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" University in Birmingham. "
I've just finished my first year at Aston University now doing an BSc Economics and Management degree, I initially applied for BSc Business and Management but there is a common first year so I was allowed to change, more on that later though.
The grades you need to get are highly dependent on your course ranging from AAA for business courses to CCC for courses such as engineering. Aston is said to be a specialist business university, however looking at rankings, it is actually the best university in the country for Optometry (as told by my friend that does Optometry quoting league tables he looked at when applying a year ago) so Aston is a good university to go to for a wide range of courses. My offer was AAA-AAB and I only got ABB s I'm guessing your personal statement carries a lot of weight when applying here so make it good!
Aston Uni is located in the center of Birmingham with most things you could ask for within a 15 minute walking distance. If you live on campus in your first year, which I highly recommend, all university buildings will be less than a 5 minute walk from your accommodation. There is a small shop in the student guild and there are cash machines at the guild as well. I rarely used these though, since there was a Tesco Express about 5 minutes away for a quick shop and a Tesco Metro about 15 minutes away for the weekly shop. Also around 15 minutes away is the Bullring, one of the biggest shopping centers in the country. Not only that, there are loads of shops outside ranging from Cybercandy and Poundland to M&S and Jack Jones. To top it all off a lot of it is completely pedestrianized so there are no cars or roads to cross making the shopping experience even better. If you want to watch a movie there is a little known IMAX movie theater which we discovered in Millennium Point, a building which is just across the road from the university... and it has the biggest movie screens in the Midlands! There is pretty much everything you can think of and want so close by that you will never have a boring day, and who knows, if you explore a bit you might find something new as well!
I lived in New Build Block A1 and I can hands down say it is the best student accommodation I have ever seen. They were only just built a few months before I moved in so most rooms hadn't even been lived in yet, and even now, they are only a year old. It is modern and spacious with ensuite bathrooms and shared kitchens - although slightly pricey, I think it is worth it. You have the option of 7 bed and 5 bed, I lived in 7 bed because it is cheaper, and to be honest, the upgrade to 5 bed isn't that impressive. For those on a tighter budget, Lakeside still provides accommodation far superior to most you will see. The rooms are slightly bigger and the bathrooms are slightly nicer, but you share with 10 people and get a smaller kitchen. Fridge space in New Build is adequate, but in Lakeside it is slightly on the tighter side, but for the lower price is is very much acceptable. Then there is Stafford 'soon to be demolished' Tower. If you want to live there, the 2012-13 academic year is the last year it will be in existence, after that it will be taken down brick by brick *yawn* I was looking forward to an explosion but it won't happen. I have not been in there when sober so I cannot give a truly descriptive account of it, but from what I have heard it is not the best - just liveable. I can't speak for Lakeside or Stafford, but at New Build our kitchen was cleaned weekly and our bathrooms were cleaned monthly which in student life is VERY useful although not so much when they decide to start work early and wake you up at 8am after a night out...
Just a bit about the nightlife because it is a big part of being a student. The nightlife is brilliant! There are tons of clubs and bars with rock bottom prices. The places I recommend are; Monday - Gatecrasher, Tuesday - Risa, Wednesday - HMV, Thursday - Risa/Gatecrasher, Friday-Sunday - Everywhere has good deals and is a decent night out! There are several clubs at the Arcadian as well which is basically a complex of bars and clubs, but the major thing they have is they bar crawls. I would recommend going on Barsity and all the bar crawls at Arcadian - they offer the best value without a doubt.
The library is a great resource for all students. You get free wi-fi, in fact you get free wi-fi all through the campus, and there are hundreds of computers for your use as well as 2-4 printers on every floor. There are hundreds of textbooks, and if you want to save some money there are a few copies of the essential textbooks which you can snag if you get there quick. For those doing a business degree, I highly recommend this, I purchased all the books and soon came to regret it - many are not useful at all and the ones that are even slightly useful are limited by things like using American terminology which we can't use in our exams.
The internet in your rooms was £140 for 12mb/s and £180 for 20mb/s for the year 2011-12 but apparently it will be changed to be included in your rent for following years, although rent will also increase. It wasn't great for me, it was run by StudentCom and frequently (at least 5 times a day) redirected to their homepage, but again that may change. There is also a gym for students which is £100ish for a year. If you want the pool and sauna it will be more but I am not sure of the price. There is a football pitch, badminton courts, squash courts and table tennis available at a small cost every time you use it. The badminton courts are £2.50 to £4.50 an hour and football pitches are £10/hour with deposits required if you want a football/racket.
When you arrive you will be greeted by Aston Aunties who help you move into your flat (I carried one bag up to my 8th floor flat - the aunties dd the rest!) and you are then assigned one auntie per flat to introduce you to your flat/floor mates and to help you out if ever you need. Freshers week is full of partying but also contains a lot of useful information for the future years so attend as many events as possible. The one definite event you attend should be Freshers Fair. This is where you apply to all sorts of groups and clubs from badminton to extreme bbq! Also there is a ton of free stuff to be had so make sure to sign up to anything interesting and pick up anything that's free on the way.
I totally love everything about the university and actually can't wait to go back for my second year! Anyone who plans to come to Aston send me a message!
I did a 4-year Modern Languages (French) degree at Aston University from 2001-2005, & very much enjoyed my experience there.
The main reason I chose Aston was that I wanted to do a degree that was half French & half Chemistry, & as such had very little choice of university. When I went to the open day, what most impressed me was the small, compact campus & the proximity to Birmingham city centre, both of which are some of the best things about Aston.
The campus is probably one of the smallest ones you will find, & everything is on one site, which is very handy. Although for your first couple of days you'll feel like you can't tell which hall of residence is which, you'll very quickly learn your way around the whole campus. I lived in Stafford Tower for my first year, which was less than 5 minutes' walk from the main university building where most of the teaching takes place. In fact, no part of the campus is more than 5 minutes' walk from any other part. The surroundings are very attractive, with a nice pond you can sit by to watch the geese & ducks, & plenty of greenery.
Some of the important buildings on campus are the main building, plus separate buildings for certain subjects (for example a business school & an optometry school); a good-sized library; several halls of residence; a sports centre with swimming pool, plus sports pitches; & the students' union (joined by a walkway to the main building, but also accessible from outside).
There are several places to eat on campus; my favourite was definitely La Serre, on the ground floor of the main building, which sold some of the nicest baguettes I've ever eaten, with a massive choice of fillings.
The student union shop is handy for things like sweets, magazines, cards & stationery, whilst there is also a separate convenience store on campus for food shopping, although this is quite over-priced.
There are 2 'levels' of accomodation available on campus: standard, or 'Lakeside'. Lakeside is a new building of more modern, larger rooms (which include their own bathroom) & posher, larger kitchens. As such Lakeside is more expensive (currently £106.66 per week). I was in the standard accomodation (much cheaper at £68.57 per week), which consists of both low-rise & high-rise blocks (I stayed in both in different years). When I was there, there was talk of knocking down the high-rise accomodation & building a more modern replacement. According to their website the new buildings have been started & the first new rooms will be available in 2010.
My first year was in the high-rise Stafford Tower, & my room was in a corridor of 9 rooms, on a floor of 18 rooms. Each corridor shared a kitchen, & the toilets/showers were shared by both corridors (so 18 people). My floor was all girls - you get the choice on your application form of single-sex or mixed. This was a good way of meeting people in your first year & I had no problem with sharing a kitchen as my flatmates were reasonably tidy!
In my final year I was in the low-rise Old Cross House. I liked the flat as it was over 3 levels rather than on a corridor so it felt more like you were living in a house. 5 other people had rooms in the same flat & shared the kitchen (slightly larger than in the high-rise tower) & the bathroom (slightly smaller).
The rooms in both places were very similar, & quite basic but perfectly acceptable, each containing a bed, desk, chair & shelves. Personally I don't see the need to spend all the extra money on Lakeside just to get your own bathroom & a slightly posher/more modern room.
One of the best things about Aston is that you can walk into Birmingham city centre in 5 minutes. This is obviously handy for all sorts of things, including practical ones like getting the train & going food shopping (there's Sainsbury's & Tesco right in the centre of town). It also means there are plenty of things to do socially such as the cinema, pubs, restaurants, bars, clubs, theatre & lots more. Birmingham is a brilliant city to live in.
Obviously, the most important part of a university is the standard of their courses. Aston is particularly well known for its degrees in the areas of business & sciences, & a large proportion of the people I met seemed to be doing either Business Studies, Optometry or Pharmacy. I would most recommend this university to people who want a practical degree that relates to the real world, business & the European Union.
It is much less suitable for people who are interested in more academic subjects & does not provide courses in many common areas such as English. Personally, this is the only thing I regret about my time at Aston, as although it was a great experience & a lovely university, I probably would have been better suited to a more 'academic'-type university. It also limits the types of societies that are there, as I would have liked to join something like a book group or quiz society, but there weren't any at the time.
There are lots of sports societies, & other ones I can remember were a drama group, choir & orchestra. I joined the Aston branch of St John's Ambulance & got a free First Aid at Work qualification.
Although I started off studying Combined Studies (Chemistry & French), after the first year I dropped the Chemistry & transferred to Modern Languages (French). The combined studies programme at Aston is unusual in that you can combine all sorts of different subjects, but I would not recommend this unless the two subjects are closely related. I found that I felt I was doing two half-degrees & because I was therefore missing two halves, I wasn't really learning anything useful in either area & was finding it hard to keep up with the students doing full Chemistry degrees, for example.
I found the Languages department at Aston to be a very friendly place. It is quite a small department & is located over the top two floors of one of the wings of the main building (I'd recommend using the lift as it's a very long walk up to the 10th floor!). The staff were all very friendly & supportive. In my first year I was always too nervous to ask for help but later learnt that the lecturers were happy for you to come & see them in their offices (most lecturers advertise their office hours on their doors & you just sign up on a sheet of paper to say what time you'll be coming).
