In my distributed systems class our first project (of four) is to write our own RMI utility for Java. We are allowed to use any Java classes in the normal libraries with the exception of anything in the java.rmi.* packages. Although to many people this assignment probably seems dull, I think it will be the most interesting Java assignment I've had yet. Namely, it will allow me to really explore the facilities for serialization and reflection in Java, which in my opinion are some of the most fascinating features of the language. I am amazed by the fact that such a well typed (although that fact is argued by some) language can still give programmers such control.

Yet another cool thing about this assignment is that it is encouraging me to learn more about the JVM and how it works. Although we are given the freedom to push many features of RMI onto the user (such as proxy stub creation in distribution), I plan on trying to automate the process as much as possible. As such, I've been reading up on how to dynamically compile and load classes. Unfortunately Java doesn't seem to have this ability included in any of the standard libraries (although in the past attempts have been made to include it), so it seems that I will need to invoke a Java compiler externally. Despite this, it is really cool that it is possible to create a class at runtime, compile it, and load it into a running JVM for execution.

I don't really know what I was trying to get at with this post. I guess I really just want to say that Java and RMI are cool, and everyone should take Distributed Systems.

PS: In other news, my roommate bought new ram for his laptop but he wasn't careful to make sure it would work with his laptop. Long story short, my laptop just gained a gig of ram, and it is very happy.

A new semester has started, and with it comes a whole new set of classes. I'm at the point in my college career that I have a lot of freedom in the classes I take, and I am happy to say that I am extremely excited about every single class I am taking. The same thing happened last semester, and I hope that I will be able to say the same thing of my last two semesters here as well.

My classes for this semester are:

• Distributed Systems
• Foundations of Software Engineering
• U.S. Latinos: Language and Culture
• Spain: Language and Culture

I have been wanting to take distributed systems for some time but haven't had the chance. I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to take it once again this semester due to a class conflict with software engineering, but I was fortunate in that I am able to watch conflicting lectures via video at a later time. The two classes that I'm taking towards a Spanish minor will be a lot of work, but the large increase my fluidity in Spanish will definitely make the classes worth it.

I am particularly pleased with the layout of my schedule this semester. Waking up at the same hour every day will make sticking to a regular routine much easier than in past semesters. Plus, finishing in the early afternoon will allow me much more flexibility in when I can do my work. Needless to say, aside from already having a substantial amount of work, I am very happy with how this semester is going, and I can't wait to get to the meat of my courses.

My roommate, Derek, is a very interesting person. He has a lot of different hobbies and interests, but perhaps his biggest hobby is taking ideas and running with them. When he runs with ideas, he runs metaphorical marathons. If he decides to do something, he must do it bigger and better than anyone before him. This brings us to his latest escapade.

Derek is just a couple of weeks shy of turning 21. As a birthday present for himself, he decided to buy a beer fridge. In typical Derek style, this couldn't be just any beer fridge. When surfing on craigslist (one of his favorite past times), he came upon a full sized convenience store Pepsi refrigerator for the bargain price of $25. Within 24 hours he purchased the refrigerator and it is currently squatting in the middle of our kitchen while it waits for us to rearrange our apartment and find it a permanent resting place.

Last night we spent almost an hour attempting to move this from a van, up 7 stairs, and into our apartment. It looks heavy, but its appearance doesn't do its weight justice. Needless to say, it was a lot of work. As a result I got a large gash on my pinky finger. I am hoping that I'm up to date on my tetanus shots, because the refrigerator is also very rusty. My biggest dread is what we will do in a year and a half when we graduate and need to get rid of it because it will be equally as difficult to move down the stairs.