3 ms·

I grew up in Champaign, IL, where Wolfram is based and Steven Wolfram had a reputation for being difficult and an introvert - but the more I read or see about h

by dy 15y ago

I grew up in Champaign, IL, where Wolfram is based and Steven Wolfram had a reputation for being difficult and an introvert - but the more I read or see about him, the more I find him inspiring and quite brilliant. His story was also touching because it shows how Steve Jobs was able to touch people's lives in significant ways even through the briefest of interactions. I'm not surprised there is such "cult" behavior behind Apple - if there was ever a cult leader I would want to believe in, it would be Steve.

Florin_Andrei 15y ago
> Steven Wolfram had a reputation for being difficult and an introvert - but the more I read or see about him, the more I find him inspiring and quite brilliant. Well, it's an archetype. The socially difficult hermit who can do things no one else can.
- Panoramix 15y ago
  It's more about him comparing himself with Newton and "forgetting" to cite previous work on his field. Not that he's not brilliant though.
  - SimHacker 15y ago
    I like the way he managed to blame Steve Jobs for the fact that he always compares himself with Newton.
alecbenzer 15y ago
mostly irrelevant, but were your parents grad students/professors? I'm a freshmen at uiuc right now (and I intern at wolfram actually), I like finding out about the area (and people who live[d] here)
- dy 15y ago
  My mother was a professor of MIS there. Congrats on attending UIUC, I really loved the school and got a lot out of going there. Is Wolfram still on Neil St? I loved that amongst the car dealerships and Meijers was this mecca of mathematics and technology. In terms of things to do: - I highly recommend you join the Engineering Freshman Committee and the EOH group, I was the chair of that group and we were given $2000 to do whatever we want (we built a lightbulb unscrewing robot to compete at EOH). It was definitely one of the best experiences of my life ($2k in college seemed like an infinite pool of money). - Start poking around Beckman Center, I did lots of interesting research there and it still puts out some really cool stuff that freshman can get involved with. - If you can get a car and need to impress a date, Curtis Orchard is really pretty right now. - I loved the 318/319 courses and wish I had taken it earlier, when I was there Garland and Hart were there and I wish I had a chance to take more classes in that track. Best of luck!
  - alecbenzer 15y ago
    The building? Yeah, it's on Neil. I found it kind of funny too - it's just of tucked away in between a McDonald's and a Walmart (I also find it amusing how you can see a six story building from so far away - I'm from around New York) Honestly I have mixed feelings about the school. There's stuff to like but I feel out of place a lot of the time. I've been a combination of blue and busy lately, but I should probably check out Beckman and NCSA and some other stuff. No car and no dates as of late. :P 318 (I think it's 418 now, with Hart this semester) seems cool.
    - dy 15y ago
      Yeah if you're from Manhattan it's going to be an adjustment - I'm in Manhattan now and haven't been back since I graduated (my mom moved to NC). Here's a few things I wish I had done differently: 1. Don't skimp on where you live (live in a good place in a great location like right above Murphy's). The rent seems like a lot when you're a student, but in hindsight it's the best deal you'll ever get. Don't live far away from north campus to save money. 2. The ACM at UIUC is pretty amazing, they have a secret lab underneath DCL where they have every thing you could ever want to build a robot, hack on Arduino (I think I salvaged a HP oscilloscope). 3. If you're looking for some more money - there are a lot of companies out by Assembly Hall (motorola etc). Good jobs/pay, really painful to get to. College is definitely an adjustment but I found my groups I enjoyed hacking with, going to Brothers' with, going to Murphy's with and got a lot out of the experience.
- doomlaser 15y ago
  I'm in Champaign too. It's not a bad little city. Downtown Champaign has some nice spots. I grew up here, attended UIUC, and had the good fortune to intern at Apple while Jobs was at the top of his game. I have a stupid Steve Jobs anecdote of my own, which I wrote when he retired from the CEO position: https://plus.google.com/102623420630486053048/posts/fTYoDEFV2Gt https://plus.google.com/102623420630486053048/posts/fTYoDEFV... One of the best parts of interning at Apple was their tradition of each top exec giving a small lecture to the current crop of interns. Not just Jobs, but guys like Phil Schiller and Jonathan Ive. It was fantastic. They'd each do an informal Q&A after their speech, and I remember one of the kids jokingly asking Steve if he could be a dancer in a silhouette iPod ad. Steve turned on some music and had the guy come down in front and demo his dance skills, sagely advising him afterwards to stick to his day job. It was great.

by dy 15y ago

Florin_Andrei 15y ago

> Steven Wolfram had a reputation for being difficult and an introvert - but the more I read or see about him, the more I find him inspiring and quite brilliant. Well, it's an archetype. The socially difficult hermit who can do things no one else can.

