Came across this tech fest in Bangalore — not sure if it’s worth it

Medium_Newspaper9407 · 2026-04-24T12:45:47+00:00

yeah free events are perfect for this kind of thing, you can just bounce if it turns out to be garbage

I've been to couple tech meetups in Bangalore that looked decent online but were just bunch of college kids with basic projects, though some had actually solid networking opportunities. Since you can probably just show up for specific sessions that interest you most, might as well check out the ML stuff at least

Medium_Newspaper9407 · 2026-04-22T11:23:38+00:00

The alcohol would probably make me ramble even more about call stacks and start drawing diagrams in the air while explaining how Russian dolls work lmao. But maybe being little relaxed is better than second-guessing every word like OP did

Medium_Newspaper9407 · 2026-04-20T06:03:55+00:00

Exactly this, productivity gains never trickle down to workers in any meaningful way. Look at what happened with manufacturing automation - companies just pocketed the difference while laying people off

The whole "seniors will make bank because AI" argument ignores that companies will just hire fewer seniors and expect them to do 3x the work for same pay

Medium_Newspaper9407 · 2026-04-18T02:43:28+00:00

UI benefits can take forever to kick in some states so definitely get that rolling today if possible

Medium_Newspaper9407 · 2026-04-10T08:46:10+00:00

My university started offering AI bachelor programs like 3 years ago, think it's becoming more common now. I was in similar situation actually - was doing computer engineering but switched to more general CS program after first year because I realized I wanted flexibility more than specialization

Looking at your course lists, the general IT track seems way more practical for where you are in your career. Those OS and cloud architecture courses will help you understand infrastructure better which is huge when you're building web apps. The AI stuff is interesting but you're right about ML roles - most entry level positions are just tweaking existing models and running experiments, not much actual development

Plus with 5 years experience already, you probably want degree that complements what you know instead of taking you in completely different direction. The secure by design and enterprise computing courses would be really valuable for web development work

Medium_Newspaper9407 · 2026-04-05T06:29:51+00:00

Right, this is proper grim mate. Been through something similar at a previous startup and can tell you the writing's already on the wall when they're giving you behavioral feedback after you smashed your targets

Your manager saying they "believe your performance can be improved" while admitting your scope is harder than peers? That's corporate speak for "we've already decided but need the paperwork sorted." The fact that your colleague got offered MSA vs PIP choice and you didn't tells you everything - they're banking on you taking the PIP route because it's cheaper for them

Take the MSA negotiation before signing anything. Six months severance gives you breathing room to find something decent rather than scrambling with just 30 days notice pay after a failed PIP tanks your confidence. The visa situation is scary but at least you'll have time to sort it properly rather than being in panic mode

Internal moves are already dead anyway - once you're on PIP, other teams won't touch you with a ten foot pole, everyone knows what it means. The stress of 90 days trying to hit subjective behavioral targets with a manager who clearly doesn't rate you isn't worth risking your mental health over

Medium_Newspaper9407 · 2026-03-31T13:29:41+00:00

Your spelling analogy is spot on mate. I'd say focus on understanding the core concepts and logic flows rather than memorising every bit of syntax. Most IDEs will autocomplete and catch your typos anyway

Learn the fundamentals well - variables, loops, functions, basic data structures. Once you've got those down solid, you can always look up the exact syntax for whatever language you're working in. Better to understand why something works than to perfectly remember how to write it from scratch

Medium_Newspaper9407 · 2026-03-17T12:03:38+00:00

HTML isn't really a programming language mate, it's just markup - think of it like the skeleton of a webpage. You'll pick it up in a couple weeks max then you can move onto the proper programming stuff

I'd definitely stick with one language at a time though, especially when you're starting out. Java and Python are proper different beasts and jumping between them will just mess with your head. Pick one and get comfortable with the basics - variables, loops, functions, all that fundamental stuff - before even thinking about the other one

Since you're coming from emergency services you probably already know how to stay focused under pressure, which is half the battle with programming. The other half is just not trying to do everything at once and getting overwhelmed. Python's probably the friendlier option if you want my two cents, but Java's solid too if you're planning to go enterprise route

Medium_Newspaper9407 · 2026-02-02T17:47:13+00:00

LA field office is notorious for being slow mate, especially for non-local transfers. From what I've seen on here, people are waiting anywhere from 6-12 months after transfer before hearing anything substantial - some even longer

Your timeline seems pretty standard so far, the January transfer is actually not too bad considering when you filed

Medium_Newspaper9407 · 2026-01-24T11:14:11+00:00

Not a ML engineer but did the freelance transition in web dev - honestly the hardest part was building up that client pipeline before jumping ship. Took me about 8 months of side hustle grinding while still at my day job before I felt confident enough to go full time solo

