In which Pearl forgets...again.

Ah!! Gomen nasai, minna-sama! *bows down repeatedly*
I totally forgot about this blog entry... Please forgive me...
My excuse? Er, well, you see... After school I went to Fairview for a reunion with my classmates (it was a failure, though, because barely anyone showed up). Then I had a headache so I went home. I got home at around four-ish and went straight to bed. Now, uh, I...didn't wake up until...11:30 PM, when my mom was getting ready for bed. She told me to go to sleep, so I did. I woke up at...2 PM the next day. So you see...I didn't even go on the computer for the past three days. I guess I was suffering from sleep deprivation. The past week...I barely got a day of sleep.

So, Friday was the last day of school before Winter Break. It was a half day, so classes were only 45 minutes long. Because of this drastically shortened day (and most likely the fact that it's the last day of school), teachers decided to put away the old teaching handbook (I'm guessing here) and have a relaxed class. In my English and Science classes, we had a small party and conversed with each other. In my French class, Mr. Vretranos gave us a little talk (nothing serious) and we got the rest of the period to chat with our friends.

In ICS, Mr. Arkin gave us another work period. Zarin-dono and I worked on the "Window Edge-Tracer" program. I figured out why the rectangle wasn't going to the last row - it was because I hadn't used the dot-dot option after my put CHARACTER statement. And lo and behold! It was fixed and working perfectly!Until...

Mr. Arkin told Zarin that our if statements should be separate. However, when I did that, the rectangle did not go to the corners of the run window. I need to fix that glitch, and I'm planning to do so over the break.

---This next part does not pertain to computer science at all, so you don't have to read it---

I admit it. The pain of staying away from anime, manga and video games has finally caught up to me, and I'm facing withdrawal symptoms. The past week, because I've been working so hard on editing people's essays and doing my own; as well as the homework from other subjects, I didn't get to read one fanfic, one manga, one doujinshi... I didn't get to watch one crime show (other than Hawaii Five-O, and that was on Monday), one anime... I didn't even get to draw, for goodness' sakes! And my DS had been broken since August...August!!! So...I admit to "binging" on these things, as well as sleep for the past three days. *smile*
I believe that the aforementioned factors have also made me quite irritable and grumpy, too.

Nevertheless, I have recovered! Now I'm off to look for an old video game that will work on a PC, so I can cure that video game withdrawal! Oh, and I need to write a Christmas-themed fic as well~ I have a pretty good idea. It's fluff. Fluff for the holidays~
(And Zarin-dono, don't worry, I have a good idea for your Sebby/Ciel fic too~)

Anyways, have a great Winter Break, minna-san~!

Merri Kurisumasu! (Merry Christmas!) Happy Hannukah (though I believe that it has passed)! Happy Diwali! And Happy Holidays!




Image belongs to Owaranai Kiss.
Saber and Fate/Stay Night (c) Type-Moon

 

In which Pearl regains her pep

Konbanwa, minna-sama!
Hm. "Pep" is a bit outdated, isn't it? Oh well. Anyways, as the titles suggests, I was actually alive today! It's strange, though, because I only got four hours of sleep last night/this morning. (But hey! I got the last hour of sleep after I finished my French test second period!)

Today I got my "Follow the Bounce" code fixed (thanks to Nicole), and completed my "Window Edge-Tracer" code. I need to fix a small glitch on the latter, but otherwise I'm done!

That....is all I have to say. I'm in the middle of editing a friend's essay right now, so I'm keeping this short.

Tomorrow is the last day of school before winter break! Ha...I can finally catch up on my sleep...

In which Pearl struggles to write a code

Konbanwa, minna-sama.

As usual, I'm feeling very tired and lethargic. Add in some stress because the majority of my classes are "behind" the other Grade 9 Pre-IB classes of said subject, and you have the perfect formula for exhaustion. If it's possible to get more than 7 hours of sleep a night in the next few days, I'd like to take advantage of that. Otherwise I might really fall asleep in Science. (And no, I absolutely cannot afford that!)

I think my overall average went down a lot, and it's got me worried. I already knew that my Science mark would drop, I just didn't expect it to drop so much. I'm even dropping in ICS, and I feel horrible, especially after Mr. Arkin gave his speech about expecting us to get over 80% on the recent programming test. I made stupid mistakes...very stupid mistakes...

Anyways, today we continued working on the "Follow the Bounce" program. Last night (this morning?), I had gotten a large part of it done. The only problem was that there were (I'm exaggerating here) a million loops, so that even I got confused - and I was the one who wrote the thing! So, yes, when Randi came over and told Zarin and I that the program only needed to consist of one loop...I...cried. All my hard work, gone! Well, it's nothing to lose sleep over.

By the end of the period, I had gotten a pretty good idea of how to do it. Of course, that included a ton of desk checking (in my head, because it would take too long to do it on paper) and tracing the execution (with the computer). Now, I only need to fix a little glitch and it'll be perfect! Of course, I could never have gotten this far without help! Thank you to everyone who helped me, you know who you are!

I really like this program (staring at it is fun!), so I'm going to create an executable for it. I want to send it to my mom so she can see it (and maybe even show it off to her colleagues at work). Teehee.

For homework, I need to start on the "Window-edge Tracker" program. I have a pretty good idea about how to do it, but I don't want to spend an excessive period of time on it, since I have a big essay for English that I need to finish. I also agreed to editing Zarin-dono's essay (and I'm perfectly happy doing so - I don't mind at all)!

So, I'm off to work now.
Mata ashita, minna-sama!

In which Pearl is in a bad mood

Konbanwa, minna-sama.
I'm really not in a good mood today. I think...school has made me very irritable, impatient and short-tempered. I mean, today I blew up at Zarin-dono for no good reason (and I felt really bad after, even if I didn't show it). Mr. Arkin even thought I said the F-word, when I was just saying "function", and I'm not afraid to admit that I felt annoyed at that (which put a damper in my mood, and that was just second period!). For Goodness' sakes, if it wasn't clear before, I will never swear at anyone - especially my good friends! But I must also admit that I felt bad after raising my voice, specifically because I didn't even argue something correct.

Anyways, we did our Test Review today, and we got back our tests. I am extremely disappointed with my mark - it dropped dramatically from what I got on the last test. I think the problem was that I only covered very basic, simple ideas (even though I made sure I knew and understood everything on the Skills Inventory), and the questions on the test went a bit further than what I bothered to study. However, I will not say that it was unfair, because I believe that Mr. Arkin actually gave me more marks than I deserve (and I won't argue with him on that)! And so... Thank you very much, Mr. Arkin!

After he handed us our tests back (and yes, we had to get them signed), he showed us some simple animations. The program we have to write tonight is actually really fun to watch. I'm not sure how to describe it, but when I manage to figure out how to write the code, I will create an executable for it so I can show my friends on their computers. (Ha, yes, it would be something I'm proud of; and yes, I love watching those kinds of animations.) Oh, yes! Mr. Arkin taught us how to create executeables today as well. It's actually very simple: all you have to do is click on "Generate Stand-Alone Program" under "Run" on the menu.

I started on said program in class, but it's not done yet and I still need to fix a certain glitch. I actually got home at around 5:30 PM, and have been editing a friend's essay since then. Yes, I take editing very seriously and I make special care not to explicitly say "You must do this!" Hopefully he takes the time to read the comments I made - I explained all of my edits - and took them into consideration.

Right. Until tomorrow, everyone~

In which Pearl suffers from embarrasment

Konbanwa, minna-sama.

I'm feeling tired and lethargic, as usual. I think I'm getting more and more irritable as the months progress; and by doing so, I'm annoying my friends, family and acquaintances/colleagues. Hopefully the Winter Break will allow me to recover. Only one more week! And the countdown to Winter Break begins...

Today we had our second programming test. There were a few people who were spazzing out because Mr. Arkin never told us when the exact date of said test was, only that it was (and I quote from the Daily Log) "On the week of 13 December". I actually found out second period, because my class (homeroom) was right next to the Lab in which I have ICS. Personally, I was more worried about other subjects like Science and English. (See, I have a lot of trouble with the former, and a huge essay is due this week for the latter.)

