Which is funny - I also misread what you said, thinking "what's wrong with 'active magma chamber'?" So I re-read it... and then I re-read it again slowly... "Oh. Manga."
I can do the design part of the web. But I *hate* it. I would much rather code a PHP/database app that the site needs, or make a Javascript/PHP photo gallery, or modify a shopping cart than visually design something... but I *can* do it.
So, there was this other guy who likes to do the visual part of design, but needed someone to make things "go."
We were a perfect match. He could sell web sites and drum up business, design the web site and knock it out in HTML, and I could make stuff work.
That is how it goes when you have it like you want.
But if you have to design everything yourself, here's how I do it:
Yes, I offer logo design at a cut-rate, but I warn the customer that I suck at it. If they don't like my designs, I have another guy I can outsource it to.
Design your web site using PhotoShop. Just draw it like you would like to see it. Make it beautiful. Then use the slice tool and export out as a web page. PS will export all the little pieces and HTML code, and then you load it into DreamWeaver, and knock out the content areas, and you're done.
I learned that trick from my friend Belen (belen.net, I think). Until she showed me how, I was really doing stuff the hard way, and my sites just looked amateur-ish.
First, remember your goals. 1. Make customer happy. 2. Make a product the customer wants. 3. Get paid.
Goal 3 is hardest. So here's what I did:
1. Define a plan of action; i.e. "First we create a logo and define colors. Next we do consultation. Then we do a mock-up of the site. Finally we break the site out into a working model and upload to the server."
2. Define rates for different things. I suck at logo creation but kick ass with scripting. So, I define my rates differently. I also define a minimum rate. For example, web pages are $80/hr, minimum 1 hour per page.
3. If it is a large project, break it up in phases with pay period.
Phase 0 starts with just talking and an estimate price. I never charge for consultation.
Phase 1 starts with a mock-up of the site (just drawing it on paper or usually in Photoshop). I keep track of time, but I do the mock-up as many times until the customer is happy. When they are, and this is what we agree on, they pay the first 1/3 of my estimate.
Phase 2 is when I break the mock-up into a functional web site. As I work, I post it onto a developmental server so the customer can see it. Once it works as agreed on, they pay the 2nd 1/3.
Phase 3 is publishing, testing, and setting up the host, burning CD's of dev files, etc. Finalizing the project. By now you should know what is owed to you, and bill for the remainder.
I have found that this model will keep serious customers serious and casual askers away. At most, you'll only ever get screwed out of a 1/3 of the work this way.
Also, I do keep track of time... but remember - you're the boss. You decide how much it really took, either way. I often give heavy discounts of time due to my own incompetence.:-)
The answer depends on the project. In all of my databases, deletion isn't even necessary; however I also allow them to update as necessary.
I support many facilities (as both developer and tech support) with my databases, so I have a tendency to make code to fix problems I see in my support role (which thankfully have been very few). But if I had an influx of support calls for a feature, I would likely get tired of fielding it and fix it in my code. Make sense?
My philosophy is that it is really their data, they should have some say in how it is managed (i.e. if they get a Delete button or not).
I make my databases with one extra column, for example, call it "DEAD_RECORD". When a new record is added, it is given a status of 'A' (for 'Alive'). When the record is deleted, it isn't actually deleted, it is updated with an 'X'. If the record is edited, the old is marked with 'X' and a new record is added with 'A'.
What this allowed me to do was let them delete things as irreversible, but if something really needed to be "undeleted" it could be, and then I could also see a history of how that record changed and by whom.
The downside is that it makes your database larger. But you can purge out dead records on a regular basis.
Just don't forget (when doing reporting) that you always have to include looking at 'A' records!
Define 'critical'? Is leaving a surgical sponge inside a patient 'critical'?
It won't kill the patient (immediately), but it will cause an infection where another surgery is necessary.
The problem is that many of these errors should not be happening at all, not that the error rate is low. All of these errors should be preventable (and are).
You are wrong. Everywhere checklists have been tried, they have worked. (I speak with authority on this issue.)
The problem is that there is too much for a human to remember. Do you have all the necessary equipment? Did you mark the procedure site correctly? Did you verify the patient's identity? Did the anesthesiologist set up correctly and have right dosages? Did you do a count of sponges used before and after surgery?
Just a few of the questions a doctor would be required for each and every patient. I can't imagine anyone who can 100% remember that they performed all these steps without mixing up memories of the previous patient.
