A lot of problems result from the C and C-like languages' inherent faultiness. The language is a great way of writing "portable assembly language", but makes for sloppy code a lot of the time, even from relatively experienced programmers. It's mainly due to the "New Jersey" approach to development.
C++ and C are very popular and widely used, and will probably never fade completely as they are too entrenched, however, there are a lot of languages these days with compilers which can produce code as tight and fast as C/C++, but without the mess. This is one example, there are many others.
Thanks for that:) Seriously, very good analysis - I had a good laugh at the murderer/gun freak parts:)
Your advice is pretty good, though. I actually hadn't even considered the lack of prejudice aspect, over here it's quite standard to put your personal details at the top of your CV (although perhaps it shouldn't be). As for the firearms cert / equine behaviour cert, the reason I added those is simple, something that my MCSE / A+ instructor told me way back in 1998, when I was fresh out of high school: Put as much as possible on your CV. Any certifications or qualifications that you get: it's better to have too much paper on your CV than too little. I guess that advice has just stuck with me through the years.
Thanks again for the analysis, I do appreciate the input.
Now, in many companies, your resume will just get thrown out because you don't match some HR monkey's checklist
This is a bit frightening. I haven't been officially employeed (only doing contract work) for a few years now. I would really hate to see what most HR companies make of my resume.
Would I even qualify for an H1B, if I (theoretically) applied to go to the US?
It's widely known that in the dot-com era (mainly the late 90s) technology workers were well paid, and were snapped up pretty fast by startups and big companies alike, often with little more than certification or degree.
What kind of CV (resume) would be acceptable in today's market? Would someone like me, for example, stand any chance of getting a job in the US these days?
I've found that there are a few paths you can take in regard to part-time work that are relatively easy but where the market for the neccessary skills isn't saturated:
1. MRTG and monitoring. Set up MRTG and Netsaint on a Linux box, and charge for installation and tailoring. Think I'm kidding? I bought my first 4x4 almost completely with the money I made setting these things up - companies will be interested in them, if my experience is anything to go by. You'd be surprised!
2. Linux consulting. A lot of companies are running Windows servers that could easily be converted to boxes running Linux/Samba, FTP servers, and so on.
I'm not sure if it's still possible, but the year after I graduated from high school, I started lecturing (an A+ course) at a computer school (about a week after getting my A+). I basically haven't stopped working since then, and even completed a college degree part-time (started three years after I left high school).
You say you're interested in Cisco products, an excellent thing to do while you're still on the hunt for a job would be to get a couple of Cisco certs. I did a couple while I was working, although not the "top" Cisco certification, the CCIE... but if you are interested in Cisco products or networking in general, Cisco certs could be very valuable to you.
I'm not sure how much the market has changed since the late 90s, but it might still be worth it trying to find per-hour work as an instructor in a cert that you have completed...
Still, the parent poster's advice is excellent and makes a lot of sense. There are several routes, but the most important thing is just to rack up as much valuable experience and qualifications as you can.
Move to the Free State. about 200,000 libertarian Slashdotters should be able to make a big impact there.
Their goal is to create a Free State out of New Hampshire, that will combine the personal freedom of Holland with the economic freedom of Hong Kong. They are already attempting to change gun laws to allow concealed weapon carrying without a license. Raw milk sales are not regulated. Congresspeople are part-timers and get paid $100 a year. The state government is small and the crime rate is low. If the Free State takes off, the Free State could act as an example to the rest of the US and there would probably be a lot of calling for overturning laws like the one mentioned in this article.
I'm sure that all the programmers who worked 20 hours a day to fix many of the problems, and the governments worldwide who allocated billions to fund plans to fix these problems would be thrilled to hear you say that Y2K "just wasn't that big a deal".
