Awesome, Ole!

Today, I’ve been studying the international laws of war. The subject raises many interesting philosophical questions, and can be basis for intense discussions; the curriculum, however, is probably the most boring read ever created by man. Thus, I’ve spent half my study time sleeping, playing Tap Tap Revenge on my iPod Touch, and surfing the Internet.

It was while reading my local newspaper Bergens Tidende online, I found this article about a guy, Ole, who got best grade on all his 21 subjects through high school; a truly impressive accomplishment. Made me proud of Bergen (not the point). He thought, as I do, that engineering would be awesome. So, of course, he also thought he’d be going to the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). Just like I did.


But then I suddenly thought this: What about Stanford? How awesome wouldn’t that be? I didn’t get best grade on all my high school subjects, though, so I wasn’t admitted at Stanford. However, people supported me so much during the application process that I decided to explore the options abroad further while doing my national service.

Now I am enrolling at my first choice, Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania this fall; I can’t wait to get there. It will be awesome.

According to the QS World University Rankings 2008, there are 143 universities worldwide that do better than NTNU within the field of technology. Only five does better than Carnegie Mellon. I hereby strongly encourage my fellow Bergenser to consider studying abroad. Bergen needs top engineers. It will be awesome, Ole!

Read more:
bt.no: Fikk 21 seksere (Norwegian)
Tapulous: Tap Tap Revenge
QS World University Rankings 2008: Technology
Define: Awesome

Keeping up with programming

How many times have you told yourself to do something, bought the book that tell you how to do it, started to read it, and then given it up after a few sessions? For instance, I tried to learn programming; I bought the book, read a few pages, wrote a program, and then... I never opened the book again.

That was a few years ago. Now I’ve started over. I attend a Stanford Engineering Everywhere (SEE) course called “Programming Methodology,” which is a very recommendable introduction course in java. It is quite handy; I carry the lectures around on my iPod Touch, and I get all the software and handouts I need from the SEE website.

Right now, I’m at a critical moment – it has been a while since I last attended a lecture, even though I find the lectures to be really interesting and engaging. I also couldn’t remember what my last assignment was about when I was talking about it with a friend.

It is obviously time to get a grip, and convince myself that programming is fun. Not as an attempt to deceive myself, but rather as an effort to recognise the truth. Actually, I believe most of us sometimes have to sit down, take it easy and tell ourselves the truth about our daily warfares. It is so easily twisted...


Read more:
SEE: Programming Methodology