4 ms·

Why not? What do you find advantageous to call yourself instead.

by s-phi-nl 16y ago

younata 16y ago
a hacker.
- dbz 16y ago
  I call myself a coder because I write code. I don't hack, crack, or (verb)script-kiddie, so I won't refer to myself as a hacker, cracker, or script-kiddie.
  - kanwisher 16y ago
    *sigh I would hope people would understand the title of hacker on this website. Hint it has nothing to do with security
    - mahmud 16y ago
      But wouldn't it be nice if some script kiddie misunderstood and got hooked? A sample IRC log might look like this: SC1: yo dog, long time SC1: still haxoring Wordpress modules? HNer: naah man, WP is gey HNer: I am busy hacking Supply and Demand SC1: wtf? the economic model? HNer: yeah, making something people want -- SC1 has quit IRC (Quit: Leaving.)
      - dbz 16y ago
        It would be wonderful. But my point on not calling myself a hacker is not because I don't "hack supply and demand," but I don't "hack" stuff in general. Hack can be used correctly in two totally different contexts (not mistaken with crack), and that is the good helpful kind of hack.
    - petercooper 16y ago
      Sure, but this thread was about what it's "advantageous" to call yourself. Calling yourself a "hacker" in front of 99% of clients is not going to get you off to a good start.
      - zackattack 16y ago
        except in front of silicon valley MBA types who're vaguely familiar with four steps to the epiphany
nmcfarl 16y ago
Well I'm in the parent's shoes - and I usually call myself a "Founder" or something along those lines.
patio11 16y ago
At my former job, a programmer is the guy who transforms this instruction into Java code: "The 16th digit in the CSV is a field with 1 representing that the student is excused from the English speaking exam. Such students are to have their English written exam score proportionately increased such that it makes up 100% of the point allocation for the English subject, but it is not to be altered in reports showing sub-subject scores." A software engineer wrote that instruction. My company hired me as a software engineer, not a programmer (to the extent we had any of those, they worked in low-wage countries). I do not call myself a programmer around consulting clients because I charge much more money than my programming skills can justify. Most of them do not need a title to understand my skill set, since they asked for me in the first place, and to the extent I have one it is as "the guy doing X for us" (X is usually a combination of programming and marketing). "Founder" isn't too big in Japan, so I usually introduce myself as some variant of "Owner of a company." It is ridiculously superior to "programmer" in terms of social status and sets me up for an automatic conversation topic (given my age and pallor, "How the heck did that happen!?" is a common one).
- nostrademons 16y ago
  Interesting. At my job, a programmer (well, software engineer, but there's not all that much of a distinction) is someone who translates this instruction into some combination of C++, Python, Sawzall, JavaScript, and various custom languages: "Make users happy."
  - derefr 16y ago
    This may be a philosophical point, but unless you're a game designer, that sentence has to end with "...by increasing the odds that, and the ease with which, they will succeed in their goals." You can make people happy by just giving them opiates :)
    - nostrademons 16y ago
      That's actually a good but controversial point. My employer has recently made a number of changes that measurably increased the odds and ease with which users achieved their goals, but were met with widespread user unhappiness. Similarly, there was one recent feature I was involved in that was universally lauded as being a fun little easter egg, yet wasted several million hours of productivity worldwide. It's an interesting balancing act between giving people what they want and giving them what they need, and while we tend to err on the side of giving them what they need, it can sometimes be hard to do so when they hate us for it.

Why not? What do you find advantageous to call yourself instead.

younata 16y ago

a hacker.

dbz 16y ago
I call myself a coder because I write code. I don't hack, crack, or (verb)script-kiddie, so I won't refer to myself as a hacker, cracker, or script-kiddie.
- kanwisher 16y ago
  *sigh I would hope people would understand the title of hacker on this website. Hint it has nothing to do with security
  - mahmud 16y ago
    But wouldn't it be nice if some script kiddie misunderstood and got hooked? A sample IRC log might look like this: SC1: yo dog, long time SC1: still haxoring Wordpress modules? HNer: naah man, WP is gey HNer: I am busy hacking Supply and Demand SC1: wtf? the economic model? HNer: yeah, making something people want -- SC1 has quit IRC (Quit: Leaving.)
    - dbz 16y ago
      It would be wonderful. But my point on not calling myself a hacker is not because I don't "hack supply and demand," but I don't "hack" stuff in general. Hack can be used correctly in two totally different contexts (not mistaken with crack), and that is the good helpful kind of hack.
  - petercooper 16y ago
    Sure, but this thread was about what it's "advantageous" to call yourself. Calling yourself a "hacker" in front of 99% of clients is not going to get you off to a good start.
    - zackattack 16y ago
      except in front of silicon valley MBA types who're vaguely familiar with four steps to the epiphany

nmcfarl 16y ago

Well I'm in the parent's shoes - and I usually call myself a "Founder" or something along those lines.

patio11 16y ago

At my former job, a programmer is the guy who transforms this instruction into Java code: "The 16th digit in the CSV is a field with 1 representing that the student is excused from the English speaking exam. Such students are to have their English written exam score proportionately increased such that it makes up 100% of the point allocation for the English subject, but it is not to be altered in reports showing sub-subject scores." A software engineer wrote that instruction. My company hired me as a software engineer, not a programmer (to the extent we had any of those, they worked in low-wage countries). I do not call myself a programmer around consulting clients because I charge much more money than my programming skills can justify. Most of them do not need a title to understand my skill set, since they asked for me in the first place, and to the extent I have one it is as "the guy doing X for us" (X is usually a combination of programming and marketing). "Founder" isn't too big in Japan, so I usually introduce myself as some variant of "Owner of a company." It is ridiculously superior to "programmer" in terms of social status and sets me up for an automatic conversation topic (given my age and pallor, "How the heck did that happen!?" is a common one).

nostrademons 16y ago
Interesting. At my job, a programmer (well, software engineer, but there's not all that much of a distinction) is someone who translates this instruction into some combination of C++, Python, Sawzall, JavaScript, and various custom languages: "Make users happy."
- derefr 16y ago
  This may be a philosophical point, but unless you're a game designer, that sentence has to end with "...by increasing the odds that, and the ease with which, they will succeed in their goals." You can make people happy by just giving them opiates :)
  - nostrademons 16y ago
    That's actually a good but controversial point. My employer has recently made a number of changes that measurably increased the odds and ease with which users achieved their goals, but were met with widespread user unhappiness. Similarly, there was one recent feature I was involved in that was universally lauded as being a fun little easter egg, yet wasted several million hours of productivity worldwide. It's an interesting balancing act between giving people what they want and giving them what they need, and while we tend to err on the side of giving them what they need, it can sometimes be hard to do so when they hate us for it.