MasterDex

Also where we spend 60% of the 3+ trillion dollar annual budget on providing assistance to the poor, elderly, and disabled. I hope you didn't take any offence to that comment, I only meant it in jest because I've heard many American's that slam anything that even looks like it could be socialism. It's not something you really see here with Ireland being as socialist as it is. Wow! That is a big difference between spending and scores. Are these scores also adjusted as time goes by, like IQ scores? Do they have the Flynn Effect? I think you're right about the inadequacy of a centralized bureaucracy controlling standards in a large country. I think such a system is inadequate for smaller countries too, even though they may seem better able to cope with it. I think that's exactly what's wrong with the Irish education system. There are a lot of teachers here that can't get full-time jobs because of the lack of available positions. Many positions have been taken up by the same people for their entire careers, regardless of their suitability to the school, their ability to educate and their ability to teach. In my secondary school alone, we had an alcoholic that, as nice of a man that he was, cared little for teaching any more and rarely even showed up. He was teaching there since the days when my father was in school and he was there until mandatory retirement forced him out. Our principal at the time was an incompetent nitwit that did little to help improve the school and help students, leaving the few actually decent teachers lumped with his work. When he acted as a teacher, he just went through the motions in the most droll fashion possible, disengaging even the most avid lover of the subjects in question. The list goes on too but I think I got the picture across. Then of course, you've got the Teacher's Union. A union so persistent that their actions caused secondary level students across the country to start their own strike in protest, many of us genuinely angry that we were coming to school to sit in empty classrooms in our final years. The union, constantly looking for salary increases and usually getting them is championed by the same teachers that couldn't teach a class of teenagers how to tie their shoelaces. It seems to me that instead of throwing money at these sorts that the better solution is to open up more positions by getting rid of the blaggards and incompetents and keeping the quality of our educators high through strict continual assessment.

Thanks for the info. It seems there's a fair bit of cross-over in the different financial aids available in the different countries. It seems Ireland is more forgiven in terms of lower-income students as the maintenance grants don't decrease each year and you get around €6,000. We don't have a very good student loan setup though. Student loans here are just regular bank loans with no oversight from government on how they should be structured so they can vary wildly in what they offer and take. I always thought Community College would have been analogous with what we'd call a vocational school here. Though primarily second-level institutions, many offer further education after the leaving certificate; the courses being mostly 1-2 years in length. Then we've got the IT (Institute of Technology) colleges. These are the middle-of-the-road, most common third-level institutions. They offer courses that go from 1-4 years but also offer Masters and PhDs. Our universities then are the elite colleges and offer many of the same types of courses as the IT's do (usually not the lower level ones) but they're better funded, structured and run. Graduates also have a better chance of getting a job based solely on their education.

I didn't see a thread to discuss general Education topics so here's one now! The reason I went looking for such a thread is that in the "What would you do if you won the Lottery" thread, I see mention of the expense of going to Uni so I'm curious. Here in Ireland, there are a few different schemes available to aid people in going to college. For instance, if you're drawing unemployment benefits, you're probably eligible for Back To Education, which is basically your unemployment benefits plus travelling money. We also have maintenance grants available that cover tuition fees as well as providing some level of income while you're in college. We've got more than that, such as scholarships and so on but that's just the baseline. I'm wondering what other countries have available to help people get a third level education. Does the US, where socialism is a dirty word, have any good schemes for poor parents to put their kids through college? Is University even an option for poorer families? I'm generally just curious how Ireland compares to other countries.

I'd pay off any debts I have, buy myself a nice house in the country, buy a nice everyday car, buy a Toyota Supra and a C3 Corvette. After that, I'd probably buy a small place in town for my mother, buy a nice boat for my old man and treat my good friends to some great fun - but I wouldn't straight-up give them any large sums of money, because that sets a precedent. That said, I'd probably help pay for the wedding that two of them will be having some time in the future. After that, I'd save the rest, and maybe set aside a portion to invest. If I was in such a position, I'd likely use the remaining money to set up a dev studio. I know what you mean. I left the course I started, was doing well at and liked because I felt it was the only option for me at the time but I've always regretted it all the same. Going back this year to start it all over again, this time I'll be finishing it though.

