I find it rather entertaining that you'd post a comment such as that smack dab in the middle of a community wrought with childish jabs and insults.
This isn't a troll, I'm simply pointing out that it would be better to leave such judgement calls to those who are actually familiar with such development. I'm a Microsoft developer, and I've shared code/ideas/software with a number of other developers. Despite what most people think, there's a very large group of people out there who not only enjoy developing in a Windows environment, but share ideas and collaborate!
Just imagine if people made such broad generalizations of Slashdot, instead of really looking at it and finding the value within. Not that people don't, but there's good to be found in looking past the surface.
Honestly, I think their number one reason for failure will be the price of their product, and their insistence on pushing loads of services with it.
I know a lot of people who have been interested in it, but can't justify the price. I myself would really enjoy one because my work schedule makes it very difficult for me to catch shows. However, I don't like being forced to buy into a bunch of other stuff just to buy the product, and for what it does, I can't justify the price in my mind.
It's really just an example of consumer preference dictating the market... clearly the product is not placed in a position where the public needs it.
I keep seeing comments posted in regards to Microsoft not having a community, and quite honestly, they baffle me.
No, Microsoft doesn't have groups of users who all get together on the weekend and chat about how great Windows is, or what new features are coming up, or the next release of the Windows kernel. What Microsoft does have, however, is a very large base of software developers and resellers who are perfectly content selling or developing for Microsoft.
To be perfectly clear here, I work for a reseller who is in this exact situation. We get two types of people, generally. Those who wish to completely wash their hands of their network and hand it over to us, or those who want to be able to manage their network themselves. Typically a customer will either come to us with Microsoft in mind, or ask us which we prefer. We're not a Microsoft only shop, we do plenty of other work, but our recommendation is always Windows. Why?
Well, if we're managing their network, Windows makes more sense to us. More people know it, more of us can work on it, and 90% of the time a problem can be solved with a quick visit to Microsoft's TechNet. If we aren't managing it, we push Windows because it's the easiest for the client to administrate. Contrary to popular belief, for the most part Windows will run fine. You might have the occasional problem, but it's not enough to bother anybody. I'm not saying that it is superior to Linux, merely that it is adequate for most people.
A lot of the inroads we see Linux making comes from companies who have computer savvy people in control of their network. Unfortunately, we're not the most common people, which I think will limit how far Linux expands.
To the developer, Windows represents a massive pool of users to offer a product to. To the resellers, Windows represents a widely accepted product that is easy to support because of the amount of people familiar with it. If Linux is going to see massive progress in displacing Windows on any level, it needs to provide both developers and resellers with a compelling reason to switch.
This, of course, explains why they brought an awesome writer in for the story (the guy who wroite The 7th Guest), and also why they brought one of the most talented artists in the industry in for the music, right?
I find it more amusing that someone would think I'm concerned with garnering the respect of those who frequent Slashdot.
Even more amusing is that someone else would reply simply with "so and so sucks", demonstrating a clear lack of respect in the first place by not providing reason or proof. Typically respect entails acknowledging someone's interest as their own, and and not making wild comments without some sort of fact.
I think the "Construction Set" aspect still exists in many games, but it's taken new form. With the rise of First Person shooters and RTS as the more popular forms of entertainment, I think that sort of thing has moved into customizing the game. It takes quite a bit of talent to build really good levels, or brand new campaigns, and also quite a bit of devotion.
I see your problem though. Those sorts of activities are very much confined to the geek. Level design and game mods take quite a bit of computer expertise, and I get the feeling you were thinking along different lines. Games like The Incredible Machine come to mind. I'd be hard pressed to give you references, but one "Construction Set" games comes to mind. If you're interested in the game of pinball, I recommend Visual Pinball. It's a complete pinball game construction program, and it works beautifully. Much to the dismay of most of the Slashdot crowd, though, it's main drive is VBScript. Very fun and easy to use, however. The programming is basic enough that I think a beginner could learn to use it very easily.
Other than that, there's lots of software out there for music creation and whatnot. It may not be presented in game form, but if you have an itch to do it, I'm sure those would serve just as well!
So, what you're telling me is that there is only one way to store data, and that personal preference has absolutely nothing to do with it?
