One Geek

Well I have now started a thesis log book website. It’s mainly to help me follow my thought process and reflect on what I am doing. Also to keep a log of things too.

Apparently I made the dean’s list this year again.. I am not quite sure how that works as I don’t think I did enough credit points but it’s fun. Weird finding out about it through an email from my mother.

Well I got a new record today for my Uni subjects.

97 for Professional Service Project (talking and writing about India) and for the robots I got 86. Both are High Distinctions which is always nice. Should boost my average a little.

I have learnt too much about qmail today from trying to restore email accounts from a crashed server.

Oh well.

Did my oral exam today. It was easy and went really quickly. All anti-climatic.

Hung out with Mil, Martin and Gem after. I like them a lot. Martin made me some fantastic Peruvian seafood for me. He’s a good cook.

Just got an oral exam tomorrow at 10am and then a thesis next year and I am done with the whole uni thing.

This semester I have spent over 230 hours doing CSD. Which is an average of 16.5 hours a week.

2 out of 3 assignments down. Now time to prepare for the presentation.

Do you think I can prepare a 15 minute presentation in 15 minutes?

Robot crashes are fun. The Assembler team just crashed the Ompa robot into the PETRA bin. I might put up some photos when I get a chance. Only the 2nd or 3rd crash today too!

It’s hard work. It’s about people and machine

I’ve been working as technical manager. You learn a lot about yourself and people when you are managing. It’s interesting trying to develop leadership techniques that work. Particular when some people are not co-operative and lacking motivation.

Trying to do this as a Christian is even harder. I have been trying an inclusive version of leadership. I also try to act as servant when possible. Asking what I can do to help the sub groups. Hard work. The biggest issue is how you talk about under performers. I fall down in this area. I can bitch a lot sometimes. The balance between planing how to deal with people taking the group into account, and being fair to the individual is tough.

I only have 4 weeks and 2 days left of torture in the form of computer systems design. A subject truly made by the devil. My group of 16 people is meant to design the software for a “factory” system. This involves moving two robots, a conveyor belt, a sorting machine and doing vision processing.

I left uni last night at midnight. I am so over this subject!

Stupid bloody group work!

Don’t you love it when the answers in the book are wrong. Spending forever trying to get the answer in the book only to conclude it’s wrong. Grr.

I am so tired of group work. In my 11 people group project yesterday we found that a group of 3 people had coppied from a previous semesters assignment. None of the people turned up yesterday. They also did not turn up today. GRRR!!! Stupid CSA stealing all my time.

Semester finishes soon. My last class is on Wednesday. But I have a project demo on Friday. Still have to get that to work.

I got my assignment handed in with just 5 minutes to spare today.. I am cutting it pretty close. Stupid printing at uni took me about 25minutes. Dogs..