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The University Is Like a CD in the Streaming Age

theatlantic.com

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Re: The University Is Like a CD in the Streaming Age

#271

Post by MaxBarraclough »

eindiran wrote: post #266
dleslie wrote: post #263

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I previously used FLAC but I like taking my whole library with me. HQ MP3 is good enough for me. The loudness war is something of a myth. I normalize my audio, so I don't really notice. As for the absence of dynamic range, I don't really care. I don't listen to classical.

I don't think the loudness war is a myth: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudness_war But it appears to have significantly abated, due to normalization by streaming services and changing opinions of sound engineers over the last decade.

> changing opinions of sound engineers over the last decade

Don't sound engineers oppose the loudness war? My understanding is that they'd far rather be doing work they could be proud of, but they get orders to ramp up the volume.

You're right that it absolutely isn't a myth.

Re: The University Is Like a CD in the Streaming Age

#272

Post by dleslie »

eindiran wrote: post #266
dleslie wrote: post #263

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I previously used FLAC but I like taking my whole library with me. HQ MP3 is good enough for me. The loudness war is something of a myth. I normalize my audio, so I don't really notice. As for the absence of dynamic range, I don't really care. I don't listen to classical.

I don't think the loudness war is a myth: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudness_war But it appears to have significantly abated, due to normalization by streaming services and changing opinions of sound engineers over the last decade.

Something of a myth: the idea goes that due to the loss of dynamic range in audio that somehow the quality of the audio recording is diminished; but that's not necessarily true.

Re: The University Is Like a CD in the Streaming Age

#273

Post by claudiawerner »

growlist wrote: post #257
weston wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There’s no such thing as anti-white racism. Racism is prejudice or discrimination backed by institutional, structural power. Therefore, a black person prejudiced against white people (as an example) is meaningless because black Americans have historically had very little power in the United States. Racism by white americans has historically been backed up by the power of every institution in the United States, which…

Aha! And so we stumble across the Orwellian redefinition of language: if you don't like a word, just change it's meaning until it suits your agenda.

What counts as "changing the meaning of a word" and what counts as higher, more complex, and more abstract understanding of (originally) lay concepts? For example, if the common conception is that "math" means something like arithmetic, and mathematicians point out that it has a much broader, abstract, complex, and encompassing definition within their field of study, are the mathematicians engaging in Orwellien redefinition of language?

The academic feeling among people who study these topics (socioloists, anthropologists, philosophers) is much closer to what GP defined as racism than the definition you (probably) had in mind.

Re: The University Is Like a CD in the Streaming Age

#274

Post by johnrgrace »

FrobozzElectric wrote: post #93
dougmwne wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I never shied away from interviewing a person without a degree, and honestly tried to never count that as a mark against a person since making it in the professional world without a degree is a challenge that I think shows a certain character. A lot of doors are just closed by default and that can be tough on a person's sense of self-worth. That said, I think the degree holders were better candidates usually, but I s…

> have a healthy respect for authority, and can delay gratification in the extreme. What does these qualities have to do with being a effective software developer? > The degree acts to filter out people who are too independent to fit well within a hierarchy. Wouldn't people that fall into the category of "free-thinkers" make for better engineers — or at least engineers that are more capable at creating novel solution…

How much of the ACTUAL scope of work needs to be novel? I'd say a limited amount. There is a LOT of work that is just running ops. For example, a billing system doesn't need to be novel it's been pretty well worked out many times.

Re: The University Is Like a CD in the Streaming Age

#275

Post by DreamScatter »

teuobk wrote: post #235

The further in time I am removed from my university years, the more convinced I become that the social interaction was the true root of the experience's value. To quote Stephen Leacock's 1920 take on university life: "The real thing for the student is the life and environment that surrounds him. All that he really learns he learns, in a sense, by the active operation of his own intellect and not as the passive recipi…

Excellent, I would be interested in your university.

Re: The University Is Like a CD in the Streaming Age

#276

Post by asdff »

throwlogon wrote: post #100
turbinerneiter wrote: post #83

Ya'll use University wrong. The classes, etc. ... whatever! During my time at Uni, I: * designed a demonstrator car frame to show off a bunch of new manufacturing techniques, which was actually built in the end * was part of a team who tested a new type of fiber optical vibration sensor on a sounding rocket * worked with a PhD student on developing a sensor to measure water flow through a tank to validate his simulat…

For students who arrive at a university without already knowing these opportunities exist, it's not always apparent that they do exist and may be available to them.

In recent years it has gotten a lot more obvious how massive the network effect is for undergrads. Anyone in stem knows to get research experience, and to bombard every professor's email in the department for a position, no matter what career they might end up with.

In fact, at my uni there is fear that going online will result in students deferring for a year, since undergraduate surveys are overwhelmingly in favor of in person class, to the point of not paying tuition for online offerings and extending their degree plan as a result.

Re: The University Is Like a CD in the Streaming Age

#277

Post by throwaway6734 »

peterwoerner wrote: post #268
coliveira wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem in the US (as opposed to Germany) is that the barrier is not ability, but money. Wealthy families will easily place their kids on some of the greatest universities, while a poor kid needs to be a genius to go to a place like Princeton, or else will have to enter into loads of debt to have a decent education at a state university.

I don't know... 9 years ago when I graduated from a tier II state university which was highly affordable[0]. Additionally it was locally known for creating the second best engineers in the region (after Georgia Tech), best nurses in the region, and has well respected education and agriculture programs. I leveraged my Tier II undergraduate into a tier I graduate school experience and am now a PI/lead at a large defens…

You did it right

Re: The University Is Like a CD in the Streaming Age

#278

Post by ntsplnkv2 »

throwaway0a5e wrote: post #252
turbinerneiter wrote: post #83

Ya'll use University wrong. The classes, etc. ... whatever! During my time at Uni, I: * designed a demonstrator car frame to show off a bunch of new manufacturing techniques, which was actually built in the end * was part of a team who tested a new type of fiber optical vibration sensor on a sounding rocket * worked with a PhD student on developing a sensor to measure water flow through a tank to validate his simulat…

Good for you. You were lucky enough to be in a program that had a firehose of resources (mostly money, but probably also high quality professors). There's only so many flagship programs at any given university. The overwhelming majority of people who get a BA or BS in a given field will not be that lucky. How many students to the top schools in a field graduate? How many do the rest graduate?

You could make this argument about anything in life.

Everyone has good and bad breaks. The mistake is thinking that we can somehow create the same experience for everyone.

The entire American experiment is based on individualism. We have to have some responsibility in our lives.

Re: The University Is Like a CD in the Streaming Age

#279

Post by ntsplnkv2 »

dougmwne wrote: post #16

I was having another one of those moments yesterday where I was questioning the value of higher education while reading a HN thread about teaching yourself CS. There was a healthy debate about whether the typical CS curriculum helps a modern software engineer at all. Some thought the degree was stuck back in the 70's. Others thought there was value, but had trouble articulating it. It seems that when the information…

CS is more applicable to mathematics or Physics.

What CS needs is an equivalent engineering program. It is amazing to me that Software Engineering is not considered a valid engineering discipline like Civil, Mechanical (which apply maths and physics).

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