Well... no, there isn't really. A good friend of mine who IS a rocket scientist (aerospace engineer, anyway) is a long-time rocket hobbyist and is now tinkering with propulsion systems in his garage. Don't get him started on ordering hobby rocket engines above a certain size, any kind of fuel ingredients, and even certain parts from the States over the last couple of years (we're in Canada, and apparently you can't find a lot of this stuff locally to start with).
After they get all their free publicity from the controversy, they'll drop this restriction and get a few more headlines saying "they listen to their users".
Nothing will have really changed but a lot more people will have heard of Aurora Technology and King of the World (which I hadn't heard of until now).
- if you're saying that there are more good programmers because there are more programmers in general, then it also follows that there are more mediocre and bad programmers. Sorting the good from the bad on a different continent in a different culture is anything but trivial. - your argument seems a bit circular. The original "problem" is whether North American programmers won't be able to find jobs because they're outsourced. In a way, you're saying it's easier to find good programmers in India/China because it's harder to find good programmers in North America. - many of the best Indian and Chinese programmers ARE in North America!
But I think the really interesting question is, like you said: "what makes US programmers, in long term, better than Indian or Chinese programmers?" If US programmers ARE better - I can't say confidently one way or another - I don't think it's because of the education system.
A US company [...] will not be able to provide so many competent developers (warm bodies do not count.) [...] Compare to an Indian company which can give you as many workers as you need, at fraction of the cost, and they are all best of the best
I've heard horror stories about projects outsourced to India (first-hand accounts from people I've worked with, not random rants on the net) far worse than horror stories about projects outsourced to local companies (which I've also heard).
Yes, my sample data is very limited. But on what are you basing your assertion that developers in India or China are more competent than developers in North America?
>But after a while you begin to appreciate the flexiblity that the system provides
>you begin to appreciate what Microsoft has accomplished with windows
I've always assumed there's more to it than just "Windows sucks", but I've never had the time to learn about how Windows and Linux work more in-depth so I can meaningfully compare them (nor will I anytime soon).
Care to give an example or two of things Windows gets right?
I don't mean to single out your post, and I agree with it in principle, but that's a somewhat puerile argument.
The average end user doesn't care "whose fault it is" ("they started it!" "don't make me turn this car around.") Assuming we care about Linux adoption, the ONLY relevant question to an end-user is "does it work out of the box". If it doesn't, the user won't stick around to follow the argument and finger-pointing as to why it doesn't work.
Not that the article's argument is particularly objective... but neither is getting defensive.
You know, I agree! I actually blogged about this very phenomenon just the other day. Here's a link to my blog! I'm sure you'll be very interested in what I had to say.
(disclaimer: above link does not contain content relevant to this post... or does it?)
Ballmer may be a whackjob, but he's right about four things: "Developers, developers, developers, developers." Without those, your "smart" product looks pretty dumb.
Hence most web developers writing "for Firefox first", thanks to Firebug, the Web Developer extension, and more respect for standards, and "testing and fixing for IE after". The end result - far more websites work perfectly in Firefox than you would expect strictly given IE's market share and broken standards.
It IS a bit off-topic, but seems to me like a valid parallel to the release of Safari for Windows. Despite Ballmer's "Developers" war chant, this is one area in which Microsoft is clearly missing the point.
can go and buy any Diane Steel or Stephen King book and I would not recommend either to an immature audience. I dunno, I think I'd recommend Diane Steel or Stephen King books only to immature audiences...:p
Finally! What I've been waiting for!
on
A Million Zunes Sold
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· Score: 4, Funny
I've only been holding off on buying a Zune because of the colour.
Now, at long last, a Watermelon Zune! It's as hip as a watermelon, and twice as easy to use!
How about providing the IMPORTANT part from the article in the summary, hmmm?
"At the heart of the case is plaintiff's claim that rather than delivering 16,777,216 colors with an 8-bit LCD, Apple chose a cheaper route, delivering the illusion of millions of colors using a 6-bit LCD and dithering."
2^24 = 16,777,216 2^18 = 262,144
Nothing wrong with 6-bit LCDs, but they shouldn't be advertised as 8-bit...
*gets ready to be torn apart by rabid mac fans*
Re:Ive got the security tool you need
on
Security Metrics
·
· Score: 1
What about calls from your cell phone service provider, trying to sell you cell phone service? Almost everyone I know gets those... (I wish I were kidding)
Slashdot Mirror
How long before, no matter how neat the gadget, the masses decide that Apple simply isn't worth the trouble?
If Sony's any indication, roughly never (or at least until the gadgets themselves stop impressing).
I remember reading an article about one of the top contributors on Wikipedia - he started out by writing entries as a study aid. Makes sense to me.
Ah well, there's always mail-order.
