All the labs are going wrong today. The textbooks are asking us to download an utility that isn't compatible with the BIOS in our lab computers. No loss for me, it's all elementary.

NOTES:

• Ah, the typical memory vs. storage mistake. How many people out there know people who refer to hard disk space as "memory". "I only have 40 gigs of memory"... "Holy shit, really?"
• PROM - Programmable Read-Only Memory
• EPROM - Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory
• EEPROM - Electrical Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory
• The memory controller passes data to the CPU from cache memory and tries to predict what data will be needed next from main memory.

Posted by n00nz |

Quiz about to start...

Oh well.... 10/15 isn't that bad for someone who hasn't studied and barely read the textbook since starting the class.

Well now, onto the motherboard.


Notes:

• What is 127 in binary code? A: 01111111. Hell, I don't know.
• SCSI = Small Computer System Interface.
• RAID = Random Array of Inexpensive Disks, now using Independent... Duh.
• SATA = Serial ATA, Serial Advanced Technology Attachment.
• IDE = Integrated Device Electronics.
• FRU = Field Replacement Unit.
• CISC Based processors = Complete Instruction Set Computing.
• RISC Based processors = Reduced Instruction Set Computing.

Posted by n00nz |

Much better today. I've got to stick to my old rule of getting to bed before 11pm and I should be fine. It's a wonder how the body functions so much better with some much needed extra sleep. Ah...

This class should be interesting, after not having any time to complete a lab assignment last class, this class we start with the labs we missed. Off we go...

Now to the lecture...

Hey, I just noticed my farm boy buddy doesn't have his hearing aid in tonight. I guess my horse stomping typing style was driving him crazy. Oh well.... woah there boy.

Pop, there goes our class's projector bulb. I saw that one coming from week one, the yellow warning light on the Epson projector has been flashing since then and it was only a matter of time before the bulb just gave up. Teacher is very surprised, even though when he starts the projector, it also puts up a warning text on the screen.

Dammit.... The tech guy in the media department was able to get the bulb to fire up, maybe for the rest of the class. There goes another sale, down the drain. I won't tell my boss I lost another one.

Funny, we are spending so much time on the damn electricity chapter, even though the A+ exam doesn't expect a computer technician to know everything about electricity. You only need surface knowledge.

Notes:

• Volts x Amps = Watts
• A power adapter is a rectifier
• A transformer steps down power for electronics to handle
• Conductors easily allow electricity flow
• Insulators resist the flow of electricity, like ceramic or glass.
• Semiconductors are between conductors and insulators.

Posted by n00nz |

Dizzy in the morning, tired as hell in the afternoon and only 20 minutes before class to try and unwind. Unwinding not successful. Today is one of those days where I will have to question my wisdom of going back to school when my work schedule is inevitably going to get busy. Here I am...

Farm boy has a hearing aid and he must have it turned up way too loud, everytime I touch the keyboard he turns back at me. Volume is essential to the control of any sound equipment, read the manual buddy.

Uh oh, the russians are planning something, the ruskie chatter is at an all time high, even if it's just the 3rd class.

My Pakistani friend is still keeping his distance but remains as slow as ever. Guaranteed, when the teacher says "type c:\windows\command and see what's there!" about 30 seconds later, the guy is asking the ruskie, "What do i type?".

Notes:

• Cold boot is starting up a computer after turning it right off. Warm boot is simply restarting the computer as with the windows startup menu. This can also be known as a "hard" boot and "soft" boot.
• The start up BIOS makes sure the computer is ready to hand control over to the OS.
• The boot strap is what we call the file that starts the Startup process.
• The master boot record points to the file that starts the OS.

Posted by n00nz |

Phew... big fucking Phew... Amer appears to be a different person than the last Mustafa that taught me. This should be interesting. Someone who speaks clearly and looks thus far interested in the process.

