In other news today...
-
@Rhywden said in In other news today...:
And his place of work was next door.
AHA! He was trying to blow up his office, Postal-style. Arrest him. Case closed.
-
@blakeyrat said in In other news today...:
My point is that the things that the programmer group-think makes for a "great programmer" are usually completely unrelated to the things that contribute to the creation of great software. And a lot of them are harmful to a person as an individual, for example, declaring that "great programmers" always spend all of their free time writing yet more software.
And so a programmer who's not-so-great at the stereotypical things may actually be great at the actual process of creating usable software. Maybe the shitty programmer's better at creating the software because instead of spending his entire weekend working on some open source bullshit, he went out with a church group and met new people and it gave him some great perspective on how they interact with computers.
-- There is a place in the software industry for people who are skilled in UX and UI as opposed to typical nerd basement dweller programming skills?
True.
-- ALL programming jobs require UX/personal skills, you nerds better go out and talk with your local hobo instead of playing with your stupid nerd computers?
False. There are jobs where your typical nerd basement dweller is exactly the right person for the job. They just shouldn't be given ALL software development roles.
-- People who love programming and promote hobby projects and OSS participation in their spare time are somehow "harmful" to the people who'd rather do something else with their free time?
HELL no. If someone wants to spend all their time practicing their craft and promoting such lifestyle, that's their fucking right. And if they then happen to end up a better programmer then the guy who spent his evenings watching TV with family, well, that's just how the world works.
Wipe your snot and grow up, you pathetic baby. No one's harming you by being more hardworking than you.
-
@cartman82 said in In other news today...:
- People who love programming and promote hobby projects and OSS participation in your spare time are somehow "harmful" to the people who'd rather do something else with their free time?
Btw, I have doubt on claims on somthing like "people who have no working experience on programming at all will not do any good on upgrading their skill by participating on OSS projects".
If it's OSS project lead by experienced people, it could do some good. If you have no experience and start an OSS project yourself and just
wasteput your time on it, chances are your "practice" on that project will "strengthen" your poor programming style too. (i.e.: the amplifier also works when you start with negative value)
-
-
PCU goes to Georgia...
-
@cartman82 What a shocker. Cartman82 doesn't agree with me.
-
@blakeyrat said in In other news today...:
@cartman82 What a shocker. Cartman82 doesn't agree with me.
I disagree. I agreed with at least half your points.
-
@cartman82 Well it's kind of hard to tell since you replied to a bunch of stuff I never said.
When did I say people didn't have the right to spend their free time on programming, for example? You may have noticed that as an American, I'm pretty big on people having the right to do whatever the fuck they want. I never made whatever Nazi-like proclamation you're arguing against.
But the part where you really lose me is that programming on its own isn't much of a skill. The true skill is solving problems. And the way you get better at solving problems is better learning the problem domain. Someone at my workplace for example, assuming they have average competency at writing C#, would be much better-served by (for example) completely reading the Affordable Care Act legislation than spending time dicking around with open source projects. If they wanted to get better at their job.
Programming on its own isn't much of a thing. You can't "solve" the programming problem. Programming is a tool you use to solve other problems. People who treat the code as an "end" instead of a "means" are never going to be the most productive people; they're the people who play around in LISP and casually use terms like "convolution" instead of solving problems. IT already has way too many of those people.
A crowbar on its own isn't much of a thing. You can be good at crowbar, but nobody will hire you for that or give much of a shit about it. It's just a tool used to accomplish other tasks. If the other task is tearing down a barn, I'd hire the guy who can do the work in half a time because he's smart enough to know when to use the crowbar and when to go to AA Rentals and get a backhoe and some chain, compared to the guy who's the crowbar expert and only knows crowbars and spends all his free time hanging out at the crowbar club getting better at crowbars.
-
@blakeyrat Exactly!
Like so, electrical engineering on its own isn't much of a skill too. The true skill is solving problems. You can't "solve" the electrical engineering problem. What you can do is solve the problem your employer actually cares about, which is producing, say, automobiles that customers will actually want to buy. People who treat the electrical diagrams and manufacture as the end in of itself are never gonna be the most productive people.
