November 11, 2016 at 12:14 pm
Eric M Russell (11/11/2016)
skeleton567 (11/11/2016)
Eric M Russell (11/11/2016)
Despite working in IT as both a software developer and database administrator, I'm not a big fan of consumer gadgets or other technology that involves a lot of user interactivity. The best technology applications are the kind that sit in the background, quietly and invisibly doing it's job day after day, thus freeing people to be themselves and do natural human stuff like eat dinner with the family or enjoy the outdoors. If we have program a refrigerator or toilet, then I consider that an epic fail.Eric, you are right on the point with your comments on technology as applied to consumer gadgets. They do indeed tend to give the impression that the whole area of information technology is a phenomenon for the 'average joe'. Just because someone 'masters' the use of an cell phone or laptop for browsing the internet does not indicate that they are or ever will be competent at creating software. I think that code creation is a skill that requires the critical combination of both art and science.
My belief is that IoT (at least at the consumer product level), Big Data (with the exception of big science applications like weather and genetics), and Social Media (with the exception of topical sites like SQLServerCentral) are for the most part passing fads.
God, let's hope so!
Dave
November 11, 2016 at 12:20 pm
I don't believe that everyone can be taught to code simply because it's not something that some people actually have an interest in doing. There are also those that do it only because it pays well but have no passion for it.
--Jeff Moden
Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.
November 11, 2016 at 4:47 pm
Ignorance can be corrected. Passion is what separates you from doing something and not being able to do something.
I grew up with a father who was a machinist. He is a rare breed these days in the US. Very few people can do what he does and very few people are training to do what he does to replace him when he is gone. He is not very skilled with a PC, but being he fabricates and deals with measurements, he knows numbers. While he cannot do what I do, he does have the ability to learn and be just at good at what I do if the passion is there.
The problem with most people who think certain people can code and others can't is that passion really makes the difference from jumping off the edge or holding onto the rail. Most people can learn to code just as they can learn their spoken and written language. The only thing holding them back is themselves and that passion to do it.
So yeah, there are plenty of people on the outside who likely don't fit the mold for a coder or could learn to code. We do much more complex things as human beings than what we are doing in code. To think learning to code is as hard as sounding like Whitney Houston is darn right silly. Sounding that good is a measure of difficulty and most importantly, quality. Learning to just sing; anyone can do it.
November 11, 2016 at 6:33 pm
David.Poole (11/11/2016)
Programmable toilet? That gives a whole new connotation to stack dump
Love your comment above.
On a serious note regarding Go Code, during the course of my various jobs in a progression through IT, it was my practice to make use of evening classes offered at Ivy Tech in South Bend, IN and at the Eastern Iowa Community College and a couple others. including classes given by Microsoft and others. I did this because I would become interested in something and wanted to know more about it, including several programming languages and/or tools, database design, and SQL. These usually involved learning new development or coding processes. However, just because I had done these studies, I did not consider or present myself as 'qualified' to use these tools and languages in my employment. It was to satisfy my personal curiosity. I'm OK and in favor of widening our exposure, but we should not therefore assume we are now qualified. If one is given a break, as I was many years ago by a friend and mentor, then by all means go for it.
Rick
Disaster Recovery = Backup ( Backup ( Your Backup ) )
November 12, 2016 at 4:12 am
Some years ago I went through an HR initiative where we graded ourselves on our skills with the aim of various employees being able to tap into the expertise of their colleagues.
I don't think a single DBA rated themselves above a 7 for SQL Server. So we had the bizarre situation where developers appeared to have a higher expertise in SQL Server than the DBAs. This phenomenon can also be observed in the contestants of the X factor and (insert country here)'s got talent.
Just so we are clear, the 7s built a stable and reliable cross data centre DR solution with nearly bomb proof high performance transactional replication, meta data driven SSIS solutions etc, etc.
November 13, 2016 at 2:51 am
When I left school in the early 1970s, almost 40% of kids my age struggled to get good grades at the age 16 exams. The UK Government statistics show that almost 40% of kids who leave school today struggle to get good grades at the age 16 exams.
The top end definitely has more good grades, but the bottom end has not really improved. For many kids, 10 years of schooling has left them barely literate. There is likely to be a similar picture in most other countries.
Political leadership needs to allow education to inspire that 40% so they come out of school literate and capable of basic mathematics, logic and abstraction. Coding can be a tool that helps achieve this, but we should let the education professionals use the tools they need to help kids achieve the results that society wants.
Original author: https://github.com/SQL-FineBuild/Common/wiki/ 1-click install and best practice configuration of SQL Server 2019, 2017 2016, 2014, 2012, 2008 R2, 2008 and 2005.
When I give food to the poor they call me a saint. When I ask why they are poor they call me a communist - Archbishop Hélder Câmara
November 13, 2016 at 6:45 am
A rather damning enditement of 40 years of educational meddling in the UK.
I was fortunate to enjoy school for school's sake but it was only decades later that I understood the context of what I had learned. If you don't enjoy school and don't see the context then you are not going to feel passionate about subjects.
