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Project Work, Page 2

I Have Learnt A Lot Since My Last Post

Some of the things I have learnt since my last post: 1. Writing a compiler is hard (but fun). I don't know what it was, whether it was the timing of the coursework assignments, the abnormal length of the term, or just people leaving things to the last minute, but what we ended up with was one of the most difficult weeks of the term, as everyone furiously attempted to complete the coursework for the Compiler Engineering module. Continue reading →

Spring Term Is Coming To An End

Spring term is coming to an end which almost marks the end of my first year of university life here. A lot has been going on in the last six months from the very first day I stepped onto this land. I still remember the day when I walked out of Heathrow Airport, the excitement building up in me was so intense that almost instantly, the fatigue due to the 13 hours-long flight journey was completely gone. Culture shock? Not really. I guess it's just a different living style. Continue reading →

Being a part of ECS has many perks

Being a part of ECS has many perks – near unlimited access to extremely powerful computers, discounts on a large amount of professional level software, very knowledgeable and helpful staff, there’s a lot going for it beyond the quality of the education. But above all that is without a shadow of a doubt the free food. Today (as of writing) we were offered a free, all-you-can-eat buffet lunch in the Mountbatten common room. Rolls! Crisps! Éclairs! Doughnuts! Water! Truly, it was excellent. 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 →

In life procrastination never really gets you that far

In life procrastination never really gets you that far. That’s a bit of a lie because you can get far. It just takes twice as long! Semester 1 of my first year is over and I can only say it’s been an enjoyable, albeit a stressful experience. Firstly, writing is not my forte and hence I’ll probably keep my first blog short! I think I’ll start on the joys of the self-taught maths. 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 →