An unstable C program only reflects on the skills (or lack of them) of the programmer, not the language. Same thing about how fast you can write it. I don't think that your poor C language skills (I am guessing they are poor based on what you said) means that C is a bad language or crash prone.
As far as reusability of C code, I frequently reuse large sections of codes (entire procedures, etc...). You can make your code quite modular if you apply yourself - yes, even in C. (Hmmm... what did I say about poor skills?)
Don't like perl? Don't use it! But for those that know how to use it (more people than you think), it is a great language, extremely powerful, and guess what? Definetely for you if you try to cut down on development time. By the way, slashdot is mostly written in perl as I understand it. Slashdot must be evil...
Now, let's talk about jaaaaaaavaaaaaaaa... I am not a performance freak, believe me! I do believe getting a better box (better CPU, etc) is often better than spending days obtimizing thousands of lines of C code. But I have yet to use a single java application or applet that wasn't desperately sluggish - even on the fastest CPUs, even just a "hello world" type of application. And believe me, I have (reluctantly) used many of them, some of them written by the masters at javasoft. So maybe it took less time to write it. Does Mr Joe-Shmoe-End-User care? nope. He doesn't care if it took you 9 hours or 30 mins, he is the one that has to put up with those crappy applications. I guess yor argument is only valid if the end user is only second in the list of the developer's priorities. You wouldn't be the first person/company to think that way. Not the last either, but that doesn't make you right.
The US has a long history of going their own way as far as telecom is concerned. TV signal (analog and digital) is one of them, but probably the most amazing of these difference is cellular communications. Europe and Asia (I don't know anything about Africa or Australia) uses GSM. So what does the US have to do? Use their own system (TDMA, etc.). Actually, what am I thinking! They use several digital systems, since an AT&T digital cell won't work on the Bell Atlantic network, etc... It's silly, it's annoying, and it's inconvienient for the user and for themselves (they could share a lot more of their towers if they could just agree on one standard - GSM).
Although, aside from the cell phones, Europe is not necessarily a whole lot better. For analog TV, France uses PAL, Belgium (and most of Europe - methinks) uses Secam... But at least I don't think Europeans makes any new mistakes like that (could be wrong - i am belgian but i live in the us, my european info may be a bit stale).
Ever heard of DHCP? Pretty much all dial-up ISPs use it. The IP in your log could have been (and probably was) reassigned to another user that does not have dreamcast. Not to mantion, like some other people suggested - a lot of ISP have firewalls that won't accept incomind requests like that.
As several people have pointed out now, your experiment means aboslutely nothing. sorry!!
Hmmm.... Unlike companies like SGI, Sun is not and has never been a Linux advocate. In fact, eventhough Sun is very much part of the same Unix community as Linux, they have been saying some of the same stuff as M$ has about it. You have to remember, that Linux is much more a thread to Sun (and their Solaris) than it is to Microsoft. And it's not just in the OS business, if Solaris were to become obsolete (by Linux or another OS from Redmont), their (very lucrative) hardware business is also in jeopardy.
With that being said, I am in no way putting down their products - they are excellent (IMHO). I merely stating my interpretation on how Sun feels about Linux.
I have never used this program, and I don't know if they still have it because I can't find any reference to that program on their website. But they used to have a "trade in" your older versions for a discount on the new version.
If you're really interested in that, maybe you can dig into this further.
Only with mayo? Hell no! As a belgian I am proud to say that most "fritterie" havea very wide variety of sauces one can put on "french" fries... Including a sauce called "american" which i have never seen in the states....
I suspect that most H1B holders like myself got their degrees in the US, so your company is probably the exception rather than the rule. Either way as the first reply to your post was: it seems like your company needs to review its policies regarding its overseas division:)
I am a H1-B worker and I want to clarify a few facts for those that don't know anything about it and those that seem to be confused (which includes our Indian Anonymous Coward).