I thought that test itself was pretty easy. There were only two questions that I had difficulty with, and I had figured out one of them in due time. That one was the first question on the back, where you had to write what would be displayed on the run window. At one point, the code said something like this:

p := anchor
s := website

p (index (s, "s"))

I was incredibly confused, because I had focused directly on the second part of this...um...statement. I actually thought the correct output for this part of the statement was "4" (because 's' was the fourth letter of "s" [the string]). Then, when I went over it again, I realized that I had to put the fourth letter of "p" [the string], which was h. I'm glad I figured that out!

The other problem I had was with Question 3, which I'm positive I got wrong. I know a function is a subprogram that returns a value; and a procedure is a subprogram that performs a defined task. However... I'm not sure about when it is legal to call them.

Now... Mr. Arkin had told us that we cannot hand in our test in the last five minutes, so when he called out "five minutes left", I started to panic. But... no one else handed it in yet, so I assumed that I should get up and give it to Mr. Arkin. His response to my getting of the chair: "Sit". *cries tears of embarrassment*

*ahem* Yes, well, anyways! After the test, he gave us an introduction to graphics. I think it's in preparation for culminating... *spazzes out* I...really need that break.

That's all for today! Until tomorrow~!

In which we achieve our goal!

Konbanwa, minna-san~
I think I was still "drunk" from International Night this morning. Heh, not even. I was "drunk" the entire day. I'm going to sneak in a fangirl moment here and say "Oh my God, the Korean groups were so awesome!!!" (Y'know, I'd replace "awesome" with another word [that starts with "h" *wink*] but it's probably not a good idea to say that here.) Ha, now I have renewed respect for Asian boy bands. *cue fangirl squeal* The song's still stuck in my head: Again and again and again and again...

On the other hand, I'm exhausted. After I got home and ate dinner (yes, I get home almost right before dinnertime) I went to sleep. I woke up at 9:30 PM, mentally kicking myself for not writing my blog first. Then again, the minute I go on the computer I won't be able to get off of it for a while. So, yep, that's why I'm doing it now.

*cough cough* Anyways!
Today was the last day we had to review programming in our groups. As I mentioned in the blog title, I think we achieved our goal. My group went over all the Programming Concepts noted on the handout Mr. Arkin gave us quite a while ago. I made sure I understood everything there, and if there was anyone who needed something to be explained to them, I tried to help. (Hopefully they understood after my efforts!)

I love helping others. *smile* I want to be an elementary school teacher, so it's actually helping me prepare for the "challenge" as well.

On another note, I need to start preparing for exams and culminating. Over the break, I plan on taking all my binders home and creating study guides for each one of my subjects, especially Science. Hah... That's what made me "sober". Mr. Pourkhatai returned out Ecology tests today after school, and I got a...horrible mark that will undoubtedly bring down my average.

Dakedo...oyasumi, minna-san!

---

Translation: So...good night, everyone!

P.S. For anyone that's interested, there's a Japanese boy band called NewS (also, NEWS, News) that's actually good. Sorry, I used to hate boy bands in general because they sang about...fickle concepts. Like love. (Dear God, I must sound morbid now.) But yeah, they sang for the seventh One Piece movie. It's called "Sayaendo". The translation's cute.

In which we review programming in groups

Kon'ichiwa, minna-san~!
Tonight was International Night, so Zarin-dono and I stayed at Maryvale library (at Parkway Mall) until around 5:30, when we walked back [to school]. (God, it was cold!)
Anyways, the entire show (concert?) was amazing! I'm so glad I decided to go. *smile*

Last night, Zarin-dono and I went through the Skills Inventory, briefly going over certain aspects of it and taking note of the concepts we didn't understand.

Anyways, yesterday I mentioned that we got into groups to help each other catch up/fully understand programming, right? We continued doing that today!

It was sort of funny, because I had no idea that there were two kinds of loops. When Mr. Arkin and Zelin tried to explain it to me, I got even more confused, and was like "ne?" *cue cute head tilt*
But eventually I understood! And when I did, I felt extremely stupid.

I think that my group made good progress today! We're going to continue doing that tomorrow. By Monday, I'm sure my group and I will be "Level  4" Computer Science students!

In which we learn about procedures

Konbanwa, minna-san!
I...get obsessed with different series very easily. Sometimes my love for a certain series dies out. (For example, I used to adore Hot Gimmick, but now it's...meh. It's not like I don't love it anymore (I mean - who can resist Ryoki-sama? *wink/fangirl squeal*), but it's just not as important to me.) But at other times, I will continue to love that series forever and ever... Like Inuyasha. I started watching it, what, six...years ago? I still adore it. And FullMetal Alchemist, which I started watching at around the same time. Of course, I absolutely cannot forget Detective Conan/Case Closed~! I'm a huge mystery/detective fan, so I love this one. Right now, I love Durarara!! It has a really unique/amazing/epic/addictive storyline and even more unique/amazing/epic/addictive characters. I don't want to stop loving it...



From left: Izaya Orihara, Anri Sonohara, Mikado Ryuugamine, Masomi Kida, Shinra Kishitani, Shizuo Heiwajima. The figure in the moon is Celty Sturlson, a dullhan.
Durarara!! (c) Ryohgo Narita

 Ah, but these are simply the ramblings of a crazy fangirl/writer. To get back on topic...

According to my Programming Glossary, a procedure is a subprogram that performs a defined task. It is very similar to a function. However, a procedure does not have a result (because it's not returning a value) and it can have zero or more arguments. An example of a procedure with zero arguments looks like this:

procedure sayHello
     put "Hello!"
end sayHello

sayHello

This code outputs "Hello!"
However, you can "upgrade" it, using an argument. This code will output "Hello, Shizu-chan!"

procedure greetUser (greeting : string, userName : string)
     put greeting + ", " + userName + "!"
end greetUser

greetUser ("Hello", "Shizu-chan")

Simple, ne? *smile*
Of course, if this was Izaya-kun speaking, Shizu-chan would say: "Get out of Ikebukuro!!!"
D'awws, we love you, Shizu-chan~

You can also ask the user to give you the greeting and name. However, then you must make greeting and userName variables (within the procedure, if that makes sense).

procedure greetUser (var greeting : string, var userName : string)
     put greeting + ", " + userName + "!"
end greetUser

var greeting : string
var userName : string

put "Greeting? " ..
get greeting : *

put "Name? " ..
get userName

greetUser (greeting, userName)

Got it? *smiles again*

Well, I hope that explanation was plausible. I'm generally horrible at explanations (and you wonder how I'll ever become a teacher).

Anyways, after we were taught how to create a procedure, we evaluated ourselves on our understanding of programming. Then we got into groups based on our evaluation. By Friday, Mr. Arkin wants us to fully understand all the concepts of programming! With a bit of work, I'm sure we can do it~!

Ganbatte, minna-san~!

In which we learn about functions

Konbanwa, minna-san~!
I'm so tired... Luckily, I don't have a lot of homework tonight. I'm going to draw: something I haven't done in a long time. I need to improve my skills. See, one day, I want to draw a manga. Nothing too long - it'll be a oneshot. I already have a few ideas floating around in my head, but I don't want to get into them here...

So, as the title of this blog post mentions, we learnt about functions today. If you take a look at my Programming Glossary, you'll see that the definition of a function is "a subprogram which returns a value". The actual structure of a function is actually quite simple. Take this for example:

function sum (integer1 : int, integer2 : int) : int
     result integer1 + integer2
end sum

put sum (1, 2)

The program above will output the sum of 1 and 2, which is 3.

It is basically saying that sum will return the sum of two integers. integer1 and integer2 are parameters, and the : ints mean that those two parameters will hold integers. Parameters only exist locally, which means that they only exist inside the function body.

The last : int means that the datatype that sum returns must be an integer.
All function bodies must have at least one statement: the result statement.

Personally, I'm still a little confused about all this, but I'm sure I'll understand with time. I'm not a very fast learner, but with trials and tribulations (ha, did anyone catch the Phoenix Wright reference I made there? *wink*) I manage to "get" the concept with time.

For homework, I have to figure out how the nextConsonant function should look like, and modify some substring assignments so they have functions in them. Derr.

On an ending note (and no, this has absolutely nothing to do with computer science, but I really want to say this)...
If you haven't heard "Every Time You Kissed Me" by Emily Bindiger, go listen to it now!!! It's from an anime called Pandora Hearts, and it's a very pretty song. I happened to stumble on it by accident, when I found a piano instrumental cover for another song on YouTube. I went to the uploader's channel, and he decided to take a look at this song.
One day, I'd like to do a cover for this song...

Anyways!
Oyasumi, to mata ashita, minna-sama!

