Thoughts of a Psych/Code Monkey/Guitarist

Some of you may have noticed that blogwatcher doesn't like title-less blog posts :p So, in trying to implement a fix, I needed a post without a title to test on - that's what this is for ;) I'll fill it with some other random stuff though, like: 1) XMI design done :D was happy with this one, just gotta hope noone else submits 2) Cat Empire concert tonight! They should be good live, thanks to my aunt for the ticket 3) The Ashes are coming to Adelaide! I'll be going later hopefully, but can't be there tomorrow because... 4) HD for maths subject but 84 for my computer science one :S - i was going in on 30% already from pracs, so need to check at exam viewing tomorrow to see what went wrong. tis my first D :p hopefully the title-less blog post will be fixed, until then, PatTag is available for those who want it - there's even an rss feed so you can add your tag to your normal blogwatcher listing :) Song of the moment: Tears (Rush / Dream Theater) Edit: ok, looks lik...

The TCCC is over and results are in - 3rd! :D Nicka81, who everyone thought would come 1st, did in each of the 3 components - maone then came 2nd in each (just passing me in appeals for the 3rd) and then I came 5th-3rd-3rd, enough to put me 3rd overall! However, as expected, the actual contest part was a bit of an anticlimax, most of the fun comes from meeting all the other coders who, until now, I've only known by their tiny little member photos. San Diego itself was ok, a bit foggy & rainy, but I imagine during summer it would be a nice place. Especially if there's a programming contest on ;) This is just a quick message to say thanks for the birthday wishes, hope exams went well for all, my 'supps' are in 2 weeks :p - oh, and Pat Tag is being upgraded, you may have to post comments instead until it is finished, but you can watch the progress on the right =)

I'm off! To San Diego, 14th->20th Novemeber. Two of those days will be spent flying in the air :S However, I don't mind flights too much - I can sleep, and now I even got myself some noise-cancelling headphones to help out :p For those interested, the site for the contest is: http://www.topcoder.com/tc?module=Static&d1=tournaments&d2=tccc06&d3=about and general news may appear frequently at TopCoder's home site: http://www.topcoder.com/tc And there'll be a live telecast of the last day of competition! (though, probably at 3am or so here) While I'm gone - best of luck to everyone with exams/essays left, enjoy the post-exam freedom, good luck with soccer on sunday, etc...! Not sure how much time or availability I'll have over there. A few thoughts to leave you with, that have stumped me 1) When Nappy companies claim that their new products are more comfortable than their last...*how do they know*?? Are there professional nappy testers? 2) Are intere...

Remember, remember the fifth of November, Gunpowder Treason and Plot, I see no reason why gunpowder treason should ever be forgot. And today's date is....November 5! 401 years ago, Guy Fawkes attempted to carry out the Gunpowder plot. To celebrate the occasion, time to blow stuff up!...or maybe watch V for Vendetta, I think I'll go with the latter. Again, good luck to all those with exams / essays in the upcoming week - the most recent week of designs is out, so I'll be disappearing again until next friday, enjoy! 3 months of 'holidays' are coming soon...

It's that time of year again - when uni world is turned on its head, as the arts students hit the keyboards and the eng students hit the books (metaphorically, but quite possibly physically too). Good luck for all those with essays due over the next few days, and for all those who have exams starting soon. Due to going away to San Diego (14th->20th) I miss the 2nd week of exams, so my schedule looks like: swat week 1 - exam week 1 (2 exams) - USA week - holiday week - swat week 2 - exam week 2 (3 exams). So I get 3 weeks between exams, but I also am not finished until early december :( Oh, and that's an intentional typo - it really *should* be called s.w.a.t week. Just because. No word from Google, but they just had their big tournament last weekend (congrats to the winner, Petr) so hopefully will hear soon. This week is just about coding assignments, improving my tag board stuff, and hopefully writing/recording music. Then starting friday is final-design-week! A few interes...

