I still use my TI-85 from my senior year of high school back in 1994-95. It still runs fantastically and is incredibly handy when I need to punch up numbers on something and don't want to fire up my computer. I've probably only changed the batteries in it about five times over the life of the device too. It just keeps going. When I look at the graphing calculators they put up for the back to school sales these days they don't look any more advanced than my trusty TI-85. Just a different plastic molding.
People do in fact need help when they fall on hard times, and it is necessary sometimes for that help to come in the form of a handout. But, if you never make it possible for them to help themselves again they will only become dependent on you to provide for them. How is that an inappropriate point of view? I know people who are exceptionally good at self motivating and when they've fallen on hard times all they needed was a little help to get through the rough patch and they got themselves working again. I admire them for their strength and resolve. I also know people who have been perfectly happy to live off the public "doll" for most of their lives because it's just easier. They have no incentive to work, sure they could make more money working a decent job but they wouldn't have all the free time they want. People like that will continue to game the system until such time as the system stops enabling them. Public assistance programs facilitate these people because they incorrectly assume all people are like the former group, hard working and just needing a temporary helping hand. But, there is more than enough evidence both anecdotal and factual to show that in any nation with an ongoing social welfare program that has no limits that we have generations of the same family living off of public assistance. So, no, it's not an inappropriate point of view at least not from someone who ultimately helps pay for the programs that enable this poor behvior.
I've had a few rock star developers on my projects in the past. And, when managed well they can make a project a breeze. But, if you let them run wild they will produce some of the most insane code you've ever seen.
The big thing is simply to remind them that a much less experienced developer has to support the project after they move on and unless they want to be called at 2:00 AM when something breaks they should make it easy for an inexperienced developer to read. We do elegant coding where speed is needed (financial transactions) and we do less elegant/slow code where we simply need things to work. If you can keep driving these points home you can keep your projects sensible.
Now on the other hand my employer often times chooses to hire some of the most inexperienced developers out there to do coding and has us senior engineers try to manage their work. The results vary quite a bit... I often times wished I had a rock star.
If you give a man a fish he'll eat for a day. If you teach a man to fish he'll eat for a lifetime. -- I personally believe if more assistance programs were run with this mentality in them that we'd all be better off. It's true that if you're teaching someone to fish they'll starve unless you give them a few fish to get going. But, they'll do better for themselves and their community in the long run if they know they have to learn to fish on their own.
I actually have found that the MBA's are the ones who tend to cause the most problems around here. There seems to be a belief among the MBA crowd that they can manage anything and improve it without having to know the details of it. They tend to want to be able to measure every aspect of the business and "streamline" everything into a documented process flow.
While that all sounds good their separation from knowledge about the actual work being done causes them to introduce processes that tend to hinder productivity rather than enable it. They are also the ones who bring in all the buzzwords that make business meetings around here unintelligible. In the ten years that I have worked for my current employer I have seen our organization bloat in size while producing less and at a slower rate of delivery. But, everything is now measured in a spreadsheet and those Senior Engineers are no longer doing pesky things like coding...
The original intent of the MBA degree program was to take highly educated engineers who had experience in the market and give them the tools to become managers of engineers. When obtained within this context the program actually can and does work. But, the majority of the folks with MBA degrees these days seem to go directly from undergraduate programs into their MBA programs, or enter the workforce for a few years before continuing on to their MBA. In either regard they lack the applicable work experience or background to effectively manage the processes that they then manage.
These are the people who constantly say how innovative our organization is and take umbrage when you point out that we are actually only doing the same thing as all the other companies out there.
Any behavior can become an addictive behavior. Some people become physically addicted to exercise and the endorphin rush that comes from pushing their bodies to the edge. Some become addicted to tobacco and the stimulation that nicotine gives them. Some are addicted to food. To say that marijuana addiction doesn't exist is to discount that the human body and mind can become addicted to almost any stimulation. That's not to say that all individuals who consume marijuana will be addicted but some do. So don't fully discount the potential for addiction. Some portion of the population when exposed to the ongoing stimulation will become addicted to it.
Anyone can learn to code. Just as anyone can learn to write a Dick and Jane story. Eight hours will teach someone to write rudimentary code in the proper grammer of whichever programming language they're approaching, something approaching the complexity of a Dick and Jane story. Eight hours will not however teach someone how to read or comprehend Shakespeare let alone write a full fledged, useful, and marketable application.
Don't go overboard on dressing up. Dressing up too much will make your employees feel like your only concern is to move up the food chain. But, you should at least look as decently dressed as your peers. As for t-shirts... I don't even consider those to be appropriate for casual dress Fridays, polo shirts for me when I want to be relaxed.
What do you mean "if those videos are true to what they show"? I don't think you can get much clearer than those videos. Each safe had multiple penetration vectors that were all easy to manipulate. I'm particularly concerned about how easy it is to gain access with simple things like paper clips and straws. Those are exactly the sorts of things that children would shove into openings. Having been a child once I can validate that I stuck paper clips into many things that I probably shouldn't have.
