CS244b critical information
To reduce transmission of the novel coronavirus and comply with Santa Clara county shelter-in-place orders, CS244b like all other Stanford classes this quarter will be held on-line only. Since CS244b is a discussion class, lecture attendance and participation (preferably with camera on) are mandatory. To prepare for the course, please take the following steps:
Click here for meeting information, including the password you need to join class meetings.
Please install and familiarize yourself with Zoom meeting. If your platform supports it (i.e., not linux), please enable push to talk. If zoom makes you angry because of how terrible it is or its abysmal security, please use this as inspiration for your CS244b final project.
Audio quality is crucial to discussion quality. Please purchase a good-sounding microphone before the second week of classes. We recommend getting a USB lavalier microphone (a.k.a. lapel mic). The instructor uses a Fifine K053 which costs about $20 and sounds fine. This was a random purchase from a large number of similarly priced products that probably work equally well. All else equal, a mic with a cardioid pick-up pattern may reject background noise better than an omnidirectional mic, but either is fine. Please note:
Analog lapel mics with TRRS connectors such as the popular PowerDeWise mic are not recommended, because they make your system think you plugged in headphones without actually providing audio output.
Fancy expensive podcaster microphones won’t necessarily sound better than a $20 lapel mic unless you position them perfectly, while the lapel mics are trivial to position right.
If you have a bluetooth headset, you can use it to listen to lecture, but please use a separate microphone for speaking. (The A2DP bluetooth profile delivers decent-sounding audio for listening, but two-way audio requires the HFP/HSP profile which sounds terrible.)
USB Headsets (headphone + built-in mic) probably work but are more expensive since most people already have headphones. Stanford recommends the Jabra Evolve 80 UC or Logitech H390, though the instructor can’t personally vouch for these products.
Amazon is currently overloaded and may ship non-essential items such as microphones slowly. If you can’t get a reasonable delivery date from Amazon, check almost anywhere else (e.g., Walmart).
Lecture attendance is mandatory for all students including SCPD. If your timezone or work schedule does not permit you to join the zoom meeting, please contact the course staff to request an exemption.
Inclusiveness is important to us. We realize that the suitability of people’s homes for participating in class may vary widely. Please contact the course staff if these requirements present an undue burden, and we will provide assistance or flexibility to try to make the class work for you.