OT: Interesting article on NYT

[John Nguyen]

http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/20/why-students-leave-the-engineering-track/

And the comments are even more revealing! Please draw your own
conclusions.
Cheers,

John

[wollybird]

On Feb 9, 11:12 pm, John Nguyen <johnnguyen5...@gmail.com> wrote:
> http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/20/why-students-leave-the-e...

>
> And the comments are even more revealing! Please draw your own
> conclusions.
> Cheers,
>
> John

I can't imagine getting a degree in political science working 27 hours
per week.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505145_162-57324669/25-college-majors-with-lowest-unemployment-rates/

[Tommy Grand]

On Feb 9, 11:12 pm, John Nguyen <johnnguyen5...@gmail.com> wrote:
> http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/20/why-students-leave-the-e...
>

> And the comments are even more revealing! Please draw your own
> conclusions.
> Cheers,
>
> John

Studying blows.

http://www.casact.org/admissions/roth_PassRatio.pdf

http://www.casact.org/cms/pdf/Open_Letter_Regarding_Fall_2011_CAS_Exam_Results.pdf

http://www.casact.org/admissions/passlist/oct11/New_ACAS_Spring_2012.pdf

[dsi1]

I still remember my first day in the first engineering class I ever took. There was one girl in a sea of male Japanese and Chinese geeks. No white people in the class either. I thought that was rather funny. I guess that's the way it is still.

I'm enjoying a cup of Trung Nguyen coffee as I type this - it's soooo smooth! I have a question for you. Do Vietnamese people have a problem with lactose intolerance? If so, how are you able to use condensed milk in your coffee? That stuff is instant death for me. Thanks!

[wollybird]

On Feb 10, 3:04 pm, dsi1 <dsi...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> On Thursday, February 9, 2012 7:12:14 PM UTC-10, John Nguyen wrote:

> >http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/20/why-students-leave-the-e...

>
> > And the comments are even more revealing! Please draw your own
> > conclusions.
> > Cheers,
>
> > John
>
> I still remember my first day in the first engineering class I ever took. There was one girl in a sea of male Japanese and Chinese geeks. No white people in the class either. I thought that was rather funny. I guess that's the way it is still.
>
> I'm enjoying a cup of Trung Nguyen coffee as I type this - it's soooo smooth! I have a question for you. Do Vietnamese people have a problem with lactose intolerance? If so, how are you able to use condensed milk in your coffee? That stuff is instant death for me. Thanks!

there are three engineers in my family. You couldn't get a job very
easily in either mechanical or electrical engineering when I graduated
from high school.

[dsi1]

My son expressed some interest in that field of study. I never knew why anybody would want to get into that. Heck, I still have no idea. For one thing, what is the science of politics and how is this going to help me get this kid out of my house?

My 18 year old daughter took a one-shot job watching over some Japan high school girls while the group was touring Hawaii. They asked her all kinds of questions about her life and when she said that she likes to spend time at the mall, they told her that they have too much schoolwork to do that. They asked her if she had a boyfriend, when she said "yes" they all got excited and started clapping. Jeepers!

[dsi1]

My guess is that one guy with a computer could do the work of 10
engineers with slide rules. When I was going to school, we were still
using slide rules. We also learned how to carve perfectly round wheels
for our Flintstone-mobiles. :-)

[John Nguyen]

On Feb 10, 3:27 pm, Tommy Grand <howardj...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> On Feb 9, 11:12 pm, John Nguyen <johnnguyen5...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/20/why-students-leave-the-e...
>
> > And the comments are even more revealing! Please draw your own
> > conclusions.
> > Cheers,
>
> > John
>
> Studying blows.
>
> http://www.casact.org/admissions/roth_PassRatio.pdf
>

> http://www.casact.org/cms/pdf/Open_Letter_Regarding_Fall_2011_CAS_Exa...
>
> http://www.casact.org/admissions/passlist/oct11/New_ACAS_Spring_2012.pdf

Congrats, Tommy! This is a big achievement for you.
Cheers,

John

[John Nguyen]

On Feb 10, 4:04 pm, dsi1 <dsi...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> On Thursday, February 9, 2012 7:12:14 PM UTC-10, John Nguyen wrote:

> >http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/20/why-students-leave-the-e...

>
> > And the comments are even more revealing! Please draw your own
> > conclusions.
> > Cheers,
>
> > John
>
> I still remember my first day in the first engineering class I ever took. There was one girl in a sea of male Japanese and Chinese geeks. No white people in the class either. I thought that was rather funny. I guess that's the way it is still.
>
> I'm enjoying a cup of Trung Nguyen coffee as I type this - it's soooo smooth! I have a question for you. Do Vietnamese people have a problem with lactose intolerance? If so, how are you able to use condensed milk in your coffee? That stuff is instant death for me. Thanks!

