A recap of my life in twenty-fourteen...

Since I started university back in 2010 (seems like eons ago), I've maintained a tradition of writing a blog post at the end of every year. This year's post has been at the back of my head for several days, but I still haven't been able to figure out what I'm going to write. And I don't think I can do monthly sections this time round... So I'll just let the words flow...

Random Thoughts © Osama Sidat

The Desire2Learn Experience

D2L HQ © Osama Sidat

The year started off solidly. My second-to-last co-op term, with Desire2Learn (officially "D2L" now), initiated in January as a Software Developer. Work-wise, it was certainly new, exciting territory (mostly C# .NET and SQL Server, with lots of helpings of HTML, CSS and JavaScript for component redesigns, along with some Scala and AngularJS for a hackathon), with the advantage of familiarity in terms of awesome friends and a fun working environment. I'm immensely happy with the help I got, the things I was able to achieve and the people I was able to meet. A grateful "Thank You!" to my manager, my mentor, my teammates, and everyone else who contributed to my professional growth.

Cybernetics and Society

During the Winter 2014 term, I also took the on-campus Cybernetics and Society course (STV 205, taught by the awesome J. A. Deman). If you're kinda geeky, or interested in the social impact of technology, and at UWaterloo, I highly recommend this course! Great in-class discussions, fun group assignments and essay (it was basically "Write about your favourite cyborg"; I wrote about Chuck from Chuck), all enabled by a highly passionate instructor.

The NASA Space Apps Challenge 2014

NASA Space Apps Challenge 2014 at The Tannery Event Centre © Osama Sidat

One weekend in April 2014, I participated in my first ever outside-work hackathon with three (at the time) complete strangers. We developed an asteroid prospection game using the Unity Game Engine - "Rocks! Lasers! Protfit!" - check it out! A detailed account is on my tech blog here - the awesome bit was that (to our surprise) we won the Regional round, and proceeded to the global judging phase, where we came out as among the Top 5 Projects in Use of Data.

Spring 2014

Columbia Lake in Spring © Osama Sidat

Chipmunk in my backyard © Osama Sidat

After three study terms of a lighter (four instead of five) course load, I returned to school in Spring 2014 with a full-course load. My schedule composed of CS 349 (User Interfaces), CS 341 (Algorithms), CS 360 (Introduction to Theory of Computing), HRM 200 (Intro to Human Resource Management), and, ENGL 108F (The Superhero). Outlined below are some of my thoughts about each:

User Interfaces: To date, the best CS course I've taken, with the right amount of (useful) theory and hands-on stuff. Byron Becker did a great job with a course, and he was highly responsive to emails, even if they were about relatively unrelated content. Also, it was my first real foray into the Java programming language.

Algorithms: Mark Petrick was a great teacher, and unlike the precursor of this course (CS 240: Data Structures), the content was quite interesting. However, rather hard exams.

Intro to Theory of Computing: I'll admit, I took this one because everyone said it would be easy. What I didn't realize before that the content was barely, if at all, interesting for me, making the course not so easy. In retrospect, I would've been better served by taking Software Architecture or something else...

Human Resource Management: Took this one to complete the Business Option requirements of my degree. I was taking it with a friend, else the lectures would've been incredibly boring.

The Superhero: I accidentally found this course when I was looking for things that Deman (from STV 205) taught. In a nutshell, this course discusses Superheroes - mostly from comic books. Quite a fun course, covers Batman too... I'd recommend this one if you're ok with writing a comprehensive final essay (it was definitely interesting to analyze Superman's behaviour in Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns). As before, Deman was awesome (he has a Ph.D in comics!) - I spent an office hour with him discussing the change in Batman's depiction in the animated series throughout the 90s...

Overall, a good term, can't complain too much. The JobMine process (I opted to get back in it for my sixth and last co-op term) resulted in a nicely revamped resume, over 30 job applications, 5 interviews, 1 offer and 3 ranks. I took the risk of turning down the offer and playing the numbers game with the ranks, and was placed at Akamai as a Software Developer for my Fall 2014 work term.

Experimenting with Shrimp © Osama Sidat

After being in Waterloo since Winter 2013 (my longest stretch of time spent living in 'Loo), I moved to Ottawa at the end of August for my work term.

