Group projects, what a mess.

These types of assignments are the worst that you can get for a big project in school because you always find yourself coming across the issue of scheduling conflict. If you can all meet together it may only happen for one time, and that may not be enough time to be able to get anything done whether it's a simple research project or something artistic. It's also a chore trying to find one person who will able to get the whole group on task in order to do the project in a timely manner. If you can't get together you'll find yourselves scrambling to dived the work evenly amongst every person in the group. Once you do this it's also hard to collaborate and incorporate everything into the same overall presentation. It's especially hard to be able to do these types of projects when you are in college and you commute from an hour away while also having work on many weekdays and a full schedule while you're at school. Basically put it is near impossible for group projects to go smoothly and it's just a real pain and hassle when teachers assign them.

Solve this problem, oh, it's only half complete.

Algebra is one of the most irritating forms of math that for the most part none of us will be able to use practically in our every day life. I don't even see how I could use it any day of my life. Now, before I go and outright declare it's useless let me put one example on where you can actually use it.

If you're going on a trip with 3 friends and you're traveling 50 miles in a car that gets 24 mpg you can use an algebraic equation to figure out the money needed from each person so you each spend the same amount and it comes out to be a fair cost for all involved. Gas is 3 dollars a gallon, you have three friends, and you're using 2 gallons of gas. I'm not gonna do the equation but you get the point.

Besides this one type of basic equation every other part of algebra is just complete and utter useless nonsense.

Half Assing is LAME

I can't stand it when people half ass something, they don't work hard or do the best they can and often times they don't even

Time to change the way time is viewed.

Time is one of those things that everybody loves to hate. We can't live without the fabric of time and space and we organize and run our lives based off of schedules within time. Time is merely a way to split the day into equal parts so that everybody can be on the same wavelength.

It is true that time exists due to the fact that there are seasons and day and night. It's very convenient that we were able to work these two things into a 24 hour day. Ever since man has known about time he has tried to come up with ways to keep track of it. The sun dial is the earliest form of this and is still used in some places today, not for telling the time but for decoration.

The one method of telling time that has lasted the longest is the analogue clock. Now that we have digital clocks though the analogue system is rather useless. Sure it's classy or classical to have a grandfather clock or a wall mounted pendulum clock but what's the point?

Now, let's entertain a ridiculous idea for a second here. What if we were to display an analogue clock using a digital display? Genius right? WRONG. I'm just going to end now.

Displaying analogue clocks digitally is dumb and pointless.

General Education, why it SUCKS.

If there was one thing that I could do to forever change the way that my college operates, let alone all colleges, it would be doing away with stupid Gen Ed courses. Now, I'm not saying that I think learning is stupid or that it's not important to have general knowledge about the world, it's just the way in which you do in at college doesn't help you with your life nor does it make you a more knowledgeable person. Let's sum it up in three.

1. No New Material
One of the biggest reasons that these classes are so unimportant is because of the fact that ninety percent of the time you are being taught things that you more than likely already know. I've read the book Frankenstein once in seventh grade, senior year of high school, and then a third time my freshman year of college. Every time we read it we always look at it from the same aspect, that of Frankenstein abandoning his creation thus making the creature evil, or did the creature choose to be evil? It's always the same dumb conversations with the same stupid ending to them and it's a waste of time.

2.Waste of Time
That brings me to my second point, these classes are a waste of time. Since I already know all of the basic math that I'm going to need to use to be able to function properly in the real world, all of the math that they would be able to teach me is just useless and stupid. When on earth am I going to have to figure out this certain equation without knowing what this variable is? Never, that's why these courses are a complete and utter waste of time.

3.Distract From Important Classes
The greatest reason why I feel these classes are not only unneeded but in many ways harmful to your education is because they take time away from the courses that you are taking so you can get your study completed. I didn't go to college to be a science math or business major, I am going to become a composer. Why should I have to take two writing and rhetoric classes that are making me write more research papers that I've already done in the past. Having to take over six courses in a single semester with only two of those being major courses is still a hard thing to have to do because every other class that isn't a major and isn't even an English class for that matter of fact requires that you do some form of major project or paper, which is a bull crap waste of time.

