tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3216975001571002842011-10-17T17:27:56.123-05:00Green Releases Excellent Engineering NerdsBrett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comBlogger691100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-20572181552893761502011-05-03T11:10:00.011-05:002011-06-14T13:48:45.067-05:00

When you're in college, your entire 4-year undergraduate study cumulates into one big class - Senior Design. My Senior Design class is 2 semesters, and it is a (very) large capstone project that demonstrates all my knowledge I have gained over the years that I have spent at UNT.My capstone won't be finished for another 365 days. In the mean time, here's some things that some classmates worked on

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-76311504494374287022011-04-28T13:08:00.007-05:002011-04-29T07:19:25.767-05:00

Yesterday I went and saw UNT's Grand Chorus and Symphony Orchestra perform at the Winspear Performance Hall. This particular concert hall is inside the Murchison Performing Arts Center - although when I refer to it to my friends, I call it the "Armadillo Building". I wonder if the architects appreciate me calling it that.I'm not supposed to take pictures during the event, but then how would I

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-38158727862447605092011-04-26T11:52:00.006-05:002011-04-28T07:37:38.229-05:00

I've had some bad luck with storms in Denton. You may remember my past blog post about my dorm getting struck with lightning - and thereby frying the Ethernet port on my computer. It seems the ethernet ports on everyone's machines in the Santa Fe dorms back then got fried. I never knew ethernet was capable of Gigabit transfer, 100 M attenuation range, AND carrying enough electricity to destroy

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-23525900026109054452011-04-21T10:21:00.007-05:002011-04-26T11:52:01.271-05:00

If you want to study Computer Science, Electrical Engineering (Technology), IT, Computer Engineering, BCIS, computer networking, etc., you are going to have to program. A lot. In fact, programming a lot is the only way to get better. That applies to everything! In order to get better at anything, you have to practice! If I want to get better at tennis, baseball, ping pong, swimming, riding a bike

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-63443191509616089982011-04-13T10:59:00.005-05:002011-04-14T14:38:15.835-05:00

Today I went to a DCTA Public Meeting. This informational meeting in particular was about the upcoming A-train service that is opening in June, and how students can take advantage of it. The rail will connect to DART's GREEN Line, and will connect Denton to the ongoing web of rail networks throughout North Texas. This PDF contains the proposed fare structure and their reasoning behind it.This is

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-31949793286317382682011-04-07T11:44:00.005-05:002011-04-07T15:39:20.368-05:00

Denton is the home of two colleges - University of North Texas (UNT), and Texas Woman's University (TWU). Each a mere 10-15 minutes from each other, both great academic communities. Recently I found out that TWU works closly with UNT's College of Engineering to offer dual degrees in Mathematics/Electrical Engineering, Chemistry/Materials Science, and Math/Materials Science. The program started in

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-20029329601421478172011-03-31T11:08:00.006-05:002011-03-31T16:10:26.799-05:00

Willis Library is a 4 story library where students can go to work in teams, on computers, print things, study, or quietly rot away in the basement while trying to memorize 3 chapters worth of material before an exam the very next day and you can't go back to your dorm or apartment because your roommate wants to party or there's a game going on your you just prefer the peaceful quietness of the

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-76089933116276345962011-03-22T11:11:00.010-05:002011-03-24T16:27:02.834-05:00

Last night, two of my girlfriend's best friends celebrated their 22nd birthdays, so we all went out to a local bar near campus and said cheers to a spectacular 22nd year. The night was full of chatting, and everyone had a gay ol' time. That is until they decided they wanted to switch bars. I had not had anything to drink, mind you, besides a White Russian. But that was early in the night and I

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-44565092683521725142011-03-11T15:07:00.006-06:002011-03-15T10:07:44.721-05:00

If you're a regular viewer of my blog, you may know that I'm a member of UNT's robotics society out of Discovery Park! It's a rag tag group of fellows that just like to mess with robots and play with toys. Recently, we had a little Sumo Bot competition!The bots are written in BASIC Stamp, and as the name implies, are very basic. Despite this, they are very powerful. They've got infrared sensors

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-29570248490171016422011-03-10T13:26:00.005-06:002011-03-10T15:14:28.338-06:00

