I can't think of any really complicated math I've ever had to utilize either in my 20 plus years. most of it is simple addition and subtraction, but then again, I've worked around accounting systems and erp type systems most of the time.
I hear you on the cryptographers.. when I was in the navy as a radioman, that was a critical career field if memory serves me correct and would have been a next step in the ladder for me as a radioman. for about 20 years, I would notice on all the pc or software boxes that you couldn't ship software overseas because it had critical technology in it. Now for the last 8 years or so, you never even hear that mentioned and our corporations gladly send it across the seas... Have to wonder if thats going to bite us one of these days. On 4/2/2010 11:28 AM, Jarvis, Matthew wrote: >> -----Original Message----- >> From: [email protected] >> > [mailto:[email protected]] > >> On Behalf Of Virgil Bierschwale >> Sent: Wednesday, March 31, 2010 6:56 PM >> To: [email protected] >> Subject: Foxpro Developers - Chapter 01 >> >> Ok, I'm not an author. >> Never claimed to be, nor wanted to be, but I believe I need to do what >> > I > >> can to stop what I see happening in software land here in America. >> >> > <snipped> > > I am manning the helpdesk today.... spots of free time interupted by > calls to action... > > Looking back over my career I can see that rarely I used any of the > skills/education I got when earning my degree... once > I did a linear programming project for optimization that I did in > Informix, and I think I pushed the square root button > on my calculator once, but other than that... Sure, I've done some > incredibly complex coding but it had nothing to do > with higher level math or statistics that I was trained to do. Sigh.... > > When I started college I was thinking of being a Physics teacher, but > got in the wrong line at registration (seriously!) > and ended up in Computer Science. Then I thought I'd be a cryptographer > for one of the intelligence agencies or > programming deep space probes at NASA or something.... Back in those > days (early 80's) demand for CS classes was so high > that my first class had 450 people in it and 950 on the waiting list... > There were seniors still waiting to take sophmore level classes... Since > I was declared CS I got priority for > computer classes so stayed with the program until about late junior year > when they kicked me out after realizing I hadn't > taken any CS classes in two years... I had been grandfathered into the > professional school which was kinda big deal, but > by then I had switched to Math... things were nuts back then w/ > computers.... > > Often you had to go down to the computer center w/ your box of punch > cards, 2am, to get your project run on the Honeywell > mainframe... don't even think about trying to do anything during the > day.... > > After college I needed a job and got hooked up with the police dept in a > neighboring town... For 13 years I managed to > work full or part time as both a police officer and a software > developer... when you're young a 70-80 hour work week > isn't so bad.... would kill me these days... > > So sitting here now and thinking about it, did I *need* a college > education to perform any of the jobs I've done over the > years?? I sure doubt it, other than learning critical thinking and > problem solving. Heck, maybe the big joke on everyone > is that navigating your way thru college is the ultimate word problem, > and getting thru is the ultimate test. College was > the hardest thing I've ever done... > > But here's the key: I'd sure rather have that degree in my pocket when > out looking for a job than to not have one. I can > always NOT tell them about it if I think it would help get me in the > door. Same with my MCP status - not that it's that > big of a deal but it sure is nice to have some credentials... Both > credentials set me apart from everyone that doesn't > have them... I like having that advantage... > > And heck, when you're young, why NOT go to college? What the heck else > you gonna do? > > When struggling in college, I often thought of dropping out and going > into the Army to fly attack helicopters... came > really darn close one time, but backed away... I think if I had to do > the whole thing over again, I'd go military out of > high school, do something kick ass like flying helos or Rangers, come > out and let them pay for college, then start my > career... > > Thanks, > > Matthew Jarvis || Business Systems Analyst > IT Department > McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center > 1460 G Street, Springfield, OR 97477 || Ph: 541-744-6092 || Fax: > 541-744-6145 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Disclaimer: This electronic message may contain information that is > Proprietary, Confidential, or legally privileged or protected. It > is intended only for the use of the individual(s) and entity named > in the message. If you are not an intended recipient of this > message, please notify the sender immediately and delete the > material from your computer. Do not deliver, distribute or copy > this message and do not disclose its contents or take any action in > reliance on the information it contains. > [excessive quoting removed by server] _______________________________________________ Post Messages to: [email protected] Subscription Maintenance: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profox OT-free version of this list: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profoxtech Searchable Archive: http://leafe.com/archives/search/profox This message: http://leafe.com/archives/byMID/profox/[email protected] ** All postings, unless explicitly stated otherwise, are the opinions of the author, and do not constitute legal or medical advice. This statement is added to the messages for those lawyers who are too stupid to see the obvious.
