Grenville Dodge - Java & uni conclude - dance/pub crawl

Photos: well Judi & I at dance (photo courtesy of Isabell & John) - My Java project layout; Mike at concert - bands name Grenville Dodge; Edinburgh side street

Ok folks - sorry a tad late with blog - so where are we - Sunday 17 Decemeber the year 2006 - what does that mean I wonder - probably depends on your belief system - to me its an arbitrary reference - something that allows you and other people to refer to a time and date different to any other - I know the Chinese have a different New Year - and in Sauchiehall Street / Rose Street (for some) they seem to be celebrating a New Year every Friday & Saturday night so at the end of the day you have to ask yourself what your own value system is and this is usually the time of year that it comes to the fore - what is mine - well I think that may take another unique blog, to give it the attention that it deserves - in short though - I identify with the notion of peace on earth and goodwill amongst all people - and I am happy with that - also believe in tolerance for everyone and their beliefs and expect the same . . . . enough said.

So presented my Java project - handed in the documentation for project and then IT in Business assignment . . . started week calmly and ended it frantically - BDC community project night out + uni pub crawl in West End . . . uni broke up for Christmas recess . . .

Arran got away OK - and when he booked in for his Manchester - Cape Town leg of the journey - had to pay £90 for excess baggage . . . not the last of Arran's problems as he left here with a very bad chest infection - he had hardly arrived back in South Africa than he had to go to the Doctor / clinic and ended up with medicine and antibiotics and was eventually rushed to hospital because his nose wouldn't stop bleeding - what did they eventually give him to stop the bleeding - like any good hospital cocaine done the trick - told him he would have been better of buying that on the street corner - rather than the local emergency ward rates . . . lol.

Well needless to say I was quite stressed - what with the Java project looming - made some decision and spent my weekend relaxing with Judi more than working on project - but did it with Java in the back of my mind - no regrets - was a conscious decision I made . . . had a lovely weekend - was well rested and re-focussed on work at hand.

A very interesting lecture in IT in Business - Cisco in Scotland - discussing the way the Internet is going web 2.0 - video / TV across the web - improved / increased connectivity across the UK and world - how it makes people more productive and how they can work even whilst sitting on the train etc., . . .

Worked on Java - Sunday and most of Monday - probably the longest sustained period I have thus far put into Java - I actually surprised myself with some of the code that I came up with - didn't know I had it in me - managed to chat to Matthias online - and although he had a completely different methodology we were able to talk through the one part of the code that was bothering me and I actually worked it out - it was bothering me and then after chatting to Judi on phone - it fell into place - the oracle - No, but it's funny sometime you don't think about something and it can just fall into place as opposed to sitting there and wracking your brains andnothing happens . . . well Monday night I was still having a couple of hiccups and then I thought who better to go and visit and have a chat with - Colin our lecturer - taken over from Reuben - asked if he could spare me 1/2 hour and he managed to fit me in - we went through the code and discussed a couple of areas and I'm pleased to say I was able to sort out my problems. Went home that night sorted out Supervisor and Exception classes and that was me - went in the next day and Colin had a look and he was quite happy -wasn't 100% but I had effectively managed to complete and have the company working as it more or less should . . . . As for the documentation - well discovered that BlueJ actually generates its own API for the entire project - this really lists and details everything that you have used - entire project - all classes - how they work what variables are defined and used - the methods (sub-routines) etc., so what more could I say - I wrote about 3 pages giving a general overview and described in detail what one of the more involved methods was doing and how it was doing it . . .

Even travelled to Edinburgh Wednesday knowing I had test the next day (went to see Mike - Judi's son who plays in a band called Grenville Dodge - see photo's - and was playing that evening at a local club in Edinburgh) also first time I met Judi's boys face to face - pleased to say it went really well (so I thought anyway - haven't seen my report card yet) they seem like a nice bunch of guys. Also just so happened that my gas was turned off for that evening - not planned but that was how it turned out and I was sleeping out anyway . . . OK - so there was serious flooding everywhere on Wednesday afternoon - when I went through Drumchapel station the water was gushing off the platform as if it were a waterfall - when I looked down I couldn't see the ground as there was so much water flowing around . . .this was on my way home - rushing back for the gas works - as they had said they wanted to connect the gas for my neighbours above me Ian and the one above him . . .this turned out to be a standard phrase over the week . . .anyway they had connected me on Monday but were unable to sort out the upstairs flats as there was no one home . . . so they had asked me to be home Tuesday to sort them out - I said I couldn't but would try to get home earlier - they had said fine - but for some or other reason they were not able to do so - Wednesday when I did get home they were on about me getting home earlier on Thursday - but with the test and me sleeping out - I had told them I had an exam (the Java test) - so wrote my test and rushed home after Colin gave us an overview on Swing an a graphical user interface (GUI) - I was genuinely surprised and touched as to how many of gas work employees asked me how the exam had gone . . .??? just shows you . . . I had mentioned it to one and the next thing everyone knew and somehow it wasn't just an excuse that someone had used - they had obviously believed me. . . within an hour or two they had restored the gas to the upstairs flats . . .I have to say they made one hell of a mess in my cupboard - put a new pipe in and they should / could have used the old pipe . . .but they didn't ended up drilling a new whole through from upstairs - almost solid concrete 30 cm / 12 inches - but everything is working fine now. I actually started this story with the flooding and that idea seems to have been washed away - lol - well set off for Edinburgh and train conductor on train said to me - your a brave man trying to get to Edinburgh on a night like tonight - 1 line between Dumbarton and Glasgow had already been closed and it was touchand go - I explained to the conductor how important it was for me . . . and that flooding and wild horses would not keep me away . . . lol.

Thursday night saw me working on IT in Business assignment - another almost all nighter up till about 4am again . . .and in the end what did I think of my assignment . . . .I thought it was bollocks . . . I actually went to sleep about 04h30 but set the alarm for 06h45 . . .needless to say I slept in and only woke up at 08h10 - which was probably a more reasonable time . .but it forced me to take my car in as IT in business had to be handed in by 09h30 . . . did I make it No - got to uni in time but decided to print off both Java (which I had been handed an extension for) and IT in business - so they were both in for 10h00 . . . well no use crying over spilt milk - we'll just have to wait and see what marks we get . . . which reminds me - our electives are out for next semeseter our choices are:

• Enterprise Networking


• Distributed Information Management


• Computer Security


• Designing Usable Systems


• Mobile Software & Applications


• Special Topics 2

(that is the order I have selected / chosen them - so hope I am early enough - we have been told that we will need to share these topics with 5th year students - seems the uni now offers a 5 year Masters programme - so we will be joining some of them - not sure what there numbers are i.e. how many but it as suggested that we might not get our 1st choice in everything as positions are limited.

