The SuperWalMart in Cedar Falls, Iowa (population ~20k, including university students) had a "Weight Loss Center" next to the snack bar when it opened. Given the location and the clientele, it went out of business in less than six months. Heh heh heh.
Mod parent up. The Slashdot Way is to cover ignorance with disdain...but I know more women who can't cook than I know men who can't (which sucks for me because I was hoping "excellent cook" would look great on my girlfriend resume *grin*).
Cooking is truly a joy for geeks; it's a big science experiment everytime you try something new. Plus, cooking is very analogous to programming; there are certain conventions and vocabulary you have to learn, and from there out you get better the more you do it. Make something enough times, and you can spot ways to do it better/faster/more elegantly, and pretty soon you don't even need the book. Once you learn a certain style it's even easier to pick up new ones. And the GADGETS!
In my experience, my professors/bosses never assumed I was less capable than my peers, and no one's ever suggested I was coasting along by my boobs. I must be good.:)
The biggest downers for me have always been social, outside of work/class. Elementary ed majors laughing at me because I'm doing physics homework on a Thursday night instead of going out drinking with them. My mother, who's still waiting for me to stop the insanity and become a kindergarten teacher. Friends who don't understand--and don't want to understand--exactly what I do at my job. Girls are socialized to please others and to not stand out; it's hard to duck years of conditioning.
The hardest thing to deal with: single men (even geeks) lose interest when I tell them what I do for a living. I think it's some sort of machismo thing--our society still expects a man to make more money/have more prestige than his female partner. My (all male) cow-orkers are all married to stay-at-home mothers, hairdressers, kindergarten teachers--i.e. something traditionally pink-collar that lets them have dinner on the table when their husband gets home. The exception is an obstetrician--technical, but still "traditonally female". If a woman wants to be married and have a family as part of her life's goals, why would she enter a profession that will deter men who want the same?
I think about quitting and being a jr. high teacher for awhile so I can find a boyfriend and fit into society a little better. I don't because I like the work and love the money, but I understand where other women might not feel strongly enough about computer work to to pass up other aspects of a woman's life.
I agree it's not about "attracting women to CS" as much as "not turning women off from CS", but that itself is just a symptom of a larger problem in society (gender roles/stereotyping). Hopefully fighting the symptoms helps with the cure!
Ah, I forgot about life in the "real world". It's a little different where I'm working--a small company in a small town in Iowa (allegedly the "Education State"...if that's true, I can't imagine the lack of education elsewhere). Everyone here is pasty white and no more than 50 miles from where they were born and raised...
So anyway, I know who wrote it originally, and these engineers are native speakers but still can't write comprehensible English sentences with verb-noun agreement, constant tense in a paragraph, and commas. It's really frustrating.
I'm actually updating the technical information in the user guide, but the writing is so hard to understand I have to do all of it. I don't like taking credit for other people's crappy work.:)
Remember, eventually, there will be another IT crash. Just studying CS gives you little head start on another career. If you think school is hard, changing careers 10 years down the line is even harder.
I see this kind of school being very useful for someone who already has a four-year degree and wants to get into CS/programming without having to re-take English Composition.
Of course, lately I've been editing a user manual written by engineers with four-year degrees, and I think they all need to re-take English Composition....
A machine can't make any such decision: your 'black box', for example, would happily let people drive at 35mph in a 35mph limit in thick fog on a snowy road, but would stop them from driving at 40mph on the same road in clear weather. That's ludicrous and most people understand that...
A police officer may write a ticket for that 35 mph in the fog/snow, too, if that's an unsafe speed for those weather and road conditions. The black box is incapable of enforcing the law in this situation.
But at least it will provide data to ticket you when you rear-end someone who IS traveling at a safe speed.:)
Do you think it's right for two people to pay $33,000 a year in payroll taxes on an income of $85,000? And then pay all the other taxes that everyone else pays?
Careful. A lot of people really do think that is right. Two people? You shouldn't need more than $30k. That's still over the federal "poverty line."
That's the part I find really amazing. The Cold War is over, and the U.S. has embraced the U.S.S.R. ideology in all but name...
