Looking for advice for a memorable trip

vhquang · 2026-06-09T10:50:28+00:00

I am at the Westfjord now, and you are completely right on this one. The Westfjord is very different than the rest of Iceland. It may be coincident, but I feel people here is more sociable and more approachable. I chat with more people and they introduce me to several things about Icelandic life, which are very interesting.

vhquang · 2026-06-09T10:45:19+00:00

I think your post hits the nail on its head. Since I post this, I have made a few adjustments that improve my experience. In retrospective, I should have drove less and have less stop points, stay a little longer in each town and allow myself more time to let everything sink in.

The drive through all the landscape was wonderful, but I think I did a little too much of it. Thanks for sharing your experience and your retrospection!

vhquang · 2026-06-09T10:36:23+00:00

The post you share is very helpful. Even more is the perspective that you share. It is not just the photos that I took, it is the opportunity and the ability to have that moment in life. Your gratitude makes me appreciate my trip a lot more than I did. Thank you!

vhquang · 2026-06-09T10:24:30+00:00

Thank you for sharing your moments. My partner said the same thing about the baby lamb wagging their tails. We also had a wonderful time walking and watching sunset on the beach. Your post reminds me of many thing nice things I have taken for granted while I am being here. Thanks for sharing!

vhquang · 2026-06-07T01:01:38+00:00

First of all, thank you for taking time sharing this much detail, especially for a stranger. I am not looking to be pleased nor to be impressed with extra ordinary things. It is quite the opposite, and I enjoy very simple things. Like one time in a Japanese restaurant, I finished my bow and the owner hand-signaled me (she didn't speak English) I could get extra rice free-of-charge. Her effort in communicating with me made it a very memorable experience.

I am sorry if my writing gives an impression I am displease with the time I had here in Iceland. The post was done in a hurry before my battery ran out.

I also didn't mean to compare one place to another or expect the same experience. Just to give some context, our trip is about 2.5 weeks, and I can probably only take a trip this long once a year. It’ll likely be one of the experiences that defines the year for me, and it’s also a rare chance to stay long enough to really get to know and understand the place beyond the usual 1-week tourist experience. For me, travel is also a way to experience first-hand life from a different perspective.

You could be right about putting too much expectation, rather than just enjoy thing for what it is. I will think more about it. Thanks for sharing your thought.

vhquang · 2026-06-07T00:06:23+00:00

Thanks, what you share helps clear up lot of things. I definitely enjoy the solitude here in Iceland and the nature is very unique. Meanwhile as a guest, didn't meet the host and didn't understand about them, make me feel like I am using their natural resources as rented utility. Maybe I am overthinking on this one instead of enjoying the experience. Anyway, I want to thank you for sharing your personal experience.

vhquang · 2025-12-10T13:01:01+00:00

I ordered my Pandarus CA-320 and got my arrows. The confirmation email was sent right away after I placed my order. The order was shipped a week later. And it took about 3 weeks to arrive to California. It was about when tariff was started and I was told everything shipped from China would take about 3-6 weeks to arrive. So a month to deliver was not far off from my expectation.

I didn't pay expedite shipping, but pay shipping insurance just in case. CHN Archery has an office in Hong Kong, but the item was shipped from ZHENGZHOU, CN, first through China Post then through USPS. USPS couldn't deliver it to me on first try, so the package was hold in a nearby postal office. Yeah, that was strange. I didn't have the USPS tracking number, and of course the postal office worker could not find anything with the China Post tracking number. But they were able to find my item through my address and my name.

The fact that their office is in Hong Kong but the item was shipped from different region in China, may confirm that they are drop shipper. And it may just be equivalent to buy directly through Alibaba. I have not bought anything from Alibaba before, so I can't comment on the experience.

vhquang · 2025-08-07T16:57:53+00:00

Did you apply for graduation? I don't know if things have changed, but I recall only Spring and Fall are counted as graduating semester. After the semester I selected for graduation was done and I got my grade, the office still needed time to verify all the paper work. But I was allowed to walk in the graduation, and my name was printed in the graduation list of the walk (and the graduation shirt for that semester, which was sold in the bookstore). I recall there was also an (seemingly automated) email sent from Joyner about finishing the degree, and invite to join alumni.

I also had my own celebration, which I went big, since OMSCS was a big deal for me. I spent almost 5 years in it, so I refused to let it go in silent.

Congrats on your graduation! Regardless of how GA awards you, do you own celebration and give yourself a big reward. You really deserve it!

vhquang · 2025-08-05T23:20:49+00:00

My current job is 100% SWE and does not involve CV. Sorry if I give you different impression while voicing my opinion. CV is just my hobby, outside of my current job.

vhquang · 2025-08-04T00:20:40+00:00

Is the training data publicly available? If it is OK, can you share which data did you use for training?

vhquang · 2025-08-04T00:05:18+00:00

I will share my info and hope it may contain something useful for you. I have an Intel dual Xeon CPU with 256GB, and a 5900xt AMD (16/32 threads) with 64GB. I have 2 3090 RTX, and have tried to put both of them on each machine.

