The more bonuses, the better
on
Christmas Bonuses?
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· Score: 4, Interesting
I agree with those advocating about a $500 bonus, and keeping some of that money back for future "incentives". $500 is a great bonus for a small business to be able to manage, so the employees will appreciate it. Then, with the rest of the money, you'll be able to save up and plan for future bonuses. Being able to give a bonus every 3 or 6 months is a great way to motivate people!
I've gotten $100 bonuses in the past, and although they represented maybe $1 per hour of uncompensated overtime put in, it meant something to me to at least be recognized, and to have some "mad" money to spend.
Holding back money and being able to *regularly* give bonuses helps a lot too -- once people get bonuses, especially around a certain time of the year, they get to like them... being able to make this a regular thing (given that the company has good performance) will go a long way towards retaining good employees.
Actually, although Front Page sucks, DreamWeaver is a great tool. For setting up a fairly complex page, it helps to have a UI like this -- you can have the HTML view in one pane and the (approximate) browser view in another pane. DreamWeaver is very standards-compliant (in my experience, although I definately only use a small subset of the full features).
The biggest feature I use is the style-sheet support, actually. Helps to click through a few menus to build up the correct CSS for "white text in Arial 10 pt with 5 pixels padding left and 10 pixels padding top" -- I don't have to wrack my brain to recall the right syntax for something I don't have to use a lot. I'm reworking a pretty large site right now (166 JSP pages), and being able to use this is helping a lot in removing all the old tags and putting in nice stylesheet directives.
So yeah, this self-respecting geek uses it. One of the few Windows-based tools I really like. Mind you, the only other editor I use is vi (even on Windows), so it all balances out:-).
No... I think you're being a bit overly serious here.
It's funny (as in odd or strange to ponder) that at the time this was a huge issue, yet now we take it for granted. It is strange for the current generation to ponder that there ever was a time where women's right to vote could have ever been questioned.
It is a subject worth examining. It wasn't that long ago, really. Looking at the parallels between surveillance then and surveillance now should make us question why we are still watching dissidents today, and are today's dissidents tomorrow's heroes? And if that's so, why aren't they today's heroes?
Or I suppose I could just get all huffy and critical of word choices. Maybe I'm just totally wrong here, who knows? I'm just one of those stupid white men, what do I know?
Wow. Here's an issue that leaves me quite divided.
On the one hand, I'm not a big fan of plug-ins in general. They can be very useful in small quantities, but they are a complete and utter PITA when a site revolves around them. Like, say, a Flash-only "rich media" site. Ugh.
On the *other* hand, things like PDF plugins can be quite handy. One less window to be spawned on my desktop. Or perhaps a plugin to handle embedded audio in a page... nice. Applets? They can be OK.
So I'd like to have the *option* of using plug-ins. And, as much as I hate to root for the bad guys, I find myself sympathetic to MS in this case. I don't see how plug-ins as a concept are something the should be patentable. Like most computer folks, I look at concepts like these and am just arrogant enough to say "Oh, well, OK... but cmon -- *I* could have thought of that solution to the problem too! It's *obvious*!".
So, I think the best of all possible worlds is that the appeal succeeds (and we get to keep plugins without the annoyances MS is considering as circumvention routes), but Microsoft wastes a lot of money in the process, and enough FUD is generated to drive up usage of browsers other than IE;-).
The flowchart would be excellent. The rest of your comments are more than enough for me to click you to "Friend" status, I thought I was the only one who evaluated Heinlein on these criteria.
Speaking of Piers Anthony, I often wondered if either of his autobiographies ever addressed this. it just seems so, well, blatant in his works. After the third or fourth Xanth book where he sexualizes a 10-13 year old character, I had to wonder...
And again, it's not the topic that bugs me! It's how it is handled! I could open-mindedly read a book containing these topics ("Snow Crash" had a very sexual side-storyline with a 15 year old girl, and that's underage in the US -- a very minor example, but the only one off the top of my head). It just seemed the way "Bio" was written, I just didn't believe in the precocious 12-year old who knowingly seduces the older man. It seemed like an old man's fantasy rather than a realistic portrayal.
Yes, the group marriage thing was in that book, but somehow it seemed to flow with the plot a lot better. I accepted it and liked how it shaped the characters... it had *meaning*, but did not define or control the main plot line. It added to, rather than distracting from, the overall story.
In later books, it just fell flat. I didn't feel I knew anything more or cared more about Friday because of her sexuality. Which is too bad, I liked a lot of the other elements in "Friday".
I guess that was the crossover book for me... all the Heinlein I read after that just didn't really thrill me -- and I really wanted it to, because I know I read at least 3-4 more books after that, and I was disappointed by how close he came to writing something I liked, but just didn't *quite* hit the mark for me.
I'll admit it. I have a chip on my shoulder against Heinlein. It's not because he was a hack... it's because I liked so much of his earlier works (short stories in particular) that I had high expectations of him after that.
Uh, right. I'm a whiny twit because I have an opinion. How dare I.
Nice use of low-brow attacks too. Wow. You must have wowed them on the debate squad.
I'm far from a prude. I said I didn't like the sex in his books because it was... boring. Sexless sex. Meaningless sex. No "sizzle" to it at all. I yawned and turned to the next page...
Everything after "The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress" kind of sucked, IMHO. Once he got so into the whole sex/polyamory thing as a constant focus, I just lost interest. He actually managed to make sex boring to me, which is really saying something. Yeah, OK, Lazarus Long has slept with everyone and their mother... yeah, wonderful, free love is awesome, whatever.
