Outline Done

Finally, now I just have to put my research together to get it to say what I want it to. My professor has been fantastic with advice, links and getting back to me quickly.

Now I do the reading of stuff and getting quotes, putting them into the outline and then start writing. Once I get started it shouldn't take too long, and the professor is all over the 'going over the rough draft and giving feedback' so the sooner I get it to him the better.

Oh, and when the Columbia Law Review cites a blog I start to get worried. I'll rant about that later.

I think it's all put together, in my head at least

Going to do the 'final' outline and begin on the rough draft today. I think I've got everything sorted out in my head, now the hard part is putting it all together in a coherent format.

I'll link things as I get them done, any and all feedback is welcome!

Here goes nothing...

Got my paper topic

I went out to lunch today with my old boss, mostly to just catch up, ok really just to catch up. But since I was there I made sure I could use him as a source for my paper, since I can't use myself as a source. He and I talked about many things MMO related, the state if his current game, future ideas, how things should change, basically 'industry talk' stuff. Was nice, I miss that.

After we got back I got to meet their PR lady, who I had heard about often but had never met. She and I ended up talking for about four hours about a million things, but during this epic conversation she ended up mentioning that she was directly involved with EQ2's Station Exchange.

This is something I am looking to reference, so he volunteered any information and quotes I needed. After these conversations I've decided to narrow my topic a bit more.

Massive Multiplayer Online Games have to deal with people buying and selling their virtual items for non-virtual money, a black market of sorts. This is done on eBay and other third party sites and is not sanctioned by the game companies, and thus not policed. Sony Online, with EQ2 decided to take a different approach and set up something called the Station Exchange. This allows people to buy and sell the RIGHTS (this is very important) to these in game items through a safe and controlled environment provided by the company. This is a great departure from Sony's policy in the past. I am going to examine this program and discuss if it was successful, what, if any, impact it has had on the number of players of EQ2 and what Sony plans to do in the future.

The best part is that they published their results for the first year, so most of my research is done for me. I can spend the first part of the paper explaining exactly what a MMO is, and then lead into EQ2 specifically. To fufill my interdisciplinary requirement I'll look at it from an economic point of view, mostly how much money SOE has made.

The best part is the Executive Producer of EQ2 is a close friend, so I can pick his brain for some cool quotes.

So despite my not really doing anything for class today, I actually accomplished something pretty significant!

Lets hear it for useless assignments!

More on this Java class

So we finally get a new assignment. I have a bunch of work on my research paper to do this week so I was a bit apprehensive, worried about time management and all. I go to look at the assignment and it was 'correct the following code' with four conditional statements.

For anyone who doesn't know programming it was basically 'fix these spelling errors' and all of the words are listed not quite in alphabetical order in the chapter, oh and you learned them a month ago and if you didn't know them you would have failed the last assignment.

He really wasn't kidding either, we waited a week to get a 'know where the semi colons go' five min assignment. I took an extra ten mins to triple check as I couldn't believe it was really that easy, but it was!

I get my next assignment on the 26th and the midterm on the 28th. So far no hint on what is on the midterm. If his assignments have any bearing on the midterm it's going to take 1o mins total, but I am honestly afraid it's going to be generated from a test bank that goes with the book so he will have basically not prepared us at all for the test.

This isn't supposed to be an independent study course, but he's treating it like one. I can't imagine if I had to actually sit through a lecture from this guy, I might throw something at him, or even worse fall asleep. This is why I'm doing my classes online, so the stupid useless teachers aren't wasting more of my time than is necessary. I can't WAIT for the end of semester review I get to do.

This Java class is the kind of class I would just stop attending, get the assignments from a buddy and hand them in whenever he decides they're due. By doing it online I don't have that option so it means I pay a bit more attention than I would have in a 'traditional classroom setting'. I'd probably get kicked out of the class for asking too many questions =)

In better news my University professor got back to me in under 10 mins and is optimistic about the direction I'm going with my paper. Here is someone who is not wasting my time with useless busywork. He has the whole semester listed out, with all of the expectations, readings and requirements spelled out and due dates listed. The only thing that can't be done ahead of time is the discussion threads, but that works for me as the topics apply to the research we are doing and it keeps us focused.

Inflexible Professors just make life more difficult

I understand that teaching a class isn't trivial, it's not an easy thing to keep track of where each student is even with all of the tools available. What I don't get is teachers (this one isn't a Professor) who are so inflexible about something that doesn't cost him anything but would make the student's lives so much easier.

I am referring to my Java class. This class is through the local community college, mostly because it's less expensive and helps me get ahead on my degree. It isn't a month only class, it lasts for a full semester, because of this there really isn't the intensity that I feel for my research paper class.

