The Wagner Deal

As of tomorrow, it will be my last day in first period band. And am I happy. However, this goes with a sad song. I will have to leave second period Video Productions to make room for second period band. Wasn’t my first choice. I was forced into the decision.

This shows that you can stand up to the third reich. I was able to tell him what I was going to do, rather than what he wanted me to do. Maybe next time he will show me some respect. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, read back a few posts.

So, don’t freak out when you see me in band Wednesday.

RealLife.exe Has Performed An Illegal Operation…

So, here I am, 1pm. I woke up at 5am. I continued my work on the administration page for OjaiCMS. Before too long, I realized what time it currently was. Talk about being productive.

Turns out it is raining outside. I didn’t know that. Turns out it is sunny outside. I didn’t know that either.

Being a noob to actionscripting, I would like to post a solution I created for a problem I just could not solve. Now, before you laugh at me… ok go ahead and laugh.

The problem: The system needs to automatically convert a users input on the fly and filter out bad characters for display in a second text input box. Spaces should be underscores.

The solution:
private function generateSlug( pageTitle:String, target ):void
{
target.text = pageTitle.toLowerCase().split(" ").join("_");
}

I am using flex in case you were wondering. Hope it helps someone.

Well, I’m off to finish what I was doing, but first I need to eat.

Wagner’s Plead – He Really, Really Wants Me

In the past post, Wagner’s Plead, I asked whether I should give into his demands, and transfer into Wind Ensemble or say no. I decided to go with no, and not two day into the semester was I fed up with his new regime. His plan was to make the small class even smaller. We were to be separated into sections and practice on our own, leaving him to do whatever he does.

I made an appointment with my counselor to discuss dropping band altogether as it is fairly useless for me to take anyways. Besides, I have more fun in video productions making fun of Tom and his movie Time Walker. So there I am, sitting alone in that damn cold office. I get called to talk to the counselor and she greatly rejects the idea of me dropping. Why? I have no idea, she wouldn’t tell me. So I do my thing and pull out the handy voice recorder and press record, making sure she saw it.

Me: Listen, I am not going to first period anymore.
Her: Yes you are.
Me: Uhm, no. You can change my schedule and do it the way I want, or I will solve the problem myself by not going.
Her: Well, why is it that you hate band?
Me: I don’t hate it, I just don’t agree with the teaching of Wagner. In addition, I find it silly to switch instruments half way through the year.
Her: Well, I see your point. How about this: I will email Mr. Wagner and tell him your disposition. I will instruct him that you will be talking to him today.
Me: Fine.

I leave and continue my day. Just as it happens, I pass Wagner on my way to lunch and he says in the tone no one wants to hear “I need to speak to you in my office.”

To his office I went after eating my food, and taking my time. I told him why I was there. But you could see that he already knew. In fact, he looked as if he was about to cry. Here is how it went down.

Me: Hey, my counselor told me to talk to you concerning me dropping band.
Wagz: Tell me why you want out? (Editorial: Sounds like it’s a camp I was forced into.)
Me: I feel it is a waste of time in first period as I learn nothing new.
Wagz: Why didn’t you accept my offer to join second Wind Ensemble?
Me: I don’t want to play another instrument half way through the year!
Wagz: I really don’t want to lose you. That would be bad. Very bad. It wouldn’t look good leaving the department half way through your senior year.
Me: I really don’t care…
Wagz: How about you come to Wind Ensemble?
Me: I’m not learning a new instrument.
Wagz: Ok, would you consider it if you played the trumpet?
Me: I don’t know, maybe.
Wagz: Well, talk to your counselor to see if that can happen.
Me: Sure thing *wispers* Hitler

Now, what was bad about that whole ordeal was trying not to laugh. Not only was a half scared to death that he was going to kill me, but the look and sound of him desperately trying to keep me in the department was one hard to keep to ones self. So now I am in a pickle. I can accept his offer or simple say no.

What I find funny mostly about this whole thing is I suspect many people don’t tell him no. This gives him great shock when someone stands up to him. I’m leaning to the side of rejecting his second offer to prove my point. If it wasn’t for him trying to undermine me, I may consider his offer, but as of now, I really have no incentive to even play for him. Don’t get me wrong though, he is a great music teacher. He just needs to refine his teaching a little more. That last stunt of him separating the band was a complete failure and you can see now how he is trying to undo it.

Windows Vista Is Here

I just got the mail, and what would you know? My copy of Vista arrived. To make matters better, it came right from Microsoft and it was 100% free. This would be the second item Microsoft has given to me for free. The first would be a 399 dollar copy of Visual Studio 2005. In the picture to the right, you can see the folder Vista came in, and the plastic cd box that Visual Studio came in.

Thanks Microsoft! You have made me love you long time. Speaking of, who needs to pirate Vista now?

To All DeviantART Members: Special Round Table Chat

Tonight, the twenty-first of January, will mark the first ever dawnerd round table chat. Come tonight around 8PM to the #dawnerd room. We will not have a set topic, so anything goes.

