I saw this graphic the other day when I was browsing Danger's website.


Now I would love to try a sidekick out, but there is no way to synchronize my PIM data on my mac with the Sidekick OS - mark/space used to provide a Missing Sync solution but they discontinued it when the Sidekick 3 came out.


So browsing Danger's website, I was a bit happy to see the graphic depicted here because obviously that is a Mac! I decided to read the details of synchronizing and what do you know - No Mac solution! Still the old windows-only sync!


Graphics designers need to pay better attention to what they use!

Tags: technology, Graphics, design, sidekick, incogruity, macintosh, windows, sync

I've been lurking on LinkedIn, myspace and facebook on the weekends, and I can see some of my contacts' contacts have TONS of connections. OK, some people are more liberal with who they call a 'friend' than I, but I've noticed this thing called LION on linkedin.

LION stands for LinkedIn Open Networker. In essence it's the social networks promiscuous user who will connect with anyone for any purpose. Now let me come out and say this so no one misunderstands me:

Connections matter for squat if there is no trust or lack of trust!

The reason why social networks work is because I know someone, and I trust them enough or know them enough to connect with them. These people might be coworkers, employees, friends, family and classmates. If I need something, I can be assured that if I look in my social network I can find someone with the credentials to help me out (such as a good plumber). I will know that that person is trusted, so I won't have any issues hiring this plumber.

If I see that I am connected to someone through a LION or similar idiocy (like toplinked.com), then I simply won't seek out that person's services unless I am one level away from them and I can ask a trusted source over the phone or face to face of that service provider's abilities.

Why? Because most of these open networkers connect to people in order to boost their connected count. The number of people you are connected to does not imply that there is trust in that connection. LIONs are like the ENRON or the credit crunch of the social world - sooner or later they will collapse.

The best way to network is to join a group or a community of practice online, or join a local organization like your local toastmaster's chapter. This is quality networking.

Tags: networks, netwoking, social, trust

Way back when, when I was trying to decide on what cellular service provider to choose, my two main concerns were coverage and ability to send SMS message abroad. I looked at Verizon, but they did not have text messages back then (from what I remember), I looked at sprint, but they could not send mobile email (aka SMS back then) to non sprint phones. I found a company called omnipoint - a GSM carrier, the only one back then in my area. I went with GSM since I could send SMS abroad. It later turned out that the networks that I was text messaging were GSM, so this might have been the reason for compatibility.

Text messages back then cost 10 cents to send, 10 to receive. It did not matter if they were domestic, or international - just 10 cents!
After a number of acquisitions (omnipoint --> voicestream ---> T-mobile), text messaging became 15 cents to send to international locations, and still 10 to receive! This meant that if you had a a 'bucket' of SMS messages, it was useless for sending international SMS!

When I switched to cingular, outgoing international SMS were 20c per message, 10c incoming (or 0c if you had a bucket). Now it is rumored that sending international SMS will cost 25c and receiving will cost 15c. WTF??? I am not charged extra for sending international emails, why am I charged more for international SMS? This is highway robbery! Unfortunately, carriers around the world have decided that it is profitable to charge these fees, so they do it. Unbelievable!

Tags: SMS, technology, annoying, rip-off, mobile phones, international

OK...After the Fox execs, come the CBS execs in the incoming class of B-school freshmen. Today I found out that Jericho is officially cancelled by CBS. What the hell do these television executives not get? Jericho was the best new drama on television (yes better than Drive!) and they cancel it! Of course there are the obligatory online petitions that people are signing in order to keep the show on the air (approximately 85,000 thus far). There is the send NUTS campaign, more of a guerilla tactic to show support for the show in a non-traditional way (approximately 21,000 pounds of nuts already sent). There are many, many, forums online where people complain, scheme and buzz about what to do to keep their favorite show on the air.

What really solidifies this, though, as a concrete case of being asleep at the (managerial) helm, is the fact that CBS execs have admitted that the signatures in the online petition and the buzz around this show have far surpassed similar means to bring back other cancelled shows. Yet they still stand firm in their decision to keep the show cancelled. WTF? The show was supposedly cancelled due to low ratings, but there are a lot of people, an unprecedented amount, chiming in about it, yet you won't budge? What business school did you come from? Un-frikking-believable!

