Category: Random

Daisy Daisy . . . or . . . Songs About Computers . . . kinda . . .

Daisy    Daisy
. . . or . . .
Songs About Computers
. . . kinda . . .

Daisy Daisy … on a bicycle built for DU  –  PLEX? Well, the HAL 9000 never could carry a tune! This might technically be cheating, as HAL is singing a song, but I prefer to think that this was part of his diagnostics and it truly is a song about a computer. A very lethal computer! LOL!

Full  Disclosure – I  have never taken ANY music lessons and …  it shows! And on my iPhone, I don’t have a single track of music. Not one. I have some movies, but not a single song! 

So why songs about computers? Why not! It is my OAC blog and I try to combine computers, languages, words, programming, learning, pop culture and legacy technology …. all in one place! Hit and miss, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose and sometimes …. it rains! Can you name the movie line came from? No computer songs, but a great movie and soundtrack!

Surprisingly, there were not too many actual songs ABOUT computers ‘out there’. Lots of soundtracks geared towards the computer content of a movie, but a little digging and found a few things.

I consider the soundtrack to ANY movie, more like a character IN THE MOVIE! I bet that if I just mention movies with famous soundtracks, you can instantly bring to mind, some of the tunes that are part of that movie – The Hobbit, Pirates of the Caribbean, Pulp Fiction, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Apocalypse Now, Guardians of the Galaxy … you get the idea! At least, that works for me! LOL!

So, after this, I just might put some tracks onto my iPhone! I will probably start with the soundtrack from … Guardians of the Galaxy – Volume I! LOL! Yeah, probably bent my rules a bit to include songs sung by computers, songs written by computers and just plain old … favourite songs and soundtracks! Thus and hence and therefore …. KINDA!!!!! All those data bits gotta end up somewhere!

And the usual YouTube videos to follow with some BRILLIANT and HILARIOUS computer parodies of popular music videos! I was … amused by them!

And especially weird and wonderful – how to make a huge array of floppy disk drives actually perform in concert …. POP MUSIC! Definitely Weird and Wonderful today!

Enjoy!

  1. Top 10 Songs About (or to) Computers
  2. Songs About Computers and the Tech Industry
  3. 12 songs inspired by tech
  4. The top 10 songs about video games
  5. Listen to These Odd Pop Songs Composed by a Computer
  6. Now computers are writing perfectly acceptable pop songs
  7. Songs about computers music
  8. Songs About Computers or Technology
  9. The Best Songs About Computers
  10. Computer Songs – Lyrics
  11. The 50 Best Movie Soundtracks of All Time

As long as I have an old iPhone with literally NO music on it … there will be OAC posts! Seriously.. no music!

 

ENJOY!

 TTFN!

 

Database Skills
Sia Cheap Thrills Parody

Sia – Actual Cheap Thrills

Call Me Maybe – Parody Video
Sys Admin Song

Call Me Maybe – ACTUAL Song

Lady Java

Lady Gaga – ACTUAL Poker Face

Seven Databases in Song

Pikotaro – PPAP
Pen Pineapple Apple Pen

THUNDERSTRUCK
on FLOPPOTRON

Bohemian Rhapsody
on FLOPPOTRON

Sheldon Allman
Univac and Humanoid

Wintergatan – Marble Machine

        

‘No one does research with such flair. He’s the Boogie Woogie Google Boy of Division B.’

Mozart on a computer,

Pandemic

 

Throwback Thursday . . . or . . . Laughter and Chuckles!

Throwback Thursday
. . . or . . .
Laughter and Chuckles!

Why did the chicken cross the road? Error 404. Road can not be found.
ALMOST a … Dad Joke! Years ago, I once ‘collected’ cartoons from the comic section of newspapers or editorial pages, specifically looking for Math, Statistics or Numbers in general – for use as motivation in my classes! I probably still have them somewhere in ‘The Garage’ and will look for them one day and have a post dedicated to really old math cartoons!

