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Post by PinkFloyd on Dec 5, 2008 14:02:57 GMT
i was born to be screwed wasn't i? Only if you're gay ;D
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Post by merton on Dec 5, 2008 20:39:51 GMT
i'm not gay yet i'm still screwed. explain this.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 5, 2008 22:28:26 GMT
Merton, I'm a tad confused. Why, after an arts degree, would you chase anything non-art related? Anything, don't be proud, get that CV started. My original plan was to be a vet, my grades were not good enough, so went for medical (humans) course instead, (strange how the level of qualifications is less demanding?!) was unable to finish, which I've posted somewhere here before, so I'll save you the boring the details. If I had completed and qualified, I assure you no other line of work would have sufficed. GO FOR IT! I also agree with Rick, that the free spirit of art expression and the drilled in obedience of armed forces life won't be a good cocktail.
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Post by merton on Dec 6, 2008 0:00:02 GMT
yeah, maybe not. it would be the army for me though because of my weight. i am going to try to get in but it's unlikely due to my entry level seperation from the air force. the only problem is a place to live and food to eat. i'm screwed.
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rickcr42
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Rest in peace my good friend.
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Post by rickcr42 on Dec 6, 2008 1:41:08 GMT
the word "uniform" also applies to body shape in the military (at least in the ground combat branches-army and mc) so if you go in underweight they bulk you up,overweight slim you down and all the while "breaking" your muscles to be rebuilt according to "spec" and why when you see a platoon of grunts go marching by it is not only the clothing that is the same but other than height (which they disguise by having tall to front and progressively shorter as you go back down the line ) each is damn near a clone of the other with that "rebuild" geared to speed,agility and endurance rather than "show" muscles which are just that.all show and not a whole lot of go so when dressed in "civvies" nothing imressive,very unasuming on the outside. but take of your shirt and perform even the simplest task,like drink a glass of water ? WHAM ! every group and sub group standing in high def ! Another point. Rank is pay grade so as you advance you get a raise in salary but some MOS's (your job description) have what is known as "locked" rank which in a nutshell means that area is only allowed "X" amount of each rank and if you want to advance someone has to move or die or you have to move,This is most of the specialty areas where you have a single well defined job description (most ech jobs). Where this changes is in the combat specialty areas where rank moves fast so infantry,mortar,armour and artillery while the more hard working and challenging also have the most oppurtunity if you are motivated. You will never be bored but so too you will not have a "skill" that is applicable/marketable once you return to civilian life so a tough call all around
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robertkd
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Electronics Engineer from sunny Queensland
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Post by robertkd on Dec 6, 2008 2:07:24 GMT
To true, back when I enlisted the trades, Signals in my case were fairly specialised not too many companys had KW7's and AN PRC's but I think that rebuild both body and mind wasn't a bad thing. One thing you need to understand with the military Army doubly so to make ANYTHING portable is accomplished by adding handles and changing the designation to AN P** MERTON maybe you could do the camouflage art work on the APC's and other vehicles However seriously it's an option and the training and opportunities available these days makes it worth considering.
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XTRProf
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Pssst ! Got any spare capacitors ?
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Post by XTRProf on Dec 19, 2008 4:42:08 GMT
So merton, how are things? Where are you heading now?
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Post by charleyphogg on Jan 15, 2009 1:47:20 GMT
That's just some funny shit!
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rowuk
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Post by rowuk on Jul 25, 2009 16:14:01 GMT
Hey Merton, if you haven't found a job, I heard there is lots of money in trafficing cheap Mexican workers into the US. The snag is when you get caught OR if you don't produce, there is a one way ticket to places where audio quality is the least of your worries.
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Post by merton on Jul 26, 2009 1:07:53 GMT
update as requested. i'm working at walmart. for first 2 months i was a good employee. since then, my toes have started going numb, the upper management keeps switching things around so much that no one knows what they're doing anymore (when you see 3 lower managers standing around for half and hour yakking about how to bin item you know something is terribly wrong), they have horrible communications problems leading to me being asked into the office for a lecturing just because i took a break 15 minutes before the night manager would have preferred, even though he never told me about his preferrence and i had been taking breaks whenever for the several days before (i had just been switched from 1st shift to 2nd shift) and he had said nothing.... and leading one long time employee to be threatened with a coaching just because she didn't bin something just right even though she'd never been told what she was doing was wrong.... and now they're switching me back from 1st shift to 2nd shift AGAIN tommorow, and i may end up fired or quitting because i have to go to a trial on wednesday at 10:45am which means i have to be up at 6am thanks to the stupid bus line.... which is bad because when on the 2nd shift i get off at 1am, take an hour to get home, and then another hour to go to bed at 3am. i'm not going to court on 3 hours sleep. and my sleep schedule needs to be somewhat sane, so i'll be working the full shift on sunday, a half shift on monday, and then i'll take tue and wed off (as getting back to work by 4pm will most likely be impossible on the bus line.).... but the good news is a guy wants to pay me $10 an hour to sand all the paint off his molding.... which ought to take a while. think i should just go ahead and quit?
