I want to preface this by saying I really didn't want to have to write this post.
For the last couple days, I've been reading "The Lexus and the olive tree" by Thomas Friedman. Yes, the guy who was wrong so frequently they named a unit of measurement after him.
For the lazy, the Friedman Unit is "six months from now. And then six months after that. And then six months after that, forever." In reference to when America would win our war against Terror. Any day now!
I need to take regular breaks from the book, because I've been trying to decide if Friedman is a a really shitty writer, or just plain ol' dumb.
The problem I'm running into is that some of his viewpoints are actually . . . pretty good. Stuff I agree with. Things that seem to make sense. And then he runs right off the rails and starts telling half-baked stories about imagined conversations with nation states or world leaders, and I hate everything to my eyeballs. At the very least, being presented the Easy Reader version of global finance does Not fill me with confidence about the depth of this man's thought on the subject matter.
Since the book is from 1999, a few chapters are morbidly hilarious in retrospect. Like when he spends much ink praising establishments such as Moody's as regards to issuing ratings, and lambasting governments that do not allow such hallowed institutions to deliver Judgement upon their financial products. Because Moody's will Obviously perform their function in a fair and accurate manner in all instances. Capitalism and globalization are the way to infinite prosperity! So to join the global community, you must get their stamp of approval.
Capitalism forever!
One other side effect of globalization is driving down wages for unskilled labor. Stuff that can be outsourced will be . . . well, outsourced. Friedman is OK with this, as he imagines a world where the now unemployed will take the time to train up and learn more advanced skills to get higher paying jobs.
No. This will not happen.
I understand that I'm about to shit right in the the American Dream, but I'm not being paid enough to lie to you people. Right now, I could take a job as a janitor. I have had this job before, and I rather liked it.
If some janitor magically saved enough cash to get a couple years of schooling, there is next to zero chance that they can become a programmer. Sorry, them's the breaks. That janitor, after several years of schooling, is most likely to be, at best, a shitty programmer. Those are the ones who get fired for "not meeting expectations." This isn't just a programming thing, they're likely not going to be a surgeon, engineer, physicist, or anything else. They'll just be chronically unemployed.
If this sounds dickish or arrogant, here's something to make that worse: I get at least a couple job offers a week. I'm not even looking. I am an Average programmer. There are so few people that can do this kind of stuff that I've never in my adult life had to seriously worry about employment. I am extremely grateful for this kind of freedom, but I've also worked enough shitty jobs that I know what it's like to be one paycheck from getting evicted for several years on end. If it Can be outsourced, it Will be.
Hell, call center and IT jobs are just sort of starting to come back to the U.S. and we had it easy. If I was a welder or worked in manufacturing I would be even more pissed about this trend. But I don't think it's going to change.
So, if the jobs are getting shuffled around, everyone's wages are going into the toilet, and re-training isn't a reasonable option for enough people, then what's next?
I'm not sure. Universal income sounds somewhat appealing, but I haven't done my homework there yet. Socialism is still a Very Naughty Word in America, so that's right out. Maybe some good old fashioned rioting in the streets? I could be up for that.
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
Sunday, August 24, 2014
The three questions. With answers!
Almost every person I am introduced to on a casual basis eventually ends up asking me the following 3 questions. If you don't want to read the whole thing, the answers are "probably", "yes", and "why?"
I Know Stuff about computers. I have been known to work as a programmer, and on the occasions when I get to talk shop with other nerds, it seems like we're all getting variations of these questions from a lot of people.
So! As a public service, here are the questions a lot of you people have, and my|the answers.
Question 1) Can you fix my computer?
Probably? This is actually a really, really complicated question, and it's loaded like it's auditioning for the next Expendables movie. Part of the problem is that civilians have no idea whatso-fucking-ever how or why computers work. Seriously. The kids who have grown up all their lives with the things aren't really much better than grandma in the nursing home when it comes to understanding how their laptop does Stuff. This makes any repair work a shit-ton more difficult, because the patient can't give you much useful information (if any.)
Whatever's going wrong could be hardware, could be software, could be a virus, or could be a couple programs engaged in a pissing match that is breaking how things are expected to work (I am looking at you, Chrome and Kaspersky Antivirus.) Also, the user is a fucking liar, every time, whether they know it or not. "Have you been going to shady porn sites?" The answer to this one is always "No!" So I don't bother asking anymore.
"Have you done any software updates recently?" The answer to this is always "Uhh?" and here's where I get to spend 10 hours dicking around trying to figure out what has changed or what could be causing any problems. Basically, unless you dropped the thing, you can't tell me anything useful, so I get to play computer detective to piece together what went off the rails. And! If I can't figure it out, users assume that I don't actually Know About Computers. Hey slapnuts, if you had been able to tell me that the wi-fi LED on your keyboard wasn't working, I could have figured this out a couple days ago. I'm not even a hardware dude, half of that stuff is a mystery to me too. I just learned enough to have a general idea of what questions to ask and where to get the answers.
Question 2) Can you hack things?
Whenever someone asks this, they always have the same expression as someone telling a nigger joke in a neighborhood where a black person may be present. Shifty eyes, slightly guilt-ridden, like a kid with their hand in the cookie jar. They want to know if I have the ability to Take Over their Shit. Hacking is some top level skill that is only possessed by elite code grinding motherfuckers. If I can do this, I am a Badass.
