On the way home from the REU I visited some friends back in Upland. Then I was at home for a week before heading out to UNC. On the way out we stopped at Justin and Amanda's wedding in Decatur (my fifth wedding of the summer), as well as Nashville/Nolensville, TN and Knoxville, TN to visit relatives. (My Aunt Gwen and Uncle Steve, as well as my cousin Megan in the Nashville area, and my grandfather and his wife in Knoxville.) It was a good trip and I enjoyed seeing everyone.
Tuesday August 18 we arrived in Chapel Hill and started moving into the apartment. It is a basement apartment. It's not particularly nice, but for $600/month (actually only $300/month since I split it with an apartment mate) within walking distance of Sitterson/Brooks (the computer science building) it's a good deal. We spent some time setting things up. On Wednesday I made the mistake of trying to go to the Carrboro drivers' license office, which is apparently always insanely busy. There were people there when we arrived at 3 P.M. who had been waiting since 10 A.M. and hadn't gotten to take the test yet. I heard that if you show up an hour before they open in the morning, you can be the fourth or fifth person in line. So that didn't work. I did end up getting my license at the Hillsborough office (which only had a two and a half hour wait) the next Monday.
Classes started on Tuesday. I attended several different classes before deciding on two. Originally I tried Computational Geometry, which I would like to take eventually, but it is offered fairly frequently. I also tried Network Security, but my background in networking is a bit weak from not taking Data Comm at Taylor compared to what was expected, so I would have had to do a lot of extra reading outside of class and would have been busy. I may take that one at a later semester, too. I am going to take Algorithm Analysis and Parallel Computing. I am also doing a "991" (Reading and Research) on the same topic as my research assistantship. I started with a paper "A 3/2-approximation algorithm for rate-monotonic multiprocessor scheduling of implicit deadline tasks." Now when you Google that, my blog should be one of the hits. The first order of business was learning what all those terms mean. I knew "3/2-approximation algorithm" and "multiprocessor scheduling" but not "rate-monotonic" or "implicit deadline." I am still working on learning all the real-time lingo and learning the background stuff I need, so I haven't started on an actual research project yet.
Real-time scheduling theory looks like a good fit for me. It's a lot of mathematically analyzing algorithms. The bulk of it is proofs. I've even seen old friends like epsilon and lim sup in the papers I've read. I've already been labelled "a mathematician disguised as a computer scientist" by one of the members of my research group, which is probably a good description for me.
I've been enjoying rooming with Kevin, my apartment mate. I've been attending his church (Christ Community Church) on Sunday mornings, as well as a Thursday night Bible study with him. I've also had several chances to get together with the Cuany Jrs., my aunt, uncle, and cousins in Apex, as well as my cousins Amy and Laura in Clayton and their apartment mate Naomi. So I've been keeping very busy, but having a lot of fun.
Classes started on Tuesday. I attended several different classes before deciding on two. Originally I tried Computational Geometry, which I would like to take eventually, but it is offered fairly frequently. I also tried Network Security, but my background in networking is a bit weak from not taking Data Comm at Taylor compared to what was expected, so I would have had to do a lot of extra reading outside of class and would have been busy. I may take that one at a later semester, too. I am going to take Algorithm Analysis and Parallel Computing. I am also doing a "991" (Reading and Research) on the same topic as my research assistantship. I started with a paper "A 3/2-approximation algorithm for rate-monotonic multiprocessor scheduling of implicit deadline tasks." Now when you Google that, my blog should be one of the hits. The first order of business was learning what all those terms mean. I knew "3/2-approximation algorithm" and "multiprocessor scheduling" but not "rate-monotonic" or "implicit deadline." I am still working on learning all the real-time lingo and learning the background stuff I need, so I haven't started on an actual research project yet.
Real-time scheduling theory looks like a good fit for me. It's a lot of mathematically analyzing algorithms. The bulk of it is proofs. I've even seen old friends like epsilon and lim sup in the papers I've read. I've already been labelled "a mathematician disguised as a computer scientist" by one of the members of my research group, which is probably a good description for me.
I've been enjoying rooming with Kevin, my apartment mate. I've been attending his church (Christ Community Church) on Sunday mornings, as well as a Thursday night Bible study with him. I've also had several chances to get together with the Cuany Jrs., my aunt, uncle, and cousins in Apex, as well as my cousins Amy and Laura in Clayton and their apartment mate Naomi. So I've been keeping very busy, but having a lot of fun.
Glad to hear you're enjoying it there Jeremy!
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