E-Type-Lovers

This is a post under computer stuff.  Just testing the “writer” function in Windows 7.  We’re having a CIS advisory board meeting this week to discuss new programs to teach and I wanted to get a little more practice with Windows 7 since I’ve been teaching XP Pro for a few semesters.

It looks like Microsoft is taking a few cues from Linux and adding  tools to be able to edit blogs and such.  It’s interesting that they don’t include some functions like mail with some versions of Windows 7 but if you type “essentials” in the box on the start menu, it will take you to download.live.com where you can download a bunch of tools including mail and writer, the program I’m using to create this entry.

It’s been a while since I posted anything, I live a dull life! 

I finally graduated last year with honors even.  There’s an old joke about if you attend community college long enough, they will let you teach.

Heh, heh, it’s no joke.  I’m adjunct faculty for the computer science department and teach a couple of classes every semester.  This semester I’m teaching an Intro to Windows and a Windows Server class.

Doesn’t pay much but it’s interesting and you get to meet a lot of people.  The perks are pretty cool as you get to play with a lot of neat things and have access to all kinds of academic discounts.

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It’s been a long while since I posted anything. Boring….

Anyway, I’m still teaching. In the fall of 2009 I will be teaching a Windows server 2008 class, a Windows XP Pro class, and an introduction to networking class.

Next spring we are upgrading the XP Pro class to Windows 7.

And I’m a Linux geek so how the heck did I get roped into teaching a bunch of Windows stuff?

(Hey, I need the money! That’s why.)

I like electronic gizmos that do something unusual. We’re not talking about Ipods or Palm Pilots here. This is more along the idea of neat gizmos that serve a purpose cheaper than you can imagine.

One of these gadgets is the Bullshooter 2 from Ramsey electronics. http://tinyurl.com/yg4w6t This is a little audio recorder that uses a chip from Winbond that allows you to record multiple messages and stores them forever in non-volatile memory. The uses are endless. If you like toy trains like I do, it can store all kinds of background or station announcemet messages and play them on a timed basis.

Or music on hold for your phone system. I used to do large PBX stuff for a living and the commercial MOH machines we used cost well over $500. This thing will do the same thing for under $70!

I’m what you might call a “professional” college student. I didn’t do well the first time I tried about 44 years ago, too many wild women and parties.

I had been taking classes at the local community college for about 16 years, mostly just a class now and then on something that grabbed my interest. Anyway, I had accumulated a bunch of credits and since my wife works for them, I get a smokin’ deal on tuition ($10 per semester for as many credits as I want to take).

So I decided to try in earnest a little over a year ago and started taking a full load every semester including the summer sessions and what they call intersession classes, that is classes offered during the holiday breaks. Anyhow, long story short, I accumulated about 60 credits is just over a year and am graduating this May with a degree in Systems Administration/Networking. Somehow, I even made the honors list with a 3.81 GPA.

The only class I have left is one in Network Security so I’ve been reading this book for my online class:

The security class is fairly easy because I was always involved in security during my career. I have given presentations to local telecom groups on how to prevent hackers from compromising your PBX and running up huge long distance charges. Many people don’t realize that before the Internet, the PBX was a prime target for hackers.

I have a couple more classes picked out for this summer after I graduate. One is Web development with Dreamweaver and the other is Adobe Flash. Should keep me occupied for a little while. I’ve been doing some Flash on my own and want to get better at it. It seems that many of the the commercial web sites are now built completely with Dreamweaver and Flash.

When I started learning html, we used notepad as our editor. Often times if I have some small changes to make on a website, I will SSH into the web server and edit the page using VI. (For the non-geeks, that means logging into the website using a secure shell program and editing the page using one of the oldest and most basic text editors.)

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I substituted a security class for the needed Windows security class and graduated in 2008.  I was working at the time for a local ISP (Internet Service Provider) but that was a really boring job and dealing with people all day that couldn’t tell a mouse from a keyboard was *very* frustrating.   I decided to “retire” and just teach part time.  So far it’s been fun.

My biggest problem is even with a lot of free time I just can’t seem to get all the things done that I want to do.  I want to custom build a bunch of bookshelves for my computer room and still need to paint my ‘73 240Z.  ;-(

They ended up offering the proper Windows security class and I took it so I now have another certificate, this one in Microsoft Sytem Administration.  Say What?  What’s a Linux geek doing majoring in Microsoft? 

I’ve decided to add a blog to my website. Feel free to add comments and entries relating to Jaguar e-type, Datsun Z cars, or computer stuff.

BTW, that’s my old name tag from the ’70’s when I worked as a Bio-Medical tech for a local hospital chain. (Wish I still looked that young!)

I will be monitoring posts and will delete anything that is spam or inflammatory.