---

Translation:
Good night, and see you tomorrow, everyone!

In which Mr. Arkin returns!

Welcome back, Mr. Arkin!

You see, our (very much missed) teacher had been absent the previous week (Yes, all five days of school!) However, we have been working hard on our Substring Assignments. With Zarin-dono's (much-appreciated) help, I had completed all of them by Friday! (Thank goodness, because I slept in on Saturday and I went to a Christmas party on Sunday.)

So, today was an extremely shortened day. There was an early dismissal: school ended at noon! Because Mr. Arkin was away last week, he wanted to show us model answers for the Substring Assignments. Besides, we were expected to complete all of them and have all the codes printed out by today. It was sort of funny, because he showed us a model answer for Assignment #1, then realized that he hadn't taught us the for keyword yet.

And so, the lesson was postponed for another lesson: the for loop. There are times in which a programmer wants to repeat a loop a certain amount of time. In the event that he or she needs to do this, the for loop is used. (I was frustrated, because I could have used this when I was writing the Substring Assignments, and it would've saved me a lot of time.)

Here is the basic structure of a for loop

for control_variable : startValue .. endValue
     put value
end for

The control_variable will increment itself by one starting from the startValue, and it will stop when the control_variable is greater than the endValue.
The control variable is not declared - the computer declares and initializes it for you.

Simple, ne? *smile*

And that was pretty much all we got to do today!

Oh, and now it's "shameless self-promotion time"!
I wrote a poem!
It's up on my Fanfiction account because it can be linked to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. (Actually, it is based on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.)
And while you're there, please check out my other stuff, too~! (I got flamed twice in two weeks, so I've been feeling pretty down. Now, if those people had told me what I could improve on, it might not have hit me so hard. See, I'm very serious when it comes to my writing: I want to become an author when I grow up. So if there's anything you guys see that I could improve on...please tell me!)

Arigatou gozaimasu, minna-san~
Mata ashita!

---

Translation:
Thank you very much, everyone~
See you tomorrow!

In which Pearl swallows her pride

Before I do anything else, I'd like to apologize for being so pessimistic and depressing in my previous blog post. I was feeling very frustrated (at myself) for not being able to finish the last two Substring Assignments (23 and 24). And, well, I tend to lash out at everyone when I get pissed off, even if the person (or persons, in this case) didn't do anything. I have my anger under control more often than not, but lots of things factored into last night, so, again, I apologize for my behaviour. *bows down*

Ah, pride. If I haven't told you before, it's the sin that I'm guilty of possessing. If I am forced to ask for help on a subject that I am good at, my pride takes a blow. And I become bitter. So, I apologize to anyone I seemed angry/annoyed at.

From the left: Pride & Alphonse Elric from FullMetal Alchemist.
Pride is one of the Seven Deadly Sins. Although he takes the form of a little boy, he can heavily damage Al, an experienced fighter very much bigger in stature than him. (Al's soul is in the metal suit because of an alchemic incident explained at the start if the series).
Disclaimer: FullMetal Alchemist belongs to Hiromu Arakawa. This picture was found here.

As for what happened in class today:

In essence, I finished the last two questions which frustrated me so much with the much-appreciated help from Zarin-dono. She let me take a look at her code, and asked me to explain it to her so I was sure I understood what was happening instead of simply copying the code. Arigato gozaimasu, Zarin-dono!

Mr. Arkin was absent yet again! When I first heard about this in the morning (before class started), I got extremely angry because I had a breakdown last night, not being able to finish the last two questions. (That, accompanied by my mother's constant scolding - "Why don't you work harder? Then you might actually  be able to finish it before midnight!" [Dear God, can't you see I'm doing as much as I can?] - just made me crumble.) I had so dearly wanted to show him that I could finish all the assignments, nevertheless with some help.

On the other hand, that meant that we didn't have a substring quiz today. Mr. Arkin has not mentioned when it will take place, but the Programming test is next week, so I'm not even sure if it'll even happen.

To end, I'd just like to say: "Get well soon, Mr. Arkin!"

Have a great weekend, minna-sama!
Oyasumi nasai!

P.S. I'm going to a Christmas party on Sunday, so if you need to reach me, make sure you call on Saturday. (Then again, I tend to use the weekend to catch up on my sleep, so don't expect me to be awake until the afternoon.)

In which Pearl gets extremely frustrated

Over the past few days, I've gotten less than 24 hours of sleep. And so, if you find me to be irritable or sound annoyed, please excuse my behaviour. I'm actually extremely stressed out, on the verge of exhaustion. It happened once before, back in Grade 8. Every waking moment felt like a living hell, and I could barely keep awake even if I'd gotten 10 hours of sleep the night before. It took all my energy to walk, too. So, if you find me sleeping during my spare time (or even in class...), you know why.

Today I made sure all my assignments were correct. When I got home, I started working on Assignments 20+. I got stuck on Assignment 23, so I ate dinner and took a bath. When I returned back to the computer, I was a bit more clear on what to do. Unfortunately, I've been working on it since 9:30 PM and I'm still not done. (It's pretty much midnight now) Hopefully I'll get a bit more done, then I have to finish my English.

Tomorrow is the substrings quiz. Wish me luck!

In which Pearl tries to simplify her codes

Argh! I'm going to keep this short, because I have yet to start my lab report, which is due tomorrow. My fault, I spent way too much time reading that White Pine book. Which reminds me, if any of you have any time, go to the (public) library and look for Fear the Worst by Linwood Barclay. It's really good - I couldn't stop reading...until my friend, Keshini, called me. Yup.

We had a Spirit Assembly this morning! It didn't cut into this class, though. The X-Country team had to run out three times... Not that I mind.

Mr. Arkin was away again today - apparently he'll be back on Friday. I feel frustrated, because I still don't really understand the concept of substrings, and we're having a substring quiz on Friday.

I worked on simplifying my codes for Assignment 8 and 10 today. Unfortunately, it took the entire period for me to figure out how to do it. I feel pathetic.

That's pretty much it. In order to avoid writing out my science lab report, I'm going to finish a few more assignments now.

Oyasumi, minna-san!

In which Pearl goes into denial

Grahh!!! Why isn't FF working for me? *cries* And on the day when I can actually take the time to read some fics, too! Trust me (oh, hey, that's the name of the first Durarara!! ending! *grin*), not getting a sufficient dose of manga or anime really affects me. I mean, last week, I had completely cut myself off from anything other than homework just so I could get everything done well and properly. No MSN, no games, no drawing, no television (though I rarely watch it anyways), and no reading - not even manga! Ah, well, I was up one night (or morning, depending on how you look at it), typing something up for Science, when I felt sick. Like, I'm-going-to-throw-up sick. I decided to take a break and read some fanfiction, and it almost instantly got better. Well, I only read one. Usually I read at least five per week. So then...the next day, I felt even worse. My stomach hurt like crazy - perhaps a really bad cramp? - and every step I took made it worse. After I ate my lunch, I couldn't breathe properly and I was afraid I would vomit if I spoke. It was horrible. I read some manga when I got home, and it got better, so that was...good.

My conclusion: Manga is my drug. I suffer from withdrawal whenever I don't get my daily dose of it.

---

What I said up there is the truth and nothing but the truth; but I'll shut up about that and start talking about ICS now.

Mr. Arkin was away again today, so we had a guest teacher. She was the same person who came yesterday, and that makes me wonder if she'll be here tomorrow. Yes, that's right. Mr. Arkin will be absent tomorrow as well! In my head, I'm spazzing out, because I need him to explain Substrings to me properly. The web page doesn't help much. I can always ask Zelin or Hannah (in fact, today, Zelin helped Zarin and I fix/improve a couple of our programs), but whenever they explain something to me, I feel incredibly incompetent. And my pride takes a beating.

Ah yes, pride is my sin.

So, yes, today I improved Substring Assignments 3 and 4, improved Assignment 5, and worked on Assignment 6. I feel sort of ashamed, because I didn't get a lot done. I do, however, understand substrings a bit more now. Thank you, Zelin!

Ah, well, speaking of not understanding substrings... Zelin showed Zarin and I a way to make our code for Assignment 3 and 4 simpler, and I felt completely stupid because he used the star option, which I didn't (previously) understand. See, er, the only thing I really understood after reading the page were the length and index options.

So I hope to do better tomorrow! My goal is to finish up to Substring Assignment 10 by the time Mr. Arkin comes back. That means I have a lot to do! *sweat*

Wish me luck!

