Oh, It Is That Time Of The Year

[Soeren]

Hi,

I have been wondering about the increased posts and PMs here and around the web, with requests for circuits from the bottom up.
But it hit me... Exams are quickly sneaking up on easy prey that didn't pay attention through the year and suddenly, panic control is scarce.

It's quite OK to ask for help when you reach a hurdle, but please don't expect others to practically make your exam projects for you.

Next semester, pay attention in class and learn, then you won't feel lost - Booze & Babes will still be there after graduation.

Pretty Please and all that grease.

[TrickyNekro]

What are you talking about...
Booze & Babes are above all... now with that economic crisis we won't have jobs anyways... hahahahaha...

Well kidding really... There is time for everything... ;-)

You don't have to be either nerd or party killer... Something in the middle is the most enjoyable... :-D

[vinito]

Oh. By the title I thought you were talking about the 4th of July coming up and the emergence of several different microcontroller-based ignition systems for fireworks.
By the time you get to be my age, interest in babes and booze has waned. The irony is you can't learn nuthin' no more 'cause the grey matter has froze up, so the extra time freed up to focus on studying due to lowered libido doesn't really help any. Curses!

I still enjoy pyrotechnics so far though. Gotta dig out the ignition system and see if it still works. Thanks for the reminder, hehe.

[corrado33]

If you frequent a bunch of different forums (especially technical ones) you always notice this.  Also, there always seems to be three crowds of people.  One set of regulars, one set of people who came for a while then went, and one set of "This is my first post, solve this problem for me." 

Although most of my posts are pure speculation and guessing, I try to get the basic questions answered, and tend to ask WHY someone's designing something, rather than simply answer their questions.  I apply this type of questioning to most people that only have a few posts. 

Honestly though, I get really annoyed by people who cheat through projects and exams.  I just graduated (actually yesterday and the day before) and I know that most of the people who graduated cum laude (spelling?) or summa cum laude cheated their way through most of it.  It makes me angry that most honest students get "outshined" by the cheaters.  And, I don't really want someone who cheated their way through undergrad growing up to be my doctor.  Cheating in today's world is almost commonplace, and is becoming easier with today's technology.  Heck, I bet if any of us wanted to, we could design a pin camera and a pen with a small LCD screen to broadcast questions from a test to someone outside if we wanted.  (Not that most cheaters would be smart enough to do that  )  Who knows where academic integrity has gone.

You know what REALLY makes me angry?  The "structured cheating" that Kaplan (and others) teaches you for the grad school tests (MCAT, GREs, LSAT).  Basically, they focus more on how to eliminate answers rather knowing the material.  Will that help you get through the test? Sure... does that help you with your future profession? Heck no. 

The whole methodology behind the tests is bull, and it needs to be reworked.  It should be based on how WELL you learn and apply knowledge and skills, rather than simply how much you know about the subject.  Heck, someone could have a photographic memory, yet be the worst doctor/engineer/chemist in the world because they can't apply their knowledge.  It's like me (currently) with circuit designing.  I know what the components do, I know what their made of, which ones are good for certain applications, which have better tolerances etc, but I have very little IDEA how to apply them to form a usable circuit.  Therefore, my knowledge is basically useless.  (As of right now)

*Rant over*
And no, I'm not writing this because I did bad on the various graduate school tests.  I learned how to "Kaplan cheat" so I did fine.  Yeah yeah yeah I know this makes me a hypocrite, but I did what I had to.

[Razor Concepts]

dear friend   ,
i search     after methods of kaplon cheating. plz instruct me on how    do this.    it is urgent.    can u explain 2 me circuit and providing schematic?  pls note this is urgent i     need Quick

[corrado33]

dear friend   ,
i search     after methods of kaplon cheating. plz instruct me on how    do this.    it is urgent.    can u explain 2 me circuit and providing schematic?  pls note this is urgent i     need Quick

Hardy har har    I'm going to go work on my robot now, stop making fun of me.    (Geeze that statement would get me made fun of by a LOT of people.) hahahaha

[Soeren]

Hi,

By the time you get to be my age, interest in babes and booze has waned.

