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Paul M Watt wrote: Well, I think we can rule out that you work in France...
As a French, I'd be interested in knowing what stereotype your are meaning here ?
~RaGE();
I think words like 'destiny' are a way of trying to find order where none exists. - Christian Graus
Entropy isn't what it used to.
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The joke was a reference to this demotivator from Despair.com:
http://www.despair.com/effort.html[^], which I should have included with the original post.
It seems that I have struck a nerve based on a few of the questions regarding this post. I didn't intend any malice with the comment, and I am sorry if I offended anyone, except disaffected college students.
This may also explain why this poster is on the list of Retired Demotivators[^]:
along with these others that reference countries:
Discovery[^]
Mediocrity[^]
Freedom[^]
Achievement[^]
And Americans, or at least our government, is also represented in this list:
Bailouts[^]
Congress[^]
Government[^]
Finally, I do fear that this one does ring with quite a bit of truth in America:
Knowledge[^]
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It seems both of us have come across the same questionnings
There are two kinds of people in the world: those who separate humankind in two distinct categories, and those who don't.
"I have two hobbies: breasts." DSK
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despair.com is one of the really great places on the net - highly recommended. Every year I buy their calendars with the new selection of demotivators.
Unfortunately for the rest of you, a couple of my favorites are on the retired list. Among them, "Loneliness. If you find yourself struggli9ng with loneliness, your're not alone. And yet your are alone. So very alone" - with this picture of the very lonely tree on a snowy hill. Loneliness[^]
Or, "Individuality, Always remember that your are unique. Just like everbody else" - where the 'photo' makes a subtle twist: It shows a handful of snow crystals, but only those who are observant will notice that all the snow crystals have five arms! Individuality[^]
The despair.com photos are excellent. The wisdom is great, and usually it carries far more truth than the more common "motivators" do. The parody is far better than the original.
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The first lines of code I wrote were in Basic on a Texas Instruments TI99-4A; we then were in 1983, and I was 10.
But I only code seriously since 10 years now; I've merely known only .NET languages (a litlle bit of VB6, but I quit it quickly).
Edit: I forgot to mention that I studied Prolog during the last year before graduation. I remember we had a project, a nice program that allowed us to check every fact about greek deities genealogy.
From this language, I forgot almost everything, though.
There are two kinds of people in the world: those who separate humankind in two distinct categories, and those who don't.
"I have two hobbies: breasts." DSK
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Ah, the TI99-4A. Not a bad little machine as I recall. A bit different to all the others. Did you have the speech synthesizer that plugged into the side? That was cool.
Regards,
Rob Philpott.
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No, unfortunately I didn't.
I did have the Extended Basic cartridge, though.
There are two kinds of people in the world: those who separate humankind in two distinct categories, and those who don't.
"I have two hobbies: breasts." DSK
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Started as a senior in high school in '68, then got a summer job with the traffic court in Chicago. I've been programming full time since then, except for a (roughly) 2 year break to be a blacksmith. Unfortunately, while I'm a decent smith, I'm terrifyingly bad as a salesman. I look forward to retiring in perhaps 4 years; probably will continue doing some programming and working part time in my wife's piano store.
One advantage of my longevity is that I can call everyone else in my department 'young whippersnapper' and get away with it - because it's true.
According to my calculations, I should be able to retire about 5 years after I die.
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_WinBase_ wrote: I still often put in 80+ hour weeks to meet deadlines Something tells me that regardless of your productivity, the deadlines aren't going to change. The guy who is making the planning should be fired, without any further discussion.
Bastard Programmer from Hell
If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^]
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_WinBase_ wrote: and have a tad more fun over and above being some sort of 'manager'
That of course depends entirely on you. A comedian can make a lot of money but if you absolutely refuse to get on a stage it isn't going to be much fun. A good sales person can make much more than a good developer but if you are going to be miserable doing that then it doesn't matter.
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I've been programming since 1980, professionally since 1988.
Your use of coding is interesting since that's the part I enjoy the most--the actual implementation. Dealing with management and the process-of-the-day is the hardest part of the job.
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Been coding since 82 but never professionally. I love coding but could never be able to handle the stress of deadlines and constantly changing requirements. And besides, I would rather be farming.
