Almost There!

Spring Break was no break for me. The beginning was house hunting during the day, and coding at night. Yeah, it was weird. I couldn't sleep so I coded. I guess I did have motivation to finish my Masters Project ahead of schedule, but it's probably something I shouldn't have been doing on my downtime...

Turns out, when I got back to Utah I was on a weird schedule. I had 3 other assignments to do and I finished 2 by Friday. However, in between accomplishing those assignments I was coding. One day it seemed that when I woke up I coded, throughout the day I tested it, and during the the late hours of 4:30 AM I was fixing issues or doing more coding. Since I came back from the east coast I woke up early as well (around 8 AM MST). Yeah, my whole body is going to be messed up...but, I call it determination.

On Saturday I worked on the 3rd assignment for about 6.5 hours with my partner. That was killer. All in the name of finishing it in one shot. That didn't work, but we are almost there. I would have to say, this will be worth it in the long run. By having all this work completed ahead of schedule, I'm one step closer to graduation. Just need to last a few more weeks.

3 Projects Left!

It's March. Almost Spring Break, and almost the end of my final semester of school...ever. Being a single guy...again...leaves me with not much to do other than work and school. I've quit dating for the time being since there's no point as I'll be moving. I figure I should get done with all my projects as soon as possible so I'll have more time to do whatever I want out in the real world. So, the good news is I have regained my focus of finishing all my projects by April 1st. Yes, that's a challenge, but I'm up for it. The following are the three projects I have left:

1 Masters Project

2 Data Mining Projects

Now that I'm back to my old self in getting things done, it will be done. Motivation's back!

How old am I as of 3/10/2010?

Friend's answer: 25 or 24 (sometimes they can't decide)

Family's answer: 25

Real Answer: 25

People who meet me for the first time: 23 or younger...sometimes under 20

Yeah, it gets a little annoying sometimes. I get questions like "when are you going to go on a mission?", "are you a freshman?", or "what do you want to be when you grow up???" It's kind of sad really. I don't think I look that young. Sure I look younger than the typical 25 year old, but still. I am currently in my last semester of graduate school and I still have people asking me if I'm a freshman...when I say, "no...I'm a graduate student getting a masters in Information Systems" I usually get an "oh..." and then an awkward silence follows.

I must say, two days ago I had the worst question asked. I used to think "what do you want to be when you grow up?" was the worst question asked. It was about noonish and I was the only one home at the house. Now, as a college student I share a house with 3 other adults. However, since I was home I answered the door. I then found a salesman at the door. I have yet to find a salesman witty enough to catch my attention, as I have done some sales in the past during grade school and served a mission. Anyways, I figured he wasn't going to be very interesting until he asked, "is your mom or dad home?" I began to think "you have got to be kidding me." At least it did give me an easy way out by saying they were not at the house I currently reside in. Needless to say, I did not buy anything from him.

Well, I guess I shouldn't be too upset with it all. I guess it has had its advantages at times. Who knows perhaps when I'm really old, I'll still look good for my age...or something like that. Either way, I guess I should just be grateful that it isn't something else...

Another Day...

Some days are better than others. Today I feel okay. I guess I should be happy that the weekend is almost here, tomorrow is payday, and I am almost halfway done with my last semester as a grad student.

I think my main problem is motivation. While things do look good (and they usually are), I just have become drawn into a phase of indifference. Hitting halfway seems to make things harder. I'm less motivated, yet the end of the semester draws closer. While I walk on this path I feel like there's something more out there, but it'll have to wait. I guess I'm just counting the days until May. When May hits, I finally leave Utah and move on to a more exciting chapter of my life.

There's only one possible solution for my current state: Xbox 360. I have ordered some games and when they finally come, I suppose my life will be a little more interesting...

Facebook and SPAM!

I am an avid Facebook user, and I do on occasion eat spam. However, I totally hate email spam or anything of the like. Apparently someone has been able to create a Facebook application that does just that. Spams all your friends. So, I am writing this quick blog to show how evil some people can be. The following is an email I sent to some of my friends and family who use Facebook:

Hello All:

Apparently a prank is going around on Facebook. Unfortunately, I have fallen victim to it… So, I apologize if you’ve already clicked on it. Well, on Facebook, many of you know of the notifications tab below. It’s nice to see activity (like if someone wrote on your wall or commented on something about you) – bottom right of screen next to the chat menu. Anyways, this is what it looks like:

I got a few of these from many of my friends on Facebook and clicked on it. The real notifications actually take you directly to the comment or tag. However, this fake link takes you to allow access to an application like this:

If you allow access, it takes you to a scary clown picture and the whole facebook page is garbled up. I am not sure what else it does, but apparently someone figured out how to spam all your friends on facebook with this application. So, essentially everyone will get a notification that you tagged them in a photo or commented on their status. Not sure if there is anything else it does…

REMOVAL OF UNWANTED APPLICATIONS:

If you have clicked on it, this is how you remove applications. Go to the bottom left of your screen on facebook and find the applications tab. It looks like this:

Now find the one that has something like the notification symbol:

Click the X to remove it.