A Good Year

Hi everyone,

It's been almost a year since I last posted. I guess self-reflection isn't easy to do when you're constantly up to your neck in assignments and group work.

Third year has been tough. Massive learning curves were dealt with, deadlines were relatively short, and ambiguity was, as always, at the core of coursework description. However, this year has not been as difficult as I expected it to be, nor has it given me a constant stream of melancholy as second year did. Now that I think about it - I really did enjoy this year!

Subjects have been much more engaging, where I have been able to delve into topics of neuroscience, computer graphics, and was part of a video game development team with friends on my course, which I am particularly proud of. The game's called LanWars: Sheriffs vs. Bandits, and the main twist is that you can move your character off the edge of one screen and continue on the adjacent machine, in a 2.5D western-themed game of team-based control points. At the start of the year I was given a taste of life outside Computer Science by taking up an open module called 'Education, Schooling, and Diversity', which I found really interesting, and even found out some things about my hometown's policies. Come to think of it, Newham does produce some pretty successful educationalists, a few from my own school - Michael Wilshaw for instance (however questionable OFSTED's policies may be).

Now that I have a better idea of what sort of topics I am looking for in a career (education at the core), I feel as if I'm now beginning to open myself back up to software development, as I have become much more comfortable with creating a software product, and can say at this moment that I wouldn't mind working for a video games company sometime in the future. This is not because I know every little detail about how a real-world company works, but because I can understand the enjoyment, excitement, and sense of satisfaction that is gained from producing a piece of software, and observing people's enjoyment from something you have created is a truly awesome feeling. I also know this because I found that I don't necessarily have to deal with the fundamental, nitty-gritty details of a system setup - my speciality seems to be with visuals and user experience. I don't mind writing hundreds of lines of code, but I prefer to show my visually-creative side as well as my technically-creative one.

Me sporting the LanWars attire. No, I don't always wear a cowboy hat.

This year I have also helped out at three education-related events down at the local science and learning centre - @Bristol. The events are hosted by an organisation called DigiMakers, which is managed by the lovely Caroline Higgins at the Computer Science Department. I'd have loved to attend more of them, but coursework pressures were getting pretty tight for me around February/March. I started off by helping visitors (mainly children) get started with setting up a Raspberry Pi computer, and guiding them through various worksheets in order to explore the tip of the iceberg in terms of useful things you can do with it. I loved everyone's enthusiasm, and it seemed to be really good practise for being a teaching professional - I often got thrown into situations where I had to deal with a group of 5 kids and attend to them, while juggling other people and explaining concepts on-the-fly. After a lot of demand, at subsequent DigiMakers events I presented a Scratch workshop along with Hannah, the lovely outreach officer for the Computer Science Society. This went really well, and although I would have liked to put less weight on learning from the walkthrough-style worksheets, I found that teachers were coming into the workshop and using them as resources for their classes. I might be sounding cheesy and lame, but it really was amazing to see a room filled with families of people aged 4 to 74, each eagerly learning how to make a simple 2D game of a dog chasing a cat, or a 2-player projectile-based game. Of course, there are other things happening at the event, such as workshops for learning how to program in Python, workshops for learning how to create your own wearable electronic devices, and companies showcasing technical devices like Occulus Rifts and Motion-Sensitive robots. If you're about in Bristol and a DigiMakers event is on, I strongly recommend going - plus it's free entry!! Free!!

The other big thing going for me this year is my summer placement. Having a reasonable financial cushion to protect me, I felt it was the right time to combine my two great passions - education and travelling - and apply to be a Camp Counsellor at a summer camp in the US. It only took a week for a camp to contact me after my application was approved, and after a brief but pleasant Skype interview, I was hired! It's a science camp in north-eastern Pennsylvania, and is the kind of place I would have dreamed of going to as a kid - I never knew summer camps catered for nerdy kids like me! I mean, they've got stuff like archery and canoeing too, but to have sessions like rocketry, robotics, 3D modelling, animation, along with practical physics, biology, chemistry and more, it's making my inner child bounce around with so much excitement I don't know how I'll contain it. I don't think I've been this excited since I was 10. Of course, I'll be looking after a group of kids and leading or assisting in some sessions myself, and will no doubt be thinking hard about whether or not I'd like working around kids as a career. Oh, and I've never been to the US before. Oh man, so excited.

Oh and also I've recently been working on my personal website, hosted by the department. This is what I'm paying Uni fees for, right? http://www.cs.bris.ac.uk/~np1970/

I had quite a bit to talk about, so congrats for making it this far though the post :)

It's been a good year, and I'm sure I'll have an awesome summer.

Until next time.

Mental Discussion

Hi all,

So, I've reached that point again where I become engrossed in heavy thoughts. Thoughts of reflection upon my current situation, and how I can go about doing the things I really want to do. I'm sure you've had many of these moments too.

I guess I can start by saying that I really, really, really want to go abroad. I need to go somewhere fresh, to discard my current social and work-related baggage and simply enjoy life, seizing each opportunity and going with whatever interests me. To feel free. Isn't that what everyone wants?

The last time I truly felt such an amazing level of freedom was in Uganda two years ago. I love immersing myself in new environments, with the right balance of danger and safety to make things interesting. In a way, I'm envious of how the people there live simple lives - living off the land and making just enough to get by. There's no worry about getting a mortgage, battling with energy companies, or competing against a thousand other qualified people for a single job position, at a business which only seeks to help itself.

I guess the biggest question I've been asking myself is "for a first job, should I take priority over getting a job which I enjoy, or a job that has a high salary?" If I asked myself that question a year ago, I'd say getting a job which I enjoy is more important. I've found myself re-thinking that answer. On the whole, my answer is still the same, but I realise it's a much more complicated question than I initially thought.

I know I shouldn't deny multiple points of view, but in my mind, teaching seems like the most comfortable job for me. Not comfortable as in 'easy', but comfortable in that the job brings in a steady, reasonable income, I can afford to buy a humble abode within 10 years of working (stress the word 'humble'), and most importantly, I am making a real and positive difference to society.

Now, I'm not denying the fact that I could be living in that humble abode much sooner by working in private industry, then switch to teaching, but I question the real advantage I am giving myself by working in a job where the core meaning of my work is to fill the pockets of authoritarian people. Besides, I'm not the sort of person who wants to live in a mansion.

