The Elite
BOSS
Takao said:Konami is giving away ticket to some E3 party they're throwing June 1. It's at the Real Sports Bar. I'm too young to go.
Fuck. Can't believe I missed this.
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Toronto-Age
- Thread starter EvilMario
- Start date
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Fuck. Can't believe I missed this.
added_time
Member
Dyno said:
It's a real shame they cancelled that bridge near Fort York but I knew the writing was on the wall for it as soon as Ford was voted in.
The control of the entire city of Toronto has been given to the voters on the very edges of the city that have no care for the downtown environment. Their priorities are very short sighted considering most of our money is generated by the events, tourism and business of the downtown core.
but hey.. as long as the suburban peeps have their big screen tv, iphone and gas in their car - why would they care about anything else?
Anyone looking for work in Toronto right now?
I'm just starting to look for work now and I'm looking for pretty much anything. I have a 2 year diploma in computer programming and 4 years experience at a golf course. I'm hoping that finding a minimum wage job to start won't be too much of a problem.
I'm just starting to look for work now and I'm looking for pretty much anything. I have a 2 year diploma in computer programming and 4 years experience at a golf course. I'm hoping that finding a minimum wage job to start won't be too much of a problem.
Brought some stuff to trade in to Game Centre, and didn't realize that they call their boss up on the phone for estimates on everything traded in. As I'm trying to get a handle on how their system works, this little snot of an employee says to me, verbatim:
"Look, figure out what you want for this or don't waste my time."
Really?
Took my games off the counter, bought my game outright from them (would've bought somewhere else on principle if it wasn't such a tough one to find) and left.
Fuck that store. Always filled with shifty employees that whisper to each other about customers and trades right in front of their clientele.
I worked retail for 10 years during school, at minimum wage. I greeted everyone with a smile and explained to even the densest customers how things worked, without ever becoming rude or confrontational unless a customer became violent or inflammatory themselves. So there's no excuse.
"Look, figure out what you want for this or don't waste my time."
Really?
Took my games off the counter, bought my game outright from them (would've bought somewhere else on principle if it wasn't such a tough one to find) and left.
Fuck that store. Always filled with shifty employees that whisper to each other about customers and trades right in front of their clientele.
I worked retail for 10 years during school, at minimum wage. I greeted everyone with a smile and explained to even the densest customers how things worked, without ever becoming rude or confrontational unless a customer became violent or inflammatory themselves. So there's no excuse.
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Member
Magnus said:
What an odd thing to say. You can't possibly be wasting his time since he has to stay there for a predetermined work shift anyways.
Anyways, I want to watch fireworks tomorrow.. are the ones at Ashbridges Bay the only ones going on in the city?
I know a couple good spots to watch those where you can avoid actually going within the crowd of people on the beach.
Magnus said:
Wow, crazy. I've never had that experience with Game Centre. They usually seem willing to help, and are overly friendly. A&C Games is a bit more on the cold customer service side, but they're okay. Gamerama is the real nightmare, where the kids behind the counters don't give a hoot at all, and laugh when kids coming in to trade in a bunch of games can't believe the TIVs.
I guess the lesson is not to expect much from retail service these days.
canadian crowe
Member
Yeah I have a love/hate relationship with Game Centre. Their games are cheap, but they low ball you on trade ins.Magnus said:
They offered me $10 for my copy of Motorstorm 3, about 2 months before it was eventually released.
EvilMario said:
Different experiences I guess, haha.
I visited A&C really early on when they first opened as a game store years ago, and I guess we hit it off well. They know me by name and are overly friendly with me, and when I'm there, they behave really well toward all the customers that are new or walk in.
I mean, I dig Game Centre's prices and obviously, if I'm hunting for a rare game, I'll check em out despite being wronged this one time, but I won't be speaking with that employee again, and I have half a mind to speak to his manager about him.
I stayed at the Canadiana Backpackers Inn once and it was pretty cool.
The Interrobanger
Member
Unless you're a career student, there's no way it'll open before you graduate.Holmes said:I go to York, really psyched about this. Aside from the massive amount of construction that's been going on in the past two years, this should really tidy up the campus. But no, I'm not giving kudos to Ford. He's a douche.
I used Priceline for 4* hotels in Toronto Downtown South and bid $70 a room and got it during Winterlicious. I would try that if you're not picky.Manaka said:
Room Subtotal: $70.00 (USD)
Taxes and Fees: $17.16 (USD)
Total Room Cost: $87.16 (USD)
Got the Hyatt which is an awesome hotel.
