Best products from r/gatech

We found 23 comments on r/gatech discussing the most recommended products. We ran sentiment analysis on each of these comments to determine how redditors feel about different products. We found 94 products and ranked them based on the amount of positive reactions they received. Here are the top 20.

Top comments mentioning products on r/gatech:

u/shred45 · 6 pointsr/gatech

So, when I was younger, I did attend one computer science related camp,

https://www.idtech.com

They have a location at Emory (which I believe I did one year) that was ok (not nearly as "nerdy"), and one at Boston which I really enjoyed (perhaps because I had to sleep on site). That being said, the stuff I learned there was more in the areas of graphic design and/or system administration, and not computer science. They are also quite expensive for only 1-2 weeks of exposure.

I felt it was a good opportunity to meet some very smart kids though, and it definitely lead me to push myself. Knowing and talking to people that are purely interested in CS, and are your age, is quite rare in high school. I think that kind of perspective can make your interests and hobbies seem more normal and set a much higher bar for what you expect for yourself.

On the other side of things, I believe that one of the biggest skills in any college program is an openness to just figure something out yourself if it interests you, without someone sitting there with you. This can be very helpful in life in general, and I think was one of the biggest skills I was missing in high school. I remember tackling some tricky stuff when I was younger, but I definitely passed over stuff I was interested in just because I figured "thats for someone with a college degree". The fact is that experience will make certain tasks easier but you CAN learn anything you want. You just may have to learn more of the fundamentals behind it than someone with more experience.

With that in mind, I would personally suggest a couple of things which I think would be really useful to someone his age, give him a massive leg up over the average freshman when he does get to college, and be a lot more productive than a summer camp.

One would be to pick a code-golf site (I like http://www.codewars.com) and simply try to work through the challenges. Another, much more math heavy, option is https://projecteuler.net. This, IMO is one of the best ways to learn a language, and I will often go there to get familiar with the syntax of a new language. I think he should pick Python and Clojure (or Haskell) and do challenges in both. Python is Object Oriented, whilst Clojure (or Haskell) is Functional. These are two very fundamental and interesting "schools of thought" and if he can wrap his head around both at this age, that would be very valuable.

A second option, and how I really got into programming, is to do some sort of web application development. This is pretty light on the CS side of things, but it allows you to be creative and manage more complex projects. He could pick a web framework in Python (flask), Ruby (rails), or NodeJS. There are numerous tutorials on getting started with this stuff. For Flask: http://blog.miguelgrinberg.com/post/the-flask-mega-tutorial-part-i-hello-world. For Rails: https://www.railstutorial.org. This type of project could take a while, there are a lot of technologies which interact to make a web application, but the ability to be creative when designing the web pages can be a lot of fun.

A third, more systems level, option (which is probably a bit more opinionated on my part) is that he learn to use Linux. I would suggest that he install VirtualBox on his computer, https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads. He can then install Linux in a virtual machine without messing up the existing OS (also works with Mac). He COULD install Ubuntu, but this is extremely easy and doesn't really teach much about the inner workings. I think he could install Arch. https://wiki.archlinux.org. This is a much more involved distribution to install, but their documentation is notoriously good, and it exposes you to a lot of command line (Ubuntu attempts to be almost exclusively graphical). From here, he should just try to use it as much as possible for his daily computing. He can learn general system management and Bash scripting. There should be tutorials for how to do just about anything he may want. Some more advanced stuff would be to configure a desktop environment, he could install Gnome by default, it is pretty easy, but a lot of people really get into this with more configurable ones ( https://www.reddit.com/r/unixporn ). He could also learn to code and compile in C.

Fourth, if he likes C, he may like seeing some of the ways in which programs which are poorly written can be broken. A really fun "game" is https://io.smashthestack.org. He can log into a server and basically "hack" his way to different levels. This can also really expose you to how Linux maintains security (user permissions, etc. ). I think this would be much more involved approach, but if he is really curious about this stuff, I think this could be the way to go. In this similar vein, he could watch talks from Defcon and Chaos Computer Club. They both have a lot of interesting stuff on youtube (it can get a little racy though).