Once, I included a funny math cartoon at the very END of a printed math test for my Grade 12 Math 31 (Advanced) class. This was during my Student Teaching year at U of Calgary.

I had the opportunity to teach ‘Probability’ to my highly motivated International Baccalaureat program at the school I was assigned! Well, this threw them for a loop! “Is this a question?“, “Is this for marks?“, “How do I answer this question?” and ‘What is this for?”

And to his  credit,  my Supporting Teacher let me do all kinds of crazy things in all my classes! This will be a theme for another OAC post one day!

One small amazing Fun Fact: I ended up being paired with not one, but TWO of my OWN High School Math teachers from my high school years … just by chance! What are the odds on that !!! Well, that is what statistics are for! LOL!

So, some Throwback Thursday humour and  random images, YouTube videos and cartoons to maybe provide a chuckle or two!

And that is about it for today! A busy day with some meetings, documents and workshops at the speed of Self Pace too! I might throw new stuff in later! You just never know!   

 

 

Enjoy!

  1. Windows Vs Mac Vs Linux: 10 Funny Jokes In Pictures
  2. The 12 Most Ridiculous Windows Errors of All Time
  3. 21 Hilarious Microsoft Windows Fails
  4. Top 10 Programmer Jokes, Explained for the Rest of Us
  5. The 10 Funniest Computer Fails, Bugs and Errors
  6. Computer Memes

As long as I have stuff in ‘The Garage’ … and the “World Wide Web“, there will be Throwback Thursdays!

 

ENJOY!

 TTFN!

 

Why Computer Engineering
is Like Standup Comedy

I’ve Got a Problem with My Apple
The One Ronnie – BBC

One Day, A Computer Will Fit …
… On A Desk – Arthur C. Clarke (1974)

Computer Joke of the Day
May 1, 2020

Modern Upgrades
for Classic Computers

15+ Funny MS Windows Jokes
That Will Make You Laugh

10 Funniest TED Talks
Compilation

Computer Predicts the
End of Civilization (1973)

Arthur C. Clark
Predicts the Internet (1964)

A Funny Look at the Unintended Consequences
of Technology (TED)

BYOD issues were an even bigger problem in the 1950s.
BYOD was not as much of a concern in the office as BYOG.

‘Well, for starters, I’ve never seen a laptop in Roman Numerals.’
“It’s a fantastic computer! It’s so old that none of today’s hackers know how to hack it!”
“That old computer we recycled in 1989 is now worth a fortune.”

Old-fashioned computer

“Don’t worry Mac, I’ll have that happy face back in no time.”

 

Pandemic

 

Wonderful Wednesday . . . C64 Marketing

Wonderful Wednesday
. . . . .
Commodore 64 Marketing!

SX 64 Receipt 1985
SX 64 Receipt 1985

My first computer I EVER purchased! I think I might even have my original receipt! I will have to dig around my own computer archives aka ‘The Garage’ and see if I can come up with that papyrus document! And … drum roll …. I FOUND IT! Click on the image to see it in a bigger tab!

And why did I buy a C-64, specifically, the SX-64, the World’s First Luggable Computer? It cost me $901.95 (note there was no tax!) and that was a huge amount, in today’s dollars! Actually, it works out to be …. $1,962.18 in ‘today’s’ money! I used the Bank of Canada Inflation Calculator, which I did not know existed until this morning!

SX-64
      SX-64

There were a few reasons – I had just started to work in a classroom that was FILLED with Commodore-64 computers, I was taking a graduate course at the U of C about Technology/Computers in Education and … a buddy of mine could buy it through his company AT A DISCOUNT! But none of those beat out … THIS IS SUCH A  COOL COMPUTER! So had to buy the Commodore SX-64, which was also known as the Executive 64 or VIP-64 in Europe!

So  it got me to wondering about how the Commodore became, at the time, the single best home computer EVER SOLD! And I came to the conclusion that … I don’t know why! LOL! Oh, well, maybe marketing has alot to do  with it! Just look at Apple! I have posted about how Apple have made such fantastic ads before! (Yup, product placement!)

