Why do I hate it so much?  The main reason is how badly it screws with my sleep schedule.  Regardless of when I go to bed, I always seem to wake up around the time the sun comes up or a few minutes before.  In other words, I have recently been waking up sometime between 6:30 am and 7:00 am.  Try as I might, I can’t seem to sleep in like I used to or anything so I just have to deal with it whether or not I want to wake up at that time.  Now that Daylight Savings Time has ended, I expect that I will now be waking up around 6:00 am.  Since I would say that my body is more in tune with the sun than most people, I expect that I will not only be getting less sleep than most, but I will likely be more agitated because of it.  I would give anything to get rid of the whole concept of Daylight Savings Time if for no other reason than to keep my sleep from being screwed up as it usually takes a week to two weeks for me to get used to the change and I am sure that is the case with most people.

I honestly don’t understand why we still have daylight savings time in this day and age.  I know the origins of it and the fact that it is mainly for the benefit of an agricultural society but we are not an agricultural society anymore so there is little use for it, rather less to expand it like Congress did a couple years ago.  What is really annoying about it is that countless electronic items from VCRs to watches that were built with the old Daylight Savings Time schedule built into them so there is no way to update it to the new days.  Instead, I have to go around twice to all of my various DVD players, microwaves and such to set the clock to what it should be when it changes early and then change it back when Daylight Savings Time actually changes.  This is a major pain in the butt.  I think we would be much better off and have far fewer headaches if we just got rid of the whole concept of Daylight Savings Time.  Besides, any farmer that I have ever known started working well before the sun came up and after it went down so I don’t know how much it really helps them anyway.

End Daylight Savings Time…NOW!!!

Another week has begun at University of the People and after a horrible last week, I was expecting this week to be better but I am not so sure that is going to happen.  The work load doesn’t seem so bad this week but something that was a minor annoyance before has now turned into a major annoyance.

Why am I so annoyed?  I am annoyed at the school’s lack of consistency and software bias.  A couple of weeks ago, we were given an introduction to the desktop.  Normally I would say this is fine despite the fact that I don’t need to know how to click the start button but what really annoyed me is that the walk-through was for Windows XP and XP only.  From the discussions that have taken place among the students, there don’t seem to be too many of them on XP anymore.  Some, like myself are on Windows 7, some are on Vista, a few are on a Mac and many are on Linux.  A number of students, myself included, are irked that the school seems to be showing favoritism to an 8 year old, insecure operating system instead of something even halfway current not to mention the fact that many are on Linux because they can’t afford a license for Windows and are at a disadvantage because of it.  So much for the school being free and open to everybody no matter their circumstance as long as they have Internet and know English.

If this was just a one time thing, I would be willing to overlook it but this week it has gotten much worse.  Now, we have the problem of lack of consistency.  In this week’s learning guide (our reading material for the week), we are told how to do certain tasks in Microsoft Word 2003 and OpenOffice Writer.  Again, I have my current software complaint but I am also irked that Google Docs, which is what I use, is completely ignored.  If that wasn’t bad enough, part of our work for the week, our discussion, requires Office 2007.  Huh?!  Why would you tell us how to use Word 2003 and Writer, only to make us talk about features of a completely different program and only that program?  This is insane!  How are those of us who use Google Docs or OpenOffice Writer supposed to participate in the discussion (which is for a grade) if we don’t have Office 2007?  I have multiple copies of Office 2007, but that isn’t the point.  It is not my preferred environment although I do enjoy it, but many people can’t afford to have several different word processors just because a school can’t make up its mind as to what it thinks we should be using.

Make up your mind University of the People!!!  I recommend making the system where everybody can learn equally regardless of their software and stop using old software or playing guess what word processor you need next.

Is it just me or has this Kanye West meme become really annoying really fast?  I understand it and what he did and how rude it was but I think it is time for people to move on.

I am getting rather annoyed that when I go to TweetDeck to see what important things are going on, I have to sift through a ton of “I’m gonna let you finish…” tweets.  When a meme is dramatically hampering productivity, it is time for it to die.  I don’t know about you, but it has only been a few days and I already hate this meme much more than the Rickroll.

I’ve never thought much of Kanye to begin with, but I thought he was scum the night he pulled his little stunt which as far as I can tell was probably a ploy to get on the first night of the Jay Leno show, but now I think he is a cancer on humanity for inflicting this horrible meme on us!

STOP THIS INSANITY NOW!

</rant>

-pcnerd37

I came across this rather disturbing story on FriendFeed about some unofficial LEGOs made by a company called BrickArms.  What is so disturbing?  The LEGO figures are of terrorists, Nazi soldiers and much more. They also come with weapons.  Here are the pictures.

A not so fun looking Terrorist LEGO

A German SS Major

A Nazi PanzerGrenadier LEGO

These are just a few of the many custom LEGOs they make.  They also have tons of weapons that you can outfit your lego people with.  To see their site and all they have to offer, you can head to BrickArms.

According to The Sun, LEGO UK says that they are in no way affiliated with BrickArms as they do not create toys with the same philosophy as LEGO.

Personally, I find turning terrorist and mass murderers into toys a tad disturbing.  I think that LEGO should try to sue them out of existance.  That said, I feel the urge to play with these toys as I enjoy all things WWII.

