Grizzly Work Picture

http://csee.wvu.edu/helpdesk/staffmembers/

Linux and Lars Wirzenius

Last week Shaggy (Tim Bielawa) and I did a presentation on Debian Packaging -- most of the information, including the slide show that we used, can be found at http://csee.wvu.edu/~tbielawa which links directly to my page as well. The slide show was created by Lars Wirzenius.

Completely disconnected, although kind of, I've been reading "Just for Fun", Linus Torvalds - the creator of Linux's autobiography... When Linus is recounting his college life in Finland he mentions having one close friend in collge, who happened to drag Linus to see Richard Stallman (Jesus of the FSF), Lars Wirzenius. Not that seeing Richard Stallman affected Linus that much, he's just another big name in software licensing. (GPL)

So, basically, we used Lars' slide show to teach some students Debian packaging, which is pretty cool. I emailed him a thank you letter for the resource and he actually replied back. Small World.

That's all for now.

Computer Science and Computer Engineering

Got bored at work today so I mapped out all the classes I have to take to graduate with a dual degree in computer science and computer engineering. Following is a large list, with class names and hours for each with totals.

Classes Left for CS Degree:
CS 220 Discrete Math 3
CS 221 Analysis of Algorithms 3
CS 230 Intro to Software Engineering 4
CS 350 Computer Systems Concepts 4
STAT 215 Intro to Problems & Statistics 3
4 Technical Electives 12
480/481 senior design. 4-8

General Education Classes:
G05 3
G07 3

Classes Left for CPE Degree:
EE 223 Electrical Circuits 3
EE 224 Electrical Circuits Lab 1
EE 251 Digital Electronics 3
EE 252 Digital Electronics Lab 1
EE 327 Signals and Systems I 3
EE 355 Analog Electronics 3
EE 356 Analog Electronics Lab 1
MATH 375 Applied Modern Algebra 3
CpE 312 Microcomputer Structures and Interfacing 3
CpE 313 Microcomputer Structures and Interfacing Lab 1
CS 230 Intro to Software Engineering 3
CS 350 Computer Systems Concepts 4
ECON 201 3
Stat 215 Intro to Problems & Statistics 3
CS 450 Operating Systems Structure 4
480/481 senior design. 4-8

Intersection:
G05 3
G07 3
Stat 215 Intro to Problems & Statistics 3
CS 230 Intro to Software Engineering 3
CS 350 Computer Systems Concepts 4
4 Technical Electives 12
480/481 senior design. 4-8

This means that for a dual degree, I have 58 hours left to complete in four semesters, which should not be a problem unless scheduling conflicts occur. To complete a bachelors in computer science only, I have 42 hours to complete. The cool thing is that I don't have to make any decisions right now and I can just rock CS for one more semester.

Holy Crap!

Holy Crap is right... I haven't posted on this thing in ages. As you all know, I have been at home for the Holiday's and plan to return to Morgantown soon given that the shower is fixed at my place of residence.
With that out of the way; I'll start with my grades from last semester as well as the classes I will be taking when I return to school. I realize that I've probably told you the grades or indicated that they were good, but you can put them in perspective for yourself.

Fall 2007 Term Grades:
Intro Digital Logic Design (CPE 271): B+
Digital Logic Laboratory (CPE 272): A
File and Data Structures (CS 210): A
Intro Electrical Engineering (EE 221): W (This is the one I dropped.)
Intro Electrical Engineering Laboratory (EE 222): A
Multivariable Calculus (MATH 251): B
General Physics (PHYS 112): B

Attempted Hours: 20
Completed Hours: 17
Resultant GPA: 3.35
Overall GPA: 3.42

Spring 2008 Schedule:
Multiprocessor Systems (CPE 310)
Multiprocessor Systems Laboratory (CPE 311)
Principle Programming Languages (CS 210)
Intro Electrical Engineering (EE 221)
Elementary Differential Equations (MATH 261)
Introduction to Anthropology (SOCA 105)

Apart from all of that mumbo jumbo, you know I went to St. Albans several times during break; Once for Christmas with Erin's family the other time to just be lazy -- Something I have no problems doing. Both visits were awesome -- Her family is hilarious, all 25+ people that were there, and I don't think they hate me which is really awesome.

I've just finished reading The Legend of the Syndicate. Which was a pretty interesting look at the history of online gaming through the eyes of an online guild. I thought it was cool, although there were probably 10+ spelling errors in the book and some of the ideas repeated a lot in a short period of time. Otherwise, good read.

I also finished reading Free Software, Free Society. It contains a bunch of essays written by a "hacker" that got his start at MIT that has really revolutionary ideas regarding proprietary laws and software. Sounds boring, I know. But I'm a hoss. You knew that, to be sure.