SO Friday started off badly but it got worse as the day progressed - what was it lack of sleep - received a phone call problems down at the project office - went through there and ended up down at the bank trying to sort things - then Robert had managed to somehow get his car stuck in the mud . . . tried to get that out - this was about 14h30 . . .remember I slept in well - after handing in assignments had to run to IR lecture then get Internet access sorted for my macbook and then off to the library get some books out for 2 weeks for PHP & Javascript etc., then to the project and then Roberts car - well I had not even, at this stage, had a chance to have breakfast, let alone lunch - then Judi sent a message to say she was on her way - so took Robert down to Marshall's garage for a tow truck to come and rescue him - actually haven't even heard how he got on . . . . oops had better give him a ring. SO mad it into Queen street with about 10 minutes to spare - just enough time for the first time that day to catch my breath, a cup of coffee and a quick toasted sandwich . . . which was like a feast for me . . .Judi arrived - whisked her off and managed to have a complete rest before the dance @ 07h30 that evening - turned out quite well - poor turn out from project - Brain; Margaret; Isabell - Robert had paid but did not attend . . . Nan; Agnes & a few from Blue Chip were there - and Graeme ex project employee had come along - so all n all not a big crown - but hey - I think most people enjoyed themselves in the end Judi & I did - stayed on the dance floor most of the time - hence I am a tad hot in the photo . . . some red eye but generally a lovely glowing photo of Judi. Irene would have been there but it was the one night that she couldn't make . . .

Just to make the week more interesting was finalising arrangements for my Mum's 80th in January - phoning aunt's that I haven't seen in 14 / 15 years . . finishing off the design and just generally keeping myself busy - went down to photo Ecosse - and they don't do cards only post cards (like a photograph) only print on one side - so had to redesign everything on the fly - no problem for resillient me . . . not! - just had to quickly / mentally rejig it - went down to see proof on Tuesday and made a few changes - Judi gave some valuable inputs - then when I went to pick it up on Wednesday - they hadn't done it - and needed the original photo's again . . . Aargh! - but picked it up on Thursday afternoon and was very happy with the finished product . . .

Now on to the much awaited pub crawl - nearly the whole semester in the planning - well not really - I thought Ashton Lane was ideal - I went to sleep over at my Mum's place after telling Judi I couldn't come through to her as I had basically organised the whole thing - I mean how would that look - and she was quite understanding about that - As it costs too much to get home to Dumbarton - the night bus has been discontinued - so £20+ for taxi that was why I had decided to sleep at my Mum's - set off caught a bus - then a tube and was in Ashton lane for about 19h35 - made my way to Brel - the designated meeting place - just in the door when I spied Andy - the other student rep and that was - wait for it - the entire turnout - the two of us . . . .????? Well we had a few beers there made it across to the Ubiquitous chip - Wee pub and later Oran a Mor - so technically the pub crawl still happened - caught the last tube home 23h35 and was in my Mum's flat by about 00h15 - so much for the big night out - maybe just as well what with late nights two nights in a row - I'm not sure how I would have coped with a full on heavy drinking evening - with Andy & myself it was fairly relaxed - we just had a good blether and a laugh and got to know each other a little bit better . . . .

Well uni has broken up until 2nd week in January - I will attempt to maintain blog on weekly basis . . .might not manage but hey! we'll see what transpires - in actual fact I will still be working over this period - Internet Programming; Entrepeneur Interview & an exam coming up . . . cheers - Andrew

TOGAF, MODAF & DoDAF + Arran departs

Well all the photo's are taken in Perthshire - Ducks; Loch scenes are all Loch Tay; hills with sunlight is 'sma glen on way to Loch - smaller river is in Crieff and larger one is in Killin - the Falls of Docherty - there are several photo's (including tree; bridge etc.) which are all Killin.

Well here we are week 11 has passed and there is only 1 week left in the term - unbelievable - its going to be a challenging week - my Java project has to be handed in on Wednesday and I believe it will be a long haul . . . but that is next week's story - back to the present.

TOGAF etc., - you'll be wondering what the hell is that all about - well it stands for The Open Group Architecture Framework . . . once again your probably thinking OK, but what the hell is that all about - its really all about using an analogy from architecture in general and using that in computer architecture - i.e. how should you go about arranging your companies IT infrastructure in such a way that it best supports how your company does business - taking into account where your company wants to be in 5 years time and how your going to migrate from the now 'as is' to the future 'to be' scenario . . . sort of standard management type principles . . . well this is what took up most of the week and particularly Monday - worked on assignment all day - apart from my Monday evening Braidfield computer drop-in class. I had to make a costly (in terms of time) trip into Glasgow on Monday as I had a group presentation to give on Tuesday morning and as we had had the Information Retrieval 'never look a gift horse in the mouth' assignment last week - nobody had had time to get together - well we had planned to meet Friday afternoon but my Student rep meeting had dragged on as well so they had left as I was at least 45 minutes late. Anyway Nicole, Matt & myself met (yes the Capulet’s & the Montague’s do occasionally speak) - Ratna had to work . . . so we quickly got together and within 45 minutes had hammered together the outline of our presentation on Open Source - now that might not seem like much time - however, add on my travel time and you are easily looking at about a 3 hour round trip - how I could have done with that 3 hours later in the week (more about that later). Coupled to that of course is the getting home and then working on the presentation. Also just had time to get in and settled and then leave for Braidfield. What made it all more frustrating was the fact that it was not for marks, whereas, my Enterprise Architecture assignment - counted towards 50% of my credits for this subject - so a slight mismatch with regards to how much time and effort I should be putting into it as opposed to the nuisance of having to prepare and round off etc.,

Anyway - presented the next morning - Ratna ran wild as I had only emailed him his slides at about 22h30 - he went and prepared a speech to go with the slides which I think was longer than the rest of us put together (if only my foot could have reached him - he would have felt a sharp jolt back into reality) - it went well - good feedback and interaction from the class. Despite my yearning to depart early I attend the follow-up class on Internet Programming - but skipped the lab - all at a price as I will have to spend a significant part of the Christmas break doing Internet programming . . . anyway rushed home to work on my assignment - priorties 'n all.

Wednesday was Java and I had hoped to be in a better position with regards to my project - if you remember we are writing a programme for a pizza company which I have now named 'Gizza Pizza' which is glasgie parliamo for 'give me a pizza' - anyway bottom line here is that I still have a long way to go and have my doubts about being finished by next week Wednesday - I will, however, give it my best shot - there have been serious problems with the Java instruction - Columbo / Reuben etc., but Colin has now jumped into the gap. Just to make matters interesting - we are now writing a Java test next week as well - Thursday to be precise - not really something you can study for - we were given a mock test so we could have a look at it and return on Thursday with questions. This was handed out after the lab and we went over exception handling i.e. what your programme is supposed to do if something unexpected happens (or expected - depending on how you look at it . . lol) - I think I need to write mine the other way round i.e. my exception handling will be for anything that works . . . lol - No, I am being too hard on myself . . . . I have loads working - and just a few things still have to be solved (he says nevously) - that's all.

