Return to Unfiction unforum
 a.r.g.b.b 
FAQ FAQ   Search Search 
 
Welcome!
New users, PLEASE read these forum guidelines. New posters, SEARCH before posting and read these rules before posting your killer new campaign. New players may also wish to peruse the ARG Player Tutorial.

All users must abide by the Terms of Service.
Website Restoration Project
This archiving project is a collaboration between Unfiction and Sean Stacey (SpaceBass), Brian Enigma (BrianEnigma), and Laura E. Hall (lehall) with
the Center for Immersive Arts.
Announcements
This is a static snapshot of the
Unfiction forums, as of
July 23, 2017.
This site is intended as an archive to chronicle the history of Alternate Reality Games.
  

The time now is Tue Nov 19, 2024 5:16 pm
All times are UTC - 4 (DST in action)		 View posts in this forum since last visit
View unanswered posts in this forum
Calendar
 Forum index » Archive » Archive: The Haunted Apiary (Let Op!) » The Haunted Apiary (Let Op!): General/Updates
Axon withdrawal
View previous topicView next topic
Page 6 of 10 [146 Posts]   Goto page: Previous 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10  Next
Author Message
drseuss90
Decorated

Joined: 08 Oct 2004
Posts: 277
Location: California
skilletaudio wrote:
Some of us are both:P And by that, I mean, a BS in "Math and Computer Science."

Though if we did away with the math portion, I wouldnt lose sleep. Thats what I get for not going to a trade school. You dont so much learn "Computer Programming", as you learn Theory of Computational Discrete Mathematics, and how to prove that addition works via logical proofs.

Bah.

HAHAHA, this is the last time im going to post about engineering, as it can be very boring to everyone else. I also did not go to a trade school, so we covered a lot of math that I do not use, and went into extreme detail on theory, but I did find it interesting to see why things are done the way they are in the computer world. My favorite classes were Operating Systems and Compiler design. It shed a lot of light onto why windows behaves the way it does, and how a compiler actually turns my code into a workable machine language.
_________________
"It has one of those little red rubber dot thingies on the keyboard. That's way better than a mouse. I call it the nubbin. Who wants to touch my nubbin?"

-Red vs. Blue Episode 45

PostPosted: Wed Nov 10, 2004 8:02 pm
 View user's profile AIM Address
 Back to top 
Phaedra
Lurker v2.0


Joined: 21 Sep 2004
Posts: 4033
Location: Here, obviously
Feros wrote:
I am sorry you chose a major that sounds very specialized, but the fact remains there is little importance in industry(outside of academia) that requires the knowledge of Etruscan pottery. That is one nice thing about being a mechanical engineer. I know that in industry there are others like myself that know what I know and I can discuss things with. But what industry is there for Etruscan pottery?


Oy vey. I don't even know how to respond.

Can this be an attempt at humor? I would hope, but my instincts tell me no. Better treat it as serious.

Feros, sweetie, I was an English major. About as non-specialized as you can get, outside of those other two Majors For The Confused (j/k!): Communications and Political Science.

The "Etruscan pottery" thing was a joke, intended to be the most obscure reference I could come up with on the fly. It's a form of hyperbole.

Now, a degree in English may not be much more useful than a degree in Etruscan pottery (there is no such thing, boychik...archeology is probably the closest you can get), but it isn't particularly specialized.

Quote:
Now I may not be a genius when it comes to Etruscan pottery or poetry or many things but I can tell you I know my fair share of information from differential equations to thermodynamics and static's and what I have learned is that it is important to understand that each person has their own genius and it is important to recognize their abilities. Sure the Machinist doesn't know how to do complex analysis but I need him because his skills are a necessary part of the production process.


Quote:
Even the stupidest man knows something you do not, and it is better to glean that information from them then disregard them and never learn from them.


Believe me, I take the part of the Talmud that says, "Who is wise? He who learns from everyone," very seriously.

But that doesn't mean I want to have lunch with the stupidest man every day.

Quote:
I am sorry you chose a major that sounds very specialized, but the fact remains there is little importance in industry(outside of academia) that requires the knowledge of Etruscan pottery. That is one nice thing about being a mechanical engineer. I know that in industry there are others like myself that know what I know and I can discuss things with. But what industry is there for Etruscan pottery?


The burgeoning field of movie props/reproductions, of course.

h...u...m...o...r...

