The road goes forever on (and on, and on, and on ...)

 Well, 12 years has passed. I don't suppose anyone has read this blog in those 12 years - I know I haven't.

So what have I been up to? I finally got my degree in 2013. It didn't help with my work - but it wasn't supposed to, because I had done this all for personal pleasure, and a personal challenge. My wife died in 2015 - our two boys were still teenagers so I devoted all my time to making sure they were OK. One of them is now married, the other lives with his girlfriend. They have done well.

I took early retirement as soon as I was able. I had become disillusioned with my work, and I figured that time was of more value to me than money. On their deathbed how many people wish for more money, and how many wish for more time? Time wins!

So now I walk and hike as much as I can - several thousand miles a year. I broke my ankle two years ago when I fell off a stile! It was fine until I hit the ground, so really it wasn't the fall that broke my ankle, it was the landing! I limp a bit now - trouble with the ligaments. The bone mended with the help of a plate and some screws. And I paint, and photograph - old interests that have resurfaced now that there is time.

And I have a new partner. Life is good again.

I hope that all the people that I 'met' during my OU studies have been able to enjoy life - it's what it's all about.

M362 TMA02

Too busy to update my blog very often - and it's only when something like a TMA result comes in that my mind goes into 'blog-mode'. So you have probably guessed now that I have a TMA result - and you would be correct.

I suppose the first thing to say is that I have not been able to devote the time to M362 that I would wish - there is a major non-OU worry that I have (and that's all I will say) but it is diverting my attention and concentration away from my studying (as it has to, and as it should). So I submitted my TMA with a couple of sub-questions left incomplete. I know that I could have answered them but my mind just could not concentrate and I figured that it would be better to just submit the damn thing as it was, rather than write a load of coblers and have my tutor wondering what I was on about.

I'm waffling. It's a habit.

So, knowing that I had submitted a less than satisfactory TMA I braced myself for a low score. I figured that 70% would be about right (I hadn't calculated that - it just 'felt' that's what it should be). So I was a bit surprised to find that I had scored 85%. Then I kicked myself - if only I had written that load of coblers then I might have managed another point or two (or perhaps not ... if it really was coblers). But hang on a minute ... 85% is great - where has my sense of perspective gone? I'm happy with 85. In fact I'm very happy with 85.

And as for the course - I'm enjoying it. The first block was pretty much all Concurrency and was very interesting but a bit dry and academic [Ed: This is a University you know - it's supposed to be academic], but the second block is full on multi-tier application development. And I have to say that I am finding it very interesting - even my rusty Java has been dusted off and put to good use.

Got to start on TMA 03 now - and I am already two weeks behind.

OU - An Update

Well, no updates from me since January - but I'm not slacking - I'm just very busy! I'm just over halfway through S197 (which is a really interesting course, and has got me interested in taking this particle physics and cosmology stuff further ... one day), and I have also just reached the TMA01 stage on M362. In fact I submitted the TMA a couple of weeks ago and decided this morning to bring this blog up-to-date - and then found that my marked TMA had been returned this morning.

M362 has been interesting so far. Some of the ground that we have covered has been quite familiar to me, some of it less so, and the level of detail has been worthwhile (mainly because I like to really get to grips with stuff). The coding exercises have been fairly easy - although I'm expecting them to become more challenging as the course progresses, so that will be good. One or two of the TMA questions were a little wishy-washy - you know the thing - you read the question and then realise that it can be interpretted in a number of different ways, so half the problem is not figuring out how to answer the question but trying to figure out what the questioner was after. I guess that's level 3 for you.

Anyway, I read through the marked transcript this morning and found that I made a couple of stupid mistakes (careless oversight - seems to be a habit of mine), a part of one question that I managed to miss out (not the first time thats happened either!). But I still managed a very respectable 86% and I'm more than happy with that.

Biggest problem at present it trying to find the time to fit all the studying in. Work has become very busy over the last month and looks to be continuing that way (which is good), I'm helping my son revise for his Maths, Physics, and Chemistry GCSE's that are coming up, and we might be moving house this summer too. So, busy time.

