THe site has undergone some serious changes in the past three days. Most notably is that what once was here is no longer. I’ve decided that I could do everything that I had coded myself using wordpress pages. The only thing that I haven’t figured out yet is a static front page, which is now a feature in WordPress, but I don’t like the way it works, so I’m not using it for the time being.

As for things that people normally don’t see about the site, there have been some changes as well. I deleted two subdomains that weren’t getting any use, as well as the subdomain that used to be home to my blog. I redid my photo album as well, and while the themes are the same, the two are not integrated…which means that I need to remember two sets of users/passwords, and anyone that wants to comment on both the blog and the photos has to register twice :/ I looked for something that would bridge the two systems together, and found something, but it was made for outdated versions of both peieces of software that run the site. Also, the site used almost 200 MB transfering files this month, an almost 100% increase over last month. I only hope that this increase continues. I really would love to use 500MB a month, but for a site with as small a purpose and potential visitor base as I have, I would have to write one amazing entry to get that traffic.

Stay tuned, as I plan on implementing more changes in February.

Well, the first week of classes has come and gone, and tomorrow starts week 2. This past week really flew by; the semester will be over before I know it. All in all it was a pretty good week. Let’s review, shall we?

CSC 110: Programming and Problem solving. This is my first programming class since I took C++ in either 10th or 11th grade. Well, this time I’m learning Java, but the concepts are all the same. From what we’ve learned in class so far, plus what I remember from C++ and have read in the book, I’ve been able to do the first four programming labs outside of class, and they all work correctly. OK, so I had a few bugs at first, but I was able to get them all resolved on my own.

CSC 205: Discrete Mathematics. This seems like it’s going to be more about logic than anything else. One of the prerequisites for this was CSC110, but hey, when your advisor for the major is the department head and he tells you what to sign up for, you just do whatever he says. The fact that I’m starting this program 3 semesters into college puts me behind the rest of my class, and he knows what I’m going to need to take if I want to get the program done on time. Same professor for this as for CSC 110, so I get to see him everyday, which will be useful if I have a question to ask about one class on the day I don’t have it and I can just ask it after the other class.

CJ 243: Investigative Techniques. This seems like a class I will enjoy. The professor teaching it has worked at the state forensics lab for longer than I’ve been alive, and before that, she worked with the guy that started the lab while he taught at a local college. So I think she’s pretty qualified to teach. This is probably the only night class I’m taking that won’t bore me.

MU 130: Understanding Music. I hate stupid core requirements like this one. How will I possible ever use this in a real life situation. I like to listen to music in my free time to help me relax. Not listen to music because I’m being told to. This is going to be a tough night class to pay attention in.

EC 112: Principles of Macroeconomics: I did OK in microeconomics, so this should be ok too. Except it is a night class, and the material can be pretty dry at times. Oh well, at least this one will be relevent, since the economy effects everyone, everyday.

PO 101: Introduction to Political Science. *Sigh*, another boring class that I’m only taking because it solves a core curriculum requirement. I could really care less about politics. On IRC, this person quit message is Politicians and diapers need to be changed often, and for the same reason. Is that ever true…but that is another topic on my never ending “to post” list.

Well, that’s all I wanted to blog about for now. There have been a lot of changes to the way my site is, and I want to post about that when I have finished changing it around and everything is set.

Mandy in #mandy (and several other channels) on WyldRyde

[01:55:43] * Ryan np: The Lovin Spoonful - Do You Believe in Magic [02:06m/112Kbps/44KHz/MP3]

Winter break is coming to a close, and that means the spring semester is right around the corner. I’m taking 6 classes this semester for a total of 19 credits. That doesn’t seem all that bad, but compared to previous semesters when I was in class for 15 hours the entire week, I’m in class for 15 hours on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. So I figure that I can get a part time job at one of the shpping complexes and work ~20 hours a week. I could probably work more, but since I don’t have that much time Tue-Thurs, it would be tough.