I actually heard Heinlein was kind of pissed about how his works inspired the poly crowd, but I don't see what *else* he was intending to say in all these books. I mean, just off the top of my head -- Friday, The Number of the Beast, The Cat Who Walks Through Walls, Time Enough For Love -- all of these books were soured for me by what seemed like constant, totally unerotic sex. In "Friday", it was almost mechanical... boring.
(Yes, I know someone will post a page-count vs. sex acts ratio to try to convince me otherwise, but I don't care).
[ ObSenselessRant: Oh yeah, and Piers Anthony is a dirty old man. "Bio of A Space Tyrant" sucked once he got into the hero having consensual sex with a 12 year old. That coupled with Xanth novels titled "The Color of Her Panties" makes me want to have authorities monitoring his shack in Florida... ]
The linked article on devx.com really makes me not want to use code generation:-). Let's pick out some fun quotes:
"Even if code generation could build 100 percent of the application, there will still be an endless supply of boring meetings about feature design."
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" For example, when a lot of code needs to be written to perform relatively simple tasks, engineers can smell bad design. The EJB platform requires the construction of a bunch of classes and interfaces for each database table. Some consider this a design smell."
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Wow. So I have boring meetings and a really bad platform to look forward to. Yowza, bring it on!
OK, I'm partially joking here. But I think it's worth considering... when we're glad that we have a tool to alleviate the hassles of using a technology (like EJBs), maybe the technology and platform needs to be reconsidered? Shouldn't the platform perhaps do more to "hide" the complexity from us?
I'm struggling with this in a similar form right now with SOAP. I'm deploying a set of SOAP services in Java using Apache AXIS implementation. It does a lot of the 'heavy lifting' for you, but I'm still struggling with the particulars of how to deploy a service, serialize/deserialize my classes, ensure this API works well across a variety of clients (I'm testing with Perl, PHP, and Java), etc.
It can be a bit daunting. But... simple things *are* simple, and the level of code generation available is just about right. I don't *have* to generate a bunch of "helper" classes to put a SOAP service out there, the Axis implementation hides most of those details. I *can* generate additonal classes, and customize my WSDD and WSDL files to handle more complex situations, though. So, it's not perfect, but maybe it hits the mark a little closer.
Anyway, code generation can be great. I've done it before with things like interface creation (take an interface description and go to either HTML or Swing), and it can be very handy. But I wouldn't want to implement a system that is unusuable as a platform without those tools. Real programmers use vi;-).
Umm... no. He's clearly blowing smoke out of his ass on this whole "copyright trumps GPL" diatribe. It just doesn't make any sense. The GPL very clearly states that it is a license to *provide* the user rights, rights that are based on copyright (i.e., I couldn't *give* you these rights if copyright law hadn't already granted me, the producer of this work, the rights of control over the work itself), and rights that exceed what copyright says I *must* provide you. The comparison he is making just doesn't make any sense at all; the GPL is a license, copyright law is a law. Unless he is trying to say that *I* don't have the right to *grant* those rights under the GPL, it doesn't make sense. No judge is going to listen to that, when clearly more restrictive licenses have been judged as legal under a huge amount of case law.
His entire assertion is rambling and simply does not parse in any meaningful way. I can picture the hand-waving he must have been doing to try to distract attention from the very words he was speaking. I expect better than this if he thinks he's going to make any sort of case. The "Chewbacca Defense" isn't going to work.
I put that note in there because I knew some smart-ass would say "well, why don't *you* do something?". I really *can't*. I'm way too disorganized and in pieces at the moment due to personal problems in my life. I'd be a piss-poor leader of this efforts. I was admitting *that*, but also saying hey, I am interested if anyone could provide more info on possible *existing* efforts/commentaries on this case. Usually, the EFF or ACLU has comments on cases like this, and some useful information on how they see the case... something besides the pro-government perspective.
*Anyway*... as I read more info on the case, I'm unsure how I feel. I think the cracking charges are solid on him, and I don't defend those actions. Still, I think he got ramrodded through in his case due to the 'terrorist' card *and* the terms of his after-sentence behavior seem harsh and outside the bounds of what is generally considered "OK". I know felons loose some freedoms of association, but the broad terms quoted in the article seem ridiculous!
I am less concerned about this guy and what happens to him than I am the *next* step of this slippery slope. If this case stands as it is without some protest of some aspects of it, what comes next? I think that's a legitimate question to at least ponder.
Further recourse / protests?
on
Linking Dangerously
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· Score: 3, Insightful
Is anyone going to protest this or try to lobby to get this guy's sentence overturned? Or well, *something*? I had no idea this was going on, but I'm pretty pissed now that I know. This seems totally out of question as a ruling and a punishment, how can they even argue he committed a *crime*?
If anyone knows of something others can do, please post here. I'm too unorganized in my personal life at the moment to spearhead anything, but I'd like to participate if anyone else has gotten the ball rolling. This whole thing makes me feel unsafe in my own country.
Result in $foo holding the string "bas" right now;-). I haven't puzzled out the Perl 6 stuff enough to know what would happen then (probably a compile time error in assigning "bar" to $foo if $foo is declared as holding only numerical types).
I'd pretty solidly say that mentioning in the negotiations these points pretty much always works (has always worked for me, until I hit the point where I really am at the top for my current job, and don't really want to move up the management chain):
- You like your job - You like the company on the whole - You aren't satisfied with your compensation vs. the work you do and the value you provide to the company - You hope this can be worked out - If it cannot be worked out, you are considering whether or not you have a future at the company.
