I don't think it's a violation. It's also opposite the bash/OSX thing... license application in the other direction.
As for bash on OS X, personally, I really like the way Apple put together the aliasing and tab expansion intellegence into tcsh. Although it does make things annoying once in a while, it's really nice for it to know that I only want directories to be expanded when I have typed cd as the command, and lots more stuff like that.
Yes, I do have my degree in Computer Engineering from UC San Diego (not the party school). Yes, we covered hardware as well, including digital transistor design from analog processors, digital logic and chip design using VHDL and other tools. UCSD didn't have a Software Engineering school, so they also kind of threw that into the CE program.
Mostly, I was giving an example of what I have seen as an average out there. Much like with UCSD, Software Engineering and Computer Engineering are often a fuzzy line, if different at all. Someone else did post about the SWE major, which I had forgotten to mention.
MIS: Management Information Systems (other variations exist)
CIS: Computer Information systems
CS: Computer Science
CE: Computer Engineering
MIS is more business oriented. In theory, the major is supposed to provide a stong business flow education, while teaching some basic computer skills... enough to have a sense of what is going on.
CIS is very similar to MIS at most schools. Some don't make a distinction. It's supposed to have a slightly more technical side than MIS. This is ideal for people working in IT deparments that want to go the management route, but with the technical side of things. Think of it as a techie with a bit of business understanding.
CS is a science. It has a strong focus on programming, but you also learn about the lower level systems. This is for people who want to really understand not just what a computer is doing on the outside, but the theory behind its internal designs. You will often learn things such as processor architecture, compiler design, etc. This will MORE than prepare you for an IT position, and is what most people in the industry have (that have a degree that is).
CE is very similar to CS. In fact, many schools don't make much of a distinction. However, CE is supposed to be more practically oriented. You still learn much of the theory, just not as advanced of it. What you do learn in exchange is engineering principles. You learn how to apply the theory and existing technology in real world situations... thus engineering. This is what I have. It tends to be a similar difficulty level as CS, but depends on the school. Many schools make this major harder since it carries an engineering title with it. It will very readily prepare you for the real world of computers, in theory.
In light of all of this, each school may vary on their definitions of each major. Keep in mind that the piece of paper may help, but in current times, it's difficult to find a job even WITH a computer engineering degree and 5 years experience. I wish you best of luck, since I myself, am having difficulty.
You would go and bring the cat into this, wouldn't you. Can't you just leave him out of it. As if that poor thing hasn't been through enough with the radiation... now you want to find out what happens when you spin it too? Leave the poor thing alone, already.
Yeesh... I'm calling the humane society you sick puppy! heh.
So... how much do you think the number of attacks on routers went up because of this post on slashdot? heh. I think CERT might need to revise their numbers now.
I think it's more convenient for me to have access to the right amount. It sucks when I want to buy a $6.50 lunch, and realize I only have $3 in my wallet.
As for the actual time it takes... I think the differences in that respect are neglegable. It largely depends on who is giving you the change. Some people have the routine down, and are really quick at getting change... others take forever.
The best advantage to me... tracking! I started using MS Money (Quicken is also great), and find it advantageous to be able to categorize my spending. With cash, there's always this clump of several hundred in a month that I don't know how I spent it. Tracking my spending makes it easier to know where I need to trim my budget. It's harder to do with Cash.
But I doubt we'll see a truly paperless economy for some time. For now, I just TRY to use my card as much as I can.
I think that is one of they key points. It's in public where I feel privacy is being invaded. That sounds like a strange comment, but it's accurate.
Privacy seems to be extended to included a variable of time. if someone sees me at the gas station, it's no big deal. If someone sees me at the pool, it's no big deal. If someone has a record of the exact times I did anything... that's a big deal. I think one of the biggest dangers is if identification is logged, along with location and other details.
With today's AI and data processing technologies, it could be frightening how easy it would be to find out every bit of information about someone.
