Validate and Complete! Catch up! (OCT/29/2010)

Today we had a guest teacher in our classroom. In addition, the student hosts were Tasfia and Prashanth! As I mentioned in my previous blog post, we will be working on our HTML clean-up. in class and for homework, we will be finishing the thirteen selection assignments. These few days have been spent reviewing and finishing outstanding. Although we are not learning much, I feel that it is crucial that I work hard catching up, as I am quite behind with my work due to the cross-country meets and the SLC campaign.

On Monday, Mr. Arkin will return our tests! I believe I made at least one mistake, which is writing "elsif" instead of  simply "else". However, other than that, I am curious to see how else I can improve on my programming.

At the moment, my main goal is to finish the thirteen selection assignments, finish up the HTML clean-up, and get ahead by reading the material on toque.ca that Mr. Arkin has not talked about.

Today we had time to independently review and complete the outstanding homework, which encompasses the thirteen selection assignments. In addition, we had a pop quiz on selection! We were asked to write a program to request two distances in kilometres and then display the largest distance. To be frank, it was not much of a pop quiz since I was expecting it hence the other two classes have already had theirs.

After the quiz, as I mentioned, we had time to finish the selection assignments. According to the daily log, all selection assignments are due on Monday. Unfortunately, I need to do a lot of catching up. I will use the time I have left tonight and tomorrow in class to finish and review the assignments!

A guest teacher will be present tomorrow! Looking forward to a day of reviewing and catching up!

The truth is hard to find with "and"! (OCT/27/2010)

Today we had our review for the first two selection assignments. We learned about the boolean operators: "and", "or", and "not". We also learned about the "If ladders". At first I was a bit confused about the "if ladders" and how we can apply that into the assignments. After I read and studied the "selection" page on touque.ca, I understand it more now.

For homework, we have to finish selection assignments up to #7. This is a lot, but I am determined to finish it since I am already behind in class!

City Championships! (OCT/26/2010)

Today, I missed an entire day of school to attend the City Championships for cross-country. Many people were asking me what place I got. I actually didn't place very high, so I think it was a little bit over one hundred (100). So unfortunately, I did not advance to OFSAA (provincials), because the top 6 individuals and top 4 teams advance to the next round. Therefore my cross-country season is now officially over.

To be frank, I am actually satisfied with my results this season as I did not expect to advance to cities. I joined cross-country, because I have always participated in this sport right before my volleyball season, and it was a great excuse to force myself to wake up in the morning and exercise. Cross-country is one of those sports that don't involve a lot of initial athletic ability to succeed. You just need time, perseverance, and determination. The only true competitor is yourself, as you are the one who will drag yourself to the practices, and the one who will tell your body to keep pushing and running even when you feel like you are on the verge of "dying" (during a race).

I am actually glad this season is over, as I am now mentally and physically exhausted from all the practices and the four meets that I had to attend. Wow! Four meets!

So, I did not attend Computer Science class today, but I contacted Cindy, and she scanned me the notes. I will print it off tomorrow, as the toner for my laser printer is now very low. For now, I will finish this blog and go through the first two "Selection" assignments.

Sleep deprivation issszzz.... (OCT/25/2010)

Today I have to shamefully say that I was late for class. Usually I am late for class, because I was talking to the teacher from the previous class or was waking too slow so I would be a couple of seconds to a minute late. However, this time I had a lame, International Baccalaureate (IB) excuse: I was doing homework. I would not say that this is a legitimate excuse, because no excuse is legitimate for being late. However, I was actually finishing my Geography project up until 3am and woke up at 5am to finish the rest. It was assigned over a week ago, but I was so busy with my Grade 9 rep campaign and other extracurriculars that I completed disregarded this assignment. Unfortunately, I put the "pro" in procrastination.

Anyways, back from my tangent, we learned how to trace the execution of the code by desk checking. I was reading the daily blog and I found that Classes B and C started with the same thing as us, but they advanced and learned a lot more than we did today. Perhaps it was because of the lateness and interruptions today. This fact just makes me even more guilty about being late for class in the morning.

On the bright side, I am happy to say that we are wrapping up our Input assignments and section. Now, we have to start previewing the "Selection" page and assignments.

Colours! Colours! What a wonderful song! (OCT/22/2010)

Colours! Colours! Colours! What a wonderful song! (I was actually going to put these phrases in capital letters, but I realized that it was the incorrect way to emphasize. Time's top 100 most influential people: Mr. Arkin.)

Today in class we learned the pre-defined procedures: colour and colourback. The keyword "colour" changes the colour of the text. "Colourback" changes the background colour of the text. If we want to make the entire background a certain colour, then we will have to clear the screen (with "cls") and change the background colour using the keyword, "colourback".