An H1-B is a visa that your employer gets for you. The employee has nothing to do - except get the stamp from the ambassy, which is pretty much guaranteed since INS approved the H1-B. The employer can get you a visa that last 1 to 3 years at a time, and it can be renewed until you reach a maximum of 6 years. (in other words, you can get 2 three year visa in your life time, or 6 one year visa, or 3 two year visa, etc.). The visa is fairly easy to get as long as you are qualified for the job AND - as a requirement for the Labor Certification (from the Labor Department) - you are paid at least 95% of what they think you should be paid for what you do in your area. Assuming that there are visas available, it only takes a couple of months - if that.
SO - not only does the law prevents you from being grossly underpaid (you can't get the visa to begin with if you are), but from my experience, I am most definetely not underpaid considering that I make a little less that $70,000 and I graduated from college about 1 year ago. Also I live in the Pennsylvania, so it's not like housing is sky high like in NYC or Silicon Valley - just to put my salary in perspective.
I am very happy with my job so I have not tried, but switching companies is not a big deal. Well, everything is relative I suppose - your new employer does have to file another petition with INS but considering the pretty short processing time (at least at the Vermont service center) it is not the end of the world, and you won't "waste" any of the 6 year limit. Yuo can also have 2 jobs at the same time I believe, but once again I am busy enough with one - I didn't look into that:)
Why do I want or need an H1-B? Like myself, a lot of foreign students get one year of "Practical Training" at the end of their studies. If you get an internship and they like you enough to keep you, they may get you an H1-B which will buy them time to get you a Green Card. The H1-B is fairly easy to get (although companies will still use immigration lawyers to get them - just to be safe) while the Green Card is a little bit more complicated but also takes A LOT more time. In my case, I am on the "fast track" for the Green Card and that will still take a little less than 3 years:) The H1-B gives me the opportunity to work while the application is processed, as opposed to wait home or something.
If I quit my job would my company cancel me green card application? Probably. In fact I am pretty sure, so yes I suppose if I want that Green Card badly enough I am tied to the company I am with for 3 years. But that's not to say that another company wouldn't willing to apply for the Green Card either... Besides, since I work for a consultant firm I can work pretty much for anyone and STILL be technically employed by the same person, so who care!
Lotus Notes is groupware and very popular in corporate america. Like my company (a very large fortune 500 that will remain unamed). A few of my coworkers use linux as a desktop machine and go through this huge convoluted work-around to run Notes (something along the line of using wabi to run the 16 bit version of Notes) which makes notes even more sluggish than it mormally is.
I love linux and I would love to use it as a desktop, but until i can use my corporate mandated groupware package (notes) i will not do the switch.
maybe you can take this as an example of why it would be desirable for the the linux community to have a port of Lotus Notes.
I am Belgian, and bashing the french people is definitely a hobby we take VERY seriously. We're quite good at it too. And you can't say that it's not fair, because the french do spend an awful lot of energy at bashing belgians:) we kid because we love...
That being said: The article from the BBC is a bit misleading it seems. are we surprised? Can't blame the british for being a bit defensive. open your history book: french vs. england is not exactly new.
It seems that they have no intention or pretention to replace GMT as a world (or even national) standard. They are merely reviving an old concept ("Meridien de Paris") and make an end of the millenium ceremony out of it. It actually sounds like a great idea! It's both a look back to the past, and a look ahead to the future. And a great way to involve a lot of french people (not just from paris) into a peaceful demonstration. The more i think about it, the more i like it! While americans obsess about the bad things that may happen (Y2K "bug" is a bit over-rated. My honest opinion as a software engineer), the french will be having fun:)
And by the way, to all the americans that seem to believe that the french people are some of the most hated people on the planet: not even close! Americans are definetely it! (in some countries, they actually want to kill them pretty badly, last time i checked nobosy felt that strongly about the french). Now before you start flaming me, i want to point out that i live in the US and do not dislike americans. just pointing out a fact that most americans may not realize...
Even if you actually did do a professional-type benchmark (and I don't see how you could - you wouldn't have the resources to do it) - let's say a couple of months ago, it'd be irrelevant because Linux improves DRAMATICALLY faster than NT could ever dream off. Your benchmarks are obsoleted even before you have the time to write a paper on them.
