Motorcyclists and Spring Sand

In addition to this blog, I am also an administrator of a great motorcycle forum, motorcyclistsunited.com (I say great not because I am partial, but because I have had experience at other forums based on motorcycles and this one has far better people, experts in the interest, and much better content). Anyhow, we have an awesome contributor, Captain Crash, who always posts some very fine literature based on motorcycles, life, and the philosophy of the integration of both. He also makes some very good motorcycle safety and informational videos. Anyhow, I wanted to share one that he posted today. The topic is the spring sand effects of living in a snow and frozen weather area. Good stuff!

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The Queuing Theory [LU]

This was a response to a classmates post regarding the queuing theory...

I am a very analytical person and any mathematical/analytical theory is interesting to me. The queuing theory is no exception. On top of that, I have worked in a couple of call center environments where this is of vital importance. You make a great point about understanding more than just the foundation of the theory. For instance, to make it an effective learning tool – one needs to know more than if customers have to wait for a certain amount of time they will hang up, which leads to reduction in productivity and sales, which leads to loss of business, which leads to ex-employees!

I was never a manager at either of these two jobs, so I am not sure how much the management really understood or utilized the theory. However, being an employee in those situations I know that 99% of the employees do not fully understand the why’s and how’s surrounding it. What I mean is that as an employee it was always drilled into our heads that we needed to provide great customer service but in a shorter amount of time. Most of the employees resented this part of their jobs. “How was this possible,” we thought. How are we supposed to provide excellent customer service, make a connection with the customer, and then have them off the phone within 1 minute and 15 seconds? While I was always fast on the phone this seemed an unattainable goal in most circumstances.

Additionally, most companies have key performance indicators and if you didn’t consistently meet these often lofty goals, your job was in jeopardy. So, in many cases the workers viewed the time goals as the most important, most often at the expense of customer service and connection. I believe the reason for this is because the queue goal was much more immediate and personal to the individual, whereas the loss of customers due to poor customer service was a community affect. Many employees in this situation will look out for themselves first and the company second. This is an unfortunate reality.

I think managers should use the queuing theory to not only map a plan of action for what is best for the business and the customers, but to also find a pathway to achieve such goals while keeping the employees attitude healthy as well. There is a lot of turn-over at any call center really and I personally believe that this is due, in part, to perceived impossibility on the part of the employees.

So that being said, while I believe the queuing theory is vital and necessary, I often question if it even gets used correctly. I say that in many cases it is not being used to its full potential and this in-turn makes it somewhat counter-productive.

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TELNET, SSH, FTP & SFTP [LU]

TELNET v. SSH

In an anecdotal way, the differences between Telnet and SSH (as well as SFTP and FTP) can be compared to the "changing of the times". I remember a time not too long ago when many people left their doors unlocked and the car keys in the ignition! Security was not really much of an issue because most people minded their own and did not infringe upon others' property and information. Certainly the times have changed and now we have complex security systems to protect our cars, homes, and even our computers now. There are lots of people out there who would love to get their hands on other people's information to exploit it for their personal gain. This same type of rationale can be applied to the differences between telnet and SSH.

According to RFC854 (Telnet Protocol Specification) TELNET protocol was created to provide general, bi-direction communications between networked devices. These connections were eight-bit byte oriented. "its primary goal is to allow a standard method of interfacing terminal devices and terminal oriented processes to each other (RFC854).

That being said, one of the biggest downfalls of TELNET is that it is not really transparent at all. It has long been considered a security risk because user names, passwords, and all subsequent commands are transmitted as easily-exploitable plain text (Brenner, 2007). However, TELNET is really a useful tool. So what to do? We need to be able to have the same essential functionality, but with some level of security.

Enter SSH...

