Dreaming Season

Eesh

Wed, 23 Aug 2006 08:18:51 GMT

Time for an update.

Hm.

(1) Plans to attend the University of Cambridge in England (doing the third-year physics program ... physics and only physics) for the 2006-2007 probably thwarted by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services tendency to ... take their time on things. Well.

Looks like I'm staying at MIT for another year. I'll see if I can go to Cambridge next year if my documents arrive in time. Shouldn't be a problem, says the Cambridge-MIT Exchange. They are looking for more applicants from MIT. (Meanwhile, on the Cambridge side, 1 out of 3 applicants gets to go to MIT...)

(2) I'm currently majoring in Course 8, Physics, and Course 18-C, Mathematics with Computer Science; however, I'm not sure what field of study I want to pursue graduate studies in. A fifth year to get a master's degree sounds nice (and I want to go somewhere other than MIT for a Ph.D.), but Course 18 doesn't offer a master's, and Course 8 doesn't seem to acknowledge its own... probably because it's the degree they give Ph.D. students who fail the qualifying exams?

Luckily, I'm interested enough in computer science and electrical engineering that I can get a master's in Course 6, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. There's an M.Eng. for Course 6 undegrad majors and an M.S. for everyone else. To get the M.S. though, one would have to apply to the Ph.D. program, which requires much paperwork and is harder to get into, while the M.Eng. is 100% acceptance if you have a 4.25 technical GPA. But that means having to major in Course 6, which isn't too hard, and offers plenty of interesting classes anyway.

Unfortunately, I can't triple major, so I'll have to drop one of my other majors to do Course 6. I've fulfilled most of my math requirements, so I can drop physics, even though I'm still planning on taking only physics classes for a year at Cambridge (and getting a physics minor + 10 extra physics classes). OK.

(3) Fall classes:

I seem to register for eight classes every term, and that number dropped to seven last fall, and six last spring. This fall's eight are:

6.003 (15 units) - Signals and Systems
6.004 (15 units) - Computation Structures
6.046J/18.410J (12 units) - Introduction to Algorithms
6.946J/8.351J/12.620J (12 units; graduate-level) - Classical Mechanics: A Computational Approach*
18.404J/6.840J (12 units; graduate-level) - Theory of Computation
18.435J/2.111J/ESD.79J (12 units; graduate-level) - Quantum Computation
18.821 (12 units) - Project Laboratory in Mathematics
21W.772 (12 units) - Digital Poetry
(102 units total = 102 expected hours a week spent on subjects, both in and out of class)

*With Gerry Sussman! w00t!

Should be fun.

... more to come ...

Update!

Fri, 26 May 2006 16:40:58 GMT

Aaagh!! Update! Spring term is over! I passed! w00t!

Ooh

Sat, 04 Feb 2006 07:30:28 GMT

Haven't updated this thing in ages.

OK, Independent Activities Period is over! :(

Mystery Hunt was fun! http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/ Check out the puzzles. They are awesome. Unfortunately, some are unsolvable at this point, due to the stuff taken down, people no longer operating things, etc.

I had so much fun I wrote my own mini-mystery hunt! Check it out: http://web.mit.edu/cvnguyen/www/mystery My personal favourite is "Snake Code" but no one here has solved it yet ... :-(

I went skiing six times for PE credit and personal enjoyment at Nashoba Valley, about forty minutes away. Twas awesome, but their black diamond slopes are hardly "most difficult".... compared to other resorts.

Spring semester starts Tuesday!

Except Linguistics 110, which started last Wednesday at Harvard. This means it also ends a week early. :) Plus, the class has no final, unlike its MIT counterpart, 24.900. And it meets one fewer hour each week. :) And I get library access to Harvard's Widener library with its 7 or something miles of bookshelves! w00t!

Aagh! Spring classes:

(fo' shizzle:)

8.04 - Quantum Physics
18.04 - Complex Variables with Applications
6.004 - Computation Structures
6.034 - Artificial Intelligence
8.225J/STS.042J - Einstein, Oppenheimer, Feynman: Physics in the 20th Century (the physics humanities class - Course 8 CI-M ... stupid CI-M requirement... :( )
Linguistics 110 - Introduction to Linguistics (Harvard)

(not so fo' shizzle:)

18.100C - Analysis I (math CI-M (stupid CI-M requirement...), 15 credit units, w00t!)
21W.757 - Fiction Workshop

(small chance)

6.046J/18.410J - Introduction to Algorithms
21M.604J/21W.754 - Playwriting I

and egad! I'll be a

6.001 (Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs) Recitation Instructor, Experimental Study Group

!!!! My first teaching experience! I'll have like four students! Crazified! I'm not even Course 6!

