Is there anyone else here who is already sick of seeing greenhorns implementing LINQ left and right?
I personally, am not that impressed. Hype = more money for Microsoft and less maintainability for us designers.
I'd just like to say that this is a good reason for Nov. 4th to be a national holiday on election years. Then the highly trained technicians can afford to volunteer.
Too true. In Ohio 1% of people normally vote for the top name on a ballot. The first slot traditionally alternated between Dem. and Rep. every election. That is, until 2004 when K. Blackwell decided that Rep.s would keep the first slot two years in a row. Could have made a difference between winning and losing that year.
These guys are nothing short of awesome:). Only two days after the update. For those of us who couldn't possibly afford a Nintendo dev kit (or get one if we could since we're not publishers) this is the only way we're able to write games on an actual Wii.
Thanks Team TWiizers!
What I think worked so well about Bloom County was the evolving social commentary in the daily strip. The Sunday strips never were my favorite part of the series, 'never seemed well suited for the weekly one liners.
Since Opus started appearing in the Sunday comics again I've been opening the paper every week with my fingers crossed *hoping* to recapture some of the old charm. It never happened.
After all, nothing gold can stay. I'd rather stop seeing it in the paper, than see it walk further down the same road that Garfield did.
DCOM *shivers* One of my first jobs had a fellow obsessed with it. I got a lot of lectures about how, "DCOM is the future of programming!" (Which made me wonder if this was really what I wanted to do)
Just for fun, let's go through some of my other favorite M$ cheers and their consequences:
"OLE/COM, OLE/COM, rah rah rah!" -> [New guys comes in]"I can't maintain this drivel!!!"
"ActiveX, ActiveX, rah rah rah!" -> "Damn that service pack 2!"
"Notification Services, rah ra..." -> "Hey! We're only on version 1.3! Daaaaamn you M$! >:["
Usually, the simple solutions are the best, and that almost never involves M$'s latest and greatest. There's a guy two cubes away who can't wait to use LINQ in his next project *siiiigh*. They nev-er-learn-they-nev-er-learn.
Hey and let's not forget Global Solar either, because they produce thin-film coppe... oh wait... that's right... the article mentions both of them... slashvertising indeed...
I think what you're trying to say is the more a programmer buys into *hype* the worse they are.
I work in an Microsoft shop, I don't especially like using linux, and I enjoy the luxuries M$ products have to offer. That doesn't make me a bad programmer.
What makes someone a bad programmer is if they make design decisions based on what sounds cool instead of what makes sense (or if they put that stupid "_" in front of my member variables instead of using "this." because M$ said so... sorry, pet peeve)
Microsoft doesn't make money unless they hype up new technologies as "the next best thing". The truth is, as far as computer technology goes - we're really still in the stone age.
Just remember, treat the kids with the respect you'd give anyone else and they'll generally return it. Focus on the aspects of your work that *you* find interesting. Don't sugarcoat what you do. Kids are usually interested in what adults do - even accountants. They can also figure out if you're being disingenuous in a heartbeat - so keep it real.
They're remarkably smart, kids are. So for gods sake don't dumb it down. They should and probably do want to know what it's like in the working world.
Best of luck!
I posted this once in here already, but I think it's important for nerds as a whole to get this.
What sets a truly great piece of art out from all the rest is the intention of the artist when it was made.
The reason the vast majority of science fiction and video games will *never* be high art is because the intention of the artists usually are: 1. To Entertain. 2. To make a buck.
As long as that's the intention of the industry, it can be a *very* cool bit of software/writing/painting, but it won't be high art unless it defines a movement other than a fan club.
Art is how history remembers a culture, and while we have some small bit of high art coming from geekdom, most of what history will remember us for - is a cash cow for entertainment.
LOL. I know that was a joke, but I'd just like to point out that it wouldn't. I only go over to slashdot when I'm stuck on a problem. The process of reading and responding to articles helps me think. I almost always think of the solution mid-post.
After all, if you're in software you've got to tackle some pretty abstract problems. If you get stuck on something, sometimes the best thing to do is walk away from the problem for a while. Slashdot helps me do that - I consider it an essential tool.
Slashdot Mirror
Is there anyone else here who is already sick of seeing greenhorns implementing LINQ left and right? I personally, am not that impressed. Hype = more money for Microsoft and less maintainability for us designers.
I'd just like to say that this is a good reason for Nov. 4th to be a national holiday on election years. Then the highly trained technicians can afford to volunteer.
Too true. In Ohio 1% of people normally vote for the top name on a ballot. The first slot traditionally alternated between Dem. and Rep. every election. That is, until 2004 when K. Blackwell decided that Rep.s would keep the first slot two years in a row. Could have made a difference between winning and losing that year.