This goes along similarly with my opinion on Marketting. Recording details about spending habits and interests of different demographics is one thing... but when they start using that information to approach the individuals directly... that seems like it has gone too far.
Using such information is good, as long as it stays as a statistical analysis tool... not as a tracking tool. Facial recognition and just WHAT is marked in some record might fall along similar lines.
Don't forget those CD images to download. Even with DSL, it takes an hour to get one Redhat CD. There's NO WAY am I going to spend days for just one CD image, through a dialup modem.
I think it would definitely strengthen it. In addition to being able to get more through your own modem, many of the larger networks will see a dramatic decrease in the bandwidth being passed through their networks... leaving a result of better performance overall, but also lots of room for more things.
As skeptical as I am, it would definitely be nice. Might give a little boost to innovation with people looking for more ways to fill up the freed bandwidth.:) *shrug*
Heh... yeah. I was wondering why the post said SAIC instead of SAIC. I turned down a job from SAIC after graduating from UCSD.:) Good company, though.
-Alex
Re:Same deal with the PS2
on
$1200 Cheap!
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· Score: 1
Well, PS2 is lame for the same reasons. However, I don't think it's actually Sony that is mandating it like MS is. It's the resellers that are choosing to pigeon hole people with their bundles.
My answer to that... go to a smaller, non-chain store that carries them, and has better practices. Large chains often do similar practices in manipulating price-points, so that as technology becomes cheaper, they compensate, and take away the advantage from the consumer, by forcing them to buy other stuff. My answer is simple. I don't buy what I don't want. If people in general did the same thing, instead of being stupid and buying something that they disagree with (financially or ethically), the businesses would feel the lash-back.
Big business gets away with it, because people (as a societal whole) are stupid and do what companies tell them. It is in cases like these, where big business tries to place itself in a position of "authority", that people need to exercise that overly abundant source of rebelion against authority. It's a shame that such energy is often misdirected.
-Alex
Marketting departments are a disease!
on
$1200 Cheap!
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· Score: 1
Here we go again. Microsoft just doesn't get the fact that this crap is what the industry and people hate about them (asside from Windows, etc).
And you'd think that they would be a little cautious with the current events regarding them and the DOJ. It never ceases to amaze me how arrogant they are.
I just wish the government would hurry up and put their company through the shredder and spread out the pieces. Yeah, the industry might hurt for a while, but would it really be hurt more in the long run? I think it would be better off. Microsoft is pretty much run by marketting.
And I'm sure most people on this board have had to deal with marketting saying that they know what's right, despite the longer term picture, from a technical perspective. I am sure that they have just as little regard for the industry from an ethical and engineering perspective.
If I ever have a company that has a marketting department, I will fire anyone who indicates that they think it's okay to sacrafice ethical choices for money. I'd execute them, but I wouldn't have a company (or freedom) very long if I did.:) At least if I did, I'd still have some good ethics... destroying a disease is always better for the society.:)
I think senior citizens do learn similarly to younger people, however not quite the same. I child can be thrown into a situation, and can safely be expected to pick up on some of the details that were skipped. It is not necessarily a diminished mental capacity, but rather a point of motivation. Kids have more energy to put into going off on tangents, and actually enjoy doing so. Senior citizens are less likely to explore and spend that extra energy.
I do agree that things should be kept simple. This does not mean to treat them like they're retarded. Perhaps a combination of showing final purpose, and preparation of basic knowledge. Point out the goal, and try to get a sense of real communication. Don't just babble off information, and expect it to just be absorbed. Be more interactive to make sure they all understand the goal... use metaphores... ask them to tell you what they are thinking, and either reassure their correctness or guide them down a better way of thinking. You can use your students to teach others, by pulling out their perspective and moulding it into a helpful view for everyone. It's likely other students will share views with those that you can get to share, and showing a progression of thought from a common point helps everyone.
