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September 29 Wrapping Up SeptemberI was doing my Finance homework and got side tracked when I realized that I haven't made a post to my Blog in a couple weeks. I'm in dire need of a break, so I'm gunna make an update. For those of you reading this as a cross-syndication elsewhere (Facebook), I encourage you to slide over to http://jessebethke.spaces.live.com for the full Blog. Cross-syndications usually aren't properly formatted.
School Organizations and ActivitiesACMI was asked to be a project leader for some sort of e-commerce project that the Association of Computing Machinery is taking on. I agreed, however I have no idea what I am getting myself into. Our VP is supposed to shoot me an email one of these days. We'll just have to see what happens.
The ACM held a LAN party last Saturday. It was a blast for those that missed out. However, I was left out of a lot of the fun. My 4 year-old laptop couldn't keep up with the other machines. It has the memory and processor capacity, but my video card isn't up to par. To make matters worse, ATI has discontinued support for my video card. Drivers are impossible to find, so I have to use some written by a third party.
RHGAI've been attending RHGA meetings every Wednesday for the past 3 weeks now. Great fun. However, I decided not to run for chairperson of the marketing and publicity committee. I joined the Media-tech committee, and may join Marketing and pub too. It has been otherwise uneventful. Floor government hasn't accomplished much either yet.
Work as a TechfellowI've been working on the Mahoney project and it is coming along wonderfully. I'm more or less waiting on Josh (a hired consultant) to finish up his database work. He kinda got a late start because we were waiting on some data from Mahoney.
Above is a preview of the Mahoney interface, you can also watch the progress at http://usd.edu/~jrbethke/Mahoney. Maybe this weekend I'll start to add a section to my ePortfolio that is devoted to the Mahoney project. I'd explain what Mahoney is all about here, but all the information is at the website.
Extra Curricular (work I'm not getting paid to do)Audio Addiction Advertising for Trick or TranceThe Audio Addiction is once again putting on an event and this one is dedicated to halloween. Creatively enough, this rave is called Trick or Trance. Besides website, poster, and flyer advertising, we have been utilizeing Facebook for online advertising. You can check out the Audio Addiction facebook group and corresponding events there in addtion to the official website.
In preperation for Trick or Trance, Thomas and I have been working on numerous advertisements. I'll tell ya, this project has been one royal pain in the ass. Much of the event planning was done by Alex and Bryce, but they hadn't run everything by Thomas before sending me the event information. This resulted in some incorrect information before some of the ads started getting published. We ended up doing some recalls and redoing several of the advertisements. More to the point, Thomas had to throw his 2-cents into the advertisements. Which is fine, but he was an outright pain in the ass about it. I really don't have time for it this week and I almost told him right where he should shove his advertisements.
What you see above is pretty much the end results collaged together. You can see everything at the AA website. Anyways, I suppose I should get back to that dreadful Finance. We have a quiz tomarrow. Although it likely won't be worth much, it is still likely to be painful. Especially since I'm not so sure I know what I'm doing. September 10 Settling In and Getting ActiveWell I'm moving into my third week of my Junior year and things are looking pretty good. After discovering that my courses won't be too terribly taxing, I decided to become a little more active. As I mentioned earlier, I volunteered to be my floors RHGA (Residence Hall Goverment Association) represenitive. It could be interesing; I'll keep you updated. I also joined the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM). I'm not quiet sure what they do, but it sounds interesting. It ought to be a good deal of fun. Busy Work = Money Work has been interesting lately. A coworker of mine from archives would like some software for cateloging the 300k plus collection they have of photographs. Needless to say, it's long over due. She would like to use this software called SEPIA. However, this software would take conciderable alterations to make it into a webservice so that her collection could be searched and browsed via the library website. More or less, I'd have to remodel the datastructure from scratch and develop a data miner to extract the data. What we really need is some