Lastly, something that cost more is not neccessarily better. Never has, never will. It's really a pretty common sense rule, and it doesn't even apply to only the software field. It's pretty much true for everything. It does take an idiot to believe that more money == greater quality. (sorry, I don't usually insult people, but the temptation in this case was just to great. he asked for it)
I could go on why linux is better than NT (and speed is not a factor) but it's really not worth doing in this thread.
Moderating down because you dissagree about something is simply wrong. Abuse should be reported to Rob Malda.
YES. In a mass-moderation system (where the mass is mostly biased towards linux it seems) what you're describing is likely to happen sometimes. But I've read a lot of slashdot comments and I have not seen a whole lot of that. Not to say it doesn't exist, but I don't believe it is/has been bearly as bad as a problem as the first poster is this threat has described it.
Combine an anti-linux bias, with arrogance, midly offensive remarks and pretty much off-topic to being with, chances are the moderator will have no mercy.
I have not read your previous posts, so I can't say any specifics as to why those would get moderated down.
But based on this posts of yours, I can tell of 2 potential reasons why you would be moderated down:
off topic - you may have a valid point, but is it relevant to this conversation? in the case of this post, I could argue either way.
inflamatory - your post is trying to make a point in a very similar way that the mindspring spammer used: mildly inflamatory and/or insulting. Not a very good approach - especially if you're looking for help.
With that being said - if you ever felt that people were abusing of their moderator priviledges you could (and should) email Rob Malda.
At the risk of being a little bit repetitive (from other posts), if you want a "support contract" for Linux, you can buy one. Several companied do offer them, including Red Hat. While it would not be polite (I would not recommend it), they probably will tolerate a certain level of abuse from you (whether you do it on purpose or just out of fustration) - after all you're a paying customer. But if you expect help from newsgroups, bulletin boards, or places like slashdot, you may need to rethink your approach. A lot of people will be very helpful if you just take the time to be polite and describe your problem in enough details.
you're kind of missing the point of DVD (or DiVX for that matter). The nice thing about DVD is the movies! Higher resolution, AC3 sound, languages, and features...
As far as software is concerned, well, who cares? There are a few, but basically why bother? Most application I know fit just fine on a single CD-rom, some take 2-3 CDs, but hey! you only load it once. Of course, there is the whole realm fo video games, and maybe that's what you're talking about.
But regardless, as said before, you're missing the point entirely. Although DVDs can be used for software, it's forte is for the movies. If you're not interested in movies, don't bother even considering DVDs. Software would not be a compelling enough reason to buy a DVD, even if there were lots of titles available.
even if it did affected the iris scan, who cares - just go to your bank and get another picture taken. not like you're gonna get laser surgery every week or anything
I know there are only 3 such ATMs yet... But we are talking about the future - where presumable this would replace the current card model.
Do you only use your ATM card at your own bank??? I can use my Bank card (which is a Visa logo on it) pretty any ATM in the world. I have yet to find an ATM in the U.S. that won't take it, and so far I have also used it in Belgium, France, UK, Italy, Taiwan, Japan and Hong-Kong (I know I am missing a few country, but you get the point)...
In the hypothetical case where the Iris-thing becomes the worldwide standard on ATM (where are many many years away from that) a thief would just have to wait around an ATM, grab any random person (whether that person was just passing by, or actually intended to use the ATM is irrelevant - pretty much every living person in the western world has a bank account and an ATM card of some sort), force him to look in the camera to widthraw his cash.
It will be extremely easy to steal money.
As I said, the iris thing is definetely convienient (no need to remember to bring a card or remember a code), but as far as safety, i am not comfortable with it. At least not without a secret code of some sort in conjunction with it.
Everybody has been talking about the possibilities of getting one's eyeballs ripped out of their face... Well, regardless or whether or not that would work (and it seems it wouldn't), I see an even greater danger than that! Kidnapping! Plain and simple!
here is the scenario i am imagining...
you're walking somewhere, not suspecting anything bad.
a stranger comes next to you, tell you he has a gun, to be real quite. maybe he's holding you with a smile on his face, you know - like two friends or something.
walks to an ATM, tells you to look at the machine
widthraw cash
either kills you, or just run
Think about it! at least with a card or a pin, if you don't carry the card with you, there is nothing the criminal can do. And if you do carry it with you(I suspect most of us do), at least you have the option not to give the pin. or give a wrong pin, or something! With the eye thing, you can't leaves your eyes home, and you can't lie. Seems like a criminals' perfect situation.
