31 October, 2007
· Filed under Blob, Prague, Rant :-)
Since October 21st, building 7 in Hostivař is disconnected from the wide world, again. Though not as bad as in the beginning, when the easiest way to get online was a good five minutes away in the cold and drafty main hall, the circumstances do not allow for a lot more than checking the daily load of mail. While it can’t be denied that surfing the web while standing in the kitchenette, laptop balanced precariously on the trash bin is a mostly adventurous and not at all unbearable, it’s still not something you’d want to experience repeatedly until the end of semester. This particular occasion has made me realize just what WiFi means.
Unexpectedly (or is it?), this has improved the general mood rather than spoil it (which can be said at least for myself[1]). Being wire(lesse)d can indeed function as a chain to the marvelous device that is the laptop, but that is a chapter to itself. Benefactory or not, the lack of internet is hampering work, studying and contact with home, thusly becoming more and more of a nuisance. Whether this pondering is anything more than just denial of the obvious[2] remains to be seen.
[1] This experiment, in which we have been unwilling participants, shows that we can consider the number of people in the halls and corridors as a decreasing function of the quality of internet connection in the rooms.
[2] As my roommate has been repeating over and over these days: “I will kill them. I want/need internet”. Others have been saying much the same thing, myself included, though the choice of words might have been a bit more diplomatic.
Update: the connection seems to be back. Trust Murphy to prevent me from even getting something out of complaining :-) .
Update on November 11th: wireless unstable, again. What are they doing?!
19 October, 2007
· Filed under Blob, Photos, Prague, Snippets
A foot.
A sandwich in the sky .
A fountain.
18 October, 2007
· Filed under Blob, Prague
I’ve been asked this question one too many times. From now on, my reply will be pasting a link to this post :) .
Of the five classes I’m taking, two are in Czech language. So far, following them hasn’t been much of a problem – In the Elliptic curves class the professor writes everything down and (as long as his writing is reasonably legible), the meaning of most of the unknown words can be guessed given enough time. The rest is handled by consultation and translation. Theoretic cryptography is a slightly tougher nut to crack (i.e. more hand waving and less writing on the blackboard) but the english notes the professor has given me should be really helpful. The other three (Advanced graph algorithms, Flows, cuts and paths and Graph Theory 2) are obviously in English and therefore an easier challenge language-wise; however, some catching up in the algorithms department will be necessary.
Unaware of the switch in the timetable last week, I was also present at the Applied cryptography class (in Czech), which I am (fortunately!) not taking as it was a complete disaster. I didn’t understand a word the professor was saying, and an occasional sketch on the board didn’t clear it up one bit. All in all, the classes are interesting, the professors helpful and the library and it’s contents useful indeed. But that is just the beginning :) (the Murphy’s law states that something [or rather everything] should go wrong at some point).
P.S.: I dilligently practice reading on the metro and tram, which is a new experience for me. Yesterday I tried the standing approach with Basic Techiques of Go (one of the handier books to carry around I have access to), and the experiment was a success.
17 October, 2007
· Filed under Blob, Photos, Prague, Snippets
A studious atmosphere at Karlin.
A plateful of pancakes .
Pub-style origami (made from an Earl Grey tea bag wrapper).
Výr velký (Bubo Bubo) – is the positioning strategic or artistic?
16 October, 2007
· Filed under Blob, Prague
Setting a timetable for choice subjects at KAM (Department of Applied Mathematics) is an event of the curious sort. After the the interested students are assembled in the hall, professors present their classes in as attractive way as possible (I don’t know whether this actually affects the students’ decisions, but judging by the occasional snicker here and there, it is a part of the ceremony). During the next loop through the list each subject is assigned a number of students that whish to choose it. By this criteria, the subjects are arranged in descending order, so the professor who attracted the most students gets to set the timetable first. And here is where the real fun begins. Each feasible slot in the timetable is assigned a number of conflicts (i.e. a number of students who disagree with it). If an optimum exists, the timetable is set, if not, however … we enter the bargaining phase. This includes professors suggesting complicated schedules (with a period of two weeks, with possible exceptions), or just forgetting their own, causing the whole process to repeat for the subject in question. The crowd seemed to be rather amused the whole time, and by the gathered translations and some explanation, so was I.
