Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with cs

Looking for a challenge, somethign easier than P ?= NP

b1tr0t — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 22:17:32 -0800

I'd like to find a good online resource that poses interesting computer science problems. I've been digging through some of the modern classics papers of computer science research. Some are easy enough to understand with a little effort, others are pretty difficult to penetrate. I find that most of them are fairly difficult to find practical applications for.

I'd like to find a list of computer science problems, maybe medium to difficult homework problems for CS grad students. I'm not yet looking for grand challenges or problems big enough for a thesis. I don't want to do your homework, and I don't want to do your contract work either. I also don't want interview questions.

Adobe CS compatibility question

JoanArkham — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 07:53:15 -0800

Adobe CS vs. CS2 vs. CS 4 compatibility...what are my options? I currently have InDesign CS and Photoshop and Illustrator 7.0 at home. I have CS2 at work, and a slim-to-none chance of getting an upgrade anytime soon.

I want to make a pitch to my boss to work at home at least every now and then. In order to work on files at home and be able to then work on them at the office, would it be better to just work with what I've got or upgrade to CS4 at home? (I can get an edu discount but that's still a chunk of change.)

I mostly use InDesign, some Photoshop, and very occasionally Illustrator. No one else will be using the files, so I'm not worried about staying compatible with anyone else.

Thank you, Hive!

How to study/prep for Algorithms/Google Interviews?

Anonymous — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 08:27:07 -0800

Best ways to prep/study for CS Algorithm/Google style job interviews? When interviewing for CS jobs, many great companies love to put emphasis on more abstract and academic interview questions involving classical CS problems, algorithm analysis, and design.

I'm more a Software Engineer than a Computer Scientist, with 6 years doing back-end work in web applications and a great CS degree from a top school.

However, I don't do this type of academic work/analysis in my day to day job and it's all a distant undergrad memory. I'd like to prepare myself to start thinking this way again and become more familiar with the problem domain.

There is an argument that this type of interview is not useful and a red flag about the quality of the people running the organization. I agree with that somewhat, but would prefer to build the tools to make the best impression possible in a variety of places.

What's the best way to prep for these interviews?

My current plan was to try and find a sharp grad student in CS to quiz me and help analyze my answers.

How can I get a programming job abroad?

Cogito — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 20:21:42 -0800

Help a computer scientist find an interesting job abroad, preferably in Japan I have an MSE in CS and 5 years professional experience and I'm interested in living someplace new before I get too old. I'm open to working most anywhere, as long as the work is computer science and interesting. I'd most like to work in Japan, as I've done an internship there before and have several years of Japanese study that I'd like to hone into real fluency.

What are some resources, or specific companies that I should investigate to help me find work as an expatriate geek? American companies with expatriate programs would be especially good.

0xUNDERSTAND

tmcw — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 11:42:15 -0800

Are there any scripting / cli-compatible languages which decently provide or at least pretend to provide bit-math? So, I'm in one of my last CS courses in college, and it involves a whole lot of bit-mangling. Writing, testing C code is all right, but I kind of want to tinker in my free time to get a deeper understanding, and I'd love some language that lets me use something like irb/python/hugs/etc to quickly test bit expressions (your usual ^, |, &, !, etc)

Is there anything? I kind of remember a C++ CLI a while ago, but I can't figure out where it is.

Thanks!

"Embrace your code with the elegant grip of Python...-" Wait, what?

curagea — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 00:45:34 -0800

An overly romantic person in a non-romantic world... help! Let's start with some background:

I am SERIOUSLY romantic. I think in romantic terms and sometimes want to do something purely through intuition and emotion. It's not like "Oh, thine eyes shine with the stars", nothing overly cheesy, but I'm one of those people who stares at the night sky and dream of the beyond, the city lights, the freeways, and how everything comes together, who's watching from that building across the street. Then I stare down at a stray cat on the sidewalk and think "Where are you going, kitty in the streetlight? Were you searching for the meal that never came?" Or I could go on a journey and never come home, finding enlightenment along the way. Stuff like that. It doesn't help that this romanticism seeps into my daily life so that I view even the most casual banal things in a romantic light ("the car blinkers throb in impatience...").

Which leads to me feeling alienated. Growing up with a huge imagination and no one to share it with, I always felt like the odd one out. I rather stare at the city lights and compose the next poem in my head, but this may happen at a CompSci get-together, the most recent case being a rooftop party for Microsoft recruiting candiates. Since I'm a CompSci major, I encounter a lot of techies, but true to stereotypes, they are mostly "hurhur, GTA!" or discussing tech-related jobs and code. And I honestly can't relate to them, I can't think like them, leading to me drifting off to the side and sitting alone.