Gen Ed courses are the worst thing ever invented in the educational history of man.

Grammar much?

I hate those facebook updates that start with is and are followed by a sentence that makes no sense because of it. Just because it's only an online thing doesn't mean you shouldn't use good english. If you start using poor grammar and a worse vocabulary you're only harming yourself, so why start that bad habbit. Always do everything as best as you can because the second you start slacking off you lose knowledge and skill.

So, whether it's a slight grammatical error or a dropped word don't let those seemingly small things ruin you.

No eating allowed in lunch room!

Wow was I shocked today when I walked into the student lounge on the third floor of the music department at my college. There are signs hanging on the wall stating "no sleeping allowed in lunch room". First off, I'd like to say that though this is the lunch room it is more so a student lounge thanks to the computers and such. I don't understand just why it is that we're not allowed to take a minute to get some shuteye during our down time.

I pay 16,000 dollars a SEMESTER to go to this place, so why is it that they think they can dictate what I do during my free time between classes? Maybe I've had a full day of class followed by a full night of work the previous day and I didn't get much sleep. Maybe I had a lot of homework to do and I had to stay up late to finish it all and make sure I did a great job on all of it. Whatever the circumstance, I feel that I should be able to do whatever publicly appropriate act I please in the student lounge that I pay for.

The main thing that irritates me is that there's nothing they can do about it besides wake us up. They can't write us up or kick us out the building so what's the point of waking us up just to ensure we're not sleeping in the lounge?

I can understand not sleeping in here during lunch time when it's crowded and there are many students trying to eat here, but the rule is otherwise very unnecessary bullcrap.

Half of the time you're in the other half!

Statistics is one of the greatest ways of finding out the results of any instance by examining a select number of people and applying that data to seemingly every person in the known world. It is for this reason that there are so many flaws in our society.

One great example is insurance premiums. I am a 19 year old male with a clean driving record who drives a 2000 ford escort. My monthly bill is 160 dollars due to the fact that statistics have declared that people of my gender in my age group are more likely to exhibit risky and dangerous behaviors in our every day life. I am a safe driver who obeys all laws applicable to operating my motor vehicle, the only accident I was ever in was during winter when I stopped and the person behind me failed to stop and rear ended me. Bad road conditions my ass he just wasn't paying any attention. My point is, however, that just because statistics say something doesn't mean it applies to everybody. I believe that for insurance everybody should be given the same rate at first, whether you be a 19yo male or a 45yo woman.

One other reason that statistics are crappy is because of the fact that they often become old and outdated rather quickly. A statistical measurement made in 2005 about computer usage may be very different than those made the next year. Stats don't update every year though so the data isn't always reliable.

Sports stats are another thing that I find very useless just for the fact that people will always perform differently on any given day. Just because all of the cubs players and the team in general had great stats this year doesn't mean that they were guaranteed to win the series. They got swept in the playoffs which goes to show that you can't rely on the stats (and that they suck :D).

I could really go on all day about stats and how worthless I feel they are but I'll leave it at that.

Statistics are awful and that's all I have to say about that.

The Confederate Flag

Though I do realize that this flag is a historical symbol I in no way believe that it has the right to be flown in our country. Let me give you an example of why I feel this way because if you look at it from the way I do you'll agree with me.

The Swastika was a symbol of pride when adopted by the Nazi party and before they ever used it the Swastika has been a symbol of good luck and fortune with strong spiritual meaning in the eastern world. Since the use by the Nazi party however this flag has become a symbol of oppression, hatred, racism, and stands as a reminder of the atrocities befallen on the Jewish Nation.

The confederate flag was originally adopted by the south as a proclamation of their rebellion and independence from the Union. As we all know however the south was and to some degree still has racial problems, mainly that of whites being racist towards blacks. I won't delve into this topic as you can look for yourself on the internet at the many things that happened in the south such as the murder of Emmett Till. The flag stands to many as a symbol of racism and oppression from whites who feel they're superior to people of other skin colors.

Many supporters of the flag claim that it is representative of their southern heritage and the traditions of the south. Honesty, who are they trying to kid?

