Tuesday, December 8, 2009

A Bit o' Housekeeping...

Hey everyone,

In the time I've been away, a lot's happened. The biggest one being that I survived the fall 2009 semester! So far, all of the classes I have grades for are A's... I'm still waiting on two classes. :s

Also, I added a few things to the blawg. You'll notice I shortened the amount of posts on the front page and moved the post history to the bottom of the page. I added a couple new boxes on the side - one for Skype, a list of piano pieces, and links where I have defaced the Internet. You probably won't use them anyway, but I figured I'd let everyone know. ;)

Also, I put a new music player down at the bottom of the page. That's more just because I can, not really because my inbox was loaded with requests of people asking for one. Feel free to use it to your heart's content, and even request music for it - I'm open to everything.

Since it seems by the last poll that people want to hear a story, I have to decide on which one. It's been a while since I've done some writing, and I'm looking forward to the chance to do it again over break. I'll keep you guys posted...

Hopefully within the next week or so I'll have an official blog post for you guys... it's been crazy lately. :/

-Czar Kylogrim, The Celestial

EDIT: I didn't forget about that tag, bug. ;)

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving!

O hai!

Well it’s Thanksgiving Day, and I’m doing the unthinkable…. Posting something on the day it’s supposed to be posted. Amazing, I know!

Since it is a day of giving thanks, I have spent some time thinking about what I am thankful for. There are a lot of things ranging from the unique to the mundane, so I’ve put together a “best of” list for you guys.


The first thing I am thankful for is my family. My brothers and sisters have made growing up a time of my life I’ll look back on fondly. Even though I may not see eye-to-eye with my parents on a lot of things, we still love each other – and for that I am exceedingly grateful. They have encouraged me in my spiritual life and in my academic studies and life in general, and it’s been a tremendous blessing.

I am also thankful for my church. Like any church body there are those who you may not get along with as well as you would like, but those I know at church are warm, friendly, and are willing to encourage everyone in their spiritual walk. They’ve always been there for my family and me, and it’s been a great blessing.

Item number 3 on the list is my job, as well as my coworkers and supervisors. They have helped take a job that would normally be the ideal job to complain about and helped to make it an experience that I have yet to find a problem with. They have given me several witnessing opportunities, and I’ve gotten to learn a lot about people simply through technical support.

I am greatly thankful for my friends, saved and unsaved. My saved friends are always there for me when I’m working through a spiritual issue, and they’re always ready to encourage me through my trials. I am thankful for my unsaved friends, mostly because they’ve given me ministry opportunities I wouldn’t normally get in my usual circles (that, and they’ve made college much more enjoyable). :D

I am thankful for my country, the United States of America. While I may not favor everything the country does, I am thankful for the religious freedoms we have. I pray that I never take it for granted.

Most importantly, I am thankful for my God and His gift of salvation to me. I am thankful for the missionary who preached that night, emphasizing the folly of a works-paved salvation. Through that message God helped me to realize my need for a savior, and that evening, in that fall of 2000 (kind of fuzzy on the year…), I accepted Jesus Christ as my savior, and I’ve never looked back.

I am thankful for the trials I’ve had, both past and recent, as they have shown me things about myself that I would not otherwise have seen. The fire purges the dross from our lives that we may be pure gold for God and His Kingdom – and I am glad to see that work happening in my life. It comforts me to see that the unpleasant events of life have a glorious purpose!


As I said, this is more of a highlight reel than a comprehensive list of what I am grateful for, but I thought I’d share it with you guys. I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving (or have had, seeing as it’s almost ten :D ) and I pray that God continues to work gloriously in your lives.

-Kylo

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Honesty Tag!!!


I was awarded the Honest Scrap award by bug and Jason!

The Rules:


I need to...

1. Say thanks and link to the person who gave you the award.

2. Share ten "honest" things about myself (in some of these cases, I have discovered that the word "honest" is synonymous with "embarrassing").

