If you have an email ending in @hotmail.com, @live.com or @outlook.com (or any other Microsoft-related domain), please consider changing it to another email provider; Microsoft decided to instantly block the server's IP, so emails can't be sent to these addresses.
If you use an @yahoo.com email or any related Yahoo services, they have blocked us also due to "user complaints"
-UE

IJBMer Updates

1124812491251125312541384

Comments

  • Creature - Florida Dragon Turtle Human
    Pokémon, Dragon Ball, Saint Seiya etc. were too mainstream not to participate, but I've always hidden my power level when it comes to video games. *shrug*



    Pokémon came out when I was in high school.

    It was generally unpopular among high-schoolers, and rarely discussed by my peers.  I suspect the main reason is that they likely had little siblings who were probably obsessively into it, and they resented it as a result.

    (I didn't know about Saint Seiya until many years later.  Was aware of DBZ but wasn't a fan of it.)
  • Saint Seiya was mainstream in Latin America and the like for the most part.
  • edited 2016-10-14 00:21:01
    Yah, and Latin Europe too. Also Rurouni Kenshin, Sailor Moon, Speed Racer, Candy Candy, Heidi, Mazinger Z and whatever I'm forgetting.

    Anyhows, on unrelated news and related to last page stuff about missing university, I finished Introduction to Electrical Engineering and Computer Science I. Got a score of 65.

    The
    course is what I figure is an intro to topics an electrical engineering
    student would go through, but with the addendum that stuff is to be
    done through programming. I learned a bit too late that, although it's not a requirement, this one is supposed to be taken after Introduction to Computer Science so as to get used to programming. I was already used to it, but at first I did struggle with my programs and I don't know if there was something in that course that could've helped.

    Anyhows, the first big part of the course is automatic controls. I learned about it in
    real life, but really needed reviewing, it's difficult since it's quite
    abstract (despite the fact that has lots to do with real life) and is
    often considered the hardest one in mechanical engineering (after a
    prof. is told by a student that they're learning it, the prof. will
    often joke asking them to teach him/her afterwards). Anyhows, this one
    wasn't as hard as the one in real life, it was done using discrete
    math and only one simple system (a robot moving around). Modeling more complicated systems was what
    always got me. Unlike in real life, I had to program a bunch of
    stuff for lab. I almost didn't do it since for a while I wasn't able to
    install the necessary libraries but eventually I could and had to redo stuff I had done on
    paper. It was a lot of work, but I'm glad I did, it really helped
    internalizing stuff.

    Next part was electrical circuits. This one
    was easy since it only involved time-invariant circuits. That said, I've always struggled with circuits and I've never grown a good intuition for it, so I often end up derping somewhere. Still, not too bad. The
    only really new part was Op-Amps, those do get me, the real problem though was that I
    couldn't figure out how to use this program to do some assignments with,
    and the instructions weren't helping, so I had to skip them. Same thing
    happened later in the course where guidelines stopped being clear on
    what I was supposed to do or not do.

    But the really hard assignments started
    with probability. Despite the fact that I did well purely on the
    mathematics part, this time it made clear that computers and I speak
    different languages, and something that would be a straightforward
    calculation or 'algorithmization' is instead a convoluted chain of
    inputs and outputs that must at all times agree on what goes where and
    what type everything is. On the plus side this one had a lot to do with
    real-life maintenance (state estimation, bayesian updating, etc.) so I
    feel it's a good thing to have a solid, practical foundation on it. It
    took effort but I think I get it now.

    As you can tell from how
    much time passed since the last course, I wasn't diligent at all with
    this, I did everything out of schedule and procrastinated on exams (I
    only did the 2nd midterm and final just now,the latter of which I flunked). Also it bugs me that I don't know
    the Spanish terms for much of the stuff I'm learning.

    Also, I
    forgot if I mentioned this last time, but I find it weird how the
    undergrad program is much more flexible with courses than mine was, it's
    no wonder there are so many posts on the internet asking about course
    advice. Is that the same in other US universities? Anyhow, I have many
    ways to go from here. I think I'll go with Introduction to Algorithms
    first. Anything but Biology.
  • edited 2016-10-14 05:49:56
    There is love everywhere, I already know
    buying a messenger bag with the image of Homura Akemi on it

    I know I'm supposed to be like the biggest advocate for "Buy everything and leave no preorder unordered" but I very much prefer to keep my collections of stuff at home since nobody ever really comes into my room. I'm a big T-shirt hoarder but I've only bought an anime shirt a few times ever (mostly when it's not super-obvious that it is one, like my Generation Bleu E7AO shirt).

    I also just really like anison and charason and J-pop and such, so that never really feels like buying merchandise to me. Mostly my merchandise nowadays comes in the form of BDs (rarely, because monies) or those miniature character trading figures. I rarely buy normal figures nowadays.

