Tag Archives: dccc

Back to school? Again?

That’s right. Starting today, I’ve taken the first few steps toward getting a web development certificate. With my previous “experience” in the computer science field, this should hopefully go over smoothly.

My first day of the “community college experience” is pretty much the same as my first day or two going to Penn State – it’s crowded, the books are expensive, and it’s quite easy to get lost unless you know where you’re going beforehand. Maybe after I spend a week there, I won’t spend half my time there walking around like a headless chicken. I probably won’t need to use two-thirds of the facilities here – all I’m required to know is how to access the computer network, how to print stuff, and how to get my assignments to the professors without going over a predetermined time limit.

Today, I met with my network communications professor for the first time, and tomorrow, I’m off to learn about web page development (which I expect to be the easier of the two courses).

Random non-Neptunia updates

I spent the last week or so waiting for an update from DCCC to determine how many of my credits could be transferred from my college degree to be applied to my attempt at scoring a professional certificate in web development. It turns out my English Comp I and Calculus I credits transferred over, but I won’t need to take those. Instead, I’ll use the credits I got from taking Intro to Computer Science and skip those and take Web Page Development as one of my first courses (the other being Networking, where I’d have to understand and explain TCP/IP and other such concepts). I haven’t used Dreamweaver since I first started to learn HTML, but I suppose there’s no time like now to start learning it again, even though I prefer using notepads to code.

I also bought an Android-based tablet computer from CVS last week (the Sylvania one, not the Craig one) as part of my first steps into tablet computing. It’s decent if you’re looking for something simple to carry around with you, but I have some complaints about this device:

  • Short battery life (only three hours, and the battery indicator doesn’t seem to work properly)
  • Can’t access the Android App Store, as it’s only licensed to work with certain Droid tablets and cell phones. Your best bet is to go to the Amazon App Store, as their selection is way better than the built-in SlideMe App Market.
  • The USB ports don’t seem to work properly. I tried connecting it to my computer, but it wouldn’t recognize my device. I sent a tech support inquiry to Digital Gadgets (the manufacturer); hopefully they’ll have a solution for my problem.

I won’t be doing the “Gift of Game” feature this year, or any sort of “Top X Games of the Year” list. I have played a lot of games, but haven’t given all of them enough attention to make decent write-ups. Maybe next year once I get myself a Nintendo 3DS or a PlayStation Vita, I may consider bringing the feature back.

And last but not least, if you haven’t played Sonic Generations by now, you should. It’s quite a good game, and not bogged down with most of the problems that many of the other post-Genesis Sonic titles had. I just finished it a few days ago, and now I’m ready to go back through the old levels to try to get the rest of the Red Star Rings. I think I may actually have a chance to get a Platinum trophy on this one, if I can sink enough time into it.