So today I found google's blogger app. Since I'm always glued to my phone, I figured it'd be easier to write up my posts if I could at least START writing them while on my phone. It's also pretty fast since I've got the whole swype keyboard thing. Since my laptop is up and running now, here's a video of me typing withSwype! Ok I give up on debut video capture.I've switched to Snagit. Anyway,

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-84957755105205653742011-03-02T17:50:00.006-06:002011-03-03T08:06:59.948-06:00

Nowadays people disseminate information primarily over the internet. When I'm talking to a co-worker, or a teacher, or a friend and I ask them for something, gone are the days where they write it down and they do that task later. If I want my grade in a given class, I have to e-mail the teacher. If I want to remind someone of a party going on, they say "oh just text me". If I hear an ad on the

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-53434828229515761242011-02-20T16:59:00.014-06:002011-02-24T14:22:56.723-06:00

I recently chauffeured several high school students around UNT's Discovery Park campus. This was a group of Lake Dallas High School students that were interested in engineering. By the way, if you're a high school teacher or parent of a high school student and you want to take a tour of the campus, let this lady know.Anyway long story short they got to see our Engineering Technology department,

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-57991180088924637562011-02-15T10:22:00.005-06:002011-02-16T11:19:20.712-06:00

Despite how my blog is an excellent source of info about UNT's Discovery Park, there's actually a lot of things that happen here that I don't cover on my blog. Occasionally, we get newsletters through the school e-mail system. The most recent one being this one. It just so happens there are several students I know that appear in this issue. The Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers at UNT

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-78620944156936180042011-02-10T22:43:00.007-06:002011-02-11T18:48:16.509-06:00

In the short run of things, ice days are great. They allow you to put off that assignment til' tomorrow, sleep in, and have snow ball fights. I mean, everyone loves snow right? And this is Texas, we never get snow. Want to know what happens when we do get snow?Here's us at the back of the walmart parking lot. Fellow UNT Engineering blogger Jordan also shared her experience with the apocalyptic

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-17613708909211435412011-01-31T23:06:00.005-06:002011-02-02T16:35:10.022-06:00

Quick! A Volcano just erupted outside of UNT and the lava and ash are overcoming the school campus within the hour!! Oh no! But I also have an exam in MATH in 45 minutes what do I do!??*BZZ BZZ*What's this?Why, it's a message from our friends. Eagle Alert is a campus wide alert system that the school uses in order to communicate with students in the event of an emergency. As seen in the screen

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-2489767866336493332011-01-27T15:15:00.005-06:002011-01-31T23:06:44.013-06:00

This is the Third in a 5 part blog post series about every single department we have at Discovery Park.UNT's College of Engineering at Discovery Park has 5 departments, each significantly different from the other, but with a few similarities.Materials Science and EngineeringComputer Science and EngineeringElectrical EngineeringEngineering TechnologyMechanical and Energy EngineeringAs the name

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-49466629306927104262011-01-18T12:10:00.005-06:002011-01-20T16:03:10.851-06:00

What is an override? Up until last week I hadn't really heard of the term. An override is the process in which upperclassmen can go through in order to be enrolled into a certain class, with said class being full. It is the process that will be going on in many departments this week as Juniors and Seniors such as myself are desperate to graduate on time, and will do anything to get enrolled in

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-55500591890045027642011-01-14T14:16:00.005-06:002011-01-18T10:26:37.577-06:00

Classes start Tuesday. In case you haven't already, you better sign up for those classes you need. I've signed up for almost everything I need. I can't believe this. Words of wisdom: Putting a class in your shopping cart does not reserve that spot in that class for you. You then need to continue through the rest of the process directly short of paying for the class. I made the fantastic mistake

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-66307428090644458672010-12-16T14:41:00.008-06:002010-12-17T09:51:18.625-06:00

So as you may know, I like phones. It seems the world is migrating away from traditional desktop and laptop computers and adopting a more mobile model. Despite mobile's maaaaaaany many many many many drawbacks, there is still a place for mobile devices. So that's where I find myself interested in nowadays.As a result I decided to enroll in CSCE 4930 under Dr. Garlick. Due tonight is my android

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-21140621767990462332010-12-12T15:24:00.004-06:002010-12-13T10:18:08.944-06:00

There's a lot of types of student organizations out there. Greek life, professional organizations, intramural sports, etc. I can assure you I'm not a part of greek life. The only Greek lettering I know come from math terms. It's actually really funny when I meet someone in a sorority or fraternity, and they tell me lambda is one of their letters.and I say "you're an empty string?"I get blank