Finally, there are textbooks. These can be really long, and kinda boring. But I think they are much more approachable than one might think. These will expose you much more to the "Science" part of computer science. A large portions of the classes he will take in college look into this sort of stuff. Additionally, if he covers some of this stuff, he could look into messing around with AI (Neural Networks, etc.) and Machine Learning (I would check out Scikit-learn for Python). Here I will list different broad topics, and some of the really good books in each. (Almost all can be found for free.......)

General CS:
Algorithms and Data Structures: https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/introduction-algorithms
Theory of Computation: http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Theory-Computation-Michael-Sipser/dp/113318779X
Operating Systems: http://www.amazon.com/Operating-System-Concepts-Abraham-Silberschatz/dp/0470128720

Some Math:
Linear Algebra: http://math.mit.edu/~gs/linearalgebra/
Probability and Stats: http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/mathematics/18-05-introduction-to-probability-and-statistics-spring-2014/readings/

I hope that stuff helps, I know you were asking about camps, and I think the one I suggested would be good, but this is stuff that he can do year round. Also, he should keep his GPA up and destroy the ACT.

u/[deleted] · 3 pointsr/gatech

I don't see any concrete advice, so I'll advise of what I did to prepare. I started 4 months away from my test date because I was still a full time student the whole time preparing. Got a 159/167/5.0 and was pretty stoked with my verbal score. I started out in the low 140s/high 130s (words r hard) and had to work a lot to bring that up. For math, I just ran through two practice tests in the beginning and that was enough to brush up on the math stuff (the only things I forgot were statistics related).

Materials

  • Kaplan's GRE Prep Book (with online tests) http://www.amazon.com/GRE-Premier-2016-Practice-Tests/dp/1625231326/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1463072761&sr=8-1&keywords=kaplans+gre

  • Roughly 1,000 flash cards and a large notebook for writing down words you don't know/essays/miscellaneous (I got one with dividers to split up 1. words I don't know 2. essay prep 3. essay writing 4. math equations I don't know)

  • 5 bags of coffee and a shitty test score for motivation

    Process

    Writing: For this, I don't have much of a way of recommending how you prep. I have never been too great at writing itself, but you can learn a great deal from going through the book and googling extra essay prompts to organize your ideas. Organizing your ideas in an outline is imperative. Beyond that, the writing center at Tech might be worthwhile if you score below a 4.0 on your first test (it also depends what you're going to grad school for: I went into the medical field so writing is somewhat important, if you're going into engineering, you could pretty much get by with a 3.5 so long as the other scores are decent). Just work on organizing a good argument with brief but concrete examples. Read tons of example essays to figure out how to formulate your ideas.

    Verbal: This is what I sucked at. My vocabulary has always been horrifically bad, and I got by forever with saying "I'm an engineer, I don't need this shit!" The Kaplan book has good lists in the back. I made flash cards for the most used words as well as word roots to figure out words on the fly. Go through the appendix and write down all you don't know, start with that.

    Next, everytime you take a practice test, write down all of the words you didn't know on paper while you're taking the test, and make flash cards of those. I had a good 5-600 of word roots and words by the time I got done with a dozen practice tests and with how stupid the Kaplan book made me feel. Vocabulary is what got me the most, and is important for both the multiple choice as well as the reading comp. If you suck at reading comp. even after learning vocab, ask someone at the Writing Center for help. Reading/writing were never enough of a problem for me to seek out extra help, but I still wasn't great at them.

    Math: Just run through practice tests. Write down any formulas you forget from math. If you're struggling with this, idk how to help because I can't explain math. You should be fine coming from Tech. I made like 50 flash cards of formulas to run through the week before the test (things like permutations vs combinations always tripped me up in the way they were worded).

    TL;DR

    Practice. A lot. If your grad school of choice is competitive or your GPA isn't the greatest, you should treat this like a class in itself over the next few months. It helps if you can budget the extra $200 to just take it now to get a feel for it and get a score to see where you need to improve. You must wear headphones and they give you a full pat down each time you go in and out of the computer room. The guy running my session was upwards of late 70s, and he stood behind me during half of the test.
u/snozpls · 4 pointsr/gatech

You might find Seitzman's lecture notes to be helpful.

http://seitzman.gatech.edu/classes/ae3450/

http://seitzman.gatech.edu/classes/ae3450/outline.html

When I took 3450, we used the blue and orange book (probably the one Jagoda is pulling questions from). It's actually selected sections from two separate books compiled specifically for that course. I thought the second half about gas dynamics was pretty good, so you might want to look for that as well.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0131206680

If it's any consolation, the gas dynamics portion of the class isn't hard so much as incredibly tedious. Just a couple monster equations and the rest is just ratios. Figure out which ratios you need and how to manipulate them and you'll be good to go.