For some strange reason, I and the people around me only lactose-
intolerant to fresh milk, not condensed milk. We drank condensed milk
we we got sick or as a treat when we're kids. So condensed milk goes
very well with Trung Nguyen coffee, as well as bagel goes with
creamcheese, using the slow dripper. You mean you're intolerant to
any kind of lactose product?
Cheers,

John

[wollybird]

My father graduated with an ME in 1948. It was in the middle of the
post war recession- it took him 6 months to get his first job. Brother
number one got an ME, decided he didn't like it and went on to do an
MBA. Brother number 3 did an ME. He was layed off once for and
extended period at the end of the Carter administration- he's busy
now.
At career day in high school, I went to listen to the EE. He was a fat
little bald guy with a short sleeve see through white shirt (and harry
back). He said there were no jobs in EE right now, but things were
expected to get better someday soon.
I wasn't impressed, but I liked electronics.

[John Nguyen]

> per week.http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505145_162-57324669/25-college-majors-wit...

That's hard work, man! They have differentiate between 1% of truth and
99% of lies in campaign messages. That needs serious brain power!

[dsi1]

It's all timing. One of my classmates graduated with an EE degree in 77
and was able to get rich. OTOH, he mostly did this by buying real estate
so maybe the engineering degree was not really important. He got the
money to buy property by working on weapons systems and hardening
electronics to electromagnetic pulses and various sundry high energy
particles. Now I guess he's a slumlord. :-)

[wollybird]

He's probably one hell of a rent collector.
I have a buddy that did the same thing, only he did auto electronics

[dsi1]

Condensed milk and evaporated milk and plain old regular milk will give
me a pain in the guts. I can gain temporary immunity by having some
yoghurt which can actually make me constipated. Pardon me French.

I might be able to create an environment in my bowels that would allow
me to digest lactose by starting a colony of viable lactobacillus in my
gut by eating yoghurt and then constantly eating milk products to
sustain this population but I've never tried doing this. I guess my real
problem is that I don't eat much milk products. It's great that you can
still drink VN coffee. I don't know how you do it - I'm scared to death
of the stuff. :-)

The truth is that a lot of people are lactose intolerant - they just
don't realize it and think that chronic diarrhea is a normal condition.
Those products that vaguely tout "healthy digestion" are mostly aimed at
people who are lactose intolerant. They just won't come out and say it
because the dairy industry is afraid of the term "lactose intolerant."
Why? I don't know.

I heard in the news this morning that folk with celiac syndrome suffer
from an inability to digest gluten. I'm hearing a lot of people
complaining about this but the odds are unlikely for most of them to
actually have it. However, a whole lot of product is going to be moved
because of this great new disease. This is good - we need to sell a lot
of stuff to get this country back on it's feet.

Have a great and lucky new year, pal! :-)

[dsi1]

I think to do something like that, you really have to forget about
having a family until you've made your millions. Then you can get a
young girl and start reproducing. Of course, what's really happening is
that you've pretty much set up things so you can buy a baby-maker and a
nanny. :-)

[Slogoin]

On Feb 10, 12:12 am, John Nguyen <johnnguyen5...@gmail.com> wrote:

> And the comments are even more revealing!

Good engineers, and good musicians, can create their own jobs but
while only half graduate there are even less who really love the work
and do it well. In software engineering the difference in productivity
between very good engineers and just OK ones is VERY wide.

[John Nguyen]

Yeah, I see that every day. I use the 80/20 rule where 20% of good
engineers will do the work for the other 80%, 20% pullers and 80%
draggers.

[Slogoin]

On Feb 11, 12:24 am, John Nguyen <johnnguyen5...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Yeah, I see that every day. I use the 80/20 rule

I went over a skills test with the programming applicants, even
those who failed miserably. There were SO many who claimed they could
code in C who had no idea how to code. We had one guy walk out without
a word to anybody when we left him alone to do the test. All these
people had engineering degrees and many had worked at a number of
other companies. We worked with engineers from all over the globe and
the percentage of high quality workers is about the same all over, as
far as I can tell from the small sample of my own experience.

IMO, the part that sucks is that there are a small number of
powerful political animals who not only don't earn their pay but use a
lot of resources in the process of climbing the social ladder of the
group.

[Steven Bornfeld]

Disheartening, maybe even more than the Rampell article. Not
surprising, though.
People have always cheated. People cheated in my dental school. The
difference is one of expectation: we "good boys" who played by the rules
were told that hard work will pay off in the end. Now the spoils go to
the crooks.
In my day, the "bad kids" cheated. Now, teachers and administrators
cheat. My high-school daughter certainly thinks everyone else is cheating.
Look at pro sports. Doping has been done for a very long time (I was
aghast but somewhat amused to find out that 100 years ago, cyclists
"doped" with strychnine, which in low doses is a stimulant). Now most
pro athletes in certain sports (I know cycling better than other sports,
but it's hard to believe that systematic doping is not done in many
others) now think that only suckers don't dope.
As for the article, it doesn't specify what happens to those hours no
longer used for study. It's probably not all bad, but--I hope our
future in the U.S. isn't what we're seeing in Greece today.

Steve

--
Mark & Steven Bornfeld DDS
http://www.dentaltwins.com
Brooklyn, NY
718-258-5001

[Steven Bornfeld]

Does that mean it's instant death to anyone nearby?