According to RFC4251, Secure Shell(SSH) is a protocol for secure remote login and other secure network services over an insecure network. There are three major components:

1. The Transport Layer Protocol [SSH-TRANS] (provides server authentication, confidentiality, and integrity)
2. The User Authentication Protocol [SSH-USERAUTH] (authenticates the client-side user to the server and runs over the transport layer protocol.
3. The Connection Protocol [SSH-CONNECT] (multiplexes the encrypted tunnel into several logical channels and runs over the user authentication protocol). (RFC4251).

So, as one can see, the service that SSH provides is essentially the same as one would use with TELNET; however, SSH offers a mode of communication that is much more secure. Meaning the bad guys cannot get your information as easily.

FTP v. SFTP

FTP (File Transfer Protocol) was created to promote sharing of files; to encourage indirect or implicit use of remote computers; to shield a user from variations in file storage systems among hosts; and to transfer data reliably and efficiently (RFC959). In layman terms, it is simply a protocol via which users can upload and download files from one networked resource to another.

Like with TELNET, FTP is unsecure. Whenever a user opens a regular FTP session using a TCP/IP connection, the entire transmission between the host and client is sent in plain text. Anyone who has the ability to snoop on the network packets can read the data, including the password information. If an unauthorized user can login, they have the opportunity to compromise the system (University of Kentucky).

SFTP was created to eliminate this issue. The purpose and functionality is essentially the same; however, the entire login session, including transmission of password, is encrypted. It is therefore much more difficult for an outsider to observe and collect passwords from a system using ssh/sftp sessions. Therefore, SFTP is a much more relevant transport protocol in this day and age of cyber-criminals.

References

Brenner, B. (February 16, 2007). Solaris flaw a reminder of why telnet is toast. Retrieved January 21, 2009, from http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/news/column/0,294698,sid14_gci1244019,00.html

Postel, J. & Reynolds, J. (1983). RFC854 - Telnet protocol specification. Retrieved January 21, 2009, from http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc854.html

Postel, J. & Reynolds, J. (1985). RFC959 - File transfer protocol. Retrieved January 21, 2009, from http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc959.html

Lonvick, C. & Ylonen, T. (2006). RFC4251 - The secure shell (SSH) protocol architecture. Retrieved January 21, 2009, from http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc4251.html

University of Kentucky: Center for Computational Sciences (n.d.). Secure file transfer. Retrieved January 21, 2009, from https://www.ccs.uky.edu/machines/sftp.html

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DNS Caching & IPv6 - [LU]

It is safe to assume that most internet users have no idea what DNS caching is or how it helps the flow of information on the WWW. That being said, I suppose for the average user, knowledge of DNS caching is not important; however, to anyone involved in the IT field it is an important concept to know.

DNS Caching

While it is probably hard to determine, it is safe to assume that there are probably millions, if not billions of DNS requests going on at any one point in time. If every time a DNS lookup is requested the request has to work itself all the way to the top of the DNS hierarchy, there would obviously be a large bottleneck that occurs within nanoseconds. This would cause the entire internet to effectively shutdown in short order. It would also make the responses incredibly slow.

To avoid this situation, DNS caching is used. This way the information is stored lower in the hierarchy so that DNS requests can be handled and responded to in an orderly and efficient fashion. In contrast to the former situation, when a user makes a DNS request, it may only have to go to their local DNS server (in the office, or even on their computer) to get the correct IP address of the domain they are looking for. Not only does this reduce the probability of a bottleneck, it also allows for much faster browsing - no matter what speed of internet the user has.

IPv6

Theoretically, even with the advent of NAT, IPv4 addresses will run out within the next couple of years. With hundreds of millions of pieces of technology that require an IP address, IPv4 addresses are now becoming very scarce.

While it is not known if the IPv6 convention is the best idea, or easiest to use and implement, the number of possible addresses is, as far as we can fathom, sufficient in terms of addresses.

As St. Sauver points out in his article, IPv6 uses 128-bit addresses, which should allow for address assignment for virtually any conceivable address allocation scenarios. A complicated mathematical equation shows that it is possible to assign "3.7X10**21 addresses per square inch of the earth's surface"(Sauver, 2001, para. 11)!! I could not possibly imagine that ever being necessary.