You'd go to www.priceline.ca, search the dates + city you want, click "Name Your Price", select your area (in this case Toronto Downtown South or Toronto Downtown North), select your star rating (4*), and then your price. Your price should likely be something based off here so you don't pay too much or waste your time with too little:
http://www.betterbidding.com/index.php?showforum=166
Hey guys, so I am going to the University of Toronto in the fall! I will be at Victoria College. Going to Toronto is going to be a big change for me because I am an 18 year old dual citizen of the US and Canada that has lived in a small US town my whole life. So going to a big a city like Toronto is going to be different for me! I was just wondering what I should expect!
Kuro Madoushi
Unconfirmed Member
ZZMitch said:
1. Some people will argue with me, I say pick something practical you can use for a career down the line. Taking English and history was a waste of time for me.
2. If possible, maybe do 4 classes during the year, and one summer course. Many students do 5 classes a year, and kudos to them, but I found it draining with the workload and since UofT is big, you may have only 10 min to run across the goddamn campus to your next class.
3. If you're applying for a Japanese language class, apply as soon as registration opens on ROSI since it'll fill up quick. If you didn't get in, complain, and make a big fuss if you really want and you'll get in.
4. Buy books used. Don't get them at the UofT bookstore. try http://www.bookdepository.com/
https://www.amazon.com/?tag=neogaf0e-20
https://www.amazon.ca/?tag=
UofT bookstore sucks balls. There's also this other bookstore nearby focused on used textbooks...forgot the name, but go there instead.
5. Things might have changed, but apparently Victoria college and Trinity college have 'that' sort of reputation
6. Join the social clubs offered at UofT. Definitely one regret I have.
7. Look at the "anti-calendar" when you're picking classes. If you research enough, you'll get decent profs. ratemyprof.com has some ratings for profs from UofT as well, I believe.
8. Innis College has free movies on Tuesday...I believe? Might have changed that, but it was pretty cool of them to offer it back in the day.
9. I'd strongly suggest designating one area (either at a library or a room in a dorm or something) as "study area". It was hard for me to focus when I started since my computer at home was more for play than work. I just couldn't fight the urge to go online or play for a few minutes.
10. If you feel overwhelmed, there are counselors to talk to.
11. If you're writing essays, there's the writing centre for help. Here are some mini points: OUTLINE your essay first. If you're typing it out, NEVER delete anything, always cut and paste on another document since you never know when you'll need it. NEVER edit your essay or have someone edit your essay while you're in the middle of writing it since most profs won't fail you if you have something to offer, but if you have nothing since you were constantly editing? Fucksville for you! ONLY edit when you are done. And I'm serious. EDIT that sucker!
12. Finally, sit down with a guidance counselor to see if you qualify for any scholarships and/or rewards. UofT has a reputation of not giving a shit about its students, which is fair since you're technically an adult. You have to go out of your way to make the resources available. Don't sit back and expect people to help you at UofT without you asking first.
13 (Bonus point). Don't get suckered into their retarded first year seminars. They offer them for credit to help students transition from HS to Uni. Small classes and all the other shit. But unless you REALLY liked HS, I'd suggest avoiding it.
Kuro Madoushi said:1. Some people will argue with me, I say pick something practical you can use for a career down the line. Taking English and history was a waste of time for me.
2. If possible, maybe do 4 classes during the year, and one summer course. Many students do 5 classes a year, and kudos to them, but I found it draining with the workload and since UofT is big, you may have only 10 min to run across the goddamn campus to your next class.
3. If you're applying for a Japanese language class, apply as soon as registration opens on ROSI since it'll fill up quick. If you didn't get in, complain, and make a big fuss if you really want and you'll get in.
4. Buy books used. Don't get them at the UofT bookstore. try http://www.bookdepository.com/
https://www.amazon.com/?tag=neogaf0e-20
https://www.amazon.ca/?tag=
UofT bookstore sucks balls. There's also this other bookstore nearby focused on used textbooks...forgot the name, but go there instead.
5. Things might have changed, but apparently Victoria college and Trinity college have 'that' sort of reputation
6. Join the social clubs offered at UofT. Definitely one regret I have.
7. Look at the "anti-calendar" when you're picking classes. If you research enough, you'll get decent profs. ratemyprof.com has some ratings for profs from UofT as well, I believe.
8. Innis College has free movies on Tuesday...I believe? Might have changed that, but it was pretty cool of them to offer it back in the day.
9. I'd strongly suggest designating one area (either at a library or a room in a dorm or something) as "study area". It was hard for me to focus when I started since my computer at home was more for play than work. I just couldn't fight the urge to go online or play for a few minutes.
10. If you feel overwhelmed, there are counselors to talk to.
11. If you're writing essays, there's the writing centre for help. Here are some mini points: OUTLINE your essay first. If you're typing it out, NEVER delete anything, always cut and paste on another document since you never know when you'll need it. NEVER edit your essay or have someone edit your essay while you're in the middle of writing it since most profs won't fail you if you have something to offer, but if you have nothing since you were constantly editing? Fucksville for you! ONLY edit when you are done. And I'm serious. EDIT that sucker!
