I am Matthew James Parnell. Known also by the online alias, parnmatt. I am 20, and an undergraduate university student.
This is just my personal website, filled with content about me. This current design is based on a LaTeX document, and is only temporary. I have a concept in my mind on what this space will be like …only issue is making it.
I used to spend most of my time, before University, playing on my X-Box 360, trying to pass the time and earn some achievements; watching TV, though there weren't much on; and on my MacBook, playing around in Virtual Machines, learning bits of code, designing the occasional thing …etc. During Uni, on-the-other-hand, there just isn't any time for such luxuries.
Physics is just wonderful; exploring the unknown, from the tinniest interactions at sub-atomic levels; to the vastness of the Universe, and the possibility of more!
To communicate, and theorise what's actually happening; there needs to be a universal language, a beautiful language; there is: Mathematics. People dismiss Maths too quickly, if only everyone can see that Mathematics is beautifully logical and sound.
I do love computers; I used to use Windows, as everyone did; but I moved to Linux as soon as I knew how. I used Linux as my primary OS for a good 8 months or so before my parents got me a black MacBook 4,1 and it has served me well. I still occasionally use Linux through Virtual Machines, for the sheer fun of it; I rarely use Windows, unless I'm fixing a friend's or family's computer.
Perhaps one day I'll learn some Computer Science, luckily two of my previous flat mates are Computer Science Undergraduates. I will also be living with one of them next year; perhaps Tom could teach me a few things.
I'm part of the British School System, notably one of the best in the World, and I am thankful to have been born a Brit', and have all these opportunities; I know many do not have the same luxury.
Shipston Primary School; the start of my journey. It was there I started to acquire my thirst for knowledge, especially for Mathematics and Physics. It really all started when we first were taught about Astronomy.
After I had left Primary, I attended Chipping Campden School, a Technology and Language College —yes, it was given two specialist titles. I enjoyed school for the most part, as most people do. Trying to find the balance of the Creative Arts and the Sciences in life, as expected is difficult.
I am currently in my second year studying 'Physics with Particle Physics and Cosmology' at Lancaster University, England —yes, that makes me a Physics Undergraduate.
Being born in England, I obviously speak fluent English. I studied German at GCSE, but unfortunately most of my German knowledge has dissipated. I did learn a bit of Arabic —it was offered as an extra-curricula activity, and I've always wanted to learn a completely alien language. I can't remember much of that either …simply put, I know more German then Arabic, and I know almost no German. I do however remember the Arabic Alphabet.
My current aim is to learn basic Japanese, I plan to go to Japan sometime in the next few years …it would help massively if I can hold a simple conversation.
Ok, well that's spoken languages; what about Computer based languages and mark-ups? Honestly I'd love to know many, but I don't. I spend a lot of time in the Terminal on my MacBook, and I did on my old Ubuntu machine …so I know very basic Bash. I started to learn basic Ruby a few months before my seond year. It's a nice and simple language, and I currently use it for quick scripting jobs. I had to learn Java ing the first term of my second year …it was interesting; I loved giving it a go, messing up and learning from it.
I'm currently learning basic C, to learn basic C++, so that I can use a program call ROOT, which is what most particle physicsts use.
I obviously know something about web-design, and the codes behind that; I know HTML and CSS pretty fluently. All started in Year 9 at school, where my ICT teacher made our class hand-code our websites, using his template; instead of using web-design software. My friend and I picked the mark-up quickly, and because so many people didn't; we ended up helping those in need of assistance, along side the teacher; which was the whole class.
From there I started to teach myself HTML and CSS, and now with the new standards, I'm having to re-learn the new, preferred and efficient ways of basic web-design. My Javascript knowledge is limited to the utmost basics, and to be fair; I don't really need to know that much considering CSS3 now has a lot of animation based functions. Currently I'm trying to get my head around Server-side Languages, such as PHP, and possibly Rails.