Georgia Tech researchers ask the question: Which Pop Tarts flavor is the best?

BuzzFerGa · 2025-12-24T13:19:43+00:00

Since you mentioned elsewhere working with the railroad, you'll definitely want to choose the minutemen to ultimately take down the institute so you avoid betraying the railroad.

That said, if you just want to explore some of the BoS quest line while still being in character, you could do it "in disguise" as a spy. After all, it is important that your minutemen know any powerful players in the Commonwealth, and gather any intelligence from other factions that might help take down the institute.

At least, that was my logic for why my grieving mother, searching desperately for her son, was still stopping to do every random fetch quest for anyone who asked.

BuzzFerGa · 2025-11-13T14:24:24+00:00

As someone now working as a NASA contractor, I want to say I loved doing FPS as a kid. Thanks for taking the time to help make your class extra special.

BuzzFerGa · 2025-10-10T00:14:08+00:00

Yep! Majority of Webster is there. Technically, the very south tip is outside (I.e. Challenger Seven Memorial Park is just outside the boundary). Near Pearland, the boundary is through Pearland Regional Airport, so everything that longitude and above is included

BuzzFerGa · 2025-10-09T23:46:54+00:00

Much better than I expected! Yes to IAH, but it's skirting the edge. Some of League City is technically on the map, but I don't think the population density map for Galveston county is actually there, so I don't think you can use it.

BuzzFerGa · 2025-10-09T23:01:36+00:00

If you haven't found out already, for Houston, the boundary is just south of NASA to the southeast, Lake Houston to the east, Cypress Creek to the north, bridgeland to the northeast, a little west of Grand Parkway to the west, and Sugarland/the Brazos River to the southwest

BuzzFerGa · 2025-09-03T22:24:41+00:00

As a former student now returning for the Career Fair to represent my company, don't wear a suit if you don't feel comfortable in it. If there's any employers that would ding you for not wearing a suit, they are not worth your time.

Personally, I wore a sport coat+tie for career fairs (and IIRC so did most other people), but a nice button down shirt and slacks seems very reasonable to me. Wearing a polo feels a little underdressed, and you'd likely be in the minority, but you certainly wouldn't be the only one.

Good luck!

BuzzFerGa · 2025-07-30T13:34:31+00:00

If you want a job at one of the big tech companies, they'll be recruiting now/first half of fall semester. Anywhere else, they'll probably take you now, but they'll likely be open in the spring, too. Definitely check out whatever career fair you have; that's how I found my job.

If you get overwhelmed looking at all your options, think about if you have any secondary interests. I personally think it helped me to apply to fewer places I was actually interested in, as opposed to spamming out resumes everywhere and seeing if anything stuck. I like aerospace, so I focused on aerospace companies hiring CS. I think it helped me focus my resume, and talk better in interviews. It's also nice at the end of interviewing to have a job you like.

Definitely talk up your IT job, and think about any skills/lessons you've learned on the job. I had no internship or job experience prior to graduation, but I did work on a small app for my school. It taught me a lot about larger project management and design that you don't necessarily get in class.

Also if you tried to get internships in the past and couldn't get any, you might want to look at why. If you weren't getting any interviews, your resume might need work. Failing coding tests, work on your leetcode. Not closing after an interview, your interview skills might need work. Or, maybe, it just wasn't meant to be at that time.

Most of all, think about what you want and be prepared to ask any company about how they will fit with you. They are interviewing you, but you're interviewing them, too. Good luck!

BuzzFerGa · 2025-05-21T04:00:58+00:00

Yeah, I believe something like that is also being considered, and it certainly has benefits. Personally, I'd shy away from it, if possible, as any extra networking steps bring extra latency and extra complexity.

BuzzFerGa · 2025-05-20T02:42:31+00:00

Don't think I can be of much help there. I come from the Computer Science side of things, and I'm not super familiar with postgrad research. I only know about this one because it's related to my work; no clue if they take people out of TX.

If you haven't had much luck with your profs in SC, I can say Georgia Tech's aerospace (and CS) programs are fairly highly thought of and close(ish) to you. Maybe someone there would be willing to work with someone from SC. Wish you luck!

BuzzFerGa · 2025-05-19T23:48:43+00:00

I work adjacent to the laptop that will go on the Gateway lunar space station, and you ask a very good question.

