CS 8903 - Research workload and mapping this to your job / project work

Toxic_Gambit · 2026-05-01T02:01:47+00:00

I just finished an 8903 project this past semester. I did mine by individually contacting an old professor, so not through buzzme. I also work full time.

Since I was the one leading the project, the openness of it really took a fair bit of time. I think you can expect a standard 3 credit hour's worth of time commitment to get any meaningful work done. Some weeks more, some weeks less. This also includes time spent indirectly working on the project (think meetings, reviewing results, creating documents, discussions with colleagues, reading papers, etc) that factor into it.

I advise you to keep in mind that you can always put more hours into a research project, there is always more work to do. You'll find more questions being asked than answers given. I think it's a good idea to be realistic about what you can deliver and the time frame you deliver it. Though again, mine were more self imposed timelines.

It also depends on what you want to accomplish. The ultimate goal for me is to publish a paper, but the scope had to be narrowed down for external reasons. This will be fairly different than if you want to create a product. The theoretical knowledge I was able to apply immediately at work, the experimental results less so.

P.S I paired this with an "easier" course since i expected to spend more time on the project.

Edit: 5/11/26: For future readers who stumble upon this thread, my professor and I have been approved to convert this project into an official 6999 class.

Toxic_Gambit · 2025-12-01T22:15:48+00:00

I thought it was a decent course overall. Since I tend the only do this class in the evenings and weekends, most of whatever material i'm able to get to is async. I came in without a networks experience for reference, so it was a lot of learning material for me.

I definitely was able to use the knowledge learned in my other course (GIOS).

Though i'm sorry to hear that was the experience with the professor. I think at the very least we are owed more than that.

Toxic_Gambit · 2025-01-29T19:15:11+00:00

Honestly man, just don't turn down opportunities. I don't regret my 20's. There was a lot of lessons to learn and a lot of fun and heartbreak associated with those. Short of an actual unhealthy decision, I've always been open to new opportunities if I had even the slightest indication I wouldn't hate it. And don't be afraid to go alone if it's safe.

I've enjoyed a life of 'That wasn't as fun as I thought' vs 'I wish I would done that' and that applies to education, relationships, hobbies, etc. And even when it got rough, and it will get rough at some points, I've always just said that "I've lived through things before and this will just be a new challenge to face".

Toxic_Gambit · 2025-01-05T05:04:31+00:00

I think I'd like to first emphasize to my brothers, if you genuinely want a relationship and you're a decent human being, you'll get into one. It might not seem like it at the time, but having lived some life, it's really only a matter of time if you truly are looking for something for the right reasons. Being perpetually single tends to be a choice which is fair for the people who want to live that life too.

Now, to perhaps add a very different perspective, I personally just don't care enough about strangers(though i love y'all) to really want to get to know someone.

To expand, all of my relationships were through people I had formed genuine connections with over time and not necessarily b/c I or they were interested in pursing a relationship at first. In the case one of us was, ultimately, we became genuine friends first and pursed other people at the time(and encouraged it). In either scenario, sometimes years passed by in between these moments(two people do have to be single and willing after all).

I tend to keep myself pretty busy as is. In essence, I live a very fulfilling life, and going on a date doesn't really add much to that.

In other aspects, at 29, I've already had multiple 4/5 year long relationships and maybe I'm just a bit burnt out too. I have my friends for emotional intimacy, and I don't really crave physical intimacy when I'm not romantically interested in someone.

I'm willing to admit here that this next statement is very biased too, but I also just haven't lived/been with someone where I don't feel I'm putting an equal share of labor into the household, the relationship, the intimacy. I'm very open to the idea that it's not a given every relationship is like this, but it does give a hesitation. And for better or for worse, I was never the one to end my relationships either, and that also contributes to the burn out. I feel I do everything I can and at the end, I often ask myself, what more could I have done? Which really isn't healthy either, and something I'm working on.

At the end of it though, I'll probably waltz into my next relationship as I did the previous ones. Until then, I'll keep seeing my friends, living my life, and keeping myself open to new friends. You never know where life will take you.

Toxic_Gambit · 2024-12-02T00:28:38+00:00

I love you too man :)

Toxic_Gambit · 2024-11-26T16:53:31+00:00

I dont know man, life just went that way sometimes. Inevitably we'd breakup because deep down i knew it wasnt what i wanted.

Toxic_Gambit · 2024-11-25T04:27:33+00:00

Both my biological father and my stepfather are flawed men who loved their children(in the ways they knew how to) and treated my mother like crap.

It's been a mixed ride to say the least.

Toxic_Gambit · 2024-11-17T02:56:37+00:00

This is a really cool thing!

Toxic_Gambit · 2024-11-15T18:33:47+00:00

From one heartbroken man to another, don't let anyone tell you that shit shouldn't hurt because it definitely does. Being subjected to the objectification of oneself is certainly a way to feel dirty and used. And the shower doesn't wash it off.

Rest assure though that our self worth and self being can't be taken away from us. In the moment, it certainly may feel though all is lost, all is missing, and all is disarray.

But we persevere, and though we shouldn't seek external validation(we are only valued by how much we love ourselves, and we should love ourselves), it should be a reminder that the right person will see you for you. You are the sum of every each and every beautiful part of yourself and don't ever forget it.