Although there were some of the stereotypical, hall-full-of-students lectures, most were in small groups of around 12 students in small, more school-like classrooms. In the first year I used to dread 'Communication Studies' in which the emphasis was on spoken French, but quickly became used to it & these classes were very good for my general confidence & communication skills, as well as my French. These classes were often run by the 'French students', meaning students who came over from universities in France as teaching assistants, so it was a good opportunity to interact with French people not much older than us. About 50% of the lecturers themselves were native French-speakers.
The third year of a language degree is an obligatory year abroad (& many other degrees at Aston also offer this as an option). The department is extremely helpful in preparing you for this year, including having a member of staff dedicated to helping sort out your year abroad & being available for support once you're there. You can choose to study abroad, work in a school as a language assistant, or find other employment. I chose to study at Tours University in the Loire Valley & it was a brilliant experience, although I missed home lots!
In all years of study at Aston you have certain compulsory modules, & then you choose which other ones you'd like to do from a list. There are lots of varied options, for example I did modules on translation & interpreting, the EU, literature, culture, media & the French colonies. In the final year you write a dissertation, although it is much shorter than in most degrees, possibly due to the fact that you write it in a foreign language.
I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Aston & found it to be a very friendly, compact campus. However, make sure the course you choose is really right for you.
I went there for an open day when deciding where to go to continue my studies. At first i was reasonably impresses however as soon as i entered the Uni grounds my opinion swifty changed due to the treatment, and the general attitue of most of the people there. They were generaly rude which i found wired as they were trying to advertise the university as a great place to go and study. No doubting the education tha they offered was good but did i really want to be part of a place where i did not feel comfortable and basically not wanted. No is the answer to that. However Birmingham itself is a lovely place and it well worth many visits to see all the great places and attractions. I know this is very negative but i think its always good to get both sides of the coin. And you never know, i might have just caught them on a bad day.
After being a student at Aston University now for a year and a half I thought it was probably about time to write a review of it and its many services. Unfortunately I live at home so I probably can't give a thorough review as someone who has lived there but I have tried many of its services so hopefully I can give you a pretty good description of the entire goings on at the University.
Getting in
Well to start off with getting in to Aston you have to have a few A levels or at least the equivalent. What that ask for really does depend on the course that you take, whether it is a popular course or not makes a large difference on the grades they ask of you. I applied for Human Psychology which they asked BBB for. I know for business courses they ask for higher. But what they accept is up to them, I got BBC but they still accepted me so I guess personal statements mean quite a lot to them.
There are literally hundreds of courses for you to pick from ranging from the most popular, Business studies, to languages, sciences and history. There is quite a variety taught so Aston is quite good for how much it caters for. Aston has just been ranked the 13th best University in the country so it has a pretty good reputation.
Aston University is located in the heart of Birmingham in the West Midlands. Only a short walk from the Bullring and the shopping and nightlife in England's second city, it really can be considered one of the liveliest Universities in England. Aston University is known for being very green, and for good reason. Right in the middle of a busy city it is quite strange to find a place with tall trees, plenty of green areas and surprisingly a lake which is home to geese and swans! It truly is a lovely place to be as it has all the convenience of a major city but also the peacefulness of a small village.
The actual address of the University is: Aston University, Aston Triangle, Birmingham, B4 7ET.
The University comprises of the main building which houses hundreds upon hundreds of lecture theatres, the library with thousands of books. The student guild/union, the business school, two leisure facilities, housing for over three thousand students and two pitches.
So getting on to what University life is like, well it primarily goes on lectures. The lecture rooms are quite large and can fit hundreds of people in. Some lecture halls feel massive while others feel quite intimate. The lectures are quite interesting, well this being my general response from my first year. They pick good subjects and provide a clear and intriguing syllabus for us to learn. The different modules you have can be very different, and all require certain coursework and computer tasks that need to be completed. However in general I would say that the material we learned in the first year was interesting and useful.
The staffs at Aston are very friendly and are willing to help you with what you want. There are only a few people I have met who were a bit frosty but most are very enthusiastic and love to help you. Most of my lecturers have been superb and made coming to the lecture a joy as they made the hours go quick and the lectures fun.
I think I only had one lecturer in my first year that I wasn't too fond of but in the end it's the information they give you that's important.
The guild is the one big place that the students at Aston love to go to. It has everything you want, a bookshop, hairdressers, job centre, convenience store and take-away restaurants. The main part is Einstein's bar at the bottom which is quite a busy place at night. With pool tables, cheap booze and food, it's a place every student wants to be. A great place for a night out with friends.
The library at Aston is extremely well stocked, holding literally thousands of texts and journals. It has lots of computers and tables to study; the place is four floors high so you can imagine how much there is there. The loan out system is very good and easy to manage. Depending on the book you want there always seems to be at least a few copies so you can always get what you want. At the bottom of the library is a Costa Coffee which serves drinks and food so it's a good place to go for an afternoon of studying.
As I live at home I can't really comment much on the nightlife at Aston but my friends have told me many stories of what they get up to! Different societies seem to have nights out at least once a week. The main place to go is Broad Street which houses lots of clubs and places to make a night out. In a city as big and lively as Birmingham you are bound to have fun on a night out whether it being to a pub, club, theatre or just walking about.
Aston University has quite a few amenities such as a swimming pool and a large gym as well as football pitches. It always has different activities on at night such as judo, badminton or fencing. They are loads of clubs that you can join such as movie clubs or language societies. I think the gym is actually open to the public for a small price and it has all the equipment you would find in a normal gym so it's quite a good place to go for a workout.
The housing at Aston University comes in the form of apartment blocks. There are three main ones such as Dalton and Stafford tower which can house thousands of students. There is also Lakeside which houses a few hundred and is a nicer apartment complex with all rooms having en-suite and larger rooms. However it costs more than the other apartments. I have been in my friend's room in Stafford Tower before and the rooms aren't that big but they can fit a bed, a wardrobe and desk in, so pretty much all you need. The communal kitchens are quite small but provide a very camaraderie atmosphere within the place. Overall they are ok for student housing, a little on the small side but overall ok.
So I am now half way through my degree at Aston University, scary. Overall I am enjoying it, the first year was brilliant and I loved everything about it. The second year is as expected a little harder but my course seems to have changed. This is the only negative part about this University. The fact that a year through the degree and they change the major aspects of the core syllabus really bugged me. This year is mostly about how to conduct research and was not the course that was 'advertised'. A very sneaky thing to do as no-one can really quite a year through, but I'm trying to enjoy it.
The facilities are great at Aston and it is a very easy place to get to. Only a twenty minute walk from the New Street Station and it is literally five minutes away from a bus stop that has multiple services such as the number 51 from Walsall which is a main bus route.
The nightlife is great at Aston, as I've been told, the staffs are friendly, there are lots of courses and to top it all off its one of the best Universities in the country!
I have come to notice that there are no RECENT (last two years) reviews of my university, Aston, Birmingham, so here I am, to paint a pretty picture for all to see. I am currently on placement in London, and so may not be able to give you an overall picture, but a fairly clear one of the first and second year experience of the Business School.
I chose Aston University because it was one of the few universities in the country that did the course that I want to do, International Business and German. I was accepted into all 6 universities that I applied to through UCAS (not because I am that clever, but because everybody is crying out for language students, Oh, OK, I am that clever!). I chose Aston as my first choice, as it was higher on the Times Good University Guide (3rd for business in 2003), and Swansea as my reserve. I did not actually get the grades I was meant to for the course, but was accepted anyway, which was a great relief.
Aston University is a small campus, with a small intake of students. I believe the total population is about 8,000. It is situated on the edge of Birmingham City Centre, and is described as one of the greenest areas of central Birmingham. There are 3 different types of halls of residence available, the deluxe, the low-rise, and the high rise. Lakeside (so called because of the large pond by which it is situated) was the deluxe, and where I spent my first year. It has bigger rooms, with better décor (being much newer), and ensuite bathrooms. The downside is that Lakeside is £25-30 more per week than the others (so approx £90 a week and still rising). Although the luxury of having my own bathroom, and much better kitchen facilities was there, I feel that (and many agree) that the cheaper option is the best.
Lawrence, Stafford and Dalton are the high-rise halls. They are each 20 floors high, and I won't try and talk them up, they are fairly grotty. There are two showers and two toilets for each flat, which contain 8-12 people. The kitchens are smaller, as are the bedrooms, and the décor is not as nice as the beech wood ways in Lakeside. Another downside of the towers is waiting up to 20 minutes for the lifts
The difference between the two if that I found, as did a lot of my friends, that most of the people in Lakeside were spoilt and rich, and not in a good way. Our flatmates flashed their cash with the best of them, and I grew to dislike most of them intensely by the end of the year. My friends in the towers seemed to build up much stronger relationships and bonds, and so if this is what you are looking for from your university experience, then I recommend accommodation in the towers. If however, you are going to university purely for the academic side, then go for Lakeside, as it is probably much quieter.
In the second year the majority of students live in difgs in Erdington, which is a good 10-30 minutes away on the bus. There are many new developments of student accommodation in town, so act quickly and you may get in. I lived in Erdington and had a great time. Bus passes are however £96 per term, and so I am opting for back to campus for my final year, in order to be closer to the bar-I mean, library.
Now for the academic bit (yes, I know, boring, what about the nightlife?! Later, children, later.) Aston University is split into 4 schools.
· Aston Business School
· Life and Health Sciences
· Languages and Social Sciences
· Engineering and Applied Science.
Aston Business School and Languages and Social Sciences are my two schools, as I am a combined honours student.
I changed my course after a month or so, as it suddenly dawned on me that I wasn't really interested in doing German for the rest of my life. I was however not given much choice in the way of changing. I was told that I could swap to French (not helpful, I didn't want to do a language anymore), or carry on, or leave and start again the following year, but there was no guarantee that I'd get onto my preferred course (which was a single honours business course, Marketing.) Eventually, I was reluctantly given the option of a combined honours course, of which there are many, from maths to languages, to sociology. I chose sociology, so now, my course is Business Administration and Sociology. I am pleased with my decision and am glad I stuck it out and was determined enough to stick around, I think leaving would have been a real blow to my confidence, and I would have probably never gone back.