And ...

UROP, Project in Mathematics and Computation, Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory

Research on amorphous computing! With Gerry Sussman, co-inventor of Scheme (plus a dozen other awesome things)! Eek! Crazified! And it uses Scheme! Like 6.001 and 6.034! It's like my entire semester is Scheme! Holy chocolate moose!

6.004, 6.034, 6.001 RI, CSAIL UROP... I look like a 6-3 (Computer Science and Engineering) major! Crazy!

Hosed

Sun, 13 Nov 2005 01:08:35 GMT

Yay, update.

I have a 12-page paper to write for Monday, and I haven't started. Hmm...

So, my final class lineup:

6.042J/18.062J: Mathematics for Computer Science
7.012: Introductory Biology
8.033: Relativity
12.006J/18.353J: Nonlinear Dynamics I: Chaos
18.700: Linear Algebra
21L.448J/21W.739J: Darwin and Design
21W.759: Writing Science Fiction

and sort of auditing/listening in on:

21L.471: Major English Novels
English 185 at Harvard: Wit and Humor

Somehow, seven classes seems like a lighter workload than last semester's four (at this point in the semester... it started with five and ended up with three). Yay.

I think I'll take these classes in the spring:

6.034: Artificial Intelligence
6.046J/18.410J: Introduction to Algorithms
8.04: Quantum Physics I
9.59J/24.905J: Psycholinguistics
18.04: Complex Variables with Applications
21W.755: Writing and Reading Short Stories
24.900: Introduction to Linguistics
(or Linguistics 110 at Harvard: Introduction to Linguistics)

There are two conflicts here, but class skipping is an effective learning/time-saving technique.

So I've decided to double-major in Course 8 (physics) and Course 18-C (mathematics with computer science) and double-minor in linguistics and writing. Fun fun.

Fri, 16 Sep 2005 22:37:54 GMT

Novels currently reading:

Jane Austen, Mansfield Park
Saul Bellow, The Adventures of Augie March
Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Blithedale Romance
James Joyce, Ulysses
Franz Kafka, The Castle
Jack McDevitt, Omega
China Miéville, Iron Council
Thomas Pynchon, Gravity's Rainbow

Novels I started a while back, have abandoned, and will start over sometime:

David Brin, Startide Rising
Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights
Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden
Arthur C. Clarke, Rendezvous with Rama
Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Idiot
Ursula K. Le Guin, The Dispossessed
John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath
Connie Willis, Doomsday Book

Arrrgghh

Sat, 06 Aug 2005 16:27:17 GMT

Why can't I find a pair of walking shoes with Velcro straps and no leather? Idiots.

Links!

Wed, 13 Jul 2005 02:54:50 GMT

Links have magically appeared for quite a few (but alas, not all) of the stories on my recommended reading list:

http://web.mit.edu/cvnguyen/www/shortsf.html

Enjoy!

For the reader who doesn't feel like spending money for a good read, I recommend starting with:

Novelettes:
Greg Egan: "Border Guards"
Jeffrey Ford: "The Empire of Ice Cream"
Charles Stross: "Lobsters"
Nathaniel Hawthorne: "The Artist of the Beautiful"

Short Stories:
Edgar Allan Poe: "Mellonta Tauta"
Bob Shaw: "Light of Other Days"

It's SF, not sci-fi...

Mon, 11 Jul 2005 07:04:04 GMT

Gee, I need to update this thing.

Anyway, I've compiled a list of my favorite science-fiction novellas, novelettes, and short stories...

http://web.mit.edu/cvnguyen/www/shortsf.html

Enjoy.

TAMS college statistics

Mon, 09 May 2005 19:36:33 GMT

Heh, so I decided to compile some statistics as to which colleges TAMSters attend after graduating, gathered from the TAMS Wall of Stars for the Classes of 2003-2005.

DISCLAIMER: This info has not been updated and includes several "undecided"s and lists incorrect info for people who have accepted positions off waitlists or transferred, etc. I'm not correcting any info unless I can find a more accurate source that covers an entire class, or all three, instead of info about just one person/college or another.

EDIT: I have corrected one error in the UT Austin stats for '03.

For each class, colleges to which 2 or more TAMSters accept offers of admission:

(Colleges with at least one person from each of the three classes attending have been boldfaced.)

