[Darkwatch]

Ale to Dammon and everyone.

Also I just thought of something. Can an intelligent undead (or dead) contemplate suicide?

[Adjutant Stormy~]

Naturally. But whether or not it's possible to kill oneself out of undeath is another question.

[Darkwatch]

Adjutant Stormy, on 04 November 2011 - 02:02 AM, said:

Naturally. But whether or not it's possible to kill oneself out of undeath is another question.

That word does not seem to make sense in this conversation.

Well the dead cannot kill themselves again unless they've been resurrected. I suppose they could contemplate destruction/annihilation.

This post has been edited by Darkwatch: 04 November 2011 - 02:08 AM

[Adjutant Stormy~]

I meant to say, of course they can contemplate it. In the same fashion that I could contemplate being a fish.

[Mentalist]

hey peoples

welcome to ment's first all-nighter of the 2011-2012 school year

todays's issue: a draft research paper, that was technically supposed to be submitted 2 weeks ago (the prof wasn't too clear on the date at the time, and he seems to be a generally lenient type)

so, i have a VERY general/vague idea of the topic and execution (it's a comparative paper, so just do 4 sources and compare), 6-8 pages (double-spaced, so about 4 singspaced, tops), and I have about 8 hours.

as background: i've been at work for 5 hours, then played soccer fao about 2.5 hours, then had a beer. sleep beckons, but this weak body urge will be drowned in caffeine (1 cup of tea so far)

I've got a techno mix I always play when I need to focus on, and i've discovered I have absolutely no idea how to write a paper anymore (last time I did this was I think in february?)

DW, get me an actual study drink, i'm off to write

[Adjutant Stormy~]

Oh man, good luck.

[Mentalist]

Adjutant Stormy, on 07 November 2011 - 06:34 AM, said:

Oh man, good luck.

hehe, I like to challenge myself from time to time. When I think back to how frequently I pulled all-nighters in my first few years of undergrad... and how I steadily found it more and more difficult as years went by....

it's good to be able to occasionally prove to myself that i've still got what it takes.
besides, WCS, my one class tomorrow is somehtign I can fully skip, as i've already done the reading for it last week, and the prof post a handout that summarizes the lecture online. oh, and the exam is based on the handouts. So, should I crash disgracefully, I can sleep untill about 5 (when I have a soccer game)

[HoosierDaddy]

Just a draft? Worthy any percent towards the grade? Is it supposed to be a memorandum, brief, any other assorted legal document, or just like a regular undergrad paper (never had one of those in law school btw, would have been nice)?

[Mentalist]

HoosierDaddy, on 07 November 2011 - 06:45 AM, said:

Just a draft? Worthy any percent towards the grade? Is it supposed to be a memorandum, brief, any other assorted legal document, or just like a regular undergrad paper (never had one of those in law school btw, would have been nice)?

first draft-no percent. final draft- 20% ofc, this first paper is the "launching point" for the major paper that i'll have to submit by the end of the semester--the one that's actually worth the bulk of the course mark.

it's a "perspective" course--we need to take one of those every year in 2nd +3rd year, and they each revolve around a research paper, rather than a 100% final (which is what most of my remaining classes are like).
so, nothing legal, cept it's a comparative law paper, legal citation applies, and it must be written in the short and sweet style of a legal document.

[HoosierDaddy]

Meh, punch out an detailed out-line if push comes to shove. It's worth just as much as a bad first draft, really.

[Mentalist]

HoosierDaddy, on 07 November 2011 - 07:04 AM, said:

Meh, punch out an detailed out-line if push comes to shove. It's worth just as much as a bad first draft, really.

yeah, thing is, the prof wants to critique it. a lot. I've had him last year for one of those introductory 1st year courses (like legal history, but several times more useless),and he's very big on the whole"draft-correction-revision--good final project" thing. plus, it's a small seminar-type class (like 19 students), so I can't be just another faceless name...

besides which, I NEED to force myself to get it done. because it's November, and my attitude to schoolwork most of October has been pretty terribly slack. given that i've gotta start getting in gear for pre-exam crunch time, I need to shed lazy behavioral patterns. a self-induced all night crunch like this has worked wonders for me before.

[HoosierDaddy]

To expand, you still cite it fully. You still topic sentence, supporting ideas it, but you save on transitions and the fluffery that generally take up 10% of even legal papers. Plus, if they are grading you on your ability to write, and not the substance of, you are fucked anyways. You know how to write, and your outline would show them you know how to, more crucially, develop and support your ideas.

Edit: Self-induced all-night crunch: Good for when it's needed. Bad to set the standard.

I get you though with the prof, but really, my point stands. It's the ideas, whether you are on point, and construction they should be critiquing, not your prose and grammar. Outlines are more valuable, IMO.

That said, have fun. Six pages ain't bad at all.

