Huge Storm Causes Vermont Tech to Close...

There is a huge snowstorm going on outside right now. I would normally be in a 3-hour Digital Circuits lab right now, but the college officially shut down @ 3pm. I am not surprised that this happened because the weather is horrible outside right now. Not only is it extremely cold, but the wind and snow is almost too much to be able to deal with. It is a good thing that I live on campus otherwise weather like this could cause me to miss classes.

In other news, I have my first Intro. to Technical Math II exam tomorrow. I am actually quite confident that I will do significantly better on this exam than I did any of the ones from last semester. I seem to be catching on to new math things much faster now. This really gets my hopes up because I was worried due to last semester's math grades. Everything is going great so far... hell, as my professor pointed out, I got a 100 on a quiz today and it lowered my average! This is because my average is over 100% due to the bonus questions... :-D

Also, I really want to post a lot more now, but my work always takes top priority. I plan on reworking the times that I do my homework to get it out of the way sooner, and allow me to have more free time. :-D

UPDATE: I made a typo.... "%100" was changed to the proper "100%" :-D

A Cool Circuit That I Wired Up Last Week...

This was supposed to be a video of a cool circuit that I wired in my Digital Circuits lab, but for the past week I have been unable to upload it. I am going to try converting the video later on and reducing its size so it will be easier to upload. You will see in the video that the wires look really messy. The wires were actually organized pretty well, but there were a lot connections to be made between the two black chips you will see in the video. The circuit makes some lights have a 'circular' effect. Basically, Light #1 will turn on, then #2, then #3, then #4 (all lights are on now), then light #1 will shut off, then #2 etc... You will see in the video that this effect repeats itself.

There is also a switch in the circuit that changes the direction that the lights are travelling. You will see that when I hit the switch a second time the circuit starts acting up. I like to think of this as being like a human heart. When a heart has problems sometimes it is necessary to restart it to get everything back in working order. This is much like this circuit. If the circuit starts to act up then it is necessary to cut the power to the chips, and then turn it back on. I think this is a pretty cool video. I recorded it with my digital camera. :-)

P.S Most of this post was written a week ago when I was hoping that the video would upload. As stated earlier, it has given me a lot of problems. I hope to have the video posted soon enough... :-D

A Bluesy Song I Have Been Making...

I figured I would post a video of a bluesy song that I have been working on. This song is of my own creation, and I am actually still working on it. There is a solo that goes with it, but unfortunately I don't have the 4 hands to play rhythm and leads at the same time... Anyway, It is possible to leave comments on this blog without having an account. Just click on the comment link at the bottom of any post, and tell me what you think of the video. :-)

No More Bush

"Turks throw shoes at posters of Bush" :-)

Today the United States of America elected its first African American president. With the struggling economy, and injustice over seas, every American is hoping that Barack Obama will be able to fix our country following the eight years that Bush had to spiral it down. I think that it is about time that we had a black president in our country. It has already shown that it will improve foreign relations, and Obama's presidency is expected to increase consumer confidence. I honestly think that Obama will do a great job of bringing this country back to what it used to be. He has a lot that he will have to work around, but I think that with Bush no longer sending us down the wrong path we should be able to get ourselves out of the recession we are currently in.

I find it funny because there are a lot of pictures on the internet from several different countries where people are throwing shoes at posters of Bush in celebration. I chose the picture above because Bush has one of the classic monkey looks on his face, and it even looks like he is nodding to make it easier for people to throw shoes at him. It is nice to know that we no longer have Bush the monkey to represent our country anymore. :-)

Down to The Rat (and post 60!)

I just got back from The Rat Cellar (campus snack bar). Even though it is extremely cold out right now I decided that it would be worth the walk. Vermont Tech. gives students with the Gold Meal Plan $50 each semester to spend at the rat cellar. All students have to do is have their student ID card scanned by the person behind the counter. The $50 can run out fast, but that is
mainly because The Rat has really good food.

As the title of this post suggests, this is my 60th post on this blog. I believe that it is my 16th week of college, so 60 posts is a pretty impressive number to me. It should be known that I plan on keeping this blog up-to-date at least until I get my Bachelor's degree. I am planning on posting at the end of this school year about the total number of posts that I have created this school year. I will then try to top that number with the following year. :-)

I am looking forward to having only 2 hours of classes tomorrow. I will finally have plenty of time to play some video games, watch television, and a whole bunch of other awesome stuff...

My Long Days Are Over...

Wednesday is now my longest day of the week. I have a total of 7 hours of class time counting labs and lectures on Wednesdays. I am looking forward to tomorrow because I only have two classes on Thursdays, and my first class doesn't start until 11am. Since I only have Digital Circuits II, and Intro. to Technical Math II tomorrow I don't have any homework to do tonight except for my math work. Friday is going to be a pretty easy day also. I have a 2-hour lab for Fundamentals of Circuits II, an hour of Research Writing, and finally an hour of Intro. to Technical Math II on Friday. I like how my last class on Friday gets over at 2pm because it allows me to go home for the weekend earlier than I was for most of last semester.

I am going to get a move on with my math homework. I decided to take a picture of my hallway just for the hell of it. :-)

Back to College With a Full Fridge of Food...

Yup. Vacation is finally over. It took me a while to get all of my stuff back in order since I was coming back from a 3 week vacation. I decided that I would take a picture like this so that people could see how the beds are set up in my dorm room, and to show the food that I have in my fridge now. For anyone who does not yet know, the beds pull out from under these cabinets that have cushions on them. The beds are used as couches when they are pushed in.

Anyway, I had a great vacation. It was nice having a vacation, but it is also nice to be getting back to classes. My up-to-date schedule should be on the right side of this blog. As stated before, I did this so that it would be easier for people to know when I do and do not have classes, and for anyone who might be wondering what classes I am taking. Tomorrow I have my first 3-hour class for 'C' Programming. I am interested in how the class will play out. I have experience writing computer programs, but I have least amount of experience with the 'C' language.

Well, I am probably going to get something to eat, and then play some Rock Band 2. It sounds like a pretty good plan right now... :-)

PS: I have a new camera now, so my pictures should be coming out noticeably better than my previous ones unless Blogspot reduces the quality when they are uploaded...