No, wait. Actually, car manufacture on its own isn't much of a skill too. The true skill is solving problems. The real problem is moving people from place A to place B quickly and efficiently. Car is just one potential solution to a problem, it's not the only solution. You'll never be the most productive person if you just focus on your little car factory and nothing else.
No wait. Actually, transportation policy-making on its own isn't much of a skill too. I mean, what's the point of blindly thinking about cars and trains and buses and airplanes all day long? You're limiting yourself to just this basic boring issue of moving people around the planet, without taking into consideration why people want to travel at all? What are their real needs. Maybe a new bus line isn't the answer. Maybe a remote job or VR is the solution! You'd be much better off reading Kant or some of the Eastern philosophers, or a psychology textbook, instead of digging your head into some nerdy traffic simulation.
No wait. Actually, fulfilling human needs on its own isn't much of a skill at all. I mean, what's humanity compared to the breath and age of the Universe. Just a flash in a pan, gone in a thousand years or two. I'd much rather hire someone who truly comprehends the big picture, than a human issues expert who only cares about human issues and spends all his time hanging at the human issues club, getting better at human issues.
Serious answer: You have to cut your area of responsibilities somewhere.
You may like to think your true calling is to "solve problems", like some mustachioed TV vigilante. And sometimes it might even be the case.
Sometimes.
Most of the time, however, someone else has already analyzed the problem and decided the best solution is a shit load of software engineering. And your sole job then is to execute. By programming. Like in your job description, remember?
And in this, most common scenario, the guy who hangs out in nerdy programmer clubs and writes OSS code in spare time is gonna do better then a "people person" who shmoozes with the secretaries all day long.
-
@cartman82 said in In other news today...:
@blakeyrat Exactly!
Like so, electrical engineering on its own isn't much of a skill too. The true skill is solving problems. You can't "solve" the electrical engineering problem. What you can do is solve the problem your employer actually cares about, which is producing, say, automobiles that customers will actually want to buy. People who treat the electrical diagrams and manufacture as the end in of itself are never gonna be the most productive people.
No, wait. Actually, car manufacture on its own isn't much of a skill too. The true skill is solving problems. The real problem is moving people from place A to place B quickly and efficiently. Car is just one potential solution to a problem, it's not the only solution. You'll never be the most productive person if you just focus on your little car factory and nothing else.
No wait. Actually, transportation policy-making on its own isn't much of a skill too. I mean, what's the point of blindly thinking about cars and trains and buses and airplanes all day long? You're limiting yourself to just this basic boring issue of moving people around the planet, without taking into consideration why people want to travel at all? What are their real needs. Maybe a new bus line isn't the answer. Maybe a remote job or VR is the solution! You'd be much better off reading Kant or some of the Eastern philosophers, or a psychology textbook, instead of digging your head into some nerdy traffic simulation.
No wait. Actually, fulfilling human needs on its own isn't much of a skill at all. I mean, what's humanity compared to the breath and age of the Universe. Just a flash in a pan, gone in a thousand years or two. I'd much rather hire someone who truly comprehends the big picture, than a human issues expert who only cares about human issues and spends all his time hanging at the human issues club, getting better at human issues.
Serious answer: You have to cut your area of responsibilities somewhere.
You may like to think your true calling is to "solve problems", like some mustachioed TV vigilante. And sometimes it might even be the case.
Sometimes.
Most of the time, however, someone else has already analyzed the problem and decided the best solution is a shit load of software engineering. And your sole job then is to execute. By programming. Like in your job description, remember?
And in this, most common scenario, the guy who hangs out in nerdy programmer clubs and writes OSS code in spare time is gonna do better then a "people person" who shmoozes with the secretaries all day long.
Basically what he's saying is that book-smarts are worthless if you don't know how to apply them. And he's right.
-
@cartman82 said in In other news today...:
And in this, most common scenario, the guy who hangs out in nerdy programmer clubs and writes OSS code in spare time is gonna do better then a "people person" who shmoozes with the secretaries all day long.
Prove it.
