Re:I don't know if I fully agree with that
on
Fire Your IT Boss
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· Score: 1
I agree that while it is important to have the leader of your IT organization be code-saavy, that should not be an executive's forte. I have seen too many execs of a technical nature that can't grasp the bigger picture. "So it got done, right?" (VERY binary!) is the usual approach of a highly-technical CIO, even if "got it done" means demoralizing your staff, taking shortcuts, alienating your customers, etc. Understanding programming fundamentals/best practices is a key skill for an IT leader to have. But if the IT leader has no people skills, then he/she is done. Remember, IT is NOT a profit center- it is a cost center. Which means that "we IT folks" are spending the business's money. Better to have a diplomat in charge, if for no other reason that to guarantee a raise... Realize that the short-sighted opinion of most businesses is that IT costs need to be cut. You want an IT CIO to have enough IT and people skills to ensure good work AND to play the politics enough to guarantee budget.
As long as you speak Hindi, and are willing to relocate to Hyderabad, CS is the way to go. If you want a career that is less-offshoreable, go IT. Whatever you do, make sure you get enough business acumen to ensure that you are not easily disposed of via offshoring.
There once was a woman named Bright
Who's speed was much faster than light.
She left home one day,
in a relative way,
and came back the previous night...
A pink rabbit beating a large bass drum was just spotted in the vicinity of Mars. Communications with the Mars Probe are expected to resume momentarily...;)
Ok, I'll concede to the "victimlessness" of these crimes. However, I still stand by my statement that a criminal record, even one containing "victimless" crimes, is viewed by others as the willingness to break the law, and may result in life difficulties as previously mentioned.
There are no "victimless" crimes. That statement is just an accountability dodge. Also, embezzlement is a non-violent crime, as is misrepresenting corporate finances. Ask anyone who lost their savings to Enron or Global Crossing how "victimless" the crime was. Although they will probably agree to your non-violence point. Having a solid moral compass does not mean one is a blind follower.
What about things like drug convictions? Some employers refuse to hire anyone with *any* criminal record. Personally, I think that unless someone has proven themselves to be a complete psychopath - i.e. multiple murders, child rape, etc, they can usually be reformed. The brain isn't the same at age 21 as it is at age 30 or even age 25. Also, people do have the ability to least from their mistakes.
Illegal drugs are illegal, regardless of yours or any other's opinion of the laws governing controlled substances. Most employers are uncomfortable with people who decide which laws they will follow, and which ones they will not. This is particularly true in industries that have heavy government regulation or legal compliance e.g. financial institutions, pharmaceutical companies, security companies, and the medical field.
Bottom line- if you are willing to break the law, you are willing to break the law. This is your choice. However if you are caught, and end up with a criminal record that announces to the world that you are willing to break the law, any given company may not want to hire you. You may be denied a mortgage or loan. This is a company's choice. This is reality- it might not be fair, it might not be palatable, but it is the way things tend to go. This does not mean that life is over if you are arrested- your mileage may vary. But given the choice between hiring two equally-qualified candidates, one with a criminal record and one without, I'll take the "clean" candidate. So will most other people.
There will always be "exceptions"- the person in the wrong place at the wrong time. This is inevitable. But in the end it all comes down to personal choices and personal accountability- concepts too often overlooked nowadays.
I understand your point, but by the same token would you want a convicted burglar as a house-sitter or a convicted child molester babysitting your children? Trust, unfortunately, is like fine crystal- once broken, it will never be the same. It can be repaired, but the initial breakage will always be there as a reminder. It is unfortunate that you made a bad choice in your youth, and that the results of your choice appears in any background checks done, but you cannot expect to engender 100% trustworthiness with a criminal record.
People, while generally forgiving, always think twice about such things. Is this right? Probably not. It this reality? Definitely. I work at a financial institution, and they do a background check that is more thorough than a prostate exam. The slightest blemish on your record will deny employment. They are simply covering their asses in the event of another "Enron." (You mean you hired this person with a known criminal history, and now they embezzled/misled investors!!??)
If you really want to keep students from cheating, make more of the papers into oral presentations. That way, even if the student copies a paper verbatim, they will end up having to learn something as they will need to practice/rehearse/prepare for it.
