macOS ADC select Membership worth it?

[budugu]

I got an email from apple about upgrading to the select membership for 500$ and said that they will give all the 120 video sessions from WWDC'05. Do you guys think it is worth it to upgrade? (i am a phd student (hopefully final year)and developing all the software for experiments, simulations on a mac and for unix/Linux systems).

Can any one comment on the content that was presented at WWDC 05 if you have attended. i am sure all of them are not useful for me (but 4$ a session (assume even 10$) is a good price. I might just get the next version of OS for free! assuming they wil release one in the next year or so)

 

[Flying Llama]

If you do get it, be sure to come here and spill them secrets! (And don't forget lots and lots of screenshots.)
I'm kidding of course.

 

[kwajo.com]

I got an email from apple about upgrading to the select membership for 500$ and said that they will give all the 120 video sessions from WWDC'05. Do you guys think it is worth it to upgrade? (i am a phd student (hopefully final year)and developing all the software for experiments, simulations on a mac and for unix/Linux systems).

Can any one comment on the content that was presented at WWDC 05 if you have attended. i am sure all of them are not useful for me (but 4$ a session (assume even 10$) is a good price. I might just get the next version of OS for free! assuming they wil release one in the next year or so)

first off, I'm curious, what's your PhD going to be in?

also, I'd say it is worth it if you have the money, especially if you are obsessed with the newest software, I mean you get betas of the newest OS builds

 

[budugu]

first off, I'm curious, what's your PhD going to be in?

also, I'd say it is worth it if you have the money, especially if you are obsessed with the newest software, I mean you get betas of the newest OS builds

Systems neuroscience ... basically deals with simulating specific systems of the brain. I currently work how visual motion is processed in the brain (eye to various 'lower' stages). I also deal with lots of psychophysical experiments and demos, a billion graphs for 1000s of simulations with extremely minor parameter changes etc. I was looking more from training purspective not the latest software updates!. You will definitely not get 120 hours of training for 500$ any where. The conceptual documentation is so scant on apple systems. (when compared to MSFT). Kind of getting desperate to increase knowledge faster ;-) ( a video is worth a 1000 pages )

 

[kwajo.com]

Systems neuroscience ... basically deals with simulating specific systems of the brain. I currently work how visual motion is processed in the brain (eye to various 'lower' stages). I also deal with lots of psychophysical experiments and demos, a billion graphs for 1000s of simulations with extremely minor parameter changes etc. I was looking more from training purspective not the latest software updates!. You will definitely not get 120 hours of training for 500$ any where. The conceptual documentation is so scant on apple systems. (when compared to MSFT). Kind of getting desperate to increase knowledge faster ;-) ( a video is worth a 1000 pages )

ahhh very cool, I remember taking some cognitive neuroscience and that sort of thing once back in the day, it's interesting stuff. i'm honestly surprised you use a mac for this sort of thing. I mean I would in your shoes, but I assumed there were pre-defined systems for these things in most fields, but hey, if not, go for it!

and I agree, training videos are very useful when dealing with a computer where the tasks are visual represented in the first place

 

[Jordan72]

Systems neuroscience ... basically deals with simulating specific systems of the brain. I currently work how visual motion is processed in the brain (eye to various 'lower' stages).

Out of curiosity, how many milliseconds does it take after light hits the human eye to register as an image in the consciousness?

 

[budugu]

Out of curiosity, how many milliseconds does it take after light hits the human eye to register as an image in the consciousness?

depends a low pass fuzzy image (b/w ish) is in you frontal cortex (approx = conciousness) in about 40-60 ms. Much more detailed image color, texture data is in 60-120ms. These are very abstract numbers. You will spot some thing thrown in the direction towards you faster than some thing being thrown away etc. I do much low level vision with in 30 ms (in visual only areas no high level perception stuff). you can assume 100 ms to register and 150 ms (approx) for the response (from the brain).

 

[budugu]

ahhh very cool, I remember taking some cognitive neuroscience and that sort of thing once back in the day, it's interesting stuff. i'm honestly surprised you use a mac for this sort of thing. I mean I would in your shoes, but I assumed there were pre-defined systems for these things in most fields, but hey, if not, go for it!

and I agree, training videos are very useful when dealing with a computer where the tasks are visual represented in the first place

Univ bought a new IBM Blue Gene/ L (currently arround 50 on the super 500 list -latest). But the problem is there is no one to code for such specialized tasks . there are lots of constrains NO threads, only MPI and stuff, previously there was a shared memory machine but it had to use totally different way. Every ones resources (research groups) are different and these are not market ready stuff just tests, so not much of stardization (takes few tens of PHD man years). You will not believe how far neuroscientists and psychologists will run if you have a single math equation (say a PDE), forget super computing code! And Neurons donot function much as supercomputers especially asynchronous updates and stuff (like the retina is like a ccd except that instead of all ccds taking the picture at a time, each ccd (i pixel for lack of a better word) fires at its own time. so you hardly see aliasing but how the hell do you form a correct picture when each pixel is taking a shot at a diff time is the million dollar question. More over these pixels are not uniform in size. It only gets worse from there!

