Horray

I got a B in my design of programming languages class :)
I calculated my average and it was approximately 83.9
I was worried I would have a B-
but I pulled it up by the end of the semester

In Hebrew I got an A.

My other grades have not been posted yet.

home

im so happy that its over!!!
the semester is over and I am home :)

Googies

I decided not to do the interview, at least not now. If I want to do it later in life I will apply again, but not now. I will apply for some other jobs and internships this summer during my break.

Exams are going alright, i just had bob's test this morning on:

Functional Programming:

1. Type Checking: You should be able to typecheck SMLLite expressions "by hand" by building proof trees from the type rules. Also, you should be able to produce alternate type rules for certain constructs.
2. Operational Semantics: The same applies to the operational semantics of SMLLite as applies to the type system.

Basic Prolog:

1. Functions, relations, and partial functions
2. General relational programming
3. Facts
4. Atomic queries
5. Compound queries
6. Clauses
7. Variables and quantifiers
8. Variable substitution
9. Term unification
10. Occurs check
11. Top-down semantics (SLD resolution)
12. Bottom-up semantics
13. Pure Prolog programming

Advanced Prolog Programming Topics:

1. Nonlocal control and cut (!)
2. Extra-logical predicates
3. Metalogical predicates

It was intense, way too long and everyone was running out of time and freaking out. There will be a curve, but who knows.. at least I got to all of the questions, some people didn't even get to every question

I put 'something' whether its a kakashka or not, for every question

anyway i have a hebrew test later today and a robotics project to present later also
and tomorrow i have a big test too in my Jewishness class that ill be studying for tonight
and then after tomorrow i'm almost done
except the robot project write up
phew.
so much to do.

cant wait till its over.

Weekend

The weekend went well, I got to relax a little and enjoy some burnt but none the less tasty latkas. The lobster was fantastic as well.

I made a ton of flashcards, over 100, for Hebrew to memorize the vocabulary.

Noah also helped me with my paper a lot, so I just need to add some finishing touches tomorrow and then its due tuesday.

I still have to study for all my exams but it will soon be over.

Paper

So I'm working on my third and final paper for Jewishness class.
The class is so dull and boring, I'm glad that it is almost over.

I'm glad that I finish the semester in a week.

Happy Channukah

Enjoy some winnie pooh:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1LTTHTYUR8&feature=rec-fav-watch-cur_emp-exp_fresh+div

Oh yeah, and happy Channukah.
I'm going to noah's house for channukah dinner (latkas and lobster)
I'm working on a paper right now.

Presentation went great

My presentation on CHR this morning went really great. I also baked a cake for the class. YUM!

I spent about a solid hour today crying. Russian songs are so sad.
Such titles as :
Goluboy Vagon
Birthday Song
Bremenski Muzikanti classics
other cheburashka classics
winnie pooh

Paper cut out

Snowstorm!!!

So today I was supposed to present 2 things, and guess what!
WE HAVE A SNOWSTORM!

So there is like 10 inches of snow outside.

and noah called me really early, at 8:05, to wish me good luck. He told me there was a blizzard and that driving was terrible, so I thought immediately, oh boy! my teachers might be canceling some of my classes!

So I went online and sure enough, I got an email from Bob canceling class!
I still have my other classes today (no other emails with cancellations) but I was still pretty excited.

"Hi,

This morning's meetings will be canceled due to inclement weather. We will try to squeeze the talks scheduled for today into Friday/Monday. Otherwise, we have the laboratory period on Friday, December 18th. "

Winding down

Okay, less than 2 weeks left. Horray!

I can't wait to get home.

I just about finished my Constraint Handling Rules and Kismet presentations for Wednesday.
I also handed in Bobs lab but I couldn't have done it without Rajeev's help.
What else what else.. robotics project is due late next week.
Studying Hebrew vocab for the final exam.
I have a final exam in Jewishness, as well as in Design of Programming Languages.

Its going to be a busy 11 days.

2 things done!

I've been working for the past few hours..well all night really, and I got my Kismet presentation done!

You can check it out here:
http://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AXudWTzEcw-LZDk5YnBja18xZjhqOWg2Z2Q&hl=en

Now all I have left is bob's prolog lab, and my 30 minute presentation for his class.
(well, left for next week)

Finals week is another story.

Finished 1 Lab!

