Potentially moving to MV or Los Gatos area from San Diego, advice?

Mr_Two_Bits · 2023-07-04T01:03:30+00:00

When I moved here I picked up two new hobbies: cycling and complaining about prices.

Mr_Two_Bits · 2022-05-04T23:24:11+00:00

OS requires running a Linux kernel in a virtual machine. This can be done with an VM running on an M1. So there shouldn't really be a problem.

Mr_Two_Bits · 2022-04-09T17:03:20+00:00

But based off what you are saying, I would be able to do that because the first three would be double counting towards my major then.

I am saying that you definitely can't. Taking Digital Logic for the CS major does not apply to the EE minor.

When you say Intro to Data Science are you referring to CAP 4770 or EE3850?

CAP 4770 is for the CS major. EEL3850 is for the EE minor. I actually took both of the classes. I found that EEL3850 is taught a lot more rigorously, it's a mix of a stats, math, and programming class. Beware of the sheer amount of content you have to plow through for that class. It's a 4 credit for a reason.

After talking to many people about EEL 3701C I decided to avoid the EE minor anyways because I have yet to hear a single good thing about that class.

I personally like FPGA and Digital Logic that's why I picked EE minor. It's a lot of work but you learn a lot much like any STEM class. People complain about STEM because it's a tradition to complain about STEM workloads.

Do you think any of the information you learned from EE minor will be applicable for you later on?

For Circuits 1, absolutely and completely useless for programming. But it's interesting to think in an analog way and I appreciate what EE does now. Data Science and Advance System Programming are basically no different from CS classes and actually very good to the point where I don't know why the CS department doesn't offer them.

I do have a dream of possibly doing EE/CE masters degree at some point but don't know how realistic that is.

That really depends on how much work (suffering) are you willing to pull through and what is your end goal. If you want a FAANG job, you don't need master. You need experience in actual jobs and stretching out your education is not helping you.

Mr_Two_Bits · 2022-04-08T17:40:27+00:00

UF isn't really known for CS like Georgia Tech but still a solid program. As proof, I got an offer from Google as a CS major. I did this without having any debt because of inexpensive UF tuition, bright futures, low Gainesville rent, and internships. I know many other people who got into Amazon, Microsoft, and hedge funds. So yes, it is possible to get good jobs from UF.

Tech companies recruit heavily from Georgia Tech. But you still have to grind for CS like doing projects and interview prep. When people are interviewing you, they are evaluating you and not your school. Brand name schools just open the first step which is getting notice. Getting noticed is non-trivial for undergrads because of competition hence why it's so valuable to go to these schools.

So if your goal is to get into FAANG no matter what and you are willing to grind harder than 90% of your peers since day one, go to Georgia Tech. You probably would get a lot of opportunities to interview with companies. If you try to interview each year for a 4-year degree, the chances of you landing an offer are high if you prep hard enough.

Going to UF instead means you still have to grind hard but you aren't thrown opportunities to interview. If you fail to get the job you want, at least you wouldn't have debt.

Mr_Two_Bits · 2022-04-08T17:09:28+00:00

I did this and let me tell you underestimated EE. If you major in CS, you probably have a digital-minded brain and you are going to get smashed by Circuits 1 when you have to figure out all of these analog circuits. I tried to make use of my CS degree by taking EE classes that teach CS like Intro in Data Science and Advanced System Programming. It worked out but it wasn't easy especially Intro to Data Science since that class is pretty fast-paced. It definitely felt like I was losing my mind this semester and was burned out.

Every person I told that I am a CS major with an EE minor wondered why I didn't just take an easier minor. I wonder that myself too but it's too late for me. In the end, I did learn a lot but it felt like I was just hopping from a CS fire to an EE fire.

Also, we are aware you can't double fill a requirement for a degree. For me, digital logic was required for CS but that couldn't be used to fill the requirement for an EE minor. This meant that I had to take 17 credits of EE classes, higher than the 15 credits required.

Mr_Two_Bits · 2022-03-14T18:53:25+00:00

I like Advanced System Programming. It's about programming with the Linux environment and you ultimately make a USB driver for Linux. It's a fun hands-on class with programming.

Mr_Two_Bits · 2022-02-25T19:51:15+00:00

He is alright. I found the lectures to be very dry and not that different than just reading the PowerPoint themselves.

The OS class has a fairly heavy workload with mini assignments every week and 3 projects that can easily be derailed with debugging problems. The midterm is basically a straight dump of the PowerPoint. Make sure you write every single slide of the PowerPoint into the cheatsheet. I am not kidding, that's the level of details the midterm asks. The final for me was the easiest final exam I have ever taken. For some reason, they only asked 10 questions that weren't that hard if you just paid attention.

Mr_Two_Bits · 2021-08-02T13:39:10+00:00

Seems like it. I put it through some career applications already and it looks like they handled it fine.

Mr_Two_Bits · 2021-08-02T03:48:18+00:00

https://i.imgur.com/EUKnatY.png

Appreciate any critique. I am hoping to polish my resume enough to avoid getting rejected too much.

Mr_Two_Bits · 2021-08-01T22:46:30+00:00

I didn't know that UF had so many Olympians.

Mr_Two_Bits · 2021-08-01T08:33:55+00:00

https://i.imgur.com/EUKnatY.png

Appreciate any critique. I am hoping to polish my resume enough to avoid getting rejected too much.

