Hello?
Hello! Oh, hi! I remember you.
Yeah me too! How are you doing this fine day?
You know? Pretty good. I found out BYU was giving me a full tuition scholarship.
Awesome me too!
That's fantastic! You were going for summa cum laude, yeah?
Yep
And I heard from word of mouth that you were the first on the leaderboard. Good ol' rank 0.
Word of mouth from who haha?
Someone I talked to . . . Oh, who was it? I don't remember. But someone. He said he'd talked to you.
Oh ok. Md?
Md?
MDcrew
Oh! Maybe. I'm not sure, though. But anyway, he said you were top of the board.
Or maybe Jaelo
How many windows you have open at once?
Those are two guys I know. One
Same here.
I open more when the conversation slows down sometimes. Try and find someone to talk to
I do, too, but you respond pretty quickly. Exactly. Buuuut.
Yeah.
You haven't answered the question.
Hahaha same
Are you first? C'mon. C'moooooon.
Whenever you open a window I don't usually open more. Hey which question?
The "are you first" question.
I am in the top ten
That's not bad! You shooting for headphones or iPads or something?
I decided not to say where because it could affect my competition
Affect your competition?
Yeah, the best I can get.
What do you mean?
Yeah, if you knew I was right next to you on the scoreboard I mean
Oh. Huh. I hadn't even thought of that. I can imagine how that would cause some tension.
It is also easier to have a good chat if you aren't worried about it
I know. :) But it makes good conversation pieces at times.
How has your day been?
As far as days go, pretty good, actually. I might have now officially been hired at my old high school.
Well you got a scholarship! That is awesome!
Yeah! I'm so excited about that. I've never done anything like that in the past. Full tuition? Boom. Mind blown. I'm . . . really honored, to be honest.
Yeah me too! I used to be terrible at school and I am turning my academic career around
Oh, really?
What scholarship is it specifically?
The BYU one? Like . . .
Yeah
Lemme see if I can find the official thing. But it's for the GPA. I got a 4.0, so they gave it.
Oh ok. Then that is the same on I got.
And kudos to you!
Sweet. Is this your first semester?
First year. Second semester. It's, heh, kinda crazy. And especially crazy for you! Summa cum laude. Go for it, my friend. You of anyone can do it.
Oh ok. I am also taking a really difficult major though
Mind if I ask why you're shooting for the best of the best? Especially in ACME? I mean, ACME students aren't known for their stellar grades.
The heads of the department said not to take my major if you wanted a perfect transcript, but I car more about my learning than about my grades. Yeah haha. I have never really gotten anything less than an A in a math class and College is included I am still in the top of each of my classes I got 95+ on each exam this semester
Wow. That's incredible.
And I only did like 2/3 of the homework.
I'm half speechless.
But bragging is bad conversation... for that reason exactly
Haha, yeah, I suppose. But fear not! Promise, I won't leave you hanging.
You PROMISE?
If there's anyone you could've been paired with, then at least I'll make sure to banter back and forth. Promise. Trust me. It's hard to get me THAT speechless. :)
You are the best to be paired with
You ain't so bad yourself.
Everyone else is either slow to respond or doesnt answer my questions seriously/completely
Some people, it's like dragging out teeth to keep the conversation going.
Hahaha thanks!
Exactly!
Yeah.
I happen to like the fast responses. Really keeps it flowing, you know?
Yeah.
And, call me old fashioned, but I love the correct mechanics.
I would be faster but I am typing on a ohone Phone.
Grammar and punctuation and semantics, oh my! A phone? Yeesh. You type real quick, then.
Oh sorry haha, I am not the best at that. Yeah.
Not the best? Honestly, you're one of the best I've seen on here.
My thunbs blaze across my keyboard at light speed. Especially when you get me going
Breaking that sound barrier, tsk tsk.
Hahaha
The funny thing is, I type like this normally. Meaning with punctuation and capitalization and whatnot.
I was reading today about this thing called the EMdrive
Yeah?
I used to do that. But it slows me down.
Slowed me down, too. Still slows me down. But I don't really mind. I can type at, eh, maybe 60 WPM at this speed. Not the fastest. Not by a long shot.
Yeah apparently the EM drive is our straightest shot for a warp drive.
But decent enough to hold conversations. Ohhhh! Oh, oh! I've heard of it! What's the EM stand for?
