Catching up...
Sep. 22nd, 2004 08:40 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mandolinOkay, after my last little rant in here, I have some LJ catchup to do.
I went to a college where the campus was infested by squirrels. I spent the first eight years of my life living in a house that was pretty deep in the woods. I have seen skittish squirrels, I have seen spoiled-rotten squirrels that don't much care about people. But I never met one this bad until Monday.
After lunch, I went for a walk with a couple co-workers, Y and Z, through the back parking lot. We passed a section in the middle of the lot with a picnic table and a cluster of trees that's smack in the middle of a sea of cars. "We should eat lunch way out here," Y commented.
This patch was also pretty well-populated with squirrels. One of them bounced (not scampered, bounced Tigger-style) over to us, looking up at her curiously and expectantly. Y joked that she should have brought some nuts to feed it with. Since she had nothing to offer the spoiled brat, we strolled along, figuring that would be the end of it. Even on my campus, the most bold of squirrels would register the lack of free food and scurry off somewhere else to find another sucker.
But this squirrel? Hell no. It wasn't giving up that easily. It took us a second to realize that it was keeping pace with us, bounding and hopping across the grass and looking up at us hopefully like a dog trying to follow us home. The squirrel was about a foot away from us, well within arm's reach and trailing us with its best "feed me" pity look. Finally, we stopped and spread out open hands, a pretty good indicator that none of us had anything edible. It stopped and appeared to turn away, so we kept going again.
Boing! Guess who pulled a fast one. It was back beside us again a second later, and bounced and scampered after us all the way to the asphalt, hoping for snacks that we didn't have. It was the funniest thing I'd ever seen. That squirrel might have actually fallen for the squirrel fishing trick. I've privately named it Tigger - I know, I know,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
tptigger, but the nickname stuck.
Next time we walk that way, I'm going to bring some nuts.
We got back our second homework assignment (the first paper assignment, that is) in class yesterday. A lot of people missed questions, and there was a lot of groaning.
I got 50 points out of 50.
Why?
You see, we have optional post-lecture exercises. While we aren't allowed to discuss the homeworks or work on the homework together, my prof has NO problem with letting us collaborate on the exercises, and she has no problem with us bringing the exercises to her and having her check our answers.
Every single one of the homework questions had a corresponding or similar question in the optional exercises. I'd been comparing methods on the exercises on the class message board with a couple other students prior to the assignment, so I knew how to do them. And I'd been able to follow the professor enough to get down the crucial notes that showed us how to translate the K value of a "4-bit word" when using Nyquist's Algorithm. (Basically, instead of plugging in 4, you need to plug in 24 since we're working with binary - it's something of a trick question if you weren't paying attention.)
The homework assignments directly relate to the exams, and the assignments are meant to prepare us for the material on our exams.
I am officially no longer worried about the exams in this class.
Now if I could find my tape recorder to bring to her lectures to catch crucial bits, because she goes SO FAST...
As for the group project, well, I posted my topic idea on Monday - Networks and Personal Privacy. Basic idea: dealing with the privacy issues that arise from data networking and the sheer amount of personal information that's out there as a result. I can tie in anonymizers, network security et al. Personally, I'm not too pleased with it, but at least it's a topic that I can wrap my brain around. Next to the online communications idea, though, it seems pretty lame. (If I was an undergrad, I'd have JUMPED at the chance to be on that other guy's project. You couldn't shut me up about online communities.) So I was admittedly a little worried that I wouldn't get anyone who wanted to be in my group, and wind up with people who were on waiting lists for other group projects.
One day after I posted the topic, I got a bite. ONE DAY.
Feeling a little better now.
I do know that this would be a little harder if I was taking two classes this semester. Which is why I need to get things organized on the home front before the end of this semester - I can't take one class per semester every semester if I need to be done in 5 years. We'll see how my spring looks. (And if I've finally caved to Dad's side of the family and start looking to buy a place. Oy. There is NO WAY IN HELL I'm taking two classes AND house-hunting at the same time. I can only juggle so much, and I refuse to have a repeat of the insanity that was the spring semester of 1999. It's amazing my roommate that year didn't kill me.)
Rounding out the randomness (forgive the redundant pun here), I watched "Rounders" last night since I picked it up from the library. Heh. Good flick. I now know that I will never ever ever play poker in Vegas. Unless I'm trying to throw money away.
Back to work now.
I went to a college where the campus was infested by squirrels. I spent the first eight years of my life living in a house that was pretty deep in the woods. I have seen skittish squirrels, I have seen spoiled-rotten squirrels that don't much care about people. But I never met one this bad until Monday.
After lunch, I went for a walk with a couple co-workers, Y and Z, through the back parking lot. We passed a section in the middle of the lot with a picnic table and a cluster of trees that's smack in the middle of a sea of cars. "We should eat lunch way out here," Y commented.
