Thanks Phil, I will get it now. Now for advice for University. I am very old and blind but have worked at a University for thirty years (See I told you I was really old.) First, to get somthing to say just ask "Nice to meet you. Where are you from? Then think of any thing about that place that you may have in common. Secondly, girls love compliments. "That sweater looks really good on you. "Care for a glass of lemonaid with me?" If she says no, and she is hot, ask again. You can't drink a girl into the sack. Remember, study comes before anything else, even food! I lived on Roman noodles, Mac andCheese and beer. "Beer is food!"
so, now "Don't hate me because I'm old. (grin)
Walker

C-Star
Thu Aug 29 22:37:02 2013

Just a quick hint. In the paragraph with the ravine, the fact you are at a ravine is only mentioned very briefly, and it's easy to miss. So make sure that's not what's happening.

And wow, you must be in your fifties. We're probably the youngest and oldest here. I'd imagine your advice would still stand though, college life can't have changed that much. And study definitely comes first. Especially since I'm relying on grants to even go to college. If i fail the tests, then fail the repeats, no grant for me. I'd imagine there are ways back in, but I'd rather not risk it.

And I obviously can't forget to balance the whole social aspect with study. With 3000 first years coming in and 15000 students altogether, there must be a lot of people I can get on with (and girls, can't forget them ;-) ). And with societies and clubs, I can't imagine I'll have any problems meeting people. And there's the mandatory drinking sessions, but I'm not gonna have the money for copious amounts of alcohol, so I'll be keeping that down more than likely.

And just as a matter of interest, what work do you do in the University?

bcyy
Fri Aug 30 00:45:53 2013

@C-Star

Which university? Dublin?

You've got archery? I really envy you! I pushed for an archery range when I was an undergrad, and even built my own equipment (longbow, 1 arrow) out of construction materials, but nobody took notice. They didn't give a damn even when I put a hole in the dormitory door at a range of 5m.

C-Star
Fri Aug 30 08:05:40 2013

It's actually Galway, the exact other side of the country. And apparently we do have some form of archery equipment, but I haven't seen anything. I only went to an archery range once two years ago and it was really fun, so I might join it for a while at least. And damn, you must be good at construction to make a bow and arrow yourself!

There's also a strange society called Assasins I thought you guys might be interested in. I'm not 100% of the rules, but apparantly they have campus wide games where the aim is to assasinate eachother (not for real obviously), and you have all sorts of weird ways to do it, or so I've heard. You can slap a green sticker on someone's drink, thus "poisoning " them, you can put a piece of paper with 'bomb' written on it and tha kills them, you can be talking to a lecturer when a guy walks in with a camera attached to a (toy) gun and shoots you by taking your picture. These are all probably highly exaggurated, but if the game is really like that, it sonds like the best game ever! The whole college will fill like Port Blacksand, with everything everywhere trying to kill you.

Walker Long
Fri Aug 30 11:41:25 2013

To CCI, I think, that what it sounds like on my computer. I am even older than that. I am retireing in 3 months. I began playing with Zork and D&D and still have the first box with the 5 different sided dice and all. I started playing in 1976. That was before you were born? God, I am old. I run a special radio station for the blind at a University is the very southern end of Florida. Palm trees, alligators and all ! It is called a "Radio Reading Service." We have volunteer readers that read National, State and local papers each day. That way we get our own local news, store ads etc. I am also a professional blues harmonica player. I have played with some famous guys. I learned in Chicago in the1960's. I don't know what I would have done without music and talking computers (for the games," I live a life just like you will. Remember, do your homework at school as soon as you get it to do. Don't wait. Do all assignments and then do them two moretimes. That way you will have had time to let it settle in your head and time to see stuff you didn't think of the first two times. Three times is the thing. That is what all the folks with their Doctorates do. You only have to go through school once. I went blind 6 months after I graduated and would never have gotton this job without a degree. I am Old, blind and not poor. I am just old (I still can do 350 sit-ups,) Now that I am ready to retire, getting the degree is the best thing I ever did. You will do great, just get it done. Don't get a girl until your 3 rd year. They are to expensive and take up to much time. After your second year you will be used to school and have time for the good stuff. Being old is just like being young, you just have spent more days doing it. Your parents seem old because they have to make you think they are in control but they feel just like you do. They make you do stuff you think is stupid because they did what you want to and know it will be stupid to do it. Now, my speech is over. Thanks buddy for your help. I have to go kick an Elemental's butt!
Walker

