> > And throwing more programmers is not the solution to deadlines. Anyone
> > read _The Mythical ManMonth_ lately?
>
> It is all bull.
Well, maybe the examples are myths... or seem like myths through the
mists if history... but I remember when some of the examples sounded
reasonable, including the one about calculator services through your
telephone system. I thought it was GTE that proposed that just before the
calculators went from $600 each, to $6.00 each. I seem to recall seeing
some of the prototypes sitting at "Ponder and Doubt" Surplus some years
later. (P and D Surplus, Abeel Street, Kingston, New York. Bought a lot
of stuff from them when I was in college, resold it on campus. But you
know, they don't make surplus the way they use to. Most of the stuff has
a couple of microchips in it now, and if you don't have a copy of the
source code, it's worthless!)
I read the book after leaving college for my first programming job
back in the early 70's. These days, I sometimes give the book to my
manager as a little going away present after I finish my contract. Some
really need the examples. They are as timely as ever.
> > I personally believe in "Give me your tired, your poor...". I think
> we should allow anyone in the country who wants to come here. Before
> you argue with that idea read this:
>
> http://www.tipsmith.com/yourpoor.htm
Real estate is finite. Till we get our guts together enough to
tackle the next sphere up, we do need to think a little about the loading
capacity of THIS society. Some foreign nationals have rather socio-toxic
mannerisms and moral points of view that take a while to wear down to the
point where this soft and comfortable society can put up with them. Taken
as individuals, they learn fairly quickly, and often become decent people.
When they band together... it takes longer for them to adopt our lousy but
often better ethical standards.
And before you ask how I can say that, I married one of them. A
psychiatrist from the soviet union. Sweet professional thing, or so I
thought. A lot of them are sitting in jail now, from what other
xxx-Americans tell me. My doctor and I figure she made at least seven
attempts at murdering me through induced anaphylactic shock. She got a
little upset when I nixed her desires to join the mafia, etc. Guess I
didn't know how upset. She's probably laughing at the Clinton affair now,
saying it is proof that I am stupid as a rock, because in her opinion, ALL
powerful people screw like rabbits, abuse power, etc. In her opinion,
what else is power for?
Yet I have other friends from that region, with strong and decent
ethical orientations. It is a percentages thing, not an absolute. But a
society can only do well at assimilating so many, before others start
stigmatizing them, and forcing them into stereotypes and "their" kind of
neighborhoods, "their" kind of jobs, etc.
> This so-called shortage has been imagined by the existing structure.
> I don't even think that they are really trying to bring down any
> wages. I think it is all just based on grand ignorance, weak wills,
> and no vision.
I agree there is no shortage. I will add that one of the faster ways
to ruin your corporation, is to hire people with different languages,
having English as a second or third language. Conditionals are the last
things one comprehends in any new language. If you do not have a common
language to discuss the program in... And I don't care if it is English,
Chinese, Hindu, or Swahili; YOU WILL NOT SUCCEED! I've seen mistakes
caused by this kind of problem ruin products, and cause Extreme losses!
(Nevermind wasting all that you paid in wages!)
Yet I have worked with some who barely understood English, with whom
I communicated mostly via diagrams and pointing to code sections, and
who's companionship I still miss. We both understood the goals, and that
clear understanding was essential for us to get the job done. And we both
respected each other's attempts to communicate, and chuckled at our own
failings and misunderstandings. We smiled a lot. We enjoyed the
challenge. We got along because we wanted to.
> I have not at all been impressed by any tech workers at all. And
> what kind of person would work in a Personnel department.
Personnel tends to be populated by people who can't do the work, and
don't want anyone else to show them up for what they are. "First rate
people hire first rate people. Second rate people hire third rate
people." -- The Entrepreneur's Manual --
> There was a recent article in "Info World" (I think) that talked
> about this 'lack" of IT workers. The author also mentioned that the
> problem was with the people perceiving and not with the reality.
"Ooh, look at him, I bet we can get him for thirty percent off!"
Yes, but he only does twenty percent of the work.
"That's ok, it's not for my department."
(Shudder.)
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