Yes, the problems were blown out of proportion by some people (Gary North, for example), but ignoring the real issues that did exist at the time is just as stupid. I don't think it would have been apocalyptic if these issues weren't addressed as they were, but it would certainly be a huge headache, especially in the financial and business sectors. The amount of private contracts that I and a lot of people that I know got for converting legacy DOS apps to Windows or Linux (the two most common) would probably surprise you. A lot of them didn't even have the source code, so complete re-writes were neccessary.
The Free State Project is an attempt by a group of libertarians to move 20,000 people to the state of New Hampshire with the intention of reducing the size, complexity, and involvement of the government in everyday affairs.
I'm not sure about the whole thing. I agree with it in principle, but it seems a bit underhanded to me to attempt to manipulate the political system like this.
It's a generally held belief that since September 11th the government has been clamping down in a way that has made a lot of people uncomfortable, but surely there must be another way of dealing with the issues raised. If these 20,000 people, as well as half the people on/. and some of their relatives and friends wrote their congresspeople, wouldn't the effect be greater, and have greater scope?
I guess Kevin Warwick will enjoy the prospect of the Personal Area Network as described above, though. Now if only we could find a way to embed these devices directly into the skin and/or find a way to connect the input jacks directly into our brains...
(For those who don't know, Kevin Warwick is Professor of Cybernetics at Reading University, and performed an experiment on himself by implanting a tracking device into his arm, which allowed computers to determine which room he was in, and make judgements based on his position).
RMS addresses this issue in his speech given at Westminster University, entitled "The Danger of Software Patents". His opening line?
"You've probably heard of me in connection with free software, that's free as in freedom, it doesn't mean zero price..."
If RMS has to clarify this in a speech he's giving about something not directly related to the topic at hand, it's reasonable to assume that at least a few people were confused about the term. However, ESR and the Open Source crowd could easily develop similar problems if Microsoft targeted bringing their philosophy into disrepute by playing on the words "Open" and "source", for example, they might say "Open Source means that the source is open, that you can view it - you can do this just as easily with Microsoft's Shared Source license"...in the end, it's Microsoft who is spreading the Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt, and they will try and discredit their opposition in any way possible - no matter who that opposition is.
Well, the poster was from New Zealand, and it's certainly possible that it's a new thing there, considering the differences in the level of technological infrastructure in Europe and New Zealand...
If I haven't misunderstood anything, the "High Speed" in the GSM network means approximately 28.8 kbps transfer rates (and with GPRS it's 56 kbps).
Indeed - I remember back in the late 90s, cellular modems based on GSM peaked at around 14.4 kbps! The only benefit, I guess, was being able to (theoretically) connect from any place that had cellular network coverage, useful in some areas where it wasn't possible to use other wireless connections or landlines.
I think what he meant was using a cellular modem combined with wireless networks to connect your laptop to the internet...
Although, this isn't an entirely new concept, in fact, it's quite old... I remember back in the late 90s, people using cellular modems with laptops... of course, since the connection speed was typically 9.6 or 14.4 kbps, it didn't really catch on. I guess in this case the grandparent poster was talking about using high-speed networks to connect your laptop to the internet, although I agree that it's unclear how that's really thinking outside the box... seems like a logical next step to me.
I don't know about you guys, but I wouldn't mind if cell-phones had built-in wifi support. With wifi hotspots becoming more prevalent these days, they would seem a good alternative to lugging around a laptop, and (somewhat) cheaper than buying a PDA.
Any thoughts?
As far as internet telephony goes (Voice over IP) it might be a good idea, but as for using your cellphone instead of a laptop... I'm not sure. Most cellphones still have the way-too-small keypad and limited screen space that make them inconvenient for doing tasks that are usually done on PCs or laptops. The question is, if voice over IP over WiFi does become commonplace, what will the traditional phone companies make of it all? I know that over here, it is (theoretically) illegal for anyone but the current telephone monopoly to install wireless telephony devices. I guess in places where telephonic competition is the norm, such as the US, it might be somewhat different...
