This thread is really about society in 2014-2018, when being 'inclusive' or 'diverse' was more important than being 'good'.
Personally, I did not buy Battlefield V exactly because of this reason. I really don't need another bit of media trying to push their agenda down my throat. As people say, "If you don't like it, don't buy it." Or if you do buy it, and 10 years from now all games are like this, we'd be thinking, "Wow, we shouldn't have supported that."
Have 20 black characters. Put in 15 women. Have no white guys. You know what? I probably wouldn't even notice, and I probably wouldn't even care. As a white guy, I don't have a requirement that the characters look like me.
But you come out and say, "If you don't like this, then you are probably a racist/sexist jerk."
Ummm...no. That's not cool. What I am is a gamer, looking for fun games. I don't need politics, especially identity politics shoved in my face once again, as I am just trying to relax and escape that crap for a while.
Diversity or inclusiveness is great. Do it. But if that is a selling point? Then I'm guessing you don't have much else to sell.
If it is important to do you...do it. But again, don't shove it in my face.
** Source- gamer who plays almost exclusively as female characters (when available) because of my own deep seeded issues that make me want to dress like a woman or do freaky stuff with men. But, when someone tells me I should feel bad about not wanting forced diversity...then they can suck it. I have no interest in people telling me to feel bad because of who I am.
I had a friend. (Okay, not a friend, I couldn't stand her, but she was an acquaintance)
She was going to build 'passiv haus' (we're American, but she liked the German spelling) communities to save energy, etc. etc.
She drove from California to New York at least a dozen times to support this plan. I'm pretty sure she used more fuel on her roadtrips than she would have saved had the plan actually worked. The plan didn't work, and she ended up finding out that Upstate New York is really cold, and she didn't want to live in an unheated house in that environment.
But she still talks about how dedicated she was...she does NOT like to hear about the wasted fuel.
Her marriage went really bad because she ignored her spouse while being a road-tripping ecowarrior. And absolutely none of this is her fault- the system is against her.
But damn...she can feel high and mighty knowing that she was THINKING about this stuff while you were watching TV.
For me it was about 4.5 years ago, when the wave of sexual harassment complaints was just taking off.
I was the subject of a complaint. Kinda sucked because it was a lot of half-truths. Basically I was messing around with someone at work (at least 50% driven by her) and eventually I think her husband found out. So in order to save face, she made a sexual harassment claim against me.
Well, there was a big investigation, blah blah blah, and what they found was that I didn't harass anyone, but I was involved in an 'inappropriate relationship' that was mutual.
But guess what...the 'findings' of these things don't matter. The only thing that mattered was that there was some poor young lady who felt 'threatened' by me and that is how it was judged.
Bitch- stop inviting me to come to your house when your husband is gone if you're feeling threatened. Don't book us adjoining hotel rooms with a pass through door if you feel threatened. And goddammit, stop flashing me your panties if you want me to ignore you. (A pair of yellow panties was my favorite...)
Oh well- new job pays much better and there are only 10% of the headaches.
But fewer chicks with big boobs and sweet asses at my new job, so that's a bummer. But probably better for me in the long run.
All of the 'ads' I have seen are related to games, movies, etc. that are available in the Store. Of course the Store is one big ad essentially, so once you are there, it doesn't count. But telling me that I can get a game for 75% off on a small part of the screen is fine.
Possibly 25% of the screen is taken by 'ads' at most. The most recent ad/notification I remember seeing was for 'State of Decay' (I think that is it) which is a game that I can download for free as part of my current Game Pass subscription. I don't even think of it as an ad..more of a notification.
Also, they will tell you about the other free games you can get from Games with Gold. Again, I've already paid for them. Telling me they are available is a service- not an ad.
Once you are off the home screen, anything else is completely related to what you are looking at- again, notifications not ads.
I can't provide a screenshot of my dashboard, but just do an image search for 'Xbox One Dashboard'. See that really big part of the screen that refers to a game? That's typically the game you played most recently. For instance, my Xbox has 'Sunset Overdrive' all over it, because that is the game I am currently playing. I thank them for providing that info.
Beneath that, is a big old section showing me info about the friends I have played with most recently. Not ads...other people.