Don't get me wrong: I like technology. I can code well and learn programming languages; currently I'm fairly fluent in Java, C/++, Python, and hopefully Ruby on Rails soon. I like following the latest tech trends. But I'm also a very artsy person, in fact more creative than technical, and love to talk about philosophy and other similar subjects like how the human mind works, even if I barely know enough about these things. I want to talk in my "natural" language - full of imagery and description, rather than "That was AWESOME" (which I feel is terribly overused). And I have a head full of ideas that aren't remotely CompSci-related.

Sad thing is, even the more "artistic" people - poets, artists, and writers - that I've met so far don't have that romantic edge that I have. Their world is full of postmodernism (highly unromantic IMO) and increasingly, digital media (by the way, I'm talking about Berkeley). It's like human romance/true love is a dying art or something. So I'm left feeling like I don't belong to ANY group at all, and no one can love as I can. There's a few people that I find solace in, but I'm emphasizing "few".

Am I overthinking? Am I just old-fashioned, a modern Thoreau or Robert Frost or Shakespeare? Am I putting a romantic or philosophical spin in the wrong places? I've long accepted that it's not necessary to fit in a group, that I could even form my own niche and be the sole member, but sometimes.... it gets lonely.

If it looks and quacks like a CS Degree, then is it a genuine enough CS Degree???

JoeXIII007 — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 20:15:25 -0800

Does it really matter where you get the Computer Science degree from? I am currently going to Washtenaw Community College to (of course) save money while getting the all important education. Currently majoring in Math and Science with a concentration in Computer Science.

At the moment I have pretty much put my future plans on going to the University of Michigan just a little further westward (which, if you have not heard, is a pretty reputable University other than being part of the Big Ten, as far as I have known).

MUCH closer (I live just barely east of downtown Ypsilanti, MI) to home is Eastern Michigan University. Going there would undeniably save money on not only tuition and supplies but also gas using the car. For either university, I would be commuting to them.

Now I make the following realizations no matter what the decision:
- The CS biz changes practically daily, so I know I will have to constantly learn new stuff.
- As far as I know, computer scientists are in high demand (at least according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics)
- The education I get at college lays a foundation more than anything (doing a pretty deep google search confirmed this) and anything in industry will have to be picked up along the way.
- Having noted that, I already know people without CS degrees already in the industry (particularly with .NET).

Therefore, it really comes down to the money, quality of college education and risk with sacrificing either, and thus why I ask MeFi: does it really matter where I get the CS degree from??? I have done a lot of research into this decision and I am more than anything looking for the final factor (which I cannot seem to grasp) that will set the decision in stone.

Trivia: Currently 19 years old, holding a 3.97 GPA (only shy of a 4 thanks to an A- for some reason), and have put myself through two semesters (Fall 07/Winter 08) of 18 credit hour loads (for a total of 36 in the college career).

Games Programming vs Software Engineering

hgws — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 21:51:46 -0800

Help me pick a second major for my computer science degree. Background: I am a 30 y.o. undergrad Bachelor of Comp Sci student in Western Australia. Everything in my early life pointed to a career in computing; I remember being fascinated the first time I encountered a computer (a BBC Acorn), and although my family was too poor to afford any kind of computer I spent hours on the Mac Plus in the local library & would also borrow books on programming & write out programs & go through them in my head. Naturally I excelled in high school computing, & went straight into a CS degree. However life got in the way & I managed to get kicked out of my degree after second year. (Ironically despite failing most of my units in royal fashion I also scored 86% in my HCI unit.)

In the ten years or so between my first attempt at a CS degree & a second one, I discovered a strong interest in research & academic writing & graduated with a first class honours degree in history. I began a Ph.D. with a view for the traditional teaching/research pathway common to humanities graduates, but left after I got distracted by a full-time job & earning a real wage for the first time in my life. During this time I'd always retained a strong interest in computing, getting into HTML & web design in the late '90s, starting a collection of vintage Macs, spending most of my free time on the net/IFOC etc. The job I left my Ph.D. for also requires I spend 90% of my time IFOC, although it begain as data entry & has since evolved into Excel spreadsheets & if I'm lucky, an Access database. Frankly though it's dull work & it prompted me to think that if I was going to spend my working life IFOC I might as well learn to do it in a way that interested me, so I decided to return to a CS degree.

