University of the People: Tuition-Free, Accredited Online Degree Programs

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Jun 12, 2020, 12:44 PM UTC

BeetleB wrote: post #218

novok wrote: post #210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At large tech co that pays well, writing is very important for career progression: 1. You often have to write design docs to communicate what you are making and gather feedback. These documents if badly written won't be as well received. 2. At many companies, you have a million things to work on, so in a way, you get to choose who you work with at some level. If someone communicates badly to the point of annoyance, i…

I am at "large tech co" > 1. You often have to write design docs to communicate what you are making and gather feedback. These documents if badly written won't be as well received. In my company this is entirely up to the culture of the org. Some parts of the company will require it. Other parts treat it as a formality (i.e. few will read it). And other parts don't require it at all. > At many companies, you have a m…

Post by bootlooped » Fri, Jun 12, 2020, 1:00 PM UTC

syats wrote: post #276

"tuition-free" is a misrepresentation of USD 4K for an undergrad degree. That might seem cheap for US (does it? really? compared to community college for example?), but it's crazy expensive for most "people" out there.

Post by watwut » Fri, Jun 12, 2020, 1:08 PM UTC

michaelt wrote: post #248

watwut wrote: post #241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 4. To get fame as an engineer, you often should write compelling blog articles. Badly written blogs tend not to be read. I could go step by step, but really? This sounds to be so far out of reality. There is reason engineers dont write blogs - they dont matter.

The proviso there is "to get fame" Technical accomplishments only make you famous if people know about them - if you want to become Joel Spolsky or Bruce Schneier or John Carmack or Donald Knuth then either you're going to have to publicise the evidence of your brilliance, or someone else is. Plenty of people don't particularly pursue fame - you can make plenty of money and get plenty done without it. But if fame is…

Post by antepodius » Fri, Jun 12, 2020, 1:16 PM UTC

knowuh wrote: post #281

khawkins wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is under the assumption that you see college is a program of self-betterment and not busy work for receiving a degree that says you can have a middle-class job. It feels like even the universities themselves see it as the latter these days.

The cynical anti-intellectualism in this thread is bracing. All part of the zeitgeist I guess. News is fake. Science is fake. Schools are barriers. Everything is subjective, objective reality is nonexistent. How do we have productive disagreements going forward?

Post by O_H_E » Fri, Jun 12, 2020, 1:19 PM UTC

pugio wrote: post #172

d0gbread wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you willing to share more about what you're working on? It sounds interesting. One language app I tried for a few minutes was a VR app that put you, for example, on a train, and you had to have a relevant conversation. It was cool, not sure how effective because the GearVR I used at the time made me sick too quickly.

(Disclaimer: Most of what I say here has caveats and qualifications – hard to capture full nuance in a comment's space.) One of the distinguishing features of computers is easy simulation. Humans learn well by direct, tight, interaction with a system – poking at a thing to see how it works. Tight feedback loops are how we quickly build intuitions. Explorable Explanations [0] are a great extant example of what I mean,…