After we learned about the pre-defined functions: "ord" and "chr". They are used for the same purpose as special character entities in HTML. I always find it interesting when I can relate material from Turing to what we learned in September and beginning of October about web design.

We received the rest of the period to work on our Input assignments. Unfortunately, we didn't have Studio 218, because no one brought in any music. I should really go out and get some legal music. Not solely for Studio 218, but because I don't have many decent, legal music tracks on my mp3. I was thinking of a Glee (fantastic television series) sound track. They have a variety of music in terms of genre and artists, and to be frank, they perform the songs better than the original artists!

Homework for today is simple: finish outstanding Input assignments and of course, the daily log.

Vote for Lisa, because she has super-powers! (OCT/20/2010)

Today we had the elections for Grade 9 rep! Wow! I think it turned out quite well! Many people flagged me down afterwards and told me that they thought my speech was the best and/or they are voting for me! I realize that it sounds like a cheesy politician's line, but even if I do not win, just the thought of my supporters' words of encouragement and praise cheers me up!

After lunch in class, Mr. Arkin notified us that our marks for the super-power autobiography are up. When I was about to check my mark, Mr. Arkin asked me to run down to the staff room to deliver a power cord of some sort. When I returned, some of my classmates told me that I didn't get a mark for my autobiography. "What?!?!" My first instinct was that my mark didn't show, because I received a zero for a some particular reason. Then, when I asked Mr. Arkin, he told me that it was simply an error and he showed me my mark. I am not going to say what it is, but I can say that I was definitely satisfied to some extent. Of course, from the perspective of a stereotypical International Baccalaureate student, it is not a perfect score, but I will take this mark and be happy with it. :)

After Mr. Arkin discussed with us his feedback on the assignment, he gave us the ballots and the class voted! The results will not be up until tomorrow. Of course it is nerve racking, but all I can do is get a good night sleep after one whole week of intense, friendly-competitive campaigning. As I mentioned before, whether I win or lose, the experience I obtained this past week is invaluable!

Jog! Run! Sprint! Print! Print?! (OCT/19/2010)

Today I missed school yet again for a cross-country meet. I will make this short and sweet. We left the school at 9am, and I ran my race at 10:30am and finished way before 11am. Then, we left the park to go back to school at 4:30pm, which means that I had to wait around for the whole day and miss school without doing anything. Although I did partake in the crowd who cheered for the competitors, I felt that I should have simply ran my race and ask my parents to pick me up afterwards. The good part is that I placed 33rd individually, and the team (Grade 9 Midget Girls) placed 3rd which we were awarded with a bronze medal. I am happy to announce that I will be advancing to the City Championships next Tuesday at Centennial Park! Yeah!

I got home quite late today since I had to go to Kumon Math class after the meet. Up until late tonight, I did not get a chance to call a classmate to see what happened today in class. I checked the daily log and apparently it was simply a lot of homework review. Tonight I mainly focused on perfecting and memorizing my Gr 9 Elections speech. It is truly a lot of pressure, because many people mentioned that they are going to base their decision on this speech (which I feel is complete nonsense since we are capped at a one minute time limit) There is simply not much time to say what I want to say to my classmates. Regardless, the other candidates are on the same boat as me so I will make the best out of this situation. Whether I win or lose, I found that what I truly got out of this week of intensive campaigning was the experience of meeting many of the students in Grade 9, especially those who are not enrolled in the International Baccalaureate program.

I did not get to review my homework today, but what I did get a chance to finish was print out all my HTML & CSS codes and my programming codes. Well, I suppose I feel accomplished tonight to some degree.

Look forward to tomorrow!

If only there was a program that would let me specify.... (OCT/18/2010)

Today in class we began again with our homework review. We reviewed over the first input assignment, which asks us to create a program fragment that allows the user to specify the number of decimal places. It was a bit confusing at first, because I did not quite understand the homework when I worked on it at home. However, as the class progressed, I understood the concepts better.

For homework, we must finish input assignments four and five and finish the blog. When we work on the assignments, we need to apply the documentation template and follow the programming guidelines.

To be frank, I am still grasping the principles of Turing. It's been quite a struggle for me lately. Perhaps it is because my schedule is becoming a lot more hectic due to the fact that I have been working on my Gr 9 Rep campaign. I will try to catch up on my outstanding homework and reviewing after Wednesday, the elections.

I like variety! In music selection, ice cream, and... in programming! (OCT/15/2010)

Today at the beginning of class we had our homework review and we learned quite a number of new glossary terms. We learned how to vary the output of our programs using various keywords, such as var, get, string, and I assume that there are more keywords to be learned.