In which Pearl struggles with substrings

I'm exhausted mentally and physically... My fault, for staying up until 2:30 AM last night (this morning). And I didn't even get to drink tea this morning, so I had to trudge through the entire day without any caffiene in my system. By fourth period (French), I was falling asleep. Derr.

Today, Mr. Arkin was away, so we had a guest teacher. She didn't say anything, just let us in. (She made sure we were doing our assignments, though, so that was good).

So, I set to work, tackling the Substring Assignments. It took me a while, but I finally understood the concept. It took me about half an hour to figure out how to do Question 1 properly, but hey, at least I managed to do it, right? After that, things went really smoothly. I got to Question 4 and finished about half of it. I think I'll work on it a bit tonight, and either finish it or continue on tomorrow.

On another note, the programming test is postponed until next week - I just checked the Daily Log! I don't know whether to celebrate or be exasperated that I spent the better part of my weekend studying instead of doing other homework for other subjects.

That said, I just want to mention that I saw my classmates from middle school today. I'm so glad I went to the library (near my house). We stopped and chatted for a while, then went our separate ways. It's nice to see old friends. Over Winter Break, I plan on going out with friends from my old school - Eaton Centre on the 21st, and somewhere else later with a friend I haven't seen since Grade 5. (We still talk to each other every day on MSN, though.)

Mata ashita, minna-san~!

In which Pearl bows down in shame

Uwaah, gomen ne to shimimasen, minna-san! I forgot to write my blog yesterday! It was the Girls about Girls sleepover, and I went to Cinye's house to pass the time. I completely forgot about this, and I even thought I did it until Zarin-dono reminded me just about two hours ago. Grah... Again, I'm so sorry! *goes into seiza position and repeatedly bows down*

Yes, er, well, on Friday we got yet another work period. The night before, I was working on Repetition Assignment 13. I had finished the basic outline, but I needed to fix a certain (very annoying) glitch. It took me the entire period, but I managed to do it and print out the code! (With about five minutes to spare)

Zelin asked if he could desk check it, so I let him. And when he returned it, he told me that I got the Senior ticket price wrong. I had written "const SENIOR_TICKET_PRICE := 7.25", but the correct price is $7.50! Oh, how stupid I felt. I felt even more stupid after I noticed that I had copied down the exact question from the website, which included the prices. Grah... I must fix that before Monday.

On another note, I'm going over to Lisa's house tomorrow (Sunday) to study for both ICS and French - we have tests for both of these subjects coming up the following week.

I think that's all I have to say. I'm going to sleep now, as I need to get up early to finish my homework. (Plus, my mom wouldn't let me go if I didn't go to sleep right after I finished typing this up) Grah... I have to finish my PP article, do my English (which is actually not that hard), check to make sure my ICS binder is up-to-date, and write out a Science Lab Report (due Tuesday, so I can put that at the bottom of my list - for once).

Can I say a little something about the sleepover?
It was awesome! My group leaders were hilarious, and I laughed so hard my cheeks hurt! The dinner was delicious - lasagna and salad, with a side of bread. We even got cupcakes and chips as evening and midnight snacks (respectively). And there was karaoke~! The only part that I didn't like was that I got a headache at around 9 PM, and it got worse as the night progressed. It's probably due to lack of sleep - after all, I had gotten a total of 17 hours of sleep the previous three days. I took a nap at around 10 PM, woke up at 10:30, then went back to sleep at midnight. I didn't watch the movie.

I woke up numerous times in the middle of the night. The first time I woke up, the movie had ended. The second time, I heard these banging/popping noises. I got so freaked out! My first thought was, Oh my gosh, it's a gunfight. Then the logic kicked in, and I realized that if it was, then everyone would probably be screaming. I concluded that someone must've been setting up equipment for Saturday, and bouncing balls (some of them make a scary sound!). So, I went back to sleep. I woke up again to hear the same noise. I was a bit more awake then, so I decided that it could've been someone's air mattress. I went back to sleep. The next time I woke up, it was five minutes before 7:30 AM, and we were going to get up anyways. Hm.

Okay, this wasn't really "little", but I just had to talk about it. I had such a great time, and next year I want to be a leader!

...I'll shut up now. So, um, see everyone on Monday!
Ja ne!

In which we spend the majority of our time talking

The day started off with Mujtaba informing the class that we had the choice of taking Latin instead of French to get our Language credit next year. I knew this already, because we are in the same French class, and our teacher, Mr. Vetranos, was the one who told us about it. Personally, I'd love to take both. I've been wanting to learn Latin since Grade 3, but I don't want to stop taking French - after all, I've already spent five years in the Extended French program, so why drop it now?

Mr. Arkin told us about how valuable it was to know multiple languages. Being bilingual, trilingual, etc. is very helpful in many different aspects of life, especially getting a job. By the time we finished discussing this, half an hour had already passed. (Yeah...being worried about how much time we would have to actually work on our Repetition Assignments, I kept glancing at the clock. I would've looked at my watch, except it broke. Two months ago. *cry*)

So, after we closed the "forum" on languages, Mr. Arkin provided us with three points that will help one become a better programmer.

1. Read with precision.
2. Break a solution into an ordered set of steps.
3. Visualize contents of memory.

He suggested we read our code to another person, while explaining what each symbol or keyword does (for the first point). Zarin-dono and I sort of do this - we're halfway there. Before each one of us prints out the code, we switch places to take a look at the other's code, pointing out anything that is peculiar or incorrect. Then, we print the code out. This is great, because we save both paper and toner.

I do break a solution into an ordered set of steps when I program. I write half of the documentation section (programmer, date, file name, purpose), then before I do anything else, I think about what I will do. When I have a basic outline of the steps needed to reach the solution, I start writing the program. Like Mr. Arkin previously suggested, I start with the input/processing section. Every time I finish typing out a major action, I make the necessary changes or additions to the declaration and/or initialization sections.

I don't visualize contents of memory unless I am desk checking my code. However, after I do a test run (of my program), I look back at what I inputted and mentally check to see if the processing is done correctly.

---

Then, Mr. Arkin gave a brief demonstration of three ways Repetition Assignment 8 could've been done (for a certain part of the code).

Method 1
if integer > 0 and integer mod 2 = 0 then

Method 2
if integer > 0 then
  if integer mod 2 = 0 then
  ...
  end if
end if

Method 3 (using a boolean expression)
positive := integer > 0
even := integer mod 2 = 0

if positive and even then

The last one is cool, but it requires more variables. If I was writing the program, I would most likely use Method 1 because it is the simplest and most straightforward (in my opinion) out of the three.

---

When we got to go to our computers, we had fifteen minutes left. I barely did anything, because I needed to check over some other stuff.

All our programming assignments are due on Monday. I finished everything, but I'm not sure if I have all the codes printed out. Derr. I need to make a checklist (though  I'd probably lose it anyways).

On another note, tomorrow is the Girls for Girls sleepover. I won't be home until Saturday afternoon (I'm going straight to the library, then dance class after I leave the school.)  I'll do my best to write my blog entry tomorrow afternoon, but if it's not up, you know why. I promise to write it the minute I get to the library on Saturday, though. *smile* I'll make a mad dash for one of the computers!

I think this is the longest blog entry I've written so far, ne? I'll stop talking (typing?) now.

Ja ne, minna-sama!

In which we get our mid-term marks

Oh my, I thought I did this already. It's my fault for stalking the DRRR!! kink meme.
Ahem. Yes, anyways...like the title of this blog entry says, we got our mid-term marks! Although most people would argue that I did exceptionally well, I am quite disappointed with my average. It's not as if I think it's not high enough (believe me, this is the highest average I ever got); it's more like...the number is rubbing it in my face (that I didn't get a higher mark).
...Yep.

Well, back to the main topic. Mr. Arkin taught us about arrays today. In essence, an array is a keyword that allows us to take a large quantity of tokens using the same variable. It's very useful, especially when, for example, the user needs to input, say, one hundred items, prices, etc.

...Oh dear God, it's already 10:30 P.M. Where did the time go? Maybe I spent too much time reading fanfic today.

Right. After Mr. Arkin gave his lesson, he sent us to work on our Repetition Assignments. We were to write a modified version of question twelve, in which we use arrays. (Application of knowledge!) Zarin-dono and I finally finished it, after lots of blood, sweat and tears. I worked on part of Question 13 tonight, but it's still not done.

