My degree is in filmmaking. I am self taught. The best developer I work with has no IT degree. Two of the best hires I have made over the years had fresh degrees with ink still wet and no experience - and both knock it out of the park every day. I respect the work it takes to earn those degrees, but "getting it done" is all that really matters in the long run.

This is comedy gold!

Graeme - this is my story TO THE LETTER as well! My dad was one of those "you are just a complainer" guys who towed the smoking line into his late 70's, even after he stopped smoking. Then one day he realized, after DECADES or reading news on the harmful effects of 2nd hand smoke, that he had three children, none of whom ever smoked, but who all had asthma or lung issues. He said "I can't believe we used to smoke in the car with you kids, with the windows rolled up." The cigarette industry committed fraud on a massive scale and what they paid was not enough. But that said, if you want to smoke go ahead, just don't do it where it poisons anyone else.

After my first, and definitely last, experience with Lenovo I will NEVER give them my money again. For starters, I experienced frequent BSOD events for some weeks. No one at Lenovo was ANY help - and that's a theme that is consistent. Eventually that issue just magically cleared up. I read online that folks had been having an issue with connecting anything to the thunderbolt and dock ports simultaneously. (See ports 2 and 3 in the link provided). https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/p/laptops/thinkpad/thinkpadt/t490/22tp2tt4900?orgRef=https%253A%252F%252Fwww.bing.com%252F&cid=us:sem|se|msn|brand\_commercial\_think\_t+series|lenovo+t490|lenovo thinkpad T490|e|402399263|1271036205890394|kwd-79440208754324:loc-190|text|brand&msclkid=9b305a7c9564133e2cd63e5d331f574c I CALLED Lenovo and asked about this before I purchased their Cat 5 adapter and explained that about 70% of copmplaints I found online were about this issue. He gave me smarta$$ answer about percentages and assured me there'd be no issue. I purchased the adapter and - SURPRISE! - the internet was right. You CANNOT use both ports at once, the plastic base of their proprietary dock adapter is too wide for that. Tried calling them back and spent HOURS on the phone being routed in circles. Eventually I gave up. So now that the BSOD issues have stabilized the machine works pretty well, but after the stupidity evidenced in such poor engineering, and the insufferable attitude I got after waiting hours to speak to a "human," they can pound salt.

Spot on! I absolutely respect all those who bring artistry to their craft, but I have also lived through several projects where the "artistry" was applied with zero regard for timelines, TCO, budget, maintainability, or what the client actually asked for. Some of the artistry, IMHO, comes in knowing when boring and predictable makes more sense.

Crash Worship at a small venue in Los Angeles, circa 1995. A real, honest-to-god experience. Not a single bit of chemistry or herbs in my system, but high as a kite on the experience. U2 at the Meadowlands Arena in NJ, circa 1986. Bono knows how to work an audience!

Thanks for the detailed reply. It seems that it would be a good idea for me to,also investigate VSTS, as we would want to push JIRA beyond ticketing, specifically to track hours and budgets. Thanks! Kurt

We are seriously considering moving to JIRA so I'd love to get more in-depth response from folks regarding what they do/do not like about it.Our goal is to use it to track Scrumban development, including developer hours and budgets. We are planning on purchasing add-ons for that. Thanks.

OMG, THIS really made me laugh. Thanks. And this was meant to be a reply to Forogar's post.

I thought the shades were horrible. Capaldi is a fine actor but he is struggling to find "his" Doctor. Tenant and Smith nailed it out of the gate, building recognizable character traits immediately. IMHO Capaldi has not. I'm not sure if that's his issue or the producers. I think his stories have been, for the most part, sub-par. It's time for some fresh blood behind the camera.

I have always heard good things about Pluralsight.

Ian, that is *exactly* how I am going to be approaching my part of this. I have offered an idea for a web application, and am coaching on the basics. I enjoy the coaching part.

Will do, Jeremy. Thanks.

