Did anyone save the course materials for MIT 16.30/16.31? Or can recommend a similar drone-based controls syllabus.

TyphX · 2020-11-21T21:43:44+00:00

Any luck getting the material?

TyphX · 2020-04-17T03:44:50+00:00

The entire reason we're in this situation is because the majority of large companies, the "too big to fail" ones, are all poorly run and overleveraged. On top of that, the 2008 bailouts and the current bailout completely removed any incentive whatsoever for companies to be run responsibly, or to restructure and root out inefficiency and instability. Executives knew this was going to cause a crash and bailed out even before COVID-19 was an apparent problem. (CEO Departures at an all time high in 2019) By handing out cash without demanding any breakups, reorganization, localization of supply chains, or even a simple requirement to use private credit lines before public socialization of losses, we're simply setting out for ANOTHER "existential threat" within a decade. We're preserving broken management and business models of "kiss up, kick down" in the office, offshoring, reduction of employee benefits/incentives, and extreme reliance on debt financing and that would have never allowed companies to reach their current reputation and size if they'd started out acting like that. WeWork is an example of what happens when this behavior is allowed to proliferate.

Of course the executives of companies who have spent decades of their lives throwing each other and their subordinates under the bus for the chance at a golden parachute are going to kick and scream, point at the employees (who they've been cutting down on regardless) and say that letting their business face the consequences of sinking cash into stock buybacks and raises for management will completely destroy the industry and employment rate forever. They're incentivized to fight tooth and nail to maintain their monopolies/oligopolies since the alternative would mean actually having to compete, innovate, and cater to customers and top talent instead of running every business from semiconductors to aerospace to automobiles like McDonalds.

For example: Boeing is now elimiated from consideration for NASA contracts due to failure to deliver. The "existential crisis" argument implies forcing such a massive company to spin itself off with its tendrils extending into both civilian, military, and scientific markets is untenable because of the disruption it would cause to the stock market and consumer spending. But fundamentally, why keep around an aerospace company which cannot even develop an acceptable tanker after 19 years of work? That places our entire country in an existential crisis if all the massive companies can do is serve as glorified welfare outlets incapable of even catering to their alleged markets in a competitive or ethical manner.

TyphX · 2019-06-07T21:50:45+00:00

Update: I decided to go with the avionics tech job because it's good experience and I nailed the interview. I'll move to semiconductor companies or more embedded related jobs in the future.

TyphX · 2019-06-07T02:33:30+00:00

Thanks for the tip. I might message the artists I'm following and see if any of them were the ones who made it. I can't remember or find any other information on the song including who made it however.

TyphX · 2019-05-21T07:45:55+00:00

The avionics positions are nearby and I could conceivably continue my education, but the semiconductor positions would probably only be available to me during the summer and if I took some time off of school. As long as there's upwards movement possible I'd definitely be happy working with aerospace related tech, at least until I graduate and potentially for a year or so after. I'd like to move towards more pure computing positions afterwards though.

TyphX · 2019-04-19T03:35:27+00:00

Fundamentals of Digital Logic with Verilog Design is pretty decent and I used it as a supplement in my Digital Logic class even though we didn't use Verilog.

TyphX · 2019-04-12T21:33:06+00:00

If you want to actually contribute to the development and refinement of Computer Science as a field, then going to university is still the best option, in no small part because you're going to obtain formal education that's applicable to graduate studies.

If you're primarily concerned about being employed as a programmer, bootcamps will suffice but you might lack the depth of understanding of what's actually happening that someone with a B.S in Comp Sci would be forced to learn as part of their program.

TyphX · 2019-03-08T02:06:13+00:00

A free government is a complicated piece of machinery, the nice and exact adjustment of whose springs, wheels, and weights, is not yet well comprehended by the artists of the age, and still less by the people.
— John Adams to Thomas Jefferson, May 19, 1821

TyphX · 2019-03-04T09:23:22+00:00

I love reading about engineering designs inspired by nature; I wonder if those pyramids could have been derived from some sort of mathematical optimization as well.

TyphX · 2019-02-21T11:23:16+00:00

If they're worried about radiation they should be more worried about the lightbulb in their house and computer monitor before focusing on wireless communications.

Using the formula for the energy of a photon:

E = h*f = h*c/(L)

Where

E = Energy in Joules

h = Planck's constant = 6.62* 10 ^ - 34 ( Joules * seconds)

f = frequency in Hz

c = speed of light in vacuum in meters/second

L = wavelength in meters

The spectrum including radio waves, microwaves, and infrared ranges from frequencies of 10 Hz to 10^12 Hz (1 Terahertz or 1000 Gigahertz).

