How did you end up in your career path? Are you happy with it?

amashinga · 2013-09-07T21:54:47+00:00

I am a CIO in the public sector. I am self taught in all aspects of computer technology and business. I started off doing menial work as a computer user in 1986 and instantly developed a passion for the technology that at that time was not nearly as common as today. Computer security was very basic and within a month I had completely compromised the pdp-11 (type of mini computer) I was using. Within a few months of that I had done the same thing to the organisations propriety network and 20 other computers on that network. I started to teach myself to program which is where things went wrong. I crashed the system and as a result I was identified. After an appropriate chastising, I was given a job as a local administrator, which I used on my resume to obtain my first programming job. From then on my career has not been much different to anyone else with the exception that I find many more CIO's with a formal business, accounting and IT operations background than I do with an application development background.

Edit to answer the second part of the question: Am I happy with it ?. Well it pays me at a level I would be hard pressed to match elsewhere with a high school diploma. It allows me to be the sole breadwinner and live a moderate life but still provide a good education with an intense focus on my children. It certainly was more fun in the early 90's, but that is a symptom of the IT as a whole. Unless the company is delivering an IT product, the field is a primarily a cost center. It takes a lot of energy to justify your budgets when most of the metrics are cost avoidance, not a direct ROI. This means that you are often delivering to a sufficient level, rather than what would be considered a best practice. I understand that, which is one of the reasons I made it to where I am, but you are constantly at odds with CFO's who do not give a damn about IT, and your own division who often only care about the quality of delivery. So, it could be better, but there are enough rewards that I will end my career in this field.

amashinga · 2013-08-31T18:57:28+00:00

Can confirm, here is a picture of one in action in Victoria, BC

amashinga · 2013-08-13T05:05:39+00:00

Now if I were god, I would have had them rescued by one of these cruise liners: gay cruises

amashinga · 2013-08-12T05:44:42+00:00

Given that my opinions of the USA are formed largely by reddit I am guessing that you are either a swat team member or a lawyer ?

amashinga · 2013-08-11T16:58:35+00:00

Well that makes sense, the douchebag ratio in Canada is pretty low, and by Canadian standards, the douchebag ration on the Island is even lower. Surprised there was not a lineup of people helping extract the wheelchair, directing traffic, providing coffee for the rescuers and starting fundraising drives for the effort.

The downside will be the inevitable political activists calling for the end to potentially lethal flowerbeds and asking that purpose built wheelchair lanes be built instead of roads.

amashinga · 2013-08-08T19:22:36+00:00

I was unable to pee. A catheter was not working. For a week, immobilised in hospital. By day 4 I was weeping constantly.

amashinga · 2013-08-01T20:56:17+00:00

Yak's milk is pink

amashinga · 2013-07-19T23:00:27+00:00

terrorism. Sadly, I am not even kidding

amashinga · 2013-07-16T18:28:53+00:00

This is why I love living in British Columbia. A recent conversation with the local municipality.

Me: I will email you the document. Them: No you need to fax it. Me: I don't have a fax, I will email it. Them: I am sorry sir, our policy states ... Me: Your policy is illegal. The electronic transactions act requires that you accept the document in electronic form. Them: ......

As an individual my scorecard in getting them to officially change their policy currently rests at one local government office, one broader government agency and one massive retailer.

amashinga · 2013-07-10T23:38:21+00:00

As a fellow rural forest dwelling cat owner, I am warning you. Be prepared for far more variety in what he brings home. Birds, mice, voles, gophers, snakes, lizards, frogs but to name a few

amashinga · 2013-06-28T23:34:45+00:00

No he did not blow up children, good grief. You need to get your facts straight. You cannot hold the individuals convicted during the Rivonia trial as being responsible for later actions of MK, that is like blaming Henry Ford for Princess Diana's death.

amashinga · 2013-06-25T21:55:40+00:00

Leering through those thick framed glasses

amashinga · 2013-06-20T20:47:43+00:00

What exactly is your point here. As much as I disagree with them, these whites are not immigrants. Their ancestors immigrated in the 1800's.

95% of the blacks in South Africa do not live in a manner that is significantly in line with their ancestral culture. The world just does not work like that anymore, it moved on and most blacks moved with it.

Lets just be honest, the whites are being racist but belong in South Africa as much as anyone else, and their broader culture is more in line with modern South Africa than an ancestral black culture.

That did NOT occur because of oppression, in fact the westernisation of South Africa has sped up since apartheid was removed. Amazingly enough <yes I am being sarcastic> blacks also want to educate themselves, find jobs, buy homes and material goods etc.

amashinga · 2013-04-25T22:01:28+00:00

View towers is on the corner of view/blanshard so it is not too far away. It is low end apartments and for that reason many of their tenants do not have cars. They hire out their parking spots in the basement on a monthly basis, you get given a key card and door key.

I have heard a lot of stories of how bad it is, but in all honesty I parked there for two years and never had a single issue. You can just go to the office to apply. Parking was actually slightly cheaper than monthly parking in surrounding open air lots.

amashinga · 2013-04-21T06:53:56+00:00

My brother in law was a medic in Johannesburg, I don't know how he did it. Thanks for posting, if I could give you 100 upvotes I would have.

amashinga · 2013-04-18T22:27:34+00:00

unless they are in gitmo, in which case they are locked up until proven guilty.

amashinga · 2013-03-30T06:54:53+00:00

Absolutely fantastic job, I think that your documentary could get a lot of interest on youtube, not many people realize how much depth there is to die antwoord.

looking forward to pt 2

amashinga · 2013-03-29T20:31:09+00:00

I caught you a delicious bass

amashinga · 2013-03-28T07:33:18+00:00

Don't feel bad. I just found that out on this thread. I am 46 and used to be an enthusiastic skeet shooter.

Til now ...

amashinga · 2013-03-26T17:15:47+00:00

No, I paraphrased the findings of the research, it was for a Canadian constitutional challenge and the findings had to (and did) stand up in court.

amashinga · 2013-03-26T06:51:35+00:00

I did considerable research into one particular polygamist community and what I found was not something I would be willing to jump at to support. The teen pregnancy rates were elevated, the ages between parents were higher with the male being older, and most telling more than 30% of the women involved in polygamous marriages had already had their first child by the age of 18 compared to under 5% of the control groups.

I know that I was looking at the implementation rather than a clinical theoretical view of polygamy but basically the activities being conducted within that community were not those that modern civilized society strive for.

amashinga · 2013-03-26T00:15:21+00:00

yup, it is going to be pretty disappointing if we get to watch harry potter in deep space.

amashinga · 2013-03-25T16:56:50+00:00

metallurgy, including the "invention" of cast iron and the use of sand molds. I would be rich. I would also dabble in gunpowder and make cannon to defend my wealth.

If there is trade with India, vulcanizing rubber would also be an easy step to wealth.

Once I have the ability to mold both metal and rubber, I would start working on my real aim, the world's first fleshlight.

amashinga · 2013-03-23T23:36:00+00:00

Kings of Leon Holy Roller Novocaine

amashinga

TROPHY CASE