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Fewer Computer Science Majors
skrysakj writes "USA today reports that there are fewer undergraduate students choosing computer science related majors in the USA. What really woke me up was their statement that only 6% of the worlds engineers are educated in the USA. Before there was a dot-com bubble to burst, I knew lots of *amazing* programmers and IT professionals who had non-IT degrees, so how is this new trend any different than before?"
about 75% of the worlds lawyers. maybe that why sco in such a pickle
Really? Because I really don't understand finite state automata then. Crud. :-)
-truth
I had a steady B+ in my AI class until I failed the Turing test...
I knew lots of *amazing* programmers and IT professionals who had non-IT degrees, so how is this new trend any different than before?"
Never let well-researched statistics get in the way of anecdotal evidence.
Students are now trying biology, nursing or other majors.
This line brought a smile to my face. Somehow I don't believe any computer nerds are saying, "Hmmm, maybe I'll go into nursing instead".
gather subjects in a room and recite out loud
..
==--==---==---
The Halting Problem: Given (m,n) does the Turing machine Tm halt when given the input n?
Prop 7.29. [The Halting Problem is unsolvable.]
There is no algorithm which will decide the halting problem for all pairs (m,n).
Proof: Suppose there is such an algorithm.
Then , there is an algorithm will decide the question:
does the Turing machine Tn halt when given the input n?
By Turing's thesis, this will correspond to a Turing machine T that will give a result 0 or 1 depending upon whether Tn halts or not for the input n.
Thus with input n we have T halts
(i) with output 0 if Tn halts with input n and
(ii) with output 1 if Tn does not halt with input n.
Here's a new Turing machine B:
Do T and when T halts, look for a non zero square on the tape.
If it finds a nonzero square, halt, otherwise, keep looking!
Thus for any n,
If Tn halts on input n, then B does not halt on n, and
if Tn does not halt on input n, then B does halt on n.
Now B is on the list of Turing machines, suppose B = TN.
So Does TN halt on input N?
If TN halts, then B doesn't halt... ooops B= TN
If Tn doesn't halt, then B halts... OOOOPs.
So there is no algorithm that will decide the Halting problem.
==--==---
observe reactions..remove those who stare blindly
and go: uh?. Send them to get a their MS Cert.
==---==--
Second test.
exclaim: GNU stands for GNU is Not Unix.
==--==--==
observe reactions..remove those who wont smirk.
Send them to get cisco certs.
Keep the rest.
- these are not the droids you are looking for -
hear hear!!
I'm a windows admin. I've been working with Windows since version 2.0, and NT since version 3.51 (couldn't get my hands on a copy of 3.1 when I was 14). Every job that I've had that has had MCSEs, MCPs, etc..., I end up taking over the majority of the department. It's not my intention when I go in, but the amount of incompetence that I see in these guys is astounding.
The problem with MCSEs, and more recently CCNAs (the only cisco cert that I still respect is CCIE, because it requires you to actually work) is that the people taking the tests rely on classes that guarantee you the cert or your money back, or they'll rely on braindumps to take the tests. They don't actually bother to learn anything. And then once they have the actual cert, they know nothing.
Fun things to ask MCSEs:
Name some commonly used services and their associated ports: ie ftp tcp/21 smtp tcp/25, pop3 tcp/110, rdp tcp/3389, netbios-session tcp/139, so on and so forth
also, ask them to describe the difference between similar basic protocols, like pop3 and imap4. I once had someone try to tell me that pop3 was mail, and imap4 was for file transfer, which while it's kinda sorta technically correct, it takes a lot of lenience to let that go.
And my personal favorite for getting the steam pouring out of their ears: ask them to think on their feet. Give them a weird scenario (server rebooting every 5 minutes on its own), and ask them how they'd troubleshoot it.
-- My childhood bathtoys were Toaster and Hairdryer
At the risk of being modded flamebait, my immediate reaction to the line you quote was to wonder whether the surprise was at the fact that there are people outside the USA.
Really? This doesn't surprise you at all? I read it twice and I still can't believe it. How can we be producing only 6% of the worlds engineers when I'm surrounded by imported students in my job at u of Illinois nuclear radiation lab? Do they just mean "6% receive bachelors degrees in the USA"? Otherwise I can't see why so many brilliant foreign students fly half way around the world to go to school in the middle of illinois surrounded by corn and only corn for miles.
"Learning to do A,B or C if X,Y or Z happens is NOT computer science!" :-)
Really? Because I really don't understand finite state automata then. Crud.
No, I think it just means that you, yourself, are not a finite state automata.
that is about the most deflating thing a 24-year-old game programmer 2 years out of college can hear.
jesus. thanks a lot.
I think I'll just ship myself off to a buddhist monastery now...
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Get back to me when my brain starts working.