Stanford Free Class: Computer Security (opens in new tab)

(security-class.org)

144 pointsmyffical14y ago16 comments

16 comments

What is really interesting to me at present is the way they chose to make the "The Course" video. All the other courses had a video where the instructor is sort of looking into the camera and directly talking to me. Some even look like they are looking into my soul. But the instructors here chose a more candid way to make a video. The instructors are looking to the right (our left) as if talking to someone else. You can easily say that they are not reading off a prompter so it feels like they are having a conversation with a bunch of students. I really, really liked that. It gave me that feel where I am just being introduced to my faculty and a bunch of us students went into his cabin just to say hi. It feels more of a candid conversation while other videos feel like a one on one interaction. In situations like these the one on one interaction is actually off putting to me. When meeting with a faculty I always find myself comfortable if they are talking to us in a group.

teja199014y ago

For me ,choosing which class to take has become the hard decision.So many classes in Jan/Feb. I wish they move some classes to March.

viscanti14y ago

I understand they want some flexibility, but it would be nice to know what classes will be offered in the future, so I can plan accordingly. The ML class is being offered again but the AI class isn't. There's 4 or 5 I'd like to take from the upcoming schedule, and I'd hate to miss out on any of them. If I knew one would be repeated, it would make it an easier decision to make.

I know it's "FREE", but it would still be helpful to know what some of the options are in the future, so I could plan accordingly.

brandall1014y ago

There seems to be at least a new one every few days or so... by the time Jan rolls around there likely will be over a couple dozen to choose from.

I've been doing the AI class and that eats anywhere from 6-10 hours of my time per week, in addition to doing some ancillary thing (just finished LPTHW, moving on to Eloquent JS), a full time job, and having some semblance of a social life I don't know if I could handle more than 2 max, esp if they both involve programming assignments. This really is such a kid in a candy store experience, there are at least 4 I really want to take and 10 that I would if I had the time.

aseembehl14y ago

Information Theory class is starting in March. Moreover, Design and Analysis of Algorithms II would also be offered in March.

jackowayed14y ago

Are they offering 261 in this form? I hadn't heard that yet, and I don't see it on the list at the bottom

1 more reply

tikhonj14y ago

Coincidentally, this class is taught by a Berkeley professor along with the Stanford ones, so it's more of a Stanford-Berkeley free class.

crpatino14y ago

Sorry about my ignorance, but you guys seem much more informed about how this all works.

So, what is the schedule for this (and other, similar) course(s)? Is this a full term commitment or a smaller, 5 week, class?

Abdul32114y ago

Does anybody know how long these online courses are? and are they easy to follow for someone with a full time school work?. Thanks in Advance.

datr14y ago

I believe they're ten weeks long.

Whether they will be easy to follow or not will probably depend on how much free time you have now. I work fifty hours a week and socialise often and have found it difficult to keep up with all three courses currently running. I imagine for someone in my position two would be the sweet spot.

colkassad14y ago

I started taking the Machine Learning class while going to school full time and I had to drop out. It was just too much. I also work full time and have a toddler, however. If I was single I think I could handle it.

ddw14y ago

I've gotten behind in that class as well, but I plan on downloading all of the videos soon so that I can at least go through them without doing the quizzes/exercises next year.

baltcode14y ago

So would something like this help if you want to work, say at Matasano?

tptacek14y ago

If you want to work at Matasano, you should just mail me; we can give you pointers. :)

I get busy sometimes, and I'm not always as great at responding to mail as I want to be. You can feel free to nag me for as long as your patience holds out. I WILL eventually respond.

The short answer here is "maybe". Specifically: if you take this class and fall in love with the subject matter --- particularly things like memory hardening and finding vulnerabilities --- we'll be happy to hear that. The certification itself doesn't mean anything to us at all. It's the enthusiasm and engagement that we're looking for.

Coal14y ago

What sort of internship opportunities does Matasano offer?

Do you limit internships to those in the US?

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