It’s been awhile since I last posted.  I am proud to announce I finally graduated from Kaplan University with an associate’s degree in Computer Information Systems. It’s been a challenging couple of years, but I managed to complete the program with honors; maintaining a 4.0 GPA throughout the entire degree program.

I’ve been through several bouts of college over the years.  I started in 1995 at New Mexico Tech with the Electrical Engineering degree program, but I was far too immature to complete it.  Several years later I attempted to pursue additional programs at the University of New Mexico in Semiconductor Manufacturing, and PC Systems Engineering and Solutions Development.  Still unsure about which path to take, I did not complete either program at UNM.

Working for 10 years and being denied promotions and advancement opportunities took it’s toll on me.  I was passed up numerous times for opportunities, and I became discouraged.  At 30 years old, I decided it was time for a change.

Working 12-hour night shifts made it difficult, if not impossible, to pursue a degree the traditional way.  I began researching distance learning programs, and discovered Kaplan University.  As it turns out, Kaplan maintains the very same accreditation as New Mexico Tech and University of New Mexico, so the degree is considered every bit as valid.  I decided to enroll and try it out.

Kaplan is quite a bit more expensive than local colleges, but it all boils down to convenience.  At Kaplan, I was able to attend class at times I chose and do homework whenever I had free time.  The courses were every bit as challenging as the courses at NMT and UNM, and I found myself studying for the first time in my life.  I simply couldn’t do the work without studying, unlike my highschool days!

Classes are held in a chatroom-style environment with streaming media capabilities.  Instructors can post Powerpoint presentations and dictate via microphone while students listen and comment by keyboard.  Each week consists of a reading assignment, seminar (the aforementioned classroom time), threaded discussions, and homework assignment.  Students are expected to read each week, participate in the seminar and discussions, complete the homework assignment, and sometimes complete an exam.  Most work is conducted with Microsoft or Adobe software, which is purchased out of pocket.  Books are included in tuition and mailed prior to the start of each term.

I can say that Kaplan was a very positive experience for me, and I will be returning to pursue additional education.  For those who can’t attend traditional undergraduate or graduate courses, I highly recommend Kaplan University.

It’s been a wild and wonderful week.  If you read my last post, you’ll know that I finally crawled out of my hole and started socializing again.  My old friend Genieen can be credited with dragging me out, and some interesting twists have followed.  Since my last post, Genieen and I have spent virtually every day together.  It turns out she’s had a huge crush on me since we met — 7 years ago.  Go figure!

So Genieen and I have started seeing each other, and I’ve been on Cloud 9 for a week now.  Arielle seems to approve of me, and Genieen has been giddy like a schoolgirl.  It’s refreshing to be with someone who really values our time together.  I think this is the start of a really good thing.

As I’ve mentioned in the past, I don’t get out and socialize very often.  My night schedule, combined with school and my stints of insomnia create an environment in which I either don’t have the time or I don’t have the energy to get out of the house.  Fortunately, last night I finally had both the opportunity and the energy to get out for a change.  I met up with my good friend Genieen, whom I haven’t spent time with in years.  She brought along one of her girlfriends, and we had a great time!

I picked up Genieen and Arielle at around 8:00pm, and they proposed going to see a movie.  We went to the theater, only to discover most of the available flicks weren’t going to start for over an hour, so we ran over to Red Robin to grab some food.  The hour at Red Robin was fun, as Genieen and I joked about past experiences, and Arielle and I got to know one another.

We ended up watching Coraline 3D.  None of us had experienced a 3D movie in the theaters, and this one was surprisingly entertaining.  The 3D effects are impressive, and the 3D glasses supplied by the theater aren’t flimsy paper glasses with red and blue lenses, so the colors appear exactly as intended.

After the movie, I dropped off Arielle at her apartment, and proceeded to take Genieen home.  I ended up staying at her house until 7:00am, and we talked, joked, and wrestled throughout the early morning.  When I got home, I slept for 12 hours straight.  It was one of the healthiest sleeps I’ve had in a long time.

