The Bitching Thread

[Animeniax]

I can't believe I missed this entire discussion. I can't believe Dark Dragon said that learning for the sake of learning is stupid (-_-) I have issues with pretty much everything he said. I don't think that's quite what DD said. If the purpose of going to school is to prepare you for work in that field, then extraneous classes outside that field can be seen as a waste of time. I disagree of course, since I think any class you take can help you better at your primary job. Ie, if you are an accountant, you could still stand to learn some fine arts/speech/writing/drama/social sciences, which would make you a better employee and person.

[Buffalobiian]

I don't think that's quite what DD said. If the purpose of going to school is to prepare you for work in that field, then extraneous classes outside that field can be seen as a waste of time. I disagree of course, since I think any class you take can help you better at your primary job. Ie, if you are an accountant, you could still stand to learn some fine arts/speech/writing/drama/social sciences, which would make you a better employee and person.

While a diverse education may cultivate your mind for better performance, not everyone agrees that it's something you must learn and even be assessed on. I would say that's better for highschool level learning (general skills and preparing individuals for society). In university, you're paying to study for your field. More often than not, it's to receive qualifications to work.

Looking at it through this qualification lense, you're basically saying that I (the professor) can degrade your overall mark due to a compulsory, non-related subject.. thereby making you seem less qualified based on overall academic merit.

A "better" person compared to an "average" person is evaluated by other people through an interview, not by a High Distinction in visual arts.

[Animeniax]

While a diverse education may cultivate your mind for better performance, not everyone agrees that it's something you must learn and even be assessed on. I would say that's better for highschool level learning (general skills and preparing individuals for society). In university, you're paying to study for your field. More often than not, it's to receive qualifications to work.

Looking at it through this qualification lense, you're basically saying that I (the professor) can degrade your overall mark due to a compulsory, non-related subject.. thereby making you seem less qualified based on overall academic merit.

A "better" person compared to an "average" person is evaluated by other people through an interview, not by a High Distinction in visual arts.
You pay for the degree but what that entails is not for you to decide. The school, and by extension potential employers who value a degree from that school, determine what courses are required to obtain that degree.

A professor can degrade your mark for a related subject just as easily by making difficult tests or not covering material in lecture that appears on tests. The problem is that these "unrelated" courses are often not taken seriously by students, so they don't put in the effort. If they were made to understand that it is an essential part of their learning and certification, instead of as a waste of time, it would become an integral part of their studies.

As it is, most courses that are related to your field do not come into play in the actual job. By your account then, those courses should also be removed from the curriculum, and courses should only cover exactly what you'll need on the job. The problem with that is that you can't know exactly what you'll need to know on the job.

[Dark Dragon]

My point is simply that you should focus on learning useful information that will be relevant to your aspirations. Sometimes, you'll need to adjust what you want to do in order to be relevant in society.

Learning for the sake of learning without any forethought on how that knowledge could be use is stupid. Society function in a way that knowledge is passed on to the next generation so that we can learn from the mistakes and successes of our predecessor. The act of learning is simply absorbing previous information created by others. At the core, you're simply following instructions that was created by someone previously. For the majority of college students, they're using some sort of loan/grant program that potentially puts them in debt to obtain this information. I don't think it's too much to ask that this information they're paying for is something that justify the money they're spending to obtain. If this is not the case then you're using resources to obtain knowledge without any plan of using it to contribute something back to society, a parasite if you will.

This isn't simply a problem of GPA. Sometimes people needs to be smart about picking their major. Is it too much to ask that someone does a little bit of research before deciding on what they want to do for the rest of their life? Look up the number of college grad in areas like theater or fashion designs, then compare that to growth that those sectors and you'll see a disparity. The question then becomes "is it a good idea for me to drop 40,000+ USD to not have a job?"

That isn't to say that having a well-rounded education is a bad thing. It's just that sometimes it's less about being well rounded and more about the University making as much money as possible before you get your degree.

[Buffalobiian]

You pay for the degree but what that entails is not for you to decide. The school, and by extension potential employers who value a degree from that school, determine what courses are required to obtain that degree.

A professor can degrade your mark for a related subject just as easily by making difficult tests or not covering material in lecture that appears on tests. The problem is that these "unrelated" courses are often not taken seriously by students, so they don't put in the effort. If they were made to understand that it is an essential part of their learning and certification, instead of as a waste of time, it would become an integral part of their studies.

If a professor wants to make tests hard or teach in a shitty manner, go for it. He should be ready for the feedback as well, but at least the learning objectives and examinable materials are set out in the course profiles. I'm seeing some problems with our lectures not covering much of the examinable content, but I'm happy in knowing that the work I'm putting in is being spent on a topic that is clinically relevant.

Educators and employers are different, and the former certainly don't look after the interest of the latter. As I said in my previous post, there's a difference between a "desirable" quality and something that affects your qualification. I might want to employ an engineer with a more social personality because I think he'll fit in with my team better. It doesn't make him less qualified.




As it is, most courses that are related to your field do not come into play in the actual job. By your account then, those courses should also be removed from the curriculum, and courses should only cover exactly what you'll need on the job. The problem with that is that you can't know exactly what you'll need to know on the job.

That's why areas like medicine and law where (educators will even admit that) the knowledge you learn in university is either too little or quickly outdated teach using Problem Based Learning to facilitate self-education. It gets you into identifying gaps in your knowledge and knowing how best to fill them to the depth that is required at the time.

You're right in that you won't know exactly what you need for a job (though people generally have a pretty good idea - or can get such insight from talking to people in the field). So what are you doing throwing in a left-field courses in there?

I found out the other day that having a better idea of Australian geography and raising cattle could build rapport with people, especially those who live rurally and expect people to go "I don't know where that places is..". I might go read for half an hour on it when I have time, but I'm not going to attend a summer course for it. (Let alone getting failed in my professional degree for something like that).

It's a Nice to Know, not Need to Know.

[enkoujin]

I disagree of course, since I think any class you take can help you better at your primary job. Ie, if you are an accountant, you could still stand to learn some fine arts/speech/writing/drama/social sciences, which would make you a better employee and person.

I agree with Animeniax to some extent here. It's important for anyone in any field to be well-rounded, but students should have a choice of which compulsory non-related courses they should be taking so that they're more involved and interested in what they're taking.

At the very best, non-compulsory classes can enhance your other skills to make you more employable, help you later down the road for transdisciplinary tasks or problems, develop your social skills with people outside your study, and establish a common paradigm amongst peers from different faculties, which you can use to effectively communicate.

At the very worst, you've hopefully gained an appreciation of a different faculty/department, which will allow you to be more understanding of people's tasks. e.g., junior micro and macroeconomics courses allows for the understanding that economics is more than just supply and demand.


While a diverse education may cultivate your mind for better performance, not everyone agrees that it's something you must learn and even be assessed on. I would say that's better for highschool level learning (general skills and preparing individuals for society). In university, you're paying to study for your field. More often than not, it's to receive qualifications to work.

Looking at it through this qualification lense, you're basically saying that I (the professor) can degrade your overall mark due to a compulsory, non-related subject.. thereby making you seem less qualified based on overall academic merit.

The problem is incentive, though. If you're not going to be marked on the work you produced, what's the point of paying attention or even attending non-related class? Even if attendance is mandatory, what's stopping the typical unmotivated whiners and disruptors from degrading the class environment?


A "better" person compared to an "average" person is evaluated by other people through an interview, not by a High Distinction in visual arts.

I'm not entirely sure how HR operates, but it's important for job candidates to be well-rounded, which includes an appreciation for other fields of study, which translates into different types of work. Even if you already have an appreciation for other disciplines, not everyone was educated with the same mindset and this could particularly lead to unstable transdiscplinary teams if there are social issues - especially when the invisible career hierarchies in the workplace are important to some people.


As it is, most courses that are related to your field do not come into play in the actual job. By your account then, those courses should also be removed from the curriculum, and courses should only cover exactly what you'll need on the job. The problem with that is that you can't know exactly what you'll need to know on the job.

I strongly agree with this statement to some extent. There are some students today are being trained for jobs that do not even exist yet. Obviously, there's a strong discrepancy between completely unrelated disciplines, such as engineering and dance, but if it was something like engineering and medicine (biomedical engineering), new fields can be created.

Non-compulsory courses allow some students insight and flexibility too in case they decide that their current discipline isn't for them. It's not uncommon to change majors in western countries and part of that reason of switching majors is because a non-related course has interested that particular student more so than than their current major.


My point is simply that you should focus on learning useful information that will be relevant to your aspirations. Sometimes, you'll need to adjust what you want to do in order to be relevant in society.

I agree with this as well; it's important to excel in your particular discipline to be productive in your workplace and sometimes compulsory non-related courses may seem like a hindrance. While we know what is relevant in society today may not be relevant tomorrow and as aforementioned, non-related courses can give students a direction if their job markets are performing poorly.


Learning for the sake of learning without any forethought on how that knowledge could be use is stupid. Society function in a way that knowledge is passed on to the next generation so that we can learn from the mistakes and successes of our predecessor. The act of learning is simply absorbing previous information created by others. At the core, you're simply following instructions that was created by someone previously. For the majority of college students, they're using some sort of loan/grant program that potentially puts them in debt to obtain this information. I don't think it's too much to ask that this information they're paying for is something that justify the money they're spending to obtain. If this is not the case then you're using resources to obtain knowledge without any plan of using it to contribute something back to society, a parasite if you will.

This isn't simply a problem of GPA. Sometimes people needs to be smart about picking their major. Is it too much to ask that someone does a little bit of research before deciding on what they want to do for the rest of their life? Look up the number of college grad in areas like theater or fashion designs, then compare that to growth that those sectors and you'll see a disparity. The question then becomes "is it a good idea for me to drop 40,000+ USD to not have a job?"

That isn't to say that having a well-rounded education is a bad thing. It's just that sometimes it's less about being well rounded and more about the University making as much money as possible before you get your degree.

I definitely agree with practicality of a degree, but I think it's important to be a lifelong learner, which encompasses learning for the sake of learning. Pulled from Wiki:


Lifelong learning is the "ongoing, voluntary, and self-motivated"[1] pursuit of knowledge for either personal or professional reasons. Therefore, it not only enhances social inclusion, active citizenship and personal development, but also competitiveness and employability.[2]

... The economic impact of educational institutions at all levels will continue to be significant into the future as formal courses of study continue and interest-based subjects are pursued. The institutions produce educated citizens who buy goods and services in the community and the education facilities and personnel generate economic activity during the operations and institutional activities. ... there is a great economic impact worldwide from learning, including lifelong learning, for all age groups. The lifelong learners, including persons with academic or professional credentials, tend to find higher-paying occupations, leaving monetary, cultural, and entrepreneural impressions on communities ...

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifelong_learning

For the most part, it's better for those to pursue what they really want and interested in (completely different than those who blindly pick a disciplines and go to college because everyone else from high school is doing it). Both industry and students don't know if prospective students are competent for jobs in that field, and without trying, how do they know their degree is completely useless?

For us, it also means that there's less competition for jobs in our fields and incompetence in our fields. When we talk practicality of a degree, four fields immediately come to mind: law, engineering, medicine, and business. Because there are students pursuing other fields, this is simply a supply and demand issue. Furthermore, with the exceedingly high standards that these fields have, it would be difficult for the average college student to be competent in these fields, which would probably lower the professionalism of these fields. If the job markets are saturated with people disinterested in their discipline or incompetent in them and were hired, then the four fields aforementioned would also degrade in professionalism and quality.


It's a Nice to Know, not Need to Know.

Overall, this nicely wraps up my point.

[Buffalobiian]

I'm just going to clarify my point since Enkoujin kind of agreed and disagreed.


Lifelong learning is the "ongoing, voluntary, and self-motivated"[

The problem is incentive, though. If you're not going to be marked on the work you produced, what's the point of paying attention or even attending non-related class? Even if attendance is mandatory, what's stopping the typical unmotivated whiners and disruptors from degrading the class environment?

It's a Nice to Know, not Need to Know.

These are exactly the reasons why the course (or a time-tabled section for a compulsory, self-selected course) should not exist. Extra-curricular learning should be attended by those who desire and want to learn something new, not mandated to everybody as a whole. If you make everybody do it, it becomes a need which it certainly isn't.

[Sapphire]

Unfortunately, over the years, I've come to deeply understand why they say pride is a sin.

Time and time again I've seen people act carelessly in such a way that literally puts others in life-threatening danger, and then completely IGNORE/disregard the close-call situation in order to safe face. Why can't people fucking PROCESS their own carelessness even when it comes to nearly ending someone else's life?

This is soul-crushing to me.

[Buffalobiian]

Unfortunately, over the years, I've come to deeply understand why they say pride is a sin.

