learning

Learning Linux

I was sick and tired of supporting Windows! I was sick and tired of dealing with Windows problems at work then returning home to deal with them there! It wasn’t always that way.

I embraced learning DOS and encouraged the adoption of Windows when it emerged. I even enjoyed supporting it at work and playing with it at home for the first few years. Then the novelty wore off and I was left wondering why it seemed everything in Windows was so poorly made. Not all operating systems were that way. DOS and its applications were pretty solid. I recalled using a Unix based, multi-user system just before the dawn of the world wide web. Now that was solid! The command line interface, bash, was a mysterious thing that reminded me of the wonder I experienced at my first sight of a CPM-80 command. My employer’s client had some SCO Unix PCs in the test labs and some of the mini-computers ran a different Unix variant. I thought perhaps Unix would hold the same appeal for me in my burned out state. I decided to switch from Windows to a modern Unix variant for my home PC. [Read more…]

From Math Failure to Math Success

By bsayer

A few years ago, after nearly twenty years working in the computing field without a college degree I decided to get one. I still enjoyed working with computers so a B.B.A. in computer information systems seemed the way to go. Naturally, I would have to complete the math requirements.

The problem was I failed one high-school algebra class and barely passed the rest. If my memory serves, my final grade was a D- in two of those. My greatest passion in high-school was my hatred of algebra and teachers of the vile subject! But, I wanted the degree so I dedicated myself to becoming great at math. [Read more…]

On the Path to Recovering My Curiosity

By bsayer

I was listening to Seth Godin’s book, Tribes, this morning. Again. As usual, some things struck me that hadn’t previously. One is that Seth describes where I am on my path on recovering curiosity when he writes, “It’s easy to underestimate how difficult it is for someone to become curious. For seven, ten, or even fifteen years of school you are required not to be curious. Over and over and over again the curious are punished. I don’t think it’s a matter of saying a magic word, ‘BOOM,’ and suddenly something happens and you’re curious. It’s more about a five or ten or fifteen year process where you start finding your voice and finally, you begin to realize that the safest thing you can do feels risky and the riskiest thing you can do is play it safe. Once recognized, the quiet yet persistent voice of curiosity doesn’t go away. Ever. And perhaps, it’s such curiosity that will lead us to distinguish our own greatness from the mediocrity that stares us in the face.”

So, the source of my new fears are explained and the promise is made; I just have to keep leaning in.