References

St. Sauver, J (2001). What's IPv6....And Why Is It Gaining Ground? Retrieved January 15, 2009, from http://cc.uoregon.edu/cnews/spring2001/whatsipv6.html

Karrenberg, D. (February 2004). The internet domain name system explained for non-experts. Retrieved January 15, 2009, from http://www.isoc.org/briefings/016/index.shtml

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Span of Control (Lean Management) - [LU]

Definition

In “Essentials of Management: Core Principles, Concepts, & Strategies”, the author defines span of control as “the number of subordinates who report directly to a management.” Span of control also refers to the leanness of the organization, which depends on how many different layers of management a company in proportion to the total number of employees. That being said, an organization that has a smaller ratio of managers to subordinates (with many layers) is said to be fat; conversely, a company that has managers with large number of subordinates (in less layers) is considered lean.

Satterlee, A. (2006). Essentials of Management. Roanoke, VA: Synergistics Publishing.

Summary

Paul Glader is an experienced journalist who currently works for the Wall Street Journal. His specialties include General Electric Company, industrial companies, and management issues. In his article “It’s not easy being lean, “ Glader discusses how a small steel manufacturer, Nucor Corporation, ended up becoming the largest steel production plant based on shipments in the country simply by keeping their organization lean. The author also discusses how maintaining a lean organization is not always easy to do; in fact, as a company starts to grow it becomes near impossible. For the longest time, Nucor prided itself on its three management layers that separated the CEO from the hourly workers. However, they were soon forced to add an addition (fourth) layer to the mix with the placement of five new executive vice presidents. At Nucor, there was a bottleneck begging to develop for the CEO’s time. He constantly had people wanting to talk to him about mergers and acquisitions, development of new technology, and business machine sales people. This is just a small sample of the many vying for his time. When the attention demands from the plant managers were also added in, one can see that help was needed. This was an instance where too lean was causing missed opportunities, increased competition, and inefficiency simply based on limitations of one human being.

The determination of whether or not a company is lean enough can be concluded from profits. In many cases a company that is not lean enough will not be consistently hitting the profit margins they are looking for. The reason for this is because decisions take too long (as there are too many to be made) and time is spent wasted while the lower layer waits for these decisions. Efficiency is increased in Nucor’s lean model because the general managers are able to work with employee input to decide important issues that involve their layer – decisions such as how to set up the work shifts, how to spend maintenance money, and which products to make. This allows for a faster turnaround and also helps boost the workers’ morale as they feel that they are making a difference towards meeting company goals.

Being lean is not always a choice; however, Glader feels that corporations should do what they can to be as lean as possible. Nucor seems to be on the right track, as their profits show. They had to add the new executive layer merely out of necessity. It is important to note that these new Executive VPs are not another blanket layer between the CEO and the workers; rather, each one has a specific role, like chief financial officer and merger and acquisition VP. So in a sense, they are not fattening up the structure – they are merely performing specialized functions so that the CEO can still be in touch with the workers only a few layers down.

Discussion

Many people know that in business wasted time, resources, and work is not part of the profit equation. Many companies do everything they can to reduce waste. However, one of the most important things a company should focus on is not wasting management and time on decisions. A lean structure is essential in increasing productivity and profits. In Glader’s article, he stated that some steel mills that were competitors of Nucor had upwards of 35 layers of management! Once you understand what lean is, having 35 layers of management would seem a sure fire way to have business movement come to a grinding halt. When a decision has to travel 35 levels up and then 35 layers back down that makes for a lot of downtime! However, that does not mean that a company that is fat is bound to fail. As our text pointed out, Peters and Townsend believe that most of the Fortune 500 companies are over-managed, so it is possible to be profitable while not being so lean. However, I would be willing to bet that if they got rid of some management layers, they could cut wasted time and costs significantly thereby increasing the bottom line.

The layers of management differ from business to business. For instance, a small company may be forced to have a fatter structure simply out of responsibility. However, just because a company gets larger does not mean that the number of levels of management need to as well (Satterlee, 2006).