I just finished one of my labs! HORRAY!
It isn't very good, and it is way too long, I think I was only supposed to have 3ish pages, but I have 5 due to the fact that I didn't know what the hell to include and what not to. But oh well, I did the best analysis I could given that I've never taken linear algebra or statistics.
Complicated!!
I'm sure I did fine.

Now I just have..well...everything else to do. Tomorrow I'm going to finish Bob's lab. Also, from now until next Tuesday, I will be working on my 2 presentations.

Then after they are over on Wednesday night, I'll be writing my Jewishness paper, studying Jewish people, and studying Hebrew for those finals.

Its all winding down, the semester is almost over, and that means--> winter break soon!
I can't wait.

LOTS TO DO!

Been busy. Cut my thumb peeling potatoes and it's still slowly healing.
Going to go to dinner now.
Lots to do!
LOTS TO DO!

- a lab for robots due Friday the 4th
- a lab for bobs class due Monday the 7th
- a 15 minute presentation Wednesday the 9th on Kismet
- a 30 minute presentation Wednesday the 9th on constraint handling rules
- a final project in robotics due later
- a final paper in Jewishness due sometime later
and of course, final exams, quizzes, and hebrew homework

Oh yes, and I got the best grade on the last Hebrew test we had. (last week)
So my Hebrew teacher is even MORE sad to see me go.


--
Ah thanksgiving, a great holiday. Had a lot of fun, nice week.
Busy busy

No Hebrew

Well, it looks like Hebrew won't work next semester. The rabbi can't move the class because it would conflict with someone else's schedule. Oh well. It's too bad.

On the other hand, I'm looking forward to coming home tomorrow! Yay! Horray!

Ivrit

It looks like Algorithms won't be taught again any time while I'm at bard, so I have to take it next semester. On the bright side, the Rabbi will poll the class and see if he can re-schedule the class so that I can take it again. I don't know if it will work though, I think everyone has different schedules :(

Classes

Well, it's that time of year again. The time I choose my courses for next semester.
Here is what I'm most likely going to take:

11241

CMSC 301 Algorithms

Robert McGrail

. T . Th .

1:00 -2:20 pm

RKC 100

MATC

Cross-listed: Cognitive Science The course discusses design and analysis of correct and efficient computer algorithms. Topics include sorting, greedy algorithms, divide-and-conquer algorithms, dynamic programming algorithms, and graph algorithms. Advanced topics in algorithms may be selected from specialized areas of the mathematical and empirical sciences. Prerequisites: Computer Science 142 and Mathematics 231/235

11472

CMSC 325 Advanced Hardware: Multiprocessor Computer Architecture

Rebecca Thomas

. T . Th .

10:00 - 12:00 pm

RKC 107

MATC

Modern desktop computers typically contain multiple microprocessors. In order to take full advantage of these new machines, one must understand a number of interlocking hardware and software issues, including instruction-level and thread-level parallelism, architectures for shared memory, and dynamic scheduling. This course will combine principles of computer organization as applied to multiprocessor systems with case studies of several extant multicore architectures. Prerequisite: CMSC 201.

11470

CMSC 233 Mobile Applications and Interfaces

Sven Anderson

. . W . .

7:00 -9:00 pm

RKC 100

MATC

(2 credits) This course provides a hands-on introduction to the design of applications on hand-held mobile devices characterized by limited computational and interface resources. Particular emphasis will be placed on developing software interface designs that incorporate the specialized input-output capabilities of these devices such as wireless communication, spoken interfaces, and image capture. Students will be assigned to small teams that work together to develop applications for this platform. Prerequisite: CMSC 201.

11361

LIT 230 Innovative Novellas and Short Stories

Justus Rosenberg

M . W . .

10:30 - 11:50 am

OLIN 303

ELIT

An in-depth study of the difference between the short story, built on figurative techniques closely allied to those employed in poetry which allows the writer to achieve remarkable intimacy and depth of meaning in the space of a few pages and the novella that demands the economy and exactness of a short work while at the same time allowing a fuller concentration and development of both character and plot. We explore the range and scale of the artistic accomplishments of such masters in these genres as Voltaire, de Maupassant, Leo Tolstoy, Checkhov, Sholem Aleichem, Thomas Mann, Isaac Babel, A. France, Camus, Kafka, Collette, and Borges. In addition to writing several analytical papers, students are asked to present a short story or novella of their own by the end of the semester.