This is an article that strikes dead center to my job. I currently work in the Patient Safety Center for the US Army. I collect and help analyze patient safety events that happen when a person falls, a doctor operates on the wrong limb (or wrong person), or someone dies due to an error.
I want to say a few things.
1. The average person would be surprised at how often errors are made by doctors, nurses, and when getting your prescription medicine (please check your pills!!!) both in the military and civilian world of medicine. I was in denial at how many preventable events happen each and every year. If you even think something is wrong when you get medical care, please INSIST that they stop and look more carefully at the situation. Trust your gut.
2. This is today a culture problem. It is true -- a simple checklist will help things tremendously. Marking your surgery sites with the patient will help prevent wrong-site surgeries. Double-checking identifications will help prevent wrong-patient errors. But the main problem is that many doctors have an ego and don't want to use checklists, and they don't want to hear from a lowly nurse. They think they don't need lists.
This is where things have GOT to change. The airline industry has gone through this same thing culturally and logistically. Any staff member can stop a plane (even a flight attendant). And it didn't happen overnight, but pilots finally realized they needed a checklist.
There also has to be a culture of not punishing the person who made the mistake. Currently, if a nurse makes a mistake, they try to fire the nurse. Nevermind that the process itself lends itself to a certain error rate.
In my Patient Safety office, we are trying to correct some of these problems and change the culture from within. It is very slow and time-consuming, and there are many people who are in the way. But we are trying!
I respectfully disagree. First, I would never encourage anyone to drop out of college and go the route I did. But I did not get the capacity to learn from college.
All college did for me was lift several thousands of dollars from my wallet and show me how to get the right answer out of a text book, without applying conscious cognitive skills with the answer. Oh and it tried to "weed me out." (Large college.)
The most valuable skill I ever learned was at Dell, learning to become a PC technician. I'll never forget Joe Green taught me how to troubleshoot ANYTHING (thank you Joe!). That is a skill that most people do not have.
Because of that, I could even troubleshoot my car. I may not know what the thingy is called that does this other thingy! Or how to replace that thingy! But I know what system is affected and where it likely is in the automobile.
The second most valuable skill I learned was how to read and use a manual (or documentation) effectively and find the answer quickly by skipping unnecessary sections and focusing on important parts.
And the third most valuable skill was programming, learned from a computer math class in high school. Yes, it was in BASIC. But it taught the concepts of logical thought processes.
I did not learn any of these things from college.
But what I *did* learn from college was how to open up, not be shy, and interact with people.
Regarding the specific job -- you're right, you can't say by pay amount who is more skilled.
But the thought occurred to me that in generally good economic times (and though things are getting worse, they are not terrible), when a minimum-wage job is difficult to find, it speaks something about the person who managed to find it. I think it says something about their mental capabilities, to say they are making minimum wage (even if they live in the sticks). Because, assuming they aren't living in the sticks for the benefit of seclusion or something, someone with general smarts would know that 'the sticks' is a bad place to find high-paying jobs, so they would eventually move.
I don't think this here is a level stereotype though. For example, most of my life I've been paid less than what I was worth. Now I'm paid more than I'm worth, so it doesn't hold true here. But with my capabilities and my experience, if I were to say I am making minimum-wage, you'd wonder why I couldn't do better, right? I mean you'd look for some explanation, right?
I don't disagree with you - many flags have been fought for and died over. The point I am trying to make is that one explanation for an intense loyalty to the flag is that it represents and means more than most other countries' flags do, to the servicemen/women who defend it.
The code that says it is a living thing? Yes, sir! I can!
This is from the U.S. Flag Code (4 US Code 1), Federal Flag Code Amendment Act of 2007
(j) No part of the flag should ever be used as a costume or athletic uniform. However, a flag patch may be affixed to the uniform of military personnel, firemen, policemen, and members of patriotic organizations. The flag represents a living country and is itself considered a living thing. Therefore, the lapel flag pin being a replica, should be worn on the left lapel near the heart.
If they're making minimum wage? Well, they probably are incompetent (on some level).
I haven't seen a minimum wage job in ages. There isn't even minimum wage in fast food any more. Even with this economy. So if you're making minimum wage (at least around here), yeah, I'd characterize you as incompetent.
<sarcasm>And if you really can't find work for more, then go pick cabbage! I heard they're paying $12/hour now because no one wants to do it.</sarcasm>
OK, I'm big enough to admit when I'm wrong; if I'm wrong. Show me another country where the flag is considered a living thing by law. One or two links are sufficient.
