Saturday 29 October 2016
Be Back in December
Just a heads up, going MIA until I finish finals in December. I'm sure you all understand. I will be more active when finals are over. I will continue to reply to emails but I am very sorry if I don't get back to you for a while.
Friday 7 October 2016
Lecturers to Avoid
Here I will be listing lecturers that you should do your best to avoid. If you have your own list of lecturers to avoid, please do share and I will add them to this list.
- Jonathan Buss (CS 245)
- Very intelligent man but can't teach at all
- Forgot to attend one of his lectures so his students ended up sitting in the room for a while until someone decided to call his office
- Edward Chan (CS 348)
- Narrow minded
- If your solutions don't match his exactly, you lose 5 marks for each difference
- His database design is the only correct design... (WTF?)
Monday 26 September 2016
Q&A #8
Q: Dude, do you think it's worth going to Waterloo if you're just an average student just wanting to learn CS? I am by no means obsessed with CS or see it as my passion, but I do want to do it for a living. I'm not one to do a side projects as a hobby, but I don't mind coding for coursework. I mainly want to go to Waterloo because of the career opportunities. Someone told me I'm better off to U of T cause Waterloo CS students are the exact opposite of what I've described myself.
A: Yes and no. It really depends. This is actually a pretty hard question to answer. I wouldn't say that U of T CS students would be that different compared to UW CS students from an academic point of view. Both schools cover more or less the same topics but I don't really know how the course load is compared to each other, I will try to find out and update this later on. What I do know is that in first year at UW, you will learn Racket (this was absolutely dreadful, easy course, CS 135, but annoying language) and take calculus 1 (MATH 137) and algebra (MATH 135 - not linear algebra) in 1A. Then 1B will be some Racket (a few weeks, less than a month) then switch over to C (CS 136), calculus 2 (MATH 138), and linear algebra (MATH 136). Whereas at U of T, from what I know, you will learn Python3, calculus, and linear algebra. MATH 135 is the main course that ends up throwing every first year off because the majority of students would have never touched the material at all in high school and at U of T, you don't take it until second year, so it isn't as much of a slap in the face in first year. So your last statement is wrong since students from both school will more than likely have side projects and be fairly hard working.
When it comes to employability, I would say side projects play a major role especially for your first job, whether it is an internship or full-time position. But if you really aren't passionate about CS, I would advise you to look into other programs since if you're not doing something you're enjoying, you're more than likely to regret your decision later on in life after you've invested a great amount of time and money into CS. I have met people who spent nearly a decade completing their undergrad just because they didn't enjoy what they were doing and they regretted it.
So to sort of answer your question, it is up to you but I think that if you can get into the co-op program at UW, that will help you out a lot more in the future than U of T's PEY. Some of my previous employers (don't bother asking, I won't name them) only hired co-op students from UW, some of them were once U of T students as well but they still choose UW over their own alma mater.
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A: Yes and no. It really depends. This is actually a pretty hard question to answer. I wouldn't say that U of T CS students would be that different compared to UW CS students from an academic point of view. Both schools cover more or less the same topics but I don't really know how the course load is compared to each other, I will try to find out and update this later on. What I do know is that in first year at UW, you will learn Racket (this was absolutely dreadful, easy course, CS 135, but annoying language) and take calculus 1 (MATH 137) and algebra (MATH 135 - not linear algebra) in 1A. Then 1B will be some Racket (a few weeks, less than a month) then switch over to C (CS 136), calculus 2 (MATH 138), and linear algebra (MATH 136). Whereas at U of T, from what I know, you will learn Python3, calculus, and linear algebra. MATH 135 is the main course that ends up throwing every first year off because the majority of students would have never touched the material at all in high school and at U of T, you don't take it until second year, so it isn't as much of a slap in the face in first year. So your last statement is wrong since students from both school will more than likely have side projects and be fairly hard working.
When it comes to employability, I would say side projects play a major role especially for your first job, whether it is an internship or full-time position. But if you really aren't passionate about CS, I would advise you to look into other programs since if you're not doing something you're enjoying, you're more than likely to regret your decision later on in life after you've invested a great amount of time and money into CS. I have met people who spent nearly a decade completing their undergrad just because they didn't enjoy what they were doing and they regretted it.
So to sort of answer your question, it is up to you but I think that if you can get into the co-op program at UW, that will help you out a lot more in the future than U of T's PEY. Some of my previous employers (don't bother asking, I won't name them) only hired co-op students from UW, some of them were once U of T students as well but they still choose UW over their own alma mater.
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Wednesday 7 September 2016
Fall 2016....
YAY...! Fall 2016 lectures start tomorrow... I just got back to Waterloo yesterday and moved into my room. I don't know about you guys, but I am not looking too forward to the start of the semester. I just had too much fun relaxing and working during this past summer.
Well I hope you are all ready for another semester of studying to those returning for a study term. To the first years, I hope you enjoyed orientation and are ready for your first lectures of many during your next four or five years here in Waterloo. Also, hope you don't end up partying too hard during first year. And, lastly, those who are starting their work term, enjoy your time off... I wish I was you.
