This is what I hope to be the start of a new series of logs.. one that I have done and stopped years ago. Friends would remember what they get when they finger me. :-) I hope to update this on a monthly basis, at the least -- I don't want to be too ambitious. Feel free to email me at [email protected] to give me your comments.
You can find my earlier ramblings here:
Ramblings-2002-07
Ramblings-2002-08
Ramblings-2002-09
To prepare for the big day, I cleaned all my lenses. They were pretty dusty and I felt compelled to clean them. Big mistake! Cleaning them is quite unavoidable. They are quite dirty. They haven't been clean since.. well, really long time ago.
It turned out the lenses were quite hard to clean properly. I spent a few days and tried out several methods before I managed to clean off the cleaning solution. The reason why I have so much problem is because I used a touchlight. In the end I go for the less stringent normal lighting. That really made cleaning much easier.
In future, I'm not going to use the lens cleaning paper anymore. This is the cause of all my grief. It cannot pick up the cleaning solution, but smudges the glass instead. It may have even scratched it! I'm just going to use the cleaning solution and the lens pen to wipe it off. This seems to be the simplest method.
My division has organised an "off-site" day tomorrow. No mean feat, if you take into account of the total headcount.
Am I looking forward to it? Hard to say. On one hand, yes, because it's a photo opportunity. On the other hand, there will be many unfamiliar faces. I don't even know where to begin! I don't want to shoot too many group photos. They tend to have no focal point and boring. But shooting small groups or individual person means I need to shoot a lot.
Yesterday, my division organised a massive first-of-its-kind 101 class. It is supposed to target at newcomers, but looking at the turnout, I was surprised to see so many "newbies". I'm one such newbie myself. I sometimes worry if I am struggling too hard to understand the technology used, and if I should seek help. At least now I know I'm not alone!
The course is informative and cuts across every spectrum of the technology. However, I was expecting a more focused course for our software group. I don't really know much about the code and development process. I'm ashamed that I have not explored the code in-depth, but sometimes I wonder if it is because the project is too large. hmm.. let me suggest it, together with the TOC.
Last Friday and Saturday was the Esplanade's grand opening. There was supposed to be spectatular fireworks, but I decided not to go. (My depression hasn't ended.) Watching the event on the news, I sort of regretted. The fireworks is breath-taking! However, when the TV showed the crowd, I had second thoughts.
If there's one thing I hate being in a crowd, it's being stuck in a crowd with my camera equipment, immobile. I hate it when I need to go early to get a good location. Two to three hours is about the upper limit for me. We are talking five hours here! The event starts at 7:30 pm. So I got to get there one to two hours before. Then, the fireworks start at 10:15 pm. Count me out.
I stumbled on a How Stuff Works website and, man, it's amazing to know how everyday stuff works. I can't help but think about my education, especially in Science and Math. I found them difficult, boring and unreal. But Physics is all around us. If only I could connect it to the real world then! I would have been much more interested in it.
The Nikon 105/2.5 AIS lens is available for S$470. Should I buy it? On one hand I really like its classic status and reputed quality. On the other hand, I already have a very good Minolta AF 100/2 lens. *sigh* I tallied up everything I've spent on my Nikon system: S$2300! This includes the slim UV filters and the servicing. No go.
Will I be missing out on a piece of Nikon history just because I am being penny-wise now? This lens is mint! And is discontinued. This lens has withstood the test of time by being available for almost three decades! Surely it must be very good.
There, I finally emailed my project manager yesterday to tell him my plans to restructure the module before moving on. And today, despite the daunting task before me, I started, one file at a time. I almost wanted to give up on the first file, due to the large number of renaming required.
The flaws are basically well known. However, the effort is too much until it seemed overwhelming. You really need conviction and endurance to carry out this exercise. I believe the results will be worth it.
As I like to put it, sometimes you have to move backwards to move forward.
The restructuring is not entirely a science. New files are created. Useless #includes are eliminated. The physical organisation follows the logical organisation. It is an iterative process. Today, I just manage to finish one pass. The code is still not properly organised. There are still many coupling and dependencies. Tomorrow I hope to improve the code further.
The last thing I want to do is to break the code. I recompile the code all the time to make sure it still compiles. After major changes, I download the code and test it.