My ultimate, non-academic conclusion is that …. EVERYONE COULD OWN A HOME COMPUTER!!! And if Commodore could make it cheap, easy, small, available and FUN – then they found the magic recipe to sell MILLIONS OF THEIR COMPUTERS! And, literally: 

The Commodore 64, also known as the C64 or the CBM 64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, in Las Vegas, January 7–10, 1982). It has been listed in the Guinness World Records as the highest-selling single computer model of all time, with independent estimates placing the number sold between 10 and 17 million units. (From Wikipedia)

And it is a bit unknown as to how many SX-64 computers were sold. There was a rumoured DX-64 with dual floppy drives, but that never appeared.

The exact number of SX-64 sold from 1984 to 1986, when it was discontinued, is unknown. The serial numbers of over 130 SX-64s from series GA1, GA2, GA4, GA5 and GA6, with serial numbers ranging over 49,000 for series GA1, 1,000 for GA2, 17,000 for GA4, 11,000 for GA5, and 7,000 for GA6 have been reported. (From Wikipedia)

I will have an SX-64 dedicated post in the future, showing how fast it booted, cartridges that I have and how I can connect it to my Toshiba large screen tv too!

It really was an amazing computer! And speed – it boots up in about 5 seconds! And it only had the one floppy drive! Remember sorting through floppy disk banks! Good times, good times!

Commodore 128
         Commodore 128

Fun Fact – did you know that  Commodore actually made other computers, including a Commodore PC compatible and another one called the Commodore 128? Fun Fact!

Commodore PC Compatible
Commodore PC Compatible

Be sure to look closely at some of the vintage print ads I included  after all of this! William Shatner HIMSELF – CAPTAIN KIRK – was a spokesman for the Commodore VIC-20 – the computer that came out BEFORE the C-64!! I can legitimately say – I own an Official Star Fleet Computer!

And that is about it for today! Lots of meetings and workshops! I might throw new stuff in later! You just never know!   

 

 

Enjoy!

  1. Commodore History Part 1- The PET
  2. Commodore History Part 3 – The Commodore 64 (complete)
  3. Commodore History Parts 1-8 Compilation
  4. The best ever Commodore 64 music
  5. The Commodore 64 is rebooting the 1980s with a full-size re-release
  6. Commodore 64 : Memories of the Best Selling Computer Ever
  7. Commodore 64 Story & Review
  8. In Pictures: A look back at future tech – Vintage Commodore computer ads
  9. Commodore – Secret Conspiracy at Uncyclopedia – Content Free Encyclopedia (this is funny!)
Commodore PET
               Commodore PET

As long as there are a bunch of old computers in my basement, there will be Wonderful Wednesdays!

 

ENJOY!

 TTFN!

 

Commodore SX-64
TV Ad 1984

Commodore 64 US Adverts

Commodore History Part 1
The PET

Commodore History Compilation
Parts 1-8

C64 Accolade Comics

Games That Push the Limits
of the Commodore 64

World’s First All New
Commodore 64

So You Bought a C64
Modern Guide for Retro Buyers

 

 

 

Pandemic

 

Terrific Tuesday … ENCORE! More Computer Humour

Terrific Tuesday
. . . . ENCORE . . . .
MORE Computer Humour!

Let’s take a breather today and just have a few chuckles about computers and our digital lives! That and I have multiple meetings, training sessions AND I get to pick up a refreshed laptop today too! So I just want to chuckle and laugh today!

There is no doubt working from home or remote working, continues to be very challenging!

So a little diversion is very welcome, at least for me! And for me, meditation, getting up and walking around, stretching, a walk in my yard, tea and honey, scheduled and impromptu chats, coffee breaks and conversations with my colleagues are SO important to me! I haven’t quite reached the stage of throwing my computer across the room yet!

Find what works for you!

Take of yourselves and your families!

I can hardly wait to bike to work again!

 

Enjoy!

