Last night it was determined that Ipswitch IMail on my server is no longer serving my purposes well because of its weird records system (using Windows Registry) as well as its harsh handling of large SMTP loads and IMAP requests. I have determined that I need to replace it with something a little better. My biggest issues are the cost of good email server software and the fact that the server I want to run it on at this time is Windows. Then there are other issues that occur, such as my need for a highly customizable email soloution. I have a special alias-based system working against a wildcard that I have to consider as well as the need to deliver email to a Perl-based bot that I have to think about when considering new email server solutions. I know that Microsoft Exchange is a hell no because it would probably try to fondle the bot in the proccess of delivering email to it. I really wish i could just convince myself that my network can run on a Linux server, but at the moment I don’t understand Linux enough, or have enough of a clue as to how to do what I want without Active Directory existing. Perhaps I can do something with it when Novell released their new server software. Unforuntately the email situation seems a little more critical at the moment than Novell’s release schedule.
Since I first started using Imail I have been very happy with it and wish I could justify its long term continuation on this network, but I can’t. At the same time I need a good email server that meets my requirements. Outsourcing is not an option here, because I like for things to be my fault when things fail, also, outsourcing would cause the bot to not be happy because it would no longer be able to get its mail direct from the server.
This is something I have a lot of thinking to do for. I don’t know how I will find the answer, but I will keep at it until I do. If all else fails I will learn to write source code better and I will modify some open source email solutions to make them fit my needs.
Another one bites the dust….
My Abnormal Psychology class met for the last time this evening. We took our test (after waiting for our classroom) and then we left. Before that we handed in delivered our article reviews to Dr. Noland. The assignment was a complete nightmare to do because of the unclarity of the way it was presented. Everything was so vauge, so sketchy, so unlike the typical assignment in a course. This assignment was given at the very first class meeting and only took a few hours to complete total, but with all of the procrastination and other stuff involved it seemed much longer. Many of us waited until about 3 weeks ago to get started on things, but I think we all worked pretty hard on the papers. Less than 24 hours before the reviews were due the following message was posted to the WebCT forum in response to a final post inquiring as to the format of the documents being turned in:
“don’t stress too much about the reviews. the important thing is that you did them and maybe you learned something from the process (even if that was just how to look up journal articles). i’m going to grade the reviews like the exams and curve them if need be. so, good going! after the alcohol and socializing, this is what college is about (grin)!”
So I guess we have nothing to fear and the good news recieved tonight is that we get an automatic 6 out of the 10 points this evening for just completing them and turning them in. Only 4 more points have to be earned from valid shit in the papers themselves, although, since I did the extra credit ones and I get six points each for them too… I have an automatic 30 points out of 30 required…so anything else is just icing on the cake and extra points to keep my A afloat (assuming this last test and my final exam go as well as I expect). From my own personal calculations prior to turning in tonight’s test I can safely say that I got 38 out of the 50 points on the test, and those are just the safe points. It is very possbile that my score is higher and that Dr. Noland will give us a curve also. I am not too worried about Abnormal Psychology, it was a fun course, I learned a lot and I usually do fairly well on the tests. As long as things go well on the final exam I expect to come out of the course with an A. Sometimes I think the levels of these courses need to be evaluated, a 3000 level psychology course is about 10 times easier than a 2000 level liberal studies course. As my first semester at UNCC comes to a close I am more undecided as ever about what I want to do with my life, but at least now I know that I seek knowledge and have a life goal of being able to understand concept principles.
Quote of the Day: “Don’t worry Curtis, I recycle” – Dr. Keith Noland
Who needs 50lbs of clay? I do!