Wow, I'd really like to know what kind of programming you've done lately. Perhaps in procedural programming there is a set place to put things, but as far as OOP goes, I'd say there's quite a few ways you could arrange things. People have different reasons for coding things differently, both syntactically and in organization. One person may find it more convenient to store something in a simply ASCII text file, someone may find a small but efficient database system better.
I agree, you shouldn't use more resources than you have to, but there are multiple ways of accomplishing things, each with their own benefits and drawbacks. If you can't see that, I'd really hate to see what happens when you have to work together with someone on something.
I personally hate it when they require programmers to write code on an exam. Every programmer knows that part of programming is debugging, and it's very difficult for many people to get chunks of code correct the first time. I can see, perhaps, requiring a small snippet of code, but large chunks are difficult to deal with in writing.
Due to complexity, programs simply cannot be written 100% perfect the first time around. Not only that, programming is very individual and specific to the programmer. Just because one person writes something one way, and the other writes it another way, doesn't mean either of them are wrong or right.
Written exams should be limited to syntax and concepts, to see how well you know the language. If you want to test a programmer's skills as a programmer, you should at least allow them to excercise their debugging skills...
I'm seeing a lot of people concerned with the head units in regards to XM radio, and this is somewhat baffling. I have XM radio installed, and some of the questions here seem irrelevant.
The XM radio has three separate components. You have the antenna, which attaches to the top of the vehicle, then you have the decoder which decodes the satellite signal. Finally, you need some sort of receiver, like an XM compatible head unit. XM radio can also be installed by putting an FM modulator in, requiring no replacement of the head unit. You also have the option of purchasing an XM compatible head unit, however. This is nice because everything is all in one unit, but if this isn't possible, you get a small square control device for it.
It's also important to remember that if you have a Pioneer head unit that's XM compatible, you *have* to have a Pioneer decoder. A friend of mine has a Sony XM compatible head unit, and he's still waiting for Sony's decoder to come out. As far as I know, Pioneer is the only one that has a complete decoder/modulator combination in place.
As far as Sirius goes, I've never heard of it, and I've never seen any head units supporting it. Sounds like a bad idea, to me. Overall, I spent about 300 for the install/setup, and it's 10 bucks a month.
I myself spent three years doing help desk before I finally got into a position where I'm programming. The same as you, I spent some time "in the trenches" and only did software that helped me do my job, and delighted coworkers and bosses.
I finally got to a company that saw my programming desire, and took me up on it. With that in mind, there's a few things that (looking back), are very important.
1. Find a smaller company; you don't really have a chance of making the transition in a larger company, unless they're putting you directly into a programming position.
2. Make SURE you bring up your programming interests in the interview somehow, if the company doesn't have a firm programming department. A lot of companies want to do internal programming, but don't want to risk the venture of hiring a programmer ONLY to program. In my case, they set me programming part of the time... when they realized how useful it is, I was put on full programming duty.
3. Make sure you find a company that maintains an interest in programming. Some companies don't want to have anything to do with it, some want a lot of internal programming done. The key thing is to show them how valuable a programmer can be.
I find that most network solution companies maintain at least a passing interest in keeping a programmer type on staff. The company I work for decided to do their own office management system, and that's where I fit in the picture. Some other useful things to know is that some companies, in order to become partners, REQUIRE office management software in order to be listed as a partner. I had the initial challenge of justifying my work, but now that we have instant project analysis and whatnot, they are more than convinced.
Regardless of which side you're arguing on, part of the reason this argument doesn't work is because in the end, most corporations are criminals and thieves just like Microsoft. That's simply the nature of business. Businesses don't care how Microsoft Office was written, they simply care that it allows them to get the work done that they need to do. Companies care about making money, not the moral implications of buying software from thieves.
True, the home user can make a stand and refuse to buy the product. The only reason they can do this, though, is because they're looking at it from a human perspective. The home market is undeniably huge, but in the end I think Microsoft cares much more about what businesses are using their products, rather than the home user.
While it's no excuse for lax security, I've found the best solution to this problem is to go through a third party mail filtering service.
I work in a Microsoft shop, and we use the Outlook/Exchange combination for our e-mail system. We've got our mail running through a good third part service, and I have not received a single virus since we implemented it several months ago. It also serves as a spam filter. It's not completely accurate, because every once in a while I get a piece of spam in my Inbox, but I've yet to have it confiscate a normal piece of e-mail.
