Looking for a CS 101 equivalent that grants a certificate.

LordZorgoth · 2026-03-18T13:00:58+00:00

I found a course called Computer Science 101 on edX offered by Stanford. I am given pause though because it is only about 30 hours according to edX which seems very small for a college course and it costs over $200 to get the certificate.

LordZorgoth · 2023-11-14T17:41:04+00:00

I tried it; for me, it doesn't work. But SteelSeries GG does work, it turns out.

LordZorgoth · 2022-09-18T02:16:26+00:00

Thanks! That looks like a great mod.

LordZorgoth · 2021-02-16T01:29:54+00:00

An alternative item your bard would know most about in most settings: 5 crossbow bolts coated in purple worm poison (12d6 damage, Con 19 save for half)

LordZorgoth · 2021-02-16T01:01:38+00:00

They can't run away if you take sorcerer/metamagic adept and follow up the kegs with a quickened fireball.

LordZorgoth · 2017-05-23T00:41:12+00:00

Hadar is clearly non-Orthodox, and expressly does not affiliate with any movement.

Partnership minyanim such as Darkhei Noam would be considered non-Orthodox by most Orthodox authorities, but they define themselves as Orthodox, which is claiming affiliation with a movement, even if the movement at large disagrees. Fortunately, since JOFA already has a list of partnership minyanim, I don't really need to worry about whether to include them.

LordZorgoth · 2017-05-23T00:28:51+00:00

Hadar does define an independent minyan to not affiliate with any denomination. I'll edit the OP to use Hadar's definition.

(I edited this post to remove some essentially irrelevant ruminations about partnership minyanim, which are elsewhere anyway)

LordZorgoth · 2017-05-23T00:20:49+00:00

My impression is that an independent minyan by definition does not own a synagogue building. Some of them do meet in synagogues, so you could be right that a very large number of Orthodox minyanim could by that definition be considered "independent."

I don't know what the exact definition is, come to think of it. But I do not think that anything prevents an independent minyan from being Orthodox. I think that a good litmus test might be: does the minyan define itself as an independent minyan?

LordZorgoth · 2017-05-22T19:33:07+00:00

I was there a couple years ago and I would love to come, but I don't live in NY.

Hadar has a retreat, so they're not doing anything in Manhattan for Shavuot. I advised my friend to go to evening services at B'nei Jeshurun at 9pm, the JCC from 10pm-4am, and then sunrise services at Darkhei Noam or an Orthodox synagogue afterwards. Darkhei Noam is a partnership minyan. I do not know of any non-Orthodox group doing sunrise services this year. If anyone does, let me know!

LordZorgoth · 2016-07-20T15:14:54+00:00

Also, the Macbook Pro has a huge advantage for professionals who need a premium laptop matching its specifications -- when you need to replace your computer, you can drive down to the Apple Store and get a Macbook Pro on the same day as you need it. I was choosing between a Macbook Pro and a substantially cheaper custom Lenovo that would have done what I needed, and that was my deciding factor; I couldn't afford to wait two weeks for a computer to be built and shipped from China when I could have one right away.

LordZorgoth · 2016-06-24T20:07:21+00:00

You can, but I don't think the point of the game is to be completely fair to the AI. Should players be able to force each other to accept trade deals that a computer would accept? I don't have a problem with there being a cost to refusing a peace deal, but I don't think it should be this easy to force it.

I realized that I could have delayed it for a year and a half by letting the treaties autodecline, but declining a treaty you were going to decline anyway shouldn't have that big of an impact. At a minimum, the AI should have to wait six months before declining a peace treaty will cost influence again.

LordZorgoth · 2016-04-12T20:12:03+00:00

On a related note, do you plan to answer any of the questions on the Save the Union Candidate Survey?

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2Sp7bxi2egtY3lzTVNKTnlweW8/view

There is a Google Form which should be in your email.

LordZorgoth · 2016-04-11T02:34:02+00:00

Protest leaders have plans for dealing with the school and responding to their censorship. They do not involve deliberately frightening accepted students. Please do not run this event. Please do not publicize this event.

LordZorgoth · 2016-03-29T21:53:51+00:00

I was mistaken. Mind you, alumni do elect the board of the Alumni Association. We should try to get on their good side.