What     
I didn't think it was possible to live for 150 years? Don't worry, Admin might send you some of the removed posts on blue pills. 

The irony is you can't learn nuthin' no more 'cause the grey matter has froze up, so the extra time freed up to focus on studying due to lowered libido doesn't really help any. Curses!

Sorry, but I don't buy that - we can and do learn until perhaps Alzheimer strikes. And I haven't met that many really old (120 years+) that didn't appreciate a bit of "medicine").

I still enjoy pyrotechnics so far though. Gotta dig out the ignition system and see if it still works. Thanks for the reminder, hehe.

Now if the grey's blackening, check an extra time before you press the red button

Oh, I still find pleasure in the young and pretty ones (I'm talking about 12 years Scotch of course, like the one I'll press my lips against after clicking "Post").

Have a happy 4th of Juli (if possible with a glass of water and a dish of oatmeal slurry though) 

[Soeren]

Hi,

If you frequent a bunch of different forums (especially technical ones) you always notice this.

Yeah, but mentally, I'm still in February - the outdoor temperatures of 5°C to 10° and lots of wind might have something to do with it.

It makes me angry that most honest students get "outshined" by the cheaters.  And, I don't really want someone who cheated their way through undergrad growing up to be my doctor.

You know what REALLY makes me angry?  The "structured cheating" that Kaplan (and others) teaches you for the grad school tests (MCAT, GREs, LSAT).  Basically, they focus more on how to eliminate answers rather knowing the material.  Will that help you get through the test? Sure... does that help you with your future profession? Heck no. 

Worse still... Some day one of us is boarding a plane where one of those quties "designed" a minor part and just when over the Swiss Alps, it breaks apart and kills off all electronics in the plane...
It might not go that wrong, but you get the picture.

[...] It's like me (currently) with circuit designing.  I know what the components do, I know what their made of, which ones are good for certain applications, which have better tolerances etc, but I have very little IDEA how to apply them to form a usable circuit.  Therefore, my knowledge is basically useless.  (As of right now)

Don't worry, you're way too "nosey" to not learn 

Yeah yeah yeah I know this makes me a hypocrite, but I did what I had to.

We all do - that's how we apply intelligence.
Schools should teach students, not "stuff", but how to acquire "stuff", then learning becomes a life long experience - it's like the fish and fishing pole really.
Schools cannot teach students to have a creative mind, they can nurture what's there, but students lacking creative abilities won't be good for much besides repairing and/or soldering stuff.

[corrado33]

We all do - that's how we apply intelligence.
Schools should teach students, not "stuff", but how to acquire "stuff", then learning becomes a life long experience - it's like the fish and fishing pole really.
Schools cannot teach students to have a creative mind, they can nurture what's there, but students lacking creative abilities won't be good for much besides repairing and/or soldering stuff.

Totally agree.  Honestly (another story for ya), I know one person in particular that I always wonder about.  They know the material from hours and hours of studying and memorizing.  But they have no clue how to apply any of it.  They only know what they have been taught, and they can't teach themselves.  For example, in Organic chemistry class, we had to know a bunch of reactions, then we had to apply those reactions to get one molecule to transform into another.  (Hence the name "Transformation Problems".)  They knew every reaction , but always got the transformations wrong because they couldn't think backwards or even two steps ahead.  It's honestly sad, and from tutoring I've realized that this type of skill-set, where a person can teach themselves, is going away.  Also, younger students have NO imagination anymore.  I tutored math, and there are a lot of problems where it helps to visualize what's actually happening (like revolving a curve around a graph to form a shape).  However, the people I tutor just can't do this.  It's literally impossible for them.  Most students just memorize the equation and don't think about it.  I don't know, it just seems like the mindset of younger people is changing. 

Anyway, I'm off to play Terran Conflict (I finished making the part I was working on  ) Gotta love rainy days where yardwork is impossible!

