**happy star wars day**
long long ago in an office in mountain view far far way on this day I started working at Osmeta, Inc . I worked with amazing engineers --- one of whom was my son --- and resulted in life changing rewards.
may the source be with you --- always!
(if you are at #sjsu , i have donuts in my office to celebrate :) )
EE @ SJSU Summer Prep Series (Post 2/10) One thing that does not get talked about enough going into EE: The computer setup matters more than people expect. Most EE student software is compatible with Windows. Tools for microcontrollers, simulation, and lab work tend to run more smoothly on a PC. Can students use a Mac? Yes. Many do. But there are usually a few extra steps. On newer Macs, students often run Windows using a virtual machine. It works, but it takes some setup and not every tool behaves the same. If you are deciding on a system: - A Windows laptop is the most direct path - A Mac can work, just expect to spend a little time getting things set up I also get asked about GPUs and “future-proofing.” A higher-end GPU is not really needed for the first couple of years in EE. Most of the work is not GPU-heavy. If you want the laptop to last, I would prioritize: - A solid CPU - At least 32 GB of memory, 16 in a pinch - A fast SSD with 1TB, 512 is stretching it - 15 inch screen, any smaller and it'll be a challenge Those will matter every day. If the laptop happens to have a mid-range GPU, that is fine. It can help later if they explore areas like machine learning, graphics, or more advanced simulation. But I would not make that the main driver. The other piece is screen space. A lot of the work looks like this: - Looking at course material, large spreadsheets, and datasheets - Writing and debugging code - Using an IDE or simulation tool Trying to do all of that on a small screen gets old pretty fast. If you can: - Add a second monitor, or - Use a screen large enough to split windows comfortably Being able to see your code and your tools at the same time makes a real difference. For parents, this is not about getting the most powerful machine. It is about giving your student a setup that will hold up over time and support how they actually work day to day. #SJSU #ElectricalEngineering David Parent
'The thing people miss when they say "everyone can code now" is that nobody can code now. '
Anthropic just posted a Software Engineer role at $570k. The same company that builds Claude Code. The tool half of LinkedIn is using as proof that engineers are over. If their own product replaced engineers, that listing wouldn't exist. Or it would pay $90k. The thing people miss when they say "everyone can code now" is that nobody can code now. Not in the way that matters. You can ship a working prototype in an afternoon, sure. The day you have to debug it under load, or rewrite the part the model hallucinated, or explain to a regulator why the system did what it did, the prototype stops being the job. I keep watching this play out. The vibe coders who got fooled by the demo are the ones quietly hiring the engineers who weren't fooled. Part of why is structural. The model is trained on what already exists on the internet. The moment you need something that isn't on the internet yet, a new architecture, a domain-specific constraint, a system that has to survive an audit, you are back to a human writing code by hand. AI is great at remixing what's been written. It cannot originate the thing that hasn't. Which is why the engineers worth $570k are not the ones who type faster. They are the ones who can sit with ambiguous requirements, design the system, validate the output, and own what happens in production. The model is a junior on their team. A fast junior with no judgment. I think the next few years are going to be brutal for people who confused "I can ship" with "I can build." And quietly great for the engineers who never bought the demo in the first place. | 66 comments on LinkedIn
While drafting the technology section, something fascinating happened: Claude, acting as our research assistant, actually offered to co-author a chapter. See the full podcast https://lnkd.in/eXZvR42n
i have been thinking about this episode of outerlimits a lot lately! i couldn't remember the name or even the series, but (ironically) chatgpt found it for me ;)
boss: "you know there was a time when reading was a sign of intelligence"
employee: "thank god those days are gone"
Students disrupt war profiteers’ participation in San Jose State University career fair
San Jose, CA – On February 17, a dozen San José State University students gathered outside the administrative building to protest corporate war profiters that were participating in the Career Center’s Job & Internship. Students held signs that read “No war with Venezuela” and “Free Palestine.”
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ben reed
Mitch Patenaude
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