When I awoke this morning I looked out my window and saw with great suprise a giant box from KC Metro Ceramics. My 50lbs (23 kg)of clay had arrived, as well as my new tools. I had been waiting for this clay since before I ordered my mobile wheel, but oh well, at least its here now and the fun can begin. My tools arrived at the same time, so I can now sculpt and do other fun things with clay. The only thing that isn’t fun about clay is running up 20 stairs with it, it is so heavy for its size, but i guess thats a good thing, it could be heavy and big ;-). Now I have to solve a few problems: 1. where should i put the clay? it needs a fairly cold place to be, and the air cant be too dry (asked about the fridge already, that got a Hell No); 2. I need to find time to actually play with my clay; 3. what am i going to do with the clay? I have all of these options, I have no idea where I want to begin; 4. I have clay and a wheel, but where am I going to fire it? Can you tell that thinking ahead isn’t in my list of strong qualities?. Once those few problems get out of the way I should be well on my way to having fun with clay and making all kinds of cool stuff.
I picked up some glaze when I was out with Chris on Monday, so at least that part is taken care of. I think I am getting a little too much back into ceramics, but in this case it is probably a good thing since I have been away so long and have nothing as non-electronic as it currently in my list of hobbies.
Happy December!
In the next week I will have 2 tests, 1 exam and 5 papers due. Ain’t my life grand? I am ready for the tests, the exam and 2 of the papers are already ready (and the last 2 are extra credit). I think I am ready for the conclusion of the semester; however, GITI reminds me that I still have 19 items to complete before it will let me lock down all of my courses and have an active course list of length 0. I love seeing the message “There are currently no active courses” in the education module of GITI, it is like a victory. Would be really cool if I could make GITI a little more automated so I didn’t have to deactivate classes myself. It has access to the dates and stuff, but I don’t know that I trust something I create that much (hence why GITI doesn’t have an archive, and everything is active).
I am looking forward to hosting my Christmas party on December 18th (or December 25th, depending on the family’s pick for their family gathering). I am planning to make a lot of junk food and serve a small dinner before, just enough so that we can all say we had dinner before dessert, but yet still have room for every sugar filled delight I create/serve. My biggest issue at the moment is figuring out who all I actually want here, I of course want my best friend Chris here, but other than that I don’t know what non-family I trust enough to actually be here. There are people who know so much more about me than my family, but I don’t know that I would trust them actually interacting with my family because im not sure how discrete they are around others. Most of my friends are pretty outward with their personalities around me, but with some of them I can’t have that around my semi-traditional family. A few of the 50 or so members of my close family may have an issue with some of my friends (as well as with me if they knew everything about me).
I am looking forward to the holiday season for various reasons, but most of all because events of the year are winding down and I can get some time to relax. Even though I have more credit hours scheduled for next semester than I had this semester I think it will be easier because I don’t have as many courses that I consider to be extreamly challenging. All of my courses are in the 2000 level or below, with the exception of my Philosophy course which is at the 3000 level, but I don’t expect to have an issue there. Dr. Presler is a very good instructor and makes her courses fun.
The part of this time of the year I don’t like is the excessive shopping that occurs, making malls unbearable for those of us who like to visit them for fun occasionally. Christmas is way too gift focused in this country, which is one of the reasons I am having my Christmas part as just a gathering of family and friends for the purpose of eating.
One of the more enjoyable things for me during the winter is seeing snow fall. In this region it doesn’t happen often but when it does I get very excited. I don’t really like snow on the ground, but when snow is falling from the sky and sticking to the ground I get more excited than during any other event. I guess sort of a reverse seasonal affective disorder. Snow is very messy and dangerous, which is why I don’t really like it, but while it is falling it is so amazingly beautiful and calm and seems to make the rest of the world stop for a moment in time. I have never experienced a snow on Christmas eve or on Christmas day, maybe this year will be the year for me.
My December is quite full up until December 17th, then everything stops, so I don’t know what my level of posting to the blog will be, we shall see….