When it comes to the benchmark for using a lean structure, most experts agree that Toyota is the leader in this regards. Glader briefly mentions Toyota’s TPS (or Toyota Production System), which was inspired by the teachings of management expert Edwards Demming. The TPS system aims for the total elimination of waste and mistakes by continually improving the process. This includes total elimination of waste in those regards caused by too many layers of management. In another article, written by Susan Hassler, it is shown that the TPS method works, but only when the entire system is implemented.

In searching for more information on this topic, I found an article that was about how health care was attempting to lean down their structures to eliminated cost both for the company and the consumer, as well as eliminate errors which are literally make a difference in life or death. This article reviewed some shocking statistics on how a lean model makes a huge difference. Here are a few: Toyota was producing a product in 30 percent less time, with 25 percent less defects, in 25 percent less space than its competitors. They did all of this with 1/30th of the materials on hand. In addition to all of this, Toyota enjoys half the absenteeism rate because of the rotating staff and obtaining suggestions from employees 60 times more than a comparable company.

Sure it sounds good on paper, but how easy is it to achieve - That all depends on the situation. Many industry experts state that it is much easier to start a new company lean than it is to turn an existing company into a lean one; although the latter is not always impossible. The bottom line is that quantity does not always equal quality. Before I did this research, I had assumed that the bigger a company was the more managers and levels of management were necessary. However, I was naïve, like many others probably are about this fact. I am now in total agreement that lean is the way to go. I should have known better though. I have worked for start-ups and I have worked for big names like Bell Atlantic with what I perceived to be a fat organization. At Bell Atlantic I always felt like I did not matter – like I was a drone and my work probably suffered for it. On most days, I simply showed up for work and did the minimum amount of work required and went home. I felt like I had more vested in the company than they did in me. My opinion did not matter. However, when I worked for the start-up I found that because I was interfacing with the CEO everyday that we were moving forward together – that I was actually making a difference. I was working extended hours for no extra pay and working on the weekends as well. I was passionate about my work. I never once put two and two together and realized that it was the span of control, not necessarily the size of the company that made the difference. Perhaps I would have enjoyed working at Bell Atlantic more if there were fewer layers to get to the top!

References

Castle, A. (2007, October 31). Lean thinking on the wards. Nursing Standard, 22(8), 16-18. Retrieved January 17, 2009, from Academic Search Complete database.

Glader, P. (2006, June 19). It's Not Easy Being Lean. Wall Street Journal - Eastern Edition, 247(142), B1-B3. Retrieved January 17, 2009, from Academic Search Complete database.

Hassler, S. (2008, May). spectral lines: It's Not Easy Being Lean. IEEE Spectrum, 45(5), 9-9. Retrieved January 17, 2009, from Academic Search Complete database.

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Liberty University Distance Learning Program - A Brief Student Review

As it says in my profile, I am a FT student. I had attended college right after high school like most people do; however, I soon found that the program I was in (Emergency Health Sciences - Paramedic) was not for me. This, in addition to some extenuating circumstances at home, I stopped attending. A lot of things happened in my life over the next 7 years and I never returned to any other school to finish any degree. However, after I got married and settled down, I decided that I needed to go back then or never have the opportunity to do it again. I was 26 years old. I fell into the trap known as University of Phoenix, which was a horrible school to say the least. While it is a topic for another post altogether, I will say that this school (at least when I was there) was nothing but an EXTREMELY expensive diploma mill who had unqualified instructors. While I do not know for a fact, I can say that somewhere I imagine the instructors are informed to be very lenient with grading. Reason? - If students get bad grades or fail, they will not return, which = fewer profits. Let's just say I will post on this topic a bit more fully some other time.

