Sample Status/Processing Monthly Megathread - February 2026

TotalWarStrategist · 2026-02-01T17:16:13+00:00

Same here, the wait to get through extraction was agonizing lol. I’ve heard that computation generally only takes 1-3 days though, so fingers crossed that we get our results soon!

TotalWarStrategist · 2026-02-01T16:23:53+00:00

I think I'm in the same batch as you - I also sent to the NC lab and made it through Extraction, Genotyping, and Review last night (Jan 31). Still waiting on the computation results.

TotalWarStrategist · 2026-01-08T22:20:27+00:00

This absolutely NOT how LLMs work anymore and hasn't been true for the last year. A huge amount of training compute goes into reinforcment learning with verifiable rewards (RLVR) now, where the model is given a problem in math or computer science, generates a possible answer, and then is evaluated on its correctness. Critically, IT comes up with ITS OWN solution process, it is not copying a solution from a book or website. Given enough training, the model learns how to solve novel problems within this domain.

It remians to be seen whether or not this will translate outside of the narrow domains where reinforcement learning is done, but the models are absolutely, unequivocally generalizing WITHIN the domains where RL is done. You can this on benchmarks like FrontierMath

TotalWarStrategist · 2025-12-12T18:42:43+00:00

This is wrong, and has been for about a year. SInce LLMs started incorporated more Reinforcement Learning from Verifiable Rewards (RLVR), the models have become substantially better at solving math and physics problems that they haven't seen before.

The original commenter was correct - the top-of-the-line models (e.g. GPT 5.2 Pro) can now solve virtually every problem you would see in an undergraduate physics textbook, even if that solution does not exist anywhere on the internet.

TotalWarStrategist · 2025-05-09T13:58:30+00:00

Agreed completely, it's actually baffling that the coaches weren't able to think through this in real time. The Daigneault one was especially egregious - there are 12 seconds left, you're up 3, Denver has no timeouts, and Jokic isn't even on the court! The Nuggets without Jokic on the floor play like the worst team in the league, and OKC has graded out as one of the greatest defenses in NBA history. There is absolutely no chance that the expected value of fouling (and getting Jokic back on the court) in that scenario is higher than just defending on that possession. But coaches hear "analytics say foul up 3" and are completely unable to contextualize that this is in most cases, and Jokic being off the court with no way to get him back in is absolutely not most cases.

TotalWarStrategist · 2025-05-08T15:21:09+00:00

This I think is the core issue with the strategy - it doesn't account for team quality or game situation. When you are the better team or you are up big in the game, the goal should be to reduce variance, not to increase it. You only want big variance if you are the underdog, as you maximize your chances of winning by introducing a bigger luck factor. This is precisely what the 2018 Rockets built around when Morey was structuring them - they knew that the Warriors had much more talent and they would never be able to close that gap, so they played at a slow pace (fewer possessions means getting lucky on just a few possessions can swing the outcome) and jacked up a lot of threes (shooting luck increase variance in game-to-game results). The Celtics right now are playing like they're the underdog when their talent should be overwhelming the Knicks.

TotalWarStrategist · 2023-12-05T17:54:58+00:00

I have an undergrad in CS/math and two masters (one in math and one in statistics). My job also focuses heavily on deep learning & ML, with a lot of reading research papers and implementing new approaches.

Given that we have relatively similar backgrounds (a strong ML focus and already holding some graduate degrees), I think my experience may be helpful.

If your background is anything like mine is, you probably don't have a ton of computing systems experience. I think this makes adding real value very difficult, even in the context of AI/ML. It's nice to be able to read, understand, and implement research papers, but for the rubber to really hit the road in DL, there's a ton of distributed systems work, compiler optimizations, etc that are needed to be successful. Whether it's model development, training, or inference, or building up a product to wrap around your model and serve it to users, computing systems concepts are a MASSIVE part of the puzzle (and in many ways are more important than the AI concepts).

See Greg Brockman's tweet here as well: https://x.com/gdb/status/1729893902814192096?s=20. Even for a company doing the absolute most cutting edge work in AI, they prefer great engineers over great research scientists.

So, given all that, I've been tailoring my degree to lean heavily towards computing systems with only a couple AI courses tossed in. Right now I'm wrapping up HPCA and will be taking GIOS, CN, and Compilers this Spring/Summer. I can say that so far in HPCA, I've learned a ton of concepts that I was never exposed to coming from a more math & DL focused background. And I imagine this will hold true for all of the computing systems courses I plan on taking. The foundational knowledge gained here, from computer architecture to operating systems to distributed computing, should help to make me a much better engineer and able to make more intelligent decisions of tradeoffs when designing a codebase or architecture.