People talk about ads there...but they aren't being honest.
I tried to hire homeless people. I've gone to the guys holding the signs and said"hey...I have work for you...help me mow lawns for the day $12/hr. And I'll buy you breakfast and lunch."
I did this a LOT. I did not care about appearance, criminal record, etc. They didn't need to plan ahead or meet me later. I offered immediate food, etc. Etc.
Over the course of a year I had ONE person take me up on it. He was a good guy, worked with me for like 2 weeks before he disappeared.
Whenever people talk about all of the hurdles for these people to get jobs, I know that when I took away every single hurdle...they said "no".
In my experience these people are on the street because they prefer it to the other options. Not because they don't have other options.
I'm somewhat of a photographer myself (kinda, really).
When I am doing a shoot of some sort, and everyone gets together for a photo, I just let them go nuts with their phones. I don't even bother taking the picture.
First- the quality of their photos will be good...fine...potentially even better than my own because I am doing something totally different.
Second- I hate those shots. They are not going to be great no matter what you do- unless you are Vanity Fair.
I agree that phones are good/great for this. And the last thing I want is to have people say, "Oh Donna, you should be our photographer, your pictures were better than the person we hired!"
Let Donna take the group pics with her iPhone X- they will be fantastic. I'll use my DSLR for things the phones can't do.
I was a huge Xbox 360 fan. I played a lot of games, but there were parts of the console that really bothered me. Mostly load times. Stopped playing for about 4 years.
I finally got an Xbox One about a year ago. My favorite 'feature' is that I can be playing a game, and power the console off....next time I turn it on, I can go right back into the game, exactly where I was. I can do the same when going between games. In the middle of a game, click 'Home' and go into a different game...then when I go back, I am right where I left off.
It makes games a lot less stressful. I can enjoy them more. I don't worry about save points as much.
Right now I am playing Sunset Overdrive and being able to pop-in for a 20 minute little gaming session...yet saving my progress...is really nice. I am thrilled I don't need to wait 4 minutes just for everything to load, then take 10 minutes to get back where I left off. It's there in about 10 seconds as though I never left.
That's my point. Evidently my post wasn't clear enough for the conspiracy crowd.
When you are hunting someone down for doing something that...well, maybe it isn't even illegal, but you really want them to stop- you charge them with kiddie porn.
Nobody supports a pedophile. They (NSA etc) know that. So they use it.
Number one feature I have (problem to fix)...when going through photos, any landscape oriented photos are just too small in portrait mode. Automatically flip them.
That way I don't have to tell people, "Oh...wait...hang on...shoot, wait..." as things flip, I unlock the screen orientation, etc. etc.
I can easily flip my phone much better than going through the hassle of what I do now.
OH- and dammit! Give me a damn Bluetooth control that works from the notification bar! I don't want to just turn it on and off, I want to choose devices to connect/disconnect from. Probably the same for Wifi, but my wifi networks are locked in, and everything is fine. But if I could change Bluetooth speakers without too much trouble, I would be very happy.
I agree that the web is 'ruined'. I blame Marketing departments everywhere. I've been a web programmer for a loooong time, and for a long time we were winning the fight of, "No, you can't put huge pictures everywhere! No, the content can't be all videos! No, we can't have ads in 6 places on the website!"
But then Marketing comes in and shows how much more 'engagement' we can get- etc. etc. and the actual user experience goes into the toilet.
Now the marketing people (literally usually college grads on their first job) have been raised with the shit-hole the web has become, and it is normal. No qualms about shoving 3 or 4 more pieces of crap on the webpage.
Now it is better to trick people into signing up for content "give us your email address in order to read the article" than it is to provide good content. Because then they can say they have reached 10,000 new people this month- who will never, ever open, or even see, the emails that come in.
First, I hate Chrome...and the 'new web' with never ending pages. I am not a genius, but when I've been on Reddit for 30 minutes on a never ending page, I think "God, how much RAM is this thing sucking up right now?"
Obviously that is not really Chrome's fault...but the two go hand in hand. The same B-holes that love never ending pages, have a hard-on for Chrome.
As an aside, the new Reddit update has some problems with my account, and I can't load anything anymore. Good riddance.