The Swastika and the confederate flag are on the same level, they both have extremely negative connotations and there's no justification in flying either of them, unless for historical purposes such as in movies portraying events of the time.

A side note: What heritage? The south didn't adopt that flag until they broke off because they wanted to keep slavery, is that the kind of heritage you want to represent you?

Sorry I didn't know this was a one way sidewalk.

I absolutely can not stand it when a person feels that they are so important that they don't even bother at an attempt to move over when passing somebody on a walk way. Just this morning I practically had to turn sideways and strafe past a person due to his ineptitude. I don't know whether he thought there would be enough room or if he honestly just didn't care but either way it's one of those things that can make a person ticked for quite some time afterward. Here's the deal with walkways in America, you generally always walk on the right side no matter which way you are going. This very simple rule makes it so that everybody can get to where there going with minimal interference. One thing however that can throw off this entire system is a group of people walking together. Often times one or more members of the group want to walk side by side so that they can all be equal and not have to look back or talk louder. This is a problem however when they are taking up almost all of if not the whole sidewalk and they refuse to move out of the way of other pedestrians. I could go on and on and on about this but I'll just make it real simple and clear so that we can prevent this plague from overtaking our nations walkways.

This Posts Message: When you're walking down a walkway mentally divide it in half always be conscience of which side you are on so that you don't impede the travel of those on the other side it's called being courteous and it's something that everybody should do.

Nobody has a life as awful as mine!

What is the deal with emo kids? Honestly, why is it that they all project this idea of their life being so horrible, even though it's clearly not? Most emo kids express this feeling of despair by using money that their parents gave them to purchase a multitude of 18 dollar t-shirts at Hot Topic that show how dark they feel on the inside. Usually all they wear is black, and their pants are extremely baggy that often have chains hanging from them in some fashion. One reason they do this is to be non-conformist, by conforming to a group full of people doing exactly what they are. If that's not a paradox I don't know what is. Some of their lives are so bad that they even have their friends help them use hundreds of dollars worth of musical instruments to record songs about it. They also see expensive concerts which they get to by driving their parent's car so they can pay for the show with their parent's money. Oh, they write pathetic emo poems too, here's one I wrote in like 2 seconds.

My life is awful, wish I were dead,
Escape the darkness in my head,
Torrents of pain swirling around,
Drop to my knees alone on the ground.

The heart wrenching thoughts that run through my mind,
Black hole for my heart and my spirit defined,
A messenger of death yea the death of my soul,
I'll never be free from its life taking toll.

The hatred that boils just under my skin,
Society calling all my actions a sin,
When will it all end, where did it begin,
I'm feeling my life here is now wearing thin.

Totally queer right?

This Posts Message: Emo kids are obviously taken care of by people who more likely than not love them, so they have no reason to act like depressed sad-sacks.

Side Note: Why do they wear army boots if they're supposed to be anti-establishment and against being mainstream?

Society made them weak!

Throwing out old ideas in substitution of better ones is almost always a good thing. Even though the end result may be a good one because of these changes, there are often unforeseen and detrimental side effects. One great example is how society is almost entirely ridding our nation of old fashioned playgrounds. No more metal slide, merry-go-rounds, see-saws, or as some said, teeter totters. No more wooden structures or metal jungle gyms, and certainly no more tire forts, which were AWESOME. These were not the safest playground structures, but there's the glory of it which made it so fun. All of these things had an inherent risk that came along with their use, giving us a more exciting experience. One other thing that makes our playgrounds "safer" is new ground/play flooring. Instead of the traditional pebbles or wood chips we now have foam/rubber matting. With pebbles and even wood chips you could have wars by throwing them at each other, what can kids do now with these synthetic floors? The main reason that all of these things which make children safer are bad is they are making the kids grow up to be wimps. They don't get bruised, scraped, scratched and beat up as much and it's babying them. My generation learned to take it and walk it off, deal with it. In a way I suppose you could say that this made us tougher, stronger, and better because we've dealt with injury before.

This posts lesson: Let your kid fall off his bike and scrape his knee, let them play tackle football in your backyards, let them wrestle and horse around. Allow your children to have the experiences that teach them about the risk of injury and what it's like when it does happen. Your children will be tougher because of this and they will have a better life in the long run.

