Shouting Into Space

I've never really been good at math. In high school I only went as far as algebra and in college did the same. Lately, I've been thinking about going back to school and along those lines of thinking I've decided it would probably be a good idea to take the SAT again.

I will do superbly well on the English and logic part but the math area has always been a little tougher for me. So, with the help of my girlfriend, I am re-teaching myself algebra. I've got one of those "teach yourself" books and I'm basically plodding through it to see how far I can get. I'm only in the first chapter now and the stuff is pretty basic. I'm remembering alot of it and it certainly doesn't seem as hard as it used to. I'm sure years of programming has helped refine some of the pathways in my brain to make mathematical thinking a little more natural.

I'm going to try very hard to be successful with this. I fell enthusiastic about learning algebra but, like all things I do, my enthusiasm often ebbs and flows. Hopefully it will keep flowing as far as this is concerned.

I often get people asking me what Mac software I use alot and if there's anything I can recommend to them. I recently put together a list of stuff I use at work (this doesn't include the *NIX stuff) for a colleague and figured others might benefit from it.

• Adium - AIM, MSN, Yahoo, .Mac, Jabber, Gadu-Gadu, ICQ, etc... IM client. (open source)
• Cyberduck - FTP client (open source)
• ClamXav - Virus Checker (not like you'll need it) (open source)
• Firefox - Web browser (open source)
• iTerm - Terminal Emulator (open source)
• Microsoft Remote Desktop Client - RDC to connect to Windows on Mac (free)
• VLC - Media Player (open source)
• Yojimbo - Password/etc DB (commercial)