About a year into my tenure at University of Phoenix, God told me that I was not in the right place. I was not being challenged at all and really was only learning APA formatting and spending thousands to do so. Upon my searching, the first Google search pulled up Liberty University. Obviously, to me, this was a sign! I did not even know that Liberty had a distance learning program. I was in search of a program that was not 100% online. Meaning, I was looking for a distance learning program that was an extension of an already well established institution. Turns out, not only was this the case, but Liberty was actually a pioneer of the Distance Learning format, starting way back with their VHS Bible classes.

I did some further searching, but not very much. From the moment I saw the programs offered at Liberty, I knew this was where I was meant to be. I enrolled in the B.S. Management Information Systems program and am now a senior. Liberty University's curriculum is fantastic - exactly what I was looking for. I am challenged every day and have a lot of work. However, what is good is that I am actually LEARNING, which is much better and more worthwhile than simply paying $60,000 for a piece of paper (like at University of Phoenix). The instructors are very knowledgeable, helpful, and genuinely committed to the success of the students. No wonder Liberty University is ranked #3 overall for their Distance Learning program. The cost for attendance is a bit more than a state brick and mortar, but there is no way I could possibly complete a program like that. However, even though LU is a private university the cost is very reasonable. To anyone that is considering an online education, I highly recommend looking into the programs they have at Liberty University. They offer certificate, undergraduate, and graduate programs in a number of disciplines.

In addition to promoting a school that I love, I also wanted to put this post in here to explain some of my seemingly random posts that may arise in the near future. We have many writing assignments in my coursework and I plan on posting some of my responses and assignments in my blog. I am hoping that it might help others in researching as well as showing the level of work required at LU.

What My Intent Is Not

It is not my intent to post material for others to use as their own work, i.e. plagiarism. It is an unfortunate reality that this happens all the time. Again, that is another topic for another post; however, I doubt it will do any good. Those that plagiarize generally do so in spite of possible failure and expulsion. Sad really. So it doesn't really matter how much I say not to do it, those that do will and those that do not won't. That being said, any post that I make that is from my work at LU will have the letters LU in parenthesis rather than explaining in the beginning of each post where it came from.

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Sesame Street Live!!

I have been meaning to post this since December 6th, but have not had the time. I do now, so I guess I will. As mentioned in my profile, I am 30, married to a great woman, and have 3 awesome kids. Two boys, 10 and 11 and one girl, Lydia, who is almost 2 (21 months). As far as TV and her favorites, she loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Handy Manny, The Doodlebops and most of the rest of the daily Disney lineup. For some reason, she is not too into any Nick shows at the moment - perhaps they are a little bit above her level at the moment.

In March '08, we took her (and the boys) to see Playhouse Disney live. This was right around her first birthday. Let me take an aside here and tell you a little something about me and shows. We do not go to many things like that due to time and money constraints; however, whenever we do go, I always do whatever I can and pay the extra money to get the best seats possible. I figure if I am going to spend that much money, I might as well spend 20% more to get to actually see and enjoy the show. Anyhow, we had pretty good seats for playhouse Disney. It was in an auditorium setting and we were in about the 7th row back, right on the end - closest to the middle aisle. Pretty darn good seats. This event was very expensive (cmon, I mean it is Disney, of course it was); however, it was quite a disappointment. Although, when Mickey Mouse came out on the stage, the look of utter amazement and astonishment on Lydia's face was worth every penny (even though she will not remember it - it was all about the moment). I suppose it was OK, but that was really all I could say. The story line was pretty lame and the songs and dances were pretty unenergetic as well.

Fast forward to October, I got the inside scoop that Sesame Street Live was coming in December. As many kids love the furry little red ball of kiddie crack, Lydia also loves Elmo. (Which is strange because we never ever really watch Sesame Street - in fact, I am not sure where she was ever introduced to him, but nonetheless, she loves her Melmo. (why do all kids add the extra M, it is funny!). So right when TicketMaster opened their internet gates I bought tickets, again opting for the best available seats. My early arrival to the website paid off, we got seats RIGHT next to the stage (this was in a civic center) and the seats were in a small group off to the side). The fact that it was at 10:30 AM on a Thursday did not matter to me really. One thing that I was pleased with is how much cheaper these much better seats were than the ones we got at Playhouse Disney.

