reubot

Well that sure sucked the life out me - btw I am doing

Comp3301 OS Architecture
Metr3200 Introduction to Control Systems
Phys2020 Thermodynamics & Condensed Matter Physics
Phys3050 Electromagnetic Theory III

So I headed out catching the 9:17 220 which ended up running about 5 minutes late. I was dehydrated so I bought some drink and then took the walk down to Jaycar. I bought my stuff there and then caught the bus into the city where I went to get a drink from the fountains in the Queen St Bus Station. Stayed there till I was hydrated then walked across the mall to get the 412. Upon my arrival at uni I check my.uq & si-net again, before proceeding to commence the operation of which the purpose initiated today's outing - taking a book to the 2nd hand bookshop. Which is good because I've had it for nearly 2 years and for some reason they wouldn't accept last year.

So after this I headed in search of the School of Physical Sciences Review Document, ending up at the School Office in the Physics Annexe and being told that I'm actually getting a copy of the unfinalised report due to Kim Lamb having not distributed copies of of the final version. Went down to Dorothy Hill and returned a book before heading off again back to the city.

Took a short rest before getting a 200 out to Carindale, where I found they still had the DVD I wanted at $9.99, which was just as well as it meant I didn't need to go to Garden City (I was originally planning to go there before Carindale). Bought an Choc Orange & Mocha Almond Fudge ice cream from New Zealand Natural and took my time to enjoy it before I got the 225 home.

Caught the train into Bowen Hills where I walked to Prime and picked up my radio modem kit and then kept walk west to Bowen Bridge Road and caught the bus to the Valley there. Did some walking to have look a look at a few things and then caught the bus into the city where I started doing some Christmas shopping before I met up with my mother and did some more Christmas shopping. Eventually I met up with my father and did some more, before my parents went home and I went for a walk and did some personal shopping. Caught the first train after 19:00 home and got back at about 20:00.

Went to Sheddy's Christmas party at Guyatt Park, St Lucia. Got there around midday for shenanigans. BBR piked, as usual and HighGecko turned up at 13:40. I stayed for about 3 hours and had a good time.

Went back to the dentist to pick up some stuff from yesterday and I think that's all I did in the day.

Was hoping to have a meet at night but BBR piked because he was being obsessively compulsive about needing a plan. Even more ironic is that he ended up going into the city anyway - to buy World of Warcraft.

Here's hoping that a successful night outing will proceed in January.

CSSE1000 Introduction to Computer Systems #2
I really enjoyed this.

CSSE2002 Programming in the Large #2
Enjoyed this as well.

INFS1200 Introduction to Information Systems #2
I'm glad I don't have to do anymore database courses anymore.

MATH1052 Multivariate Calculus and Ordinary Differential Equations #2
ODEs are one of greatest concepts ever.

Anyways I've decided to do Computer Systems Instead of Software. The reasons for this are mainly that I was planning to do some of the Hardware courses as I'm interested in Embedded Systems. In the end I decided it would be better to just do Computer Systems as my major and do some of the software courses as electives.

Here's the deal and thoughts.

CSSE1000 Introduction to Computer Systems #2
protiotype reckons that Simon Leung has made the course harder this year - the major change being that practicals are individually marked like the higher level computer systems courses. I keep making wiring errors in them though. X|

CSSE2002 Programming in the Large #2
This course has been majored revamped to deal with the lack of Java in the level 1 courses, and so we are the first group doing the new version. It's a lot more structured than the old version and there are even prescribed textbooks now.

INFS1200 Introduction to Information Systems #2
Bang. A bit boring, at least there is usually some exercise stuff to do in the second half of the afternoon lecture.

MATH1052 Multivariate Calculus and Ordinary Differential Equations #2
I don't see why people think Graeme Chandler is boring. I think he is actually good. I'm already liking this course more than Math1051.

19/8/2005

Stayed at University after my morning lecture, attending both my CSSE1000 contact and the BITS BBQ. However the real reason I stayed was to attend the weeks Physics Collequium: "Warped Passages: Unravelling the Mysteries of the Universe’s Hidden Dimensions", presented by Harvard Professor Lisa Randall as part of the AIP's WYP2005 events. It was quite fascinating and interesting, mainly concerned with String Theory and how it involves more than the perceived amount of dimensions.

21/7/2005

Caught the train and CityCat to meet up with protiotype, HighGecko, Thei and Bronwen for Sunday Live. The performance for the week was Clocked Out Duo, a percussion and piano duo. Afterwards I got a lift with HighGecko to the train station where I caught the train home.

???/7/2005

This time I got the 225 to Carindale first and went to sort out my bag. The strap on the bag I bought in December last year had torn off and I took it back to Myers earlier in the Holidays. I dropped it off there earlier in the Holidays and I was coming back to get a new one as they had rung back to say it couldn't be fixed. So I spent a while analysing the different bags on offer and chose what I assume to be the 'upgrade' of the bag I bought.

