Shapesways is definitely interesting. A mech friend of mine introduced me to it. He created a hdd sled so you can take your hard drive from your old xbox 360 and drop it in the new gen machine (http://www.shapeways.com/model/402108/). It's priced ~$11. Yes, it could probably be produced in mass quantities for $1 each, but that's after a $8K mold. This type of thing is great for long tail type products, but will kill the profitability in doing it traditionally.
I bought one from there too (85w for my macbook, since I thought it might run cooler).
The led on the magsafe connector doesn't work, but the adapter works great and was a lot cheaper than the official one. Apparently the t-style magsafe aren't very robust and the internal cable gets wrecked. Of course Apple doesn't make that part of the adapter easily replaceable like the power cord (which is much less likely to get wrecked). They really should make it a replaceable part. Dell builds a sturdier power adapter for their entry level laptops (at least in my experience).
Actually, that's my definition of a good team player. That's one reason we work as a team (to spot each other's mistakes, and help prevent them in the final product)...
Exactly AND be able to relay that there is an issue in a constructive way.
The way we do (did, I moved on to a higher paying gig..) code reviews is high level, "this does this, that does that" to help each other look for gotchas. No nitpicky things about variable names, formatting etc. Coding standards are for that and tools take care of enforcing most of that. As for structure.. that should be done at the design review stage, not code review.
It's always great to have someone with more technical skill, but as long as they can play well with the team. In a good team the rest of the team will catch up quickly IF they are a good communicator and team player. Personally I've found that individuals tend to have their own skill sets they excel at (due to personal interest) so people help each other learn new skills. Even brand new jr devs often have skills and knowledge veterans don't have. A good sr dev will be willing to learn something new from someone more jr, and a jr should be willing to learn from someone with more experience, but also be willing and able to question their techniques and suggest alternatives. It's all communication.
I find brain teasers invaluable. But not in determining skill, but in determining personality and how a candidate behaves when they are faced with a challenge that they aren't familiar with...
Exactly. At my last job when interviewing candidates with coworker (software team would hire other team members, a practice I thought worked well) we would use:
-a simple programming question (basically do an intersection OR bag intersection on two lists), to make sure they could code
-a brain teaser (logic / simple circuit), which we'd ask programmers, not just EEs
-"hypothetical" situation dealing with management push for releasing code before QA is complete
All the questions had value.
-The programming was best used with co-op students, to weed out those who can't code. It did weed out a few FTE candidates that had "over a decade of coding experience".
-We didn't expect all candidates to answer the teaser, in fact it was chosen as it would be difficult to solve. We would allow a fixed amount of time to solve it, and would give more time if the candidate was keen on solving it. The point was to see how they would do under duress. Help would be given as time went on, to see how they would handle new information regarding the problem. If a candidate gives up immediately and asks for the answer... well in my experience (since we were forced to hire one anyhow), that's what they'll do on the job, "This is too hard, I can't do this." If they turn all red and get flustered.. they might not do so well under stress. One of our best cadidates, who worked out excellent on the job, kept calm, was methodical, asked questions to clarify.. they handled themselves perfectly. That's exactly how they behaved after the interview on the job.
-The "hypothetical" question checked their personality and how they deal with confrontation. This is probably the most important aspect as people who are decent technically can be trained and learn new skills etc, while people who are poor communicators and don't deal well with debate or conflict most likely won't be able to pick up those skills quickly.
On a team personality match is a huge aspect. Questions should bring that out (such as "shooting the shit" during an interview to put the person at ease, e.g. after a teaser). Of course that means the interview must be performed by at least one member of the team. Generally we'd have a pair interview and if the candidate went further they'd meet the rest of the team (rather than a panel grilling them). It doesn't matter if the candidate is super coder who can code at 80wpm if they can't communicate and are at odds with the rest of the team. Those type of resources can be useful if you can apply them correctly, however a good candidate that can work well with the team (in my experience) is a lot more valuable than an excellent developer that needs to work solo.
