University of Florida Guts CompSci department

[MorphingDragon]

There are many simple concepts that just fall through the cracks after the years, replaced by stuff you are actually focusing/working on. Since you are still in school you may have not experienced this yet, but you will find out in a decade or so.

I'm at University now but I had a working life before with qualifications. There are things employers and colleagues expect you to know, always. No matter how useful it was in your previous Job. Basic networking concepts is one of those things in Computer Science Disciplines.

 

[Zombie Acorn]

I'm at University now but I had a working life before with qualifications. There are things employers and colleagues expect you to know, always. No matter how useful it was in your previous Job. Basic networking concepts is one of those things in Computer Science Disciplines.

I had my network requirements waived as I had taken CCNP previously, but I am going to test this out to see if some of my friends know what multiplexing is.

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

I realize that most schools will require a basic networking course, but at the same time to assume that just because someone is a Phd candidate in computer science that they also must be an expert in networking technologies is a bit naive. He could be focusing in robotics or ANNs for all we know.

But multiplexing isn't a networking technology, not precisely anyway. I knew what a multiplexor did very early in my education. And you have to remember that this conversation happened in the past, a past where mux boxes were 'the thing'. At the university, they were everywhere...

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Multiplexing though is a really simple concept.

Yes it is...

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There are many simple concepts that just fall through the cracks after the years, replaced by stuff you are actually focusing/working on. Since you are still in school you may have not experienced this yet, but you will find out in a decade or so.

But that's no excuse. So you are into calculus... Does that mean that addition and subtraction are 'simple concepts' that can be ignored?

I was just flabbergasted that the poor guy knew nothing of the history of 'computers'. He had a lot of other, foolish ideas and notions... I believe at the time that he declared Apple dead, Sun would rule the world, and learning to program was something everybody should do, and that the world wasn't big enough for Windows and Solaris...

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I'm at University now but I had a working life before with qualifications. There are things employers and colleagues expect you to know, always. No matter how useful it was in your previous Job. Basic networking concepts is one of those things in Computer Science Disciplines.

I had a job interview last year where the '5-4-3 rule' came up. If you don't know what I'm talking about, then you have obviously been trained to work in the fictitious world in the coddled university environment where everyone uses 'current technology'. There are places on this planet that are not as advanced as universities...

To not know the past of this industry is excusable. Who could be expected to know that if Xerox didn't have their head up their ass, they could have OWNED the future (although thank Ford for PARC) but there are certain parts of the past that come up in 'the real world'...

 

[MorphingDragon]

But multiplexing isn't a networking technology, not precisely anyway. I knew what a multiplexor did very early in my education. And you have to remember that this conversation happened in the past, a past where mux boxes were 'the thing'. At the university, they were everywhere...

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Yes it is...

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But that's no excuse. So you are into calculus... Does that mean that addition and subtraction are 'simple concepts' that can be ignored?

I was just flabbergasted that the poor guy knew nothing of the history of 'computers'. He had a lot of other, foolish ideas and notions... I believe at the time that he declared Apple dead, Sun would rule the world, and learning to program was something everybody should do, and that the world wasn't big enough for Windows and Solaris...

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I had a job interview last year where the '5-4-3 rule' came up. If you don't know what I'm talking about, then you have obviously been trained to work in the fictitious world in the coddled university environment where everyone uses 'current technology'. There are places on this planet that are not as advanced as universities...

To not know the past of this industry is excusable. Who could be expected to know that if Xerox didn't have their head up their ass, they could have OWNED the future (although thank Ford for PARC) but there are certain parts of the past that come up in 'the real world'...

I kind of know what it is... In COMP202 I remember spending a few lectures on old networking standards and practices, like Ethernet over coaxial. I think 5-4-3 came up. Otherwise I don't know where I know it from.

Saying that being trained with the latest technologies is being coddled is a bit unfair, the whole point of University is to learn the latest in your field of study. They wouldn't be doing their job if they didn't teach you the latest and greatest. Industry certifications are also training with latest technology.

There is a point though where learning (in detail) the history of your field of study is an exercise in futility.

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

I kind of know what it is... In COMP202 I remember spending a few lectures on old networking standards and practices, like Ethernet over coaxial. I think 5-4-3 came up. Otherwise I don't know where I know it from.

Saying that being trained with the latest technologies is being coddled is a bit unfair, the whole point of University is to learn the latest in your field of study. They wouldn't be doing their job if they didn't teach you the latest and greatest. Industry certifications are also training with latest technology.

There is a point though where learning (in detail) the history of your field of study is an exercise in futility.

But as I've said before, this was back in the mid-eighties... Not much ethernet, still using RS-232 terminals. Digital Equipment still existed. Heck, '10-BASE-2' was rocking the world at the time, and Token Ring was too... Multiplexors were still very big bidness then... Heck, some companies STILL use 'thinnet' around here and are phasing in twisted pair ethernet. I had someone looking for a token ring card not more than 3 or 4 years ago. They couldn't find one. Really...

 

[gctwnl]

Have they cut all the useless degrees already like art, philosophy and most business degrees (besides accounting, taxes and perhaps marketing)? If not they should cut those first as people can do all that right out of high school.

Flame bait for sure.

Anyway, as Physics/CS Master (and working in IT) I must object. Philosophy is extremely useful for many jobs. For instance, I generally use Wittgenstein's "meaning lies hidden in use" to cut the chaff from the wheat.

I would agree that not all 'university' degrees are of an academic level. Many business degrees, for instance, are not very high level. And I also would agree that we might have more 'art history' majors and not enough 'science' majors. But that does not mean 'art' is useless.