Second, not sure what you meant regarding your last comment about Microsoft's best interests- But if I owned Microsoft, I would be pretty happy to screw up Google's crap. Google's actions regarding Windows Phone were pitiful. If you think Google gives one crap about users in the world, you're wrong. They were more than happy to break every attempt to get YouTube on Windows Phone- suing Microsoft for an app that was just a web wrapper...
I think Microsoft should just keep breaking Chrome. Google deserves a kick in their testes.
The hypocrisy of this guy is extreme. I can't stand him, and I dislike pretty much everything he says.
I was on his Imzy site, because he is right...Reddit is broken. Imzy was supposed to be friendly.
I was getting harassed by some serious 'progressive' types for being white and male. This was about two years ago when this was in a high fervor.
My complaints were answered directly by his wife. And she told me twice that since white males have the power, this was not harassment, and I should just deal with it.
Imzy, this dude, and his wife weren't interested in making a BETTER internet. They were just interested in making a safe space for their own people (yes, I know this guy is a white male...but read his life story, like the article, he has some serious white guilt).
This guy sucks and the media eats up his story over and over...
I have one computer at home. My desktop. It bluescreened on boot. Can't do anything. No way to download Windows, activate, whatever.
It was getting old, so I figured "Well, it is about time anyway, this is just the thing that pushed me over the edge to buying a new computer". I bought an inexpensive Dell...which I would recommend that people do NOT do! Only 2 SATA connections, and only one SATA power cable- the other connection is for the DVD drive that I will never use. (I have since bought more cables, but still have not installed more drives, because I hate doing this stuff)
I really didn't want to spend my weekend getting frustrated with OS installs, so I just bought a new computer.
It's a tale of woe that I put out there because this is the situation people are put in. If my wife didn't use the computer for her work, I probably would have said, "Ah screw it...I don't need a computer" or I would just install Ubuntu. But you know, Adobe.
I've been a 'tech professional' for over 20 years. And I really have absolutely zero interest in messing around with my computer. Microsoft did not lose my business because of this, but I did look at the iMac. Or, if BestBuy carried the Mac Mini, I probably would have bought that.
But next time, I won't do the same thing again. (Read my post history if you care to...I am a long time Microsoft fan. But dropping Windows phone, and now a blue screen on my desktop, I'm ready to say goodbye)
I was on the fast ring. About a month ago I got a BSOD. So I did the smart thing, and I went out and bought a new computer. I was NOT going to wrestle with figuring out how to get a new copy of Windows, etc.
I keep looking at this and asking myself, "is there anything holding back the creation and delivery of HTML?". Because that really is the end product.
My current stack has roadmaps out about 9 years. That's fairly solid. I will hopefully retire in 10 years.
My goal is to find a replacement soon. They are the ones who will move to a radical new technology. I have good documentation and an understanding of the business logic. The transition to something brand new will take years. And at that point in my career, I should have value beyond just coding.
If a junior developer out there is looking for a solid but not exciting job, I'm looking for you! Yes, you will need to learn some archaic technologies, but then you can modernize things once you know what is going on.
The real pot of gold is the data, and it's clean, normalized and documented. I've been preparing to leave since the day I started. They are paying me to do a job, not just to build my resume and when I walk out the door I can say I did them right. Whoever inherits this will be lucky. (Ive inherited a lot of projects, including my current job...and I know the good and bad ways to do it)
I moved to web work in 1999 after a time in the printing industry. This was a natural outgrowth of realizing that printing was going to be affected by the web. So I had a lot of experience in print design.
I do work with an artist, and at the beginning of a project we'll go over everything, determine a palatte of colors, they'll design the base CSS, etc. But I'm capable of extrapolating the design when something new comes along.
My designs aren't great, and I should never START the design. That initial creation by the artist is important. But once it gets going I can determine what a new element should look like. Maybe with some refreshing from the real designer/artist once a year.
I can keep it from being 'bad', but I can't make it great. And for projects where they need a full stack developer (meaning they can only afford one person), that's usually enough.
Well, you are approaching this from a different angle.
There are many companies with 25-500 employees who need programming, but don't want to pay for an entire team.