Also, I hope those with a lease with Icon are doing fine and have some place to stay for the time being. To the first years, sure sucks to be you guys to be hit with something like this. To everyone else, it sucks but you should have seen it coming with 1 Columbia's and Sage's shenanigans over the past two years. This is the third year in a row that shit like this has happened. I agree that shit like this shouldn't be happening but will it stop? Probably not any time soon but the area is already over saturated with student housing, so, I'm not too sure how sustainable it would be to put up more student housing complexes. Well only time will tell.
Lastly, woot! Apple press event is today, I wonder if the iPhone 7 really will be missing a good old reliable friend. And will Apple be able to make a comeback in the smartphone market with the iPhone 7? Well, time to wait and see I suppose.
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Well I hope you are all ready for another semester of studying to those returning for a study term. To the first years, I hope you enjoyed orientation and are ready for your first lectures of many during your next four or five years here in Waterloo. Also, hope you don't end up partying too hard during first year. And, lastly, those who are starting their work term, enjoy your time off... I wish I was you.
Also, I hope those with a lease with Icon are doing fine and have some place to stay for the time being. To the first years, sure sucks to be you guys to be hit with something like this. To everyone else, it sucks but you should have seen it coming with 1 Columbia's and Sage's shenanigans over the past two years. This is the third year in a row that shit like this has happened. I agree that shit like this shouldn't be happening but will it stop? Probably not any time soon but the area is already over saturated with student housing, so, I'm not too sure how sustainable it would be to put up more student housing complexes. Well only time will tell.
Lastly, woot! Apple press event is today, I wonder if the iPhone 7 really will be missing a good old reliable friend. And will Apple be able to make a comeback in the smartphone market with the iPhone 7? Well, time to wait and see I suppose.
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Sunday 26 June 2016
Toronto's Taxis
In the past two months of being back in Toronto, I have grown to hate Toronto's taxis even more. There have been numerous occasions where they have either almost hit a biker or another pedestrian or myself. Here are just a few of the major issues that I have seen involving taxis.
Not too long ago, while I was biking to work, a taxi turned right, and cut off some pedestrians and I as we were crossing. If I had been going any faster, I would not have been able to stop in time and would have slammed right into the side of the taxi...
My first few weeks of being back in Toronto, as I was walking home and about to cross Richmond St., the taxi driver did not even bother stopping for his red-light, they just went on through and turned right... This is something that I find that taxi drivers tend to do most often throughout the city... Some may be unaware, but it is legal to turn right on a red-light in Toronto unless there is a sign explicitly stating that you can't turn right on red, but you have to treat the red-light like a stop sign and come to a full stop before proceeding to turn right.
It was the first weekend of June or last weekend of May, I can't really remember but I was driving down Queen St. and these two Beck taxis were driving side-by-side very slowly because the drivers were talking to each other while driving... Of all places to talk, they chose to talk while driving separate vehicles on Queen St...
Lastly, the worse one of all, I have seen taxis having dog fights on Spadina. The drivers would purposely try collide into the side each other's vehicle and dodge to avoid being hit. This is just straight up dumb, a wrong move and either taxi or both could have ended up on the side walk and injuring a pedestrian... If I see this happen again, I will post it on YouTube and link it here.
I have been itching to rant about Toronto's taxi drivers since the Toronto taxi drivers vs. Uber fiasco and their protest around the GTA where they drove around at 5 km/h and made traffic even worse for emergency service vehicles...
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Not too long ago, while I was biking to work, a taxi turned right, and cut off some pedestrians and I as we were crossing. If I had been going any faster, I would not have been able to stop in time and would have slammed right into the side of the taxi...
My first few weeks of being back in Toronto, as I was walking home and about to cross Richmond St., the taxi driver did not even bother stopping for his red-light, they just went on through and turned right... This is something that I find that taxi drivers tend to do most often throughout the city... Some may be unaware, but it is legal to turn right on a red-light in Toronto unless there is a sign explicitly stating that you can't turn right on red, but you have to treat the red-light like a stop sign and come to a full stop before proceeding to turn right.
It was the first weekend of June or last weekend of May, I can't really remember but I was driving down Queen St. and these two Beck taxis were driving side-by-side very slowly because the drivers were talking to each other while driving... Of all places to talk, they chose to talk while driving separate vehicles on Queen St...
Lastly, the worse one of all, I have seen taxis having dog fights on Spadina. The drivers would purposely try collide into the side each other's vehicle and dodge to avoid being hit. This is just straight up dumb, a wrong move and either taxi or both could have ended up on the side walk and injuring a pedestrian... If I see this happen again, I will post it on YouTube and link it here.
I have been itching to rant about Toronto's taxi drivers since the Toronto taxi drivers vs. Uber fiasco and their protest around the GTA where they drove around at 5 km/h and made traffic even worse for emergency service vehicles...
Home
Sunday 1 May 2016
Questions and Answers #7
Q: Hey, I really enjoy reading your blog.
Could you write about the social scene maybe? Like how is it like making new friends and meeting new people? I feel like it will be a very tough for me to do so as I'm really shy around other people.
Thanks!
Could you write about the social scene maybe? Like how is it like making new friends and meeting new people? I feel like it will be a very tough for me to do so as I'm really shy around other people.
Thanks!
A: First, let me tell you a little bit about myself. I am an introvert, trying to become more open and less of an introvert. I am making progress but slowly. And I am very sorry for how long it took me to write this. This is by far the hardest post for me to write.