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-470348432476818942010-12-06T13:39:00.005-06:002010-12-06T14:08:34.226-06:00

Sorry for the absence of posts recently. I've been exceptionally lazy busy. And now that good ol dead week is back, I can become busier than ever."So, we meet again, DEAD WEEK!""Yes, you look just as worried this semester as you did last, BRETT MCCORMICK.""Hah, if by worried, you mean worried I'm going to blow these exams out of the water, you are correct""That's not what your Calculus exam said

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-66857264295584268292010-11-24T19:29:00.005-06:002010-11-29T09:38:12.790-06:00

Right now, its 6:45 PM, and I just got out of my math class. Wednesday night, the night before Thanksgiving, I'm getting a private gig on the mean green express straight to my destination. Despite how I live a few blocks from the stop I'm getting off at, I couldn't resist the opportunity to take advantage of this. This town gets pretty quiet during beak time. To be fair, the whole campus is

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-27094317445785686862010-11-23T13:35:00.007-06:002011-01-27T15:15:06.728-06:00

This is the Second in a 5 part blog post series about every single department we have at Discovery Park.UNT's College of Engineering at Discovery Park has 5 departments, each significantly different from the other, but with a few similarities.Materials Science and EngineeringComputer Science and EngineeringElectrical EngineeringEngineering TechnologyMechanical and Energy EngineeringToday's post

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-40753215529459742972010-11-13T21:06:00.011-06:002011-01-27T15:14:52.554-06:00

This is the First in a 5 part blog post series about every single department we have at Discovery Park.UNT's College of Engineering at Discovery Park has 5 departments, each significantly different from the other, but with a few similarities.Materials Science and EngineeringComputer Science and EngineeringElectrical EngineeringEngineering TechnologyMechanical and Energy EngineeringToday's post

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-52093890235109863552010-11-08T10:05:00.009-06:002010-11-08T11:20:36.518-06:00

I'm telling you, engineers love expos and conferences. I've been to quite a few of these and they're just as fun as the last one every time. It's basically a bunch of engineers and nerds getting together and sharing stories about how great it is to be in engineering.This event took place at Coppell High School. There were many schools and businesses there looking for bright minds - high school

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-30171513069246609622010-11-04T11:43:00.010-05:002010-12-08T13:11:17.466-06:00

You may have heard of a game called Words with Friends. It's a scrabble-esque game for the iPlatform where two players slowly take turns playing through a game. The game could take hours, days, or weeks, and that's the beauty of always connected hardware and a turn based game such as this. It's one of those games you can play in your 4 minutes of spare time while in line at the cafe, bored at

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-35356646690103562662010-10-31T19:39:00.004-05:002010-11-01T10:01:35.088-05:00

This weekend I went to the Fort Worth Air Show - a 15 minute drive from Denton. . I've never been to an air show before.. but upon getting there, I found out it's like a military parade but with planes.Notice how I'm representin' Go Geek!There were helicopters too. A lot of them. This orange one has got to be my favorite. This whole air show has only intensified my desire to learn how to fly and

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-67217775017411539772010-10-25T19:46:00.019-05:002010-10-28T14:13:35.129-05:00

_It was a beautiful day for Lacrosse, a day at the amusement park, going to the beach, and playing mini golf, but most importantly, it was a beautiful day for Lacrosse. The UNT Women's Lacrosse team traveled to College Station just this last weekend to compete against top tier schools for first place. The UNT Women's Lacrosse team is made up of about 26 players and is open for anyone to join and

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-72558659169674595932010-10-19T09:38:00.008-05:002010-10-20T11:15:53.315-05:00

Every school has traditions. Here's one of UNT's.The bonfire being builtWe build bonfires. Every homecoming, students put together a huge bonfire. I've heard it's the biggest hand-made bonfire in Texas. No cranes or heavy machinery used ever. Above is a picture I snapped of it the day before the thing was lit ablaze. You can sort of make out a few kids walking around on top stacking up more wood.

