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Thankful for the company that took a chance on me 20 years ago so I could get some experience, but with all the changing technologies, frameworks and languages I still feel like a junior developer.
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Two decades ago, the industry focused on software tools and frameworks with low learning curves. Today, technologies with large learning curves receive all the press.
In addition, new developers also must maintain several generations of older technologies while learning the new ones. No wonder junior developers are hard to integrate.
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virtual ~Junior();
Oh sanctissimi Wilhelmus, Theodorus, et Fredericus!
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How many job ads have you seen where the phrase "able to hit the ground running" is used? The answer: a lot. I've been "in the biz" for almost 40 years, and here are my observations:
0) Most companies are only interested in producing the minimally-acceptable product without sufficient testing for the least amount of money possible. They pay less for "talent" by out-sourcing to India, et al, getting more experienced programmers for a lot less than paying even the most junior programmers in the US.
1) Junior programmers fresh out of college expect way too much in terms of pay and respect for their skill set. Theoretical programming that they did in college might be really cool, but in the real world, theory is usually a waste of time (because of the desire by companies to just get it done for the least amount possible).
2) Experienced programmers job hop (every 3-4 years is the average) because
a) They wind up doing stuff they don't want to do (systems integration, maintenance
coding, testing, technical support) instead of writing code - ALL of those things
have happened to me personally, several times, and is in fact happening to me in
my current position.
b) The programmer realizes that their employer has no respect for their skillset
c) They've been out-sourced when the company has enough of a code base to hand off
to foreign developers who are paid much less
d) Their employer would rather hold onto them as long as possible without an increase
in pay, because off-shoring is cheaper than rewarding their developers
e) Junior (younger) programmers generally don't have lives, and are willing to work
longer hours for less pay than senior developers. As you get older, you get married,
have kids, and tend to accumulate responsibilities that do not involve the
workplace. Older developers are pushed out to make room for the next generation of
slave laborers because the old guys are seen as "less devoted" to the company. I've
actually been in interviews where I was told that everyone is expected to work a
60-hour week.
f) The employer puts non-technical managers in charge of the dev team, who (among
other transgressions) impose unrealistic schedules on the developers. This is
nothing more than a lack of management skill, yet programmers are brow-beat over
it and made out to be the bad guys.
There's more I could say, but I have systems integration I should be doing.
".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
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You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
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When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013
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Over the last four years I’ve been the CTO at SketchDeck and now, as I leave and hand the reins onto the team, I wanted to reflect on the experience and what I wish I’d known at the start. Pants optional Fridays do not work, no matter how much you want it to.
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Good advice in my opinion. I would add one more for the startup crowd (not really for CTOs): choose who you partner with carefully. It's heart-wrenching watching something you've poured years of your life into crash and burn due to another's self-absorbed nihilism with nothing you can legally do about it. Use your gut, your head, background checks, and anything else available to make the best determination whether both now and in the future they'll be positive for your business 
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Bill Gates warns that big tech companies aren’t worried enough about government regulation "There’s no question of ability; it’s the question of willingness."
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Google is enabling its built-in ad blocker for Chrome tomorrow (February 15th). Chrome’s ad filtering is designed to weed out some of the web’s most annoying ads, and push website owners to stop using them. And does it block Google ads?
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If you want to command a multiyear, seven-figure salary, you used to have only four career options: chief executive officer, banker, celebrity entertainer, or pro athlete. Now there’s a fifth—artificial intelligence expert. Want to command the crazy wages? Here’s what you need to bring.
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Google just announced a plan to “modernize” email with its Accelerated Mobile Pages platform, allowing “engaging, interactive, and actionable email experiences.” "Facebook is doing it, so Google has to."
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Or not![^] (Article on Charter not spending more money as direct result of Net Neutrality repeal.)
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The claims in this article by both sides are absurd and show a profound ignorance of the issues involved. (Recently, an acquaintance was complaining about the net neutrality thing, yet every one of his complaints had absolutely nothing to do with what the FCC did and then undid, let alone what they could have done. Many similar claims are in the article and comment section.)
Note: Once again, write your senator or congressman. I did. One senator dismissed me (no big surprise), the other gave one of the most cogent explanations of what the FCC did and the proper way to correct the issue. I was quite impressed with an unknown member of a politician's staff.
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Joe Woodbury wrote: one of the most cogent explanations of what the FCC did and the proper way to correct the issue
Do share!
#SupportHeForShe
Government can give you nothing but what it takes from somebody else. A government big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take everything you've got, including your freedom.-Ezra Taft Benson
You must accept 1 of 2 basic premises: Either we are alone in the universe or we are not alone. Either way, the implications are staggering!-Wernher von Braun
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In [very] short; the FCC was never given the legal authority to regulate the internet. What they did was unilaterally reclassify the internet as a utility under Title II. The problem is that with this reclassification, the FCC then has the ability to do all sorts of other regulatory things, like set rates, require government permission for any expansion of service and, arguably, censorship of content they didn't like. In other words, they could pretty much do anything they wanted including, believe or not, requiring certain providers be given priority.
The solution is for Congress to pass a law with a "bright line" net neutrality provision while removing its Title II [re]classification, which is regulatory hell. Seriously, that's about it (though some do argue that the FTC should be granted some anti-trust enforcement vis-a-vis the internet.)
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yeah, already knew all that and the solution. But mostly because I've been paying attention and reading along the way. It is definitely is nice to have a lawmaker understand an issue so succinctly.
#SupportHeForShe
Government can give you nothing but what it takes from somebody else. A government big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take everything you've got, including your freedom.-Ezra Taft Benson
You must accept 1 of 2 basic premises: Either we are alone in the universe or we are not alone. Either way, the implications are staggering!-Wernher von Braun
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People really do not understand the meaning of the word inventor any more do they?
"If you don't fail at least 90 percent of the time, you're not aiming high enough."
Alan Kay.
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We’ve seen Boston Dynamics robots open doors before, but this egress is different. Hold the door, holdthedoor, holdor ...
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Wow. Millions of dollars in R & D, coding, testing, producing AI algorithms. Ta da we've created the smart door stop which could be done with a piece of angled scrap wood for like 50 cents, but this is more impressive.
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Pointlessly experimenting on dead frogs got us batteries.
Experimenting on fungi got us our first antibiotic.
Experimenting with explosives and levers got us cars, airplanes and ships with engines.
All those experiments requested countless hours and funding. Don't bash what you still do not understand.
GCS d-- s-/++ a- C++++ U+++ P- L+@ E-- W++ N+ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE- Y+ PGP t+ 5? X R+++ tv-- b+(+++) DI+++ D++ G e++ h--- ++>+++ y+++* Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X
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Introducing our next presenter of "Connections" (it's dated, especially the hideous clothing styles, but still fascinating.)
Mockery can be entertaining, but you never know if or what small piece of some trivial, or even dumb invention, will be pivotal in a significant development. (It might not even be something that works, but something that doesn't and why it doesn't work may end up being really important.)
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Amazon has started designing a custom artificial intelligence chip that would power future Echo devices and improve the quality and response time of its Alexa voice assistant Echo devices with custom onboard AI chips would be faster and more efficient than relying solely on the cloud
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This is the story of how I trained a simple neural network to solve a well-defined yet novel challenge in a real iOS app. Not a short read. Better grab a coffee first.
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A security flaw in Skype's updater process can allow an attacker to gain system-level privileges to a vulnerable computer. The bug grants a low-level user access to every corner of the operating system.
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Aren't they scheduled for a complete rewrite? It's been a few months since the last one.
Sorry, back to my cave time off.
TTFN - Kent
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