How do we keep students from copying papers? Back in the "olden" days, a.k.a. pre-World Wide Web, your average student had to actually "copy" a paper manually. Word processors made it easier, but the World WIde Web really opened the door to wholesale plagiarism. Maybe we need a solution that doesn't infringe too much on IP rights, but doesn't make student work sacrosanct. Is having a copy of your paper in a database so that it can be used to help catch plagiarism really so bad? It isn't like this database of papers is going to be used to generate $$ because of the content of the papers. To me, it is sort of like TIVO-ing Major League Baseball- you can record it to watch the game later, but need explicit permission to "rebroadcast" it, meaning if you plan to make $$ from it, etc. I think its fair to do the same with student papers- keep a copy for "permissible" (used lightly- not in the legal sense) purposes of stopping plagiarism/cheating.
I understand the whole "IP" argument, that your work is yours alone, but I feel that it is being used in this case as a "technicality" argument by students who do not want this database to exist. Sort of like using the First Amendment argument to say/do something controversial.
I had a work PC years ago- a 486DX2- that had an odd issue. Every so often, it would make a *POP* sound, and the screen would go black. It then would refuse to start- no boot cycle, no post, nothing. The only way to get the machine up and running was to unplug it, turn it on, which appeared to clear some "capacitor", turn it off, plug it back in, and turned it on. It would then boot normally. I had to do this once every month or two for two years, and I have used this trick successfully on other PCs. Probably an engineer could explain it, but to me its magic.
The policy says "Don't inappropriately use the PC or face termination." The man played games- an inappropriate use of a "work" PC. He was terminated. Fair is fair. The policy didn't say "except on your lunch hour or when you need a break." If he didn't like the policy when he read it, he should have found work somewhere else that doesn't have such a policy. I can't stand people who know what the rules are, break them, and then wonder why they get punished. Is this policy draconian? Possibly. Is it fair to fire someone who violates this policy, draconian or not. Absolutely.
Now get back to work, and quit looking for a red five!
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I agree that while it is important to have the leader of your IT organization be code-saavy, that should not be an executive's forte. I have seen too many execs of a technical nature that can't grasp the bigger picture. "So it got done, right?" (VERY binary!) is the usual approach of a highly-technical CIO, even if "got it done" means demoralizing your staff, taking shortcuts, alienating your customers, etc. Understanding programming fundamentals/best practices is a key skill for an IT leader to have. But if the IT leader has no people skills, then he/she is done. Remember, IT is NOT a profit center- it is a cost center. Which means that "we IT folks" are spending the business's money. Better to have a diplomat in charge, if for no other reason that to guarantee a raise... Realize that the short-sighted opinion of most businesses is that IT costs need to be cut. You want an IT CIO to have enough IT and people skills to ensure good work AND to play the politics enough to guarantee budget.
No, but iTunes will soon have A Whole Lotta Love for Led Zeppelin... ;)
Coppola's data sleeps with the fishes...
AAARRRRRRRRRRRRGH! Forcin' 'im to use Windows be harsher than a keel haulin'...
This almost sounds like an MIT hack, like when they stole Caltech's cannon many years ago... http://hacks.mit.edu/
As long as you speak Hindi, and are willing to relocate to Hyderabad, CS is the way to go. If you want a career that is less-offshoreable, go IT. Whatever you do, make sure you get enough business acumen to ensure that you are not easily disposed of via offshoring.
Brought to you by P.T. Barnum, and the fine folks over at "Cold Water Fusion, Inc."...
I, for one, welcome our face-recognizing overlords...
There once was a woman named Bright Who's speed was much faster than light. She left home one day, in a relative way, and came back the previous night...
A pink rabbit beating a large bass drum was just spotted in the vicinity of Mars. Communications with the Mars Probe are expected to resume momentarily... ;)
Ok, I'll concede to the "victimlessness" of these crimes. However, I still stand by my statement that a criminal record, even one containing "victimless" crimes, is viewed by others as the willingness to break the law, and may result in life difficulties as previously mentioned.
There are no "victimless" crimes. That statement is just an accountability dodge. Also, embezzlement is a non-violent crime, as is misrepresenting corporate finances. Ask anyone who lost their savings to Enron or Global Crossing how "victimless" the crime was. Although they will probably agree to your non-violence point. Having a solid moral compass does not mean one is a blind follower.
What about things like drug convictions? Some employers refuse to hire anyone with *any* criminal record. Personally, I think that unless someone has proven themselves to be a complete psychopath - i.e. multiple murders, child rape, etc, they can usually be reformed. The brain isn't the same at age 21 as it is at age 30 or even age 25. Also, people do have the ability to least from their mistakes.
