Best products from r/UCSC

> How does the ethernet work in merrill? I have a chromebook that doesnt have an ethernet port, is there like a converter cable or something i can use?

There are two wifi networks campus-wide, cruznet and eduroam. cruznet is open and makes you click a terms of service every time. eduroam is secured and your devices will autoconnect every time, which in my opinion is much nicer than cruznet. The campus IT pages have great info about how to set up eduroam.

>I dont wanna buy a laptop backpack cuz they're usually ugly and exepensive, would it be weird if i used a purse or messenger bag? Or does it really not matter?

I just throw my 15" macbook pro into my backpack. I've got your typical jansport backpack. I have my laptop, somtimes a textbook, 2 3 subject notebooks, a 1" binder, graphing calculator, earbuds, pens, pencils, erasers, and a handful of junk.

>What about printing? People reccomend i bring a printer, but is that really necessary? My highschool had us turn papers and everything in online, is ucsc still doing like traditional physical copies of stuff? Are printers pretty available around campus?

Here's the deal with printing. Campus has a ton of printers, they're 10c a side for printing. So if you plan on printing more than 1000 pages it may be useful to have your own printer. I love having my own printer because I don't have to worry about running places to get stuff printed before I turn it in. It's great peace of mind. I've had to print way more stuff than I thought I would. This printer will run you about $100 but will work forever, prints double sided, and toner is super cheap. I printed 1200 pages with the "free" toner included with the printer( I have the old version of this one, I've printed 2500+ pages over my four years.)

>How bad are 9 am classes 🙃?

9am is not bad at all, fewer people show up so there's more armrest room. It's all a state of mind. Just decide you're always going to go to all your lectures, you'll do a lot better and stress about exams less. You've got to take the classes you need, just do it, don't worry about what time classes are at.

>Is there decent closet space (merrill double room)?

I'm a Kresge student, don't ask me.

>Anything i should bring that isnt usually thought of?

You'll find out you need less stuff than everyone says you do. Don't worry about it, live on campus for a quarter, buy anything you REALLY need, and then reevaluate at winter break or so. You'll be fine. Bring a good set of office supplies: stapler, scotch tape, ruler, variety of pens, pencils, erasers, binder clips... You'll find them super useful.

As an older employed guy, he charges me $40 for 40 minutes. The is the basic going rate in town for professional lessons. But I have heard from others that he will work with some on a sliding scale. But, if you truly only have a couple hours playing so far, the very first thing to figure out is how serious you are. In the beginning, you have to devote a least several hours a week practicing both scales and chords. Both finger strength and dexterity are the key to getting anywhere, and there really are no shortcuts, other then practice, and practice some more. Consider getting this book set: https://www.amazon.com/Hal-Leonard-Guitar-Method-Complete/dp/0634047019/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1485995196&sr=8-1&keywords=learn+guitar
It will both teach you how the very basics of reading music, and make you practice putting your fingers on the right frets. Do you have to know how to read music? Well, not if you are only looking to sing around the campfire.. but if you ever want to play music with others, and not be totally lost, it is pretty much a must that you know some level of chord structure. Speaking of, here is one of the cheapest chord books you can buy:https://www.amazon.com/Alfreds-Basic-Guitar-Chord-Chart/dp/0739048953/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1485995714&sr=8-1&keywords=basic+guitar+chords
Learn the following chords C,D,E,F,G, Em, Am, Dm. Most songs can be played in the key of C, (which is C, dm,em,F,g,am). There are an mind numbing ways to play each and every chord, so learn the ones that you can play in the first 3 frets to start with. Then learn the E, em and A barre chords, again practice will give you strength and you will start to build up finger callus's too. Once you can jump from chord to chord somewhat comfortably, then go see Ron (or a taskmaster of your choice) Consider finding others that want to start, and meet once a week. OK, enough babble... ( you can tell I love playing....)

The xps 13 does throttle unfortunately, but the xps 15 is pretty good about it, along with having my favorite keyboard and screen on the market.

I’ve been primarily dealing with dell support most of my career and it can be a bit iffy but at the same time, every single one is on the consumer side. Especially the Asian ones like asus (bad experience)

In the end it comes down to what you like the best, and if you have to type on the keyboard you hate every day, you won’t want to so I’d recommend the Mac 13.

On the lines of other computers, I have a strong hatred for gaming computers but I’ve heard they’re getting better recently if you can deal with sub-par battery life. I hate to be that guy but I’ve had good experience with the dell g5, and it’s cheap with better battery life, and doesn’t look too “over the top”

https://www.amazon.com/Dell-G5587-7866BLK-PUS-Display-Processor-Licorice/dp/B07CD3MRZF/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&linkCode=sl1&tag=laptopunderbudget-20&linkId=31d0f701aa9ab6e6ff1cd99a3991c81f&language=en_US

Think pads are also great but the keyboard is something to get used to. In the end you should spend a few hours in a beat but or some store using the different computers you’re looking at buying to know which one you want.

My one recommendation is to stay away from asus computers. They are cheaply made and the customer support sucks dick

Here's my two cents.

Other things to consider: I'm a girl, minority, and have a mental "disability" (diagnosed anxiety and depression). These all come into play when you do apply for tech jobs in some ways.

I was a MCD Biology major last year but switched when UCSF Admissions told me that getting into med school is an honest crapshoot. I literally switched to CE during the summer. It was a pain to switch but it's working out.

Right now I'm taking 29 units, 15 units here and 14 units at another school. The only class I've taken so far that is CS related is CMPS 12A/L in the summer at a CC where I aced it and the professor really liked me. And CMPS 12A/L isn't even part of the CE program.

