Rehash of my first day of class:

First hour is Visual Basic. As I expected, it’s in a computer lab with Windows XP machines running on a server hidden somewhere else.  Several programs were on them including Visual Studio 2008, Microsoft Office, Peach Tree accounting software(for the accounting class I presume) and a couple other high end programs I don’t recall.

There were only about 10 or so students in the Visual Basic class, so I was pretty happy about that. I don’t like big classes too much.

My second class is English Composition. Having  a larger enrollment, with about 30 students, it wasn’t nearly as quiet as the Computer Lab. I did meet up with a couple people I went to elementary school with, so it broke the ice a little more smoothly. The book they gave us this year, The Longman Reader VII is nearly brand new for this year and is looking to be a pretty exciting class, with lots of room for creative, open ended writing assignments.

Third class of the day is American History. The class size is about the same as English Comp and I knew a couple people in this class as well.  Interestingly enough, the professor has taught at Seminole State University, St. Gregory’s University and The University of Central Oklahoma (UCO). The class only covers up to 1877, so I’m going to assume that it will be a very thorough class if it’s broken up into multiple semesters and timelines.

The final class of the day is Political Science. The class size is about the same as the other two, and by now I had adjusted to the idea of being in a room with total strangers for 90 minutes at a time. The Professor is a retired cheif of police who has a masters in Political Science, but who also teaches at another university teaching history. His lecture on the policical spectrum was very thought provoking. Looks to be an exciting year.

Tips for survival.

1. Keep a schedule written on an index card.

It’s important to know where your next class is going to be, especially when you only have fifteen minutes to get from one side of campus to another. This includes the time it takes to go to the bathroom since you probably forgot to before your first class.  Your first day often leaves you unprepared for this mad rush, so it’s a good idea to include the building and room number. Even if you don’t know, you can always ask someone. ie

ENGLISH 1114 SMITH SS0245

2. Bring a snack.

You never know when the munchies will strike, so it’s always a good idea to have something on hand just in case. Most professors won’t let you eat in class, so you’ll have to ‘run to the bathroom’ to escape long enough to get through the class without having your stomach disrupting the class.

3. Write it down.

Note taking is a no-brainer. Most classes are 40% textbook and 60% lecture. You don’t want to be the loser who has to copy someone elses notes later and be lost because they didn’t write them down the way you would have.  You’re usually safe not bringing all your supplies and books the first day, but at least bring one notebook to write everything down in as far as assignments, important policies, dates, etc. You may even sit next to someone cute and want to ask her out but don’t have a way to write it down. Writing numbers on your hand is best left to the highschoolers. Plus with most colleges having an internal email system for each class, you can still get your move in there without having to look like a teenage Mcgyver.

4. Dress Appropriately

Since most classes start in mid august, it’s going to be really hot to have to walk around outside as it is, especially since some of your classes are across campus from each other. Dress cool, because you don’t want to be sweaty when you make your first impression with your fellow peers and professor.

If you take this simple advice, you’ll be on your way to a successful college career in no time!

“Are you kidding me?” I ask myself as I turn off the TV. “Some nerve people have” I say to myself as I’m listening to people place God in every conversation.

I think of it this way. I have never been a great person, or anything close to worthy of the title of “Christian.” In fact, I don’t think anyone really is. It means “Little Christ after all.

Like John Lennon said, “We all have a little Jesus and a little Hitler in us.”
Everyone has the ability to be good, but not everyone has the desire.
“The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” my mother might remind me, quoting Jesus in the garden of Gesemini. He was not so much pissed at his disciples for falling asleep while they were supposed to be praying and keeping watch for the Roman guards as he was simply pointing out the obvious fact that the human spirit doesn’t allow for perfection. Perhaps we all chase after it in one way or another, but then again, many of us don’t. We’re the Couch Potato Generation after all.

I am reminded of being a kid again. It was Christmas and my grandparents were down for the holidays. It seemed like after I got my toys, I kinda tuned out everyone else to go play. When my grandparents went to leave, they went to hug me and tell me good bye and everything but my 8 year old mind just wanted to go play with my toys. “Are you too busy for me?” my grandma asks, in a tone which makes me wonder today if she was seriously offended or if it was just to make my mom laugh.

Sometimes I wonder if that is how we are with God. We beg and plead for him to give us our stuff, our money, our job promotions, the boy or girl of our dreams, and when we get the toys ie: blessings, we blow God off until next Christmas in a sense.

What do we ever do for God to deserve the things we ask for? I had this conclusion today. We’ll go months without talking to God and then we’ll see our shiny toy and ask for it, as if he owes it to us.

In the movie Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Charlie meets a girl who’s father is rich beyond belief. This girl is the biggest brat you’ll ever meet; a spoiled brat who has no regard or care for the needs of others. This same girl treats her father like a genie and has no care or respect for him. You look at this girl, and ask yourself “Where does this girl get off, asking her dad for all these things? She doesn’t deserve the dirt on the floor.”

But this same selfish person makes up each of us on some level. We only talk to God when it’s convenient and that generally comprises of praying for a promotion or begging for mercy when you’re having chest pains.

