James

[quote=Lady Shy]Video? No no no. One of the only videos I had on it was the "GINGERS HAVE SOULS" video and a variant there on, but I don't bother to watch films on such a tiny screen. I think I did once, namely Black Sheep because it had become a class inside joke.[/quote] [font=palatino linotype]Yeah, same here (well, I don't own "Gingers Have Souls"...yet). I think all I've got are a couple of music videos and stuff. I did have a couple of great video podcasts, but that's about it.[/font] [quote=Lady Shy]Also, I wish the iPod had a better way of regulating volume. I now always buy those little Sony in-ear phones which have an external volume regulator, because I can't be bothered to get my iPod out every time and everywhere I want to turn my music up or down.[/quote] [font=palatino linotype]Apple used to provide earphones that had a little controller on them, with volume and play/pause, next/previous track, etc... I'm not sure if they still sell those - if they don't, that kind of sucks. It's not so much an issue for me, because I tend to hold my iPhone whenever I'm listening to music on it (well, at least if I'm on the train or something...)[/font] [quote=Lady Shy]About those old school Macs. I remember me dad telling me how they were first introduced at the newspaper he worked at, and the story was "It's so amazing! They're so small you can carry them around in a bag!" even though you'd break your freaking back trying to carry the huge bag around.[/quote] [font=palatino linotype]Haha, yeah it's so weird... I mean, I'm only 27 and yet I remember when [i]computers didn't have graphics![/i] It's bizarre to think about how far they've come since then. It's also fascinating to see the evolution of Apple. Their comeback in 1998 was amazing.[/font]

[font="Palatino Linotype"]I'm sure Sabrina will be [i]very[/i] happy. Congratulations, Sabrina! This is awesome news. [/font]

[quote name='Lady Shy' date='04 November 2010 - 09:47 AM' timestamp='1288828022' post='701513'] Platypuses and Platypus are both accepted. Platypi is not. FYI, male platypus have highly venomous stingers that can paralyse you pretty direly. Think of that before inviting them into your hut. [/quote] [font=palatino linotype]They might be venomous, but you're better off thinking twice about koalas. They're twice and cuddly as a platypus AND twice as deadly. [/font]

[quote name='Lady Shy' date='02 November 2010 - 11:57 PM' timestamp='1288706264' post='701471'] I have a black iPod Classic. :D [/quote] [font="Palatino Linotype"]Do you use it much for video? I ask because, weirdly enough... I pretty much never put videos on my iPhone. I don't really know why. I even spend a lot of time on the train and yet, for some reason, I never really bother to use YouTube or pre-loaded videos. Although my reason for not using YT is mostly because I actually don't like the iPhone/iPod app for it. The search feature somehow doesn't seem as good as the regular version - I don't know why. And it seems to lack a lot of the usability of the regular version. The only real advantage of it is that it keeps a history, which is kind of useful. It also seems to compress videos horribly. I get the reasoning (3G, etc...) but still - if a video is already average quality, it'll be extra-average when using iPhone. :\[/font]

[quote name='Vicky' date='31 October 2010 - 05:43 AM' timestamp='1288467780' post='701406'] Though I want an iPhone. Is it worth the money, though? Hmm.... EDIT: Oh, and I want an iPad. I'm dying for one. In fact I'd love to kill someone for one. [/quote] [font=palatino linotype]The iPhone question is difficult to answer because I think it depends a lot on what you use your phone for. My primary reason to buy an iPhone originally was because I would literally carry a phone and an iPod everywhere with me. Buying a single device that incorporates both features was really a no-brainer. I could easily have bought a different phone - in other words, a cheaper phone - that had MP3 playback capability, but that just isn't the same. These days I buy all of my music from iTunes and I manage all of my music through there as well. It makes no sense to go to any extra hassle with a product that isn't natively designed for iTunes - I definitely wanted something that would seamlessly replace my iPod, but also add the phone features and such. As time has gone by, I honestly can't imagine going to another phone. There are some areas where iPhone isn't as great - the camera, for example, has only [i]just[/i] improved with the iPhone 4 - but I think the overall experience is about as good as I could imagine on any phone. I use the web frequently on my phone (and as far as I can tell, Safari on iPhone is still the best mobile browser out there by a long shot, especially on the iPhone 4) and the App Store has an enormous marketplace at this point in time (although admittedly I don't use very many third party apps on my phone - I actually don't like filling my phone with too much crap). So it's going to be different for everyone. I think that, on balance, iPhone tends to give you an overall experience that you just can't get elsewhere. But again, it does depend heavily on how you use your phone and what you're into. As for iPad, well, I use that almost exclusively for University. I've got a few third party apps on there (like NPR, a couple of games, a dictionary, etc...) but primarily I use it for email and for Pages. I have a few issues with iPad, but those very issues look to be addressed in the new software update that is coming within the next month or so. The biggest one for me is the inability to print directly from the iPad. That'll be included in the new iOS, so I'm pretty happy about that. The only other thing is, I [i]had[/i] to buy a wireless keyboard for iPad. If you're actually planning to use the thing for any significant typing, then I think you'll really need one. The on-screen keyboard is certainly fine, but it's uncomfortable if you're trying to type out emails or documents. I actually prefer the iPhone's software keyboard, mostly because you can just use one thumb for everything. The iPad is a little awkward in that way. If you do want an iPad though, I'd wait for the next model. It's true that with Apple especially, you could wait perpetually since new models of everything are released pretty regularly, but I would skip the first generation iPad. I don't know this for sure, but I'm willing to bet that the next iPad will not only be significantly lighter, but it should also include a FaceTime camera and a few other little improvements. I think it's worth waiting for that stuff. I know there are more Apple owners here on OB! Where are you guys? [/font]