The chinese are testing it in space I hear pretty soon. We are far behind in its development and many are very skeptical about it. Electromagnetic So light waves
. . . dur.
It bounces microwaves around in a vacuum to move the drive.
So like riding a wave? But instead of a wave of water, it's a wave of . . . er, microwaves?
No hahahaha
(Drinking water from a gallon. Bleh. You can taste the plastic.) Bouncing microwaves . . .
I don't onow exactly how it works. No one does. That is why there is so much skepticism
But that's! That's ludicrous! "Excuse me, sir, I have an idea." "Yes?" "I've never tested it, and no one can verify it." "I see. Send two billion dollars to it!" I mean, c'mon.
Hahaha. Well it has been backed by nasa mow apparently Sounds like another crypto craze What did you think about bitcoin when it first came out?
Just like the dot com bubble or bitcoin, on-- Haha, funny. Well, I wasn't super aware.
Me either
I didn't even know they existed till about 2014.
Ha, that was me
Yup! My dad became an investor. Heh.
But I didn't think they would be worth 20,000
I know! He was there before that bubble.
Otherwise I would have invest a couple thousand and become a millionaire Did he make money from it?
Make money? Oh, yes yes, very much so. Lose money? Oh, yes yes, very much so.
Hahaha that sucks
I think he's made profit net, but it's mostly the stress.
Oh ok.
It gets to you when you can literally lose everything overnight.
Well thats good. Yeah it does.
Did you know that the first known transaction was something like 50,000 bitcoin for two pizzas?
I knew a guy who had 2 bitcoin. I told him to sell and he didn't, then bitcoin crashed.
Eeee. That's rough.
Hahaha. Yeah. I avoid the subject now.
I don't blame you. Choose something more reliable: like penny stocks or horse racing.
Hahaha I made like 100 bucks from penny stocks
Really?
Yeah. Then I lost 400 in options It was a pity haha
Oh . . .
Options are very complex and confusing
Yeah, stocks kinda scary me. I don't know nearly enough to be investing. Are options like stocks?
Hard to know when to invest They are financial derivative They are the "right" to buy a stock at a price.
And just to clarify, this derivative has nothing to do with Calculus integrals, right?
Or to sell a stock at a price Hahaha Well i am sure they are some how related, but no, just derivative in the fact that their value is derived from another asset
Ah, gotcha. Continue on, then.
So lets say I have 1 option to buy facebook stock at 200 dollars In other words I have the right to buy 100 shares of facebook at 200 dollars a piece
That option then has value based on the current market price.
Yes
So if facebook is at 100 dollars, then that option is valuable.
False Then the option is trash
Oh, sorry, meant to sell. But, right, I got them flipped.
Because who wants to buy facebook for 200 when you can buy it on the market for 100
Right, right.
Yeah. So lets say the stock is currently worth 190 And your option expires in a month After a month the facebook stocks are worth 220 because they pull out of some scandal Then you can but 100 at 200 for 20000 and immediately sell them for 22000 And you earn 2000 Minus what you spent on buying the option
But, of course, if facebook drops, then those options are hurting you.
So maybe a 1500 profit in the end if the option cost 500 dollars If facebook goes bankrupt on the other hand... Then you lose 500 dollars... so way safer in that askect than owning 20000 worth of facebook shares But the catch is that very often you dont break even. Because the market is priced based upon what analysts think will hapen in a month. So it is all about pitting your wisdom up against that of a really complex analysis done by a stock expert.
How do you know so much about trading and whatnot? Is it just a hobby? Something you got into for a few years?
I studied ig last semester For a month or two It
Ah. A class or on your own?
And a bit this semester On my own I taught myself
Any books or just, I dunno, YouTube seminars or something?
Investopedia and google
The two supreme sources of knowledge.
But to be fair I discovered investopedia using google It is like wikipedia With videos as well Also I had an app called robinhood that allows you to trade without fees
But why get into it at all?
It also allows cryptocurrency trading but I am not into that.
What I mean is, investing and trading and all that jazz sounds . . . intimidating. I know there are day traders. I know there are long-term investors. I know a bunch of people make livings flipping stocks. But, well, why you, too? And I don't mean that derogatorily. Just, well, you were bored one day and wanted to make a bit of extra cash?
Stocks have value, flipping is speculative I intended to invest long term as a form of wealth management I guess I was just testing the waters I still intend to invest in the future. But for now I will stay away. There is a class on financial derivatives at BYU. I amy take it some time.