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-71908660528459289582010-10-14T14:00:00.005-05:002010-10-16T11:33:22.927-05:00

It's been a while, but I'm still alive. And believe me I am still alive. And while you're dying I'll be still alive. I feel fantastic and I'm still alive..... still alive... still alive. (Portal, Still Alive)It's a new semester and a new start. Now that I've settled into the new semester, gotten my classes well under way, taken a few tests and lost a few nights of sleep studying, I can start

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-84399276654109932612010-05-14T15:15:00.007-05:002010-05-17T16:42:25.250-05:00

Today was move out day at the Dorms. Every May, each and every student must file out of their respective dorms and go find somewhere else to live while the building licks its wounds gets cleaned. Actually, the students are required to clean their rooms like big boys and girls and ask your local RA if it's ok to leave yet. I was there from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM just trying to leave the dang place. I

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-75967502969926336322010-05-10T14:12:00.005-05:002010-05-10T16:18:01.846-05:00

"Luck favors the prepared mind." Whoever came up with that quote has obviously never taken final exams at UNT. I mean, to know when your exam is, where it is, what questions are going to be on it, and what grade you need to get on it to get an A in the class requires at least SOME luck... right?... right.?..It's exam week. I took 2 exams last week as a matter of fact, and this week I have another

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-34615527329039323072010-05-03T16:48:00.012-05:002010-05-05T14:21:22.949-05:00

Recently I paid a visit to the Denton Arts and Jazz Festival:The arts and jazz festival is chock full of all sorts of people, art, and jazz as you might imagine. It was interesting to walk around town and see what Denton has to offer beyond engineering. I mean I'm not saying engineering is all I care about... but it makes up for a healthy portion of it. This is one of the stands. It's a lovely

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-83084046281395887782010-04-30T15:47:00.008-05:002010-05-03T14:06:52.694-05:00

You know, there's just as much drama in the Tech world as there is in the 'other' world. Who cares about Miley Syrus, Britteny what's-her-face, and what the latest fashion stores are selling. Look at what is happening to the Flash platform! First off, Virgin America ditches Flash for its website and adopts HTML5. No biggie, it's just one site. Well next, I find out that video juggernaut sites

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-36518435457526294612010-04-23T15:52:00.008-05:002010-04-23T16:36:28.999-05:00

Recently I paid a visit to the UNT Robotics society. A Jolly group of engineering students and graduates who like robots. They showed me a bunch of things they were working on and even invited me to join!Not the prettiest thing I've ever seen, but definitely shows off the guts of the projectThis is the Self-aware Coke-Mobile, as I've just now decided to dub it that. It's a work-in-progress

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-72400852734974954752010-04-21T17:16:00.003-05:002010-04-22T09:17:39.979-05:00

It seems that today, some of the computer systems around campus are acting up. Namely, any computer running Windows XP and UNT's standard suite of software (*coughantivirusandadministrativetoolscough*). That means most the computers in the computer labs, general classrooms, and regular desktop computers that run Windows XP are going through some down time. I happened to noticed today in Math, the

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-45315612146893022432010-04-16T13:03:00.008-05:002010-04-16T13:19:36.742-05:00

Look what I found:What is this exactly? Is it.. a Vulture? A turkey or something? There's a legend about UNT and its strange animals. One of them includes the tale of an albino squirrel. There's an entire organization about itBut this thing is strange. This is the second time I've walked by this window at Research Park and spotted this thing. This time I stopped to take a picture. Although as

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-13243675349941741082010-04-14T15:05:00.009-05:002010-05-04T15:54:10.242-05:00

We play other sports besides football? Oh yes , indeed. And I'm pretty sure every sport has its male and female counterparts, including Lacrosse!It was a beautiful day, for sure, and we were at UNT's Eagle Point Intramural Rec Sports Fields. In the background of that picture, you can see my favorite spot: The Waranch Tennis Complex!So how did we do? Mean Green played against SMU and Texas Tech.