There. You didn't make any threats. But your point is very clear -- hey, I'm worth a lot more to you, let's make this work, or I'm gone. I think a boss understands that clearly. Last time I tried this, I got a 15% raise out of the deal.
So I'd say yes, making it clear that this is a vital negotiating point with your continued employment is a very important point to make. Of course, do make sure the resume is up to date if you're going to mention this, because it better not be a bluff -- you have to really mean it.
Most of us would not want to be unemployed. Of course that is true. However, I see too many people now who are giving up too much, fearing too much, and knuckling under to "The Man" just because they are full of this fear.
Look at the post I replied to. The poster implied that this guy is going to *ruin his life* if he gets a tattoo. That level of hyperbole is ridiculous. It just is not true... and to point to unemployment levels as a justification for this fear is just plain stupid.
THis is like the recent questions of whether people should just bend over and accept 12 hours x 7 day schedules, because 'the job market is tight'. If you accept that, the market is the only thing that will still be tight once they are done with you;-)
...but I will note: most salesmen would eschew mohawks. Some first impressions are *really* hard to get over, so you do have to make some compromises in life sometimes:-)
I don't disagree with most of your point, because let's face it, first impressions are important, and preconceptions are a fact of the human experience (if I had to start at Square One in solving all situations, I could never get anything done... so I must use previous inputs to the system to guide any new experience).
But I don't think a 'reputation' in the conventional sense is the only way to get around this. I also think confidence and a good self-image help a lot too. I know I can meet people for the first time, totally cold, and usually sway them over to trust me in my field -- because *I* know I know my shit, and I know I can convince them of that... so before we even start an interaction, I've already decided on how I want to be seen. If I waver in that conviction, then my chances of being able to be Myself and also be the person they want me to be (Super Professional Man) go way down.:-).
So, my best advice -- love yourself deeply, and convince yourself that you truly are All That, and you will command the respect you desire. It's all very Dale Carnegie... you think a salesman relies on a previous reputation? He can't, he's always meeting new people he has to make a good impression on from the start. So just sell yourself!
If all he wants to think of is his career, your comment might make sense. Hopefully, he is not yet a faceless drone of the collective, and is thinking of how this adornment might aid him in outwardly defining who he is as an individual.
I mean, damn. People are too scared now of unemployment. If this guy knows his shit in his field(s), both of which are known for being a little 'out there', I think he has nothing to worry about.
I can't believe you used the word 'torpedo'. Like his career hangs on whether or not he has a picture of something somewhere on his body. If it does, he has bigger problems -- like being in the wrong field.
I think making the move is entirely possible for you; you know computers fairly well, have a unique perspective on things that many programmers lack, and are used to being 'in the field'.
Pish-posh to the idiots who say being a Perl programmer somehow taints you. Please. Bad programming habits can occur in any language... the mere fact that you actually *want* to be a developer probably means you would be willing to listen to constructive criticism on how to improve your code. So, regardless of background, you probably could *become* a great programmer if you have any aptitude whatsoever. Enthusiasm is the core attribute most shitty programmers lack, they do it just for the paycheck. Good programmers do it because they dig solving problems:-).
Here are the key things you'll need:
1) Code examples. You need a couple really good examples of problem solving and at least *decent* code. If Perl is your best language syntax-wise, then pick up "Programming Perl", read it over a weekend, observe the good programming habits in the code examples. Download a couple of Perl modules and read those too... that should show you how to write a Perl program while avoiding really nasty habits. Then write a program in that style to solve a personal itch. Get a couple of those that you can show some enthusiasm for, and you will do well in an interview where you get to talk to actual programmers:-) (it would impress me!)
2) Look for a job where you can join a small-to-medium size team. Ideally, one organized into senior/junior developers. See, you want to learn from senior guys who are actively mentoring juniors. I know I do that, because the more I teach my team members how to most effectively program, the more I can delegate coding efforts to them and know they will do it mostly the way I would do it if I had time:-). So mentoring is a good deal for both parties. Hopefully, you can find a chance like that.
3) If you get a job in a larger group, don't be discouraged. You might be shitty tasks parsed out to you, or you might get overwhelmed with tougher things you don't feel ready to tackle. Either way, forge onwards -- you're a programmer now! Read more good texts on programming (on company time) if you're under-utilized -- I'd hardly fauly anyone on my team who did that! If you're swamped, admit it -- and try to draw others on the team into that mentoring/sharing experience you want. Who knows, you might encourage better teamwork overall... some of the shittiest programming jobs got that way just because the team as a whole lost spirit -- as the new guy, you're the best equipped to cut through that crap (before you get sucked into it too ).
I'd say give it a shot. You'll certainly learn something. In a pinch, you've got a lot of skills to fall back on. I mean, if you were under-utilized as a programmer, maybe you can fill out your time by offering sysadmin advice or picking up all those loose 'admin' tasks the IT department isn't handling:-).
I've worn varying amounts of earrings in my ears for years (16 years, 11 of them in 'the real world' of business). Never had a problem. Let me repeat:
NEVER. EVER. EVER.
Don't listen to anyone at all who disses this. They underestimate how much people will put up with if you are confident and very good at what you do. I rate the confidence as more key than anything else. If you don't treat it as strange or unusual, people will put up with quite a bit.
