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Comment only "rockstar" programmers... if only (Score 1) 509

Big Data algorithms like the ones used by Google and IBM appear to be displacing even white collar tech workers. How long before the only ones left on the payroll are the few "rockstar" programmers and administrators needed to maintain the system?

Anyone familiar with the BS processes and positions the grow up around SDLC knows this will never, ever happen. Businesses love to highly overcomplicate software development, often turning simple, single person projects into impossible to complete, 20+ person clusterf*cks.

And it's too bad - most of the work I've encountered suggests that a ton of developers do indeed need to be kicked out of the industry.

Comment Re:Cry Me A River (Score 1) 608

"The web is just an enormous stack of kluges upon hacks upon misbegotten designs

Actually, the web is an enormous stack of kluges piled on top of a standard applied at an entirely inappropriate level of abstraction.

The problem isn't with programming or its tools, it's that HTML desperately needs to be replaced with something lower-level.

Comment Re:RAND totally misses it (Score 1) 97

I agree that too many people get into the field that shouldn't, but you're out of line using your example to generalize to all autodidacts. The most brilliant people in any field are by definition autodidacts, because what education offers falls short of their capabilities.

Also, CS teaches absolutely nothing about good real-world design. The most perverse architectures I've seen have come from the highly educated - and I say that being highly educated myself. To borrow an old military cliche, many with high degrees fall into the "diligent but stupid" camp.

Comment Re:As someone who's profoundly nearsighted... (Score 1) 198

...I'm feeling a bit smug about this development. I can hold it six inches away from my nose, peer under my glasses, and have the equivalent FOV and resolution of a 28-inch desktop display, handheld.

If you were profoundly nearsighted you'd know that 6" is not a near-sighted reading distance for smartphones - that's a common distance for normal vision.

Maybe you meant to say 3".

Comment Re:Doesn't give warm fuzzies (Score 2) 162

The AMA has lobbied successfully to make it illegal for a patient to find out the malpractice history of physicians.

This may be true for your state, but not in MA. You can go here to review the profile of any physician that has ever been registered in the state of Massachusetts. These profiles include malpractice, disciplinary action, and criminal history. This information is primary and authoritative; the site that hospitals and other healthcare providers use to check on their doctors, and what the public sees, is one in the same. In addition, anyone is allowed to call the Board of Medicine to request specific details about any averse information shown here.

Many other states have similar websites that were made in direct response to the concerns of those like you.

Comment Re:Jonathan Daniel won the legal lottery (Score 1) 163

This is open-and-shut case, and the only question is what the settlement and payout to Jonathan Daniel would be.

Normal people aren't allowed to pay their way out of jail for their crimes.

Why are there settlements instead of sentences when a business or any other type of organization is involved?

Comment *smacks forehead* (Score 1) 309

The Web programming language of the future must also make it easier for the programmer to build and test applications.

Jesus, then get rid of HTML. Have the web "developers" keep their markup and scripting language, but it all needs to compile down to a lower-level standard that isn't categorically "web".

A simpler surface would be easier to secure, easier to implement and optimize per platform, and would free all the higher-level stuff to evolve under market forces instead of a ponderous standards committee.

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