I agree with your observations, but not your conclusion.
The old fashoned notion of a career in the US is DEAD, most people don't work anywhere more than 10 years, and you can forget that thing called a pension, these days unions are almost actively looking for ways to fire people once they see that they are getting close to retirement. I've seen it happen with my own father, the only careers left in our country is starting your own business and running it.
The old fashioned notion of a career in one place may be dead, but I think of an ideal career as spanning multiple companies. I would hate to be in the same place from 21-65. Often, the best advancement you can make in a career is jumping to a new opportunity in a new place of employment. Obviously this is not a good idea every year but I like the idea of working in a place for 5-10 years, then moving on. Even if the chance for advancement internally exists, the likely hood that you would end up stagnant is pretty high. After 7 years with my last place of employment I choose to leave because I could see myself getting into a rut both from a personal development perspective, and from a career perspective.
But that is my experience, and that experience is in the tech industry. I will completely agree with you that the concept that a laborer (skilled or non-skilled) is going to have a devil of a time trying to find a company and stick with them through your entire career. As you pointed out with the Mexican immigrants doing backbreaking manual labor for less than minimum wage, there is real competition for jobs these days. Why on earth would a company want to pay $40k a year plus skyrocketing benefit costs for someone who would do the exact same work as someone in a third world country would do for $15k (if that?). For that matter, this is not just limited to labor, look at programming. Indian programmers are kicking our butts for less money.
The problem is, there is nothing really wrong with this, other than a desperate clinging to an outdated and obsolete way of doing things. You simply cannot have a successful career these days doing the same thing that millions of other people can do just as well who do not require as much money for it. The fact that I even have to make this point is absurd. Either you lower your desired standard of living or you find something else to do. Doing what you love is important, but if what you love is writing HTML then you are pretty much screwed unless you happen to be one of the best among a HUGE crowd.
I mean seriously, this is not a socialist utopia but there is no reason why a motivated person who is given access to everything that this country has to offer in terms of education and education assistance would have nothing more to offer to an employer than picking fruit or waiting tables. If your career goal is to do the same thing on an assembly line for 50 years then retire I feel bad for you, because it is clearly not going to work out that way and even if it did what kind of life is that? Again, just my opinion but to me the days when you could support yourself with just a working body are long gone, we in America need to start using our brains like the rest of the world has done.
Starting your own business is a perfectly valid choice, but not one I am prepared to make if only because I cannot tolerate the risk and do not want to deal with all of the legal and financial junk, I just want to do what I do. But you can decide to peruse something that interests you, that you have a knack for, and that is not a profession currently flooded with every Tom, Dick, and Harry trying for the same jobs. In 10 years my field may be ultra competitive and salaries may be driven down, but by then I hope to have moved on to something else that is emerging and/or in demand that I find interesting. You can do this in the IT industry alone but also between professions. The worst thing you can do is find a job, then stick your head in the sand and assume that the world will not change at all during your life and that your job will always be there.
That is very true. I have been lucky enough to always end up with the exciting, new, and creative type programming/integration projects. I imagine I would not make a very good assembly line coder though.
I'm certainly not suggesting that seeing a mental health professional should raise any red flags. However if someone had a medical history including a violent mental disorder, I'm not sure I would want that person running a daycare.
Besides alot of people will do alot of things for money, if your sister doesn't do what that company wants, I bet there are hundred of other in line behind her for that job.
Putting aside how disturbing that sounds out of context, that is not always the case. You generally have more bargaining power at this stage than you think. Consider that that the company just went through a process of posting a position, narrowing down the field to the few they want to interview, then choosing one and making the job offer. They may be able to just drop you and move to their second choice but then they may be excited about obtaining you as an employee and want to do whatever necessary to get you. They certainly do not want to go through that whole process again if there were no other viable candidates and they can avoid it.
Or look at it this way, if they can easily dump you without a second thought the moment you wish to discuss opting out of personally invasive investigations, or altering an overreaching IP agreement then they could easily dump you at any time and do not consider you all that valuable. Do you really want to work there?
If you are desperate and will do anything for money then suck it up and deal with whatever they want to do to you. If you are looking for a place to have a career then it might be worth not settling and continuing to look for employment elsewhere.
I understand that employers feel they need to protect themselves but they shouldn't be so paranoid as to limit their employee pool to only the financially stable, mentally stable and law abiding.
