, self-healing and self-tuning. This would follow the basic architecture of Collect -> Analyse -> Decide -> Act -- Feedback Loop (although this was the early model and later models compressed this into Controller, Sequencer and Deliberator) with the three-layer architecture model.

There were a few examples with the cat and mouse game (where the cat and mouse can't be in the same room, and the controller must manage this without human intervention) and the Koala example (with a robot that had to take a ball from one location to another). This really was a most fascinating and enjoyable tutorial; creating a networked community of self-autonomous robot's (even virtual robots) would be so enjoyable!

After lunch, we got another wide multiple choice, this time in a group of workshops:

Track A: Tech Briefing: Infrastructure at Google
Track B: Research Methods
Track C: Intellectual Property
Track D: Changing the World
Track E: Getting your Paper Published in Journals
Track F: Digital Divide
Track G: Future of Science Publishing

After a healthy debate of what we should go for, we went with Track A, Google! And once again we got a most fascinating talk! The Google talk was a very popular talk, and they had to bring in extra chairs in order to fit everyone in. To summarise this lecture would be extremely difficult; and to write everything I wrote would take too long. So I'll try and find a bridge between the two.

Basically, Google works off decades of Computer Science research, most of which is intertwined with engineering. The user's view of Google is to organise the world's information to make it more accessible and organisable. However, there are large design challenges for that, including the vast scale, huge data growth, wide geographical distribution and the huge latency challenge that Google has set themselves (getting search results and the like delivered to the user "in a blink of an eye".

Google has a vast number of highly efficient servers in highly efficent data centres (they use huge water cooling). These data centres (which are actually warehouse-scale computers) off extremely fast responses and are highly managed. Google is extremely efficient in whatever they do; trying to keep waste to a minimum and recycling all waste they produce.

They also have fast moving applications, good OS System design (using Linux), loosely-coupled distributed systems, distributed data storage, processing and interpretation, and use a wide variety of programming languages (including but not limited to, C++, Java, Python and Javascript). But it's the way they do software development that fascinates me...

They have small teams that use an agile "launch and iterate" philosophy (that is launch internally). Once a product is launched, any engineer across the entire codebase (that is any engineer in Google!) can work on the code. This may seem completely chaotic, as with people working in small teams all editing each other's work, there are going to be variations; but there are strict style guides (and I mean strict) with automated code tests and constant code reviews. Engineers are also given the tools they want. If you want Eclipse, sure! If you prefer Notepad++, sure!

Overall, Google has an integrated tech platform and offers tools on high-quality output with continous agile improvement methodologies. Fantastic! There are also a lot of open research issues within Google; improving distributed systems and information extraction being two (contact me for a full list).

After a short break (Google sort of overran a little) we had our second half of mini tutorials, out of:

Track A: Interaction Design
Track B: Immersive Environments
Track C: Programming Language Semantics
Track D: AI for the Web
Track E: Sensor Nets
Track F: Computer Gaming
Track G: Human-Centred and Affective Computing

This time, we decided not to go with Computer Gaming but instead go with another also interesting subject, that of virtual reality and Immersive Environments (Track B).

Virtual environments are where you movements are tracked and the display and audio are changed along with you. The kit is often also voice activated. A few examples of virtual environments include Twinity, Neer and of course, Second Life.

However, they also offer some virtual tools, such as the historic Nintendo series (the Nintendo VirtualBoy, the Nintendo Power Glove, the Nintendo Wii).

However, the research tools used were the UCL ReaCTor, a Virtual Reality (VR) "Cave" system. This system is used because head-mounted displays often cause motion sickness due to high latency (ie, you move your head quickly, and the display updates too slowly, seconds afterwards). This is due to the primitive OS and the low screen refresh rate.

By using the Caves, people are able to immerse themselves more fully in a VR system. This provides a tool, a high-bandwidth human-computer interface, it exploits proprioception and participants treat VR differently from desktop graphics. This is evident from the fact that users behave as if VR was real. As such, reactions are usually appropriate for the situation (they treat virtual characters as real people, react to explosions and projectiles, and also to large drops).

The avatars themselves obviously make an important part in the creation of VR systems; the more realistic they look, the more realistic people expect them to behave, and therefore the less believable they are if they don't behave that realistically at all (if they look realistic that is). Therefore, if you have a stupid AI, make it cartoony and it's more believable.

I'll finish off once again with information on the dinner. We went to Girton College, a 5-10 minute drive from Homerton College. The Gala dinner was officially sponsored by Microsoft Research, and it was very nice of them to do so. At Girton, we entered a nice hall and was offered a Christmassy lunch. To start was pumpkin soup. There was turkey, with sausage wrapped in bacon, and veg. And for desert, was homemade christmas pudding, followed by coffee and tea.

As can be seen by the pictures, we all had lots of fun blowing up balloons (presented in little christmas boxes along with poppers, tape and a horn) and then letting them go to whizz around the room making noise! Overall, a fun evening to end another amazing day at this wonderful conference!

Computer Science 2008 - Day 1

2008-12-15T22:00:00.001Z

Heya all! So, here is my blog post on the Computer Science 2008 conference I am attending in Homerton College, University of Cambridge, Cambridge. You can see more on this on the Facebook page, or on the official website, including a list of all the major sponsors that sponsor the event.

It took Saqib and I about 1 hour and 45 minutes to get to Cambridge. When we arrived, we were registered and given a badge registering our name, and our College name (Goldsmiths). Before we proceeded to hand in our bags to the Porter, we got given another bag (provided by Microsoft Research) filled with wonderful goodies. The images shown here only show some of what was being offered to us.

Oh, and the small things in the image on the left, from left to right, are mints (which Saqib didn't get), two usb sticks, a calculator, and a funky notebook from Google with the front page being a representation of Google Earth zooming in on what is (supposedly) Google's headquarters. Simply awesome!

Then we had the introductory speech. The conference was stated to "open doors to research", with many opportunities for research being offered. This was clearly so as the conference is being hosted by the UK CRC (UK Computer Research Committee).

The keynote speech for today was on Security Messages, and it was given by Lorrie Faith Cranor from Carnegie Mellon University, all the way in the US!! It was a fantastic speech that covered how approximately 64% of all people ignore most of the warnings they are shown, how this is, and what we can do to improve on it.Most people ignore warnings because they don't understand what they mean, or what to do about them, or they are too similar to each other. As such, most security breaches are due to human error. Therefore, there is a significant human threat to security from not only malicious humans, but also unmotivated or incapable humans.

A "human-in-the-loop" framework was presented, which listed ways for communication to be effectively. This leads to the human threat identification and mitigation process, a way of identifying a task, automating it as much as possible, and then finding out when that task as failed and mitigating any failures as much as possible. By automating as much as possible, and improving warnings, people should pay more attention to the less frequent warning messages that are shown.

To find out more about this subject, visit the offical CUPS website.

After a lunch break came the Grand Challenges. There were 9 Grand Challenges overall in Computer Science, and you can find out more about them by viewing the PDFs available here (although they miss out GC8 which is Learning for Life (how to use technology to help us learn) and GC9 which is Bringing the Past for the Citizen (using technology to review the past)).

We picked two of the Grand Challenge's to look at, and the two we saw was GC6 (Dependable Systems Evolution) and GC9 (Bringing the Past to Life for the Citizen).

GC6, hosted by John Fitzgerald from the University of Newcastle, was all about using automated verification to deliver warrantable software; that is, software that we can trust not to continually give us blue screen's of death. This is down by producing design languages that can be rigorously analysed by humans and by machines, and having formal methods that offer in "hidden" push-button tools that perform these analyses.

For example, Microsoft's Device Driver Verification, as device drivers caused 85% of Windows XP crashes. Doing this helped improve the stability immensely. Another case is the Pacemaker challenge, making complex software that is guaranteed to work in a cardiac pacemaker.

By using formal methods to verify software, it offers a larger stage in design and less testing and bug fixing. The area is wide open, and if you are interested in this area of expertise I have contact information.

GC9, hosted by David Arnold from the University of Brighton, was all about reconstructing the past using technology. It was designed to be a cross between Time Team, Laura Croft and the European Digital Library. Among offering both economic and social benefits, it would enable architect's, historians and archaeologists to work together to show off history.

There were different ways to communicate this history. Through Avatars, Bluescreens, an RFID game, and a virtual reality overlay. There is also a lot to do in this challenge; the sheer scale of data capture as everyone has their own cultural heritage, views and interpretations; there is the simulation vs artificial life; there are digitalisation issues; semantics issues (what to record and what are their significance); how to tell the stories of the past; using images to tell stories; and the challenges of using legacy data.

The final talk was on the Rough Guide to Entrepreneurship. It was hosted by Jack Lang, an entrepreneur from Cambridge. He stated that an entrepreneur is someone who starts a project without having the full resources or knowledge. There are many reasons to become an entrepreneur, either because you can see an opportunity, because you have a good idea, or simply because you just can. You must obviously know why you are doing it, and that will be either for fun or profit.

Now is a good time to start, because everyone is providing the money and support to get you (and the rest of the economy) started. There are also a lot of eager people out there to help you, the Government included, and of course if you can "dare to begin" then there is the adventure. You do need to have a good investor criteria (if you are going to get someone to invest in you), and for that you need to know your market, your technical advantages, your people and the finance available to you (with the market being the most important criteria for high-tech... who needs a fooglefarg?) Oh, and by clicking that link, you can see the slide notes for this lecture.

Finally, I just want to bring you up to date on what happened over dinner (the welcome dinner and icebreaker). The dinner was lamb (lovely!) with potato, carrots and broccoli in a candlelit (quite dark) atmosphere. Desert was chocolate orange tart. Then, things began to light up for the icebreaker, which was none other then Caribbean drum kits!

And yes, we played the drums!

It is hard to summarise the four lectures (and the evening) we had today in a simple blog post, but I hope I did my best in trying to give you a taster of exactly what we experienced. It truly is an amazing conference and I am once again honoured to be part of it. More pictures and information to come in the future blog posts!! Until next time :)

Computer Science 2008

2008-12-14T23:51:00.002Z

Right, it's extremely late and I don't have much time, so I am just writing a short blog entry this week to say that I will be attending Computer Science 2008 conference in Cambridge from tomorrow. I will of course be keeping you all up to date, both via Twitter and this blog.

If I know you, and you wish to access my protected Twitter stream, and you have a Twitter account, then look me up by visiting my Twitter feed (see link on right). If not, don't worry as I will be posting nightly posts on this blog with updates on all that has happened.

Right, night all!

Twitter is now Protected

2008-12-11T01:04:00.003Z

Just a quick note to let everyone know that my Twitter account is now protected. What that means is, if you want to view my Twitter updates, you have to have your own Twitter account and you have to be a known friend. If you match those two statements, then speak to me :)

Have a Happy Twittery Holiday!

2008-12-07T22:24:00.006Z

Welcome to December! Another year almost up, another year looming on the other side, another year older. Time seems to pass so fast!

Sorry I haven't updated for two weeks, but last weekend (and this one just past) I was quite busy doing other stuff. Suffice to say I haven't had the time. However... I have found a wonderful new way to keep you all informed during my long absences of blogging!

Twitter!

"What is twitter?", you may ask, and a good question too! Twitter is a service that lets me update what I am up to as easily as sending a free text message. This will allow you to keep up to what I really am up to, rather then relying on my sketchy blog posts.

Anyway, to summarise these past two weeks, I'll simply talk about what I can remember... which is only stuff from the past week it seems (especially considering the hour I am writing this blog post at). To start with, this past week has seen me working on both my Design report for my project, my Logic assignment, and an E-Commerce assignment, at Uni. I have also been doing various things for the companies I work for.

On Friday, we hosted a surprise party for my brother Andrew, to celebrate that he turned 18 in early November. Quite a few of his friends turned up, and we had a nice dinner followed by a late evening. Then the past two days have been spent finishing off both my E-Commerce and Design report assignments; luckily both have been completed for now!

In the future, I am going to Computer Science 2008 from the 15th-17th of December, up in Cambridge University. Looks to be a good programme of entertaining computer science stuff. Really looking forward to it and going to be sure to keep you all updated with extremely regular Twitter and Blog posts, complete with photos!

I also break up this Friday. So this is my last week at Uni before the Christmas holidays really start. And you can see my personal countdown to Christmas day over on the right (under my Twitter Updates section).

Right! I will finish this post by wishing you all a Happy Twittery Holiday!! Yeehar!! :)

Mirages

2008-11-23T11:26:00.006Z

So, what have I been getting up to in the past week? Well... at Uni, we've been getting on with learning again, except in my project where we have switched to designing the system. We've got a few assignments back and will continue to get them back this week as well. I've also been given a bursary which will allow me to go to Cambridge for a research conference labelled "Computer Science 2008" sometime in December.

I've also been working on various projects outside of Uni, a few for a couple of companies I work for. This has helped, as always, to provide me with real-life work experience which works alongside my University's given work; allowing me to strengthen each side with the other.

In EVE Online, I recently decided to purchase a GTC and sell it for in-game ISK (the games currency), making me richer then I could ever imagine being. Now I need to sit down and plot... after all, in EVE, you really can do anything if you have the means to do it.

I've also been watching Robin Hood, the BBC's recent version, Series 2. It's getting quite interesting with a lot of twists and turns in the story. And I've just finished off a book series called "The Mirage Makers". The book series follows quite an adult storyline and at times was quite depressing, but I read it all and witnessed the triumphant conclusion which really does make it all worthwhile. It is based in a fantasy world where an evil empire rules and tries to take over the world, and the fantastic path of how one person and her son can change the course of everything. Fantastic read! (Which is why the title is what it is)

Finally, I'll finish off this blog post by saying that I've got App Store mad! That's right... I just love to spend a few hours browsing the App Store for new and exciting applications that I could install on my iPhone. Perhaps one of these days I'll get my website into order and get it so I can show you some of these things!

