Win2003 was forked from the WinXP code base. They are basically the same OS with some minor tweakages. WinXP is made for single users who usually run just a few programs at a time. Win2003 is a server OS, made for running tons of programs all at once.
That's why you often don't see drivers for Win2003. Companies mostly just write one driver for both WinXP and Win2003. That saves them time and money.
To say WinXP or Win2003 is better than the other is kind of ridiculous since they're about the same. It just depends on what you want to do. If you use WinXP for a file server, then you get the problems you deserve. Likewise, if you use Win2003 for playing Half-Life 2, then you get the poor performance you deserve.
I don't understand why this is surprising. In the US, math teachers are teachers first and mathematicians second, making for people who can communicate the lesson plans, but not any "real world" applications. Then, student cheating runs rampant in the schools. Parents take teachers to the school boards if their children get less than an A. And the society in general values athletics over academics.
So, if little Johnny actually wants to learn math, he has to deal with a society that makes fun of him because he doesn't want to be a dumb jock. His grades get watered down by grade inflation from other students' parents and the widespread cheating from his classmates. And lastly, he has to deal with his own self-doubt regarding the usefulness of math because his teacher won't or can't tell him how trigonometry applies to the "real world".
Can we not link to websites that require registration? I know I'm not the only person who refuses to register to just get news that is freely available through other means such as television or radio.
And so what if you installed a hardware firewall? Would you say it is broken if it came with all the ports closed? No, of course not! That is what it was designed to do. Don't blame Microsoft because it's software does what it's designed to do! (Especially if that software actually improves the security of their products!)
As for your comment on these programs having been this way for "years and years", that is somewhat disingenuous. These features may have only been around as long as the internet has been popular, starting around 1996 (or, the "Information Superhighway" aka shoot-me-now-and-put-me-out-of-misery era). Moreover, since these programs require an internet connection with certain ports open, then I'd speculate these were implemented after broadband connections became popular around, what 2000? That was only four years ago, hardly the "years and years" you make it seem.
Even so, just because these programs were doing this for "years and years" doesn't mean they were doing the correct thing in the first place. The third-party software should actually tell their customers that certain ports need to be open. (What a concept!) Actually telling the customers within the software would be ideal. Otherwise, manufacturers should have some place on their website that explains what ports need to be open.
I am someone who has two bachelor's degrees, one in business management and another in computer science. If you want to get into development, you are going to need that full degree in CS. Employers are so picky now that they won't look at someone without that qualification.
With a minor in CS, you may be able to get on at a help desk. From there, it's a sure shot into system administration. However, that's as far as you'll get in the technical side of the house. The only place up from there is into management.
So, you know Linux? Big deal. Plenty of people know Linux. And the more popular it becomes, the more ubiquitous it will become. When everyone switches to Linux, everyone will know Linux just as much as you do. At that point, no company will pay you $120K for those skills. Remember, it also used to be that you could get a high paying job if you just knew HTML. Heaven knows those days are gone!
A good solid education in computer science is the best tool for getting a job. It tells employers many things: that you can set a difficult goal, that you can work hard for long hours with minimal reward, and that you can maintain your output in the face of the relentless BS that colleges, professors, classmates, relatives, and even friends throw at you. It also tells employers that I can write a business paper, put together a logical argument, understand the "big words" coming down from management, and respond appropriately. In general, it tells people I'm educated, especially since we all know the lack of education that goes on in high school.
On the skills side, a CS degree means that you know something about everything concerning a computer. This includes the hardware down to the transistor level, assembly code, compilers, and other low-level details. It also means you know high-level details like algorithms, discrete math, calculus, and more. If all you know is Linux, then any CS grad could drive a truck through the gaps in your knowledge.
On a side note, as a high school graduate with some tech skills, you would need a minimum of four years to learn all the things those CS grads already know. The majority of college students now take five or sixth years to pick up a degree. So, it might take you longer. However, it would probably take those same CS grads three months to pick up what you know.
You should start showing some respect to your future managers.
Yes, my school required calculus taken in college. In fact I took Calculus 1, 2, and 3, Differential Equations, and Discrete Math. However, that was all before I entered my CS major.
The amount of math you actually need is really minor. My school required calculus just to get into CS. However, we never used it. Algebra was the highest math most classes required. The closest I got to higher-level math was in 3D graphics working with vectors and matrices.
Requiring calculus for CS majors is unnecessary. I think the schools use that to only weed out candidates. Considering this, I imagine schools will now remove this requirement since less students overall are entering as CS majors.
Before everyone says the sky is falling, I don't necessarily think this is a bad thing. I certainly haven't used any calculus while doing professional development. So, why we require it of undergrads is beyond me.