Of course, another fact is that my lack of dedication to teaching if I were to start in another industry. I quite like the idea of moving up in the hierarchy of a school, perhaps one day becoming a headteacher (in which case, I'd be earning loads of money anyway), but I do question how the leadership roles differ from each other, particularly the abstraction to which you are actually helping the kids. As a headteacher, you might not be engaging with kids in the same way that a standard teacher will. Regardless, The sooner I start my career in teaching, the sooner I will build up my technique and experience, and the sooner I can be qualified for higher positions.

I'll leave the mental discussion here for now. Time to sleep and digest.

Until next time.

Learning to Teach

Hi all,

So once again, it's been a while since I last blogged. Only now have I got the opportunity to take the time to clear my head of work stresses, and actually take a bit of time for reflection and self-evaluation. That's basically what people do when they blog, right? Discuss things they'd like to get out of their head, so that the thoughts running around can have some kind of real-world meaning. Anyway..

Teaching. It's something I've always had at the back of my mind for a job, and it's only recently that I've questioned myself as to why I've always previously refused the thought of becoming a Teacher. From the years I've spent being taught/lectured (not the same thing, I promise you), the majority of time I spend in classes is dedicated to thinking about how the person at the front could provide a better way of explaining a topic, so much so that I often feel the urge to go up and explain the topic myself sometimes. Less so at University, because too often is it the case where a lecturer's style is so dry even the chairs in the lecture theatre start giving up on life. I just can't keep up with most lectures, and to be totally honest I really don't like the whole formal lecturing style, although I understand it's necessary when you've got 200 or so people to teach about Fourier Transforms. Seriously though, some of the seats in the Chemistry department are close to collapse.

What's so bad about the Software Industry? I'm not saying there's anything bad about it, but the idea of dealing with line after line of tedious error messages, spending half my spare time worrying about other people's contribution to a group project, and staring at a computer screen for most of the day doesn't appeal to me. If the industry isn't like this, then the University is doing a bad job at preparing us for it. Cynicism aside, I simply like talking to people, and enjoy social situations much more than I do compared with being on my own, struggling with trying to make a damned SQL plugin work. I'm becoming more and more fed up with learning things I'm probably not going to use in a future job, so it helps in that I'm making up my mind about becoming a Teacher - it gives me a clear idea for a career to aim for.

Unlike the traditional view, Teaching is not a job for industry failures. With any job, passion is important (oh how cliché), and that includes Teaching. Honestly, I cannot think of a better way of contributing to society than to share your knowledge and help children gain a grip on their lives; opening doors to opportunities. Short of being a Doctor, it's the most important job in the entire world. Education is universal, brings everyone closer together in understanding, and as a result helps to craft people who will become the future leaders of the world. There really isn't anything more meaningful than to see a child go on to be successful in what they want to do, knowing that it was you who provided the stepping stones. A lot of people say it's a job where you don't get thanked enough for it. That statement is somewhat supported by the relatively low salary, but personally I think if you're dedicated enough, it shouldn't matter how many times you're being thanked. So long as you know you've done your job and allowed children to shape their future, that's the real job satisfaction.

I can't really explain the feeling I had when I finally decided that teaching was the career for me. In some sense, I felt pride. In another, I felt a huge weight of responsibility. However, for the first time something clicked in my head, where it was as if all the cells in my body were nodding in approval of my decision. I've always felt kind of lost in terms of what I'd do after University, until now. Now I have something to aim for. I have a purpose. It's time to learn how to teach.

Until next time.

Intellectual Restrictions

Hi all,

So, I'm now a new tenant of a house in Bristol, along with 3 other lovely people whom I've made good friends with during my First Year at Uni. I'm typing this while I'm here, and being the only person in a new house feels strange, can't quite put a word on it yet.

The other peeps couldn't be here to stay for the first week of the tenancy, so it rested on me to carry out the all-important form-filling of the inventory sheet, half of which wasn't filled out properly enough by the estate agents, but I guess you can't blame it on the busy folk, because you know, they've obviously got better things to worry about than a smoke alarm that was hidden on top of a kitchen cupboard and didn't have a battery fitted in – I've bought a battery and tested it myself, so no worries now.

The house is in generally good condition, considering some of the rubbish tips dotted around Bristol that are being advertised as suitable student accommodation. Apart from the heating making a dodgy loud noise if all the radiators are turned off, it's cosy. I particularly like my own room. Tis not the biggest, but allows me all the comforts a Computer Scientist needs; a desk situated in a small alcove-like corner, with easy-to-reach shelf space above, not to mention a very comfy office chair. Situated directly to my right is a window, which luckily has a black pull-down blind to shield me from that ever-so-harmful sunlight when I'm zoned into my laptop. Oh, and I have a double bed!

I arrived on Monday, and I stupidly booked my coach for 3pm on Sunday. By now I've already received the letters we needed, filled in and handed back the inventory sheet and criticised all I can about the house that jeopardises immediate human safety. Couple this with no home internet access, and I am quite literally on the verge of madness, hence why I'm writing this.

It's strange, I never appreciate just how much I take the internet for granted. Even when I think I'm bored while surfing the web, I'm not really, I'm just unfocused. Being without internet does leave you in a state of deep thought, just sitting on a chair, thinking of what to do, inevitably leading to thoughts of possible lifestyle changes that you never get around to doing, or fictional scenarios that play in your head (otherwise known as daydreaming). In a way, I reckon the internet can limit people's imaginations and thought processes. What's the point in thinking about something if you can just Google it?

Oh, in case you're wondering, I'm posting this a day late, and using the University's internet within one of the libraries. I'm now just counting down the hours till my coach home.

Until next time.

Working with Cynicism

Hi all,

So, exams are over, results are out and I've managed to scrape (yes, scrape) a First for my 1st Year at Uni. Can't say I'm not surprised, I was expecting to pass but by the experience of some exams, I honestly thought I'd have trouble passing some modules. In those particular modules I didn't manage to get over 60% for them, mind. After only finding out about the grade criteria to change course to the Year Abroad scheme, looks like I can at least apply to study in California in my Third Year!

As with most students in a similar situation to me, money is uncomfortably tight, and I'm going to have to bite the bullet and work at the same place I was last summer; packaging nail polish and moving boxes around, with the more brain-intensive work being counting how many boxes are on a pallet ready to be distributed to a department store. I'm quite a cynical person, and I tend to see the 'more depressing side' in almost everything. In that place, I am pretty much surrounded by cosmetic products, which scream out "look at me, I obviously have such a good sense of fashion to afford these £10 eyelash extensions" - yeah, I'd love to see someone wear them for more than 10 minutes before poking their own eyes out. It takes a while, but eventually I'll regress into my own thoughts, which is better company than the other workers if the rest of them are from Lithuania, and have conversations in their own language.