.. manage all of their costumes on a device of their choice. I wonder how this change will affect the customers at large though!
Not super funny, but definitely not a troll and worth pointing out. I would have probably gone with something like, "So only people wearing costumes or people that make costumes get unlocked phones?"
The editors should be able to pickup the difference between costumer and customer. Reading it once should be sufficient.
.. which we have progressively lost as we slip into a modern dark ages.
I sadly must agree this is what seems to be happening. Everyone wants to be a "big picture" person. No one wants to be concerned with details or actually doing anything.
Any blame on religion is rubbish anyhow. Science and religion are not mutually exclusive. There are some religious people who think that is the case, but that's just ignorance. The real issue is putting ignorant people in positions of power. Of course in a democracy that says something about the voting population (or at least the ones that show up at the polls).
While I don't like feeding the trolls I can clarify on the laptop issue:
On a plane I can't get my screen to open at a good enough angle while sitting on the tray (especially if the seat in front is reclined at all). If I was riding first class it wouldn't be an issue, but I don't ride first class.
The case on my tablet allows me to have it angled while sitting in portrait and I can type quick quickly on it (not as fast as a computer but 30wpm or quicker). So it works for composing notes, email etc fine. I tend to use paper notepads while on a plane as well for scribbling ideas, drawing relationships etc. Then I can use my tablet for reading reference material. I can fit my notepad and tablet beside each other on a cattle class airplane tray no problem.
I don't code while on a plane. If I wanted to do that I'd have to resort to pulling out my laptop, but so far I've found I can keep myself busy without coding. I find it a better time to research things and do planning.
In the Louis Vuitton store online shopping(shopping louis vuitton) Louis Vuitton outlet bags purchase, or other commodities, the first is the goods than the three, which can be save you some unnecessary expenses, don't see the one I love bag will be busy with the purchase, the best way is to forget this bag type, title and other characteristics, and then to Google search, look at other online shopping mall will also have the bag, then, you can for the several Louis Vuitton shop can.
I was firstly attracted by the name of this bag—Totally MM, really a fashion name for girls. And then I was fascinated by its enticing shape which makes my eyes open wide. Unlike other designer bag, Louis Vuitton bag has stylish and practical rounded pockets on every sides, ideal for houses magazines or other daily essential. Crafted in Monogram canvases, it sport natural cowhide trimmings. The golden brass hardwares adds touch of sumptuousness and stylishness to the totality, while two flat straps are also highlight that captured me. Made of natural cowhide leather, it goes perfectly matched with the Monogram canvases, bringing a fresh and feminine look which also guarantees the comfort of carrying over the shoulder.With a wide zipper closure, this designer bag opens to reveal spacious interior
Post summary:
I don't like Apple products and personally have no need for a tablet, therefore anyone who does is an inferior human.
I'd also add that it is an excellent example of false consensus effect whereby a person tends to overestimate how much other people agree with him or her. I don't have a use for X therefor no one could possibly have a use for X. Which is probably more accurately, "I don't think I have a use for X.." because the poster appears to have never used a tablet in a business setting.
At my prior employer all employees at tablets. They are the perfect device to bring to a meeting, especially if you are trying to go paperless. Notebooks and netbooks are bulky and not as good at some task (such as checking your calendar to set up a follow-up meeting.. while standing). I tended to go to all meetings or people's desks when chatting (work related) with my tablet and log book in hand (both the same size). That way I had all references I needed. I never had to head back to my desk to check something, or lay down a computer on their desk, open it, hunch over the desk or find a chair... a tablet is just better for some things. Now that I'm a consultant I use it to track my work and pretty much use it exclusively on planes (my 13" computer fits on my lap, but is nearly impossible to both type on and see the screen at the same time).
Tablets work for me, they worked for my coworker but they won't necessarily work for everyone. It's hard to accurately decide if they will work in a business situation without mass adoption though.