DISCLAIMER: I do not support reckless child endangerment nor am I encouraging it.

Allow me to clarify!

This post is going to be extremely relevant to you!

I can't stand when I have to explain something that I've said or that I'm talking about to somebody. This happens to everybody on an almost regular basis so I know it annoys everybody else in the world as well. One example is why I prefer to use Windows Live Messenger instead of AIM. It's aggravating having to say that WL has better features and a cleaner and more personal interface than AIM whenever I try to tell an AIM user to switch to WL. I think the worst type of explanation irritation occurs when you're talking to somebody about let's say this game you both play. I played this game called Gunz, and the control scheme was broken. A broken control scheme allows you to do things you shouldn't normally be able to do but can achieve by taking advantage of the flaws in the controls. It's because the combination of there being no limits to your actions and your ability to repeat certain actions that you are able to take advantage of them. It's as if in Battle Field 2, a realistic modern warfare game, you can run and jump as often as you want. That would lead to broken controls and that's why in the game you have stamina, so as to limit those actions thus making it so you can't take advantage of them. See? I just explained something, and oh boy was that a hassle. Some of you probably didn't even understand anything I said.

To get back to the crux of the matter: Explaining things that you are saying is annoying, though it happens often so there's really nothing you can do about it besides making sure that when you do explain you do a damn good job of it.

Verify this ancient language for access.

DISCLAIMER: If you don't want to hear every little thing I have to say and just wanna skip straight to the message of this wall of text, skip to the bottom.

Don't you hate CAPTCHA, which are those annoying little word verification images that show you an image that's really illegible and forces you to write what is asks for in a text field? I hate them. It's a good idea when you think about it, but it just doesn't do as well in the application. The main purpose is so these things called bots don't spam websites with false accounts and posts, CAPTCHA stands for Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart. To put it simply it's so websites can ensure that only real people are creating accounts and posting and doing whatever else requires this form of verification. It's just crappy that some of the images have to be so warped that you can hardly read them. The only real reason I can think of them doing that is because some loser with no life may have actually took the time to make a program that finds the verification image when it goes to that page and uses some sort of algorithm or identification device which examines the image and inputs what letters and numbers it's able to read. Basically, the program acts as if it's a person looking at the image and once it figures out what it is it inputs it so as to complete the verification process. That's the only reason I can fathom for them making those types of images. Here's something else to think about, sometimes if you are unable to do the image it lets you do a simpler one. What's the point of the hard to read one if they have an easy to read one? I'm not even going to bother to get into that but here's what I really wanted to say. Sometimes if you can't read the image it lets you listen to something, and then type in what you heard. Those are often very hard to understand, so it's just as difficult and irritating as the image based ones. What if you are def and can't do the image one? That must really suck. Well, I haven't done this in a while so I'm gonna go nostalgic on my ass and sum this all up with a summarization (LOL redundancy).

Spoiler Alert! - For those you didn't get the message of that post and don't want it revealed to them point blank it's going to be stated next.

This Posts Message: CAPTCHA Verification images are tedious and annoying, end of story.

Well, it's for you but it's not for you.

The student discount for the Metra is GARBAGE. To be applicable for the student discount you must be a grade or high school student. This discount does NOT apply to college students. This may seem like it's no big deal, but let me tell you why Metra doing this is a very scummy thing for them to do.

Grade and High School students DON'T need to buy monthly passes to go to Chicago. College students need to buy monthly passes to go to Chicago.
If Metra gave the discount to college students they would make less money. By giving it to G&HS students they don't lose money, because they don't take advantage of it. This allows Metra to look like they're giving a discount to students, but not to the ones who will use it. This is why Metra is sleazy.

Excuse my language, it's not my fault.

KEYBOARDS, computer ones not musical ones. The keyboard is the centerpiece of the computer right along with its partner the mouse. Without these two devices we would have no means of communicating with the machine that almost dictates everything that we do throughout our daily lives. You know what, I'm going to make this a dual post not only about the keyboard but about the mouse too, as they are both things that every person has a different opinion on, so here's what I have to say about it.