Time and time again I've seen people act carelessly in such a way that literally puts others in life-threatening danger, and then completely IGNORE/disregard the close-call situation in order to safe face. Why can't people fucking PROCESS their own carelessness even when it comes to nearly ending someone else's life?


This is soul-crushing to me.

Any de-identified specifics available? Or just venting?

[Animeniax]

I had that happen to me recently. Some guy changed lanes into my lane at 70mph, causing me to swerve into the lane to my right. Luckily no one was in that lane at the time or I'd be dead. I then spent the next 5 minutes blocking the guy who almost killed me from passing, and giving him the bird. Then I got pulled over by a highway patrol officer, who said he saw the entire thing, but wanted me to explain my side. He let me go with a warning and even more respect for the men and women in uniform who keep us safe.

[Sapphire]

Any de-identified specifics available? Or just venting?

In addition to Ani's example, I just see shit like this too frequently. For example, I remember going to stay with a close family friend when I was a little kid.

tl;dr

[Buffalobiian]

Ah. That sucks.

What I've ended up concluding through my experiences is that admitting saves more face than being a loser. I'm not able to differentiate as to whether I admit because it's the "right thing" to do, or because it's the one that saves more face in the end (or that I'm lazy and it's easier to give in than to put up an act and think of lies).. but the outcome's good so I've given up caring about the reason I do it.

[Ryllharu]

I had that happen to me recently. Some guy changed lanes into my lane at 70mph, causing me to swerve into the lane to my right. Luckily no one was in that lane at the time or I'd be dead. I then spent the next 5 minutes blocking the guy who almost killed me from passing, and giving him the bird. Then I got pulled over by a highway patrol officer, who said he saw the entire thing, but wanted me to explain my side. He let me go with a warning and even more respect for the men and women in uniform who keep us safe.
Just a question: If you hadn't spent the next five minutes in road rage fueled retaliation, would the cops have pulled over the guy who was driving carelessly and recklessly rather than pulling you over for road rage and looking for an explanation?

He saw the whole thing...but chose to pull you over and gave you the warning. Or was there more than one patrol car?

[Animeniax]

Just a question: If you hadn't spent the next five minutes in road rage fueled retaliation, would the cops have pulled over the guy who was driving carelessly and recklessly rather than pulling you over for road rage and looking for an explanation?

He saw the whole thing...but chose to pull you over and gave you the warning. Or was there more than one patrol car?

I wouldn't say the other guy was driving recklessly, just being careless for a second so the officer wouldn't really have had any justification to pull him over. But that one moment of carelessness on his part could have cost me my life, which is what was so upsetting. It was a Saturday morning at 2:30a and I was driving home from work, so I admitted to the officer that I overreacted and apologized. I think his main concern was that I wasn't intoxicated, and once he established that, all was ok. I think when he said that he saw everything that happened, he meant he saw me swerving and braking in front of the guy and flicking him off, so he probably didn't even see the other guy almost kill me.


In addition to Ani's example, I just see shit like this too frequently. For example, I remember going to stay with a close family friend when I was a little kid.I think strep is contagious so maybe you got some of them sick too. Well you turned out ok so hopefully your upbringing just helped build character and made you aware of the injustices in the world so you can fight them.

[Kraco]

Just a question: If you hadn't spent the next five minutes in road rage fueled retaliation, would the cops have pulled over the guy who was driving carelessly and recklessly rather than pulling you over for road rage and looking for an explanation?

If I have learned anything from traffic, it's that it's every bit as full of trolls, wilful or natural, as the Internet, and losing your cool means you are also going to be the one losing money or worse. The troll always gets the last laugh if you let their behavior get under your skin.

[shinta|hikari]

Here we just shoot down traffic trolls, or maybe destroy their windshield with a pipe or bat. I've seen others pull out wipers, throw cans, and kick doors.

It works because the trolls are usually too poor to press charges.

[Buffalobiian]

Here we just shoot down traffic trolls, or maybe destroy their windshield with a pipe or bat. I've seen others pull out wipers, throw cans, and kick doors.

It works because the trolls are usually too poor to press charges.

So vandalising private property is not criminal in any form? Police have no say in it even if they saw you?

[Sapphire]

Ah. That sucks.

What I've ended up concluding through my experiences is that admitting saves more face than being a loser. I'm not able to differentiate as to whether I admit because it's the "right thing" to do, or because it's the one that saves more face in the end (or that I'm lazy and it's easier to give in than to put up an act and think of lies).. but the outcome's good so I've given up caring about the reason I do it.

Good on you, Buff! I'd be nice if people actually fessed up of their wrongdoings (to others) more often, but I don't know that I'm lamenting the lack of this specifically.

What really bothers me is that immediate moment after the deed where someone goes into "auto-defense" mode and just blurts out something facetious to excuse whatever they did, or does the dangerous thing again to prove they can get away with it or basically flip the concept of responsibility the bird. So it's when people actively do the exact opposite of owning up to something just because they're too prideful/cowardly/who knows why. Isn't that a mockery of the concept of "integrity"?

I think it's because to me, self-reflection is the ultimate and final tool of growth. If this is blocked because of pride, to the extent where your own choices that nearly take someone else's life can't even sink in, then the consequences of that can be very real and irreversible.

-

@shinta: That's hella scary lol

[shinta|hikari]

@Buff - There are hardly any cops around. They usually camp inside their air conditioned stations unless they want a bit of cash for some grub. That's when they go get pay offs or free food from restaurants, or catch traffic rule violators for some bribe money. If they catch you busting up a troll's car, yeah they will arrest you. Then you just pay off the judge so you can get off quickly. This only works if the other party is poor, or at least poorer than you are. Bribe contests are a quick way to lose a lot of money for both parties in disputes.

I have been pulled over (half rightfully, half unjustly) for traffic violations 10x. I have bribed my way through all of them. In fact, I got my driver's license without a practical test, and the written test had the answers written in when I got the sheet, and all I had to pay was like 25 USD all in all.

@Sapph - Pride is probably my greatest sin. However, I have also always taken great pride in being able to admit my mistakes. Pride that necessitates petty actions is not real pride. Pride that requires one to make excuses for oneself is nothing but cowardice.

[Buffalobiian]

Aaahhhh...

And therein lies the answer behind crazy S/SE-Asian traffic.

[Abdula]

Wow shinta that is great stuff. Lawlessness is always cool. I don't have any pride. Dignity, self respect, high self esteem and self worth and I am honest to a fault but I have nothing anyone would confuse with pride.

I didn't pay attention to it then, but when I look back on this as an adult the irresponsibility of the people I was in care of greatly and deeply disturbs me. Not to mention these people are basically worshiped (as flawless) by everyone who knows them for having oodles of money and being generally prominent people.
Money can't buy dignity. I love their shock when you tell them how truly worthless they are, it warms the heart. I am a big believer in consequences. Actions must always have consequences, inaction as well. I have seen too many people's lives ruined or ended because of the pride or in some cases downright stupidity of others to just sit and do nothing about it. Though I have learned to be more moderate and infinitely more effective in my responses. For example I once took someone out into the woods, tied them to a tree and left them there as a lesson in trust and betrayal.

[shinta|hikari]

Pride has both its positive and negative connotations. I see that you believe you have the former, but lack the latter. Most of what you said you have can be attributed to the positive meaning of pride. That is great.

Lawlessness is not cool. It's reality. I have been working to get out of this god forsaken place for a while now.

[Abdula]

Indeed so I have been told but I disagree though. Most of the positive connotations of pride have to do with some sense of satisfaction with one's self or some nonsense about self acceptance, I don't have that.

Yeah. I know what it is like when people begin to think they can operate with impunity, and I have seen what happens when it is actually true. Most places are lawless, the law just comes in after the fact to give people the illusion that they are safe and "justice" has been carried out.

[Xelbair]

Lawlessness is indeed not cool. it might sound cool to some though.

Poland isn't that lawless... but it is pretty close - if you get caught for speeding you can usually bribe your way though, whole parliament is one big den of corruption(supposedly it takes only 4mln PLN to pass any bill). Money matters but connections matters more in here - for example it is pretty common in any gov't companies for there to be a few big departments that do nothing, expect employing families of politicians/government workers.
Lawyers are one big family in here - you can't get lawyer's license if you don't have work experience - and only friends and family members are allowed to get the work experience.
Judges are above the law, most 'private' media are owned/controlled by one group, prosecutors can abuse their power pretty easily without any consequences.
Oh and city presidents and city council is doing everything it can to pull out the money from the budget into the private hands(by doing retarded things like: rebuilding one crossing, next year doing it again(For no reason, it has been done 5 times in a row) - ofc the same company won the contract to do it; replacing every signal light with ones that require button press to switch(mostly in places where such ones are useless)).

Lawlessness is not cool... but what's even more annoying is that law exists to protect you, but you know that it won't be effective.

There is one great thing about Poland though - free education up to the masters degree(albeit the education system/programme is getting dumber and dumber each year).

[Buffalobiian]

You guys have almost removed my right to complain about Australia.

[Xelbair]

Well ours are 3rd world problems, you still have yours 1st world problems.

[UChessmaster]

Went to a resort, ate 3 dinners, 2 breakfasts, as post breakfast and 2 lunches in one day; did not get a pound. :/

[Abdula]

I am very confused. Are you complaining about eating a bunch of food and not gaining a pound?

[UChessmaster]

Not gaining pounds

[Buffalobiian]

Not gaining pounds

You should try eating peanut butter. Eat enough and you'll gain it pretty damn quickly.

[UChessmaster]

Totally crashed my car :/

[Ryllharu]

Totally done it too (in the past). It's the fucking worst feeling in the world.

[Sapphire]

That's disturbing. Yeah there's cray cray driver's everywhere. Speaking of which, I'm (finally) taking my driver's test today. :o

[Kraco]

That's disturbing. Yeah there's cray cray driver's everywhere. Speaking of which, I'm (finally) taking my driver's test today. :o

Drive carefully and keep your head cool. Although I passed mine at the first try, I believe it's better to be careful rather than to try to give an impression you are as good as the pros.

[darkshadow]

You should try eating peanut butter. Eat enough and you'll gain it pretty damn quickly.

Nope....

[Animeniax]

I talked about this before with 26 year old Kristen Bell portraying a high schooler with a smoking hot body in Veronica Mars. Now I'm watching Friday Night Lights and as gorgeous as Minka Kelly is, I think it's kinda shitty that she's a 26 year old portraying a high schooler with a smoking hot body. No high school chick I knew of had such a developed and smoking hot body, so it kind of spoils the escapism for me.

[Abdula]

I know what you mean but what are they going to do get actual high school kids to play high school kids in every show just to satisfy you. Kristen Bell in Veronica Mars wasn't an issue because she is tiny and she looks like she has to work to not look like she is still in high school.

Also you should probably think of something better than smoking hot body to describe a woman, you used it 3 times in a row, and if you didn't know anyone 16-18 when you were in high school who had what could be described as a smoking hot body then you probably went to the wrong high school.

[Animeniax]

To be fair what with the hormones and steroids they inject into everything we eat, kids are growing bigger faster, so it's somewhat plausible that high school girls have developed more than when I went to high school in the early 1990s. But knowing these girls are actually in their mid 20s kind of ruins the fantasy of hot bodied high school girls that these shows use to draw in viewers.

[Buffalobiian]

I'm just looking at google images, but Minka Kelly doesn't look too out of place in her cheerleader long-sleeve. It's more the face that looks too mature, rather than the body. I might just be used to televised Asian highschoolers though, who look younger in general.

[Abdula]

Yeah it is mostly the too mature faces that throw you.

Fantasies of hot bodied high school girls (read underage).

[Buffalobiian]

Someone was talking to me about Halo 5 coming out on the Xbox One, and I was confused for a second thinking he meant the classic Xbox. I can see it happening again in the future. Stupid naming sense. :(

[shinta|hikari]

Aren't there a lot of high school girls who aren't under aged?

[Buffalobiian]

Aren't there a lot of high school girls who aren't under aged?

Not "a lot", but enough. Consent here is 16.

----------------------------------------------------



PS4 pre-orders opened.

USA: $399
Australia: $548

:eek:

[Animeniax]

I'm just looking at google images, but Minka Kelly doesn't look too out of place in her cheerleader long-sleeve. It's more the face that looks too mature, rather than the body. I might just be used to televised Asian highschoolers though, who look younger in general.

She fits in as a cheerleader but usually she's in very revealing clothing that high school girls would call slutty. Of course these are 1990s values and I think most girls dress scandalously at ever younger ages these days.

[enkoujin]

Not "a lot", but enough. Consent here is 16.

----------------------------------------------------



PS4 pre-orders opened.

USA: $399
Australia: $548

:eek:

I always thought the prices in Australia were beyond ridiculous... then I realized the minimum wage in Australia was $15.59/hour or $606.40 per week for anyone older than 20. In the US, the average minimum wage is $7.25/hour, so...

