2007; the year everything changed for me. I had left secondary school and started at Ayr College. A once semi-popular SHOUTcast Statistics program was put on hold. I was starting to realise that something which won’t make me any money in the long run isn’t worth working on, whereas college will eventually get me a degree. I started development of “Statistics” in around 2004 when I was a young visual basic developer using visual basic 6! It really was a big deal for me to just stop coding my software and focus on what really mattered. I suppose I got through this by promising myself I’d complete “pre-beta statistics version 4″ which was now lying on my Rysin Online site doing nothing. Essentially frozen. Who cares? What an idiot.
I loved my “versions” and made a huge deal about my software when really it wasn’t that big of a deal; my secondary school computing teacher will never forget my needless boasting and general attention seeking I’m sure. It’s very strange; even now, consistent with secondary school, I notice that those who are gifted at programming are either very bad at other subjects (like myself) or are very good at other subjects but aren’t complete weirdos. I personally wouldn’t call myself gifted but a few folk have commented on how good some of my work is/has been. You only need to realise that anything is possible within the virtual world of a computer.
So off I went to do my Software HNC in 2007. What a failure. Late assessments. Two failed classes. I really didn’t put in the effort.So I got a second chance courtesy of the head lecturer; by merging an HND with the failed HNC units. Again, my assessments were all handed in at the last minute, at least they were in and I have my HND! I chose a Computer Networking Degree. Something I have always been interested in.
Yesterday. The last day before my Christmas holidays at UWS it was a good feeling knowing that all my assessments were in on time. For once I had kept on top of them, all be it at the last minute before each deadline. With no work to catch up on I started flicking through my old Rysin Online pages and realised I miss coding my software. I also realise that it would be pointless to continue with my old “Statistics” antics.
Two and a half years have passed and I feel I have matured quite a lot in that space of time. I’ve done some voluntary work with the Police, I’ve went through an HNC and HND, I started drinking slightly too much, and probably most importantly I got laid! In saying that, I’m not a completely different person from two years ago. Far from it.
I love programming. I always have. I always will. But I had to do a networking degree (rather than software) for a reason; I’d fail. Not because I can’t code but because I can’t cope with being absolutely hammered with assessments. A networking degree doesn’t mean you can’t follow a passion for software. Before mid-2007 I’d always done programming in my spare time. If I’m honest I’ve not got any better; you don’t get better at something you’ve stopped doing. But it’s time I started again and started catching up.
I feel I made the perfect decision in doing Networking over software. A good friend who I met at college went off to UWS in Paisley to do software. She’s good at keeping up with assessments and she’s finding it really tough. I help out wherever I can but a lot of it’s not coding based! What’s the point in that? Even If I do my networking degree, get a networking related job I’ll still do lots of programming in my spare time. I can’t help it. A 17 year old me would have to be making at least one piece of software at one time and I’m beginning to regain this constant need.
So this week, I started drafting plans (yes, drafting plans, I know! I surprised myself, usually I dive in) for a new piece of software. Those who know me will know I can’t resist: I’ve named it “Status Ticks”. Lots of modules will be used from Statistics so for this reason the name on the about screen I plan on labelling “Statistics Version 5″. No one cares but I do. I took great pride in my Statistics software and although its whole concept is changing and I should rename it totally; I can’t. Statistics 1 - 4 were actually quite basic in principal and core programming. They connected (for some reason through winsock, why?) to a shoutcast server HTML page which told it details about the radio station. Well Status Ticks will check the status of a web page at a set interval of time (hence “Status Ticks”) and inform you of any updates. This could be anything you choose. Imagine you told it to monitor the headlines on the BBC News website. An alert window would pop up and tell you the new headlines. You could even set it to monitor the good old SHOUTcast radio server and do what it does best! But this wouldn’t be standard; I draw the line somewhere. I plan on redoing the Rysin Online site soon in preparation for this software which I also plan on making some sort of profit from. I really need to as I’m struggling to even buy a weekly pint here.
I plan on updating this blog on a regular basis. Not only to keep a log of how Status Ticks is coming on but also general life. No one will really care I’m sure but it’s always good to keep a log. I’ve missed doing “Rysin Online” in my spare time. And who knows how much spare time I’ll have next semester however slowly but surely my website will be resurrected!
“I love programming. I always have. I always will.”
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