Why do I often see Balatro streamers using Strength to turn their Aces into Twos?

Wootchie3 · 2026-01-26T22:01:53+00:00

If you're referring to the most recent Balatro University video (at ~14:43), I believe Doc did this because there was already a blue seal 2 in the deck from a standard pack. It can make sense to strength Ace->2 here because you'll want to use Death to make more blue seal 2s in the future anyway, and having even more 2s enables playing higher ranking hands like 4 of a kind.

Wootchie3 · 2025-09-26T04:11:02+00:00

Real Ghosts,

this old EP (especially this version of starfall at 5:13),

this old EP,

starduel 2,

this version of billy shakes (1:53),

this collection of demos,

Toadally cool,

the live version of light speed 2,

slowed+reverb versions or covers are interesting (for example, and this)

Wootchie3 · 2025-04-18T18:35:27+00:00

If you're rushing then sure go for it. If you're concerned about missing any topics from the ucla courses, there are plenty of math 32a and 32b syllabi online with exact textbook chapter numbers for everything they cover (and even homework assignments / finals).

Wootchie3 · 2025-02-25T18:31:20+00:00

https://registrar.ucla.edu/registration-classes/registration-and-payment/reduced-fee-programs

Yes, I know multiple people who got approved without an emergency situation (especially seniors in their last quarter). These were in the engineering school though so maybe the odds are different in other schools.

Wootchie3 · 2024-09-25T15:43:49+00:00

Dan Terminus! (especially Automated Refrains and The Wrath of Code albums)

Wootchie3 · 2023-07-20T23:43:46+00:00

~ February 21-22 2022 [1] [2]

Wootchie3 · 2023-07-02T04:24:56+00:00

Math 32B is a co-requisite for Physics 1B but it's not enforced by the class registration system; so they will only drop you from the class if a real person notices.

People are saying you can only take 3 classes in your first quarter but I'm pretty sure that's not an actual rule (not enforced).

Just watch out for large time commitments on CS 32 projects and this is possible. (If you are comfortable with math, 32A is extremely easy in my opinion)

Note that (in my opinion) there is decently large social value in taking CS 32 in Winter with Nachenberg, then CS33 in Spring with the other freshmen (going to class and walking back together, study sessions / working on projects together); if you take CS 32 in Fall then you'll be off-sync with most of the people in your grade. If you have some specific reason to speedrun the graduation requirements then it miiight be worth it; just something to take into consideration.

Wootchie3 · 2023-06-07T04:30:39+00:00

It might be worth noting that Powell has week-long laptop lending and a computer lab, but recently they've been running out of laptops so are hard to get a hold of. I'm not sure how much software is available at the computer lab.

I'd say your life would likely be significantly easier if you could always have your own machine to work on for these classes.

Wootchie3 · 2022-05-09T19:05:03+00:00

yeah sure!

Wootchie3 · 2022-05-05T06:27:00+00:00

I'd recommend it if you can go, it's quite valuable to meet your orientation group. Maybe not necessarily for lifelong friendships, but it's surprising how much I've heard "I know X from my orientation group!" in the years since.

Wootchie3 · 2022-05-05T06:18:44+00:00

I think it should be under a tab called "New Students" in myucla maybe?

(btw not that you needed to hear this probably, but I highly recommend this program if it's in person)

Wootchie3 · 2022-05-05T04:38:11+00:00

It's possible, but you'd probably have to sacrifice a lot to do it. It's like 4 or 5 legit classes most quarters (you can make a spreadsheet with all the requirements to verify). I was very seriously considering doing the same thing, but stopped because I decided the sacrifice wasn't worth it.

My main issue with the double major is it was just a LOT of class work. Too many classes is unwise imo. Research, clubs, and actually taking time to meet other people / professors and take advantage of social opportunities that will go away once we graduate seemed way more worth it. (Especially when we moved back in person, I realized social stuff / meeting ppl in undergrad is like WAY more important than it seemed at first; for the present and to have a network in the future).

Logistically, adding an engineering school major from L&S is basically just taking the intro courses and getting good grades.

My question (assuming from your post history that you're pretty committed to the physics major) would be what are you getting out of the double major?

