There are a few areas that captivate me in cs
1) formal language theory
2)research in parallel programming structures (data parallelism and threading, distributed)
3)kernel methods (support vector machines and parallel models of such)
4) compiler construction
also of interest is parallel...
In my experience, this would happen often with high end gaming laptops and was a common problem when i used to work at a help desk for these kinds of things. The Dell XPS series comes to mind and the Alienware laptops as well. Not really much you can do except what was already mentioned, clean...
well what did you write it in, and what graphics libraries did you use. I have been thinking of writing a side scrolling game like gradius in C++ using gtk+ but i never get around to it.
well, even for single cpu machines, one could get a significant increase in speed for embarresingly parallel situations (monte carlo algorithms spring to mind.) If you want to learn about parallelism and perhaps some languages that support several frameworks, google NESL, which is a functional...
i also use ubuntu. I ran fedora 7 a while back and so far i prefer ubuntu. shell wise, none of this really matters outside of package handling. basically, one day i bought a new computer that came preloaded with vista and i didn't want to sit there installing an OS, so i ran wubi for a dual...
i particularly like Quantum Physics of atoms... by eisberg and resnick because it starts off with the developments before the quantum theory, such as radiation and the photoelectric effect as well as quantum motivations like matter waves. As the above poster said, griffiths is also a good place...
Well after you have taken the steps to at least learn the necessary calculus- I would suggest Eisberg and Resnick's Quantum Physics of atoms, molecules, and solids. I like it because it works itself up to quantum mechanics, the first 5 chapters are standard "modern physics" fare.
Many things are introduced within physics courses. I remember partial differential equations were touched upon in E&M, and elements of group theory and probability were taught in quantum mechanics.
I once worked for a guy and found myself in a similar situation. I was a senior in college and this guy hired me to help him build lasers and make a library for spectroscopy applications. One day, I told him i needed parts (transistors and such) and he kept stalling me, as if he expected me to...
for better or for worse, many programs like to give preference to under represented groups. So if you are within one of these demographics, apply to as many as possible and I am sure you'll get in somewhere. I like the REU's they offer at CUNY/Columbia/NYU (they operate jointly quite a lot) but...
thats some great advice from physics girl, but i want to add one more concern: funding. You will more than likely have to pay for a masters program out of your own pocket. Because of this, you should probably focus on non-private schools. If you want to stay in NY(thus evading out of state...