"Student Underwhelm Me With Motivation" written by Paul on estrip.org

Category: school

11/30/05 11:03 - 33ºF - ID#32372

Student Underwhelm Me With Motivation

I can't understand why during the last week of school some of my students are grappling with the most basic features of web design. I can't believe that in Advanced Programming DMA 480, week 14 - I would have to teach anyone how to write basic HTML like a select list for a form. I can't even believe that I had to address such basic stuff at this point in their learning cycles. I would be embarassed to ask such trivial stuf at this point.

Have they not heard of google! Only a small handful of students ever looks anything up. No one buys books, and when they have a problem - such as a form not working - they simply wait a whole week until they see me instead of trying to figure it out.

I never got to any of the really cool stuff about advanced web deisgn because I spent the whole first half of the class dealing with fixing all the fossilized errors they learned in the past. It was the most disspointing teaching experience I ever had after tempreal. They basically came from a copy and paste mentality where they didn't really understand anything they were writing, just how to copy and paste stuff from other places. It led to all kinds of namespace errors and insanity. I still have students that are obsessed with procedural programming - they will never go anywhere with that.

I am glad I am moving on to a new place as I am so sick of living in the land of the remedial. Maybe I am just cranky in my old age but I worked a hell of a lot more as a student and a good half of my students don't try at all.

This one student Elizabeth is so great. So really knew almost nothing when she started and she tries very hard and learns very thoroughly. I think if she keeps practicing that she could really be good at it some day.

Permalink: Student_Underwhelm_Me_With_Motivation.html
Words: 335
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: programming

11/30/05 04:54 - 37ºF - ID#32371

So I couldn't sleep

I couldn't sleep with the hangman game not being done and the idea of a new cell phone in my head. After finishing the PHP backend, I finished the javascript front end of the game, now I just need to come up with a scoring system and rip a couple thousand words from the journal entries. At least I can now say, (e:hangman) will soon be available for your chat game pleasure.

I think it will be really fun to implement other multiplayer games. I might need the help of (e:shawnr) for this.

Permalink: So_I_couldn_t_sleep.html
Words: 95
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: estrip

11/30/05 03:41 - 38ºF - ID#32370

Soon you may have word games

Depending on how motivated I feel over the next few days you may have word games. I spent the entire evening progrmaming the backend of a sitewide hangman game which works off the journals.

It is the first game I am building around the surebert API

. Basically the game should be in a continuous state of play when you come to the site. People can guess the letters until they kill hangman or fill up the word. I haven't decided how scoring would work but somehow I am thinking about implementing a journal scoring system that counts for other things too. You can gain points by doing things like winning games, posting images, posting journal entries, inlinking, etc.

It gives me a reason to use all the code I had written for my color coordinated grading system now that I am no longer a professor.

Now hangman just needs some fancy graphics.

Permalink: Soon_you_may_have_word_games.html
Words: 159
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: mobile

11/29/05 09:18 - 44ºF - ID#32369

I think I found a mate

So after deciding that life cannot go on with the nokia's lame camera, and speaking with (e:chris) I decided that I might need a Sprint PPC 6700

The problem is that I am not sure if I want to go with sprint and that the phone really kind of ugly. I need to go check it our tomorrow.

At first I thought oh how lame that its a window mobile but then I realized that my whole life is about to goes windows style so why not just embrace it.

Permalink: I_think_I_found_a_mate.html
Words: 103
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: estrip

11/28/05 11:47 - 65ºF - ID#32368

The Server Has Risen

The server is almost ready for deployment. I had to take everything apart and upgrade. God, I hate my stupid camera phone it sucks so bad that I am going to have to buy a new one.

Permalink: The_Server_Has_Risen.html
Words: 41
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: walk

11/28/05 04:52 - 62ºF - ID#32367

TB shot for Paul

I took the subway to Roswell from Utica. I was the only person in the stop - it was freaky.

View toward south campus

View toward Downtown

I home from getting a TB shot at the place I will soon call work. I find it overly depressing at Roswell. I hope that where I work it will be slightly more isolated from the hospital portion because I think the sadness might overwhelm me otherwise.

I go my last TB shot and go in for the results on Wednesday. If I don't have TB, which I expect that I don't I will be all set to start work. Walking home from work only takes 20 minutes. I just go down Allen to Franklin and then straight down Linwood.