It really depends on the job though, doesn't it? I agree if you are hiring someone for a creative position (like programming) it is probably best to accept that the good people might not be perfectly "normal" (in a general society sense).
However, if you are hiring a teacher, or day care worker, or nurse, or anyone who needs to interact with people as a primary job function (especially vulnerable people) then you better damn well make sure they are mentally stable and law abiding.
When I was a kid I created D&D scenarios based around my school that were full of violence and so did plenty of other kids. This is entirely normal behavior. (Normal modulo being a D&D player, that is.)
When you were a kid I'm willing to bet you were not Asian right after an Asian shot up a school. I'd be willing to bet you were not doing this right after columbine either (or if so, nobody in authority knew about it).
Mad props (or whatever the kids are giving out these days) for using "modulo" conversationally, though. Huzzah!
Yank your kids from public school. Homeschool or send them to a private school of your choice.
Your solution only works if you (1) have the money to send them to a private school or (2) one parent (preferably and ironically* the smarter one) does not work and can home school the kid.
Plus, much like a normal person who snaps and goes on a rampage, you never know when an otherwise normal, responsible school administrator will flip out in a fit of ignorant paranoia and act like a frightened 4 year old. Witness the 15 year old in western PA who was put it jail for over a week because they though (with absolutely no evidence) that he placed a bomb threat. Look at this poor kid. There may have been warning signs that the schools administration was going to snap, but you never notice those warning signs until after it is too late.
The real moral of the story (and many like it) is this: Every single person in this country can be arrested on terror charges. There is nobody who, if I look hard enough, I won't find something suspicious about. And I don't have access to your library, purchasing, phone, and internet records like the government does. Although at this point the criteria for "suspicious" has been brought down to "Asian, gamer, has a hammer" so it really wouldn't even be a challenge.
* It's been a long day, and I cannot be bothered to determine if that is real irony or Alanis-style irony.
Not only that, but I'm pretty sure that people are buying the hell out of them, regardless of the price due to it simply being a Playstation.
I'm pretty sure they are not. Look at the sales compared to the other consoles out there, they are awful. Not to mention that fact that pretty much every target/gamestop/circuit city/bestbuy etc. has boxes of them sitting around.
I just got that error and thought: "I remember seeing a thunderbird 2.0 story on/. earlier, I wonder if anyone else ran into this and posted a solution there?" and dammit, you delivered:)
In the early morning hours of July 7, 2005, the Pennsylvania General Assembly passed pay increases for state lawmakers, judges, and top executive-branch officials. The vote took place at 2 a.m. without public review or commentary and Governor Ed Rendell signed the bill into law. The raise increased legislators' base pay from 16% to 34% depending on position....
Anger over the raise spawned several grass-roots movements, some geared toward voting out incumbents...
Despite the repeal, a total of 17 legislators were defeated in the 2006 primary elections including Senate President Pro Tempore Robert Jubelirer and Senate Majority Leader David J. Brightbill. They were the first Pennsylvania legislative leaders to lose a primary election since 1964.
The November 2006 General Election claimed several more members who supported the pay raise including House Minority Whip Mike Veon, and Reps. Gene McGill, Matt Wright, Tom Gannon and Matthew Good.
[2] The defeats were attributed to anger over the pay raise.
That would certainly call people to action in a way that warrantless wiretapping does not. However it is not happening. You notice all of the most anti bush admin people out there are still out there? Nobody critic of the Bush admin has disappeared that I know of, and I would certainly welcome being corrected if I am wrong.
The issue here is would you comply with this unlawful letter that the government sends you.
The Patriot Act is currently law, whether you like it or not. I happen not to, but there are plenty of laws that I disagree with that I am not willing to lay down my life over.
I will bet that the grandparent has not actually recieved one of these letters, so you cant fault him for not being put in the situation. He stated what he would do in that situation and so have you so lets stick to that.
Talk is pretty cheap on the internet, I am willing to bet 100% of the people in this discussion who talk tough about how they would risk it all to challenge an FBI letter would actually evaluate the risk vs. potential benefit to society (and likelihood of making any real difference with their stance) and fold. In fact we know that in real life everybody has. Not one single person has publicly (and non-anonymously) come forward to challenge one of these letters. Call me spinless if you desire, I am the only being being honest and not playing "tough guy fight the man patriot" from the safely of my laptop.
