ITT Tech and Dell Woes: The story of a man who just wants to get his schoolwork done

Last month, I started classes at ITT Tech. I'm not going to sit here and claim it's because they are the best school or because I like the way they do things or any of that nonsense. I did it because they offered me a scholarship and financial aid.

Upon signing up, we were each given a laptop. A Dell Inspiron 15, to be precise. Now, anyone who knows me knows that I despise Dell computers. They are difficult to fix, impossible to upgrade, and are usually more expensive for less computer. The one upside was that the box said "Windows 8" which, for reasons I will not list here, I love. Maybe I'll do a write-up on all the reasons I love Windows 8 later. Aside from Windows 8, the specs leave a lot to be desired. 1.4 GHz dual core Celeron processors, 4GB DDR2 RAM, and Intel Integrated graphics. But, hey, at least it's (technically) 64-bit! All for the low, low price of $500!

Suffice it to say that I was disappointed when I discovered that they had re-imaged all of the laptops they handed out with one of two images: one with a working Windows 7 Enterprise license and Office 2013, and one with a non-working Windows 7 Enterprise license with Office 2010. Notice, that is Windows 7, not Windows 8. Bear in mind, we have to pay for these computers out of our own pockets (or our financial aid, which we eventually have to pay for). So, we're getting a computer that is worth (at most) $350 when compared to laptops with similar specs. We're getting an older version of Windows. And many of us couldn't even use the computers in any meaningful way after the first 21 days, because our licenses are invalid.

Fortunately for me, and for any other student who knows how to install a new operating system on their computer, Microsoft gives away a lot of free software to students, and even more to students at specific schools. So, I was able to download Windows 8.1 from Dreamspark (if you are a student or teacher, Google "Dreamspark" and start downloading your free software) and pop it onto a USB drive to install alongside the Ubuntu partition I had.

Unfortunately for me, Windows 8 does not recognize the wireless networking card in this computer. So, I decided to try to find a driver from Dell. That didn't work. And, on top of that, Windows 8 nuked GRUB, so now I cannot access my Ubuntu partition to get at the files I backed up from the old Windows installation. I have lost roughly a month of schoolwork along with multiple files I was using in other projects. "Why didn't you back them up?" you ask. I did. Onto the Ubuntu partition. The one that Windows can't access and that I can't get to using the Windows boot selector (It's kind of like GRUB but only shows windows operating systems).

So seriously, screw you, Dell, for using shitty hardware and software that doesn't work, and screw you, ITT Tech, for deciding to use the same computer image on thousands of computers. As a result of mind-boggling incompetence, I have a $500 (plus $150 or whatever Windows 8 Professional costs normally if you want to include that) desktop computer with specs that are barely better than my Chromebook's, and I've lost a month of hard work.

I want a refund.

28 Days

I have 28 days until I go for my interview in San Francisco. As the day approaches, I find myself filled with dread. Dread that I might be leaving a comfortable life to be on my own, completely separated from any kind of safety net. Dread that I will be turned down for the job, and have to come back and stay with my parents even longer. Dread that, if I do go, I am giving up opportunities that I only have in this area. And dread that maybe I won't be as happy as I thought I would be in San Francisco.

As time has marched ever onward, both too quickly and not quickly enough, I have been further honing my craft. I've been working on a cheap app that will hopefully put some food on the table when I publish it. It's nothing fancy, just another piece of bloatware that will hopefully cause at least a few people to smile and chuck a dollar at me. I have also been working on plans for a non-profit makerspace, but is future is fuzzy at best.

Don't get me wrong. I know exactly what I want it to be. The problem is in funding and general interest. There are a few maker/hackerspaces in the area, but none of them is particularly successful. They have their dedicated member bases, but they are sort of inaccessible to the public, even if they claim to be totally open. I already have a building picked out, and, better yet, it's an old abandoned historical building that a non-profit is currently trying to find a use for! Not only does it have a simply massive amount of space, it's easy to find and get to, and i near a bunch of fairly well-populated areas. The only downside is that the non-profit that currently has control over it is very. . .artsy.

I have nothing against artists, or against artistic non-profits. But they have been reticent in the past to allow any kind of engineering or scientific work to be done, due to either their worry that their mission statement (and therefore their non-profit status) would be in jeopardy, or an inherent dislike of STEM subjects. I have bad experiences with art programs taking money and resources from science programs due to biased administration in every school and college I have ever attended. I hardly think the real world will be any different.

