Ah, but SPL is not a fictitious language. It is fully implemented. To be sure, it isn't the most practical of computer languages, but it is real, and one can write beautiful code in it.

All the answers supplied so far are clearly wrong. The most beautiful programming language - head and shoulders above the rest - is the Shakespeare Programming Language[^]. The language, used properly, is quite beautiful. However, it does tend to be a little on the verbose side.

I strongly suggest getting the book 8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back by Esther Gokhale and Susan Adams. It covers not only sitting, but also standing, walking, and sleeping. It's available for about $16 on Amazon, where it has received unanimous 5 star ratings from 22 reviewers. Exercise can certainly provide temporary relief by stimulating production of endorphins. But in the long term, exercise done with improper body alignment can actually exacerbate the problem. Get the book.

david_f_knight wrote:

First, what type of work do you want to do? Some things in industry are more suited to having a PhD than others. For example, if you want to work developing state-of-the-art 3D MRI-type advanced medical imaging equipment, having a PhD might be quite beneficial. On the other hand, if you want to work developing accounting applications, having a PhD might be a big problem.

I find this quite amusing, for personal reasons. Since earning my PhD in physics, I went on to develop accounting applications. My roommate, who went through the same program, went on to develop MRI equipment. I found my PhD to be helpful, but not in the career-advancing sense. My career would almost certainly have moved more quickly if I had spent those four years in the workforce rather than academia. But I find that my experience in science does give me an approach to problem-solving that occasionally gives me an advantage over my peers. If my degree had been in CS, I'm not sure whether that would still be the case. Also, I've taken advantage of my degree to take the occasional break from IT to teach university courses. That's much harder to do without the PhD!