September 2003

Lessons Learned

University of Phoenix requires us to write a summary of what we've learned at the end of each class. Here's one of mine.

(To the tune of "Taps.")

Class is done...
Gone the fun...
Lessons learned, credits earned, programs run...
Tech is cool, Team C rules...
'Till the next one....


Heheh, couldn't resist.

This class I learned several things which I will dispense while thinking of the "Sunscreen" song that was popular several years ago.

-=-
Sometimes you learn something from a tutorial, other times you can teach the tutor a thing or two.

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Sometimes you should provide the students with a webquest, other times you should force them to find relevant sites on their own.

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Sometimes you feel like a nut, other times you feel like a bolt. o_O

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Sometimes administrators will buy you mobile labs that nobody uses, other times they will ignore your pleas for a budget that buys more than freeware.

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Sometimes your team has trouble finding the time to get online, other times a hurricane takes out your power lines while you sit at home with nothing to do.

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Sometimes you feel like you're overwhelmed with class work. Other times you take a 2nd class at the same time and find out you weren't overworked ... until now.

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Sometimes you hit triple the word count and have to cut out all the good parts, other times you say everything twice and hit a whopping 196 words.

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Sometimes you get hit by a virus. Other times your teammates get hit so you still can't collaborate.

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Sometimes you finish your project a day early (Jamal...), other times you remember you HAVE a project at 11:00pm on the night it's due.

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Sometimes your wife won't let you play video games until your project's done. Other times she distracts you by turning the channel to the Law & Order season premiere.

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Sometimes you have to write a lesson plan you can use in class (I start it tomorrow), other times it's so far removed from your subject you'd have to go back to college to know how to teach it.

This Sucks!

My brain hurts!

Ok, I've been having headaches for several months now. These headaches usually start in my eyes or end up there, but my prescription hasn't changed enough for my glasses to be the cause. At this point I've seen my doctor, an optometrist, and my doctor again. Now I need to make an appointment to see an ophthalmologist, which is I guess an eye doctor on steroids. My doctor seems to think that it might be ocular hypertension , which worries me since glaucoma's hereditary in my family and OH can increase your risk of developing it.

If it's not that, I might have to see a neurologist. I can't decide which is worse.

Web Browsing Tips & Tricks

The following is a little report I had to do on a tutorial I found. I ended up turning it into a tutorial of my own. ^_^;;

I took the "How to use Internet Explorer 5.0" tutorial found at http://pd.l2l.org/lrn_browser.html. Being a self proclaimed technophile I already was familiar with the program, but I have had several revelations concerning Explorer that might seem interesting.

Toolbar: Windows Vs. Macintosh
There are noticeable differences between the Mac and Windows versions when it comes to some of the aesthetics, and when it comes to the toolbar. So far as the toolbar is concerned, the Windows version includes some features that the Mac version does not, and vice versa. I can edit HTML with the windows version, but I can access the Mac only program known as Sherlock (A program that searches multiple search engines at once) in the Mac version. The Mac version also allows configuration of the toolbar so tools you don't use don't clutter up the screen. If the Windows version allows this to, it was not obvious in the tutorial.

Address Bar: Just say "NO" to typing.
Something that I know the Win and Mac versions both include is "Auto Complete." For example, if I want to to go to http://www.google.com, all I have to do is type "google" in the address bar. Since most web sites begin with http:// and end with .com, Explorer will put that in for you by default.

Change the Homepage: Lassie, come home!
If you can create a web page, whether it's with raw code or saving as HTML in MS Word, you can make a portal page. Simply put all your favorite links on the page and save it on your hard drive, then set it as your homepage. When you next open an Explorer window, all your favorite links are there! The convenience of a Favorites bar with a LOT more space, especially if you use tables for your portal.

Gaia

A web site that threatens to suck up all of my free time.

Gaia may be in alpha testing still, but it's still just plain cool. You can post art, hang out on the forums, or check their copious amount of links. The whole time you earn "gold" for the cute little avatar that you've customized. The gold can be exchanged for items of clothing for your avatar. Sound girly? Not really, especially when you end up patterning your avatar after some of your favorite anime characters. The whole site is really for anime otaku, but normal people might like it too.

http://www.go-gaia.com/

Checkmate

College student comes to terms with having loved and lost.

English 270, M 6:00
Fall '98
Final Short Story
Checkmate


"You want me to do what?"

"C'mon, it'll be good for you - for both of you."

"I seriously doubt that."

Amos finished off his soda and flipped over the check. After some over-simplified math he took out $7 to pay for his share of the food and cover the tip. Codie glanced at the slip of paper and handed Amos her share of the bill. With that, they both got up and headed towards the register.

"You're way too pessimistic, you know."

"I like to think it's more like realistic. Based on previous evidence..."