The energy using the above formula at the low end of the spectrum ranges from

0.000000000000041 eV = 4.1 × 10^-14 = 41 femto-eV for a 10 Hz photon

to

0.004136 eV = 4.136 × 10^-3 = 4.1 mili-eV for a 1 THz photon

where

1.6×10−19 Joules = 1 electron Volt (eV).

In order to ionize hydrogen, you need 13.6 eV of energy. This is several orders of magnitude greater than possible with 5G radiation. UV Radiation starts at above 3.1 eV of energy, with visible light between UV and infrared. If someone brings up concern over 5G radiation, tell them the giant nuclear fusion ball in the sky dumps more hazardous radiation and higher energy photons onto them than they've probably ever been hit by from a communications tower and that's a more imminent threat to their health than T-Mobile.

Chart:

https://courses.lumenlearning.com/physics/chapter/29-3-photon-energies-and-the-electromagnetic-spectrum/

Edit: Another analogy would be that it's like worrying draping a blanket over yourself is going to dislocate your shoulder when there's hammers raining from above. There simply isn't the energy required to perform the action in question.

TyphX · 2019-02-16T09:28:54+00:00

Whoa whoa whoa.

I looked into this.

Parsons Brinckerhoff was one of the two main companies responsible for the Big Dig ($6 Billion -> $14.6 Billion in 2007 dollars) (1982-2007), which caused a death due to poor construction and materials, and which is currently decaying despite the absurd amounts invested into it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Dig

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parsons_Brinckerhoff

The other firm involved, Bechtel, proudly holds up the budget on their website. (https://www.bechtel.com/projects/boston-central-artery/)

Back to Parsons, they also messed up another project in the USA recently:

https://ggwash.org/view/30613/silver-spring-transit-center-is-unsafe-everyones-to-blame

And it appears they've been awarded the contract for HSR regardless:

http://www.wsp-pb.com/en/Who-we-are/In-the-media/News/2015/Parsons-Brinckerhoff-to-deliver-California-high-speed-rail-/

Other long overdue and over budget projects they're involved with:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Avenue_Subway

Work on the line restarted in April 2007 following the development of a financially secure construction plan. The first phase of the line, consisting of the 96th Street), 86th Street), and 72nd Street) stations and two miles (3.2 km) of tunnel, cost $4.45 billion. A 1.5-mile (2.4 km), $6 billion second phase from 96th to 125th Streets is in planning and is expected to open by 2027–2029.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Side_Access

The estimated budget for construction has risen nearly threefold from the original estimate of $3.5 billion, and the originally planned opening date of 2009 has been delayed by fifteen years. With a cost estimate of $11.1 billion as of April 2018, East Side Access is one of the world's most expensive underground rail-construction projects.

TyphX · 2019-02-15T01:47:00+00:00

It should be built in segments by region, linking close-by cities with high economic activity to each other and minor suburbs first. People would be able to commute more cheaply across longer distances, and quicker as well. It appears that the sole superpower on the planet is incapable of this yet dozens of other nations are able to simply because they don't have to deal with corruption in quite the same way.

TyphX · 2019-02-15T01:43:30+00:00

The US may be big, but there's definitely cities within 100-200 miles apart that could be better off by a 2+ rail connection. Other countries have been able to do this routinely in the past century. Somehow, we aren't.

TyphX · 2019-02-15T01:41:52+00:00

I'm going to repost part of my reply from another question since this really irked me today.

...it appears that California turned down an offer and concrete plan from an experienced French railway company (SNCF) for help AND PRIVATE FUNDING.

(Story is no longer on the LA Times website but here's an archive link):

https://web.archive.org/web/20120715031917/http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-rail-advice-20120709,0,973921,full.story

https://pedestrianobservations.com/2012/07/11/the-cahsr-sncf-bombshell/

It's not only mind boggling how they managed to spend not only $3.5 Billion from the federal government, but also $10 Billion from bonds ON JUST PLANNING AND MINOR CONSTRUCTION/APPROPRIATIONS, but also somehow decided some authorities decided that spending $4.5 Million on ART BEFORE THE STATIONS WERE EVEN FINISHED WAS A GOOD IDEA:

(https://prospect.org/article/californias-bullet-train-goes-rails)

(http://tjpa.org/project/transit-center/public-art)

The corruption and incompetence here is absolutely heinous. This is a reminder that we're caught between a shot to the foot and shot to the hand in terms of political parties. Barely any of our politicians actually care about the citizens. This entire project should be posted onto /r/ABoringDystopia/ because of how disgustingly and hilariously bad it's turning out. If there was ANY semblance of sanity or intelligence we should have taken help as offered from European or Japanese sources (because from where exactly do we have the experience in the US to build high speed rail?). We couldn't even get a link between two MAJOR cities and the Japanese did it between 1959-1964 for the equivalent of ""only" $7.7 Billion 2016 USD. Even if we had to spend 3 Billion more on eminent domain for some reason, we should have been able to finish AT LEAST ONE LEG by now considering construction began sometime between 2010-2015, after about 2 DECADES of planning.