Like it or not, we're stuck with it, so we may as well find ways to live more comfortably with it.;)
Out of curiousity, I'm wondering how many people find themselves in the sort of dilemma I'm in. I see many people on here commenting on how real coders simply want to code, it's what they eat, live, breathe, and sleep. Now, I can certainly understand this, as I myself have experienced this exact same mentality.
However, the minute I started doing it as a career, my personal programming time has almost completely gone to nothing. Where I used to program in all my free time, I no longer feel like programming any more. It's not that I dislike it - there's no other career I would choose. But I find myself somewhat bored programming at work because frequently I'm doing the same things I've done before. It's no longer a challenge; rather, it's become a chore, because I'm not learning anything new. Occasionally I have days where I find myself required to do something new, and I get into it, but certainly not every day.
I'm having trouble placing why this happened, and what I can possibly do to bring some meaning back into my programming life. Currently I'm the only person working on a very large project, which I think is part of the problem. This particular project should have about 5 coders on it, but I am the only programmer at the company I work for, and the company I work for hasn't been a software company. We're trying to get a software department going, and there's certainly work for it, but there's never been enough to warrant hiring another programmer.
Any suggestions?
The main reason this is an issue, is because my local Best Buy has the same guy at the door constantly. After getting into it with him, I now have an incident any time I go in. Normally I'd stop shopping, but there are no alternatives near my location. It is my intention to find the actual laws that state this, and have a long talk with his manager about his attitude toward the customers.
Normally I can walk by without an issue, too, but now it's become personal.:P
Not only does Best Buy like to screw over their customers, I'm very sick of their receipt checking policy as well.
I recall reading some time ago that stores cannot legally check your receipt at the door, unless they are acccusing you of stealing. Once purchased, the item becomes your private property, and much like the items contained in a woman's purse, cannot be searched whenever they feel like it.
Now, normally this isn't a problem. When I walk by, I simply ignore the man at the door, or tell them "No, thank you." when they ask for my receipt. One particular time, however, the man at the door simply refused to let me by. We got into a very heated discussion over it, and in the end he simply said "It's my job, I have to do it."
I guess what I'm really asking, is if anyone knows of any resources for laws regarding stores and consumers? I don't want to look through tomes of law books, but I would like to find what the law actually states. I intend to go back to the store, and sit down with the manager and have a discussion regarding their employee and their bag searching policy.
Hmm, I can understand how one might find certain environments or moods to be more suitable than others for programming, but in general I've never found I had a "zone". Of course, I haven't really put much thought into this... I arrange my furniture in the most logical and aesthetically pleasing way possible. My computer goes on my desk, wherever my desk might be, and that's where I program.
Certainly many things affect my mood and how I think, but I find that if I had a zone, it would simply be wherever I feel my mood is best expressed. The environment doesn't necessarily make it easier or better for me as far as thinking goes, but if my environment doesn't fit my mood, it tends to be a distraction.
Although, that one guy is right too - when your boss tells you to code something, he doesn't care much about your personal mood or ideas.;)
Is it just me, or does it seems like colleges and universities are becoming increasingly out of touch with reality?
Prohibiting one student from asking another student a question is absurd. People learn from each other every day, it's a natural part of being HUMAN. It only makes it worse than many people are PAYING to go and receive this kind of treatment.
This must be some kind of new trend. First, corporations decide to treat their customers like they're criminals. Now we've got universities that want to presume you're violating the rules. What next?
Well, first off, I myself work in the exact same environment as the people you are trying to teach. I've been working in with a VB+MSSQL combination for about two years now.
Unless you can show them a good graphical replacement for Windows as the UI, I would focus on using the alternatives on the back-end only. Despite the reputation VB has around here, it does have it's proper place. Many people who work with VB (like myself), aren't necessarily "Microsoft Junkies", as you say, but ordinary programmers who need to make a living, and don't particularly care what they're working with, so long as they're programming. In this case, it comes down to what the customers want. Until Linux is on the desktop, the customers will keep demanding Windows, so it wouldn't do much good to try to convince these programmers to use Linux for the interface.
