SoooOo...it looks like I'm going back to my old co-op job (software development) for the summer! 
In fact, originally they told me "probably, but we'll have to see what the work load and budget are like". Turns out they thought I was talking about a regular job, not a co-op. Which means they were thinking of hiring me for a regular position as well
Anyway, nothing set in writing yet (and I'm a big pessimist/realist), but verbal agreements all around..
Can't wait, it will be fun.
< comp sci bla bla >
My classes are awesome. Artificial Intelligence is really interesting. Very subjective and interactive. Lots of practical prolog assignments too... I have a strange affection for prolog, though I find it pretty diffucult. Systems programming is neat too... I've studied OSs before but this will offer a practical view... rather than looking at pretty pictures we'll be doing linux coding. They decided to take an application approach rather than actually writing pieces of the OS, which kind of too bad, but it still sounds fun!
So I've got a few more classes.. Physics (super fun in theory, super DULL and DRY in class so far) and real time systems (hardware intense, so slightly scary for me, but interesting and useful).
< /comp sci bla bla >
Also, business management. Ugh. Tonight the prof spent three hours (mostly) trying to convinve the class that
- capitalism is a really good thing
- the image of executives of large companies as evil is all wrong, they are really mostly wonderful people who donate to charities because they care, not because it looks good to the public
- executives are not all about maximizing profit... they;re working towards a 'vision of the future' that is better for everyone
- fair trade is fine and good but we shouldn't bother because not enough people will ever pay the extra money for it
- sweat shops are OK because the cheap labour allows us to create more research/design jobs here for the highly educated and gives workers in poor countries at least A job. They cannot be paid more because nikes would cost $500/pair. (somehow I doubt paying them well by their countries standards would be more than pocket change to us)
Anyway, the class seemed totally convinved.
In fact, originally they told me "probably, but we'll have to see what the work load and budget are like". Turns out they thought I was talking about a regular job, not a co-op. Which means they were thinking of hiring me for a regular position as well
Anyway, nothing set in writing yet (and I'm a big pessimist/realist), but verbal agreements all around..
Can't wait, it will be fun.
< comp sci bla bla >
My classes are awesome. Artificial Intelligence is really interesting. Very subjective and interactive. Lots of practical prolog assignments too... I have a strange affection for prolog, though I find it pretty diffucult. Systems programming is neat too... I've studied OSs before but this will offer a practical view... rather than looking at pretty pictures we'll be doing linux coding. They decided to take an application approach rather than actually writing pieces of the OS, which kind of too bad, but it still sounds fun!
So I've got a few more classes.. Physics (super fun in theory, super DULL and DRY in class so far) and real time systems (hardware intense, so slightly scary for me, but interesting and useful).
< /comp sci bla bla >
Also, business management. Ugh. Tonight the prof spent three hours (mostly) trying to convinve the class that
- capitalism is a really good thing
- the image of executives of large companies as evil is all wrong, they are really mostly wonderful people who donate to charities because they care, not because it looks good to the public
- executives are not all about maximizing profit... they;re working towards a 'vision of the future' that is better for everyone
- fair trade is fine and good but we shouldn't bother because not enough people will ever pay the extra money for it
- sweat shops are OK because the cheap labour allows us to create more research/design jobs here for the highly educated and gives workers in poor countries at least A job. They cannot be paid more because nikes would cost $500/pair. (somehow I doubt paying them well by their countries standards would be more than pocket change to us)
Anyway, the class seemed totally convinved.
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As for your business management prof, you only have to ask yourself one thing: has this prof ever worked in the private sector? If the answer is 'no', then you know they're full of it. One of my algorithms profs once dismissed assignments as 'implementation is trivial'; he honestly believed if you could scribble out the concept on paper, that coding and debugging it was a barely-needed exercise. He's obviously never worked for a company, under a deadline, budget and a customer screaming for results. Implementation becomes much less trivial.