Now that you know that about me, let me answer your questions.
To be honest, I don't even know how I managed to make any friends. It is a really interesting phenomenon. Everyone I have met has been very welcoming and kind. As long as you are ready to step out of your comfort zone and take the first step to say "Hi" or willing to speak to anyone who comes up to you, you will be able to make plenty of new friends and meet new people.
There are numerous clubs at UWaterloo so, see which one fits you the best and join them, they are great places to meet new people and relax. I've met many people at study groups as well and from those connections, university has been much easier. Everyone I've met still helps each other out with assignments and courses since we all take the same courses.
Come September, try to meet as many people as you can during Frosh week. I missed Frosh week so I had a difficult time with making new friends during the first few months of school.
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There are numerous clubs at UWaterloo so, see which one fits you the best and join them, they are great places to meet new people and relax. I've met many people at study groups as well and from those connections, university has been much easier. Everyone I've met still helps each other out with assignments and courses since we all take the same courses.
Come September, try to meet as many people as you can during Frosh week. I missed Frosh week so I had a difficult time with making new friends during the first few months of school.
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Friday 25 March 2016
Power Outage......
March 24th, power goes out in my area, according to my friend, it went out around 21:00... This was an interesting event, it was my first time in a high rise building during a blackout. Frankly speaking, I woke up from a long nap without realizing that the power had gone out. It wasn't until I saw that my friend had asked me if I had power that I realized that everything was off and I had no power in my room.
I was somewhat annoyed since I hadn't cooked dinner yet so I was somewhat hungry. But it was a good thing that my phone still had plenty of juice in it and I had data, so I could start making come calls around to see what was still open and serving food. Data really saved me, I was able to get a list of phone numbers for places nearby and had an idea of what my options were for a hot meal. I was glad to hear the elevators chime so I knew that the elevators were still running and wouldn't have to walk down numerous flights of stairs, I live near the top of one of the taller buildings in the area.
I ended up going to McDonald's since it was still open and is open 24 hours everyday, they have Wi-Fi, it was a short walk away, and they have free refills on coffee. :D It's rare occasions like today that I would actually go to McDonald's for food.
So I quickly packed my laptop and chargers and headed out to McDonald's and texted my friends to see if they were in the same boat as I was and we all met up at McDonald's. There was a long line up at McDonald's, pretty much no one had power but it still didn't take long before I got to order a meal.
In situations like these, it is important to have a plan of action and back up plans incase something falls through and doesn't go the way you want it to. Though, just sleeping through a black out is always a solid plan of action. You can get plenty of rest and wake up fully rested and ready to tackle some of those assignments you've been procrastinating on or you know, just binge watch your favourite show or game the day away.
Well, I guess I'll sit here at McDonald's for the next few hours and follow Waterloo Hydro's Twitter for updates.
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I was somewhat annoyed since I hadn't cooked dinner yet so I was somewhat hungry. But it was a good thing that my phone still had plenty of juice in it and I had data, so I could start making come calls around to see what was still open and serving food. Data really saved me, I was able to get a list of phone numbers for places nearby and had an idea of what my options were for a hot meal. I was glad to hear the elevators chime so I knew that the elevators were still running and wouldn't have to walk down numerous flights of stairs, I live near the top of one of the taller buildings in the area.
I ended up going to McDonald's since it was still open and is open 24 hours everyday, they have Wi-Fi, it was a short walk away, and they have free refills on coffee. :D It's rare occasions like today that I would actually go to McDonald's for food.
So I quickly packed my laptop and chargers and headed out to McDonald's and texted my friends to see if they were in the same boat as I was and we all met up at McDonald's. There was a long line up at McDonald's, pretty much no one had power but it still didn't take long before I got to order a meal.
In situations like these, it is important to have a plan of action and back up plans incase something falls through and doesn't go the way you want it to. Though, just sleeping through a black out is always a solid plan of action. You can get plenty of rest and wake up fully rested and ready to tackle some of those assignments you've been procrastinating on or you know, just binge watch your favourite show or game the day away.
Well, I guess I'll sit here at McDonald's for the next few hours and follow Waterloo Hydro's Twitter for updates.
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Saturday 19 March 2016
Questions and Answers #6
Q: Hey man can you make a post about your everyday life as a CS student
A: My everyday life as a CS student. So, honestly, my life isn't very interesting. I pretty much do the same thing every single day. So, here's the gist of what I do every single school day:
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A: My everyday life as a CS student. So, honestly, my life isn't very interesting. I pretty much do the same thing every single day. So, here's the gist of what I do every single school day:
- I wake up in the morning (sometimes I don't but I try my best to :) )
- brush my teeth
- have breakfast
- get dressed
- head out for school
- wait for the elevator
- wait for the bus
- walk to my lecture hall
- furiously take notes
- wait for the bus
- go home
- make something for lunch
- eat lunch
- get some work done, probably?
- periodically check Jobmine (if you thought Quest was hell, this is even worse...), yconic, and YouTube
- take a nap
- get some more work done, maybe?
