From: dsmart@pobox.com (Derek Smart) Subject: Re: BC3K - Huffman's Stupidity Exposed Date: 27 Mar 1999 00:00:00 GMT Message-ID: <37021013.7594990@news.mindspring.com> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit References: <7chk9f$5bo$1@uuneo.neosoft.com> <36f40ac7.4461461@news.mindspring.com> <7cjc9q$hhr$1@uuneo.neosoft.com> <36f08960.24207055@news.mindspring.com> <7cpqtj$lqf$1@nnrp1.dejanews.com> <7cslk5$n5u$1@oak.prod.itd.earthlink.net> <36f55312.5839972@news.mindspring.com> <7ddtls$qtk$1@nnrp1.dejanews.com> <7de7tq$1ga$1@oak.prod.itd.earthlink.net> <36fccfd3.41390173@news.mindspring.com> <7derha$ls1$1@nnrp1.dejanews.com> <36FBD819.2FDB16BF@parc.xerox.com> Organization: 3000AD X-Server-Date: 27 Mar 1999 17:09:16 GMT Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Mime-Version: 1.0 Reply-To: dsmart@pobox.com Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.space-sim,comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.strategic On Fri, 26 Mar 1999 10:55:21 -0800, Ken Fishkin wrote: > > >Bill Huffman wrote: > >bill, you're getting carried away with sweeping over-statements here: > >> To earn a PhD: >> number ONE, you have to have a bachelors degree. Do you? I thought not. > >no you don't. For one thing, there are honorary degrees. For another, sometimes >universities admit people without formal degrees, often because of life >experience. > >> Number TWO, you have to do the equivalent of at least 4 years of >> post graduate work. (Derek, since you are incompetent when it comes to >> academic terms, post graduate means AFTER your bachelor degree.) > >no you don't. It all depends on the university. Some subscribe to the "if you can >pass the testing exams, and write a thesis, you get a phd - whether it takes >1 year or 10". Way back when I was in grad school at Berkeley (hardly a diploma >mill!) there were compatriots of mine who got their PhDs in less than 4 years. As I have stated over, and over, and over, Bill has *no* idea how *any* of this stuff works. So, please, don't waste your time. Everything that he calls 'facts' on his page was derived from what he picked up here. btw, I got my Ph.D in under 2 years and yes, I *did* get credit for my experience and existing work, which is why I made AI in games the primary focus of my thesis. In case anyone was wondering, 'cause I know some people here who know me, already know this. While we are on the subject, if I wanted another Ph.D. right now, I'd get one in about a month or so, with just my current experience and work *and* from an accredited university no less; even if its a distance learning institution (like the one I got my first one from because I moved around a lot as I indicated in my history writeup on my website). Heck, I'd get one from any university in my neighborhood if I wanted. Can't be bothered, already have one. -- Derek Smart, Ph.D. ---------------------------------------------------- Here's a good expalanation about Derek's incorrect understanding of PhDs. He seems to think for some reason that all universities are like the diploma mill he used to get a bogus diploma From: warpspeeder@my-dejanews.com Subject: Re: BC3K - Huffman's Stupidity Exposed Date: 27 Mar 1999 00:00:00 GMT Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.space-sim,comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.strategic In article <37021013.7594990@news.mindspring.com>, dsmart@pobox.com wrote: > btw, I got my Ph.D in under 2 years and yes, I *did* get credit for my > experience and existing work, which is why I made AI in games the > primary focus of my thesis. In case anyone was wondering, 'cause I > know some people here who know me, already know this. > > While we are on the subject, if I wanted another Ph.D. right now, I'd > get one in about a month or so, with just my current experience and > work *and* from an accredited university no less; even if its a > distance learning institution (like the one I got my first one from > because I moved around a lot as I indicated in my history writeup on > my website). Heck, I'd get one from any university in my neighborhood > if I wanted. Can't be bothered, already have one. > A few points here: 1) If you received your Ph.D from a distance learning program then it does not carry a U.S. accreditation and is of no value in the U.S. Accredited institutions in the U.S. are not allowed to confer Ph.Ds in computer science or computer engineering (can't speak for other programs) in this manner, as you will see in my next points. 2) You couldn't get a Ph.D in a month for a variety of reasons, but here's the basics: a) All accredited institutions in the U.S. require a residency year for computer science Ph.D programs. This means you must be a full-time student for 3 consecutive quarters, or 2 consecutive semesters. This requirement has been in effect since forever. b) You don't do a "thesis" (as you stated previously), you do a research "dissertation." This involves several steps. First, you have to create a proposal that matches your advisor's interests. Second, this proposal must be defended before a committee of faculty members, generally referred to as the "General Oral Examination." Next, the university will require a minimum of several months or years of research take place ... usually at least one quarter or semester, followed by a defense of the dissertation, generally referred to as the "Final Examination." c) There are also requirements for qualifying examinations, and your work experience will mean nothing in the qualifiers. These are generally very theoretical, require a heavy duty knowledge of discrete mathematics, network theory, advanced algorithms, etc. d) Your work experience cannot be converted into credits. Almost all universities disallow this for Ph.D programs, and at the very least limit the number of such credits (probably snuck in under the "independent study" category). I checked the Univ. of Central Florida and the Univ. of Florida, the only two universities near you offering Ph.D programs, and they follow the requirements I've listed above. Univ. of Miami does not offer a doctorate in C.S. Bottom line, a distance-learning Ph.D means nothing. It's kind of like these camera-mugging "preachers" I see who've never even visited a seminary, let alone attended one.