CIT49900 Reflection # 2

This week I installed tweetdeck for CIT49900. The functionality that I have seen so far makes it look like it will make the task of keeping up with my twitter posts a lot easier. I also learned how to make my phone receive all of my twitter posts as well as receive them in an IM from friendfeeder. Since I am constantly on IM anyway, this will be very useful to me in keeping up with those posts.

I have found it to be quite interesting how the development of Infrastructure in the US seems to be so far behind the rest of the world. For a country that is typically so innovative with new technologies, it seems strange to me that we would be so far behind the rest of the world on this extreemly crutial point. I understand that a lot of the things that are pursued in our country are driven by the ability to make a profit, and this may possibly be one of the reasons behind out seeming lack of interest in keeping up with everyone else, although I personally believe it is short sighted.

This week was the first time that I have ever actually installed an Oracle database on a machine. I did the install on 2 different machines but haven't done the configuration on either yet. I have worked with oracle database before, but haven't ever actually done an install or deal with the adminstration peice of it. I am kind of excited to see what all I can accomplish once I have worked through the configuration. When I worked at IR there was a free application, Oracle Application Express I think it was, that allowed its users to freely create applications from a web interface with a fairly small amount of coding. I am thinking that once I get the database configured, that will be my next step as I found it to be very interesting when I was working with it at IR.

I am also taking 2 classes that I would consider to be programming classes this semester... XML and Java. It has been a while since I took Java so I have been doing my own personal review of it to insure that I will be able to keep up with the class. I have made it through the first 6 chapters of the required book so far and I am not unfamilar with anything in there so apparently my memory isn't as bad as I thought ;-) The XML class seems like it will somewhat fast paced. I am a little worried about CSS because I did have trouble with it in my web dev class. I am sure if I put my mind to it, I will be successful though.

I am hopeful that next week will provide new knowledge and that opportunity to achieve things that I have yet to achieve. With 7 years experience in the field, I have to admit that I found most of the classes until now somewhat dull, but this sememster seems to be offering a lot of new information for me to sink my teeth into :-)