Switched to IT at a nation-wide health care company. Stress was a bit less, but still 'heads down'. Finally got out of IT in 2008.
Funny. I spent the last 3 years hacking code, gathering requirements, and meeting impossible deadlines. Then my job was sold to Indian programmers who do less and get paid just as much. I'm glad you got out, bro, but not all of us have such a smooth ride. I'm convinced the only answer is to work for yourself and make sure you have enough "brick-and-mortar" skills to keep the lights on.
Google may not be evil, but they/are/ a corporation, which means they are primarily concerned with their own persistence. If you actually want an index engine that "just reflects reality, [and doesn't] create it," I would suggest using a more open search plugin, such as majestic
And BTW, kdawson, well written article. I'd like more of these.
This just shows that if Linux had 95% marketshare on desktop, and Windows 0.5%, it would be the same thing but just turned around.
Absolutely FALSE! The numbers would be closer, but not equal. By definition, you cannot know all the vulnerabilities in "secret source" software, because they are simply not disclosed. This number is surely more than zero. Therefore, all other things being equal. open source will always prevail because the "secret" vulnerabilities will be fixed on OSS, while they still exist in secret source software.
Your employer can fire you for NO REASON. Conversely, you can quit your job for NO REASON.
They call it "employment at will", it is by mutual consent,
Hate to say it, but you're right. I know a lot of professional developers and software engineers, and none of them have any sort of contract. Everyone I know is an "at will" employee. Its just part of the game. The only thing you can't be fired for is something protected by law, like race, religion, etc.; but good luck proving that in court if you showed up 1 minute late for work... ever.
I'm not usually pro-union, but the fact that I have no rights at all with my employment causes me to live my life in constant fear of termination.
Ideal circles do not exist. Before human beings they didn't exist, and they still do not exist. We define them. [...]
And that is the beauty of it all! Can't you imagine a separate universe where PI is a rational number? Somehow, in some separate path of thought, they based their knowledge on 1*pi=1, 2*pi=2, etc.. Their mathematical theorems and laws would be equally true to ours, yet totally based in the supposed non-existent "ideal circle" world that you suggest.
Simply because we do not see it, does NOT mean that it doesn't exist. i.e., even if it exists, we still may not see it.
If that's accurate, then it goes a LONG way towards understanding why they'd ban a game like Wolfenstein, and why they're so adamant about banning sales of Nazi era items on eBay, etc. etc.
I believe that nazi symbols are illegal in Germany, creating the usual ironic effect whenever forms of expression are censored. That is, the act of censoring expression will bring more attention to that which is being eradicated.
Shouldn't this be a decision that consumers make? I buy a certain TYPE of set that enables this and I can see there dumb ass content a week earlier.. if not, then we get normal release times.
What a perfectly reasonable solution! However, you're falsely assuming that the MPAA or the FCC have any care whatsoever about the consumer. Its never been about the consumer, its about controlling and maintaining the status quo and the lifestyles of Hollywood royalty.
IBM PC compatible computers are those generally similar to the original IBM PC, XT, and AT. Such computers used to be referred to as PC clones, or IBM clones since they almost exactly duplicated all the significant features of the PC architecture, facilitated by various manufacturers' ability to legally reverse engineer the BIOS through clean room design
There is legal precedent for an engineer's right to figure out the bits and bytes of your interface. Therefore, the lockdown of the software is futile. I am fully within my right run my legally purchased software on whatever hardware I chose. The referenced case does refer only to hardware reverse-engineering, but one could easily expand that to a piece of hardware that exactly emulates the secret signals sent from the hardware to the OS to determine the the platform, in effect rendering any "blocking" of third party hardware completely useless.
Here here. The dirty little secret about out-sourcing is you always get what you pay for. Anyone with skill, talent, and expertise will be able to find a position making the money they are worth. Why? Because if not, they would eventually start a working for themselves and create their own position of wealth.
I'm sorry, but there's no way this should've fallen through QA cracks, because it should not have made it to QA in the first place....
So your solution to software quality problems is "don't make mistakes in the first place."? Have you ever released a production-level application before?
How does this fit in with the SoundExchange Rules of Extortion? Doesn't that "agreement" mean that the media cartels claim default ownership of all music? Therefore, this guys claim is moot because he needs to pay a fee to stream any music on the internet anyway.
sometimes I wish I had the balls to do that. I get that all the time from the higher-ups who think the EMR system is so simple because its "just a patient and procedure database"! People who think they can re-write 300,000 LOC in a weekend because they figured out to format a myspace page. Problem is, if I challenged them, they'd just fire me and hire some monkey who would take twice as long to do half the work. I'd be proven right. I'd be unemployed... but I'd be proven right!