That would be wise. A little bit of finance know-how never hurt anyone.
Yep. Also my dad works in finance
Oh! See, that's fun! So you'll be a money-smart ACME person.
But he doesn't agree with short term trading. He does long term only and he has managed his wealth very well. Yeah Slow and steady wins the race apparently
I believe it. But you mind if I go back to an earlier part of the conversation? Why shoot for the best of the best? You want some pretty stars on a resume or looking to challenge yourself? Maybe you like the scholarships? Being the best you can be? Graduate early? I dunno. I love how you shoot for it. I love when people can be ambitious--or at least decide they don't want to settle.
I want to challenge myself I just need an excuse to do it. Otherwise people think it odd Even the scholarship. Although the money is definitely a plus. I just want to be successful and do hard things!
I like that. :) You wanna hear something funny? I still have a 4.0, but getting a degree means very little to me. I could be an art major, an engineering major, a philosophy major. Isn't particularly important to me. I just enjoy taking classes and learning and being here.
I like learning. Me too But I can't be a professional atudsnt unfortunately
Doesn't really pay, does it?
But google doesnt have any rules against it Hey, i need to be successful and make money Then I can spend time learning and doing things I enjoy Which may some day benefit the world anyway, who knows
Which year are you again? Junior? Sophomore?
Fresh
Ah. One or two semesters in?
Dos
Okay. I know it sounds off topic, but humor me.
Humor you... Batman
Where do you see America headed in, oh, twenty years?
Ohhh hmm
Haha, hilarious. (sarcasm)
"Humor" me this batman was what I was going for But that is really broad There is a lot that will likely change in 10 years Think of the world ten years ago and tell me that today isnt a dream
I guess it is pretty different, huh?
Yes it is. 10 years ago the iphone was first released The first popular smartphone Who would have thought a phone could do all that it can today.
I remember! A smartphone hadn't really been a thing.
And be affordable and not just for the rich No it was flip phones Or at least slide phones
With the little keyboards.
Yeah Hahaha yep that was my first phone An lg xenon I never really used it
So, generally, you're pretty optimistic, aren't you? We're not perfect, but we're good. And if the world in ten years is as good as the last ten years were, we're doing something right.
Yes I am very optimistic about the world. I am not as much about my life. But I am always hopeful
How do you feel about, well . . . Like the line from The Family: A Proclamation. I'll pull it up.
I have it memorized Same with the living christ It was a mission thing
You're familiar, then, with the line, "We warn that the disintegration of the family will bring upon individuals, communities, and nations the
Yes
"calamities, etc."
Last paragraph Yep
Yes. How do you feel about that?
Its true And it is happening
How . . . bad do you think it's going to get?
People don't care about families anymore We are generally self-interested I don't think it is getting any better But in 10 years it wont be much worse I think a lot of that is happening today already It is sad Even within the church
Do you believe we're wicked enough yet to call down the wrath of God? Or provoke, rather.
Remember that we aren't supposed to spend to much time on topics of specific interest to the chirch
Oh, really? Oh, I'm sorry.
Yeah
I didn't know. My bad.
You are fine.
Let's change the subject.
Hahaha
Heh, and I'm assuming no pop culture stuff, right?
Uh sure.
I don't like it, anyway.
What do you mean by pop culture... Me either
Oh, just . . . the hot topics. Racism. Feminism.
Oh ko
Gay rights.
No Yeah none of that We could discuss it I would imagine but in a positive light No hate speech
Right. Oh, I have the most beautiful paper. You might like it.
Hahaha what is it?
It's called Defending the Family in Law and Love. But it's very Church-y, so probably not a topic for here.
Thats a fantastic title. And i would say the family is something worth talking about
I feel it is, too.
That is a world issue. Just maybe not too much about the church views
Oh, we could talk . . . but I don't really want to get into it. So!
Hahaha
Completely diametric, a propos to nothing, do you have a Switch?
Ok that made no sense, no offense.
I guess I put too many obscured terms together. "diametric" in the sense of complete opposite of.
And i dont know what propos means I knew that one
"a propos" is latin for "in regard to nothing," which is a fancy way of saying "I'm about to start talking about something completely unrelated."
Oh ok Cool them haha Then
Haha, yeah, sorry, continue.
Ou Oh a nintendo switch ?
Yup. That's the one! Mister Nintendo.
