Culminating Project

Panther Pantry is finished!  Now, I have started my culminating assignment, and there are two.  The first project, dubbed minor, is a research task informing the audience of various devices or issues pertaining to technology and advancements. For this project, I have chosen broadband internet.  But looking on the topic again, I am considering to widen the scope by including the various types of internet access, such as dial-up, Wi-Fi hotspots and LAN.  The second project, called major, is a project consisting of two people.  My partner is Meyappan, and we have chosen to create a java app that runs the game Tic-Tac-Toe.  Yesterday, I couldn't very much work on either projects because I had a science unit test today and I was studying for the test yesterday.  Now that is over, I can dedicate most of my time to my ICS projects, especially when the minor project is due monday.  Oh well, time to get busy!

Working hard on the panther pantry

Tomorrow, the final version of the panther pantry is due.  I just found a minor mistake in the database file, and that is one item does not have a price code.  It was the Alberto Balsam Shampoo on line 114.  So I added a price code of just random numbers.  Now when I compile my program, It does not tokenize the strings on each line.  Ah, so frustrating.  But at least I know what to do know.  I was so close to finishing before discovering that one of the items does not have a price code.  Oh well, as long as I hand in the assignment with no errors, I'm happy!

Misunderstanding the Panther Pantry

I thought I was done the panther pantry assignment. But it turns out that I did it wrong, not completely wrong though, thank god. We were supposed to create an array of tokes without the UPC. I did not do that step, and that is pretty important. Oh well, the long weekend is just around the corner. I got a lot of studying to do this weekend. I am planning to finish both the panther pantry and the node classes this long weekend. Also, I am planning to start studying for the exams. I just filled out the form for virtual school for biology, now I have to hand it in tomorrow. Hope I get registered. Tomorrow we have a party for ICS, which I am really excited about. A party before the long weekend? Awesome.

Final touches on the panther pantry

I am confused for the sorting of the linked list assignment, so I went back to working on my panther pantry class. I created the class, and then another assignment came which detailed to do everything that I already did, plus create an array of objects for the products and alphabetize them. I did create the array of objects, but for only one department. Then, I went on and worked on the node class. Today, I learned that my professor would be collecting the printed copies of the classes, and so I continued to work on it during class. However, I am not done and I couldn't hand it in, so I will hand it in tomorrow. It is a nice break from the linked list class, while requires too much thinking of my behalf. But don't worry, I learned some valuable information today about the linked list class that will hopefully speed up the process of completing the assignment.

Advanced Crew

Wow, I made a lot of progress since the beginning of the course, where I was clueless of Java. Now, I am pleased to say that I am in the Advanced Crew in my class. Our current assignment is sort nodes without using a sorting algorithm. Right now, I know what to do, but I do not know how to code it. While coding, I had many errors, and this was very frustrating. I had so many errors that a grabbed some paper and wrote code on the paper instead of typing it. Well, I know that I'll figure it out some time.

Sorting Objects

Making some good progress with bubbleSort. And now I am on the last assignment, that is bubbleSorting objects. And this leaves me to a question that always leaves me dumbfounded, how do we compare objects? I know that Strings are objects, and for Strings we compare them by their unicode value for their character, but what about an object? It's like saying how to compare two people. Is there a standardized way of doing this? Well, it's just my paradigm of thinking, which I should ditch because it's doing no good.

bubbleSort

I wasn't at school at the day of the bubbleSort lesson, so I am a bit behind. Hopefully, my classmates told what I needed to know for bubbleSort, and I know how it works. But I do not know how to code it. What I am planning to do is to think logically and clearly, and trying to code it myself, without using the internet. This way, my mistakes would be more meaningful, and the accomplishment would be greater. And now, let's go!

