untitledwiz

I am about to take a Game Theory final tomorrow so this post if very relevant :)

The Yale Open Courses Game Theory class is also worth checking out. Material is taught in a very accessible manner.

http://oyc.yale.edu/economics/game-theory/

Apache Hadoop :)

I could not agree more with Joel. To be a good/proper programmer you need to know C inside out. I would never, ever hire anyone who doesn't understand pointers.

When he speaks Italian he swears at one of the workers.

Best quote -- "He’s now an angel investor (a polite synonym for “rich”)."

Fantastic! This is how education needs to be: open and free.

This is a great idea! I'm so happy people are getting together in virtual classrooms! I would join but I'm currently doing linear algebra in college. Hopefully, when I graduate I can join/start something similar on another topic :)

I am a senior in college as well and I've found that the most successful way to impress an engineer is 1) to show enthusiasm about the company, about programming and technology in general and 2) ask well thought out questions (research the company/startup prior to the fair by reading their developer blog and ask insightful questions about the technology the company uses and the design decisions they have made). This will most definitely impress the engineer/recruiter and put your resume at the top ;)

Documentary on the subject - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u404SLJj7ig

Haha - oh absolutely! The first day I was out of the course I just could not stop smiling at people on the street. Have you been practicing regularly? Where did you do the course? I did mine in France - a little south of Paris, great center!

I attended a 10-day Vipassana course (http://www.dhamma.org/). In my opinion, this is the easiest type of meditation to start with. There are sites for these 10-day course pretty much everywhere around the world. The course runs on a donation basis: you are fed and housed for free during the duration of the course and at the end you choose whether to donate or not.

I met a lot of very nice people in my course. Some were new (like myself) but some were experienced veterans (a couple of guys had been practicing for over 15 years) and everyone seemed so happy. The course is very difficult, both physically (you need to sit on the floor for at least 9 hours a day, and believe me you will only realize just how bad/painful this can be once you do it) and mentally (you are not allowed to talk at all during the duration of the course). But it was all more than worth it at the end.

During the actual course I became more at peace with myself and gained some important insights on my personality and some of the roots of my misery. There's a lot of philosophy behind the actual technique but the basic idea is that you are taught to be indifferent to sub-conscious sensations of 'good' and 'bad'. By no reacting to 'good' sensations, you limit your craving and hence your misery. Similarly, if you do not react to 'bad' sensations you can keep your cool, not get distracted and just be happier.

I am definitely very happy I was exposed to this technique at a young stage of my life. Even though I haven't been practicing since I took the course I am determined to make Vipassana a part of my every day life.