Robots, Math, phpBB Star, MP3 Shack, Pete, Ishwar, Essays

[MM] I woke this morning in time to finish my Calculus homework before going to EE 106 to work with Michael O. on our robot. We’re supposed to make it run through an obstacle course, but the IR detectors see too far. We need to somehow make it more nearsighted. Otherwise, we can’t detect small gaps in walls. Perhaps there’s a bug in our code: thinking back on it, the sensors seemed to be more sensitive before. Yet there was always a problem with close accuracy. I brought the robot back to the dorm to work on; let’s hope we do before the last class session (Thursday).

Math discussion as usual. We went over some homework questions and then he started working out a sample final. It looks like it’s going to be really tough, yet still doable. When I got back from that, I worked some on phpBB Star, resetting the Support forum and reorganizing things. I also uploaded a new language and a couple new templates. Then I worked on MP3 Shack, which is getting surprisingly popular (and increasingly so). I’ve been making many hacks in the script because though it’s a paid script, it’s not very well-written, surprisingly. Even I can make huge improvements.

Then I went to this “USC vs. UCLA rivalry” speaker event and saw Pete Carroll, as I posted earlier. He spoke for us for awhile, then went out of the room to do an interview with a radio talk show, 1540 AM I think it was. I stood there to look at him and listen :) along with many other people.

It was Ishwar’s 18th birthday! He’s from NY, so no driver’s license. Interesting person to talk with; we were at EVK at about 9:45 PM just sitting and talking.

And now I’ve got two essays to write for tomorrow. I feel like I’ve forgotten something major. It’s a good thing I’m doing these Midnight Messages, or else I’d never remember anything I did.