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Well, my last exam ended Tuesday, so I guess I’ve got no excuse to have not updated the ol’ LJ. I guess first comes a rundown of courses.
Good: I found out that I received and for Cmpe 320! (Software testing; the course with the Open-Laptop exam). When I think about all those lab results and conclusions that were completely made up out of thin air, I realize I probably don’t deserve it. Also, I ended up over class average in Cmput379 (Operating systems) as it seems I did fairly good on the exam. Quite a far cry from my frail marks following my failing the midterm (I didn’t realize that it was open-book until it was too late) but I brought in the course notes for the final exam, and it makes quite a difference. I’m thinking I may get a B or B+ for this course. Lastly, Cmput 411 (Computer graphics). While my team’s group project dragged down my mark horrendously (we were well below class average), it seems I r0xored the midterm and final, I think I should be up for a B+ or A- for this course.
Bad: Cmput 301 (GUIs) did not go so well. For the final I didn’t think there would be that much on “Design patterns.” To my horror, in reality about 1/3 or the exam was on just that. Needless to say, my answers to those questions just radiated, “I don’t know the first thing about Design Patterns”. I’m guessing I’ve got a B- at best waiting for me from that course (hoping my good midterm mark bails me out). Hist 391 (History of Science and Technology). For this final I studied the Industrial Revolution like mad. I know the date of when virtually every invention in that time period was invented. When I get to the final, out of the 10 questions we had to pick from to write essays on, not a single one involved the industrial revolution. I wrote about 12 pages of complete BS for that 3hr. exam. To make things worse, I discovered my prof really didn’t like my third essay either when I got it back. Ugh, I’m guessing I’ve got a C+ coming for me in that course.
Terrible: Stats 235 (statistics for Engineers) was a complete and utter disaster. I was approximately half done the final when time ran out. Even during the final I wasn’t really sure if I was doing it right. I did poorly on the midterm and assignments. I pray for at least a D+. This may be the first course that I fail.
In brighter news though, seems my luck made a turn for the better recently. About 2 weeks ago, a Dr. M. Buro proposed that he needed some students to assist with his AI research project. In particular, he needed some student to help implement a 3D graphical world to model his AI stuff. As soon as I got this general email sent to the entire ComSci undergrad mailing list, I cancelled my plans to study for the Cmpe320 final (seems that was a good call) and pulled an almost-all-nighter to create the most killer resume tailored to this job that I could. I also dusted off and finally updated my aging, badly-out-of -date website to make it seem as though I am the ultimate grand-master of everything and anything related to graphics programming (or so that was the idea). Well, I sent this email at about 4 am, slept for 3 hours, and went to class the next day, and when I checked my email again, he’d replied and proposed a meeting in one week!
Well, I prepared myself as best I could, and met him (and the other two candidates for a group interview type of thing) where the prof explained to us what we’d need to be doing. It’s pretty awesome. What’s he’s making is pretty much an Open-source Starcraft rip-off with 3D graphics instead of 2D sprites called "ORTS" (Open Real-Time Strategy). However, instead of just making in person vs. person, you can script your own AI to play for you instead. Now, you can also play soley using the game’s built-in graphics, (which is what the prof needs us undergrads to make). Also, you could even use a combination of both, like writing an AI script where you just watch it play and send general commands every now and then like, “Focus more on defenses”, or “Cancel the attack on red, pull back all forces to defend base” leaving the AI to deal with the low-level multi-tasking that it’s so good at.
The interview went rather well with the prof doing most of the talking so that Thomas and I didn’t say much. Mike showed up about an hour late (which I was secretly glad about as it improved my odds; I’m willing to bet Thomas was equally happy about it too). After the interview, the prof told us that he’d make a decision by the end of the week as to who he’d hire for the summer, and I went back to studying for stats… which really didn’t work out so well…
Well, a week later, I finished writing my last final and still had no reply from Dr. Buro, so figuring that I had nothing to lose, I dropped by his office asking for help compiling ORTS. Well, after getting into a discussion about ORTS, 30 minutes later, he mentioned that he'd explain more in the email he was going to send to everyone that was going to work for him during the summer, and that I was "definitely in". After filling out a bunch of paperwork, I am now officially an "undergraduate research assistant".
