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Journal -
Week 8
::: Day 1 - Monday
07/25/05 :::
Today I spent most of my time working on the Compaq iPAQ. I had to install some new software, configure some options, and test different functions.
The main thing that the iPAQ was missing was a way to run custom Bluetooth applications written in Java. So we figured that out by getting some additional software. Well, the software came with examples which did not work. So I had to e-mail the company and ask for assistance. Still haven't heard from them...
I also spent some time looking at the code for a client/server Bluetooth application using the aforementioned software. I was trying to understand what exactly is going on and how to work with their code. It is too bad the people who created this did not make the effort to comment their code, or at least make some better documentation.
At night I hung out with Natalie at her house (which apparently is haunted... blah, who believes in that anyway). We watched Hell's Kitchen on TV and had some dinner and corn. (Sushi for me!!!)
::: Day 2 - Tuesday
07/26/05 :::
Before going to work today I stopped by the campus store and got a brand new Barron's GRE book. I even got 10% discount because my ID
says 'faculty/staff'. Woo hoo!
I spent most of the morning working on the PDA again. At lunch I went to Bertuci's with Natalie and Laura to celebrate Laura's completion of the DMP internship. She is leaving this weekend.
When I came back to work I had an e-mail from SkyeTek about the CRC. It said they couldn't figure out the problem with my code, but wrote their own at it was working. I tried to compile it but they were using a class Numbers which is not part of the Java classes. I emailed back asking if they could send me that one too. Then I went online and did a little search. I found the Numbers class implemented by the people at
JavaRanch.com; I got the source code, but when I tried using that specific method that the SkyeTek people had referred to, it didn't work. So now I am just waiting for an email from them.
There are two things I have leaved recently while being on the job: 1) a lot of time and effort goes into researching what technologies and software to use and 2) a lot of times one has to contact outside developers and company support to fix problems that occur with software. I guess this is part of working in this
field.
::: Day 3 - Wednesday
- 07/27/05 :::
Today wasn't a good day at all. I went to work at 9am just to find a very offending and unprofessional e-mail from the people at
SkyeTek. SkyeTek is the company that manufactures the RFID modules (like our reader) and who wrote the manuals accompanying the technology.
I have been having problems with constructing RFID commands for a while now. One reason was because their so-called command Builder is very poor quality and sometimes does not work. So what I had been working on for the past weeks was creating my own code to simulate the Command Builder so that we can tie it together in other Java applications. And as I had mentioned before I was always running into problems with the Cyclic Redundancy Check calculation. That was the reason why I emailed SkyeTek in the first place. Well, now they return an e-mail which indirectly insults me and contains
a Java file which "work". But wait, it actually doesn't work.
So I have been very irritated all day because those people wasted my time, and at the end did not even admit they cannot help, but gave me some wrong code.
I have been keeping away from my e-mail client today because I was too angry and didn't want to respond in a rush.
I spent most of my day looking over various CRC code and making final attempt at putting things together.
In the afternoon, I started working on a much smaller and restricted version of our original idea for RFIDs.
::: Day 4 - Thursday -
07/28/05 :::
This morning I worked on the RFID program. Vinod and I have definitely come to the conclusion that I will only make a small set of RFID commands and hard-code them in the program. We can do much more with the CRC not working. So I decided on some positive attitude and worked happily on the RFID almost all day. By early afternoon I had it working. I showed Vinod and he was happy with the work I had done in such a short time. I just had to do some additional error checking and then everything was complete.
Then I moved back to some work on the PDA. I wrote a program that looks for remote
Bluetooth devices. It all seemed good and I was hoping to run it on the Compaq iPAQ. Unfortunately, that aveLink software kept saying that my trial period has expired. And how could it be expired, if I may ask, when it is a 15-day trial and 15 days ago I had not even touched an iPAQ. Grrrrr ....
More on all this tomorrow.
::: Day 5 - Friday
07/29/05 :::
This morning was a disaster. I was late, I forgot my bus ticket for Boston, there was construction everywhere so I had to walk around (with a
heavy duffle bag on one shoulder). I got to work and gave a couple more tries to that aveLink software but to no avail.
After Vinod and I talked we decided to proceed with different plans. Since I only have less than two weeks left I am going to leave the PDAs aside and work on connecting my PC Bluetooth work with the RFID part. I still don't have a clear idea of what to do, but that's what today is for: planning out my last weeks here!
In the afternoon I was
thinking up ideas for the RFID. I decided to use the fact that I
write a 8-character string to each tag, and convert that string to
integers. So for example if the RFID tag contained the data
"12345678", then '12' would be a simulated node's data,
'34' would be the energy left, '56' would be the x-coordinate, and
'78' - the y-coordinate.
I worked a little on a new
GUI for the RFID.
::: Day 6 - Saturday
07/30/05 :::
I spent my time today with
my cousin Diana. She is working in New Hampshire for the summer and
came to visit for the weekend. We went around Boston because she
wanted to look around and take pictures. We went to Newbury Street,
Copley Square, and the Prudential. At night, Diana took us to dinner
and when we got back home we all headed to bed. Everyone was soooo
tired from walking around all day.
::: Day 7 - Sunday
07/31/05 :::
Diana and I got up early to
go to the mall in Cambridge. We got there a little after 10am and
saw that the mall opens at 11 because its Sunday :( But we just sat
down by the water and talked. It was nice. Later we went in the mall
and did some shopping (I got these really cool sony headphones.
amazing!)
My cousin left at 6pm and I
went back to Matt's apartment.
::: Week
1 ::: Week 2 ::: Week
3 ::: Week 4 ::: Week
5 :::
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6 ::: Week
7 ::: Week
8 ::: Week
9 ::: Week
10 :::
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