So, thank you Genieen and Arielle for making my night!

I’ve managed to finish one more term of school.  This term has been more difficult than most of the previous ones as a result of macroeconomics.  Despite its challenges, I think I fared well.  I haven’t received a grade for my final but I managed to maintain a 99% throughout the term.  Despite the appearance of proficiency, I must reiterate that I am definitely not an economist!  It’s a relief to be finished, but I hope my days of economic learning are over.  I’m looking forward to my database management and western cultures courses next term.

Unlike a large majority of the US, I’m a hard gainer.  No matter how hard I try, I can’t seem to gain weight.  I’ve seen doctors, been tested, force-fed myself, done brutal workouts — none of it works for me.

The common reaction to my dilemma is along the lines of, “Oh I wish I had your problem!”  Well, it’s not quite as glamorous as it may seem.  Men in the US (maybe the rest of the world too) aren’t generally considered “attractive” if they’re grossly underweight.  I’ve lived my entire life listening to skinny jokes, and I try to be a good sport (I’ve been known to crack a few myself) but it’s not uncommon among members of the “skinny club” to experience low self-esteem among other body image feelings.

Well I decided since I’ve got some time on my hands I’ll try to put on some weight once again.  I’ve heard that age can slow down a person’s metabolism, though I’m a bit skeptical about that concept applying to me.  Nevertheless I figured it can’t hurt to pile on a few thousand extra calories every day with the help of some relatively low-cost supplements.  I’ve done it before and my clock is still ticking, so why not?

I’m not entirely sure what my exact daily calorie intake is, but I’m estimating about 2500 since my level of activity per day accounts for about 2300 calories per day on average and my weight remains stable.  Combine my high metabolism with the missing 200 calories and I’m guessing it’s a good ballpark range.  I figure I’ll continue the same daily routine and introduce an extra 1000 calories per day to start and see where it gets me.  At $17.00 per jug for the 5-gallon Universal Nutrition Gain Fast mix and 10 servings per container, it comes out to an extra $2 bucks per day.  Since nutritional supplements are usually low residue, it’s probably a smart idea to add extra fiber to my diet to keep things flowing!

I’ll give it a few weeks and measure for size results since weight measurement can be deceiving.  Wish me luck!

I’m not a social person.  I’m content with sitting at home and watching movies or building web scripts by myself.  With the advances in web-based multimedia and streaming content, it has become easy to simply visit a website to watch your favorite TV shows.  Until recently, each major network had its own website for watching their shows, and it was necessary to have a list of all the participating networks.

Just a couple months ago I discovered Hulu, a website designed to deliver streaming video directly from the major networks.  It’s regularly updated, and is authorized to carry the published content so there are no questions about copyright infringement.  I think this is the future of television, and I look forward to seeing a greater variety of content in the future.

I’ve been hesitant to fully adopt wireless networking, and with good reason.  It isn’t secure.  While the technology has advanced significantly since it’s inception, I’m not convinced that wireless data can’t simply be plucked out of the air.  Despite efforts to encrypt wireless data in transit, the data is readily available for anyone with the knowledge and motivation to decrypt and view it.

Evidence of my concerns has recently been published in a research paper from two German researchers, Martin Beck and Erik Tews.  The paper describes how the Chopchop WEP attack can theoretically be applied to WPA-TKIP, and includes proof-of-concept code.

So how do we protect our data from these methods?  There are a few solutions for the time being, but it’s only a matter of time before they are also defeated.  The first solution is to use AES protocol instead of TKIP.  The second is to upgrade from WPA to WPA2.

Some other methods for securing a wireless network are as follows:

1. Change the default admin login details on wireless access points.
   Most hackers/crackers know the default login details for popular devices.  Changing those details is the first line of defense.
2. Change the default SSID on wireless access points.
   Like the admin login details, most hackers/crackers know the default SSIDs for popular devices.
3. Disable SSID Broadcasting on wireless access points.
   Broadcasting the name of your access point equates to announcing that you have an available WiFi signal.  Authorized users should already know the name, so it’s not necessary to announce it to the world.
4. Setup a LAN access list so that only specified devices can connect to wireless access points.
   Although MAC addresses can be spoofed, this provides another layer of security.  In order to connect to the network, a hacker/cracker would have to match the MAC address to one of the devices that have been mapped out in the access point.  It’s like searching for a needle in a haystack.
5. When not in use, disconnect wireless devices from the network.
   If wireless devices aren’t connected to the network, they can’t be compromised.