Week 2 of design contest is about to start, so if anyone reads this, to keep you from boredom I'll post the last day's report from the previous design, the interesting night it was: "Well...that was interesting, not a day I'll soon forget. Anyway, I shall start at the start - due to CS tutoring of students at Uni, I have to start at 11am, which means walking to the busstop at 9. It's also going to be a 35 degree day, and I'm bringing my laptop in so I can do some more XMI documenting from within the CS labs. By 2pm, I've got a software design lecture (ironic?), and as I've documented virtually everything except the new SQL stuff that I haven't added in poseidon yet, there's not much to do until after I finish at 5. At this time I also start up my list of tiny one-point things that need to be fixed, like incorrect names, missing attributes, extra things to add to documentation, etc... Get home, finish dinner by 6:30, pull out the Iced-Coffee and...

Ok, so TCCC design finals have started - under a cloud of mystery as one finalist is possibly disqualified and another takes their place :S Anyway, my intention is to blog each day of this next week to track my progress, but as the contest is still running I can't post it til the end. So, while I'm away, I thought I'd leave a list of comedy things to be found on this interweb thingy to fill in time, one per site: 1) Wikipedia (search for "Baby Food") 2) Google videos 3) Youtube 4) Cyanide and Happiness 5) South Park episodes 6) Carlton Draught - more dancing =) As a final thought, I'll leave you with something interesting today from a psych lecture: Scenario 1: There are 4 cards on a table, each has a letter on one side and a number on the other. The faces you can see are: "A" "4" "D" and "7". If you want to test whether "All vowels have an even number on the other side" is true, what is the most number of ca...

It's official! - results of the TCCC design contest are out - I ended up with 40/40 pts, in the top 8, so get to go to San Diego California!!! Means I'll be away 14th->20th November - I miss the 2nd week of exams, so have to reschedule sitting 3 of them...it *also* means that I'll be flying over the Atlantic on the 19th, and it'll last only a few hours before I cross the dateline. Last year I was in ACT for my birthday, this year it won't even happen! ....does that mean I stay 19?? Speaking of travelling, my parents leave for their 6-week european holiday after mum's retirement - Sis & I get to fend for ourselves at home, should be interesting... In other news, the ACM final location has been announced, so it looks like my team & I will be in Tokyo in mid March '07. Our ACM prizes have also come in - not only is the iPod shuffle 1Gb, but it also has 'Google' written on the side =) Seriously, how much do you think it'd cost to have you...

Yep, Holidays have started! "Wait!"...I hear you say..."Didn't they start saturday" - yeah, I guess, though now week 5 of the TopCoder Collegiate Challenge (TCCC) design contest has just ended, which means I get a break after working for almost 6 weeks straight :S - this week was particularly hectic though, due to ACM, Google Code Jam and TCCC algorithm *also* being on at the same time. The result? Prizes won this week: 1 TCCC t-shirt for passing review in design 1 TCCC t-shirt for participating in round 1 (yes, it's the same shirt) 1 TCCC student rep. shirt for convincing someone to compete. 1 GCJ shirt for coming in the top 250 in round 2. 1 Google shirt for winning the ACM regional 1 ACM shirt for attending the ACM regional 1 iPod shuffle (apparently...still waiting) for winning ACM 1 trip to Tokyo (probably) for winning ACM 1 trip to San Diego, CA, for placing top 8 in TCCC Design (still pending) Seriously though, what are you supposed to do with six pro...

Something I came up with while procrastinating - another one of these games, tis quite simple. Most browsers cache the addresses you visit often, so press 'a' and copy down what your browser suggests. Then 'b', then 'c' etc... to find which sites you frequent. This is me through my browser: a: www.australiancentral.com.au b: blowingupspace.blogspot.com c: www.cs.adelaide.edu.au d: dictionary.reference.com e: en.wikipedia.org f: forums.topcoder.com g: www.gyronet.org (not google!) h: www.hotmail.com i: www.imdb.com j: java.sun.com/j2se/1.5.0/docs/api/index.html l: www.logicgamesonline.com m: modnar.poolboys.org n: ninemsn.com.au o: orac.amt.edu.au/formums p: padster.gyronet.org/blogwatch/checker.php r: www.research.ibm.com/ponder/ s: software.topcoder.com/review t: www.topcoder.com/tc u: www.ultimate-guitar.com/ v: video.google.com w: webmail.adelaide.edu.au/horde/imp/ x: www.xmpp.org y: www.yourtv.com.au/guide/index.cfm K, Q and Z had no matches. One and a bit w...

