"A Student" Selling His Notes On eBay

Lawliet

randylonghorn wrote: »

Em, because the guy on spin referred to himself as "an fear bocht" (the poor man) doesn't mean that the user here is the same person.

It's hardly an uncommon phrase!

So Cillian Fahy called himself "an fear bocht" in some interview, and a poster on here defending Cillian Fahy -while also complimenting initiative and bigging up the usefulness of the notes- calls himself "an fear bocht".

Suppose it could be a coincidence, but it does seem rather suspect.

TimeToShine

If so, then he clearly isn't the sharpest tool in the shed if he used the same name, and he got 7 A's. Awesome system

mikemac

Those French notes are gone to 1,100 now.

People are posting bids to wreck it.
I see it all the time in GAA forum, posters don't like people touting Croke Park tickets so they post fake bids and ruin it.

An Fear Bocht

leavingcert wrote: »

I agree with randyhorn, calm down

you were on spin today and referring to yourself as "an fear bocht" so clearly it is you blowing your own trumpet, calm down i just wanted other posters to know that you are this Cillian Fahy of the notes fame

No, I wasn't on spin today, I simply happen to use the username "An Fear Bocht". I registered here three years ago, made a few posts on the Irish board, forgot about Boards.ie for several years and have now decided to pop down for a while. This does not equate with me being the same man who was on the radio today.

Now in future, I shall ask you not to make unfounded assumptions about my name. I am not Cillian Fahy; he lives in Clare, I live in Dublin (which is indicated beside my post) I don't want anything to erupt here, so I'll stop here; I originally thought that you were attempting some kind of sarcastic jibe at me, but it turns out that wasn't the case, hence we draw the line.

randylonghorn

Lawliet wrote: »

So Cillian Fahy called himself "an fear bocht" in some interview ...

I think he was just basically saying he was doing it to raise money because he needed to, he didn't say "an fear bocht" was his nick.

Ficheall

whiteman19 wrote: »

it's also piss poor preparation for college. you're not going to be able to buy notes in 3rd level. you're going to get a massive shock when you go to college, and have to fend for yourself.

Actually, it strikes me as very like college.. The lecturer gives you notes, you regurgitate them verbatim, and you ace your exam.

bullring

I'm one of the real bidders. These notes have a value which may not be obvious to all. The very fact that the auction was publicised adds value to the transaction. This sale is not just a simple private transaction between two individuals,the buyer is buying the publicity as well which may be worth more than the actual notes.

randylonghorn

bullring wrote: »

This sale is not just a simple private transaction between two individuals,the buyer is buying the publicity as well which may be worth more than the actual notes.

How? 0_o

bullring

Use your imagination!
I'll let you know after the bidding has ended!

randylonghorn

I retain my imagination for more entertaining things! :pac:

For the average LC student, I doubt publicity is too important.

Hell, if you can see an angle, go for it ... I won't be bidding against you, dont worry!

yankinlk

bullring wrote: »

I'm one of the real bidders. These notes have a value which may not be obvious to all. The very fact that the auction was publicised adds value to the transaction. This sale is not just a simple private transaction between two individuals,the buyer is buying the publicity as well which may be worth more than the actual notes.

Fair play you must have money to burn. You may be a real bidder - but you arent competing against real bidders. Have you looked at those that have bid against you? Unless part of your plan for gaining value out of the transaction is overpaying for the notes...then you are welll on your way to a winner.

Gone West

"These notes were the only ones I used and they got me an A-grade in my subjects so naturally they should do the same for any student."

written proof that the LC does not measure intelligence, in any way, shape or form.

randylonghorn

Fuzzy!! :mad:

How dare you suggest thst the LC isn't the ultimate test of intelligence, logic, ability, etc. ...





Oh, wait ...

>_>

<_<

Healium

randylonghorn wrote: »

I retain my imagination for more entertaining things! :pac:

For the average LC student, I doubt publicity is too important.

Hell, if you can see an angle, go for it ... I won't be bidding against you, dont worry!