Reviving Old Habbits
This past weekend I found the need to bring back one of my old hobbies, wheel based ceramics. I have always loved working with clay, but up until tonight I had forgotten what a challenge it is to get started with something on the wheel, all the work with the clay before you can even get it to the wheel, and of course the actual effort to make something that doesn’t look like shit. My biggest issue is that I am not remembering the exact texture needed in the clay before it can be successfully wheel built. I am considering forgetting about the wheel for a little while and going with hand building using the coil method for now and maybe progressing on with the coil method to being on the wheel for the final smoothing. Eventually I should be able to get fully back on the wheel again. It has been a long time I feel that I need to retrain myself for the wheel and all of the associated techniques. Another issue I am having is my need to actually be clean with the clay, I used to be so messy with it and now I am actually concious of the fact that I shouldn’t be making messes, however, being clean is not part of the artistic proccess. I have always been fascinated with the art of ceramics, it is so hard to get right, but yet so easy to screw up. One drop of a piece can destroy hours (or even days) of work. At the moment im working with some air-drying home-use clay, but my professional clay is on its way via UPS, so hopefully things will go better with it. Actually, im counting on things going better with it, since I ordered 50lbs of it. I have gone so long without doing any molding, sculpting or ceramic techniques that I have lost touch with the medium, and I find myself needing to reaquainted with it, and get back to understanding the medium and its quirks. I lack artistic talent, but working with clay makes me happy, so I do it and to me thats all that matters.
What I find strange is that pieces I made with clay years ago, back when I was between 7 and 15 still exist and are on display in my home as well as in my aunt’s home. My family has this weird attachment to my horrid creations, I don’t know why.
I have considered taking a ceramics course but am not fully certain about it, I don’t really know how being in an academic environment with something I love this much will affect me. I have done it with networking and computer stuff, but thats different, there is a lot to it and it is a very intellectual science, but ceramics is not, ceramics is more about the feel of the clay and the feeling of being in your own world, hypnotised by the spinning of the wheel as the piece comes together in front of your eyes.
Academic Awareness
Through my senior year in high school I was certain of what I wanted my college major to be and swore I would never change it. That major was Information Technology. A few months after I was accepted to UNCC I sent notification of changing my major to Psychology because I had a change in my life that inspired me to escape my technology closet and enter a world of humans. Information Technology required too much math and Psychology involved too much biology, so both of those were bad. I went to SOAR (Student Orientation, Advising and Registration) as a psychology student, or so I thought. My records had been slightly skewed due to an error at the Undergraduate records office, this placed me in the Pre-Business field somehow, and also managed to exempt me from SOAR completely (yeah, the DOS was pissed about that one, but she’s a bitch). From being declared as Pre-Business I found a great new path for myself, a path to my seemingly ideal major, Management Information Systems. Basicly, IT with some busisness skills and not as much math. Up until January 10th I could change my major again without any ill effect, but I think I am happy where I am for this major, and once I add a minor I will have something more to shoot for in my future. I entered this whole situation thinking I knew my life path and knowing what I wanted form the university, I had no clue! I am now finding myself wanting to get involved and start to know people. I am heavily considering a minor in Philosophy at this point, however, I will not lock myself in permenantly to that, I could see myself doing a double major with Philosophy, but I am not mentally preapred to make that commitment yet. According to the current requirements and registration path I have 48 hours remaining of my MIS degree, that is roughly 2.5 semesters, which places my graduation at Fall 2006. I would have spent only 2.5 years on my BS degree from high school graduation. I am not prepared to make things go that fast. I will take at least one elective per semester, that will extend me to Spring 2007, even though I am supposed to graduate in Spring 2008 and am allowed until Spring 2009. Another aspect for me to consider is the fact that I have to have 53 more hours to graduate, so I need 5 elective hours on top of my requrements, I think I can do that though, with how much I love my electives :-).
A lot of people have asked why I am considering Philosophy, well, there are a lot of reasons. First is the people, I feel so welcomed by the Philosophy department and its staff, even though I don’t officially belong to them yet. Next is my general interest in the subject area. I have always been fascinated by the great minds of the past, but was highly turned off by history courses. I enjoy learning the theories and ideas of these antique thinkers, even if some of them lack validity. Many of the modern theories and ideas are based on something from the old greek and roman thinkers. Another reason I like the topic area is the tradition of it, it is one of the oldest departments to exist in a college and has earned its place as a distinquished art.
