Wait, so Sony contracts with a company to put rootkits on its cd's. Then when Sony gets caught in a public relations backlash, they blame the company that supplied the rootkit? That is like a drug user blaming his drug dealer for selling him the drugs the cops caught him with. Corporate responsibility just died.
That is stupid, considering that all past, present and future XBox 360's have a 3 year warranty on them now. Should have contacted Microsoft to get them to send you a new one for free.
I have a 2.7 GPA in computer science, heading into my final year. I have been working steadily the entire time, though. I honestly couldn't care less about GPA. As I have learned, it is only what you know and what you can do that counts. I have seen High School dropouts get some nice jobs, based on the fact that they are very good at programming or networking. I have seen college graduates start out on the help desk, because they honestly didn't know anything outside of what the book told them. As others have said, in the absence of any skills or work experience, a high GPA might make the difference but only on that first job. After that, it is all about what you know.
There are two problems with the programming market today. Number one is management. Any sort of IT work, including programming is immediately considered an expense, to which it must be managed. Management will usually put some very strict time frames on projects, with no breathing room. Next, you probably will have difficulty getting any of your questions answered, as most projects have shifting goals. Management will also be expecting you to immediately know what you need to do and how to do, as to save time and money. You probably envision it as a learning adventure, where you will be able to pick up things as you go. Management isn't going to be interested in hiring someone who can "come up to speed." They are going to want someone who hits the ground running. Maybe you know everything you need to, maybe you don't, I don't know. All I can tell you, is that most of the time, "I can learn" is not a valid response.
Number two is co-workers. Most of the IT professionals out there are very competent nice individuals. However it is the bad apples that ruin the industry. You basically have two types. The guy who knows his stuff backwards and forwards, but doesn't have the time or patience to even talk to anyone who doesn't know as much as himself. He puts himself above the "peons" and will regard everything you do and say as prime examples of how stupid you really are. The other bad apple is the employee who may or may not know what he is doing, but uses a combination of buzz words and posturing to give his bosses the impression that he is a great employee. These are the guys who will scrutinize everything you do for flaws and wait until the next team meeting to elaborate on how "Jim" is an awful programmer. Not to mention that as a contractor, the company will have someone on their staff review your code. Guess how many times they will find nothing wrong with it?
Of course, your experience may vary. On the whole, I have found the industry rife with very aggressive people. I understand most career fields have their stresses, but I believe the IT has more than its fair share. From bosses who are going to mistrust you from day one, to co-workers who are usually more interested in getting you labeled as a failure than in getting work done; the IT industry is just in a very poor shape. Did you see the post about old people drooling on keyboards? That is the maturity/attitude that most of your co-workers will have.
Perhaps you are envisioning a situation where fellow IT professionals work in a spirit of cooperation to help each other learn and become better through the mutual sharing of knowledge. Well, that just isn't going to happen. So unless you are very confident in your abilities, don't mind putting up with the daily drama and are willing to fight back against false allegations, I would pick something more relaxing and fun. Teaching was thrown out; and I think that would be a good choice. Or if you really want to expand your programming prowess, find a small open source project. Most of the time, the people working on that project are more than willing to help; you won't find much in-fighting there.
I think the writer of that article is arguing the wrong point. He wants to turn CS programs into IT programs; instead he should just be advocating IT. I would have to agree with him. I am a junior in CS. I picked CS because that is the top of the heap when studying computers. I like the things I have learned. A little programming, a little networking, some electives, a good bit of math etc. CS and IT address two separate problems, and should always be kept separate.
Now, I know that after I get out I will eventually learn enough to leap over the IT guys. But I have to admit, I don't see how a CS graduate can match up with an IT graduate. Where as I learn theory and have been taught to teach myself, the IT graduate has learned to setup various servers, to program in various languages, and maybe even a good bit about Cisco routers. Most positions want someone who can walk in day one and start working, not someone who takes a week to get caught up.
You can argue the esoteric virtues of CS all day long. However, there are plenty of days I wonder if I had been better off in IT. Yes, CS is a grander/nobler enterprise, but academia doesn't translate to a paying job. No, a person shouldn't follow the money but you certainly want to make sure that you are going to make a livable wage. You can love many things in life, but none of them will pay the bills. You should never be looking to get rich, but certainly enough to pay rent.
I agree that an understanding of math is useful, but it is certainly not essential to most of the programming/networking out there. True, it make make the program more efficient. However, it just doesn't matter to most people if that program executes nth nanoseconds faster or if it traverses the array nth nanoseconds faster. I know many successful programmers, none of whom use mathematical principles to program. Your average, everday, 9-5, corporate IT person only needs to know how to fix the problem, quickly and somewhat efficient. You are going to be judged in the marketplace by what you can do, not what you know.
