Intel

Today was an ok day. It started at about 7:30am today, with the first lab session at nine. Getting up wasn’t too bad today, as I’d been prepared and had a decent night’s sleep; about nine or ten hours. In the lab session, we did a recap of using the Scanner object in Java to calculate the mean average of numbers a user inputs. It seemed pretty easy, but after a four month or so break from programming it’s crazy how much you might miss out or forget – i.e. little mistakes here and there. Got it working in the end though. Had to encourage others in my class not to just copy it from stuff last year, as, when it comes to write out code with no help, it would be near impossible.

The lecture we had two hours later was ok, just a little odd. The lecturer seemed to traverse through five or six topics/subject areas, but not spending a huge amount of time on a single one.

Still no iPod delivery, although I half-expected it not to come. Royal Mail are still probably late with hundreds of things so I blame them. Hopefully it actually will come tomorrow, then I will be happy (^_^).

Had a placement lecture from Intel today. It was at 6:15pm, which was a slightly odder time than I’m used to. Anyway, the lecture itself was pretty good, but very short. After the lecture, there was a question/answer session an hour long. Of course it probably wouldn’t have been so long if they weren’t giving out 1GB memory sticks for each question. I made sure I bagged myself one too – the memory stick is pretty nifty Also available were free pens and notepads. It’s what makes those not so special lectures, that bit more special. I think I’ll make a note to myself to sign up to a few more talks. There are a couple by IBM and one by HP that I’ll probably attend.

After having that lecture I will probably apply for a placement there. In the UK, it’s based in Swindon, which is a bonus for me as my home is about eight miles away. I’d still like to apply to Microsoft, however, and possibly a couple of smaller companies, if I can find some that interest me. I had a visit to a software company in Bristol in the summer, so it may be good to pay them another visit, or get in contact with the lead developer – may have an opportunity just waiting there for me.