I would say this in response: If all you're doing is banging out code all day long, you may not be a very good programmer, and you definitely have a crappy programming job, but don't worry... soon you'll lose your job to a happy Indian.
OTOH, if you can get into an area which requires real analysis, puzzle-solving, thinking and designing, you've got a great programming job and you'll enjoy it.
I'm happy to say that most of my career has been spent in the latter category.
I did all of these things twenty years ago (including not worrying about India, because, well, who DID twenty years ago?). The result: I have a successful, lucrative career/business, and I like what I do.
Still, I worry about India now, and I caution youngsters who want to get into the field. While it is true there are still jobs out there for good programmers, most kids I see who want to get into programming are too myopic and, basically, slothful to succeed. Additionally, I'm too cynical to believe that Corporate America really wants good programmers when they can get half-assed Indians to do the job for pennies, and put the savings into marketing and IP lawyers.
After reading the document you suggested I find that it actually supports my argument, rather than refutes it. The PathLAN application deals specifically with calculating durations between dates and falls within the very small subset of programs which I mentioned. Its existence does not justify the hype which surrounded the Y2K "bug".
I believe that one day, life for each of us will consist of getting up out of our Wal-Beds, having a breakfast of Wal-Coffee and Wal-Flakes, getting on the Wal-Bus and going to our Wal-Jobs at Wal-Mart. Babies will be born at the Wal-Natal Clinic, and the dead will be cremated at the Wal-Funeral Home. It will be a Wal-Mart world, womb to tomb.
Let's call it a zeitgeist. Anyway, I can't believe someone would even have to ask the question of whether it was real or not.
It was not. Period.
Now, some of the doomsdayers are saying that everything was fixed quietly, ahead of time.
Bullshit.
How many programs exist out there which are that dependent on correct dates? Very few. And among those where dates play a role, there are even fewer where having the EXACT date is important.
The only programs which were at risk were those dealing with aging and other similar financial computations.
Traffic lights, automobiles, planes, heating/cooling, water systems, embedded systems of all sorts; these systems always were totally safe from the Y2K bug.
However, thanks to all the idiots out there crying "wolf!" people will probably ignore the 2038 problem, which is (technically) a very different kind of problem, and a much more serious flaw.
Good point. I guess the cable company has no control over what device you use the card in.
I'd love to replace my TiVo with one that could receive digital cable, especially if it had two tuners so I could record one show while watching another.
I don't think there EVER will be a cablecard TiVo, for the simple reason that the cable companies don't want them. They would prefer to sell and support their own cablecard DVR's.
It's a damn shame too. I have had a TiVo for over a year now, and also have a DVR from my cable company. The one from the cable company (a Scientific Atlanta Explorer) is laughably inferior to the TiVo in both ease of use and features.
In the future (maybe two or three years from now) I expect the TiVo to be collecting dust out in the garage when the cable company turns all-digital.
My guess is that most researchers would classify you as a nearly ambidextrous lefty, but it's just a guess.
Here's something to think about: My mother has always said that she thinks it is her fault that I'm left handed when eating or writing. She says that, while facing me, she would hand me a utensil with her right hand, which neccessarily placed it in my left. And thusly, I learned to use my left hand for these activities.
Is is possible then, that handedness, can be a learned behavior, and not neccessarily a behavior with which one is born?
You seem to have some knowledge on "handedness", and I have a question:
Some things (eating, writing, painting) I do with my left hand. Other things (batting, throwing, shooting) I do with my right hand. A few things I can do with either hand (using hand tools comes to mind). So, am I left-handed, right-handed, ambidextrious, or what?
Has anyone else had problems with NOAA's graphics causing their computer to lock up? It does this on several of mine. I don't get a BSD, or anything that will give me a clue what the problem is. It just locks up.
Hey, believe me I would have moved if I could have. We were tugging on that calf (the cow was a young one and it was a difficult delivery) and it shot out of there like a green fire hose. It was a complete surprise. My uncle and cousin had to stop right then and there to roll on the ground laughing.
The story has a happy ending: the calf was finally born a few moments later and both mother and young'un did just fine.
'...assisting at the birth of an animal. "This is one of life's most surprising and moving experiences..."'
I grew up in a rural area where my uncle raised cattle. Consequently, I've "pulled" calves on numerous occations. My first experience, the cow projectile-shat all over me. Surprising? yes; moving? I'm not so sure.
Slashdot Mirror
Damn right, he should get the rest of his life in prison. He obviously cannot function in civilized society.
Frankly, in my opinion, he should just be taken out and shot, like a feral dog.
Bill Clinton
Actually, I should withdraw my post, because the question was "What do you believe, even if you can't prove it".
In my case, I think I CAN prove it.
learn bricklaying and plastering, plumbing, carpentry, welding
That way you can compete with Mexicans for jobs instead of Indians.
About the only thing I can't stand to do is the 'helpdesk' role to my family.
Me too. Here's a recent conversation with my 71-year-old father:
Me: Now click on "submit".
Him: OK.
Me: What does it do?
Him: It doesn't do anything.
Me: It has to do something.
Him: It doesn't do anything.
Me: C'mon, Dad, it HAS to do SOMETHING.