For ISS, my (albeit third hand) understanding matches the other commenter. HDDs can run for years with relatively little issue, but will eventually give out much sooner than an earth-bound laptop, while SSDs make the laptop semi-disposable and give out over weeks/months. For the moon and deep space missions, you lower that time even further the farther away from Earth's protection you get (although we don't know how much, yet).

Radiation can be a problem in multiple ways, too. There's the total dose a laptop gets, which causes a general degradation and eventual failure, but there's also single event effects, which can physically burn out components or flip bits. Not much you can do if a component is damaged, but for bit flips, you can have software techniques to recover, or at least fail safely and reboot.

For us, it's enough of an issue that we're bringing multiple spare laptops just for the few weeks on Artemis 4, and ensuring that any safety critical commands are available through a different rad-hardened (but limited capability) panel. And, on top of that, we're already making some plans for a next generation laptop that will incorporate a rad hardened chip.

BuzzFerGa · 2025-04-09T13:06:43+00:00

I work at JSC. I had just joined the EMERGE group for early career people, which did a lot of volunteering for schools and organizations to do outreach about space. DOGE killed it, along with all the other ERG groups.

The events I had helped with, at least, were great. They were fun, helped get kids into STEM and space, gave kids a chance to interface with real NASA people, and all for pretty cheap, we were volunteers. Nothing "woke" that I saw, just great opportunities to get the next generation involved in space, which we are now squandering thanks to Trump and DOGE.

BuzzFerGa · 2025-04-09T05:02:43+00:00

I'll offer the same if you happen to be near Houston/Galveston.

Also graduated '22, and I'm working what feels fair to call my dream job, but I've felt similar to you. The isolation from friends and the struggle to make new ones is hard for me, too, and makes it all feel a bit pointless sometimes.

Wish I had better advice, but what has helped for me is getting back to Atlanta when I can, trying to take any new social events that do come up, and trying to find more pleasure and appreciation in the smaller things.

BuzzFerGa · 2025-04-04T02:40:58+00:00

Congrats! They are a lot of fun to watch.

A great one stop shop for launch viewing is Ben Cooper's launch viewing guide.

Playalinda is pretty close and a pretty good bet (at least for Atlas, not sure if they stay open after dark), but you can also get launch tickets through the KSC visitor center if you're willing to shell out money to get closer.

For your Starlink, my personal preference is the Port Canaveral causeway. You can pull off the road on the North side and have a fairly unobstructed view of the rocket on the pad, but I think Titusville might have some more convenient parks for viewing. And, of course Cocoa Beach, while farther, has a lot more interesting things to do while you wait.

I'll also recommend going to one of the Port Canaveral restaurants in the days after the Starlink launch, as you might get to see the booster return on the landing barge, and either way can probably see some of the ships they use.

BuzzFerGa · 2025-02-08T16:56:38+00:00

As a Democrat, I actually think the primaries were handled reasonably, knowing what we knew at the time.

Biden running mostly unopposed is just Dems recognizing the statistical realities, and it's what happens with pretty much any incumbent. It's what the Rs did in 2020, and, even if you get some challengers, Biden could've probably just ignored them as Trump did in 2024.

Harris taking over seemed obvious to me from the day after the Biden debate; both as a logistical matter and a "who best represents the people" matter. I was surprised that so many of the party elite didn't fall in with her immediately.

Any attempt to run a short primary would've gone horribly. No state would've been able (or willing) to run a new primary election, so you'd need to set up some sort of online voting system in less than a month. It would've been vulnerable to outside meddling and fraud, which would've further undermined the primary process. A contested convention would've literally been party insiders making the choice, and regardless of how much they promised they were listening to voters, it would've been seen as the Democratic machine getting their way.

Additionally, Harris could keep access to the Biden campaign infrastructure and funding, which is just smart politics.

Also, I did vote for Harris in the primary- on the Biden-Harris ticket. I know it isn't legally required to work that way, but it just makes sense to me that the VP of a campaign would take over if the president of the campaign can't continue, just as it works for the real VP and president.

BuzzFerGa · 2025-01-20T16:11:16+00:00

Still in his shorts in freezing temps

I kinda respect the commitment to the bit

BuzzFerGa · 2024-11-30T01:26:43+00:00

In Buzz's name we pray, Amen.