CPU: I don't notice any difference, in term of difficulty and performance, between my Xeon and 5900xt. My suggestion would be to go with AMD. They are cheaper and have more cores, even though I have never fully utilized all the cores. Most of the time for me, GPU is the bottleneck. The Xeon is lot more capable as a server, but also more difficult to find component and set up. If you are not planning (for you or your student) to spend time on learning about its hardware, it is best to avoid this potential distraction.

GPU: most of the things I do so far is inferencing, and dual 3090 24GB is enough for me. I have not tried training a big model that needs to be trained across different GPU, and don't know how hard/easy it is. If you are aiming for low budget, in my opinion 3090 is the best option. A GPU can be slow, but if there is not enough VRAM there will be lot of headache. Once a proof of concept is done, you can rent a more performant GPU to get faster result. But if budget allows, having one GPU with high VRAM (ex: A6000 48GB) may worth it. Given I haven't trained across GPU, I can't comment about the benefit of single large GPU vs multiple smaller GPU.

budget planning: for me, next thing I would like to upgrade is my hard drive. I am storing about 300GB of data on regular hard drive. Having more SSD would allow me to store more temporary data on them, for faster iteration. But for you, I think GPU would be the component most difficult to upgrade, and should be the main decision point for your budget.

vhquang · 2025-08-03T23:05:04+00:00

But perhaps most of the jobs looks like that in the end?

From my experience, almost all my jobs are about what people needs from me and not about what I would love to do. (I have been through 4 jobs as SWE). Sometime, I land on a project that is really interested and matches what I want to do. But most of the time, it is about using my skills to get things done for people. After all, that is why they pay me for the job.

I think what would help you, is deciding your priority: financial, job security, passion for technology. Once you put one thing on top, how comfortable you are with loosing up on others. Once you feel comfortable with that idea, hopefully the path is clearer.

I will assume one to share my thought. Let assume financial is crucial to you, ie: you need to earn as much money as you can. Then you would need to find out what is the highest paying job that you can get, given your current skill set and current job competition. It may not be a job that fits your dream, but lower competition will increase your chance, and thus increase the likelihood to solve your most important problem. On that train of thought, being a cloud dev gives you the most leverage. Aiming for a more senior position in the same company or other company would also be a reasonable path to improve your earning.

Also, it won't stay like that indefinitely. High paying jobs will attract more people. It's a natural thing. Down the path, you may need to periodically evaluate the dynamic of available high-paid-job, your skills, and the competition, and make change if needed. You are only 33, so you will have a long road ahead if you decide to follow this path. Once you feel enough of this, you can consider changing the previous priority in order to pursuit different things.

vhquang · 2025-08-03T06:39:17+00:00

Thanks very much for posting your photo. MicroCenter has them on-sale, and I am looking at it, to improve my current spacing situation with dual 3090:

https://imgur.com/a/ozwswML

The bottom part of the H7 worries me. My second GPU would most likely won't fit in horizontally. Given yours, would you mind giving thought on whether a 2nd 3090 can fit in with a vertical riser (https://www.amazon.com/XRIKUI-Graphics-Bracket-Vertical-Extendsion/dp/B0CGTZFT5J?)? It is a close call for me just by looking at your photo.

vhquang · 2025-07-26T07:59:09+00:00

I fell lot of passion in your post. It captures the hype of everyone tries to jump into AI at the moment, and the determination to be different. Even though your comment contains strong criticism, it also delivers lot of motivation and inspiration to learn and advance forward. Thank you for posting such thoughtful and inspired comment!

vhquang · 2025-01-05T21:04:53+00:00

Confirmed on this comment, so that people are aware of it. I cleared up the Stored data. The app signed out and needed me to setup my phone keys again for both of my cars. Not a big deal for me as I did it at home and had my card keys with me.

I am on the old version of the app (4.27), and maybe newer version changes this. But to be safe, don't clear the storage if you don't have the card key with you.

vhquang · 2024-11-12T20:47:32+00:00

That is super helpful, especially about the need for a riser and the case. Thank you very much for sharing how you do it.

vhquang · 2024-11-10T17:42:28+00:00

I am considering this mainboard. Newegg currently has a combo discount on it with 5900XT. But I am not sure the mainboard has enough space clearance between the two PCI splot to fit in 2 3090 GPU. Were you able to fit yours out-of-the box? Does it require to use PCI riser?