Well Thursday was Java theory - we'd been told to prepare any questions about the test and our project - which I thought was really a good opportunity - so looked through test & wanted clarity on the documentation that has to accompany our project etc., - in prep for the class so we would address this. 'Slaan my dood' Afrikaans for 'blow me over' would we not launch into about 80 slides - brand new topics and just go like a bat out of hell - sometimes skipping 3 or 4 slides at a time (like my Asian lady who took at least a photo everyday then played them all back - sort of morphing 1 over the other (couple of weeks ago)) - it was horrendous - just felt myself falling asleep - pointless - wondered whether it was because I had told Colin in the lift on Friday how little we had actually covered with Reuben also he had put my name forward to speak to one of the lecturer's who will be presenting to us next semester - Software Engineering, which includes Java - I am to have a talk with him and tell him what we have covered thus far (not much . . . lol - although Colin seemed hell bent on changing that [in one day]) - anyway about 2 minutes before the end of the class - he stops and asks are there any questions? - I was flabbergasted - I mean what had happened about all the questions?? I managed to put all three of these questions to him - are we expected to be finished for Wednesday with project? Does he expect project documentation from us on Thursday? Are we still having the test on Thursday? To which he simply answered Yes, Yes & Yes - so everything is crystal clear . . . . NOT!

Thursday evening was all about Enterprise Architecture - I knew I was in trouble but it didn't stop me from going to the computer club on Thurs evening from 19h00 to 21h00 - went as I wanted to print off my Mum's birthday party celebration invitations for 20 Jan - it was OK - but the one cartridge was leaking so it came out looking all cheap and tatty - went into Photo Ecosse - in Dumbarton main Road and I think they have a solution for me . . . need to redesign and print something off - Judi has given me some ideas . . . (more later) - SO back to my Thurs evening - cut a long story short worked to 4am - still wasn't finished - up early was at uni before 9 am working on assignment - had to skip IR class with Monica - no idea who sorted out the data projector as this is usually my job . . . worked right through - remember deadline 12h00 - I missed it by 15m & 28 sec . . .supposed to be an automatic 5% deduction if you hand in late - receptionist said that it was up to the lecturer so we will just have to hold thumbs - THIS is where that 3 hours travel time plus working on presentation time would have come in handy for my assignment - don't you think?

Friday afternoon Judi came through - she, I and Arran went to Dumbuck hotel for the last supper - a lovely evening and early to bed after some shiatsu therapy from Judi. We had to get Arran to the airport by 6am as his flight was for 7am - well we took Judi's car and shortly after pulling away from my place (I drove as I am more familiar with the roads lcoally) I had to ask Judi "em Judi did your car have a right hand mirror" to which she answered "Yes it does" - to which I had to reply "erm not anymore it doesn't" - it had been vandalised outside my place Friday night / Saturday morning . . . Anyway we got Arran to airport and safely booked in etc., And that is Arran off home to South Africa - how do I feel - do I miss him - am I coping - well its easy to say yes, thus far - I will miss him especially wrt the football and generally hanging out together at the movies / eating out etc., - we'll take it one day at a time and see how it goes.

Went round to my Mum's place and having Judi along allowed us to slip much more easily into the photo mode as I said James (my brother) had asked me to scan a photo in and email it to him (so the combination James & Judi wanting to see them and being there) - when in actual fact I needed it for the birthday invitation as it is supposed to be a surprise can't really say what the photo's are for - anyway left with a pile of photos and hope to finalise layout / design with photo Ecosse tomorrow - probably means some work tonight - poem - wording etc., layout - but need to get them out ASAP - will also need to make some phone calls aunts etc., to get some addresses etc., Popped round to my aunt Agnes (interesting to find my cousin there) who has given me most of the peoples addresses - so need to roll on this ASAP . . .

Well that was the week that was - lack of sleep - a bit frustrated - a loss and a gain . . . roll on next week Java project; Java test & IT in Business assignment . . . and then vac - Yippee! Although will not all be rest and play as plenty to either hand in or prepare for when we come back 1st week in January - but hey! That is next year’s story.

Week 10 – Unfinished symphony . . .

Howdy all – I have been having problems with Word – yes, Microsoft strikes again – I get to about the 2nd paragraph and it just crashes – gone and everything that I have typed is gone with it as well – so I gave up after several attempts last night – hence my blog is late – its usually up by the wee hours of Saturday morning – whereas here we are early Sat evening and this is me just giving it another go. This time I intend to back it up as I go along – so I am going to stop right here and copy it into notepad before continuing . . . So far so good.

My photos for this week

1st Music theme:
a) pipe band – belting out the Queen classic – ‘We will rock you’ Sauchiehall street – last Sat
b) 1 tenor – Buchanan street (there were another couple of tenors – but when I went past it was solo
c) a Brass band – just down the road from the tenor
d) queues to see the new Bond movie – Casino Royale – this was its 2nd week of release
e) Judi autumn colours – taken on banks of river Leven, Dumbarton
f) kiddies fun rides in Sauchiehall street - last Sat



Ooops! - OK this is as far as I could get with Word - I'm a little nervous as this is what I am going to have to use for my assignment for Friday (this is a new one for Enterprise Architecture) . . . so now I have moved across to Google Docs - this is an online document . . . so lets see how this works (the above was copied 'n pasted from notepad . . .except I had grown complacent and carried on a lot further and then it crashed in word - so it seems as if it is corrupt . . . I may have to reinstall it ... I suppose a virus scan might be a good idea as well - just to make sure . . you never know . .

OK Sunday Judi came across and I showed her around Dumbarton (Don't sneeze - I told her) and then Helensburgh and surrounds -'twas lovely she says. Went to Tesco on the way home and of course I wanted the beers (Peroni) that were on the top shelf right at the back - they were just out of reach - that's life isn't it - anyway Judi said "lift me up - I'll get them" - well it must have looked like something out of the local amateur version of Swan Lake - except this swan came down to earth with a couple of beers. . . . the girl that works at Tesco was in hysterics . . . when we asked where the sausage rolls where she took us to the aisle and rack and then hung around - they were on the bottom shelf - she said she wanted to see whether we were going to lie down and take them off the shelf . . . she also said something about they'd better the camera on the two of us . . .


Monday was all about Information Retrieval(IR) - and my assignment 'never look a gift horse in the mouth' described last week. Well the research turned out to be all about relevance i.e. do the search results mean anything to me are they relevant for what I was searching for?? Well guess what Friday IR lecture was all about - you got it 'Relevance' - except I hadn't based it on or used any of the theoretical framework that Monica mentioned - so my mind was going into overdrive - thinking she'll just put a red line through it all . . . Quite a few late nights and or early mornings and I handed my assignment in on Thursday morning.