I guess my cynicism explains why I dislike popular clubs, and to an extent, my views on Religion. Also could explain my lack of a 'sex life' or whatever that term implies. I guess being at university can make you very cynical anyway, after seeing the states that people (including myself) get into after a night of getting drunk for a reason nobody can remember the next day.

I was going to mention the Olympics in this post, but I think I'll save that rant for when the Olympics actually get underway, and inevitably restrict me from using public transport to get to work.

On a lighter note, we have a new kitten! :)

Until next time.

Tasting Fame

I guess I should probably blog about my recent appearance on TV, so here goes (apologies if you've heard about this over a dozen times already from Facebook):

From being on the mailing list of the Atheist, Agnostic and Secular Society at Uni (thank you AASS!), I saw an opportunity to be part of the audience for BBC's "The Big Questions". There were two filming slots: a live-broadcast morning show and a pre-recording afternoon show, which would be aired the following week. The only show where the main question was revealed was the afternoon show, the question being "Is religion good for children?" - as you can probably guess, I felt compelled to go. After e-mailing the researcher and getting confirmation, I was given an audience member slot on the show. However chaps, the excitement didn't end there, for I was to be called up again, this time by the producer of the show, and was asked to sit at the front with the main speakers. I told the researcher my experience with education in faith schools throughout pre-University, so my guess is that she forwarded it onto the producer.

The recording was done on Sunday 29th April, and the show aired last Sunday 6th May. Needless to say, my heart was pounding throughout the recording. At the time I kept contemplating how I was surrounded by various prestigious people, all leaders in various groups of believers and non-believers, mostly intelligent people, some questionably so. I felt so bathed in religious differences it reminded me of being back in 6th Form, having casual debates with friends. Except in this situation, there were people who have devoted many years to defending their beliefs, most for more than my entire lifespan. I was possibly among the youngest people in the recording room, definitely so amongst the front row speakers in the audience. Nevertheless, I felt I got my story and my point across, and had an extra bonus of making a Professor eat his words after accusing me of being too young to choose my stance on religion. There were loads of opportunities for me to get my point across throughout the entire debate, but the other members had more articulated answers than what I could give, especially in my nervous-wreck of a disposition with the cameras and glaring eyes.

I spoke about my Catholic educational upbringing, and how I 'came out' as an Atheist to the 6th Form at the final Mass. I didn't mention their name, I didn't want to cause embarassment for the school (according to a Headteacher), even though I do not understand why it would be an embarassment. I took it as a way of saying that they are ashamed that I have proclaimed my lack of faith in Catholicism and religion altogether. Why should they be? I am the same person they've always seen, and I always will be. Just because I choose not to affiliate myself with religion does not make me any less of a person or an example for the school. They did not choose me to become Head Boy because I was Catholic. Why should it make a difference? On second thought, perhaps I have embarassed them. I have embarassed them because perhaps they now realise that what they saw on the television was not some husk of a person they used to see only a year ago, but the same exact person. I haven't heard anything from them since I e-mailed them a few days before the filming in April. I wonder if they'd be willing to drop me a polite e-mail congratulating me on being on TV and promoting good morals if only I had been on the other side of the audience; saying the same exact words, but without the absence of a religion. Maybe I should e-mail them? Maybe.

I met some amazing people on the show, the secular panellists (avec moi) are pictured below.

Starting from the left is Stephen Law, Philosopher and Author of books containing various challenging philosophical questions with relation to religion, most notably his book "The War for Children's Minds", which I plan to read very soon. Next is Antony Lempert, GP and head of the Secular Medical Forum, originating from a Jewish background (one of the few people who have the ability to read the Torah and preach its contradictions!). To the right of me is Irtaza Hussain, representing the council of ex-Muslims and originating from an Islam-dominant Pakistani education. At the far right is Andrew Copson, Chief Executive of the British Humanist Association and all-round preacher for reason and human morals. All awesome people, was an honour to meet them all, and I hope I get the opportunity to meet each of them again.

Overall, an amazing and enriching experience, and has definitely both built my confidence and opened up my mind to the established organisations and sheer amount of people who share my thoughts and are as passionate or even more so than I am about them.

You can watch the episode here on iPlayer. Only available till this coming Sunday!!

Until next time.

Present From Past

Hi all,

Haven't blogged in a while about my studies, thought it would give my blog title some substance amidst the posts about religion and lifestyle.

I guess I could trace my interest in computers back to when I was a young child (cliché I know, I'm glad I didn't put it on my personal statement for Uni applications). While I wasn't occupied for hours on end with creating things out of Lego or K'nex, I remember having some sort of electronic kit consisting of a console board with a variety of electronic components with spring-based contacts, along with an assortment of coloured copper wire pieces. I guess it was an electronics for beginner's kit, although I'm not sure if it was to the capabilities of an 8 or 9 year-old. I vaguely remember looking through the manual, picking out the diagrams and avoiding the complicated wording, and making sense of the diagrams to the best I could, and connected up wires in order to create a variety of things including an alarm and various sensor systems. Thinking about it now, that was pretty complicated for an 8 year-old. Sometimes I wish I'd kept that same mental attitude to things. Nowadays I find it a lot more difficult to make sense of things when I'm overwhelmed.

Alongside that, my interest in video games probably has played a significant part in my interest with computers, and instilled the idea that computers could literally do anything a human could think of (mostly). Towards the end of secondary school I began to take an interest in computer hardware, with the primary objective of upgrading my computer's graphics card so I could play better games.

I guess in a way, I've always had a certain motive behind my interests in computers. It was extra-curricular, and I enjoyed it. I enjoyed knowing things that I knew other people didn't, and that school wouldn't teach them. Now the tables have turned, and I'm surrounded by people who have had similar experiences to me, and what was extra-curricular is now part of the course I'm studying alongside 100 or so other people.

I think that I'm what's called a `visual', perhaps even `kinaesthetic' learner. I've noticed that this makes my course a hell of a lot more difficult than I expected, because it's mostly theoretical rather than practical, depending on how you look at it of course. Computer science is interesting to me, but admittedly I can lose my focus if the content does not relate directly to something physical or visual, which happens quite often.