3. Award this to seven people who's blog design/content I admire or who have encouraged me, and inform them of their win and of the rules of this award.


My list of honest things:

1. I hate computers, but they're really the only thing I'm good with, so they're my hobby. :P
2. I once had aspirations of learning to play guitar, but that never really worked out – piano to guitar is kind of a rough transition.
3. I really want a Jeep Wrangler, if only so I can make it look like those ones the park staff use in Jurassic Park.
4. My initial interest in law enforcement came about because of Batman.
5. I once spent nearly $200 on a video card for the family computer before I realized there was no place to plug it in on the computer. THAT was an awesome feeling.
6. I love being up high, but I always have this horrible fear of falling to my death (or crashing, as the case may be).
7. No matter how many alarms I set up (current running total of three), I seldom get up with my alarms.
8. I really like coffee now, thanks to strong suggestion from a couple friends of mine.
9. I have read mangas and watched anime, and I don't get why it's so popular in America.
10. If I ever go over to Scotland, I will try haggis.

I award the "Honest Scrap" award to:

Peter, because you're a good buddy o' mine, and if you start a blog you now have material for your first post. ;)

Hannah, because you've been a good friend in the short time I've known you.

Jason, because you also have been great company in the past several months.

Josiah, because you're a fun guy. :D

Bethany, because when I mentioned I play flight simulators you didn't say "ewww you play video games." :P

And last, but not least, to Melanie - because you need to show the spider monkeys some love. :D


...So yeah, they aren't official reasons for the award... but I'd feel bad if I excluded anyone. :)

-Kylo

Monday, November 9, 2009

The Return of Kylo

Well, I'm back. Again, I apologize for being gone so long, but school has been crazy, and again a bunch of personal stuff came up. I'm still alive (somehow), and here to tell you guys about my schedule for the spring 2010 semester.

Monday and Wednesday schedule:

1:00pm – 2:50pm – Unix\Linux Forensics (instructed by none other than Dr. Hartmann)

5:30pm – 7:20pm – File Systems Analysis

7:30pm – 9:20pm – Cyber Forensics and Data Recovery

Tuesday and Thursday schedule:

10:00am – 11:15am – Forensic Accounting (instructed by one M. Upperman)

7:30pm – 9:20pm – Firewall and Network Security (I'm hoping Starnes teaches this one, but I don't know my instructor for that one yet)

Online classes:

Ethical Hacking


...Yes, that's a near EIGHT HOUR gap between classes on Tuesday and Thursday. I'm pushing to get hours during that gap so it passes faster, but the spring schedule at the help desk hasn't come out yet... so we'll see.

Also, a bit of explanation in regards to the instructors – Dr. Hartmann has been called the “Linux god” by people I know – if you have a question about Linux and Hartmann doesn't know the answer you're in trouble. Starnes is one of the guys at Stark in charge of all the computer networks – one of the higher-ups, and a pretty cool guy. As for Ms. Upperman... don't know much about her aside from that she's teaching my class. :D The other classes don't have an instructor listed yet, so we'll have to wait and see.

I've turned in my graduation application, so as long as I don't fail any classes and none of them get canceled, I'll be graduating on May 16th, 2010. That's when the graduation ceremonies are. Unfortunately that is on a Sunday – I kind of have to be there, so I understand if none of you guys could make it, seeing as it's on Sunday and all. I'm not too pleased about it myself. :/

--- --- ---

In other news, I have apparently come into possession of a new computer! A guy I work with told me that there was an old computer laying around his house, and he'd be willing to sell it to me for $75. That's pretty much free in terms of computers. I lugged the computer from one side of campus to the other, garnering a lot of strange looks from passers-by and security (but they didn't shoot me, thankfully), and now I have it set up in my room. He said to use it for a week, and if it worked ok then I could pay him – I plan on doing that Wednesday. Right now I have the computer rigged up to my 19" flatscreen HDTV, using the speakers and keyboard to my parents' computer that they don't use, and using my own mouse. The hardware specs are below:

1 GB of RAM
2.99 GHz Pentium 4 CPU
180 GB hard drive
ATI Radeon X300 (128 MB)


The specifications are on the lower end, but nothing a little bit of upgrading can't fix. I just need to find the money to do that. :s

Well I suppose that about wraps up this post. More posts are in the works (I mean it this time), so things will be getting interesting down the road... VERY interesting. I should set a deadline for myself for the next post... you guys think Sunday is long enough?