You know what you should do today? Make a resume. Right now. Already have one? Apply to internships. Right now. Making a LinkedIn also helps so much.

I applied from August - November to 100 companies and got denied to 20 already (Uber, Asana, TwoSigma, Pinterest, some video game companies) but already have 5 offers on the line with offers from $25-40 an hour with other frills like free food and corporate housing. This last end of the quarter I've been getting scheduled for phone interviews, technical tests, on-sites.

This is with one CS class too. Most companies don't look at transcripts or references and all they look for is project work (which I don't have either) and talent. I studied my ass off with this book and have learned so much on how to tackle interviews.

SOE literally thinks I'm silly, but I probably have done more in terms of networking than some Senior CS major. I also still have a pre-med mentality which helps.

TLDR What I'm saying is that even if you don't have a lot on your belt, people see talent easily. Be persistent and optimistic.

I have a personal list of applications if you want them, PM me. Will not disclose to everyone though because this place is already competitive enough.

Better late than never! Sure, it's later than ideal, but some is better than none.

Make the most of the experience by working hard and getting in good with the professor you work under. Don't be shy about it. You need his good graces so he can write a stellar recommendation for you. No matter what you want to do in life, having a solid professor in your corner is an advantage. He can introduce you to his colleagues at other schools if you want to go into grad school, he can get you into his lab for graduate studies, or introduce you to industry professionals where you can have an in at a nice company.

I write about this extensively in a recent book I published. Keep pushing forward!

It's a great course and Dimitris is a very good teacher. It is pretty challenging and Dimitris expects you to keep up, so most importantly take it seriously and make sure you intuitively and analytically understand each part. Ask questions and go to office hours. Some of the techniques taught in this class are very important for use in industry.

When I took the class he used Algorithms by Dasgupta:http://www.amazon.com/Algorithms-Sanjoy-Dasgupta/dp/0073523402

There used to be a free PDF available as well.

I've got a really shitty $10 pair that I'll give to you for free, never used basically. They sound a bit like tin cans and feel like they were made with the cheapest plastic possible, but they work and I'll head over to you if you want them.

If you don't mind waiting for them to ship, I would recommend you just order them online. These Tascam TH-02 are what I currently use for my PC, they cost $20 right now with Amazon Prime and they actually work really well for the cost. The comfort leaves something to be desired, but they have extra padding available for sale.

If you want something that doesn't make any noise for other people (or has a more options), I'd recommend buying some headphones you can sleep on (or, if you have airpods, just leave an airpod in only one ear and sleep on the other). In addition, if you have IOS, Dark Noise is pretty good and has a variety of noises (beach, rain, campfire, white/brown/pink/grey noise, etc) which makes it optimal if you're also using it for things like work.

I sometimes have trouble falling asleep because I'm thinking about things, so I recently wrote a script that just brings my computer volume to 0 over the course of an hour and just put on The Office. Netflix also stops and asks if you're still watching after 60min, so it'll automatically pause. Plus, it has the added benefit of making it easy to convince yourself to go to sleep if you ever procrastinate on that (you're not "going to sleep", you're "listening to tv"). Would not recommend with a show you haven't seen before since you're very likely to miss at least 40+ min of content.

Well you're probably asleep because I'm writing this at 2 a.m. Natural nightowl here! I suggest you protect yourself, invest in some $20 earplugs. These should do fine, but also do some custom research on your ear type as what I linked should last a couple years. Though the disposablee foam ones work too more earplugs. These save me when I want to sleep in late like past 11 a.m. without outside construction or cars waking me up.

That was a typo it's CE12. The past three quarters it has focused on digital logic structures, binary/hex math, basics of building a processor, and the MIPS assembly language. If you want to get a head start on the book pick up Computer Organization and Design.

CS101 will depend on the instructor. If you are assigned to Tantalo's class then you will be doing a mix of programming assignments and proof stuff. I'm not super familiar with the details but luckily, his materials are all posted on his course websites, just google UCSC CMPS 101 and find it. If on the other hand you are assigned to Sesh's class then (at least based on this last quarter) you won't be doing coding, you'll be doing very thorough proofs about algorithms. Both of these classes use CLRS which, if you're serious about CS, you'll probably want to have as a desk reference regardless.

I'd highly recommend a window fan, like this one. It's good at circulating air into your dorm and not too expensive. I had one of these and it helped keep my dorm relatively cool most of the year.

You need to find somewhere else to live. Until such time that can be arranged I suggest investing in a sleep mask.

I have lived in similar situations before and from my experience people like this DON'T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT YOU. They are not bad people per se, they just have no empathy. Good luck.

Learn C would be the best. The book that most likely is going to be used is this one: https://www.amazon.com/Programming-Language-2nd-Brian-Kernighan/dp/0131103628

But there are COUNTLESS free resources online to learn C.

You could also learn another language, but i recommend just jumping into C

Personally, if you really want to dive in, I really recommend C. You'll have to learn about pointers and memory management which Perl and Java won't force you to learn. Java will be easy to learn and will make a lot of sense if you're familiar with C.

K&R's C book is the most acclaimed introduction to the language. http://www.amazon.com/Programming-Language-2nd-Brian-Kernighan/dp/0131103628

https://www.amazon.com/Mind-Hunter-Inside-Elite-Serial/dp/0671528904 is basically what the Netflix show of the same name is based on. I recommend both! The show has a lot of scenes reminiscent of the Silence of the Lambs interview scenes, which are amazing.


Edit: I now see that you know about the show, forgive me repetition of useless information.

Ah, yes. It's a classic read. I highly recommend.