Still, at least my coursework marks are telling me that I'm doing alright so far.

Until next time.

Educational Beliefs

Hi all,

Feeling the urge to take a break from emulating the ARM processor in the C programming language (I shit you not), I thought I'd share with you a few of my experiences of religious groups and Theology in general since the start of University. It's about time, right?

Needless to say, it's apparent that the majority of people at Bristol are either Agnostic or Atheist. Which felt kind of strange at first, after being around Catholics, Fundamental Christians and Muslims throughout my previous years. However, by no means have I escaped the aura of preachers and religious spokespeople. At the beginning of this term, the Christian Union held what I can only describe as a 'campaign' entitled "Dare to Believe", and organised a series of talks with somewhat questionable titles including "Do Atheists make good scientists?" - I mean, they were obviously going for the shock approach to get more people to attend the events. I wish I could have gone to one, but I do have an awesome set of flatmates, so I weighed up my options. I spoke to a guy on my course who attended the talk (also an Atheist from a religious school), and he said he was literally "shaking with rage" at what the speaker was saying.

On the one hand, I suppose I feel more comfortable in talking about my own beliefs openly, but I still can't help but feel so incredibly interested to hear what the religious people have to say. I guess it's because I can relate to them by comparing my experiences, coming from a religious school. When you're surrounded by people who (to you at least) are completely bonkers in how they view the origin of life, you're entitled to defend your opinion. I respect that.

One of the main things I've noticed about University is about how it seems to have filtered out the true believers and non-believers, as people tend to make up their own mind once free from the views administered by the family. I've noticed a few of my friends changing 'their views' from Catholic to Agnostic, but nobody the other way around. Of course, it makes me happy knowing they're finally making up their own minds about their religion and breaking themselves away from the confinement of it.

I guess I could say that I'm more passive about religion than I used to be. Then again, I haven't really come into contact with religious people in Bristol anywhere the scale of what I've experienced in East London. I still hold the same views though, on the whole.

Also, many thanks to Henry Murray and Sophie Valentine for the image up top :)

Until next time.

Social Clubbing

Hi all.

Okay so, I know it's been a long time since I last blogged, but I won't give you a full run-through of what's happened in the past few months because frankly, it'd be a bit tedious. Although, if you manage to make it to the end of this post, then cheers!

Why'd I decide to blog about something now? probably two reasons, the first being the fact that I made a 'pinky promise' with one of the flatmates to stay awake till 5, so I'm basically trying to kill time; the other reason would be the fact that I'm now back at my flat, after having left my flatmates in a club, mainly because my level of soberness was by far the highest out of everyone there. More importantly, I shall now explain why I hate clubs.

First off, I'd like to make it clear that I do understand why people go to clubs; it's a social thing to do, there's euphoric music with a decent soundsystem, there's a chance to pick up a one-night stand, and it's an excuse to get completely off your face on every substance known to man. They're fair points, depending on what sort of person you are. Personally, they're poor excuses.

As such, most if not all the times I've been at a club I've been sober enough to look at the complete mess of states that people are in. I can't help but observe people as they sway their wrecked masses about, casually bumping into each other, occasionally looking around for people to grind on. Possibly the thing that annoys me most about clubs are the people who casually move up behind someone they haven't met and proceed to rub themselves into the other person's crotch like a sexually frustrated chihuahua. Idiots. I go on a bit of a rage when the person involved is someone I know, and they clearly aren't comfortable.

After noticing that sort of thing happening, I begin to start judging everyone in the club, and come to the conclusion that simply put, society is really messed up. The worst thing is when I realise that I'm simply not of the right frame of mind to start a group conversation or contribute, because I'm too busy thinking about how much of a bad time I'm having. Either that reason, or the fact that I'm a lot shorter than everyone else so people don't notice me. Then again, this does happen to me even when we're having group conversations at other times. Perhaps it's my low self-esteem that I seem to have developed since the start of University. Don't get me wrong, I'm loving my time here, but I just feel like people view me in a completely different way to how my friends back in London did. Not that it's a bad thing, I just think I still have to have time to adjust. Mehhhhhh.

Until next time.

New Chapter

Hi all,

I was meant to post on my first day at Uni, but I've had so much to think about and do, I keep forgetting to, or fail to make enough time to blog.

So, I've begun my 4-year journey through Bristol University. The first day was quite surreal and to be honest, at times I was quite overwhelmed. My flatmates are some of the most awesome people I've met, and at times they remind me of my friends back in London. We haven't often ventured to the hall bar, mainly because we all click well and have a better time doing pre-drinks in our block. Thinking about it now, drinking on consecutive days probably isn't wise. Might try and sober myself up properly over the weekend, in time for my first lectures. I keep zoning out so much it's unreal.

Bristol's such a different place to London. Aside from the difference in ethnic minorities, the atmosphere seems so much more welcoming than in London. Whether that's to do with the fact that I've mostly been hanging around enthusiastic students is probably a factor to consider. My main gripe is the lack of a cheap supermarket nearby like ASDA or Lidl. I have to rely on Tesco Express and Sainsbury's, hardly on the working class man's budget. I think my diet for this week will ruin me slightly, but I can make up for that starting from next week.

Since my head's still ticking over, constantly thinking of what to do, It's kinda difficult to think of other things to say about Uni so far apart from that I'm really enjoying it, and really glad that I'm in good company!

Until next time, question everything, accept nothing without evidence.

Point Not Proven

Hi all,

I know it's been ages since I last blogged, and quite a few things have happened in my life since then. Uganda is amazing, I had a brilliant three weeks out there, and if you've read my previous post, you'll get the idea that my enthusiasm is now stronger than ever when it comes to travelling the world. Shortly after I came back to stubborn old London, I managed to get some temporary work at the same place my dad works at. The job was immensely brain-numbing, and let's just say I really do hope I find some work in Bristol next summer. I guess the main thing bugging me was the fact that such a high proportion of the other employees had little English skills, so having a conversation with them just wasn't possible. There's only so many times you can package nail polish before you start feeling like an emotionless machine. Nevertheless, the payment from the job means that I can now pay for my accommodation at Uni for the first term at least, since the government seem to like to take their time in giving people money (even though we people have to act hastily if it's the other way around).