The glossary items that we learned the definition of include: variable, constant, declared constant, parameter, argument, assignment operator. In addition, we learned the pathway to the Turing Keyword Reference page. It is F9 on the keyboard. I feel that this is one of the most useful things I learned, because if I am unsure of my notes or can't remember the use and meaning of a keyword, I can simply refer to this page to obtain the most succinct and "official" explanation of the keyword.

My homework for today is the Input assignments one to three and this blog! I will have the assignments completed once I finish this blog...!

That's all for now, great day today! I don't have any questions at the moment. If any questions do arise, which I am sure they will, I will post them on Wikispaces.

Geography Trip (OCT/21/2010)

Today I missed computer class yet again to attend a geography trip. We visited the Niagara Falls! According to some of my classmates, we did review again. However, according to the daily log, Mr. Arkin discussed "a model process for developing programming solutions." No one responded me when I tried to get in touch with my classmates. Since it was already 11pm, I assume that they would already be off the computer or asleep.

I will try to get this sorted out today in class.

In case you are wondering since my tenses are a bit different from the ordinary, I am writing this blog in the morning because I leave the house to attend a cross-country practice.

No kidding, Sherlock. I want my asterisks back! (OCT/14/2010)

No kidding, Sherlock. I want my asterisks back!

I normally don't give explanations about my titles, but this one came out quite odd. So this post's title is a response to Mr. Arkin's blog post, "The Case of the Disappearing Asterisks." This was also mentioned in the daily log.

Today, we received a handout called, Skills inventories, with many glossary terms on it. We learned about "delay", and reviewed our homework from the previous day. Very straightforward.

For homework, we have to get notebook dividers, which I made by printing pages that say, "Web Design Notes" and "Programming Codes". Then, I completed the asterisk-border program, and reviewed a couple of concepts and terms on the touque.ca class website.

To be frank, this course was not as bad as I thought it would be when I filled out the course selection sheet last year in January when I applied to IB. I regretted my choice and wanted to choose civics and careers. However, despite my desire to want to major in law and business in the near future, I feel that what I am learning at the moment can definitely be applied in the future in the workforce.

Wow, that was deep. Anyways, I am looking forward to another great day tomorrow!

HTML all over again! (OCT/13/2010)

Today in class we learned six glossary terms. They are: concatenation operator, comma, % (comment), output-field width, and output field. It was quite disappointing to have the homework review and be missing out on what Mr. Arkin was saying at times. I told him that I was not able to launch Turing, but he couldn't do much to help me, because I couldn't provide more information about why I couldn't launch it. I was planning to post the question up on Wikispace when I get home. Then, I realized that I wouldn't be home until around 9:30pm. So, I spent a great deal of time just now trying to figure out how to launch the program. After sessions of trial and error, I found out that instead of clicking "open", I must click "save" and launch from there.

For homework, we have another set of assignments from the class website. We have to finish task 1 of the Character Graphics assignment. For me, I have to finish the outstanding homework from yesterday and today. I am finishing up my blog at the moment, and I will start my assignments shortly.

Currently, it truly feels like the first few days of school when we were starting out website designing unit. I am walking into a room where I have no knowledge of how or where I am going to head off to. At the moment, it feels like a bad start since I am behind on my homework and the material taught in class. However, I am sure it will get better with an effort to get organized and back on track.

Look forward to another day of learning tomorrow!

Principles of Turing (OCT/12/2010)

Today in computer science class, we learned about different datatypes in the language of Turing. To be more specific, we learned about characters and integers. We also discussed several options of output objects. As I remember on the top of my head, they are "cls"; ".."; and "skip". In short, we learned the fundamentals and principle functions of Turing.

For homework today, we are supposed to do the Output assignment question one to four. However, I tried launching Turing and the computer did not allow me to do so. I will ask Mr. Arkin tomorrow in class when I get the chance. For now I will just look over the assignment and instructions and do whatever I can without the tools.

Party in Studio 218!

Today we had a party to celebrate our achievements. There was food, drinks, music, and fun!

Party in Studio 218! Whoot!

