Wow, text books are expensive! Well, they're expensive if you buy them through the
DeVry bookstore. Forget that! You can find the same books on Half.com, new or used. Plus, when you're done with it, list it back on Half.com and get some of your money back, unless its a book worth keeping anyway.
My book for GSP 240 cost $50 through DeVry, plus S&H. I got it new for $27, S&H included.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Course Overload!
In examining my degree courses for my GSP degree, and given the time drain experience with my three previous courses (time drain in a minimal sense, they didn't take much), I decided to kick it up and try two courses this session. I'm taking GSP 220, Math For Game Programming I, and GSP 240, Practical Game Design. The courses opened recently and I had a chance to look over the syllabuses. Hopefully I'm not biting off more than I can chew.
The math class should be easy, considering I have an undeclared math minor, carry over from my engineering degree. I do trigonometry on a regular basis in my day-to-day too. Looking over the course objectives, it also sounds like I've already done most of the stuff before. I was concerned that since my programming courses were over, the classes to pick from seemed to de-emphasize programming. I was afraid that the skill would atrophy some before it came back in later courses. However, I'm happy to see that this math class includes programming exercises and assignments on a regular basis.
I'm very disappointed in the Practical Game Design course though. Looking at its course objectives and assignments, it sounds like a rehash of GSP-110 (the intro to game and simulation programming course I already took). Seriously, we have to review games with what appears to be the same template as 110. We have to write a pitch document, and write a design document. We also have to compare and discuss game generas. Everything I did in GSP-110 again! I dislike these sort of courses, I'm technical by nature and like technical problems. The online learning I don't think goes well with these sort of classes either, where face-to-face discussions could really be of more benefit. One potential positive with this course though is that we get to work in a group, which I'm hoping will help improve my outlook with the online degree. This could be good and bad, depending on the group of course. I'm willing to keep an open mind.
The math class should be easy, considering I have an undeclared math minor, carry over from my engineering degree. I do trigonometry on a regular basis in my day-to-day too. Looking over the course objectives, it also sounds like I've already done most of the stuff before. I was concerned that since my programming courses were over, the classes to pick from seemed to de-emphasize programming. I was afraid that the skill would atrophy some before it came back in later courses. However, I'm happy to see that this math class includes programming exercises and assignments on a regular basis.
I'm very disappointed in the Practical Game Design course though. Looking at its course objectives and assignments, it sounds like a rehash of GSP-110 (the intro to game and simulation programming course I already took). Seriously, we have to review games with what appears to be the same template as 110. We have to write a pitch document, and write a design document. We also have to compare and discuss game generas. Everything I did in GSP-110 again! I dislike these sort of courses, I'm technical by nature and like technical problems. The online learning I don't think goes well with these sort of classes either, where face-to-face discussions could really be of more benefit. One potential positive with this course though is that we get to work in a group, which I'm hoping will help improve my outlook with the online degree. This could be good and bad, depending on the group of course. I'm willing to keep an open mind.
Programming II Final, Another DeVry Course Down
Took the final for my GSP (Game and Simulation Programming DeVry degree) programming class, it's called CIS-247 OO Programming with Lab, C++. The final was easy, though it took me a lot longer than I expected. It had two pages, which I almost missed due to the poor webpage design for the test and my skill at ignoring headings and extraneous looking details. Luckily I saw the link for page two right before I almost clicked submit. Good thing too, because page two was the bulk of the actual final, the "essay" part.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Bob Saget = God
Back in 1994 (plus or minus a year), my friend Bill and I went crazy with some clip art collection, making the stupidest things our 20 something minds could create. One of those creations was "Bob Saget = God" and it became an inside joke that was often of much humor to our circle of friends.
Well Bob Saget was in town this week doing his stand up routine and luckily I got to go with Bill and some of his friends from college. Although he was funny, he was not God. He was somewhat spastic; combining multiple joke/story lines together is a blended mash of humor, confusion and brilliance. His brain must be that of a fucked up pubescent boy, trapped in a 50-something with a history of prime-time family-friendly comedy. I mean: I give the guy a lot of credit for rolling with his history as well as he does, embracing it and telling you to fuck-off with your assumptions at the same time.