I look back in my career having known individuals who were 100% right about what they were saying and were years ahead of their time but because they couldn't communicate the context they failed utterly to get others to adopt what they were proposing.
Technical superiority counts for little unless you can convince others using simple language so that the rightness of the solution is there for all to see and understand
November 13, 2016 at 8:31 am
David.Poole (11/13/2016)
I look back in my career having known individuals who were 100% right about what they were saying and were years ahead of their time but because they couldn't communicate the context they failed utterly to get others to adopt what they were proposing.Technical superiority counts for little unless you can convince others using simple language so that the rightness of the solution is there for all to see and understand
Even when such forward thinking innovators are also effective communicators, they are frequently overridden and beat down by the masses who disagree. It's the ol' "Mistaking the clamor of the crowd for the wisdom of the group" problem.
--Jeff Moden
Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.
November 13, 2016 at 12:06 pm
I'm not sure that I agree Jeff. Purveyors of inflatable dart boards seem to abound in IT. Those guys never seem to have trouble convincing CEOs and CTOs to buy
November 14, 2016 at 7:36 am
David.Poole (11/10/2016)
...Then there is the rule of 2s for assembling a team to address the problem
- Two people upstream of the process you are going to change
- Two people downstream of the process or thing you are going to change
- Two people who enact the process you are going to change
- Two people completely outside of the process
...
Sorry, sounds very interesting but I could not get past this thought: http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Rule_of_Two/Legends.
Gaz
-- Stop your grinnin' and drop your linen...they're everywhere!!!
November 14, 2016 at 7:40 am
Eric M Russell (11/11/2016)
...My belief is that IoT (at least at the consumer product level), Big Data (with the exception of big science applications like weather and genetics), and Social Media (with the exception of topical sites like SQLServerCentral) are for the most part passing fads.
I predicting that dance music was just a fad, a housing price crash in the UK in 2001/2002 and many other things. Fortunately I am a better coder than predictor.
Gaz
-- Stop your grinnin' and drop your linen...they're everywhere!!!
November 14, 2016 at 8:57 am
EdVassie (11/13/2016)
When I left school in the early 1970s, almost 40% of kids my age struggled to get good grades at the age 16 exams. The UK Government statistics show that almost 40% of kids who leave school today struggle to get good grades at the age 16 exams.The top end definitely has more good grades, but the bottom end has not really improved. For many kids, 10 years of schooling has left them barely literate. There is likely to be a similar picture in most other countries.
Political leadership needs to allow education to inspire that 40% so they come out of school literate and capable of basic mathematics, logic and abstraction. Coding can be a tool that helps achieve this, but we should let the education professionals use the tools they need to help kids achieve the results that society wants.
If your system is anything like the US, it is much, much worse than that. We decided that since a lot of kids are struggling, and the grades are poor, that the way to fix it was to - drum roll please - reduce the difficulty of the tests!!!
One example is that we went so far as to change the SAT tests that determine college placement, to make them about 40% easier. So a 1600 today (perfect score) is really more like a 1200 or worse!
Let's not fix education, let's dumb everything down.
Edit - http://www.nationalreview.com/article/373067/dumbing-down-sat-rich-lowry for those who disagree with my statement that the SAT has been made easier. Google provides a bunch of other references as well.
Dave
November 14, 2016 at 8:59 am
Helping my grandkids with their school work this past week I was surprised at how early nowadays they get computer training. They don't even have books anymore. Everything is electronic.
November 14, 2016 at 9:16 am
I am amazed that we still think that coding is not going to be more universal than it currently is. Apple's latest home hub comes with a ITTT (If This Then That) language for the consumer. This is programming but to a minimal level. This is exactly the sort of thing that I expect to be ubiquitous.
Gaz
-- Stop your grinnin' and drop your linen...they're everywhere!!!
November 14, 2016 at 9:25 am
David.Poole (11/12/2016)
Some years ago I went through an HR initiative where we graded ourselves on our skills with the aim of various employees being able to tap into the expertise of their colleagues.I don't think a single DBA rated themselves above a 7 for SQL Server. So we had the bizarre situation where developers appeared to have a higher expertise in SQL Server than the DBAs. This phenomenon can also be observed in the contestants of the X factor and (insert country here)'s got talent.
Just so we are clear, the 7s built a stable and reliable cross data centre DR solution with nearly bomb proof high performance transactional replication, meta data driven SSIS solutions etc, etc.
When I'm asked to grade candidate on a scale of 1 - 10, I always clarify beforehand that (5) is an experienced baseline average candidate within the scope of the job title. For example, an intermediate level DBA with a few years experience who doesn't stand out or provide cause for alarm would be graded a (5). If the candidate has a degree only but no experience or a Java developer who dabbles with SQL but never held a role as an actual DBA, then they are simply a (1), (2), or (3) at best.
"Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Instead, seek what they sought." - Matsuo Basho
Viewing 15 posts - 46 through 60 (of 62 total)
You must be logged in to reply to this topic. Login to reply