TM470 TMA02 marked

Despite my best efforts I scored one less than on the previous TMA - 68%, but what the hell. I'm just going to focus on completing my project which I'm really doing for myself anyway.

I want to finish my project with a working solution, something that I intend to make use of myself, and there is no way that will happen if I fanny about with discussing why I made this or that decision, and documenting the bleeding obvious.

M208 decisions, decisions

I just got my M208  TMA05 paper back, and it bucked the downward trend with a mighty 80%. A quick look at the assignment calculator and I reckon I now have enough OCAS marks to keep me in the safety zone without doing the final two TMA's at all. Granted, I'm going to be settling for a lowish overall mark, but I actually think I have more OCAS marks than I'm going to get for the OES part anyway.

I think it would actually take the pressure off a bit if I forgot about the TMA's and just concentrated on revision.

I might just fire off an email to my tutor to that effect.

TM470 TMA02 Submitted

Well, it's gone. I'm not expecting big things, because I'm not really in-tune with the whole thing, which is process and documentation top-heavy, and in no way conducive to productivity for an individual developer working on a software development project.

I sort of understand why it is the way it is, but it does nothing for my motivation. Perhaps if I was remotely interested in joining the BCS at the end of all this, that would add something, but I'm not.

Actually on the subject of the BCS, the only person I have encountered in the whole of my career that I know for sure was a member was someone on my M253 team a couple of years back, yet they claim to have 70,000 members worldwide. You would have thought that in 30+ years in the business I would have bumped into a few more. Maybe I have, and didn't recognise what the letters on the business card stood for at the time.

The Spirit of Enterprise

Here I am mid-way through preparing the second TMA for TM470, and what an exasperating experience it is proving to be. I seem to be wasting time jumping through hoops instead of getting on with the project itself.

TM470 seems to be all about the process and nothing about the result. Coming from a background where no-one pays you unless you deliver something, it really grates with me.

Let's say you order a car, and when it arrives, it's in pieces - wheels missing, the engine doesn't work and there are no brakes. The sales person says to you "...but the manual is fantastic, and the manufacturer's processes are second to none", would you be happy? I don't think so.

Entrepreneurs like Richard Branson and Alan Sugar have always struck me as people who want results, not a load of paperwork.

Maybe it's just me. Now that's off my chest - back to the TMA!

Two TMA's out of the way

I finally finished M208 TMA05 today which has been a bit of a marathon, and then M256 TMA02 which isn't due until June, but I didn't want it disturbing my exam week.

Feels good to have cleared a bit off my plate!

M256 TMA01 marked

I'm back on track with this, having scored 90% on my first TMA. Actually I was just a tiny bit disappointed I didn't score higher, but given my current level of enthusiasm for the OU work (i.e. none) I suppose I should be satisfied, because I've put very little effort into this module to date.

One difficulty I have, is that having worked in the software industry for a long time, I tend to look at the  computing modules I study from a certain perspective, and to me, the material I've covered (so far) on this particular module has been so far detached from reality that I wonder what possible relevance it has. I do try to put aside my own opinions when doing the TMA's and just do exactly what is being asked for, reminding myself that it's the mark that matters, but it's not easy to do that.