WizardOfUnseen In reply to deVere [2013-08-07 11:22:34 +0000 UTC]

Danke friend.

Even I am not used to it.

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deVere In reply to WizardOfUnseen [2013-08-07 11:55:23 +0000 UTC]

How did you come up with it?

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WizardOfUnseen In reply to deVere [2013-08-07 12:06:13 +0000 UTC]

So I take it you are not aware of Terry Prachett? It is a fictional uni from his novels.

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KeplerNova In reply to WizardOfUnseen [2013-12-14 02:37:50 +0000 UTC]

I KNEW IT AS SOON AS I SAW YOU. 

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WizardOfUnseen In reply to KeplerNova [2013-12-14 02:59:55 +0000 UTC]

Good for you mate!

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KeplerNova In reply to WizardOfUnseen [2013-12-14 03:18:49 +0000 UTC]

I think I'm becoming Discworld-obsessed.

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WizardOfUnseen In reply to KeplerNova [2013-12-14 07:46:45 +0000 UTC]

Yes, Pratchett is really good. I like how he put is own twist to the fantasy genre.

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KeplerNova In reply to WizardOfUnseen [2013-12-14 14:47:56 +0000 UTC]

Yes! And he's able to use the fantasy genre to satirize things that would normally never appear in that sort of world (like Music with Rocks In). And he's very funny, but also very clever and wise. Sometimes his stories have outright morals to them, but he's still able to make his characters funny, and he's able to make them seem like actual people.

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WizardOfUnseen In reply to KeplerNova [2013-12-14 16:43:38 +0000 UTC]

He uses fantasy as a critique of our society. That is his biggest talent and he does it in a humorous manner.

I see you are going to college? Which course are you doing there?

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KeplerNova In reply to WizardOfUnseen [2013-12-14 20:05:55 +0000 UTC]

"World and mirror of worlds" indeed!

I'm a pre-medical student (undergraduate). I'm hoping to eventually do an MD/PhD program, actually.

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WizardOfUnseen In reply to KeplerNova [2013-12-15 00:50:36 +0000 UTC]

Oh yes! I wish some of his books get turned into movies. I would really love that!

That is going to take a long time. It will take you almost 10 years right?

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KeplerNova In reply to WizardOfUnseen [2013-12-15 00:53:06 +0000 UTC]

I know Hogfather has been made into a movie. I want to see a film version of The Wee Free Men, though. Nac Mac Feegle wha' hae!

Yes, it's going to take a very long time. But it's certainly worth it.

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WizardOfUnseen In reply to KeplerNova [2013-12-15 01:09:20 +0000 UTC]

I will check it out then. Is there are a book by him that you did not like?

I agree. Apart from a high paying job, you will also be very knowledgeable and will have a chance to go to other countries due to conferences and such. Will you become a real life House?

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KeplerNova In reply to WizardOfUnseen [2013-12-15 01:59:29 +0000 UTC]

There's nothing I've read in the Discworld series that I outright didn't like, not even the really early books. (I actually started with The Color of Magic.) On the other hand, I certainly wouldn't recommend that people start with those. I have read a few of his books outside the Discworld series, and I liked them, although I never finished Dodger.

(Also, the keys on my keyboard don't always work and "books" almost ended up as "ook". MY COMPUTER KNOWS! XD )

Okay, you just made me look up House. Yes, quite possibly, although I hope I'm not that cranky, at least for a long time! I can actually be quite unsympathetic, though.

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WizardOfUnseen In reply to KeplerNova [2013-12-15 02:05:31 +0000 UTC]

There is one book by him I did not like called The book on Poop. It is for an audience that does not include me.

Computers have a personality of their own. I keep saying this to people but no one believes.

I would rather have a good doctor who can cure me and is cranky rather than an average doctor who is nice. Most people prefer the opposite though. If the doctor is nice and makes a mistake, he or she has only a slight chance of a lawsuit but if he or she were cranky then there is a chance they might be hit by a lawsuit even if they were not at fault. Its sad.

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KeplerNova In reply to WizardOfUnseen [2013-12-15 02:20:40 +0000 UTC]

I have never heard of that book.

+++ Out of Cheese Error+++

I definitely agree. Competence is much more important than personality in a case like that. I also really hate people who lie to doctors about what they eat, how much they exercise, etc. Stupid people, impressing the doctor isn't going to help you, and they'll find out anyway!

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WizardOfUnseen In reply to KeplerNova [2013-12-15 03:03:41 +0000 UTC]

Its a new book. It is written well. Just the topic is not to my taste.

An English teacher of mine once said that do not lie to three kinds of people. A doctor, a lawyer and a teacher. I have read reddit threads regarding topics of health and what doctors wished the patient knew. That is where I came to know about the staph line. It is cool in a scary kind of way.

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KeplerNova In reply to WizardOfUnseen [2013-12-15 03:33:09 +0000 UTC]

I wouldn't think so, if it's about poop.

I've never lied to a doctor, and I have never lied to a teacher about anything academic-related. I have never needed to say much to a lawyer at all.

