2012-09-19

He’s alive!

Not that I think anyone is monitoring this site waiting for an update,¹ but yes, I’m alive. I spent a few days working on the chessboard, trying to find my way through various design options, but I decided I really, really need to set it aside to do more reading and studying of other code. I can do it, but why do it badly?

I’ve accomplished what I really need to do: drill some Erlang into my brain and learn the types of questions I need to ask the author in absentia as I read more about it.

Coursera

I’ve also been heavily distracted by Coursera, which has become something of an obsession. I’m actively enrolled in 3 (shortly to be 5) online classes, and I am registered for 20(?!) more over the next year. So far.

I’ve long wanted/needed to go back and complete my education, and Coursera offers an easy way to:

• Learn more math and computer science theory.
• Gain exposure to more programming languages.
• Generally embiggen my mind.
• Test whether I’m committed enough to this whole education thing to seriously consider renewing my degree studies. I have a terrible track record.

Take this with a grain of salt, because I’ve just started and I could quickly become disillusioned, but I highly recommend Coursera. It’s like university without the parking and expense.

For stalkers only

If anyone cares, my classes in rough chronological sequence:

• Model Thinking
• Introduction to Mathematical Thinking
• Functional Programming Principles in Scala
• Writing in the Sciences
• Introduction to Logic
• Compilers
• Think Again: How to Reason and Argue
• Game Theory
• Data Analysis
• Artificial Intelligence Planning
• Introduction to Computer Networks
• Pattern-Oriented Software Architectures for Concurrent and Networked Software
• Software Defined Networking
• Introduction to Data Science
• The Hardware/Software Interface
• Introduction to Systematic Program Design
• Creative Programming for Digital Media & Mobile Apps
  • Likely candidate to be cut, media/graphical programming doesn’t interest me much
• Coding the Matrix: Linear Algebra through Computer Science Applications
• Data Management for Clinical Research
• Discrete Optimization
• Learn to Program: Crafting Quality Code
• Automata
• Fantasy and Science Fiction: The Human Mind, Our Modern World
• Natural Language Processing
• Algorithms: Design and Analysis, Part 1

Whew. And now it’s time to go watch some lectures; I’m falling behind!

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1. I could use Google Analytics, but I don’t trust Google with any more of my (or your) privacy than I absolutely have to.↩

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