So there is no rest for the computing student as I ventured onto campus today to collect some books that I will be needing for my second semester modules starting on Monday. Despite not having any real work till Monday I decided to make the most of the weekend by sorting my timetables for my modules, undergraduate demonstrating for first year modules and sending some e-mails to various people on academic matters.

Despite only having just put my semester 1 modules to bed I’m already looking foward to my next set of modules. Some of the books I’ve checked out of the library look very interesting and give me high hopes that I’m really going to love the modules in the second semester. Its given me a great sense of being organised and productive right at the start of the semester. Hopefully this is something that will continue until the summer.

Indeed they are, and what a joy it is to have them behind me at last. Due to my exams being spread out over the whole two weeks of the univeristy exam period it really has seemed like a bit of a slog. On the whole though I feel they haven’t gone too badly at all. As ever there were panic moments during revision but I can honestly say that when I sat down in front of the papers very little gave me cause for concern and I think I managed them quite well. Just have to wait for the results now to be sure.

School of Computing students very much live by the maxim of work hard, play hard so last night seeing as the work was finally behind us we all went out and let our hair down. We left the exam at 4 and went straight to the Quilted Llama where we got ourselves some sofas and some additional seats and started chilling out and drinking. Matt and I hit the gin (Bombay Saphire no less) and seeing as it was his birthday everyone was buying him drinks. We all ended up getting pleasently drunk which was nice and left at closing time to go to the Library because they were open later. When we finally left there a few of us came home to our house and we basically stayed up all night. I ended up getting to sleep at about 6am.

Its great for exams to be over and great to have such a cool group of friends to celebrate it with

I was checking my RSS feeds this morning and I noticed a really amusing song about WordPress has been posted up on the net. If you’re a techie, use WordPress for your blog or just want a chuckle, be sure to give it a listen!

Well the end of this week saw the conclusion of all but one of my January exams and it was certainly good to see the back of them. While I felt all of them went well having one on Thursday afternoon and then one on Friday morning and Friday afternoon was a little much all at once and I was quite drained afterwards. Still at least they seemed to go well and in the student world thats all that really matters - sleep is strictly secondary, although many of my friends will argue with me on that point.

Speaking of my good friends here in Leeds on Friday night we went out for a few drinks seeing as we didn’t have another exam for a week and really needed a break. It was a good break too, starting in the Quilted Llama straight after the exam for drinks and food, having a brief interlude at home and then moving straight onto the old bar for more drinks and much socialising. We all had rather a lot to drink too and it showed in some of the group, in particular Matt when he kissed Sarann’s boots, but we’ll leave that one there as there mere act of posting that picture is going to land me in hot water enough!

After getting home Matt and me hit the gin (”again!?” I hear you cry, yes, again, lol) and sat around chatting and listening to various musical bits and pieces, mainly the Beatles - always sounding good regardless of your state of drunkenness!

Getting a late night wasn’t a great plan however as I was hopelessly late for meeting Claire the next morning for the art exhibition. Still we got there and it was a really interesting installation and a very nice way to spend a day unwinding after a week of exams. It was art based on geometry and one part of the installation took the bold step of combining the patterns in the painting with computer animation and a soundtrack to result in an intriguing and at times hypnotic experience.

I feel this week has been a near perfect example of the old addage; work hard, play hard

I just wanted to make a quick blog post to thank all those who took the time to wish me a happy birthday. I got a load of e-mails, texts, cards and other such things, not to mention in-person birthday wishes on campus today which was really nice. Special thanks go to Claire for baking a cake and bringing it over in the evening and Heather for taking time out from revision to come over to see me, not to mention giving me some awesome presents

Yet another mile-stone was reached in the realm of RouterTech today when we reached over 1000 registered users on the site. Seeing as we purge users that are clearly registered for the purposes of spam this means that all users have registered to post or download our firmware and software. This can only be a good thing and I for one am very pleased with the whole thing

Well my first exam is over and despite feelings of impending doom among many and the universal opinion that it was going to be one of the hardest exams I think it went fairly well. Obviously I wouldn’t want to speak too soon but I gave it my best shot and didn’t feel unhappy afterwards so thats got to be a good sign.

High spirits after the exam were further improved by me learning that I had achieved 98% in the SE20 programming coursework, meaning that overall I have nearly a full half of the whole module in the bag without even having sat the exam yet

It was with disappointment that I looked at the URY schedule for this week (week 1) in York University and noticed that Jazz Blues Fusion doesn’t have a slot. While this doesn’t mean in any way that there won’t be a show this term (week 1 is always a separate schedule) it does mean the show has missed out on the chance to get 10 hours airplay, as its a 2 hour show and in week 1 the schedule is the same every day Monday through Friday. I’m sure Fabiano has his reasons, but it is a shame none the less.

Heres hoping there will be plenty of good jazz and blues on the show next week to make up for it!

Yes, its that time again. Campus is full of students despite there being no lectures and there is an air of determination, concentration and concern on the face of many. You’ve guessed it, it’s exam season. I have my first one on the 9th January and its a real pain because its on my birthday. My celebration plans currently consist of a 2 hour exam followed by a rushed lunch and an 8 hour stint in the library in preparation for the next exam a couple of days after.

On the plus side I’m nearly though all my revision so as long as I can keep up the work ethic and remember everything that has been forced into my brain in digests over the last couple of weeks I should be fine. That being said these are the first exams that count towards my degree and while thats a good thing in the sense that work is finally going towards something, its not so good because the fear of screwing something up is increased.

No matter though, I’m going to hit these exams with the full force of computing knowledge and hopefully come good on the other side. Wish me luck!

I was sent an e-mail today about a podcast featuring Soweto Kinch, presumably in response to my review on his gig at the wardrobe. It is very insteresting to listen to and provides even more of an insight into his music and how passionate he feels about the area in which he lives. I think there is a little inspiration for us all to be gained by hearing this. I feel his music is also superb, and while unconventional in many ways, is highly enjoyable. I thoroughly recommend buying his album.

Download the podcast here