Nope. I work at a fairly well known tech company who's had a bout of worker diahrea. Whether this is screwed management, people cashing in stock options, or just poor docs and group shifting I don't know, but the end result is that a lot of groups have people with half a year in the group and code that's 6 years or older (from when we were smaller and more like your first job). We're getting testing and fixing braindamage, but the stuff must keep working and we do have top-line related projects.
You're a "professor" of "computer science" and you think all a "computer scientist" needs is "discrete mathematics" [whatever the hell that is]?
You consider yourself a computer professional and don't know what discrete math is? Good grief. It deals with math that involves discrete quantites, which is what you have to work with in CS. There are no real numbers in the computer, only approximations, and if you forget that, things will get weird when you can least afford it.
Or maybe they might need to know just a little bit about fourier analysis & the discrete fourier transform, so that they might understand the manifest importance of the improvement from O(n^2) to O(nlog(n))?
Or you could compare quicksort to insertion sort. No need for fourrier analysis for that. Of course, if you know discrete maths, you might (just maybe) know what a DFT is.
Good grief, and people wonder why the Chinese & Indians are cleaning our clocks...
They aren't. It just looks like that because all the incompetents stay in india and china. Wake me when more Chinese can read and actually think for themselves than US. I'd be happy to show them video of what happened in Tianemen square, thus assuring that a good portion never go back.
The point that I am trying to make is that we engineers are not the all knowing genius' we like to think we are. We are often quite ill-informed with respect to business.
Alternately, this is a question of differing priorities and may point to a defficiency in your contracts. Add a clause allowing for correction of ommisions with a capped amount and a lighter process for approving them and you may do better by both your engineers and your customers.
However, you're not forced to finish the project, you simply hand it off to the next group in the class the following semester, they pick up where you left off.
Yeah, I've heard rumours that Amazon is having issues with renting new spaces - lots of property owners are jacking up the rent when they find out it's them. I still want to go work there - especially if I could get bizcards that say 'Rocket Surgeon' and be sort of right.
Well they did do it once, and I haven't heard much outrage from them over it. Mostly they seem mad that they were caught, so why the hell shouldn't I treat them as though they're likely to do it again?
How was she associated with them? You need more than some odd computer files and nighvision binoculars to legitimately arrest someone. These are british cops, remember? They shoot random people and then lie about it.
Okay, so it is in the docs - I guess Sun does a far better job than most in that respect. Anyway, what I didn't want to say, because it leads to lots of discussion, is that killing threads is heavily tied to the specific app, and lots of times, it's simpler to design a multiprocess system and just kill your MT app on a regular basis. This clears out all sorts of cumulative bugs.
That's hard to do when the guys in IT only spend money and don't make any.
Yeah, what do you think they do with all those computers? Oh, that's right, you use them to do your job. Maybe IT should start charging for their service.
So, when your deliveries are running smoothly and the toilets work, do you start firing drivers and plumbers? That's the problem with IT - they're invisible until shit stops working. The fun part for you is that, without IT support, things will mostly work until they stop, at which point you're fucked utterly, because your servers got owned, the guys who did it erased your financials to store more porn, and the backups from the last 2 months (Assuming those still work at all) are corrupted. Hope it isn't tax season.
You don't hear a lot about the celestial navigation systems, but they're a pretty obvious and elegant solution for what they do -- provide a way of driving a warhead to its target in a way that is nearly impossible to jam or recall. (Granted, what they do in the larger sense is arguably neither elegant nor obviously necessary, but that's a separate discussion.)
It's going to be pretty necessary if we ever get proper spaceflight and want to colonize the solar system.
Hey, $130k is always relevant. I may not jump for it, but knowing what's required (or what can generate that level of income) helps me in choosing long term goals.
You figure out the costs and that tells you what you can afford to spend in protection.
Yeah, it's opportunity cost, but you have to weigh the chances of a breach against the impact - it's hard to handle 'death of corp' as a cost. Of course, I do agree - proper IT security isn't that expensive, but it is pervasive. You need the common stuff like firewalls and passwords, but you also need to make sure people aren't running Kazaa on their desktops or running trojan elf bowling games while still allowing people to get their jobs done. Part of that is not hiring morons, but that's surprisingly difficult.