- cook dinner
- eat dinner
- get some more work done hopefully
- brush my teeth
- shower
- sleep
- and repeat
That is pretty much what I do on school days. But on Tuesdays, Wednesday, or Thursdays, instead of going directly home, I go to Sobeys for some groceries since they have 10% off discounts from Tuesday to Thursday for students. Weekends also aren't very different, only difference is I wake up later, don't usually go to campus, and sometimes my parents visit me or I take the GO bus home to visit family and friends. I try to squeeze in a workout whenever I can, but I don't really have a schedule for that. I literally just go whenever I feel like I have the energy to go.
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Wednesday 9 March 2016
Questions and Answers #5
Q: I am also curious about this… How significant is the difference between the workload of a single degree vs dd? What are the major differences between the cs dd at laurier and the cs dd at laurier/uwl?
A: Major differences between the two are that the BCS/BBA DD at WLU won't have any of the Math/CS courses at UW which I assume would be slightly more rigorous at UW and the Co-op program at WLU is more limited since, as far as I know, the co-op employers at WLU are all Canadian based companies while UW has international opportunities.
The thing about the DD program is that you're juggling two very sort of different fields of knowledge and having to travel to and fro two campuses, if you are in the joint program. What I am trying to say is, the way you learn CS/Math is more practical in the sense that, if you learn a new concept, you can just write a program that applies this concept and it will always work, assuming your code is correct. So in CS/Math, you can put the knowledge into practice immediately and see results and how it works, whereas in BBA, they're just spoon feeding you with shovels full of theory, terms, and definitions and its a very theoretical approach compared to CS/Math.
So CS/Math are objective and absolute and are more about the right or wrong answers since it either doesn't work or works, there isn't really an in between, especially in the industry since "it works most of the time" really just means it doesn't work and will need to be fixed. And BBA is more subjective and theoretical since it doesn't always work in practice.
Let me know in the comments if you need me to clarify anything or have any additional questions related to the double degree programs.
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A: Major differences between the two are that the BCS/BBA DD at WLU won't have any of the Math/CS courses at UW which I assume would be slightly more rigorous at UW and the Co-op program at WLU is more limited since, as far as I know, the co-op employers at WLU are all Canadian based companies while UW has international opportunities.
The thing about the DD program is that you're juggling two very sort of different fields of knowledge and having to travel to and fro two campuses, if you are in the joint program. What I am trying to say is, the way you learn CS/Math is more practical in the sense that, if you learn a new concept, you can just write a program that applies this concept and it will always work, assuming your code is correct. So in CS/Math, you can put the knowledge into practice immediately and see results and how it works, whereas in BBA, they're just spoon feeding you with shovels full of theory, terms, and definitions and its a very theoretical approach compared to CS/Math.
So CS/Math are objective and absolute and are more about the right or wrong answers since it either doesn't work or works, there isn't really an in between, especially in the industry since "it works most of the time" really just means it doesn't work and will need to be fixed. And BBA is more subjective and theoretical since it doesn't always work in practice.
Let me know in the comments if you need me to clarify anything or have any additional questions related to the double degree programs.
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Saturday 5 March 2016
Question and Answers #4
Q: Hey CS dude, can you shed some light and opinions about the advanced math and cs courses at uw (whether you took them yourself, or have seen other take them). Thanks
A: I personally haven't taken them but I do know people who have and regretted doing that. They are extremely stressful courses and tiring. If you're up for the challenge then go for it and there's no shame in switching back into the the regular section which already has a fairly heavy workload. The advanced sections just cover more topics at a faster pace.
Keep in mind, it isn't all about academics, you need to have a balanced life so don't take it just because it looks ever so slightly better to have taken it and end up over exerting yourself.
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A: I personally haven't taken them but I do know people who have and regretted doing that. They are extremely stressful courses and tiring. If you're up for the challenge then go for it and there's no shame in switching back into the the regular section which already has a fairly heavy workload. The advanced sections just cover more topics at a faster pace.
Keep in mind, it isn't all about academics, you need to have a balanced life so don't take it just because it looks ever so slightly better to have taken it and end up over exerting yourself.
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Question and Answers #3
Q: Can you elaborate more on the admissions process? I am currently in grade 12 and am hoping to get in the same program. I retook Adv Functions to upgrade my park (78 to 91) and was wondering how that will affect my admission chances. Also, when did you get your acceptance, and what were the admission averages for people who got in last year?
thanks for writing this blog, it is very helpful!
A: So your application, transcript, and completed AIF are sent to the admissions office. They use the AIF and marks to get some sort of "score" that is also affected by the success of other students that came to the University of Waterloo from your secondary school. That is roughly how admissions work as far as I know.
I think a repeated course would be looked at critically, so they would have preference over someone who achieved a slightly lower mark on their first attempt at advanced function than a repeated course mark. I think a repeated course may be enough of a reason that they would even go as far as not even considering giving you an offer into Computer Science since it is a very competitive program to get into. I remember seeing some numbers in regards to the number of applicants to the number of available spots in computer science and it was in the ball park of 16 or so applicants per seat last year and it only gets worse from there. There has been a 15% to 30% increase in applicants every year.
The averages of people who were accepted into Computer Science for Fall 2015 were about 93% as far as I know. I was accepted for Fall 2014 with an average in the low to mid 90's or so, it has been a while so I can't fully remember what my marks were like at the end of grade 12. I am sure I can find out but that would require I either (A) go home and look for my report card or (B) go ask administration to see if they can pull up my file and tell me what my average was on my transcript. Frankly speaking, I can't really be bothered to bring myself to do either since it does not matter and I have better things to do, like write a new blog post about my university experience thus far or answering questions, which I think is much more interesting for you, future university students, than a number that was calculated from six random numbers, so let's just stick with low to mid 90's for the sake of answering your question.