Well, I'll say more about it after I'm done my first week, but for once, it seems like it's going to be a good summer for a change.
'Til next time!
Good: I found out that I received and for Cmpe 320! (Software testing; the course with the Open-Laptop exam). When I think about all those lab results and conclusions that were completely made up out of thin air, I realize I probably don’t deserve it. Also, I ended up over class average in Cmput379 (Operating systems) as it seems I did fairly good on the exam. Quite a far cry from my frail marks following my failing the midterm (I didn’t realize that it was open-book until it was too late) but I brought in the course notes for the final exam, and it makes quite a difference. I’m thinking I may get a B or B+ for this course. Lastly, Cmput 411 (Computer graphics). While my team’s group project dragged down my mark horrendously (we were well below class average), it seems I r0xored the midterm and final, I think I should be up for a B+ or A- for this course.
Bad: Cmput 301 (GUIs) did not go so well. For the final I didn’t think there would be that much on “Design patterns.” To my horror, in reality about 1/3 or the exam was on just that. Needless to say, my answers to those questions just radiated, “I don’t know the first thing about Design Patterns”. I’m guessing I’ve got a B- at best waiting for me from that course (hoping my good midterm mark bails me out). Hist 391 (History of Science and Technology). For this final I studied the Industrial Revolution like mad. I know the date of when virtually every invention in that time period was invented. When I get to the final, out of the 10 questions we had to pick from to write essays on, not a single one involved the industrial revolution. I wrote about 12 pages of complete BS for that 3hr. exam. To make things worse, I discovered my prof really didn’t like my third essay either when I got it back. Ugh, I’m guessing I’ve got a C+ coming for me in that course.
Terrible: Stats 235 (statistics for Engineers) was a complete and utter disaster. I was approximately half done the final when time ran out. Even during the final I wasn’t really sure if I was doing it right. I did poorly on the midterm and assignments. I pray for at least a D+. This may be the first course that I fail.
In brighter news though, seems my luck made a turn for the better recently. About 2 weeks ago, a Dr. M. Buro proposed that he needed some students to assist with his AI research project. In particular, he needed some student to help implement a 3D graphical world to model his AI stuff. As soon as I got this general email sent to the entire ComSci undergrad mailing list, I cancelled my plans to study for the Cmpe320 final (seems that was a good call) and pulled an almost-all-nighter to create the most killer resume tailored to this job that I could. I also dusted off and finally updated my aging, badly-out-of -date website to make it seem as though I am the ultimate grand-master of everything and anything related to graphics programming (or so that was the idea). Well, I sent this email at about 4 am, slept for 3 hours, and went to class the next day, and when I checked my email again, he’d replied and proposed a meeting in one week!
Well, I prepared myself as best I could, and met him (and the other two candidates for a group interview type of thing) where the prof explained to us what we’d need to be doing. It’s pretty awesome. What’s he’s making is pretty much an Open-source Starcraft rip-off with 3D graphics instead of 2D sprites called "ORTS" (Open Real-Time Strategy). However, instead of just making in person vs. person, you can script your own AI to play for you instead. Now, you can also play soley using the game’s built-in graphics, (which is what the prof needs us undergrads to make). Also, you could even use a combination of both, like writing an AI script where you just watch it play and send general commands every now and then like, “Focus more on defenses”, or “Cancel the attack on red, pull back all forces to defend base” leaving the AI to deal with the low-level multi-tasking that it’s so good at.
The interview went rather well with the prof doing most of the talking so that Thomas and I didn’t say much. Mike showed up about an hour late (which I was secretly glad about as it improved my odds; I’m willing to bet Thomas was equally happy about it too). After the interview, the prof told us that he’d make a decision by the end of the week as to who he’d hire for the summer, and I went back to studying for stats… which really didn’t work out so well…
Well, a week later, I finished writing my last final and still had no reply from Dr. Buro, so figuring that I had nothing to lose, I dropped by his office asking for help compiling ORTS. Well, after getting into a discussion about ORTS, 30 minutes later, he mentioned that he'd explain more in the email he was going to send to everyone that was going to work for him during the summer, and that I was "definitely in". After filling out a bunch of paperwork, I am now officially an "undergraduate research assistant".
Well, I'll say more about it after I'm done my first week, but for once, it seems like it's going to be a good summer for a change.
'Til next time!