I have similar thoughts when I see/hear people mindlessly nattering away on cell phones - being alone with themselves seems to really unnerve them. When I was younger I was constantly amazed by the same scene/process that would play out countless times - you know the one, the "where/what shall we go/do now" discussion that would go on and on. It always seemed weird the number of friends who would end up going somewhere, or doing some activity, that they didn't really want to just so they would be with "the group" rather than being alone and doing something they actually enjoyed.
Most people work in environments that are never simultaneously quiet and private. I think this is one reason people still continue to choose cars rather than transit - it is the one time of the day when they are alone (in a relative sense) and can control their acoustic environment (again in a relative sense).
I don't know... maybe I spent too much of my youth in the wrong kind of bars but I can't get comfortable in an environment where people are constantly going by my back. I want an office and a door - I hate the open office plans that are so popular these days and cubicles are barely better.
I have lived in the country and in various cities and I completely agree with you - especially the loss of reserves. My ideal would be living in the country full-time. I'm a contractor and would gladly cut my rate by 50% for a reliable stream of work that could be done from 1-3 hours distance from the nearest urban center - as soon as I knew I had that I'd be out there and the city would only be for occasional cultural fare.
If the "good intentions" of those that are supposedly "well meaning" include my arrest for something that isn't illegal, why then yes, yes they do.
Please don't limit it to just arrest - good intentions of well meaning people never trump civil liberties. At least when it concerns constitutionally protected liberties then no matter how they are infringing your civil liberties if it is not done in a completely legal manner then your civil liberties do trump their well meaning intentions and they need to be brought up sharply and made to understand that being well meaning is not a get out of jail free card.
In fact it seems to me that the concept of "legally infringing civil liberties" is an oxymoron. If there is a legal limit to a certain liberty then it is not being infringed upon - the limitation is itself part of the definition of that liberty.
I agree. I don't know much about the PHP market in particular but it's been at least 20 years since I knew any contractors charging less than $40/hr. OTOH I'd say the way the economy is today demand may be pretty low for a new entry so start around $40/hr and work your way up - you should be getting $60-$90/hr after 3-4 years. And like everyone else says - don't quit your day job until you're financially secure.
I used to regularly drive in terrain where that was a serious issue. It was farming country and had been for well more than a century. The road beds had gradually sunk below the levels of the fields and/or possibly the fields grew higher from decades of planting and fertilizer application. When it snowed it was usually very cold so the snow was powdery and the result was that the slightest wind would blow snow over the fields and into the roads making for very long stretches of whiteout.
It was one lane in each direction and you couldn't see the end of your hood. So as much as you wanted to slow down if you did so you were really risking being rear ended by someone who literally couldn't see you until they hit you. And if you skidded at all you were into oncoming traffic that also couldn't see you. I usually tried to wait for an 18 wheeler to go by and then followed it - their cabs were usually above the level of the whiteout and you could pretty well count on them clearing away anything blocking the road ahead.
Geez yeah, I mean how could an old dude make anything look good? Especially stuff like technology that only the young can really relate to? And a balding old dude at that? And 40???? Man that's beyond old that's ancient! The mind fairly boggles!!! Makes me think of the last line in the old movie Wild In The Streets.
Ahhh then Buffet's action worked - good to know it prodded Gates into action! As for $94 Million vs $1 Billion - I'm sorry I was overly generous in my recollection of Gates initial endowment.
Well here's an interesting tidbit along those lines. When the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (or whatever it is called) was established Bill Gates was the richest man in the world and endowed it with something like $1 Billion. OTOH Warren Buffet, with less money than Gates, pledged to donate something like $30 Billion - to the Gates Foundation.
Well the "resources" in HR could be resources for humans who are employed there. But if you don't like that interpretation then there's this progression: Personnel Dept. managing persons -> Human Resources Dept. managing resources. But if leaving out the "human" part doesn't bother you, or a person being referred to as a resource - just like a stapler, photocopier or other piece of equipment, doesn't bother you well that's certainly your right. But for me it's just another ugly step in the homogenization and depersonalization of humanity.
Not to pick on you in particular but could we please stop referring to human beings as "resources" and so on? I keep seeing this and other similar words being used in HR postings. It dehumanises people in general and of course it makes it much easier to "de-allocate resources" rather than "fire Fred and all the other people on his team."