Just expect to always be singled out as 'the strange one' in the department. For me, I never cared... either way. I don't get in people's faces with something assinine like "oh! look, look, I'm *different*". Especially since at this point I'm more part of the general crowd than anything:-). Maybe it helps to be in a creative field (computer consulting, but I worked many years at Ford Motor, so that's a pretty 'standard' environment)
Now, a few cautions:
1) If you get a tattoo, get something you *can* cover up or play down if you are so inclined. Facial tattoos are only for those who really, really don't mind standing out and making compromises due to people's narrow viewpoints. You probably will find you'll prefer it this way anyway... better to have something you can *choose* to share with the crowd at large, because there are times where you'll want to *not* make the tattoo the focus of attention.
2) You will encounter dumb people. You may even encounter personal or career set-backs from this. It's always a chance. Assume that anything that happens like this is meant to be, and that you're better off not around those people or in that situation. If it's your mother crying over this, I suggest flowers and a hug and reassuring her that you're sorry you marked up the body she kept from harm all those years, but you were just expressing the creative side she always told you you had:-).
3) As noted above, plan to be exceptional and very professional in your career. That will overcome any silly preconceptions most people might have. And yes, you can plan to be exceptional... It's pretty rare to be exceptional without putting some effort into that goal:-)
4) Ask rec.arts.bodyart about this if you don't believe me. Tattooed, pierced, and otherly modified folks abound there. Many of them are very successful professionals, including my favorite librarian (hi Kate! I bet you're reading this!)
I can't really comment on this on a personal level... many of those people are still my friends:-).
*However*, on an organizational level -- yes, this is very true. I have found I can do more with less in some cases. Our previous group was far too big, and our previous project way too ambitious. We've shrunk expectations, and actually found we have a better product because we've had to be much more focused.
If things suck this bad, I would take this path (and I have... trust me, for 3 months last year when my whole group was in danger of getting fired, we went through Hell together):
- Keep working, but slow it down. Do what you *have* to do, but plan on making your exit and divorce any emotional connections you have to your work. Conserve energy for *you*. THis applies to your personal life too... make the most of any time you are not at work, and leave work issues *there*.
- Work on your resumes. Critique each others resumes. Get everyone working part-time on calling recruiters, etc. Use each other as references/referrals on these things, it helps.
- Work on your bankable skills. Refresh stuff you knew once, but haven't done in years. Pool money to buy up books on the latest and greatest trends, and cram! You're going to be out in the market, you need to be sharp!
- Have training sessions. Seriously, we did this. We reserved meeting rooms with whiteboards and trained each other for 1-2 hour sessions on stuff some of us knew solidly. I taught many of my co-workers J2EE over a couple lunch sessions; others taught CORBA programming, Unix essentials, etc. You can even do these over your lunch hours and not feel at all like you're 'cheating' the company... it's your time, you are just taking advantage of some of the facilities that aren't being used anyway:-).
There is a lot you can do. Working on business plan ideas is good too, although that is *so* difficult, the better course of action is to seek an 'investor' who already *has* an idea and just needs people to make it happen. They are definately out there, consult with local business groups to put out feelers on that.
If you answer the question like that, I wouldn't give you a job either. Geez, learn to play the game. Spin it a bit. I'm not going to check your references, and even if I did, I know the company can't tell me anything interesting anyway. I'd just be checking factuals -- did you do position X with responsibilities Y? They can't tell me anything but the facts...
No, if I were a person who walked (and I've been there before), I would say something like this:
"My previous employer, although a great place to be for many years, seemed to be having some significant organizational issues, and after some time in that environment, I decided I needed to pursue another opportunity. I decided to take some time in finding my next position so I could be sure I was someplace where I felt a real bond. And Mr. Interviewer, I feel that bond with MegaSuperCorp, let me tell you!"
Trust me, that works;-)
Everyone here is all like doom and gloom and negativity. Yeah, the economy sucks. Yeah, I wouldn't want to lose or leave my job right now either. But all the same, I'm not going to take being treated like shit on a continual basis... my self-worth and other factors in life are far more important. This just shows people that you *do* have to save for a rainy day when times are at all 'good', because then you do have the freedom to leave these situations if you have to.
Who cares how or if they replace you? You're leaving. Unless this is some sort of bluff to make the company cave in, you could care fsck all what they do after you leave. In my experience, what they do is get screwed over *hard*. Oh, they'll cope, they'll survive, but this is what will happen:
Scenario 1: Some of you leave, but not all Result: The pressure mounts on the remaining folks, and now the pressure *must* cascade above and below, because if you're straining now, after you leave the others will be even more stressed. So now management starts to feel some of the heat, and other departments get wind of this poor situation too...
So, now even more people are getting pressured, stuff starts dropping off the table, and either the company figures out how to relieve the stress or in time they lose even more employees. Even if people don't quit, I've seen many 'sit-ins' at work where people just come in and screw off because they don't care anymore. End result, company is screwed if they are in any sort of competitive field, because they've been forced to sit on their ass dealing with internal IT issues while the competition gets stuff done
Scenario 2: You *all* leave (perhaps to a competitor if your non-competes don't interfere, and much of the time they don't hold water) Result: As above, but worse. They can hire replacements right away, but even brilliant people in a new environment have some ramp-up time. Plus, if *any* of the previous people remain, these new people are going to be disheartened pretty quickly... the new folks won't quit (they need the job), but are they going to work with a song in their heart and their full mental powers engaged? Not likely. So the company either stagnates or continues to fall.
I've seen it happen *a lot*. Both my previous job, and to a certain extent my current position went through this. In my current job, we pulled back from the brink, made the best of a bad situation, and got management to (somewhat) "fix" things. We still went from 22 people to 4 people in my 'group', but we also changed the expectations and plans we had, and now my job is relatively stress-free.