Lots of things are cool in a scary way! Spiders, neurotoxins, Mr. Teatime, weird mushrooms, parasitic trees, snakes... And yes, definitely staph bacteria.

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WizardOfUnseen In reply to KeplerNova [2013-12-15 04:12:36 +0000 UTC]

I have never had to lie to a doctor. I have had to lie to teachers but then again, most of the teachers I had did not exactly inspire trust.

I am not sure about Mr. Teatime but the others I agree with. I consider myself as a bit of a Hagrid when it comes to things that I find cool. I used to doodle different kinds of weapons when I was in school. Although I must admit, I find spiders and centipedes really scary.

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KeplerNova In reply to WizardOfUnseen [2013-12-15 04:17:54 +0000 UTC]

Most of my teachers have been great,

I'm always the one who squees at bats and snakes and octopi... Oh, I'd love Hagrid's classes. Spiders CAN be really creepy (and centipedes are worse) but they're absolutely amazing.

I don't doodle weapons, but I draw lots of weird monsters and things.

I personally think that Mr. Teatime is a creepy villain, which is one of the reasons I like him a lot.

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WizardOfUnseen In reply to KeplerNova [2013-12-15 04:30:44 +0000 UTC]

Well lucky you.

Octopus can be creepy too. They have problem solving abilities. Also they can squeeze into very tight holes. A recent study showed that bats carry a lot of harmful diseases. I would love to pet a hippogriff and have a pet basilisk. I wonder who would win in a fight between a basilisk and a dragon. A dragon most probably due to the thick skin and FIRE.

I used to doodle cars, bikes, you name it.

Who are your favourite villains?

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KeplerNova In reply to WizardOfUnseen [2013-12-15 04:35:47 +0000 UTC]

Octopi are quite brilliant.

The dragon would have to be careful to not look at the basilisk, though. But apart from that, I think it would win. Honestly, I love the magical creatures in J.K. Rowling's books, especially her dragons.

Mostly I draw characters for stories I write.

In Discworld? My favorite villains are Mr. Teatime, Lily Weatherwax/Lilith de Tempscire, and the Queen of the Elves.

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WizardOfUnseen In reply to KeplerNova [2013-12-15 04:48:46 +0000 UTC]

They are brilliant unless you happen to be a fish, shrimp or crab.

I love the house elves and goblins! They are amazing. I almost cried when Dobby died.

The Queen of the elves is downright evil! I was referring to villains from fiction in general.

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KeplerNova In reply to WizardOfUnseen [2013-12-15 14:03:10 +0000 UTC]

Well, I'm not.

I cried when Dobby died, which is really saying something because I don't cry for fictional characters very often.

I really like Rowling's merfolk. They're wild and mysterious and kind of sinister, and I absolutely love merpeople like that. I don't like it when writers make magical creatures seem too human (which is one of the reasons I really like the Queen of the Elves).

Ooh, that's going to be more difficult. Well, since we've been discussing the Harry Potter series, there's Dolores Umbridge. Rowling makes us hate Umbridge even more than we hate Voldemort, and her saccharine personality and the fact that she's not directly affiliated with the Death Eaters just adds to the effect.

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WizardOfUnseen In reply to KeplerNova [2013-12-15 16:55:27 +0000 UTC]

Merfolk were interesting. So were the dementors. They were the scariest of them all.

Yes, I do find her loathsome. She is a career mad woman who will screw anyone over just so she can be the one on top. Bellatrix is repulsive as well though an opponent one must respect.

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KeplerNova In reply to WizardOfUnseen [2013-12-15 18:04:14 +0000 UTC]

Apparently the dementors are a personification of depression.

J.K. Rowling writes very nasty villains! One of the VERY few things I like about the later Harry Potter films is the characterization of Bellatrix Lestrange. Helena Bonham-Carter is absolutely fantastic as her.

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WizardOfUnseen In reply to KeplerNova [2013-12-16 00:29:17 +0000 UTC]

That is an interesting idea.


Yes she is. She is a very versatile actress. From playing the Queen in The King's Speech to that character in Fight Club. She brought out the madness in Bellatrix.

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KeplerNova In reply to WizardOfUnseen [2013-12-16 00:55:07 +0000 UTC]

I have never even seen Fight Club. All I know is that you do not apparently talk about it. XD

Also, I was wondering... Who is your favorite Discworld character?

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WizardOfUnseen In reply to KeplerNova [2013-12-16 04:43:21 +0000 UTC]

Yes, and if this is your first day in fight club you must fight.

Nutts and the librarian in Unseen University.

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KeplerNova In reply to WizardOfUnseen [2013-12-16 14:59:38 +0000 UTC]

My father has probably seen it. He has probably seen everything. XD

Oh, I like the Librarian a lot. Nutt is in Unseen Academicals, right? I haven't read that one yet.
My favorite character is Susan Sto Helit.

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WizardOfUnseen In reply to KeplerNova [2013-12-17 04:36:55 +0000 UTC]

Sounds like a fan. Which are your favourite movies?

