This is my last semester at ULM to complete a B.S. in Computer Science. As with most degrees, mine includes a Capstone class. It’s a “project” class if you will. There are only about 12 students in the class this semester, and we’re broken up into groups of 4. Two groups are working on a project management system for CenturyLink and the other group (which I’m a part of) was tasked to build a Curriculum Change Management System that tracks the addition, changes, and removal of degrees, courses, etc.

The CenturyLink teams are being forced to use Drupal to piece together the project management system. Drupal is a great CMS, but the problem that they’re solving is dealing with dynamic content, and Drupal just wasn’t designed for that. I’m very glad that my team is working on the ULM project since we’re pretty much free to design and develop the system in [almost] any way we see fit.

That wasn’t always the case. Initially we were highly-encouraged to use Drupal, but we quickly [or not, it took nearly a month] shot it down. Now we’re building the system from scratch using Apache, PHP, MySQL, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, AJAX, etc. The result will yield a highly-customized system that will do exactly what we need, nothing more and nothing less.

It’s a large project to undertake, but I think we’ll be able to deliver a top-notch system in April/May.

I’ve been preparing for the CCENT exam (Cisco 640-822) the last few evenings, and I have to say – there is a TON of material!

Keep in mind that this is only the first half of the CCNA certification. ICDN1 doesn’t even cover topics such as ACLs or VLANs. My plan is to take (and pass) the ICDN1 exam, at which point I’ll have a CCENT certification, then self-study ICND2 material. I’ll then take the ICND2 exam at which point I’ll be CCNA certified.

I’ve been pouring over material the last few evenings, and tonight I’m going to continue to review that material again, as well as use Cisco Packet Tracer to simulate Cisco network hardware and traffic.

I’m going to Shreveport tomorrow to take the exam at Bossier Parish Community College, so we’ll see how it goes!

Hello there, 2012!

Many things have happened since my last post, so I’ll highlight a few of them. My CCW came in December 31, which was a great way to end a good year. If you’re not sure what I’m referring to, check out this post. Secondly, it’s a NEW YEAR! I’m not one for making resolutions, but it’s always nice to reset the calendar. So far it’s been a great year for me personally, and it’s looking even better for SquarePlanIT. I’ve had several potential new clients contact me in the past week, which is always a good thing!

Another exciting bit of news is that Josh Haber and I are in the beginning stages of a new business venture we’ve been considering for a while.  It’s a bit too early to go into any details right now, but we’re both very excited about the business opportunity that we’ve come across.

I’m also working on obtaining a CCNA (Cisco Certified Networking Associate) certification. I’m planning on taking the ICND1 exam next week. As soon as I pass that I’ll have a CCENT (Cisco Certified Entry Network Technician) certification.  I’ll then study the ICND2 material and once I pass that exam, I’ll have a full CCNA certification.

Until next time!

I’ve been wanting a new rifle, my first in fact. I’ve always preferred semi-automatic handguns, but recently I’ve decided to invest in a shotgun (possibly a Remington 870 Express Tactical) and a rifle. I’m thinking about picking up a Remington 770 .30-06. The reason? I found a good “Black Friday” deal at Walmart. The gun comes complete with a Bushnell scope and is only $275. I’m not so sure about standing outside waiting on Walmart to open at midnight, but who knows, maybe I’ll go pick one up!

Today I dove into the 8th [not so] natural wonder of the world: Apache’s mod_rewrite. I had a couple of reasons for doing so:

1. Aggregation of scattered analytics data
2. Search Engine Optimization
3. General “tidying up” of my web management tools

[read more]

As many of you know, I’ve wanted to get a concealed handgun permit for a while, but I’ve just never gotten around to taking care of the formalities. First, you’ve got to take a firearms training class and be able to demonstrate competence with a handgun. Then you must complete a [fairly extensive] application, including submitting fingerprints and a passport-style photo. Of course there are also a few documents which must be notarized. Finally, with a $125 money order attached, the application can be mailed to the LA Department of Safety and Corrections at which time you’re expected to wait up to 120 days for processing. Assuming everything goes smooth, here’s the cost breakdown:

- Firearms Training Class – $100.00
- Passport-style Photo – $8.75
- Fingerprints – $15.00
- License Fee (5 years) – $125.00
- Money Order – $0.99
- Postage – $6.43
TOTAL – $256.17

I mailed my application today, so if I’m lucky, I’ll have it just in time for my birthday (mid January). We’ll see! [read more]

Clients. They can single-handedly be the best (or worst) part of any business. In either case, they’re usually the [only] source of revenue, so it’s very important to keep them happy. And you should. I mean, without them, you’ve literally got nothing. Every December I like to send a “thank you” to all of my clients for their business throughout the year. This corresponds with the Christmas/New Years season, so it doubles as a “thank you” and “happy holidays” all in one.

In years past, I’ve sent out custom greeting cards with a personal message hand-written on the inside. It’s not much, but the significance is two-fold. It’s a token of my appreciation to them as a loyal customer (for which I’m extremely grateful), and it keeps my name in front of them. This year I’m “going all-out” and springing for a gift in addition to the greeting card. Again, it’s a small price to pay for continued customer loyalty throughout the year, and I’m looking forward to hand-delivering gifts to my local clients and sending packages to my distant clients.

When replying to an iMessage on my iPhone today, I thought to myself, “it sure would be nice to be able to reply to messages from my Mac where I’ve got a full keyboard”. I’m on a Mac all day long, and while I love SMS/iMessaging friends, it would just be so much easier to send/receive iMessages from my Mac. Just think how much more productive you could be if you didn’t have to take your hands away from the keyboard every time someone sent you an iMessage. What if you could simply press CMD+Tab to switch to “iMessage for Mac”, reply to your message, and switch back to the app you were working in? It would be GREAT!

I mean, the underlying framework is already included in iChat. iMessage is merely a glorified instant messaging service for iOS users. It wouldn’t be the first time Apple ported iOS functionality to the Mac, either. Look at FaceTime for example. FaceTime premiered exclusively for iOS, but Apple eventually ported it to the Mac as well. I don’t think “iMessage for Mac” is a too distant reality, and believe me, I can’t wait.

Two posts in two days – I’m breaking records over here!

So I officially launched a new site today. It was a simple little project I decided to create about a month ago, and I finally had time to finish it earlier this week. Without further ado, I present Corporate Ipsum, the Intelligent Text Generator. Inspired by similar, yet very different dummy text generators such as Samuel L. Ipsum and the classic Lorum Ipsum, Corporate Ipsum was designed to facilitate the needs of corporate paper-pushers everywhere *ahem* Jim Smith.

It’s a very simple site, designed to look good in full-featured browsers as well as mobile browsers [specifically iPhone/iPad]. I’d love to know what you think, so leave a comment below, use my contact form, or send an email to cameron[at]squareplanit[dot]com.

Until next time!

Hey there! As you can see, I’ve replaced my old site with this shiny new one. I did this for a couple of reasons. For one, I’ve never been content to let any of my various websites stay the same for very long. I get tired of looking at them, I stumble upon new styles, new techniques, and at that point, it’s never long before a redesign is in the works. For two, I wanted somewhere to post random thoughts, an occasional product review, and a place to rant and rave from time to time.

As much as I enjoy writing posts on my business blog, it’s not always the place for personal stuff. I’ve had this shiny new WordPress theme complete for a couple of months, but this is the first time I’ve done anything with it. I submitted it to ThemeForest this past summer, but they immediately rejected it. They’ve got some amazing themes for sale over there, but I strongly feel that their review process is entirely too subjective. And that’s ok, obviously ThemeForest wasn’t a fit for me.

That being said, if you’re interested in purchasing this WordPress theme, let me know. I’d certainly still love to find a marketplace for it, or even perhaps sell it on a case-by-case basis. I think WordPress is an amazing framework to develop for, and who knows, maybe I’ll pursue commercial theme development more in the future.

Side note: if you’re looking for some really great WordPress themes, check out Jason Schuller, Mike McAlister, or Orman Clark.

Anyway, I’m going do my very best [fingers crossed] to post regularly. We’ll all see how that goes.