it's lookin' pretty good

so far, things are still looking pretty good for my research topic. there are a couple of 4th year students that have taken interest in it and have been very helpful in these early stages (ideas, advice, encouragement, mentorship, etc.). these two guys seem to always be in the right place at the right time.......well, maybe it's the other way around, and it's me that is in the right place at the right time. if the feedback so far has not been enough reassurance, i needed to go downstairs to the systems research group to try and find some benchmarks to run, and one of the researchers there though the topic was promising. i am in the process of collecting some data at the moment, and i would love to have some preliminary results put together before my next meeting with my advisor. i think he would be impressed (*fingers crossed*). either way, there is a good bit of "low-hanging fruit" in the near future and some significant strides to be made long-term if things continue to go well.