On the job front, I’m having more success hearing back from web development contracted work than with full-time development work at local firms, which is fine with me so long as the pay gets me ready for next term’s tuition. On the balance of getting to learn new things and finding work in something I really know and enjoy, these opportunities are more latter-leaning, but I think that’s good; trying to take a course while I work will be a first for me, and I’m sure I’ll need to review a lot of old course work to feel prepared to re-enter the engineering realm.

The distance ed course looks interesting, but we haven’t “really” started yet, so I don’t know how things are going to go. I hope I don’t feel behind without the benefit of lectures. A couple of field trips (one mandatory) to related lectures on campus and in the community look like they’re worth the drive as well. Of course, I’m supposed to buy three books and a course pack, and have a reading from the course pack done by Thursday, but I doubt shipping will be quite that fast, considering I still need to send an on-campus buddy to pick those up for me and send them out (since at least one of them is not at the campus bookstore). Oh well, I’m sure I can catch up while I finish securing employment. I’m actually interested to see how good the online resources are for interaction with the instructor and general discussion through the distance ed system. We shall see…

I haven’t even mentioned the most plugged-in and exciting part of my return to the computer world yet. I’m typing this post from my brand new HP desktop that I finally purchased after my laptop’s service plan expired right before it ran into hard-drive complications. The funny story here was me trying to install the RAM and video card upgrades that I applied to the package. The machine is so tight inside that I practically looked like I’d taken to self-mutilation as a hobby by the time I had given up. The graphics card was so long that it crowded a surprising number of wires facing the motherboard, and none of the configurations of RAM that I patiently installed and reinstalled while slicing my hands on the inconveniently-placed drive bays ever worked. Eventually I made sure it booted once I put it back to its original configuration and took it back to the shop for a paid install. Taking off the front end to get the drive bays out of the way was the solution to my crowding, but I didn’t want to unscrew the wrong thing and then unplug have of the front-end devices by mistake.

This new machine can do anything I tell it without breaking a sweat so far, but of course, I’ve barely had it for a matter of days. The system is designed to be a TV Media Centre, though I doubt I’ll use it for that much while I’m living in London. I bought it because it’s got the specs to endure a few years. I tend to buy big less often when it comes to laptops and desktops, so I enjoy the boost I get at the beginning. For those who are interested, it’s running a quad-core Intel processor with two hard drives each circa 300GB and 4GB of RAM. Vista only registers 3.5 gigs of memory and until I upgrade to 64-bit Ultimate, it won’t even use more than three of them. Still, the setup is truly fast and vast. Of course, in this industry, that doesn’t normally last long, but I’m sure it’ll be a functional system for long enough to make it worth my while.

Technorati Tags: university, distance education, web development, employment, online resources, HP desktop

Technorati Tags: freedom

When my friends started raving about Facebook last year, like with blogging, I was resistant at first. Once I found out how fun Facebook can be (and how unquestionably superior it is to Myspace), I began to use it more and more. So, when Facebook began to release new applications, and then an open API for community developers, instead of doddling with skepticism, this time I jumped in with both feet. I’m sure my support for FOSS and community-driven initiatives had an influence on this too. While the Facebook apps I use allow the tool to outgrow its name–the apps have little to do with networking through photos–I love the new abilities I have to publish information about myself, my tastes, and my activities in a uniform layout that doesn’t suffer from any of the obvious flaws of Myspace’s equivalent services.

Then, Facebook wowed me again. I noticed a while ago that Mark Zuckerberg’s name had disappeared from the bottom of Facebook pages. The moment I saw this, I smelled a buyout. Thus, I was overjoyed to find that, not only was Facebook still in the hands of its founders, but it has turned down huge sums of money from major corporations, and has received funding from at least one VC organization that knows a good thing when it sees it.

Some people may find new applications “annoying” while developers learn to fine-tune users ability to ignore certain Facebook “requests”, and others may feel that new Facebook apps don’t fit within the vision of “a facebook”, but personally, I think its makers have seen the potential of an already well-connected community infrastructure to become even more useful.

