|
Thank you. I think I'll go jump off a cliff now.
Comments from work:- "Why can't you just do it like everybody else?"
- "Well, we haven't had any complaints yet."
- "I just want to get it into production."
- "It only matters if it’s important to someone who matters."
|
|
|
|
|
I don't know what the cost-of-life in the US but I would like even the 2010 salary he mentions in the article... 
I'm not questioning your powers of observation; I'm merely remarking upon the paradox of asking a masked man who he is (V).
|
|
|
|
|
Meh. That's even more useless to me[^] than the one from GlassDoor[^] posted last month. Since that one was broken down by city it was at least explicit that all it showed was that people in areas in areas with significantly higher costs of living were paid significantly more than I am. If I didn't know about urban/rural cost of living differences this one could've goaded me into making stupid and impossible to meet demands of my manager/HR/etc.
Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, waging all things in the balance of reason?
Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful?
--Zachris Topelius
Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies.
-- Sarah Hoyt
|
|
|
|
|
Microsoft is killing off its controversial stack-ranking system today. While it could be viewed as an internal change that won’t affect consumers directly, it will have a broad effect on current and future Microsoft employees that may just shape the future of the company. For years Microsoft has used a technique, stack ranking, that effectively encourages workers to compete against each other rather than a collaborative Microsoft that CEO Steve Ballmer is trying to push ahead of his retirement. "And there was much rejoicing"
|
|
|
|
|
Makes me a heck of a lot more likely to consider working for them. Having worked at another company that used forced stack ranking it was horribly demoralizing. It totally sucks if a manager has a great team of high-performers. I once had a fantastic year and accomplished great things, but at my review my manager explained to me that due to the stack ranking I had to be ranked low, since it was someone else's "turn" to be ranked high since she had had to be ranked low the year before, and I was new to to the team. He'd make it up to me next year. She deserved high ranking, no question, and I totally sympathized with my manager who despised the system. But with a small team of talented people HR forces you to screw someone.
|
|
|
|
|
Yes, this is one of the scenarios where it absolutely falls flat. It's horribly alienating for a group of high achievers, and becomes a disincentive. Also in mixed skill level groups, it becomes a battle of "who can become more visible?"
I'm so glad they got rid of it. I still have little desire to return, but this is good news for those still in there.
--------------
TTFN - Kent
|
|
|
|
|
"Smartphones are becoming smarter, and will be smarter than you by 2017," says Carolina Milanesi, research vice president at Gartner. "If there is heavy traffic, it will wake you up early for a meeting with your boss, or simply send an apology if it is a meeting with your colleague. The smartphone will gather contextual information from its calendar, its sensors, the user's location and personal data". Yeah? Let's see if Mr. Smartypants can stop me from removing the battery. Oh. drat.
|
|
|
|
|
Kent Sharkey wrote: If there is heavy traffic, it will wake you up early for a meeting with your boss
One needs not be smart to do so; just check the amount of traffic, check the calendar and check the current time. Can be described in a few lines of pseudo-code.
Kent Sharkey wrote: or simply send an apology if it is a meeting with your colleague.
Yesyes, the boss is more important than a collegue in your little world, so it can indeed automate that decision.
Kent Sharkey wrote: The smartphone will gather contextual information from its calendar, its sensors, the user's location and personal data
Yeh, we call that "gathering data". When is the part coming where it's becoming "smart"?
The only thing I can see here that's "smart", is the explicit mention of the users' location. A non-engineer would not call the GPS a sensor.
Kent Sharkey wrote: research vice president at Gartner.
Isn't it ironic? 
Bastard Programmer from Hell 
If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^]
|
|
|
|
|
Poor old Kent gets a lot of stick there, where in fact he's quoting some douche at Gartner.
(I blame the "quote" system, not you)
"If you don't fail at least 90 percent of the time, you're not aiming high enough."
Alan Kay.
|
|
|
|
|
You're right, and I usually replace the "quoted by" text; should've done that here too, ofc.
Bastard Programmer from Hell 
If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^]
|
|
|
|
|
|
Yeah, I was originally going to use the blurb, "Oh, it's 2017 already?"
--------------
TTFN - Kent
|
|
|
|
|
Google today launched Portable Native Client (PNaCl, pronounced pinnacle) as part of its push to bring native code to more and more platforms. The tool lets developers compile their code once to run on any hardware platform and embed their PNaCl application in any website. Stop me if you're heard this one before
|
|
|
|
|
Microsoft-centric languages C#, Transact-SQL, and Visual Basic.Net see a boost, but last month's surge for Groovy now cited as a glitch From the department of, "Yes, we are mostly guessing about this, why do you ask?"
|
|
|
|
|
Kent Sharkey wrote: From the department of, "Yes, we are mostly guessing about this, why do you ask?"
If you know Tiobe's rankings are a fresh steaming pile of elephant droppings; why do you continue to legitimize them by reporting them in any fashion at all?
Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, waging all things in the balance of reason?
Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful?
--Zachris Topelius
Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies.
-- Sarah Hoyt
|
|
|
|
|
Dan Neely wrote: If you know Tiobe's rankings are a fresh steaming pile of elephant droppings; why do you continue to legitimize them by reporting them in any fashion at all?
/shrug I really admit I haven't a clue. Maybe just blind hope that maybe this time they'll be legitimate. Or maybe just for the people who's epeen is tied up in seeing their programming language high in any ranking.
Loved the bit about Groovy though, "It's high score: that was a bug." That should be the title of the Tiobe report.
--------------
TTFN - Kent
|
|
|
|
|
First Floor Software, makers of XAML Spy, is now offering a free version of their flagship product. Known as XAML Spy Express, this product allows developers to browse the visual tree of a running application. Unlike its open source competitor, Snoop, XAML Spy supports Silverlight, Windows Store, and Windows Phone in addition to WPF. Note that examining Silverlight 3/4 apps requires having Silverlight 5 installed. That's 'free' as in 'no cost', not 'subject to a despotic government'
|
|
|
|
|
Interested in learning the basics of C++? Become one of those wise C++ devs. Long grey beard available separately.
|
|
|
|
|
Google's Motorola Mobility division has filed an application with the US Patent and Trademark Office for a "system and method" to tattoo a mobile-device microphone with lie-detector circuitry onto your throat. "And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name."
|
|
|
|
|
|
So who wears this? The CEO's? They typically get the best gadgets
dev
|
|
|
|
|
It would be going off like a fire alarm if that were the case.
--------------
TTFN - Kent
|
|
|
|
|
well, we wouldn't be surprised then won't we!? 
dev
|
|
|
|
|
Now if we can just pass a law that this device would be required on all (alive) past, current & future politicians...
|
|
|
|
|
That would really only affect the half that answer questions. The other half won't answer anything you ask them.
|
|
|
|
General 
News 
Suggestion 
Question 
Bug 
Answer 
Joke 
Praise 
Rant 
Admin 
Submit an article or tip