Shhh, his movie deals are rolling in. The guy directing the movie about Facebook wants to tell this guys stry about selling his notes. I hear he's gonna do a duet with Samantha Mumba. He's scheduled for Nationwide, too

RolandIRL

Ficheall wrote: »

Actually, it strikes me as very like college.. The lecturer gives you notes, you regurgitate them verbatim, and you ace your exam.

depends on the course you're doing but my course is nothing like that. we are given notes but they're not very good notes. you have to go to the lectures and beef them up a lot.

Ficheall

Yes, one has to go to lectures and buy books etc, but it's not like you're expected to come up with any original ideas/slant on the material you're covering. You will be able to buy/obtain notes that you can simply remember and regurgitate. It's what you're expected/trained to do. So that you can do what you're told when/if you get a job later in life.
Even for Science students.

RolandIRL

Ficheall wrote: »

Yes, one has to go to lectures and buy books etc, but it's not like you're expected to come up with any original ideas/slant on the material you're covering.

depending on your course (eg arts) you are expected to give a slant on ideas your lecturer puts forward. in my maths lectures, we are expected to spew out concepts and alternatives to what the lecturer gives.

Ficheall wrote: »

You will be able to buy/obtain notes that you can simply remember and regurgitate.

you are expected to show initiative in college and do independent thinking and study. otherwise your time at college is worthless. what about assignments? you can't regurgitate your notes on that. i had a workshop in maths and part of that involved a small presentation. i did mine on quadratic equations. lecturer gave no notes. i had to get books out of the library, analyse and assess all the information and put my own spin on it. if i had simply copied it out of wikipedia, i wouldn't have learned anything and that'd lessen my degree, and i would have failed my exams if i had done that. other people in my course have done that and they're repeating now.

Ficheall wrote: »

It's what you're expected/trained to do. So that you can do what you're told when/if you get a job later in life.

you are expected to show initiative in a job. you can't expect your boss to tell you what to do every single day.

Ficheall wrote: »

Even for Science students.

i don't know what that's supposed to mean. i don't remember mentioning that i did Science in this thread.

Ficheall

whiteman19 wrote: »

i don't know what that's supposed to mean. i don't remember mentioning that i did Science in this thread.

You didn't, no - though you did mention your course as an "example" so I checked to see what it was, and a quick glance at your public profile revealed what you were studying. I checked in case you were an Arts student or somesuch, in which case I might have found it more difficult to argue a case.
However, since you're Science, I feel confident in saying that this:

whiteman19 wrote: »

in my maths lectures, we are expected to spew out concepts and alternatives to what the lecturer gives.

is bull.

whiteman19 wrote: »

what about assignments? you can't regurgitate your notes on that.

Lecturer: Here is how you multiply two matrices...
Assignment: Multiply the following two matrices:...
Student: Hmm...

I realise this is perhaps a non-representative example, but given that you brought up your maths course...

whiteman19 wrote: »

i had a workshop in maths and part of that involved a small presentation. i did mine on quadratic equations. lecturer gave no notes. i had to get books out of the library, analyse and assess all the information and put my own spin on it. if i had simply copied it out of wikipedia, i wouldn't have learned anything and that'd lessen my degree, and i would have failed my exams if i had done that. other people in my course have done that and they're repeating now.

Presentations are fantastic for learning, and ideally a large portion of any course would be presentation-based, because it's only when teaching something that one truly learns it. It's pity that they count for almost nothing - in your maths course at any rate. But no, while the presentation might give an indication as to what type of student you or your classmates were, it would have had practically no bearing on you passing your exams or not.

whiteman19 wrote: »

you are expected to show initiative in a job. you can't expect your boss to tell you what to do every single day.

Really?


Anyway - we're getting off-topic. I was merely pointing out that there's no huge difference between Leaving Cert learning and University learning, despite what some people would have one believe.

CianDon

I can see why people are taking the piss out of the lad but I would have honestly bid on notes like the Maths ones had the price been right. I struggle to make decent study notes but having a good structured note really gives a bit of foundation to work from. I'd been promised a few notes from a cousin for the LC but he went and threw them in the bonfire a few weeks ago

amacachi

An Fear Bocht wrote: »

I think a few armchair judges ought to get down off their moral high-chairs and stop acting as if they know what's right and wrong. This situation is really quite simple - he's a man selling his study notes on Ebay. A rather straightforward business transaction. Whoever bids the most gets his notes, the seller gets his money, everybody's happy. How he's "greedy" and "attention seeking" or how the buyer is "extremely stupid" is unknown to me; €1,000 is clearly way too much, but the starting price of €40 would actually have been a steal, provided that the notes are neat and don't make omissions. It's his right to put his own notes up for sale and anyone who believe they can gain from these notes are more than entitled to bid.