After establishing a well communicated goal, step back to the beginning, and show them how to get there. It might be good to reassure them a bit, and try to keep it clear how the current step gets them to their goal. It's a lot easier to travel a path when you have some clue about where you're headed.
And finally, keep a good sense of their progress. If everyone is picking things up, move on... don't beat a dead horse. If the students are having difficulty with a specific topic, look at the problem. Is it that their is a missing step needed to understand that topic, or is it just that there is a mis-perception? Either way, always remember to work with your students so you know how they're doing.
I've never taught kids, but I have taught in professional training courses. My students have had a range of backgrounds, from never having used anything but windows to having been a regular UNIX user, and I have always been able to get everyone to understand what I was teaching (Oracle DBA, UNIX arhitecture, and SAP architecture classes). The key is to keep it interactive.
As a CE grad, and having been working for the last 4-5 years, I started off trying all sorts. Initially I got into Systems Administration, and working with the low level software and hardware. Then I started getting into the software side more. But I find that a lot of what I learned about the larger view of the system has helped me.
My biggest gripe is that I think people, including school catalogs (as mentioned in the initial post), go with a quanitative view of the majors. They represent a major by number of programming vs hardware classes. But the best way to look at it is not quantity (like a business major would), but rather the mindset of each. When working with hardware problems, you think differently, and approach problems differently. Software problems also have a unique approach. Computer Engineering gives you a little more balance with each.
It may seem that companies want computer science majors more, but if you take the actual definitions for each major, a company usually desires a computer engineer.
A computer science major is supposed to have emphasised studies in theory. The general curiculum for a Computer Scientist is supposed to prepare them for continued education and research into the science of computers.
A computer engineering major is supposed to emphasis practical application of well tested theories and proofs. The general curiculum for a Computer Engineer is supposed to prepare them for the working world, by focusing on applying theory to real-world situations.
Both majors tend to be pretty much the same. And most universities don't really stick to the definitions I've mentioned above. Typically the two majors are almost the same, where CS has more advanced programming classes, and CE has more engineering courses.
I think that companies probably say they want computer science majors because that's what the people in HR who write up the requisition knows about. But if you're worried about what a company wants... either degree will do. When a recruiter sees a resume that sees "computer" in the name of the degree, they pretty much qualify it in the same category. The real test is whether or not you can answer the questions that are given to you in an interview, and how well you show an ability to understand the problem provided.
So, don't worry about it.
If you want to know which major to take, look at the classes offered and required in each. Decide which one you'll enjoy more. You should enjoy college a little, and not look at it solely as something to get you a job. Although that is a reward of having gone through it, there's a lot more to be got from going through college.
I have to agree with the notion that an older boss will affect whether or not your ideas are considered.
However, I don't necessarily believe that having too much input from those that are young is a good thing. I am not old, myself. I'm only 26. It used to aggrivate me when I was younger as well. Quite often I was listened to, because I presented my arguments in terms that were of interest to who I was presenting my ideas to. That, I think is the key.
But accepting the guidance of the less experienced, because the boss is also less experienced, just doesn't make sense to me. I had spent a LOT of time fixing things because of this kind of behavior. Inexperienced, young management taking in the direction and ideas to quickly from inexperienced young workers. How many of you have had to deal with bad programming concepts and systems being imbedded throughout your company, because some young programmer had too much input on how something should be done.
Also, when a company gets larger, change CANNOT be allowed to occur to quickly or easily. It will more often be destructive. A big ship can't turn quickly, without tipping over.
Anyway... young people may have great ideas. If they want to be heard, they should learn to communicate in a manner that matters to those in charge. Usually those in charge don't care if changing the mail server configuration will improve performance. Why? Because it doesn't make enough of a difference to the bottom line. Not significantly enough. And even if it did... if you don't have numbers and statistics to back it up, you're merely providing speculation, which is a watse of their time.
Don't get me wrong. I like working with younger people. But having to deal with the big-corporate big-wigs in a newly acquired company pointed out more clearly what I started to see. If you want your idea to matter, try to actually find out what matters.