Finished PP

I just finished the Panther Pantry. It was very tedious work. There is one thing that doesn't work, I can't get the program to print the beauty department on the receipt. Every other department work though. First I thought that I was printing too much and the amount of variables I declared were insufficient. But, I tried to print all the beauty products alone, and I still couldn't get it to work. I gave up, I'll just ask my teacher what the problem is. I didn't go to school today because I was sick (food poisoning). I won't go into the details of that. But after some Pepto-Bismol, I feel as good as new! My classmates have told me that they learned about nodes today. I looked at some of the programs, and it was very different from what I learned. But it looks helpful and useful, so I'm looking forward into learning that.

Database Product Class

Java seems more useful now. Working on a program that reads product info and displys them organized lets me look into the future and see the massive potential of Java. Of course, it is already heavily implemented, but in the beginning of the course, most of the classes I made were useless, just for practice. And this makes Java more interesting too. I am more eager to learn and apply my knowledge now. Let's see what other useful classes we will program in the future.

Another Work Period

Today, we had another work period. I continued on my work with the ArrayOfObjects assignment. Yet, I am still on the first assignment. I still do encounter errors, but they are not compiler errors. At this point of the course, I think I know the Java syntax to prevent compiler errors. But the errors that I do encounter are execution errors. These errors are frustrating as they causes the programmer to literally re-program their program. Oh well, as long as it pays off in the end.

Test returned

Today, I got my test back. And it was bad. I knew I did bad the moment I finished writing the test. Some of the errors I had on the test were careless, and some were errors that I can accept. I wasn't entirely prepared for the test, and my marks show that. But this just brings more motivation to do better on my next test. I learned from my test, and it was really an eye-opener to how I was performing in this course. Well, now I know to do better.

Java Test Studying

Today was a question period, and the last before our big Java programming test Friday. Tomorrow I have a french play to attend, so I will be missing school tomorrow. Today was the last chance to get face-to-face advice. I did use this opportunity, but I was too late. I asked my teacher about arrays, and explained my problem. My teacher told me to change my loop, and try again. I have to try to get most of my studying done today because I am going to play basketball tomorrow with my friend. And so, let the studying begin!

Another day with assignments

Today, we kept on working on the assignments. I am on assignment four, but one problem that I am encountering. The problem is that I cannot get the program to read from the second line from the input line. I tried looping the BufferedReader, but that just results in reading from the first line again. I hope I get over this problem, I got 4 more assignments to do!

Spirit

Today, we had a spirit assembly during my ICS class. It was amusing to see and very loud. The assembly showed the school spirit, definitely. But when I came back from the assembly,my class had a chance to work through silent reading. I was basically just continuing the assignments.

Continuing assignments

Today, we had another work period to continue the assignments. I can do the assignments, but there are some complicated error messages. I spent a lot of time searching this error, but it was too complicated. My friends explained how they did the program, and now I understand how to create the program. Now, to the next assignment!

More work on import

Today was a work period. We worked on programs such as that reading number from a text file and adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing the numbers. The program sounds simply, but a couple executions of my version of the program shows that it isn't all that it seems. I found myself confused again, but I am determined that this will be cleared, well at by tomorrow.

Loop loop loop loop loop

Today, the past days we have been learning about loops and the various types. At first, the point of having various types of loops was not clear to me, but today, I understand the purpose. With these loops, the programs start to become like modern-use programs, and are very aspiring to do. Well, I got to continue with loops!

Course Class

Today, my team and I spent the period working on the Course class and the CourseSection class. It's simple, but it's tedious work. Right now, I believe we are done both the classes, and now working on the tester for the Course class. I understand Java now. Looking back, I remember how clueless I was in the beginning of the semester. But oh well, that's not the matter now.

Back from March Break

Today was the day after the March Break. I was pretty bummed. But at least I am understanding Java more and more. I have a pretty good sense of the paradigm needed for coding Java. I guess it took some time. For example, the assignment today was simple, and I wasn't hesitant to do it either.

Boat....Person!

I spent today's class working on the Person.class. I read through the documentation, but I am having difficulties with the gender aspect of the program. But I believe in myself, and hopefully I can get this done as I have another class to work on - VP Airways. This class seems more interesting as it relates to the real world.