Slashdot Mirror
I agree with those advocating about a $500 bonus, and keeping some of that money back for future "incentives". $500 is a great bonus for a small business to be able to manage, so the employees will appreciate it. Then, with the rest of the money, you'll be able to save up and plan for future bonuses. Being able to give a bonus every 3 or 6 months is a great way to motivate people!
I've gotten $100 bonuses in the past, and although they represented maybe $1 per hour of uncompensated overtime put in, it meant something to me to at least be recognized, and to have some "mad" money to spend.
Holding back money and being able to *regularly* give bonuses helps a lot too -- once people get bonuses, especially around a certain time of the year, they get to like them... being able to make this a regular thing (given that the company has good performance) will go a long way towards retaining good employees.
Actually, although Front Page sucks, DreamWeaver is a great tool. For setting up a fairly complex page, it helps to have a UI like this -- you can have the HTML view in one pane and the (approximate) browser view in another pane. DreamWeaver is very standards-compliant (in my experience, although I definately only use a small subset of the full features).
:-).
The biggest feature I use is the style-sheet support, actually. Helps to click through a few menus to build up the correct CSS for "white text in Arial 10 pt with 5 pixels padding left and 10 pixels padding top" -- I don't have to wrack my brain to recall the right syntax for something I don't have to use a lot. I'm reworking a pretty large site right now (166 JSP pages), and being able to use this is helping a lot in removing all the old tags and putting in nice stylesheet directives.
So yeah, this self-respecting geek uses it. One of the few Windows-based tools I really like. Mind you, the only other editor I use is vi (even on Windows), so it all balances out
No... I think you're being a bit overly serious here.
It's funny (as in odd or strange to ponder) that at the time this was a huge issue, yet now we take it for granted. It is strange for the current generation to ponder that there ever was a time where women's right to vote could have ever been questioned.
It is a subject worth examining. It wasn't that long ago, really. Looking at the parallels between surveillance then and surveillance now should make us question why we are still watching dissidents today, and are today's dissidents tomorrow's heroes? And if that's so, why aren't they today's heroes?
Or I suppose I could just get all huffy and critical of word choices. Maybe I'm just totally wrong here, who knows? I'm just one of those stupid white men, what do I know?
Wow. Here's an issue that leaves me quite divided.
;-).
On the one hand, I'm not a big fan of plug-ins in general. They can be very useful in small quantities, but they are a complete and utter PITA when a site revolves around them. Like, say, a Flash-only "rich media" site. Ugh.
On the *other* hand, things like PDF plugins can be quite handy. One less window to be spawned on my desktop. Or perhaps a plugin to handle embedded audio in a page... nice. Applets? They can be OK.
So I'd like to have the *option* of using plug-ins. And, as much as I hate to root for the bad guys, I find myself sympathetic to MS in this case. I don't see how plug-ins as a concept are something the should be patentable. Like most computer folks, I look at concepts like these and am just arrogant enough to say "Oh, well, OK... but cmon -- *I* could have thought of that solution to the problem too! It's *obvious*!".
So, I think the best of all possible worlds is that the appeal succeeds (and we get to keep plugins without the annoyances MS is considering as circumvention routes), but Microsoft wastes a lot of money in the process, and enough FUD is generated to drive up usage of browsers other than IE
The flowchart would be excellent. The rest of your comments are more than enough for me to click you to "Friend" status, I thought I was the only one who evaluated Heinlein on these criteria.
Speaking of Piers Anthony, I often wondered if either of his autobiographies ever addressed this. it just seems so, well, blatant in his works. After the third or fourth Xanth book where he sexualizes a 10-13 year old character, I had to wonder...
And again, it's not the topic that bugs me! It's how it is handled! I could open-mindedly read a book containing these topics ("Snow Crash" had a very sexual side-storyline with a 15 year old girl, and that's underage in the US -- a very minor example, but the only one off the top of my head). It just seemed the way "Bio" was written, I just didn't believe in the precocious 12-year old who knowingly seduces the older man. It seemed like an old man's fantasy rather than a realistic portrayal.
Yes, the group marriage thing was in that book, but somehow it seemed to flow with the plot a lot better. I accepted it and liked how it shaped the characters... it had *meaning*, but did not define or control the main plot line. It added to, rather than distracting from, the overall story.
In later books, it just fell flat. I didn't feel I knew anything more or cared more about Friday because of her sexuality. Which is too bad, I liked a lot of the other elements in "Friday".
I guess that was the crossover book for me... all the Heinlein I read after that just didn't really thrill me -- and I really wanted it to, because I know I read at least 3-4 more books after that, and I was disappointed by how close he came to writing something I liked, but just didn't *quite* hit the mark for me.
I'll admit it. I have a chip on my shoulder against Heinlein. It's not because he was a hack... it's because I liked so much of his earlier works (short stories in particular) that I had high expectations of him after that.
Uh, right. I'm a whiny twit because I have an opinion. How dare I.
:-P
Nice use of low-brow attacks too. Wow. You must have wowed them on the debate squad.
I'm far from a prude. I said I didn't like the sex in his books because it was... boring. Sexless sex. Meaningless sex. No "sizzle" to it at all. I yawned and turned to the next page...
Much like I yawn at your infantile post
Eh. Sounds too much like his later works.
Everything after "The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress" kind of sucked, IMHO. Once he got so into the whole sex/polyamory thing as a constant focus, I just lost interest. He actually managed to make sex boring to me, which is really saying something. Yeah, OK, Lazarus Long has slept with everyone and their mother... yeah, wonderful, free love is awesome, whatever.