backend software, such as Fedora or CDPheritage, that is designed for delivery over the web. However, she's got her mind set and has been trying to talk the director into it. I suspect he don't know well enough. My supervisor and I have been trying to explain things and find a better solution. Things get more complicated though. We don't just need photo cateloging software, we need a digital repository for electronic objects that can hold documents, photos, movies, etc that is accessible, searchable, and manageble via a web interface. Other departments what to tie into this project. This will likely be a big project with no money to fund it and just one programmer, me. Needless to say, a big headache. To make matters worse, my techfellow contract specificly states that I can't take on any projects that would be concidered "mission critical." Somehow I think this might cross that fine line. Although I haven't been told directly, it has been subtly suggested that I didn't tell CTL what exactly I'm upto. Which means fudging my TF reports some. I'm also not supposed to be doing any clerical work. Some how I think compiling database usuage statistics reports and collecting the library's time cards fits into that category. (I'm not even on the library payroll). But what the hey, I enjoy the experience. It's just what I need. Just so long as the people that sign my hefty $16.41 per hour paycheck don't get snoopy, all should be fine. Also, Eric Mosterd emailed me the other day regarding a list of proposed courses. Said he would like me to teach again in the late fall and next spring. Possible some or all of the 7 courses on the list. So more busyness. But it pays double time, so big bucks!! ($32.82 an hour) Money = New Stuff Ooh, and I bought me a new 17" LCD monitor for only $109 on Tigerdirect.com. It's hot, it's sexy, I love it! Actually, my budgeting has really paid off. I've prepaid my car loan through november, siphend some more money off into my savings and money market fund, and still have a good deal of extra cash. I'm thinking I might actually get to pay for next semester outright. Or maybe move into an apartment. *crosses fingers* One could only hope! There is always Jamaica. Cindy Kranz and Amy Osterloh want me to spend 5 days with them in Jamaica over Spring Break. The truth is, I can afford it. But I can't justify spending that kind of money for a 5 day vacation. It would be a blast, but so would having my own apartment- with furniture that I own. August 31 Getting Back in the GrooveSyndicating ElsewhereFacebook allows you to synidcate your blog from other services in your My Notes section. Consequently I have to be a little more careful about what I say, cuz people might actually read it. However, I suggest you add yours too; share your story. I won't feel so alone if other people are blogging too. I'll have to point out though that it doesn't appear the same way as it does on your blog. They seem to take most of the formatting out. Which means it could look funny. RHGA for 4th RichieI volunteered to be an RHGA for 4th Richie. It ought to be interesting. Hopefully it won't be too time consuming. The good news is Amy Osterloh from 2nd Richie is going to volunteer too. Maybe we can do something interesting for the Richardson hall. Back to WorkWe had our techfellow orientation the other day and I was reassigned to the Lommen Health Sciences Library. On Wednesday I resumed my work there. It's good to be back. I'll have to admit that I miss working at the library and it would appear that some of the websites missed having me there to maintain them. August 27 Movin' in and Movin' on to Brighter Things.Off To School Again It's that time of year again; and to be honest, I'm rather excited about it. Yesterday, August 26th, I moved into my dorm room at the University of South Dakota. I would have moved in today but my sister is a freshman and moved in the 26th. It was just more convenient if we moved in on the same day. I'll have to admit; it was pretty uneventful. I'm OK with that though. I discovered just what a crazy driver my sister really was. I often feel guilty if I get up around 80mph. Sometimes if I'm ambitious I'll try 82. (speed limit on interstate is 75mph) My sister, hell no, she rides it up over 85mph, drifts left and right, speeds up slows down. It was all I could do to keep up with her and keep from losing her. One might think she was trying to lose me. Just let it be said that when we carpool on our way back home- I'm driving. Viva la Windows?? If you havn't noticed, my tagline above reads "Viva la Windows" I put that there before I came back to school. A great many computer nerds will advocate Linux. They'll go on and on about how Microsoft is secretly screwing everyone over or how