I miss PHP's obscure palaces. Once I get to level 6 I'm sure there will be more though!

As a self-taught PHP and C# Developer, the biggest trouble has already been outlined as limited exposure to new concepts. The bigger question, however, is how to gain exposure.

#1 - User Groups I personally don't attend user groups because I have 2 jobs, and 2 kids, however, the Ruby community has shown again and again that it works, not just for the new stuff, but for the old stuff. They just overhauled Rails and as long as the community keeps talking, they'll do it again and again to perfection.

#2 - Contracting It's a large assumption, but if you have the time to learn a language, you've got time to find small contracts, and hopefully ones that will introduce you to knew people with difference foci (focuses?). Also, digging unto other people's code helps you think outside of the structures that you taught yourself - you might even get some extra cash. Check out craigs list, elance, etc

#3 - Open Source Not as good for your wallet up front, but if you think you have a unique perspective that is applicable to an existing project, donate some code. Bug fixes are just as valuable as new features.

#4 - Publications I use this in the loosest sense of the word possible. I "camp" PHP.net because there are new functions popping up all the time. Their search database is fairly decent, so when you're thinking like a PHP dev, put a word or two in and see what pops up. MSDN isn't too bad either, but the naming conventions vary, and it's so large that simply search for keywords is a challenge (They have an "OrderedDictionary, but not a UniqueList...?)

#5 - Inspiration (& Perspiration) Nothing develops with out the the will power and simply getting things done. Going back to #3, you can simply start your own project or feature. Lots of things are pluggable these days, and if your desired functionality doesn't exist, don't cry about it - build it! PHP doesn't have events, because events don't make a lot of sense on the Web.... HOWEVER, if you're writing a PHP-JS-AJAX framework, then they make a LOT of sense. Noone says you HAVE to release your code either... managing a repo is a lot of work. The point is to build something, find the pain points, then ask yourself "Is there a better way to do this?" Find the better way, build it, and make your life easier... then share it if you can.

Albeit, statistics can always be skewed to tell a story. If I have a database of US Presidents, and their birth dates, and their places of birth, I believe you could statistically say that the best Presidents that the US has ever had have come from Illinois (despite the fact that this occurred before the US was fully annexed.) Further more, you could argue that better leaders are born in April (fictionalization) because it's a coincidence what month they were born in.

When I was in college, a lady from the Wall Street Journal came to my statistics class telling us that the average Per Capita Income of subscribers was $200,000 annually. This is not a cause -> effect relationship. Chances are better than a) some of the richest people in the world read this paper and b) the upper middle class are dragging down the average cuz they want to be rich also. It does not however imply that one would be richer for buying WJS.

I am surprised that nobody has given mention to Aristotle's Rhetoric where it is described in great detail the invaluable skill of utilizing the feelings (ethos / ethics) of the words that surround raw logic (logos / logic) and collectively provide a persuasive argument (pathos / pathology). It is our human nature that gives us greatness for being able to decorate words into so much more than they are, with simple things like CAPITALization, overly obfuscated alliterated onomatopoeia of oration, and rhymes so nice they splice the skies of sun and set.

It seems easy to see that people far more easily acquiesce to the involvement of their emotions than to their hair splitting logic. How else would myspace and facebook make so much money? Drama feels gooooood!

Show = Baby whipes. US Marines use them in the field for weeks or months.

I was kind of nerdy in HS and grew into a geek shortly after. This was a short while before 9-11 after which I couldn't find a job, so I joined the Marines.

While I was in the Marines I got to experience the undercutting of on-the-job training, due to civilian network management (EDS, now HP).

The problems are many and quite diverse. The biggest I saw is the communist nature of day-to-day military life. Strangely, it's also not very militaristic.

I don't see geeks as prima donas, however, geeks are highly intelligent, exacting individuals who militaristically prove themselves or are proven by this intellect - something rare, rarely matched, and even more rarely respected.

FTA, when the general said IT personnel are in ill-fitting positions he is not kidding. In the lower - more prevalent - echelons of the Marines, ITs get grouped with the "Communications" unit. There-in, they are managed by superiors with little or no computer literacy. Furthermore, Marines no longer manage their own base networks, making their chances for training and experience limited. Finally, they are shipped off to Iraq or other war zones where they have to hit the ground running and are inevitably usurped by superior units with inferior intellect.

As if my two cents were worth anything at all, I would require that the military sac-up, and start actually weeding out the geeks from the grunts. I had some many computer illiterate "Network Administrators" it made me - the supervisor - execute more work than they did. As it stands, any n00b with the "potential" to learn this stuff gets thrust into a class where they don't socially fit, and can't grow fast enough. Then they are sent to protect the networks and save the world.

As well, the subordinate units I described without any IT-proficient superiors could easily be seeded with some of the current leaders in the field and a separate classification, keeping out from under the ignorant and arrogant thumb of the masses.

As a final note, ITs should not be exempt from performing their militaristic duties. Virtual or real fragging are both basically point and click, but we all have the potential to save lives and think strategically for the benefit of our brothers.

Sgt of Marines