Humor
All I’m asking for is a full-length trench coat in size 50 Long that comes in brown, is that too much to ask? I know you have a hard-on for black and beige, but I’d really love a few more options with one of the most common articles of men’s clothing in the world. Also, “full-length” doesn’t mean “down to my thighs“, I’d love to avoid getting my pants completely drenched if I’m caught in the rain; that’s the whole point of a long, water-poof coat.
And one more teensy, tiny little thing. A trench coat is meant to keep the rain out, hence why it’s also called a rain coat. . . so WHY IN THE HELL DO HALF THE COATS I FIND ONLINE HAVE LEATHER COLLARS?!?
I saw this today on Facebook and I thought it was very appropriate for me, and others in the same position, taking certification tests and/or going to college:
[Only slight spoilers ahead, nothing you can't figure out from the theatrical trailer.]
In Tron Legacy, Kevin Flynn disappears in 1989, leaving his entire life to fall apart without him. This includes his company, the raising of his son, and his arcade, Flynn’s, which is shown in the film having been closed down and all the game machines covered in plastic. When Kevin’s son, Sam Flynn discovers the arcade and turns the power back on, all the machines come back to life. . . including an original Mortal Kombat arcade machine, which didn’t come out until 1992.
Given Kevin Flynn’s hidden office isn’t discovered until 20 years later, it’s fair to assume that the arcade was shut down as soon as he disappeared. If the arcade had stayed open without Flynn around, his employees would surely have found the office behind the Tron arcade machine just as easily as Sam did.
Continuity mistakes for the win! And that concludes my obligatory uber-nerdery for the year. . . everything from this point on will be completely voluntary.
The following is a post I made on TechExams.net, an IT certification messageboard, in response to a young man that had been turned down for a position recently and complained that he felt IT was too elitist because of it.
In the words of the great Ben Croshaw: “Allow me to hold your head under the putrescent waters of knowledge.”
Is the IT industry elitist? In a word: yes. It’s one of the few industries where the words “entry level” actually mean you should have several years of experience before applying. It’s an industry where there is always someone younger, someone smarter, someone willing to work longer hours out to take your job and steal your promotion. It’s an industry notorious for its demand that we update our skills faster and faster with each passing year, and that’s simply to stay current with the job(s) we already work in.
However, there are some pretty good reasons.
The first reason is that, in IT, the spectrum of responsibility you are expected to carry can range from simply making sure a few office-workers can connect to the internet and download their email, to keeping system-critical servers and equipment working for hospitals and banks. We need to stay sharp, we need to keep ourselves up to date, and we need to grow with technology or we can’t do our jobs and maintain that technology. That, of course, brings me to another reason.
Technology changes, the needs of businesses and users change, and we have to change with them. There is no way to do business today the way we did in the 80′s, the 90′s, or even the way we did in 2005. If you want to complain because you’re just now learning what a server is, and most companies want someone who understands virtualization, that’s nobody’s problem but yours. One of the points that Ayn Rand once made is one I whole-heartedly agree with: a person is not hired for a job to his or her best, they’re hired to do what is necessary to complete that job. This industry requires a VAST amount of knowledge on our part, a great deal of flexibility, and a practical understanding of how to use that knowledge to keep the world running. On to the next point.
As Sabalo mentioned, there are lots of people who get into IT thinking it’s easy money, then complain when they find out it’s harder than they thought. Oddly, no one expects to be a doctor, physicist, astronaut, firefighter, or engineer without a lot of work beforehand, and this industry is no different. And, honestly, it’s not for everyone. Not everyone “has the right stuff”, and some people even spend anywhere from two to eight years in school before they figure out that IT isn’t for them. (This is also true for those other professions I mentioned, as well as many others, like computer science.) You keep working, you keep learning, and then you figure out if this is the path for you or if your best simply isn’t good enough and another path is a better choice.
It sounds like you’re fresh out of college, so you’ve got plenty of time to decide what to do with your life. You were told you weren’t a good fit for the job(s) you applied for, so right now you’ve got a choice:
A.) Blame the hiring manager(s) that turned you down for being unfair not realizing your genius.
