Monday, September 22, 2008
This just in
It turns out that alcohol, nicotine, caffeine, and lack of sleep and exercise all reduce a man's fertility.
With that in mind, at least my lifestyle serves as its own birth control.
I've needed to post more but I've never really had the time. I've had my first run in with a "mad professor". Every grad student encounters one of these guys. They are the guys who consider you to be slave labor. You're in grad school, so your time is "free", and therefore, worthless. So he can do whatever he wants with it.
So, instead of teaching Data Mining, like it says in the course description, he's going to convert you all in to LISP hackers. Because apparently, machine learning can't happen unless you've written the code in LISP. And rather than lecture you on data mining, he will lecture you on LISP. And reference paper's you're required to read on your own time. When you're not too busy coding in LISP. Or writing the textbook I've asked you to write for me. Or learning LaTex so you can write the textbook for me in the markup language of my choosing.
Okay, long story short, I had a prof who expected something like 20+ hrs/week of group work for a 3 credit class. Seeing as myself and one other member of my group were 40-hour week professionals, who value on our time, it wasn't happening. So I'm withdrawing from the class. And setting me back another 3 months in terms of graduating.
So that makes my graduation date something like 2011 or 2012. Except I honestly don't know if I could stand to be in WV that long. So I might switch over from the Computer Science Masters to the Software Engineering Masters. Its designed for professionals, so most of the classes are at night and there's a distance learning option. That means I could finish my master's remotely. Like in another state.
And this brings me to another recent development. A friend of mine is seeking seed money from a venture capital firm. He wants to do a 3-person web start up. I like the idea -- its sound, in my mind, from a technical and business stand point, and I've always wanted to try my hand at a start up. Working for myself has some appeal. Equity is what you make of it, and all. And its gotta beat working for a client that "fears" javascript. So if he gets it, I'm going to become a founder with him. We'd only have enough funding to last six months -- until/unless we secure additional funding. But I'm old enough where I want to take a shot and make a name for myself. I'll provide an update on whether or not this happens around October, because that's when the VC firm's deadlines are, apparently.
I've got more to post, but I'll do it in another update.
With that in mind, at least my lifestyle serves as its own birth control.
I've needed to post more but I've never really had the time. I've had my first run in with a "mad professor". Every grad student encounters one of these guys. They are the guys who consider you to be slave labor. You're in grad school, so your time is "free", and therefore, worthless. So he can do whatever he wants with it.
So, instead of teaching Data Mining, like it says in the course description, he's going to convert you all in to LISP hackers. Because apparently, machine learning can't happen unless you've written the code in LISP. And rather than lecture you on data mining, he will lecture you on LISP. And reference paper's you're required to read on your own time. When you're not too busy coding in LISP. Or writing the textbook I've asked you to write for me. Or learning LaTex so you can write the textbook for me in the markup language of my choosing.
Okay, long story short, I had a prof who expected something like 20+ hrs/week of group work for a 3 credit class. Seeing as myself and one other member of my group were 40-hour week professionals, who value on our time, it wasn't happening. So I'm withdrawing from the class. And setting me back another 3 months in terms of graduating.
So that makes my graduation date something like 2011 or 2012. Except I honestly don't know if I could stand to be in WV that long. So I might switch over from the Computer Science Masters to the Software Engineering Masters. Its designed for professionals, so most of the classes are at night and there's a distance learning option. That means I could finish my master's remotely. Like in another state.
And this brings me to another recent development. A friend of mine is seeking seed money from a venture capital firm. He wants to do a 3-person web start up. I like the idea -- its sound, in my mind, from a technical and business stand point, and I've always wanted to try my hand at a start up. Working for myself has some appeal. Equity is what you make of it, and all. And its gotta beat working for a client that "fears" javascript. So if he gets it, I'm going to become a founder with him. We'd only have enough funding to last six months -- until/unless we secure additional funding. But I'm old enough where I want to take a shot and make a name for myself. I'll provide an update on whether or not this happens around October, because that's when the VC firm's deadlines are, apparently.
I've got more to post, but I'll do it in another update.
Labels: personal
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
A long awaited update
Okay, so I haven't had much free time lately because of grad school and other obligations. Allow me to fill you in on what I've been doing:
Grad School: My friend Charles the Fourth, Duke of Some Optical Shit nobody really understands, once told that graduate classes either "break your balls, or seem to be a complete waste of time.". Well, this semester I'm taking two ball breaking classes. I'm taking the graduate level analysis of algorithms class -- which seems to be very proof oriented. I'm also taking a class that has to do with using LISP to make a machine learner capable of making predictions based off of a dataset. In other words, a data miner.
Now, my group might actually get to do something that advances science: Design a learner that is capable of predicting sectors of space where its likely a Pulsar is, but we're waiting to hear back from the professor to see if that's too much.
But yeah, classes and work are very time consuming. I forgot how comfortable I was merely working 40 hours a week and hanging out.
Renaissance Fair: I hit up the Pittsburgh Renaissance Fair. It was a good time. I bought another "worry" ring. Its a ring with a decorative band that "spins" around the outer band. They're called worry rings, because people have a tendency to play with them unconsciously when they're worried.
Oral Surgery: I've decided to have my wisdom teeth removed. After my semester is over. So I've been dealing with Dentists and finding an oral surgeon.
Video Games: Before my semester started, I picked up Final Fantasy III for my Nintendo Gameboy DS again. I've also been playing Penny Arcade's "On the Rain Slick Precipice Of Darkness: Episode One" video game. Both have been highly enjoyable.
Reading: I picked up Neil Gaiman's "Ananzi Boys". Its a tale of two brothers, Fat Charlies and Spider, who find out after their father's passing that he was actually Ananzi, the spider god. I didn't put it down until I was done reading it. It was that enjoyable. If you have a friend who likes to read, this is the book to get him or her for their birthday.
There's more, but I'm going to stop now, and just start posting on a regular basis. Its more interesting and lively that way.
Grad School: My friend Charles the Fourth, Duke of Some Optical Shit nobody really understands, once told that graduate classes either "break your balls, or seem to be a complete waste of time.". Well, this semester I'm taking two ball breaking classes. I'm taking the graduate level analysis of algorithms class -- which seems to be very proof oriented. I'm also taking a class that has to do with using LISP to make a machine learner capable of making predictions based off of a dataset. In other words, a data miner.
Now, my group might actually get to do something that advances science: Design a learner that is capable of predicting sectors of space where its likely a Pulsar is, but we're waiting to hear back from the professor to see if that's too much.
But yeah, classes and work are very time consuming. I forgot how comfortable I was merely working 40 hours a week and hanging out.
Renaissance Fair: I hit up the Pittsburgh Renaissance Fair. It was a good time. I bought another "worry" ring. Its a ring with a decorative band that "spins" around the outer band. They're called worry rings, because people have a tendency to play with them unconsciously when they're worried.
Oral Surgery: I've decided to have my wisdom teeth removed. After my semester is over. So I've been dealing with Dentists and finding an oral surgeon.
Video Games: Before my semester started, I picked up Final Fantasy III for my Nintendo Gameboy DS again. I've also been playing Penny Arcade's "On the Rain Slick Precipice Of Darkness: Episode One" video game. Both have been highly enjoyable.
Reading: I picked up Neil Gaiman's "Ananzi Boys". Its a tale of two brothers, Fat Charlies and Spider, who find out after their father's passing that he was actually Ananzi, the spider god. I didn't put it down until I was done reading it. It was that enjoyable. If you have a friend who likes to read, this is the book to get him or her for their birthday.
There's more, but I'm going to stop now, and just start posting on a regular basis. Its more interesting and lively that way.
