91–100 of 128 posts
Here's a simple checklist for all you CS (Systems) PhDs not sure what to do next. When writing a paper, which section of the paper are you most excited by? A) Introduction (big picture/motivation/related work): You should remain in academia where you will enjoy writing grant proposals, or be a senior exec (not hands-on) in industry. B) Design/Implementation: Academia is not for you. Join a cool startup or Google/Face…
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I believe the right answer is about 2.5% (0.0247) Here's some imperative scala: object particle { def main(args:Array[String]) = { val simulations = args(0).toInt val rng = new util.Random val reachedZero = (1 to simulations).map(_=> { var t = 0 var z = 1+rng.nextInt(1000) do { z += {if (rng.nextBoolean) 1 else -1} t +=1 } while( z != 0 && t scala particle 1000000 >0.024782 Some intuition: If there were only 2 positi…
Nice simulation work! Initially I thought this was a one dimensional random walk problem where the answer is a function of n (as other comments have pointed out). In that case, there (n choose k) paths that take k steps in a single direction of n total steps, and each occurs with p(0.5^n). In this problem we are given n, but not k. Given a starting point, we can easily calculate the probability of crossing 0. So my q…
Suppose there were [1,k] spots. You are assigned an intial value from [1,k] and you then have to reach 0 before time t=k. Here's my code to solve the general case
object particle {
def main(args:Array[String]) = {
val simulations = args(0).toInt
val rng = new util.Random
(2 to 1000).foreach(spots=>{
val reachedZero = (1 to simulations).map(_=> {
var t = 0
var z = 1+rng.nextInt(spots)
do {
z += {if (rng.nextBoolean) 1 else -1}
t +=1
} while( z != 0 && tscala particle 1000000
2 0.3773
3 0.329
4 0.292
5 0.2714
6 0.2624
7 0.2428
8 0.2247
9 0.222
10 0.2157
....> Also, if your degree is in English, the best I can do is point you here (link to Starbucks job page). I know it's supposed to be funny (i.e., it's "just a joke") and I grant I may be sensitive since I have a BA in Comparative Literature (a graduating class of 1 in my major) and a PhD in Classics, but this came across as completely obnoxious and unnecessary. Don't know anything about Humanities? Fine. Don't talk abo…
Agreed. I'm an English PhD working in the tech industry and I am very happy. Left a great postdoc a year ago and it took me all of 3 weeks to find a job in industry. Not to mention I'm making double what I would have been making as a starting TT faculty member.
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1. My work consumes most of my time and energy - how would one find time to work on side projects and build a portfolio, when the academic workload is so all-consuming Turn off the TV, close Ph.D. comics stop procrastinating. That's a fairly glib and slightly offensive answer, but it's the best I've got. There are no shortcuts. Getting yourself ready to work in industry will take time and effort. I can, however, sugg…
"You overestimate the number of general engineers who are capable of quantitative work. When I said there is value being the guy in the room who understands regression and confidence intervals, I meant it." I'd just like to second that. If you've learned enough math to be an expert in a scientific niche, you're almost certainly miles ahead of most developers you'll work with.
He's using Hyde and recommending the article's audience to use Django or Rails? If he's going to point out webdev with only some fleeting interest it might be more helpful just to say something like, "HTML/CSS is your new weekend project. Hardcode it in a couple hours or use whatever system gives you the least pain: SSG, framework, blog-based, etc."
Clearly you haven't bothered to look me up. Do you believe I should have used Django or Rails for my personal website? Was Hyde the wrong tool for the job?
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Clearly you haven't bothered to look me up. Do you believe I should have used Django or Rails for my personal website? Was Hyde the wrong tool for the job?
Look you up? I read the article, if that's what you mean. I use a static site generator as well, I was just curious as to why you wouldn't recommend that instead since it's powering your own site. I don't disagree, it just seemed odd.
My personal site is just boring static pages. Hyde (or Jekyll, for the ruby folks) is the right tool for such things.
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Look you up? I read the article, if that's what you mean. I use a static site generator as well, I was just curious as to why you wouldn't recommend that instead since it's powering your own site. I don't disagree, it just seemed odd.