Keyboads

Key Action:
Now, when I speak about the Key Action I am referring to the amount of force that it takes to press a key, and the ease in which the keys come back up after being hit. Most keyboards are fairly good but there are a select few which are just awful monsters that are near impossible to work with. Mac Keyboards are the pinnacle of bad action. The keys are extremely stiff and take a lot of effort to press, thus making typing much more of a task than it has to be. The key placement isn't bad and everything is spaced well but it's irritating to have to use so much effort to press a stupid key. Another issue with these is how on some models the keys ascend upwards in space, why? Not only do I have to stretch my fingers far for the F keys, but I now have to lift them higher as well? That's what I call irritating. The other champion of bad action are laptop and flat keyed keyboards. These demons can make the most fluent of key strokers fall to their knees and weep tears of anger and frustration. You can hardly tell if you've pressed a key, and when you do, they don't really like to spring back up because there's really nowhere for them to spring back up to. Another problem is that they're too easy to double stroke and also to be smashed different directions thus throwing off your fingering. These are just a nightmare to work with and I feel pity on any person forced to use them as a primary input device.

Functions:
I do realize that it's not necessary for a keyboard to have any keys other than the standard keys required to operate a computer, but sometimes keyboards go all wrong when people either add too much or take away things from keyboards. Keyboards without number pads drive me insane, how are you supposed to input mathematical data in a quick and efficient manner without one of these essential pads? It just doesn't happen without it. That's really the only thing that you can take away from a keyboard so that you can still operate the computer, and it's really the only thing that they can take away which makes using the keyboard more irritating. Some things that they add are nice, but some are really cluttered and make the keyboard less efficient. Keyboards that feature email keys and things like that are often cluttered and go unused by those who purchase them. That's about it, I don't know what else I can say about that.

MICE

Control Method
Track balls, oh my are they old. If you are using a trackball mouse kindly do yourself a favor and throw it off of the nearest 3rd story anything you can find. These have a horrendous 2 axis input device which is controlled by the ball which moves inside of it. These get destroyed by dust dirt and grime and become very hard to operate when they are so cluttered up by all of this.
Top Ball Mice, wow. If you can do this go ahead, but these are so finicky that unless you enjoy using it you will never want to touch one EVER.
Optical Mice, these aren't bad, but come on man, there's something better out there and it's called laser. Optical mice aren't horrible but the red light coming from the bottom and its unreliability on certain surfaces can put a hamper on your computing.

Buttons
If you're fine with left and right click and a scroll wheel that's cool. If you're fine with macs one button only mice (which I HATE) with the little scroll ball (which I think is the only good thing about the mouse) then I guess that's cool too, if you're using a stupid mac. Here's the thing though, it's not always bad to have more, and I enjoy a mouse with tons of awesome buttons. Be wary of your choices, because some are cluttered and feature unnecessary buttons.

Wired
I hate wired mice, where's the freedom? What if you want to sit across the room and watch a movie and have your mouse with you just in case you need to pause for some reason and have no other way of doing it in a more convenient manner (I have a remote for my computer suckers!)? What if the cable isn't long enough? What if the cable is too weighted and pulls the mouse? What if your station is too cluttered and a mouse won't work well? For the most part, wired mice are inferior to wireless mice.

My Input Devices and My Advice to You!

I use the Logitech G15 Gamers keyboard, the model with the little screen that can be opened or remain shut. I love it because it has great key action, and its extra keys are useful not only for media but for gaming obviously. Also it has backlit keys so you can always see them even when it's dark (though you shouldn't have to see them if you're good at typing as I am). It has a great design and it just feels right whether you use the wrist rest or not ( I don't because it doesn't fit on my stupid computerdesk keyboard pull out thing. It's an all around great keyboard though it's a bit pricey at around 70 bucks. If you're looking for just a simple keyboard that also functions well then just get a basic 15 dollar Logitech Keyboad, it still works great just without all the bells and whistles.