I actually heard Heinlein was kind of pissed about how his works inspired the poly crowd, but I don't see what *else* he was intending to say in all these books. I mean, just off the top of my head -- Friday, The Number of the Beast, The Cat Who Walks Through Walls, Time Enough For Love -- all of these books were soured for me by what seemed like constant, totally unerotic sex. In "Friday", it was almost mechanical... boring.
(Yes, I know someone will post a page-count vs. sex acts ratio to try to convince me otherwise, but I don't care).
[ ObSenselessRant: Oh yeah, and Piers Anthony is a dirty old man. "Bio of A Space Tyrant" sucked once he got into the hero having consensual sex with a 12 year old. That coupled with Xanth novels titled "The Color of Her Panties" makes me want to have authorities monitoring his shack in Florida... ]
The linked article on devx.com really makes me not want to use code generation :-). Let's pick out some fun quotes:
;-).
"Even if code generation could build 100 percent of the application, there will still be an endless supply of boring meetings about feature design."
----
" For example, when a lot of code needs to be written to perform relatively simple tasks, engineers can smell bad design. The EJB platform requires the construction of a bunch of classes and interfaces for each database table. Some consider this a design smell."
----
Wow. So I have boring meetings and a really bad platform to look forward to. Yowza, bring it on!
OK, I'm partially joking here. But I think it's worth considering... when we're glad that we have a tool to alleviate the hassles of using a technology (like EJBs), maybe the technology and platform needs to be reconsidered? Shouldn't the platform perhaps do more to "hide" the complexity from us?
I'm struggling with this in a similar form right now with SOAP. I'm deploying a set of SOAP services in Java using Apache AXIS implementation. It does a lot of the 'heavy lifting' for you, but I'm still struggling with the particulars of how to deploy a service, serialize/deserialize my classes, ensure this API works well across a variety of clients (I'm testing with Perl, PHP, and Java), etc.
It can be a bit daunting. But... simple things *are* simple, and the level of code generation available is just about right. I don't *have* to generate a bunch of "helper" classes to put a SOAP service out there, the Axis implementation hides most of those details. I *can* generate additonal classes, and customize my WSDD and WSDL files to handle more complex situations, though. So, it's not perfect, but maybe it hits the mark a little closer.
Anyway, code generation can be great. I've done it before with things like interface creation (take an interface description and go to either HTML or Swing), and it can be very handy. But I wouldn't want to implement a system that is unusuable as a platform without those tools. Real programmers use vi
Umm... no. He's clearly blowing smoke out of his ass on this whole "copyright trumps GPL" diatribe. It just doesn't make any sense. The GPL very clearly states that it is a license to *provide* the user rights, rights that are based on copyright (i.e., I couldn't *give* you these rights if copyright law hadn't already granted me, the producer of this work, the rights of control over the work itself), and rights that exceed what copyright says I *must* provide you. The comparison he is making just doesn't make any sense at all; the GPL is a license, copyright law is a law. Unless he is trying to say that *I* don't have the right to *grant* those rights under the GPL, it doesn't make sense. No judge is going to listen to that, when clearly more restrictive licenses have been judged as legal under a huge amount of case law.
His entire assertion is rambling and simply does not parse in any meaningful way. I can picture the hand-waving he must have been doing to try to distract attention from the very words he was speaking. I expect better than this if he thinks he's going to make any sort of case. The "Chewbacca Defense" isn't going to work.
I put that note in there because I knew some smart-ass would say "well, why don't *you* do something?". I really *can't*. I'm way too disorganized and in pieces at the moment due to personal problems in my life. I'd be a piss-poor leader of this efforts. I was admitting *that*, but also saying hey, I am interested if anyone could provide more info on possible *existing* efforts/commentaries on this case. Usually, the EFF or ACLU has comments on cases like this, and some useful information on how they see the case... something besides the pro-government perspective.
*Anyway*... as I read more info on the case, I'm unsure how I feel. I think the cracking charges are solid on him, and I don't defend those actions. Still, I think he got ramrodded through in his case due to the 'terrorist' card *and* the terms of his after-sentence behavior seem harsh and outside the bounds of what is generally considered "OK". I know felons loose some freedoms of association, but the broad terms quoted in the article seem ridiculous!
I am less concerned about this guy and what happens to him than I am the *next* step of this slippery slope. If this case stands as it is without some protest of some aspects of it, what comes next? I think that's a legitimate question to at least ponder.
Is anyone going to protest this or try to lobby to get this guy's sentence overturned? Or well, *something*? I had no idea this was going on, but I'm pretty pissed now that I know. This seems totally out of question as a ruling and a punishment, how can they even argue he committed a *crime*?
If anyone knows of something others can do, please post here. I'm too unorganized in my personal life at the moment to spearhead anything, but I'd like to participate if anyone else has gotten the ball rolling. This whole thing makes me feel unsafe in my own country.
Actually, the following code (in Perl 5):
;-). I haven't puzzled out the Perl 6 stuff enough to know what would happen then (probably a compile time error in assigning "bar" to $foo if $foo is declared as holding only numerical types).
$foo = "bar";
$foo++;
Result in $foo holding the string "bas" right now
I'd pretty solidly say that mentioning in the negotiations these points pretty much always works (has always worked for me, until I hit the point where I really am at the top for my current job, and don't really want to move up the management chain):
- You like your job
- You like the company on the whole
- You aren't satisfied with your compensation vs. the work you do and the value you provide to the company
- You hope this can be worked out
- If it cannot be worked out, you are considering whether or not you have a future at the company.