Think of a gazillion specialty companies who are small to mid sized, but need custom software. Not every company can run off the shelf type stuff because their business model can't adapt to what is currently available.
So they hire 1-2 programmers and have them do the whole thing. Customer management down to the website.
These aren't bad jobs. And the organizations care more about your longevity than the typical tech shop. These companies don't want to hire someone new...huge hassle.
These are not bad jobs. And they aren't being offshored. You're part of the team and effect how the business is run. You're there to help and guide because you know what's going on.
Hmmmm...I think I run https just fine. You know my stack has matured over time?
Point is, I don't jump from product to product. My operating system and web server utilize all of the current security standards.
And when something new comes out, I add it to the base of knowledge I already have, rather than jumping ship to something I haven't thoroughly tested and understood.
I'm a full stack developer, and I think I do fairly well all around, but UI would be my weakest area, because that changes based on client needs.
I think I am successful at working this way.
The secret is, my 'stack' hasn't changed in 18 years.
I keep upgrading, and I stay current within my stack, but I stick with what I'm doing.
This is web work, so you're generating HTML and JavaScript, and CSS. That's it. The tools behind the scenes don't need to change every year. Find what works for you, and stick with it.
Everything I work on, I have a lot of experience with. I may not be a hardcore DBA, but I have 18 years experience. My server admin skills aren't crazy...but 18 years. Same with the application layer....
It's a cool job for me, because I care far more about the domain I work in (plants) than I do about finding the latest JavaScript framework.
I haven't had a single request in the last 18 years to change any of the tools I use. But I get lots of requests where I really, really need to understand the science and logic of what my customer does. And I'd rather focus on that.
That's my take on this...the technology is over-rated. What's really important is what you do with the technology.
I live in a nice neighborhood. They also included about 12 'low income' style houses in the mix. I believe it is a requirement where I live.
These are houses, which are purchased. Not rental units. I have no idea how they maintain the 'low income' ideal when houses are sold.
But here is what I have found:
The turnover rate of the low-income housing is probably triple of the 'regular' (somewhat high-end) houses.
MOST of the people are good/fine. No problems.
I would say that 75% of the 'problems' in the neighborhood stem from the low-income section. (My house is close by, I see what is happening) 75% of the problems yes, but this is in a neighborhood that has very, very few problems. So we're talking about maybe 3 police actions per year that I see.
75% of the traffic is also generated by that small collection of homes. Like these people drive a lot.
The biggest difference though is the age of the residents. In the 'regular' homes, the homeowner age is well above 50. I am on the young side, and I turn 50 in two weeks. I think two other guys are below 50, the rest are much older.
The low-income housing is made up of lots of younger people. 20 somethings, 30 somethings.
I don't think income has much to do with the 'problems', I think it has more to do with age. And honestly, the number of 'problems' is very low. It seems like a bunch of normal people, who couldn't afford $700,000 homes, but were able to live in a nice neighborhood for maybe a third of that price.
OH! The only issue I have is with parking overflow. Every once in a while a new group of people will move in with a plethora of cars which they start parking in front of other houses. The low income area is more like a condo complex (but they are detached) and they have their own parking areas, but they do get full. So people park on the normal street. All of the houses have at least 3 car garages, and giant driveways. We aren't even supposed to park on the street overnight...but the low-income residents didn't have to sign a CC&R stating they wouldn't park on the street...we did.
That's it. These are all really small issues. But I do believe that the people living in the low-income area benefit greatly from being in a nice neighborhood. I think it's fine.
Slashdot Mirror
This thread is really about society in 2014-2018, when being 'inclusive' or 'diverse' was more important than being 'good'.
Personally, I did not buy Battlefield V exactly because of this reason. I really don't need another bit of media trying to push their agenda down my throat. As people say, "If you don't like it, don't buy it." Or if you do buy it, and 10 years from now all games are like this, we'd be thinking, "Wow, we shouldn't have supported that."
Have 20 black characters. Put in 15 women. Have no white guys. You know what? I probably wouldn't even notice, and I probably wouldn't even care. As a white guy, I don't have a requirement that the characters look like me.
But you come out and say, "If you don't like this, then you are probably a racist/sexist jerk."