The Passport Renewal Fun

I arrived in Ottawa on Tuesday, August 19. I had made a silly assumption - since Ottawa has a Pakistani Embassy AND Ottawa is the capital - I would/should be able to get my Pakistani passport renewed there (hoping that would save me an extra trip to Toronto). Well... when I visited the Embassy next morning, I was told (in the usual, traditional, infuriating way) that the Embassy could not process or renew any modern documents (really, what purpose does the Embassy have, then?), and that I would have to go back to Toronto.

Embassy of Pakistan, Ottawa © Osama Sidat

Eventually, later that day, I took the overnight Greyhound to Toronto, (luckily) got my passport renewed at the Consulate in York Region, and later that afternoon/evening, took a bus back to Ottawa (after waiting around the Bay Street Station for a few hours)...

I don't know, but that was thoroughly exhausting...

Seen in Toronto © Osama Sidat

Ottawa

I started exploring Ottawa after returning from my passport trip...

Parliament, Ottawa © Osama Sidat

World War Small Weapons, Canadian War Museum © Osama Sidat

This was the first time I was travelling to Ottawa. I definitely loved the architecture, especially in the downtown area. I was able the catch Mosaika 2014 on its last night. The museums were great, especially the War Museum and the Diefenbunker. The Rideau Canal is quite lovely and the Hintonburg area (or "Hipsterburg", as a friend calls it!) is pretty neat with it's quaint little shops.

The Locks at Rideau Canal © Osama Sidat

Mosaika on the Parliament Centre Block © Osama Sidat

I also went kayaking with a friend on Dow's Lake - it was immense fun!

Kayaking © Osama Sidat

Lots of food places in Ottawa. Shawarma Palace has some of the best beef shawarma I've had, to date. I also tried SuzyQ's fancy doughnuts and Flapjack's thick pancakes; delicious stuff!

SuzyQ's Doughnuts © Osama Sidat

The Flapjack's Truck in Westboro © Osama Sidat

I visited the Ottawa Humane Society and the Ottawa Cat Show - both full of cute felines!

Selfie with a kitty © Osama Sidat

As for the city, Ottawa is quite widespread (unlike the main Toronto city, which is kinda tightly packed). Traffic is moderate (though still quite significant, compared to Kitchener-Waterloo). Buses on the Transitway are nice and speedy, but transit times of buses on the main roads (Carling, for instance) can vary by time of day and by the traffic on the roads. I was living about 35-40 minutes from my work in Little Italy (not too bad, but I'd prefer closer if I were to return in the future).

I maintained a one-or-more photo a day throughout my days in Ottawa - check it out on my Instagram!

The Akamai Experience

Had a great time working at Akamai! I was working on tools for internal use using Ruby on Rails or NodeJS. Was able to get a good insight into how the web works through web requests and responses.

Akamai Gear © Osama Sidat

I had the opportunity to do a fair amount of solo development, which taught me a lot about taking a project from an initial idea to deployment. A big "Thank You!" to my team at Akamai which allowed me to experiment on my own, but were ready to help out if I got stuck on a problem!

The Trip Back Home

Last time I was home in Karachi, it was August-September 2012. A visit was long overdue...

I finished up at Akamai on Friday, December 19, travelled back to Waterloo from Ottawa the next day to dump my stuff and repack, and took the PIA flight to Karachi on Sunday evening. Even though my visit is short, I'm thankful for the opportunity to see family and friends.

Calico Queen © Osama Sidat

Stargazing with Abba - The Orion Nebula © Osama Sidat

The Next Year?

InshaAllah, I'll be starting my last term at UWaterloo on January 5, 2015, expecting to graduate the following April. I'm currently working my way through the job application and interview process for post-grad work.

Alhamdolillah, this year has been interesting for me professionally and academically.

And finally,

I saw Jamie Oliver's video the other day and really wanted to try out his way of cooking tuna steak... I didn't have the seasoning ingredients that he used, so I used a mix of what I had on hand...

Ingredients:

• Tuna steak (slice thickness of 2cm or more)
• Olive oil
• Fajita seasoning
• Italian seasoning
• Salt
• Pepper

Method:

• Mix the fajita and Italian seasonings, along with some salt and pepper. Rub on both sides of the steak
• Drizzle some olive oil and rub into the steak
• Set frying pan on medium heat
• Cook both sides of the steak for 2-3 minutes each. Don't let it cook all the way through (the middle part should be less cooked than the outside, otherwise you'll get a rather dry steak).
• Take the steak off the pan and rub some olive oil in it.
• Enjoy!

