WGU Week 9

Spent the whole week studying but it was worth it. I can't remember if I mentioned it on Friday but I passed the assessment for IT Fundamentals II (AXV1) and this morning I passed IT Fundamentals III (TTV1). That completes the IT Fundamentals series. Started in on the speech class. Hope to have that on Operating Systems (really Windows operating systems) knocked out by the end of June. Mid-July at the absolute latest.

If I can do that I can knock out 4 more classes (for a total of 6 more) by terms end I'm sure. At that point I think it will be a programming sequence and the capstone project.

Just a little something to reflect my mood

Studying for the 2009 version of the A+ exam (curse you CompTIA) and was reminded of these classics

 

Warcraft Geeks Rejoice!

Adrianne Curry, model, cosplayer, WoW geek, is single again.

Five years after tying the knot, Christopher Knight and Adrianne Curry have decided to end their marriage, their manager, Phil Viardo, told Hollyscoop.com.

Review - Ubuntu 11.04

Chris over at Carnifex is boit of a Linux geek and an Ubuntu fan so when I needed a Linux distro for some testing I am doing (contracting at my old job) I decided "What the hey I'll give Ubuntu a try - I haven't used it since version 7".

Downloaded it - first issue, The .iso was bad.

Downloaded again from a different mirror worked OK this time.

Installation was easy and took about 10 minutes.

Rebooted and was ready to go, NOT!!!

USB keyboards apparently crash Ubuntu. Since I am testing usb devices which include a composite keyboard / mouse that makes it a bit of a no go.

From what I can see before the crash it looks pretty, so I will give it a plus there. Other than that it isn't going to cut it.

(Actually this has been an ongoing problem with Linux USB implementations for years but I was hoping that with all the hype about Ubuntu being desktop ready I would get lucky this time)

Anyway that's my sad story for this week.

WGU Week 8

The studying continues. I have the final assessment for IT Fundamentals II scheduled for Friday and IT Fundamentals III next Tuesday.

Talked to my adviser this morning and she has opened up the resources for my next two classes so I can get started on those. I am not worried about the Presentation course, I just have to give a speech. I am a little concerned about the Operating Systems course. It is based around Microsoft's Windows 7 exam and that is supposed to be a bear. (I wish they had a second operating systems class based on Linux. I am not a big Linux fan but it is one of the major server operating systems.)

2 more weeks left on my contract at Avocent. Kind of weird being back here. I want to just jump back in where I was but I am definitely an outsider now so that's out.

Presented with context or comment

So… Apparently no rapture today

The earthquakes were supposed to start at 6pm 21 May and travel around the globe with a new one striking at 6pm in each time zone.  I have been checking the news and no superquakes reported.  BUT… It could still happen - The King James Bible, the most common translation, was written when the Julian calendar was in use (at least in England) on that calendar it won’t be May 21st for 13 more days.  Of course I still haven’t quite wrapped my head around why God cares about time zones, but that’s for another day.

Sometimes I am so proud…

This isn’t one of them.  A friend of friends (I always thought he was a scumbag) has been accused of bilking some old woman out of about $250,000.  Way to go Billings.

WGU Week 7

I am on schedule to complete my next two classes.  Besides that I started back at Avocent yesterday.  It is just s short term temp position but it’s good being back.  Of course as soon as I start I get multiple calls from other positions.  I just told them that I was on a contract until the 1st week of June and two of the three were OK but one guy got a bit angry and wanted to know why I had submitted my resume.  All I could tell him was I had submitted my resume before I found this position but he was unhappy.

Not much else happening.  I saw an article about a global warming conference that I want to talk about but I haven’t had a chance yet.  Still popping BP pills and walking 5 or 6 times a week.  That’s about it.

Scheduled my next two exams

23rd and 24th of May.  It was then or mid-June.  Doesn’t matter I am ready for them so I will knock them out and my semester is complete s0 I can accelerate into the next terms classes.  Going to try and knock out my last Humanities class and my operating systems class next.  That is my ongoing plan at this point on technical class, one non technical.  I figure I should have most of the classes done (except programming and the capstone project by August)

Happy Star Wars Day

Oops I’m a couple days late, it was May 4th.  But honestly, I am a total geek and I have never heard of Star Wars Day so screw it you get it when I give it to you.

Anyway here are a couple Imperial propaganda posters for you to enjoy:

h/t AoS sidebar

WGU Week 6–Another Class Down

IT Fundamentals I completed (98%), aiming to finish II and III by the 23rd. 