Do you like Jericho? Complain to your local CBS affiliate, sign the petition, complain to CBS proper, send nuts (if you want to spend money), and tell your friends!

Tags: entertainment, complaints, television, jericho, petition

I have not watched newer movies in a long time.
I've been doing some catch up on the weekends on films that I missed during this, and last, semester.
Back in the day, when DVDs were new, one of the features touted was that you did not have the 'coming attractions' at the beginning of the film, like you did with VHS tapes, thus you could watch the film you bought (or rented) right away. Well now it seems like publishers of DVDs are going back to the good ol' days of VHS. every single film I have watched the last few weekends has had 'coming attractions' preceding the film and you did not have the ability to hit the menu to go to the movie's options (scene selection, play film, etc). The only thing you could do is fast forward or next scene which moved you on to the next 'coming attraction'.

Gimme a break! I hated the 'coming attractions' in VHS and I hate them on DVD! I like to have them as optional, like they were for so many years, so I could go and see what movies are interesting AFTER I have watched what I paid for!

Tags: entertainment, DVD, ads, annoying

OK, file this under 'murphy's law'
I mean, WTF ?! My Visual Studio installation was working fine (albeit slow since it's in virtual PC, but that is beside the point).
There were 96 windows updates (since I only installed Windows XP SP2 on my virtual machine), so I decided that I would do the updates and keep my virtual machine safe. Well this fubared my visual studio installation! The C# components no longer work Aaaaaarrgggghhh!
I spent yesterday reinstalling components of VS, but nothing... I will give it another try today with repair. Hopefully all will be fixed before tonight's presentation!
I hate windows

Tags: windows, XP, visual studio, microsoft, virtual PC, FUBAR, updates, development

...also known as the publishing houses.
I've been a college student for almost ten years now - yeah, I know, I am a perpetual student - nothing wrong with that! Anyway, I have gone through almost three degrees now, and one thing is constant: textbooks are expensive! When I was an undergrad, I was young and stupid and bough everything at the college bookstore (and paid premium for it!). Now I do my homework beforehand, and I get my books online. The college bookstore (effollet.com) does not provide me with an ISBN number, because obviously people can go elsewhere if they know the ISBN! Here is a comparison for a book (for a class that I am not taking, but I took in the past)

Book: Operations Management
ISBN: 0131-69739-0
Authors: Larry P. Ritzman, Manoj K. Malhotra, Lee J. Krajewski

Prices on effollet (and in the college bookstore:
New: $162.00
Used: 121.50

Holly mother!!!

OK... now lets look on amazon, just in case we get a better deal:
New: $125.01
"New & Used": $68

OK better...but let's look on addall.com
Lowest Price: $30
but since it's only one, there are a couple that cost $50.

All I can say is WTF?!?!?! Why do college students accept this horrible gouging?
If someone can sell the book used for $50-68, why would you buy it used at the college book store for essentially double the price?
Why would you pay three times the price to get it new at list price? The textbook industry is despicable. We should be promoting knowledge, not inhibiting it by pricing textbooks so high!

Tags: books, textbooks, bookstore, thieves, online, store, ISBN, price gouging

I am the proud owner of a PowerPC based Macintosh laptop, a PowerBook to be precise.
My powerbook is three and a half years old, and it is still kicking major ass when it comes to my computing needs. When Apple announced last year that they would be making Macs with Intel chips in them I was a very happy camper, because I knew that when it came time to replace my faithful workhorse I would be able to run other operating systems virtualized and gain many associated benefits.

I also knew, from previous experience, that it would take a while for application to: (1) be Intel only and (2) for PowerPC to be phased out completely. After all, I lived through both the m68k to PowerPC and OS9 to OSX transition periods. In both instances I was able to use everything I needed and I could experiment with applications that I wanted for quite some time after the change was announced. With the m68k transition period it was two or so years before I noticed (and cared!) that there were applications that I wanted to run, but they were PPC only. I kept my original m68k Mac for 5 years before it got to a point where I needed to replace it.

