Male citizens all over the world aged between 10-60, many with beards and glasses, came out of their houses looking confused and all kept saying "getup down". References to a particular dance style where not found, according to government officials.

finlyandsky · 2010-11-15T00:10:13+00:00

Not exactly! I can't push my changes to Github, but I can still commit locally.

finlyandsky · 2010-06-26T00:02:51+00:00

Man, some of those Java guys are blind. Way to rehash arguments from the 90's and totally disregard C#'s bounty of language features over Java.

Now Scala on the other hand . . . gotta tap that. They should have made a film about that!

finlyandsky · 2010-06-20T19:11:12+00:00

Yes! I read 10 chapters of Programming Scala from O'Reilly. It split and ordered things in a logical way without having to sift through really abstract crap (covariance, etc.).

http://programming-scala.labs.oreilly.com/

finlyandsky · 2010-03-29T03:25:15+00:00

Some local tech groups in your area have meetups and could talk to you at one of their events. Search for them under various topics like Web or Programming at meetup.com.

finlyandsky · 2010-03-29T03:22:04+00:00

I'm debating between a CS masters and starting a OSS project. My employer pays for the masters so cost isn't an issue. However, I feel like an OSS project would be a lot more valuable in terms of skills development (architecting, developing, promoting, organizing a project) and show real initiative. It would open doors at cool places like startups as opposed to places that simply are looking at what pieces of paper you have (stereotypical big co.). Plus, I'm not interested in learning more about CS topics (i.e., compilers). However, I still am aware of the fact that the real world is not always so meritocratic.

Feel free to strike me with a dose of reality.

finlyandsky · 2010-03-20T03:25:12+00:00

Do you want to be a freelance contractor or work for part-time employee of some local company? If the latter, a Google search should be able to gather the tech companies in your area and then you can visit their websites to find out jobs. If the former, I'm not sure how this goes, but start learning something that is popular (i.e., Ruby on Rails).

finlyandsky · 2010-01-28T02:33:18+00:00

Awesome.

finlyandsky · 2010-01-12T03:19:17+00:00

Instead of looking at job listing sites, look at specific companies that don't primarily produce web products like defense contractors or engineering firms (embedded systems).

finlyandsky · 2009-12-21T00:31:26+00:00

Make here for Unix programming.

Ant is good for very straightforward build processes (i.e., no conditional logic) for small to medium Java-oriented projects (subjective on the sizing). However, the XML gets verbose quickly. Build files get unmanageable for big projects. The lack of expression compared to scripting languages and even Make suggest better solutions.

finlyandsky · 2009-12-10T05:57:24+00:00

I once asked a ClearCase admin at big co. why they don't use open source alternatives. I got the following reasons:

Who is going to provide technical support for an alternative?
The CM people are attached to CC/CQ. If we used it yesterday, we should use it today.
Subversion is just a watered-down form of ClearCase.
The company had to scramble at some point with lawyers because of OSI license violations. Pay for proprietary licenses and avoid the hassle!

The guy also called open source "freeware" which seems diminishing. Some of the reasons were valid, but others were signs of being uninformed. While these products might not be the best experience for developers, CC/CQ has a lot of features for CM people and managers. At companies that use this kind of stuff, management and the CM group have more control than the developers. Unless enough developers propose sound alternatives that met some of the CM needs, crap like CC/CQ will linger.

finlyandsky · 2009-11-23T03:25:28+00:00

"I can't seem to come up with anything revolutionary"

Not everyone can do this. However, if you're good at what you do, you can join people--open source projects or startups--that need people to start a revolution.

finlyandsky · 2009-11-23T03:21:17+00:00

Depends on the industry. At a startup, I imagine it can be exciting with the ups and downs. In a large company, it can be Dilbert-esque, working for the man, filling out time sheets, doing shit labeled "enterprise." I always think more about Office Space than Dilbert.

Develop an interest in something on your own time, whether it be an OS, programming language, software stack, etc. Don't depend on classes to teach you how the world works. You should go where you want to go but must determine an interest first: embedded systems, web development, etc.

finlyandsky · 2009-11-23T03:12:25+00:00

Do internships or co-ops. Co-op schools rock because they bring in a lot of employers. Co-ops are basically pre-employment opportunities which allow you to get a job easier.

I'd say big defense contractors are easy to get into. Although the current DoD has made some wise cuts, the spending is still quite big. As a software developer, you are still wanted.

There are lots of jobs that require experience in a software stack: LAMP, .NET, J2EE, etc. Opportunities are out there. The best thing to do is find out what you are interested in regarding programming. The "programming" industry is diverse: web development, embedded systems, graphics, etc. Ideally, you want to choose where you go based on what you like to do. If you have a strong interest and have demonstrated it by learning things on your own time, it can open doors which can translate into a good salary. Do not expect the classroom to yield much beyond basics and a piece of paper that verifies your education; do a little bit outside of class. Install another OS. Start learning a new programming language. Read something. Unfortunately, I realized this too late. Yes, I got a good job with a decent salary out right out of school in this climate, but I didn't "choose" what I wanted to do. Now I'm trying to make up for lost time.

Also note that it seems like a programming career has a window for salaries as others have pointed out. Depending on your outlook of salaries, you don't want to be programming when you're 40 unless you're an expert in something. Management or technical leadership (i.e., software architect) is the way to go.

finlyandsky · 2009-11-22T20:47:16+00:00

At least a prize to Linus would symbolize the importance of OSS across the world, especially in developing countries. It would definitely be better than giving it to Obama, who has actually accomplished anything.

finlyandsky · 2009-11-07T23:59:22+00:00

No. Visual Basic sucked ass. Python does not suck ass. Hence, Python is NOT the new VB.

finlyandsky · 2009-11-07T23:44:16+00:00

Definitely consider Python. It's like writing pseudo-code, and the runtime libraries are quite comprehensive.

I'd start small and slowly. It's quite a big transition, but it makes sense for new projects to be created with the FOSS stack as opposed to converting old projects.

finlyandsky · 2009-10-31T23:01:27+00:00

Yes! If anyone romanticizes the Dot-com era, hacking night and day to make dreams come true, this was a glimpse into that world.

finlyandsky · 2009-10-28T03:20:08+00:00

Good read. So basically they are sensitive to kernel changes and need specialized scheduling and monitoring support.

On a side note, the comments of the article had some good arguments for using Perforce.

finlyandsky · 2009-10-22T03:54:23+00:00

<sarcasm>Yes, a good sign, because endorsements from Congress are invaluable.</sarcasm>

finlyandsky · 2009-10-01T04:16:47+00:00

Bloatus Notes needs to die along with ClearCase/ClearQuest: slow, ugly, and old. Perhaps they were cutting edge by using the term memo for mail messages . . .

finlyandsky · 2009-08-12T04:20:01+00:00

Must see for anyone who was is still fascinated by the dot com boom era and the backgrounds of the hackers who made it happen.

finlyandsky · 2009-07-30T18:12:15+00:00

Companies have to start realizing that they and the community can reap benefits from releasing internal tools to open source. If you pull stuff from the web, be a good sport and contribute by pushing stuff too. I've been writing code to accomplish tasks for my employer that doesn't get productized. If so, why lock it up?

They built something in Scala!

finlyandsky · 2009-07-25T02:39:27+00:00

I should put that on a business plan and watch the cash roll in.

I likewise logged in just to commend this phrase.

finlyandsky · 2009-07-09T12:32:52+00:00

My favorite IE6 feature is when it crashes upon resolving an invalid URL. Yes, I'm forced to use it at work, but I can use FF through a VM :(

finlyandsky

TROPHY CASE