Not all vaccines are of equal worth. I once got into a long discussion with my kids' pediatrician, in which he eloquently defended vaccines in general, but at the end he shook his head and said, "well, the chicken pox vaccine...that was sort of forced upon us by the pharmaceutical industry". His point was that chicken pox is not that dangerous a disease, and that exposure to it provides better immunization than the vaccine. But it's a lucrative little industry, and the disease itself is a huge inconvenience to working parents. So it became required, but the motivation was questionable.
Vaccines in general are hugely beneficial, but it's also healthy to question each one. The combination of an overly-protective government and a greedy pharmaceutical industry could be dangerous.
Children are not empty vessels, sure you can beat them into the shape with enough force applied but not everything is due to outside influence.
Absolutely. My 2 girls (now 10 and 12) haven't watched TV since they were toddlers, and only recently got into some movies and computer games. They have been relatively sheltered from pop-culture gender biases. One is a tomboy who wears her hair short, and thinks a perfect day is 2 hours of swim practice, then some rock climbing and a run. The other plays flute, and would love to sit in the house all day and play with "My Little Ponies". They're best friends. Both are obsessed with Lord of the Rings. Neither has expressed any interest in computer science (although I have tried). There are some things that "nurture" just can't control.
Absolutely. I interview/hire a lot of software developers, and if you show up with a poorly-written resume, you're toast. If you can't be careful with the most important language in your arsenal (the one you use to communicate with other humans), how can I expect you to be careful with programming?
other advice: whatever you do, do it well...even if it's something you're not interested in. The worst thing is to give someone some grunt work, have them to a lousy job, and then have them ask for more interesting work. Kiss of death.
Don't sweat about the particular languages you're studying. Many of the best developers I've worked with didn't even have degrees in computer science or software engineering. I majored in Russian, and I've done ok...
Do study something besides computers. I work in finance, and if a person comes in with programming experience AND an understanding of finance, they immediately go to the head of the class. It sets that person apart from the pack. Make yourself unique, and chances are your job won't get outsourced.
let's say I'm Joe PC User, and I decide I want to ditch Windows and go with Linux. I do a Google search on "how to install linux", and the first hit is http://www.linux.org/docs/beginner/install.html. Cool. The first link is the Linux Pre-Installation Check List. Cool again; I'm on my way. The checklist is actually kinda verbose, but about halfway down, the actual checklist starts. First thing under assumptions: "You are interested in installing Linux on a PC (386 upwards)." Joe PC User says, what does 386 upwards mean? Well, I'll ignore it and move on. Assumption #3: "You have at least one 3½" floppy diskette drive on your system." Joe PC User says WTF? Do I really need that? Haven't seen one in years. Then there are several "You have downloaded, printed and read the latest version of...", and Joe PC User is beginning to think ugh, is this worth it?
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Not all vaccines are of equal worth. I once got into a long discussion with my kids' pediatrician, in which he eloquently defended vaccines in general, but at the end he shook his head and said, "well, the chicken pox vaccine...that was sort of forced upon us by the pharmaceutical industry". His point was that chicken pox is not that dangerous a disease, and that exposure to it provides better immunization than the vaccine. But it's a lucrative little industry, and the disease itself is a huge inconvenience to working parents. So it became required, but the motivation was questionable.
Vaccines in general are hugely beneficial, but it's also healthy to question each one. The combination of an overly-protective government and a greedy pharmaceutical industry could be dangerous.
Children are not empty vessels, sure you can beat them into the shape with enough force applied but not everything is due to outside influence.
Absolutely. My 2 girls (now 10 and 12) haven't watched TV since they were toddlers, and only recently got into some movies and computer games. They have been relatively sheltered from pop-culture gender biases. One is a tomboy who wears her hair short, and thinks a perfect day is 2 hours of swim practice, then some rock climbing and a run. The other plays flute, and would love to sit in the house all day and play with "My Little Ponies". They're best friends. Both are obsessed with Lord of the Rings. Neither has expressed any interest in computer science (although I have tried). There are some things that "nurture" just can't control.
Absolutely. I interview/hire a lot of software developers, and if you show up with a poorly-written resume, you're toast. If you can't be careful with the most important language in your arsenal (the one you use to communicate with other humans), how can I expect you to be careful with programming? other advice: whatever you do, do it well...even if it's something you're not interested in. The worst thing is to give someone some grunt work, have them to a lousy job, and then have them ask for more interesting work. Kiss of death. Don't sweat about the particular languages you're studying. Many of the best developers I've worked with didn't even have degrees in computer science or software engineering. I majored in Russian, and I've done ok... Do study something besides computers. I work in finance, and if a person comes in with programming experience AND an understanding of finance, they immediately go to the head of the class. It sets that person apart from the pack. Make yourself unique, and chances are your job won't get outsourced.
let's say I'm Joe PC User, and I decide I want to ditch Windows and go with Linux. I do a Google search on "how to install linux", and the first hit is http://www.linux.org/docs/beginner/install.html. Cool. The first link is the Linux Pre-Installation Check List. Cool again; I'm on my way. The checklist is actually kinda verbose, but about halfway down, the actual checklist starts. First thing under assumptions: "You are interested in installing Linux on a PC (386 upwards)." Joe PC User says, what does 386 upwards mean? Well, I'll ignore it and move on. Assumption #3: "You have at least one 3½" floppy diskette drive on your system." Joe PC User says WTF? Do I really need that? Haven't seen one in years. Then there are several "You have downloaded, printed and read the latest version of...", and Joe PC User is beginning to think ugh, is this worth it?