Jon Stewart calls out congressional nerd bashing over SOPA

Post by roel_v » Fri, Jan 20, 2012, 8:05 AM UTC

lusr wrote: post #30

pinaceae wrote: post #17

it points to a big shift in society and the economy. software is now a cornerstone of the world economy. modern life runs through the internet. even if you personally avoid the internet, you depend on it. but the baby boomer generation, represented by these politicians has not understood it. they know engineers as the guys building houses, bridges, aeroplanes, rockets. but software? it is an invisible world to them.…

I've often wondered how to explain to non-developers the level of complexity in large software projects. I don't think the new generation will understand it any better than the old generation because, as you say, it's an invisible world. I am currently contracted on a project with 1.5 million lines of code and dependencies on hundreds of services written by a number of different teams. It takes a few weeks just to ge…

Post by wonnage » Fri, Jan 20, 2012, 8:11 AM UTC

roel_v wrote: post #31

lusr wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've often wondered how to explain to non-developers the level of complexity in large software projects. I don't think the new generation will understand it any better than the old generation because, as you say, it's an invisible world. I am currently contracted on a project with 1.5 million lines of code and dependencies on hundreds of services written by a number of different teams. It takes a few weeks just to ge…

Why would they have to understand? Do you understand the intricaties of an airplane when you fly one?

Post by cpeterso » Fri, Jan 20, 2012, 8:30 AM UTC

lusr wrote: post #30

pinaceae wrote: post #17

it points to a big shift in society and the economy. software is now a cornerstone of the world economy. modern life runs through the internet. even if you personally avoid the internet, you depend on it. but the baby boomer generation, represented by these politicians has not understood it. they know engineers as the guys building houses, bridges, aeroplanes, rockets. but software? it is an invisible world to them.…

I've often wondered how to explain to non-developers the level of complexity in large software projects. I don't think the new generation will understand it any better than the old generation because, as you say, it's an invisible world. I am currently contracted on a project with 1.5 million lines of code and dependencies on hundreds of services written by a number of different teams. It takes a few weeks just to ge…

Post by yason » Fri, Jan 20, 2012, 8:31 AM UTC

kiba wrote: post #28

mdonahoe wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I dont disagree with your thesis, but your example spans a mere twenty years.

Well, I only exists for twenty one years.

Post by dasil003 » Fri, Jan 20, 2012, 8:34 AM UTC

neilk wrote: post #12

bravura wrote: post #8

On the plus side, all the conspiracy theorists who claimed that Jon Stewart and The Daily Shows were pawns of their parent multinational media conglomerate, and thus wouldn't negatively cover SOPA, these people were wrong. On the negative side, no one in the news media or whistleblowers and WTF-watchers like Jon Stewart knew what SOPA was until two days ago. That's even scarier.

More on the plus side: Jon Stewart and his team of researchers and writers can go from knowing nothing about a topic, to absolutely nailing some of the central absurdities, in less than a week. Either comedy is easier than it looks or these guys are really good at their jobs.