I started a Project Management class after the Econ class. It has been pretty interesting and I am learning how to manage projects better. The class is geared towards managing software development projects and falls in line with what we do at work. It should be very beneficial.

Right now we are on Spring Break, but I still have a project I need to work on as well as prepare for a test when I go back. On top of school I am studying for the CISA certification that I will take in June. The study guide is only 600 pages…so no big deal. Hopefully I can find some time somewhere.

Economics is our first class of the semester. I have always enjoyed it and I have a feeling this one will prove to be no different. I took around 4-5 econ class in undergrad and for some reason never majored in it. Maybe if I get bored I could take a few more classes and get a second bachelors.

The professor seems great and has a unique style about him. So he should keep the class time entertaining. He was also the president of UTA for a few years in the 1990s.

Unlike the other classes, this one has no group work or presentations, just a midterm and final. I never know how to prepare for these classes, because if you mess up on the midterm, that’s it. But hopefully everything will go well. I will try to keep you posted.

I have a long list of things to do during the break, so hopefully I make the time to work on everything. I still have to write a proposal for our major project for the program. It is due by the end of the year, but I hope to wrap everything up by next week. I finally received approval from my organization on my plans for the project. It should be very beneficial for the company. I’m sure I will have more on that later.

On a side note, I got to watch the space shuttle Endeavour land yesterday at the Joint Reserve Base. It was pretty cool. I will try to post some pictures shortly.

We only covered a few new topics, so it shouldn’t be that difficult. I just have to make room on my cheat sheet for the new information. I think, I am going to study a little differently for this test and see if it makes any difference. He provided us with old exams that I didn’t take advantage of last time. Maybe this time I will review them.

Luckily after the exam I don’t have class for a week due to Thanksgiving…sweet.

The professor is great and has reviewed some basic statistic information before diving right in. He has a great way of explaining things several different ways so you can always find at least one way to understand things. Who would have thought that statistics might actually be interesting.

We are also having to read a book for the course. It is kind of an interesting read. It more or less debunks a lot of theories such as people who adopt are more likely to conceive, basketball players have hot shooting streaks, etc. People always assume these things, but they are not statistically accurate.

The first test was ok I think. I should find out my grade this week. It was 25 short answer questions. There was some math, but not too much. Plus, we were allowed to have a cheat sheet which was nice. Anyway, I will let everyone know how the class progresses. I am ready for the Christmas break.

This should make for an exciting weekend of writing and making a PowerPoint. I can’t wait!

I am really enjoying this class though. I have learned a lot of new information, but have also been able to reinforce some of the things I have learned at work. So it has been helpful.

After the final next week, my group has to write a paper and give a presentation over cryptography. It should be interesting figuring out a way to make this topic not so boring. It is an interesting topic, it can just very very technical. But, we should be fine.

It is structured differently than the other course. We have 3 weeks of lecture and then 2 weeks of presentations. So my midterm is next week. It should be pretty fast paced. Luckily it is an interesting topic.

One of the examples that I read was asking your computer to check your calendar and compare it to available appointments with doctors in a 5-mile radius. The computer would then be able to provide you with results. In an interview with James Hendler, he says, “What the traditional Web does for the text documents in our lives, the Semantic Web does for all our data and information.” This brings up a privacy issue of how much data is available on us via the Internet. I think this is already a big concern among some Internet users, so will there be even more skepticism about the Internet in the future? It makes me wonder if some people will take a step back from the technology and say it is to invasive, or will they embrace it and further its growth.

There are several companies already investing millions of dollars in this new technology. I think it will provide us with new ways of using the Internet that we never imagined before. I just hope that computers don’t become too smart and destroy us all…that’s probably way in the future though…at least 10 years.