Which one do I excel in? The one I'm using most at that point in time. Sure, everybody that knows multiple languages will be better in some than others. My Pascal, for instance, isn't very good at this moment. I haven't used Delphi or Turbo Pascal in a while. It could, if need be, get a lot better in a relatively short time.
For the most part, I'm working in C and Perl. Those two languages (among others) are in use on a daily basis, and are quite fresh in my mind, and I do excel in them. I work in Java sporadically, so I'm not quite as sharp on it, but like Pascal, I could be if needed.
The whole point of my answer to the parent thread is, you don't need a CS degree to work in multiple languages.
I might add that my accumulation of languages is mostly my own doing. This has resulted in me getting several contracts, including the one I'm currently working on. I have to maintain a bunch of programs (thousands) that were written in many different languages, and even in different versions of those languages. Before you say "rewrite", let me say there is no money in the budget for rewriting anything, and these aren't simple little applications.
Sorry your company seemed to get screwed by that guy, we all know people that stretch the truth on their resume, but not all programmers that work in multiple languages are like that guy.
It's not the degree that makes you flexible, it is, in truth, your experience and your willingness to learn. There are a lot of programmers out there that don't have any kind of CS degree (me for one), or much formal training in programming, that are doing quite nicely.
Even though I didn't get the formal CS training in college or university, I have learned my trade from the masters (you should see my book collection) of various disiplines and languages.
Contrary to popular belief, being a good programmer is mostly about knowing how to program, not whether you can code in Perl, C, Java or some other language. Once you know how to program, you can learn new languages. I personally know Basic, Pascal, 80x86 Assembler, C, C++, Java and Perl (and am learning Python), and with the exception of one college course in Basic (to keep my GI Bill going over the summer), all of them have been self-taught.
On the other hand, getting your CS degree, from a well known school or not, can help you get your foot in the door. There are times when I wish I had at least minored in CS, but with 22 years of programming under my belt, it's my overall experience and knowledge of systems and languages that land me my jobs.
I don't mean to sound contrary, but I've been running Testing on my primary workstation now for over six months, since the last time I upgraded Sid and it trashed several of my apps.
Testing has been working great, no problems at all, and I got to see it getting better and better with each update I performed.
Don't forget that the Germans started the bombing of civilian targets. The citizens of London had more than their fair share of German bombs raining down on them. Hitler was also doing this to terrorize the British populace.
I don't know, I've owned one Windows CE device and two Palm OS devices, and I have to say I much prefer the Palm OS devices. Longer batter life, clean simple interface, easy to use and understand.
The circumvention to this and other similar problems is even simpler: Get a grass-roots effort started. With enough support, this crap won't go through. And to finish it off, vote the asshole that thought of this tax out of office next time elections come up.
If the voters start sending the politicians a message, in the form of a pink slip, they will start to listen!
Just store it on the moon! There's plenty of room there, and we could establish a colony who's sole purpose is to maintain the radioactive waste sites.
Why, the only thing we'd have to worry about would be a spontaneous detonation that pushes the moon out of Earth's orbit, but what would the chance of that happening be?
I see your point, and you're half-right. The equipment is type-accepted to operate at a certain power level on a certain frequency, but there is nothing in the FCC regs stating that the firmware has to be closed source. After all, there is really nothing (except the fear of a hefty fine and/or jail time) preventing a person from buying a type-accepted radio at Wal-Mart and modifying it to put out more power, or to transmit on a different frequency band. These radios are not "black boxes", so neither should be the firmware.
My own thoughts on as to why they are closed source leans more towards trade secrets.
At the risk of being moderated as flamebait myself, I have to say that if the other Allies hadn't "rescued" France during WWII, they most certainly would have lost everything. Do you really think the Nazi's would have stopped with the Jews?
This has got to be one of the longest interviews on Slashdot. but then again this is the author that used 5 pages to describe a character eating cereal. (captain crunch in Cryptonomicon)
Perhaps, but it was one of the most intertaining interviews I've read on Slashdot in a long time!:-)
Then there are Wal-Mart's competitors. Use them. Shop them. Buy from them.
Nice thought, but the problem is, when Wal-Mart comes to town, the competitors eventually close-up shop. That's what happened in my city (Palm Coast, Florida). Wal-Mart killed K-Mart, and there are really no other viable competitors here. We have to drive into Daytona Beach (about 30 miles south) or St. Augustine (about 30 miles north) in order to find another place to shop.
Except they would have to PAY for W2K03/IIS 6.0. We all know in addition to being: 1) Anti-Microsoft and 2) Pro-open source, the average/.'er is also 3) Anti-pay for software!
Maybe this is a problem with the Windows port. I run OOo all the time under Linux, and like I said, I don't have any of these problems. I usually leave my apps up and running in another virtual desktop, and there are no problems.
Slashdot Mirror
I bet my cat could get a PhD.
Only if you forget to scoop the litter box (hint: PHD = 'Piled Higher and Deeper')
Which one do I excel in? The one I'm using most at that point in time. Sure, everybody that knows multiple languages will be better in some than others. My Pascal, for instance, isn't very good at this moment. I haven't used Delphi or Turbo Pascal in a while. It could, if need be, get a lot better in a relatively short time.
For the most part, I'm working in C and Perl. Those two languages (among others) are in use on a daily basis, and are quite fresh in my mind, and I do excel in them. I work in Java sporadically, so I'm not quite as sharp on it, but like Pascal, I could be if needed.