I am taking Java online also, the community college uses an environment that seems to work, WebCT for anyone that is familiar with this stuff. My issue here is that we know how many assignments will be needed, even when they are due, but we don't know what they are until the teacher posts them. It's his choices in posting that is giving me fits.

He has a timeline for his class, more power to him for that, but he only posts the next assignment x amount of days before it is due (it's not consistent) and not right after the last assignment is due. Because of this we had a whole week with nothing to work on, in which I could have gotten ahead a bit. Instead I get the assignment now, so instead of doing it last week when I had more time, this week turns into a bigger stress than it needed to be.

To make it even more frustrating he's been asked repeatedly to post the assignments early and he refuses to, and his excuse is 'the class was set up before day one and he's not changing things' (lame but ok he's got an ego) but the best one was 'he has to keep things even for everyone' which makes NO sense and I called him on.

He suggested we do assignments at the end of the chapters in the down time. I told him I'm not going to do that, I don't have the time or motivation to work on random problems, I want the one that I am going to be responsible for. If he wants us to do extra problems then give me credit for them, otherwise it's not going to happen.

I'm not being lazy, that is how class things work. I am not going to spend hours working on problems for my own edification when I have no avenue to ask questions or get assistance, because if he can't give us the assignments that we are going to get credit for, I am sure he's not going to take the time to help me if I get stuck on something he didn't assign. And if he would then why the hell doesn't he just let me work on the problem he thinks is necessary??

If he offered extra credit for other problems being done that would be one thing, but a basic introduction to Java class is not something I am going to spend extra time on for no return.

I even understand why he wouldn't want people turning in assignments early, trying to grade things like that would be a nightmare, but letting us know what the assignments are going to be doesn't hurt anyone and actually helps us who are trying to budget our time.

I am trying to take every class I take seriously, so I can get the most out of them, getting my 'money's worth' so to speak. This guy is really helping me push Java to the back burner. Oh did I mention he posts his version of the answer to the assignment and has stated it's ok if people just copy it? It's not like it's something similar so we can see how that kind of code works, it's the exact problem. I just don't get it, really.

So this week I not only have to have all of my research done for my paper, an 'annotated bibliography' finished (new to me but it makes sense) but I now have to resist the temptation to just put my name on this guy's program and actually learn the Java he's pretending to teach.

And people wonder why their employees don't know shit, it's teachers like this that encourage laziness and lack of organizational skills.

Student Loans

Student Loans... the fact of life for pretty much everyone, and now I"m no different.

There is no way I'm eligable for anything need based so I apply for the unsubsidized Stafford Loans, which they grant. With taking one class a month I really don't want to have to work. I get the amount and it's barely enough to cover tuition. I have tuition covered but how do they expect anyone to be able to go to school if they only barely cover tuition? There is also an upper limit, so if you go to a high tuition school you're screwed by the end. It's not going to be enough for me to live, even doing the 'starving student' thing, so I look for other options.

What I found was 'Alternative Loans', offered by the same bank that is backing my Stafford Loans, but it's income and credit based, and apparently the fact I own my house doesn't count for anything and I need a co-signer. I'm going to hit up my mother later, but how is a student going to have the debt to income ratio to qualify for these loans?

Not even taking into consideration the amount of debt that is acquired by the end of a normal Bachelor's degree this stuff is insane. It is basically forcing people to work while going to school, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it does limit how much time they have for classwork and lengthens the time they will take to finish, they can't take as many classes because they're working their asses off to just be able to eat!

I don't think I could hold down a full time job and do well in school, not in the program I'm taking at least. Maybe someone with better time organization skills than I have could do it, but there just aren't enough hours in the day!

I may be able to pull off part time work, but that means no benefits and a crappy job. We'll see how this loan thing comes out, I'd rather get this huge amount of debt and work things out at the other end.

My plan is to get the max I am eligible for and stick it in savings, taking out what I need each month. Then I'll see what I have left at the end of the year and adjust accordingly. The ONLY reason I'm considering these loans is that I only have to pay interest until six months after I graduate so it's more manageable than a home equity loan. I will NOT live off of credit cards, that is just the path of ruin.

Libraries!

Today I had a list of books I needed so I went to the National University Library. My cell phone pic above shows the front, I figured I'd document it and all.

The librarian was very helpful and pointed me in the correct direction, I found most of my books without a problem, though the mechanizaed stacks were kind of entertaining. I moved them the first time and realized I really should have checked to see if anyone was on the other side, but since no screams of pain ensued I figured I was alright.