Class of 2003	179

University of Texas at Austin	59
Texas A&M University	19
University of Texas at Dallas	14
Johns Hopkins University	5
Massachusetts Institute of Technology	5
University of North Texas	5
California Institute of Technology	4
Baylor University	3
Rice University	3
*undecided*	3
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign	3
University of Oklahoma	3
University of Southern California	3
Boston University	2
Brown University	2
Cornell University	2
Duke University	2
Emory University	2
Southern Methodist University	2
Stanford University	2
Texas Christian University	2
University of Dallas	2
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor	2
University of Missouri-Rolla	2
University of Tulsa	2

Class of 2004	160

University of Texas at Austin	35
Texas A&M University	16
University of Texas at Dallas	9
*undecided*	6
Massachusetts Institute of Technology	5
Trinity University	5
Baylor University	4
Georgia Institute of Technology	4
Rice University	4
Stanford University	4
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor	4
University of North Texas	4
University of California-Berkeley	3
University of Florida	3
Washington University	3
Austin College	2
California Institute of Technology	2
Emory University	2
Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering	2
Harvard University	2
Johns Hopkins University	2
Southern Methodist University	2
Tulane University	2
University of Nebraska-Lincoln	2
University of Texas at Arlington	2
University of Texas at San Antonio	2

Class of 2005	162

University of Texas at Austin	48
University of Texas at Dallas	13
Texas A&M University	10
Rice University	7
University of California-Berkeley	7
University of North Texas	7
University of Texas at Arlington	4
Baylor University	3
Colorado School of Mines	3
Massachusetts Institute of Technology	3
*undecided*	3
Brown University	2
California Institute of Technology	2
Case Western Reserve University	2
Columbia University	2
Cornell University	2
Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering	2
Georgia Institute of Technology	2
Johns Hopkins University	2
Trinity University	2
Tulane University	2
Yale University	2

Physics

Sat, 07 May 2005 07:09:26 GMT

Physics ... it starts off mostly making sense, then gets more abstruse as you go along:

http://web.mit.edu/cvnguyen/www/course8classes.html

(Hacked courtesy of Entropizer v1.0, a program I wrote in C++ last week.)

:(

Fri, 06 May 2005 16:07:19 GMT

Just what I suspected, more College Board corruption:

"SAT Essay Test Rewards Length and Ignores Errors"
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/04/education/04education.html?incamp=article_popular

Time Traveler Convention!

Fri, 06 May 2005 08:00:30 GMT

Check it out! People from my dorm, East Campus, made the New York Times front page...

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/06/national/06time.html?

Fall Schedule?

Wed, 04 May 2005 10:28:09 GMT

Classes I was considering taking but have decided not to take, mwahaha...

8.05, Quantum Physics II
Well, I was taking the prerequisite for this...

8.07, Electromagnetism II
Arg, who decided to schedule the only two recitations for 8.07 at the same time as 8.033 lecture? >:-[... well, it makes my class scheduling easier, I suppose.

14.01, Principles of Microeconomics
Ha!

3.091, Introduction to Solid-State Chemistry
Sadoway's teaching it, which is a plus. But then I'd have to go to class and do the work for a class that satisfies the chemistry requirement I already satisfied. And most of Sadoway's lectures from last fall are now on OCW. So why bother?

7.012, Introductory Biology
So the Biology Department thinks it's going to make me take intro bio by changing their transfer credit policy in the middle of the fall semester to deny transfer credit for intro bio courses taken outside of MIT? Eh? Well, take this... I'm testing out of it... mwahahaha...

18.101, Analysis II
So I was considering taking this after taking 18.100B, Analysis I. But I dropped that a while ago. Hmm...

18.700, Linear Algebra
Linear algebra with "rigor." I hadn't pursued 18.06 transfer credit (for regular linear algebra) because I wanted to take this and you can't get credit for both. But I've changed my mind.

18.440, Probability and Random Variables
Well, I might get transfer credit for this. I tried last semester and failed to convince anyone I knew the material. So I suppose I could review the stuff over the summer and try again. Or I could take the class... But do I care enough? No...

18.04, Complex Variables with Applications
Yes... a math class I want to take... Oh, wait. It's only offered in the spring. :(

24.900, Introduction to Linguistics
My HASS class of choice since Spring 2005, then thwarted by 18.100B conflict, ironic since I dropped 18.100B. But no! Conflict with 8.033! AAAAAARGGGGHH!!!!!!

So... on to stuff I will be or may be taking this fall:

8.033, Relativity
Relativity with Max Tegmark, who is apparently an amusing character. Also relatively easy (pun intended) compared other physics classes.

18.100B, Analysis I
So I dropped it once already... let's see if I can drop it twice! And, hey, the third time's the charm!

