QOTD's
Right, so I never answered Matt's original QOTD and now it looks like we're on to another one. Honestly I don't know if I can keep up with a question everyday, but I can try. Two or more questions a week might be more my style, so TOMQAW sounds pretty cool to me. :-)
First Distro I ever used?
It was red hat, I don't remember what version it was because I didn't care back then. (I guess I don't really care now either as long as its the latest). So I talked about this in my IBM Linux Scholar Challenge article in developerWorks. Basically my experience went like this: I tried to install Linux, it took forever because I didn't know how to navigate through all the mirrors to get to the files I needed. Oh but then I didn't know the files I needed, all the instructions seemed cryptic with using special DOS tools to format a floppy in a special way. Then boot off of that and know what kind of network card I had so I could start a net install. Well I got that far and then I borked my MBR and lost my Windows partition thanks to not knowing the ins and outs of that Druid partioning software. I installed windows again and didn't touch Linux for another two years.
What was the first computer you ever used?
Ha! I'm too old to be blogging about this with you guys. My first computer was a Commodore 64. It didn't have a hard drive, but did come with a tape drive. I played a game called 4th and Inches on it a lot with my Dad. I also used to get the Commodore 64 magazine which had programming code that you could type in (which I did) and then run; the code was usually new games. Remember that there wasn't a hard drive, so everything I typed (pages and pages of code) was lost as soon as I turned it off. I used to program a game and then play it for a week at a time leaving the C64 on the whole week. Aparently there is still a large community of people who love the C64, I'm not sure why. After that computer we got a Tandy Sensation! It was the first computer to come with a CDROM drive builtin, and boy did that thing run a mean version of windows 3.1
What is the first programming language you learned, and what did you use it for?
The first programming language I learned was Basic in a High School programming class. I used Basic to create a great game of Pong. Well actually it wasn't a great game due to an extra feature or too that I put in the code; the ball would just leave the game every now and then. I think it was a good feature to add as kids today play video games way too much, however my teacher didn't think so and took off points. What a jerk! I had such foresight into this video game problem that so many teens are having and he couldn't recognize that in all my if statements.
Thesis
I made mad progress on my thesis yesterday. I wrote and rewrote over 8 pages as well as coded a whole lot more. My demo app is pretty much ready to show off the thesis ideas. Today I'm going to rework the rest of it and then I can send it out to my committee after a little review from Jeanna.
Not here for long!
I'm leaving on Wed. to go hang out in Saratoga Springs for St. Patty's day. I have a bunch of friends going down there that I'd like to see. After that I'll be leaving to go to Boston the next day for an interview on Friday. I'm hanging out the weekend in Boston so I won't be checking emails or anything during that time.