Back to work. Millions of welfare recipients are depending on me!
Rebates, as compared to simply lowering the price, are designed to take advantage of people who will forget to fill out the forms, or who will make an error in doing so.
And people who have stopped sending in the forms, because they've never gotten a check, ever.
What kinda depresses me was the point in the article that the reduction of top acts helps to boost sales
Depresses me, too. I didn't buy any CDs in 2003 because it was All The Same Crap(tm) as the last five years.
I was at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago last week and saw the exhibit on the Chicago Blues, which also encompassed the Delta blues before they worked their way north. Anyway, they had a lot of old records and posters, and one of the things that stuck out was the sheer number of different small and local record companies independently producing records from hundreds of musicians--and they were musicians and not "recording artists";) The Museum put out some CDs of blues from the 1930s by people I'd never heard before. I bought one. I like it. But except for a few very famous musicians who kept recording into the 40s, 50s, and beyond, that whole genre of music is almost impossible to find on contemporary media. As a casual listener, I never would have found it.
A lot of good (and not THAT old, even) music is going to be lost to new and younger fans--who goes to museums to buy music? Who buys old vinyl without first being introduced to their music in some other way?--when the RIAA behemoths pare their catalogs down further. This can't be good for anyone.
You live in the midwest, don't do you?? In the midwest, marriage is the only indicator of a woman's success. Congrats.
I don't think that's going to make the original poster happy in six months when he's mopping the floor the at the local meat packing plant instead of doing the type of work he enjoyed. in the city, no matter how happy the wife is.
I think the idea that men should be paid more is valid for this reason: Men are more likely to be supporting a wife who is at home taking care of the children. A woman is unlikely to be supporting her spouse, and at worst, is supporting only children.
Work should be paid the same regardless of the sex and marital/family status of the person performing the work. Work should be paid according to the value of the WORK, not according to what the worker "needs" to spend money on.
Why shouldn't a woman "supporting only herself" make the same salary as a man doing the same job who is "supporting only himself"?
What happens with your model to a man whose wife works? Does he get paid less than a man doing the same job, but with a wife at home? Or do they get paid the same because they're both men, thus negating the "need" argument you use to validate your sexist pay scale?
Lots of women work to support themselves and their families. Get to know some of them instead of the women you're currently associating with. Then ask them if it's OK if they get paid less because they lack a penis.
In every city that has brought in non-smoking reataurants the owners have put up a bitter battle, claiming they would go out of business, because they know that non-smoking restaurants, in competition with smoking ones, will.
I don't think that's really true. I think that's a convenient excuse for poor restaurants...there are local restaurants I love that are totally smoke-free--by choice, not by gov't fiat--where the food is good and there's usually an hour wait for a table if you have more than two people in your group. Meanwhile, chain restaurants--with smoking sections--across the street have closed a year after opening.
And I live in a redneck/white trash part of the States, yo. Lotsa smokers.
He's not counting on the number of individuals willing to keep putting out free content for the sheer joy of sharing something they enjoy and are knowledgeable about. For example, I'm a quilter, and many other quilters offer free patterns and tips online to get their name out in the industry. I also frequent free personal sites maintained by experts in fabric dyeing that offer their tips and knowledge. No one's ever going to pay to read quilt magazines online when they can get more than enough free patterns and tips online from people who aren't asking for money. I imagine the same is true for any niche topic and probably most mainstream ones as well.
Very soon, you'll see that the content that's left to be free is content that will not be trusted; content that has a bias.
It's no secret that for years advertisers have driven the content in most "general interest" consumer periodicals--think of women's magazines and all the articles insisting you must wear make-up and buy new clothes, their revenue comes from purveyors of clothing and make-up. You KNOW advertisers will be driving the content offered through commercial online publishers with well-placed product references. But Joe Schmoe's Helpful Gardening Homepage...Joe Schmoe is unlikely to be getting money from Miracle-Gro. He just likes telling people about how he grew his zinnias.
Another was an execution error: They mixed really high-quality content with Joe's dissertation on something. And strongly branded publishers don't like to see their content next to second-rate content.