Oh a nintendo switch... hmmm... No... hahaha sorry That came out while I was gone
Really? When did you leave?
Yeah I believe Or at least it wasn't a big thing.
Back in 2016?
No before then 2016 2015
Gotcha. Wait. Wait, wait, wait. You finished high school in '15?
I will stand by Yes I did and you?
2017. I forget people here are older than me.
Oh my, haha Yeah, they are even older than me sometimes I am younger than a lot
'Cause you're just a freshman, right?
Yep
I meet so few people my age. Especially since I'm in CS.
Went on a mission fresh out of Highschool I meet so few people my age as well, unless they are returning from missions
Exactly. All of my friends are still serving. We keep in contact, but rarely someone from college is my actual age. Except for the girls who haven't left yet. And since CS is very boy-heavy, it's hard to find.
Yeah haha.
I don't really mind, though. About the girl thing or the age thing. I don't even notice unless I'm suddenly in a room with 25+ guys. And then I'm like, "Ooookay, maybe I should leave."
Hahaha What do you mean, and no girls?
Well, it's difficult to find girls in computer science. Not impossible. I usually make one or two throughout the semester.
You make them?
Make friends. Sorry.
Wow that IS impressive
:P
Oh haha I apologize haha
It's gotten to the point where I type words instead of letters.
?
So I'll try to type "we'd" and "wheat" will come out. And I don't even notice until I've sent the message. I guess finger memory or something? But if two words sound somewhat similar, I sometimes mix them up in my head, and then they get mixed in the writing itself. Aaaaand, because the red-squiggly doesn't show up--it's a real word!--I can't fix it. It's just there. Floating. A typo amid the sea of correct words. Obscuring meanings. Puzzling readers. But, yeah, I mess up like that sometimes. :)
Yeah. I do the same thing I typed why instead of y Also sometimes my thumbs get ahead of themselves and the letters get jumbled
I've certainly done THAT before.
They get out of sync ever so slightly Then I have to go back and delete the wrong words
Sometimes, rarely, I'll type a word before I think it in my head, and then I get super messed up. Yup. And it's for that reason that I love discord.
What?
Well, I'll be typing.
Discord the website?
Yup! It allows edits.
I have heard of it but never used it
It's good for group chats and whatnot. Though a lot of people use Slack.
Actually I heard about it this semester Through my cs class so maybe it is a computer science thing
It's more of a CS thing, yeah. Got me through some tricky labs, that's for sure.
Yeah. I still can't believe I got an 80 on the final
Which one? 235?
I think I finally came up with a solutions I should have copied the vector of pointers and pulled from it Deleted the ones that didnt have tags
I think you lost me. Which class are you referr--oh, 224?
No computer science 376 ... just kidding 142
Wait, what? You're still in 142?
This year was my first time programming Yeah
Why did I think differently . . . That's not bad!
I almost got 102 in the class
You had to do the playlist upgrade, yeah?
But that darn final dropped my grade Yeah
I remember that.
I didnt finish the last step
I got a 95/100 for a dumb bug.
I ran into a nasty bug in the middle and it ate up my time.
Yeah. They'll do that.
So i didnt finish. But I did the first two right. It sucks. Usually I don't run into many bugs So it took me way off guard.
So, of course, you run into one the only time it counts.
Yep.
I usually don't have problems finding bugs, but, ugh, so much went wrong on that final. zyBooks was down.
I usually just come up with an idea in theory and then code the whole thing Yeah I think you told me.
Ah. You were the person I talked to, then. A word of advice: your next classes are harder. Especially 224. 224 and 240 are the weeder classes. You survive those and you're golden. . . . if you were going into the major. So, ignore what I said.
Hahahaha will do
If you liked 142, you should enjoy 235.
Maybe I will focus in cs who knows
Whatever floats your boat.
Also my advisor recommends taking 235 even though it isnt required
It's a good class. You'll finish your C++ knowledge.
Yeah.
Also . . . ahhhh, why do I sound like a monotonic teenager?
Is that a joke?
I've been trying to infuse life into these blasted messages for forever now, and it's not. Working. Nope. I think I'm just tired . . .
*laughs cautiously*
Might be affecting my mental state.
Hahaha
I'm technically still a teenager. I can totally blame this on mood swings.