USA: $399 / $7.25/hour = 55 hours
Australia: $548 / $15.59/hour = 35.15 hours

Unless Bill can correct me.

[Buffalobiian]

Those numbers seem to be right, I didn't know USA wages were so low, though I did expect them to be lower than AU. We've been known (at least with our old, now replaced, tax brackets) to have higher taxes globally, but when I factor the current situation in:

After tax:

Minimum wage earnings

USA: $6.38/hr, 62hrs for PS4
AU: $14.29/hr, 37.7hrs for PS4


Double minimum age earnings

USA: $12.539/hr, 31hrs for PS4
AU: $25.11/hr, 21hrs for PS4


We ..uhh... seem to have it pretty good. :confused:

[Xelbair]

http://www.siliconera.com/2013/06/12/blazblue-chronophantasma-will-not-be-released-for-xbox-360/
you can start bitching now Ryll. but there is still hope.

[Ryllharu]

If they still release it on Vita, I'm okay. If not...then I'll be upset.

[Buffalobiian]

http://www.animepaper.net/ suspended their activity.

It was by far the best wallpaper site I've ever found. Scan-wise there are other free sites to be found, but as far as wallpapers went their quality and quantity was consistently great.

I haven't used any other site for years. Anyone know of some good alternatives? (I know of half a dozen or so, but none are in the same class)

edit:the next best one seems to be TheAnimeGallery (http://www.theanimegallery.com), followed by minitokyo (http://gallery.minitokyo.net/wallpapers?order=id&page=7) (which tells you about the gap, doesn't it? Good stuff on there, but lots of noise too). There's still Kona-chan and Yandere etc for scans, but not all scans come in a ready-for-desktop-background rendition.

[Ryllharu]

Just use 4chan /w/ like the rest of us?

Always worked well for me, just stockpile.

[enkoujin]

This site archives wallpapers from 4chan and they're decently good.

http://nik.bot.nu/

[Xelbair]

there is always 4chan's /w/ board and /wg/(non anime).

[Buffalobiian]

Hmm, good recommendations guys. Found some nice stuff there.

In other news, why the fuck to batteries leak?! (like, your standard AAA batts etc)
They do it when they sit in remote controllers, I've just seen them do it (and I remember previous occurrences too) when they simply lie flat in a container.

Luckily I didn't touch on of my figures afterwards or I'd be super-cut.

[Kraco]

In other news, why the fuck to batteries leak?! (like, your standard AAA batts etc)
They do it when they sit in remote controllers, I've just seen them do it (and I remember previous occurrences too) when they simply lie flat in a container.

They contain corrosive potassium hydroxide solution, so it's only a matter of time before they leak.

[Buffalobiian]

They contain corrosive potassium hydroxide solution, so it's only a matter of time before they leak.

If leaking is inevitable, should batteries not have a "use by" date on them like other perishables? That would sound reasonable instead of just letting them wreck havoc.

[Kraco]

They do. At least they do over here. I'd be somewhat surprised if they don't in your parts.

My personal experience is that cheap Chinese batteries leak more readily and worse than quality ones from Germany or USA, for example. But I still buy also the cheap Chinese ones...

[Ryllharu]

You're also supposed to take them out of devices you don't plan on using for a while. The fact that they are in a circuit promotes leaking.

[Buffalobiian]

You're also supposed to take them out of devices you don't plan on using for a while. The fact that they are in a circuit promotes leaking.

Yeah, I rationalised that one.. today was just a leakage of one that happened to be sitting at the bottom of a box.

[Ryllharu]

Quit the medical field and get to work on supercapacitors. Revolutionize the world for us Buff.

[fahoumh]

In the wonderful province of Ontario we have this bullshit eco fee the provincial government tacks on to things like TVs, computers, etc. I bought a $300 LED and was charged a $39.50 eco fee and what makes it even better is the fact they included that fee in the taxable total so I essentially payed a tax on a tax.

[Kraco]

There's also an electronics recycling fee in all products running on electricity in the EU. However, it isn't nearly as much as that! It's also not just an additional random tax with a bullshit explanation, because it ensures you can take your old, broken device to the shop where you get your new one, and they must take care of it appropriately with no extra charge. Or you can take old electronics for free to the municipal recycling centers.

Personally I think ours is an excellent system. Electronics are very worth it to recycle due to the rare earth elements and other stuff contained within. If you can get rid of them officially and "for free", because you have paid the recycling fee already no matter what, it leaves no excuse to dump them to the woods or something else nasty. Of course there are and will always be blistering idiots who no matter what carry their old stuff to somebody else's land instead; as long as there are humans on Earth, there will be idiots as well. At least this system ensures normal people don't be tempted to become idiots only to save a few euros.

[Buffalobiian]

A taxable tax is just laughable. I'd appeal that and ask for a reason for such a shitty system.

[fahoumh]

There's also an electronics recycling fee in all products running on electricity in the EU. However, it isn't nearly as much as that! It's also not just an additional random tax with a bullshit explanation, because it ensures you can take your old, broken device to the shop where you get your new one, and they must take care of it appropriately with no extra charge. Or you can take old electronics for free to the municipal recycling centers.

Personally I think ours is an excellent system. Electronics are very worth it to recycle due to the rare earth elements and other stuff contained within. If you can get rid of them officially and "for free", because you have paid the recycling fee already no matter what, it leaves no excuse to dump them to the woods or something else nasty. Of course there are and will always be blistering idiots who no matter what carry their old stuff to somebody else's land instead; as long as there are humans on Earth, there will be idiots as well. At least this system ensures normal people don't be tempted to become idiots only to save a few euros.

We have the exact same system and for the same reasons which seem ecologically responsible. I was just really annoyed that was such a staggering amount, more than 13% of the cost of the TV...the $300 TV ended up to $383.62 after the eco fee and tax.

It wouldn't be as bad if the manufacturer shared in the fee since they produce these electronics that ultimately produce the waste. Though it seems like our provincial government is proposing to scrap the eco fees paid by consumers and put them onto the producers...but then the producers will just add it to the cost of the electronics so consumers will still end up paying for them in the end. Source. (http://www.thestar.com/news/queenspark/2013/06/06/ontario_to_get_rid_of_eco_fees.html)


A taxable tax is just laughable. I'd appeal that and ask for a reason for such a shitty system.
Appeal to who, exactly? Corrupt politicians who have ZERO accountability? Or retailers who just shrug their shoulders and say they're forced to charge these fees by the government?

[Buffalobiian]

Appeal to who, exactly? Corrupt politicians who have ZERO accountability? Or retailers who just shrug their shoulders and say they're forced to charge these fees by the government?

Your local MP? It's not likely to do much, it it may help you in knowing you've done your bit in trying to improve the system, and the slack's on other people. It's just a vent, like how you write complaints to companies.

[Kraco]

We have the exact same system and for the same reasons which seem ecologically responsible. I was just really annoyed that was such a staggering amount, more than 13% of the cost of the TV...the $300 TV ended up to $383.62 after the eco fee and tax.

I don't remember the exact numbers, but my gut feeling is that for a 300 euros product it would be a few euros. It's not separated in receipts or price tags or such. In any case when it was introduced years ago, the prices certainly didn't jump up by any really significant amount. The fee is already paid by the manufacturers (or importers if imported from outside of EU). That fee directly funds the system to collect and process the old devices, so it doesn't dangerously go through the state.

[fahoumh]

Your local MP? It's not likely to do much, it it may help you in knowing you've done your bit in trying to improve the system, and the slack's on other people. It's just a vent, like how you write complaints to companies.
I've never actually written to my local MP...though maybe I should.


I don't remember the exact numbers, but my gut feeling is that for a 300 euros product it would be a few euros. It's not separated in receipts or price tags or such. In any case when it was introduced years ago, the prices certainly didn't jump up by any really significant amount. The fee is already paid by the manufacturers (or importers if imported from outside of EU). That fee directly funds the system to collect and process the old devices, so it doesn't dangerously go through the state.
As of right now I think the consumers share most of the burden of funding the recycling program...or it seems that way with the exorbitant fees.

[Kraco]

As of right now I think the consumers share most of the burden of funding the recycling program...or it seems that way with the exorbitant fees.

Now matter how the system works, it's obvious the end users will pay - ultimately it's always the consumers. After your post I read a bit about the situation over here and interestingly enough it looks like that even though our fee is but a fraction of yours, it's still generating surplus, which is returned to the manufacturers and importers! Theoretically that should allow them to adjust prices down, but the pessimist in me believes it rather goes straight into the bottomless pockets of the stock owners. The law dictates the organization (which is basically a cooperation effort by the involved business) must have a reserve fund that will ensure six months of continued recycling even if something happened to make the normal funding model crash.

I have nothing to complain about. When I took a year ago a big load of old electronics and devices from collecting dust in my corners to the free recycling center, it felt rather good. But unless you had no recycling whatsoever before your outrageous fee appeared, and thus it's all built from nothing, then it's clear somebody (or something, like the state) is embezzling. If it all goes to the right purpose, I'd imagine it will drop at some point. Another possibility is that it's a fixed amount, not progressive like our. I believe that the more expensive and bigger the device you get here, the more the fee will be. According to some source I spotted the max is 25 euros. Perhaps if you buy some 3000 euros mammoth TV, the fee is up to 25€ for it.

[fahoumh]

Now matter how the system works, it's obvious the end users will pay - ultimately it's always the consumers. After your post I read a bit about the situation over here and interestingly enough it looks like that even though our fee is but a fraction of yours, it's still generating surplus, which is returned to the manufacturers and importers! Theoretically that should allow them to adjust prices down, but the pessimist in me believes it rather goes straight into the bottomless pockets of the stock owners. The law dictates the organization (which is basically a cooperation effort by the involved business) must have a reserve fund that will ensure six months of continued recycling even if something happened to make the normal funding model crash.

I have nothing to complain about. When I took a year ago a big load of old electronics and devices from collecting dust in my corners to the free recycling center, it felt rather good. But unless you had no recycling whatsoever before your outrageous fee appeared, and thus it's all built from nothing, then it's clear somebody (or something, like the state) is embezzling. If it all goes to the right purpose, I'd imagine it will drop at some point. Another possibility is that it's a fixed amount, not progressive like our. I believe that the more expensive and bigger the device you get here, the more the fee will be. According to some source I spotted the max is 25 euros. Perhaps if you buy some 3000 euros mammoth TV, the fee is up to 25€ for it.
Our province is running a substantial deficit and it's not like we're paying any less taxes. It's clear as day that public money is grossly mismanaged: stolen by corrupt politicians for personal use, poorly invested, given to large corporations and banks in the form of ridiculous subsidies and tax breaks (I guess the billions of dollars in NET profits are never enough). Corruption in politics is nothing new and will never change; there have been several politicians recently who got caught using public money for their own purposes and you know what happened? Nothing. They supposedly gave the money back, apologized and continued going about their business. Meanwhile, anyone else who gets caught stealing gets charged, even if they give what they stole back. Politicians have ZERO accountability here. But I'm going off on a rant here, so I'll just stop now.

I have recycled 3 or 4 old computers but nothing substantial. Old televisions have been left outside and collected by people who drive around neighbourhoods picking up recyclable or reusable waste.

[enkoujin]

Mail-in-rebates (MIR) - specifically, the most recent types of mail-in-rebates.

I purchased an ASUS product today that has a mail-in-rebate sale. I thought it was innocent enough until I realized the ingenuity involved with MIRs. It brings price discrimination to a whole new level. It tricks the consumer into thinking that a product is on sale, which encourages greater sales. You have to pay full price for an item you might not have otherwise bought if there wasn't a special going on. Then, the consumer has to take the time to register for the rebate online, print off the form, copy the receipt, and cut out the UPC, pay postage, and wait for a few weeks (excluding first-class shipping) to get what was offered a month ago.

Meanwhile, the retailer benefits from making a sale on a regular-priced item (full taxes too!), and the manufacturers count on the laziness of consumers to not send in the MIR. When I considered all the work involved for the $10 MIR, I thought I was wasting a lot of my time and effort, but my pride didn't allow the system to game me.

But then, it did.

The MIR I'll be getting back is through an Amex gift card instead of a check (no other choice)... I thought this was ridiculous. These MIRs are like a chain reaction - the expenditures for these products create more expenditures when you get a rebate. Now I'll have this extra piece of flimsy plastic to engage in more transactions where companies can make more money off of my purchases. Can't I just get a check and save my money that I was supposed to be promised in the transaction? What happened to the concept of saving money? Isn't that one of the main reasons why the economy turned to shit in 2008?

tl;dr:The capitalist system gamed me today through MIRs and I don't like it.

EDIT: Just realized that MIRs can be abused by company refunds with original receipts, inflation creeps up to you while you're waiting to get your money back, and the manufacturers have my personal information. They are truly one of the most underrated evils of our markets and I'm pledging to boycott all products with MIRs in the future.