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. - That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, - That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
In spite of what the boobs in Washington DC may try to do, this is indeed the foundation of the USA, and it continues to be the principles on which the republic functions. We are not "deluded morons."
two years after becoming the only American developer at my company, and I am starting to realize that "doing the needful" is not just an error in translation.
Here here. This 230 mpg crap just reeks of political spin, akin to "We just saved 2.5 million jobs!" (which refers to jobs that never existed to begin with) or "We cut the budget 5%!" (which means we SLOWED SPENDING INCREASES by 5%).
Mod points! I need mod points! Parent needs to be a +5 Insightful!
Abolition is not usually the answer (with rare notable exceptions). The answer is prudent application of the spirit of the law, which in this case means limiting the length of copyrights.
Most of the wealth of the world is held not by its citizens, but by corporations.
[Citation Needed]
There are many companies that are well in the red, meaning they haven't received any more money than they have paid out. In a very real sense, they have ZERO wealth. If they stay that way for too long, they become bankrupt. Corporations float stocks and bonds to generate capital, not wealth. When a citizen (or anyone) invests money in that corporation, it does not become the corporations money. They still have to pay it back.
Re:Software Projects vs. Traditional Projects
on
Why New Systems Fail
·
· Score: 1
All bridges are essentially "open source". Plenty of bridges have failed, but the failures are right out there in the open, ready to be studied by anyone who wants to build another bridge.
I'm afraid I can't understand your analogy. Perhaps if it were in terms of a car design failure...
the next killer application would be a desktop app that lets you do what facebook does, except that you own your data, and the core web service is really only a directory to enable peer to peer communications.
Hmm... now that I think about it, I think you were correct. Which means that my young brain instantenously made not only one programming discovery (syntax), but two (variable substitution). Thanks for reminding me!
And it was all because of that provocative blinking cursor....
this came with a syntax error. My second program was
print "hello"
And it worked. Over a decade later, I'm still programming. I'm not really convinced that "game" based programming systems do anything to inspire the young programmer. I say put them in front of a blinking cursor, the apt ones will just get it.
Slashdot Mirror
Switched to IT at a nation-wide health care company. Stress was a bit less, but still 'heads down'. Finally got out of IT in 2008.
Funny. I spent the last 3 years hacking code, gathering requirements, and meeting impossible deadlines. Then my job was sold to Indian programmers who do less and get paid just as much. I'm glad you got out, bro, but not all of us have such a smooth ride. I'm convinced the only answer is to work for yourself and make sure you have enough "brick-and-mortar" skills to keep the lights on.
Google may not be evil, but they /are/ a corporation, which means they are primarily concerned with their own persistence. If you actually want an index engine that "just reflects reality, [and doesn't] create it," I would suggest using a more open search plugin, such as majestic
And BTW, kdawson, well written article. I'd like more of these.
This just shows that if Linux had 95% marketshare on desktop, and Windows 0.5%, it would be the same thing but just turned around.
Absolutely FALSE! The numbers would be closer, but not equal. By definition, you cannot know all the vulnerabilities in "secret source" software, because they are simply not disclosed. This number is surely more than zero. Therefore, all other things being equal. open source will always prevail because the "secret" vulnerabilities will be fixed on OSS, while they still exist in secret source software.
Get a clue:
Your employer can fire you for NO REASON. Conversely, you can quit your job for NO REASON.
They call it "employment at will", it is by mutual consent,
Hate to say it, but you're right. I know a lot of professional developers and software engineers, and none of them have any sort of contract. Everyone I know is an "at will" employee. Its just part of the game. The only thing you can't be fired for is something protected by law, like race, religion, etc.; but good luck proving that in court if you showed up 1 minute late for work... ever.
I'm not usually pro-union, but the fact that I have no rights at all with my employment causes me to live my life in constant fear of termination.
we love you eldavojohn.
seriously.
Ideal circles do not exist. Before human beings they didn't exist, and they still do not exist. We define them. [...]
And that is the beauty of it all! Can't you imagine a separate universe where PI is a rational number? Somehow, in some separate path of thought, they based their knowledge on 1*pi=1, 2*pi=2, etc.. Their mathematical theorems and laws would be equally true to ours, yet totally based in the supposed non-existent "ideal circle" world that you suggest.
Simply because we do not see it, does NOT mean that it doesn't exist. i.e., even if it exists, we still may not see it.
If that's accurate, then it goes a LONG way towards understanding why they'd ban a game like Wolfenstein, and why they're so adamant about banning sales of Nazi era items on eBay, etc. etc.
I believe that nazi symbols are illegal in Germany, creating the usual ironic effect whenever forms of expression are censored. That is, the act of censoring expression will bring more attention to that which is being eradicated.