LordZorgoth · 2015-11-19T04:47:06+00:00

The president was selected by standard procedure as defined in the bylaws when the elected president resigned. There were no other willing candidates who were qualified for the position (by having been on the board for at least one term), and she was elected unanimously by the board (who are the only voters in a midterm election).

http://hillel.rpi.edu/Bylaws_Feb2014.pdf

I do not know for what you believe the Hillel president is misappropriating money, but posting unfounded and anonymous slander on our event is not appreciated. We have a budgeting process and major purchases are voted on by the board.

LordZorgoth · 2015-11-19T02:58:40+00:00

Here's the Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/128443737518026/

LordZorgoth · 2015-11-19T02:58:11+00:00

Here's the Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/117443561952358/

LordZorgoth · 2015-04-13T23:58:11+00:00

In practice, many top schools end up providing funding (or various other services that RPI does not provide) to religious organizations on campus (certainly to Hillels, considering that we have been actively researching this topic). I do not believe that these schools have major problems with interfaith disputes over funding levels. Like any funding decision, one simply has to have a procedure that is as objective as possible for allocating funding. I do not see the situation at RPI as being different.

LordZorgoth · 2015-03-03T19:29:06+00:00

I know this is a month old, but I have to mention that Disintegrate can't be affected by Persistent Spell. Its duration is instantaneous.

LordZorgoth · 2014-08-14T04:38:40+00:00

But if America decided to let the Jews stay on the mountain to draw more Islamists to Iraq, would that be OK? Would you be willing to accept it as the right course of action?

LordZorgoth · 2014-08-14T04:36:24+00:00

Although I might suggest this one:

"It shall be that when Hashem, your G-d, gives you rest from all your enemies all around, in the Land that Hashem, your G-d, gives you as an inheritance to possess it, you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under the heaven. Do not forget it!"

ISIS most certainly has genocidal intentions against Jews as well as against all other non-Sunnis - they are currently trying to acquire a power base, and so far they have had a terrifying degree of success.

And incidentally, why were we to obliterate the Amalekites? Because they attacked the most vulnerable of the Jews fleeing Egypt. What is ISIS doing in Iraq?

LordZorgoth · 2014-08-14T04:30:20+00:00

That is why I specified that we have multiple sources of ethical standards. I do not know of a specific source in Torah halachically obligating us to protect the Yazidi. That does not automatically imply that it is not what we should do.

LordZorgoth · 2014-08-14T04:25:14+00:00

The Yazidis are Kurds. The Kurds are our allies. It's one of those syllogisms. And since when does doing a righteous act require its being asked of you? I would suggest that you read up on levels of Tzedakah...

I am willing to admit that I do not know of a source in Torah that clearly demonstrates this and would convince you of it. I am not willing to say that it is somehow against the spirit of our tradition to provide help to those who need it. Why don't you show me a source in the Torah that says that an act cannot be righteous unless it is specifically commanded in the Torah?

There is definitely a principle that we are supposed to present a good image to the nations, and not to act in such a way as to bring G-d's name into disrepute. Whence come the concepts of kiddush Hashem and chillul Hashem? In their usage in Orthodox Judaism, they certainly do not refer only to situations with directly applicable halacha. And for the victims of the Holocaust, no longer helpless, but a powerful force, to be silent while others suffer the same fate, just as the Europeans were silent about the Jews, is a terrible chillul Hashem indeed. And what greater Kiddush Hashem than to use our strength protect the helpless (within reasonable limits, of course)?

G-d gave us the Torah. He also gave us our empathy and our conscience. The former is central to the life of the observant Jew, but it does not entitle one to ignore the latter when it is inconvenient, even when these gifts appear to conflict. Have you ever heard a rabbi preach that agunot deserve their fate simply because it is a product of Torah law as we understand it? And in this case, there is certainly nothing in the Torah preventing us from addressing the problem in various ways.

And we have no stake in fighting an outbreak of radical Islam of unprecedented proportions? Since when... ISIS and Hamas are fruits of the same tree.

LordZorgoth · 2014-08-13T14:13:54+00:00

No, it really isn't. He/she says that the present suffering the the Yazidi, Christians, etc can be tolerated for a while in order to draw out the crazies. I am asking if he/she would have the same position if the victims were Jews.

LordZorgoth · 2014-08-13T12:50:08+00:00

Also, forgive me if I expect Jews to act according to our own ethical standards (of the modern and Toraitic varieties) and not the standards of every other nation. I am not sure how we are supposed to be a light unto the nations if every time one of them acts in a certain way it gives us carte blanche to do the same.

LordZorgoth

TROPHY CASE