[Buffalobiian]

More accurately, the problem wasn't so much that people weren't saving money, but were borrowing money that they couldn't pay back (and institutions allowed such borrowing) right?

I haven't heard of these mail-in-rebates before, but they sound like a point system / loyalty-card system, except you have to work for it.

[enkoujin]

More accurately, the problem wasn't so much that people weren't saving money, but were borrowing money that they couldn't pay back (and institutions allowed such borrowing) right?

You're definitely right - I really went off tangent on the issue.


I haven't heard of these mail-in-rebates before, but they sound like a point system / loyalty-card system, except you have to work for it.

Pretty much - leverage is definitely more on the retailer and manufacturer's side with this system in place.

[Animeniax]

You shouldn't look at it like the MIR is the only reason you made the purchase. Is the product worth the price paid (ie full market price)? If yes, then the MIR is icing. If the product isn't worth the price, then don't buy it.

I know MIRs are mostly a scam, similar to gift cards, where the retailer/manufacturer relies on peoples' laziness to recoup costs or make profit. That falls back on consumers to not discard gift cards and to follow up on MIRs. If it's not worth your effort for the $10 MIR, then the product must be worth full price.

[Buffalobiian]

I suppose the trick is that with rebates they can announce that the item is now $$ after rebate, giving the illusion that you're saving on the current product, while the point system makes the need for a future purchase to realise the saving more obvious. Putting a monetary value on the saving also makes it more concrete than earning "points".

Well done to marketing..

[Kraco]

I occasionally see those rebates on some products (though they are vastly more uncommon here than they seem to be in the USA) , but I have never bought any product that happened to have it active, so I never knew how troublesome they could be to cash in. Although I imagine it could also depend on the company you are dealing with.

[Buffalobiian]

I hope I never have to see one, ever. All the rebates here are done in-shop, at the cash register.

[Kraco]

I hope I never have to see one, ever. All the rebates here are done in-shop, at the cash register.

That's strange. You'd think the likes of Canon or Microsoft, for example, had the same system everywhere since the same products are sold everywhere. Maybe your national laws forbid such rebates?

[Buffalobiian]

That's strange. You'd think the likes of Canon or Microsoft, for example, had the same system everywhere since the same products are sold everywhere. Maybe your national laws forbid such rebates?

I just did a quick search and someone's bought a monitor at an Australian shop that involved an Acer MIR, so I presume it's legal. I've just never seen one advertised. If they're unadvertised, then I never bought something that had MIR. Mandatory online registration for warranty services is the worst I've had to deal with in this regard. It sucked when I didn't have the box anymore for my mobo, but required the serial number to contact technical support to ask about 3-4TB HDD support.

[Ryllharu]

Tree falls on powerlines across the street, snaps the power lines. Was without power for 7 hours, but because it was in the high 80s (~30C) and my house was correspondingly quite warm, I lost everything in the fridge and freezer, except for the mustard and soy sauce.

3rd time in just about a year (edit: that I've lost the contents of my fridge and freezer).

[Kraco]

7 hours because of such a thing? The local electricity company surely saw no need to hurry, huh?

[Ryllharu]

Nah, the line crews were on the scene within the hour. It was just a nasty fix because the tree was still on top of all the other lines that hang from telephone poles.

[shinta|hikari]

That sucks. You should have just eaten the stuff in your fridge, and cooked the stuff in your freezer.

[Ryllharu]

It was dusk when it happened, I was already full.

It was a large garbage bag worth of food, I doubt I could have consumed it all even if I hadn't already eaten.

[Kraco]

You should have cooked all you could and taken much of it to the repair crew. Maybe that would have made them work faster.

[shinta|hikari]

Cooking the frozen food after it defrosts would make it last longer, then you could have just popped it back in the fridge once the power is up. Doing this could have saved at least some of the food.

Some cooking methods are also great at preserving food, especially once that have salt/soy sauce, sugar, and maybe vinegar.

[Animeniax]

I'm surprised the food couldn't stay frozen or at least be thawed but fresh enough to cook over the next few days. If you keep the door closed on a freezer without power, the contents should retain enough chill to survive 7 hours.

[Buffalobiian]

I'm surprised the food couldn't stay frozen or at least be thawed but fresh enough to cook over the next few days. If you keep the door closed on a freezer without power, the contents should retain enough chill to survive 7 hours.

Yeah, I'm pretty surprised too. I would have thought the food would last that amount of time.


Some cooking methods are also great at preserving food, especially once that have salt/soy sauce, sugar, and maybe vinegar.

Is it common to have gas stoves in the US? I've got electric, though I do have a gas cooker. I suppose a BBQ would have done the job too..

I had a power failure a few months ago for around 10hrs. The food was fine, but it wasn't 30C.

[Sapphire]

What about getting a cooler or being all manly and setting up a backup generator?


You should have cooked all you could and taken much of it to the repair crew. Maybe that would have made them work faster.

Yeah when I was a kid we gave a gift basket to the people who were doing our lawn (we were renting, so auto-maintenance). It made us happy to see them take a break and munch on our goodies. :D :D <3

[shinta|hikari]

Sorry for being in a country where gas stoves are default and we do not have electric anything...

30 degrees C, LOL. I actually hope for days like that recently.

[Animeniax]

What about getting a cooler or being all manly and setting up a backup generator?



Yeah when I was a kid we gave a gift basket to the people who were doing our lawn (we were renting, so auto-maintenance). It made us happy to see them take a break and munch on our goodies. :D :D <3

I keep meaning to get a gas generator for emergencies but I live in central Texas where the only natural disasters are brush fires and drought so it'd be kind of pointless. From the sounds of it Ryllharu would be well served to have a generator on hand.

[Buffalobiian]

One good thing about electric stoves (prolly the only good thing, tbh) is that I can flip the main power switch off for stoves before I leave the house and have the comfort of knowing I won't burn down the house.


Yeah when I was a kid we gave a gift basket to the people who were doing our lawn (we were renting, so auto-maintenance). It made us happy to see them take a break and munch on our goodies. <3

Has.. that got anything to do with having a tipping culture? The "treat them extra nice on top of their pay" idea?

[Sapphire]

No, just a pure act of compassion for others. We had one prepared already, we got the idea from our neighbors giving us one when we moved in.

[Ryllharu]

The interior of my house was 83°F (28.3C) last night because I have shitty A/C units and it's been disgustingly humid the past two weeks (so I can't open the place up at night).

Normally, food would last more than 7 hours. But all the food in my fridge was over 54°F for longer than two hours, so all the dairy and meat went out. I was able to keep some fruits because they don't really need to be refrigerated anyway.

The rule is over 40F or under 130F (http://www.cdc.gov/Features/dsFoodborneIllness/) to prevent microbial growth and not all foods are irradiated. This is why people get sick at outdoor events or office parties. Food can't be sold if it is within that range for 30 minutes or more. It's also why I never eat fish at buffets, and never eat uncooked shellfish (or someone's homemade sushi).

I wasn't about to go on a cooking flurry at 9pm-Midnight with a propane grill outside. Also, once I cook the food, I put it back into the already warm fridge and freezer?! That's not going to help the few things I didn't lose cool back down.

Lastly, you're also not supposed to bother the line crews. They don't work any faster than they already are.


Edit 2: Yes I need a generator. No I haven't bought one yet.

[KrayZ33]

what kind of freezer can't hold food cold for around a day or so without power? depending on how well you filled out the empty spaces of course

you should buy a new one, probably going to save money in a few years too

[David75]

Dad's birthday. I plan on replacing his old iPhone 4 phone that is showing signs of exhaustion.
Since iPhones are way too expensive and I hat the iPhone 5, I decided now would be the right time to switch him to the android world.
Why now? Because Orange just out a new version of visual voicemail that integrates well in the call history.
Since my dad is a tech noob to the core, he uses a smartphone as a phone, so visual voicemail really is a key feature, not having it is like having a piece of crap.

So I carefully check specs on many smartphones, check they all have android 4.2 for visual voicemail integration.
I get a Liquid E2 from acer, nice build, screen, reasonnably fast and fair priced.
The only problem is that visual voicemail doesn't work on it!!!

Now I'll have to wait God know when for an update either from Acer or Orange (or both...)

Why is that Google smart guys never ever forced visual voicemail solutions. They've had the api for years, but no one cares... go figure.

So now I have a piece of crap to offer as a birthday present, great.

[Buffalobiian]

I also purchased an android phone a while ago for one specific feature, where after purchase the feature didn't work properly. Luckily it wasn't for a present, and it costed $100 only.

edit: actually.. I might root it with cyanogenmod to see if that fixes it. Would rooting work in your case David?

[Kraco]

I get a Liquid E2 from acer, nice build, screen, reasonnably fast and fair priced.


When you get anything from Acer, it's guaranteed a feature or two will not work.

[Animeniax]

Acer has a pretty poor reputation as an electronics/computer company. I would personally never buy or recommend it to anyone.

[David75]

CWM, root and SDcard partition switch already done, no change. My guess is the dialer is different from the nexus, or they got rid of some APis that did not work and/or were taking space by their standards... since after all there's only 4G of user+system space.

There's no custom rom available yet, and the present is tomorrow. I could always change the rom later, but no visual voicemail till then.

Regarding Acer, well I knew for laptops at least, a long time ago. That device is rather good, just that tiny software feature that doesn't work and jutifies my posting here ;)

[Dark Dragon]

It's almost 11 PM and it's still 100 F outside.

[Dark Dragon]

Right after the Treyvon-Zimmerman verdict, a bunch of idiots here in Houston decided that it was a good idea to completely block a highway in protest. I was unfortunate enough to be on that highway during the protest, so that resulted in my being an hour late to a meeting with a client. I had to wake up at 6 am today, my first day off in 2 weeks to do a reschedule meeting with said client.

[Animeniax]

It's almost 11 PM and it's still 100 F outside.

Is it humid too? Houston weather sux.

[Dark Dragon]

Houston is always humid.

[Animeniax]

Nah, not always. As much as we bitch about the weather, it's not enough to make us move to a nicer area.

[enkoujin]

Tutoring my friend Calculus 1 for free, I realized I never want to be a tutor or even a professor anymore.

My friend

Is doing this transfer course from a community college so it's much, much easier than the university one
Got a huge extension to do this course (meant to be done in four months, but he paid the school to get an extension of an extra four months)
Has been doing nothing for the last three months after the winter semester ended (just weekend part-time work)
Doesn't come prepared with proper supplies (shitty pencil, no eraser, little paper)
Refuses to buy the aforementioned supplies even though he has a job
Doesn't read or preview material before coming for help
Doesn't have basic arithmetic and algebra intuition (bringing shit to the other side)
Pretty much counted on me to "check" his assignment (i.e., doing the entire thing for him)
Depended on me to teach him this course in a single month (on his last month)
Had three full months to finish an assignment, but left it until the last 2 days to do it
Begged me to help him just now that he has yet to learn two huge concepts to finish an assignment due in three days
Claims he has depression, which is why he's doing so poorly in calculus, but fucking nothing is actually bothering him (good relationship with family, friends, etc.)
Doesn't quit his job when I tell him that passing this one essential course is more important than having beer money
Forgets concepts I teach him 15 minutes ago
Has tried every of our other friends for help, but I'm his last resort because the points above probably pissed everyone off too


Never had my blood boiling so hard with a friend before. Seriously, how do people like this even get into university? How do people not understand basic high school math? Math and basic calculus is all about following instructions. How do people fuck this shit up?

EDIT: I mean, if you at least come prepared with supplies, some idea of what you're about to learn, and don't have me on-call to tutor you ("I'll text you when I want to learn"), I wouldn't be too mad. I kind of want to see him fail this course (given all the resources he has exhausted) just to see how much of a fucking idiot he is, but... fuck.

[Buffalobiian]

Haha, I'm kinda guilty of the whole procrastinating bit, but I suppose I feel better that I don't ask people to fill in my gaps for me (I'll just die quietly by myself to get everything in order before the due date).

Don't write off tutoring/professoring just yet. You're doing it for free right now for a friend who doesn't even really want to do this course. Those who pay tuition would be the ones who actually want to get something out of it, so you'll get less of the shitty attitude. Those with rich parents might be paying tuition too, but if they don't want to do much, you won't have to either (and be reimbursed for your time in the same manner).

As a professor, those who haggle you should be the ones with with an interest in the field. The uninterested ones just shoot off after lectures for beer and cram textbooks/notes before exams.

And now if I hadn't started a video game yesterday, you would have just guilt-tripped me into doing pre-reading for tomorrow.

[enkoujin]

It's that if I ever became a professor, I fear I'll get students like these every year - the ones who are forced to take my courses and are just looking to scrape by, but have put in near-zero effort the entire semester.

