Yet more app improvements

I spent today making several more improvements to my bus app before more students (?) arrive back on campus next month. I started by making it possible to switch off the display of specific information on the trip list screen in case it was too dense for people. I went to finally finish the half-done vehicle lookup feature but then noticed a serious problem: the trip information as called up from departure details was often for the wrong trip. This seems to have been caused by a recent change to code that loads data from the bus company into the database. After fixing that, I did complete the vehicle lookup feature, filling in the missing UI. Finally, I fixed the longstanding strange behavior of navigation directions displaying the bus's whole route shape. The server now tells the app which shape points are associated with stops so that the app can draw just the subsection of the trip that's relevant to the user.

Revisiting ENCODE data

Last year I wrote scripts to do a big search of the ENCODE Project data for proteins that could affect the one we're focused on. We identified one that happens to be a member of a family of proteins. My task is now to search the data for relationships between that regulatory protein family and the family to which our protein of main interest belongs.

More app tweaks

Today I addressed a handful of tiny inconveniences in my app, mostly surrounding the route trip listings. Those listings now require less jumping around when trying to learn about a route that isn't currently running. I also adjusted some of the "landmark" stops used in the new trip summary feature. Once the bus company releases the full data set in August I will probably need to add a few more landmarks to display the (numerous and arcane) school district diversions in a helpful way.

App improvements for fall

UIUC is planning to have some in-person classes in the fall, so some students will likely use the bus system. I want new students to have a good experience with my bus app, so I spent yesterday and today making some improvements. I finally fixed a longstanding issue where the app's main screen failed to identify the user's location. I then added a new feature to display a "fingerprint" of each trip in the route trip listings so the user can tell apart variations on and brief diversions from the common route.

Degree awarded

Today I received an email notifying me that my official transcript from the University of Illinois has been sent to the University of Tennessee's graduate school as I requested a couple months ago. Since the transcript was set to be released after degrees appear on transcripts for that semester, that indicates that my degree has been fully awarded.

Left Champaign

This morning I packed up the few remaining things I needed for my stay in my apartment last night and quickly vacuumed a couple spots I missed yesterday. There was no caffeine left unpacked from last night, but I had a bag of cereal to eat from for breakfast. I then drove directly back to the Quad Cities. I've vacated my apartment and will not need to return to Champaign for anything.

Staying to clean apartment

I drove back from Indiana today and planned to continue all the way home after a stop to pack up everything from my apartment. But cleaning and packing took much longer than I expected and it started to rain intensely, so I'm staying here in my apartment tonight. I also spent some time trying in vain to get into buildings to return my keys. I'll load the last of my stuff into the car and leave tomorrow morning.