Tuesday morning saw Lesley our IT in Business lecturer going to great pains to put the subject into context - why we are doing - how we are to be assessed on the course - how we are getting on - she was giving a long talk explanation about how you have to put yourself out there to find an entrepreneur and then finished it off by saying "don't you Andrew" - and of course I nearly choked as I didn't know what she was saying - but then cottoned on and gave my tuppence input - not long after it was my turn again when she was explaining that it might be in peoples interest to attend the Connect meetings as some people had met entrepreneurs there - "isn't that right Andrew" . . . by this stage I was beginning to feel like (not to mention look like) the planted crowd participant . . . you know the person who is selected by chance and randomly . . . . Then it was Internet programming - we have finished our syllabus and Richard is going a little bit further by illustrating and discussing issues that are sort of cutting edge in this field at the moment . . . - this was followed by a lab but I was having none of it and went straight home to work on my assignment. I informed Richard that there was just no way that I could even consider attempting the PHP blog we are supposed to build at the moment as I have to many other deadlines (there were a lot of murmurs of approval at this) - he said it was fine - but I can't help but feeling it would be better if I had done some more work in this direction (priorities I know) - what may happen is that I find myself struggling over Christmas with no one to ask - plenty of time but if you can't get things to work who do you approach??



Wednesday morning was Java lab and the Manager class is coming on nicely. Had a chat with Colin first thing and he pointed me in the right direction - this is the Pizza company I described last week - I was thinking I could create a single list shared between Company & Managers as there would be great deal of repetition between the two if we wanted to create a list of employees as opposed to who would be in a Managers team??? According to me its almost the same thing . . Anyway seems for the time-being at least he is quite happy even if we do have some repetition . . . so I knuckled down and attempted to complete the Manager class . . . need to be more or less finished by Wednesday next week - is it going to happen - the preliminary part of it yes! I will make it happen. Whilst in the lab an email came through to say that Reuben was off sick and that the lab was cancelled - which it wasn't - I had a sense then that we were not going to see Reuben for the rest of the term . . .it turned out that I was right as the day progressed it became clear that Reuben would not be returning for the rest of the semester . . . Colin has now jumped in and on Thursday we had some new material / and a lecture . . . there is very little time left so its perhaps a case of too little too late but we will see how it goes (more about this in the staff meeting).

I helped David our lab lecturer / assistant in Internet Programming, with some research he is conducting at the moment - all about email and he has developed email with photographs linked to each sender - because we dealt with faculty members -everyone is supposed to have a photograph of themselves . . . so I found some of this quite interesting - sort of a graphical email interface - rather than just text based - easier to search I think . . . .

Then another Internet Programming lecture looking at some of the current Internet tools . . . more about web sites and a sense of how they could work . . . interesting

Thursday - 1st thing Java - Colin was there to lecture us - including samples of code so you could see whether you understood or not . . . plus he handled exception handling and how it works and we have a programme which he sent us to play around with and change and see what affect it has on it etc., - I can only but wonder what it might have been like had we had Colin from the beginning all the way through. We actually had a lab with Monica but I had made an appointment with Bellsmyre Monica a while back and never knew about the IR lab - it turns out it was only hading out old / past exams and being told this is worse case scenario - exam in January 16 - will never be as difficult as the mock one handed out. When I arrived in Bellsmyre - Monica phoned me to say she was at the office but no one was there and it was pouring - just happeend to be passing at that moment and drove up and at least I could offer her a dry space - well Brian arrived shortly thereafter and when then moved to his car and a large part of our discussion was held with Monica whilst sitting in the car - a short while later Tony & Mick arrived and we then went inside the project offices.

Minor hiccup in the morning (Thursday)- my assignment was 65+ pages - I was worried about paper in the lab - bottom-line I got in before everyone else (survival of the fittest) . . .and on top of that a word document was corrupt the same problem or the forerunner of yesterday and today's problem . . .?? Anyway - no problem I had it on my flash drive - but I had also emailed it to myself as well. Lo & behold what do you think ??? Yes, it too was corrupt . . . what did I do - I just printed off what I had and handed it in . . this of course threw the contents page out some last minute re-jigging.

Friday always starts with Monica our IR lecturer - the uni then decided to have an actual fire drill - so quickly down the stairs and waste some time outside the buildings - all 'n all 1/2 hour was needed for the whole exercise - before we were given the all clear and trooped back in.

Came across this whilst browsing:
BBC video nation

This was our last Enterprise Architecture Lecture - I liked Steven our lecturer . . . and I do believe this is a field which shows a lot of promise . . . I ain't exactly a hotshot programmer so looking at how everything fits together - I think this and IR at the moment are the two which appeal to me most - I could see myself going further with IR . . most people seem not to like it - what can I say I am not most people - I am looking forward to seeing what our electives are for next semester

Then it was our first Student Rep & faculty staff members meeting - Paul Hunter; George Weir & IM Director - not sure what her name is . . Idong; Catherine; And & myself - we had quite a lengthy agenda and it did seem to drag on but it was a very constructive meeting - interesting to watch it unfold as we (Andy & myself CIT - Computer & Internet Technologies) were up last - so it was quite some time before we had our chance and I had to lead with Java - I ended up pouring water into a cup just as I started to launch myself into the subject - took my eye off the cup and the next thing the water was all over the desk . . . anyway it was quite awkward as I didn't want to assassinate Reuben but needed to stress just how dire the whole situation was . . . I managed to convey our sentiment and that we hadn't done much in the way of lectures or covering much material . . . lets leave it at that - it is too late now and my main concern was what will the knock-on / long term consequences of this be?? We don't know - I don't know how many of the courses in next semester might assume a certain knowledge which might now not be there . . .We finished off our discussions by moving it onto a social level -a number of initiatives were discussed including us forming a society which will allow us to access funds from the student council . . . so lots of homework to be done and if we are going to organise a graduation ball - we'll need to get a committee in place and start with that as well.

The week that was - It started and ended with Judi as she decided to catch a movie with me Friday night and I managed to get her safely on the last train out of Glasgow - which she tells me was perhaps not a good idea as everyone was in a very boisterous and loud mood . . .


More adventures with mwa next week :-)
Andrew . . . .

'never look a gift horse in the mouth'

Oops now that I have some new readers . . . lol – perhaps I’ll have to change my content and style . . .then again maybe not . . .

Photo’s – all taken through in Edinburgh – whilst visiting Judi last weekend. Prince's street; Judi; Theatre Royal Bar; what I referred to as the lighthouse . . although I'm assured it is not one . .Actual names of buildings etc., Hmm you got me there _ I’ll try to find out and then add them as we go along.