12. Finally, sit down with a guidance counselor to see if you qualify for any scholarships and/or rewards. UofT has a reputation of not giving a shit about its students, which is fair since you're technically an adult. You have to go out of your way to make the resources available. Don't sit back and expect people to help you at UofT without you asking first.
13 (Bonus point). Don't get suckered into their retarded first year seminars. They offer them for credit to help students transition from HS to Uni. Small classes and all the other shit. But unless you REALLY liked HS, I'd suggest avoiding it.
Thanks for all the info! I will probably be majoring in environmental sciences or maybe geography but I am really not sure yet. I am signed up to study social sciences. I was also kind of wondering on how the transition will be from living in a small town to living in a big city I guess.
Do you recommend buying a computer from the UofT bookstore?
Oh and do you know where I can see this anti-calendar?
edit- I was actually reading the handbook thing they sent me and they mentioned the anti-calendar saying it was at assu.ca, so never mind about that one!
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Member
ZZMitch said:
I've never lived in a small town but I've been to tons of them. It's incredibly different from what I can see. There is always TONS of shit going on in a city. Every night there will be like 15 - 20 concerts going on.. bars everywhere. Too many great restaurants to count.
It may be distracting if you are in school but as long as you regulate how much you go out and how much money you spend, you should be fine.
AlphaTwo00
Member
Firestorm and Firest0rm. I had to do a double take to re-read the post.
People from Vancouver think they're warm and friendly but living in Vancouver with homeless people on every single corner and Greenpeace guys with clip boards all over the place and dumbass 9/11 Truthers and hipsters living on the front steps of the art gallery are why I wear headphones when I'm out even if I'm not listening to music.Zzoram said:
Toronto doesn't have that many homeless people, but the ones it does have are terrifying. My theory is that you have to be really, really, really crazy to survive the winters here living on the street.
ZZMitch said:
Welcome to Hogwarts!
Are you living in residence?
p.s. 6 to 1 female:male ratio
Roto13 said:
I think Vancouver's homeless problem is a combination of poor drug addiction policies, a lack of public housing, and rising cost of living. The problem has become less visible with time, though, as gentrification in the East End has pushed drug users further outside the downtown core. I remember, when I was younger, that if I walked one block outside of China Town I was in frankly one of the sketchiest places I've ever been.
MalboroRed
Banned
Firest0rm said:
Too many beggars.
Dyno said:
How do you land a job with the city?
ZZMitch said:Yeah I will be! I live about 1000 miles away soo..
And legit? Sounds awesome.
Amazing! You're going to have a blast -- the residences are really nice. Do you know which residence you're going to be living in? (Marg Ad, RJ, Upper Burwash (North/Middle), Lower Burwash (Bowles-Gandier, Caven, um and the other two lol).
I'll be around a lot, so I'm able to show you the ropes if you like - I have a few friends living in Vic residence and it's the one part of campus that my evil-wench ex doesn't visit -- I mean, I'll be around because it's beauuuuuutiful.
And yeah, UofT's kind of tough.
Pro-tip: choose your courses based on the rankings in the anti-calendar:
http://assu.ca/anti-calendar
It's the rankings that students give to each course at the end of the course. They rank things like difficulty, quality of teaching, quality of learning, and so on. 7 is the highest score possible and 0 is the lowest score possible. The most important number is the retake %, which is the % of students who would retake the course knowing what they now know, having had taken the course. In my experience, a retake rate below 80% is really bad (because the number of students who actually fill out the anti-calendar form is usually a tiny fraction of those enrolled -- people stop going to class, and those who go tend to have more favorable views than those who skip out; in other words, the actual retake %, when you factor in those who didn't attend/fill out the form, is much lower)
caveat: if the course is a requirement to fulfill your degree, you'll have to take it no matter what. however, there are sometimes multiple sessions with different professors, so you should consider which professor is better ranked in the anti-calendar
pro-tip #2: enroll in the maximum amount of courses possible (6 full-credit equivalents - i.e. 6 full-year courses or up to 12 half-years, or some combination thereof). drop the one or two FCEs that you like the least or fear you will perform the worse in -- there are drop date deadlines for amount of money you receive back / when it appears on your transcript, but those dates are very very very generous. this strategy is the single best method of counterbalancing UofT's bell-curved marks (spoiler alert: marks at UofT are low).
most non-science degree will give you enough flexibility of choice in your degree that you can drop bad courses and still have enough credits to graduate in 4 or 5 years without having to suffer a GPA penalty for a difficult course.
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