I'm now just starting my second year of this degree & it is going very well - I have gone part-time at work so I can study full time. So far I have straight HDs (A's) & I love what I am studying. I've become an incredibly anal overachiever, in fact, compared to the CS student I was when I left high school. I began my degree with a fairly vague idea of what I wanted to do at the end - something to score me a job in IT - but my life goals have changed, particularly since I've gone from a FT salary to a PT one & realised that I don't actually want or need much more than enough to get by, financially, and have zero interest in business and "getting ahead." In fact I am now eyeing honours and then PG studies in CS after I graduate.

To get to my question: there is no doubt that I should major in CS. I love programming & I find the theory side nifty too. But my degree requires that I either pick a second major or a bunch of electives. I think that a second major will give me more options and I have narrowed it down to two choices: Software Engineering or Games Programming. I assumed from the start of my degree that software engineering was right for me, admittedly without really knowing the contents of the units or what it exactly entails. (I assumed it was sort of an extension of programming.) I also ruled out games programming as I am not a gamer - I mean, really not a gamer! (For one thing I only own Macs, haha...) Well I have a weakness for Tetris & The Sims, and that's it. I would just rather do other things than play games and so have never payed much attention to the whole gaming area (aside from reading Ctrl-Alt-Delete).

But on futher examination of the units involved in games programming & software engineering, I'm starting to waver. Firstly, I emailed a student advisor for ideas & was advised that given my stated interest in programming, AI and HCI, Games Programming was the better fit. Secondly, I did a closer inspection of software engineering & became somewhat suspiscious that it might entail management and business along with the actual software design. In the gap between CS degrees I took an accounting diploma at vocational college & I've had my fill of management theory & commerce. In fact my least-liked unit so far has been first year systems analysis. However, I do see that most of games programming is mostly programming & not so much games: a lot of units on computer graphics, only 2 really specific to gaming.

Given that in many ways I just want to do a double major in CS, but that's not possible, what is the best choice?

PS. I have to confess that some of my aversion to games programming is that the majority of students are 18-20 y.o. males & stereotypical gamers. Not that it should bother me as I'm doing most of my units online at home.

Can you explain “this?”

ijoshua — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 13:58:24 -0800

How do you explain the this object? I was working with a student in Java the other day, and although Java isn’t my lingua franca, I did use it in college about 10 years ago, and I’m comfortable with OOP. But I struggled trying to explain this.

How would you go about explaining the semantics of this for an intro-level student, w/r/t Java specifically?

Photoshop is suicidal when I try and save. Errrr....

actionpact — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 14:48:58 -0800

Photoshop CS keeps crashing when I try and save a file. WHY? I run OSX and Photoshop CS, a 6x8 Wacom Graphire4, and a Epson Perfection 4850 scanner. Since I bought my iMac two summers ago, I've had zero trouble with Photoshop-- eerily so. But about two weeks ago I started trying to scan in multiple files with my scanner, and I started having Photoshop crash any time I tried to save more than two files. OK, I got over my annoyance with that, thinking it was some bizarre new glitch when I scanned and saved, but now I was working on one file, saved it twenty minutes ago, tried saving it again just a minute ago, and it's crashed.

To my knowledge nothing new has happened in the last month or so, like an update or something. No new programs were installed, it's been a pretty uneventful time lately. I am baffled at why it just keeps crashing before I can save. It doesn't seem to matter whether I save it as a PSD or as a TIF, it just crashes when I save something more than once or twice.

Any idea what could cause this? I know it's probably a longshot, but maybe there's something I totally am not considering that would cause this. Nothing else has problems, except for the occasional Firefox lockup. I am hoping I don't have to go and shell out for a new copy of Photoshop....it's getting pretty frustrating after a while.

Help me better my chances of getting into grad school.

Anonymous — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 09:44:18 -0800

I'm hoping to get into a Computer Science Masters program somewhere next fall, and am looking for some advice on bettering my chances. Writing out paragraphs explaining everything would fill [more] pages [than this already does], so I'll be informing you in bullet form.

• I have a BS in Electrical Engineering, from a no-name Minnesota state school. GPA: 3.0. Well, 2.98, but I round.. I'm not proud of this, and kick myself daily for getting D's in 2 classes and not fixing them before graduating.

• I have had great work experience in software through jobs I've had (4 years worth since college), and personal endeavors.

• I've taken the GRE 3 times, and have never been 100% satisfied with my scores. First two times two years ago (720Q/480V, 740Q/520V), and a third time last month (770Q/560Q) which is also disappointing considering I was averaging 650 in verbal on all the practice tests I was taking.

