Project O2 and A Break From Blogging

Mourn Identity:

So, turns out I didn’t make the ISRO test. That kinda hit me hard. I am still trying to come to terms with it. I don’t know about the job, but it would have felt nice just to have cleared the test. But that didn’t happen. So now, instead I have to feel like shit. I know I am no Electronics God, but I know my basics and I can work out problems. I sure was rusty when I attended the test, having put no preparation in and that’s my fault. (It can attributed to a few other reasons too, but that’s not nice. It’s better to just accept it that you failed yourself.) What this also means is that I might have to now take up my Software job. The one last straw of hope I was clinging on to, is gone. That’s depressing isn’t it ?

Project O2: (Which has nothing to do either with ISRO or O2 for that matter) 

Anyway, I have been given a project to work on. At least something to cheer about. It’s nothing great, but if I have to make it fully functional, I’ll have to work on it a bit. (Maybe not as much as my Final Year Project, but considerable amount of work.) The best thing is, I might get paid a token amount if I complete it properly and on time. So, I am trying to keep myself in better spirits.

Break (No, not the Big Break!!)

That means except for the IPL posts which I have time stamped (just one line dumb posts), I don’t plan to blog for a while now. I would like to kick myself instead for being an a-hole and not doing my test well. So much for my Rocket Scientist dreams. Damn it!! 

Semester 08-First Exam-Electric Energy Generation, Utilisation and Conservation-30/04/2008

The name of the subject is that long really.

So, exams are here again and unlike the last semester when I was blogging like mad even when I had exams (and it cost me too, even if only a bit.), this time over, I haven’t had the time somehow.

But in spite of studying (or at least trying to) hard, I have done my exams abysmally.

So I have been studying hard from two books, one, Generation of Electrical Energy by B.R.Gupta and another Generation,Distribution and Utilization of Electrical Energy by C.L.Wadhwa. While Gupta is one of the prescribed books, Wadhwa is one of the reference books. I go to college on the day of the exam and talk to my classmates who are sitting under a tree hoping to be enlightened.

Me: Hey, so have you guys done units 3,4 and 5. I found it quite hard.

Random: Yea da, we guys completed it. Pretty easy really.

Me: Whaaa ? You’re kidding me, right ?

Random: Of course not. What do you find hard in those units da ? It’s all pretty simple really.

Me: Wow, so you guys actually found Illumination due to a strip, due to a circular disc and due to a rectangular source easy ? You’ve done the derivations and problems ?

Random: What ?

Me: huh ?

Random: What are you talking about ?

Me: (Showing them the book) This.

Random: What on earth is that ? Never seen it.

Me: But this is the prescribed book.

Random: Our book doesn’t have it.

Me: What book are you guys using anyway ?

Random: Local Author.

Me: Great. All of you guys ?

Random: Yes.

Me: Ah, just perfect.

None of these guys had bothered themselves with the derivations and problems in various units. What’s more, they didn’t have an idea what was in the syllabus, because they were all using some local author book.

So, after preparing 4 units really well and parts of the 5th unit, I go into to exam hall. This is the question paper I get.

V4172-01

V4172-02

V4172-03

V4172-04

V4172-05

Gupta

Wadhwa

Now, the 2 mark questions were no trouble at all and went well. Coming to the 16 mark questions, this is what pissed me off. Everything I had taken the trouble of studying did not appear. I am sure the guys who used the “Local Author” must be laughing at me. (Actually they did too.)

God only knows how the evaluation will be. For instance, 11(a) the prescribed book only had derivations. Whereas, it seems these guys drew block diagrams and all. :(  I screwed 14 (a) i by writing some shitty stuff and messed up 14(a) ii by once again writing something else.15 (b) is once again messed, mainly because it was simply not there in my book and I was compelled to write what I knew.

There goes the first exam. The second wasn’t any better.

Thank You, So Very Much

Whoa. We believe you so very much.

Book Hunting

Now that the project is over and we have another 3 papers standing between us and the much valued B.E degree, it’s almost like an anticlimax. We are supposed to do the same thing we have been doing for 4 years now. The same drill. Read some crap, write some crap. Pray a lot. Clear the Semester papers.

