#include what the…..? // UVU students

UVU students just starting into Computer Science this year aren’t exactly getting what they are paying for. Many of these students have a desire to be prepared for industrial software development and are being robbed of the opportunity by a few UVU professors with a greater ambition to further their own ideas than actually instruct and prepare students for the future.

This fall (2009) UVU Computer Science students are being subjected to learning C# as a beginning course rather than C++. This decision was made without consulting students and without consulting industry workers.

In the past students have had the opportunity of choice to pick their development environment. C++ has many different implementations, and can be done on just about any platform. This choice has been taken away as some professors choose to grovel to the great software giant in Redmond Washington. The argument from these professors is that the choice isn’t taken away due to projects like Mono. This argument would seem not to hold much water because it would segregate students not using the “standard” Operating System.

Failing to teach fundamental, and core principles to enable faster development of more abstract concepts robs students of valuable knowledge that could be used to carry them forward in the field of Computer Science. Principles like pointers, and memory management for solving less abstract problems are essential in more advanced courses. Do professors think this all just too hard? Will adding a C# as a crutch help or hurt students?

As a graduate of Utah Valley University I am quite disappointed in the lack of research put into this decision, as well as the lack of concern some instructors have for their students. What will happen to these people as they try to program in C for their future Operating Systems course? My belief is that these professors have truly lost their connection with students, and are much more interested in pushing forward their own personal agendas.


Security is the enemy of Freedom

One can always tell immediately what their friends are motivated by just by listening to the advice they give. “That sounds risky.” “What will you do if it doesn’t work out.” Perhaps even the classic, “Are you Crazy?” There are some that are motived by opportunities. “That sounds like an interesting idea.” “That should open up a lot of options for you.” Perhaps even: “I’d like to help you with that.”

The point is that being motivated by Freedom often leads a person down some “risky” paths in life yet folks often achieve what they are seeking from life, the issue is that most are seeking for security. Often times those motivated by freedom are willing to provide the security sought by others and in return the others scenselessly provide the freedom.

I often ask myself what I am motivated by and if my motivations are leading me toward what I want.

What are you motivated by?

Graduated! Now what?

Well for those of you who have found your way to my new blog location, (due to some circumstantial issues the old location has been terminated) welcome. I have finally graduated from college with my Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science with an emphasis in Computer Engineering. I have primarily used my free time to spend time with my wonderful little family. It makes me happy to have more time to spend with them.

So lately I’ve been trying to figure out what is next on my journey of life. I have a pretty good job that lets me provide for my family which is really great! The question is whether or not I’m progressing anywhere or if I’m doing the right things. I have all this knowledge and I seem to be wating around for life to show me what is next. I think I should really sit down and plan for my next move so-to-speak.

In the meantime it has been, and I’m sure will continue to be great to spend time with my family in the hours when I’m not working to provide for them. This has thus far been the greatest hours of my days, and hopefully some day I wil l find a way to spend more of my day with them, but until then I’ll continue to work on the software projects I have at work.

Mozy supporting Utah and You

A question that I get asked a lot when I go to fix someones computer is: “Whats the best way to back up my data.” This usually isn’t a question that is asked when everything is working fine, but when something breaks one begins to worry about data loss. No one wants to lose their work!

Mozy is a Utah based company that has a great solution to that problem. They offer accounts for free for under 2 GB of data. If you need more it’s a small $4.95 per month for UNLIMITED amount of space. Maybe this sounds like a commercial, but it seriously will save you a huge head ache if anything ever happens to your machine…and things usually do happen to machines.

Why else would you want to be a customer of Mozy? They give back to the community. This summer Mozy was one of the main sponsors for the Utah Open Source Conference. I love everything Open Source so the fact that Mozy would chip in makes them an awesome choice in my book.

In short, get some assurity, Get Mozy!