Ah, well, I should probably do my french homework now. I also have an English presentation tomorrow. Grah... Wish me luck!

In which Pearl gets a shock

Aw man, Mr. Arkin is hilarious.
"Some of you used special character entities for characters that are not special!"
Today was a great day.

We got our Printer Comparison marks today. Let's just say (again), I'm extremely happy with mine.

He started the less on by giving us a review on absolute and relative links (which, for me at least, was very much needed). An absolute link starts with a protocol, and can be used on any web page. A relative link does not start with a protocol, and can only be used on web pages that are in the same (root) directory as the file it links to.

An example of an absolute link is http://chibikarin22.deviantart.com/
(This links to my deviantART account.)

An example of a relative link is /EC/ICS2O/assignments/printer_comparison.html
(This tells the computer to start from the root directory and look for a folder called "EC", then look for a subdirectory in that directory called "ICS2O", and so on.)

Then he continued on by telling us about how we should properly write our HTML code. (Like the special character entity problem.)

After he finished his spiel (when I say "spiel", I don't mean for it to offensive, so please don't take it that way!), we went back to our computers and worked on Repetition Assignment 12. Not soon after, the bell rang, and I got a huge shock: I barely got twenty lines down! Grah...

Even after I got home, it took me at least half an hour to finish it. Zarin-dono Zarin-chan even pointed out that I got the GST and PST wrong. Heh. I guess I'm really tired today. And I have to write it out. The code is 104 lines...*cries*

On another note, I still have to finish that poem for the Lit section, write my News and Events article, and finish inking that birthday card for my friend from middle school. That's gonna be easy!

Ahem. Yeah, so until tomorrow, minna-sama!

In which Pearl kicks herself for making stupid mistakes

I did forget it at home.
By "it", I mean the code for the Modified Repetition Assignment Number 8.
...*depression*

And what's worse...is that I embarrassed myself in front of Mr. Arkin today. (But Zarin-dono was there with me, so that's okay! *shot*) Yeah... Trust me to display my terrifying math skills in front of a math teacher. Grah...

Today we continued working on our Repetition Assignments. Zarin-dono and I worked together on Question 9, which we ultimately finished with about ten minutes to spare. Why, you ask? That horrible math problem...
Zarin-dono's so good at it - she figured out the problem so quickly; whereas it would've taken me...hours(?) to solve it. Zarin-dono, I bow to your amazing arithmetic skills! *bows down*

Question 10 was started, but I barely got anything done on that part. I finished it at home, though. I also finished Question 11, and am in the process of writing out the code.
[Edit]: Nope, I'm done now. *cheers* And I put it in a folder that I always bring to school, so I won't "forget" this time! Ha!

On another note, I finished the Printer Comparison Assignment right before 10 P.M. last night, because I was afraid Mr. Arkin would change the FileZilla password. But he didn't, and I felt incredibly stupid. *cry*

I want to start on Question 12, but I need to leave soon. Plus I have Science, French and English homework as well.  Derr.

Ano, oyasumi, minna-san!
Soshite...mata ashita!

---

Trans. So, um, good night, everyone! And...until tomorrow!

In which Pearl works on Repetition Assignment 8

Huh...I almost forgot to write this...
After I got back home, I started reading Percy Jackson: The Last Olympian, since it is due on Monday. I wanted to finish it tonight, so I could spend the rest of the weekend working. Unfortunately... I almost always read lying down, and most of the time I fall asleep either in the middle of doing so or right after I finish. And lo and behold, I woke up (just in time) to do this! *sweat*

Although today is Thursday, there's no school tomorrow, as it is a PD Day. Mr. Arkin calls it our "undeserved" long weekend. Heh.
I wonder why they call it a PD Day? In middle school it was called a PA Day, which stood for Professional Activity Day. I think. So what does the "D" stand for? Hmm...

Anyways, back to computer class. Today we were assigned a new project, one that (surprisingly) has to do with HTML. Because we all had problems with getting our codes printed on time, Mr. Arkin is asking us to do a research project on at least two different types of printers and present our findings in a table. Of course, it's much more elaborate than how I just explained it.

The web page with the instructions makes the aforementioned assignment sound pretty easy, but - and yes, I'm speaking from experience - I know this will probably be what I'm working on for the majority of the weekend. *sigh*

On another note, we were supposed to do a modified version of Repetition Assignment 8, but I finished that in class. And I managed to print out the code - just before school ended, too!

Ah! I just realized...because tomorrow is a PD Day, we aren't going to have Studio 218! What a sad thought...

Have a good (long) weekend, everyone! I won't be writing again until Monday.

In which Pearl perfects Repetition Assignment 6

I'm going to make this short, as I have to finish my science.

Today we switched our codes for Repetition Assignment 6 with a partner and performed a code analysis and desk check on it.

I was partners with Alisha and Randi, and...they didn't suggest anything. So! I asked Mr. Arkin! He made some suggestions and informed me of a problem I had with it - my program didn't guard against 0! (I think that's what it's called) Neither Zarin nor me could figure it out, so we asked Hannah for help. Thank you, Hannah! I really appreciate it!

By the time we were finished, there were only fifteen minutes of class left. I started Question 8, but I didn't get far. Grr... For once, I'm going to do my Computer Science homework last, since I need to print out my science stuff.

How short... Ah, whatever. Until tomorrow, everyone!

In which we took a survey

Have I ever told you how much I love baths?
They put me in a dreamlike state...where I can escape from the stress of reality, even if it's just for a bit.
It's a wonderful feeling...

Anyways, today we had another work period. Sort of. The first thing he asked us to do when we came in was fill out a survey. It was similar to one that I wrote back in middle school. We were asked what aspects of the class we liked, those that we didn't like, and what should start happening. And, like most questionnaires, putting our respective names down was optional.

I had very little (one) complaints. And even so, it wasn't that big of a deal - just a personal pet peeve. I enjoy this class very much, so I had a lot to write for the first part.
...My friends tell me I write too much. Do I? I was...the second last...person to finish...

Grah...I'm a writer, I'm supposed to write a lot! *sweat*

Ahem. Er...continuing on! After that, Mr. Arkin asked for our best program code. My printer at home is broken, so luckily I went to the Lab during lunch and asked to print it out then. Thank you so much, Mr. Arkin! Hopefully I did well. He didn't call me up today.

While he was having individual conferences with my classmates, I worked on the repetition assignments. I had to fix Question 5, so that took up some time. I managed to finish Question 6 in class, so all I have to do tonight is Question 7. I might work ahead, too, since I...really don't like working on Science.

It's only six more days until my birthday! I'm happy and sad at once...
But you know, the best present one could give me is the chance to see my old classmates again. I really, truly miss them.
Otherwise... My dream present is the entire Detective Conan series. All the manga volumes (there's over 80 in Japan), all the anime DVDs (I'm pretty sure there's at least 700 episodes...don't know how many DVDs, but each one holds approximately three to four episodes [in Japan]; in North America, the most I've seen is seven per disc), and all the movies (the fourteenth one just came out in September). But that'd cost thousands of dollars, so I doubt anyone would ever get me that. Too bad, ne?

On an ending note, I changed the background of this blog yet again. This time, it's a wallpaper I made using Gimp. The two people on the left are Mitsuki and Eichi from Full Moon wo Sagashite. The actual photograph was taken by yours truly. *smile*
If you want to download it, you can go check my dA account.
Disclaimer: Full Moon wo Sagashite belongs to Arina Tanemura!
Time to work!

Oyasumi, minna-san!

In which we vigorously worked on our Repetition assignments

Haha...I was so hyper today...
Maybe because I was using the names of the characters from Durarara!! to test out the program for Repetition Assignment 3? Hmm...probably, yep.
I think I freaked out Zarin-chan. Hee. I love freaking my friends out. *innocent smile*

Well, today was a work period for our repetition assignments. Zarin and I worked together (sort of) and got to Question 4! *wince*
But that's okay, right? Because we finish the rest at home? *sweat*
Honestly, Question 3 was...frustrating. At first, I thought everything was fine; but then Mr. Arkin stated that we shouldn't ask the user whether to continue or not. Then I felt like "What? All my hard work - gone down the drain! *cry*" Yep.
Then I remembered one of the examples we did in class on Friday (was it Friday? I think it was Friday) and used that format. It should be right now. I even made sure the greeting was distinctive! As in, I made the background colour navy blue and the text colour white. So it's visible.