Young people are likely blown off, because "statistically" they don't know what they're talking about, and so a higher manager is less likely to pay attention, because it's usually a watse of time. When I was an intern at Qualcomm, another intern and I pushed to get the VP of engineering to look at PMMail/2 (an email client for OS/2) as a potential solution for Eudora for OS/2. It took several weeks and emails of being ignored, which even contained valid arguments, that they would care about. Eventually, after repeatedly nagging, they decided to take a look. QC didn't buy it (developers wanted too much money), but they listened... and that was in a big company, coming from a couple of interns.
So, if you want to be heard... come up with arguments the decision makers care about, and be persistent.
Cheers,
-Alex
It is sad that most of the world who think that they have a grasp of what the Internet is, because they have surfed the Web a few times, don't realize the full potential. It is also sad that these same ignorant millions are the ones that tend to influence which direction things go, because they are the ones that corporations cater too when providing funding.
It's a shame that so much of the potential may never be realized because of greed and ignorance. But, them's the breaks... At least technology still continues to grow...and I'm sure the Internet will as well... just not as much in respect to the public eye. But that's okay. The public eye doesn't define reality... just what the world thinks reality is. One day, all of the things that will occur outside of the public view will crop up again... and the world will be dazzled by the amazing advances that they will all be told happened over a short period of time.
But there will be many of us who will always know that email, online chat, new groups, etc. were not created in the 90s... even though the rest of the world thinks it was. And when the next cool technology comes out that amazes the general public, I hope to again be one of those people that have known about it for a while, and enjoyed the greatness that technology can offer, before the public and corporations get their greedy corrupt hands on them.
It is supposed to be perfectly legal to have the "BIG 7" words in a domain name. A law passed a while back, and the registrars started allowing them.
HOWEVER! Some friends and I decided to check a bunch of domain names the moment these registrars were supposed to have them allowed.... and guess what!? Most of the common domains we thought of that contained a cuss word (fuck, shit, etc.) were already registered... and by who? The US government! I guess they'll pass the laws to allow them, but steal them all first, so they won't be usable.
Sometimes I really hate the government's methods. And if anyone says "The US government sucks," my response would be "Do you REALLY think they're the only ones?"
The distubring thing about the.kids and the.xxx TLDs, that I recall, was that those two were proposed by the same organization. And, in fact, those were the only two listed from them.
He never tried to make it look like he knew more than he did - he didnt know jack about making the details work
My new VP does this. Sometimes I wish he would acknowledge that I know he doesn't know shit. But from time to time, he repeats technical terms that he was told or explained. Sometimes he knows that it comes across as a "canned" response, and thinks he's being cute. In fact, he's just making himself look more like a dumb-ass.
As someone mentioned in another portion of this topic, programmers are expected to tell the truth. As such, we're used to working in an environment where the truth is told, and told with precision. Management often doesn't realize that a programmer SEES their BS very clearly, and that it's frustrating. At the same time, I've seen management conceal information, because they try to hide/control other information that would be revealed if "too much" was said. And being the data oriented/pattern matching kind of people we are, they know we'd figure out some of their "secrets". I've talked to some other executives, and they said that it's true. As it is, my company is trying to keep a lot of things hidden (higher level planning), but are sucking at it. We were told more truthful details, but then pointed out that we already knew all of that, based on information we see in the database, or seemingly irrelevant requests.
Anyone else feel paranoid about the secrets they keep? At least my paranoia is being justified as more information I already figured out, gets officially revealed.
Slashdot Mirror
*smile*
-Alex
You call that a monitor? THIS is a monitor!
*smile*
-Alex
I don't think it's a violation. It's also opposite the bash/OSX thing... license application in the other direction.
As for bash on OS X, personally, I really like the way Apple put together the aliasing and tab expansion intellegence into tcsh. Although it does make things annoying once in a while, it's really nice for it to know that I only want directories to be expanded when I have typed cd as the command, and lots more stuff like that.
