Back to Windows

There's a group of five other South Africans on the Direct3D team at NVIDIA. Bruce, Carl, Chris, Ashley and Nick have all interned in the team. So it was a kind of obvious choice to make when I had to decide which team to join.

The only thing that made me hesitate was a rather big factor. Direct3D is for Windows. That means development is also done on Windows. Those of you that know me well enough will understand just how anti-Windows I have become of late. I only switched to Linux for good little over two years ago, but since then I have only used Windows when absolutely forced to. For browsing the web I'm ok with it, so even though our honours labs used Windows I still used them when I had to. For anything else though, I used my own laptop.

Bruce, Carl and Chris are also Linux gurus so I took their advice when they said it was worth going Direct3D. If they managed, surely I would be ok. Well, I can't say I'm heading back to Windows as my OS of choice. No, certainly not. If anything my three days on XP have made me even less wanting to use it.

Thank goodness Firefox and Pidgin run on Windows. At least two applications I heavily use on Linux. What would I do without Cygwin? At least I have my Vim, Wget and all those other wonders. It isn't a Linux terminal, but it does knock some sense into Windows.

Some things that I've hit again that made me switch. No virtual desktops. While I've tried a few applications that provide this it simply doesn't work the same. I haven't found one that provdes a fast method of moving a window between desktops. Having so many applications open clutters the screen very easily and the lack of organisation is terrible. Luckily I have a good 1600x1200 monitor, which provides some compensation. Then there's the space bug. Ever put something in "C:\Documents and Settings\..." and had major issues? Yes, some applications can't handle the spaces in a path. Why then does such a major directory have spaces? Why? And the last one for now, XPs multitasking is hopeless. When one application hangs it takes the whole PC along with it. At least my dual core saves me there most of the time. One very last one -- those "Send error report" dialogs...I hate them with a passion!

Thankfully I have been able to stay away from Vista for now. Although speaking to Ilan yesterday it seems that might not be the case for very long. I'll manage, but I still far prefer Linux. At least I have my laptop to return to so I still get my dose of Linux.

Greenpoint Apartments

As promised, some pictures of my apartment. It seems as though nearly every intern at NVIDIA is staying here! I'm renting a two bedroom apartment for $1550, although the rate varies slighty depending on number of free apartments.

First thing you do when you arrive is to go to the leasing office. That's this small building right here:


This is the road it's on, Warburton Avenue, with the apartments to the right. It's a quiet road with not many cars driving by since there's a major avenue just one down.


They have a tennis court and a pool. The tennis court isn't used that much so it's not that difficult to get some time on it. The pool is rather useless now with winter pretty much upon us already.



This is what one of the apartment blocks look like from the outside. They're pretty much all the same design. My apartment is the one with the balcony on the second floor in this picture.


This is what the lounge/dining room area looks like. It's a fair size and some interns get a third person sleep here. None of the furniture comes with the apartment -- I got it all from Chris.


This is the kitchen. Everything but the microwave comes with the apartment. Yes, that is a dishwasher on the right -- lazy Americans!



This is my bedroom. Once again, the matress is from Chris. Although he failed to tell me that there was no linen, so I was a tad cold the first night. The other bedroom is identical -- Migael will be joining me in 10 days and will take up that room. Nick will probably be joining us some time in January and take the lounge.


And finally, the bathroom. There's one to share in this apartment.


So as you can see it's decent for the price you pay, bearing in mind that rent in the US is far more than in SA. It's 1.4 miles from NVIDIA. I've been walking there this week, which takes about 20-30 minutes. Yesterday I got Chris' bike so the time should be reduced to about 5-10 minutes.

Orientation at NVIDIA

I am officially an NVIDIAan!! Yes, first day at the new office went well. Now I know what it feels like to work on a huge campus. Although not as big as Googleplex its size is rather impressive.

Can't tell you much more unfortunately. They ask us not to blog about anything, be it good or bad. I can understand where they coming from, but it is a little dissapointing. Things went well though and I'm looking forward to the next three months with the company.

I must say I'm impressed with the number of South Africans on the Direct3D team, which is the one I'm working on. Whoever it was that acted as the magnet has done a really good job.

Now to sort out that bank account, cell phone, Internet and everything else! The not-so-nice part of moving to a new country.

Santa Clara, CA

35 hours after leaving home in Cape Town I arrived at Greenpoint Apartments in Santa Clara, the place where I will be staying for the next three months.

This was my first time flying Lufthansa. I was immediately put off by the lack of personal TVs for the on-board entertainment. We ended up having a measly two movies shown and they were both shown in the second half of both flights, when I was hoping to get in some sleep. Nevertheless, they were the first airline I've been on that hasn't been stingy with drinks. They go around several times and are easy about people asking for drinks at any time.

Thankfully I had only one stop-over, although it was at my least favourite airport. Frankfurt's airport has the worst signage of any airport I have been to and the shopping is terrible -- at least in terminal 1 which I was in. At least they had a small number of these wonderful reclined chairs (simple ones with no mechanical parts) and I was lucky to find a single free one, which helped ease the 4 hour wait for the next plane. During the second flight (both were about 11-12 hours each) I had a nice New Zealand couple sitting next to me and they were very chatty.