But when a visit to the doctor tells you that it was just indigestion, you go back to sitting in your comfortable little spoiled life and put God back in the box and go about your business.

Maybe next time I hear the phrase “God Bless America, I’ll remember that we should be saying “America, bless God.”

2008 Macbook

This is a considerable upgrade from my current Powebook G4,with the following specs

• 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 3MB on-chip shared L2 cache running 1:1 with processor speed
• 1066MHz frontside bus
• 2GB (two 1GB SO-DIMMs) of 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM; two SO-DIMM slots support up to 4GB
• NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics processor with 256MB of DDR3 SDRAM shared with main memory³
• Extended desktop and video mirroring: Simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display and up to 2560 by 1600 pixels on an external display, both at millions of colors
• Built-in iSight camera

2.0GHz MacBook

• 160GB 5400-rpm Serial ATA hard disk drive
• Optional 250GB or 320GB 5400-rpm hard drive or 128GB solid-state drive

I needed a wireless network solution for my apartment, since I work from home and often use bandwidth-hogging programs like Transmission.app and Azerus from time to time. I needed to be able to work from any room in the house, so I opted for a medium grade wireless router. It’s a Linksys WRT54G2 and has four ethernet ports and wifi ability.

My mac doesn’t support the “Wifi Protected” setup offered by the firmware, so it was manual all the way, but I used a basic security method to protect my equiptment.

My room mate has the Xbox 360 with a wireless adapter for Xbox live, and an eeePC. I just have my Powerbook, and no other wifi peripherals.

I did the easy security first, by setting the mac address table to only allow the three devices I mentioned to access the network. Then I went a step further with 24-bit WEP security.

I was able to set the keys up with the 360 with no problems. Took all of ten minutes to set up all three devices on a secured and invisible network.

No nosy neighbors for me!

Now that Spitzers own creation has slapped him in the face, his political career is careening on the edge of a cliff, so to speak. His political agenda has always included smearing those he would label as being corrupted. Well known for his attitude of cleanliness and his starched white shirts, Spitzer prided himself in his “spotless” appearance that he thought would carry over to his politics. His habit of smearing has turned around and bit him in the butt, as he is no doubt viewed as a hypocrite by many.

compained “I can’t breath” and was heard to say “Don’t let me die”. The agitated passengers asked the flight attendant why she wasn’t doing

anything.

When the flight attendant finally called the cockpit and asked what the procedure was, it was too late. Two nurses and a doctor who were

aboard attempted to administer oxygen through a tank which had no oxygen in it. The second tank also failed. The defibrillator also failed.

According the the medical experts, her cause of death was natural causes. The flight attendants laid her body on the floor of the first class and covered her with a blanket, as not to disturb the other passengers.

This upsets me greatly. Since when is it a choice, whether or not to save someone’s life? Why does it take more than one request for a flight attendant to take initiative to administer oxygen? Even if the tanks were empty, there is emergency oxygen aboard which can be applied.

The fact that the medical oxygen and the defibrillator were malfunctioning is only half the problem. The procedure is wrong. You don’t simply deny a passenger oxygen, simply because you don’t know what it is. Last time I checked, there is a phone to ask the pilot what to do. Frankly, the flight attendant should have administered CPR and done everything in her power to save the woman’s life. I don’t recall any procedure anywhere prohibiting saving a life.

I’m boycotting American Airlines until they make a public apology and admit that they are running a bureaucracy, and are not paying attention to the customer needs.

Jet Blue Part Duex anyone?

I had to scour google for a fix, and I finally found an Apple technical note.

Here’s my adaptation with screenshots:

Here’s an easy fix that gives you some practice in the Terminal:
Open Terminal via Spotlight and remove the “Divxnetworks.prev” file:

1. Open Spotlight
2. Search on Terminal



3. Open the Terminal application itself via the Spotlight window
4. Type this command on a single line, followed by Return:

sudo rm  /Library/Application\ Support/Divxnetworks.prev

1. If the steps above do not resolve the issue, you can try this command in Terminal, followed by Return:

sudo rm -rf /Library/Application\ Support/DivXNetworks

Don’t forget to reboot!

The loss of one life is no more significant than the loss of any other, except in how it affects us. But I guess it affects everyone in some way, depending on the situation.

That being said, my thoughts and prayers go out to Heath Ledger’s family and loved ones. I wish I had something less cliche to say about him, but here goes; He was an artist, and loved life. His hopes and dreams were simply human. He believed in being a person, and he saw past the facade of the celebrity lifestyle.

It’s important to breathe every now and then. To metaphorically stop and smell the roses. Life is a very precious thing. And I think more of us need to treasure it.

This is coming from a troubled teens counselor who has seen more pain through other people than any person should have bestowed upon them.
I have no speculations as to how Mr. Ledger died, but I will continue to respect the life he lived and the fact that he lived it as a person with hopes, dreams, and aspirations, rather than simply another celebrity.
I think we all have our own demons, and they have an easier time getting the upper hand in our lives when we don’t seek help and love from other people.

That’s it I guess.

Peace be with you all.

-Dave