That's an incredibly privileged point of view. It is not frequently the case that students with the apitutude for college have the support they need from family and relevant experts at school to engage in the kind of…
No, you can't pick it up "very, very quickly." That is a dismissive and indirect way to assert that engineering is somehow easier or requires less intellectual rigor than "higher" disciplines like CS or math.
The first sentence in the article encapsulates one of the biggest problems in this industry. It may apply to very specific roles within certain companies, or to specific subdisciplines, but in general the statement is…
One thing I learned in the briefings I saw after getting my clearance was that the single biggest motivator for betrayal was a thrill-seeking narcissistic personality, followed closely by political agendas. Financial…
That's true, and it is a case that seems to be unique to the software field as far as engineering is concerned. I'm also unaware of any other engineering profession in which such shallow education and experience would…
One plausible reason: the story is a "slow burn" story that hasn't had time to gain traction. Mainstream news acts more like an aggregator of information that percolates out of various niche segments' echo chambers:…
There is not one single other engineering profession I'm aware of that thinks a "portfolio" consisting of past employment is insufficient, or that has academic trivia questions figure as largely in their interview…
"Self made" defies precise definition. If you start with $999,999 and earn $1 by your own efforts, a strictly precise definition for "self made" would imply you were a "self made" millionaire. However it would also…
Bill Gates is not a self-made millionaire, if that phrase is to have any meaning.
"a) most engineers suck at programming." I find that to be not true. Most engineers suck at regurgitating the correct textbook CS algorithm or data structure from memory, but they are very good at engineering, which is…
This is a great comment. The category error you've identified is manifest in more than the comment you're replying to as well: it's at the heart of one of the biggest problems with software interviews in a certain…
Software workers are already treated as commodities, so even if one were to accept that last statement as fact it wouldn't actually have much relevance. Being a commodity worker with higher minimum compensation and even…
I'm a US citizen by birth. I just happen to have traveled and lived abroad for a time, and I find the labor laws especially, but the social welfare laws in general in the US to be rather backward and uncivilized:…
There are a lot of women who would prefer to breastfeed but can't for a variety of physiological reasons, so this market would at least have the potential to exist even if America's maternity leave laws weren't barbaric.
It is cheating. The rules are quite clear, and these groups break those rules in a way that gives them an immediate and direct advantage over students who don't break the rules. The rules themselves may be subject to…
Actually, it probably can't, at least in most of the cases where it would matter. The President can get the ball rolling in some of those cases, but in others there may actually be an act of Congress required, or other…
Yes to the first, no to the second (I would almost certainly not qualify for the ones you listed--not for lack of talent, as I forgot more math by the time I took my PhD qualifying exams than most CS graduates ever…
If it's an exaggeration then this industry's labor pool is in even worse shape than I suspected. To put this in context: I'd consider myself average, maybe slightly above in some contexts, below in (many more) others,…
"Asshole" isn't the right word, assuming you mean they are working overtime regularly without pay. I'd probably use other words like "gullible" and "useful idiot[1]." And, yes, I would put them in the same tent as the…
See, the trouble is there are people in this industry who would work at this place, and that contributes to lower wages and poorer working conditions. Sure, I won't work there but the fact that others will has an impact…
Seems to me they're about equal in merit. Also, in case your comment was directed at me, I didn't impugn anybody's integrity.
Perhaps you'd understand if people discounted your comment slightly because of your apparent close relationship with YC, then? They have the best interests of founders in mind only insofar as their pocketbooks and…
If they're working alone or with somebody who shares their passion, sure. What about the, oh, 90% of the rest of the time?
Sure, sometimes it is, undeniably. But given how immature in general this industry is--and that means both in terms of the span of its existence and in terms of the age of practitioners--it sure is suspicious how often…
Think of it in terms of a typical 13 year old boy acting out, e.g. by climbing real high in a tree or doing tricks on his bike, to impress friends/girls. That's all this shit is, except it is targeted to a slightly…
That's an incredibly privileged point of view. It is not frequently the case that students with the apitutude for college have the support they need from family and relevant experts at school to engage in the kind of…
No, you can't pick it up "very, very quickly." That is a dismissive and indirect way to assert that engineering is somehow easier or requires less intellectual rigor than "higher" disciplines like CS or math.
