This job fulfilling in 'creative way'...

[jackofallgeeks]

In response to requesting guidance on how I should present my next Chapter:

Andrew,

I thought that this chapter was going to provide system requirements
and an analysis of architectural alternatives that would then
identify the architecture you are currently using. Items 1 and 2
below should precede additional writing. (You need to do some more
work before you can write about it.)

Other TO DO items:
1. figure out TRSS and provide an overview in the background chapter
if it appears that TRSS can solve your problem. Otherwise, come and
find me and we will need to discuss other possible alternatives.

2. develop a set of requirements for your fusion system

3. develop requirements for the trusted process that will communicate
with the various back-end databases

4. describe a prototype for the trusted process in 3

5. code up as a compiled binary (not script) the prototype trusted
process

6. develop a test plan for demonstrating that the trusted process
works. This will require back-end systems that it must "talk to" as
well as the process that calls it. (many of these processes can be
very simple, but they need to show how information would be sent
through the system).

7. execute the test plan and provide analysis

8. note future work that would be required.

In summary, your work should result in a system that works except for
the fact that (1) there aren't a bunch of big back end databases (2)
there is no application that performs "real" data fusion.

Perhaps you have not recognized the amount of work that is
***required*** for you to complete your thesis. This may be a wake up
call.

BTW, this is still not a huge amount of work, but I am troubled that
you have not stepped up to the plate and gotten busy.

[My Adviser]

I Reply:

Obviously no, I have not been aware of the work required to complete this thesis, and I have to say it seems like a fairly daunting task: I feel I have barely enough work to write the paper itself.

That said I will begin work on what you've presented. It pretty much nullifies the schedule I presented to you earlier.

I do believe that the TRSS provides a suitable solution; I had included a section in my revision of the Background chapter but gather that you're looking for something additional or different; I'm not sure what it would be, though I'd anticipated you would provide me comments to work from.

I'm afraid a lot of this boils down to the same thing: there has been a disconnect between us since I got back from Internship and my topic was changed to this data fusion application. As I noted, I work well with defined goals but do significantly less well when it seems my target is always changing. In particular, we had been talking from the very beginning of a Linux-based mock-up written as a perl CGI script for Apache. I had begun working on it in the context of a multilevel problem when you said that I should concern myself only with a simple, single-level model. On Monday I turned in that single-level scripted code and you asked why I'd coded anything if my thesis was on an architectural design. With that in mind it was my understanding that I would be devoting my time to describing the architecture, and that is the basis of the schedule I provided. Writing up a compiled binary of the trusted component was never discussed; I accept it if that's the final product you're looking for, but you must understand there is little progress at all in that direction.

I don't think it's productive to argue about the particulars of where we had a disconnect or how it could have been resolved sooner or better. What I do know is that the bulk of what you've presented below is news to me and I feel I will need significant guidance and feedback on the direction I'm taking with this. I would honestly appreciate help in accomplishing this, as it seems to me that it is a huge amount of work and I'm currently not confident I really understand what it is you expect of me. I'd thought we'd determined that at it seems I was sorely mistaken.

I'll get back to you once I've gotten work accomplished on the items you've listed.

-Andrew

In Return:

Andrew,

Thanks for the response.

I set the deadline of yesterday for you to submit changes to the
background chapter. That doesn't mean that I was going to look at
them immediately. You are not my only student and I have many other
tasks on my plate as well.

It is good to know that TRSS will provide a solution. How about
coming on Friday at 0900 with as much design as you can complete for
how that will work? You may want to create some block diagrams that
show the processes, the steps, how processes will be instantiated,
what information needs to be passed between them, and any process
clean up that may be needed.

Apparently you have misunderstood the meaning of the phrase "thesis
research". We are exploring the problem space and looking for a way
to prototype it. If it appears that the TRSS is going to work, then
it should not be difficult to develop a few processes to demonstrate
that.

Please note that the list was not a set of things that had to be done
by next week, but describe a reasonable notion of "done". I hope
that you are glad that you don't have to build a real fusion
application - remember, at the beginning, the thesis included that too!

[My Adviser]

To her I send:

[Ma'am],

My apologies if I sounded terse or disrespectful; I'm honestly more than a little panicked by what appears to me as a sudden change in focus. I realize that I am not your only student and didn't mean to imply that I'd expected to have comments _now_, simply that I expected there to be comments forthcoming. We both have other things in our schedule, and you notably more than I.

I've already begun sketching out how the architecture should work with the TRSS, as best as I understand it; I imagined that's why you wanted to meet with Jean. I can put together more details, block diagrams like you suggest. That's certainly not unreasonable and only another step beyond what I'd intended to present anyways.

My misunderstanding is certainly apparent, stemming from the fact that I've never been presented with a thesis project as such, certainly not a Master's Thesis, and the requirements have only now been laid out for me. My frustration is that had the project been presented in these terms back in January or even April, I feel significantly more progress would have been done by now and I wouldn't feel so blind-sided. It is not that I haven't "stepped up to the plate," but that I was playing on a different field.

Again, I understand that the list was not intended as work to be completed by next week, only as work to be completed as such. It is not an unreasonable list for a project, simple a daunting one given the fact that I have about one month to complete it all _and_ report on it. If the creation of a fusion application was originally a part of the thesis then I'm glad I wasn't aware of it; it was readily apparent that such a task was beyond my abilities even given the full nine months.

Thank you for your prompt response.
-Andrew

But to myself I think:

OK, you want this to be a battle of egos, fine, I concede, but let's get a few things straight -- first and foremost you didn't set yesterday as the deadline, I did. And I met it, too, so don't try to feed me a line about how I'm not on top of things. *You* haven't set much of anything for these thesis at all, nothing more clear than 'people are interested in Data Fusion,' let alone a milestone to say nothing of deadlines. So back off. Don't sit there and throw this pile of ***requirements***, all-but threatening me with a barely contained, "you have to do this, you see?" and then to make some half-hearted claim that I'm slacking off? If I'm behind where you think I ought to be, it's only because you haven't told me where to go. Your life is writing papers and doing research; this is kind of a first for me. And it's not like I haven't asked you, repeatedly, what you want me to do; if you had this list, it would have been 'effing nice to see it nine months ago when we started this damn project. Or if not then at least six months ago, when we'd gotten a little bit of this under out belts. Not now, when I'm looking at a month before graduation and fear I have barely enough time to write the damned report, let alone come up with a compiled daemon, let alone testing it (for requirements I'm still unsure of)!

Codemonkey not say it out loud; Codemonkey not crazy, just proud.