diploma

just one big stress for all of us. things would be very good if people at university stopped shifting the deadlines back and forth and giving us unrealistic information daily.

me, Alex and Anya have chosen such a supervisor who will not help us with the project at all, but will cover us, sign papers etc. She let us work by ourselves without sticking her nose into what we do. Fine, that's what we wanted. And that surely was great for her since she just didn't do anything but had 3 people who have good projects. But she could have at least keep an eye on the deadlines and let us know, and not have us waste time on coming to university every time to hear that the deadline was shifted. Now we have the pre-diploma defense on monday, but she won't be present as she will be in Albany on business.

What for Mary, oh really she is an extremely patient person to have that supervisor. the man is a mathematician.. and a painter (he believes he is and that his pictures are wonderful). He would have her take photos of his pictures, help his other student and god only knows what. she would have her run here and there, pressed with every possible way... but didn't help her project in fact. So yes, we better not complain :D i would have killed that supervisor on the next day!

Anyway. Yesterday Mary and Vova had their pre-diploma defense. the committee was the head of chair of "multimedia and programming", the supervisor, a professor of network, 2 of his students, and us.

I can't decide who of them was the dumbest. probably to decide that we should have given them a test or something like that. i was there, i listened to Vova and Mary for the first time but somehow i understood what they were explaining. the questions that the professors asked were really professionally dumb.

Vova is a designer, he is not a programmer. his project was organization of a virtual museum. he designed the museum using 3dsmax, added music background and when you went on a tour in that museum, a 'guide' would tell about every picture on the wall. i think it's a great idea and the museum itself was a very interesting and useful project. any painter can have his virtual museum as it doesn't make much difference what paintings hang on the walls.

Q.: so you can add any photos?
A.: yes any.

Q.: even from a digital cam?
A.: .. any photos ..

Q.: so what was the 3dsmax part there?
A.: .. the whole museum.. everything except for the paintings..

Q.: ah so you designed just a museum, that's all.
supervisor: why don't you say that the frames of pictures are your work too??
Q.: really? wow!

Q.: so if i am a painter, photographer or whatever i can use that to put my paintings into the frames?
A.: well it will take me smth like a day to replace the photos and to add the necessary information, change the menu etc.
Q.: see? if that was a program that you could sell to a pinter..
me: i'm sorry but he is a designer.
Alex: if a programmer writes that program it will be what you want.
Q.: but didn't he study programming?
me,Alex: surely he did, but do you really believe that it was enough to write such a program?? :D:D the programming taught here is definitely far from being enough to write any normal program :D:D

etc. Mary's project was too complicated for them to understand, but she spoke in such a way that they didn't ask much questions and just were absorbed by the pictures and all. Check out her blog for more information :)

Now some photos..


head of chair of multimedia and design... who knows pascal, some algorithms of Noah's times and how to convert digits from binary to 10-based, 16-based system etc. He has some cool degrees and was educating people in... Algiers.


Mary's supervisor smoking at the chair of informatics.


reflection in the notebook

for the rest of the photos, go here:

Friends - ERIICTA