I think he confuses "high quality" with "high demand" and "strongly branded" with "high quality." Sadly, this is probably where he's right; the public at large is going to be much more willing to fork over money to get all the latest pictures of *insert trendy pop bimbo of the moment* than they will be to read something well-crafted and useful.
The sound isn't right, the picture isn't in focus, people are walking in front of the camera, and scenes are missing.
Throw in the sticky floor, the ringing cell phones, and the screaming babies at the R-rated late showing, and downloaded movies will have the entire movie theater experience.
Besides, people aren't willing to pay the amount of money it takes to take care of stoopid Windoze problems- a reload on an average system can take 4-6 hours (with backups, new drivers, etc.)
Oh hell, 6 hours at $75/hr and your client could just buy a whole new Dell and start over.
Slashdot Mirror
And "people who can afford a cleaning service" but that's too long to embroider on a sampler. The rest of us have more interesting things to do.
He's the second Superman from Iowa, the first being George Reeve.
The SuperWalMart in Cedar Falls, Iowa (population ~20k, including university students) had a "Weight Loss Center" next to the snack bar when it opened. Given the location and the clientele, it went out of business in less than six months. Heh heh heh.
Several pairs of shoes for $70?? Sheesh.
Cooking is truly a joy for geeks; it's a big science experiment everytime you try something new. Plus, cooking is very analogous to programming; there are certain conventions and vocabulary you have to learn, and from there out you get better the more you do it. Make something enough times, and you can spot ways to do it better/faster/more elegantly, and pretty soon you don't even need the book. Once you learn a certain style it's even easier to pick up new ones. And the GADGETS!
The biggest downers for me have always been social, outside of work/class. Elementary ed majors laughing at me because I'm doing physics homework on a Thursday night instead of going out drinking with them. My mother, who's still waiting for me to stop the insanity and become a kindergarten teacher. Friends who don't understand--and don't want to understand--exactly what I do at my job. Girls are socialized to please others and to not stand out; it's hard to duck years of conditioning.
The hardest thing to deal with: single men (even geeks) lose interest when I tell them what I do for a living. I think it's some sort of machismo thing--our society still expects a man to make more money/have more prestige than his female partner. My (all male) cow-orkers are all married to stay-at-home mothers, hairdressers, kindergarten teachers--i.e. something traditionally pink-collar that lets them have dinner on the table when their husband gets home. The exception is an obstetrician--technical, but still "traditonally female". If a woman wants to be married and have a family as part of her life's goals, why would she enter a profession that will deter men who want the same?
I think about quitting and being a jr. high teacher for awhile so I can find a boyfriend and fit into society a little better. I don't because I like the work and love the money, but I understand where other women might not feel strongly enough about computer work to to pass up other aspects of a woman's life.
I agree it's not about "attracting women to CS" as much as "not turning women off from CS", but that itself is just a symptom of a larger problem in society (gender roles/stereotyping). Hopefully fighting the symptoms helps with the cure!
So anyway, I know who wrote it originally, and these engineers are native speakers but still can't write comprehensible English sentences with verb-noun agreement, constant tense in a paragraph, and commas. It's really frustrating.
I'm actually updating the technical information in the user guide, but the writing is so hard to understand I have to do all of it. I don't like taking credit for other people's crappy work. :)
I see this kind of school being very useful for someone who already has a four-year degree and wants to get into CS/programming without having to re-take English Composition.
Of course, lately I've been editing a user manual written by engineers with four-year degrees, and I think they all need to re-take English Composition....
A police officer may write a ticket for that 35 mph in the fog/snow, too, if that's an unsafe speed for those weather and road conditions. The black box is incapable of enforcing the law in this situation.
But at least it will provide data to ticket you when you rear-end someone who IS traveling at a safe speed. :)
Careful. A lot of people really do think that is right. Two people? You shouldn't need more than $30k. That's still over the federal "poverty line."
That's the part I find really amazing. The Cold War is over, and the U.S. has embraced the U.S.S.R. ideology in all but name...
Back to work. Millions of welfare recipients are depending on me!
And people who have stopped sending in the forms, because they've never gotten a check, ever.
