The Customary New Year Post

It has been a fantastic beginning to the year. Ubuntu was so desperate to get installed on my laptop that it completely kicked Windows out with all my data. Those people who are reviewing my paper better accept it as it is, since I don't have the figures and the data anymore. Some of my code also got the boot, so I will have to rewrite it. I am still trying to figure out what would be the best way of telling my adviser about this catastrophe. Any idea which does not involve projectiles being hurled vaguely in my direction would be welcome. Ubuntu is definitely handy, I hope I don't miss Windows though. I love the feeling of using free software without any need for piracy.

I wish to write something,.. anything everyday in this new year. That's a sort of a resolution. Apart from that I hope I graduate this year and that one thing I have dreamed of for years comes true.

Image: Arenal Volcano, Costa Rica. http://costaricawaterfalltours.com/jaco-arenal-volcano-tour/

Code Decay

Ever wrote code which was working perfectly for a while and then just magically stopped working? Well we did. One part of the implementation of our code on the mica2 motes was over by the end of the summer and that was when both I and Josh took a break. When we came back and started getting the implementation ready for a demo it refused to work. It just refused to work. We don't know what the heck happened to it. When we left it there it was working and now it doesn't. We know nobody touched it or messed with it, so what happened to it. There seems to be no reasonable explanation unless we assume that our code was radioactive and it just disintegrated by itself. Josh named it code decay; while we were away our code was rotting.

So there we were, just one hour away from a live demo with a bunch of motes and non functional code on them. We tried everything even hard coding the data "just for the demo" but all we could get was random behavior. In the end we decided to go in with the original code with the hope that it will work. Fortune favors the brave as they say, the code kind of worked, and the presentation was so good (Thanks to my advisor) that nobody noticed the demo. Well it has been crazy last 3 days and I am glad the demo is finally done with. Looking to relax on the weekend and recharge my batteries, hopefully will get the implementation up and running and perfectly fit by next week.

No more presentations!!!!

Finally no presentations for a few days ...I know I have another one next monday, but i have the weekend to start working on it. I've had 4 presentations in the last 3 days, and now I have started to wonder whether MBA would have been a good option rather than PhD.

It started with my advisor announcing an ill timed lab meeting. My presentation there ended in total humiliation, with my advisor dissecting each and every word of what I presented. I cannot thank my lab mates enough for coming to my rescue when my advisor was still not tired of inflicting more than an hour of disgrace on me.Inspite of all this, I had a lot to learn and take away and it helped greatly in the couple of presentations i had yesterday and the one today.

No more presentations till monday, and I have some time to rest before the harakiri of end sem and the final exams begins. May I rest in peace :D.