Many kudos to Zuckerberg and his team.

Technorati Tags: Facebook, Myspace, applications, API, community-driven, Mark Zuckerberg, buyout

The problems with our first day on tour began in the wee hours of the morning. I was hanging out with Joleh and Vafa in the kitchen when Nicole entered to voice a concern. What had once been a small bruise had flared up until there were veiney lines where it seemed blood had congealed on the underside of her skin. Joleh took Nicole took Nicole to the hospital as I headed to bed.

The next morning, I passed Princess as I was climbing down the stairs with my luggage. She was clutching her ankle, being tended to by Jenna. Once we were all in the van, we confirmed the worst: Princess, who had gone home mid-tour during Sept-Dec had injured her ankle carrying luggage down the stairs. As we drove to Pickering, Jenna and Vafa discussed modifications to the show while the rest of use slept.

During setup, Vafa and I helped Princess to the hospital where she was tended to by a friend who is local to the community. The first show went pretty well in the absence of Princess. Personally, my performance was mediocre. I made a couple of mistakes in Step, Abuse was good, but not great, and Gang featured a few missed moves as well. The audience seemed to enjoy the show, but performing in a mall, much of the sound was lost.

During our lunch break, Melissa and I went on a trek for coloured electrical tape and elastic cord, for spiking the stage and securing Drug/Strut masks, respectively. After getting sidetracked buying a Toblerone, handmade soap and plantaine chips, we at least found the tape. When we stopped to eat Asian cuisine, the two of us discussed our dating pasts. They are reasonably similar. We both had break ups just before joining Wildfire. I told her I was sorry to hear about it (hers break up). “I’m not,” she said.  She explained that she was hopeful in the dating department, but self-proclaimed to be, “picky.” Bad news for this tall slice of mediocrity.

Anyway, our medical escapades were not over yet, as of lunch. During our second show, Kai passed out on his way off stage following his segue. When I first saw him, I thought his shoulder was dislocated because his arm was in an unusual position. I practically fainted myself when I found out he’d passed out nearby, and had been dragged to his current position. He was verbally responsive, and the show went on as the mall security guards tended to the medical situation.
 That night, we ate in a Pickering home, and I sang Disney songs with the children of the house, along with Fabíola and Melissa. Great fun. When Kai returned to the group, we learned he’d be out of commission for a couple of days; his fainting spell was a result of taking back pain pills in a higher dosage than he was used to on an empty stomach, and hypoglycemia. We were lucky that things worked out well with our slightly sloppy handling of the situation, but Kai, Jeremy and I are going to lead a consultation on first aid Thursday to solidify emergency procedures.

The following day was a day of semi-training. We got up late and only worked on a couple of dances. So far, the toughest challenge is our Stomp-like routine, Step. I think I’ve got a handle on most of it, but there are still a few problem spots. Jenny, one of the Wildfire Administrators, and assistant/secretary to Gordon Naylor, gave us money for the rest of our meals today. We ate dinner at Fellinni’s, an Italian restaurant on Ontario St. Mmm, pizza. Later that evening we attended the Naylor fireside, after which we ordered more pizza. What a delicious day.

The next day was plagued with some bad luck. Firstly, I wanted to have milk on my cereal with breakfast, but grocery shopping had just occurred and the first bag of milk was yet to be opened. It was already past 9:30AM, so I thought I’d see if Jenny was in her office to direct me toward a pair of scissors. This was a bad choice. We’d failed to disarm the alarm in the building the previous night, so several seconds after I opened the door to the second floor foyer I woke everyone else with a surprisingly loud siren. Vafa took care of the alarm, but it was quite embarassing. We went to Bud Gowan today to get fitted for pants and shoes. While in London, we stopped at my place for lunch. Then I ran into a second frustration unable to find my Ruhi Book 1. Eventually I found it and we were on our way. However, when we got back, I found that I don’t have the power adapter to my camera, which is out of batteries, and uses a battery pack. Frustrating to say the least.