[Steven Bornfeld]

I had a plastic slide rule in high school. The richer kids had
magnesium slide rules. I think back then you could still get Brazilian
magnesium.

Steve

BTW, I have no ISP service at home--we moved yesterday, and Time Warner
Cable screwed me over. So for the next week or so, I'll be
incommunicado, except from the office when I'm not busy.

[Steven Bornfeld]

You proly remember this guy, pretty much self-taught in weapons engineering:

> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Baxter

[dsi1]

My K&E slide rule was made from a very stable material - bamboo. I love that rule, but I lost it in a flood. :-)

[dsi1]

I love that guy! I saw Steely Dan when they came to this rock. It was a most splendid time. I liked Danny Dias' playing more cause he had the jazz and bebop chops down! What an imposing figure he was, a big hefty guy with the ugliest beard you ever saw. :-)

[thomas]

I doubt Baxter's weapons skills. My guess is that the engineers let
him in the room because he's a rock star and they're nerds. Here's his
best solo:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sq8OU-7JDFA

[dsi1]

The strange thing about that solo is that it's so unlike anything that
came before or after it. I agree that it's his best solo.

[Artisan]

"dsi1" <ds...@eternal-september.invalid> wrote in message
news:jh701a$qdl$1...@dont-email.me...

It's so un-legato!!!

[dsi1]

On Saturday, February 11, 2012 2:37:42 PM UTC-10, Artisan wrote:
> It's so un-legato!!!

You classical guys just drive me nuts! :-)

[Artisan]

"dsi1" <dsi...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:18702814.546.1329035543053.JavaMail.geo-discussion-forums@yngj4...

> On Saturday, February 11, 2012 2:37:42 PM UTC-10, Artisan wrote:
>> It's so un-legato!!!
>
> You classical guys just drive me nuts! :-)

My personal pick for Steely Dan probably goes against the tide, but I really
like "Reeling In The Years", parts of it have almost this Thin Lizzie feel.

[dsi1]

It's a classic guitar riff that has it's roots in Irish fiddle music.
That's what it sounds like to me anyway. Two-part harmony played on two
guitars struck it big in 70s rock and the Southern rock genre. For a lot
of guitarists, it was their first intro to harmony. It's not used so
much these days - it's considered a corny thing to do.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Y13XE0-dcU

[thomas]

On Feb 12, 8:30 am, "Artisan" <ar...@nospamplease.net.invalid> wrote:
>
> My personal pick for Steely Dan probably goes against the tide, but I really
> like "Reeling In The Years", parts of it have almost this Thin Lizzie feel.

Reeling in the Years features Elliot Randall on guitar. Another great
Dan solo is Larry Carlton on Kid Charlemagne:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5EQaEHNeco&feature=fvst

[Steven Bornfeld]

>> Mark& Steven Bornfeld DDS

>> http://www.dentaltwins.com
>> Brooklyn, NY
>> 718-258-5001
>
> My K&E slide rule was made from a very stable material - bamboo. I love that rule, but I lost it in a flood. :-)

I have a photo in my high school yearbook of 2 teachers wielding an
8-foot Keufel and Esser wooden slide rule. They both look just a little
too happy.

[Steven Bornfeld]

I didn't realize at first that the "band" was Fagen and Becker with a
changing supporting cast. Remember they actually had a front-man singer
on their first album?
Denny Diaz got the solo on "Do It Again"--was it an electric sitar or
just a guitar made to sound like a sitar? And I think Elliott Randall's
name was made by his solo in "Reeling in the Years"--in fact, I see he
still bills himself as "Steely Dan's Premier Guitarist".

Steve

>>
>>
>> Steve
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Mark& Steven Bornfeld DDS

[Jonathan]

I just found this online resource which has some interesting information on it...
I never realized how wildly the levels of lactose fluctuate in different dairy products.
I always suspected that I had lactose intolerance, but I wondered why milk (even skim) and ice cream would kill me, but butter and certain cheeses never seemed to be a problem.
I guess it makes sense.

[Steven Bornfeld]

Certainly up there.

[dsi1]

That must have been an early model. By the time I got into school, they
had shrunk considerably.

[dsi1]

On 2/13/2012 5:13 AM, Steven Bornfeld wrote:
>
> I didn't realize at first that the "band" was Fagen and Becker with a
> changing supporting cast. Remember they actually had a front-man singer
> on their first album?
> Denny Diaz got the solo on "Do It Again"--was it an electric sitar or
> just a guitar made to sound like a sitar? And I think Elliott Randall's
> name was made by his solo in "Reeling in the Years"--in fact, I see he
> still bills himself as "Steely Dan's Premier Guitarist".

"Can't buy a thrill" was a great album. I have no idea who the singer
was or what became of him. Funny how he disappeared like that. Maybe
Fagen and Becker murdered him and hid the body. They always looked like
they could do something like that.

The solo on "Do it again" was done on a Coral electric sitar.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cA-CifYFhwA&feature=related