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The next big blue collar job is coding

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Re: The next big blue collar job is coding

#51

Post by hackuser »

general_ai wrote: post #47
thyroxo wrote: post #32

Other advice from Scott Adams: "The reality is that women are treated differently by society for exactly the same reason that children and the mentally handicapped are treated differently. It’s just easier this way for everyone. You don’t argue with a four-year old about why he shouldn’t eat candy for dinner. You don’t punch a mentally handicapped guy even if he punches you first. And you don’t argue when a women tel…

He's got a point though. The 70 cents on the dollar thing has been debunked pretty thoroughly by now, and yet people just keep mindlessly parroting it. Maybe arguing about it is not, in fact, a sensible thing to do.

> The 70 cents on the dollar thing has been debunked pretty thoroughly by now

Not to my knowledge. Can you provide some reliable source that explains it?

> yet people just keep mindlessly parroting it

... or are people mindlessly parroting that it's been debunked? Let's try to treat each other with respect.

Re: The next big blue collar job is coding

#52

Post by sandworm101 »

flukus wrote: post #27
sandworm101 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> shell scripting instead of programming. I was at a discovery conference (lawyers) listening to a vendor pitching the cost of writing some ediscovery syntax to delve through a 50gb database of emails. While he was talking I performed a grep search on my ubuntu netbook, with the database on an encrypted thumbdrive. In a matter of minutes I convinced the client that he didn't need coders to do much of anything, that…

I always love these stories. I'm pretty sure half of the over engineered apps where I'm working could be replaced by a handful of shell scripts. One particular one recently had us adding a whole lot of tables to the database with the accompanying sql and code so we could monitor performance in real time. The information could have easily been generated from our log files with a sed script or a flex program.

(without breaking at-client priviledge) The full task wasn't exactly simple. It started with a failing part in a product. The issue was when exactly the manufacturer should have been aware of the issue. All we had was a database of emails to and from local reps, who as it turns out had been fixing the problem for a long time by telling customers to disable certain features. This fix caused other damage. From the email pile I created a graph showing when customers emails started to mention problems, when the first reps started telling them of the fix, and when those reps started talking to each other about this fix. My client-manufacturer then had an idea of when his organization should have gotten the message and put a stop to things. This then informed the negotiations. So it was cross-referencing a list of vendor emails addresses, customer email addresses, some keywords, and putting it into a timeline. Bash bash bash, a solid night's work but nothing needing actual code.

Had this gone to trial we would have had the ediscovery vendor come in and do a full and proper report. It didn't, and both sides looked took my report as useful enough to come to an agreement. (I gave them my bash scripts and they verified my conclusions themselves.)

Re: The next big blue collar job is coding

#53

Post by hackuser »

StClaire wrote: post #5

I've had this thought before. What's software development if not a trade? I don't want to say that work gets dumbed down, but one hundred years ago a store clerk was a solidly middle-class job, now it's not. Maybe a more relevant example. My grandfather was an accountant. What he did for most of his career, bookkeepers do now. What he did at the end of his career was basically law and banking. The electronic spreadsh…

What's the difference between a system administrator and a plumber? I don't mean it as the first line in a joke.

Re: The next big blue collar job is coding

#54

Post by general_ai »

hackuser wrote: post #51
general_ai wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He's got a point though. The 70 cents on the dollar thing has been debunked pretty thoroughly by now, and yet people just keep mindlessly parroting it. Maybe arguing about it is not, in fact, a sensible thing to do.

> The 70 cents on the dollar thing has been debunked pretty thoroughly by now Not to my knowledge. Can you provide some reliable source that explains it? > yet people just keep mindlessly parroting it ... or are people mindlessly parroting that it's been debunked? Let's try to treat each other with respect.

https://www.google.com/search?q=70+cents+on+the+dollar+myth&...

Plenty of reputable sources right on the first page of results. I can't treat people with respect if they lack critical thinking skills, sorry.

Re: The next big blue collar job is coding

#55

Post by hackuser »

general_ai wrote: post #54
hackuser wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The 70 cents on the dollar thing has been debunked pretty thoroughly by now Not to my knowledge. Can you provide some reliable source that explains it? > yet people just keep mindlessly parroting it ... or are people mindlessly parroting that it's been debunked? Let's try to treat each other with respect.

https://www.google.com/search?q=70+cents+on+the+dollar+myth&... Plenty of reputable sources right on the first page of results. I can't treat people with respect if they lack critical thinking skills, sorry.

> I can't treat people with respect

You should try a different forum than HN.

Re: The next big blue collar job is coding

#58

Post by sanderjd »

general_ai wrote: post #54
hackuser wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The 70 cents on the dollar thing has been debunked pretty thoroughly by now Not to my knowledge. Can you provide some reliable source that explains it? > yet people just keep mindlessly parroting it ... or are people mindlessly parroting that it's been debunked? Let's try to treat each other with respect.

https://www.google.com/search?q=70+cents+on+the+dollar+myth&... Plenty of reputable sources right on the first page of results. I can't treat people with respect if they lack critical thinking skills, sorry.

A generic search results page is your evidence? The internet is chock full of BS in all directions. If you want to convince me you're right, you need to pick out the sources you trust and convince me to trust them too.

Re: The next big blue collar job is coding

#59

Post by dang »

general_ai wrote: post #56

I have a much better idea: how about you acquire some critical thinking skills instead? It'll serve you well in the long run.

We've banned this account for repeatedly being uncivil.

We detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13605017 and marked it off-topic.

Re: The next big blue collar job is coding

#60

Post by sandworm101 »

edoceo wrote: post #49
sandworm101 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> shell scripting instead of programming. I was at a discovery conference (lawyers) listening to a vendor pitching the cost of writing some ediscovery syntax to delve through a 50gb database of emails. While he was talking I performed a grep search on my ubuntu netbook, with the database on an encrypted thumbdrive. In a matter of minutes I convinced the client that he didn't need coders to do much of anything, that…

So for a lawyer on overtime that's still more than a coder makes for 6h work.

Not really. Bringing in an outsider takes time and money. You cannot just grab some kid off the street. You have to go with a vetted pro, someone who can be trusted to handle the material. He or she must be briefed about the task and then be supervised. The result is a report and presentation that me and the other lawyers have to read and attend. It takes weeks. I, already on the inside and not needing any briefing or supervision, got it done overnight.
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