I began my final academic (and calendar) year of university 2 weeks ago. It seems strange that I've finally reached this point - and I guess it'll seem even more foreign a year from now when I (hopefully) walk across that stage in a cap and gown. For the first time since I started my post-secondary education, I actually had the pleasure of choosing which courses I wanted to take - meaning, which direction I want to take my career after graduation. Following the precedence of my choices jumping from high school to university, I opted to leap headlong into semiconductor-related technical electives. It has proved to be quite an interesting experience so far - but not at all what I expected from 4th year courses. My first choice was a course in Digital Signal Processing, recommended by my past colleagues since DSP is used in so many technology-related areas today. During the first lecture, the professor managed to lose the confidence of most of his audience. I'm not sure w...