So what happened last week – let’s see . . . ah yes – well it started off with a rather special weekend; a day off – then back into loads of work so here goes

Special weekend - well visited Judi in Edinburgh and have to say we had a lovely time – seem to be getting on really well . . . – now you may be thinking Edinburgh - Dumbarton, how practical is this etc., - Let me just say I’ve never really been a practical person . . . and don’t let minor details stand in my way! I made it here from South Africa remember . . .

So Monday was a free day – worked on my Information Retrieval assignment and have come up with the idea of testing a whole lot of online search engines – Google; Ask.com; Alta Vista; Live Search etc., with an idiom – Monica, our lecturer had offered to look over our assignments if we handed them or a draft in at least 1 week before it was due. So I immediately thought ‘never look a gift horse in the mouth’ and got to wondering what the actual meaning and origins of this idiom was. So that has become the essence of my assignment – typing this in on various search engines and seeing where it takes us – drawing up some fancy tables and then quantifying the results etc., I sent in a draft and Monica gave some suggestions and we are rolling.

Tuesday always kicks off with IT in business – we had an entrepreneur who shared his business model with us – which on face value seems to work very well – based on an analogy of a helicopter and goes something like this - well the blades are what lifts the helicopter of the ground; but it needs a motor to turn them and then the fuselage to keep everything together – kinda like the components of the business; blades – customer acquisition; motor – execution (running of the business); lastly fuselage – Admin. Very clear, and concise way of looking at a business – and analysing whether an idea is viable. Guy has obviously had some run in’s with labour issues kept referring to labour as one of the most expensive components of any business and how they will sue you at the drop of a hat and steal your stock as well as not working when they are supposed to . . .lol – def. some employee issues in the past.

Then it was Internet programming which is PHP – with which I am lost and way out at sea at the moment – priority-wise just absolutely no time to look at it – our web site we have to work on is only due in on January 15 or somewhere round there and there are just so many other priorities at the moment – so have to leave it on a back-burner – we do have a blog we are supposed to complete but I am sorry to say it just ain’t going to happen at the moment.

Java on Wednesday was a one of the most useful classes I have had in a long time. Had my 3 classes (part of project) completed and everything seemed to be working fine – managed to grab Colin (our tutor) and we discussed the next class Manager – we went through it together and he left me trying to implement an iterator. Something new and it works like this – I have a team of employees and businesses being what they are at some stage you’ll have to remove someone from a team – a resignation or moving to another team etc., - In real life you will look person up in spreadsheet and delete them - I needed to write a programme which performs the search and deletes the person – also then rearranges the remaining team. Managed to more or less work it out – with a little help from 1 or 2 people – Wolfman & Murvin . . .just as we were leaving Colin asked how I had got on – we sat down and looked at it and with 1 or 2 minor adjustments we had it sorted – he claims if I can do that I can do the rest of the project. So I was really feeling chuffed . . .I did put in hours the night before on some theory . .

Went to see the Bond on Wed evening – it was a great movie – I think that Daniel Craig will stay in the role for quite a while . . . great opening sequence – I recommend it. Arran was upset with the fact that they never asked him where he wanted to sit – I got him a seat next to me but as he sat down the guy opposite said it is reserved seating – well that was it Arran was off – took my keys to get in and he was off . . .

Ok Thursday was predominantly Java again but this time theory with Reuben – still not going too well there – spent most of the period speaking about implementing things – which suggests to me there is a hint there with regards to the project – all n all it was a waste of time – I could have stayed at home and worked on the project – we still have to do a test which should have been written on 13 Nov – but we’re still not sure when we will write it – probably week 12

Friday is Information Retrieval – Monica – shame she has recently migrated to PC – PowerPoint instead of transparencies – (must be some deal with Apple all lecturing staff seem to have apple notebook – high on my wish list now but that depends on funds – if your listening Santa) and she was struggling with the data projector – now between you and me – I’ve dealt with a few stroppy data projectors in my time @ Communities Scotland I was the heavy (nothing to do with my weight) to sort out many a data projector . . .so anyway I stepped up and – voila! Pressed a single key (it was flashing no video detected) i.e. set it on to RGB and we had slides . . .should be worth a few extra marks in my assignment or exam (you think??) . . .lol

We ended off the academic side of things with Enterprise Architecture – really getting into what it is – another assignment due in 2 weeks – TOGAF; Perks & Bevridge – just really a whole structure and outline of how a company should plan things – follows business principles to a large extent – map where you are – where you want to be – do a gap analysis – and then a migration plan – put some governance into place and go for it . . .well in simple terms really that is what its all about . . .but of course there are books and chapters dealing with each component . . .

Ended off with a student reps meeting – And & myself for CIT (Computer & Internet Technologies) Idong IM (Information Management) and Catherine ILS (Information Library Services) – this is so we can forward a agenda for meeting with the directors Friday next week 1 December . . . Dec already . . . frightening. Somebody had spoken to me about graduation ball and that we should go away in to the Highlands for a weekend . . .this is for Nov next year . . .I suppose its not really all that far away . . . .lol

Oops and locked myself out the flat on Thursday when I went to Blue Chip computer club . . now where was my mind . . .lol

That’s all folks . . .

What is coming up next week – no doubt more Java adventures; PHP dilemma; Info Retrieval assignment to be handed in; 1^st Students Rep meeting – some thorny issues / some suggestions / some improvements / some unhappy students . . .but hey that’s all in next week’s episode . . also Arran's imminent departure

Romeo, Romeo & my entrepenuer

No photo's - all slides from presentation . . self explanatory.

Well that’s 2 months into the new bohemian lifestyle . . . well I never – didn’t realise quite how much work it would be – or how fast the time would go by but I digress this is how the week went . . .

Monday was free this week – well I say free but most of the time was taken up by Bellsmyre Digital Community as we had advertised for a Project Officer – and we conducted interviews on Monday morning – we had three candidates and completed our 1 on 1’s by 13h00 – adjourned for lunch and discussed the appointment – only made a final decision, after clearing something up, on Tuesday evening @ 19h05. Monday evening is my Braidfield drop-in class, which is a pleasure as I have been conducting this for about 3 years now – no everyone on and even although I am paid for this it is more like the Bellsmyre Blue Chip computer club. . .its just a get together and a blether (local word for skinner).

Went to IT in business - and our group, Matthias, Nicolette, Ratna & myself - presented our Romeo & Juliet themed slides – was by far the most original and was good fun – received some encouraging feedback. Basically we used the Montague’s & the Capulet’s – to emphasise the two sides to our debate – started it all off by saying it’s not about Romeo & Juliet but rather Andrew & Nicolette etc., just an original approach. I skipped Internet Programming as I attended Jean’s funeral – which was a nice service – very short and to the point – much like Jean – and could identify with some of the anecdotal stories the minister shared with us about Jean.