Until next week then!

A Fresh Start

2008-11-16T14:36:00.002Z

Hello everyone!

Through my wonderful use of OmniFocus, the great tool for both my Mac and iPhone that I'm starting to use more and more to keep track of things, I am planning to update my blog on a far more regular (weekly) basis, and hearby name Friday "Blog Day". I will use the evening on Friday for posting a blog entry representing the past week.

I will also be looking into updating my website as there are various parts of my website that are really out of date. I've just been so busy doing other things that I haven't had the time. Especially with my third year at uni, and all the other projects going on in the sidelines.

Finally, I may very well be posting up more pictures like the one I did on the 1st November. That was a great game!

Anyway, let's move off what I plan to do and move into what I have done. Well, the last few weeks have been the busiest weeks possible at University. This was because it was assignment season. I had four projects I had to do, one for each of my courses; and some of them were quite difficult. I should be getting my results for each of them over the next coming weeks.

I'm also getting back into finding time for EVE Online. I plan to get up to 65 mil on the game and then finish off my trading spree. I also intend to revamp the Media Center, not that anyone uses it mind; and that includes replacing the video tutorials with written tutorials (and screenshots) at some point.

Well, I am going to finish there. So until next week, have a good time!

Chelsea 5-0 Sunderland

2008-11-01T20:02:00.001Z

My New Gaming Rig

2008-10-11T21:48:00.010Z

Heya all!! Just want to bring you up with the latest development from my life: my new Gaming Desktop!! Here are the specs and pictures of my latest and greatest (nicknamed jDiablo)!

Case: NZXT Lexa (Black) [1st and 2nd pictures]

Hard Disk Drive: 500GB Caviar SE16 SATA 300

Memory: 2GB Corsair DDR2 800MHz C5 TwinX

Graphics Card: BFG GeForce 8800 GT OC 512MB PCI Express

Power Supply: Thermaltake Toughpower 550W

CPU Cooler: Thermaltake Golden Orb Cooler

Motherboard: ASRock P43Twins1600 Socket 775

Optical Drive: BTC DVD-Rom x16

Speakers: Nimzy Vibro Max [5th picture]

Headset: Advent PC Headset

Monitor: Samsung - Syncmaster 226CW - (LS22MEXSFV) 22'' [7th and 9th Pictures]

Keyboard: Saitek Eclipse Gaming Keyboard [3rd Picture]

Mouse: Razer Deathadder, with Kensington Duo Gel Wave Mouse Wristrest Black/Blue [4th Picture]

Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP Home

EVE Online: Already installed! [Last Picture]

Back at University

2008-09-26T09:41:00.002Z

For my third year! Once again, I will be studying the sacred art of Internet Computing; working out how to make programs that can run successfully over a Wide Area Network; how businesses use these programs to further their own means; and how a good clear, clean-cut user interface benefits everyone in the end.

The third year is full of surprises! Not only do we have our third year project, which we are asked to spend no less then ten hours a week on, but we also have to choose four of our subjects out of a list. So I will of course be thinking a lot over the next week as to what subjects I am going to take.

As for concentrating my next blog post on my holiday... I have recently looked over my very descriptive review of Valencia and decided I am unable to meet that at all. Therefore, I am hoping for better success in my next holidays. Perhaps then I might actually right a diary instead of ignoring it!

Anyway, moving back to the present, I want to point out that following the complete and utter failure of my Sony Vaio's motherboard, I am dumping Sony and going for a Desktop computer. It should arrive within the next few weeks and then I'll post screenies and info on it and all it's glory! It will be grand!! More on that to come.

For now though, I've not got much else to say. Hopefully this year at Uni will be just as successful as the previous years!!

Website Into PHP

2008-09-05T17:36:00.003Z

Just a quick blog post to announce my Jarada Productions website's move into PHP! Not only does this mean that my entire website has entered the wonderful world of Object Oriented gooiness, it also means that it will make editing my website a whole lot easier and more fun! So look out for increased updates to my website in the near future!

I've also introduced a reCaptcha on my contact page which will help push off any spam email that some people have been sending my way. I only want real people getting in contact with me who actually want to speak some sense...

Anyhow, that's it for now. Speak to you soon!

Into September

2008-09-04T13:12:00.003Z

OK, so the thing about that offline diary I said in my last blog post... is that we were actually very, very busy. I didn't really get very much time off at all, far too little to write a diary. So for now, I think I will simply get round to posting a one-post review of my holiday, and posting up some pictures of it all.

Anyway, since I've got back I've been quite busy doing quite a few other things, including sorting out a replacement for my iPhone (which I stupidly and accidentally dropped in a lake in Disneyland Paris off the top of a boat), trying to fix my Sony Vaio (which has decided it doesn't like working anymore and has gone on strike), and catching up with various online websites which I neglected over the holiday (such as this one).

That said, at the time of writing, I only have around 17 days left until the end of my holiday. You can see the countdown timer on my main blog page to the right; it's slowly counting down to zero! As such, I have been preparing vigoursly to ensure that I am ready for my Uni when that day comes. I will need to re-enrol, and have my project analysed and informally designed. I know what it's going to contain now at least, it's just getting that down from the disorganised mess in my brain to an organised list on some paper somewhere (be that electronic or otherwise).

I am of course hoping (still) to get into far more regular posting, and to that degree I will be looking for an iPhone-based app or similar in order to allow me to think up blog posts while I am on the move. This will hopefully provide me with a platform from which I can create these blog posts while I am on the train to and from Uni, for example.

Anyway, I will leave this blog for now so I can concentrate my next blog post on my holiday to Paris/Barcelona that I have just gone past. So, until then!

Into August

2008-08-13T11:07:00.007Z

Right! Time to post a catchup on a few things I hadn't got round to posting about yet. Once again! Well you should all know by now that I am probably one of the web's most irregular posters...

Birthday Weekend
Hehe, anyway, my birthday weekend sometime ago started on Friday 25th July. My birthday was littered with preparing for Saturday, which I shall explain about shortly, but we did take some time out to provide me with a selection of presents, most noteworthy being quite a lot of PSP-based games. I was also promised a new iPhone, although O2 stocks were low and so I was unable to get one on the day.

Saturday was our Jarrett Family's Summer Party, representing our celebration of Summer, and my Dad and my Birthdays. It started at 12:30 and finished around the same time 12 hours later. And it was awesome! We had our usual large bouncy slide, and smaller bouncy castle. In addition, we also had a large marquee which housed the food that our lovely caterers offered. And we had near perfect weather. There wasn't much else we could ask for!! Thank you to everyone who attended and I hope you enjoyed yourselves!!

Sunday was our day of cleaning up, followed by rest. The party on Sunday left a lot of mess, and so the morning was spent tidying and dealing with the recycling, while the afternoon and evening spent in relaxation.

Monday 28th July dawned early, as it was my Dad's birthday. His presents included a new BBQ, delivered to him before the party started, and a few other things of course. He also managed to get his new BMW M3 delivered on the same day! So all around, it was a pretty awesome weekend.

Past Weeks
As promised, a review of the past weeks is in order. Work has generally been the same, with a few new websites being brought into the mix. I may post more about that in a later blog entry. As for my room, the carpet has been laid, the lights installed, and all that needs to be completed now is a few paint jobs, the curtains (the last thing on my list now) and the LCARS accessories. I may soon post a few pictures up onto the web to show you what my room looks like now!

Then, there is the Avatar: The Last Airbender finale! Oh, awesome was an understatement. I don't think I've ever seen a more perfect ending, as there was only one slight niggle from my point of view (that being Zuko's mother... what was the point of bringing up that question moments before the end?) But other then that, it was brilliant! And the way Aang defeated the Firelord I thought was perfectly fitting, despite some criticism I read on the forums.

Anyway, I'll post more about my University and other matters in another post.

The Present
Right now, I am on holiday in Paris, France. I will be starting to write an offline diary (unlike my previous holidays and more like my first real recorded holiday) and posting them as and when I get Internet time. So until then... au revoir!

Happy Birthday

2008-07-25T23:48:00.000Z

I am 20 today!! No longer a teenager, and no longer able to use that excuse for things!

Feel free to leave any comments you wish to, and when I find an ounce of time, I will blog a full report of this weekend (and past weeks) onto here.

Until then then...

Into July

2008-07-06T11:50:00.005Z

6th July! 6th July!!

Well, this is probably the longest time I haven't posted since I started posting. Heh. So I guess I'll bring you all up to date on the latest happenings.

Home
At home, I've been busy sorting out my room. The lighting is being organised as we speak, and the carpet has already been ordered. The curtains will be next, and then the accessories, such as LCARS Posters, will finish the room off. So not long to go.

As I said in my previous post, the summer party in July is approaching fast, as well as my birthday on the 25th. Preparations for that have already been put into motion as well.

Finally, my brothers have joined me and have broken up from school. So we are now all no-longer attending educational classes...

Uni
And with that, I move onto my University. I have recently received news of preliminary results stating that I have passed the second year. Which is awesome! As for work on GooLife, I am trying to move forward on that in my spare time but it is proving difficult to. My aim at current is to see if I can get a prototype of JXTA, the P2P Java networking tool. However, it requires ANT to work, so I need to get that configured first.

And finally, I am going to re-kick start my 3rd year project as we need to begin to move that forward as well. Hopefully both these projects can be pushed forward.

Work
At work, I've been working on two tasks. Firstly, I'm continuing to program my demo-app for the iPhone. It is getting there... slowly. Soon, I will be able to show people what I have done on it. The second task I'm working on is the Digital Vega website. The reorganisation and restructure of the CSS of the site is almost complete, just a few more images to change and then I can present it again.

Gaming
There are a few games I am playing on recently, both website-based and installed on my computer. They are the USS Andromeda, LCARS Terminal Forum RPG, a game on Facebook, EVE Online, Guild Wars, and of course the legendary Sims 2.

As you can probably tell, the majority of these games are multiplayer-based; ie, you play online with real people. Hey, I love MMORPGs!

Lastly, the Avatar: The Last Airbender is reairing from July 14th and airing new episodes every day until the finale on the 19th. Care to say I will be hooked when that happens... can't wait!

Final Note
Well, I hope this has shown you that I've been busy both working and enjoying my summer holiday so far. We have a plan to go to France and then Spain in August, so perhaps I will be able to post about that a little better then my last vacation...

So, until my next blog post, farewell!

Talent

2008-05-31T11:53:00.003Z

Well, it certainly hasn't been too long since my last blog post, but I wouldn't say it has been regular. That's because I've been busy doing other things and whenever I think about posting blog entries it's usually just gone midnight.

I am currently writing in my bedroom, which is even messier then before we started cleaning it out, and my brothers room next door is only just being put together. So his room is completely empty. I wonder where all the messy stuff came from?

Anyway, this past week has mainly been filled with working during the day and watching Britains Got Talent during the evening. Yes, I watch that show; it's quite funny to see what the three judges are going to say.

Last week I spent the day working and the evening playing games. I just really have too many things to do at the moment, so I am hoping for some productive work today to get things that I have been avoiding or not achieving out the way; such as this blog post.

As my room and my evening gets clearer, I hope I will get into the habit of posting these blog posts on a daily basis. Of course we all know that will take a little while before I get to that stage, but that's my aim for this blog. It really is annoying to try and remember the past 7/14/28 days past and summarise it all in a single blog post.

Now, for the future, I have something I want to point out. I will be sending invites to a select few people, but I just want to post this here for those lucky people who read my blog post. The thing is this: my family will be hosting a summer party in July, complete with food, drink, bouncy castles, and everyone and anyone we can invite. Of course we do have limited space, so I can't invite everyone I know, but if you are interested, and you would like to know more, feel free to contact me and if I can fit you in I'll send you an invite.

Right, with that out the way have a good weekend and hopefully I will post a blog soon!

Back to the Net

2008-05-20T11:08:00.003Z

Well! It's been just under a month since my last blog post, so I thought I would update you all and hopefully go back into regular blog posting. So, here's what I have to say (once again split into sections...)

University
My second year is over! Exams are outta the way and I've now got four whole juicy months ahead of doing things other then University work. Does that mean I am not going to do anything for Uni? Nope, of course not!

I still have the development of GooLife to continue, and re-spark back into life. And I have recently released the Project Presentation and Project Report's for my third year Uni project, that is the LCARS Terminal Starship Commander. Just click that if you want to see them (apologies for the poor sound in the presentation, but there's not much I can do at the moment to fix that).

But other then these two projects, that's it for Uni work until my third and final year kicks in mid-september. Just check the number of days I have left on the time shown on the right... yeehar!!

My Room
I have pictures! Although my room is quite messy, I can point you to my web album that is holding the latest pictures of my room, including my new Sliding Door Wardrobe, and soon my new Desk and Chair! The album will be updated as and when I get new pictures, but my room is far from finished yet and there's still a way to go.

Gaming
Recently, I have been playing quite light games on my Mac and Windows PC during the free moments I've had, as I've been quite busy catching up on things (such as Blogging!)

Hopefully soon though I will be back in the game that I really want to return to... EVE Online. I want to celebrate my summer holidays by going online for an entire day and trading throughout that day non-stop, making lots of money. So I will look out for a day that's relatively free to do that sometime in the future.

And of course, now I'm on Summer holidays, I can get to play other games too!

Online
I also have to sort out my website at some point, and I'm still planning on moving away from basic XHTML to PHP produced XHTML. But that is a big project so I haven't had time to take part in it yet.

Final Notes
So, as you can see, even when I'm off from Uni I still have a lot of things I want to do! So I will be just as busy throughout the Summer holidays, also owing to the fact that I will be working on iPhone development throughout the holidays as well.