Well put. To me the most important thing is code that other people can follow. If your code isn't maintainable it is useless in the long term (and I know people that have been fired for that when they wouldn't clean up their act).
As for immediate things that makes someone "good" during the hiring stage I'd say:
Good communication skills (dealing with the team or as a freelancer dealing with your clients
excellent problem solver
good work ethic
no ego
Realistically, you can pick up nearly any skills you need as you go (if you are smart and dedicated). A compsci degree should give you all the foundation you need so that you can learn everything else as you go. Soft skills such as interpersonal skills are really important and still underrated. I think it's the soft skills that separate the great devs from merely good ones. Attempt to be a social geek not an anti-social one. Shoot shit with the sales guys and service staff (when on coffee or whatever) and see what you can learn from their angle. Yeah, many sales guys are knuckle draggers, but it's amazing what a simplified view of the world can bring out. We spend so much time focused on details it's good to get someone else's simplified outside view.
I've found being well rounded to be helpful. Some would worry about being a "jack of all trades, master of none" but I've found breadth to be extremely useful. Sure you can specialize in some certain domain and some pay damn well but if that well dries up and you haven't kept up on what's going on it can be a rude awakening. Push yourself outside of your comfort zone as often as possible then you'll become more an more efficient at tasks in general (rather than good at a specific problem).
Previously we had offices similar to Joel on Software's ideal office. Everyone had a private office with a door, but they were in a circle around an open area with a test bench. If you wanted to hear what was going on simply leave your door open, if you needed privacy just close your door.
Once we went "open plan" we had the same issue: headphones weren't obvious to people outside of the team. I wore giant DJ headphones and they weren't obvious enough for anyone outside of the team, "You busy?"
These days the company I work for keeps the phones ringing, cube noise up, and enough meetings that I'm lucky to write a few lines. Some days go by without any objective measure of success.
What's more important than the obvious lack of productivity that gives the company as a whole is the way it demotivates the employees.
I was in a similar situation. I lost my private office to a shared office, then to an "open concept" plan. I went from 500+ lines/day C# to nearly none (unless I worked from home). It was the meetings, general drone of noise, lack of a door to keep sales and service personnel out.. etc. Interruption after interruption. It wore on me.
We implemented some functions to try to prevent the interruptions (e.g. single point of contact within the software team, acting as the gatekeeper/barking dog), but it really wasn't enough. Software team productivity dropped from high 80s of % time spent developing to under 60. I was under 40% of my time spent developing due to my long term experience with the products. That combined with a non-competitive wage for our local market and I was extremely unhappy. I desperately wanted to be productive and wage wasn't a huge issue when I was a happy employee but it became quite important when I could make more at any other shitty job in town.
Long story short I left to do independent contracting at a much higher rate. I much happier getting stuff done and getting paid what I know is a fair wage. The company I left is now looking for a replacement that will expect the wage I expected and will need 3-6 months experience with their products to be a contributing member of the team. It's costing them. Of course IF they find someone who is actually good (finding good devs is extremely difficult, I helped hire the last 2 member sof their team and 90% of the applicants were duds) they will still have problems keeping them productive and keeping them at all.
A few local companies have it figured out and are getting most of the local talent (which often means poaching as talented people tend to have jobs). If the smaller private companies don't step up to maintain their current staff they are going to find themselves without talent and having to cough up a lot of money to attract talent to a high cost of living location and then train those people.
I had a similar experience to yours. I was under my pay grade and under-appreciated for the value I provided. I knew their legacy codebase well enough that I could save other developers days of work with a quick conversation. Since management wasn't willing to put in the time to refactor/rewrite the issues (MOAR FEETURES!!) you had to know the ins and outs of all the crazy interactions the system made (very high coupling.. not uncommon when when procedural programmers decide to do OOP for the first time). Bugs were time consuming for experienced and damn ridiculous for the uninitiated. For new feature dev we called the trepidation of introducing new code "the fear". If your code had to connect at more than one point you had better have "the fear" or you were going to introduce new bugs. Definitely a frustrating environment to work in, but reality for many (most?) with inherited systems.
