(Part 3) Top products from r/berkeley

If you're the type, playing board games/card games with friends is relaxing and sociable, and can also exercise your mind. A deck of cards is super cheap, and while board games have larger up front costs, you can play the same one tons of times. I'm not talking older/classic games (like Monopoly) but rather new, designer board games like The Settlers of Catan, Carcassone, or Ticket to Ride. Card games I like are Hearts and Euchre.

Yeah the book was eventually made, but it was rather quietly released without the publicity Kerr had hoped. You can buy a copy of the original 1967 edition on Amazon amazingly.

(edit: It appears that the 2012 freshmen did get a special gift copy of Fiat Lux, which makes me quite jealous. It also makes me wonder why the school doesn't have the book on sale in the Cal Student Store– I'm sure a lot of people would buy it.)

I've found that just making a lot of people drinks constantly is really good practice.

Of course, a classroom setting is nice, but if you want a way to learn with less overhead, just keep asking your housemates if they want a drink.

Whenever you encounter something weird (eg why does a Washington Apple taste like ass with Maker's Mark but delicious with Crown Royal?) you can read up on it online.

Also, highly recommend this book: http://www.amazon.com/The-Ultimate-Bar-Book-Comprehensive/dp/0811843513/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1346205273&sr=8-2&keywords=bartending

Again, this isn't meant as a suggestion to replace classes, but rather, if you aren't able to find the time or money or tenacity to go to bartending classes.

:) Nice picture.

I brought the bubbles. If anyone else wants more bubbles, they're totally worth getting from Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/Funrise-32417-Gazillion-Bubble-Machine/dp/B000197NXM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1321461356&sr=8-2

This is the best damn self study book I have ever seen on the subject and think it does better than the latter half of Math 53 in setting up many of the key concepts.

It is short, to the point, and from the outset makes the connections to EM abundantly clear. It is not difficult to find copies of that text online.

I recommend reading this advice by Babak on getting better at solving problems in CS 70, I think it's still applicable here. You can always get better at solving these types of problems with practice; you just need to do the right kind of practice.


You ask an excellent question. There are books written about this matter. You won't have time to read any of them now, before the midterm. But I'll give you a reference, so you (and everyone else reading this message) can give it a good read, or its audio book a good listen as soon as you get a chance. The book is called

Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise
by Anders Ericsson and Robert Poole
https://www.amazon.com/Peak-Secrets-New-Science-Expertise/dp/0544456238/

It's the kind of book I wish someone had written, and someone else had introduced to me, when I was your age, or even younger. I've given a hard copy to my eight-year-old daughter and I've been nudging her to read it. She's intrigued by what she hears in the car when I play portions of the audio book for her.

At the core is what the authors describe as "deliberate practice," or purposeful practice. This is in contrast to mindless practice, which is to repeat the same thing over and over, expecting to improve (like a person who keeps swinging the tennis racket or playing the violin the same way 1000 times, without a deliberate focus on how to improve). Mindless practice doesn't work.

As you read Ericsson's book, you'll also begin to unlearn much of what you may have heard about the 10,000 hour rule, which Malcolm Gladwell promoted. Ericsson wrote his book in part to dispel some of the misunderstandings that Gladwell's popular book (I believe Outliers) caused.

In the case of studying, you have to not only tackle each problem with an eye toward what it is that the problem is trying to get at, but also do post-mortem analysis. After you solve a problem (or solve it partially, or fail to solve it, or solve it incorrectly), you should review what you did right, what you did wrong, what you could have done more efficiently, how many different angles from which you could've looked at the problem, and what different types of tools you could've tapped into as you attacked the problem.

When I chat with my advisees or students, I recommend that they keep a log, as in a notebook or an electronic equivalent. Each page of the log consists of three columns. The first column you can name "Concept(s)"; the second column "Address(es)"; and the third column "Technique(s)." When you look at a problem, say on a previous midterm, ask yourself, "What is the concept or set of concepts that this problem is covering?"

Sometimes the answer is fully apparent from the surface of the problem. Sometimes it's only partially apparent from a cursory read, and you must read more carefully or think more deeply before you gain access to the treasure inside. And sometimes there's deliberate or unavoidable camouflage that hides the inner core of the problem. With deliberate practice, you get better at dealing with the third kind of problem---by cutting through the clutter or the veil and glimpsing inside.

You can list the identified concepts in Column 1. In Column 2 you write the address of the problem---for example, MT2.3(a)-F18, which might stand for Midterm 2, Problem 3, Part (a) in Fall 2018. In Column 3 you write down the various techniques you can use to tackle the problem. You'll encounter a richer set of tools if you work in a group. I recommend that you get together with study buddies to go over old exams. Each member of your group is bound to see each problem from a unique angle, in a way that the others may have missed. This way you accumulate an arsenal of tools in your toolbox. Interacting with peers, even when you're the one doing the explaining, sharpens your own understanding. The goal is that after some time, you gain proficiency and can dip your hands in your toolbox blindfolded, take the appropriate set of tools, and chisel away at the problem like an expert.

