On the technical front, the big bummer is that the Office wifi base station, which I could previously access from my apartment across the hall, now has MAC address filtering. Of course, my first reflex was to attempt to login to the router using the default passwords (easily obtainable with a quick Google search) in order to add my laptop's airport card's MAC address to the allow list, but the technician who installed it has cleverly (and most reasonably, although right now I think he's a bastard) changed it to something different without telling the office (and unfortunately he did not make the mistake of using a dictionary word I could crack with hydra, unless of course it's a japanese dictionary word – which is a bit more likely. If anyone knows a nice UNIX CLI brute force cracker which deals with HTTP AUTH, and will compile on PPC, please get in touch). So then I thought it might be just as simple to spoof the MAC address of one of the office computers (while it's turned off), which should be easy since OS X (10.4 and above) has the required set of command line tools. However, either for legal/security reasons, or for some unknown other reason, neither ifconfig or Apple's own 'airport' system tool will change the built-in airport card's MAC address. So unless I can figure something out, I'll have to resort to a wired connection, which requires me to stay in the office while surfing (therefore severely impeding the satisfaction of my addiction to web/email/etc).
Shame, for once tools like hydra or methods like MAC spoofing could actually have been used for a legitimate (and legal) purpose...
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Early morning Setagaya
It's only been a few days since I arrived in Japan for the fourth time, but things have already fallen into a more or less familiar routine. There's the predictable 4 or 5am wake-up time, which is a perfect opportunity for a quick jog around Setagaya and down to the area surrounding Futako-Tamagawa-eki before it gets too hot (the early morning temperatures are already hotter than the mid-day heat in Sheffield or Paris was the last two weeks), the same scenery, the same hard work moving box after box from the Eiken office in Setagaya to the school while still jet-lagged (a mere 24h after disembarking), etc... On the other hand, there's a fair deal of novelty going around. Quite a few familiar faces have moved away, both amongst the assistant body and the teacher body (to which I now belong, hurrah for *much* higher pay!), Mr. Donuts in Futako-Tamagawa has either closed permanently or is temporarily closed for refurbishing of sorts, and probably most importantly, the Eiken summer programme is taking place in the International School of Sacred Heart (instead of St Mary's), all the way over in Hiroo (near Roppongi). On one hand, this means no more getting up 20 minutes before the morning meeting for me (St Mary's was a mere 4 minute walk from my apartment), but on the other, the school is at a better location for after-work drinks. The structure of the teaching has also changed, with a mere 2h15 of teaching for me per day instead of 3h (although we must be present on campus from 9am to 2.50pm, ie roughly 6h for those of you who can't be bothered to count), and only for 5 days a week instead of 6. And all that for the same pay. Score...
Friday, July 20, 2007
A quick write-up on graduation
Graduation, this past Tuesday, was an interesting experience. On one hand, the idea of having to come back to Sheffield in the middle of summer, to sit for two hours watching people go up and shake the vice-chancellor's hand, just to do it myself and be on stage for a few brief seconds, did not seem very appealing. On the other hand, the pleasure of seeing a few friends (perhaps for the last time), and of wearing a rather dashing outfit, did contribute to brightening up the day a little.
It was a rather uneventful (in a good way) day: I got up early, put on my suit, accompanied my father to a talk in Information Retrieval in the medical world, which was fairly interesting (since the publication process and information sharing infrastructure is similar in some ways to that present in philosophy, although far more formalised). After that, I went to get robed (well, essentially just get my hood and mortarboard, since I already had my gown), had a quick lunch, attended a short tea-party at the physics department (where the head of department repeated the same speech – nearly word-for-word – that he gave at the end-of-year tea party, with a bit added to congratulate the parents present for their support), and went on to the ceremony.
The graduation ceremony itself was quite agreeable. The hall was suitably air-conditioned (otherwise, it would have been simply unbearably for those of use wearing suits and gowns), and the event was very well organised and run (the marshals were especially efficient). It was amusing to see the bigwigs of the university dressed in colourful medieval wear, marching up the aisle to the tune of organ music. One by one, students were invited up to the platform, their name was read out, and they would cross shake the vice-chancellor's hand and collect their diploma/certificate. For those receiving awards and/or first-class degrees, the vice-chancellor would shake their hand a bit longer, and a few inaudible (from the audience's point of view) words would be exchanged. When my turn came, my name was called out, and I crossed the platform. The vice-chancellor shook my hand, and congratulated me for successfully achieving first-class honours on a bachelor of science in physics and philosophy, and asked me what I was going to do next. To this I replied that I was going to St Andrews to read towards a M.Litt in Philosophy, at which point he congratulated me once more, and wished me the best of luck. Following this, I collected my certificate, and enjoyed the rest of the ceremony. Horrendously exciting stuff, eh?
