Actual final blog post (Didn't realize the last one was supposed to be the final one)

     Advanced Computer Programming has been a pretty interesting course this year. It complimented my Sophomore schedule well by providing me a class where I wouldn't have to be stressed for deadlines. Though it would have been better for me to have the class on B-days, I really liked the ability to recline in one of the computer lab chairs and be liberated of any sort of lesson structure or assignments. The option itself to have a class like this is wonderful and I'm glad that it's provided at LASA, and I hope it (or something similar to it) is available to the next classes that go through this school. The only programming-focused classes are Computer Programming and AP Comp Sci, and with that fact I think it almost required to have a third class that gives students the same resources as these classes, yet opens them up to create and design whatever they want, whether it be a simple Turing machine or a fully fleshed out video game. Creativity is everywhere in LASA, and this class helps more people express their creativity.
     Good aspects aside though, the class did have a few issues. First off, the blogs were just a requirement so we met a minimum number of grades in gradespeed, which I'm fine with. What I didn't like about them though, was their lack of meaning. There wasn't any pressure to write your blog post except for when you reminded people to post them, and then it was just a race to see who could churn out a few paragraphs in 10 minutes. I think to improve on blog posts is to keep them, but give them more purpose. You could, say, have all your students use the blog posts as checkpoints on their projects or what they've created specifically. That way by the end of the year they'd have a chronological history of their progress, growth, and work that they did that year, instead of just being whatever they wanted to write about. It doesn't even need to be about their work, it could be what their plans for the weekend are or anything really, it just needs direction. Speaking of direction, that was actually one of my issues with this class. Having a class that's self-paced is a dual sided sword; it's nice to be exempt from a strict schedule and listening to a teacher all period, but it's also easy to not do any work when there isn't something that's required to be done. There were way too many times in the year where I would just sit at the computer and read news articles or scan over websites like Lifehacker. However, I am uncertain with suggestions to fix this because like I said, I also really enjoy this freedom.
     Overall, Advanced Computer Programming has been a fun class that didn't add more bricks to my backpack. While some stress would have made it more engaging of a course, I can't complain because I signed up with the knowledge that it would be self-paced. Self-paced courses can provide a bunch of expression in my opinion, but I think this class should be changed a bit before being reiterated next year, if it even is. It could be more focused on just java or python or anything, I just think that the class should have more direction without having to add lessons and lectures into the mix.

Robots and stuff

     As this wonderful, delicious year winds down to an end, we are all put under the pressure of completing finals. Having to churn out long essays, answer mindless multiple choice questions, or code a robotic machine of pure and unadulterated death, we have to do something. Speaking of coding a violent, rolling block of imaginary metal, that's what we're doing for our ACP final! It doesn't seem to be too difficult of a challenge, other than the fact that my robot can barely beat the samples and once it tracks the enemy, it just charges towards it without thinking. Thats an issue from me trying to introduce the Ramfire strategy into my robot, where it rams the enemy and gets extra points from this. I would like to make my robot always move forward to where it is scanning the opponent, but I don't want to  have to dig through the API to figure out how to do that. Regardless, I have high hopes for the final competition, because I can still beat most sample robots. Most. Most is an exaggeration, I can beat a few, and even then it's not always a 10/0 win loss ratio. I'm tempted to stop typing this shitty exciting blog post, and instead attempt (in vain) to increase the logic behind my custom AI, but I don't have any grades for this class still this six weeks so I don't know which would be better to do. Nope, I have no clue how to make my robot actively track the enemy robot instead of track, move forward, track, move forward, because I don't know which part of the code is tracking! -intermission-
     I learned that to keep my robot scanning I just have to call scan(), but I still can't figure out how to make my robot scan while it's moving forward. I know there's some code somewhere that I found last week that makes the turret and scanner move separately, but I don't remember where I saw that code. Even if I find how to separate their actions, I still can't think of a way to make the robot constantly scanning the robot... nevermind I got an idea.
     I'm looking forward to this final, because competition is fun and a healthy activity that gets students more accustomed to the challenges of the real world, outside of our LASA fish tank.

Garter snakes are friends too

     This weekend, I was finishing up a job I was hired to do. That job was doing spring cleaning around my house. Now, it sounds like it's really simple and not even worthy of being hired. But no, there were A LOT of leaves. It was two weekends worth of yard work. Regardless, that's besides the point. What is the point is that during the second weekend, my father found a "four foot long garter snake" (He really wanted to help with the work, even if it was my job). I didn't see it myself, but I don't think it was actually four feet. Who's heard of a FOUR FOOT garter snake? I could understand like, a foot or two, but it's just a garter snake, come on. I'm not gonna continue ranting on my dad exaggerating what he saw, but I'm still gonna talk about garter snakes. Garter snakes are cute. They basically aren't even snakes, they are just too cute. If you could classify a puppy wearing a snake costume as an actual snake, that's what a garter snake would be. Would Indiana Jones be as interesting if he were surrounded by garter snakes instead of regular, more scary snakes? Probably not, but it'd still be fun to watch it just for the cameo of countless garter snakes.
The life lesson that should be taken away from this blog post? Next time you see a garter snake, consider sitting down and having a nice conversation with it, or maybe go to the movies together, not act scared and respond as if its an actually intimidating snake. 