The high point for the show was when he pulled out his guitar and played some comedy. This was my favorite:
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Film win, we're big in Iowa
After an eventful weekend at a film festival in IA, and a broken sump pump which required my attention, I'm finally able to post an update. My film, Bill's Big Pumpkins, took Silver in the Pro-Am Documentary category at the Cedar Rapids Film Festival in Cedar Rapids Iowa last weekend. Silver I guess is second place. It feels good to win something.
It was fun. I went with my wife, my BF from high school and his wife. We stayed at the lamest, 1970's remodeled Ramada in Waterloo. It was an adventure that's for sure. We didn't plan much of anything and it was a real stress releaser. We just let whatever happen. We got the last two rooms at the Ramada too, so that was lucky.
We stayed later than we planed, sticking around to see another documentary called FRAG. FRAG is about the (or the theoretical idea of) professional video gaming. It was a really interesting subject, but... it was long and sooooo boring and repetitive. It was repetitive. Really repetitive, saying the same thing about 10 times, unnecessarily. I was really hoping it would be exciting and something to tell people about, but not so. So much potential. Still a good idea, and parts were done really well, but it did drag.
It was fun. I went with my wife, my BF from high school and his wife. We stayed at the lamest, 1970's remodeled Ramada in Waterloo. It was an adventure that's for sure. We didn't plan much of anything and it was a real stress releaser. We just let whatever happen. We got the last two rooms at the Ramada too, so that was lucky.
We stayed later than we planed, sticking around to see another documentary called FRAG. FRAG is about the (or the theoretical idea of) professional video gaming. It was a really interesting subject, but... it was long and sooooo boring and repetitive. It was repetitive. Really repetitive, saying the same thing about 10 times, unnecessarily. I was really hoping it would be exciting and something to tell people about, but not so. So much potential. Still a good idea, and parts were done really well, but it did drag.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
char woes and the blight of the console menu
Sometimes, no matter how hard I think about it, or try to avoid thinking about it, my brain finally opens up to a concept that has seemed foreign for so long. Today, while trying to do some other stupid thing with chars in C++ I finally figured out, I mean figured out as in now I understand, the "cannot convert from 'const char' to 'char'" error and I have to say I have egg on my face. But before I get to that, I want to bring up the context that is usually an introduction to programming where errors like this drive noobs batty.
It seems that many programming learning materials, or courses for that matter, tend to introduce the language by having the user make inane, 1970 text menus for some stupid functions, such as inputting names and dates into a database, or doing simple math. These archaic menus require input from the user (who is also primarily the programmer in this case) and then determine the appropriate action based on the input. The concepts are introduced gradually too: first input a single integer, then maybe multiple line inputs, then a single line input with spaces, on up to words and/or names (aka character strings). Things, like inputting your full name, sounds so easy yet causes so much headache. Let me just say I hate this sort of menu making/programming/thinking. It's not what programming is about. You end up fighting the language and syntax instead of learning the concepts. This is sort of user interface crap that I think clouds programming learning with programming fighting. Perhaps its just me, but that error I mention above, along with numerous others in a similar variety, plagued me as I struggled to get my menus working with char, char*, and/or strings. (Additionally, little to no advice is given into which is a more appropriate variable either.)
Perhaps I have the other concepts and syntax down that this one vague area maddens me. Or perhaps it truly is a hard concept to grasp for the intro programmer.
Regardless, here's some code sample to help show what I learned.
//given
char word[10];
//ERROR, character arrays cannot be set this way
word = "great!";
//SOLUTION, use a function to set the array
strcpy(word, "great!");
//ERROR, this one dealing with the index of the
// character array, where you can actually work directly
word[0] = "g";
//SOLUTION, watch your syntax, ' and " mean something
// different. In this case, it's interpreting the set
// to an array, not an individual character.