I'll try and get another post in before the year ends!

S197 Has entered the building

Two days ago the course book for S197 arrived - so now I have two very interesting courses sitting waiting for my attention. The topics on this one include:
Redshift calculations, Hubble constant, CMB, EMR, Quantum electrodynamics, Quarks and Feynman diagrams, Quantum chromodynamics, bosons, Curved Space, Gravitational radiation, the quark-lepton era, hadrons, nucleosynthesis, geometry of space, and many other interesting areas. I can't wait to get cracking on this pot of ideas.
But - it will have to wait - I have to make reasonable headway on M362 first.

M362 A familiar start

I started reading through Unit 1 of M362 the other day and felt immediately at home (and Unit 2 to boot). All those years as a Systems Programmer on IBM boxes and reading through much of the assembly source code of the Operating System (VM/SP, VM/ESA) means that I am on home ground when it comes to processes, context switching, interrupt handlers, various process states, user mode and supervisor mode, the fetch-execute cycle, and loads more. I know the course is going to move away from these topics eventually, but right now it feels good.

I am registered

Yesterday I still didn't know if I had successfully registered for M362 in time or not. Today I received a package containing all the course books and software.

I guess that means that I have my place on the course!

Major Tom to Ground Control

S194 is just about finished - a month ahead of schedule. The ECA was completed last night after a few hours trying to figure how the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation supports the Big Bang theory.

And today I registered for S197 "How the Universe Works" which is more cosmology and physics. I am expecting this to me a more challenging course that S194 - not because of the maths - but because of some of the concepts such as string theory, and 11-dimensional space. And then having to write a few thousands words that explains it in a coherent and intelligible manner. I have trouble explaining what I had for breakfast in a coherent and intelligible manner sometimes (not that I'm often asked - but since you did - it was porridge today).

So that's S197 and M362 starting in February. A jolly combination.

And now panic!

I thought that registering and sorting out the payment last night meant that I had a place on M362. And then I checked my StudentHome page this morning - they are waiting for the return of the registration documents before I have a place on the course. Except that obviously I haven't received the registration documents, and even if I had, there is no way that I could get them returned by the end of today.

Panic.

I phoned the Regional Office for guidance. They gave me the phone number of the OU Registration Services. I telephoned and explained my predicament. It looks like I am going to be OK because I have at least registered before the cut-off date (today), but my application is not yet complete. I am not going to know for sure until after Christmas.

I have to wonder why that is not made clear when registering online. Even the email that the OU sent out November simply states that the closing date for enrolment is 22nd December for all students and nothing about allowing several days after registering for the application to complete. If we assume (dangerous!) that it takes one week for the letter to come out, get signed, and then returned, then the OU should close the online registration on 15th December at the latest and not the 22nd.

Oh well, fingers crossed.

Quandry - leads to positive action!

Well, from a night of indicision and quandry has sprung forth some positive action. I decided to listen to the uncertainty that was filling my head and have acted on instinct - along with some helpful advice - and just registered for the February 2011 presentation of M362. And just in the nick of time.

Old Java books now dusted off and ready!

Quandry

I have found myself in a big whirlpool of uncertainty. Until yesterday I thought I had my course plans all worked out for the next two years. And just in time because the closing date for February course applications is tomorrow. But last night I hardly slept at all - something was bothering me and I had this sence that M363, which I was about to sign up for, was not the right course to do next. That surprised me because I hadn't really thought about it. But all night I had this running through my mind - almost to the point where I was questioning whether I should even sign up for another Level 3 course just yet.

But come the morning, and after a little sleep, it suddenly struck me that I should do M362 next. And when I thought that, I found that I felt relaxed again. From what I understand, M363 is a lot of theory (nothing wrong in that) and a little programming, whereas M362 has a greater programming content. And I think that is what has swung it for me - because I have been away from studying for a couple of years (apart from S194 - which I have really enjoyed!) I need something that I can do well, really get into, and if it isn't programming that does that then nothing will do it. After that is out of the way then it will be time for M363.