Focusing on the back-end, I would show them how they can connect their VB applications to the database, and focus on that connection. Once the connection is made, they know what to do with it. If you can show them how easy it is to use, they can bring this knowledge back to their bosses. This will impress their bosses, because they can essentially give their customers what they want at a lower price, due to MSSQL being out of the picture.
But guaranteed, if they take ideas of using Linux for an interface instead of Windows back to their bosses, it'll get tossed out the window. Believe me, I know - I've tried it before. At least doing this, you can win one battle at a time - first the database backend, and then the front-end at a later date.:)
Sounds like this is a case of Bring Your Own Computer.
Their tactics were too heavy handed, and the situation could have been dealt with better, but if you're going to use a computer and expect privacy, the very first thing you should do is use your own computer! When you're using university property, the idea of "privacy" should be nonexistant.
It's still infuriating that people get pushed around like this, but this situation isn't exactly good grounds for a valid complaint.
I can agree with you, in that sense. As far as reading goes, probably the worst part to me is the amount of symbolism involved. C/C++ are certainly fairly far removed from the english language, but it seems to me that Perl takes that one step further.;)
Like most things, it falls in between, not necessarily in one extreme or the other...
Just thought I'd place a little comment in from a newbie to Perl, seeing as a lot of people are discussing the readability of Perl.
First off, I've been writing a database application with SQL Server 2000 and Visual Basic for the last year. Recently, I had to do some nasty work with some text documents. I understand the Visual Basic isn't the most popular language, but it has it's place... parsing text documents isn't it.
Long story short, I decided to try using Perl for it, instead, seeing as Perl is very well suited for the task. It only took me about 4 hours to complete what I needed to do with Perl, and that includes learning the language. So far I've found it very intuitive and it's certainly not any more difficult to read than anything else. If anything, I think Perl simply requires the reader know a bit more about the language, which isn't a bad thing, in my mind.
Maybe I had a better time with it since I've already done extensive work in C/C++, but I still think it's quite useful, and certainly not unreadable if the programmer takes the time to program it properly.
Slashdot Mirror
I find it rather entertaining that you'd post a comment such as that smack dab in the middle of a community wrought with childish jabs and insults.
This isn't a troll, I'm simply pointing out that it would be better to leave such judgement calls to those who are actually familiar with such development. I'm a Microsoft developer, and I've shared code/ideas/software with a number of other developers. Despite what most people think, there's a very large group of people out there who not only enjoy developing in a Windows environment, but share ideas and collaborate!
Just imagine if people made such broad generalizations of Slashdot, instead of really looking at it and finding the value within. Not that people don't, but there's good to be found in looking past the surface.
Now how long before we can get them out of
Am I the only person here having visions of Christopher Lloyd stuffing garbage into the back of a Delorean?
Honestly, I think their number one reason for failure will be the price of their product, and their insistence on pushing loads of services with it.
I know a lot of people who have been interested in it, but can't justify the price. I myself would really enjoy one because my work schedule makes it very difficult for me to catch shows. However, I don't like being forced to buy into a bunch of other stuff just to buy the product, and for what it does, I can't justify the price in my mind.
It's really just an example of consumer preference dictating the market... clearly the product is not placed in a position where the public needs it.
I keep seeing comments posted in regards to Microsoft not having a community, and quite honestly, they baffle me.
No, Microsoft doesn't have groups of users who all get together on the weekend and chat about how great Windows is, or what new features are coming up, or the next release of the Windows kernel. What Microsoft does have, however, is a very large base of software developers and resellers who are perfectly content selling or developing for Microsoft.
To be perfectly clear here, I work for a reseller who is in this exact situation. We get two types of people, generally. Those who wish to completely wash their hands of their network and hand it over to us, or those who want to be able to manage their network themselves. Typically a customer will either come to us with Microsoft in mind, or ask us which we prefer. We're not a Microsoft only shop, we do plenty of other work, but our recommendation is always Windows. Why?
Well, if we're managing their network, Windows makes more sense to us. More people know it, more of us can work on it, and 90% of the time a problem can be solved with a quick visit to Microsoft's TechNet. If we aren't managing it, we push Windows because it's the easiest for the client to administrate. Contrary to popular belief, for the most part Windows will run fine. You might have the occasional problem, but it's not enough to bother anybody. I'm not saying that it is superior to Linux, merely that it is adequate for most people.
