Computer trouble…

I hate the words “computer trouble”. Even reading it, there’s this negative image of computers that pops up in my mind. Of course, I’m a little biased - I spend 6+ hours a day around my computer.

Which is why I’ve been so AWOL recently… I got back from Kenyon College last Monday and, to my horror, found that my computer wouldn’t boot. After a few attempts to fix the problem myself (I reseated the RAM - made sense given the error…), I finally took it to the business school’s tech center to have it repaired. They gave me a loaner, so I’ve been able to do work, but it’s been so long that I’d forgotten what it’s like to use a computer other than my own. It’s kind of disturbing not having all my bookmarks, all my preferences, my favorite programs. I actually found out where that virus last year came from when I tried to install my alarm clock on this computer - turns out it’s bundled with a downloader trojan.

Still no word on what’s wrong with my baby, but I’m getting kind of worried. In the mean time, my USB keys have been fully updated with the usual suite of programs. If only they had a WordpressPortable plugin suite…

Is Racism real?

Click here and read this article recently printed in my school’s newspaper.

Nixon makes some interesting arguments about the idea of race and especially about about the reasons why it’s a problem in the states. A friend sent me a facebook link months ago about this, and as I recall I refused to join the group. The information provided is somehow just too one-sided for me - no matter how wrong what happened to the Jena 6 is, stifling the other side of the story to focus on the racial injustice is also wrong.

From what I’ve read, the fact remains that these kids DID beat another kid in retaliation for something. If that’s the case, then they deserve to be in jail. Yes - they deserve a fair trial, and yes - the people who hung nooses to make a point also deserve to be in jail, but that doesn’t mitigate what they did or answer the larger question of why this happened in the first place. Students like the ones who protested in Red Square at Georgetown are making a valid point, but they’re also going out of their way to use rhetoric that distorts what happened. In many ways, they’re falling prey to the same racism they accuse others of leveling against African Americans.

They aren’t the only ones either. Nixon is right - it’s getting harder to be WASP in the US; it seems these days that everyone has to overcompensate lest we be “un-PC” about race. What kind of society is that really promoting? That’s not getting rid of the problem - it’s adding another problem on top of it to make it appear like the problem has disappeared. Humans tend to mistrust and fear that which we see as different than ourselves. If those Georgetown students truly want to see the death of “racism” in our country, then rather than emphasizing their differences it seems they ought to follow the very advice The Hoya was so recently accused of forgetting. They should help promote nonviolent and peaceful dialogue between diverse groups of people in our society. Maybe then people will begin to see just how much we all have in common. It seems, as always, that America has a long way yet to go.

How does one value a University Education?

So a user called into work a few days ago demanding to know why he couldn’t access the course information on Blackboard for a course he took last semester.

Blackboard, for the uninitiated, is our campus’ online posting system - like Moodle or others. It’s a place for professors to put files and documents, assignments, syllabi, etc… as well as a medium for communication between the professor and students.

This user - who was clearly a “continuing ed” student (that is to say, he was 40 or more years old) - was surprised and outraged when I told him that course information was only accessible during the semester that he was taking the course. He felt that when he paid tuition for the course, he had paid for perpetual access to the materials used to teach the course.

It makes a certain amount of sense, doesn’t it? If one paid for the course, and certain materials are made available to you as part of that, don’t you have a right to those materials? It begs the question: when you pay tuition, what are you buying?

I shuffled him off to talk to the registrar about that one, but I doubt they gave him what he wanted. I don’t blame them - his claim doesn’t make sense to me for several reasons. Before I post those, though, I’d be interested to hear other people’s answers to the question above. What ARE we paying for?

On an unrelated side-note, I’m facing a crisis. I’m suffering from Giant Robot withdrawal, and I can’t find a single toy I want that’d cost under like $250 to get it here. So - I need suggestions. I don’t know who reads this who keeps up with giant robots, I’ll take any suggestions you have into consideration. The price ceiling, with shipping, is $200.

I think Gunbuster spoiled me…