Ummm...no. That's not cool. What I am is a gamer, looking for fun games. I don't need politics, especially identity politics shoved in my face once again, as I am just trying to relax and escape that crap for a while.
Diversity or inclusiveness is great. Do it. But if that is a selling point? Then I'm guessing you don't have much else to sell.
If it is important to do you...do it. But again, don't shove it in my face.
** Source- gamer who plays almost exclusively as female characters (when available) because of my own deep seeded issues that make me want to dress like a woman or do freaky stuff with men. But, when someone tells me I should feel bad about not wanting forced diversity...then they can suck it. I have no interest in people telling me to feel bad because of who I am.
I had a friend. (Okay, not a friend, I couldn't stand her, but she was an acquaintance)
She was going to build 'passiv haus' (we're American, but she liked the German spelling) communities to save energy, etc. etc.
She drove from California to New York at least a dozen times to support this plan. I'm pretty sure she used more fuel on her roadtrips than she would have saved had the plan actually worked. The plan didn't work, and she ended up finding out that Upstate New York is really cold, and she didn't want to live in an unheated house in that environment.
But she still talks about how dedicated she was...she does NOT like to hear about the wasted fuel.
Her marriage went really bad because she ignored her spouse while being a road-tripping ecowarrior. And absolutely none of this is her fault- the system is against her.
But damn...she can feel high and mighty knowing that she was THINKING about this stuff while you were watching TV.
I was going to call you out for that ridiculous estimate on the price of the pen.
DAAAAMMMMNNNN...they really are $99.
That's ridiculous.
Okay, maybe they are super and special in some way. I don't know, and I don't care. But you were right...I almost apologize for my initial disbelief.
Hey! #MeToo!
For me it was about 4.5 years ago, when the wave of sexual harassment complaints was just taking off.
I was the subject of a complaint. Kinda sucked because it was a lot of half-truths. Basically I was messing around with someone at work (at least 50% driven by her) and eventually I think her husband found out. So in order to save face, she made a sexual harassment claim against me.
Well, there was a big investigation, blah blah blah, and what they found was that I didn't harass anyone, but I was involved in an 'inappropriate relationship' that was mutual.
But guess what...the 'findings' of these things don't matter. The only thing that mattered was that there was some poor young lady who felt 'threatened' by me and that is how it was judged.
Bitch- stop inviting me to come to your house when your husband is gone if you're feeling threatened. Don't book us adjoining hotel rooms with a pass through door if you feel threatened. And goddammit, stop flashing me your panties if you want me to ignore you. (A pair of yellow panties was my favorite...)
Oh well- new job pays much better and there are only 10% of the headaches.
But fewer chicks with big boobs and sweet asses at my new job, so that's a bummer. But probably better for me in the long run.
That's a pretty bad exaggeration.
All of the 'ads' I have seen are related to games, movies, etc. that are available in the Store. Of course the Store is one big ad essentially, so once you are there, it doesn't count. But telling me that I can get a game for 75% off on a small part of the screen is fine.
Possibly 25% of the screen is taken by 'ads' at most. The most recent ad/notification I remember seeing was for 'State of Decay' (I think that is it) which is a game that I can download for free as part of my current Game Pass subscription. I don't even think of it as an ad..more of a notification.
Also, they will tell you about the other free games you can get from Games with Gold. Again, I've already paid for them. Telling me they are available is a service- not an ad.
Once you are off the home screen, anything else is completely related to what you are looking at- again, notifications not ads.
I can't provide a screenshot of my dashboard, but just do an image search for 'Xbox One Dashboard'. See that really big part of the screen that refers to a game? That's typically the game you played most recently. For instance, my Xbox has 'Sunset Overdrive' all over it, because that is the game I am currently playing. I thank them for providing that info.
Beneath that, is a big old section showing me info about the friends I have played with most recently. Not ads...other people.
People talk about ads there...but they aren't being honest.
I've owned businesses. Landscaping and printing.
I tried to hire homeless people. I've gone to the guys holding the signs and said"hey...I have work for you...help me mow lawns for the day $12/hr. And I'll buy you breakfast and lunch."
