Should I stay or should I go?

Risk assessment, potential overages, technology changes and obsolete applications are all areas that were explored through this week’s readings.  Operator failure is more often than not at the root of a great deal of project mismanagement.  However, an important consideration is whether a project truly has merit and should be approached, or in the case of Mark Keil’s, Pulling The Plug, it should be disposed of.  He offers excellent advice when he suggests that a company “that continues to throw good money after bad on an IT project, is making a very bad investment…”

Microsoft’s Model Report provided an excellent solution for avoiding being stuck in the midst of an ultimately failed project, The Mile-Stone Approach.  Careful monitoring would reveal progress and potential deficiencies before they become costly writeoffs.

Overall, the readings this week were rich sources of valuable information.  It was great deal of data to explore in brief period of time.  Kind of like eating a whole bowl of oatmeal at one time with no spoon.  However, I can never get enough porridge and great points were made leaving me with a greater appreciation of the value and hard work that goes into strategic planning.

I’m Ready

I’m ready for IRLS672.  I don’t think that statement will garner me any points, but I can honestly say that after the past 12 weeks, I feel confident to begin this course.  It sounds awful but feels empowering.
In retrospect, it was PHP that brought it all home.  PHP revealed the final product on the web and that’s where words like “powerful” and “flexible” started to make sense.  I thought about things like, ‘Can I open winscp without having my virtual machine started’ and ‘Do I need to be logged on for Putty to start?” Both so simple and answered with a no.  Simple if you take the time to think them through.  The virtual machine must be powered up in order to access it but you don’t need to be logged in first as a user, that comes after.
Accessing the virtual machine from so many different ways, with winscp and putty and webmin and phpadmin, it left me with the realization that there are so many more options out there than I could have ever imagined.

The class has left me quieter when technical problems arise.  I take time to stop and think through why a server is being slowed down or interrupted, or what particular permissions might be set which are stopping me from viewing or changing files I work with daily.  Even the occasional CTRL ALT DELETE on older machines I work with doesn’t frustrate me as much anymore as I now think past the basic error message and dare to explore it further.

What once seemd so arbitrarily complex and would drive me to shut off the monitor and walk away, now compels me to sit and work it through despite my recurrent mistakes.  I ask myself, “How many times must I forget to add ; at the end of a line only to be patiently reminded with a -> that I have to clear it and do it all over again?  Don’t answer that.  I think I start to get so thrilled that what I’m actually entering is doing something that in my haste for results I leave ; out.  There I did it again.  Wait, a sentence needs a period not a semicolon. Anyway, this class is almost over and I’m better for it, well because of it.  Whining aside, I do look at life differently.  I used to see things as either black or white.  And now I see everything as either black, white or a database.

Still a missing link

I understand that MySQL is a database server but I still get caught in thinking of it as a language.  I guess because you write variables and strings and execute commands, the line gets blurred a bit when I try to think of it as a server.  My mind always seems to wander back to the idea that a server is a big gray box that holds a lot of stuff. 

Working with MySQL this week was rather user friendly as you don’t automatically get an annoying beep or flat out error message, but some simple nudging when you need to go farther, like a “-> “or a “/*>”, kind of like, “I’m waiting….”.

I enjoyed creating tables and querying them.  I named the photographers in my database after the first 6 presidents.  They were familiar and I figured I might query the similarities in their names, as out of the six there are 4 whose names begin with “J” and 2 James and 2 Johns. Working with MYSQL started revealing what our final work will be but there is still the glaring missing link, which I guess next week will be PHP.

Let Me Repeat Myself

The MYSQL unit this week actually helped in visualizing what a final product could look like in developing a database.  Memorizing the MYSQLstrings would probably be the most difficult aspect, but it takes discipline to use technology and simple repetition would probably solve that.  Repitition leads us in many ways that we are often not even aware.  Who hasn’ttried to open their front door with their remote car key or (admittedly more questionable, tried open the lid to the outside dumpster with the same device?)  That’s scary, but nevertheless, it is a result of repetition. 

The overall concept of our LAMP server is something that still remains a bit fuzzy.  I can see the use of PUTTY in accessing the system remotely but don’t understand the advantage if you always have to have your server open in order to access it remotely.  Also, I get kicked off PUTTY a lot.  One concept I really have trouble with is the security of SSH, telnet and rlogin, etc.  As far as my study went, I concluded telnet and rlogin aren’t secure but when I indicated that on the quiz I got it wrong, so I would say I’m having difficulty there.  I suppose in order to clear it up, I need to repeat more readings and explore them further.

