I've found that a lot more geeks read and appreciate Shakespeare (and actually READ anything!) than managers and mid-managers.
And some of the best geeks have degrees in English, Drama, Philosophy, you-name-it liberal arts.
In my company, it's far easier to talk about the latest production of Hamlet with the geeks than with the managers, because the geeks have actually read the play.
The social skill thing hardly holds water anymore. Most geeks that I know are able to communicate pretty damn clearly, and are impatient with people who act like they know something that they really don't.
Just my.02. I'm not *quite* a geek, but I'm getting there.
StarOffice does a pretty good job with most PowerPoint presentations. The conversion is pretty darn slow, but once you've gotten over that, it does a great job with most simple PPT presentations. I've never tried it with anything more complex than graphics simple slide animations and transitions, and the like. But it does all I need and then some for presentations, and I've been able to run EVERY sales presentation and marketing presentation put together by the MS-using bean counters and yuppies at my place.
As there is in this industry. And no, it's not among the programmers. It's among the leech VC's, know-nothing managers, and money-hungry sales people that smell their new Lexus everytime they see a brilliant programmer. Funny that Cringely would write an article talking about the great spirit of the Valley. You mean the spirit that causes everyone to one-up each other with new cars, fancy houses, and cocktail parties? The Valley of the 80's was about the technology. In the 90's, it's nothing but revolting greed. I don't think it's a far stretch to compare up programmers to the exploited child labor of third-world countries- yes, we all eat rather well and have the modern conveniences, but those of us who love what we do are exploited to all hell by the establishment.
The 3rd edition kicks ass. Great for newbies, great for hackers. The 2nd ed was great. This is a classic. Put it there with the Camel, Java In A Nutshell (1st edition- the referee book), and the Armadillo. I got it last week, and it rocks.
The 1st ed was how I first got Linux up on my box- and that was, of course Yggdrasil.
Yup. It's the brainpower that's so exciting. Go to a Linux User's Group meeting, or to any Linux gathering, and you'll be floored. The people who write the code are so f***ing smart it's amazing. I'm intimidated to contribute code to Open SOurce projects as a result... I don't know if I could write anything as well as some of the gurus out there.
If you like to spend time around intelligent people, Linux and Open SOurce are the places to be.
If not, there's McDonald's. And Microsoft. And (most) corporate IT.
I don't know much Python, but I know it has fantastic object-oriented faculties, and I know as a Java programmer that OOP is the future of programming. The thinking skills required to be a good OOP programmer can easily be taught in the context of a Python class.
The local HS's are teaching VB as intro to programming. Hello!?!?!
We learned BASIC in 4th grade. By 6th grade, the propeller-heads in my class were programming in assembler on them old Apples. You can start the basic concepts at any age- especially the ideas of object-oriented design and basic algorithms. Add the code later. Programming isn't just about code, and it's not an isolated discipline. Most youth could benefit by learning the types of thinking skills and analysis that are required of a programmer, but useful in many situations. Classification, algorithms, simulation... I believe it's an interesting commentary on the thinking skills required of programmers that some of the most literate people I know, the people who actually read the great works (Shakespeare, Tolstoy, classic poetry) are high-powered programmers (who, BTW, despise M$). -MVK
Sorry, I'm not a geek extraordinaire...so I love SuSE. The SuSE 6.1 distro is the only distro I've been 100% successful with... and I love having EVERYTHING on CD.
I'll buy 6.2. I like the convenience of having it all in one place and with one unified setup interface (YaST).
I too am looking for a Java app server... we're leaning towards WebLogic, though we haven't ruled out Sapphire. However, my boss came to me on Friday and said, "you know, we're a MCSP and have lots of $$$ invested in MS training and blah blah blah so you better give us all a good explanation as to why you're risking our largest contract on Java technology...." He has somewhat of a point, given that we are mandated to run on NT.... however, the DNA architecture is a load of unreliable, unscalable, stateless, single-threaded garbage, IMHO. But, I still have to drill down on the MS BS with him... does anyone have their reasons for using a Java app server over the DNA architecture?
I think I've got a good case, but I need more fuel, lest I end up sleeping with VB books for the next few months.
Slashdot Mirror
WOO-HOO! AT&T seamlessly cut me over to their new network, attbi. DHCP picked it up in about 30 minutes after they unplugged @home.
Can't believe I'm saying this- but god, I love AT&T.
And I can still be an arrogant cable modem bastard.