Until the next blog post then!

Exam Season & Catchup on Stuff

2008-04-24T22:30:00.003Z

Yeah, I know. I haven't posted another Blog entry for quite a while. So, I guess I've been too busy doing some other stuff, right? Well, I guess it's time I bring you up to date.

In this blog entry:

My New Mac (and why)
My New Bedroom (and progress)
The end of the second year at Uni
The end of a wonderful Anime series

My New Mac
So, let's start off with my new Mac. Yes. Let me repeat that for all out there: I have a new MacBook. So, why am I brandishing a lavish new MacBook? Well, the official reason is that I am now creating applications for the iPhone/iTouch. That's right! I get to learn the wonderful language of Objective-C.

For those who are interested, let me tell you that (from a newly-become Java developer) that Objective-C, apart from it's annoying memory management process (where's the garbage collector?), and the fact the interface and implementation is split, it is not a bad language. I love the Smalltalk-style syntax it uses for messaging; it just so beats everything hands down. And of course, it has all the benefits of Object-Oriented Programming.

What I don't like, is XCode. Apples programming tool. Sure, I have to use it, because at the moment Eclipse does not support Objective-C. But, compared to Eclipse, XCode just doesn't pull it. It is like going back in time; because it feels like I'm using some clunky old machine. Sure, it may do things Eclipse can't, as well as a few things that Eclipse can do, but it's just so difficult to use compared to Eclipse that those things don't matter much.

My advice to Apple: have a look at Eclipse and get into gear. It's time you caught up with how the rest of the world develops.

Moving out of development, and my MacBook is an awesome machine. You heard it from me: Mac OS beats Windows hands down! So, does that mean I'm a convert and am going to switch over to only using Mac? ... No. I still think Windows has a lot of huge advantages to it's OS. Not mentioning the wide use of the OS, the biggest advantage it has is the PC Game market. The amount of games on sale for PC just completely outstrips that of Mac: most major games developers who ship on anything but consoles ship to PC over Mac. Not to mention my Mac lacks a graphics card...

So no, I'm not ditching my Windows. But I do think Mac is better. Kapeesh? Oh, and perhaps when I get my website sorted out, you may see a few good Mac Apps that I like appearing there.

My New Bedroom
My bedroom is coming along nicely. The walls are done, the bed is in, and the wardrobe and carpet and soon to follow. And that's all I really have to say on the matter (yay! I love king-sized beds!)

End of the Second Year at Uni
As I said earlier, it's exam season. That means, for the next one and a half weeks, I will be revising hard! And for the next one and a half weeks after that, I will be revising hard and taking exams too! After the 14th May, I break up. That's when it's all over!

I can't wait!

But I must concentrate on getting past these exams and doing well. Remembering all the little things that matter in each subject. Practicing past papers. And doing work over playing with my Mac (and any related games).

Then I can concentrate on things like LCARS Terminal (RPG and Starship Commander), EVE Online (my trading), my various projects (such as my website), and the last thing to talk about, Avatar...

The End of Avatar: The Last Airbender
This July, the two-hour four-part finale of my first and by far favorite Anime series that I've really taken a heart to takes place. Avatar: The Last Airbender comes to a close.

For those of you who haven't started watching it yet: I suggest you watch the first few episodes (and I mean watch episodes 1, 2 and 3) to see if you like it as much as I do. It may look childish, but it has a lot of adult themes running through it, it's well animated with an absolutely delightful story.

There are whole websites and forums dedicated to the Anime, and a huge fan base (compared to similar titles), as well as my family and a few of my friends (who maybe aren't as big a fan as I am). But anyway, I leave you with the trailer, as well as a way to watch the series online if you're interested.

Watch Avatar: The Last Airbender episodes

Happy Easter plus My Catchup on Stuff

2008-03-23T17:00:00.006Z

For all who support and follow Easter: Happy Easter to you all! For all who do not follow this festival: Happy Chocolate Giving and Receiving Day to you all! Go out and buy lots of chocolate anyway!

This is going to be one long post. So I'm going to divide it up into sections.

Goldsmiths
So, what is going on at my university? Well, as you may or may not know: I'm on Easter holidays until the 21st April! So what you should be asking is: what has happened at my university?

And in fact, the last two weeks of Term (in fact the past two weeks) were so busy there were times that I thought I wouldn't have time to finish all that I had to do. Late nights and early mornings had ensued and it was only on the Wednesday just gone that everything came to a climax and then quickly fell again when deadline extensions thankfully came in for my two remaining projects. So what did I have to achieve?

Well, in Java we have put together, successfully, GooLife. In fact, it's so good I've even produced a YouTube video that shows off this fantastic application. This group project was fantastic; and it wouldn't have been the program it is today without all the contributions that people have made to it. From a personal point of view; it wouldn't have happened without them. Congrats to you all! It is of course going to still be in development, so who knows where it will go now?

In Website Design, I have built an PHP\MySQL\XSLT\XHTML based RSS News Aggregator that supports a backend database with a frontend PHP interface to allow for multiple users to register; choose from a variety of BBC feeds; and most importantly, filter, sort through, limit and hide chosen feeds.

In Software Engineering, I had to hand in a Project Report in regards to the LCARS Terminal Starship Commander. This report specified exactly what my plan was going to be in designing and building the program. I will, in due time of course, post up both this report and my presentation for private viewers who are related to this project (most specifically, LCARS Terminal themselves).

Finally, in Databases, which was a smaller group project, we have built a DVD and Video Game purchase and rental store. Although this project is the only project that is still ongoing (without being marked yet), it is nearly all finished. I intend to hand it in on Wednesday this week at the very latest, as this weekend has been extremely busy at home (as will be explained next).

Home
As said before, I have been extremely busy at home during this weekend. This is due to a very exciting change that is taking place before my very eyes: the redesign of my room. I first intended it to be a Star Trek bedroom as close to that from the USS Voyager as possible; but now I think it will more be a Star Trek 'themed' bedroom rather then an exact or even close to exact copy. This is due to three main reasons:

The fact that we are on a budget that doesn't support such a design
The fact that at current we have or have ordered furniture that isn't exactly found on a starship
And the fact that we live in the 21st Century; there really isn't that much demand for 24th Century designs

But it's still exciting and will still look like a darn good room when finished!

Website
My personal website will also be going another redesign. As I have learnt more at University, I intend to simplify and enhance my website by converting all of the current files from basic XHTML into PHP enhanced XHTML. This will allow me to not only have a single web page for navigation links (rather then at current having to edit each individual HTML page to change a single link appearing on all those pages) as well as to add in extensions that only PHP can provide.

In the present, I have just upgraded my Web Portal to that provided by Netvibes. This again will allow my Web Portal to become more then what it is, propelling it out of a webpage and into a miniature website in a single webpage. It will still be the centre of my web existence, but it will be greater then what it is now by a long way.

Of course this blog will adapt to service the new Web Portal, but don't worry, it's position in my web empire is to stay! I have no intentions of removing or replacing this blog anytime soon.

Final Note
As you may have noticed, I am extremely busy at the moment. And during the holidays, I get to take on more work! So I am perhaps even more busy now then I was during the University term. Anyhow, I want to inform all EVE Online people that my return to full-time gaming on EVE is imminent and won't be affected by my current amount of work that I have been given. See you soon in space!

Busy

2008-03-01T16:11:00.003Z

Well, Reading Week has passed some two weeks ago. Hehe. So I've been extremely busy since then, as this is the half-term where assignments flood in thick and fast. And it's also a time that's busy for work as well.

I just wanted to say I've managed to find some time to update my website. The updates should be brought online later today, but don't expect too much: this update is really just laying the foundations for future updates, so to speak.

As for my gaming, I've found this wonderful new game called AudioSurf. You should check it out on YouTube as well. I've been playing it quite a bit during my free time.

I've also been doing some extensive Java Programming in designing the networking for our class Java Project, labelled GooLife. GooLife is about having these virtual tanks that have virtual creatures in them, and they connect to other virtual tanks on other computers over a network.

Anyhow, until next time...

Reading Week (Again!)

2008-02-12T22:15:00.000Z

Dear me! Look how long it's been since I've last posted! I haven't even got my diary sorted out from South Africa... hopefully I can get that sorted out soon.

So, let me bring you up to speed on what I've been doing since I've returned from the Cape. Well, it's been University as usual up until this week, which happens to be reading week. During the past few weeks, I have done some pretty neat networking Java programs, studied normalising databases, learnt how to do some pretty neat stuff with PHP, and decided my 9-month long 3rd year project: none other then the LCARS Terminal Starship Commander.

This game, based off Star Trek, will allow prospective Captain's around the Alpha Quadrant to take on the position of commanding a starship. They will be able to choose their crew and ship, and then go off on missions whose very ending is affected by the decisions they make. That's right! These missions will provide for multiple endings, all based on the players decisions they make as the proceed through the mission!

Of course, the game wouldn't be complete if it didn't also have a fully operational mission editor, allowing players with good enough imaginations to come up with some pretty interesting stories to put into play. However, it is still a long time in production, so we shall see how far this gets.

In other news, in my online MMORPG EVE Online, my corp has moved. They are now stationed as 7th Sense, to avoid any confusion the old name had with us. Apparently there was another corp called Chaos Industries who were some pretty tough pirates, or something like that. Anyhow, as we are a non-PvP corp, we decided to move away from the name as we don't want to be associated with PvP. At least... not at present.

Now we finally get to his week... Reading Week. As you might have guessed, a lot has been done this week, but they are all trivial things. I spent a busy weekend with my family... went to see The Water Horse which was fantastic (despite mixed reviews, I guess it's a "you either love it or hate it" kind of film). Monday was spent doing a few things around the house, as will be tomorrow (although I will fit some Java in as well). Today was spent at work; catching up, sorting out a few things, and upgrading Firefox with a new look and feel with a new theme and some extra Add-ons.

I have continued to provide updates to the various websites I own. I just want to add here that I will be adding some extra Addons to my recommended Addons page, and removing a few too. I will also be adding a new page: my recommended iTouch programs. I have quite a few!

Well, for now, I will bid you farewell. And hopefully I will have some diary entries soon as to what I got up to in Cape Town!

South Africa... here we come!

2008-01-15T23:36:00.000Z

I have faced the inevitable and come out victorious!! I have a passport that is valid, working and doesn't need to be replaced until 2018. It's greeeat!

So, I can officially confirm that I am off to Cape Town, South Africa, this Thursday 17th January and returning next Thursday 24th!!

Bon Voyage all!!

Preparing for the Inevitable

2008-01-14T12:00:00.000Z

Well, I recently posted this on my Facebook account as my status, and I thought it deserved a little bit more then I put. So, I will post this on my blog now, and make this as public as I can.

This Thursday, there is a 50:50 chance that I will be going to South Africa. Why a 50:50 chance? Why not 100%?

It all started sometime last week. With under one week to go until we need to go to South Africa, my brother and I find out that our passports had expired. Not only had they expired, but they were children passports and we were adults. Under new British law, it is required that those needing new adult British passports for the first time have to sit an interview and possibly wait up to 6 weeks for the new passport.

But what was extremely strange was that our passports should have still been valid. We had 4 and a half year passports, and we should have had 5 year passports. A short call to the passport office, and we had an appointment booked for Tuesday (tomorrow).

So, the inevitable is that we are going to fail to get our passports, not be allowed to fly to South Africa, and not turn up for the wedding we are invited to go to. All in all, that's something that needs to be prepared for.

Here's to the inevitable being obliterated!!

Welcome to 2008!

2008-01-02T18:27:00.000Z

Hello and welcome to 2008! A new year has arrived, a new time frame in the history of humanity, a new society driven time period for us to classify and enjoy!

So I wish you all a Happy New Year and good luck in 2008.

Now, I want to show you my pride and joy lying peacefully in my driveway: my new Honda Civic! Here are some wonderful pictures of my new car...

Some things to note before the pics are shown. Firstly, you have to press that nice shiny red button to start the engine, it's quite fun! There are two closed sunroofs in one of the pictures. The car comes with cruise control, a/c, a radio with CD Player, and various places to hide luggage and the like as standard; with blue underfloor lighting and really useful Bluetooth connectivity (with my mobile phone) added in. And finally, the number plates are digitally hidden ;)

Xmas Time!

2007-12-26T13:00:00.000Z

Merry Christmas to One and All! I hope you all got what you wanted for Christmas :) I certainly did!

I got an iPod iTouch, quite a few DVDs including Princess Mononoke, a few games including Trainz Railway Simulator 2004, and a large poster detailing the inside of the USS Enterprise-D.

Brilliant!

The week before Christmas took a wonderful turn when on Saturday, we went down to the Honda garage and they announced the car had arrived! It is available to be picked up on Friday, so I will have a new car for Christmas too!

I have been quite busy during the week, doing some work for work and Uni, as well as playing EVE a lot. On EVE, I bought a new Thorax and an Iteron IV (a Cruiser and a Trading vessel) with the Thorax being a great EVE Christmas present!

Anyhow, I will finish off this bizarre blog post by adding that over the next couple of days I will be online on MSN, so if you want to catch me you can.

Christmas Hols: The Beginning

2007-12-17T23:57:00.000Z

Long time no post, I know... but the weeks after Operation Gold were extensively busy. For starters, I had two assignments to deliver by Tuesday last week. One was a Database systems coursework, and another was a Data Communications assignment.

The Database coursework was mostly easy, if long, except for two particular questions that were designed to be extremely difficult, and a challenge for even those skilled at SQL. The Data Communications coursework involved analysing PING packets sent to ten different hosts in South Africa and the Middle East (supposedly) and took a lot of time to complete to perfection.

