5 ms·

Yeah, worrying about being thought of as a crazy person is precisely what's prevented me from trying to contact any professors, because I'd imagine they have to

Yeah, worrying about being thought of as a crazy person is precisely what's prevented me from trying to contact any professors, because I'd imagine they have to deal with that sort of thing pretty often: outsiders bothering them with unscientific pet theories. That's why it's frustrating not having credentials. Attending seminars is a good idea. Thank you. I wonder if I should call up universities and ask for info regarding any computer graphics related seminars / events. It seems like those would be very uncommon, but it's probably my only chance. I have no contacts because I was mercilessly harassed throughout highschool and leaped at the opportunity to drop out and write software for a living. So I have no idea how to network. Showing up and saying, "Hey, would you be interested in chatting about computer graphics theory?" seems like it'd earn me strange looks. I just moved to Chicago, so I was hoping University of Chicago has some sort of computer graphics program, and that I can figure out some way of becoming involved with it.

sanskritabelt 13y ago
"I wonder if I should call up universities and ask for info regarding any computer graphics related seminars / events" That shit's on the website, dogg.
- sillysaurus2 13y ago
  Hmm... Is it? Searching their events for "graphics" produced no results, and searching for "computer" (in hopes of anything CS related) wasn't very helpful. http://event.uchicago.edu/maincampus/search.php http://event.uchicago.edu/maincampus/search.php EDIT: The CS research interests page is interesting... http://www.cs.uchicago.edu/research/interests http://www.cs.uchicago.edu/research/interests though nothing specifically graphics-related. EDIT2: The closest thing to graphics research I can find is http://www.mcs.anl.gov/research/fl/research/index.php?p=proj_detail&id=28 http://www.mcs.anl.gov/research/fl/research/index.php?p=proj... ... though I don't really understand what its goals are based on its description: "Integration of Access Grid and ParaView to enable remote participants to interact with their visualizations in a coordinated manner across all sites, to improve information flow and expedite visualization development and scientific results. This will remove a significant bottleneck in achieving visualization results and understanding, by allowing participants to exchange data interactively while exploring their data visually. In this first development, specific areas of ParaView functionality will be targeted for inclusion in the shared interaction, based on feedback from the domain scientists as to the areas of highest relevance and impact." So I guess that's something graphics-theory-related, which I suppose is worth looking into...
  - sanskritabelt 13y ago
    Here you go: http://www.cs.uchicago.edu/events http://www.cs.uchicago.edu/events Looks sparse but I don't think the academic year's started yet, scroll back to last spring and it looks like the real departmental calendar. Could just be you're SOL on the type of stuff you want at UC. That's academic life.
    - sillysaurus2 13y ago
      Oh, thank you so much!
hga 13y ago
One trick is to not lead with your stuff. Become a de facto part of the community. Spend a little time on campus to find out how people dress, then just show up unannounced at appropriate events like seminars. Initially be invisible except for the usual pleasantries like smiling, if asked who you are and why you're there say you're a programmer and the topic sounded interesting, absorb the atmosphere and the way things are done. You'll learn all sorts of useful stuff, maybe find something you can help with (hey, you can program...), eventually you can edge into your stuff. Eventually you will have to reveal who you are(n't), but credentials have no magic (there are a lot of worthless, time wasting but well credentialed people out there), and the higher the level of the place, the less they tend to care about formalities. As one of the country's top schools ... well, the U of Chicago isn't anything big in computers, so that department might no be so easy going, but nothing ventured, nothing gained.
auctiontheory 13y ago
I have no contacts because I was mercilessly harassed throughout highschool ... So I have no idea how to network. School/college does not teach you how to network, at least not any more than life outside school does. Small recommendation: read Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People. It is educational, inspiring, and describes many people in your position. Read it with an open mind, not with cynicism, and you'll learn so much.

sanskritabelt 13y ago

"I wonder if I should call up universities and ask for info regarding any computer graphics related seminars / events" That shit's on the website, dogg.

sillysaurus2 13y ago
Hmm... Is it? Searching their events for "graphics" produced no results, and searching for "computer" (in hopes of anything CS related) wasn't very helpful. http://event.uchicago.edu/maincampus/search.php http://event.uchicago.edu/maincampus/search.php EDIT: The CS research interests page is interesting... http://www.cs.uchicago.edu/research/interests http://www.cs.uchicago.edu/research/interests though nothing specifically graphics-related. EDIT2: The closest thing to graphics research I can find is http://www.mcs.anl.gov/research/fl/research/index.php?p=proj_detail&id=28 http://www.mcs.anl.gov/research/fl/research/index.php?p=proj... ... though I don't really understand what its goals are based on its description: "Integration of Access Grid and ParaView to enable remote participants to interact with their visualizations in a coordinated manner across all sites, to improve information flow and expedite visualization development and scientific results. This will remove a significant bottleneck in achieving visualization results and understanding, by allowing participants to exchange data interactively while exploring their data visually. In this first development, specific areas of ParaView functionality will be targeted for inclusion in the shared interaction, based on feedback from the domain scientists as to the areas of highest relevance and impact." So I guess that's something graphics-theory-related, which I suppose is worth looking into...
- sanskritabelt 13y ago
  Here you go: http://www.cs.uchicago.edu/events http://www.cs.uchicago.edu/events Looks sparse but I don't think the academic year's started yet, scroll back to last spring and it looks like the real departmental calendar. Could just be you're SOL on the type of stuff you want at UC. That's academic life.
  - sillysaurus2 13y ago
    Oh, thank you so much!

hga 13y ago

One trick is to not lead with your stuff. Become a de facto part of the community. Spend a little time on campus to find out how people dress, then just show up unannounced at appropriate events like seminars. Initially be invisible except for the usual pleasantries like smiling, if asked who you are and why you're there say you're a programmer and the topic sounded interesting, absorb the atmosphere and the way things are done. You'll learn all sorts of useful stuff, maybe find something you can help with (hey, you can program...), eventually you can edge into your stuff. Eventually you will have to reveal who you are(n't), but credentials have no magic (there are a lot of worthless, time wasting but well credentialed people out there), and the higher the level of the place, the less they tend to care about formalities. As one of the country's top schools ... well, the U of Chicago isn't anything big in computers, so that department might no be so easy going, but nothing ventured, nothing gained.

auctiontheory 13y ago

I have no contacts because I was mercilessly harassed throughout highschool ... So I have no idea how to network. School/college does not teach you how to network, at least not any more than life outside school does. Small recommendation: read Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People. It is educational, inspiring, and describes many people in your position. Read it with an open mind, not with cynicism, and you'll learn so much.