IT Java jobs (kind of light/sarcastic humor) :-)

[Richard]

(e-mail address removed) wrote...

and (2) exact some payback for programmers being such spoiled and fickle
beasts in the late 90s

Not all programmers were spoiled and fickle beasts in the late 90's. I
know quite a few who were loyal to their employers [....]

Hey, I'm just saying what I heard come out of their mouths.

Not speaking for myself here!!! Those are the kind of places that will
suffer the most if/when the economy gets better. They ought
to know that the folks that they're abusing will get up and leave them and
find work elsewhere.

Yeah, but the human mind generally doesn't seem to work that way.
It's payback, then payback for payback, then payback for payback for
payback, and the next thing you know the feud's been going on so long
the positions are entrenched and it becomes part of the culture.

I guess we're all eventually going to lose our jobs to overseas
programmers, anyway. Sort of the ultimate payback, from the suits'
perspective.

[...many other good comments...]

 

[Richard]

(e-mail address removed) wrote...

: It's even back to formal attire in a
: few of these places, with it being openly expressed that if you don't
: like it, there are 1500+ programmers with MSCS degrees on file who'd
: love to have a job.

And the rational for the switch back to formal attire is...?

Usually it's something along the lines of "playtime's over." Times
are tough, gotta buckle down, be more professional, get back to work,
etc. I've talked to senior managers who literally could not grasp
why a person wouldn't want to wear a suit to work. These are the
same guys who charitably describe programmers as the "bozos swinging
from the ceiling."

With me, it was never the suit so much as those stupid shoes that go
with it. I generally work out of my home for the time being, and I'm
not even wearing...well, nevermind.

 

[Richard]

(e-mail address removed) wrote...

I wouldn't tell anyone to _not_ take Computer Science or programming
courses, but just to do so for the right reasons. I went through
university with all sorts of students in the mid 90's who were there "to
get a job that pays lots of money", who didn't even know how to operate
a mouse. Many of these people dropped out (typically switching
programs), but I'm sure there are many out there who sufficiently scrape
by to get into a thankless IT job (or to find that it's harder to get a
job with their CS degree than it is to get one with a Philosophy degree,
and get into some other career).

I just had to explain to a BSCS from Tufts why a 32-bit unsigned
integer requires up to 10 bytes to represent as a string. "32 bits
is only 4 bytes," he said, proudly.

 

[Brad BARCLAY]

I just had to explain to a BSCS from Tufts why a 32-bit unsigned
integer requires up to 10 bytes to represent as a string. "32 bits
is only 4 bytes," he said, proudly.

Actually, in Java it would require up to 20 bytes due to the Unicode
representation .

(Assuming, of course, standard decimal notation ).

It always amazes me how some people can get a CS degree and not even
have the most basic knowledge. Too many of them go through wanting to
learn how to program in specific languages, without ever bothering to
actually learn the basics. Unfortunately, many universities and
colleges let them by setting up their programs in a language-centric manner.

Brad BARCLAY

 

[Patrick Thrapp]

I just had to explain to a BSCS from Tufts why a 32-bit unsigned
integer requires up to 10 bytes to represent as a string. "32 bits
is only 4 bytes," he said, proudly.

Shoot at the UW we had to program a full adder in Pascal. This was in the
early 80's. Of course we did get a lecture on how it is done in hardware.
Oh how important each carry bit is and the 'rolling' through the bits in
order. That was a 100 level CSCI class to.

 

[Richard]

(e-mail address removed) wrote...

Actually, in Java it would require up to 20 bytes due to the Unicode
representation .

Sorry. C programmer showing his age.

 

[Miguel De Anda]

This whole discussion makes me think of one thing:


A company run entirely by programmers.


Of course something like this would have to be a general software company.
With enough capital for a few hundred programmers that company can make some
of the best software ever imagined.

The company could simply hire people to do marketing as contract type work.
We can simply require that they have so many millions of dollars in sales in
the last 2 weeks. Friends/Contacts who work with publishing companies so the
software can be easily published and distributed throughout the world. Heck,
we can treat them like shit and kick them around until they make a sale,
then of course, the contract is up.

Damn I wish I had a few million bucks right now, I'd start one up.

 

[Richard]

_sodamnmad_@_hotmail_._com_ wrote...

This whole discussion makes me think of one thing:

A company run entirely by programmers.

Nirvana. I worked in one, once. About a 10-person shop, including
the one guy who owned it. He wasn't a programmer, but just pointed
us in a direction and then stayed completely out of the way. It was,
far and away, the best job I ever had. We did some incredible stuff.

 

[Richard]

_sodamnmad_@_hotmail_._com_ wrote...

Lucky bastard.

Luck runs out. It's not what I'm doing now, that's for sure.

 

[brougham3]

Nirvana. I worked in one, once. About a 10-person shop, including
the one guy who owned it. He wasn't a programmer, but just pointed
us in a direction and then stayed completely out of the way. It was,
far and away, the best job I ever had. We did some incredible stuff.

If it was so good, why did you leave?

 

[Richard]

(e-mail address removed) wrote...

If it was so good, why did you leave?

Moved out of state so my wife could finish her education.