I did this a LOT. I did not care about appearance, criminal record, etc. They didn't need to plan ahead or meet me later. I offered immediate food, etc. Etc.
Over the course of a year I had ONE person take me up on it. He was a good guy, worked with me for like 2 weeks before he disappeared.
Whenever people talk about all of the hurdles for these people to get jobs, I know that when I took away every single hurdle...they said "no".
In my experience these people are on the street because they prefer it to the other options. Not because they don't have other options.
I use Visual Studio Code, with Git embedded.
I like it.
Just did a quick Wikipedia read...evidently it is the most popular IDE...
I'm somewhat of a photographer myself (kinda, really).
When I am doing a shoot of some sort, and everyone gets together for a photo, I just let them go nuts with their phones. I don't even bother taking the picture.
First- the quality of their photos will be good...fine...potentially even better than my own because I am doing something totally different.
Second- I hate those shots. They are not going to be great no matter what you do- unless you are Vanity Fair.
I agree that phones are good/great for this. And the last thing I want is to have people say, "Oh Donna, you should be our photographer, your pictures were better than the person we hired!"
Let Donna take the group pics with her iPhone X- they will be fantastic. I'll use my DSLR for things the phones can't do.
Shut up faggot, nobody cares about you.
(Yes...sarcasm...)
I respectfully disagree.
I was a huge Xbox 360 fan. I played a lot of games, but there were parts of the console that really bothered me. Mostly load times. Stopped playing for about 4 years.
I finally got an Xbox One about a year ago. My favorite 'feature' is that I can be playing a game, and power the console off....next time I turn it on, I can go right back into the game, exactly where I was. I can do the same when going between games. In the middle of a game, click 'Home' and go into a different game...then when I go back, I am right where I left off.
It makes games a lot less stressful. I can enjoy them more. I don't worry about save points as much.
Right now I am playing Sunset Overdrive and being able to pop-in for a 20 minute little gaming session...yet saving my progress...is really nice. I am thrilled I don't need to wait 4 minutes just for everything to load, then take 10 minutes to get back where I left off. It's there in about 10 seconds as though I never left.
For me as a busy person that is a huge factor.
That's my point. Evidently my post wasn't clear enough for the conspiracy crowd.
When you are hunting someone down for doing something that...well, maybe it isn't even illegal, but you really want them to stop- you charge them with kiddie porn.
Nobody supports a pedophile. They (NSA etc) know that. So they use it.
In the world of electronic data, nothing worse than taking from the CIA and NSA.
Well, there is something worse...kiddie porn.
That takes away all sympathy he may get from people.
Hold him for the smut, but send him to a dark hole for the rest of it.
Number one feature I have (problem to fix)...when going through photos, any landscape oriented photos are just too small in portrait mode. Automatically flip them.
That way I don't have to tell people, "Oh...wait...hang on...shoot, wait..." as things flip, I unlock the screen orientation, etc. etc.
I can easily flip my phone much better than going through the hassle of what I do now.
OH- and dammit! Give me a damn Bluetooth control that works from the notification bar! I don't want to just turn it on and off, I want to choose devices to connect/disconnect from. Probably the same for Wifi, but my wifi networks are locked in, and everything is fine. But if I could change Bluetooth speakers without too much trouble, I would be very happy.
I agree that the web is 'ruined'. I blame Marketing departments everywhere. I've been a web programmer for a loooong time, and for a long time we were winning the fight of, "No, you can't put huge pictures everywhere! No, the content can't be all videos! No, we can't have ads in 6 places on the website!"
But then Marketing comes in and shows how much more 'engagement' we can get- etc. etc. and the actual user experience goes into the toilet.
Now the marketing people (literally usually college grads on their first job) have been raised with the shit-hole the web has become, and it is normal. No qualms about shoving 3 or 4 more pieces of crap on the webpage.
Now it is better to trick people into signing up for content "give us your email address in order to read the article" than it is to provide good content. Because then they can say they have reached 10,000 new people this month- who will never, ever open, or even see, the emails that come in.
I hate those people.
First, I hate Chrome...and the 'new web' with never ending pages. I am not a genius, but when I've been on Reddit for 30 minutes on a never ending page, I think "God, how much RAM is this thing sucking up right now?"