The attempt of understanding

     While reading up on recent hacking heists, grand plans, and just general hacking-esque topics is very much a fun pass time, I often find myself completely lost in the content and jargon. Understanding the elementary is easy, like references to simple concepts involving databases, actual code, and scripts, but most of it is just fancy words that sound cool to pronounce in my head. ICMP ping flood code using sockets in C – Linux? Hash? SAM? So many ideas and things that I've never heard of or learned much of, yet people have spent years upon years dealing with and knowing of these things! In a case like this, it's simple to get frustrated and just give up, acknowledging the now steeper learning curve without attempt. 
However, is it a steep learning curve?
Is it too difficult to get integrated into this niche of technology?
I've been debating these questions with myself for a while, because I often see books that act as "intros to hacking", when they really just focus on one form of hacking or one style. If that's the case with trying to learn, then it is shaping up to be a big waste of time. Nights upon nights upon years would be wasted in trying to learn all there is to be "introduced" to hacking. 
I guess, now would be a good place to ask, "What IS hacking?"

1. A rough, irregular cut made by hacking.

2. A tool, such as a hoe, used for hacking.

3. A blow made by hacking.

4. A rough, dry cough.

None of these seem to be what we're looking for (thefreedictionary.com), so what IS hacking?! Actual hacking, or the believed concept of it, looks like it exists in a limbo of obscurity, where it can't be defined yet has a definition. What do we do now? What do I do now? Do I conclude this blog post with some changed outlook on something, in such a way that it sounds like I'm content with focusing on just a single aspect of the entity "hacking"? Hell no! I shouldn't be content with coming out of this with what I didn't want, because I want to learn more about hacking! knowledge is so frustrating, because even though it is what controls the world and everything believed, it seems impossible to come by.

Congrats Mr. Stephens!!! ^_^

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
So I just wanted to say that I am your BIGGEST fan!!! Your really cool and I like the way u always make the code work super well.
No but seriously, congratulations on winning super-best, most awesome teacher ever. I'm genuinely impressed in this accomplishment of yours and am proud to be one of your students. 
Love, Pfeiffer <3

The adventures of Sir Wellington

     Once Upon a Time, there was a duke of the land. This wasn't a simple duke, however, this duke was the duke of dukes! His brothers proclaimed him god and his women squealed at his site. One day, as he was gallantly striding on his golden-crest horse, a beggar walked up. The humble beggar begged, "May you please spare me some pence, good sir?". Of course, being a gentleman, the duke replied, "Of course! I would never deny someone else prosperity!". Being filled with joy, the beggar hobbled off to conjure more voodoo from the witch doctor in the swamp. The duke, though very generous, was not a fool. He noticed the Beggar's intentions right away and decided to teach him a lesson.
     As the Beggar arrived at the Witch doctor's grotesque hut, a lonely white glove appeared before him. The  white glove mimicked a hand and spoke to him, detailing, "I know of your sins! Turn back or fear vindication!". Not being intimidated by a measly glove, the beggar threw it aside and walked into the Witch Doctor's house. The end.

apathy and the infinite sadness

As a forewarning, I would just like to say that this post is just about apathy, the rest was just a play on a somewhat popular album (Smashing Pumpkins).
District is tomorrow. That means that tomorrow, I get to skip school, sit in the delco center, and have a chance at progressing to Regionals. woot. The worst part? I don't want to win. No one wants to even go to District. Ever since Coach Hopkins was replaced by Coach Padilla, the team has come to the conclusion that wrestling isn't fun anymore. (I guess I should give some insight):
First off, I just want to say that Coach Hopkins was a terrible coach. She was really quiet and would often just show up to practice so we wouldn't be practicing illegally. Yet, she was somehow better a coach than Padilla. Padilla is a short, devilish, near-senile man in the shape of an armadillo that will yell at you if you even speak during one of your teammates match (slight exaggeration but that has actually happened to me before). He gets angry. It's almost as if he is getting more worked up from watching his team wrestle than anyone else in the frickin' gym is. Scratch that, he does get more worked up than everyone else. That's not all. He's also a terrible coach. On multiple occasions, he's "taught" us a move, and then we'd practice it. The bad part to this? He has gotten mad at people for messing up a move that they're practicing. There are other examples I can think of to demonstrate that he is a bad coach, but I feel a tad under the weather and have been stressed most all day.
This rant isn't a very productive rant because I haven't gotten all of my honest thoughts out, nor have I used these let-out thoughts to come to any sort of solution. I can still try though, I have 20 minutes until class is over. I lost all resemblance to a train of thought, darn. For some reason, I'm not very good at paying attention in this class. It's odd, but I assume there are fairly obvious reasons. Okay, I can't remember what I was going to talk about.
SUMMATION: District is tomorrow but the team might just fall apart before we even get there. only about 10 people showed up to practice on Monday, and our regular attendance has been closer to 20. No one wants to wrestle because our coach isn't making it fun anymore. The end.