I am sticking with CS for now, because I personally feel that in the long run it will make me a better programmer. Most of the IT stuff I can pick up on my own, but I don't believe I can pick up CS stuff on my own. That doesn't make CS inherently better and I am not sure I would steer someone toward a CS degree. Even after I graduate, I still have to go back and learn all the stuff the IT guys learned. IT teaches you enough to get a good paying, just not a great paying job. CS will get you the great paying job, but before that, you have to go back and learn all the IT stuff.
I have noticed a good many colleges offering "web development." It is more of a vocational program. If you take into account all the possible web technologies, such as Flash, Javascript, XHTML, PHP, databases, web server administration, graphic imaging, etc., it can take four years.
I agree with you. I have run into similar issues when working with vendors. We buy services from other groups. On occassion, I have to get with some tech at another company on some technical stuff. Usually nothing more than a few questions. You wouldn't imagine the sort of comments I get. Fighting back is usually hopeless, because the guy you are talking to has been with his company for 10 years, and vacations with his boss' family each year. So even if you do complain to your boss, who in turns talks to the vendor, what is going to get passed back down the chain is that you don't know anything. I have seen it happen multiple times.
Jerks make a point to make sure everyone knows when they are correct. So management only remembers the good things they do. Most other techs just do their jobs, and don't make a big deal when they fix the server. Of course, management doesn't remember the last time that tech did anything useful. My belief is that life is all a con. Those that play the con game well, do very well for themselves. They con people into thinking they know things that they don't. The rest of us just live our lives like normal people. Techs who treat people like crap are usually able to con management into thinking they are the only ones who know anything.
I completely agree with you. As an IT professional myself, I have an insider view of the IT industry. You have the new guys, who are usually easy to get along with, and eager to learn even if they know absolutely nothing. You have also have the experienced guys who are not masters but not beginners. Then you have the "gurus" who believe they know everything, whether they do or don't. The gurus are agitated at every question you ask them.
It has been years since I was an ignorant newbie. I still ask questions, but they are usually much more informed and complex than the questions I would have asked 8 years ago. They may be "stupid" to an industry veteran, but I don't view them as ridiculous (No one goes through life without asking questions). Yet I still get the "I can't be bothered with your ignorance" attitude. Rather than show some self control and just give you a simple yes or no, too many professionals feel free to just spout out any thing that comes to mind. It is these guys who management usually get so pissed off at for their attitudes, and wind up firing most of the IT staff in retaliation.
There is this myth, this expectation, that only the good IT guys act like jerks. I think a lot of people act this way, because they believe they are expected to act this way. I have also seen guys with this attitude get ahead in business, because management may be oblivious to their lack of talent.
I think the Supreme Court has already established that you have no right to privacy in a public place. The library seems like a public place. If you want privacy, stay at home.
I agree, the guy was a jerk. IF he had pulled out a weapn and started attacking people, everyone would be questioning how a guy with no ID got into the library. Rules are there for everyone. Now, if he had had his ID, then everything would have been cool, regardless of race. I would find it highly suspicious if someone refused to show ID and then refused to leave, regardless of race.
I also agree the police office went crazy. I have two brother-in-laws who are cops. I know a thing or two about what you should and should not do. There are many ways to exert your influence without physicallity.
Money isn't the issue. As a CS student myself, the ability to work on a large open source project is thrilling. Approach it from the standpoint of someone who loves programming and can't wait to expand their skills. That is the alure of open source projects for most. However, at some point the person becomes proficient enough to find gainful employment. At which time, they may continue on in smaller capacity or just abandon it. Happens all the time.
Open Source is such a shaky model for developing software. You are at the whim of some programmer who may decide to walk away in the middle of a project, and you can't do anything about it. Open Source relies on a volunteer work force. Let's just hope it continues to work, because that is all we can do.
Not sure what you are replying to. The parent was asking what is the motivation for developing open source software that you won't get paid for. What you describes, seems more like private funding by a business to a local university. Maybe some of your code goes public, but I bet most of it belongs to the patron business and the university has the rights to use the code in teaching and research. I don't think every open source project is a university level research project and therefore not everyone who does open source actually gets paid for it.
We don't know everything, so we can't legitimately say that this breaks any rule. It would break our understanding of the universe. But how much did we really know to begin with? Science has become so screwed up lately. Scientists are suppossed to keep an open mind and only acknowledge that which is proven true. Scientists have jumped into world of speculation.