I had to get this book for my semester, “Wireless Communication: Principles and Practices” Second Edition by Theodore S Rappaport.

Now, if you should have found this book on my website already, then you should also know that that book is the first edition. It is also a badly scanned copy. I actually got an e book printed out for my other text book and it came out real nice.

So, I finally decided it was about time I went and bought this book as my exam is sometime next week. People at home were pretty shocked to hear that I was going to buy my books for exams that was starting next week. Well, as long as I get them and clear the papers. Not like it matters really. It’s engi-sneering you see.

To my shock, couple of book stores I called didn’t have the book. One in T Nagar, one more in Adyar - Kamal Book Stores and yet another in Mylapore - Ravi Book House. The Ravi book house guy seemed to have an abridged edition. (Something I must suggest to my classmates.) But then I said no thanks and the guy promised to get me the book by tomorrow. Not that I’d be needing it now.

I finally took Abhi with me to Mylapore and bought my book in Vijaya Book House. What a Rip-off. They sold me the book for the MRP!! That’s like day light robbery. I usually buy books for 25 % less.

So anyway, I bought the book, went to Ascendas,ate yet again at Mc Donalds with friends. (Only because it’s cheap and I don’t have much money after I was robbed by the book store guy) Came back home and am on line. So please learn from me. Never buy books when you know that you won’t be using them anyway. And never but books at MRP.

Done with Project Report

I finally finished the project report. Well, almost…. There is still one chapter left, but then there is not much I can do about that particular chapter. So my work for the documentation is done. It comes to some 50 sides with absolutely no details whatsoever. I actually wanted to add details. Believe me, I did. But then I don’t want to use my brain at 1:30 in the morning. (Even if I try to get it to do some thinking,  it says “Access Denied. Try Later.” No, it does not say “Bad Cookie”)

But, hey as one of my friends says “It’s a Project Report, not a Manual”. Exactly!! It’s not meant to be so detailed that our college can start it’s own project centre and use our project reports to “guide” future batches. Or, in other words, copy it word for word. I am sure that people will at-least make use of the modules if you give them details of your work.

I might redo some chapters later on,if they give me some more time. But then got to keep the number of pages in check. I have to hand in 4 copies of reports. (God knows for what!! So that, they can make Library access slips maybe.) And bear the bloody entire cost myself too.  :-( 

Anyway, now to go complete the Project itself…. (What a system!!)

Bleddy Project Report

Well for someone who writes I don’t know how many posts on an average per day, I am finding it incredibly hard to do my project report. Well, part of the reason is the fact that I am yet to complete a few modules. (Damn me for being lazy.) Why haven’t I completed it still ? I am just a lazy bugger that’s all.

So now, I am forced to sit and do it chapter by chapter. Worst thing though and something I really hate, the modules I am working on right now is forcing me to modify the modules that I had already completed and hence redo the documentation too. Friggin bad!! Now I am doing them twice instead of once.

I know no one really reads your project report and juniors benefiting from my report is the last thing on my mind. (Which is why you won’t find any of the implementation details in it.) However, I do set standards for myself and I’d hate to hand in a crappy report with stuff copy pasted from Wikipedia. (Jeez, stop that for heavens sakes!!)

My circuits are incredibly hard to draw on paint and the simulation tolls I have don’t have all of my IC’s. I finally found one which had my IC’s (or rather let me customize the IC’s). Sadly it drew a circuit that I felt like puking on. (Thank God, my monitor is vertical. Else, I might have.)

And to be honest, using Word is crappy. Especially if you have to draw Flowcharts and stuff. Hear that Microsoft ? (Of-course not. But if you do, do something about it.) And equations can be a nightmare. (I heard the office 2007 has something for flowcharts and stuff. Visio ? Not checked it out yet.) Well, I know we can insert symbols, but it’ s so bloody frustrating. The worst of all, naming all my figures and tables. God ,save me…..

 OK, I better get back to it now.

