Monday, March 24, 2008
MCP and MCDST - fear the letters!
So long between blog posts, I rarely bother with this mainly as I talk to most of my friends every day and I don't believe anyone really reads this ;) For anyone interested in the string of letters though I'm now an MCP and MCDST. MCP is a Microsoft Certified Professional, or basically someone who has passed 1 of the older Microsoft exams. The MCDST is a Microsoft Certified Desktop Support Technician, or in plain English I'm qualified to assist people with problems in a Windows XP environment with Office XP too. What's with all the qualifications out of nowhere? I'm studying to become an MCSA - Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator or for most people to understand, I'll be dealing with Windows Server 2003 platform and maybe 2000 / NT. If it all goes well, and so far isn't going too badly with 3 exam passes out of 3, I'll be qualified by around June / July this year! Yay me.
Friday, July 06, 2007
Updates...
Wow, I haven't updated this for almost a year! I didn't think it was that long ago but clearly it has been... Alas, not much changes for I still have virtually nothing to say :D
Actually that's a small lie I suppose. I have been a bit more active lately in doing things, I'm working at getting a new maths qualification that is similar to one done at school (GCSEs for those in England) but without algebra and geometry. Instead it's more every day maths such as fractions, percentages, area, volume etc.. and I can do that! I have the exam next week, Friday 13th July, ahhhhhh Friday 13th, it's a sign I tell ya.
On the work front, I'm now doing something via an organisation called the Shaw Trust and they're going to help me back into work. They specialise in helping people on benefits get back to work in a completely pressure free way and that's ideal for me and many others. At first I'll go on a placement that lasts upto 6 weeks usually, but it can be extended upto 13 weeks if both parties (myself and the placement) agree to it. After that is part-time work, upto 16 hours a week. Right now though I'm just concentrating on the work placement and will see what they can find me. It's all zero pressure so I'm very happy about that and optimistic for a change :)
Actually that's a small lie I suppose. I have been a bit more active lately in doing things, I'm working at getting a new maths qualification that is similar to one done at school (GCSEs for those in England) but without algebra and geometry. Instead it's more every day maths such as fractions, percentages, area, volume etc.. and I can do that! I have the exam next week, Friday 13th July, ahhhhhh Friday 13th, it's a sign I tell ya.
On the work front, I'm now doing something via an organisation called the Shaw Trust and they're going to help me back into work. They specialise in helping people on benefits get back to work in a completely pressure free way and that's ideal for me and many others. At first I'll go on a placement that lasts upto 6 weeks usually, but it can be extended upto 13 weeks if both parties (myself and the placement) agree to it. After that is part-time work, upto 16 hours a week. Right now though I'm just concentrating on the work placement and will see what they can find me. It's all zero pressure so I'm very happy about that and optimistic for a change :)
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Nintendo DS Lite
After thinking about it for a few months on and off I finally gave in and bought one. I opted for the black version, it might show more marks and fingerprints but it looks so much cooler :P
I also got the Brain Training game and after the first day tests I apparently have a brain age of 56 -_- the best you can get is 20 so I have some way to go still. I'll be interested to see in about a month if there has been a change. I'm not sure what game to get next, I have a few ideas but my inability to make decisions is legendary.
Friday, June 30, 2006
Digital photography is addictive
I've never been really interested in photography until I saw a fairly cheap 1.3MP camera about 5 years ago and bought it. I was snapping away, taking pics of almost everything and loving the ability to preview pictures I'd taken and delete any I didn't want. Unfortunately, I then experienced the problems of buying a low spec. camera, lots of noise on images taken in low light and shutter lag meaning taking pictures of anything moving was virtually impossible.
Being thoroughly addicted after a week of snapping away at random things these problems started to annoy me even more so after some research and shopping around I found what looked like a great camera for me, the Canon PowerShot A70. 3MP camera, 3x opitcal zoom, an automatic mode for basic point-and-shoot, some other modes for scenery, portrait etc.. and the ability to manually change all settings in, funnily enough, manual mode. The small movie mode was fun too, not very practical though.