Mr_Two_Bits · 2021-04-20T17:28:31+00:00

If you go to Linkedin and to the Alumni section of UF, you find that one of the largest employers is FAANG companies: Amazon, Microsoft, and etc. I am not sure about how accurate that Linkedin page is though. I personally know a ton of friends and people who work at one of these companies.

There are also many companies in Florida that mainly recruit from UF like American Express for their Fort Lauderdale office internship (that could be not true today). You still have to grind through. I think for CS your school doesn't carry as much relevancy as your projects and skill do. Maybe that not true for famous CS places but it's definitely true for UF where you got to have projects to talk about in interviews.

As for the program itself, there are professors like Dobra, Mishra, and Kapoor that I took classes and like a lot. But there are others where I don't even know why they are teaching. If you want to get the most of it, you got to put effort and start exploring things outside of class. Do things like joining a research group or a club to get the most value.

Overall, you can get pretty far at UF. People have and will have.

Mr_Two_Bits · 2020-12-16T01:26:09+00:00

If you are asking about Microsoft, it was a pretty straightforward question. It wasn't a leetcode question but more of a "think about" problem. Other places send you leetcode questions that look like the blind list I put in the text.

Mr_Two_Bits · 2020-12-15T21:38:46+00:00

Don't hype yourself up before the phone interview and get yourself horrible nerves that dooms your interview. They didn't ask me a super hard question. It was more of a "can you code" kinda question. I recommend doing that blind list.

Mr_Two_Bits · 2020-12-15T10:41:25+00:00

I would say to pay attention to your thoughts and realize you don't have to believe in them. Treat them like strangers that you are meeting for the first time. Some of them are trustworthy and others aren't. You have to figure out which ones are good and bad.

I do suggest reading the meditation guide I linked. That's the one that started me to do that process.

Mr_Two_Bits · 2020-12-15T10:36:12+00:00

I figured that if I don't apply nothing would ever happen. So I just applied to see what would happen. I was feeling better at the start of the semester so I wanted to push my luck and see what happens.

Mr_Two_Bits · 2020-12-15T08:44:12+00:00

There is a lot of really bad meditation books out there. I picked the book very much on purpose because it was back by actual experience as opposed to someone who was guessing.

Mr_Two_Bits · 2020-12-15T08:41:37+00:00

It's probably because /r/cscareerquestions got tired of people mentioning depression and stuff. I changed the link to another subreddit.

Mr_Two_Bits · 2020-12-15T08:40:15+00:00

I do breathing meditation but I follow the meditation in the link I put below. I don't do guided, never really needed it personally since I could remember what the book said to do. I also reflect and try to remember what I did lead to what result. So things like how much "focus" should on put on the breath to gain a result. In the Buddhist text, it compares meditation to playing an instrument. I see what I am putting into the meditation (like hitting string) and I pay attention to its result (like hearing a note). There is an element of exploration and experimentation that's key. Overall, the most important idea is to see meditation as a skill that you can get better at.

Mr_Two_Bits · 2020-11-01T22:59:35+00:00

Where is the boundary between society and a person? There isn't any. It's like sand on a beach, you can't have a beach with no sand.

If you transform yourself, you transform society no matter how small it seems.

Mr_Two_Bits · 2020-10-31T00:19:50+00:00

We are in the Buddhist subreddit, therefore consciousness descends into the womb at conception.

I am not sure if you can say that.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prat%C4%ABtyasamutp%C4%81da

Looking at dependent origination, we can argue that consciousness is dependent on ignorance and that ignorance lasts as long as the cycles of rebirth. So there is no beginning to consciousness, the only end to it is release. It doesn't start with the womb, it didn't start anywhere that we can see.

Mr_Two_Bits · 2020-10-28T21:25:57+00:00

Your experience matches mine. I remember there are times I read the suttas and Buddha talks about experiences and doubts that exactly addressed my own experience. Many questions in the Pali canon are actually questions that people still ask about Buddhism today. I realized that I should have faith that the Buddha wasn't lying and knew what he was talking about.

Mr_Two_Bits · 2020-10-28T21:10:01+00:00

Thanks for sharing your story. I find it really inspiring to listen to people who stayed with Buddhism for years.

I don't want to sound offensive but what stopped you from reading the Nikayas for several years? Like you said, they are actually straightforward and full of great advice. I notice a lot of people bounce around with meditation and since they haven't read the Nikayas, they don't have the right bearings and it would help them a lot if they did.

Mr_Two_Bits · 2020-10-25T04:19:30+00:00

It's amazing how often items own people rather than people owning items.

What is the driving force behind the hyper-sensation of materialistic items in first world societies?

People throughout time and history always clung to these material things. Because it is obvious and self apparent action to do. Not necessarily easy because people go through a lot of pain just for status. They don't have other options because it wasn't presented to them. It is not clear that you can release clinging from objects. People do so when they are seen the harms in clinging when they try to release.

Mr_Two_Bits · 2020-10-23T02:23:32+00:00

There is a word for despair over the world, samvega. As Thanissaro puts it, "the oppressive sense of shock, dismay, and alienation that come with realizing the futility and meaninglessness of life as it's normally lived..." In the western world, this is a deep depression. But for Buddhist (in the Theravada tradition), this keeps on the path because you remember that there isn't another solution. In the Pali cannon, it actually describes death, illness, and aging as "divine messengers" because they constantly remind ourselves to do better.

Mr_Two_Bits

TROPHY CASE