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I knew exactly how she felt

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Re: I knew exactly how she felt

#71

Post by yen223 »

jerrya wrote: post #9

I said that’s what happens when we hold events for women in IT when there aren’t that many women in this industry – we tend to broaden the definition of women in IT. I can't really speak to this point, but I am curious, when did computer science and software engineering get rolled into IT? 15 years ago, I would not have said software developers, software engineers, or test engineers were part of IT. IT was that depar…

I'm one of the rare programmer-who's-not-IT guy.

My job title is 'software engineer', in the sense that I'm an engineer, whose primary duty is to write software for machines. I'm technically under a different department from IT, which manages infrastructure. It gets confusing sometimes.

Re: I knew exactly how she felt

#72

Post by paganel »

bluedino wrote: post #3

She shouldn't feel bad. I've never seen more than a few minutes of Star Wars or Star Trek. Never seen Dr. Who or any of the Monty Python stuff. I've never seen a single Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter movie (or read the books). But I keep telling myself that one day I'll binge through them all online.

As a programmer who has seen all of the above (except for Dr. Who, never really could understand what was so special about it) while not being a fan of either of them in particular I also do feel that people who want to get into this industry should not look at these superficial things ("she/he wears a Star Wars t-shirt, she/he must be one of us")

I mean, reading "Ender's Game" as a 14-year old kid and being fascinated by it has nothing to do with the fact that 15+ years later I happen to program computers for a living. One of the major reasons that brought me into this industry (and one of the reasons I feel should be a big motivator for other people as well) it's that is so easy to build things that are actually useful.

Re: I knew exactly how she felt

#73

Post by tcdowney »

geoka9 wrote: post #5
noonespecial wrote: post #2

I'm not sure the author quite understood the seeing Star Wars thing was a super low bar fitness test. Once long ago my new wife asked me why geeks always wear tshirts with obscure references that no one gets. I was slightly put out by the question until I figured it out. They're a uniform. It's how we id the friendlies on the battlefield.

> I figured it out. They're a uniform. I think it's just a way of showing off. Case in point: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/12532552/what-part-of-mil... The guy has no idea what the notation means by still wants to wear the t-shirt.

Thanks for this. I was sick the day they taught this notation in my PL class and I need to learn it before my final exam next week!!! :)

Re: I knew exactly how she felt

#75

Post by john_b »

ryanmolden wrote: post #45
seivan wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem isn't PM's know jack about code. The problem is the set where a PM would even be required. That means there's a structural flaw in your process. The idea of having a project manager is ridiculous. People _should_ manage themselves and take ownership of the project. Making the PM useless.

Works great on small projects, does not scale to very large projects. There is a non-zero amount of communication, scheduling and cross-team coordination that needs to happen. If you want developers to do it, that is fine, it just means less development time. If you have never met a good PM it is easy (but intellectually lazy) to write off the discipline. Once you have worked with a good PM you realize by off-loading…

Agreed. However, I think a lot of the PM hating arises due to PMs who think that just because work flows through them to the customer, it's ok for them to take credit for it. I've dealt with inefficient PMs, and I can live with such people, but PMs who use their job as an expression of their inner narcissism are a different story. I think the latter motivates people to take up torches and pitchforks more than the former.

Re: I knew exactly how she felt

#76

Post by mtkd »

Isn't this just a density issue - like (for lack of a better analogy) being gay in a small town?

I can understand it's difficult when you are too young to choose geographic location - but once you can - the marginalisation is quickly solved by moving somewhere with a higher density of like-minded people.

The challenge, I guess, is to advertise that these places do exist - but I see so many 'Geek Girl Dinners' type events I can't believe that is really the case any more.

Re: I knew exactly how she felt

#77

Post by saraid216 »

narrator wrote: post #59

I'm going to annoyingly meta on this one because I'm feeling really philosophical today. There is a constant dissonance in the western world between assumptions about "ideal" or "moral" statistical probability distributions and actual statistical probability distributions over a large sample size when it comes to any politically sensitive topics like the one implied in the article (i.e women having an interest in sci…

Keep in mind that the audience often changes with each repetition.

Re: I knew exactly how she felt

#78

Post by oijaf888 »

memset wrote: post #25

I will offer an experience which is the inverse of this! I am a male software engineer who works in fashion (and before this I worked in wine.) I knew nothing about wine when I started, and my fashion sense is prototypically, well, male-software-centric. People in the wine industry are palpably aware that people view it as "hoity-toity". Professionals I've worked with are usually very gracious in explaining what it m…

I'm interested in working for a fashion company in tech, do you happen to work for one of the really great ones like Warby Parker? Any tips?

Re: I knew exactly how she felt

#79

Post by overgryphon »

ryanmolden wrote: post #41
memset wrote: post #25

I will offer an experience which is the inverse of this! I am a male software engineer who works in fashion (and before this I worked in wine.) I knew nothing about wine when I started, and my fashion sense is prototypically, well, male-software-centric. People in the wine industry are palpably aware that people view it as "hoity-toity". Professionals I've worked with are usually very gracious in explaining what it m…

This. I used to attribute it to douchiness, and sometimes it can be. Some people seem to feel the need to flaunt some kind of (mostly imaginary) superiority over others. That said, the curse of knowledge is also a good explanation. Some people just assume it is common knowledge because for them and others they talk with it is, so when they encounter someone that doesn't know it, it is easy to think "they must be an i…

It's laziness. Instead of recognizing that everyone got where they are now by a different path where they learned different things and appreciating the diversity of knowledge that creates, it's so much easier to say, you should have known that.

Re: I knew exactly how she felt

#80

Post by mynewwork »

rdouble wrote: post #11
jerrya wrote: post #9

I said that’s what happens when we hold events for women in IT when there aren’t that many women in this industry – we tend to broaden the definition of women in IT. I can't really speak to this point, but I am curious, when did computer science and software engineering get rolled into IT? 15 years ago, I would not have said software developers, software engineers, or test engineers were part of IT. IT was that depar…

Outside of Silicon Valley anything that has to do with a computer has always been called IT.

This is entirely wrong. I've always thought one of the peculiarities about the UK is that they refer to all things computer as "IT" while the rest of the english-speaking world differentiates.

I don't work in IT and I never will, it's a different job with a different skill set. I'm not tech support, a dba, or 'the network guy'. I'm a software engineer and I work in R&D.

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