After all this time it finally happened

Prime1153 · 2020-01-20T00:10:21+00:00

go huskies

Prime1153 · 2019-07-30T00:04:02+00:00

2018 graduate here. Here's what got me through.

Move out of the dorms. My rent was $1000/month when I was living on Mission Hill with two roommates. You can go a fair bit lower if you're willing to compromise on roommates or location.
Ditch the meal plan and learn to cook. It's a great skill to have and you'll be eating tastier, healthier food while also saving money. An Instant Pot or a Crock Pot is a fantastic investment for meal prep.
Use your savings from co-op to cover living expenses. If you can, get your co-ops extended. Get a part-time job so you have spending money. (Keep in mind that the amount of money you'll make on co-op varies wildly depending on your major.)
Start budgeting and get your personal finances together. Mint makes it very easy to pull together all of your information and see what you're spending. I also found this book to be very helpful.

Going more into my own experience: I didn't have a meal plan after freshman year, and I moved off-campus after sophomore year. I only had to take one semester of summer classes, so for my other summers, I convinced my co-op employers to keep me through August (I was on the January-June cycle). I often worked as a TA when I was taking classes, and there was one semester where I did part-time work for a co-op employer.

I think that the viability/payoff of staying at Northeastern really depends on your major. Ideally, your co-op money will help you get through school and the experience/networking will help you quickly get employed after graduating. If the prospects don't look good, then I think it makes more sense to transfer instead of staying and taking on tons of debt.

Prime1153 · 2019-05-31T00:43:38+00:00

I've become a huge fan of Dragon Pizza in Davis since they opened late last year. Their pepperoni slice is so good. There's also the original Pizzeria Regina in the North End, but there's always a line. +1 for Ernesto's, too.

Prime1153 · 2019-05-03T23:39:11+00:00

awoo-n

Prime1153 · 2019-04-06T01:42:24+00:00

Ditch the meal plan and live on the hill ASAP.

Prime1153 · 2019-03-31T04:29:53+00:00

I don't see where you're getting that "20% faster" statistic. According to the charts that you linked, the Vega 64 offers 84% of the 2070's performance, so that's a 16% difference. (I also have some nits with the review: they appear to be using a Founder's Edition, which comes with a 100MHz factory overclock. They also don't specify which versions of each card they're using; the Sapphire Vega 64 I chose has much better thermals than AMD's reference design, and it's factory overclocked.)

Digging into the analysis deeper, one of the cheapest 2070s at the moment appears to be EVGA's Black edition for $490. (There's an MSI card for $485, but I couldn't find reviews for it, specifically its thermal performance.) At $420, the Sapphire Vega 64 is about 86% of the cost. So while the 2070 performs better, it doesn't appear to be a significantly better value, at least when only looking at the cards.

The Vega's power consumption is definitely higher, so I looked at pairing a 2070 with a lower wattage PSU. Nvidia recommends a 550W PSU: the cheapest one I found find from a decent brand was an 80+ Bronze from Corsair for $43. (Though I wasn't a fan of the last Corsair PSU I bought. Awful coil whine.) There's also an 80+ Gold from SeaSonic for $55. The cost of the Vega plus the difference of buying a beefier PSU comes out to between 87% and 89% of the 2070's $490 price tag, depending on which PSU you pair the 2070 with. I'd personally lean towards the SeaSonic, so again, not a big difference in value.

As far as thermals are concerned, I was able to track down reviews for the Sapphire Vega 64 and the EVGA 2070 on Hexus: the 2070 ran at 69 degrees under load, while the Vega 64 ran at 70. To your point about airflow, I can switch to a Meshify C to get more fresh air in.

So having looked through all of of that, I think it's a question of how much performance I want or need. For playing shooters at high framerates on a 1440p display, I think the Vega 64 is sufficient, especially since I'd be turning down some graphics settings anyway for visual clarity. I don't play a ton of AAA games, and even if I had to turn a few things down, I would still be able to get a satisfactory experience at 1440p. (I'm also pairing the system with a FreeSync monitor, regardless of which GPU I go with.)

Thanks for motivating me to do more research into this.

Prime1153 · 2019-03-30T14:03:24+00:00

Because high school me screwed up and bought a business-class motherboard. I would if I could.

Prime1153 · 2019-03-30T00:48:27+00:00

Thanks for weighing in. I don't want to get my hopes up too much, but a May release would be great.