Unless I change my mind again tonight. Last chance though - tomorrow is decision day!

Astronomy Domine

NOT a reference to the Syd Barrett penned Pink Floyd song – the first track from their first album, but to the fact that I have just signed up for S194 – “Introducing Astronomy”. I am making tentative steps back to studying and thought a short 10-pointer would be a good way to start. Having been out of the studying zone for so long I find that I have managed to fill all the time that I once spent studying with other activities.

However, time passes, and the 60-point M206 that I did back in ‘05 will cease to be countable towards a degree by 2013, so if I don’t get my arse in gear now then it will be too late and a shame to lose those points.

My two year hiatus from studying has also given me time to think about the direction that my studies take. I have been questioning whether a named degree “IT and Computing” is really what I want to achieve. The ‘problem’ is that my interests are far wider than just computing and the more I think about it, the more I find myself drawn to going for an ‘Open’ degree with a high computing content but also drawing in other strands such as some of the science modules. My current thinking is that a wider ranging degree will be more useful.

So S194 fulfills two functions – it acts a gentle re-introduction to study, and a door-way into the science modules.

But what comes next? Well, if S194 goes as well as I hope it might (time-wise) then I think that S104 will follow on. S104 is a 60-point deeper introduction to general science and ticks so many of the ‘interest’ boxes that I have. In fact, when I took my first steps towards a degree in 2003, the S104 predecessor (cunningly called S103) was an optional course for the IT and Computing degree and was on my list of ‘must-haves’. Alas, when S104 came along it was not included as an option, so by doing that course (and S194) I am already veering off in a different direction. Then it’s Level-3’s all the way.

Anyway, I have to say that I am really looking forwards to starting again. I have selected the November start-date for the Astronomy course – that should give me time to get my other activities in order.

And because this is going to be seperate from my main Computing modules I have decided to create a seperate blog for it, so if you are in the need of some astrocomical ramblings then...

To infinity and beyond….

Processing

‘Processing’ looks very interesting programming environment - I have been aware of it for some time but not really paid it any attention. Until now, that is.

The reason for my new interest is really down to my son. He had his 15th birthday last week and, like many teenagers (and us older ones), he is really into computers, games consoles (he can talk all day about PS3 and XBOX), and cars. But he has never shown any interest in programming. Which is a shame because I think he could be quite good at it – he is good at maths (much better than I was at his age), and is careful and logical (well, sometimes).

So, with all that in mind, I went searching for a birthday present for him. And I found this thing called an 'Arduino' - a microprocessor based I/O board that can be connected to a PC (or Mac), can be programmed, and interacts with the physical environment by means of various sensors, motors, bluetooth, ethernet, and so on.

To begin with, he did not appear to be that interested – it was the one birthday present that was left on the side, unlooked at. His other gifts were much more exciting. I wasn’t disappointed and I figured it would just be a matter of time before his curiosity got the better of him. And I was right. A couple of days later I noticed that the box had been moved. It’s contents had been layed out on his desk. I had a chat with him and, as expected, he said he was curious but really didn’t know what it was or what he should do with it. So, with my help/guidance, it was quickly set up, the Processing environment installed on his computer, the Arduino connected, and a few LED’s wired up. Within minutes we had a short program written that did nothing more exotic that flash the LED’s once a second. I then asked him what he would do to make the LED’s light up for 1 second but go out for just half a second. He soon had that figured and tested. His first computer program.

And I left it at that. There’s nothing more uncool when you are a teenager than having your dad show you everything.

The next day when I got home from work, he showed me how he had rewired the Arduino board to include a Light Dependant Resistor. And he has changed the program to to read the analog input from the LDR and use that value for the delay time in the LED flashing – so now he has a variable flash rate dependant on the ambient light in the surround environment. How good is that!

I think his next idea is to add a Heat Sensor, and he has already told me that he want to get hold of a accelerometer and a tilt sensor. Perhaps he is hooked. What have I done?