C-Star
Fri Aug 30 17:28:23 2013

Wow, you really are old! Sounds like you've done a hell of a lot over the years too. I can't imagine I'll accomplish that much... but I guess I'll find something to do over the next few decades.

I actually played Zork once. It was hard as hell too, I was being butchered by thieves, trolls and demons (I did, however, have the sense to avoid being eaten by a grue). It was a lot like FF, but with no indication as to when you should use items, and which ones you should use. Still, robbing everything that wasn't nailed down and stashing it in my trophy case was pretty satisfying.

And as for my parents, they actually didn't go to college. I'm not 100% sure if any of my family did. My mam didn't even finish secondary school. And my stepdad, I'm not sure about. We don't get along anyway,so I try to avoid him.

And that statement about girls was pretty brilliant. It's so mean, but so true! I really don't think too many girls throwing themselves at me will be a problem, unless one of those beers ends up being a potion of (mis?)fortune. Well, we'll see how that one goes anyway.

And as for Riders, you have the Kris Knife, don't you? You will need that later...

bcyy
Mon Sep 2 01:49:30 2013

Re: "college tips",

1. Don't take more humanities than you have to. Most universities make you take at least a few, and by the time you've taken all the useful ones, such as history, economics, etc., you'll have met the reqs.

2. Learn to play at least 1 instrument, and also to compose and write music. You'll lose these skills soon after you graduate, but they'll change your temperament and enjoyment of the world forever nevertheless.

3. The key to understanding the everyday world lies in calculus, statistics, and computer science, regardless of your major. This advice comes from a person who majors in none of those fields. Don't get me wrong - other disciplines make lucrative icing on the cake and are well worth studying, without which the cake can be terrible. But to have a cake at all in the first place, you need the above.

4. Don't play too much video games, but don't stop altogether. Withdrawal can negatively affect your studies. Play, but play no more than 1 hour a day unless you're on the departmental E-sports team. Never pull a video games all-nighter. More people accidentally do this than you think.

5. At least try to live a healthy lifestyle. Plan to get 7 to 8 hours of sleep a day and eat a balanced diet, even if you are not able to carry out the plan. Try to diversify your proteins as far as your finances and dietary preferences allow you to.

6. Having never had a girlfriend, I'm not sure I'm qualified to talk about this, but IMHO no girl who is "expensive" is worth your time. If she proves to be a drain on your finances, then she probably has no sense of financial responsibility if not a malicious intent, or at the very least lives a substantially more expensive lifestyle than you do. In either case, she is not the type of person you would want to spend your life with, unless your goal in life is to be an upstart millionaire with a "trophy wife".

On a different topic, making a longbow is easier than you think. Just get a wooden staff (or a laminated staff if you can get your hands on one) 2/3 your body height long and a rope, tie the rope to one end of the staff, knotting it multiple times such that the knots cover 10cm of the end of the staff, bend the staff slightly and do the same with the rope on the other end, and there you go. The rope should feel about as tight as a violin string to the casual touch. The only risk is that the staff may snap when you pull the bow - so wear gloves for protection when you shoot it. You would need gloves anyway - firing without gloves entails massive friction burns from the arrow on your bow hand, as I learned the hard way.
The choice of the arrow is a tough one. Since arrows are low velocity projectiles, their penetration scales as proportional to momentum. Therefore, the lighter the arrow, the longer the range, but the poorer the armour penetration.

