Yeah, well in your opinion fat people can't "control their weight merely by exerting a reasonably amount of conscious control over their diets" It's a common human problem. In principle you have the power to stop being a jackass, but in practice, you find that you cannot.
Don't forget that their decisions influence whether the company sinks or soars.
Theoretically. I haven't noticed this effect in practice. I'm fairly convinced that any semi-talented actor with the appropriate attributes (white, male, tall, executive hair and dress) could do just as well. It'd be interesting to study this scientifically...
In this context, I'd say that "not doing it, even though there are massive penalties" is the same as "not knowing how to do it". In my opinion, telling fat people to "just eat less" makes about as much sense as talking v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y to people who don't understand your language.
As for your own case, good for you! I've been working on it for 30 years and still don't have it licked...
If fat people could control their weight merely by exerting a reasonably amount of conscious control over their diets (i.e., will power), they would. Being fat is a miserable fucking experience, and no one would put up with it if they didn't have to.
IT is the new DP. That is, IT is the term people who have a businessy perspective on the world use to describe those computery things. It's "computers for suits".
Those who are technically talented, at least the ones I know, regard this as a term of derision.
CEOs don't get paid a fortune because that's what's needed to convince them to do an arduous job. They get paid a fortune because they're in a position to directly control how much they get paid, and they like being paid a lot. Think "pirate", not "drudge".
"Even with private health insurance, those who live unhealthy lifestyles have the net effect of increasing insurance premiums for everyone." If you're unhappy about that, you must be absolutely furious at people who violate traffic laws, which not only costs us all a lot of money, but kills tens of thousands of innocent people each year.
we simply don't have enough control over our profession to make this fly
Fortunately, computer programming is not a profession, it's an occupation.
Fortunately: because while there are people who have "computer programming" as their job title, there are an increasing number of occupations that require "computer programming", so any professionalization (entry exams, licensing, "oath of CP", guild of CP etc.) of computer programming would face stiff resistance.
Well, I agree that it's not a formally recognized profession, but there are some of us that try to (or wish we could) maintain professional standards of quality, ethics, etc., for the discipline. My point was that at present this is essentially impossible. I would guess that half of the projects I've been on have entailed a misrepresentation of the attributes of the software that would be considered outright fraud if pursued in a court of law. I'm not very happy about that situation.
As for other professions/occupations that require computer programming, I'm happy enough that everyone who wants to program learns as much as they wish, but there's a huge difference between a "professional"--someone who programs day in and day out over a period of decades, making a careful study of the discipline--and someone who programs on the side. The fact that outsiders often do not realize this and think of programming as some sort of "advanced typing" is one of the things blocking the professionalization of computer programming.
As for licensing exams, etc., I think you're mistaking the trappings of professionalism for the actual item. A church is not a building with a steeple on the top--a church is a community of people practicing certain religious ideas. Being a professional is first and foremost a mindset of the practitioner. Hopefully if a lot of people are doing it well, a certain external respect will accrue as well.
P.S. It's worth noting that trailing whitespace in Javascript may be significant. In particular, under some circumstances, a trailing end-of-line will be treated as if it were a semi-colon...
The result will be a language a lot like Python, but with code blocks wrapped in curly braces and no significant whitespace. Python's whitespace situation is arguably no different than Javascript's. That is, you need to begin each line with whitespace that shows the indentation of the block in question. If you don't, your code is crap. Python goes a little farther and requires that your code not be crappy in this way.
Also, non-leading whitespace is not significant in Python.
It may not by a w3c standard, but I'd rather use Flash. The vast majority of end users already have it downloaded, and it really is uniform across browsers/OSes, unlike w3c standards. At least I don't need 5 browsers and 2 boxes to test all the significant combinations. Well, you don't have to test to be sure that your Flash app probably won't run correctly under Linux, or for users who care about security (and will thus disable it), or for users who've given up after be pummelled with Flash ads, or on platforms that Flash doesn't support.
Javascript sure has it's problems, but at least their is FLOSS code with which to fix them. With Flash, Adobe can pull the rug out from under you any time they like, as they did with their SVG plugin.
I pledge to not release any code which I have not tested or have reason to believe is incorrect and/or incomplete, unless such code is clearly marked as "Alpha." I once had thoughts like these and I think it's a nice sentiment. I'm convinced now, though, that we simply don't have enough control over our profession to make this fly. We pretty much serve at the whim of businessy/non-technical types that will come in and change our requirements/procedures/schedules/standards/etc at will, and there's really little we can do short of quitting. I thank my lucky stars that I've never worked on a software project that could lead to someone's death (even indirectly, I hope).
[I once considered a "hobo code" for programmers--obscure symbols that you could mark code or an office with that would mean things like
this project is doomed,
this project is likely to incur a loss of $100 million as it fails,
this project will get people killed,
I would be fired if I told the truth about this project,
I would be killed if I told the truth about this project,
etc.,
as a warning to other prospective programmers. And yes--I have worked on some really awful projects.]
When and "AI" problem is solved, it is suddenly no longer an AI problem. Or the AI people will claim that things are AI solutions, when they are standard algorithms and data structures ideas. This sounds like Gandhi's step 3 (or whatever):
3. I knew it all along.
Seriously, a lot of things that are now "standard algorithms and data structures ideas" did originate in the AI community. As you say, once sufficient progress has been made on a problem that "requires intelligence", it's ironically no longer considered to be an AI problem.
If you ever make it to the Denver Convention Center, there's a great sign upstairs pointing out (in huge letters) the directions to "LOBBY'S A AND B" [sic]...
