I'm sort of glad the end of the term is coming up. Just two assignments left to finish (207 and 236) and i'll be home free! [after exams].
This current finite state automata topic is very interesting though I have no idea how to write formal proofs regarding it's states. That is why I'm finding the last assignment a bit challenging; I completely understand it, I just have no idea how to write the proof for a 16 state minimum DFSA. I just hope I will have enough time to finish the exam on time, because I ran out of time in the midterm. 50 minutes for those questions were not enough!
Sunday 25 November 2012
Tuesday 20 November 2012
Euphoric State of Mind
Now that the busiest week of my semester is over, I feel like nothing matters anymore. I still have two more assignments due and a quiz left, but I feel like I can tackle those without a problem, and this state of mind is making me take things a bit too easy.
I am doing very well in csc236 now, still a bit apprehensive about a2 in 207 and unsure about how I did in the linear algebra midterm. I studied a lot for it but I still do not understand the concept of expansion or contraction. Oh well, maybe I'll get a better grasp on it nearer to my exams.
Speaking of which....I should really take a look at the exam schedule, and make sure there are no conflicts, the latest exam I know of so far is linear algebra on December 18th. For the 236 exam, I feel like I just need to go over induction, out of everything else we learned but that is the only concept I haven't fully grasped; especially structural induction.
I also haven't been to the gym in 2 weeks, or caught up with dexter OR caught up with The Walking Dead. I think I'm going to go home and splurge on Mrs. Vickies and TV shows.
Hey, I deserve a break (:
I am doing very well in csc236 now, still a bit apprehensive about a2 in 207 and unsure about how I did in the linear algebra midterm. I studied a lot for it but I still do not understand the concept of expansion or contraction. Oh well, maybe I'll get a better grasp on it nearer to my exams.
Speaking of which....I should really take a look at the exam schedule, and make sure there are no conflicts, the latest exam I know of so far is linear algebra on December 18th. For the 236 exam, I feel like I just need to go over induction, out of everything else we learned but that is the only concept I haven't fully grasped; especially structural induction.
I also haven't been to the gym in 2 weeks, or caught up with dexter OR caught up with The Walking Dead. I think I'm going to go home and splurge on Mrs. Vickies and TV shows.
Hey, I deserve a break (:
Saturday 10 November 2012
Biological Clocks
I have realized that I have to revert back to my first year sleeping schedule just to stay awake in my lectures. One would think that after getting a good night's sleep, 7-8 hours, you would be awake and ready to learn, but no sir, not me! I can only stay awake in class if I've had 5 or 6 hours of sleep a night. So much for my telomeres, I can just feel them getting shorter and shorter sigh...
I will digress here to point out that you need your telomeres! They are at the end of everyone's DNA, and help keep the double helix from winding! Every time your DNA/cell replicates, a few telomeres are lost in the process. Their loss is also a reason why humans age with time! Scientists have been able to stimulate telomerase production in mice which has reversed the aging process in the mice, but not with out causing huge cancers and tumors to grow. Regardless, it is a a leap forward for human, which could potentially lead to humans living even longer lives.
Anyways, back to my 6 hours of sleep; the lack of sleep has helped me stay awake in in most of my classes! I have found my self being a lot more attentive in most of my classes, especially 236.
As I sit here thinking of things to write about this week...I cannot help but wonder if anyone is even going to read this blog...
I can't think of anything to write tonight, maybe I'll have more luck next week, and maybe more to talk about.
Sigh...
I will digress here to point out that you need your telomeres! They are at the end of everyone's DNA, and help keep the double helix from winding! Every time your DNA/cell replicates, a few telomeres are lost in the process. Their loss is also a reason why humans age with time! Scientists have been able to stimulate telomerase production in mice which has reversed the aging process in the mice, but not with out causing huge cancers and tumors to grow. Regardless, it is a a leap forward for human, which could potentially lead to humans living even longer lives.
Anyways, back to my 6 hours of sleep; the lack of sleep has helped me stay awake in in most of my classes! I have found my self being a lot more attentive in most of my classes, especially 236.
As I sit here thinking of things to write about this week...I cannot help but wonder if anyone is even going to read this blog...
I can't think of anything to write tonight, maybe I'll have more luck next week, and maybe more to talk about.
Sigh...
Saturday 3 November 2012
The numbers, Mason!
....What do they mean?! I couldn't help but think of that quote while doing this previous 236 assignment. That was still when I was doing the scratch work for the first question, trying to figure out all the right combinations of OMCOFS for all different lengths of binary strings.