I hate to admit it, but I had a blast. It was not only nostalgic (besides the realization that I was getting old because there was extra characters there that I had never seen or heard of before, like Grungetta and the little Hispanic-puppet, whatever her name was (I think it was Rosie) ), but was very entertaining. Lydia had fun and the best part about sitting so close is that the characters came down and interacted with Lydia and the rest of us sitting in that section. She thought that was so cool. The only one that did not come down though was ironically Elmo. I am sure she did not care - she was just so amazed that he was actually there! For almost the entire 2.5 hour show, she sat still and enjoyed the entire show. The story was really good and the songs and dances were enough to get this 30 year old metal head daddy to sing and dance right along with them (the things we do with our kids!). The finale song was a classic and entertaining climax filled with balloons, exploding cannons of confetti, and lots of colorful characters dancing right in front of us.

That being said, we plan on going again (they usually come once a year) because it will probably be a favorite with Lydia for years to come. One thing that was funny was that she was confused when we showed her that Telly was there (which by the way was the character who interacted with her the most). See, her oldest brothers name is Telle and she absolutely adores him and I think she thought that he was the one in the costume (which was probably emphasized by the fact that he kept coming over to her.

I am going to say that this show is a must for all parents and children if it is at all possible. The whole family will enjoy it and it is well worth the money. I wouldn't really recommend wasting the money on the Playhouse Disney Tour, but you do not have to take my word for it.
Now if the Wiggles and Doodlebops would just come somewhere reasonably close to here, that will be our next stops (though I am not sure those will be quite as fun for us, but Lydia will love them, and that is all that matters). Continue Reading*

Of Resolutions and Complete Life Changes

Well, like usual I am late on posting this...about 6 days late in writing about resolutions. Oh, I bet you are all excited to read about another person talking about losing weight, quitting smoking, spending less on asparagus, or whatever.

I make a bad joke, but I am a bit serious as well. I mean, maybe it is an American thing, but how many people stick with resolutions and if they do, for how long? I have never been one to really even set a resolution. Although, I do generally think about certain things that I would like to change about myself and my life. To be honest, I generally do that every day. You see, I think that I am committing one of the seven deadly sins on a daily basis. Though, looking around me, I see it happening everywhere so I am not alone. Which one you may ask? Sloth...or better yet known as laziness. Actually, I would like to think that I am not so much lazy as I am just unmotivated at times. I am not sure if there is a difference though. I think there is.

I see laziness as never actually DOING anything, whereas unmotivated is just not WANTING to do anything. The way I see it, unmotivated people actually do things (which I do), just not all the time. There are times when I get focused on something and can just work and work until I am done. However, there are just some days where I feel out of energy and really do not want to do much. Although, when I am just sitting watching TV or something my conscious is loud and active. Though I am not motivated to actually do so, I am mentally kicking myself in the butt for sitting around when there is just so much more to be done.

I think I am at the point where I can actually pinpoint what my problem/s is/are, but I need to get the motivation and perseverance to actually take action on it. I mention perseverance because once I get past the motivation aspect, my perseverance goes kaput. For instance, I started on a cafe motorcycle building project several months ago. I was so excited to get started when I got it that I spent 4 days dismantling the entire bike. Then...nothing...it is still in pieces in my basement just waiting for me to get back to it. For me I tend to get bored and something else usually comes up.

I have a lot going on (FT work, FT school, 3 kids, school activities, sports, coaching, scouts, etc.) and mine and my wife's schedules are weird too - I am scheduled to work from 8-5 and she works from 6p-3a, needless to say that is grueling. The good news is that we both work from home; however, the bad news is that we both work from home. Huh? The reason working from home is bad is because it is hard to separate work from home. I get distracted with home things sometimes when working and vice versa. I also have a bad habit of getting on my wife's schedule. When I am doing schoolwork, I generally do not get in bed until like 1:00 Am most nights. However, since my wife has started working until 3:00, I have not been going to bed until 3:00. I then have to get up at 7:00 to get the kids ready for school. Needless to say, I am tired!