The hard thing for me to realize here is you say you care about your children. Does this not extend to the world they grow up in? If some child bearing tea thrower hadn't thrown that tea in the boston harbour, your childs future could have been alot different than it is today.
I've covered that, the American Revolution was over a lot more than warrantless wiretapping and collection of records without a judges order. Frankly I am not willing to go to war over that issue, especially when we see sanity slowly returning to the public and congress over it. If you have not noticed, the pendulum is swinging back, albeit slowly.
When is the situation bad enough? When is the time for civil disobedience?
You know, I have thought about that a lot and the only answer I can come up with is "we will know it it time when it is time". As I said before though, warrantless wiretapping and such does not hit home for enough people to be a real rallying point, I see more anger and call for civil disobedience over eminent domain abuse.
I say, the time is granted with the opportunity and I commend the author of this article.
As do I, but let us not get carried away with what he/she is actually doing. This person has tried multiple means of resistance (none of which have any risk of repercussions) and only now is anonymously releasing the letter. Gutsy sure, but not exactly the same as signing the declaration of independence in large bold letters.
If presented with the same situation, I believe I would do the same, but I would not publicly release the letter (in violation of the current law) and publicly challenge the FBI and end up in jail solely over the issue of whether of not the Patriot Act should allow record retrieval without a judge (end result being the records in question would be obtained anyway way). I also note that nobody else has either. This issue is simply not that important sorry to say. When the government is quartering troops in our homes I imagine most people will feel differently.
(1) You don't have kids. In general, they come first (except for when the breathing things drop in an airplane).
(2) What sacrifices have YOU made?
(3) Like I said, it is simple risk analysis. The Patriot Act absolutely will not be overturned because one small business owner decides to not comply with an FBI request, and anyone willing to throw away their family's lives to do that would be stupid. Devote your energies to educating the public, writing (or becoming) a congressperson, and other means which will not threaten your life first. Plenty of college kids consider the DMCA to be a fascist law as well but I don't see people lining up to be martyrs for that either (at least not intentionally) Basically unless you are currently in prison for standing up against an unjust law (pick one, there are plenty) then you have absolutely no business bitching when someone else does their own risk analysis and decides the realistic change to change the world is not worth the immediate consequences to their family. This includes every single person on/.
There is an order to these things, full scale civil disobedience was not the first choice of many of the American leaders prior to the revolutionary war. They tried diplomacy, petitioning parliament, and generally exhausting all other means before revolting, and our situation is not NEARLY as bad as it was then in terms of fascism (unless you look at the current tax rate, which would make our founding fathers wooden dentures fly across the room).
There will be time for civil disobedience, armed revolt, and fighting the power when things get REALLY bad and the situation warrants it. Obviously the overwhelming majority of this country does not believe it has yet, not even the most vocal Bush Admin/Patriot Act opponents.
let one of those youngin's do that
You might want to look into the history of social revolutions, because that is how it ALWAYS starts. The people who have the least to lose pretty much always get the ball rolling. Once momentum picks up, everyone else joins in. For the most recent example see the US Civil Rights movement.
I've had a pretty successful career, totally by accident, so here is my advice.
Do what you enjoy. That's it.
Everyone I know in IT who really enjoys what they do (to the point where they would probably do it as a hobby for free if they were independently wealthy), ends up being successful. They are passionate and competent, likely not because they are inherently smarter than anyone else, just that they spend more time learning, experimenting, and playing around with the technology they like and work with.
I also know people who picked their IT career (and decided to go into IT to begin with) based solely on the job market. Will I make more money with.net or Java? Are the more jobs available for an Oracle DBA or a Microsoft SQL DBA? If that is your primary consideration then you will probably be beaten out by the people who are passionate about their career choice and made it for other reasons. Honestly if you are really excited by databases (you sick bastard) then you should be interested in working with all of them and learning as much about both DB theory and the specific implementations as you can.
There are jobs out there for everything. If there is something out there that really gets you excited go for it. If you learn quick, really throw yourself into it and know your stuff, you will find employment. It might be more lucrative in the short term to trend hop, but if all you are interested in is the possibility of making big bucks then you should forgo IT and go into something like hedge fund management.