  1. Banana Jr. Series Computer
  2. ‘Calvin and Hobbes’ just turned 30 — here’s the history of the strip and its mysterious creator Bill Watterson
  3. Foxtrot – Comic Home Page
  4. James Veitch – YouTube
  5. James Veitch – TED Talks
  6. 5 Most Watched Cat Videos of All Time

 

 

As long as there are cartoons, cat videos at YouTube and The IT Crowd out there, there will be Terrific Tuesdays!

 

ENJOY!

 TTFN!

 

THIS is What Happens
When You Reply to Email

More Adventures in
Replying to Spam

Elaborate Wrong Number
James Veitch . . . again!

Siri vs Alexa

Pandemic

 

Terrific Tuesday . . . upgraded to . . . Terrific TEDnesday!

Terrific Tuesday
. . . . upgraded to . . . .
TERRIFIC TEDNESDAY!

And now for something completely different … mostly! I do have favourite topics and have officially changed today’s name to TEDnesday in honour of TED Ideas Worth Spreading!

Everyone has heard of TED Talks! The first time I was told about them, my first thought was … who is this Ted person and why should I listen to him!

And of course, TED stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design!

TED is a nonprofit devoted to spreading ideas, usually in the form of short, powerful talks (18 minutes or less). TED began in 1984 as a conference where Technology, Entertainment and Design converged, and today covers almost all topics — from science to business to global issues — in more than 100 languages. Meanwhile, independently run TEDx events help share ideas in communities around the world.

Just a slight sidebar here … I usually discover something amazing (ie. LEARN something new!) if you look for an ‘About’ or ‘Who We Are’ or even a dedicated search engine WITHIN a website to uncover hidden jewels of information! And it is usually just one click away, or even visible as a magnifying glass icon!

This might be obvious to almost everyone, but … when that one person that lights up because you showed them a neat new trick at a website …. priceless!

So maybe, this next tidbit will help someone – TED actually has a very robust search engine itself!  And they also offer pre-made TED Playlists too! Just click on the images below to see TED Talks Playlists and TED Talks search engine for Languages!

TED Talks Playlists
TED Talks Search for Languages

Many of TED Talks are also found at YouTube as well, but there are so many extra benefits at TED.COM that I recommend looking there first. You never know what you might find!

And using an abundance of caution and a balance of fair play and common sense, I did a search for ‘Worst TED Talks of All Time‘ and came up with this:

But I do DISAGREE with Arthur Benjamin – A Performance of Mathemagic on  that list! No way that almost 10,000,000 of us can be wrong! That is my Inner Math Teacher speaking! LOL!

Enjoy!

  1. The Most Popular Talks of All Time
  2. 20 Quotes From the Most Powerful TED Talks of All Time
  3. 25 Quotes From the Most Inspiring TED Talks
  4. 25 TED Talk Quotes to Inspire You
  5. TED Topics
  6. History of TED
  7. 5 Best Quotes for life From The 5 Most Viewed TedTalks (YouTube)
  8. Debunking TED Myths
  9. 20 Most Inspiring TED Talks of All Time That You Should Not Miss
  10. The 79 Most Popular TED Talks of All Time
  11. TED Talks Are Wildly Addictive For Three Powerful Scientific Reasons
  12. Dilbert – Search for TED Talks

As long as there are words (& videos!) out there, there will be interesting topics! 


And videos too!

ENJOY!
     
TTFN!

Why Language is Humanity’s
Greatest Invention

How Language Shapes
the Way We Think

One of the Most Difficult Words
to Translate

The Benefits
of a Bilingual Brain

How Interpreters Juggle
Two Languages at Once

The Visual Magic
of Comics

Are Elvish, Klingon, Dothraki and Na’VI
Real Languages?

Jed Talks

 

‘I wonder if TED ever listens.’

 

IT Security Quotes … or What Could Go Even WrongER!

IT Security Quotes
. . . . or . . . .
What Could Go Even WrongER!

I work from the Desk of VicU Computers Helpers. Pleeze conform to me your pazzword or your Internet will dissolve.

Yeah, right. IT Security is a huge, HUGE issue and is now part of our digital lives – both personally and professionally. And for good reason.