Anyway, it was quite the experience. The day was followed by an evening of poker, during which I managed to lose a measly five pounds. And the next day, it was off the Japan. Whew!
Below are a few photos of the day...
Here's me, looking suave in the gown (what a poser).
After being robed, outside the union.
Talking to Sarah and Will (perhaps for the last time, although hopefully not).
During the physics departmental tea party, in the first year lab. To think, only three years ago we were being greeted here.
And now, a short video segment of my time on stage...
That's it!
It was a rather uneventful (in a good way) day: I got up early, put on my suit, accompanied my father to a talk in Information Retrieval in the medical world, which was fairly interesting (since the publication process and information sharing infrastructure is similar in some ways to that present in philosophy, although far more formalised). After that, I went to get robed (well, essentially just get my hood and mortarboard, since I already had my gown), had a quick lunch, attended a short tea-party at the physics department (where the head of department repeated the same speech – nearly word-for-word – that he gave at the end-of-year tea party, with a bit added to congratulate the parents present for their support), and went on to the ceremony.
The graduation ceremony itself was quite agreeable. The hall was suitably air-conditioned (otherwise, it would have been simply unbearably for those of use wearing suits and gowns), and the event was very well organised and run (the marshals were especially efficient). It was amusing to see the bigwigs of the university dressed in colourful medieval wear, marching up the aisle to the tune of organ music. One by one, students were invited up to the platform, their name was read out, and they would cross shake the vice-chancellor's hand and collect their diploma/certificate. For those receiving awards and/or first-class degrees, the vice-chancellor would shake their hand a bit longer, and a few inaudible (from the audience's point of view) words would be exchanged. When my turn came, my name was called out, and I crossed the platform. The vice-chancellor shook my hand, and congratulated me for successfully achieving first-class honours on a bachelor of science in physics and philosophy, and asked me what I was going to do next. To this I replied that I was going to St Andrews to read towards a M.Litt in Philosophy, at which point he congratulated me once more, and wished me the best of luck. Following this, I collected my certificate, and enjoyed the rest of the ceremony. Horrendously exciting stuff, eh?
Anyway, it was quite the experience. The day was followed by an evening of poker, during which I managed to lose a measly five pounds. And the next day, it was off the Japan. Whew!
Below are a few photos of the day...
Here's me, looking suave in the gown (what a poser).
After being robed, outside the union.
Talking to Sarah and Will (perhaps for the last time, although hopefully not).
During the physics departmental tea party, in the first year lab. To think, only three years ago we were being greeted here.And now, a short video segment of my time on stage...
That's it!
Friday, July 13, 2007
On the road again...
... first, a (hopefully pleasant) drive up to Sheffield for graduation (woohoo?). Then the usual moderately hellish flight to Tokyo on Wednesday 18th. Indeed, for those of you who are reading this, and didn't know (most likely a group that == {Ø}), I'm going to be teaching in Tokyo for most of the summer again. It's at Eiken again (by the bye, can you spot me on that old picture, at the top of the website? It dates back to 2003... I think I still have the shirt I'm wearing on top of what seems like a cool t-shirt), but unlike the previous times, I'll be a teacher (rather than ye olde assistant teacher), and I'll be teaching junior-high instead of high-school level (more about how that goes in ten days or so). Also, the school hosting the program will be the International School of Sacred Heart, which in Roppongi. A bit of a bummer, since it means it's not a 5 minute walk from the apartment door to the classroom door – as was the case when the host school was St Mary's (currently being renovated) – but on the other hand, after-work drinks will be easily accessible (and that's what really matters, after all).
Anyway, like in 2005, I'll be posting regular updates on this site about my musings concerning teaching, Japanese society, and whatnot (probably just page after page of me whining about how bloody hot and humid it'll be), hopefully alongside a few photos. I hope it will be an entertaining read, should you choose to tag along.
FYI, I'll be reachable by email (as always), my usual UK mobile phone number (text before calling, as I'll most likely be teaching, sleeping, or busy), as well as AIM and MSN during the evenings. If, by chance, you're visiting the Big Mikan at all this summer, get in touch and we can hang out. I'll be there until the 23rd of August.
Anyway, like in 2005, I'll be posting regular updates on this site about my musings concerning teaching, Japanese society, and whatnot (probably just page after page of me whining about how bloody hot and humid it'll be), hopefully alongside a few photos. I hope it will be an entertaining read, should you choose to tag along.
