April 2007

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Blogger or WordPress? I now recommend Blogger

4/29/2007 in Blogging, Computer Tips, Geek Stuff, Neat Stuff, Web Monetization by Elliot Lee | 8 comments

I’ve lately been thinking a lot about how to get more people blogging. I’m really convinced about the benefits [gunthers.org] of blogging, as I’ve said before. But how do you get started, especially with no technical background? There are two great choices for people who don’t want to have to deal with hosting their own blog: WordPress and Blogger.

This came to mind today because I realized just how much Blogger’s templating and hosting system has improved. Previously, you could have your blog hosted by them on BlogSpot, or host it yourself on your own server. Hosting it on your own server meant that their server has to use FTP to upload the static files. This means constant rebuilding and republishing, and it’s really slow and annoying.

But now they have new options, and they’re all totally free. (This is unlike WordPress.com, which charges some fee for domain hosting.) And I think only Google can truly afford this long-term, because they run the advertising network (AdSense) and they take a cut of everyone’s AdSense earnings to keep the company– including Blogger– running. The new option for hosting which totally changes everything is custom domain hosting. The really great part is that this works with any hosting service you’re using. It works with an unlimited number of blogs, and Google takes care of everything. Just add a CNAME record to your DNS settings (DreamHost supports this perfectly).

It’s a really tough choice. Each has pros and cons, so I’ll list a few here so you can make the right decision for yourself. Read the rest of this entry »

USC Course Evaluations

4/26/2007 in Blogging, Information, Neat Stuff, Questions, USC by Elliot Lee | 1 comment

At the end of every semester, the University of Southern California has students complete course evaluations. These include reviews of our professors and teaching assistants (TAs). Typically, professors don’t take these seriously at all. They’re passed out in the middle of one of the lectures towards the end of the semester, and then the professor leaves for 15 minutes while we complete them. One student is designated to complete them and turn them in to the department. In other words, we don’t get much time to complete them, and students who don’t come to class don’t get to do them at all. Sometimes classes have fewer than 50% evaluate the professor and course.

I learned from Professor Zuckerman (Core 101) that they actually take course evaluations very seriously. According to him, every single one of them is read… and the scores have a direct effect on salary and promotions. This is a very good thing because students definitely have a better idea than anyone else of what the class is actually like. He advocates taking your course evalations home and turning them in later… this is something a vast majority of students aren’t aware they can do. In fact, Zuckerman requires it: he takes our evaluations upon submission of our final exam– and the evaluation is mandatory, good or bad. It’s anonymous and not grade-impacting, so it’s important for us to really tell the professors and the school what we think.

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USC ITS Sucks

4/24/2007 in Questions, Technical, USC by Elliot Lee | 6 comments

Computer science at USC is dying, and half of it is ITS’s fault. ITS is Information Technology Services here at the University of Southern California. I don’t know their history, but what I do know is:

They are one of the most crucial organizations at USC.
They manage USC Wireless, the on-campus 802.11g wireless network.
They manage the usc.edu domain name and website.
They are highly restrictive and severely stifle innovation on a regular basis.
They move at a glacial pace. That is, extremely slowly and inefficiently.

An explanation of my complaints follows… now that I’ve written it out, I’m not so angry. But best to keep this online so I can record for memory’s sake how I felt at the time (though maybe not anymore).

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Tags: its, USC

The Blog is the New Resume

4/22/2007 in Blogging, Sidenotes by Elliot Lee | 5 comments

Everyone should have a blog. The Blog is the New Resume. If you want to get your blog started, contact me. My guide to starting your own blog. I measure a year in 429 blog posts.

Jeopardy College Championship at USC

4/21/2007 in Entertainment, USC by Elliot Lee | 5 comments

I just got back from the JEOPARDY! 2007 College Championship here at the University of Southern California’s new Galen Center. Here’s an awesome little towel they gave us.. I taped my free admission ticket to it and hung it up in my dorm room in Marks Hall.

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Restore the o-u parity

4/21/2007 in Jokes, Sidenotes by Elliot Lee | No comments

Who knows, perhaps we’ll restore the o-u parity by adopting an extra “o” in Luis for the “u” that got dropped in “color.” Spelling for Muggles

Techies want to be heroes

4/21/2007 in Geek Stuff, Ideas, Questions by Elliot Lee | No comments

First, I think this blog needs more pictures, so here’s a somewhat-related comic strip from Helen, Sweetheart of the Internet.

Over at the 37signals blog, David wrote the post Don’t be a hero: Giving up is good to do. I think it’s a very good thought that I should keep in mind for the future. He says that everyone, especially techies, wants to be a hero. However, he cautions us that this usually isn’t the case:

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You’re Not Smart Enough

4/19/2007 in Geek Stuff, Goals, Neat Stuff, Startup School, USC by Elliot Lee | 3 comments

My roommate tells me nearly every day: “I’m dumb.” Sometimes he uses variants, such as: “I’m stupid.”

I disagree, but that’s beside the point. Clearly, this kind of perspectives are a matter of opinion. But I do have a point I want to make: every time I hear him say something to the effect of “I’m not smart enough” or “Nobody wants me” (which he does quite often), I think of Paul Graham’s talk at Startup School 2007.

Here’s a screenshot of the slide he used:

Here’s a photo of Paul and an audio clip of the relevant portion (quality isn’t the best, but it gets the point across; less than one minute):

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Not everyone agrees with SCALE

4/18/2007 in Daily Trojan, Ideas, Questions, USC by Elliot Lee | 3 comments

For the past week or so, a lot of students and professors have been up in arms over the issue of the school’s administration reportedly ignoring the SCALE student group. They’re the Student Coalition Against Labor Exploitation. While I don’t claim to know all the details, the essential issue is that they’re trying to stop USC from using sweatshops for the USC clothing that’s sold in the Bookstore. To do this, they’ve tried a number of protests. On April 10, they held a sit-in outside President Sample’s office in Bovard. I read that at one point, they entered the building and began interfering in order to get attention and try to open dialogue with the university. This has grown to be a big issue, even with a letter of complaint being published in today’s Daily Trojan and signed by a long list of professors. Well, I disagree.

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