• I've taken 4 grad-level CS classes at Columbia University (I work there now as a Programmer and get free classes) and have earned A's in all of them.

• I aspire to be an independent software developer of sorts. I live for problem solving and inventing things, and my dream would be to have the time to work through all the software ideas I have.

• I am mostly self-taught in CS, aside from the few CS related courses I took in undergrad, and the grad classes I mentioned in my previous point. I would like to go to grad school to get some formal education in the field, and to open possibilities to jobs that are unavailable to me in my current situation. I don't really see myself in research, but I could be wrong.

• I have applied to Columbia's CS department 3 times in the past 2 years, and have been rejected every time. This has shot my grad-school confidence in the foot, and has made me a little bitter. The fact that Columbia pays me to program for them and that I have proven myself worthy by getting A's in their classes, but still won't let me pay them to learn to be a better programmer boggles my effing mind. Like i said: bitter.

• I'm through trying to get into Columbia. My wife is finishing grad school (at Columbia) next month, and we're leaving NYC. I'm applying to several grad schools around the country, and am trying to make my applications as appealing as possible. This is where you come in.

What makes a good application essay? Do I need to pretend I'm really interested in research to make myself appealing to grad schools? How can I do this when truthfully I have no idea what specific interest of computer science I'm interested in, and just want the opportunity to find out? I'm past the level of getting another bachelors in CS, but I refuse to believe that masters degrees are just for research. Am I wrong?

Do I need to justify my mediocre undergrad GPA and verbal GRE scores or make no mention of them at all? Do I need to trump up my work experience? I tried both angles when applying to Columbia, with no luck. Where's the back door?

Please help me, hive mind.

Bonus question:
I'm applying to the University of Wisconsin, Madison / University of Washington, Seattle / University of Minnesota, Minneapolis / University of Texas, Austin / University of Colorado, Boulder / University of California, Berkeley / and the University of California, Santa Barbara. I realize almost all of these are high on the list of CS schools, and some I have little to no chance of getting in to. I could use some more schools with great programs, and high admission rates. Know any? Your alma-mater, maybe?

Throwaway email for questions: gradschoolhopeful@gmail.com

Neuroscience + Computer Science = ????

mayfly wake — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 16:22:20 -0800

What are my options for combining neuroscience and computer science in a graduate school setting? I am about to complete my undergraduate degree in neuroscience and am in the process of applying for PhD programs in the same; however I am having serious second thoughts. I do not think that I want to do conventional lab work and am leaning more towards computational neuroscience, possibly in the neural networking/A.I. realm. Caveats: My computer science background consists only of courses in high school and a few dubious skills picked up along the way on my own. What type of program should I be looking for that will give me a good grounding in computer science (and accept someone with my background) but allow me to continue with neuroscience? Am I looking for computational neuroscience? Bioinformatics? Cognitive science? Masters or PhD? Should I be getting lab experience first as a research assistant? Do I need to do some kind of post-bac program in CS first? Help me plan my future!

Trying to figure out what to do with the rest of my life in the next ten minutes... and go

bernsno — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 10:19:51 -0800

I graduated last may with a degree in Politics from a small liberal arts school. As one might expect I have found my job prospects since then less than thrilling. I now have the opportunity to re-enroll in school for a masters program in cs. I am currently working for an enormous company doing something with basis adjustment (yawn). One of my coworkers just received an award for ten years of faithfully remaining in his cubicle and I very nearly walked out right there. Needless to say I can't picture myself maintaining this position for very long.
Now I am thinking that I want to pursue a career in web development. To that end I am re-learning html and polishing up my skills with various design tools as well as teaching myself Ruby and SQL. I have been looking for a internship that would allow me to transition into this new field, but I do not have the proper background or degree. So my question is two-fold: First, should I jump back into school so quickly after graduating and if not what are some suggestions for pursuing a position that would allow me learn the skills that I need. Second, does anyone have experience with entering into a masters program in cs without cs undergrad degree, such as the programs offered by UChicago or Depaul?

Books to learn computer networking.

philomathoholic — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 21:15:44 -0800

Please recommend some canonical books (or even e-books) to learn networking in general (on par with a CS major), up to an 'intermediate' level. Including stuff on wireless networking and security concerns. You may assume I know little about the underlying principles, and that I'm more concerned about theory than certification.

