Silence.
Don't say a word,
nor let them hear you.
You have crossed the line.
Your words are no better than theirs,
or so that was what they had claimed.
Controversial yet realistic issues,
those were some that you often bring up.
Free speech, you say, is meant for the better.
But then again, my friend, please bare in mind,
you do not know who is out there watching you,
keeping a look out at you, tracking you down.
Despite us being majority in the community,
we do not have such power, that of the minority.

Speak.
Only if you need to,
not because you want to.
Do not let me lose another friend.
Hush now, my dear one.

New Students Welcome Session

It started at 10.30 am, we were divided to groups based on the course we take at uni. A talk was given to "inspire" us about our career outcomes in the future and we were then thrown into a room to mingle by ourselves. Seriously, the feeling was like us being placed in a middle of a sea and being expected to swim back to the shore on our own. I guess that's part of uni life but can't they give us more than that?

Tours around the campus

As stated by Walker (2008), "students do not benefit from tours. Hence, it is better to learn in getting around the campus by oneself...", we did not have any official tours. It was a bit of a let down but my friends and I made the decision to have our own tour around the campus since we have lots of time to kill. We made our way through the library, tutorial rooms, computer labs and finally...The student union.

Student Union

The food co-op has a wide variety of organic foods, really impressive and the surrounding is cosier compared to Union House. There is even an arcade situated near the food co-op for our leisure time and pool tables for those who just can't live without snooker. One word to describe it..."Amazing!" 

Academic Integrity Session

The outline of this lecture is mainly about the various types of plagiarism in the IT field. Well, most of them are pretty much common sense but yeah, it was a good reminder for us.

Heading back home via tram and bus

Going back by trams? A good way to travel, that is, if it doesn't break down. My class supposingly ended earlier today and so I thought I might be able to catch the 7.30 pm bus home instead of the 7.44 pm one. The tram I took broke down, causing me to miss the 7.30 pm bus. I reached the bus stop close to 7.44 pm, just on time to catch the bus, so I thought. Fifteen minutes went by and still the bus hasn't arrived, I made the decision to just walk home instead of waiting since the surrouding area has become more quiet. But as I started walking, the bus drove by me. I was like, "F**k! There goes my ride..." So yeah, I continued walking, reaching home at 8.15 pm, which could have been earlier if not for the delays!

 Attended a "Skills for New Programmers" workshop at uni today. Was surprised at how often programming can be applied in real life events.

Even a game of Tic-Tac-Toe can be written into a detailed program. Well, obviously, everyone knows how to play this game but when the explanation on how to play it becomes more technical, things get a lot more complicated. For example, this game's program can be written as follows:

Draw grid 3 x 3
Symbols X + O are used
One symbol per space, each player taking a turn
If 3 identical symbols in a row, wins the game 
   Else
Continue placing symbol at empty space
If there are no 3 identical symbols in a row and grid is full,
   Then becomes a draw.

Yep, this sounds alright but what about this situation:

An online store decides to give 10% discount on items under $100 and 20% for items above $100. A shipping fee of $6.50 will be charged for items under $100.

A more numerical problem but nevertheless, easier than many other programming problems. This situated can be programmed this way:

Read amount, y
If y<$100, then y - ( y x 0.1) + 6.5
   Else
y - (y x 0.2)

It's pretty interesting about how programming can help ease our daily lives. Though, from the looks of it, I realise that there's still a lot I need to learn from where I start off at high school last time. There is indeed no finish line.

So here's a round-up on what I've been doing today:

8.30 am - Left for uni to attend a Lab Induction. Arrived at the computer lab a little too early. So, waited outside the lab, browsing through bulletin boards around the corner.

9.00 am - A few students started to arrive, mostly guys ( I should have known by now that the ratio between boys and girls in the course I'm pursuing is 6:1). Chatted with a few of them and realised that some guys are just hard to approach. But then again, it is sort of the first week of orientation. So, needless to say, that often happen.

9.30 am - Lab Induction began. Gaya, the lecturer in-charge of this program, gave us an introduction on the systems we are required to use throughout our course at uni. He is friendly and approachable but I guess the pace of this program made things boring after a while.

12.30 pm - Lunch break for us after 3 hours fumbling on the computer.

