5 ms·

No Excuses

11 points by baha_man 17y ago

helium 17y ago
Was anyone else annoyed by his inconsistent capitalization or am I just being pedantic?
projectileboy 17y ago
Well, referring to potential students as "victims" when the author is asking them to pony up $2000 for his wisdom on TDD... I think the metaphor works in ways beyond what the author intended.
- pmichaud 17y ago
  2 grand is chump change. If you learn something valuable there, you'll make it back in spades. Stop thinking about "cost" and start thinking about "value."
  - jgrahamc 17y ago
    Big "if" though. This is a $2,000 training course we are talking about. I'm very skeptical about the value of training courses and rarely send any staff on them. Smart people can learn a lot from books. If this guy doesn't have the cash for the course, I suggest he buy the author's book and read it. Chances are the content is the same.
- billswift 17y ago
  He's not a victim for not wanting to take the course at the price asked, he's a victim for whining about it.
pmichaud 17y ago
This is a really important message. Do not be a victim, everything is possible. People -- especially geeks like us-- love to feel like it's us against the world, but it's not. If you go out and kick ass, you can get what you want.
- peregrine 17y ago
  I'd argue for some people the world is against them, it all boils down to random chance. Instead of poorly paraphrasing I will just link to this video which I believe sums it up nicely. http://www.ted.com/talks/alain_de_botton_a_kinder_gentler_philosophy_of_success.html http://www.ted.com/talks/alain_de_botton_a_kinder_gentler_ph...
allenp 17y ago
There is truth in the notion that all of us have to decide we want something and then we have to go after it. The way the author makes this point really comes off poorly. There are always going to be people that say they would buy something if it were only $5 cheaper, or if it included X or Y features. These people aren't your customers, so why waste time bullying them into buying?
ratsbane 17y ago
Some people post Facebook, Twitter messages, etc. about how miserable they are about being laid off and needing a job - other people post messages about how they're using time off to read a new book about design patterns or Erlang or whatever. I'm thinking the second group are more likely to be hired. Although projectileboy's comment about paying $2k for a class on TDD is spot-on.
darkxanthos 17y ago
People like Roy are half the reason why guys like that act like they do. I whole-heartedly believe in Roy's thesis. This is the last guy who should have been offered a 50% discount. EDIT: removed a sentence and rearranged.
billswift 17y ago
"I for one would immediately discard a software developer as less than worth his salt if he felt he needed any sort of paid tuition to pick up new technologies. If you're not learning something new practically every week, you're probably not a good coder." - from a comment on the linked article. Different people learn in different ways. I actually learn better from books than from lecture type courses; unfortunately, there are always bits of information that slip between the cracks in writing. I have been teaching myself to use linux and programming in my spare time for years and I all too often have to waste a lot of time in trial and error because some minor detail that the expert writing the book thought was "too obvious" to include explicitly.
jongraehl 17y ago
It sounds like I'm essentially going to be crippled for life if I don't attend this seminar.

11 points by baha_man 17y ago

Was anyone else annoyed by his inconsistent capitalization or am I just being pedantic?

Well, referring to potential students as "victims" when the author is asking them to pony up $2000 for his wisdom on TDD... I think the metaphor works in ways beyond what the author intended.

pmichaud 17y ago
2 grand is chump change. If you learn something valuable there, you'll make it back in spades. Stop thinking about "cost" and start thinking about "value."
- jgrahamc 17y ago
  Big "if" though. This is a $2,000 training course we are talking about. I'm very skeptical about the value of training courses and rarely send any staff on them. Smart people can learn a lot from books. If this guy doesn't have the cash for the course, I suggest he buy the author's book and read it. Chances are the content is the same.
billswift 17y ago
He's not a victim for not wanting to take the course at the price asked, he's a victim for whining about it.

pmichaud 17y ago

This is a really important message. Do not be a victim, everything is possible. People -- especially geeks like us-- love to feel like it's us against the world, but it's not. If you go out and kick ass, you can get what you want.

peregrine 17y ago
I'd argue for some people the world is against them, it all boils down to random chance. Instead of poorly paraphrasing I will just link to this video which I believe sums it up nicely. http://www.ted.com/talks/alain_de_botton_a_kinder_gentler_philosophy_of_success.html http://www.ted.com/talks/alain_de_botton_a_kinder_gentler_ph...

allenp 17y ago

There is truth in the notion that all of us have to decide we want something and then we have to go after it. The way the author makes this point really comes off poorly. There are always going to be people that say they would buy something if it were only $5 cheaper, or if it included X or Y features. These people aren't your customers, so why waste time bullying them into buying?

ratsbane 17y ago

Some people post Facebook, Twitter messages, etc. about how miserable they are about being laid off and needing a job - other people post messages about how they're using time off to read a new book about design patterns or Erlang or whatever. I'm thinking the second group are more likely to be hired. Although projectileboy's comment about paying $2k for a class on TDD is spot-on.

darkxanthos 17y ago

People like Roy are half the reason why guys like that act like they do. I whole-heartedly believe in Roy's thesis. This is the last guy who should have been offered a 50% discount. EDIT: removed a sentence and rearranged.

billswift 17y ago

"I for one would immediately discard a software developer as less than worth his salt if he felt he needed any sort of paid tuition to pick up new technologies. If you're not learning something new practically every week, you're probably not a good coder." - from a comment on the linked article. Different people learn in different ways. I actually learn better from books than from lecture type courses; unfortunately, there are always bits of information that slip between the cracks in writing. I have been teaching myself to use linux and programming in my spare time for years and I all too often have to waste a lot of time in trial and error because some minor detail that the expert writing the book thought was "too obvious" to include explicitly.

jongraehl 17y ago

It sounds like I'm essentially going to be crippled for life if I don't attend this seminar.