You might have meant that as an insult to me, but really you're only insulting those veterans and patriots who did die over the flag.
But how can you be a true American if you cannot honor the flag?
"I pledge allegiance to the flag..."
Ah-huh. I see, maybe it's a degree of how devoted you are to the flag. So like, you know, if you're only 20% devoted to the flag, you're 20% American?:-)
You don't understand the scope of what you're suggesting.
Let's take just one job -- a DoD web developer for example. You have an internally secure web site used for data collection that (we'll say) runs on IIS, PHP, MSSQL and is developed using an IDE such as DreamWeaver (and probably PS is involved too), and is developed specifically for the DoD version of Internet Explorer. It's already been run through testing and received certification for security and all.
To move to a non-Windows based platform, you have to ditch your web server, ditch the MSSQL server, (and when moving to the new platform ensure that your PHP environment works the same), and run through all your PHP code to make sure it can connect to whatever SQL database you replace it with (No, MSSQL is not necessarily the same syntax). Then, if the site used any JavaScript (or anything else that is IE-only), you have to re-validate it for that new browser. THEN it can be submitted again for security testing and certification (which all this time, the site is brought down while you wait several months for them to get around to testing). And you may have to re-train your developer on new tools on a new platform for programming on yet another new platform.
This is just ONE type of job to re-tool for. I'd say it's pretty infeasible.
Now, original platform choice mistakes aside (that you had no control over), I know you're going to say, "well you should have programmed your pages so they could easily be switched to another platform!" or "well, who in their right mind would program for IE only?" But that's just the way the system was made by the guy before you. You can complain all you want, but it's still a lot of work you'd be imposing.
Oh and by the way? Each system is usually owned by different department and has to be certified independently (expensive and time-consuming). Web server is owned by one tech group. DB server is owned by another. Web Developer is yet another department. And no one talks to each other well.
I believe that was an audio implant, not optic -- receiving a feed via a wireless transmitter from a team of cheaters. Though if you recall the outcome, they never proved one way or the other whether he was cheating or just using a hearing aide. Robertson still stands as the winner, but he is asterisked.
You don't understand it because you either aren't an American, or you don't understand the intense patriotism behind it. The American flag is actually considered a living thing. It is treated as a living thing and even has a life-cycle. It is something that has literally been fought and died over. And I mean the literal flag itself, not just the symbol of the flag. It isn't just a symbol that represents something -- it's far more than that. I could understand why you'd think it equates to dictatorship from the perspective of another country. But in most other countries, I do not see the intense devotion of military personnel to the willingness to die for a flag. THAT is the difference.
You obviously have no idea how it works and why it DOES take away jobs from everyone in every industry. Sound crazy? Bear with me.
If they are paying $12/hr to pick cabbage, and the cabbage rots in the fields, then guess what? You're not paying enough to pick cabbage, plain and simple. I know it seems insane, but it is the truth. It is not correct to say "well how much do you want to pay for cabbage? $20/head?" The market will decide how much to pay for cabbage (and all other salaries will re-adjust as needed).
$12 * 40 * 52 is only $24960 a year. That's not a great salary. You can barely feed a family on that. It is no real wonder that no one aspires to be a cabbage picker.
If you started paying $40,000/yr for people to pick cabbage, one of two things happen: 1) Cabbage picking becomes automated thus eliminating the need for the job in the first place, or 2) you might lure some entry-level graduate one out of the technology industry (and probably someone who sucks at it). This in turn increases demand in the tech industry, therefore MY salary goes up.
But if you put illegal immigrants in the mix, then it creates an unfair competition that keeps the salary artificially low.
You understand? It's not that illegal immigrant workers do jobs that no one wants to do... its that you aren't paying enough to do those jobs when compared to other high-skill or higher-paying jobs, therefore artificially keeping the salary of migrant workers (and cabbage-picking US citizens) too low.
And it isn't just cabbage-picking. I have seen illegal immigrants working as electricians who are making the same salary as bonafide American citizens. But in reality, they make MORE because they don't pay taxes - they are paid under the table. So their $14/hr really is $14/hr.
Slashdot Mirror
Which is funny - I also misread what you said, thinking "what's wrong with 'active magma chamber'?" So I re-read it... and then I re-read it again slowly... "Oh. Manga."
It's spelled "lose."
You're supposed to poke the memory, not the screen.
Glad you asked. There is more to tell.