-Alex
Yes, I do have my degree in Computer Engineering from UC San Diego (not the party school). Yes, we covered hardware as well, including digital transistor design from analog processors, digital logic and chip design using VHDL and other tools. UCSD didn't have a Software Engineering school, so they also kind of threw that into the CE program.
Mostly, I was giving an example of what I have seen as an average out there. Much like with UCSD, Software Engineering and Computer Engineering are often a fuzzy line, if different at all. Someone else did post about the SWE major, which I had forgotten to mention.
-Alex
Yeah, at UCSD CPE is more like SWE. You take some hardware design courses, but it's still with a software perspective.
-Alex
MIS: Management Information Systems (other variations exist)
CIS: Computer Information systems
CS: Computer Science
CE: Computer Engineering
MIS is more business oriented. In theory, the major is supposed to provide a stong business flow education, while teaching some basic computer skills... enough to have a sense of what is going on.
CIS is very similar to MIS at most schools. Some don't make a distinction. It's supposed to have a slightly more technical side than MIS. This is ideal for people working in IT deparments that want to go the management route, but with the technical side of things. Think of it as a techie with a bit of business understanding.
CS is a science. It has a strong focus on programming, but you also learn about the lower level systems. This is for people who want to really understand not just what a computer is doing on the outside, but the theory behind its internal designs. You will often learn things such as processor architecture, compiler design, etc. This will MORE than prepare you for an IT position, and is what most people in the industry have (that have a degree that is).
CE is very similar to CS. In fact, many schools don't make much of a distinction. However, CE is supposed to be more practically oriented. You still learn much of the theory, just not as advanced of it. What you do learn in exchange is engineering principles. You learn how to apply the theory and existing technology in real world situations... thus engineering. This is what I have. It tends to be a similar difficulty level as CS, but depends on the school. Many schools make this major harder since it carries an engineering title with it. It will very readily prepare you for the real world of computers, in theory.
In light of all of this, each school may vary on their definitions of each major. Keep in mind that the piece of paper may help, but in current times, it's difficult to find a job even WITH a computer engineering degree and 5 years experience. I wish you best of luck, since I myself, am having difficulty.
Cheers,
-Alex
You would go and bring the cat into this, wouldn't you. Can't you just leave him out of it. As if that poor thing hasn't been through enough with the radiation... now you want to find out what happens when you spin it too? Leave the poor thing alone, already.
Yeesh... I'm calling the humane society you sick puppy! heh.
-Alex
So... how much do you think the number of attacks on routers went up because of this post on slashdot? heh. I think CERT might need to revise their numbers now.
Cheers,
-Alex
I think it's more convenient for me to have access to the right amount. It sucks when I want to buy a $6.50 lunch, and realize I only have $3 in my wallet.
As for the actual time it takes... I think the differences in that respect are neglegable. It largely depends on who is giving you the change. Some people have the routine down, and are really quick at getting change... others take forever.
The best advantage to me... tracking! I started using MS Money (Quicken is also great), and find it advantageous to be able to categorize my spending. With cash, there's always this clump of several hundred in a month that I don't know how I spent it. Tracking my spending makes it easier to know where I need to trim my budget. It's harder to do with Cash.
But I doubt we'll see a truly paperless economy for some time. For now, I just TRY to use my card as much as I can.
-Alex
Yeah... it doesn't seem to be a new thing. The Screen Savers, on TechTV, had a demonstration of the robots, and how they would work.
-Alex
I think that is one of they key points. It's in public where I feel privacy is being invaded. That sounds like a strange comment, but it's accurate.
Privacy seems to be extended to included a variable of time. if someone sees me at the gas station, it's no big deal. If someone sees me at the pool, it's no big deal. If someone has a record of the exact times I did anything... that's a big deal. I think one of the biggest dangers is if identification is logged, along with location and other details.
