Nikhil Palanki

I've always been fascinated by the intersection between human phenomena and computing, specifically in fields of education, financial markets, and creative design. My programming interests are in machine learning, artificial intelligence, neural networks, cryptography, blockchain infrastructure, market making, simulation and modeling, and quantum computing. Outside of ByteRevel, I co-founded and spent four years working on a software consulting company, Quadral Apps (It's now defunct as the founders have all left). My interests outside of computer science are poverty alleviation, humanitarian engineering, education, financial markets and economics research.

Three Free Online Learning Sites

1 minute read

Autodidactism is the practice of teaching oneself. Benjamin Franklin is the classic example of a self-taught scholar. In today’s age of ubiquitous knowledge, being able to teach yourself quickly is just as useful as being intelligent, given the rate at which technology, information, and interactions change. If you’re interested in becoming an autodidact, or self-teacher, here are a handful of websites that can supplement your learning.

Brilliant

Brilliant is a website for excelling in mathematics problem solving. Initially built as a platform to help students prepare for the Olympiads/Math competitions. The service is mostly free, although you can sign up for a paid version to further enhance your math problem solving experience.

Visit Brilliant

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Duolingo

Duolingo is a website to help people pick up another language. Currently, they boast choices ranging from Spanish and Danish to Portuguese and German (for English Speakers). They offer services to help people learn English as a Second Language also. The Duolingo website is centered around immersion style questions that require listening, writing, and speaking (optional though). There are question forums as well, and the website layout is such that Duolingo feels more like a game and less like an online course. The best part, is that Duolingo is completely free.

Visit Duolingo

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Coursera

Coursera offers online, university level courses for free. Currently, the website boasts over 767 courses ranging from institutions such as Princeton University to the American Museum of Natural History. The courses mirror those found at the respective academic institution and are taught by the academics who wrote the original course work.

Visit Coursera

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