I can do the design part of the web. But I *hate* it. I would much rather code a PHP/database app that the site needs, or make a Javascript/PHP photo gallery, or modify a shopping cart than visually design something... but I *can* do it.
So, there was this other guy who likes to do the visual part of design, but needed someone to make things "go."
We were a perfect match. He could sell web sites and drum up business, design the web site and knock it out in HTML, and I could make stuff work.
That is how it goes when you have it like you want.
But if you have to design everything yourself, here's how I do it:
Yes, I offer logo design at a cut-rate, but I warn the customer that I suck at it. If they don't like my designs, I have another guy I can outsource it to.
Design your web site using PhotoShop. Just draw it like you would like to see it. Make it beautiful. Then use the slice tool and export out as a web page. PS will export all the little pieces and HTML code, and then you load it into DreamWeaver, and knock out the content areas, and you're done.
I learned that trick from my friend Belen (belen.net, I think). Until she showed me how, I was really doing stuff the hard way, and my sites just looked amateur-ish.
OK here you go:
First, remember your goals.
1. Make customer happy.
2. Make a product the customer wants.
3. Get paid.
Goal 3 is hardest. So here's what I did:
1. Define a plan of action; i.e. "First we create a logo and define colors. Next we do consultation. Then we do a mock-up of the site. Finally we break the site out into a working model and upload to the server."
2. Define rates for different things. I suck at logo creation but kick ass with scripting. So, I define my rates differently. I also define a minimum rate. For example, web pages are $80/hr, minimum 1 hour per page.
3. If it is a large project, break it up in phases with pay period.
Phase 0 starts with just talking and an estimate price. I never charge for consultation.
Phase 1 starts with a mock-up of the site (just drawing it on paper or usually in Photoshop). I keep track of time, but I do the mock-up as many times until the customer is happy. When they are, and this is what we agree on, they pay the first 1/3 of my estimate.
Phase 2 is when I break the mock-up into a functional web site. As I work, I post it onto a developmental server so the customer can see it. Once it works as agreed on, they pay the 2nd 1/3.
Phase 3 is publishing, testing, and setting up the host, burning CD's of dev files, etc. Finalizing the project. By now you should know what is owed to you, and bill for the remainder.
I have found that this model will keep serious customers serious and casual askers away. At most, you'll only ever get screwed out of a 1/3 of the work this way.
Also, I do keep track of time... but remember - you're the boss. You decide how much it really took, either way. I often give heavy discounts of time due to my own incompetence. :-)
The answer depends on the project. In all of my databases, deletion isn't even necessary; however I also allow them to update as necessary.
I support many facilities (as both developer and tech support) with my databases, so I have a tendency to make code to fix problems I see in my support role (which thankfully have been very few). But if I had an influx of support calls for a feature, I would likely get tired of fielding it and fix it in my code. Make sense?
My philosophy is that it is really their data, they should have some say in how it is managed (i.e. if they get a Delete button or not).
Here's how I got around it:
I make my databases with one extra column, for example, call it "DEAD_RECORD". When a new record is added, it is given a status of 'A' (for 'Alive'). When the record is deleted, it isn't actually deleted, it is updated with an 'X'. If the record is edited, the old is marked with 'X' and a new record is added with 'A'.
What this allowed me to do was let them delete things as irreversible, but if something really needed to be "undeleted" it could be, and then I could also see a history of how that record changed and by whom.
The downside is that it makes your database larger. But you can purge out dead records on a regular basis.
Just don't forget (when doing reporting) that you always have to include looking at 'A' records!
Define 'critical'? Is leaving a surgical sponge inside a patient 'critical'?
It won't kill the patient (immediately), but it will cause an infection where another surgery is necessary.
The problem is that many of these errors should not be happening at all, not that the error rate is low. All of these errors should be preventable (and are).
You are wrong. Everywhere checklists have been tried, they have worked. (I speak with authority on this issue.)
The problem is that there is too much for a human to remember. Do you have all the necessary equipment? Did you mark the procedure site correctly? Did you verify the patient's identity? Did the anesthesiologist set up correctly and have right dosages? Did you do a count of sponges used before and after surgery?
Just a few of the questions a doctor would be required for each and every patient. I can't imagine anyone who can 100% remember that they performed all these steps without mixing up memories of the previous patient.
This is an article that strikes dead center to my job. I currently work in the Patient Safety Center for the US Army. I collect and help analyze patient safety events that happen when a person falls, a doctor operates on the wrong limb (or wrong person), or someone dies due to an error.