Tuna Steak and Mashed Potatoes © Osama Sidat

A few days ago, a friend gave me a recipe that sounded interesting. I decided to give it a shot...

Shrimp, Onions, and Bell Peppers, in a Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 package shrimp (around 350g, I think) - cooked, peeled, and de-tailed
• 2 Bell Peppers (Red, Yellow)
• 1 Medium Onion
• 2-3 cloves garlic
• 2-3 Tbsp butter
• 1 Tbsp Sambal Oelak (chili garlic sauce)
• 1-1.5 tsp garlic paste
• 1/4 tsp chili powder
• Soy Sauce
• Barbecue Sauce
• Salt
• Pepper

Method:

• Melt the butter in a dish. Marinate the shrimps in the butter
• Heat oil in a wok, medium heat. Add onions, garlic, and sambal oelak. Sauteed for a bit.
• Add garlic paste, salt, pepper, bell peppers, soy sauce and garlic sauce. (I don't have exact measurements for the latter two, maybe 1/4-1/3 cup each...)
• Let the sauce and veggies cook for a while.
• Once the sauce starts to bubble, add the shrimp to the wok. Toss well. Set stove to low-medium heat.
• Serve! I made mine with spaghetti!

Shrimp with Spaghetti

A couple of days ago, my Mom gave me an interesting recipe that I tweaked based on ingredient availability and instinct. The results were pretty good, even if I say so myself.



Ingredients

• 1 lb. beef stew (chopped into small chunks)
• 1 large potato, boiled and mashed
• 1 small onion
• 1 egg
• 1-2 cups water
• 1/4 - 1/3 cup oil
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp green onion (chopped)
• 1 tsp Garam Masala
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 - 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp chilli powder
• 1/2 tsp ginger powder
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder

Method

• Mix together pepper, chilli powder, garlic powder, ginger powder, salt and soy sauce in a bowl.
• In a pot, add beef, 3/4 of the chopped onion, spices and water. Boil the beef over a steady heat until beef is tender and water has dried out.
• Mash the boiled beef. Throughly mix it with potato, egg, and green onion and the remaining onion.
• Form kebabs from the mixture. I was able to get 8, your mileage may vary based on thickness and length of the kebabs.
• Brush the kebabs with oil.

• Heat the remaining oil in a skillet. Fry kebabs until light brown. I was able to fry 4 at a time, 5-7 minutes each.
• Serve with parathas!

Enjoy!

It's that time of a year again... time for a summary of my life in 2013...

Doodles, 'cuz.. why not? © Osama Sidat

January: The start of the year was followed by a move to Cardill Crescent, about 15 minutes of a walk away from University. It was a fairly nice place, with some awesome house-mates!

I started the year with a full course load, consisting of three core Computer Science courses, an Applied Cryptography course and a business course at Wilfred Laurier.

Also, since I was aiming for a more Computer Science - related job for my next term, I started going through the nuisances (there's no other way to put it, UWaterloo folks understand this!) of JobMine!

February: We saw a massive amount of snow one Friday... caused a snow day (my first at UWaterloo... ) I remember the day especially because I had an interview scheduled that day, which got cancelled...

Snow on the Patio © Osama Sidat

Nevertheless, a few interviews (IBM, Zynga, Desire2Learn, BlackBerry, and Kaleidescape, as far as I can recall) happened in the following few weeks... some went well, some were okay...

Interview Season © Osama Sidat

Soon came Reading Week, a much needed break from the tough academic schedule... Since I stayed back in Waterloo, I participated in tubing and skiing, awesomely fun snow activities!

Me, with a friend's GoPro strapped to the head, ready to go downhill © Osama Sidat

Skis Strapped On © Osama Sidat

March: The JobMine round finally came to an end, and I was offered a role as Quality Assurance Analyst at Desire2Learn, a provider of learning solutions, head-quartered in downtown Kitchener! I was extremely thankful that I got a job in the first round!

Desire2Learn © Osama Sidat

Unfortunately, on the academic front, I wasn't faring very well with Crypto. Based on the prof's advice, I dropped the course, and I hope to get a shot at it again next year...

Random note: Paintball is an amazing sport!

Headshot! © Osama Sidat

April: The month brought with it...

Freezing Rain... © Osama Sidat

Studying... © Osama Sidat

... and exams at the PAC © Osama Sidat

Exams went okay, meaning I passed all of my courses... although if I were given another chance, I would not bother with BU111 at Laurier... I'd possibly look for an alternative...

