IT'S CALLED POPULARITY! People will take interest in things that they understand and what they see in TV or in the news everyday. Computers are so wide spread, everyone seems to know what they are on one level or another. But, when you talk about some sort of deep scientific subject, such as Biogenetics - people's eyes glaze over and they say 'huh'? It also has to do with the amount that the particular topic affects their everyday life. It's not that they are ignoring them - it's just they don't understand. Why do most Americans and the press glorify movie stars? It's because it's something we understand, or something that affects our lives (they make us laugh or cry when we need an escape), and we see them in the press on a daily basis. More PR + Simplicity = POPULARITY.
It's funny because in this press release, they flamed Microsoft for IE 5.5. Okay - so, they don't like IE, they don't like Navigator - WHAT BROWSER _DO_ THEY LIKE? What the hell does this group do? Fuss at everybody because they don't support standards? From what I can tell, they don't really do anything. They aren't publishing any documents, they aren't on any standards boards, they don't sponsor any conferences or any training sessions - they don't do anything! Time to get out the Raid bug spray...
I don't see why computer recycling isn't more popular. Just because the processor is old - doesn't mean the other electronic parts are bad (unless they've been burnt out by lightning). They may not be able to be used in some of the latest computers, but these parts can be used in other electronic devices (or to repair them). Duh... Just doesn't make sense to me...
I personally know and work with Dr. Regis Magyar at AT&T (we work together in the Usability Assurance Engineering team on the HR Intranet) and he told me that he was badly misquoted. He won't go into all the details because he's still fuming over the article. Hopefully I can convince him to post what he *really* said on/. soon...
Obviously you haven't worked on any large programs... if you had, you can see why a graphical IDE is so much more valuable than using a text based editor... (for the record, I've been a developer for ten years and worked on a number of large projects... emacs does some great things, but it does hurt my eyes after about 12 hours of solid coding...)
Did anyone stop to think that the reason we have 'bugs' are because computers are like people - no two have the EXACT same configuration? There are thousands upon thousands of different hardware configurations. What would you do - write a different version for every single configuration? Get real... I agree that there needs to be clauses in the license that allow you to return software if it does not perform to expectations. If there was a regulatory commission, there is no way in hell that I would keep writing software. Some moron could sue me because he has some messed up configuration and say it's my fault... The entire article is just plain stupid... Change the license - don't take away our freedoms by creating some stupid regulatory commission crap...
Well, I don't know about anyone else - but your point doesn't work for me. I don't use tools to develop my software - every contract job I've had has been to solve a specific problem for a specific job. I can't just sit down and use some IDE and drag and drop code nor can I buy some book and it magically tells me how to solve a particular problem.
I'm not saying college is useless - but I just don't need it to do what I need to do. The books I am reading now and the technology I'm working with they don't teach in college...
I fully understand where you are coming from... I went to college for one semester and dropped out. I now work for a large telecommunications company and in a few weeks, I'm leaving to found my own startup doing Linux & network consulting.
While my other friends are getting burned out of college - I've already learned the practical skills needed... I can read books on my own and I can think for myself...
I'm very well rounded and have traveled all over the US on my own money... college is just a waste of time for me... I've got everything I need right now...
sometimes it's not about math... sometimes it's just plain common sense... I suck at mathematics - but I'm a damn good coder (or so everyone I work with and my professors at the college I dropped out of...)
I don't think you know what the hell you are talking about... Grades don't mean shit - college doesn't mean shit... If they did, I wouldn't be making a six figure salary only after two semesters of college...
I think this country is going to hell with all these lawyers wanting to sue over everything. We can't do anything in this country anymore without the threat of being sued.
I think I'll go move to some remote island in the middle of the Pacific... geez...
Slashdot Mirror
IT'S CALLED POPULARITY! People will take interest in things that they understand and what they see in TV or in the news everyday. Computers are so wide spread, everyone seems to know what they are on one level or another. But, when you talk about some sort of deep scientific subject, such as Biogenetics - people's eyes glaze over and they say 'huh'? It also has to do with the amount that the particular topic affects their everyday life. It's not that they are ignoring them - it's just they don't understand. Why do most Americans and the press glorify movie stars? It's because it's something we understand, or something that affects our lives (they make us laugh or cry when we need an escape), and we see them in the press on a daily basis. More PR + Simplicity = POPULARITY.
It's funny because in this press release, they flamed Microsoft for IE 5.5. Okay - so, they don't like IE, they don't like Navigator - WHAT BROWSER _DO_ THEY LIKE? What the hell does this group do? Fuss at everybody because they don't support standards? From what I can tell, they don't really do anything. They aren't publishing any documents, they aren't on any standards boards, they don't sponsor any conferences or any training sessions - they don't do anything! Time to get out the Raid bug spray...
I don't see why computer recycling isn't more popular. Just because the processor is old - doesn't mean the other electronic parts are bad (unless they've been burnt out by lightning). They may not be able to be used in some of the latest computers, but these parts can be used in other electronic devices (or to repair them). Duh... Just doesn't make sense to me...
I personally know and work with Dr. Regis Magyar at AT&T (we work together in the Usability Assurance Engineering team on the HR Intranet) and he told me that he was badly misquoted. He won't go into all the details because he's still fuming over the article. Hopefully I can convince him to post what he *really* said on /. soon...
Obviously you haven't worked on any large programs... if you had, you can see why a graphical IDE is so much more valuable than using a text based editor... (for the record, I've been a developer for ten years and worked on a number of large projects... emacs does some great things, but it does hurt my eyes after about 12 hours of solid coding...)
Did anyone stop to think that the reason we have 'bugs' are because computers are like people - no two have the EXACT same configuration? There are thousands upon thousands of different hardware configurations. What would you do - write a different version for every single configuration? Get real... I agree that there needs to be clauses in the license that allow you to return software if it does not perform to expectations. If there was a regulatory commission, there is no way in hell that I would keep writing software. Some moron could sue me because he has some messed up configuration and say it's my fault... The entire article is just plain stupid... Change the license - don't take away our freedoms by creating some stupid regulatory commission crap...
Well, I don't know about anyone else - but your point doesn't work for me. I don't use tools to develop my software - every contract job I've had has been to solve a specific problem for a specific job. I can't just sit down and use some IDE and drag and drop code nor can I buy some book and it magically tells me how to solve a particular problem.
I'm not saying college is useless - but I just don't need it to do what I need to do. The books I am reading now and the technology I'm working with they don't teach in college...
I fully understand where you are coming from... I went to college for one semester and dropped out. I now work for a large telecommunications company and in a few weeks, I'm leaving to found my own startup doing Linux & network consulting.
While my other friends are getting burned out of college - I've already learned the practical skills needed... I can read books on my own and I can think for myself...
I'm very well rounded and have traveled all over the US on my own money... college is just a waste of time for me... I've got everything I need right now...
sometimes it's not about math... sometimes it's just plain common sense... I suck at mathematics - but I'm a damn good coder (or so everyone I work with and my professors at the college I dropped out of...)
I don't think you know what the hell you are talking about... Grades don't mean shit - college doesn't mean shit... If they did, I wouldn't be making a six figure salary only after two semesters of college...
Sounds like something stupid like M$ would do...
I think this country is going to hell with all these lawyers wanting to sue over everything. We can't do anything in this country anymore without the threat of being sued.
I think I'll go move to some remote island in the middle of the Pacific... geez...