Damn... didn't take long. 8:20pm and I'm annoyed. This teacher ends every sentence with... "...right?". Yeah, that's right mother fucker... Microsoft did create a program named Windows... RIGHT?

Damn, I'm tired and I'm being a bitch.

Notes:

• Ah, the good ol' "hardware is like a car..." speech.
• Shell and Kernel.
• CPU Processes.
• Firmware = chips holding programs/ command built into a piece of hardware.
• Memory Usage - Wow, opening more files means I'm using more memory, well slap me silly.
• B-Tree helps the operating system in finding files. Searching the B-Tree for a key to the index which points the OS to the proper area on the harddrive.
• 8 Bits = one letter in binary code. 8 bit processors could only think about one letter at a time, 16 bit 2 letters and so on.
• Real Mode = 16 bit operating mode - Software talking directly to Hardware
• Protected Mode = 32 bit operating mode. OS controls access to the hardware. Programs are protected from each other. Uses pre-emptive Multitasking.
• Time for the IRQ (Interrupt Request) "Let's say you're a waiter..." Metaphor.
• I/O Address is a temporary "in/out" box for data sent to and from the CPU from a particular piece of hardware that holds is allocated that address.

Lab Time: 8.45

Posted by n00nz |

Finally able to connect to the college's wireless connection. Stupid authentication mess.

It's only my second class and I'm already sorta kinda dreading tonight. I am fairly certain I'm not going to like the teacher, if my suspicions of it being my last teacher at this fine institution is correct. If I am right, I have to be ready for the dry, regurgitation of textbook pages. Might as well stay home then, right? Bah...

I've been having trouble sleeping, no where near as bad as it used to be when the medication lived in my veins. I'm actually quite pleased with the quality of sleep I've had over the last few months, but this week has been a reminder of how those times used to be.

I guess my stubbornness and unwillingness to put down other "non-school" related books is going to be the end of me, so I better just get to it and finish the books as soon as possible so I don't have any more temptation to delve into something slightly interesting. haha.

It's a little strange, knowing I'm an older "student", knowing that most of the "kids" I see in the cafeteria or the hallways are still more interested in "scoring chicks" than scoring grades. Not that I'm a scholar of any high standing, but I know where I went wrong and I'm paying the price for those mistakes now, but you know what? I think this is for the better.

I could have come to college directly after high school, I could have been in a better place in life financially, I could have made a point of making a career choice sooner in life, and I'm not entirely sure I've made that choice yet. But none the less, I think I'm wiser for the choices I've made. I could have also ended up with a job or career that paid well, but I could have been stripped of any happiness just as easily, being pigeon-holed into a station in life I wasn't ready for or willing to accept mentally.

Oh well... off to class.

Posted by n00nz |

Ok, this is slightly dissapointing. Ok, ok, let me point out the positive first, before i dive headlong into my usual negative scape.

• There are only 7 students in my class

Ok now for the negatives:

• Paki guy that doesn't know how to turn computer on.
• Socially awkward "big guy" from Alberta, just off the farm, or so it seems.
• Two, count em', two bonafide russian "undercover" agents infiltrating our grand educational programs. "Hello Vladimir!"
• Looks like when my regular teacher starts teaching this Thursday, i will be familiar with him. Amer Mustafa. Ummm yeah, i didn't like the last course i took here because of him.

We are going through what they call an "OVERVIEW" of what we will be covering in this course. This is the type of material i know well enough that i can almost fall asleep here, at least during the begining stages of the material.

Hardrives, memory, bus, data, binary and all that kind of stuff hasn't changed much since i last took a hardware course just a few years ago and touched on again with good ol' Amer last time i was in school.

I'm tired today, i want to get back to running, but damn this winter, it's dark by 4pm, who the hell feels like doing anything after that?

9PM - Labs. Piece of Cake!! Wohoo... looks like Mujibar has leeched onto "prarie boy". Phew...

Notes:

• Dipswitch? i'll give you a dipswitch... you...

Posted by n00nz |