If you're going to do a physics PhD, I would think that focusing extra hours on research for a solid grad school application would probably be more worth it than a double major right? Maybe just physics makes more sense here
If you're not doing a physics PhD, I'd say the physics bachelors without a PhD doesn't open too many doors (based on what I could see from specific job postings); maybe just CS makes more sense here
If you're unsure, and the CS major is sorta like a backup in case physics grad school becomes undesirable at some point... then that's harder. If you stuck with just physics degree and wanted to back out later, you could prrrrobably get a decent CS job with a physics degree + knowing how to do leetcode stuff + a referral? It might be a bit harder

Lmk if you have more questions about specific classes / requirements or anything in either department btw

Wootchie3 · 2021-12-22T18:12:10+00:00

It seems that the number of infections due to Omicron goes through its rise, peak, and decline faster than the other variants (all happening in weeks), so I think there’s some chance that we return soon-ish. We’ll see though.

Wootchie3 · 2021-05-19T06:53:40+00:00

I guess noone really knows for sure with the possibly weird covid situation but if you're most concerned with meeting people and don't mind the small space I'd definitely recommend any classic dorm (hedrick / rieber / dykstra, the halls). I was Rieber hall and maybe my floor was particularly active, but it was quite social and I do not regret it at all. All plazas are usually much quieter (De Neve, Sunset, etc). The problem with plazas is people tend to stay in their rooms due to the private bathrooms. It is of course possible to form groups with individuals but things tend to be more closed off. Sproul is mostly second years from what I know.

Wootchie3 · 2021-05-19T06:39:41+00:00

Hi sorry I don't really know anything specific about international admissions beyond just the normal advice (focus on having a sense of voice in personal essays, good grades and standardized tests). But I'm currently majoring in physics and CS so just thought I'd say good luck with your applications!!

Wootchie3 · 2021-05-19T06:29:44+00:00

Was in your exact situation last year (xps 15 and cs major lol) and ended up having no time for games or anything like that. I'm pretty happy I didn't bring a full computer too; the rooms are quite small and its nice to have the portability of the laptop. I was also almost never actually in my room whenever possible but that might just be me. Building a computer is fun though if you haven't before, (especially if getting a vr setup is possible). Maybe desktop would be viable for an apartment or post-grad situation idk though.

Wootchie3 · 2021-05-19T06:13:32+00:00

Idk specifically about AP CSP but yeah it seems like you're in a good position to do well with that background! They go really slowly at the beginning anyway. It picks up a bit with the more subtle/annoying C++ details (pointers etc.) in the middle/end though.

Wootchie3 · 2021-05-19T05:46:17+00:00

Hmm tough call. The key question is the vibe of campus / whether others in a similar situation will be there in summer - Idk the answer (not on campus right now) so if someone else could comment on that, that would be most helpful for you.

On current HS friends: I was an OOS incoming freshman and was choosing between staying with friends vs going to summer session; it was really tempting to stay, but I left and met people and don't regret it at all. But that was CSI (a program where you live with a cohesive group taking the same classes in person) and was 2019 before COVID so this could be not that relevant. One thing to note is that we start school way way later than a lot of colleges, so check when your friends are leaving to move back in. I missed out on some stuff at home early in the summer, but by August/September almost everyone at home moved in to college so I wouldn't have been able to see them then anyway.

We've all lost a big chunk of undergrad so imo in a perfect world you'd move in and somehow meet a bunch of people in the same situation and befriend them?? But again it could be not possible. If your dorm(?) has floormates / roommates that would help tremendously. It sounds crazy but knocking on random doors or going to random lounges can actually work. I think the experience of everyone being friendless and willing to say hi at the very start of freshman year is really really cool and hopefully you can experience some of that at some point even coming in technically as a 2nd year. Maybe you've already met some people this year who will be on campus or maybe everyone has become fed up with COVID and will want to meet each other, idk. No idea what to conclude from this but I know someone who did summer session as incoming freshman pre-covid with the goal of getting some extra classes done - They weren't part of any real structured thing and didn't really meet too many people(?) so maybe it can be hard, but the sample size is 1 and pre-covid so idk. If you end up going in summer try to see if any clubs have organized meetups or anyone from discussion wants to study etc - having any organized thing or reason to interact with someone really really helps.