[Cristi_Neagu]

dear friend   ,
i search     after methods of kaplon cheating. plz instruct me on how    do this.    it is urgent.    can u explain 2 me circuit and providing schematic?  pls note this is urgent i     need Quick

Ha! Totally fake! You forgot to add the minimum 2 kilos of "LOL".

I have one more year until i finish... college i think it is... I never did learn how you people separate levels of studying. Anyways, I'm 21 and i'll be graduating next year whatever it is that you graduate when you are 22-23. Anyways, the point: in order to graduate, i need to do some form of scientific research (i, for one, will be building an articulated arm robot - i take pride in the fact that almost no one nowadays does practical research, they just show up with a slideshow and a paper filled with mindless droning). I was told that if i do my project with a certain teacher, i would barely need to lift a finger. He would see that i pass with flying colors, and that somebody else does my paper.
I don't know what kind of person you would need to be to accept such an offer. I can't picture myself in front of a committee, taking praise for something that, not only i didn't do, but i was expected to do. Unfortunately, the world is filled with this kind of people.

So, for my project, i decided to steer clear of that teacher. Even if i find out that i started something that i cannot finish, at least i'll know that what i did do, was made by me alone. I will also learn a valuable lesson about biting more than i can chew. But if i do go in front of that committee with a paper that i did not do and i pass, what is there for me to learn?

It's the same with people on forums asking you guys how to build stuff (i occasionally answer, but i have no way near the experience some of you guys have...). Wouldn't they get more satisfaction from seeing something they designed and built working like clockwork? Or are they just contempt with "whatever works"?

[Admin]

@vinito  lol, something to look forward to in 50 years I guess . . .

@corrado33  People who cheat are wasting their tuition. More importantly, they'll lose out later in life when they find they don't have the skills needed to be successful. Sure its not 'fair' in college, but life has a karma system worked out. Those who have spent the time to learn the skills will always go further in life.

The only bad part about it is - the mistakes dumb people make affect us as well.

@Soeren  Most people learn time management skills while in college. Its a transition, some are just quicker than others . . . I was at the end of my 2nd year before I figured it out. Its just something they need to figure out on their own.

[Admin]

dear friend   ,
i search     after methods of kaplon cheating. plz instruct me on how    do this.    it is urgent.    can u explain 2 me circuit and providing schematic?  pls note this is urgent i     need Quick

Ha! Totally fake! You forgot to add the minimum 2 kilos of "LOL".

Exactly. He forgot to include an email address, he didn't fully capitalize one or two random words within the sentence, and he spelled too many words correctly.


Whenever you see my reply to a post that only has a link and nothing else, thats my way of saying 'you spent 5 seconds asking, I'll spend 5 seconds answering'.

scientific research (i, for one, will be building an articulated arm robot - i take pride in the fact that almost no one nowadays does practical research, they just show up with a slideshow and a paper filled with mindless droning

A serious problem I see in robotics research is that builders get so entrenched with building a neat robot that they forget to do any real science or research along with it. The entire field is suffering from 'look i made a cool robot' papers and few of them have any useful data or knowledge to go with it. Don't even get me started with the 'science' papers from China . . .

Science is about spending many years on the same robot, making many versions of it, and running thousands of mundane tests to prove your theory. And lastly it is to communicate that knowledge to a wide audience in an easy to understand way, not a dull 10 page paper with only a paragraph of useful information.

ok, finished my rant

[corrado33]

A serious problem I see in robotics research is that builders get so entrenched with building a neat robot that they forget to do any real science or research along with it. The entire field is suffering from 'look i made a cool robot' papers and few of them have any useful data or knowledge to go with it. Don't even get me started with the 'science' papers from China . . .

Science is about spending many years on the same robot, making many versions of it, and running thousands of mundane tests to prove your theory. And lastly it is to communicate that knowledge to a wide audience in an easy to understand way, not a dull 10 page paper with only a paragraph of useful information.

ok, finished my rant

Interesting... I never though of it that way.  I guess it's good that I'll be building my equivalent to your ERP, so I can do any testing I want with it!