The begginning of the end!

Well I am coming closer and closer to the end of university and as such that means it is dissertation time. I am going to keep a diary of what I have been up to with regards to my dissertation and keep up to date weekly. You can follow along and see what I go through and offer help or even learn some stuff.

First things first what am I doing?

Well it is called scene interpretation, which basically means I will take a video of something such as a street view that is publicly accessible and analyse the environment or people. With the people aspect there is some ethical concerns but thankfully there is already large data set that are available to use here. My first step though with regards to my dissertation project is to decide what aspect I am to focus on, whether people/crowd analysis or environment analysis. This will then be the core focus of my work and will stop me branching out to far and creating to much work for myself.


As well as deciding what to focus on I also am having a look at openCV in Python. I have found this link to a good tutorial, but I dare say I will be using multiple resources for learning as I go. I have used Python before but never for a project so this could be quite interesting. There will also be some background reading done on information about scene analysis to be able to use some examples or learn from.


My first goal is to get a system up and running that can do basic processing of videos and get some kind of recognition going on it. I have a meeting later this week so I can discuss in more detail where to go from there.

Busy Bee

Well everything is going well at university. I am keeping busy with work, sports and social.

Dance sport: I am getting better at dancing now which is good as I have put myself down for competition in Warwick in November. I am very nervous and I need to go shopping for some dance shoes and clothing. I have a brilliant partner who puts up which my foibles and every one in the society is awesome and mad and I love them all :). I do fit in well with them. So stay tuned to see my results.


Fencing: On Saturday I took part in the novice fencing competition with five others. During the day I didn't lose a match, to which I was shocked, but the final is on Tuesday. I am nervous about it as everyone else will be there for training but I will give it my best and hope I win. 


Football: Football is going well had our first proper match today which didn't go brilliantly. Hopefully our next match will go a little better. Definitely a good way to wake up though.


Uni: Got a few assignments handed out that are proving to be fun and a few more to be handed out. Got one on WebGL creating a model solar system and one to write a report on agile and another on vision.


Social: Well after a few comments on a post in our computer science page on Facebook I have become the social representative for computer science. So looks like I will be organising the socials for a while, which I am not to fussed about. Hopefully, more people will turn up.


SSCC(Staff Student Consultative Committee): I have also joined SSCC which means I will be a representative for my subject and year. So people who want to raise issues then I can report them back to people higher up who can sort them out and improve things or help out at the time if possible.

Some work and some play

Well It has been a bit more than a week since I last updated this but it has been very busy. I have signed up to a few sports and I am fully into my lectures after a bit of module switching.

So first up uni work, well after swapping Space robotics for Computer vision I have more or less settled in nicely. A few assignments/tasks have been handed out and they look really fun and...awkward. I am having a bit of trouble with one of my modules as it involves a lot of maths, such as matrix transformations. All the rest are really interesting and hopefully should all go well.
Now for the extra curricular activities...
First up I have joined the Aberystwyth robotics society to work on various bits and bobs. One main area of interest is quad-copters and other flying machines. I am also soon to start looking at a Reprap 3D printer to try and help get it working.

I am also a part of the Digs football team, F.C. Beaver. First training session didn't go brilliantly and it chucked it down with rain mid way. Should get better :). I have my first friendly tomorrow against Ivory Toast so should be fun and shall see how that goes.

I have also taken up fencing which is very fun but tiring and stressful on the legs. I have learnt a few moves such as lunge, disengage and circle parry and a few others. It also works up a bit of a sweat wearing all the gear. I am however considering putting myself up for vote to be novice representative.

Finally I have also taken up ballroom dancing. This is brilliant fun and shows me how much I know about my right and left. So far learnt the basics of Waltz, Cha, Jive and Quickstep and a few little bits such as the new yorker. I have also put myself down for competing at basic level which could be interesting so lots of practice.

Well that is it so far, I am keeping busy and loving every moment. Stay tuned for more news. 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MentalMarriott

Start of University... well 3rd/4th year

So final year has started and I have done a little reading on my subjects at hand and I have started work on some tutorials. I am also still having a social life but my sleep is a little bit reduced. I am looking at taking up some dancing and football as well as continue my archery. I was asked if I wanted to got to a knitting club of which I would have loved to if I hadn't made previous arrangements. Need to look at going though should be fun.


I am trying this year to not only get round to doing more social activities and improve my grade, to hopefully graduate with a first, but also looking at developing more technical knowledge in areas outside of my modules. I have spoken to some of my friends and we have spoke about a few projects such as a wearable technology. Also kinda on the technical side we are already planning the raft for next years charity raft race at Glengower hotel.


