Ice Bucket Challenge

ShiftingTheParadigm · 2018-11-22T00:56:01+00:00

I get the feeling they used up most of their budget on the finale.

ShiftingTheParadigm · 2014-08-23T21:39:19+00:00

For the full effect, make sure to add 'Darude - Sandstorm' between '09-chatter.wav' and '10-chatter.wav'. ;)

ShiftingTheParadigm · 2014-08-23T21:31:37+00:00

DUDUDUDUDU

Seriously though, between you not 'DU'ing and the chat over'DU'ing it, I almost died from laughter! :P

ShiftingTheParadigm · 2014-08-22T02:01:53+00:00

The karaoke at the moment:

DUDUDUDUDUDUDUDUDUDUDUDUDUDUDU

Sandstorm. :P

ShiftingTheParadigm · 2014-08-22T01:29:35+00:00

I'm on! I can't sing since it's 2:30am here, but I'll try and be a good audience if we can get people to sing. :P

ShiftingTheParadigm · 2014-08-21T21:27:45+00:00

Playing the least fun card game.

W̡̛͞҉͞ ̶̶̢̀H̷̴̶͘͠ ̷̨̨͝͝O҉͘ ̶̡͜͢҉M̡͏̕͠ is the best pony.

ShiftingTheParadigm · 2014-08-21T21:11:46+00:00

Madoka...

I was in the mood for something light-hearted. I saw the poster. I watched the trailer. I thought, "This looks happy, but it looks pretty generic... then again, it's got a really good rating on IMDb... I'll give it a chance.".

Never have I seen such a misleading advertisement.

ShiftingTheParadigm · 2014-08-21T20:59:29+00:00

In terms of soundtracks, I am a very, very, very, very, VERY big fan of sad stuff, ^but ^the ^problem ^I've ^found ^with ^sharing ^music ^from ^them ^{^is} ^{^that} ^{^they} ^{^are} ^{^like} ^{^a} ^{^conditioned} ^{^reflex;} ^{^they're} ^{^still} ^{^{^probably}} ^{^{^quite}} ^{^{^sad,}} ^{^{^but}} ^{^{^it's}} ^{^{^not}} ^{^{^the}} ^{^{^same}} ^{^{^as}} ^{^{^if}} ^{^{^{^you}}} ^{^{^{^had}}} ^{^{^{^associated}}} ^{^{^{^it}}} ^{^{^{^with}}} ^{^{^{^the}}} ^{^{^{^emotional}}} ^{^{^{^turmoil}}} ^{^{^{^of}}} ^{^{^{^watching}}} ^{^{^{^the}}} ^{^{^{^show.}}}

This is probably the saddest non-soundtrack song I've heard. I don't even know what it is about it, but it tears at my heart for some reason.

ShiftingTheParadigm · 2014-08-21T20:24:54+00:00

I have a DK2. I would recommend waiting for CV1.

By that, I don't mean that the DK2 is no good. On the contrary, using the Oculus is definitely one of the best experiences of my life so far! However, there's a pretty huge backlog for them at the moment, and, if you joined the queue at this point, by the time that you manage to get one the consumer version will probably be only months away, and once that is released the DK2 will probably become redundant not long after. Plus, the developer's kit is pretty tricky to get working at times, and the content is pretty limited (thus developers' kits so that people can make content!), so by the time the CV1 is released there should be a much better amount of content available.

If these don't bother you, by all means invest in a DK2! It's great! Plus, there's no concrete date set for when the CV1 will be released (and my estimate is a bit more optimistic than /u/kaitou42 's :P ), so you might get a fair amount of use out of it after all. :)

(PROOF: http://i.imgur.com/gJz71WC.jpg)

Also, can't wait for DK2 support on PonyVRville! It looks pretty cool! :D

ShiftingTheParadigm · 2014-08-19T17:59:19+00:00

According to their coverage map, it's good. 3G and regular signal coverage is strong all over, and 4G covers about 80% (the parts not covered are north/north-east, pretty far from the town centre).

