…for this “September Madness.”
Link.
So, I have been putting off writing about what’s been going on for like 2 weeks now. I’ll make a nice post about it later, I promise! D:
-Philip
On 09.30.08, In Humor, By Philip
I’ve been an ISDS major since December 2006, and in the time since then, I’ve learned some very valuable information that I’d like to pass on to anyone interested in the ISDS department at LSU.
First of all, there’s two kinds of people that are in the ISDS program: “ISDS majors” and people that really like computers but don’t like programming. The latter of the two is the group I’m in, and that I think a good 70-80% of the rest of the students are in.
And then there are the “ISDS majors.” They’re the ones that know jack crap or very little about computers, or they can only regurgitate exactly what they’ve been taught. This is the group that most of the instructors/professors are in. To them and the department, ISDS is all about being able to manage Information Systems without actually completely understanding it all.
So here’s a question: How do you manage something you don’t understand? Fact is, if you don’t understand something you’re managing, you’re going to be doing nothing but delegating responsibility to other people and just making sure that the work gets done, both well and on time. There’s another name for this – project management, which is an ISDS course. If that’s what they’re after, then why not make a project management degree and an information systems degree? 
Now, to continue with my rant about “ISDS majors,” they couldn’t tell you anything about how a driver works – that it’s an extension to the operating system’s kernel, that it extends the functionality of the kernel to include this new hardware it detects, but doesn’t have the ability to take advantage of. To be honest, some of them probably don’t even know what a driver is. But, you ask them what the function of IT is in a business, and they’ll quickly respond, “The function of IT is as a strategic partner to the business.”
Question: “Is there such thing as an IT project?”
Answer from “ISDS major”: “No, there are only business projects that incorporate IT.”
Answer from ISDS major that likes computers a lot but doesn’t like programming: “Yes. Technological innovation sometimes requires creative time, where you don’t necessarily forward the business in any way until you finally stumble upon something. You may work 5 hours trying to come up with a new and exciting design for a brand new product, and then only have an epiphany about the design at the start of hour 5. From then on, it might be a business project that incorporates IT, but what about the first 5 hours? That wasn’t a business project; it was an IT project, because what if you never came up with any ideas? It only becomes a business project when it starts to impact the business in some greater way.”
And of course, the difference between those two answers may only be in semantics rather than function or practice, but it’s two different methods of thinking, because I refuse to believe that there are no such things as IT projects.
Question: “I’d like to implement a computer infrastructure that allows users to create documents, use the Internet to check email, and run this proprietary software that we’re going to have custom designed for our needs, all the while keeping security in mind to not let important information leak out.”
Answer from “ISDS major”: “WINDOWS WINDOWS WINDOWS!”
Answer from other ISDS major group: “Well, first of all, we need to decide on the operating system. There’s two things you said there that would help decide this: one is that you want to keep security in mind, which would imply a Linux or OS X environment. The other is that you are developing proprietary software. So we aren’t locked into one operating system, can we keep in mind to try to keep the software multi-platform? That way if we need to switch from Linux to Windows, we can. Or, if the software is already developed and only works on Windows, is it feasible to run it in an emulated environment or should we just use Windows?”
Maybe this is just me, but I am much more analytical than the ISDS department trains you to be. I know that ISDS is in the college of business, but I just hate so much that almost all of my teachers are more business oriented than technology oriented.
-Philip
On 09.16.08, In College, By Philip
Just now in Management 3830:
Teacher: Okay, let’s see if this example will work in this class. What was the first company to develop Windows-like software and…
Me: Xerox.
Teacher: GRRRRRR.
I lawled in my head.
-Philip
On 09.13.08, In Life, Technology, By Philip
I like the new Microsoft ad with Jerry Seinfeld. It makes absolutely no sense, but I like it. I guess it’s just one of those things to improve a product/company’s image rather than promote a product/company, which I really hope the Mojave Experiment fails at doing because it’s so freaking retarded. Microsoft really should have stuck with just Seinfeld, as I think those commercials have way more potential than a bunch of marketing techniques that tell even less of the truth than Apple’s “Get a Mac” ads.
They still haven’t switched my account to the new Facebook, though a lot of people on my friend’s list have been. I personally don’t like a lot of things about the new layout, but I know it’ll grow on me. I’d just really like the option to be able to use whichever version I want. Ah, well, them’s the pits.
I’ve avoided buying a hoodie for a long time, as I didn’t need another stereotypical “emo” thing associated with me besides my hair and my music, but I’m taking that plunge tomorrow, I think. I found one I really like at Pac Sun, which is probably my favorite store to buy shirts and stuff. I still haven’t found any jeans better than Buckle’s BKE jeans though. Seriously, out of my two favorite pairs of jeans, one of them I bought in the summer of 2006 and they still look almost as good as when I first bought them, and I’ve worn them twice a week or more over the past 2 years. That’s some serious wear and tear, but they are still great. Normally I’d have to replace jeans way more often than that. 
