Category Archives: college

Die Gedanken sind Frei

The title of this post is a German colloqialism that means “thoughts are free.” Millions of students in America are headed back to college to, hopefully, do a lot of free thought. Unfortunately, evil professors want proof that you thought and they want it to fill up 20 pages before next Wednesday. At this point a number of people settle down before a bloated, overpriced piece of software called Microsoft Office, and their thoughts are no longer free. You don’t have to use or buy Office. There are free and better alternatives, namely OpenOffice.org. Open Office offers all of the same productivity software needed to make Word files, Powerpoint presentations, and Excel spreadsheets. It even has better support for foreign languages, which, when studying German is very important. It is available for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X. For Mac users, there is an even better alternative based on OpenOffice, NeoOffice.

No Escape… Starring Ray Liota

Pro.: I managed to find a job for the week prior to classes starting. I would have just sat around and done nothing anyways. They are paying me well to do practically nothing.
Con.: I semi-reprise my role as a Community Advisor (RA). I’m in charge of keeping Stewart Hall from becoming a smoldering pile of ashen rubble.

Guh… no matter how hard you try to get away… Residence Life manages to further ensnare you in their web. Well, in the interest of full disclosure, this is what they are really paying me to do. My G3 blue iMac is now a video server. Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Harvey Birdman, music videos, and other stuff will be available for your iTunes viewing pleasure. Converting right now: Aeon Flux.

iTunesSharingVideo.png

Ken’s Mactorium

Since I no longer am committed to slave like working conditions for the university I have found myself with ample amount of free time in which to engage in free enterprise. I used to buy and sell Apple iBooks three years ago but found little time to conduct business. With $250 in venture capital that I have set aside I am going to begin doing something I really enjoy instead of working a job. I am going to begin buying, repairing, and reselling G3/G4 iMacs and Powermacs. I’ve already snagged some inventory.

I choose Macs because even the eight year old G3 iMac I have runs OS X smoothly and acts as a media server. Hell, the 1989 Macintosh SE/30 I own still runs perfectly. The aftermarket value on Macs are higher than PCs with comparable specs. They still can be repurposed. So, Ken’s Mactorium, is open for business.

Things Going On

I am really digging my new digital camera. As mentioned earlier I started a flickr account to manage my photos. Click here to view.

The heat here in Oshkosh, as well as the entire US, has been almost unmanageable. Doing manual labor in a dormitory with no air conditioning has me drenched in a short amount of time. So I took all my hair off. I am now sporting a more streamlined visage.

I am not to thrilled that I have to move my stuff to Greunhagen for two weeks. Die Frauen, da? Greunhagen regeln, sind verruckten alten Schlachteln. Sie haben keine Ahnung, was hinter ihrem R?cken geht. Ihren Arbeitnehmer ha?en sie sehr viel. Ich auch. Ich auch.

Network Neutrality and You

SaveTheInternet.com

Let’s pretend that you pay for internet service just to view this website. Yes, I’m that interesting. You check up on my site daily, so much so that your internet provider (AT&T, Comcast, AOL Time Warner, et al) notice. So they call me up and say, “Hey Ken of kenfager.com. We connect a lot of people to your free website. How about you pay us money. If you don’t we’ll slow your site down so that it takes a long time to load or we may even just block it. We’ll also charge your visitors more for their internet just for the privilege of seeing your content.” Large ISPs and Telcos are lobbying Congress to make this sort of extortion legal. It is happening to personal blogs, major businesses such as Google, small businesses too, and even political movement websites. STOP THEM.

Please take the time to call, email, anything to prevent a serious violation of our most valuable freedom, the Freedom of Speech. Information should remain free. It only takes two minutes of your time. There has been a huge grass roots movement behind this legislation. Please inform yourself by visiting one of the following sites. AskaNinja.com on Network Neutrality, Rocketboom on Network Neutrality, ItsOurNet.com, and even the C.E.O of Google asks for your help.

I called Senator Feingold (D-WI) and Senator Herb Kohl (D-WI) with the help of? SaveTheInternet.com. Even if you do not know what to say, they have a short script to help. Every bit helps.

That Backfired

Today as I was headed back to my place to grab lunch when a man walking in front of me turned around to talk to me. He explained that he needed signatures to run for political office and that it would only take a few minutes of my time. I responded, “Bitte Entschuldigung. Ich kann Sie nicht verstehen. Ich spreche keine Englisch.” (Sorry, I don’t understand you. I can’t speak English.) To my suprise he responded “Sie kann Deutsch?” (You can speak German?) He tried to ascertain where I came from and I told him I couldn’t vote and had to go. He then told me I spoke terrible German and uttered some other epithet. I wonder if he does that to all the prospective voters? Too bad I never grabbed his name.

Today is Towel Day

In remembrance of Douglas Adams, author of The Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, today is Towel Day. It dawned on me as I was humming the song sung by the most advanced lifeform on Earth, dolphins, that their song could be considered a social commentary on the college dating scene. “So long and thanks for all the fish…”

Fun Fact: The Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is a trilogy consisting of five books.