A lot of the inroads we see Linux making comes from companies who have computer savvy people in control of their network. Unfortunately, we're not the most common people, which I think will limit how far Linux expands.
To the developer, Windows represents a massive pool of users to offer a product to. To the resellers, Windows represents a widely accepted product that is easy to support because of the amount of people familiar with it. If Linux is going to see massive progress in displacing Windows on any level, it needs to provide both developers and resellers with a compelling reason to switch.
This, of course, explains why they brought an awesome writer in for the story (the guy who wroite The 7th Guest), and also why they brought one of the most talented artists in the industry in for the music, right?
I find it more amusing that someone would think I'm concerned with garnering the respect of those who frequent Slashdot.
Even more amusing is that someone else would reply simply with "so and so sucks", demonstrating a clear lack of respect in the first place by not providing reason or proof. Typically respect entails acknowledging someone's interest as their own, and and not making wild comments without some sort of fact.
Personally, I just shut my door and put on some nice programming music - Marilyn Manson.
Not only repels my boss, but the entirety of our company from my room!
I think the "Construction Set" aspect still exists in many games, but it's taken new form. With the rise of First Person shooters and RTS as the more popular forms of entertainment, I think that sort of thing has moved into customizing the game. It takes quite a bit of talent to build really good levels, or brand new campaigns, and also quite a bit of devotion.
I see your problem though. Those sorts of activities are very much confined to the geek. Level design and game mods take quite a bit of computer expertise, and I get the feeling you were thinking along different lines. Games like The Incredible Machine come to mind. I'd be hard pressed to give you references, but one "Construction Set" games comes to mind. If you're interested in the game of pinball, I recommend Visual Pinball. It's a complete pinball game construction program, and it works beautifully. Much to the dismay of most of the Slashdot crowd, though, it's main drive is VBScript. Very fun and easy to use, however. The programming is basic enough that I think a beginner could learn to use it very easily.
Other than that, there's lots of software out there for music creation and whatnot. It may not be presented in game form, but if you have an itch to do it, I'm sure those would serve just as well!
So, what you're telling me is that there is only one way to store data, and that personal preference has absolutely nothing to do with it?
Wow, I'd really like to know what kind of programming you've done lately. Perhaps in procedural programming there is a set place to put things, but as far as OOP goes, I'd say there's quite a few ways you could arrange things. People have different reasons for coding things differently, both syntactically and in organization. One person may find it more convenient to store something in a simply ASCII text file, someone may find a small but efficient database system better.
I agree, you shouldn't use more resources than you have to, but there are multiple ways of accomplishing things, each with their own benefits and drawbacks. If you can't see that, I'd really hate to see what happens when you have to work together with someone on something.
I personally hate it when they require programmers to write code on an exam. Every programmer knows that part of programming is debugging, and it's very difficult for many people to get chunks of code correct the first time. I can see, perhaps, requiring a small snippet of code, but large chunks are difficult to deal with in writing.
Due to complexity, programs simply cannot be written 100% perfect the first time around. Not only that, programming is very individual and specific to the programmer. Just because one person writes something one way, and the other writes it another way, doesn't mean either of them are wrong or right.
Written exams should be limited to syntax and concepts, to see how well you know the language. If you want to test a programmer's skills as a programmer, you should at least allow them to excercise their debugging skills...
I'm seeing a lot of people concerned with the head units in regards to XM radio, and this is somewhat baffling. I have XM radio installed, and some of the questions here seem irrelevant.
The XM radio has three separate components. You have the antenna, which attaches to the top of the vehicle, then you have the decoder which decodes the satellite signal. Finally, you need some sort of receiver, like an XM compatible head unit. XM radio can also be installed by putting an FM modulator in, requiring no replacement of the head unit. You also have the option of purchasing an XM compatible head unit, however. This is nice because everything is all in one unit, but if this isn't possible, you get a small square control device for it.
It's also important to remember that if you have a Pioneer head unit that's XM compatible, you *have* to have a Pioneer decoder. A friend of mine has a Sony XM compatible head unit, and he's still waiting for Sony's decoder to come out. As far as I know, Pioneer is the only one that has a complete decoder/modulator combination in place.
