Computer OE10, Kate Edgar Information Commons, University of Auckland Superthread

[Reggo]

Good luck! :fingerscrossedforyou:

 

[Reggo]

It's a tumbleweed morgue in here.

 

[Axver]

Go slay that exam, Ashley.

 

[Reggo]

I hate it when one of our customers decides to waste half an hour of my time.

 

[Reggo]

People's lack of paint skillz is humourous.

I'm out.

 

[Axver]

Have a good one, Reggo.

 

[Slopsy]

Hey there, tumbleweeds

 

[Axver]

How's it going, Charlotte?

 

[Slopsy]

Hey Ax

Reasonably good - I just discovered that I don't have to go into uni until 1pm tomorrow due to my 11am class being canceled!

...However, it was canceled because I have a test for that class tomorrow evening. You win some, you lose some.

How go things with you?

 

[Axver]

Nothing new with me really. Skipping class right now because it bores the shit out of me and I've fallen asleep in it every week.

Good luck with that exam ...!

 

[Slopsy]

What class?

Thanks, I should be ok for this one...I'm dreading the results of the one I sat on Tuesday night though!

 

[Axver]

Dull as shit Stalinism class.

I can't believe you're having exams now.

 

[Slopsy]

Ugh, how boring.

Well technically they're not actually exams, they're the mid-semester tests, but they do count for as much of the final grading as the exams do.

 

[Axver]

What a pain. I've had essays due mid-semester, but exams have only ever been in the exam block at the end of semester. But then I do things that are more focused on written work, essays and shit.

 

[Slopsy]

Eek. I have all sorts due and to do in the next two weeks - two tests, an essay which I have NO IDEA about, a Stats assignment, and probably some other stuff which I've forgotten.

 

[Slopsy]

Ok, time for a shower and some dinner.

 

[Axver]

I have 13,000 words to write in the coming month, 5,000 of which on shit I don't care about and have no ideas for.

 

[The Sad Punk]

Good news, guys! I feel somewhat less sick than I did before!

Bad news: because of being sick, I completely missed taking advantage of good times on 4/20.

 

[The Sad Punk]

I'm reading back on stuff I've missed, and near the end of the last thread Ashley was talking about some show where this amateur genealogist totally tries to prove to people that Australians and New Guineans came from Africa (well duh) and is a jerkass about it... well Ax mentions that he thinks it's KREAZY in regards to Pacific Islanders getting all over the place, and so I don't know where this lengthy sentence is going exactly, but I have a fair idea - Ax, where do you think the Pacific Islanders came from? Could they have been from the same lot as the Siberians and Japanese that originally came to the Americas 14,000 years ago? Or could they have been developed Americans with genetic differences who rocked up on a bunch of islands a few thousand years later? Honestly I have no idea about any of this stuff, but I thought you may be able to shed some light on the major theories (if you're not busy, which you obviously are).

 

[The Sad Punk]

Oh, I forgot about Wikipedia... !

 

[Axver]

I'm reading back on stuff I've missed, and near the end of the last thread Ashley was talking about some show where this amateur genealogist totally tries to prove to people that Australians and New Guineans came from Africa (well duh) and is a jerkass about it... well Ax mentions that he thinks it's KREAZY in regards to Pacific Islanders getting all over the place, and so I don't know where this lengthy sentence is going exactly, but I have a fair idea - Ax, where do you think the Pacific Islanders came from? Could they have been from the same lot as the Siberians and Japanese that originally came to the Americas 14,000 years ago? Or could they have been developed Americans with genetic differences who rocked up on a bunch of islands a few thousand years later? Honestly I have no idea about any of this stuff, but I thought you may be able to shed some light on the major theories (if you're not busy, which you obviously are).