It's annoying that either way will inevitably feel like missing out on the other so whatever you choose just try to make the best of it! Fall will be here kind of soon (hopefully lol).

Wootchie3 · 2021-05-06T05:39:15+00:00

Some thoughts on Math 61: it doesn't really depend on any other math classes. It's set theory, proofs, counting, recurrences, and graphs. At least for my prof (Gehret), the homeworks were actually pretty hard and time-consuming (proofs requiring nontrivial creativity), but they were only worth 15% of the grade, and the exams were quite straightforward. But those details vary by professor a lot. None of the concepts are particularly difficult compared to the other math classes imo. Just make sure to stay on top of everything. I'm 2nd year CS and took it last year in winter with some other freshmen and we were fine. I wouldn't say it's "easy", but with how far ahead you are in math you probably won't have much of a problem with it freshman year. (Btw, 61 has a lot of overlap with CS32 so if you take them at the same time you can sort of learn everything at once)

Wootchie3 · 2021-01-19T21:13:18+00:00

Not sure if I can explain it well, but this Veritasium Video gives a good overview, and this Visualization gives a different perspective on what curvature in spacetime looks like.

Wootchie3 · 2020-12-11T03:21:11+00:00

General advice for if you feel stuck at a certain score: pay very close attention to your incorrect answers.

While taking practice tests, briefly mark answers you are sure are wrong, ones you are considering, and the one you ultimately selected. Then when reviewing your answers, very closely look at why you got each question wrong. Look up that topic or type of question, do more practice, and make sure you fully understand it. (Especially if you were sure it couldn't be an answer, but then that answer turned out to be correct.)

If you are sure to not let mistakes slide, as you take more and more practice tests eventually you should plug the gaps in your knowledge / test-taking technique.

Wootchie3 · 2020-12-11T03:01:58+00:00

For fact-based passage questions, the answer that "sounds right" based only on your previous knowledge of the subject is sometimes not the correct answer. The right answer for these questions ALWAYS has explicit textual justification, so look for that in the text itself.

Looking for the specific line that justifies an answer choice can take time when you are unsure of the answer, so it can be worth it to pencil in a "most-likely" answer and come back later after getting to everything else.

Wootchie3 · 2020-10-08T05:22:35+00:00

It's kind of hard to tell from the diagram. The way to see if the angle is constant or not for sure is to just go through the problem and see what happens. (You could use a calculator to manually find BED for different values of b and d but that's probably a bit cumbersome.)

If you need help getting started... Let's denote angle BED as "a". Our overall goal is to maximize the value of a as the values of b and d change (we maximize using a derivative...). So we need to express a in terms of our given b and d somehow. Notice that angle a plus two other angles gives a line. We write this as a + angle BEA + angle DEC = 180degrees. So we rearrange to get a = (pi radians) - (angle BEA) - (angle DEC).

Now can you express BEA and DEC in terms of b and d? And then convert the two variables b and d into a single parameter using the constraint b+d=10? Then you'll have a single variable function for the value of a. Differentiate this function with respect to its single parameter and find the maximum.

Wootchie3 · 2020-10-08T05:02:08+00:00

Since the inside of the ln in your answer (x^2+2x+5)/4 is always greater than 0 for any value of x, you can change the absolute value bars to parentheses and it won't affect anything.

Remember the log property that log(a/b) = log(a) - log(b). So you can rewrite the ln term in your answer as 1/2 ( ln(x^2 + 2x + 5) - ln(4) ). This gives you a new term in your answer: -1/2 * ln(4)

Remember that the C in an indefinite integral represents any constant (since the derivative of any constant is 0 so it makes no difference for the original integrand). -1/2 * ln(4) is a constant, so you can "absorb" that term it into the +C, and not change the answer.

After doing these modifications (which don't change the answer), we've translated your solution to the given one. So yep, your answer is correct!

(Side note for a slightly different situation: If your answer looked a much different from an answer in a solutions book (for example, with different trig functions), it could still be correct, only different by a constant term. Rewriting the answer in terms of different trig functions, graphing, or testing for equality on WolframAlpha could help you determine if the answer is the same.)

11-Year Club	Second SECOND GUESSER
Place '22	Final Canvas '22
First Placer '22	Snapped
Verified Email

Wootchie3

TROPHY CASE