I have been on one form of tobacco or another since I was 14 years old, and am now 49. I gave vaping a try about two months ago because even knowing no science, one can deduce that inhaling water (glycerine) vapor must be healthier than inhaling the fumes produced by the combustion of once-living dried plant matter. Upon further research, I could find NO evidence proving that any of the chemicals in (most brands of) vape e-liquids are harmful. Glycerine/glycol, nicotine and flavor, and that's it. So it started to seem, hypothetically, that I need not give up the chemical I have been addicted to and have enjoyed since my teens, but I can give up ALL of the bad crap in tobacco (I used chewing tobacco for 10 years as well), and all of the carcinogens and smoke and ashtrays and constant burns and lighters and coughing and smell and ash etc,, and then even save a butt-ton of money as well?? Too good to be true!! I thought if this were truly the case it would be all over the news and immediately show the potential to curb, if not eliminate, the two leading causes of death in the US, right?? Weird...
So I before I switched to vaping about two months ago I smoked 2-4 full-size premium cigars a day. Since I switched I have not had a single cigar or even a hit off of one. My lungs definitely feel better and I can breathe deeper, I have more energy, and have lost weight. No kidding. In every aspect I feel as though I have quit smoking. No more smell at home or ashes all over the car. Yes, I'm still getting the addictive chemical, but I feel as though my end-of-life clock is jumping ahead by days and months since I switched to vaping. But guess what, I'm still a smoker according to this ruling. My e-liquid nicotine levels have been reduced to 1/3 what they were when I started, and I'm about ready to go down another notch. Eventually I may be just be inhaling flavored steam. Still a smoker?
I agree about restricting access to anything with nicotine, and even the hardware (just like head-shops), but I think it will need to change soon enough once the science comes out about the difference in health risk data when comparing the two. Otherwise I have a feeling big insurance will twist this in a way to maximize profits while reducing claims, just like Uncle Sam. Just a hunch.
My story is similar to yours, except that I am 42 now and got my bachelors degree at 40. I am currently working on my masters degree and will finish in 2010 - at 43. I have been working in the IT industry for about 10 years so that is an advantage, but IMO I am just reaching my prime in the industry, and have plenty of growth ahead (and $$$).
As opposed to many certifications, a college degree LASTS FOREVER, so get one whether you think you are an old man or not. You will be thankful down the road. You will get hired upon completing the degree and after a few years in the field you will have many opportunities. You will be promoted to management faster (if you choose to go that direction) and will grasp concepts quicker than the younger crowd if your mind and passion is truly in the IT field.
The thing you have that no 22 yo graduate has is life experience. You know how people behave in situations from living many years more than the younger crowd. If you have a house, wife, kids, car payments, etc., this shows a level of responsibility that a youngster cannot claim at that point in their life.
As Nike used to say - Just do it! You will have no regrets - until the student loans come due of course...
Why are you linking that stuff here? You think anyone from and IT department that lauds the security of IE6 actually reads Slashdot?;)
I am from the CO state IT department (not a webdev), and frankly I find this thread hilarious! I only use FF and when this site didn't work the other day (I did not heed the warnings), I used my handy FF add-in, IE Tab.
Wow, I'm impressed! From someone who buys 3-4 CD's a year (and torrents the rest), I wondered how they may be able to compete with the hard-copy CD's where you get the CD and cover insert. Too many people like the "tangible" purchase and I always assumed a download option could never compete. Well I think this model is about to change. I downloaded the $5 version and was extremely surprised by what I got: 36 DRM-free songs (whether all good or not, it is 36 SONGS!!); a cool PDF with some great artwork; a bunch of wallpapers based on this artwork in normal and widescreen format; a bunch on NIN logos and graphics (for avatars or website graphics), and one of the coolest things IMO is that each song was already fully tagged, along with different covers for each song that display on your MP3 player (if capable).
Now could I have downloaded all this through a torrent or file sharing site? Well sure, but I felt good about this purchase for all I got, and it far surpasses what I would have received with purchasing a CD. And 5 bucks?? Come on, I'm not rich, but that is 2 beers at happy hour if you are lucky...
Even though the website says the reader handles "Unsecured Text: BBeB Book, Adobe® PDF, TXT, RTF, Microsoft® Word; Image: JPEG, GIF, PNG, and BMPit", not on one page did I see an image displayed on the reader. This is the most important feature for me as I read many IT books on PFD that include numerous diagrams, pictures, charts, pieces of code as a graphic, etc. I noticed it said it displays 800x600 resolution with 4 shades of gray, but why are there no examples of anything other than plain text? Are images something you do not want to even display on these? If anyone has more info, your insight is appreciated. That would be the difference between me buying one or not.
Your point is taken, but even if the story and plot are acceptable at face value, the atrocities occur at the blatent misuse of the English language. That cannot be overlooked.
So I thought too. I was actually asked this in an interview: "So obviously the entire company was not laid off, so why were you laid off and not the next guy?". This kind of hit me by suprise, but fortunately I had a good answer for this one: Our entire team was let go due to cutbacks. What if I didn't have a good excuse?
Slashdot Mirror
Oh, then will it run on my Cyrix?