Thanks then! I will tell her not to bother.

I am already supplying books, and plan on helping her out all the way, but I just figured since I have limited time one of these freeby camps might help. Do they have anything at all to offer?

Hello all: I have a friend interested in learning coding and she found www.freecodecamp.com and www.courseforward.com. I know nothing about the sites and was wondering if they are legit, have anything to teach, and could help a complete beginner. Thanks. Kurt

Some of us actually enjoy the process of breaking down a problem and figuring it out, but are told that the manager doesn't care HOW we get the answer as long as we get the answer NOW!!! Solution, turn to teh interwebs, ask the question and continue to work on the answer as you await a reply.

>>So you really think I'm some arrogant bastard? No, and I’m honestly sorry if that’s what came across. >> But please don't ask me a question, call me an oldfashioned fool when you >>don't like my answer and come running to me again when a similar situation arises. I actually agree 100% with that. What I had hoped to convey was that for the past few years that I have lurked on forums like CP and others, I have seen a fairly consistent trend of advanced coders who insist that if you do not know theory X or understand equation Y then you are not a serious programmer and cannot consider yourself one. I completely agree than an incurious mind has no place in coding, and to that end I am constantly learning all I can. I don’t think you are arrogant but I do think that many advanced coders are so steeped in what they know, so good at what they do, that they forget not everyone is the same as them. They forget that not everyone has had the same experiences and education. For instance, I have absolutely no formal education in coding. Everything I know was learned through books, forums and trial-and-error. I do not think, by any stretch, this is the best way to learn but it is exactly what it is. I have worked very, very hard at what I do and I honestly wish I was younger so that I could have even more time to learn this craft. >>From a professional I would expect not having to rely on guessing for those things. Agreed. As I said, when those problems arise I do the research. Sometimes I have to do the research more than once for a similar problem because my mind is so full of other things that I don’t recall the exact answer from the last time. So I encounter an issue and don’t know the answer. I research to find that answer. But my bosses want to know why X is taking longer than anticipated, so with that in mind I implement what I consider to be a solution. Is it the best solution? Maybe not. But there are also practical limits on the time I can spend saturating myself in any given topic. I often have to revisit a topic later, when time permits, to really dig into the answer. >>I simply don't believe that anybody can get very far without having to invest far >>more effort in fumbling around it than in simply learning it. Not that it's really so >>much to learn anyway. That’s exactly what I am addressing above. Maybe it’s more a matter of poor time management in my case, but there are limits on how long I can delve into any topic before I need to move on. I would just ask that folks keep

I might fit into the above category. I code and I take it very seriously. I did not start my working like as a coder, in fact far from it. I have no formal education as a coder but I have taught myself enough to get where I am. I constantly strive to improve my code and expand what I know. On those very rare occassions when I have free time I read as many tech articles and/or books on coding and theory as I can. But my math skills are still pretty poor. I know this and I accept that I will have to do crunchtime research every time a hex issue or binary issue pops up. No, it's not the best approach but it can work. I am at my job six years now and am writing some pretty important software for my client. FWIW, I am also thankful that there are folks smarter than I am willing to share what they know about these topics. Please remember that not everyone who doesn't do well at math is a script-kiddy slacker parasite just waiting to have you do their work for them. I realize that is NOT what you said, but I have to admit to frequently getting that feeling from many of the posts here on different topics. Maybe you math folks are just smarter than us none-too-good at math folks? I am willing to concede that point. But I would wager that many of us DO know that a clear understanding of the basics of computer math is important and that we DO try. We don't always succeed, but we try. Kurt

Gavindon: I have been at it for years and still feel very uncertain when *giving* advice, so join the club. Obviously you are not a 'kodz-pleez' grabber, so don't worry about it. If someone does supply code, ask as many questions as you can as to WHY they did it THIS way. I find you get some amazing insights from why a programmer chose a certain direction, maybe as much as from the code itself.