Unless the company makes security software or hardware, it IS an expense. Computer security should be handled with the same priority as physical security (keeping facilities secure) and basic infrastructure (power, water, telephone, etc.).
Yeah, it's absolutely vital, and the results of a breach can be devastating.
Any CEO that spends an inordinate amount of time on computer security will, and should be fired.
Maybe this should be handled by the CTO or someone he manages? CEOs do vision, not operations (except when that messes with the vision).
Yeah, but how long will a class in VC++ take? I'm guessing 2 weeks, tops. Likewise, SQL wasthe work of a day here, a day there. It was really easy, but that's due largely to my foundation in CS.
If you've got the time and/or you're hiring before a project starts you really want a person. Everybody knows they make better employees long-term. What I find frustrating is that so many can't get it into their heads is that sometimes a cog is needed.
So start hiring more than 2 weeks before the project starts. If you're hiring a cog, maybe offer a pile of cash:)
Why does the company always have to be the one to advance your career for you?
Because it benefits them? And they're bitching for experienced people?
And you know who really complains about being cogs? Those folks working in your (or your clients) warehouse or the ones driving the trucks.
Aren't they? How hard is it to hire a decent truck driver?
I have two patents in network related material (for two things written in java), have written a lot of java, but just haven't lately. My answer would have been, "check the JDK docs and google."
Well, Thread.stop() is like putting your dog to sleep with an axe. The appropriate solution is most likely not found in the JDK and google won't tell you if you don't already know - design your threading model with safe stop points that poll for whether they should exit. This allows you to clean up your own mess when the thread exits; some thread libraries allow you to register cleanup routines, but Java doesn't seem to have what's needed.
Superficially, it seems that this interview question isn't quite right.
Nah, it's perfect - give them something that would trip up a noob and ellicit some discussion from someone more seasoned.
They aren't incompetent; they're just not familiar with the specifics required. Of course, hiring internally would make more sense, but apparently that's too hard.
Slashdot Mirror
Whee, I wanna go build rocket ships.
You're a "professor" of "computer science" and you think all a "computer scientist" needs is "discrete mathematics" [whatever the hell that is]?
You consider yourself a computer professional and don't know what discrete math is? Good grief. It deals with math that involves discrete quantites, which is what you have to work with in CS. There are no real numbers in the computer, only approximations, and if you forget that, things will get weird when you can least afford it.
Or maybe they might need to know just a little bit about fourier analysis & the discrete fourier transform, so that they might understand the manifest importance of the improvement from O(n^2) to O(nlog(n))?
Or you could compare quicksort to insertion sort. No need for fourrier analysis for that. Of course, if you know discrete maths, you might (just maybe) know what a DFT is.
Good grief, and people wonder why the Chinese & Indians are cleaning our clocks...
They aren't. It just looks like that because all the incompetents stay in india and china. Wake me when more Chinese can read and actually think for themselves than US. I'd be happy to show them video of what happened in Tianemen square, thus assuring that a good portion never go back.
The point that I am trying to make is that we engineers are not the all knowing genius' we like to think we are. We are often quite ill-informed with respect to business.
Alternately, this is a question of differing priorities and may point to a defficiency in your contracts. Add a clause allowing for correction of ommisions with a capped amount and a lighter process for approving them and you may do better by both your engineers and your customers.
However, you're not forced to finish the project, you simply hand it off to the next group in the class the following semester, they pick up where you left off.
You've just described my job.
go back to that purchase a few years ago where Manhatten Island was had for a few shiny trinkets
Well duh. They guys who sold it lived in Brooklyn. If some yahoo came up and offered to buy the island next door to you, wouldn't you sell it to him?
Yeah, I've heard rumours that Amazon is having issues with renting new spaces - lots of property owners are jacking up the rent when they find out it's them. I still want to go work there - especially if I could get bizcards that say 'Rocket Surgeon' and be sort of right.
Well they did do it once, and I haven't heard much outrage from them over it. Mostly they seem mad that they were caught, so why the hell shouldn't I treat them as though they're likely to do it again?
I assume you filed a complaint against the cops at the very least.
How was she associated with them? You need more than some odd computer files and nighvision binoculars to legitimately arrest someone. These are british cops, remember? They shoot random people and then lie about it.