Within you lies the power for good - Use it!
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PJ Arends wrote: And besides, I would rather be farming. Amen!
There are only 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.
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PJ Arends wrote: could never be able to handle the stress of deadlines and constantly changing requirements
I think most people can't which is why it's important to find a job where there are no impossible deadlines and you have the freedom to create systems in a manner that allows for changing requirements.
I am lucky to work in a situation where I get to set the deadlines with my clients and I help draw up the requirements. That said there are times when I have done a lot of work for a request and the user never makes use of what I have created - after the cussing and gnashing of teeth I do however eventually realise that even those projects that are shelved have enabled me to learn something new.
“That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.”
― Christopher Hitchens
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Deadline: an arbitrary promise one makes when the labor itself will be delegated to someone else (and putting the burden of meeting it on the same person oc.)
Unless I'm doing what I have done before (which DRY forbids) it'll be hard to say when it is done.
Bastard Programmer from Hell
If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^]
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PJ Arends wrote: never professionally
No kidding ? And I thought you were one of the many great professionals out there !
What are you doing for a living then, if I may ask ?
And who is that super cute lil'girl in your bio ?
~RaGE();
I think words like 'destiny' are a way of trying to find order where none exists. - Christian Graus
Entropy isn't what it used to.
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Farming. Milked cows in my past life, now I raise chickens.
And that is my daughter.
Within you lies the power for good - Use it!
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PJ Arends wrote: Farming. Milked cows in my past life, now I raise chickens.
I'm sure I have a book on C++ written by you hiding somewhere under my desk. Wouldn't that be considered professional programming?
Michael Martin
Australia
"I controlled my laughter and simple said "No,I am very busy,so I can't write any code for you". The moment they heard this all the smiling face turned into a sad looking face and one of them farted. So I had to leave the place as soon as possible."
- Mr.Prakash One Fine Saturday. 24/04/2004
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That would be considered amazing as I have never written a book.
Within you lies the power for good - Use it!
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PJ Arends wrote: That would be considered amazing as I have never written a book.
I'm now going to have to dig the book out and have a look at it. Positive it was written by someone here on CP (before CP existed) and for some reason your name sprang to mind last night.
Michael Martin
Australia
"I controlled my laughter and simple said "No,I am very busy,so I can't write any code for you". The moment they heard this all the smiling face turned into a sad looking face and one of them farted. So I had to leave the place as soon as possible."
- Mr.Prakash One Fine Saturday. 24/04/2004
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I know there are a bunch of book authors here. Nish Sivakumar and Tom Archer come to mind immediately. So do Christopher Duncan and Sacha Barber. I am sure there are many more.
Within you lies the power for good - Use it!
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I started coding proper in 1983 when I got my first computer a 48K ZX Spectrum.
I wrote my first database engine which was able to save all of 12 records due to the lack of memory.
I now work as a developer and know what you mean about being a 'manager' - I have always been a 'technician' wanting to do the work myself rather than telling others how to do it.
My professional career started in 1990 when I cut my teeth as a COBOL programmer.
Also 80+ hour weeks sounds a bit much.
Having said that in a sense I am working most of the time as I am frequently thinking of how to solve issues when I am not working at the computer.
However I could never work 80 hours flat out. I find my 45 minute lunchtime walk is one of my most productive times when I am away from the computer thinking of how to solve particularly knotty problems.
“That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.”
― Christopher Hitchens
modified 17-Jun-14 16:33pm.
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Well compared to the others (and you) I'v just started.
But still I had moments (the past 6 months) where I truly didn't like my job, but that's because I was doing more support / project management than programming (If I wrote 10 lines of code in the past 6 months not including this week, it's a lot).
But then I get a project in winforms / wpf and I start to enjoy it again.
Hell I even started to enjoy doing MVC (untill it all went down hell and the whole support / project management thing came up)
I'v had a few jobs in my professional life (not all programming but most) and I'v learned one thing, no matter what job you do or company you work for their will always be something that bugs you. All you can do is try to limit the amount of things that bug you.
Anyway my 2 cents (not worth that much compared to the experienced old guys around here).
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