Re: Wonder Woman - June 23, 2017
Great read, thanks for sharing!
Thanks, it means a lot to me!
You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to darthkostis again.
Holy crap, it really does sound broken, is education provided by the state? Or do you have to fully pay for it? Does it have to do with EU/Greece's economic situation? Or was education better at one point?
No, we don't pay tuition fees as of now, but that's for undergrand only. Post-Grad you have to pay something, depending on what subject you choose. But housing isn't provided, so you have to rent your own apartment. I lucked out and found a good one at 200 euros, but by adding the buss fare, food that I get from catering because I don't have the time or space to cook and whatnot, it comes to about 1k per month. It's not a lot compared to the stuff I hear from US-based students, but it's note completely free either.
As for the situation, nah, it was always like this. Hell, back then it was even worse. Now they seel their notes for 100 euros or so, back then they had them for 500! But the whole "**** me or you won't pass" the favourable treatment towards the kids of their circle and all that has been a constant since forever. It's just the way this place works, to be honest. The average joe gets stomped out, while the Top Guys suck them dry.
If you plan to be a researcher, an academic job in a given field of physics looks like a very achievable option, if you take a liking to programming, there's a **** ton of jobs everywhere, you'll find a job easily provided you're decent enough, IT jobs are easy to find because the demand is ****ing crazy man, of course, if you want a job at Google or Oracle then you do really need to study a lot.
To be honest, I'm still holding on to that "dream" you know? That you're gonna get this huge and innovative idea and go on to become the real life Tony Stark, or that you'll revolutionize physics, but to be fair, these aren't achievable for us normal joes. Apart from that, I really don't know. I've been stretched so thin due to the system, that I don't havethe time to focus on just one area and say "I like it". C++ I quite liked working with, so we'll see.
But, if I was being completely transparent, I'd say that what I want most is to be my own boss. Apart from that, I don't exactly know what career path to follow. Sure, it'd be nice if we could all have our own multi-billion dollar companies and skyscrapers, but yeah... The thing is, that, staying here and being just a physics professor, with a modest salary and a modest house isn't what I'm looking for either. Andwith the way things are going both here and in Europe, I'm thinking the US is the "safest" choice. It's a huge risk, but they're more accepting, and there's generally a bigger and more even playing field. I mean, alarms are going off all over, the attacks are starting again, and we've already been sorta-blacklisted, so I don't think there's much waiting for me at Germany or Britain.
The other thing that goes on in here is that most students become political to get some extra help. The bigger loudmouths here are obviously the far-left. Hell, they sneaked in at night and decorated the whole building the day Castro died. They even wrote poems and made collages. So, there's alway the option of going with a political group (we're a firmly right-wing family, but our right-wing is more like US' liberal one) and trying to make some friends to push you when you graduate. It's a fairly common strategy here, actually.
But yeah, like I said, I'm in a weird spot. Attacks all over, the economy's in shambles, countries are becoming more isolated eachday, and how can you realistically compete with the minds from Oxford and MIT, especially as a non-native? It's all a big ball of confusion right now.
Computer engineering, that's what it's called, and in reality you can be a computer engineer if you want to, the program allows it, but I specialized more in software engineering/sciences, and I plan to specialize even more in databases, I often wonder if I should go into security or low level programming (cars, electronics, robots, Internet of Things), lots of jobs for that around the world too...
First 2 or 3 semesters I got Mechanics, Physics, Electromagnetism and other physics stuff, plus a lot of math subjects I don't remember (and that I haven't needed for software development so far but shhh they don't want you to know that
)
That does actually sound like what I had in mind a while back. There's not exact department here, but such subjects mostly go hand in hand in our "Polytechnic" schools, which is just a fancy name for engineering. I may look into it as a Post-Grad, as it's similar to the nanotech one Thessaloniki's Physics Department has. Though to be fair, the best Unis right now are in Crete. I've got family there who got lucky and hangs with the "good people" of the island, and it's as if it's another country. Herakleion especially feels like a whole different place.
Holy crap this is fantastic, It sounds like it would take you years to write but man you have to do it, wow.
This would need to be a trilogy
or at least a Netflix series.
Even if I found the time, I still need to settle down on one, though I'm leaning towards Doom. There's so many times you can criticize the currentstate of humanity without turning into an edge-lord, and apart from that, corporate espionageand the like hasbeen covered pretty much everywhere.
Doom on the other hand allows me to explore some more interesting themes. I was thinking of making it feel like a horror movie where the jump scare never arrives, you know? Most folks tackle the paranormal as this dark and awful place filled with death and pain, but dunno, I always thought that if there was something more, it'd be a mix between Lovecraft and Gaiman. A lot of writers nowadays just take religious and supernatural bits and pieces, and produce mostly identical stories. Posessions, curses, all that jazz, which while scary, never really tell you anything.
But the thing is, Doom's both a scientist and a sorcerer. There's a great quote from Ultimate Doom, where he says that "science is an art, not a system" and it got me thinking. How does a man of science approach something as abstract as magic? Unless, of course, "magic" is just another art. The runes and letters are just different "SI" units. Or different colour combinations that you'll use for your painting. So I started exploring a "unified theory" as the core aspect of such a story. It's just that to me, science and spirituality never really clashed, as I was always a "the truth is somewhere in the middle" kind of guy, so it was easy to "see" things from Doom's (albeit fictional) POV.
Anyway, besides all that, my European/Balkan knowledge is significantly higher than my US one, so I'd be able to make such a story feel more real. Local folklore, ancient history of the lands, and essentially just a more well rounded background. Apart from that, it's just that a Doom book allows more freedom. You can explore politics, technology, existentialism, futurism, philosophy, all of that.
But I don't think I'll tackle that just yet. I've done my fair bit of research, but I'd like to get caught-up with my philosophy/metaphysical reading. Sure, an online fan-fic is of no consequence, but I'd feel better if it had actual valid points and wasn't just your run of the mill "here's my favourite character doing bad-ass things with some buzzwords thrown in there to seem mature". I might start with notes, and eventually turn it into a script. I used to write screenplays for some stop-motions I wanted to do, but it turns out just one guy with no prior experience can't do all that I was planning one doing.
Thanks, I also have Supes grounded all the way to both his earth family and Krytpon family.
The costume would be classic, and it would be given to him by Jor-El (when Clark discovers the fortress), as an ambassador uniform, fabric so advanced it doesn't have texture or visible fibers, smooth AF, no panels, lines, nothing, just primary colors, like a renaissance garment, preferably undies, big S, roman style cape falling to the boots or shorter, haven't decided if boots, sandals (like golden age Supes) or even barefoot (at least for a little bit, in a "embrace the soil you're walking on as Ambassador" type deal). Light blue, vibrant red and yellow.
He wouldn't be roided out ripped, he'd be more barrel chested, still a big boi.
People of smallville know who he is but they keep the secret because they love him and he has done a lot for the town (believe it or not I thought of this like 2 years before Landis wrote it
)
And more details of the sort.
That sounds like the perfect balance between realism and classic comic book-iness, actually. See, that's why 8/10, fan-fics are better than actual books, at least right now. The fans know the core aspects of every character and know howto make a story both fit-in, and be fresh and unique. The only thing I'd object to is the barefoot thing, 'cause I hate such costumes. Dunno why, but feet bug me. Same goes for when Wonder Woman is redesigned with sandals. I know they're accurate, and I prefer the Greco-Roman armour to the tights, but I can't stand sandals. Boots all the way, everyday!
Spoiler:
