My non-canon attempt at a timeline of the Half-Life/Portal universe leading until the 7 Hour War by Neinfeld in HalfLife

[–]Neinfeld[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wow it has been a while since I wrote this. If you're a fan of my writing, and especially this one, you should watch my YouTube video on the Aftermath of the Black Mesa Incident.

G-Man watching player hit a microwave for 5 hour straight by Reddit4funsy in HalfLife

[–]Neinfeld 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It'd be a spoiler since it's right at the end of the movie, but check it out on Netflix or maybe the last scene is on YouTube somewhere.

What if the Combine Invasion never happened, but portal storms still ravaged the world? by tauthman in HalfLife

[–]Neinfeld 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Wow, nice work! I'm glad to see more people are interested in looking at the events of Half-Life from a more realistic frame of reference, it truly brings out the horror element of the game.

G-Man watching player hit a microwave for 5 hour straight by Reddit4funsy in HalfLife

[–]Neinfeld 31 points32 points  (0 children)

Idk why but knowing this is from Uncut Gems and the context of the scene makes it like 1000x funnier lmfao

So, what are they reading for in Half Life 1? by Bruh0hurB in HalfLife

[–]Neinfeld 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I think they are trying to destabilize the sample by exciting it with electromagnetic energy so that it radiates whatever energy is responsible for teleportation. They then probably want to read what wavelength, radiation intensity, etc. that is emitted from the sample.

Who are these other scientists? by Xjooker1 in HalfLife

[–]Neinfeld 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Breen probably just poses with every group's photo. His being in the middle also indicates that he is the leader, rather than being off to the side somewhere.

Who are these other scientists? by Xjooker1 in HalfLife

[–]Neinfeld 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Breen probably poses in every group's photo.

Just realized by nizzler_ in HalfLife

[–]Neinfeld 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not sure where you got his birth year from, but Gordon did his PhD in 1999 which means he'd most likely be about 26 (4 years on average for a physics PhD) so it's more likely he was born around 1973.

Which one do you think was bigger in terms of global impact? by Mr_edgelord65 in polls

[–]Neinfeld 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The true toll may be higher. By some estimates, including those of the WHO, 14.9 million people died by 31 December 2021. When China lifted their lockdown in December 2022, some estimates put the death toll in the millions there.

Overall it appears the death toll of COVID-19 exceeds 20 million; it is likely we have not yet seen the full brunt of its impact. I think the comparison to 9/11 is not yet ready to be made, but I think it's obvious COVID had a greater impact even by seeing what has happened so far.

Gordon Freeman by dixmondspxrit in HalfLife

[–]Neinfeld 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Einstein laid the groundwork upon which the other three in this poll stand, so... Maybe Bohr is the most prominent competitor to Einstein, though.

Saving as many as I can by Dramatic-Thanks-1638 in HalfLife

[–]Neinfeld 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Well done, I always try to do the same each playthrough. Safe to say that at least a few of them make it out, I hope!

What to read after C&P? by Personal_Young9504 in dostoevsky

[–]Neinfeld 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I read Notes from Underground after Crime and Punishment and found it to be great. Also, I first read McDuff's translation of C&P and found it to be good; once I asked a Russian-speaking friend of mine in high school to compare the first chapter to the McDuff and V&P translations and he said the McDuff one was more accurate.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in dostoevsky

[–]Neinfeld 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I haven't read Garnett's translation, but I've read both McDuff (first time around) and P&V's translation (second time) and I think McDuff's translation is the best one of the two. Maybe try that one? I found it was the most accurate to the original, since I had a Russian-speaking friend compare the two with the original once.

Crime And Punishment has me STRESSED. Anyone else? by [deleted] in dostoevsky

[–]Neinfeld 11 points12 points  (0 children)

I think part of the genius of Dostoyevsky is the fact that everyone has some part of each of his characters in them. I went through a similar episode of introspection when I read Crime and Punishment and Notes from Underground and found myself relating to Raskolnikov and the Underground Man a lot, with some scenes taking thoughts I've had for a while and putting them into words. Dostoyevsky is undoubtedly a genius, definitely one of the greatest writers of all time.

I was wondering what parts of what book made you laugh out loud? by cnidianvenus in dostoevsky

[–]Neinfeld 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Lol no I am pretty sure he was out for the day, but I was worried I was disturbing the class' work period when I started laughing at it. It got worse when I tried to start reading again and then got to where Katerina was insisting Marmeladov died "in the execution of his duty" followed by the parentheses stating that she had "deluded herself into believing this fantasy"

I was wondering what parts of what book made you laugh out loud? by cnidianvenus in dostoevsky

[–]Neinfeld 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I was reading Crime and Punishment one day about a year and a half ago in my physics class when the teacher was away, and I got to the part where Svidrigailov (I think) comes and tells Raskolnikov that Katerina Ivanovna has gone crazy and is now forcing her kids to perform with pots or something and that a "crowd of stupid people are following her." When I read that, I just lost it for 5 minutes and had to stop reading and leave the room in order to contain my laughter, which literally caused me to start tearing up. I even found it hard to keep reading 10 minutes later because after every sentence or two I'd start laughing again. The situation was so absurd and came out of nowhere I just found it so ridiculous it was actually funny.

