Did I mention I was in Minneapolis, Minnesota, this weekend? anyway, it threw a spoke in my posting schedule. We don't do catching up on the net, and I don't have time for that anyways, so I'm just going to continue on as consistently as I can.
For the last, say, 10 years of my life, the bicycle has been my preferred mode of transport. The Netherlands has a deeply ingrained bicycle culture, which is both the reason this preference exists and the method by which it is sustained. Riding your bike through Amsterdam is possibly the only sane way to navigate it. Since no one on a bike there has any regard for traffic laws, driving a car there is virtually equal to murder (suicide is not really the right word here).
However, in The good old USA, riding a bike categorizes you as definitively out of your freakin' mind. Why, that's why god gave us the car, isn't it? Added to that is the complete lack of bicycle-friendly infrastructure, and the fact that everything here is so damn far away from other things. Riding a bike here is, in other words, is a royal pain in the ass, no matter how good a saddle you have.
Having said all that, my host father has recently bought me a bicycle. Not one of those things we Dutchies would use to navigate traffic comfortably, but a racing model. This thing was built for speed. 10 gears on it, which are necessary with all the hills around here. So despite all my complaints, I have been cycling my way to school recently, and it is an absolute joy. Finally exercising my muscles again! What I'm trying to say is, get off your fat ass and go do some physical exercise, you damned americans!
today's quote supposedly came from Einstein, though this has not been difinitely confirmed
Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Thursday, 25 September 2008
Tuesday, 19 August 2008
academic programming
School has started over here in Wisconsin, and so far I have had a Web development class and a Visual Basic class. So far, I'm okay with each of them, but not particularly impressed. I guess my level of skill exceeds either of these classes, but they are prerequisites for the more interesting C# classes that I'll get in the second semester.
The web development class jumped right into coding HTML, which I regard as a good thing to do. Though I think more effort could have gone into explaining the nature of HTML code, like the differences between content and markup, I was happy to learn that old ways of doing styling were no longer used, and basic CSS was taught in the class.
The teacher explained to us how she had learned that it was okay not to close your p tags, but that this was regarded as wrong these days. So far so good. I did, however, regret that she did not always use strict XHTML, and sometimes lapsed into incorrect structures like these:
The visual Basic class was a bit more disappointing. First off, we did not get into any coding whatsoever the first class. Most of the class was spent looking at different types of flowcharts and UML stuff. Second, I was quite disappointed to learn that the software development lifecycle we were taught was basically the waterfall. Then the class went of trying to explain OO design, inheritance, polymorphism... these are things that cannot be taught without knowing some coding. The result was that the subjects were being dumbed down and incorrectly explained.
On another note, our VB teacher is female (which I find surprising, though I carry no judgement) and used to work as a COBOL programmer (well, nobody's perfect). She also teaches the C# and information security classes, though my info security class is not taught by her. I'm feeling lucky that I already have programming experience, because I think I would feel very confused coming out of the VB class had I had no previous experience.
Overall, I liked the HTML class better than the VB one. I think the teacher was a lot better (should I note my WebDev teacher is also female?), and it at least adheres to current development standards, or at least makes an effort in that direction. We'll see how things progress
The web development class jumped right into coding HTML, which I regard as a good thing to do. Though I think more effort could have gone into explaining the nature of HTML code, like the differences between content and markup, I was happy to learn that old ways of doing styling were no longer used, and basic CSS was taught in the class.
The teacher explained to us how she had learned that it was okay not to close your p tags, but that this was regarded as wrong these days. So far so good. I did, however, regret that she did not always use strict XHTML, and sometimes lapsed into incorrect structures like these:
To be clear, what I'm referring to here is the incorrect order in closing tags. (sorry about the dots and everything, I'm trying to get blogger not to eat HTML tags but I'm so far unsuccessful. Entities, on the other hand, are not recognised).<.tag1><.tag2>some content<./tag1><./tag2>
The visual Basic class was a bit more disappointing. First off, we did not get into any coding whatsoever the first class. Most of the class was spent looking at different types of flowcharts and UML stuff. Second, I was quite disappointed to learn that the software development lifecycle we were taught was basically the waterfall. Then the class went of trying to explain OO design, inheritance, polymorphism... these are things that cannot be taught without knowing some coding. The result was that the subjects were being dumbed down and incorrectly explained.
On another note, our VB teacher is female (which I find surprising, though I carry no judgement) and used to work as a COBOL programmer (well, nobody's perfect). She also teaches the C# and information security classes, though my info security class is not taught by her. I'm feeling lucky that I already have programming experience, because I think I would feel very confused coming out of the VB class had I had no previous experience.
Overall, I liked the HTML class better than the VB one. I think the teacher was a lot better (should I note my WebDev teacher is also female?), and it at least adheres to current development standards, or at least makes an effort in that direction. We'll see how things progress
Tuesday, 17 June 2008
School's over for me!
I've been back for a few days now, but there has been so much going on I didn't have the time to get around to posting something. Well then, where to start, where to start...
Probably most important is that I passed my exams with flying colors. Here are my marks:
There will also be german and french marks appearing on my diploma, but I passed those classes 3 years ago with similar marks. Festivities have already commenced to celebrate my diploma.
And when I say festivities I actually mean my job as a python programmer has just started. I'm sitting in an office right now, making a wxPython application that I won't bore you with. It's actually quite fun, though I have spent most of my time reading documentation and experimenting with the GraphicsContext API.