Considering the average quality of OSS code, your assertion there flies in the face of logic.
-
@blakeyrat said in In other news today...:
Considering the average quality of OSS code
Prove it.
Your assertion here flies in the face of logic.
-
@blakeyrat said in In other news today...:
Considering the average quality of OSS code
The average quality of all existing code is probably low. But we care only about the good and useful projects.
And as you and everyone here seems to agree, code is not the goal.
OSS software is used all the time to solve a broad range of problems. That proves its significance, not some poorly defined "quality".
-
@Adynathos Maybe; but these open source forum products sure solve their problems in a shitty and awful way.
-
@blakeyrat True, the forums are bad, and there are many other areas where no good software exists.
Every software has some flaws and we could worry about those, but instead we may be happy about the things existing software allows us to do. Probably better for our sanity :PLike this forum for example, there are constant discussions about some bugs or design flaws of <current forum software>, 1 or 2 of those topics is always in the newest 10. As if the users were tasting the pain, reveling in the torture, passionately looking for new bugs to suffer from. Someone please explain to me why it is so fun for them.
-
@blakeyrat You prove it.
Also, the quality of software isn't 100% determined by programming skill. As you rightly pointed out, other skills are needed to make a quality product. And those other skills, unlike programming, usually aren't available for free.
-
@Fox said in In other news today...:
Basically what he's saying is that book-smarts are worthless if you don't know how to apply them. And he's right.
That's not what he's saying.
Also, that whole concept of "book smarts" sound like something poor students invented to feel better about themselves.
-
@blakeyrat said in In other news today...:
But the part where you really lose me is that programming on its own isn't much of a skill. The true skill is solving problems.
I have different thought on this.
Programming is the skill of translating your idea into code, much like in the sense that "translation" is a skill.
When you cannot do the job of translating your idea into code, you can try to get a PM job, write your thought on "solving problem" into spec. and find people to translate it into code for you.
-
@cheong said in In other news today...:
Programming is the skill of translating your idea into code, much like in the sense that "translation" is a skill.
The one I remember is "programming is debugging a blank screen".
-
@da-Doctah said in In other news today...:
@cheong said in In other news today...:
Programming is the skill of translating your idea into code, much like in the sense that "translation" is a skill.
The one I remember is "programming is debugging a blank screen".
Well, "you have no code, you have no bug".
Define "debugging a blank screen". :P
-
@cheong said in In other news today...:
Well, "you have no code, you have no bug".
All programs can be shortened and refactored. All programs have bugs.
Therefore all programs can be optimised to a single line of code that doesn't work
-
@cheong said in In other news today...:
@da-Doctah said in In other news today...:
@cheong said in In other news today...:
Programming is the skill of translating your idea into code, much like in the sense that "translation" is a skill.
The one I remember is "programming is debugging a blank screen".
Well, "you have no code, you have no bug".
Define "debugging a blank screen". :P
Start by defining "debugging" as "taking an existing program that doesn't do what you want, and changing it so it does".
Then consider a blank screen. It doesn't do what you want (whatever that is, since it doesn't do anything), so you change it to something that does. This is traditionally called "programming", but in light of the above, it's the limiting case of "debugging".
QED, MF.
-
@da-Doctah said in In other news today...:
It doesn't do what you want (whatever that is, since it doesn't do anything)
What if I don't want anything?
-
This post is deleted!
-
@Jaloopa said in In other news today...:
What if I don't want anything?
You'll need to debug by getting rid of that box there then...
-
@Jaloopa said in In other news today...:
@da-Doctah said in In other news today...:
It doesn't do what you want (whatever that is, since it doesn't do anything)
What if I don't want anything?
Then you apply the null transform to the null input and receive the null output as a result.
Maybe this is a little too zen for you.
-
Occam's razor at its
bestworst:
University of East Anglia experts find 'lost city' was created by nature
Ancient underwater remains thought to be a "long lost city" are in fact the result of a naturally occurring phenomenon, researchers find.
TL;DR Because no remains of human habitation can be found, numerous artifacts that look like dressed stone must be natural formations.