Me? I really dig identity management stuff. I've worked in academia with SAML, Kerberos, and PKI and in the corporate world with Oracle and Sun's IdM tools. A word of warning though: Find a field you enjoy, but do not get too hung up on a specific technology. I'm happy using my knowledge and experience in IdM to work with Infocard, SAML, PKI, LDAP, NIS, Xellerate, CoreID, Kerberos, AD, etc. I have my opinions as to what is best for what need, but I try to not be too much of a snob about it and limit my career that way. I've seen a lot of people go the "horse and buggy" way by latching on to a specific technology and refusing to let go when the world moved on.
The correct answer is most likely "every single one of them". Some because they did not want to end up in jail, lose their job, and financially devistate their families. Other, sadly, probably jumped at the chance to serve their country and git those damn terrorists.
Many would be willing to sacrifice their jobs and possibly freedom to stand up to a corrupt government, but how many are willing to financially devastate their families to do so? It always amuses me when (and I am not saying this is you) single college students look with distain at a middle aged homeowner with 3 kids who is not willing to chuck it all down the drain to stand up to a law he does not agree with.
It is simple risk analysis, when people see government terrorizing their own citizens and think "that could happen to me", that is when they stand up, damn the consequences. That is basically how it happens historically, but right now the abuse is not widespread (or public) enough to enrage the average citizen. In fact, I know more people thinking that a citizen revolt would be more likely triggered by the widespread (and blatantly public) abuse of eminent domain than patriot act abuses.
Slashdot Mirror
Which is why the bank should be calling your phone number and asking you to press "1" to authorize the transaction.
Making online banking useless unless you are at home.
Not to mention, every banking website I have ever used allows you to change your phone number there.
I agree with your observations, but not your conclusion.
The old fashoned notion of a career in the US is DEAD, most people don't work anywhere more than 10 years, and you can forget that thing called a pension, these days unions are almost actively looking for ways to fire people once they see that they are getting close to retirement. I've seen it happen with my own father, the only careers left in our country is starting your own business and running it.
The old fashioned notion of a career in one place may be dead, but I think of an ideal career as spanning multiple companies. I would hate to be in the same place from 21-65. Often, the best advancement you can make in a career is jumping to a new opportunity in a new place of employment. Obviously this is not a good idea every year but I like the idea of working in a place for 5-10 years, then moving on. Even if the chance for advancement internally exists, the likely hood that you would end up stagnant is pretty high. After 7 years with my last place of employment I choose to leave because I could see myself getting into a rut both from a personal development perspective, and from a career perspective.
But that is my experience, and that experience is in the tech industry. I will completely agree with you that the concept that a laborer (skilled or non-skilled) is going to have a devil of a time trying to find a company and stick with them through your entire career. As you pointed out with the Mexican immigrants doing backbreaking manual labor for less than minimum wage, there is real competition for jobs these days. Why on earth would a company want to pay $40k a year plus skyrocketing benefit costs for someone who would do the exact same work as someone in a third world country would do for $15k (if that?). For that matter, this is not just limited to labor, look at programming. Indian programmers are kicking our butts for less money.
The problem is, there is nothing really wrong with this, other than a desperate clinging to an outdated and obsolete way of doing things. You simply cannot have a successful career these days doing the same thing that millions of other people can do just as well who do not require as much money for it. The fact that I even have to make this point is absurd. Either you lower your desired standard of living or you find something else to do. Doing what you love is important, but if what you love is writing HTML then you are pretty much screwed unless you happen to be one of the best among a HUGE crowd.
I mean seriously, this is not a socialist utopia but there is no reason why a motivated person who is given access to everything that this country has to offer in terms of education and education assistance would have nothing more to offer to an employer than picking fruit or waiting tables. If your career goal is to do the same thing on an assembly line for 50 years then retire I feel bad for you, because it is clearly not going to work out that way and even if it did what kind of life is that? Again, just my opinion but to me the days when you could support yourself with just a working body are long gone, we in America need to start using our brains like the rest of the world has done.
