Blog Silence

Ok, I've been a bit silent for the past week here. And a couple people have asked why. Well, that mostly has to do with the last push in my honours project. There's still a lot of work that needs to go into it, but that's what happens when you choose an ambitious project (and certain things don't quite go the way you expected, but that's a touchy subject).

It was also a bit unfortunate that the ICFP Conference had to fall right in the middle of things. I really need to cut down on my travelling. I've been on five international trips this year and I have another long one in the form of Nvidia just around the corner. Just have a look here and, while there will be those that will say how they've traveled more, 74 flights I believe is plenty. Unfortunately it's looking like next years trips will mostly be to the American continent - I far prefer the rich cultural history of Europe.

Next Saturday the 20th is a big one for me. For one it's the day after our project reports are due, so it will be a moment for rest and relaxation. More importantly though, it's the South African ACM ICPC Regional Contest. If that website looks a bit bland, then try the international site. This is our first year being sponsored by Google. It was a nice catch as we have an amazing record 22 teams from UCT alone! Compare this to last years 10. We even had to close registration early due to space constraints! While there are other factors that affect the large growth, I'm confident a fair share is due to Google's involvement.

We're hoping for major UCT domination this year, although we'd really love to see some competition coming from the rest of the country. It's the competition that makes it fun and when all the competition is concentrated at one source it takes away some of the fun. My team can't compete (as was the case last year) since I've already attended two world finals, so we'll be watching the scoreboard, being the hopeless onlookers unable to help the falling, cheering on the rising.

After the contest we're planning on heading off to Da Vinci's on Kloof Street for some good pizza. It looks like we'll be taking up the whole place, so it should be interesting to see how that turns out.

Then there's the moment I hope we all get to enjoy as a country. There's no reason why we should lose to Argentina. If we do we get the chokers label along with the other Tri Nations teams for losing to the lessers. If you're lost already, it's the Rugby World Cup I'm talking about. The final is in the evening at 21:00, on this very same day as the ICPC. If things pan out as they should South Africa should be there. This is going to be one almighty match. Assuming we do make it, we play either France or England. This is our best opportunity to regain our '95 success. They've been playing so well and the main competitors have foolishly knocked themselves out. However, I rather not jinx the boys so I will stop right there.

It's going to be a fabulous day and let's hope we're not let down in any regard. Go UCT! Go Bokke!