The whole point of my answer to the parent thread is, you don't need a CS degree to work in multiple languages.
I might add that my accumulation of languages is mostly my own doing. This has resulted in me getting several contracts, including the one I'm currently working on. I have to maintain a bunch of programs (thousands) that were written in many different languages, and even in different versions of those languages. Before you say "rewrite", let me say there is no money in the budget for rewriting anything, and these aren't simple little applications.
Sorry your company seemed to get screwed by that guy, we all know people that stretch the truth on their resume, but not all programmers that work in multiple languages are like that guy.
It's not the degree that makes you flexible, it is, in truth, your experience and your willingness to learn. There are a lot of programmers out there that don't have any kind of CS degree (me for one), or much formal training in programming, that are doing quite nicely.
Even though I didn't get the formal CS training in college or university, I have learned my trade from the masters (you should see my book collection) of various disiplines and languages.
Contrary to popular belief, being a good programmer is mostly about knowing how to program, not whether you can code in Perl, C, Java or some other language. Once you know how to program, you can learn new languages. I personally know Basic, Pascal, 80x86 Assembler, C, C++, Java and Perl (and am learning Python), and with the exception of one college course in Basic (to keep my GI Bill going over the summer), all of them have been self-taught.
On the other hand, getting your CS degree, from a well known school or not, can help you get your foot in the door. There are times when I wish I had at least minored in CS, but with 22 years of programming under my belt, it's my overall experience and knowledge of systems and languages that land me my jobs.
I don't mean to sound contrary, but I've been running Testing on my primary workstation now for over six months, since the last time I upgraded Sid and it trashed several of my apps.
Testing has been working great, no problems at all, and I got to see it getting better and better with each update I performed.
Don't forget that the Germans started the bombing of civilian targets. The citizens of London had more than their fair share of German bombs raining down on them. Hitler was also doing this to terrorize the British populace.
Or Paris?
France or Hilton?
Yeah, instead of Natalie Portman, you end up with Rosanne Barr! (Ewwww!).
I don't know, I've owned one Windows CE device and two Palm OS devices, and I have to say I much prefer the Palm OS devices. Longer batter life, clean simple interface, easy to use and understand.
The circumvention to this and other similar problems is even simpler: Get a grass-roots effort started. With enough support, this crap won't go through. And to finish it off, vote the asshole that thought of this tax out of office next time elections come up.
If the voters start sending the politicians a message, in the form of a pink slip, they will start to listen!
Try WinGrep
On XP, you need to do a 'del /s /q c:\*.*' or it will ask you if you wish to delete each and every file!
Just reboot the print server like we do. Works most every time. :-)
Just store it on the moon! There's plenty of room there, and we could establish a colony who's sole purpose is to maintain the radioactive waste sites.
Why, the only thing we'd have to worry about would be a spontaneous detonation that pushes the moon out of Earth's orbit, but what would the chance of that happening be?
I see your point, and you're half-right. The equipment is type-accepted to operate at a certain power level on a certain frequency, but there is nothing in the FCC regs stating that the firmware has to be closed source. After all, there is really nothing (except the fear of a hefty fine and/or jail time) preventing a person from buying a type-accepted radio at Wal-Mart and modifying it to put out more power, or to transmit on a different frequency band. These radios are not "black boxes", so neither should be the firmware.
My own thoughts on as to why they are closed source leans more towards trade secrets.
Why three separate commands?
apt-get update && apt-get dist-upgrade && reboot
Works for me!
Indestructable AOL disks.. *Shivers*
I doubt it would stand up for very long against some double-ought buck shot from a 12 guage.
At the risk of being moderated as flamebait myself, I have to say that if the other Allies hadn't "rescued" France during WWII, they most certainly would have lost everything. Do you really think the Nazi's would have stopped with the Jews?
Shatner he ain't
;-)
:-)
Thank God for small favors!
This has got to be one of the longest interviews on Slashdot. but then again this is the author that used 5 pages to describe a character eating cereal. (captain crunch in Cryptonomicon)
Perhaps, but it was one of the most intertaining interviews I've read on Slashdot in a long time!
Yes, a great machine. I still have one in working condition, and use it on occasion.
I have been looking for something a bit more modern that can take its place, but so far haven't found anything that is quite as good.
I figure Wal-Mart is always an option. Hmm, stock shelves or pass-out shopping carts... decisions, decisions.
Yes, now I'm just waiting for the inevitable lawsuit from Apple. :-)
Then there are Wal-Mart's competitors. Use them. Shop them. Buy from them.
Nice thought, but the problem is, when Wal-Mart comes to town, the competitors eventually close-up shop. That's what happened in my city (Palm Coast, Florida). Wal-Mart killed K-Mart, and there are really no other viable competitors here. We have to drive into Daytona Beach (about 30 miles south) or St. Augustine (about 30 miles north) in order to find another place to shop.
Unfortunately, a large majority of us /.'ers read the /. from work.
Where I work, we have to use IE. Just because the stats show more IE hits doesn't mean we run Winders/IE at home.
Its not hipocritical either. If there were more FLOSS jobs to be had, the server stats would be a bit different.
Except they would have to PAY for W2K03/IIS 6.0. We all know in addition to being: 1) Anti-Microsoft and 2) Pro-open source, the average /.'er is also 3) Anti-pay for software!
Maybe this is a problem with the Windows port. I run OOo all the time under Linux, and like I said, I don't have any of these problems. I usually leave my apps up and running in another virtual desktop, and there are no problems.