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Former miners out to put Kentucky on the tech map

theguardian.com

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Re: Former miners out to put Kentucky on the tech map

#41

Post by Muuuchem »

jbawgs wrote: post #26

I live in eastern KY and there are a few programs like this one. In Hazard KY, another coal-bust town, I was accepted to a program to train force.com developers. Hold your scoffs please, we've learned a lot in the last few months, including using JS. The broadband struggle is real. I worry that at some point we'll still need to relocate.

Is broadband expensive or bad or unavailable? What about satellite internet? I live in Mississippi and broadband internet is affordable and available throughout the state and has been for years so I expected Kentucky to have the same or similar. Some places miles away from the nearest town in MS definitely don't have broadband.

Re: Former miners out to put Kentucky on the tech map

#42

Post by Muuuchem »

jbawgs wrote: post #40
Muuuchem wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am confused, are you guys suggesting that some cities and towns in Kentucky and other areas within the US lack the same broadband infastructure that I enjoy access to in small-town Mississippi?

I live on the most populous hilltop in Hyden KY. Our only ISP caps at 1mb, and its not terribly reliable. Satellite is of course an option, but the expense is prohibitive if you use a lot of data.

Oh wow, maybe since Mississippi is fairly flat, it is just easier to set up decent infrastructure here.

Re: Former miners out to put Kentucky on the tech map

#43

Post by jbawgs »

Muuuchem wrote: post #41
jbawgs wrote: post #26

I live in eastern KY and there are a few programs like this one. In Hazard KY, another coal-bust town, I was accepted to a program to train force.com developers. Hold your scoffs please, we've learned a lot in the last few months, including using JS. The broadband struggle is real. I worry that at some point we'll still need to relocate.

Is broadband expensive or bad or unavailable? What about satellite internet? I live in Mississippi and broadband internet is affordable and available throughout the state and has been for years so I expected Kentucky to have the same or similar. Some places miles away from the nearest town in MS definitely don't have broadband.

1mb 'broadband' service, offered as DSL, runs about 90$ per month, and that's our only ISP. One could get satellite that's faster, but satellite internet also has low data caps, and the cost scales out of proportion. The terrain derails reliable wireless services, and the low population density rules it out anyway - folk are pretty far apart.

Re: Former miners out to put Kentucky on the tech map

#44

Post by [deleted] »

jbawgs wrote: post #40
Muuuchem wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am confused, are you guys suggesting that some cities and towns in Kentucky and other areas within the US lack the same broadband infastructure that I enjoy access to in small-town Mississippi?

I live on the most populous hilltop in Hyden KY. Our only ISP caps at 1mb, and its not terribly reliable. Satellite is of course an option, but the expense is prohibitive if you use a lot of data.

[deleted]

Re: Former miners out to put Kentucky on the tech map

#45

Post by jacques_chester »

We were lucky to host some visiting Bitsourcers in NYC. They were fantastic.

They told us the same thing: coal miners have to think. You do the right thing, the right way, every time, or somebody could die.

The stakes are lower for tech projects, but they brought the care with them.

Re: Former miners out to put Kentucky on the tech map

#46

Post by Scoundreller »

jbawgs wrote: post #40
Muuuchem wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am confused, are you guys suggesting that some cities and towns in Kentucky and other areas within the US lack the same broadband infastructure that I enjoy access to in small-town Mississippi?

I live on the most populous hilltop in Hyden KY. Our only ISP caps at 1mb, and its not terribly reliable. Satellite is of course an option, but the expense is prohibitive if you use a lot of data.

DSL or wireless?

Re: Former miners out to put Kentucky on the tech map

#47

Post by Godel_unicode »

brudgers wrote: post #27
Moshe_Silnorin wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A programming aptitude test is just an IQ test with another name. >One out of every two people I meet I am confident they could become proficient at programming given a solid learning environment. That's quite possible, even if what I say is true. People tend to mix with people on their own intellectual level. The people you talk to enough to get a good estimate of their intelligence are unlikely to be randomly selec…

An alternative way to prevent deskilling programming is to make the tools required to program such that learning to use them becomes mostly a matter of oral tradition rather than accessible. This might (or might not) be happening. For example, the evolution of Javascript from a low status programming language to a high status one has paralleled a shift from a stable core language and a well documented API to the DOM…

I think your learning style is leaking through here. While not a JavaScript expert (who designs a language with whitespace/formatting not being a first class concern?) I had no trouble picking it up from the docs and random blog posts.

I'm a learn-by-doing type though, YMMV.

Re: Former miners out to put Kentucky on the tech map

#48

Post by leggomylibro »

mythrwy wrote: post #7
superpope99 wrote: post #2

Time and time again I keep coming back to the same conclusion - anyone who has the desire can learn to code. I would say that 95% of people have enough innate logic to write code, they just need to be taught to express it formally.

Sure. 95% of people can lay bricks too. But 95% of people can't lay bricks precisely enough or at the speed a bricklaying company is going to hire them. And for sure 95% of people aren't interested in laying bricks. Is it worth teaching 95% of people to code? I don't think it is. Most people don't have to lay bricks to live in house.

Coding is a good force multiplier for non-coding jobs, though; even a basic scripting knowledge can go a long ways. An administrative assistant who can compile their weekly reports with the press of a button is far more valuable than one who spends half of every Friday mucking around in a Microsoft Word template to do the same thing.

Bricks aren't powerful programmable tools that most people already work with on a daily basis.

Re: Former miners out to put Kentucky on the tech map

#49

Post by teleclimber »

jacques_chester wrote: post #45

We were lucky to host some visiting Bitsourcers in NYC. They were fantastic. They told us the same thing: coal miners have to think . You do the right thing, the right way, every time, or somebody could die. The stakes are lower for tech projects, but they brought the care with them.

> You do the right thing, the right way, every time, or somebody could die.

This stood out for me in the article. I moved to coding after a few years as an aerospace engineer. In the aerospace world you don't want to make mistakes either, so I know how jarring it can be to move to an industry that operates on the motto "just ship it and we'll patch it later, maybe".

I hope they can bring their thoughtfulness to their code and develop a reputation for shipping solid product.

Re: Former miners out to put Kentucky on the tech map

#50

Post by jbawgs »

jbawgs wrote: post #40
Muuuchem wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am confused, are you guys suggesting that some cities and towns in Kentucky and other areas within the US lack the same broadband infastructure that I enjoy access to in small-town Mississippi?

I live on the most populous hilltop in Hyden KY. Our only ISP caps at 1mb, and its not terribly reliable. Satellite is of course an option, but the expense is prohibitive if you use a lot of data.

DSL is what's available. Wireless is too susceptible to the terrain.
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