Coursera
I have recently discovered Coursera . They offer hundreds of online courses in a wide range of subjects. Most courses are roughly equivalent to an semester-long undergraduate level course. Some are easier and some are equivalent to graduate-level coursework. I got started with Andrew Ng's Machine Learning (ML) course . I have been curious about machine learning, but a little biased against the field based on my limited knowledge of Artificial Intelligence (AI). My impression (and that of many others) has been that AI has long over-promised and under-delivered. However, recent advances in ML and its use in analyzing big data sets made its potential impossible to ignore. When I started the course, I did not know that Professor Ng had helped found Coursera. Nor did I realize the extent of his influence in the field of machine learning . Learning these facts gave added weight to his personal anecdotes about applying machine learning techniques. When Prof. Ng includes advice on...