Until this morning, the plan was for me to have the house to myself this weekend.  My mother was supposed to go to the wedding of one of her best friends up in the mountains, but decided this morning it wasn’t worth going.  She gave a big list of reasons why all of the sudden she decided not to go but the only thing that really had any relevance to me was that she wasn’t going.

This would have been the first time in a long time that I would have had the house to myself.  I like having it to myself on occasion so I can crank up the volume and enjoy myself.  I could have also used a small vacation from my mother but I guess that won’t be happening.

Now I am thinking about going out of town myself this weekend do find something fun to do.  I’m sure I can find something totally unproductive to do.

Also, Im thinking about video or audio blog entries so don’t be suprised if all of the sudden you start seeing video and audio players on the blog, but I promise what I post wont be too long.

Also, i have put up a donation link under all posts and on the side to help me with my moving fund, so if you can help it is much appreciated!

-pcnerd37

I don’t know how weather is where you live, but here it is hotter than normal.  It has been in the 100+ degree range for quite a while now, which is not normal.  While it is usually in the 90s this time of year, it is rarely this hot.  This heat is one of the primary reasons I am planning to move from Colorado to Seattle.

Not only do I hate being hot, sweaty and generally uncomfortable, but I cannot sleep well when its this hot.  When its this hot, I often wake up during the night and can’t sleep in.  I hate it, especially on the weekends when I am able to sleep in but still wake up at 7am if not before.

The swamp cooler doesn’t seem to be helping as much as I would like.  If you have any advice on keeping cool, especially while sleeping, I would love to hear it.

-pcnerd37

It has been an interesting start to the day to say the least.  When I arrived at work, I found that we were nearly out of water because nobody bothered to go pick some up, so of course that means I have to use my gas to drive to the closest grocery store.

When I returned to work, I found that the dogs at work had been skunked.  Of course today the dogs don’t want to stay outside to air out because its very windy out.  Hopefully they will air out over the next day or so as I hate the skunk smell.  You would think with as many times as the stupid dogs have been skunked they would have learned their lesson by now.

Speaking of less smelly things, my podcasts have taken off again.  We are now doing regular episodes of the Global Geek News podcast  which are recorded every Thursday night.  We usually record at 11pm EST on talkshoe if anybody cares to join us.  Tonight we will have special guest Alana Taylor on the show.  Last week we had Steve Gillmor and Don Reisinger on the show.  Next week we will have a different schedule and I will let you know as soon as that is figured out.

In other podcasting news, there are some big things in store for the Unofficial Mahalo Podcast.  I didn’t have time to do a podcast last week but I will try to get one put together by the end of this week.  The huge changes to the podcast will begin next week as I will be getting a co-host for the podcast.  The co-host is Larry, my current co-host for the Global Geek News podcast.  If that wasn’t big enough news, we are in the process of trying to get as many or all of the Mahalo Vlog Idol contestants on the show.  Speaking of which, dont forget to vote for your favorite at Mahalo Daily!

I was going to start Geek News Daily back this week as well, but news has been so slow this week that I would not have enough stories to run the show as I am struggling just to come up with stories for the Global Geek News podcast.

Don’t forget to check out the Global Geek News Blog which should start recieving regular updates starting today.

-pcnerd37

As many of you know, I recently purchased the Plantronics .Audio 450′s that I use to record my podcasts when at work.  Unfortunately as nice as they were, they broke into pieces today.  I went to pull them out of my laptop bag to find that the left ear piece had somehow busted into three pieces.  While they weren’t the most comfortable earphones in the world, I never wished this fate upon them.

If anybody has a recommendation for a compact, light weight, good headset w/mic, I would love to hear it!  I am considering getting 450′s again as they fit well in my laptop bag.  Got thoughts?  Put them in the comments!

I no longer care about this stuff and seem to be having a hard time retaining the information.  As of right now, I have no plans to get my cert even if I manage to pass the class.  While I’m sure most of the information is valid, I don’t think its something I am interested in anymore.  The large number of mistakes and non working e-labs in the curriculum have also caused much frustration with the course.

My last issue with the course is that the material is not presented in a consistent manner.  Some of the material feels rushed and not presented in an easy to understand manner, while other information feels more like useless background information rather than important facts.

I’m at a point where I don’t know if I should rush like mad to try to finish the class, or say screw it and forget about it.

-pcnerd37

On my way to work this morning, I stopped by the local Albertson’s  gas station to fill up my car.  Finding my favorite pump to be out of order, I had to choose another pump.  When I took the dispenser out of the pump to put in my car, it spilled gas all over the side of my car.  Why cant people make sure they get all the gas out of the dispenser before they take it out of their car?!  They paid for the gas, they might as well take it instead of having it pour out all over the next customer and their vehicle.

Its not a complicated task to get all of the gas out, just elevate it so that it pours all the gas out.  Give it a tap or two to make sure and then hang it back up.  Its not that complicated!

If people like that didn’t piss me off enough, previous users apparently managed to spill gas all over the handle so that by the time I was done filling up my car, my hand reeked of gasoline.  If you do managed to spill, they keep paper towels by the pump for a reason!  USE THEM!

We either need to make the gas pumps idiot proof, or not let the idiots use the pumps.  Either way, its bad enough having to worry about whatever person with the flu that used the pump before you, I don’t want to have to deal with a car or my hands smelling like gasoline.

-pcnerd37