We have to remember that not everybody's notes are scribbly and untidy; some people go through a fair bit of effort to make detailed and easy-to-understand notes. I don't know the seller and therefore haven't seen his notes, but if they are as described, I can imagine that someone will find them quite helpful next year.

A few people seem to be going under the assumption that the buyer is going to rely solely on these notes for an A1; I think whoever buys them will already have copped on to the fact that there's more to it than just notes. The notes for sale are simply a condensed and concise version of the syllabus designed to save time and catalyse revision - if someone wants to take this shortcut, so what? The eventual buyer does of course have class to go to and homework to do, hence he/she will probably have a good foundation of knowledge. One poster attempted to make the link between somebody buying these notes and not having the ability to take notes in college; going by that logic, I suppose anyone who uses their big brother/sisters' study notes is simply waiting to be shown up and found out once they go to college. The notion simply doesn't add up; using someone else's notes is simply not proof that they themselves were incapable in the first place. One can spend hours and hours taking notes - if they're already available at the right price, who are we to judge them for snapping up the opportunity?

I will have to join the many people in this thread saying fairplay - at least he's using his initiative, which is not exactly ubiquitous among young people these days. I can expect that when the auction ends that he will be a happy man selling his notes to happy customers for a tidy sum of money; the amount of money will inevitably be absurd, but to be honest, that's not really our concern. For all involved, they'll come out of it with something they originally lacked - money for the seller and concise notes for the buyers.

Fair play to him for using his initiative, however agreeing to have a story in the paper about it probably wasn't the smartest idea given the quite open format of eBay.
Also, the making of notes is probably as beneficial as the reading of them, so any of the revision books would be just as good.

Ficheall

If one were to weight their values, if that makes sense, I would say that, for getting one's degree/LC, a good set of notes is more valuable than study is more valuable than intelligence is more valuable than lecture-attendance.

JamesJB

Ficheall wrote: »

If one were to weight their values, if that makes sense, I would say that, for getting one's degree/LC, a good set of notes is more valuable than study is more valuable than intelligence is more valuable than lecture-attendance.

For the LC I would place independent study and using the internet to explore basic concepts more above any of those almost. I made out notes, put them in neat folders, then rarely even looked at them. It was just a physical way to keep track of how much I had done. Also, notes won't help you for Orals, Aurals, Practicals etc. beyond the basics.

Intelligence is one of those hand-wavy terms. There are so many different types of it and so many things to consider that yes, I wouldn't place it too far ahead of the work you put in and the way you make use of your own personal learning methods. Notes don't work for everyone. This guy is being streetsmart, if you ask me. He knows that some people look for a quick fix or a shortcut to better grades. Plenty of others also work well with notes they didn't write. Thus there is a market for his notes. Seller, product, Buyer. I'm just angry that I didn't make out neater notes and think of it first :cool:

ALSO you could just use Anki and make all this note taking business irrelevant. :pac:

RolandIRL

Ficheall wrote: »

However, since you're Science, I feel confident in saying that this:
is bull.

I would say your confidence is misplaced. unless you've been to my lectures, you can't say anything about them. my maths lecturer did do this and she asked for input from us. she didn't just give us the info and say "here, learn this"

Ficheall wrote: »

Lecturer: Here is how you multiply two matrices...
Assignment: Multiply the following two matrices:...
Student: Hmm...

An over-simplistic view that makes out that my assignments are just like LC questions. they're not. they require you to use your logic and reasoning skills to come up with a solution. it's not all procedural maths. most of it is conceptual. you need to understand why you are doing this and that.

