[bpicolo]

I'm definitely going to give this a shot, thanks for the link. Approaching ML at a higher level is exactly what I need to develop a better interest in it. I realize that underpinnings are important, but waiting 30 minutes for mnist on to process on my localhost is just unbearably boring.

[jph00]

If you try the course, be sure to make use of the forums for it too: http://forums.fast.ai . As you'll see, they're extremely active and helpful for all deep learning students (and all practitioners in general).

Disclaimer: I teach the course. Although it is free and ad-free... :)

[bpicolo]

Will do. I'm in a good position to start (no shortage of python/aws experience), so the only fighting will be with the deep learning bits, hah.

Side note: Great job on making AWS setup/teardown straightforward. 90c/h is not terrible, but not cheap to accidentally leave on!

[jph00]

Regarding AWS, one participant has created a system that lets you use spot instances for the course. It's published on the forum. Great way to save $$$ (400% or more...)