There’s A Body In The Trunk

What this weeks reading got me thinking about was the non-profit status of libraries and whether it’s time for them to enter the competitive market.

Gone are the days of “shh” and “no”, replaced by Rockband and book clubs and Wi-Fi.  Its as though libraries have died in their sleep but no one wants to approach the subject of how to dispose of the body.

While I read a great deal of well thought out and earnest plans for fund raising, I couldn’t help thinking about how emasculating the whole process is.  At its core lies begging and begging isn’t empowering and doesn’t lead to grand ideas.

People are at their best when they have an incentive to work for.  Many of us taking this course  are doing so because we believe it may lead to a salary increase in the future.  And what’s wrong with that?  What’s wrong with a library accepting payment from vendors to display their best work?  And what’s wrong with charging patrons for access to information?  The community pays for newspapers and movies and internet service.

By always having to rely on the uncertainty of hand-outs, it seems libraries are crippled from achieving their full potential.  Museums charge to view their exhibits and yet no one argues that it adulterates the collection.  Value is associated with things that people have to pay something for.  Often it is appreciated far more because it is earned. 

The libraries of old are gone.  Its time to identify the body, have a memorial and open our minds to the limitless potential the free market can offer.  After we cremate the body and scatter the ashes.

Let me be brief…

The weeks directive was to be brief and explain learning XML.  Here goes.  Mark Long’s video tutorial series was an excellent resource and worked most effectively by stopping and starting and taking notes.  W3schools.com also offered easy to follow examples and their quizzes were helpful in checking understanding.  For additional study I viewed forums and discussionsabout XML.  These proved thought provoking and very informative. Enough said.

The Missing Blog

I missed the deadline for completing my blog assignment last week for reasons that were critically important to me but would be less consequential to anyone outside my family.  That is how life and art and work are.  Relative to whom they affect.

I carefully studied the W3Schools website for the basics of understanding and constructing an HTML document.  I wasn’t exactly sure what it was, but I had created a website though Sitebuilder, so I was familiar with that odd looking lettering underneath my pre-fab website.

The W3Schools tutorial was well displayed and easy to read and follow.    Which brings me back to the relative part.  And when I say “relative” I actually mean “relative.”  After hours of tinkering and figuring and eventually running TIDY, it was my son who helped me get my image to load on the page.  He simply saw some code out of place in the line and because it was relative to him that he either wait indefinitely until his mother figured it out and then fed him, or he looked at it, made a suggestion and enjoyed his dinner.

 Having the advantage of looking back at it this week after studying XML, it’s almost embarrassing and in some ways I think it might have been clearer for me to have learned XML before HTML, as the structure is less complex and easier to follow.  I printed out some nice “HTML quick lists” which always give me a sense of security as I am a compulsive list person.  Also, I viewed the source code on a great deal of websites to get an idea of how their structure ‘related’ to the assignment.  I found that especially helpful.

HTML is interesting because it can broken down into smaller parts and each part can be identified by its purpose.  Like < > and </ >.  There’s a begininng, so there has to be an end. 

That struck home especially hard for me last week as we learned that my husband was diagnosed with chronic liver disease.  A man who I have always professed to be the strongest man I have ever known, grows thinner and weaker and more far away everyday.   Its strange how we spend our lives “in development”  always seeking out improvements and upgrades and even newer versions.  When the reality is, that we all eventually become older versions of operating systems, slower and  riddled with a lot more errors until we become obsolete.  Sad.  But then, it’s all-relative.

Order Up!

Yesterday I fasted.  Wait.  I know what’s coming. “Crazy religious fanatic!” or “Yea, we knew it, eating disorder” or “well, maybe she’s just broke.”  Religious nut?  I admit I’ve taken a spin or two around the pentacostal dance floor.  Eating disorder?  One look at me would quiet that speculation, and the broke part, I have planned a meal or two around hot dogs.  But none of those are the reason I fasted.  I fasted because I can think clearer and things mean more when I’m not preoccupied with food and life gets more simple, real fast.

Our assignment this week was to reflect on the variety of presentations for the lecture and pass our judgments.  Here goes.  The videos were the easiest and most entertaining.  The quantity of material was formidable and the hyperlinks started making me hyper.  Reading unsuspiciously (Word told me that’s not actually a word),  I would see an innocent little blue underlined word and click on it,  only to be taken to a seemingly limitless supply of additional little blue underlined words.  It really made me think how much studying has changed since the advent of the Internet.  Previously, if something was mentioned in a lecture that sparked a particular interest, you might jot it down and look it up later.  Now, with instant access to links, the possibilities are endless and you almost have to monitor yourself so you don’t click too far and lose your way back to your original train of thought.