With today's AI and data processing technologies, it could be frightening how easy it would be to find out every bit of information about someone.
This goes along similarly with my opinion on Marketting. Recording details about spending habits and interests of different demographics is one thing... but when they start using that information to approach the individuals directly... that seems like it has gone too far.
Using such information is good, as long as it stays as a statistical analysis tool... not as a tracking tool. Facial recognition and just WHAT is marked in some record might fall along similar lines.
Cheers,
-Alex
Don't forget those CD images to download. Even with DSL, it takes an hour to get one Redhat CD. There's NO WAY am I going to spend days for just one CD image, through a dialup modem.
-Alex
I think it would definitely strengthen it. In addition to being able to get more through your own modem, many of the larger networks will see a dramatic decrease in the bandwidth being passed through their networks... leaving a result of better performance overall, but also lots of room for more things.
:) *shrug*
As skeptical as I am, it would definitely be nice. Might give a little boost to innovation with people looking for more ways to fill up the freed bandwidth.
Cheers,
-Alex
Heh... oops... I seem to have made the mistake while correcting it. hehe... "SAIC instead of SIAC."
-Alex
Heh... yeah. I was wondering why the post said SAIC instead of SAIC. I turned down a job from SAIC after graduating from UCSD. :) Good company, though.
-Alex
Well, PS2 is lame for the same reasons. However, I don't think it's actually Sony that is mandating it like MS is. It's the resellers that are choosing to pigeon hole people with their bundles.
My answer to that... go to a smaller, non-chain store that carries them, and has better practices. Large chains often do similar practices in manipulating price-points, so that as technology becomes cheaper, they compensate, and take away the advantage from the consumer, by forcing them to buy other stuff. My answer is simple. I don't buy what I don't want. If people in general did the same thing, instead of being stupid and buying something that they disagree with (financially or ethically), the businesses would feel the lash-back.
Big business gets away with it, because people (as a societal whole) are stupid and do what companies tell them. It is in cases like these, where big business tries to place itself in a position of "authority", that people need to exercise that overly abundant source of rebelion against authority. It's a shame that such energy is often misdirected.
-Alex
Here we go again. Microsoft just doesn't get the fact that this crap is what the industry and people hate about them (asside from Windows, etc).
:) At least if I did, I'd still have some good ethics... destroying a disease is always better for the society. :)
And you'd think that they would be a little cautious with the current events regarding them and the DOJ. It never ceases to amaze me how arrogant they are.
I just wish the government would hurry up and put their company through the shredder and spread out the pieces. Yeah, the industry might hurt for a while, but would it really be hurt more in the long run? I think it would be better off. Microsoft is pretty much run by marketting.
And I'm sure most people on this board have had to deal with marketting saying that they know what's right, despite the longer term picture, from a technical perspective. I am sure that they have just as little regard for the industry from an ethical and engineering perspective.
If I ever have a company that has a marketting department, I will fire anyone who indicates that they think it's okay to sacrafice ethical choices for money. I'd execute them, but I wouldn't have a company (or freedom) very long if I did.
-Alex
I think senior citizens do learn similarly to younger people, however not quite the same. I child can be thrown into a situation, and can safely be expected to pick up on some of the details that were skipped. It is not necessarily a diminished mental capacity, but rather a point of motivation. Kids have more energy to put into going off on tangents, and actually enjoy doing so. Senior citizens are less likely to explore and spend that extra energy.
I do agree that things should be kept simple. This does not mean to treat them like they're retarded. Perhaps a combination of showing final purpose, and preparation of basic knowledge. Point out the goal, and try to get a sense of real communication. Don't just babble off information, and expect it to just be absorbed. Be more interactive to make sure they all understand the goal... use metaphores... ask them to tell you what they are thinking, and either reassure their correctness or guide them down a better way of thinking. You can use your students to teach others, by pulling out their perspective and moulding it into a helpful view for everyone. It's likely other students will share views with those that you can get to share, and showing a progression of thought from a common point helps everyone.