    I think GMH is right; out of context anime character is just anime character, and letting your weeb flag fly to the world is inviting lots of unwanted attention.

    (edit: wth formatting)
  • Creature - Florida Dragon Turtle Human
    @Stormtroper: Not sure what you mean by that flexibility, but my undergrad program consisted of a set of required classes (with a few requirements where I could choose from a handful of different versions), and also some school-wide general requirements.

    Different major courses of study had different amounts of required classes.

    @fourteenwings: I generally find having lots of decorations like figurines in my room is relatively pointless because I'm not really displaying it to anyone else.  If I put on a display, I ought to be displaying it to someone else, since I don't need to remind myself of the things that I like.

    Also they sorta become cheapened in meaning if I have too many of them.

    I do have one figurine and a few other such display items, some of which were generated by myself or printed out from the internet, and I prefer to keep them low and relatively out-of-the-way so that I can turn to them for inspiration but they don't just sit there screaming at me all day long.

    As for the bag I've actually sometimes used it by keeping the character side against my body, so it just looks like a generic black messenger bag.  I like how I can choose whether to be "stealthy" with it.

  • Also they sorta become cheapened in meaning if I have too many of them.


    This does not make any sense.
  • There is love everywhere, I already know
    printed out from the internet

    /adds to the "things to disparage GMH for for no good reason" list.
  • edited 2016-10-14 17:20:57

    @Stormtroper:
    Not sure what you mean by that flexibility, but my undergrad program
    consisted of a set of required classes (with a few requirements where I
    could choose from a handful of different versions), and also some
    school-wide general requirements.


    Different major courses of study had different amounts of required classes.

    All but three of our courses were mandatory, with no different versions, all structured on a per-semester basis that you aren't supposed to deviate from (although you can, but you might run into issues). Basically this.

    As for the nerdy stuff, if
    I ever have Touhou imagery meant to be seen by random people, it'll probably
    be something with a more traditional-ish, painted style, due to all the above
    plus there being lots of good ones out there.
  • edited 2016-10-14 18:49:05
    Creature - Florida Dragon Turtle Human
    Yeah, there are definitely some franchise/fandom materials that are less tacky than others.

    Also wow that's a ton of required classes.  (And I learned some Spanish vocab just looking at that lol.)
  • Creature - Florida Dragon Turtle Human
    Naas_Human wrote: »

    Also they sorta become cheapened in meaning if I have too many of them.


    This does not make any sense.


    Do you ever look at a cabinet full of figurines and find yourself more so thinking that it's "a cabinet full of figurines" than paying attention to any particular one?

    I can imagine that if I put one or maybe a few related figurines on a shelf, I could reflect on that one or few, but if I just had a huge collection of them it's like, the value each of them has for me is lessened just simply by crowding.
  • The same thing would probably happen to me, I guess. Though in that case you could just store all but a few and rotate them now and then.
  • There is love everywhere, I already know
    To be honest, a lot of the time I'll get figures because they're available and not because they're from a franchise I particularly liked (eg all the Free! figures I have despite disliking the ending of the series, or most of my Tales figures really since I'm not a big fan of a lot of the protagonists but that's all they make). I just like having figures I guess.

    I appreciate the Trading Figures more, because I like chibi interpretations of my favorite characters and they tend to be less disappointing than Nendos (Nendos have a very limited selection, which is a weird thing to say right after saying "I just get whatever" but I'm more particular about small blobperson scale because there's actually a good selection of series to choose from). For example, I really liked the AMNESIA anime, so I have both sets of the initial trading figures and some alternates that took a lot of work to get and that's a collection I appreciate a lot. Same with my NORN9 set, which I really appreciate because all of the characters in that set got a brilliant amount of development and so it felt like I was getting them for more than a collection.

    In the same vein, I might not like my Free! figures that much but my Bellissimo BakuRock Ryouma is a treasure.

    Of course, I have a ton of stuff in storage (I've been at this a while) and I've probably gotten stuff and never even opened it (not explicitly on purpose, just forgetting and putting it off).

    That sure is a lot of words about figures. 
  • edited 2016-10-15 07:39:32
    Creature - Florida Dragon Turtle Human
    There's something about figures, or figurines as I typically call them, that I don't quite...I dunno the right word, maybe "feel" or "get"?.



    They're supposed to be representations of characters, right? But the characters they represent are dynamic presences in their stories. They have a charisma of being...alive, in a way.



    Figurines can only really serve as a symbol of the characters, because they rarely give off that sense of charisma. Even if a given figurine inspires you today, it might feel less meaningful in five weeks, or five months, or five years. Poseable figures are better about this I guess, but even then they're still something you have to exert your will on to create or recreate a scene from (but this may be quite fun for the more theatrically-inclined), and they're also more expensive and a available in less variety.