I did some searching locally to verify my worth in the local market and I was at least 14% under what I should be making. Then a contracting gig fell on my lap worth > 30% more than I was making. I was open about the offer with my bosses and they dragged their feet and finally gave me a counter as I had one foot out the door. The offer didn't meet local competitive rates and was basically a case of "too little, too late".
So long story short: I'm now a contractor.
It's a story I hear over and over. The way to get a raise in software/tech is to take a new job. I only know one company in town that pays their devs top of their range. They made an initiative to keep talent and they realize that in their specialized field none of their key workers are fungible. You can't just hire another developer to do the work they are doing. It'd take months to find someone suitable and even more months to get them up to speed. That's $$$ and big risk. So why not spend money keeping the talent that is making you money right now.
At least they got Engelbart right, but as per usual they attribute they start at Xerox PARC not at SRI. SRI is where the mouse was invented, SRI was where scrolling windows were first done, SRI is where all the work that went into the "mother of all demos" occured.
Once the government funding that paid for the research at SRI dried up the researches were picked up by Xerox.
Anyone who modded you up obviously isn't from Victoria. You would have been modded funny or troll. The timescolonist is trash and it's just them reposting an AFP newswire.
Also of note (for those who didn't notice): the news paper is from the city Victoria, in British Columbia (Canada) NOT the state in Australia.
No it isn't. It is copyright infringement (if she's in the US, which I assume since hulu is an option). Had she gone to a store, decided the DVD set was too expensive, then pocketed it.. yeah that would be theft.
Not only is it not theft, but it's quite easy for people to morally justify. It's a TV show. Remember the days of VCRs? If forgot to record your show wouldn't you borrow it from a friend that recorded it? Is that theft? Is that copyright infringement? To the best of my knowledge that's fair use. Just like taping songs off a friend's record. Again, not theft or copyright infringement when done for a personal use basis. So.. why would anyone feel bad about getting a TV show for free? How does downloading it from some stranger actually differ from borrowing a taped copy from a friend?
The issue at hand is that it is now easier for individuals to access media and at the same time RIAA, MPAA et al want tighter control of media. I was legally allowed to copy a record to tape, but now it's not clear that I'm legally allowed to rip a CD I purchased to MP3?
I agree the real issue is greed, but it's not the consumers that are being greedy.
It was the US that brought her to Las Vegas and pumped her up from an ignorable horror to a larger than life abomination. The US has to learn to take responsibility for it's actions and I think Celine would be a good start.
Same deal for Beiber. He was livable and basically unknown until Usher got his hands on him. Totally the US's fault.
Nickelback on the other hand.. totally our fault. Honestly, so very sorry.
It's not "broken" for me per se, but performance is abysmal on snow leopard. Running videos full screen on youtube is unbearable. I'm back to FF for now.
Monotouch allows you to develop using C#. There was a short period when there was concern that apps created with it would be rejected from the App store (during Apple's statements about 3rd party toolkits), but that was exactly what it was.. a short period of concern.
Legalize and tax pot, and 90% of pot smokers are still going to buy it from the same guy they buy it from today.
Just like you are still buying your booze from bootleggers?
A fact I also base on nothing at all.
Obviously.
Taking liquor (or tobacco) as an example: the govn't licenses who can produce the product and they control who can distribute it. Marijuana would be no different.
Big producers wouldn't risk their license selling on the side, little producers are either priced out of the market (thanks to economies of scale) and those who aren't licensed are heavily fined and/or face jail time (just as they do now).
Dealers become completely unnecessary when you can buy at the store just like liquor or tobacco. If they can even source product at a competitive price to sell it's not convenient and the dealer is taking on needless risk (unless they are a licensed distributer equivalent to a dial-a-bottle service, in which case tax is being applied).