For all those not interested in tech stuff, tune out now! For once, I'll do a codemonkey-esque update. No, it's not about how MySpace is one of the ugliest looking sites yet gets 7000 new australian members to day, 60% of whom will never return. Though that in itself puzzles me. No, instead, it's about Apple's iSTUFF idea, what will / should happen, and why. Firstly, many have tried to topple the mighty iPod - Sony have the walkman, Creative the Zen, Microsoft are soon to the Zune, in an attempt to make an iPod killer. But no, these are doomed to fail. Why? A few things, most are driven by ease of use. You see, people don't like to do too much stuff when it comes to computers. Apple managed to capitalize on this by making a system which: Uses one program (iTunes) to do virually everything. Gives you access to the iTunes (Apple) music store from within the program Uses non-standard file format AAC for iTunes downloads, rather than mp3 Handles 'podcasting' whi...

Hmm....it's getting busy...very busy. But before I have to knuckle down and do...stuff...I thought i'd update with why I may be hard to track down over the next week or five: 1) TCCC design has started! 5 weeks of consecutive UML designs to try to earn my place in America. This wouldn't be too bad, but the very first week, I pick a hard component. Ok, good in the sense that, if I pass, I get the US$1500 payment, 500 digital run points and 10 TCCC points, but bad in the sense that there were problems with the specs, so now its been extended til monday which takes time away from the next design. 2) SRMs go on as usual - most recent was cancelled due to server problems...at 1am in the morning before a 10am start the next day! :p - add to this the ACM regional and Google Code Jam, TCCC algorithm, plus training = so much coding, so little time :( 3) No assignments this week (*phew*) but...only because there's 4 or 5 due next week! One is doing a UML design (= TCCC design for...

In the spirit of the new Australian tv show (which I haven't seen, I'm just stealing the name, sorry) comes two back-two-back narratives from today: Tale #1: Bus Prophet (starring 4yo kid and grandfather) -- *bump*, bus hits kurb while going around roundabout -- kid] Papa...did we just hit something? man] Yes, our bus just hit the kurb when going around the roundabout. -- kid thinks for 10s -- k] Papa...why did we just the kurb? m] Because he's a lousy driver. -- kid thinks for 1 minute, waits until the bus is quiet, then in a REALLY loud voice: k] Papa...WHY IS HE A LAZY DRIVER?? {we now skip 20 minutes ahead in time} k] Papa...why are there no seatbelts on busses? m] They don't think they're needed. k] But...the driver wears a seatbelt? m] That's right. They say it'd be too expensive to put them on every seat. k] That's Silly!! *10s pause for thought* Papa...how much do seatbelts cost?? Deep. At least, about as deep as Australian drama gets :) But stay...

It's happened again...sporting stars, found guilty of gross stupidity. Last time it was Barry Hall (there aren't too many words to describe 'punching someone in a semifinal') and now, the cycling world tops it with Floyd Landis . There would be few out there who think he's perfectly clean, but then again there are plenty of other athletes guilty of drug cheating. The thing that gets me about this case, though, is how he managed to get 10 minutes behind on stage 16, then the *very next day*, stage 17, suddenly thrash everyone by six minutes. Add to this his claim that he has naturally increased testosterone levels, even though the extra found was artificial , this seems to win the sporting stupidity award for the week. This is not confined to the sporting field though. Recently, a man put a 14-month-old girl into a tumble dryer because he thought it would be fun for her. It is unlikely that there was any malicious intent, but there's laws against being dangerous...

They say a picture's worth a thousand words. So, here's a blog entry that's 5219 words long: It's on! The TopCoder Collegiate Challenge has been announced :D It's TopCoder's big Uni-only tournament - soon the Design contest will start, I'm hoping to make the top 8 to get a trip to the US (not too many uni students design). The algorithm contest starts part way through next month too. Wondering why I've gone crazy? Squint your eyes...it's part of the ASCII world cup feed. I'm glad to be back on the scoreboard at soccer, and for those in either one of the two teams, click the pic above. During holidays, I played a bit of poker online, managed to come 16th out of 1000+ in an Omaha tournament, the second time I'd ever played it ;) and up to over $100,000 in play money, after starting at $1k...if only it were real :p Uni's back! Enjoy the learning. This has a double meaning too, as last night was the first ever TCHS SRM (school-age programmi...