Oh the places I might go

tmcw — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 20:54:01 -0800

Looking for serious, modern, and fun art schools in Europe, or possibly the US. I'm a CS major (Rel minor), and I want to rejuvenate my art & design experience with a semester (summer semester, most likely, possibly something else) abroad, at a school that has a good art/design program. So, serious classes (not 'fun abroad bullshit'), something of a cool scene (not raving, but music, technology, cities, etc), and, a bonus would be if it offered a CS course or two, or if I could take one at a local U. Tuition is not a huge problem here. Languages - basically just english. I understand maybe 20% of Spanish.

Thanks for any guidance.

Don't point that gun at him, he's an unpaid intern.

tmcw — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 06:43:37 -0800

Looking for kick-ass internships in the NJ/NYC area. Background is CS, design, and a little bit of everything. The tougher the better. I dream about getting an internship at Google's office in NY or a FogCreek gig, but I know that both of these are tough, so I can't just apply to those two. My academic record isn't bad, a fairly high GPA at a pretty good school (W&M), and I'll be a junior applying next year.

Plus points for:

If it's in NYC, it would be nice if it was paying. After all, New York isn't cheap.

Something that isn't exclusively code monkey work.

Something in Morris County if it's in NJ.

Cool companies - something that's sort of cutting edge, interesting, or beneficial to mankind.

I know, internships usually aren't awesome, but there must be a few cool ones in the mix?

CS Royalty?

tmcw — Fri, 04 May 2007 11:15:12 -0800

CS-Royalty? So I was eating lunch in Williamsburg and struck up a conversation with a guy who was about 65 or so, and he claimed the following. - He was one of 7 developers to port DARPAnet to commercial architectures - He had worked with almost every president since starting up work - He has been in a Fortune 500 company as an IT higher-up and had met with Bill Gates (and told him "his product sucked") - He went to University of Colorado and taught at MIT His name came out something like Larry Sand-berg, but very uncertain about the last name. I'm interested in seeing if this is complete BS, or some element of truth.

Help me find an entry-level Math/CS job.

philomathoholic — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 02:39:33 -0800

I will be graduating with a B.A. in Math/C.S. in two years. What sort of job should I be looking for now? I'm getting fed up with my current entry-level customer service job, and I would like to gain some experience in the field before I graduate. So now I'm looking for an entry level, part-time IT job.

This next quarter, I will be learning OOP in C++, and I am already proficient in Ada (as proficient as a I can be without any "real" experience). And adding that I have a good working knowledge of computers in general, I hope that finding a better (hopefully non-customer service) and higher paying job isn't impossible.

Since I'm going to school full time, and I need to be making a fair bit of money to pay for it, so, the extremely low paying jobs at the school, volunteering, and probably temping would not be able to both work around school and pay enough. That said, come summer time, I will definitely be hitting up sourceforge and the not-for-profits. Oh, and from what I have heard around here, rentacoder.com works best if you are fast, good and cheap (which I am not). Also consulting is out of the question for the same previous reasons, but it might be better later.

Bonus points for location-specific answers (location: between Seattle and Vancouver, but not close enough to either of them to commute).

Needed, Masters in CS

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 05:02:28 -0800

I will begin an academic program for an MS in Computer Science starting Fall, 2007. The upside is that I have a year to prepare, while the downside is that I clearly have some obstacles to overcome, which are that 1) I don't have a single academic reference. I graduated 3 years ago, from a large public UC school, where I did not actively seek face time with my professors. The whole academic experience, in retrospect, seemed a bit sterile and detached. I did not stand out in any way; it was quite easy to be antisocial and even easier to feel unimportant.

2) I haven't taken the GRE though I plan to do so in several months after intense preparation.

3) As an undergraduate, I didn't take school seriously. I decided to take some “liberties” as a freshman and sophomore which led to virtual incapacitation and nearly dropout. After counseling and serious introspection, I was able to pull my GPA from the depths of 1.x back up to a mediocre 2.9 cumulative by the time I graduated, which at the time seemed like a miracle.

4) My undergraduate degree is a BS in Cognitive Science (mostly Psychology + Neuroscience + Anthropology). I aced all of my intro programming classes, but the academic hole was too deep for me to afford changing majors.

5. My work experience is limited. I've taken what I can to get to get by, though there is nothing on my resume that seriously represents my interests. If it matters, I've worked in retail, at PR firm, and at a hotel. These jobs numb my soul and do not offer valuable references (other than references of character).

Finally, the questions: a) What are my options? b) How can I convince admissions that I am seriously motivated, despite screwing up? c) Which programs will take me? d) What kind of job experience should I seek in the year leading up to grad school?