Most people who know me will agree when I say that I’m a computer geek.  I spend hours upon hours scouring the web in search for tech info and playing with new software.  I’ve been a huge Opera fan for many years, but when they “upgraded” their mail storage format, I was upset to learn that my files had become corrupted.  Although I had backups, somehow they too had become corrupted and I was left with years of unretrievable mail archives.  It was at that point that I finally parted ways with Opera and migrated to Firefox as my browser of choice.

Although I found a replacement browser, I was less than impressed with Mozilla Thunderbird for email.  Since I had invested a large sum of money into Microsoft Office 2007 for school, I decided to give Outlook a try.  My first complaint about Outlook was the subpar anti-spam capabilities, and I started searching for plugins to address that concern.  Unfortunately, I was unable to find anything worthwhile until recently.

As it turns out, Trend Micro has a free anti-spam plugin for Outlook and Outlook Express.  The bad news is that the current version will expire on December 31, 2008.  I’m hoping they will release a new version for 2009.  Nevertheless, I thought this was worth mentioning because Trend Micro may decide to continue supporting this product if more people use it.  If you’re an Outlook or Outlook Express user, give it a try!

My house has been in dire need of cleaning for many years.  I’ve had very little time to myself since I moved in, as I’ve almost always had someone living with me.  After a few weeks alone with a partially empty house, I finally have the room and the time to do some “spring cleaning”.

It’s truly amazing how quickly a house can go downhill, especially when the majority of the damage occurs in rooms you rarely use.  Being the geek that I am, I spend the majority of my time in front of the computer.  With that having been said, you’d think the area around my computer desk would be the worst.  It is pretty bad, but it’s far from the worst part of the house.

So far I’ve steam cleaned the carpets in one bedroom and the living room.  I’ve rarely used either of them since buying the house, but they were heavily used by the people who have lived with me.  After moving all the furniture from each room and looking over them, I discovered a layer of dirt all over the walls with embedded handprints, cigarette burns in the carpets, and spots of carpet that have somehow become discolored as if they were bleached.  I had no idea these people had done such damage.

I bought a somewhat high-end Bissel steam cleaner to take care of the carpets, and it has done wonders for my carpets.  I’ve been pleasantly surprised at the improvement in the brightness of my carpets.  There are a few spots that will never come out, such as the cigarette burns, but overall the carpets look almost new.  Just a hallway and one more bedroom to go, and I will start working on the walls, baseboards and ceilings.  Wish me luck!

Scott Joseph LeCompte - October 26, 2008

I’ve come to recognize and appreciate the importance of the past as age creeps up on me.  It defines who we are and who we will become, though there is always a level of uncertainty in the future.  It is ever-evolving, and developing with present experiences.

I’ve been curious lately.  I think about people I’ve known, and I wonder how their lives have developed.  With the power of the Internet, I’ve been able to search for a few of those people and look for clues as to how life has treated them.  I’ve found childhood friends, old girlfriends, and acquaintances.  Some have been married, some have kids, some have died.  Some are successful, some are not.  Interestingly, many of them bring up mixed emotions that I can’t quite describe, mostly based on the past experiences we have shared.

With all this collected information, I’ve come to ask myself, “Is anyone out there looking for me?”  Though I have a solid presence on the Internet, it’s hard to know if people have searched for me but been hesitant to contact me out of uncertainty.  That’s where this weblog comes in.

I’ve registered this weblog to build a solid Internet presence, in which there is no question as to who it belongs to.  For those who might be searching for me, I hope to eliminate any doubts that may arise.  This is all about me: who I was, who I am, and who I will become.  Welcome to my world.