I would be quite happy to see Microsoft become competitive again. I really enjoyed switching over to Apple products for home use because of how user friendly they are. But, they've been getting to be too closed of a shop. It would be fantastic to see some honest competition in the market again as it would force both of the major players to produce better quality products at more reasonable prices. Apple became a better competitor because of how dominant Microsoft was. Hopefully now Microsoft can become a better competitor again as they have a major contender out there in Apple.
So I had to do another car analogy.
Most users of cars these days have little idea what exactly is under the hood of their engine. Sadly many don't even know how to check their oil anymore. These are GUI users. They get into their car, put the key in the ignition, start it up and then everything they want to do is controlled by a pedal, lever, wheel, button, or dial. If something is wrong a light on the dashboard tells them and they take the car into a mechanic or to a friend who knows how to fix it.
Other users actually know how to change the fluids in the car, replace the battery, oil/air filter, break pads, tires, etc... And, mechanics learn to pretty much take the car apart and put it back together again. These are the CLI users.
While many of us who know and appreciate the CLI wish that others did too it's just not reasonable to expect everyone to use the CLI. For most people the computer is simply a box that connects them to things. They want it simple, and they don't want to see things that confuse them. So these are the people who say the GUI rules all. Honestly there are times I appreciate the GUI to no end. It's often times easier to find a function I'm unfamiliar with through the GUI than through the CLI. But, once I know how to do something via the CLI it is far more efficient to use the CLI to do repetitive tasks.
Now, unfortunately many of the developers that I have to work with who are fresh out of school have to clue how to make a CLI work. Which makes my life heck because they make the most convoluted choices sometimes... "Here's a PowerShell script that will check that for you." "A what?" "A PowerShell Script, just type./dothis and it will get the data for you." "Type what? Where?"
We can ensure better individual privacy through more surveillance of all individuals.
While I think certain arguments can be made that drones are effectively like helicopters employed by many police departments they take things a step further. They are less invasive than helicopters making it easier for the police to monitor the unsuspecting public. If drones are adopted by police departments without clear laws on when and how they can be used we are looking at further erosion of our fourth amendment rights against unreasonable search and seizure.
I'm all for giving police reasonable powers to protect the public good. But, when it becomes too easy for them to violate my constitutional rights without proper checks and balances I draw the line.
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I still use my TI-85 from my senior year of high school back in 1994-95. It still runs fantastically and is incredibly handy when I need to punch up numbers on something and don't want to fire up my computer. I've probably only changed the batteries in it about five times over the life of the device too. It just keeps going. When I look at the graphing calculators they put up for the back to school sales these days they don't look any more advanced than my trusty TI-85. Just a different plastic molding.
People do in fact need help when they fall on hard times, and it is necessary sometimes for that help to come in the form of a handout. But, if you never make it possible for them to help themselves again they will only become dependent on you to provide for them. How is that an inappropriate point of view? I know people who are exceptionally good at self motivating and when they've fallen on hard times all they needed was a little help to get through the rough patch and they got themselves working again. I admire them for their strength and resolve. I also know people who have been perfectly happy to live off the public "doll" for most of their lives because it's just easier. They have no incentive to work, sure they could make more money working a decent job but they wouldn't have all the free time they want. People like that will continue to game the system until such time as the system stops enabling them. Public assistance programs facilitate these people because they incorrectly assume all people are like the former group, hard working and just needing a temporary helping hand. But, there is more than enough evidence both anecdotal and factual to show that in any nation with an ongoing social welfare program that has no limits that we have generations of the same family living off of public assistance. So, no, it's not an inappropriate point of view at least not from someone who ultimately helps pay for the programs that enable this poor behvior.
I've had a few rock star developers on my projects in the past. And, when managed well they can make a project a breeze. But, if you let them run wild they will produce some of the most insane code you've ever seen. The big thing is simply to remind them that a much less experienced developer has to support the project after they move on and unless they want to be called at 2:00 AM when something breaks they should make it easy for an inexperienced developer to read. We do elegant coding where speed is needed (financial transactions) and we do less elegant/slow code where we simply need things to work. If you can keep driving these points home you can keep your projects sensible. Now on the other hand my employer often times chooses to hire some of the most inexperienced developers out there to do coding and has us senior engineers try to manage their work. The results vary quite a bit... I often times wished I had a rock star.
If you give a man a fish he'll eat for a day. If you teach a man to fish he'll eat for a lifetime. -- I personally believe if more assistance programs were run with this mentality in them that we'd all be better off. It's true that if you're teaching someone to fish they'll starve unless you give them a few fish to get going. But, they'll do better for themselves and their community in the long run if they know they have to learn to fish on their own.
