Comment Re:More like laziness (Score 1) 385
This has nothing to do with Google. This is because some people are stupid. Removing Google from the equation won't make them less stupid.
Anti-Speed Camera Activist Buys Police Department's Web Domain 680
Brian McCrary just bought a website to complain about a $90 speeding ticket he received from the Bluff City PD — the Bluff City Police Department site. The department let its domain expire and McCrary was quick to pick it up. From the article: "Brian McCrary found the perfect venue to gripe about a $90 speeding ticket when he went to the Bluff City Police Department's website, saw that its domain name was about to expire, and bought it right out from under the city's nose. Now that McCrary is the proud owner of the site, bluffcitypd.com, the Gray, Tenn., computer network designer has been using it to post links about speed cameras — like the one on US Highway 11E that caught him — and how people don't like them."
Comment And the cops beat me during the arrest... (Score 2, Insightful) 301
I think anyone in this district who interacts with law enforcement should twitter accusations of police brutality and prosecutorial malfeasance.
I mean, as long as were making public unproven allegations both sides should suffer the same consequences.
Comment Re:Earplugs (Score 3, Interesting) 1019
Earplugs give me a headache. Music is as distracting as the accounting group sitting all around me. What saved me were white noise mp3s. I put on noise reducing headphones and pipe ocean or rain sounds through them. My productivity went way up. At the end of the day I wasn't completely wiped from trying to focus on my work so I was able to have a social life. I am also much less irritable during the day.
Many people have auditory processing and other disorders that cause them to react strongly to distracting noises.
In the end it should be up the to profession programmer to decide what makes him most productive.
Your manager is an idiot.
NYT's "Games To Avoid" an Ironic, Perfect Gamer Wish List 189
MojoKid writes "From October to December, the advertising departments of a thousand companies exhort children to beg, cajole, and guilt-trip their parents for all manner of inappropriate digital entertainment. As supposedly informed gatekeepers, we sadly earthbound Santas are reduced to scouring the back pages of gaming review sites and magazines, trying to evaluate whether the tot at home is ready for Big Bird's Egg Hunt or Bayonetta. Luckily, The New York Times is here to help. In a recent article provokingly titled 'Ten Games to Cross off Your Child's Gift List,' the NYT names its list of big bads — the video games so foul, so gruesome, so perverse that we'd recommend you buy them immediately — for yourself. Alternatively, if you need gift ideas for the surly, pale teenager in your home whose body contains more plastic then your average d20, this is the newspaper clipping to stuff in your pocket. In other words, if you need a list like this to understand what games to not stuff little Johnny's stocking with this holiday season, you've got larger issues you should concern yourself with. We'd suggest picking up an auto-shotty and taking a few rounds against the horde — it's a wonderful stress relief and you're probably going to need it."
Comment And upon hearing this... (Score 1) 671
I changed my default search engine to (shudder) bing.com. I hate having to choose between fecal matter and something that stinks really bad.
Comment I don't care what the MS Developers use (Score 2, Insightful) 496
It does not affect my decisions at all.
Businesses aren't in business to push programming ideology. They are in business to make money. If I need an application I'm going to get the application that does the job for the least amount of money (all the caveats about it not being poorly written and being moderately open to possible future expansion, etc.. apply). If I need bare-metal code then I'll get a guy to do that. If VB will do the job then I'm going to get a guy to do that and probably a bit cheaper. I don't care what the language is. I care that the problem is solved adequately for the least amount of overhead possible.
Computer Games and Traditional CS Courses 173
drroman22 writes "Schools are working to put real-world relevance into computer science education by integrating video game development into traditional CS courses. Quoting: 'Many CS educators recognized and took advantage of younger generations' familiarity and interests for computer video games and integrate related contents into their introductory programming courses. Because these are the first courses students encounter, they build excitement and enthusiasm for our discipline. ... Much of this work reported resounding successes with drastically increased enrollments and student successes. Based on these results, it is well recognized that integrating computer gaming into CS1 and CS2 (CS1/2) courses, the first programming courses students encounter, is a promising strategy for recruiting and retaining potential students."
While a focus on games may help stir interest, it seems as though game development studios are as yet unimpressed by most game-related college courses. To those who have taken such courses or considered hiring those who have: what has your experience been?
Comment Re:Isn't that a highly regulated industry? (Score 1) 467
I live in the south in the middle of the Bible Belt and doubt very seriously that it would be a problem. Granted this is all anecdotal but pretty much any answer on this topic will be:
1. Most developer positions are in the bigger cities which are much more cosmopolitan than the rural areas. Most of the people I've worked for and with were from the west coast, up north or Florida.
2. While I have met a few fundamentalists in my career its pretty rare. There ain't a lot of "snake-handlers" doing OO programming.
3. The Christians I have worked for have been very open about hiring. They wanted people who could do the job regardless. The only requirement was that their personal beliefs didn't get in the way of doing the job and cause contention at the office. I've not seen a problem yet.
4. Most of the people I know who live in sticks (a lot of my family included) and would be considered "fundies" just because of their association with the Bible Belt would find you interesting and would probably invite you to their weekly poker night.
5. I think you would have just as much trouble finding a job in the south after working for a gambling concern as you would in the north after working for the Southern Baptist Convention.
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If you don't have time to do it right, where are you going to find the time to do it over?
