Two Toes Up

I found it pretty hard to believe that the words "Computer subject" and "like" could even exist in one sentence due to my many unforgettable Computer classes in high school, but now I accept the fact with wide open arms. In fact, I believe that the only time I ever liked computer classes was here in college.

First off, because the Prof didn't look like she would eat you if she asked you to stand up and say something up front. The first time I walked in the classroom, my glasses weren't on, and I just saw this girl in a purple shirt talking inside the room. Oh, new classmate, I thought. And after a few minutes of listening and waiting for the professor, I new thought came sauntering by: "Silly goose, that is the Prof."

Oh.

It had its quirks. The class was fun because of all the interactive reporting styles of teaching, because the teacher wasn't all "superior-y" but rather like a classmate who knows way more than we do, and to my delight, we weren't off doing nosebleedy equations with our noses stuck on a monitor. I thought we'd be going through the basics they taught back in grade school, but I learned more about hackers, and Mac-vs-Windows-vs-Linux and CDs and stuff... CompSci's really fun, it’s something I look forward to two times a week.

That, and I was given a chance to write, and for my grade too... here I could write about new stuff besides a newsletter, a fanfic, or somebody else's Reaction Paper about The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. So when I found out that Ms. Kath wouldn't be our Prof anymore, I chimed along with the "Aaaaaawwwwwww..." Choir.

Gosh you'd think I was rating a movie or something...



Bwahahahaha....

Two toes up!

I've Got Your "Giant" Right Here.

A football flick. Once again, the same thought invaded my mind, like when we were going to watch Firewall. A movie I immediately branded as "something my dad would like." I was dead wrong.

It took a very interesting turn. I was suddenly surprised when they applied 'the scriptures' to a football movie, but it only ended up in making the flick even better. It was wonderful how they related God to a game football, and they gave so many beautiful insights; the best of which is the proverb, "With God, all things are possible," and all the stories and everything-in-between, like the story of the two farmers asking for rain, and how the coach said that they would praise God, win or fail. It was just all so heartfelt that I found myself internally squirming more than strictly necessary a couple of times... and it came from a football movie, mind!

I believe it when people say that God makes things happen for a reason, and that He takes what you initially ask from Him because He'll give you something better in the end.

The overall awesomeness of the film was really touching, just the type of feel-good insightful movie one should always watch before taking a test that consists of an endless sea of numbers and Pythagorean theorems. The first time I passed my Calculus long test back in high school by a fleeting 50 points (over a hundred... okay, too much information..) I was just so "overwhelmed" that I profusely babbled a continuing series of 'thank you Lord!'s under my breath, squealing quietly like a mouse under attack.

There aren't any computers in this film whatsoever, but it's definitely something I wouldn't mind watching again until the feel-good quotes are stuck in my head.

The Matrix Run on Windows

Okay, so I haven't really watched the Matrix saga myself, but I am familiar with most parts of the movie. It was enough to make me understand (and laugh at) the current video I posted bellow. Having a techy older brother does have it's fair share of advantages. To anyone who hasn't watched it before, here it is:



Three words...

I can relate.

This particular "movie" is really funny... the computer we use at home houses almost all of the faults featured in the flick. It's amazing how they were able to create this and at the same time make it as close as possible to the experiences of people with PCs that do a lot of hangin'.

The talking paper clip that showed up halfway during the clip when The Oracle showed up with "cookies enabled" reminded me of the good old days when me and my brothers would choose different "finding buddies" (Office Assistant) in Microsoft Word: I usually chose the dog, Rocky, my older brother would choose Mother Nature or F1 the robot, and my younger brother... well, he's actually more of the gamer type. Only when he plays games on the computer do his fingers really start tapping on the keyboard; that's why only his thumbs get the better part of an exercise.

The send-error-report part was something I could really relate to... one time just for the heck of it, I did try to send an error report. And like the great all-knowing Oracle had predicted, nothing happened.

I didn't get the part when the DVDs fell out of the closet... they said guns, didn't they?

-shrugs- Ehh, anyway... I loved the part best when the black-clad dude was "multplying"... hahaha... when that used to happen all the time I'd just click and drag the window all over the monitor and fill it with unfinished box-looking things.

And aaaaaas usual, I didn't know what "Ubuntu" was when Neo spoke about it towards the end of the clip, until my brother told me it was a Linux OS. Ah. That explains the befuddled expression.

The Grandpappy of all Nosebleeds: The Sequel

Yes, there is a sequel.

The paper said Java, C, and C++ are the top programming languages. Wanting to prove it to myself as well, I searched "Top Programming Languages" on the net; it turned out that the awesome-threesome weren't necessarily the on top of the food chain, but they were part of the Top 10 list, unless my sources were outdated.

