Plain and simple, there isn’t always just one way to do something and they way a person chooses isn’t always the best. So how do you know what method to choose? I have a few questions I ask before I sit down and starting writing code.

1. What is fastest way to go about this?
2. What is the best way to make this program run as fast possible?
3. How will load balance be handled using each possibility
4. How accessible is the program/site using each method?

I ask myself these questions so that I can better suit the end result to fit the problem more correctly. Even if something looks like it is done better a certain way, it usually isn’t the only good way to solve a problem.

I am hoping for a redesign of the site entirely during Thanksgiving break. I should have time to put the new database backend up and the new content management system up as well… Then, if everything goes according to plan there should be a new look as well. But who knows.

In other news, I still haven’t found my Accounting notebook that had all of my notes, class worksheets, and practice tests… Frustrating is the only word to describe it.

Well it’s Thursday night and finally the school week is over. Granted, I have to go to work tomorrow but at least it isn’t school. I found out that I passed my accounting test so that added a little relief to my weekend. Now I just have to worry about the Statistics test that I have this coming Tuesday. I don’t stand a chance.

Brant (my little brother for those who don’t know) is coming into town on Saturday and staying for the week. Me and little bro for Thanksgiving, it oughta be fun.

I am planning on do some revamping to my truck including (but not limited to):

• New shocks – Preferably these.
• New catalytic converter
• Exhaust piping rehanging
• Tune up
• Transmission Check

That’s all I can really think of right now. Probably more stuff will come to me later. If I can fix up the truck and get a lot of the internal stuff working the truck will be great, right now though it is just an accident waiting to happen.

Well the Accounting test I took tonight was about 10x as hard as any test I had taken before in that class. The questions were purposely worded to confuse the reader, sneaky, sneaky. To make matters worse, I walked out in the hall to get my notebook and someone had taken it. Who takes an accounting notebook that has nothing in it but notes!? I mean, I think I am good note taker but good enough for someone to steal the notes?!

I just need a break from Texas Tech for a while. I think that Thanksgiving will give me a little boost for finals and then Christmas will give me the umph I need to get through the Spring semester. This semester has gone by fast and slow at the same time, it’s hard to explain but that’s how it seems. Parts go very fast while others are almost in rewind mode…

I chose my classes for next semester. They are as follows:

• Managerial Accounting
• Business Computer Programming
• Intro to Marketing
• Business Law

I still haven’t decided if I want to take a 2 hr. elective. The school is very weird on taking upper level courses and lower level courses at the same time. They a have a stupid rule that says a student may only take 14 hrs. when doing so…. Well that really messed up my plans, just keep me here longer how ’bout it?!

I decided that this site should try and be self sustaining so I have added a new banner ad at the top of the page. We’ll see how successful it is.

My accounting test is tonight. Am I ready? No of course not…. This is Stephan we’re talking about here, am I ever ready?! Ah well, once this test is over the week will go by much smoother.

The wind here is awful, we are getting sustained winds in the 30-45mph range with gusts up to 65mph. It’s insane!

I was looking around and found a link to WirelessPhoneReviews.com. Looks like a pretty good site for reviews and of course, Sprint is at the bottom.

Also, I am going to “preach” Firebird and Thunderbird again. If you are looking for a better browser than Internet Explorer, then Mozilla Firebird is the answer. It is sleek, fast, good looking and is standards compliant! How can you go wrong?!? Also, if you are looking for a better e-mail client, check out Mozilla Thunderbird. It is a heavyweight e-mail program in a lightweight body. I think it is has better spam control than pretty much any other program and the potential in it is so much higher than anything else.

And now on another note, Microsoft.

I have always held the belief that Microsoft isn’t very inventive when it comes to new products. Usually, when they release something “new” they are repackaging and branding something that has already exsisted. The only original thing I have seen them release is the TabletPC which barely anyone uses. From all of this I was fairly discouraged to hear that they would be making their own version of Chrome. Why they feel the need to reinvent the wheel I don’t understand. The current Chrome project is for the most part standardised and fairly well understood but now Microsoft is stepping in and we all know what that means… Their own tags, very little or no standardization, and worst of all proprietary licensing.

Well Tech lost to UT this weekend. I personally wasn’t too surprised. Dissappointed, yes; surprised, not really. The reason being is that we have not been getting in the groove lately. With B.J. Symons hurt and having to throw on a hurt leg, the whole team hurts. He played very well against UT and our offensive line came through and gave him the cover he needed. However, I special teams and decisions by the coach were horrendous. Going for two 2pt. conversions when you really don’t need them hurts the whole team.Toogood may have missed that kick at the very end but he tried his best and we lost. To me we played a great game and gave Texas a run for their money… Watch out next year.

On another note, Aggie football sucks. Plain and simple they are horrible. The Aggies lost to Oklahoma 77-0 but they beat Baylor by 73. Everyone was expecting Baylor to lose to Oklahoma horribly but they put points on the board unlike the Aggies… If Baylor can win their next game and A&M loses to UT (which is likely) then both teams will have the same record… HA!!!

I have an accounting test tomorrow night over 3 chapters, which, doesn’t sound like much but it is. Most of it is the value of liabilities and the time value of money. Pretty confusing stuff but I’ll pull out the ‘ole thinking cap tonight and really study up for it.

Well I already have another accounting test next Tuesday… It has only been like 2 wks. since my last one. They are cramming as much info down our throats as they can before Thanksgiving and it’s kind of annoying.

Keep my mom in your prayers, she is having surgery tomorrow morning.

Well, as I work here I feel more and more unappreciated for the knowledge that I posess. Just because I am a fan of technologies other than .NET I feel like the people here at SmoothFusion think I know less than they do. They especially hate to hear that .NET may not always be the answer to a programming problem and that there could be a better solution in other technology.

My question is how can they be so closed minded? Programming is a science of finding the right solution to a problem. That solution isn’t always the most obvious choice, sometimes you have to dig to find it. If .NET was the answer to everything then that would be what everyone would use but .NET isn’t the answer and that is why we have options when it comes to programming. Being so focused on a technology that doesn’t always make the system better can be detrimental in the long run by killing the thought and choice process.

Well it’s Monday again and all I can say is, wow, the weekend flies. I once again failed to get anything done to this site, but I did get the apartment cleaned up (yay for me). But it kind of irks me when you clean something up and 2 hrs. later it is messy again because you have a roommate who doesn’t care.

I am now going to rant about my roommate, so if you don’t like ranting, stop reading right now.

rant

When someone says “I like my house clean” you take it for what it is, they like their house cleaned up. Well, when someone cleans up for someone else and then they trash it by leaving crap all over the kitchen, dirty dishes everywhere, and stale bread out, then there is a problem. Secondly, living together is an equality thing. That means, when one person buys food the other should pitch in and buy some as well, that way there is an equal distribution of the costs. Thirdly, leaving raw beef in the fridge with a piece of foil over it does not keep it fresh, it infects the whole fridge and will make people sick, especially when the meat changes colors. About the fridge, nothing that you someone makes (ie, leftovers) should be left in there for over a week and a half. That rule applies to spaghetti that was cooked almost a month ago.

Well, I finally got a replacement phone so if you were trying to call me you can get ahold of me now. It is a different model of the same phone, which means it is a little nicer.

I made a 73 on my Stats test but there is an 8pt. curve, so I got a B!!! That is a big relief for me considering I hate that class and don’t ever do very well in it.