Here is one I prepared earlier

When I was a kid growing up in the 1960’s I always looked forwards to watching Blue Peter on BBC1. Some of my friends were ‘Rainbow’ fans, but for me it was Blue Peter. And every week they would make something that, nine times out of ten, was pretty useless and pretty crappy. But what was interesting is that whatever they made, they always used items and materials that you could generally find around the house (except, perhaps, for ‘sticky backed plastic’ but since that was used almost every week I suspect that most household with young children already had a stash of that ‘just in case’). Anyway, these days I guess we would think of that as being very ‘green’ and ‘recycling-minded’ (which I am in full agreement with, bye the way!).

So, this morning I had a ‘Blue Peter Moment’. This is what happened…

I have this Lenovo laptop (it’s a T500 should you ask), but whenever I start typing (a document, an email, some program code) the cursor suddenly and without warning jumps. Sometimes it jumps to the beginning of the line, sometimes it jumps several lines up. And always without warning. The first I know of it is when I see a load of gobble-de-gook on the screen (no comments about my coding style please). It is really frustrating, and the number of times I have cursed Vista in beyond count. Vista does get the blame for a number of things. Anyway, this has been going on for weeks and by this morning I had had enough – either the laptop goes out the window  - or I do. But, never one to do things in a hurry, I delayed opening the window and did a google search instead – after all this is a computer, and software, and there must be a reason that it behaves like this – and if I can find out that reason then I am half-way to finding the solution.

It became apparent quite quickly that this is typical ‘touch pad’ behaviour – what? – I don’t use the touch-pad. Actually, it turns out that I do – it’s just that I didn’t realise it. I found that when I type I occasionally let my thumb drag on the touch-pad and that cause the cursor to move. How stupid is that. But what is the solution? There should be a way of disabling the touch-pad, but it appears that on the T500 there isn’t (yes, I know, it is hard to believe). Perhaps there is some software that will disable the touch-pad but just while you type, and when it detects that there is no typing then it enables it – sounds like a neat solution but I can’t find any software to do that.

And then I had my Blue Peter moment!

If I can’t disable the touch-pad then there must be a way to de-sensitize it. Simple really (and better than the obvious alternative of having my thumb amputated), a piece of card cut from a 5*3 Index Card and taped over the touch-pad. And that’s it. I won’t claim that it looks very professional, I won’t claim that it won’t eventually fall off, and it certainly doesn’t look cool. But it works.

A simple solution to a simple problem.

Still here!

Yes, I am still here! This is my first post this year - and its already past the middle of July. My break from studying has been going really well, so much so that I can't figure out how I managed to fit any studying in previously. It seems that life, rather like my waistline, has a habit of filling all available space.

I received a phone call from the OU last week - wanting to know whether I had received their prospectus and whether I had considered studying with them. Ahem, I thought, and then explained that well actually I have been studying with you for the past few years and that I had taken time out because of a serious illness in the family. "Oh" said the lady and then checked on her computer - "perhaps you would like to know what your OU id number is?". I explained that I didn't need to know it and that it is carved out, mirror like, on the inside of my skull.

I am thinking about a return to studying though. Perhaps a gentle 10 pointer just to get me in the mood. But then where am I going to find the time from? All that thinking and writing - I'm quite out of the habit. Remembering too - that's the hard bit.

Its been a great time for reading though!

OU - Dip Comp!

Hmm, well its not quite the BSc(Hons) that I’m going after but getting the Diploma is a welcome step. And I do seem to have gone the long way around to get it – out of the seven courses that I have completed, only three of them have counted towards this qualification. Actually, if it hadn’t been for the fact that M206 ceases to be countable towards the Diploma from 31st December this year, then I may well have taken even longer to achieve it!

It was only when reviewing all my courses at the beginning of this year that I realised that the clock was ticking – and M206 would have been an expensive 60pts to lose.

Anyway, that’s the Certificate and the Diploma out of the way – now all I need is another 130 pts to reach my goal.

 

Incidentally, I bumped into one of my friends in Canterbury Cathedral the other evening (hows that for a location for the kids school carol service!) and he mentioned that he achieved his Degree last year and was now studying for his Masters. I asked how he managed a full time job and to get all that studying done – he replied that he only needs three hours sleep each night! I’m sure that it was him that I heard snoring during “Hark the Herald Angels”! (Only kidding Nick). To be honest I don’t know how he does it – perhaps in his spare hours he plays the part of Clark Kent.