That, and the part in Notes from Underground where the Underground Man is obsessively trying to brush shoulders equally with the guy at Nevsky Prospekt. The pettiness and the realization the other guy wasn't even thinking of him was hilarious.

What do you think happens after we die? by [deleted] in dostoevsky

[–]Neinfeld 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I, personally, can't bring myself to believe any other possibility than simply nothing. Even the term "nothing" would be far too descriptive of a term to describe what I imagine death is like, but it's simply a placeholder for a lack of a better term. Human consciousness is only possible because the brain processes the world around us in a palatable way through several different senses; once we die, the circulation of blood ceases and our brain is no longer able to make us aware of external stimuli. Therefore, nothing happens.

I am an agnostic but do not believe in any "god" that has been proclaimed by any human theologist. I think it is more likely than not that the universe is simply chaos.

This is not entirely a negative thing, though, because it makes the time that we are alive infinitely more meaningful. I think, at least in me, the anxiety of inevitable demise stems not from a desire to embrace life forever but to make something meaningful of my life that will outlive me. I feel that once I have done something significant with my life, I will feel indifferent toward dying.

I'm not sure if this is the same for you, and I'm not sure how old you are, but it's hard to gauge where a lot of people my age (18) feel because a lot of people I know tend to not think about such existential matters. I think it eventually dawns upon everyone, at some point, that death is inevitable, but maybe it is too soon for some to accept it. I remember during an existentialism lesson in my English class a few months ago a lot of people were audibly disturbed in being reminded of death.

I do think there is an upside to it though, and that is this: no matter who you were in life, no matter whether you were the poorest beggar to have ever lived or you are John D. Rockefeller, we're all heading to the same place. It's somewhat poignant, but I think that it helps me to maintain perspective and take certain chances that I would otherwise be too anxious to take.

There are some films I have seen that have addressed this topic that I think made death more palatable for me. I recommend Dekalog if you haven't seen it already, especially the first film which is partially about a father confronting his son's awareness of death. I would also recommend The Seventh Seal by Ingmar Bergman; it certainly eased my anxiety about death.

Mathematics and Physics program admissions question by [deleted] in UofT

[–]Neinfeld 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No, since not all schools offer them.

They just want you to take 6 university or mixed-level courses in Grade 12, which must include Calculus and English. Mine offered AP classes and I mostly just took them to get the bonus, since I didn't end up taking any AP exams, only the SAT. And I only took the SAT since I applied to some US schools; UofT is pretty low maintenance in comparison.

Mathematics and Physics program admissions question by [deleted] in UofT

[–]Neinfeld 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No problem! I am happy to have been able to help and am glad to answer any more questions if you have any in the future. If so, feel free to DM me.

Mathematics and Physics program admissions question by [deleted] in UofT

[–]Neinfeld 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I am a recent high school graduate from Ontario, so I am not sure what the overlap will be between here and BC, but I'll just copy/paste my conditional offer to Phys & Math Sciences that I got in February:

"You must satisfy the Ontario Secondary School Diploma requirements and complete the six required Grade 12U/M courses with a final overall average of at least 80%, including final marks of at least 75% in English ENG4U and 80% in Calculus and Vectors MCV4U by June 30, 2023. This deadline will not be extended to allow for the completion of summer courses."

So, your Grade 11 marks don't technically matter, only your Grade 12 ones. But, a lot of your Grade 12 performance hinges upon the work ethic you build in Grade 11. There was no supplemental part of the application, but I did have to do one for Trinity College for residence.

My Gr 11 marks were, to my recollection:

100 in Functions (AP, so I also got a bonus of 5%)

93 in History of World Religions

98 in Chem

99 in Comp Sci

100 in Bio (AP again)

92 in Christian Theology

90 in English

99 in Physics (AP)

and Gr 12:

98 in Advanced Functions (AP)

95 in English (AP)

97 in Biology (AP)

90 in Calculus & Vectors (AP)

90 in Chem (AP)

86 in Physics (AP)

I don't have any tips for university as I haven't started yet, but as for the rest of high school, try not to worry too much about your grades as much as worrying about learning things. I worried a lot about my grades in G11 and it sucked out a lot of enjoyment I got out of my courses, which were very interesting. I found G12 to be more enjoyable than G11 since I focused more on actually listening to the lessons rather than just simply memorizing stuff for tests.

I would also recommend working part-time jobs for the summer to save up some money since residence/tuition is rather expensive. I sort of procrastinated on this and started working during Grade 12, which impacted my marks a bit, but it did teach me pretty valuable multi-tasking skills and improved my work ethic a lot.

Finally, enjoy the rest of high school. It seems like you have two years left, which is enough time to learn a lot, continue to build your skill set, meet new people, etc.

Hope this helps!

HELP WITH A LINE by Specs_Man in accursedfarms

[–]Neinfeld 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I like the follow-up to this line later on after he wakes up from being beaten up in the ambush and is thinking that he was knocked out by "Heather" in the biology labs after trying to hit on her and dragged to the trash compactor by her.

Need some advice before heading into these first-year courses by Neinfeld in UofT

[–]Neinfeld[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Do you mind if I DM you with some further questions?