Just wanted to mention that I worked on E-speak... if it flakes horribly and doesn't scale for crap, blame me =).
Keep in mind that, even though I worked on the goofy thing, I still don't know what it _does_. Even a bunch of the other engineers I worked with gave me blank stares and referred me to the marketing BS. The bits I was actually coding were just communication protocols that were generic enough that it told me nothing about the rest of the product. Ah well... I look forward to seeing wtf E-speak actually does.
Dear god... "netslaves"? Doesn't that sort of dilute the meaning of the word "slave"? I work 40 hours a week, I'm paid obscenely well, I read /. at work, and I came in today at noon. And I know there's a hell of a lot of people just like me out here. Admittedly not everyone has it as easy, but come on! Tech workers are some of the luckiest people in the world. Compare it to the relative amounts of work and wages that an EMT, teacher, farmer, machinist, or even mathematician has to deal with. I know pure science guys that are twice as smart as most of the engineers out here, who do twice the work and get one fifth the pay.
No matter how good life is, some people will always bitch...
I don't think Gold is challenging stellar evolution here. The article isn't exactly written to the scientific community; I interpreted the sentence about oil and gas being formed "in the Big Bang" as "The gasses and oils were formed primarily during the formation of the planets, not later (as a result of decomposition of plants)." You can regard the phrase "The Big Bang" as an instant, or a process for stellar formation, right?
I'm a software geek, not a cosmologist or geologist, so I won't comment too much on the theory, but that's the meaning I got from the article. Oil carrying biological remnants upwards seems plausible enough, and makes me think of that Stephenson story "Big Jelly" =)
Advice to young people from someone who's younger
on
The Dark Side of IT
·
· Score: 1
Howdy,
I was in my fifth year of schooling for my B.S. when I finally said to hell with it. I'm a bit of a weird case. 5 years in college and still no B.S. might sound pretty lame, but I was 13 when I started. I'm "precocious" or what have you, but do to all sorts of mental health screwups I can't keep a normal schedule. So when I hear the offers (fat salary, _flex time_, be a part of a research team, relocation bonus and beni's) I was there in an instant. To hell with finishing my BS, as I wasn't learning anything anyway.
Unfortunately, not everything is always as rosy as it looks. Here are some things I've learned:
1) Having a degree gives you options. Drudgery in school sucks, I understand this perhaps more than anyone. Drudgery in the workplace is much, much, much worse. Plus, college is FUN, damnit. You get to hang out with people that don't have kids your age (sorry, i'm kinda bitter about that), you can sleep through lecture, learn how to tango, take classes in drawing naked people, whatever. If I get the chance, I'm going back to college and staying there forever.
2) Get everything the guy who's recruiting you says in writing. "Flextime" for me lasted about two weeks, then I started getting lectures about not showing up at certain times. My work in a research team got cut short within a month because it went to product, so I'm doing QA and testing code. Not too exciting. I was naive, and I was a hotshot, so I assumed they'd want to keep me happy. Humbug... once they have you, they know that it looks bad for you to quit too early, so they've got you for at least a few months.
3) Unless you have either children or a cocaine habit to support, if you're young, SCREW THE MONEY. Learn. Enjoy. Live. Spending more hours per day in a cubicle my age is a sign. Get a job where you're doing something that you really love, develop some new skills, hang out with people that share your interests/age/culture/whatever. Take kung fu =).
That fat wad of cash will look very pretty at first, but it won't be so fun when you don't have the time to enjoy it.
Slashdot Mirror
whee...
Just wanted to mention that I worked on E-speak...
if it flakes horribly and doesn't scale for crap,
blame me =).
Keep in mind that, even though I worked on the goofy thing, I still don't know what it _does_. Even a bunch of the other engineers I worked with gave me blank stares and referred me to the marketing BS. The bits I was actually coding were just communication protocols that were generic enough that it told me nothing about the rest of the product. Ah well... I look forward to seeing wtf E-speak actually does.
Dear god... "netslaves"? Doesn't that sort of
dilute the meaning of the word "slave"? I work
40 hours a week, I'm paid obscenely well, I read
/. at work, and I came in today at noon. And I know there's a hell of a lot of people just like me out here. Admittedly not everyone has it as easy, but come on! Tech workers are some of the luckiest people in the world. Compare it to the relative amounts of work and wages that an EMT, teacher, farmer, machinist, or even mathematician has to deal with. I know pure science guys that are twice as smart as most of the engineers out here, who do twice the work and get one fifth the pay.
No matter how good life is, some people will always bitch...
Thank you for summing up my stupid message into a succinct point =)
I don't think Gold is challenging stellar evolution here. The article isn't exactly written
to the scientific community; I interpreted the sentence about oil and gas being formed "in the Big Bang" as "The gasses and oils were formed primarily during the formation of the planets, not later (as a result of decomposition of plants)."
You can regard the phrase "The Big Bang" as an instant, or a process for stellar formation, right?
I'm a software geek, not a cosmologist or geologist, so I won't comment too much on the theory, but that's the meaning I got from the article. Oil carrying biological remnants upwards seems plausible enough, and makes me think of that Stephenson story "Big Jelly" =)
Howdy,
I was in my fifth year of schooling for my B.S. when I finally said to hell with it. I'm a bit of a weird case. 5 years in college and still no B.S. might sound pretty lame, but I was 13 when I started. I'm "precocious" or what have you, but do to all sorts of mental health screwups I can't keep a normal schedule. So when I hear the offers (fat salary, _flex time_, be a part of a research team, relocation bonus and beni's) I was there in an instant. To hell with finishing my BS, as I wasn't learning anything anyway.
Unfortunately, not everything is always as rosy as it looks. Here are some things I've learned:
1) Having a degree gives you options. Drudgery in school sucks, I understand this perhaps more than anyone. Drudgery in the workplace is much, much, much worse. Plus, college is FUN, damnit. You get to hang out with people that don't have kids your age (sorry, i'm kinda bitter about that), you can sleep through lecture, learn how to tango, take classes in drawing naked people, whatever. If I get the chance, I'm going back to college and staying there forever.
2) Get everything the guy who's recruiting you says in writing. "Flextime" for me lasted about two weeks, then I started getting lectures about not showing up at certain times. My work in a research team got cut short within a month because it went to product, so I'm doing QA and testing code. Not too exciting. I was naive, and I was a hotshot, so I assumed they'd want to keep me happy. Humbug... once they have you, they know that it looks bad for you to quit too early, so they've got you for at least a few months.
3) Unless you have either children or a cocaine habit to support, if you're young, SCREW THE MONEY. Learn. Enjoy. Live. Spending more hours per day in a cubicle my age is a sign. Get a job where you're doing something that you really love, develop some new skills, hang out with people that share your interests/age/culture/whatever. Take kung fu =).
That fat wad of cash will look very pretty at first, but it won't be so fun when you don't have the time to enjoy it.
kung fu to you too!
-ChineseBoxer