As far as Sirius goes, I've never heard of it, and I've never seen any head units supporting it. Sounds like a bad idea, to me. Overall, I spent about 300 for the install/setup, and it's 10 bucks a month.
I myself spent three years doing help desk before I finally got into a position where I'm programming. The same as you, I spent some time "in the trenches" and only did software that helped me do my job, and delighted coworkers and bosses.
I finally got to a company that saw my programming desire, and took me up on it. With that in mind, there's a few things that (looking back), are very important.
1. Find a smaller company; you don't really have a chance of making the transition in a larger company, unless they're putting you directly into a programming position.
2. Make SURE you bring up your programming interests in the interview somehow, if the company doesn't have a firm programming department. A lot of companies want to do internal programming, but don't want to risk the venture of hiring a programmer ONLY to program. In my case, they set me programming part of the time... when they realized how useful it is, I was put on full programming duty.
3. Make sure you find a company that maintains an interest in programming. Some companies don't want to have anything to do with it, some want a lot of internal programming done. The key thing is to show them how valuable a programmer can be.
I find that most network solution companies maintain at least a passing interest in keeping a programmer type on staff. The company I work for decided to do their own office management system, and that's where I fit in the picture. Some other useful things to know is that some companies, in order to become partners, REQUIRE office management software in order to be listed as a partner. I had the initial challenge of justifying my work, but now that we have instant project analysis and whatnot, they are more than convinced.
Regardless of which side you're arguing on, part of the reason this argument doesn't work is because in the end, most corporations are criminals and thieves just like Microsoft. That's simply the nature of business. Businesses don't care how Microsoft Office was written, they simply care that it allows them to get the work done that they need to do. Companies care about making money, not the moral implications of buying software from thieves.
True, the home user can make a stand and refuse to buy the product. The only reason they can do this, though, is because they're looking at it from a human perspective. The home market is undeniably huge, but in the end I think Microsoft cares much more about what businesses are using their products, rather than the home user.
While it's no excuse for lax security, I've found the best solution to this problem is to go through a third party mail filtering service.
;)
I work in a Microsoft shop, and we use the Outlook/Exchange combination for our e-mail system. We've got our mail running through a good third part service, and I have not received a single virus since we implemented it several months ago. It also serves as a spam filter. It's not completely accurate, because every once in a while I get a piece of spam in my Inbox, but I've yet to have it confiscate a normal piece of e-mail.
Like it or not, we're stuck with it, so we may as well find ways to live more comfortably with it.
Out of curiousity, I'm wondering how many people find themselves in the sort of dilemma I'm in. I see many people on here commenting on how real coders simply want to code, it's what they eat, live, breathe, and sleep. Now, I can certainly understand this, as I myself have experienced this exact same mentality.
However, the minute I started doing it as a career, my personal programming time has almost completely gone to nothing. Where I used to program in all my free time, I no longer feel like programming any more. It's not that I dislike it - there's no other career I would choose. But I find myself somewhat bored programming at work because frequently I'm doing the same things I've done before. It's no longer a challenge; rather, it's become a chore, because I'm not learning anything new. Occasionally I have days where I find myself required to do something new, and I get into it, but certainly not every day.
I'm having trouble placing why this happened, and what I can possibly do to bring some meaning back into my programming life. Currently I'm the only person working on a very large project, which I think is part of the problem. This particular project should have about 5 coders on it, but I am the only programmer at the company I work for, and the company I work for hasn't been a software company. We're trying to get a software department going, and there's certainly work for it, but there's never been enough to warrant hiring another programmer. Any suggestions?
Thanks for the information, it's helpful.
:P
The main reason this is an issue, is because my local Best Buy has the same guy at the door constantly. After getting into it with him, I now have an incident any time I go in. Normally I'd stop shopping, but there are no alternatives near my location. It is my intention to find the actual laws that state this, and have a long talk with his manager about his attitude toward the customers.
Normally I can walk by without an issue, too, but now it's become personal.
Not only does Best Buy like to screw over their customers, I'm very sick of their receipt checking policy as well.
I recall reading some time ago that stores cannot legally check your receipt at the door, unless they are acccusing you of stealing. Once purchased, the item becomes your private property, and much like the items contained in a woman's purse, cannot be searched whenever they feel like it.