And my other chum, Ian, is awaiting the result of his M450 project, I am way behind!

So, as the end of the year fast approaches and I contemplate cracking open another bottle of port (okay, that must be why the studying takes so damn long), ambling over the fields to Bishopsbourne (excellent village pub there), and generally feeling that I must take the next set of New Year resolutions more seriously than hitherto, I am thinking about wishing everyone a Happy Christmas.

OU - Distinctly Good

Well, not been thinking much about studying and the OU for the past few weeks - to much else to do. But today is Results Day So I'll cut straight to the chase:

Two exams...Two Distinctions. Well I'll be damned!

I'm running around hollering right now (you'll just have to take my word for that - its not a pleasant sight I can tell you).

Actually, as nearly always, there's a curious side to this: on one of the courses only 4% of students who sat that exam got a Distinction, on the other course it was 27% - that is a marked and surprising difference. I wonder what the explanation is.

OU – Send me your TMA’s !!

Ok, this isn’t really a request for anyone to send me their TMA’s – and if anyone did then they would be deleted.

But over the weekend I received an email from an OU student telling me that they had recently failed a course and that they were going to sit it again – and that they had seen that I had also done the same course so could I send them all my TMA’s because it would help them! Huh?

The answer was an emphatic NO. Two reasons – the first because these TMA’s were all hand-written and not in electronic form, so I couldn’t send them anyway. The second reason being that I don’t show my TMA’s to anyone. And that is a hard and fast rule.

I tried to be helpful and suggest that they should speak to their tutor if they are having problems – and if that didn’t help then talk to their OU Regional Office. Asking other students for their TMA’s isn’t really the right way to go about it.

OU – There’s always someone worse of than you!

Having now got over my petty gripes about exam questions being wrong, I came across the following statement in one of the OU FirstClass conferences yesterday:

Jenny Bull, the Head of Exams and Assessment, writes:

U216 Examination on 10 October 2008
Following the examination on Friday it has been reported that some students who attended the September Day School were provided with a revision question paper which turned out to be the actual examination question paper set for the examination.

All of a sudden I’m not feeling so hard done by. But I feel really sorry for those students who have studied U216 so hard during the year. This is a 60pt 2nd Level course on the Environment – I really hope that they don’t end up voiding the exam and having to do a resit. I can’t help wondering how on earth that situation arose. Questions will be asked.

OU - T224

Just a follow-up to my assertion that there was an error in the exam paper. It turns out that many other students thought the same thing - and it was reassuring to see a post from the Chair of the T224 Exam Board confirming that there was indeed an error - and that the marking scheme will be amended accordingly so that no students are disadvantaged by it. The problem with errors in exams is not just restricted to the fact that the question is wrong - but its the amount of time spent during the exam trying to answer a question that is either obviously wrong (in which case you answer what you can and make a comment to the side), or just much more complex than it was intended to be (because of incorrect maths). This particular error fell into the first category.

But a while later there was another post from the Chair of the T224 Exam Board saying that in fact there was an error in another question too (which quite a few of us had thought was probably an error). The trouble with this one was that the maths made for a more complex question - so finding the answer took a lot longer. Again, the marking scheme is being amended.

But it does beg the question - "How do these errors get through?". And I guess the obvious answer is insufficient testing! I know that if I write some software, I will test it. But a much better approach is get someone else to test it. The reason is that if you test your own code you are likely to make the same error in testing that you did in writing. Get someone else to do it and the chances are that they will find the error. I wonder if it is the same with exam writing. The Course Team write the exam, but someone else should then test the exam by actually doing it (and I'm not talking about proof-reading, I mean actually sitting the exam and then having it marked).

And as with all these things, its the border line results that will be affected most - and I'm sure the OU will take that into account.

Well, how about that

Just visited my OU homepage - and there on the left is a link to a 'Personal Blog' what wonderful timing!