Add on top of that the biggest Java lab of all (GooChristmas), as well as all the other stuff that goes on, and things just got in the way.

The Christmas holidays began early on Friday after the Java lecture was cancelled. The day after was spent mainly out in Guildford at the LaserQuest (and Burger King for lunch) for my brothers late birthday party. Saturday evening, my brother hijacked my laptop for a 'through-the-night' gaming session, that ended at midday the next day. As would be expected, he has since slept for the past two days.

Sunday's highlight was a trip into Redhill to visit Honda. I planned on getting a new Honda Civic Hybrid, but when comparing it with what the original Honda Civic offered, the latter was chosen. Other then that, Sunday was quite a relaxed day, and I found out that our Corp had been declared war on in EVE. Magical!

Today I went for a test drive of the Honda Civic. It drives beautifully; feeling like a manual car turned auto rather then an ordinary automatic. In that respect, you get to feel the gear changes the car makes, and Honda's intuitive 'paddle sticks' on the steering wheel, in conjunction with the gear stick, allow you to switch between controlling the gears manually and letting the car do the hard work. Not to mention the car looks like something out of, say, Star Trek... and I love the dashboard! (Similar but not quite right picture). Enough said!

Tomorrow is also going to be a busy day, but that's for a future post!

I also want to announce here that I intend to release GooChristmas on my website over the next few days, as well as put more work for my group up on the dotProject site, do some work for work (my job), and carry on playing EVE. So the fun never stops!

Operation Gold: Result!

2007-12-03T21:24:00.000Z

Operation Gold (that of my grandparents 50th Anniversary surprise party, (yep that's right, 50 years married)) was a huge success! People who I haven't even met before came to celebrate and enjoy the company of everyone else who came, and we've got some fantastic pictures to share soon!

The theme of the party was Only Fools and Horses, and we saw some interesting stuff! My family (and by that I mean my close family) all dressed up in clothing to represent the theme, complete with hat, jacket and bling!

We had a huge banner in the hallway which contained the text "Congratulations! Shirley and Bill! Only Fools and Horses Last 50 years!" and a rather digitally enhanced (you could say digitally edited) picture of the two standing together against a rather picturesque background.

For food, we had a huge buffet that included simple foods and Indian snacks, and when evening came had curry too! And for drink, we had everything, even a small bar filled with all sorts of spirits and stuff!!

Everyone enjoyed themselves, and even my grandparents (despite their dazed shock; they thought they were coming to Christmas dinner!) who couldn't stop smiling as they met old and current friends alike!

Overall, super!

Will post a separate blog entry containing pictures.

Operation Gold

2007-11-30T20:13:00.001Z

In my last blog, I stated that I was working on a secret operation that involved my close family. This is Operation Gold (and Operation Flashpoint that was within Operation Gold). The results of these two ops are coming to fruit tomorrow, with the surprise party of the golden anniversary (50 years married) of my grandparents!!

Obviously, to be a proper surprise party, it's not on their anniversary, but sometime after...

Anyway, what have I been up to the past half-month? Well, University, Work and Personal Life have been all crushing in on me and demanding more and more attention. What with Operation Gold tomorrow, the end of the school term in two weeks, and the creation of my EVE Corp's website (Chaos Industries), I've had more and more things to do.

For EVE, I've finally reached 40 Mil ISK; I'm planning on reaching 100 Mil by Christmas, but we shall see!

For Uni, I've got three assignments to do; one of them is a group project managed by my good friend Rohan Sherrard, the other two are data communications and database systems (the latter being longer then the former).

And of course, we're finishing off Java as well (for Uni). My favourite subject!

Well, sorry to everyone who hasn't been able to read my blog lately. Hat's off to you! And a special mention to Luis Kals, I know he'll want to be somewhere in here (with his famed GOO Cube!)

I'm back to blogging! :)

Reading Week Part 2

2007-11-13T11:29:00.001Z

The end of reading week has come and gone and I'm now back at Uni. Last week went by quite quickly, and because of a lack of a charger for my university laptop, I was unable to do very much university work.

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, therefore, was spent playing EVE or working on my Java projects for work. Friday was spent playing EVE in the morning and working on Java in the afternoon.

Saturday and Sunday were quite unique days in that among my spending time on EVE, I also worked on two secret operations that my close family is working hard to perfect. Although I cannot talk about this (yet) on my Blog, suffice to say that only my family will be affected by the operations. And they aren't medical (the operations I mean, lol).

Monday (yesterday) was slam-dunk back into University. Monday's are always the longest, and yesterday was no exception to that rule.

Oh and I want to add that on EVE, Saturday and Sunday were filled with Mining Ops that I attended. I hoped to be able to stay on for longer then I could, but I had other priorities... Still, they were good fun! And last night, I finally went over 15 MIL Isk. For those of you who play EVE, it's not very much; but I still feel rich!

Reading Week Part 1

2007-11-06T09:15:00.000Z

This week happens to not only be my brothers birthday, it happens not only to be the week all my brothers break up from their half-term holiday and go back to school, but it also happens to be the week I temporarily take a break from University to work at home instead. Funny that...

So welcome to Reading Week, the zaniest week in the University term.

To start the week off, let's talk about the past weekend. Saturday was, of course, my brother Andrew's birthday. We lounged around in the morning and afternoon, taking a break to open presents. Then we went to lunch/dinner at Pizza Express, and finished the evening out with a bonfire and fireworks display.

The bonfire consisted of a 45-min walk around the village (not the one where I live thought) holding torches, led by a marching band, which of course we didn't take part in. Once the people had returned from their walk around the village, they all gathered around the bonfire and lit it with the torches (which by that time had a nice Guy Fawkes on the top). This was followed by a great fireworks display, which included themed elements and a whopping 250 fireworks fired all at once which literally lit up the sky.

After that we returned home and finished the day off with a movie of Spiderman 3.

Sunday was a day where we just simply stayed at home, and I played EVE Online. EVE Online is an MMORPG with a difference (they all mostly are, aren't they, lol) but EVE has a single living vibrant server and the most unstructured way to play ever. You are basically put into this living world, and told to go on your way. What you do from there is up to you! (I intend to become a trader). Brilliant game!

Monday was spent doing very much the same thing, except I also did some Java work for work and did a little of an assignment.

Until next time!!

Happy Birthday Andrew!!

2007-11-03T10:21:00.000Z

I would like to wish my brother Andrew a

MOST HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

He is 17 today! Hip hip horray!!

The Beach

2007-10-30T20:31:00.000Z

Review of Avatar: The Last Airbender episode
Book 3: Fire
Chapter 5: The Beach

The Beach is different from quite a lot of Avatar episodes as in the most case it is pure character development (with a little fight with the Gaang behind it). The Beach involves Azula, Zuko, Ty Lee and Mai all going down to the beach, then to a party, then to the beach, and finally back to the party where they trash the place. In between all of this, we get to learn more about their past, as well as see the kind of people they really are; and of course the Gaang fights the Combustion Man.

Due to the lack of any real progress made in the storyline, some people may think that the episode gets a little boring. But I see it as necessary progress that really needs to be put somewhere. The episode clearly shows Zuko's transition from being confident with who he is, to realising that even though he has sorted out the Avatar he is still angry and confused. It shows Azula's attempt to fit into a normal life, even though she is clearly crazy. And it shows the reason why Ty Lee and Mai are who they are.

As for the Gaang, they finally meet the Combustion Man, and I am really not too sure how that guy manages to shoot fireballs from his mind. It must be like focussing fire bending through a precise point in the body; although how that is achieved is unknown and not shared, yet. The Gaang of course survive, and Aangs dive through a rock pillar (which was seen in the trailer) turns up in a context which I wasn't expecting (again), as I expected it to be achieved in the invasion or after battles.

Anyhow, an average but necessary episode with some funny moments.

Sokka's Master

2007-10-30T20:08:00.000Z

Review of Avatar: The Last Airbender episode
Book 3: Fire
Chapter 4: Sokka's Master

Sokka's Master is the well anticipated fourth episode of Avatar: The Last Airbender, and is extremely good character development for Sokka. It also shows that although Sokka may not have that much bending (OK, none at all!) he is still a very important member of the Gaang, and obviously key to their success.

In the episode, Sokka decides he is unworthy of the Gaang, who have all this bending, and goes to train with a master; Swordmaster Piandao. The Swordmaster trains Sokka in the art of wielding a sword, and also lets him create his own sword! That part I found really cool, as Sokka crafts a beautiful dark black and shiny sword, and made me think of slight similarities with Jedi, as they create their own lightsabers.

The end of the episode ends with quite a twist (with the Pai-sho tile), and as was pointed out on one of the forums I read, Toph uses the space earth to mold it into the Nickelodeon logo!

Overall, an extremely good episode in my opinion!

Fortnight Beginning: Mon 15th October 2007

2007-10-28T21:16:00.000Z

What a week (x2)!!

The past two weeks have been quite busy, doing Java, watching Avatar and Heroes, and playing quite a few games on my new game manager, Steam!

Java: I have made many a Java program using GOO (Graphical Object Oriented, a couple of packages from my lecturer), as well as worked extensively on my Java project at work.

Avatar: This weekend was a bumper surprise special - 4 episodes in one weekend! Which was awesome to say the least!! I am hoping to write an Avatar Review once a day all this week, so stay tuned!

Heroes: I have finished Season 1 and have reached the current end of Season 2 (it's still being released). So I know everything that everyone else does now!

Steam: Wicked program! I have quite a few games that I downloaded through Steam, including Half-Life 2, Portal, Team Fortress 2 and Railroad Tycoon 3 (which I have been playing a lot lately).

Haloween: Haloween is fast approaching, personally my worst public holiday event of the year. Although the day after Haloween I will write the Avatar review of Avatar's Haloween special (following the one Avatar review a day rule), I may also put something up about Haloween on Wednesday as well.

Rest of my Life: My brother's birthday is this Saturday, so keep in store for a special blog post then!

That's all for now!

The Painted Lady

2007-10-16T21:24:00.000Z

Review of Avatar: The Last Airbender episode
Book 3: Fire
Chapter 3: The Painted Lady

The Painted Lady is the third episode in the Gaang's journey's through the Fire Nation and involved them arriving to a village that was being oppressed and ignored by the Fire Nation. It showed the kind of future many people would face if Aang failed to defeat the Fire Lord, and was quite a bleak thought in itself.

The village itself lacked food, medical supplies, and sat on a very polluted river from a Fire Nation factory nearby. During the episode, though, the Painted Lady turns up and helps to bring the village's freedom, together with the rest of the Gaang (and you'll know what I mean by the rest of the Gaang if you've watched the episode ;))

There is also a well known line that Katara speaks from the trailer that I did not expect at all in the context she spoke it in, and I loved the way the Gaang conducted the Painted Lady's final appearance and battle. Brilliant!

Overall, quite a good episode, but not one I would consider a favourite.

Week Beginning: Mon 8th October 2007

2007-10-14T21:45:00.000Z

This week has been extremely hectic. Monday and Tuesday were filled with Goldsmiths, Wednesday and Thursday mornings were filled with organising my car to be fixed, while during the day I was organising for my Java App to be fixed (still not there with that).

My car was taken in Thursday morning and was ready by the afternoon, so I got a train down to Epsom. South-West trains have a wonderful colour-scheme that should be placed in a kids cartoon series. Their trains are bright red, with yellow around the doors and bright blue doors. Inside the carriages are spacious, with the same colour red on all the bars and seats visible. It's quite vibrant!

Friday was the day of Java at my Uni. I spent the morning at work working on my Java App again, and then spent the afternoon at Uni. The lecture had moved so I had to hunt around the school to try and find it.

The Java lecture was awesome. We got introduced to GOO, the Graphical Object-Oriented package we were going to use for learning advanced Java techniques. I think this term in Java is going to be a breeze!

This weekend was also hectic. Friday night I played and finished Portal (wicked!). Saturday was mainly spent browsing the net and watching the new episode of Avatar (Sokka's Master, more on that later).

Today we went down to Bognor Regis to visit my Nan and Bill. The sun was hot, there wasn't a cloud in the sky, and it was a brilliant clear day at the beach. Wonderful!

More on Avatar later this week... hopefully ;)

Broken Again!

2007-10-09T22:27:00.000Z

Once again my Car has decided it has had enough of life and broken down. It broke down last only two weeks ago (although I didn't post about it at the time). And this is at a time when I am going to get a possibly large lab sheet to complete for CIS224 and that I need to fix the J2ME App I am working on, which is also broken.

Oh well, looks like a couple of busy days ahead of me! I will try and get the Avatar Review out soon when I find some free time.

And that was probably my shortest Blog entry ever!

Season 2 of Goldsmiths Uni

2007-10-07T08:44:00.000Z

So, my second year of University is upon me, and I have already completed the first week! So, as promised, I will be writing about the various course units that I will be doing this year!

CIS220: Graphical Oriented and Internet Programming in Java
Fridays

This course is my favourite! It involves more intense Java programming then the previous year, and may also touch on some new areas of Java I don't already know. The book they are using I used in the previous year, and it is extremely good, so I have high hopes for this course. We will be doing Graphical Oriented programming in the first term, then Internet Programming in the second.

CIS221: Data Communications and Website Design
Mondays, Tuesdays

This course is also divided into two parts, with the first part being Data Communications and the second part being Website Design. Data Communications teaches networking; the physical and logical way of diagnosing, setting up and fixing such networks. This looks to be extremely useful for the future! The second part involves the design and construction of websites, and so looks to be equally useful!

CIS224: Software Projects: Software Engineering and Research
Tuesdays

This course goes through the successful way to research and engineer software projects on a much larger scale, and also shows us the bad ways of doing projects. It does show examples in Java, but the ideas presented in this course are designed to encompass all programming languages in general; although Object-Oriented Programming is stated to be the better way of programming.

