Through the Pain Barrier

I've done with marking. I've finished the stuff for this year. I've looked at hundreds of programs, exam questions and the like. I've rewarded myself with an M&M for each paper that I've marked. I've tried all kinds of motivational techniques. I've marked with music on and without. And now it is done. Hurrah. I'd be even more happy but for the fact that I've just received the request for the papers for the next round of exams.....

A Bright New Dawn at 5:15 pm

A new term started today. Students driven by an urge to learn descended on us to be given their apportioned pearls of wisdom. Me, I had the short straw and the 5:15 pm lecture slot. It seemed to go OK, with a reasonable turnout. I wrote some code live in the lecture (becuase I am brave/foolish) and it mostly did what I wanted. I think I told a couple of jokes, but the safety mechanism in my brain has blotted them out.

Plasma Power

Dad wants a plasma telly. He wants one which is big and posh. I've not got a plasma telly myself, can't afford it. Although I tell myself that I've not got one because the technology is still a bit under development the real truth is that I can't afford one yet. Today we went and looked at some. Very pretty and very large. Not many of them were showing pictures that did them justice. How much can you get from Sky golf or perhaps the menu screen of a DVD? But I must admit to quite fancying one now.

All the predictions of the future that I read in the sixties had us wearing one piece jump suits, surrounded by flat TV displays as big as a wall and flying round in hover cars. I guess one out of three isn't too bad. And I think I'd look pretty darned scary in a jump suit anyway....

Club of Science

Another Science Club talk today. I'd have thought that by now they would have got bored with me, but they keep asking me back. The talk I give is different each time, but mainly becuase it is based around the latest gadget that I happen to have brought with me.

This time, of course, I took Digby, my robot dog. This time he did a good turn. Instead of firing him up and demanding that he entertain us, instead I just turned him loose. Apart from a couple of attempts to fling himself off the table top, he behaved rather well. I ran a program that lets you see inside his head (and even what he is looking at) which looked quite good on the big screen. Then we tried the 20Q thing, which managed to guess "octopus" at a second attempt - which was quite impressive. All in all, a good time was had by all. I'm also available for Bar Mitzvahs and parties.

Backups are for Winps

A computer is a really good place to put all your information, indeed your entire life. This means that the very stuff of your existence is now on something moving at amazing speed whilst scant fractions of a millimetre away from total oblivion. Fortunately, we all know that hard disks hardly ever fail. Not even if you do stupid things with them like remove them from one machine and plug them into another. Except that sometimes they do. And then you are left flapping like those fish that you see which have been dragged out of the water and are now somewhat short of breath.

Fortunately I have a sort of backup. That is, I've backed up all the files that I think are important. This unfortunately raises the irritating possibility that files I didn't think are important might turn out to be later, but for now I suppose I'm going to have to live with it. The good news is that I seem to have a lot more free space now....