Legalizing marijuana will generate tax money and it will eliminate the need to jail users. The only people jailed will be those trying to avoid the system by producing or selling while not licensed to do so.
And I can get one cheaper than $200 brand new (~$130 CAD for a 4GB unit). If they pull the optical drive and provide a remote and no controllers.. then why would it be more than an xbox 360?
Slashdot Mirror
Shapesways is definitely interesting. A mech friend of mine introduced me to it. He created a hdd sled so you can take your hard drive from your old xbox 360 and drop it in the new gen machine (http://www.shapeways.com/model/402108/). It's priced ~$11. Yes, it could probably be produced in mass quantities for $1 each, but that's after a $8K mold. This type of thing is great for long tail type products, but will kill the profitability in doing it traditionally.
I bought one from there too (85w for my macbook, since I thought it might run cooler).
The led on the magsafe connector doesn't work, but the adapter works great and was a lot cheaper than the official one. Apparently the t-style magsafe aren't very robust and the internal cable gets wrecked. Of course Apple doesn't make that part of the adapter easily replaceable like the power cord (which is much less likely to get wrecked). They really should make it a replaceable part. Dell builds a sturdier power adapter for their entry level laptops (at least in my experience).
Actually, that's my definition of a good team player. That's one reason we work as a team (to spot each other's mistakes, and help prevent them in the final product)...
Exactly AND be able to relay that there is an issue in a constructive way.
The way we do (did, I moved on to a higher paying gig..) code reviews is high level, "this does this, that does that" to help each other look for gotchas. No nitpicky things about variable names, formatting etc. Coding standards are for that and tools take care of enforcing most of that. As for structure.. that should be done at the design review stage, not code review.
It's always great to have someone with more technical skill, but as long as they can play well with the team. In a good team the rest of the team will catch up quickly IF they are a good communicator and team player. Personally I've found that individuals tend to have their own skill sets they excel at (due to personal interest) so people help each other learn new skills. Even brand new jr devs often have skills and knowledge veterans don't have. A good sr dev will be willing to learn something new from someone more jr, and a jr should be willing to learn from someone with more experience, but also be willing and able to question their techniques and suggest alternatives. It's all communication.
I find brain teasers invaluable. But not in determining skill, but in determining personality and how a candidate behaves when they are faced with a challenge that they aren't familiar with...
Exactly. At my last job when interviewing candidates with coworker (software team would hire other team members, a practice I thought worked well) we would use:
All the questions had value.
On a team personality match is a huge aspect. Questions should bring that out (such as "shooting the shit" during an interview to put the person at ease, e.g. after a teaser). Of course that means the interview must be performed by at least one member of the team. Generally we'd have a pair interview and if the candidate went further they'd meet the rest of the team (rather than a panel grilling them). It doesn't matter if the candidate is super coder who can code at 80wpm if they can't communicate and are at odds with the rest of the team. Those type of resources can be useful if you can apply them correctly, however a good candidate that can work well with the team (in my experience) is a lot more valuable than an excellent developer that needs to work solo.
.. manage all of their costumes on a device of their choice. I wonder how this change will affect the customers at large though!
Not super funny, but definitely not a troll and worth pointing out. I would have probably gone with something like, "So only people wearing costumes or people that make costumes get unlocked phones?"
The editors should be able to pickup the difference between costumer and customer. Reading it once should be sufficient.
.. which we have progressively lost as we slip into a modern dark ages.
I sadly must agree this is what seems to be happening. Everyone wants to be a "big picture" person. No one wants to be concerned with details or actually doing anything.
Any blame on religion is rubbish anyhow. Science and religion are not mutually exclusive. There are some religious people who think that is the case, but that's just ignorance. The real issue is putting ignorant people in positions of power. Of course in a democracy that says something about the voting population (or at least the ones that show up at the polls).
