Official RGT random **** thread

[Chuck Biscuits]

Originally Posted by Sober

Sep. 1st I ship out to basic training for the USAF. I am an atheist
...

Which service should I go to? I grew up in a mormon household, so I might go to the LDS services for a laugh. Maybe buddhist, as I imagine it would be the least repulsive mentally, and might allow me to relax a little during this crazy time.

I was in the army for five years, but my advice is general enough for the "chair force" haha. My basic training was July - Sept 2001. I am atheist, but I had Christian - non-denominational put on my dogtags. Every Sunday, we had the option of going to church services or cleaning the barracks. I never went to church, but the cleaning was not that bad, maybe an hour of work. Sunday we were mostly left alone in the barracks. Most of my platoon didn't go to church, but I doubt most were atheists. Also our drill sergeant said he didn't like us going, leaving all the work for those who didn't go, so that might have had an effect.

I suggest doing whatever the majority of your platoon does. If you have a few mormons in your platoon, I suggest going to Mormon services. I have never been religious, but of the groups I encountered often in the army, the mormons had better attitudes and make better friends. If most of the platoon isn't going to church, don't bother. After basic, you will probably not encounter problems unless you draw attention to your atheism. Nuisances, like "prayer breakfast or no breakfast", can still occasionally be an issue.

On another note,

Spoiler:

you don't sound exactly thrilled about enlisting, and I don't blame you. The military is extremely authoritarian and dogmatic. Reason and logic are not your friends, so be prepared to have a lot more fake opinions than your religion. Expect to be punished for other peoples' bad behavior quite often. Expect to meet power drunk morons with authority that makes cops seem like crossing guards in comparison.

I was not happy in the army, and I likely wouldn't have wasted so much time if I had known some important facts:

If you are in the delayed enlistment program, you can quite easily get out of your contract before you ship off to basic. Your recruiter will probably try to deceive you on this point.

If you have been in for less than six months, and you ain't feeling it, you can probably still get out without a great deal of trouble. You may hear "Once you finish initial training, and go to your permanent duty station, you'll be glad you signed up." Don't count on it.

After 6 months, it is considerably more difficult.

If you have any other general military life questions, feel free to ask.

[ctyri]

Originally Posted by Jibninjas

I would say that atheism worships man and their accomplishments.

[x] Atheist
[x] Don't worship (rarely even like) people
[x] Feel that man's accomplishments pale in comparison to man's failures
[x] Don't care for Dawkins' books

[Jibninjas]

Originally Posted by Chuck Biscuits

My major was business oriented, so it specialized in databases, forms, and input validation. Java was my favorite language, but I have more C# experience, so that is probably my strongest language.

Although it was not as emphasized, I learned HTML, XML, javascript, php, jsp, ,asp.net, various SQLs for web development. I'm just not a very creative person, so I don't have a web site because I don't know of any niche to fill. I am better with the technical aspects.

Yikes, that awesome. I am very envious of you. At some point I definitely want to learn Java and C++.

The creative stuff is tougher for me as well. I have always been much better at taking some one else's idea and making it better, or just tweaking it.

[Jibninjas]

Originally Posted by ctyri

[x] Atheist
[x] Don't worship (rarely even like) people
[x] Feel that man's accomplishments pale in comparison to man's failures
[x] Don't care for Dawkins' books

Was this quote of mine even in this thread? Either way this was a while ago within a specific conversation.

[madnak]

Originally Posted by Jibninjas

Yikes, that awesome. I am very envious of you. At some point I definitely want to learn Java and C++.

I would learn C before C++, and get Kernighan and Ritchie's "The C Programming Language." It may not be the best start, but it's small enough that you can reliably expect to learn everything in it. I would also go through "The C++ Programming Language" by Bjarne Strousrup, though you don't need to dogear that one. This advice probably makes me sound like an old man, but C++ is versatile enough that some knowledge of memory manipulation and a basic understanding of the core capabilities of the language as well as how the abstraction actually works will give you much more solid footing, even if 90% of what you do doesn't require that.