So, right off the top, the best and most informative sites are HERE AT UVIC! If you haven’t visited, read or been told about these incredible resources, then now is your chance. And since a picture is worth 1000 words …. here are 6000 words!

Click on each image below to go to the UVic site.

Information Security
University Systems status update
Phishing
Phishing emails spotted at UVic
Phishing emails spotted at UVic
Phishing Awareness Training Campaign
Antivirus Software for Students
VIDEO: 5 Common Cybersecurity Questions Answered
VIDEO: 5 Common Cybersecurity Questions Answered
Personal Perspectives from UVic’s Chief Information Security Officer
UVic Team Triumphs at National Cybersecurity Competition

 

Enroll in any computer security training that UVic has to offer! Refresh your Cyber Spidey Sense Skills all the time! Be aware of Phishing attempts! And be even MORE VIGILANT now that we are working from home – the same skills you are honing for work, are as important for your home digital security too!


“If you spend more on coffee than on IT security, you will be hacked. What’s more, you deserve to be hacked.”
     – Richard Clarke

“My message for companies that think they haven’t been attacked is: You are not looking hard enough.”
     -James Snook

“The five most efficient cyber defenders are: Anticipation, Education, Detection, Reaction and Resilience. Do remember: Cybersecurity is much more than an IT topic.”
     – Stephane Nappo

“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and few minutes of cyber-incident to ruin it.”
     – Stephan Nappo

“USBs are the devil. They just are.”
     – Overheard at SecureWorld, Atlanta

“IoT without security = Internet of Threats”
     – Stephane Nappo

“One Person’s “paranoia” is another person’s engineering redundancy.”
     – Marcus J. Ranum

“Two things about the NSA stunned me right off the bat: how technologically sophisticated it was compared with the CIA, and how much less vigilant it was about security in its every iteration, from the compartmentalization of information to data encryption.”
     – Edward Snowden

“If security were all that mattered, computers would never be turned on, let alone hooked into a network with literally millions of potential intruders.”
     – Dan Farmer

“You have to make sure that your hard drive is external from your computer. If you put yourself in the minds of the thief, they want to make a quick buck. They don’t really care about your hard drive, just your computer. An external hard drive is critical. In my case they left the hard drive behind and I was able to plug it into my new computer. It was the key to everything.”
     – Michael Stelzner

And once again, similar to yesterday’s post “Famous Computer Quotes or What Could Go Wrong!” these are just a few of my favourite ones!

Oddly, there aren’t too many current IT Security videos at YouTube that I hoped for. So that means, as I mentioned above, check UVic’s own sites for the most current and most pertinent information about computer security! My Go To pages! They are listed below too!

If I had a single favourite quote, it would be this ……

Enjoy!

  1. Information Security (UVic) and more important links
  2. University Systems status update (UVic)
  3. Phish Bowl – Phishing emails spotted at UVic
  4. Phishing Awareness Training Campaign (UVic) and video
  5. Antivirus Software for Students (UVic)
  6. Inside IT VIDEO: 5 Common Cybersecurity Questions Answered (UViC)
  7. CISO Blog – Personal Perspectives from UVic’s Chief Information Security Officer
  8. CISO BLOG Video Endpoint Protection
    🔥 HOT OFF THE PRESS WINNER 🔥     
  9. 8 Cybersecurity Quotes to Apply to Your Online Habits
  10. 24 Best Cyber Security Quotes That Will Blow Your Mind
  11. 8 Tweetable Cybersecurity Quotes To Help You (And Your Business) Stay Safer
  12. Top 20 Cybersecurity Quotes You Need to Hear
  13. 101 Data Security Tips: Quotes from Experts on Breaches, Policy, News & More
  14. CQURE Hacks #42: That Can Fool Anyone. Don’t Ignore Social Engineering
  15. Simulated Phishing Training (video) (February 2021)
CISO VLog Simulated Phishing
                                                                             CISO VLog Simulated Phishing

As long as there are words out there, there will be interesting topics! 