I do apologize if my blog has been incredibly boring up to this point. I'm not all that used to this “blogging” thing yet, seeing as it was something I promised myself I wouldn't do once upon a time. :P

Until next time, take it easy! :)

-Kyle

P.S. I meant to put up the results from that one poll back a week or two ago, but I never did, and I can't find the results. Sorry everyone. :(

EDIT: While it would be mind-blowingly awesome, I do not have a 19' TV - it's a 19" one. :P

Thursday, November 5, 2009

And so... uh... yeah...

I'm still alive everyone (if you guys are still interested)... I'll have my next post up the end of this week. Things have been a bit crazy lately. :s But sanity has been restored, as well as (hopefully) my ability to write a coherent blog post.

Stay patient my followers - deliverance is nigh. ;)

-Kyle

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Back From the Dead

Hey everyone,

I apologize for my lack of activity on here of late. School’s been hammering me really hard lately, and I’ve been working my way through some personal and spiritual issues, so this has kind of taken the back seat. The mythical “Constructive Post” of yore is still in the works, but I’m putting it on hold for a bit – I want to wait until I can give it my undivided attention, so I can make sure I get it right.

For anyone interested to know my current homework load, I have a Linux lab, CCNA Assessment, Intro to A&P Term sheet, and a practical assignment for Cyber Law class, which is due on Thursday. For the practical, I have to take an incident report, a fact trail, and all other information given to me in a packet, and I have to write up an affidavit and search warrant from that. Gonna be fun.

Which brings me to another exciting topic about my college tenure. I am currently in the Cyber Security & Computer Forensics program at Stark. If I were to take six classes next semester (and not fail any this semester) I could graduate in May. However, due to the fact that the Cyber Security & Comp. Forensics program, in my opinion, kind of pigeonholes me into the law enforcement side of things, I am going to also complete the Network Administration and Security program, which should only take another year. There are three kinds – the general program, the Linux database program, and the Cisco administration program. Not sure which one I’m going with yet. If I do take that program, I should be able to get 2 Associate’s in about 3 years. I talked to my advisor about how I should go about it, and he told me I should spread out the Cyber Security classes I still need to take, and juggle those classes along with the Network Administration classes. So I’m not entirely sure if I’ll be inviting you guys to my spring graduation yet. :(

In tech-related news, Windows 7 will be released to the public on this coming Thursday, October 22nd. For anyone running a Vista machine, purchasing the upgrade is worth it, although I would wait a bit to make sure the usual fare of Windows “release bugs” get worked out. I will say this, though – my experience with Windows 7 has been phenomenally better than that with Windows Vista. The upgrade process from Vista to 7 is fairly straightforward – just make sure to back up your important files. If you are looking to move from XP to 7, I would advise on buying a new computer – not only is the XP to 7 upgrade process incredibly strenuous, but the computer may have a really difficult time running Windows 7. As an aside, I heard Microsoft did some special with Family Guy that had a bunch of promos for Windows 7 earlier this week, but I don't think that will ever erase the horrible memory of those “Windows 7 Party” commercials… *shudder*

I’ll try and put a poll up here before the night is out. If you guys have any suggestions about what you would like to see here (I know I get kind of boring), shoot me a message in the comment box, or get a hold of me by Skype, Gmail, Facebook, phone… whatever works. ;)

Until next time,

-Kylo the Magnificent

Saturday, October 3, 2009

The people have spoken

I probably should've been more specific with my poll - I was asking about the logo, not necessarily the entire theme of my blog. I was going to wait until the poll ran out, but I thought I'd go ahead and change it now. The picture is not mine - I found it on some random site on the Interwebs. I added in the title. :) Let me know if you like it or hate it.