I don't mind procrastination that much, but at least come prepared with supplies for a friend who is doing something for you for free. I probably wouldn't be complaining at all if I was getting paid.

[Death BOO Z]

you can try the same route that parents use to make sure their kids bring their supplies to school. make sure he gets brand notebooks and pens, so he'll want to show them off. tell him to import some super fan-service pages that have tentacle porn if you flip them fast enough.

[Sapphire]

So tell him your grievances and tell him what to do to succeed. Most likely you're going to have to spell everything out (ALL your requirements, having read material before hand, being prepared with questions/stationary etc.) and make a hardcore study plan schedule.

If he's depressed, he might just fail until he sticks to the schedule without exceptions. Nothing personal, that's just how depression+failing school works.

If he still doesn't do anything after all that, just bounce. You're not getting paid so you're not obligated to endure anything past being as clear as possible.

EDIT: Just saw your edit. lol, Don't even bother tutoring for free if you secretly resent him to the point of wanting to see him fail... It's just going to give you more reasons to be pissed.

But as a side note, helping someone when they're down is something that that person would never forget. Lord knows that I (and many others) wouldn't have succeeded at NYU if there weren't people to help me when I was being retarded or just plain needed help.

[Animeniax]

College just isn't for everyone, especially in your late teens early twenties. If he can't concentrate or commit to learning, he's probably got his mind on other things that he needs to resolve before he can pursue a degree. Tell him to quit wasting his time and yours and go do something else.

I'm with you though, I've always thought it would be cool to be a professor at university level. All those young hot impressionable babes in class, looking to you for guidance and to teach them how to be women. Plus I'd spend all class just talking about random shit that somehow applied to the lesson at hand. But really I haven't found many college professors who enjoy what they do, probably because students are vacuous idjits who think more about sex, drinking, and spring break than the subject matters of the classes they are in.

[Sapphire]

Ani, how is it that you haven't gotten people to worship/obey you yet?!

[Ryllharu]

I'm with you though, I've always thought it would be cool to be a professor at university level. All those young hot impressionable babes in class, looking to you for guidance and to teach them how to be women. Plus I'd spend all class just talking about random shit that somehow applied to the lesson at hand. But really I haven't found many college professors who enjoy what they do, probably because students are vacuous idjits who think more about sex, drinking, and spring break than the subject matters of the classes they are in.
Wow, you could not be more of a douchebag if you tried. But I bet this post will be defended as "ironic sarcasm."

I mean, holy shit, this whole thing amounts to, "I would request that every girl I would actually consider marginally attractive who came for office hours to suck my unwashed penis for help," and "Nor would I actually be qualified to teach anything, thus requiring more students to come to me to seek 'extra credit' while pretending to be a 'cool' teacher right out of Saved by the Bell or a TGIF Sitcom."

And here I thought this was Gotwoot, not Penthouse Forums.

[Animeniax]

Wow, you could not be more of a douchebag if you tried. But I bet this post will be defended as "ironic sarcasm."

I could if my name was Ryllharu and I went around with a holier than thou complex and took shit on the internet way too seriously.


Ani, how is it that you haven't gotten people to worship/obey you yet?!I don't really want to be worshipped or obeyed, just to give my 2 cents and for people to factor it in when considering their situation.

[Dark Dragon]

You guys should consider making a thread in the flame pit title "Shit Animeniax says" and just bitch about him there. This was amusing the first 50 times or so that it was done, but at this point this is leaking into every damn thread he post in.

Just consider it, since i know you guys love the attention and it's impossible for everyone who hate Animeniax to just put him on ignore. Then again, bitching about Animeniax is like half the activity on this forum, so that might just effectively kills this place.

[Ryllharu]

Animeniax effectively kills this place. You cannot make a post in a general thread without him shitposting his two cents, regardless of lack of qualifications, experience, or knowledge on any given topic.

[Buffalobiian]

Just play the ball, not the person. As for the above posts, let's just stop there. (Feel free to continue in the pit)

I spent at least 1hr trying on these two pants over and over again today at the shops. The "Straight Leg" wasn't as form-fitting as I'd like, while the "Skinny" was too shrink-wrap around the calves to look comfortable for semi-professional wear. There was another pair that was right in the middle (ie perfect fit), but didn't come in the colour I was after and also costed twice as much.

Oh, and all of the above were around an inch too long at the hem, and tailors cost shitloads in Australia. I might get a friend to teach me how to take them up so I can do them in the future myself. I was good at textiles in junior highschool, but I can't remember any of it. I made shorts, so the hem-sewing part must have been part of the course somewhere.

[shinta|hikari]

How much does it cost to have pants cut in Australia? Here it costs about .50 USD in the tailoring area within the department store itself.

[Buffalobiian]

I had a place in Hong Kong that would do it for free if I bought the pants from there. The cheapest I've found in Australia is around $15 per pair of pants. The usual mark from other places I've rang seemed to be between 18-21AUD.

[Animeniax]

Animeniax effectively kills this place. You cannot make a post in a general thread without him shitposting his two cents, regardless of lack of qualifications, experience, or knowledge on any given topic.

Yeah it has nothing to do with idiots like you and ds who just have to comment with their shitposts in reply to innocuous statements. The current topic of enkoujin's tutoring experience was going fine until you showed up. Your snarky ahole comments stifle discussion and discourage others from posting because it will end up with a post war. It doesn't discourage me though.


I had a place in Hong Kong that would do it for free if I bought the pants from there. The cheapest I've found in Australia is around $15 per pair of pants. The usual mark from other places I've rang seemed to be between 18-21AUD.Surprising that tailoring is so expensive there considering the demographics. In the states there are Asian tailor/laundry shops on every corner next to the liquor store and convenience store.

[Buffalobiian]

Formal warning: stay on topic* and do not continue the exchange here. PM me if you don't know what this means.

(*Bitching about other people's posts doesn't count)


edit: report problematic posts.

[enkoujin]

There are plenty of resources available to help teach you how to hem with and without sewing (these are the most popular ones on Youtube):


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7U2otZTH30E

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TapI-ZZMpKY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrA2yPrMlkw

eHow: http://www.ehow.com/how_10856_hem-pants.html

Honestly, I don't even know how the Australian economy stays functional with such a high minimum wage. Over here, it probably only costs $5-10 CAD to hem a pair of pants - at a regular store. If you pay someone to informally do it, it's more like $3 CAD/pants. Definitely something I'm going to look into.

EDIT: $1 CAD ~= $1 USD

[Animeniax]

Honestly, I don't even know how the Australian economy stays functional with such a high minimum wage. Over here, it probably only costs $5-10 CAD to hem a pair of pants - at a regular store. If you pay someone to informally do it, it's more like $3 CAD/pants. Definitely something I'm going to look into.

There are fast food workers in the US who are on strike looking for $15/hr. Are people really that dumb? If fast food workers get $15/hr then where's the motivation to do anything else with their lives than be a fast food worker? You'd have to pay other low skilled laborers more money, or raise prices on products, then have to pay others more to be able to afford those prices, so the fast food laborers are back at square one.

[Sapphire]

Formal warning: stay on topic* and do not continue the exchange here. PM me if you don't know what this means.

(*Bitching about other people's posts doesn't count)


edit: report problematic posts.

Psht, this is the perfect place to bitch about others (in here)!

[David75]

You mean like an extension of the Flame Pit?

[enkoujin]

There are fast food workers in the US who are on strike looking for $15/hr. Are people really that dumb? If fast food workers get $15/hr then where's the motivation to do anything else with their lives than be a fast food worker? You'd have to pay other low skilled laborers more money, or raise prices on products, then have to pay others more to be able to afford those prices, so the fast food laborers are back at square one.

You're right. From my understanding of junior macroeconomics, one problem is that even if you do increase the minimum wage, you're probably subjecting your society to two mechanisms: long term inflation (positive/negative depends on society) and structural unemployment. As businesses seek cheaper labour, this would result in greater law evasion by increased migrant workers to meet labour demand or outsourcing work, which result in greater loss of domestic jobs.

Of course, I haven't taken senior economics, which probably places greater emphasis on mitigating negative externalities through government intervention, so I'm incorrectly oversimplifying the issue.

This reminds me that high schools should incorporate basic micro and macroeconomics into the curriculum.

[Animeniax]

You're right. From my understanding of junior macroeconomics, one problem is that even if you do increase the minimum wage, you're probably subjecting your society to two mechanisms: long term inflation (positive/negative depends on society) and structural unemployment. As businesses seek cheaper labour, this would result in greater law evasion by increased migrant workers to meet labour demand or outsourcing work, which result in greater loss of domestic jobs.

Of course, I haven't taken senior economics, which probably places greater emphasis on mitigating negative externalities through government intervention, so I'm incorrectly oversimplifying the issue.

This reminds me that high schools should incorporate basic micro and macroeconomics into the curriculum.
It's fairly simple if you think about it. Pay workers for the job they have. If they want more money, they have to increase their skill set. Don't expect more money for doing the same job (outside of COLA or merit increases). If these fast food workers strike, there are plenty of people who will take the jobs at minimum wage. Or heaven forbid, some of these fast food places close down and people eat healthier.

[Ryllharu]

This reminds me that high schools should incorporate basic micro and macroeconomics into the curriculum.There have been a number of pushes to force a class into the national curricula that amounts to, "How to Survive After Leaving Highschool." Unfortunately, most of the proposals don't go anywhere.

Really basic stuff that most people have to learn the hard way, like:
- Pay your bills on time. Why? Your credit rating.
- What's a credit rating and why you want an awesome one.
- What you need to apply for loans/mortgages.
- Why you want to have a household budget.
- What is a retirement fund? What's the difference between an IRA and a Roth IRA?
- If you need help, where you can go to ask for it, and no, it isn't something worth being embarrassed about.

A small number of Universities have this as a required course for Seniors, or the ones that don't have it as a strict requirement have them filled instantly. All of them should have it, even if it is just like a once a week course.

It really should be required learning for anyone exiting at a given level of education, probably high school.

[Animeniax]

Needed some Arctic Silver 5, but I didn't want to order it online and have to wait at least 3 days for it to arrive. It's hard to find at local stores in Austin. I found it at a Radio Shack but it's repackaged in Radio Shack packaging and they charge $13+tax for the same 3.5g that costs $8 at Newegg.

[Dark Dragon]

See if you can find Shin Etsu.

I generally gets much better results with it compares to Arctic Silver and i get them for pretty cheap here in houston (4-6$).

Hell, the reason you probably have a hard time finding it is because AC5 is old and outdated. I haven't looked at the exact names but i know there's a few new brands that outperforms it.

Edit: This is slightly old (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?232141-Review-Indigo-Xtreme-vs.-AS5-MX-2-IC-Diamond-Shin-Etsu-X23-7783D), but it should be relevant since these are the brands that i see comes up often.

[Buffalobiian]

The policy in Australia for some time now has been to maintain an inflation rate of 2-3%p.a.for a healthy amount of growth. Wage increases should at least match inflation or else workers are really getting poorer.

I've got some old thermal paste in my drawer and I have no idea how good it is. I sure wouldn't want to fry a cpu.

[Dark Dragon]

Let me know the name and approx how long ago you got it and i can probably tell you.

[Kraco]

Based on what I've read about thermal pastes the only major difference of real relevance between them is that some unlucky ones turn to dust in a number of years, losing their effectiveness, whereas the luckier ones remain more like they were long enough for the computer to be scrapped in any case. Otherwise the performance differences, as long as we talk about decent stuff, probably fall below the differences caused by the skills of the person installing the cooler (too much/too little or uneven).

But since building a computer is essentially selecting components that suit your tastes and otherwise amuse you, naturally a thermal paste, should you go for a custom one, is just like any other component. I have actually never bought any. I have only used the ones that came with the components, and I never needed to reinstall them so the factory paste has been enough.

[Dark Dragon]

That's partially true. The thing that you look for most in Thermal paste is curing time, essentially anything that reach peak performance within a week is good to go.

This only really matters for people that want power with a fully decked out computers that it's absolutely necessary for the paste to reduce as much heat as possible. For pretty much everyone else though, most paste will do just fine.

[Animeniax]

See if you can find Shin Etsu.

I generally gets much better results with it compares to Arctic Silver and i get them for pretty cheap here in houston (4-6$).

Hell, the reason you probably have a hard time finding it is because AC5 is old and outdated. I haven't looked at the exact names but i know there's a few new brands that outperforms it.

Edit: This is slightly old (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?232141-Review-Indigo-Xtreme-vs.-AS5-MX-2-IC-Diamond-Shin-Etsu-X23-7783D), but it should be relevant since these are the brands that i see comes up often.
I went to a Fry's here in Austin and they don't carry Arctic Silver 5 but they do have the Shin-etsu TIM. I'd never heard of Shin-etsu before so I didn't want to risk it. I'll check out the articles and maybe return the AS5 and go back to Fry's for the Shin-etsu. Thanks for the info.

