ID:118846
 
Hey there,

As many (about 2) of you might know, my favorite instrument is the piano. I am just now learning how to play it (and get UC credits for it - whoo!) but I've always found it the most relaxing of music. My favorite music genre is a whole other story, but when it comes to studying (which is what my life as a student consists of aside from the occasional party and date with the girlfriend), I put my noise-cancelling headphones in with my coffee in hand (growing quite fond of Pike Roast at Starbucks), and put a bunch of piano covers on shuffle. Today, I made an interesting revelation however - as I was doing my Multi-variable Calculus homework (arguably the easiest of the 3 Calculus'), I realized I couldn't do a problem as I was getting my table all set-up and good to go. However, 5 minutes later, with my headphones in I was able to zone in and solve the problem in about a minute.

Unfortunately, I can't listen to my iPod during tests, so I fear my dependency on the piano to aid in calming me down and zoning me in won't be working when it actually matters, but this is a useful skill for say, when I'm programming and want to make something actually usable/decent/fun/useful.

In other news, I promised a few updates on some of the different things I've been experimenting with. I have been testing the Complete Guide to Genius and I really can't confirm anything yet.



What I will say is this - my studying has improved slightly over the past week, and I will definitely say this is because of this e-book. The only thing I will say is I can't tell if it's a psychological effect or not. Again, however, if my studying improved (I got a 95% on my first Calc. test of the semester with no sweat - and I showed up 10 minutes late!). I didn't take an IQ test - I am still skeptical on that. So I'll stay with the schedule and update as I see more significant (or no) changes in my life. Note: The brain harmonics are pretty great though - I focus on whatever I'm doing so well while I listen to it, that I'm not even aware of anything else going on but my simple homework, work, etc.

Speed Reading
I DL'd a free program, but am considering the highly appraised 7-speed-reading program. However, until I find a significant need, I probably won't get it. The program I got, which is called Speed Reader X, has tested me quite a fair it and so far, I've increased over the past week from my initial (404 wpm @ 70% comprehension) to 440 wpm @ 74% comprehension.

Not bad for a week, if I may say so myself.

p90x
I'm starting up this Saturday, which is when I'm "officially" in the clear according to my doctor to start working out again. F*** yeah

Pimsleur German
I'm learning German using the Pimsleur Approach (day 7 so far), and I must say it's remarkable. I must have learned 50 words so far in a span of maybe 3 hours. But the thing is, I memorized and learned them with very little effort. I know how to use them in complete sentences, and I can recognize them in faster speech. I highly recommend the Pimsleur Approach for any language.

Vocabulary Building
A few weeks ago I took a sample GRE test and realized my vocabulary is tiny. Maybe it's because I'm more math-based, maybe it's because I'm not an avid reader. It doesn't really matter. What matters is that it sucks, and I scored terribly low. Since then I picked up using these audios from WordMaster (free DL) and I listen to them as I go to sleep. 5 new words a night, over the span of my life, and my vocabulary will be fantastic. It works. They do a really good job.

Poker


I'm a huge poker player, but unfortunately most online poker sites got closed, and locals are hard to find in my neck of the woods. However, I constantly read books about Poker, Statistics, and the psychology behind poker. I try to watch as much WSOP as I can, and I also try to watch as many videos as I can get my hands on - Michael Caro's Poker Tells video is a fantastic one. Anyways, if you want resources, I can hook it up - or if you have any you'd like to pitch, throw them my way! :)

Programming


First, I'm sorry this is kind of cluttered. But, I'm going to get a little honest here. If I were to say I'm a good programmer, I'd be a liar. So what am I doing to fix that? Practicing with the skills I've got and honing those first, before jumping to other languages. I will admit I'm learning C, but I'm not learning C because it's necessarily better than DM - I'm learning it for a class. What I am doing is consistently challenging my knowledge of DM and creating more proof-of-concept, or even mini-applications by myself to see what I know how to do. Helping IainPeregrine with Casual Quest showed me a great way to modularize in OO-programming. I'm extremely thankful for that, and am trying all I can to get better and better. But that's just it - it requires practice, patience, and dedication, and not many BYONDers have that. Slow down, because you need to.

That said, I'm honing my web design as well and taking a turn at a website with a fellow design student I graduated high school with (and hopefully Calus CoRPS if he ever responds). I'm not sure when production will end, but I will say that I'm excited for testing the limits of all our abilities in a productive way. If it does get finished, if any of you would like to beta test the site, I'll send out a calling list later in time.

That's all for now, folks. I'm sorry I fragment my trains of thought, but there are so many. If you have ideas for me, want me to look into something, or even have any questions about how I approach my studying (which I will say is pretty damn effective with full confidence) than feel free to ask me at anytime.

Good luck to you all. Oh, and a CQ blogpost should be up shortly for you, ACWraith. ;)
My favorite instrument is the saxophone. It has such a smooth and beautiful sound to it.
I might look into that Pinsleur thingy. I wanna learn how to habla espanol.
I like various instruments. Also, I find a great way to concentrate is think about classical music or at least some music while doing a test. I've done that on some intense tests before, even while thinking about the answers.

Thinking about music, I been planning for music production with my keyboard to make nice music (which can be converted from an MIDI to a real audio format). Heck, I also thought about messing with more modular music.

On the C++ front, it has been a while since I worked on my Win32 Wrapper. Been going back to the ways of C++ I/O (which was something I first learned back when I just began using C++). For Windows 8, it is possible I might use the Metro SDK in the future. However, I will still program in the classic style since it is still useful and the most compatible.

That is all I have to say for now.
Interesting. You have an interesting life.
If I recall correctly, Pokerstars got banned in the US. Yes, I'm correct. :P See screenie.

http://i.imgur.com/kt9lP.png

Maybe when I head to Germany for a year! :P
Bandock: I'll try that. I've got a quiz tomorrow. Super cake stuff, but I'll still try to see if it helps me focus!