EPFL (swiss institute) bought a 5-10 times more powerful Blue gene L (9th most powerful) just to simulate 1mm2 - 1cm2 of the cortex of the brain!

 

[GoCubsGo]

depends a low pass fuzzy image (b/w ish) is in you frontal cortex (approx = conciousness) in about 40-60 ms. Much more detailed image color, texture data is in 60-120ms. These are very abstract numbers. You will spot some thing thrown in the direction towards you than some thing being thrown away etc. I do much low level vision with in 30 ms (in visual only areas no high level perception stuff). you can assume 100 ms to register and 150 ms (approx) for the response (from the brain).

Ok that sounds just incredibly hot! It could be complete BS too and it'd still sound great!

 

[budugu]

Ok that sounds just incredibly hot! It could be complete BS too and it'd still sound great!

Just read about any basic Neuroscience text (best text: Eric/Kendal/Schwartz) book about Magno (M) and Parvo (P) pathways in the human visual system.

PS:That said if you are into intelligent design then it may sound BSish too (even if one of the authors is a Nobel prize winner (One in 3 or 4 awarded for neuroscience in the last century!)

 

[Epicurus]

I got the same email about the Select upgrade, and it got me thinking. While the 120 hours of training are nice, I most likely wouldn't watch all of them (perhaps 50-60%). Then there's the pre-release software... Since I'll be buying a new computer next year anyway, I can afford to use my old system as a testing platform for any software Apple might send out. I would never install pre-release software on my main system anyway. The hardware discount is also a very nice addition (especially if I'm buying a new system next year). Sadly, I probably get just as good of a discount from my Student status (I seem to recall verifying this once with another student who was a Select member).

Perhaps the most significant benefit from being a member (aside from all the developer help they mail out each month) is that I can attend the WWDC, for a small fee. Here again, going with a $99 student membership opens up the possibility of getting a free ride with one of the student scholarships Apple awards each year.

As tempting as it might be, the only real differences between the Student and Select memberships grades are the pre-release software, the WWDC '05 videos, and the not-quite-Student discounts. That and the Select membership costs $400 more.

 

[budugu]

I got the same email about the Select upgrade, and it got me thinking. While the 120 hours of training are nice, I most likely wouldn't watch all of them (perhaps 50-60%). Then there's the pre-release software... Since I'll be buying a new computer next year anyway, I can afford to use my old system as a testing platform for any software Apple might send out. I would never install pre-release software on my main system anyway. The hardware discount is also a very nice addition (especially if I'm buying a new system next year). Sadly, I probably get just as good of a discount from my Student status (I seem to recall verifying this once with another student who was a Select member).

Perhaps the most significant benefit from being a member (aside from all the developer help they mail out each month) is that I can attend the WWDC, for a small fee. Here again, going with a $99 student membership opens up the possibility of getting a free ride with one of the student scholarships Apple awards each year.

As tempting as it might be, the only real differences between the Student and Select memberships grades are the pre-release software, the WWDC '05 videos, and the not-quite-Student discounts. That and the Select membership costs $400 more.

small fee? i thought it was 3000$!! (if you donot get the student scholarship!). I am just interested in the videos. I download the updates anyway. Mailing the same stuff is not a big deal! ( i even like my macworld to be downloaded electronically). time to do some work and pitch this to my advisor!! i have presentation tomorrow, put a night out and get make a good presentation and pop the question!

 

[Lazyhound]

I would never install pre-release software on my main system anyway.

Fie!

 

[iMeowbot]

small fee? i thought it was 3000$!!

That's for the Premier package, Select is only $500. The main differences are more discounts (10 buys instead of 1), WWDC passes and 8 vs. 2 tech support assists.

 

[budugu]

That's for the Premier package, Select is only $500. The main differences are more discounts (10 buys instead of 1), WWDC passes and 8 vs. 2 tech support assists.

"Perhaps the most significant benefit from being a member (aside from all the developer help they mail out each month) is that I can attend the WWDC, for a small fee."

for a second i thought, attend WWDC with a small fee (with select membership!) ...! So what is the price you have to pay if you are a select member to attend WWDC?