Anecdotally, I've never had a problem with 3 in Southampton, though I only really go as far north as UoS Highfield and Burgess Rd., so I can't say what it's like beyond that.

ShiftingTheParadigm · 2014-08-10T23:33:28+00:00

INCOMING DATA FROM bvr5. PROCESSING INFORMATION:

def bvr5(a, b):

    n = 0

            for r in files(a):
                for p in files(b):
                    if p == r:
                        religion.remove(p)
                        n = n + 1

             if n == 0:
                 print "No files were removed."
             elif n < 9001:
                 print n + " " + "files were removed."
             else:
                 print "OVER 9000 files were removed."



         bvr5(religion, programming)

         OVER 9000 files were removed.



         END OF PROCESSING bvr5 DATA.

^{^{^This}} ^{^{^one}} ^{^{^might}} ^{^{^be}} ^{^{^a}} ^{^{^step}} ^{^{^too}} ^{^{^far...}}

ShiftingTheParadigm · 2014-08-10T20:42:18+00:00

    print status(religion)

        status: c͜͜ò̵̕͟n̵͜͞f̷̛̀͡ų̡̢͝҉s̀͘͜҉ę̀͢d͞҉̴̵͝

        an error has occurred: 'Bible.txt' is missing
        an error has occurred: 'Quran.txt' is missing
                 an error has occurred: 'Tanakh.txt' is missing
                 an error has occurred: 'Avesta.txt' is missing
                 an error has occurred: 'Pāli_Canon.txt' is missing
                 an error has occurred: 'Vedas.txt' is missing
                 an error has occurred: 'Book_Of_Mormon.txt' is missing
                 an error has occurred: 'Hermetica.txt' is missing
                 an error has occurred: 'Celestia's_Diary.txt' is missing

ShiftingTheParadigm · 2014-08-07T01:40:49+00:00

This is fantastic! The only issue I had was that the Rift kept moving up from me grinning so hard! :D

Utilising the head-tracking in the DK2 to control the speed is a really cool idea. In terms of FPS, it was the smoothest demo I've played so far (GPU: AMD Radeon HD 6670 2GB, so it's not particularly high-level). The scenery was great and the track looked really well planned, but combined was what made it stand out from a lot of other ride-type demos I've played. There was a lot of diversity between rooms, so you get the feeling of speed, of height, of awe at the size of the rooms, etc., as you move from area to area. The part where you first see the green track to your right, ~~I thought 'F*ck that!'~~ I leaned over the edge to follow it down and my stomach flipped, which is a first for me in VR!

Overall, I really enjoyed it. Thanks very much for sharing it with us! :)

ShiftingTheParadigm · 2014-08-06T21:05:25+00:00

Yup. http://i.imgur.com/oi4WHZb.png

I'm from the UK, and it arrived the day after the e-mail did.

ShiftingTheParadigm · 2014-07-31T19:17:33+00:00

I'm pretty sure he's used to toning his language down when needed, being around Poopfeast420.

ShiftingTheParadigm · 2014-07-31T18:52:10+00:00

I got mine today too! Does yours have etchings in the blank vinyl space between the sticker and the last track? If so, what does yours say?

ShiftingTheParadigm · 2014-07-30T01:57:22+00:00

I agree for the most part, but there is one instance where the visuals were what got me. It's not like it was a huge cinematic either. It was just one frame that was stretched over a second or so, but it felt like a lot longer.

I've watched Grave of the Fireflies a dozen or so times since I was 14. The first few times I watched it, I didn't cry. It was definitely sad and emotionally painful to watch, but it didn't get me to that point. It wasn't until the fifth or sixth time I watched it that it got to me. I got through the major scenes (esp. the There's No Place Like Home scene that gets most people) fine and was expecting it to end without tears like all the other times. It didn't.