The choice of UMTS sets Cingular apart from Verizon, which is further along in using a system known as EV-DO (Evolution-Data Optimized). UMTS is based on GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) technology that supports data rates of up to 384 kilobits per second, Cingular said. An enhanced version called High Speed Downlink Packet Access would offer peak data rates of 14.4mbps. GSM is well-established in Europe but less widely used in the United States.
Hopefully this will mean that it will be easier to travel from a cell phone usability point of view... on the other hand, CDMA is superior to GSM, so is this a case of comprising technical superiority for the sake of compatibility?
The only way to really learn Linux is to get something into your head that you want to do, and then start taking a step by step approach to accomplishing it. For example, set yourself the goal of setting up a mail server, for example, and then start researching what steps need to be taken. Break the task down into sub-sections: Installing the operating system, securing the distribution of your choice, installing the neccessary packages, etc.
I think that learning Linux seems a huge task to you at the moment not because it's beyond you, but because you have no direction in terms of what you want to do with Linux. I believe that almost everyone has the capability of running Linux successfully, but I don't think that it's suitable for all purposes, yet.
I agree that books like this will help bring some people to Linux, but unless they actually have something in mind that they want to use Linux for, they won't get past the "installed Linux and messed around with KDE/Gnome a bit" stage.
I wonder why more people don't realize this, the RIAA are actually balancing on the edge of a knife with this one: They want to stop copyright infringement, but they don't want to draw too much attention to the copyright infringement via P2P issue, because they realize that if too many people start paying attention to it, the masses will realize what the law actually says regarding this.
Downloading isn't the key issue, uploading is. Copyright infringement is traditionally defined by unauthorized distribution - so they really only have the right to go after those who are illegally distributing their content. This means the uploaders. Depending on your P2P client, it is possible to prevent uploading, or at least stop uploading by removing the file from the P2P system as soon as it's downloaded - of course, in some cases this will render individual P2P networks unusable if too many people do it, but some, like Emule/Edonkey, have the ability to upload while downloading... so unless they catch the culprits very quickly, removing the files from the shared directory and thus preventing further uploading will take all of a few minutes, and no charges can (theoretically) be pressed.
Slashdot Mirror
Here is the English version of the above link.
A lot of problems result from the C and C-like languages' inherent faultiness. The language is a great way of writing "portable assembly language", but makes for sloppy code a lot of the time, even from relatively experienced programmers. It's mainly due to the "New Jersey" approach to development.
C++ and C are very popular and widely used, and will probably never fade completely as they are too entrenched, however, there are a lot of languages these days with compilers which can produce code as tight and fast as C/C++, but without the mess. This is one example, there are many others.
Thanks for that :) Seriously, very good analysis - I had a good laugh at the murderer/gun freak parts :)
Your advice is pretty good, though. I actually hadn't even considered the lack of prejudice aspect, over here it's quite standard to put your personal details at the top of your CV (although perhaps it shouldn't be). As for the firearms cert / equine behaviour cert, the reason I added those is simple, something that my MCSE / A+ instructor told me way back in 1998, when I was fresh out of high school: Put as much as possible on your CV. Any certifications or qualifications that you get: it's better to have too much paper on your CV than too little. I guess that advice has just stuck with me through the years.
Thanks again for the analysis, I do appreciate the input.
Now, in many companies, your resume will just get thrown out because you don't match some HR monkey's checklist
This is a bit frightening. I haven't been officially employeed (only doing contract work) for a few years now. I would really hate to see what most HR companies make of my resume.
Would I even qualify for an H1B, if I (theoretically) applied to go to the US?
It's widely known that in the dot-com era (mainly the late 90s) technology workers were well paid, and were snapped up pretty fast by startups and big companies alike, often with little more than certification or degree.
What kind of CV (resume) would be acceptable in today's market? Would someone like me, for example, stand any chance of getting a job in the US these days?
1. MRTG and monitoring. Set up MRTG and Netsaint on a Linux box, and charge for installation and tailoring. Think I'm kidding? I bought my first 4x4 almost completely with the money I made setting these things up - companies will be interested in them, if my experience is anything to go by. You'd be surprised!