After this I caught the 200 into the city where I then caught the 412 into UQ. I bummed about on the Computers again, however before leaving this time I got out the Database book for INFS1200 and some theme park books I requested from Ipswich. Caught the bus and the train home (I think).

6/7/2005

Got up at 7am and checked my results which had been spat out early by si-net (Csse1001 – 6, Elec1000 – 6, Engg1000 – 4, Math1051 – 4, Phys1001 – 4). After this I got ready and (eight the 8.50 train and got off at South Brisbane to get a bus to RCH where I dropped some stuff off. I then caught a 333 to Chermside, which although being the only major north-side shopping centre in Brisbane, is somewhere I think is pretty sub-standard. After spending not much time there I got a bus to Everton park to have a look at Harvey Norman. Then managed to yet to the CityExpress stop just in time to get a 350.

Got off at Queen St Bus Station and went to Harvey Norman in the city as well. Then caught the 301 to St Paul's Terrace in Fortitude Valley to have a look at the at Harris Technology. Walked out to Ann St, thinking of maybe going to the Valley Harvey Norman but it was too far up the road so instead I caught a 194 back to the to the Cultural centre, and then headed to Indooroopilly on a 460. Bought a plain shirt and then caught a 428 to UQ where I bummed around on the library computers for about an hour, then quickly looking at book sale signs in GPS and Hawken before heading Home.

5/7/2005

Woke up and caught the 9:10 220 at 9:20. It was 10 minutes late although if you discount that it was else wise running on time. Got to Woolloongabba a shortly after 10/1 and walked down to Jaycar. I wasn't able to buy everything I had hoped to ,due to My keycard being broken and only having $4.05 in cash an me. I ended up not getting the one of the ICs, and the micro-controllers were definitely out of the question. After leaving Jaycar I headed down the road to Officeworks. I tried various office chairs, and then walked to Buranda Busway station. A short wait and I got on a 160 to Garden City with only 2 other passengers on board (there was a 111 scheduled 10 minutes later, I bet it would have been packed).

First thing I did at garden city was have something to eat. The Harvey Norman there didn't have any decent office Chairs. Also of note was that many of those 'kiosk' food places had free samples. I then caught the bus to Amart, where I found a good Chair at a reasonable price. Then caught the GCL to Indooroopilly and so I was able to have a break from walking as the journey is approximately 30 minutes. The first thing I did at Indooroopilly was to go to the bank and get my keycard fixed. I broke it before I went away by forgetting the PIN number and then maxing out the attempts. Next stop at Indooroopilly was Lowes for a white shirt although there were no all cotton ones. Then went to Harvey Norman where I looked at some more LCDs. I noticed that there are some 19 inch ones for $699. After this I went to the library get the chaser annual out from the library and quenched my thirst with some sorbet at New Zealand Natural: Passion Fruit and Apple before catching a 428 to UQ.

Once I got to Uni I went to PSE to get a book out and check my.Uq. Then went to the second hand book store where I could not see any copies of the books I would need for second semester. After this I kind of bummed around a bit before catching the Citycat to North Quay and then getting the 221 home.

(PS, yes I know it's boring, once I get though the holiday entries there will be some more interesting stuff.)

June 27 - July 4

Out holiday was house boating along the Tweed River. Started off wet, and just kept getting wetter. Turns out that we got caught in flash-flooding. This peaked around Wednesday night when we ended up being de-anchored and drifted, stopped by hitting the bank of the river. To make matter worse there were 33kV power lines above us. When we woke up in the morning the water level was much higher than when we originally hit the bank - the dinghy was even submerged. After emptying it out and moving off in the high tide, we went out into the large section near the town where we ended up making consecutive unsuccessful anchoring attempts. In the end we ended up making a break for the bridge so we could head back upstream.

The houseboat people ended up coming and taking us to the inlet at one of the places where the rich people lived. We had to stay there for the night. The rest of the holiday wasn't so bad, although we did get stranded on land on the second last day when the dinghy motor didn't want to run. Fortunately one of the locals took us back to the boat in their tinny.

MATH1051 - Calculus & Linear Algebra I

I found this course to be a little on the dry side. It only made sense after our tutor said that "it's Math1051, it's proofing and stuff". After she said this, the whole concept of the course became much clearer. It also explains why there is no calculators in the exam. Nevertheless the course wasn't too hard.

ENGG1000 - Introduction to Professional Engineering

This course had it's up and downs. Not only did it have the most boring piece of assessment I have done at university (Life Cycle Analysis), but some parts of the Team Project were quite intensive. I was in the Materials Project, as I decided it would be the best one out of the Tuesday/Wednesday ones as I'm considering Materials Science for my BSc. The most relevant project to my engineering studies was the Intelligent Supermarket - although it was on a Friday!