So, today's the day before I move into Goldney Hall in Bristol, and I really can't wait any longer. These past few weeks have been dragging so much, especially seeing my friend's photos from their Freshers events. It'll be worth the wait, I know :)

Quite a few people have asked me if I'm going to join an Atheist society. It's funny, I guess the meetings of an Atheist society would be the equivalent of going to Church on Sunday for Christians. I've never really been in an environment where the people around me share the same theology as me, but I guess that's to do with being brought up in a Catholic school most of my life. I'll check out Bristol's 'Atheist, Agnostic and Secular Society', besides, they're meeting in a pub, how can I resist? Then again, I'm a bit cautious about how well theology goes down for anyone when they've had a few too many.

Had a conversation with a preacher earlier today up in Ilford town centre, after fetching lunch from Sainsbury's. The most interesting thing about what she said was the fact that she said my first name and mentioned that I am an engineer (Computer Science kinda counts, at least in Bristol it's under the faculty of engineering) without asking me, and the only piece of identification I had was my Oyster card, which was hidden in my pocket. It was impressive, I'll be honest. Then again, so is an experienced illusionist, or a psychic or a medium. Whether or not science explains her guessing my name correctly doesn't matter. It still doesn't prove her points about religion any further. She was a nice person, but like most people, she was too set in her own thoughts to even consider others. She admitted that she wouldn't believe in Jesus like she does if she was raised as a Muslim, yet she currently believes that the only way she will reach eternal life is by being submissive to Jesus and accepting Him as her saviour. I tried to put it into perspective for her, but she seems to lack the ability to understand that her thoughts are fallible. She gave me some leaflets and YouTube links, but like most people, I just put them into the bin along with the packaging from my lunch. I mean no offence to her by that action, but she and others like her need to understand that you should never try to invade people's beliefs (or non-beliefs) in theology unless you're the one being attacked. As much as she hopes her messages got across to me, I hope mine got across to her.

Until next time, question everything; accept nothing without evidence.

Thoughts on a Ugandan Bus

Hi all,

Although this blog post won't be up until I've arrived back from Uganda, I feel that my lack of blogging should be addressed, so I'm writing one now, while on board a public bus from Queen Elizabeth National Park to Kampala (the capital of Uganda).

I'm already nearly finished the expedition, so apologies if my memory fails to provide a decent insight into how I have experienced life in Uganda thus far.

First off, this is Africa; a continent known for its masculinity in the face of all things even in everyday life. As such, there is a proliferation of misogyny. Men seem to be of a higher class than women, espeically so in the more rural areas, and in at least some parts of the country, a dowry system is still the norm for marriage. Payment could be in currency (Ugandan Shillings) or other items such as cattle or goats, which is to be paid by the groom to his partner's parents. Oh, and extra payment if a son is produces. As you may know, homosexuality is illegal in Uganda, and I have not had the opportunity to discuss the issue with any locals.

- sorry to break the flow, the bus just stopped for a break and a line of men just started pissing in clear view of everyone on the bus. Anyways... -

Those of you who read my blog will know my standing on religion, however, I have held back my true thoughts on the most part, purely on grounds of respect for the local people. I did however mention my standing to a few boys in the school I had been helping out for nine days, none of whom had heard of the word 'Atheist' before. Again, this is Africa, and it is a very religious continent. References to faith can be seen pretty much everywhere in this country. Even the slogan for the bus I'm currently on is "In God we trust". Uganda's two main religions are Islam and (of course) Christianity, with what I can see as a fairly even balance between them, with both Churches and Mosques coming into view pretty regularly.

In terms of local opinion on their own country, I haven't had too many conversations, but the main topics that seem to come up include the need for more electricity, especially in rural areas, with the demand for solar panels, also the high level of corruption that seems to sweep local and national businesses alike, and also the strikes and protests by teachers over a lack in their payrise. So all in all, very similar to the problems we face in the UK.

If you imagined food shortages were a problem in Uganda, you'd be completely wrong. There is quite literally an abundance of food here. Practically everywhere that has been populated with humans has acres upon acres of banana plantations. The bananas mostly get used for making a local food called matoke, which tastes like a sweeter version of mashed potato (soft plantain, for those familiar with plantain). Oh, and over here, they don't call potatoes simply 'potatoes', they insist on calling them 'Irish potatoes', even though they are mostly grown in Uganda anyway. For most of the project/expedition I've been living off rice, pasta, bread and beanfeast that's cooked over either a methylated spirits canister or a good old wood fire. I love making fires (without sounding too psychopathic). Other times, when food is actually cooked for me and the other members of the team, I've tasted a few of the local foods like cassava, matoke and a bean stew-like soup concoction (tastes good). A few times I've had a whole fish (Tilapia), which is interesting because I have to decide which parts are edible. All in all, the local food is awesome.

Food is one of the two main subjects of importance throughout my time in-country. The other subject is transport, which is easier said than done when it comes to arranging. I have come to realise that sometimes arranging things last-minute in Uganda is actually the best way to go. Pre-booking transport causes a manner of problems, especially if the person has to drive halfway across the country to first meet up with the group or if the driver's English skills are lacking. On more than one occasion the person we booked for transport has tried to wager more money for no other legitimate reason than their own personal gain. They must think that because we are Westerners it means that we are willing to pay more money just because we seem to have more of it than they do. Nevertheless, our problems were always solved by someone close by who offered to do the same job for less than the original. More often than not, they were very nice people too! Aside from the few people who simply want to get money for nothing, Ugandans are an extremely friendly bunch, and most are willing to devote a lot of their time to help out us Westerners, or Muzungus, as they like to call us.

Looking forward to reaching Entebbe from Kampala and actually sleeping in a bed tonight.

Until next time. Question everything. Accept nothing without evidence.

Human Experiences

Hi all,

Well, thank God (lol) for that, I've now finished my A-Level exams. It is quite an amazing feeling. By far the hardest two exams were the ones I had today; COMP3 and FP2. Meh, what's done is done, and the results won't change, so there's no point in worrying!

Well, okay, so perhaps I can worry a little bit, you know, seeing as these are the exams that'll determine whether or not I get into Bristol or Sheffield University. I'm obviously hoping for Bristol, but won't be completely buggered if I end up at Sheffield by getting AAB (B most likely from Computing). I guess I'd be lying if I said that I'm not hoping for Bristol largely on the basis that I'd get the opportunity to study in America for a year. I guess I'm a guy who likes travelling a lot, and experiencing new things (within reason and sensibility).