Obviously that is not really Chrome's fault...but the two go hand in hand. The same B-holes that love never ending pages, have a hard-on for Chrome.
As an aside, the new Reddit update has some problems with my account, and I can't load anything anymore. Good riddance.
Second, not sure what you meant regarding your last comment about Microsoft's best interests- But if I owned Microsoft, I would be pretty happy to screw up Google's crap. Google's actions regarding Windows Phone were pitiful. If you think Google gives one crap about users in the world, you're wrong. They were more than happy to break every attempt to get YouTube on Windows Phone- suing Microsoft for an app that was just a web wrapper...
I think Microsoft should just keep breaking Chrome. Google deserves a kick in their testes.
The hypocrisy of this guy is extreme. I can't stand him, and I dislike pretty much everything he says.
I was on his Imzy site, because he is right...Reddit is broken. Imzy was supposed to be friendly.
I was getting harassed by some serious 'progressive' types for being white and male. This was about two years ago when this was in a high fervor.
My complaints were answered directly by his wife. And she told me twice that since white males have the power, this was not harassment, and I should just deal with it.
Imzy, this dude, and his wife weren't interested in making a BETTER internet. They were just interested in making a safe space for their own people (yes, I know this guy is a white male...but read his life story, like the article, he has some serious white guilt).
This guy sucks and the media eats up his story over and over...
Not trolling.
I have one computer at home. My desktop. It bluescreened on boot. Can't do anything. No way to download Windows, activate, whatever.
It was getting old, so I figured "Well, it is about time anyway, this is just the thing that pushed me over the edge to buying a new computer". I bought an inexpensive Dell...which I would recommend that people do NOT do! Only 2 SATA connections, and only one SATA power cable- the other connection is for the DVD drive that I will never use. (I have since bought more cables, but still have not installed more drives, because I hate doing this stuff)
I really didn't want to spend my weekend getting frustrated with OS installs, so I just bought a new computer.
It's a tale of woe that I put out there because this is the situation people are put in. If my wife didn't use the computer for her work, I probably would have said, "Ah screw it...I don't need a computer" or I would just install Ubuntu. But you know, Adobe.
I've been a 'tech professional' for over 20 years. And I really have absolutely zero interest in messing around with my computer. Microsoft did not lose my business because of this, but I did look at the iMac. Or, if BestBuy carried the Mac Mini, I probably would have bought that.
But next time, I won't do the same thing again. (Read my post history if you care to...I am a long time Microsoft fan. But dropping Windows phone, and now a blue screen on my desktop, I'm ready to say goodbye)
This is how they will lose a lot of market share.
Dammit...I hate to read this.
I was on the fast ring. About a month ago I got a BSOD. So I did the smart thing, and I went out and bought a new computer. I was NOT going to wrestle with figuring out how to get a new copy of Windows, etc.
Stupid BSOD.
I keep looking at this and asking myself, "is there anything holding back the creation and delivery of HTML?". Because that really is the end product.
My current stack has roadmaps out about 9 years. That's fairly solid. I will hopefully retire in 10 years.
My goal is to find a replacement soon. They are the ones who will move to a radical new technology. I have good documentation and an understanding of the business logic. The transition to something brand new will take years. And at that point in my career, I should have value beyond just coding.
If a junior developer out there is looking for a solid but not exciting job, I'm looking for you! Yes, you will need to learn some archaic technologies, but then you can modernize things once you know what is going on.
The real pot of gold is the data, and it's clean, normalized and documented. I've been preparing to leave since the day I started. They are paying me to do a job, not just to build my resume and when I walk out the door I can say I did them right. Whoever inherits this will be lucky. (Ive inherited a lot of projects, including my current job...and I know the good and bad ways to do it)
Good question!
I moved to web work in 1999 after a time in the printing industry. This was a natural outgrowth of realizing that printing was going to be affected by the web. So I had a lot of experience in print design.
I do work with an artist, and at the beginning of a project we'll go over everything, determine a palatte of colors, they'll design the base CSS, etc. But I'm capable of extrapolating the design when something new comes along.
