A study group is most productive if you\’re studying with people who chose to be in a study group vs. a study group where people were forced into participating.

My linguistics study group was formed when a guy asked the entire section whether people wanted to make up a study group. And it has helped me a lot in that class. Time usually lasts around two hours.

My cog sci study group on the other hand…was formed because we were all required to work on our homework in groups. Every member in the group are complainers…whiners…and our work seems so unfinished by the end of the hour. ONE HOUR, FOLKS.

Then my slowly forming cs study group. People seem to be enthuastic.

THIS SEMESTER IS WORSE THAN I THOUGHT.

Stress builds up. Sigh.

10 page paper due Tuesday.
Perl hw due Tuesday.
Midterm Wednesday.
Neural network program due Wednesday.
ALECKY WEDNESDAY.

I am staring at a CDE (common desktop environment) at the unix machines in the cs labs right now. And I am realizing how ugly it really is. This squarish grayish control panel on the bottom and the ugly wallpaper (can you believe I spent 30 minutes trying to figure out how to change it…unsuccessfully). Plus the icons that are so…geeky and rigid. Functional, yes. Aesthetics, no.

Every GUI should look like Mac OSX. Where when you click on something, it bounces. :D bouncy bounce! And when something has an error, a dialog window shakes like nobody is watching.

edit: I have found the SOLUTION. the problem with this version of CDE is that the stylemanager isn\’t on the main control panel but is hidden in the desktop controls.

I can\’t believe that after more than 8 months of not programming…I have lost my basic skillz. I am taking an Introduction to Perl class and it seems like I am struggling more than necessary.

Then again, maybe it\’s because I haven\’t put that much effort into studying the syntax.

Thanks to Daynah who gave some help. And Naim…well he tried…

And no thanks to Lele who freaked me out with an unknown sn. I 8 U TOO! :p

my sister told me two scary stories. :p I am trying to figure out the validity of both.

the first one is supposedly a true story about her friend\’s friend\’s aunt:
One night, she was looking out the window and noticed a woman and a child. They came up to her door and knocked.
The woman asked desperately, \”Please please please can I have some water? My child is very thirsty.\”
The aunt then said, \”No no no go away. I don\’t want strangers in my house. It\’s unsafe. Go away\”
The woman and child walk away. The aunt returns to her television and there is a breaking news report a woman and a child on loose, who were known for going door to door. They would ask for water. Then kill the owner and rob the house. The aunt was afraid. She went to bed and turned off all the lights. Then she glanced at her bedroom window. The child was there…pointing at her while the woman was trying to open the window…

Then this other story:
A girl was waiting for her ride late at night. A man drove by and asked her if she wanted a ride. She refused. He came back again and asked for the second time. She says, \”No, go away\”. Then he returned for the third time and asked, \”Do you want a ride?!\” She refused again with a some nervousness and threatened the man with pepper spray, \”NO GO AWAY!\” She continues to wait for her ride.
The next day, she is discovered dead…and raped. It turned out that a rapist had been waiting for her in the bushes…and the man was just trying to save her.

got this in the e-mail today:
From: Paula
Subject: Someone nice wants to meet you
Body: Silagra is as good as Viagra – just cheaper!

Good to know that there are some cheap males out there…

Because of the ankle I twisted several weeks ago (first I fell off the front steps of my apartment building, then I twisted it playing basketball the week after), my ability to shoot a basketball has declined…BECAUSE I CAN\’T JUMP.

David and I were the only ones who showed up this week despite the fact that people made a lot of noise on the mailing lists. Secretly, I somewhat glad that someone in particular didn\’t show. Not that I am bitter, but it would have made the situation awkward.