1.30 pm - Got ready for the next session, UNIX survival guide. Arrived there only to realise that this session is a self-learning program. So, we were given handbooks and were required to complete each task in the book whilst we were still reading the manual...Lol!

4.15 pm - After almost another 3 hours in front of the computer, we decided to call it a day. My eyes were hurt from straining too much and my back has stiffen from keeping upright too long in front of the computer. This is just my first day of my course. I'll need to get use to this environment if I plan to be a full-fledge programmer in the years to come...

4.40 pm - Arrived home and went straight to get some nap.

This was how I spent my first day as a Computer Science student.

I just answered this Featured Question, you can answer it too!

So, finally I'm enrolled to RMIT. Got my student account settled, timetable fixed up and bought my lecture notes today. It was quite a relief for me as my lecture notes cost $Aus 41.00 altogether. I was expecting them to cost more as I used to spend over $Aus 200.00 for my college books.

This is how my timetable looks like now:

So yeah, it's kind of a hectic schedule even though I have a few gaps in between but I'm hoping that I'll be able to join Yoga and Pilates classes during weekends for stress relief. Although the offical orientation is on the 25th of February, I will be starting mine tomorow. So, I'll be attending a lab induction and UNIX guide from 9.30 am - 4.30 pm tomorrow...

*MyRa* 

2.00 p.m: As stated in my offer letter, I attended a welcome session for new students and made some new friends.

2.30 p.m: Everyone was required to complete an enrolment form online.

2.50 p.m: Due to overwhelming accesses on that system, the server crashes. The IT consultant told us that the system should be back to normal in 10-15 minutes time.

3.10 p.m: The system wasn't showing any progress. The IT consultant assured us again that it will run smoothly soon.

4.00 p.m: No progress at all. The IT consultant reassured us again. 50 pairs of eyes glared back at him. I decided to go to The Hub for a while to submit some forms which were required for my university enrolment instead of waiting in the computer lab aimlessly.

4.30 p.m: Managed to submit my forms at The Hub. Returned to the computer lab and found out that the server is still down. Heaved a sigh, sat down and resume waiting.

4.45 p.m: The IT consultant received a call on his cell phone then returned to us saying, "good news...All of you can go home now. Just come back tomorrow at 11 am to complete your enrolment forms." Most of us gave each other the 'wtf-good news?!' look and packed away our things before exiting the building.

So yeah, this is my first day at RMIT...Unpleasant and frustrating. It's really sad because I've always looked at RMIT as a good university in the IT and Engineering field. Since the administration process has turned out to such a problem, I'm starting to doubt their university system. I really hope that this is just an incident which only happens once in a blue moon or I will begin to doubt fully about them...

*MyRa*  

T-shirts, hot pants, trendy sunnies and flip-flops...These are a few accessories people are wearing this summer. But there's nothing better than a large cup of Boost Juice to quench one's thirst! Okay, guilty as charged, I am a real Boost Juice addict. I can't go on a week without Boost Juice. I know many of my friends have told me before that this drink is just made up of some fruits, yogurt and ice and there's nothing much to be amazed about. But to me, it's the interesting yet tasty mixture of fruits and the refreshing feeling after consumption that makes me want more everytime. So, why not turn in your cup of Frappucino for Boost Juice today?

Phew! What a relief...The unpacking process of my luggages was terrible. I'm just glad it's over. Went out for a walk along Errol Street after lunch. The weather right now is scorchingly hot. Even Malaysia's weather is better since it is hot and humid at the same time. Talked to mum and dad on the phone this morning. I'm already missing them. It might take a while for me to get use living here again but I hope that I will soon.

Speaking of which, today's my dad's birthday =) Yeah, it is sad that I had to go a day before his birthday but I just hope that he's having a good time back home. I'll always love you, dad. You are always my hero!

Oh not to forget, Sophia, my good buddy...Happy birthday to you as well! Sorry I can't hang-out with you on this very day but just so you know, you'll always be my close friend =D Thanks for being a part of my life.

Well, guess I'll just end here for now. Something smells really good in the kitchen. Wonder what's for dinner tonight...Lol! Cheers!

*MyRa*

I survived the customs! I'm back in Melbourne and still in one piece! Lol! Got to start unpacking now...