However, once things are downloaded (Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition has a whopping seven-and-a-half hours to go at the current rate) I can start coding again. This is something I’ve been looking forward to for ages, i.e. since I stopped having a Windows-based PC connected to the internet.

Now, this summer for me presents a real opportunity to develop my programming skills. I’m working full-time in web development which will provide a fantastic platform to become proficient at XHTML, CSS and PHP with the opportunity to throw some Javascript in there too. But that’s not the only thing.

Microsoft have got an initiative called Dreamspark. Essentially, it’s a way for students at high school, college and university to get their hands on free copies of their proprietary software. We’re talking everything from Visual Studio (2005 and 2008 editions) to their Robotics software, Server software and one particularly interesting piece of kit: XNA Game Studio 3.0

This allows people to develop games for Windows Live. That includes Xbox Live, by the way. It provides full support for achievements, Xbox 360 game controllers and all sorts of funky multiplayer stuff. Admittedly, the free subscription that you get from Dreamspark doesn’t allow you to publish the games you make, but as a learning experience I think it’s fantastic.

It’s also possible to make these games in any language that supports the .NET framework which means I can develop my skills not only in the language that I am fluent in (VB.NET) but also in the one that i’m not so confident with (C++).

I’ve got a real buzz though, am really looking forward not only to working but also to actually being able to code again within a good environment.

~ Godders

It’s not even like I’ve been doing a lot, I’ve just not been on my computer a lot. Missing one night’s sleep earlier this week completely hit me for six, and I’ve not caught up on it yet. Lie-in tomorrow though, don’t have to be in until 9:40 (success!).

That said, I honestly see no worth in this last week of 6th form. I’ve done nothing other than miss my coursework deadline in Maths (that said, Sitong hadn’t handed his in as of this morning, and is liable to get 0 marks on his coursework. At least mine was in within four days of the deadline)

Today, I did a grand total of nothing.
Period 1: Skills, was cancelled because there’s nothing to do. Played cards in common room.
Period 2: Maths, printed coursework for Dr. O and did nothing else.
Period 3: Free. Played cards in common room.
Period 4: Further Maths, got some work back and went through a question.
Periods 5-6: Maths. Ate cake and watched “The Story of Maths” (documentary by Marcus Du Sautoy)
Lunch: Played cards in Room 41.
Periods 7-8: Chemistry, cancelled. Wandered aimlessly around school.
Periods 9-10: Computing, cancelled. Collected my A2 textbook and sat doing random maths with Yifan.

And tomorrow I’ve got 40 minutes of travel for a 5-minute interview with my form tutor to receive my report and justify getting Effort 2 (or possibly even 3!!) in Maths and Further Maths (before you ask, I cba with ‘easy’ Maths. So yeah, lack of effort there.)

Other than this, I am ever-so-slightly pissed off. I got a new Halo 3 disk the other day: My brother and I have done Legendary on Co-op. Except when I signed in today, the Xbox 360 had mysteriously forgotten all of my Halo 3 stuff. Everything. So, despite having done every single level on Legendary, I have no achievement for it. Annoyed.

Mostly annoyed because it means we have to do it all again. And it wasn’t exactly easy (admittedly, it’s taken us a grand total of 5 days to do, and one of those was purely on the last level) the first time.

I’ve also been playing some Oblivion, having bought a pre-owned copy to replace my mangled one. Loving it again, mostly doing thiefy-type stuff and assassinating people for The Dark Brotherhood.

But yeah, lots of doing nothing and Xbox 360 while I chill out before full-time work commences on Monday. I’m looking forward to it, just hoping that there’s more of the website structuring than website updating: It’s far more interesting making websites than just adding new content.

That’s about it,
~ Godders.

I was gutted for Lewis Hamilton, he got off to a cracking start and if it wasn’t for Webber weaving all over the track up to the first corner he would have been in the top three with no trouble. As it is, Webber bounced off of Barrichello and then caught Hamilton’s right-rear tire. The puncture took him out of the race completely.

Which is mostly down to the rules being crap. Admittedly, the blue-flagging of people who are being lapped and going slowly is perfectly fine, but Hamilton was going at the same pace as everyone else until he started getting blue-flagged. I think that if he didn’t have to slow down to let everybody else past, he may well have been able to unlap himself.

Nextly, Massa holding up everyone else bugged me. Just because it’s boring. I know he eventually got a podium out of it, but it was dull to watch. It cost Barrichello a chance of a race victory too because right when he needed to be doing his best, he was stuck behind some red car that’s going two seconds a lap off of the pace.

And if I were Adrian Sutil, I’d have waited for Raikonnen after the race with a metal pole and beat him into a coma. Seriously. After coming out of the pits, he was between the Ferraris of Massa and Raikonnen. He had the racing line going into Turn One, and Raikonnen came around the outside and crashed straight into Sutil, who then had to pit again and had his race essentially finished there.

He cost Sutil the chance of getting his first-ever championship points, and he did it in a way that was against the rules. Sutil had the line, he should have yielded and let him through. And it appears that because Raikonnen then retired from the race, he’s not going to be punished at all. This is complete and utter bull.

Other than getting angry at the Formula One, I’ve not really been doing a lot over the past two days. The reason that you’ve not had an update is because there’s been nothing to write about. England are doing poorly in the cricket and apparently because my brother’s not allowed on the Xbox 360, I’m not either because it’s ‘unfair’. This is why it shouldn’t be in my brother’s room.

I’ve just done a revision of my Personal Statement, but it’s still too long. I’ve cut it down from 56 to 52 lines, but the space limit is 4000 characters or 47 lines, whichever comes first. Also, I have Maths Coursework to work on (yawn.) and Mechanics homework to do (which I can’t remember the specifics of) so yeah, fun times ensue.

~ Godders.

So, Challenge of Management. I can hear the outrage already: “He’s doing the topics mentioned in the reverse order!”. Live with it. Basically, it’s a business simulation – we ‘took over’ a Biscuit-making company, and we had to make the decisions about Advertising, Employment and Stock. It was interesting and my team not only won our section, but had the best results out of everybody. Go us.

We were all mixed up though, rather than in groups of friends, and there was nobody in my group that I actually speak to. They were nice though, and I’ve made a couple of friends. Not to mention that our supervisor was a bit ace.

This leaves Durham, which I visited last Tuesday. The city is absolutely magnificent, I can’t rate it highly enough. I could quite easily see myself living there and enjoying doing so. The Computer Science course they offer, however, didn’t seem quite so great. I’m not saying it looks like a bad course – I’ll definitely be applying for it – but the lack of a chance to do an Industrial Placement means that I’m leaning towards Manchester.

Other than the aforementioned three topics, I took the opportunity to watch most of the tennis and play lots of Xbox 360 this weekend. Managed to do all of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare on the hardest difficulty, and saw Federer outlast Roddick in what was really an epic game.

This post was supposed to be up earlier, but I’m a slacker. More catching up will be posted tomorrow.

~ Godders