I hope I answered your questions, if not, let me know. And I am glad you find my blog helpful.
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thanks for writing this blog, it is very helpful!
A: So your application, transcript, and completed AIF are sent to the admissions office. They use the AIF and marks to get some sort of "score" that is also affected by the success of other students that came to the University of Waterloo from your secondary school. That is roughly how admissions work as far as I know.
I think a repeated course would be looked at critically, so they would have preference over someone who achieved a slightly lower mark on their first attempt at advanced function than a repeated course mark. I think a repeated course may be enough of a reason that they would even go as far as not even considering giving you an offer into Computer Science since it is a very competitive program to get into. I remember seeing some numbers in regards to the number of applicants to the number of available spots in computer science and it was in the ball park of 16 or so applicants per seat last year and it only gets worse from there. There has been a 15% to 30% increase in applicants every year.
The averages of people who were accepted into Computer Science for Fall 2015 were about 93% as far as I know. I was accepted for Fall 2014 with an average in the low to mid 90's or so, it has been a while so I can't fully remember what my marks were like at the end of grade 12. I am sure I can find out but that would require I either (A) go home and look for my report card or (B) go ask administration to see if they can pull up my file and tell me what my average was on my transcript. Frankly speaking, I can't really be bothered to bring myself to do either since it does not matter and I have better things to do, like write a new blog post about my university experience thus far or answering questions, which I think is much more interesting for you, future university students, than a number that was calculated from six random numbers, so let's just stick with low to mid 90's for the sake of answering your question.
I hope I answered your questions, if not, let me know. And I am glad you find my blog helpful.
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Saturday 27 February 2016
Residences vs. Off Campus Student Housing Part 3 - On Campus Traditional Style Dorms
Now you may be thinking that I have forgotten about traditional dormitory style residences. If you really want to go and experience what it's like to live in a dorm, then go ahead. Personally, I find that it is over hyped and a terrible living situation to be in. From experience, it is actually very inconvenient way of living. Imagine, taking a shower when suddenly someone walks into the washroom and has the worse stomach ache ever. Not only will you have the liberty to bask in the smell and all its glory but you'll have a rare opportunity to enjoy the ensuing symphony of human excreta make contact with a shallow pool of water.
And what about food? The mandatory money grabbing meal plan... Yeah sure, everything is 50% off but that's only because they take half of what you paid for your meal plan away immediately, so you only get to spend half of what you paid. Now, what once may have seemed like an amazing discount is nothing more than a lie.
I really don't like eating on campus, especially at the cafeteria. I'll admit to going to the coffee shops around campus though. They are really convenient if you only want a hot drink and a pastry for a reasonable price. Everything is just so expensive, small in size/portion, and lacking in flavour. Plus, if you check the nutritional values of what they serve, you might actually be better off going to McDonalds and eating there everyday, which could be "meh" at best if you count calories and make smart choices. Everything they serve is just so loaded with fat, grease, sodium, and sugar. Instead of buying lunch/dinner on campus, you're better off walking over to the plaza. The plaza generally have better quality food, more selection, and better deals.
University of Waterloo has two traditional style residences (not including the colleges, since I have never been to any of those, I can't comment on them other than it is still cheaper to live off campus than in one of those colleges), Ron Eydt Village (REV) and Village 1 (V1). At V1, you have your own room with a desk and a bed and have communal washrooms. REV is similar to V1, the only difference being is that these are double rooms, so everything is doubled and you have to share the room with someone. So, V1 has more privacy than REV.
Here's a tip, avoid living in REV at all costs. My friend used to live there and he said everyone there would be smoking weed all of the time. He used to get high in his room just from the second hand smoke. If you care about your marks and, most importantly, your health and lungs, don't live in REV. If you do end up in REV, speak your don about switching into another residence as soon as possible.
V1 is a lot more tame in comparison to REV. You can get work done in your room or in the study areas without getting disturbed generally speaking. The lobby area, where the cafeteria, recreation area, study rooms, and front desk are, is often packed with people, so that could be a great place to meet new friends. If you really want to live in a traditional style dorm and want to actually be able to get work done and study, then pick V1.
Part 1: Here
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Saturday 13 February 2016
Working Out and Exercising
The best way to avoid the "Freshman 15," where students gain at least 15 pounds, is to have a balanced and healthy lifestyle by eating healthy whole foods and getting exercise regularly. Exercising can be in the form of walking to class instead of taking the bus or going to the gym regularly. My focus will be on working out and exercising.
Since it is currently winter and freezing cold outside, it was almost -40 degrees Celsius with windchill today, I personally try to go to the gym regularly and avoid walking and running outside. However, during the Fall and Spring semesters, I will try to get in some cardio by either walking or running to and from campus if I have the time to.
