BIGmog's BIGblog

I missed all of September blogging so it's time once again to condense it all down into one post.

Fall semester is underway and it's going well. While the material is always engaging, the way it is taught is inconsistent with each instructor. This semester I'm taking two class each with a very different instructor. One is difficult to reach with the class all taught through readings and youtube videos. The other is more hands on and use live WebEx sessions to engage with the class. What is startling is just how many questions students have related to logistics of the class.

For example, questions about due dates, how to turn in assignments, which file format to use, which program or technology to use, and what the requirements are. I'm certain that both of these courses have been taught a number of times already and this isn't the first time these types of questions have been asked. Both instructors seem a bit frustrated by these questions so why aren't they answered in a FAQ or the syllabus already?

Another example: The coursework is all online including quizzes. Only one professor has used the technology to make his or her job simpler. If a quiz is well written and uses multiple choice, then it is graded automatically as soon as the quiz is finished. Still, some professor write quizzes with some write in answers. The multiple choices answers are graded but then someone (the TA) has to manually grade every quiz.

As much as I dislike Java, the teacher was excellent and used lots of great technology to review code and automatically give feedback on error or other missing requirements. That was a well designed course because of that.

Well, what good does writing all this here do? I give this same to the program directors but little is done about it. They promise to use my input to improve the classes but it's too late for me and I'll never know if they really do either. And this is the #2 ranked online Masters of IT program. I can only image how bad others must be.

I ranted a bit there so I'll save the good stuff for the next post. It won't take a month I promise.

Denver Comic Con is a geek convention that attempts to replicate the main comic con in San Diego and it seems to be okay at this (I've never been to SDCC so I can't speak with much authority). I usually attend DCC every other year and it improves each time I go. This year I was lured by one of the guests of honor: "Weird Al" Yankovic.

At the first Al concert I attended 20 years ago, I bought a headshot photo hoping to get it signed. There would be no autographs that day however but I kept that photo knowing that eventually I would have it signed. DCC was my chance.

It was an interesting and expensive experience. Getting a professional photo taken with Al was $70 but I figured that I'd also be able to get an autograph so I paid (cash only). I wasn't the only one. The line for photos was hundreds of people long. I was prepared to wait with my Nintendo 3DS in hand.

However, the photo process is a well-oiled machine and the line moved in record speed. To keep it moving, there are no autographs and almost no interaction with Al. My guess is that he's instructed not to make small talk, chit-chat or even utter a single word. I got to shake hands and he gave me a peace sign. It's a nice photo but I was a bit disappointed that I didn't get at least a minute to meet Al. I suspect this isn't how Al prefers to meet fans but I gather that the system is out of his control.

There was another chance however. The line for photos was cleared in less than an hour. After, Al moves to his autograph area where you can pay (again). I hesitated to spend even more but I'd waited 20 years for such an opportunity. So I forked over another $40 to have him sign my headshot from that first concert.

Curiously this line was completely empty. I was the only one there (maybe because I had come later) but it was a bit strange meeting Al without a crowd of fans around me. As I approached, we was checking his smart phone thus proving that celebrities are not so different.

I showed him the headshot and told him the story of how I'd been saving it for 20 years. He was pleased and pleasant enough. I could have chatted him up but I didn't. I got my autograph and simply walked away smiling. In hindsight I wish I would have said something more but what more would I say? "I really like your work." or "I'm a big fan."? Yeah. No kidding?

So I have a nice memory of me not seizing the moment to make a fool of myself. I want to believe that Al likes fans like me best. The ones that happily pay a premium and then quickly leave so that he can get back to checking his phone.

My wardrobe is separated into a winter set and a summer set. Twice a year, I swap one for the other. Memorial Day being the official start to summer is a good time for the change. It's a bit like getting all new clothes and helps to keep me from buying new things.

Also part of the cycle is to cull some of the clothes that I didn't wear as much the previous season. This offsets the purchase limiting that I just mentioned however as I can then justify spending to fill the gaps. Ah well.

I've just finished my first semester as a graduate student at Virginia Tech. Some thoughts so far:

The school itself is way big but online students are just a small part of the student population. They attempt to treat both types of students equally which can backfire.

A student ID can only be issued on the campus and they won't mail it so I have no easy means of proving that I'm a student. Although I do get a .edu email address which is occasionally useful for discounts.

Once or twice I got an email inviting me to attend an event that was only local on campus. I notified that the organizer that such emails made me feel excluded and that they shouldn't email remote students with such events.

The top moron award goes to the IT help desk that tried to call me at 6am for input on a ticket that I had submit. They assume that everyone must be on Eastern time despite my phone number clearly being from a Colorado area code. I raised hell on this mistake and I'm not done either.

I took two courses: Fundamentals of Computer Science and E-commerce.

The computer science course was super interesting and I challenged me to learn a lot about how computers work. The instructor, while certainly knowledgeable, struggled in using technology like WebEx for her lectures. She would have benefited from some capable teacher's assistants.

TA's are the real work horses in academia. In the other class, the instructor only did the first meeting and they left all the rest to his TA. Now, this TA was excellent but why isn't the instructor more involved? I'll raise this question with my advisor.

That course wasn't nearly as interesting perhaps because I've been a web developer in a previous career. The technical aspects of running an e-commerce site were reduced to configuring a hosted WordPress. Yawn. Sure WordPress is super popular and could be worth knowing but not very challenging.

Now I'm nervously awaiting my final grades. In order to have my tuition reimbursed by work, I need a 3.0 or higher. I kept up on the homework and projects throughout the semester so I'm hoping that will offset my poor scores in the final exams.

After nearly 14 years at LiveJournal, I've transported to DreamWidth.

LJ is a shell of what it used to be. Most of my friends have abandoned it over the years so the community aspect is lost. More accurately, nobody blogs anymore.

Even my own entries have slowed lately but I still try to post regularly.

The tipping point was LJ's full transition to Russia. The servers have been moved and the terms of service adjusted for the worse.

In truth, I would have preferred to switch to Blogger or Wordpress but neither has a reliable method of migrating from LiveJournal.

So, I'll settle in here for a while at least. See how it goes.

My first semester as a grad student is underway. Getting a good start is important to me so I'm being diligent about the reading, writing and other assignments. I suppose you should expect a reduction in blog posts as a result.

2016 was a difficult year for many but in my case it was quite good. I'll forgive you if you decide to skip my happy memories. Here are the highlights.

Resolution to cut back on sugar: mild success. I lapsed into my typical habits but not until summer time.

Places traveled: Las Vegas, Tokyo, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands

Shows attended: AC/DC, Metric, Weezer & Panic at the Disco, Rob Thomas & Counting Crows, The Legend of Zelda Symphonic, Huey Lewis & The Bangals & Kool and the Gang, Christopher Tidus, Nick Thune, Dave Coulier.

Accomplishments: Got a raise & a promotion (with another raise), AWS sysadmin certified, took a community college programming course and was accepted in grad school.

Ahead of my advanced education, I took a level 100 course in programming at the local community college. Fortunately, the language taught was python and not java. I enjoyed the class and did well enough to get an A. Programming is interesting and fun as a hobby. Coding as a profession however I cannot suffer.

The community college adviser called me and ask why I hadn't yet enrolled for any spring courses. Of course I have. Just not there. I've been accepted to Virginia Tech and start an online graduate program in the spring.

That leaves just a few weeks to finish up any leisure reading for the next 2+ years. After that, I expect to have very little social life. Not much of a loss to me.