From the results of my previous entry, it seems that support for “the
right to life” is lax in the Asian community–or at least, the
reads-my-blog community.
Although I think that the whole Schiavo case was blown way out of
proportion, I tend to be pro-life. Although I am deeply
respectful of free will as it is one of god’s greatest gifts, life is
in infinitely greater gift that should be respected above all
else.
Current events that I care about:
GMail has new features as well as an increase mailbox size.
Mrs. Schiavo is gone, but Mr. Shiavo’s torment has yet to cease.
There may be a new Pope soon.
PatientPro runs on a standard 3-level architecture which includes:
The
client level applications run on end-user machines, such as your PC or
a mobile device such as a smart phone or PDA. They enable the user to
work on patient data while at home or on-the-go, without need for
Internet access. Information can then later be synchronized with the
server to maintain data integrity.
Those
not familiar with the purpose of layered architectures should find it
interesting that the implementation of each layer can be changed
internally while still maintaining the system’s total functions. As
long as there is a well defined interface for each layer, and that
interface is immutable, the system will continue to function regardless
of the inner-workings of each layer.
Glossary of terms
data integrity – refers to the consistency of data and its quality as in corruption in the data induced by software or hardware
For people looking for more good anime, consider checking out Prince of Tennis (which is nearing its last episode in Japan) and Starship Operators, an anime released this year. Check out AnimeNfo for reviews and episode summaries.
For those of you who did not enjoy college, would you leave a comment about why not? I’d be interested in hearing whether it has more to due with college or with the circumstances of life during college.
1. Ecosystem Simulator
2. Finite State Automata and Particle Simulation
3. Java-Based Image Editor
4. Web-based Workflow Application
5. Network Packet Filter
6. Some sort of Game
The CS senior project is not only an assignment, but a competition against our peers.? Although the prize for first place is a paltry five hundred dollars, split six ways, the props for winning are a geek’s treasure!
Although I’d wanted to complete one of the projects above, I realized that these might not win us the prize.? It seemed like the team I’d formed was set on winning, so we chose to do a project that Drexel’s Nursing school had requested people to take on.? We thought that since the project had the potential to be used, that we would have a greater chance of winning the grand prize.
PatientPro is an application run on PC or PDA that allows nursing students to work with patient data while satisfying legislative requirements such as HIPAA, which safeguards patients’ privacy.
I haven’t written for awhile, so here are my last series of entries before I retire this blog.
As a prepubscent child, I had but a passing interest in computers. They were as enchanting in their use as edutainment devices–I must’ve hogged our classroom computer playing Oregon Trail for hours. I even got a chance to “program” in sixth grade, when we were introduced to Basic. I created a program to display an image of Darkwing Duck on screen by drawing the cartoon character on graph paper and plotting pixels by hand–I felt like I was on the bleeding edge of technology. Still, at home, I didn’t have a computer, and to aggravate matters, I had a Nintendo. So, instead of becoming profiecient with computers at an early age, I learned to excel at video games.
My highschool years offered increased contact with computers at home and at school. My dad purchased a gleaming new Gateway (which still served as the family’s main computer until a couple months ago), a Pentium II 233 with 10 gigabytes of space. At the time, it cost a couple thousand dollars. At school, we had rows of computers, but they were Macs, and I hated Macs.
My interest in computers mushroomed when I took my first real programming class. We used Borland’s Turbo C compiler to do trivial tasks that I excelled at. My senior year, I decided to go to Drexel University to study Computer Science, and I took the Computer Science AP* class at my high school. It was an interesting class that gave me lots of things to talk about when I went to my scholarship interview at Drexel. I was able to talk to Professor Bruce Char about things like linked lists and recursion.
I’ve been blessed with the chance to do pretty much anything I want to do in life–it’s a rare gift that the best of us never receive. So, why did I choose to major in Computer Science?
These past five years, there have been many times when the work seemed impossible to finish, or the rewards too little to drive me forward. Still, I have learned so much, and have had fun doing it. My love of computers has only become deeper, an intimate relationship cultivated over several years.
Now, everything I have learned in college will be tested with one final project. To me, my success or failure with this project will measure the progress I have made these passed five years. That project is PatientPro.
And so it begins–our final term at Drexel. Who knows if we shall
ever walk its halls again? Let’s make this term better than those
gone by, and show that we are worth this great chance at education.
If you need to return books to me, or otherwise find me while I’m on campus…
Schedule
Classes
And I’m still holding out for Real Estate…
Now that all of you anime freaks have more time (you do, right?) check out:
Deathnote for a great detective manga about shinigami (death-gods), and the anime Beck, which is about one band’s road to stardom.
For any of you who read manga, consider using CDisplay, which is a comic book/manga viewer. It can read images within zips and rars without unzipping. If you have a better program, let me know.
strange happenings
of haloed wings
and saints and things
which bring
brilliant rings.
songs angels sing
ring like ting-a-ling,
“Be strong.”
It was more of a command than a request, but I knew his intent. He acted like my father sometimes, or like an elder sibling, but he was a year my junior. As he cautioned me tersely, his bright eyes sparkled, and the corner of his mouth cocked like it was built on a hill, by a one-legged queer. This was his sleeper, used to disarm and disable, and it lulled me like a nursery rhyme.
I thought of the previous month, when, for several days, I didn’t know where he had gone or he was doing. It was like I’d fallen through thin ice and gasped for breath until he returned. He was my salvation–my steaming hot cup of chocolate.
“Be strong,” he repeated, blanketing me with his body.
I was a duckling without him, I was Waldo, and I didn’t know where to find myself.
He lifted my hand and asked me once, “do you know who you are”
I lost myself for a moment in his gaze and said, “I’m yours.”
He seemed disappointed at the answer because his eyes dulled ephemerally, but they sparked to life before it even registered in my head. I smiled back. I knew what he meant when he told me to be strong. He was saying that I shouldn’t rely on him so much, and I agreed.
“Be strong,” he said once again, and his voice quivered as he held my head to his shoulder.
“I’m sorry, love,” I whispered into his ear, “I want to be a stronger person–I want to make you happy.”
He jerked away from me, holding onto my shoulders. Tear trails ran from his soft eyes. “No…you’re perfect. It’s me. I’m all wrong. I’m all screwed up. It’s me who’s weak. It’s just so hard to…be strong.”
Awesome (extremely) short story by Arthur C. Clarke, “Quarantine”