Greetings and welcome to the SkunkWerx! (Monday January 26th)

If you are reading this, it can only be because you are enrolled in my Spring 2009 CET class. Either that, or you're some sad sack thirty year old man child still living in his momma's basement, and you just got beat at WoW by Stan and Cartman. Go cry somewhere else, we have no time for you.

In this class, we will explore the inner workings of what makes a computer function. There are several main features to this class:

A) Lots of it will be about hardware: what all the pieces are, how they go together, what each one does. You will be required to put together a working computer, install an O.S., programs, ect etc. If you like working with your hands, this is a good class for you.

B) A lot of it will be about software, which is the stuff that makes the hardware actually DO anything. We will learn about Operating Systems -- mostly Windows, but we'll look at Linux too -- applications, drivers and a whole lot more. Even if you're not so great with your hands, the software part plays to some other strengths you might have, like the ability to read (RTM) and follow directions (RTfM)

C) A lot of it will be about looking at stuff, and running some experiments to see what happens. You have to test the equipment; how else will you really know what it can do?

D) A lot of it will be about me running experiments on you, meaning hell yeah, there are tests in this class, and you'd best be ready for them. (Don't worry, I provide lots of help with that.)

E) Finally, we will look at how people make money with skills like that. There is a certification for being "A+ qualified". It means people will give you money to fix their computers. A lot of the testing that we do will be made to help you get that certification, if you so choose.

OK, so that sounds like a lot of work. Well, I won't lie to you: IT IS. But there's a lot of fun to be had to. It's not just knowing stuff that 95% of the people in the building don't know, although it is fun to be smarter than the n00bz. It's also about taking control of a machine that is more important to your life than any other. Computers control EVERYTHING you do, from the car you drive to the mp3 player you listen to the microwave that cooks your Hot Pockets.

And oh yeah, there's lots of games to be played. The better your computer works, the better the games.

Cheers,
Uncle Paulie

PS Please acknowledge that you have read this blog post by sending me an email at my address of mrlarue2009@gmail.com Make sure that your name plus the word "CET" is in the subject line. Make sure that you copy in the following words into the body of your email:


and all shall cry beware! beware!
his flashing eyes his floating hair
weave a circle 'round him thrice
and close your eyes with holy dread
for he on honeydew hath fed
and drunk the milk of Paradise