When I go to the gym, I do my thing and work on strengthening and conditioning myself. I get into my zone and get the workout done safely and as fast as possible. It is important to have a plan and a workout planned out for the next 30 minutes to 2 hours. Is it leg day? Bench? Deadlifts? Squats? Know what you have to do, what weight you will start off at and work up to, how many sets, and how many reps so that you're not standing around looking for what to do next. You want to move from one exercise to the next quickly. You want to keep your heart rate up and your blood pumping. Most importantly, know your limit, stop if something isn't right, don't hesitate to ask for help, and you don't want this to be your last workout ever. A small injury can set you back months of progress and cause problems for you in the future. I really like the statements posted in Columbia Ice Field (CIF) above the mirrors, they are a constant reminder for patrons to stay safe so that they can return another workout the following day.
I really like going to the gym, I can pop my earbuds in and isolate myself from everyone else and think with a clear mind, or I can meet new people, it really depends on my mood on what I end up doing. It is a great atmosphere as everyone is working towards a similar goal and its a great way to decompress all that stored up stress and anger for this and that course.
Something you see a lot of people at the gym using are supplements. They may be drinking their pre-workout, protein shake, or a concoction of multiple supplements. I personally stick with protein shakes most of the time before and after a workout. I have used creatine, BCAAs, and pre-workouts but nothing really beats the versatility and simplicity of a good ole protein shake. Also, I am kind of lazy too, I've been forgetting to buy more creatine and BCAAs. :) I usually stock up on whey protein powder since I often use them as meal replacements as well. So, if I am coding all night and I miss a meal, I'd shake up a protein shake and drink that instead of heading over to McDonalds or to the pizza parlour. If I am in a rush in the morning, I'd pop 2 scoops into my shaker bottle and shake up a protein shake that would last me all morning until noon to just after 1 PM or so.
The 2 most popular types of whey protein powder are concentrate and isolate. The main differences between the two are the speed at which the body absorbs either and the percentage of protein by mass. Isolates take more processing to make than concentrates and due to the process which they make whey protein, isolates are absorbed by your body faster than concentrates would be. Also, isolates are at least 90% protein per gram, that is, at least 27g of protein per 30 g serving of whey protein isolate. Whereas, concentrates are about 80% protein per gram, that is, about 24 g of protein per 30 g serving.
I typically stick with concentrates since they are a lot cheaper than isolates and I time when I drink my shake so that my body can and will process the protein when it needs it.
I recommend avoiding the big name brands like ON Gold Standard since they are way too over priced. Last I checked, ON Gold Standard whey protein concentrate was about $80 to $100 plus tax for 5 lb I think. I order my whey protein here, CanadianProtein.com, they ship from Windsor, Ontario I believe and have free shipping for orders over $99. It took me about 2 business days to receive my order here in Waterloo. I bought three 5 lb packages of whey protein concentrate for just under $40 each, so my total came out to just under $120 plus taxes. They also have bulk protein powder in 25 lb and 45 lb packaging, perfect for sharing with your roommates. Each pound is about 15 servings which works out to about $0.53 per serving for the 5 lb bags and even less for the bulk packages.
Whey protein powder that I use: www.canadianprotein.com
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Since it is currently winter and freezing cold outside, it was almost -40 degrees Celsius with windchill today, I personally try to go to the gym regularly and avoid walking and running outside. However, during the Fall and Spring semesters, I will try to get in some cardio by either walking or running to and from campus if I have the time to.
When I go to the gym, I do my thing and work on strengthening and conditioning myself. I get into my zone and get the workout done safely and as fast as possible. It is important to have a plan and a workout planned out for the next 30 minutes to 2 hours. Is it leg day? Bench? Deadlifts? Squats? Know what you have to do, what weight you will start off at and work up to, how many sets, and how many reps so that you're not standing around looking for what to do next. You want to move from one exercise to the next quickly. You want to keep your heart rate up and your blood pumping. Most importantly, know your limit, stop if something isn't right, don't hesitate to ask for help, and you don't want this to be your last workout ever. A small injury can set you back months of progress and cause problems for you in the future. I really like the statements posted in Columbia Ice Field (CIF) above the mirrors, they are a constant reminder for patrons to stay safe so that they can return another workout the following day.
I really like going to the gym, I can pop my earbuds in and isolate myself from everyone else and think with a clear mind, or I can meet new people, it really depends on my mood on what I end up doing. It is a great atmosphere as everyone is working towards a similar goal and its a great way to decompress all that stored up stress and anger for this and that course.
Something you see a lot of people at the gym using are supplements. They may be drinking their pre-workout, protein shake, or a concoction of multiple supplements. I personally stick with protein shakes most of the time before and after a workout. I have used creatine, BCAAs, and pre-workouts but nothing really beats the versatility and simplicity of a good ole protein shake. Also, I am kind of lazy too, I've been forgetting to buy more creatine and BCAAs. :) I usually stock up on whey protein powder since I often use them as meal replacements as well. So, if I am coding all night and I miss a meal, I'd shake up a protein shake and drink that instead of heading over to McDonalds or to the pizza parlour. If I am in a rush in the morning, I'd pop 2 scoops into my shaker bottle and shake up a protein shake that would last me all morning until noon to just after 1 PM or so.
The 2 most popular types of whey protein powder are concentrate and isolate. The main differences between the two are the speed at which the body absorbs either and the percentage of protein by mass. Isolates take more processing to make than concentrates and due to the process which they make whey protein, isolates are absorbed by your body faster than concentrates would be. Also, isolates are at least 90% protein per gram, that is, at least 27g of protein per 30 g serving of whey protein isolate. Whereas, concentrates are about 80% protein per gram, that is, about 24 g of protein per 30 g serving.