I especially enjoyed learning the technical side of setting up a network.  I have installed one at our home and have managed to connect 2 PC’s, 1 laptop, 1 netbook, a Playstation 3, Xbox 360, PSP and a WII all ready to gobble up bandwidth at a moments notice.  TCP, Proxy and DHCP were terms I recalled from configuration, but being able to understand their meanings and purpose has been intriguing.

I took the Learning Style Test at http://www.engr.ncsu.edu/learningstyles/ilsweb.html  and ended up with a solid 3 on all of them.  It told me I was “fairly well balanced on the two dimensions of that scale.”  That’s kind of a polite way of saying “you’re non-committal or wishy-washy or live in the gray area.”  That’s probably true.  I can’t really say that one method of presentation worked for me and another didn’t.  I could never say that something I learn doesn’t apply to my life.  Everything applies to your life, whether you see it at the moment or not.  Something worthwhile can be gleaned out of anything, even the worst.  Since I’m “fairly well balanced on the two dimensions …”. I’d have to say that I don’t actually have a particular style but I do learn by repetition and by example and by default.

I definitely enjoyed the variety of presentation this week.  It broke things up and added more to the mix.  Mix. Hmmm.  Sounds good.  I wonder what’s for lunch.

Your Grandmother Is Bald and Wears Dentures

No one ever tells you that your grandmother wears a wig and that her teeth are false.  You just grow up thinking that her hair looks kinda plastic, like your doll’s, but that makes perfect sense because she’s like a big plastic doll that you love to play with anyway.  Then one day, you learn the truth.  It doesn’t matter how, you just do.  That day becomes a line that separates your life; not knowing/knowing. From that day forward, you’re tempted to start picturing in your mind what she looks like bald and smiling with gums.  Of course, that’s too horrific, so you don’t stay there too long, but for the rest of your life, it creeps in.  And the older you get, the more of a reality it becomes. 

Facing the command line this week was like that image creeping in.  Only I stayed there and faced it.  It was pretty ugly. (With all due respect to my grandmother who couldn’t have been ugly to me if she had three heads and looked like an angler fish, I just loved her that much) But I faced it, because the command line, without the shine of the GUI, is the heart and soul of the system and since its my new toy to play with, I don’t care that it looks a little strange, I just wish it was a little easier to get along with.

I have to confess that I had a lot of trouble with it this week.  I referred to other websites and viewed youtube videos to reinforce the lecture.  I thought if I approached it from different angles it would come together.  Tuxfiles has become a good resource for me.  The explanations are simple.  The CBT’s with Arthur are also helpful especially if you stop and start them while practicing on the VM.  I picked up nice tips like type “clear” to get you to a clean fresh command prompt . 

I admit I was confused by the Computerhope Add Linux/UNIX Useradd Sheet;

SYNTAX

useradd [-c comment] [-d home_dir] [-e expire_date] [-f inactive_time] [-g initial_group] [-G group[,...]] [-m [-k skeleton_dir]][-p passwd] [-s shell] [-u uid [ -o]] login

useradd -D [-g default_group] [-b default_home] [-f default_inactive] [-e default_expire_date] [-s default_shell]

 It listed a whole lot of switches that we didn’t use in our command line:  $ sudo useradd -g newuser -G users -m newuser and I guess I’m just not far enough along to piece together what should be in there and what shouldn’t.  These sheets are probably excellent references for someone following the sequence, I keep getting distracted by the teeth in the glass.

Someday, I’ll probably start to see the beauty in the design of the commands. I did watch a youtube video of someone hacking into a system and obtaining someones user and password, changing it and then accessing their files.I can see there is an art to it, although that hacking was like graffiti art .  It did show me however that the order exists andit can be mastered.

 Downloading the Webmin and acessing Ubuntu was pretty much without incident.  Following installation instructions has been far easier for me than compiling and excuting command lines, even when they are configured for me. I did grasp that you have to be the root user to make these changes and in Ubuntu we have to use sudo to become the root user.

 I think I just would have felt more comfortable  with my work this week if I could snap off a command line through a little more instinct and a lot less refering to my command charts.  But the truth is out and my life has been now separated between not knowing the command line exists/knowing it exists and I can’t really go back.  I still like the shiny new GUI but I just can’t shake what lies beneath.  I can’t resist looking.  Underneath is the truth, but maybe I just can’t handle the truth.