The last few days have been a blur of dancing and prayer. The night of the camera mishap lead to more people arriving. It is now the 7th of January, and we’re only missing two people from the cast of 11. Last night, I gave a few cast members a lesson on the “cup rhythm game”, and we played a few hands of Mow too, which I dealt. Sharing morning prayers has truly been a wonderful experience. With a number of ESL cast members, some payers are sung, some are spoken, some are in English, others in Spanish, Portuguese and Russian. Every cast member has such a beautiful soul and a sincere drive toward the essence of Wildfire, both in their technical steadfastness in dance, and their social and spiritual drives.

This evening we had dinner at the Naylor house followed by an orientation meeting with Wildfire administrators. Dinner was delicious, and the the meeting was inspiring. Gord spoke about the different aspects of our service, and its importance, stressing the opportunities for outreach in Nunavut. We had a brief deepening that feature “Quotes to Live by in WDT”. Ironically, I found the most interesting quotes were often about laws or suggestions by which I’m not particularly good at abiding. Ever since I decided to join Wildfire, I have had a great eagerness to learn and a great want to draw nearer to God, but during some of the activities where the latter is the desired effect, I don’t tend to feel as connected as I could, or have before. I think during a busy time when there will be limited time to pray individually, I’ll need extra focus on striving to do the Will of God, and put my self and my desires aside. So far, life with Wildfire has moved much faster than I can type. I only hope that I can catch some of the most charming and enlightening moments during our intensive, then nomadic journey together.

The performance was incredible. The celebrations were fun, the social issues pieces were moving, and the cast was full of spirit. I had seen Wildfire on tape before, but it paled in comparison to the real thing. Suddenly, I was interested. At first, I considered Wildfire as an interesting endeavor for after undergraduate studies, before teacher’s college. However, following the performance, Nicole mentioned that the group needed one more male dancer for the second half of their ‘06-’07 tour. “Don’t tell me that,” I told her. When I mentioned the situation to GV, a Wildfire dance trainer, she bugged me about it for the rest of the night. During my drive home, I was no longer interested, I was excited. I had told GV not to get her hopes up because I was already committed to winter enrollment at UW and a sublet on Lester St. That said, I didn’t take my own advice.

When I got home, I left a note my father was sure to find instructing him to wake me because I had to speak with him and Mother before they went to work. The next morning I told them about this great opportunity. Needless to say, they weren’t thrilled. The university was about to close for the holidays, I didn’t have a sublet to take my place, and the change seemed, “altogether too sudden,” in the eyes of wise parents. Nevertheless, I persevered. That morning I emailed my subletter, called the university, and drove to Waterloo to meet with both. When I arrived, I found no one home on Lester St, so I headed to the university, where everyone was out to lunch. Unlucky. I grabbed myself a Tim Horton’s lunch and waited—as patiently as I could—for Ms. Stafford to arrive back in the ECE office. To be honest, I had no idea how simple or complex the process of withdrawal from a term would be, and the tour lasted until June, so I had no way of taking courses or completing coop during the spring term.

When Ms. Stafford finally arrived back in her office and I was invited in, I was surprised to find that withdrawal from a term, especially since I hadn’t paid my fees yet, was a piece of cake. I filled out a form to be passed on to two other offices, and that was that. Great. Things were finally looking up. After filling out the withdrawal form and discussing a method of opting out of my withdrawal in case things went awry, I walked to the SLC to check my email. My subletters had responded saying that one of them would leave town as late as 2:00PM, and that I could reach them at home until then. It was 1:55PM. I dashed out to my car and hastened to Lester St. where I found both subletters still waiting for me. Luckily, I was greeted with good news upon arrival. My subletters agreed that someone else could stay in the room, and if no one could be found, we would work something out that was financially feasible for both of us. We were in business.

