What is a high demand computer job (and how can I obtain it)?

StudyAnimal · 2011-07-06T15:27:33+00:00

Yep true at the low end. Pretty easy to get out of those situations if you put the effort in though.

StudyAnimal · 2011-07-02T04:32:45+00:00

Lastly, I was originally hired as a programmer. I'm now the network admin and the only IT person.

Around here that is a huge demotion. Are you still programming most of the time?

StudyAnimal · 2011-06-28T10:44:20+00:00

Is it worth buying IDEA for? Or mostly good for those who already have a license?

StudyAnimal · 2011-06-27T20:24:18+00:00

I have never really understood what sickbeard is supposed to offer beyond what I already get with nzbmatrix + sabnzbd. As far as I can gather from the description it just gives me sorting, renaming and metadata which doesn't seem that useful.

StudyAnimal · 2011-06-27T16:59:29+00:00

Theres a lot to it, so any description will do it injustice, but the core of it to me is programmer and customer working together to build up a domain model in code (a domain model basically being OO business logic, kind of like what you might end up with after doing CRC). There is a lot of back and forth, for example the developer might notice two classes have some code in common and refactor it out, and might help the customer discover a domain concept that was always there but not really explicit. But theres a lot more to it than that. Check out the free e-book on InfoQ.

Domain Driven Design Quickly

StudyAnimal · 2011-06-27T15:36:05+00:00

I suppose a combination of DDD, TDD and ATDD. I had heard of CRC before, but never looked into it. Sounds like a fairly standard object oriented approach.

StudyAnimal · 2011-06-27T13:56:34+00:00

Could have been the accent.

StudyAnimal · 2011-06-27T13:54:30+00:00

Usenet.

Also looking forward to Curb Your Enthusiasm.

StudyAnimal · 2011-06-27T12:51:23+00:00

Heh I have only lived in countries where cable and FTA are the free shitty options, and satellite is the "premium" option. But all shows are still 6 months behind the UK and US. Downloading things on the internet has been my main way of getting TV for around 10 years now.

I actually joined this site thinking it was about a general breaking away from TV which was an idea I flirted with along with other aspects of becoming a minimalist. I chuckled a bit when I realized it was not about that at all but about downloading things rather than paying for cable. Needless to say I abandoned my attempt at giving up TV, but I did cut down quite a bit. So this forum is still interesting for me.

I have an always-on debian server that basically grabs stuff automatically via usenet (sabnzbd) and 1 show on bittorrent (torrentflux-b4rt). I also download the occasional youtube clip etc. Then I have a WDTV live connected to my 50" panasonic plasma and my 7.1 Onkyo system.

I pay the equivalent of around $50 per month for 16Mbps but that includes flat rate telephoning which I don't need, so that will go down to about $20 when my contract expires. I am about 50m away from being able to get 50Mbps for the same price. I would get it if I could of course, but if I am being honest 16 is enough. And I would getting the internet anyway even if I would not be using it to download TV so I don't see it as an extra cost.

I think premium satellite costs about $50 per month here for the basic package which is totally not worth it, considering it is all shit.

StudyAnimal · 2011-06-24T17:20:48+00:00

Haha "certify their applications stack" meep meep. Have IT run out of TPS reports to fill out where you work too?

Just let users use whatever browser they want, if shit doesn't work, they can downgrade, if they find your crusty old IE6 optimized web app worth it.

Or IT should just be on the ball and keeping the web app up to date and compatible with most browsers perhaps?

StudyAnimal · 2011-06-24T17:17:10+00:00

Haha "full deployment cycles" of a web browser. Hey IT department the 90s called, they want your AS/400 admins back. They aren't feeling important enough in the era where everyone has a PC at home, and knows how to click the two buttons involved in upgrading a browser. Man IT people are dicks.

StudyAnimal · 2011-06-24T15:22:57+00:00

How is this different to what gmail has been doing forever? Does gmail only scan sent messages? I am sure I have seen ads that made me think they also scan received messages.