[quote name='Phenom' date='02 November 2010 - 06:46 PM' timestamp='1288687561' post='701467'] Whether it's the Wii, Kinect, or Move, I have supported the idea of motion control which is why it's been pretty hard for Nintendo to get me onboard with the Wii. While I'm all for change (to some degree) I rather continue playing my games like the lazy person I am. So it's pretty obvious that I'm going to be skipping Move and Kinect [/quote] [font=palatino linotype]I think it's a shame for you to dismiss these products based on laziness. I say that not to judge how you play games (believe me, I don't like the idea of standing there and flapping my arms around for hours on end either), but rather because you don't [i]have[/i] to play that way with motion control anyway. In fact, the only game on Wii where I really bother to stand up in front of the TV is WiiSports. And even then, you can play it the "lazy way" if you want to. Most motion-based titles on Wii allow you to sit comfortably and only use very small/light movements - you can practically hold the controller on your knee and just rotate your wrist a little bit for many titles. When games give me the choice to play comfortably or with a lot of physical energy, I really don't mind. One reason I object to Kinect is because I think it will be hard to get the full experience if you're sitting further back from the TV on your couch. The technology doesn't really seem to be designed to allow for that. I think you should give motion control a second chance - there are absolutely titles available that will suit your style of play. Not every game on Wii is a WiiSports or Wii Fit-style product.[/font]

[quote name='Nerdsy' date='02 November 2010 - 09:18 AM' timestamp='1288653494' post='701462'] [color=deeppink]In fact, I'm typically a goddamn monkey, always crouching everywhere.[/color] [/quote] [font=palatino linotype]This is will have to go into the next Nifty Fifty, for sure. I agree with Nerdsy. Although, I actually have a problem with the concept behind Kinect. While I'm sure there will be some types of applications that will work really beautifully with that kind of device, I wonder if the people who invented it have thought much further than its obvious novelty value. Motion control or not, I think that physical interaction is a very important part of gaming. You may not actually be holding a gun or a baseball bat or whatever, but at least with the Move and the Wii Remote, you're still holding an object that has mass and feedback - as adequate or inadequate as they may be. But Kinect? I guess you're supposed to just clench your fists or something. I don't see it as natural or intuitive - in fact, for some games, Kinect could be downright counter-intuitive. I think there is an assumption that if you remove physical controllers, you're also removing barriers and complexity. But I think the designers forget that humans instinctively want to touch and utilise physical objects as part of their interaction (with a game or a computer or whatever else). This is the thinking that led to the development of the mouse, for example. I think that Nintendo are Sony are on the right track here. They understand that you can remove barriers and create intuitive controls while also having genuine physical interaction. Probably the best design would be a combination of Kinect and Move together - a game that can recognise your gestures and your physical position, while also recognising the input from your controller. I've seen some ideas for Kinect that are really cool, but as Nerdsy said, what if you are going to play a game for more than five minutes? I'm sure there will be some brilliant apps for Kinect and many of the best ones are unlikely to resemble "traditional" games. But I would say that Kinect has a limited capacity beyond that. At least with Move, Sony has taken Nintendo's idea and improved upon the technology. Whether or not they can deliver great software is another story, but I'm sure in time we'll see some really brilliant games taking advantage of Move. In the meantime, I have no interest in owning either Kinect or the Move. I'm too busy playing Fallout 3 and Civilization V to care.[/font]