Ficheall wrote: »

Presentations are fantastic for learning, and ideally a large portion of any course would be presentation-based, because it's only when teaching something that one truly learns it. It's pity that they count for almost nothing - in your maths course at any rate. But no, while the presentation might give an indication as to what type of student you or your classmates were, it would have had practically no bearing on you passing your exams or not.

it was worth 5% of my overall mark, the workshop. about 2% came from that presentation. not an awful lot but could mean the difference between a 2.2 and 2.1
just because you don't use it in an exam does not mean it's useful. i learned the triangle inequality for my maths exam this year. didn't come up but i still learned it because i wanted to understand it. i don't think it was time wasted because i got something out of it.

Ficheall wrote: »

Really?

yes, really!

Ficheall wrote: »

Anyway - we're getting off-topic. I was merely pointing out that there's no huge difference between Leaving Cert learning and University learning, despite what some people would have one believe.

there is a difference. lecturers will not spoon feed you like some teachers do for their students. you need to go off and do your own thing with your notes and do out questions. the lecturers don't ask for it, but you will be better off for it. it mightn't come up in the exam but at least you will know and understand it.
to bring in another example, my chem lecturers gave us all the notes, and just went through them in the lecturers. i didn't bother writing or adding anything to them because there was nothing to add to them. i did good in the exam but nowhere near as good as i did in maths or physics this year for which i wrote out the notes.

if you don't write out your own notes, then it's just like having another book in front of you. it has all the information in it, but you need to write it out yourself if you have any hope of conquering and understanding it. maybe you can learn notes straight out of a book, but the majority of people need to write it out.

aine92

I know this guy and I wouldnt buy a bag of lollipops off him, personally speaking. He used to call himself Cool Cillian.

Stabshauptmann

Gardoggle wrote: »

notes are of limited use anyway. I get A grades but cant read my own notes a couple of hours after the lecture. its better to make sure you get the relevant reading done, no-one can do your work for you, even if you pay them..

To be honest, I did a good LC back in the day, did well in college, and have been doing professional exams for the past 3 years - good notes are quite useful and in many cases can be great substitutes for actually doing work.

I'm not joking.

There is a skill to anticipating from course structure and past papers what will be examined. There is a skill to reading through a 300 page book and condensing that course onto 5 A4 pages.

However, what wasnt made clear in that article is that while people go to grind schools simply for the notes, its often the case that you need someone to walk through the notes with you, and how they were put together to get all the benefit from them.

Fair play to this enterprising young man anyway, even if he strikes me as a tosser from the article.

Coeurdepirate

This lad's all over the papers in Galway. But really, I don't see why everyone is so down on him. It's a smart enough idea really, his notes are obviously excellent, and he worked very hard on them. If people should just give away things that they work hard on, then why isn't the Mona Lisa covered in dust in some 500 year old house?

sealgaire

€1100 FOR FREnch notes? GOD

**Timbuk2**

But we don't know if his notes are any good. I got A's in a few subjects, like Applied Maths and Accounting - but you would not want to see my notes for that, you would not be able to follow them they are a bit of a mess. I had folders but I didn't actually use the polypockets I just stuffed everything inside. I got As because I worked damn hard, not because I made organised notes (which I didn't).

Plus his handwriting might be terrible and no-one might be able to read them! I remember if I used to miss classes I used to borrow my friends' hardbacks to copy the notes - and some of them had terrible writing, it actually gave me a headache to figure out what was written - even though they could read it with ease.

Coeurdepirate

**Timbuk2** wrote: »

But we don't know if his notes are any good. I got A's in a few subjects, like Applied Maths and Accounting - but you would not want to see my notes for that, you would not be able to follow them they are a bit of a mess. I had folders but I didn't actually use the polypockets I just stuffed everything inside. I got As because I worked damn hard, not because I made organised notes (which I didn't).

Plus his handwriting might be terrible and no-one might be able to read them! I remember if I used to miss classes I used to borrow my friends' hardbacks to copy the notes - and some of them had terrible writing, it actually gave me a headache to figure out what was written - even though they could read it with ease.

Good points. I guess they do have to be sampled. Imagine getting those €1000+ French notes and finding "Je m'appelle ___. J'ai __ ans. J'habite à ___. J'ai une soeur et un frère. Nous nous disputons beaucoup. J'habite avec mes parents. J'ai une chat s'appelle Whiskers....." :rolleyes:

L1m1tless

His French notes are at €1,100 :eek: He could jsut photocopy them all and sell them loads of times :P

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