C-Star
Mon Sep 2 20:32:56 2013

@bcyy

I'm gonna guess that you're American? I think there are a few differences between our college system and yours (either that, or secondary school does a *really* bad job teaching us about college. But I doubt that very much). For a start, I don't even have any idea what humanities are, and only a vague idea about majors. What are they?

And as for the advice
2. This was always something I was thinking about doing. Whether I will have the money and, more importantly, the drive to actually keep doing it is something I seriously question though.

3. I think my course actually has all three of them :-D

4. I more than likely won't be gaming anywhere near as much as I used to. I didn't game that much last year compared to other years, and with lectures, revision and socities and clubs I might be joining, it'll probably be the same story again. And since I'm talking about free time, I should mention that I'm considering doing some volenteer work. There's some programme in the college about it, and if I have enough free time I might ask about it. Can't hurt to try it at least.

5. I'm living in a lodgement (ie. Sharing a house with a family), so I'll won't have to cook my own meals, and they probably won't enjoy me arriving home at all hours, so I'll probably be sleeping enough.. I would have preferred to share a house with other students, but there was the risk that I wouldn't get along with the other people. I'll probably leave it until second year when I have a few good friends I know I'll get along with. There was also the fact that my procratinating parents wouldn't help me look for accomodation until about a week ago, and they wanted the first available place they could find.

6. I was just trying for some humour with that comment, I know that it's not really like that. But like I said before, I'm not expecting much attention from the other 51%. If it happens, great, but I'm not holding my breath.

bcyy
Tue Sep 3 01:14:48 2013

@C-Star

It's just so ironic that you would think I'm American. :-) I am actually a citizen of the country that the international community thinks is most likely to be declaring war on the US in the next 50 years, even though personally I think that the international community is wrong on this one. The two countries have more in common than most think: both are pragmatic to the core but hypocritically claim to promote utopian ideals at their own expense, neither has a national health care system, both have perpetrated genocide at similar levels in the last 200 years but strive to keep it quiet while exacerbating the actions of the other, and both are ruled by bloodsucking vampires who allow very little freedom of speech. They're two of a kind, really. Hint: I mentioned in one of my earlier posts that the Internationale was played during my high school graduation ceremony.

Humanities are basically all "disciplines" which are neither sciences nor arts. They include real disciplines, but also superstitious hokum such as postmodernist philosophy, geomancy and theology.

Major = training focus

Living with a family other than your own can go either way. Depends on how well you blend in, your skills, as well as your temperament. For myself, it was a disaster. I got into frequent arguments about the food (I didn't think much of their cooking and they didn't think much of mine), the lights (they insisted that having lights on was a huge waste of money, even after I showed them via calculations that the expense was negligible), and after I realised that "Einstein's brother" was meant as an insult instead of a compliment, I moved out in a rage. This was during my postgrad education, though. I had heavily subsidised dormitories when I was where you are now, and had to pay only US$125 a year for lodgings.

So Ireland is 51% female? Over here we're 51% male... literally tons of surplus testosterone, just waiting to ignite an already unstable society.

bcyy
Tue Sep 3 01:41:25 2013

Oops, should have been kilograms, not tons. Sorry.

C-Star
Tue Sep 3 12:32:20 2013

I thought the world's population was 51% female? That's what I was referring to.

And please forgive me if this is a terrible guess, but are you from Russia then?