18.310, Principles of Applied Mathematics
Applied math is the awesome! This class covers discrete stuff, while 18.311 covers continuous applied math. "Sorting algorithms, information theory, coding theory, secret codes, generating functions, linear programming, game theory." Secret codes!!!! :-D

21W.759, Writing Science Fiction
Joe Haldeman! One of the most renowned science-fiction writers of all time! Here at MIT! w0000t!!! The class I've been wanting to take since like fall 2003 (or even earlier). Yes!!!

21L.471, Major English Novels
Since one of my two majors is literature, I'll take some lit classes. Major English novels, with James Buzard! Fun! Dickens, Eliot, Trollope, Hardy, Conrad, Woolf, and Joyce!! Awesome!

21L.501, The American Novel
Doubly novel-ly for doubly fun-ness! American novels, with Wyn Kelley, for a taste of fiction from the other side of the ocean... er... that is... this side of the ocean... Righty-o. Featuring works by Melville, Hawthorne, Brown, Stowe, Jewett, Faulkner, and Morrison.

21L.421, Comedy
Fun-ness and funniness! Comedy, with Wyn Kelley again! Featuring stuff by Aristophanes, Plautus, Shakespeare, Cervantes, Twain, Molière, Wilde, and some people I've never heard of. Spiffy!

21F.303, French III
Zut alors! Je parle français!

Some Harvard class
Yeah. Cross-registered fun-ness up the road/river/Red Line. Or possibly...

Some Wellesley class
Cross-registered fun-ness out on the outskirts of Boston!

Hmm... that's a lotta classes. Must chop a few out of the line-up.

Video Lectures on OCW!

Mon, 02 May 2005 03:44:12 GMT

Video lectures for 8.03, Physics III, last semester, are now on OCW, featuring the famous Walter Lewin!

http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Physics/8-03Fall-2004/VideoLectures/index.htm

I'm in some of them! And check out Mark's fiddling (and "unique outfit for the occasion" [Walter Lewin: "Oh, boy... oh, boy..."]) in Lecture 9, starting at around 37:30. And check out the break at 48:30 too. It's like a symphony of sorts. And I'm walking around on camera, too.

EDIT: Oh, and the back of Mark's shirt says "TAMS '04," though it's hard to see.

Da bomb

Sun, 01 May 2005 04:58:38 GMT

It looks as though I'm interning for 11 weeks at Lawrence Technologies in Dallas, thanks to Nick Lawrence, my MIT interviewer. I'll be doing some research in artificial intelligence and computing systems. It should be fun.

I pulled an all-nighter Thursday night to finish my research paper for intro fiction. I got halfway through, but managed to get an extension for Monday, so I need to finish that soon. My paper's on the influence of relativity and quantum mechanics on the works of Virginia Woolf. :) This is why I'm double-majoring in physics and lit.

Then I crashed Harvard's prefrosh weekend Friday night. (What the deuce?! Shame on Harvard (and Stanford) for having their preview weekends right before the May 2 reply date... grrr...) It was raining. But it never rains on MIT's preview weekend. The weather just suddenly turns gorgeous. And same with Yale, apparently, according to Brian Huskinson, who visited MIT the last two days during Harvard's prefrosh weekend (not part of their schedule) and also visited Yale's preview days a while back. Maybe the university presidents all have magic weather machines and Larry Summers's got taken away.

So I was at Harvard, and I hung out with Angela, and I also finally visited one of my friends from before TAMS, whom I haven't seen since tenth grade. And we ended up talking for so long I missed the last subway train back to MIT, whoops. I ain't walking back to MIT in the dark.

3 Tests in 24 Hours!!!!

Tue, 19 Apr 2005 13:45:13 GMT

Three tests in 24 hours!!!!

8.044, Statistical Physics, Wednesday, 13:00-15:00
6.001, Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs, Wednesday, 19:30-21:30
8.04, Quantum Physics, Thursday, 11:00-12:30

So dead.

I've been studying all (four-day) weekend... Arrrgg... :(

UPDATE:

8.044: 71
6.001: 96
8.04: 34

I dropped 8.04.

The search continues...