I'm CTO of a django-powered startup, which I link to on my website. Django is great for dynamic content, learning it will teach you about databases and help you make nice UI's. My personal site is just boring static pages. Hyde (or Jekyll, for the ruby folks) is the right tool for such things.
If you want to become a web developer, then sure– django or rails, take your pick (or anything other framework that suits your fancy, though I too would go with django). But that wasn't your point.
>No one hires PhDs for web development skills, but knowing some basics certainly opens up some doors. I wouldn't want to hire a PhD who would couldn't build at least a demo himself.
Some basics would include HTML, CSS, and Hyde as well, no? Especially if the point is to give yourself a proper web presence such as your own site. I was wrong to call it a 'fleeting interest', that was simply my impression from only looking at the post. However, if you're willing to expand on that bit it would probably be beneficial to those who aren't already aware since they're your target anyway.
Aside from all of this, thanks for the Software Carpentry link– this should come in handy the next time I try to help someone dive into programming.
Really? Was that necessary? Why can't someone with an English background learn to code especially with burgeoning fields like NLP.
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I'm CTO of a django-powered startup, which I link to on my website. Django is great for dynamic content, learning it will teach you about databases and help you make nice UI's. My personal site is just boring static pages. Hyde (or Jekyll, for the ruby folks) is the right tool for such things.
I apologize if my response offended you, maybe I can be clearer with some more detail: it just seemed odd , considering Hyde is linked on the post and Styloot is not (and even there, the only way I know that it has anything to do with django is by finding it under technologies used in your resume). If you want to become a web developer, then sure– django or rails, take your pick (or anything other framework that suit…
The of learning django isn't simply to build a personal website, but to build some easily demoable app to show that you can code.
That, and also because the web is becoming a fairly universal UI system. If you need a GUI, the easiest way to do it is via a webapp.
What about negative anecdotes? Has anyone here regretted his or her decision to leave academia? Particularly, have you found the work less rewarding or interesting? I ask as a grad student with a background in chemical engineering. I’ve known two professors who’ve done the inverse – industry to academia – and they’ve provided convincing stories for academia. In both cases they found academic research (in engineering…
> What about negative anecdotes? Has anyone here regretted his or her decision to leave academia? Particularly, have you found the work less rewarding or interesting? I left academia after undergrad, despite applying and getting into graduate school. My degree is in Computer Science, my specialty track was Programming Languages and Compilers, and my senior thesis was in Systems Programming Languages. I had job offers…
Your problem seems to be that you haven't considered the possibility that academia is even worse. Academia is even worse. (I dropped out of the Berkeley PhD program in 1992 - specialty, OS and languages. From what I can tell, academia has only gotten worse since then.)
I could produce a parallel list of bullet points, but I'll just say three things. The only reason to go to grad school is because you want to be a professor. The only reason to be a professor is because you want to be a bureaucrat. Do you want to be a bureaucrat?
Even if you want to be a bureaucrat, there's no guarantee that you'll be good at it. Good bureaucrats don't write posts like the one you just wrote. They don't antagonize anyone, ever, in any way. They would rather lie - and they do. Are you good at that?
One of the things you'll discover in academia, for instance, is that the most appalling faux pas you can commit is to say anything bad about your colleagues' research. "Colleagues" meaning, of course, only whatever little log-rolling grant mafia you've wound up joining. You're perfectly free to criticize its enemies - though not the endeavor as a whole. Oh, you didn't want to join a mafia? You think someone is going to fund you just because you're smart and have cool ideas? Strange ideas you have there, kid.
I understand what you want CS research to be. CS research isn't what you want it to be. CS research is a gigantic government bureaucracy. Nor is it unique. Science itself is a gigantic government bureaucracy. Do you think it's not deceptive? Systematic deception is its very lifeblood.
Can science of the sort you're looking for exist? Of course it can exist. You can find it very easily. All you need is a time machine. Set the controls for at least 40 years ago.
Otherwise, the simplest way to do the kind of research you want to do is to decide quite consciously to give yourself over to the salt-mining industry in the most mercenary possible way, spend a decade making as much money as you possibly can (and spending as little as you can), and (if you succeed) found your own little university of one. It's not Victorian science, either, but I'll tell you it's a lot closer than Berkeley.