Hey everyone! Today I come to with kind of a complaint, and I hope you will hear me out. First, you must know that I am kind of a computer nerd…yea I admit it. I have been using the computer as long as most of us have been walking. When you were playing with your matchbox cars I was screwing up the computer so badly that dad had to take hours to fix it (usually I would just change the color schemes in Windows 3.1 so badly that everything was the same color so you couldn’t tell what any of the text on the icons said).

Haha…yea thats really me! I was blonde for a while.

So anyway…back to my complaint.  So being someone who likes to use the computer and appreciates all that if can do, I really am angry AIM (AOL instant messenger).  For those of you who have used AIM (which I assume is just about all of you) those two stupid noises it makes when you send and receive messages drive me NUTS!!! Its just stupid.  The only purpose I can ever see for the received message noise is if you would happen to be away from the computer in your room, but that doesn’t happen very often.  I mean is AOL trying to make us feel better by giving us a happy little “do-doo” when we receive a message?  Do we really need that to boost our self-esteem (”yes i just got an IM”)?  I mean if you’re sitting at your computer you already get AIM blinking at you from the program bar in bright orange (the program bouncing up and down on the dock if you’re using an Apple).  Is that not enough?  Do we need the sound?  Come on people, I really don’t think we do.  So let me help you…go to AIM (if you’re using 6.5.5.2, otherwise it may be slightly different) click on Edit…then Settings..then on the left side there should be a button that says Sounds…the just select the two boxes that say play no sound when I receive/send a message.  By doing this you will not only become more indie (or cooler because you’re different), but you will also be doing your roommate(s) and friends down the hall a favor.  I mean come on, we are all adults here, we don’t need to publicly let one another know when we send and receive instant messages.

Anyway… I really need to step off of my soap box (I am really sorry if I complained a lot today, at least I was a cute lil’ kid right?).  But, I hope you all understand my point, which is that we need to be aware of those stupid little obnoxious things computer programs do, and know that almost all of the time you CAN turn those features off.  Just because AOL came out with undoubtedly the most famous computer sound “You’ve got mail!” (I mean they did make a movie about it) doesn’t mean that all of their sounds are great ideas!

So make a decision now please…either turn those silly sounds off or start saying “doo-do” after every sentence you say when talking in person or over the phone.

Thanks for listening!

“doo-do”

Hello friends.

Sorry it has been so long since I have posted, but my computer’s power supply went bad and I have been in the process of getting a new one and putting it in my computer for at least a week. And then once I finally got it working it was Thanksgiving break and I couldn’t use it. Phew…its feels good to back in the blogoshpere.

So I hope you all had a wonderful break. I was here on campus for the majority of break due to our Thanksgiving Sam Pierce Classic in which we played a game on Friday and Saturday and were victorious in both. Over the weekend the basketball players who live on campus have to live in Smith Hall because its the only dorm that is kept open, and hanging out in the dorm with all the guys was a lot of fun. We hooked an XBOX up to the big screen TV and played a lot of Halo.

As for the actual holiday, I don’t know about you guys, but I chowed down on some great food. Turkey, mashed potatoes, corn, green beans, ham, stuffing, and my favorite…rolls (wow I think I ate one every 15 minutes for 6 hours straight…yes I felt a little full). And then…we had dessert…mmmmm boy. And besides all the great food, it was great to get to spend quality time with my family, and engage in some great games of Euchre.

Well everyone its great to have you all back on campus as it was a little lonely this weekend. I hope you all had a great break!

I leave while giving thanks…

Zach

Soo… let’s say it’s 8:00 in the evening, you have a big paper due tomorrow morning and all that you have done is type your name at the top of the page. But, nonetheless you are just not in the mood to type a paper. So what can you do to waste time until you are ready to start typing? Let me give you my top 10 list of things to do that waste time…

10 - Go to facebook and click on a person’s name who is your friend. Then look at their list of friends and click on one of them. Continue this trend until your right finger is sore.

9 - Go download the StumbleUpon toolbar, and then click the icon that takes you to random super-sweet web sites every time you click it. (If you don’t know what I am talking about go to stumbleupon.com and download the toolbar and start wasting time!!!)

8 - Go to youtube. And if you don’t know whose videos to watch then check out some Dave Barnes videos (http://youtube.com/user/THEdavebarnes)

7 - Pop in Mario Kart 64 and play for hours.  If you get bored invite some friends in for a battle.

6 - Walk down the hall and try to find anyone that is available to talk.  If no one is around, then go to another floor.

5 - Check your email…if there is none, wait 5 minutes, check again.

4 - Stare at your computer screen and wait…WAIT…for someone to IM you.  I guess if you get the nerve you could IM someone on one of your 7 instant messaging programs.

3 - Study your fantasy football team and the available players in your league.  Keep studying until your team is as good as possible and you have memorized all of the important fantasy news.

2 - Start watching a new TV series on DVD.

1 - Go to the Haven to get some food, come back to the room and eat it.  Then, do one of the 9 above for 10 minutes and then go back to the Haven for more food.  Repeat until you feel sick.

Hey if these 10 don’t help you efficiently waste time then you could always read my blog!!!

Thanks for listening!

Z