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Andy Baker

MEng Computer Science (Graduated)

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Final Post

I will not pretend that this last year has been a bed of roses. Having been given a torrid time of it would be a much better description. A combination of outside pressures and some initial academic injustices put me in the position in questioning why I was still here. However, life is not about the battles you choose to fight, but rather it is about those battles that you have no choice other than to fight them. Continue reading →

The White Heat of the Third-Year Project

There is a definite feeling of la fin du siècle* around at the moment. The white-heat of the 3rd year project has a gone and the associated pressure has long since dissipated. Up until this year, there was always a certainly of some form of academic continuation and a mission to accomplish. Now in the fourth year, my primary objective of a good degree is in the bag. I can leave now and graduate with a first class bachelors degree in Computer Science. Continue reading →

The Viva Presentation

The Viva presentation was sorted two weeks ago and all the examinations are now done and dusted. Barring some very unexpected poor results, it should confirm that I have achieved my original aim - when I started back at University - of obtaining a good degree from a quality university. My academic career will continue for another year, which will allow the transformation of that presumed Bachelor's degree into a Master's degree. Continue reading →

Project Submitted!

Project submitted! The project report has been handed in: the piece of technical literature which will have the greatest weight on my grade for this academic year. This was, in fact, done nine days ago, but it has taken me this time to recover and find the time to express the event in words. With the stress of the individual project having been lifted, there exists a sort of limbo which feels something akin to the day after the lord mayor's show. Continue reading →

Knowing When To Stop…

Knowing when to stop is an art-form in itself. This weekend has been spent doing very little which is work related. That is not to say that I have not been thinking about the project, but it certainly has not involved writing any of the report, drawing any design or banging out any code. I had found myself in the position of being completely unmotivated and agitated by any change of direction. Continue reading →

On My Final Project

I think the blog entries are going to get a little sparse in the forthcoming weeks as it is the stretch of a project where there is an effort to maximise the time available. Fortunately, I appear to have improved during my time at University on matters relating to keeping people informed on my progress. Over the last week I had two meetings with "disinterested" parties in my project. The first meeting was with my second examiner. Continue reading →

The Project Sandwich

Project Sandwich Different supervisors have different aspirations for the students they work with. Whereas I have the relative luxury of a hands-off supervisor who steps in when needs be, there are others who run to a tight timetable. One of my fellow students was asked to complete his report in draft form before the start of the Easter holiday. With my project in its current state, I would find such a request difficult to fulfil. Continue reading →

The Ash-powered clock is ticking

The Ash-powered clock is ticking [1]. This device of torture is the countdown clock which reaches zero at the hand-in deadline of the individual project. Never has such an small block of Javascript, developed by so few, terrorised so many. ECS Helpdesk were good/evil enough (delete as appropriate) to put a version of the website clock on the main screen in ECS Undergraduate labs for a few days. As Alex Ferguson once put it: now is squeaky bottom time [2]. Continue reading →

68 days and counting

68 days and counting No update last week as the project was put to one side in order to prepare for a presentation and grammar test in French. A language module is 16 weeks long and counts as a double module. This means that it runs up until the 4th week of the second semester. The final two assessments count to the remaining 20% of the mark. A good result in both would give me a first-class mark overall, so naturally it made sense to prioritise. Continue reading →

The Second Half Kicks Off

Second-half kick off An individual project at University feels very much like managing a football club for a season. Getting points on the board each week is important, and there are a dozen different distractions which have bearing, but the most important thing is consistent good results and by the end of May the result will be fairly clear if not final. This does not apply to the uber-genius class of people who wake up one day and have it done within a month. Continue reading →