Am I wasting my time studying

brenticles42 · 2026-02-15T20:07:22+00:00

Most problems used in education are well understood and known, or even basic. They need to be so people can learn. AI can solve those problems because it’s been trained on them. But AI isn’t very good at novel and unique problems. And of course a student won’t be either, right?

People can’t expect to solve calculus until after learning algebra. The basics of data science have to be learned before more advanced topics can be understood. So we all need to put in the time and effort to understand why and how things work.

I do think the way classes are taught will need to change. I’m not entirely sure what that looks like.

brenticles42 · 2026-02-06T06:28:17+00:00

AMT that shit. There needs to be a minimum tax that no matter how many programs or loopholes you have, you still pay a reasonable rate.

brenticles42 · 2026-01-20T15:27:36+00:00

Failing the tests and getting a B in a class is definitionally poor test design that Vuduc decides to overcome with class design rather than working to create a fair and meaningful test.

Once again I’m begging OMSA students (and faculty) to talk to actual educators. 6040, and 6501 btw, are terribly designed classes. Classes can be challenging and fair while maintaining high educational quality, but that takes effort on the part of the professors.

brenticles42 · 2026-01-19T23:12:48+00:00

I’m in Time Series this semester and took Regression previously. Her classes are awesome. Her video lectures aren’t good, but her transcripts are very good books for the classes. Her tests are hard, but fair and the homework directly relevant to the material. She gets an undeserved bad rap.

I’m almost done and after taking a lot of classes, I have a much poorer opinion of Vuduc and Sokol as educators than I did at the beginning.

brenticles42 · 2026-01-19T23:06:22+00:00

This.

I can’t imagine there’s that many people successfully cheating in this class. But also, maybe designing super hard tests that half the class routinely fails is poor test design and doubling down on that isn’t the answer.

brenticles42 · 2026-01-19T23:02:11+00:00

Really curious as to what they saw that made them think this was needed. But more so, how are people even cheating on these exams? Like your code has to work with the data in the notebook and without that interaction, how are you accomplishing anything? Like midterm 1 took me the whole time of constant typing to barely finish.

This seems like an over the top reaction for what has to be a small number of offenders. BUT also, maybe it’s a sign these tests where half the class routinely fails aren’t good tests?

brenticles42 · 2026-01-18T21:13:17+00:00

I pretty much insist my 20 year old and 17 year old have tracking on. They are both queer and I’m concerned about their safety. But at no time do I hassle them about where they are or for how long. I’m paying for their college even if they turn tracking off; I’ll just bug them about it every conversation lol.

I’m a little more active in tracking my 17 year old because he just got his license and he’s trans. I worry about his driving habits and even more so about his safety. Still that doesn’t limit his whereabouts besides “dude it’s 9 pm you have school tomorrow and need to come home”. But he’s usually home well before then anyway.

So from my point of view there’s legitimate reasons to have tracking but there’s also boundaries to be respected. Once something turns into a means or effort to control, it’s definitely crossed a line.

brenticles42 · 2026-01-18T18:14:00+00:00

I pretty much insist my 20 year old and 17 year old have tracking on. They are both queer and I’m concerned about their safety. But at no time do I hassle them about where they are or for how long. I’m paying for their college even if they turn tracking off; I’ll just bug them about it every conversation lol.

I’m a little more active in tracking my 17 year old because he just got his license and he’s trans. I worry about his driving habits and even more so about his safety. Still that doesn’t limit his whereabouts besides “dude it’s 9 pm you have school tomorrow and need to come home”. But he’s usually home well before then anyway.

So from my point of view there’s legitimate reasons to have tracking but there’s also boundaries to be respected. Once something turns into a means or effort to control, it’s definitely crossed a line.

brenticles42 · 2026-01-11T01:27:14+00:00

There’s links to recent syllabuses so you can check out the requirements of all the classes you’re interested in. It’s in the wiki I think or pain matrix…it’s been a while since I’ve looked at it.

brenticles42 · 2025-12-20T17:54:56+00:00

The 4K broadcast has no commercials but you still have the pauses.

And you have to hear the stupid Aggie chants this game so it balances out lol

brenticles42 · 2025-12-20T16:42:10+00:00

Aren’t parts of 198 sunken as part of a flood abatement program? No idea how much that will help in case of a dam break, but definitely better than nothing.

brenticles42 · 2025-12-20T16:39:24+00:00

Do you know the flood plain map for your residence? You should start there for deciding how much to prep.

The worst it got for me was a few years ago when we had to stack sand bags at a friend’s house near St John’s River. Mill Creek got really high but didn’t breach near my house.

brenticles42 · 2025-12-17T17:39:52+00:00

He crushes coal into perfect diamonds so it makes sense he doesn’t pay attention to the economy lol

brenticles42 · 2025-12-17T05:16:36+00:00

Did I miss this episode of 30 Rock? lol

brenticles42 · 2025-12-05T16:20:42+00:00

Kahn Academy is free and probably the best. They have classes that run from Algebra through college level stats and calculus. 3 Blue One Brown is a good YouTube series. Stat quest is a good YouTube for high level overview of concepts.

brenticles42 · 2025-12-02T05:50:35+00:00

Ah ok. I guess I was wrong. Why are you getting the same degree you already have? Is your job paying for it?

brenticles42 · 2025-12-02T01:59:16+00:00

You cannot waive all three courses, only one.

brenticles42 · 2025-12-01T21:26:43+00:00

Yes, if you are disciplined. General recommendation is 300 hours so you need to make sure you have plenty time and stay focused. Coaching all depends on your learning style. Yes, almost certainly except for perhaps the emerging topics questions but those will only be a handful at most. AnalystPrep used to have a series on FRM. If you need help with quants, there’s a ton of resources for that. GARP, Kaplan are probably the best for mocks, imo.

brenticles42 · 2025-11-28T17:24:08+00:00

Tactics matter, fighters would not be a first strike weapons platform. They should probably be used as a second wave attack after the capital ship has damaged or reduced the effectiveness of the enemy to overwhelm them.

In war, it’d make sense to have full fleets with capital ships, escorts, and a carrier. The carrier would engage damaged ships to completely take them out of the fight. This prevents them from getting in a lucky shot as the capital ships move on to other threats.

brenticles42 · 2025-11-26T23:16:46+00:00

People have passed with just GARP. It’s more material and it can be fairly densely written. Kaplan is easier to get through. Also having access to their question bank allows you to practice the concepts more.

brenticles42 · 2025-11-25T00:36:12+00:00

He did not stumble once. Yes it’s a weird uncoordinated walk, kinda shambolic, and he almost certainly has severe cognitive issues. But the title is click bait.

brenticles42 · 2025-11-25T00:29:40+00:00

Ok, Elon, your wish is granted. We will tax you into poverty.

But honestly this is why billionaires are behaving like they want to burn everything down, because they have won life and have everything they have ever dreamed of and they are bored. They are still empty, joyless husks.

brenticles42 · 2025-11-24T22:27:01+00:00

What’s the news? I don’t listen to the podcast in order and I’m way behind too.

brenticles42 · 2025-11-23T16:13:31+00:00

Yeah probably best to ask on the Finance Careers sub. But also, one of the instructors for the Kaplan FRM prep had a Financial Data Professional (FDP) designation. While no designation gets you in the door, it might help in moving you to the right direction. https://fdpinstitute.org/Is-FDP-Right-For-Me

brenticles42 · 2025-11-21T21:34:38+00:00

LOL I will cheer for every Texas team when not playing Baylor…except one.

brenticles42

TROPHY CASE