Managers also want specs so they can outsource the work. I'd say this whole topic bodes well for US developers wanting to limit outsourcing. Indians can't work on a project without a good spec.
REFUSE making specs if you want to keep your job in the US and not India!
I think credits for hiring US citizens are the ultimate solution. Companies make hiring and outsourcing decisions based on money. Give them more money to keep jobs here and they'll think twice before sending more overseas.
Is it just me, or does anyone else find this recent chatter on immigration reform scary? Supposedly they're using this reform for low paid jobs that illegal immigrants from Mexico take, but Americans don't want. Illegal immigrants would be given legal status if they can find a job here. But, what's to prevent companies from using that legislation on highly paid tech jobs? I can just picture a flood of illegal immigrants from India and China. The news media will stand there scratching their heads saying, "That's not what the legislation intended." And president Bush will be standing in the background laughing maniacally, knowing exactly this would happen.
I especially find that potential legislation especially disturbing now. Especially after this article states, "The problem is a lack of highly educated workers willing to work for the minimum wage or lower in the US."
IT is the name of the frickin industry that CS people work in. If you weren't such an ass, maybe you'd see that.
Take a look at ten different company's job listings. It's rare to find a "Computer Science" job category. All the CS jobs are listed under IT... Jesus!
The tech field and it's related jobs are already getting better, but not in this country. Those jobs are going to India and China. Every week, 2-3 large companies announce that they're replacing US software engineers with overseas workers. Don't think those jobs will ever come back. There will ALWAYS be some country somewhere with people willing to do the job for less.
The only way those jobs would come back would be if you decided you wanted to get paid less than all the software engineers in China, India, Russia, etc, etc. I doubt you could ever be competitive because they can drop their prices to lower than you can afford.
If you did decide to stay in IT (The industry, you nitpicking asses) then your safest bet would be to find a job doing something that couldn't be outsourced.
Of my god... I can't believe you would cut the job descriptions so strictly. CS people work in IT. Do a search at enough company's websites and you'll see what I mean. When I said run from IT, I meant the ENTIRE INDUSTRY.
The anonymous coward obviously has not been through an advanced CS course. I've taken both engineering and CS courses from major 4-year universities. Both topics are just as difficult and demanding. Both have just as many students drop.
The only difference is that engineering is more respected and you're more likely to get a job with it now.
If there are an "excess of 10000 or 20000 applicants", then that should tell you something. Competition is fierce. It isn't like a few years ago where everyone in CS got job offers before graduating. People are lucky now if they get any job at all after graduation, let alone a job developing software.
Take some advice from a recent CS graduate... Stay away! Run as far and as fast as you can from IT. It's a totally losing proposition. And it's not getting better.
I worked for AT&T Wireless too. I can vouch 100% for this poster's reliability. I still have friends working in software testing there.
Currently, their full time American employees are training their Indian replacements. Management KNEW the system wouldn't work, but the people they rely upon to MAKE it work have no incentive. As soon as it works, they're out of a job.
Also, my friend in software testing says they've laid off wayyy too many people and actually NOT replaced them. The speculation is that they're doing this to look good on paper for a potential buyout.
This is particularly interesting considering DoCoMo bought a large stake in AT&T Wireless last year. AT&T Wireless is based in Redmond, WA, and has announced that they plan to use Microsoft products in their phones. I suppose DoCoMo could influence AT&T Wireless to switch over.
> Does the primary language of the person who > programs your dialog boxes really matter?
It does if they can't spell! I can't remember how many times I've caught words spelled incorrectly in "commercial" programs, which I absolutely hate. Supposedly these programs have gone through testing, so many eyes should have seen the error. People who grew up speaking and writing English have a better chance of spelling English words correctly.
Check out Garageband.com. You can find tons of local bands in your area, download or stream their music, find out where they're playing, and go watch a show. Bands are broken down into different genres. And the site even ranks songs, so you can find the most popular, national groups in your genre.
If you have your own band, then you can upload your music and gain a much larger, local audience.
I know Valve software has been working on this for automating customer updates for their Half-Life franchise. I know they plan to make their content delivery system available to third parties. Check out Steam at:
http://steampowered.com
If the company wants to claim ownership of all his thoughts while he worked there, then they probably owe him some horrendous overtime.
Let's see... the brain is always thinking, even when asleep. So, that's a total of 168 hours per week. Since OT is usually time and a half of every hour past forty, he should have gotten paid for 232 hours each week that he worked there.
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Win2003 was forked from the WinXP code base. They are basically the same OS with some minor tweakages. WinXP is made for single users who usually run just a few programs at a time. Win2003 is a server OS, made for running tons of programs all at once.