Enough about me, what about the university?! An a-z of the course offered at Aston can be found here, with links to the courses available.
Aston specialises in sciences, rather than arts, and so most of the courses offered are BSc courses (Batchelor of Science), and there is also a wide variety of postgraduate offerings. Aston was once a technical college but is now a fully fledged university, and requires fairly high grades to get in. I originally needed BBB (A-Levels) to get in, but was let in with BCC (I think because languages are so under-subscribed). When I changed my course, the expectancies were lower, BCC. Please note: this is according to 2003 admissions, so things may be different now, please check the website or prospectus if you are hoping to go to Aston.
The teaching is great, in my subject disciplines. My timetable during the first and second year was never two full, about 10-15 hours a week, including tutorials and lectures, and the lecturers are engaging. The Business School offers a range of business related topics, including Organisational Behaviour and Financial Accounting. Sociology is a very broad subject, encompassing politics, history, philosophy and data analysis.
Library services at Aston are good, although there is a need perhaps for more computers. There are three storeys, and plenty in the way of journals, and books. There are short, medium, and long loan books available (although often not enough, so it is advisable to buy your own copies in the onsite Blackwells, you can always sell them on afterwards to new students). Reading lists for all modules are usually extensive, but pinpoint the essential reading, and if you act quickly, they are easy to find.
My placement year is an integrated part of my course, on which I am expected to do an essay and a logbook. On combined honours, a placement year is optional, but essential for single honours students.
The placements team give a lot of help when it comes to finding a job for the third year. We were encouraged to attend lectures for the first term of the second year, about skills needed for job-hunting and interview success, and these were indispensable. We were also given access to a website through which big companies advertised their positions (BMW, IBM, Kraft, NHS as wel as many lucrative positions abroad) facilitating the job-hunting process. We were able to go to CV clinics and mock interviews to brush up on our techniques (highly recommended, I performed much better as a result of these). We were not spoon-fed our placement positions, but the way the department was run was fantastic. My advice: Start early, and don't worry if all your friends have a job before you do, I got mine on the last day of term.
We have already chosen business modules for the final year, of which there are many, in many different areas, Marketing, HRM, Finance and Accounting, so you can really tailor your course to your own needs. I have picked for example on top of the obligatory Value Based Strategy and Finance, to study Marketing Psychology and Entrepreneurial Management.
Shopping, Eating and Going Out
Aston's prime location in the centre of Birmingham makes it great for shopping, with the much loved newly reconstructed Bullring centre, and of course the exclusive Mailbox, which also contains some fantastic bars and restaurants. You can more or less get any type of food you want in Birmingham, from Indian, to West Indian, Spanish, French, Italian and Chinese, and if you look carefully, you will find some great, cheap places to eat.
I love the Birmingham nightlife. There are loads of options, for whatever kind of night out you want. There are student nights at Bar Risa, Bambu, Gas Street, and 52 Degrees. There are flashy places like Mechu on Summer Row, and The Living Room, 3 Wetherspoons pubs (one a Lloyds), and Flares and Reflex for all your cheesy needs. On top of this there are always gigs at the Carling Academy, and then Snobs and Bar Academy for the rockier types. Birmingham is also a prime location for gigs and events, with the NIA and the NEC.
Aston Students Guild is flailing a bit, but I really do hope it gets better again. There just isn't enough funding, and there has been talk of getting rid of the guild altogether. There are however some great events, so if you end up going to Aston, support your guild by throwing money in their general direction, in return for pints of beer! There is a pounded night every Wednesday (so-called because selected drinks are £1), then School Daze, Beach Party, and other such typical student nights, with some legendary pub crawls thrown in. There is also the great Freakers Ball (sexual fantasies ball), which take splace in November (and oh, yes I will be there, with 5 friends, dressed as builders). The Guild has some great clubs and Societies for whatever your interests may be, from religion, to Extreme Ironing, and Rugby, Film and Dance.
Working (part-time)
Because of my fairly empty timetable, it was easy to have a part time job to fund my shopping and drinking habits, so I would recommend making the most of it. I've worked at Disney on Ice, Tesco, and two different pubs while at uni, as well as some catering work through an agency in Cardiff and Twickenham for the 6 Nations this year. There is always barwork and flyering work available, but nab yourself a good job quickly.
Right, that's it, I hope I've covered everything I can, do let me know if I've missed out something vital. All in all though, Aston University is a great place to visit, and I'd sure as hell like to live there (again)!
I have been a student at Aston for 4 years now and am currently finishing the last 5 weeks of my degree. Throughout my time here I have really enjoyed being here. Birmingham is a busy, bustling city that has something for everyone and the university is small and friendly and close to the city centre. The department of languages is quite a small part of the university - many students take a language with a business degree. So in my degree there are not many students and I rarely have lectures, the seminars and tutorials i have have always had vetween 6 - 30 people in them. In that respect it is a good course because you get more attention from the teachers. The workload is quite hard, unlike other courses where you do not often receive homework on this course you pretty much have something to complete every night. Saying that you proably need that in a language degree so that you can improve. The constant assessment allows you to see how well you are doing. The compulsory year abroad is an excellent idea and most students find that this is where they learn the most. I decided to work for 6 months in France and then Germany and the experiences were rewarding and very helpful, as well as giving you a taste of the working world. The degree you receive at the end is a bachelor of science as opposed to a bachelor of arts, which is unusual for a languages degree but i think this is a bonus. Many employers look more favourably on BScs. My only complaint is with the organisation of the courses, studying dual languages i believed that the courses would run parallel to each other and therefore it would be easier to study both languages. However both subjects are taught differently and the structure of the courses are not the same. For example in the final yr dissertations the word limit for the french dissertation was 4500 wrds whereas the limit for the german one was between 6-10000 wrds. As both dissertations carry the same wei
ghting i wasn't sure why they would be different. Finally the accommodation on offer at Aston isn't great. The towers and low rise blocks are small and not great to look at. The rooms are fairly small, but they are adequate. The rent is not too bad, inclusive of all bills it is about £60/week. You can however choose to live in the luxury flats which is called Lakeside and it is really lovely in these flats. You get much bigger and lighter rooms, en suite bathrooms and phones. The drawback is the price rising up from about £80/week. On the whole I have enjoyed my course, and i recommend it.
Aston University is a great place study - in the heart of Birmingham you have access to all the city can offer whilst gaining a highly prized degree. Your time at Aston will be a great adventure - it is a relatively small college with approx. 4000 student but this ensures a family atmosphere. Aston graduates are highly prized and the employment opportunities after graduation are some of the best in the country. Aston offers you excellent modern facilities which continue to be improved from the library through to the splendid accomodation and sporting facilities. Birmingham is a great places that caters so well for students. There are numerous pubs, clubs, museums, sporting venues and art centres. It is a highly under-rated place that needs to be seen. Aston offers a range of subjects but tends to specialise in business, languages, psychology and engineering. Entry grades tend to be high typically BBC at A level but the standard of lecturing is great.
I'm in my first year at Aston Universty and I'm having the time of my life! Based on the edge of Birmingham city centre, the campus is small, giving a great community feel to it. Everyone on campus seems to know each other! All shops and facilities you could need are within easy reach and the Students Guild is only 2 minutes walk away! There's now a decent It's A Scream pub called Gosta Green right next door, so the Guild has some competition! Birmingham is a great place to be and the simple fact is if you come to Aston you will make some fantastic friends! Another plus point is the newly opened Birmingham Academy just 200 yards from the Uni, a medium-sized live Indie/alternative venue that Birmingham so desperately needed. I was there for the opening, an Ocean Colour Scene gig, and Reef, Toploader, King Adora, the Levellers, Muse and Pitchshifter are all playing there in the next few months. The University itself has an excellent reputation, in particular the Business School. Recent talk suggests a merger with the University of Birmingham is in the offing, well if that happens it will completely ruin the Aston atmosphere. I'm against the merger myself, but we'll find out soon enough what's happening. Aston forever!
I agree with most of what has already been written about Aston. I was there from 1991 to 1994, so this is an old opinion! It's a great campus 'cos its small and friendly, its pretty impossible not to make friends. One of the best things is the accomodation, I got into campus halls in both my 1st and final years, not many Uni's can boast that. Even if you live out, Brum is so cheap, and accomodation is plentiful. Coming from the country, I did find Brum a bit grey, and had serious tree withdrawal symptoms, but the campus itself is lovely, with sculptures and fountains! My course was Applied and Human Biology, which was very practical and lab-based, which is good. Also, when I was there, I had less hours of work than any of my friends, ha-ha! Brum is also en excellent place to get around the country from, as every train seems to pass through Birmingham New Street Station! The only down side is I sometimes found the city centre a bit scary.When I was there, there were a lot of mentally ill men on the streets, and I was assaulted more than once in a subway, so I think girls need to be streetwise. Also, 'cos Aston is so small, they cannot afford any good bands, so if you love the band circuit, forget it! But go and have a look, you'll fall in love with the place!
