Comment ooops (Score 1) 198
I know who will remain last in the instant messaging usage statistics :)
Submission + - Ask Slashdot: How to Get Better Developers out of less-than Average Ones (fluther.com)
An anonymous reader writes: I've asked this before in other places, and I'm now turning to you guys to see what sort of advice you can offer.
Some background: I'm a project manager at an offshore company. I don't get to choose the people I work with (can't hire or fire people). We are using all sorts of methodologies (agile, scrum, waterfall, RUP, you-name-it). We are holding both weekly and milestone meetings in which we are trying to learn what went wrong/right. So,this is not a question of motivation (my employer is paying them more than fair, they get full employment benefits, etc ), nor one of simply teaching them new skills. This is more about addressing a problem within the mind-set of the average developer.
I've worked with a lot of people both good and bad during the years. There were a few of them exceptional, but most of them were less-than average. Most of the times I'm usually confronted with guys that are getting stuck way to often, guys that are skipping solutions as they are not careful enough to see past their own coding mistakes and guys that are simply drifting away from the tasks to wherever their day-dream takes them.
I was wondering if (and how) can they be determined to properly pay attention to their work, to be able to determine solutions and to unstuck themselves without me having to check on their work 24/7.
I would really love to worry myself that I'm intervening in their work too much, that I'm always giving them the solution without letting them think. But at this point, I can't see this happening
Some ways I've been suggested to try so far are:
1. Make them read “Addison Wesley – Pragmatic Programmer”
and "Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship" – hold periodic meetings for each chapter and discuss what they have learned so far.
2. Hold some sort of "Quick&Great Code of the Week competition", using a new/unknown language for implementation – given that this would be a new language for everyone, this should give me/us an idea over who is missing what.
3. Get the rest of the management team to analyze "a great TED talk about motivation by Dan Pink" and see if we find anything that works for further motivating them.
So, I'm now wondering: is there anything else? would this approach work?
Some background: I'm a project manager at an offshore company. I don't get to choose the people I work with (can't hire or fire people). We are using all sorts of methodologies (agile, scrum, waterfall, RUP, you-name-it). We are holding both weekly and milestone meetings in which we are trying to learn what went wrong/right. So,this is not a question of motivation (my employer is paying them more than fair, they get full employment benefits, etc ), nor one of simply teaching them new skills. This is more about addressing a problem within the mind-set of the average developer.
I've worked with a lot of people both good and bad during the years. There were a few of them exceptional, but most of them were less-than average. Most of the times I'm usually confronted with guys that are getting stuck way to often, guys that are skipping solutions as they are not careful enough to see past their own coding mistakes and guys that are simply drifting away from the tasks to wherever their day-dream takes them.
I was wondering if (and how) can they be determined to properly pay attention to their work, to be able to determine solutions and to unstuck themselves without me having to check on their work 24/7.
I would really love to worry myself that I'm intervening in their work too much, that I'm always giving them the solution without letting them think. But at this point, I can't see this happening
Some ways I've been suggested to try so far are:
1. Make them read “Addison Wesley – Pragmatic Programmer”
and "Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship" – hold periodic meetings for each chapter and discuss what they have learned so far.
2. Hold some sort of "Quick&Great Code of the Week competition", using a new/unknown language for implementation – given that this would be a new language for everyone, this should give me/us an idea over who is missing what.
3. Get the rest of the management team to analyze "a great TED talk about motivation by Dan Pink" and see if we find anything that works for further motivating them.
So, I'm now wondering: is there anything else? would this approach work?
Comment what it feels like in there... (Score 1) 66
Standing on what little land exists here, you watch a giant red dwarf sink slowly into the horizon of a hot ocean. Waterspouts drop out of the sky, formed by a crushing atmosphere that wonâ(TM)t allow water to boil, even at 500 degrees Fahrenheit. You are on one of the smallest known exoplanets, GJ 1214b.
http://evo.beyondgenes.com/journal/worldgj.jpg
courtesy of Kemo D. 7
Submission + - XBox 720 Release Date (newxbox720.com)
gciochina writes: These guys here have been hard pressed to stay up to date with the latest from the world of console gaming in the last few months. With Sony hard at work on its PlayStation 4, and the Wii U now announced from Nintendo, it's unsurprising to discover that Microsoft too have been upping their staff intake to work on the next generation Xbox, fondly referred to as the Xbox 720.
Submission + - Symantec identifies polymorphic Android Trojans (techworld.com.au) 1
angry tapir writes: "Symantec researchers have identified a new premium-rate SMS Android Trojan that modifies its code every time it gets downloaded in order to bypass antivirus detection. his technique is known as server-side polymorphism and has already existed in the world of desktop malware for many years, but mobile malware creators have only now begun to adopt it."
Comment Re:awww sh*t! (Score 1) 253
Or they are just in the hands of politicians who signed the ACTA?
Now that's an understatement!
You'll understand my (sad) amuzement once I explain some thing about most of that region (Russia, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Ukraine etc.). It's rife with politician collusion in Mafia-like organizations at national level. Basically the entire system becomes one big corrupt blob which infiltrates everything: justice, administration, religion, health, economy, education, mass media etc. It's core purpose: making money for the members, mainly by robbing massively from national resources, EU grants, IMF loans, anything and anyhow, without any regard for long term consequences.
