Heath Long

I am sorry if this is this has been posted already. I think it is probably old news on this board. Imperial College London has found that two networks of genes determine whether people are intelligent or not so bright. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/12061787/Intelligence-genes-discovered-by-scientists.html

I donate to School Sucks, Freedomain, Peace Revolution, and The Corbett Report. I love them all. It seems like I found them all at once. I need to start donating to Gnostic Media as well. Aside from Gnostic Media and the pre 2013 Freedomain Radio, I have listened to every episode from each provider.

I bet he would be so bold without the armed thugs holding the victim down. What a pig. It is the truth, if one wishes to see it. Come and get my tax "contribution" without your thugs John McCain, Hilary Clinton, Harry Reid...Pigs, every one of them.

I am going to throw something out there. Please do not take this as advice, but just something to consider. I might start looking for other jobs. If there are perceived "failures" as a part if your work catalogue there, then move on. Development failures are rarely the fault of an individual developer. If you are not in the right role, that is not entirely your fault, but shitty higher-ups will readily place all blame on you. I have several developers reporting to me, and the most important part of keeping them productive is understanding what it is that they like to do. Sometimes, I push them outside their comfort zone, but I think long and hard about the benefit to their career first, and explain it to them prior to putting them in a role. Some employers are like this. Many just fill seats. We all have messes to clean up as a part of being human in 2014. I grew up with the "do what I say or else" parents, grandparents, school, city, state and country. But understand that the "or else" in a project is usually another project that you might like better and that might be the basis for a career. Things could be so much worse! You have a giant brain that someone is paying you to use. Right now they are getting a portion. When you find your spot, you will be able to give it all and that's when good things happen. Again, just something to think about. If you are certain that it is not them, but you...then keep doing the best you can while working out the issues that are holding you back. From my experience, one's environment can make all of the difference though.

I do not know where the pain originates, but I felt my own pain reading your story. I have been in dev shops like the one you described, and I hated it to the point of physical manifestations of pain. It was not acute, like you described; it was more like severe anxiety. I did not want to fail, but I also did not want to be there. What I found is that not every dev position is like this. From my experience, it seems like you are not doing something that you like. Is this possible? The world is big, and software development is broad in its range of project types and roles. I jumped around a bit and found a place the suited me. I tried other languages and various work models (consultant from home for a while) until I found the right mix of projects and responsibilities for me. What do you think? Is it the work itself, the environment, or something else?

Iowan living in AZ here. Welcome! My wife's maternal family is all from Madison, so we go there often. Ah, the upper Midwest socialist. A delightful breed. The will never identify as socialist, definitions be damned. Iowa is the same way.

I get what you are saying power, but running through the dealers that I know...they have all moved on to pretty good positions; at least the ones who did not get clipped too drastically by the hypocrisy of the law in their states at the time. I have a buddy who is still on probation in CO, for a crime that no longer exists in that state. One of the smartest people I know, and he did many years for selling what can now be legally purchased anywhere in CO. Bullshit. The dealers that I know were not bad people. They could see beyond the nonsense. My first lesson on money came from my friend who I referred to above, when he asked me, "do you know what money is?". He went on to explain the federal reserve and our monetary system. More than 99/100 people could do in 1993. Wow did I get off topic.

Back to the OP and in the spirit of the first few posts: a few very simple rules can spawn incredibly complex systems. Wolfram stated in his giant ass book that the universe could have started with a handful of rules...like enough to count on one hand, spawning the universe we observe today. I like this, because I live it. First principles.

So the question is: bad job history vs. no job history. You could say something like, "I made the mistake of not being particular about taking employment. I compromised, and it backfired. I have learned that an employee chooses an employer as much as the employer chooses and employee, and I will not make the same compromises in the future." This shows that you can grow from mistakes and it also is somewhat flattering to the employer, should you take a position.

Wow. Thanks everyone. I will check this stuff out. I started by purchasing a book by Dr. Laura Markham, and I am happy to see that, so far, it is very much in line with what I hear from Steph on the subject. Thanks again for the responses.

I am looking for a good book on parenting. We have a 2.5 year old child that is wonderful until bed time, when she starts jumping on the bed and completely ignores her parents. We are just looking for some insight on where we are falling short, and to learn something about an appropriate course of action. Her communication is not yet advanced enough to get a complete picture by talking to our daughter. We would greatly appreciate some book suggestions. Thanks in advance.

We have the same setup. We use Apple TV, which includes Netflix and many other apps. Our 2.5 year old daughter likes to watch Pingu and Curious George, and she joins us when we watch shows that are appropriate. I am with you when you say that the marketing part of television is something to avoid, and it makes up a big portion of why we do not have a cable or satellite subscription. One may be able to limit marketing exposure by using a DVR as well. Honestly, I think my wife and I have watched 2 movies in their entirety in 2.5 years, so not having immediate access just makes sense for us. I do not think that television in itself is a bad thing. It is about how one uses the device. I sometimes have my daughter sit with me and I put on a show about dinosaurs or other animals before a trip to the zoo. She also has an iPad on which she can pull up a show on netflix if she chooses, and we have not found her to over use the privilege. We got the iPad because we can see that it will be an important device in her education. When I first got my iPad, I downloaded wolfram alpha and I had a lightbulb over the head moment. This is the new reference library, and my daughter will have access to vast repositories of human knowledge! When I was a child, my access was an encyclopedia from 20 years before I was born....this is better.

I am curious as to how one leads a team of developers without having development experience. I would hate that. Perhaps using that tiny bit of perspective can help you. Maybe it will be a fine challenge. Have you ready any books on the black art of software estimation?

I am sure that they do spy. But I do not think this particular test proves much. I can see how their anti spam systems might trigger a positive for this test. Not saying that their servers are not tied into the NSA or vice versa, but this test does not really say much. Snowden's release is enough for me to say with certainty that theses companies, while perhaps not spying themselves, are a part of a spy apparatus on the web.

Is it not true that evolution has made it so our evolution is self driven? We can learn of our past from these studies, but nature has selected us to our current state, and we are now able to evolve while being conscience of our own evolution. I am not sure that any other life form on this planet has this luxury. I am certain that most are not consciencly aware that this is true...or not aware enough to care. We are at a tipping point. We will either evolve or devolve. The numbers show devolve, unfortunately. Those who are conscience of our role in evolution are not reproducing. These are the numbers as they are today...perhaps something will change.