While I don't like feeding the trolls I can clarify on the laptop issue:
On a plane I can't get my screen to open at a good enough angle while sitting on the tray (especially if the seat in front is reclined at all). If I was riding first class it wouldn't be an issue, but I don't ride first class.
The case on my tablet allows me to have it angled while sitting in portrait and I can type quick quickly on it (not as fast as a computer but 30wpm or quicker). So it works for composing notes, email etc fine. I tend to use paper notepads while on a plane as well for scribbling ideas, drawing relationships etc. Then I can use my tablet for reading reference material. I can fit my notepad and tablet beside each other on a cattle class airplane tray no problem.
I don't code while on a plane. If I wanted to do that I'd have to resort to pulling out my laptop, but so far I've found I can keep myself busy without coding. I find it a better time to research things and do planning.
In the Louis Vuitton store online shopping(shopping louis vuitton) Louis Vuitton outlet bags purchase, or other commodities, the first is the goods than the three, which can be save you some unnecessary expenses, don't see the one I love bag will be busy with the purchase, the best way is to forget this bag type, title and other characteristics, and then to Google search, look at other online shopping mall will also have the bag, then, you can for the several Louis Vuitton shop can.
I was firstly attracted by the name of this bag—Totally MM, really a fashion name for girls. And then I was fascinated by its enticing shape which makes my eyes open wide. Unlike other designer bag, Louis Vuitton bag has stylish and practical rounded pockets on every sides, ideal for houses magazines or other daily essential. Crafted in Monogram canvases, it sport natural cowhide trimmings. The golden brass hardwares adds touch of sumptuousness and stylishness to the totality, while two flat straps are also highlight that captured me. Made of natural cowhide leather, it goes perfectly matched with the Monogram canvases, bringing a fresh and feminine look which also guarantees the comfort of carrying over the shoulder.With a wide zipper closure, this designer bag opens to reveal spacious interior
Post summary: I don't like Apple products and personally have no need for a tablet, therefore anyone who does is an inferior human.
I'd also add that it is an excellent example of false consensus effect whereby a person tends to overestimate how much other people agree with him or her. I don't have a use for X therefor no one could possibly have a use for X. Which is probably more accurately, "I don't think I have a use for X.." because the poster appears to have never used a tablet in a business setting.
At my prior employer all employees at tablets. They are the perfect device to bring to a meeting, especially if you are trying to go paperless. Notebooks and netbooks are bulky and not as good at some task (such as checking your calendar to set up a follow-up meeting.. while standing). I tended to go to all meetings or people's desks when chatting (work related) with my tablet and log book in hand (both the same size). That way I had all references I needed. I never had to head back to my desk to check something, or lay down a computer on their desk, open it, hunch over the desk or find a chair... a tablet is just better for some things. Now that I'm a consultant I use it to track my work and pretty much use it exclusively on planes (my 13" computer fits on my lap, but is nearly impossible to both type on and see the screen at the same time).
Tablets work for me, they worked for my coworker but they won't necessarily work for everyone. It's hard to accurately decide if they will work in a business situation without mass adoption though.
The original Jarts look like any other lawn dart I've ever seen. The version currently available on Amazon is a watered down version of the original.
As for immediate things that makes someone "good" during the hiring stage I'd say:
Realistically, you can pick up nearly any skills you need as you go (if you are smart and dedicated). A compsci degree should give you all the foundation you need so that you can learn everything else as you go. Soft skills such as interpersonal skills are really important and still underrated. I think it's the soft skills that separate the great devs from merely good ones. Attempt to be a social geek not an anti-social one. Shoot shit with the sales guys and service staff (when on coffee or whatever) and see what you can learn from their angle. Yeah, many sales guys are knuckle draggers, but it's amazing what a simplified view of the world can bring out. We spend so much time focused on details it's good to get someone else's simplified outside view.
