It's PanDENmonium! [Off Topic Chat]

Davidius · 14-08-2012 11:36PM

All this talk of bad music makes me want to talk about good music instead.

So here's the national anthem:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pHO7GW0MKE

If you disagree then you are a west Brit imperialist.

Togepi · 14-08-2012 11:38PM

My brother showed me one of J-Biebz's singing videos a few months before everyone started to hear about him.

He probably read somewhere that this kid was going to be massive, but still, respect. :pac:

flyswatter · 14-08-2012 11:40PM

Togepi wrote: »

My brother showed me one of J-Biebz's singing videos a few months before everyone started to hear about him.

He probably read somewhere that this kid was going to be massive, but still, respect. :pac:

Feckin hipster!

Namlub · 14-08-2012 11:40PM

Lies, there's the one that's like

If I was your boyfriend, I'd gladly let you go
Something something something

wnolan1992 · 14-08-2012 11:42PM

Namlub wrote: »

Lies, there's the one that's like

If I was your boyfriend, I'd gladly let you go
Something something something

And the one where he's on about "saving his first dance for you", which in no way is meant to be construed as a reference to him losing his virginity.

HandsomeDivil · 14-08-2012 11:43PM

wnolan1992 wrote: »

But is his music really "****", or is it just not to your taste?

I don't like his music personally, but I think it's good pop music. If it were actually "****", then millions of people around the world wouldn't be willing to pay €70+ for a ticket to see him live.

Now, you could argue that his music is only popular because it exploits* prepubescent girls (his song "First Dance" for example), but equally I could argue that Nirvana, Nickelback, Linkin Park, etc exploit angsty teenage boys.

*exploits is probably too strong a word, but I think you'll know what I mean.

Well yeah I get what you're saying. Just because it's not to my liking doesn't mean it's awful.

But I don't agree that it's good pop music, I can appreciate good pop music. I just think that he makes bland, generic music that has no message behind it that has been made a million times before. Now obviously he's doing something right because he has loads of fans and has a hell of a lot of money. So good luck to him, and I don't actually hate him I suppose, I'm indifferent to him.

And yeah I see your point with the last bit, but please don't put Nirvana and Nickelback in the same category :P

Pigwidgeon · 14-08-2012 11:49PM

I saw Justin Bieber before he was really big when he was supporting Taylor Swift in London. Apparently he broke his ankle in the middle of one of his songs. I wasn't really paying any attention to him and was queueing up to get a tshirt for most of him.

jefreywithonef · 15-08-2012 12:31AM

Namlub wrote: »

I don't want to go to bed because then it'll be the morning and everything will be too real...Gonna just eat a muffin instead

I can't get much pleasure from eating a muffin unless I eat it in seclusion or over a plate / table / bin. Stupid crumbling crumbs.

And apparently my hair goes all Bieber-y when the wind blows against it. Incidentally, I now hate the wind.

Jhcx · 15-08-2012 12:52AM

Tis easier go with the Military look. I mean ya cant argue with it. and its not just one person who has it. and you cant be hated. :pac:

AtomicKoala · 15-08-2012 12:07PM

I'm in Galway city. What is there to do here?

JamJamJamJam · 15-08-2012 12:38PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LwBUrbIbDY

I'd forgotten about this... :pac:

Eathrin · 15-08-2012 01:48PM

JamJamJamJam wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LwBUrbIbDY

I'd forgotten about this... :pac:

We sure beat some quality opposition on our way to the euros.

Eathrin · 16-08-2012 04:57PM

Togepi wrote: »

See I was like that but everyone I know just says the result including the extra points, and they don't even mention them, so that coupled with people telling me not to be so modest has made me say 530. But it's different for me 'cause I get the full 25 bonus points, some with 7 subjects might only have actually gone up 5/10/15 so they can't really say 'including the 25'. :S And I only just realised that today. :L

Yaaah: I can't really pick one yaaah but I'm just generally in a good mood and happy with how everything is going right now. And most people I've spoken to about the results did brilliantly and are delighted, so yay for them!