May: Yet another move at the end of April and beginning of May... this time to Erb Street, 15-20 minutes south of campus...

I started work on May 6th. It was definitely a beginning of a different experience, compared to my past work terms... It was my first exposure to Agile software development. And boy, there was a whole lot of co-ops working for Desire2Learn in summer - lots of new friends and acquaintances!

Also started a Legal Studies 101 online course. To anyone planning on taking this course, it's fairly boring. I listened to the lectures while engrossed in other stuff, and didn't bother with most of the readings... I did, though, start watching Suits :P .

Since it was the work term, I found a lot more time for cooking and experimenting in the kitchen.. I even started a recipe section on the blog to make sure I could replicate my experiments in the future...

Tuna Sandwich © Osama Sidat

June: Work started becoming more interesting, especially since I understood more of what I was doing.

I got a chance to visit Victoria Park in Kitchener. Nice place, got some awesome shots, and I did discover that benches and bridges are two of my favourite subjects..

Bench in Victoria Park © Osama Sidat

My Project 365 finally came to an end... my HTC One S served me faithfully throughout the year...

July: Ramadan started. Also, I found a new place for Fall and forward...

August: Started wrapping up the work term. Found a part time Dev/Analyst role with my company for the Fall term, since my schedule for classes was constrained to Tuesday and Thursday...

The Legal Studies course exam was fun... I just prepared using the course notes in about 6-8 hours... It had been a while since I wrote an exam involving essays... given the effort I put in the course, the exam went fairly well...

Welcomed my brother to Waterloo (finally, I have another test subject, other than myself, to try out my cooking!)... and made another move, just down the street!

I also got an offer from my team to come back in Winter as a Developer, which I happily accepted.

September: Started the term, this time with Operating Systems, and Databases, with a couple of electives, Physics of How Things Work, and Public Speaking.

Yet more experimentation - Nutella-Cinnamon French Toast © Osama Sidat

Since my cellular contract with Fido was up for renewal, I called them up for a better plan combination, with the new iPhone 5S... Got a great promised plan, but... more on this later...

October: Started learning why Operating Systems is considered hard... Luckily, I had a good team to work with...

Went out on an astrophotography trip with the UW Photo Club, got my first "good" images of the Milky Way...

The Milky Way © Osama Sidat

So a week before my iPhone was to be delivered (right before the weekend before Thanksgiving), and I was on a phone call with a customer service rep, I was told that the plan that Fido agreed to give me a few weeks ago was no longer valid. For a moment, I was livid (I haven't needed to call KESC or Worldcall in a long time now!). Three CSRs later, Fido refused to budge - whatever they offered me was lesser in features and greater in price compared to my original offer...

At some point on the weekend, I got fed up, and took to social media to explain my problem... Fido's social media specialists reached out to me... a week of negotiation, twenty email exchanges, and some well-reasoned arguments later, my plan was set back to the original offer Fido made to me, my phone was shipped and the matter was resolved. The ordeal was certainly a little frustrating, but it taught me a fair bit about dealing with cellular companies in Canada...

By the way, if anyone's interested in some Pakistani Hunter Beef, I think I'm qualified to make some now...

November: Crazy busy week, full of late- and all-nighters. Along with my team, this cool dude helped one day:

Tofu © Osama Sidat

In any case, we made it at the end. Piece of advice to folks taking OS: start early, work on it continuously.

Also, SPCOM 223 and SCI 206 are extremely fun, highly recommended courses. If you're at UWaterloo, take 'em if you get the chance.

December: I finished up with exams pretty early this term (since my physics prof was kind enough to schedule an alternative final exam; the original exam was on the last slot of the last day of the exam period). Spent until the end of my contract working full-time in my part-time role... the last two weeks of work were definitely more fulfilling than the first three-ish months. There's this thing about part-time when part of an active team - you can rarely finish off what you start...

Just before the holiday week, we had an icestorm in Ontario... everything just froze...

Frozen Twigs © Osama Sidat

On Boxing Day, went to watch my first hockey game at Air Canada Centre...

Toronto Marlies vs Hamilton Bulldogs © Osama Sidat

All in all, an interesting year. Learned a great many things, met some awesome people and had a number of new experiences. Based on current calculations, I am now two work terms and three academic terms away from completing undergrad.

Next week, I'm back on co-op, this time as a Developer at Desire2Learn. I look forward to the challenge.

By the way, I've started posting photos on Instagram, if any of you peruse that platform...

Finally,