Choices for average Joe: A) join the system, leave backbone and scruples at the door; B) don't join the system, lead an honest life, but you'll never get ahead; C) GTFO of the country. Of course there's also D) civil disobedience and protests, but the population in these countries is usually brainwashed by decades, sometimes centuries, of "bread and circus", and sistematically kept out of practice with any kind of stepping out of line.
Even so, in the long term the resources eventually dry up and the shit hits the fan. Now, I'm not gonna throw all those countries in the same basket; each of them has very different circumstances. But the economical crisis has exposed the ugly underbelly of the system and brought the end so much closer, and it's coming to a conclusion soon.
Coming back to topic: adopting ACTA against the interest of the citizens is perfectly natural in such systems, but it's a drop in the ocean. Stuff like that is business as usual in these countries, and they have much bigger issues right now, such as nearing complete collapse of economy, health care, education etc.
What this guy wrote here is totally true, (sadly) especially in my country.
Comment Re:awww sh*t! (Score 1) 253
You must have some important (and independent) site which can black-out Internet. ACTA will hit hard on ISP's, it must be a chance that they can put a pop-up Web Page once per day or every few hours explaining to Internet users whats going on? Or they are just in the hands of politicians who signed the ACTA?
good point, but that's exactly my concern above
Comment awww sh*t! (Score 3, Insightful) 253
I'm from Romania and I think I can say that I've been actively involved in "down with SOPA/PIPA" movement... and, for now, looks like we've won a battle on these two.
However, i'm getting really worried about the whole ACTA stuff, because I don't think that we'll ever manage to get that much support for an anti-ACTA movement. Right now, at least two of the guys (Romanians) we've got in the EU parliament are certified retards and i'm pretty sure that they'll never consider the full implications of their vote on this one.
The most disturbing thing is that the majority of the population hasn't even heard of ACTA, SOPA, PIPA... let alone ever heard of what they stand for and how will these change their lives. Without a huge move like the one made by Reddit/ Wikipedia/ Google & Co/ etc we'll never be able to stop it.
Right now, the only thing i can think of is FML :(.
Comment Re:Change last sentence (Score 1) 185
congratulations OP you sound just like CNN!! lol
Comment Finally! (Score 5, Funny) 91
I'll be able to show my all in one toilet!!!
http://i.imgur.com/fdJDV.jpg
See you there! :D
Comment /. what are you doing? (Score 1) 290
why doesn't slashdot do anything regarding this!!?!? blackout some text! put a banner or something guys!??
Comment good point (Score 1) 1
he's got a point in there... i'm just saying...
Submission + - Do you support SOPA/ PIPA 1
An anonymous reader writes: Hey /. why don't you do something to show that you don't support SOPA?
HINT: Make texts black out like 4chan or display something like reddit...
What do you say? Good Luck :)
HINT: Make texts black out like 4chan or display something like reddit...
What do you say? Good Luck
Submission + - NokiaDevelopers Forum Database Breached
gciochina writes: The other day, users of developer.nokia.com/community discussion forum were informed of a security breach that has targeted the user database. The breach has exposed user's email addresses, AIM, ICQ, MSN and other sensitive information.
Quoting:
"During our ongoing investigation of the incident we have discovered that a database table containing developer forum members' email addresses has been accessed, by exploiting a vulnerability in the bulletin board software that allowed an SQL Injection attack. Initially we believed that only a small number of these forum member records had been accessed, but further investigation has identified that the number is significantly larger.
The database table records includes members’ email addresses and, for fewer than 7% who chose to include them in their public profile, either birth dates, homepage URL or usernames for AIM, ICQ, MSN, Skype or Yahoo. However, they do not contain sensitive information such as passwords or credit card details and so we do not believe the security of forum members’ accounts is at risk. Other Nokia accounts are not affected."
Quoting:
"During our ongoing investigation of the incident we have discovered that a database table containing developer forum members' email addresses has been accessed, by exploiting a vulnerability in the bulletin board software that allowed an SQL Injection attack. Initially we believed that only a small number of these forum member records had been accessed, but further investigation has identified that the number is significantly larger.
The database table records includes members’ email addresses and, for fewer than 7% who chose to include them in their public profile, either birth dates, homepage URL or usernames for AIM, ICQ, MSN, Skype or Yahoo. However, they do not contain sensitive information such as passwords or credit card details and so we do not believe the security of forum members’ accounts is at risk. Other Nokia accounts are not affected."
Submission + - Mac skeptic Vents (provocativepenguin.com)
JameskPratt writes: SEAMUS GEARIN opens with, "Overpriced, overly simplified, less than impressive technology – there are a lot of reasons not to buy a Mac. Yet people still do." He makes the standard claims that the only reason that there aren't more viruses for Macs is because more people us PCs. But he also makes a strange claim that "Apple products are built with an expiration date. The battery in an iPod is only meant to last 18 months, for example." And that Apple spends less than other companies on R&D.