Yes, he is in Unseen Academicals. He is an orc.

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KeplerNova In reply to WizardOfUnseen [2013-12-17 04:39:18 +0000 UTC]

My favorite movie is Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

I really need to read Unseen Academicals... and the rest of the Tiffany Aching series... and basically everything in the Discworld series that I haven't read yet.

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WizardOfUnseen In reply to KeplerNova [2013-12-17 06:57:55 +0000 UTC]

I have watched neither. I have heard good things about Monty Python.

I would recommend Unseen Academicals. It is not as good as his other books but it is interesting.

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KeplerNova In reply to WizardOfUnseen [2013-12-17 15:27:40 +0000 UTC]

Monty Python and the Holy Grail is a very silly movie. The Python actors also did a television show for a while, called Monty Python's Flying Circus.

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WizardOfUnseen In reply to KeplerNova [2013-12-18 11:43:45 +0000 UTC]

Monty Python is the inspiration for the programming language Python!

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KeplerNova In reply to WizardOfUnseen [2013-12-18 15:26:03 +0000 UTC]

Yes! They use "spam", "ham" and "eggs" s monosyllabic variables.

I cannot program in Python, but I can do XHTML and some JavaScript.

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WizardOfUnseen In reply to KeplerNova [2013-12-18 17:07:12 +0000 UTC]

Wow, did not know that. I am trying to learn Python since it is the up and coming language that is going to push out statistical languages like R and might even push out Java someday.

I learnt HTML, CSS and Javascript as part of my course work but I have forgotten them. I also knew PHP but alas, that too is faint in memory.

Just curious, what are you studying in uni?

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KeplerNova In reply to WizardOfUnseen [2013-12-18 17:15:58 +0000 UTC]

I can program in R, thanks to my biostatistics class, but I haven't used it since the class ended.

Well, I forgot what I'm taking next semester (genetics, microbiology, other things), but this semester I took a religion and literature class, an English/composition class for writing scientific papers and research proposals, an ecology class, and an organic chemistry lab (I did the lecture class in the summer).

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WizardOfUnseen In reply to KeplerNova [2013-12-18 18:51:28 +0000 UTC]

That is good. R is a pretty powerful language. Have you ever used SPSS? I am trying to get into data analytics and hence trying to learn R and Python. I will do a masters next year in data analytics or machine learning. As part of biostatistics, what kind of data are you dealing with?

You have taken a very diverse set of subjects. If you do not mind me asking, what prompted you to take religion?

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KeplerNova In reply to WizardOfUnseen [2013-12-18 18:57:06 +0000 UTC]

Nope, no SPSS.

Biostatistics uses general statistical tests (t-tests, regression, chi-squared, etc.) in the context of biology. Most of it seems to center around population ecology, genetics, and diseases.

I needed a literature requirement and that was the only interesting one.

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WizardOfUnseen In reply to KeplerNova [2013-12-18 19:10:10 +0000 UTC]

Its good to learn a tool just in case.

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KeplerNova In reply to WizardOfUnseen [2013-12-18 19:15:37 +0000 UTC]

I really do need to learn more programming languages.

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WizardOfUnseen In reply to KeplerNova [2013-12-19 00:14:44 +0000 UTC]

As a biology related subjects major, why?

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KeplerNova In reply to WizardOfUnseen [2013-12-19 03:49:08 +0000 UTC]

Because I like analyzing religion and people's beliefs, and also because everything else seemed boring in comparison.

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WizardOfUnseen In reply to KeplerNova [2013-12-19 04:06:56 +0000 UTC]

No, that is not what I was asking. I wanted to know why you want to learn more programming languages?

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KeplerNova In reply to WizardOfUnseen [2013-12-19 04:14:57 +0000 UTC]

Because I might need to know them.

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WizardOfUnseen In reply to KeplerNova [2013-12-19 05:09:08 +0000 UTC]

I doubt it that is why. You could learn C or Python if you want.

So are you studying to be a doctor?

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KeplerNova In reply to WizardOfUnseen [2013-12-19 14:33:50 +0000 UTC]

Sometimes my motives really are that simple. I might one day need a computer model for the spread of bacteria/viruses/cancer cells, or code for some kind of computer-controlled medical equipment, or even just an educational webpage, and I might need to do it myself. I am going to be as ridiculously prepared as possible. Not to mention that I certainly don't know all the things that will happen in my life, and versatile computer skills can be very useful in a variety of fields.

I am indeed. I want to specialize in pre-natal genetic medicine (fetal gene therapy).

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WizardOfUnseen In reply to KeplerNova [2013-12-20 06:26:43 +0000 UTC]

The sentiment is appreciated but what you need to understand is you need hundreds of hours of programming practice to be able to execute something remotely what you want. Also, to make a webpage you do not need programming language but scripting languages. If you are intent on making a website, learn Ajax and  PHP. You can only be good at certain things and I suggest you work on what your course structure demands.

That sounds interesting. I do not know much about this subject. Is it legal for parents to be able to alter the gene of the fetus?

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