todd.tokubo.com

So I upgraded my iPhone to firmware version 1.1.1 (the one that enables the iTunes store). The first thing that pops up is a button for the iTunes specific New Order release. After listening to Bernard Sumner cover Ian Curtis (lead singer of Joy Division - like, New Order before New Order) for “Love Will Tear Us Apart”, I immediately clicked buy. Okay, so for Joy Division purists it may be a bit immoral, but it was good for a New Order freak like me.

Of course… then I had to start browsing for more… dammit…

I ran across an interesting article in EETimes.  Basically, it’s about a professor who is trying to create a better tool to stimulate their understanding of electrical engineering.

Why have American students been losing interest in electrical engineering? One theory is that dramatic technological advances in electronics have had the unintended consequence of making electronics less accessible to curious young minds.

The first line of the article definitely does its job for me.  Having interviewed a lot of new college grads, I find myself being very disappointed a lot of the time.

Incoming college freshmen lack “the background intuition that kids used to get from just playing with stuff, tinkering with stuff,” said Don Millard, a professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI, Troy, N.Y.). Today’s students may have cracked open a videogame console to solder a mod chip onto the motherboard that lets them play games for free. But more often, Millard said, inquisitive minds find components that are so small they can’t be tinkered with or gadgets that are so tightly packed they can’t be pulled apart.

Thus, Millard and others believe, students who might once have been attracted to electrical engineering because of the ability to observe cause-and-effect relationships in circuits and components are instead gravitating toward other fields.

I really appreciate this context.  Hopefully, there will be more options for students to be more interested in EE going into programs around the country, rather than just thinking that it’s a good way to make a buck.

From lifehacker: “The way to ’solve’ the problem of procrastination is to let delight pull you instead of making a to-do list push you.”

Original article is here.

As we talked about previously, going to school for the wrong reasons is never a good thing.  I ran across an article talking about the pros and cons about going to a game programming school.  The constant comparison is with art schools.  Even then they specifically note that a general undergrad education is better and that a game programming school is almost a graduate degree to get your foot into a specific industry.  This is almost the same message as getting a grad degree.

Bottom line: if you don’t know what you’re going to do, get your 4-year degree and get a job!

Here’s a bunch of fun links from Lifehacker.

• 10 Ways Your Resume Irks Hiring Managers
  • These are pretty straightforward.  If you haven’t checked your resume for these things, good luck on your job search!
• 7 Habits of Highly Ineffective People
  • It’s always good to know what not to do.  Some of these may be surprising.
• 3 Steps for Success
  • Simple things, but sometimes it’s the simple things that make it worthwhile.

A lot of young engineers are faced with a dilemma after they graduate with their undergrad degree. After spending 4 (or in my case, 5) long years to get your Bachelors Degree in an engineering field, many people start to weigh their options after graduation. Engineering / Computer Science are one of the few fields that many Bachelor’s degree holders can get a good-paying job immediately.

I’ve made the following assumptions:

• You are not sure if you want to straight to work or grad school
• You are actively interviewing for jobs as you get ready to walk
• You are actively applying to grad schools

Read more »

I bought a new ride. It’s slightly more responsible than what I test drove first (the Jetta GLI), and it fits the family.

Again… I think I’m getting old.