European Terror Alert Levels

It may be old, but I just got it in e-mail this morning

The English are feeling the pinch in relation to recent terrorist threats and have therefore raised their security level from "Miffed" to "Peeved." Soon, though, security levels may be raised yet again to "Irritated" or even "A Bit Cross." The English have not been "A Bit Cross" since the blitz in 1940 when tea supplies nearly ran out. Terrorists have been re-categorized from "Tiresome" to "A Bloody Nuisance." The last time the British issued a "Bloody Nuisance" warning level was in 1588, when threatened by the Spanish Armada.

The Scots have raised their threat level from "Pissed Off" to "Let's get the Bastards." They don't have any other levels. This is the reason they have been used on the front line of the British army for the last 300 years.

The French government announced yesterday that it has raised its terror alert level from "Run" to "Hide." The only two higher levels in France are "Collaborate" and "Surrender." The rise was precipitated by a recent fire that destroyed France's white flag factory, effectively paralyzing the country's military capability.

Italy has increased the alert level from "Shout Loudly and Excitedly" to "Elaborate Military Posturing." Two more levels remain: "Ineffective Combat Operations" and "Change Sides."

The Germans have increased their alert state from "Disdainful Arrogance" to "Dress in Uniform and Sing Marching Songs." They also have two higher levels: "Invade a neighbor" and "Lose."

Belgians, on the other hand, are all on holiday as usual; the only threat they are worried about is NATO pulling out of Brussels.

The Spanish are all excited to see their new submarines ready to deploy. These beautifully designed subs have glass bottoms so the new Spanish navy can get a really good look at the old Spanish navy.

Australia , meanwhile, has raised its security level from "No worries" to "She'll be all right, Mate." Two more escalation levels remain: " Crikey! I think we'll need to cancel the barbie this weekend! " and " The barbie is canceled." So far no situation has ever warranted use of the final escalation level.

-- John Cleese - British writer, actor and tall person

Re-Reading the Classics–The Big U

Monty has been slacking in his reading a bit lately so I haven’t felt the same pressure to get one of these done, and have reverted back to my usual fare of picture books and See and Says (I always forget what the duckie says).  In any case this week I am going to talk about Neal Stephenson’s The Big U

“The Big U” was Stephenson’s first novel and therefore doesn’t have the same rambling scope of his later works, but he still manages to pack a lot into the (relatively) slim volume:  Physics geeks, D and D geeks, Val-u-Rite drinkers, hobos, Homicidal gun-weilding lesbians, communist infiltrators bent on destroying the American way of life, and a scathing indictment of the American higher education system.  All in less than 350 pages.  Not bad for a guy who is best known for a novel that was so long that it was broken into 3 novels which was later sub-divided into 8 novels.  And it’s timeless themes speak directly to the AoS lifestyle.  Bonus!!

As a first novel “The Big U” is obviously a bit rougher than Stpehenson’s later works, and he was dissatisfied with it because of that, but you also see the beginnings of his style.  Detailed, almost absurdly, complicated story lines.  Huge casts of characters who interact tangentially until the end of the story when suddenly everyone is pulled back together, and quick almost disappointing endings, where everything resolves so quickly that you feel almost cheated for all the effort involved getting there.  It is also in my opinion Stephenson’s best novel.  I think that is because the subject relates directly to something almost every American deals with at one point or another – college, and that gives it some authenticity that his later more polished works lack. 

Beyond the (trademark?) Stephenson style this novel also lays out some of the themes that appear over and over in his later novels.

• Societal decay or more accurately the decay of institutions
• The importance of linchpin individuals
• Bicameral mind theory (got this one from wikipedia)
• Universities and not just knowledge factories but preservers of civilization (in this case part of the story is about how the university is failing in that role.)

Whatever else you may say about him the guy is deep.  Actually if you look deep enough you can see some echoes of Heinlein and Pournelle in his themes.  I don’t think Stephenson would appreciate the comparison though, I get the idea that he tends toward the anarcho-liberal side of the political scale. (I just made that up, pretty good huh?)

In summary – If you are a geek read this book, if you hate college and love long complicated story lines read this book.  Actually just read the book, it is the first work of someone who will be noted as one of this generations most important writers.

WGU Week 5 - Osama bin Ladin is dead

Announced last night.  I know it doesn’t really have anything to do with school but it’s worth mentioning. 

On the school front – No new info really just plugging away at classes.  Should here something about a short contract with Avocent pretty quickly and hopefully from google this week.