I also finished the basic part of Question 4, but I need to tweak it. Yes... Look forward to seeing that.

Oh yes, before I forget! We finally had Studio 218 today (it's been a long time) even though it's Monday, not Friday. Out of all the songs on the playlist, I know...about three. And two of them were ones I suggested. *sweat*
It's not my fault! I just don't listen to English songs anymore! Wait...then it is my fault. Derr...
But YouTube kept playing commercials, so Mr. Arkin didn't let us listen to the playlist anymore. *cry*
It sucks. I was watching Durarara!! the other day (on YouTube, yes, because for some stupid reason...CrunchyRoll wasn't working. Grah...), and I had to endure...thirty seconds...of commercials before it started. Argh!

On another note, Mr. Arkin posted up our midterm marks this morning. I won't say (type?) out mine here, but let's just say... I'm extremely happy with what I got. ...Heh.
Hopefully I can keep it up.

Anyways, I'm going to finish the rest of my homework now.
Until tomorrow,
Ja ne, minna-san!

In which we get our first official repetition lesson

Ne, ne, I can actually hit the target now! Sort of. Well...my best hit rate was 75%.
Grah...what am I saying? I'm still horrible.

Anyways, today we finally got to learn about repetition! The first thing Mr. Arkin showed us was a program that continued to show the text "Hello, world!" on one corner of the screen after another. He didn't show us the code, but instead moved on to teach us about loop.

When a certain action or actions need to be repeated, we use the loop procedure. Everything in the loop body gets repeated over and over until a certain condition is met. All the major actions that are repeated are inside what's called the loop body. To instruct the computer when to stop repeating these actions, you use the keywords exit when.

For example:

loop
     put i

     i := i + 1

     delay (1500)

     exit when i > 13

end loop

Yep. Except in here, "13" and "1500" are magic values. Normally you would use a constant (or variable, depending on the type of program) in their places.

As for what this program does, it simply incrememnts i (a given integer) by one every 1.5 seconds.
When i is greater than thirteen (in other words, when i is equal to 14), the computer stops looping these actions and performs the next action, if there is any. If not, then the program is finished.

Simple, ne? And I finished all the homework, too! Now all I have to do on the weekend is my science. And I want to draw a picture for Jessie's birthday, as well as continue my Durarara!! fic.

I wish Durarara!! had more backgrounds. I'm changing my background today (this morning?) because the current one is just too busy. I wanted to use a picture from DN Angel, seen below, but I couldn't find a...er, bigger one.

Risa-chan!
DN Angel belongs to Yukiru Sugisaki.

Therefore...I'm using my old Fate/Stay Night wallpaper. Hopefully you guys like it (yes, I really do care about that).

That's all I have to say about today. I've been feeling very...depressed these days. So, don't mind me if I suddenly slip into a younger version of myself. It's normal.

Ah, well. I should go to sleep now. I'll just change my background first. Sweet dreams, minna-san!

Lest We Forget - 11.11.2010

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow,
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below

---

Today is Remembrance Day, and to pay our tribute to the fallen soldiers not only from Canada, but around the world, Victoria Park joined in the minute of silence at 11:00 A.M. The last WWI veteran passed away earlier this year, but his memory - as well as that of his comrades - will live on.

The assembly was held during first period - Computer Science. My class went with the 10th graders because we are technically a Grade 10 class. (Students in the regular stream do not have the opportunity to take ICS until Grade 10.) It was much shorter than I'm used to, but nevertheless amazing in its own way.

Before we got called down to the assembly, Mr. Arkin showed us a model answer for the program we started to write on Tuesday. I...must fix mine.

---

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders Fields.

---

After that, we got into partners and tried to create model answers for each of the test questions. Alisha and I paired up, but we only got to question two before they called us down. When we came back, we got to question four.

Soon Mr. Arkin took up all the answers. I felt more and more depressed as he continued on, because I was sure I lost a large amount of marks due to stupid mistakes. (And I thought I did well! Gah...I shouldn't be so confident...) Then again, when I got my test back... I'm not satisfied with my mark - I'm sure I could have done better. But the good news is that Mr. Arkin will give us tests more frequently, which means more marks that contribute to our final mark.

On an ending note, I didn't use "in which" in the title of today's blog post because, well... Remembrance Day is important, and I want to stress the fact that we shouldn't forget about the soldiers who fought for our freedom.

---

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders Fields.

- Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae

---

11.11.2010

Lest we forget

In which Pearl feels ridiculous

Well, today was the "dreaded" day. Or, so I thought.
Remember how I said that Lisa and I had a two-hour-long study session over the phone? (Oh, God, my neck hurt like hell.) Yeah, well, it turns out that I didn't really have to study at all. I pretty much knew everything on the test already.

The only question I had trouble with was Question 3, the one where you have to explain why the error message appears. My first thought was "What? He never taught us this! ...I think." Heh. *sweat*
So I did the rest of the quiz first. Then I had to go back and think about that question (unfortunately). I remembered that I once got a similar error message, except with a different kind of operator. In the end, I made an educated guess. I really hope I got it right. *wince* Because I think I did surprisingly well on the rest of the test. Then again, I shouldn't jinx myself.

My favourite question, however, was the last one - in which we had to write a program. (Heh. Personally, I would've been so much happier if the entire test simply required us to write a variety of programs.) I got through the declaration and input section pretty quickly. Then, when I got to the processing section, I was stumped - for a while. See, I couldn't figure how to instruct the computer how to, er, figure out...which integer was the greatest. But then I was reminded of the and option (I knew it had something to do with selection!) and things went uphill after that.

If you asked me, I think I did pretty well on the test - it was much easier than I expected it to be. On the other hand, I could've totally bombed it. *wince* I'm just going to cross my fingers and hope for the best...

In which we all desperately study for the infamous Programming Test

I just returned from a two-hour-long study session with Lisa over the phone. Ha...we were both so tired...and we went through the entire Skills Inventory. I can now officially say that I believe I am prepared for the test tomorrow.

The whole period today was spent on reviewing the concepts we needed to know for our test. I was scrambling to take notes the whole time, while trying to come up with any questions I needed to ask. Unfortunately, the questions only come up when I actually go over my notes at my own pace. Hence, the evident panic and frustration I showed when I didn't understand a certain concept.

Of course, that two hour study session really helped. Thanks, Lisa! *wink*

Tonight, I'm going to sleep on my notes. *grin*
Why, you ask? Well, you see, I have this strategy (that's worked for me in the past). I sleep on my notes/binder, fervently praying that all the information that I need to know will magically lodge itself in my brain.
Don't laugh! It's worked for me before, and I got a 93% on my test! Bwahahahaha!!! *shot*

Ahem. Yes, er, well, I should finish my English now.

Good luck, everyone!

In which we hold a party for Mujtaba

Ah, today was refreshing. Strangely enough, I'm less tired when I get very little sleep. Remember how I said I was apathetic and lethargic a few days ago? That was when I got eight hours of sleep. Last night, I got about four and a half hours of sleep (due to my stupid Science project), and I feel completely alert today!
I'm very...strange in this sense.

Today we presented the posters we had been working on for the past couple of classes. My group went first, which in this case...wasn't a bad thing. However, Mr. Arkin kept telling me to talk louder when my group was presenting. I got really embarrassed, because to me, it seemed like I was shouting. I...don't cope well with oral presentations. The mediums I am most comfortable with are art and writing.

Then we went outside, into the hall, to put up our posters and copy down any important points we missed during the presentations. There was a problem regarding the way we put up said posters ("Use the grid! The grid!") but in the end, it was resolved.

Our class spent the rest of our period celebrating Mujtaba's newly-obtained citizenship. Congratulations!

On Wednesday, we have our first Programming Test! I'm sort of nervous...but I think I'll do fine - I mean, I did all the homework and made sure I understood everything. But a review sheet would make me feel much, much better. Heh. Just saying.

I'm doing the Code Analysis now, since I'll be leaving at six. So until tomorrow,

Ja ne!

In which we tie up loose ends

Ah, how I love baths... So warm and comfy...
They're a welcome distraction from the large amount of homework that I have to do after. Then again, so is manga...

Anyways! Today, we continued working on the poster we started last class. (See my previous blog entry for more information on that) My group...didn't cover all the sections outlined in the Programming Guidlines...But we did our best, and hopefully that will count for something!

