My New Jersey driver's license still has me named CHRISTOPHE because back in 1993 or so when I got my license -- go ahead, count the number of characters. Ten. The idiot programmers who put together New Jersey's database allocated TEN CHARACTERS for the first name. Fucking morons. First of all, it's standard procedure, when inventing a completely arbitrary length limit in a computer program, to make it a power of 2, just so it looks like you did it for some computer-related reason. A limit of 10 is obviously bullshit because no computer in the world has a limit of 10 for anything. Only humans use 10 as a round number. Second, if you're programming a database of names and you need to set limits on length, the least you should do is check the most common names and make sure the limit is larger than the largest one. And CHRISTOPHER has been in the top twenty of American male first names for a long, long time.
Citation: http://www.catb.org/jargon/htm...
Fuck all the people calling this "grammar snobbery" or inventing multiple Englishes. I thought it was amusing that a post about education would have a typo in the headline.
IT is work getting more stressful. Three words: World Wide Web. Or if you prefer more detail: PHP, JavaScript, Content Management Systems, and malware ravaging the entire network looking for one more server with a hole in it.
This is basically what I see all the time. The listings all want experts in some stupidly named tech less than ten years old. Hadoop, Mongo, Tomcat, Pullwilly, Crankyank, GULP, GRUNT, and, god, still PHP. Also HTML5, which hasn't even been settled yet. They want all of that plus knowledge of ninety acronyms which don't really mean anything (RESTful). And there's absolutely NO ROOM for anyone to come in and pick things up as they go along. Every interviewer wants someone who can hit the ground running. Twenty years of experience on the web and a CS degree count for nothing if you're not an expert backwards and forwards in obscure minutia of SQL syntax, all tested using an online quiz designed to break your brain.
Not to mention that the last job offer I got was for less money (accounting for inflation) than I got two years out of college twenty years ago, and in Manhattan to boot. After commuting I'd probably have lost money.
The ironclad theory of supply and demand is wonderful. If its effects on prices don't seem to be occurring, just keep looking until you find an excuse. Then stop. In this way the theory of supply and demand can be shown to be one hundred percent accurate.
Seconded: Thank you. I was going to comment that I expected a few thousand people immediately began copying the entire site, and that's probably still true, but I'm glad that one of my favorite resources is on it.
I realize this is petty, especially given the subject of the web page, but why oh why does the C&EN page have to take over my arrow keys? I tried to scroll down gradually using them and found they've been taken over to move the page to the next *section*. When what you expected was to go down one line for each tap of the key, and therefore have tapped it a few times, it's surprising and stupid to end up halfway through the article.
I'm an old-time web developer and designer. I don't really do it professionally any more but I used to. So as a professional I have to ask: WHAT THE FUCK?
Holy mixed metaphors!
"Executing the first stage triggers a domino chain...."
Does it trigger a domino chain which cascades along the peaks of the shield holding the noses of the elephants in the room?
Socialism, by definition, is where the government owns the means of production. This isn't even partially the case almost anywhere any more, unless you really stretch the meaning of ownership.
I may be exaggerating somewhat; there may still be state-owned companies here and there. But, really, socialism barely exists today.
I hope you're modded down below -1 into some minus infinity where we can never see your typing again.
I've been to Newark, Philadelphia, Harlem, Bedford-Stuyvesant, and similar places many, many times. I am a white man who grew up in New York City and went to high school in Alphabet City. I've seen more of what passes for bad neighborhoods in America than you've had hot dinners, asshole. And I have never once been threatened, let alone menaced, attacked, mugged, beaten, shot, stabbed, or anything.
The people of Ferguson are not animals. They're human. They're people. They deserve more respect than you do, Anonymous Coward, with your ridiculous racist views.
Except when a third party, say the Green Party, does put forth a candidate, say Jill Stein, who qualifies to be in the Presidential debates, *she is actually detained by the police and held for eight hours*.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
That guy who is trying to convince you that banks really help people? To heck with him. I worked for a major bank for about a year in IT. You know what I did? Built mini-websites to facilitate wealthy people's getting free stuff. Seriously. In order to keep these multi-million-dollar clients, the bank would have to give them freebies -- tickets to sporting events and such -- the new stadiums for the Giants, the Yankees, and the Mets were all built, not because the old facilities were too small or worn out or anything, but simply because the team owners wanted more luxury boxes and suites they could sell tickets for -- and my entire job consisted of supporting the reps and their distribution of the goodies.
Looking back, that may have been the most blatant of my worthless IT jobs, but most of them have been pretty much like that. (And don't even get me started on the couple of months I worked for a guy who turned out to be a spammer. Obviously I quit as soon as I figured it out.)
So I'm thrilled to hear that someone out there in IT is doing something worthwhile. Huzzah!
Slashdot Mirror
Hey, my wife started out working on COBOL! Okay, actually, she left the job when they started giving her COBOL to do.