My designs aren't great, and I should never START the design. That initial creation by the artist is important. But once it gets going I can determine what a new element should look like. Maybe with some refreshing from the real designer/artist once a year.
I can keep it from being 'bad', but I can't make it great. And for projects where they need a full stack developer (meaning they can only afford one person), that's usually enough.
Well, you are approaching this from a different angle.
There are many companies with 25-500 employees who need programming, but don't want to pay for an entire team.
Think of a gazillion specialty companies who are small to mid sized, but need custom software. Not every company can run off the shelf type stuff because their business model can't adapt to what is currently available.
So they hire 1-2 programmers and have them do the whole thing. Customer management down to the website.
These aren't bad jobs. And the organizations care more about your longevity than the typical tech shop. These companies don't want to hire someone new...huge hassle.
These are not bad jobs. And they aren't being offshored. You're part of the team and effect how the business is run. You're there to help and guide because you know what's going on.
It's using your skills in a different way.
I'd rather base it on EQ.
I've seen high IQ people make bad decisions for really stupid reasons.
Nothing wrong with high IQ- it's great. But I deal with mature code. I'd rather have people with wisdom than just intelligence.
Hmmmm...I think I run https just fine. You know my stack has matured over time?
Point is, I don't jump from product to product. My operating system and web server utilize all of the current security standards.
And when something new comes out, I add it to the base of knowledge I already have, rather than jumping ship to something I haven't thoroughly tested and understood.
I try to avoid recreating the wheel every year.
Hey! A post I love!
I'm a full stack developer, and I think I do fairly well all around, but UI would be my weakest area, because that changes based on client needs.
I think I am successful at working this way.
The secret is, my 'stack' hasn't changed in 18 years.
I keep upgrading, and I stay current within my stack, but I stick with what I'm doing.
This is web work, so you're generating HTML and JavaScript, and CSS. That's it. The tools behind the scenes don't need to change every year. Find what works for you, and stick with it.
Everything I work on, I have a lot of experience with. I may not be a hardcore DBA, but I have 18 years experience. My server admin skills aren't crazy...but 18 years. Same with the application layer....
It's a cool job for me, because I care far more about the domain I work in (plants) than I do about finding the latest JavaScript framework.
I haven't had a single request in the last 18 years to change any of the tools I use. But I get lots of requests where I really, really need to understand the science and logic of what my customer does. And I'd rather focus on that.
That's my take on this...the technology is over-rated. What's really important is what you do with the technology.
I live in a nice neighborhood. They also included about 12 'low income' style houses in the mix. I believe it is a requirement where I live.
These are houses, which are purchased. Not rental units. I have no idea how they maintain the 'low income' ideal when houses are sold.
But here is what I have found:
The turnover rate of the low-income housing is probably triple of the 'regular' (somewhat high-end) houses.
MOST of the people are good/fine. No problems.
I would say that 75% of the 'problems' in the neighborhood stem from the low-income section. (My house is close by, I see what is happening) 75% of the problems yes, but this is in a neighborhood that has very, very few problems. So we're talking about maybe 3 police actions per year that I see.
75% of the traffic is also generated by that small collection of homes. Like these people drive a lot.
The biggest difference though is the age of the residents. In the 'regular' homes, the homeowner age is well above 50. I am on the young side, and I turn 50 in two weeks. I think two other guys are below 50, the rest are much older.
The low-income housing is made up of lots of younger people. 20 somethings, 30 somethings.
I don't think income has much to do with the 'problems', I think it has more to do with age. And honestly, the number of 'problems' is very low. It seems like a bunch of normal people, who couldn't afford $700,000 homes, but were able to live in a nice neighborhood for maybe a third of that price.
OH! The only issue I have is with parking overflow. Every once in a while a new group of people will move in with a plethora of cars which they start parking in front of other houses. The low income area is more like a condo complex (but they are detached) and they have their own parking areas, but they do get full. So people park on the normal street. All of the houses have at least 3 car garages, and giant driveways. We aren't even supposed to park on the street overnight...but the low-income residents didn't have to sign a CC&R stating they wouldn't park on the street...we did.
That's it. These are all really small issues. But I do believe that the people living in the low-income area benefit greatly from being in a nice neighborhood. I think it's fine.