I wonder about the importance of curing times. I'm not one of these guys who builds a PC and then immediate torture tests it for 24 hours.


@Buff: I had 2 year old tubes of AS5 and some Tuniq TIM and they were both solidified and unusable. They were both capped and stored at 80F room temp. If your thermal paste is still smooth flowing and consistent then it should be fine to use.

[Buffalobiian]

@Kraco: What I was questioning was whether the tube of paste was still usable for further installations, not whether the paste on my chip right now is becoming bad.
Let me know the name and approx how long ago you got it and i can probably tell you.

Thermalright Chillfactor. It came with my Thermalright HR-01 Plus heatsink that I bought in 2009.

@Ani: I've read that the key is to store the tube upside-down so no air gets in. I haven't been doing that to mine. I guess I'll find out next time I have to use it.

[Animeniax]

If it's from 2009 then it's most likely toast. I'd order a new tube with your next CPU or motherboard purchase, which I should have done to save myself a few days wait and two trips to the store.

[Dark Dragon]

@Buff That's a pretty good paste, but check the consistency before using. 4 years old is is not great depending on where you stored it, just careful and not use paste that has gone bad.

Most of the time, i'd rather just buy a new tube. There's no point trying to save 5-10$ if it could potentially damage your much more expensive CPU.

[Buffalobiian]

Some machines (speaker systems, in this case) just have horrible software menu designs.

Tip to future/current interface designers: If the system has a menu->settings option.. make sure ALL the options for the system are in there in some form. Don't leave L<-->R balance out of the entire settings config, only to make it available when you're playing a dvd/clip.

It makes it hell trying to troubleshoot why sound was missing from one speaker. People will play with every setting under the settings menu, only to learn that it doesn't actually contain all the settings.

I had a similar gripe a few years ago when everything decided that they wanted to use small icons instead of the traditional menu bars. Sure it saves space, but it also means that options are hidden and unavailable until you perform certain actions or changes. Drop-down menus gave you the ability to preview their options before investing into it.

[Animeniax]

I reapplied the TIM on my i7-930/Corsair H110 watercooler with MX-4 and now my temps are worse than with the stock TIM they pre-apply to the cooler block. Not only that but now my PC won't wake from sleep because the overclock fails and I have to go into the BIOS to reapply all the OC settings each time it tries and fails to wake from sleep.

FYI I only have the H110 in this system because of a logistics problem (it wouldn't fit in the case I got for the Z87 system I built).

[Buffalobiian]

I've personally never had better performance than the pre-applied TIM. I have no idea if it's because I use too much... or too little (or if there were air gaps). The pressure and mounting should have been right.

[Animeniax]

Well the stock TIM on the H110 is noted for being pretty high quality, so I was hesitant to use another compound. But I thought the temp on the stock TIM was a little high so I switched to MX-4. I might clean it off and reapply since there was a lot of movement when reinstalling the cooling block.

[Buffalobiian]

What do you guys use to clean? The locally available isopropyl alcohol is of the 60% antiseptic type, and I think it's got some other stuff in it. I think I might actually get acrylic paint thinner next time, once I make sure it's both alcohol and more pure.

[Kraco]

I have the factory thermal paste in place for my CPU water cooler, but I suspect I was too careless when installing the thing as my temps aren't really as low or consistent throughout all the cores as I would have expected. Especially since my previous machine had the exact same cooler and it displayed better results. Ivy Bridge apparently is a poor CPU for overclocking in general, which probably accounts for a part of my woes, but nonetheless it means that if I wanted to OC, I'd probably be wise to reinstall the cooler block. However, I haven't so far bothered to think about OCing and the CPU temps are still lower than many a traditional air cooler would offer, so I haven't done anything about it.


What do you guys use to clean? The locally available isopropyl alcohol is of the 60% antiseptic type, and I think it's got some other stuff in it. I think I might actually get acrylic paint thinner next time, once I make sure it's both alcohol and more pure.

I visited a whole bunch of hardware stores in this city until I finally managed to find a bottle of "pure" 99% isopropanol. It doesn't seem to have oil in it, which is the most important thing, obviously, after the fact it's not diluted. However, it's marketed as an anti-ice agent for cars (or other vehicles with an internal combustion engine and a fuel tank), so I doubt a scorching place like Australia would have it in store for that purpose... Apparently pharmacies can carry isopropanol as well, but I wanted to avoid them if possible. I don't know about your parts but over here a pharmacy would have such a huge profit margin even in super cheap stuff like isopropanol that it would make Intel's executives green with envy. I paid a really insignificant amount of money for a liter of the stuff in the hardware store.

[Animeniax]

I use Arctic Clean which is a 2 step process that removes old TIM and prepares the surface (probably just isopropyl alcohol for the 2nd part). Costs $6 for the 2 bottles.

@Kraco: I used to think that too, but it actually does get cold in parts of Australia. Maybe not Finland cold, but cold enough that they might need de-icing agents.

[ambulance]

Methylated spirits works ok, then do a final clean up with 100% isopropyl alcohol from Bunnings. Expensive as though. You can get isopropyl wipes off ebay for cheap which would probably work pretty good too

[Buffalobiian]

Methylated spirits works ok, then do a final clean up with 100% isopropyl alcohol from Bunnings. Expensive as though. You can get isopropyl wipes off ebay for cheap which would probably work pretty good too

Ah.. Bunnings, might have to pop over there sometime.

@Kraco: I mainly visited pharmacies for my searches, and that 60% antiseptic rubbing alcohol was all each and every one of them had.

It had a rather nasty reaction (dulled, weird looking finish) when I tried using it on one of my PVC figures once, that was a real bitch. I'm not sure if it was an additive inside besides the alcohol, or if it was that combined to something inside the can of compressed air I was also using. Luckily it isn't terribly noticeable from normal viewing angles.

[Kraco]

If it's antiseptic stuff, it might even have glycerin and/or some glycol compound for easier handling for the intended purpose. That's definitely something you don't want to have when you try to clean any surfaces (unintended purpose).

[Buffalobiian]

Hair cut today:

-asked for recommendations for hair type, none given. "It's up to you." really?
-hairdresser checked if length was okay after cutting.
-sides were uneven
-front was uneven
-no idea how the back looked because I was not offered a mirror
-rubbed product into hair before blowdrying/removing hair debris
-took towel/apron off without removing excess debris first, hair still stuck to face.
-skimped on promised shampoo+conditioner (though that's not uncommon here)

cost: 25AUD

They're not seeing me again.

[Kraco]

I reckon you just visited some runaway posing as a hairdresser, not a real one.

[enkoujin]

Have you ever considered cutting your own hair? You have better control of what you want your hair to look like and spend just as much time and effort booking an appointment and sitting at a hair salon than it would if you cut your own hair at home if you get good enough.

[shinta|hikari]

-sides were uneven
-front was uneven
-rubbed product into hair before blowdrying/removing hair debris
cost: 25AUD


These 4 reasons would have caused me to smack the hairdresser.

[Buffalobiian]

Have you ever considered cutting your own hair? You have better control of what you want your hair to look like and spend just as much time and effort booking an appointment and sitting at a hair salon than it would if you cut your own hair at home if you get good enough.

Haven't tried doing that ever since a read a book that said a barber can't cut his own hair (properly). Maybe I'll give it a go if an internet guide makes me confident enough, but it's unlikely. I go for walk-in appointments anyway since they usually have time. Maybe the problem is that I need to find a place that requires booked appointments..

She was pretty horrible. Either she really didn't give a shit, or she's in training without supervision. Nah, I think she just didn't give a shit. Students without training have this "shit, am I doing it right?" mentality rather than a "screw it" one.

[Animeniax]

Is it the usual place you go to get your hair cut? Maybe she was just having a bad day.

You're not one of these guys who is a slob but somehow is very particular about some frivolous shit? If you're a fat, smelly, unkempt p.o.s. but then you request/expect meticulous treatment in one aspect (such as your hair), then don't be surprised when the barber doesn't take you seriously and half-asses the service.

[shinta|hikari]

There is no excuse for bad service. If your mother died, skip work.

It's funny how you blame the customer though.

[Buffalobiian]

Is it the usual place you go to get your hair cut? Maybe she was just having a bad day.

You're not one of these guys who is a slob but somehow is very particular about some frivolous shit? If you're a fat, smelly, unkempt p.o.s. but then you request/expect meticulous treatment in one aspect (such as your hair), then don't be surprised when the barber doesn't take you seriously and half-asses the service.

I shop around a bit. I've never been to this place before, though in the past I've visited another branch.

The only thing remotely "slobbish" was that I left my hair undressed (ie not styled with product) to make their cutting easier.

I'm an easy customer, perhaps she thought I was one too and acted accordingly.

The one good thing about it was that it was fast. I was probably in and out in 10 minutes.

[Animeniax]

There is no excuse for bad service. If your mother died, skip work.

It's funny how you blame the customer though.
Of course there is. I've been in customer service roles for over a decade and people get what they give. It doesn't have to be a tragic event to ruin your day or put you in a bad mood. Particularly if it's the customer himself/herself who does it. The customer is not always right, shit most of the time they don't even know what they want.


I shop around a bit. I've never been to this place before, though in the past I've visited another branch.

The only thing remotely "slobbish" was that I left my hair undressed (ie not styled with product) to make their cutting easier.

I'm an easy customer, perhaps she thought I was one too and acted accordingly.

The one good thing about it was that it was fast. I was probably in and out in 10 minutes.Well for 25AUD I don't think speed is something you'd want when getting a haircut.

It's funny but my dad has the same problem. He is too nice to people who are supposed to serve him, and he gets shat on accordingly. Take for example when he hires day laborers. He treats them like people and even helps them do the work. Consequently they slack off and do a shit job. You have to put the hammer down and treat them like you own them or they will turn on you.

In your case I'd go back to the salon and talk to the manager to get your hair cut the way you want for free to make up for the shitty service. If you're not comfortable doing that, do it anyway but then at least make sure you go on a day that the person who cut your hair before isn't there.

And as for haircuts, shopping around isn't a good idea. Find one shop you like and keep going back to them so you can get a consistent cut. No-brainer I'm sure but sometimes it needs to be said.

[shinta|hikari]

Excuses are for those who believe they are entitled to them. I am not saying they should be executed. However, they should own up and admit to their faults, and face proper consequences. Just because you had a bad day does not allow you to ruin someone's hair, which in some cases ruin their image/status/reputation/self esteem.

[Animeniax]

Not sure what you mean with the excuses part. But there are excuses and then there are reasons. Trying to hold people accountable for acting shitty is laudable but laughable too. People act shitty all the time and they are rarely made to admit it or face consequences. In buff's case, he can make the stylist own up to it by talking to the manager.

I think you put too much stock in a haircut if it can "ruin" your life from one bad haircut. It's hair, it grows back.

[shinta|hikari]

From what I have seen from my stays in the US, I fully understand how you underestimate how a horrible haircut can affect a person. Cultural differences, I believe. I once cut my own hair over there, and it was pretty crooked, but no one even noticed, or they were polite enough to ignore it.

Over here, I know some people who have skipped weeks of school because they are afraid they would be bullied because of a failed haircut. Also, just imagine attending a meeting with upper management or a presentation in front of the board of directors with a blatantly uneven haircut.

Once you equate laudable with laughable, it is hopeless. Just because everyone is an ass does not make them correct.

[Animeniax]

There are plenty of things that are laudable but laughable, like seeking world peace or trying to end hunger. The thought is nice, but ridiculously unrealistic.

I don't know where you are from, but it must be a much more homogeneous society where something that stands out makes you a target because you don't conform. So I imagine you're in southeast Asia. In the US, people have such wacky personal styles and lifestyles that a bad haircut doesn't matter. It might even be taken for daring or fashionable.

[Sapphire]

Are we excluding elementary school? A couple people gave me shit for not maintaining, back in the day.

Though I was far too self-absorbed to really notice.

YAY, RECESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Ryllharu]

I've been going to the same hairdresser for 20+ years (i.e. longer than I can remember). Follow her from business to business as necessary (three times).


I shop around a bit. I've never been to this place before, though in the past I've visited another branch.Sounds like someone was looking for someone with good boobs they could go to regularly.

Protip: Don't go to Cost Cutters or Australian equivalent. You're not saving anything, and the haircut is always bad.

[Edort4]

How much do you guys pay for your hair cuts? In my city any hairdresser that doesnt look like a workshop is fking expensive even for the most easy jobs.

[Ryllharu]

I pay about 21 USD including the tip (which is a good one). It takes 15-20 minutes. To contrast Buff, I actually don't even look at it when it's done. I know it's good. Guess why I've stuck with the same person for 20 years...

It pays not to live in cities. :D

edit: To be fair, the younger hairdressers at the place are just as good at it (gone to them when the regular one has been on vacation or whatever). Both of the vocational tech high schools in the area have good beautician programs.