There. You didn't make any threats. But your point is very clear -- hey, I'm worth a lot more to you, let's make this work, or I'm gone. I think a boss understands that clearly. Last time I tried this, I got a 15% raise out of the deal.
So I'd say yes, making it clear that this is a vital negotiating point with your continued employment is a very important point to make. Of course, do make sure the resume is up to date if you're going to mention this, because it better not be a bluff -- you have to really mean it.
*sigh*. See, again with the fear.
;-)
Most of us would not want to be unemployed. Of course that is true. However, I see too many people now who are giving up too much, fearing too much, and knuckling under to "The Man" just because they are full of this fear.
Look at the post I replied to. The poster implied that this guy is going to *ruin his life* if he gets a tattoo. That level of hyperbole is ridiculous. It just is not true... and to point to unemployment levels as a justification for this fear is just plain stupid.
THis is like the recent questions of whether people should just bend over and accept 12 hours x 7 day schedules, because 'the job market is tight'. If you accept that, the market is the only thing that will still be tight once they are done with you
...but I will note: most salesmen would eschew mohawks. Some first impressions are *really* hard to get over, so you do have to make some compromises in life sometimes :-)
I don't disagree with most of your point, because let's face it, first impressions are important, and preconceptions are a fact of the human experience (if I had to start at Square One in solving all situations, I could never get anything done... so I must use previous inputs to the system to guide any new experience).
:-).
But I don't think a 'reputation' in the conventional sense is the only way to get around this. I also think confidence and a good self-image help a lot too. I know I can meet people for the first time, totally cold, and usually sway them over to trust me in my field -- because *I* know I know my shit, and I know I can convince them of that... so before we even start an interaction, I've already decided on how I want to be seen. If I waver in that conviction, then my chances of being able to be Myself and also be the person they want me to be (Super Professional Man) go way down.
So, my best advice -- love yourself deeply, and convince yourself that you truly are All That, and you will command the respect you desire. It's all very Dale Carnegie... you think a salesman relies on a previous reputation? He can't, he's always meeting new people he has to make a good impression on from the start. So just sell yourself!
If all he wants to think of is his career, your comment might make sense. Hopefully, he is not yet a faceless drone of the collective, and is thinking of how this adornment might aid him in outwardly defining who he is as an individual.
I mean, damn. People are too scared now of unemployment. If this guy knows his shit in his field(s), both of which are known for being a little 'out there', I think he has nothing to worry about.
I can't believe you used the word 'torpedo'. Like his career hangs on whether or not he has a picture of something somewhere on his body. If it does, he has bigger problems -- like being in the wrong field.
I think making the move is entirely possible for you; you know computers fairly well, have a unique perspective on things that many programmers lack, and are used to being 'in the field'.
:-).
:-) (it would impress me!)
:-). So mentoring is a good deal for both parties. Hopefully, you can find a chance like that.
:-).
Pish-posh to the idiots who say being a Perl programmer somehow taints you. Please. Bad programming habits can occur in any language... the mere fact that you actually *want* to be a developer probably means you would be willing to listen to constructive criticism on how to improve your code. So, regardless of background, you probably could *become* a great programmer if you have any aptitude whatsoever. Enthusiasm is the core attribute most shitty programmers lack, they do it just for the paycheck. Good programmers do it because they dig solving problems
Here are the key things you'll need:
1) Code examples. You need a couple really good examples of problem solving and at least *decent* code. If Perl is your best language syntax-wise, then pick up "Programming Perl", read it over a weekend, observe the good programming habits in the code examples. Download a couple of Perl modules and read those too... that should show you how to write a Perl program while avoiding really nasty habits. Then write a program in that style to solve a personal itch. Get a couple of those that you can show some enthusiasm for, and you will do well in an interview where you get to talk to actual programmers
2) Look for a job where you can join a small-to-medium size team. Ideally, one organized into senior/junior developers. See, you want to learn from senior guys who are actively mentoring juniors. I know I do that, because the more I teach my team members how to most effectively program, the more I can delegate coding efforts to them and know they will do it mostly the way I would do it if I had time
3) If you get a job in a larger group, don't be discouraged. You might be shitty tasks parsed out to you, or you might get overwhelmed with tougher things you don't feel ready to tackle. Either way, forge onwards -- you're a programmer now! Read more good texts on programming (on company time) if you're under-utilized -- I'd hardly fauly anyone on my team who did that! If you're swamped, admit it -- and try to draw others on the team into that mentoring/sharing experience you want. Who knows, you might encourage better teamwork overall... some of the shittiest programming jobs got that way just because the team as a whole lost spirit -- as the new guy, you're the best equipped to cut through that crap (before you get sucked into it too ).
I'd say give it a shot. You'll certainly learn something. In a pinch, you've got a lot of skills to fall back on. I mean, if you were under-utilized as a programmer, maybe you can fill out your time by offering sysadmin advice or picking up all those loose 'admin' tasks the IT department isn't handling
I've worn varying amounts of earrings in my ears for years (16 years, 11 of them in 'the real world' of business). Never had a problem. Let me repeat:
:-). Maybe it helps to be in a creative field (computer consulting, but I worked many years at Ford Motor, so that's a pretty 'standard' environment)
:-).
:-)
NEVER. EVER. EVER.
Don't listen to anyone at all who disses this. They underestimate how much people will put up with if you are confident and very good at what you do. I rate the confidence as more key than anything else. If you don't treat it as strange or unusual, people will put up with quite a bit.