Progress

Today was a busy class. After asking my peers numerous questions, I finally have completed the EnhancedCalculator class. And with each class that I complete, the more I learn about Java, and the better I am with the language. Let's keep the streak up!

Finally. It has happened.

I am now beginning to understand Java. After spending some time with my peers, they managed to explain everything in detail. And I mean everything. And because of this, I am now confident of my Java skills. I have completed 3 programs, and now I am going to start on the EnhancedCalculator program. Well, time to get started.

Yay! Java!

Today, we cleared some things that people didn't understand. This class was very valuable to me because I now have a much more better grasp to Java. I learned a lot just by asking simple questions. I am now feeling more confident about my Java programming skills.

Frustration

Java. Java. Java. Well, I'm starting to understand a little now. Today I learned argument and parameter and I understand them. It's just that I am not taking a good grasp of Java. I guess I am so used to Turing....so, I concluded that the best way to start drilling this info in my brain is to start completely over again. Today, I am dedicated to re-learn the basics of Java, either it be by reviewing my notes or researching online. I'm also curious how where this journey will end!

The CCC

Today I wrote the CCC, a 3-hour computing competition. There were 5 situations in which were are to create a program to resolve a problem. The first problem was basic. I was multitasking because I used Turing to create the programs, and I almost forgot all the Turing I learned. So I split the computer screen to be half Turing IDE, and the other half to be Turing reference. It's very frustrating to find something on the reference, since the search option really doesn't do anything. The second problem made me think a lot! At first, when I looked over the code, I thought that it was right. But after I ran the program, I clearly saw that the code was wrong. After fixing-up the code several times, I still couldn't get the program to run properly. The most frustrating part was that I knew the problem! But the question itself was already tricky. I just couldn't come up with the solution. But I was pressed for time since this was only the second problem, and the problems only get more complicated from here. I spent an enormous amount of time just looking at the reference to see if there is anything that I could use to help fix this problem.

Continuing with Java

Today, my teacher showed us a new Java program, called Purse. I am getting a better grasp of Java, but even this is not much. When my teacher explains Java to the class, I seem to understand it, but when I am at my own, it's just like a forgot everything. Here is where good notes come in place. I predict a very bleak future with lots of mistakes!

Field Trip to York!

Yesterday was our field trip to York University. In a nut shell, the field trip was about presentations informing us how computers impact our lives. We started off by learning what computer science is, and exploring the science behind it.

After, we went into the York University Rover Team presentation, which was very interesting. I especially liked the presentation here because the team consistently gave us analogies so that we can understand the rover. I was also impressed of the team's work and their podium finishes in competitions. I was amazed of the amount of work and time they put in to the rover, knowing that they are in university. I would say that the presentation was very cool, and the construction of the rover requires people specializing in different areas for constructing the rover. For example, there were two people who were responsible for the chassis (body) of the rover, two people for connecting the various part of the rover and controlling the rover, and two people for the biology aspect of the aspect, such as the looking for rocks with high absorbency. But one thing everyone in the team shares, is that they are excellent in math!

Then we headed off to the computer lab. There, we used a program which let us hack into other programs. This was very fun, but after I realized this was serious. The program was an example of how hackers come into people's computers and steal information.

We finished the event off with a presentation about how computers aid surgery. Although there were some gory scenes, I liked the presentation. I learned that computers are always used in surgery. The presenter taught us that when replaces a knee, there must be certain specifications of the knee, and computers help doctors greatly. Computers are also used to monitor the movement of the doctors incision for maximum precision.

After the event, I, along with other classmates, went home via TTC. There were some confusion, and some people had to use an extra bus ticket, but luckily I didn't have to.