2. Linux consulting. A lot of companies are running Windows servers that could easily be converted to boxes running Linux/Samba, FTP servers, and so on.
I'm not sure if it's still possible, but the year after I graduated from high school, I started lecturing (an A+ course) at a computer school (about a week after getting my A+). I basically haven't stopped working since then, and even completed a college degree part-time (started three years after I left high school).
You say you're interested in Cisco products, an excellent thing to do while you're still on the hunt for a job would be to get a couple of Cisco certs. I did a couple while I was working, although not the "top" Cisco certification, the CCIE... but if you are interested in Cisco products or networking in general, Cisco certs could be very valuable to you.
I'm not sure how much the market has changed since the late 90s, but it might still be worth it trying to find per-hour work as an instructor in a cert that you have completed...
Still, the parent poster's advice is excellent and makes a lot of sense. There are several routes, but the most important thing is just to rack up as much valuable experience and qualifications as you can.
Move to the Free State. about 200,000 libertarian Slashdotters should be able to make a big impact there.
Their goal is to create a Free State out of New Hampshire, that will combine the personal freedom of Holland with the economic freedom of Hong Kong. They are already attempting to change gun laws to allow concealed weapon carrying without a license. Raw milk sales are not regulated. Congresspeople are part-timers and get paid $100 a year. The state government is small and the crime rate is low. If the Free State takes off, the Free State could act as an example to the rest of the US and there would probably be a lot of calling for overturning laws like the one mentioned in this article.
I'm sure that all the programmers who worked 20 hours a day to fix many of the problems, and the governments worldwide who allocated billions to fund plans to fix these problems would be thrilled to hear you say that Y2K "just wasn't that big a deal".
Yes, the problems were blown out of proportion by some people (Gary North, for example), but ignoring the real issues that did exist at the time is just as stupid. I don't think it would have been apocalyptic if these issues weren't addressed as they were, but it would certainly be a huge headache, especially in the financial and business sectors. The amount of private contracts that I and a lot of people that I know got for converting legacy DOS apps to Windows or Linux (the two most common) would probably surprise you. A lot of them didn't even have the source code, so complete re-writes were neccessary.
The Free State Project is an attempt by a group of libertarians to move 20,000 people to the state of New Hampshire with the intention of reducing the size, complexity, and involvement of the government in everyday affairs.
I'm not sure about the whole thing. I agree with it in principle, but it seems a bit underhanded to me to attempt to manipulate the political system like this.
It's a generally held belief that since September 11th the government has been clamping down in a way that has made a lot of people uncomfortable, but surely there must be another way of dealing with the issues raised. If these 20,000 people, as well as half the people on /. and some of their relatives and friends wrote their congresspeople, wouldn't the effect be greater, and have greater scope?
I guess Kevin Warwick will enjoy the prospect of the Personal Area Network as described above, though. Now if only we could find a way to embed these devices directly into the skin and/or find a way to connect the input jacks directly into our brains...
(For those who don't know, Kevin Warwick is Professor of Cybernetics at Reading University, and performed an experiment on himself by implanting a tracking device into his arm, which allowed computers to determine which room he was in, and make judgements based on his position).
RMS addresses this issue in his speech given at Westminster University, entitled "The Danger of Software Patents". His opening line?
"You've probably heard of me in connection with free software, that's free as in freedom, it doesn't mean zero price..."
If RMS has to clarify this in a speech he's giving about something not directly related to the topic at hand, it's reasonable to assume that at least a few people were confused about the term. However, ESR and the Open Source crowd could easily develop similar problems if Microsoft targeted bringing their philosophy into disrepute by playing on the words "Open" and "source", for example, they might say "Open Source means that the source is open, that you can view it - you can do this just as easily with Microsoft's Shared Source license"...in the end, it's Microsoft who is spreading the Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt, and they will try and discredit their opposition in any way possible - no matter who that opposition is.