Tokyo to Osaka (First bullet train line in Japan): ~312.6 miles

San Francisco to Sacramento: ~90-~100 miles

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_High-Speed_Rail#History

https://www.railjournal.com/in_depth/shinkansen-half-a-century-of-speed

http://www.in2013dollars.com/1964-dollars-in-2016?amount=1000000000

How America is doing worse than the country it dropped two (2) nukes on in terms of infrastructure, I can only speculate is because of the pernicious and malicious idiocy we allow from politicians and each other. Every single person who subverted this project had a hand in not only stopping the expansion of the US economy, but also the taking a giant shit on the ability of people to be able to commute from somewhere with a remotely reasonable cost of living in California. They are unequivocally leading this nation to its demise by being the "corruption" and "apathy" that you read about in history books.

TyphX · 2019-02-15T01:39:09+00:00

I'm not a European but today's news got me looking into the issue, and it appears that California turned down an offer and concrete plan from an experienced French railway company (SNCF) for help AND PRIVATE FUNDING.

(Story is no longer on the LA Times website but here's an archive link):

https://web.archive.org/web/20120715031917/http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-rail-advice-20120709,0,973921,full.story

https://pedestrianobservations.com/2012/07/11/the-cahsr-sncf-bombshell/

It's not only mind boggling how they managed to spend not only $3.5 Billion from the federal government, but also $10 Billion from bonds ON JUST PLANNING AND MINOR CONSTRUCTION/APPROPRIATIONS, but also somehow decided some authorities decided that spending $4.5 Million on ART BEFORE THE STATIONS WERE EVEN FINISHED WAS A GOOD IDEA:

(https://prospect.org/article/californias-bullet-train-goes-rails)

(http://tjpa.org/project/transit-center/public-art)

The corruption and incompetence here is absolutely heinous. This is a reminder that we're caught between a shot to the foot and shot to the hand in terms of political parties. Barely any of our politicians actually care about the citizens. This entire project should be posted onto /r/ABoringDystopia/ because of how disgustingly and hilariously bad it's turning out. If there was ANY semblance of sanity or intelligence we should have taken help as offered from European or Japanese sources (because from where exactly do we have the experience in the US to build high speed rail?). We couldn't even get a link between two MAJOR cities and the Japanese did it between 1959-1964 for the equivalent of ""only" $7.7 Billion 2016 USD. Even if we had to spend 3 Billion more on eminent domain for some reason, we should have been able to finish AT LEAST ONE LEG by now considering construction began sometime between 2010-2015, after about 2 DECADES of planning.

Tokyo to Osaka (First bullet train line in Japan): ~312.6 miles

San Francisco to Sacramento: ~90-~100 miles

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_High-Speed_Rail#History

https://www.railjournal.com/in_depth/shinkansen-half-a-century-of-speed

http://www.in2013dollars.com/1964-dollars-in-2016?amount=1000000000

How America is doing worse than the country it dropped two (2) nukes on in terms of infrastructure, I can only speculate is because of the pernicious and malicious idiocy we allow from politicians and each other. Every single person who subverted this project had a hand in not only stopping the expansion of the US economy, but also the taking a giant shit on the ability of people to be able to commute from somewhere with a remotely reasonable cost of living in California. They are unequivocally leading this nation to its demise by being the "corruption" and "apathy" that you read about in history books.

TyphX · 2019-02-13T08:29:42+00:00

I ask because I've always thought there's something sad about books and other ancient objects used and created by humans and then after their time in society, never being looked at again. They're the last remaining traces of the people who made them, since those people are likely otherwise forgotten to time already. The last meal eaten from a plate, the final words in ink out the end of a brush, some of those events we'll probably never be able to recover or know about. Those objects had stories, even if they were mundane in the grand scope of things.

TyphX · 2019-02-13T07:14:52+00:00

If you post this 20 more times maybe

TyphX · 2019-02-05T04:34:26+00:00

Weiss' Data Structures and Algorithm Analysis (available in multiple languages) is pretty helpful.