Lastly as though I probably won't update my blog a lot I will try to keep you all informed of whats going on or any topics I find interesting. So look forward to hopefully some interesting reads.

Finally got round to this

Well it took me long enough to getting round to writing this so here it goes.

I have finished my industrial placement at IBM and it was the most amazing year I have ever had. I did things that I never thought I would be able to do such as teach, I lead a team developing an educational activity and learnt so much that I look forward to taking into my final year. Not to mention some of the amazing people I have met while being there who I wish all the best for their future endeavors. Now I have to wait to hear if I have got the graduate position and apply to tons more graduate positions.


So currently I am at my parents home for a couple weeks before heading back to Aberystwyth for my final year *trembles with fear* which should be, interesting and very busy. While at home I am sorting through all my stuff and catching up with my friends back here which is nice as I haven't seen them in ages. Been playing football with them on Tuesday evenings which is good as I am trying to keep my fitness up. I need to go for a run but that is a problem for future me.


Next week I have a wedding to go to that my friend has invited me to so that should be fun but the night before I might be camping with friends so it could be a busy week. I am looking forward to putting my suit back on and looking all fancy. Then off to Aberystwyth the next week to get all my stuff unpacked and get myself properly settled in.


I have already seen where I will be living and it is a lovely place and I can wait to live there. Going to try and enjoy my last year as much as possible as I am going to miss Aberystwyth when I leave, if I could I would never leave. I am planning on joining many socials and getting to know more people also need to speak to my year head to see about the possibility of some teaching experience.

One last note, if you have made it this far and you have a graduate job going or know somewhere there is a graduate job in computer science going please let me know I would be ever so grateful :) .

Soon be finished

So this past week all I can think about is it won't be long till I finish my placement. I have loved every moment of being down here but I am looking forward to going back to Aberystwyth.

Last Friday it was another farewell to a friend who I met while down here and the Friday before was another goodbye. For that Friday we went out and about drinking into one of the UK's worst nightclub which wasn't that bad. We also went Oceania which I almost didn't get into because I had the wrong trainers on but thankfully I got in and had an amazing night. On the way back home we saw a casino so we went in and played some blackjack. My flatmate ended up twenty pound up of which he was very happy about.

The next day I felt terrible so we went subway to solve that, it was the nicest subway I have ever had. I then went home and slept for most of the day. The following couple of days I had a few tasks to do at work and on Wednesday a new IT started and as such I started to train them. They seem to be fitting in really well.

This weekend I have started work on my industrial year report and finally visited the local nature reserve that I have passed so much but never actually been in. Got a few photos which I hope to upload at some point to Deviant Art so come and check them and a few other pictures and drawings of mine on http://someguywithanapple.deviantart.com/

Goodbyes, Travel and Beach

So been a very busy weekend with travels and fun. However, before the weekend got under way though, there was a few goodbyes to fellow colleagues who had finished their placement and will be going back to university soon. It is been a lot more quieter around the work place as well. Hopefully we will stay in contact and if we are both lucky we might see each other back at work as a graduate.

After the goodbyes it was off to home back in the midlands to see parents. This required a fun 4 hour train journey after which it was fair to say I was glad to be home. I then grabbed something to eat and headed out with parents to the pub. At the local had a few nice pints of bass and had a good catch up then headed home for a good rest. My body clock however was still on work schedule so woke up around 8am and had a bath which I had missed, I still wash just via a shower :P.

After a relaxing bath and a bit of lunch I set off on my second part of my travels to Wales, back to my university. I was heading here to see what my new accommodation for final year is like. This was a 7 hour train journey during with I did nod off a little a couple of times. When I got in it was a short trek to my new place which I can say is lovely, with an amazing garden/patio.

Here I met our 4th flatmate who is a PHD student who is very nice but only here for 3 months. After stocking up on a few essentials we met up with a few friends for a drink and a catch up. While out we watched bits of the Brazil Vs Holland game, which I am glad Holland won. On the Sunday it was a relaxing day sorting out some stuff for my room. I built a flat pack desk while flatmates watched frozen. Later on we watched the world cup final and it was a tense match but I am glad Germany won. After that we headed out for a midnight bonfire on the beach where had another good catch up with friends and a nice talk with a stranger who decided to join out bonfire.

In the morning it was get up get ready and go. This time a nice 7 hour trek on train back down south. People were arriving as well as this was the week of graduations, some of whom were friends of mine who didn't do an industrial year. After I got back I had dinner then relaxed as the next day I was in work.

Back to work I went after a terrible nights sleep but it was a good day as got £64 from the sweepstakes for Germany winning the world cup which was nice. With some of my winnings I brought some cake for work colleagues.

All in all a busy few days :)