OT: Purdue/PSU, was [rescue] ss2 under load

[Jonathan C. Patschke]

> > it's a great school if anyone on here is in HS and looking for a good
> > place.  however, if I knew what I know now and wanted a CS degree and
> > were interested in security, i'd go to umich, purdue, cmu, or ideally,
> > mit.
> 
> odd. i'm at purdue, and well...  personally, i feel cheated in my
> education.  I came here to learn.  it took me a year to figure out i was
> at the wrong place.  In my experience, college teaches you how to do
> what you're told without question, how to be subordinate.  I'm in the
> computer technology program, and all they teach is microsoft crap. 

I'm on temporary hiatus from Rice University in Houston.  I love the CS
tract there.  The first three semesters are bit tedious (MZ-Scheme and
then Java, Java, Java), but I like their approach to teaching methods, not
tools.  On the whole, the profs also commend people who think differently
and find inventive (if not always orthodox) solutions to problems.

Also, the labs are full of Sun boxen.  There are Win2k PCs and iMacs here
and there (mostly in the library), but the CS and engineering labs are
about 95% Sun.  The other 5% of the stations are SGIs, including an Onyx 2
IR2 + Immersidesk.

Also, there's enough -required- diversity (CS students have to do two
hardware-related courses, and a fairly hefty amount of humanities) that
you might find something you like that you wouldn't otherwise.  I -never-
thought I'd program in MIPS assembly and play with 74-series logic chips
for fun, for instance.  I also never thought I'd enjoy Kant. :)

Gosh, but I can't wait to go back in September.  Being an
90-hour-a-week BOFH at an ISP, and running the whole technical side of the
operation solo is about to break my will to live.

--Jonathan