Quote:
Information is important but it is impossible to expect everyone or even a small percentage of people to know specialized information. A good example is if I ask a random person if they know the Bernouli equation 99% of the people will give me a blank stare, and I don't expect them to know.


T.S. Eliot is specialized information? Funny...

Quote:
Notice my horrible grammar, lack of punctuation, and run on sentances, clearly the mark of a science major.


Resisting...urge...resisting...resisting...

<gasp>

Can't do it. Going to be mean. Sorry in advance, everyone, but I...can't...help...myself...

Quote:
sentances


You forgot "spelling," hon.

And, no, not clearly the mark of a science major. I know plenty of science majors who can handle the English language just fine.

Either way, while not necessarily something of which to be ashamed, bad spelling, grammar and punctuation is not something of which to be proud. Neither is the inability to detect humor.
_________________
Voted Most Likely to Thread-Jack and Most Patient Explainer in the ILoveBees Awards.

World Champion: Cruel 2B Kind

PostPosted: Wed Nov 10, 2004 8:06 pm
Last edited by Phaedra on Tue Nov 16, 2004 6:34 pm; edited 2 times in total
 View user's profile Visit poster's website AIM Address
 Back to top 
Elec
Boot

Joined: 26 Aug 2004
Posts: 57
Phaedra wrote:


Don't worry about me -- I'm resourceful, I'll figure it out in time. I'm just having an angsty week.


Don't worry, you aren't the only one I'm afraid Sad

I've spent the past 8 or 9 months waiting for a security clearance for what is basically my dream first-job. A couple days ago, I find out that the class I was supposed to be in has already started, so it's now a matter of IF I get the clearance and IF they still want me, maybe I'll get the job. Oh, and I probably won't be able to start till next summer, thanks much for waiting a year and a half.

My degree is in Computer Science and, to my great dismay, I've been unable to find a job in my field over the past year or so. Now, with this news, this week has been spent thinking an awful lot about where to go next. Do I exercise blind faith and wait for the clearance? Do I slog around the internet and want ads again looking for another job? Do I go back to school or attempt to retrain (keeping in mind, of course, that I really want to work with computers and am ambivalent about anything else)?

Welcome to limbo, population: me. If there is anything we can do to make your stay as uncomfortable as possible, please let us know Laughing

PostPosted: Wed Nov 10, 2004 8:21 pm
 View user's profile
 Back to top 
johnny5
Entrenched

Joined: 17 Aug 2004
Posts: 995
Location: Elysian Fields

 		Wow, less than one page of Axon Withdrawal stories and 6 + pages of career development, social science, and grammar studies, with occasional zingers scattered throughout.

Oop! Is that a preposition on the end of that sentence? Why, according to a recent, commonly reviled puzzle, it would appear so.

Oh, BTW, I have a degree in Mechanical Engineering, and I don't remember Bernouli's equation, but I do remember what it applies to.

IB4TL
--john--

PostPosted: Wed Nov 10, 2004 8:21 pm
 View user's profile
 Back to top 
skilletaudio
Unfettered


Joined: 17 Aug 2004
Posts: 515
Elec wrote:

My degree is in Computer Science and, to my great dismay, I've been unable to find a job in my field over the past year or so.


Chin up, its turning around out there. Nobody is saying it yet because the real movers and shakers, the guys with the money and the guys with the new ideas, are all on the serious down-low.
I expect the next big tech boom within 2 years or so.

PostPosted: Wed Nov 10, 2004 8:39 pm
 View user's profile
 Back to top 
Aelith
Decorated


Joined: 21 Jul 2004
Posts: 153
Location: Missouri
Phaedra wrote:


Feros, sweetie, I was an English major. About as non-specialized as you can get, outside of those other two Majors For The Confused (j/k!): Communications and Political Science.



Add art major to that list. And the subject "Etruscan vases" isn't obscure to me. (just the spelling Razz )
_________________
Looking forward

PostPosted: Wed Nov 10, 2004 9:26 pm
 View user's profile Yahoo Messenger MSN Messenger
 Back to top 
thunderclap8
Entrenched


Joined: 24 Sep 2004
Posts: 1139
Location: Chapel Hill, NC

 		i graduated college in may with a degree in computer information systems. No jobs apparent. So I'm back in school, this time for a degree in library science. Figure if I can specialize enough (digital library stuff) I can get my foot in the door somewhere.
_________________
Gamertag: thunderclap 8 (note the space)
www.HiddenPeanuts.com

PostPosted: Wed Nov 10, 2004 9:36 pm
 View user's profile AIM Address
 Back to top 
ironchefmike
Veteran

Joined: 26 Aug 2004
Posts: 91
Location: Brookline, MA
Phaedra wrote:


Blech, everyone wants to burst my bubble.

