Day 17 (July 28)

Ran some memory stress-testing software on the computer... for four hours. I saw no errors, so I assume that means it's all in working order. Fun bringing up performance graphs and seeing the memory and the CPU all maxed out.

Day 16 (July 27)

Set up the hard drives on the computer. In a RAID 5 array, three or more drives operate effectively as one. One drive worth of space is used for parity (backup data) while data is simultaneously written to the rest of the space across all of the drives. This results in faster performance and better data protection - if one drive fails, a new, empty drive can be put in its place and the lost data can be pieced together from parity bits.

I still need to get this thing hooked up to the internet, though. Until I do that, I can't activate Windows and it constantly gives me pop-ups telling me I'm using bootlegged software. However, my hunt for the CIS's enigmatic systems admin has been so far unsuccessful...

Day 15 (July 26)

Got the last few parts today. It took a while, but I go the computer up-and-running and had time to install the OS before I clocked out. I'll edit some pictures onto this post when I get the chance.

I purchased a 720p webcam the other day, so I should be able to take some better pictures to put on this blog pretty soon.

Day 14 (July 25)

Actually got to do a little computer-assembly today after waiting an eternity for the parts to be delivered. I'll upload some crummy, low-res phone pictures.

these are the hard drives going into this thing. they total 10TB (or 10,240GB), which is enough space to hold all of the printed works in the Library of Congress. I don't know if a LIDAR requires this much space, but hey, memory is cheap.

motherboard installed in the case (a pretty nice case, at that). you can see the memory sticks installed in the upper-right of the motherboard.

this is a solid-state drive. since this has no moving parts like the magnetic disks in the hard-disk drives I showed at the top of this post, it can access data faster, trading space for speed (it's about 64GB). the operating system will go on this while the HDDs store everything else - this will allow the computer to boot up very quickly. also, look at it! it's tiny!

Day 13 (July 22)

Only worked until two today because I'm participating in the RIT College and Careers program. Visited my lab around six to show a couple of my friends around to find that the last major parts for the computer were delivered right after I left. At least I'll have plenty to do on Monday.

Day 12 (July 21)

Some parts for the computer that I ordered yesterday got here today, but more important parts that I ordered a week ago have yet to get here. Meanwhile I've learned to solder, so I'm soldering a circuit board together.

...and I did it all without even severely burning myself.

Day 11 (July 20)

No new parts were delivered today. It's inhumanly hot outside. I'm glad this building is air-conditioned.

Day 10 (July 19)

Today, I and others at the CIS are doing some work identifying damaged buildings from the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake. The application we're using is here. Anyone can sign up to look at satellite images and do what we're doing, so feel free to do so.

Also, first few parts for the computer arrived today. I'll take some pictures as I assemble it.

processor and motherboard. off-screen:  free flash drives that came with just about everything I ordered. I guess newegg has a lot of "memories" it wants to get rid of... ha-ha... ha.

processor (Intel i7-980) and gigantic cooling fan that comes with it. it's supposed to reach 100F on Thursday, maybe I should just plug this thing into the wall.

24GB of memory. I believe this costs the same today as 8GB did when I was building my own computer... less than a year ago.

Day 9 (July 18)

Ordered some more parts for my project, learned a bit about Microsoft Excel. Tomorrow should be more exciting, I hear.

Day 8 (July 15)

Went over the data I got from calibrating those sensors, ordered another couple of parts, and fiddled with my laptop which seems to have a battery problem.

Day 7 (July 14)

We rented a charcoal grill today to use for lunch, and spent some time outside eating, playing games, and watching the Blue Angels practice (the air show's in town). We've decided to do this every week. Later, I ordered the first parts for my computer project and calibrated some infrared sensors.

Day 6 (July 13)

Had a good day today. About done with my hardware research for my project, and I found out that there are weekly talks in the CIS on Wednesday at which free pizza is provided. I think we've rented a grill for lunch tomorrow.

Day 5 (July 12)

I finished figuring out what kind of hardware I'd need for the computer project today, so I had some spare time. I visited a couple of other interns in their labs, took a bit of a longer lunch break to explore the campus a bit (amazing that I've been here dozens of times before this internship but I still don't know my way around), taught myself about RAID setups (a way of setting up hard drives in a computer - something I need to know for my project), and caught up with news about the Atlantis.

Day 4 (July 11)

Today, had a chance to talk with the other interns about their projects. Seems I'm not the only one with something interesting to do - some interns in Astronomical Imaging are working with Google Earth to make it work with a map of the sun, those in MRI are getting to learn how the machines work and what they'll be using them for, and those in Visual Perception are doing an experiment in which some of us might get to participate.

Day 3

Today, I and the rest of the interns decided that we would meet every day at noon for lunch. Had some stir-fried chicken at the Global Village, good stuff! Had the chance to talk to some of the other interns I hadn't met yet. Looking forward to the rest of my summer here.

Day 2 (July 7)

Last summer, I built a desktop computer to replace the ancient Dell in my family room. It was a fun experience during which I developed a great interest in computers. Later, I made a note of this on the resume I sent to the CIS. Someone was apparently impressed, as I'm now an intern in the Remote Sensing group.

My first project: build a computer to run a LIDAR.

Beats flipping patties.

First Day

Today, we were divided into groups (mine was named "Remotely Senseless") and sent out on a scavenger hunt in which we were to record our findings on camera. It was a good opportunity to explore the campus and to meet the other interns. After several hours, we were to return to the CIS building, assemble our clips into one continuous video, and present it. Naturally, my group won. We were awarded with Center for Imaging Science t-shirts which we will wear proudly tomorrow.