This patch was also pretty well-populated with squirrels. One of them bounced (not scampered, bounced Tigger-style) over to us, looking up at her curiously and expectantly. Y joked that she should have brought some nuts to feed it with. Since she had nothing to offer the spoiled brat, we strolled along, figuring that would be the end of it. Even on my campus, the most bold of squirrels would register the lack of free food and scurry off somewhere else to find another sucker.
But this squirrel? Hell no. It wasn't giving up that easily. It took us a second to realize that it was keeping pace with us, bounding and hopping across the grass and looking up at us hopefully like a dog trying to follow us home. The squirrel was about a foot away from us, well within arm's reach and trailing us with its best "feed me" pity look. Finally, we stopped and spread out open hands, a pretty good indicator that none of us had anything edible. It stopped and appeared to turn away, so we kept going again.
Boing! Guess who pulled a fast one. It was back beside us again a second later, and bounced and scampered after us all the way to the asphalt, hoping for snacks that we didn't have. It was the funniest thing I'd ever seen. That squirrel might have actually fallen for the squirrel fishing trick. I've privately named it Tigger - I know, I know,
tptigger, but the nickname stuck.Next time we walk that way, I'm going to bring some nuts.
We got back our second homework assignment (the first paper assignment, that is) in class yesterday. A lot of people missed questions, and there was a lot of groaning.
I got 50 points out of 50.
Why?
You see, we have optional post-lecture exercises. While we aren't allowed to discuss the homeworks or work on the homework together, my prof has NO problem with letting us collaborate on the exercises, and she has no problem with us bringing the exercises to her and having her check our answers.
Every single one of the homework questions had a corresponding or similar question in the optional exercises. I'd been comparing methods on the exercises on the class message board with a couple other students prior to the assignment, so I knew how to do them. And I'd been able to follow the professor enough to get down the crucial notes that showed us how to translate the K value of a "4-bit word" when using Nyquist's Algorithm. (Basically, instead of plugging in 4, you need to plug in 24 since we're working with binary - it's something of a trick question if you weren't paying attention.)
The homework assignments directly relate to the exams, and the assignments are meant to prepare us for the material on our exams.
I am officially no longer worried about the exams in this class.
Now if I could find my tape recorder to bring to her lectures to catch crucial bits, because she goes SO FAST...
As for the group project, well, I posted my topic idea on Monday - Networks and Personal Privacy. Basic idea: dealing with the privacy issues that arise from data networking and the sheer amount of personal information that's out there as a result. I can tie in anonymizers, network security et al. Personally, I'm not too pleased with it, but at least it's a topic that I can wrap my brain around. Next to the online communications idea, though, it seems pretty lame. (If I was an undergrad, I'd have JUMPED at the chance to be on that other guy's project. You couldn't shut me up about online communities.) So I was admittedly a little worried that I wouldn't get anyone who wanted to be in my group, and wind up with people who were on waiting lists for other group projects.
One day after I posted the topic, I got a bite. ONE DAY.
Feeling a little better now.
I do know that this would be a little harder if I was taking two classes this semester. Which is why I need to get things organized on the home front before the end of this semester - I can't take one class per semester every semester if I need to be done in 5 years. We'll see how my spring looks. (And if I've finally caved to Dad's side of the family and start looking to buy a place. Oy. There is NO WAY IN HELL I'm taking two classes AND house-hunting at the same time. I can only juggle so much, and I refuse to have a repeat of the insanity that was the spring semester of 1999. It's amazing my roommate that year didn't kill me.)
Rounding out the randomness (forgive the redundant pun here), I watched "Rounders" last night since I picked it up from the library. Heh. Good flick. I now know that I will never ever ever play poker in Vegas. Unless I'm trying to throw money away.
Back to work now.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
*huggles*
Date: 2004-09-22 08:02 am (UTC)Re: house hunting. Good luck.
no subject
Date: 2004-09-22 08:04 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-22 08:09 am (UTC)So Bruce trapped it and set it free out in the hills. No more begging... at least until he finds his way back into town.
And good luck with finding real estate!
no subject
Date: 2004-09-22 09:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-22 10:36 am (UTC)The University of Victoria has a *huge* rabbit population. Including this one albino rabbit, whom I SWEAR is stalking me. Every time I look, it's there! -_-
no subject
Date: 2004-09-22 11:22 am (UTC)As for the squirrel: there are buggers like that up in Boston that rove in packs specialize in panhandling from kids and groups of girls. I imagine their conversations go something like this:
"Hey, Bob, you see dat kid dere?"
"Da two-year-old wit' da pink hat?"
"Yeah. She's got some cookies. Think we can take 'er?"
"Sure, boss. Lenny an' me'll distract da mom, you get da goods."
And then they have the nerve to screech at you from the branches like little bushy-tailed vultures.
There's a *reason* I encourage my mother's chocolate lab to go after invading squirrels...
no subject
Date: 2004-09-22 11:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-22 01:43 pm (UTC)