I went and took part 2 of my certification test for Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA). I did not pass - I simply ran out of time.

The exam has 40 questions which one must answer in an hour. Since the certification is to show to businesses that the student can accomplish business tasks in a reasonable amount of time, I can't fault the time limit. I know the material, so now I need to get quick.

In other news, the fourth season of Battlestar Galatica looks to be the last. I learn this from jeffreyab, who's on jimhines Friends list. This is not a surprise - the series is getting a bit creaky. Besides, some stories, whether TV, novels or whatever, can only go so far. Battlestar, by its very nature, is one of those stories. Either they find Earth or the story becomes a very different one of colonization.

I watched the Battlestar Galactica season-ending episode Sunday. All I can say is "What The Fuck?"

Four major characters are Cylons? (Tyrol, Tigh, Roslin's sidekick and whats-his-face Starbuck's husband). This is confirmed by wikipedia citing a recent interview with Ron Moore. All this hype about a human-Cylon baby and we now discover that there are multiple hybrids? And WTF with Starbuck's sudden "I've been to Earth" return? Who built her Viper? (The last one blew up.)

It's become clear to me that Ron Moore doesn't have a coherent vision of his world. I'm not alone in that theory, see this site for a lengthy essay. Don't get me wrong - I'll still watch come January. But my reasons will be different. I was watching Battlestar because I wanted to see serious science fiction. Now I'll be watching a train wreck.

And that's a damn shame. Science fiction doesn't get much respect in the US. Too much Star Trek and Star Wars, the McDonald's and Burger King of science fiction. So now we get a good show, with serious stuff going on, and Moore decides to blow it for some cheap thrills?

When Ron re-imagined Battlestar, a bunch of fanboy types ran around with their hair on fire screaming "Ron will ruin it!" Looks like they were right.

I don't usually blog about Battlestar Galactica, but I do watch every episode. I didn't get to this week's show until Monday (I Tivo'ed it and watched the Academy Awards on Sunday instead).

All I can say is finally they decided to run a good episode! Two weeks ago, Galactica ran their worse episode ever. Some doctor that we'd never seen before was deliberately killing Sagitarons (sp?) for the not very good reason that they don't believe in modern medicine. Helo, who was in charge of refugees, was the only person who figured this out. It was stupid in so many ways. Specifically:
1) Helo, in any military organization I'm familiar with, would barely be in charge of his underwear by now, let alone politically-sensitive refugees.
2) It's cheap and easy to bring in a one-shot character as a bad guy, shades of Star Trek's red shirts.
3) The plot was an idiot plot - the Sagitarons knew the doc was killing them but they didn't just come out and say it.

Last week's episode, with Tyril and Cassie stuck in the airlock, wasn't as bad, but only by degree. It's another idiot plot - let's all go work in a broken airlock - on the door, no less - but not put on spacesuits! Actually, that bugs me about the entire series, since the first thing I'd do when going to General Quarters would be to put on space suits, at least a basic "20 minutes of emergency air" outfit.

This week's episode was actually good. Tyril, again, had a lead role. The colonists are still trying to adjust to the world being only 40,000 people, and how do we run a technological civilization with so few. The easiest way is everybody teaches their kids to do what they do. Baltar, with the privilege of being out of power, points out that will create an aristocratic caste system.

It's an important point for the colonists to resolve, and highlights the useful function a loyal opposition can serve. Not having the day-to-day responsibilities of running the show, they can point out the problems of the current situation. Granted, Baltar's loyalties end at the tip of his penis, but even a stopped clock is right twice a day. At the end of the show, it appeared like Tyril was stepping up to the loyal "voice of the people" role.