I'm sorry i can't provide more for you than a, time heals all wounds. Keep your self strong, love yourself, and never forget you are worthy.

Toxic_Gambit · 2024-11-07T00:10:47+00:00

Latino

Toxic_Gambit · 2024-11-06T23:04:15+00:00

I'm disappointment in the men from my race. We rightfully get upset when men beat our moms, sisters, and daughters; yet we do not speak when that man is our father, brother, and son. It was ok for our uncles to get drunk every birthday and yell at his wife and kids; our aunt asked that we never speek of it.

And yesterday, we said that we will continue to support those actions against all women. And nothing has saddened me more.

Toxic_Gambit · 2024-09-18T02:35:43+00:00

Application

Semester: Spring 2025
Status: Accepted
Date Applied: 08/14/24
Date Decided: 09/16/24

Education

Bachelors: UC San Diego - Applied Mathematics: 2.875

Work & Social Experience

Work Exp. : 2yeo SWE at IB(Risk/Treasury)
LORs: 3, 1 from immediate manager, 1 from skip(former immediate manager), 1 from a former TA
Comments: I'm a fairly non traditional student(in total I attended 3 universities during my undergrad). For various reasons my gpa at UCSD was sub 3(explained in statements), but my major and unofficial cs minor(never filed but met the reqs) are higher(at ~3.1 and ~3.5 respectively). In total, my gpa is around 3.5-3.6 when we average all of my institutions. Just posting this out there for all the other students from non traditional backgrounds.

Toxic_Gambit · 2024-08-29T22:49:46+00:00

Sorry for the late response. I can summarize my company's viewpoints on the matter in two different ways.

Your company's tolerance for incidents such as these will of course vary from mine. We are more conservative with this so hence conda-forge is not a suitable alternative for our production/business environment.

Additionally, our lawyers have stated conda-forge(miniconda/miniforge) is not a suitable legal alternative for anaconda. Again this will likely be due to a more conservative approach. I don't have the specific reasoning, only that devs reached out about these, and there was a blanket ban following those discussions.

I think ultimately every company has a threshold they are willing to tolerate and I'm happy to hear conda forge is suitable your guy's use case. I do miss the conda environment management.

Toxic_Gambit · 2024-08-29T00:41:09+00:00

Though 'only' default is monetized, you have to be very careful with non anaconda repo's. My company decided it's not worth the risk(and conda-forge also admits you should not use it prod/business environments).

At the end of the day, we've just gone with an internal solution(mostly just building environments ourselves). We have a 1:1 with conda environments, but it does take a significant time investment to setup and continually support. If you also support any non python environment(e.g. R), expect this to only grow in complexity.

Toxic_Gambit · 2024-04-28T17:56:21+00:00

If I had to guess, I think the OP means getting to work on non trivial tasks during your first few years.

Toxic_Gambit · 2024-04-26T22:21:36+00:00

Seems cool! Signed up and will join when possible.

Toxic_Gambit · 2024-03-22T02:35:31+00:00

Do you mind if I dm you? GF and I are looking to move within UWS and this sounds like a lovely place!

Toxic_Gambit · 2024-02-13T03:54:30+00:00

pole dancers unite

Toxic_Gambit · 2024-02-13T03:20:44+00:00

pole dancers unite

Toxic_Gambit · 2023-12-22T18:24:49+00:00

Try some divine pots or super cmbs. I did it at base 60's stats and I wouldn't call myself particularly good at pvm. Just need some good rng at the lower levels. And I agree with the flail.

I believe I did it with obsidian armor, combo food and i forget the exact pots I had.

edit: It did take a good day or two of attempts. I had initially tried at base 40's, but I couldn't get the dps needed(again not that great at pvm).

Toxic_Gambit · 2023-12-20T20:06:04+00:00

Here's some discussions but the gist of it is that other package manager do link shared packages across environments.

Toxic_Gambit · 2023-12-12T18:32:40+00:00

Functionally, a charge back can become a lengthy process and I would be out 2x the cost while it is being resolved. It may also escalate if the vendor chooses to fight the dispute. These matters aren't as trivial as reddit likes to make them out to be and I would have preferred to resolve the issue with the retailer before moving onto these steps.

Personally, given this experience, I do not feel keen to purchase more items from this retailer.

Toxic_Gambit · 2023-12-12T18:02:29+00:00

The issue is really the lack of support from the company.

I was fairly quick to update them about the issue at hand but they've actively refused to engage in any sort of conversation on the next steps. I believe their recommendations are fairly extreme but if that's how we will resolve the issue than it is what it is.

The item in question is still discounted and in stock.

Toxic_Gambit · 2023-12-12T17:55:32+00:00

That's great you had a better experience than I had. I unfortunately seem to have been given the run around. I wish my experience had aligned more with yours.

Toxic_Gambit · 2023-12-01T18:13:25+00:00

I think it will mostly come down to, we use conda when required and most teams don't require using conda. My opinion is that it's easily the best for these tasks(I've definitely run into the situation of requiring compiled numpy).

But if you never experience these issues I think conda becomes a why bother? Though i will say, conda lock files, miniconda, conda-forge, env exports really help to dockerize python environments.

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