11225

ECON 291 Foundations of Finance and Investments

Tsu-Yu Tsao

M . W . .

3:00 -4:20 pm

ALBEE 106

SSCI

Cross-listed: Economics & Finance This course explores the foundations of the pricing of financial instruments and the structure and organization of financial markets. Methods will be developed to analyze and measure financial performance, price stocks and bonds, evaluate portfolios and understand financial derivatives as these relate to financial data. Additional topics include the investment decision-making process; trading practices; risk assessment and diversification. This course involves a substantial amount of statistical analysis and calculation, but no prior knowledge of statistics is required.

Weekend

My weekend was okay. Noah came and on Friday night we went to a l.a.s.o. party. That is the latin american students organization. We only went for the free food, it was pretty good. The next night we went to the international students organization show, which was pretty cool. Basically all the international students did a dance or sang a song. There were lots of Chinese, a Vietnamese girl who looked like she was 10 and sang a song about the clouds and stars and moon very sweetly in Vietnamese, there was a Peruvian jazz band, Nepalese people, Indian bollywood stuff, a Tibetan dance, Greek wedding dance, a Slavic dance by four Russian girls, a salsa rumba dance, Caribbean dance. it was pretty entertaining.

Nothing else exciting, I'm just really glad that I'm more than halfway done with college. I can imagine another dreadful year and half of this. I see a light at the end of the tunnel, and I can't wait to finish.

Ibm

Looks like IBM might not be offering their summer internship opportunity program this year, probably due to lack of funding.

Update: I emailed the person in charge of the program and asked to verify the status of the program, when I hear back I'll add more to this post.

UPDATE:
Hi Bella,

Yes, now it is up to date. This opportunity will be offered in summer 2010. I look forward to reading your application, and good luck to you.

Best regards,

Barbara

Nothing new

Well, there is nothing particularly new going on. My grandparents are visiting from Israel for a month, which is pretty awesome. I've come home for 2 weekends to see them, and this weekend I'm staying at Bard because they are going up to Rochester to visit some crazy relatives.

Every day is kind of the same. Cathy and I hang out after classes which is fun. Today I am tutoring a girl I've been tutoring, and tomorrow I'm tutoring this new guy named "Sheppard Pepper". I know, what a crazy name. Apparently he's french, and from what I hear he's an asshole. But we'll see.

Hmm what else, what else. Not much else.

I'll leave you with 2 cute photos.

Beatles

I've been listening to the Beatles a lot lately, it's very uplifting happy music (as opposed to my usual depressing music, which I found effects the mood greatly)

I talked to AJ today and he's thinking about things to do this summer. He has to go abroad for three weeks, its part of their requirement for their college, and so he's thinking about places to go and what classes he has to take. He said he hates CS and doesn't want to do it for the rest of his life, even though its easy for him and he thinks its kind of interesting. Well, AJ, I'm incredibly jealous at your ease of coding and natural born skill.

What else, what else. Today there is a little pumpkin carving thing, so I'm going to it with some girls from my dorm.

Had a few updates from Nikki, she's very busy out in California, studying and riding her electric scooter around. She had lice for a while, I hope that's over.

Definitely want to travel a lot, village to village taking photos, maybe even writing a book. A backpack, my watch, some sneakers, and random work around the world. I'll wash my clothes in rivers, bathe in ponds, etc. I just hope I don't have to catch my own food. But that would be an interesting experience in survival too.

Don't worry, I'll send postcards when I reach civilization.

Work work work

I have a bunch of stuff to do this week, including a take-home exam in Jewishness, an in class exam in Hebrew today, a meeting with my robot team, a lab due tomorrow, etc.

I may apply to the IBM internship again for this summer, after all, it pays 6,000$ and that is pretty good for a summer job. I've been thinking that I might end up at some computer thing after college but once my loans are paid off I'd like to travel around the world, go south when it's cold in the north, and vise-verse. There are a lot of places on my list of places to see before I have to settle down and have a real job and house.

For instances, places to visit because life is too short to wait until I'm old:
France, Spain and Germany again (but different parts)
Italy
Portugal
Sweden, Norway, Finland, Lithuania
Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland
Greece, Turkey
Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova
Israel
Australia
India, Nepal, Bangladesh
Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Georgia
Thailand
The entire South American continent



On a side note: negative comments are discouraged. The comments section is a privilege, not a right.