With the Classic to OS X transition, even though I had the 10.0 beta, and I had 10.0 and 10.1 on a partition, I did not feel the need to change until 10.2 came out, even then I took my time. Between release of the beta and my switching to 10.2, it was about two or so years.

Last fall, when I learned the news that Adobe would be making it's light-room software to be Intel only, I thought to myself 'big deal'! I wouldn't even use the software. Yesterday I got an invite for Joost, something I've been waiting for eagerly, but my testing ambitions were cut short when I realized that the Joost beta is Intel only. D'oh! It has only been a year! Should I be noticing applications that I want to use but cannot due to my computer's architecture? I really did not expect that applications would be dumping the PPC platform so fast.

It's a sad day for faithful mac users...

Don't get too excited, it doesn't exist yet!
For those of you who don't know, Lifeblog is a suite of software for your (Windows XP) PC and Series60 smartphones made by Finnish phone giant Nokia. This application allows the user to extract data from their smartphone, such as SMS messages, MMS messages, audio and text notes, and any videos and photos that they have taken with their phone. It allows you to tag, categorize, sort and search through your "life" collection using the desktop application, or your mobile version that is installed on your phone. Since it is called lifeblog you have the ability to point the application to a blog you own and post selected items to that blog (want to share that funny photo or SMS you got? well you can!)

I personally use lifeblog as a way of offloading content from my phone (to keep its memory nice an empty for new content), keeping track of things, and occasionally posting a photo to my blog. There is only one problem: there is no MacOS X version for Lifeblog! Up until recently, I was able to have access to a Windows XP based PC, so I was able to offload my content. Now I no longer have access to a Windows PC, and there is no solution for MacOS X! Not even through emulation on Virtual PC! Lifeblog has been around of years, what's the holdup with the MacOS X version? Come on Nokia! There are those of us who prefer to not use Windows...give us lifeblog software for the Mac!

agnotology n. The study of culturally-induced ignorance or doubt, particularly the publication of inaccurate or misleading scientific data.
—agnotological adj.

Example Citation:
The leaders of corporations and other institutions, it turns out, are not always hungry for more information.

Investigations can be costly. They can assign blame. They can uncover things that might give ammunition for lawsuits.

They may delve deep into assumptions made when a system was put together, which may be outdated or expensive to change.

Some technology watchers, such as Robert Proctor, a Stanford professor who specializes in the history of science and technology, said there is increasing resistance to investigating, even as instances that warrant digging seem to be climbing.

"There is a lot more protectiveness than there used to be," said Proctor, who is shaping a new field, the study of ignorance, which he calls agnotology. "It is often safer not to know."
—"What you don't want to know can hurt," Grand Rapids Press, August 27, 2006


Via: wordspy


All I can say is.... WOW!

... "that is Fcuking bizarre" in Klingon?
Maybe I should ask Jyrki Kasvi, a Finnish politician that aims to gain re-election by campaigning in, among other language, Klingon!
Maybe we should make Klingon the new Esperanto hehehe

Sources: yahoo! article, wiki entry Jyrki, Campaing website (appears to be dugg already - unresponsive)

I was recently browsing through Library 2.0: An academic's perspective and I saw this entry titled:
10 positions I would like to see.

I've been looking at library journals, blogs, and other sources to deduce What constitutes a librarian. I am currently in the process of gathering research on the subject for a paper that I plan on writing. Anyway - I ran across this aforementioned blog post and wanted to respond to it before my paper comes out. The objectionable points are jobs that are "librarian" jobs, but clearly do not need to be nor should they be strictly 'librarian' jobs.

