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I came into this class thinking it would be a blast and it has been! I am sorry that it’s already over. I have learned so much and I will be continuing to further my education on some of my new found interests. I loved working with Scratch the most! There is so much that can be done and it really brings out my creative side. Plus, it’s simple! I have to admit though, some of the things we discussed were scary. Our privacy, and the fact that it’s getting easier to invade, is not something anyone wants to think about. Then there’s the one thing that really sticks in my mind and that is the video we watched on college students that are always on computers/cell phones. It’s sad that we’ve gotten to the point of always checking our phones for texts or our Facebook pages for the latest useless garbage that’s posted. Oh what’s that? You just got done brushing your teeth? Please! Remember when we used to remember people’s phone numbers? Now we have a phone remembering for us. Yes, technology is very convenient, but you have to think about what you’re giving up. I’ve been thinking that a lot during this class. Every new step is, of course, amazing and sparks new possibilities, but I can’t help but think about those students stuck to their screens all day and feeling kind of blank.

If you’re just starting this class, stick with it! It may seem overwhelming, I thought it would be sometimes, but it’s really not. You’ll be amazed at how much fun you have!

To Dr. Brown – Thank you for everything! This has been one of my favorite classes!

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I love this part of the class because we get to discuss one of my favorite pastimes – video games! I have been playing video games since I was about..6 years old, I believe. I started with the 8-bit Nintendo, which is still a favorite system of mine. I mostly play RPGs nowadays, but I have played games in about every genre. I dislike sports games though.

Now, I used to play WoW, but I no longer do so. Why, you ask? Because it started to consume my thoughts. I would play too long and start to neglect other things in life, which was rather upsetting when I thought about it. This was not only because it was incredibly addictive, but since I was paying a monthly fee..I had this feeling that I had to play to get my “money’s worth”. Yes, it’s very sad, but can happen to the best of us. However, even though these kinds of games can become addictive(A family friend had his marriage and social life destroyed by constantly being on Everquest)..I feel that there are good things about them as well. They are a fun pastime that can relieve stress, give you a sense of accomplishment(who doesn’t like completing a particularly hard quest or leveling up their character?), and they are also good for social interaction. One must never forget the real world though. So, if you play these games, be sure to take a break every now and then to spend time with family or friends!

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Artificial intelligence is a very interesting topic, though controversial in some aspects. It holds many possibilities for the future, but not all of those possibilities will bring good outcomes. From the movie we watched in class, the thought of “bringing a person back to life” is not something I think should be done. It’s true, it will not be the real person since the person’s soul has already departed, so it may not be looked at as any harm being done. But, could you truly be happy with a replica? Wouldn’t it just make be more upsetting since it will throw the hard truth in your face – that no matter what, that person is gone forever? I guess it may not matter to some, but I find it to be a fruitless endeavor. All in all, the growth of artificial intelligence is amazing and will almost certainly continue to amaze in the future!

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This week we have been working with Lego Mindstorm robots. At first, it was very overwhelming because I thought it would be difficult. However, it was pretty easy to get into and has been fun so far! The program reminds me of the Scratch program we used, so that helped me to better understand how to set things up. I am a little worried about the assignment for next week, since we will be trying to make them do specific things…but I’m sure it won’t be as bad as I’m making it out to be. I’ve always been a worrier.

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I am excited about the Scratch assignment we’ll be doing this week. We watched some completed projects in class and my interest was instantly sparked. I love the creativity of it all.

There was also the showing of The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. I cannot express how much I enjoyed watching his lecture! Yes, at the time he was dying, but he didn’t make you feel sorry for him-he was actually pretty hilarious and seemed like a fun person. I was inspired by how he lived his life and went for his dreams. I plan to show this to my family and friends. Everyone could use a little inspiration in their lives.

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Okay, this time around we have to create a web page by hand-coding HTML. I had a very basic understanding of HTML going into this class and it hasn’t developed very much so far. I have been going over the links and tutorials provided to us, but I can’t seem to completely grasp this yet. I will continue working on this and hope to come out with a decent page. Since it’s to be about 3 hobbies or interests, I am very excited. It will most definitely contain something on Anime! I have many hobbies, but that is one of my main loves. It’s almost hard to pick just three! Well, back to work!

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Sadly, I was ill and missed the last two classes. I’m lucky that Dr. Brown has everything on D2L and all the information is very detailed. I’m still having a hard time grasping how to use the assembly language simulator, but I’m not going to give up! I will just have to study that part even more to better prepare for the upcoming exam.(Good luck everyone!)

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So, our next assignment is to build a computer. I have no idea what I’m doing. I was going to get some guidance from my older brother, since he’s great with computers and even built his own a while back, but I have decided to be adventurous!(kinda) I’m going to see if I can do this on my own. I’m pretty much going to pick whatever appeals to me, so don’t hold it against me if I don’t come out with the most awesome-tastic creation. Here we go!

I will be using Newegg.com for all the parts. I’ve been told by many people that this is a good site to use.

I am going to start with the case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021   Price – $99.99  This case looks awesome!

Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131665 Price: 189.99  um…it got pretty good reviews.

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115211 Price: 294.99  seems like it’s compatible so that’s a plus.

CPU Fan: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835154011&cm_re=cpu_fan-_-35-154-011-_-Product Price: 64.99  neat looking fan and compatible with the CPU I chose. yay!

Memory: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145224 Price: 129.99 seems good to me.

Power supply: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005 Price: 89.99  yeah, it’s a power supply..not much to say here.

Hard drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136073 Price: 39.99 It’s a top seller and has a ton of space.(well enough for me anyway)

Keyboard and mouse combo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823176011 Price: 43.99 okay, I had way too much fun looking at keyboards.

Monitor: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236107 Price: 109.99 This one is a sufficient size for me. If I got back into gaming online, I’d probably want something larger though.

And there we go! My brother would probably laugh at all my choices, but I had fun! Let’s add up the damages…$1063.91. Yeah, you can laugh. I just got done laughing myself. Oh well, that was a neat experience. I’d like to build one for real someday.

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Learning binary was much easier than I initially thought. I like Dr. Brown’s teaching method, which is simple and right to the point. I was able to learn to convert decimal to binary, and vice versa, without any problems. We were taught two methods of converting, but I find that it’s much easier to use the slightly longer way(actually writing out 1, 2, 4, 8, etc.) than to divide. A very interesting fact I learned was that the Windows calculator could do such conversions. I had no idea and it definitely helps when checking your work.

On a side note, Dr. Brown wore the best shirt while lecturing. It said “There are 10 types of people in the world. Those who understand binary and those who don’t.” Brilliant.

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My name is Krystal Linderman. This is my first time creating a blog, so please bear with me. I’m 24 years old and have been dating a wonderful guy for almost 2 years. I enjoy Japanese animation and video games, among other things. I plan to learn Japanese, I already know a few phrases and many separate words, and I would love to visit Japan! The reason I’m attending college is to become a Physical Therapist’s assistant. And the reason I’m taking this class is because I’m required to. However, this class seems like it’ll be a blast. I love that the textbook is in comic form! I’m really looking forward to what I’ll learn. I just hope this feeling sticks throughout the semester!

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