We speculate that you can't go faster than light. We speculate that you can't go back in time. The only way to prove that something can't be done is to do every possible thing to make it happen, and fail. Even at that point, you can only state that based on the knowledge we have now, we can't travel back in time. If you want to disprove something, you have to approach it from the standpoint of "What is it going to take to make this work?" If a scientist can do that and fail, then he will have disproved something. No, it is just easier for someone to sit at a desk and dismiss things offhanded using theory.
You probably just didn't give it enough time. B5 had this whole "Blade Runner" vibe going. The future is a dark, often dangerous place. Yet, it was also an exciting, technologicaly advanced place. The appeal for me was that the future was presented in a more realistic approach. The station was often dark, even in open, friendly places. It just had this "edge" to it. This wasn't a nice clean Star Trek set. There was a seedy underbelly with lurkers and areas of the station pretty much abandoned. But at the heart of it all were humans, still being humans. Curious, courageous, loving, brutal, sadistic and often times wise. The aliens looked like aliens. You had compelling species and interstellar diplomacy. You had lots of political intrigue. An emperor falling in love with the wrong woman could send shockwaves throughout the galaxy. You never really get this "grand scale" with other sci-fi.
B5 just seemed to play on a grander stage. Other sci-fi is concerned with a small group, and the "powers they be" are often abstracted. How much do we know about the United Federation of Planets anyway? What are the member worlds? Who are their representatives? What are their meetings like? Do you often time have conflicts among member worlds? What about Starfleet Academy? Who runs it? How did they get that job? What are their motives? This were all questions that B5 jumped right into.
I was not advocating formal education. In any job, no matter where you get it from, you need education. When I say education, I mean you need to learn new things. As you worked your way up through company, you clearly learned new things along the way. You have to educate yourself along the way. True you can work your way up through the company, as you educate yourself along the way. Or you can go to college and get a jump start on others. Or you can just grab a whole bunch of books and teach yourself. I think education, either from college or on your own is much better than expecting to learn on the job. Learning on the job can be slow as you have to convince people to let you try something before you can learn how to do it.
The only way to get a head-start in any profession is to get an education. Some people get their education in the classroom, others get it by reading. If you are wanting to learn on the job, I would advise against it. Working your way up from a low level phone support job to what you really want to be doing is difficult and a long process, and most of the time you will be overlooked. So you need to ask yourself if you can be disciplined enough to read and learn on your own time. If so, then head down to the local book store or library, load up on some books and start spending every extra moment studying. In a few months you might be know enough to get an entry level position. You will have to be quick on your toes to learn very fast. You will be expected to know what the other employees, who may have years of experience or education, know. If you can learn quickly, you might be able to scratch your way into a permit position.
If you aren't that disciplined, then you should really look into a formal educational. Even a few semesters or courses at the local college will give you valuable information. Also, when studying on your own, your studies can be come scattered. A little of this and a little of that but never enough of anything to be really useful. A college curriculum can structure courses so that your studies are more cohesive in what you learn.
I know lots of young people who like computers, but they rarely understand the work involved. The knowledge you need obtain in order to get to a livable wage is quite daunting. Computers isn't some fun profession where you spend all day restarting computers for people. Quite often the issues are vast and complex. IT is just like any other industry, you must be willing to give it your all. No matter which option your choose, you must constantly be studying and learning new technologies.
Sarcasm aside, someone has to create an "out of the box" Linux solution for the enterprise. I want to see a complete Linux solution that includes a mail server, a webserver, a data server and easy integration into desktop installs. All easily installable. Don't get me wrong, I am a Linux Advocate, and I use it in my daily job. But there is no such thing as the the "easy way" with Linux. I understand the desire for Linux Admins to show off their exepertise by manipulating an overly complex system. But being difficult just for the sake of being difficult is ridiculous. That is like saying that I would rather go back to the days when you had to do complex maintenance on your car for every 5 hours you drive it.
And say what you will about MS being "dumbed downed" but there are some days when I would whether have an easy system to monitor than a difficult one. (It's hard to get those Perl Scripts written by 5pm when the mail server keeps throwing up errors.)
Okay, hydrogen may not have been the cause of the fire, but it certainly accelerated the fire. It doesn't matter to me what causes the fire. If fire gets anyone near the hydrogen you have the potential for a big explosion and some very rapid burning. Same difference.
I like this question, because I went down the same path. When you are fresh to IT, you wonder what is going to help you get ahead. Certifications? Degrees? Work experience?
I think you need to realize that degrees and certifications are only there to validate what you know. They are really only useful for beginners. After you have been in the field for a few years, it all comes down to what you know. A rookie right out of college with CS degree will lose out on jobs to guys with no degrees, but 3 to 5 years of working knowledge in the skills that the job requires.