Bleak

There is just about nothing I loathe more than cold weather, on the bright side it is pretty warm in my room.

My hand hurts every once in a while, sometimes when I type, sometimes when I'm holding a pencil and writing. (Well, these days both hands hurt at different times)

I'm just waiting until the day I can move to California, granted that I don't go completely insane before I get there

Then again, there's always italy, france, australia, all sorts of countries with weather that would make me happier than I am here.

As for what I'll do when I get there? Whooo knows. I'm determined to figure out what the meaning of life is, and why we're all here, and what our purpose is. Maybe I'll write a book, a manifesto, about how backwards everything is, and how it should be. It has to be better than this. This decade is all wrong for me. Even in elementary school, I remember being consistently disappointed, alone a lot. Wishing I could grow some wings and fly away, fly right over Slaten field at recess and leave this place.

Salsa!

That's me from behind in my green jacket with my watch on my right hand.


So to take a study break this weekend, Noah and I went to a salsa On2 social in Troy, NY, not too far from Albany.

It was a lot of fun, there was a lesson and afterwords, salsa, bachata and chacha music. It was also 2 peoples' birthdays so there was cake.

Unfortunately, I was blocked in most of the pictures. See if you can spot Noah. (they made us switch partners all of the time, during the lesson, so there's a great picture of noah dancing.

Airplant

One of my airplants died, I noticed the flower was turning pale and all of the leaves one by one from the base of the plant were just falling off (it looks like the bottom rotted, most likely there was water in the base of the plant and killed it).
That's too bad.

Time for lunch, lab#2 of the day, then studying all weekend for Bob's test.

Where is the world going?

"The iconic American family -- married couple with children -- will account for a mere 22% of households."

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-average-american-is-a-dying-breed-2009-10

Vermont - Massachusetts - New York

Yesterday, before returning to Bard, Noah and I took a drive up to Vermont and Massachusetts, we were in the Adirondacks and the Berkshires. It turns out, these states are less than an hour from Albany! How cool!
So we went up a trail when we pulled off the side of the road, and saw an incredible view.

In a Coffeeshop

I'm in a coffee shop, noah and I both have our laptops out, and I'm doing my reading for class while he is drinking a cup of Mocha Latte and looking at jobs.

Planet

I'd like to move to my own planet far away from here.

Grad

So Ive been thinking about grad school and I'm about 75 % sure I'm not going to go.

Fleur

I've only had my airplants for 4 days and they have changed so much already! It's very exciting, the one with pink petals is growing little purple things where each petal is.

Tutor

I tutored this girl tonight in Semantic Web (she was doing something with HTML and PHP) and I actually kind of helped her. Well, lets just say I either helped her or confused her, depending on if I even showed her how to do something the right way. The point is, she made some progress on her lab (She was doing a madlib and I had to teach her what a noun/adjective/verb was so if anything, at least she now knows that).

It was kind of fun trying to help someone learn something, even though I had no idea what I was doing. I think I got her to understand variables.

I have decided several things:
1. I do not like robotics. Robots are kind of cool, my class seems very laid back, and I guess the topics are interesting, but I'm not fascinated by robots enough to say- Hey! I want to work with Robots in my spare time!
I most definitely don't want to play/work with robots. I see plenty useful applications of robots, but not for me to create.

2. Design of Programming Languages: Everyone in the class is always lost/confused/has no clue.

3. I don't want to go to grad school. I mean, maybe, just maybe I'll go to grad school eventually. However, I'm not going to grad school after college. I was looking at even the simplest programs and aside from the fact that 1- I don't actually WANT to study these things they teach, aside from that, they don't like to take people out of college.

So what am I going to do after college? I don't really know. I'm probably going to work 'somewhere' doing 'something' until I have enough money to buy a little house and work part time, and have a chicken coop and a self-sustaining fruit/vegetable garden year round in some warm part of California.

"...in a related study, British scientists have found that children whose mothers work outside the home are more likely to engage in unhealthier lifestyles -- including eating less healthy foods and getting less exercise -- than kids whose mothers are at home."

Woodstock, NY

Groundhog

My lovely air plants that don't require any soil.

This is the groundhog that lives under my dorm.

From August 09

So here are some photos from when Noah and I spent a day in NYC in August.