Starting your own business is a perfectly valid choice, but not one I am prepared to make if only because I cannot tolerate the risk and do not want to deal with all of the legal and financial junk, I just want to do what I do. But you can decide to peruse something that interests you, that you have a knack for, and that is not a profession currently flooded with every Tom, Dick, and Harry trying for the same jobs. In 10 years my field may be ultra competitive and salaries may be driven down, but by then I hope to have moved on to something else that is emerging and/or in demand that I find interesting. You can do this in the IT industry alone but also between professions. The worst thing you can do is find a job, then stick your head in the sand and assume that the world will not change at all during your life and that your job will always be there.
Finkployd
That is very true. I have been lucky enough to always end up with the exciting, new, and creative type programming/integration projects. I imagine I would not make a very good assembly line coder though.
Finkployd
I'm certainly not suggesting that seeing a mental health professional should raise any red flags. However if someone had a medical history including a violent mental disorder, I'm not sure I would want that person running a daycare.
Besides alot of people will do alot of things for money, if your sister doesn't do what that company wants, I bet there are hundred of other in line behind her for that job.
Putting aside how disturbing that sounds out of context, that is not always the case. You generally have more bargaining power at this stage than you think. Consider that that the company just went through a process of posting a position, narrowing down the field to the few they want to interview, then choosing one and making the job offer. They may be able to just drop you and move to their second choice but then they may be excited about obtaining you as an employee and want to do whatever necessary to get you. They certainly do not want to go through that whole process again if there were no other viable candidates and they can avoid it.
Or look at it this way, if they can easily dump you without a second thought the moment you wish to discuss opting out of personally invasive investigations, or altering an overreaching IP agreement then they could easily dump you at any time and do not consider you all that valuable. Do you really want to work there?
If you are desperate and will do anything for money then suck it up and deal with whatever they want to do to you. If you are looking for a place to have a career then it might be worth not settling and continuing to look for employment elsewhere.
I understand that employers feel they need to protect themselves but they shouldn't be so paranoid as to limit their employee pool to only the financially stable, mentally stable and law abiding.
It really depends on the job though, doesn't it? I agree if you are hiring someone for a creative position (like programming) it is probably best to accept that the good people might not be perfectly "normal" (in a general society sense).
However, if you are hiring a teacher, or day care worker, or nurse, or anyone who needs to interact with people as a primary job function (especially vulnerable people) then you better damn well make sure they are mentally stable and law abiding.
Finkployd
When I was a kid I created D&D scenarios based around my school that were full of violence and so did plenty of other kids. This is entirely normal behavior. (Normal modulo being a D&D player, that is.)
When you were a kid I'm willing to bet you were not Asian right after an Asian shot up a school. I'd be willing to bet you were not doing this right after columbine either (or if so, nobody in authority knew about it).
Mad props (or whatever the kids are giving out these days) for using "modulo" conversationally, though. Huzzah!
Finkployd
Yank your kids from public school. Homeschool or send them to a private school of your choice.
Your solution only works if you (1) have the money to send them to a private school or (2) one parent (preferably and ironically* the smarter one) does not work and can home school the kid.
Plus, much like a normal person who snaps and goes on a rampage, you never know when an otherwise normal, responsible school administrator will flip out in a fit of ignorant paranoia and act like a frightened 4 year old. Witness the 15 year old in western PA who was put it jail for over a week because they though (with absolutely no evidence) that he placed a bomb threat. Look at this poor kid. There may have been warning signs that the schools administration was going to snap, but you never notice those warning signs until after it is too late.
The real moral of the story (and many like it) is this: Every single person in this country can be arrested on terror charges. There is nobody who, if I look hard enough, I won't find something suspicious about. And I don't have access to your library, purchasing, phone, and internet records like the government does. Although at this point the criteria for "suspicious" has been brought down to "Asian, gamer, has a hammer" so it really wouldn't even be a challenge.
* It's been a long day, and I cannot be bothered to determine if that is real irony or Alanis-style irony.
Finkployd
Not if we are talking about a laptop used potentially anywhere.
Finkployd
Not only that, but I'm pretty sure that people are buying the hell out of them, regardless of the price due to it simply being a Playstation.
I'm pretty sure they are not. Look at the sales compared to the other consoles out there, they are awful. Not to mention that fact that pretty much every target/gamestop/circuit city/bestbuy etc. has boxes of them sitting around.
Finkployd
I just got that error and thought: "I remember seeing a thunderbird 2.0 story on /. earlier, I wonder if anyone else ran into this and posted a solution there?" and dammit, you delivered :)
Disabled quickcam software and that fixed it.