The thing that again, made me feel old, but excited me a bit were the little things. Last time I was in school you had to fight to find the few cubes that had power cords, usually you were on the floor in a corner because that was the only outlet. Today not only does every station have power, but there are multiple outlets at every table, and the Librarian said they're all wi-fied. I would have KILLED for that, being able to work on programs and such at the library instead of the noisy computer lab or my apartment, that would have been wonderful.

It's a bit easier now to work from home, being that I own the place and all, but still it's nice to know I have options.

I now have books, journal articles, and have completely run out of time today if I'm going to make my susi/movie date, so tomorrow is big homework day. I was trying to avoid having to do schoolwork on weekends but that may be unrealistic.

Zodiac tonight, I hope the movie is as good as I've heard =)

Thesis statements and you

This has always been my biggest hurdle when writing a paper, getting the topic narrow and detailed enough. Once this is done I'm good to go, outline flows, paper pretty much writes itself (assuming I have the research I need) and I"m good to go, but this is like a mental block and I get nervous.

This paper has to have an interdisciplinary slant but still relate to my major. I worked in the video game industry for a few years and pretty much everyone I know in San Diego (that I didn't know before I moved down here) still does. Because of this I decided to write about the issue of buying and selling virtual items for non-virtual currency, being referred to in 'the industry' as RMT (Real Money Transactions). I am going to illustrate three different attitudes the companies can take and those effects on their games success and popularity, and then touch on the legal aspects. It's putting that into words I'm having trouble with.

A thesis can be a whole paragraph right, not just the sentence at the end of the first paragraph? Is it ok to say 'this researcher will be looking', is that pretentious? I know the first person isn't acceptable, I do remember that much from that English class 16 years ago (this is where I put in the omg I'm old speech. I'm too lazy to type it out again so just interject your own, it's more entertaining that way).

This is my goal today, to have this first paragraph(s) worked out so I have a direction. I'll post more when I have it done. I'm actually going down to the college library today to get some books, how quaint!

First class March 2008 - ILR 260

Information Literacy and Report Writing

The goal of this class seems to be to teach me how to write a research paper. I'm good with this as it's been decades (you're going to see me through that word around a lot here) since I last wrote a paper. I last did research in a musty library using the dewy decimal system.

So today I started researching things related to virtual commerce happening in real life in Massive Multiplayer Online Games. Basically when people exchange real money for pixels in a game, and those pixels are really owned by someone else. Yes this happens, and yes it is a silly as it sounds.

My teacher didn't like my research proposal so I'm waiting on his feedback to continue, but while I"m waiting I started looking for sources. It's all online now! Ok most of it is, but still, much less time looking through stacks trying to find that volume that has that specific journal article in it.

I have a list of books to get tomorrow from the NU library, I have three journal articles talking about the economics of MMO's already, I"m sure I'll be able to find more if I try. That is already more sources than this assignment requires, I just now need to hammer out a real thesis.

My big suprise today however was the bibliography organization program I ran across. If I use this thing to cite sources it will build my whole bibliography for me, I am honestly amazed. No more points taken off of a perfectly good paper because I messed up some format with a reference!

Tomorrow consists of reworking the thesis and getting more sources. Hopefully also hammering out a working outline, I'd like to plan this so I've got at least one day on the weekends where I"m not doing school work, especially writing a paper that is important.

Going back to school

I've just started my first class in the official 'going back to school' phase of my life, and I kept thinking as time went on that I need to blog this.

Let me start with some background, to put all of this in context. I'm 34, single, no kids, living in San Diego. I have two dogs and a cat and a couple of roommates, but I own my own place. I went to college right out of high school, two of them actually, and just couldn't do it due to health reasons.

I've worked different jobs over the years, spent time unemployed and not worried about it, but I'm finally at the point where I want a career. I thought I had one a few years ago but it ended up being a dead end thing. That and corporate politics just pissed me off enough that I left.

I finally got my Associates Degree last August (yeah!) and decided it was time to bite the bullet and get that degree that actually means something when looking for a 'real job'. I realized that I need to have real sellable skills to get the kind of job I want, so here I am.

I am enrolled at National University in the online Computer Science program, though their setup is a bit different. They do one class a month, just that one class, but you wrap a whole semester in a month, so far it's been a little intense. Of course it's been about a week, but still.

I chose to go online because it seems to work with my personal internal schedule better. I am very much not a morning person and being able to log in whenever during the day seems to elicit better grades and more learning from me. That along with the one class a month things, eliminating my short attention span issues, I am feeling very confident about this program all around.

This blog will be documenting this return to school, my amazement at the new advances in pretty much everything academic, and if nothing else a place for me to vent about schoolwork.