I've never been outside of Europe, let alone been to America, but it's an amazing prospect for me. I guess I have drained all the joy I can (and can find) in London. It's a stubborn place, full of stubborn people, and more importantly, practically everything visible in London is man-made. I'd like to see a bit of greenery more often, you know what I mean? Quite often I stare up into the clouds or at sunsets, gazing at the wonderful complexity of the natural world. Might sound silly to you, but I'd sit there for hours on end staring into landscapes of trees, rolling hills, deserts, mountains, you name it. To me, it really does signify a lot about being human; the ability to observe the world around us; how it works, or our ability to at least try to understand. It makes me feel complete, especially when accompanied by some acoustic or euphoric music. I feel more alive. Our dependency as humans on 'The Big City' is the direct result of capitalism. Not that it's necessarily a bad thing, but sometimes I feel like people are missing the true meaning of what they're here on this earth to achieve: happiness, and as much of it as possible. In Tokyo, lots of people get so depressed living in the big, busy city that they actually PAY to have people to socialise with. Let alone go outside and experience the outdoors, these people are being deprived of human contact, and have to resort to the very thing imprisoning them in the first place; money. That's a terrible thing indeed.

I know you're probably thinking 'okay, so you like the outdoors, but you're choosing to go to America, the capital of capitalism'. Well yes, it may be the capital of capitalism, but only a few cities in the USA are anywhere near as big as London, and a great majority of the cities are easily navigable, and located near to amazing and (more specifically) different natural wonders. Plus, it's about the experience of the different sorts of people as well. I have a few family members who have been in practically half of all the states in America, and they've told me that each one has its own character, and the people there welcome you with open arms, especially once they know you're British. I guess it's good to know what it feels like to be a foreigner. Although in my current area, I may as well be a foreigner. Haha.

So yeah, hopefully in the third year of my Masters course at Bristol, I'll be heading off to California for a year. It'd be cool to get into Berkeley. One can only hope (and try).

Question everything, accept nothing without evidence. Until next time.

The Decision of Your Life

Hi all,

Did any of you manage to watch the BBC documentary presented by Terry Pratchett? If you didn't, you really should. In the programme he tracks the lives of a few people struck by terminal and life-devouring illnesses, eventually leading to decisions about whether or not to consciously end their own lives.

I'm sure you've heard something about euthanasia, and perhaps voiced your opinions on the ethical matters behind it. It's a tricky decision for any person, regardless of situation. I think those who are genuinely miserable with their lives deserve the right to end it if they wish. However, nobody should be offered the opportunity; the decision must be made solely by the person in question. There are only a few countries where euthanasia is legal (in case you didn't know it is currently illegal in the UK), Thailand, Luxembourg and of course, Switzerland are some of the few countries that allow people to legally commit suicide, or assisted suicide, depending on how you see it.

If you're a person living in the UK and wanting to end your life, and you can afford to pay the £10,000 fee for the procedure, you'll of course have to travel to one of the countries where euthanasia is legal. Most people choose to go to Switzerland, thanks to a well-known company called Dignitas. The country has almost become synonymous with human euthanasia. I guess you have to be a fairly liberal country to allow such things - 'fairly liberal' is a massive understatement.

Obviously, most people in this country disagree with euthanasia being legalised in this country, on grounds of things such as religion or ethics. In my opinion, I think euthanasia should be legalised. I really don't see the harm in legalising it whatsoever. It's not like there'll be a mass suicide, or people would feel pressured to end their own lives - look at Thailand or even Switzerland, Switzerland being among one of the happiest countries on the planet. I really don't see why people shouldn't be allowed to end their own lives if they wish - nobody else should have a say, they're not living the life of that person, they can't possibly understand the pure unhappiness that made them make their decision to end their life. You may say 'well, you'd be very selfish, because you'd leave behind a whole family of people who will be devastated'. Selfish? Really? Who are you to say 'stop moaning about your bleakness of life, your inability to walk anymore because of motor neurone disease, and carry on with your life, you selfish bugger' You want the person to carry on living their life in agony? If so, then you are a sadistic bastard. It'll save the family agony, too, from seeing their loved one suffer their affliction long term, to the point where the person can no longer say whether they want to end their life.

If I ever got such a terrible disease like Alzeimer's or Dementia, I really do think I'd consider euthanasia. I wouldn't want to be a burden to my family, because I'd hate myself for it. The only trouble is, you'd have to make the conscious decision to end your life before your mind is no longer able to make the decision. Death is sad for everyone except the person dying. Of course, if the person was religious, they could be absolutely terrified of dying. Or, they could be disconcertingly happy, almost to the point of celebration. But lets not go into religion for now.

Here's the link for the documentary:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0120dxp/Terry_Pratchett_Choosing_to_Die/

Tell me what you think..

Until next time

The Right Education

Hi all,

I'm afraid my ranting about religious things hasn't halted just yet. I could put this down to the fact that I've been reading more of The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins, or down to my own personal opinions on the matter. Today I shall address one major subject which affects the majority of the readers of this blog; 'faith' schools, and my reasons for abolishing them.

Call me a hypocrite when I say this, but I really do think that faith schools should be completely and utterly abolished. Why can't all schools open their gates to every child? Why do schools still insist on picking and choosing children, based on something which they cannot actually help; their religion. What, you're saying that it's fair that a child should be denied an education in a place where there is a better quality of teaching, JUST because their parents have particular religious beliefs? Yes, I specifically said parents instead of the child, because how is the child meant to have made the conscious decision to be inclined to a particular religion? If you think the child can still make this decision for themselves, consider yourself indoctrinated of religion, my friend. But have no fear! It may still not be too late for your rationality.

I was brought up in a faith school, both for my primary and secondary school years. Neither school in my opinion has shoved religion down my throat so to speak, however I do vividly remember the ritualistic processes of prayer and hymn reciting. Luckily, my brain never registered such words as "My Lord, my Saviour" or "Lord, I am not worthy to receive You" or "Our Father, who art in Heaven" as anything more than mere words that everyone else was reciting, rather than take their literal meaning. I've been Baptised and received Holy Communion, but these rituals were nothing more than that to me; a necessary few actions which helped me to get into the best secondary school in my local area. Don't get me wrong, I am thankful for my parents to get me into the schools I went to, for they have made me who I am today; a rational thinker with a limitless amount of learning awaiting me. However, this does not mean that what I have been fortunate to have is in any way fair to people of other faiths. I only started thinking about it in Year 11. It's amazing how long I was lulled by the favourable and friendly face of Catholicism/Christianity. The thing is, St. Bon's just so happens to have teachers that are good at teaching and have a reputation for it. Age and reputation go hand in hand in making an educational institution successful; take a look at Oxford, the western world's oldest university.