Anthropological Tip: East Anglia has a "reputation" in that it is second only to Cornwall (according to some people) in having a high quota of people being somewhat dim or otherwise failing to meet basic standards.
-
-
@loose said in In other news today...:
Anthropological Tip: East Anglia has a "reputation" in that it is second only to Cornwall (according to some people) in having a high quota of people being somewhat dim or otherwise failing to meet basic standards.
Quiz question: How is East Anglia like West Virginia? (Pro-tip: It's not the topography.)
-
BBC Radio 4 - Radio 4 in Four - 42 Douglas Adams quotes to live by
The author of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy knew a thing or two
TL;DR
-
“A learning experience is one of those things that says, 'You know that thing you just did? Don't do that.’”
-
“I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.”
-
“Let's think the unthinkable, let's do the undoable. Let us prepare to grapple with the ineffable itself, and see if we may not eff it after all.”
-
“The quality of any advice anybody has to offer has to be judged against the quality of life they actually lead.”
-
“I refuse to answer that question on the grounds that I don't know the answer.”
-
“It is a mistake to think you can solve any major problems just with potatoes.”
-
“All opinions are not equal. Some are a very great deal more robust, sophisticated and well supported in logic and argument than others.”
-
“I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by.”
-
“The idea was fantastically, wildly improbable. But like most fantastically, wildly improbable ideas it was at least as worthy of consideration as a more mundane one to which the facts had been strenuously bent to fit.”
-
“I'd far rather be happy than right any day.”
-
“Only a child sees things with perfect clarity, because it hasn't developed all those filters which prevent us from seeing things that we don't expect to see.”
-
“Reality is frequently inaccurate.”
-
“What I need... is a strong drink and a peer group.”
-
“It is folly to say you know what is happening to other people. Only they know, if they exist. They have their own Universes of their own eyes and ears.”
-
“There is no point in using the word 'impossible' to describe something that has clearly happened.”
-
“One is never alone with a rubber duck.”
-
“Beethoven tells you what it's like to be Beethoven and Mozart tells you what it's like to be human. Bach tells you what it's like to be the universe.”
-
“Anything that thinks logically can be fooled by something else that thinks at least as logically as it does.”
-
“Let the past hold on to itself and let the present move forward into the future.”
-
“I don't accept the currently fashionable assertion that any view is automatically as worthy of respect as any equal and opposite view.”
-
“Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so.”
-
“The impossible often has a kind of integrity to it which the merely improbable lacks.”
-
“Life is wasted on the living.”
-
“There are some people you like immediately, some whom you think you might learn to like in the fullness of time, and some that you simply want to push away from you with a sharp stick.”
-
“I'd take the awe of understanding over the awe of ignorance any day.”
-
“All you really need to know for the moment is that the universe is a lot more complicated than you might think, even if you start from a position of thinking it's pretty damn complicated in the first place.”
-
“Anything invented after you're thirty-five is against the natural order of things.”
-
“A life that is burdened with expectations is a heavy life. Its fruit is sorrow and disappointment.”
-
“If you try and take a cat apart to see how it works, the first thing you have on your hands is a non-working cat.”
-
“People who need to bully you are the easiest to push around.”
-
“We have normality. I repeat, we have normality. Anything you still can't cope with is therefore your own problem.”
-
“Beauty doesn't have to be about anything. What's a vase about? What's a sunset or a flower about? What, for that matter, is Mozart's Twenty-third Piano Concerto about?”
-
“Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job.”
-
“Even a manically depressed robot is better to talk to than nobody.”
-
“My universe is my eyes and my ears. Anything else is hearsay.”
-
“If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, we have at least to consider the possibility that we have a small aquatic bird of the family anatidae on our hands.”
-
“A cup of tea would restore my normality.”
-
“Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.”
-
“It can be very dangerous to see things from somebody else's point of view without the proper training.”
-
“You live and learn. At any rate, you live.”
-
“Don't believe anything you read on the net. Except this. Well, including this, I suppose.”
-
“Don't Panic.”
-
-
@dkf said in In other news today...:
“I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by.”