After establishing a well communicated goal, step back to the beginning, and show them how to get there. It might be good to reassure them a bit, and try to keep it clear how the current step gets them to their goal. It's a lot easier to travel a path when you have some clue about where you're headed.
And finally, keep a good sense of their progress. If everyone is picking things up, move on... don't beat a dead horse. If the students are having difficulty with a specific topic, look at the problem. Is it that their is a missing step needed to understand that topic, or is it just that there is a mis-perception? Either way, always remember to work with your students so you know how they're doing.
I've never taught kids, but I have taught in professional training courses. My students have had a range of backgrounds, from never having used anything but windows to having been a regular UNIX user, and I have always been able to get everyone to understand what I was teaching (Oracle DBA, UNIX arhitecture, and SAP architecture classes). The key is to keep it interactive.
Good luck in teaching those seniors!
Cheers,
-Alex
Yeah... I'm with ya here.
As a CE grad, and having been working for the last 4-5 years, I started off trying all sorts. Initially I got into Systems Administration, and working with the low level software and hardware. Then I started getting into the software side more. But I find that a lot of what I learned about the larger view of the system has helped me.
My biggest gripe is that I think people, including school catalogs (as mentioned in the initial post), go with a quanitative view of the majors. They represent a major by number of programming vs hardware classes. But the best way to look at it is not quantity (like a business major would), but rather the mindset of each. When working with hardware problems, you think differently, and approach problems differently. Software problems also have a unique approach. Computer Engineering gives you a little more balance with each.
-Alex
It may seem that companies want computer science majors more, but if you take the actual definitions for each major, a company usually desires a computer engineer.
A computer science major is supposed to have emphasised studies in theory. The general curiculum for a Computer Scientist is supposed to prepare them for continued education and research into the science of computers.
A computer engineering major is supposed to emphasis practical application of well tested theories and proofs. The general curiculum for a Computer Engineer is supposed to prepare them for the working world, by focusing on applying theory to real-world situations.
Both majors tend to be pretty much the same. And most universities don't really stick to the definitions I've mentioned above. Typically the two majors are almost the same, where CS has more advanced programming classes, and CE has more engineering courses.
I think that companies probably say they want computer science majors because that's what the people in HR who write up the requisition knows about. But if you're worried about what a company wants... either degree will do. When a recruiter sees a resume that sees "computer" in the name of the degree, they pretty much qualify it in the same category. The real test is whether or not you can answer the questions that are given to you in an interview, and how well you show an ability to understand the problem provided.
So, don't worry about it.
If you want to know which major to take, look at the classes offered and required in each. Decide which one you'll enjoy more. You should enjoy college a little, and not look at it solely as something to get you a job. Although that is a reward of having gone through it, there's a lot more to be got from going through college.
