Eurotrip 2012: Preikestolen

I said I would do some articles on the places that we plan to visit during the epic trip around Europe next summer, and this is a continuation of a large collection of posts.

Preikestolen

Wow. This cliff is awesome, mainly because of the almost perfectly square surface on top. It's 604 metres (1982 feet) above the Lysefjorden (the lake, or fjord), in Forsand, Ryfylke, Norway. 


In English, the name translates to 'Preacher's Pulpit'.

Visitors and tourists have to hike about 2.4 miles to get to the cliff, and it is all included as part of a tourist attraction. Infact, it is the most visited natural attraction in Norway.

As you can see, it's a pretty good place for base-jumping! I would like to look over the edge, and then if I'm feeling brave enough, I want to get a photo on the boulder:

Craaaaaazy mofos. I must do this too.

Apparently, the best season to hike the trail and make your way to the clifftop is from April to October, and We'll be there at the end of June - smack bang in the middle. Can't wait for this one.

Eurotrip 2012: La Tomatina

I said I would do some articles on the places that we plan to visit during the epic trip around Europe next summer, so let's start off with an amazing festival in Valencia, Spain.

La Tomatina

A festival where participants throw tomatoes at each other!? Awesome. It is always held on the last Wednesday in August in the town of Buñol, Valencia.

It just so happens that we'll be travelling through Spain in the last week of August. It was complete coincidence too. I had no idea what time of year that La Tomatina took place, and when I stumbled across it again recently and saw the date, an idea began to form in my head...

An idea where me and my best friends in the world, surrounded by thousands of people, become French fries personified - and covered in ketchup. Pretty weird really, considering that I prefer mayonnaise on my chips.

I'm going to be pretty scared to get my camera out to take photos when I'm there, just in case it gets drenched in tomato.

An interesting sentiment.

When the first living thing existed,

I was there waiting.

When the last living thing dies,

My job will be finished.

I'll put the chairs on the tables,

Turn out the lights,

And lock the universe,

Behind me as I leave.

- Death

Exams are over, time to graduate!

As I mentioned in my 2 down, 2 to go post, I had 2 more exams to do: Small Real-Time Systems and Intelligent Robotics.

SRTS was on Thursday morning and it went well; I could answer almost every question and grabbed as many marks as I could.

Intelligent Robotics was Friday afternoon, so I didn't have much prep. time for that one! I loved it. I actually loved an exam - what the hell is wrong with me!? For an exam to be that stress-free, and to be my last exam... I don't know - I just had the biggest smile on my face afterwards. - I raped demolished it, let's just put it that way.


A few commenters were wondering what the Intelligent Robotics exam entailed;

• Movement and Locomotion
• Autonomy
• Sensors and Perception
• Robotic Manipulator Arms
• Control Paradigms
• Reactive & Deliberative Systems
• Biologically Inspired Robots
• Accuracy, Precision and Repeatability.

Here's an example of a biologically inspired robot, Whegs II - which is based on a cockroach:

Needless to say, after that exam, I went straight out to a few bars and gave my brain cells a good send off for all the hard work they've been through.

Graduation in July.

Exams: 2 down, 2 to go.

My first exam was last Monday and was on Professional Issues in Software Engineering. Fun. It went really well and I already got a high mark in the assignment which counts for 50% of the module.

Today I had my 100% exam paper on Internet Services Administration and I did... okay. For me, it's the hardest module of the four because the module covers a load of topics...

Email Services, Naming and Directory Services, File Storage, Server Admin, Services and Process Management, System startup/shutdown, Remote Access, Management of Webservers, Current and Future Issues, File Services (Backup, Support and Restoration), Network Security, User Requirements,  Cryptography, Steganography, Firewalls and Regulations

...all in one exam.

On Thursday I have my 100% Small Real-Time Systems exam, and Friday afternoon I have my Intelligent Robotics exam. I've already done well enough in my previous semester to pass my total degree, it's just a case of striving to get the most marks that I can.

I'll be honest - I wasn't expecting to have to do much of the above content considering that my degree is supposed to be about Vision, Visualisations, Graphics and Games - but that's computer science for you.

After Friday... I'm done. Bliss.

Let there be light...

Referring back to this post about the projectors involved in the whole man cave idea, these are the beauties being tested out before we move into the new house:

Mr. Bean on the big screen!

My dad has Macular Dystrophy and uses a screen magnifier.

Otherwise the sofa wouldn't be this close to the picture.

The 'design'... Hopefully we'll see it through to fruition!

Makes a 50" screen look pretty small in comparison.

We move into the new house on the 1st of July and work on the extension starts about a month later. It's still completely undecided what we're going to do with the projectors and which rooms to put them in.

I'll be updating you guys with news about the house when and as it happens :)

Eurotrip 2012

This is something that I'm looking forward to so immensely that every time I think about it, I splooge a little.

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Just a heads up, Paint is not better than Google maps for route planning.

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Six of us plan to make the journey in a motorhome/camper van. Heading north first of all and sweeping the Mediterranean on the way back. It's about 11,000 miles (17,600 km) and we visit 31 countries: 

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UK, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia, Poland, Czech, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Serbia & Montenegro, Bulgaria, Greece, Albania, Macedonia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia, Italy, Switzerland and Spain.

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It would be a lot easier to travel by train but with an InterRail pass you get a lot less freedom. With the camper van and bicycles, we can go pretty much where we like!
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I'll probably update the blog in the future with places that we're going to visit; the Plitvice lakes, the Verzasca dam, the Millau viaduct etc.
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