CIS225: Database Systems
Mondays

With the first part of term doing the backend of a database (using PostgreSQL) and the second part of the term doing the frontend (using Oracle), this course covers using Databases and how to connect them to your Java programs in a nice easy to fit package. As I have done an A-Level course in Databases, I understand the basics behind this course so I hope to do well.

Well, that's it folks! Hope you enjoyed the run-through of my initial thoughts about each course! And stay tuned for a review of the latest Avatar episode, coming soon to my blog!

The Headband

2007-10-02T13:14:00.000Z

Review of Avatar: The Last Airbender episode
Book 3: Fire
Chapter 2: The Headband

The Headband is the second chapter in the Gaang's attempt to hide out in Fire Nation territory. Due to the attempt by the Gaang to blend in with the local Fire Nation populace by acquiring new clothes, Aang is mistaken as a school kid and taken to Fire Nation school. Here, he attempts to provide a greater freedom to the children's education by throwing a secret dance party. Meanwhile, Zuko confronts his Uncle on his actions at Ba Sing Se.

This episode is truly a gem in the Avatar collection. It has everything Avatar fans could possibily want, and provides a much brighter atmosphere then the Season premiere did. Aang's dance ends up with a dance similar to the special couple at the school ball, where the two dance around together while being watched. Thus, Aang and Katara have a fantastically animated dance which is extremely well done. There is also a fight between Aang and a bully which shows Aang's skill in defeating his opponent despite not laying a single finger on him; something not to be missed!

Sokka is once again outdone with clever and witty jokes, including pretending to be Aang's father (along with Katara as Aang's mother) when Aang gets in trouble at school; while Zuko's interactions with his uncle (who refuses to speak) shows he is completely unsure that he has what he wants, and provides a more eerie, darker side of the plot (and still no conclusion on Zuko).

Overall, a superb episode and one that is a must see.

The Awakening

2007-10-01T21:12:00.000Z

Review of Avatar: The Last Airbender Episode
Book 3: Fire
Chapter 1: The Awakening

The Awakening involves Aang waking up on a Fire Nation ship after his defeat at Ba Sing Se in the final episode of Book 2. The Gaang are on their way further into Fire Nation territory in order to attempt to hide right under enemy noses. Meanwhile, Prince Zuko is working his way back home to the Fire Nation.

This episode pieces together the leftover strands in preparation of the third season of Avatar. As such, it lacks any real action and constitutes in the most part to the development of the story into a manner that is like piecing together a broken puzzle again.

Although I found the episode felt pushed together at parts (for example, was not expecting Katara to cry at her father) it was still awesome to see the Gaang in new Fire Nation robes, and to finally see Zuko's father (was a slight anti-climax, but it'll make it more interesting in the long-run, as it makes it more realistic and down-to-earth).

Altogether, the episode doesn't completely solve Zuko's betrayal, but it does completely solve the Avatar's return, and shows the full repercussions of the Avatar's failure at Ba Sing Se. Overall, a very dark entrance into the new Season, but one which was greatly anticipated.

The Start of a New Era

2007-09-30T21:16:00.000Z

... well, not quite... but a new year at Uni!

Tomorrow is the start of my second year at Goldsmiths University, and by the start I'm referring to the start of teaching, as that's when the year truly begins. So I will be once more enthused with new ways to write Java, and new ways to code Graphical Interface's, etc, which will be great!

I will again be taking four core units for the second year, and I will go through each of them at some time in the future. I will be working on Monday, Tuesday and Friday with a total of 16 hours of lectures or labs every week. Compared to some degrees at Uni, it's not too bad.

I have been extremely excited about the start of another new era recently as well, that of the third season (or book) of Avatar: The Last Airbender (the greatest Anime show on Earth! And yeah, I think it's Anime!). Book III consists of the Gaang's adventures in the Fire Nation, enemy territory! So it's pretty cool! I've already watched the first two episodes released, and hope to continue to watch them as they are released on a weekly basis.

I have also been playing City of Heroes a lot recently, getting my main Hero up to Level 21 and my main Villain up to Level 19 (almost 20! So close!) I have also been enjoying my time in my two Star Trek RPG's I play on the Internet, although both seem to be moving along at a snail's pace. That's RPG's for you. *sigh*

To introduce myself back into Blogging I will be posting about my summer holiday over the next few weeks. Posts will feature new pics of our newest rabbit, Bessy, who was introduced as a mate to Woody sometime back; information and pics on our trip to Lido de Jesolo (in Venice); information on my course units (as explained above); and information and possibly reviews on the latest Avatar episodes.

To try and keep myself Blogging, I am going to try and and get into a habit of visiting Blogger on a daily basis so I can think about Blogging even if then I don't post a blog entry.

Until my next Blog entry, stay flaming! (Quote: The Headband, Avatar: The Last Airbender).

Summer's Nearly Over

2007-09-06T15:43:00.000Z

Being almost a whole month since I last posted, you might be wondering where I've been. Well, I am not too sure I can remember that far back. Ah, such is life that you get carried away with it, following it through and just forgetting about other aspects. Such as this blog.

Well, this last month I've been doing a lot of Java work (both for work and personal use) which has included working with J2ME (Java for Micro Devices such as the Mobile Phones), as well as starting the design of another Java game from scratch (having decided to abandon my Guild Wars one which just got too... compressed) based on Star Trek.

I've also been reading a lot, both fiction and ethical books. I've watched a lot of new movies, and played few computer games since I got back from holiday.

Which I spent in Italy for a week (just North of Venice). Last week to be precise. I'll post a seperate post about that soon.

I've joined a Star Trek RPG and created one as well, and I've been keeping an eye on Avatar: The Last Airbender. The Countdown to the Season III Première is upon us! (Look to the right...)

So a lot has happened. Now I intend to post more often since I've got back from Italy. So keep in tune!

Birthday and More...

2007-08-03T18:04:00.000Z

Well, it's been quite a bit of time since my last blog post so here's one to cover the time lost! Again...

25th July 2007
Yep, my birthday! OK, well I spent most of the day playing computer games and generally relaxing. The evening was spent getting my presents, birthday cake and birthday wishes. I got a nice chocolate birthday cake, and a PSP and some games. All good!

28th July 2007
The day of the Jarrett's Summer Party dawned bright and early as I continued my work from Friday morning at 10am and didn't stop until about 1pm. The party then continued until late and included loads of food, crisps, sweets, bouncy castle fun, talking to and helping people around the house, and of course the creme da la creme of the party, the giant bouncy slide (that became wet in the evening to remove friction!) Overall an awesome day!

Since
Since then I've been working during the day and relaxing during the evening (most weekdays) and playing on my PSP as well as on my MMORPG PC games (of which I don't need to remind you what they are!)

Also, I have been working on the completion of the creation of a Star Trek RPG on a Trek forum. If anyone here likes Star Trek, and likes RPG'ing (which involves pretending to be a character from the Trek universe on a starship), then give me a shout and I'll tell you how to join up!

Anyway, that's all for now. More later I guess!

Goldsmiths Year 1 Conclusion

2007-07-19T17:16:00.000Z

Well, after all my waiting around for my results to come through the door they were here all along, just under a large pile of papers in my dining room. So, after a massive clearout where they were found, I finally learned exactly what I got during those few weeks I did my exams way back when.

Now, I am posting my results not to boast, but to put off any speculation and questions about what I might have got. So to ensure that only the correct information gets past around, below are my results listed in the order they are presented on the paper.

Note that I got 30 credit for each of my results and of course passed all four exams.

Mathematics for Computing: 77%
Introduction to Java and Object-Oriented Programming: 96%
Introduction to Computing and the Internet: 78%
Information Systems: Foundations of E-Business: 70%

Well, there you have it. Don't think anymore needs to be said, so I'll leave it at that and slowly move past... onto the second year.

Woody the Rabbit!

2007-07-12T14:05:00.000Z

As promised, I am making a special blog post for Woody the Rabbit, the new addition to our family. Here are the pictures of Woody!

And yes that's me handing him the treat through the bars. My brother Andrew took most of these pictures, so a thank you to him!

The Start of Summer (with rain!)

2007-07-10T12:23:00.000Z

Let me count how many weeks it has been since my last blog post. Hmm... just over 2 weeks long! That's a fortnight without a single blog post!

So what have I been up to? Well, I'll summarise it for you. At work, there is really only one thing: J2ME. That's right! Java for the Mobile Phone. More on that later...

As for at home, I've been playing City of Heroes/Villains, Guild Wars and Dawn of War; we have a new rabbit; my Mum's winebar is finally coming to fruition; and my Dad has just returned from a week in Hong Kong.

And before you ask: I still don't know my Uni results. I'm quite patient really, they will come when they will come (although if they haven't come this time next week don't quote me on my patience ^^)

Anyway, I've got to go and play on Guild Wars again, lol. I plan to post a special post on my results and another for my rabbit (with photos!). Until then...

End of June

2007-06-23T18:34:00.000Z

You know, I still know the same amount about Flash as I do when starting the Flash course however long ago my last blog post was. That's life for you, but I think I've found a way to change that, as I've found a really good website for learning programming languages in your own time.

Also I've recently been working on setting up a new way of displaying my external links. This will actually be hosted on my wiki, but I don't consider it ready yet so it isn't officially linked off from my website yet. Maybe in time it will... anyway, you can see what idea I have and watch it grow over the next few weeks as I add in more websites. I have also updated my Recommended Programs page to add in a few more programs.

I've also been playing a new MMORPG: City of Heroes/Villains. It is a really, really good game where you make and control your own Hero or Villain. True, it does require a monthly fee (I'm on a trial atm) but it still is a good game for creating the heroes or villains of your dreams.

Other then that I've not had a bad week (apart from feeling tired at various points this week. Bleh.) I am attending a funeral on Monday, and it's another working week ahead next week.

Hopefully the next blog post will be within a shorter time limit. So, until next time!

Flash Crash Course

2007-06-08T23:49:00.000Z

As you may have noticed, a couple of days ago I matched my Blog to a similar template to my website. I don't think I'm going to get it to the exact same CSS template as my website (it just doesn't suit Blogger at all) so I'll keep it as this for now.

This weekend I intend to learn ActionScript, the fantastic programming language that makes up Flash. I intend to be an expert in it by the end of the weekend crash-course I'm going to undertake, but we shall see.

I have also started work on Version 2 of Jarada's Time Keepers. Keep an eye on the forums if you want to know what's going on, and of course suggest features! They may well be added in to the next version of this program.

Well, it's super late, so I'm off to bed. Until next time!

Jarada Productions Renovation!

2007-06-06T23:12:00.000Z

I have just spent the past six hours or so completely renovating Jarada Productions. Some people will be proud that there are now no more frames! It's all quite posh!

Sure, the CSS was actually made by a professional, as I am not quite up to that standard just yet, but I did adapt it a lot to my needs, and I intend to adapt my blog's page to fit in with the CSS when I get some more time to do it.

For now, it's the early hours of the morning, and I need to get up a early-ish to take my younger brother to his third and fourth exams this week. So I'm off to bed. Until next time!

Welcome to June

2007-06-04T12:31:00.000Z

Last week was my first week at work. Didn't go too badly, actually. My work involves programming: HTML, CSS, Java, etc. Quite fun!

Also last week, I spent some time investigating the idea of updating my frames website. At current, my website will stay as it is, but I will still be investigating it's complete redesign into something with a less... frames, design.

This week, I'll be staying at home mostly, and driving my brother too and from school. I may go into work/uni's library a couple of days this week as well, and I have an Orthodontic appointment on Wednesday.

I also intend to start posting blog entries more frequently. Ah, I always say that, and then I do for a while, and then I stop and have to say it again. Oh well, that's what I call the cycle of the lazy blog poster. Because they wouldn't be a blog poster if they didn't want to post blogs regularly, lol

Until tomorrow.

First Summer Holiday Week

2007-05-26T18:53:00.000Z

Wow, a week gone since my last post. Oh well, here goes the next one!

What have I been up to this week then? Well... I've gone to see the Head of the IT Department at Goldsmiths Uni; done a bit more Java Programming (and released two versions of my Timer program); played Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Master of Orion II and Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth; finished Pandora's Star (a fantastic book, I'm reading the sequel now); and got a job.

What? A job? Yes, you heard me right. I'm going to be spending some of my holiday working for my Dad as a Java Programmer\Website Builder\General IT Intern guy. That'll give me loads of work experience for how things work in the city!

This weekend I've looked after my younger brothers throughout. There have been some ups and some downs, but they've generally been good with me in command. Tomorrow I am going to be spending a whole day with them (as opposed to this morning and this evening today, and the evening on Friday).

Anyway, that's all for now. See ya!

Byron's Birthday Weekend

2007-05-20T21:48:00.001Z

Friday
Friday morning was spent playing Master of Orion II. The afternoon was spent updating my forums with a new mod (which is huge and adds tons of features). So I spent 3 hours sifting through code, only to find out firstly that my forums were buggered up, and then on looking for how to repair it, I found out that actually the reason why they were buggered up was because I had installed an out-of-date version of the mod. The new version could be simply installed in around 10-15 minutes.

Oh well!!

Saturday
I have some kind of deal with my younger brothers. Because I don't generally buy them presents, and the fact that I am the elder brother (and so although I help them a lot I am generally more or less in control), on their birthdays they get to get their every whim answered for (I will do anything as long as it doesn't break any rules).

So today was spent obeying my youngest brother, Byron, because on Monday (his real birthday) we all had schools and uni's to attend. So much for free-will, lol!

Sunday
Byron was on a roll from the previous day, and stormed into this day eagerly. With the bouncy castle setup and the table laid for a feast, the partying began! First came the hour-long magic show (which I sat through to keep control) and then bouncy castle time, lunch, bouncy castle time.