Another reason I am sure I am unmotivated is because I a.) smoke (15 years) and b.) do not exercise. Actually that is an understatement. I work sitting down and have a lot of school work so I am sitting down then as well. Luckily I have not gained any weight or anything (who has time to eat with that schedule?) I hate it! I really want to stop both of those - meaning stop smoking and start exercising. I keep lying to myself and say that I do not have time to do so. This has been going on 2 years saying that now. The honest thing is that I do not have time NOT to.

I am also a HORRIBLE planner. Hate is a strong word and I rarely use it, but I HATE planning. I will admit though that when I do have a plan, schedule (and STICK-TO-IT) I usually get a lot more done. Hmm, imagine that! Usually I justify not planning by stating I am not good at it, so it takes me too long to do it, which is taking away time I am actually doing it! (I seriously think that I have Adult ADD or something!).

So, what is my point? I am not sure - I hadn't planned on having a point. But I suppose it is to say that I do not believe in New Year's resolutions. They do not work in my opinion. They are just created to be broken - and broken quickly. However, I do have goals for myself that it just so happens that I thought of right around the New Year. I refuse to call them New Year's resolutions because I do not want to break them. I need to get on a schedule with as much stuff as I have going on. I need to plan ahead and really want to stop smoking and exercise more. We shall see what the future holds. I have a whole lot more things that I want to do as well. So it is sort of a resolution package, if you will. I want to spend more time with my family, take my kids to do at least one fun thing once a week, take an actual family vacation this year, remodel and improve the house, among others. I reckon if I have a whole bunch of goals, I will meet at least one - hopefully. Quantity equals quality! Continue Reading*

The Other Player Has Left

Rock Band. The mega-hit multi-platform game that allows us lazy, instant gratification, no real talent folks to play in fake bands, get fake fans, and brag about how we have "mad skillz" because we can get 5 stars on songs that are not even worth playing on a real guitar (uh hem, Maps). Okay, so not everyone who plays this game is in this category. Some people use it for the purpose it was intended - a game for entertainment purposes only. And there are plenty of people who have those highly sought "mad skillz" (not me though - I am average at best).

Anyhow, this brings me to the topic of quitters. As if there are actually people in the world who are not familiar with the game play, let me elaborate. Since I have an Xbox 360, I will speak only in those terms. So, in addition to paying quite a bit of money to own the Xbox, the game, the internet connection and any other ancillary costs, you can shell even more money out to Microsoft to be able to play against other players from around the world via Xbox Live.


For Rockband, there are several different online modes - 1 that is cooperative and 2 that are competitive with varying levels of difficulty of each.

I have owned Rockband since it was released and played it a lot then, but stopped for a while. I have gotten back into it recently. I have been playing online against others in both of the two competitive modes (Tug of War and Score Duel) to earn the achievements to increase the size of my di...I mean my gamer score. Actually, I am not really doing it to get my gamerscore any higher - but like I have mentioned before I am a perfectionist and like to beat as much as the game as possible.

Anyhow, there is a sad sad state of affairs that is present more on Rockband than is on many other games that can be played online. I am talking about people playing you, losing, and quitting before the song is over. Once or twice during an online session is palatable; however, when you are seriously getting 75%-90% of people quitting (when you are winning) is absolutely horrid. Yes, it pisses me off. I mean, unlike another popular game Guitar Hero (which I also play), if they quit there is no recourse. They neither win nor lose and neither do you. (In Guitar Hero, if they quit, it counts as a loss for them). The reason this makes me so mad is because it is a complete waste of my time (even more than actually spending the time to finish playing the game).