Okay, so it is in the docs - I guess Sun does a far better job than most in that respect. Anyway, what I didn't want to say, because it leads to lots of discussion, is that killing threads is heavily tied to the specific app, and lots of times, it's simpler to design a multiprocess system and just kill your MT app on a regular basis. This clears out all sorts of cumulative bugs.
That's hard to do when the guys in IT only spend money and don't make any.
Yeah, what do you think they do with all those computers? Oh, that's right, you use them to do your job. Maybe IT should start charging for their service.
So, when your deliveries are running smoothly and the toilets work, do you start firing drivers and plumbers? That's the problem with IT - they're invisible until shit stops working. The fun part for you is that, without IT support, things will mostly work until they stop, at which point you're fucked utterly, because your servers got owned, the guys who did it erased your financials to store more porn, and the backups from the last 2 months (Assuming those still work at all) are corrupted. Hope it isn't tax season.
You don't hear a lot about the celestial navigation systems, but they're a pretty obvious and elegant solution for what they do -- provide a way of driving a warhead to its target in a way that is nearly impossible to jam or recall. (Granted, what they do in the larger sense is arguably neither elegant nor obviously necessary, but that's a separate discussion.)
It's going to be pretty necessary if we ever get proper spaceflight and want to colonize the solar system.
Hey, $130k is always relevant. I may not jump for it, but knowing what's required (or what can generate that level of income) helps me in choosing long term goals.
Lucky we have commentary Academe to put us people that actually work in IT onto the proper path.
Hey, someone's got to, and I can count on a very few fingers the number of IT managers I've met who know who Fred Brooks is.
Well US missiles using US location services makes a small amount of sense. I'd still want something harder to spoof when dispensing death to millions.
Care to share details? What do you do, run a small consultancy?
You figure out the costs and that tells you what you can afford to spend in protection.
Yeah, it's opportunity cost, but you have to weigh the chances of a breach against the impact - it's hard to handle 'death of corp' as a cost. Of course, I do agree - proper IT security isn't that expensive, but it is pervasive. You need the common stuff like firewalls and passwords, but you also need to make sure people aren't running Kazaa on their desktops or running trojan elf bowling games while still allowing people to get their jobs done. Part of that is not hiring morons, but that's surprisingly difficult.
Unless the company makes security software or hardware, it IS an expense. Computer security should be handled with the same priority as physical security (keeping facilities secure) and basic infrastructure (power, water, telephone, etc.).
Yeah, it's absolutely vital, and the results of a breach can be devastating.
Any CEO that spends an inordinate amount of time on computer security will, and should be fired.
Maybe this should be handled by the CTO or someone he manages? CEOs do vision, not operations (except when that messes with the vision).
Yeah, but how long will a class in VC++ take? I'm guessing 2 weeks, tops. Likewise, SQL wasthe work of a day here, a day there. It was really easy, but that's due largely to my foundation in CS.
That is your concern, not your employers. Take the job that feeds your family and get over yourself.
It's his employer's problem too, since they want experienced people.
All three companies needed people who were ready to hit the ground running.
That's why you will always be disappointed. People always have ramp up time. It does sound like a planning problem.
If you've got the time and/or you're hiring before a project starts you really want a person. Everybody knows they make better employees long-term. What I find frustrating is that so many can't get it into their heads is that sometimes a cog is needed.
So start hiring more than 2 weeks before the project starts. If you're hiring a cog, maybe offer a pile of cash :)
Why does the company always have to be the one to advance your career for you?
Because it benefits them? And they're bitching for experienced people?
And you know who really complains about being cogs? Those folks working in your (or your clients) warehouse or the ones driving the trucks.
Aren't they? How hard is it to hire a decent truck driver?
I have two patents in network related material (for two things written in java), have written a lot of java, but just haven't lately. My answer would have been, "check the JDK docs and google."
Well, Thread.stop() is like putting your dog to sleep with an axe. The appropriate solution is most likely not found in the JDK and google won't tell you if you don't already know - design your threading model with safe stop points that poll for whether they should exit. This allows you to clean up your own mess when the thread exits; some thread libraries allow you to register cleanup routines, but Java doesn't seem to have what's needed.
Superficially, it seems that this interview question isn't quite right.
Nah, it's perfect - give them something that would trip up a noob and ellicit some discussion from someone more seasoned.
They aren't incompetent; they're just not familiar with the specifics required. Of course, hiring internally would make more sense, but apparently that's too hard.