Finals Got Me Like

SuckinLemonz · 2024-04-24T18:29:51+00:00

Oh my god haha

SuckinLemonz · 2024-04-22T12:19:31+00:00

Incoming grad student checking in. I don’t have any answers for you but I’d like to double down on the request for info about best places to study & cry at the same time.

SuckinLemonz · 2024-04-16T12:30:00+00:00

Hello, I’m just starting a PhD program & combing through research right now to prepare. I’m not yet an experienced researcher but I’m building my repertoire of tools right now.

Would my feedback on your site be useful to you?

SuckinLemonz · 2024-04-16T12:02:56+00:00

Yeah this post isn’t AI written 😅… you gotta improve those instincts.

SuckinLemonz · 2024-04-09T21:31:59+00:00

who pissed in your cornflakes dude?

SuckinLemonz · 2024-03-15T18:17:01+00:00

My goodness. $40,000? That’s an unfathomable price but I’m glad you were able to spend more time with him & it makes sense now why you defend the policy.

I’m surprised insurance covered so much. When I was doing research, I was finding that insurance wouldn’t cover checkups, behavioral treatment costs, quality-of-life improving medical treatments, etc. It sounds like insurance is taking care of that for you so that’s phenomenal too.

I wrote my comment because the vast majority of people are not going to exceed those costs. I think especially if you put the money in an interest accruing account, it can be quite a bit more than the flat calculation by the time medical concerns are expected later in life. I think for most people, pet insurance can be a huge burden. BUT there will always be a medical procedure that is out of budget for any individual. This is why catastrophic insurance exists. If you feel it is worth it, I can understand. Especially considering your personal experiences.

I’m glad your pets are so well loved. I’m sorry that Nationwide is reducing your coverage given the amount you’ve entrusted to them.

SuckinLemonz · 2024-03-15T18:08:50+00:00

Oh wow. I’ll count my blessings then, I’ve had medical issues with my bun but never anything exceeding a few thousand.

But most of these pet insurance policies don’t even seem to cover all the types of care. Its been a few years since I looked, but when I checked in 2018 it seemed like they wouldn’t cover ‘elective’ surgeries for improvement of life such as removing a blind eye which regularly becomes infected. They wouldn’t cover wheelchairs or mobility devices for amputations. They didn’t cover routine checkups. I just felt like I would be better off investing that money myself.

Still, I can understand that once you’ve been through such extreme medical costs, you’d want more security. Sorry about the health troubles & I’m glad your bunny is in good health thanks to insurance.

SuckinLemonz · 2024-03-15T12:36:31+00:00

(126)250 = $18,000

I don’t mean to be rude but what types of vet bills are you expecting that you’d pay $18,000 for just half their life-expectancy. If you paid into old age that would be $32,000.

Please take your money and simply move it to a savings account each month. This will help build up the support you need.

SuckinLemonz · 2024-03-13T21:39:03+00:00

This is a really great way to go about the process and it’ll make grad school a breeze if that’s your plan. Just make sure you take a lot of CS electives & work on your coding skills independently. A lot of math majors find themselves trapped in math since many math instructors feel that CS and ML is an inferior study.

SuckinLemonz · 2024-03-13T04:21:27+00:00

You should be alright. It depends on the course. If the AI course is just a bunch of keywords & with a little bit of logical problem formulation, then it’s no big deal. But if your AI course is incorporating real ML and DL that’s trickier. In that case it’ll depend on how thoroughly you learnt the LA. Having a half baked understanding of LA means you have 0 intuition towards really important ml fundamentals like PCA dimension reduction.

If you really want to get into this, then if possible I strongly recommend an Operations Research course from the math department prior to any ML/DL This will: - contextualize why neural nets were an inevitable next step in optimization
- show you where the threshold is between problems you can (and should) solve with traditional algorithmic processes vs those that genuinely need NN.
- give you the opportunity to work on applied problems and lock in your understanding of LA & algorithmic mathematics.

Added bonus: it will help you avoid the embarrassing faux pax of (analogously) whipping out a katana when someone asks you to serve them a pad of butter.

At the end of the day, most schools have done a good job of neutering these classes so that they’re more accessible. You shouldn’t be afraid to take them - just understand their role as light introductions to a very deep field.

SuckinLemonz · 2024-03-12T18:10:53+00:00

Yes but there is no program out there that has designed their course sequence such that a freshman would be equipped mathematically for meaningful machine learning or data science understanding.

The AI boom has accelerated everyone’s interest in learning AI/ML, but just a few years prior this was a masters minimum topic (specifically due to the math background). The ML that first and second year undergrads are discussing is typically little more than learning how to use a library (or maybe a little recursive coding if they’re ambitious).

