Illness

So, its 2.30 am and I am awake, all because of this silly head cold, including sore throat, coughing and blocked nose. How is my day going to be productive if in awake every 2 hours??? I guess so much for a productive Sunday.....

The beginnings of a dissertation

So, it looks like I'm supposed to start writing a dissertation and making some sort of program to go with it. Its supposed to be fancy, show off my strong points, and most importantly - WORK (or so they say)...

So lets see, this blog already had the name "Techie with a Tractor", which clearly is supposed to mean I like technology and tractors, so I think I shall base my project on something to include the both.

/Lightbulb

"GOT IT" - I shouted out one day (this must have been a few months back now). "I'll make a mobile app for farm management."

...And today children I still seem to stand by this crazy and perplexing idea. An people say I'm crazy because of the platform I'm going to program it for (also please note that people called me crazy beforehand anyway).

WINDOWS PHONE 7.5 (aka Mango)

"So its for a Micro$oft product", I hear you say in agony. Well the simple answer is YES! Whether this is a mistake, we shall find out in due course.

Meanwhile, over the past few weeks, I've been plying around with basic things from tutorials, getting my self-hosted SVN (VisualSVN with Tortoise) up and running, and still trying to sort out my blessed network issue: see: http://superuser.com/q/348247/95379

So that's enough babbling for one day. According to some of the useful emails I get, I have to write some kind of doku before Wednesday............

Oh well, lecture time now anyway, saved by the bell....................

Facebook proves Hell is no more

…and thats all that facebook is useful anymore for, scientist putting up their theories, or like their lectures putting up students exam papers. This one is just pure genius, all about Hell:

The following is an actual question given on a University chemistry final exam.
The answer by one student was so “profound” that the professor shared it with colleagues via the Internet, which is why we now have the pleasure of enjoying it as well.
Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic (absorbs heat)?
Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle’s Law that gas cools when it expands and heats when it is compressed or some variant.
One student, however, wrote the following:
First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So we need to know the rate at which souls are moving into Hell and the rate at which they are leaving. I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving. As for how many souls are entering Hell, let’s look at the different religions that exist in the world today. Most of these religions state that, if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell.
Since there is more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell. With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially. Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell. Because Boyle’s Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay constant, the volume of Hell must expand proportionately as souls are added.
This gives two possibilities:
1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until all Hell breaks loose.
2. If Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes over.
So which is it?
If we accept the postulate given to me by Sandra during my freshman year, that “it will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you,” and take into account the fact that I slept with her last night, then number 2 must be true, and thus I am sure that Hell is endothermic and has already frozen over.
The corollary of this theory is that since Hell has frozen over, it follows that it is not accepting any more souls and is extinct…leaving only Heaven, thereby proving the existence of a divine being - which explains why, last night, Sandra kept shouting “Oh God!”
THIS STUDENT RECEIVED THE ONLY “A”.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=249943257249

I just found this not only insightful, but joyful and funny, so join just for the sake, and if it was you who wrote this, I’d love to hear, so I can sing your praises…

Where’s my shotgun???

…So you want to strike for 12 CONSECUATIVE DAYS – over my dead body!
My response to Len McCluskey, head of the union, is:

unless you call off this absurd strike, i am going to hunt you down and FORCE you to call off the strike unless you want to be shot by me and several other thousand people in the queue of angry people.

(Obviously, for legal reasons I must say the following: - I will in no way actually follow through with the plan/statement stated above)
So that's my anger out for this minute, but now to decide what to do…

British Airways - British Failways

… and so those stingy people (aka BA Cabin Crew) are going on strike on a vote 9-1 in favour. They get paid almost double than some airlines, e.g. Virgin Atlantic. BBC News asks if the public are going to be sympathetic towards them. I know I wont be – even if they don't affect when I’m flying.
So as I sit here waiting for the ‘official’ press conference and strike dates, I wonder why they cant accept change, because if they don't, BC might have to make even more drastic action – or go bust :(
Well, I'll just have to wait and see…

It’s Official !

… that's right folks, it really is official.

you poor students have it bad

That was said to me today by one of my fellow church choir members at St. James, Bushey – Bex ‘Arcaine’ Sherwood.
 
So there you, you here it here first, us students have it bad…

32 Rules

… and so during a lecture, I decided to contemplate on a film I finally managed to watch – Zombieland. This then inspired me to write my own list for survival for when (and if) a Zombie apocalypse happens. I based it on the one from the film, and improvised for the gaps – I think they might keep me alive:

#1 – Cardio
#2 – The Double Tap
#3 – Beware of Bathrooms
#4 – Seatbelts
#5 – Nothing is too brutal
#6 – The Skillet
#7 – Travel Light
#8 – Get A Kickass Partner
#9 – Music lures
#10 – Stay sober
#11 – Lights attract
#12 – Bounty Paper Towels
#13 – Everything's unlucky
#14 – Exhale slowly, squeeze the trigger
#15 – Bowling Ball
#16 – Swiss Army Knife
#17 – Don’t Be A Hero
#18 – Limber Up
#19 – Double-knot your shoelaces
#20 – Always carry a change of underwear
#21 – Avoid Strip Clubs
#22 – When In Doubt, Know Your Way Out
#23 – It’s a marathon, not a sprint. Unless it is a sprint, then sprint
#24 – Don't get attached
#25 – Shake Them Off
#26 – Think 4x4
#27 – Don't Count On It
#28 – GPS is your only True friend
#29 – The Buddy System
#30 – Never Give Up
#31 – Check The Back Seat
#32 – Enjoy The Little Things

So those are my “32 Rules for Survival.” I suppose that they kind of work, maybe a few tweaks are needed, and of course input is always welcome, and you also welcome to take my list and use it for yourselves – who knows, we may meet up and become each others Rule #8.
So I think I might try and tune back into the lecture “Databases: x Normal Forms”, even though its GCSE/A-Level stuff…