ISU also holds the world record for the largest Rice Krispie Treat.
So how do you explain St. Anger? :P
Geriatric health care. Probably the only thing we can't outsource.
Docile women robots--been done. Stepford Wives. :P
You realize that now you are CREATING a safety hazard for EVERYONE ELSE on the road...thanks, Sparky.
Depresses me, too. I didn't buy any CDs in 2003 because it was All The Same Crap(tm) as the last five years.
I was at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago last week and saw the exhibit on the Chicago Blues, which also encompassed the Delta blues before they worked their way north. Anyway, they had a lot of old records and posters, and one of the things that stuck out was the sheer number of different small and local record companies independently producing records from hundreds of musicians--and they were musicians and not "recording artists" ;) The Museum put out some CDs of blues from the 1930s by people I'd never heard before. I bought one. I like it. But except for a few very famous musicians who kept recording into the 40s, 50s, and beyond, that whole genre of music is almost impossible to find on contemporary media. As a casual listener, I never would have found it.
A lot of good (and not THAT old, even) music is going to be lost to new and younger fans--who goes to museums to buy music? Who buys old vinyl without first being introduced to their music in some other way?--when the RIAA behemoths pare their catalogs down further. This can't be good for anyone.
I don't think that's going to make the original poster happy in six months when he's mopping the floor the at the local meat packing plant instead of doing the type of work he enjoyed. in the city, no matter how happy the wife is.
Work should be paid the same regardless of the sex and marital/family status of the person performing the work. Work should be paid according to the value of the WORK, not according to what the worker "needs" to spend money on.
Why shouldn't a woman "supporting only herself" make the same salary as a man doing the same job who is "supporting only himself"?
What happens with your model to a man whose wife works? Does he get paid less than a man doing the same job, but with a wife at home? Or do they get paid the same because they're both men, thus negating the "need" argument you use to validate your sexist pay scale?
Lots of women work to support themselves and their families. Get to know some of them instead of the women you're currently associating with. Then ask them if it's OK if they get paid less because they lack a penis.
I don't think that's really true. I think that's a convenient excuse for poor restaurants...there are local restaurants I love that are totally smoke-free--by choice, not by gov't fiat--where the food is good and there's usually an hour wait for a table if you have more than two people in your group. Meanwhile, chain restaurants--with smoking sections--across the street have closed a year after opening.
And I live in a redneck/white trash part of the States, yo. Lotsa smokers.
He's not counting on the number of individuals willing to keep putting out free content for the sheer joy of sharing something they enjoy and are knowledgeable about. For example, I'm a quilter, and many other quilters offer free patterns and tips online to get their name out in the industry. I also frequent free personal sites maintained by experts in fabric dyeing that offer their tips and knowledge. No one's ever going to pay to read quilt magazines online when they can get more than enough free patterns and tips online from people who aren't asking for money. I imagine the same is true for any niche topic and probably most mainstream ones as well.
It's no secret that for years advertisers have driven the content in most "general interest" consumer periodicals--think of women's magazines and all the articles insisting you must wear make-up and buy new clothes, their revenue comes from purveyors of clothing and make-up. You KNOW advertisers will be driving the content offered through commercial online publishers with well-placed product references. But Joe Schmoe's Helpful Gardening Homepage...Joe Schmoe is unlikely to be getting money from Miracle-Gro. He just likes telling people about how he grew his zinnias. I think he confuses "high quality" with "high demand" and "strongly branded" with "high quality." Sadly, this is probably where he's right; the public at large is going to be much more willing to fork over money to get all the latest pictures of *insert trendy pop bimbo of the moment* than they will be to read something well-crafted and useful.(-1, Pedantic)
The sound isn't right, the picture isn't in focus, people are walking in front of the camera, and scenes are missing. Throw in the sticky floor, the ringing cell phones, and the screaming babies at the R-rated late showing, and downloaded movies will have the entire movie theater experience.
Oh hell, 6 hours at $75/hr and your client could just buy a whole new Dell and start over.
That's not the Amityville Horror house, is it? The one where the kid murdered his family?