EddieColeslaw

Ooooh I hadn't ever come across Hackety Hack, must add that to my list Maybe try that after the first three links I posted! Good luck and have fun!

I learned Ruby using Ruby in 20 minutes and why's guide (links below), then I took a Ruby class for one semester. Here are the best resources I've found, in the order you should read/do them in. Ruby Ruby in 20 minutes - tutorial to code along with. http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/documentation/quickstart/ why's guide - a very entertaining "book" teaching Ruby. http://mislav.uniqpath.com/poignant-guide/ Try Ruby! - interactive Ruby, code in your browser. http://tryruby.org/levels/1/challenges/0 -- Ruby on Rails - you probably won't be moving on to Rails for a while, but still good to bookmark. Ruby on Rails http://net.tutsplus.com/tutorials/ruby/the-best-way-to-learn-ruby-on-rails/ Starting Ruby on Rails: What I Wish I Knew http://betterexplained.com/articles/starting-ruby-on-rails-what-i-wish-i-knew/ The Intro to Rails Screencast I Wish I Had - I highly recommend this screencast, it's the best I've found on Rails - better than my lecturer's explanation. http://net.tutsplus.com/tutorials/ruby/the-intro-to-rails-screencast-i-wish-i-had/ RailsForZombies - this is ok only, do it if you run out of resources. http://railsforzombies.org/ -- The book recommended by my lecturer was The Ruby Programming Language, David Flanagan, Yukihiro Matsumoto (the creator of Ruby). I haven't gotten past the first chapter as I found lectures + web resources satisfactory to learn with, but I've been programming with OO languages for four years so you should probably read the book. Apparently good (concise, correct) books on Ruby are rare, but that seems to be the best one. If you give me some time I can type out all of the topics I learned in class, but the book should cover all of them.

Dyson, that will be such a cute tattoo, and I love that you have your own meaning and reasoning for it! imo there's no point in worrying about the pain, you'll find out for yourself how it feels when you're getting it done, and it's not like you can do anything about it! Think of the finished product and it'll surely be worth it! Hoping you have a good experience.

It depends on what you hope to produce using your programming skills! Python is a nice scripting language with emphasis on readability, and would be more well-rounded in terms of application compared to Ruby. Ruby (combined with the Rails framework), however, is very strong for web application programming. It's become really popular lately resulting in lots of creative solutions to learning online. The creator of Ruby intended for it to be a fun language to use, and the online community have really picked up on that. Personally, I think that Ruby is more fun to learn, and you should definitely go for it if you want to make web applications. If you're looking more for an introductory language to programming (to give you a good foundation to pick up any other programming language with relative ease), I would suggest an object-oriented language like Java, or C++. Python is nice though, I do know someone who started with Python and is now learning Java and C.

A lot of fraudsters reside in Southern Italy (credit card fraud) and Eastern European countries which have lax laws against this sort of thing, to the extent that they refuse to take the effort to investigate or hand over anyone to, say, the US...zombies and botnets would help, too.

Dysons are the least suckiest hoovers! Happy Birthday

Now Universal Music's site is down. They're targeting the RIAA and MPAA sites too. Who's next? I'm afraid this might just aggravate the SOPA supporters though...and members of Anonymous have been arrested before. http://rt.com/usa/news/anonymous-doj-universal-sopa-235/

Hmm, how not-good are you talking about? I'm not good at maths either, but I still managed to get my degree after failing an introductory calculus class twice Obviously, that's not ideal, but you can get through it by working hard and being competent at every other skill and aspect involved, and being genuinely interested in the subject. That said, it might feel like an uphill struggle sometimes, but the difficult things in life are the ones which are worth doing. -- To get back on topic...does anyone actually own their house, or is everyone just renting? It seems like a scary move to me, I can't fathom how much you would need to have saved. I hate being tied down to anything too, and my parents are struggling with mortgages since the recession, so it puts me off the idea of loans and stuff. I prefer (house-like) apartments to houses, anyway. Less maintenance. Not really discussing it seriously as I'm not even financially independent yet, just wondering

It's definitely still worth it if you can afford to do the course, unless the tech bubble suddenly bursts within the next few years. Here, it pretty much guarantees a job after graduation - or even before (1-year internships).

Yeah, people I'm chatting to are like "so...why do we need SOPA again?". Maybe the Patriot Act was involved? The one that lets officials override all sorts of laws (privacy, etc.) when there's a danger of terrorism? Need more research.

Apparently Anonymous have attacked/taken down the US Justice Department site because they're mad about Megaupload. I love hearing about them doing vigilante-type things. Yeah, yeah, it's inconvenient and affects a lot of people's jobs, etc., but it doesn't affect me + I'm annoyed/disappointed about Megaupload too, soooo... :p (partly jk, I'm not that ignorant)

Actually, I recall there being a thread about this, months ago...maybe during the summer? Sites/people are only getting aggressive about it now, when realisation of the bill might actually happen.

I demand that Diageo post a duckface picture too. Battle of the duckfaces! (Besides, duckface is a standard for me and no one should be surprised...I'm azn ^_____^;*~~~etc.)

Just double-checked by calling Apple (their hold music), and looking online. The Irish Student Travelcard only gives a discount on MacBook Air, Pro, mini, iMac, and Mac Pro - not iPods, iPads, etc. - though the discount seems a bit pathetic...2% off the cheapest version of MacBook Air? The short answer for them to give me should have been "the discount only applies to Macs", but I had to figure it out for myself However, an Apple reseller called Compu b (Grafton St., Swords, and Cork) has a 6% discount for students...only for computers, not iPods etc. I'll be lurking on Amazon...they seem to go for around €190 (new, free shipping).

Haha, mine isn't cute, it's funny bordering on retarded (Thanks )

Are you playing The Sims?

Yeah, be men and switch your dating sims for RPGs! :p Or find some kind of vengeful reason to join a fighting tournament!

Haha, thanks Aneres Thanks to my mum's genes! The secret to manageable thick hair is a layered haircut and proper shaping and distribution of weight!

Accompanying discussion: The awkward moment when you break the law you proposed

Well, I gauged the terribleness of losing hair by how people in here are going on about it :p

Everyone on my mum's side has a lot of hair, very thick, so I guess I don't have to worry! (I'm a girl, but it happens.) My fringe always grows ridiculously fast, too. My dad's hair has started thinning due to overwork and stress, but I'll still love him no matter what!

That sounds awesome. Themed photoshoot needed.

It's showing in the IFI in Dublin http://www.ifi.ie/film/shame/