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-64749941500771128052010-04-09T12:00:00.006-05:002010-04-09T12:26:02.704-05:00

Really, everything is. I'm connected to my life at UNT.. and here I am in Frisco! I'm in a meeting with some old friends.This is the Convergence Technology Center (CTC). You've heard vague references to them in the past, and for good reason. They're the reason I am where I am, and I'm doing what I'm doing. They're who got me on my college feet, and sent me off into the world. The world is UNT, I

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-90746528145160727022010-03-30T16:11:00.007-05:002010-03-30T16:45:15.422-05:00

UNT ain't such a mean place, despite what everybody says about us. You know, Mean Green? In fact, I take the Mean Green bus route to class every morning. I've never been threatened or hurt on the bus, for that matter. I think it's kind of nice being green. And no matter what Kermit tells you, it really isn't that hard being green.GreenWhy the Green talk? University of North Texas students are

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-47688754288561444602010-03-26T13:48:00.008-05:002010-03-26T15:33:39.384-05:00

I'd like to ask, who invented 3D goggles? Or 3D in general. I know we started off with those neat blue and red glasses that were just pieces of plastic taped over a cardboard cutout that we could put on and pretend everything was in 3D. Let's be real with ourselves though: those things didn't work worth diddly. In addition, we looked like goof balls wearing them.Sweet, Rad Racer 3D on the NES!

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-6133980690530763172010-03-22T17:24:00.009-05:002010-03-23T15:37:09.646-05:00

I hope everyone had a refreshing Spring Break. By the obvious absence of posts recently, I can assure you I did. What made it so great? I'm glad you asked. Even if you didn't ask, here's why:My roommate and I went to downtown Dallas last weekend. We didn't travel further than a mile away from the dorms over the break, so we figured before school started back up, we were going to make a road trip.

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-82560211964133387752010-03-07T21:49:00.011-06:002010-03-08T09:12:45.166-06:00

This weekend, I volunteered at Keep Denton Beautiful's "Great American Cleanup"It wasn't required for a class, I didn't get sentenced to community service, and no one paid me to do it, I just volunteered... My roommate however, was required to, as it was part of a class he is in. I decided to tag along!We spent the morning, from 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM cleaning up the town. Any place as big as Denton

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-61935973553289111282010-03-01T13:40:00.010-06:002010-03-03T14:57:39.688-06:00

As part of going to college, you get to learn how to deal with all sorts of situations you never thought you would have had to. Deciding whether sleep or homework is more important, saying bye to friends at 1 in the morning as opposed to 4 in the morning, and dealing with washed ipodsYes indeed, I washed my ipod in the pocket of one of my pants. As by a miracle of some sort of supreme being, or

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-53492347867349809142010-02-26T12:54:00.008-06:002010-02-26T13:29:44.433-06:00

Sometimes there's just not enough time in the day. In high school, I felt like there was too much time in the day. I'd spend 7-8 hours on campus at high school, and I was about ready to yank the hair off my head. There was also a notable amount of homework in high school, which added another hour or 2 onto the grand total amount of time I spent on school related things in high school.Now try

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-82490370162370217862010-02-19T13:34:00.007-06:002010-02-21T18:46:59.683-06:00

So today when I walked into Research Park, I was pleasantly surprised to see dozens of well known companies lined up waiting to chat with the brightest upcoming minds in North Texas! Alright so I wasn't surprised (I've known about the event for weeks!), but I was still happy to see such a wide variety of businesses, interests, and knowledge base gathered in one room. If you submitted your resume,

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-23573803960978725852010-02-15T14:55:00.012-06:002010-02-16T15:11:46.019-06:00

With the Olympics under way at full steam, I can't help but draw parallels between athletes who have dedicated their whole lives to becoming the best of the best, fastest of the fastest, skilliest of the skilled, and me... Wait skilliest of the skilled?Actually, Olympians and myself don't have a lot in common, I'll admit. But there is no one that can time when that bus in parking lot #19 will

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-47639719202762110242010-02-13T01:34:00.007-06:002010-02-15T09:31:45.336-06:00

Here in Texas, we Don't get much snow. In fact, I think it snowed once last winter. When it does snow though, we go crazy. Not like the New Englanders and their 57 inches of snow this year, no. That kind of crazy is the kind where you're pulling hair out of your skull. Snow, in Texas, snow is like some sort of freaky foreign substance.Neither me nor those kids rolled that ball of awesomeness...An

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-25718106686439786212010-02-08T14:33:00.005-06:002010-02-08T15:59:36.987-06:00

This week, I have two exams coming up. Next week, I have another exam in a core class - econ. I feel like no one gives those classes any cred. There are some classes out there that are the butt of student jokes. They're the red lights of a college degree plan. They stink, plain and simple. Despite the fact that it's somewhat of a slap in the face to those who teach the course or to others who

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-76227135136050011172010-02-02T15:03:00.010-06:002010-02-03T09:38:54.272-06:00