I actually have found that the MBA's are the ones who tend to cause the most problems around here. There seems to be a belief among the MBA crowd that they can manage anything and improve it without having to know the details of it. They tend to want to be able to measure every aspect of the business and "streamline" everything into a documented process flow. While that all sounds good their separation from knowledge about the actual work being done causes them to introduce processes that tend to hinder productivity rather than enable it. They are also the ones who bring in all the buzzwords that make business meetings around here unintelligible. In the ten years that I have worked for my current employer I have seen our organization bloat in size while producing less and at a slower rate of delivery. But, everything is now measured in a spreadsheet and those Senior Engineers are no longer doing pesky things like coding... The original intent of the MBA degree program was to take highly educated engineers who had experience in the market and give them the tools to become managers of engineers. When obtained within this context the program actually can and does work. But, the majority of the folks with MBA degrees these days seem to go directly from undergraduate programs into their MBA programs, or enter the workforce for a few years before continuing on to their MBA. In either regard they lack the applicable work experience or background to effectively manage the processes that they then manage. These are the people who constantly say how innovative our organization is and take umbrage when you point out that we are actually only doing the same thing as all the other companies out there.
Any behavior can become an addictive behavior. Some people become physically addicted to exercise and the endorphin rush that comes from pushing their bodies to the edge. Some become addicted to tobacco and the stimulation that nicotine gives them. Some are addicted to food. To say that marijuana addiction doesn't exist is to discount that the human body and mind can become addicted to almost any stimulation. That's not to say that all individuals who consume marijuana will be addicted but some do. So don't fully discount the potential for addiction. Some portion of the population when exposed to the ongoing stimulation will become addicted to it.
Anyone can learn to code. Just as anyone can learn to write a Dick and Jane story. Eight hours will teach someone to write rudimentary code in the proper grammer of whichever programming language they're approaching, something approaching the complexity of a Dick and Jane story. Eight hours will not however teach someone how to read or comprehend Shakespeare let alone write a full fledged, useful, and marketable application.
Don't go overboard on dressing up. Dressing up too much will make your employees feel like your only concern is to move up the food chain. But, you should at least look as decently dressed as your peers. As for t-shirts... I don't even consider those to be appropriate for casual dress Fridays, polo shirts for me when I want to be relaxed.
What do you mean "if those videos are true to what they show"? I don't think you can get much clearer than those videos. Each safe had multiple penetration vectors that were all easy to manipulate. I'm particularly concerned about how easy it is to gain access with simple things like paper clips and straws. Those are exactly the sorts of things that children would shove into openings. Having been a child once I can validate that I stuck paper clips into many things that I probably shouldn't have.
I would be quite happy to see Microsoft become competitive again. I really enjoyed switching over to Apple products for home use because of how user friendly they are. But, they've been getting to be too closed of a shop. It would be fantastic to see some honest competition in the market again as it would force both of the major players to produce better quality products at more reasonable prices. Apple became a better competitor because of how dominant Microsoft was. Hopefully now Microsoft can become a better competitor again as they have a major contender out there in Apple.
So I had to do another car analogy. Most users of cars these days have little idea what exactly is under the hood of their engine. Sadly many don't even know how to check their oil anymore. These are GUI users. They get into their car, put the key in the ignition, start it up and then everything they want to do is controlled by a pedal, lever, wheel, button, or dial. If something is wrong a light on the dashboard tells them and they take the car into a mechanic or to a friend who knows how to fix it. Other users actually know how to change the fluids in the car, replace the battery, oil/air filter, break pads, tires, etc... And, mechanics learn to pretty much take the car apart and put it back together again. These are the CLI users. While many of us who know and appreciate the CLI wish that others did too it's just not reasonable to expect everyone to use the CLI. For most people the computer is simply a box that connects them to things. They want it simple, and they don't want to see things that confuse them. So these are the people who say the GUI rules all. Honestly there are times I appreciate the GUI to no end. It's often times easier to find a function I'm unfamiliar with through the GUI than through the CLI. But, once I know how to do something via the CLI it is far more efficient to use the CLI to do repetitive tasks. Now, unfortunately many of the developers that I have to work with who are fresh out of school have to clue how to make a CLI work. Which makes my life heck because they make the most convoluted choices sometimes... "Here's a PowerShell script that will check that for you." "A what?" "A PowerShell Script, just type ./dothis and it will get the data for you." "Type what? Where?"
We can ensure better individual privacy through more surveillance of all individuals. While I think certain arguments can be made that drones are effectively like helicopters employed by many police departments they take things a step further. They are less invasive than helicopters making it easier for the police to monitor the unsuspecting public. If drones are adopted by police departments without clear laws on when and how they can be used we are looking at further erosion of our fourth amendment rights against unreasonable search and seizure. I'm all for giving police reasonable powers to protect the public good. But, when it becomes too easy for them to violate my constitutional rights without proper checks and balances I draw the line.