At first, I only though of regular patterns like 00001111 and 00111100 and the like for a string of length 8, but there wasn't a clear pattern emerging from the numbers of H(2), H(3), H(4) and so on. Then I started getting creative. A string with four 1's and the rest zeros could still be an OMCOFS even if the four 1's weren't together, but still weren't odd when they were split. So I started thinking of combinations like 11001100 and 11011011. After using up 4 pages to come up with all the different, valid, types of binary combinations, I started to see a golden pattern emerging. H(1) = 1, H(2) = 2, H(3) = 3, H(4) = 5, H(6) = 8, and as Danny as told us before, H(0) = 1. Are you starting to see a pattern yet?
I was so ecstatic when I saw the fibonacci sequence, albeit offset by one index, that I couldn't believe it was that simple. So so I thought...coming up with a closed form for the fibonacci sequence was a challenge. I knew a form already existed, it could found with a simple Google search or a look through our notes, but I thought we might be expected to actually derive it by unwinding the recurrence, so that is what I set out to do. I unwound the recurrence 5 times, and instead of getting rid of recursive calls, more recursive calls to the function were being made, but in a peculiar manner. Every time you unwound the recurrence, the next level would be another form of a step down on Pascal's Pyramid. What were coefficients from his pyramid doing in this unwinding?
After a whole lot of research and brain racking, I ended up learning how to derive the golden ratio myself from a Fibonacci recurrence, and used that to find a slightly modified closed form for our recurrence, and well as prove that this closes form was equal to the recurrence. A lot of time was spent reading up in the golden ratio, how it is derived and what it represents, so even though it was a lot of time taken away from other courses, I do not regret it as I learned about something quite interesting.
I never thought I would ever say proof writing could ever get interesting...I think Danny might be changing my perception of this course and putting it in a new, good, light. I do not approve of it! I was so adamant to not like this theoretical course! I guess since I understand this time complexity stuff, this course is beginning to grow on me. But I still dislike induction. Especially structural. I am quiet anal about my likes and dislikes.
Also...I was told I am 5 episodes behind already for the new season of Dexter, and that just made me drop everything I was doing and start catching up. I was up until 3 last night watching the first two episodes, and I can't wait to get home and finish the last three! Do not fret, I won't be revealing anything in this post. I cannot promise the same about my next one though!
Is it weird that when I watch Dexter go about his.... "business" in the show, that I try to place myself in his shoes and try to imagine exactly how he's feeling? I try to imagine how I would react if that was me in Dexter's position, standing over the bound victim, getting ready to drive a blade through someone's heart. Does that make me psychotic or curious? Cause I swear I'm not[psychotic]! But hey...
The descent into hell is easy.
At first, I only though of regular patterns like 00001111 and 00111100 and the like for a string of length 8, but there wasn't a clear pattern emerging from the numbers of H(2), H(3), H(4) and so on. Then I started getting creative. A string with four 1's and the rest zeros could still be an OMCOFS even if the four 1's weren't together, but still weren't odd when they were split. So I started thinking of combinations like 11001100 and 11011011. After using up 4 pages to come up with all the different, valid, types of binary combinations, I started to see a golden pattern emerging. H(1) = 1, H(2) = 2, H(3) = 3, H(4) = 5, H(6) = 8, and as Danny as told us before, H(0) = 1. Are you starting to see a pattern yet?
I was so ecstatic when I saw the fibonacci sequence, albeit offset by one index, that I couldn't believe it was that simple. So so I thought...coming up with a closed form for the fibonacci sequence was a challenge. I knew a form already existed, it could found with a simple Google search or a look through our notes, but I thought we might be expected to actually derive it by unwinding the recurrence, so that is what I set out to do. I unwound the recurrence 5 times, and instead of getting rid of recursive calls, more recursive calls to the function were being made, but in a peculiar manner. Every time you unwound the recurrence, the next level would be another form of a step down on Pascal's Pyramid. What were coefficients from his pyramid doing in this unwinding?
After a whole lot of research and brain racking, I ended up learning how to derive the golden ratio myself from a Fibonacci recurrence, and used that to find a slightly modified closed form for our recurrence, and well as prove that this closes form was equal to the recurrence. A lot of time was spent reading up in the golden ratio, how it is derived and what it represents, so even though it was a lot of time taken away from other courses, I do not regret it as I learned about something quite interesting.
I never thought I would ever say proof writing could ever get interesting...I think Danny might be changing my perception of this course and putting it in a new, good, light. I do not approve of it! I was so adamant to not like this theoretical course! I guess since I understand this time complexity stuff, this course is beginning to grow on me. But I still dislike induction. Especially structural. I am quiet anal about my likes and dislikes.