It's August 17th. If you are taking interest in Universities, chances are you have just had A-level results? You've finished. Well done. Thay were the hardest exams you will ever have to do. And on to University..... ASTON!!! There, subtle enough? I was at Aston for four years, and stayed on an extra year working in the area. It's that good. What I did, and the result I got are not relevant really - I now do a job that is entirely unrelated, but it is the experience and skills I learnt at Uni. that got me here. But sod that..who wants to know about the academic side? The University will tell you that themselves. Aston is in the centre of Birmingham, the second city, and greatest place in the world (beleieve me, I'm now in London). Everything you could possibly want is there, relatively cheap, and very accessible from the inner city campus. Any type of club (check Edward's No8), pub, bar, cinema, sport etc. can be found, day or night. You don't even need to leave campus! Aston has enough pubs within 5 minutes of the residences to go somewhere different every night of the week. It has numerous clubs and societies for all tastes, and due to the small size of the Uni. you will get to know everybody really quickly. The campus is compact and pleasing to the eye, and facilities such as banks and shops are there too. You could spend you life at Aston guild, with 2 bars and something to get involved with, from DJing club nights to writing for the newspaper to just meeting people. And there is RAG - the student charity fundraising group. A nicer bunch of nutters you will never meet again, always ready to socialise with anyone, and do anything for a worthy cause. YOU MUST go and meet them.....tell them Wally sent you. Aston....APPROVED!!!
I went to Aston University in 1996 and graduated in 1999. I took a combined honours degree in sociology and psychology. I would recommend both the university, and the course. The Uni itself is nice, it's quite small so it's easy to find things, make friends, get about, etc. It's large enough to stay anonymous if required. It's quite leafy and green but is surrounded by tower blocks and a major city centre. Because the university is a science and technology university, there are may things that you don't get here. There are no arts or humanities subjects. Therefore, there are no arts students either. This means that most of the students seem very like-minded (all scientists together). I thought that this was a shame really, as you miss out on a lot of really diverse personalities. However - with all the budget and the staff devoted to only a few subjects, the support you get is great and the facilities are fantastic. And Birmingham's not that bad guys! I know we've always had a grey, industrial and 'thick brummy' reputation, but all I say is, you have to see it to believe it.
I really, really like Aston university. Graduated from Coventry university three years ago and enjoyed my time there. Aston is a totally different experience. I believe that Aston is one of the smaller universities around and it certainly feels a lot "cosier" (?) than Coventry (which is 3 times bigger). The campus itself is really nice with lots of grass and trees which is really good in the summer. The Aston campus is an oasis of green in the concrete jungle that is Birmingham city centre (about ten minutes walk away). There are a couple of decent (cheap) bars on campus and with the city centre so close there is always something to do. I've just finished my first year as an undergraduate at Aston and I've had a great time. I would recommend Aston to anyone (if they don't mind being in Birmingham every day).


text:
Bats now in the 13th inning
Bats now in the 13th inning
Dayton up 6-1. Wiley a double and a walk.
Stubbs 0 for 6 with 3 Ks
Bats now at the 14th inning stretch.
The pitching is impressive.
Code:Player IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA Jukich 8.0 2 2 2 2 6 2 4.62 Burton 1.0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1.13 Stewart 2.0 1 0 0 1 3 0 0.00 Roenicke 0.2 0 0 0 2 1 0 2.92 Pettyjohn 2.1 3 0 0 0 2 0 4.88
Top of the 16th in Louisville
Bulls get an unearned run from a Valaika error.
Last edited by GOYA; 07-18-2009 at 10:40 PM.
Bats lose 3-2 in 16 innings.
Code:Player AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG Stubbs CF 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 .271 Valaika SS 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .217 Heisey LF 7 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 .328 Barker 1B 4 1 3 1 0 1 1 0 0 .272 Bolivar 3B 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .240 McDonald RF 6 0 2 1 0 0 1 1 0 .293 Bankston DH 6 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 .245 Griffin, M 2B 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .232 Eymann 3B-1B 5 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 3 .200 Miller C 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 .219 Tatum C 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .239 Player IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA Jukich 8.0 2 2 2 2 6 2 4.62 Burton 1.0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1.13 Stewart 2.0 1 0 0 1 3 0 0.00 Roenicke 0.2 0 0 0 2 1 0 2.92 Pettyjohn (L, 1-6) 4.1 5 1 0 2 4 0 4.68
Good to see Stewart dominating after his call up to AAA.
Billings trails 6-1. Holy Gary Redus, this Gregorius kid is hitting over .400 for the Mustangs. Incidentally, the Mustangs have a 36-man roster.
Last edited by texasdave; 07-18-2009 at 11:13 PM.
GCL Reds were wearing their hitting shoes today pounding out 13 hits and drawing 9 walks in a 11-5 thumping of the baby Orioles. Bowe had 2 hits and 2 walks, Silva had a hit and drew 3 free passes, Juan Duran had a couple of base knocks and Danny Vicioso had 3 hits including a double and a home run.
Tzu-Kai "Bobbs" Chiu pitched four innings for the win allowing 2H 1R 1BB and 6K.
That 0-for-seven night of Drew Stubbs is even worse than the line would indicate. Three times Stubbs could have driven in a run with a routine grounder or medium deep fly ball. In none of the three did he come close. He looked completely overmatched at the plate. Slow bat, flailing at pitches in the dirt. When he hit one back to the pitcher in the fifteenth inning, those that were left cheered that he made contact.
Perhaps the worst I have ever seen a prospect look in a game.
Heisey went 1-7, IIRC, but got robbed twice and a truly horrible call by the first base umpire took away another hit. He was safe by a step and a half and the ump called him out on a really nice dive and throw by Brignac. Our old friend Rey Rey Olmedo took away a double as well, diving to his right to snare it, then a strong throw across the diamond to beat him. Defensively, neither shone, nor had to. Valaika also went 0-fer at the plate, but hit it hard a couple times with at-'ems.
Burton's FB just isn't what it was last year. He hit 94 a couple times, but, for the most part, stayed around 91 with it and couldn't throw it straight. (Pretty much the story of the Bat night; good stuff for the relievers, but lots of pitches.) Stewart hit 97 twice on the Bat gun and his slider (?) is filthy. But he also had problems throwing strikes. The one hit was a flare that fell. Same with Roenicke. Solid gas, didn't throw enough strikes. Jukich never broke 90, BTW, nor did Pettyjohn.
Last edited by Scrap Irony; 07-18-2009 at 11:54 PM.
"You can learn little from victory. You can learn everything from defeat."
-- Christy Matthewson
"Show me a good loser and I'll show you an idiot."
-- Leo Durocher
I'm telling you, man. I've seen roughly 25 or 30 of Stubbs' games over the past few years, twice in Chattanooga, once in Dayton, and the rest in Louisville. I've been watching minor league baseball for fifteen years pretty regularly too. I've probably attended 500 or so games over the course of those 15 years.
I saw Adam Dunn hit three consecutive pitches (two foul and one fair) completely out of the Louisville stadium (the only time a ballpark has been pindrop silent was when he hit the third one). I've seen all the suspects, prospects, and never-will-bes the Reds have pushed through AAA and tonight's spectacle was the worst I have ever seen a true prospect look. It was indescribably bad. Words do no justice to the suck I saw tonight.
His bat was s-l-o-w. His pitch recognition was nonexistant. He had absolutely no power. None. I think one ball got out of the infield all night (and the second baseman caught it). No ball went more than 120 feet.
Of course, none of this means a thing, too. Anyone can look bad on a given night. Maybe he's sick. Maybe he's tired. (I was tired and all I did was watch the marathon.) Maybe he's trying out a new swing. (If so, he can junk it.) I don't know.
I remember seeing Dave Collins hit for the Reds. Collins looked like a Little Leaguer. Went 0-fer and didn't touch a ball. Wouldn't have mattered if he took a toy bat up to the plate in that game. Thought he was done. Toast.
That was before he left the Reds to join the Yankees in 1981. Collins enjoyed another ten years of good baseball after that particular game. Everybody struggles.
"You can learn little from victory. You can learn everything from defeat."
-- Christy Matthewson
"Show me a good loser and I'll show you an idiot."
-- Leo Durocher
Very interesting stuff, Scrap. I'm curious, do you think Heisey can be an .800 (+?) OPS bat in CF for the Reds?
Gotta love the Bats 1-2-3 going 1 for 21 in a 16 inning game.
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
UPDATED: Dozens of agriculture groups are pressing the Department of Labor for changes to what they believe are overreaching proposals to on-farm child labor regulations. The National Pork Producers Council, National Farmers Union, American Sheep Industry Association and National Turkey Federation last week submitted comments on the U.S. Department of Labor's proposed on-farm child labor regulations.
The American Farm Bureau Federation last week also filed comments on behalf of more than 70 agricultural organizations in response to a proposal by the Labor Department that would limit youth employment opportunities on farms and ranches. AFBF also filed separate comments on its own behalf supplementing its views on the DOL proposal. Read more.
The coalition comments focused on what Farm Bureau and other agriculture organizations see as over-reaching regulatory efforts by DOL. Most prominent is the proposal's potential impact on family farms. The coalition comments urged the department "to maintain the integrity of the family farm exemption approved by Congress."
"Farmers and ranchers are more interested than anyone else in assuring the safety of farming operations," said AFBF President Bob Stallman. "We have no desire at all to have young teenagers working in jobs that are inappropriate or entail too much risk."
According to the groups' comments, the proposed rules indicate that DOL lacks a full understanding of modern farm practices and production. The groups have requested modifications to the proposed rules.
Many youth, for example, raise and tend livestock as a part of 4-H, FFA and other leadership programs, but youth under 18 would be prohibited from being near certain animals without adult supervision under the proposed regulations.
The rules also would prohibit youth from "operating or assisting to operate" farm machinery over 20 PTO horsepower. Additionally, tasks involving work at elevations over six feet and near manure storage areas would be prohibited.
The organizations are strongly urging DOL to make considerable changes before the rule is finalized.
National Farmers Union (NFU) also submitted comments to DOL regarding the proposed regulations. "NFU policy supports the intent of the new regulations to make workplaces safer for young people, but urges caution in implementing regulations that may discourage children from learning about agriculture," according to a NFU press release.
"Farm safety is an issue of the utmost importance to NFU, and I commend the department on its efforts to make workplaces safer for young workers," said NFU President Roger Johnson. NFU also urges the DOL to modify certain rules that may be overreaching.
