timwiseman

103 ms·

901.
by timwiseman 17y ago
I have seen some very poor coders stay in programming for a very long time as well. This is hardly unique to contractors. I think that in the middle of any large organization you will find a large number of people that just drift along ei
902.
by timwiseman 17y ago
While I cannot fully disagree, I would like to point out that a great many government contractors take their jobs very seriously and do very good work. Of course, I may be biased since I work as a contractor.
903.
by timwiseman 17y ago
You have an awesome point here and an excellent story. One thing that Seth does not mention that may be worth considering is actual grad school. It is true that a master's will never replace experience, but it can help you get interviews a
904.
by timwiseman 17y ago
You have a very good point, and I slightly disagree with that statement in the blog post. But I think the core point he was trying to make has some validity. Perhaps it could be more accurately (if less succinctly) said: "The specific tec
905.
by timwiseman 17y ago
In other places I have worked, this is referred to as "having thick skin". Essentially, you need to be able to accept criticism of your code when it is valid and be willing and ready to change it.
906.
by timwiseman 17y ago
Actually, I should point out that the presence of a high level of social and economic mobility does mean that this is not a plutocracy by definition. As to your point about gaining money through political power, that can be legitimate. For
907.
by timwiseman 17y ago
Personally on a normal week night I sleep for roughly 5 hours, and then on Saturdays and Sundays I usually sleep for 8-9 hours, so my overall average is around 6 hours a night. I frequently wish I could sleep more and feel tired long before
908.
by timwiseman 17y ago
The prime time for SQL has long been over, it is a necessary tool most of us don't think too much about. -- I have to respectfully disagree. Its often when a tool becomes so ubiquitious and sufficiently intuitive that its true power comes
909.
by timwiseman 17y ago
Ah, I did partially misunderstand. I agree that the potential exists for universities to eventually be partially replaced by some other system, and I also think that right now we as a society undervalue vocational training. With that said,
910.
by timwiseman 17y ago
You are quite correct, BUT at least for the forseeable future a university is the most efficient way to get those things, and especially to get all 3 at once. I could for instance create a facebook page and start gathering a group of other
911.
by timwiseman 17y ago
The thing that a lot of people seem to forget in this debate is that there is room for all 3. On a personal level, I make extensive use of commercial software (especially MS SQL Server) for some things, wide use of open source software (Fi
912.
by timwiseman 17y ago
As others have said, the knowledge in most universities is not what you are paying for. I am currently getting my Master's in Mathematics. I am truly learning a great deal, but that is not what I am paying for. All of the information in
913.
by timwiseman 17y ago
I think you have a very good point. Personally, I got a traditional degree and am working on my Master's, but there are people in my family that learned things like welding instead and they are doing quite well for themselves. Similarly,
914.
by timwiseman 17y ago
I think part of the point of the article in the Chronicle is that the top schools will be fine and do not need cut back. While this only applies to the very top schools, they will still have people willing to pay the tuition and endowments
915.
by timwiseman 17y ago
Ah, perhaps it is because I am not familiar with him that I completely missed the satire. I had taken it to be quite literal.
916.
by timwiseman 17y ago
So much of this article strikes me as utterly ridiculous. To start with, even if someone where to believe that mathematics was only of value in its application, it would still be ridiculous to say that it was a part of physics and worthles
917.
by timwiseman 17y ago
They aren't really problems. As was pointed out, this is the way floating point works. It trades (decimal) precision for speed. Personally, I do wish that Python would default to a fixed precision decimal style instead of defaulting to f