Alas, after 4 years loyal service I started looking for a new digital camera with my wallet hoping I'd fail to find one. Well my wallet is suffering once again because I settled on the pretty tasty looking Panasonic DMC-LX1. An 8.4MP beast capable of taking photos in 16:9 format, movies in the same format, as well as 4:3 and 3:2. Leica lens, in camera ability to crop, resize, change aspect, RAW shooting mode and a lot of other things I won't list here (click the link if you want to know more) the massive 3840 x 2160 maximum image size has made me happy and seen me snapping away all over again.
If I have any complaints about the camera it would be to do with a lot of reviews I read mentioning high noise levels at higher ISO levels but I think that's to be expected. The only other thing I don't like is that there is no optical viewfinder at all, you have to use the 2.5" to frame all pictures. It isn't a really big issue unless it's very bright and you're trying to frame a small object against a bright background, for example when I was trying to capture a bird flying in the sky when it was pretty bright. I couldn't make the bird out at all and it was hardly going to hover for me until I could. Other than that I love the camera and hope this will last me a long time because I'm going to be paying for it for a long time! -_-;;
Being thoroughly addicted after a week of snapping away at random things these problems started to annoy me even more so after some research and shopping around I found what looked like a great camera for me, the Canon PowerShot A70. 3MP camera, 3x opitcal zoom, an automatic mode for basic point-and-shoot, some other modes for scenery, portrait etc.. and the ability to manually change all settings in, funnily enough, manual mode. The small movie mode was fun too, not very practical though.
Alas, after 4 years loyal service I started looking for a new digital camera with my wallet hoping I'd fail to find one. Well my wallet is suffering once again because I settled on the pretty tasty looking Panasonic DMC-LX1. An 8.4MP beast capable of taking photos in 16:9 format, movies in the same format, as well as 4:3 and 3:2. Leica lens, in camera ability to crop, resize, change aspect, RAW shooting mode and a lot of other things I won't list here (click the link if you want to know more) the massive 3840 x 2160 maximum image size has made me happy and seen me snapping away all over again.
If I have any complaints about the camera it would be to do with a lot of reviews I read mentioning high noise levels at higher ISO levels but I think that's to be expected. The only other thing I don't like is that there is no optical viewfinder at all, you have to use the 2.5" to frame all pictures. It isn't a really big issue unless it's very bright and you're trying to frame a small object against a bright background, for example when I was trying to capture a bird flying in the sky when it was pretty bright. I couldn't make the bird out at all and it was hardly going to hover for me until I could. Other than that I love the camera and hope this will last me a long time because I'm going to be paying for it for a long time! -_-;;
Cheap WiFi router?
I've been thinking about setting up a small, home WiFi network because I'm constantly tripping over cables and anything I can do to remove another from the floor is great. It's also pretty cool being online from the back garden :D The downside is that a WiFi router isn't really practical because of the cost for me. I know they don't cost a lot but the price is something I have to justify and I can't so when I read a news item on the BBC website about cheap routers I read on with great interest.
Basically it's a company that claim they want to help spread WiFi access and are offering routers for a very low price ($5 US or €5, delivery and taxes to be added) as long as you use their software. The software that you use just lets your WiFi router serve as an access point for anyone. If you are a member of the site you are classed as either a Linus, a Bill or an Alien. Linus' share their connection so they can access any other connections for free, Bill's get a cut of money that Alien's have to pay to gain access. If it works as it claims then you can earn money from sharing your connection using their WiFi router and software. I want a cheap router but if I can make money from it too bonus! :P
Basically it's a company that claim they want to help spread WiFi access and are offering routers for a very low price ($5 US or €5, delivery and taxes to be added) as long as you use their software. The software that you use just lets your WiFi router serve as an access point for anyone. If you are a member of the site you are classed as either a Linus, a Bill or an Alien. Linus' share their connection so they can access any other connections for free, Bill's get a cut of money that Alien's have to pay to gain access. If it works as it claims then you can earn money from sharing your connection using their WiFi router and software. I want a cheap router but if I can make money from it too bonus! :P
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
The joys of friends
/rant on
I love it when so-called friends suddenly turn psycho for no apparent reason and flip out on you. I don't know if I subconsciously attract these freaks or just have bad luck but it's getting old. If you're gonna be a psycho that's fine, just be a psycho with someone else, it's getting old.
While I'm on a rant, am I the only person that finds some friends just change and stop talking to you for no reason? There's never any explanation given, not even a message to say they don't want to talk to you any more, they just stop talking and replying to you completely. Is it so hard to give a reason? Hell make one up if you have to I don't care, I just get so frustrated when they can't even be bothered to tell you. Swear at me, call me names, whatever... just tell me you don't want to talk to me and preferably give a reason.
