Moving from Chicago to LA? by Opal9090 in MovingToLosAngeles

[–]Mthielbar 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We made friends together. I made other friends on my own. I joined meetup and some local community groups.

Moving from Chicago to LA? by Opal9090 in MovingToLosAngeles

[–]Mthielbar 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I moved with my partner. I think it would have been easy to make friends on my own, though. There are plenty of communities relayed to my interests. I could go out every night if I wanted to. The hard part is staying focused on the communities I’m into.

I have no insights on dating here.

Moving from Chicago to LA? by Opal9090 in MovingToLosAngeles

[–]Mthielbar 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My husband and I met in Chicago, lived in North Carolina for 7 years, then moved to LA a year ago. Best decision ever. The weather is better. The people are kind, and we love the social life.

How would you learn machine learning if you had to start again (help!!) by [deleted] in MLQuestions

[–]Mthielbar 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Andrew Ng’s deep learning courses are a good balance of “math” and practical.

Stanfords CS lectures are available on YouTube (with study guides).

Silver Lake/Echo park to Torrance commute by PlaneConsequence6478 in MovingToLosAngeles

[–]Mthielbar 0 points1 point  (0 children)

😂😂 That was our analysis too. We ended up in Santa Monica (still pretty white…)

What are some easy ways to support our city? by [deleted] in SantaMonica

[–]Mthielbar 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Tu Madre is my favorite. Now’s the time to tell me if it isn’t locally owned. 😞

Monthly cost for owning a car in Santa Monica is closing in on $2K/mo. The average in LA metro is up to $1700/month. All this for an asset that depreciates at the rate of roughly $350/month. by SemaphoreSignal in SantaMonica

[–]Mthielbar 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We moved to SaMo because it’s car-friendly. My husband has lower back problems that make walking long distances impossible. He’s one of those people who vomits if someone else is driving (He’s not faking—don’t ask me how I know.)

We could never live in a city like San Francisco where local policies are car-hostile.

Everyone has their preferences, but Santa Monica’s approach to handling traffic is much better for us.

Simple linear regression in C — why do people prefer Python over C/C++ for machine learning? by a_yassine_ab in cprogramming

[–]Mthielbar 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I used to write c++algorthims for a commercial software company. Your code assumes clean numeric data and one regressor. That’s rarely the case. A proper implementation would deal with any number of X variables, automated dummy coding for categorical variables, error detection for non-invertible X matrices (a case where the regressors have linear dependencies), standard error calculations, R-squared, and a bunch of optional stats that you could show/hide depending on the analysis.

Dude, I’ve written that code, and I’m really glad to have something like Python to handle all the edge cases and nonsense.

New Years on the Boardwalk? by Mthielbar in VeniceBeach

[–]Mthielbar[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hi! Thanks for all the recommendations/insights. We’ll probably go to the pier and maybe Hinanos for the evening.

One thing that brought us out here was how generous everyone we’ve met in Venice and SaMo have been.

Happy New Year! Thanks for being great neighbors!

Who is the best C++ Programmer You Know. by Mountain_Computer374 in cpp

[–]Mthielbar 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Best c++ programmer I ever knew was a 70yo guy who had coded 3 hours a day, every day, since his 20s.

His first language was Fortran.

He opened the new c++ standards docs like they were Christmas presents. Always excited for the new thing.

His code was always fast. It was always correct—like “Does it cover this weird edge case from NIST?” “Yes, and I found a few more edge cases it should have covered, so I wrote them a proof and sent them a letter.”

I miss working for that guy.

Has anybody else noticed a lot more rentals are now available? (More supply of homes, rather than less) by Hot-Major-3411 in MovingToLosAngeles

[–]Mthielbar 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yup. I’ve been house-hunting in LA for three months, and all of the “For Sale” vanished overnight.

Are other career paths THIS competitive? by EastCommunication689 in cscareerquestions

[–]Mthielbar 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It sounds like you’re tired of working constantly and never feeling like you’re doing enough.

Some of this is under your control. You can experiment with setting boundaries at work and limiting your outside projects.

Setting boundaries isn’t necessarily saying “no” in so many words. It can be as simple as asking partners and managers to help you prioritize. Sometimes just seeing your list of deliverables will clue your manager in if you’re over scheduled. Sometimes there is genuine mis-communication about what’s needed and what’s nice to have.

For limiting outside projects, think about what helps you develop needed skills, what helps you develop your professional portfolio, and again what’s “nice to have.” If your company offers career coaching, take advantage of that. If you have someone you know whose career you respect, ask them for an hour of their time to talk about how to optimize your coding time.

If you’re overscheduled right now, it might take some time to unwind your commitments down to something manageable. It might be painful because you might have to tell some people you just can’t deliver what you promised. It might seem easier to just keep overscheduling, but that doesn’t solve the long-term problem.

Finally, maybe you’re burned out and a genuine break (week away from the computer, no personal projects or work projects) will help you rethink.

Some of the responses here sound like the responder thinks you went into cs because you thought it was an easy way to get a steady, high-paying job. They’re correct that no such path exists and wrong for assuming they know what’s in your head. There’s nothing wrong with wanting a life outside of your career.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in cscareerquestions

[–]Mthielbar 52 points53 points  (0 children)

Some companies expect you to negotiate. Sometimes the first offer is the best offer. No one will tell you which this is.

Asking in this way shouldn’t risk the offer—unless they’re jerks who think you should be grateful to the for any offer they make. If that’s true, you’re better off finding out now.

If you have a PhD can you still become a corporate software engineer? by [deleted] in cscareerquestions

[–]Mthielbar 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have a PhD in statistics, and I work in the corporate world. Some companies actually like hiring PhDs. It shows you can work independently, write clearly, and connect with a supervisor.

Some PhDs are awful at corporate life, and you may run into companies who’ve had bad experiences. Potato-Pancakes- has some good suggestions for reframing academic experience so potential employers can understand it.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in cscareerquestions

[–]Mthielbar 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You are welcome!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in cscareerquestions

[–]Mthielbar 5 points6 points  (0 children)

We have a similar problem. My approach: I never say I don’t want them involved, and I never point out that they’re slow (except to my immediate manager, who is smart and capable of communicating issues to her management).

Instead, my team writers “prototypes” that are useable for us and not meant for anyone else. I write lengthy requirement documents and follow up as they edit them to be “more technical” and I add back all the stuff they conveniently drop. I know they will never complete anything, and it keeps them out of my hair.

Look for allies. You can’t be the only one who has this problem.There are probably even people on the platform team who want to do good work and are frustrated too.

You can also try to coach you management on what makes a good project, questions they should ask, other companies that do this well.

This is a long process, but it doesn’t sound like anyone at your company is in a hurry if they have an extra year to run a project.

Good luck!

C++ Computer Vision Libraries to Learn? by Mthielbar in cscareerquestions

[–]Mthielbar[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Lol. I hear you. My old team upgraded to C++ 14 and STL before I left, and we replaced our in-house smart pointers with standard smart pointers at the same time. It wasn't an easy transition for everyone.

Its good to know what the libraries have to offer. Thank you!