How to get a tech internship

Field-tested job-hunting tips for computer science students.

Also check out my post on getting started with computer science for college students.

Google headquarters

I probably don’t need to convince you that working at tech companies is really attractive. You can work with startups on meteoric rises and world-famous tech giants, all while surrounded by ping-pong tables and unlimited snacks. You can build apps that your friends use and products that make the world a better place.

There’s just one problem: how do you get a tech internship in the first place?

阅读更多...

CS50: What Next?

注意: this post is aimed mostly at Harvard students.

CS50 logo

So you took Harvard’s introductory computer science class, CS50. (Maybe you were a regular at my section or met me at office hours.) You learned a lot, you enjoyed it, and you want to continue exploring computer science. Maybe you want to concentrate in CS, get a minor, get an internship at a tech company, or better understand how computers are going to take over the world.

But CS is a huge field, and with just one course under your belt, it’s difficult to really break into it.

So what next?

阅读更多...

我汗学院实习, 夏季'15

这个夏天, 我离开剑桥的友好束缚，远航了西 暴富 实习生作为一名软件工程师 汗学院. 而这并不完全这样做正义: 这是一个完全革命性的体验.

Salman Khan of Khan Academy
随着真棒萨尔汗, 汗学院的创始人

真棒项目

我用我的导师在这样凉爽的项目作为工作长大一吨的软件工程师:
– 创建SEO'd登陆页面我们的视频
– 建立向用户发送电子邮件通知功能，只要他们对我们的视频问题得到回答, 与设计师的紧密合作
– 追踪并固定在我们的新的视频播放器的bug

阅读更多...

发布, 喜欢, 并找到: 建设一个开放，生态策划

大多数生态系统，如应用程序商店是开放或策划的. 但是，为什么我们不能兼得? 良好, 我们可以 — 所有你需要的是3动词: 发布, 发现, 和 喜欢. 这也适用于技术和其他任何.

通常有两种选择，当你要发布一个应用程序: 它发布到像iOS的App Store中 (那里的人们会发现你的应用程序, 但苹果审阅者可以拒绝你的提交) 或者只是把它放在你的网站 (它很容易发布, 但也不能保证任何人会看到它。) Not the greatest set of options.

Isn’t there a way to combine the strengths of both of these to make for the best possible experience for both publishers and consumers? I think there is. It’s called an open and curated ecosystem. Let’s take a look at:

  • What open 和 curated ecosystems are
  • Examples of open and curated ecosystems
  • What you need to make an open and curated ecosystem
  • Examples of these ecosystems beyond just technology

and see if we can discover something about the power of crowdsourcing, innovation, and the three verbs 发布, 发现, 和 喜欢.

Curated vs. open ecosystems

The iOS App Store and open internet, among others, 有 app ecosystems — places where apps can be published and found. And I think the big factors that differentiate one ecosystem from another are whether the ecosystem is open, where anyone can publish apps and whether it is curated, where the best apps rise to the top and users are assured quality apps. That’s the major difference between the iOS store and the internet at large, which I mentioned earlier.

Let’s look at examples of curated and open ecosystems and what differentiates them.

阅读更多...

5 高校宝贵的免费生产力应用程序

几年前，我写了一篇关于 高中有用的应用程序 — 但现在的大学是在这里, 它带来了一整套新需求. 自 我到哈佛, 我不得不做更多, 和我的应用程序不得不做更多的太.

这些新的应用程序需要 运行在所有平台 (视窗, 苹果, Android的, 的iOS), 无缝同步 它们之间, 并帮助我保持 数据组织. 他们必须是 多才多艺, 健壮, 和 易于使用的. 他们必须要 免费.

With that in mind, here are the five apps that I’ve relied on most at Harvard and that I recommend to anyone in college or anywhere else in life. They’re ranked in order of usefulness.

Evernote, Wunderlist, Mailbox, Sunrise, Pocket
5 免费, essential apps for college: Evernote, Wunderlist, Mailbox, Sunrise, and Pocket.
阅读更多...

在互联网上的自我表达: 混合的方法?

The internet should help you express yourself easily and ensure you have control over the content and quality of your writings. But is that possible?

The internet has always been called the great platform for self-expression. The claim goes that you no longer need to be talented and lucky enough to get your work into a book or newspaper or magazine; anyone can publish anything to the internet, and if it’s good enough, it can get found.

It’s definitely true that the cost of self-expression has gone down with the internet, so people are much more likely and able to use it to publish their ideas. (The idea of economic cost, or amount of effort it takes to do something, is a very powerful one, 的方式. When it gets easier to do something, that thing explodes in popularity. It’s pretty self-evident, but it’s a powerful way of looking at things like the rise of self-expression with the internet.)

有 two main ways of publishing content online:

  • Publishing independently (making your own platform)
  • Using someone else’s platform (hosted publishing)

Both of these fall short of the goal of allowing for easy self-publishing. 我觉得, 虽然, 该 there’s room for a hybrid that would bring the best of both.

阅读更多...

上 “社会” 媒体, 弱关系, 与Snapchat故事

How social media is designed to help you build relationships with acquaintances, and why Snapchat (是, that Snapchat) is the most effective social media platform

It was late enough that I’d stopped thinking for the night, so I proudly proclaimed to my nearby friends that I was getting a Snapchat account. It had always struck me as a bit vapid and narcissistic – you’re swapping carefully-chosen selfies with others to try and win favor – but I figured I’d give it a go.

But I quickly learned that Snapchat, like any other social media platform, gives rise to a number of use cases that the creators probably never intended. (例如, Twitter probably never foresaw that it would contribute to the Egyptian Revolution of 2011.) What I saw was this: Snapchat and other social media platforms are surprisingly effective ways to grow and maintain your network of weak ties (acquaintances) by reducing the costs of communication and increasing the number of “hooks,” or chances to strike up conversation, you have. All social media can do this, but Snapchat, by its very nature, is the king of this.

阅读更多...