Login... Apply Patch... Saving - No wait, don't unplug that!!! ... Well crap.

Well, it's been a long time coming, but finally another blog post to update readers on my life thus far.

Let's see, still working my job at a Network Management Center, doing 40 hours a week actually.
Still going to school as a Full-Time student, I recently got a girlfriend, which I'm pretty excited about, I got my own apartment in Montreal with my dog and cat to take care of, and whatever social life I can fit around all of that.

Now for school, I'm actually taking 3 courses, which given the number of classroom hours I do per week is actually just enough to remain as a Full-Time student. Those 3 courses are:
Graphical and Wireless Programming (We're learning how to develop programs using the Android OS)
.NET Programming (We're learning how to develop programs using Visual C++)
Network 1 (Which in short is Theoretical Network; studying the OSI Model, different types of connections, and how they work, etc.)

Network I expect to go fairly well given the fact that I have been working in a Network Management Center for the past almost 13 months. Whoot! Android is quite honestly a bit of a pain in the ass to learn, but I'll manage... somehow. C++ seems ok so far. I gotta get used to not having my errors highlight themselves automatically in the IDE I'm using (Microsoft Visual Studio 2010) compared to Eclipse highlighting my Java errors.

So now the question I'm sure someone is asking themselves, how the hell can I do all this and work and have a relationship at the same time? Simple.

I like keeping busy. :)

Later!
~DanceLink

Overdue!!!

To my readers, I gravely apologize for not having written a post in so long, I know you all must've been wondering what was taking me so long in writing another one......... yeah ok maybe not, but still, I know it's been awhile.

Well, just a little update, I'm still in school Full-Time learning all the basics in programming and programmers' logic, but I've also been busy outside of school as well. I'm currently working Full-Time as a Network Support Agent for a company that deals with distributed DSL-based and Ethernet-based networks. Lucky enough, the job I have is in my field of study, so I get to learn on the job as well as getting paid for it. Win/Win?

Essentially the job I have is all troubleshooting network connections. For example, let's say you're staying at a hotel with WiFi and/or ethernet connections in your room. Now say for whatever reason, you're not able to connect, and you have some work-related documents you need to submit via email by 5pm that day. You'd want to talk to some sort of Technical Support Hotline to try to get your computer online ASAP, right? Well that's essentially what I do; I'm the guy on the other end of the phone saying, "Tech Support, what's the issue?". Mind you, I end up phrasing it a little smoother than that, something like, "[Company Name] Technical Support, [My Name] speaking, how can I help you?".

Learning to be a programmer, and having technical experience in my field... not a bad start if I do say so myself.

I'd love to say I have some code to throw your way guys and gals, but I don't. :(
I just figured I'd throw a post your way saying, "HEY! I'm still alive!"
(To those who hoped otherwise... --> :P )

Until my next post,
Hit the ground running, and keep your head held high!

~DanceLink

Life 2.0

Well followers, after a long Summer of working outdoors mowing grass, weeding flowerbeds, trimming hedges and, dare I say it... NOT PROGRAMMING??? I have returned to provide more code, and offer my services as a technician. If anyone has any computer problems, please let me know. I may be of some assistance. I know Windows XP and 7 environments as well as Linux kernels Fedora and Ubuntu.

This semester I'll be learning a bit of SQL (Structured Query Language), and some more Java (yum!). I may read up on a bit of C++ from my reference books at home, and I'm also learning more HTML/XHTML this semester as well. This is my 2nd year in my 3 year program, so the 2.0 seems a bit fitting. Still needs a bit of refining, but that will come in later patches. :P

I'll write some code here starting next week. Just taking this week to get things squared away first.

Hold Your Head High
~DanceLink

Final Exam Code

Hello World!

I might as well give everyone an update as to what's going on for the summer with me.

I'll be working Full-Time (and then some) as a landscaper for my old boss in Montreal to save up some money for my future endeavors next semester, but aside from that I have almost finished my 2nd semester in Computer Sciences at my school, just another 2 years to go, and then I'm off into my field in the workforce (enough of this part-time doughnut shop stuff).

I also thought it'd be a good idea to post the code from my final exam. It's a simple program, but it's from the programming portion of the final exam I had (compared to the multiple choice and True/False portions). Code is originally mine, though I'm sure a lot of my classmates got similar answers.