word[0] = 'g';
Sometimes it’s the simple things…
It seems that many programming learning materials, or courses for that matter, tend to introduce the language by having the user make inane, 1970 text menus for some stupid functions, such as inputting names and dates into a database, or doing simple math. These archaic menus require input from the user (who is also primarily the programmer in this case) and then determine the appropriate action based on the input. The concepts are introduced gradually too: first input a single integer, then maybe multiple line inputs, then a single line input with spaces, on up to words and/or names (aka character strings). Things, like inputting your full name, sounds so easy yet causes so much headache. Let me just say I hate this sort of menu making/programming/thinking. It's not what programming is about. You end up fighting the language and syntax instead of learning the concepts. This is sort of user interface crap that I think clouds programming learning with programming fighting. Perhaps its just me, but that error I mention above, along with numerous others in a similar variety, plagued me as I struggled to get my menus working with char, char*, and/or strings. (Additionally, little to no advice is given into which is a more appropriate variable either.)
Perhaps I have the other concepts and syntax down that this one vague area maddens me. Or perhaps it truly is a hard concept to grasp for the intro programmer.
Regardless, here's some code sample to help show what I learned.
//given
char word[10];
//ERROR, character arrays cannot be set this way
word = "great!";
//SOLUTION, use a function to set the array
strcpy(word, "great!");
//ERROR, this one dealing with the index of the
// character array, where you can actually work directly
word[0] = "g";
//SOLUTION, watch your syntax, ' and " mean something
// different. In this case, it's interpreting the set
// to an array, not an individual character.
word[0] = 'g';
Sometimes it’s the simple things…
DeVry, how doth ye suck
Strangely, in monitoring my traffic (I see you 1/4 person a day, I'm watching yous) I've realized all my visitors come because of the words "DeVry" and "game" and "suck". Weird. Maybe I'm pandering here, but I actually have a legitimate beef with the school.
In my third session at DeVry (for Game and Simulation Programming, the GSP) I'm really surprised at the level of confusion, disassociation and confusion with their people, website, and setup. My god! How hard is it let a student know how shit is going to work. You would think something as simple as designing a course path, such as can I take class XYZ next semester, would be an easy thing to determine. I actually asked my admissions adviser, who didn't know (though I cut him some slack, he's new). I eventually talked to some dean or something of admissions, who didn't know much about the online degree stuff since he's a campus admissions adviser, but he was able to show me where the link for the annual schedule is. To my dismay it was really obvious, hiding in plain site like a shoot-the-duck-and-win-a-free-hooker ad, though I think its located on the wrong page all together.
WTF? When I originally called DeVry (last year) I was soon barraged with dozens of phone calls, of which there were conflicting requirements, expectations, descriptions, lies and general disconnectedness. I was willing to take the chance though, and picked the local adviser because he said he handled on campus and online advising. He left, and now his boss, the dean or whatever, tells me I should ask my online adviser concerning online degree concerns. Fine. I'll just ask my success coach (no joke, but she's cool and helpful) how I can get another adviser.
In my third session at DeVry (for Game and Simulation Programming, the GSP) I'm really surprised at the level of confusion, disassociation and confusion with their people, website, and setup. My god! How hard is it let a student know how shit is going to work. You would think something as simple as designing a course path, such as can I take class XYZ next semester, would be an easy thing to determine. I actually asked my admissions adviser, who didn't know (though I cut him some slack, he's new). I eventually talked to some dean or something of admissions, who didn't know much about the online degree stuff since he's a campus admissions adviser, but he was able to show me where the link for the annual schedule is. To my dismay it was really obvious, hiding in plain site like a shoot-the-duck-and-win-a-free-hooker ad, though I think its located on the wrong page all together.
WTF? When I originally called DeVry (last year) I was soon barraged with dozens of phone calls, of which there were conflicting requirements, expectations, descriptions, lies and general disconnectedness. I was willing to take the chance though, and picked the local adviser because he said he handled on campus and online advising. He left, and now his boss, the dean or whatever, tells me I should ask my online adviser concerning online degree concerns. Fine. I'll just ask my success coach (no joke, but she's cool and helpful) how I can get another adviser.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
In preparation for the Speed Racer movie coming in May, I decided it was time to introduce the kids to the cartoon. It was nothing like I remember it. It's almost laughable how weird it is but the kids still loved it.In related news we recently moved our big TV from one wall to another. I took the opportunity to clean up the wires and get the laptop connected. I'm thinking media hub...
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