Punch cards? It's official - I am an old fart. My first CS courses in college used those things.
The machines used to punch them were nothing I would want to get hit on the head with - cast iron and vacuum tubes.
Imagine a whole room full of those things, everybody punching cards like mad, and somebody DROPS their cards. Oops, there went the whole order of your program.
Here's the total killer - you were allowed 3 runs per 24 hour period. I still flinch when my Delphi app won't compile.
My work life is more like my grandpa's was - some chores every day, some seasonal peaks and valleys, and it takes place at home. This includes Christmas.
The problem - The computer world needs chores that kids can do so they feel like they are part of things. Ideas?
We use science to learn about the natural world. We use art to learn about ourselves.
Who are we with all of this technology? Maybe art will be the way we learn. How can a part of that searching not be art created jointly by people and machines?
Novell bought WordPerfect and a handful of other products, and tried to beat Microsoft at the Office game. Look at what happened. Had Novell focused on their strengths, they might have discoved Internet.
I am a balding, pushing 40 IT chief who has built his career on Windows. When I installed a web server, I decided to be cool and use Linux. I did it, and it never crashes. Wow. However, I won't replace all of the Windows user boxes at work, it is a battle I'll never win.
I now write apps that reside on a Linux server that users access with a web browser. At the end of it all, the user's work will actually be done on the Linux box, regardless of their OS. Not my business.
Rather than trying to eliminate the Windows machines, give them as little to do as possible.
So, Linux community: Are you going to go down the same road as Novell, or are you going to focus on your strengths and provide something Microsoft can't?
For the rest of your work life, you will be sizing up situations, and trying to figure out how to make them work for you. This experience has shown you that you are going to have to get your plate up to the buffet line yourself.
Your needs are the last on everybody else's list, but the first on your own list.
What I have learned is to NEVER let the quality of my work go down, and keep looking for people who appreciate what I can do, and are willing to pay for it.
I moved to Norway a little more than 7 years ago, my wife is a Norwegian national. It has turned out better than I ever dreamed, and I will be here for the duration, whatever that is.
I have done some travelling in Europe for business, and gotten to know a little bit about most of the countries.
All of the scandinavian countries are great places to live, and really oriented to high tech.
The difference is in economy of scale. The American perspective is way too big, actually. Here, there are a zillion small companies that are a riot to develop for, because they aren't so big. Then, when you have come up with something really cool, use your American connections to market it stateside.
Here is the hard part - language and work permits. Generally, they are so hard up for tech types that you can make deals to circumvent these problems. However, I would STRONGLY urge you to learn the language of your target country. You don't have to speak it perfectly (I speak Norwegian with a John Wayne accent), whatever effort you make will be greatly appreciated. Plus, we spend all of our time learning C, PERL, etc., why not hook up with a whole new group of people?
I just spent a year writing a cutting edge app for my industry in Delphi for the Win32 OS. If I could compile a Linux version of this, it could save me a whole boatload of work, not to mention my honor.
Slashdot Mirror
I was hoping to order an Emporer Zurg action figure.
James Jamerson was the bass player on the great majority of the Motown hits (Supremes, Four Tops, etc.).
He claimed that the dirt on the fingerboard was a major source of the FUNK, so he never cleaned it.
Anybody know of a sturdy little digital camera for kids?
My five year old loves to take pictures, but a roll of film disappears in about 20 minutes.
A little digital camera would be perfect - no film, zillions of pics.
Our company still uses DOS for production line control, because there are some great legacy apps, and it is STABLE.
It will interesting to see what the "thousand eyes" does with regards to improving this OS.
Punch cards? It's official - I am an old fart. My first CS courses in college used those things.
The machines used to punch them were nothing I would want to get hit on the head with - cast iron and vacuum tubes.
Imagine a whole room full of those things, everybody punching cards like mad, and somebody DROPS their cards. Oops, there went the whole order of your program.
Here's the total killer - you were allowed 3 runs per 24 hour period. I still flinch when my Delphi app won't compile.
I majored in EE, was a musician for 10 years, then went into software design.
I forgot a lot of what I learned, but what stuck was a lot of the concepts, which allowed me to leap over a lot of other people in my biz.
Education has given me a way to process and file the knowledge that comes my way throughout life.
Don't fret too much, just get a degree and get on with your life.
My work life is more like my grandpa's was - some chores every day, some seasonal peaks and valleys, and it takes place at home. This includes Christmas.
The problem - The computer world needs chores that kids can do so they feel like they are part of things. Ideas?
We use science to learn about the natural world. We use art to learn about ourselves.
Who are we with all of this technology? Maybe art will be the way we learn. How can a part of that searching not be art created jointly by people and machines?
Novell bought WordPerfect and a handful of other products, and tried to beat Microsoft at the Office game. Look at what happened. Had Novell focused on their strengths, they might have discoved Internet.
I am a balding, pushing 40 IT chief who has built his career on Windows. When I installed a web server, I decided to be cool and use Linux. I did it, and it never crashes. Wow. However, I won't replace all of the Windows user boxes at work, it is a battle I'll never win.
I now write apps that reside on a Linux server that users access with a web browser. At the end of it all, the user's work will actually be done on the Linux box, regardless of their OS. Not my business.
Rather than trying to eliminate the Windows machines, give them as little to do as possible.
So, Linux community: Are you going to go down the same road as Novell, or are you going to focus on your strengths and provide something Microsoft can't?
For the rest of your work life, you will be sizing up situations, and trying to figure out how to make them work for you. This experience has shown you that you are going to have to get your plate up to the buffet line yourself.
Your needs are the last on everybody else's list, but the first on your own list.
What I have learned is to NEVER let the quality of my work go down, and keep looking for people who appreciate what I can do, and are willing to pay for it.
Its a game, have fun playing it.
I moved to Norway a little more than 7 years ago, my wife is a Norwegian national. It has turned out better than I ever dreamed, and I will be here for the duration, whatever that is.
I have done some travelling in Europe for business, and gotten to know a little bit about most of the countries.
All of the scandinavian countries are great places to live, and really oriented to high tech.
The difference is in economy of scale. The American perspective is way too big, actually. Here, there are a zillion small companies that are a riot to develop for, because they aren't so big. Then, when you have come up with something really cool, use your American connections to market it stateside.
Here is the hard part - language and work permits. Generally, they are so hard up for tech types that you can make deals to circumvent these problems. However, I would STRONGLY urge you to learn the language of your target country. You don't have to speak it perfectly (I speak Norwegian with a John Wayne accent), whatever effort you make will be greatly appreciated. Plus, we spend all of our time learning C, PERL, etc., why not hook up with a whole new group of people?
Lykke til videre! (Good luck with your plans)
I can't confirm this, but I have read that more people have been killed in auto accidents than in all of the wars since the invention of the car.
I am all for my privacy and freedom, but I would also like to be guaranteed a safe public road.
Something has to be done. If you look at all other forms of transportation, cars are so much more dangerous that it is a miracle that they are legal.
Please, and as soon as possible Borland!
I just spent a year writing a cutting edge app for my industry in Delphi for the Win32 OS. If I could compile a Linux version of this, it could save me a whole boatload of work, not to mention my honor.