/rant off
In other news, I have a 'fun' eye infection! So sore, so red and oozes yucky stuff at regular intervals. I have eye drops but it'll still take a few days to clear up, in the meantime I'm wearing shades.... while it's pouring with rain and grey outside. I don't know if I'd get more weird looks without the shades or with them but I'm keeping them on, they make me look cool *struts*
I love it when so-called friends suddenly turn psycho for no apparent reason and flip out on you. I don't know if I subconsciously attract these freaks or just have bad luck but it's getting old. If you're gonna be a psycho that's fine, just be a psycho with someone else, it's getting old.
While I'm on a rant, am I the only person that finds some friends just change and stop talking to you for no reason? There's never any explanation given, not even a message to say they don't want to talk to you any more, they just stop talking and replying to you completely. Is it so hard to give a reason? Hell make one up if you have to I don't care, I just get so frustrated when they can't even be bothered to tell you. Swear at me, call me names, whatever... just tell me you don't want to talk to me and preferably give a reason.
/rant off
In other news, I have a 'fun' eye infection! So sore, so red and oozes yucky stuff at regular intervals. I have eye drops but it'll still take a few days to clear up, in the meantime I'm wearing shades.... while it's pouring with rain and grey outside. I don't know if I'd get more weird looks without the shades or with them but I'm keeping them on, they make me look cool *struts*
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
To trust or not to trust? That is the question...
I'd arranged to meet somebody today at 12pm to goto the movies and was so nervous, but also a little worried that they wouldn't show. I managed to convince myself that I was being paranoid and get myself out of the house with plenty of time to spare so decided to wander around a few shops and see if there was anything that demanded my cash while I waited. Nothing really caught my attention and the time was around 11:50am so I sent a text message to ask where she was and let her know that I was doing a few things while I was out.
Anyway to cut a long, and rather boring story short, it was about 12:15pm and still no sign of her so I sent another text saying if she wasn't there in 10 minutes I'd be leaving. She didn't turn up, so I went to get something to eat, got a magazine and went home feeling a bit upset but angry. I'd worried a lot that she wouldn't turn up and she hadn't, no messages, nothing.
About 3pm I get a message from her number (supposedly not her) saying that she'd fainted, hit her head badly and was in hospital. This is the dilema I've got now, do I believe that and give her the benefit of the doubt or cut my losses and run? I wish I knew what to do because part of me wants to really rip into her for not showing but there's part of me that wants to give her the benefit of the doubt. Maybe I'm too trusting for my own good....
Anyway to cut a long, and rather boring story short, it was about 12:15pm and still no sign of her so I sent another text saying if she wasn't there in 10 minutes I'd be leaving. She didn't turn up, so I went to get something to eat, got a magazine and went home feeling a bit upset but angry. I'd worried a lot that she wouldn't turn up and she hadn't, no messages, nothing.
About 3pm I get a message from her number (supposedly not her) saying that she'd fainted, hit her head badly and was in hospital. This is the dilema I've got now, do I believe that and give her the benefit of the doubt or cut my losses and run? I wish I knew what to do because part of me wants to really rip into her for not showing but there's part of me that wants to give her the benefit of the doubt. Maybe I'm too trusting for my own good....
Monday, April 17, 2006
Too much chocolate...
It happens every Easter yet I still haven't learned. The chocolate addiction that sees me eat so much that I feel ill for hours afterwards but still want more o_o I have this pretty big egg that's very thick chocolate, inside that is a smaller chocolate egg, inside that are three pieces of delicious chocolate and that is all sitting on top of a small bag of mini-eggs. It's EVIL! EVIL!!!
Saying the wrong thing at the wrong time
Being a guy at times it feels like there is a gene responsible for making you say the wrong thing at the wrong time. Everyone does it at one time or another but I have the ability to do it virtually every day somehow. I'd much prefer a mind reading ability or be able to fly (it'd be cool, admit it!) but instead I have this 'fun' ability. Maybe there's a way to overcome this condition, perhaps some ancient ritual lost forever involving sacrifices and strange dancing. Either way I wish I knew how to avoid it other than not talking all day.
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