Wednesday – always starts with Java – we are all working on our project – so that is ticking along nicely. We were supposed to have an extra class with Columbo (Reuben) but he never turned up. Then it was more PHP with Richard and it seems they have just slipped in another task of building a PHP blog – no idea when it is to be handed in and haven’t even had a look at it yet. . Still trying to get some JavaScript validation to work . . .the joys. Wednesday evening was student rep training - just an introduction - I waas amazed how many people when asked why they were there turned round and said it will look good on their CV . . . well at least they were honest. Went for a quick beer afterwards with Andy & Idong - met Christine from ILS group - she represents about 50 students . Andy & myself only have about 25 between us.

Thursday another Java class – we were sitting waiting when one of the secretaries came in to say Reuben’s car had broken down and that instead of 10h00 he would be in @ 11h00 – so I wrote a big message on the blackboard and then went off to the lab to work on some other stuff. Came back at about 11h00 – no sign of him and then as I was about to leave he came in – about 11h20 well if I should say he stumbled in – I’m not jumping to conclusions but there appear to be a problem – I’m not sure what it is. I am torn between not wanting to cause trouble and a genuine concern that maybe he needs help. (I’ll keep you posted on what I decide.)

Thursday evening – was doubled booked – Post grad welcome evening & Connect seminar. Worked out Connect started @ 18h00 & post grad event 17h30 so was able to go to post grad event then rush across to the Connect seminar. So just grabbed a drink and some food then left for Connect, where the presentation was a bit dry – investments company talking about how they go about there business – included venture capital etc., - David, in my class, asked a question as to how he could £10m for a project he was working on – I nearly died as he was sitting next to me and I thought it was inappropriate. . anyway each to their own. The one big plus factor was meeting Sabrina – who has agreed to let me interview her as part of my project for IT in Business. She is an entrepreneur and is starting up her own business as we speak – it is in the travel industry. I’ll let you know how that progresses and I should have a photo as I will be taking my camera to the interview, still all to be set up. Before the seminar did not know whom I would interview and it had been suggested that this may be a good opportunity to try and network – did not really expect to find someone straight away.

That brings us to Friday – always enjoy both Information Retrieval where we had a workshop, with the same visiting professor from Finland that presented the seminar last week Wednesday. Then rushed across to Enterprise Architecture – can’t help wondering what is going on in Lecturer’s personal life as on a few occasions he has had a niggle at people – control issues – keep reading the Metro but remember I mark your essay – talk whilst other group are presenting – something similar etc., - He is, make no mistake, a good lecturer – sometimes I wonder at the level of the material though – it is to give us a high level overview – but so much so that we can’t see the ground – I’m probably being over-critical. Let’s see how critical he is of our essays ….lol.

Whilst sufring the net came across this site - it is a women that has taken two or three photos of herself every day for the last 3 years and has now morphed all of them together which gives quite an amazing effect . . . have a look for yourself Ahree Lee . . .

Things seem to be proceeding nicely – hard work – a great bunch and wow the time just flies, till next week.

IT in Business – Ontology:

Photo's - amazing fiddler in Sauchiehall street; Jazz band in Sauchiehall street; Sam & I on her birthday Ice Bar; my new chair;

Well week 7 has come and gone – what happened this week – IT in Business kicked off; endorsed as class rep; Java project handed out & test delayed; Ontology seminar; started PHP; EA continues to interest . . .. well if you haven’t yet fallen asleep here goes . . . my chair arrives.

Well I lashed out and spent all of £30 for a chair - I spend hours in front of the PC and reading etc., - util this week I have been sitting on a plastic chair - garden furniture. I decided enough is enough I deserve, nay I need something better, so thanks to an email from Mr Oliver on the Friday and a deadline of midnight that night - managed to get the chair for £24.99 then VAT and postage and all the rest - am I satisfied - well impressed - thanks Tony.

Well we started a new subject on our course – IT in Business and I liked it from word go – quite different to all our other classes as it is probably less technical – but it raises all sorts of issues that we as in the IT industry need to be made aware of. Most of the class have not had
much exposure to work and industry so when we entered into class discussions – yours truly was making a lot of noise – well to be honest I usually make a noise anyway – but this time more so as when our lecturer Leslie asked for examples, illustrations – I was coming up
with them right left and centre . . .am I blowing my open trumpet too much here . . . .Anyway straight after the lecture I had ½ a dozen class mates around complaining and whinging that that wasn’t right – they don’t know the answers and how are they supposed to know these
things – she should teach it first then ask questions . . .I think half of it was linked to the workload – as

we kicked off with a group presentation for next week – an assignment and an interview with an entrepreneur which we have to undertake by early next year. But talk about moan – I told them now they know how I feel with programming when we get shown 2 lines of code and then just get given an exercise which we have to programme – we do not
get taught first it is down a road of discovery and that is what the
course is all about.

Internet Programming has started the PHP programming – this is what does all the work on a remote server i.e. you request something from a web page and before your request is dealt with a certain amount of processing (things) happen before the answer is returned to you. Looks interesting and starting to get a feel for the different languages - as confusing as it is there are similarities. This is all for our project – the restaurant guide for Glasgow. I have given it some thought and have a conceptual design in mind. As it is only due in January sometime it has a lower priority than Java at the moment.

I love Java – and I am going to keep telling myself this – I do really enjoy it – just gets too damn frustrating at times – Reuben told us – if you haven’t solved it in the last 20
minutes chances are your not going to solve it in the next 10 minutes – get some help – more or less mirrors what I was saying last week. We received our Java project – this will be what we work on for the next 5 weeks. It is a computer programme for a Pizza store – has some
employees, bakers & salespeople – some earn commission and then there are managers with their respective teams – etc., so need to look at how I am going to model the whole thing.
At the end of the day it is the real world that you are mirroring – so with any problem need to understand in plain English what the spec is and how things are meant / supposed to work. Really looking forward to the challenge and a relief that our test for Monday was pushed back so some of us have yet another chance of catching up, yep – that’s me.

We had a visit ing Prof from Finland – who came to lecture us on ontology – or the whole question of indexing reports / papers and in fact everything and anything and how this is to be done against a backdrop of ever increasing volumes of data being put on the web. Not just text anymore – now includes all types of media.

A brief Information Retrieval lab on Thursday after Java where we discussied our project again.

Friday always kicks off with Information Retrieval – and lo and behold what had the Metro had on its front page this morning – headlines read
Doctors encouraged to Google patients symptoms I kid you not . . . lol – read the article
yourself. Now this is really what IR is all about – so I couldn’t wait for Monica to arrive and when she was in place and about to start the class – I held up my Metro – she smiled and held up a copy as well – so she had seen it as well and shared it with the class. Then it was chocolates for the best group work that was handed in last week – which was my group – and guess who dropped his chocolate on the floor – let me tell you you do not want to eat something that has fallen on the university floor . . . - so I lost out.