Cheers,
-Alex
I have to agree with the notion that an older boss will affect whether or not your ideas are considered. However, I don't necessarily believe that having too much input from those that are young is a good thing. I am not old, myself. I'm only 26. It used to aggrivate me when I was younger as well. Quite often I was listened to, because I presented my arguments in terms that were of interest to who I was presenting my ideas to. That, I think is the key. But accepting the guidance of the less experienced, because the boss is also less experienced, just doesn't make sense to me. I had spent a LOT of time fixing things because of this kind of behavior. Inexperienced, young management taking in the direction and ideas to quickly from inexperienced young workers. How many of you have had to deal with bad programming concepts and systems being imbedded throughout your company, because some young programmer had too much input on how something should be done. Also, when a company gets larger, change CANNOT be allowed to occur to quickly or easily. It will more often be destructive. A big ship can't turn quickly, without tipping over. Anyway... young people may have great ideas. If they want to be heard, they should learn to communicate in a manner that matters to those in charge. Usually those in charge don't care if changing the mail server configuration will improve performance. Why? Because it doesn't make enough of a difference to the bottom line. Not significantly enough. And even if it did... if you don't have numbers and statistics to back it up, you're merely providing speculation, which is a watse of their time. Don't get me wrong. I like working with younger people. But having to deal with the big-corporate big-wigs in a newly acquired company pointed out more clearly what I started to see. If you want your idea to matter, try to actually find out what matters. Young people are likely blown off, because "statistically" they don't know what they're talking about, and so a higher manager is less likely to pay attention, because it's usually a watse of time. When I was an intern at Qualcomm, another intern and I pushed to get the VP of engineering to look at PMMail/2 (an email client for OS/2) as a potential solution for Eudora for OS/2. It took several weeks and emails of being ignored, which even contained valid arguments, that they would care about. Eventually, after repeatedly nagging, they decided to take a look. QC didn't buy it (developers wanted too much money), but they listened... and that was in a big company, coming from a couple of interns. So, if you want to be heard... come up with arguments the decision makers care about, and be persistent. Cheers, -Alex
It is sad that most of the world who think that they have a grasp of what the Internet is, because they have surfed the Web a few times, don't realize the full potential. It is also sad that these same ignorant millions are the ones that tend to influence which direction things go, because they are the ones that corporations cater too when providing funding.
It's a shame that so much of the potential may never be realized because of greed and ignorance. But, them's the breaks... At least technology still continues to grow...and I'm sure the Internet will as well... just not as much in respect to the public eye. But that's okay. The public eye doesn't define reality... just what the world thinks reality is. One day, all of the things that will occur outside of the public view will crop up again... and the world will be dazzled by the amazing advances that they will all be told happened over a short period of time.
But there will be many of us who will always know that email, online chat, new groups, etc. were not created in the 90s... even though the rest of the world thinks it was. And when the next cool technology comes out that amazes the general public, I hope to again be one of those people that have known about it for a while, and enjoyed the greatness that technology can offer, before the public and corporations get their greedy corrupt hands on them.
Here's to the future of emerging technology!
Cheers,
-DM
It is supposed to be perfectly legal to have the "BIG 7" words in a domain name. A law passed a while back, and the registrars started allowing them.
HOWEVER! Some friends and I decided to check a bunch of domain names the moment these registrars were supposed to have them allowed.... and guess what!? Most of the common domains we thought of that contained a cuss word (fuck, shit, etc.) were already registered... and by who? The US government! I guess they'll pass the laws to allow them, but steal them all first, so they won't be usable.
Sometimes I really hate the government's methods. And if anyone says "The US government sucks," my response would be "Do you REALLY think they're the only ones?"
Cheers,
-Alex
The distubring thing about the .kids and the .xxx TLDs, that I recall, was that those two were proposed by the same organization. And, in fact, those were the only two listed from them.
Something to think about.
-DM
My new VP does this. Sometimes I wish he would acknowledge that I know he doesn't know shit. But from time to time, he repeats technical terms that he was told or explained. Sometimes he knows that it comes across as a "canned" response, and thinks he's being cute. In fact, he's just making himself look more like a dumb-ass.
As someone mentioned in another portion of this topic, programmers are expected to tell the truth. As such, we're used to working in an environment where the truth is told, and told with precision. Management often doesn't realize that a programmer SEES their BS very clearly, and that it's frustrating. At the same time, I've seen management conceal information, because they try to hide/control other information that would be revealed if "too much" was said. And being the data oriented/pattern matching kind of people we are, they know we'd figure out some of their "secrets". I've talked to some other executives, and they said that it's true. As it is, my company is trying to keep a lot of things hidden (higher level planning), but are sucking at it. We were told more truthful details, but then pointed out that we already knew all of that, based on information we see in the database, or seemingly irrelevant requests.
Anyone else feel paranoid about the secrets they keep? At least my paranoia is being justified as more information I already figured out, gets officially revealed.
Cheers,
-DM