I've found being well rounded to be helpful. Some would worry about being a "jack of all trades, master of none" but I've found breadth to be extremely useful. Sure you can specialize in some certain domain and some pay damn well but if that well dries up and you haven't kept up on what's going on it can be a rude awakening. Push yourself outside of your comfort zone as often as possible then you'll become more an more efficient at tasks in general (rather than good at a specific problem).
Previously we had offices similar to Joel on Software's ideal office. Everyone had a private office with a door, but they were in a circle around an open area with a test bench. If you wanted to hear what was going on simply leave your door open, if you needed privacy just close your door.
Once we went "open plan" we had the same issue: headphones weren't obvious to people outside of the team. I wore giant DJ headphones and they weren't obvious enough for anyone outside of the team, "You busy?"
These days the company I work for keeps the phones ringing, cube noise up, and enough meetings that I'm lucky to write a few lines. Some days go by without any objective measure of success.
What's more important than the obvious lack of productivity that gives the company as a whole is the way it demotivates the employees.
I was in a similar situation. I lost my private office to a shared office, then to an "open concept" plan. I went from 500+ lines/day C# to nearly none (unless I worked from home). It was the meetings, general drone of noise, lack of a door to keep sales and service personnel out.. etc. Interruption after interruption. It wore on me.
We implemented some functions to try to prevent the interruptions (e.g. single point of contact within the software team, acting as the gatekeeper/barking dog), but it really wasn't enough. Software team productivity dropped from high 80s of % time spent developing to under 60. I was under 40% of my time spent developing due to my long term experience with the products. That combined with a non-competitive wage for our local market and I was extremely unhappy. I desperately wanted to be productive and wage wasn't a huge issue when I was a happy employee but it became quite important when I could make more at any other shitty job in town.
Long story short I left to do independent contracting at a much higher rate. I much happier getting stuff done and getting paid what I know is a fair wage. The company I left is now looking for a replacement that will expect the wage I expected and will need 3-6 months experience with their products to be a contributing member of the team. It's costing them. Of course IF they find someone who is actually good (finding good devs is extremely difficult, I helped hire the last 2 member sof their team and 90% of the applicants were duds) they will still have problems keeping them productive and keeping them at all.
A few local companies have it figured out and are getting most of the local talent (which often means poaching as talented people tend to have jobs). If the smaller private companies don't step up to maintain their current staff they are going to find themselves without talent and having to cough up a lot of money to attract talent to a high cost of living location and then train those people.
I had a similar experience to yours. I was under my pay grade and under-appreciated for the value I provided. I knew their legacy codebase well enough that I could save other developers days of work with a quick conversation. Since management wasn't willing to put in the time to refactor/rewrite the issues (MOAR FEETURES!!) you had to know the ins and outs of all the crazy interactions the system made (very high coupling.. not uncommon when when procedural programmers decide to do OOP for the first time). Bugs were time consuming for experienced and damn ridiculous for the uninitiated. For new feature dev we called the trepidation of introducing new code "the fear". If your code had to connect at more than one point you had better have "the fear" or you were going to introduce new bugs. Definitely a frustrating environment to work in, but reality for many (most?) with inherited systems.
I did some searching locally to verify my worth in the local market and I was at least 14% under what I should be making. Then a contracting gig fell on my lap worth > 30% more than I was making. I was open about the offer with my bosses and they dragged their feet and finally gave me a counter as I had one foot out the door. The offer didn't meet local competitive rates and was basically a case of "too little, too late".
So long story short: I'm now a contractor.
It's a story I hear over and over. The way to get a raise in software/tech is to take a new job. I only know one company in town that pays their devs top of their range. They made an initiative to keep talent and they realize that in their specialized field none of their key workers are fungible. You can't just hire another developer to do the work they are doing. It'd take months to find someone suitable and even more months to get them up to speed. That's $$$ and big risk. So why not spend money keeping the talent that is making you money right now.
At least they got Engelbart right, but as per usual they attribute they start at Xerox PARC not at SRI. SRI is where the mouse was invented, SRI was where scrolling windows were first done, SRI is where all the work that went into the "mother of all demos" occured.
