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A Congressman Who Can Code Assembly

Posted by Zonk on from the at-least-its-not-haskell dept.

christo writes "In what appears to be a first, the US House of Representatives now has a Congressman with coding skills. Democratic Representative Bill Foster won a special election this past Saturday in the 14th Congressional District of Illinois. Foster is a physicist who worked at Fermilab for 22 years designing data analysis software for the lab's high energy particle collision detector. In an interview with CNET today, Foster's campaign manager confirmed that the Congressman can write assembly, Fortran and Visual Basic. Will having a tech-savvy congressman change the game at all? Can we expect more rational tech-policy? Already on his first day, Foster provided a tie-breaking vote to pass a major ethics reform bill."

26 of 421 comments (clear)

  1. In other news by Harmonious+Botch · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...workers at the Illinois Voter's Department are investigating the results of the election. "We didn't know that a Diebold machine could register 68% for one candidate and 100% for another," said their spokesman.

    1. Re:In other news by A+beautiful+mind · · Score: 4, Funny

      ...and somehow the results were counted very fast!

      --
      It takes a man to suffer ignorance and smile
      Be yourself no matter what they say
  2. Now maybe... by Foobar+of+Borg · · Score: 5, Funny

    Now maybe he can hack into the C-Span system so that, when he gives a speech before the House, it shows him as "Bill Foster (D-1337)".

    --
    Similar to the upcoming US election results
    1. Re:Now maybe... by Sponge+Bath · · Score: 4, Funny

      Why would he want to be known as "Delete"?

      Because "backspace" sounds gay.

  3. What Assambly? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    8086? MIPS? ARM? Would be nice to know.

    1. Re:What Assambly? by RAMMS+EIN · · Score: 4, Funny

      That's so nerdy. A congressman can code assembly, and all you ask is "what kind?". I like. :-D

      --
      Please correct me if I got my facts wrong.
    2. Re:What Assambly? by TheRaven64 · · Score: 4, Funny

      It was my thought too. Well, my second thought. My first was 'he can code in assembly and FORTRAN and admits to knowing VB?'

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    3. Re:What Assambly? by frosty_tsm · · Score: 5, Funny

      It was my thought too. Well, my second thought. My first was 'he can code in assembly and FORTRAN and admits to knowing VB?'

      I sense a scandal brewing on just how much VB he knows...
    4. Re:What Assambly? by TooMuchToDo · · Score: 5, Funny

      "I am code contributor #9"

    5. Re:What Assambly? by TempeTerra · · Score: 3, Funny
      I sense a scandal brewing on just how much VB he knows...

      "But I want to say one thing to the American people. I want you to listen to me. I'm going to say this again: I did not code binary relations with that language, Visual Basic. I never told anybody to lie, not a single time; never. These allegations are false."
      --
      .evom ton seod gis eht
  4. Assembly language and VB? by rucs_hack · · Score: 5, Funny

    What kind of half breed freak is this guy?

    1. Re:Assembly language and VB? by Himring · · Score: 5, Funny

      What kind of half breed freak is this guy?

      Nazgul, once Kings of assembly, they now serve the dark lord....

      --
      "All great things are simple & expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope." --Churchill
    2. Re:Assembly language and VB? by rucs_hack · · Score: 3, Funny

      You witnessed anti-microsoft elitism.

      The loudest anti-VB crusaders were the same people where were all over the Java bandwagon, even though everything bad they had to say about VB applied equally to Java.

      Perhaps, I will admit there was a tendency to use non Microsoft controlled languages, but also we didn't learn much Java. We covered lots of obscure languages, too many to list here, and C/C++. The brief time we were taught Java wasn't exactly well organised, and it wasn't considered interesting as a language by most lecturers.

      As for myself I prefer C, although I have been seeing Python behind its back recently.
      Yes, Yes, I know when you start seeing another language it's probably time to break it off with your current language, but her structs are so, well, comfortable...

    3. Re:Assembly language and VB? by Goaway · · Score: 3, Funny

      Seldom has a username been so relevant.

  5. Don't get your hopes up by mnmn · · Score: 4, Funny

    ... he's a Visual Basic guy.

    --
    "Give orange me give eat orange me eat orange give me eat orange give me you." -Nim Chimpsky
  6. Re:thats great and all.. by Foobar+of+Borg · · Score: 5, Funny

    But I'd rather see a Congressman who can write sensible legislature.
    Well, maybe he can start drafting all the legislation he proposes using IF-THEN-ELSE statements. If anyone complains, he can declare the House to be full of n00bs.
    --
    Similar to the upcoming US election results
  7. As a scientist from fermilab... by nebaz · · Score: 4, Funny

    Not only can he code assembly, he has his own private store of antimatter.

    --
    Rhymes that keep their secrets will unfold behind the clouds.There upon the rainbow is the answer to a neverending story
  8. Re:thats great and all.. by SatanicPuppy · · Score: 5, Funny

    If he drafts it in assembly it'll probably be more readable than normal legislation.

    --
    ad logicam Claiming a proposition is false because it was presented as the conclusion of a fallacious argument.
  9. Re:thats great and all.. by rrohbeck · · Score: 5, Funny

    If he drafts it in assembly it'll probably be more readable than normal legislation. Thank goodness he doesn't know Perl.
    --
    thegodmovie.com - watch it
  10. My first question, Congressman ... by ClickOnThis · · Score: 4, Funny

    vi or emacs?

    --
    If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
  11. Re:thats great and all.. by IthnkImParanoid · · Score: 5, Funny

    But does he know LOLCAT?

    OH HAI

    IF MY_COOKIE.YOU_EATED_IT
      GOTO JAYL
    IF U.BE_TAKIN(MAH BUCKET)
      GIV_MEH_BAK(MAH_BUCKET)
      GOTO JAYL
    IF U.KILL(MY_MANS O MY_WOMANS)
      GOTO LECRIC_CHARE

    GIV_MEH(ALL_U_MONEY * .4)

    KTHXBYE

    --
    It's nothing but crumpled porno and Ayn Rand.
  12. Re:Well, if he's a FORTRAN programmer by Alinabi · · Score: 3, Funny

    If he's a FORTRAN programmer maybe he should run for the House of COMMONs instead

    --
    "You can't allow somebody to commit the crime before you detain them." [Condoleezza Rice]
  13. Re:Nerdiest president by Valdrax · · Score: 4, Funny

    That's nothing. The man was a freaking genius if rumors are true. Supposedly, he could write in Latin with one hand and in Ancient Greek in the other at the same time. Of course, that could just be legendary.

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  14. Correction by rsborg · · Score: 3, Funny

    This is almost as bad as watching "Sound of Music" and missing the part where Fräulein Maria has sex with Von Trapp halfway through the movie.
    That would have made it worth the rest :-)
    --
    Make sure everyone's vote counts: Verified Voting
  15. Re:Well, if he's a FORTRAN programmer by tomhudson · · Score: 5, Funny

    Actually, if he programs in assembler, he's not a congressman - he's an assemblyman.

  16. Re:thats great and all.. by Foobar+of+Borg · · Score: 3, Funny

    And then Bush vetoes the bill claiming "syntax error".
    :-) And after Congress overrides the veto, the Supreme Court prevents execution of the code saying "Segmentation Fault (core dumped)"
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    Similar to the upcoming US election results