Then, Mr. Arkin surprised us with a pop quiz! I missed the first one our class had, since I was at a X-Country meet, so I was quite anxious and nervous in the...five-ish minutes...he gave us to clear our desks and get out a pencil and an eraser.

When we got the quiz, I was extremely surprised! It just seemed so...easy! And it was! Even after I handed it in, I had the uneasy feeling that I missed something important - I mean, it couldn't have been that simple! Or maybe I'm just overanalyzing it. I probably am...

On another note, we missed Studio 218 again! It's so sad... Nevertheless, on Monday we'll...have a great time! *wink wink nudge nudge*

Haha, well, I'm off now! Time to go procrastinate by reading fanfic~ I need to catch up on Acerbus-chan's fics! (Er, I highly doubt that anyone knows who I'm talking about, so I'm providing a link. Just a warning though - she writes shonen-ai.)

Ja ne, minna-san!

In which we do a desk check

Aw man, I thought I already wrote this. Who knew desk checking could take so long? I'm so tired...

Well, the title is self-explanatory, isn't it? Today, we focussed on desk checking. Mr. Arkin gave us a copy of a model answer for Selection Assignment 6, and we were supposed to individually trace the execution of it. Of course, if we needed help, we could always ask a classmate or Mr. Arkin himself.

For me, it was relatively easy - just time-consuming. I performed the desk check three times, once for each possible route. (In which the conversion was cm-to-in, in which the conversion was in-to-cm, and in which there was an error when inputting the conversion choice) The biggest problem I had was remembering that the computer types in pencil, and the user types in ink. There has been many a time when I wrote the user's part in pencil and had to erase it and rewrite it. *sigh*

Then, we got into groups of four and put together a list of features that the code (for Selection Assignment 6) had. Mr. Arkin provided us with a copy of the  programming guidelines, so my group used that as a template. I tend to write titles and headings in print (because it's easier to discern it from the actual content), so it was hard to get rid of that habit. However, I made sure the actual points were in cursive. Besides, I normally write in cursive...when it's not a title or heading. *sweat*

It seems like I'm writing my blog entries later and later now. I keep thinking, "what happened to the time?" .

I still have to finish doing some research for Science and further memorize my script for French (our presentation's tomorrow!). But before I do that, I'm going to check the Daily Log in case I forgot anything else.

On a completely different note, my friend introduced me to a website where you can chat like the characters in Durarara!! do. You can find it here. They even have the same icons! It's too bad Shizu-chan never enters the chatroom...I'd love to use his icon, since he's my favourite character and all. *smile* I guess I can pose as Kida-kun (Bakyura) or Izaya (Kanra). If I want to be loved by Shizu-chan, that is...and I do...I really do...

Sorry for the above paragraph. I guess it sort of wasted your time. *wince*
I'm sorry! *bows down*
I'll shut up now.

Until tomorrow!
Ja ne, minna-san!

In which Pearl feels really...really...tired

I'm so glad I read the Daily Log today. Otherwise I wouldn't have known that I had to do this blog posting. My first reaction: "Whaaaaat?" *spazz*

Okay, now that that's out of the way (heh, my shock/disbelief is important), I'll talk about what I did today. Instead of going to school as usual, I went to my mom's office for Take Your Kids to Work Day. She's so organized, it scared me... She had made arrangements for me to go to each one of the sections of the company and get a little introduction. I don't deal well with meeting new people by myself, so it...was a bit terrifying. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the mini-workshops I attended very much.

First, I met with the Recruiting department. They didn't spend so much time explaining to us what they did (it's sort of self-explanatory, anyways) as they did talking about writing a resume. We got a sample resume, and wrote our own based on it. It reminded me of the first day of school, when we were suddenly bombarded with creating a resume. Oya...that was...a surprise.

Anyways, that got me thinking about getting a summer job - preferably at a newspaper office (like the Toronto Star) or a publishing company, but I doubt they'd hire someone with such little experience. So I guess I'll have to start where everyone does - fast food stores!

My second workshop was with the Communications people. Personally, this was my favourite part of the day. We acquired some presentation and communication skills through playing games. It's quite helpful, since I can apply the stuff I learnt to school presentations, or when I'm writing an essay.

One thing we covered was the pyramid theory. In a grouping pyramid, we have the main message at the top; then two to five reasons supporting the main message; then about three reasons supporting each point. It's the type of format I usually use for speeches and essays, so I'm pretty familiar with it. However, in an argument pyramid, we don't start with the main message. Instead, we start with a statement that everyone agrees on, along with a few supporting points which are reasons. Then, we introduce a "but", along with a few supporting points, also reasons. Finally, we suggest what we could do, and the supporting points are actions. The main message comes last.

I prefer using the argument pyramid, but it's much harder to do because there's always a chance that (a member of) your audience might not agree with you on the first statement.

The last thing I did wasn't really a workshop. I sat beside my mom and "shadowed" her. The work she does is interesting, almost secretarial. I wouldn't mind being a secreatary... I've always done quite well in that area. But I'd much rather be a teacher-turned-writer or a video-game programmer. Haha...

By the end of the day, I was exhausted! But we went to Indigos to look at books (what else?) and I stayed there for about an hour, admiring the manga section. Grah... They had Colour Bleach +! It's the newest Bleach fanbook, and it even has 50 colour pages! Fifty! But my mom wouldn't let me buy it. "It's not worth it," she says. Hmph! Well, manga and anime mean a lot to me. Couldn't she have just let it go as an early birthday present...? Even though I'm paying it from out of my pocket...

Well, I still have to alter the ATM outline program to guard against negative values. I'm almost done...
Then I have to post my fanfic up (the raw copy, since I haven't had time to revise it yet) and practice my French script. Ah...so many things to do...

Well, tomorrow I'll be back at school! Until then,

Ja ne!

In which we learn about another Selection statement

Konbanwa, minna-san! (In case you didn't know, konbanwa means "good evening", and minna means "everyone". The -san is added on, as the honorific. Sometimes, -sama is used as well.)
Okay, the Japanese lesson is over! *sweat* I sort of went off-track there, didn't I? *wince*

Mm...it's 10 : 30 P.M.
...I started this before ten, I swear! *sweat* I was just...writing something else...for an hour...

Anyways! Today we learnt about case statements. Or well, we reviewed it. Last night, I quickly read over Selection (II), so I didn't really have time to process everything. The only thing I really focussed on was label, and even then, I was still slightly confused.

In class, he clarified everything! So, it turns out that a case statment is basically a more sophisticated version of the if statement; used when there are many elsif options or objects following the keyword or. (Is that what you call them? ...I don't remember... Oh no...)

Er...for example, instead of writing:

if colour_choice = "blue" or colour_choice = "BLUE"
          or colour_choice = "Blue" then
     colour (blue)
elsif colour_choice = "red" or colour_choice = "RED"
          or colour_choice = "Red" then
     colour (red)
elsif colour_choice = "purple" or colour_choice = "PURPLE"
          or colour_choice = "Purple" then
     colour (purple)
end if

put "Thank you!"

You can use a case statement and write:

case colour_choice of
     label "blue", "BLUE", "Blue" :
          % blue text
          colour (blue)
     label "red", "RED", "Red" :
          % red text
          colour (red)
     label "purple", "PURPLE", "Purple" :
          % purple text
          colour (purple)
end case

put "Thank you!"

See, isn't that much easier? *smile* Now that I look back at some of my Selection Assignments, I feel like groaning because it took so long to write if-ladders.

Well, I'm off to check if I finished my whole ATM Assignment yet or not. I think I did...but I'd rather not take the chance. Then again, if I forget today, I can always do it tomorrow, ne?

Which reminds me! Tomorrow is Take Your Kids to Work Day! I'm going to my mom's office, and it's sort of strange because...my mom is setting up "lessons" for me with everyone except her. She said "if one of them is too busy, then I'll show you what I do". Can you believe that? *cries*

Er, yes...I should get going now.

Ja ne, minna-san!

In which Pearl finally gets to print out her assignments

Today was a tiring day. I felt so lethargic...
I must've yawned at least ten times in French class, too. I hope Mr. Vretranos wasn't mad. *wince*

Well, today we had Computer Science first thing in the morning, so I got to print out my assignments before class officially started. I just have to say, the format Turing prints out code in is awesome!
I'm really weird like that...I just... To me, it's fascinating, okay? *cry*

On another note, today was yet another catch-up day. First, we had a Q&A section (as usual) about HTML. Then, we were sent back to our computers to work on the Selection Assignments in partners. Zarin and I reviewed Question 6, and she showed me the correct format to put it in. And just in time, too! I was about to print it! And that would've been a waste of toner...