When I was a performance major, all the professional musicians wanted to warn me about what a crappy job it was. Oh, they said, it's so physically demanding, the pay is *terrible* and the conductors are jerks. After you've been a professional for a few years, you start getting the performance high once a year if you're lucky. Do something where you can make easier money! If we had it to do over again, we'd be accountants.

Then I hurt my neck and couldn't play anymore.

So, on to the backup plan: law.

Oh, said my law professors, don't become a lawyer! It's a nasty job and you'll be underappreciated and you have to kill yourself to make partner and there's no one to talk to *about law* and you'll become jaded and unhappy. (Yes, the money is nice, but you don't have time to enjoy it.) Stay in academia where it's safe! We're so happy we left law. (Oh, say the lawyers I work with, being an associate is hell! What? Who cares what the Supreme Court said in the Padilla case? Does it have to do with this merger/copyright application/article I'm writing? No? Then I don't care. Aachh, say the partners. My arthritis is killing me. <gasp> say the relatively young partners, I have stress-induced acid reflux disease. Oh, say the other partners, she's having a baby...there goes her career. Oh well, too bad, she was bright.)

Oh, say the academics, the squabbling! The grant applications! The pettiness! The self-importance!

Maybe I should be a nun.

But seriously, isn't anyone happy with their career? Sometimes I wonder if you have to create your own career to be happy and feel like you're really doing what you love. None of the pre-made ones seem to fit anyone very well! Smile


You know what? Don't listen to me. Yeah, I'm not liking academics or graduate school right now, but mostly that's because I'm suffering from the graduate version of senioritis. If you've done your homework and think that graduate school or an academic career is going to be your thang, then go for it. (Certainly don't let a complete stranger like me influence your decision).

And I'm sorry to hear about your injury. I play two instruments myself (just as hobbies) and would be miserable if I'd lost the ability. (What did you play? A neck injury might preclude you from playing the violin? Viola? Any one of Peter Schickele's instruments?)

Anyway, the bottom line for me is that any career has loads of suckitude, but is the career you've chosen worth dealing with it whether it be the politics, the jagoffs, or whatever associated health hazards? For me, the academic world has lost its luster, but that's just me. I know scores of people who've gone through the same experience as I have and concluded the exact opposite, that this life of grant-writing is for them. Good for them. I'm still at a point where I can choose what I want to do with my medical career, and there's room for creativity and innovation as long as I'm rigorous enough to keep at it. Only downside is it will have taken me over a decade to get to that point Embarassed

And I second the idea that you get your own blog. You've obviously got the writing chops for it, the breadth and depth of thought (*ahem* I'm not hitting on you. Promise *ahem*) and you've made enough connections here that people would go read it. At the very least, it'll be therapeutic. Maybe.

Luck, and get going on that blog.
_________________
Ironchefmike
"Hippopotamus?! What the......?!?!"

Fighting the good fight against Peanut Butter since, oh, say, about October 2004.

PostPosted: Wed Nov 10, 2004 9:53 pm
 View user's profile Visit poster's website
 Back to top 
Phaedra
Lurker v2.0


Joined: 21 Sep 2004
Posts: 4033
Location: Here, obviously

 		post removed
_________________
Voted Most Likely to Thread-Jack and Most Patient Explainer in the ILoveBees Awards.

World Champion: Cruel 2B Kind

PostPosted: Wed Nov 10, 2004 11:38 pm
Last edited by Phaedra on Tue Nov 16, 2004 6:37 pm; edited 1 time in total
 View user's profile Visit poster's website AIM Address
 Back to top 
Phaedra
Lurker v2.0


Joined: 21 Sep 2004
Posts: 4033
Location: Here, obviously
Elec wrote:
Phaedra wrote:


Don't worry about me -- I'm resourceful, I'll figure it out in time. I'm just having an angsty week.


Don't worry, you aren't the only one I'm afraid Sad

I've spent the past 8 or 9 months waiting for a security clearance for what is basically my dream first-job. A couple days ago, I find out that the class I was supposed to be in has already started, so it's now a matter of IF I get the clearance and IF they still want me, maybe I'll get the job. Oh, and I probably won't be able to start till next summer, thanks much for waiting a year and a half.