Now, normally this isn't a problem. When I walk by, I simply ignore the man at the door, or tell them "No, thank you." when they ask for my receipt. One particular time, however, the man at the door simply refused to let me by. We got into a very heated discussion over it, and in the end he simply said "It's my job, I have to do it."
I guess what I'm really asking, is if anyone knows of any resources for laws regarding stores and consumers? I don't want to look through tomes of law books, but I would like to find what the law actually states. I intend to go back to the store, and sit down with the manager and have a discussion regarding their employee and their bag searching policy.
Hmm, I can understand how one might find certain environments or moods to be more suitable than others for programming, but in general I've never found I had a "zone". Of course, I haven't really put much thought into this... I arrange my furniture in the most logical and aesthetically pleasing way possible. My computer goes on my desk, wherever my desk might be, and that's where I program.
;)
Certainly many things affect my mood and how I think, but I find that if I had a zone, it would simply be wherever I feel my mood is best expressed. The environment doesn't necessarily make it easier or better for me as far as thinking goes, but if my environment doesn't fit my mood, it tends to be a distraction.
Although, that one guy is right too - when your boss tells you to code something, he doesn't care much about your personal mood or ideas.
Is it just me, or does it seems like colleges and universities are becoming increasingly out of touch with reality?
Prohibiting one student from asking another student a question is absurd. People learn from each other every day, it's a natural part of being HUMAN. It only makes it worse than many people are PAYING to go and receive this kind of treatment.
This must be some kind of new trend. First, corporations decide to treat their customers like they're criminals. Now we've got universities that want to presume you're violating the rules. What next?
Well, first off, I myself work in the exact same environment as the people you are trying to teach. I've been working in with a VB+MSSQL combination for about two years now.
:)
Unless you can show them a good graphical replacement for Windows as the UI, I would focus on using the alternatives on the back-end only. Despite the reputation VB has around here, it does have it's proper place. Many people who work with VB (like myself), aren't necessarily "Microsoft Junkies", as you say, but ordinary programmers who need to make a living, and don't particularly care what they're working with, so long as they're programming. In this case, it comes down to what the customers want. Until Linux is on the desktop, the customers will keep demanding Windows, so it wouldn't do much good to try to convince these programmers to use Linux for the interface.
Focusing on the back-end, I would show them how they can connect their VB applications to the database, and focus on that connection. Once the connection is made, they know what to do with it. If you can show them how easy it is to use, they can bring this knowledge back to their bosses. This will impress their bosses, because they can essentially give their customers what they want at a lower price, due to MSSQL being out of the picture.
But guaranteed, if they take ideas of using Linux for an interface instead of Windows back to their bosses, it'll get tossed out the window. Believe me, I know - I've tried it before. At least doing this, you can win one battle at a time - first the database backend, and then the front-end at a later date.
Sounds like this is a case of Bring Your Own Computer.
Their tactics were too heavy handed, and the situation could have been dealt with better, but if you're going to use a computer and expect privacy, the very first thing you should do is use your own computer! When you're using university property, the idea of "privacy" should be nonexistant.
It's still infuriating that people get pushed around like this, but this situation isn't exactly good grounds for a valid complaint.
I can agree with you, in that sense. As far as reading goes, probably the worst part to me is the amount of symbolism involved. C/C++ are certainly fairly far removed from the english language, but it seems to me that Perl takes that one step further. ;)
Like most things, it falls in between, not necessarily in one extreme or the other...
Just thought I'd place a little comment in from a newbie to Perl, seeing as a lot of people are discussing the readability of Perl.
First off, I've been writing a database application with SQL Server 2000 and Visual Basic for the last year. Recently, I had to do some nasty work with some text documents. I understand the Visual Basic isn't the most popular language, but it has it's place... parsing text documents isn't it.
Long story short, I decided to try using Perl for it, instead, seeing as Perl is very well suited for the task. It only took me about 4 hours to complete what I needed to do with Perl, and that includes learning the language. So far I've found it very intuitive and it's certainly not any more difficult to read than anything else. If anything, I think Perl simply requires the reader know a bit more about the language, which isn't a bad thing, in my mind.
Maybe I had a better time with it since I've already done extensive work in C/C++, but I still think it's quite useful, and certainly not unreadable if the programmer takes the time to program it properly.