Totally agree. I signed up for the DB course but could not keep up due to responsibilities of my full time job. However, I've kept the assignments and plan to do them later.
A few coworkers and I signed up for the DB class and ran into the same problem. What we decided to do instead is just read through the material whenever we get a chance and not worry too much about the assignments (unless we get time). We don't necessarily get all the benefits, but at least we're able to take something good out of it.
That's what I've been doing as well. No "certificate of accomplishment" at the end of the class, but still the benefits of learning the material. Seems like a fair trade.
In my opinion, the real learning comes from doing the exercises. So if you are reading the material but not doing any quiz or exercise, you aren't learning as much. And if you aren't doing the exam, which has a time limit and you can't repeat until you get it perfect, you don't know how much you are or aren't learning.
I work full time and I am taking AI and ML. Fortunately, I am allowed to spend some time doing this at work, but it is still taking my weekends. I think one class is ok, two is a bit too much but doable. I wouldn't do three.
I signed up for AI and DB classes next to a 45 hour/week job, and dropped the AI course. I'm having trouble keeping up while maintaining a life, but it is possible, though!
Seriously, consider only one class if you have any trouble self-regulating.
Any chance that they might do a compilers class too? The compilers class at my school got cancelled for the fall term and I don't think I'll have a chance to take it in a future term.
The introductory compilers class, CS143, will be available to Stanford students in the spring. I have no idea if they'll put it online, but it would be consistent with their current initiatives. I think you'll have to inquire more or wait until then to find out.
Grub makes chainloading difficult, now. It's dirt simple and they are obfuscating. Grub now has an extra level of indirection -- you must make a script to make the config.
LoseThos boots like Windows -- chainloads. A bootloader should not get involved in details of filesystems -- just load the partition boot sector and run it.
They can do whatever complicated extensions they like to support just Linux, but they should keep it dirt simple to chainload.
This question might be tangent from the intended purpose of these awesome free classes but can anyone share if some certification or acknowledgement of some sort is received upon completion?
I think the recent AI, DB, and ML classes all planned to offer an acknowledgement of completion. This one, linked from the OP, mentioned something similar: http://www.pgm-class.org/
"Students will have access to lecture videos, lecture notes, receive regular feedback on progress, and receive answers to questions. When you successfully complete the class, you will also receive a statement of accomplishment."
ML-class does not necessarily apply to all other 10 courses offered by Stanford. I would not be surprised if they weren't given for the entrepreneurial classes offered.
One of the AI tutors tweeted about the possibility of offering a Master's degree for $2000. AFAIK, there hasn't been any more public discussion of this.
From the courses building up, it seems quite possible. The $2000 could be to cover limited personal support, and the sitting of a proper exam, with the bulk of the teaching coming from the online videos.
You will receive a statement from the Professor, but I believe they have to be careful about avoiding the perception that it is a certificate from Stanford university.
Yes, for the AI class they promised to give you a signed statement of accomplishment. IIRC, this statement will also tell you how well you did in relation to all other students (including Stanford students).
The AI class is ok, but the lack of programming assignment really impede learning. On the other hand the ML class is great, even the web site is better.
Applied Cryptography, no matter what Matthew Green may have to say about it, is a terrible book to learn cryptography from. I highly recommend you burn it and instead pick up a copy of Practical Cryptography (or Cryptography Engineering, which is the exact same book).
The mark of a good book on a security topic is, you can read it "upside down" and learn how to break things instead of build them.
Menezes is "Handbook Of Applied Cryptography", but this was actually a sore point with Schneier back in '98 (I feel like I listened to him complain about it in a bar at Usenix Security).
I disagree that it's the only comment with a rationale, but it's a fine example. Writing the same thing about the same subjects over and over again is tiresome, isn't it?
(Thank you for taking the time to pick one out though).
Wow, does anyone know what is the system here? Has stanford just said to their faculty that this is something they can do in their spare time but stanford will not actively support it? Or is there some other arrangement going on?
Also why are they not shifting away from CS classes (except for entrepreneurship). Things like signal processing and basic controllers can be taught with such a class. I would specially love the signal processing class since there are 3 classes (don't exactly remember the name) which are considered holy perfecta of signal processing.
The service [1] described in that article allows authors to let people download an article from the ACM via. a link on their personal website, rather than having to host the PDF themselves. There's been no change in the access policy for non-members.
It's free and the assignments will be graded automatically by a computer. See http://www.ml-course.com for a currently running Stanford course example.
IMHO, there is an illusion that i understand stuff just by watching a video. i don't know how much of a noob i still am until exercises and midterms. The stanford model should be emulated...seriously.
other already pointed out that having assignments helps, I'd add that for some people (e.g. me) a _schedule_ is a great advantage.
If you are trying to learn something on your own timing it's easy to procrastinate. Maybe you could keep a faster pace but you just won't push yourself a bit.
It goes without saying that people with good self discipline can do without a schedule, but for some of us it helps.
