07.05.2008 - Terrence Marks:
We're working on another big batch of comics and expect to have them finished some time this weekend. We had hoped to have them up tonight. We spent the morning at AnimeExpo (just visiting), figuring we'd have plenty of time to finish things up this evening. Then we were invited to a last-minute family get-together. Now it's about eleven. We've had a full day. Expect a big update this weekend.

07.04.2008 - Terrence Marks:
For July, we're going back to the regular schedule for both comics. Namir Deiter will update Monday through Friday. You Say it First will update Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. We hope to switch back to the bonus schedule in August and look forward to your help. NamirDeiter.net will have bonus comics on Tuesday and Saturday (plus extras, because we owe you guys). Wallpapers for the month should be done soon.

Now, every week at NamirDeiter.net, we'll have Jun and Tori's Mailbox Saturday, where the two of them interview and interrogate various characters from the ND Unlimited multiverse. If you're a donor and have any questions you'd want to see answered, send them in and we'll see what happens.

Also, You Say it First's links have been updated (for the first time ever) and I now have a blog. If you're looking at You Say it First, it's just to the right.

07.01.2008 - Terrence Marks:
Now, since Isabel has her blog (over on NamirDeiter.net, our donor site) I figure I may as well have one too. As you've seen, I redesigned the front page a bit and created a links page for You Say it First, because it needed it. Previously, it just told you to go to Spare Parts' links page, which was a bit outdated. I mean, it linked Algernon's Dilemma, and that comic's been gone for about five years now. I intend to keep this one more-or-less current.

06.01.2008 - Terrence Marks:
So, what have I been up to lately? Studying.

It began a month ago. I was going to get A+ certification. I had been meaning to get it for a while. My main concern was that someone else pay for it. My company, coincidentally, had test vouchers, so I got some.

The vouchers, it turned out, were only good for Microsoft exams, so I started studying to upgrade my MCSA to an MCSE (as an analogy, MCSA is to MCSE as an associates degree is to as a bachelor's degree. An A+ certificate is on par a sixth-grade reading test). I only needed 3 exams. I spent about two weeks studying, then I noticed something - the exams had been retired. In March.

Fortunately, you could still take the exams. Until May 24th. That was good. So I spent the two weeks studying. There were a bunch of little things: My company had online training videos, but they were about 16 hours per test. The only book I had was an ExamPrep - they're the size of a phonebook and equally readable. None of the bookstores had anything for the courses I needed.

I passed the first exam last Monday. 70-216, which is undeservingly nicknamed "The Beast". The books I got from Amazon had come in (1 cent each, plus, $7 shipping) so I scheduled the second exam, 70-217 (no nickname), five days after that. I won't say I understand the material entirely, but I knew it well enough to guess right most of the time. Fortunately, it's multiple choice and not essay, so I passed. I just had to do the design exam.

Now, a design exam is the Microsoft equivalent of "Let's put everything together and see how well you apply it". The books I had on the test were very short on technical information and very long on business philosophy. I don't care about business philosophy; it isn't on the test. So I took it on the 20th and failed.

Fortunately, I was able to get another voucher from my company that night. Why? Because it was going to expire the next day. So I studied the parts of the test that I didn't know. I woke up early and was able to schedule an exam the same day. I failed again, I could take a different (non-retired) exam later on, and get on with my life. I had been studying non-stop for about three weeks. I passed. The fact that half the questions were the same as the first time didn't hurt.