Once the party was over, the presents were opened, and then we spent the rest of the day relaxing and playing. Ah well, good times!

Exam CIS109

2007-05-18T09:54:00.000Z

Introduction to Java and Object Oriented Programming

Java was the easiest of the two exams, and certainly the quickest (I was in and out in 1 hour!) Still, I made sure I spent ten minutes at the beginning choosing the best four out of six questions to write about, and then I wrote it nice and slowly, checking for errors as I went along and then I read back through again checking for more errors.

I am aiming for full marks, but you always know there is a chance to lose marks everywhere, so I am probably not going to get full marks. We shall see though!

Anyway, it's the summer holidays!! So no more exams and all fun!! Yipeee!

Exam CIS102

2007-05-15T11:46:00.000Z

Mathematics for Computing

The exam yesterday was maths (yuk!). Overall, this was the exam I revised the least for on the two day's running up to the exam, due to the fact that I was mostly occupied doing other stuff on the weekend before the exam.

The exam went very well (I have definately passed) and although I didn't manage to complete all of the last question, I attempted every other question on the paper and I think I managed to get nearly all of them correct.

I'm just waiting to see how many minor and stupid mistakes I've made that'll bring down my results... lol

Byron's Birthday

2007-05-14T20:30:00.000Z

To My Youngest Brother Byron, who's 5 today, best wishes and a Happy Birthday to You!

Exam CIS108

2007-05-13T09:56:00.000Z

Information Systems: Foundations of E-Business

Yo, forgot to mention here about my E-Business Exam that happened two days ago (Friday). Oops.

Well, usual time usual place, except that I mucked up the start by leaving my Student Card in the cloakroom. So I arrived late after waiting around outside for the exam to start, because of having to retrieve it.

None-the-less, the exam went OK. There were some parts of the questions I didn't quite get right and I think I chose a harder question over an easier one (you can choose 4 out of 6 available questions), but overall I think I'm going to pass it.

Just glad that ones over...

Exam CIS110

2007-05-08T15:10:00.000Z

Introduction to Computing and the Internet

The exam was comprised of two parts. Part A was to do with Computing (how memory works, what the CPU does, etc). Part B was to do with the Internet (how IP addresses work, how webpages are made, etc).

Overall the exam went extremely well. There were a couple of parts that I didn't quite get, although they didn't take up too many marks (4 or 5) so overall I'm looking to get quite high in the results.

Google New York to London

2007-05-07T16:12:00.001Z

Google New York to London, originally uploaded by robdickson.

Something amusing I found on Flickr, pointed out by my Dad...

If you are ever in New York and want to travel back to London, don't ask Google Maps. Check out step 24. lol...

Exams

2007-05-03T13:08:00.000Z

Over two weeks since my last blog post, and a lot has happened. For one thing, I'm back at Uni, and the next two weeks will be filled up with exams.

I have exams on the 8th May, 11th May, 14th May and the 17th May (one each day listed) so it's nicely spread out with days in between for intense revision.

The past two weeks have been filled with revision, as well as playing my new game Need for Speed: Underground 2, during my breaks (wicked game that).

After my exams, I have a lot planned also. For starters, Zarrain wants me to go out somewhere with him to celebrate, then I have my younger brother Byron's birthday on the weekend (19th May), and a wonderful opportunity to tidy my room free from family and uni obligations the following week.

Longer term, I will go back to Java Programming, releasing Version 1.1 of my Jarada's Time Keepers (see Programs area after following that link) that has some unannounced added features to the features listed there, as well as continuing my work on my main Java Game, and other Java program. I might also find a job to work at over my four month summer hols...

Anyway, I need to get back to revising, so just a short update there. I will keep you all posted as to how my exams go!

Easter Hols: Revision

2007-04-18T17:26:00.000Z

Wed 11th April
When we got back from Valencia we found that Ella, our Au-Pere, had left her keys in the house when she had went out. As she had to catch a flight, she had smashed a couple of our windows in order to retrieve them. Let's just say we weren't best pleased and leave it at that.

Thurs 12th April
A trip to London for a University Meeting...

Weekend (Fri 13th April - Monday 16th April)
A long weekend break with my younger brothers and my Dad taking Monday off to work from home. I spent a lot of the weekend working on my Java Program.

Yesterday
A trip to the cinema to see Meet the Robinsons with my Mum and younger brothers, followed by a night at my Mum's house where we watched a film called Click, which is an extremely good film I highly recommend.

Today
Today I had an Orthodontic Appointment in the morning (tightening my braces) and a much-needed haircut (trust me, it was a BIG one!)

And the future can be summarised in one word... you got it! Revision!

Easter Hols: Valencia Summary

2007-04-11T21:12:00.000Z

Valencia 2007 Summary

Hotel Sidi Saler (*****)
Service: ****
Facilities: *****
Location: ****
Visual: *****

My Rating: ****
Summary: Hotel Sidi Saler has all the usual 5-Star amenities, such as two swimming pools and 24-hour room service. Although located on the beach-front, it is still very far from Valencia's town center, and its lack of a 5-Star service means this hotel's rating should be set to 4-Star.

Highlights
Best Moment: Hemisferic Film
Worst Moment: Looking for Taxis!
Other Highlights:
Chelsea 2-1 Valencia
Rest of the City of Arts and Sciences
32nd America's Cup

Overall
The trip was fun, interesting, enlightening and relaxing. Although we probably won't go back to the same Hotel, it was still a very good hotel, and Valencia is an extremely good town (with some crazy drivers!). Valencian's like to do things big, as we found out many a time at looking at the large Post Office, and other large buildings around Valencia. Our main reason for going to Valencia (the football) was both great fun and a great victory. All in all, very good!

See my Photo Album here!

Easter Hols: Valencia Day Six

2007-04-11T19:00:00.000Z

Weather: Cloudy (Both in England and Valencia)
Wake Up: 11:00 (Spanish Time)
Home By: 19:00 (UK time)

We woke up and ordered cheese and ham toasties before packing our bags for departure. The toasties arrived shortly after, and we quickly ate them before checking out, dumping our bags and taking a long walk on the beach - our final walk on Spanish soil. We then took a taxi to the airport, and boarded the plane back to the UK.

There really isn't anything left to say about Valencia, so I'll continue the rest of this day in another blog entry, and leave you with a final picture.This entry was posted on the 11/04/07 and represents today in my trip to Valencia. Please see the Valencia Summary for general information on my trip.

Easter Hols: Valencia Day Five

2007-04-10T19:00:00.000Z

Weather: Cloudy, Light Breeze
Wake Up: 09:00
Sleep: 01:00

We woke up in the morning by alarm, and went down for breakfast. We then took the 11:30 bus out into Valencia, where we browsed through a couple of markets. The first market we went to was indoors, and was huge! It was a genuine food market, and I thought it was wonderful the way local people had set up stalls to sell their goods to local Valencians. It's something I think we lack here. The second market we visited was arranged in a circle, and sold clothing, knitting items and other related bits and bobs. There was even a pet store!

Afterwards, we took a visit to the city's local Post Office, which was huge! It had at least ten desks where people thronged and a beautiful glass ceiling which had a pattern on it. As I went to take a picture, I was told by the local security guy to not take a picture of the surrounding desks, and only the ceiling.

After we had finished in the Post Office, we went for a drink and some food outside a Tapas bar before getting a Taxi back to the hotel. When we got back, it was just before 3 o'clock, so we stayed in our rooms for an hour generally relaxing, before taking the 14:15 bus back into town fully kitted out for the evening.

We had a couple of drinks in a local Irish pub, not Finnegans which was packed with Chelsea fans, and casually watched a Spanish news-reporter interview them on the Spanish TV. Then we were extra glad we weren't there! When we had got bored, we decided to walk and find where the stadium was. To get there we had to cross a bridge, except not over water, but over a park. Valencia has a central area that looks like it should hold a river, but has been turned into a large park that meanders through the city. Bridges stretch over the park as well as providing ramps and stairs down into the park.

We soon found the stadium (quicker then we expected), so we searched for a local restuarant or bar. Finding none, we crossed back across the bridge and stopped outside a small cafe, where we waited until we needed to leave for the stadium. On arrival at the stadium, we went through security, and sat at the top. It provided a nice view (from my point of view) as you could easily see exactly what was going on, although it was a little too high to tell who was doing what.

The Stadium itself is called the Estadio de Mestalla, and it is a magnificent stadium that can hold just under 52,500 people. Being away fans, we were stuck high up in the corner of the stadium, with the majority of the supporters being Valencian. On nearly every seat in the stadium were orange coloured posters, that the Chelsea fans turned into paper airplanes! Although most of them just floated around the stands, a few special ones found themselves on the pitch, much to the delight of us Chelsea fans!!

The experience was electrifying, filled with songs, cheers and determination to win. It was unlike any other match I have been to. Chelsea started off poorly, and by half-time we were 1-0 down. The Valencian fans had a drummer who was constantly drumming away to some unknown rhythm, which the Valencian fans often sung and clapped to.

After half-time, Chelsea came back with determination and soon equalised. Yet, victory was still not certain. By the 90th minute, we were still singing as determinedly (and still making paper airplanes!) and hope that we would win before extra time was fading. But in the 91st minute, Michael Essien took the ball and slammed it past the keeper.

The stadium went wild. And by the Stadium, I mean the Chelsea fans, as the Valencian sides (all three of them) were silent, including that drummer! From then on, the singing was relentless as we cheered our team to victory.

After about an hour from the end of the match (or it felt like it) we were allowed to leave, and we made our way to the nearest taxi, which took us back to the hotel. We stayed around in the bar until about 00:50, when we went to bed and slept.

This entry was posted on the 11/04/07 and represents today in my trip to Valencia. Please see the Valencia Summary for general information on my trip.

Easter Hols: Valencia Day Four

2007-04-09T19:00:00.000Z

Weather: Cloudy, Light Breeze, Rainy Evening
Wake Up: 08:30
Sleep: 23:30

Today, unlike the other days, was preplanned a bit more precisely. We woke up by Alarm at 08:30, and made it down to breakfast by 09:00, rather then having it in our room as usual. The selection was far greater then that offered in our room, and I enjoyed my chocolate-covered Pain Au Chocolate.

After breakfast, we got ready to go out and around 10:20 took a Taxi to "Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias" (which stands for the City of Arts & Sciences). Our first stop was to book the Hemisfèric, which was basically an iMax film centre, but we had to come back later.

So, while we had time, we visited the Museo de las Ciencias Principe Felipe (Principe Felipe Science Museum). The outside looked like the spikey exterior of the skeleton of a giant whale, and the inside was huge. It was a proper Science museum, with displays on Sound and Light (which was the best part, my Dad particularly liked a duck-sounding machine), Space, and it even had a Life & Genome section.

Once we had visited all the areas in the museum, we found it was time to go, so we moved onto the Hemisfèric (link to another picture). The actual Hemisfèric is quite uniquely shaped like an eye, with the eyelids on each side and the pupil in the middle. We had booked to see the iMax film called The Mystery of the Nile. The actual film itself was very good, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Afterwards, I probably look back on that film as the best part of my visit. It showed me some interesting things, and taught me a few things as well.

After the film, we decided to go to our final destination, the Oceanogràfic, which was an aquarium. It is supposed to be one of the largest in Europe, but we didn't think so. It contained things like Walrus's, Fish, a Dolphin's Show, Fish, Whales, Fish, Sharks, Fish, Crabs, and more Fish. We had a great relaxing time looking around and the Dolphin's Show was, as usual, extremely good. Take a look at some of these pictures! I might put up one or two videos in the near future, so watch out for a later blog post!

When we had finished, we headed back to the Hotel where we had a light dinner of Cheese and Ham Sandwiches in the bar (no visit to Valencia) until about 23:00, where I also drank wine, before crashing in our room.

This entry was posted on the 11/04/07 and represents today in my trip to Valencia. Please see the Valencia Summary for general information on my trip.

Easter Hols: Valencia Day Three

2007-04-08T19:00:00.000Z

Weather: Sunny Morning, Cloudy Afternoon, Rainy Evening, Light Breeze
Wake Up: 10:00
Sleep: 23:00

We lounged about in our room (having another full-English breakfast) until 12:30, when we decided to go down to the beach. A nice walk along the beach in the sun. As we reached the half-way point though, the sun went in, so we turned back and headed back to the Hotel. We then wanted to go out, but we had missed the bus and there were no Taxis, so we ordered one and went to wait.

And we waited. And waited. And waited. And finally, a taxi turned up and drove towards the hotel. And a guy came out the hotel, saundered down the steps and commandeered our Taxi!! After all that waiting!! So, we had to wait some more while the Hotel ordered another. So we waited. And waited. And then finally, after a total of 45 minutes waiting around, another Taxi that was obviously booked already, as it had people in other then the driver, came in. And we commandeered that one when everyone had got out.

We then told the Taxi to take us to the America's Cup. America's Cup is a yacht challenge that is divided up into thirteen acts. There are some twelve teams including the defender and current winner in the standings, Switzerland's "Alinghi", and the great American "BMW ORACLE", whose country has won the cup some 27 times!! Britain didn't seem to have a team there though, which was a little disappointing, but not much as we decided to support China instead (mentioned later).

Each team had their own building the size of a supermarket, and these were perched right near the edge of Valencia's port. They nearly always contained a shop, sometimes an interactive area and sometimes even a restuarant on the top of them. Of the buildings, China Team's was the most visual, as they let us look around at their yacht and sails. Take a look at how big they are! Notice that the red arrow points to the top of a large doorway! Their yacht was also quite colourful: red with a white dragon down the sides (see in the picture above). Unfortunately though, they were last in the standings of the races that had taken place, but they were still good. We visited many of the other team's buildings as well, and I bought a shirt from Alinghi's shop (as I loved their logo!) while Andrew bought a shirt from America's shop.