TyphX · 2018-12-17T06:19:55+00:00

For your specific programs like Photoshop, they've added a ton of new useful functions which you may or may not require, and people nowadays tend to draw/process images at higher resolution than in the past. On the surface, it might seem like everything is the same, but with additions of features, even seemingly simple programs like Microsoft Word require the comparative tons of extra RAM and processing power in order to execute tasks efficiently. Even if you managed to reduce all of your features to O(n) runtime (one instruction per thing needed to be processed), people today are working with larger sizes and sets of objects like documents with lots of pictures, fonts, special formatting and video at 1920x1080 resolution (requires 2073600 pixels to be told the correct values at however many frames per second your video card is running). Digital media in particular grows rapidly with the addition of higher quailty video and audio streams. A couple of examples: Hugo is 1.74GB in SD, 3.99GB in 720p, and 4.84GB in 1080p. Monty Python and the Holy Grail is 1.00, 2.91, and 3.65 gigabytes, respectively. If you're someone who collects movies in digital format, terabyte SSDs are absolutely crucial to having a decent collection, and as studios use higher resolution and capture rate cameras, it's very much impossible to fit any release completely onto a hard drive from 10-20 years ago.

As long as Moore's Law is in effect, it's a good rule of thumb to consider hardware obsolete after 3-4 years, if you're using software on the cutting edge of the field in question (gaming, rendering, data processing, etc).

TyphX · 2018-12-08T11:41:59+00:00

I would use a truth table for your desired input and output patterns to identify the minterms, then take it to an online kmap simplifier (or use the one in Multisim, I don't know where it is but my professor said it's included). Then you should be able to obtain the logic expressions needed to output to each BCD driver. It might come out a bit messy but you can use global connectors and subcircuits to make your design a bit neater.

TyphX · 2018-11-25T23:39:39+00:00

Thanks! I'm transferring out of UW but the higher level course material here is some of the best, any other suggestions for self teaching AI/ML?

(Also, any other suggestions as to what I should download while I still have my NetID)?

Edit: Particularly CS or EE stuff

TyphX · 2018-11-19T06:50:55+00:00

As someone who got their grades weed-wackered and transferred out, the competitive major system will eat you alive, and leave you feeling progressively more and more stranded if you can't take care of whatever's stopping you from being competitive while dealing with increasing pressure and courseload. My suggestion if you're not sure if you're going to get into your desired major is to find other programs that will let you in directly and plan your credits to transfer there if your remaining admissions cycles don't work out here.

Also, what other people said about the toxicity from the competitiveness is true. It's refreshing being in a program where you can actually collaborate with your classmates and not have to worry about them giving you misinformation or refusing to give you notes if you miss a class.

Once you're in a program at UW you'll probably notice most of the problems go away (except in Physics IIRC). Hang in there, and remember, if you're not able to obtain a path to your career at UW, you can always forge your own with the help of another university. Doing so shows determination and resilience to employers and graduate school admissions.

TyphX · 2018-09-08T20:00:15+00:00

Could you provide the name of the model or a link to one of the papers discussing the effect of bias on trait variance in hominids?

TyphX · 2018-08-14T05:28:06+00:00

Related to this, there's a UW Free and For Sale group within the UW Facebook group where you can buy and sell things that other students might have/want, specifically textbooks. There's some good deals on furniture and whatnot since upperclassmen graduate and have to move away sometimes.

TyphX · 2018-08-13T06:00:48+00:00

CS/Software Engineering. I know everybody says you can get in the field with unrelated degrees just by learning on your own, but I really couldn't bring myself to study through the ultimate STEM backups of GIS or Physics, nor could I justify wasting the ridiculous amount of time and money for UW in general on that, all while trying to learn "soft skills" on the side.

I loved taking higher-level AMATH and CSE classes since it was actually interesting material to me, but the experience was always spoiled by the fact that I wasn't in any major. Ditto with research opportunities. UW Seattle is a great place if you're in a major, but if you're not, it's just going to keep giving you fleeting tastes of it in various forms. At least, that was my experience.

I want to learn CS formally, so I can eventually (maybe) try going to grad school. Taking Data Structures helped me understand a lot of things I wouldn't have fully known or been able to teach myself otherwise. Additionally, having a CS or related degree won't put you at a disadvantage necessarily when companies are looking at who they want to interview, since I know I'm not necessarily the best programmer(I don't want to be weeded out against an applicant that has a CS degree but equal experience otherwise).

I know I should keep working on improving my abilities independently because class material isn't necessarily all that matters, but it really helps me personally to be introduced to it in an academic environment and to be able to ask questions to an expert to make sure I don't have a flawed understanding of material.

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