B.) Figure out why they didn’t want to hire you, and work on those things.
Maybe you need more experience? Volunteer your time. Maybe you need more certs? Study and earn them. Maybe you need to work on your interviewing skills? Talk to professionals, (like the ones on this board,) and ask them for help. Maybe your communication skills are rusty? Take some writing and speech courses. There are lots of things we all need to improve on, don’t expect to be the exception to the rule.
If all this sounds a little harsh, it’s because it is. IT is a competitive industry, and it doesn’t suffer fools. It’s better to know what you’re getting into and try to live up to that, than it is to get thumped on the head a few times and grow bitter because of it. We’ve all been new to IT, and most of us are here to offer help. . . but only if you can accept that you just might need it.
In a category I like to call “why the hell is this even news?!?”, a lot of people got a chuckle out of President Obama’s kung fu fly-chop during an interview with CNBC the other day.
As opposed to this being nothing but a funny entry on a comedy blog, (I laughed when I saw it, just as I laugh at other “blooper videos”,) it actually turned into news when PETA showed outrage at the incident, no joke: PETA miffed at President Obama’s fly “execution”
PETA’s blog points out that they were approached for comment about the incident and did not make any unprovoked statements,
Believe it or not, we’ve actually been contacted by multiple media outlets wanting to know PETA’s official response to the executive insect execution.
In a nutshell, our position is this: He isn’t the Buddha, he’s a human being, and human beings have a long way to go before they think before they act.
Immediately following these comments, they were quick to plug a product they sell and stated that they’ll be sending him a humane bug catcher for future use. . . yes, my head hurts too. They’ll never back down on the position that we shouldn’t even swat flies, but I’m hoping that the present is at least an attempt at humor and that there won’t be follow-up stories of a letter containing lecture on cruelty to animals to go along with the thing. Hopefully, they realize that they were only contacted by other news organizations because somewhere, some producer saw the video and suggested his reporters ask PETA for comment between fits of laughter.
This is what they’re sending him: Katcha Bug™ Humane Bug Catcher
If nothing else, maybe this will boost President Obama’s approval ratings with conservatives and his critics. He’s sending a strong message to the rest of the world: if this is what he does to flies, just imagine what he’ll do to Kim Jong-Il if North Korea doesn’t back off their nuclear weapons program.
Remember, marriage is a sacred union. . .
And we wouldn’t want to set a bad example for our children, now would we?
Miss California Responds to Question on Same-Sex Marriage
I think her answer was so stupid it actually gave me cancer.
One of four titles used to classify someone based on their technical and social skills. The other three titles are nerd, dork, and normie. The difference between the four titles can be easily shown in table form:
……………..Technical ……. Social
Title ……… Skills …………. Skills
———- —————- ————
Normie …….. No ………….. Yes
Geek ……….. Yes …………. Yes
Nerd ……….. Yes …………. No
Dork ……….. No ………….. No
Normie: A normal person. Blah.
Geek: An outwardly normal person who has taken the time to learn technical skills. Geeks have as normal a social life as anyone, and usually the only way to tell if someone is a geek is if they inform you of their skills.
Nerd: A socially awkward person who has learned technical skills due to the spare time they enjoy from being generally neglected. Their technical knowledge then leads normies to neglect them even further, leading to more development of their technical skills, more neglection, etc. This vicious cycle drives them even more into social oblivion.
Dork: A person who, although also socially awkward, doesn’t have the intelligence to fill the void with technical pursuits, like a nerd, and is forced to do mindless activities. Almost always alone. Usually with an XBox. Like playing Halo. All day. Every day. Not even understanding how the Xbox is making the pretty pictures on the screen. Very sad.
This is a list that will suck up far too much of your time. Posted today on LaughingSquid, I definitely had to share:
Top 100 Iconic Internet Videos
(Sadly, while on the list, the Numa Numa song didn’t quite make the top 10.)
