OK… after a load of help from the Java legend that is Dave i have managed to get my dissertation back on track.

After last nights rage and almost complete destruction of all things electrical I have discovered that my JVM will not run JDOM as there are some bits and pieces in the SAXBuilder that are not supported on JRE 1.4.2 so I will have to find the older version and see if i can get this to work. However this is currently not a major issue as I can demonstrate working code on the tablet PC’s in the new Techno Cafe.

Over the course of the last 24 hrs I have managed to get not only the initial category displayed but also got the system to change between categories and start to display words. Tomorrow will hopefully see the system start to play different sounds to the user.

Degree · Dissertation · Durham

Right,

I think its finally time to admit that my dissertation is royally fucked. After spending this evening getting the first few bits of GUI working properly I have found that it is simply not running on the pda properly. It will run happily in eclipse but i receive lots of runtime errors on the PDA. I’m fairly sure its the VM and not the code but at the moment i may have to demo the software on the tablet pc’s in the techno cafe.

If someone can help me now is the time i need it most!

Degree · Dissertation · Durham

I should make a special mention to Kate who is now at the grand age of 22.

Remember the Pony is waiting for you and it only had enough food to keep it going until today*

(*No ponies were harmed in the making of this blog)

Uncategorized

Well, I’m back in Durham and back on the 10mbit connection that makes the internet nearly useful!

There is however a slight problem in that I am currently unable to connect to my domain via ftp or ssh. This is (i think) due to some form of access restriction with the durham university ITS and their firewall. I must go and see them tomorrow as I currently have no way of uploading new data to the site or updating my old site ( http://www.matthewjwhite.co.uk/old/ ). If I can get access to it then I will hopefully post some more useful bits and pieces online for you all. If not I will have to find some other way to get the information available…

Anyways… for now I am going to just relax knowing that my computer is back online even though it doesnt have McAffee installed, nor does it have Spybot or Ad-Aware up to date and it doesn’t even run an OS that is “supported” by the system… oh well – I must just be lucky!!!

Tomorrow is back to the grindstone to get more dissertation work sorted. Hopefully I can get enough done so that I can go to the bar in the evening as tonight was so much fun. 4 pints drunk – total cost £6.00 – not that bad at all.

BYE!

Durham

Why, oh why do gui’s have to be so difficult to write… or more to the point why can I not find the motivation to either do it properly or get a gui builder to create exactly what I want it to???

I wouldnt mind so much but my PDA’s JVM wont accept swing which seems to make making the GUI harder.

I may have just found a plugin for eclipse that does it for me…. Let’s see what happens!

Degree · Dissertation · Durham · Work

Well here is something else that I can successfully say is nothing to do with my dissertation. I have not long left until I have to submit my final report and at the moment I am really not feeling motivated enough to get on with it and complete it. Who would have thought that a small java application for a pda would be soo boring.

It has however made me realise that under no circumstances do i *EVER* want to become a software developer – hats off to those guys who enjoy it but it really isnt what I am looking for. I have decided that I would much rather work in IT support to begin with, get my MCSE and other qualifications and go from there to become a Network Admin or something similar.

I am still contemplating however the option of trying to get into theatre and doing something there. However going to my local theatre to see a comedy night made me realise just how little was going on there and that it really didnt seem a challenge to work in a nasty concrete building with lanterns and equipment that has been there since the building was constructed. We’ll see what happens – whether or not I decide to do that as a career is still under consideration. I will definately be doing some form of am-dram as that is brilliant fun and having done all the different shows in Durham I wouldnt want to stop. If anyone from Durham wants to see the shows I have been in then look here (you must be a DST member thought) http://www.dur.ac.uk/DST/document.php?DocumentID=271&id=926 At the time of writing I appear 21 times which isnt bad over 3 years!

Anyways.. I should probably be geting back to work as I have lots of writing to do and this has served as a welcome distraction from all my dissertation madness!

Degree · Dissertation · Durham