I have interviewed people with CS degrees who didn't know what pipelining was, couldn't tell me the maximum number of "reads/compares" to find an element using binary search in a sorted 1000 element array, and couldn't explain how function calls and the stack pointer were related.
Theory... It's all rather useless knowledge. I have seen CS graduates that were on top of their class, excellent grades, could define and explain all of the above concepts, but couldn't program if their lives depended on it.
On the other hand, I am an Electrical Engr graduate, with little (if any) formal education in CS. I'd have a hard time defining the concepts you described above (not to say that I don't know them, just not familiar with the terminology), however I am a highly paid consultant, and I consider myself to be a lot more skilled than any of the CS majors that come through this place (a large Fortune 500-type company).
The truth of the matter is: being a good programmer is not about being able to pull memorized concept/theories out off your ass (which it seems is what you're requiring of your interviewees), it's about thinking like a programmer. That's right, being a programmer is a thought process. No amount of theory or language writing skills will replace just having the proper mindset for programming.
I looked around were I worked, and noticed that most of the programmers (some are truly gifted people) are NOT CS majors... Mostly Engineers (Elect, but some Mechanical)... A physics major... even a college dropout. I asked my boss why that was, and he basically told me that when he interviews he is not really a whole that interested in what languages you know (it's impotant, but not that much), but mostly if he thinks he can shape you into someone useful. Being able to work in a team is important also. He seems to think that Elec Engineer are the most apt to do this.
Since then, I have been able to confirm some of his theories. I have trained coops/interns in various OSes and languages (Unixes mostly, C and Perl for languages), and I find it A LOT easier to train a Elec. Engr with little former education in CS, than most of the CS majors. And guess what, I doubt that any of them could define "pipelining" or tell me the relationship btw the stack pointer and function calls.
Well, first of all, as an "Anonymous Coward" you're not likely to be moderating anyone up at all.
Second, I understand that this is the way it is supposed to work. I am just not convinced that it will happen that way. Who are you kidding? In my opinion, my scenario is more likely. Time will tell I guess.
Lastly, if slashdot becomes an english-essay writing contest, that will leave out a lot of foreigners (non native english speakers, like myself) out of the "competition". (becomes this HAS become a competition, hasn't it?)
In anyway you look at it, I've expressed my opinion on moderation in several not-so-well-thought-out, not-so-good essays in here. Too bad most people probably didn't get a chance to read my opinion, since my rating is a mere 1.
As I've said before (quote from Animal farm): we're all equal, but some are more equal than others.
I agree with you - I am just saying, it's not considered as a patch. I know that most of us in here can make it work like an upgrade (by replacing DLLs etc). But it's not packaged as a patch and it doesn't install like a patch. Not like WinNT service packs work anyway. And they did the same with Win95.
I realize that's it complete bull, but that's how they do things... Don't like it anymore than you do.
Slashdot Mirror
... support your argument.
thanks for straightening me out on the Pal vs Secam issue - I guess I had the two mixed up :)
The US has a long history of going their own way as far as telecom is concerned. TV signal (analog and digital) is one of them, but probably the most amazing of these difference is cellular communications. Europe and Asia (I don't know anything about Africa or Australia) uses GSM. So what does the US have to do? Use their own system (TDMA, etc.). Actually, what am I thinking! They use several digital systems, since an AT&T digital cell won't work on the Bell Atlantic network, etc... It's silly, it's annoying, and it's inconvienient for the user and for themselves (they could share a lot more of their towers if they could just agree on one standard - GSM).
Although, aside from the cell phones, Europe is not necessarily a whole lot better. For analog TV, France uses PAL, Belgium (and most of Europe - methinks) uses Secam... But at least I don't think Europeans makes any new mistakes like that (could be wrong - i am belgian but i live in the us, my european info may be a bit stale).