[center][img]http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/6600/backtothemac.jpg[/img][/center] [font=palatino linotype]I figured it was about time to create a topic for all things Apple. I've named this topic after Apple's most recent press conference title, but really, this is about [i]everything[/i] Apple-related, including iPhone/Pad/Pod. Weirdly enough, the topic's title has extra meaning for me - and probably for some forum members who went to elementary school through the late 80's/early 90's. When I first began using a computer at school (1990), [i]all[/i] of them were Macs. Initially they all had green-and-black displays with no graphics whatsoever. After a couple of years passed, I remember that we began to use computers a bit more extensively at school - most classrooms had a computer sitting in the corner and, more often than not, it was one of these: [center][img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d8/Macintosh_classic.jpg[/img][/center] It wasn't until I entered high school that I really knew very much about Windows or Microsoft. I was a bit familiar with DOS (I had a couple of relatives who had computers when I was a kid), but Windows was a bit alien. Eventually, closer to the end of high school, Apple pretty much fell off the radar and everything was about Windows. I got my first home computer in the late 90's and all of my computers - up to 2008 - were Windows-based. In 2008, though, I bought my very first Mac. One of these: [center][img]http://mymacbuzz.com/media/2007/imac-aluminium.jpg[/img][/center] It's still my main computer, although now I have both OS X Snow Leopard and Windows 7 installed on it. Anyway, it's kind of interesting to return to using Apple computers after so many years without them. I prefaced my opening post with these memories because there would have to be millions of people around the world whose very first experience with an Apple product is the iPod, first released in 2001. For those people, Apple might have a very different meaning or attachment. As for me? Well, although I'm kind of cheating by having Windows 7 installed on my iMac, I haven't actually owned a "PC" since...well, 2004, I guess. I wouldn't say I'm as crazy as some of the other Apple enthusiasts out there, but my current Apple lineup includes the following: [list] [*]iMac (2008) [*]MacBook (2008) [*]iPhone 4 [*]iPad [/list] I haven't included the numerous iPods and crap that have either been handed down to someone else or thrown out over the last few years. Admittedly I used to go through those fairly regularly - mostly because I pretty much never go anywhere without music, so I was always buying the latest iPod. Now that I have an iPhone, I don't really have to carry around a separate phone and music player, which is kind of nice. So, before I keep rambling, I'd love to read everyone else's stories - especially those of you who are old enough to remember "the good old says" of Apple. Other than that, I figure this topic would be a good place to discuss Apple news, products - and maybe even to have a debate or two! [/font]

[font="Palatino Linotype"]Phew, done. I didn't get quite as far as I was supposed to, though. At the moment I'm not sure how to write about Cole's death.[/font]

