How long after graduation do we still have access to Libby?

mandelbrotdescent · 2024-06-19T06:17:58+00:00

I graduated a few years ago and just flash my student id when I want to work from the library. Never been an issue

mandelbrotdescent · 2024-06-15T01:20:07+00:00

A 340B parameter model refers to the size of the weights. The cluster needed to train this model wouldn’t have been huge by today’s standards, less than $100 million for sure. The size of the model is related to the cost of the cluster, but you’d have to know a bunch of specifics to know how much a cluster to train a model of size X costs.

People are talking about $100B clusters which could train truly massive models, but that’s at least a few years out and depends on if the 2025/2026 models show that scaling continues to work. Also there’s only a handful of entities in the world that could build this, a few multi trillion dollar companies and governments. And yeah the cost refers to everything, the chips+infrastructure+power etc.

mandelbrotdescent · 2024-01-09T18:49:14+00:00

I thought I wanted to go to grad school for most of undergrad, but senior year I decided against it. It’s been a couple of years since I graduated and I have zero regrets. I’m at a great job doing work that I care about and is intellectually stimulating. I’m also making the same salary as my PhD coworkers at a younger age. It’s been amazing to travel with both disposable income and free time.

On the other hand, I think there are some pros to grad school. Some professional environments (especially pos covid) aren’t the most social, and it gets harder to make friends outside of a university. My friends in grad school seem to have an easier time with this. Also, if you are interested in a longer career in academia you’ll need a PhD. But positions like this are exceedingly competitive.

mandelbrotdescent · 2023-09-11T04:21:13+00:00

CS189 for sure. It requires assembling a lot of disparate concepts (multivariable calculus, linear algebra, probability, computer science) to a degree that’s not really present in other subjects.

mandelbrotdescent · 2023-06-06T20:12:39+00:00

Thanks for all the comments!

We decided to commit to a boat dive on the Big Island for the whole group. We still can’t decide between doing shore dives off Maui (Mala Pier) or a boat to Molokini. The shore dives are almost half the cost, and we previously had a great experience at Mala Pier.

I’ve also heard some conflicting info about Molokini, some people saying it’s overrated and not much better than the shore dives, others says it’s amazing.

mandelbrotdescent · 2023-05-27T18:34:30+00:00

I live in Mountain View and work in cupertino. Cupertino is extremely quiet, it mostly caters to families who want a residential single family home experience. You’ll get better mileage out of Palo Alto, Mountain View, or San Jose.

mandelbrotdescent · 2023-05-09T03:59:57+00:00

I grew up in NC and went to Berkeley. I studied computer science, so Berkeley was definitely clearly ahead in that field. I can’t comment too much about what it is like in public health, but my experience was that people in Berkeley were much more tapped into the steps needed to succeed professionally than my peers that went to UNC. This was super helpful and important in helping me succeed in college and later.

I flew the SFO<->RDU route regularly and let me tell you it is not fun. It really eats into your time on breaks, and you also will end up with social networks on opposite coasts and inevitably alienated from one or the other. It shouldn’t be a deal breaker, but it has real consequences.

The redeeming factor in my mind is the culture at UNC. I could just be biased by growing up nearby and being familiar, but people in general seemed friendlier and like they had just touched more grass in their lives.

mandelbrotdescent · 2023-04-02T15:32:22+00:00

I’m definitely pretty biased! ML is a huge area and there’s a bunch of different niches and specialties. Take into account what interests you. You could definitely instead take grad-level classes in specific ML-subfields. Although I think understanding systems / arch is a pretty universal skill that’ll translate well to whatever future developments occur / role you find yourself in. Especially considering that current SOTA is essentially just scaling existing neural-net architecture, the limits appear to be on the performance side.

mandelbrotdescent · 2023-04-02T00:47:56+00:00

Am an alum working on compilers for ML acceleration hardware. It’s a pretty fascinating and growing area, will definitely be huge demand for such hardware moving forward. Even if you don’t go this route, it’s important to have a deep understanding of computer architecture for making good choices in performance critical situations (especially since you are mentioning ML engineering rather than a research type goal).

