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October 2009

Returning to ECS

Returning to ECS Having been back in the UK now for nearly two months, I am well settled into the lifestyle. This year I live in a bit of a multi-lingual household with a Spaniard, a Frenchman, and a German in addition to a couple of English freshers. It has been good fun getting to know everyone's quirks and we hardly ever fight over the shower in the mornings thanks to a rather scattered pattern of morning alarm clocks (I'm usually up first). Continue reading →

Fresher’s Week II, Free Food, and lots and lots of coursework!

It’s been a month since I returned to Southampton, and a very good month it’s been! It all started with me helping with the ECS Jumpstart City Challenge, which involved leading a group of freshers around the town whilst they had to create a comic book style story incorporating all the places we visited. We also had to include such crazy things such as being chased by a group of over 20 people, getting resuscitated by a paramedic and meeting the mayor, amongst others. Continue reading →

My First Blog Post – Lets Start With an Introduction

Hello! As this is my first blog post, I guess the obvious place for me to start is by introducing myself. I am here in Southampton to study MEng Electronic Engineering and love every minute of it! I decided to come to Southampton not only because of its great rankings in the league tables but also because of the warmth and sense of fun that was conveyed at the open days and interview. Continue reading →

Cup of Java anyone?

Three weeks in, and it's time to scribble a few more thoughts. I've just got back into my room in halls from doing everyone's washing up, while they've all gone away for the weekend. Just Dan, one of my flatmates, and myself this weekend, so it's quiet in halls and I can think about the blog post. The course is slowly but steadly progressing, and it's beginning to teach me a few things. Continue reading →

My First Two-Cents

To this day, it's been three weeks since Computer Science has officially started, and I'm liking it. The programming labs are suitable for everyone of all abilities, even for Java Junkies like myself, there are additional tasks which stretch your abilities. Of course there are also easier tasks for the complete newbie. My last lab session involved me programming a virtual ATM. The basic task was to write a program which does a few very simple sums to deposit or withdraw money. Continue reading →

Beginnings

It's almost an unwritten code of conduct that most blogs need to start with a variety of quotes, such as: "I cannot believe it has been almost three weeks!" or "It's been really crazy*, but really fun!" or even some sort of nerdy programming quote that only people who are Computer Scientists would actually get. If I was writing one of these nerdy jokes to introduce my first blog post, then it would probably be based on some sort of "POST http/1.1" reference. Continue reading →

Hello Eager Spectators

Hello, eager spectators, and welcome to my page of internet-based thought dumps that many have come to know as a blog. Over the coming months, I aim to provide you with some sort of insight into my scary new university life... I arrived here petrified. Nothing in this world could've been scarier for me than being thrust into an environment of unknown peoples. Continue reading →

Jumpstart Again, But This Time I was a Helper

Jumpstart again...no I didn't fail the first year, instead this year I was a helper. The day involved collecting my group from the introductory lecture, making ourselves lunch and then exploring Southampton in the city challenge. This year was a little different to last, instead of taking pictures of particular places around the City we had to create a story in pictures which incorporated certain places. At first we struggled to come up with an idea for the story but we got there eventually. Continue reading →

Jumpstart in a Nutshell

OK, I'll admit it, I'm about five days late posting this. I meant to write this last weekend, but never quite got around to it somehow. JumpStart is the first thing that hits anyone arriving at ECS on time. While it does count a bit for one of the modules, it's not really about the module scores, more the fun that can be had. Our challenge this year involved creating a photo storyboard which had to meet a load of criteria. Some of these ranged from the mundane (e.g. Continue reading →