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.

My plan from there was to show off my MCSE lapel pin, and take the two exams to upgrade to MCSE on Windows 2003 Server. Then I find out that the upgrade exams also retire on the 24th, and that Microsoft doesn't send out lapel pins any more. On the plus side, the company will reimburse me when I take those A+ exams.

05.26.2008 - Isabel Marks:

Hi everyone, quick heads up on the last, now gone news post... yes my birthday is still tomorrow, but don't worry about getting me any of the items on that list. If you had bid on the actions or started the bidding process with Ok! Shon to do so, please let us know as well. But please let us know and don't bid on the items (well, unless you yourself want them... ^_^). I thank you all for reading and helping the comic grown!

05.13.2008 - Isabel Marks:

Here we go, right on time...ish. The comics are back on track, and the RSS feed is showing the right date and comic. Why is this? The comics on the main page will be one big (lower quality) file that shows all the comics in order so people who only check the site every other day or so won't become too lost. So basically right now if you viewed the comics in the archive, you'll get double comics (with one of the sets being one file). However, higher quality versions of each file in the archive with their proper date. Tonight, once the Wednesday comic goes up, I will replace the Tuesday file with one comic (with a higher quality). Please note, the Wednesday comic is also a large file with the entire last week on it- you will have to scroll all the way to the bottom to see it. Once the Thursday comic airs, I will go back and place a one comic version of it (at a higher quality) up in the archive.

NamirDeiter.net readers: commentary will be updated over the next few days, and a bonus comic will air tonight (for the Wednesday update) (EDIT- .net readers, there will be bonus comics for the Thursday and Friday updates, not the Wednesday and Thursday update) to make up for the lack of a Tuesday update. As always, I thank you all for your patience, please enjoy!

04.28.2008 - Isabel Marks:

It's been a while, hasn't it? I've wondered what it would be like if I had continued to update the news with each new comic... I barely have enough news worthy information as it is...

You Say it First's cast pages (including the minor characters) got a bit of an update which I felt was needed. Also, both Namir Deiter's and You Say it First's archive pages and arc drop-downs have finally been updated. Funny how these things can slip from my mind... months at a time (funny how easily things slip from such a smooth brain).

Hope to have more news next week... enjoy the rest of April till then!

04.07.2008 - Isabel Marks:

Are we really a week into this month?! Time is definitely flying, but not for all the right reasons. There is a chance I'll have jury duty... hopefully not, since heading to a court room some 14 miles away and no ride (fyi, I cannot drive) will definitely be a pain in my rump (and may be a pain in the comics...).

But, besides that... yeah, new wallpapers for Namir Deiter and You Say it First over at the .net, also this will (thankfully) be the last three day comic update week (to make up for the jumbled mess that was March). Hopefully you all are enjoying this recent Grover Hills story, I promise it will pick up soon. ^_^

Oh, also, all you ultra generous people who donated $50 or more over the last few months, you should have gotten an e-mail from Terrence about what character you want in your thank you gift sketch. From here on out they are going to be random unless you let us know beforehand. A good place would be in the comments of your Paypal payment... which will hopefully be an option. XO I have no idea at the moment...

Ok, that's all I have, it's been a sleepy week, which will hopefully turn into a sleepy month.

03.31.2008 - Terrence Marks:

Yes, folks, Spare Parts has ended. It's been a good four-and-a-half years, and I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. Thank you.

And just now realized that our previous announcement that it was ending had fell off of the front page and that Spare Parts didn't have a 'previous news' button. Sorry about that, folks.

We made a few small changes to the NamirDeiter.net FAQ, please look it over if you have any questions.

03.21.2008 - Isabel Marks:

The next batch of comics is being inked. It's going a bit slow. My sinuses have been bothering me today, which interferes with the creative process. The aforementioned dental appointment has been pushed back a week, and I intend to be caught up and have a few days of buffer in case I don''t feel well afterwards.