Questionable Position #1: Social Networking Support Librarian.
Description: Assists students with their research on third-party social
networking tools, including use of IM and chat rooms. Promotes library resources and services on these
networks. Mounts library podcasts, videos, photos, presentations and other documents on social networks.
Works with reference librarians and bibliographers to set up collections of topical bookmarks on social
bookmarking sites. Tracks developments in social tools, and promotes and recommends their use to
faculty, students and colleagues. Provides training on the use of these tools. //


I'm sorry to break it to you, but you do not need a librarian for this position. Qualified candidates need only have a background in one of the following in order to be successful in this position: information technology, instructional design, computer science, media production, or other background in such area. An MLIS (master in library science) gives you no skills for this job given that you work with bibliographers and reference librarians to produce such materials!



Questionable Position #2: Collaborative Publishing Librarian.
Description: Coordinates blogging, wiki and RSS publishing for the library.
Coordinates the effort to develop a library Web site based on wikis, blogs and regular Web pages to create
a community-based Web presence. Initiates user-participatory folksonomies in the library's online spaces.
Assists with the university's efforts to implement an institutional repository that includes features of social
networking tools such as comments, tags, RSS feeds and social bookmarking. Incorporates local and
remote RSS feeds into the library's Web presence, including e-journal TOC alerts. Must be an expert in
designing interfaces optimized for mobile computing. //


Again...why do you think you need a librarian for this? The individual you are describing already has a name! This individual is called a Web Developer!
What will an MLIS bring to the table that an accomplished web developer does not have?



Questionable Position #3: Multimedia Publishing Librarian.
Description: Creates podcasts, videos, Webinars, Flash and other multimedia presentations to support teaching, research, and use of library services. Creates multimedia tutorials to
assist students in using the library and its resources. Assists instruction librarians in using these technologies to create interactive, customizable training materials, with the goal of phasing out in-person credit courses and moving the instruction program online. Establishes a library presence on iTunes U. Establishes an in-house multimedia publishing center to support students' creation of their own presentations and their publication; also serves as a resource center for downloading library and other educational multimedia from library and third party sites. Must be an expert in instructional design. //

Yet again...what does an MLIS bring to the table? The person you are looking for is an an instructional designer, or someone who's got the knowledge of an instructional designer.


Questionable Position #4: OPAC Transformation Librarian.
Description: Coordinates the effort to create a next generation catalog. Conducts research on next generation options. Works individually and within relevant consortia to propose
enhancements to the library's ILS vendor. Explores and helps to implement third-party solutions to enhance the catalog, as well as create in-house ehnahcements [sic]. Works closely with the Programming Risk- Taker [see blog post] and Testbed Technologist [see blog post]. Must have expertise in user search behavior, Web site usability, the search engine scene, information retrieval, Web 2.0 interfaces, and mobile computing interface design. //

Here again, I fail to see what an MLIS brings to the table. The job description posted here really describes someone with a background in: Computer Science, Web Development, Database Technologies, Information Technology.



Questionable Position #5: Digitization Librarian.
Description: Identifies and selects materials of local value for digitization. Applies for digitization grants. Oversees in-house and outsourced digitization projects. Works with Web programming staff to make digitized materials available on the Web site, institutional repository, third-party sites, etc. to achieve open accessibility. Plans for the time when most scholarly materials will be digitized by dot-coms and other publishing entities, and digitization of local materials becomes a prominent part of an academic library's contribution to cultural history. //


Here, an MLIS brings some value, but quite honestly - a non-MLIS candidate can do this job and not be a librarian. Historians with a technical background, Archivists with a technical background, and to a large extent MBAs can be successful in this job. Individuals that have never stepped in a library science class a day in their lives.


Questionable Position #6: Remote User Librarian.
Description: Ensures that library services are optimized to meet the needs of remote users. Enhances current services to meet remote users' evolving expectations. Provides technical and other types of support for these users using IM, e-mail, phone, social software tools, virtual worlds, etc. Creates online FAQs, videos, podcasts and other types of presentations to assist remote users. Trains and supports colleagues in serving users remotely, both in library spaces and on third-party sites. Also works with colleagues to move services, library documents, and research, training and support materials online. Plans for the eventual near-ubiquity of anytime, anywhere use of the library and increasingly diminished on-site use. //

I laughed my head off when I read this one. Quite honestly, WHAT does and MLIS provide that is useful for this job? What you describe here is someone with knowledge of instructional design, computer science, information technology, and media production and troubleshooting experience.


