|
|
|
|
Mod Breakdown:
|
+2009 / +2058 |
|
Karma Level:
|
+ 48
|
| Signed up: |
4 years ago (3/17/05) |
|
|
Last signed in:
|
5 hours ago |
|
Total time online:
|
47d 8h 16m |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
college again
so a while ago i decided the 2 years school, 1 year working, 2 years school plan wasn't the brightest idea. It's good in theory, but practically speaking it's a mess. So instead I opted for 1 year in school here, 3 years in school there, for almost the same tuition. But after some extensive financial research, that plan is really only $2300 cheaper once you account for cost of living and other expenses ($68100 for 4 years instead of $70400 for 2 years here, 2 years there). So of course it makes more sense to just stay here, because it's so much simpler and safer. But then I looked into the details of living for 24 solid months in maryland while attending university there (students sharing an apartment can easily live for 400-500 a month, or so says two seniors there I spoke to), so it actually wouldn't be all that expensive living in state year round. The problem now is how to finance it. The way I understand it student loans only cover school expenses, which means if you dont live on campus, cost of living isnt a school expense.
In any case, going to penn state (which is still a great school that's great for my major, and is in-state allowing me to get instate tuition while remaining a financial dependent on my parents (tax deduction=free money for them and free insurance for me)) means not only is the cost of living 10 to 20 grand cheaper over 4 years, but it also drastically simplifies... everything. So now I have to think, is having one name on my degree instead of another really worth all the extra headache? Was the whole Maryland idea just a flight of fancy? Penn state really does make a whole lot of sense
|
|
|
| | |
| |
So...
My netbook and I are here together at school for the first time.... and I've just connected to the campus secure wireless network. that's a pretty fucking cool system they have set up. You first connect to an unsecure network which immediately gives you up to date instructions on exactly how to connect to the secure network using your established credentials. Really c ool. I was kinda nervous about being on an unsecure connection when I first got on, but right away it was like "woh". Much neater now.
And with the 50 minutes before PHS lab, I'mma play some EVE Online. :D
Wewt.
|
|
|
| |
Fuck.
www.mercenary.dk/statement.php
Half of Mercenary just left the band. That was a really fucking great band... their latest album was absolutely incredible. The only upside to the whole thing is that the band split amicably, and they're all going to continue making music. I guess I'll just have to wait and see what projects the 3 that quit wind up in.
It's a sad feeling, learning that one of your favorite bands will never produce another album together.
|
|
|
| |
coming to you from netbookia
It's very snazzy thus far. Pretty much on par performance wise with my old desktop.
I'm still getting everything set up, so I'll write more later when i've done some serious stuff with it, including a variety of games.
|
|
|
| |
sweet
Just ordered www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834157032
Finally found a computer that met my specifications. 768 vertical res (pretty much max for sub 15-in notebooks), 1.6ghz cpu, nvidia ion gpu, magnetic hd, 4-6 hour real battery life, and under $400. The next closest netbook to these specs either had a crazy slow cpu or terrible battery life. I My only dislike about this one is that it's HP, but it's just such an impressive piece of hardware I can't help but want it.
I'm thinking triple-boot ubuntu, xp, and 7.
This thing is really gonna come in handy. Even came with a free neoprene sleeve with front pocket. Very cool.
And I just looked, the HD has room for my entire music collection, with 60 gigs to spare. leaving a 2 gig partition for the packaged xp install, about 10 for win7 and a couple games, that means 50 usable gigs for whatever I happen to want. It's perfect!
|
|
|
| |
hulu makes me realize
I pretty much watch 6 shows right now. The 3 that are 40 minute dramedies air mondays. The 3 that are 20 minute comedies air thursdays.
Golly.
...
Sandra.
You've grown up really crazy.
Have I been too denying of you?
Yep, still in love with EISLEY.
...
Finally got to talk to a transfer councilor. Before, I had 2 options, the way I saw it: go straight to UMCP from CCAC and wind up 50K in debt, or, take a year off to live and work in MD after CCAC, then go to UMCP and spend 16K on school, most of which I expect to have saved up during my year off.
I totally didn't even realize option 3:
-Finish this year at CCAC
-Take out a loan and move to Maryland straight away
-Go to a Maryland community college for a year for $8000 (plus living expenses)
-Go to UMCP for 2 years for $16,000
That's like half the cost of going straight from CCAC, and gets me through school a year earlier than the cheap-cheap option. I mean, pretty much the only real difference in cost between options 2 and 3 is the difference between CCAC and Maryland community college tuition, and the interest on the loan I'd inevitably have to take out. Without breaking out my economics textbook, that's like ... okay... i just went and opened my economics textbook. Assuming the loan is payed back in full like, crazy fast, it's still an extra 30% or so over the borrowed amount, which could be as much as an extra 10 grand depending on loan amount. But now the question becomes, is that extra 10 grand worth a year of my time? Looking at average starting salaries, the starting salary difference between A.S. and B.S. in computer science is pretty much equal to the extra interest.
So really the question is: Do I want to finish school a year earlier, or do I want to be more financially secure immediately following graduation? What's the best option? 50K over 4 years (nooooo), 16K over 5 years (meh?), or 24K over 4 years (ooo). I really will have to look into scholarships and grants and see what the actual dollar cost is for me to attend 2 years at UMD-CP is. Money, man. Money.
|
|
|
| |
So today i thought it'd be fun...
to walk home from school. I decided this after I'd already taken the bus across the river, but still, pnc park to market square is by far the shortest leg of the trip. I walked six miles from downtown to my house, almost exactly. And better yet, I looked up the path I used on google maps, and the time it took me was within 2 minutes of the time it estimated it would take to walk (1 hr 58 minutes).
Another thing: I always envisioned in my head greenfield next to squirrel hill next to oakland next to downtown. But I completely forgot the two mile stretch that is the Bluff neighborhood. Let me just say, it's a neighborhood worth forgetting. I was counting, and I saw at one point 4 boarded up buildings in a row. It's a crappy crappy crappy area. It was amazingly refreshing to walk into oakland. It was pretty much an instant change of nasty slum to shiny commercial college town. And then entering squirrel hill/shadyside... I never walked through there in the fall before... it's pretty damn wonderful. Yellow leaves coating the entire street.
</shitaboutpittsburghforwhichyouhavenoframeofreference>
Edit: google street view pictorial representation of walking from downtown to greenfield:
market square, our point of departure
yep, still downtown
wait a sec, when did this happen?
ewwww, where am I now?
hang on, do I smell civilization?
and suddenly it's almost like you're back downtown
pretty :3 cathedral of learning means we're halfway home.
imagine this, but totally yellow
mmm, so close to home i can taste it
the real reason they call pittsburgh the greenest american city (360*)
heres my stop!
|
|
|
| | | |
|
|
|
|
|