I want to say a few things.
1. The average person would be surprised at how often errors are made by doctors, nurses, and when getting your prescription medicine (please check your pills!!!) both in the military and civilian world of medicine. I was in denial at how many preventable events happen each and every year. If you even think something is wrong when you get medical care, please INSIST that they stop and look more carefully at the situation. Trust your gut.
2. This is today a culture problem. It is true -- a simple checklist will help things tremendously. Marking your surgery sites with the patient will help prevent wrong-site surgeries. Double-checking identifications will help prevent wrong-patient errors. But the main problem is that many doctors have an ego and don't want to use checklists, and they don't want to hear from a lowly nurse. They think they don't need lists.
This is where things have GOT to change. The airline industry has gone through this same thing culturally and logistically. Any staff member can stop a plane (even a flight attendant). And it didn't happen overnight, but pilots finally realized they needed a checklist.
There also has to be a culture of not punishing the person who made the mistake. Currently, if a nurse makes a mistake, they try to fire the nurse. Nevermind that the process itself lends itself to a certain error rate.
In my Patient Safety office, we are trying to correct some of these problems and change the culture from within. It is very slow and time-consuming, and there are many people who are in the way. But we are trying!
I respectfully disagree. First, I would never encourage anyone to drop out of college and go the route I did. But I did not get the capacity to learn from college.
All college did for me was lift several thousands of dollars from my wallet and show me how to get the right answer out of a text book, without applying conscious cognitive skills with the answer. Oh and it tried to "weed me out." (Large college.)
The most valuable skill I ever learned was at Dell, learning to become a PC technician. I'll never forget Joe Green taught me how to troubleshoot ANYTHING (thank you Joe!). That is a skill that most people do not have.
Because of that, I could even troubleshoot my car. I may not know what the thingy is called that does this other thingy! Or how to replace that thingy! But I know what system is affected and where it likely is in the automobile.
The second most valuable skill I learned was how to read and use a manual (or documentation) effectively and find the answer quickly by skipping unnecessary sections and focusing on important parts.
And the third most valuable skill was programming, learned from a computer math class in high school. Yes, it was in BASIC. But it taught the concepts of logical thought processes.
I did not learn any of these things from college.
But what I *did* learn from college was how to open up, not be shy, and interact with people.
Ever heard of "pro bono?"
I don't know, I guess I was feeling 'saucy.' :-)
Regarding the specific job -- you're right, you can't say by pay amount who is more skilled.
But the thought occurred to me that in generally good economic times (and though things are getting worse, they are not terrible), when a minimum-wage job is difficult to find, it speaks something about the person who managed to find it. I think it says something about their mental capabilities, to say they are making minimum wage (even if they live in the sticks). Because, assuming they aren't living in the sticks for the benefit of seclusion or something, someone with general smarts would know that 'the sticks' is a bad place to find high-paying jobs, so they would eventually move.
I don't think this here is a level stereotype though. For example, most of my life I've been paid less than what I was worth. Now I'm paid more than I'm worth, so it doesn't hold true here. But with my capabilities and my experience, if I were to say I am making minimum-wage, you'd wonder why I couldn't do better, right? I mean you'd look for some explanation, right?
I think you have hit the nail precisely on the head.
And furthermore... ...no I really can't add anything to it. Except this is the most polite flame-war I've ever seen.
I don't disagree with you - many flags have been fought for and died over. The point I am trying to make is that one explanation for an intense loyalty to the flag is that it represents and means more than most other countries' flags do, to the servicemen/women who defend it.
The code that says it is a living thing? Yes, sir! I can!
This is from the U.S. Flag Code (4 US Code 1), Federal Flag Code Amendment Act of 2007
http://www.suvcw.org/flag.htm
Section 8, part j:
(j) No part of the flag should ever be used as a costume or athletic uniform. However, a flag patch may be affixed to the uniform of military personnel, firemen, policemen, and members of patriotic organizations. The flag represents a living country and is itself considered a living thing. Therefore, the lapel flag pin being a replica, should be worn on the left lapel near the heart.
If they're making minimum wage? Well, they probably are incompetent (on some level).
I haven't seen a minimum wage job in ages. There isn't even minimum wage in fast food any more. Even with this economy. So if you're making minimum wage (at least around here), yeah, I'd characterize you as incompetent.
<sarcasm>And if you really can't find work for more, then go pick cabbage! I heard they're paying $12/hour now because no one wants to do it.</sarcasm>
OK, I'm big enough to admit when I'm wrong; if I'm wrong. Show me another country where the flag is considered a living thing by law. One or two links are sufficient.