Questionable Position #7: Exploration & Training Librarian.
Description: Does what all librarians should do but will get to do it full time: read, experiment, play, develop skills, listen to conference and training broadcasts, imagine and ruminate.
Will develop a seminar program to present colleagues with the results of these efforts. Will assist colleagues in determining new ways of doing things based on these explorations. Will recommend readings, Web sites, podcasts, RSS feeds, etc., to assist in staff education. Establishes a culture of fun-loving, beta- craving, humorous attitude toward change. //

I don't know what universe the author comes from, but the librarians I know don't do this - we have to kick and drag them into the new millennium (don't get me wrong, they are nice people). Of course, the librarians that I have had contact might not be the shinning example of what a librarian does and does not do. In a nutshell the job is to get paid to be a beta tester and find new an innovative new services that will enhance a certain business or industry (in this case the library) - oh wait! There is already a job like this one! It's called an Innovation Manager! This Job is not new, and it does not require a librarian! The MLIS brings some understanding of what a library does to the table however you don't need an MLIS - Anyone who's worked at a library for a year knows what a library does and how it operates.



Conclusion:
The author of the original post lists 10 new positions they would like to see.
7 of these are "librarian" jobs - or so they say, however none of them really require an MLIS - thus they should not be librarian positions! - Go figure

I read this article this morning about how software is hard
The title should really be "making software is hard" but anyway...

I would personally like to know what they drank/smoked/ate to come to this conclusion - who thought that coding was easy?
There are some people that are talented and make it look easy - but this can be said about other professions --> mathematicians, astronomers, physicists, doctors, and the list goes on and on and on...

Another pearl of wisdom: "programmers are programmers because they like to code" - again - what a shock!
The crux though is to look at other people's code, figure it out, and make it better - that is why you are paid the big bucks.
If you don't like to look at other people's code and improve on it...move on! It's like saying "I like being a doctor, but I don't want to take on cases from other doctor's"

Off to the registry of motor vehicles to get my license renewed!
Massachusetts has a system where you can renew your license online provided that:
1. The digital photo that they have on file is not more than 9 years old.
2. The photo was taken after your 21st birthday.

So I am now 26, I should be able to renew online, right?
WRONG! why? Because when I was 20 years old (and 361 days!) I did the responsible thing and renewed my license a few days before it actually expired, so I would not be driving around with an expired license. I spoke to 4 apathetic employees at the RMV and none of them would renew my license because I was 20 years and 361 days old when my last photo was taken. Wow, when I turned 21 I must have really changed - boy oh boy!

Now I must go and wait in line for a license renewal!
Maybe I will sneeze at them and make them sick with my cold germs

I was doing some research into the GreekPod project that I hope to start (with collaboration/cooperation from japanesepod101.com I hope ).
In going over various greek podcasts I found a learn greek podcast from the Hellenic American Union. OK I think... let me download and listen to a few episodes to see what their format is, supporting material and so on. I am shocked at how bad this program is! Even in episode 1 the content of this podcast is 100% Greek, no english, no explanations, nothing.

OK, I think to myself, let me head over to the website, see if there are any PDFs, any supporting documentation, something that would help a student of the Greek language learn.
I found a PDF for that podcast! yay! I open it! - instant disappointment! It's just the transcript of the podcast, all in Greek, no explanations - how useful!

From their page:

By following the instructions located further down on this page, you will be able to download the Modern Greek lessons, store them in your iPod, and choose when and where you listen to them.To make learning Greek easier, you can also view and download the full transcript of each lesson (in .pdf form); transcripts are enhanced with images to help you understand better what you hear. If you wish, you can also play the audio file.Once you have downloaded and stored the lessons, you will be able to listen to them as many times as you wish, pause at any point you want, and pick up again from the same point.

Yes...people can listen to them many, many, many times - but that does not mean that you will learn something! D'oh! Why didn't anyone over there think of this?

