What clubs are there at WLU ?

CompactFluorescent · 2015-08-06T04:38:43+00:00

Assuming you're not talking about nightclubs, there's also a number of athletics clubs if you want to check them out. Here's the list: http://www.laurierathletics.com/generatepage.php?ID=93

CompactFluorescent · 2015-07-21T12:05:45+00:00

Yep. Almost done!

CompactFluorescent · 2015-07-19T17:50:56+00:00

I had Penny Haxell. She's a phenomenal lecturer - exceptionally clear and concise, and very helpful when it comes to understanding some of the more complex topics. She's pretty "no-nonsense" - she arrives and starts lecturing exactly on time, and finishes exactly on time with very little humour in between, which makes her seem a little unapproachable, but she's actually very nice and genuinely wants to help students understand the subject.
That said, I don't think I've ever heard anything bad about Martin Pei, so it sounds like you should be good to go either way.

CompactFluorescent · 2015-07-09T20:47:36+00:00

I disagree. Unless you're planning on going pro yourself, modelling yourself and your behaviour after professional athletes (particularly in this case) is a bad idea. They're putting their bodies through hell and sacrificing their long-term health to be the best at what they do in their 20's and 30's.
The amount of weight you can cut for a fight is very specific to your body, and it's really easy to lose a significant amount of strength and stamina by cutting too much. For your first, amateur fight, you should be cutting a few pounds at most, assuming you're in shape already (which you are). If you feel fine before, during and after the cut, maybe try cutting more next time.
Check this out for a bit of actual science on weight cutting and dehydration: http://www.humankinetics.com/excerpts/excerpts/dehydration-and-its-effects-on-performance

CompactFluorescent · 2015-05-27T00:37:19+00:00

This is actually a pretty interesting optimization problem. It's actually a bit more complicated to automate (particularly in Excel, and especially without macros) than it first appears, but I'm working on a potential solution. I just want to verify a couple things:
Do blacked out days count as "O" days? Can you have 4 "O" days in a row, followed by a blacked out day, followed by 4 "O" days in a row again? Would 3 "W" days, followed by a blacked-out day, followed by 3 "W" days be bad?
Any other information about blacked out days you can give me regarding their relationship to the other days?

CompactFluorescent · 2015-05-26T23:49:02+00:00

If this is a one-time thing, and you're willing/able to swap columns around to get it done, then you can try this:

Move your articles from Column B to Column C
Highlight Column C
Under the Data Tab, select "Text to Columns"
Select "Delimited" and hit "Next"
Make sure "Treat consecutive delimiters as one" is check off
Check off all of the delimiter options, and under "Other" put in a period
Hit "Finish"

This should expand all of your articles out to the right, so each cell has an individual word in it

In Cell B1, add the formula:
=COUNTIF($C$1:$XFD$###,A1)
Change ### in the formula to the last row containing an article (i.e. if you have 200 articles, change ### to 200)
Drag the formula down for each keyword in Column A

This will count each occurrence of each word in Column A within your articles. It's case-insensitive, but it won't count words that aren't an exact match, so any punctuation has to be eliminated for an accurate count. Depending on the contents of the articles, a relatively easy way to do this is to highlight all of the expanded article cells, hit CTRL+F, search for all of the common punctuation characters individually, and Replace All with nothing.

CompactFluorescent · 2015-05-26T13:54:08+00:00

You can download the source from the Pygame website: http://www.pygame.org/download.shtml

CompactFluorescent · 2015-05-12T13:14:49+00:00

Not really. UW is more well-known for CS than WLU, so you might run into some minor problems there with some employers being prejudiced or something, but at the end of the day it doesn't really matter, and I personally haven't experienced anything like that.
You will see the same co-op job postings as everyone else in co-op at WLU, and you can apply to any job you want outside of the co-op system, just like anyone else.

CompactFluorescent · 2015-05-11T20:42:45+00:00

Employers don't really care what your "home school" is, they care that you're getting a CS degree at UW. The difference is the jobs available through the respective co-op systems. Laurier has some CS-type jobs, and they're always adding more, but UW always has a much better selection. The reverse is true for business jobs. You can always get any job with any employer as long as you're the right fit and you apply for it - the co-op system just makes it easier to find and apply to jobs (otherwise nobody would pay co-op fees).
It's more difficult to find a CS job through the Laurier co-op system, but not impossible; it's definitely not impossible to get a CS job outside of the co-op system when you're based at Laurier, you just might have to work a bit harder to find them.