"There are some provisions included in the rule that need modification," said Johnson. "For example, proposed restrictions on youth working in agriculture-related industries and the removal of student-learner exemptions for certain agricultural tasks may serve to discourage youth from learning about or pursuing a career in agriculture or related trades when we desperately need to support the next generation of farmers and agribusiness professionals."
"Participation in FFA, 4-H and vocational agriculture classes allows youth to learn how to safely perform agricultural tasks under close professional guidance," Johnson said.
Read more about the proposed regulations.
Source: NPPC, NFU


text:
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Brilliant Takedown
Brooks Brothers Having a 50% Off Sale
Parenting Classes Will Not Help Psychos
Monday, December 28, 2009
China GDP Growth a Mirage
More Protests in Iran
More Detroit Photos
I'm all for security measures, better safe than sorry. I'm just a bit mystified that the Brits rejected him for a visa, but then we gave him a visa. I'm not surprised that he got onboard with lax security in Europe. I remember boarding an overnight train with no security to check me getting onto the train. I could have boarded with a backpack of C4.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Poseur of the Decade: Snoop Dogg
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Bob and Tom
Friday, December 25, 2009
Merry Christmas
Thursday, December 24, 2009
TBTF Banks are Even Bigger
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Love Machine - The Miracles
I went through a short phase where I'd play this on WINAMP after I'd walk back to my dorm room. The folly of youth. I had to make up for the gloom of dry spells. Laugh & roll your eyes but it's better than the guy I knew who played "O Fortuna" from Carmina Burana whenever he had sex on repeat (3-5 mins total).
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Chinese Kids Are Dumb
"Why do you speak such good Chinese?"
"Because I am Chinese!"
What 80s music videos taught me?
Monday, December 21, 2009
Turning 30
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Scrooge Not Guilty
Lactose Tolerance
Due Process and Torture
I can see why the the admin and SCOTUS were against this or rejected it. These are not citizens, and the persons applying for this are involved in a military conflict, yet are not uniformed military combatants. This is a slippery issue in any war, but especially a war involving jihadists who come from all over. Are they just mercenaries with a sense of religion or are they something else? I'm not sympathetic to jihadists and terrorists, but it's not just them that this could apply to.
The first link up top voices the concern. What happens when a Prez comes into power with a Nixonian view of enemies and is overzealous with naming people enemy combatants. Nixon (and to a lesser degree Clinton) loved using the IRS to harass enemies. Do we fall down the rabbit hole of unpersons (very Soviet) and hiding people away in Gulags because they are not a person, therefore not eligible for Constitutional protection. I'm no legal expert. I'm just a concerned citizen. Part of why I am drawn to limited government is that laws and powers can be used in completely different ways in different hands. If the law is on the books, they can use it. If there is no law, they have no power. Look at the bill of rights and notice how many of those laws are negative powers for the government. It states what the government cannot do.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Dave Mason - We just disagree
Dave Mason sounds like the lead vocalist who sang "Don't Pull Your Love Out on me Baby". Tons of balls to his voice.
Political Donations
Potential Challengers: Simmons, Giuliani, Toomey, Blunt, Tarkanian, Lowden, Buck, Norton, Portman.
I did not link to Rudy's site since he will have an easy time fundraising. Primaries will eliminate some of the above names, but all dollars help.
This sham reform does not have tort reform which would be a direct boon for all Americans (excluding lawyers), and help reduce expenses and premiums by up to 10%.
Call Your Senator
Making 2012 Campaign Videos - Deficit Spending
"The United States cannot force foreign governments to increase their holdings of Treasuries," Zhu Min said, "Double the holdings? It's definitely impossible".
"The US current account deficit is falling as residents' savings increase, so its trade turnover is falling, which means the US is supplying fewer dollars to the rest of the world. The world does not have so much money to buy more US Treasuries".source
This is not a Democrat or Republican thing. Both parties are responsible for running up deficits, it's just they are trillion dollars a year under the Dems instead of hundreds of billions under the GOP. Tea Party supporters will look like Cassandras not 'teabaggers' as Anderson Cooper, the POTUS, and Rahm call them. Does anyone watch Anderson Cooper anymore? Buy gold.
Mickey Rooney Denied by White House
Then again, this is small potatoes. This guy has much bigger shams on his hands: softening up to dictatorships while they call you the devil (Chavez in Copenhagen) or give you the finger on their nukes (Iran) isn't 'smart diplomacy', 'outstanding climate change progress' that is called 'a sham' by AGW supporters isn't really progress, and health care reform without the public option, a medicare buy in age drop, tort reform, portability reform or interstate competition isn't reform.
Crowded House
"They come to be the war between us". Music starts around the 50 second mark. Downtown Julie Brown is talking to them in the beginning. Wubba wubba wubba. It is amazing how much they sound like the studio track. They are not studio magic.
Saab is Going Away
Saab had sexy looking swoop back hatchback cars. They looked like sexmobiles. You drive a Saab and maybe you drink good wine & can't be tied down to one partner. If I had been a 20-something in the '80s, I would have worn a baby blue polo shirt, draped a yellow sweater over my shoulders with the sleeves tied in front of me, and hopped in a Saab with a girl on the way to a romantic sex session on the beach at Kinney Shores. Saabs were unique and appealing. Back in the '80s, so many cars had that boxy look. Car edges were squared off and many looked cookie cutter. The back of the Saab was similar to the 1980s Porsche 911s in that they had a soft feminine curve to them. It was different, and different can sell. There is talk that 'different' has helped Toyota sell Scions and Priuses. As the years go by, and fewer Saabs are on the roads, I will smile when I pass one. Saab, you will be missed.
Friday, December 18, 2009
Someone Wants to Investigate Citi's Sweetheart Deal
Smoke From a Distant Fire
I love when they are breaking it down with the "your eyes have a mist from the smoke of a distant fire".
Sounds great live. Lead vocalist sounds exactly as he does in the studio cut. Only creepier live-studio similarity I have ever heard is Mr. Finn from Crowded House.
Copenhagen Fools at Work
If the US government wanted to reduce CO2, they would have used some of that $787 billion stimulus plan to fund nuclear reactor construction (or guarantee nuke loans) so that we reduced the amount of coal we burned for electricity. Could't they have kicked $125 billion to build 10 plants to kickstart the switch. Direct CO2 reduction!
To Quote along with back of the envelope math at the link:
One third of the CO2 emitted in the US from human activity comes from burning
coal to make electricity.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Way More Excited Than I Am
I have no doubt that somewhere in academia, there is a total buzzkill who is just waiting to start PETR (People for the Ethical Treatment of Robots). They will try to kill our fun.
Princess Bride
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
More Billions for Citigroup? WHAT!??!?!?!
By not breaking them up, when the next crisis hits and asset concentration is even worse for the big banks, the govt will have no one to point the finger at by themselves. The Obama admin is so short sighted not to see that the next time a shoe drops and a fuck up happens in the financial/econ world, people will ask them why Barry and Co did not breakt he big banks up to prevent this. This is kind of like preventing a 2nd terrorist attack after 9/11. Bush-Cheney knew if that did happen again, they'd be blamed. It's hard to rally around leaders who let the same shit happen twice on their watch.
Drive Ins
Then again, I thought everyone went to college having had sex. Not at Cornell in the late '90s.
30 for 30: Da U
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Bernie Kosar - Hurting Emotionally, Physically and Financially
More Bad Company
Bad Company Silver, Blue and Gold
Judy | MySpace Video
They still sound decent. I absolutely love this song. "I'm walking around with my head hangin' down, tell me where is she"
Pro-Choice Pro-Environment Problem
The China one child policy has had odd consequences like missing women. Big surprise that a society that binds women's feet and isn't enlightened like Western Europe and the USA would use abortion as a way to pick what gender their one child will be. Infanticide depresses us all (except extreme abortion rights supporters and NJ prom dates), and it's sad the rise of the infant mortality rate of baby girls in China since their one child policy was enacted. Sounds fan-freaking-tastic, let's apply this policy to the entire world and see how well that goes. As if sub-Saharan or Muslim countries would be 'pro baby girl'. We'd probably have a female deficit epidemic worldwide by 2075. Screw climate change, our biggest problem would be calming down the nations with skewed male-female ratios.
This is why I want more climate research before we enact weird policies or arcane cap n trade schemes that will damage the economy more than it will help the environment. A big question a lot of skeptics want answered is: if CO2 makes the earth warmer, why have temperatures not risen since 1998 while CO2 levels have risen steadily? Let's figure that one out. Maybe there is a way to scrub the CO2 out of the atmosphere. Maybe we could switch to geothermal and nuclear fuel for electricty generation instead of coal (too easy). If there's something else we did from 1998 to now that offset the CO2, maybe that's the key to mitigating 'anthro-global warming', not crazy trading schemes Goldman Sachs can game or government policies that intrude on the basic right of every woman.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Heisman Trophy Ceremony
It should be written that voters who mailed in their ballots before the end of the season deserve a smackdown. An award about the entire season should wait for the end of the season. C.J. Spiller put on a show in the ACC championship. McCoy and Suh still had to play that night. No one should have voted after the SEC title game. It is also very obvious that no one should be voting for Tim Tebow, but he will still get votes. It is laughable how stubborn human beings can be, and how territorial & loyal people can be even with silly awards in sports.
Immigrant Story - Happy Hannukah
Happy Hannukah Ilya.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Jersey Shore Giveth...
Mtv's The Ruins: The Final Challenge
Someone Else Linked It Only Better
Project Grizzly Lives!
Wednesday, December 09, 2009
Foolproof Way for Nerdy Yet Physically Attractive Men to Have Sex
1. Take studio art classes, art history classes, design, photography, and other art inclined classes.
2. Pretend to be a shy gay man who is a virgin. Women open up to gay men really fast.
3. Make friends with 'art' girls in non-threatening way. Study says they are the best bet for f*cking.
4. When alone with them & talking about art, philosophy or whatever, make her feel smarter than you.
5. Say "I've never felt this way about a girl, but you are so attractive and appealing, I'm so confused", give her pupy dog eye look. Maybe fake tears.