December (or Later) is Definitely Bad

Read Marc’s post here December Isn’t So Bad

What are we talking about ? We are talking about the tentative date of reporting for training with Infosys. While, it is still not confirmed that it shall take till December for us to be called for training, if people have been intimated that they need to report by December , then chances are the guys who have not been intimated so far (like me for instance) will be called even later. (Very slim chances of us being called earlier.)

Possible Upside:

Sure, you can use the time to go an a vacation or something. You can definitely stay home and recuperate form the bad dream which lasted 4 long uneventful years (read B.E/ college)  by taking rest. (But haven’t we been doing that for almost 6 months now ? Right form the 7th semester study holidays.)

Definite Downside:

I was expecting to be called by say July. Now I shall be missing 6 months’ pay. :(  Damn, I could have saved at-least 50k by then. Now instead, I will have no money in December. What will I buy myself for New Years ?

Salary is one thing. Another thing is losing 6 months in life. It’s almost like we will be joining with our junior batch. We could even end up being colleagues. Now, how much ever cool you think the long vacations are, that’s pretty shitty man. It’s almost like flunking a grade. Now, Isn’t that bad enough. At around the same time next year, you won’t have enough experience to show on your resume. It’s a permanent setback.

Backup Plan:

Infosys was supposedly my backup plan. But I didn’t know that my college guys would be bastards and not let me attend other core companies. So, now I am stuck with no alternate options but this. I did have a few other things in mind. Like GATE for instance. However, my dad felt I should give CAT (why do all dad’s think that ? ) and disagreeing with him meant that I couldn’t take GATE either. (Well, he has to pay for the application and the classes you know) GRE (translates to an MS in US) was never an option immediately after college for me. That would have to wait another 2 years.

Keeping myself engaged for 6 months:

I could do a lot of things to keep myself engaged. I am thinking of attending a few symposiums. I could toy around with a few things I have been always wanting to experiment with but never had the time. I could learn MFC and VC++ with some effort. (I do know MFC to an extent. But nothing commendable) There is no end to the things I can do. Oh, wait, did I forget to mention that I am lazy ? Yea, I am. Which means that I might end up doing none of the above and just put on an extra 5 kilos in 6 months eating an sleeping at home.

On second thoughts, I could probably do a course in something. Prepare for GATE maybe. We will have to wait and see…

Infosys Prescribed Books

Well the other day I was talking to my friend about the last college working day and this is what my friend had to say “F*** yaar, we completed Engineering” Only then did it strike me and the realisation set in. Oh, yes college is over. Now I shall have to get up from 4 years of hibernation and start working for a change. 

And now that it is decided I shall mostly not be getting any other alternative job, it might actually be a good idea to take a look at the Infosys offer letter. So, I removed it from my locker (almirah) and finally read it.

It says we are expected to learn a few things before coming there and here is a list of stuff they expect us to learn. (For people who are not from a computer background. So, CS and IT guys already know these things I suppose.)

• Fundamentals of Computers by V.Rajaraman , PHI

• Operating Systems by Collins Ritchie, BPB Publications

• C Programmingby Kernighan and Ritchie, Prentice Hall 

• Fundamentals of Database Systems by Elmarsi, Navathe (3e),Addison Wesley

• Operating Systems Conceptsby Silberschatz and Galvin, Addison Wesly

 Here’s a useful link for the book mentioned above.

Second Project Review Goes Well

Had my second project review yesterday. Went pretty much alright.

Preparing for the review:

Heard of eleventh hour ? Well, this is even worse. I got up at 6:10 in the morning and realised that I didn’t have a presentation. To make things worse, I was not even sure what I was going to present in this review. I am normally very clear about what I want done and how. So there I was sitting in front of this same monitor, groggy and clueless as to what I was doing. Then I pulled in a few slides form my first review and added some masala to it here and there. By the time I finished the lame presentation, I realised that the time was 07:10. God!! My bus comes at 7:20. Hurriedly went had a bath, dressed up real quick and ran to my bus stop.

