Reading (For Dummies)

First week wrap-up

Finished with my first week (plus weekend) of classes, so I thought I'd write.

First, are the classes.

CIS600: Xtreme Reasoning (Dr. Blair). Half the people in this photo will fail.

The course is actually on mathematical reasoning in computer science. The alternate title, "Xtreme Reasoning," was proposed by the professor on the first day of class. Either his sense of humor is getting better, or mine is getting extremely dry these days. Either way, I was the only one chuckling at this title.

CIS657: OS Programming (Dr. Chapin). This title is a misnomer.

CIS657 should really be called "Kernel Programming" since that's all we do in it. Yes, RMS, I completely agree with your views on the name GNU/Linux. But it's just so hard to say.

CIS583: Systems Assurance Seminar (again, Dr. Chapin)

CIS583 should be fun and easy. I'll have to keep my mouth shut in it though. Lots of people like to blab little security and privacy related stories. In the meantime, it's pretty much Chapin preaching to the choir (in my case anyway, but I'm a curmudgeon) a very leftist view of security and privacy. Hopefully he'll make a few more paranoid schizophrenics during the course of the course.

CIS632: Modelling Concurrent Systems (Dr. Older)

This is another easy course (for me). I took a concurrency theory course in Dresden. I did mild on the exam (equivalent to a C), but it was mostly saying stupid things that I realized 5 seconds later I should have worded better. Oral exams are tough.

That's it for courses. Four graduate level courses is 12 credit hours...I was pressured into taking a heavy load by our lovely NSF scholarship board. I think I can handle it though, since I don't have to work a job to keep myself fed...think of it as 20 extra hours a week!

Then there was, of course, the weekend. Pete invited me to a party being held by a member of The Sorority. I walked up and down Euclid, and think I found it...

Cheese it, the cops!

I guess they were serving underagers or something. Tough luck. Not much else happened over the weekend. Henry bought a futon for the living room, so I owe him some exorbitant amount of money.

We've made plans for the living room that will end up making us appear incredibly homosexual. Ohwell.

Calm Coast by Bricher Parkhurst

This is just a (fairly low-quality) reproduction, with some damage in the upper-right. It was trash-picked off of Westcott Street some time around midnight. If I was feeling saucy I might try and touch it up, but neh. Still, the plan is to have paintings and crap in the living room, since we don't have a TV. I'm on the prowl for more artwork, so if you have anything you want to dump, drop me a line.