As for that post I keep talking about... it is coming, but not until tomorrow after church. I had one more CCNA assessment which I took all evening with (got a 91%), so that's why it's not up now.

-Kyle

Small (yet big) update: The Final Chapter

Mom is back from the hospital now - I picked her up earlier today. The medication she is now is regulating her heartbeat pretty well - whereas Mom was experiencing PVC every heartbeat when she first went in, the medication was making it barely noticeable when she left. So hopefully there won't be much more excitement like that for a while.

Thanks to everyone for your thoughts and prayers - I hope (and don't hope, at the same time) that I can return the favor someday. :)

...And as for my constructive post, depending on how quickly I get my CCNA assessment done (grrr) I'll have it up later tonight. But I've said that before...

>Kyle<

Friday, October 2, 2009

Small (yet big) update IV

It would seem that my mom suffers from Premature Ventricular Contraction. Most everyone experiences PVC sometime in their life - it's when the ventricles in your heart contract before being filled fully with blood. However, it's apparently a chronic thing with my mom. The blood pressure medicine she was on was aggravating the condition, which is what caused her blood pressure to be so crazy yesterday. The doctors are putting my mom on new medication, and waiting to see how that works. Best case, she'll be home tomorrow.

-Kyle

(For more info on Premature Ventricular Contraction, look here: PVC )

EDIT: I noticed that it said "the blood pressure she was on" when I meant "blood pressure medicine." It has been duly edited.

Small (yet big) update: Episode 3

TWO POSTS IN ONE DAY OH MY GOODNESS!!!

...It looks like my mom will be in the hospital one more night, at least. The good people at the hospital are giving her some new medication, and they want to see how it works before they release her back into the wild.

More to come as it happens.

-Kyle

P.S. Tonight, or maybe tomorrow I'll post that "constructive post" I keep mentioning.

Small (yet big) update part 2

Hey all,

Mom's blood work came back okay, but she's still waiting on a cardiologist... So more developments (hopefully positive) will come later today.

-Kyle

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Small (yet big) update

School was okay today - two CCNA labs, and Cyber Law class wasn't that bad. All in all, I thought the day was going to be a good one.

I come home, and find that my mom needs to go to the hospital. Apparently something's going on with her heart - she looked just fine when I got home, but that's not always the most accurate thing to go off of. Mom and Dad left once I got home, so I'm really not sure what's going on... If you guys could keep my mom in your prayers, it would be greatly appreciated. I'll keep you guys posted on developments as they occur.

-Kyle

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

I dare you not to laugh

Cat Dance

Funniest four seconds in recent history. 'Nuff said.

In other news, I really despise Microsoft's marketing department. If you've seen the recent Windows 7 launch party ads, you understand why. Sure, they may be aimed at the non-PC user, but the Mac ads seem to do a much better job with that audience. I'd link to one of those Windows 7 commercials, but I feel that would be too cruel.

More constructive topics will be coming, but it might be a couple days... school is getting crazy. :s

-Kylo the Magnificent

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Digsby widget is up!

A Digsby widget is now up! So if you want to tell me how bad this blog is, you can do it to your heart's content.

-Kyle

Friday, September 25, 2009

First!

*sigh*

All right, so I have become the brunt of many of my own jokes by making this blog, but I figured I'd try what I've been knocking for all these years.... Every now and then I'll update this with some random stuff like techie rants, reviews, or things I've been learning about in the Bible. No promises.

I'm going to try and put a Digsby widget up here, but I can't find a way just yet... we shall see.

So ends my first post.

-Kyle