Introduction to flowcharts! And.. turing? (OCT/07/2010)

Today we had our introduction to programming with the software, Turing, and flowcharting. We learned about:

1. IDE (Integrated Development Environment) which has all three necessary tools to write a program
2. Basic functions of turing, including the save and execute sequence (ctrl-S; F2; ctrl-S; F1)
3. General process of program development (through flowcharting)
4. General process of webpage development

I also forgot my password, unforunately. It had something to do with validation... but I can't seem to recall what it was. I will hopefully get it sorted before computer class tomorrow, one way or another. You know what they say, "Desperate times call for desperate measures!" Well, not entirely, but I will find a way to access my account by next computer class. :-)

In addition, we are having a class party tomorrow! At first, I thought Mr. Arkin was joking and saying that we "deserve" a party, but we are not actually having one. However, regardless of my interpretation, I am glad we are going to have some food and drinks... and hopefully music tomorrow! If no one is playing their music, I will be glad to play my Senior Band music album to the class. Anybody enjoys listening to Handle?

I will be bring some drinks to contribute to the party. The party list is posted on Wikispaces. Looking forward to it!

Today was had a redux (new vocabulary term and word of the day) to the topic of ASCII. Mr. Arkin talked about identifying bitstring codes by their decimal name. We also learned the shortcuts to memorizing capital and lowercase letters. It was fascinating!

Also, Mr. Arkin posted a blog yesterday substituting characters with bitstring codes. Our homework today was to decode his message. Although I can take the shortcut and use a binary code converter, I took the luxury of decoding the message character by character. Fun! ;-)

I would post the message here, but I want everyone to have a chance at decoding the message. If anyone is wondering what I am talking about, Mr. Arkin's blog is Rockin’ ICS2O.

Oh, and I now officially have 3 followers on my blog! Yay!

This is all for today! Happy decoding!

Binary coding! Can you spell validation in binary? (OCT/05/2010)

 Today we talked about the final few terms in our basic computer glossary. We learned about the paradox of booting and the solution to how the CPU can transfer files from the secondary storage to primary without initial instructions from the secondary storage. Then, we spent the rest of the period talking about the ASCII and binary coding. We learned about the columns and digits of a binary code. It can only go up to two values (0 and 1) in terms of the digits. I guess this is where they got the Latin root "bi"! It was eye-opening learning about how our everyday tool, the computer, truly works behind the screen (or in the CPU for that matter!)

The homework today was to update, validate, and post the Basic Computer Glossary. I need to continue finding small images to illustrate the last four glossary terms.

This blogging habit is really starting to stick in my brain. As Sean Covey said in his book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens, "A habit can be formed in 30 days." Guess what? It's October now! It's actually been a month (two days short) since school started! Amazing!

As Alice Morse Earle said, "Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That's why its called the present." All the assignments I did in the previous unit is history (excluding the fact that I will have to apply my prev. knowledge..), today was a wonderful day, and tomorrow is a mystery as to what new things I will be learning..!

I see the finish line for the BCG race! (OCT/04/2010)

Today in class we spent the majority of the period discussing the terms for the Basic Computer Glossary (GCG). We learned the difference between secondary storage and promary storage, the definiton of RAM, ROM, bit, byte, and binary code. It was a lot of fun obtianing new, fascinating knowledge about computers. However, as Mr. Arkin mentioned, and as I stated before, this is like the calm before a storm. All these terms are just preparations for a big, new unit on computer programming. I wonder what will await after we finally finish discussing all the terms for the BCG tomorrow!

For homework hoday, I have to continue to update, validate, and post my Basic Computer Glossary. I also have to find small images to illustrate glossary terms. In addtion, the workload will come from gathering reference information for each image! Also, I almost forgot to mention that we have to search up the meaning for: redux, CRT, and what comes after the term "terabyte" and after that, so on.

Look forward to another day of learning new terms tomorrow! Great day today!

Class Rep Elections! Basic Computer Glossary! (OCT/01/2010)

Today, in class Mr. Arkin discussed the application Notepad++ and some of its functions. We were taught how to convert cases, and show the invisible characters. I also learned about the HTML validator options. They are: show source; show outline; verbose output. I knew and have been using some of these options, but it was interesting learning what "verbose output" meant.

Mr. Arkin also gave us some more definitions for our Basic Computer Glossary. I missed a few terms and definitions, because I was away yesterday, so I will probably ask one of my classmates to email me the notes so I can finish my glossary tonight.

My homework for today is:

1) Finish, validate, and post Basic Computer Glossary
2) Find small images to illustrate glossary terms and gather reference information for each image
3) Finish writing this blog!

In addition, before I forget, we had our Class A Rep elections today! I was not prepared at all! However, I had an idea of what I wanted to say in the class so I just improvised my speech. I am glad I improvised, because the speech went quite well, and it sounded more natural. It was nerve-racking when I was awaiting for the results, but I won! I am sure that Naeem was equally as good of a candidate as I was. I will do the best I can to be a great class rep. If any of my classmates are reading this, thanks for all the support!

I got to get to my homework now! I have a tight schedule ahead of me tonight!