A quick google turned up this: http://www.wisegeek.com/is-it-really-illegal-to-display-the-swastika-symbol-in-germany.htm
Shouldn't this be a decision that consumers make? I buy a certain TYPE of set that enables this and I can see there dumb ass content a week earlier.. if not, then we get normal release times.
What a perfectly reasonable solution! However, you're falsely assuming that the MPAA or the FCC have any care whatsoever about the consumer. Its never been about the consumer, its about controlling and maintaining the status quo and the lifestyles of Hollywood royalty.
Apple, I ask you, how is this different than classic reverse engineering:
IBM PC compatible computers are those generally similar to the original IBM PC, XT, and AT. Such computers used to be referred to as PC clones, or IBM clones since they almost exactly duplicated all the significant features of the PC architecture, facilitated by various manufacturers' ability to legally reverse engineer the BIOS through clean room design
There is legal precedent for an engineer's right to figure out the bits and bytes of your interface. Therefore, the lockdown of the software is futile. I am fully within my right run my legally purchased software on whatever hardware I chose. The referenced case does refer only to hardware reverse-engineering, but one could easily expand that to a piece of hardware that exactly emulates the secret signals sent from the hardware to the OS to determine the the platform, in effect rendering any "blocking" of third party hardware completely useless.
Mr. Moffat is a graduate of Union College in Schenectady
Why Lord? Can't someone from Schenectady become famous for something other than being a crimial? I guess I'll have to be the first...
OK. fine. There was the Rivest
Here here. The dirty little secret about out-sourcing is you always get what you pay for. Anyone with skill, talent, and expertise will be able to find a position making the money they are worth. Why? Because if not, they would eventually start a working for themselves and create their own position of wealth.
Cheap labor is exactly that: cheap.
I'm sorry, but there's no way this should've fallen through QA cracks, because it should not have made it to QA in the first place....
So your solution to software quality problems is "don't make mistakes in the first place."? Have you ever released a production-level application before?
How does this fit in with the SoundExchange Rules of Extortion? Doesn't that "agreement" mean that the media cartels claim default ownership of all music? Therefore, this guys claim is moot because he needs to pay a fee to stream any music on the internet anyway.
sometimes I wish I had the balls to do that. I get that all the time from the higher-ups who think the EMR system is so simple because its "just a patient and procedure database"! People who think they can re-write 300,000 LOC in a weekend because they figured out to format a myspace page. Problem is, if I challenged them, they'd just fire me and hire some monkey who would take twice as long to do half the work. I'd be proven right. I'd be unemployed... but I'd be proven right!
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. - That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, - That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
In spite of what the boobs in Washington DC may try to do, this is indeed the foundation of the USA, and it continues to be the principles on which the republic functions. We are not "deluded morons."
hear hear!
The entire point of the American Experiment is that these rights are not bestowed by the government, and therefore cannot be taken away.
two years after becoming the only American developer at my company, and I am starting to realize that "doing the needful" is not just an error in translation.
Here here. This 230 mpg crap just reeks of political spin, akin to "We just saved 2.5 million jobs!" (which refers to jobs that never existed to begin with) or "We cut the budget 5%!" (which means we SLOWED SPENDING INCREASES by 5%).
Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics.
Mod points! I need mod points! Parent needs to be a +5 Insightful!
Abolition is not usually the answer (with rare notable exceptions). The answer is prudent application of the spirit of the law, which in this case means limiting the length of copyrights.
Most of the wealth of the world is held not by its citizens, but by corporations.
[Citation Needed]
There are many companies that are well in the red, meaning they haven't received any more money than they have paid out. In a very real sense, they have ZERO wealth. If they stay that way for too long, they become bankrupt. Corporations float stocks and bonds to generate capital, not wealth. When a citizen (or anyone) invests money in that corporation, it does not become the corporations money. They still have to pay it back.
All bridges are essentially "open source". Plenty of bridges have failed, but the failures are right out there in the open, ready to be studied by anyone who wants to build another bridge.
I'm afraid I can't understand your analogy. Perhaps if it were in terms of a car design failure...
the next killer application would be a desktop app that lets you do what facebook does, except that you own your data, and the core web service is really only a directory to enable peer to peer communications.
Give that man a cigar.
Hmm... now that I think about it, I think you were correct. Which means that my young brain instantenously made not only one programming discovery (syntax), but two (variable substitution). Thanks for reminding me!
And it was all because of that provocative blinking cursor....
My first program was in 1991 on a TI-something:
print hello
this came with a syntax error. My second program was
print "hello"
And it worked. Over a decade later, I'm still programming. I'm not really convinced that "game" based programming systems do anything to inspire the young programmer. I say put them in front of a blinking cursor, the apt ones will just get it.
I believe the idea you're talking about is the famous "how to build a tire swing" comic:
http://6thstreetradio.org/foruma/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=61#p76
(originally posted on stack overflow)