I don't know where that $89,000 number came from. Everyone in my group at Apple makes at least $225,000. Well, except for one guy who just spell-checks the docs--he makes $189,000. Man, if you're making under two hundred you're really getting reamed. I mean, damn. You are at least getting the yearly $100K bonus, aren't you? I'd really be pissed if I was missing out on that. That and the key to the Happy Endings room at the gym...
In particular, the key problem with FUBAR project appeared to be Mr Bob Winsom, whoever he is, who was clearly not technical or competent but believed he was. It would be comforting to think that this fiasco and the many others like it could be traced back to a single incompetent (or sociopathic) individual like Mr. Winsom, but after having experienced a number of these train wrecks first hand, I think this is too facile an explanation.
No doubt Winsom is an idiot, but getting rid of him would be about as effective as capital punishment is in eliminating murder (i.e., not very). The problem appears to be systemic and pervasive, like poverty or police brutality.
How can this problem be solved? I have few ideas and little hope. Gall's book The Systems Bible presents some interesting insights.
The one ray of hope currently is FLOSS, whose projects are often free of this particular sort of nonsense. The big problem, of course, is that there seems to be no good, general way to compensate good people for working on these projects...
Long experience has taught me not to get in the way of management wanting to due something stupid. My advice is to get some popcorn, stand back, and enjoy the show...
Slashdot Mirror
Don't forget that their decisions influence whether the company sinks or soars.
Theoretically. I haven't noticed this effect in practice. I'm fairly convinced that any semi-talented actor with the appropriate attributes (white, male, tall, executive hair and dress) could do just as well. It'd be interesting to study this scientifically...As for your own case, good for you! I've been working on it for 30 years and still don't have it licked...
If fat people could control their weight merely by exerting a reasonably amount of conscious control over their diets (i.e., will power), they would. Being fat is a miserable fucking experience, and no one would put up with it if they didn't have to.
Those who are technically talented, at least the ones I know, regard this as a term of derision.
CEOs don't get paid a fortune because that's what's needed to convince them to do an arduous job. They get paid a fortune because they're in a position to directly control how much they get paid, and they like being paid a lot. Think "pirate", not "drudge".
So fat people should "Just say 'No' to food"? Do you have any idea how idiotic you sound?
In other news, IBM debuts world's fastest punch card reader...
Fortunately, computer programming is not a profession, it's an occupation.
Fortunately: because while there are people who have "computer programming" as their job title, there are an increasing number of occupations that require "computer programming", so any professionalization (entry exams, licensing, "oath of CP", guild of CP etc.) of computer programming would face stiff resistance.
Well, I agree that it's not a formally recognized profession, but there are some of us that try to (or wish we could) maintain professional standards of quality, ethics, etc., for the discipline. My point was that at present this is essentially impossible. I would guess that half of the projects I've been on have entailed a misrepresentation of the attributes of the software that would be considered outright fraud if pursued in a court of law. I'm not very happy about that situation.
As for other professions/occupations that require computer programming, I'm happy enough that everyone who wants to program learns as much as they wish, but there's a huge difference between a "professional"--someone who programs day in and day out over a period of decades, making a careful study of the discipline--and someone who programs on the side. The fact that outsiders often do not realize this and think of programming as some sort of "advanced typing" is one of the things blocking the professionalization of computer programming.
As for licensing exams, etc., I think you're mistaking the trappings of professionalism for the actual item. A church is not a building with a steeple on the top--a church is a community of people practicing certain religious ideas. Being a professional is first and foremost a mindset of the practitioner. Hopefully if a lot of people are doing it well, a certain external respect will accrue as well.
P.S. It's worth noting that trailing whitespace in Javascript may be significant. In particular, under some circumstances, a trailing end-of-line will be treated as if it were a semi-colon...
Also, non-leading whitespace is not significant in Python.
Javascript sure has it's problems, but at least their is FLOSS code with which to fix them. With Flash, Adobe can pull the rug out from under you any time they like, as they did with their SVG plugin.
[I once considered a "hobo code" for programmers--obscure symbols that you could mark code or an office with that would mean things like
- this project is doomed,
- this project is likely to incur a loss of $100 million as it fails,
- this project will get people killed,
- I would be fired if I told the truth about this project,
- I would be killed if I told the truth about this project,
- etc.,
as a warning to other prospective programmers. And yes--I have worked on some really awful projects.]I'm always happy to see a company GPL code, but I have to say that having used both, I think ext3 is considerably more solid than AdvFS...
Seriously, a lot of things that are now "standard algorithms and data structures ideas" did originate in the AI community. As you say, once sufficient progress has been made on a problem that "requires intelligence", it's ironically no longer considered to be an AI problem.
If you ever make it to the Denver Convention Center, there's a great sign upstairs pointing out (in huge letters) the directions to "LOBBY'S A AND B" [sic]...
Yes, it may be that there is simply no solution at all. I sure can't see one...
I had one job somewhat like that about 15 years ago, and I didn't appreciate how great it was at the time.
No doubt Winsom is an idiot, but getting rid of him would be about as effective as capital punishment is in eliminating murder (i.e., not very). The problem appears to be systemic and pervasive, like poverty or police brutality.
How can this problem be solved? I have few ideas and little hope. Gall's book The Systems Bible presents some interesting insights.
The one ray of hope currently is FLOSS, whose projects are often free of this particular sort of nonsense. The big problem, of course, is that there seems to be no good, general way to compensate good people for working on these projects...
Long experience has taught me not to get in the way of management wanting to due something stupid. My advice is to get some popcorn, stand back, and enjoy the show...