Yesterday was very odd. I was working on a technique called “sleep sets” and suddenly I began to feel very sleepy myself. Around 15:30 I was completely unable to continue, falling asleep at the wheel, so to speak. Had to go home for a nap. I am sure that word suggestion had something to do [...]
Just a quick recap of what has happened since my last post here: I have been working hard on the FAST system and I am finally finishing up an important part (handling DiVinE models). I hope to finish testing on Friday and then to write a full model checker (or three) on Saturday and Sunday. [...]
I promised on Sunday to explain a neat little algorithm I am working on, but I neglected to do so yesterday. And I am going to neglect again today. I am exhausted after the Bridging Course. The last three days of last week and yesterday and today I devoted to the course. Today and yesterday [...]
The title of my posting on Friday was not meant to imply that the course I am teaching is over. It merely indicated that the work for the week, for the first days, was over and that the weekend signaled a merciful break in the proceedings. Tomorrow, like so many affairs that go in starts [...]
On Wednesday and Thursday I was feeling very positive toward the students. I was still under the impression that my teaching was going well and that I was “manipulating” the students towards a deep understanding of the basics of programming. Today, that illusion was shattered. The lecture went fairly well, except that there were a [...]
OK, down to earth in the Bridging Course. Yesterday’s first practical session was a triumph and all of the students completed all of the exercises. The majority did so in record time and went home early. Ideally we would like them to stay the full three hours in order to get as much exercise as [...]
Today I did something that I have not done for the longest time: I bought alcohol. Usually, I drink beer and wine at parties, in pubs, and with meals at my parents, and I have a box of wine that is ageing in the corner, but I almost never buy beer or wine for the [...]
During the “slow” time around Christmas I was thinking of how to factor numbers. In particular, if and and , then and we can determine and and can be derived using the lower bits of and factoring recursively. Unfortunately, not many numbers are of this form: needs to be pretty close to and the two [...]
I have been back at work since Monday which, technically, was a public holiday. Not that I accomplished much, though that is not an entirely fair judgement. I have been thinking about factorization again, and looking at the various algorithms in use. They are almost all interesting and not too difficult to understand, so I [...]
Yesteday I was “down” because I had not achieved much over the weekend. Today I am a little down because I realize how much work there is spread out before me in the coming months. It still depresses me a little, but there is nothing much I can do about it and I shall simply [...]