Wotan must be my enemy
Dec. 1st, 2005 11:35 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tcpipBecause Wotan's Day surely sucked.
Following a successful evening of Ars Magica gaming at the Vault Cafe at RMIT (nice location), I entered into an email debate the following day with our StoryGuide,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
jimboboz. He was of the opinion that we would be changing to the 5th edition of the game, despite the fact we all have access to the 4th edition rules (free pdfs) and have multiple copies of the printed version. He seemed to think that I because I had expressed issues with the 4th edition (heck, I express issues with all roleplaying games), therefore I wanted to move to 5th. He took some convincing that this was not the case.
That afternoon I crammed for the CCNA Semester 2 prac exam, even to the point of building a nice little virtual corporate network with a DMZ and webserver hanging off it and with a number of Access Control Lists to protect against private IP spoofing and internal attacks. Not bad for an afternoon's work really.
The I walked into the exam, looked at the 20 sequential questions and promptly forget entirely how to do a necessary semester 1 task which I have known for about three years now; subnetting. I don't know what it was; my mind just went completely blank (well, almost - I worked out the subnet mask). The fact that the questions were sequential meant that I couldn't progress any further.
So I walked out, handing in a near blank paper, got home and proceeded to successfully get drunk.
At least I can get that right; and today I'm skipping work.
The subnet in question (like all subnetting questions really) was easy. Heck, I usually do the damn things in my head. I have appropriately recorded how stupidly easy the example was so if I ever feel like a smart-arse, I'll just look at this and remind myself that I can be, at times, a complete idiot (not to mention a total shame to my username).
The practical upshot of all this is uncertain. I've just checked my CCNA grade sheet and it's given me a final mark of 87% for semester 2. Whether or not I have to do the prac again, or they'll ignore it and let me take semester 3 next year or redo semester 2 (worse case scenario), is uncertain.
I feel depressed, embarrassed, stupid and weird.
Following a successful evening of Ars Magica gaming at the Vault Cafe at RMIT (nice location), I entered into an email debate the following day with our StoryGuide,
jimboboz. He was of the opinion that we would be changing to the 5th edition of the game, despite the fact we all have access to the 4th edition rules (free pdfs) and have multiple copies of the printed version. He seemed to think that I because I had expressed issues with the 4th edition (heck, I express issues with all roleplaying games), therefore I wanted to move to 5th. He took some convincing that this was not the case.That afternoon I crammed for the CCNA Semester 2 prac exam, even to the point of building a nice little virtual corporate network with a DMZ and webserver hanging off it and with a number of Access Control Lists to protect against private IP spoofing and internal attacks. Not bad for an afternoon's work really.
The I walked into the exam, looked at the 20 sequential questions and promptly forget entirely how to do a necessary semester 1 task which I have known for about three years now; subnetting. I don't know what it was; my mind just went completely blank (well, almost - I worked out the subnet mask). The fact that the questions were sequential meant that I couldn't progress any further.
So I walked out, handing in a near blank paper, got home and proceeded to successfully get drunk.
At least I can get that right; and today I'm skipping work.
The subnet in question (like all subnetting questions really) was easy. Heck, I usually do the damn things in my head. I have appropriately recorded how stupidly easy the example was so if I ever feel like a smart-arse, I'll just look at this and remind myself that I can be, at times, a complete idiot (not to mention a total shame to my username).
The practical upshot of all this is uncertain. I've just checked my CCNA grade sheet and it's given me a final mark of 87% for semester 2. Whether or not I have to do the prac again, or they'll ignore it and let me take semester 3 next year or redo semester 2 (worse case scenario), is uncertain.
I feel depressed, embarrassed, stupid and weird.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2005-11-30 04:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-30 05:14 pm (UTC)Well, I think the message in that dream is pretty clear!
The thing I've always loathed about closed-book exams is that the conditions are not realistic. If you have a mental blank the real world almost invariably you have the opportunity to pull a book of the shelf, slap your forehead and discover the answer.
Closed-book exams simulate the ability to cram and forget.
no subject
Date: 2005-11-30 05:24 pm (UTC)The people able to rattle off all the detail for a particular OS or whatever from memory tend to be the most brittle out in the field too (unless they're rare/lucky enough to have photographic memory). Anything outside what they've been taught by rote and they're lost because they don't have the ability to search for information or construct their own solution.
no subject
Date: 2005-11-30 05:55 pm (UTC)They are different skills. I give some credibility to testing a person's ability to engage in closed-book exam-like conditions, but they certainly shouldn't be a significant test. Perhaps 1/20th of a total grade should depend on such things, if that.
no subject
Date: 2005-11-30 06:47 pm (UTC)Even worse is when a lecturer/trainer is saying "This is what you need to say to pass the exam but don't do that in the real world, do this instead. It works better and gets round a security issue"
no subject
Date: 2005-11-30 07:07 pm (UTC)Experts Exchange is a very good source; have used that more than a few times.
*nods* to the other matter as well. I knew I was on a bad path when my first CCNA instructer started the first lecture with the words "There are two ways that things work in the world. The real way and Cisco's way. You need to know Cisco's way".
no subject
Date: 2005-11-30 07:42 pm (UTC)That's still an awesome speech.
Sounds like the start of a war movie.
no subject
Date: 2005-11-30 07:47 pm (UTC)You've just given me an entirely new outlook on the subject.
I like war.
(Or rather I like the psychology and strategy of war. Real wars suck.)
no subject
Date: 2005-11-30 09:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-30 09:56 pm (UTC)The art of war is simple enough. Find out where your enemy is. Get at him as soon as you can. Strike him as hard as you can, and keep moving.
(Ulysses S. Grant)
no subject
Date: 2005-12-01 06:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-12-01 01:12 pm (UTC);-) The Feesch attacks with the full force of a school!
no subject
Date: 2005-11-30 06:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-30 07:09 pm (UTC)Thanks darlin'... I think I may need it.
no subject
Date: 2005-11-30 06:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-30 07:08 pm (UTC)Well, if that's what's necessary I'll do it... But what is this cryptic reference?
no subject
Date: 2005-11-30 07:17 pm (UTC)The evil computer was called WOTAN.
It was essentially the Internet in 1966.
no subject
Date: 2005-11-30 07:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-30 07:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-30 07:49 pm (UTC)Ahhh... Now the pieces fall into place.
no subject
Date: 2005-11-30 07:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-30 07:01 pm (UTC)hahahahahaha
no subject
Date: 2005-11-30 07:05 pm (UTC)I retain my sense of self-deprecation and irony.
no subject
Date: 2005-11-30 07:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-12-01 06:30 am (UTC)Dont feel bad. Just think of it as using up your stupid quota for the next couple of years :)
*hugs*
no subject
Date: 2005-12-01 01:14 pm (UTC)Thanks. That's a very good way of looking at it.
*worried* What will be my stupid thing in two years time?
no subject
Date: 2005-12-01 09:05 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-12-01 01:10 pm (UTC)Thanks for you comments. I'm feeling a great deal more relaxed about it all now. As you would know you end up thinking "What the *hell* was that?"
no subject
Date: 2005-12-01 09:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-12-01 01:08 pm (UTC)I know, I know... But it's a first for me.
I'm feeling a lot better now that 36 hours has passed. Still feeling weird, mind you..
no subject
Date: 2005-12-01 10:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-12-01 01:06 pm (UTC)Excellent! Enjoy!