I just wanted to use this thread to thank PFO for all the help it has given me over the past years. Three years ago, I literally started from nothing, and used this website as a portal to learn every language and every programming-related thing I know today. Then, over the past year, my studies have focused mainly on performing well on the
Canadian Computing Competition. The CCC is a nation-wide competition held in Canada, used to determine the best young computer scientists.
I competed over a month ago, and got the results yesterday. All of what PFO has given me seems to be paying off. I was able to get a perfect score on the competition (75/75), to tie for 1st place in Canada. The top 20 and I will be heading to Waterloo for the nation's finals near the end of May. If I manage to keep a spot anywhere in the top 4, then I will be a part of Canada's national programming team. This team represents the 4 best in Canada, and they will compete in the
2008 IOI World Finals, one of the most highly known global competitions between over 80 countries, which yields the very brightest young computer scientists in the world.
I'd also like to use this thread to put out an invitation to anyone who wants to study algorithms with me until the end of May. I will have to do a lot of preparation in order to do well in the nation's finals. So if anyone wants to learn with me, or better yet, teach me, it would be much appreciated. I am also considering paying someone $20-$30/hour to come to my house several times a week to mentor me (if you live in Ottawa).
Thanks again to all who helped me directly or indirectly in algorithms and C, including andro, Infinate, Narue, The Dark, lectricpharaoh and Jessehk. I am trying to recall names off the top of my head, so I apologize if I missed anyone. I honestly would not have been able to do this if I didn't learn and grow up on PFO. Therefore, I owe an extra, and most sincere, thanks to Bigk and cscgal for developing PFO into what it is.