Robert Douglas
Tue Sep 3 17:42:09 2013

1. History is a true inspiration to me....learning from mistakes made by others, although occasionally I make mistakes of my own.
2. Never had the mind to study and perform music - although I do respect those able to do so, and I can still enjoy listening to most styles and forms.
3. There are many types of cake: you can understand the world to a certain extent via all subjects - however, mathematical formulae cannot predict nor calculate the human mind, a self-aware entity that thrives on chaos theory.
4. Playing too many computer games is a sign that that particular person has grown weary and disinterested of the real world and frustrated at their own shortcomings (while others cruelly criticise these): catch 22, thus causing them to become withdrawn into a world where they 'are the hero'...sound familiar?
5. Many people eat naughty treats (we're coming back to cake again) because they feel something's lacking in their lives, hard-done by, need to fill the gap - but for reason they believe food is the answer, yet my favourite is scone with jam and cream, so in this sentiment: what a shame we can't be like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day!
6. A girlfriend or wife who's concerned about the home and family finances is a noble trait in this harsh, materialistic world of ours - but one who clings on to a man just so she can have her trinkets and easy-living is a selfish, shallow harpy....and how many FF heroes have fought off those fell creatures?

bcyy
Wed Sep 4 01:23:58 2013

@C-Star

Oh! So that was what you were referring to! Pretty counterintuitive, though, since both India and China are massively male-dominant in terms of demographics, and they make up nearly half the world's population. I wonder what drove the female population ratio so significantly above 50% for the rest of the world?

I will neither confirm nor deny your guess. It would be too easy for you to establish who I am if you knew my nationality. I dare say that I could be the only person in my country who graduated at a domestic high school, yet has an interest in FF.

@Robert Douglas

Re 1: Agreed. Half the humanities I took were history. Never regretted taking any of them. Comparing histories of different countries also gives an amazing insight into how short-sighted the human race is in general.

Re 3: While it is true that the natural sciences as of yet cannot understand the human mind, I would like to point out that none of the other disciplines are able to either. While empirical observations (eg social studies) can lay down practical rules about how to interact with people you are familiar with, these rules tend to collapse whenever one comes into contact with people who follow another distinct set of rules. You would never be able to understand Allansians by studying European societies, for instance, regardless of how many similarities individual people share with each other. One who truly understands the human mind should be able, at least in theory, to build a human brain from scratch from inorganic materials. No offence, but IMHO those other "cakes" are but illusions of cakes used to fill the stomach where no real cake can be baked, even though they seem to be doing a pretty good job at making people feel full. :-) To fully understand the human mind, a quantum neurological approach is a must.

Re 5: I used to binge eat too in times of distress. Apples were my faves as an undergrad. Moved on to cashews and ice cream after graduation.

C-Star
Wed Sep 4 08:46:22 2013

@bcyy

I guess I can understand that you wouldn't want to say your nationality. Come to think of it, I've probably said too much about myself too. And as for the 51% thing, that's just something I heard. It's probably not completly accurate.

1. While I do like history, I don't have a real fascination for it, although I can understand the desire to learn from the mistakes of the past. I'm interested to know what the history books of the future will say about us. If we all haven't nuked eachother by then...

3. I can't even understand how my head works, let alone the human mind in general. I do have an interest in psycology and philsophy though, and if I picked an Arts degree, I probably would've had them as subject choices. Of course, I imagine that these two subjects are not completly accurate (the human mind is an extremely complicated machine), but I'd imagine they'd nonetheless be extremely useful in life.

5. I tend to eat when I'm bored. I find myself grabbing a bowl of cereal, some form of fruit, or just some buscuits when I have nothing to do at home.

Jellyfish98765 Wed Sep 4 13:29:15 2013	Hey guys! This is a guestbook, it's made for pointless one-liners. If you wanna write long essays, start a ****ing blog!
	As far as I'm concerned, either kind of message is fine.

bcyy
Fri Sep 6 00:07:32 2013

Apologies. See? I learn quick. :-)

bcyy
Fri Sep 6 00:09:23 2013

On the other hand, your post was two lines, and subsequently doesn't

bcyy
Fri Sep 6 00:10:42 2013

count as a one-liner.

Robert Douglas
Fri Sep 6 18:14:10 2013

@ Jellyfish,

Sorry, but no.

Does this count as two sentences...damn, guess that's three now!

C-Star
Fri Sep 6 20:34:27 2013

Well I'd understand if he was talking about the guestbook going off the topic of gamebooks. It'd make more sense than arguing about the length of posts.

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