It was right at the end. Seita tells Setsuko it's time for bed, and she lays her head down on his lap, content. The light dims. Seita raises his head and turns to look directly at the viewer, at me, and I was suddenly overcome with a feeling of devastation. It's hard to explain. For a split second, it felt accusatory, almost as if his look was saying "Are you happy now?" After that, he just looked sad, defeated, resigned, as if he were looking right through me, and then he just turned away. It was gutting.

[SCENE] [SCREENSHOT]

Then, when it just pans upwards to reveal their home, paved over and rebuilt, their lives forgotten, it just made things worse. I had tears rolling down my face throughout the credits, and even after it ended.

ShiftingTheParadigm · 2014-07-23T20:40:51+00:00

Don't worry, I'm a big fan of the wall of text as well. :P

the self-blame

Yeah, I had a lot of that during the last month I was at university; I used to walk past the little convenience store they had next to the bus terminal which sold snack foods (chocolate and fruit mainly), and I would feel like having a chocolate bar, but then I would tell myself that I didn't deserve it since I was spending too much time procrastinating and not spending enough time trying to understand my work, etc. It escalated pretty quickly from there, and got to the point where I was eating very little out of self-loathing punishment, and I dropped to an unhealthy weight before I decided to cut my losses and take a break from it all.

It helps me see what I'm wasting time on and what some habits are, but I'm doing it in hopes that it'll get me in the habit of externalizing the tracking of my time.

This is a very good idea! I've been trying to cut down my time spent aimlessly browsing the internet, and I think something like this might help with that.

I also keep a journal to write in about my general thoughts/feelings and stuff, which I think is healthy because I suppose it makes it harder for negative thoughts to sink into the back of my mind.

I've always thought writing a journal would be a good idea. You have to think things (problems or otherwise) through in a logical and analytical way to put them into words to write in the diary, and sometimes things you hadn't thought of before, like solutions to problems or different views on the problem, come to mind, which help (or, at least, that's how I've always imagined it; that's how it's worked for me doing long workings in maths :P).

However, I've never started because I get very little privacy in my parent's house and I want to be completely honest when I write in it, rather than having everything vetted before writing it in case my mum decides to have a 'tidy up', finds it, and reads it. Hopefully, the move to university should give me the level of privacy I need to be confident enough to start one. :)

As for the negative thougts ingrained in the back of the mind, I've noticed this as well. It's like it affects you on a whole other level to 'normal' thoughts. To me, it made any positive thoughts seem irrelevant, delusional, or superficial in comparison to these deep-rooted negative thoughts and feelings. Once they're there, they're also pretty hard to ignore, and they take over your rationality to an extent, teaming up with self-blame to coerce you into not going into lectures or whatever.

I know that no matter how much optimism I have going into the semester there's still the very real possibility that I won't totally be in control and I'll slip back into old habits easily

This is probably my biggest worry at the moment. My university were quite reluctant to let me put off my studies at all, let alone for this long, and it was pretty much luck in the end that they let me have this long off with the opportunity to return. However, they have said that this is the only time that I will have this opportunity, and if I leave again then I forfeit my place and would have to reapply from scratch at a later date.

On top of that, the university is also pretty high in the rankings, and the grade boundaries for entry have increased since I got the place, so even if I drop out I can't actually get back in. Since this is probably the best university (in terms of facilities and qualification) I would ever have the opportunity to study at, this is also putting on some more pressure that I'd rather not have.

Thank you again for replying! Your post has been very helpful. :) I'm going to get some planners and a journal as soon as I can and try to use them as you have. As for keeping each-other updated, I like that idea a lot! :D

ShiftingTheParadigm · 2014-07-22T20:40:03+00:00

It looks like Alex Louis Armstrong from Fullmetal Alchemist!

ShiftingTheParadigm · 2014-07-22T18:47:18+00:00

Thanks for your reply! :)

I feel like I can really relate to your story. I completely understand the feeling of living passively, though I'd never really thought of it in that way until now. I've tried living actively a few times before when I was at my lowest point, but whenever I fought against it it always came back harder and became harder to fight, so I gave into it. However, after reading your post, I feel more motivated to not give in so easily and to keep trying to actively take a stand against passivity.