Once the government funding that paid for the research at SRI dried up the researches were picked up by Xerox.
You seem to really buy into the concept that the sole measure of success is how much money a person has in his or her bank account.
Well Bill wasn't diagnosed with cancer. So more money and no cancer.
Anyone who modded you up obviously isn't from Victoria. You would have been modded funny or troll. The timescolonist is trash and it's just them reposting an AFP newswire.
Also of note (for those who didn't notice): the news paper is from the city Victoria, in British Columbia (Canada) NOT the state in Australia.
It is also an example of theft.
No it isn't. It is copyright infringement (if she's in the US, which I assume since hulu is an option). Had she gone to a store, decided the DVD set was too expensive, then pocketed it.. yeah that would be theft.
Not only is it not theft, but it's quite easy for people to morally justify. It's a TV show. Remember the days of VCRs? If forgot to record your show wouldn't you borrow it from a friend that recorded it? Is that theft? Is that copyright infringement? To the best of my knowledge that's fair use. Just like taping songs off a friend's record. Again, not theft or copyright infringement when done for a personal use basis. So.. why would anyone feel bad about getting a TV show for free? How does downloading it from some stranger actually differ from borrowing a taped copy from a friend?
The issue at hand is that it is now easier for individuals to access media and at the same time RIAA, MPAA et al want tighter control of media. I was legally allowed to copy a record to tape, but now it's not clear that I'm legally allowed to rip a CD I purchased to MP3?
I agree the real issue is greed, but it's not the consumers that are being greedy.
No way.
It was the US that brought her to Las Vegas and pumped her up from an ignorable horror to a larger than life abomination. The US has to learn to take responsibility for it's actions and I think Celine would be a good start.
Same deal for Beiber. He was livable and basically unknown until Usher got his hands on him. Totally the US's fault.
Nickelback on the other hand.. totally our fault. Honestly, so very sorry.
It's not "broken" for me per se, but performance is abysmal on snow leopard. Running videos full screen on youtube is unbearable. I'm back to FF for now.
Monotouch allows you to develop using C#. There was a short period when there was concern that apps created with it would be rejected from the App store (during Apple's statements about 3rd party toolkits), but that was exactly what it was.. a short period of concern.
Legalize and tax pot, and 90% of pot smokers are still going to buy it from the same guy they buy it from today.
Just like you are still buying your booze from bootleggers?
A fact I also base on nothing at all.
Obviously.
Taking liquor (or tobacco) as an example: the govn't licenses who can produce the product and they control who can distribute it. Marijuana would be no different.
Big producers wouldn't risk their license selling on the side, little producers are either priced out of the market (thanks to economies of scale) and those who aren't licensed are heavily fined and/or face jail time (just as they do now).
Dealers become completely unnecessary when you can buy at the store just like liquor or tobacco. If they can even source product at a competitive price to sell it's not convenient and the dealer is taking on needless risk (unless they are a licensed distributer equivalent to a dial-a-bottle service, in which case tax is being applied).
Legalizing marijuana will generate tax money and it will eliminate the need to jail users. The only people jailed will be those trying to avoid the system by producing or selling while not licensed to do so.
on this thread, but I would think a bunch of nerds would appreciate the technological triumph, not belabor the deficiencies / hurdles that remain.
Perhaps the price-point is ridiculous, but as any professionals know the price drops with economies of scale.
...
Plus Apple might pick this tech up when it's more viable and make an even better product out of it.
I could use some iGlasses while reading the ridiculously small screen on the new iPod nano.
They already have one... the XBox 360.
And I can get one cheaper than $200 brand new (~$130 CAD for a 4GB unit). If they pull the optical drive and provide a remote and no controllers.. then why would it be more than an xbox 360?
... Reality is much better.
That's like someone who has never tried heroin telling a heroin addict, "Reality is much better."
Have you tried heroin? It's fucking awesome.