I've found that a lot more geeks read and appreciate Shakespeare (and actually READ anything!) than managers and mid-managers.
.02. I'm not *quite* a geek, but I'm getting there.
And some of the best geeks have degrees in English, Drama, Philosophy, you-name-it liberal arts.
In my company, it's far easier to talk about the latest production of Hamlet with the geeks than with the managers, because the geeks have actually read the play.
The social skill thing hardly holds water anymore. Most geeks that I know are able to communicate pretty damn clearly, and are impatient with people who act like they know something that they really don't.
Just my
-MVK
StarOffice does a pretty good job with most PowerPoint presentations. The conversion is pretty darn slow, but once you've gotten over that, it does a great job with most simple PPT presentations. I've never tried it with anything more complex than graphics simple slide animations and transitions, and the like. But it does all I need and then some for presentations, and I've been able to run EVERY sales presentation and marketing presentation put together by the MS-using bean counters and yuppies at my place.
As there is in this industry. And no, it's not among the programmers. It's among the leech VC's, know-nothing managers, and money-hungry sales people that smell their new Lexus everytime they see a brilliant programmer. Funny that Cringely would write an article talking about the great spirit of the Valley. You mean the spirit that causes everyone to one-up each other with new cars, fancy houses, and cocktail parties? The Valley of the 80's was about the technology. In the 90's, it's nothing but revolting greed.
:)
I don't think it's a far stretch to compare up programmers to the exploited child labor of third-world countries- yes, we all eat rather well and have the modern conveniences, but those of us who love what we do are exploited to all hell by the establishment.
Marxist-type rant finished.
-MVK
The "wolf" is wonderful. It's the first book of algorithms I've actually used- at least for more than a paperweight.
I look forward to reading the review on that one.
-MVK
The 3rd edition kicks ass. Great for newbies, great for hackers. The 2nd ed was great. This is a classic. Put it there with the Camel, Java In A Nutshell (1st edition- the referee book), and the Armadillo. I got it last week, and it rocks.
The 1st ed was how I first got Linux up on my box- and that was, of course Yggdrasil.
-MVK
Yup. It's the brainpower that's so exciting. Go to a Linux User's Group meeting, or to any Linux gathering, and you'll be floored. The people who write the code are so f***ing smart it's amazing. I'm intimidated to contribute code to Open SOurce projects as a result... I don't know if I could write anything as well as some of the gurus out there.
If you like to spend time around intelligent people, Linux and Open SOurce are the places to be.
If not, there's McDonald's. And Microsoft. And (most) corporate IT.
I don't know much Python, but I know it has fantastic object-oriented faculties, and I know as a Java programmer that OOP is the future of programming. The thinking skills required to be a good OOP programmer can easily be taught in the context of a Python class.
The local HS's are teaching VB as intro to programming. Hello!?!?!
-MVK
We learned BASIC in 4th grade. By 6th grade, the propeller-heads in my class were programming in assembler on them old Apples. You can start the basic concepts at any age- especially the ideas of object-oriented design and basic algorithms. Add the code later. Programming isn't just about code, and it's not an isolated discipline. Most youth could benefit by learning the types of thinking skills and analysis that are required of a programmer, but useful in many situations. Classification, algorithms, simulation... I believe it's an interesting commentary on the thinking skills required of programmers that some of the most literate people I know, the people who actually read the great works (Shakespeare, Tolstoy, classic poetry) are high-powered programmers (who, BTW, despise M$). -MVK
Sorry, I'm not a geek extraordinaire...so I love SuSE. The SuSE 6.1 distro is the only distro I've been 100% successful with... and I love having EVERYTHING on CD.
I'll buy 6.2. I like the convenience of having it all in one place and with one unified setup interface (YaST).
-MVK
I too am looking for a Java app server... we're leaning towards WebLogic, though we haven't ruled out Sapphire. However, my boss came to me on Friday and said, "you know, we're a MCSP and have lots of $$$ invested in MS training and blah blah blah so you better give us all a good explanation as to why you're risking our largest contract on Java technology...." He has somewhat of a point, given that we are mandated to run on NT.... however, the DNA architecture is a load of unreliable, unscalable, stateless, single-threaded garbage, IMHO. But, I still have to drill down on the MS BS with him... does anyone have their reasons for using a Java app server over the DNA architecture?
I think I've got a good case, but I need more fuel, lest I end up sleeping with VB books for the next few months.
-MVK