I
think overall my ratings
reflect a rather negative experience with computers in
general this week. I found that getting on to a computer is a task in and of itself.
Luckily I have very understanding and helpful friends.
The tasks themselves were, to put i
t simply, very difficult. I did manage to send
a Netscape document to myself using e-mail (same as last week). I mailed my homepage
to my account, this didn't prove to be difficult. The hard part was ftp-ing a document to my CSS account. I was able
to download a Pine message to disk. I used to export
function in Pine,
titled the document and at the UNIX prompt typed sz, the file name
and
hit receive on the communication program on my friends computer (I was
working
over the modem). Uploading had me completely baffled, I asked
my friend for help and
we tried, for about 45 minutes, typing rz and
send, it finally worked. The task
I could not perform was ftp-ing the
document to my CSS account, I tried everything,
ftp, forwarding from
pine, uploading, but nothing worked, so after about 2 1/2 frustrating
hours I called it quits.
This was a really bad week with me and
computers, hence my great amount of negative
emotion. First of all, I
wasted about 3 hours trying to save my assignments to rtf
on another
friends computer, but the floppy disk I had, must have been defective
or
something. It couldn't be done, so I abandoned that for the time being. The next problem
I had was trying to log into UNIX before midnight. I started at 9:30 in the evening
(right after getting off of work) and didn't get in until midnight. I didn't
realize it was so hard to get in (normally I try to use the computers on
campus). Finally, not being able to do the ftp subtask was the last straw, I really
wanted to smash the hell (some language may not be suitable for some viewers) out
of the compu
ter and send it to a fiery death. This on top of numerous problems with
floppy disks, print problems, and rude CLIC lab attendants. Needless to say, I felt rather
lacunae when it came to sitting in front of a computer period. As far as fossilized
er
rors go, if my typing and repeated mistakes while typing count, then it's a big
one. Yet, another chapter in the saga of my computer driven week from hell. During
the first 2 weeks, I was feeling rather good about myself and my progress, but that's
a
ll gone now. I am really frustrated and feel like the dunce in the corner who will
never understand.
Ok, I can see that these functions would be valuable and can help in speeding up
work, but I feel like this is only good for raising one's bloo
d pressure. I know
it's the frustration talking and that eventually I'll find the information that will
help me make sense of it all, but for at least a little while I'll wallow in my self-pity
and abject despair.
Will I be getting good at this
week's tasks? I have serious doubts as to that. I
do notice some progression as far as finding information on the Web, using Netscape.
I am pretty confident in that environment and my experience with Pine isn't unpleasant, it's the UNIX that's killi
ng me. I do plan on looking into something that can help
me as far as
UNIX commands and functions and I sincerely hope it helps.
As
earlier stated, as far as my satisfaction goes, this was a really bad week. Generally
speaking, I find the Net and
all the
information fascinating and lot's of fun as well. The thing I am not satisfied with
is the lab attendants and the hassle of logging in. I am seriously thinking about
a computer and a commercial server account, this is getting ridiculous. Mayb
e things
would be a little more convenient if not easier.
I really tried hard this week and didn't want to give up, but eventually had to, due
to things like sleep and other basic biological functions.
Also, the group work
and my personal surfing had to be taken care of as
well.
My conclusions are that, this computer stuff can be loads of
fun, a great source of
information, a helpful tool in completing
complicated tasks and very, very evil. Somebody pass the aspirin I've
got a headache this big.