6. Have sex for the semester covertly but break up because while you can have sex with her, you'll never love her because you still think that in a romantic and soul mate way, you're still gay. Say "If I were straight, it'd definitely be with you".
7. Repeat the next semester in a new class.
This is horrible. This is despicable. This works. Lying and manipulating people are bad things. If you are a nerd who can't get laid at all, try alternative routes. Take desperate measures. Sometimes the ends can justify the means. I discussed this multistep plan with my wife, and she admitted it would be hard to resist.
1. Appeals to college girls' need to feel smart.
2. Appeals to their vanity that a gay man might possibly turn away from the love that dare not speak its name for her. This is a conquest or challenge for them. Even after you ditch them, they will tell their friends they 'turned' a gay guy once. I have heard that exact phrase "turned a gay guy".
3. You establish an emotional intimacy and connection prior to contact as you go the gay friend route. Seriously, why the hell do women open up to gay men so quickly?
If all else fails, just wait 5-10 years for your big bucks to roll in. By then, you'll be able to buy a mail order bride.
All I want for Christmas...
is a 5 day period at home drama free, at least delusion free.
is a 30 min period with my immediate family where they don't softly guilt trip me about living 1000 miles away.
is for people to stop using the phrase madonna/whore complex because they heard it in a Feminist Theory class once 10 years ago. I hear them indirectly, and always think they are saying madonna is a whore, affirming their statement instinctively.
For the World at Large
is the 'public option' to die, maybe all of this phony health care reform.
is cap n trade carbon trading scam legislation to die a quick death.
is unemployment to drop back to those horrible Bush era numbers of 5 or 6%.
is good luck and good shooting for the 30,000 additional troops going to Afganistan.
is a night of peace and a feeling of safety for all abused kids out there so they can dream of a merry Christmas.
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
Vows and Promises - Tiger Style
Now I am not saying cheating is OK, but in the weird moral pyramid in my soul and/or brain, cheating with one person is better than with multiple people, and cheating with multiple people is better than cheating with multiple sex industry workers. One would assume there are different feelings of betrayal and humiliation involved with the multiple partners and then with the multiple porn actresses while pregnant twice played out in modern media. WWTDD the website hits it on the head with the latest floozy. Tiger should have been checking to make sure she was a 'she' first. What was his check list: fake boobs, check, bad face, check, trashy look, check, somehow connected to a shady night time industry, check?????
I'm throwing this out there, but what if there is a Spitzer element? What if Tiger is dropping down in class or status of partners because there is something that Tiger enjoys that is abnormal? At this point, if a love child is out there, I will not be surprised. Is there a tranny out there who has 'dated' Tiger? What else is going to crawl out of the slime that is his philandering other side. Cee-lo sang it best "Closet freak". This is not news nor is it any of our business, but god damn is it hilarious to see the fast, public slide of a false god.
Between this and Jersey Shore, I have not been able to formulate a good essay on Iran. I've been meaning to type one as the Iranians are giving Obama and the West the middle finger, and with increase of troops in Afganistan to be 100K total, the US will have over 200K troops on either side of Iran.
Sunday, December 06, 2009
Bad Parenting
There is the baby boomer issue of competition for status. Having your child succeed at sports is just another outlet for that. God forbid they just enjoy sports; they have to be the best at all costs. Part of the problem is 'success' stories from over the top, psychotic parents like Tiger Woods' dad, the Williams sisters' dad, Martina Hingis' mom, looking at it maybe every tennis players' parent. Does anyone think an 8 year old really wants to hit 1000 tennis balls each day? Does anyone think a toddler wants to hit a golf ball with real clubs? No. These are parental ambitions expressed through their child. Stage parents.
Previously, or at least I think previously, I blogged about an article on Todd Marinovich, and how it should be must read material for all parents of little athletes. It's a cautionary tale of pushing kids too hard. Marinovich's childhood sounds eerily similar to Tiger Woods' in that he has weird training that no kid should go through and an obsessed father/enabling mother. One is demonized, the other glorified.
Here's an example of Marinovich training: "A vision specialist made Todd wear prism glasses, stand on a balanced beam in a darkened room, and bounce a ball while reciting multiplication tables".
Here's Tiger Woods' golf training: "two years of psychological boot camp during which Earl dropped golf bags and pumped cart brakes during Tiger's backswings, jingled change and rolled balls across his line of vision to test his nerves".
One is a famous flame out, the other is the most famous athlete in the world. The results should not color how the process is evaluated. The Marinovich story is a cautionary tale. Why is Papa Marinovich's behavior becoming mainstream? Maybe not to the detail of diet and training, but overtraining for 9 year olds with .01% chance of becoming a pro athlete. Tiger's childhood from baby stage to present was not much different. What does a 12-18 month old gain from swinging a golf club? How does a parent start training a 3 year old how to answer questions from the media and think it is OK? I'd love to be his shrink, as there is a treasure trove of things to discuss. There's an economics term called 'opportunity cost', and this comes to mind here. What if the Woods family had encouraged Tiger down a different path? Even just being more easy going might have created a different golfer and definitely a different person. At what cost did that process, that special psycho training, rob him of being a more normal overachiever?
Just reading the SI article I linked to earlier this week, you will read quotes from a parent who either is the greatest con man-promoter in the world or is a true beliver that his child will change the world more than Gandhi and Buddha. I believe he was a true believer. Part of his zealot behavior could be attributed to a need to believe that what he did was worth it. Who else would be drilling a toddler to play an old man's game, handling reporters and then pimping him on talk shows? He crossed a line, and created a storyline of destiny that would validate his actions. He repeated it enough that he did believe it. In a lighter way, this behavior is going on across our nation. Parents may not admit it, but Tiger is that example they can point to in order to rationalize their behavior. There are far more flame outs than there are Tigers. Parents should pay attention.
This video is of Tiger at 3 on the Mike Douglas show. You know that at 2, Tiger wasn't arranging this appearance...
Saturday, December 05, 2009
Advice for Tiger Woods
2. Learn to lock your cell phone
3. Target people who have something to lose or low self esteem (the Kirby Puckett method)
4. Don't leave voicemails
5. Don't send dirty texts
6. Use codewords and nicknames
7. When caught, get between your wife and weaponry
8. You have a prenup, don't renegotiate it
9. Don't do freaky sex on the side. Do that with your wife
10. Stay away from girls with collagen lips
Koala Bear
Jersey Shore Episode 1
- They all have nicknames. It's automatic. As one guy meets a girl, instead of asking her name he says "Wass your nickname?" There's Jwoww, Jolie, Pauly D, the Situation, and Snooki.
- They manage to say Snooki in every way but Snooki. They say snickers, sneakers, snookums, sneaky, etc. It's a running joke for all viewers.
- Duck phone + retarded guidette princess = comedy gold
- "you gotta work out, then shower, get ya hair cut, then wait to iron yer shirt and shave right before you leave so you look fresh" - That's how you prep the day of going out for a guy.
- They could do an episode of them just getting ready to go out. 20 bottles of product per hairdo, including the guys.
- This subculture is open about steroids as the guys talk about it, and the girls love juiceheads. Yup, just what we need, positive talk about steroids.
- "The Situation" might be the perfect example of a butterface for men. This dude juices quite a bit to get his arms huge, and has super skinny legs and a fug face. He might bein his 20s but looks mid 30s. He's an idiot as well. He loves the word situation. Not just because it's his nickname but it's the biggest word he knows and uses. During one stretch he uses it 4 times in 2 sentences.
- They really love tanning. Men and women. They have tanning equipment in their homes. They are gross.
- One girl has the worst fake boobs I've seen outside of a strip club. Bolted on, dont move, could fit a remote control between them. She's also fugly, has a 50 yr old cigarette smoker's voice and has blonde streaks in her dark hair. Gross.
- Cast member Vinny seems decent. He makes fun of the overprocessed guys that he will share a house with, and has a funny personality. I laugh with him more than laugh at him, which is unlike the rest of dem guys.
- There is an all natural girl on the show, and she looks just like the woman from "Property Virgins". Just like her. I will find pics. She talks about being all natural and the Kim Kardasian of statten island, as if that is a good thing. It's not. You're not, but I'll give you props for not tanning and not buying upgrades.
- Two people throw up on the 1st episode, one semi-fight, one girl makes out with two different cast mates, multiple middle figners are thrown, and multiple girls get in the hot tub with only their undies on. Kind of gross.
- The instant best friends or couple kind of happens, which makes me laugh on every real world season. Stupid. "Ohmagahhd yous guys are the best people in da world". That's the kind of shit that gets said on this show. "No one pushes my boy", so you get in a fight because someone pushes your housemate that you just met 24 hours ago. Lame.
- One college grad in the house. No word on any of the others. Don't worry he still lives with his mom, and she cries when he leaves the house to go to the Shore.
- These girls still baby the guys in the house and when they are out. One actually walks a guy back to his place after he throws up at the house. WTF???? Men walk women back so they don't walk back alone. She cleans up after him when he throws up.
- Looks like a decent chunk of them can cook, so this might be the best fed group of real worlders ever.
- Essentials for packing: hair product, face cream, lip gloss, and protein shake mix... yeah that about does it.
- The girls all swore at other cars during their drives to the house. Brilliant editing.
- They wear their crosses. Some big ones. I am bummed none of them have the cross that is so big you see Jesus flexing on it like some Italians I knew. Jesus died for your sins and had a 6 pack.
- Fist pumping is a form of dance? Italians still love house music? 70s hot pants are still worn by young women? All news to me.
This is mindless human zoo TV. Turn your brain off and just laugh at these idiots. I do think this will be a ratings success, and I do expect them to do a full 3 month Jersey Shore if this does well next summer. If you wondered why Italian American groups were against this show, stop wondering. The only negative stereotype missing is a mob element.
