When I was in High School, I knew that going to college was expected of me.
I did not really think twice about it. There were two topics that really interested me
1) Computers (and computer science)
2) Anatomy and Physiology (or how the human body works)

When I was in the process of completing my undergrad degree, I decided to just focus on computer science, since going for a medical degree seemed like such a drag (so many years of this, then so many years of that, then add in some of the other thing... I will be 40 by the time I am done!)

I had a lukewarm reception for the computer science program where I went. It was focused too much on the math of it all, and not so much on the "getting things done" aspect. After some reflection I thought to myself that I was probably in the wrong program (!) There is such a thing as Applied Computer Science and Theoretical Computer Science, and I was stuck in the theoretical! Of course by that time, I was nearly done, so I stuck the course and got my Bachelor's in Computer Science. Despite the feeling of Pulling-Teeth that I had, I really did learn a lot from the program.

The classes that I really really enjoyed were Databases and User Interface Design.
Then came graduation time! Of course I did not think that I would be going on for a Master's but fortune had smiled on me, and I was able to pursue a Master's. Should i go for computer science? It would be like pulling teeth, but I would be continuing on with something that I started in my Bachelor's. I decided that computer science, at this specific institution, would not be for me given the curriculum, and I think that back then I needed a break from the theoretical aspect of computer science.

So... what to do?

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!

Finally!
Grades are in!
Did well this semester

ケロケロケロ！
This week I've had some downtime so I've had the ability to get back to watching a Japanese comedy called Keroro Gunso.
It's a story about an alien invasion force (that look like frogs) that try to take over the earth, and in the process they make fun of everything and everyone in our earth culture.

In some ways it reminds me of pinky and the brain.

I've been meaning to buy this movie for the longest of time. You cannot argue that the cover looks promising, and the plot (from the back of the DVD) looks great. I found it for free at my public library, so I borrowed it, and finally (after a year or so) I saw it, with much anticipation!

Overall, I woul give the film a 7 or 8 out of 10. The movie had an interesting storyline, an OK plot, and some great visuals. There was only one small problem - it took a little while for the plot to make sense! By the time it made sense, and everyone of the characters is on the same page, and it seems that shortly after that - the movie was over.

I think that in the end, what redeemed this movie was its ending.
Personally I would like to see the main character (miyamoto) in some sequel movie.

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...

So many gadgets (Toys really) - so little money to get it all!

I would love to get a new MacBook Pro, fully loaded hardware-wise of course.
I would also love a SonyEricsson W950i, a Nokia E61, a Nokia N80 (pearl black!) and a few other gizmos (including a PSP, and a Sony UX UMPC).

There is so much consumerism flying around that I think that I have caught the bug.
Do I really need 3 additional cell phones (I have 4 already!), an additional laptop, a sub-sub-laptop, and gaming device?
The way these things get antiquated - there is no way that I could FULLY enjoy them before they become yesterday's news

So, I've made my decision - I will be graduating this coming December, so in order to do so I will need to go into overdrive mode (or commando mode as it is known in the Art Dept.)

This summer I will be taking two courses:

1. Business and It's environment (business ethics mostly)
2. Organizational Diagnosis & Change (woohoo!)


This fall I will be taking:
1. Information Systems for Qualitative...blah blah blah (long title but should be fun)
2. Finance: Massachusetts in the global economony (should be interesting)
3. Strategic Management (woohoo! the final course).


I just hope that the Masters in Information Technology gets off the ground soon, so once I graduate I can start my 2nd Master's (LOL..just kidding... I WILL take a small break before I start my 2nd Master's)

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

...they make me laugh

Have you see this ad?
It's pretty old, but it is still pretty funny.
Three protagonists:
1. Silly young MBA shouting konichiwa to the Japanese collegues that are supposed to be on the teleconference (guy in center)
2. Silly older MBA that thinks he is a techie, so he whacks the TV to make the video conference work (left side)
3. Cool techie that comes in (right, standing) that brings in a cisco telephone that does it all seamlessly.

小日和!

Strike one up for the crazy weather!
Neighboring towns have flooded. I think my two also has some minor flooding.
Boston was awful last Saturday - crappy roads with potholes and a lot of water.

Crazy local weather!
It's been raining for the last 5 days - now we're under flood-watch

Hey Mr. Weather guy! Time for the sun to come out!

I know that now that Apple is going Intel (Powerbook, iMac and Mac mini lines have been converted, iBook conversion is supposedly imminent, and xServe and PowerMac to follow) that classic has been laid to rest. Of course there are other options, such as Basilisk, which would allow you to use System 1.0 to MacOS 8 operating systems (I am not sure if PearPC will ever be ported to OS X) for people that like to take a stroll down memory lane, and perhaps use applications that have not been ported over to OS X/Intel.

I was doing some thinking the other day, and I was wondering - Who in the world STILL uses classic? I remember being a heavy user back in the days of MacOS X 10.2 (when I first converted over to OS X) because I had a bunch of apps that I was not willing to part with. Those days have gone by though, and I think that the last time I used classic was about two (or two and a half) years ago when I bought my new Powerbook - and that was JUST to test it out to make sure that it works in case I needed it.

I am very curious to find out if there are people out there still using Classic in OS X.

Had my last class last night (for the semester).
One Take-home exam, and one small research paper to do and I am scott-free!
Time to get crankin' !

I often find corporate punishments humorous!
Take Raytheon CEO Bill Swanson for example - wrote a book(let) of lessons learned while he is in the driver's seat, but he took some (or a lot) of material from a 1944 book called "The unwritten laws of Engineering" and he did not give credit where credit was due.

Since this was a freely distributed booklet among Raytheon, and no profit was made, big deal! right?
Well, wrong. This seems to be huge, considering that plagiarism lawsuits andplagiarism allegations (see New York Times, davinci code, etc) have surfaced in the last few years in the american media, people SHOULD pay close attention to what they write and properly cite things if they borrowed from other sources, right? right!

So what is this guy's punishment for tarnishing the image of Raytheon?
No raise this year, and limit on his stock options.
What a fantastic punishment don't you think?
This guy already makes a six figure income, if he doesn't get a raise this year...BIG WHOOP!

How about slashing his salary in half? now that would be hilarious

I know that some people are just not meant to be public speakers, but placing what you have to say verbatim, on a powerpoint slide is not a presentation!
I felt sorry for some of the people that presented last night. No one is perfect, but the slides were really the slides from hell.
You needed a microscope to view the text from the back row and what what on the slide was what the presenter actually said!
I told me team-mates that presented with me last night that it was not polite to critique the other group's presentation while they were presenting (or while preparing for it) - no need to add extra pressure.

If you do happen to stumble on this blogpost, don't take it the wrong way! This is a positive critique!


Check out Presentation Zen - 'cause it's just so darn useful!

Also this is good: information about visuals


And remember: you do not want your presentation to look like this:


Your message just gets lost in the clutter