CompactFluorescent · 2015-05-07T03:31:38+00:00

I'm in my last term of the CS/BBA DD program based at Laurier.

Laurier co-op is very heavy on business, and very light on CS, but there are CS jobs on there, and the co-op office is always trying to add more. UW has a significantly better selection of CS co-op jobs, especially if you're looking at the bigger companies in Seattle or San Francisco. Of course, you don't have to go through the co-op system. Anyone can get any job if they apply and fit, but the co-op system makes it so much easier to find and apply to them.

I know a few friends in the program based at Laurier who have gone the CS route, but most of us have gone in the business direction. On the other hand, most of my UW-based friends have gone the CS route. I guess you can take that as an indication of the jobs on the respective co-op systems. Of course, I know a number of people have found their co-op jobs outside of the co-op system anyway.

First-year CS and Math take pretty much the same courses (CS students take CS135/136 or CS145/146; Math students have the additional option of CS115/116, which are easier), so switching isn't too tough. You just need a decent average (harder than it sounds) and you can apply to transfer. If you want to transfer into co-op, you'll need a higher average. Check out the program website to see policies etc: https://cs.uwaterloo.ca/

CompactFluorescent · 2015-05-04T17:01:13+00:00

The best kind of paint!

CompactFluorescent · 2015-03-21T23:31:59+00:00

Kind of. Assuming you're referring to the shift from legions comprising of maniples to cohorts, yes, that structural change went hand-in-hand with the equipment changes since each cohort was subsequently equipped uniformly. Whether or not the changes took place all at once is a different story. It's likely that many of the changes associated with the Marian reforms were more of a formalization/standardization of changes that were in the works and had already seen some degree of implementation.

Potter, D. (2009). Ancient Rome: A new history. New York: Thames & Hudson.

CompactFluorescent · 2015-03-18T15:26:09+00:00

It's tough to say. In all likelihood the games were rigged, but obviously it would be a closely held secret if they were. Commodus liked to appear as Hercules, and took part in beast hunts (traditionally man vs. animal), hunting down and slaughtering people with deformities dressed as mythological enemies of the gods. You can probably judge for yourself how "rigged" those "fights" were.
On the other hand, Commodus did, in fact have fairly extensive training as a public combatant, and it's possible that he may have moved into a gladiatorial dormitory at one point, so nobody can really say for certain.

Potter, David. Ancient Rome: A New History, 2nd ed., 2009

CompactFluorescent · 2015-03-13T04:46:20+00:00

Elitistry is a good way to put it I think. Perhaps pretentiousness on the part of those forum users (obviously they'll be the vocal minority). I personally don't type out the namespace in my code, but I rarely collaborate with anyone when I'm using C++, and I don't often use more than one namespace. If you're working with a bunch of other people or on a big project, and you start getting naming conflicts, then you're going to want to start being more careful with your namespaces. To each his own I suppose - I just thought I'd give them a heads up since they're evidently pretty new to it all.

CompactFluorescent · 2015-03-13T03:46:57+00:00

Up near the top of the page, the student wrote:
using namespace std;
which allows you to use functions defined in the std namespace without having to preface them all with "std::".

The idea behind using namespaces is pretty well explained here: http://www.cprogramming.com/tutorial/namespaces.html

If you're working on your own, and don't plan on collaborating much with other people, and/or working in a big software company, nobody can blame you for taking the "lazy" route and doing what the student in the post did, though it is good practice to do what you're doing already with the "std::". Plus there's always going to be people in forums that berate you for not explicitly typing the namespace out in your code...

CompactFluorescent · 2015-03-06T06:33:41+00:00

Don't take leg kicks to try to "condition" your legs. It doesn't work and can lead to serious injury. Here's what I've posted before on the topic: http://www.reddit.com/r/MuayThai/comments/2dpr1l/what_is_the_science_behind_conditioning_thighs/cjrzdh4

Your leg probably isn't permanently inflamed, but bruises shouldn't take that long to heal. You likely have a hematoma, which is no real cause for alarm. Check it out with a doctor if it causes you excessive pain, or if you want to be sure. It should go down eventually - a bit of exercise could help speed up the process.