What I am trying to say, is that it is what you know that counts ultimately. Yeah, you will need a degree if you ever hope to move into a nice desk job one day. In the mean time, just worry about learning. I finally figured out that if I just list what I know on my resume, instead of degrees, certifications and work experience, I got much better responses. If you don't know all that much then learn. A certification just gives you an incentive to learn; a goal to reach for. Try putting your SKILLS section at the top of your resume and put a sentence for each skill you know. Such as: I know how to program in Python using (various Python terms). If you can fill up at least half a page with that, then you will be ahead of most other people.
I don't think the blogger understands what a datacenter is for. True, processors are turning up in all sorts of gadgets. By the are usually RISC processors designed for a very specific use. But even processors, don't store data. That is what a recordable media like harddrives or memory sticks are for.
A datacenter is for collecting large amounts of data, running operations on that data and providing that data to others. For instance, there is no way that a small handheld device at the loading docks can store the entire inventory for the company over the past 10 years. It can maybe keep a record of the last 30 days, maybe. And even if it were, how would that device let the main office, over 200 miles away know that the cargo has arrived at the docks? How would this CEO be able to find out how many widgets arrive annualy during the month of October and get the average price on them? The answer is that he wouldn't get it from a small handheld device.
This reminds me of when Scotty said "Hello computer" to the mouse. This guy clearly doesn't understand IT. I sure hope they have a good IT department to keep this guy from sinking the company.
How completely selfish and self centered can you be? This man may have killed another human being and you are worried about some file system? Holy crap, do you have no moral compass.
That entire problem with Star Trek has and will continue to be creativity. TOS was very original. TNG was a comlete 180 from TOS. DS9 was just more TNG. Voyager was just more TNG. Enterprise was just more TNG. They either need to set a story in the past or way in the future. Ditch all the flashy LCD screens. Go with holo-displays or organic walls that can display any type of wall texture or video. Something, anything that is different. Gene had the vision for not just one series but for two. I want to see a comletely differently interior design/architecture scheme. I want to see different fashion. I want to see different ways of doing things. We need as big a jump from TOS to TNG from TNG to what ever comes next.
I say set the next story 60 years in the future. Have the Vulcans break away from the Federation to pursue their own logical ideas. Have the Klingons a now extinct race. The Romulans haven't been heard from in 30 years. The Ferengi have been accepted into the Federation. The Borg have become completely independent from the Collective, yet they continue to assimiliate. Make them evangelicals of a better way of life. You know, just shake everything up. Make it completely foriegn from the Star Trek we have come to know, but also have it link back to the prior series.
Who is this guy? When they say 40 hours of gameplay, they mean the average time that the average player will need to get through the game, as long as they play straight through. Now, if you suck, keep dying and have to replay the same levels over and over or you can't figure out the puzzles in the game and spend a lot of your time back tracking, then yes the game will be longer. Maybe your skills as a gamer just aren't that good. And who has the time to actually record how much time they spend gaming? I wish my life was that dull. Maybe tomorrow I will start recording how many brushings I can get out of my tube of toothpaste.
First thing to do is find out how many people share your same views. Talk to your computer teacher and see if they can help in getting together a group of students, parents and maybe even some former alumni who majored in computers at the college level. You need to know if you are the only one who cares about the issue or if there is a large cross section out there. One person isn't going to get far. A large group will get taken seriously.
Second thing, get together a list of exactly what you are asking for, with prices. If you just vaguely ask for a computer lab upgrade, those in power might assume that you are talking 10's of thousands of dollars. Spell out in detail what you want and what it will costs. Also, be willing to volunteer time to set everything up and provide tech support. That will help cut costs.
Now, take your group and your list to the principal. Don't mention the football program or any other program. The minute you play the "They get everything and we get nothing" card, you will be immediately pegged as a bunch of whiners and you are putting the principal's decisions under attack. Now he is thinking more about justifying his sports expenditures, than about giving you what you want. Just present the fact that a large group thinks that it is time for an upgrade, and you have all the details and resources to make it happen.
Assuming the Principal doesn't listen or take action, then head for the Superintendent and if he doesn't listen, then to the School Board. If all three turn you down, then there is really no much else you can do within the system. From there on out, you will have to go out side the system to hopefully apply some pressure. Contact local newspapers first, then contact some of the national news channels. Maybe someone will pick up on the story. The story may be more about you organizing a movement, than the actual computer issue. But whatever gets attention.
Financials are viewable by pretty much anyone who wants them. When I apply for a credit card, or a loan, they definitely look at my financials, without my approval. They just do it. I am not sure there is any right to privacy when it comes to financial aid. Any corporation can look at your loans if they want to. Why not the government?
