follow through

/EXISTENCE
Lately I've had a general desire to slack off when I get home from work. This comes from the fact that work is actually quite draining and the fact that I'm now working 40 hours a week. As much as I dislike working 40 hours a week, I know it is a necessary at this point while I look for other opportunities and pay off my school loans. But I can't help wish I had a bit more time for my own pursuits.

Those who know me might assume this purely involves gaming and as much as I love video games, this isn't entirely true. In truth I even have a lot of things outside of technology I wish to pursue. My "bucket list" if you will, has things on it like visiting Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, India, the Canary Islands, most of Europe, learning Japanese, living on another continent for a while, and even more things that I can't think of right now. It is an incredibly ambitious list and perhaps I should refine it a bit.

But admittedly I fall back on gaming and general slacking off most of the time. It doesn't help that a couple games I've been looking forward to recently came out (Borderlands 2 and Torchlight II) and several more are coming out in the next few months (Okami HD and The Banner Saga). There are 3 more that I have no idea when they are released coming as well that I have already invested in (Double Fine Adventure, Wasteland 2, & Auditorium Duet) or just have a general love for (another Ratchet & Clank game).

/TECH
It is honestly hard for me to pry myself away from the distraction of gaming. But there are a few things that have managed to capture my attention away: namely working on Doppelganger and getting new things set up. In fact just this evening I finally decided I would attempt to set up a media server using Ubuntu Linux and Plex Media Server. And to my great surprise it was pretty easy. After creating a new container, it was a short process of adding another source to the sources list, updating apt-get, and installing "plexmediaserver" with all of it's dependencies. Not much longer after that I had Samba working and some files transferring to test it out.

I'm pleased to announce, it worked fantastic. Not only is Plex Media Server easy to install, it detected the files I uploaded easily, downloaded artwork for the TV show, and even played the theme song while I was choosing the episode I wanted to watch. I experienced this using the Plex Media Center client which was equally easy to install and use.

/PHILOSOPHY
So I watched a couple episodes of Top Gear tonight and as I was watching their star in a reasonably priced car go around the track, I thought about one of the parts of the lap: the follow through. If you haven't seen the show, the follow through is a section of the lap where the driver is supposed to keep the gas pedal to the floor. And it's made me think about how I should approach my bucket list. Is it wise to go flat out through life, the universe, and everything? I think I have that answer in my sign off. So...

Until next time:
Work hard. Play harder.

drive

/PHILOSOPHY
As I started writing this entry I realized that my previously defined "tags" were insufficient. This entry is more about making it through higher education, but isn't really one existential tangents. So pay attention to the headings I put on these and you'll have a better idea of what I'm talking about. I should probably use the labels feature of Blogger as well.


The final stretch to my BA in Computer Science is upon me and I can't find words to state how relieved I am to have it within arms reach. That being said, I'm sure on some level I will miss the it after all is said and done.


Though I've always messed with computers--playing, breaking, fixing, building--I never programmed anything until I started my university program here at Whitworth University. With so much computer background yet no programming, my adviser questioned if I should skip Programming 1 or not. I didn't and though parts of the class were boring, it was good for me. Fast forward through my introduction to programming with C++ to now. I've now learned the skills for picking up any programming language and have played with SQL, C#, and Google Go just to name a few. I wrote a research paper on long data sectors in hard disk design, designed a CPU, and managed several projects.


So what does it all mean? Well, it means I earned a really expensive piece of paper that says I know stuff about computers. That I waded through all the bureaucratic crap while trying to glean some knowledge from my professors and the authors of my textbooks. It is a moment of triumph as I declare that I do actually know stuff and that this expensive piece of paper proves it. That I'm worth it.


Remember that. The most important part of your degree is that you're worth every penny you ask of your employer. And if you prove it, your employer will want to keep you when an end is in sight. It's why I'm able to continue working at the same job for another year after graduation but as a full-time employee instead of a student employee. But I won't put everything on my degree. It was really my drive to tinker and do good work that earned me respect.


And I will forever tinker with technology--playing, breaking, fixing, building. It's just in me and I have to follow that desire or I fall into a slump feeling useless. So though I come to an end of this educational degree, I'll keep doing the things I love.


I'm also looking forward to taking a vacation after graduation. It's time to reset. Next time we talk tech and hopefully get Doppelgänger running.