Him: It doesn't do anything.
(pause)
Me: Does it say something about your password being invalid.
Him: Well, yes, it says that my password is incorrect.
Me: (banging head on desk) There! You see? It DID something! It said your password was wrong.
Him: Well, it didn't do anything.....
I would say this in response: If all you're doing is banging out code all day long, you may not be a very good programmer, and you definitely have a crappy programming job, but don't worry... soon you'll lose your job to a happy Indian.
OTOH, if you can get into an area which requires real analysis, puzzle-solving, thinking and designing, you've got a great programming job and you'll enjoy it.
I'm happy to say that most of my career has been spent in the latter category.
I did all of these things twenty years ago (including not worrying about India, because, well, who DID twenty years ago?). The result: I have a successful, lucrative career/business, and I like what I do.
Still, I worry about India now, and I caution youngsters who want to get into the field. While it is true there are still jobs out there for good programmers, most kids I see who want to get into programming are too myopic and, basically, slothful to succeed. Additionally, I'm too cynical to believe that Corporate America really wants good programmers when they can get half-assed Indians to do the job for pennies, and put the savings into marketing and IP lawyers.
After reading the document you suggested I find that it actually supports my argument, rather than refutes it. The PathLAN application deals specifically with calculating durations between dates and falls within the very small subset of programs which I mentioned. Its existence does not justify the hype which surrounded the Y2K "bug".
I believe that one day, life for each of us will consist of getting up out of our Wal-Beds, having a breakfast of Wal-Coffee and Wal-Flakes, getting on the Wal-Bus and going to our Wal-Jobs at Wal-Mart. Babies will be born at the Wal-Natal Clinic, and the dead will be cremated at the Wal-Funeral Home. It will be a Wal-Mart world, womb to tomb.
You've never heard of NAMBLA?
I believe in a wrathful, vengeful, jealous God who sometimes squashes His most faithful servants merely because it pleases Him.
Let's call it a zeitgeist. Anyway, I can't believe someone would even have to ask the question of whether it was real or not.
It was not. Period.
Now, some of the doomsdayers are saying that everything was fixed quietly, ahead of time.
Bullshit.
How many programs exist out there which are that dependent on correct dates? Very few. And among those where dates play a role, there are even fewer where having the EXACT date is important.
The only programs which were at risk were those dealing with aging and other similar financial computations.
Traffic lights, automobiles, planes, heating/cooling, water systems, embedded systems of all sorts; these systems always were totally safe from the Y2K bug.
However, thanks to all the idiots out there crying "wolf!" people will probably ignore the 2038 problem, which is (technically) a very different kind of problem, and a much more serious flaw.
Especially on a college campus?
Good point. I guess the cable company has no control over what device you use the card in.
I'd love to replace my TiVo with one that could receive digital cable, especially if it had two tuners so I could record one show while watching another.
I don't think there EVER will be a cablecard TiVo, for the simple reason that the cable companies don't want them. They would prefer to sell and support their own cablecard DVR's.
It's a damn shame too. I have had a TiVo for over a year now, and also have a DVR from my cable company. The one from the cable company (a Scientific Atlanta Explorer) is laughably inferior to the TiVo in both ease of use and features.
In the future (maybe two or three years from now) I expect the TiVo to be collecting dust out in the garage when the cable company turns all-digital.
My guess is that most researchers would classify you as a nearly ambidextrous lefty, but it's just a guess.
Here's something to think about: My mother has always said that she thinks it is her fault that I'm left handed when eating or writing. She says that, while facing me, she would hand me a utensil with her right hand, which neccessarily placed it in my left. And thusly, I learned to use my left hand for these activities.
Is is possible then, that handedness, can be a learned behavior, and not neccessarily a behavior with which one is born?
How can a dog be "left handed"? I mean, how can you tell? Or did you intend your post to be a joke?
You seem to have some knowledge on "handedness", and I have a question:
Some things (eating, writing, painting) I do with my left hand. Other things (batting, throwing, shooting) I do with my right hand. A few things I can do with either hand (using hand tools comes to mind). So, am I left-handed, right-handed, ambidextrious, or what?
Has anyone else had problems with NOAA's graphics causing their computer to lock up? It does this on several of mine. I don't get a BSD, or anything that will give me a clue what the problem is. It just locks up.
Great, a $5,600 version of Eliza.
Hey, believe me I would have moved if I could have. We were tugging on that calf (the cow was a young one and it was a difficult delivery) and it shot out of there like a green fire hose. It was a complete surprise. My uncle and cousin had to stop right then and there to roll on the ground laughing.
The story has a happy ending: the calf was finally born a few moments later and both mother and young'un did just fine.
Fuck you, man.
'...assisting at the birth of an animal. "This is one of life's most surprising and moving experiences..."'
I grew up in a rural area where my uncle raised cattle. Consequently, I've "pulled" calves on numerous occations. My first experience, the cow projectile-shat all over me. Surprising? yes; moving? I'm not so sure.
Haven't seen the book, but if Steven Colbert is involved, I'd be suspicious that the whole project is an excercise in ironic humor.
Well, there IS more than one particular religion in opposition to embryonic stem cell research.