I typically stick with concentrates since they are a lot cheaper than isolates and I time when I drink my shake so that my body can and will process the protein when it needs it.
I recommend avoiding the big name brands like ON Gold Standard since they are way too over priced. Last I checked, ON Gold Standard whey protein concentrate was about $80 to $100 plus tax for 5 lb I think. I order my whey protein here, CanadianProtein.com, they ship from Windsor, Ontario I believe and have free shipping for orders over $99. It took me about 2 business days to receive my order here in Waterloo. I bought three 5 lb packages of whey protein concentrate for just under $40 each, so my total came out to just under $120 plus taxes. They also have bulk protein powder in 25 lb and 45 lb packaging, perfect for sharing with your roommates. Each pound is about 15 servings which works out to about $0.53 per serving for the 5 lb bags and even less for the bulk packages.
Whey protein powder that I use: www.canadianprotein.com
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Monday 8 February 2016
Questions and Answers #2
Q: Hi, I go to <Insert Institution> and I have an <Insert GPA/Average> GPA/Average. <Insert Additional Information> What are my chances of getting into <Program X>?
A: Don't hesitate to send me an email with all of the details and I will respond as soon as I get the chance to with and informed guess. However, I am only a student, I am not a member of the administrative team at the University of Waterloo. Therefore, what I say can be absolutely useless and wrong or spot on or in between. Take what I tell you pertaining to your chances of getting in and etc. with a grain of salt. What I am certain of is that I can give you a good idea of what first/second/etc year was like for me and what I had to do in course X.
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A: Don't hesitate to send me an email with all of the details and I will respond as soon as I get the chance to with and informed guess. However, I am only a student, I am not a member of the administrative team at the University of Waterloo. Therefore, what I say can be absolutely useless and wrong or spot on or in between. Take what I tell you pertaining to your chances of getting in and etc. with a grain of salt. What I am certain of is that I can give you a good idea of what first/second/etc year was like for me and what I had to do in course X.
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Saturday 6 February 2016
Questions and Answers #1
Q: Hi,
I would definitely like to apply to CompSci but I'll be doing that next year. I also wanted to get into Software Engineering at Waterloo but I've heard that insanely hard to get into. I just had a couple questions about the program though.
What average did you have to get accepted? Where did you get compsci experience? Is it easy to find a co op placements in places such as Google, Amazon etc?
Thanks
A: Yeah, getting into Software Engineering will be much harder since the class size itself is much smaller than Computer science I believe. My average was about low to mid 90's. Personally, I didn't start programming until grade 10 and from there, most of the stuff I have done have been for academic purposes, so assignments and projects. I have done some small size side projects just to try stuff out. A lot of what I learned was mostly self taught since my computer science classes in high school were extremely slow so I would never be prepared for any contests had I just went and rode along with the curriculum.
I also applied to software engineering. I personally don't want to have long hours every day in lectures, labs, and tutorials. Also, I don't really want to take chemistry and don't know how it relates to programming.
Co-op placements can be hard or easy. It really depends on your personal skills, your experience, your application, and how you sell yourself. Getting a job at one of the big tech companies is everyone's dream. Who wouldn't want to experience life at Google or Amazon or Facebook? The last posting for co-op jobs had over 300, close to 400 I believe, applicants fighting over 10 positions at Google's various campuses, so there is competition and it won't be easy to be one of those 10 chosen students.
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I would definitely like to apply to CompSci but I'll be doing that next year. I also wanted to get into Software Engineering at Waterloo but I've heard that insanely hard to get into. I just had a couple questions about the program though.
What average did you have to get accepted? Where did you get compsci experience? Is it easy to find a co op placements in places such as Google, Amazon etc?
Thanks
A: Yeah, getting into Software Engineering will be much harder since the class size itself is much smaller than Computer science I believe. My average was about low to mid 90's. Personally, I didn't start programming until grade 10 and from there, most of the stuff I have done have been for academic purposes, so assignments and projects. I have done some small size side projects just to try stuff out. A lot of what I learned was mostly self taught since my computer science classes in high school were extremely slow so I would never be prepared for any contests had I just went and rode along with the curriculum.
I also applied to software engineering. I personally don't want to have long hours every day in lectures, labs, and tutorials. Also, I don't really want to take chemistry and don't know how it relates to programming.
Co-op placements can be hard or easy. It really depends on your personal skills, your experience, your application, and how you sell yourself. Getting a job at one of the big tech companies is everyone's dream. Who wouldn't want to experience life at Google or Amazon or Facebook? The last posting for co-op jobs had over 300, close to 400 I believe, applicants fighting over 10 positions at Google's various campuses, so there is competition and it won't be easy to be one of those 10 chosen students.
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Residences vs. Off Campus Student Housing Part 2 - Off-campus Housing
Often, when I ask incoming freshmen why they choose to live in residence, they respond that on-campus housing is cheaper and it will save them money. This is actually false since getting a place off campus similar to what you would get at UWP, MKV, or CLV will cost you just over $400 to $500 a month, plus applicable utilities. This works out to about $1600 to $2000 a semester or $3200 to $4000 for 2 semesters, plus applicable utilities. This is still cheaper than the cheapest residence on campus, CLV, which would cost you just under $5700 for the 2015-2016 school year and and expect this price to appreciate again for the upcoming years by about $200 to $300 a year.