You cannot possibly say that Catholics are more intelligent or capable of success than Muslims or Hindus or Jews. I think there'd be a good chance that if there was a Jewish school founded before St. Bon's in the same area, the Jewish school would be as successful if not more so than St. Bon's in terms of the numbers of students it teaches that go on to lead lives that they desire.

Faith schools cause segregation, which leads to discrimination and degradation. More so, it is a Petri dish for religious indoctrination; encouraging students to believe in things before they can put their own rational thoughts and judgement before them. "Believe in God, mate, you won't get those A*'s otherwise!" Needless to say, St. Bon's didn't go by this slogan, but the constant prayers before lessons, going to Mass at the end of each half-term or term, along with the centralised teaching of Catholicism in GCSE R.E. meant that we were surrounded by this idea of a presence of a higher being, who would send you to hell for eternity when you die, if you forget to say your prayers or forget to go to Mass and don't apologise to him by going to a ritual performed by a priest who acts as God's ears (even though God can hear you anyway, because he is omnipresent and omniscient). Yes, this greater being will shun you and make you burn in hellfire for eternity if you don't obey his rules ...but don't forget, he still loves you.

Sorry mate, but according to your rules and even those of Muhammad, I should be beheaded or stoned to death or punished severely in some way for blaspheming. -oh I'm sorry, those rules are completely subject to people's own interpretations of what the 'holy books' say. Everyone's a winner then? No, much more likely the loser, including you. Yes, you, reader.

Why should people of any other faith or non-faith and within the London Borough of Newham not be permitted initial entry to St. Bon's? I understand that the school is over-subscribed, but that does not mean that you have to pick-and-choose who goes in by religion. That's exactly like picking and choosing according to skin colour. The child cannot help their labelled religion. They should not be judged based on their parents, for starters.

Mr. Cameron and other Members of Parliament, if you cannot totally abolish faith schools, at least stop new ones from emerging. For the greater good.

Until next time.

Revision Tekkers

Hi all,

So my first exam is less than a week away, and to be totally honest I haven't done a large amount of revision at all. Feeling guilty I guess, but regardless, my actions make me who I am, and so far, I think I've done alright for myself.

Revision is one of those things that many people take to a different meaning. To some people, revision is simply reading through their textbook. To another person, revision is simply writing down things that they remember without actually looking at their notes or textbook. To another, revision is simply the confidence in thinking that you'll do alright in the exam. For me, revision is taking notes on things I'm not quite sure about, and (because I do Maths) sitting myself down under exam conditions and doing test papers after test papers.

I think doing test papers is the best form of revision, because it puts you in the right mindset for the exam, so in effect you know what to expect when it comes to the actual thing. Then again, for a lot of subjects there aren't many test papers freely available, either because of the exam board being bastards or the specification for the course changing recently.

I know quite a lot of people prefer to revise in the library; it's quieter (depending on where you go), more relaxing, and also provides opportunity to socialise with friends. Because I feel comfortable in my own home, I prefer to revise at home. It's where my mind feels like it can focus, because it's not being stimulated by new and exciting sights all the time, or distractions like attractive girls walking by (doesn't happen often in Newham though, haha). Some people say they can't revise at home because there's too many distractions like Facebook. Well, simply turn your computer off then! It's not that hard. Although I don't think I've been addicted to anything so much that it becomes a habit. Apart from biting my fingers. Really need to stop that. It's not like I can just cut off my fingers and solve that problem easily, lol.

Obviously, some people have annoying brothers or sisters, and possibly parents who put too much pressure on them, or have some kinds of disagreements with them. Sometimes I guess the library is the only place people can go to for focusing on work.

On that note, I need to get revising tomorrow. -After I collect my passport and visa from the Ugandan Embassy. No lie.

Until next time.

Programmers Wanted

Hi all,

I've said it before, and I'll keep saying it; this country needs more computer scientists. More programmers at least. It really does baffle me as to why the government has chosen not to invest its support and finance into the UK computing industry. The computer games industry were hit particularly hard, where tax relief was missed and growth was not encouraged at all. I'm a supporter of our games industry here in the UK. Both for the benefit it brings to our economy and the respect our country gets for, well, providing entertainment and talent. Video games are like novels or films (apparently the video games industry is earning more than the film and music industries combined), so they are an expression of creativity. Of course, to extract that creativity into a working and professional looking video game, you need programmers.

Back in the 80's and early 90's, schools were teaching programming to children through the medium of the computers of those ages - the BBC Micro being a pivotal model in the teaching of programming. Back then, many kids could apply what they had learnt at school into their ZX Spectrums and Ataris back at home. The only way you could play games on such consoles was to program them. Some of the earlier models only had volatile memory, so every time you switched on the device you had to re-program the lines of code to play it (more often than not, they were fairly simple games). This, coupled with the rush of magazines that supplied program code for fancy programs you could try out, allowed a generation of children to see through the code and start creating their own, or even manipulating existing code. It's exciting to know that you have such a wide range of processing potential using nothing but a keyboard. It's like giving an artist a colour palette and a blank canvas. With the exception of the fact that the artist can undo his paint strokes.

I used to have an ambition for becoming a video games designer. It's always an option, I guess. I'd rather do something a bit more contributive to the world as a whole, though. Something more meaningful. I consider myself creative to an extent, but I'm much more a person of academics. I have turned my attention to research, and want to teach myself as well as the world.

So yeah, basically, there needs to be more computer scientists in the world. For goodness' sake, technology = computers, and computers = programmers. Unless we want to slow down our advance in technology, more people should be taught in the art of programming. I think it should be taught as a core subject, alongside Maths and English. It's not like we're not going to be using computers is the near and distant future, that's certain. Unless you know, there's an apocalypse. But that's down to the religious people to argue over (for eternity)

Until next time.

Conflicting Comments

Hi all,

I think I should just create a new blog based on my views on religion, because I seem to be discussing religion more so than Computer Science.

