Archive for August, 2008

PostHeaderIcon What’s With Your Blog Title?

SO it’s finally time to reveal why my title is what it is.  The Three words are a form of Quasi-Latin used as the name of three Mythical swords.  These swords have been passed down through the ages each one owned and cared for a by a Knight of the Cross.  The Knights, with the swords, “serve the righteous for a just cause”.  Each sword carries one of three nails from the cross built into the hilt.  The swords names , meaning, and connections are listed below.

Fidelacchius

  • Hebrews 11:6
  • Katana 

    Katana

  • Shiro Yoshimo
  • Faith

Esperacchius

  • Hebrews 7:19
  • Saber

    Saber

  • Sanya
  • Hope

Amoracchius

  • 1st Corinthians 13:4-8
  • Broadsword

    Broadsword

  • Michael Carpenter
  • Love/Charity

 So…. Literally the title of my Blog translates into Faith, Hope, and Charity.  I think that it is a great reminder to me to have a personal reminder of the virtues of god on my home and my blog.

 

The names, owners and backgrounds of the swords are part of a fictional fantasy series called “The Dresden Files” and are authored by Jim Butcher.  They are his, not my Original Creation.

PostHeaderIcon Another One Bites the dust

I finished my Portfolio and turned it in for grading.  My Portfolio was made of…

  • Two Cover Sheets
  • Employer Authorization form (Because my portfolio covered a Baylor Project)
  • Table of Contents
  • 8 Page Essay covering any trend in IT. I came up with…
    “Open Source Software as a Communication Bridge in IT Project Management”
  • Reference Page with a list of APA formatted Citations for all references used
  • Competency Matrix with 16 listed competencies relating to the Essay.
  • Exhibit 1: MySQL Open Source Database used in project as Web Site data storage.
  • Exhibit 2: PDF and iCal files of Project Schedule made as an addition to the website for offline schedule verifications
  • Exhibit 3: XHTML Source code showing both PHP and hand created code instructing users on how to setup IP printers on OS X
  • Exhibit 4: WordPress Theme developed to maintain look and feel of other internal Baylor websites.  Included Text from the CSS file for the presentational layout, as well as the whole theme file zipped up for review by the grader.

WGU Logo

Looking back on it now, it seems like a long list.  But I enjoyed getting all the parts together.  Lucky for me I had a past project that I lead and had intimate experience with.  Using that project, I built my portfolio files and data during July and August and then finished the Essay in 2 days. 

The class has twelve grading rubrics ranging from 1.0-4.0 and an overall 3.0 is the minimum passing standard.  Overall, I was happy with what I had submitted, and while I wasn’t expecting a 4.0 on this grade, I felt confident that I wouldn’t have to resubmit.  Of the small concerns I had about the submission, Dr. Teston gave me some good viewpoints so I felt better as I waited to find out my grade.  

So I checked Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, waiting to see my grade.  Nothing showed up and I went home after work, ready for the weekend.  Late Friday Night I was surfing around and ran out of interesting places to look at on the internet (Funny huh).  I decided to look one last time at the TaskStream website where my portfolio was being graded.  The Class came up with a lock on it, and I clicked on the Submission Tab.  And there, at 7:15 PM, my Grader had posted my grade.  Dun Dun Dun Dun!!!!!

3.92...
Wait... What...

!!!3.92!!!

3.92 out of 4.0 Roughly equal to a 98%.  Santa Vaca!!! Not only did I pass, I passed right up at the top.  I let out a whoop of triumph and scared Kaylene.  Luckily Joey didn’t wake up so she didn’t automatically kick me.  What a Triumph.  As you can tell, I’m proud of myself.

So I have till the end of October to finish some more classes.  Since I’ve been focusing on Non Tech Classes at the beginning of the term, I’m thinking of finishing the Web Tecnologies and Client Systems Certification. 

Classes Finished:
Term 1:

  • Education without Boundaries
  • Leadership and Professionalism
  • Quantitative Literacy

Term 2:

  • Foundations of Language and Communication
  • Quantitative Reasoning and Communication
  • IT Fundamentals I
  • Rhetorical and Critical Writing
  • IT Fundamentals II
  • IT Fundamentals III
  • Programming Fundamentals

Term 3:

  • Networks I
  • Ethics Part I
  • Ethics Part II
  • Social Science Part II: American History & Government, World History and Geography

Term 4:

  • Natural Science Part II:Concepts & Theories-Life, Earth, Space, and Physical Sciences
  • Project Management
  • IT Portfolio

Classes still to pass:

Classes with Technical Certifications:

  • Client Systems
  • Web Technologies
  • Programming Fundamentals II
  • Database I
  • Security I

Non-Technical Classes:

  • Research, Writing and Oral Presentation
  • Reasoning & Problem Solving in the Context of the Humanities Part I
  • Reasoning & Problem Solving in the Context of the Humanities Part II
  • Technical Writing
  • IT Capstone Project

Kevin Steele

PostHeaderIcon By The Way…

[audio:http://jms.steelelife.com/audio/RICKRolled.mp3]

You’ve Been RickRolled

Love Kevin