FYI, I'll be reachable by email (as always), my usual UK mobile phone number (text before calling, as I'll most likely be teaching, sleeping, or busy), as well as AIM and MSN during the evenings. If, by chance, you're visiting the Big Mikan at all this summer, get in touch and we can hang out. I'll be there until the 23rd of August.
Monday, July 09, 2007
Snake on a... computer?
I'm afraid the following blog update is quite a sad one. Not 'sad' in the tragic sense, but rather 'sad' in the social sense, as an indication of eccentric and abnormally boring (to the lay public, at least) practises.
I have found the love of my (computer) life, and it's called Python. Every so often, you run into something that just clicks, in terms of the balance between usability and power. It's something I've experienced when learning to use bash (esp. the joys of SSH), or LaTeX (I wrote my last two papers and rewrote my CV with it), or when I finally go the knack for coding decent C; but when I say 'click', I think more of my discovery of object oriented scripting languages like Perl (which I had time to learn to basics of, but never to use) and Ruby (having shortly toyed with the syntax, but never used or learned in-depth). And it seems that until now, between Perl and Ruby, I had missed an important middle ground: Python. Actually, that's a lie... when I was 14 or so, I got my hands on a copy of O'Reilly's "Learning Python, Second Edition" (an edition with a cute little picture of a mouse on the cover, the macabre significance of which only strikes me now), but somehow did not get a chance (or the motivation) to peruse it fully.
However all is different now. Egged on by a recent conversation where I was weakly trying to defend the merit of learning C as a first language, I decided to give the legendary Python a try, and stumbled across this fantastic little guide (free, viewable online) by Mark Pilgrim, "Dive into Python" (which I heartily recommend to anyone with a minimal experience of some other programming language; it's exceptionally well designed, and concise). And Python did not disappoint me: it has the sort of 'message passing' syntax I liked in Ruby, the near-english aspect of which being similar to what I appreciated in Perl, and it has a fairly simple set of powerful built-in functions while remaining extremely extendable. In short, it's quite a pleasure to program with it, and I've been practising translating some of my C programs into it. The amount of code is significantly more minimal, and the data-sorting and string-filtering abilities save me many-a-headache.
Ironically arriving at a time where I have less need for a good programming language, it's quite a dream come true. I'm sure I'll find some use for it. In the meantime, if you're looking for a quick and easy to learn language, check Python out.
I have found the love of my (computer) life, and it's called Python. Every so often, you run into something that just clicks, in terms of the balance between usability and power. It's something I've experienced when learning to use bash (esp. the joys of SSH), or LaTeX (I wrote my last two papers and rewrote my CV with it), or when I finally go the knack for coding decent C; but when I say 'click', I think more of my discovery of object oriented scripting languages like Perl (which I had time to learn to basics of, but never to use) and Ruby (having shortly toyed with the syntax, but never used or learned in-depth). And it seems that until now, between Perl and Ruby, I had missed an important middle ground: Python. Actually, that's a lie... when I was 14 or so, I got my hands on a copy of O'Reilly's "Learning Python, Second Edition" (an edition with a cute little picture of a mouse on the cover, the macabre significance of which only strikes me now), but somehow did not get a chance (or the motivation) to peruse it fully.
However all is different now. Egged on by a recent conversation where I was weakly trying to defend the merit of learning C as a first language, I decided to give the legendary Python a try, and stumbled across this fantastic little guide (free, viewable online) by Mark Pilgrim, "Dive into Python" (which I heartily recommend to anyone with a minimal experience of some other programming language; it's exceptionally well designed, and concise). And Python did not disappoint me: it has the sort of 'message passing' syntax I liked in Ruby, the near-english aspect of which being similar to what I appreciated in Perl, and it has a fairly simple set of powerful built-in functions while remaining extremely extendable. In short, it's quite a pleasure to program with it, and I've been practising translating some of my C programs into it. The amount of code is significantly more minimal, and the data-sorting and string-filtering abilities save me many-a-headache.
Ironically arriving at a time where I have less need for a good programming language, it's quite a dream come true. I'm sure I'll find some use for it. In the meantime, if you're looking for a quick and easy to learn language, check Python out.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Take that, Gauss!
I wrote the last few lines of physics equations of my life (presuming I don't go back into some scientific field after postgrad in philosophy), less than two hours ago. Weird...