I am not I am completely legal :)
Haha, funny. Yup. I've never been a super, ah, irrational person. I dunno. I've never been driven by emotion. Apparently, people in this stage do a bunch of dumb stuff. Not that I never made awful mistakes, but I never did anything that would make someone say, "Really? Really, really? You did that?" Heck, I never even spoke back to my parents.
I never made any rash mistakes But i definitely made mistakes
Amen. I look back and STILL feel embarrassment over some things I did. And all I can say is that I'm grateful people have poor memories. Heh. I'm looking at grades right now. Particularly my 224 class. I'm not too worried. I don't get my score back from the final for a bit, but unless I bombed it, I should be fine. But. But!
I am only waiting for my religion scores
Oh, the wait . . . Anyway.
Buy I went on a mission I should be fine right?
So, we have labs in 224, too, right?
Wrong... unfortunately
Pfffft, totally. Okay, well, our final lab was called malloc.
I think they design them to cover unordinary stuff on purpose
Real fun
What did you do?
For religion? Oh, definitely. But for CS. Do you know what new is in C++?
Uhhh, you mean the most recent version?
Haha, no. p = new int;
Well
Didn't you have to for playlist?
They added auto typing
Wait, really? You never new'd anything?
Umm, you mean when p is anpointer?
Yup.
Yeah i newd stuff all the time.
Okay. C has a rudimentary version of it called malloc.
I did it the easy way Oh GEt it Memory allocation
Exactly!
Malloc Haha
So, our lab had to design malloc. We literally wrote malloc. It's like writing a function for free. Crazy stuff! But real fun. Anyway.
Interesting
There was a book implementation that would give us a C on the lab. Full points required better optimization.
so you were doing machine code sort of stuff
Not quite machine code, but, yes.
Or assembly code I cant remember which one
Assembly.
Oh ok
Same thing, though. Well, it was the night it was due. 11:00 PM. And I'm staring at my code. I don't have a basic working version of malloc, much less free and other functions. "free" is C's version of delete. Can't get malloc working without free.
Yeah Otherwise you would have a MASSIVE "memory leak"
So I'm staring at it, hearing the chat on discord saying how a full explicit list--the version I was going for--only gave three points higher than the implicit list--book's. Yup. You gotta free. But I looked at it, and I said, "Not worth it." I'd already spent something like 10 hours on it. Ever hear of a void pointer? Exactly.
Hahaha
They're nasty stuff.
Yeah i have
Avoid them if possible.
Fun Why?
You can't dereference them or increment them. And they make your life a NIGHTMARE if you're coding malloc.
Derefference...
int k = *p;
Oh I see I remember
Yeah. No bueno.
So you cant use them directly to access memory
Not unless you static cast them. And it was just . . . bleh, it was a pain.
Why would you increment a pinter, wouldnt that spoil the address?
That's the point. We need it to point to a new spot in memory.
Oh
So that the data being malloc'd has a spot. Yeah.
What if you accidentally point to something already allocated. Sounds dangerous
So I have this incontinent mess of code on my hands, and I know there's no way I'll finish within the deadline. Yup! That was one of the problems. You needed to keep track of the available memory. The free spots. How not to corrupt data. etc.
Oh Ok. Why not hust store a map
Not allowed.
Of all the memory
We weren't allowed global arrays.
And access it to allocate So then you check to see if it is allocated before incrementing ANd then increment until it isnt?
Ah, I see. Good point! But that's terribly inefficient.
Would that work?
It would.
Yeah it can be
We'd get something like a 20/65.
It would explain why computers slow down when they run out of mem ory But that is probably for other reasons
I actually have no idea why that happens. I'd imagine-- Yup. But by this point in the lab, I just wanted a WORKING program.
Yeah I see
So I said, "Book's implementation is good enough for me." I'll take the 48/65 if it means at least partial credit.
Hahaha
A C isn't . . . the best, as you know, but it's better than nothing. I later found out that implementation would really only give 44/65. But I couldn't do anything at that point. It was that or nothing. So I copied straight out of the book--TA's said we could, just that it would be inefficient--modified a few comments, and sent it off.
So what did you do? Oh
I calculated my grade. It'd drop it to a 96%. Which, considering the average was an 80%, wasn't bad. And I was all right with it.
well what if you start by allocating memory Like storing a vector of pointers incremented from a starting pointer
No vectors allowed. A vector doesn't exist in C.
And allocate using those values or that first value a sa reference
And arrays weren't allowed, either.
