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Microcontrollers Not Allowed – Trolling a college instructor

ultrakeet.com.au

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Re: Microcontrollers Not Allowed – Trolling a college instructor

#61

Post by baddox »

Retric wrote: post #40
obstinate wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's an option, but you're going to end up filtering out a lot of the best companies to work for if you go that route. I have personal knowledge that it's a factor at least at Google and Microsoft. As I understand it, Facebook and Twitter use it as well. All depends on what you value. Personally, it seems like getting a high GPA isn't very difficult, so why not do well in school to keep your opportunities as open a…

YMMV but those are all terrible companies to work for. Consider this they collectively employ ~ 100,000 people and have produced basically zero innovation in the last 3 years. PS: Though they also have fairly wide side doors so many of their current employes have not gone thorough their screening process.

You imply that innovation is the only thing an employee would want to participate in. I wouldn't have a problem working on a great team making great high quality products that are not innovative.

Re: Microcontrollers Not Allowed – Trolling a college instructor

#62

Post by fubarred »

MichaelGG wrote: post #25
obstinate wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What aspect of identifying them would make it worth it? I can see some potential fringe benefits -- don't take future classes from that prof, etc. But it's hard to imagine that those fringe benefits would actually be worth the drop in GPA, which does matter.

What does GPA matter for? Except special circumstances, like scholarships or visas tied to GPA? I stopped 7th grade and truly dropped out at 10th, so I'm biased. I've just never heard of GPA actually mattering.

It only matters to people that enjoy taking tests and those that can't be bothered to understand what being successful at a job requires.

Re: Microcontrollers Not Allowed – Trolling a college instructor

#63

Post by fubarred »

GFK_of_xmaspast wrote: post #42
rasz_pl wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Michael Dell, Bill Gates

There's a big difference between being a college drop-out and being a high school drop-out.

The latter realized the futility of it sooner than the former.

Re: Microcontrollers Not Allowed – Trolling a college instructor

#64

Post by sethammons »

pavel_lishin wrote: post #56

> If you attempt this project, your classmates will think you're a nerd. You'll likely wind up getting your head flushed and/or balls greased. I'm familiar with the concept of getting a swirlie (head flushed), but what in the world is getting your balls greased?

Not sure why you are being down voted. A google search does not answer the question either.

Re: Microcontrollers Not Allowed – Trolling a college instructor

#65

Post by MichaelGG »

fubarred wrote: post #63
GFK_of_xmaspast wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a big difference between being a college drop-out and being a high school drop-out.

The latter realized the futility of it sooner than the former.

Eh, a compsci degree would have helped me in some cases. I ended up studying algorithms and such by myself anyways. OTOH, I've interviewed people with degrees in cs and they couldn't even explain binary search, let alone implement it.

I dropped out cause my teachers were atrocious. My algebra teacher couldn't explain why absolute value was a function, just that it was and we must learn it, period. Another teacher said "computers just use binary". When I pointed out I often saw hex, instead of pointing out why base 16 is a good fit for writing binary numbers, she just stammered that computers were just binary. Still my fault for giving up, but I had enough reason at the time.

Re: Microcontrollers Not Allowed – Trolling a college instructor

#66

Post by dunmalg »

obstinate wrote: post #52
Retric wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

YMMV but those are all terrible companies to work for. Consider this they collectively employ ~ 100,000 people and have produced basically zero innovation in the last 3 years. PS: Though they also have fairly wide side doors so many of their current employes have not gone thorough their screening process.

OK. But employee surveys consistently show that people working at these companies are highly satisfied. That doesn't mean you'd be satisfied there, but I don't see how you can say that they are not good companies to work for.

You have to consider what those surveys measure, i.e. people who WORK there, not people who HAVE worked there. Thing to remember about top-tier tech companies is that anyone who CAN get a job with them can also pretty easily get a job somewhere else. This means that people who are unsatisfied don't stay very long.

Re: Microcontrollers Not Allowed – Trolling a college instructor

#67

Post by farkanoid »

pavel_lishin wrote: post #56

> If you attempt this project, your classmates will think you're a nerd. You'll likely wind up getting your head flushed and/or balls greased. I'm familiar with the concept of getting a swirlie (head flushed), but what in the world is getting your balls greased?

Usually done to junior apprentice mechanics in Australia that wear shorts to work (pants are always required in the workshop)

They're held down while someone else grabs a wad of black, filthy engine grease. Then they shove said grease up the guys shorts and onto his balls

...It's really hard to get off, man

Re: Microcontrollers Not Allowed – Trolling a college instructor

#68

Post by simcop2387 »

sgt wrote: post #11
jacquesm wrote: post #3

In the age of 4.5 V 'flat' batteries we did something similar, put an AC generator and another battery inside. (simple sine wave oscillator coupled to a cheap small transformer salvaged from a transistor radio). Watch the local electronics wizz tear their hair out in bafflement how an empty battery (according to the DC volt meter) can power a lamp. Why resort to 4 letter words if you can mess with the laws of physics…

I'd love to an electronics related prank in 2015. Just before I went on christmas holiday, I inserted a snippet of JavaScript into our web-based IDE (used by our developers) that flipped images upside down for a few seconds now and then. Their first reactions - this must be a browser issue. Another suspected an issue with the latest OS update.

Here's some more modern ones too

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkTvDjhImwo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnlRwPgy3NA

Re: Microcontrollers Not Allowed – Trolling a college instructor

#69

Post by fubarred »

MichaelGG wrote: post #65
fubarred wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The latter realized the futility of it sooner than the former.

Eh, a compsci degree would have helped me in some cases. I ended up studying algorithms and such by myself anyways. OTOH, I've interviewed people with degrees in cs and they couldn't even explain binary search, let alone implement it. I dropped out cause my teachers were atrocious. My algebra teacher couldn't explain why absolute value was a function, just that it was and we must learn it, period. Another teacher sai…

Wow, sounds like the typical heres-the-teaching-plan-dont-ask-me-why, NCBLA, spoon-fed idiocracy. Back in highschool, thankfully we had one honest guy that just let us do whatever the fuck we wanted (which was pretty awesome).

All of the borderline-useless hazing you might have missed at a "top 50" school (one of the UC's):

    - Java to MIPS asm compiler in both Java and C++
    - Reimplement the major parts of OpenGL pipeline in C++
    - Hack on MINIX 2.x kernel, reimplement some *NIX tools
    - Gates up superscalar, pipelined, branch-predicting, microcoded integer CPU in VHDL and its own microcode language
    - Caching HTTP/1.0 proxy server
    - Interface various hardware to PICs, FPGAs and PALs
    - Problem sets upon problem sets, ad infinitum
    - Coed dorms where the doors are always open, but you won't have time for more than just hooking up
    - Sleepless all-nighters (2-5 per week) and all the junk food your meal plan can afford (because you won't have time to cook)

Re: Microcontrollers Not Allowed – Trolling a college instructor

#70

Post by [deleted] »

MichaelGG wrote: post #65
fubarred wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The latter realized the futility of it sooner than the former.

Eh, a compsci degree would have helped me in some cases. I ended up studying algorithms and such by myself anyways. OTOH, I've interviewed people with degrees in cs and they couldn't even explain binary search, let alone implement it. I dropped out cause my teachers were atrocious. My algebra teacher couldn't explain why absolute value was a function, just that it was and we must learn it, period. Another teacher sai…

[deleted]
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