Jordan sunset
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
A typical day
Some of you may wonder, what exactly do you do at IBM? Well, while it may not be project Aardvark, it is an awesome learning experience. I get to work with a hardware design team. Where i get to see how they develop these chips. from the design phase to the end result. My exact job is to work on the verification area. Where they basically test the logic of the chip, before it is built.
Today I am pretty tired because it was a typical day. I arrived at early at 7:00 AM, (I do that b/c I want the extra hours, God knows there's a baby coming) I wrote some testcases, which basically tell the computer how to test the logic of the chip. I did not come up with the content of the testcases myself. My supervisor did that. He showed me what we were looking for and I modified existing testcases to fit the new ones. He told me to do that late yesterday, so I finished it up in the morning. Then, at 8:00am I went to a formal class on VHDL, which is a modeling language for hardware. In Normal English, it is what Engineers use to design chips. This code gets interpreted by the computer and it figures out how the chip will be built. For those of you with a technical background: I know there's more to it than that, but this blog is for everyone, and not all of us are computer geeks.
Anyway, I tried to pay attention the best I could, but two hours into it, I was gone man, My Brain will not stop taking me other places. I knew better than that, but I couldn't help it. So after four long, I mean long hours we were finally released and went back to our normal business. So I went back to my cage, I mean, cubicle to work on my knowledge, I read up on all kinds of stuff, in order to learn my job. (gotta make a good impresion) It is not easy being an Engineer, and there's always the possibility your job may end up in India.
That's why I want to do a good job. IBM may do outsourcing, but it is one of the few companies that will take the time, money and effort to entry-level computer engineers. I look at all the job postings in South Florida, and there's almost nothing out there for newbies. So it's the Catch-22, you can't have a job without experience, but can't get experience without the job. I am lucky to be here. And I am doing my best.
Around 5:30pm I came home, made myself a pizza (the kind that comes in a box, frozen) and talked to my wife and my folks, Later on I moved some furniture and now I am back. I have to hit the books though, there's a research paper I got to write for my Data Security class.
More on the exciting life of an IBM intern coming up soon....
Some of you may wonder, what exactly do you do at IBM? Well, while it may not be project Aardvark, it is an awesome learning experience. I get to work with a hardware design team. Where i get to see how they develop these chips. from the design phase to the end result. My exact job is to work on the verification area. Where they basically test the logic of the chip, before it is built.
Today I am pretty tired because it was a typical day. I arrived at early at 7:00 AM, (I do that b/c I want the extra hours, God knows there's a baby coming) I wrote some testcases, which basically tell the computer how to test the logic of the chip. I did not come up with the content of the testcases myself. My supervisor did that. He showed me what we were looking for and I modified existing testcases to fit the new ones. He told me to do that late yesterday, so I finished it up in the morning. Then, at 8:00am I went to a formal class on VHDL, which is a modeling language for hardware. In Normal English, it is what Engineers use to design chips. This code gets interpreted by the computer and it figures out how the chip will be built. For those of you with a technical background: I know there's more to it than that, but this blog is for everyone, and not all of us are computer geeks.
Anyway, I tried to pay attention the best I could, but two hours into it, I was gone man, My Brain will not stop taking me other places. I knew better than that, but I couldn't help it. So after four long, I mean long hours we were finally released and went back to our normal business. So I went back to my cage, I mean, cubicle to work on my knowledge, I read up on all kinds of stuff, in order to learn my job. (gotta make a good impresion) It is not easy being an Engineer, and there's always the possibility your job may end up in India.
That's why I want to do a good job. IBM may do outsourcing, but it is one of the few companies that will take the time, money and effort to entry-level computer engineers. I look at all the job postings in South Florida, and there's almost nothing out there for newbies. So it's the Catch-22, you can't have a job without experience, but can't get experience without the job. I am lucky to be here. And I am doing my best.
Around 5:30pm I came home, made myself a pizza (the kind that comes in a box, frozen) and talked to my wife and my folks, Later on I moved some furniture and now I am back. I have to hit the books though, there's a research paper I got to write for my Data Security class.
More on the exciting life of an IBM intern coming up soon....
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
I am a new intern at IBM now, I have tried to put the war behind me as much as I can. the purpose of this blog is to have a way to keep all my friends up to date about my life now that I live in Minnesota. And hopefully to make a few new ones. I have had the pleasure to have met many different types of people throughout my life.I try to learn from the people I like and dislike. And I am always looking for a way to improve myself. To make myself a better human being. Please feel free to write down your thoughts on this blog. All open minds are welcome.
Currently I am reading the latest book by Paulo Coelho. El Zahir, it is about a writer that sounds suspiciously like him, (same acomplishments and types of books) which his wife of ten years suddenly disappears with a male friend Mikhail, she basically left him without saying a word or without any type of warning. I have not finished reading it yet, but the character goes through a lot of Soul Searching which makes him discover a lot of interesting things. I recomend it. Don't read if your wife just left you, as it may deppress you even more.
Currently I am reading the latest book by Paulo Coelho. El Zahir, it is about a writer that sounds suspiciously like him, (same acomplishments and types of books) which his wife of ten years suddenly disappears with a male friend Mikhail, she basically left him without saying a word or without any type of warning. I have not finished reading it yet, but the character goes through a lot of Soul Searching which makes him discover a lot of interesting things. I recomend it. Don't read if your wife just left you, as it may deppress you even more.
About two years ago, as I was walking around on a base in Habbaniya, Iraq (about 25 miles west of Fallujah) I came upon this headstone of a British soldier in World War II. It belonged to a soldier from the 1st Battalion of the Kings Own Royal Regiment(Lancaster). I thought of how he's here forgotten, How many people know that the Brittish fought in Iraq in WWII? I thought about his family, how they must have waited for his return, I wondered how did he die? What was he thinking at that moment? How did his folks hear about it? At that moment I promised myself and that soldier that I will keep his memory alive. Iraq is the place that thought me about humanity. I have seen the best and the worst of the human spectrum. Honest good people doing horrible things, and no-good people doing heroic things. this blog is dedicated to those of us that fought there. May they not be forgotten like this soldier from the King's Own.
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