I love YouTube. More specifically, the video comments. It brings out the worst and best in people. No face-to-face confrontation, just you and the computer screen, typing away your thoughts. It's interesting to see what people are actually thinking, because in reality, they wouldn't dare say what they have typed, to a person's face. Of course, the majority of comments are just trollers, and lets face it, everyone likes to have a laugh. When the video topic is more serious, such as those on politics or religion, people tend to be a bit more serious in their comments, often accompanied by long-winded arguments lasting for weeks with a person of conflicting opinions.

I was going through various videos related to religion, when I noticed the comment

"How the fuck you do believe in such bullshit that there is no God? Are you fucking stupid? Islam is the truth, hard to believe but thats cos your ignorant" 
(They obviously need to go and read up on swearing in the Qur'an, because apparently Allah doesn't like swearing or insulting. Then again, he may be interpreting it in a different way *gasp* oh but he can't do that because otherwise he wouldn't be following the exact words of Allah, or wait no he will because its - blah blah blah ad infinitum)


Well there's an interesting comment if I ever saw one. If you want the full debate, head on over to the comments section on this site: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8NRX5osjhg

Sorry mate, but it's kinda hard to accept Islam as the truth when there's no proof. If you're calling me ignorant, then in that case you're implying that you're ignorant to other religions, let alone the fact that there is no God. So just because I don't believe in Islam, that means that I'm stupid? So you're calling the billions of other people in the world stupid? Sure, go ahead, make yourself an enemy of the world. At least I'm learning about all kinds of religion, rather than accept one and take that as fact. Strength in your belief does not include the fact that many others share your beliefs. Believe in yourself (literally) and don't follow others, for the sake of your sanity. Understand who you are and where you come from, don't just give in and accept some rubbish that comes streaming out of a book that happens to be ancient. Just because something is old doesn't mean it is wise. But hey, that's my opinion.

Until next time.

The Complicated Mind

Hi all,

Either I'm a terribly slow reader, or the books I choose to read have small font. I guess it also has something to do with the types of books I read too. I haven't read fiction books in a while now; I tend to read books related to ethics, psychology or something to do with Computer Science. I was reading my book 'On Intelligence' earlier today. I'm only about a quarter of the way through it, but it brings up some really interesting concepts of how our brains work.

I've thought that the 'mind' was in fact created BY the brain, but it seems that in neuroscience, they are one and the same thing. The mind is in fact the brain itself. I guess it depends on your own perception of what the 'mind' actually is. It's actually astonishing to think that the mind is constructed purely of a series of densely packed cells as part of a watery, almost jelly like structure. Everything you perceive, everything you're thinking, doing and unconsciously doing right now is the pure product of that series of cells inside your skull. They relay information to and from each other at lightning fast speed, through different parts of your brain, and transform particles of light into electrical signals that travel through your brain to give you visual images of the world. They transform the particles of chemicals that travel into your nose into a smell; something you can perceive and sense. All of what you know about the world is stored behind the eyes which you are using to read this blog. In a sense, the world is in your head. YOUR world is, anyway.

With all the complicated calculations that must go on inside our brains, you'd imagine that different parts of the brain would be constructed differently to perform different tasks. In other words, there's only one place where hearing can be processed, where grammar is processed, emotions etc. The theory has yet to be proven, but it's a strong one, in my eyes, and is goes like this: There is only one way in which the cells in your brain are organised, so that means that your brain processes vision in the same way it processes sound and everything else. The only thing that determines what a particular part of the brain processes is what that part is connected to - parts that are already processing certain things, or 'highways' connecting your eyes to your brain (your eyes are, effectively, a part of your brain). Now this is made quite astonishing, and incredibly exciting for neuroscientists and those involved in artificial intelligence. This means that there is one way a brain processes information; one algorithm that needs to be found, possibly unlocking the secrets to our minds. This is one of the many reasons why I want to get involved in this sort of research at university. This is essentially discovering ourselves; what makes us human; what 'reality' really is, or at least our perception of it.

They've already proven that a brain can be rewired to perform different tasks in different areas than normal - in ferrets at least. Whether or not the theory that the brain is just a series of repeated cell patterns is still to be proven. Nevertheless, our understanding of the human brain has come a long way since we first started poking around in one. We're far from finishing, and as I mentioned before I think we'll sooner find the origin of the universe than find out exactly how our brains work.

Until next time.

Government Savings

Hi all,

It's probably an issue that's affecting or affected you (especially if you are a student hoping to go to university, like me), but when it comes to the government giving out money to people, I think you actually have to donate a body part to actually get anything out of them. Be it for declaring that you're a carer, separated, signing on for benefits, or student finance, the government will simply not allow the application process to be straightforward to understand. I mean, okay, I'm grateful for the fact that we can actually apply for this, but surely the government should make it easier to understand about applying for sums of money, especially the Student Finance England website - it's literally the biggest pile of rubbish I've seen in ages. It's like comon, surely the government could afford to invest in decent IT staff to look over the website and improve it. It'll save everyone precious time.

To affirm that my parents are separated, Student Finance needed evidence. That's understandable. Except for the fact that on the website, there were only two options. Now I'm sorry SFE, but due to the fact that I'm applying for the highest amounts of loans and grants possible, maybe you haven't realised that a solicitor's letter would be a massive sum of money to pay out on, for people like me who live underneath David Cameron's shoe, holding our breaths in case the shoe drops down upon us (again). Surely you realise that not every separation involves a court order. What to do, what to do.

They sent me a letter about a week after I finished my application (soon after the applications were first open), saying they needed proof, and get this, they even said we could send FINANCIAL INFORMATION this time! Fair enough, a small mistake on their website, no harm done yet. We sent the evidence off, as they asked, and even the right year as they requested. Nearly everyday I checked my application online, still saying that they haven't received evidence. We phoned them up twice, and both times they said that they had definitely received the evidence, and the second time the person even said they were processing it as they were speaking. Still no confirmation of this on the website. So it came to May 30th (yesterday), and the website was still saying they were waiting on evidence. Phoned them up, and surprise surprise, their 'systems were down' so we couldnt do anything. Phoned them up again today, and finally we get some response, albeit an extremely annoying one. Apparently, the evidence we submitted was not valid, because they needed the 2011-2012 information - this was only given to us this month, way after I first submitted my application and original evidence. SFE, you really are taking the piss now. Earlier today I sent off the information they required to fully complete my application and secure me a grant. Lets just hope that they don't ask for my left arm next time (I hope there isn't a next time).

Student Finance England, you NEED Computer Scientists, so get your act together in the mean time.

Until next time.