Oh Look, Snow

Well for all the praise I gave the weather yesterday, I woke up this morning and lo and behold, the forecast weather for the day: snow. On the way to class this morning it was cold, but not snowing yet. However, on my way back around 12 it had started snowing. It was actually my first time walking outside while it was snowing, it's a somewhat interesting sensation. For the most part it didn't bother me, but the one irritating thing is snowflakes in the eyes. It's not a fun feeling.

My first class of the day was Principles of Secure Software Design (I'll probably take to calling it SSD [not to be confused with a solid-state drive], as the teacher started doing). Like every other class, this one remains interesting and entertaining. We had a short review of last week's lecture at the start of the class, and then moved on to security modelling! This is basically creating a visual description of a system containing its own phenomena, and its own relationships among those phenomena. We talked about different modelling languages and delved into some real specifics involving them. There was also an in-class assignment to analyze a model for different things. Assessing what the IS and business assets were, security criterion, risk-related concepts and risk-treatment. I found it fairly straightforward, but apparently some people were struggling with the concept. It was homework but I ended up completing it before the lecture was over and turned it in early. (Less homework for the weekend!)

The teacher also notified us that he'd posted our Essay topics. Hurray! (read: oh please no) We were instructed to pick 3 topics, listed in order of interest. Since only 32 topics were listed and there were 60 people in the class, I knew I had to pick mine as early as possible. I selected it this evening and due to my prompt response I was awarded with the one I wanted! Administrating Role-based Access Control. Now, I'm not entirely sure the direction I'm going with this, or even what material I'm covering. But it sounded vaguely interesting and somewhat manageable, so hopefully I'll be able to scrounge up a good essay. This will also be my first foray into technical writing, so that's always interesting.

Once I got back to the dorm the snow had really picked up, it wasn't too drastic, but it's been coming down very steadily and in large quantities. It's started to stick to the ground; it's odd to see the grass slowly covered up with snow since I'd gotten used to seeing it un-obscured. It looks like a slow dusting of powdered sugar.

After a few hours of doing nothing (mostly staring out the window watching the world turn white), (and if you haven't learned by now I'm generally unproductive in my free time) I headed off to my second class, Crypto lab! Today we dealt with examples of a one-time pad encryption and a Linear Feedback Shift Register. The first example was a bit fuzzy on the details, and I wasn't really grasping the point of it all. However I really enjoyed working with the LFSR, as it was more straightforward linear algebra that I had a strong understanding of. My favorite thing about mathematics and CS is when things really click in my mind, and you can look back and see the logical progression of it all. It's a very satisfying feeling (for me) to solve a problem like that. After class it was back out into the (now snow-covered) world.

The snow was...is absolutely breathtakingly gorgeous. Words cannot hope to capture the ethereal quality that freshly fallen snow possesses. Even pictures can't accurately portray how beautiful it is. When I arrived in Estonia it was, of course, covered in snow and most everything was frozen over. This was very pretty in its own right, but everything was trodden over and frankly a bit muddy and dirty. Having gotten used to the lack of snow after a week or so, and then to see everything blanketed in pure white untouched snow is just...enchanting.

I took my time walking home after my last class. It got out at 6pm so, of course, it was completely dark. However with the streetlights on there was the perfect amount of lighting to highlight the snow in a way that was, again, breathtaking. It also brought out the 12-year old in me. I detoured through the park and was definitely NOT: jumping around in the snow, scooping it up, making snowballs and generally frolicking. I probably looked like a lunatic, I had a huge smile on my face the entire time, and for most of my way home. The only thing preventing me from dropping to the ground and rolling around/making snow angels was the fact that I had my backpack on. And there was only a couple of inches, minor details.

I could wax poetic about the snow for days, but I'm sure those that have experienced snow are disillusioned, and those that haven't don't particularly care that much. And honestly, I'm probably only appreciative of it because it's new to me, and I don't have to drive in it. I really do feel bad for all those that have to scrape ice and snow off their cars.

I'm now anxiously anticipating the completion of classes tomorrow, as I'll be heading off to Vilnius, Lithuania for the weekend! I'm going with Sarah and Ariail and I couldn't be more excited. I love exploring new places, and Vilnius looks absolutely gorgeous. It's jam packed with museums and old churches, which I find fascinating. So it should be a good time for all of us. The only drawback is that we're leaving at 2:10am on Saturday and the bus ride is very long. We won't be arriving in Vilnius until 11:30 that day. We'll definitely (not) sleep on the bus. And rest assured, I will take gratuitous amounts of pictures.