The 'terrorist' label is just like the 'communist' label, and before that the 'fascist' label, and before that... you get the idea. Every generation has had their government-sponsored boogieman. Terrorist is ours.
Or a third -- they become software salesmen. I've never met an enterprise-level software salesman who didn't mention that he used to write in Assembler once.
Quite a number of people on the Indian subcontinent die every year from cobra strikes. Snakes are an object of horror -- if you're trapped in a pile of rubble, a snake may not be the thing they want to see.
I've hired about a hundred programmers in my career, and education and career background are a good set of indicators, but they're not the be-all and end-all of selection. I've had the best results from avoiding agencies and their filtering methods, believing it's worth plowing through a lot of crap myself, in order to not lose that one gem that can transform your entire development effort.
And again, oddly enough, some of the best indicators were clear, intelligent, structured English and an interest in music. There seemed to be almost no correlation between those factors and their achieving a degree, or their lack of one.
On a whim once I interviewed someone who had a non-standard resume that consisted of a well-reasoned argument for her self-taught programming skills, in impeccable English. I brought her in, and she showed me code samples that were sophisticated, well-written, well-commented and offered proof that they worked. Her background was "housewife", no job background at all, no degree. I hired her, and she ripped through the workload like a veteran.
What, in your opinion, will be the effect on humankind if we do not develop economical, effective space travel? How do you think the species will evolve?
That would certainly be Electrons In Bulk, wouldn't it? Moving that much current -- wow. A lead-lined SNAP generator wouldn't be more dangerous. (/sarcasm. Yes, I know better).
There was a time when 100 miles was the range of any car, yet they still drove them across the country. If it was popular all that would means in more charging station.
Or a portable windmill
Or a sail. I love the image of a portable windmill on a car, used as a power source. Reminds me of the cartoon bathtub used as a boat, with a shower head stuck in the plug 'ole and used as a jet. (See? Cartoon Physics is NOT a waste of time!)
The issue was never whether I could get a system up and running once. It's about companies who feel they can arbitrarily alter their products after purchase,
I think this stems from an attitude held by Bill Gates many long years ago, which was good business for MSFT but not necessarily for its customer base. To quote him, "If we don't obsolete our products, someone else will." The juggernaut may have rendered that attitude irrelevant, but the core concept remained there, and the culture allowed forced change on the user base for that reason, I believe.
In a commercial setting, where you have hundreds or thousands of pieces of equipment (PC's, peripherals, it doesn't really matter what), change isn't always seen in a positive light. Change costs money. Ring-fencing the upgrade cycle by buying lots of kit in advance makes the retail sales numbers go up, but it doesn't argue for buying the latest and greatest.
Example -- I once certified store systems for a major national retailer in Oz. I think we had 14,000 retail lanes to buy gear for. If a change that would be trivial to the desktop user came out, say suppliers dropping 11 inch monitors in favour of 14 inch monitors, that was a major change for us, and an unplanned cost of $millions.
Simply training 14,000 x 3 (or so people) to use a slightly different piece of software would put the cost of change completely out of reach for us.
Change, user land, no problem. Change, business land, $$costs$$.
Given that, I am amazed that Microsoft still owns such a large share of the business dollar.
The company I work for is a well-known automaker. We may still not make much of a dent in the O/S & desktop market, but we'd still be reasonably significant.
After reviewing Windows 8, our IT Infrastructure head said "Well, we skipped Vista..."
There's a clever MBA somewhere, I'll bet, who is goaled on achieving a rapidly-expanding market share of a rapidly-declining market. It's their bonus that matters, not the market.
"What's very important from my point of view is that there is one web. . . . Anyone that tries to chop it into two will find that their piece looks very boring."
-- Sir Tim Berners-Lee, "US backing for two-tier internet" in BBC News (7 September 2007)
Slashdot Mirror
The 'terrorist' label is just like the 'communist' label, and before that the 'fascist' label, and before that... you get the idea. Every generation has had their government-sponsored boogieman. Terrorist is ours.
Nailed it, GIT. You win the Internet.
"Gamma isn't using a single line of code from firefox.
I am sure Darl McBride could fix that problem.
Kill that thought. Kill it with a heated spoon.
Or a third -- they become software salesmen. I've never met an enterprise-level software salesman who didn't mention that he used to write in Assembler once.
Most of the 3GLs and a fair number of 2GLs, the entire lineage of databases and indexed file systems.
The whole experience of learning new languages came to a stop when I found I couldn't learn Hindi.
How many of you immediately thought of Slaver Sunflowers?
(Ref: Larry Niven "Known Space" series. If you haven't read it, do...)