Ouch, hang in there.

Quote:
My degree is in Computer Science and, to my great dismay, I've been unable to find a job in my field over the past year or so. Now, with this news, this week has been spent thinking an awful lot about where to go next. Do I exercise blind faith and wait for the clearance? Do I slog around the internet and want ads again looking for another job?


Job-hunting was hell for me. I really shouldn't complain. I have a job with a wonderful company that treats its employees like gold, I work with kind people who indulge me far too much, and I get paid nicely.

I'm just...really bored.

But a job will come. And try to keep your options open/think creatively. Right out of college, I got a job as a personal assistant to a politician, which was great fun (until he lost the election -- oh well, he never really had a chance anyway). It wasn't something I would have thought of on my own...luckily I have wonderful parents. Smile

But my point is, there are a lot of ways you can use computer skills.
_________________
Voted Most Likely to Thread-Jack and Most Patient Explainer in the ILoveBees Awards.

World Champion: Cruel 2B Kind

PostPosted: Wed Nov 10, 2004 11:45 pm
 View user's profile Visit poster's website AIM Address
 Back to top 
Elec
Boot

Joined: 26 Aug 2004
Posts: 57
skilletaudio wrote:

Chin up, its turning around out there. Nobody is saying it yet because the real movers and shakers, the guys with the money and the guys with the new ideas, are all on the serious down-low.
I expect the next big tech boom within 2 years or so.


That's definitely true, though unfortunately I don't have that much time to wait around doing nothing. Hence the angst, because I need to get my start somehow, some way (resisting urge to quote more Snoop Dogg) so that I make it till things pick up. My parents' goodwill is starting to run low and a long period of not-seriously-working isn't real attractive to potential employers. The long term does look good though, because many are fleeing IT and less students are graduating with computer-related degrees. There will be fewer people competing for positions, once hiring picks up again, and that's a Good Thing (with apologies to Martha).

Phaedra wrote:

Ouch, hang in there.


I'm pretty good at that, but it is still frustrating.

Phaedra wrote:

Job-hunting was hell for me. I really shouldn't complain. I have a job with a wonderful company that treats its employees like gold, I work with kind people who indulge me far too much, and I get paid nicely.

I'm just...really bored.

But a job will come. And try to keep your options open/think creatively. Right out of college, I got a job as a personal assistant to a politician, which was great fun (until he lost the election -- oh well, he never really had a chance anyway). It wasn't something I would have thought of on my own...luckily I have wonderful parents. Smile

But my point is, there are a lot of ways you can use computer skills.


Yep, job hunting isn't much fun for anyone, as far as I've gathered. I totally understand what you mean about being bored though. It's one thing to have a job that you're pretty good at and which treats you decently, but quite another to be in an environment which allows you to thrive or even just be yourself. My summer job in college was like that. Very easy, good pay, flexible hours. But it was so mind-numbing that I just came home every day feeling wiped out. It's almost a luxury to be around people with similar enough interests or experiences that they can follow you at full speed on a subject (probably why ILB was so great - we all built this experience together and got wrapped up in it as we went along). During one of my security interviews, the guy said to me "We want to make sure that you can keep information to yourself. Like you're not going to go to a bar and start talking to people about what you do at work." I laughed at him. "If I go to a bar and start talking about public key encryption schemes, hashing algorithms, or routing tables, it'll be about 10 seconds till I'm all alone." I knew what he meant, but when you have uncommon interests or a lot of depth to your knowledge, most people will put up a mental block and let their eyes glaze over if you try to share. As I'm sure you well know Wink

You're definitely right that there are a lot of ways to use computer skills though. Apparently, one of the hot trends lately is for people to double major in something and computer science because their field of major interest can benefit from computer skills. It makes more sense for a biochemist to learn how to program than to hire a programmer and try to teach him biochemistry. That'd help me more if I had an additional "something" in mind Smile A lot of my friends came out of college not knowing what they wanted to do with their lives - some still don't. What's most frustating for me is that I know what I want to do, I went and got the education for it, and now I can't apply it. I'm basically afraid of the same thing you are: that I'll be forced to settle for a career I'm good at and maybe even like, but which isn't fulfilling enough to get me by.

