I washed my iPod shuffle (first generation, a present from last summer), including earphones, in a Maytag Newton heavy duty washer this evening. It’s a little cold and smells mildly like detergent but it seems to work all right so far.
I spent last summer (summer 2006) in New York working as a programmer (Java, some scripting, a cool templating language called Velocity, HTML, CSS) for a big investment bank. It was a very good experience: the work was interesting, I love New York, I met some very interesting people, and the monies were pretty decent. So much so that I am very likely to keep doing it, at least in the short run, after I graduate.
I am now a senior® !!! And I am actually doing comps®. For those unfamiliar with Carleton parlance, “comps” is short for “comprehensive exercise.” It is a big project undertaken by seniors in all majors: what one might call a “senior thesis.” The actual details vary from major to major. In my major Computer Science, comps takes the form of a group project in which we work on an interesting Computer Science problem. More information on Computer Science comps can be found here. I am part of the Recommender System For Choosing Courses group, though our project has somewhat changed direction: more on that later, hopefully.
I am also taking Artificial Intelligence and Elementary Number Theory, and I am doing an independent study called Human-Computer Interaction. They are all keeping me pretty busy, but I have also been making some time for table tennis, Mortar board and Yahoo! crosswords.
Time flies (fast!) when you are having fun. It’s already Spring Break ®, and it’s JUNIOR YEAR !!! Ah well.
So yes, winter term is over. It was pretty good: I enjoyed all my classes (Database Systems, Algorithms II, Microeconomics, Fencing, Guitar); we finally got a few computers set up for NEO (NEO is the on-campus organization that refurbishes old computers and gives, or has been trying to give, them to students who can’t afford them); the Table tennis club started practice; and I made some progress getting together my pages for the yearbook. And most importantly, I joined the Moustache Club :-{) (picture forthcoming).
Anyway, I am staying on campus for Spring break, unlike previous years when I went on Habitat for Humanity trips (read this post, for example). Those were a lot of fun, but this time, I just decided to stay here and, as they say, “chill.” There is a lot I am planning to do, though:
I will post more about each of these things as I get around to it.
Speaking of spring break, I must mention that it is not exactly “spring” break, especially for people living here. A lot has been said and a lot will be said about Minnesota weather and believe me when I say that it’s probably all true. In fact, the longer I have lived here, more have I become convinced of the truth in the popular saying that Minnesota has two seasons: winter and construction. Actually, I would further say that Minnesota is confused about her weather, and is never quite sure what month it is and which hemisphere she is in. In fact, it’s mid-March now, and this week, we have had two big snowfalls. Of course, it looks good with covered in white, but I wouldn’t mind its being spring during, well, spring break.
Finally, here are a couple of pictures of what spring break looks like (more can be found at the gallery):
Bench outside Scoville
Bikes in front of Sales [Click for larger]
This summer, I am in Eden Prairie, as a “Software Development Engineer Intern” at Stellent, Inc. which makes, among other things, content management software. The work is interesting; I have been doing some Java programming and learning a lot of stuff, mainly about Stellent’s own software.
It has a been a at-times-hot and at-others-rainy-and-stormy summer here in Minnesota. I have been doing a lot of biking, reading and movie-watching. Look out for a list and (hopefully) some reviews of books and movies soon. There are also more pictures now, including those from New York, the summer and my 4th of July vacation.
midterm blues
This past week was the 5th week of Carleton’s 10-week spring term, infamous as the “midterm” time when exams and papers reign supreme. For me, it actually started during 4th week, and was made worse by a toothache. Here’s a sampling of what I had to do and suffer:
$filename = $ARGV[0] or die; and chomp; ?At the end of it all, this is what I looked like:
Amrit during 5th week
But then when last Friday (April 29) finally came and I got to shave etc., this is what I looked like:
TGIF !
site updates
Finally, some updates. I now have an album on Gridley gallery. There aren’t many pictures there yet, but they willl be coming soon. There is now also a slightly unattractive links page where you are bound to find something useless. You can get to both places by clicking on the links at the top of this page. Also forthcoming are pages for my courses at Carleton and some software.
other
On other news, I learnt last week that I have been accepted to work next year as a writing tutor for the Academic Support Center at Carleton. I will be a writing tutor for four hours a week and for the remaining six hours of my work-study, I will be an ACA at ITS.
And yes, I am now the top amrit tuladhar on Google’s search for “amrit tuladhar”. 
As of 8th April 2005, I am officially a CS major. The Buddha, however, said that change is the only unchanging thing, so who knows what tomorrow will bring?
From 15th to 27th March, I went on a Habitat for Humanity Collegiate Challenge trip to Greeley, Colorado. Although the break was 10 days long, we actually spent only 4 days working on site. We spent 3 days at the beginning of the break travelling to and staying at Pine Ridge, South Dakota, and 3 days at the end travelling to and staying at Lincoln, Nebraska and Omaha, Nebraska.
The following is a picture from the Badlands in South Dakota, where we spent a day hiking and trying hard to avoid falling off cliffs (thanks to Brennan and Greg for the picture):
At Badlands, South Dakota. From left: Greg, Julie, Maggie, Ashton, Casey, Annie (below Casey), Jeff, Diana (below Jeff), Callen, Bill, Isaac, Seth, me, Peter (Carleton alum, teaches in Pine Ridge at Red Cloud High School) [Click picture for larger image (366 KB)]
And here is one at the Coors brewery in Golden, Colorado: (thanks to Maggie, who took the picture, Brennan and Greg for the picture) :
At Coors brewery, Golden, Colorado. From left: Jeff, Casey, Julie, Diana, me, Brennan, Callen, Annie, Seth, Isaac, Ashton and Bill. [Click picture for larger image (283 KB)]
There will be more pictures (hopefully from Greeley itself), as soon as I scan my pictures and set up a gallery, which might happen this weekend, or next year.
On March 7th, I performed a short piece, Andante in Am by Matteo Carcassi, at the Carleton students guitar recital.
Student Guitar Recital
There were around 30 people present, including other performers, and though the atmosphere was very relaxed, I was slightly nervous, it being the first time I performed anything on stage. I think it went pretty well, and you can judge for yourself by downloading an MP3 (1.25 MB) of my performance, courtesy John Ellinger, senior lecturer in music at Carleton. MP3s of other performances can also be found on his website, which is accessible only on campus at Carleton.