We left once we had got bored of looking around, and tried to find a Taxi. But we really couldn't find one! We spent at least the next half-an-hour, wandering around Valencia's port, looking for a Taxi rank or a Taxi that could take us out of the area. It was only when we came across a 5-Star Hotel that a Taxi casually drove out after dropping someone off, which we could then thankfully commandeer.

We headed for Plaza le Reina, the small Plaza that had we had spent most of yesterday in. The Taxi Driver must of thought he was a racer though, as he sped down the roads coming up to 120 km/h in some areas! And he would slow down just enough to let the lights change before he would spin through them while they were still red!! Once we had arrived from our whistle-stop journey, we settled outside a restuarant to have a snack while we decided where to eat for the evening. Eventually, Andrew decided we should eat in Hollywood, an American Restuarant on the main Plaza (Plaza del Ayuntamiento).

We went in there and sat down. We ordered our meal (after a quick request from the waiter) and the starters came in literally a couple of minutes! The main course came a couple of minutes after that!! Really, it was fast ordering and fast delivery! Quite a contrast compared to the slowness we had experienced with the Taxis during the day.

After the meal, we wandered back to the Hotel bus and took it back to the hotel, before crashing for the evening and then settling down for the night.

This entry was posted on the 11/04/07 and represents today in my trip to Valencia. Please see the Valencia Summary for general information on my trip.

Easter Hols: Valencia Day Two

2007-04-07T19:00:00.000Z

Weather: Sunny with Clouds
Wake up: 10:15
Sleep: 00:00

After having a relaxed full-English breakfast in our room (which was nice) we headed for Valencia on the 11:00 hotel bus. The trip around Valencia lasted the entire day, and was most enjoyable. We started off heading for the Finnegans, an Irish pub that just happened to show the Chelsea-Tottenham game, live in Spanish. A close 1-0 win.

We left the pub after a couple more drinks and headed for the major shopping road, Colon. Along the road we found a major store (similar to Harrods) which we bought a couple of shirts in to wear to dinner at the hotel (which demanded no t-shirts, shorts or tracksuits). Further on we also found a sunglasses shop (for me) before we headed back towards the Plaza where Finnegans was (Plaza la Reina).

At the end of that Plaza stood Cathedral Valencia, which had a tower that you could climb to the top of for a fantastic view. It was closed, so we looked round the Cathedral instead. A mixture of feelings from awe to shock pervaded me as I walked round. The Cathedral was huge with beautiful carvings, paintings and drawings, but also didn't feel like God's home to me, which was sad.

We then went back into the Plaza outside to sit outside a nice Tapas restuarant for lunch, where we had a mixture of hams, cheeses and bread. It was during that time that we found out Portsmouth were beating Man Utd, so we rushed back to Finnegans for the last 30mins of the game. Funny stuff, with a strange own goal and Portsmouth finishing off Man U 2-1!

After leaving the pub a second time, we walked along randomly before finding a sweet shop, where we bought some Pick'n'mix style sweets, and a record store we had found in our earlier ramblings, which we left €100 shorter and 11 CDs heavier, and with a very happy Dad.

We finally took a taxi back to the hotel before settling down for the night.

This entry was posted on the 11/04/07 and represents today in my trip to Valencia. Please see the Valencia Summary for general information on my trip.

Easter Hols: Valencia Day One

2007-04-06T19:00:00.000Z

Weather: Mixed (Sun in England, Sun/Rain in Valencia)
Wake up: 07:30 (UK Time)
Sleep: 00:00 (Spanish Time)

After waking up, we (my Dad, my brother Andrew, and I) spent two hours preparing to leave, before leaving at exactly 9:30, right on time. We arrived at the Airport early, checked in early, went through security early, and soon arrived in the departure lounge. After a trip to a few duty-free shops (where I bought a few packets of Werther's Original and a PC Gamer Mag) we boarded our flight and set sail to Valencia.

We arrived in Valencia and the Weather was quite clear. After collecting our baggage, we hailed a Taxi and soon found ourselves at our 5-star luxury hotel that my Dad had booked, Hotel Sidi Saler. We went and looked around our rooms, settled in, and then headed straight for the bar. After a couple of drinks, we explored the hotel, before taking the hotel bus to the City Centre.

Valencia reminded me in some ways instantly of my previous Spanish trip with some of my School friends, so it was quite satisfying walking through the streets of Valencia. We walked for about fourty minutes or so, before finding an Italian restaurant and having dinner, particularly because I fancied Spagetti Bologenise, which I then went ahead and had. The restaurant itself was quaint, if a little bizarre and very popular. It was quite nice. The evening ended with a final walk around Valencia as it started to rain, and then a bus journey home in the heavy rain before we settled down for the night.

This entry was posted on the 11/04/07 and represents today in my trip to Valencia. Please see the Valencia Summary for general information on my trip.

Easter Hols: Preparing for Valencia

2007-04-04T14:55:00.000Z

A lot happens in a week. So before I talk about the present and future, let me tell you the highlights of the past 7 days since my previous blog entry...

Last Thursday
New TVs! We have finally upgraded our TVs, one that was as old as fifteen years! So we now have a Plasma TV with Digital TV and Sky in the main lounge, a classic TV with Digital TV and Sky in the second lounge, a new VCR in that lounge, and Digital TV in the kitchen. Nice!

Last Weekend
Friday was a lazy day at home. Saturday included a trip to Curry's to get a new Freezer and last minute things to sort out the TV delivery. Sunday included an earlier-then-usual Easter celebration with an Easter Egg Hunt, lots of chocolate, and a Sunday Roast, followed by an evening movie of Superman Returns.

Monday
My cousins came round on Monday, and we had a relaxingly active day. If that's possible. And a more relaxing evening. I have to say, heads up to my cousins, they rock!

Yesterday (Tues)
A trip to the doctor's for a minor operation. For what? Oh, you don't want to know... you do? Well, if you don't look to the next paragraph now. I had my toe cut open and an in-grown toenail taken out. Trust me, the worst thing about it was the needle for the anaesthetic.

Today (Wed)
Today so far, I've gone for a redressing at the Doctors, got the new freezer from Curry's, and I plan to go to Chessington Theme Park to pick up my brother and his friend. So a mostly relaxed day really...

The Future
We have a trip to Valencia this Friday - next Wednesday, so I may not be posting blogs. If I can't, I plan to keep a small diary and update you when I get back. Plus, I seem to not be that good at posting blogs anyway...

Easter Hols: Duke of Edinburgh Gold

2007-03-28T18:27:00.000Z

For those of you who don't know about the Duke of Edinburgh Award and want to know more, or those who want to read about my experiences with that award, see my Web-page here on my experiences during the Gold section.

This morning dawned at 7:30am, half an hour to late according to my Dad later on. I got showered, and dressed up into my suit, complete with red tie and my Gold DofE Pin. Then, my Dad and I set off to the train station. We caught the 8:57 to London Bridge, and then got to Charing Cross by 9:50am.

After a delightful breakfast of a ham and cheese croissant, which we were happy to have had afterwards, we headed for St James's Palace at a relaxed place, walking down the road "The Mall" (said The Mal, as in Malware, not maul, is in what a bear does, as I found out!)

On arrival at the Palace we were sorted into groups and gradually let into the palace, showing our identification to the police on hand. We then took our seats and, with minor interruptions here and there, sat there waiting for an hour. Trust me, the wait was worth it!

Around 12:00, we were told to marshal into the groups we were put in, and then His Royal Highness (HRH) The Duke of Edinburgh (ie Prince Phillip) himself walked through the door. He asked a couple of us questions, congratulated all of us and made the occasional joke as he walked through the room. It was a real honour to have met him.

After that the official presentation took place, with a special guest, the Chief Councillor of West Sussex, giving out the certificates. We assembled in our groups and were called up one by one to receive our certificate. A couple of speeches later, and it was all over.

We then walked through the remainder of the rooms of the palace, and I will do my best to describe them. All the rooms were covered in a rich, royal red carpet, that really spoke the word "regal" out of the colour. The wall in the presentation room was also the same colour red, and had large paintings on the walls.

The next room we walked into had red, gold and white walls, and similarly large pictures hanging on the walls. It had a high ceiling, also white and gold rimmed. The lights on the walls were gold-coloured electric candle lights, and they really brought an antique feel to the room. It was truly spectacular.

Which made the next room even more so. The red carpet was removed for a more grey carpet, and was the only room to have this in it. The walls were covered with paintings. And I mean that in a wallpaper sense, the entire wall was a painting! It was almost one continuous painting around the entire room, with some weird events going on in the paintings! It was quite interesting compared to the previous room's regal feel.

The next and final room returned to it's red carpet and red walls. But hanging on the walls was the largest stash of weapons I have ever seen hanging on a wall!! They swords, and guns, and more swords, and more guns! On every face of every wall in that room were weapons. There was even two rows of guns arranged in a nice circle and all pointing inwards towards a hat. It was quite spectacular!

We left the palace, and then went to the pub, followed by a walk around London (which was very interesting as I got to see the more touristy parts of London!), finally followed by a trip to a restaurant called Maxwell. After a final half-hour trip to Waterstones (where I bought 3 books, one of them being 3 books in 1) we took a train home.

And now I have an evening ahead of me which looks to be quite relaxing. So, I'll end my blog here. Feel free to comment!

Easter Hols: Introduction

2007-03-27T18:47:00.000Z

The Weekend was spent relaxing around not doing much. We had a couple of barbecues and a day of computer gaming.

Monday was a little more constructive. I got some work done (including sorting out my dry-cleaning of my suits) and sorted out the shed completely, clearing what was a most chaotic shed!! The difference is amazing, and we can now walk in the shed!!

Today was also quite good. It was my Mum's birthday, and I had bought her a Dell Computer to go into her house. I also collected the dry cleaning that I put in on Monday, and then went down to New Cross Gate for a Loom of Tales meeting. That was very interesting and I got some proper feedback which I can work on.

Anyway, I'm gonna play on the Sims 2 now, so until tomorrow...

I would like to welcome... my ONE MONTH EASTER HOLS!!

2007-03-23T21:44:00.000Z

The past ten days have been busy. I have handed in my Computing and the Internet (CIS110) Assignment 3, and that has taken up most of my time. I've also been working hard on my Java project. And finally, I had a Maths test today.

But that's the past, let's look to the future!! A month-long Easter holiday!! Although it will be filled with lots of revision, throughout all four-weeks, it will also be filled with relaxation, and a trip to Valencia over the Easter weekend.

So it's really looking up. Well, that's the end of this post, but expect to see more of these over the Easter holiday.

One Test Out, One Test Back

2007-03-13T22:57:00.000Z

The weekend was kinda relaxing. Saturday was spent around the house, doing work (well, Java Programming mostly, all day), eating from the BBQ (first day of sun), and then just played games and the like in the evening.

Sunday was much more structured. Did some real work (Business revision and CIS110 assignment), and also went bowling with Ella and my younger brothers...

Monday was our usual business day, complete with a Test in the afternoon lecture. That went pretty well. Spent the evening at Zarrain's house chilling, and eating the interesting meal he cooked, with a meeting with a Goldsmiths professor in the middle of that.

Today was the usual learning day of Maths, except for the fact that it really was quite lousy in general. I set off ten minutes early in a rush to catch the train (because I thought I was late) only to reach the station and realise that actually I wasn't late. Then I realised I hadn't packed my Maths book. On my way back it was just as bad, I missed both the possible trains I could have got, spent ten minutes at London Bridge, another twenty at East Croydon, and it took me an extra hour to get home because I chose the wrong trains (although it would have taken me an extra half-hour with the right trains, that's the price you usually pay for missing the train)...

Still, I got my maths test back today that I did last Friday. Got 20/30 on it, and that was what I consider to be the hardest Maths test so far. Luckily this next one looks much easier.

Oh well, at least I've got the admittance tickets for St James Palace on 28th March, to pick up Duke of Edinburgh Award. Now that is gonna be fun!!

Week Beginning: Mon 5th March 2007

2007-03-09T22:56:00.000Z

Hmm, I have really got to post more often in order to remember what happened. Let's see...

Monday was a usual day of Business (CIS108) until Zarrain Shah showed up, which was a huge surprise because I hadn't seen him for WEEKS! He had been away sorting out Goldsmiths, whom he is having serious problems with.

Tuesday was a usual day of Maths, with a quick trip to Zarrain's dorm. It has an external metal staircase up to his flat, and his room is at the top with quite a nice view.

Wednesday was a lazy day spent Java Programming and MSN'ing, got really far!

Thursday I had a Java tutorial (CIS109) where I showed my personal tutor my program, and then I went round Zarrain's again for a couple of hours to really catch up on those missed weeks! Finally, my Mum and younger brothers came round for dinner and we had Chinese.

Friday was a Computing and the Internet lecture (CIS110) in the morning for two hours, a maths test after that (on matrices, yuck!) and then after an hours break, a short one hour Java lecture on Exceptions. Then home for the evening to drive around on petrol trips and the like, a meeting with my Aunt Shirley (who I only barely remember) and Pizza.

Thank goodness it's the weekend!

Week Beginning: Mon 26th Feb 2007

2007-03-03T23:36:00.000Z

Oh my! I've not updated my blog since last week!! Now that is what I call Lazy Blog Update-itus! OK, well let me catch up on this week. This is going to be a long blog, so I'm going to rush through the normal days of Monday (which had Thursdays Java Programming stapled in a 4-6pm slot), Tuesday (Maths), Thursday (in which I travelled down to London especially for a 1hr Lab), Friday (CIS110 and CIS109 Lectures), and Saturday (a relaxed day at home playing Age of Empires II: The Conquerors and doing Java Programming).