I realised that but it only affects people where Maths was their worst subject.
I thought it should have been proportional to the grade anyway.
5 for a D.
10 for a C.
15 for a B.
20 for an A2.
25 for an A1.

Togepi · 16-08-2012 05:13PM

Eathrin wrote: »

I realised that but it only affects people where Maths was their worst subject.
I thought it should have been proportional to the grade anyway.
5 for a D.
10 for a C.
15 for a B.
20 for an A2.
25 for an A1.

Ah, true. It actually wasn't my worst subject! :pac: Ha I just realised - last year, I didn't use Maths for points, this year it gave me the most points. Lolz.

Agreed, it's silly throwing 25 marks at people, but sadly that wouldn't help increase the numbers of people doing higher Maths half as much. It would be much fairer though, and I'd have been delighted with 95 points for Maths, 105 is just taking the piss. :L

It must be annoying for people who did ordinary Maths and got brilliant points overall, when loads others would have done as well as them, if not better, just because they got 25 extra points for pretty much nothing. Even more irritating if a higher level student took their place on a course because of the boosted points, oh god.

wnolan1992 · 16-08-2012 05:24PM

Togepi wrote: »

It must be annoying for people who did ordinary Maths and got brilliant points overall, when loads others would have done as well as them, if not better, just because they got 25 extra points for pretty much nothing. Even more irritating if a higher level student took their place on a course because of the boosted points, oh god.

I wouldn't class doing HL maths as "doing nothing" in fairness. The step down from HL to OL was immense when I did it, couldn't even scrape a D3 in the Pre, dropped to pass and got an A1. :pac:

UL had it set up the way Eathrin outlined above before this new system came in. IMO it kinda makes a joke of the CAO system to just give 25 points to HL students irrespective of grade.

Yaaah: Just ordered a copy of Black and White 2. Frickin' love that game and have been looking for a copy for ages.

Cruel Sun · 16-08-2012 05:39PM

wnolan1992 wrote: »

I wouldn't class doing HL maths as "doing nothing" in fairness. The step down from HL to OL was immense when I did it,

A lot of people say this, and tbh it really irritates me. The difference between OL and HL is huge, but so is 40 points! That's what the reward for doing HL is, an extra 40 points. So I think to class people as getting 25 points "for doing nothing" is fairly apt.

It was just a terrible idea I think, typical of this country to come up with a rash way of getting more people to do HL, when what they should have done was look at improving peoples ability at the subject from a younger age so that more people would take up HL.

//Rant

Lawliet · 16-08-2012 05:43PM

wnolan1992 wrote: »

I wouldn't class doing HL maths as "doing nothing" in fairness. The step down from HL to OL was immense when I did it, couldn't even scrape a D3 in the Pre, dropped to pass and got an A1. :pac:

But the maths has changed since then, I thought it was project maths? I don't really get what they're doing with maths now tbh, they've gutted the maths syllabus and are rewarding extra points for it? Makes no sense, I follow a few of my lecturers on twitter and they've been going nuts about it the last few days as there's going to be a load of students going into STEM courses without algebra or calculus

AtomicKoala · 16-08-2012 06:04PM

Cruel Sun wrote: »

A lot of people say this, and tbh it really irritates me. The difference between OL and HL is huge, but so is 40 points! That's what the reward for doing HL is, an extra 40 points. So I think to class people as getting 25 points "for doing nothing" is fairly apt.

It was just a terrible idea I think, typical of this country to come up with a rash way of getting more people to do HL, when what they should have done was look at improving peoples ability at the subject from a younger age so that more people would take up HL.

//Rant

The 25 points bonus has been a success. Records number doing HL maths and its a fair reward for the extra workload it entails compared to any other subject. Hopefully next year the numbers will increase further again. It's certainly motivation for me to keep up HL.