But, well, this could all be a moot point in 28 days. I might not even be here anymore. And, again, that scares me. This is a good idea, and would be a great service to this community, as well as the greater community of science and engineering (and even art!). If I think that I can make a bigger difference here, with this makerspace, wouldn't I be honor bound to turn down the job in San Francisco? Sure, out there I'd be doing a job that I kind of enjoy, for a company that I love. But if I stay here, I have the chance at doing something that I simply love, to the benefit of possibly thousands of students, engineers, teachers and the community as a whole. Don't I owe it to the place that has been my home for going on 15 years to give something back?

I don't know.

I'm doing a Nuzlocke Challenge!

For those of you who don't know what the challenge entails, check it out here. To start, I used random.org to pick my starter. It showed up as 1, as pictured below. More on this later.

I might do a few other randomly-chosen things as the game progresses, like which fossil to pick. Anyway, on to the particulars.

I have chosen LeafGreen to do the challenge. Part of the reason is that I actually own LeafGreen, so I am legally allowed to use the ROM on my phone. There will be no legal issues. The other, more important reason is that LeafGreen has Vulpix. Here's hoping I get one.

Okay, now that that's all established, on to the game! As I mentioned before, I rolled a 1 at random.org, which means my starter will be Bulbasaur! I will be using random nicknames for all of my Pokémon, as generate by this site. I have no idea how good this site is, it was just the first one to pop up when I searched for "name generator for games".  Unfortunately, t generates a table of 119 names, not a single name. So, I'll look for random numbers 1-7 for the columns and 1-17 for the rows. I need to see if random.org has an easy-to-use API. But that's just a tangent. The results were 6, 4. Woo!

Now, looking at the list of names, the choice is "Widl". Hrm. I suppose that's apt enough. Widl the Bulbasaur. Time to fight Douche, my rival. Why yes, I am 12 years old, apparently. And, as it turns out, you can actually lose the first battle. I have never done that before. Since Professor Oak is willing to pay my "fee", and Widl isn't actually feinted, we're just going to ignore that loss.

After that humiliating defeat, I think it's time to sign off. Check in tomorrow for another update!

How I am going to make my battery pack for my new Raspberry Pi

I've seen a few forum posts about battery packs.

Above is pictured the "case". I intend to do some dremel work and a lot of sanding, but the dimensions fit almost perfectly, and it (most importantly) has a nice bay at the bottom for batteries.

So, my plan of attack is pretty simple. I have some electronics experience, though I will admit it was mostly along the lines of crimping ethernet cables and plugging my cables in the right places when I build computers.

• Find an extra USB charger lying around. Take it apart.
• Hook up a power switch to the battery bay's wires.
• Hook up the battery bay (via the power switch) to the transformer in the charger
• Plug microUSB into charger's USB port
• Stick batteries in the bay. 
• Plug microUSB into Pi
• Turn on Pi!

I'm going to try to get some more experienced electrically-minded people to have a look at this before I implement it. Feel free to leave a comment if you have any ideas/knowledge you are willing to share.

Merry Christmas!

It's been a long time since I posted, mainly because there was nothing big to post. But today is Christmas! That means crunch time. Starting tomorrow I'll be packing everything up. I'll be figuring out what I need to leave. Then, in 2 and a half weeks, I leave. Forever! As such, I'm going to start actually filming my vlog of the trip starting with pacing. I haven't decided how I'm going to make it interesting yet. But I will. It isn't just going to be a video journal of my life; it's going to be entertainment. So stay tuned!

Guild Wars 2 Stuff

I will likely be getting my second level 80 today. What a good Christmas this will be! To celebrate (prematurely) I took a picture of my soon-to-be-80 Elementalist and made it into a Christmas card for all my loyal fans. All two of you. Literally.

Once again, Merry Christmas! And since I probably won't post again until after, Happy New Year!

Programming Thoughts

Wow, it's been almost a month since I last posted. I've mostly been very busy with NaNoWriMo and working on my Kickstarter project. Today, though, I was reading various things about Codecademy, including many forum posts and half-assed articles about how it is not good for the programming field in general. I have to say that I completely disagree.