These guys are nothing short of awesome :). Only two days after the update. For those of us who couldn't possibly afford a Nintendo dev kit (or get one if we could since we're not publishers) this is the only way we're able to write games on an actual Wii.
Thanks Team TWiizers!
Yes I am. -- See?
Like a booby trap. I dunno, M$ is kind of like the US Government for me. I don't trust 'em.
Anyone remember him? I think Dr. Sbaitso shipped with the old SoundBlaster Pro cards. He was just as good at conversation as Elbot, and he talked!
It's an interesting article, but couldn't /. help the guy out with the text?
What I think worked so well about Bloom County was the evolving social commentary in the daily strip. The Sunday strips never were my favorite part of the series, 'never seemed well suited for the weekly one liners.
Since Opus started appearing in the Sunday comics again I've been opening the paper every week with my fingers crossed *hoping* to recapture some of the old charm. It never happened.
After all, nothing gold can stay. I'd rather stop seeing it in the paper, than see it walk further down the same road that Garfield did.
This is incredibly clever :D
What are you saying, that the election is really a big popularity contest?! I feel so disillusioned.
Not it part 2 it doesn't :D
Shoot by then we can just put garbage in our DeLoreans and fly :)
DCOM *shivers* One of my first jobs had a fellow obsessed with it. I got a lot of lectures about how, "DCOM is the future of programming!" (Which made me wonder if this was really what I wanted to do)
Just for fun, let's go through some of my other favorite M$ cheers and their consequences:
"DDE, DDE, rah rah rah!" -> "Crap our technology's been obsoleted..."
"OLE/COM, OLE/COM, rah rah rah!" -> [New guys comes in]"I can't maintain this drivel!!!"
"ActiveX, ActiveX, rah rah rah!" -> "Damn that service pack 2!"
"Notification Services, rah ra..." -> "Hey! We're only on version 1.3! Daaaaamn you M$! >:["
Usually, the simple solutions are the best, and that almost never involves M$'s latest and greatest. There's a guy two cubes away who can't wait to use LINQ in his next project *siiiigh*. They nev-er-learn-they-nev-er-learn.
Hey and let's not forget Global Solar either, because they produce thin-film coppe... oh wait... that's right... the article mentions both of them... slashvertising indeed...
>>>"Microsofty" the programmer is
... sorry, pet peeve)
I think what you're trying to say is the more a programmer buys into *hype* the worse they are.
I work in an Microsoft shop, I don't especially like using linux, and I enjoy the luxuries M$ products have to offer. That doesn't make me a bad programmer.
What makes someone a bad programmer is if they make design decisions based on what sounds cool instead of what makes sense (or if they put that stupid "_" in front of my member variables instead of using "this." because M$ said so
Microsoft doesn't make money unless they hype up new technologies as "the next best thing". The truth is, as far as computer technology goes - we're really still in the stone age.
The sad part is that most people will read that and think, "Well, that makes sense."
The fact checking is something I wish they would do live during the debate. Maybe a ticker at the bottom.
Still, this is a step in the right direction!
Just remember, treat the kids with the respect you'd give anyone else and they'll generally return it. Focus on the aspects of your work that *you* find interesting. Don't sugarcoat what you do. Kids are usually interested in what adults do - even accountants. They can also figure out if you're being disingenuous in a heartbeat - so keep it real.
They're remarkably smart, kids are. So for gods sake don't dumb it down. They should and probably do want to know what it's like in the working world. Best of luck!
Unfortunately, common sense is not a job requirement for running a large company. I just wish they would let me buy a dev kit if I wanted one :(.
Well, I for one thought mario kart wii was a huge blast. My kids and I love it.
By the end of their story Rosencrantz and Guildenstern gave up on trying to find explanations to the universe. Damn it, heads again!
I posted this once in here already, but I think it's important for nerds as a whole to get this.
What sets a truly great piece of art out from all the rest is the intention of the artist when it was made.
The reason the vast majority of science fiction and video games will *never* be high art is because the intention of the artists usually are: 1. To Entertain. 2. To make a buck.
As long as that's the intention of the industry, it can be a *very* cool bit of software/writing/painting, but it won't be high art unless it defines a movement other than a fan club.
Art is how history remembers a culture, and while we have some small bit of high art coming from geekdom, most of what history will remember us for - is a cash cow for entertainment.
LOL. I know that was a joke, but I'd just like to point out that it wouldn't. I only go over to slashdot when I'm stuck on a problem. The process of reading and responding to articles helps me think. I almost always think of the solution mid-post. After all, if you're in software you've got to tackle some pretty abstract problems. If you get stuck on something, sometimes the best thing to do is walk away from the problem for a while. Slashdot helps me do that - I consider it an essential tool.
Aint that the truth! Speak it brother!