The immigration process went fairly quickly, which I found surprising due to the large size of San Francisco airport. This is my third time in the US -- for my first flight to New York the immigration queue was very long and we had to wait over an hour. There was a 10 minute and an hour long train I had to catch. The second one runs hourly, so I was lucky to arrive at the platform not so long before the train arrived. I ended up getting to the apartment just before 16:00.

Checking in required a fair amount of paper work -- something I have gotten unfortunately used to over the past two weeks! When I eventually got through all that I finally got to see my apartment. I'll post pictures shortly, but in brief it's reasonable and has everything I need from it. By coincidence or what I do not know, a friend Chris de Kadt who was doing a six month internship finished up just last week. So he passed on all his furniture, his bike and some other stuff.

I had to go out and buy a few things for the apartment. I only went out and bought the essentials and I'll get the rest of the stuff later when I know where the places are and have more time. I skipped supper as I wasn't all that hungry.

So, tomorrow I start my second real job. Will Nvidia meet, will it pass the coolness of Google? I'll soon find out!

The Honours Year

Today I completed my honours degree. Four years at UCT, completed! Provided nothing goes ridiculously pear shaped I will be awarded my second degree next month.

It's a strange feeling, partly due to the uncertainty over what I will be doing next year. I have applied to study further in the U.S., however, I will only find out if I'm accepted some time in March. If I get accepted into one of the places I have applied to I will be starting a MSc/PhD there in September. If I get rejected (oh no!), however, my plans are to start an MSc at UCT and then push hard to get into a PhD overseas. Even if I do get accepted what I'm doing between February and September isn't finalised, although I do have some potential plans. So I might return to UCT for some time, I might not return at all!

Honours has been the first real year of studying in my opinion. Computer Science undergrad is way too easy, especially when you enter it already having a good background in programming. This has been the first year we have really gotten to know the lecturers. It is the first year we have had our own personal lab. It is the first year we have had the choice of modules It is the first year we had a major project. All these things add up to a most enjoyable year. Most importantly though is the size of the class. With only 37 of us, all having made it through undergrad and remained, this has been the first year I have really gotten to know the entire class. Knowing that most of the class will not be returning next year and that some of them I will never see again makes it a rather sad time.

It has been an exciting time. I truly believe that the honours year is worth more than the three years of undergrad combined. I would strongly recommend it to anyone wondering whether they should continue after graduating with their BSc. An honours is what distinguishes you from the masses.

So that is it. It is over. No more. Done.

Next up -- Nvidia! I finally had my appointment at the US Embassy yesterday and received my H-3 visa this afternoon. I have my flights booked -- 29 hours each way! I have sorted out accommodation at Greenpoint Apartments. Chris de Kadt has just finished his own internship there this week and so he has offered me his furniture and other stuff which has helped a lot! Apparently they pass on furniture between interns there. So I am all ready to leave on Saturday evening and start working Monday morning!

Sorry Janis, but I have to share what you said me as it was classic! This is what she (management person at Greenpoint) sent me this morning:

I had to call my husband who was in the marines to find out what the heck 16:00-17:00 was. Welcome to California we deal in the "o'clock version".

US Visas

I have done something immensely stupid. I found this out last night from Carl. Yes, I underestimated the time required to apply for a US visa.

Nvidia got some attorneys to put together the application for my visa. The process started all the way back in July when they first contacted me and I finally received a thick wad of documents on the 25th October. The cover letter stated:

You will be required to present the enclosed original approval notice at a U.S. Consulate in order to apply for a visa stamp to enter the U.S. in H-3 status. Please be advised that you will only be able to apply for the H-3 visa stamp up to 10 days prior to the validity date as indicated on the enclosed approval notice.

So I wait until 10 days before, which happens to be today. Bad idea! Turns out I was supposed to book an appointment for 10 days before and that an appointment has to be booked at least two weeks in advance. So I anxiously call the US embassy this morning, which by the way entails purchasing credit from Pick 'n Pay first, and they inform me that the first opening is on 28 November. Yikes! But I'm leaving on the 17th! Double yikes!

Fortunately they allow for emergency applications under special conditions. That required me to send a lengthy email to the embassy explaining why, when, how and more. I was just a tad nervous while doing this as thoughts went through my mind about what would happen if I didn't get accepted for an emergency application. My flights are booked, my start date set and everything. Would have been a nightmare!

About an hour ago I get this wonderful email:

Your request for an emergency visa appointment has been approved for the 14^th of November at 8am at the Cape Town Consulate General. Please print this email and bring it with you to your appointment. Please adhere to the requirements for the visa application process listed in the attached file.

What's more, the "attached file" outlines what to bring better than any other page on the embassy's website. To read it click here.

Nvidia

So, next month I head on over to Santa Clara to work for the big green machine. I'm there for three months for an internship. I start on 19 November and work there through their winter until 15 February when I'll hopefully be sad to leave.


There have been so many of us going there from UCT over the past few years, ever since Shaun Nirenstein started out there. Bruce, Carl, Nick, Chris, Ashley...and plenty others have all had their stint. From what they've told me it's a lot of fun, although I'll soon be able to compare to my experiences at Google. It's only nine miles to Google HQ in Mountain View, so I'll finally get a chance to check them out.

I've started my search for accommodation and the likes a tad late, as usual. So I'm without a roommate at the moment. I might have to settle for the exorbitant rates of a single room apartment if I don't find someone soon, so take this as a call for help if you know anyone out there. ;-)