Any other advice and/or words of wisdom would be seriously appreciated. I feel that I have paid for my errors and this realization has made me stronger and more driven than ever. I'd like to move on with the rest of my life, but with realistic goals.

Help me locate a proof about distributed transactions

themel — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 02:09:06 -0800

A while back I was implementing a distributed transaction coordinator, and in the process also learned some of the pertaining theory. The only thing I can remember semi-vividly was a proof showing that you can't synchronize an action between two parties over an unreliable link, but I can't seem to find it any longer. The final step of the proof was something like "thus, if this was possible, you could shorten every conceivable protocol by one step, which reduces all protocols to the zero-step protocol, which is impossible". I'm pretty sure that it's a standard result of computer science, but I'm unable to find the right keywords to locate it. Help?

Worried about my authorship in PhD publications

raheel — Sun, 16 Jul 2006 16:05:32 -0800

Computer Sc. PhD student: Should I be worried that I am the second author in most of my publications ? I am a PhD student in Computer Science, and have been decently active in publishing articles in journals and conferences. However, in most of them I appear as the second author (usually after my advisor). When I asked him, he said that it is quite regular to assume that the advisor would put his name first in joint publications with his students.
I am wondering if this is so. Would this affect how my resume looks (for jobs in the academia) ? Should I start pushing for more publications with me as the first author, at the risk of having a mini-confrontation with him?

I've Lost (my) fonts - please help !!!

orlin — Wed, 29 Mar 2006 14:21:42 -0800

My computer crashed, the HD was reformatted and now when I try to use the following fonts, there gone. I use windows EX, MS office and want to use the following fonts in Photoshop CS. I would like to reinstall the following fonts; Amaze, Bangle, Bickley, Broadway, Stencil, Stop, Surfer, Wide latin, MS gothic. I don't want to pay too much, if possible -- I had the above fonts before the crash. Thanks in advance for any advice...

Illustrator CS Mac OSX .tmp files

sharksandwich — Wed, 01 Jun 2005 07:44:18 -0800

Since upgrading to OSX Tiger on my Powerbook G4, Adobe Illustrator CS has been acting a little flaky. Among assorted document hangs/crashes (requiring force-quits), Illustrator keeps creating .tmp files on my desktop such as "Acr1058251.tmp". I've done a bit of googling and, as suggested, have changed my prefs to not create PDF's upon saving, but this doesn't seem to help. Have any designers out there found a solid answer to why these files are being created, and a proper fix?

CompSci PhD

azazello — Sun, 07 Nov 2004 10:00:30 -0800

I'm looking for a good computer science Ph.D. program to apply to, with strong research groups in both bioinformatics and AI. I'm graduating from a leading US university with a triple degree in CS, applied math, and statistics. My research background is fairly strong (a few joint published papers in my research concentrations, recommendations, etc.), my GREs are/should be very decent, but what's holding me back is my GPA, which really sucks except for the past two semesters. Because of this, the top-tier schools (Stanford, MIT, Princeton, Berkeley, probably CMU) are out.
Therefore I'm looking mainly for schools just below that level. I can apply as either CS or Applied Math (I can probably collaborate with the right people from either position), but I'd rather get into CS. My requirements are:

Strong research groups in both of my research concentrations - bioinformatics (comparative genomics) and AI (machine vision, computational cogsci).
Decent location (I don't want to be stuck in Idaho or the rural Eastern US, for instance. I'd rather visit them on hiking trips.) A large northern coastal metro area would be ideal.

Can't think of anything else right now...
I will consider Canadian, UK, and other English-speaking schools, but I'm told they don't have nearly as much money to assist students financially as the US schools. Is that correct?
I have a list of about 40 schools, but that's too many (I'd like to narrow it down to at most 25) and I don't know how comprehensive my initial list was.
I'm told the proper way to select schools in this situation is to read the current publications and identify which places the strong research groups come from. I'm in the process of doing that, but wanted to ask for more advice regardless.

How to look up all rows that overlap a certain value?

Mars Saxman — Thu, 07 Oct 2004 11:25:08 -0800

I am looking for an index data structure and query algorithm to solve a specific problem. Each row in the table represents a range, with a start/end value; I want to look up all the rows that overlap a certain value. Putting it in SQL terms, I have a table with columns 'start', 'end', and 'data', and I want to run the following query:
select data from table where value >= start and value < end;br>
I'm working in C++, but don't need source code; I just can't remember the name or design of the algorithm/data structure that performs this kind of indexing.