In my previous post I said I would be going on a vacation with some friends. I mentioned Ameland as a likely destination, but actually the goal was Terschelling, the island next to it, throwing all my rabid fans and paperazzi off my track. Actually, I just forgot what island we had decided upon and picked one at random, but he former story sounds more exciting.
Anyway, we had a lot of fun there, the weather was great, and we played midget golf. That's all you need to know really. I will give you one more nugget of information: our vacation at some point involved beer and a soccer match, which we won.
Now onto more important news: exchange. In the middle of my vacation, I took a leave of my friends and traveled to the city of Arnhem, where the exchange information and preparation weekend was held. About a hundred of my fellow exchange students showed up. Strangely, about eighty percent of those also went to the USA, with rather a lot of them going to states in the lake michigan area. About the weekend I could also bore you with endless details, but it should suffice to pass judgement in a single word: exhausting. There was beer here also, and the amount of hours spent sleeping were surprisingly little. Though we were talked to a lot, I would not call the weekend informative. Most of this talking carried the same single message: judge not, for thy culture is different. A not altogether surprising variant to the well known biblical saying.
Last but not least: two little kittens can now be seen walking in our house, chasing each other or sleeping lazily in the sun. The chasing must be quite tiring, I believe. I love them already. Pics will be coming up ASAP. They do not dare enter my bedroom yet, granting me my sleep at night. The stairs are a very intimidating obstacle, I concur. But this will not likely last long. They already wake up my sister wrestling in her room at night. Sometimes even on her bed.
Probably most important is that I passed my exams with flying colors. Here are my marks:
| Dutch: | 7 |
| Latin: | 6 |
| Philosophy: | 6 |
| English: | 8 |
| Chemistry: | 8 |
| Physics: | 8 |
| Math: | 8 |
There will also be german and french marks appearing on my diploma, but I passed those classes 3 years ago with similar marks. Festivities have already commenced to celebrate my diploma.
And when I say festivities I actually mean my job as a python programmer has just started. I'm sitting in an office right now, making a wxPython application that I won't bore you with. It's actually quite fun, though I have spent most of my time reading documentation and experimenting with the GraphicsContext API.
In my previous post I said I would be going on a vacation with some friends. I mentioned Ameland as a likely destination, but actually the goal was Terschelling, the island next to it, throwing all my rabid fans and paperazzi off my track. Actually, I just forgot what island we had decided upon and picked one at random, but he former story sounds more exciting.
Anyway, we had a lot of fun there, the weather was great, and we played midget golf. That's all you need to know really. I will give you one more nugget of information: our vacation at some point involved beer and a soccer match, which we won.
Now onto more important news: exchange. In the middle of my vacation, I took a leave of my friends and traveled to the city of Arnhem, where the exchange information and preparation weekend was held. About a hundred of my fellow exchange students showed up. Strangely, about eighty percent of those also went to the USA, with rather a lot of them going to states in the lake michigan area. About the weekend I could also bore you with endless details, but it should suffice to pass judgement in a single word: exhausting. There was beer here also, and the amount of hours spent sleeping were surprisingly little. Though we were talked to a lot, I would not call the weekend informative. Most of this talking carried the same single message: judge not, for thy culture is different. A not altogether surprising variant to the well known biblical saying.
Last but not least: two little kittens can now be seen walking in our house, chasing each other or sleeping lazily in the sun. The chasing must be quite tiring, I believe. I love them already. Pics will be coming up ASAP. They do not dare enter my bedroom yet, granting me my sleep at night. The stairs are a very intimidating obstacle, I concur. But this will not likely last long. They already wake up my sister wrestling in her room at night. Sometimes even on her bed.
Thursday, 29 May 2008
I am a free man!
Hurray! The exams are finally over, and until august, I am basically a free man! No more school, no more boring stuff, no more nothing. Just me and the things I want to do. And THAT means programming.
But first, next week I'm going on a vacation with two friends of me. A camping trip of sorts. Our destination will most likely be Ameland. Or another of the Wadden Islands. We'll be leaving saturday, and I expect to be back sometime the week after that.
But first, next week I'm going on a vacation with two friends of me. A camping trip of sorts. Our destination will most likely be Ameland. Or another of the Wadden Islands. We'll be leaving saturday, and I expect to be back sometime the week after that.
Saturday, 24 May 2008
Yay! Its weekend
Hurray! The first and hardest part of my exams is now over and done. I feel like it all went pretty well. Some better than others, but a good feeling across the board. Latin was without a doubt the worst, and left me mentally completely drained. I couldn't do anything for the rest of the day. Luckily, chemistry was scheduled for the day after that, so I didn't need a lot of preparation.
Three more things are coming up: Philosophy, English, and Math. I plan on finishing English in record time. My Philosophy marks always surprise me (in a good way). It just math that sounds like it could be tricky. However, if I keep going at my current pace, I shouldn't have a problem with any of these, given adequate preparations.
Lesson learned today: when using flite (speech synthesis) on Fedora 9, it crashes. Hard. It turns out the problem is actually pulse audio, so kill that to unfreeze your pc. Thank you and goodnight.
Three more things are coming up: Philosophy, English, and Math. I plan on finishing English in record time. My Philosophy marks always surprise me (in a good way). It just math that sounds like it could be tricky. However, if I keep going at my current pace, I shouldn't have a problem with any of these, given adequate preparations.
Lesson learned today: when using flite (speech synthesis) on Fedora 9, it crashes. Hard. It turns out the problem is actually pulse audio, so kill that to unfreeze your pc. Thank you and goodnight.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