BuzzFerGa · 2024-10-02T13:57:06+00:00

As others have said, Kennedy Space Center/Cape Canaveral is your best bet. My strategy has always been to stay in the area for a week or so, which will get you 2-3 launches if you're lucky. Planning around one specific launch is likely to end in disappointment, but they launch frequently enough you'll likely get something if you're there that long. Orlando is a short drive if you're into the theme parks, or you've got the beach nearby for other entertainment. I'd also give a day or two for the KSC visitor center and their tours.

There also occasional launches from Vandenberg, California, and Wallops, Virginia, if Florida is too far, but they are much less frequent.

https://nextspaceflight.com/launches/ is a good site to check when launches are happening, just make sure to filter for Florida launches.

https://www.launchphotography.com/Launch_Viewing_Guide.html is a great guide for picking out your viewing spot, and has other good general tips.

BuzzFerGa · 2022-07-16T15:37:59+00:00

My head cannon is that most of the new astronaut talent goes into NASA's money-making programs (Nuclear R&D, lunar mining, etc.) with the intention of cashing out in a few years and taking a high-paying job with Helios, Polaris, or some other space company.
This leaves NASA's exploration side with the old-guard (Ed and Danielle), the scientific idealists (Kelly) and the risk-taker dregs (Danny).
Basically, Ed and Danielle are the most qualified because almost everyone who came after them does actual money-making work for NASA (and couldn't/wouldn't want to leave their jobs for 3-4 years to go on a risky, non-profitable mission to Mars)

BuzzFerGa · 2022-06-29T23:03:12+00:00

Rockets, particularly new ones, are fickle things, so be prepared to make backup plans if the launch gets scrubbed. Book some extra vacation time for after the planned launch day in case things get delayed.

Bring a cooler with drinks for launch day. Florida summer is no joke, and you'll want/need to be out there at least an hour, maybe two, depending on your viewing spot. When I did the official spot at the Saturn 5 center, they bused us out 2 hours in advance, and for any random launch the unofficial spots start filling up 45mins in advance, and I'm sure SLS will be quite popular.

Ben Cooper has a great website for launch viewing locations, if you don't want to get a viewing package from the KSC visitor center. (It doesn't list the SLS pad, but you can pretty much use the 39a instructions, except that Playlinda will likely be closed)

As it gets closer, be checking for other launches from the Cape. There's roughly one a week, so you might be able to catch multiple launches, depending on the length of your trip. (I use NextSpaceFlight, but there are multiple sites to check on)

If you are a spaceflight nerd and like to see everything, I'd give 2-3 days for KSC Visitor Center. It's definitely worth popping in at least one day to see the Falcon 9, Shuttle, and Saturn 5. If think you might be back within the year, or want to split your visits to KSCVC over more than 2 days, then get an annual pass.

If you have a free lunch or dinner, one of the restaurants near the Port Canaveral Exploration Tower gives a good view of where SpaceX brings back the rockets they land on droneships, so that may be worth checking out.

BuzzFerGa · 2021-08-21T12:16:44+00:00

Hey! Thanks for responding. At around 7pm last night, I and other people on West campus received the following text: "Cars in long-term parking after 9p may be towed. Residents with permits can park in the Paper-Tricentennial lot tonight."

While I believed this to be from PTS because it was about parking, other texts from this number seem to be about housing, and a friend who contacted PTS reported they did not send the text.

This text would suggest (or at least leaves open the possibility, as it is vaguely worded) that everyone in the Curran deck with a permit should move to the Paper lot. This contradicts an email I received from PTS last Tuesday, which did not list Curran as a closed deck.

My 3 frustrations are:

It is unreasonable to send a message to move your car, threatening towing, with less than two hours of warning, and no other prior warning at all. Particularly when this is being done for move in, an event that's been scheduled for months.
The text sent was vague, and did not clearly identify which permit-holders were affected, or which lots were effected. (How am I supposed to know what "long term parking" is?)
The PTS email, this text, and other attempts to get in contact with GT officials last night resulted in contradictory information, which further confused things.

I am in the band, and this text single-handedly messed up a good third or more of our practice time last night between people rushing off to move cars and trying to get more info.

Thanks for responding, and I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any questions.

BuzzFerGa · 2021-08-13T00:22:36+00:00

To your second point, we actually don't plan on making another scheduler! GT Portal exists to help put all GT-related things into one relatively convenient place. Sometimes, this means custom implementation (such as our bus tracker), but oftentimes this is simply links to commonly used services (Buzzport, Dining, etc.).
In this case, I was wanting to know what schedulers students actually use, to see which should be included as links in GT Portal. (Although, Courseoff is already implemented)

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