While, yes, programming is more than simply learning how to add and subtract ones and zeroes, and how to write in a certain way that makes a computer do that for you, it is also not about some highly-abstract process that can only be learned through "years and years" of practice. Programming requires two things:

• The ability to think logically and interpret sequences of events, both real and imaginary, through those logical filters
• And the ability to learn the keystrokes necessary to make a computer do the logical processes you need it to do to simulate said sequences and events

In the end, writing a computer program is no more complicated than writing a moving poem or novel. The only difference is that is is far more difficult to make people feel/do what you want than it is to make computers do what you want.

In that sense, programming is syntactically less complicated than learning a foreign language, especially if you already speak English, for which most programming languages are designed. Of course, logic and math play into the equation, but that isn't my point.

Learning the syntax of any given language is the absolute first thing you do when learning to speak a new language. However, this is not the case with programming languages. In order to learn any programming language, you first have to understand the basic logic and math that goes into computers. You typically learn about for and while loops, if/else flow-control, and functions long before you ever truly write any code.

What Codecademy does that almost every other programming lesson (online or offline, print or pixel) does not is teach you these ideas. Sure, it uses a programming language, like Python or Ruby, to teach you these basic programming ideas. But every basic lesson starts with "these are data types, this is control flow, these are loops". After they teach you those things (again, in every basic lesson, in Ruby, Javascript, Python, and PHP) they then go on to teach you more complicated programming paradigms, like procedural vs. object-oriented programming.

Is Codecademy the be-all, end-all tool to teach programming to literally anyone? No, it is not. But it does an excellent job of teaching programming basics while providing instruction in syntax and style that every single programmer uses. The thing is, not everyone is fit to be a programmer. But any good programmer will only really need Codecademy and a lot of practice to learn how to code. Hell, I'm not even a good programmer, and I have prospered in the coding world thanks to Codecademy.

Basically, if you think that Codecademy is useless because it "only teaches syntax", then you aren't a good coder. If you needed to be taught more than the syntax, you are no better than people who need to be taught how to write poetry, or painting. If you were really good at it, you would have only needed the basics.

Hash Tag Obamacare

Man, I really hate when a program gets pushed back because of user-interface errors. I especially hate when those errors are nearly unavoidable and are bound to happen. Another big problem is when the project gets its funding destroyed by people who refuse to believe in it, even when it is the only obvious fix to a gigantic problem. The worst part is when they are forced to be released because of bureaucrats who have never worked a real job ever.

I review "The Fault in Our Stars" on Goodreads

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Originally I avoided this book. I'm not typically a fan of real-life fiction, though I have, on occasion, indulged.

Eventually, as I was a fan of John Green's work on You Tube, I decided I would go ahead and read it.

It was fantastic. Even though I normally get bored with reading about the boring events of boring fiction (a.k.a. realistic fiction), the tone of this book was such that even the most boring things (going to a cancer survivors group, for instance) was enjoyable. The characters were fun and quirky, but not to the point of being obviously falsified; I would believe these were real people had someone told me this was a work of non-fiction.

But, of course, many characters are interesting and fun, even in otherwise uninteresting books. This was not the case. The story, though meandering at first, ended up keeping me reading long into the night. I ended up finishing the book in about two sittings, which is exceedingly rare for me. And. . .wow. Just wow. No other words can describe the story directly.

This book is short enough that anyone could probably finish it quickly, be it for a book club or a school assignment. That does not mean the story was not complete. This is one of the few books that I would recommend to literally any person who asked me which book they should read next. Even my favorite books aren't as poignant and life affirming as this book was to me and will be to anyone who reads it.

Do yourself a favor: read this book.

View all my reviews

Making Sense of the Chromebook Hate

Say it with me. people: "The Chromebook is NOT a notebook."

It really isn't, and it has never claimed it is. It is a Chromebook. It is sleek, functional, and efficient. It boots up in less than 10 seconds, not because of super-special-awesome coding, but because it is lightweight as hell. It has a simple interface not because of elegance and intuitive design, but because it is a simple thing. It is Chrome. And it is shaped like a book. Chromebook.

I see all these people attempting to compare it to full-fledged laptops, ones running Windows and Mac OS and Ubuntu. It isn't trying to compete with these super-charged notebooks. It is trying to be the everyman's computer. Think about it like this: How easy is it for your grandmother to download a piece of malware and lose everything on her computer? Owning a computer is a dangerous thing in some cases, and it seems that there is no shortage of regular people, people not versed in that fancy computer lingo that we tech geeks seem to speak so easily, who end up having to pay an arm and a leg because they opened the wrong email.