Also congrats to everyone! Ye all did great and I hope things work out with the CAO

Cruel Sun · 16-08-2012 06:18PM

AtomicKoala wrote: »

The 25 points bonus has been a success. Records number doing HL maths and its a fair reward for the extra workload it entails compared to any other subject. Hopefully next year the numbers will increase further again. It's certainly motivation for me to keep up HL.

40 points is a fair reward for the extra workload, not 65.

Obviously the numbers were going to increase, but is that the best way to get more people to do HL? People aren't any better at Maths, more people took it up simply for extra points, the low fail level was because they manipulated the marking scheme.

It's being reviewed btw, link here.

Don't worry it'll still be in place next year for us.

wnolan1992 · 16-08-2012 06:32PM

Cruel Sun wrote: »

40 points is a fair reward for the extra workload, not 65.

Obviously the numbers were going to increase, but is that the best way to get more people to do HL? People aren't any better at Maths, more people took it up simply for extra points, the low fail level was because they manipulated the marking scheme.

It's being reviewed btw, link here.

Don't worry it'll still be in place next year for us.

It's not really 40 points though.

It's 40 points of a difference if you get an identical grade in OL vs. HL.

But if you get a D3 in HL, a B3 in OL is the same points with VASTLY less of a workload.

I think it makes sense to give extra points for doing HL, but it shouldn't be a flat 25.

flyswatter · 16-08-2012 06:39PM

wnolan1992 wrote: »

It's not really 40 points though.

It's 40 points of a difference if you get an identical grade in OL vs. HL.

But if you get a D3 in HL, a B3 in OL is the same points with VASTLY less of a workload.

I think it makes sense to give extra points for doing HL, but it shouldn't be a flat 25.

Wouldn't really agree with that or the extra points for HL rule either.

Salty · 16-08-2012 06:41PM

Cruel Sun wrote: »

It was just a terrible idea I think, typical of this country to come up with a rash way of getting more people to do HL, when what they should have done was look at improving peoples ability at the subject from a younger age so that more people would take up HL.

I agree. It's like they've decided they're not bothered finding a way of actually making people better at maths from an early age. Instead, they'll bribe them with an automatic 25 extra points for scraping a pass.

Some people just don't have the head for honours maths. I certainly didn't, but I had a natural aptitude for languages. Why should people get rewarded for one aptitude over another? Unfair imo, especially to people who would have absolutely no chance of even passing at honours level.

Cruel Sun · 16-08-2012 06:41PM

wnolan1992 wrote: »

It's not really 40 points though.

It's 40 points of a difference if you get an identical grade in OL vs. HL.

But if you get a D3 in HL, a B3 in OL is the same points with VASTLY less of a workload.

I think it makes sense to give extra points for doing HL, but it shouldn't be a flat 25.

A D3 in HL is the same as a B1 in OL, but I agree with you there completely. A flat 25 points is ridiculous.

I think something like this would have been better, if they were insisting on bringing in bonus points.

Eathrin wrote: »

I thought it should have been proportional to the grade anyway.
5 for a D.
10 for a C.
15 for a B.
20 for an A2.
25 for an A1.

Togepi · 16-08-2012 06:47PM

Ideally, what they should do is give bonus points like these:

Eathrin wrote: »

5 for a D.
10 for a C.
15 for a B.
20 for an A2.
25 for an A1.

for say, French, German, Spanish, etc if you're going for languages, give them in subjects like maths and physics for engineering, and in the science subjects for, well, science courses, and so on.

Cruel Sun · 16-08-2012 06:55PM

_meehan_ wrote: »

I agree. It's like they've decided they're not bothered finding a way of actually making people better at maths from an early age. Instead, they'll bribe them with an automatic 25 extra points for scraping a pass.