So last week I wrote about why there are so many reasons to become an engineering major. Well here's something for the non-engineering majors out there. Computers are more than just ones and zeroes. In case you haven't noticed, technology has creeped into every part of our daily lives. I sound like just about every other tech article out there right about now but hear me out:Take a computer. It

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-7987722654365058272010-01-27T15:40:00.008-06:002010-01-28T09:30:00.257-06:00

There are a lot of reasons to be a geek. Besides being a chick magnet (girls if you decide to get into engineering, you will have no problem finding a great guy :P), tech savvy, and being a part of an elite group of people who laugh at xkcd, you also get to save the world. On the same level as James Bond, Super Mario, and Gordon Freeman, you too can prevent the demise of all the things you love.

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-77877356917169750372010-01-25T16:52:00.006-06:002010-02-01T14:30:24.004-06:00

A lot of times, I fall under the illusion that I'm in control of my life. I find myself pressing the gas pedal of my car, and the car goes. I arrange to play tennis with a friend, and we play tennis. I sign up for 14 hours of classes... and I go to class. Alright so I'm in control!Until, on the way home, I get a flat tire out of nowhere. And I know nothing about cars. I know how to drive, but I

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-1318115833971556582010-01-20T17:02:00.007-06:002010-01-21T16:14:57.624-06:00

Green is pretty important yes? Green plants keep our planet alive, green is the color of UNT, green is what my blog is called... Though my blog also stands for Green Releases Excellent Engineering Nerds. O Green how I love thee. Though to be honest, orange or blue is my true favorite color, sorry green.Green is also the color of our United States currency... In high school, I never really paid

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-70819073863237329182010-01-14T17:45:00.015-06:002010-01-14T18:21:03.252-06:00

It's about that time again. I've paid for classes, texted the roommate and picked up my room key. For those who need to pay for spring classes, the deadline is in 15 minutes!! Otherwise you'll have to sign up tomorrow, during late registration. Here's a tip on late registration though: avoid it. At all costs. Not only is it bad for your schedule, it's bad for your peace of mind. Personally, if I

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-50521338029913950472010-01-05T16:54:00.002-06:002010-01-08T11:08:18.629-06:00

Happy new year, Happy Holidays, Happy beginning of a new semester. Happy birthday to my roommate. There's a lot to be happy about right about now, well except that the SD card in my phone somehow became corrupted and it told me I had to reformat, then after an hour of fooling around with it and trying to scrounge up all the files I could to back up, it started working again in my phone. It's

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-5038573830004090572009-12-22T14:12:00.009-06:002010-02-16T15:21:04.683-06:00

Today I watched a graduation ceremony.I know what you're thinking. "Gee UNT has VERY LOW graduation numbers!" we-he-he-he-hell, you'll be surprised to know that these are not just any graduates. These are the Fall 2009 Master's Degree candidates for the University of North Texas! Among them are my co-workers (graduating) and supervisor (doctor, whom is present in the front with the black apparel)

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-79866441796541860662009-12-15T14:21:00.009-06:002010-02-16T15:20:39.221-06:00

Exam week. Some love it, most hate it. It's different for everyone but let's just say, it all depends on how many days of class you skipped. If you attended every single class meeting, there's no reason to really worry about exam week. Most exams are cumulative anyway, and there's no way to do well on a test if you weren't even there for the material. Besides, if I'm going to study 24 hours for

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-3716101990157413432009-12-10T13:37:00.009-06:002010-02-16T15:19:27.695-06:00

Who came up with the term Dead Week? It seems to be a fairly new phenomena by Google Trends standards. I don't think it's new. I heard the term all the time in high school. There also seems to be discussion around the web describing others' experiences with dead week.In short, dead week is the week when projects are due, and many schools ask teachers not to administer tests and quizzes. It's not

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-7704316545071996952009-12-08T14:50:00.007-06:002009-12-22T14:49:48.467-06:00

What does a geek want more than anything? A she-geek to idolize, praise, and discuss the nature of your neighbor's poorly unsecured wireless network with. If there's anything that geeks like, it's geek tech. Sure some people settle for the Wonder Woman cliche, of a beautiful powerful woman with a secret identity, spandex, and super amazing powers of super speed, flight, and stamina... But Wonder

