What did you do this past week?
I finished Netflix! I had done it last semester in OOP but did not use the same caches or the exact RMSE formula I used previously. It turns out that this project is much much easier in Python, in no small part because the pickle module is very well integrated with the rest of the standard Python libraries, which is not a feeling I gathered from Boost in C++. All in all, the program was complete in about 30 lines of code, so that felt nice. I’d also like to give another shout-out to my previous tip of the week, PyCharm. This editor has just been absolutely wonderful for me. There’s so many things, large and small, to love about this editor. From the ability to run unit tests with Coverage automatically, to the seamless integration with version control systems and the terminal, this has quickly become my favorite Python editor.
I also made a few app proposals for my Mobile Cmputing class! Mike Scott seemed to like my Markov-Chain phrase mimicking app, but I might work with somebody with a musically-oriented idea.

What’s in your way?
At the moment, I have an AI project that I’m struggling with. I think once I have a chance to go to the TAs, I’ll have a better idea of what to do. Also, this is the point in the class where my knowledge from last semester is likely to become much less useful! At this point, we’ll be looking for project partners, so that’s absolutely the biggest challenge I’ll have to overcome in the coming couple of weeks. Wish me luck.

What will you do next week?
Find project partners! This goes for both SWE and Mobile Computing! That’ll take up the majority of my time, although I’d like to get a few words in with Brooksource to help me find a job.

What’s my experience of the class? In keeping with my promise, I was in class and actively participating all week. I’d like to continue this because, as I’ve stated a million times, I love Downing’s lectures. I’m hard pressed to think of many professors whose lectures I enjoy more.

tip-of-the-week?
My tips are, like myself, not typically CS-oriented. Instead, I like to point to food, entertainment, and life and remember with you in very small, ineloquent ways that the world is very large. For my tip today, I’d like to point you to the Gates Letter, a look back at the past couple of decades and to the future in humanitarian terms. Read it and form your own opinion, but the letter essentially illustrates that hope is not lost and that we are making progress as a whole, despite what we may feel.
Until next time, friends.