Walt Ruppar | Consulting - IT Specialist, Digital Media Architect, Developer

A repost from the FreelanceG33k…

Do you feel the need to hit Afghanistan hard as all holy F#@k? I sure do! But before you think I’m all pro-war and what-not, think again… I would like nothing more than World Peace and to end fighting everywhere.  War is serious business and should NEVER be a first response, even if attacked first.  With that said, I feel like exercising some freedom of speech and the power of the Internet after watching/listening to Obama’s address to the Nation last evening.  If you are reading this and you have comments either way, feel free to comment/respond, however please do so in as civil of a manner possible, else I may not respond (or your comment may be removed depending on how foul you decided to be).

I really liked the way Obama started his address, and I’ll paraphrase…

On 9/11 we were attacked by the Taliban, whom were based in Afghanistan… For the 1st time in history, the UN backed a full on attack in retaliation to this un-warranted attack resulting in the loss of many innocent American lives… So the USA, and other nations did attack Afghanistan, but then some stoopid fcuk with his Daddy’s agenda refocused the US forces on Iraq and pissed a lot of Nations off in the process.. Using the ‘fair and balanced’ Fox News the previous administration convinced many of our fellow Americans that we were chasing Bin Laden and the Taliban who were hiding in Iraq (we were not. it was ’cause Bush Sr. told W to go get Saddam and finish what he failed to do… oh yeah and the oil). Well, we’re getting the hell outta Iraq ASAP and gonna finish what we, with the support of the UN and its’ forces, started.

As scary is it is, do I think we should be going back into Afghanistan? Hell Yes! We, along with the other UN member forces, need to finish what we started. Furthermore, we must do it under a well-defined time-table that ends when Obama’s term ends, if not before. Why by the end of his term? Very important… So the next administration can not pull any more wool over America’s eyes and get us into another Iraq. If it wasn’t for wanting to remain on US soil to protect my family, I would be active army right now…

Peace first, but if someone needs an ass-whoopin, by all means give it to ‘em!

/*End Transmission

After many hours of editing to ensure complete yet concise descriptions of our service offerings, I am pleased to officially announce them!

• ECM Consulting - Open Text Livelink, Microsoft SharePoint, & NextDocs System Administration / ECM Business Systems Analyst Services.  We have over 10 years of experience in the Life Sciences industry and each client engagement benefits from years of experience implementing mid to large-scale Enterprise Content Management strategies and technologies
• Qualification Templates - Performing validation is a necessary process in today’s regulated environments, but you shouldn’t have to start from scratch.  WRC has been working in a regulated environment for over 10 years and understands how paperwork can sometime impede progress, innovation, and/or agile development when you don’t have a template to work with.  We offer both blank System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) templates and Installation/Operational (IQ/OQ) qualification templates to install/test Windows, Livelink, SharePoint, & NextDocs products in a controlled methodical fashion using industry best practice ‘defaults’
• Digital Media Architecture - Full Service Digital Media Branding including Web Design, Content Management, Online/Social Media Marketing, Hosting, & Domain Registration Services. WRC uses the same tools we recommend, ensuring world-class customer service
• IT “Geek” Support - We do it All!  Game Consoles, iPod/MP3 Player & Home Theater Installation/Set-up, Computer Purchase/Set-up, Virus/Spyware Removal, Forensics, Security, Backup/Recovery, & Maintenance. Both on-site and remote service available for businesses & consumers

Complete and up to date details will always be located on the WRC Current Services page.

I feel that the mix of services will keep me both challenged, engaged, and fulfilled, three things I happen to find very important when “going to work”. Many people complain about their jobs, sometimes with good reason, however others have yet to make any attempt to make it their own (or as Tom Peters would say, Their WOW Project). My suggestion is to do what you can to find your happy place both in your personal life AND your business life. Don’t become another Joe vs. the Volcano…

The Stanford School of Engineering has a program called Stanford Engineering Everywhere (SEE).

Stanford Engineering Everywhere offers:

• Anytime and anywhere access to complete lecture videos via streaming or downloaded media.
• Full course materials including syllabi, handouts, homework, and exams.
• Online social networking with fellow SEE students.
• Support for PCs, Macs and mobile computing devices.

