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tcpip- CCNA studies are going very well. I've completed all of semester one and I'm well into semester two. I now know that there is such a thing as an Optical Time Domain Reflectometer, what it does and I want one<. Interestingly since being "expelled" from the RMIT course my practise module test marks have gone up by between 10 and 15 percent (i.e., to 85-90%). Go figure.
- Apropros the above, RMIT have had stern words with the lecturer in question and the student union have offered to help out as well. They've offered me my place back, but it's all a bit too late really, seeming that they're still getting their head around module four or five of the first semester. I'm asking for a full refund of monies.
- Thinking about further vendor-specific qualifications post-Cisco, post-Certificate in Small Business Management. Oracle Certified Professional, Sun Certified Java programmer, Red Hat Certified Engineer come to mind. Thoughts?
- Spoke to my supervisor today (finally). "It's all there", were his words concerning about my PhD. He seems convinced that I'll receive said degree by Xmas - very nice! The conclusion needs to find its way to the introduction and my spelling, grammar, footnoting needs to be tightened up, but I knew that.
- Brisbane next week! Can't wait to meet all the el-jay Brissie people (oh, yeah, and the SAGE conference where I'm giving a paper).
- Have joined Linux Users of Victoria and Safari books. About time for both of them.
- Service at the Unitarians went very well, if everyone else's comments are to be believed. Speaker was from the Kew Cottages Association. My reading was from Richard Gilbert's sermon on aging and the worth of life.
- Two extremely pleasant distractions this week have helping out![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
frou_frou set up her vintage clothing shop, Circa - and of course, taking the opportunity to say hello to horngirl, drzero and catwitch. The second was being a bunny for paula_angela as she took some photos of me all over town. Like all any talented artists she's managed to make me look better than I really am, and will pick one of the many el-jay icons she has created.
- Apropros the above, RMIT have had stern words with the lecturer in question and the student union have offered to help out as well. They've offered me my place back, but it's all a bit too late really, seeming that they're still getting their head around module four or five of the first semester. I'm asking for a full refund of monies.
- Thinking about further vendor-specific qualifications post-Cisco, post-Certificate in Small Business Management. Oracle Certified Professional, Sun Certified Java programmer, Red Hat Certified Engineer come to mind. Thoughts?
- Spoke to my supervisor today (finally). "It's all there", were his words concerning about my PhD. He seems convinced that I'll receive said degree by Xmas - very nice! The conclusion needs to find its way to the introduction and my spelling, grammar, footnoting needs to be tightened up, but I knew that.
- Brisbane next week! Can't wait to meet all the el-jay Brissie people (oh, yeah, and the SAGE conference where I'm giving a paper).
- Have joined Linux Users of Victoria and Safari books. About time for both of them.
- Service at the Unitarians went very well, if everyone else's comments are to be believed. Speaker was from the Kew Cottages Association. My reading was from Richard Gilbert's sermon on aging and the worth of life.
- Two extremely pleasant distractions this week have helping out
frou_frou set up her vintage clothing shop, Circa - and of course, taking the opportunity to say hello to horngirl, drzero and catwitch. The second was being a bunny for paula_angela as she took some photos of me all over town. Like all any talented artists she's managed to make me look better than I really am, and will pick one of the many el-jay icons she has created.![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2004-08-11 12:47 am (UTC)goddamn video games are really rotting my brain. but...they're just so much damn fun. i have a soft spot for anything fantasy.
but anyways, good to know there are people doing lots of stuff. i go back to school soon and i will be doing lots too. go us!
no subject
Date: 2004-08-11 03:01 pm (UTC)Nah, I'm not that smart. Just spent most of my life at uni... After almost twenty years it starts to pay off.. ;-)
You've a pretty damn sharp mind yourself. I was very impressed when you took the anarchists to task over the reform vs revolution debate and the way you used the metaphor in their faq against them was brilliant!
I must confess I was really surprised when I found out you were still at school. You're a lot smatter than you give yourself credit for.
And yeah, I have a soft spot for games as well.. My colleagues will vouch for the many hours I've spent doing computer-based and tabletop roleplaying...
no subject
Date: 2004-08-11 03:20 pm (UTC)yea i'm smart, i gotta start reading again. i've never been one to enjoy or do homework so the stress of all those thousands of pages of reading for school got to me and burnt me out. when you stop reading it's almost like you can feel your brain get a little slower, heh.
i'm going live action role playing with some friends this weekend, it's in a forest and everything! heh heh being a nerd rules!
no subject
Date: 2004-08-11 03:31 pm (UTC)"What did you do on the weekend?"
Exhibit A: I went to see a ballgame. There were 40,000 people jammed into a small stadium. Mostly abusive and drunk. You couldn't see a thing. The hotdog bread was stale and the dog tasted like it made from rubber. I think the sauce was melted plastic.
Exhibit B: Ran through the forest with several friends in the dead of night pretending we were auditioning for Blair Witch IV. Found a beam of pure light at dawn, picked up and was transported to the land of the Faery where I met a hobbit riding a unicorn.
Then I took some peyote. ;-)
Yep, being a nerd rules.
no subject
Date: 2004-08-11 06:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-11 03:25 am (UTC)Never had the chance to play with an OTDR myself either, but I always figured it was one of those things that the cabling companies owned and used on your behalf.
Wish I could make it to SAGE one of these days.
no subject
Date: 2004-08-11 04:53 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-11 02:54 pm (UTC)You're quite right in that regard. I'm planning to take the Cisco qualifications all the way to the top, but over an 18 month-2 year period. So CCNP next year and hopefully by the time that's completed I'll have a clue about what part of CCIE I want to specialize in.