You don't get out much, do you?
Quite a number of people on the Indian subcontinent die every year from cobra strikes. Snakes are an object of horror -- if you're trapped in a pile of rubble, a snake may not be the thing they want to see.
Other than that, I think it's a great idea.
I've hired about a hundred programmers in my career, and education and career background are a good set of indicators, but they're not the be-all and end-all of selection. I've had the best results from avoiding agencies and their filtering methods, believing it's worth plowing through a lot of crap myself, in order to not lose that one gem that can transform your entire development effort.
And again, oddly enough, some of the best indicators were clear, intelligent, structured English and an interest in music. There seemed to be almost no correlation between those factors and their achieving a degree, or their lack of one.
On a whim once I interviewed someone who had a non-standard resume that consisted of a well-reasoned argument for her self-taught programming skills, in impeccable English. I brought her in, and she showed me code samples that were sophisticated, well-written, well-commented and offered proof that they worked. Her background was "housewife", no job background at all, no degree. I hired her, and she ripped through the workload like a veteran.
Don't be lazy, do your own filtering.
What, in your opinion, will be the effect on humankind if we do not develop economical, effective space travel? How do you think the species will evolve?
Oh, girlintraining, I wish I had mod points right now. I'm a fan.
<spock>Fascinating</spock>
In other words, it's a "physics crisitunity!"
Just out of curiosity, you weren't home-schooled, were you?
Covered interestingly in a science fiction novel, "Callahan's Key" by Spider Robinson.
(Good romp that read, but then I'm a rusted-on Spider Robinson fan.)
Your response is a little rough, but fundamentally correct.
I will give you props for the reminder that the way a question is cast is subject to validation, and that questions can be wrong, too.
(e.g. "Which is closer, New York or by train?")
That would certainly be Electrons In Bulk, wouldn't it? Moving that much current -- wow. A lead-lined SNAP generator wouldn't be more dangerous. (/sarcasm. Yes, I know better).
There was a time when 100 miles was the range of any car, yet they still drove them across the country. If it was popular all that would means in more charging station.
Or a portable windmill
Or a sail. I love the image of a portable windmill on a car, used as a power source. Reminds me of the cartoon bathtub used as a boat, with a shower head stuck in the plug 'ole and used as a jet. (See? Cartoon Physics is NOT a waste of time!)
The windows on my 2010 Holden Ute are 30% more transparent.
I think this stems from an attitude held by Bill Gates many long years ago, which was good business for MSFT but not necessarily for its customer base. To quote him, "If we don't obsolete our products, someone else will." The juggernaut may have rendered that attitude irrelevant, but the core concept remained there, and the culture allowed forced change on the user base for that reason, I believe.
In a commercial setting, where you have hundreds or thousands of pieces of equipment (PC's, peripherals, it doesn't really matter what), change isn't always seen in a positive light. Change costs money. Ring-fencing the upgrade cycle by buying lots of kit in advance makes the retail sales numbers go up, but it doesn't argue for buying the latest and greatest.
Example -- I once certified store systems for a major national retailer in Oz. I think we had 14,000 retail lanes to buy gear for. If a change that would be trivial to the desktop user came out, say suppliers dropping 11 inch monitors in favour of 14 inch monitors, that was a major change for us, and an unplanned cost of $millions.
Simply training 14,000 x 3 (or so people) to use a slightly different piece of software would put the cost of change completely out of reach for us.
Change, user land, no problem. Change, business land, $$costs$$.
Given that, I am amazed that Microsoft still owns such a large share of the business dollar.
So the original poster is trying to tell us that the "Lie" is a proven technique for swaying a political outcome?
I think we may already have known that one, but thanks.
What you say?
The company I work for is a well-known automaker. We may still not make much of a dent in the O/S & desktop market, but we'd still be reasonably significant.
After reviewing Windows 8, our IT Infrastructure head said "Well, we skipped Vista..."
... Speaking of the interface, Microsoft should seriously fire the people who are responsible for this garbage ...
They did.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-57548751-75/controversial-windows-boss-steven-sinofsky-leaves-microsoft/
There's a clever MBA somewhere, I'll bet, who is goaled on achieving a rapidly-expanding market share of a rapidly-declining market. It's their bonus that matters, not the market.
"What's very important from my point of view is that there is one web. . . . Anyone that tries to chop it into two will find that their piece looks very boring."
-- Sir Tim Berners-Lee, "US backing for two-tier internet" in BBC News (7 September 2007)
Ahh, Great A'Tuin, the astrochelonian. Yes.
All the way down.
Dude --