I'm back! Now that I'm actually working on an open-source project (and getting paid for it) I figured I should start updating this again.

I now hold two Bachelor's degrees: one in Computer Science and one in Computer Engineering. I still feel like an idiot.

I'm working on the SOFTICE project: Scalable, Open (source), Fully Transparent, and Inexpensive Clustering for Education. It's an NSF-funded project through the University of South Florida, Lakeland campus.

The basic idea of the project is to use a cluster of inexpensive boxen to host a large number of User Mode Linux instances. On these instances, students can have root, and we don't have to worry about them destroying anything or disrupting network activity; they're effectively sandboxed from network use other than incoming ssh sessions.

My job is to design labwork for this system. For instance, one lab is to write a kernel module that overrides a system call. (We patch the UML kernel to export sys_call_table.)

It's fun, and I get paid to hack on the kernel...

Bram:The problem of draws in chess (even at low levels) are a source of frustration. Personally, I like to know the outcome of a game when it's over; a draw feels like a waste of time.

That's one of the many reasons I like Go. Draws are rare in any circumstance, and with a non-integer komi, draws are nearly impossible. (Of course, komi's intended purpose is not to resolve draws; its purpose is to offset the advantage of the first move. Chess, to my knowledge, has no comparable system.)

(Raph, would it be possible to have the MeatBall:InterMap site name not show up in the finished text when used within the <wiki> tag?)

don't try to hide (though they're screaming your name) -- evanescence, "whisper"

Still in school. Still unemployed.

Started my own (recently renamed) blog. I figured that most people don't particularly care about my personal day-to-day mundane life, considering I do so little in the FOSS community these days. Now I have a more appropriate place for my ramblings without cluttering Advogato.

I'll still post here occasionally, if I actually do something noteworthy.

o/~ i really ain't conceited, i just call myself a cut above o/~ -- bubba sparxxx, "hootnanny"

Loneliness researchers have consistently documented that people who feel lonely are quite likely to be suffering from depression and low self-esteem.

Does "the fifth sentence" include the partial sentence continued from the previous page? The line above was under the assumption that it did not. If it does:

Things get very unpleasant and this reinforces the idea that it really is terrible to be criticized--another vicious cycle.

Sorry I can't come back to advogato on a better note, but I'm having a very bad day.

First off, lightning struck near my house, killing my modem. Then, in the process of replacing said modem with an internal one (damn walmart), I managed (only God knows how) to damage my firewall's keyboard connector. Now the system won't boot.

Right now I'm connected to the net with my Powerbook and OS X. Turns out the internal modem I got was a Conexant POS, which means I either have to return it and get a better one, or pony up an additional $15 for a driver for it. I bear no ill will toward Linuxant, but it's very fucking cheesy that Conexant or any of the many manufacturers that use Conexant chips wouldn't provide a driver themselves.

Update: Traded in the Conexant for a US Robotics modem, taking things from bad to worse; there are no Linux drivers whatsoever for this piece of shit.

An entire term has passed since my last entry here. So far I have three As (two confirmed and one very probable), one C (which may be a B, depending on whether the professor rounds a 79.3 up), and one unknown grade.

For the summer, I'm registered for an Ethics class which is required for graduation.

o/~ some of us sail through our troubles, and some have to live with the scars o/~