I found out about the program last year when I was researching online resources for learning Java Programming.  Low and behold, SEE offers the prestigious CS106A – Introduction to Computer Science | Programming Methodology course which teaches the Java programming language using the Eclipse IDE.

This course is the largest of the introductory programming courses and is one of the largest courses at Stanford. Topics focus on the introduction to the engineering of computer applications emphasizing modern software engineering principles: object-oriented design, decomposition, encapsulation, abstraction, and testing.
Programming Methodology teaches the widely-used Java programming language along with good software engineering principles. Emphasis is on good programming style and the built-in facilities of the Java language. The course is explicitly designed to appeal to humanists and social scientists as well as hard-core techies. In fact, most Programming Methodology graduates end up majoring outside of the School of Engineering.

Prerequisites: The course requires no previous background in programming, but does require considerable dedication and hard work.

This is awesome!  There’s full lecture video’s, assignments/solutions, and more online.  Shortly after I began the course, I realize others may be doing the same so I created a Google Group for CS106A << Check it out if you’re taking the course and join in on the discussions today!

I’m using Twitter to track my progress and will be updating this post occasionally as time progresses.  Unfortunately, do to other priorities, it has been awhile since I cracked the book, watched a lecture, or worked with Eclipse.  Since my memory does fail me sometimes, I have a Friendfeed thread that I refer to in order to track my progress as relying solely on Twitter Search continues to fail me:

I just picked up an Incase Power Slider battery backup for my iPhone 3G and it’s almost charged.  It does take away from the sleek elegance of the iPhone 3G, but I’m looking forward to having some real battery life!  Below is a review post from Ars Technica with comments thread I ‘liked’ in the iPhone room over on Friendfeed and here’s what Engadget had to say.  So far, I haven’t found a review out there that doesn’t rate this product highly (other than the added bulk).  I’m expecting nothing but good things from this little gadget…

Learn by doing and write about the experiences… in a nutshell, that’s what you will find here.

I am planning to continue growing my knowledge of the Open Text Livelink, Microsoft SharePoint, and NextDocs products by creating a suite of small productivity and utility applications.  While doing so, I’ll be writing about the projects as they progress and sharing some learned best practices on subjects like OScript, LAPI, .NET, C#/++, and Java as they relate to Livelink, SharePoint, & NextDocs development and integration.  I have yet to determine whether I will market/sell these apps as of yet.

I will also be working on a full suite of Qualification Templates that can be used as a ‘basic’ starting point for Windows Server (2003/2008), SharePoint, Livelink, and NextDocs installations.  My plan is to primarily work on IQ/OQ templates to install/test each product in a controlled methodical fashion using industry best practice ‘defaults’.  I will also be producing a full suite of project documentation for the previously mentioned productivity/utility apps and will therefore be creating a set of blank ‘generic’ SDLC templates (URS/FRS/DS/IQ/OQ). Both blank and basic install templates will be made available at a reasonable cost.

Being a geek, I fix a lot of computers (both PC and Mac).  I don’t know what it is, people just flock to me when it comes to anti-spyware or virus help, hard-disk defrags, PC set-up/purchase, and the list goes on… Each request usually starts off like one that I have heard before, but almost all end up with researching some oddity I have yet to see and thus increasing subject matter knowledge.  I’ll be writing about those oddities along with some best practices and tools as they relate to computer repair/maintenance.

Welcome to the new WaltRuppar.com. Please excuse the mess while I post/organize content and configure the WordPress tools for the site.

So far, the WordPress UI rocks!  I’ll write more about my WordPress experiences as I progress, but I’ve always found it extremely intuitive and well structured.  The linkage that is available from wp.com to sites, such as this one hosted with GoDaddy, is great.  This will make for a great site hosting environment and allow for central administration of sites.  It would seem that the beginning is good.

The main purpose of this site is to showcase my company WRC, LLC. and the Professional Consulting Services that I have to offer.  I also have a deep fascination (some would say addiction) with Social Media and being a Geek… finally decided to ‘officially’ do some writing in a New Media venue.  I promise to keep my posts on “What I’m eating for lunch” to a bare minimum, if non-existent. 

EnJ0Y!

~W