Just expect to always be singled out as 'the strange one' in the department. For me, I never cared... either way. I don't get in people's faces with something assinine like "oh! look, look, I'm *different*". Especially since at this point I'm more part of the general crowd than anything
Now, a few cautions:
1) If you get a tattoo, get something you *can* cover up or play down if you are so inclined. Facial tattoos are only for those who really, really don't mind standing out and making compromises due to people's narrow viewpoints. You probably will find you'll prefer it this way anyway... better to have something you can *choose* to share with the crowd at large, because there are times where you'll want to *not* make the tattoo the focus of attention.
2) You will encounter dumb people. You may even encounter personal or career set-backs from this. It's always a chance. Assume that anything that happens like this is meant to be, and that you're better off not around those people or in that situation. If it's your mother crying over this, I suggest flowers and a hug and reassuring her that you're sorry you marked up the body she kept from harm all those years, but you were just expressing the creative side she always told you you had
3) As noted above, plan to be exceptional and very professional in your career. That will overcome any silly preconceptions most people might have. And yes, you can plan to be exceptional... It's pretty rare to be exceptional without putting some effort into that goal
4) Ask rec.arts.bodyart about this if you don't believe me. Tattooed, pierced, and otherly modified folks abound there. Many of them are very successful professionals, including my favorite librarian (hi Kate! I bet you're reading this!)
ciao!
I can't really comment on this on a personal level... many of those people are still my friends :-).
:-).
*However*, on an organizational level -- yes, this is very true. I have found I can do more with less in some cases. Our previous group was far too big, and our previous project way too ambitious. We've shrunk expectations, and actually found we have a better product because we've had to be much more focused.
So, your points are fairly accurate
If things suck this bad, I would take this path (and I have... trust me, for 3 months last year when my whole group was in danger of getting fired, we went through Hell together):
:-).
- Keep working, but slow it down. Do what you *have* to do, but plan on making your exit and divorce any emotional connections you have to your work. Conserve energy for *you*. THis applies to your personal life too... make the most of any time you are not at work, and leave work issues *there*.
- Work on your resumes. Critique each others resumes. Get everyone working part-time on calling recruiters, etc. Use each other as references/referrals on these things, it helps.
- Work on your bankable skills. Refresh stuff you knew once, but haven't done in years. Pool money to buy up books on the latest and greatest trends, and cram! You're going to be out in the market, you need to be sharp!
- Have training sessions. Seriously, we did this. We reserved meeting rooms with whiteboards and trained each other for 1-2 hour sessions on stuff some of us knew solidly. I taught many of my co-workers J2EE over a couple lunch sessions; others taught CORBA programming, Unix essentials, etc. You can even do these over your lunch hours and not feel at all like you're 'cheating' the company... it's your time, you are just taking advantage of some of the facilities that aren't being used anyway
There is a lot you can do. Working on business plan ideas is good too, although that is *so* difficult, the better course of action is to seek an 'investor' who already *has* an idea and just needs people to make it happen. They are definately out there, consult with local business groups to put out feelers on that.
If you answer the question like that, I wouldn't give you a job either. Geez, learn to play the game. Spin it a bit. I'm not going to check your references, and even if I did, I know the company can't tell me anything interesting anyway. I'd just be checking factuals -- did you do position X with responsibilities Y? They can't tell me anything but the facts...
;-)
No, if I were a person who walked (and I've been there before), I would say something like this:
"My previous employer, although a great place to be for many years, seemed to be having some significant organizational issues, and after some time in that environment, I decided I needed to pursue another opportunity. I decided to take some time in finding my next position so I could be sure I was someplace where I felt a real bond. And Mr. Interviewer, I feel that bond with MegaSuperCorp, let me tell you!"
Trust me, that works
Everyone here is all like doom and gloom and negativity. Yeah, the economy sucks. Yeah, I wouldn't want to lose or leave my job right now either. But all the same, I'm not going to take being treated like shit on a continual basis... my self-worth and other factors in life are far more important. This just shows people that you *do* have to save for a rainy day when times are at all 'good', because then you do have the freedom to leave these situations if you have to.
Who cares how or if they replace you? You're leaving. Unless this is some sort of bluff to make the company cave in, you could care fsck all what they do after you leave. In my experience, what they do is get screwed over *hard*. Oh, they'll cope, they'll survive, but this is what will happen:
Scenario 1: Some of you leave, but not all
Result: The pressure mounts on the remaining folks, and now the pressure *must* cascade above and below, because if you're straining now, after you leave the others will be even more stressed. So now management starts to feel some of the heat, and other departments get wind of this poor situation too...
So, now even more people are getting pressured, stuff starts dropping off the table, and either the company figures out how to relieve the stress or in time they lose even more employees. Even if people don't quit, I've seen many 'sit-ins' at work where people just come in and screw off because they don't care anymore. End result, company is screwed if they are in any sort of competitive field, because they've been forced to sit on their ass dealing with internal IT issues while the competition gets stuff done
Scenario 2: You *all* leave (perhaps to a competitor if your non-competes don't interfere, and much of the time they don't hold water)
Result: As above, but worse. They can hire replacements right away, but even brilliant people in a new environment have some ramp-up time. Plus, if *any* of the previous people remain, these new people are going to be disheartened pretty quickly... the new folks won't quit (they need the job), but are they going to work with a song in their heart and their full mental powers engaged? Not likely. So the company either stagnates or continues to fall.
I've seen it happen *a lot*. Both my previous job, and to a certain extent my current position went through this. In my current job, we pulled back from the brink, made the best of a bad situation, and got management to (somewhat) "fix" things. We still went from 22 people to 4 people in my 'group', but we also changed the expectations and plans we had, and now my job is relatively stress-free.