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tomo
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Post by tomo on Jul 26, 2009 6:10:26 GMT
Well, physics grad students aren't usually the bright types. Look at me!
I went semiconductor physics, ... just in time to face market-down-term. Then I went back to school for "financial engineering" and then start working actuary. You might want to check em out Merton. For some people, finance or actuary work out ... and pays extremely well. Finance down term is effecting finacen jobs, but not actuary.
You will need to know some mathematics (Junior level college math) and MS Office reasonable proficiency. You will need to progress along Society of Actuary examinations, but the exams are pretty frequent and you can keep at it. These examination stress time, not on "smarts".
Me? Unfortunately, actuary didn't work out for me. I really hate computing for computing sakes. I compute to engineer and to build things. Most of the time, we are working toward a financial statement (for insurance companies) on computers and that didn't give me any satisfactions. But it may work out for some people. I met quite a few people from physics field.
T
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Post by merton on Jul 26, 2009 14:26:56 GMT
i bombed out in calculus 2... and now i don't remember any of my math... i tried relearning algebra a while back and was really surpised at how much i'd forgotten. but it seemed much easier than the first time.
a big problem for me is that i can't be stressed and still think, so, until my life is more stable i do not think this will happen.
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tomo
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Post by tomo on Jul 27, 2009 12:39:11 GMT
i bombed out in calculus 2... and now i don't remember any of my math... i tried relearning algebra a while back and was really surpised at how much i'd forgotten. but it seemed much easier than the first time. a big problem for me is that i can't be stressed and still think, so, until my life is more stable i do not think this will happen. I sympathize. I know a lot of people will tell you to get working or something, but DON'T. I did and ended up working on actuary. I really really hated it. Take your time and try out one thing at a time, eventually you find something. I am trying out Unix stuff. You are trying your art. Lucky you, I can't even draw my own country flag. (You know, a red dot on a white rectangle.) Of course, after work for you. I am lucky I got paid well while my work lasted. (But let me tell you, I hated every minute I spend at my cubical.) P.S. I am doing Fortran, then Perl and Python. And, chemistry and history and, ... oh boy.
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Post by merton on Jul 27, 2009 15:10:20 GMT
you're back in school?
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tomo
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Post by tomo on Jul 27, 2009 18:40:35 GMT
Nope. I dunno what I want to do right now. Besides, I already "went back to school" twice! I was a physics student. Once for Electrical Engineering and once for Finance.
(Not MBA; I went for a research position. It was supposed to be for giggles. I mean an electrical engineer researching on finance? Weird. But then MBA cost fortune and if they were actually offering me a position, I would be a fool to refuse it, right? With a cheap tuition, I got few years of grad-office space. Of which time, I spent staring at Black-Scholes-Merton equation and alike. But PHD is uber-hard, if you aren't interested in the field. So I got "Doc w/o Thesis". Zippo.)
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Post by merton on Jul 29, 2009 2:34:43 GMT
what's the point in that thing anwyay? it seems unrealistic.
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tomo
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Post by tomo on Jul 29, 2009 10:43:26 GMT
Black-Scholes-Merton Equation or simply Black-Scholes Equation is the keystone of the scientific study of financial markets.
It isn't really an equation in the Newton Mechanical sense. You know "F = ma" or V = IR. It is a differential equation identical to Schrodinger's Equation. This particular differential equation is essentially a drift-diffusion equation with different constants. Image the stock price jumping up and down ... randomly.
Merton, your view of this equation is very correct. For one thing, it is difficult to use, because it is difficult to solve and it is solvable only for idealistic cases. But it introduced the idea that financial mechanics can be scientifically studied by mathematical models.
This is very important, not because mathematical models are more accurate. (This is very wrong, by the way.) The process of modeling put some space between us (traders/managers) and the dynamic world of financial market to think about it with more logic. People are still not doing this and trade via sentiment at the time or trade via unreliable information.