The podcasts are for everyone, regardless of age, whose mother language is not Greek, and who wants to improve their Greek in an original manner, whenever they like.

So obviously, these podcasts are intended for people who don't have previous experience in Greek - it wasn't just y assumption.

Finally:

Each of the 80 podcasts is a mini lesson that aims at teaching you how to communicate effectively in M. Greek. No grammar, no rules, no “do’s” and “don’ts”; just basic dialogues, short phrases, and words that you, too, will be able to use in a variety of everyday situations.

I agree that situational language learning (and a little humor) helps learners learn, retain and possibly recall information - but without english explanations of what we are hearing those 10 minutes spent listening to this podcast are wasted. Furthermore, cutting out grammar, rules, dos and don'ts is just plain stupid. A person who is learning a language (or improving it!!!) should be told what is correct form and what is not. What should corrent and what sounds awkward. Maybe this is content for later lessons, but still - this information should be included at some point.

As an outside person looking in, it seems to me that these podcasts are meant to be used in conjunction with some sort of textbook, or as part of a course curriculum - not as stand-alone podcasts as they are currently distributed. Hopefully the HUA will fix this (or I can get GreekPod up and running )

This was the thought of the day

Man... this stinks!
I woke up this morning with a running nose, a sore throat and eyes on fire (oh...yes, and the aching muscles...)
My resolution for the new year is to greet 2008 sick-free and strong as a bull... A...A....A'CHOO!

I've never been so unmotivated (and bored) in my life working on a paper...
this finance paper is like pulling teeth! - at least I am making progress

Alright....
I got up this morning, a.k.a black Friday, and I saw in the news that all outlets, all malls, all shopping centers are full, no parking.
All I have to say is... What in the name of pete !?!?!?!?!
I saw a lot of people interviewed and everyone was raving about the great deals they got and how cheap it was and so on.
Personally, I do not believe that the aggravation of going to the stores at 10PM on Thanksgiving in order to be there when they open at 12:01, then waiting in lines to get into stores before you even know what they have to offer just to come up with a few bucks in savings in insanely retarded!
So what do we give thanks for? Having family around and healthy? Or giving thanks for being insanely blessed and commercialized to the extent that we give up good "family time" for $10 off a sweater, or $5 off your next PSP game? Go on Amazon or eBay for crying out loud!

At least traffic into work wasn't bad today - those mindless lemmings went to the shopping center - teehee hee

Repost from HellasDevil:
"The Greek blog search engine, blogme.gr is off the air.

Why? Because a controversial (to say the least) Greek public figure decided to do a search on himself and didn't like what results he got. He regarded the content of one of the blogs slanderous so he decided to make a complaint and sue blogme.gr (the search engine)...

What actually happened is that the police stormed the home of the adminstator of blogme.gr, they then arrested him, confiscated his computer, took him to jail, made him spend a night behind bars before taking him before the District Attorney the next morning, again in handcuffs.

The Greek blogosphere wish to send a strong message of support to Mr Tsipropoulos (the administrator of blogme.gr). We also protest most strongly against this unprecidented case of censorship as well as the treatement of Mr Tsipropoulos by the authorities.

It does make you wonder whether you really do live in a free and democratic country."


Repost from Serenity:
"An unprecedented case of censorship against www.blogme.gr, a search engine for Greek blogs, has provoked hue and cry in Greek blogs. The case was made known by an e-mail sent by the search engine's administrator, Mr. Andonis Tsipropoulos, to all listed members yesterday evening. By this e-mail the administrator informed members that a Greek public figure -whose name has not been disclosed as yet by Blogme.Gr- prosecuted the search engine for what he/she regarded as slander in one of its listed blogs! The administrator was arrested without prior notice last night at his residence. He spent the night behind bars and was taken today to the Distric Attorney wearing handcuffs. His company - funded by an unemployment subsidies' program - has been forced to suspend its operation. Mr. Tsipropoulos has in overall sustained great damage on a professional and personal level alike.


In his e-mail, Mr. Tsipropoulos wrote: "This is the first time ever that a search engine - a site collecting information on the web - has been associated with the content of a web log and sued for it. Never before has an offended individual in a democratic country resorted to a lawsuit of this kind till this very day, with the exception of repressive regimes. Most recent examples are Singapore and China. However, even in these cases the lawsuits were against the blog administator, and not a blog directory that collects information such as Blogme. [...] As a result of this selective prosecution, Blogme has become the sole website collecting information that has sustained the implications of this action, among hundreds of similar search engines in the Greek and the World Wide Web, many of which display in different ways the contentious blog in their results." Mr. Tsipropoulos goes on saying that Blogme.Gr does not wish the prosecution of other search engines and that it does not pass an opinion on the blog in question or any other blog or web page content which it does not countersign. According to the Greek legislation, this case is directly associated with all that applies to the freedom of press and the information society in Greece."


The Original - In Greek

Bureaucracy can be good, you can track the progress of things, but it can be bad...really really bad!
It (probably) cannot get worse than the way it is at work now.

I recently got my bill for my fall classes. Since I am an employee I get a full tuition waiver (pretty nice benefit if you ask me!), unless you have labs (usually associated with sciences and languages, which I am not signed up for). I open my bill expecting to see "$0.00 owed" but instead I see a bill for approximately $2000. What was this charge for? Health Insurance. Now the thing that perplexes me is that I already have health insurance because I am a full time employee! So since I had a tuition waiver, because I am a full time employee, why oh why are they charging me for student health insurance? I can get it waived by submitting a small form which I have been doing for the last five years, but my university wasted money on an envelope, postage, three sheets of paper, toner, and people time to stuff and send those letters out and to process my form (not to mention wasting my time). If I were the only employee taking classes - then maybe OK, but I seriously doubt it.

Alright, I was going to let this go, as I have done in the past, but once I had submitted my completed form (and getting a VERY rude reception at the customer service desk) I get the form returned by USPS (just as I had received my bill) Why? Well my insurance is Awesome and Nice Insurance administered by Corporation (ANI for short - name is changed to protect the innocent).

Every time I dead with Human Resources, everyone talks about the insurance as ANI or Awesome Nice Insurance, no one but no one refers to it as Corporation! So, in my form I wrote Awesome Nice Insurance because I thought that ANI might be vague. Well these dimwits did not know what Awesome Nice Insurance was! This is one of the 4 insurance carriers that the employer provides and they did not know what it was! To make things worse, on the form they sent back they checked off the box stating "We do not think that this insurance is comparable to the student health insurance". What kind of dimwit does not know this basic thing?!

So I went to the Bursar's office and they said, after looking at my insurance card "Oh, this is called Corporation"....WTF?! Are you kidding me?!
Anyway, I asked what I can do automatically have this insurance business waived in the future, and they said "oh you cannot, it is a state law and you have to do it each year..." - Can you say Deeeee Dee Deeee? (google Carlos Mencia if you don't know what "Deee Dee Deee" is).


I'm telling you, I aspire to move up in the food chain of this place to fix all these stupid little problems because no one else seems to want to make things more efficient.

I was in a horrible horrible grid-lock in Downtown Boston because of the fucking I-90 connector tunnel closing!
Unbelievable! If I could get my hands on the Big Dig officials that were in charge of this thing I would like to strangle them!

Last night a ten ton concrete panel fell from the ceiling in a tunnel on Massachusetts I-90 (aka "the pike").
It killed a woman (passenger), and injured a man (the driver).

All I can say is "what the....?"
Do we live in the US or what? Should we have quality control to prevent things like this from happening ?!

Even though this happened in class last night, I think it goes well under the "What the fuck?!" category.
I was in class last night, and we were discussing the presentation that each class member must do in two days.
The presentation is all but 5 minutes long (longer than that and you get cut off), and the professor left us to our own devices: Basically do what you want, so long as it is five minutes.