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-15091825220661375942009-12-05T20:56:00.007-06:002009-12-06T15:45:34.121-06:00

As part of being a journalist for the school of engineering, sometimes I go to engineering events here at the school. Most recently we had a Texas Best Robotics competition where we had several high schools and geeks among geeks of kids, teachers, and professionals gather to build robots! Several people from UNT engineering, Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, and even NASA were involved in the event. The

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-66168478342642473522009-12-03T16:04:00.002-06:002010-02-16T15:17:27.827-06:00

It gets really hard to concentrate on work whenever there's a holiday right around the corner. Just like it's hard to concentrate when you've eaten turkey. You know that old myth that says turkey makes you sleepy? IT'S TRUE. Although Wikipedia claims that most meat products you eat contain tryptophan, it also states that it depends on what you consume with your meat. I'm assuming that eating a

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-9594184839691270932009-11-24T16:15:00.010-06:002010-02-15T15:28:06.802-06:00

I have to admit, I wasn't too impressed with Denton whenever I first drove up from my comfortable suburbs of Plano. But as it turns out, a drive through a city does not give you enough merit to judge what the city is like, despite how I also claim that Las Vegas is amazing since I once drove through it on the way to California... Besides, I was merely driving through 380, I hadn't even come near

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-26780669611193852082009-11-20T15:19:00.021-06:002009-11-23T14:55:08.397-06:00

I’ve had plenty of setbacks… You don’t know how glad I am to be able to live up to my promise of writing this entry. It really did take forever for me to get this all together without internet. Namely the N-type female chassis mount connector took me a long time to find, as I outlined in the last entry. Tanner’s Electronics thankfully had all the stuff I needed, but before that I had spent days

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-33980805270769499542009-11-17T21:02:00.013-06:002010-12-06T14:20:06.682-06:00

As you may remember from my last entry, my dorm was struck by lightning about 3 weeks ago. Although things could be worse, as in my computer could have blown up or the whole housing establishment could have caught fire, instead we merely lost internet. However, this is not to be taken lightly. In fact, for someone like me in an age like this, internet is like a faithful sidekick – it’s always

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-14705429855809754992009-11-06T14:25:00.009-06:002009-11-17T16:15:35.379-06:00

I don’t know. I’ve been in college for 3 years and I still don’t know. College is so dynamic. One moment you’re having fun eating candy during Halloween, and the next moment you are keeled over on your bed suffering from some virus you caught over the weekend. One day you walk into class and you think, “man, I know this stuff like the back of my hand,” then you realize that that is a cliché, and

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-89333989508271792542009-10-29T13:51:00.013-05:002009-11-09T17:08:43.603-06:00

Here’s something you hear all the time but don’t ever expect it to happen to you. Well.. at least I wasn’t expecting it to happenMy dorm was struck by lightningThat’s 1.21 GIGAWATTS of electricity that just hit us.Interestingly enough, we didn’t experience a fire or power outage, but rather, a huge power surge and many people crying (including myself) that we no longer have internet service. Some

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-55442289312180594452009-10-26T19:53:00.018-05:002009-11-08T20:54:09.703-06:00

It’s been a bit since I’ve written on here… As I type, my roommate is playing Ocarina of Time, a fine game indeed.The College of Engineering took me to Washington DC a couple weeks ago, where I had the privilege of representing UNT, as well as a National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education (ATE) Center called the Convergence Technology Center. It’s always a mouthful to say, but

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-36227928914314590692009-10-26T19:51:00.008-05:002009-10-29T14:24:32.162-05:00

This weekend I drove back to Plano because I have a job working with a National Science Foundation grant. I attend weekly meetings with them because we are migrating our web site to a new Content Management System. This is all fine and dandy but guess what else is in Plano? My family… This can be a double edged sword. On one hand I love my family to death. They give me food and a bed to sleep in,

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321697500157100284.post-77491616136690219322009-10-20T15:18:00.002-05:002009-10-29T14:23:54.180-05:00

So this is what blogging feels like. I feel as though I've started writing a log in my diary, only it's on the web. I think I'll call it a web log, or blog for short. I'd like to know what the first blogger was thinking when he (or she!) made the first blog... I bet it was a sour journalist who once was an honest reporter, turned bitter by a newspaper or the MSM (mainstream media). Thereon said

Brett McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149549980276580939noreply@blogger.com