In which we start to wrap things up

Konbanwa, minna-san.

When you have a bad day....feast on chocolate! Or any other comfort food. For me, it's usually cookies, but I practically ate an entire bag already so I'm resorting to chocolate. And somewhat toned down Vocaloid music. I love the BLAZE music video. At first I was only going to download the song, but then I saw how...*ahem* cool Kaito and Len looked and decided to take the video. I mean, who can resist Len with a shuriken? *fangirls*

Err...yes. Well, today Mr. Arkin taught us how to print and laminate a PDF (or, well, any document, really) at Staples. I don't think my group will have to do that, since Tasfia's father owns a printing company...or something like that.

Speaking of Culminating, we're almost done! I'm finishing the Answer Keys up tonight and will add them in along with the references. The link will be up before everyone gets to class tomorrow. I also have to recreate certain screenshots. Phew! Luckily, I have no other homework.

Which brings me to my next topic. I completely failed my French and Science presentations today! *cries* I messed up some timing in French and in Science, I completely forgot what lines I was supposed to say. I want to apologize, but my friend told me not to apologize so frequently. *wince*

Exams are quickly approaching, and everyone - including I - is scrambling to review everything for each subject they have to write an exam for. I'm almost done my French notes, but I doubt I need to spend so much time on them. I'm most worried about Science and ICS. I will go on an extensive training (studying) regimen once this final Culminating project is handed in.

Wish me luck!

---

Current Music: Child's Garden - Len Kagamine, KAITO Shion, Gakupo Kamui
I'm actually listening to an entire playlist. My favourite Vocaloid songs are (in order):

1. Meltdown - Len Kagamine, KAITO Shion (Originally sung by Rin Kagamine)
2. Paradichlorobenzene - Len Kagamine
3. Romeo and Cinderella - Nodoame (Originally sung by Miku Hatsune)
4. Uninstall - KAITO Shion (Originally sung by Chiaki Ishikawa for the anime Bokurano; the lyrics were rewritten for a yandere KAITO)
5. Magnet - any couple (Originally sung by Luka Megurine and Miku Hatsune)

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 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 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 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~!