Oh, by the way....

[notthebuddha.livejournal.com]

I forgot to mention, I graduated with a BS in Computer Science in December, and I'm currently following up with a BS in Electrical Engineering! I'll never have to swap out a Winmodem again!

(obligatory rant for topicality: the preceding involved a 78-day paper chase when it was discovered that the automated "apply for fall graduation" web form failed silently, despite the student database reporting was expected to graduate on time. "Oh, that doesn't mean anything, that's just what the computer says. We don't have the staff to check up on everyone who is supposed to graduate and doesn't apply.")

Now, back to that artificial brain...

Comments

[ravenshrinkery.livejournal.com]

No more winmodems. Just machines that still have ISA slots in them.

[tecknow.livejournal.com]

You'll be amazed how many EE devices require serial ports, and the length to which people will go to get those serial ports. The obligatory laptops where I did my undergrad didn't have them, so everyone in a relevant class got a docking station.

When I was supposed to graduate, I called in to the registrar to verify everything and the person on the phone came back with "Sorry, your file isn't here?" and I was like "?!?! what does that mean, you don't have my records?" "No, the registrar [meaning the actual person with that title] check it out to verify it, it is probably home with her." I'm still amazed that such a thing is/was even possible.

As it turns out, the relatively new database system was set of "fail first." It wasn't looking for some set of courses that would allow you to graduate, it accepted any assignment of your courses that didn't result in a diploma as a reason not to give you one. I'd taken some courses required for EEs, but not all of them, which is obviously more significant than having taken all the courses required to graduate as a software engineer, according to their database.

[ravenshrinkery.livejournal.com]

Unless I'm mistaken, you should be able to use a PCI slot based serial card, or a Cardbus slot on almost any laptop and get one? Or heck. USB to Serial? Am not an engineer, so I certainly don't understand the nuances of this.

[notthebuddha.livejournal.com]

I personally use a USB to serial dongle when I need a serial port to talk to something. As for EE projects, USB and Arduino are godsends. There's $2 part that lets you use powered USB slots as 5v and 3.3v power supplies.

[tecknow.livejournal.com]

Expansion cards can work pretty well, if you've got the slots (we didn't) but USB to serial often doesn't work, too much is lost between the virtual serial port, USB, and the actual pins.

[the-s-guy.livejournal.com]

This is why I never, ever trust automated systems when it's about something important. If it's going to affect my life, my job, or my pay packet, I make sure I go and talk to a person, even if it means an hour's drive each way and having to go back and talk to them five times.

[tanetris.livejournal.com]

The difference between dealing with an automated system and dealing with a person is usually that the automated system is not offended when you don't trust it.

Trust no one.

[the-s-guy.livejournal.com]

True. When I was one of those bureaucrats myself, I was actually ecstatic when people didn't trust me and demanded triple copies of everything and co-witnesses. It meant that they actually might have had a chance of getting somewhere in the sea of red tape, and I was more than willing to help.

I've also found that "No." (just the one word, by itself) is a fantastic phrase for using on people who spend most of their lives wearing a groove in a behavioural template for a job. It's the fastest way to throw someone off-track and into a mental trainwreck, particularly if they keep making assumptions.

It shouldn't be "No," followed by an explanation. It shouldn't be "No, that isn't right," or "No, listen to me, dammit!" It should just be "No." It makes them eventually throw a rod and have to ask "Well, what, then?", and it's only then that they start to listen. (If they slide back into the comfortable template, the process can repeat a few times.)

ParTICularly satisfying on calls which are "recorded for training purposes", because it's them stumbling headlong into one conversational pothole after another, with me doing nothing but use one-syllable words to tell them they're getting their job wrong.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_caecus_/]

Congrats!