as mentioned, this is my last quarter (hopefully). i'm only taking 1 class (computer architectures) and i'm doing my master's project.
computer architectures is horrible. this class has been the death of me throughout my college education: back at FIT, i double-majored in math and cs. by the end of my 4th year, i had completed all of my CS requirements except for 1 class... computer architectures. the class was taught by a joke of a professor, and everyone receives A's in the class. during my 12-week internship after my 4th year, i was getting paid at a rate that is for if i already had a bachelor's. i confessed i didn't have it yet, so my pay dropped A LOT (about 20k in base salary). just because of this joke class!
i return to FIT, only attend the class to take the tests, which were almost identical to the practice tests. i got an A, blah blah, and graduate in 4.5 years total. at least i'm done w/ the class, right? nope.
at UCLA, we have to fulfill a "breadth requirement." it's good, for it's a way of ensuring we have taken core, important undergraduate classes before we are handed a master's. you generally have to take 1 or 2 courses from numerous sections of classes. well, i've taken almost every single course from every single section. yet, when i tried to get credit for computer architecture', nope. no credit because FIT didn't have a syllabus and we didn't use a book. it wasn't sufficient, and i have to retake the class.
so, here i am at UCLA, just like i was at FIT, where i only need 1 class to graduate--computer architecture's. i look around, and the class is filled with really young undergrads. the kid next to me had a calculus book on his desk. a calculus book, seriously?! haha. that was 7 years ago, man. this is just ridiculous.
as for my project, i just got my proposal approved. i'm basically studying the ability for artificial creatures to evolve communication with one another as they learn tactics to survive as a species. so, roughly, i'm making a program that has different species. each species is simply represented by a distinct colored pixel. i program the species w/ very basic sensor-like intelligence, and then i let them run around and mingle. after a while, they get smart and do fancy things. i give them the ability to sense, emit signals, and walk. they learn how to wisely and timely dig, eat, and mate. with this, survival-of-the-fittest happens and they evolve to become pretty complex little dots.
computer architectures is horrible. this class has been the death of me throughout my college education: back at FIT, i double-majored in math and cs. by the end of my 4th year, i had completed all of my CS requirements except for 1 class... computer architectures. the class was taught by a joke of a professor, and everyone receives A's in the class. during my 12-week internship after my 4th year, i was getting paid at a rate that is for if i already had a bachelor's. i confessed i didn't have it yet, so my pay dropped A LOT (about 20k in base salary). just because of this joke class!
i return to FIT, only attend the class to take the tests, which were almost identical to the practice tests. i got an A, blah blah, and graduate in 4.5 years total. at least i'm done w/ the class, right? nope.
at UCLA, we have to fulfill a "breadth requirement." it's good, for it's a way of ensuring we have taken core, important undergraduate classes before we are handed a master's. you generally have to take 1 or 2 courses from numerous sections of classes. well, i've taken almost every single course from every single section. yet, when i tried to get credit for computer architecture', nope. no credit because FIT didn't have a syllabus and we didn't use a book. it wasn't sufficient, and i have to retake the class.
so, here i am at UCLA, just like i was at FIT, where i only need 1 class to graduate--computer architecture's. i look around, and the class is filled with really young undergrads. the kid next to me had a calculus book on his desk. a calculus book, seriously?! haha. that was 7 years ago, man. this is just ridiculous.
as for my project, i just got my proposal approved. i'm basically studying the ability for artificial creatures to evolve communication with one another as they learn tactics to survive as a species. so, roughly, i'm making a program that has different species. each species is simply represented by a distinct colored pixel. i program the species w/ very basic sensor-like intelligence, and then i let them run around and mingle. after a while, they get smart and do fancy things. i give them the ability to sense, emit signals, and walk. they learn how to wisely and timely dig, eat, and mate. with this, survival-of-the-fittest happens and they evolve to become pretty complex little dots.
I need to learn more about your project.
ReplyDeleteImagine if we made it into a BOINC project and you had 3000 peoples computers all with these little universes of evolving colored dots!
skype me
-Kevin