Posted by Kate Glover on January 24, 2013
Imagine that you need a hammer.
You write down on a piece of paper, what a hammer is and how it is supposed to operate and behave.
VOOM!
Once you finish writing, you find that you have a hammer. You can copy that hammer as many times as you like, to give them to other people, keep backup hammers in the shed, modify copies to operate slightly differently etc.
That’s programming.
I feel like a wizard.
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Posted by Kate Glover on January 16, 2013
We’ve got an exam in which we’ve got to write a load of Perl script by hand… with a pen/pencil…
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Posted by Kate Glover on January 14, 2013
Every time it snows around here – people freak out, public transport freaks, out, businesses freak out, it all goes a bit mad. Then there’s me, offering lifts, to go get shopping etc. and people tell me it’s madness.
My reply? Well someone’s got to – and who better than someone who routinely prepares for the zombie apocalypse!
My “snow-ocalypse” kit consists of:
I also keep in my bag:
While not everyone needs to be quite that well-prepared – I find it a comfort to know that if I try to drive to Hastings and the road grinds to a halt in the middle of nowhere – I have no need to abandon my vehicle. In fact – even if I get stuck on a motorway – I should be good where I am for a few days at least – which is usually long enough for them to get it moving again! I also now have new tyres and keep a full tank of diesel to help to stick it to the road.
If I had to narrow this down to a few basic items, I’d say make sure you’ve got:
If I am on public transport further than walking distance from home, I also try to make sure that I have access to enough cash to pay for a hotel room in case the weather prevents me from getting home. If I can end up at a friend’s house – then so much the better and at least I can afford to buy them a pizza in gratitude!
Of course – the best idea tends to be to stay indoors and avoid travel if possible. If you can’t avoid travel however – do at least make sure you can survive and be comfortable in the event that you can’t get home!
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Posted by Kate Glover on January 11, 2013
18 months ago: I wasn’t a programmer. I started my degree course, terrified of programming. I’d been rubbish at A-Level, and hadn’t got any better since. If at enrolment you’d have offered me a D on a free-pass – I’d have bitten your hand off for it.
Now: It’s my favourite thing. I think about little else. If I’m not coding, I’m thinking of coding, or planning coding. At work, rest and play. I wait for my train to Uni, eyeing up the flashy ticket machine. I can “see through it” like a software x-ray. I look at the departure boards. I’ve never seen the system, but I almost certainly know how they work. What talks to what and how.
My lecturer still finds it amusing when I tell him that I was so rubbish at it. I’m not sure he quite believes me. He asked what it was that made the difference. I think it was the structure of his lectures. The only way I can think to describe it follows (my thoughts at each stage in red):
I hope it makes sense. The fact that he’s infinitely patient and always takes the extra time to provide a thorough explanation, even when a short one would have done. helps too.
I’m no longer terrified. I’m excited. I sometimes have so much stuff in my head when I’m thrashing something out that I end up with nose-bleeds. I don’t even care…
Break over… back to my coding…
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Posted by Kate Glover on January 9, 2013
With three coursework deadlines in the next seven days, followed by three exams in four days shortly after – I left this on the whiteboard in one of our lecture rooms at Uni tonight. Hopefully it will amuse whoever uses the room after us tomorrow.
(If you’re having trouble reading it, you can click on the image to enlarge it)
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Posted by Kate Glover on January 6, 2013
Finally managed to meet up with my friend and her little’un (for whom I’ve made a dinosaur hoodie!) to walk the dog. Bob and little’un are best buddies when they get together, and now she likes to hold the lead when we go out together. I’m still not sure who is walking who however!
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