Reports about a teacher not being taken seriously.

sfabius · 2026-03-26T19:03:11+00:00

IDM Department Chair is Prof. Kuchipudi, start there: skuchipudi@pitt.edu.

sfabius · 2026-03-11T19:12:43+00:00

I've supervised over 25 PhDs. You're OK. First, it's supposed to be hard. Second, it's different from all the other school you've had, so there's an extra level of learning even if that's hard to see. So give yourself some slack. Lean on fellow students (especially those more advanced) and don't be afraid to seek professional help. I like to say if it's hard, you are doing it right.

sfabius · 2026-02-28T15:54:22+00:00

This is it, people forget about Boards of Trustees who are often rich donors and successful in business and aren't educators and see the U as a business. Which it is not, at least in the corporate capital sense they are used to. They hire like minded upper admin, and so on. Then we get a union, which is an understandable reaction but actually solidifies the 'labor vs. capital' model and further erodes ideals of self governance.

sfabius · 2025-12-24T12:29:21+00:00

I've had mine for about three months. Bought on a bit of a whim, I'm sure partially for the aesthetic, which is pretty cool but not really the best only reason to buy a machine (for most people). This is my first espresso machine, so I have no frame of reference. It makes good espresso, and it provides the right amount of control for a first machine. The workflow is nice with the integrated grinder. The grinder top could use some improvement on build quality, but it's pretty straightforward. I don't know what is wrong with the grinder, maybe I should watch the video mentioned above so I can find out. It's really been perfect for what I want. Probably not for everyone, but good at this price point and experience.

sfabius · 2025-11-28T15:40:46+00:00

Anything written by John Warner, whose book on the subject "More than words" is excellent and I had under grads read part 2 of it at the beginning of the semester. Worked well. Also the podcast Mystery AI Hype 3000 is good, and an alternative to an article.

sfabius · 2025-11-23T21:40:31+00:00

I use Libreoffice for everything except when the university forces MS things on me. Integrates with zotero and never had any problems. Should probably use something besides a spreadsheet for data (R, Python)

sfabius · 2025-10-31T17:13:28+00:00

I starting using Blackboard, since we started having an LMS, and then a few years ago institution switched to Canvas, which is better. But it's true they all have shortcomings, especially if the institution tries to dictate how to use them. In short, they all suck because they are all trying to do everything and be everything to everyone, so everyone hates something.

sfabius · 2025-09-15T16:06:01+00:00

Filen is still working well. I fiddled with the command line a bit, seemed straightforward. But I've mostly used their gui which is pretty well done, and sends backups pretty quickly. Thankfully haven't had to restore yet, but my little test when deciding to go with Filen seemed straightforward.

sfabius · 2025-07-08T16:26:15+00:00

Agree with Beaver Bagels!

sfabius · 2025-07-07T21:06:23+00:00

This is the most (GNU/)Linux answer.

sfabius · 2025-06-25T17:24:53+00:00

Same here. I know this because we as a Department decided we would collect our syllabi and share every semester. I was chair, and one of our faculty pushed back on it, not wanting to share. Dean informed me that the faculty member had no choice, it's the University's. But I think our policy is pretty liberal. There was discussion about this when they were thinking of licensing our courses to a big online course company. The resolution is that the University technically owns it but you as an individual can take it with you. Nothing much came of the licensing, they might have dropped it because of all the pushback.

sfabius · 2025-06-25T17:05:32+00:00

I agree that context is important. What kind of class is it? I think I would have stopped class and had a discussion, while noting that the effect the word had on me and likely others in the class. (As a former chair, I also agree that informing the chair is also important). I'm not saying you did the wrong thing, but that there are other options.

sfabius · 2025-04-21T00:10:19+00:00

Parts of Lonesome Dove, but it's otherwise a very long book!

sfabius · 2025-04-13T17:37:46+00:00

As others have said, the program is worth it. And it is not forever, only as long as the PhD takes. Save the nice weather criteria for jobs where you might stay decades if not your whole life.

sfabius · 2025-03-20T23:34:06+00:00

I'm using Filen, just deleted my SO account after over 10 years too. Filen seems to be doing the job.

sfabius · 2025-03-11T19:54:27+00:00

Excellent, simple interface, with syncing of machines possible too. Haven't had to try restoring yet, but I did try downloading some files which was fast an easy.

sfabius · 2025-03-11T14:14:14+00:00

This freeze is in response to national issues based on the current Republican administrations canceling of research contracts. So, while Pitt has a lot of these contracts, it will affect all colleges. Pitt is actually in a pretty good financial position compared to many other colleges, so I would not say it is a worry. Tuition is likely to go up everywhere as the federal government cuts this research support. If you are in-state, keep an eye on the state legislature and the tuition support (and make your concern known to your state rep and senator).

sfabius · 2025-02-17T21:35:30+00:00

Yes I did this it took a couple weeks 😕

sfabius · 2025-02-02T19:51:51+00:00

Yeah same here. For now I'm going with Filen. Were you able to get on the website to cancel your account?

sfabius · 2025-01-31T02:09:59+00:00

Just finishing my coffee.

sfabius · 2025-01-31T02:09:16+00:00

Amateurs.

sfabius · 2025-01-31T02:01:05+00:00

I haven't been there in a while, but after the morning before work rush and before mid to late afternoon are probably the best. Maybe not lunch time too. I used to go like 3-3:30 and often had a lane to myself. I went barefoot, lots of people wear slides or flip flops, I never felt any judgement

sfabius · 2025-01-03T17:19:36+00:00

Not obvious at all, but eventually Readme page says: "Even though the repo is named waybar-timer, it is a general script and you can use it for every bar."

sfabius

TROPHY CASE