At least words like "Developer" imply a human being. One who happens to have certain abilities, but still a human being.
To many in 'business', being free means cheap. There are people who honestly believe that simply by paying more for something, it means its 'better'.
That was exactly my mother's view of things. To my shock and dismay I later found that most business people had the same mentality. As a favor I once offered to sell a piece of equipment to a cash strapped University department; they knew what I could get them was made in the same factory to exactly the same standards but would cost only $6K instead of the $30K being charged by a huge corporation. They just couldn't believe it could be as good at 1/6th the cost. And I quickly learned not to under price my time on software projects, because that would get me less work rather than more.
I agree - Knuth is one hell of a smart guy and TAOCP is well worth having.
And though it's a bit dated Aho et al Design and Analysis of Computer Algorithms; most anything by Hoare or Wirth; Foley et al on Graphics, Kay's original stuff, Goldberg's Smalltalk The Language book; Numerical Algorithms in [your choice of language]; Just Java; Designing Object Oriented User Interfaces by Collins; Object Oriented Analysis & Design by Booch; Object Oriented Modelling and Design by Rumbaugh et al; The Tacit Dimension (iirc); Kraft's Programmers and Managers... and so many more....
I haven't seen a good book on assembler in a long time and the ones I think are good are too dated for practical use.
Like many guard dogs, they will happily let you onto the property. They just don't let you back out again.
Depends on the dog(s)...:)
I awakened one morning - I still don't know exactly what made me wake up but I found there were four cops (looking for someone I knew) standing at my front door - which shouldn't have been, but was, now open - and there was my dog, a 120lb rotti cross, in the hallway about 4 feet from the door just sitting on his butt looking at them. No bared teeth, no barking, not the slightest bit of motion at all from him or the cops... but there was this noise coming from somewhere deep inside him... I guess none of the cops wanted to be the first one to move lol... I had to tell him I had a treat to get him to come away from the door before they did something dumb.
Years before that I had two wolf/dog hybrids. One day this census taker comes wandering into the back yard - trying to take a short cut I guess - and I could see this from my desk inside the house... anyway the dogs started running in circles around him and this twit just kept walking further in. The further in he came the smaller they made the circle. The guy still kept coming... way high on the stupid-o-meter. I'd seen the dogs hunting together on the farm and decided I better get out there. I lost sight of things while I was going through the house. When I finally get out back there are the dogs and the guy... he had finally stopped moving because each dog had taken an ankle and wrapped their jaws around it. At least he didn't try to fight. I was really proud of them though because when I called them off and he looked at his ankles they hadn't even broken the skin... I guess they were just gonna hold him until I came along and decided what to do with him lol!
The things is all these dogs were very gentle, happy and friendly creatures - they just knew when someone was somewhere that they weren't supposed to be.
The companies are complaining because they are hurting. They can't produce quality products as cheaply, as reliably, and as quickly as they would like. They correctly see a shortage of good developers as a part of the problem.
As "cheaply" as they'd like... that's the real problem. You want talent? You have to pay for it. Good, cheap, fast... pick any one.
But he's right that sticking talent into a process designed for the untalented isn't going to work. The problem is that most managers like that process because it gives them the idea they are actually in control of something... whether they are or not.
But we all contribute to the net which is distributed by the ISP's, so shouldn't we all get a royalty from the ISP's? Why is is only some people are going to get this tax? BTW this response is Copyright 2008 and I expect royalties from you and every other person reading it and any ISP letting it pass through their systems. I mean, that's how it's going to work - right?
For many years Canada was quite bilingual - every school kid across the country was forced to take French lessons from grade school on up. Hell it's been a lot longer than I want to think about since I've been in school but after taking a half dozen years of French classes in school, every day, I could probably still make it by for simple day to day stuff. That's in the past now though - it seems at some point the French became optional, which makes a lot of sense to me given that where I live there are about 1000 times as many people speaking Asian languages as there are speaking French. In fact I think there are more German speaking people here than French speaking.
As to what happened with the First Nations during the separatist vote it was fairly funny. Quebec separatists were saying "We are culturally distinct, we are a separate nation and we have the right to separate from Canada if we want to!" and the First Nations in Quebec were saying "We are culturally distinct, we are a separate nation and we have the right to separate from Quebec [if it separates from Canada] if we want to!"