Thursday, December 03, 2009
70s Pop Mastery from Ambrosia
Now I know that's incredibly cheeseball. I know that most of the members of Ambrosia had perms or farrah fawcett hairdos. I just can't shake how that is a wonderful, little nugget of what runs through your mind at moments.
Robotic Limbs
Wednesday, December 02, 2009
Words of Wisdom from the Mad Men Creator
Gay Marriage Rejected by NY
Tuesday, December 01, 2009
Tool Academy Strikes Again
This is not news. I do find a little glee in this though, which is media inspired. The sports media, which is one step above or sideways from entertainment media, has created this Tiger Woods persona that is Jesus Christ with a putter ("blood of four races in his veins"). His was a destiny to change the world. I always viewed him as a machine raised from toddler days to be the perfect golfer by an obsessed dad (like Todd Marinovich only successful). I was wrong, as was SI. He's not going to change the world in a significant way nor is he a machine. He is a man. A common man with common desires. The carefully constructed mask is broken. It's nice to know he is human, but to many people, you were a realization of the abstract that if you work hard enough, you can be the greatest at anything. I enjoy watching him compete, and I'll enjoy watching him squirm under the microscope.


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LARGO — Palm Harbor day care provider Stephanie Spurgeon has been accused of murdering a 1-year-old child, but dozens of her friends and former customers flocked to the criminal courthouse Tuesday to stand by her.
Some believe in her so much they said they would still trust Spurgeon to care for their children.
"Without hesitation," said James Fogel, of Palm Harbor.
Parent Melissa Johnson said Spurgeon was "a great teacher" and had "never, not once," lost her temper while caring for her son.
"Her home was our child's second home, and her home is where she should be right now," Michael and Judy Dietz said in a letter presented to the court.
On Tuesday, Spurgeon, 37, received a chance to go home. After hearing testimony from both sides in the case, Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Robert Morris Jr. set Spurgeon's bail at $350,000. She had been held without bail in the Pinellas County Jail since Nov. 8.
Friends and family are trying to raise the money, but attorney Gregory L. "Skip" Olney II said it will not be easy for them to gather that much. She remained in jail Tuesday night.
Another defense attorney, Donny Kilfin, promised in court that Spurgeon would not be tempted to flee if she is released.
"There is nothing that she wants more than her day in court on these charges," Kilfin said.
Spurgeon was in jail scrubs at Tuesday's hearing, and was not asked to speak. Family members of the victim also were in court.
Spurgeon is accused of shaking 1-year-old Maria Harris on Aug. 21, the very first day the girl spent in Spurgeon's home day care. She was severely injured sometime that day, and prosecutors say it was while in Spurgeon's care.
Although Spurgeon's friends and former clients can't believe she would ever have killed a child, the prosecution said there is evidence she did.
A Pinellas sheriff's detective said a 3-year-old boy said he had seen Spurgeon strike Maria on the day she was injured.
Assistant State Attorney J. Brian Daniels said a 13-year-old girl had recalled an incident when she was 7 and her younger sister was about 3 months. Spurgeon took the baby and "yelled at her to stop crying and shook her violently," Daniels said.
Daniels said the autopsy is not complete, but that the Medical Examiner's office thinks the cause of death likely will be listed as blunt force trauma.
Curtis Krueger can be reached at email@example.com or (727) 893-8232.


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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 27/1/2009 (3129 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
He is deaf, nearly blind, suffers from a disease similar to Alzheimer's and is 93-years-old.
And on Tuesday, he narrowly escaped going to prison.
Philippe Hamelin will instead spend the next two years under a conditional sentence that allows him to remain free in the community. The Montreal man was convicted of sexually abusing two daughters when they were children nearly 50 years ago.
The victims only came forward recently.
The Crown was seeking between seven and nine years in prison for Hamelin, which surely would have resulted in him spending his final days behind bars. (Read story by clicking HERE)
This was not an easy case.
On one hand, it can easily be argued Hamelin would have done a lengthy prison term had he been a healthier, younger man. What he did to his daughters was despicable and certainly cries out for strong punishment. Should Hamelin's advanced age and dwindling health "spare him the rod"?
On the other hand, it would be impossible to argue that Hamelin still poses an ongoing danger to society and needs to be locked away. Obviously he doesn't. And the principle of "specific deterrence" does not apply here, as Hamelin doesn't need a prison term to keep him on the straight and narrow and send a message to him that his actions were wrong.
However, things are much greyer when it comes to the principle of general deterrence - essentially, sending the message to all other offenders that there will be consequences for their actions.
For example, does the fact Hamelin now avoids real jail tell others that "justice delayed is justice denied?" Or is his case so unique in its facts that these types of concerns don't apply.
Quebec court Judge Andre Perreault said in his ruling Tuesday that Hamelin ruined his daughter's lives and applauded the women for having the courage to finally come forward about what happened.
But the judge said he had to take into consideration Hamelin's age and health.
Personally, I think the proper balance was struck here and the right call was made. I don't believe a dangerous precedent has been set based on the rare circumstances of this case.
When we talked about this during my national "Crime and Punishment" radio show this past Sunday, most callers agreed a jail term was unnecessary. Clearly the judge agreed.
Do you?


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NetWellness is a global, community service providing quality, unbiased health information from our partner university faculty. NetWellness is commercial-free and does not accept advertising.
Monday, August 21, 2017
Frozen Embryos
I had three embryos frozen and scheduled to have them "placed" into me on Aug 5th. Today my Doctor called me and said a couple of my embryos had thawed by mistake today. Once realizing the mistake they re-frozed them. Does this harm my embryos? What happens? If the implantation takes place is there a chance for deformity? I`m so worried and don`t know what to expect and don`t know what the outcome maybe? I just don`t know what to do. He wants to proceed with the transfer and mentioned transfering all three. Can you please help me with some answers to my question. I`m desperately awaiting a response if possible please. Thank you.
There is no data regarding refreezing of embryos. While this is not ideal, there is also no evidence that there is additional damage with refreezing as long as the embryos survive.
Daniel B Williams, MD
College of Medicine
University of Cincinnati


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Status area
My Motivation
Mike Wagner
Social studies teacher at Back Bay & Monte Vista High Schools. I have been teaching at BBHS/MVHS for the past 6 years. I believe that all students can be successful. Some students need multiple opportunities, and that is one reason why we are so successful here at BBHS/MVHS. By differentiating for individual students, I pride myself at making personal connections that aid in student success.
Trimester 3 Schedule
P.1- Economics
P.2- Economics
P.3- Guidance Lab
P.4- Credit Recovery Center- CRC
P.5- Credit Recovery Center- CRC


text:
Meli- Huge hugs for you and C. I can't imagine how hard it is to go through all of that with Baxter. I dread the day that I have to say goodbye to L. I hope the second opinion can give you clarity on what to do.
Well I ended up walking L instead of running and I'm glad I did since my right calf (the one I injured in Jan) was sore. I think I'll probably not run until next week. Especially since we have a 14 mile hike planned on Monday in Yosemite!
Humboldt Redwoods Half Marathon 10.20.2013
Tiburon by the Bay Half Marathon 11.3.2013 (My Birthday!)
Napa Valley Full Marathon 3.2.2013
Half: 1:48
Full: 4:34
And I'm also having major wedding stress. Half of the people have not send the RSVPs. We invited so many local people and they don't even respond or show a slight interest to or . I know the wedding is far and expensive but a Lot of our local friends seemed completely uninterested. I guess you realize who your real friends are. Then my mom is supposed to come her her dress and do last fitting w me and a few other things and she doesn't even have a plane tix booked yet so yes I'm stressed. Then C feels that he's not taking part of the wedding a that noone has asked him anything so he feels he's just another guest and that has me really upset because its our wedding and we are not host the guests...... I need wine now. I'm on a low carb no sugar Diet and its making more upset and cranky......
sorry for the bridezilla drama....
welp! looks like I never got back for personals. crazy day here.
gsd: sorry about the tough night with M... awww. hope she's feeling better!
rltw: come on! 5 a.m. is not that bad!! haha. hope you get those room darkening shades! and yay for being given the go-ahead to run!
sassy: hope you get outdoors! the sun is shining here today though it's still kind of cold...
cassie: 10 school days left?? That's awesome! I bet you're looking forward to the end of the semester!
monk: enjoy the road trip and your bro's graduation!
MA: holy cow! 7 loads! way to get them done! and way to enjoy the walk and the park. sounds beautiful that state park area!
taylor: hope you can get out and enjoy the weather!
norcal: don't know what I'd do if I didn't have my coffee!!
mel: awww I'm sorry about baxter. so sad. I'm sorry you're going through this. sending you some vibes!
Mel: WINE!!!!!! and a toast to you! We could drink together and then have a good cry.
Meli - I'm sorry about the wedding issues - it seems like the planning has gotten completely out of your hands! I'm a control freak and I don't think I could handle that. Make sure you are taking care of yourself with the diet and working out, you need to be healthy so you can enjoy the wedding your parents are planning for you .
I'll be running my first full, the Richmond Marathon on November 16, 2013!
MA/Monk - My BFing appetite didn't decrease until I was down to nursing 2X a day for at least a month. And I hated my clothes for the loooongest time (up until the fall, when i could wear sweaters, etc). I found that my favorite tops were button down shirts worn over nursing tanks. They can be flattering for the postpartum tummy and convenient for nursing, and give you some shape.


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In perhaps one of the more unusual live music projects this year, electronic music artist Scanner has teamed up with the Heritage Orchestra for Live_Transmission: Joy Division Reworked. The project is a musical and visual reinterpretation of the work of one of the UK's most influential bands.
Live_Transmission sees a selection of Joy Division songs deconstructed by Scanner and reinterpreted by the "ferociously non-classical" Heritage Orchestra to a backdrop of dismantled Joy Division imagery.