Adapting the words of one of my favorite mathematical writers, G. W. (Pete) Stewart, at the University of Maryland, I'll say that solving problems "is like cutting diamonds. Tap a problem in just the right way, and it decomposes into one or two informative expressions. Smash it with a hammer and it shatters into ugly, uninterpretable pieces." The aim of deliberate practice is to cultivate the craft of problem solving with the dexterity of a diamond sculptor.

Do the practice I suggested for every problem that you encounter---whether in lecture, in discussion, during random conversations about the course with the TAs or with fellow students ... wherever a relevant problem appears before you.

Then, as an exam nears, you have in your possession a full list of concepts that you've come across in the prior weeks. By then you have a good sense of what you're comfortable with and what you're shaky on. Go attack those concepts that you're shaky on.

In front of each concept you'll have at least one (hopefully many more than one) address, telling you where you need to go to strengthen your understanding of that concept or set of concepts. And try to tackle the problem without looking at Column 3. Look at Column 3 only after you've exerted your fair share for that problem (never keep banging your head against the wall on any problem ... this should not be an issue if you work in a group).

The other important aspect of deliberate practice, as Ericsson discusses, is the necessity of feedback. You can get that feedback from the staff, but given the student/TA ratio we have it's not going to be anywhere near enough. Here enter your study buddies or other fellow students, who can given you feedback on what you did right, what you did wrong, and how you can tackle the problem more efficiently.

Yes, all this takes effort. But it's not mindless effort. It's a focused, methodical effort with a vigilant eye toward what you need to do to improve.

It's the valuable interaction with peers that a student misses when they skip lecture I'll issue a separate tome about that in the coming days. Right now, I have to make some exam problems for you! :)

I hope this helped.

Cheers,

Babak.

Hope this helps! Please don't give up; I believe that I actually had the biggest delta in knowledge and grew as problem solver the most in the last third of 61A, which you're in now.

Hi, I am going to take the math 1A this fall and my friend has this book and will give it basically for free. Will it work? Or do I need the Berkeley edition

There are a ton of hidden staircases sprinkled throughout the East Bay. I've always thought it was fun to stumble across them randomly, but when I found out there was a book, I was all over it. Not as exciting as steam tunnels, maybe, but I've loved the hikes I've taken from the book!

(1) They didn't ban sugary drinks like NY, so it's not quite legislating choice.

(2) They voted to PUT IT ON THE BALLOT. So it's certainly not legislating choice.

(3) Kickbacks? I didn't see a connection between kickbacks and this story..unless Michael Pollan is paying city governments to ban sugar.

(4) The "Sugar is really bad" theory is now as accepted as "Global warming is real" within scientific circles. Yet, I bet, less than half as many people realize this. If this tax only serves to make people more aware of this, I'll be happy!
http://www.amazon.com/Good-Calories-Bad-Controversial-Science/dp/1400033462

Haha this.

I like this as a gift idea for graduates.

It Came From Berkeley: How Berkeley Changed the World

I know. I already took ochem anyway. I just wanted another HGS kit to combine with my existing one so I can build large complex molecules. I'm nerdy like that.

I've got that lens too. It's a prime lens, so you can't change the focal length, i.e. zoom. 50mm is near the same as the max focal length on the stock T2i lens. In exchange for not being able to zoom, however, the aperture is wider and the lens is capable of letting in more light, allowing for less noisy/crisper shots in lower light (and also sexier bokeh). Moreover, it's a really affordable lens (assuming letrainfalldown is talking about the same Nifty Fifty Canon lens that I have.

This reminds me of the book "How to Lie with Statistics"
http://www.amazon.com/How-Lie-Statistics-Darrell-Huff/dp/0393310728/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1404410530&sr=8-1&keywords=how+to+lie+with+statistics

Manipulating stats is quite easy, but how many people are really going to investigate how they collected those stats.

Related:

>National Lampoon Van Wilder's Guide to Graduating College in 8 Years or More: Everything You Need to Know About Books, Beers and Babes

https://www.amazon.com/National-Lampoon-Wilders-Graduating-College/dp/0978832337

If you didn't already know something about particle physics, you probably won't have learned anything from this talk. This will give you some idea on what it's about, but you really can't understand it without math.

I'm not a U.C. Berkeley student yet, I just live in Berkeley. It is a first year book.

Here's a pic

Spray Liquid Ass on the bench.

My bad, I didn't notice the delivery options. Crazy that Amazon could have stocking issues from how big the wildfire problems are.

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You can also try mixing up search terms for disposable/nondisposable masks and higher NIOSH ratings - there's one $20ish for an older 3M half mask model + 3M P100 cartridges, one and two day shipping available if I read it right.