[TriLUG] OT: PT One tech issue from tonight's debate

[Joseph Mack NA3T]

On Sat, 20 Oct 2012, R Radford wrote:

> On Sat, Oct 20, 2012 at 4:51 AM, Joseph Mack NA3T <jmack at wm7d.net> wrote:
>> I was talking about the jobs with very nice salaries, which for me is
>> 100k$+. Can you get these with zero storage experience?
>
> Yes.  I had embedded Linux experience (which I actually 
> started learning on my own, at home, before my first job 
> with it 10+ years ago.  So while I had no storage 
> experience, I definitely had embedded Linux experience. 
> The interesting thing is that NetApp uses FreeBSD so if 
> you were to come in with any embedded FreeBSD experience, 
> that would put you a step ahead.

thanks for the perspective.

>> I was at EMC in RTP last year and told that there was no 
>> developement there. Sounds like things have changed.
>
> I am not sure who told you that, but they have had 
> development there for at least the last 3-4 years which is 
> when they acquired Data Domain.  I can't speak about any 
> development work prior to that time.

Thanks for straightening me out.

I was in the data center and not knowing the place even 
existed, asked what they were doing. I was told that 
development was in Boston. Most of the cubes were empty and 
I assumed that they only needed a few people to maintain the 
data center.

>> You usually need experience to get 100k$. This is 
>> reality, not whining.
>
> If you really have no experience in any of the skills they 
> want, then you are correct.  However, if you have 
> experience in enough things that shows a company you can 
> learn, and if you can show the company that you are 
> continuing to improve yourself (in my example, getting my 
> MSEE a few years ago while working two jobs), they are 
> open to listening to you.

thanks. I can see you've worked hard.

>> You're elated to know that NC is 39th in SATs, the 3 best 
>> high schools in...
>
> I never said I was elated, but I also don't look at only 
> the negatives - there are a of positives here.  That is 
> the difference in what appears to be our view - instead of 
> naming off all the things that are wrong, look at what is 
> right and embrace it.

OK. I'd prefer to name the things that are wrong and see 
what I can do about them, but I'll accept that your 
orientation towards the things that are wrong works for you.

> I just don't see how those items you listed before should 
> affect anyone's ability to get a good job in this area, 
> which was what this thread was all about.

A job for me is more than a good salary and an interesting 
project. A job is part of my life. I have 168-40hrs that's 
not work. What do I do with it, who is there to do things 
with, how much of my time is just driving? My life includes 
raising a family. I expect my family to grow up in a world 
one generation better than the one I grew up in. The quality 
of schools etc come into play. Do the people I work with 
have a global view of life and interests beyond the 
immediate demands of their job?

> if you really feel the state is that bad, perhaps you 
> would be happier somewhere else.

Are you saying that it's not my place to say how things 
should be around here, but it's your place to tell me how to 
run my life?

> Personally, I am very happy here and am offended when 
> someone tells me that this is one of the worst states in 
> the nation.

NC was 48th in SATs when I arrived. You can tell people that 
you're offended by them pointing this out and that they 
should embrace it, but it won't fix it. You could tell these 
people to move elsewhere. Sure you won't have to hear from 
them anymore, but the problem will still be there.

I think it's wrong, should be pointed out and should be 
fixed. As my contribution, I taught programming to two 7-8th 
graders for 2yrs and mechanics for about another year to one 
of them.

http://www.austintek.com/#computer_class

I bring back geological samples for my son's school's 
science teacher whenever I go on a geology trip. I organised 
a geology field trip this year that the earth science 
teacher at my son's school came to. I'm teach a class at the 
school every year on science/math.

http://www.austintek.com/icosahedron_class/

I've made other attempts to do things at the school over a 
period of several years, that haven't worked out. Here's one 
of them.

http://www.austintek.com/astro/analemma/analemma.html#school

I was a soccer referee and coach for youth soccer for about 
8yrs, including 2yrs as a professional referee. It is really 
neat to have a kid come up to you in a store, say hello and 
ask if I'm going to referee his game next week.

I participate in public viewings of the night sky with my 
telescopes. I've helped run and give talks at star parties. 
For Halloween I have a scope out on my front lawn. Maybe 
only 4 kids in 100 are interested and know what they're 
seeing, but they are really excited by it. I know they go 
home remembering that they saw the bands and moons of 
jupiter or the mountains and craters of the moon with their 
own eyes in realtime, and not just a picture that some adult 
gave them. Seeing the reaction of these 4 kids is enough to 
keep doing it every year.

With ham radio I've helped run public events needing comms. 
(I haven't done it so much since moving to NC.)

I have found from this thread, that many people accept the 
way things are in NC. I didn't know that till yesterday, but 
it explains why NC is this way and why it will be hard to 
change.

Joe

-- 
Joseph Mack NA3T EME(B,D), FM05lw North Carolina
jmack (at) wm7d (dot) net - azimuthal equidistant map
generator at http://www.wm7d.net/azproj.shtml
Homepage http://www.austintek.com/ It's GNU/Linux!