To which the separatist response was something along the lines of "ummm, errr, ummm, NO! That's different! You can't leave a sovereign Quebec!"
In fact political ridings were analysed according to their separatist/non-separatist leanings and if each region in Quebec got to make the same choice (to stay or not) as the separatists wanted for Quebec then Quebec would have been pretty neatly split into a northern territory that was still Canadian (and had all the hydro) and a southern territory that was a separate country (but still wanted to use Canadian currency, Canadian passports etc. etc.).
Yep, all the people who did even worse than him in the election got together... and this is an improvement how?
By all means defeat the government in a confidence vote 3 months after the last election - then do the right thing and have another election so the people can express their opinion. My bet is the people who force that election will get their collective asses handed to them by an electorate who would like the fucking politicians to quit screwing around.
But that's just me.
you resorted to insults because Valdrax's arguments were far more sound than yours.
You are welcome to think that if you like. Obviously you agree with Valdrax and obviously you have no problem making unsubstantiated assertions about my motivations. Are those two things linked? Hmmmmm....
As for insults merely saying "Bah" in response to something is just silly. I took him to task for it. Lucky he has you to protect him.
As for who controls things I invite you to stop and take a look around sometime.
Who invests? Who runs industry? The people with money. And eventually that is women. What do you think women do when they inherit their husband's money? Bury it in the back yard? Hold quilting bees? No, they spend it, they donate to causes they believe in, they make political contributions, they run companies... and they'll be doing that for a good 10 years or more after their husbands kick off from work related stress...
If you think "men" are in charge you are suffering from a rather astonishing degree of ignorance. And by the way do you think saying "Bah" actually impresses anyone? I mean if you want to do sheep impressions by all means go ahead... lol.
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I have similar thoughts when I see/hear people mindlessly nattering away on cell phones - being alone with themselves seems to really unnerve them. When I was younger I was constantly amazed by the same scene/process that would play out countless times - you know the one, the "where/what shall we go/do now" discussion that would go on and on. It always seemed weird the number of friends who would end up going somewhere, or doing some activity, that they didn't really want to just so they would be with "the group" rather than being alone and doing something they actually enjoyed.
Most people work in environments that are never simultaneously quiet and private. I think this is one reason people still continue to choose cars rather than transit - it is the one time of the day when they are alone (in a relative sense) and can control their acoustic environment (again in a relative sense).
I don't know... maybe I spent too much of my youth in the wrong kind of bars but I can't get comfortable in an environment where people are constantly going by my back. I want an office and a door - I hate the open office plans that are so popular these days and cubicles are barely better.
I have lived in the country and in various cities and I completely agree with you - especially the loss of reserves. My ideal would be living in the country full-time. I'm a contractor and would gladly cut my rate by 50% for a reliable stream of work that could be done from 1-3 hours distance from the nearest urban center - as soon as I knew I had that I'd be out there and the city would only be for occasional cultural fare.
If the "good intentions" of those that are supposedly "well meaning" include my arrest for something that isn't illegal, why then yes, yes they do.
Please don't limit it to just arrest - good intentions of well meaning people never trump civil liberties. At least when it concerns constitutionally protected liberties then no matter how they are infringing your civil liberties if it is not done in a completely legal manner then your civil liberties do trump their well meaning intentions and they need to be brought up sharply and made to understand that being well meaning is not a get out of jail free card.
In fact it seems to me that the concept of "legally infringing civil liberties" is an oxymoron. If there is a legal limit to a certain liberty then it is not being infringed upon - the limitation is itself part of the definition of that liberty.
I agree. I don't know much about the PHP market in particular but it's been at least 20 years since I knew any contractors charging less than $40/hr. OTOH I'd say the way the economy is today demand may be pretty low for a new entry so start around $40/hr and work your way up - you should be getting $60-$90/hr after 3-4 years. And like everyone else says - don't quit your day job until you're financially secure.
I used to regularly drive in terrain where that was a serious issue. It was farming country and had been for well more than a century. The road beds had gradually sunk below the levels of the fields and/or possibly the fields grew higher from decades of planting and fertilizer application. When it snowed it was usually very cold so the snow was powdery and the result was that the slightest wind would blow snow over the fields and into the roads making for very long stretches of whiteout.