[center][img]http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee132/Runaway511/almagest%202/gustave_achard-1.jpg[/img] [img]http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee132/Runaway511/almagest%202/cole_dreadnaught.jpg[/img] [img]http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee132/Runaway511/almagest/beatrist-chronicle.jpg[/img] [img]http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee132/Runaway511/almagest/leonhartavatar.jpg[/img][/center] [blockquote][font=garamond][b][size=6] [right]Ensurance Trap[/right][/b][/size][/font] [hr=#000000]100[/hr] [font=palatino linotype]Beatriste watched as Cole's steamcar exploded through the front gates of the Dreadnaught Estate, towards the Villette Mines. She felt suddenly guilty, as though she were letting him fall into an enormous chasm - one which she could pull him back from. When she heard the front door creak open and saw Gustave striding out into the grounds, she chased after him. "Gustave!" she cried. Her shoes click-clacked loudly as she crossed the entry hall. "Wait!" Gustave's steamcar sat idling in the driveway. Smithson, his driver, was just walking around the car to open the rear door. As Gustave heard Beatriste's desperate gasp, he turned immediately on his heels. "What's the matter?" Beatriste took a moment to catch her breath. "I feel that I've made a terrible mistake," she puffed. "What mistake?" Gustave reassuringly put his hands on Beatriste's shoulders. "I let Cole go alone; what if Leonhart really [i]is[/i] there?" Gustave smiled. "I'm sure Cole can take care of himself. Those mines are his; I am sure his staff will not let Leonhart just walk in." "No, you don't understand," gasped Beatriste, her eyes welling with tears, "something feels very wrong! Cole might think Leonhart is crazy, but he doesn't [i]know[/i] Leonhart like I do, or like Catherine does! Cole doesn't really know what he's capable of!" Gustave could feel Beatriste's body shaking violently. He had never seen her like this before. If someone as level-headed and calm as Beatriste was this worried about a member of her own family, then perhaps Cole really [i]had[/i] misjudged the situation. There was only one solution; they had to get to Cole. If nothing else, perhaps Beatriste could talk Leonhart down. "Okay," said Gustave gently, "let's follow Cole's steamcar. We can meet him at the entrance to the mines and we'll talk about it then. Just promise me you won't worry yourself sick; Cole is one of the finest men I know and I'm sure he'll have a plan." Beatriste fell on Gustave and embraced him, sobbing into his collar. It took all his effort to remain composed; Beatriste's fear was beginning to wear off on him. [hr]100[/hr] Beatriste and Gustave sat in the rear of the expansive steamcar as it rolled through Brigit Town. The Villette Mines lay on the north-eastern outskirts of the city and, on a clear day, it was possible to see its towers and conveyor belts rising up over the buildings. As the steamcar wound its way through Brigit Town's quiet streets, however, the clouds bulged and crept over the horizon broodily. They cast a long, dark shadow over Brigit Town and the mines. As the sky blackened and the shadows pooled together, sheets of lightning began to flash across the city and thunder roared above. As the darkness gave way to yellow flashes every few seconds, the towering superstructure of the mines blinked in and out of existence. As the shadows spilled into one another, the mines became a giant black monolith on the horizon. The city itself was mostly very quiet, with only the occasional building punctuated by the dim glow of lanterns. As Gustave contemplated this, however, his thoughts were interrupted by the rumbling of several large steamtrucks, which passed them in the opposite direction. The trucks all bore the Villette Mines logo. Beatriste and Gustave both shared confused glances. "Those trucks look like they were full of workers," said Beatriste. "It's several hours until knock-off time, though." "But the mines have so many workers," said Gustave, "surely those trucks just ferry them from mine to mine?" Beatriste shook her head. "At the end of the day, the workers board the trucks and they travel to the Aerodrome. Most of the workers at the Villette Mines are from southern Anova; very few of them actually live here." "I wonder what they were doing," said Gustave. "do you think Cole dismissed them?" "No, that's impossible," replied Beatriste. "We left home just after him - he'll still be a good fifteen minutes away from the mines. Besides, how can Leonhart be stopped if there are no workers around to secure the premises?" Gustave shrugged. He had no idea how the mines worked, but surely it made no sense for the workers to leave before his arrival. Perhaps he had phoned ahead from his car? [hr]100][/hr] It was difficult to see through the thick sheets of water, as Gustave and Beatriste approached the enormous iron gates at the mine's entrance. An enormous spotlight sat atop an archway over the gates, which circled ominously across the road leading up to them. Gustave held his umbrella up high, so that it would cover the two of them. Cole was only metres away, standing at the gates with his driver. He was holding a large keyring, upon which sat what looked like dozens of over-sized and rusty keys. He fumbled through them desperately, as his driver attempted to position an umbrella over his head. "Cole!" cried Beatriste, who dived out from underneath Gustave's umbrella and ran towards her husband. Cole spun around, startled to hear his wife's voice admidst the storm's din. "Beatriste?! What are you doing here? You should be at home in front of the fire waiting for me!" Beatriste threw her arms around Cole, almost causing him to drop his keys. "Cole, I [i]had[/i] to follow you; I need to talk to Leonhart if he is here. I don't know what he will do if he sees you again!" "Don't worry, it will be okay," said Cole. "At the moment I just need to work out which key is the right one; I haven't used these things in so long that I can't remember." "I don't understand," said Gustave as he approached, "why are you standing here in the rain with a handful of rusty keys?" "I called ahead," replied Cole, "but there was no answer. I just received an automated message; the staff have gone home." Gustave's eyes widened. "Oh, yes, we saw the trucks in the city..." "You did? Just now?" "Only fifteen or twenty minutes ago, yes," said Gustave. Cole looked at his driver. "Why did they go home?" For a moment, the entire group fell silent. Gustave surveyed the mine's entrance. He noticed that there were several deep sets of tread marks, all converging on the gate itself. They were so deep that large puddles were forming inside them. [i]Those trucks we saw in the city just now,[/i] he thought, [i]had already left the mines by the time it started to rain. But these tracks look fresh...and they all lead right to the entrance...[/i] [/font] [hr=#000000]100[/hr][/blockquote]