Here is the correct code for the program to work according to the outline of the exam:

package Programming_2;
import java.util.Scanner;
import java.io.*;

/**
 * @author A. Wright
 * @version 1.0
 * @date May 9, 2011
 * This program was on the final exam for the author's programming course.
 * The following is the correct code made to have a number of products inputed with
 * serial numbers, pricing information, and quantities for each product. The returned
 * value is the total quantity of items among the different products.
 */

public class Final_Exam_Question {

    public static void main(String[] args)
    {
        Scanner kb = new Scanner(System.in);
        String[] productID;
        double[] price;
        int[] quantity;
        int size = 0; //Default
       
        System.out.println("Please enter the number of products: ");
        size = kb.nextInt();
       
        productID = new String[size];
        price = new double[size];
        quantity = new int[size];
       
        for(int i = 0; i < size; i++)
        {
            System.out.println("Please enter the following information for product: "+(i+1));
            System.out.println("Product ID Number: ");
            productID[i] = kb.next();
            System.out.println("Price: ");
            price[i] = kb.nextDouble();
            System.out.println("Quantity: ");
            quantity[i] = kb.nextInt();
        }       
        System.out.println("The total quantity of products is: "+totalQuantity(quantity));       
    }
   
    public static int totalQuantity(int[] qty)
    {
        int total = 0;       
        for(int j = 0; j < qty.length; j++)
        {
            total += qty[(j)];           
        }
        return total;
    }   
}

Till next time.

Hold Your Head High
~DanceLink

Computer, Status: Online

Well, after much time and effort, I have finally implemented a solution to my Ubuntu problem, basically after I was able to access my partition, I created a sort of "escape pod" for all the data on that partition I did not want to lose onto an old USB key of mine. After that was done, I basically reformatted the Ubuntu partition, and the swap partition Ubuntu uses, then I re-installed Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick onto my laptop. Now that it boots up properly, I'll be able to work on the go for the last of my assignments before the end of my semester in 2 weeks, particularly my Java assignments.

For more information on how I fixed my laptop, go to my Ubuntu thread at Ubuntu Forums.

I will say this, although it's not my ideal solution, the above solution does work. I would honestly rather have had to just repair whatever files were missing and/or corrupt, that way I could just get back into that partition where I left off, but like I said earlier, the applied solution above works as well.

Now to finish my Java assignments, then it's just a matter of studying for my finals, finishing my semester, and then working full-time during the summer for some of my goals for the upcoming semester.

Hold Your Head High!
~DanceLink 

Ubuntu

Hello dear readers!

I have been, other than really busy, trying to get my laptop back up and running properly. For the past 2 LONG weeks, I have been running off of recovery modes from 2 different versions of the Ubuntu Linux Kernels.

Reason being, the partition on my laptop that holds the Ubuntu 10.10 Notebook Version will not initialize on bootup. For whatever reason, it gives me the following error message on bootup when the bootloader program GRUB initializes:

Out of Disk

I have been looking online at some linux/Ubuntu forums to try to fix this, but the main solutions involve what's called 'mounting' the partition to the recovery disk (a.k.a. Live CD/USB). For you linux noobs, consider this, in Windows, when you insert a USB device into your computer, the OS (Operating System) creates a link (or mount point) in "My Computer" for you to open the folders in the USB drive and view what's inside; thus the USB Drive is 'mounted' in "My Computer".

What I need to try to do is to mount the linux partition of my hard drive to my Live CD/USB to fix it. Problem being: the partition seems to be busy and will not mount, like having a flash drive busy with something and constantly telling the computer "I'll get back to you in a bit".

Now, if the data on the partition weren't important, I'd just re-format that partition and start over. Problem #2 being: All my current school-related files are on that partition, and I can't access them. So I'm stuck, because my laptop will not load the Windows OS or the linux kernel, so the only way I can use this machine right now is by booting off of recovery versions of Ubuntu where I can't even save any data.

I'll hopefully be able to get my system back up and running by the end of the semester. I just haven't made the decent chance to really sit down and break my back trying to get this thing working properly again.

Here's hoping.

Hold Your Head High
~DanceLink

Busy Schedules!

Good morning world!

I realize I haven't been blogging a whole lot lately, but that does come with a few very valid reasons, well one really... I've been extremely, and incredibly busy as of late.

I take 5 daytime courses 5 days a week, as well as working 32 hours a week at a Tim Hortons shop near my place doing graveyard hours from 10pm-6am the following morning, and I usually have a class 4 hours later if not less. Fun, right?

Onto the main post, I'm actually considering doing some contract web development work after, at the very least, this current semester. Not quite sure how I'm going to go about it just yet, but I figure I'll look into some sample contracts to see what I can write up, as well as shop around for comparative prices.

I'd actually really like the opinions and comments of my readers regarding this. I've never done contract work before, save for working in landscaping in the past for a company, and all our work composed of the contracts my former employer had.

I will try to post more often, but in the event that I don't, it's really because I'm, as several people have put it, "burning the wick at both ends".

Hold Your Head High
~DanceLink