First, we found out Andrew Symonds was now playing with band Gorillaz - this time, compare the pear: ...oh, wait, I mean, pair: vs. No wonder Queer-Eye Australia didn't work - they didn't have Tim Cahill as the 'lifestyle' (a.k.a what-the-heck-does-he-actually-do) guy! Oh, and speaking of Australian versions of US shows...it's terrible!! Oh, how terrible - they're soon going to have Australian Celebrity Survivor!! After the complete failure of the normal Australian version of Survivor - their first challenge NEVER FINISHED because it got windy ;) - someone has decided to now have it starring B-grade celebrities. And what is more, they have chosen Dicko as the host! The greatest parts of the US (= true) version are (a) The scheming and back-stabbing, which I seriously doubt celebrities will do much of infront of a camera, and (b) Jeff has the host! I for one will not be watching this version :p

Winter often seems to be accompanied by the cold-weather blues. It's inevitabre ( I'm sorry, it's what? ... Inevit, inevitabre! ) due to colds, lack of sun, football fixtures, + miscellaneous other. Anyway, I promised more pictures, so here's a start. During these wintery weeks, remember; Make the ball happy! Oh, and for all those who noticed the post time and thought: "But...you never wake up before 10am!" - you are correct ;) Waking up implies sleeping, which I have yet to partake in due to aforementioned football fixture (unfortunate way for Zidane to go) - it is now 9am, I wonder when that sleep wall is going to headbutt me in the chest...

Before I start - Seems like Czech AND Argentina are out - probably Germany or winner of Brazil v France will have the best shot. And while that's happening, Federer is continuing his title defense at Wimbledon :) In addition, two new Lemonade sites: the wiki , and the OneWay portal - the former is great for quick generation of information, the latter looks much nicer but is a bit less userfriendly - for now, use both, but later I think the wiki stuff should be moved over to the portal. However, what I actually thought I may as well blog about was the weird stuff happening to the Education Systems in each of the states. Unfortunately, at the same time, people have introduced Outcomes-based Education (OBE) in Western Australia as well as protesting against a mandatory A-E grading system throughout primary schools. Sure, maybe A-E is a bit blunt, especially when not accompanied by any explanation. But, why 'unfortunately'? Well, it all stems with what people are recommendin...

Ok, quick update before swatvac starts and I get preoccupied with other forms of procrastination - 1) Well spotted by Jelly from QLD - my blog is now a year old. Let's reflect what we've learnt since it started.....right, that didn't take long. However, in my first few posts it seemed I wanted to add something interesting down the bottom of each post...maybe I should do that again... 2) Yes, Tom, you're right, BlogWatcher (and gyronet in general it seems) has been a bit tetchy this week. It seems to be ok now, but I hope it doesn't continue - also, the main checker.php site has now hit 6000 page loads! coolies :) I managed, by accident, to be the 6000th hit, i might post the screen shot later - gotta think of something for 10000 :p 3) Exams / end-of-semester essays / presentations are on their way, coming to a town near you. Well, near me, in adelaide. Best of luck to all those who have them on at some point soon :D yes, even you arts students! 4) Hopefully I get to...

Firstly, fewer than 500,000 people watched Eurovision! tsk, to all those ppl who were watching the mining disaster interview, you don't know what you missed :p ...but, if you want to find out, I now have the CD :) - On the topic of music, here's the answers from the earlier quiz (sorry for when the songs temporarily disappeared :p) ONE POINT (easier) 4. 'Love, just don't stare', he used to say to me, every Sunday morning (Dream Theater, Awake) 6. You held my hand and walked me home, I know (Avril Lavigne, Don't Tell me) 8. Lord unchain my hands - let me sing inside the crowded trams. (The Cat Empire, The Crowd) 1. And I'd give up forever to touch you - Iris, Goo Goo dolls (Bodie) 2. I looked away, then I looked back at you. - Avril Lavigne, Fall to Pieces (JAmes) 3. So we've put an end to it this time. I'm no longer yours, and you're no longer mine. - Missy Higgins, Ten Days (Jack) 5. Hast Du etwas Zeit fuer mich, Dann singe ich ein Lied fuer Di...