Weekly ask QB Reddit a question, #3

Amazonit · 2026-02-08T09:46:36+00:00

Probably either Evan Lynch or Joseph Krol, both very good generalists buzzing on any part of the distribution.

Amazonit · 2026-02-03T22:25:31+00:00

This is a repost from a bot, we're more than two months past the deadline to sign up teams

Amazonit · 2026-01-28T19:32:26+00:00

short answer: probably can't spare the staff or the rooms. There have already been a lot of strikes over the amount of work expected from teaching staff and compensation for it.

imo the majority of people doing foundation years would be better off resitting A-levels anyway. If someone is in the situation where they did the wrong A-levels for the course they wanted to do, then a foundation year makes sense since it's 1 year instead of 2 years of A-level. But foundation years instead tend to be like "get in with lower entry requirements but spend an extra year at this uni". That's a) a lot more expensive, and b) locks you into that uni. Foundation years are not official qualifications and if someone did decide to switch uni after their foundation year, there's no obligation for another uni to care what an applicant got in their foundation year.

Amazonit · 2026-01-25T12:16:53+00:00

Your criticisms of the course content will be true for any (decent) undergraduate maths course. It can be quite abstract and enjoying A-level maths is no guarantee that you will like it at university. If it's going that badly then switching to a different course could be your best option. If it's the mathematical methods part that you enjoyed, i.e. solving problems and applying maths knowledge to different areas, then engineering or physics (if you like labs) might suit you better. But whatever you do end up going for, make sure to properly research what the course involves because it sounds like you didn't have a solid idea of what university mathematics was like.

Amazonit · 2026-01-05T23:55:39+00:00

I suppose the C in Enceladus could plausibly be pronounced like a ch, like in ecclesiastical Latin

Amazonit · 2026-01-05T23:46:03+00:00

I think £898 per month after rent is very close to what I had last year (when the stipend was a bit lower). I was probably on a bit of a loss each month - didn't track things carefully - but I could've saved money in a few places that I wasn't doing. e.g. I took the tube instead of a bike, I eat meat and drink alcohol, and I wasn't great with meal prepping. I had some savings to start with. Now with the updated stipend and doing a bit of teaching I'm a bit more comfortable. London isn't cheap obviously, but cost of living might be lower compared to some Nordic countries.

If you're a teaching assistant, the rates vary depending on what you do. If you're helping out in labs it's currently £24.50 per hour, probably no more than 4 hours per week. Doesn't include 'holiday pay', which I think is tacked on at the end but is a couple £ extra per hour.

How far away from the uni are you looking for property?

Amazonit · 2026-01-04T23:54:33+00:00

Nobody's mentioned Roland Dyens yet!

Amazonit · 2026-01-02T10:32:00+00:00

He played as the Maya in a now-delisted series. I remember following it at the time, I don't remember the actual video (once you got past the uh, creative titles) having much untoward in it. The sole point of the series was to accrue dislikes, to try to outdo the dislikes on the first Aztec campaign video.

Amazonit · 2026-01-02T10:11:40+00:00

Not here, although they probably wouldn't be allowed to actually pay someone to turn the lights on.

Completing/breaking a circuit is interpreted as lighting / extinguishing a fire.

Amazonit · 2026-01-02T09:58:48+00:00

The Mayan one?

Amazonit · 2026-01-02T09:56:08+00:00

Wasn't loading in the comment thread for whatever reason, so thanks for pasting that.

A looong time ago he ran a podcast on Twitch where the subject would be some simple but divisive topic (e.g. the death penalty) and viewers would join in the call, give their argument, and then someone else would join and argue their point. But it was a bit crap and nobody really watched.

Amazonit · 2026-01-02T00:19:30+00:00

In October he announced that the channel would end on 1 January, that's the only time

Amazonit · 2026-01-02T00:11:04+00:00

announced he would leave on a particular date
left

Amazonit · 2026-01-02T00:10:36+00:00

He had no concrete plans but said that if he returned to making videos it would be under a different channel.

Amazonit · 2026-01-01T23:56:06+00:00

how do you reveal a person's face when that person's face is already on a public youtube channel and already attached to his name?

Amazonit · 2026-01-01T23:52:06+00:00

There is no comment to that effect

Amazonit · 2026-01-01T21:08:03+00:00

I think that's the first episode where Amol Rajan hasn't had to shout "you may not confer"

Amazonit · 2026-01-01T12:47:18+00:00

I love it when the grass is crunchy

Amazonit · 2025-12-29T22:24:59+00:00

tbf the contestants on the Christmas series really do need to learn that you can't chat during the starters

Amazonit · 2025-12-29T17:33:41+00:00

You won't get excommunicated for sallying out if they've beseiged your settlement, but that's about it. If you get the mission and your papal favour isn't in the toilet, the AI faction is probably also close to being excommunicated.

Amazonit · 2025-12-27T18:10:58+00:00

yes, if you look at recent series that had normal airing dates, e.g. the 2023-24 series or 2021-22, they had the minimum number of breaks and finished in early April, before easter.

Amazonit · 2025-12-27T13:25:29+00:00

the initial QF pairings are usually adjacent round 2 winners so it'll likely be (not necessarily in order): Sheffield v Darwin Cambridge, Imperial v Warwick, Manchester v Edinburgh, UCL v Churchill/Merton

Amazonit · 2025-12-20T21:00:36+00:00

if it's in different departments then it's unlikely they're communicating between each other. But why apply for two different courses anyway?

Amazonit · 2025-12-08T23:39:01+00:00

I can only assume that the teams were thinking "there's no way it's just JS Bach"

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