Well... no, there isn't really. A good friend of mine who IS a rocket scientist (aerospace engineer, anyway) is a long-time rocket hobbyist and is now tinkering with propulsion systems in his garage. Don't get him started on ordering hobby rocket engines above a certain size, any kind of fuel ingredients, and even certain parts from the States over the last couple of years (we're in Canada, and apparently you can't find a lot of this stuff locally to start with).
After they get all their free publicity from the controversy, they'll drop this restriction and get a few more headlines saying "they listen to their users".
Nothing will have really changed but a lot more people will have heard of Aurora Technology and King of the World (which I hadn't heard of until now).
Me, cynical? Nahh.
...these videos probably amount for 90% of that time:
http://www.clutterme.com/internetpeople
(not really a shameless plug since that page has nothing to do with my site)
A few counter-arguments come to mind:
- if you're saying that there are more good programmers because there are more programmers in general, then it also follows that there are more mediocre and bad programmers. Sorting the good from the bad on a different continent in a different culture is anything but trivial.
- your argument seems a bit circular. The original "problem" is whether North American programmers won't be able to find jobs because they're outsourced. In a way, you're saying it's easier to find good programmers in India/China because it's harder to find good programmers in North America.
- many of the best Indian and Chinese programmers ARE in North America!
But I think the really interesting question is, like you said: "what makes US programmers, in long term, better than Indian or Chinese programmers?" If US programmers ARE better - I can't say confidently one way or another - I don't think it's because of the education system.
A US company [...] will not be able to provide so many competent developers (warm bodies do not count.) [...] Compare to an Indian company which can give you as many workers as you need, at fraction of the cost, and they are all best of the best
I've heard horror stories about projects outsourced to India (first-hand accounts from people I've worked with, not random rants on the net) far worse than horror stories about projects outsourced to local companies (which I've also heard).
Yes, my sample data is very limited. But on what are you basing your assertion that developers in India or China are more competent than developers in North America?
>But after a while you begin to appreciate the flexiblity that the system provides
>you begin to appreciate what Microsoft has accomplished with windows
I've always assumed there's more to it than just "Windows sucks", but I've never had the time to learn about how Windows and Linux work more in-depth so I can meaningfully compare them (nor will I anytime soon).
Care to give an example or two of things Windows gets right?
Arghhh! You're missing a closing bracket!
)
Aaaahhh. That's better. *breathe again*
http://xkcd.net/155/
Link should speak for itself.
And that's fine. Copyright terms have very little to do with those employed at concerts or recording and distributing music.
I don't mean to single out your post, and I agree with it in principle, but that's a somewhat puerile argument.
The average end user doesn't care "whose fault it is" ("they started it!" "don't make me turn this car around.") Assuming we care about Linux adoption, the ONLY relevant question to an end-user is "does it work out of the box". If it doesn't, the user won't stick around to follow the argument and finger-pointing as to why it doesn't work.
Not that the article's argument is particularly objective... but neither is getting defensive.
You get bonus points for your username.
:p)
(or you would if I had mod points right now
You know, I agree! I actually blogged about this very phenomenon just the other day. Here's a link to my blog! I'm sure you'll be very interested in what I had to say.
(disclaimer: above link does not contain content relevant to this post... or does it?)
It's a great analogy - they're both impossible!
Ballmer may be a whackjob, but he's right about four things: "Developers, developers, developers, developers." Without those, your "smart" product looks pretty dumb.
Hence most web developers writing "for Firefox first", thanks to Firebug, the Web Developer extension, and more respect for standards, and "testing and fixing for IE after". The end result - far more websites work perfectly in Firefox than you would expect strictly given IE's market share and broken standards.
It IS a bit off-topic, but seems to me like a valid parallel to the release of Safari for Windows. Despite Ballmer's "Developers" war chant, this is one area in which Microsoft is clearly missing the point.
How do you pronounce "Uwe Boll"? The closest I can come to is "you bowl", which doesn't sound like a name.
You know, so I can tell people to avoid his movies.
Get a brane, morans?
(also couldn't resist)
I've only been holding off on buying a Zune because of the colour.
Now, at long last, a Watermelon Zune! It's as hip as a watermelon, and twice as easy to use!
How about providing the IMPORTANT part from the article in the summary, hmmm?
"At the heart of the case is plaintiff's claim that rather than delivering 16,777,216 colors with an 8-bit LCD, Apple chose a cheaper route, delivering the illusion of millions of colors using a 6-bit LCD and dithering."
2^24 = 16,777,216
2^18 = 262,144
Nothing wrong with 6-bit LCDs, but they shouldn't be advertised as 8-bit...
*gets ready to be torn apart by rabid mac fans*
I don't know, I think intruders can still use this exploit.
Just FYI - the past tense of "catch" is "caught", not "catched". (this is not meant as a flame, your English is infinitely better than my German :p)
What about calls from your cell phone service provider, trying to sell you cell phone service? Almost everyone I know gets those... (I wish I were kidding)