You might have meant that as an insult to me, but really you're only insulting those veterans and patriots who did die over the flag.
But how can you be a true American if you cannot honor the flag?
"I pledge allegiance to the flag..."
Ah-huh. I see, maybe it's a degree of how devoted you are to the flag. So like, you know, if you're only 20% devoted to the flag, you're 20% American? :-)
So what are military personnel?
You don't understand the scope of what you're suggesting.
Let's take just one job -- a DoD web developer for example. You have an internally secure web site used for data collection that (we'll say) runs on IIS, PHP, MSSQL and is developed using an IDE such as DreamWeaver (and probably PS is involved too), and is developed specifically for the DoD version of Internet Explorer. It's already been run through testing and received certification for security and all.
To move to a non-Windows based platform, you have to ditch your web server, ditch the MSSQL server, (and when moving to the new platform ensure that your PHP environment works the same), and run through all your PHP code to make sure it can connect to whatever SQL database you replace it with (No, MSSQL is not necessarily the same syntax). Then, if the site used any JavaScript (or anything else that is IE-only), you have to re-validate it for that new browser. THEN it can be submitted again for security testing and certification (which all this time, the site is brought down while you wait several months for them to get around to testing). And you may have to re-train your developer on new tools on a new platform for programming on yet another new platform.
This is just ONE type of job to re-tool for. I'd say it's pretty infeasible.
Now, original platform choice mistakes aside (that you had no control over), I know you're going to say, "well you should have programmed your pages so they could easily be switched to another platform!" or "well, who in their right mind would program for IE only?" But that's just the way the system was made by the guy before you. You can complain all you want, but it's still a lot of work you'd be imposing.
Oh and by the way? Each system is usually owned by different department and has to be certified independently (expensive and time-consuming). Web server is owned by one tech group. DB server is owned by another. Web Developer is yet another department. And no one talks to each other well.
I believe that was an audio implant, not optic -- receiving a feed via a wireless transmitter from a team of cheaters. Though if you recall the outcome, they never proved one way or the other whether he was cheating or just using a hearing aide. Robertson still stands as the winner, but he is asterisked.
You don't understand it because you either aren't an American, or you don't understand the intense patriotism behind it. The American flag is actually considered a living thing. It is treated as a living thing and even has a life-cycle. It is something that has literally been fought and died over. And I mean the literal flag itself, not just the symbol of the flag. It isn't just a symbol that represents something -- it's far more than that. I could understand why you'd think it equates to dictatorship from the perspective of another country. But in most other countries, I do not see the intense devotion of military personnel to the willingness to die for a flag. THAT is the difference.
You obviously have no idea how it works and why it DOES take away jobs from everyone in every industry. Sound crazy? Bear with me.
If they are paying $12/hr to pick cabbage, and the cabbage rots in the fields, then guess what? You're not paying enough to pick cabbage, plain and simple. I know it seems insane, but it is the truth. It is not correct to say "well how much do you want to pay for cabbage? $20/head?" The market will decide how much to pay for cabbage (and all other salaries will re-adjust as needed).
$12 * 40 * 52 is only $24960 a year. That's not a great salary. You can barely feed a family on that. It is no real wonder that no one aspires to be a cabbage picker.
If you started paying $40,000/yr for people to pick cabbage, one of two things happen: 1) Cabbage picking becomes automated thus eliminating the need for the job in the first place, or 2) you might lure some entry-level graduate one out of the technology industry (and probably someone who sucks at it). This in turn increases demand in the tech industry, therefore MY salary goes up.
But if you put illegal immigrants in the mix, then it creates an unfair competition that keeps the salary artificially low.
You understand? It's not that illegal immigrant workers do jobs that no one wants to do... its that you aren't paying enough to do those jobs when compared to other high-skill or higher-paying jobs, therefore artificially keeping the salary of migrant workers (and cabbage-picking US citizens) too low.
And it isn't just cabbage-picking. I have seen illegal immigrants working as electricians who are making the same salary as bonafide American citizens. But in reality, they make MORE because they don't pay taxes - they are paid under the table. So their $14/hr really is $14/hr.
Funny that it turns out that lemmings don't commit suicide en masse.
I'm voting for RuPaul.
And I might also point out that meeting the need of the requirements of encryption as defined in, say HIPAA, is also as simple as ROT13.
Just sayin'.