This post has been edited by HoosierDaddy: 07 November 2011 - 07:15 AM

[Mentalist]

HoosierDaddy, on 07 November 2011 - 07:12 AM, said:

To expand, you still cite it fully. You still topic sentence, supporting ideas it, but you save on transitions and the fluffery that generally take up 10% of even legal papers. Plus, if they are grading you on your ability to write, and not the substance of, you are fucked anyways. You know how to write, and your outline would show them you know how to, more crucially, develop and support your ideas.

Edit: Self-induced all-night crunch: Good for when it's needed. Bad to set the standard.

I get you though with the prof, but really, my point stands. It's the ideas, whether you are on point, and construction they should be critiquing, not your prose and grammar. Outlines are more valuable, IMO.

That said, have fun. Six pages ain't bad at all.

yeah, i'm not worried. the very reason I picked the class was partially because I enjoy historical perspectives, and that's largely what the course has been about, and secondly I figured, since i'll need to do a paper-based course anyhow (which I hate, btw. i'll take a n exam over a paper anyday), might as well be with the prof, who seems to make a big deal out of the whole thing (which turned out to be a good decision: he already told us that he doesn't care about the faculty-imposed minimum necessary amount for the final paper "write as much as you need to prove your point thoroughly". Plus the above-mentoined general leniency (the final is due sometime before xmass. his means the final drafts for both this one and the major one). so i'm not stressing, i'm more frustrated with my inability to get my shit together earlier than anything else)

and yeah, thanks. i'm planning to ballpark round 6.5-7 pages and then do citations and footnotes and such.

[Mentalist]

status report: nearly 5 hours sincei've started. I think i'm on my fifth cup of tea. I have about a page single-spaced. I forgot how engrossing research can be. I now know more that I thought possible about Canadian copyright. also, got some nice material that's gonna be directly relevant to the second paper (piracy and such). Also, apparently Canada's still holding out on ratifying WIPO's copyright treaty re: internet. good to know. we're right up there with Venezuela, Bolivia, Mongolia and South Africa.

[Mentalist]

i'm also getting a really good idea of where I want to go with respect to my final paper. putting all that i've just absorbed on paper brings me up to about halfway mark. I think i'll e-mail my prof whatever I finish writing today as well as the major point I now want to pursue in my main paper.

hmm, my, i'm rediscovering interest in schoolwork. subtle note to self: mission accomplished.

[tiam]

I remember my first all nighter I look back and realise how easy it was. A 1500 word (seemed massivee in 1st year uni) essay on bronze age trade links when all hte books had been taken out of the library and I had to make it up. I started at midnight and it had to be in at 12 the next day.

Good Caffeine fuelled fun that I looked back on fondly when I was doing my dissertation

[Use Of Weapons]

I only ever pulled one all-nighter in my time at uni, for a programming exercise (Travelling Salesman problem). Group of us stayed up in the 24-hour computing facility. I vaguely remember finishing (or perhaps just calling it a night) around 7am. I swore, never again.

[tiam]

UseOfWeapons, on 07 November 2011 - 12:33 PM, said:

I only ever pulled one all-nighter in my time at uni, for a programming exercise (Travelling Salesman problem). Group of us stayed up in the 24-hour computing facility. I vaguely remember finishing (or perhaps just calling it a night) around 7am. I swore, never again.

Yes the 24 hour library was a dear dear friend of mine. I distinctly remember finishing an essay and noticing the son had come up and Id been there for a full 18 hours. By the beard of Zeus my back was stiff after that.

[Mentalist]

tiam, on 07 November 2011 - 01:52 PM, said:

UseOfWeapons, on 07 November 2011 - 12:33 PM, said:

I only ever pulled one all-nighter in my time at uni, for a programming exercise (Travelling Salesman problem). Group of us stayed up in the 24-hour computing facility. I vaguely remember finishing (or perhaps just calling it a night) around 7am. I swore, never again.

Yes the 24 hour library was a dear dear friend of mine. I distinctly remember finishing an essay and noticing the son had come up and Id been there for a full 18 hours. By the beard of Zeus my back was stiff after that.

hehe
in fourth year of my undergrad, I had the following exam schedule
Tuesday night
Wednesday morning
Thursday morning.

I wrote the first one, then proceeded to the library to cram for the second one. it being exam time, it was open 24/7.
I wrote the second one, came home, promptly went to bed (this was around noon)
got up around 10-11ish PM, went to the library to cram for the third one.

i'm not sure i'll stillbe able to do that today.
oh, and i've had breakfast today. can hardly recall I was up early enough to catch hot breakfast @ rez.

nearly done, need about half-page for one more comparison, and then a brief conclusion. I've already written the e-mail to my prof detailing my excitement about the major paper idea, along with apologies that this draft is such an un-cited mess that doesn't really come to a conclusion (I need more research on a more obscure aspect before I can draw one safely)

[Mentalist]

and... done, and sent. just under 8 hours. heh, still got it.

considering about 30% of that was spent trying to organize the immense torrent of info i've been processing during the other 70% of the time, i'm retty happy with myself.

now, if I could just figure out where I can find some materials on the background to the Berne Convention....