Aside from that, study and pray to the curve. Good luck!

u/gmora_gt · 2 pointsr/gatech

Sorry that other people are being harsh critics, but yeah man. Respectfully, a couple of these are pretty overpriced.

Thing is, most people would rather buy a new book from the store than buy a used book for barely less than retail. I suggest you lower the prices, especially keeping this in mind:

Astrodynamics sells new for $17: https://www.amazon.com/Fundamentals-Astrodynamics-Dover-Aeronautical-Engineering/dp/0486600610

Propulsion sells new for $25: https://www.amazon.com/Mechanics-Thermodynamics-Propulsion-Philip-Peterson/dp/8131729516/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1526807320&sr=1-2&keywords=mechanics+and+thermodynamics+of+propulsion+2nd+edition

Your edition of COE 3001 sells new for $113: https://www.amazon.com/Mechanics-Materials-James-M-Gere/dp/1111577730/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1526807508&sr=1-2&keywords=mechanics+of+materials+goodno and it's also not the current edition

Best of luck. And if you find someone looking specifically for the current edition of the Mechanics of Materials book, please send them my way!

u/Rhedogian · 1 pointr/gatech

https://www.amazon.com/Texas-Instruments-TI-84-Graphing-Calculator/dp/B00TFYYWQA

This 'next gen' Ti-84 got me through my AE degree completely fine and I never found myself needing anything more powerful or capable for the entire curriculum. The build quality is excellent, it's rechargeable, durable, and it's very lightweight. I have no concerns sticking it in an outer pocket in my bag since it's not fragile. Plus not having to worry about batteries is great and this is faster than a standard Ti-84, not to mention the color display.

Overall I think this would make an excellent gift for your son.

edit: it also comes in red which is what I got.

u/TrumpetH4X · 3 pointsr/gatech

Hey there everyone! Sorry for the late followup. I've been unpacking from graduation and the like... Also, as a neat update to my earlier post, I was just contacted by the College Football Hall of Fame to display my cap in the Hall for a few weeks. Neat!

Unfortunately, I didn't take pictures during the build process, but here's my general construction setup.

Supplies needed:

  1. The first step is to assemble your SmartMatrix SD Shield, as described in the tutorial here. This attachment will allow you to easily connect your Teensy 3.2 microcontroller to your 32x32 matrix, as well as display animated GIFs off of an SD card. Follow all of the steps, and make sure to cut the connections on the board where the guide indicates.

  2. Download the Arduino IDE here.

  3. Install the Teensy Loader Application for your Arduino IDE here.

  4. Connect your Teensy 3.2 to your Arduino IDE.

  5. You will need to install the SmartMatrix Library for Arduino, located here. If you need information about correctly installing Arduino libraries, go here.

  6. I based my project off of the SmartMatrix Library's AnimatedGIFs example, located in File, Examples, SmartMatrix_32x32, AnimatedGIFs. The guide located here may also be useful. Documentation on scrolling text is also located on the SmartMatrix Github.

  7. The 32x32 LED display will not lay perfectly flat on a mortarboard with the SmartMatrix SD Shield and Teensy 3.2 attached. You will need to do some cutting from the top of the mortarboard and assembly with hot glue to make it stay. I mounted the LED display to the mortarboard with the display's included four mounting screws that attach to the back of the display.

  8. Plug in your USB battery to the barrel jack on the SmartMatrix SD shield, and verify that the Arduino is powered and the display is operational

  9. Success!

    General Information

  • YES I realize I mounted the display a little crooked, and it bothers me as much as it does you... Cut me some slack though, it was 2AM the night before graduation and I'd already hacked half the cardboard in my mortarboard to shreds :P

  • The 32x32 LED matrix typically draws around 2A, ~4A MAX when all LEDs are white and at full intensity. The 2A from the USB battery should do the trick though, and will likely last for around 4-5 hours.

  • Total build cost was around $70-80

  • Total time to build was roughly ten hours.