[Animeniax]

I've found a great Iranian woman at a local Supercuts, but they now charge you $2 for the "special request" of asking for the same person to cut your hair. What a crock. The haircut is $14 but I always have a coupon, so $15 with tip.

[shinta|hikari]

I usually pay around 6 USD, and that is more on the expensive end because I have had terrible experiences with cheaper haircuts.

The cheapest one I have gotten is .40 USD.

[Buffalobiian]

In your case I'd go back to the salon and talk to the manager to get your hair cut the way you want for free to make up for the shitty service.

Haha, that would be an option if I actually had any hair left for them to cut. I just trimmed a bit from the front and sides at home in front of a mirror to at least make things symmetrical.


And as for haircuts, shopping around isn't a good idea. Find one shop you like and keep going back to them so you can get a consistent cut. No-brainer I'm sure but sometimes it needs to be said.


I've been going to the same hairdresser for 20+ years (i.e. longer than I can remember). Follow her from business to business as necessary (three times).
Sounds like someone was looking for someone with good boobs they could go to regularly.

It'd be good if I found a good hairdresser, as well as good boobs. Sadly neither is the case (but mainly because #1 is not the case. Boobs are actually easily found), which is why I'm going from place to place. There's one guy who is cheap and also decent-ish who I've visited twice, but the second time wasn't as good as the first (and I went to another hairdresser in between), which made me think that his performance was either variable, or it depended on how my hair looked as I walked in.

Maybe I need to do the opposite of Ryll and actually go in to the city and find places there. You know.. a place where I have to book in a week in advance and stuff, as opposed to just walking in and getting whoever.

Normally the case is that they're "alright" but not great. It's only this one who was terrible.

Anyway, I did fix it somewhat with a mirror. The rest I make up for with badassery.

[Sapphire]

Wow, do you just want to stare at/be pressed against boobies when you get haircuts?!?

[shinta|hikari]

Why the hell would anyone want to do that?!? The value of boobs is in the lack thereof.

[Buffalobiian]

Wow, do you just want to stare at/be pressed against boobies when you get haircuts?!?

No, I want a good haircut. Boobs was a joke. I actually wonder if a guy would understand male styling sense better or not. No matter how well (or unwell) the hairdresser cuts my hair, they've always had a horrible styling sense with products. :S

[shinta|hikari]

My best hairdressers were gay guys. They were a lot more detail oriented and stylish than the straight women and men.

[Sapphire]

No, I want a good haircut. Boobs was a joke. I actually wonder if a guy would understand male styling sense better or not. No matter how well (or unwell) the hairdresser cuts my hair, they've always had a horrible styling sense with products. :S

You should get your hair braided. Then you get to be pressed in between legs.

(!!!!)

[EpyonNext]

One of the things I hate most about changing duty stations(moving to a different military base) is finding a place to get a decent fade done. It's such a simple haircut, but everyone seems to be an expert at fucking it up.

[Animeniax]

If you were stationed overseas you could be lucky and get a flip barber at the PX. Those guys can cut hair.

[Assertn]

my wiiu died, so I lost 8 years worth of saved game data. Shitty.

[Animeniax]

my wiiu died, so I lost 8 years worth of saved game data. Shitty.

I'd be surprised if you couldn't pull the storage device and get it to read on a PC.

[Assertn]

I'd be surprised if you couldn't pull the storage device and get it to read on a PC.

Well, it was probably the hard drive itself that died, because it would freeze whenever I tried doing anything past the main menu.

[Animeniax]

Even better, though the file structure for the Wii may be different from Windows or Mac which would complicate things. If the system boots before it freezes, and the OS is stored on the drive, that's a good sign that it's just file corruption and not hardware failure. There are tricks to pulling data from a crapped HDD (unless it's clicking in which case it's toast). You can try freezing the drive in a sealed plastic bag, or installing the drive in an external enclosure. Good luck.

[Assertn]

Even better, though the file structure for the Wii may be different from Windows or Mac which would complicate things. If the system boots before it freezes, and the OS is stored on the drive, that's a good sign that it's just file corruption and not hardware failure. There are tricks to pulling data from a crapped HDD (unless it's clicking in which case it's toast). You can try freezing the drive in a sealed plastic bag, or installing the drive in an external enclosure. Good luck.
It's irrelevant, anyway. I already sent my wiiu to nintendo support to repair it, and they sent it back with it wiped.

[Carnage]

How is the wiiu in anycase? Worth the $300? Only games I'll bother playing on it is the next smash bros, zelda, and mariokart. I'm hoping the price drops another $50 but its probably wishful thinking.

[woofcat]

I bought a WiiU and have only played Wii games on it so far. However I am the anti-gamer.

[Assertn]

How is the wiiu in anycase? Worth the $300? Only games I'll bother playing on it is the next smash bros, zelda, and mariokart. I'm hoping the price drops another $50 but its probably wishful thinking.

It's fun, the Nintendoland that comes with it actually has some really neat party games, and shows some of the creative things you can do with the gamepad. But yeah, I only played some of mario bros wii and pikmin 3 (which is awesome, but also pretty short).

I'm not that big of a console gamer these days, myself.

[Buffalobiian]

I'm not that big of a console gamer these days, myself.

I'm wondering if I should be more of a console gamer.

Console hardware seem to be better value compared to upgrading PC parts, if you leave repair-ability out of the equation.

[Animeniax]

PC games are customizable/modable to extend their play value and graphical awesomeness, and the PC is obviously useful for so many other reasons. Even so, I have an X360 and PS3 for the games that are exclusive to those consoles.

[Animeniax]

Having a hard time getting into GTAV. The characters are so unlikeable and the storyline is very cliched. I really enjoyed Nico's quest for the American dream in GTA4. Switching between characters isn't helping either.

[Ryllharu]

You think that the GTAV characters are unlikeable and you liked Nico's storyline? I thought he was incredibly unlikeable and close to impossible to feel sympathy for.

Holy shit it must be terrible. Too bad it will invariably get game of the year all over the place (deservedly or otherwise).

[Animeniax]

Sure, Nico was pursuing the American dream of foreigner from a war-torn country comes to America and works his way up using the only skills he has... killing and larceny. I knew a lot of Serbians/Croats/Balkan people at the time who were also pursuing prosperity (though thru legal means) so maybe that helped me identify with Nico.

GTAV starts with a Sopranos wannabe who has quit the life, then you switch to a couple young black thugs who are funny but only the whitest of Suburbanite kids would identify with them. I haven't met the other characters but from the previews they are equally unsavory and unlikable characters. It's basically the same as any GTA game as far as gameplay so the story and characters have to shine or its more of the same.

The third character you play in GTAV is a trailer trash psychopath. It's like the writers want you to play the most unsympathetic characters ever. Maybe it's a moral lesson from them to make the criminal life seem less appealing, or it's in response to all the fan support given to Walter White on BB.

[MFauli]

Why is there no separate gaming-forum on gotwoot? theres one for movies and tv-shows, so why not gaming? *waslookingforapokemonthread*

[darkshadow]

There was a gaming forum but it was removed iirc.

[Death BOO Z]

I've just moved into the dorms, and it's nothing like college movies suggested it would be. I didn't even see a damn Hacky-sack ball. let alone get hit by a frisbee and fall in the lap of a cute girl.
Wtf, right?

[Animeniax]

being a sports fan in Texas, particularly from Houston. We have the shittiest sports teams in Houston. I think our only championships are when the Rockets one two titles (with asterixes because Jordan was playing baseball for most of those 2 seasons) and when the Comets won the WNBA title 4 times. What a crummy sports town.




my bitch: I've just moved into the dorms, and it's nothing like college movies suggested it would be. I didn't even see a damn Hacky-sack ball. let alone get hit by a frisbee and fall in the lap of a cute girl.
Wtf, right?

I know right! I've seen this pr0n series called "college rules" and it's like there are sex parties in every dorm room all the time. But when I lived in the dorms, nothing. I couldn't even hear people getting it on through the walls. I must have lived in a conservative dorm.

[Sapphire]

my bitch: I've just moved into the dorms, and it's nothing like college movies suggested it would be. I didn't even see a damn Hacky-sack ball. let alone get hit by a frisbee and fall in the lap of a cute girl.
Wtf, right?

They exist! I went to a stereotypical college party last night, with DJs freestyling in the backyard, upsidedown keg stand drinking, weird ball/cup bouncing games, pretty American girls in skimpy dresses and grind-dancing galore. Also enough crowding to give me flashbacks about Times Square on New Years. Of course you'll only find these near a university famous for partying.

They are pretty fun, actually. But only if you like dancing/being around humans/seeing other drunk people act crazy. Not super special, you can prolly find a club that's more or less the same thing.

Oh, it's highly unlikely that you'll find that many people doing that in a dorm, of course. You have to go to a house. People do party in dorms but of course there's way less people and relatively in secret....

[Ryllharu]

upsidedown keg stand drinking,

So...they were just standing on top of the keg with their feet (lame), or was the keg attached to the ceiling and they were hanging on to it (awesome)?

[Sapphire]

Someone lifted their legs so they drank it suspended in the air while they were upside down, or something.

[Abdula]

Those parties are terrible btw.

[Ryllharu]

Someone lifted their legs so they drank it suspended in the air while they were upside down, or something.
That's a regular keg stand!

Saph, start a trend for people to do inverted keg stands! Keg mounted to ceiling or equivalent frame, user hangs suspended from keg making no foot contact with floor.

All photos of inverted keg stands should be flipped, so all onlookers appear to be on ceiling.

[Animeniax]

Yeah but make sure the keg is not properly suspended to the ceiling so there's a good chance it falls and crushes whichever drunken frat boy/sorority girl that drinks from it. That will make it more exciting!

Bitch: playing BF3, the Operation Metro map is great fun but it makes no sense that there is no alternate way to A from C on conquest. Pretty much whoever controls B can trap the other team at two points and win the game by controlling 2 flags.

[Buffalobiian]

Then take B. It's hard, but a good enough team can do it. The bottleneck is what gives B a tactical advantage.

That said, I find it's always easier to capture B first when you spawn above ground.

[Animeniax]

More like impossible if the top side team is decent. They just have to to spray with support machine gunners and cover 3 entrance points, two of which are basically the same bottleneck. Today I was on a team that repeatedly took B (we started underground) but repeatedly lost it back. I have been on teams that took B and went on to take A, but it's uncommon.

[Buffalobiian]

I can deal with support fire. Nade spams piss me off though.

[Animeniax]

Yeah those suck. I was on a server today that didn't allow them and it made things a bit less ridiculous. But the support fire basically created a never-ending wall of bullets that you couldn't pass through. Have you played BF4?

[Buffalobiian]

No. My friend couldn't even install it while I got stuck at the loading scene with weird textures. That pissed new off quite a lot. I even forgot to post because of it.

[Animeniax]

No. My friend couldn't even install it while I got stuck at the loading scene with weird textures. That pissed new off quite a lot. I even forgot to post because of it.
Are you both on Win7/8 64? Also I don't remember seeing any servers outside the US. I wonder if the beta is localized by region.

BF4 requires some beefy PC specs to play. My Bloomfield i7-930/Radeon 6970 runs poorly at high quality, but ok at medium. I don't know FPS count but it's low. My Haswell i7/GTX770 plays it great at high quality.

[Buffalobiian]

Are you both on Win7/8 64? Also I don't remember seeing any servers outside the US. I wonder if the beta is localized by region.

BF4 requires some beefy PC specs to play. My Bloomfield i7-930/Radeon 6970 runs poorly at high quality, but ok at medium. I don't know FPS count but it's low. My Haswell i7/GTX770 plays it great at high quality.

I'm on W7 64. The Beta was available to me and the servers' pings looked pretty decent. I spawned below the map and had the loading screen overlayed on top so I wasn't able to evaluate performance at all.

[Animeniax]

Lo and behold, it just happened. Topside team was owning with points A and B, then all of a sudden the other team took B, took C, then owned the topside team and won it. I was on the topside team :(.

What I've noticed with the team that spawns topside is that once they are beaten back (lose A), they will resort to sniping from spawn and essentially get pinned there. Then there isn't enough ground support for the few assault members to take back and defeat is ensured.

[Assertn]

Is it just me, or are the "forum" and "front page" buttons swapped now? I always impulsively click the front page button whenever i want to get to the main forums page, and it's driving me insane.

[Abdula]

Yes and the today's posts button is gone, I keep clicking on private messages. Today's post and new posts were redundant though.

[Buffalobiian]

Is it just me, or are the "forum" and "front page" buttons swapped now? I always impulsively click the front page button whenever i want to get to the main forums page, and it's driving me insane.

Haha, I have a habbit of clicking our banner to take me to the forum main page. If that got swapped on me I'd be a little annoyed as well.