My New Jersey driver's license still has me named CHRISTOPHE because back in 1993 or so when I got my license -- go ahead, count the number of characters. Ten. The idiot programmers who put together New Jersey's database allocated TEN CHARACTERS for the first name. Fucking morons. First of all, it's standard procedure, when inventing a completely arbitrary length limit in a computer program, to make it a power of 2, just so it looks like you did it for some computer-related reason. A limit of 10 is obviously bullshit because no computer in the world has a limit of 10 for anything. Only humans use 10 as a round number. Second, if you're programming a database of names and you need to set limits on length, the least you should do is check the most common names and make sure the limit is larger than the largest one. And CHRISTOPHER has been in the top twenty of American male first names for a long, long time. Citation: http://www.catb.org/jargon/htm...
Fuck all the people calling this "grammar snobbery" or inventing multiple Englishes. I thought it was amusing that a post about education would have a typo in the headline.
IT is work getting more stressful. Three words: World Wide Web. Or if you prefer more detail: PHP, JavaScript, Content Management Systems, and malware ravaging the entire network looking for one more server with a hole in it.
That's actually what I'm using.
Is that a M O D E M chip or a M O D E R N chip? KERNING MATTERS
This is basically what I see all the time. The listings all want experts in some stupidly named tech less than ten years old. Hadoop, Mongo, Tomcat, Pullwilly, Crankyank, GULP, GRUNT, and, god, still PHP. Also HTML5, which hasn't even been settled yet. They want all of that plus knowledge of ninety acronyms which don't really mean anything (RESTful). And there's absolutely NO ROOM for anyone to come in and pick things up as they go along. Every interviewer wants someone who can hit the ground running. Twenty years of experience on the web and a CS degree count for nothing if you're not an expert backwards and forwards in obscure minutia of SQL syntax, all tested using an online quiz designed to break your brain. Not to mention that the last job offer I got was for less money (accounting for inflation) than I got two years out of college twenty years ago, and in Manhattan to boot. After commuting I'd probably have lost money.
The ironclad theory of supply and demand is wonderful. If its effects on prices don't seem to be occurring, just keep looking until you find an excuse. Then stop. In this way the theory of supply and demand can be shown to be one hundred percent accurate.
Seconded: Thank you. I was going to comment that I expected a few thousand people immediately began copying the entire site, and that's probably still true, but I'm glad that one of my favorite resources is on it.
I realize this is petty, especially given the subject of the web page, but why oh why does the C&EN page have to take over my arrow keys? I tried to scroll down gradually using them and found they've been taken over to move the page to the next *section*. When what you expected was to go down one line for each tap of the key, and therefore have tapped it a few times, it's surprising and stupid to end up halfway through the article.
I'm an old-time web developer and designer. I don't really do it professionally any more but I used to. So as a professional I have to ask: WHAT THE FUCK?
I suddenly wish /. had Facebook-style likes. EXACTLY THIS.
Holy mixed metaphors! "Executing the first stage triggers a domino chain...." Does it trigger a domino chain which cascades along the peaks of the shield holding the noses of the elephants in the room?
I trust it was nice to think of your uncle. It's nuts, but that's okay.
I'm a gold-plated pedant and even I think this is going too far. This ain't my PhD thesis!
Can I come work for you, sabri?
Socialism, by definition, is where the government owns the means of production. This isn't even partially the case almost anywhere any more, unless you really stretch the meaning of ownership. I may be exaggerating somewhat; there may still be state-owned companies here and there. But, really, socialism barely exists today.
You do realize there's almost no socialism anywhere in the world at this point, right? Even China has given it up.
I've talked shit like I'm some kind of tough guy? Really? I'm posting under my real name. Because I'm not afraid. And I don't talk shit.
I hope you're modded down below -1 into some minus infinity where we can never see your typing again. I've been to Newark, Philadelphia, Harlem, Bedford-Stuyvesant, and similar places many, many times. I am a white man who grew up in New York City and went to high school in Alphabet City. I've seen more of what passes for bad neighborhoods in America than you've had hot dinners, asshole. And I have never once been threatened, let alone menaced, attacked, mugged, beaten, shot, stabbed, or anything. The people of Ferguson are not animals. They're human. They're people. They deserve more respect than you do, Anonymous Coward, with your ridiculous racist views.
Congratulations on being the first commenter to spell his darn name right.
If I had mod points I'd upmod the original comment for being hilarious.
You're right. One example of police state thuggery from the most recent election hardly counts.
Except when a third party, say the Green Party, does put forth a candidate, say Jill Stein, who qualifies to be in the Presidential debates, *she is actually detained by the police and held for eight hours*. http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
If /. were still true to itself there'd be an argument between vi zealots, emacs fanatics, and ed enthusiasts, with one lone guy crying out about EDT.
That guy who is trying to convince you that banks really help people? To heck with him. I worked for a major bank for about a year in IT. You know what I did? Built mini-websites to facilitate wealthy people's getting free stuff. Seriously. In order to keep these multi-million-dollar clients, the bank would have to give them freebies -- tickets to sporting events and such -- the new stadiums for the Giants, the Yankees, and the Mets were all built, not because the old facilities were too small or worn out or anything, but simply because the team owners wanted more luxury boxes and suites they could sell tickets for -- and my entire job consisted of supporting the reps and their distribution of the goodies. Looking back, that may have been the most blatant of my worthless IT jobs, but most of them have been pretty much like that. (And don't even get me started on the couple of months I worked for a guy who turned out to be a spammer. Obviously I quit as soon as I figured it out.) So I'm thrilled to hear that someone out there in IT is doing something worthwhile. Huzzah!