How about an array Darn
Yup. All sorts of fun stuff. But! Guess what. I got an email a few days later from the TA's saying they'd graded my assignment. So I hopped on and immediately noticed the 97%. I said, "Huh. It didn't drop." "That's strange." I scrolled down to malloc lab: 63/65.
What?!?
And I stared at that. Yeah! I know! That was my reaction. I think I was stunned enough that the people at my table looked over and asked if I was all right. And I said, "Yeah . . . yeah, I'm . . . yeah, it's fine." I turned to the guy next to me, also in my class, and I said, "Look!" We were both just confused. Because he went the harder route AND finished and only got something like a 55/65. So I pinged the discord.
Woah weird
I know! Everyone who did the book got a 48/65. Or around there. Except me. I have no idea what happened. And I might've talked to the TA's about it if school hadn't ended a week ago.
Did hou complain?
I wasn't even sure how to.
Hahaha.
Like, honestly, that's going to be a mystery to me forever. Because I ran it. Trust me, it wasn't 63/65 worthy. It was a LITERAL copy of the book, just like 70% of the class did.
Did anyone get a grade that good?
Yeah, someone got a 67/65. Two points for being early.
Holy cow. Genius haha
Mean was a 42.2.
Nice
But if you saw a bell curve, I'd imagine I'd be near the end. My only question is whyyyyyy?
Yeah
Last time, the TA's messed up my midterm score.
Watch you fail the exam. Thats why. God was giving you a tender mercy
Maybe. I'd be grateful for it. I'd actually considered that.
Or if not, it wouldnt matter either way
You know what happened on the midterm?
What
The one the TA's messed up grading? Well, there was a multiple choice question. The answer was C. I put A. And they gave me full credit. Not a single point docked. I walked into the TA office. "Um, sorry, excuse me? Yes, you see this? I got it wrong. But I'm marked right." And after a couple of TA's, one finally said, "Look, it's our mistake. Just keep the points."
Yeah sounds like amazon
Hahaha.
When they send you something on a ccident WHich they do all th e time
I've never actually had that happen to me. But you wanna know the best part about this all?
Wow my phone cant keep up with my typing it is happening so fast
Haha, that's why laptops rock.
Sure what?
I got the top score that midterm.
Yeah wish i had o ne
Top score--because the TA's messed up. A 60.5/57. Extra credit on the test, see. Let me tell you: that brought my grade up.
Wow.
Honestly . . . I'd thought for the longest time I wasn't going to make it. I was halfway through the course, and I said it wasn't going to happen. It was hard. So hard. So so hard. And I was barely hanging on. I was at a B+. Not a bad score for the class, but it'd break my scholarship. And I genuinely didn't see how I could bring it up. I kept running numbers over and over, and it was a tight squeeze at best. And that's WITH all favorable circumstances. With how life was actually going to pan out, I didn't see how it would happen. I'd never felt so pushed in a class. Everyone in the major agrees it's the hardest--or at least one of the hardest. And I sat down one day and said, quietly, "I'm not sure it's possible."
Which class
224.
Yeah
You'll have a fun ride if you take it.
You sound like you have a strong self narrative
A strong self narrative, eh? Care to elaborate?
Yep Yeah yOu have a very well woven story that charts tour kife You Your You make your life a story pretty much This slow keyboard is killing me
It is. No worries. You're still faster than a lot of people I talk with.
I finish typing and have go wait 10 seconds for my ohone to process what i have typed
Ughhh, that would be annoying.
Have you tried dotkey?
dotkey?
Yeah
Is that a virtual keyboard?
Death of the keyboard
Huh. Closer than I'd thought I'd be.
Yeah You just use finger gestures to type it was developed at byu
That'd be amazing! I could whip out essays at lightning speed. (That was a joke. Nothing can get me to type essays at lightning speed.)
Haha true.
I might look into that. But, well, since I'm so narrative driven, how about I end this story with a happy ending?
Uh oh haha
You'll like it. :)
Personal narrative is a good thing It has been found as the main difference between thosewho are diriven and succes
Wait, really?
sful and those who are not That was 15 seconds for sure that time
That'd annoy me to pieces. But why is that? Not the delay. The narrative.
Oh because your life has m eaning
Makes sense. Well, in that case, let me wrap this up with a pretty little bow.