At the moment I'm thinking Voice over IP.
no subject
Date: 2004-08-11 02:57 pm (UTC)Agree with you about piling on the Cisco certs as a general direction, but thought I'd pick up one or two non-network related certs as well. Probably Oracle because I know SQL like the back of my hand and have copies of the course material and a lite version of the program anyway.
My first thought about OTDRs were "I bet they're expensive". Still, it does have a rather Dr. Who type quality about it. In fact, compared to his Sonic Screwdriver...
Perhaps SAGE could have its next national conference in Perth ;-)
Oh, did I mention I may end up on their committee of management?
no subject
Date: 2004-08-11 06:54 am (UTC)Also, welcome to LUV. :)
no subject
Date: 2004-08-11 02:51 pm (UTC)Ah, yes, there's a whole lot of luv around ;-)
I noticed the LCA on the list. Whose in charge of it?
no subject
Date: 2004-08-13 12:53 am (UTC)I nearly got nominated to the committee by two different people at last week's AGM, but let them know that I was already doing too many different things.
no subject
Date: 2004-08-13 03:11 pm (UTC)*nods* I think you will see me at a LUV meeting... I need to upgrade my Mandrake ;-)
But on other committee related news, it looks like I'm about to be nominated on the SAGE-AU committee...
Heh. Can't keep out of it.
no subject
Date: 2004-08-13 10:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-14 06:58 pm (UTC)Ah, my friend... A sentence is a statement and a paragraph is a function... And I shouldn't use global variables which may be confused with other variables....
I was referring to the certifications ;-)
Whooohoo!
Date: 2004-08-11 08:08 am (UTC)w00t! w00t!
Feesch
Re: Whooohoo!
Date: 2004-08-11 02:50 pm (UTC)So shall we all catch up Wednesday night, Saturday day or both?
Re: Whooohoo!
Date: 2004-08-11 06:07 pm (UTC)No idea what to expect - hope to be surprised :)
Re: Whooohoo!
Date: 2004-08-12 03:05 am (UTC)The Lonely Planet guide gives a pretty good 'Brisbane in two days' itinery (yes, I know, we'll be there for four)... I rather fancy taking what appears to be a very silly little ferry up and down the numerous stops it makes along the Brisbane river... But I suspect that won't take more than an hour!
Re: Whooohoo!
Date: 2004-08-12 12:37 am (UTC)Moo!
Feesch
Re: Whooohoo!
Date: 2004-08-12 01:12 am (UTC)OK, round up the troops. Caxton Hotel, Wednesday, 6pm...
w00t!
Re: Whooohoo!
Date: 2004-08-12 05:05 am (UTC)Re: Whooohoo!
Date: 2004-08-12 05:43 am (UTC)Hey, if you know of a better place, shoot...
We're staying at the Banana Benders Backpackers (because we're that classy and it's all my employer will allow me*) and it was the closest place that registered on the Lonely Planet map.
* I'm self-employed.
Re: Whooohoo!
Date: 2004-08-12 05:55 am (UTC)The Caxton's not bad. Just not good. I'm sure Feesch et al will lead y'all astray admirably.
So I'll see/meet ye on Friday night?
Re: Whooohoo!
Date: 2004-08-12 03:43 pm (UTC)Wednesday night, not Friday... I'll have to attend the SAGE-AU conference 'wind down' on Friday... But maybe that will end early...
And we have all day Saturday free as well....
Re: Whooohoo!
Date: 2004-08-12 07:16 pm (UTC)Re: Whooohoo!
Date: 2004-08-12 09:51 pm (UTC)Oh yes, of course... For some unknown reason I thought you were referring to next week....
Re: Whooohoo!
Date: 2004-08-12 11:05 pm (UTC)Re: Whooohoo!
Date: 2004-08-13 12:35 am (UTC)Watch out for that doomydoombear though!
She is a little minx! Cute but a minx :P
are you reading this Doomy?
Feesch
Re: Whooohoo!
Date: 2004-08-13 03:15 pm (UTC)n.
1. A girl or young woman who is considered pert, flirtatious, or impudent.
2. Obsolete. A promiscuous woman.
Hmmm... Sounds like Mae West...
Right, so it's you, the bear of doom, the green elf, dr redfern and on a completely different friends tangent ktwoopi...
Re: Whooohoo!
Date: 2004-08-13 05:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-13 10:18 pm (UTC)Congrats on the PhD!
no subject
Date: 2004-08-14 05:53 pm (UTC)Hmmmm... Although part of the reason I've decided to get some vendor qualifications is simply 'stiff bits of cardboard that indicate proof'...
All in all, I think it will be Cisco, Oracle, Sun, then back to Cisco....
Yeah, PhD... damn that's nice..
no subject
Date: 2004-08-14 02:18 pm (UTC)Good luck with the CCNA, I've just started it myself - part of a CSU masters course. Sounds like you won't have any troubles with it :)
Cheers,
Max.
no subject
Date: 2004-08-14 05:39 pm (UTC)The only abilities I have the energy regards is
a) A surprisingly ability to cram when the need arises.
b) A rather clear-headed set of motivations.
Combined it means that I don't have much time for popular culture, which is definitely my weak point...
Good luck with the CCNA... Subnetting! You'll need to know it backwards.. (and I'm not joking, backwards is a good way to learn it)...