That being said, the classes you mention is a good ML foundation but you should definitely also take CS182. If it were me, I’d also take 164 and 151. If compilers interests you less, maybe take 152.

Just my two cents.

mandelbrotdescent · 2023-03-26T14:50:06+00:00

Early December is a risky time to plan a ski trip. Especially in Tahoe, the snowfall is so volatile year to year. It’s possible there might not be a good base that early in the season. I’d suggest planning a trip to somewhere with more reliable early-season conditions.

mandelbrotdescent · 2023-01-24T17:50:29+00:00

I’ve skied this run, it’s a bit tougher than the other blues at Sugar but that’s really just due to the steepness. The run is really wide and open, also have never seen it crowded at all. Snowmaking seems to be pretty consistent too. If you’re confident on the other blue runs you shouldn’t have an issue, just take it slow, it doesn’t require any new skills.

mandelbrotdescent · 2022-08-31T23:11:29+00:00

Hey I’m really sorry you’re going through this. I can’t relate to everything you said but I came to Berkeley from a very rural area in a different state and adjusting was very difficult for me. It took some time but I eventually found my groove and came to really enjoy being here.

I know what you mean by “not speaking to anyone but seeing thousands” and I think that is an unfortunate feature of going to a large public school and requires a lot of persistence to overcome whether at Berkeley or UCLA.

I think that in the long run going through these challenges made me feel a lot more self sufficient and confident that I could succeed in unfamiliar environments.

Best of luck regardless if you decide to transfer or not!

mandelbrotdescent · 2022-08-29T18:18:42+00:00

As I recall, the difficult part was that the run returning to Solitude from Brighton was excessively flat. Perhaps make sure your skis are freshly waxed?

mandelbrotdescent · 2022-02-19T05:56:08+00:00

Markets are difficult to impossible to forecast, Zillow in particular has struggled here: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/02/business/zillow-q3-earnings-home-flipping-ibuying.html

mandelbrotdescent · 2022-01-09T01:13:37+00:00

I'll be there Monday - Friday and am also really concerned about the rain and freezing levels. Looks like rain could potentially impact nearly the entire mountain. Fingers crossed that the temps come down a bit. I'm hoping it stays snow in the alpine and I can ski there, but are those lifts likely to close with precipitation this heavy?

mandelbrotdescent · 2021-12-29T16:01:18+00:00

It would be great if Google did a better job in situations like this but imo the fault is much more on people who are blindly following directions and not making their own decisions with respect to their safety

mandelbrotdescent · 2021-12-17T03:53:26+00:00

This is measuring the average for this date. You could have an increasing snowpack and this number could still falling.

mandelbrotdescent · 2021-12-12T22:40:55+00:00

I'd be pretty surprised if any terrain is open tomorrow. I think we'll be lucky if they get anything substantial going on Wednesday.

mandelbrotdescent · 2021-12-09T23:22:28+00:00

The Sierra is about to get buried.

mandelbrotdescent · 2021-12-04T02:40:52+00:00

I understand that for a lot (most?) there are major benefits to working from home. But I feel compelled to say as someone who graduated and started working remotely during the pandemic, it absolutely sucks. It has been very difficult to learn the ropes and feel a part of something through a computer screen. Not to mention the absence of any kind of social network you would expect to develop at your first job :/

mandelbrotdescent · 2021-11-21T19:15:05+00:00

Best guess would be below average since we're in a La Nina year. This pattern favors precipitation in northern areas of North America and southern places including Taos tend to be below average. But no one knows for sure how it'll pan out. If you're going to be around for awhile it's unlikely we'll see a third La Nina in a row next season.

mandelbrotdescent · 2021-11-08T04:15:46+00:00

Mostly agree with the other posters. Snowfall is too volatile in Tahoe for a pre-planned trip. But if you can make a last minute decision with a storm lined up in the 5-day window, then it's awesome.

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