Thank you
Finkployd
I tried this and it did not work. Perhaps "0EM Software" was not the best choice for a subject code though...
Finkployd
Feel free to sign those email addresses up for any lists you choose, based on the severity of their threats.
(just kidding)
Finkployd
Sometimes it even inspires a /. nickname
Finkployd
What about their past actions leads you to believe the RIAA is above planting mp3s on a harddrive?
Finkployd
You think congress cares about people?
Finkployd
In the early morning hours of July 7, 2005, the Pennsylvania General Assembly passed pay increases for state lawmakers, judges, and top executive-branch officials. The vote took place at 2 a.m. without public review or commentary and Governor Ed Rendell signed the bill into law. The raise increased legislators' base pay from 16% to 34% depending on position. ...
...
Anger over the raise spawned several grass-roots movements, some geared toward voting out incumbents
Despite the repeal, a total of 17 legislators were defeated in the 2006 primary elections including Senate President Pro Tempore Robert Jubelirer and Senate Majority Leader David J. Brightbill. They were the first Pennsylvania legislative leaders to lose a primary election since 1964.
The November 2006 General Election claimed several more members who supported the pay raise including House Minority Whip Mike Veon, and Reps. Gene McGill, Matt Wright, Tom Gannon and Matthew Good.
[2] The defeats were attributed to anger over the pay raise.
Piss people off enough and it does happen.
Finkployd
That would certainly call people to action in a way that warrantless wiretapping does not. However it is not happening. You notice all of the most anti bush admin people out there are still out there? Nobody critic of the Bush admin has disappeared that I know of, and I would certainly welcome being corrected if I am wrong.
Finkployd
The issue here is would you comply with this unlawful letter that the government sends you.
The Patriot Act is currently law, whether you like it or not. I happen not to, but there are plenty of laws that I disagree with that I am not willing to lay down my life over.
I will bet that the grandparent has not actually recieved one of these letters, so you cant fault him for not being put in the situation. He stated what he would do in that situation and so have you so lets stick to that.
Talk is pretty cheap on the internet, I am willing to bet 100% of the people in this discussion who talk tough about how they would risk it all to challenge an FBI letter would actually evaluate the risk vs. potential benefit to society (and likelihood of making any real difference with their stance) and fold. In fact we know that in real life everybody has. Not one single person has publicly (and non-anonymously) come forward to challenge one of these letters. Call me spinless if you desire, I am the only being being honest and not playing "tough guy fight the man patriot" from the safely of my laptop.
The hard thing for me to realize here is you say you care about your children. Does this not extend to the world they grow up in? If some child bearing tea thrower hadn't thrown that tea in the boston harbour, your childs future could have been alot different than it is today.
I've covered that, the American Revolution was over a lot more than warrantless wiretapping and collection of records without a judges order. Frankly I am not willing to go to war over that issue, especially when we see sanity slowly returning to the public and congress over it. If you have not noticed, the pendulum is swinging back, albeit slowly.
When is the situation bad enough? When is the time for civil disobedience?
You know, I have thought about that a lot and the only answer I can come up with is "we will know it it time when it is time". As I said before though, warrantless wiretapping and such does not hit home for enough people to be a real rallying point, I see more anger and call for civil disobedience over eminent domain abuse.
I say, the time is granted with the opportunity and I commend the author of this article.
As do I, but let us not get carried away with what he/she is actually doing. This person has tried multiple means of resistance (none of which have any risk of repercussions) and only now is anonymously releasing the letter. Gutsy sure, but not exactly the same as signing the declaration of independence in large bold letters.
If presented with the same situation, I believe I would do the same, but I would not publicly release the letter (in violation of the current law) and publicly challenge the FBI and end up in jail solely over the issue of whether of not the Patriot Act should allow record retrieval without a judge (end result being the records in question would be obtained anyway way). I also note that nobody else has either. This issue is simply not that important sorry to say. When the government is quartering troops in our homes I imagine most people will feel differently.
Finkployd
(1) You don't have kids. In general, they come first (except for when the breathing things drop in an airplane).
/.
(2) What sacrifices have YOU made?