Missed the Bus:

The road seemed deserted. It seems the CM was going to go through the road and hence they asked everyone to stay of it. I was hoping my bus had been held up by it, but my stop mates had vanished So I knew there was no point in waiting for a bus that would never come. So I went and took a PTC bus. (Which I almost never do!! Normally when I miss my bus, I return home. But this was review you see. ) The bloody wretched conductor tells me it won’t stop at my college bus stop. So instead I buy a ticket to the nearest stop. I reached the stop alright at 7:55.

The long and agonising wait:

As I stood there waiting for a bus to take me to my college less than 5 kilometres away, Deluxe buses started pouring in. Not one, not two, not three but EIGHT freakin deluxe buses went by. Well, am I a miser who won’t pay for a deluxe bus ticket ? Of-course not. I could have paid 100 bucks to reach college on time. Thing is these DELUXE buses don’t stop in my college stop either. Grrrrrrrrrrrr So I was standing there fuming. Finally some bus came along which took me to my college by 8:55. Imagine!!

The Review:

Ah, I have very little to say about the review itself. it went alright and I was not asked too many questions or anything. And I was able to show a bit of working of my hardware model. So, yea went pretty Ok.

The Journey Back:

Just when I was about to leave college, it started raining. We saw a deluxe bus coming our way and waved madly at it. Thankfully, he stopped and I came home all dry.

Last Day in College (Everything Official About It)

Well, I never write posts related to college normally. There are quite a few posts on AU, but not on college. I think it’s time to make an exception. Tomorrow would be the last working day (officially) of my 4 year Engineering course. Yea, we will later have to go for the exams and stuff. But no more sitting in the classroom. (We haven’t had classes for a while now) It’s hard to think straight in times like this. There’s always a mix of happiness and sadness (even if only a bit) involved.

Here’s probably a list of things ill miss doing:

• Getting up in the morning and mindlessly running to the bus stop at around 7:20 A.M. I have always been in a good route. The bus from Besant Nagar used to be excellent in the first few semesters. Then it got crowded and to add to that OMR road construction began.I remember days when I had to run with shoes in hand just so that I didn’t miss the bus. You see, I have this policy wherein I stay home if I miss the bus. Once missed a model exam for it and I came out clean when asked about it. (To the shock and astonishment of the staff in-charge.) I still remember taking a private bus in first year, not knowing the bus stop name and buying a ticket for Mahabalipuram. I somehow managed to get down after seeing the college. Unfortunately the next stop was near Hindustan college and I had to walk all the way to college, Erwin Kreysig in one hand and drafter/ED charts in another. I did make it on time though. Decided to never take private buses after that.
• Breakfasts in college mess:As bad as the college food is, my palette is used to it. I mean, I have been eating there for four years now. (Yea, I know I have no taste in food. ) It’s not the food I will miss. It will be the discussions we had over breakfast. But then things changed as we progressed through years. From being an absolutely wonderful place with very little crowd where one could have discussions in the first year, to a crowded place in the second where one had to hunt for stools to using paper plates and all that in the third. I still like the well lit portion of the mess closest to the basketball court. Abhi used to come to the mess back then. So did a few seniors. (Rahul, Varun, Pankaj et all)
• Lunch: Lunch (by lunch I mean the recess and not the food itself) used to again be good till they made two slots out of it. This way, I no longer got to see the guys who I normally had lunch with. It was alright for a while till my class dayscholars came along. Then that changed too. They took the smart option and opted out. :D And I was stuck alone. 
• There are a few more things I’ll miss. Not going to put everything up here though.

The worst thing about college is epitomised best by the boys’ mess probably, from a bright, well lit and airy place, it got duller and duller and more cramped.  I used to enjoy my first few semesters in college. It used to be kinda pleasant. I had come to terms with the fact that I had done abysmally badly in my board exams and that I would make best use of what I had. And I think semesters 1-5 were OK with semester 6 being bearable. The last year or so though, has been pathetic with a lame #uck for principal.

Things were OK for a while, before they started introducing the worst of schemes. Had some happy times, but I am just happy to be on the way out.