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Er.. I'm not really terrified, I'm 42 already! 
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Business Insider wrote: the future for an average programmer can appear pretty bleak after 29.
The future for an average anyone can appear pretty bleak after 29. 
/ravi
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Very true and thats the scary factor.
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I call bullshit.
Headhunters will always be lazy; yes, it is assumed that those fresh out of school aren't experienced enough, and that those with a certain mileage are outdated. He's merely talking about the generalization of the public - a "good" programmer is at least as young as the founder of FaceBook. And if he's as old as Bill Gates, then he "must" be equally outdated.
I found that the prejudice is actually beneficial. No more "exciting opportunities" or "challenging environments", no more marketing-drivel. It's a nice way of filtering all those non-job-offers that merely exist to fish the top 1% out of the market (ask Joel[^]).
Bastard Programmer from Hell 
If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^]
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Kent Sharkey wrote: age 30, the future for an average programmer can appear pretty bleak after 29.
29 
I have seen many developers crossed this benchmark ... Very soon, I will cross that line 
You can have all the tools in the world but if you don't genuinely believe in yourself, it's useless.
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I don't know really, I have recently passed 51 and I am still doing fine.
Mind you: it helps if you can think, calculate and dream in binary and hex. A skill few youngsters these days are any good at.
Remembering and knowing how to cram a bunch of software in something with a few dozen kilobytes and even less RAM is also a bonus. Those of us who are below 30 are sometimes a bit addicted to freely available multiple gigabytes.
My first machine had 1024 bytes of EPROM (to hold the "OS") and an equal amount of RAM (to hold the software and data) so yes: things have evolved a bit since then.
Just go with the flow, keep up to date with new stuff and things should be just fine. You never know when they need some knowledge from an old dinosaur or crocodile.
I have been called an old crocodile and I don't mind. They were there before the dinosaurs and they are still around so I guess I have a bit a margin yet.
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I'll take your 51 and raise it. Clearly I'm still do something right. I have the good fortune I don't look like the typical profile of someone in my age group. My wife would probably say I don't act my age either so there's a complement in there somewhere, at least I think there is.
If you feel older than you are it'll probably show. I avoid the here-today-gone-tomorrow fads in development. So far I've got by without them. I'm not 29 any more but don't get me started on that crock of shite called Agile this, Scrum that, Kanban must-do and other MBA buzzwords.
If there is one thing more dangerous than getting between a bear and her cubs it's getting between my wife and her chocolate.
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I'm in my early 30's and while the first computer I messed around with programming on only had 4k of ram working in tight constraints does make for a major change. After subtracting for a data buffer I've only got 8k of usable ram on the microcontroller. OTOH at 80mhz this pic utterly smokes not only the sub-MHz trs80 color I started on; but probably the 486-25 I used next.
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
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Quote: ...the future for an average programmer can appear pretty bleak after 29.
I'm relieved...
I'm not questioning your powers of observation; I'm merely remarking upon the paradox of asking a masked man who he is. (V)
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Quote: the future for an average programmer can appear pretty bleak after 29.
Excellent - that means only the above average programmers make it into their 30s? Per ardua ad astra indeed.
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Duncan Edwards Jones wrote: Excellent - that means only the above average programmers make it into their 30s?
Above average programmers? I'm in.
If there is one thing more dangerous than getting between a bear and her cubs it's getting between my wife and her chocolate.
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What a recurring blather of nonsense...
Developers often skew young because older staff can grow tired of relearning their skills each time a new platform comes out.
Yes, we do grow tired, because of all the different buzzwords but nothing really new. "Older" developers simply have a better BS detector.
Second, and more importantly, companies frequently hire younger, inexperienced programmers to perform the same work for a cheaper salary.
Bingo. The color of money. I have more money to do it over than to do it right. If a project collapses, it's never the fault of management decisions, etc. Not saying us older dudes are perfect, but I have seen some sheer misery generated by the younger crowd.
Still happily coding and developing software.....
Charlie Gilley
<italic>You're going to tell me what I want to know, or I'm going to beat you to death in your own house.
"Where liberty dwells, there is my country." B. Franklin, 1783
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759
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Consider what it looks like from 63. . .
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NASA is calling on coders to help in the hunt for potentially dangerous asteroids. Over the next six months, the agency will be offering a total of $35,000 in prizes in a contest series that aims to improve the way telescopes detect, track, and analyze incoming space rocks. Do we get extra points for hitting the UFO?
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Google has definitely benefited from the rise of the mobile web, especially since its Android platform is now by far the most widely used mobile operating system in the world. However, the mobile web has also shown itself to be disruptive to Google’s traditional search business mostly because it’s having trouble collecting data on what users are doing when they’re looking at mobile applications. "The Eye of Sauron now turns to the last free kingdom of men."
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Kudos for tag line
Kent Sharkey wrote: "The Eye of Sauron now turns to the last free kingdom of men."
Zen and the art of software maintenance : rm -rf *
Math is like love : a simple idea but it can get complicated.
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In my experience 95% of what I'm doing on the mobile app is trying to discover where they've hidden all the functionality from the website.
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So maybe having Google scan it would be helpful?
I really hate companies that do that, and they tend to be the first to keep shoving their app in your face when you go to the site.
TTFN - Kent
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I bet they know what users are doing when they're looking at adult-themed apps.
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Kinoma Create is a JavaScript-powered Internet of Things construction kit designed to help software developers become “makers” who are able to easily design prototype products faster, according to the company. The platform allows users to create personal projects, consumer electronics and Internet of Things prototypes with no prior hardware experience.
I'v tried Raspberry Pi and failed, this seems promising....
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Raspberry Pi really so hard? Been years I didn't do anything with hardware.
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I advice Netduino or better, gadgeteer. Wrote about it.
Same thing but with real C#, real IDE, and real libraries. 
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Speaking to a packed exhibit hall, Edward Snowden said the keys to protecting the public from government surveillance is encryption and civilian oversight. The world's most famous whistleblower has said it before, but reiterated it for the SXSW crowd, that end-to-end encryption would go a long way towards protecting user data from both spying and attackers. Kind of ironic he used a Google service to give the talk
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It looks like the rise of the “as a service” model, where people can buy software, platform access, security and more from a cloud-based provider for a fixed term, may have spawned its Damien: cybercrime as a service. "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?"
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Labor data shows says that Feb. was a strong month for IT hiring, though it's still not at early 2013 levels Good news?
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