T
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robertkd
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Electronics Engineer from sunny Queensland
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Post by robertkd on Jul 29, 2009 11:36:47 GMT
Black-Scholes-Merton Equation or simply Black-Scholes Equation is the keystone of the scientific study of financial markets. It isn't really an equation in the Newton Mechanical sense. You know "F = ma" or V = IR. It is a differential equation identical to Schrodinger's Equation. This particular differential equation is essentially a drift-diffusion equation with different constants. Image the stock price jumping up and down ... randomly. Merton, your view of this equation is very correct. For one thing, it is difficult to use, because it is difficult to solve and it is solvable only for idealistic cases. But it introduced the idea that financial mechanics can be scientifically studied by mathematical models. This is very important, not because mathematical models are more accurate. (This is very wrong, by the way.) The process of modeling put some space between us (traders/managers) and the dynamic world of financial market to think about it with more logic. People are still not doing this and trade via sentiment at the time or trade via unreliable information. T so Tomo your saying the vast majority of "traders/managers" use the same "expertise" the same "business skills" as the avarage yobo uses to bet on horses. and what your modelling provides is like a "form guide" so they can guess with confidence mmm kinda scary that the modelling of our financial futures are in the hands of total frkheads like that. Robert
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tomo
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Post by tomo on Jul 29, 2009 12:04:45 GMT
That is not entirely correct, Rob. More precisely, ...
The probability of a fund manager being able to "consistently" earn more than simply earn interest on bank's saving account is zero.
That is if the manager is GOOD. If s/he is bad, you can always expect loss due to the risk s/he takes for the "excess" return s/he promises.
This also means there are a lot of space for improvement.
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robertkd
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Electronics Engineer from sunny Queensland
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Post by robertkd on Jul 29, 2009 12:34:53 GMT
well it seems correct to me, the arsewipes might as well take the money down to the race tracks and bet it on race horses,.... you do realise that my previous post was a a total dig at the "finance sector" and that there is only one sound business practice and that is the one practised by the The Crimson Permanent Assurance and you would do well to dismiss your so called theory and study some real business acumen Robert
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Post by merton on Jul 29, 2009 19:22:47 GMT
That is not entirely correct, Rob. More precisely, ... The probability of a fund manager being able to "consistently" earn more than simply earn interest on bank's saving account is zero. That is if the manager is GOOD. If s/he is bad, you can always expect loss due to the risk s/he takes for the "excess" return s/he promises. This also means there are a lot of space for improvement. presumption of consistency is stupid. and trying to caclulate it even dumber. all these buttlickers were saying how the economy can only go up when more and more of it is based on usury... of course, usury is basically a leech on production... and so we now see how these butlickers are full of shit... and besides, why bother calcuating these probabilities this way anyway? i mean, how are you rating that your probability is probable? having 20% chance for this, 30% chance for that, and a 50% chance for something else doesn't mean shit. the only real way you can make the right choice is to gain knowledge, pick something, and then find a way to make it work.
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tomo
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Post by tomo on Jul 30, 2009 3:12:38 GMT
Ahh, Merton, you talk like you know what I want to say!
This probability is essentially a hypothetical value. So you are making guesses based on a set of hypothetical values. Some people forgots this often. Nonetheless, a lender must know something to base his/her decision whether or not lend money or which person to lend money, and this type of information is only available in these hypothetical probability values. ...
This world is completely different from where I live. I live in the world where if I am precise in my work, I get rewarded by sucesses. Market is strongly influenced by group psychology and has infinite number of parameters; such that it is beyond our mental capacity. This use of probability is actually the limit of our understanding. And, people are in the process of gaining knowledge.
Don't be discouraged by few sour apples. ... Then again, it is difficult to ask that of you. In financial market, one or two sour apples can totally enihilate the trust people have on financial specialists who are in general good people just trying to make living. (Which is why these sour apples gets charges often with near/effective life sentences.)
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Post by merton on Jul 30, 2009 7:16:26 GMT
actually, people like madoff are just the small fry thrown to the sharks.
the real bad guys pay the sharks.
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tomo
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Post by tomo on Jul 30, 2009 14:56:30 GMT
Aww. Stop thinking like that. It's just one line of work; one of the better ones, too.
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rowuk
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Post by rowuk on Aug 2, 2009 14:58:28 GMT
.................Don't be discouraged by few sour apples. ... Then again, it is difficult to ask that of you. In financial market, one or two sour apples can totally enihilate the trust people have on financial specialists who are in general good people just trying to make living. (Which is why these sour apples gets charges often with near/effective life sentences.) A few sour apples? Horseshit. If you look at spread of the current financial implosion, you see that a great number were on the bandwagon. Those that perhaps were not, knew about it but did NOTHING to stop it. I maintain almost EVERYBODY was involved, from the people selling money market to major bank managers. Do not forget, these people studied finance and supposedly know FAR MORE than the average Joe. They used that knowledge to take our savings (past earnings) and now they are taking our taxes (future earnings) too - with NO RESPONSIBILITY TO CLEAN UP THE SHIT THAT THEY DEFECATED ON THE ENTIRE FINANCIAL MARKET!!!!! Will we the taxed, ever see a refund for "loaning" the banks money? Go bankrupt and get the government to force the banks to pay for you. Will the functioning companies that can't get a loan because the bank gets better interest on moneymarket schemes get help elsewhere? No fcking way!
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