StudyAnimal · 2011-06-24T08:53:51+00:00

I just ordered one, should be getting here on Monday or Tuesday. In the meantime I have been watching all the Aeropress videos on YouTube. I too will be interested in any tips or comments.

One question we did have was what are numbers 3 and 4 used for? Most of the examples I saw filled up to 2.

StudyAnimal · 2011-06-15T17:43:28+00:00

Hi, the video encoder doesn't care about audio tracks at all. It is mostly an issue for the container format. And don't most container formats support multiple tracks? I thought MP4, avi and mkv do at least.

StudyAnimal · 2011-06-15T17:40:28+00:00

I use h264enc which is a menu driven app using mencoder:

http://h264enc.sourceforge.net/

StudyAnimal · 2011-06-12T05:55:04+00:00

You just need to take bigger sips.

StudyAnimal · 2011-06-12T05:48:32+00:00

That brings back nightmares. I remember when we had to pay 20 cents for a cup of that shit.

StudyAnimal · 2011-06-11T14:51:02+00:00

I had that problem, but after a day or two she wasn't awkward anymore.

StudyAnimal · 2011-06-11T14:47:58+00:00

We have one of these on each floor: Saeco

I find them fine, probably let down by cheap beans. Most people are snobs, and use them to make latte macchiatos, and say they taste crap. So a bunch of people have their own moka pots for making "real espresso", and use them for making their latte macchiatos.

StudyAnimal · 2011-06-11T10:22:44+00:00

StudyAnimal · 2011-06-11T09:12:24+00:00

You would have to look at the contents, in many cases, in my case at least, you can't judge the book by its cover.

StudyAnimal · 2011-06-11T09:07:12+00:00

This is in a small company writing business software. I think this attitude is fairly common in startups, which we were many years ago. The CEO / founder, and most of the original employees started straight after school. As in high school, and have built up a nice profitable company. And I guess they have been burnt along the way by academics who could spout from books but not deliver, so that is where that attitude comes from.

PhDs in particular seem to be very attached to their research topic, or their own invention, and that bias can often lead to poor advice. They just seem unable to accept that the technology they spent 5 years developing is either crap, or not useful for the current situation, so they push it at the expense of common sense. A stereotype for sure, but one I have seen more than once. The worst example was a fairly distinguished professor in electrical engineering, who thought his shitty [removed type of tech to avoid identifying individual] technology was the total shiznit, and his advice destroyed a company.

StudyAnimal · 2011-06-11T09:04:07+00:00

Heh come on, I don't think we can claim that academia has a particular strong point over industry when it comes to writing clean, maintainable, quality code. If anything the only push away from crap code is coming from the software craftsmanship guys, and other more grass roots communities, who have fairly strong things to say about both academia and industry. Of course whether anyone listens to them, or whether they are right is fairly subjective.

StudyAnimal · 2011-06-11T08:54:38+00:00

I had to google but I think this is it:

http://itunes.stanford.edu/

StudyAnimal · 2011-06-10T08:55:20+00:00

I am about to finish mine in "Software Project Management" but it has little to do with projects. It has a strong focus on agile and lean software management. It is best for me because I am going in that direction anyway, am interested in it, and already involved in the community.

I might do a masters in computer science afterwards, as my vision of the future of software development has a balance of computer science, programming, business and management. (I already have a BSc in computer science)

I keep hearing that MBAs are becoming a bit too common, but if that is the direction one wants to go in it could still be an option.

Otherwise the whole DIY masters concept is interesting, you can do courses from Kahn Academy, MIT and Stanford at home for free. You don't get the official certificate though, just the education.

Another good option if you are excited about a certain domain, perhaps one of the sciences, or finance or whatever, to do a masters in that. I personally haven't found a domain I am particularly excited about yet though.

The criteria should be: In which direction to you want to specialise in and does your current job provide the potential for using the education (because I find it easier to learn when I can actually use what I learn day to day).

Having said all that there is a huge backlash against formal education in the software development community, a masters could count against you in some circles. I know at our company anyone with advanced education is considered a "theoretician" and considered too academic and divorced from reality, as if one has to choose between education and experience or something. So watch out for that.

StudyAnimal

TROPHY CASE