Also...I was told I am 5 episodes behind already for the new season of Dexter, and that just made me drop everything I was doing and start catching up. I was up until 3 last night watching the first two episodes, and I can't wait to get home and finish the last three! Do not fret, I won't be revealing anything in this post. I cannot promise the same about my next one though!
Is it weird that when I watch Dexter go about his.... "business" in the show, that I try to place myself in his shoes and try to imagine exactly how he's feeling? I try to imagine how I would react if that was me in Dexter's position, standing over the bound victim, getting ready to drive a blade through someone's heart. Does that make me psychotic or curious? Cause I swear I'm not[psychotic]! But hey...
The descent into hell is easy.
Saturday 27 October 2012
A whole new world..
...a fantastic new point of view! This past week has been really good to me! I really wish I had time to watch Aladdin again, and just about every other disney movie! The lack of Disney movies during school is disgusting...but I've digressed.
Ever since I dropped my astronomy course, I've been able to make time for everything else I needed to catch up with. Especially statistics and 236!
Statistics has gotten a bit more interesting for me ever since I figured out what it was we were actually learning in class, although I am (very) unsatisfied with the way the professor teaches it. There's too much of "hmm okay I won't teach this but it's in your notes anyways, you can go read it after". I am paraphrasing of course. And even that wouldn't be that big of an issue if the notes were actually organized a bit better.
I am starting to enjoy 236 a lot more now. Surprisingly I am pretty good at unwinding recursive functions. I enjoyed time complexity in 165 as well but I never got the hang of it, i just ended up following all the other, previous examples almost word by word. I hope to improve on proof writing by the end of this term but I know I will be needing this for the next 2 or 3 years especially. It wouldn't hurt to get a good grade in 236 either!
My best class to date? 207. Hands down.
I am more of a practical person than a theoretical one, which is why i find thinking about proofs so frustrating. I need to think longer than the average student.
On a final note, I feel that Justin Bieber's new songs (some) are pretty good. Yes this is what I will end my blog with tonight. muawhahaahahhahahahaahha
Ever since I dropped my astronomy course, I've been able to make time for everything else I needed to catch up with. Especially statistics and 236!
Statistics has gotten a bit more interesting for me ever since I figured out what it was we were actually learning in class, although I am (very) unsatisfied with the way the professor teaches it. There's too much of "hmm okay I won't teach this but it's in your notes anyways, you can go read it after". I am paraphrasing of course. And even that wouldn't be that big of an issue if the notes were actually organized a bit better.
I am starting to enjoy 236 a lot more now. Surprisingly I am pretty good at unwinding recursive functions. I enjoyed time complexity in 165 as well but I never got the hang of it, i just ended up following all the other, previous examples almost word by word. I hope to improve on proof writing by the end of this term but I know I will be needing this for the next 2 or 3 years especially. It wouldn't hurt to get a good grade in 236 either!
My best class to date? 207. Hands down.
I am more of a practical person than a theoretical one, which is why i find thinking about proofs so frustrating. I need to think longer than the average student.
On a final note, I feel that Justin Bieber's new songs (some) are pretty good. Yes this is what I will end my blog with tonight. muawhahaahahhahahahaahha
Saturday 20 October 2012
Revelations and Realizations
These past couple of weeks have been very interesting and eye opening! I've realized where I need to improve, socially and academically, have had falling outs with special persons, fallen behind on work (which I am now rectifying) and had an awesome linear algebra midterm.
It's sad to say that the linear algebra midterm is the only amazing midterm I've written so far. I try not to think about my csc236 midterm and the stats 247....*shudder*. csc207 seems to be the only course that I'm doing amazingly well in thus far! This new concept of working in groups, using subversion and relying on different means of communications is quite intriguing.
Sadly, to keep up with the courses I actually require for this subject post (computer science, in case anyone was wondering), I've had to drop a course I was really, really interested in; Stars & Planets (ast221). It was really challenging and time consuming to say the least, but the physics of stellar objects have always fascinated me. The unapproving stares of the astronomy crew were unsettling, but we were able to reach middle ground with some of my friends in that course. They would not glare at me, if I was to still attend the lectures! Sounds like a pretty good deal to me, seeing as I do not mind sitting in on the lectures. So what if I no longer have to spend days and weeks on problem sets for that class? I can still learn dammit! Downside; I now have to make up half a credit...