(3) Like I said, it is simple risk analysis. The Patriot Act absolutely will not be overturned because one small business owner decides to not comply with an FBI request, and anyone willing to throw away their family's lives to do that would be stupid. Devote your energies to educating the public, writing (or becoming) a congressperson, and other means which will not threaten your life first. Plenty of college kids consider the DMCA to be a fascist law as well but I don't see people lining up to be martyrs for that either (at least not intentionally) Basically unless you are currently in prison for standing up against an unjust law (pick one, there are plenty) then you have absolutely no business bitching when someone else does their own risk analysis and decides the realistic change to change the world is not worth the immediate consequences to their family. This includes every single person on
There is an order to these things, full scale civil disobedience was not the first choice of many of the American leaders prior to the revolutionary war. They tried diplomacy, petitioning parliament, and generally exhausting all other means before revolting, and our situation is not NEARLY as bad as it was then in terms of fascism (unless you look at the current tax rate, which would make our founding fathers wooden dentures fly across the room).
There will be time for civil disobedience, armed revolt, and fighting the power when things get REALLY bad and the situation warrants it. Obviously the overwhelming majority of this country does not believe it has yet, not even the most vocal Bush Admin/Patriot Act opponents.
let one of those youngin's do that
You might want to look into the history of social revolutions, because that is how it ALWAYS starts. The people who have the least to lose pretty much always get the ball rolling. Once momentum picks up, everyone else joins in. For the most recent example see the US Civil Rights movement.
Finkployd
I've had a pretty successful career, totally by accident, so here is my advice.
.net or Java? Are the more jobs available for an Oracle DBA or a Microsoft SQL DBA? If that is your primary consideration then you will probably be beaten out by the people who are passionate about their career choice and made it for other reasons. Honestly if you are really excited by databases (you sick bastard) then you should be interested in working with all of them and learning as much about both DB theory and the specific implementations as you can.
Do what you enjoy. That's it.
Everyone I know in IT who really enjoys what they do (to the point where they would probably do it as a hobby for free if they were independently wealthy), ends up being successful. They are passionate and competent, likely not because they are inherently smarter than anyone else, just that they spend more time learning, experimenting, and playing around with the technology they like and work with.
I also know people who picked their IT career (and decided to go into IT to begin with) based solely on the job market. Will I make more money with
There are jobs out there for everything. If there is something out there that really gets you excited go for it. If you learn quick, really throw yourself into it and know your stuff, you will find employment. It might be more lucrative in the short term to trend hop, but if all you are interested in is the possibility of making big bucks then you should forgo IT and go into something like hedge fund management.
Me? I really dig identity management stuff. I've worked in academia with SAML, Kerberos, and PKI and in the corporate world with Oracle and Sun's IdM tools. A word of warning though: Find a field you enjoy, but do not get too hung up on a specific technology. I'm happy using my knowledge and experience in IdM to work with Infocard, SAML, PKI, LDAP, NIS, Xellerate, CoreID, Kerberos, AD, etc. I have my opinions as to what is best for what need, but I try to not be too much of a snob about it and limit my career that way. I've seen a lot of people go the "horse and buggy" way by latching on to a specific technology and refusing to let go when the world moved on.
Finkployd
The correct answer is most likely "every single one of them". Some because they did not want to end up in jail, lose their job, and financially devistate their families. Other, sadly, probably jumped at the chance to serve their country and git those damn terrorists.
Finkployd
Many would be willing to sacrifice their jobs and possibly freedom to stand up to a corrupt government, but how many are willing to financially devastate their families to do so? It always amuses me when (and I am not saying this is you) single college students look with distain at a middle aged homeowner with 3 kids who is not willing to chuck it all down the drain to stand up to a law he does not agree with.
It is simple risk analysis, when people see government terrorizing their own citizens and think "that could happen to me", that is when they stand up, damn the consequences. That is basically how it happens historically, but right now the abuse is not widespread (or public) enough to enrage the average citizen. In fact, I know more people thinking that a citizen revolt would be more likely triggered by the widespread (and blatantly public) abuse of eminent domain than patriot act abuses.
Finkployd
And inside the cave is a crying alien.
You mean video games might become more than a little meaningless button pressing between gloriously rendered cutscenes? The horror, the horror....
I didn't buy a system to actually play games, I bought it to see how realistically rendered the title character's hair is. DAMN YOU NINTENDO!
Finkployd