Classes were remarkable today for a couple reasons.
On the one hand, Prof. Keene absolutely loved my first political ideology paper comparing pre-modern and modern political thought. I was more than a little surprised; I thought the paper was barely passable and thus quite suitable for my "pass/fail" needs. I fear that the professor will expect the same level of work from subsequent papers, thus destroying the objective of taking the class solely for credit.
On the other hand, simple mechanics escaped me in my time of need. Prof. Smith administered the first exam of the term to our thermodynamics class today. I hit a wall on the first problem, a simple mechanics problem involving a projectile traveling at constant velocity (until caught). The remainder of the test flowed with relative ease, perhaps too easily. I really can’t call this one; Prof. Smith seems to be generous with partial credit so there may be hope.
Hurricane Ivan came through Atlanta today and created a nice mess. Classes were still in session because Georgia Tech doesn’t cancel for anything. The water level was up to my ankles in places as I made my way back to my car. A fifteen minute commute home was extended to over an hour and a half as almost every light along the way was out. I couldn’t get any food on the way home, either, because all the restaurants were closed due to power outages. I discovered that we were also without power when I got home.
The second day of the career fair at Georgia Tech brought heavy hitters like Microsoft, Intel, AMD, IBM, and Siemens. I dressed a little more nicely and devoted more time to make sure I would have a chance to talk with each of the companies. Some of my visits proved to be more helpful than others. I was rather turned off that Siemens seemed interested only in hiring interns rather than full-time employees; IBM supplied few technical representatives so I didn’t gain any truly useful information there, either. The representatives from Microsoft, Intel, and AMD were all reasonably helpful. I got my resume out to each company, but I’m still not sure exactly what the point of the career fair is. I have pondered putting off the job hunt until after I graduate. The lease on the apartment runs through March so I will probably be in town anyway.
Georgia Tech held the first half of its annual or semi-annual—I’m not sure which—career fair today. I dressed business casual because it seemed appropriate; most of the job-seekers at the fair were dressed in full business attire. I mainly targeted large, reputable companies with a definite need for software engineers. I talked to representatives from HP, Amazon.com, Micron, and MathWorks. Buses reserved for the fair shuttled students back and forth so it wasn’t too difficult to get there.
After further meddling in Azeroth, I feel like I can make some broader statements about World of Warcraft.
Most of the quests are of the “hunt and gather” or “go kill someone” type. The upshot is that the game gives you a good excuse to go exploring the vast countryside. The land is filled with beasts of varying frequency and difficulty. In my experience, a single player cannot take on more than one or two monsters near his level at a time with much success.
The professions are where I really see potential in WoW. Characters progress in ability along two distinct axes. First, there’s the standard RPG model of experience and leveling. Second, there’s a skills system governing weapon skills and professional skills that is based on usage, similar to the Elder Scrolls games. Leveling will make your characters stronger, but it won’t make them unique. Along the way, characters gain additional skill points that can be used to learn new weapon skills or professional skills. And this is where players get to experiment and take characters down their own paths. Best of all, if you make a mistake choosing a skill, you can unlearn it and try a different one.
After spending a couple days with WoW, I’m really looking forward to a final release or an open beta, whichever comes first.