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Wait, so Sony contracts with a company to put rootkits on its cd's. Then when Sony gets caught in a public relations backlash, they blame the company that supplied the rootkit? That is like a drug user blaming his drug dealer for selling him the drugs the cops caught him with. Corporate responsibility just died.
That is stupid, considering that all past, present and future XBox 360's have a 3 year warranty on them now. Should have contacted Microsoft to get them to send you a new one for free.
I have a 2.7 GPA in computer science, heading into my final year. I have been working steadily the entire time, though. I honestly couldn't care less about GPA. As I have learned, it is only what you know and what you can do that counts. I have seen High School dropouts get some nice jobs, based on the fact that they are very good at programming or networking. I have seen college graduates start out on the help desk, because they honestly didn't know anything outside of what the book told them. As others have said, in the absence of any skills or work experience, a high GPA might make the difference but only on that first job. After that, it is all about what you know.
There are two problems with the programming market today. Number one is management. Any sort of IT work, including programming is immediately considered an expense, to which it must be managed. Management will usually put some very strict time frames on projects, with no breathing room. Next, you probably will have difficulty getting any of your questions answered, as most projects have shifting goals. Management will also be expecting you to immediately know what you need to do and how to do, as to save time and money. You probably envision it as a learning adventure, where you will be able to pick up things as you go. Management isn't going to be interested in hiring someone who can "come up to speed." They are going to want someone who hits the ground running. Maybe you know everything you need to, maybe you don't, I don't know. All I can tell you, is that most of the time, "I can learn" is not a valid response.
Number two is co-workers. Most of the IT professionals out there are very competent nice individuals. However it is the bad apples that ruin the industry. You basically have two types. The guy who knows his stuff backwards and forwards, but doesn't have the time or patience to even talk to anyone who doesn't know as much as himself. He puts himself above the "peons" and will regard everything you do and say as prime examples of how stupid you really are. The other bad apple is the employee who may or may not know what he is doing, but uses a combination of buzz words and posturing to give his bosses the impression that he is a great employee. These are the guys who will scrutinize everything you do for flaws and wait until the next team meeting to elaborate on how "Jim" is an awful programmer. Not to mention that as a contractor, the company will have someone on their staff review your code. Guess how many times they will find nothing wrong with it?
Of course, your experience may vary. On the whole, I have found the industry rife with very aggressive people. I understand most career fields have their stresses, but I believe the IT has more than its fair share. From bosses who are going to mistrust you from day one, to co-workers who are usually more interested in getting you labeled as a failure than in getting work done; the IT industry is just in a very poor shape. Did you see the post about old people drooling on keyboards? That is the maturity/attitude that most of your co-workers will have.
Perhaps you are envisioning a situation where fellow IT professionals work in a spirit of cooperation to help each other learn and become better through the mutual sharing of knowledge. Well, that just isn't going to happen. So unless you are very confident in your abilities, don't mind putting up with the daily drama and are willing to fight back against false allegations, I would pick something more relaxing and fun. Teaching was thrown out; and I think that would be a good choice. Or if you really want to expand your programming prowess, find a small open source project. Most of the time, the people working on that project are more than willing to help; you won't find much in-fighting there.
I think the writer of that article is arguing the wrong point. He wants to turn CS programs into IT programs; instead he should just be advocating IT. I would have to agree with him. I am a junior in CS. I picked CS because that is the top of the heap when studying computers. I like the things I have learned. A little programming, a little networking, some electives, a good bit of math etc. CS and IT address two separate problems, and should always be kept separate.
Now, I know that after I get out I will eventually learn enough to leap over the IT guys. But I have to admit, I don't see how a CS graduate can match up with an IT graduate. Where as I learn theory and have been taught to teach myself, the IT graduate has learned to setup various servers, to program in various languages, and maybe even a good bit about Cisco routers. Most positions want someone who can walk in day one and start working, not someone who takes a week to get caught up.
You can argue the esoteric virtues of CS all day long. However, there are plenty of days I wonder if I had been better off in IT. Yes, CS is a grander/nobler enterprise, but academia doesn't translate to a paying job. No, a person shouldn't follow the money but you certainly want to make sure that you are going to make a livable wage. You can love many things in life, but none of them will pay the bills. You should never be looking to get rich, but certainly enough to pay rent.
I agree that an understanding of math is useful, but it is certainly not essential to most of the programming/networking out there. True, it make make the program more efficient. However, it just doesn't matter to most people if that program executes nth nanoseconds faster or if it traverses the array nth nanoseconds faster. I know many successful programmers, none of whom use mathematical principles to program. Your average, everday, 9-5, corporate IT person only needs to know how to fix the problem, quickly and somewhat efficient. You are going to be judged in the marketplace by what you can do, not what you know.
I am sticking with CS for now, because I personally feel that in the long run it will make me a better programmer. Most of the IT stuff I can pick up on my own, but I don't believe I can pick up CS stuff on my own. That doesn't make CS inherently better and I am not sure I would steer someone toward a CS degree. Even after I graduate, I still have to go back and learn all the stuff the IT guys learned. IT teaches you enough to get a good paying, just not a great paying job. CS will get you the great paying job, but before that, you have to go back and learn all the IT stuff.
I have noticed a good many colleges offering "web development." It is more of a vocational program. If you take into account all the possible web technologies, such as Flash, Javascript, XHTML, PHP, databases, web server administration, graphic imaging, etc., it can take four years.
I agree with you. I have run into similar issues when working with vendors. We buy services from other groups. On occassion, I have to get with some tech at another company on some technical stuff. Usually nothing more than a few questions. You wouldn't imagine the sort of comments I get. Fighting back is usually hopeless, because the guy you are talking to has been with his company for 10 years, and vacations with his boss' family each year. So even if you do complain to your boss, who in turns talks to the vendor, what is going to get passed back down the chain is that you don't know anything. I have seen it happen multiple times.
Jerks make a point to make sure everyone knows when they are correct. So management only remembers the good things they do. Most other techs just do their jobs, and don't make a big deal when they fix the server. Of course, management doesn't remember the last time that tech did anything useful. My belief is that life is all a con. Those that play the con game well, do very well for themselves. They con people into thinking they know things that they don't. The rest of us just live our lives like normal people. Techs who treat people like crap are usually able to con management into thinking they are the only ones who know anything.
I completely agree with you. As an IT professional myself, I have an insider view of the IT industry. You have the new guys, who are usually easy to get along with, and eager to learn even if they know absolutely nothing. You have also have the experienced guys who are not masters but not beginners. Then you have the "gurus" who believe they know everything, whether they do or don't. The gurus are agitated at every question you ask them.
It has been years since I was an ignorant newbie. I still ask questions, but they are usually much more informed and complex than the questions I would have asked 8 years ago. They may be "stupid" to an industry veteran, but I don't view them as ridiculous (No one goes through life without asking questions). Yet I still get the "I can't be bothered with your ignorance" attitude. Rather than show some self control and just give you a simple yes or no, too many professionals feel free to just spout out any thing that comes to mind. It is these guys who management usually get so pissed off at for their attitudes, and wind up firing most of the IT staff in retaliation.
There is this myth, this expectation, that only the good IT guys act like jerks. I think a lot of people act this way, because they believe they are expected to act this way. I have also seen guys with this attitude get ahead in business, because management may be oblivious to their lack of talent.
I think the Supreme Court has already established that you have no right to privacy in a public place. The library seems like a public place. If you want privacy, stay at home.
I agree, the guy was a jerk. IF he had pulled out a weapn and started attacking people, everyone would be questioning how a guy with no ID got into the library. Rules are there for everyone. Now, if he had had his ID, then everything would have been cool, regardless of race. I would find it highly suspicious if someone refused to show ID and then refused to leave, regardless of race.
I also agree the police office went crazy. I have two brother-in-laws who are cops. I know a thing or two about what you should and should not do. There are many ways to exert your influence without physicallity.
Money isn't the issue. As a CS student myself, the ability to work on a large open source project is thrilling. Approach it from the standpoint of someone who loves programming and can't wait to expand their skills. That is the alure of open source projects for most. However, at some point the person becomes proficient enough to find gainful employment. At which time, they may continue on in smaller capacity or just abandon it. Happens all the time.
Open Source is such a shaky model for developing software. You are at the whim of some programmer who may decide to walk away in the middle of a project, and you can't do anything about it. Open Source relies on a volunteer work force. Let's just hope it continues to work, because that is all we can do.
Not sure what you are replying to. The parent was asking what is the motivation for developing open source software that you won't get paid for. What you describes, seems more like private funding by a business to a local university. Maybe some of your code goes public, but I bet most of it belongs to the patron business and the university has the rights to use the code in teaching and research. I don't think every open source project is a university level research project and therefore not everyone who does open source actually gets paid for it.
We don't know everything, so we can't legitimately say that this breaks any rule. It would break our understanding of the universe. But how much did we really know to begin with? Science has become so screwed up lately. Scientists are suppossed to keep an open mind and only acknowledge that which is proven true. Scientists have jumped into world of speculation.