Interestingly enough, csc236 has become a little less of a pain for me in the past two weeks; either I'm getting a hang of it, or the lectures are just interesting as always, and once I go home and try proofs, I realize once again that I have no idea what i'm doing. Somehow, this picture sums up my situation quit nicely!
On a totally unrelated note; the new season of The Walking Dead had a pretty good premiering episode! Can't wait for the next episodes, although... ---WARNING: AHEAD BE SPOILERS!----
...I cannot believe Lori is (or seems) okay with Carl being allowed to carry a gun and shoot [dead and mutilated] humans in the head. It seems like he has a stronger personality from the first two seasons, but now he seems just apathetic towards shooting a gun and killing. I do not think he will escape with no mental repercussions. I feel really bad for Rick though...he seems to be putting up a front in front of the group to keep everyone else strong, but towards the end of the episode, you can really see how taxing his relationship with Lori, along with everything else that is happening around them is on him. Fingers crossed for a good season!
Lastly...Game of Thrones season 3 as well has George R. R. Martin on the sixth book, really need to hurry up. That is all.
It's sad to say that the linear algebra midterm is the only amazing midterm I've written so far. I try not to think about my csc236 midterm and the stats 247....*shudder*. csc207 seems to be the only course that I'm doing amazingly well in thus far! This new concept of working in groups, using subversion and relying on different means of communications is quite intriguing.
Sadly, to keep up with the courses I actually require for this subject post (computer science, in case anyone was wondering), I've had to drop a course I was really, really interested in; Stars & Planets (ast221). It was really challenging and time consuming to say the least, but the physics of stellar objects have always fascinated me. The unapproving stares of the astronomy crew were unsettling, but we were able to reach middle ground with some of my friends in that course. They would not glare at me, if I was to still attend the lectures! Sounds like a pretty good deal to me, seeing as I do not mind sitting in on the lectures. So what if I no longer have to spend days and weeks on problem sets for that class? I can still learn dammit! Downside; I now have to make up half a credit...
Interestingly enough, csc236 has become a little less of a pain for me in the past two weeks; either I'm getting a hang of it, or the lectures are just interesting as always, and once I go home and try proofs, I realize once again that I have no idea what i'm doing. Somehow, this picture sums up my situation quit nicely!
On a totally unrelated note; the new season of The Walking Dead had a pretty good premiering episode! Can't wait for the next episodes, although... ---WARNING: AHEAD BE SPOILERS!----
...I cannot believe Lori is (or seems) okay with Carl being allowed to carry a gun and shoot [dead and mutilated] humans in the head. It seems like he has a stronger personality from the first two seasons, but now he seems just apathetic towards shooting a gun and killing. I do not think he will escape with no mental repercussions. I feel really bad for Rick though...he seems to be putting up a front in front of the group to keep everyone else strong, but towards the end of the episode, you can really see how taxing his relationship with Lori, along with everything else that is happening around them is on him. Fingers crossed for a good season!
Lastly...Game of Thrones season 3 as well has George R. R. Martin on the sixth book, really need to hurry up. That is all.
Saturday 6 October 2012
No...but I have a lot of feelings...
...is what I would say if I did not go to UoFT and was feeling really emotional. But after saying up for 38 hours, I tend to become a rather indifferent and heartless individual.
I hope starting with a Mean Girls quote put a smile on someone's face, because I sure could use one on mine right now. After finally finishing assignment 1 from csc236, which was 5 minutes before it was due, I clearly know where I stand in this course. I like to think of myself as being not too shabby with math, and following arguments, but I just cannot seem to be able to understand induction.
I am definitely going to be making an appointment with Danny, because I know if I leave this for later, it will come back and bite me in the rear. All my friends seem to be able to get how to solve proofs, they seem to know what to look for, while I sit there trying to make sense of what I'm trying to prove. I don't know if a1 is going to go well for me, but hey, its helped me decide on the next step of action.
I promise the next one will not be as sad as this!
Over and out.
I hope starting with a Mean Girls quote put a smile on someone's face, because I sure could use one on mine right now. After finally finishing assignment 1 from csc236, which was 5 minutes before it was due, I clearly know where I stand in this course. I like to think of myself as being not too shabby with math, and following arguments, but I just cannot seem to be able to understand induction.
I am definitely going to be making an appointment with Danny, because I know if I leave this for later, it will come back and bite me in the rear. All my friends seem to be able to get how to solve proofs, they seem to know what to look for, while I sit there trying to make sense of what I'm trying to prove. I don't know if a1 is going to go well for me, but hey, its helped me decide on the next step of action.
I promise the next one will not be as sad as this!
Over and out.
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