home stretch

Working in the Informatics building from 5PM-3AM -- Cost: 4 hours of sleep
Writing a last minute philosophy paper from 3AM-6AM -- Cost: 3 hours of sleep

Knowing that I will never have to do this EVER again -- PRICELESS!!

Music

Dr. Siegel's class strikes again!

Today we held class in a local church that has a great pipe organ. The lesson was on Music Informatics and how music can be designed. It was absolutely wonderful to hear real, live, non-digital music for a change. I could feel the music...it was like it was surrounding me.

Classes like this make me want to continue to graduate school, but the real world is calling my name louder than ever.

GO Informatics GO!!

The Indiana University School of Informatics has just launched a cybersecurity program. Check it out at:
http://security.informatics.indiana.edu/

I'm FREE!!

As of today, I am officially free from credit card debt. I have met my goal of paying it off before graduation!

Now for that little matter of all of those student loans....

Home

I just got home and my family had our special recipe fudge ready for enjoyment. I love the holidays.

On Security and Platform Wars

Anyone who has been following the tech industry for any amount of time knows that there is a platform war going on between Microsoft Windows and Apple's Macintosh Operating System. I have read article after article debating the merits of either one, and bashing the other, proclaiming the eventual death of one of the systems. Many times an author will proclaim "Macs are safer to use, but only because nobody uses them and it is only a matter of time before Macs get viruses because of all of the bugs in the OS".

I consider this statement to be complete and utter crap.

First of all, I agree that software is incredibly complex. I agree that no OS is completely bug free. I agree that Apple has a very small market share.

How can authors, many of whom have little technical experience, explain why there are no viruses for Mac OS X? They either use the small market share argument or the "it's only a matter of time" argument. Does anyone really even know why viruses are written? Some people say they are written for bragging rights within the hacker community. Some people assert that virus writers actually make money from companies. The truth is, nobody knows for sure.

From my observations since the release of Windows XP, and Mac OS X, I have come to the following conclusions.

1. Microsoft is a victim of their own success. They have nowhere to grow, and due to their size, true innovation is not possible without losing customers and revenue. Windows XP has been a disaster when it comes to consumer confidence. As a customer of mine put it "Windows XP is like an abusive relationship. You know it's bad and you need to get out, but you keep going back because it is familiar and comfortable".

2. Apple has an amazingly bright future. Apple has proven time and time again that it is a very nimble company that keeps cranking out amazing products. When the iPod came out, all of the "experts" proclaimed "Nobody is going to pay 400-500 dollars for an MP3 player!". Apple proved them wrong. The "experts" doubted Apple's retail store initiative because of Gateway's failure. Apple proved them wrong. The "experts" at one time said that Apple would best serve it's investors by closing it's doors and giving it's shareholders' money back. Apple proved them wrong...in a big way. Does anyone else see a pattern here?

For the grand finale.... Look at Windows Vista. The successor to Windows XP. If you look at the published features you will find that most of them, if not all, already exist in Mac OS X today. If recent history gives any sort of insight to the future, you will see more of Microsoft copying Apple, and Microsoft's new OS will be a collection of features that may or may not work well.

The next 2-3 years should be very interesting. I will be watching the situation very closely.

simply amazing

http://www.rocketboom.com/video/extra/unknown/house_lightsx.mov

VOOM!!

The amazing Dr. Siegel is forcing me to develop wisdom by reading The Cat in the Hat comes back to the class. I was left contemplating the meaning of VOOM.

More details later...I have a headache thinking aobut it.....

Lost and found

The iPod nano is definitely my favorite iPod so far. It's smallness is amazing, but it caused a bit of heartache this weekend. When I came back from my interviews in Louisville, I thought I had lost the iPod. It turns out that it found it's way into a very tiny pocket in my backpack that I didn't even know existed.

Oh well...I found it and life is good again!

The marathon

12 interviews...6 hours. Man I hope I get a job after all of that.

That's my saturday.

Path, Meet Mike...

