Thu 4 Aug 2005
Today was my third exam. Statics. I really worked hard on trying to learn it all. In the end it didn’t matter. After the exam I came home and our forum was abuzz with discussion about the exam. I’m going to be quoting many people but leaving their names off (for obvious reasons once you read them). Here are some from the forum:
“bunch of us talked to the TA (light skinned) and we were like, u gonna fix the marks? and hes like yeah, u needed 2.5hrs to read the exam… that was insane, my ass is still feeling it” [Last year had 3 hours for the same length]
“wow. that exam {Statics} was wrong…. just… no.”
“Gonna need to alter my shirt to 2010″ [Our Class T-Shirts say "MTE '09"]
“Great! So now we have 2 courses to do during the work term…
(*grumble grumble* fucking PDEng *grumble* )”
Another thread opened and people began to post “Theme songs” for exams that went through their heads during the exam:
“the flight of the bumblebee – rimsky-korsakov
holy shit, what an adrenaline rush”
“”Unnh Unnh Unnh Unnh A-nother one bites the dust” – Queen”
“”Bodies” by Drowning Pool”
“And after my fragile mind cracks from the pressure:
“I AM THE WALRUS! I AM THE WALRUS! GOO GOO G’JOOB!”"
“I’d say a combination between “White Christmas” (it was cold in there) and “It’s not me it’s you” by Prozak. Oh, and “It’s the end of the world as we know it” by… I forget who.”
“I’m gonna go with “The Good Times are Killing Me” by Modest Mouse.”
“”Try a Little Tenderness”, by Otis Redding”
Yet another thread opened with a poll asking people what they thought the class average was (I voted for 57% and 30-40% range was winning at the time of this post). The most intriguing thing to watch though were the MSN names, the thing people change right away. I’ll post some from people in my class. (I have at least half of my class on my MSN list):
“This term was going alright…not so much anymore”
“And Hell Week continues…”
“That was not fun”
“It will all be over soon”
“3 more…my ass hurts”
“2.3/6….worst exam ever” [2.3 when we've had three, indicating he never finished]
“Statics the Almighty Power/Hurld headlong flaming from th’ Ethereal/With hidious ruine and combustion”
“Statics was impossible to finish…”
“I want a 12% on that exam, just like my class”
“STATICS: TOUGHEST EXAM OF MY LIFE!! -This will leave a scar…”
*sigh*
“owned by calc and statics”
“statics ownage”
“got raped…”
“See you guys in 1B…again” [Implying he failed and will be returning...with us all]
“There goes my scholarship” [I feel really bad for him]
“Climbing Algorithms Trees ~ I don’t want to FALL!!” [tomorrows exam has things called Trees, programming]
“WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT”
“yeah, I’m walking funny for a reason, just got back from another final”
“Drawn and Quartered by the Statics Exam” [Tron and Quartered was a possible class name]
“So I just failed Statics”
Lots of the comments are sort of inside jokes so I added some explanation to some, but you get the point. It was not a good day. There was quite a few comments about being “raped” by the exam, a common way to say that they did very poorly. People even brought sink plugs to the exam, sort of a good luck charm (you can fill in the reference…).
My point in posting these was not to complain (necessarily…) about the exam. I think I passed the course, so I’m fine. Why I posted them is an example of how the Internet has created an entirely new social culture. Be it through our Forums or through MSN names, people are able to instantly connected and can voice off about whatever they want. MSN aliases/nicknames are a good way for people to be able to emote their current mood through the Internet. I didn’t need to actually be talking to the people to see the varies moods of anger, to disappointment, to fear, to defeat.
Another example of something similar was with the current declaration of Adrienne Clarkson’s successor to the position of Governor General. The Globe and Mail reported on their website before an official announcement was made. They have a talk back section on their website. Furthermore, Wikipedia (which most people know I love and always use for information) started an article on Michaëlle Jean, the person who was named for the position. When I first read the Globe article, I ran to Wikipedia and searched her. There was very little information. I then chatted with a few friend over it, and sent them the Wikipedia link. When I went back to view it new content was there, a picture, and links. Today it is twice the size of the original one I viewed. I read a blog a few weeks ago about the article on the London Bombings on Wikipedia. Hundreds of additions were made within hours of the bombing. (Sorry I can’t find the link)
The Internet has created an entire generation of people who are connected in a very new and developing way. I’ve been reading articles on social software, and even the experts can’t figure out how the population is going to use the software they produce. One of my podcasts talked about an archive of Bulletin Boards from the past. The evolution of the Internet and it’s software are fascinating topics. Whether connecting people to complain about their latest exam, or discussing the latest edition of Harry Potter, we have no become closer to the Global Community that people have been working towards. The Internet has really helped us to get where we are today.
Well…I guess I will try to shake off this defeat and move on to the next exam. I hope it will be better…
Currently Listening to: “The World Has Turned and Left Me Here” – Weezer
I’ve also been informed that I’m using “slugs” (URL is different from title) for the names of my entries, because I like to have interesting titles for my blogs…even if they have nothing to do with the entry. 
My iPod Mini that is!