To my knowledge, the popular theory at present is that the Pacific Islanders are descended from the indigenous Taiwanese and spread to the Pacific Islands fairly recently, first Melanesia, then western and central Polynesia - say 2,000-3,000 years ago. They then colonised Easter Island, Hawaii, and finally New Zealand. Some suggest the spread into Melanesia occurred earlier. Whatever the case, Easter Island, Hawaii, and New Zealand were all not settled until after the birth of Christ, and Hawaiian and Maori are mutually intelligible to a point (as they are with other Polynesian languages).

I have heard theories of the Polynesians being descended from native Americans, or at least having contact, but I don't know how good the evidence is.

 

[The Sad Punk]

To my knowledge, the popular theory at present is that the Pacific Islanders are descended from the indigenous Taiwanese and spread to the Pacific Islands fairly recently, first Melanesia, then western and central Polynesia - say 2,000-3,000 years ago. They then colonised Easter Island, Hawaii, and finally New Zealand. Some suggest the spread into Melanesia occurred earlier. Whatever the case, Easter Island, Hawaii, and New Zealand were all not settled until after the birth of Christ, and Hawaiian and Maori are mutually intelligible to a point (as they are with other Polynesian languages).

I have heard theories of the Polynesians being descended from native Americans, or at least having contact, but I don't know how good the evidence is.

Yeah, I'd always thought they were originally from SE Asia, but I wasn't sure what the generally accepted theory was. I had read from some Maoris that they like to consider themselves derived from the Americans, although that's without any scientific research, presumably.

I wasn't aware Hawaii had been colonised so recently, although I knew NZ was supposedly the youngest country on Earth, as far as human population goes. I've long had to wonder exactly how much of a developed culture the Polynesians who came to New Zealand had, before they began to identify as Maori.

 

[Axver]

Yeah, I'd always thought they were originally from SE Asia, but I wasn't sure what the generally accepted theory was. I had read from some Maoris that they like to consider themselves derived from the Americans, although that's without any scientific research, presumably.

I wasn't aware Hawaii had been colonised so recently, although I knew NZ was supposedly the youngest country on Earth, as far as human population goes. I've long had to wonder exactly how much of a developed culture the Polynesians who came to New Zealand had, before they began to identify as Maori.

I need to see what the scientific basis is for the theory of contact between the Pacific Islands and the pre-European Americas. Another thing I'd like to know and have never investigated is whether the Pacific Islanders had any contact with the Aboriginals. I know northwestern Aboriginal peoples had contact with Indonesian peoples and I can only assume there was loads of contact between FNQ, Torres Strait, and PNG peoples. Given the Polynesians were all about EPIC sea voyages and somehow stumbled upon places like New Zealand (seriously, how?!), I'd be surprised if they had no idea about Australia's existence.

Yeah, Hawaii wasn't settled long before New Zealand. It seems unique cultures developed pretty quickly - the Maori certainly would've been distinctly Polynesian; it seems the time between arriving in Polynesia and going to New Zealand is roughly the same as (or even longer than) the time between going to New Zealand and being contacted by Europeans. Then you look at the Moriori. The Maori probably ended up on the Chathams around 1400 AD - by the time they were rediscovered just before 1800, they had developed a unique culture. Now, I'm not sure about life expectancy for other peoples, but the Moriori didn't expect to live to 40, so they did go through generations quickly and had a small population and small gene pool. I can see how they quickly lost contact with their former culture, developed their own, and had a small enough population within which genetic differences could quickly be propagated.

 

[liamcool]

Happy birthday Bobert!

 

[Cin]

sorry Bobert .

but hai dead thread

 

[Axver]

Liam, Cinner, greetings.

 

[Cin]

Yikes!

hi Ax. Saw the pics from the weekend trip. That camera really is fancy

 

[Cin]

I have a sore throat and sinusitis.
and Coles have big discontinued signs on all of their Cadbury chocolate, no SNACK!!!


Today could be my worse day ever

 

[Axver]

and Coles have big discontinued signs on all of their Cadbury chocolate, no SNACK!!!

The hell?!

 

[Cin]

I think they're just clearing out because of new packaging but still!! They're forcing me to Safeway