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Not sure, as they were my only US employer, but it seemed fine. Doctor and medication were fully paid for, dentist ... something was paid. Holidays sucked - I think there were six official ones, and you had another five flex days, plus two? weeks off. Of course, people competed with the, "It's been five years since I took a vacation. I'm losing all my banked days." Retirement was 15% off MSFT stock, and some matching funds.
I agree with you on the $450. I think you'd be sharing that refrigerator box.
tl;dr - I think you're employer is pretty generous.
TTFN - Kent
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Holiday's looks like it's probably the big difference. I get 10 paid holidays plus 5 weeks (up from 3 when I started) of combined sick leave/vacation. Otherwise it's 90% of my medical and ~6% of my pay towards retirement.
Kent Sharkey wrote: "It's been five years since I took a vacation. I'm losing all my banked days."
I see some of that here too; but it's most commonly: "I use the week (two weeks?) that I cash out to pay for the rest of my vacation."  I try very hard to use most of mine every year; although the relatively large degree of success I've had with the don't get sick plan has let me bank about 4.5 weeks over 10 years. As long as they keep letting me take it with me when I leave I'm not going to stress over that; it's either extra severance if I get laid off, not having to worry about if my new employer pays moving expenses if I leave on my own, and avoiding short term disability if I end up seriously ill/injured at some point while still working here.
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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Device Guard is the previously unnamed feature we blogged about that gives organizations the ability to lock down devices in a way that provides advanced malware protection against new and unknown malware variants as well as Advanced Persistent Threats (APT’s). "I'm gonna lock my heart, and throw away the key"
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Developers are the future, so why do we force them to use programming languages of the past? Because the newest, shiniest thing will solve all problems (and bring donuts)
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Figure C: "here are the programming languages that developers most want to work with "
Android? Arduino? Raspberry PI? iOS? Node.js?
Those are programming languages? I think somebody got confused.
For enterprises that are determined to remain relevant, the best way may be simply to get out of the way and let your developers build
I would say that's true at all scales, but then again, I have also seen the crap that developers build without any guidance, to put it politely. It's a rare developer that can actually produce something of quality on their own. Unfortunately, the same is true of project leads, managers, and most importantly, the client. Hence, it's a rare thing indeed to succeed at the concept "remain relevant."
Marc
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Me think, "a veteran technology columnist" should not write such BS...
Skipper: We'll fix it.
Alex: Fix it? How you gonna fix this?
Skipper: Grit, spit and a whole lotta duct tape.
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Dare I say it that the reason that corporations don't unleash developers on the latest tech is because it changes so fast that they won't complete anything before they want to jump onto the next shiny bandwagon. The average developers motto should really be "Look Squirrel!"
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One of the many reasons developers cannot simply be "let loose" and develop what the enterprise needs, is because the developers do not know or even care what the enterprise needs.
Most want to create. And yes, create with the tools they want to work with and build the systems how they want. Unfortunately, you need much greater understanding of the organization before they will simply be capable of producing what the enterprise needs.
On the other hand, the enterprise managers should be the ones that understand what the enterprise needs.
A better fix would be improved communication between the devs and managers. If the devs want to build the system with different tools, the burden should be theirs to convince management of the benefits, and how they will mitigate risks.
Management is after all, the group funding these projects and responsible for the risk.
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Paul M Watt wrote: One of the many reasons developers cannot simply be "let loose" and develop what
the enterprise needs, is because the developers do not know or even care what
the enterprise needs.
You are talking about a "coder". A developer should be able to analyze the information-flow.
Paul M Watt wrote: Unfortunately, you need much greater understanding of the organization before
they will simply be capable of producing what the enterprise needs.
It is preferred to not understand it; takes away bias. It is nigh impossible to make people challenge their assumptions, but rather easy to convince someone that does not know that it is beneficial to verify.
Paul M Watt wrote: On the other hand, the enterprise managers should be the ones that understand
what the enterprise needs.
That is a somewhat different field.
Paul M Watt wrote: If the devs want to build the system with different tools, the burden should be
theirs to convince management of the benefits, and how they will mitigate risks.