The first sentence in the article encapsulates one of the biggest problems in this industry. It may apply to very specific roles within certain companies, or to specific subdisciplines, but in general the statement is…
One thing I learned in the briefings I saw after getting my clearance was that the single biggest motivator for betrayal was a thrill-seeking narcissistic personality, followed closely by political agendas. Financial…
That's true, and it is a case that seems to be unique to the software field as far as engineering is concerned. I'm also unaware of any other engineering profession in which such shallow education and experience would…
One plausible reason: the story is a "slow burn" story that hasn't had time to gain traction. Mainstream news acts more like an aggregator of information that percolates out of various niche segments' echo chambers:…
There is not one single other engineering profession I'm aware of that thinks a "portfolio" consisting of past employment is insufficient, or that has academic trivia questions figure as largely in their interview…
"Self made" defies precise definition. If you start with $999,999 and earn $1 by your own efforts, a strictly precise definition for "self made" would imply you were a "self made" millionaire. However it would also…
Bill Gates is not a self-made millionaire, if that phrase is to have any meaning.
"a) most engineers suck at programming." I find that to be not true. Most engineers suck at regurgitating the correct textbook CS algorithm or data structure from memory, but they are very good at engineering, which is…
This is a great comment. The category error you've identified is manifest in more than the comment you're replying to as well: it's at the heart of one of the biggest problems with software interviews in a certain…
Software workers are already treated as commodities, so even if one were to accept that last statement as fact it wouldn't actually have much relevance. Being a commodity worker with higher minimum compensation and even…
I'm a US citizen by birth. I just happen to have traveled and lived abroad for a time, and I find the labor laws especially, but the social welfare laws in general in the US to be rather backward and uncivilized:…
There are a lot of women who would prefer to breastfeed but can't for a variety of physiological reasons, so this market would at least have the potential to exist even if America's maternity leave laws weren't barbaric.
It is cheating. The rules are quite clear, and these groups break those rules in a way that gives them an immediate and direct advantage over students who don't break the rules. The rules themselves may be subject to…
Actually, it probably can't, at least in most of the cases where it would matter. The President can get the ball rolling in some of those cases, but in others there may actually be an act of Congress required, or other…
Yes to the first, no to the second (I would almost certainly not qualify for the ones you listed--not for lack of talent, as I forgot more math by the time I took my PhD qualifying exams than most CS graduates ever…
If it's an exaggeration then this industry's labor pool is in even worse shape than I suspected. To put this in context: I'd consider myself average, maybe slightly above in some contexts, below in (many more) others,…
"Asshole" isn't the right word, assuming you mean they are working overtime regularly without pay. I'd probably use other words like "gullible" and "useful idiot[1]." And, yes, I would put them in the same tent as the…
See, the trouble is there are people in this industry who would work at this place, and that contributes to lower wages and poorer working conditions. Sure, I won't work there but the fact that others will has an impact…
Seems to me they're about equal in merit. Also, in case your comment was directed at me, I didn't impugn anybody's integrity.
Perhaps you'd understand if people discounted your comment slightly because of your apparent close relationship with YC, then? They have the best interests of founders in mind only insofar as their pocketbooks and…
If they're working alone or with somebody who shares their passion, sure. What about the, oh, 90% of the rest of the time?
Sure, sometimes it is, undeniably. But given how immature in general this industry is--and that means both in terms of the span of its existence and in terms of the age of practitioners--it sure is suspicious how often…
Think of it in terms of a typical 13 year old boy acting out, e.g. by climbing real high in a tree or doing tricks on his bike, to impress friends/girls. That's all this shit is, except it is targeted to a slightly…