Math Contest

Today, I took a math contest in my computers class at first period. It was to last the whole period, so the contest must be challenging. Unfortunately for me, I woke up late today. It took me a while to get ready, walk to the bus station, and arrive at school. But before I knew it, there was only about 30 minutes left in the class. I still tried the contest, and the first couple of questions were easy. Some of the questions weren't hard, but time consuming. Near the end of the contest sheet is where the most challenging questions were. I tried some of these questions and were not sure of the solution. I was pressed for time, so I took the easy way and I answered all the questions that I thought were right. The others, I didn't answer.

Also, tomorrow is my ICS trip to York University. I'm so excited!

2nd Day of Java

Class was more bearable today. I learned some of the logic behind the Java programming language, but right now, I am still a little confused. My homework is to investigate the Calculator Java program we saw in class. It's pretty cool, I have to admit. But it's pretty basic, so I just wonder to myself what I can create and how cool it would be by the end of the course.

Java begins

Today was the very first day of learning the much anticipated Java. Compared to Turing, Java is much more complicated. The IDE to run the language looks more complicated than that of Turing. My teacher showed us how to create a very brief compilable Java file, called "HelloWorld", which to me was very confusing. Just to out put this text required a lot of work! But I am optimistic and I look forward to learning Java and using that knowledge to create some cool programs. Yea, that's going to be way ahead in the future.

English Quiz tommorrow

King Richard III quiz tomorrow, which I think would be hard. It is on Act 1, but this act has 4 different scenes, the fourth of which I just learned today! But I like reading the play, the story is very intersting. However, the language is very confusing, so I find myself spending a lot of time just understanding what the characters are saying.

Also, today is the last day for me to fix-up my website, as it is due tomorrow. My teacher told the class a lot of tips today about the website, so I got some work to do. Until next time, bye!

Ooops!

Yes, I forgot to update the blog. It has been 5 days, so I guess this blog has to be lengthy. Since the last post, I had a couple of science quizzes which weren't very hard. I still don't understand why people find science hard? Maybe I'm just speaking too soon. Time will tell....anyways in English class, we began to read Shakespeare's play Richard the III. The language is very different, but there seems to be a valuable meaning behind every sentence, like a puzzle that the audience must decipher. And then Friday came, for which I was very excited. Even though I didn't have anything major planned for the weekend, Friday was the day of the week where I can relax. Saturday is the same, but I have to do work. I never leave anything major to do on Sundays, because a)it is the last day of the weekend before school and b) I noticed a trend that relatives come to my house on this day. Its very annoying. But I learned from my mistakes. On Sundays, when there are no relatives at my house (THANK GOD!), I watch some TV, and if I'm in the mood, I would just go ahead of myself in school (like read the upcoming chapters of a school book). Oh, I forgot, there is a basketball game today at 1:00 p.m. It is the Celtics versus the Heat. A match-up that happens so rarely that I don't want to miss it. Bye!

Course selection

Today was a pretty crazy day in school.  I know which courses I am going to take for the most part, except for science.  I am going to take standard level economics so that I can take higher level chemistry.  I am still deciding whether to take biology or physics.   This is a big decision.  It is basically a decision for my career path.  Do I want to be a doctor, or anything with medicine, or should I be an engineer?  I am going to take 4 maths anyways, so I should pick a subject which I can use math.  In my opinion, physics has more math that biology, so right now I am leaning toward physics.  But still, biology is a very cool subject.  The human body and how it operates, that's really interesting!  Well, I guess this wouldn't matter if I didn't enter their respective career paths...so which career path should I take?  I gotta think about this for a while....

(Comic by Micah Goulart, http://ingenial.com/639#disqus_thread)

Studying for Science

Tomorrow is the science quiz, for which I have studied.  It is pretty simple, we just need to know the symbols for some elements.  Then there is the French Speech Arts.  We choose a topic, any, then present a speech of that topic.  It too is basic, but I always find myself trouble about what to write.  The topic can be anything, so why am I having a difficulty? I don't know.

P.S. The famous million-dollar Super Bowl commercial are to the right.  