Wow, that really deviated from talking about a hoodie! Anyway, it’s a nice blue color and I’m pretty sure it’s slim fitting like I like my clothes.
Anyway, I’m in the middle of a great weekend with Michelle, so I’m going back to doing stuff with her. <3
-Philip
On 09.12.08, In Music, By Philip
Oh yeah, Fall Out Boy’s new song is totally awesome. I left that out of my last post!
-Philip
For a while now, I had been having a whole lot of pretty lame days. Not feeling under the weather or anything, just a lot on my mind and a lot to do. All of that changed yesterday morning though. First off, work really slowed down and we kept our “incidents” way down, which is a big deal cause we were really busy.
Yeah, that’s even though our new tracking system sucks worse than Track-It did, of course, after all of this time complaining how bad it was, we get something uglier, which I didn’t even think was possible, and it’s really crappy to use.
That’s okay though, because I got a raise and an exceptional review. Hooray for work! This isn’t just about work though. All of the damage and power outages left over by the hurricane are finally fixed (everyone I care about has power back).
And I got the -best- smoothie I’ve had in a year since the trannie left the Union, so I guess that means I have a reason to go the Union still (man, those MREs are something awesome. I had one for lunch every day this week, but, I don’t have anything else to eat at my apartment since it all went bad, ha). Anyway, my one LAST semester was looming ahead, but I think I’m ready for it. I realized that little fact while walking to my car today, and it didn’t really hit me that hard. With everything I have to look forward to, I don’t think I’ll be doing much looking back, so I’m taking it head-on, with less negativity and all the happiness I can bear. 
-Philip
I will say this one last time for all to see, because I’m tired of this being skirted over:
It is an honor to be asked to stand in someone’s wedding. If you don’t think it’s an honor, then don’t accept it in the first place. PERIOD. No “buts,” no explanations, NOTHING. It IS a big deal.
Four years ago, my friend Trent told me he secretly proposed to his girlfriend, and said he didn’t expect me to approve because he knew I probably wouldn’t based on how early he did it and how young he was. He was right, I didn’t approve, but if I had a chat log of that conversation, I could paste the part where I told him he had my blessings, whatever they may mean to him.
It doesn’t matter what you think sometimes. Sometimes you shut your mouth and be happy for other people. Sometimes you believe that good things happen, and everyone, everywhere on this planet with sentient thought is wrong about something every day, but you still put the negative aside and smile through your feelings.
The title of this post says it all.
-Philip
So Jackson, Mississippi was…um, “interesting,” to say the least. Ask me about that on AIM/in person if you haven’t already heard those stories. Good times.
We came back to Michelle’s house on Tuesday morning since they were letting people back into St. Charles Parish, and then Michelle and I tried to go to Houma and got turned around. We tried again on Wednesday and then got turned around again. I knew they weren’t letting people in until Friday, but I still wanted to try because I was hearing stories of people getting in.
All of this time, I couldn’t get in touch with my family so I didn’t even know where they were, but I finally got in touch with them later on Wednesday, and my neighbor had just gotten into Houma and told me that Highway 311 was open, so we set off to try to get into Houma again.
Thibodaux was open, so I planned on going to LA 24 (Main Street) from Highway 90 and telling the cop there that I was going to Thibodaux, but there was no cop on that side of the street, though there was one on the other side. Instead, there were just a bunch of traffic cones. So, after deliberating for a few minutes, I decided to cut through the cones. Sure enough, for whatever reason, the police weren’t blocking 311, they were only blocking people from getting off of 90 onto 311, so I went right on into Houma.
I wish I would’ve thought to charge my camera, but I didn’t, so I don’t have any pictures, but by Wednesday, it wasn’t really that bad. It was absolutely ridiculous that they were keeping people out of Terrebonne Parish until Friday just because of the power being off. When we got there, the crap was already mostly out of the roads and stores, like Rouses, were even opening back up.
My parents’ house just had roof damage and no power until Saturday evening, but my brother got some water in his dining room after the roof leaked (he actually lost a crap-ton of shingles). My sister’s house was alright too, just missing shingles, same as my parents’.
We got a bunch of water, a couple of tarps, and a bunch of MRE’s, which is fantastic, because I love those things, and they’re fun to open just to see what random goodies you get.
Michelle still doesn’t have power, but they’re been running off of her dad’s generator at their house, so they’re okay. We watched Rambo 2008 at their house on Saturday night, even. Gory movie++, hahaha.
So, I went back to Baton Rouge last night. Smooth sailing, though power is still out at a lot of places around here, my apartment is good and it’s so nice to not hear the whining of a generator all day and night long (though, you know, thank God for generators >>).
Had a pot roast and vegetables MRE for lunch today. Yummm!
-Philip