402accessdenied

Not that the post title has (much) to do with this post. And not that this post is the RL (real life for those of you that think that being online is just, you know, an activity) update that (maybe) you’re waiting for. Basically more random thoughts; and fairly brief, ’cause, you know, I’ve got stuff to do.

Technology rants (and like all rants, I’m fully aware of the fact that I don’t know everything about the topics, and I’m aware that my complaining isn’t going to make a bit of difference, and that I should actually contribute something before I complain):

AFS sucks. Yeah, it’s a distributed file system. I’m sure it has it’s benefits (and I’ll admit to being woefully ignorant of what they are). What I do know is that (at least here at UM), it’s slow, buggy, frequently causes (Windows) machines to freeze for ~30sec (and macs to occasionally kernel panic). The biggest irritation is when your friend saves a file that you’re both working on, and you try to copy it from his home space, only to discover, lo and behold, it’s the same it was before he saved it. It seems there’s some bizzare caching behavior there, and it’s ridiculous. Please, I’d rather that all my files be on some Windows file server. At least there save means, you know, save.

Linux. I like linux. I enjoy tinkering with linux. I will even use it for work if I have to. But there are some serious shortcomings. Just because I know how to reconfigure my xorg.conf file by hand to get my graphics card working (so I can actually have a GUI), doesn’t mean I should ever have to.

Battery life. And not just my iPod’s. My laptop’s, my iPod shuffle’s, my cell phone’s (have to charge it every night, and even then it sometimes dies during the day). The single most important resource in the campus libraries and commons areas? Not books, computers, or anything else you’d expect students to need. No, power outlets are the most important thing to find. And the University still hasn’t figured this out. Just try to find a table in the undergrad library that’s within cord length of an outlet. If it’s after 8pm, don’t even try.

I have more (even some non-technology related ones), but I also have stuff to do. And since I don’t get good grades by sitting here rambling, I’m out.

(Oh yeah, the title tie in: If you haven’t heard the album “Phenomenon” by Thousand Foot Krutch, you should. Seriously, still my favorite cd, and I’ve heard it about 1000 times [probably exagerated, as usual])

100000000000000000 rows in set (2000000000.00 seconds)
aka, the world is coming to an end.

Anyway, for those of you that don’t speak SQL (you mean there are people that don’t?!), this basically means that my grade in all of my classes will be determined on 12/13. I have papers and documentation to write, projects to program, build, and debug, presentations to prefore and give, exams to study for, yadayadayada. It’s going to be a fun week. I’ve already resigned myself to not sleeping much, but I suppose that’s par for the course this time of year. I’m just glad I’m not taking EECS 470 this semester; watching my friends go through the pain is bad enough. One of them is literally planning on sleeping in the “sexy” lab on the 4th floor of the EECS building (I’m not sure how it got that name, but I have a feeling it’s going to stick.)

I realize it’s been over a month since I posted here. I realize that not only haven’t I updated all the code like I want to, but I haven’t done anything. As one of my friends admonished me, “Just write SOMETHING!”, so here it is. (In all honesty, I’m just waiting for my iPod shuffle to finish downloading some new songs for the work marathon tonight. I would just use my regular iPod, but as any of my friends, co-workers, and random associates can tell you, the battery is totally dead (trust me, they’re sick of hearing me complain about it). The latest awesomeness is how bad the battery is. Last night I had it plugged into the wall all night. This morning, it played for almost 10 seconds before it shut itself off.)

So yeah, the plan for the next week is: work, maybe sleep, and suck down caffeine like nobody’s business. Picture Abby from NCIS (CBS, good show, watch it). If I could mainline caffeine, I think I would. However, since injecting caffeine directly into my bloodstream would probably cause a heartattack, and since my goal is to survive this year so I can get a real job, I think I’ll refrain.

iPod’s done, so I’m out. Maybe I’ll eventually fill in the details on what exactly has been going on lately (nothing too exciting I’m afraid).