And videos too!

ENJOY!
     
TTFN!

Cyber Security
Top 10 Threats

Cyber Security Awareness
Better Update than regret

This is What Happens When You
Reply to Spam Email

More Adventures in
Replying to Spam

The Agony of Trying
to Unsubscribe

Top 20
William Gibson Quotes

Famous Computer Quotes … or What Could Go Wrong!

Famous Computer Quotes
. . . . or . . . .
What Could Go Wrong!

Since the advent of computers and digital technology, there have been some funny, outrageous, prophetic and downright WRONG quotes about computers and technology. Let’s go down that winding path this morning!

I will just intersperse quotes with some images of quotes too! A mishmash of data, graphics and historical perspectives!


“Computers in the future may weigh no more than one-and-a-half tonnes.”
     – Popular Mechanics, 1949

“I can assure you that data processing is a fad that won’t last the year.”
     – Chief Business Editor, Prentice Hall, 1957

“I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.”
     – Thomas Watson, Chairman of IBM, 1943

“There is no reason anyone in the right state of mind will want a computer in their home.”
     – Ken Olson, President of Digital Equipment Corp, 1977.


“Loop, Endless: n., see Endless Loop.”
     – Random Shack Data Processing Dictionary

“Adding manpower to a late software project makes it later.”
     – Brook’s Law

“An elephant is a mouse with an operating system.”
     – Anonymous

“BUG, n.: An undesirable, poorly-understood undocumented feature.”
     – The Devil’s Dictionary to Computer Studies

“640k is enough for anyone, and by the way, what’s a network?”
     – William Gates III, President of Microsoft Corporation, 1984.

“Microcomputers are the tool of the 80’s. BASIC is the language that all of them use. So the sooner you learn BASIC, the sooner you will understand the microcomputer revolution.”
     – 30 Hour BASIC Standard, 1981.

I want to change the world but they don’t give me root access.
     – Unknown

And these are just a few of my favourite ones! There are literally hundreds of amazing quotes out there, and I as usual, have put a bunch of links below for you to search, should you need that perfect quote about computers!

The single best quote, ever, and ever so true even now, came from John F. Kennedy …..


Enjoy!

  1. Computer Quotes
  2. Top 10 Computer Quotes
  3. 101 More Great Computer Quotes
  4. Top 20 Computer Quotes
  5. Ted Nelson Computer Quotes
  6. 776 Computer Quotes
  7. Computer Quotes – Good Reads
  8. 21 of the Greatest Computer Quotes Ever
  9. 11 Best Computer Quotes
  10. History of CPU Architecture


As long as there are words out there, there will be interesting topics! 


And videos too!

ENJOY!
     
TTFN!

Top 20 Quotes
About Computers

Top 10 Computer Quotes

Top 15 Quotes
About Computers

Computer Quotes

Top 10 Computer Quotes

Best Famous Quotes
on Life and Computer

Top 20 Quotes About
Computers and Technology

10 Quotes About
Computers and Technology

Terrific Tuesday … already? Working From Home Humour!

Terrific Tuesday
. . . . already?
Working From Home Humour!

Working from home is like reading ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ by Charles Dickens ……

And yeah, a bit of both!

So today, a plethora (I like dictionary.com!) of comics, cartoons, YouTube and other appurtenances  (I like thesaurus.com too!)

I had started off with a theme of MS:Office and my long history with Excel, Word and PowerPoint. But I quickly found a far more interesting topic for today … Working From Home! I am forever the optimist (I hope!) and try to find the humour in most things (I try!) and quickly changed topics!

And today is a fairly busy day with some creative work in Teams for a Poll (Thanks to Kelly, Gary, Tomoyo and Heather!) and trying to be creative, relevant, funny, factual and learn a few new things every so often! Maybe this old dog CAN learn a few new tricks!

Some funny cartoons, websites and truly miscellaneous items for a quick post today.

Enjoy!