Illegal drugs are illegal, regardless of yours or any other's opinion of the laws governing controlled substances. Most employers are uncomfortable with people who decide which laws they will follow, and which ones they will not. This is particularly true in industries that have heavy government regulation or legal compliance e.g. financial institutions, pharmaceutical companies, security companies, and the medical field.
Bottom line- if you are willing to break the law, you are willing to break the law. This is your choice. However if you are caught, and end up with a criminal record that announces to the world that you are willing to break the law, any given company may not want to hire you. You may be denied a mortgage or loan. This is a company's choice. This is reality- it might not be fair, it might not be palatable, but it is the way things tend to go. This does not mean that life is over if you are arrested- your mileage may vary. But given the choice between hiring two equally-qualified candidates, one with a criminal record and one without, I'll take the "clean" candidate. So will most other people.
There will always be "exceptions"- the person in the wrong place at the wrong time. This is inevitable. But in the end it all comes down to personal choices and personal accountability- concepts too often overlooked nowadays.
I understand your point, but by the same token would you want a convicted burglar as a house-sitter or a convicted child molester babysitting your children? Trust, unfortunately, is like fine crystal- once broken, it will never be the same. It can be repaired, but the initial breakage will always be there as a reminder. It is unfortunate that you made a bad choice in your youth, and that the results of your choice appears in any background checks done, but you cannot expect to engender 100% trustworthiness with a criminal record. People, while generally forgiving, always think twice about such things. Is this right? Probably not. It this reality? Definitely. I work at a financial institution, and they do a background check that is more thorough than a prostate exam. The slightest blemish on your record will deny employment. They are simply covering their asses in the event of another "Enron." (You mean you hired this person with a known criminal history, and now they embezzled/misled investors!!??)
So, does this mean your hardware could have "bugs" in addition to your software?
If you really want to keep students from cheating, make more of the papers into oral presentations. That way, even if the student copies a paper verbatim, they will end up having to learn something as they will need to practice/rehearse/prepare for it.
How do we keep students from copying papers? Back in the "olden" days, a.k.a. pre-World Wide Web, your average student had to actually "copy" a paper manually. Word processors made it easier, but the World WIde Web really opened the door to wholesale plagiarism. Maybe we need a solution that doesn't infringe too much on IP rights, but doesn't make student work sacrosanct. Is having a copy of your paper in a database so that it can be used to help catch plagiarism really so bad? It isn't like this database of papers is going to be used to generate $$ because of the content of the papers. To me, it is sort of like TIVO-ing Major League Baseball- you can record it to watch the game later, but need explicit permission to "rebroadcast" it, meaning if you plan to make $$ from it, etc. I think its fair to do the same with student papers- keep a copy for "permissible" (used lightly- not in the legal sense) purposes of stopping plagiarism/cheating. I understand the whole "IP" argument, that your work is yours alone, but I feel that it is being used in this case as a "technicality" argument by students who do not want this database to exist. Sort of like using the First Amendment argument to say/do something controversial.
Both Mac fans are despondent over the news of the market share slippage...
I had a work PC years ago- a 486DX2- that had an odd issue. Every so often, it would make a *POP* sound, and the screen would go black. It then would refuse to start- no boot cycle, no post, nothing. The only way to get the machine up and running was to unplug it, turn it on, which appeared to clear some "capacitor", turn it off, plug it back in, and turned it on. It would then boot normally. I had to do this once every month or two for two years, and I have used this trick successfully on other PCs. Probably an engineer could explain it, but to me its magic.
Um, I think your problem was caused by, um solar flares... Do you have any magnets handy?
I've always said that outsourcing to India was "da bomb"...
Now I can unload my hoards of Windows ME group licenses...
The policy says "Don't inappropriately use the PC or face termination." The man played games- an inappropriate use of a "work" PC. He was terminated. Fair is fair. The policy didn't say "except on your lunch hour or when you need a break." If he didn't like the policy when he read it, he should have found work somewhere else that doesn't have such a policy. I can't stand people who know what the rules are, break them, and then wonder why they get punished. Is this policy draconian? Possibly. Is it fair to fire someone who violates this policy, draconian or not. Absolutely. Now get back to work, and quit looking for a red five!
"What was your user name again?"
Always struck me as reminiscent of Pee Wee Herman's big embarrassment. "Yeah, the guy is a regular 'Palm Pilot'..." Love the product though!