Yeah, great example. Even at 20 years doing Unix, I feel like I am just hitting my stride. I'm in the top 2-3 percentile IQ and have been extremely diligent about self-training my entire career. I started really learning the Cisco world 4 years ago and that also seems like a bottomless pit of knowledge that could keep any normal person busy for 2-3 decades.

Above all, however, one of the greatest skills an admin can have IMHO is analytical troubleshooting, and time definitely helps with that.

It also depends a whole lot on the area of IT. This article very mistakenly refers to "IT" and then makes a generalization that applies only to a subset of IT workers.

I can see where programmers may actually be better when fresher, but I have spent the last 20 years as a unix and network administrator, and neglecting a truly prodigious few, these areas are impossible to master without many years of experience. At the same time, I can say that many 10+ year admins out there have not invested in their own self-training and are every bit as worthless as a 20 year-old admin.

A couple other points:

We deafies want to change our batteries every week or more, not every day. Have you seen the tiny size of current batteries? You must squeeze every last bit of efficiency out of the hardware possible.

The receivers (aka speakers that go in the ear) must be versatile enough to produce extremely loud sounds across the range of at least 500Hz --> 4KHz with no perceptible distortion. Distortion is the #1 enemy of deafies, and means the difference between "how are you today sir?" and "ajksdhv sdjkch asdkjhvkkf sjk?"

Oh, did I mention the receivers that must be as awesome as above, must also be able to survive something like 18,000 hours in a moist environment? (4 years, 12 hours a day)

The OS and DSP cannot even introduce milliseconds of delay while deciding what is "noise" to be filtered, what is "too loud" and should be compressed, and what was really soft but important enough to amplify even more than normal.

I don't like paying thousands of dollars for my aids, but neither do I believe they can sell for $400.

That's changing ever-so-slightly, especially for Cochlear implants, because we the deafies are now arguing that *not* covering them is plain and simple discrimination.

IMHO the government should pay for new hearing aids for me, once every 4 years. Before you pass out, let me explain: If I do not have hearing aids, I am deaf enough I cannot hear voices at all, and thus cannot work. I can collect about $2800/mo in SSDI right now if I cannot work. So balance that cost against the cost of new hearing ids every 4 years. AND as an added bonus, you bet your ass the Government would not be paying $3000/aid.

Win, win, win.

Atlas Shrugged is certainly the most profound book I have ever read.

As far as Technology books:

I learned to program from the Llama book (Learning Perl) and the Camel book (Programming Perl) is certainly my greatest weapon today as a sysadmin.
Mastering Regular Expressions gave me knowledge that's crucial and most people in tech don't have!

All I've got to say it, I hope this fucker gets some royal treatment by our Government. Maybe this is one of those perfect times to throw the Patriot Act at some douchebag.

Under normal circumstances, my tone is completely opposite, but that's when groups deface, humiliate, take-down, etc sites that are well deserving of public shame (yeah we all know who they are, I won't even list).

But this pricks (or more likely these pricks) are screwing with the masses, making our day(s) hell, and taking dollars out of our pockets. If you have beef with GoDaddy, but all means, hack their shit, post pics of their execs fucking dogs, whatever. Don't fuck with every random person in the nation/world that needs to keep a website up.

And yes, there's something to be said for showing a gaping security hole, especially if nobody listened in private forum, but wtf it's been 7 hours.

So, AnonymousOwn3r, be glad I don't know you. I would personally drop your ass off at the front gates of Gitmo.

Agreed, but the post isn't about people with mental problems, it's about people with disabilities in the workplace. And as my boss, you most certainly DO have to worry about my environment as a Deafie. You have to make sure that I don't have too many meetings, because it takes INTENSE mental focus to stay up to speed in crowds when I have to 1) figure out who's speaking, 2) focus on them and try to read their lips and foreign accents, 3) provide meaningful feedback.

But yes, you are absolutely correct in that it's a different ballgame hiring someone with a mental problem vs Deaf.

I work in IT, and am profoundly Deaf. Working with a disability is definitely a challenge. You have to set expectations and remind people constantly--I work in a company of only 35 people and I have to remind people I can't hear for shit. You have to advocate for yourself, and let people know what YOU need to be successful in the job. That being said, all of these things are difficult to do.

I have been hiring nearly constantly for about 10 years. 6 years hiring Solaris guys, and the last 4 hiring Linux guys. I will be the first to say that around Philadelphia anyway, the market is full of dog shit I wouldn't pay $40k. So if you want a job, figure out a way to shine brighter than everyone else. Some ideas:

-Intelligence cannot be faked, but also cannot be earned, unfortunately.
-Use spell check on your resume, have someone else read it, ugh! If you've been around the block 20 times, limit resume to 2-3 pages or it gets trashed.
-Groom yourself, even for a startup interview. Nobody likes smelly, sweaty, people in grungy clothes.
-Do whatever you have to do to NOT be/appear nervous in the interview. Relax--we're trying to get to know you, the real you!
-Do NOT put stuff on your resume that you do not know!!!! Or at least qualify your knowledge (e.g. "I am vaguely familiar with VMware")
-Learn how to shake a hand and hold eye contact (yeah yeah, tricky for some IT folks)
-For a Linux admin, you'd better have the basics down pat (resolve.conf, named.conf, ntp.conf, httpd,conf, how to change a system IP/hostname, how to add a new filesystem, how to rescue a system that won't boot, or you forgot root pass, etc etc etc)

I will say, I have learned my lesson about hiring young people without a degree. A degree shows you can think 4+ years ahead to a goal, and work hard to get there. If you don't have a degree, have a good reason why, and let them know why you can follow through on things.

I refinanced a couple of years ago with Quicken Loans. They told me if mortgage rates dropped within two years they would automagically lower my rate. What they didn't tell me is that they would immediately sell my mortgage. Turns out they sold it to Chase. So now I am stuck with these bastards unless I want to refinance again. I will probably do it but I will ask more questions this time. Damn, I haven't posted here for a while. =D

This is exactly it. IMHO, coding is equal parts art, ingenuity, and science. Writing great code is no different than trying to write a great trilogy of fiction. Anyone can write garbage, but it takes a mastery of the language itself, and that mastery is just a means to an end--creating something great.

I'm deaf and I use the AlertMaster AL10, but it could work well for anyone oncall. I simply plug my land-phone line into my alarm clock. The alarm clock controls a vibrator and can also flash any light/appliance that can plug into a normal outlet. As long as you pick up the phone quickly, it shouldn't severely irritate your partner.

I have everything call my google voice number, which rings my home phone (connected to alarm clock) and also rings my iPhone so I can actually stop the ringing since the landline has no phone connected.

Check out the zScaler proxy. Lots of good benefits, including what you need. I use it for all my employees and love it, especially the reporting and fine-grained control.

Why was this modded down instead of up?