Adams may have said this, but it didn't originate with him. Rossini had similar advice to offer when someone wrote to him asking the best way to write an overture.
-
@loose said in In other news today...:
“Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job.”
Immediately makes me think of the current US race.
-
@Boner said in In other news today...:
- Dude is a fucking moron for not checking his passport photo before applying for passport
- passport office is fucking moron for accepting that photo
Most passport photo rules I've read explicitly state "no shadow will be on face".
for example:"Taken with uniform lighting and not show shadows, glare or flash reflections."
-
@Boner said in In other news today...:
http://www.airlive.net/news-man-kicked-off-flybe-plane-for-taking-pictures-of-air-hostesss-bum/
The Independent report that the incident took place during the pre flight safety demonstration
During the part of the flight where the attendant is FACING the passengers? I guess she could have turned around but also
If you are going to be a sleezy perv and take a picture of someone, why do it when literally everyone on the flight is at attention-- and especially paying attention to your target?Idiots everywhere.
-
@Lorne-Kates said in In other news today...:
During the part of the flight where the attendant is FACING the passengers? I guess she could have turned around but also
Larger planes tend to have two or more doing the visual part of the presentation, one in front of first class, one in front of the
poor people'ssmall seat section, and maybe another one halfway down that same section. In the largest planes, there are probably more.Additionally, they may have to turn a bit to grab the next prop, depending on where they put them.
-
@Dreikin said in In other news today...:
@Lorne-Kates said in In other news today...:
During the part of the flight where the attendant is FACING the passengers? I guess she could have turned around but also
Larger planes tend to have two or more doing the visual part of the presentation, one in front of first class, one in front of the
poor people'ssmall seat section, and maybe another one halfway down that same section. In the largest planes, there are probably more.Additionally, they may have to turn a bit to grab the next prop, depending on where they put them.
That's even worse, because that means 1/3 to 2/3 of the plane would be looking in his direction.
Idiots are idiots, I know.
-
@Lorne-Kates said in In other news today...:
@Boner said in In other news today...:
- Dude is a fucking moron for not checking his passport photo before applying for passport
- passport office is fucking moron for accepting that photo
Most passport photo rules I've read explicitly state "no shadow will be on face".
for example:"Taken with uniform lighting and not show shadows, glare or flash reflections."
The mustache is a watermark and the combover is a stamp, that's his complaint. Miserable git.
-
@Boner said in In other news today...:
The mustache is a watermark and the combover is a stamp, that's his complaint. Miserable git.
That's exactly what Hitler would say.
-
@Lorne-Kates YOU'D KNOW, MURDERER.
-
-
@Dreikin said in In other news today...:
In the largest planes, there are probably more.
In the largest planes, it's all done by videos.
-
@Lorne-Kates said in In other news today...:
If you are going to be a sleezy perv and take a picture of someone, why do it when literally everyone on the flight is at attention-- and especially paying attention to your target?
I thought you said it was during the safety briefing.
-
@Tsaukpaetra did you seriously just post an anime version of GLaDOS with some extra background noise added?
-
@ben_lubar said in In other news today...:
did you seriously just post an anime version of GLaDOS with some extra background noise added?
I didn't make it, but... Yeah. Someone apparently recorded bits and pieces with an actual microphone (I think).
Wouldn't be surprised if it was made in Windows Movie Maker either.
-
@Tsaukpaetra it's literally a direct rip from the game and for some reason there's background noise that isn't part of the game added.
-
@ben_lubar said in In other news today...:
it's literally a direct rip from the game and for some reason there's background noise that isn't part of the game added.
Hence the "They probably recorded it with a microphone and edited it" part...
-
-
@ben_lubar Like this:
But with the mic settled inside the headphones.
After capture, clipping out the parts you don't need, and splice it together. How is this a difficult concept for you?
-
@Tsaukpaetra said in In other news today...:
clipping out the parts you don't need
I don't think you understand. The dialog is directly from the game, with the same timing as the cutscene it is part of, and with music turned off. There was no editing.
-
@ben_lubar said in In other news today...:
There was no editing.
Then how did the background noise get there?
Think your passport picture is bad?
