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Comment Unwinding Code (Score 1) 641

In addition to all those things in the article, I'm always afraid when I go to fix a bug at the end (or after the end) of a project, I'll keep following the bug until I find out that I've written something very important in entirely the wrong way. This happened once in a while when I was starting out, and it hasn't happened in many years, but that fear is still always there. It might keep me on my toes a bit more, and has helped me slow down at certain points and think things through more thoroughly, but it's also wearying when things need to be done quickly.

Comment Always fun (Score 1) 192

Printers have been on google for ages. They come and go, but this article might just change that. I first stumbled upon them in 2004 when browsing results for "site:nd.edu". Notre Dame wasn't too careful then. Anyways, I not get 13 results for the search in the original blog post. Down a little from 86k, I think.

Comment Re:The joke in question (Score 1) 606

In a court of law, certainly not. I'm conflicted about the topic, actually, because I don't think this man's words should have gotten him arrested. But in the realm of social consequences, it's debatable what is an acceptable response. So, I happen to disagree with your first statement. If you so something so grossly callous and heartless, you deserve a pretty harsh response.

Comment Re:The joke in question (Score 0) 606

Telling a Muslim that Mohammed was not a prophet could very easily incite him to terrible actions of violence. Should that be forbidden?

Except, this isn't really about expressing a view like "I don't believe what you believe," or even in a forceful or colorful way saying "you're wrong about this." This is more like telling a Muslim that Muhammad is a child molester. Anyone who would say that to a Muslim likely deserves whatever punishment they get, and as much as I dislike laws that limit free speech, I could never, in clear conscience, say that this man isn't getting what he deserves... or at least, part of it... because the real punishment, imho, should be for him to face the parents of that little girl, and let the father get in a good shot to the nose.

Comment Re:Never use casual chats if detail is important (Score 1) 221

Best way to deal with this is take notes, go back to your desk, and before you start write an email stating exactly what you are going to do, what you are going to deliver, and how you will judge correctness/completeness of task.

Then email it to her.

That's when she starts thinking you're incompetent because she doesn't understand spec writing is a valid form of communication.

Comment Re:Wag the Dog (again) (Score 1) 515

Do you ask the same about your electricity or water meters?

Don't know about him, but I do. My electricity bill was insanely high this last winter, and for no reason that I could detect... we're talking more than 4 times what it was this month. No matter what I changed in my electricity-related routines, I could not get the bill down over the winter, then it suddenly dropped to about 1/3 of what it was all on it's own, even though the weather hadn't warmed up all that much.

When I started researching electric company charges online, I found that electric companies around here have some convoluted billing scheme that actually makes the the whole process entirely suspect in my mind. They estimate usage ahead of time, evidently, and charge based on that... then they send some nothing-amount check in the mail for over charges. How the hell could I possibly tell whether or not I'm being billed fairly for what I actually use when they do that shit? I know, lots of math, but would the average consumer have the time or know-how to figure something like that out? I doubt it, so this is a shady practice, imho.

So, what's to stop cable companies from metering and then making estimated charges for usage based on peak weekends, and insane shit like that? This is corporate America we're talking about... how often does true fairness actually come into play?

Comment Forbes article say what? (Score 1) 370

I read that Forbes article about 80% of the way through... I tried to stop at "We will never have Web 3.0, because the Web’s dead," but for some reason, just had to keep going until I couldn't bear it anymore.

Holy hell... I'm on the internet 8+ hours a day on a desktop, and might average 15 minutes a day via mobile... I'm not sure what web he's been using, but the one I'm on is pretty spry. Everyone in my company is pretty much the same with the desktops/laptops, but I'm sure there are a number who spend more time with their mobile devices than I do.

How could ANYONE state that Google doesn't get mobile when they made the frickin' droid?!

And Amazon? It's not as mobile friendly, I'll admit, but they've added a lot of social aspects to their system over the years... so his argument about them not getting "web 2.0" isn't really that well founded, either.... and hell, they made MTurk back in what, '03 or '04? Isn't that a kin to what we now call crowd-sourcing?

And who cares how long Facebook is around? How can you even compare them to Google or Amazon? They don't do anything!

That guy... bsi. /rant

Comment Sounds like a really bad idea. :) (Score 1) 228

First question that came to mind when I read the article was, "will the update be pushed, or will the driver have to initiate it?" Second question was, "updates can't be done while the engine's running..... can it?" I assume this mbrace2 system is tied into the car' main OS based on what the "secrets" linked article says.

Can't find many details atm, but evidently you get to pay a yearly subscription fee for the updates... sounds nice.

Comment I was pretty convinced... (Score 2) 125

and awed when I saw this the other day, although I didn't think much about it after the novelty wore off... which happened pretty quickly.

"Kaayak admitted that he didn't expect the media attention his project would generate, with over 8.9 million views across the world."

Yeah, right. I'd dismiss this if it didn't insult everyone's intelligence. You don't put up the video, a web site, fake a press release, and push it out into the public through the media channels if you don't expect it to get attention. F*** 'em.

Comment Grinding on the assertions... (Score 1) 235

FTA1: "... organizations are more likely to outsource a task or hire someone new than invest in training an existing staff." FTA2: "As it stands, 57 percent of respondents said training or retraining staff would be their strategy to closing the skills gap. 38 percents said they would go with outsourcing or contractors; 28 percent said they would hire new employees." Something.... something's not right here. How the hell anyone could draw the conclusion that companies are less likely to train when the percentage that would train is 57%? oic 57+38+28=123% 38+28=66% 66% > 57% therefore... more

Comment Click... (Score 1) 297

I voted for Cloud, as it's probably the most over-used and over-hyped tech term of the last few years, but I couldn't resist complaining about how I cringe every time I hear "call or click today!" in a TV or radio spot... and I hear it all the time.

Comment I've never actually been teased in an interview... (Score 1) 672

I interviewed online with Google in 2007. No puzzles, etc. -- they went right into watching me code. Another large company, local to my hometown, actually had a good-sized math and problem-solving test I had to take before I was interviewed. Again, though, no puzzles. It was straight math, followed by a face-to-face interview/conversation that focused primarily on programming. All seemed very well organized to me. The smaller companies are the only ones I've had ask strange questions, but the "in 5 years" questions was the strangeness threshold there. That was my first time being asked a question like that. Of course, my answer was, "I have no idea. Texas, maybe, herding cattle..." Yes, I got the job.

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