[quote name='Lady Shy' date='27 October 2010 - 01:40 AM' timestamp='1288107628' post='701317'] Well, that's kind of the point. You can, but only by loading a save file from before finishing the game. Unless you get the expansion, because then you can just continue without even noticing the game would've stopped without it. Plus, you get a bunch of neat extra quests. I have to add that when you get the ehm... Anchorage content it'll also be worth your while game wise and it's a nice change. But the Alien Space Ship, the Pitt and the island thing felt completely lame to me. [/quote] [font=palatino linotype]Yeah, that's what I meant - continue playing with the expansion. Hm...that might be good, although I'm probably so far from the end anyway that it's not something to consider just yet. At the rate I play this thing, I'll be here for months yet! I've just [spoiler]completed the quest where you put the dish on the Washington Monument[/spoiler] and I know that's still pretty early in. I have to say, my only real gripe so far, honestly, is that it seems necessary to travel via the subway system for much of the time within the city itself. That kind of sucks. The subways are okay, but I hope I don't have to use them too frequently. I like actually wandering around through the destroyed buildings in D.C. Having said that, there's a huge amount of variety outside D.C. itself. I've discovered a few towns and each one has its own feel and specific dangers - so that's pretty cool. I think there's a lot more of the map to discover. And thank god you can auto-travel between areas! If that was disabled, the game would be a nightmare.[/font]

[quote name='Lady Shy' date='26 October 2010 - 06:59 AM' timestamp='1288040362' post='701302'] I would recommend the brotherhood of steel expansion for this overrated game. I'm pretty sure it's the only one that actually expands the game apart from just giving you some short side mission like the others. Normally the game would end after the Main quests are finished, but now you can continue. Yay! New Vegas is poopie so far. [/quote] [font="Palatino Linotype"]Yeah I would like the ability to keep playing after I've finished - I'm assuming you can go back and complete quests that you had left behind? I was really excited about New Vegas (actually, I was excited before even having played Fallout 3 itself), but after reading some reviews... I'm really feeling disappointed. I just keep hearing how horribly buggy the game is and that's really disappointing. So far in Fallout 3 I really haven't come across many bugs (at least, nothing glaring that I've noticed) - except perhaps for some occasional path-finding issues (which haven't been major at all). I imagine serious bugs could ruin New Vegas. I also don't like the idea of the factions in New Vegas, in the sense that you can randomly anger people without being fully aware of it. That would bother me a lot.[/font]

[font="Palatino Linotype"]Yes, I'm very [i]very[/i] late to the party, but I just bought Fallout 3 and I need somewhere to rave about it. I played it as much as I could over the weekend (I've just reached Galaxy News Radio HQ, after doing a few side quests) and I'm really loving every second of it. I actually waited to buy this game in part because I wasn't really a fan of Oblivion. This isn't so much because there was much wrong with Oblivion - it's just not my type of game. Fallout 3 seems a lot more streamlined and it works well for someone like me, who may want to jump in for a few minutes at a time and then a few long sessions here and there. I'm playing it on PS3 and I'm now wondering how worthwhile the expansions are. Does anyone here have any of the Fallout 3 expansions and, if so, are they any good? Do you have a favourite? [/font]

[quote name='ï½?ï½?ï½?ï½?ï½?ï½?' date='23 October 2010 - 10:48 PM' timestamp='1287838137' post='701257'] So is this still dead in the water? [/quote] [font="Palatino Linotype"]For the time being, yes. I have asked both Des and Petie to look at this a couple of times, but we can't get it to work. The site clearly shows that multiple galleries can be used, but there doesn't seem to be any location in the back end to actually generate multiple galleries. I think this is a pretty significant problem, but at this point I'm not sure what we can do about it. The only other thing I can think of is to double-check the IPBoard resources center to see if they have any recommendations that we've missed. We will take a look at that.[/font]

[font="Palatino Linotype"]This is a random question, but do we have any Otakuites who live around the San Fransisco bay area? I'm doing a little research.[/font]

[font="Palatino Linotype"]The 2D Metroids have always used a D-Pad; I think the only difference here is that you can move Samus around in 3D. I can see how that would bother some people though; I was honestly surprised at how smoothly Samus moves. I definitely took issue with Samus's emo persona in this game, although I really have no trouble with her "taking orders" from Malkovich. I think that has kind of been blown out of proportion. If Samus had disobeyed Malkovich, I'd have actually been very annoyed - I think that would have been a cheap way to portray her as some kind of badass. [/font]

