> Successful projects go through an unglamorous hard phase.
> Design is more fun than making it work.
Great wisdom for any kind of project
raw_anon_1111 36 minutes ago [-]
I know the fourth rail on HN these days besides sex, religion and politics seems to be “AI”, but AI has taken the drudgery out of going from design -> implementation for me at least.
clickety_clack 30 minutes ago [-]
I think the issue is that some of us like the drudgery!
jimbooonooo 20 minutes ago [-]
hello, yes 911? I'd like to report a hate crime against me
shoo 2 hours ago [-]
thank you for posting a text version. to make the topic even more legible to prospective link clickers:
> How to Have a Bad Career in Research/Academia Pre-PhD and Post-PhD (& How to Give a Bad Talk)
paganel 1 hours ago [-]
Curious if today's Berkeley's professors would still wear Alphabet (former Google) t-shirts while holding presentations, I now realise that things have changed a lot in the last 10 years.
I've also not gone through the whole presentation, but does he at any point talk about the moral choices one will most definitely have to make during a career in tech? (this is related to the previous paragraph). Is it a "bad career" if people choose not to work for companies (such as Alphabet) that have gone all in behind AI? Seeing as now AI is used by State-entities for very nefarious reasons. Like I said, 2026 is way different compared to 2016.
linguae 3 minutes ago [-]
I’ve been thinking a lot more about this lately. Big Tech today is far more powerful than 1990s Microsoft and 1970s IBM ever were. I’m not anti-AI, but the sheer power major players like OpenAI, Alphabet, Microsoft, and Meta have make me very nervous.
The challenge for computer science researchers who have qualms about working for Big Tech is finding an alternative career path. Speaking from an American point of view, academia has always been competitive, and the immediate future of research funding is uncertain given the political climate. This uncertainty also extends to government labs. The challenge with industry research is that there are not a lot of non-Big Tech employers of computer science researchers. This leaves starting a business, but business is very different from research.
I’m a tenure-track professor at a community college in the Bay Area. While I’ll never be able to afford to purchase a home near my job, I am able to live well as a single man renting an apartment. I have a great career teaching and using my long summer breaks for research and side projects. I like not having to worry about “publish or perish,” and I enjoy teaching and mentoring students. While this might not be considered “successful” for some people who are aiming for a professorship at an R1 university or an industry job at a top company’s top lab, I love my job and believe it’s a fantastic route for someone who enjoys teaching and who also wants extended time during the summer for research and side projects.
yodsanklai 57 minutes ago [-]
That's a good observation. It's certainly less glamorous to work for these companies nowadays, but it started before AI.
nextos 10 minutes ago [-]
Is it less glamorous? As an academic, my impression is that lots of innovation is now done at industrial labs.
In general, Academia lacks sufficient resources and appropriate structures for dedicated efforts.
Pay is abysmal and politics is toxic. Both scare away lots of technical talent.
Rendered at 00:34:22 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time) with Vercel.
> Design is more fun than making it work.
Great wisdom for any kind of project
> How to Have a Bad Career in Research/Academia Pre-PhD and Post-PhD (& How to Give a Bad Talk)
I've also not gone through the whole presentation, but does he at any point talk about the moral choices one will most definitely have to make during a career in tech? (this is related to the previous paragraph). Is it a "bad career" if people choose not to work for companies (such as Alphabet) that have gone all in behind AI? Seeing as now AI is used by State-entities for very nefarious reasons. Like I said, 2026 is way different compared to 2016.
The challenge for computer science researchers who have qualms about working for Big Tech is finding an alternative career path. Speaking from an American point of view, academia has always been competitive, and the immediate future of research funding is uncertain given the political climate. This uncertainty also extends to government labs. The challenge with industry research is that there are not a lot of non-Big Tech employers of computer science researchers. This leaves starting a business, but business is very different from research.
I’m a tenure-track professor at a community college in the Bay Area. While I’ll never be able to afford to purchase a home near my job, I am able to live well as a single man renting an apartment. I have a great career teaching and using my long summer breaks for research and side projects. I like not having to worry about “publish or perish,” and I enjoy teaching and mentoring students. While this might not be considered “successful” for some people who are aiming for a professorship at an R1 university or an industry job at a top company’s top lab, I love my job and believe it’s a fantastic route for someone who enjoys teaching and who also wants extended time during the summer for research and side projects.
In general, Academia lacks sufficient resources and appropriate structures for dedicated efforts.
Pay is abysmal and politics is toxic. Both scare away lots of technical talent.