It was one lane in each direction and you couldn't see the end of your hood. So as much as you wanted to slow down if you did so you were really risking being rear ended by someone who literally couldn't see you until they hit you. And if you skidded at all you were into oncoming traffic that also couldn't see you. I usually tried to wait for an 18 wheeler to go by and then followed it - their cabs were usually above the level of the whiteout and you could pretty well count on them clearing away anything blocking the road ahead.
and carry chains!
Geez yeah, I mean how could an old dude make anything look good? Especially stuff like technology that only the young can really relate to? And a balding old dude at that? And 40???? Man that's beyond old that's ancient! The mind fairly boggles!!! Makes me think of the last line in the old movie Wild In The Streets.
Ahhh then Buffet's action worked - good to know it prodded Gates into action! As for $94 Million vs $1 Billion - I'm sorry I was overly generous in my recollection of Gates initial endowment.
Well here's an interesting tidbit along those lines. When the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (or whatever it is called) was established Bill Gates was the richest man in the world and endowed it with something like $1 Billion. OTOH Warren Buffet, with less money than Gates, pledged to donate something like $30 Billion - to the Gates Foundation.
Well the "resources" in HR could be resources for humans who are employed there. But if you don't like that interpretation then there's this progression: Personnel Dept. managing persons -> Human Resources Dept. managing resources. But if leaving out the "human" part doesn't bother you, or a person being referred to as a resource - just like a stapler, photocopier or other piece of equipment, doesn't bother you well that's certainly your right. But for me it's just another ugly step in the homogenization and depersonalization of humanity.
Not to pick on you in particular but could we please stop referring to human beings as "resources" and so on? I keep seeing this and other similar words being used in HR postings. It dehumanises people in general and of course it makes it much easier to "de-allocate resources" rather than "fire Fred and all the other people on his team."
At least words like "Developer" imply a human being. One who happens to have certain abilities, but still a human being.
To many in 'business', being free means cheap. There are people who honestly believe that simply by paying more for something, it means its 'better'.
That was exactly my mother's view of things. To my shock and dismay I later found that most business people had the same mentality. As a favor I once offered to sell a piece of equipment to a cash strapped University department; they knew what I could get them was made in the same factory to exactly the same standards but would cost only $6K instead of the $30K being charged by a huge corporation. They just couldn't believe it could be as good at 1/6th the cost. And I quickly learned not to under price my time on software projects, because that would get me less work rather than more.
I agree - Knuth is one hell of a smart guy and TAOCP is well worth having. And though it's a bit dated Aho et al Design and Analysis of Computer Algorithms; most anything by Hoare or Wirth; Foley et al on Graphics, Kay's original stuff, Goldberg's Smalltalk The Language book; Numerical Algorithms in [your choice of language]; Just Java; Designing Object Oriented User Interfaces by Collins; Object Oriented Analysis & Design by Booch; Object Oriented Modelling and Design by Rumbaugh et al; The Tacit Dimension (iirc); Kraft's Programmers and Managers... and so many more.... I haven't seen a good book on assembler in a long time and the ones I think are good are too dated for practical use.
It was a Tektronix, built in the 60's, but it still sold as soon as I made it available.
No doubt - a Tektronix scope made in the 60's will probably still be working after we're all dead. HP stuff used to be like that too.
Like many guard dogs, they will happily let you onto the property. They just don't let you back out again.
Depends on the dog(s)... :)
I awakened one morning - I still don't know exactly what made me wake up but I found there were four cops (looking for someone I knew) standing at my front door - which shouldn't have been, but was, now open - and there was my dog, a 120lb rotti cross, in the hallway about 4 feet from the door just sitting on his butt looking at them. No bared teeth, no barking, not the slightest bit of motion at all from him or the cops... but there was this noise coming from somewhere deep inside him... I guess none of the cops wanted to be the first one to move lol... I had to tell him I had a treat to get him to come away from the door before they did something dumb.
