Microsoft on campus interview:

What project have I done in the past that is similar to what I would like to do in the future?

What am I interested in? (A: Gadgets).
- Lots of brainstorming on what type of software that MS can make for these gadgets that would make them money.

Brainteaser - Pirates and treasures.

Almost asked: Brainteaser - 60 minute fuse (I told him I knew how to do it).

Coding question - given a binary tree, how do you find the max depth (I almost forgot about recursion).

Snow day today (although I didn't think it warrented a full closing, the university decided it was too much snow).

So we went tobaggoning all morning at Columbia Lake. There were actually a lot of people there, mostly with lunch trays. Some had crazy carpets, and one group even brought a giant cardboard canoe that they presumeably have built.

We made a giant jump in the middle of the hill, and got some serious air off of it. Some might even say that they got hurt.

The rest of the afternoon will be spent indoors, trying to warm up, and reading some interview books.

I wish I had a good book to read. Right now, unlike Orr, I don't even have mediocre (or bad, for that matter) books that I want to read, nevermind books on the shelf. I can't go and reread the good books either, they're all out on loan.

The thing about a good book, is that you need to hear about it from your friends first. Without the recommendation, it is really difficult to discover a book worth reading. Of course, you first judge based on the cover, then you read the synopsis on the back, but what's really important is still the content. The themes have to be fully developed, and the characters well rounded. It needs to be a relatively easy read, but the chase for deeper meaning can be alluring. It should also be easy to get into, although metaphores and mystery are certainly attractive.

Good books are hard to find.

I only have one class on Fridays, so on my way home, I thought I'd grab an Imprint, and read it.

So I did. Sorry Matt, if I'm stealing your thunder.

Senate in favour of raising admission avg

This is fine and all, but there's one quote in there by Senator Len Guelke that I don't quite agree with: "The fundamental criterion of admission should relate to a student's commitment to learn and benefit from the program applied for."

If that's true, then 1/2 of the people who are admitted into CS every year should not have been. I don't think many high schoolers know what they want to do, nor have a strong commitment towards their first choice of programs. In fact, I know many people who switched programs because they didn't think it interested them. University should be about generating interest in learning, and having the flexibility if minds and career choices change.

A stamp makes all the difference

I can see how rogue posters may be a problem, but I don't think there will be a cost effective way to solve it. Paper, ink, and a few staples are cheap. People can afford to put up 50 posters around campus, and it probably saves them way more time than going to the societies.

The left-brain right-brain divide

This guy is an idiot, how did the editors not catch this? Am I dumb in not understanding some higher level of irony?

"the actual campus itself is broken up like some giant left brain/right brain divide: most of the artsies wander the left, while the science folk mainly navigate the right."

Anyone with half a brain knows that the left hemisphere is responsible for logical, linear and verbal thinking, while the right is for intuitive, non-verbal, and creative thinking.

Feds sexy cliche

The womyn's centre is accusing the feds of using sex to sell ads, while they used a woman in a bikini in their ad in the Imprint last week. So it's okay for the womyn's centre, because it creates shock value, which leads to irony, which leads to information flow. But it's not okay for feds because naked bodies shouldn't seem "natural" in advertisements. Well, this week Feds is using a picture of a half-naked man to advertise "Spring Break Night". I guess I'll write a letter saying that they shouldn't objectify the male body like that.

Fat tax my ass

Informative.

The tao of Zack

Who didn't love Zack Morris? He's now on NYPD Blue.

Mad Cow

I think it's important that people know about BSE, and how it came to be. We shouldn't be feeding cows to cows.

While walking home today, I decided to make a detour to Jim's Valuemart to pick up some cooking essentials. Going through the park, I passed a woman pulling a sleigh with a baby in it. The baby was probably 1 year old.

It's not a particularly cold day (-11 C from the weather channel), but there were gusts of wind (-19 C), and my lips were chapped from being exposed to the air.

The baby looked warm and bundled, it even had a hat. But his face was completely exposed, and as I was passing, was bright red.

I really wanted to run back and tell that woman off.

Saw several stories today (canada.com, canoe.ca, and the register) about how Microsoft is sueing a 17 year old kid in Vancouver Island who registered MikeRoweSoft.com.

There are a couple of things to notice here.

First of all, the kid's not that bright (legally anyways). Microsoft offered him $10 for the domain name, and he counter-offered $10 000 (for domain and his work). But this counter-offer gave MS an excuse to sue, saying that he registered the domain in bad faith.