That's why you often don't see drivers for Win2003. Companies mostly just write one driver for both WinXP and Win2003. That saves them time and money.
To say WinXP or Win2003 is better than the other is kind of ridiculous since they're about the same. It just depends on what you want to do. If you use WinXP for a file server, then you get the problems you deserve. Likewise, if you use Win2003 for playing Half-Life 2, then you get the poor performance you deserve.
I don't understand why this is surprising. In the US, math teachers are teachers first and mathematicians second, making for people who can communicate the lesson plans, but not any "real world" applications. Then, student cheating runs rampant in the schools. Parents take teachers to the school boards if their children get less than an A. And the society in general values athletics over academics.
So, if little Johnny actually wants to learn math, he has to deal with a society that makes fun of him because he doesn't want to be a dumb jock. His grades get watered down by grade inflation from other students' parents and the widespread cheating from his classmates. And lastly, he has to deal with his own self-doubt regarding the usefulness of math because his teacher won't or can't tell him how trigonometry applies to the "real world".
Can we not link to websites that require registration? I know I'm not the only person who refuses to register to just get news that is freely available through other means such as television or radio.
That only makes sense if they pay the same amount in India that they pay here. Unfortunately, we all know that isn't the case.
And so what if you installed a hardware firewall? Would you say it is broken if it came with all the ports closed? No, of course not! That is what it was designed to do. Don't blame Microsoft because it's software does what it's designed to do! (Especially if that software actually improves the security of their products!)
As for your comment on these programs having been this way for "years and years", that is somewhat disingenuous. These features may have only been around as long as the internet has been popular, starting around 1996 (or, the "Information Superhighway" aka shoot-me-now-and-put-me-out-of-misery era). Moreover, since these programs require an internet connection with certain ports open, then I'd speculate these were implemented after broadband connections became popular around, what 2000? That was only four years ago, hardly the "years and years" you make it seem.
Even so, just because these programs were doing this for "years and years" doesn't mean they were doing the correct thing in the first place. The third-party software should actually tell their customers that certain ports need to be open. (What a concept!) Actually telling the customers within the software would be ideal. Otherwise, manufacturers should have some place on their website that explains what ports need to be open.
I am someone who has two bachelor's degrees, one in business management and another in computer science. If you want to get into development, you are going to need that full degree in CS. Employers are so picky now that they won't look at someone without that qualification.
With a minor in CS, you may be able to get on at a help desk. From there, it's a sure shot into system administration. However, that's as far as you'll get in the technical side of the house. The only place up from there is into management.
So, you know Linux? Big deal. Plenty of people know Linux. And the more popular it becomes, the more ubiquitous it will become. When everyone switches to Linux, everyone will know Linux just as much as you do. At that point, no company will pay you $120K for those skills. Remember, it also used to be that you could get a high paying job if you just knew HTML. Heaven knows those days are gone!
A good solid education in computer science is the best tool for getting a job. It tells employers many things: that you can set a difficult goal, that you can work hard for long hours with minimal reward, and that you can maintain your output in the face of the relentless BS that colleges, professors, classmates, relatives, and even friends throw at you. It also tells employers that I can write a business paper, put together a logical argument, understand the "big words" coming down from management, and respond appropriately. In general, it tells people I'm educated, especially since we all know the lack of education that goes on in high school.
On the skills side, a CS degree means that you know something about everything concerning a computer. This includes the hardware down to the transistor level, assembly code, compilers, and other low-level details. It also means you know high-level details like algorithms, discrete math, calculus, and more. If all you know is Linux, then any CS grad could drive a truck through the gaps in your knowledge.
On a side note, as a high school graduate with some tech skills, you would need a minimum of four years to learn all the things those CS grads already know. The majority of college students now take five or sixth years to pick up a degree. So, it might take you longer. However, it would probably take those same CS grads three months to pick up what you know.
You should start showing some respect to your future managers.
Yes, my school required calculus taken in college. In fact I took Calculus 1, 2, and 3, Differential Equations, and Discrete Math. However, that was all before I entered my CS major.
How about you attack my argument and not me?
The amount of math you actually need is really minor. My school required calculus just to get into CS. However, we never used it. Algebra was the highest math most classes required. The closest I got to higher-level math was in 3D graphics working with vectors and matrices.
Requiring calculus for CS majors is unnecessary. I think the schools use that to only weed out candidates. Considering this, I imagine schools will now remove this requirement since less students overall are entering as CS majors.
Before everyone says the sky is falling, I don't necessarily think this is a bad thing. I certainly haven't used any calculus while doing professional development. So, why we require it of undergrads is beyond me.
I didn't say anything racist at all. You're just an anonymous coward.