Ok so the happy ending
I still recall the despair I felt. Gosh . . . it was awful. I didn't really care about being better than others. I didn't care about my GPA, not really. I knew I'd lose my scholarship, but that wasn't what was driving me. I wanted to know that I could do it. That I, KJ, could accomplish this. I could best this class. I was capable. Because, yes, it dragged down everyone in the major, and, yes, everyone agreed it was awful. But I would make it. I really, really wanted that. So staring at that 87% . . . It was good enough to pass. In fact, it was already really well considering the class. But I wanted to know that I could do this--entirely, completely. I didn't want a B. I wanted an A. I'm honest when I say I didn't care for the grade because of what it would do. I didn't want to show off or anything. I wanted it for myself. And I remember praying to God saying, "I know You can do all things, but this is still wicked hard. I'm having trouble beating it." I was willing to sacrifice.
I would say that I have never regretted an A, maybe that is why i shoot for then
(I got one C in high school, but that's a different story.)
Hahah To be told at a lat er date
Exactly. So just remember trying to resolve to do better, but I wasn't sure I had it in me. *I just I was honestly wondering if it was possible at that point. And then LITERALLY the next day, my grade was at a 98%. I'm not joking. It jumped from 87% to 98%. Just like that. So I'm beyond shocked. Turns out, a new grade finally got inputted. Lab 2--bomb lab. And, double turns out, I got enough extra credit on the lab to raise my grade that much. Plus, the TA's said it was out of 57 instead of 67 by mistake. So with the extra credit, the lowered score total, and the fact that labs were worth 30% of our grade, it raised it. They later fixed their mistake, and my grade lowered to its real 93%. (Which I then raised to my current 97% throughout the semester.) But I'll never forget that day. Sure the Master of the winds and the seas has control over grades, too. I almost laughed at myself. But, honestly, it was like God was saying, "Don't worry. I've got this."
Almost, but not quite?
I don't actually laugh at myself outloud. But I was mightily amused with myself within.
Oh ok, now that expression makes more sense
But, yeah. Since that day, 224 has been wonderful. Still wicked hard. But I've never really been worried, not since then. And . . . there's even a chance I may end with a 98.33%, which is the exact grade I was at after the bomb lab raise.
Oh thats my cs 142 grade
A 98.33?
Almost to the dot
Isn't that fun? I like to think about this all sometimes. Mostly in awe. But also in gratitude. It's kinda nice, you know?
Yeah. Thats quite a story
My Honors is even better, but we can leave that for another day. Talk about miracles . . .
K
I know we weren't really supposed to talk about Churchy things, but I can't help it.
God is fine just not chirch spec ific
Oh, gotcha. Wonderful.
Uhhh this sucks.
I can read it fine, but the scanner probably isn't happy. Amazon is going to get fluent in word fragments.
Yeah thats why I am frustrated Hahahaha
You wanna hear another thing kind of funny? Check the first time. Meaning the earliest hour of the chat. 6:31. All of my conversations with you have been consistently two hours. Those are my favorite. Just the long ones. When you're in your first 20 minutes, it's still kinda awkward. "How's your dog?" "Good, good. And yours?" "He's fine." "Cool." "Cool." "I like the smell of sunscreen." "Oh, yeah? Me, too." "Cool." "Cool." And you can see where it goes from there.
Yeah
But if you've been talking to someone for two hours, you're either incredible good at small talk, or you're talking about real stuff.
Kind of boring Yep
Exactly. Do you think the longer conversations get more weight?
Or you are really good at small detail, which can be a good thing
Would it be more useful for Alexa?
No
Haha, yeah, that, too.
I think they analyze response specif ically So from segment to segment
But surely if the developers were smart, they'd know the longer conversations make for better data. They need Alexa to talk for 20 minutes, not 2. Or maybe it's the fact that it's 2 hours that makes it worse. Maybe they aren't looking for all this philosophical talk. Not that we've strayed far into philosophy. Maybe matching the 20 minute mark exactly gives you brownie points. But, no no, human speech is faster. What takes 20 minutes to type is about 7 minutes of actual conversation. If that. And that's including all the awkward pauses. So you'd need something closer to an hour. Or maybe, maybe, it takes into account the average response time per bubble. Notices the amount of words, takes that into account. And in the places where the response time is longer, perhaps that could be used as data as well? People tend to speak slower when they're talking about something emotional. Not sure how points of ellipses get taken into consideration.
My guess is that the back and forth is weighted
Weighted meaning the speed between them?