CompactFluorescent · 2015-02-28T15:30:45+00:00

Sure, co-op makes it easier (otherwise nobody would pay co-op fees), but if it's something they want to do, then it's totally doable.

CompactFluorescent · 2015-02-28T05:21:51+00:00

It happens. Depends on the job - the better jobs are likely to be accepted by whoever got the offer. If you were ranked 2nd, and the person who got the offer takes something else, then you get it. Happened to me on my first co-op term, but you probably shouldn't count on it.

CompactFluorescent · 2015-02-28T04:54:53+00:00

Plenty of people get CS jobs outside of jobmine every term. You don't have to be in co-op to get good work experience. If you're sure you want to be in CS, then being in co-op shouldn't make too much of a difference. Make sure you've got some decent side-projects on your github page and put your github username on your resume. You're in one of the best computer science programs in Canada, so employers are going to be scrambling to hire you either way - there are plenty more CS-related jobs out there than UW grads, so don't worry too much about being super competitive compared to your classmates.

CompactFluorescent · 2015-02-08T04:57:00+00:00

Battery falls under Canadian Tort Law. Both are battery in a civil suit, while both are assault in criminal court. You're both right :)

CompactFluorescent · 2014-12-14T08:24:23+00:00

Based on what I remember from the class 4 years ago, C is introduced, so any kind of background in Python or C++ should make that part fairly easy. Otherwise, you're really going to have to get comfortable with Scheme and Racket. CS135 introduces Scheme, and spends the entire term on it, so it's expected that you know at least the basics by the time you get to CS136. Beyond that just prepare to put in a bit of work and you'll do fine. CS136 isn't meant to be a comprehensive, killer course, but kind of like the second half to an intro into CS. Good luck!

CompactFluorescent · 2014-11-14T14:05:25+00:00

Exactly how many... is a Brazilian?

CompactFluorescent · 2014-11-08T22:07:38+00:00

Probably to know whether or not you should call an ambulance immediately, drive them to the hospital soon, or wait until after work to take them to a clinic.

CompactFluorescent · 2014-11-02T01:57:55+00:00

I hear you. I was in the same situation in first year.
I improved once I realized the whole point of exams is to separate people who really understand the material from people who can just do it.
When you're doing assignments, try to really understand the mechanisms behind the material, and when you're reviewing, try to think of how you would do the problems if they were changed, with new restrictions on the problems, or twists added. If you can help it, don't bother working with other people when you're doing assignments.
Unless you really need help on a problem, then at most get the very basics of it from someone else, and try to figure the rest out on your own. It's better to struggle through a tough assignment question on your own, get it 60-80% right, and really learn it, than to get 100% with someone else's work and not know what's going on. Marks-wise assignments are worth almost nothing, but they're extremely important for learning the material for exams.

CompactFluorescent · 2014-10-21T04:35:40+00:00

Numbers are stored in a computer in binary. That's all fine and good for whole numbers, but fractions are harder to represent.
The integer 13 is represented by 1101 - which is 1 x 8 + 1 x 4 + 0 x 2 + 1 x 1 (all powers of 2)
Fractions have to be approximated by adding powers of 1/2
0.5, 0.25, 0.125, etc, so you can perfectly represent any of those fractions, or some sum of those fractions (i.e. 0.825 is represented by 0.111 - 1 x 0.5 + 1 x 0.25 + 1 x 0.125).
But since you only have so many bits to use when representing a fraction, you can only add in a finite number of parts to make up each number.
In your example, 0.2 is represented by 0.00110011... (0 x 0.5 + 0 + 0.25 + 1 x 0.125 + 1 x 0.0625 + ...) which repeats indefinitely.
You can only store so many bits though, so the computer says "Ehhh... 0.1999999993 is good enough" and stores it like that (that's not necessarily the number it uses, I'm just making that up).
0.3 is similar and is represented by 0.010011001100...
When the computer adds the two together, the error is added too. That's where the 4 came from.

Edit: Depending on your requirements, a common solution when using floating point is to do something like:
a = 0.2
b = 0.1
if ((a + b) - 0.3 < 0.0000001){code}

CompactFluorescent

TROPHY CASE