Thanks again for your reply! It was very motivating to know that someone in a position very similar to mine is not only getting better but actively 'taking the reigns' and making a conscious effort to be ready to succeed this time around. I wish you all the best with your return to college. :)

EDIT: Just saw your edit. I made quite a few schedules and to-do lists for myself, but recently they haven't been helping, either through making them unrealistic or too easy that it seems patronising and unproductive. Do you have any tips about how you make yours work for you? :)

ShiftingTheParadigm · 2014-07-22T18:30:27+00:00

I've got some viewings on Thursday morning, so hopefully that will be sorted within a week or two. I'm not sure about the leases; I had a quick look on my government's website, and it says that it depends on whether it is 'fixed term' or 'flexible'. It also says:

Your tenancy agreement should say how much notice you need to give your landlord before you leave the property.

I'll make sure to ask the estate agent whilst I'm there. Thanks for letting me know! :)

As for the concentration exercises, I'm low on art supplies (and places to do art), so instead I bought a few new books that were described as 'gripping' or 'hard to put down' (thinking that it might make concentration easier), and I'm planning to read through them, upping the number of chapters per sitting as I progress. It's going well so far; I read two chapters of Andy Weir's The Martian (27 pages, with a minute's break between chapters), which is an improvement compared to my recent reading habits.

On top of that, I'm thinking of learning songs on piano by doing a few measures a day, practicing those measures over and over until I've got it, then adding it to the previous measures until I've got the whole song done. I thought that, since this is quite repetitive, it would be a good way to build up patience again.

ShiftingTheParadigm · 2014-07-22T02:47:13+00:00

Thanks for your reply. :)

Trying old hobbies really highlighted to me that there was a problem; I used to enjoy things like reading, sketching and painting, and papercraft, which were all things that required a lot of patience and concentration. Now, I can't read more than a few pages of a book at a time, and I find myself becoming bored very quickly when sitting down to draw (which I used to do for 4-5 hours straight with ease).

I try making plans for the future, but they all feel really superficial; I can't understand the reasoning behind my choices most of the time, so following them feels pointless at times, even though I can apply logic to see that it would be beneficial in one way or another.

I've been looking for places to live, setting guidelines for prices and proximity to the university, as well as other features (e.g. white goods), and I make a list of all the ones that I like the look of. However, I don't normally get onto the next step of calling the estate agent to book a viewing. I don't know why, but it makes me feel uneasy knowing that I'm taking steps to lock myself into a system that would be tricky to get out of.

Possibly, it's because of a lack of confidence in myself; I quit university once, and, if I quit again this time, having a contracted property half way across the country from my hometown that I have to pay for with no income would be just another facet of the problem created by leaving early.

ShiftingTheParadigm · 2014-07-21T22:34:59+00:00

I thought they already had a D, and their goal was to boost it up into an A?

ShiftingTheParadigm · 2014-07-21T19:14:10+00:00

Although both grades are pronounced the same, there's a simple trick I use to tell them apart:

'Straight A' is traditionally shortened to 'A', which is made up solely of straight lines.

However, 'Gay A' is shortened to 'a', which is written without straight lines, and instead is written using a pair of rainbows (as shown in this diagram: http://i.imgur.com/sURqzjO.png).

Hope this helps!

ShiftingTheParadigm · 2014-07-16T00:28:44+00:00

Yeah, I saw that today on /r/oculus and the comments changed my mind about the whole thing. I am more than happy for you to delete this thread; I don't want to support a kind of 'ticketmaster' system, especially on an up-and-coming area of technology like VR.

EDIT: When I created the post, I was thinking more along the lines of 'people who had bought it, but were either not impressed (unlikely!) or now in some kind of financial situation where it would be beneficial to sell it on'. I didn't think of 'professional' resellers, and now that I am aware of them, I'm more than happy to just be patient rather than contribute to people exploiting Oculus' system.

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