Managers also want specs so they can outsource the work. I'd say this whole topic bodes well for US developers wanting to limit outsourcing. Indians can't work on a project without a good spec.
REFUSE making specs if you want to keep your job in the US and not India!
WashTech is the union for computer professionals.
I think credits for hiring US citizens are the ultimate solution. Companies make hiring and outsourcing decisions based on money. Give them more money to keep jobs here and they'll think twice before sending more overseas.
Is it just me, or does anyone else find this recent chatter on immigration reform scary? Supposedly they're using this reform for low paid jobs that illegal immigrants from Mexico take, but Americans don't want. Illegal immigrants would be given legal status if they can find a job here. But, what's to prevent companies from using that legislation on highly paid tech jobs? I can just picture a flood of illegal immigrants from India and China. The news media will stand there scratching their heads saying, "That's not what the legislation intended." And president Bush will be standing in the background laughing maniacally, knowing exactly this would happen.
I especially find that potential legislation especially disturbing now. Especially after this article states, "The problem is a lack of highly educated workers willing to work for the minimum wage or lower in the US."
IT is the name of the frickin industry that CS people work in. If you weren't such an ass, maybe you'd see that.
Take a look at ten different company's job listings. It's rare to find a "Computer Science" job category. All the CS jobs are listed under IT... Jesus!
The tech field and it's related jobs are already getting better, but not in this country. Those jobs are going to India and China. Every week, 2-3 large companies announce that they're replacing US software engineers with overseas workers. Don't think those jobs will ever come back. There will ALWAYS be some country somewhere with people willing to do the job for less.
The only way those jobs would come back would be if you decided you wanted to get paid less than all the software engineers in China, India, Russia, etc, etc. I doubt you could ever be competitive because they can drop their prices to lower than you can afford.
If you did decide to stay in IT (The industry, you nitpicking asses) then your safest bet would be to find a job doing something that couldn't be outsourced.
Of my god... I can't believe you would cut the job descriptions so strictly. CS people work in IT. Do a search at enough company's websites and you'll see what I mean. When I said run from IT, I meant the ENTIRE INDUSTRY.
Coward is too nice a term... Anonymous Ass would be better. If you read my statement, I said I got a CS degree.
The anonymous coward obviously has not been through an advanced CS course. I've taken both engineering and CS courses from major 4-year universities. Both topics are just as difficult and demanding. Both have just as many students drop. The only difference is that engineering is more respected and you're more likely to get a job with it now.
If there are an "excess of 10000 or 20000 applicants", then that should tell you something. Competition is fierce. It isn't like a few years ago where everyone in CS got job offers before graduating. People are lucky now if they get any job at all after graduation, let alone a job developing software.
Take some advice from a recent CS graduate... Stay away! Run as far and as fast as you can from IT. It's a totally losing proposition. And it's not getting better.
I worked for AT&T Wireless too. I can vouch 100% for this poster's reliability. I still have friends working in software testing there. Currently, their full time American employees are training their Indian replacements. Management KNEW the system wouldn't work, but the people they rely upon to MAKE it work have no incentive. As soon as it works, they're out of a job. Also, my friend in software testing says they've laid off wayyy too many people and actually NOT replaced them. The speculation is that they're doing this to look good on paper for a potential buyout.
This is particularly interesting considering DoCoMo bought a large stake in AT&T Wireless last year. AT&T Wireless is based in Redmond, WA, and has announced that they plan to use Microsoft products in their phones. I suppose DoCoMo could influence AT&T Wireless to switch over.
> Does the primary language of the person who
> programs your dialog boxes really matter?
It does if they can't spell! I can't remember how many times I've caught words spelled incorrectly in "commercial" programs, which I absolutely hate. Supposedly these programs have gone through testing, so many eyes should have seen the error. People who grew up speaking and writing English have a better chance of spelling English words correctly.
Check out Garageband.com. You can find tons of local bands in your area, download or stream their music, find out where they're playing, and go watch a show. Bands are broken down into different genres. And the site even ranks songs, so you can find the most popular, national groups in your genre.
If you have your own band, then you can upload your music and gain a much larger, local audience.
http://garageband.com/
I know Valve software has been working on this for automating customer updates for their Half-Life franchise. I know they plan to make their content delivery system available to third parties. Check out Steam at: http://steampowered.com
If the company wants to claim ownership of all his thoughts while he worked there, then they probably owe him some horrendous overtime.
Let's see... the brain is always thinking, even when asleep. So, that's a total of 168 hours per week. Since OT is usually time and a half of every hour past forty, he should have gotten paid for 232 hours each week that he worked there.
Somehow, I think he was underpaid a bit.