rateofchange

That seems like an interesting idea. I am also trying to see about not having to waste any time on non-major subjects. This is a horrible thing. I understand and agree with the idea of general education. That should happen in high school. Burning a year (or more) of someone's time in university doing unrelated coursework is a travesty.

It's both about the cost --which isn't trivial-- and the time. Most of our degrees have at least a year of stuff no employer has any interest in paying for. Education being the racket it is, there is no way to challenge it. This quickly points you in the direction of non-US universities, where this nonsense does not exist.

> CS is way more than just programming

> thinking you can do it without spending time and effort on it is naive

Well, yeah. I am not a 22 year old. I'm nearly 60. I have been developing non-trivial hardware and software for decades. I have both hardware and software I am responsible for that is currently orbiting the planet. Robotics, real time image processing in FPGA's, industrial controllers, video processing, distributed control systems, motor controllers, advanced illumination systems, audio processors, video and audio switching equipment, etc. I can't even remember all the work I have done. Believe me, I know CS isn't just programming. I have studied most of the theory on my own, as well as applied it.

This is hardly wanting to do it "without time and effort", in fact, it is quite the opposite. Someone can get a CS degree in four years and go to work. I went to college for a while and then went to work as a hardware and software engineer for 40 years in a range of industries and applications, from low-level embedded systems to genetic algorithms training neural networks. I think I have put enough time and effort into all of this to not be ashamed of the idea of taking a damn test to pass courses like intro to programming, data structures, algorithms, etc.

I mean, seriously, this is a real question. Why is it that universities assume students know nothing? OK, a high school graduate will, more than likely, fit that category. Someone who has learned through work across many years, even if it is five or ten, probably comes to the table with the vast majority, if not all, of the basic knowledge and likely a good percentage of intermediate and advanced. Yet universities force people to sit down and "learn" variables, loops and branching statements. What a waste of human capital and time.

> However, coding is one thing, theory is another one. Even if you know theory pretty well, you will need to review a bit which kind of imposes a speed limit on how fast you can pass said courses

Yes, definitely. For example, I did a lot of work with genetic algorithms about ten years ago. Jumped-in head-first, read a pile of university-level books on the subject. However, I haven't touched any of that in probably five or six years. I would likely have to do a deep review for two or three months before being able to take a real test on the subject.

I am looking at the online program offered by the University of London. Not sure if they have the ability to just take tests one one's own schedule as opposed to only being able to take a test at the end of the term, which defeats the purpose by imposing artificial time constraints.

The other thing I see at universities in Europe is that they don't tend to make you waste a year of your life taking non-degree coursework. One ought to be able to obtain a degree in CS, Engineering or Mathematics without having to devote a year passing courses in history, philosophy, etc. We could argue about the idea of general education, etc. Well, this ought to be a part of primary and secondary education. In the US, that extra year or more devoted to non-degree coursework can cost you USD $30K, $50K or $60K, depending on where you go. This is insane.

Yes, give people the option to study such courses, and, if they have career value or are valued by employers, graduates can list them as part of their resume. The reality is that the vast majority of employers don't give a shit. This ads no value at all. I would much rather a CS student spend another solid year on real CS course work than on general education. Far more value in that.

I bit of a rant, I know. It just bothers me to see young people in the US leave school with debt they did not need to incur. Last I checked the hiring process at FAANG companies does not include an essay on ancient European history. And yet our students spend tens of thousands of dollars and a massive amount of time (opportunity cost) getting enough of a good grade on this stuff to be able to obtain a degree.

That wasn't the question, or intent. Sorry if I didn't make that clear.

The idea is to knock out as many credits as possible through examination. Not the full degree.

How difficult is it to convert Bitcoin to conventional currency? That has always been one of my hang-ups regarding crypto.

Also, I take it people can't pay you with a credit card if you use BtcPayServer. Right?

Will do. Looks interesting. Thanks.

A friend of mine, who was diagnosed with prostate cancer, went through a radical change of diet. This included juicing lots of vegetables and cutting out most meats.

He thinks the dietary adjustment played an important role in his cancer disappearing five years ago.

> I'm not sure why the patient can't make their own decisions, but I don't have all the facts.

She is older (85+) and not equipped to navigate the more complex aspects of this.

This is also where the quality of life part becomes far more significant. At this age...given the likely prospects...it might make more sense to go for quality of life and make good memories during whatever time might remain than anything else. These are difficult topics to discuss and even more difficult options to consider because it isn't all about making purely analytical decisions.

The current guidance is a six week course of chemo followed by an evaluation of outcomes to support further actions.

Thanks for the link. Just starting to get into this so, no, I didn't know about this resource.

Yes, this is bad.

I have a 15 year old Windows 2000 machine running a PCI based piece of test equipment. No problems or performance issues. It has not been on the network for at least 10 years, if not 15. On the rare occasion a data transfer is needed it's either a floppy (yes!), CD or thumb drive. Works fine.

It isn't because of their title. It's because of their authority. You can argue against access but ultimately do not have the authority to prevent it. They can fire you.

I once had an IT guy who was making up his own passwords for workstations and servers. When he refused to provide them to me I had our attorney meet with him so he could clearly understand the implications. He was holding the company hostage and violating policy. He provided the passwords at the end of that meeting and was fired on the spot.