Ah, you can ask for a list of advantages and disadvantages, and what risks might be involved. The decision (and responsibility) is however for management 
Bastard Programmer from Hell 
If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^]
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Eddy Vluggen wrote: You are talking about a "coder". A developer should be able to analyze the information-flow.
I mean developer in the broadest sense. It's what they spend their time focused on that I am referring to. Analyzing and making the product or tool better captures our interest.
Eddy Vluggen wrote: It is preferred to not understand it; takes away bias. It is nigh impossible to make people challenge their assumptions, but rather easy to convince someone that does not know that it is beneficial to verify.
I agree. Furthermore, many developers do not want to know. They are happy to have a place to hang their hat, and practice their trade. I have worked with many engineers with 20+ years of experience that are oblivious to how the company makes money. They simply want to create stuff.
Eddy Vluggen wrote: That is a somewhat different field.
How so?
Eddy Vluggen wrote: The decision (and responsibility) is however for management
Yes it is. He who holds the purse strings, makes the decisions.
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Paul M Watt wrote: I mean developer in the broadest sense.
Like in "anything breathing that can write code" 
Paul M Watt wrote: They are happy to have a place to hang their hat, and practice their trade. I have worked with many engineers with 20+ years of experience that are oblivious to how the company makes money.
I do not need how they make money; what I need to know is what information you need to make your decisions - means asking you a lot of questions, since you are the expert on your company. And I will hit on every assumption you make, everything that is open to interpretation from a layman gets challenged. And all those points will be gathered into documentation, will be verifyable, and traceable.
Paul M Watt wrote: How so?
A manager is not a programmer; it would be rather hard to convince someone who does not understand the implications of his choice.
Paul M Watt wrote: Yes it is. He who holds the purse strings, makes the decisions.
And so the blind often do
Bastard Programmer from Hell
If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^]
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University group reveals geo-inference attack threat that uses browser cache to reveal user location. "I will look for you, I will find you"
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Following a four-month trial, a German court in Hamburg has ruled that the practice of blocking advertising is perfectly legitimate. "It is the spirit and not the form of law that keeps justice alive."
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"determine his or her own Internet experience. It is living proof of the unalienable right of every user to enjoy online self-determination"
Way to alienate people, you stupid dick. Even I don't want to support you now, if that's the way you'll talk to me.
99% of the time, talking in hifalutin English makes you look stupider, and your propositions less attractive.
As his audience is "the general internet user", he should have spoken to them, not to impress his idiotic English teacher.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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You spelled "hifalutin" wrong. 
- I would love to change the world, but they won’t give me the source code.
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hunh?[^]
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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It should have an apostrophe at the end. Collins dictionary is also wrong.
- I would love to change the world, but they won’t give me the source code.
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Forogar wrote: It should have an apostrophe at the end.
No it shouldn't.
Forogar wrote: Collins dictionary is also wrong.
No it isn't.
I do so enjoy being positive.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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Nadella began as CEO in February 2014, and, after a little over a year, it’s too early to judge the results of his tenure. ... so, let's judge Satya Nadella
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He's the CEO of Microsoft. He was being judged before he was even born.
Marc
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NailO is a bundle of electronics crammed into a tiny package. It uses capacitive sensors—the same sort in smartphone screens—to register gestures. There’s also a battery, microcontroller, and a Bluetooth chip that lets NailO to any Bluetooth-enabled gadget. How do you switch batteries? Where do I put the penlite?
Bastard Programmer from Hell 
If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^]
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"He got tired of fighting with his computer for the last several months," Lt. Jeff Strossner said. "He was having technology problems, so he took it out in the back alley and shot it." HAL? Does it hurt?
Bastard Programmer from Hell
If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^]
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Earlier today, a new video of Windows 10 for Phones showing off some new features. The video shows off a new settings for developers – dubbed as “For Developers”. Does that come with leather interior and racing stripes?
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Here is my list of heuristics and rules of thumb for software development that I have found useful over the years. "O this learning, what a thing it is!"
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Yup, pretty much how I have always worked so gets my 5. 
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