User:Phi ftw1618

Apparently I get a user page! Fun!

About Phi

Username Info

phi_ftw1618's username is unique in that he managed to insert an underscore into it, which makes typing his username (phi_ftw1618) a major pain to people who type less than 90 wpm (like most people). Thus, most of the time, people refer to him as phi, phi_ftw, or phiftw.

The origin of the username comes from his first few times on FTW, which had been recommended to him as a resource by his MATHCOUNTS team. As it turned out, playing as a guest was hugely inconvenient without chat, and people kept quitting on him. Thus, he created an account with AoPS.

Now, he wanted to choose a username that sounded like most. Thus, since he figured that there were a bunch of 'pi' usernames, he would create a phi username, representing the golden ratio, . Since the only reason that he originally had this account was FTW, he added the 'ftw' part, and for no apparent reason, put an underscore in between, not knowing how inconvenient it was to type an underscore. Then he appended the 1618, the first four digits of the aforementioned golden ratio.

The username is officially pronounced "phi-eff-tee-double you-sixteen-eighteen", according to him. Others have pronounced it "phi-ftw-one-six-one-eight" and "phi".

In fact, he is usually referenced as phi, and goes by such in most forums. Usage of his formal username is rare unless in a formal/official situation, which arises rarely.

Personal Info

phi_ftw1618 does not like stalkers.

Phi IRL

Phi is going to AwesomeMath 2016 at Puget Sound. He has made MATHCOUNTS State twice, but as for his competition results... haha, that's a nice joke. There aren't any notable ones.

AoPS Resource Usage

FTW

Phi does play FTW occasionally, although when he does, it usually does not go well. His rating is around 1400, although that may change because after his MATHCOUNTS career, he will probably end up getting worse at speed mathematics. Compared to other AoPSers who are considered to be 'pro', phi_ftw1618 looks like a very bad FTW competitor.

Alcumus

phi_ftw1618 played a lot of Alcumus in preparation for his MATHCOUNTS and AMC 8 competitions. He eventually ended up mastering every topic, but does not use Alcumus very much right now except in last-minute preparation for some contests. He also does use Alcumus when he's bored at school, which happens surprisingly often.

MATHCOUNTS Trainer

phi_ftw1618 barely used MATHCOUNTS trainer except for getting school and chapter-level problems nailed because he prefers the Alcumus approach. He does have access to all 4 levels of problems, but still prefers Alcumus.

Reaper

phi_ftw1618 has tried numerous times to do well in Reaper, but has failed every time, with his best finish being a 9th place. He now thinks that Reaper is a waste of time unless the time between reaps is an hour or less, as otherwise, a reap becomes too valuable.

Greed Control

phi_ftw1618 is surprisingly bad at consistently inputting (relatively) small integers into a computer. Thus, he is quite bad at Greed Control as well. This is quite unfortunate, as it's easier on his sleep schedule to do well on Greed Control than Reaper.

Community

Forums

phi_ftw1618 is on the forums a lot, possibly more than he should be. He usually uses the forums for both math and as a message board. Moreover, he also spends (probably too much) time with pandabear10 in various locations. He also plays on the Games forums, although currently makes it a rule of thumb to never post on either the Fun Factory or Frivolous Forum. He somehow has amassed 1183 posts despite not having more than 400 posts in any post-counting forum.

Blog

phi_ftw1618 runs a blog which is known mostly as the Phi Blog. While it started as "a dumping ground for philosophy nonsense", it became a place for him to post anything and everything on a daily basis. It is now currently one of the few blogs on the blogroll that update daily (with three contributors for backup) and usually more often on days when he feels like it. The blog is used for everything that he needs, that is, he only owns the one blog, plus a forgotten one that is more public, but rarely used.

The CSS for the blog was designed by NeoMathematicalKid, and is the result of phi_ftw1618 spending too much time looking at NMK's github for AoPS blogs.

The blog was originally created 5/5/15, and currently has over 6000 views, 500+ comments, and 100+ shouts, which was the result of an unfortunate CSS accident that was later resolved, but still is quite buggy. He intends to repair this when he has time. However, he doesn't usually have time.

Trivia

• Phi also participates in Science Olympiad.
• He has met pandabear10, Xinyan, and goseahawks in real life.
• Phi sometimes refers to himself as phi IRL.
• Strangely enough, he has never taken an AoPS Online Class.
• He also pronounces AoPS like "ay-ops" not "Ay-oh-pee-ess".
• Phi speaks French.
• Phi has run out of random facts to give you.

Crowdsourced Section

haha funny as if anyone will ever read this If you want to get a post into this section (short comment or so) post on my blog. I think I put something there (might be wrong).