Tue, 12 Apr 2005 16:03:01 GMT

24 UROP inquiries... oh my...

Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU):
University of Chicago	Physics/Materials Science	Pending - Chances Unlikely
National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network	Nanotechnology	Rejected
Cornell University	Materials Science	Pending - Chances Unlikely
Pennsylvania State University	Physics	Rejected Twice
Purdue University	Physics	Rejected
Princeton University	Materials Science	Pending - Status Unknown
Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) at MIT:
Prof. Vladan Vuletic	Physics	Rejected
Prof. Peter Donaldson	Literature	Accepted; Likely Confirmation
Prof. Wolfgang Ketterle	Physics	Rejected
Prof. David Pritchard	Physics	Pending - No Response
Prof. Boleslaw Wyslouch	Physics	Rejected
Prof. James Buzard	Literature	Accepted
Prof. Ruth Perry	Literature	Pending - No Response
Prof. Alec Marantz	Linguistics	Pending - Possible Position
Prof. John Bush	Mathematics	Pending - Possible Position
Prof. Yoel Fink	Materials Science	Pending - No Response
Prof. Carl Thompson	Materials Science	Rejected
Prof. Francesco Stellacci	Materials Science	Rejected
Prof. Bernhardt Wuensch	Materials Science	Pending - No Response
Prof. Randall Davis	Electrical Engineering and Computer Science	Rejected Twice
Prof. Alan Plumb	Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences	Pending - Deferred
Prof. Richard Lindzen	Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences	Pending - No Response
Dr. Una-May O'Reilly	Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory	Pending - Possible Position
Dr. James Glass	Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory	Pending - No Response
Prof. Christopher Terman	Electrical Engineering and Computer Science	Pending - Possible Position
Prof. Krishna Rajagopal	Physics	Rejected
Prof. Raymond Ashoori	Physics	Pending - No Response
Prof. Young Lee	Physics	Pending - Possible Position
Prof. Miklos Porkolab	Physics	Pending - No Response
Prof. Marc Kastner	Physics	Rejected

Secret treasure!

Sat, 19 Mar 2005 12:59:25 GMT

To the TAMS Classes of '05 and '06:

If it isn't found yet.

There are clues contained in this post. Look behind the surface.

EDIT: As far as I know, the dollar has not been found yet, as of today, 23/03/05. If anyone finds it, please let me know.

:-(

Thu, 10 Mar 2005 06:14:54 GMT

Meh.

So I made 6.001, The Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs, my exploratory subject, one of which sophomores are allowed to have each term. You can choose to drop your exploratory subject after you get your final grade, so if you fail the class, you don't have to keep it. The bad thing is, you only get one, and you have to choose by Add Date, the end of the fifth week.

During the fifth week, I got a 98 on the first 6.001 test.

Yesterday (now the sixth week, after Add Date), I took my 8.04 (Quantum Physics I) test. It was horrible. I got a 39, tying for the lowest grade in the class. If this had happened last week, I would have made 8.04 my exploratory subject. But now it's too late. The next 8.04 exam in on drop date, so I'll have a few hours after taking the test, but before getting it back, to decide whether to stay in the subject or drop it. :'( Bleh. Well, I could always take it next spring....

Sun, 06 Mar 2005 07:21:19 GMT

Has it really been that long since I've last posted?

Egad.

Well, since last post, I've pulled about seven all-nighters (or something approaching them), the movie has stalled in its tracks due to FireWire's horribly designed configuration frying the camera, and I taught myself, from scratch, how to ski in an hour and then went to the highest point in the ski park and let gravity do the work. And what work. I fell down about a dozen times, but it was great.

Speaking of work, it's time for me to do work. And that needs energy. Hungry. Mmm.

Woo-hoo!

Sun, 06 Feb 2005 16:14:24 GMT

My scooter is now officially registered with the MIT Campus Police ... as a bicycle.

Bicycle License 1369.

w00t! So apparently they read my request for registration, including the comment that said it was a scooter, not a bike, and registered it anyway. Awesomes.

BPL

Wed, 26 Jan 2005 22:59:38 GMT

So I went to the Boston Public Library today! The place is awesome! Definitely cooler than any other library I've seen. Big open rooms with vaulted ceilings, old murals, grand staircases... ohh... I need to study there sometime.

And I got a library card! Apparently a book shipment packaging slip with my campus address on it is enough to "prove" my Massachusetts "residency," making me eligible for a card. So awesome!

Free MiniMac...

Tue, 25 Jan 2005 16:44:28 GMT

Yeah, so I suppose I'll jump on the bandwagon and try to get a free MiniMac by completing an offer and getting 10 friends to do the same.

Only, somehow I apparently completed the bargain.com offer without doing anything. I just got an e-mail saying it was completed... I've never even been to the site...

Anyway, here is a referral link, if you want a free MiniMac too. Thanks for your help!

http://www.FreeMiniMacs.com/?r=14089120

Yo

Mon, 17 Jan 2005 20:46:23 GMT

How to Be a Pedestrian in New York City

N/A°F ???

Sat, 01 Jan 2005 00:26:41 GMT

Uh ...

Time to pray to the weather gods... ?