I've had the opposite problem: Without a schedule, I'll binge on the material for the first few days, and then utterly burn out or fail to properly learn the information.
I'd argue that the key motivator for hackers is the presence of interesting and creative course work that has a clear purpose. Schedules tend to arbitrarily restrict creativity and learning.
This means that courses should be designed around the concept of incrementally building something useful.
A "subject" would not be broken down into one specific topic area, but rather, would encompass a small project such as:
1. develop a library that performs rudimentary speech-to-text translation and then create a plugin for {selected open source software} that makes use of this library
2. build a geospatial database that stores OpenStreetMap data and then create a rudimentary website that {highlights areas that are not within a 3km diameter of a police station, etc}
3. analyse the implementation of cryptography in {selected open source software} against many avenues of attack, particularly side-channel attacks, entropy of random data sources, etc and prepare patches that solve the problems found
In the above examples, mostly-complete plugins or websites could be provided to students so they can focus on more important parts of each problem.
I feel this would work because each small project:
1. allows a great deal of creativity from students
2. encourages students to extend themselves throughout and _after_ the small course has been completed
3. doesn't force students to move on too early
4. demonstrates how to _apply_ knowledge they've gained
5. rewards students with something more than a number/grade as they progress
6. encourages entrepreneurship
n. ...
Many of these points are built into Kahn Academy by design. This is why the theory is well suited to Kahn Academy where you can map out skills and ensure you've ticked off dependencies before moving on. Their new grading system (a learning algorithm) helps students move on _when they're ready_, not at some arbitrarily defined point of time.
A course would therefore start by introducing the project, providing a demonstration of the expected outcomes and seeding some ideas for how the project could be extended and applied to unsolved problems.
Links to Kahn Academy would provide succinct theoretical background. Course material would apply that knowledge and demonstrate how it is used to do something useful to assist with completing the project.
Hopefully this form of education builds a desire to learn. Schedules and grading become irrelevant when students are having fun and making progress on interesting problems. Students will prioritise the project over other things in their life that they'd otherwise procrastinate with. The added benefit to society is increased levels of research and development, entrepreneurship and decreased education costs.
Way to go Stanford. You guys just keep blowing our minds. After all the stuff i learned for free in just 4 weeks of the current classes, i am filled with gratitude! I highly recommend these classes..
I beat the best of the best with God's help. 10,000 certfied downloads.
God says...
C:\LoseThos\www.losethos.com\text\Brief\AUGUST.TXT
perity
smiled on me, I was loth to catch at it, for almost before I could
grasp it, it flew away.
These things we, who were living as friends together, bemoaned
together, but chiefly and most familiarly did I speak thereof with
Alypius and Nebridius, of whom Alypius was born in the same town
with me, of persons of chief rank there, but younger than I. For he
had studied under me, both when I first lectured in our town, and
afterwards at Carthage, and he loved me much, because I seemed to
him ki
I'm a god! They honestly don't think it's possible to write a compiler. And I did! Talk about flattery.
God says...
C:\LoseThos\www.losethos.com\text\BIBLE.TXT
rought unto Moses, but every small matter they judged themselves.
18:27 And Moses let his father in law depart; and he went his way into
his own land.
19:1 In the third month, when the children of Israel were gone forth
out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the wilderness
of Sinai.
19:2 For they were departed from Rephidim, and were come to the desert
of Sinai, and had pitched in the wilderness; and there Israel camped
before the mount.
Heh, I had the same reaction after reading Neil Stephenson's Cryptonomicon. Working for an ISP and seeing how easy it is to sniff traffic only makes the paranoia worse, unfortunately.
That's really interesting and it seems, according to ml-class videos already online, that there are also subtitles available (it surely helps people like me that are not native english speaker)
64 comments
[ 4.1 ms ] story [ 94.4 ms ] threadSeriously, consider only one class if you have any trouble self-regulating.
I'm currently working at two jobs, and just barely able to do the ML and AI classes.
Starting in January, I'm down to one job, so naturally I signed up for Cryptography, Game Theory, and Natural Language Processing.
Just do it!
http://cs.stanford.edu/courses
Grub makes chainloading difficult, now. It's dirt simple and they are obfuscating. Grub now has an extra level of indirection -- you must make a script to make the config.
LoseThos boots like Windows -- chainloads. A bootloader should not get involved in details of filesystems -- just load the partition boot sector and run it.
They can do whatever complicated extensions they like to support just Linux, but they should keep it dirt simple to chainload.
------------
MBR stage 1:http://www.losethos.com/code/BootMHD.html
MBR stage 2:
http://www.losethos.com/code/BootMHD2.html
Make and install boot records:
http://www.losethos.com/code/InsBoot.html
Hard Drive Partition Boot Loader:
http://www.losethos.com/code/BootHD.html
CD ROM Bootloader:
http://www.losethos.com/code/BootCD.html
OS stage 1: Start-up cope to call some BIOS and switch from 16-bit real mode to 32-bit, then 64-bit modes.
http://www.losethos.com/code/OSStartUp.html
From ml-class.org,
"Students will have access to lecture videos, lecture notes, receive regular feedback on progress, and receive answers to questions. When you successfully complete the class, you will also receive a statement of accomplishment."