A damn good last few lines, too! It was probably the best exam I've written in the past few years (or almost), which definitely makes up for the rubbish problem solving exam we had yesterday (then again, since everyone seems to have done rather poorly, hopefully they're moderate it up a bit). Now to finish my dissertation on quasi-realism, and revise a bit of logic, and I'm done with the undergrad life!
A damn good last few lines, too! It was probably the best exam I've written in the past few years (or almost), which definitely makes up for the rubbish problem solving exam we had yesterday (then again, since everyone seems to have done rather poorly, hopefully they're moderate it up a bit). Now to finish my dissertation on quasi-realism, and revise a bit of logic, and I'm done with the undergrad life!
Saturday, May 05, 2007
The ol' clock is ticking
Woah. There's a week of lectures left or rather, roughly two days of lectures left. Then it's over, finis, etc. The whole undergraduate life...
That's pretty messed up: I'm too young to be accountable! Oh wait... there's always postgrad. But christ, three years sure do fly. I'm struggling to remember what exactly I learned. It's a bit like a patchwork of physics and philosophy, with a vague thread making the two halves internally consistent, and an even vaguer (read: quasi-non-existent) one connecting them. There's a very tangible difference in skill and width of reading when I talk to my single-honours peers, with a few possible exceptions of dual-honours who are simply exceptionally smart hard-workers (you know who you are), so it's becoming quite clear that next year is going to be quite a mission. Fortunately, I have a "fairly" good handle (read: by local standards - I'm not sure that says much) on some of the more technical stuff, so I ought to be able to stay on top of things through specialisation. But gone are the days where I could freely read Nietzsche and Sartre and Machiavelli (well, I probably still would have time to do that, but I plan on doing something a bit more relaxing with my free time)...
Anyway, it's not quite over yet. Three exams and a dissertation deadline in the space of seven days (or a week and half, depending on when you start counting), in under three weeks time. Time to get to work!
That's pretty messed up: I'm too young to be accountable! Oh wait... there's always postgrad. But christ, three years sure do fly. I'm struggling to remember what exactly I learned. It's a bit like a patchwork of physics and philosophy, with a vague thread making the two halves internally consistent, and an even vaguer (read: quasi-non-existent) one connecting them. There's a very tangible difference in skill and width of reading when I talk to my single-honours peers, with a few possible exceptions of dual-honours who are simply exceptionally smart hard-workers (you know who you are), so it's becoming quite clear that next year is going to be quite a mission. Fortunately, I have a "fairly" good handle (read: by local standards - I'm not sure that says much) on some of the more technical stuff, so I ought to be able to stay on top of things through specialisation. But gone are the days where I could freely read Nietzsche and Sartre and Machiavelli (well, I probably still would have time to do that, but I plan on doing something a bit more relaxing with my free time)...
Anyway, it's not quite over yet. Three exams and a dissertation deadline in the space of seven days (or a week and half, depending on when you start counting), in under three weeks time. Time to get to work!
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Attitude
After tomorrow, 5pm, if ANYONE ever mentions superstrings to me again (especially a non-physicist, but you crazy physicists take note as well) I swear I will beat the living daylight out of them.
*grmbl* Goddamn essay...
Goddamn word count...
Update: I've been in the library since 9 am. I've had a total of 90 minutes of breaks. Meaning I've spent 10 hours in the library. Now after loads of editing, rewriting, and chopping entire sections out of my paper, I now have about 500 words to cram in subsections about string theories and gravity, and some stuff about current research (maybe). Christ... I haven't even mentioned gauge-symmetry. This is such a crap essay...
Hours of reading, pages and pages of notes, and I still don't feel like I even vaguely understand what the hell this theory is about. The only reassuring thing is: neither do most of the people writing these papers, apparently.
I bet this essay topic was the lecturer's little sick joke to play on students.
*grmbl* Goddamn essay...
Goddamn word count...
Update: I've been in the library since 9 am. I've had a total of 90 minutes of breaks. Meaning I've spent 10 hours in the library. Now after loads of editing, rewriting, and chopping entire sections out of my paper, I now have about 500 words to cram in subsections about string theories and gravity, and some stuff about current research (maybe). Christ... I haven't even mentioned gauge-symmetry. This is such a crap essay...
Hours of reading, pages and pages of notes, and I still don't feel like I even vaguely understand what the hell this theory is about. The only reassuring thing is: neither do most of the people writing these papers, apparently.
I bet this essay topic was the lecturer's little sick joke to play on students.
Brrrrrrr....
