Want to read Slashdot from your mobile device? Point it at m.slashdot.org and keep reading!

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror
×

Comment awww.... (Score 5, Informative) 720

hello and welcome to my life.

it's well documented here on /. that i struggle with this same issue, and have for over a decade.

i wish i had good news for you, but i don't. it's going to be hard for you for find "regular" employment.

my advice? try to find a small company where you can get hired without a lot of fanfare. finding and owner/ceo who does the hiring, or a contracting company where they have no real interest in caring about your background because it will cost them money if they don't place you, is pretty much the only way i've been able to get back into a stable, well-paying job.

pretty much anyplace with a fulltime HR department will discover your transgressions and gleefully report to the hiring manager that they "gotcha" and are doing a really great job keeping reprobates like us away from their "sanitary" workplace.

i've started my own small consulting company and have found that it's fairly easy to work from home (im a software guy) doing the code monkey thing...it beats digging ditches that's for sure. i advertise back-end/full-stack web development/server management on craigslist and it works.

good luck...you are going to need some.

Comment you want change? (Score 4, Insightful) 368

about a month ago i was reading a 20th century US history book and discovered that Calvin Coolidge, Jr,, president Calvin Coolidge's 15 year old son, died from a blister on his foot he got when playing tennis on the White House lawn in 1924.

consider that for a moment...only 90 years ago, the son of perhaps the most powerful and well connected man on the earth died from a blister. playing tennis.

if this doesn't explain truly how much and how quickly things have changed, i'm not sure what could.

Comment it has a name... (Score 4, Insightful) 155

...in the US we call it "lobbying and advertising" and corporations of course spend billions trying to influence people to engage in behaviors that increase the profitability and public image of their business.

so it's in Russia's interest to prevent fracking...ok well they spend money to sway public opinion...sounds like SOP to me.

Submission + - Comet dust found in Antarctica (sciencemag.org)

sciencehabit writes: Researchers have discovered comet dust preserved in the ice and snow of Antarctica, the first time such particles have been found on Earth’s surface. The discovery unlocks a promising new source of this material. The oldest astronomical particles available for study, comet dust can offer clues about how our solar system formed.

Submission + - The Orion Spacecraft Runs On 12-Year-Old Computer Tech (computerworld.com)

Lucas123 writes: While NASA's Orion spacecraft, which blasted off on a successful test flight today, may be preparing for a first-of-its-kind mission to carry astronauts to Mars and other deep-space missions, the technology inside of it is no where near leading edge. In fact, its computers and its processors are 12 years old — making them ancient in tech years. The spacecraft, according to one NASA engineer, is built to be rugged and reliable in the face of G forces, massive amounts of radiation and the other rigors of space."Compared to the [Intel] Core i5 in your laptop, it's much slower — much less powerful. It's probably not any faster than your smartphone," Matt Lemke, NASA's deputy manager for Orion's avionics, power and software team, told Computerworld. Lemke said the spacecraft was built to be rugged and reliable — not necessarily smart. That's why there are two flight computers. Orion's main computer was built by Honeywell as a flight computer originally for Boeing's 787 jet airliner.

Comment Re:Effort dilution (Score 1) 254

The Commodore Amiga. The first mass-market computer to include Total Harmonic Distortion and Stereo Separation specs on the outside of the package. The first mass-market computer to come out-of-the-box with color graphics (accelerated), Hi-fi stereo sound and full pre-emptive real-time multi-tasking. Even most modern-day systems aren't real-time.

i believe that your are somewhat mistaken with this quote.

if memory serves me right, that Atari ST was the first to market with most of these features. i remember this because i bought one...it was buggy as hell but i did sorta work. way ahead of its time.

Submission + - IBM Researchers: Old Laptop Batteries Can Power Slums

mrspoonsi writes: Old laptop batteries still have enough life in them to power homes in slums, researchers have said. An IBM study analysed a sample of discarded batteries and found 70% had enough power to keep an LED light on more than four hours a day for a year. Researchers said using discarded batteries is cheaper than existing power options, and also helps deal with the mounting e-waste problem. The concept was trialled in the Indian city of Bangalore this year. The adapted power packs are expected to prove popular with street vendors, who are not on the electric grid, as well as poor families living in slums. The IBM team created what they called an UrJar — a device that uses lithium-ion cells from the old batteries to power low-energy DC devices, such as a light. The researchers are aiming to help the approximately 400 million people in India who are off grid.

Comment 35? (Score 3, Interesting) 376

...the coffee almost shot thru my nose!

i'm 49, and still love solving technical challenges and learning new shit, so I still code...I must admit its getting harder and harder these days to be on a "team" of 20-somethings. It's very possible these folk I infrequently work with consider me a "loser" for still being in the trenches.

fuck 'em if they can't take a joke.

maybe you will enjoy management, maybe not...perhaps give it a try for awhile and see how it fits you...you can always easily go back.

imfuo, the hardest part of *not* going into management is the social aspect of it.

Slashdot Top Deals

Remember, UNIX spelled backwards is XINU. -- Mt.

Working...