PostPosted: Thu Nov 11, 2004 1:05 am
 View user's profile
 Back to top 
ironchefmike
Veteran

Joined: 26 Aug 2004
Posts: 91
Location: Brookline, MA
Phaedra wrote:
ironchefmike wrote:
Any one of Peter Schickele's instruments?

<giggle> Mad props for the Schickele reference.


Thanks. It's a sub-calling in life, to spread the genius of Peter Schickele. Of course, then I run into problems like you have with your coworkers and people start giving me weird looks: "What - this is supposed to be funny?"

Phaedra wrote:
I mean, forget the pain -- have you ever played in an orchestra...a good one? It was the closest thing to telepathy I've ever experienced.


Well, a couple of mediocre ones, some very good chamber orchestras (fellow violin player here), and I'm also a pianist. So, yes, I know what you felt in those ensembles and the connection you experienced with the audience. It's a nice place to be.

Phaedra wrote:
Anyway, the point is, when you find something you really love doing, the suckitude doesn't seem to suck so much.

My great fear is that I'm going to end up doing something that I only *like,* and that liking won't be enough to carry me through the career.


I've always seen it as the opposite. A career is something I would only *like* while anything I *loved* I would keep that personal, not have to depend on it for a living. I *love* playing the piano, I play it for the love of the music, I love to play for people who would listen. To take it on as a career would somehow detract from it. (Unless I were teaching. I taught briefly, and that was awesome, but that doesn't help make my point).

But as for science and medicine, it's not something I can *love*. It's something I'll have respect for, and some expertise in, but I'm not so enraptured with science that I couldn't say goodbye to it if I had to.

Perhaps that's a strange way of looking at things, but so far so good....
_________________
Ironchefmike
"Hippopotamus?! What the......?!?!"

Fighting the good fight against Peanut Butter since, oh, say, about October 2004.

PostPosted: Thu Nov 11, 2004 1:33 am
 View user's profile Visit poster's website
 Back to top 
krystyn
I Never Tire of My Own Voice


Joined: 26 Sep 2002
Posts: 3651
Location: Is not Chicago

 		I've a degree in theatre. I was able to stick it at Live combat training.

If you just clap your hands and wish really hard, even Underwater Basket Weaving 101 students can achieve anything!! Wink

PM'ing a game has very little to do with sheer intelligence when it comes right down to it, and more to do with sheer stubbornness, a willingness to let go, and lotsa work ethic/discipline. If you have bucketsful of that, you're pretty much set. ymmv, because the intelligence comes in awfully handy ...

PostPosted: Thu Nov 11, 2004 3:49 am
 View user's profile Visit poster's website
 Back to top 
drseuss90
Decorated

Joined: 08 Oct 2004
Posts: 277
Location: California
Quote:
IF I get the clearance and IF they still want me,


Elec, Can I asked where you applied? I'm a software engineer at lockheed and if you have a securtiy clearance you are like gold. If you applied for a secret security clearance, it cost whoever filled it, a few thousand dollars. So if the company that you applied for put in your applicaion for a clearance, I'd say you have a pretty good chance (I cant think of anyone who likes to give away thousands of dollars). Just so you know, when they investigate, they do a credit check and then a police background check to start with. If those check out ok, they will issue an interem Clearance. That would be enough to get your foot in the door anywhere. Once you have a clearance and a CS degree, you are very marketable, and wont have a hard time finding a job in DOD.
_________________
"It has one of those little red rubber dot thingies on the keyboard. That's way better than a mouse. I call it the nubbin. Who wants to touch my nubbin?"

-Red vs. Blue Episode 45

PostPosted: Thu Nov 11, 2004 6:06 am
 View user's profile AIM Address
 Back to top 
johnny5
Entrenched

Joined: 17 Aug 2004
Posts: 995
Location: Elysian Fields
Phaedra wrote:

Believe it or not, I'm actually not arrogant enough to assume that every guy who compliments me is hitting on me. Razz


I'm surprised you're not getting marriage proposals.

PostPosted: Thu Nov 11, 2004 10:25 am
 View user's profile
 Back to top 
Display posts from previous:   Sort by:   
Page 6 of 10 [146 Posts]   Goto page: Previous 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10  Next
View previous topicView next topic
 Forum index » Archive » Archive: The Haunted Apiary (Let Op!) » The Haunted Apiary (Let Op!): General/Updates
Jump to:  


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
You cannot attach files in this forum
You can download files in this forum
You cannot post calendar events in this forum



Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group