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Russia's New Official Holiday — Programmer's Day
Glyn Moody writes "Russia's president, Dmitry Medvedev, has decreed a new holiday for his country: Programmer's Day. Appropriately enough, it will be celebrated on the 256th day of the year: September 13th (September 12th for a leap year). Do programmers deserve their own holiday ahead of other professions? Should the rest of the world follow suit?"
Because without programmers we'd still be hurling stones and whacking each other over the head with bone clubs.
I think, in what is fast becoming a fascist state of one part gangsterism and one part corporatism, the programmers they're talking about aren't the programmers you're thinking about.
ideopath @ play
Do programmers deserve their own holiday ahead of other professions?
No.
Should the rest of the world follow suit?
No.
Yeah, but it looks like they have a plenty of _real_ programmers. It's quite striking that MIT didn't win the ACM competition in at least 10 years:
# 2009 - Saint Petersburg University of Information Technologies, Mechanics and Optics, Russia
# 2008 - Saint Petersburg University of Information Technologies, Mechanics and Optics, Russia
# 2007 - University of Warsaw, Poland
# 2006 - Saratov State University, Russia
# 2005 - Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China
# 2004 - Saint Petersburg University of Information Technologies, Mechanics and Optics, Russia
# 2003 - University of Warsaw, Poland
# 2002 - Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China
# 2001 - St. Petersburg State University, Russia
# 2000 - St. Petersburg State University, Russia
# 1999 - University of Waterloo, Canada
# 1998 - Charles University, Czech Republic
Whoever modded parent "troll" is a jackass. Tetris really was a profoundly important game; given its popularity and the market it spawned, it's probably up there with, say, Visicalc and Mosaic on the list of (so to speak) game-changing software -- programs that weren't just commercially successful, but created a market for a whole new type of computing. Given that today's cell phone games -- many of which are very Tetris-like -- use more processing power than what was generally available on the desktop when Tetris was first introduced, dismissing its importance because it was "just a game" is a mistake.
The correlation between ignorance of statistics and using "correlation is not causation" as an argument is close to 1.
I think you have no idea how horrible things in Russia actually were before the Revolution. "Earn something for a full days work," bwahahaha. Yes, in retrospect Communism was a terrible mistake. But it didn't happen in a vacuum -- there was a reason people were willing to fight against the existing system.
The correlation between ignorance of statistics and using "correlation is not causation" as an argument is close to 1.
Communism is not perfect, and I like free market economy. But some things need to be said "NO" to.
You: "I want to work for 10 hours!"
Boss: "Oh, everyone! He can work for 10 hours, that means you can work for 10 hours!"
or:
Boss: "Look, that Other Company makes employees work 12 hours a day! That means we can do that too!"
Worker: "But, that's not fair..."
Boss: "Law doesn't agree!"
Some things need to be mandated through legislation. Is maximum work hours something to be mandated? I don't know, it depends on situation. If bosses don't abuse their power, then sure, sometimes I'd love to be able to work extended hours. But if you live in 19th century and you're a coal miner or a factory worker...
Would you allow child labor?
The worker doesnt have to go along with whatever the boss wants. It is a free country. If my boss said that he was going to pay me half of what I make now and ask me to work 16 hours a day I would quit. Sure bosses will try to get as much as they can, but that doesnt mean the workers have to go along with it. Other companies have to compete for workers. That is part of what makes the economy viable.
I am not a total free market ideologue, I do agree that some things need to be regulated. (particularly risk taking in the financial sector) But generally speaking I believe that workers and employers should be able to come to their own agreements with regards to compensation relative to amount of work done.
Good thing you skipped the 0th day.
2^0 = 1
Actually, programmers usually start counting from zero. So the 0th day would be January 1st.
I am not really here right now.
Good thing you skipped the 0th day. I'd be expect the conversations with the folks in HR would be less than productive.
Is there ever any other kind of conversation with the folks in HR?
Ah Russia, Poland and China... where software is free.
Maybe you should learn some Soviet history?
Criminal punishments for skipped workdays were in effect from 1940 to 1946 - essentially during the WWII.
Later, there were punishments for 'social parasitism' if you were unemployed for more than 4 consecutive months (not counting vacations, medical leaves, full-time education, etc.). And the Soviet government guaranteed employment for everyone.
So stop telling fictional horror stories. There were enough real horror stories about the Soviet regime.
Nice correlation. Now about that causation...
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