Thank you Thomas for your advice. Here are some of my remarks: $60k a year salary is not asking for that much. I have seen VB jobs that pay over that amount. Furthermore, this is the starting rate at the *big* software giants (Microsoft, IBM, et cetera). I encourage all C/C++ programmers to be more competitive for their salary requirements, because this is the source of one big problem. The problem is the trend that I have noticed in which easier forms of programming (VB, .Net, ASP.Net, etc...) pay more than traditionally harder forms (C, C++, embedded, device-driver, etc...). I feel this occurs because programmers are not competitive enough to request the salaries they deserve.
As for my spelling/grammatical ignorance...well... I studied Computer Science and not English at the university. Sorry :( The failed projects section is what enticed the staffing personnel at Citrix Systems in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, to contact me. They said that it shows maturity and experience (I don't necessarily agree with them myself). The RAR compression format is superior to the zip file format. For the 100MB web space that I own, I must utilize every byte wisely, and RAR helps me achieve this. Pong was my first OpenGL game. It has a bug in which some users experience the problems that you mentioned. I haven't realized what the problem is exactly, but I think it could be related to vsync being required. I will try to correct this once I am done with my more interesting projects. I must admit that the IDS project does not seem as interesting or visually exciting as the other projects, but this is probably the most technologically advance project that I have undertaken. This project has received positive feedback from recruiters at IBM who understand programming. I suppose I list this project first because I have anticipated that my audience understands the underlying technical challenges involved in kernel programming. However, you are dead on Thomas. HR people usually don't understand the significance of such a project. I will also add a note stating that it was a team project as per your suggestion. The rain simulation has demanding CPU requirements as it must keep 3 large meshes in memory and speed time to transform each. I will also extend my resume past one page. I appreciate you letting me know that the one page resume is not the norm no longer. In short, thanks again Thomas. --- Thomas Hruska <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Joseph A. Marrero wrote: > > Hi everyone. What is the purpose of the unary and > binary > > function object templates in the STL (see header file: > > functional)? > > > > All I see are typedefs. What are these typedefs used > for > > with respect to the algorithms and/or containers? > Thanks. > > > > _________________ > > Joseph A. Marrero > > http://www.l33tprogrammer.com/ > > Joseph, > > Assuming you mean unary_function<> and binary_function<>, > they are > helper templates for making classes. I'm not really sure > how useful the > unary_function<> is (then again, I don't use STL > components), but > binary_function<> is frequently used as a base when > creating custom > sorting helper classes for use with std::sort(). > > > BTW, your website is somewhat busted on IE6. And, while > hunting for a > job, mis-spelling 'riveted' (or any other word for that > matter) on your > front page is probably a bad idea. You should update the > front page to > reflect the 'Projects' page release date for your 'Threat > Level Red' > game. ($60,000 is a bit high for an entry-level > programmer even for > Florida - Salary demands are an instant negative to a > potential employer). > > On your 'Projects' page, drop the 'Failed Projects' > section (we ALL have > failed projects*) and correct the various spelling and > grammar errors on > the page. That is, if you plan on having recruiters > visit the site as > indicated by the front page and your resume. > > > * Even I have a number of "failed" projects. Although, > technically none > of my projects are failures because they still reside on > the back burner > of my mind (I've even got some things from the 80's I > still plan on > finishing). I absolutely hate leaving projects > unfinished. > > > One more tip: You should organize your projects such > that the "cool" > ones come first. The submarine is probably your best > work on the page, > followed by the raindrop simulation and Breakout clone > (not Pong! Pong > is that game with two paddles...). However, all three > need some work: > > 1) Not everyone has a RAR extraction tool and even fewer > know how to > use them. Make the download for the submarine a ZIP > file. Also, 'Q' > isn't really a natural exit key. Allow people to hit > 'ESC' as well. > Consider making this into a regular Windows screen saver > (self-contained > EXE) and slow down the speed of the animation. The sub > moves WAY too fast. > > 2) The raindrop simulation "chunks" (animates, pauses, > animates some > more, pauses...) on my P4 3Ghz PC w/ ATI Radeon X700 > Pro**. Other than > that, it looks good. Although the ripples should > probably be more > pronounced. Consider moving the camera such that you > zoom in on > "interesting" ripple combinations when you know 3-4 > interactions will be > taking place (get the camera there in advance so the user > can watch the > interactions happen up close). > > 3) Breakout flies by so fast the player can't manage > paddle movement. > After playing once (and 'dying'), the ball moves > incredibly slow on the > next game while everything else continues to fly by. > Also, the > description on the Breakout page is close to useless. > Every game > developer worth their salt knows how Breakout clones > operate. If you > have to describe how you did something, I would opt for > the "smoke > effect" that you use (after you fix the speed problems). > Hitting 'ESC' > in the middle of the game should take you back to the > main menu instead > of immediately exiting. > > > All three of those OpenGL-based projects indicate some > sort of timing > loop was used. Probably runs fine on older hardware but > has speed > issues on modern equipment. > > ** I'm a video gamer and my graphics card stinks. But my > hardware is > more than sufficient to handle Counter-Strike at a > reasonable fps. > > > Your resume lists the IDS system first. I don't know how > good it is or > not, but people tend to be more fascinated and impressed > by visual > eye-candy no matter how lousy the code behind the scenes > actually is. > Keep that in mind. The only thing worth mentioning about > the IDS system > is that it was a _team_ effort. Employers are interested > in how good of > a team player you were more than the actual description > of the system > you helped build. Also, drop projects that haven't seen > the light of > day...until such projects are released, they are > vaporware and basically > meaningless on a resume. > > Submit your resume everywhere and don't be afraid to > submit for jobs > that say "requires 5+ years prior experience". This gets > you a better > chance of receiving multiple job offers and puts YOU in > the position to > actually turn down offers. Check your local/area > newspaper - employers > love people who are local - and some listings only show > up in newspapers > that you won't find on various job websites. > > Also, be prepared to supply employers with an "extended > resume" that > describes your projects to date in greater detail. A lot > of HR > departments are supposedly changing their hiring > practices and the > 1-page resume is no longer the standard. > > > Yikes! Didn't mean to talk for this long. Take it as > constructive > criticism on how to get a job. Others on this list will > probably also > benefit from my ramblings. > > (That's what you get for leaving an interesting website > address in your > sig.) > > -- > Thomas Hruska > CubicleSoft President > Ph: 517-803-4197 > > *NEW* MyTaskFocus 1.1 > Get on task. Stay on task. > > http://www.CubicleSoft.com/MyTaskFocus/ > > _________________ Joseph A. Marrero http://www.l33tprogrammer.com/ ____________________________________________________________________________________ Pinpoint customers who are looking for what you sell. http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com/
