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It Is Programmer Day - Why So Apathetic?
mikejuk writes: Programmers Day comes around every year and yet each year it seems to be increasingly ignored. Why, when we are trying to encourage children to take up all things computing, is Programmers Day such a big flop? If you've not encountered it before, the idea is that on a specific day we celebrate computer programmers. It is designated to be on the 256th day of the year, which in most years is September 13th and this year, 2015, it falls on a Sunday. If you don't know why it's the 256th day, then you probably aren't a programmer and there is no point in explaining. The usual suggestions for things to do on programmer day include telling jokes and other fairly lame stuff. How about instead: Teach someone to program just a little bit.
When is Plumber Day? Car Mechanic Day? Kindergarten Teacher Day maybe?
What?
Um, because the set of "${X} days/months" is a meaningless, stupid concept, curated by people without any meaningful claim to authority or unusual credibility?
This article's premise is about as sensical as asking why everyone named "Frank" isn't celebrating the fact that I live in North America.
we're all at work. Otherwise, we'll be replaced by several H1B's.
Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
It is mostly ignored because of the condescending attitude that too many programmers have. We're supposed to be encouraging young people to get into programming, and in the same breath belittle people who dont understand why it would be on the 256th day of the year?
I'm going to link an obligatory XKCD reference now: https://xkcd.com/1053/
... then you probably aren't a programmer and there is no point in explaining." THAT explains a lot.
We should have a day for the people who make my life miserable by filling it with endless updates to fix their poorly written software?
Your house isn't complete until the lawn is a perfect monoculture, you have a security system with a monthly fee, double pane windows, water filters, Ronco Turnip Twaddlers and a chic set of stainless steel cookware with copper bottoms now that teflon is bad, a king sized water bed, a 72 inch flat screen TV and a surround sound system, etc.
WTF is wrong with double-pane windows? They're an absolutely huge improvement over old windows in insulating your house. Do you like paying higher utility bills or something?
And what's wrong with stainless steel cookware with copper layers? It conducts heat better (meaning better and more even cooking), and it's easy to clean since you can take steel wool or even oven cleaner to it if you really need to. You can even get a nice set for a mere $100 these days.
And what's wrong with water filters? Tap water in many places tastes like shit.
Water bed? I haven't seen one of those in ages. Who the fuck still has a water bed? Those things went out with the 80s.
Clotheslines project such a negative, impoverished image that they are severely discouraged, and everyone must use a power hungry clothes dryer instead.
Clotheslines are nearly useless in places where the humidity is high.
Turn the heat setting down on your dryer to save energy and help your clothes last longer.
Red light cameras can increase safety
No, they don't. They don't look to see if the person maybe ran the light because some asshole was tailgating them and they were sure they'd be rear-ended if they slammed on the brakes to stop for the light in time.
The rest of your assessment mostly spot-on, except the bit about doctors. I think that may be a problem with some doctors, but most doctors don't have any way of profiting from prescribing drugs; they give you a piece of paper and you take it to Walgreens, who profits from selling it to you. Walgreens isn't giving them a kickback. The insurance company (who pays the doctor) sure isn't giving them a kickback, because the insurance company would prefer they didn't prescribe you anything, because that just costs them more money. And I have a hard time believing the pharma companies have some way to kickback to the doctors.