I mean, I am not a great player by any stretch of the imagination. I can hold my own, but often get my tail kicked on a regular basis. I can honestly say that NO MATTER how BAD I am getting beaten I never quit. What is the point? Does it make the quitters feel a little better about themselves? Is it some sort of subversive slap in the face the person who actually is doing a better job of playing? No, this is merely a shocking sign of our times. No perseverance, fear of failing so much that quitting is somehow better (or different). It is quite an epidemic and I for one am teaching my kids different. I do not let them quit when they are playing and losing (which happens a lot) and they see that I do not either. It is sad really and is getting worse and worse every time I play. As an aside, there are still those that take getting beat like a champ - a respectable situation.

I know I know, it is just a game and I am taking too much from it - but am I? Isn't that sort of counterintuitive? I mean that statement simply verifies my point. It is just a game - get over it - if you lose you lose, who in the world cares. You will not become successful in life nor become rich and famous because you have a winning record on Rockband...

Bottom line losers that quit suck - and you know who you are - you should be ashamed. Continue Reading*

I Think I Am Getting Stupider

Well, here it is folks - my very first ever blog. While I have so much to say on many topics, I can never seem to a.) find the time or b.) to synthesize them into rational and understandable thoughts.

I was not like this, that I can remember, when I was younger. Heck, I say younger like I am old and I am hoping 30 is far from old. However, up until my mid to late 20s, I had the, what you call, the "gift of gab" (I hate that 'ism). Here lately though there are more times than not that I cannot seem to get the thoughts that I have either out of my mouth on in writing. Then again, there are other times that I can deliver a prose deserving of a Nobel Prize. Actually, I am not that narcissistic - rather, I am just sarcastic.


So this has gotten me thinking - why is this happening to me? Is there some sort of degenerative medical disease that has me devolving? Nah, I doubt it. The only things I can really attribute it to is either a.) getting older (which I can feel in more ways than just that), or b.) a simple result of having so many things going on in my life that I cannot focus on one particular item for too long. Like this post for instance - I am already bored with it and am thinking of like 20 other things at the moment. Usually the things I think about are not really other tasks I have, but my mind seems to move faster than I can keep up with. Meaning - I have already thought about what the last sentence of this post will be before I wrote this current sentence. Weird, huh? Do I have adult ADD? Yeah, the drug manufacturers would love that (that is another post altogether). Again, the signs point to no. Could it be the linger effects of all the partying and drugs that I used to do when I was a "kid"? Possibly, but again, I doubt it because there are times, like I said, that I can think very clearly. Not to mention, it has been many years since I have done anything like that or have even taken a drink.

Actually, I think that the reality is that this imaginary syndrome I think that I am experiencing is more related to my perfectionist mental attitude. Here is an example - in addition to my job, family, coaching, and all my other responsibilities, I am a FT student - yeah at my age! Along with that of course is homework, including research papers. Now, one of my BIGGEST flaws is that I am a HORRIBLE planner. I generally tend to be the type of person who thinks planning is a waste of time and that those planning minutes and hours could be spent actually doing the work. Yes, even though I run into all sorts of problems that planning would have averted, I still hold firm to my convictions in that area. Anyhow, I am one of those types of people who wait until the last weekend to finish a paper that was assigned 3 weeks prior. I hate myself for this, but it is who I am.

Miraculously, I manage to throw something together just in time for the 11:59 PM deadline (usually turning it in at 11:58), all the while kicking myself for writing the worse paper that I have ever written. However, I am usually presently surprised with a near perfect grade. <--side note--->Another one of my problems is being succinct. I get to going and have a hard time concluding. The assignment will be for at least 7 pages or something like that. I will think at the start of the assignment that there is no way I can write 7 pages on something like "The History or Java Programming." (Yes that was an actual assignment). Then, when I am writing the paper and I look down and see that I am on page 13 I start to get worried about how I am going to bring this rambling to an end, and usually end up with a paper that is great in the beginning and middle, but them comes to an abrupt stop like an excited dog chasing a squirrel and reaching the end of her chain, causing her to yelp and choke and fly through the air - yeah, just like that.

See, I am doing it again with this post, so be prepared... Continue Reading*