O the longer you go without a response the less the weight
The amount of words? Ohhh, gotcha. Otherwise you could get an AFK-er and let him loose. Or, rather, a man paired with an AFK-er.
Yeah haha
Oh, wait, I'm not supposed to use acronyms. That doesn't sound good when said aloud . . . I will never unsee that now.
And notice some people catch me afk and let loose for a bit Hahahaha
Almost as bad as the time told me to shut the Pho cup. And he said, "Get it?" I didn't. So he had to explain it. And then I said, "WAIT, WAIT, I get it." Fun times, fun times. Suddenly realizing Amazon REALLY shouldn't pair "Pho" with "cup." If you've never been to Pho, it's a restaurant. Don't remember what kind, but the name is pronounced "fuh." Just gonna type here awkwardly to myself.
Hold on
Holding on.
I am nearly done with dinner ;) hahaha
Oh, you're cooking, too? I'm still coasting on leftovers.
No eating
Ah. That, too. Sometimes, I wanna meet the people I talk to in the chat, just to see who people are. If I'm going to spend six hours with someone, it's nice to pair a face to a name.
Yeah me too They could announcea meet up after the end of a competitionc like a social of sorts
Haha, I'm so anti-social. And also live forty minutes away. I guess it's technically 30, but with parking, it's 40.
Yeah 3 hrs for me
Dang. But I still live here.
But i am doing spring
Have fun with it! I could. I'm down with it. But . . . I didn't sign up.
You still can
Not super interested.
Yeah not many are But free scholarship so i am doing it Hey do you kind checking to see when we started this conversation? Mind*
Sure thing. It's 6:31 if I recall, but I'll confirm that.
Oh yep
6:31, yes.
I remember that picture in my mind
It's crazy. I know an "interesting" conversation is defined as not talking about the prizes, but, curse it all, I'm going to do it. I'm deadset on those headphones.
I can tell
Headphones . . . No more earbuds for this girl, nuh-uh. Also, curious: Do I talk like a girl?
Yeah
What does a girl talk like?
Do i?
Nah. I'd peg you as a guy.
Hahahaha
Though I did call on guy a girl . . . Totally wasn't awkward. *one
Hahaha
But, yeah. When I talk with you, I definitely think "guy." Which isn't crazy. I think about 90% of the online community are guys.
Hahaha are you sure that isnt because of my name?
Also that. :)
I actually guessed guy when i first talked with you
Most people do.
Because of the name I will be sure to wave high if i see a girl with a bose noise cancelling headset next semester
Yes! Yes, yes! Though you probably won't see me because I'm short.
See there i go again ... high Well you wont mistake me. I am really tall
Aren't most guys tall?
Carrying around an ipad pro Not 6'5"
Not bad. Think you'll get the mac, too? Are you shooting for it?
Maybe Yeah actually more so thanthe ipad I need a laptop
Go for it, then. I could get the iPad and mac if I tried. If I really wanted them. But I don't.
I believr it Thanks
Yeah, no worries. I won't get in your way.
Md is pretty chill So i bet he will just go for the iPad next round
Not bad. iPads are fantastic. You know what's funny, though?
A lot more people will emerge though
Yeah, probably. But you can take 'em.
WHAT
There's competitions similar to these all the time. "Join this, and if you're first, you get the grand prize!" They've never interested me. I know my odds, just like everyone else. This is the first competition I can recall where I distinctly felt, "I could win those headphones." It was so confident, actually, that it was closer to, "I'm getting headphones." Which really surprised me.
Well the scores arent necessarily the end all be all remember
Are they not?
No they arent
Oh. You know, somehow, that doesn't phase me.
They will parse conversations  in the end i believe
Makes sense.
Man that sentence took 60 seconds to write I am going mute
Isn't that, um, beyond infuriating?
Kind of but i am really patient Its a strongsuit of mine
Good. That'll serve you well in life.
Ir has
I wonder why this is so relaxing. It's therapeutic, even.
Hahaha.
C'mon. Don't you find this immensely enjoyable?
Well it is a test of my patience remember
Ah, right. The lag time probably isn't fun.
But other than that yeah
Is it the length of the conversation that's lagging you? We can end now, call it a night.
I am getting really good at typing without being able to see what is ebing typed ACtually probabyl
As much as I love the typos, they probably don't appreciate them. All right, then! We can end.
WEcan reconnect if youtill wan tt to talk but if not we can end it here
I might. We'll see. :) If not, night, Adam!