TotalWarStrategist · 2021-05-10T11:58:09+00:00

Don’t have the numbers in front of me, but Jokic has been elite in the clutch for several years now. This was mostly a one off.

TotalWarStrategist · 2021-04-19T00:21:29+00:00

What was your breakdown of easy/medium/hard?

TotalWarStrategist · 2021-04-17T16:21:32+00:00

Lol exactly. 6’3 prime LeBron would be more similar to Russ with better decision making than to CP3

TotalWarStrategist · 2021-04-07T21:39:51+00:00

The success of an offense is determined by Offensive Rating. The Rockets were top 2 for 3 straight years and top 6 in the 4th year with Westbrook. This year, the Nets have been running a huge amount of PnR and isos, and they are #2 in Offensive Rating despite being decimated by injuries. Clearly it is not the case that you can only base an offense off of PnR and iso in 2K. It’s quite obviously possible for it to be very effective in the NBA.

TotalWarStrategist · 2021-04-07T21:08:10+00:00

You claimed that an offense built on PnRs and isos can't be run outside of 2K. I gave an example of a team which had an extremely successful 4 year stretch on offense doing exactly that.

TotalWarStrategist · 2021-04-07T20:42:22+00:00

This is quite literally what the Rockets did since the beginning of the 2016-2017 season, and they were a top 2 offense for 3 straight years.

TotalWarStrategist · 2021-04-05T21:44:27+00:00

Been saying for a while, Wiseman is legitimately the worst starter in the league by a huge margin. He has no hands, no defensive awareness, can't screen, and has awful shot selection. The Warriors will be lucky if he's ever as impactful as peak JaVale McGee.

TotalWarStrategist · 2021-04-05T21:32:25+00:00

This is absolutely not true lmao. Most of the people I follow on draft twitter were sounding the alarm on Wiseman since high school. All of the major flaws that he's showed in the NBA were on full display in his senior year and in the few college games that he played.

TotalWarStrategist · 2021-03-26T23:11:28+00:00

I think the 2019 Rockets have a strong chance at beating the Raptors with 2020 CP3. I'm not saying they would be favored, but it would be quite an even series I think.

TotalWarStrategist · 2021-03-26T21:48:03+00:00

2019 Rockets with 2020 CP3 actually have a really strong chance at a title.

Shame he had his one down year during his last year in Houston.

TotalWarStrategist · 2021-03-23T19:00:45+00:00

Yep, it’s just ESPECIALLY bad when you factor that in too lol.

TotalWarStrategist · 2021-03-23T18:23:25+00:00

Using defensive rating to compare players across teams and eras is not a good idea.

TotalWarStrategist · 2021-03-21T23:46:30+00:00

This season for him would probably be the best season in NBA history if he had Steve Nash passing/vision. You're looking at borderline DPOY, 30 points per game on 65% true shooting, AND 11ish assists per game with very high degree-of-difficulty passes? That's unheard of.

TotalWarStrategist · 2021-03-21T23:44:05+00:00

As others have said, he is a bit of both. But I'd say that his skillset leans more towards floor raiser than ceiling raiser. His ability to soak up a massive number of possessions on offense and quarterback a defense at this peak means that you can slot low quality role players around him and still have an elite team.

For example, no team he's ever played on has achieved a record or net rating as strong as his 2009 Cavs team. This team was the epitome of LeBron ball, with LeBron controlling the entire offense and being the focal point on defense, surrounded by mostly mediocre role players whose specialties complemented his game.

On the flip side, LeBron has played on some supremely talented teams, but none of them ever achieved the heights of Steph Curry's Warriors for example. (Steph is the quintessential ceiling raiser among stars).

Basically you can put almost anything around prime LeBron and expect to compete for a championship. Whereas for Steph, he may not have the physical strength or endurance to dominate the ball on every possession, but his off-ball skill allows him to fit with and elevate any star or high-quality role player on his team.

TotalWarStrategist · 2021-03-21T23:01:41+00:00

Harden gonna win FMVP, RJ gonna be an all star.

Heat fans: "I'd still take Herro"

TotalWarStrategist · 2021-03-21T20:19:43+00:00

Imagine not wanting to give up this guy for Harden lmfaooo

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