I use the Logitech MX1000 Wireless Laser mouse which I feel is one of the best mice on the market. It feels good to use, it has not only left and right click but also a scroll wheel which can be used to scroll up down left right and clicked to bring up the mouse scroll input feature. Also, surrounding this scroll wheel are up down left right buttons which are useful for click scrolling, as in one click at a time. On the side over the thumb are forward and back arrows for web browsing and in between these buttons is an application switch button which may be easier for some than using alt tab. Now, if you don't like those buttons the way they are or you're a gamer you can assign them to act as different keys, I think you can even assign macros to them to an extent. This mouse also is awesome because it's wireless and very precise, the receiver is also the charger, and it uses a built in lithium ion battery that holds a strong charge so you hardly ever have to charge it. Also you can use the mouse on almost any surface imaginable and it doesn't emit that awful red glare that optical mice do.

Now, both of these are more than just a mouse or just a keyboard because they both come with software that enables you to further customize them to serve you however you'd like. I put my computer input device faith in Logitech, because they don't just make hardware but also software to make it even better for every individual user. So, you've heard it from me, now it's up to you to decide what works best for your needs in the vast and sometimes very annoying world of computer input devices.

I didn't want to say that but I guess I am now!

Auto-complete. What a giant piece of crap this feature can be. Sometimes you may want AC turned on, for instance when you're using your web browser and you're typing in the address of a certain website that you frequently visit. Well, if you are doing that then why not just make the site a bookmark, or better yet, just drag and drop the address icon into you're bookmarks tool bar? Even though in this place it can be useful, AC is still not a necessity for practical people. Microsoft word using AC can sometimes change the entire meaning of a sentence you were typing and we all know that for that program AC is a horrible mistake. Keyword fields where you enter keywords is also a very bad place to use AC because on some browsers and computers it always puts in the word that's in the drop down AC list. You type your one word let's say "print", and after you put the comma after it the AC decides that since the last word in the drop down list of AC words was "fine print" it's going to put that in the field regardless of the fact that you didn't chose that word nor did you want to. You try time and time and again to input it only to find out that the only way to put your word is by letting AC put in the word that it wants to have and then going back and deleting the part that you don't want. What a hassle that is. Now, since I've been relentlessly riding AC let me give the only example of where it's actually a good feature, well, maybe two.

Google searches: I love AC when it comes down to doing a search on google, because it's very smart in the fact that it narrows down what your looking for with specifics that are frequently searched for. Let's do one in our browser right now shall we? Press and hold control and T to open a new tab (or command and t if using a mac )and load the google main page. We want to end up searching for "It's over 9000!" If AC isn't on for the homepage use the search tool bar in the top right corner of your browser. You'll notice that as soon as you type in "It's o" you get the listing for "It's over 9000!" in the drop down AC list. That's what I call handy and convenient. Now you can simply hit the down arrow three times instead of typing in eight extra characters. Google AC FTW!

Cell Phone T9 Texting: This is the best thing that's ever happened to the mobile texting universe (besides the little keyboard if you can do that ). This is the easiest way to input words without having to go through the hassle of choosing a letter and then waiting for it to input, and taking like 10 minutes just to text a simple sentence. T9 Texting ROCKS, but it's still easier just to call somebody so minus 10 points to T9 texting (LOL FAIL!).

Well, there you have it people, let's get a final conclusion on this whole AC issue.

Auto-Complete: Works well if used correctly. Final Score: 7/10

It's not like I didn't already pay for it.

This may sound like a very petty thing to complain about, but hey, that's life in a nut shell isn't it?

Why the crap do I have to pay ten cents a page to print a freaking piece of paper at my college, even though I'm already paying 16,000 a semester to go here? Don't you think that they can cover the costs of my printing for one semester in that fee? Why do I have to pay extra money? It's not even paying that dime per page that bothers me, it's the hassle that's involved in doing it. I have to put money on a card, and if I don't use all of that money by the end of the semester it's gone. Now doesn't that seem like a cheap way for a college to earn some extra money? "Hey, let's make them put money on a card to buy things here so when the card expires they lose the 30 bucks that they put on it and it all goes straight back to us!" I wonder what evil corporate genius they had think that one up. Seriously though, it's the principle of the matter here that's the main issue. I pay a TON of money to go here, so I shouldn't have to pay extra to print a stupid paper that I had no time to print at home, it's just not right.