Although the trees are bare, it is so warm out. All the snow is gone and I didn't realy even need a jacket.

For some reason all of the businesses at the corner of Main and Allen are vacant including the corner store that was there.

I always wonder what this staircase went up to before it was the edge of a blacktop parking lot. The address was 295 Franklin maybe.

I wish my camera was no in 256 color mode!!

Permalink: TB_shot_for_Paul.html
Words: 220
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: food

11/27/05 07:06 - 43ºF - ID#32366

Kostas and the lamb racket

We ate the tasty fresh Calamari at Kostas again.

Has anyone else noticed that the price of rack of lamb has skyrocketted. It started at like $9.99 about 2 years ago and it seems like every other month it goes up. Even at Wegman's the raw price is way over $10.00. Tonight at Kostas it was $19.99, which is ridiculous for a not so fancy restaurant. I guess I did get a $55 rack at (e:mikes) gratuation party but that place was definately not a diner.

I got the turkey club in the end. Now that I completed the mobile XHTML version, I can write more again.

Permalink: Kostas_and_the_lamb_racket.html
Words: 105
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: shopping

11/27/05 05:50 - ID#32365

Buying Computers and fixing cars

(e:mike), (e:terry), (e:matthew) and I went shopping for a christmas computer for my parents and an imac for us. They ran out of imacs at crapusa so we ended up with the mac mini. For the parents we got an HP mini comp. Maybe now they can get DSL and actually get online.

For both computers it was so hard for me to buy a not cutting edge comp. It's amazing how cheap a non-server, non 3D graphics computers can be. I wanted to buy them one at Computers for Children but (e:mike) said no. He wanted new, namebrand, and warranty.

In the picture of our car, you can see the missing tire. Hopefully, the axel is all ok.

Has anyone noticed that Bestbuy super plaza on Niagara Falls Blvd is insane. I remember when I was a kid it was a field, now there are multiple football field sized stores and one of the largest parking lots in Buffalo.

Permalink: Buying_Computers_and_fixing_cars.html
Words: 172
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: estrip

11/26/05 09:36 - 29ºF - ID#32364

Serious Drama2

So I woke up today to discover that something I programmed back in 2003 broke which meant that all the journals got set back to 1969. It was horrible, luckily I had evertything backed up in various formats but I spent the entire day working on it. I got to fix up the old stuff to use the new format which is great but right now the next ten button is broken and it will just have to be that way because everyone will freak out on me if I don't stop now.

--update: If I had only checked my email earlier I would have seen that (e:twisted) had sent me a heads up about this way before I realized what was going on.

You've received email via www.elmwoodstrip.org

m(o_o)m

hey - the time stamp seems to show when the post was last modified instead of
originated. Your journal goes from 11/25 to 11/19 and back to 11/25. Looks like a
bunch of journals got "touched" on 11/25.

m(o_o)m

Permalink: Serious_Drama2.html
Words: 172
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: commercialism

11/26/05 03:42 - 22ºF - ID#32363

Google Ads

--update I removed them - time to go chill out

I decided to try out google ads on recommendation from (e:shawnr). He uses them for his site at

Personally, I hate the flamming comericalism of it and I think it does a really bad job targeting the ads. It is easy on his site because it is all about games and gaming systems, but on our it is really diverse and it doesn't seems smart enough yet. But seeing as he makes enought to pay for his hosting, I figure why not try it.

What is the point of targetted ads when you have targeted ads that are fake. Like this one from (e:leetee)'s journal where it choose cranberry sauce because of some mention of thansgiving.

Buit notice the ad is for ebay. Who the fuck buys cranberry sauce on ebay? Nobody - that is such a lame, fake ad. Why bother with targeted key word ads when they are just blantant ads for other things. Hoenstly, I would rather just see a glossy ad for ebay than a fake one for cranberry sauce on ebay.

Peeps that log in do not see them and as it is free to log in I see no point in feeling to guilty. I might just get rid of them either way, but seeing as not one signle person has donated in over 4 months - I am really sick of paying for it all myself. Although, I love the project and promise it will not go away ever - i just need to figure out some other means of support.

Soon enough we will be moving to the artvoice space. The server is all set up now, I am just waiting for the new mac ton arrive to replace it before I move it. I also cannot screw it all together right now becaus eit is in the tortoise room and its too cold for Basra when I open the closet that the server lives inside of.

If it picks out a few more god things then it's gone.