This is the first time taking any course for the computer science, so it should be interesting. These are the classes I’m taking this semester

CSC 205 - Discrete Mathematics
CSC 110 - Programming & Problem Solving
PO 101 - Introduction to Political Science
MU 130 - Understanding Music
EC 112 - Principles of Macroeconomics
CJ 243 - Investigative Techniques

After this semester, I will have completed 7 out of 9 sections of the university’s core curriculum, with about 25% of the criminal justice program done. With doing the dual-major criminal justice / computer science, some of the courss I take for CSC will count as the 9 credits I need for courses that are 300 level for the CJ degree, and vice-versa.

All in all, this should be a challenging semester, but I will be half way through college. With the way the past three semesters have flown by, I’ll be graduating before I know it.

So, last night I had some fun. Went shopping with one friend, and then we got Chinese food, went to my house and watched a movie, then picked up another friend when she got home and then went to wal-mart for a bit before going back to my house to watch “Dawn of the Dead”.

After they had left, my only thought consisted of

[00:53:50] * Ryan sighs
[00:54:12] [Ryan] why must the 2 girls I feel most comfortable with have boyfriends :/

I think that part of the reason I don’t have a girlfriend (besides the fact that I don’t have any money, or really any time to have one) is that it takes me a while to get to the point where I feel comfortable with someone to go out with them. I’ve known one of the friends for almost 5 or 6 years now, and have known the other for about 4. I would trust either of them with my life.

So why don’t I go out with one of them? Well, like I mentioned, they already have boyfriends, so that pretty much stops it there. But even if they didn’t have boyfriends, it would be a bit weird if I did go out with either of them, since I am such good friends with them that it is almost like they are my sibling rather than a friend.

Bleh :/

I saw this article on Yahoo! and knew that I had to write about it since common sense warnings that came from lawsuits are something I don’t agree with. Links: HTML · PDF.

The Michigan Lawsuit Abuse Watch held a contest for the wackiest warnings found on every day items. The winning item read “DO NOT put any person in this washer”.

Other top warnings included

Second place went to a warning on a personal watercraft that said, “Never use a lit match or open flame to check fuel level.”

There was a tie for third place between a statement on a Super Lotto ticket that said, “Do not iron,” and a warning on a cell phone that said, “Don’t try to dry your phone in a microwave oven.”

Honorable mention went to a telephone directory with the cover statement, “Please do not use this directory while operating a moving vehicle.”

Now, to the common person, these warnings are common sense. Even most 10-12 year olds know that they should not do the things that these labels are warning against. These warnings are not meant to save us from ourselves, they are meant to protect companies from lawsuits. Lawsuits that should not even be entertained in the already taxed court system.

Coffee is hot. Even my eight year old sister knows this. Yet there is a warning on most coffee cups from fast food chains stating this. Why? Because some lady spilt her coffee on herself and sued the chain that she purchased the coffee from. Every month, dozens of these lawsuits are filed, tying up resources that could be used to try serious crimes such as murders and the more serious thefts. Instead, these suits end up getting resolved out of court for thousands, if not millions of dollars. And not only does the company that gets sued pays, but all consumers that use that company’s product pay, as prices will increase as a result of the settlement.

According to the Center for Justice and Democracy, a group fighting legislation to limit the right to sue:

“Often, it is only through lawsuits brought by injured consumers that manufacturers have been forced to place critical warning labels on dangerous products, saving millions of lives and preventing innumerable injuries,”

What ever happened to having common sense and keeping an eye on your children? If people and parents did that, then we would not have as much of a need for these warning labels.

The court system needs to stop entertaining these lawsuits, and the legistlature needs to address this issue by allowing courts to summarily dismiss thhese suits, and then passing legislation preventing them from being filed.

I have updated the software this blog runs off of to the latest version, 2.0.6.

Here’s what’s new:

* Important security fixes.
* HTML quicktags now work in Safari browsers.
* Comments are filtered to prevent them from messing up your blog layout.
* Compatibility with PHP/FastCGI setups.

View the WordPress announcement about Version 2.0.6

I like that they will be updating the 2.0 line for a few more years. While I expect WP 2.1 to be released by the end of February, I won’t be updating to it here. One of the important plugins I use probably hasn’t bee updated, and I need it to work. HackThePlanet will be upgraded to WP 2.1 when it is released, as I don’t use any plugins there. I just hope that I can find a theme that I like when it is out.