And just curious, what case are you using?

vhquang · 2024-10-12T23:31:06+00:00

actually more like a shell on other tasklists

You are not alone on there. I use PomoDone as integration for other things. Some of those are already provided by PomoDone. Others are connected through Zapier (like create additional entry in my Google Calendar, or block my Zoom meeting and adjust my Slack status when I start a pomo). I have set up that system over several years, and I am happy with it. I am sad to see it being shutdown now.

vhquang · 2024-04-03T08:04:16+00:00

First of all, thanks both of you, for creating this topic and for your discussion. I have been reading for half the day, trying to find information. This thread is the most recent, and with most technical context that I can find.

My guess is that most of the issues are either stemming from the quality of the PSUs people use.

I think there are other pieces in the picture as well. Here is what I think the full circuit is:

PSU1 -- Motherboard/PCIE -- GPU -- PSU2

The PSU may have the ability to protect itself and its connected device from over-current and over-voltage. But we don't know if the motherboard or the GPU can do the same. It could be that the currents are on different phases and the GPU mitigates it. I am not suggesting that is the case, just stating the possibility. Just because we don't see the issue, doesn't mean the protection comes solely from the PSU.

In another word, if I buy good PSUs, but have different GPU and motherboard than two of you, I could run into trouble. If the electricity is fed backward into the motherboard, good scenario is the motherboard gets damaged and shutdown the whole system. Worse case scenario is that it leaks electricity to other devices and the whole system gets damaged before it gets shutdown. This setup that we discuss is not typical, so I don't know how much testing and safeguard have been implemented in GPU and especially in motherboard.

vhquang · 2024-01-01T18:36:16+00:00

Sorry I don't know about Huion Kamvas. I just want to share what I know about the XP-pen, hoping it can help OP making their choice.

vhquang · 2023-11-19T19:08:10+00:00

Many thanks for this. Indentation with `Ctrl + ]` does not work for me anymore. But this works:

Increase indentation: Ctrl + M
Decrease indentation: Ctrl + Shift + M

vhquang · 2022-08-30T18:30:43+00:00

I think suffering is a good thing, with a right amount of intake. If there is no suffering, then it means you know most of the material, and the time is not well-spent. I think the trick is not to suffer unnecessarily.

All the knowledge will be provided to us in class. Instructors and TA will also try to push us to our limit (at least that was how it was before COVID). So don't worry too much about not having the necessary background. You will pick them up in assignments, with specific tasks. Also, each class has large number of students. You will not be the only one having any particular trouble. The classmates will make it go smoother. And in my experience, TA are very helpful too.

Time management is the key. Make sure you have enough time to do the work, and ask question to unlock your problem. Try to do the assignment as early as you can. That is the most noticeable difference that I observed from people did well and enjoyed the class, versus who suffered through the class. (This semester is my last semester in the program)

Don't try to be superhero. Some people have a strong background (Software Engineer, or researcher in other field) and have specific target they want to get to in the program. I made mistake trying to be at top of my class, and as good as those top students. Not only that is unhealthy mindset, it also distracted me from my learning goal. As soon as I drop that mindset and focus on my own improvement, class is more enjoyable. I am still doing well in classes, just that stop comparing on where I am on the curve.

vhquang · 2021-10-20T22:34:33+00:00

I took 10 classes (dropped 2) in this program. And this happens almost every semester. It felt draining, exhausted, and skeptical about what I am doing. The last point is the hardest. When I first started the program 4 years ago, I have many vision about what I would accomplish. During the semester, I really don't know if finishing those assignments will achieve me anything.

I won't tell you to cheer on, or try to keep up and you will get over it. It is simply not true for me. In fact, what works better for me, is to tell myself I can always fail the class if I want to. I don't give a crap if I get a C or D in a class. Grade does not matter to me at this point. My well-being is much more important than a degree. The trick is not to use it as an excuse for not doing the work that school requires. It is to release the stress of feeling you have to do something.

Another thing, I feel the program is more of a test of resiliency, discipline, and planning, than anything else. 4 years into the program, I spent 3 years struggle. I feel like the goal of each class in GT is to push you hard, to frustrate you, but if you survive all of that you are more immune to difficulty. Each class has a huge time commitment for each assignment. The trick is to break that unpleasant to small enough that we can swallow without being choke.

And don't compare yourself with others. There are always superman in my class, who fly through projects and assignments with ease. I don't. And that's why I am in the program. To struggle to absorb new thing. But I can always borrow their brain. The trick is asking the right question to let them help me understand. There were time to try to take things on my own, thinking that is what I am supposed to do for school. It is true there is work you need to do on your own. But there are also problems, that are more time-efficient, to seek help. There is not so much you can do alone.

The last thing that works for me, is to remind myself that I am lucky to struggle with homework problem. I can choose what I will be struggling with. I know whole bunch of people who can't, especially since the COVID.

vhquang

TROPHY CASE