CSSE1001 - Introduction to Software Engineering I

This is perhaps the easiest course I did this semester. It sort of replaces Comp1500 - my friend who took Comp1500 last year said it was a mainly 'practical side of programming' type course (I suppose this is why it was called "Introduction to Programming"), and that the replacement (Csse1001) would be more theory-orientated.

ELEC1000 - Introduction to Electrical Engineering

I enjoyed this course as well, and I thought it had the easiest exam. I managed to do well in the assignments and practical exam as well.

PHYS1001 - Mechanics & Thermal Physics I

Another mixed bag. I enjoyed the second half of the course more than the first half. One of the reasons for this is that force-based mechanics gets boring fast. Fortunately, our tutor told us that they only really do force-based mechanics in first year.

Future directions

At the moment I may end up doing Applied Mathematics/Mathematical Physics instead of Physics - however I probably won't decide until the end of next year, as I'm not doing Phys1002 until semester 1 2006, and I'm only planning on doing one level 2 Physics course next year as well. On the other side of the science, some positive things in the SMMS School Review (Which I'll cover in a later post) may swing me back to Chemistry.

Anyways, I'm really looking forward to next semester, especially Math1052 (Multivariate Calculus & Ordinary Differential Equations), which is more of a Applied Mathematics course, and Csse1000 (Introduction to Computer Systems).

9/6/2005

Got up about 10 and started getting ready. Our MATH1051 tutor was kind enough to have a session during swotvac so we could get some help with the practice exam questions. After this I popped into Victor Scharaschkin's office, so I could look at my MATH1051 mid-semester paper. I then forget what I did for the rest of the afternoon until about 4. I caught the citycat into the city, where I caught the 221 Rocket again, this time outbound. Unlike the inbound trip, an outbound trip on the 221 is comparable in time to the train, which I means I caught it back all the way home.

7/6/2005

Had to get up early to head out to the PA. After my appointment I headed off to Uni, where I got out a few textbooks and headed down to the labs. After muddling around I went home.

3/6/2005

Got to Uni shortly after 10 after accidentally sleeping in, and headed to PSE to sign off on the ENGG1000 group report. Found various spelling mistakes and ended up going though to fix them up and then reprinting the various sections. This meant I didn't get out of there till 11.35, headed to Parnell to catch the last 10 mins of my PHYS1001 lecture only to see everyone walking out. I find out that a CEVAL was done so I went in and did that before heading off to the final CSSE1001 lecture. After that I went to the final BITS BBQ for semester 1 and then into the labs to finish off the final Math1051 assignment. At about 2 I went home.

At about 5.30 I caught the train to Indooroopilly for the BITS End of Semester Dinner. I sat at the table with the usual BITS crew, (Insom, io, DM etc), whereas the other table was mainly filled with people who came for cheap food and booze (evidenced by the fact our table only ordered 2 pizzas). At about 10 15 I left, going home via the bus to the Cultural Centre. Unfortunately the train was delayed (and then the service was canceled, so I had to wait longer, meaning I could have stayed later.) It was good night and I had a good time.

Recently I managed to get a lift to Tingalpa to get the 221 City Rocket. It takes too long from my nearest stop, and it's also a zone more expensive compared to the train.

Good for a change, as I'm getting bored of catching the train everyday. The 221 travels to the Valley/City via Wynnum Road, over the Storey Bridge to the Valley and then down Ann Street to the City, terminating at City Hall (Ann St City-stop 11).

Happened on 7/5/2005

Headed into Uni about an hour early to fit into some extra study before the exam. At about 9.50 I walked into Parnell and then sat the exam.

"Gary was about to leave when Andrew told him to hold up a bucket to the roof with a broom. After Gary complied, Andrew told him it was full of water and left."

Referring to PHYS1001 Lecturers Andrew White and Gary Tuck.

After the exam I caught the bus to Indooroopilly shoppingtown where I bought some lunch and did a bit of shopping before going home.

9/4/2005

I got up early and met up with Madboarders at Central. Where we all caught the next northern train and then proceeded to walk to RNA and wait. At 9.50 the line started moving and everyone went in.
During the day I say Raw Parks, The guy who played Boba Fett and Tango? Morrisen <-- spell check later!, as well as wondering around and checking out some other things.

Overall it was alright compared to last year. I think it would be much better to go back to the September dates.

Easter Saturday

Headed out to uni, where I handed some books in. I then spent about an hour measuring the sign outside of Mansergh Shaw (during which I was questioned by a security person). After that I headed off to Toowong to do my Easter shopping. I managed to get most of it there, but I will still missing some stuff. So I caught the bus to Indooroopilly. The stock at Kmart there was a fraction of what there was at Toowong, however I managed to find what I was looking for at Woolworths.

Wednesday

Headed out for a 9am appointment at Carina. After this I did some busing around the carina area looking for hotspots, before doing some Shopping. Later I caught the Great Circle Line to Garden City, where I did more shopping.

I think there was another day I did stuff on the holidays but I think I've forgotten.