In short: you have been lied to by Hollywood. Hacking a system or computer isn't some super-secret code ninja task, all you do is call Janine in H.R. and tell her you're in I.T. and doing some network testing so you need her password. Log on as her, and you're in. BAM! You are now a hacker.
Sorry, it's less sexy than all the movies made it seem.
There's more to it, obviously, but seriously people, stop asking me if I'm a criminal.
Question 3) Why aren't you rich?
After being around people for a while, they see the computer knowledge and assume that I should be focused on maximizing my dollars per hour, and that does not seem to line up with how I spend my money and time. If you are reading this, there is a very good chance that you've used some stuff I wrote, or it's part of a thing you use all the time. It follows that I should then own several islands and have girls in hula skirts bringing me drinks at all hours of the day.
Well. The second part is obviously true. If I had to boil down the answer to this, it's that there are a very limited number of positions that pay crazy-town money for code, and I don't want to work at most of those places. Right now, I make enough money to do whatever the hell I want, whenever I want to, so, what would I use more money for? Money is something you trade for stuff you want, and I've got what I want. I have enough extra left over to take care of just about anything that comes up, so I don't feel a need to stockpile the stuff. I get to spend more time with my friends and learning other cool things, rather than grinding away on some startup project for 80 hours a week or beating my head against the wall solving some machine learning problem that I don't find interesting in the least.
It's an ongoing thing. If my job becomes awful, I can get another one. If I'm interested in some side project, I'm happy to throw some time at it. The money isn't what it's about, if I need more, I can make more, but right now, I'm very happy with what I have and where I am. More cash ain't gonna change that.
I Know Stuff about computers. I have been known to work as a programmer, and on the occasions when I get to talk shop with other nerds, it seems like we're all getting variations of these questions from a lot of people.
So! As a public service, here are the questions a lot of you people have, and my|the answers.
Question 1) Can you fix my computer?
Probably? This is actually a really, really complicated question, and it's loaded like it's auditioning for the next Expendables movie. Part of the problem is that civilians have no idea whatso-fucking-ever how or why computers work. Seriously. The kids who have grown up all their lives with the things aren't really much better than grandma in the nursing home when it comes to understanding how their laptop does Stuff. This makes any repair work a shit-ton more difficult, because the patient can't give you much useful information (if any.)
Whatever's going wrong could be hardware, could be software, could be a virus, or could be a couple programs engaged in a pissing match that is breaking how things are expected to work (I am looking at you, Chrome and Kaspersky Antivirus.) Also, the user is a fucking liar, every time, whether they know it or not. "Have you been going to shady porn sites?" The answer to this one is always "No!" So I don't bother asking anymore.
"Have you done any software updates recently?" The answer to this is always "Uhh?" and here's where I get to spend 10 hours dicking around trying to figure out what has changed or what could be causing any problems. Basically, unless you dropped the thing, you can't tell me anything useful, so I get to play computer detective to piece together what went off the rails. And! If I can't figure it out, users assume that I don't actually Know About Computers. Hey slapnuts, if you had been able to tell me that the wi-fi LED on your keyboard wasn't working, I could have figured this out a couple days ago. I'm not even a hardware dude, half of that stuff is a mystery to me too. I just learned enough to have a general idea of what questions to ask and where to get the answers.
Question 2) Can you hack things?
Whenever someone asks this, they always have the same expression as someone telling a nigger joke in a neighborhood where a black person may be present. Shifty eyes, slightly guilt-ridden, like a kid with their hand in the cookie jar. They want to know if I have the ability to Take Over their Shit. Hacking is some top level skill that is only possessed by elite code grinding motherfuckers. If I can do this, I am a Badass.
In short: you have been lied to by Hollywood. Hacking a system or computer isn't some super-secret code ninja task, all you do is call Janine in H.R. and tell her you're in I.T. and doing some network testing so you need her password. Log on as her, and you're in. BAM! You are now a hacker.
Sorry, it's less sexy than all the movies made it seem.
There's more to it, obviously, but seriously people, stop asking me if I'm a criminal.
Question 3) Why aren't you rich?
After being around people for a while, they see the computer knowledge and assume that I should be focused on maximizing my dollars per hour, and that does not seem to line up with how I spend my money and time. If you are reading this, there is a very good chance that you've used some stuff I wrote, or it's part of a thing you use all the time. It follows that I should then own several islands and have girls in hula skirts bringing me drinks at all hours of the day.
Well. The second part is obviously true. If I had to boil down the answer to this, it's that there are a very limited number of positions that pay crazy-town money for code, and I don't want to work at most of those places. Right now, I make enough money to do whatever the hell I want, whenever I want to, so, what would I use more money for? Money is something you trade for stuff you want, and I've got what I want. I have enough extra left over to take care of just about anything that comes up, so I don't feel a need to stockpile the stuff. I get to spend more time with my friends and learning other cool things, rather than grinding away on some startup project for 80 hours a week or beating my head against the wall solving some machine learning problem that I don't find interesting in the least.
It's an ongoing thing. If my job becomes awful, I can get another one. If I'm interested in some side project, I'm happy to throw some time at it. The money isn't what it's about, if I need more, I can make more, but right now, I'm very happy with what I have and where I am. More cash ain't gonna change that.
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