Years before that I had two wolf/dog hybrids. One day this census taker comes wandering into the back yard - trying to take a short cut I guess - and I could see this from my desk inside the house... anyway the dogs started running in circles around him and this twit just kept walking further in. The further in he came the smaller they made the circle. The guy still kept coming... way high on the stupid-o-meter. I'd seen the dogs hunting together on the farm and decided I better get out there. I lost sight of things while I was going through the house. When I finally get out back there are the dogs and the guy... he had finally stopped moving because each dog had taken an ankle and wrapped their jaws around it. At least he didn't try to fight. I was really proud of them though because when I called them off and he looked at his ankles they hadn't even broken the skin... I guess they were just gonna hold him until I came along and decided what to do with him lol!
The things is all these dogs were very gentle, happy and friendly creatures - they just knew when someone was somewhere that they weren't supposed to be.
Sounds like the book "The Marching Morons" by (iirc) C. M. Kornbluth.
The companies are complaining because they are hurting. They can't produce quality products as cheaply, as reliably, and as quickly as they would like. They correctly see a shortage of good developers as a part of the problem.
As "cheaply" as they'd like... that's the real problem. You want talent? You have to pay for it. Good, cheap, fast... pick any one.
But he's right that sticking talent into a process designed for the untalented isn't going to work. The problem is that most managers like that process because it gives them the idea they are actually in control of something... whether they are or not.
The Prime Minister decided to try and pass a budget that would cut funding to opposition parties
I could be mistaken but I believe it was cutting government funding to all parties, not just the opposition parties.
But we all contribute to the net which is distributed by the ISP's, so shouldn't we all get a royalty from the ISP's? Why is is only some people are going to get this tax? BTW this response is Copyright 2008 and I expect royalties from you and every other person reading it and any ISP letting it pass through their systems. I mean, that's how it's going to work - right?
For many years Canada was quite bilingual - every school kid across the country was forced to take French lessons from grade school on up. Hell it's been a lot longer than I want to think about since I've been in school but after taking a half dozen years of French classes in school, every day, I could probably still make it by for simple day to day stuff. That's in the past now though - it seems at some point the French became optional, which makes a lot of sense to me given that where I live there are about 1000 times as many people speaking Asian languages as there are speaking French. In fact I think there are more German speaking people here than French speaking.
As to what happened with the First Nations during the separatist vote it was fairly funny. Quebec separatists were saying "We are culturally distinct, we are a separate nation and we have the right to separate from Canada if we want to!" and the First Nations in Quebec were saying "We are culturally distinct, we are a separate nation and we have the right to separate from Quebec [if it separates from Canada] if we want to!"
To which the separatist response was something along the lines of "ummm, errr, ummm, NO! That's different! You can't leave a sovereign Quebec!"
In fact political ridings were analysed according to their separatist/non-separatist leanings and if each region in Quebec got to make the same choice (to stay or not) as the separatists wanted for Quebec then Quebec would have been pretty neatly split into a northern territory that was still Canadian (and had all the hydro) and a southern territory that was a separate country (but still wanted to use Canadian currency, Canadian passports etc. etc.).
Yep, all the people who did even worse than him in the election got together... and this is an improvement how?
By all means defeat the government in a confidence vote 3 months after the last election - then do the right thing and have another election so the people can express their opinion. My bet is the people who force that election will get their collective asses handed to them by an electorate who would like the fucking politicians to quit screwing around. But that's just me.
What else are you going to do with the time between now and your death?
Revenge?
you resorted to insults because Valdrax's arguments were far more sound than yours.
You are welcome to think that if you like. Obviously you agree with Valdrax and obviously you have no problem making unsubstantiated assertions about my motivations. Are those two things linked? Hmmmmm....
As for insults merely saying "Bah" in response to something is just silly. I took him to task for it. Lucky he has you to protect him.
As for who controls things I invite you to stop and take a look around sometime.
But go ahead - you may have the last word.
The comment was on who has the money now.
Who invests? Who runs industry? The people with money. And eventually that is women. What do you think women do when they inherit their husband's money? Bury it in the back yard? Hold quilting bees? No, they spend it, they donate to causes they believe in, they make political contributions, they run companies... and they'll be doing that for a good 10 years or more after their husbands kick off from work related stress...
If you think "men" are in charge you are suffering from a rather astonishing degree of ignorance. And by the way do you think saying "Bah" actually impresses anyone? I mean if you want to do sheep impressions by all means go ahead... lol.