Life On The Island

On This Week’s Episode:

Gilligan’s wacky adventure into the configuration of his Island, forces him to enlist the help of The Professor and his other shipmates to once again get him out of his jam.  Hilarious high jinks and crufty command line capers.

I could have helped write the screenplay for the episode this week, heck I could have played Gilligan, (well maybe in some weird female/male role playing kind of way) what with all of the high jinks I encountered, (and what exactly is “high jinks”)?   I looked it up on my net book dictionary; high jinks, high jinx,; noisy and mischievous merrymaking.  Hmmn, not sure about the merry part, but the noisy and mischievous part, well, it all started with the text editor……… 

Actually, to make a way too long story short, I practiced the configuration commands as instructed, and I began to get comfortable with the command line.  Honestly, my mind has still not mastered the order, but fragmented pieces like the / use and (.) before a hidden file have stayed with me.   I was one of the castaways who had trouble loading the Vimtutor properly.  We kept ending up with those pesky ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ .  Finally, after exploring, and finding that there was no one else on the island with us, we searched farther and found a command that would let us in; vim/usr/share/vim/vim71/tutor/tutor.

Seeking out his guidance, we asked The Professor, and he agreed,  that we could indeed use this method, technically he said it wasn’t ideal, but it was acceptable and we really needed to get in because as you know, on the island, there’s always a group of crazed bead -wearing natives chasing after to you, so you have to stay on your game.         

Back to the high jinks. While trying several times to load and reload the vimtutor, out of nowhere, my monitor screen turned completely upside down.  Stunned, I caught my breath, and calmly closed out of everything feeling certain it would right itself on reboot.  Nope.  Still upside down.  So I searched the internet, from a completely different perspective, even clicking the mouse upside down presented new challenges, till I found a posting where someone explained how I could easily right the situation by right clicking the desktop> Graphic Options>Rotation>Normal.  Just like that.  It left me wondering, with all of the options we are offered, why would someone even have taken the time to write a program with the option of turning your screen 180 degrees. 

As far as priors, I’ve done some configurations on Windows in the past, like regedit and I’ve rewritten the hard disk and re-installed Windows after it became completely unmanageable, surprise. But it’s been pretty limited.  A quick lesson I learned practicing configuration this week was being careful typing.  I replaced a simple “s” with an “a”, and well, it just didn’t work.  And why should it?  It’s either right or wrong, I’m learning there’s not too much gray area on command lines.

            This week I also received a nice surprise that I had been waiting for.  I am completing this class on a PC with Vista and often I find myself tethered to this machine late at night when I would much rather be doing my readings laying down with my neck crimped on my bed.  And I wanted something that would fit in my purse.  On geeks.com I found the Alpha 400 MIPS 400MHz 128MB 1GB 7″ Ultralite Netbook  Linux .  http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=ALPHA-400&cat=NBB

For $169.99, I could download the class  readings by PDF, search the internet, print, watch videos and the operating system is came preloaded with was Linux.  If the Skipper had something like this aboard, they never would have been on that dang island so long.  Since I’m now officially a member of the Linux user group, I bought it, sight unseen. 

It’s been a treat exploring all of its programs, that up until several weeks ago I would have classified as “bootleg”.  The operating system is, of course Linux.  The web browser is called Bon Echo, the pdf reader is called ePDFView 0.1.6, the word processor is called AbiWord. It’s got a calendar, a dictionary, calculator and WiFI. The email server is Sylpheed 2.4.1 and the video online program is Linvideos.   It even comes with some cute games, Pengupop and Bitefusion.  The flash player is XIPTECH Flashplayer and images are managed with Gqview.  Without learning what I’ve learned from this class, I never would have considered purchasing such an odd machine.  Now I’m spending my free time wondering how I can get into the system and have a look around, without the GUI.  Its only 1 GB and the screen is only 7”, but I know there’s potential in there and maybe it’s the boat I’ll need to one day get off of this island.  Just kidding.  I like this island just fine and want stay here, at least another week. 

I did try to get to a terminal emulator by typing ALT F2, then F3, then F4, then F5, F6 and F7.  ALT F1 took me out of GUI and led me to a blank screen, but no command prompt, just a blank screen.  Disappointed and a still a little nervous because none of the ALT Fs took me back to the GUI, I had to restart.  Somehow I believe this little machine is going to play a bigger part in this class for me than just giving me an easier way to read reclining.  And I intend to find out.  If I could just get in there.  Maybe if I just try the hidden (GRUB) menu……..