The time I got out of my meeting last night? 12:03 AM. Ok, sure, had I not made that post I could have gotten away earlier to do so, but I would just like to present that as Exhibit A for how smart and forward thinking I am… sometimes.
Now that I’ve hit 60 in WoW, the leveling rate has slowed way down. I was progressing at a rate of 1-2 levels per day if I played for any significant amount of time. Now that I’m in Outland, it’s taking me forever just to hit 61. I’m not discouraged, but it does come as a shock when the levels stop flowing as freely as you’re used to.
Personal - Dallas
I’ve been asked to attend the officer meeting of a student organization that may help us (ACM) try to put on a game development event sometime in the next few months. This meeting starts at 10:00, so by all logical assumptions, I’d have no trouble making a post tonight. Stranger things have been known to happen though, so I figured it’d be safer to know that I got a post in before going to this meeting rather than worrying about making one later if it appeared I’d be in trouble.
The portable hard drive sync appeared to go very well. Lots of stuff got updated on this computer, but there’s a preview mode so that I could make sure that everything that should be happening was (and on the flip side, make sure nothing bad was happening either). Aside from my 50 minutes class tomorrow and going to work for about 90 minutes, my day is extremely boring. This is “calm boring” unlike this weekend which will likely be a “busy boring” since I don’t see myself being super interested in learning how in the world to do my project for Operating Systems.
Personal - Dallas
Yes, I actually set up my hard drive to synchronize with my My Docs folder today, and the intent now is that it will serve the purpose of keeping my fines synchronized between my computer out here and the one at my house. The program running behind the syncing is Microsoft’s SyncToy 2.0, and for now it appears that everything is working as intended. I guess we’ll know this more accurately tomorrow when I try to sync the files both directions with my other computer.
The problem section class isn’t meeting tomorrow, so I only have my education class. I’m done with my semi-optional homework for it, and I have nothing else due for the rest of the week. This weekend is a different story though. I need to start learning Unix programming for my OS class (our first project in there is due a week from Monday), and I need to start reading for the one page research summary assignment for my education class which is due at the start of February (but it’s the only major assignment in that class, so it won’t be fighting for my time at the end of the semester).
Personal - Dallas
All 5 classes down, all 5 appear to be extremely manageable. Advanced CGD isn’t even going to meet as a class for the majority of weeks (we instead have a 30 minute time to meet in groups with the teacher), so luckily that makes my lunch schedule nicer than it otherwise would be on Tuesdays. Again, I still haven’t had the problem section for Linear Algebra, but it might not even meet this week. Nothing really learned, no quiz, hopefully no class.
As far as games go that I’m not designing, I played some WoW (of course) and HL2: Episode 1 today. In WoW I finally went to Outland and hit level 60, and in Episode 1 I got to the next to last level (according to the guide I had to consult on a couple occasions). Tomorrow I’ll probably get a little gaming in, but after Linear Algebra I’m going down to HP to work on two computers and probably also stop by the high school to talk with the baseball coach.
Personal - Dallas
If you haven’t already seen…
Being back on only one monitor is painful. Very painful. Stuff covers other stuff up, lots of windows are down on my taskbar, and the Alt-Tab key combination sees way too much use. Just getting one more monitor this summer isn’t going to solve this problem. Maybe I need to get two widescreen monitors. Oh yeah, quad-monitor setup. That’s what I’m talking about. Hmmm… I might need a bigger desk.
Oh, right, first day of school. It went fine, but I’m glad that my last class on Mondays and Wednesdays is only 50 minutes long instead of an hour and 15 minutes like the first two. It’s been at least since last spring that I’ve had three classes in a day (too lazy to check, but I’m pretty sure I did then; I know I had three on Mondays and Wednesdays the fall before that). By the end of tomorrow I’ll have gone to all of my real classes, the only remaining one being the Linear Algebra Problem Section.
Personal - Dallas
At least one of my friends doesn’t start school again until next Monday, but seeing as how I’ve been out for over a month now, I guess I can’t really complain about having to go back tomorrow. Automata Theory, Operating Systems, and Linear Algebra are my three classes tomorrow starting at 10:30 and finishing up at 3:20. Tomorrow evening will be the typical computer move and having to break up my dual monitor party once again. Hopefully it’ll be the last time also as I really like having dual screens, especially while playing WoW.
Most TV shows I’m looking forward to start next week, although that unfortunately does not include 24 due to the strike. Fox decided that they’d rather wait and be able to air the season uninterrupted, so who knows when it’ll come back. Maybe it’ll end up being a summer show for Fox, or maybe there will be back to back seasons next fall and in the spring of 2009.
Personal - Dallas
Well, my plan was that today I’d play very little (if any) WoW and take care of some other stuff that I needed to work on. I did some of that work this morning, but then WoW was calling to me and I succumbed. Another level gained, a super long quest chain near completion, and access obtained to Outland (even though I haven’t been there yet); all in all, quite a productive day.
Just one day left before school starts again for me, and the only class that I guess I would say I’m not looking forward to is Linear Algebra (mainly since that’s the only class I have on Fridays). Tuesdays will probably be my favorite day because of Advanced CGD, and luckily no one decided to mess around with my class times like they did last spring. Probably going to be a good semester, but ask me again mid-May when I’m able to look at how many ‘A’s I got. :)
Personal - Dallas
Here’s a quick technology vocabulary lesson for you. Hardware is the actual, physical device that you can hold (e.g. a Zune). Firmware is what actually runs on that device to make it work (e.g. what you see on the Zune’s screen). Finally, software is a program that you install on your computer (e.g. the Zune program based off of Windows Media Player). The Zune does very well in the first two of these three categories. In the latter, it fails miserably.
I’ll probably stick with managing my music through iTunes because of the AAC support and just use the Zune software to sync my music onto my Zune, at least until a newer version of the software comes out. Microsoft went for the iPod/iTunes integration level with the Zune and it’s software, and the player itself has me impressed. Really all the software needs is a few more management/editing features and I probably would be content with it, but as of now, it’s in desperate need of something more.
Personal - Dallas
Tomorrow I’m meeting with Mr. McDonald in the afternoon to talk about me helping with a very similar project to the one that I helped with last summer. Mr. Barrows at HP wants me to help design the second part of the physics online course. Not only that, I’m working on two (but soon to be only one) websites for various people. Then there’s baseball both at HP and UTD. Oh, and need I mention that I actually have school starting on Monday? Something is getting cut somewhere. I’m just not sure what or how much yet.
While I did level my character in WoW today, I pent most of my time farming various items so that I could work on raising up the level of one of my crafting skills. I had been accumulating items in my bank that I couldn’t use yet, so I finally got tired of having so little bank space and wanted to start using up those items. I’ll probably go back to more normal leveling tomorrow, and I can probably speak in another level or two before Monday.
Personal - Dallas
Well, Microsoft, I’m finally ready to buy a 360. Before I do, however, I just want one thing from you: take care of the issues with Live! If I can’t recover my Gamertag to my 360 then I can’t play online, and if I can’t play online, then a portion of why I’d be getting one in the first place is lost. You fix Live, I’ll buy a 360. Deal?
As much as I’ve claimed that my next computer will be one made from someone like Dell, I’m starting to have second thoughts about that. I still really don’t want to go through the process of building one from scratch again, but I like the freedom and customization that comes with selecting every part individually. I’m not sure what I’ll do yet, but I also still have over half a year to decide.
Personal - Dallas