Panoramix 15y ago
It's more about him comparing himself with Newton and "forgetting" to cite previous work on his field. Not that he's not brilliant though.
- SimHacker 15y ago
  I like the way he managed to blame Steve Jobs for the fact that he always compares himself with Newton.

alecbenzer 15y ago

mostly irrelevant, but were your parents grad students/professors? I'm a freshmen at uiuc right now (and I intern at wolfram actually), I like finding out about the area (and people who live[d] here)

dy 15y ago
My mother was a professor of MIS there. Congrats on attending UIUC, I really loved the school and got a lot out of going there. Is Wolfram still on Neil St? I loved that amongst the car dealerships and Meijers was this mecca of mathematics and technology. In terms of things to do: - I highly recommend you join the Engineering Freshman Committee and the EOH group, I was the chair of that group and we were given $2000 to do whatever we want (we built a lightbulb unscrewing robot to compete at EOH). It was definitely one of the best experiences of my life ($2k in college seemed like an infinite pool of money). - Start poking around Beckman Center, I did lots of interesting research there and it still puts out some really cool stuff that freshman can get involved with. - If you can get a car and need to impress a date, Curtis Orchard is really pretty right now. - I loved the 318/319 courses and wish I had taken it earlier, when I was there Garland and Hart were there and I wish I had a chance to take more classes in that track. Best of luck!
- alecbenzer 15y ago
  The building? Yeah, it's on Neil. I found it kind of funny too - it's just of tucked away in between a McDonald's and a Walmart (I also find it amusing how you can see a six story building from so far away - I'm from around New York) Honestly I have mixed feelings about the school. There's stuff to like but I feel out of place a lot of the time. I've been a combination of blue and busy lately, but I should probably check out Beckman and NCSA and some other stuff. No car and no dates as of late. :P 318 (I think it's 418 now, with Hart this semester) seems cool.
  - dy 15y ago
    Yeah if you're from Manhattan it's going to be an adjustment - I'm in Manhattan now and haven't been back since I graduated (my mom moved to NC). Here's a few things I wish I had done differently: 1. Don't skimp on where you live (live in a good place in a great location like right above Murphy's). The rent seems like a lot when you're a student, but in hindsight it's the best deal you'll ever get. Don't live far away from north campus to save money. 2. The ACM at UIUC is pretty amazing, they have a secret lab underneath DCL where they have every thing you could ever want to build a robot, hack on Arduino (I think I salvaged a HP oscilloscope). 3. If you're looking for some more money - there are a lot of companies out by Assembly Hall (motorola etc). Good jobs/pay, really painful to get to. College is definitely an adjustment but I found my groups I enjoyed hacking with, going to Brothers' with, going to Murphy's with and got a lot out of the experience.
doomlaser 15y ago
I'm in Champaign too. It's not a bad little city. Downtown Champaign has some nice spots. I grew up here, attended UIUC, and had the good fortune to intern at Apple while Jobs was at the top of his game. I have a stupid Steve Jobs anecdote of my own, which I wrote when he retired from the CEO position: https://plus.google.com/102623420630486053048/posts/fTYoDEFV2Gt https://plus.google.com/102623420630486053048/posts/fTYoDEFV... One of the best parts of interning at Apple was their tradition of each top exec giving a small lecture to the current crop of interns. Not just Jobs, but guys like Phil Schiller and Jonathan Ive. It was fantastic. They'd each do an informal Q&A after their speech, and I remember one of the kids jokingly asking Steve if he could be a dancer in a silhouette iPod ad. Steve turned on some music and had the guy come down in front and demo his dance skills, sagely advising him afterwards to stick to his day job. It was great.