unfriendly it is. Not I; I think Windows is a blessing to humanity. It's helped the world, or people on a personal level, be more productive in ways we can't even count. Yesterday I went to put my computer on the school network. What I had neglected prepare for was their Clean Client by Cisco (yes I'm also a Cisco Certified Networking Associate). It won't let you on the network till your system is verfied as stable and clean. Which means acquireing all the updates from Windows Update. However, I can't aquire all the updates because my system won't pass the Microsoft Genuine Advantage Validation. For those of you that don't know what that means, it means I'm running a pirated version of windows. I do own a legal copy for my system, but I can't activate it for some odd reason. I didn't feel like calling microsoft, so it seemed easier just to run a pirated version. I'd fix it now, but my OS CD is four and half hours from here. I won't make that trip anytime soon. So no Internet till I reinstall, and hoop jump; right? ... no, I fished out a copy of Ubuntu Linux from my HD and installed it. It just so happens there is no validation to put a linux system on the network. I really don't think people really appreciate Windows untill they have to compile and install packages from the console to play MP3s or to map their NTFS partition. I still don't hate Windows; I'm annoyed with USD's connection policy, but I'm still shouting Viva la Windows. PS: I think I can build a back door to get my windows system on the internet, *shhh*. My Blog Has Fans I just discovered today that there are actual people out there who read this blog. Well, a person. But still, that is more that none. I'll have to admit though; I almost feel sorry for anyone bored enough to read my blog. I know, I was bored stiff today. So I helped my blog fan assemble a tv stand. Not that she even remotely needed my help. But the company was nice. Besides, I need to be more social. Maybe I'll follow her downtown to that free-food-thingy. It turns out that my fan is a 4400 and stargate fan too. Woohoo. It also just so happens that she has tonight's season finale of the 4400 on tape. Which is the same one I missed the last 15 minutes of so I could go see a comedian. I don't have a VCR and if I wasn't chicken shit I'd ask to watch it. If I'm lucky she'll read my blog again and offer. ;) Or I'll wait for the rerun. Oh by the way, I'm socially disfunctional. I think it comes with being a trekkie and a computer nerd. or vice versa. I hear that they have drugs for that now, but I can't afford those. My ex, a phsych major wanna-be, tried to help, but she just made things worse. Point being, if you see me and I don't say hi first; it isn't because I don't like you, it's cuz I'm shy. Sweet Niftyness I almost forgot, so I came back to edit this post. In a host of good byes, I spent an afternoon with my grandmother. She is taking a job teaching in Lower Brule and I'm off to school. Consequently, we won't see much of eachother in the comming year. After talking, it came to my attention that her website was in dire need of some updateing. I've prepared a new theme for her and started moving the content from her old site over. She'll now be hosted on an ad-free server I maintain. The server Bethke Networks is on has way more space and bandwidth than I'll ever use. It came with the PHP package. Anyways, it's a work in progess, but you can check it out at http://bethkenet.com/Burgess. Besides teaching high school art, she does several peices of work and appears at trade shows and what not. I'm sure she would appreciate the traffic to her site. Oh hey, if you need a pretty sweet template for your website drop me a line. I'll put something together for you. I might even carve out a corner of my server for you. August 19 On a Personal LevelBeing Blunt
If you've seen my ePortfolio then you realize that I go on enough about my projects. A friend recommend I get on a personal level. A blog seems to be the best way to do that.
I'm startin' to settle into my Windows Live Space and I kinda like it. I prefer it over mySpace because of how well organized and clean cut it is and over Facebook because of the stronger flexibility. Either way, the point is that there is more to come for anyone bored enough to read and explore. FUI: I don't consider myself a creative person. Although many will thumb through my portfolios and exclaim "Yes you are!" I'm still likely to deny it. I don't consider my web design art, but more of a science. Like building a bridge or a bird house :P. I'm more concerned about what is going on under the beauty, being a web application developer and all, rather than the looks. It just so happens I know how to make things look sweet while maintaining functionality.