This was kind of cool, because we don't have to have any electronic visuals (vis-à-vis powerpoint), but some classmates revolted (well one in particular). It was not fathomable to him that we were NOT required to accompany our presentation with the standard, mind numbing, totally useless (and sometimes a not well thought) powerpoint slides! Some classmates who had their head on the right way said (and rightfully so) that PowerPoint is not required for a presentation of such small length.

This guy kept on harping about how it's an industry standard to do this, and if you go to boardrooms, and blah (dramatic pause) blah (another dramatic pause) blah....

Powerpoint is not a panacea, it is not required, and some of the best presentations that I have seen had no powerpoint.
It is a crutch, especially to MBA students, who do not feel comfortable in from of a crowd. MBA students should invest more time in public speaking courses and less time worrying about what they will do with their powerpoint presentation.

- Just my two cents

In 3 days the summer semester starts.
I thought that I was all set with my bills, but I got a bill in the mail yesterday!
WTF???? It seems that Monday I will need to go find out why they want me to pay $160 more dollars.
My suspicion is that they have charged me for health insurance - even though I HAVE health insurance and they SHOULD know it since I work for them!

Oh well... who can escape the evil clutches of Bureaucracy?
I don't fault continuing education - the university is just a bit messed up (somethings that I intend to fix, at some point or another - maybe I will become the next Provost or Chancellor...)

I feel like screaming!
Now that I have finally gotten ready to go all out, go full speed, and take 3 courses in the Fall so I can graduate and get done with my MBA...one of my courses gets cancelled!

I was registered to take a class called "Massachusetts in the Global context" (or something similar to that). The class was cancelled because the professor retired! I was really looking forward to taking that class!
Well... soooo....I signed up for MBA AF 625 - "International FInancial Management" . Finance is not really my forté, but what the hell? I must take this class in order to graduate in December.

One caveat though! This class is ALSO taught by the professor that retired! This class is still listed though, which means that there is a chance that they will get some other faculty member to teach it. If they cancell this one too...well then I am scrood! Why you ask?

Why my dear Watson, the only other class that satisfies an "international requirement" is offered on the same night as my Information Systems class (also a requirement).

It all boils down to this: if international financial management is cancelled, I can only take one course in the fall, and I have to prolong my studies for one more year.... OY!

When I was younger and growing up in Greece I saw a lot of 80s movies (none of the titles or plots I remember).

I do remember though that a staple of those movies was 20-some year olds, witha fridge with Cold pizza in a cardboard box and beer bottles next to that pizza. I remember thinking that (1) cold pizza is disgusting, and (2) who in the world keeps cold pizza and beer in the fridge ?
I thought that I would never be in that situation because I would always enjoy pizza pippin' hot from the oven, and beer...well I just did not like it.

This morning something interesting happened.
I open the fridge to get some eggs to make myself an omelet and there they are. A box of pizza and beer, right next to one another.
So what happened? Pizza was left over from last night, and beer...well over the last few years I've gotten used to it
It's still weird though...

Every now and then, I look at organized religion and I think to myself: What the fuck?

The vatican wants christians to boycott the Da Vinci Code movie because it is all lies about the church?
It is a work of FICTION...jeez! - get a grip.
Enough stupidity already

Aaarghhhh! Need to RTFM

A while ago I discovered that I can get Free DVDs from my school (and public) libraries.
I wanted to see Season 8 of Starget SG1, but since I do not have extended cable, and I am a poor college student...well... I could not afford to buy the DVD set. So I did the next best thing - see if the library has it! My library did not, but partner libraries did!
With great degree of happyness I order it!
wait...wait...wait....5 days later - request unfilled (aka rejected)
So I wait a week and re-order
wait...wait...wait....5 days later - request unfilled (aka rejected)
WTF?!?!?!
So I wait one more week, re-order
wait...wait...wait....5 days later - SHIPPED! YAY!

I got the notice today that the DVD is ready for pickup.
I go and there is only ONE disc! maybe there are more....nope

I wonder what happened! I hope they dont ask me for more than they gave me because I will be very confused...

I just noticed that "House of the Dead II" came out to DVD.
WTF?! House of the Dead was such and awful movie! Why would anyone pay to produce another one