I think my ultimate goal is to be happy with what I am doing while in college and let things afterwards figure themselves out when the time comes.
An Update
Where did November go? I think at some point I found myself ignoring the installation of MovableType on the DisturbingThoughts.net domain.
My classes are going well and are reaching that critical point in the semester when the final lectures are being given and exams are being completed and we are all breathing a sigh of relief, we freshmen (yes, I am including myself in that group even though I have 46 49 credit hours) have survived our first semester of college life. One year ago I was at HST still wondering what university I would attend (if any) and trying to determine a life path for myself. Now I am here and know what to expect from life for a little while, although at times a few curves are good to keep things interesting.
My schedule for Spring 2005 has been created and it is:
For those of you with access to the course catalog (here), that is: ITCS2231, ACCT2121, ECON2102, MATH1120, LBST2102, PHIL3060.
I am taking PHIL3060 because Dr. Presler reccomended it, and she is teaching it. I enjoy philosophy and am currently considering adding a philosophy minor to my degree (after that course I only need 6 more hours). I am not too excited about my other courses at the moment, except for ITCS2231, it is being offered for the first time in Spring 2005 and is a new requirement for MIS majors who dont declare before then (thats me, im officially still Pre-Bus). I wish we could pre-declare and lock in things, like declare Pre-MIS and be able to lock in our catalog of requirements (any major change requires a reset of the catalog ID to the ID of the semester in which you change majors).
On the issue of my ticket, my attorney has it and will be appearing in court for me and I don’t have to worry about anything (at least I dont think I do). I hate knowing that I have to keep my speeds down. I like to go fast, really fast, especially when 85 is empty.
I am about to go to LBST2101 (Western History and Culture), it is my last class this week. I am not sure what I am going to do for the rest of the week, I kind of want to do some fun stuff, sort of want to do some academic stuff and I also want to lay around and be lazy. These are all incompatible goals that can not be acheieved at the same time. GITI needs some work, but so do my Abnormal Psychology article reviews. I have a lot that I can do, I guess I will attempt to get some of it done and just be a little lazy.
Quote of the Day: (in a male vally-girl tone) “uh! you are so absent minded”
Testing Competency Through Forced Situations
I am a person of precise planning and coordination of every major and minor life event. This evening before I departed for UNCC I decided to check the UNCC campus map to determine an alternative route to my normal parking lot due to the traffic that occurs on my normal route (which is more direct). I found the route and had it all planned in my head, only one small detail I overlooked, the map is 2 years old! When I arrived at the campus I was forced to adapt to a change in the road that I was planning to use, there was more of it than there was before and it took a slightly different path. For a moment this confused me until I decided to just go with what I felt, I made the turn, not knowing for certain wether it was the right one or not, then I suddenly realized it was, at about the time I passed the road that contained my parking lot….ooops. Time for plan B, cut across another parking lot (which I soon recognized as parking lot 6, my secondary parking location). In a few seconds after my mistake I was in the correct location and parked. Why do I fear making navigational mistakes so much? Roads are apparently designed to help us avoid them, and humans are adaptive enough to not have to worry much about something not being exactly perfect in a plan. I guess I am navigationaly competent after all (well, as long as i know my destination).
Semester Ending
Last week was my final normal week for this semester. Next week is a partial week (2 days) and the week following ends early, then we enter the 10 days of exams.
The past few weeks have been mostly calm and the days have just sort of floated by. An assignment here, a test there. No many things to create excitement. My life is just going so fast, I can hardly keep up.
I feel the need, the need for… uh oh……
At 1:14AM EST on October 31, 2004 I was issued my first ticket ever by Lt. Randall of the North Carolina Highway Patrol. I am currently in a very mentally distraught and anti-driving mood. The ticket is for going 85mph in a 60mph zone. I will appear in court on December 10, 2004 at 9:00am. I can’t believe I allowed this to happen… I am so stressed about this right now….I dont want to be on north carolina roads now, but unfortunately I have class tomorrow and I must…