Frequently Asked Questions

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If you’re planning to eat on the Las Vegas strip, I recommend the following restaurants:

• Carmine’s – best family-style Italian
• Gordon Ramsey Burger – best burgers
• L’Atelier – best French food
• Peppermill – best retro dinner food
• Tacos El Gordo – best street tacos
• The Steakhouse – best steaks
• Wicked Spoon – best AYCE buffet

If you’d like to head off-strip to try the great local food, I recommend the following:

• 888 Korean BBQ – best AYCE Korean BBQ
• Cafe Berlin – best German food
• Izakaya Go – best Japanese tapas
• John Mulls Meats – best beef ribs
• Kura – best conveyor-belt Sushi
• Marrakech – best Moroccan food
• Mr. Kim’s – best Korean BBQ
• Nabe – best AYCE Chinese hot pot
• Orchids Garden – best Chinese dim sum
• Pho Kim Long – best Vietnamese pho
• Poke Express – best traditional Hawaiian poke
• Sweet Honey – best Chinese desserts
• To See Roll – best modern poke bowls
• Via Brasil – best Brazilian steakhouse
• Weiss Deli – best Jewish deli
• Yummy Sushi – best sushi overall

Note: “AYCE” is short-hand for “All You Can Eat”

If you’re looking for a place to drink on the strip, I recommend the following:

• Downtown Cocktail Room – best vibe
• Hofbrauhaus – best German beer hall
• Nine Fine Irishmen – best Irish pub
• Skyfall Lounge – best view of the strip
• The Golden Tiki – best tiki bar (off strip)
• The Nerd – best nerd bar
• The Strat 108 – best view of Las Vegas
• The Tipsy Robot – best robot bar

If you’re looking for a place to drink off the strip, I recommend the following:

• Lost Spirits Distillery – best rum and modern cirque show
• The Golden Tiki – best tiki bar

For all of my work, I use a Dell XPS 17 9700 with an Intel i9-10885H 2.4 GHz CPU, an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 GPU, 64 GB of DDR4-2933 memory, and a Samsung 981a NVMe 2TB SSD. It’s a great laptop for both general computing tasks as well as software development, data science, AI, and ML.

It’s definitely more powerful than you would need for most basic AI/ML tasks. However, a laptop like this with a powerful multi-core CPU and GPU is quite valuable when you start training deep learning and reinforcement learning models.

If I need something more powerful, then I use a data science virtual machine on Microsoft Azure. I can scale it up or scale it down as necessary. It essentially gives me low-cost access to a GPU supercomputer if/when I need it.

I only have to pay for the actual compute power when it’s running. Then, once my model has been trained, I spin down the virtual machine and it doesn’t cost me anything when I’m not using it. Just be sure you don’t accidentally leave it running — the cost can add up quickly!

This combination of physical and virtual hardware has worked well for every project I’ve worked on so far.

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Here are a few things I recommend doing on the strip:

• Absinthe – see a bit of everything in one unique show
• Bellagio Conservatory – relax in a 14k sqft indoor botanical garden
• Climb Vegas – overcome your fear of heights with this indoor ropes course
• Container Park – experience a giant fire-breathing praying mantis
• Flamingo Habitat – relax in a 15-acre outdoor wildlife habitat
• Fountains of Bellagio – watch over 1,000 fountains dance to music
• Fremont Street – there are tons of things to see and do here
• Helicopter Tour – see Las Vegas from the sky either day or night
• Indoor Skydiving – experience skydiving without jumping out of a plane
• Las Vegas Sign – take your photo in front of the iconic sign
• Pinball Hall of Fame – play over 300 vintage and modern pinball machines
• Sandbox VR – shoot zombies and experience Star Trek in open-arena VR
• Shark Reef Aquarium – see more than 2,000 aquatic creatures
• Slotzilla – ride a zip line over the top of Freemont Street
• The Beatles: Love – the best Cirque du Soleil show in Vegas
• The Grand Canal – walk or float down an indoor Venetian canal
• The Mob Museum – learn the history of organized crime and law enforcement
• The Neon Museum – explore the history of Las Vegas through neon signs
• The Sphere – attend a concert in this 360-degree multi-sensory venue
• The Stratosphere – you can dine, drink, and ride thrill rides at the top
• The Tipsy Robot – let a robot make and serve you cocktails
• Zero Latency VR – shot zombies in open-arena virtual reality

Here are a few things I recommend off of the strip:

• Area 15 – it’s like a mall for hyper-sensory experiences — rather than shopping
• Atomic Museum – learn the history of the US nuclear weapons testing program
• Battlefield Vegas – shoot machine guns, sniper rifles, mini-guns, tanks, and more
• Dig This – learn how to operate real excavators, bulldozers, skid loaders, and more
• Ethel M Factory – learn how chocolate is made and taste the finished product
• Game Nest – a Japanese arcade; half the fun is figuring out how to play the games
• Lone Mountain – hike to the top and enjoy one of the best views of Vegas
• Lost Spirits Distillery – a rum-tasting experience mixed with a modern cirque show
• Omega Mart – an immersive journey into and surreal world for all ages (in Area 15)
• Springs Preserve – explore the history of Las Vegas before and after human settlement

Here are a few things I recommend outside of Las Vegas:

• Extraterrestrial Hwy – cycle 100 miles with almost no traffic near Area 51
• Hoover Dam – see one of the modern engineering wonders of the world
• Red Rock Canyon – hike, cycle, or drive along this scenic 13-mile stretch of road
• River Mountain Trails Loop – cycle or hike this 35-mile scenic trail
• The Grand Canyon – fly via helicopter for a truly amazing experience

Due to the number of messages I get about Visual Snow each week, unfortunately, I am no longer able to respond to each of them individually. However, I created a Visual Snow FAQ containing all of the most common questions that I get asked and my usual responses.

I know it’s not the same as a one-on-one conversation, but I sincerely hope it helps answer your questions and provides you with the support you need.