U.S. is a country of immigration. And most of its prosperity is built upon hard-working entrepreneurs & employees from all over the world. Although this concept has been challenged every now and then (e.g. by this administration).

Now, the white house would rather shut down the government over some "borderwall" issue. This action would put thousands of fed workers at their own risk; E-verify would be suspended also. Moreover, millions of potential immigrants into this great country would be affected, intimidated. As the shutdown goes into its 20th day, national parks are closed, the world's view on the executive branch of U.S. would also be shadowed for a even longer time.

People are vulnerable in different kinds of ways, as I encourage every one to learn more & help one another out, explore various possible options in their lives. Never miss a chance to learn and make new changes.

It is difficult to find a dream job, or even harder if you came from a disvantaged position. I hold great gratitude that we could have this great platform to share ideas and explore new knowledge.

In term of "solving" a problem, there are several levels we need to pursue:

(1) "Accepted": means that you can solve a given problem, coding it up, get "accepted";

(2) "Accepted anyway": means that you can solve the problem given some restrictions (e.g. can you solve it using divide & conquer ? ) and get accepted;

(3) "Analysis": means to analyze time & space, respond to a broader concept and view, solving even more challenging problems (like ones involving Distributed, Large-scale systems).

After accomplishing these levels for 100~200 problems, I am sure that you can crack most interviews no matter what :-) !