That doesn't happen on a Chromebook. And, even assuming it DOES happen, there is a feature built in that will annihilate any problem ever: The Powerwash. Sure, you lose all your locally-saved data, but the whole point of a Chromebook is to NOT save data locally.

I ask you this: If a user intends to use a computer to check their email, read the news, and maybe sometimes video chat with their children/grandchildren/friends, what is the point in buying a computer that will play all the latest video games, render video in 60 seconds, and various other things that big, powerful desktops/laptops do? Why not save a lot of money and get a computer that only does what the user needs it to do? That's where the Chromebook comes in.

Now, all that said, I am a fairly tech-oriented user. On my home computer, I write code, compile it, play graphics-intensive video games, run two screens so that I can watch a YouTube video explaining how to do whatever it is I am doing on the other screen, use a drawing tablet to crate graphics, render video for my vlog (or, rather, I will be doing that!), and in general just do a lot of different things. My desktop is really good at those things. It has a powerful processor, it has lots of RAM, and its video card makes HAL look like ENIAC. But I do all that at home. I work from home. I don't need to play Kerbal Space Program at Starbucks. I don't need to render video at school. I don't need to draw things on the bus. All that stuff can be done at home. What I need when I am on the go is a computer to check my email, read articles, watch YouTube videos, and maybe do a quick video conference with a client. My $250 Chromebook does all those things. Sure, my phone and tablet also do most of them, but they do not have a physical keyboard. Or a mouse. And believe it or not, there are things that are easier to do with a physical keyboard and a mouse. Like, you know, actually seeing the stuff on your screen while typing. ("BLUETOOTH KEYBOARDS DUH" No. Just, no.)

I knew all of this before buying a Chromebook. I knew that I wouldn't have a portable powerhouse. I understood that. What I didn't understand was why everyone seemed to think that they should compare it to the computing heavy hitters. I still  don't understand that. If it were just a few reviews on Amazon, I wouldn't give it a second thought. But people whose job is supposed to be knowing stuff about technology seem to think that if it doesn't do everything their laptop does, then it isn't worth it. That is just not true.

Are there times when I wish I had a Windows laptop? Sure. Sometimes I want to write a little code at Starbucks and see if it fits into a project I am working on. Sometimes I do want to do a little video editing at school. But that's why Chrome Remote Desktop exists. Is it perfect? No. But it gets the job done.

Kerbal Fun!

For the past few weeks, I've been neglecting in my duties to Kerbin. Well, no more. I spent the past three hours designing and launching a one-way Munar delivery vehicle. Here you can see the end result:

Yeah! WOO HOO! Why am I so excited about this? It crashed, right? Well, I made it to the Mun with fuel to spare, which means I can stick my rover on this thing and it should get  there just fine. I mean, sure, that's the second Kerbal I have stranded on the moon, but won't he be excited when he gets a new rover to play with?

Doubt

For the first time since I decided to move, I am now having misgivings  it will be a good idea. That is not to say that I think it would be any better for me to stay where I am now, but simply that I think I may have been hasty in choosing my destination. Sure, San Francisco is very tech-oriented, and I do love my tech. But I look at the lives of people who have made a life for themselves in the tech industry there, and I notice a difference between us: most of them have been programming and/or fiddling with electronics their whole life on a very low-level basis.

While it is true, I understand the theory behind how computers run and, given certain basic supplies, I could probably build a rudimentary computer. Most of what I have done on my computers has been at the consumer level; that is, I didn't really fiddle with their components or their code. As a result, I have had to play catch up, and I am still very far behind everyone else in the industry. I am hoping that my ideas and creativity will make up for my simpler understanding of the technical sides of the field in which I intend to be employed.

I simply cannot shake the feeling that I am making a huge, horrible mistake. Fortunately, I planned for this in advance by not buying a refundable ticket. I even knew I would eventually feel this way. I have no way of combating it, and so I will suffer through until I get excited again. It shouldn't take very long. After all, it's San Francisco.

Codecademy Stuff; 100 exercises in a day!

I've been doing a load of Codecademy, mostly in the Javascript track. And when I say a load, I really do mean a load. This is what I did today:

Yeah. 100 exercises. Before today, my highest in one day was 75, and that was from the very first day I started with it.

I still have a way to go before I finish JS and Ruby, but I'm thinking that by the time I move in January I'll probably have a total of four languages under my belt: Javascript, Java, Ruby, and my go-to Python. All I need now is to work on a bunch of projects and stick them on GitHub so I have proof that I know something.

