I suppose missing last week’s post is proof that life is quite busy for me these days. The courses I’m taking this term (which I realize I haven’t listed yet) are:
- Databases (DB), mainly using SQL and learning how to combine it with other languages like C and Java
- Distributed Information Management (DIM), or how to make complex web apps, like Twitter and Facebook
- Networked Systems (NS), the nitty-gritty details on how computers talk to each other
- Operating Systems (OS), more nitty-gritty details, instead about how computers work from a very low level
- Professional Software Development (PSD), how to plan a large-scale project, mostly about diagrams and how to organize a team so we don’t mess up in the long run (a continuation of the same course I took in first term)
Some of the projects I’m working on right now are creating a Twitter+Tumblr combination website for DIM (with my group), A simple web server for NS, and then two projects I have going from first term, an email reminder system for PSD and my team’s group project, an instant messenger. There are other smaller assignments due inbetween all of these, and the fact that I’m balancing it all with a social life makes me constantly busy. It’s good, though. I’d much rather be busy than bored.
Two weekends ago, I went to see a “punk poet” perform, named John Cooper Clarke. He was performing at a place called the Arches, this extensive tunnel-like place with many rooms and halls. The particular stage he was performing on had a U-shaped brick roof, and people just crowded around and stood with their drinks, since there weren’t any chairs. It was the perfect setting for his type of performance. His poems, very much enhanced by his way of speaking them, were funny and true anecdotes about everyday life, frequently including colorful language. In-between poems he was a comedian, spouting jokes related to his poetry and going on interesting tangents, leading to the next poem. Even with the few drunkards who occasionally yelled “shite!” and other rude comments, it was a very entertaining evening.
Until next week.