sounds old school to me

?????==Sue anyone using prior art

I was in the same boat the summer before college. Wanted to learn more about programming but wasn't sure about it yet. I chose a course at the local community college which was affordable and no hassle to register for. It was C++ but focused on beginning programming which was probably not the best route to learn programming but it gave me a good start to everything. You might find more topical courses at community colleges if you're trying to stay away from the "general stuff".

Oh really? Can you elaborate please? And are you also pursuing bioscience research in the same spirit in which you balk?

>and is being investigated by the Chinese authorities

They're probably upset they were cut out of the bribe deals

What I like best about this article is that real names identifying the officers at fault were used. If you're going to be paid on the public dime then there should be a public record of every thing you do, searchable on the internet (note no addresses for these people should ever be given).

I've heard a lot of 12 year olds make those exact statements. Well done

You mean, like, a carbon-based fossil that used water to survive like us? That would be pretty interesting!

It's currently projected that the Republicans will retain control of the House of Representatives, and the Democrats will retain control of the Senate.

So nothing has changed. Looking forward to the next four years of partisanship!

"I felt a great disturbance in the 'Craft, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were forced to come out of their parent's basement. I fear something productive has happend"

I think a distinction should be made between a programmer and a *good* programmer. My CS program had a number of *really* smart kids - 1600 SAT scores and the like - but many of them really struggled at the concepts and barely made it through the curriculum. I think a good programmer takes 1. Creativity to think about problems from different angles 2. Drive to hunker down and get through hard problems (be it starting a new language, that pesky compile error, starting a large project from scratch). 3. I'm sure fellow slashdotters can think of many more

... can't you fix it?!"
No Mom, they didn't teach Windows PC management in my CS curriculum.

my school, UIC, used aix unix with its own mail setup (no Exchange) when i was there. the admins never had problems like this (i know them personally).

There, fixed that for you.

I was in this same dilemma and I chose to stay for an M.S. in CS. I was near the top of my undergrad class but felt I could get a 'leg up' on even experienced people out there with the higher degree. What I found was that even with a little bump in pay the loss of 2 years of work experience was near detrimental and humbling.
The professional work environment is a much stricter and difficult place to fit in. Learning how the business works *besides* just knowing how to code means more.
I recommend he go into the workforce as soon as possible. If he has time after work to finish an MS then that could be an option. But don't discount real-work experience for a few more advanced classes and another 10k starting salary. It won't mean much when your peers have 2 years on you and already covered that 10k in bonuses and salary (and now real experience).