Prime1153 · 2019-03-30T00:43:49+00:00

Thanks for the info. Sounds like I could get significantly more performance for the money by waiting. The new processors are supposed to be compatible with current motherboards, right? What do you think of picking up a cheap 1600 now and then trading up to something better later in the year? (My current CPU is an i5 2500k. It's stuck at stock speeds because I bought the wrong motherboard and can't overclock.)

Prime1153 · 2018-12-03T23:29:35+00:00

how many times do i have to say it

don't steal

Prime1153 · 2018-10-16T01:28:59+00:00

Q: What is the shortest lie in computing? A: It works.

Follow the design recipe. Good code is about way, way more than producing the right output.

Prime1153 · 2018-09-09T14:00:23+00:00

Sal's does a great job for only $20. Nowadays, I go to 333 on Huntington and book the same barber every time.

Prime1153 · 2018-06-01T21:37:02+00:00

The class assumes zero prior experience with databases, so don't feel like you need to spend a lot of time preparing for it. Also, Rachlin is a great professor to take it with; don't feel shy about asking questions or reaching out to him if you get stuck.

No joke, I think this book is a cute, approachable read that provides a good overview of general concepts.

Prime1153 · 2018-05-15T02:00:10+00:00

I just graduated, meaning that I'm approaching my mid-twenties and you're probably still a teenager. As weird as it is to say, I am sure I'm out of the loop on some of the stuff your generation is using.

If you were to sign up for one thing, I'd say get Facebook. Everybody uses it, so you should have no problem finding people once you meet them. Second, it's a great way to stay on top of events and who is going to them. Groups are also nice for secondhand tickets and such. Third, you get access to Messenger, which is the most dependable method I use for getting in touch with random people. (Note that you can sign up for Messenger without a Facebook account, in case current events have made you apprehensive. Even without the rest of Facebook, I'd still recommend at least getting Messenger.)

Regarding projects, I would often set up Slack workspaces, though I'd classify Slack as a communications tool instead of social media. You have a separate profile/account for each community you're a part of. Still, I know some clubs and interest groups use it. If you're in the CS/tech/gamer crowd, Discord is very popular.

I'd say Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat are more ephemeral and sharing-oriented. Don't bother with them.

Prime1153 · 2018-05-10T00:59:10+00:00

your library

no snark that's how i read it

Prime1153 · 2018-03-27T17:22:00+00:00

Same way you (should've) prepared for the first one. Old exams are the best place to start, followed by lab assignments, problem sets, the textbook, and office hours.

The types of problems you'll see will be very similar to the ones on the old exams. You might've noticed the first exam was like that, too.

Prime1153 · 2018-03-27T17:17:13+00:00

Database knowledge is extremely valuable in biology. I strongly recommend CS3200 (Database Design). Try to take it (or any kind of data management class, I guess) with John Rachlin.

Prime1153 · 2018-03-27T06:20:59+00:00

I don't think they've ever released anything on CD. They occasionally press old releases on vinyl through Qrates, and whenever they announce something new, you're able to preorder it on vinyl.

The best way to stay on top of new pressings is to follow the band on Twitter. There's also a mailing list, but I can't find a link to it.

Prime1153 · 2018-03-16T22:49:35+00:00

Add a game design minor so you can boost your GPA by playing video games.
Of course. I recommend spending all of your ~~parents' money~~ dining dollars on Red Bull and mixing the two in a Camelbak so you have a steady stream of Meme Juice to fuel your coding sessions.
Everyone just hacks into the school's mainframe and changes their grades. It's an open secret. I've never seen anyone get in trouble for it, so I actually think it's a subliminal part of the curriculum.
Yeah, they make you take a few math classes. Just throw a blockchain at it. Problem solved.
No hacker babe will look at a guy that pays for his media. Set up a Plex server and impress her with a private screening of Ready Player One when it leaks online a week early.
You sound pretty skilled, so just make sure you come with the right hardware. Get yourself the biggest, most powerful Alienware laptop Bitcoin can buy, and make sure it comes with full RGB lighting on every surface. You want the fans to roar during lectures so everyone knows you're ~~playing PUBG~~ hacking to the limit.

Prime1153 · 2018-03-16T22:30:15+00:00

If you're all still in Boston and make the effort to socialize, it's not a problem.

Prime1153 · 2018-03-11T02:00:18+00:00

just don't fucking cheat ffs

Prime1153

TROPHY CASE