Hope to see you all there!

Why Cramming For Finals Is Bad

Let’s face it: you’ve slacked off all semester and it’s now finals time. Don’t open that book just yet, you may just be wasting your time. I will attempt to explain before it’s too late.

First, I would like to evaluate the reason we are forced to sit in an often crowded class for an endless amounts of time. We are forced into this because it is supposed to be the time when we learn new ideas, theories, concepts, procedures, et cetera. School is not about wasting time and ignoring the teacher. As bad or boring as the class may be, paying attention will ultimately save you much time in the long run.

In my case at least, studying before a major or even minor test actually hindered my test scores more than it helped. I have found out that simply doing the work in class is more than enough to familiarize yourself with everything you need to know for the finals and other assorted tests along the way.

Tests are not made to be a test of how much you can remember for one day, they are designed to test how much of the information you stored in your brain over a long period of time. This is why most finals focus mostly on material covered in the beginning of the semester.

To whom benefits if you know the information for one day? If you forget the information soon after then you really just wasted your time and probably would have been better off taking a different course.

I have only studied a few times my entire time at school. I don’t worry about a test the next day. If I don’t know the material, then I don’t know it. I’m not going to waste my time and cram the information to try and mislead the teacher into believing I know it. If anything, it’s better to get wrong what you don’t know. It lets the teacher know what they did right. How else would they know if no one told or showed them?

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m all for doing extra work spread over a long time. You will better retain that information. I all the time read up on past subjects on Wikipedia. It’s much fun to learn more than the teacher taught.

One last reason cramming is bad: it adds too much stress to your life. That is the last thing you need when trying to memorize information. You will almost certainly forget the information as you doze off hours before class starts.

Should I Open Source The ‘Poke Stats’ Script?

I am contemplating making the poke logging script free to download. There is a downside to this however, not many people would be able to use it simply because they do not have a server to install it on.

I could take the time and make a site where people can register to have the stats logged under their account. The plus side to this would be that I can integrate many features such as graphs etc.

So what do you think?

Facebook Poke Stats Live!

I decided to write an auto poke script for Facebook. This script will not only poke a person back within a few seconds of them poking me, but it will also update my server so I can keep track of how many pokes I have.

You can view the stats here: http://poke.dawnerd.com/index.php

Just refresh for an update. Once pokes start coming in, you will notice that there are a select many who poke me a lot. Happy Poking!

EDIT: This script is no longer maintained. Instead go here: http://apps.facebook.com/pokestats

Windows Vista In On Its Way

I just got this email from Microsoft:

Dear Troy:

Congratulations, you’ve learned how to build well-connected, visually stunning applications with Windows Vista, and now your free, full-licensed copy of Windows Vista Business is on its way.

Please be patient. We cannot ship your gift until Windows Vista Business is released to manufacturing. Your free software should arrive in six to eight weeks after RTM. If it doesn’t arrive after eight weeks, please contact a customer service representative at Windows Vista and Office Kit Order Admin. Be sure to have your confirmation number ***** on hand.

I will be waiting for that copy of Vista. And I could sure use it too.

The True Meaning Of Life – Part 2

In the previous post I briefly touched on many subjects which, if fully developed, would take many days to write about. This time around, I would like to talk more about two subjects in which a lot of people find most of their problems within.

For many people, love is a subject that is far too mysterious to understand. All they know is that they get that feeling, I’m sure you know what I’m talking about. Then, if they are rejected, they feel horrible. This is what gives life the thrill. It makes it somewhat of a challenge. Wouldn’t it be boring if there was nothing hard to do in life?

From my own personal experience, I know what many people go through. As hard as it may be in times, you cannot let yourself fall down and stay down. If the whole meaning of live is to reproduce, then why are you sitting there? You should be out having children rather than playing World of Warcraft.  If everyone in this world sat around doing nothing productive, how does one expect there to be a replacement human when you die?

Human nature tells us that we must have offspring. As much as we want to deny it, it’s true. As a human, we are destined to have children. What can be more gratifying than watching a child grow up and become successful? Surely not watching your level 31 shaman level up to 32.

Religion is another factor is our daily lives. No matter who you are, where you live, or what you do, religion is around you. You may not believe in anything or think it’s silly like myself, but others rally do believe that there is a greater being. Some believe one story, and some believe in one theory. Despite the fact that I find it hard to believe that people can read an ancient book and take it’s words  for granted, I still respect the views of others. By doing this, I not only make myself a better person, but do not allow my mind to become closed.

Being closed minded is a bad thing if you didn’t already know. Having and actively exercising an open mind will take you through life learning much more about other cultures, beliefs, and theories that you may have not known existed. It also allows you to accept others into your culture. You will slowly become less prejudice as you realize that there is more to life than just yourself. There is in fact other people with completely different beliefs.

That’s all I can do for today. Part 3 will come tomorrow and I will expand further on both these subjects. It will be a good one featuring advice on making your life more fulfilling.