Ever heard of DHCP? Pretty much all dial-up ISPs use it. The IP in your log could have been (and probably was) reassigned to another user that does not have dreamcast. Not to mantion, like some other people suggested - a lot of ISP have firewalls that won't accept incomind requests like that.
As several people have pointed out now, your experiment means aboslutely nothing. sorry!!
Hmmm.... Unlike companies like SGI, Sun is not and has never been a Linux advocate. In fact, eventhough Sun is very much part of the same Unix community as Linux, they have been saying some of the same stuff as M$ has about it. You have to remember, that Linux is much more a thread to Sun (and their Solaris) than it is to Microsoft. And it's not just in the OS business, if Solaris were to become obsolete (by Linux or another OS from Redmont), their (very lucrative) hardware business is also in jeopardy.
With that being said, I am in no way putting down their products - they are excellent (IMHO). I merely stating my interpretation on how Sun feels about Linux.
I have never used this program, and I don't know if they still have it because I can't find any reference to that program on their website. But they used to have a "trade in" your older versions for a discount on the new version.
If you're really interested in that, maybe you can dig into this further.
Only with mayo?
Hell no! As a belgian I am proud to say that most "fritterie" havea very wide variety of sauces one can put on "french" fries... Including a sauce called "american" which i have never seen in the states....
I suspect that most H1B holders like myself got their degrees in the US, so your company is probably the exception rather than the rule. Either way as the first reply to your post was: it seems like your company needs to review its policies regarding its overseas division :)
I am a H1-B worker and I want to clarify a few facts for those that don't know anything about it and those that seem to be confused (which includes our Indian Anonymous Coward).
:)
:) The H1-B gives me the opportunity to work while the application is processed, as opposed to wait home or something.
An H1-B is a visa that your employer gets for you. The employee has nothing to do - except get the stamp from the ambassy, which is pretty much guaranteed since INS approved the H1-B. The employer can get you a visa that last 1 to 3 years at a time, and it can be renewed until you reach a maximum of 6 years. (in other words, you can get 2 three year visa in your life time, or 6 one year visa, or 3 two year visa, etc.). The visa is fairly easy to get as long as you are qualified for the job AND - as a requirement for the Labor Certification (from the Labor Department) - you are paid at least 95% of what they think you should be paid for what you do in your area. Assuming that there are visas available, it only takes a couple of months - if that.
SO - not only does the law prevents you from being grossly underpaid (you can't get the visa to begin with if you are), but from my experience, I am most definetely not underpaid considering that I make a little less that $70,000 and I graduated from college about 1 year ago. Also I live in the Pennsylvania, so it's not like housing is sky high like in NYC or Silicon Valley - just to put my salary in perspective.
I am very happy with my job so I have not tried, but switching companies is not a big deal. Well, everything is relative I suppose - your new employer does have to file another petition with INS but considering the pretty short processing time (at least at the Vermont service center) it is not the end of the world, and you won't "waste" any of the 6 year limit. Yuo can also have 2 jobs at the same time I believe, but once again I am busy enough with one - I didn't look into that
Why do I want or need an H1-B? Like myself, a lot of foreign students get one year of "Practical Training" at the end of their studies. If you get an internship and they like you enough to keep you, they may get you an H1-B which will buy them time to get you a Green Card. The H1-B is fairly easy to get (although companies will still use immigration lawyers to get them - just to be safe) while the Green Card is a little bit more complicated but also takes A LOT more time. In my case, I am on the "fast track" for the Green Card and that will still take a little less than 3 years
If I quit my job would my company cancel me green card application? Probably. In fact I am pretty sure, so yes I suppose if I want that Green Card badly enough I am tied to the company I am with for 3 years. But that's not to say that another company wouldn't willing to apply for the Green Card either... Besides, since I work for a consultant firm I can work pretty much for anyone and STILL be technically employed by the same person, so who care!
Lotus Notes is groupware and very popular in corporate america. Like my company (a very large fortune 500 that will remain unamed). A few of my coworkers use linux as a desktop machine and go through this huge convoluted work-around to run Notes (something along the line of using wabi to run the 16 bit version of Notes) which makes notes even more sluggish than it mormally is.
