Malweth’s Metablog

I’ve really broken into the books I’ve gotten to prepare for Grad school. I haven’t even been admitted yet, though I think I have a fairly good chance to get in the NUWC/URI COEUT Distributed Networking Systems program. I’m nearly finished a whitepaper titled “Resource Direction Protocol for use in Static Distributed Undersea Networks,” which hopefully falls in line with this program (it certainly fits into our research group’s ideas at work).

I will be attending an informational meeting and introduction session this upcoming Tuesday, so I’ll be finding out more about the program and how to apply. I’m more worried about passing it through budgeting at work - I know nothing about that process! I may also need to find two letters of reference, though that should be easy enough to do at work.

The books I’ve been working through on my own are: Forgotten Calculus by Barbara Lee, Probability, Random Variables and Stochastic Processes (3rd ed.) by Athanasios Papoulis, and Differential Equations and Their Applications (4th ed.) by Martin Braun.

The Braun book I just purchased used from Amazon and it seems to be very good! I barely got it and have already worked through the first few sections. It’s interesting to relearn Differential Equations. I’m understanding them better than I ever did in college (I had a terrible Math prof). The Probability book is very hard - nobody seems to like it on Amazon, but I did pick up a study guide too… so hopefully it will be enough to understand most of it without too much effort. Forgotten Calculus is a bit too easy, but necessary because I don’t remember any of the integral / derivative tables. I think the reasoning behind it is most important, though… and I thankfully didn’t lose that.

I’m fairly surprised at how quickly I’m relearning the math, especially the stuff I didn’t understand well the first time around. I’m attributing it to my significantly improved study habits (thank you Game of Go)! The absolute hardest part about learning math on your own is that the books are written by Math PhD’s. I think it does help you learn it better, but it’s sometimes tough to see how they get from equation X to equation Y. I was pleased when it finally dawned on me that the 1st order differential method is based on the Product Rule! Once I realized it, it seemed obvious… but the author only needed to say “by the product rule” instead of assuming it was second nature. Still, combine figuring that out with solving the odd numbered problems (solutions in the back) and you come out of it with math strength.

Look for more info sometime next week! I’m really looking forward to the URI meeting and getting started on the application!!!

Family Life

With the whitepaper I’m writing (mostly on my own time) and the studying, my family is a bit more neglected. Finally finishing the paper will alleviate that somewhat, but I have to acknowledge them in some way! I do try to do this work after J has gone to sleep, but sometimes I need a bit more time than that. I have to assume that it’ll be this way for the next few years or more… hopefully it isn’t too much of a problem! It will be interesting to have a 2nd kid during school (we certainly will sometime in the next 3 years), but it shouldn’t be a problem. At worst I’ll miss a class because  of it… and be more tired from lack of sleep.

In any case, it’s the other reason I’m studying hard this summer. It will make actual classes that much easier for my family to handle.

I may be putting my efforts toward the CCIE on the back-burner. I’d really like to get the most prestidgious technical certification out there, but something else has come up. I think I may be falling into a more important and advantageous opportunity!

A new Masters program in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Ocean Engineering, or Mechanical Engineering is starting between URI & NUWC concentrating in Distributed Networking. I would choose either the Electrical or Computer Science track. This would require me to meet all the normal requirements for the program only substituting a few core classes/electives for the concentration. The problem is that I don’t know a differential equation from a doughy eclaire… it’s just been too long! I’ll also have problem with signal math if I end up taking DSPs.

So I ordered “Advanced Differential Equations for Dummies” and I’m breaking out my old signals book (by Leland B. Jackson, God of Signals and Transforms). I’ll also probably have to re-learn some trig and probability (always hated probability).

My other option is to learn basic computer programming from the { to the }. Yes I already know some, but my style is nil (since I only ever learned Pascal formally - and that was over 10 years ago). I just don’t know it well enough to get by. Relearning sounds easier than initially learning!

Well… it sounds like a fun summer so far! I wonder what else is in store…