Published author

There we go, my very own ACM citation. I am now a published author. My thesis work resulted in a paper called Dynamic optimization of Bluetooth networks for indoor localization, which was submitted to and accepted for the AASN'08 Conference in Paris earlier this year. Googling for "markus jevring bluetooth" shows not just this paper but also my thesis, which is available through my university.

From all this, I'm sure you can gather that I have finally completed this stage of my studies. I am now a Master of Science in Computer Science, for whatever it is worth. I'm currently not looking for research positions, as I thought I would be, but that may change in the future.

I know I haven't posted in a (criminally long) time, but hopefully with this "catch up" post, I'll be able to start posting more often. I'll be able to get back to the mindless rants you come here for soon. I just felt that I couldn't do one before detailing the next big step in my life (that sounded less corny in my head, just now). Anyway, I now live in Brussels and I write software for a stock broker called Petercam. I really like the work, and I get to do cool stuff almost on a daily basis, so I'm happy. Our apartment is far from wonderful, but we are currently looking at alternatives, and we estimate that we'll be in a new, more acceptable, one my mid-February.
Being in Brussels, of course, means that I've left the Netherlands behind me. Two years in Enschede was quite enough. Anyway, time to get back to work. I'm almost alone in my section here today, as most people are on holiday. It's quite pleasant to have a somewhat calmer environment. Now if I could also get a properly sized monitor, everything would be just peachy...

Ahh, Old Times

Even though I write code day in and day out at work, it's not the same as doing it on your own.
I sat down today with one of my pet projects and started writing and listening to music.
Writing and listening to music, two things that I haven't done in too long a time. I've been stuck playing wow every waking our of my life, and I hate myself for it. Coding and music are two of my biggest passions in life, so why the hell am I playing some crappy game.
I feel quite like Golum. I both love and hate the game, much like Golum loves and hates the ring.

I should just write more code and listen to more music. I never listen to music at work, I hate headphones.

I'm Ready

I'm ready for my life to go on.
I'm ready for the life I'm living now to be complete so that I can move on to the next phase of my life (whatever that turns out to be). Right now it only feels like I'm going through the motions. There's no real joy in what I do (even though it is fun), and I feel like it's all just a means to an end. It's a very annoying state to be in. Motivation is low, and the sense of accomplishment when something actually happens is met with, at most, a "meh"...
I don't know what life holds for me on the other side of my M.Sc. degree, but I feel like I need to get there. I've been in school since 2001, and it's about fucking time I got out. I need to start living the real life, making money, having freedoms, rather than just waiting to be judged by people who can choose to hold up my life at their whim.
There's no doubt in my mind that I'll make my deadline (more or less, anyway), and that I will actually get out, but it feels like if that day could come sooner rather than later, I would be a happy Markus.
Here in Holland, more than anywhere else, I get the feeling that one day is just exactly like the other. Nothing ever changes. The hamster wheel is ever present, and nothing I do or say will make the view from inside the mental cage that is my reality change. Having been on the other fence, having had a job and things to do, I know that all life isn't like this. I know that it is actually possible for it to be different. In fact it is possible for it to be very different, but "different" isn't a word that is very common here in the Netherlands. I think people here are afraid to stand out. They think that if they do, they will be rejected by society, and their life will turn to utter shit. In a way, I think they are right. When you live in a society where you are afraid that people will judge you for a certain thing, then you are bound to judge people for that very same thing yourself. As a result, there is very little spice and color in everyday life in my current world, and I think it is dragging me down with it. It makes me sad, but most of all it makes me apathetic.

Weird Work Week

I seriously can't wait for this week to be over.
It hasn't necessarily been bad, it's just been very weird.
I can't seem to focus, I have no motivation, and I can't come up with a single creative though.
It also feels like the hours are just dragging along here at the office, which normally isn't the case. On any normal day I'll sit down at my computer in the morning. Before I know it it's lunch time, and after that, the end of office hours comes almost instantly. No such luck this week I'm afraid.
I don't know why either. Granted, I was sick last weekend and the beginning of this week, but I came out of that pretty quickly, so I didn't think it would affect me. Maybe it's something else, I don't know. Maybe it's nothing.

On a lighter note, I got a new toy the other day. I have migrated away from my Samsung d900 into the warm welcome, almost pornographically enticing arms of the Nokia E51. This is an absolutely wonderful little machine. It does everything you can possibly think of. Since I'm still in the toy stage I'm playing with all sorts of things (this is my first smart phone), but I'm sure the novelty will die down in a couple of weeks. Event without the coolness of all the features (it has WiFi people, WiFi! How cool is that?!) I really like it. It's got an incredibly good look and feel. It's a solid piece of industrial machinery, yet nimble, light-weight and elegant. I have so far only found one flaw, and that is that I can't seem to find an egg timer on it (which my d900 had), but other than that it is completely without blemish. Subtle yet powerful. A master piece, really.