Enterprise architecture was all about data storage – what a field it is becoming – Barclays 80 000 tapes as backup of their data and guess what we done a simple survey of who backs up their data – and I am guilty – don’t do it at all really . . .need to look into that . . .the group
that presented today on the whole were very nervous – felt a bit sorry
for them.

I presented my concept of our presentation for IT in Business for next week – Ratna, Matthias & Nicolette were very enthusiastic . . . . the Monatgue’s and the Capulet’s – but more about this next week – this will be 1^st thing Tuesday morning.

In closing I would just like to bid a sad farewell to Jean McCallum – who passed away suddenly on Thursday morning – we all touch each others lives and I was very shocked and saddened to hear of her passing. Jean was never one to hold her tongue – but you always knew exactly where you stood with her – there was no hidden agenda – a down to earth person.

Digging deep . . . 1st Assignment . . .

Cheating but all photo's mine - taken in Brugge, Belguim - earlier this year.

I am breaking with tradition here - but I need to just comment - or I feel I do, on Saddam's death sentence - I can't believe it - I know what he done - but is this how we show people how we deal with someone who has killed other people - we kill him??? Come on, that just does not make sense to me - we'll show you the errors of your ways by doing exactly what you done . . .am I missing something here???? Just a little too convenient / nicely timed for the US elections - methinkest . . . I'll leave it at that!

OK a really difficult end of last week – beginning of this week . . .glad to say it’s over and what a lovely surprise towards the end of the week.

“What’s it all about Andrew?” sung to the tune of What’s it all about Alfie - quite simple really what happened was that I was struggling with Java – and then I started putting some more time into it – except that the more time I put into it the more frustrated I became because I just wasn’t hacking it – I would spend 2 hours in the lab – working out what the hell the exercise was actually asking me to do – in fairness it was a step up from previous examples as this was the first time we had had 2 classes – so I wasn’t sure – but instead of getting some help (with the Java – not counselling . . .lol – well not yet) – I just soldiered on and it just kept making more and more frustrated and in the background there was the assignment still to do . . . I even started asking “Am I on the right course?” – “can I actually cope with this?” – I think you know what I mean – you just start to really doubt things and a wee bit of low self esteem and before you know where you are its “Oh woe is me!” . . . .well it took me a few days but I just decided – “That’s it “ – stop this nonsense – No 1 priority is to get my assignment finished – Java will just have to wait . . .and I’ll sit down with it as soon as I have finished my assignment and tackle it and if I get stuck – tough – I’ll go to one of our tutors or someone who can just look at my code and say – here is where you are going wrong . . . and it has transformed the way I look at things – I feel back on top of the world and even volunteered as the class representative – to represent our class in meetings with faculty etc., can I afford the time – will I be able to cope with Java – I believe so – have I sorted out my Java problem? DO I now know what is going on? Simple answer = No! But I have a plan of action and boy what a difference that makes.

So what else transpired this week. Well week kicks off with Richard Glassey – Internet Programming – we are looking at databases at moment. This subject we will have a project – a restaurant guide for Glasgow – haven’t seen the database yet – but basically person must be able to give their preference or be able to search (on a web page) what is available – in a certain genre or maybe location or price range ???? It’s another programming language really – being able to create and query, amend etc., Then a Java lab – which I devoted to going over previous – to ensure that I understood it . . .We sandwiched in an extra class as Reuben was off ill last week – looked at some new theory – covered inheritance and started polymorphism – which we completed on Thursday. Reuben was in fine form on Thursday morning – had us quite interested with his introduction to the subject – I like him – he is different – he tries to instil a sense of what we are doing in programming is modelling the real world in one or the other – which we lose sight of I think – he does have a very unorthodox approach – and he is very old school. I was a bit disappointed that he took his material straight form the Headfirst book as I have that and like an additional approach – but it was like having copies of his slides really.

After Java it was a case of everyone making straight for the computer labs – to work on their assignments – I’ve rarely seen everyone pulling together the way we all did on Thursday – most of us worked from about 12h00 till past 18h00 – trying to complete it – there was quite a sense of community – people were running around having a quick look asking other people about things if they weren’t sure etc., - and quite a lot of things were cleared up there and then – word count; whether it had to be submitted electronically; etc., we’d get someone to go away and check – other people had emails they had received in reply to queries . . .I just hope it was the right story – someone spread story your word count could be 20% over or below limit – which personally I have my doubts about as we were told no less than 2500 & no more than 3000 – anyway I hope for everyone’s sake that the 20% is correct as quite a few people are weighing in at 3500 or thereabouts. Anyway I finished my assignment @ about 18h00 and printed it off – now this is a first for me – I usually work and make changes and footer around with it – read something else, include it etc – for all the available time and only hand in on the dot or close to the time. But I just decide that’s it no further . . . and I promised myself I wouldn’t read it again that night – I couldn’t actually hand it in but I had it ready. Went home relaxed watched the football had a whisky and just chilled . . .OK – I did pull it out later – spotted a few things and was up @ 06h00 the next morning and down @ the station at 07h03 only to see the train just leave Dumbarton Central station and had to wait half an hour for the next train – made it into Uni for 08h00 still and had my essay printed and ready by 08h45 – one or two little cosmetic changes again . . .am I happy with the finished product – that is a difficult call – I think it could have been better – it’s a little bit superficial . . .maybe too many quotes – Oh for goodness sake – you see why I just decided enough is enough – I can be a real fuss-pot at times . . . . the usual suspects (classmates) were in the lab again early morning.

The week ends with Information Retrieval with Monica – it can be such a dry subject – she was off last week as well – and we had had an assignment to hand in for her for Monday – I can assure you I would not have had much time for this – if we still had to but – because she had been away at a conference then sick it meant that we had not had classes for a while . . . thank goodness it was postponed . . .now Antonio sat in front of me and he was making little (Blade Runner) origami figures and then paper airplanes and throwing them out the window – then we would all jump up to see their flight path – we are on the 4^th floor McCance building –we were doing a group exercise . . . Monica tries her best to instil enthusiasm and I thought her examples of Pizzas was excellent - it helped to illustrate her point very well – the only problem being I had skipped breakfast to get to Uni – so after all this talk I was starting to feel really famished. We had Steven Buchanan straight afterwards and he does not take kindly to us coming late – anyway Stephen (my class mate & I decided to get something to eat in between the two classes and still make it to class more or less in the same time as everyone else – as I say he was not pleased but we weren’t really any later than any of the others . . . After classes a few of us went for a couple of beers – we let our hair down after assignment stress etc.,

I’m actually very happy the way things unfolded – I’ve got to know myself just a wee bit better and it’s helped me to grow, as a person. As I said I volunteered to be the class representative – although I did say I would be happier if people chose me – but it seems after having asked for a class rep on a number of occasions nothing has happened – I told a couple of people and Rory said I have his vote and he mentioned most of the others in our Grid group and said I had been duly elected . . .lol. Oh and a surprise mail from Judi – which was most welcome – made my week . . . .looking forward to next week.

