First Day of School
Today was my first official day at the University. It went pretty well overall, even if I didn't get a whole lot done. I managed to get keys to my office, order my computer, and get my desk setup. The biggest problem was that my desk had 5 rather loud computers on it which I was informed were an "IPv6 testbed". After a bit of hunting around I found the owner and managed to get them shutdown so I could move them off of my desk and into a corner. I would prefer that they weren't in the room since they make a lot of noise, but apparently there are issues in our server room with weight and power consumption and so they will live where they are for now. It is certainly better than it was though since I can now use my desk for the intended purpose.
I also managed to get the book for my "Scientific Writing" course which begins tomorrow. It will only meet once a week through October but I am hopeful that it will end up being very educational. I have decided that I am going to try to write a book next semester and so the training should be very valuable in that venture not to mention my PhD. My hope is to come up with an outline for the book this semester and then start actually writing after the holiday break.
I also confirmed that I will be grading the Computer Networking practicum. This is apparently the most challenging practicum offered by the department and I did not do it myself since I heard nothing but horror stories. For the technically inclined the task is to implement a subset of TCP on top of an IP stack and then to implement a subset of HTTP 1.0 on top of your TCP stack. I have heard that it is extremely difficult to get right. The introductory class is on Wednesday and I am looking forward to it.
It would be better for the group I am in if I were to do the Parallel Programming practicum since that is run by my group and is supposed to have two PhDs assigned to it. I have the feeling it can be done by one though it may be a lot more work. I will most likely be assigned to that one next year so it would be better to have done it this year but because of a shortage of PhDs or something this year I have to cover Computer Networking instead. My group will be loosing the two people that have ever run it at the end of this year so next year I will most likely have to run it off of the documentation but I imagine that is pretty good by this point. Perhaps it is better for me this way since I will end up with at least two courses instead of teaching the same one over and over again the whole time I am here as has happened with Rob.
I also managed to get the Internet to work at my apartment today so I am thrilled about that. Hopefully I will get to talk to Viola a little more though the time difference we now face is proving to be the hardest yet. It will only be for a month though so I am sure we can get through it.
I also managed to get the book for my "Scientific Writing" course which begins tomorrow. It will only meet once a week through October but I am hopeful that it will end up being very educational. I have decided that I am going to try to write a book next semester and so the training should be very valuable in that venture not to mention my PhD. My hope is to come up with an outline for the book this semester and then start actually writing after the holiday break.
I also confirmed that I will be grading the Computer Networking practicum. This is apparently the most challenging practicum offered by the department and I did not do it myself since I heard nothing but horror stories. For the technically inclined the task is to implement a subset of TCP on top of an IP stack and then to implement a subset of HTTP 1.0 on top of your TCP stack. I have heard that it is extremely difficult to get right. The introductory class is on Wednesday and I am looking forward to it.
It would be better for the group I am in if I were to do the Parallel Programming practicum since that is run by my group and is supposed to have two PhDs assigned to it. I have the feeling it can be done by one though it may be a lot more work. I will most likely be assigned to that one next year so it would be better to have done it this year but because of a shortage of PhDs or something this year I have to cover Computer Networking instead. My group will be loosing the two people that have ever run it at the end of this year so next year I will most likely have to run it off of the documentation but I imagine that is pretty good by this point. Perhaps it is better for me this way since I will end up with at least two courses instead of teaching the same one over and over again the whole time I am here as has happened with Rob.
I also managed to get the Internet to work at my apartment today so I am thrilled about that. Hopefully I will get to talk to Viola a little more though the time difference we now face is proving to be the hardest yet. It will only be for a month though so I am sure we can get through it.