  1. Wrong Hands – Comic Strip
  2. Off the Mark – Pinterest
  3. The Work at Home Comic Strips
  4. What You Need to Know Before Using a Cartoon in Your Presentation
  5. Foxtrot – Comics
  6. Working From Home – Pinterest
  7. Tech Comics – Microsoft Office

As long as there are words out there, there will be Terrific Tuesdays!

ENJOY!

 TTFN!

And This Happened
BEFORE Covid! CLASSIC!

The Differences of
Working From Home vs Office

Work From Home
FAILS!

Work From Home
Bloopers

Working From Home
With Pets

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9b0yorOPHQE

 Our Favourite News Reporters
Working From Home Bloopers

      

Pandemic

Open Book Exams … or My Favourite Textbooks

Open Book Exams
. . . . or . . . .
My Favourite Textbooks

This may be the FIRST and ONLY blog post on the internet about … Favourite Textbooks! Textbooks are usually the bane of most students! LOL!

But I really enjoyed getting new textbooks, especially in Grade 12! For the first time, we had to venture to DOWNTOWN CALGARY to actually BUY AND OWN our textbooks! Previously, we were issued them, had to guard them throughout the semester and RETURN THEM at the end! But now, we could OWN THEM!

And what a great textbook for Grade 12 Math – ‘Modern Intermediate Algebra‘! And the trick was, to buy the book that had the ANSWERS IN THE BACK! Only a few of them DID have the answers, and I was lucky enough to get one of those! Quite an adventure for me at the time! 

And if you haven’t figured it out by now, I still have these textbooks! Yup, weird, but … I collect books of all kinds! A future post will be on REALLY OLD TEXTBOOKS that I have! 

The next 4 textbooks are all from when I attended the University of Calgary from 1975-1982. Yup, some gap years in there to travel, live and work in Banff and explore the world! Might sneak an old photo of me in there somewhere too! LOL!

And how boring – a book on .. evaluating student progress? And even more boring, THAT IS THE TITLE TOO – ‘Evaluating Student Progress’!

And here I thought I would finally find out all the tricks and secrets of passing exams … and for the most part, I did pick up some ideas, especially when my first job out of university was evaluating exams, something called Item Analysis! And it was fun! Basically, how does an exam actually MEASURE student knowledge! Yeah, boring, but at the time, I actually USED this textbook in a real life setting!

And then one of my All Time Favourite themes – STATISTICS titled ‘Elements of Statistics‘! All kinds of neat formulas, algorithms and magical numbers with REAL WORLD RESULTS! And for the first time – a new studying technique! We were allowed to bring in a small 4×6 recipe card with ANYTHING WE WANT WRITTEN ON IT! This was such a great learning tool, that I used it in all my future classes! This forces you to actually STUDY and WRITE DOWN anything you were not as confident with, thus FORCING YOU TO RECOGNIZE AND STUDY YOUR WEAK POINTS! And it worked flawlessly! (At least, for me!)

This has been a bit of a ‘Top 10 Favourite Textbooks‘ countdown, except only a ‘Top 5‘ of them! My bad! And the next 2 textbooks bring back fond memories … and some not so fond …. of courses I took … sometimes twice and three times! How about them apples!

The BEST stat course EVER was on games of chance! And the Instructor LIVED HIS TEXTBOOK – ‘Basic Probability and Applications‘! When introducing himself, he said he might be late for some Monday morning classes as he would be enroute BACK FROM LAS VEGAS as he spent most weekends there …. GAMBLING! That is one amazing course intro! And he had his own TEXTBOOK TOO!

And my FAVOURITE TEXTBOOK OF ALL TIME is entitled ‘Excursions Into Mathematics‘ for the exceedingly misnamed course ‘Elementary Mathematics From and Advanced Viewpoint‘!!!

I took this course
… THREE TIMES …
before I passed it!
HARDEST.COURSE.EVER!

First time was with a friend and BOTH of us dropped it at Christmas as it was just too freaking hard! Second time was with my entire Education Year colleagues (9 of us!) and the 10th student in the class dropped it too – and he was in Honours Math at the time! Why did HE drop it? It was lowering his GPA!