We speculate that you can't go faster than light. We speculate that you can't go back in time. The only way to prove that something can't be done is to do every possible thing to make it happen, and fail. Even at that point, you can only state that based on the knowledge we have now, we can't travel back in time. If you want to disprove something, you have to approach it from the standpoint of "What is it going to take to make this work?" If a scientist can do that and fail, then he will have disproved something. No, it is just easier for someone to sit at a desk and dismiss things offhanded using theory.
You probably just didn't give it enough time. B5 had this whole "Blade Runner" vibe going. The future is a dark, often dangerous place. Yet, it was also an exciting, technologicaly advanced place. The appeal for me was that the future was presented in a more realistic approach. The station was often dark, even in open, friendly places. It just had this "edge" to it. This wasn't a nice clean Star Trek set. There was a seedy underbelly with lurkers and areas of the station pretty much abandoned. But at the heart of it all were humans, still being humans. Curious, courageous, loving, brutal, sadistic and often times wise. The aliens looked like aliens. You had compelling species and interstellar diplomacy. You had lots of political intrigue. An emperor falling in love with the wrong woman could send shockwaves throughout the galaxy. You never really get this "grand scale" with other sci-fi.
B5 just seemed to play on a grander stage. Other sci-fi is concerned with a small group, and the "powers they be" are often abstracted. How much do we know about the United Federation of Planets anyway? What are the member worlds? Who are their representatives? What are their meetings like? Do you often time have conflicts among member worlds? What about Starfleet Academy? Who runs it? How did they get that job? What are their motives? This were all questions that B5 jumped right into.
I was not advocating formal education. In any job, no matter where you get it from, you need education. When I say education, I mean you need to learn new things. As you worked your way up through company, you clearly learned new things along the way. You have to educate yourself along the way. True you can work your way up through the company, as you educate yourself along the way. Or you can go to college and get a jump start on others. Or you can just grab a whole bunch of books and teach yourself. I think education, either from college or on your own is much better than expecting to learn on the job. Learning on the job can be slow as you have to convince people to let you try something before you can learn how to do it.
The only way to get a head-start in any profession is to get an education. Some people get their education in the classroom, others get it by reading. If you are wanting to learn on the job, I would advise against it. Working your way up from a low level phone support job to what you really want to be doing is difficult and a long process, and most of the time you will be overlooked. So you need to ask yourself if you can be disciplined enough to read and learn on your own time. If so, then head down to the local book store or library, load up on some books and start spending every extra moment studying. In a few months you might be know enough to get an entry level position. You will have to be quick on your toes to learn very fast. You will be expected to know what the other employees, who may have years of experience or education, know. If you can learn quickly, you might be able to scratch your way into a permit position.
If you aren't that disciplined, then you should really look into a formal educational. Even a few semesters or courses at the local college will give you valuable information. Also, when studying on your own, your studies can be come scattered. A little of this and a little of that but never enough of anything to be really useful. A college curriculum can structure courses so that your studies are more cohesive in what you learn.
I know lots of young people who like computers, but they rarely understand the work involved. The knowledge you need obtain in order to get to a livable wage is quite daunting. Computers isn't some fun profession where you spend all day restarting computers for people. Quite often the issues are vast and complex. IT is just like any other industry, you must be willing to give it your all. No matter which option your choose, you must constantly be studying and learning new technologies.
Sarcasm aside, someone has to create an "out of the box" Linux solution for the enterprise. I want to see a complete Linux solution that includes a mail server, a webserver, a data server and easy integration into desktop installs. All easily installable. Don't get me wrong, I am a Linux Advocate, and I use it in my daily job. But there is no such thing as the the "easy way" with Linux. I understand the desire for Linux Admins to show off their exepertise by manipulating an overly complex system. But being difficult just for the sake of being difficult is ridiculous. That is like saying that I would rather go back to the days when you had to do complex maintenance on your car for every 5 hours you drive it.
And say what you will about MS being "dumbed downed" but there are some days when I would whether have an easy system to monitor than a difficult one. (It's hard to get those Perl Scripts written by 5pm when the mail server keeps throwing up errors.)
Okay, hydrogen may not have been the cause of the fire, but it certainly accelerated the fire. It doesn't matter to me what causes the fire. If fire gets anyone near the hydrogen you have the potential for a big explosion and some very rapid burning. Same difference.
I like this question, because I went down the same path. When you are fresh to IT, you wonder what is going to help you get ahead. Certifications? Degrees? Work experience?
I think you need to realize that degrees and certifications are only there to validate what you know. They are really only useful for beginners. After you have been in the field for a few years, it all comes down to what you know. A rookie right out of college with CS degree will lose out on jobs to guys with no degrees, but 3 to 5 years of working knowledge in the skills that the job requires.