I have seen places along Lester, Albert, and King. Each will run you about $650 to $800 per month, plus applicable utilities. Many places include utilities in the rent or have a monthly flat rate.
Places on Lester and Albert are mostly 5 room apartments with 2 washrooms, a kitchen, and a living and dining room. These usually have little to no amenities but are really close to campus. Buildings on or near King, like Luxe, 1 Columbia, and Sage, have 5 room apartments with ensuite washrooms, and the usual living room, dining room, and kitchen. These places are mostly newer and generally do have a gym, recreation room, and theatre but are also farther away from campus.
Personally, I like living off campus a lot more. I love having an ensuite washroom. I don't have to clean someone else's filth, I can take a shower whenever I want, when I gotta then I will go (if you know what I'm saying :) ) and there wouldn't be any competition, and if you have roommates who love having friends over, there isn't that awkward moment of wondering who just came out of your washroom. My room is about 3 times the size of the room I had in CLV, I have a double size bed, space to roll around in my chair, enough space to fit another 2 desks in my room, and if I really wanted to, I could go days without leaving my room at all and stay hygienic or isolate myself from society completely and survive for as long as my supply of food will last me. To get a decent workout, all I need to do is take a short elevator ride to the gym. If my mates and I want to watch a movie together, we can take another elevator ride to the in house theatre and watch our movies off our phones or laptop on the big screen or even bring a console. I also have an amazing view over Waterloo. Oh, and did I mention that my place has a standalone HVAC system in each unit and a dishwasher, no stacks on stacks of dirty dishes waiting to be washed. Just stick it all into the dishwasher and you get nice clean dishes with little to no effort in about an hour.
Plus, with the stupid lottery system in Waterloo's residences, who knows what kind of hell you might be getting yourself in. You could potentially get into the most sought after Mackenzie King Village suite style residence or not. When you choose to live off campus, you at least you have a decent idea of what your room will be like and know where you will be living.
Part 1: Here
Part 3: Here
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Wednesday 27 January 2016
Residences vs. Off Campus Student Housing Part 1 - CLV
I know many of you are either thinking about which acceptance to accept or waiting to hear about your acceptances. Many of you may be thinking of leaving home for university and will have to decide within the upcoming months what to do about housing, off-campus or on campus housing? So, here are my two cents when it comes to choosing which to live in.
First off, I spent my first year at the University of Waterloo living "on-campus." I say "on-campus" because I lived in Columbia Lake Village South (CLV) and I like to call it the "off-campus experience on campus." As you may know, these are small townhouses arranged in rows of 5. Living space was decent in size. Beds were hard as rocks. For those who want to know the size of the beds, they are single beds. No air conditioning, so September was just a lot of sweating. Living room was huge and frankly, a waste of space, they should've either made the kitchen larger and extended it into the kitchen or had 2 rooms up on the second floor and 2 on the main floor. Entrance area had an unnecessarily large space with an electric heater on its own. There was some random storage room next to the dining room which they could have turned into a second washroom instead of having 4 people share a single washroom.
Being in a program such as computer science and engineering, we rarely used the living room or dining room and our storage room had nothing in it.
The community centre is where you had to go to get your laundry done, play pool, foosball, or ping pong, get you keys, and get your mail. I found the community centre to be quite lacking in comparison to other Residences. We only had 1 pool table that is smaller than regulation and 1 ping pong table.
Garbage disposal was done in one of the two parking lots with dumpsters and bins. We had to carry out the garbage in the middle of winter and walk outside, where you had to decide between going out in whatever you're wearing (we were all usually in a T-shirt, slippers, and shorts when I was in the house) and freeze or go take the time to bundle up and get undressed afterwards. For the record, we always opted for the former and I think that improved our immune system.
Click Here for Part 2
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Tuesday 26 January 2016
About Me
Hello Reader,
I am a student at the University of Waterloo, currently in my 2B term and in the Co-op Computer Science program. Here I will post stuff whatever I want to post. If you ever have any questions for me, put them in the comment section. I will try to answer every question in the comment section, in my e-mails, or from Twitter, that I deem appropriate, interesting, and potentially useful in a weekly (or at worst, monthly) Questions and Answers blog post (I have yet to receive any questions so... I will start this as soon as I receive a single reasonable question).
I will try to post regularly but no promises.
:)
E-mail: BCSStudentBlog@gmail.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/StudentBcs or @StudentBCS
Donations: paypal.me/DudeInBCS
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I am a student at the University of Waterloo, currently in my 2B term and in the Co-op Computer Science program. Here I will post stuff whatever I want to post. If you ever have any questions for me, put them in the comment section. I will try to answer every question in the comment section, in my e-mails, or from Twitter, that I deem appropriate, interesting, and potentially useful in a weekly (or at worst, monthly) Questions and Answers blog post (I have yet to receive any questions so... I will start this as soon as I receive a single reasonable question).
I will try to post regularly but no promises.
:)
E-mail: BCSStudentBlog@gmail.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/StudentBcs or @StudentBCS
Donations: paypal.me/DudeInBCS
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