What I'm really getting at though is that you shouldn't expect a good deal of humor or excitement throughout my blog. I'm not a creative writer or the such, I'm a double major in Business Administration and Computer Science and a Capricorn to boot. I'm likely to be blunt and straight forward. If anyone knows me personally then you know that is true. I'll say what is on my mind. (Often regretting it latter)
Getting It Dun
One of my hobbies includes randomly designing and developing web pages. I develop them for non-profit organizations or interest groups for free and then stick in a little advertising. I often offer to host them for free too. The idea is that I'll get my work out there for people to see. More importantly, I can use advertising to pull people back to my Bethke Networks site or other sites. It helps improve my search engine rankings. Hopefully the advertising will one day help pay for the hosting fees. As of yet I haven't earned a penny. So if you wanna help me out, just go look at my works. It's all I ask and I promise the advertising isn't too intrusive. I see to that.
Back on track and off a tangent; I made some progress on BN index site. I've been trying to get Google to crawl my site, but their bot refuses. Consequently, I'm giving MSN search a try. Google is rather particular about the way they index; I think I have the problem fixed but I'll have to wait till their spider crawls my site again. - It could be weeks. With any luck, this time they will crawl my sub-sites too.
Planning My Escape
Next Tuesday, 22 August 2006, is my last day at Chikadily's for the summer. With the exception that I was conned into coming back on memorial day weekend. I managed to talk my way out of labor day weekend. I'd do it if Pierre wasn't 4 and a half hours from school and it didn't cost $40 to fill my tank.
I'm glad to be free though and plan to head down to Vermillion on the 26th. I look forward to seeing everyone again, not to mention getting back to work as a tech fellow. I honestly miss the school life. Unfortunately, I still haven't talked to my room mate for next semester and don't really know who he is besides a name. I'm not generally one for surprises, but I'm also not really outgoing enough to track him down and talk to him. Obviously he doesn't seem to be either cuz I haven't heard from him. Everything always turns out for the best in the end though.
Thought of the Day
Don't ask if you don't want to know. Example:
*smile* How was everything today?
- Well, my food was cold, my waitress was incompetent, and the bathroom is dirty
*smile bigger* That good huh? I'm sorry, I hope your day gets better.
- *scowls and walks away*
This is why I don't get to know my customers on a personal level. Eventually they are just gonna bitch and stiff you. You might as well save your time for someone more appreciative. If you think your job sucks go wait tables in a truckstop for 7 years. August 18 Discover More!First EntrySo here's the deal lads... This is my first blog entry, beyond that I doubt it shall hold anything special. Although I've been a long user of msn messenger, this is my first endeavor into the use of Windows Live Spaces *bling bling*. Yeah, I was excited to. Well, maybe not so much. Either way today, or may I say this whole week, was nothing out of the ordinary. I worked, and worked some more, mowed the lawn today, discovered I owed money, and then when I was done I went to work. Where has my childhood gone? On a brighter note I was approved for a school loan I requested for next semester. Unfortunatly, they decided that they would disburse half now and the rest next semester. So I'm still short what I need for this semester. :| I'll have to make ends meet, I always do.  I just finished what may very well be the best book I've ever read. (And it's a long list) Jaqueline Carey's book, Kushiel's Scion, is extraordinary. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys midevil / erotic fantasy or alternative history. It's book 1 of a trilogy. Unfortunatly I have to wait till June 2007 to read the sequel. :( To tie me over for a little while I just ordered signed copies of Kushiel's Chosen, Kushiel's Avatar, and Kushiel's Dart. They are part of another trilogy of hers. If they are only half as good as Kushiel's Scion then I'll be delighted.To further keep my hands from laying idle, I've been working on a fansite for Jaqueline Carey. I meager tribute to her skills. You can check it out and watch the progress at http://bethkenet.com/JacquelineCarey. I've also been working on my friend's Audio Addiction website; it can be seen at http://theAudioAddiction.net. |
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