I really like that sentiment! One reason I'm not big on organized religion is alot of the "i'm better than you are" attitude some, not all, employ. Yeah, that "I'm better than you are" attitude is my problem with most organised religions. It has to be the churches way and it's the only way and all these other religions are bogus - which completely doesn't fly in India where there's several hundred different sects and cults for several different religions live in relative harmony. P.S. When you said '"I'm better than you are" attitude', did ya not think 'what would be a good phrase that would explain this succinctly?' Personally, I would have gone for "holier than thou", but that's just me.

It certainly fills in some blanks and the backdrop is similar to that of ASOIAF but I didn't see anything that would explain what's going to happen in the main series. Then again, I might have just missed it.

I listened to the audiobooks of them, they're quite entertaining but they're neither as deep or as serious as the main series.

What I mean implemented is a selling option for games on your Steam or DL service of your choice. Maybe a trade in option directly to Steam, eventually, but I can't seem them implementing directly selling games across accounts. Why not? With enough thought behind it, it could be profitable for everyone. For instance, Steam could add a trading function to Steam that allows any owned game to be traded in for Steam credit, adding a limitation of a year in which it can't be sold, to placate the developers and publishers. The game would then be put in a used bin, priced at a percentage of the game's current price, which would be more than the credit the trader got, where other Steam customers could pick it up. Granted, there's the other logistics to consider but I do see it as a possibility.

I claimed Day One for quite a few games too. I'm old enough and wise enough now to have a good idea of what I like so a trailer or a preview can be enough for me to know whether I'll like the game or not. For instance, Company of Heroes II? Day One. That said, if I say Day One, it doesn't guarantee a Day One buy. If shit happens or is revealed about the game, my decision to buy on the first day might change.

Is that not exclusive to Germany though? Surely since it was in the German courts rather than the EU courts, it would just act as precedence in Germany, as a national level ruling whereas the EU court ruling would take precedence elsewhere in the union where a decision like the one made in Germany was never made.

That's pretty much how my stomach deals with most veg. Makes dieting a bastard. As for mixing it up a bit, rather than a burger, go for a steak, you can cut the excess fat offf and overall, it'll be healthier than a burger.

I hear that. I was just reading a news story about how Katie Holmes thinks there are Scientology spies around her house and that the reason she wants to leave Cruise is supposedly that he wants their daughter to go deeper into the religion. I wonder if that scene in South Park had any bearing on her decision to leave.

I don't, but I did! Does that count? The person below me often worries that they're becoming a hipster and it troubles them deeply.

I agree. I'd still consider it a shounen anime in general but it certainly toes the line. For the shounen aspects, you've got the stereotyping -young and plucky, cool and serious, big and adorable, butch but feminine and so on and you've got the "enemy/adventure of the week" there too, not to mention it's pretty much a coming of age story - Ed and Al growing up to accept reality and learning to live with their mistakes, for instance. I think it's more shounen than seinen in execution but the story dives into depths that only a more mature viewer would pick up on and understand. I think that's what makes it a great anime.

There's not enough quality seinen these days. I still love a good shonen show though, I haven't grown out of them just yet. FMA: Brotherhood was probably the best shounen I've seen in recent times.

I live pretty near to an Army barracks so I know where I'd be going first.

Yet, Johnny. Has that yet. I'll definitely be getting it when I can afford it. I want to get the expansions to the original as well. I'm hoping there'll be a good deal on Steam at some stage during the summer sale

I finally got around to playing this. I'm loving it. I'm considering getting the start pack just to give myself a bit of a boost. The double XP should do me well enough after that for unlocking stuff at a respectable rate.

Yeah, I liked Better off Ted myself. I wouldn't mind a new season of that. I just finished watching the latest Burn Notice. I don't care what anyone says, that show is a classic in its own right. It's like MacGuyver crossed with the A team. Love it.

I've seen a few people making use of the ACR, it looks like a good weapon. Looking at the stats on Symthic, it seems to compare well with the M16A3.

I did! I recall letting Fuchikoma know about this place back when we got banned for accussing Joel of being a paid shill, or something to that effect. I don't know if I played a role for anyone else. The person below me finds guilty pleasure from teabagging the noobs he kills.

Another familiar face! It's good to see you here. It's like a high school reunion in this thread the last couple of days!

I used to love annoying some users for their comments. They'd right these outrageous diatribes, often trolling or "trolling", and I'd just start wrecking their head, keeping them responding with ever more inane replies while I kept typing out these long-ass comments that I find myself so wont to do.