alex.polvi.net

For some reason people like to write me rejection letters, especially people who offer scholarships. Here are some examples:

It is probably because my poor writing ability. The largest scholarship I won I did not apply for, I was selected by a high school counselor. All job offers I have received were verbal, never from a formal application. Regardless, this method seems to have worked out for the best.

At least I have the blog to keep me writing. Maybe I will print it off and take it to the writing center! :)

Let it be known this is my first fly. Gorman said, “It only gets better from here.” Lets hope so.

Did an ACM workshop today regarding installing a blog on onid webspace. It was poorly advertised, so only one person showed up. At least they learned something. :)

Speaking is fun, perhaps I will do another.

As silly as it sounds, it is a busy time to be a beaver. Today is sort of the last chance to sit back and breath. Here is a brief overview of the future:

• 30 mozilla servers land at OSL
• ACM Workshop on installing web apps, taught by yours truly
• GregKH is coming to visit OSU
• MTH351 Midterm
• New FTP hardware lands
• Physics + Botany midterms
• On going server madness at OSL
• Finding place to live in CA
• InstallFest3
• Finals
• Move to CA
• …

Good thing it is fun to be in way over your head!

A fun design philips thought up, and I implemented:

Direct link to PNG, or EPS.

UPDATE: The EECS Dept didn’t care too much for it.

Thanks for the design. We’ve talked about it and think it would
probably work better for a student club shirt.

The platform for learning in CS has not gone very far. We got to the point that it was time to talk details, and nobody came up with anything good. Nothing has “clicked” that just works.

Tonight after talking with members from the OVP, I am all fired up to start a program creating paid internships based around open source software. This is something we have talked about before. As the famous Paul Querna once said, “every open source project can use more love”. The value given back to the sponsors is relatively cheap training. The students would obviously benefit by having the coolest job in the world. I mean what is better then being dedicated to a open source project AND being paid to do it?

There are a few distinct groups that need to be contacted in order to make this happen

• Sponsors: Find people to fund such a program.
• COE: Need to figure out how to best fit this in with what the COE is doing.
• OSL: This might be the perfect chance for some cross pollination.
• Students: Find people that would actively participate (should be easiest part).

Lets start with OSL and COE.

Two folks from the OVP will be in town tomorrow. They will be here to listen to student ideas for high tech and open source start-ups.

This was one of those “would this be a neat event” someone mentioned. So, after making it happen, lets see if people show up! Who wouldn’t like free pizza and possibly money?

What: Oregon Venture Partners pizza and pitch night.
Who: Dave Chen, Lucinda Stewart, and Oregon State Students.
Where: Trysting Tree Conference Room (Weatherford Hall)
When: Wednesday, April 13th, 5pm-6:30pm.
Why: Share your ideas, receive feedback, and perhaps be funded.

Today I received the following email:

Congratulations on your wonderful academic achievement this year!

On behalf of University Housing and Dining Services it is my pleasure toinvite you to a reception honoring you and your colleagues in the Residence Halls, Cooperative Houses, and Orchard Court Family Housing who made the Honor Roll during Fall Term 2004 and/or Winter Term 2005.

We will have several speakers at the event. Edie Blakley, Coordinator for the National Student Exchange program, will be speaking about exciting opportunities to do a student exchange at another college or university within the country. Tanya Ulsted, International Education Graduate Teaching Assistant, will be presenting information about opportunities for students to study abroad in both English and non-English speaking countries. Please feel free to bring a guest to share in your celebration. We hope that you will join us!

When: Saturday, April 30th

Where: Arnold Dining Center

I promptly replied:

> When: Saturday, April 30th

What time of the day? Or is it an all day event? :)

And a whole 5 minutes later received:

The e-mail sent titled “Academic Success Celebration Invitation” was sent in error. Please disregard, and apologies for any confusion. Thank you.

Oh well, looks like they dont like people who ask questions.

(and Winter term wrap-up)

Here are a few stats from Winter term:

• Working at OSL: 189.0hrs
• Studying: 144.0hrs
• Physically in class: 180.0hrs
• Sleeping: 546.0hrs
• Total time available winter term (12 weeks x 7 days x 24 hours): 2016hrs
• Eating, playing, or trying to provoke change (Total - sum of “stuff”): 957.0hrs
• GPA: 3.85
• Submitted to FOSS: 3 patches in 3 months (goal: 1 every 3 months)
• Number of posts: 45blogs (goal: 12)

Goals for Spring term

• Go camping!!
• Help create a platform for learning for EECS
• Figure out my living situation in CA for summer
• Figure out my living situation in Corvallis for fall
• Work my tail off at the OSL
• Good grades
• Get back into climbing

I am excited. School is exciting. Far, far, far, too exciting.

Bring it.

Trying to get shwag at the recent career fair, I dropped my resume off at the Microsoft booth. Keep in mind that my resume has a Linux penguin on the top right corner. Sure enough, within the week they emailed me asking for an interview. I thought to myself, “Eh, what the hell? Might as well see what they are up to.”

Last Friday they called for a phone interview. Brandon had already done the same thing, so I sort of knew what to expect. During his interview they asked a few different brain teasers, so that is what I was expecting.

The interview took about 20min. He proded me about everything I knew related to software. The questions were pretty slanted toward development. They were really interested in what apps I have written, how large, what language, etc. When asked what my best language was, I responded BASH. Soon after that he wrapped up the conversation. He told me upfront they would not hire me. Still trying to figure out if that is a good or bad thing…..