@Abdula: so that's what it was. I thought something was different, but I was still shown "new posts" - which was what I was after anyway, so I didn't pin it down.

[Assertn]

I'm actually starting to get reaaalllly pissed off about the button arrangement now. It was set the other way for, what, 8 years now? Why change it?

[complich8]

Is it just me, or are the "forum" and "front page" buttons swapped now? I always impulsively click the front page button whenever i want to get to the main forums page, and it's driving me insane.

I'm actually starting to get reaaalllly pissed off about the button arrangement now. It was set the other way for, what, 8 years now? Why change it?

Not intentional, forum software update replaced the static navbar template with a new nav manager utility. It's pretty much exactly what I had wanted from 4.0, so I can't complain too much -- much less insane now. But it screwed with the ordering of things a bit, and I was trying to get it up and running on not enough sleep. Better?


Yes and the today's posts button is gone, I keep clicking on private messages. Today's post and new posts were redundant though.

Yeah, that was one of those customizations that moved us away from the default that I hadn't captured at the navbar switch. Better now?

[darkshadow]

Yes, I kept pressing private messages instead.

[Assertn]

Not intentional, forum software update replaced the static navbar template with a new nav manager utility. It's pretty much exactly what I had wanted from 4.0, so I can't complain too much -- much less insane now. But it screwed with the ordering of things a bit, and I was trying to get it up and running on not enough sleep. Better?

Tremendously better. Thanks!

[Abdula]

Indeed, much better. Thanks!

[UChessmaster]

My country decided it wanted to be racist and its people are posting anti-Haitian bullshit all over Facebook. Fuck this place.

[Sapphire]

Why Haiti of all places?

[MFauli]

Why Haiti of all places?

who DOESNT hate Haiti?

[UChessmaster]

Why Haiti of all places?

Bad relations overall, my country was enslaved by their hand for 30 years and currently a lot of them are trying to migrate illegally in here. Now some people are spreading some BS about Haitians trying to take over again even though they don't have the means or the numbers and theres no real evidence of this. Catholics are also attacking them claiming they are satanist and practice voodoo, apparently this country is not backwards enough.

The biggest issue right now is that they cross the border illegally and doing work for a cheaper fee, disregarding the fact that Dominicans are doing exactly that in U.S.A. FUCKING HIPOCRITES.

[enkoujin]

When I have shitty Facebook friends who post a lot of controversial material, I usually hide their news feeds, block, or unfriend them. There's no point in arguing because some people aren't really open-minded and it would be a waste of your energy to convince them otherwise.

[Sapphire]

Right. Hiding news feeds is so convenient. I've started hiding single posts so I don't keep seeing the same posts over again.

[UChessmaster]

The new Justice League animated movie wont have aquaman in it. People, the super friends was 20 years ago, let it fucking go already!

[darkshadow]

Really? That's weird.
I've read Justice league: origin and he's definitely in it, heck he's on almost every cover; maybe because he doesn't show up till right before darkseid makes his appearance.
Shame though, he has a pretty badass scene summoning a bunch of giant sharks.

Still looking forward to it though, if just for seeing superman vs batman/flash/lantern animated.

[Animeniax]

The new Justice League animated movie wont have aquaman in it. People, the super friends was 20 years ago, let it fucking go already!

Perfect opportunity for DC to cash in on an Aquaman movie to help establish him as a character in the universe, then add him to the JL live action movie. They could make a new superstar Hollywood hunk out of whoever gets the role. He'd walk around shirtless most of the movie.

[Sapphire]

LOLLLL Shinta's sig makes it so hard to browse this forum in public.

[Carnage]

There are too many people on this earth, and getting a job is too competitive.

[Animeniax]

That sucks. Being 21 with no experience in your field is tough.

I just spent 2.5 hours playing GTAV. Most of that time was spent on mass destruction with little advancement of the storyline, and lots of reloading saves. I have to find a better way to use my free time.

[enkoujin]

There are too many people on this earth, and getting a job is too competitive.

More people = more possible networking and connections, which leads to jobs. Not too sure which field you've studied, but that should be true for most industries out there.

[Buffalobiian]

More people = more possible networking and connections, which leads to jobs. Not too sure which field you've studied, but that should be true for most industries out there.

More people offering jobs or requiring service > people who can provide the service = jobs!

I tend to agree with the assessment that we're currently overpopulated.

[KitKat]

I've started watching FMA Brotherhood again, since I have access to Netflix this week. Unfortunately, whoever chose the subtitle font and colour likely only tried it with live action shows. The flat yellow text blends into light anime screens so that it's nearly impossible to read a lot of the time, and I have to work so hard to read it that I miss things going on in the picture. They have a lot to learn from fansubbers. I am not impressed.

[Ryllharu]

Having a hangover at 7...at night.

:/

[UChessmaster]

That must have been a badass party.

[Animeniax]

Or alcoholism... just kidding. Getting old sucks, and it's harder and harder to hold your liquor as you try to relive your heydays in college and young adulthood.

My bitch, sorta: just finished GTA:V. Fun game, satisfying missions and activities for the most part and the characters do grow on you after playing them a while.

It seems they haven't made many changes to the engine since the first GTA games. Controls are still wonky and frustrating, as well as some viewing angles. If you're approaching a door, especially when running, you have less than a 10% chance of making it through the door. Most likely you hit either door jam, then circle around and hit the other door jam and not the door. I almost destroyed a second PS3 controller due to this sort of game-induced rage, which in hindsight might be the coders' intent... increase hardware sales by pissing off the players.

[UChessmaster]

I`ve never seen a person actually rage playing a game, how many controllers have you broken by now?

[Buffalobiian]

I`ve never seen a person actually rage playing a game, how many controllers have you broken by now?

I played Xbox with some friends who I've never played with before, and heard them rage (like ever) for the first time. It was hilarious. No controller smashing, since that's poor form. Just.. grunts and little dances around the room. xD

[shinta|hikari]

That isn't really raging.

Raging involves breaking things or body parts, usually your own.

I once smashed my ps1 and ps2 to the floor because it won't work due to the lens being broken due to my usage of pirated discs.

I cannot even count how many times I threw my ps controller, and mouse somewhere. I also smash my keyboard around a lot, but only broke it in half with my bare hands once.

I also once punched the screen of my crt TV and the back of it hit the wall. That was when I was beaten by the boss of a fighting game for the nth time using some cheap ass move. TV still worked fine though.

I regularly punch the concrete wall of my room when I get pissed off at a game, but I have yet to dislocate my wrist or fracture my knuckles because I use proper form and somehow manage to control my power before impact.

But this is all in the past. In the past few years, I have simply cared less and less about winning in games. Or maybe I have just been playing VNs much more, where you cannot really lose.

My bitch:

Why the hell does alcohol have to ruin your liver? Why is there no safer alternative that does exactly the same thing?

[Buffalobiian]

What about weed?

[Animeniax]

I`ve never seen a person actually rage playing a game, how many controllers have you broken by now?

An X360 controller, a PS3 controller, 2 (maybe 3) PC keyboards, and 1 mouse. I hate it when poor code/system glitches lets the computer cheat and the same movements/button presses you made a thousand times before suddenly results in a different action which gets you killed after meticulously completing 95% of a mission, only to have to do it all over again.

Usually it only takes one time destroying something and having to buy another one to make me learn not to abuse the hardware. I have a punching bag so I could hit that like shinta with his concrete wall, but it's not as satisfying as smashing the offending controller.

@shinta: alcohol doesn't purposefully destroy your liver, it's designed to filter the alcohol out of your system. Unfortunately as with anything, excess can overload a system and damage it.

[shinta|hikari]

My bitch: Why is weed illegal here?

[Death BOO Z]

why is weed illegal anywhere? I don't smoke a lot, but i'd like to have the option.
although, I think one of the guys from south america is a big anti-weed person, and he has some good points.

[Ryllharu]

Lots of other things do even more damage to your liver. Like Tylenol (acetaminophen). That's why you have to drink in moderation, so you can enjoy it for years to come. Also, eat a variety of foods that help your living process. Good fats (fish, nuts), veggies with sulfur in them (leafy greens, garlic, broccoli) etc.

Weed is illegal in the US because Newspaper kingpin William Hearst spent a lot of time demonizing it in all his papers, largely speculated to destroy the hemp industry that competed with his paper/logging industry along with the DuPont family, who had recently created nylon. Since you can't tell the difference between the male and female plants from a distance, they get banned. In the end, the reason is still greed.

[shinta|hikari]

I completely dropped paracetamol from my system for years now just to avoid causing more damage to my liver. I am doing more than enough of that with my daily drinking.

[darkshadow]

why is weed illegal anywhere? I don't smoke a lot, but i'd like to have the option.
although, I think one of the guys from south america is a big anti-weed person, and he has some good points.
Lol...move?

[Carnage]

Only reason I can think of weed being illegal is because prison contractors make too much money off cops arresting loads of people for these minor crimes. That or maybe it would reduce productivity of an economy if too many people smoke too often.

[Animeniax]

Personally I think humanity needs more motivation and less drug-induced lethargy. People are lazy enough as it is. How are we ever going to colonize Mars or discover a cure for cancer if everyone is high all the time?

[Carnage]

Personally I think humanity needs more motivation and less drug-induced lethargy. People are lazy enough as it is. How are we ever going to colonize Mars or discover a cure for cancer if everyone is high all the time?

Not sure if you're just joking around, but the people who end up getting us on Mars or discovering cancer usually aren't the type to let drugs get in their way in any case. As for everyone else, the worst that will happen is they'll slack off somewhat in a management/services position. If everyone does this though that might be a problem for economic output.

[Sapphire]

Personally I think humanity needs more motivation and less drug-induced lethargy. People are lazy enough as it is. How are we ever going to colonize Mars or discover a cure for cancer if everyone is high all the time?


In that case, get rid of video games and TV and censor the internet, too. Clearly, people can't moderate themselves and need all forms of distractions eliminated to advance as a people!

[Animeniax]

Not sure if you're just joking around, but the people who end up getting us on Mars or discovering cancer usually aren't the type to let drugs get in their way in any case. As for everyone else, the worst that will happen is they'll slack off somewhat in a management/services position. If everyone does this though that might be a problem for economic output.Well those people may never get to the point where they can lead us to greatness if they are high all the time. If people are already successful and just smoke to reduce stress or have some downtime then I'm ok with that.


In that case, get rid of video games and TV and censor the internet, too. Clearly, people can't moderate themselves and need all forms of distractions eliminated to advance as a people!Well that is why we have moderators on the forums...

[Ryllharu]

Personally I think humanity needs more motivation and less drug-induced lethargy. People are lazy enough as it is. How are we ever going to colonize Mars or discover a cure for cancer if everyone is high all the time?
You have clearly never witnessed someone smoke two bowls and then clean their entire apartment because they are so high. Or do what would normally be demoralizing monotonous manual labor with an intense focus and accuracy after they had their "lunch" break.

Not all people who smoke weed get lazy and eat Cheetos while watching Dora the Explorer. People have different reactions to the stuff. Like delusions for example, believing they understand "the criminal mind" better after doing so. Some get paranoid, some get hyper, even some people get angry (and aren't offered weed again).

[UChessmaster]

why is weed illegal anywhere? I don't smoke a lot, but i'd like to have the option.
although, I think one of the guys from south america is a big anti-weed person, and he has some good points.

Like what?

[Animeniax]

You have clearly never witnessed someone smoke two bowls and then clean their entire apartment because they are so high. Or do what would normally be demoralizing monotonous manual labor with an intense focus and accuracy after they had their "lunch" break.

Not all people who smoke weed get lazy and eat Cheetos while watching Dora the Explorer. People have different reactions to the stuff. Like delusions for example, believing they understand "the criminal mind" better after doing so. Some get paranoid, some get hyper, even some people get angry (and aren't offered weed again).

There may be select cases of different reactions to marijuana, but human physiology is mostly the same, hence our reactions to chemicals will mostly be the same. Your average pot smoker will lay about in a stupor and be useless.

[Carnage]

There may be select cases of different reactions to marijuana, but human physiology is mostly the same, hence our reactions to chemicals will mostly be the same. Your average pot smoker will lay about in a stupor and be useless.

But you're referencing a minority of people who aren't average, because they likely carry intellect within the top 1% or .01% of our population. Again, people who would be getting us on Mars or curing cancer probably won't be held back by marijuana.

But as for the rest of the population doing their everyday jobs, yeah that is the concern.

[Buffalobiian]

There may be select cases of different reactions to marijuana, but human physiology is mostly the same, hence our reactions to chemicals will mostly be the same.

I... beg to differ, but I'm no expert in the matter either so I won't pursue the case.

It's not so much that pot can reduce productivity Ani, but that it's arguably comparable or even less harmful than other sources of entertainment. It's not so much why is weed banned, but "Why is weed banned but xyz (alcohol etc) isn't?"