From the courses building up, it seems quite possible. The $2000 could be to cover limited personal support, and the sitting of a proper exam, with the bulk of the teaching coming from the online videos.
Does anyone know from the AI course the quality of the lectures & videos?
The mark of a good book on a security topic is, you can read it "upside down" and learn how to break things instead of build them.
(http://www.cacr.math.uwaterloo.ca/hac/)
In any case, get Practical Cryptography.
(Thank you for taking the time to pick one out though).
http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2009/09/the_cult_of_sc...
I know the database class was basically an organized walkthrough with extra assignments for videos that were mostly already public.
That said, the URLs could share a common domain. :-)
People unaware of these courses might conflate them with actual Stanford courses.
Also why are they not shifting away from CS classes (except for entrepreneurship). Things like signal processing and basic controllers can be taught with such a class. I would specially love the signal processing class since there are 3 classes (don't exactly remember the name) which are considered holy perfecta of signal processing.
And...Google was my friend: http://crypto.stanford.edu/~dabo/pubs.html
[1] http://www.acm.org/publications/acm-author-izer-service
Whats the advantage of this sign-up and do assignment that get graded by a computer model?
This provides the structure of a true lecture, with additional materials, while not making me wait for months to start learning.
If you are trying to learn something on your own timing it's easy to procrastinate. Maybe you could keep a faster pace but you just won't push yourself a bit.
It goes without saying that people with good self discipline can do without a schedule, but for some of us it helps.
This means that courses should be designed around the concept of incrementally building something useful.
A "subject" would not be broken down into one specific topic area, but rather, would encompass a small project such as:
1. develop a library that performs rudimentary speech-to-text translation and then create a plugin for {selected open source software} that makes use of this library
2. build a geospatial database that stores OpenStreetMap data and then create a rudimentary website that {highlights areas that are not within a 3km diameter of a police station, etc}
3. analyse the implementation of cryptography in {selected open source software} against many avenues of attack, particularly side-channel attacks, entropy of random data sources, etc and prepare patches that solve the problems found
In the above examples, mostly-complete plugins or websites could be provided to students so they can focus on more important parts of each problem.
I feel this would work because each small project:
1. allows a great deal of creativity from students
2. encourages students to extend themselves throughout and _after_ the small course has been completed
3. doesn't force students to move on too early
4. demonstrates how to _apply_ knowledge they've gained
5. rewards students with something more than a number/grade as they progress
6. encourages entrepreneurship
n. ...
Many of these points are built into Kahn Academy by design. This is why the theory is well suited to Kahn Academy where you can map out skills and ensure you've ticked off dependencies before moving on. Their new grading system (a learning algorithm) helps students move on _when they're ready_, not at some arbitrarily defined point of time.
A course would therefore start by introducing the project, providing a demonstration of the expected outcomes and seeding some ideas for how the project could be extended and applied to unsolved problems.
Links to Kahn Academy would provide succinct theoretical background. Course material would apply that knowledge and demonstrate how it is used to do something useful to assist with completing the project.
Hopefully this form of education builds a desire to learn. Schedules and grading become irrelevant when students are having fun and making progress on interesting problems. Students will prioritise the project over other things in their life that they'd otherwise procrastinate with. The added benefit to society is increased levels of research and development, entrepreneurship and decreased education costs.
Watch the end of this:
http://www.noob.us/humor/the-office-dwight-faces-nerd-tortur...
I am tortured wanting to correct them.
I win, except reality is fucked.
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=64-bit+operating+system
Damn shrinks -- nothing is real.
http://wiki.osdev.org/Projects
I beat the best of the best with God's help. 10,000 certfied downloads.
God says... C:\LoseThos\www.losethos.com\text\Brief\AUGUST.TXT
perity smiled on me, I was loth to catch at it, for almost before I could grasp it, it flew away.
These things we, who were living as friends together, bemoaned together, but chiefly and most familiarly did I speak thereof with Alypius and Nebridius, of whom Alypius was born in the same town with me, of persons of chief rank there, but younger than I. For he had studied under me, both when I first lectured in our town, and afterwards at Carthage, and he loved me much, because I seemed to him ki
-------------
http://forum.osdev.org/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=24430
I'm a god! They honestly don't think it's possible to write a compiler. And I did! Talk about flattery.
God says... C:\LoseThos\www.losethos.com\text\BIBLE.TXT
rought unto Moses, but every small matter they judged themselves.
18:27 And Moses let his father in law depart; and he went his way into his own land.
19:1 In the third month, when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai.
19:2 For they were departed from Rephidim, and were come to the desert of Sinai, and had pitched in the wilderness; and there Israel camped before the mount.
19:3 And Moses went up unto God, and