I love linux and I would love to use it as a desktop, but until i can use my corporate mandated groupware package (notes) i will not do the switch.
maybe you can take this as an example of why it would be desirable for the the linux community to have a port of Lotus Notes.
I am Belgian, and bashing the french people is definitely a hobby we take VERY seriously. We're quite good at it too. And you can't say that it's not fair, because the french do spend an awful lot of energy at bashing belgians :) we kid because we love...
:)
That being said: The article from the BBC is a bit misleading it seems. are we surprised? Can't blame the british for being a bit defensive. open your history book: french vs. england is not exactly new.
It seems that they have no intention or pretention to replace GMT as a world (or even national) standard. They are merely reviving an old concept ("Meridien de Paris") and make an end of the millenium ceremony out of it. It actually sounds like a great idea! It's both a look back to the past, and a look ahead to the future. And a great way to involve a lot of french people (not just from paris) into a peaceful demonstration. The more i think about it, the more i like it! While americans obsess about the bad things that may happen (Y2K "bug" is a bit over-rated. My honest opinion as a software engineer), the french will be having fun
And by the way, to all the americans that seem to believe that the french people are some of the most hated people on the planet: not even close! Americans are definetely it! (in some countries, they actually want to kill them pretty badly, last time i checked nobosy felt that strongly about the french). Now before you start flaming me, i want to point out that i live in the US and do not dislike americans. just pointing out a fact that most americans may not realize...
Even if you actually did do a professional-type benchmark (and I don't see how you could - you wouldn't have the resources to do it) - let's say a couple of months ago, it'd be irrelevant because Linux improves DRAMATICALLY faster than NT could ever dream off. Your benchmarks are obsoleted even before you have the time to write a paper on them.
Lastly, something that cost more is not neccessarily better. Never has, never will. It's really a pretty common sense rule, and it doesn't even apply to only the software field. It's pretty much true for everything. It does take an idiot to believe that more money == greater quality. (sorry, I don't usually insult people, but the temptation in this case was just to great. he asked for it)
I could go on why linux is better than NT (and speed is not a factor) but it's really not worth doing in this thread.
But based on this posts of yours, I can tell of 2 potential reasons why you would be moderated down:
With that being said - if you ever felt that people were abusing of their moderator priviledges you could (and should) email Rob Malda.
At the risk of being a little bit repetitive (from other posts), if you want a "support contract" for Linux, you can buy one. Several companied do offer them, including Red Hat. While it would not be polite (I would not recommend it), they probably will tolerate a certain level of abuse from you (whether you do it on purpose or just out of fustration) - after all you're a paying customer. But if you expect help from newsgroups, bulletin boards, or places like slashdot, you may need to rethink your approach. A lot of people will be very helpful if you just take the time to be polite and describe your problem in enough details.
my $0.02...
you're kind of missing the point of DVD (or DiVX for that matter). The nice thing about DVD is the movies! Higher resolution, AC3 sound, languages, and features...
As far as software is concerned, well, who cares? There are a few, but basically why bother? Most application I know fit just fine on a single CD-rom, some take 2-3 CDs, but hey! you only load it once. Of course, there is the whole realm fo video games, and maybe that's what you're talking about.
But regardless, as said before, you're missing the point entirely. Although DVDs can be used for software, it's forte is for the movies. If you're not interested in movies, don't bother even considering DVDs. Software would not be a compelling enough reason to buy a DVD, even if there were lots of titles available.
even if it did affected the iris scan, who cares - just go to your bank and get another picture taken. not like you're gonna get laser surgery every week or anything
I know there are only 3 such ATMs yet... But
we are talking about the future - where presumable this would replace the current card model.
Do you only use your ATM card at your own bank??? I can use my Bank card (which is a Visa logo on it) pretty any ATM in the world. I have yet to find an ATM in the U.S. that won't take it, and so far I have also used it in Belgium, France, UK, Italy, Taiwan, Japan and Hong-Kong (I know I am missing a few country, but you get the point)...