Well, the poster was from New Zealand, and it's certainly possible that it's a new thing there, considering the differences in the level of technological infrastructure in Europe and New Zealand...
Emphasis on the word "slow", right?
If I haven't misunderstood anything, the "High Speed" in the GSM network means approximately 28.8 kbps transfer rates (and with GPRS it's 56 kbps).
Indeed - I remember back in the late 90s, cellular modems based on GSM peaked at around 14.4 kbps! The only benefit, I guess, was being able to (theoretically) connect from any place that had cellular network coverage, useful in some areas where it wasn't possible to use other wireless connections or landlines.
I think what he meant was using a cellular modem combined with wireless networks to connect your laptop to the internet...
Although, this isn't an entirely new concept, in fact, it's quite old... I remember back in the late 90s, people using cellular modems with laptops... of course, since the connection speed was typically 9.6 or 14.4 kbps, it didn't really catch on. I guess in this case the grandparent poster was talking about using high-speed networks to connect your laptop to the internet, although I agree that it's unclear how that's really thinking outside the box... seems like a logical next step to me.
I don't know about you guys, but I wouldn't mind if cell-phones had built-in wifi support. With wifi hotspots becoming more prevalent these days, they would seem a good alternative to lugging around a laptop, and (somewhat) cheaper than buying a PDA.
Any thoughts?
As far as internet telephony goes (Voice over IP) it might be a good idea, but as for using your cellphone instead of a laptop... I'm not sure. Most cellphones still have the way-too-small keypad and limited screen space that make them inconvenient for doing tasks that are usually done on PCs or laptops. The question is, if voice over IP over WiFi does become commonplace, what will the traditional phone companies make of it all? I know that over here, it is (theoretically) illegal for anyone but the current telephone monopoly to install wireless telephony devices. I guess in places where telephonic competition is the norm, such as the US, it might be somewhat different...
The choice of UMTS sets Cingular apart from Verizon, which is further along in using a system known as EV-DO (Evolution-Data Optimized). UMTS is based on GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) technology that supports data rates of up to 384 kilobits per second, Cingular said. An enhanced version called High Speed Downlink Packet Access would offer peak data rates of 14.4mbps. GSM is well-established in Europe but less widely used in the United States.
Hopefully this will mean that it will be easier to travel from a cell phone usability point of view... on the other hand, CDMA is superior to GSM, so is this a case of comprising technical superiority for the sake of compatibility?
The only way to really learn Linux is to get something into your head that you want to do, and then start taking a step by step approach to accomplishing it. For example, set yourself the goal of setting up a mail server, for example, and then start researching what steps need to be taken. Break the task down into sub-sections: Installing the operating system, securing the distribution of your choice, installing the neccessary packages, etc.
I think that learning Linux seems a huge task to you at the moment not because it's beyond you, but because you have no direction in terms of what you want to do with Linux. I believe that almost everyone has the capability of running Linux successfully, but I don't think that it's suitable for all purposes, yet.
I agree that books like this will help bring some people to Linux, but unless they actually have something in mind that they want to use Linux for, they won't get past the "installed Linux and messed around with KDE/Gnome a bit" stage.
I wonder why more people don't realize this, the RIAA are actually balancing on the edge of a knife with this one: They want to stop copyright infringement, but they don't want to draw too much attention to the copyright infringement via P2P issue, because they realize that if too many people start paying attention to it, the masses will realize what the law actually says regarding this.
Downloading isn't the key issue, uploading is. Copyright infringement is traditionally defined by unauthorized distribution - so they really only have the right to go after those who are illegally distributing their content. This means the uploaders. Depending on your P2P client, it is possible to prevent uploading, or at least stop uploading by removing the file from the P2P system as soon as it's downloaded - of course, in some cases this will render individual P2P networks unusable if too many people do it, but some, like Emule/Edonkey, have the ability to upload while downloading... so unless they catch the culprits very quickly, removing the files from the shared directory and thus preventing further uploading will take all of a few minutes, and no charges can (theoretically) be pressed.