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Update post
Oct. 26th, 2003 11:51 amOops, haven't posted in a few days. All right, here's the quick summary:
Thursday: something like 11 hours of classes & labtime. Not at all exciting.
Friday: all-day seminar with Chris Date, one of the researchers who helped create relational databases. He talked alot about the theoretical underpinnings of the relational model, & about why current DBMS software doesn't do a good job. He reserved special venom for any & all aspects of object-oriented programming. Yes, it was just as interesting as it sounds. Three interesting side effects of the seminar:
1) By trashing both SQL and object-oriented programming, Date essentially undercut the theoretical foundations of two of the three classes I'm being assessed on this semester. Considering the third one seems to be about teaching people how to be consultants (& I was a consultant for five years before coming to grad school), I'm pretty much ready to pack up & go home. OK, not really.
2) Since our database instructor was observed sleeping during the seminar, we've all concluded that we can safely sleep in his lectures. This theory will be tested this Thursday.
3) Since we were all extremely agitated & angst-ridden after a whole day of set theory & language structure, we had a most excellent pub crawl on Friday night.
Saturday: woke up, ate breakfast, donated blood. Came home, took nap, studied all afternoon. Watched movies with Heather & Tania Saturday night.
Sunday: went to church. I'm starting to realize I don't really like service at the High Kirk of St. Giles. They're just too formal. I may have to shop around to find a better session.
And now I'm here, in the geography computing lab, realizing that the software package I need (Microsoft Project) doesn't seem to be installed on the machines in the downstairs lab. Boo. I don't know how to make a Gantt chart without Project!
Thursday: something like 11 hours of classes & labtime. Not at all exciting.
Friday: all-day seminar with Chris Date, one of the researchers who helped create relational databases. He talked alot about the theoretical underpinnings of the relational model, & about why current DBMS software doesn't do a good job. He reserved special venom for any & all aspects of object-oriented programming. Yes, it was just as interesting as it sounds. Three interesting side effects of the seminar:
1) By trashing both SQL and object-oriented programming, Date essentially undercut the theoretical foundations of two of the three classes I'm being assessed on this semester. Considering the third one seems to be about teaching people how to be consultants (& I was a consultant for five years before coming to grad school), I'm pretty much ready to pack up & go home. OK, not really.
2) Since our database instructor was observed sleeping during the seminar, we've all concluded that we can safely sleep in his lectures. This theory will be tested this Thursday.
3) Since we were all extremely agitated & angst-ridden after a whole day of set theory & language structure, we had a most excellent pub crawl on Friday night.
Saturday: woke up, ate breakfast, donated blood. Came home, took nap, studied all afternoon. Watched movies with Heather & Tania Saturday night.
Sunday: went to church. I'm starting to realize I don't really like service at the High Kirk of St. Giles. They're just too formal. I may have to shop around to find a better session.
And now I'm here, in the geography computing lab, realizing that the software package I need (Microsoft Project) doesn't seem to be installed on the machines in the downstairs lab. Boo. I don't know how to make a Gantt chart without Project!