I did and my computer (utility server) literally freezes every two hours until I rebuild it.. Yeah my bad :/ (2K10IP)
I have been on one form of tobacco or another since I was 14 years old, and am now 49. I gave vaping a try about two months ago because even knowing no science, one can deduce that inhaling water (glycerine) vapor must be healthier than inhaling the fumes produced by the combustion of once-living dried plant matter. Upon further research, I could find NO evidence proving that any of the chemicals in (most brands of) vape e-liquids are harmful. Glycerine/glycol, nicotine and flavor, and that's it. So it started to seem, hypothetically, that I need not give up the chemical I have been addicted to and have enjoyed since my teens, but I can give up ALL of the bad crap in tobacco (I used chewing tobacco for 10 years as well), and all of the carcinogens and smoke and ashtrays and constant burns and lighters and coughing and smell and ash etc,, and then even save a butt-ton of money as well?? Too good to be true!! I thought if this were truly the case it would be all over the news and immediately show the potential to curb, if not eliminate, the two leading causes of death in the US, right?? Weird...
So I before I switched to vaping about two months ago I smoked 2-4 full-size premium cigars a day. Since I switched I have not had a single cigar or even a hit off of one. My lungs definitely feel better and I can breathe deeper, I have more energy, and have lost weight. No kidding. In every aspect I feel as though I have quit smoking. No more smell at home or ashes all over the car. Yes, I'm still getting the addictive chemical, but I feel as though my end-of-life clock is jumping ahead by days and months since I switched to vaping. But guess what, I'm still a smoker according to this ruling. My e-liquid nicotine levels have been reduced to 1/3 what they were when I started, and I'm about ready to go down another notch. Eventually I may be just be inhaling flavored steam. Still a smoker?
I agree about restricting access to anything with nicotine, and even the hardware (just like head-shops), but I think it will need to change soon enough once the science comes out about the difference in health risk data when comparing the two. Otherwise I have a feeling big insurance will twist this in a way to maximize profits while reducing claims, just like Uncle Sam. Just a hunch.
I'll bet that if you switched the order of the middle two statements in the question, the percentages would vary enough to notice.
Slashdot de-dupe..
My story is similar to yours, except that I am 42 now and got my bachelors degree at 40. I am currently working on my masters degree and will finish in 2010 - at 43. I have been working in the IT industry for about 10 years so that is an advantage, but IMO I am just reaching my prime in the industry, and have plenty of growth ahead (and $$$).
As opposed to many certifications, a college degree LASTS FOREVER, so get one whether you think you are an old man or not. You will be thankful down the road. You will get hired upon completing the degree and after a few years in the field you will have many opportunities. You will be promoted to management faster (if you choose to go that direction) and will grasp concepts quicker than the younger crowd if your mind and passion is truly in the IT field.
The thing you have that no 22 yo graduate has is life experience. You know how people behave in situations from living many years more than the younger crowd. If you have a house, wife, kids, car payments, etc., this shows a level of responsibility that a youngster cannot claim at that point in their life.
As Nike used to say - Just do it! You will have no regrets - until the student loans come due of course...
Why are you linking that stuff here? You think anyone from and IT department that lauds the security of IE6 actually reads Slashdot? ;)
I am from the CO state IT department (not a webdev), and frankly I find this thread hilarious! I only use FF and when this site didn't work the other day (I did not heed the warnings), I used my handy FF add-in, IE Tab.
Wow, I'm impressed! From someone who buys 3-4 CD's a year (and torrents the rest), I wondered how they may be able to compete with the hard-copy CD's where you get the CD and cover insert. Too many people like the "tangible" purchase and I always assumed a download option could never compete. Well I think this model is about to change. I downloaded the $5 version and was extremely surprised by what I got: 36 DRM-free songs (whether all good or not, it is 36 SONGS!!); a cool PDF with some great artwork; a bunch of wallpapers based on this artwork in normal and widescreen format; a bunch on NIN logos and graphics (for avatars or website graphics), and one of the coolest things IMO is that each song was already fully tagged, along with different covers for each song that display on your MP3 player (if capable).
Now could I have downloaded all this through a torrent or file sharing site? Well sure, but I felt good about this purchase for all I got, and it far surpasses what I would have received with purchasing a CD. And 5 bucks?? Come on, I'm not rich, but that is 2 beers at happy hour if you are lucky...
Even though the website says the reader handles "Unsecured Text: BBeB Book, Adobe® PDF, TXT, RTF, Microsoft® Word; Image: JPEG, GIF, PNG, and BMPit", not on one page did I see an image displayed on the reader. This is the most important feature for me as I read many IT books on PFD that include numerous diagrams, pictures, charts, pieces of code as a graphic, etc. I noticed it said it displays 800x600 resolution with 4 shades of gray, but why are there no examples of anything other than plain text? Are images something you do not want to even display on these? If anyone has more info, your insight is appreciated. That would be the difference between me buying one or not.
Your point is taken, but even if the story and plot are acceptable at face value, the atrocities occur at the blatent misuse of the English language. That cannot be overlooked.
So I thought too. I was actually asked this in an interview: "So obviously the entire company was not laid off, so why were you laid off and not the next guy?". This kind of hit me by suprise, but fortunately I had a good answer for this one: Our entire team was let go due to cutbacks. What if I didn't have a good excuse?