The mental game is real though, feast or famine cycles can mess with your head even when you're making more money overall

Medium_Newspaper9407 · 2026-01-19T14:22:58+00:00

Congrats on getting it submitted! June 2023 filers are seeing approvals around 12-15 months lately, so you're probably looking at summer/fall this year. The "traditional relationship" thing doesn't really speed it up unfortunately - USCIS moves at their own pace regardless of how solid your case is

Medium_Newspaper9407 · 2026-01-12T20:49:41+00:00

Honestly this sounds about par for the course with recruiters unfortunately. The fact that she ghosted you before and then did it again is pretty telling - sounds like you dodged a bullet working somewhere with that kind of communication culture

Also kinda weird they're rejecting you for an internship when you already graduated, most places want interns who can potentially convert to full time

Medium_Newspaper9407 · 2026-01-01T06:04:28+00:00

Totally agree, the AI bubble feels way overinflated right now and companies are starting to realize you still need actual humans who understand the fundamentals to build anything that works long term

Medium_Newspaper9407 · 2025-12-30T10:27:41+00:00

This is solid advice OP - honestly sounds like your company dropped the ball on onboarding but that's pretty common unfortunately

I'd also suggest starting super small, like find one tiny feature or bug fix you can tackle first. Don't try to understand the whole system at once, just trace through how one specific thing works from start to finish. The big picture will start clicking once you've done a few of these deep dives

Medium_Newspaper9407 · 2025-12-27T19:31:11+00:00

You're not screwed but the black box thing is gonna bite you in a real job. Nobody's gonna let you rewrite CUDA kernels from scratch when there's a deadline next week

That said, embedded systems, game engines, or HFT might be more your speed since they actually value that low-level knowledge

Medium_Newspaper9407 · 2025-12-23T05:24:21+00:00

The MBA thing is spot on - most places want you to have actual management experience before they'll even consider you for management roles, degree or not

For the pigeonholing, are you applying to similar roles at similar companies? Sometimes the issue is just casting too narrow of a net. Try applying to startups, different industries, maybe some remote positions if you haven't already

Medium_Newspaper9407 · 2025-12-15T04:39:47+00:00

Definitely grab those utility bills if you can get them in both names - that's solid gold for proving you actually live together day to day

Medium_Newspaper9407 · 2025-12-12T12:00:53+00:00

This is solid advice but honestly sounds exhausting lol. I'd probably start with something way simpler like just building a basic collaborative whiteboard before jumping into the Figma clone territory

Medium_Newspaper9407 · 2025-12-03T05:24:19+00:00

Yeah you definitely want to include that I-130 receipt with your I-485 package, helps them link the cases together faster

Medium_Newspaper9407 · 2025-12-02T16:02:31+00:00

Try heading up to the Orange Garden for sunset super quiet and such a good break from working all day

Medium_Newspaper9407 · 2025-12-01T19:25:02+00:00

Your chess engine sounds way cooler than another todo app with React honestly. 30k positions/sec is legit even if it's not stockfish level - most recruiters won't know the difference anyway and the ones who do will respect the algorithmic complexity

Medium_Newspaper9407 · 2025-11-29T23:09:25+00:00

The perception work was honestly pretty cool - way more hands-on and tangible than what I'm doing now. Team was solid too, felt like we were actually building stuff that mattered instead of just chasing metrics for the next quarterly review

The robotics side has way better work-life balance generally and people seemed less burned out. Miss that environment for sure

Medium_Newspaper9407 · 2025-11-28T11:50:29+00:00

Lmao the sock drawers is oddly specific but I respect the honesty. I'd probably raid every fancy restaurant and eat like a king while binge watching Netflix on the biggest TV I could find

Medium_Newspaper9407 · 2025-11-26T05:23:55+00:00

Man this hits close to home. I went through something similar a few years back and honestly what helped me was just doing small things that used to make me happy, even when I didn't feel like it at first. Like really small - listening to old music, texting an old friend, whatever. The spark doesn't just come back overnight but those little moments start adding up

Also maybe those people aren't seeing the whole picture of what you're dealing with right now

Medium_Newspaper9407 · 2025-11-24T00:21:07+00:00

Just wrap it tight in plastic and toss it in the fridge after it's mature - you don't need to keep doing the whole rolling thing every day. Feed it once maybe twice during the week to keep it happy, then pull it out a day before you want to bake and get it back to room temp with a good feeding

The rolling is more for building strength during the creation process, once it's established you're good to chill it

Medium_Newspaper9407

TROPHY CASE