One Test Down...Many More to Go

I took my first C++ test on Monday and got the results back today: how does an 88 sound?

Pretty good for my first test. It was divided into three sections: multiple choice C++ trivia ("What is a character? What is a string? Which is the right syntax?"), math (I was told there would be none), and a program. I missed quite a few on the multiple choice section because I honestly don't remember definitions very well. I know that int main() is part of the program and I know where it goes in the program, but I have no idea what it's called. The math section was really tough since my teacher did not let us use calculators. Again, I don't think it is necessary to solve equations for C++ since, well, C++ is supposed to do it for you. But, at least I got the formulas right.

The program part is where I did the best. I missed ONE POINT on this section (something stupid), but I was so proud of myself. This is what REALLY counts. Can I write a program by hand with just an example user screen as my guide? I CAN. HURRAY!

Looks like I'll be a hell of a programmer after all.

Over the next few weeks, we'll be studying selection (if/else). I can't wait.

Fetch, Decode, Execute

So I've been taking a computer programming class and I'm excited. It's about damn time that I've stepped into programming. As my teacher said, once you learn one it's easier to pick up on another. I don't have any fear of this class -- I'm just excited to learn.

What are we learning? C++. It seems like the programming language that everyone starts out with. My younger sibling started out with C++ in high school. I hope to move on to languages like PHP and JavaScript eventually, but one thing at a time first. I'll be blogging more about it over the next few months.

So what have I learned so far? Lots, actually. I know 100% more about programming now than I did the day before I began this class. I've been picking up on it really well, too. Maybe I'm more left-brained than I thought. =P

Poor Jaiku

Poor, poor Jaiku. What a neat little service it used to be! I used it all the time up until January. Now it's just a little shell of its former self: abandoned, discarded, rejected, etc. I logged in today to reminisce and now I'm just sad.

With the recent problems Twitter's been having - a whole morning down last Thursday due to a DDOS -- and then again on Tuesday, I've been looking for better a better microblogging service. I'm almost positive that I'm going to go with Identi.ca, but I wanted to look back at Jaiku just to see what was up.

Nothing was up. =(

On Google Wave

If you're like me and you still haven't figured Google Wave out, here's a very helpful Mashable article that will explain in the way Google cannot. (That's BAD Google. If you can't adequately explain what your products do, how can you expect anyone to use it?)

Good News, Everyone

I might have a potential copy writing job lined up for me. It's tentative, but I'm hopeful.

I might go back to Flickr. I love Picasawebs, but Flickr is just so much better in terms of support. There are plugins and additions galore out there for Flickr; not so much for Picasawebs. (I love Picasa the uploader/editor, however.)

Finally, I'm interested in the Peek. Isn't it adorable?

Steve Rubel Moves to Lifestreaming

I enjoy reading Steve Rubel's blog and I admire him as a blogger. I'm very happy with his decision to move from blogging to lifestreaming -- and I'm especially happy that he chose Posterous as his method of lifestreaming. Posterous is a great blogging service and I love it. Of course, by posting LOGS of his WEB life, he's is essentially creating a WEBLOG, which is of course BLOGGING.=)

If I may make an unsolicited declaration: BLOGGING IS NOT DEAD. As long as there are people who want to share their thoughts and opinions online, and as long as there are blogging engines, there will always be blogging.

Squarespace Review

My experience with Squarespace was very positive and enlightening. I got to experience not just one of the best, but THE best blogging platform out there.

Squarespace is almost completely WYSIWYG: in it's design, interface, and structure. You can drag and drop anything things from the sidebar to the inline menu. You can change your design with just a few clicks. You can even add posts or pages without navigating through a huge administration panel. Best of all, you don't have to mess around with code at all.

So what's the downside? The price. The lowest-cost subscription to Squarespace is $8/month. That package offers a gigabyte of storage plus 75 gigs/month in bandwidth. You may add features for a bit more a month and you can find some very good discount coupons out there, too. No, it's not free. But damn it, if you want the best you're going to have to spend a bit of money.

What I noticed in comparing Squarespace to Typepad (and don't get me wrong, I've used Typepad before and it's good) is that Squarespace does not disable design features because you're paying for a cheaper package. When using the $4.95/mo plan with Typepad, I noticed that I did not have the customization options that I did with the $14/month plan. Also, I could only have a limited number of Amazon books in my sidebar, too. Squarespace does NOT disable any design features. You can have a custom designed blog or stick to one of their premade themes.

Squarespace is also adding some new social networking features, which I THINK may be lifestreaming capabilities. If so, that's just freakin' brilliant.

I went a head and bought a subscription for Squarespace and now I use it as my home blog (which I don't link to here). You are welcome to try out Squarespace's two-week trial (they upped mine to four weeks because I asked nicely). I used Kevin Rose's coupon code (look in the footer) so I pay less than $8/month for my subscription.

However, if you decide you don't like it, you can always stick to Blogger. It's very similar to Squarespace in it's ease and customation, and it's also got one up on Squarespace: it's free! =)