Also, as a self-taught programmer, going through the nuts 'sand bolts helped me gain some skill in areas that computer science majors in formal schooling would be covering in their classes. It's really sad when a coder doesn't understand basic search algorithms.

[Jibninjas]

Originally Posted by madnak

I would learn C before C++, and get Kernighan and Ritchie's "The C Programming Language." It may not be the best start, but it's small enough that you can reliably expect to learn everything in it. I would also go through "The C++ Programming Language" by Bjarne Strousrup, though you don't need to dogear that one. This advice probably makes me sound like an old man, but C++ is versatile enough that some knowledge of memory manipulation and a basic understanding of the core capabilities of the language as well as how the abstraction actually works will give you much more solid footing, even if 90% of what you do doesn't require that.

Also, as a self-taught programmer, going through the nuts 'sand bolts helped me gain some skill in areas that computer science majors in formal schooling would be covering in their classes. It's really sad when a coder doesn't understand basic search algorithms.

I spoke with a programmer and said that I wanted to learn C++ and she told me just to learn Java as that is what most stuff is made in anyway. She said that C++ was much harder to learn and much more cumbersome. That's why I thought Java was the best to learn. I don't ever expect to make a career out of it, I just like to learn stuff and programming is something that I find interesting and would very much like to be able to create my own programs.

I am assuming that those are books that you are talking about? Do you know if you can get free online copies?

And that's awesome that you taught yourself these things. How long did it take you to learn?

[madnak]

Yeah, they're books, and unfortunately I don't know how to get them online. I mean, there are always "options" if you know what I mean.

Java is definitely easier, and you don't have to worry about much when using it. If you want to play around, I think it's a good recommendation. C++ you can try to learn the easy way, but you'll just be memorizing and not understanding (which I think will hurt you in the long run much more than taking 100 to 200 hours and getting a solid background that lets you grasp the concepts).

How long, well, gotta go, but I started at 12 and probably was 19 before I'd consider myself competent, though I still have plenty more to learn.

[Scansion]

Any of you guys hear about the Atheist Experience? It's a pretty cool show, they get theists to call in and discuss beliefs.

[Chuck Biscuits]

Originally Posted by Scansion

Any of you guys hear about the Atheist Experience? It's a pretty cool show, they get theists to call in and discuss beliefs.

I watched a bunch of them. The host is smart and good at explanations, but the callers are real lame ducks. It is entertaining though.

[Claudius Galenus]

Steve McNair

[ctyri]

Originally Posted by Chuck Biscuits

I watched a bunch of them. The host is smart and good at explanations, but the callers are real lame ducks. It is entertaining though.

So, its like televised RGT.

[Scansion]

Originally Posted by Chuck Biscuits

I watched a bunch of them. The host is smart and good at explanations, but the callers are real lame ducks. It is entertaining though.

The live stream has a bunch of old episodes saved, and they air every sunday. They have had some decent theistic callers, Matt is a great host though and I tend to agree with most of what he says.

[Justin A]

I got a 10 on my third actuarial exam!

For those of you who don't know what that is, it means I studied too much.

[Sober]

Originally Posted by Justin A

I got a 10 on my third actuarial exam!

For those of you who don't know what that is, it means I studied too much.

Prior to now, this was my only exposure to the word actuarial:



gg.

[furyshade]

for some reason i just remembered this from years ago
http://rumandmonkey.com/popstory/ind...ead;ident=1819

Little Habib was poor and starving. He lived in a teeny country whose name nobody could pronounce and his parents didn't have enough to buy him a shiny red toy sailboat or even his very own pickle. One day the Pope made a visit to his village to spread joy and Catholic cheer. The people lined up along the main road, shouting and milling about. As the Pope rode by in the Popemobile, waving to the crowd, little Habib turned to his mama and said "Mummy, why does Senor Pope have robotic arms?"

Just then... POPE SMASH!!!!!!!