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I think a lot of confusion on this topic stems from what Google values from a candidate's knowledge of algorithms. From my experience, these technical interview of an algorithm, but you sure wouldn't have to prove anything formally.

Algorithm and computer science knowledge can be applied very practically. Skienn a also wrote a book called Programming Challenges, which features problems very similar to those asked in these technical interviews. The coverage of topics like dynamic programming may be very shallow from a theoretical perspective; however, an intuitive understanding and mastery of when to use the technique and how to write the code is absolutely crucial to solving many difficult programming problems.

The Kinect only relies on Prime Sense in the form of their hardware. All the algorithms and software are entirely developed by MS Research. This point is made more clear by the fact that Microsoft didn't acquire exclusive rights from Prime Sense but is instead banking on the superiority of their algorithms.

I've played around with the Kinect, and without Microsoft's code, all you really get from the hardware is a depth image (think an RGB image with distance from camera for each pixel instead of intensity). Everything else is developed by Microsoft, and it is not an easy feat.

Prime Sense developed their own software for pose detection and tracking, but it is inferior to the XBox360 implementation.

I completely agree. This phrase appears in even some of the most hallowed tomes of computer science, such as Introduction to Algorithms. The textbook puts important theorems and proofs in the exercises section, and does not even provide solutions online (at least for the later sections). Keep in mind that this book is used as a reference manual for many implementations of algorithms and data structures.

Thank you so much. You have my eternal gratitude.

The ACM ICPC suggests that Asian universities do quite well at programming:

http://cm.baylor.edu/ICPCFinalResults2010

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ACM_International_Collegiate_Pr...

Given the constraints (10 minutes total, 5 minutes for poison to kill), you can also divide the wine into 10 groups and assign each group to each of the 10 mice. The mice then drink samples from every bottle in his group, and after 5 minutes, the one that dies has the group with poison in it. You then assign each of the rats a bottle from this group, and then see which one of them dies. If they all live, then the remaining bottle is poisoned.

Granted, your solution is better, but you can solve this problem without binary tricks.

I can't say anything about the book itself, but from a cursory glance, the website has very little actual content, and is almost entirely marketing fluff for the book itself.

Why are there so few DDOS attacks on DNS servers? From my understanding, it is trivial to forge a UDP packet with a false IP address. Wouldn't it be extremely effective for even a few thousand zombie machines to spam forged DNS requests to overload a DNS server? Given that the root DNS servers are such obvious targets, why are there so few attacks on them?

Why don't you just study for the AP exams yourself? I self-studied for 4 AP exams (along with other course work) in the last year of high school, and I did pretty well. The AP exams are actually a joke due to the number of unqualified students who take them and the bell-curve system.

I have written free, non-open source software for a non-profit organisation (the software was meant for clients and not a website or a custom application). Your comment got me thinking: what is the point of the secrecy?

I've never really understood not sharing ideas (source code in this case) if it doesn't harm you in any way. It reminds me of classmates who refuse to discuss an assignment or share their ideas. It always seems there is a certain fear that their ideas will be "stolen" or that others are not worthy of them.

I can somewhat understand long-term cost-benefit analysis. My classmates might be right in thinking that others might cheat off them or exploit their ideas. More cynically, allowing others to fail might give you better job prospects. However, it doesn't seem that releasing your source code would have harmed you.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm going to make some assumptions about what you just said. You say that you don't write the software for profit(presumably, you don't plan doing so in the future either). Your main objection is that other people will have access to your "years of hard work, [and] research". Consequently, you fear that others will develop other software based on your work.

You appear to be a generous and helpful person by providing the program, and if you really have no commercial interest in your project, I have troubles understanding why you would care. Is it because you want acknowledgement?

Please forgive me if I angered you (based on your post, you really don't seem to like this question). However, I just can't understand your philosophy.

As a CS student who is about to graduate at a mediocre school, I am inclined to agree with your assessment. I'm doing the toughest course load possible (with good academic performance) in my program, and even then, I feel inferior when I look at the basic curriculum of some of the top CS universities.

You are right. I learned about operating systems, but never implemented one. I learned about hasing, red-black trees, and other algorithms and data structures, but never studied them in depth in my classes. In fact, many basic algorithms and data structures (such as red-black trees) are not taught at all except in an elective course (which very few people take). In addition, I only had half a term of functional programming (and see no other courses which studies it deeply).

I really thought I was a good programmer until I started doing ICPC problems and going to competitions. Nothing really made me realize the skill difference between programmers--it was a humbling experience. Doing these problems have helped greatly however, and I am confident in implementing and describing many algorithms.

I've worked for an affiliate marketing company, and some of the highest earners do truly earn impressive amounts (tens of thousands of dollars a month). You are also incredibly right about the shady business that goes on in this industry. In my opinion, the most profitable and highest conversion campaigns are always the most gray. The fact that many advertisers usually require a landing page (rather than a direct link) is really fishy by itself.

He said that he mainly ate sweet potato or yam (I'm not really sure of the difference).

This story reminds me of my experience. I immigrated from China at a young age, but the impression I got from my family is that even in the 70s, 80s, and 90s, people were almost universally poor. I remember my dad telling me that even if you had the money, buying a television or refrigerator required connections.

My father and mother both came from rural areas, where mud huts were not uncommon. Even in China, my dad didn't eat rice until he was in his teens. My father did extremely well on the national exams and managed to get into a university with most of his expenses paid by the socialist system at the time. After getting a PHD, he immigrated to the US with me.

Having visited China a few times with my family, I met some quite successful businessmen, all of whom have humble roots in poor countryside villages. Some of them didn't even graduate from elementary school, but due to connections with the government (the military for example), they managed to start businesses and acquire factories during the time of China's economic growth.

There are a lot of rag-to-riches stories in China, but at the same the time, the sheer size of the population means that there are even more stories of poverty. In my father's family, only he and one of his brothers out of a family of 6 or 7 managed to escape the rural area. Although life is getting better even in the rural areas, it seems there is a massive difference between the skyscrapers of Shanghai and a traditional farming village.