Probably because of said awesome-threesome, I hated the Computer subject back in high school. We'd have it right after math or right before PE, and I always kept thinking twice a week, "Oh no, here comes the bell... death to us all, or just me at least." I think we studied it for a good two years, and most of the time I had no idea what to do. There I was, tapping away at the keys in pretend like someone killing ants on a table with just two fingers. We used QBASIC, actually, but even that didn't make things any better. Thank goodness for flexible plastic chairs and smarter-than-smart BFFs.

Check it:

"Java is a programming language originally developed by Sun Microsystems and released in 1995 as a core component of Sun Microsystems' Java platform. The language derives much of its syntax from C and C++ but has a simpler object model and fewer low-level facilities. Java applications are typically compiled to bytecode that can run on any Java virtual machine (JVM) regardless of computer architecture."

"In computing, C is a general-purpose, cross-platform, block structured, procedural, imperative computer programming language originally developed in 1972 by Dennis Ritchie at the Bell Telephone Laboratories for use with the Unix operating system."

"C++ is a general-purpose programming language. It is regarded as a middle-level language, as it comprises a combination of both high-level and low-level language features. It was developed by Bjarne Stroustrup in 1979 at Bell Labs as an enhancement to the C programming language and originally named "C with Classes". It was renamed to C++ in 1983."

See? See?? Any of y'all bleeding yet? I told you... hey, even that last name was a doozy.

So... should all students be required to learn computer programming?

...

...

...-buffering-...

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo... (cough cough)

In my humble opinion, at least.

Not necessarily required, per se. Let's face it, only quite a few chosen people can actually do and like this sort of thing, and I am definitely out of their circle. Teach it to those who really like this sort of thing, and at the same time are good at it as well, because truthfully, you'd be wasting your time teaching someone who can't comprehend the situation no matter how hard s/he tries to. And if that's the case, then the knowledge will all just go down the drain like that time I accidentally upended my cooked pancit canton noodles in the sink. Save it for someone with "the gift" (insert sappy, angelic background music here).

It would be like giving a baseball bat to someone who wanted to go fishing. Just teach them the basics, and cut the crappy stuff. Then we're good.

I do believe bugs originate from the programmer. Where else would it come from?? It's like the mini self-destruct button people might accidentally insert with every "test1 = SomeFunction();" or "/* int */ CallingFunction()" they type on the screen.

Control-Alt-Repeat

Honestly, I think hacking is a talent. Getting into protected systems and all that rot, it's genius. However, the matters that follow soon after are really not very nice. Well, some of them at least. Because when I saw what Captain Zap was doing, I was totally impressed. Imagine that... phone bills will only be so high as an ootch, and you can save money for a whole bunch of different or more important reasons... sometimes I wish I could do that so dad wouldn't worry so much about the bills. Take that, Meralco!

My older brother's great with computers. In fact I think he's so good with them it's a wonder how he got to know all that necessary stuff without even studying them first. Singing, drawing, dancing, they all come to you without even knowing it when you do them repeatedly and practice... but computers? With my brother it's like he never had the time to study all about them even before high school, and yet there he was, hacking his way around files and viruses on the net like a farmer with a bolo through a wheat field.

I dunno... maybe it's out of pleasure, maybe it's for "the greater good" or maybe it's simply out of desperation, but hacking seems to come naturally along with all techy substances out there, tagging along with technology like an unwanted flea. It's rather like lock-picking, only with a way cooler and more high-tech hair pin. But if it's a talent, then people with this "gift" should use it instead for something good, else not use it at all. I mean, they even created a virus that could originate from cellphones! Spectacular...

Hacker University definitely perked up my attention. It was so ridiculously funny and unimaginable, and yet there it was, a secret organization underground, like a secret bad-boys no-girls-allowed club. Personally, I think the whole hacking ordeal could be taught, but only the really good ones with devious take-over-the-world minds can really master the art.

I believe hacking can really be put to good use, one for protection instead of a tool for breaking in. Turn the tables, dudes.

Can I still press the Pause button?

2008 --- Finish second semester (please?)

2009 --- Learn how to play the piano (pretty please?!) and flute
--- Try to continue unfinished stories
--- Learn how to drive? (I dunno... I can only go as far as a scooter)

2010 --- Do better in school, the usual do-good-school-girl routine

2011 - 2012 --- Finish college (do we get to throw the hats? No, seriously)

2013 - 2014 --- Either I:
Work in CLAMP (all-girl anime drawing theme)
Work in Pixar
or
Start my own book

2015 - N no. of years till the big dirt nap --- Umm... I really don't know... huh. I've planned everything carefully up to this point.

But always, ALWAYS: Don't forget to save the trees.