Computers and Programming

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I got my first computer in fifth grade. I was so hyped, even though it was a low-end vista computer. About the worst ‘new’ computer from the price range, the thing had a lot of problems. I loved it though, and clocked so many hours, I burned out the Power Supply unit, twice. It was always on, always running some program or another. But mostly chrome, and mostly on free flash game sites. I spent my days playing Feudalism 2, Thing Thing arena, and Age of War. I eventually found a free game called Combat Arms, that I played non-stop throughout middle school. Hours and hours, probably close to a thousand. I eventually decided video games were hard, and I just didn’t have the skill. Going into high school, I decided I needed a laptop. In comes mistake two, my Alienware. A once powerful and respected company, until it was bought out by Dell, making it my second Dell. The first was underpowered with a horrid OS, the second overpriced. But it worked. Through High

In comes mistake two, my Alienware. A once powerful and respected company, until it was bought out by Dell, making it my second Dell. The first was underpowered with a horrid OS, the second overpriced. But it worked. Through High School I taught myself to program, then learned some ten or so new programming languages. I had two internships on this laptop, and by the time it died, the hard drive was shot, and the fans had all but burned up. It was at this point I began making plans for the future.

It was at this point I began making plans for college. I decided I wanted to build a desktop, and have a light laptop I could carry around with me to classes. I settled on an HP, a slip stylish laptop that flips into a tablet. This laptop was fairly expensive, but I had a year of High School left when I was deciding on it, and decided I needed at least some power. I knew I wasn’t going to build my desktop until I was in college, so I needed a laptop to get me that far. This wasn’t the worst choice, but it was a fairly expensive one.

Cut to today, I just recently bought the laptop pictured above. It is a Lenovo Thinkpad x200 Tablet. It is a brick of a computer, and has a pen-enabled touchscreen. It is great for taking notes, even though it is a bit underpowered for pretty much any program today. It is still my favorite laptop (for the moment). I also bought a T61 ThinkPad, a traditional laptop (though also underpowered). Both were purchased from eBay, used. I decided to purchase them because I wanted to mess around with Linux, and bricking my current laptop was not a good idea. These were inexpensive, and really cool. So far, I have installed Linux 6 times on my x200; Mostly because I screwed up the first four. I then figured out that OSU internet is complicated, requiring complex wifi security (in addition to proprietary drivers for my laptop), and in order to use the ethernet, you have to register the computers MAC address. This is found through your Operating system (OS). To summarize, I needed ethernet to install the OS, and I needed an operating system to use the ethernet. This meant I had to install a temporary OS, find and register the MAC address, and then install the rest of the OS. Anyways, long story short, I had a lot of fun with Linux and my new computer.

Anyways, long story short, I had a lot of fun with Linux and my new computer. This sort of process is one oft repeated throughout my life (Research, Obtain, Research, Make mistakes, Research, and Fix mistakes). My computers, typewriters, 3D Printer, knives, lighters, adding machines, and calculators all share this story; you name it I have probably messed up one or two. But messing them up is really half the fun! This is the main reason I decided to be an engineer, the research, mistakes and errors ultimatly all lead to the satisfaction of the final product.

Year in Review

[ “Year in Review”  is where you should reflect on the past year and show how you have evolved as a person and as a student.  You may want to focus on your growth in a particular area (as a leader, scholar, researcher, etc.) or you may want to talk about your overall experience over the past year.  For more information, go to: http://honors-scholars.osu.edu/e-portfolio. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]

G.O.A.L.S.

[ “G.O.A.L.S.” is a place where students write about how their planned, current, and future activities may fit into the Honors & Scholars G.O.A.L.S.: Global Awareness, Original Inquiry, Academic Enrichment, Leadership Development, and Service Engagement. For more information, go to: http://honors-scholars.osu.edu/e-portfolio. Delete these instructions and add your own post.

Global Awareness: Students cultivate and develop their appreciation for diversity and each individual’s unique differences. For example, consider course work, study abroad, involvement in cultural organizations or activities, etc .
Original Inquiry: Honors & Scholars students understand the research process by engaging in experiences ranging from in-class scholarly endeavors to creative inquiry projects to independent experiences with top researchers across campus and in the global community. For example, consider research, creative productions or performances, advanced course work, etc.
Academic Enrichment: Honors & Scholars students pursue academic excellence through rigorous curricular experiences beyond the university norm both in and out of the classroom.
Leadership Development: Honors & Scholars students develop leadership skills that can be demonstrated in the classroom, in the community, in their co-curricular activities, and in their future roles in society.
Service Engagement: Honors & Scholars students commit to service to the community.]

Career

[“Career” is where you can collect information about your experiences and skills that will apply to your future career.  Like your resume, this is information that will evolve over time and should be continually updated.   For more information, go to: http://honors-scholars.osu.edu/e-portfolio. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]

Artifacts

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To many people, typewriters are relics of the past. Cumbersome and needy, these objects require careful attention and practice, and are often written off as artifacts of a bygone era. While this is true, it is not true for the reason you think. The majority of my collection are pre-war typewriters (Typewriters made before WWII). These typewriters are from an era where everything is made to last a decade. This is the era that will never be forgotten.

In today’s fast-paced world, people can hardly wait two years for a free phone upgrade. Many companies even revert to planned obsolescence, which is the art of designing objects to fail after some preset time. The technologies discovered today will only exist in the technologies of the future.

Pictured above is the first typewriter I used. It was a gift to my father in his first year of college. It has sat in our basement for the past 20 years collecting dust. It was brought up every few years to let me and my siblings play with it, but it was never very impactful. That was, until my sophomore year. I pulled it out for a project, and I learned a lot from using it. After this, I kept it in my room, and would just type, sometimes for hours on end. I would type about my siblings, about school, and often about nothing at all. I would just type. I was never much of a writer, but I enjoyed the way it would shake the desk and fill the room with noise.

This was just the start, though. I ‘discovered’ craigslist, and within a week I bought two more typewriters. Jump forward two years, and I just purchased my 25th and 26th typewriters, from right here on campus. In these two years, I studied the workings of typewriters from this bygone era and learned something interesting. The typewriters work exactly as they did a hundred years ago. I like to think that by restoring these typewriters, I am continuing the legacy of this era, but these devices do it for me. They were built to last a decade, and a century later they are still here. What does this say about today’s society? I’ve found myself doing the same thing. Why should I buy expensive tools when Harbor Freight has the same tool for a third the price? Maybe this change is for the best. Or maybe we are the era that will be forgotten.

About Me

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My name is Karl Moghissi. I am a Mechanical Engineering Student and a Humanitarian Engineering Scholar at The Ohio State university. I was born in Texas and grew up in Dublin, Ohio. I attended Dublin Jerome High School. I love programming; I have programmed in 11 languages, and would consider myself fluent in 4. I also love collecting and restoring typewriters. I currently have 26, although I am prone to acquiring them fairly often. Stop by sometime and see one!