We wanted to review Question 9 as well, but just before we were about to do so, Mr. Arkin told us we were going to take a note. As a class, we went over Questions 12 and 13. Personally, I had absolutely no problem with either of them, though, apparently most of the class did. It was slightly annoying to have to sit through that. I wish we could've done Question 9 instead...

That's about it. Hmm... My blog posts are getting shorter and shorter... Ah, whatever.

Ja ne~!

In which Pearl tries to better her Superpower Assignment

Aw, man, trying to convince my mom to let me go to Anime North is hard. *wince*
But I'm going to do my best! I really want to go - it's that important to me. I'm even willing to pay for it out of my own pocket! ...If I even have that much money...

On another note, Mr. Arkin was away today. So, we cleaned up our Super-power Assignments. Or, well, I did. And, God, did I strain my eyes. I feel really stupid...because I forgot a lot of important stuff about HTML. Like, for example, where to find the "Website Design" page. *shot*

But it should be fine now. I made sure I corrected every aspect of it (that I could find).
I still can't believe I put "were" instead of "we're".
DAH. I'm a shame to all Grammar Nazis! *cries*

Well, on the weekend I have to write my Programming Glossary and upload it. Fortunately, it's not that hard - just time-consuming. Then again, it means I don't have to work on my Science, so I'm okay.

There's not much left to say... We didn't have Studio 218 (again). Is it because there was a supply teacher? I still don't know.

Hallowe'en is this Sunday! I'm going trick-or-treating. Yes...it never gets old. Besides, I like Hallowe'en because I get to dress up (and people won't give me strange looks if I walk around with cat ears on!). Ha...I can't wait until it's May. Anime North! I still have to convice my mom to let me go, though...

I want to write a Hallowe'en fic/story and draw a "spooky" picture. No, scratch that, I can't draw scary stuff. But hey, I write angst, so the writing part will be easy! (Self-promotion time!) Look for me on deviantArt: my username is chibikarin22. Or click here. That works too.

Well, I'll shut up now. Have a Happy Hallowe'en, everyone!

Ja ne~!

In which Pearl feels overwhelmed

Ne, ne! I'm so busy these days!
Today I was away for the science trip (we went to Rouge Valley! It was awesome! I saw a swan~!) so I missed...yet another...day...of school...*feels incredibly guilty*
But I heard that we didn't do much, so I feel a little better. Then again, I still haven't called Zarin...so...
Grahh...I'll get to that as soon as I'm done...other stuff.

At this moment, I'm simultaneously writing this blog and typing out my English script (for the debate). I also have to call Zarin and Jessie, prefereably before 9 P.M.

Anyways! For homework, if I heard correctly...it was to finish the rest of the Selection Assignments. Well, lucky me! I did all of them last night in case this happened! Now, I only have to do my English and Science...

Well, this is a short blog post. *blinks* I guess I don't have anything else to say.
Apparently Mr. Arkin will be away tomorrow. I wonder what will happen to Studio 218? I guess I'll find out tomorrow...

Anyways, I'll be going now!

Ja ne, minna-san!

In which Pearl feels awkward

Well, the X-Country season is now officially over.
All of our meets were in October... That was short.
On another note, I'll still be away tomorrow for a science trip. We're going to Rouge Valley Conservation Centre.

So, yesterday I was away due to a X-Country meet (again!). To my dismay, my class had a test. I missed a test. *cries in agony*
Unfortunately (or is it fortunately?) I didn't write the test because apparently, I already knew the question.
And I had taken so much care not to talk, read or hear about the test in any way. *wince*

We took it up today. I felt strange, since I didn't have a test in front of me.
I still copied down the correct answer, though, just in case I needed it for future reference.

I don't want to miss the next test! *cry*

After we reviewed the test, Mr. Arkin taught us about the if ladder. It's fascinating, really. You do learn from mistakes. I mean, after I stated the incorrect answer, I understood what he was talking about.
Funny, ne?

We spent the rest of the period working on the Selection Assignments. I got through two of them before the period ended, and I finished the rest at home. To be frank, I decided to finish all of them, because of my already-known absence tomorrow. However, I'm ready to alter the code at any time if I did something incorrectly.

Well. It's 10:13 P.M. I should probably work on my other homework now.

Ja ne!

In which Pearl runs out of breath.

Okay, so today I missed yet another day of class due to (yet another) X-Country meet.
I feel bad, because my science teacher seemed to be a little mad at this. *wince*
Moreover, I didn't place well...at all.
But! I'm proud that I even made it to Metros. I didn't make it to OFSAA (no surprise there!), but I'm still content with how far I got.

So, I was told that my class had a pop quiz today. I'm wondering whether I should study or not...since it's supposed to be a pop quiz...
Nevertheless, I think I'll review my notes, just in case...>_>

On another note, I finally finished the Selection Assignments. I was having trouble with them until Cinye told me that there is a space in "endif".
*slams head into wall*
The webpage covering selection doesn't say that! Why is that so? *cries hysterically*
And I was spazzing, too...

---

Hopefully we'll have a DJ this Friday for Studio 218. I don't have a YouTube account, and I don't plan on making one anytime soon...so I doubt I can be the DJ. However, I suggested two songs! My friend has recently gotten me obsessed with Sweet Serendipity by Lee DeWyze - she loves him - and one of my favourite songs lately is I Like it ft. Pitbull by Enrique Iglesias.

If I were to be the DJ...then Class C would have to listen to japanese music for the whole period. And, though I prefer it over English music, I'm not sure if the rest of the class agrees with me.

Ah, well, I should review my notes now. Until tomorrow:

Ja ne!

In which we learn how to desk check

Oh, phew, I thought I forgot to write a blog entry on Friday. *wipes sweat off forehead*
Now that my fears are calmed...

We might actually get to go to Anime North!!!

*fangirls*
Let me have a moment to celebrate.

Okay! Back to computer science. Today we learnt how to "desk check" our programs. In other words, we would put ourselves in the place of the computer and do whatever it would do. (If you want a fancier explanation: "We are tracing the execution of the program") Although it's a pain to do, I think it pays off in the end. If, for example, you have no idea why Turing finds an error, you could do this yourself and it'll probably solve the problem. Useful, ne?

On another note, I finished the Table Programs quite quickly. They weren't that hard to do! Now, I have to preview "Selection". Heh...programming is fun!

Tomorrow, I'll be away for another X-Country meet. This time it's the Metros! I can't wait! Of course, I don't expect to make it to OFSAA. I barely made it to the Metros, anyways. Well, I'm off! I still have to email quite a few people, and I haven't even started any of my other homework! *cries*

Ja ne, and see you all on Wednesday!

P.S. Yes, Zarin, I'll use "in which" for a very long time. Karin influence! Go read Chibi Vampire, and you'll understand.

In which we learn how to add colour to programs

I realize...I'm going to miss five days of school this month. I was already absent for three days, all for X-Country meets. Then on Tuesday next week, I'll be away for Metros (also X-Country) and on Thursday of next week, the Grade 9 science classes will be going to Rouge Valley.
Now that I think about it, there's also a possibility that I'll miss school on November 3rd for Take Your Kids to Work Day.

Oh, and this is completely off-topic, but: in class today, after Zarin told me what happened to her, I realized that my chances of getting hit by a car are higher when I'm sleepy. For example, there was a time when I almost got hit by a car twice in the same day.
I space out when I'm tired.

Going back to the topic of Computer Science...

Today we learnt how to change the text and background colour in the run window, for Turing. There are two keywords we can use: colour, which changes the text colour; and colourback, which changes the run window's background colour. I have yet to experiment with these keywords, but I plan on doing so over the weekend.

We also learnt how to put in special characters. (And this is where ASCII comes in!) There are two keywords that we use: ord, which stands for ordinal; and chr, which stands for character.
For example, if you want to put the capital letter "A", you can write either one of these programs:

#1:
put ord ("A")

#2:
put chr (65)

And...I guess that's it. I've been listening to Canterella by Kaito Shion (one of the Vocaloids - computer-generated voices) for the past hour. I love that song!
I'll shut up before I start fangirling about Kaito.

Ja ne~!