Well I’m starting to get back into the swing of things at school, but I must say it’s been very difficult to actually get motivated. Classes just don’t seem to be the same anymore, and I feel myself wanting to go back to RIM. Maybe it’s because I am taking such weird courses this semester, like programming in Eiffel, but I find a lot of what I’m learning is somewhat irrelavant to what I want to do as a programmer.
I feel like I learnt so much during my time at RIM, taking so much away from those around me, and it was all very relevant stuff. I guess it’s hard now to transition back to the theoretical side of things where you don’t always see the direct application of what you are doing.
For example I am taking the Software Tools course which we learn all about Object Oriented Design, Program Verification and program in the lovely programming language Eiffel. Now don’t get me wrong I’m sure Eiffel is a great language that nobody uses, but why the hell are we learning it? It has zero application to what any of us will be doing in our real jobs and I know the second I leave this class I will totally dismiss it as an alternative to developing in C/C++/Java. I understand that it is a great teaching tool for teaching students how to use design by contract, and do proper testing for program verification, but it’s not like this kind of stuff can’t be done in other languages.
For example could the unit tests not be done in Junit which would at least teach us something we are going to use in our every day lives? Anyway I guess you can see what I’m trying to get at, I guess I’m still a little touchy about the whole subject right now.
So hopefully the next couple of months will go by quickly, I love school, and I don’t think I will ever stop wanting to learn more, I just think at this particular moment in my life I really want to get back to actually doing something productive. I want to be on the a team feeling like a productive member and actually building things I know people will use.
So I guess all I can say is come on January! So I can get back to actually working
I would just like to extend my condolences to anyone involved or who knows someone involved in the shootings at Virginia Tech.
I would also like to say that I wish the major media outlets would stop their extensive coverage of the shootings. Having gone through the Columbine shootings, we can all safely assume that there will probably be some type of copy cat shooting over the next couple of weeks/months. I feel that as the media coverage grows for this horrific incident the likelihood of one of these copycat shootings happening will increase.
I do not feel like the media should not be reporting about this horrific day, but at the same time seeing pictures of a crazed gunman pointing guns at the camera, and playing his video for the entire world to see. This act does nothing but remind those involved about the atrocities they have experienced and ultimately gives the gunman exactly what he wanted, recognition and fame. If the media and authorities were smart, which I no doubt believe that deep down they are, they would keep coverage to a minimum, in order to prevent people from connecting with this shooter in the same manner that he connected with the shooters from Columbine.
Again I extend my condolences to anyone connected to this shooting in anyway, let’s hope that the media learns from their mistakes and at least tries to be a little more proactive in the coverage of this event, for the sake of us all.
Well as this school year comes to a close I’m sure many of us are facing the overwhelming feeling of being burnt out. I have started to feel the effects of this over the past couple of weeks, since I have been doing nothing but work for the last two months straight. You know it’s bad when you can barely motivate yourself to do the things you love like program, or workout.
I really just can’t wait to get done with exams, it’s only 1 week out now and I’m sure everyone feels the same. I wish I could just put my head down and work and forget about everything else, almost like checking out for the next week.
So how does everyone out there combat their burn out? I need some help!
Well I just realized in my post about my car that I didn’t really explain why I wasn’t going to be putting insurance on my car this summer, and I guess I should finally let the cat out of the bag about what I will be doing this summer. I have accepted a job for an co-op term at Research In Motion in Waterloo Ontario.
I’ll be starting in April and working out there until the end of August. I honestly cannot wait to get out there and be part of an amazing company like RIM, I really hope to bring a lot to the team and I also hope to learn a lot about working in a team environment in such a technical company like RIM.
Look forward to lots of pictures of Waterloo, it’s supposed to be an absolutely beautiful to be in the summer time, I can’t wait to get out on my own
Well I came across this absolutely hilarious video on youtube that really spoke to me. Maybe it’s the fact that I’m seriously going out of my mind from lack of sleep and stress, or maybe it’s because I’m taking an operating system course this semester so some of the things this guy spits really speak to me. Whatever it is this has to be one of the funniest, geek, gansta raps of all time. This guy’s name is Monzy and if you checkout youtube you’ll find a wealth of other just as funny raps. “I do a bounds check before I write to an array”! Foo!