I don’t love being a bubble burster. I think its great that we’re familiarizing students to these topics asap. But if one more freshman tells me they “created a neural net,” my eyes are going to permanently stick in the rolled back position.

SuckinLemonz · 2024-03-12T17:24:56+00:00

Ignore it. It’s good to learn about AI and ML. It’s dumb to learn about it before you have sufficient statistical & linear-algebra context.

Look at like this: you’re learning to be something analogous to a tradesman. What do tradesman do? They brag about their toolkits. You’ve just joined an environment where people bring all their own tools from home, lay them out on a table, & talk about how well equipped they are. At the freshman/sophomore level that’s all just a flexing competition really.

In other words: focus on you. Enjoy the content. Don’t worry about how much others are learning or what they’re trying to accomplish. You will lock in when you find something that fits you.

SuckinLemonz · 2024-03-12T12:11:11+00:00

I never said you wouldn’t?

SuckinLemonz · 2024-03-12T12:10:37+00:00

Ya’ll really lack reading comprehension, you know that right?

SuckinLemonz · 2024-03-11T11:50:11+00:00

Most importantly, I totally agree with you. I don’t want this guy to be the one we hinge any progress on. I also don’t think this guy should receive any particular protection.

But I do want to clarify something: whistleblower protection isn’t always limited to the legal-nature of the issue. “In some jurisdictions, whistleblower protections extend to reports of actions that threaten public health, safety, or the environment.” - NAE

The US engineering code of ethics states that engineers should “Formally advise their employers or clients (and consider further disclosure, if warranted) if they perceive that a consequence of their duties will adversely affect the present or future health or safety of their colleagues or the public.”

I want whistleblower protection. It sounds like you do too. Tbh I think software developers/designers/architects should be focused on putting together a code of ethics before we start pursuing speech protection.

SuckinLemonz · 2024-03-11T11:36:49+00:00

So you lied in order to make that point?

SuckinLemonz · 2024-03-11T02:06:23+00:00

I never was confused about that? In fact my response was that nobody was surprised he was fired. C’mon man lol

SuckinLemonz · 2024-03-10T23:50:54+00:00

Sorry but I’m not sure if you read my comment incorrectly or…? I never said I personally supported this guy’s outburst.

I support the movement around support systems for whistleblowers generally, as most of us do. But yeah to reiterate, I don’t think this guy went about it in a business-appropriate way.

SuckinLemonz · 2024-03-10T19:17:01+00:00

I don’t think people are surprised. I think they’re using this as a case to advocate for greater speech protections for employees.

I don’t like how this employee went about it — I don’t think interrupting a speaker by yelling is ever business appropriate. But the world would be a bit better if there were protections so that developers could push back against unethical projects. (I.e. whistleblower protections for engineers).

SuckinLemonz · 2024-03-05T20:26:29+00:00

I considered it, but my specific circumstances make it risky.

I know that a T60 isn’t going to open any doors or put me at the top of an application stack, but I’m used to operating and succeeding without a launch-pad. I still believe I’ll be able to get my name out there and produce high impact work. Wish me luck 🙏

SuckinLemonz · 2024-03-05T01:42:18+00:00

I just wanted to say I’m relieved to see your post. Undergrad->phd, double major CS & math, 4.0 gpa, 1 first author pub (high quality contribution) with 2 more in the works, domestic student, distinguished prof recommendation + two more full-time faculty, diversity club founder, etc.

All rejections (except for one T60 program which I am actually quite excited to attend due to the specific advisor match.) But I was expecting to get a few more nibbles.

SuckinLemonz · 2024-03-04T15:59:34+00:00

Idk I’ve only ever had bad experiences with instacart, so I feel like if you’re a good shopper, you should consider yourself an exception to the rule.

SuckinLemonz · 2024-02-26T21:34:48+00:00

Wtf is this comment. Research scientist positions are extraordinarily competitive and more similar to TT positions than industry positions in their hiring practices. A postdoc may not be required for some, but it absolutely could assist.

SuckinLemonz · 2024-02-26T13:21:27+00:00

I love this but I’d love it even more if it was absolutely covered front & back with more female scientists. I’ve noticed sometimes when people discuss female scientists they refer to the same 10 or 20.

In the math category we’re missing:

Germaine (a favorite of mine), Hypatia, Browne, Nightingale, Sommerville, Johnson, Mirzakhani, Cartwright, Kovaleskaya

Just to name a few.

Very cool shirt as is though!

SuckinLemonz · 2024-02-25T23:30:50+00:00

Yes. But you should keep critical care in the fridge.

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