[quote name='Baron Samedi' date='03 October 2010 - 12:24 AM' timestamp='1286029486' post='700852'] [size="1"]Nice to see some of the old names still around. [/size] [/quote] [font="Palatino Linotype"]Some of us will never leave! I wonder if OB can last twenty years. The thought is kind of scary, actually. [/font]

[font="Palatino Linotype"]We have way too many custom statuses going on. This is where it goes wrong, kids.[/font]

[font="Palatino Linotype"]Snake Eater is my favourite MGS game by far. I love almost everything about it - even the long, drawn-out story is pretty interesting. Also I think this game is a perfect fit for 3DS. Just imagine the moment where you have to sneak through the forest and fight the sniper - so much of the game is based around observation and careful/quiet exploration...I just think 3D will work so beautifully there. Just think about all the grass and the trees; there's huge visual depth and with 3D, that could be incredibly stunning. In fact, thinking about the final boss fight in 3D almost gives me shivers. I think this game has huge potential to make a big impact on 3DS. And it's a really great excuse to play Snake Eater again, for me. I haven't read up much on this so far - are they changing anything (other than the 3D) for the 3DS version? I'd love to see some gameplay additions and such.[/font]

[font="Palatino Linotype"]Regarding voice samples, I am happy for you guys to share your work here on OB as much as you like. That includes using the available upload space on the boards - you don't need my permission for that. OB will tell you how much physical space you have for uploaded data. I just need to check if we allow hosting of MP3 file types or ZIP files (the latter might be good so you can compress your samples rather than uploading full-size ones). Anyway, if you run into any problems let me know and I'll sort it out for you.[/font]

[quote name='Lilt' date='30 September 2010 - 05:56 AM' timestamp='1285786588' post='700796'] [b]Yay congratulations James! How long do you think you will be staying? Also, are you going to the East Coast or West Coast or somewhere in between? I still want to visit another country some day but there are too many choices. [/b] [/quote] [font=palatino linotype]I'm planning to stay for three weeks, maybe in September or October next year. I'm planning to spend most of my time in New York again - partly because this time my sis is coming and that's the place she most wants to see. I [i]really[/i] want to see the south when I am there (places like Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama, etc...), but I just think it will end up being too expensive to do that. But it's so far away that anything could change. Right now I'm just doing some accommodation hunting and I've found a few good deals so far. [/font]

[font="Palatino Linotype"]I love coffee, although I go through periods of not drinking it at all. These days I generally have coffee each morning at work, but that's all - I don't ever really drink it throughout the day. Ironically, Australia is known for being a beer drinking nation, even though per capita we are among the highest coffee drinkers in the world. We also have among the best quality coffee in the world - better than Europe and definitely better than America (sorry, America, but your coffee is generally awful). It's interesting that Starbucks had to close many of their outlets in Australia recently, despite us being such a coffee-hungry country. That speaks volumes, I think. And for Starbucks, it's kind of embarrassing. But anyway, the most exotic coffee I've ever had was probably a ristretto. Not many places serve it because it is difficult to make. Apparently if you order a ristretto and a glass of water, the manager of the establishment is supposed to serve you - at least, this is what is supposed to happen in a genuine coffee house. [/font]

[font="Palatino Linotype"] So, anyway, it looks like I'll be going to America again - probably toward the end of next year. This time I'll be taking my sister, so that should be fun. The biggest issue now is finding reasonably priced flights! If I buy too far in advance they are so expensive - even more costly than the accommodation. [/font]

[quote name='eleanor' date='24 September 2010 - 05:25 AM' timestamp='1285266331' post='700714'] Do you mean like how much flexibility did I have in choosing Scotland? Basically my undergraduate offers a bunch of places around the world students can study abroad in, and you can do either one semester (fall or spring) or a year there (some of the programs required a year, though). I chose Scotland because I was limited to English-speaking countries, and between London and St. Andrews I chose the latter just because I thought I'd like it better. It's really nice! Although the pound-dollar conversion still kills me... [/quote] [font="Palatino Linotype"]Oh, that sounds pretty good. I think for me the biggest issue will be that even if I transfer to a University in the United States, I'll still have to contribute a pretty big amount of money each year, which means I'll need to find work as well. I have no problem with that, except that I've heard that it's very difficult to find work in some parts of the U.S., especially for foreigners (I'm not sure how true this is, but I also wouldn't want to throw caution to the wind and just assume I'll find something). And, of course, it's tougher to find something [i]before[/i] even leaving Australia in the first instance. So that will be a bit of a hurdle I think. It's also hard to leave the security of my current full-time job behind, even for a few months! [/font]