The rest of the story was, relatively, uneventful. I submitted a formal application to Wildfire through GV, and was accepted. I found a new sublet; Albert, with whom I was supposed to live this term, but I had somewhat ‘abandoned’ when an offer to live in a house with some other engineering folk arrived, was going to live in residence the next term, and was quite unhappy about it. As a result, I was happy to lend him a hand, and he was happy to find a better place to live.
My withdrawal from school allows me to resume studies where I left off in January 2008. My plans for July – December are yet to be determined, but I know I won’t regret having rearranged my life to take advantage of this chance to serve with Wildfire. I’ve every intention of resuming my studies as soon as I can. While my life may have made a sharp left turn, I feel I’m still on the same road.

The performance was incredible. The celebrations were fun, the social issues pieces were moving, and the cast was full of spirit. I had seen Wildfire on tape before, but it paled in comparison to the real thing. Suddenly, I was interested. At first, I considered Wildfire as an interesting endeavor for after undergraduate studies, before teacher’s college. However, following the performance, Nicole mentioned that the group needed one more male dancer for the second half of their ‘06-’07 tour. “Don’t tell me that,” I told her. When I mentioned the situation to GV, a Wildfire dance trainer, she bugged me about it for the rest of the night. During my drive home, I was no longer interested, I was excited. I had told GV not to get her hopes up because I was already committed to winter enrollment at UW and a sublet on Lester St. That said, I didn’t take my own advice.

When I got home, I left a note my father was sure to find instructing him to wake me because I had to speak with him and Mother before they went to work. The next morning I told them about this great opportunity. Needless to say, they weren’t thrilled. The university was about to close for the holidays, I didn’t have a sublet to take my place, and the change seemed, “altogether too sudden,” in the eyes of wise parents. Nevertheless, I persevered. That morning I emailed my subletter, called the university, and drove to Waterloo to meet with both. When I arrived, I found no one home on Lester St, so I headed to the university, where everyone was out to lunch. Unlucky. I grabbed myself a Tim Horton’s lunch and waited—as patiently as I could—for Ms. Stafford to arrive back in the ECE office. To be honest, I had no idea how simple or complex the process of withdrawal from a term would be, and the tour lasted until June, so I had no way of taking courses or completing coop during the spring term.

When Ms. Stafford finally arrived back in her office and I was invited in, I was surprised to find that withdrawal from a term, especially since I hadn’t paid my fees yet, was a piece of cake. I filled out a form to be passed on to two other offices, and that was that. Great. Things were finally looking up. After filling out the withdrawal form and discussing a method of opting out of my withdrawal in case things went awry, I walked to the SLC to check my email. My subletters had responded saying that one of them would leave town as late as 2:00PM, and that I could reach them at home until then. It was 1:55PM. I dashed out to my car and hastened to Lester St. where I found both subletters still waiting for me. Luckily, I was greeted with good news upon arrival. My subletters agreed that someone else could stay in the room, and if no one could be found, we would work something out that was financially feasible for both of us. We were in business.

The rest of the story was, relatively, uneventful. I submitted a formal application to Wildfire through GV, and was accepted. I found a new sublet; Albert, with whom I was supposed to live this term, but I had somewhat ‘abandoned’ when an offer to live in a house with some other engineering folk arrived, was going to live in residence the next term, and was quite unhappy about it. As a result, I was happy to lend him a hand, and he was happy to find a better place to live.
My withdrawal from school allows me to resume studies where I left off in January 2008. My plans for July – December are yet to be determined, but I know I won’t regret having rearranged my life to take advantage of this chance to serve with Wildfire. I’ve every intention of resuming my studies as soon as I can. While my life may have made a sharp left turn, I feel I’m still on the same road.

Explanations include more than one pieces of evidence to support perspectives

I’d have to give that explanation a grade of ‘weak/incomplete’, but then again, it’s never been the PDEng custom to reward good writing.

Technorati Tags: PDEng, strong, weak

The dilemma is this: when making a decision, which is more important, the reasons for choosing what a given alternative, or the results yielded by choosing a given alternative? (more…)

Technorati Tags: ethical decision making, reasons, results

Technorati Tags: free markets, net neutrality, VRM