In the hypothetical case where the Iris-thing becomes the worldwide standard on ATM (where are many many years away from that) a thief would just have to wait around an ATM, grab any random person (whether that person was just passing by, or actually intended to use the ATM is irrelevant - pretty much every living person in the western world has a bank account and an ATM card of some sort), force him to look in the camera to widthraw his cash.
It will be extremely easy to steal money.
As I said, the iris thing is definetely convienient (no need to remember to bring a card or remember a code), but as far as safety, i am not comfortable with it. At least not without a secret code of some sort in conjunction with it.
But we're making their lives even easier now...
here is the scenario i am imagining...
Think about it! at least with a card or a pin, if you don't carry the card with you, there is nothing the criminal can do. And if you do carry it with you(I suspect most of us do), at least you have the option not to give the pin. or give a wrong pin, or something! With the eye thing, you can't leaves your eyes home, and you can't lie. Seems like a criminals' perfect situation.
You'd be surprised how many of the CS/MIS jobs are actually held by EEs (and other Es) and not CS/MIS...
I just replied to a post enforcing that point. I won't rewrite it all. read it here....
I have interviewed people with CS degrees who didn't know what pipelining was, couldn't tell me the maximum number of "reads/compares" to find an element using binary search in a sorted 1000 element array, and couldn't explain how function calls and the stack pointer were related.
Theory... It's all rather useless knowledge. I have seen CS graduates that were on top of their class, excellent grades, could define and explain all of the above concepts, but couldn't program if their lives depended on it.
On the other hand, I am an Electrical Engr graduate, with little (if any) formal education in CS. I'd have a hard time defining the concepts you described above (not to say that I don't know them, just not familiar with the terminology), however I am a highly paid consultant, and I consider myself to be a lot more skilled than any of the CS majors that come through this place (a large Fortune 500-type company).
The truth of the matter is: being a good programmer is not about being able to pull memorized concept/theories out off your ass (which it seems is what you're requiring of your interviewees), it's about thinking like a programmer. That's right, being a programmer is a thought process. No amount of theory or language writing skills will replace just having the proper mindset for programming.
I looked around were I worked, and noticed that most of the programmers (some are truly gifted people) are NOT CS majors... Mostly Engineers (Elect, but some Mechanical)... A physics major... even a college dropout. I asked my boss why that was, and he basically told me that when he interviews he is not really a whole that interested in what languages you know (it's impotant, but not that much), but mostly if he thinks he can shape you into someone useful. Being able to work in a team is important also. He seems to think that Elec Engineer are the most apt to do this.
Since then, I have been able to confirm some of his theories. I have trained coops/interns in various OSes and languages (Unixes mostly, C and Perl for languages), and I find it A LOT easier to train a Elec. Engr with little former education in CS, than most of the CS majors. And guess what, I doubt that any of them could define "pipelining" or tell me the relationship btw the stack pointer and function calls.
my $.02 on this....
...but the implications of government filtering internet comminucation (email or otherwhise) is really worrisome. A little too Big-Brother-ish.
Well, first of all, as an "Anonymous Coward" you're not likely to be moderating anyone up at all.
Second, I understand that this is the way it is supposed to work. I am just not convinced that it will happen that way. Who are you kidding? In my opinion, my scenario is more likely. Time will tell I guess.
Lastly, if slashdot becomes an english-essay writing contest, that will leave out a lot of foreigners (non native english speakers, like myself) out of the "competition". (becomes this HAS become a competition, hasn't it?)
In anyway you look at it, I've expressed my opinion on moderation in several not-so-well-thought-out, not-so-good essays in here. Too bad most people probably didn't get a chance to read my opinion, since my rating is a mere 1.
As I've said before (quote from Animal farm): we're all equal, but some are more equal than others.
It is a shame.
I agree with you - I am just saying, it's not considered as a patch. I know that most of us in here can make it work like an upgrade (by replacing DLLs etc). But it's not packaged as a patch and it doesn't install like a patch. Not like WinNT service packs work anyway. And they did the same with Win95.
I realize that's it complete bull, but that's how they do things... Don't like it anymore than you do.