Ciao

PS – it is freezing here in Scotland tonight

Subject: Coursework Submission: CS.501 - Enterprise Architecture From: "Coursework Submission" <******@cis.strath.ac.uk> Date: Fri, November 3, 2006 9:19 am To: *****@cis.strath.ac.uk Priority: Normal

Coursework Submission Receipt

Course: MSc Computer & Internet Technologies
Module: CS.501 - Enterprise Architecture
Assignment Number: 1
Recorded Submission Date/Time: 20061103  (09.19.19)
Late Submission? no

a cold wet week in the face of Java

Well let me start off by giving a brief overview of the photo's - went in to university early thismorning and took a couple of photos - so both blog & photo's are up to date . . . . the high rise building - focus of 1st photo - this is the Livingstone building (where I spend most of my days at university) - of Dr David Livingstone - who was recently in the news because of a place in Malawi called Blantyre - a place that he named in his wanderlust years. 2nd photo - two fold - 1 give you an idea of the hills we are up and down between classes - this is the McCance building on your right and the registration building straight ahead. There is a open piece of ground - which used to be a Maternity hospital - the university now owns the ground and the next photo shows the original entrance to the maternity hospital - maintained by the university. No apologies for the next phot taken from the 10th floor of the Livingstone - it was quite a dreary morning as you can see (your probably wondering what time the photo's were taken - those outside were on my way to university - approximately 08h45 or thereabouts - this one was a little later as I had already had my hot choclate fix for the morning (next photo - drug dispenser - hey! hot chocolate for 20p - no one is complaining) - anyway view from window - uni residence on left hand side - otherwise looking out towards east end of Glasgow. Fancy dress - no - ice bar in London - Samantha's birthday. Last photo - George square - they are busy renovating 2 buildings and they have actually erected 2 massive advertisements in front of them - so we now have both Wayne Rooney and Ruby Wax watching over George square. Well the title is a misnomer really - started the week having two assingments to do and dreading the new exercises for Java as quite a number of us are still struggling to complete Labs from 2 weeks ago - its one thing to have worked on them and to get some code to actually complete it but it is another to be able to wrtie it from first principles . . . Reuben reported off sick - left us with no new exrcises but gave us the opportunity to catch up - so he missed labs on Wednesday and then obviously no class on Thursday - then Monica reported off sick so Information Retrieval was cancelled on Friday - we only found out when we went to the lab on THursday - but we used her lab for Java so now IR lab behind and still no further with Java - beginning to worry me - but just need to give it some more time - I have sensed improvements but it seems to come and go (unfortunately in waves) sometimes things seem to be crystal clear and at other times clear as mud - sounds suspiciously like life . . .lol.

But I am getting ahead of myself - Tuesday is Richard Glassey - Internet Programming - Lecture then lab - we have started databses but our lab was on JavaScript - databases is fairly interesting as we discussed various web sites and some of what is going on behind the scenes - sort of Amamzon.com; Expedia; even briefly touched on porn - I brought this up as it is often quoted that an incredible amount of business on the web is porn and it seems these figures are not incorrect - anyway basically discussed databases and how web sites use them as well as YouTube being purchased by Google; MySpace being bought by Rupert Murdoch group etc., - no one is quite sure how they are going to make money from them or are they basically just buying traffic - if you reduce the price to the number of users making use of the sites it is not a lot of money at all really. Bullions admittedly but divided by millions you can end up with reasonable figures per user.

Wednesday - Java lab - I was up to 01h00 solving a problem - quite a tricky one at that - I looked at it realsied immediately that we had had previous examples which were similar went in used and combined the different code and it actually worked - I was beaming from ear to ear - a simple little program that allows you to give it 5 random numbers and it has to sort them into ascending order . . . you would swear I had come up with the theory for relativity . . .hey! that is how I felt - on top of the world. It was I am afraid to say short lived - I was pulled out of orbit again the next day when I tried to model a bank account - with balances; interest rates; deposits and withdrawls etc., - I have subsequently got that working and I am now struggling with the next one . . .so it goes. Reuben was not there and Colin helped me - the guy that gave us the Java boot camp - he is really good - he looked a program I had written - to count the number of voewls in a String (a sentence you give the computer) and within a short space of time had helped me to see how I could improve the code . . . very useful - I just wish he had taken us all the way through -he is helping out in the Labs but Reuben is our lecturer.

Somehow got talked into going for a beer on Wednesday afternoon - Iw as exhausted - I'm sure it was the Java - just sapped all teh energy from me - frustration - plus the late night and grappling with the problem - anyway - you now me - doesn't take much to persuade me - completely different group - Andy; Russel; Phillip & David (he is a character - more about him some other time) - went for two beers - but I felt quite drunk afterwards - and it buggered up my whole evening - couldn't get down to any meaningful studying - you know when you flutter around but you just can't seem tog et to grips with anythign that is what my Wednesday evening was like - which in itself is maddening as you have loads to do but you just seem to stay in one spot - not moving at all. Made me think that unless its a special event / occasion - to drink when your already feeling exhausted is not to be recommended. (we live and learn - at least I hope we do . . .)
SO with Reuben off we had a hole in Thursdays timetable - what a stormy day it was - reluctantly dragged myself in for the single period - Information retrieval - only to hear on arrival that Monica was sick as well - well I felt sick when I heard this - could quite easily have had a long lie in myself . . .oh well it wasn't to be.

So Friday because the class was cancelled meant we once again only had a single class - although some of use decided to get in early and do some Java - I spent early morning taking a few photo's and then breezed into the lab - but it was a bit frustrating - I am probably expecting too much (he says in hope). Later on was Enterprise Architecture - which I am really enjoying - discussed Visa and how they reorganised their whole network 100m transactions a day . . . not bad - you need some pretty powerful processing power to cope with that - which they have - and more importantly they cut their processing speed down by 40% - which in simple terms means they can process more quicker - which means they are making a lot more money . . . also looked at Japan and the DoCoMo mobile networks there - they were adding 25 000 new users every day at a time when Europe & America couldn't give it away . . .we looked at some of the reasons why - and then another group gave a presentation on Wireless Networks . . . quite good - not quite as good as that other group the other day on Grid computing. Yes, I was in that group.



Well I have to give a presentation tomorrow - this is for the community organisation we are applying for a grant of £2000 10 flat (tft) screens for our computer suite. Wish me luck - no powerpoint / data projectors or anything - trying to level the playing field so to speak - I'm thinking of taking down a pizza box and another box to try and convey the difference in size and dimensions - hey! I might just use myself as an example. see you next week - I hope.

Ooops - your asking what happened to our Thursday night out - it just never happened - a good thing methinkest.