So what of Wednesday? Oh what a day! It's was a laugh!! OK, are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin... (Note all links below utilise Google Earth .kmz files - requiring Google Earth 4).

It all began Tuesday evening. I began planning my trip to ATCAD, an Art exhibition I was going to on Wednesday, for which I might be a Java Programmer for a section of the exhibition that needed one. First, I checked where I have to go to: Frogmare Mill in Apsley. Then, I check what time I have to get there: 12pm. So I begin planning a train route. I entered Aspley on the train website and saw that the train station, Aspley Guise, was near Milton Keynes. OK then, my Dad says, get a train direct to Milton Keynes and a cab from there to Aspley Guise, just don't forget to take the directions to the Mill.

Wednesday arrives, and I get up early. I set out to the train station to realise once I've got there that I had carefully left the directions to the Mill in my room. In my carefully planned day, I didn't have time to go back and get them. It was to be my utmost downfall. A train ride to London Victoria, tube to London Euston, and I soon find myself on a nice trip up to Milton Keynes eating Cheese on Toast and drinking fresh Apple Juice. On arrival to Milton Keynes, I hail a cab and we set course to Aspley Guise.

We get to Aspley Guise and the taxi guy doesn't know where Frogmare Mill is. Neither does he know where the train station is. Weird, I think, so I ask him to drop me outside the local Post Office, give him the £20 due and after a short consultation with the Post Office, who also don't know of Frogmare Mill, set off to the train station. It can't be that far, right? Ten minutes walking later, I am a bit worried, so I knock on a door of a house and ask. Right, only another five minutes to go. Five minutes later I arrive at Aspley Guise train station. Oh my goodness, I think, this is the smallest train station ever! It's comprised of two small wooden platforms, one either side of a level crossing, and a small wooden cover. Nothing else. The time is 11:45am, and I'm supposed to be at Frogmare Mill by 12.

Now at a complete loss, I ring up 118 118 and manage to get the telephone number of Frogmare Mill. After a short talk, they state that actually there aren't in Aspley Guise, nor are they in any place called Aspley. As I stated at the beginning of this blog, and as was written on the directions sheet, they are in Apsley! Well! That makes all the difference!

I call up 118 118 again and get a local taxi firm. A walk back to the Post Office and fifteen minutes later, I'm in another cab back to Milton Keynes. I pay the taxi guy £20 and get on a Virgin train back to London Euston. OK, time out...

I have to tell you about Virgin trains!! They are unique from any other train I have ever been on. The first thing I noticed was the doors. Instead of having two double doors down the middle, as most of the trains I have been on before, Virgin trains have a single door at either end of the carriage. This leads into a small area with doors to the next carriage, and to the inner part of the carriage you are in.

I got on the train, only to realise that I was in an entire carriage of first class seats!! So I had to walk right through the carriage and into the next before sitting down in a seat and getting ready to leave. As we begin to pull out of the station, the driver's voice comes through the speakers. "Hello, my name's (can't remember what he said his name was) and I'm your driver. Welcome to all the new customers who have joined us at the last station on our trip to London Euston. I would like to remind customers to please ensure all your mobile phones and electronic devices are switched off for the duration of this trip.", or something like that, but you get the jist of it. Astounded, I completely ignored the bit about the mobile phones. Who heard of not being able to use electronic devices on a train! I half expected to see two stewardess's walking down the aisle handing out refreshments or something!

And that's when I did see two stewardess's walking down the aisle pulling/pushing a trolley and calling out "Refreshments? Anybody want refreshments?" I stared in amazement. I'm on an Airplane! I looked out the window expecting to see clouds, but saw train tracks and fields instead. Guess not.

We soon arrive at London Euston and I get the right train to Apsley this time. On arrival to Apsley, I get out and try and make my way to Frogmare Mill using my memory of the directions I have. Fifteen minutes later, and standing outside Sainsburys, I call up Frogmare Mill and ask where they are. They say I'm going in the wrong direction, so I turn around and follow their directions. When their directions don't add up, and I end up outside a pub called 'The Paper Mill', I call up again and they say I have to walk further past Sainsburys in the opposite direction, ie the direction I was going in the first place! So I walk all the way back to Sainsbury's, pass by and go into Apsley town. I get lost in the town, ask at a shop, and navigate further into the industrial side of town. I find Frogmare Mill!

Delighted, I am about to go in when I realise it can't be the right place. This is a paper mill! A real paper mill, not some building where normal people can meet up and have an exhibition or something! Knowing I'm close, I begin exploring the surrounding area...

After a further twenty minutes, I am completely lost and am almost giving up hope. I have walked back and forth, and decide to try one last corner before calling up and admitting defeat - again. I turn the corner, and almost jump with joy! On the door of the building opposite is written the words "ATCAD". I had arrived!! Only two hours and fourty minutes late. Not too bad!

The rest of the day was filled with going through the Art Exhibition, which was all about electronically generated art of some kind or the other, helping them pack up the exhibition, and then a nice pub trip with dinner later on! After that, a successful train journey home and straight to bed.

Moral of the story: remember to take your directions with you - they are vital!

A Long Day

2007-02-25T23:52:00.000Z

Today was a long day. I woke up at quarter-to-eight and spent the remainder of the day looking after my younger brothers while finishing off two business lab sheets and doing a lot of work on my Java Project. I also watched a Star Trek TNG in the afternoon and helped escort one of my younger brothers home.

In the evening, I did some more Java while listening to the Guild Wars Officers Meeting that was taking place. Ah the fun of a great debate!!

Now I'm just preparing for the day tomorrow, and the interesting week I'm bound to have ahead. I just have that feeling you get when you know it's gonna be another one of those weeks again... goodnight all!

So Much To Do...!

2007-02-24T22:49:00.000Z

OK, let's think back... Thursday was Java (yay!) then I came home and my younger brothers came round for dinner, as well as my Mum.

Friday we had TCP/IP lecture in the morning, then a Maths test on trees, then an hours break, then a Java lecture on Classes, which was the best Java lecture so far!! Came home to find my younger brothers there and completed the remaining Avatar episodes that I hadn't already watched. Now just to wait for Book 3 and see what happens from the cliffhanger of the season finale... Then I finished off the evening with Guild Wars before heading off to bed.

Then today was Guild Wars and... more Java Programming! I have found throughout the past two weeks that I have enhanced my Java project I'm working on more and more, fixing minor bugs by the bucketful (both in design and code), and implementing vast numbers of features. I'd say I'm over halfway through the 'turn-based' combat mode (not including the text-based story mode that makes up the other half of my Java program).

OK, well that was a really short run-through of the past three days. I really should write on a more regular basis, but you know how it is... there's always so much to do!!

Wikiboxes

2007-02-21T22:13:00.000Z

Bah, Wikipedia and their goofed up Userboxes: and their demand not to use the Wikipedia User Page as a personalised profile page. Otherwise I would use the Userboxes they have...

And Blogger doesn't have quite the same style. Maybe 'Space' organisations should catch on to Wikipedia's idea of Userboxes... anyway, welcome the creation of my Personal Information section!

Yesterday was Maths. Then Guild Wars/Avatar. Then bed. So a usual day.

Today was Java Programming (at home). Oh, and Guild Wars/Avatar. And probably bed to follow.

Tomorrow is Java Programming (at Uni). Then a trip round my Mum's for the evening to see my Mum, my Uncle and my two younger brothers. So, until then...

Back to Uni

2007-02-19T17:12:00.000Z

Wow! What a week off... spent the time playing Guild Wars, watching Avatar: The Last Airbender (great Anime show that!), and generally relaxing in between Java Programming and doing some (or rather one) business (CIS108) lab sheet.

Oh and if you are wondering how I watched Avatar, then I'd check out this website, as it rocks.

To finish off, I'm back at Uni, and back to some real work. My second-half of my second-term is bound to be a lot more rigorous then the first as the exam term looms in the distance.

Reading Week's for...

2007-02-13T13:05:00.000Z

...~~Work~~ Play!

Yeah, well it's been for play since the beginning! Been getting really far in Neverwinter Nights 2. And I've got a Sorrow's Furnace run in Guild Wars planned tonight. And my younger brothers have been around for the weekend. So all-in-all haven't got much work done (apart from Java Programming which I consider fun!)

Anyway, gonna do some real Business (CIS108) work today.

Oh, and I liked having that link in my text in my previous blog, so I'm gonna start posting links to Wikipedia (and other related sites) on things so that you can check up on them if don't know them. Should you want to...

Easter Reading Week 07

2007-02-10T00:00:00.000Z

At last! Reading Week has arrived, which basically means a week at home catching up on all the work I didn't do over the past half-term of Uni...

Spent Thursday (which I forgot to write about) Java programming, then the rest of the evening watching Robin Hood (the really good BBC TV series!).

Then Friday was my last day at Uni before the end of the week. I had CIS110 in the morning and CIS109 in the afternoon (where we learnt the more apt way's of sorting and searching numbers using Java).

Came home, did more Java Programming while babysitting my younger brothers. And now I'm going to bed in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Life's Like A Box Of... Broken Appliances

2007-02-07T12:43:00.000Z

Forgot to post up a blog yesterday. Not much happened... went to Uni, had various Maths lectures, came home again, played Guild Wars and went to bed. My younger brothers and my Mum came round from my Mum's house, because her gas boiler is broken (1), and her house is like the arctic. Gonna cost a couple of hundred pounds to fix that.

Went and got my car back from the garage today, after that broke (2), and that including the rental is somewhere around half-a-grand. Then, came back and found that my dishwasher has broken (3), and that we're gonna have to pay some more money to get that fixed.

No more needs to be said... I'm going on Guild Wars for a bit...

Silent Work

2007-02-05T23:31:00.000Z

Yesterday was a day spent working. I got up at 10:30am and worked solidly until 5:30pm, when I stopped. I then spent the rest of the evening playing Guild Wars: end of story, that's all, goodnight.

Today I woke up and had a nose-bleed in the shower, ran down the hill to catch my train which I just saw pulling out of the station, half-an hour later caught the next one, arrived in Uni 20 minutes late with another nose-bleed and then arrived in my lecture 40 minutes late overall. Not good.

Still, I handed in my CIS108 (Business) assignment and went to my Java lecture (CIS109), where I worked on my Java project and also something special was introduced (talk about this in a later blog...)

And as I am talking in CIS language, I thought I might as well list the sub-courses my Internet Computing course is comprised of:

CIS102: Mathematics for Computing (Maths)
CIS108: Information Systems: Foundations of E-Business (Business)
CIS109: Introduction to Java and Object-Oriented Programming (Java)
CIS110: Introduction to Computing and the Internet (Computer Hardware/HTML and CSS Programming etc/how Internet works)

That's all for today's blog.

Race Against Time

2007-02-03T23:48:00.000Z

Argh!! I've got one more day to get this assignment finished off! Oh, when will I learn to start early?!? lol...

Other then that we went out for 3/4 hours today to Reigate. Yep, right when I've got a mega-assignment to complete for Monday. Oh well. Got my haircut, had lunch, and came back. All-in-all a nice trip, but just puts more pressure as I have less time. That's life for you: you never have enough time. So a word of advice from someone in the depths...

Spend time wisely.

Proof By Induction

2007-02-02T16:56:00.000Z

Today was a big day. Not only had I got a Maths test where I had to prove that I knew how to prove by Induction, but my car was being taken in just moments before. Of course, I couldn't be in London and Epsom at the same time, so my brother Andrew had to go with Ella to the garage to get the car sorted out... took two phone-calls in the middle of a lecture and my Credit Card's PIN before it was all finished.

My test went OK but was definitely the hardest one yet. I definitely failed the last proof of Induction, but managed to get the first proof done alright, and all other questions were fine too, so hoping to get over 70% on this test. We'll see...

Other then that I've got this weekend to finish my Business assignment off. So I'm going on a crash-course of Business question writing starting tomorrow at 9am. Goody-o.

A Pointless Day

2007-02-01T22:29:00.000Z

Have you ever had one of those days where you looked back on it and almost everything you've done during that day was a waste of time? Well, that's what today felt like in regards to my work, as I managed to complete not very much. Which means I'm gonna be flat-out over the weekend.

Went to Uni and had a completely pointless Lab (we were just going over last-weeks Lab, so there wasn't much to do and finished in first 20 minutes, so spent rest of the time making a pointless Java Program... lol)

Then, came home and spent the afternoon playing Guild Wars with my brother. My younger bros then came round and we had Indian, and my youngest brother watched movies off various websites. Then they left and I now have a fast-closing evening with nothing to do.

The only thing that was worth anything was the articles I'm reading off my Palm on my way to and from Uni, but that's for another post...

Oh well, Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion here we come!!

Broken Down

2007-01-31T11:56:00.000Z

*Sigh*

I'm not having a very good morning. A broken down Renault Clio last night means that we have to pay over £300 to get it fixed and get a replacement car. Which isn't good since we had to take it in to be fixed only a few months back... and so this is causing quite a few people to have mental breakdowns.

And now I find that Microsoft Office pre-installed on my Laptop computer is, in Microsoft's style, a trial-version. Which has now expired and closed down practically everything to do with Office in the Office programs. Which is extremely unhelpful!!

So, overall not a good morning. Maybe I can get some work done for Uni now that things have settled down... although I'm gonna have to use my Work Laptop which actually has a working Office!

New Blog

2007-01-30T23:29:00.000Z

Well, I have decided to scrap posting blogs on My Space and MSN Space, because really I want an easy way to post Blogs. This way will provide both an easy way for me to post blogs to the Internet, and an easy way for people to read them.

So from me: Here's My Blog!