"...You 'have no faith that you'll ever find someone to spend the rest of your life with.' I know, I know - you've told me that like a thousand times already."

As the words were spoken, a quote popped unbidden into Amos's head:

That's a nice little speech you've got there - run through it a few more times and you might have it rehearsed to the point that nobody knows your acting.

What annoyed him was that they were his own words. He'd written them in one of his stories not a year earlier.

Amos hung his head as he walked out the door of the diner, a sheepish grin on his face.

"Sorry... but I still don't want to go on a date with her, even if she's as nice as you say she is." All irony aside, he was far too stubborn to give in once he set his mind down one path.

"Grr! You are so depressing sometimes!"

"And you think she'll have a good time on a date with someone as depressing as me?"

Codie threw a half-hearted punch at Amos, and it glanced off his shoulder. The flinch he gave was as much an act as the punch had been.

"You don't have to be depressing, you know. You can be a very... 'spiffy' person when you want to be."

They both chuckled at the inside joke. "Spiffy" was a word that Amos had used so often since his freshman year that among his friends it had even become his nickname.

-=-=-=-

On their way back to the dorms their conversation turned to more comfortable conversation, such as computers, Japanese animation, and the writing club of which they were both founding members. It wasn't until they got to where Codie had parked her car that she brought up the subject again.

"Look, I'm not saying you should marry her - just go on a date with her. One date. You and Demi are so much alike, you might actually enjoy yourself for a change."

"Codie..."

"Just promise me you'll think about it, okay?" Amos remained silent and examined an empty beer can someone had left sitting in the middle of the lot.. "Okay?"

"Okay... I promise I'll think about it."

"Okeedoke! I'll see you later then. Bye."

"Fare thee well." That was another running gag of sorts. Amos only said "Fare thee well" because he thought it made him sound eloquent - a sharp contrast to the wrinkled, shabby, paint-stained clothing he preferred to wear.

They hugged goodbye, and then Codie got in her car and drove off to her apartment. Amos shivered against the cold in spite of his coat and hurried back to his nice warm dorm room to get some sleep. He had an early class the next morning.

-=-=-=-

That's a nice little speech you've got there...

"Yeah it is, isn't it?"

Despite how tired he was, Amos couldn't get his mind off of this whole blind date business. He knew his current attitude made most of his friends disappointed in him, but he really didn't see a better alternative.

"If you're tired of getting burned, stop getting so close to the fire."

...run through it a few more times and you might have it rehearsed to the point that nobody knows your acting.

"It never works out. Either nothing happens or I fall for her while she falls for someone else and lives happily ever after."

...run through it a few more times...

Amos recalled a chess game he'd seen his roommate playing once. For lack of something better to do, he'd decided to adopt two different strategies and play himself. At the point when Amos walked in, both sides were mirror images of each other. Neither side had the upper hand. Or both did. It depended on how you looked at it.

His roommate had started out with two plans of attack, but over time they'd come together to be the same thing - only for different sides.

That game was never finished. After Amos showed up, the pieces were put away and they both left to go grab something to eat. It was too bad, though. Amos would have liked to see which side came out on top. The moves could only mirror each other for so long - once one side called "check," the symmetry would be broken.

One side had to win.

Sure there could be a draw, but there was a winner and a looser in that, too. It was the last resort of the player who knew there was no other option but to loose. One could, in a draw, achieve the small victory of not loosing. "You can't beat me if the game goes on forever."

But even then it's known who should have lost, who should have won. All the loser gained was the ability to not give the winner satisfaction.

The game needed to play itself out. Amos couldn't simply "think about it" forever.

A quick glance at the clock showed that it was almost one in the morning. Codie would be home by now.

"Checkmate."

Amos picked up the phone and dialed.

"Hello, Codie...?"

---

Commentary on Checkmate

Throughout the course of this semester I've become rather annoyed by the sheer number of stories with depressing endings. Checkmate is in part an attack on the premise that all short works of fiction that portray the real world must leave off at a depressing moment. To show this, I ended the story at a scene where one can be optimistic as to how it continues.

I didn't want to carve what is intended to happen in stone, however. "And they lived happily ever after" is far too cliché for my tastes. Besides: as an artist, I've come to take a post-modern view of my art works. One of the recurring traits in post-modernism is a lack of closure. The circle is almost drawn, but is left instead as an almost-closed "C," with enough room left for a little ambiguity.

On another note, all the names in this story tell something about the characters. Amos means "bearer of a burden," Codie means "helpful," and Demi is short for Demona, which means "girl of sadness." Codie's statement that Amos and Demi are alike also implies that their names' meanings can be juxtaposed.

There is, of course, much more symbolism thrown in this story, but a one-page commentary can only talk about so much. Almost every action, every included detail, either puts forward a helpful detail or supports a previously mentioned stance.

© 1998 Divine Aesthetics.