Regarding the kickstarter I'm going to be doing, here's a hint: It will involve things that I've talked about in this post.

Life Update 1

Things I did this past week:

1. Start playing Scrolls
2. Start this blog
3. Started playing Guild Wars 2 again
4. Picked up a Java textbook
5. Started watching Revolution
6. Started coding again
7. Recorded a bit of video about my move

Overall, I think it's been a productive week. Regarding 1 and 3, you can add me as b4ux1t3 in Scrolls or Bauxite Styllxia in GW2.

Revolution is pleasantly surprising. Then again, I probably shouldn't be surprised. I liked Lost, and I like Supernatural, and the big-wigs who made both are the ones behind Revolution.

Head First Java is probably the best learn-to-code book I've ever read. While it probably isn't the best for people who haven't learned the basics (it seems to assume you understand if/else, iterators, loops, and booleans), if you already know a language, even a procedural one, this book will have you learning Java really fast. Hopefully learning a more C-like language will bridge the gap between my Python/Ruby knowledge and my aspirations of programming in C++.  As it is, C++ is just not clicking.

FInally, I did actually start filming some footage for my confessional-style vlog about my move to San Fran, but unfortunately a lot of the footage was ruined by my using the wrong camera app on my phone. I hope to pick up where I left off this week, so that I can start getting subscribers and (hopefully) gain a fan-base to exploi- er, beg for money. I haven't figured out the details of the Kickstarter I plan on starting, but, as it is a secret to everybody (including my friends), I guess I have plenty of tie to hash it out.

Oh, whoops. Did I just type that out and am I really about to post it?

Batman Beyond

I forgot how much I love comic books.

Yeah, really, comic books. For most of my life, I've been obsessed with all things digital; Gameboys, Playstations, PCs and Android. But a small part of me has always loved comics. I don't collect them, and in fact I own only one comic book. (Spoilers, it's Doctor Who) But I love them. I love the format. And I Love the universes. The ridiculous worlds that the creators have come up with over the decades. These are the best parts of comic books.

Batman Beyond is my favorite American cartoon. Not many shows capture comic book universes quite this well. I noticed tonight that it was on Netflix. And now, I have something to watch when I get bored of Heroes (or finish it a second time, as I'm half a season from doing).
Yay.

Scrolls

I started playing Scrolls! Yeah! It's awesome! I've been playing for approximately two days, and I've probably lost more games than I've won, but I'll be damned if it isn't a lot of fun. If you don't know what it is, I recommend you check out the official page. To summarize, it is a digital CCG (TCG, CG, whatever you want to call them) where you command one of four resources and use them to beat the ever-loving hell out of other people. It is currently in open beta, and if you buy it now for $20.95 US, you get it and all future updates for absolutely free.  This includes the release.

Now, on to the reason I am actually posting this crap: I had my first big victory today! I was playing against someone for the second time that day, someone who absolutely crushed me the first time. I tweaked my deck, and randomly got to fight him again later. I ended up dominating the board and winning, having taken only two damage to my totems/guardian/thingies. I am quite proud of how well I played and of how well my almost-complete deck operates.

Here is a screenshot:

Now that is what I call board control. I also wanted to share something that I haven't really mentioned online yet: I got my Chromebook last week! I'll probably post a review later. Maybe that's what I should do, now that I will be keeping a long-form blog. Yeah. Reviews. That's a good idea. Because I'm sure there's someone somewhere who would like to see what I think about things. I was able to play Scrolls via Chrome Remote Desktop from the Chromebook, with very little lag. So that's another thing I could probably review.

And now I am off to play more of this ridiculously addictive game. If you want to play, my in-game name is b4ux1t3. (WOW, Big surprise there) Warning: You will probably win. Later guys!

New Beginnings

I am done with Tumblr. The reasons are very clear if you know me well, and if you don't, you probably don't care anyway. So now I will be recording all my innermost thoughts, my Kerbal Space Progra- er, gaming achievements, and my various ideas on here. WHy didn't I use my other two blogs on here to record all this stuff? Well, I figured that, after two years of not using them, it's about time to delete them. The good news is that, as this is a post-coding training blog, I'll be able to tweak the theme just how I like it, and that fact alone deserves a fresh blog and a fresh perspective.

So, to those of you who find this, feel free to check back later for super happy fun times. Or to see what I'm bitching about these days.