  • In order to display animated GIFs correctly, they will need to be formatted as 32x32 .gif files on the SD card. Sizing, as well as where to put the GIFs is covered in the guide in Step 6.

    Picture of the Grad Cap During Graduation

  • http://i.imgur.com/tEyHURP.jpg

    Link to Source Video

  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-VXwk23DyI&

    Arduino Source Code

  • http://pastebin.com/yBsZisqG
u/azureice · 6 pointsr/gatech

I would be surprised if that device worked.

What you need is a directional antenna. Ideally, something you can put in your roof or outside your window. Something like this:
http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-TL-ANT2409A-Directional-Antenna-connector/dp/B003CFATNS/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1407434530&sr=8-2

A larger antenna with a bunch of gain will work really well, if you can find a place to mount it:
http://www.amazon.com/TL-ANT2424B-Directional-Parabolic-connector-resistant/dp/B003CFATOW/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1407434530&sr=8-3

I actually had two antennas similar to those set up at Tenside, and I got GT WiFi for about 2 years. Never had to pay for my own internet. (This wasn't stealing, I was paying my technology fees...)

Anyways, you can hook that antenna up to USB adapter (like the Alfa one linked below), or into another wifi access point and rebroadcast your own network.

u/millsGT49 · 1 pointr/gatech

I was ISYE so I'm not sure how much you are allowed to cross over being CS but I would absolutely recommend taking a regression course. ISYE also has some data analysis electives, but to me learning and mastering regression is a must.

BBUUTT my biggest recommendation is to start playing with data yourself. I am a "Data Scientist" and graduated from the MS Analytics program at Tech and still to this day I learn the most just from playing around with data sets and trying new techniques or learning new coding tools. Don't wait to take classes to jump in, just go.

Here are some great books to get started doing "data science" in R and Python.

R: Introduction to Statistical Learning (free!!)

Python: Python for Data Analysis

u/jjcdeep · 1 pointr/gatech

If you have access to your parents still, see if they have a bunch of old comforters.

When family used to visit my house the kids/teens were kicked out of the rooms, which were given to our aunts/uncles. We used to just grab sleeping bags and stack 2-3 thick comforters on top of them. Super comfy, though I'll admit I like a firmer mattress.

I can't stand air mattresses.

You could use something like this as a base:
http://www.amazon.com/Coleman-Dunnock-Large-Cold-Weather-Sleeping/dp/B00363PSKK/ref=sr_1_28?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1411966034&sr=1-28&keywords=sleeping+bag

u/existeddoughnut · 1 pointr/gatech

I'm an incoming freshman as well, and this is what I got. It seems pretty solid for the price. Whatever you get, I'd recommend getting a laptop with a SSD and a 7000 series quad-core i5 or i7. As long as it has 8GB of RAM you should be fine, and look for ones with dedicated graphics cards if you want to game. You should also make sure it has a decent battery life.

u/AppleTrident · 6 pointsr/gatech

Cheapest is just to fix it yourself, its pretty easy on the newer iPhones. None of the cheapie Amazon and eBay screens come close to the display and glass quality of the original. iFixit.com has the best how tos and sell OEM quality screens if you want to pay for it. I usually charge $80 to do a replacement with a cheap screen.

https://amazon.com/gp/product/B01EFG8AHO/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

u/trixandhax · 7 pointsr/gatech

Here

Ubuntu is recommended, but you can use some other distro. However all of the support I'm doing is only for Ubuntu based distros. Some others have done things to get it working for other distros like Arch.

And here is the book

And as a bonus [here](https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B6g7zcZaFwPTVVI1eDBYcG1GbE0
) is a presentation I did last semester which includes an overview and some sample programs.

edit fixed 3rd link.

u/CheezEggs00 · 2 pointsr/gatech

Read anything by Ferrol Sams.

The Cormoran Strike series (by Robert Galbraith aka JK Rowling) is phenomenal.

Beneath a Scarlet Sky is very good, and the Monuments Men and Saving Italy are really good, too. All three are based on the true stories of people during WWII (and Monuments Men is far, FAR better than the movie).

If you like historical fiction, you can't do better than James Michener (my favorites are The Source, Texas, and Caribbean), Leon Uris (read The Trinity series... slog to get started, but worth it), and Edward Rutherford (just read them all).