The sad thing is, they've spent millions on revamping the syllabus when really it could have been left alone. The money could have been spent on remedial teachers which could have helped primary school students struggling at the subject.

Yet in 10 years time they'll be wondering why not many people are doing HL maths. What then. More bonus points?

JamJamJamJam · 16-08-2012 07:07PM

_meehan_ wrote: »

I agree. It's like they've decided they're not bothered finding a way of actually making people better at maths from an early age. Instead, they'll bribe them with an automatic 25 extra points for scraping a pass.

Some people just don't have the head for honours maths. I certainly didn't, but I had a natural aptitude for languages. Why should people get rewarded for one aptitude over another? Unfair imo, especially to people who would have absolutely no chance of even passing at honours level.

Yesss! It might be okay if Maths was involved in the course, but for somebody to miss out on, say, an English course because somebody else did honours maths is totally unfair. As well as that, they changed the course! Surely they should take it one step at a time, and possibly consider an additional reward if the new course doesn't help things. And the new course is, from what I hear, rubbish.

Extra work load is the best argument I can see for giving extra points, because it'll allow people to spend more time on Maths, kind of guilt free! But I mean, I personally spent way more time on English and Biology. It'll be different for everyone! And 25 extra points is a huge amount!

The idea that it's been successful is an illusion! Obviously more people are going to do the subject if you award way more points for it, and the fact that more people passed is meaningless because the exam wasn't the same, and the marking scheme is different. Students are no better at maths... Tut...

Salty · 16-08-2012 07:58PM

JamJamJamJam wrote: »

The idea that it's been successful is an illusion! Obviously more people are going to do the subject if you award way more points for it, and the fact that more people passed is meaningless because the exam wasn't the same, and the marking scheme is different. Students are no better at maths... Tut...

Yeah, apparently 98% of students who took the honours paper got the bonus points (therefore passed...) Is this not just grade inflation? It looks it to me tbh! (Those stats could be wrong, heard it from someone today.)

Lord, this thread has been completely diverted!:P Perhaps a move to The Den...?

suitcasepink · 16-08-2012 08:24PM

I just hope if I do it they dont like failing people.. Imma D HL student...
But Im not staying up for the points, no sir-y bob.
Im staying up coz we've a lovely awks, nerdy maths teacher who I just couldnt leave

Togepi · 16-08-2012 08:38PM

wnolan1992 wrote: »

I wouldn't class doing HL maths as "doing nothing" in fairness. The step down from HL to OL was immense when I did it, couldn't even scrape a D3 in the Pre, dropped to pass and got an A1. :pac:

UL had it set up the way Eathrin outlined above before this new system came in. IMO it kinda makes a joke of the CAO system to just give 25 points to HL students irrespective of grade.

Yaaah: Just ordered a copy of Black and White 2. Frickin' love that game and have been looking for a copy for ages.

I knew someone would argue against that. :L I know all about the difference between the two, I did ordinary for two full years and then moved to higher when I repeated. The difference in the difficulty is ridiculous. A1 student to E/F student straight away when you move up. And it takes a lot of time and effort to get above 40%. But I think the difference between levels is fairly big in most subjects, just not as massive... I just think 25 points is an awful lot to give, even for an A it's a tiny bit much. People go up 25 now unless it's their worst subject. So they probably would've done higher level anyway, or most of them would have. Therefore they're not doing a whole lot extra, although obviously it's an extremely challenging subject at that level.

Hairycopper · 16-08-2012 09:48PM

Im so crap at maths, like i struggled with O level a lot at the end of 5th year. I just don't see how its fair to give someone 25 extra points because they simply passed honors maths, like fair play to passing it but what about other subjects? I just know when i get my results next year i'll be slightly jealous that i'm not getting an extra 25, because i just don't have a mathematic mind.

If they introduced lets say getting a1 in any subject and adding 10-15 marks on or something like that would be much more fair imo.

It's PanDENmonium! [Off Topic Chat]

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