What I am trying to say, is that it is what you know that counts ultimately. Yeah, you will need a degree if you ever hope to move into a nice desk job one day. In the mean time, just worry about learning. I finally figured out that if I just list what I know on my resume, instead of degrees, certifications and work experience, I got much better responses. If you don't know all that much then learn. A certification just gives you an incentive to learn; a goal to reach for. Try putting your SKILLS section at the top of your resume and put a sentence for each skill you know. Such as: I know how to program in Python using (various Python terms). If you can fill up at least half a page with that, then you will be ahead of most other people.
I don't think the blogger understands what a datacenter is for. True, processors are turning up in all sorts of gadgets. By the are usually RISC processors designed for a very specific use. But even processors, don't store data. That is what a recordable media like harddrives or memory sticks are for.
A datacenter is for collecting large amounts of data, running operations on that data and providing that data to others. For instance, there is no way that a small handheld device at the loading docks can store the entire inventory for the company over the past 10 years. It can maybe keep a record of the last 30 days, maybe. And even if it were, how would that device let the main office, over 200 miles away know that the cargo has arrived at the docks? How would this CEO be able to find out how many widgets arrive annualy during the month of October and get the average price on them? The answer is that he wouldn't get it from a small handheld device.
This reminds me of when Scotty said "Hello computer" to the mouse. This guy clearly doesn't understand IT. I sure hope they have a good IT department to keep this guy from sinking the company.
Wow!
How completely selfish and self centered can you be? This man may have killed another human being and you are worried about some file system? Holy crap, do you have no moral compass.
That entire problem with Star Trek has and will continue to be creativity. TOS was very original. TNG was a comlete 180 from TOS. DS9 was just more TNG. Voyager was just more TNG. Enterprise was just more TNG. They either need to set a story in the past or way in the future. Ditch all the flashy LCD screens. Go with holo-displays or organic walls that can display any type of wall texture or video. Something, anything that is different. Gene had the vision for not just one series but for two. I want to see a comletely differently interior design/architecture scheme. I want to see different fashion. I want to see different ways of doing things. We need as big a jump from TOS to TNG from TNG to what ever comes next.
I say set the next story 60 years in the future. Have the Vulcans break away from the Federation to pursue their own logical ideas. Have the Klingons a now extinct race. The Romulans haven't been heard from in 30 years. The Ferengi have been accepted into the Federation. The Borg have become completely independent from the Collective, yet they continue to assimiliate. Make them evangelicals of a better way of life. You know, just shake everything up. Make it completely foriegn from the Star Trek we have come to know, but also have it link back to the prior series.
Who is this guy? When they say 40 hours of gameplay, they mean the average time that the average player will need to get through the game, as long as they play straight through. Now, if you suck, keep dying and have to replay the same levels over and over or you can't figure out the puzzles in the game and spend a lot of your time back tracking, then yes the game will be longer. Maybe your skills as a gamer just aren't that good. And who has the time to actually record how much time they spend gaming? I wish my life was that dull. Maybe tomorrow I will start recording how many brushings I can get out of my tube of toothpaste.
First thing to do is find out how many people share your same views. Talk to your computer teacher and see if they can help in getting together a group of students, parents and maybe even some former alumni who majored in computers at the college level. You need to know if you are the only one who cares about the issue or if there is a large cross section out there. One person isn't going to get far. A large group will get taken seriously.
Second thing, get together a list of exactly what you are asking for, with prices. If you just vaguely ask for a computer lab upgrade, those in power might assume that you are talking 10's of thousands of dollars. Spell out in detail what you want and what it will costs. Also, be willing to volunteer time to set everything up and provide tech support. That will help cut costs.
Now, take your group and your list to the principal. Don't mention the football program or any other program. The minute you play the "They get everything and we get nothing" card, you will be immediately pegged as a bunch of whiners and you are putting the principal's decisions under attack. Now he is thinking more about justifying his sports expenditures, than about giving you what you want. Just present the fact that a large group thinks that it is time for an upgrade, and you have all the details and resources to make it happen.
Assuming the Principal doesn't listen or take action, then head for the Superintendent and if he doesn't listen, then to the School Board. If all three turn you down, then there is really no much else you can do within the system. From there on out, you will have to go out side the system to hopefully apply some pressure. Contact local newspapers first, then contact some of the national news channels. Maybe someone will pick up on the story. The story may be more about you organizing a movement, than the actual computer issue. But whatever gets attention.
Financials are viewable by pretty much anyone who wants them. When I apply for a credit card, or a loan, they definitely look at my financials, without my approval. They just do it. I am not sure there is any right to privacy when it comes to financial aid. Any corporation can look at your loans if they want to. Why not the government?