Finally, passed the course in the summer, and all I did was Math for a solid month, literally every day, and got a B+ on it! YAY! The Instructor apologized to me .. I was literally ONE POINT AWAY FROM AN A- …. but I did not care. I HAD PASSED THE COURSE and could now graduate! WHEW!

Still, the textbook is awesome and even though I may have ONCE understood many classical concepts – it is like Quantum Physics, another favourite topic! I may not understand ANY of it … but it is as close to MAGIC as we will ever get in this crazy world/universe/multi-verse we live in! LOL!


Oh, and whenever there was a so-called ‘Open Book Exam‘ – they were the toughest exams in the history of education. You better KNOW YOUR STUFF, because if you spent the time looking for the answer in your ‘textbook’, you wasted so much time, you never finished the exam!

And as Steve Jobs liked to say … ‘… one more thing….’!

My favourite math book was my ‘Mathematical Handbook‘ that had all kinds of formulas and simplified explanations of my favourite theorems and numbers! Served me well all through High School and University!

And one more …. one more thing! If I didn’t include a dictionary … ANY DICTIONARY in this list, then I would be remiss! I had ve saved many of my old dictionaries, including my pocket French/English dictionary, but I now tend to use dictionary.com and thesaurus.com on an almost daily basis! Big thumbs up to both of those sites!

 

 

Enjoy!

  1. 20+ Funny Textbook Doodles That Are So Clever, Teachers Won’t Be Mad

And not that many funny extra sites out there. I found most of them quite rude and in bad taste and many offensive. The only funny one is above. And just doodles on existing images in each book. Sometimes you win. Sometimes you lose. Sometimes … it rains! (Ask me about THAT quote, which literally comes out of … right field!)

And same with videos. Lots of bad taste ones out there, sand offensive ones, so today, only a compilation of Steve Jobs ‘One More Thing‘ below, to wax nostalgic today!

As long as there are words out there, there will be a site that Google finds!! 

    ENJOY!
            
   TTFN!

Steve Jobs …..
History of One More Thing

 

 

Throwback Thursday … A Stroll Down RAM-ory Lane

Throwback Thursday
A Stroll Down
RAM-ory Lane

How about some computer cartoons and other media today! Maybe some old ones that make us chuckle from where we have come from! And a busy day today too! LOL!

To start, my favourite scene from Captain Marvel! Many of us from The Computer Help Desk went together to see this movie together (Thanks again Marcela!) and this scene was THE funniest for me!

Remember, it takes place in the 1980’s and Captain Marvel is from an incredibly technologically advanced planet! And even today … I often get to use the classic phrase … ‘It’s loading“! LOL!

The single greatest comic in the history of HISTORY is Calvin & Hobbes. And that is an understatement! So many years ago and still relevant and still … Calvin & Hobbes! The official Calvin & Hobbes site is here.

And what would a Bog Blog Post be without some Homer Simpson memes!

     

   

And some Classic Bloom County from WAY BACK WHEN that many of you probably will never have heard of! My first car was a Black Subaru that I named … OPUS!

And Foxtrot always had a befuddled Dad playing around with their newest iFruit computer! The usual assortment of familh members, all with varying degrees of computer expertise from genius to … less than genius!

Enjoy!

  1. XKCD
  2. 38 of the best xkcd comics about the internet, computers and programming
  3. The Definitive Collection of XKCD Comics for Programmers
  4. Computer Comics – Pinterest
  5. IT Comics – Pinterest
  6. 7 tech comics that will put a big smile on your face
  7. Dilbert – yes, mentioned here but WORTHY OF A BOG BLOG POST DEDICATED JUST TO DILBERT!!!!

As long as there are words out there, there will be a site that Google finds!! 

    ENJOY!
            
   TTFN!

And then some random-ish comics that are currently located on … The World Wide Web! LOL!

“Then the hard drive says to the floppy, 110010001110011…”
“It’s a fantastic computer! It’s so old that none of today’s hackers know how to hack it!”

Computer Sale.