I have been thinking about this "life" thing all wrong. I have been thinking (and writing) like I am looking forward to starting this path to my future. As Dr. Siegel so wisely pointed out, I am already on the path to my future. The journey has already started. I guess I spent so much time worrying about the details of the journey that I didn't realize that I was already on it.

I am interviewing with two companies primarily, so I guess all I can do is give my best interviews and see what shakes out. Wish me luck!

Inspired Confusion

In Dr Siegel's Human Computer Interaction Design course, he is showing a documentary called "The Journey". It is about this guy who graduated from college, but was searching for purpose, so he started traveling around the country interviewing leaders in government and industry. He gathers all of this advice from incredibly notable people and decides that he wants to get it on TV. The story is great, and every time I watch a segment, it leaves me in a state of Inspired Confusion. I feel like I need to do something, but I know I am not going to copy the guy in the video.

I can't remember who said it, but "Once you start copying something, you have already set yourself up for failure". I really take this to heart. This semester has been all about designing my own future and figuring out what I have set myself up for. I definitely have not followed the standard formula of "take the classes, get the grades, and get out." I have really made this university experience my own. I have 4 weeks of class left. I still don't know which company I will start out with, but I am OK with that. In the documentary, the guys who were driving sometimes didn't know where they were going. All they knew was that they were moving. I guess that is the state I am in right now.

Wild Weather

It's mid-november and we have had two tornado warnings in one day, and a forcast of snow flurries tomorrow. I love Indiana!

What am I doing?

Now that I realize that my graduation and the start of the rest of my life is coming, and I can't do anything to stop it, I am asking myself "what am I doing with my life?"

I have a cutting edge technology degree, a supportive family, and great job prospects. I should be perfectly happy. I wonder if I am meant to do more with my life than get a job and start a career after school. I need to do something daring. Something foolish that nobody expects. I need to enrich my life.

Does this mean that I need to drive across the country for a few months? Backpack across Europe? Follow the Grateful Dead!?? I don't know what my adventure will be, but I have a feeling that I need to take it.

Scary driving

Today, while driving in Northwest Indiana on I-80/94, I had an extremely scary experience.

I was driving on the highway in congested traffic when a truck got blown into my lane (we had very windy weather that day) and as I was trying to get out of the way, I lost control, spun completely around, and finally came to rest in the right hand lane. As I was spinning, I stared directly into the headlights of a big rig that was behind me. At that moment, I realized that all of my worry about my future, moving, getting a new job, etc. really didn't matter. I am not in control anymore. I just need to let things happen and have faith that everything will be OK.

Pride

Today I am really proud of my younger brother Rich. He is graduating High School soon, so we made a college visit to Calumet College of St. Joseph http://www.ccsj.edu . He has never been one to want to go to college, but during this visit, I think he was inspired by the people at CCSJ. The faculty and staff there are warm and inviting and very proud of their institution. I think they represent all of the smallness and personal attention I wish I had received at IU. At any rate, he has already made a few friends (including the admissions director!), and I think it would be perfect for him.

Now we look forward to Monday, when he turns 18 years old (yikes!!). Sometimes I forget he is not 10 years old anymore. If anyone wants to send him a birthday wish, email rvsass aol.com .

BAD Sony!!

Nobody should trust Sony music CDs anymore. According to multiple reports, Sony's new music CDs will actually install files onto your Mac or PC to prevent you from doing anything with the music you just PURCHASED. I don't know what these files will do, or what they will track. Bottom line? I don't want sony to install ANYTHING on my Mac.

Why don't they just swallow their pride and go with what works (aka iTunes)? Instead they practically monitor us like felons when we just want to listen to music. It makes me sick.

BOYCOTT SONY!!!

Here we go...

I just picked up my Cap, gown, and tassel for graduation in December. Wow...this is getting real.

Online Services

I thought that the purposes of buying new systems and providing things online was to increase availability. Apparently IU doesn't quite get that. Even though we have spend millions of dollars on a new Student Information System from Peoplesoft, the system still closes down at 11:30PM. It just doesn't make sense.

Universities - Experts at wasting money.