    Sometimes I feel I'd rather own an iconic item rather than a figurine, because having the item lets me identify with the character who uses that item, rather than seeing them as an "other" when looking at or posing a figurine.
  • edited 2016-10-15 06:47:04

    Do you ever look at a cabinet full of figurines and find yourself more so thinking that it's "a cabinet full of figurines" than paying attention to any particular one?

    I can imagine that if I put one or maybe a few related figurines on a shelf, I could reflect on that one or few, but if I just had a huge collection of them it's like, the value each of them has for me is lessened just simply by crowding.


    While I can't speak about figurines in particular since that's a specific kind of thing that I'm not into, with plastic collectibles in general, no. Because I don't buy things to keep them in a cabinet, I buy things because I want characters to interact with each other or play out a scene. Whether it's with someone from the same source doing something you'd expect, or with someone unrelated and doing something odd.
    I cannot remember if there was any context to this
    I haven't done any huge filled-up scenes since I'm not great at managing space, but some things just look better in large groups like Stormtroopers and Vehicons.
  • The fridge is not working (the compressor is not running). I hope I don't have to have it replaced, I can't afford it.
  • edited 2016-10-15 17:22:41
    Creature - Florida Dragon Turtle Human
    http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/10/14/1582585/-Why-women-don-t-come-forward-to-report-sexual-assault-my-late-wife-s-story

    A good hard look into the difficulty of actually using the legal system
    -- what should be a proper channel -- to deal with the problem of sexual
    assault.

    Well worth anyone's read.  May be upsetting, of course,
    but...that's sorta the point.  One feels a frustration just from
    reading this.  Why can't the justice system be more, well, just?
  • The fridge is not working (the compressor is not running).


    Did you intentionally avoid parsing this as "the refrigerator is not running"?
  • First therapy session is next week.
  • ^^ Nope. Although at one point I did think of that joke.
  • Just felt a super tremor. Easily the strongest in my lifetime (but still harmless).
  • "In a mad world, only the mad are sane!"-Akira Kurosawa, Ran
    One of my fav bloggers is running an Intellectual Turing Test series, and it's extremely good: https://thingofthings.wordpress.com/2016/09/17/intellectual-turing-test-social-justice-and-anti-social-justice/

    It's currently about halfway done though the results aren't dumped until the end, so folks can still participate. 
  • It's been done.

    Anyhows, the compressor runs fine. It was missing refrigerating fluid and after putting some in its pressure seemed to be reducing, suggesting that there's a leak in there, but it's been over a day and a half that it works fine, so... *shrug*

  • "you duck spawn, refined creature, you try to be cynical, yokel, but all that comes out of it is that you're a dunce!!!!! you duck plug!"
    Fun fact: before the last elections, we've had this guy who really wanted to become a sort of a representative of the people. Set up a podcast where he ranted about everything, unearthed scandals, hunted paedophiles and all that lot. Left and right alike couldn't make up their minds whether he's a loony or something else, with accusations of being a front of some clandestine operation coming from both sides IIRC. Then he ran in the presidential elections, got some 80000 votes. That's less than you need signatures to be allowed to run, by the way. Since that time, he apparently continues with that paedo hunt and scandal stuff, but no longer has heart for publicity.

    So, why do I mention him? He wanted to be a voice of the people, but he's become a meme instead.


  • "In a mad world, only the mad are sane!"-Akira Kurosawa, Ran
    >spend more time on Tumblr
    >get followers
    A month passes.
    >notes are a wasteland of gay nazis and bipolar autists fighting with trans dudettes and male feminists
    I love the internet.
  • "you duck spawn, refined creature, you try to be cynical, yokel, but all that comes out of it is that you're a dunce!!!!! you duck plug!"
    Sounds like the internet version of succession. You want to tell us it wasn't your plan all along?
  • "In a mad world, only the mad are sane!"-Akira Kurosawa, Ran
    I mostly embedded in an existing community that has the sort of hyperwokeness that loops around into actual tolerance. 
  • probably human
    Damn. I have nothing clever to say, but it makes me happy to see that this site is still alive and active.
  • "you duck spawn, refined creature, you try to be cynical, yokel, but all that comes out of it is that you're a dunce!!!!! you duck plug!"
    Not clever is welcome too.
  • Every once in a while we get one such post. It'd be nice if y'all stuck around longer, tho.

    At any rate, I really haven't been feeling well lately. Dissatisfaction with everything, the fact that I'm getting old, lack of ambition, that sort of thing.
  • Creature - Florida Dragon Turtle Human
    Every once in a while we get one such post. It'd be nice if y'all stuck around longer, tho.

    At any rate, I really haven't been feeling well lately. Dissatisfaction with everything, the fact that I'm getting old, lack of ambition, that sort of thing.


    I just had a birthday, so I know that feel.
  • Sign In or Register to comment.