I find myself in an interesting situation. I came down to university this morning when the sun was out and the weather warm, wearing only a shirt and my trusty shades (yes, and pants, shoes, etc...), not really thinking ahead. It is now nearing 1.30am, it is dark out, and it is considerably colder than when I walked down this morning. The prospect of a 30 minute uphill walk in the dark, in the cold, is therefore not a very pleasant one. To make things interesting, I'm also torn between being reasonable and going home to get some sleep (and perhaps even make it to my 10am problem solving class tomorrow morning), so I can do some solid work tomorrow and wrap up this goddamn physics essay, on one hand, and the temptation to continue my caffeine fuelled procrastination binge in the Information Commons on the other... (in the hope that I might scrape a few more relevant paragraphs in). Either way, making good progress... should be able to finish this up tomorrow evening, leaving Friday morning for proof-reading and whatnot (bonus... got me a few more items to stick on the ol' bibliography).
In other news, why the hell do they have showers in a library? Showers and comfy sofas... maybe I can sleep here.
EDIT: Solution... take a cab.
In other news, why the hell do they have showers in a library? Showers and comfy sofas... maybe I can sleep here.
EDIT: Solution... take a cab.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
You come to expect these things
It's funny how you're often less inclined to notice these little (and sometimes big) changes which make life different/easier/better, in some way or other, when they affect you, but cannot help but notice them when they are to be granted to others than you. In my case, the last few days are a double-whammy...
Beginning with the more recent event: during the departmental teaching committee today, the department announced the creation of third year project modules, which are research-only, starting next year (following the example of similar modules offered at the University of Birmingham). Some of the proposed topics are very interesting, and it's definitely the sort of stuff I would have been into. Then again, I'm not complaining about my current courses, which I'm very pleased with.
Further back, now (read: two or three days): the Information Commons (the new library/study centre for the University of Sheffield) opened recently, and I discovered it yesterday. It had been under construction for quite some time (read: a bit over one year), and as it began growing out of the grown like some postmodern concrete flower, over the past few months, I couldn't help but think it was going to end up being fairly rubbish (and to be frank, if you saw it from the outside now it's finished, you'd probably have the same intuition). However I was quite wrong. The interior simply rocks. It's luminous, spacious, well laid out. There are individual desk lamps and plugs on all the desks (which are quite large), there's a huge silent study room which is actually acoustically divided from the rest of the building (unlike the old library), and there are more digital screens and computers than you could shake a USB stick at. I've been using it for 72 hours, and I can't help but feeling (very slightly more) productive (than usual... which isn't much). So since I have a healthy amount of work to go through before the end of the semester (and indeed before friday... aaargh damn essay on superstrings), I have a feeling I'll like it here. Best of all, it's open 24/7, which is fantastic (what sort of library doesn't cater to the late-owl types who do their best work between midnight and 3am?).
Anywho, it's a bit of a shame to leave all this behind in September. Then again, I can't say I'll shed a tear for the rest of the city, and I presume St Andrews will be quite nice, both aesthetically and academically. So really, I can't complain (but I will anyway, being part french).
Beginning with the more recent event: during the departmental teaching committee today, the department announced the creation of third year project modules, which are research-only, starting next year (following the example of similar modules offered at the University of Birmingham). Some of the proposed topics are very interesting, and it's definitely the sort of stuff I would have been into. Then again, I'm not complaining about my current courses, which I'm very pleased with.
Further back, now (read: two or three days): the Information Commons (the new library/study centre for the University of Sheffield) opened recently, and I discovered it yesterday. It had been under construction for quite some time (read: a bit over one year), and as it began growing out of the grown like some postmodern concrete flower, over the past few months, I couldn't help but think it was going to end up being fairly rubbish (and to be frank, if you saw it from the outside now it's finished, you'd probably have the same intuition). However I was quite wrong. The interior simply rocks. It's luminous, spacious, well laid out. There are individual desk lamps and plugs on all the desks (which are quite large), there's a huge silent study room which is actually acoustically divided from the rest of the building (unlike the old library), and there are more digital screens and computers than you could shake a USB stick at. I've been using it for 72 hours, and I can't help but feeling (very slightly more) productive (than usual... which isn't much). So since I have a healthy amount of work to go through before the end of the semester (and indeed before friday... aaargh damn essay on superstrings), I have a feeling I'll like it here. Best of all, it's open 24/7, which is fantastic (what sort of library doesn't cater to the late-owl types who do their best work between midnight and 3am?).
Anywho, it's a bit of a shame to leave all this behind in September. Then again, I can't say I'll shed a tear for the rest of the city, and I presume St Andrews will be quite nice, both aesthetically and academically. So really, I can't complain (but I will anyway, being part french).
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