Secondly, the kid's not that bright. He tells a journalist in an interview (from the canada.com link above) that

He thought it would be a "cool" name for his business since it had his name in it and "the same phonetic sound as the famous company Microsoft."

which blatantly infringes on MS's trademarked name. This is not something you want to admit to on record.

But lastly, and perhaps the most important fact to bring to light, is how all three news sources I linked to referred to the lawsuit as "copyright infringement". Where do journalists get their degrees? If I went to Microsoft, took their product, and sold it without permission on my website, that's copyright infringement; if I took the content on their website, and reproduced it on mine, that's copyright infringement. Having a domain name that sounds like Microsoft, that's TRADEMARK infringement. It has nothing to do with copyright.

The only defense Mike Rowe has, is that it does in fact have his name in it, and Microsoft tried to negotiate a contract with a minor.

This kind of reminds me of the Nissan vs Nissan lawsuit.

Matt referred to an article in the globe about plagiarism and third-party solutions that some universities are using.

I think there are many issues here.

First of all, plagiarism is definitely a problem in university (and probably any educational institution), especially with the prevalence of the internet. Information is so easy to get, and copy and paste is just 4 key strokes. Sometimes, it's just too easy for the students when the profs use the same questions over and over again, and generic solutions are available from a variety of sources. While I don't necessary condone such behaviour, I also know that we have all at one time or another "excessively collaborated" with our friends.

Secondly, the fact that some universities are taking the stance that everyone ALWAYS cheats until proven otherwise is a little insulting. At the beginning of every semester, we get the "cheating talk", where the prof reminds us of the penalties of cheating if caught. I don't mind the talk. It's really a calculated risk if someone does cheat (but really, it will hurt them on the exams anyways). But taking such drastic a step such as requiring everyone to submit their work to a third party or fail seems a little excessive. Imagine if the government required everyone to allow their phone company to tape their conversations all the time.

Lastly, the academic environment is one where copyright is highly regarded (and thus the penalties of plagiarising), and authors of original work are rewarded for their effort. But it's a little ironic that all original work by a student will be forced to be stored in a 3rd party and used (without license) as a source to compare all future works to. The fact that students have to do this, or receive a failing grade, seems coersive.

If students plagiarise, and get caught, it's their perogative. But I still believe in the innocent until proven guilty principle, and if that lets some people through the crack, then so be it.

Is this it?

The days of info sessions have started again.

Today, I was in the lab, and noticed on the newsgroup that some company was presenting right then in DC. With the prospects of free food, Kev and I went down and checked them out. The first presenter was the driest speaker I've ever heard, I almost fell asleep standing up (there were no seats available, we were too late). And the company was something we were completely uninterested in.

Finally, after 10 minutes of listening to the monotonous voice, we couldn't stand it anymore, and decided the potential pizza wasn't worth it. So we left.

It has been a freezing couple of days. The windchill has brought the temperature down to about -35 C, and that makes the walk to and from school bitterly cold.

It's a good thing that we got a hottub for this week. We've been spending quite some time in it, and it's treated us well. Although the trip to and from the tub is quite the adventure, having to fight the stinging chill of the elements, and then battling the tingling burning of the hot water. But it's definitely worth it.

We still don't have cable. This makes eating meals very difficult.

Through my years of university living, I have become accustomed to eating all my meals in front of the television, watching Jeopardy, the Simpsons, Seinfeld, or some other trivial show that I've already seen multiple times. But it's just not the same eating, without some form of distraction that I can attune my attention towards, it just doesn't feel right.

I have become a slave of media. We better get cable soon.

Having been away in Seattle last winter, and the early part of this one, I have almost forgotten how cold it can get.

Today, it's a blizzard outside, and it's dreadfully cold and windy. The walk to school was not pleasant, and I need to change the windshield washer fluid in my car so it doesn't freeze.

Three-hundred and sixty-five days of my life.

I am sick. Not in the psychological or metaphorical way, but really sick. I've been coughing nonstop since yesterday, and it hurts. I may need to get some drugs soon, the ricola candy + water combination seems to be wearing thin. I may need to get a bottle of buckley's.

I need to find some new form of excitement for myself. In the past month, there was the anticipation of going back to Waterloo, of moving into a new and unfamiliar house, and seeing all my friends for the first time in 4 months (and some in a year). But now that I've done that, everything else is same old. I feel lost in a field of sameness, a constant flow where nothing changes. Just like in a fast moving river, where the neverchanging current eventually rounds out the rocks, making them lose their edge, and leaving them behind.

I don't want to be bedrock, but fear that I will.