Visuals for the show were provided by Matthew J Watkins of the Beat13 collective. To display these atmospheric images, XL Video supplied front projection on to a screen behind the orchestra using a Barco FLM HD20 projector. A gauze screen in front of the orchestra was used for rear projection images supplied from one of XL's Barco SLM R12+ projectors.
The combination of these two projections plus subtle lighting for the orchestra situated between the screens gave a layered effect which mirrored the multiple layers in the music. The technician managing the video on tour is Rachel Shipp.
XL Video's Project Manager for the tour, Ed Cooper commented: "This was a very interesting and unusual piece. Normally Concert Hall performances are technically very standard in their approach, however with the technology used on this production, careful planning and consideration were needed for projector positioning and rigging alike, in order to work across each venue."
The tour is being produced by the Heritage Orchestra in collaboration with Flying Giant Ltd and Laura Ducceschi of Brighton Festival (where the show debuted in 2012) and the Production Manager is Simon Thomas
The UK tour debuted at London's Royal Festival Hall on Saturday 21st September and continues around the UK for a further 10 dates.
For more information on the project, visit http://www.joydivisionreworked.com/
Video from the opening show at the Royal Festival Hall:
For more on the shows follow:
Press contacts for the tour: http://www.joydivisionreworked.com/press


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Queensland's $60 billion liquefied natural gas export industry will drive the state's economic recovery, but royalties flowing into state coffers will be significantly lower than previously forecast, state budget papers revealed on Tuesday.
As the Liberal National Party raised taxes and charges in its second budget to make up for a 27 per cent slump in coal royalties and a $2.5 billion damage bill from natural disasters, it can be revealed that royalties from the LNG sector had been overstated by the previous Labor government.
A 2009 study for the former Bligh government predicted the LNG industry – based on the conservative output of 28 million tonnes a year – would deliver royalties of $850 million a year, as well as create 18,000 jobs.
The state budget papers showed that although the gas boom is expected to boost gross state product to 6 per cent in 2015-16, it will initially deliver only a few hundreds of millions in royalties.
The first LNG royalties will flow into state coffers in 2014-15, but it is not until 2015-16 when the three projects with a total of 25.3 million tonnes' capacity ramp up their activities from Gladstone in Central Queensland.
Gas figures overcooked
Treasury officials admitted the initial royalties figures had been "overcooked" and they will unlikely be more than a few hundred million each year, rising up to about $450 million a year from 2016-17 – about half of the original $850 million estimate.
LNG will continue to be dwarfed by coal royalties which, although they slumped to $1.743 billion in 2012-13, are expected to rebound to $2.1 billion next financial year and then eventually climb to $3.35 billion in 2016-17.
Queensland Resources Council chief executive
"This budget locks in those gains. It makes good on our promises to deliver front-line services," he said.
"It is not a frivolous budget or fanciful budget. It does the hard yards up the middle that Queenslanders need to get their state finances sorted out."
Apart from a string of revenue-saving measures previously announced – including increasing insurance duty, scrapping a household rebate to deal with power price rises and deferring lifting the pay roll tax-free threshold – the government will also ask the public service to find a total in $100 million in annual savings over the next four years to help pay for the $2.5 billion damage bill for natural disasters.
A $1.2 billion shortfall in revenue has contributed to a $7.6 billion fiscal deficit in 2013-14. This follows an estimated $8.6 billion fiscal deficit this financial year.
Promise broken as surplus deferred
There was no substantial infrastructure funding in the budget, including for the $5 billion Cross River Rail project which the Newman government has described as its number one priority project. This is despite the federal Labor government putting $715 million in funding on the table. The state's infrastructure budget will fall below $10 billion in 2014-15.
On the positive side, there will be no more public service job cuts following the 14,000-positions down-sizing outlined in last year's budget.
The failure to embrace asset sales, a key recommendation from the Costello commission of audit, will see total debt peak at $81.5 billion in 2016-17 – only $4 billion less than the $85 billion peak predicted by the former Labor government. Economic growth is expected to slow to 3 per cent in 2013-14 before a massive jump to 6 per cent in 2015-16, courtesy of LNG exports.
The unemployment rate is forecast to stay at 6 per cent next financial year before falling to 5.25 per cent which will make it harder for the Newman government to reach its 4 per cent jobless target by 2018.
A cost-cutting drive has limited employee expenses which rose by just 1.1 per cent in 2012-13, the lowest expenses growth since 1998-99.
Health and education spending which account for about 50 per cent of state government expenditure both received funding boosts in Tuesday's budget.
Health spending will increase 4 per cent next financial year to $12.3 billion, while education spending will increase 6.6 per cent to $11.4 billion.
Ratings agencies Standard &Poor's and Moody's said the Queensland government needed to continue to rein in spending and reduce debt before the state could be considered for a credit upgrade. Opposition treasury spokesman Curtis Pitt said the Newman government's sole economic strategy was hitched to the gas boom, saying the LNP budget was full of broken promises.
The Australian Financial Review


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NDrive Real GPS Navigation for Symbian
Easy to navigate through with features including true detailed navigation, voice based guidance system, on the fly zooming and a crucial support for touch based smartphones of Nokia S60. With touch based interface now becoming the standard to follow and implement for all the major brands like iPhone, RIM Blackberry and of course Nokia its an important step for any 3rd party applications to offer touch based support.
NDrive for Nokia is set to be the primary competitor to existing GPS applications like Garmin GPS Navigator, TomTom Navigator and Route 66 Navigation etc and it sure as hell looks like that it will give them a fair competition to say the least. It offers visual and voice based spoken instructions for any turn you want or should take regardless of how small, tight or big they are. It supports multiple languages and for each of your set location it provides local information related to that waypoint like restaurants, taxi services, hospitals, movie theaters etc. According to your specific needs you can easily categorize them, add them to your favorites and get their coordinates, post-codes, cultural and historical specialties etc.
It has two preset profiles namely, the personal and business profile which you can set to automatically find information related to your specific needs. For example, the business profile offers information related/preferred to businesses like banks, stock exchanges, airports while in personal profile you will get information related to personal entertainment needs like fast food restaurants, shopping centers, museums etc. You can also choose in which unit you want the information to be displayed e.g. mph or kmph.
Main Features:
- Auto Zooming: NDrive GPS adjusts itself automatically depending on the speed of your traveling so that you can concentrate on your driving. You can also specify a fixed zooming view in case you want your maps to have a default view throughout your journey.
- 3D Landmarks: Automatic landmark is another great feature with which you can view a complete 360 degree angle for any important or notable point of interest. The rendering of the landmarks are truly top-notch and are easy to rotate to have a better understanding. Details of the landmark is also displayed once you focus on them.
- Multiple Themes: There are several different kinds of templates (or skins) that you can choose depending on the light and environment conditions or the brightness of your screen. During night you would want to choose a bright scheme as it will greatly enhance readability.
- Power Integration: NDrive for S60 Symbian OS comes with 3 power managemement options which lets you control the back-light the way you want. It also offers a speaker as you would expect. For some specific places likes London, States, Finland etc it also offers true real satellite image based navigation which truly surpasses Assisted GPS and Enhanced GPS experience in all ways.
- Easy Navigational Bookmarks: With NDrive for Nokia 3rd and 5th edition phones bookmarking your personal favorite point of interests along with the preset favorites are as easy as 123. You can add, edit and remove point of interests and favorites on the fly and share them with your friends on the fly.
- Multiple Routing Modes: Nokia NDrive GPS comes with 3 different route calculation options. The shortest option will provide you the shortest route to the location, the fastest option will calculate the way through freeways and highways with the minimal traffic conditions and lastly the pedestrian mode will show you the shortest route to your location by foot. Through Nokia NDrive GPS you can also select to ignore or accept the tolls that may exist within your route.
- Hot Map Add-ons: Add-Ons are also available through which you can set a predefined 'alarm based' speed limit, calculate your speed against the legal allowed local speed limit etc. You can also be automatically alerted when passing through a safety camera zone. Other specific add-ons include 12 hour or 24 hour based clock display, time zone adjustments, turn off image navigation and display text based details only.
- Packed with Extras: Beside the addons I previously mentioned with NDrive you can explore the list of recently viewed places and checkpoints, get information about any postcodes, categorize POI or Points of Interest based on your preferences. NDrive also lets you receive and make calls, sms etc while you are in GPS navigation mode.
For sure, Nokia NDrive GPS comes pack with features and add-ons that should result in it being a big hit in the smartphones industry. It is fast, accurate and relatively lightweight than other similar Nokia GPS applications like Garmin, Sygic McGuilder, TomTom Navigator etc. and seems to be getting better already. Soon enough we also hope that it will integrate the Touch OS capability of Nokia 5th edition which apparently is still in a beta version. All in all this mobile application NDrive GPS should impress you with everything it has to offer and I surely recommend that you download it asap.
I have included a complete tutorial with the download just in case someone testing a GPS application for the first time has a good time with it without getting all lost. Additionally, I have included the location of all the maps that is currently available for NDrive including those of the entire Western and Eastern Europe, Asia, USA, Americas, etc.
Please do subscribe to the RSS feed before you download this fantastic navigator for your Nokia N-Series and E-Series S60 symbian phones.
The NDrive Real GPS Concept Demo Video:
The NDrive GPS for Nokia (and Samsung) –
NDrive User Guide:
NDrive NMaps or Audio Supported Maps:
Some 3rd edition Samsung phones like the Samsung Omnia HD, i8910 etc are also supported beside Nokia smartphones. A complete list of Nokia phones that are currently supported to work with NDrive are Nokia N95, N95 8gb, N96, N80, N73, N79, N90, E63, N82, N81, 5600, 5700 Xpress Music, 5800, 5730, the 6110 Navigator, the brand new Nokia N86, N85, 6210, 6220, 6120, E71, E70, E50, E66, E62, E61, E65, E90, E61, E61i, 6124, N78, N79, N77, N76, N91 8gb, N92, N93, N97 and more.
Cheers and keep rockin!
About the Author
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