Sports Day

Today is Super Bowl 45.  I don't really watch football that much, mainly because I do not know how to play.  But I plan to watch this game, just to see what the fuss was about.  I am a more basketball person, in which there was a game between the Boston Celtics and the Orlando Magic today.  I watched that game, and they're were many injuries.  In the game, we see Glen Davis, sometimes nicknamed "Big Baby" of the Boston Celtics hit his head hard on the floor.  It was the back of the head, and luckily he's okay, or else this could have resulted in a concussion or internal bleeding.  As the game progressed, we see another injury of the Boston Celtics, except this time, the injury was more serious.  Marquis Daniels was on the way to a shot, until there was a complication, and we see Marquis fall on the floor.  He stayed there for a while, then the medical team took him away to the hospital to inspect the injury.  Orlando was playing fantastic in the beginning, building a lead early on.  But the NBA-championship team Boston Celtics fought back and came out with a victory.

I am watching the Super Bowl right now.  The score is 25 Pittsburgh and 28 Green bay.  This game became more interesting in the 4th quarter, when Pittsburgh landed a touchdown to make it a 3 point deficit.  Right now, it is 2:16 in the 4th quarter, and Green Bay has just missed a touchdown.  I want Pittsburgh to win, so that my time watching the Super Bowl is well spent.  Wouldn't you want the losing team to pull out a miracle and win?  Especially in a situation like this, where the margin is so slim, I just find myself on the edge of the seat watching the game.  The game is coming to an end, and I DEFINITELY want to watch the ending, so I must go.

Details of our evaluations

Today was a relaxation day for me.  I was studying for my science quizzes on the laboratory equipment and the elements.  I remember my science teacher, Mr.Schweitzer, telling our class a story about the names of the elements.  He told us that whenever there is an element represented by a letter which seems to have no similarity of the element in question, the letter represents the first letter of the latin name of the element.  For example, the element Potassium.  Since the symbol for Phosphorus is P, the symbol for Potassium is K, which is derived from kalium, the latin name of the element.  Mr.Schweitzer also told us that the elements Berkelium and Californium and named this because of the origin of their discovery : University of Berkly, California.  He then segued into telling us that there used to be complications with the naming of elements during the Cold War.  USA and the Soviet Union were arguing about who discovered which element at the time, which resulted in different names for the same elements.

I was also working on my superpower assignment.  It was straightforward as it is a simple HTML website.  I want to make the website more visually appealing, but that it a lot of work by using HTML. Right now, the website is plain, but i guess I have my day planned out for me tomorrow!

English interests me

Today we revised some basic HTML.  In science class, I learned that we have 2 quizzes coming up next week: one about safety and the other about the elements.  It shouldn't be too hard, atleast that's what Mr. Schweitzer said.

English class was very interesting today.  We learned about Shakespeare's times and how society functioned then.  My english teacher, Mr.Vidrih, gave us an assignment where he told us the background information to Shakespears' book Richard the III.  Richard was a duke who wanted the throne.  His father died, and according to the morals of the time, the throne goes to his eldest brother, Edward. Edward is now dying, and when he passes, the throne belongs to the 2nd eldest brother, George.  But Richard wants the throne.  And thus, his brothers are obstacles from him obtaining the throne.  But these are not the only obstacles of King Richard.  King Edward has is married to Queen Elizabeth, who has 2 brothers, and 2 grown sons from previous marriage.There is more, but let's just leave it at that. Our assignment was to strategical create a plan to eliminate all other contenders of the throne so that Richard ends up becoming King. We must present our plan to the class on Monday, and Mr.Vidrih will compare our plans to the play of Richard the III.  Me and my group spent a lot of time thinking of a plan, but sometimes we have to go to the basics and draw a simple diagram.  After drawing a family tree, we easily constructed our plan.

My 1st Post (Extremely short)

It is February 3, 2011.  Today was the first day of semester 2.  My classes are French, English, Computer Science and Science.