[extropy-chat] Turbulence of obsolesence (was: Anti-virus protection -- problem fixed!)

[Adrian Tymes]

I'd like to reply point by point, but going over your letter, I see a
pattern that...

--- Eugen Leitl <eugen at leitl.org> wrote:
> On Tue, Apr 19, 2005 at 02:23:53PM -0700, Adrian Tymes wrote:
> > Last I'd heard, DDOS and spam account for about 2/3rd of an ISP's
> > typical bandwidth costs.
> 
> You're wrong.

...you reject the facts I have gathered from my personal experience.
With that divide between us, I don't see that there's anything to be
gained by discussion.  We both apply equally valid logical arguments,
but starting from completely different (and seemingly mutally
contradictory) evidence.  I could cite stuff like
http://www.bizreport.com/news/5395

> A study released in May by the FBI and the Computer Security
> Institute found that DDoS attacks cost businesses $66 million in
> 2002, compared to $18 million in 2001.

or related stuff like
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5165642.html

> UK security company mi2g estimated the economic damage done by
> Netsky.B worldwide to be at least US$3.12 billion

but you'd just reject it.

I will give one nit that proves we are coming from different
perspectives: I do not consider holding a MSCE - MicroSoft Certified
Engineer, that is, as opposed to Master's of Science in Computer
Engineering from a good college - to be proof that one is "adequately
skilled" to be a professional software engineer.  That people with only
that certificate as proof of their skills shows the desperation of the
dotcom years, not that adequately skilled software engineers are being
laid off.  The people who got only-need-MSCE technical jobs at that
time largely had other, nontechnical career options before then, which
options are largely still open today.  For the most part, the only
people I hear disagreeing with that are those who got MSCEs and refuse
to admit how worthless those certificates are, especially how they do
not prove that the holders are special or competent in any major way,
shape, or form.  This misconception (I'd call it "delusion", except
that it's unfortunately spread to many people, like the one about the
Earth's spin significantly affecting the direction of toilet flushes)
tremendously impairs their willingness to seek other types of work,
despite the fact that they keep getting turned down when they apply for
computer jobs, thus they perceive a sustained economic depression where
the rest of us see a recovering economy.

(I hope that's not personally insulting, BTW, if you do hold one.  But
it's the simple truth from what I see.  If you hold one, do yourself a
favor, throw it away, and learn how to actually program.  Go for the
basics first - say, download and install a Perl interpreter, then write
some programs using nothing more than Notepad to create and edit some
Perl scripts, and browser windows open to whatever online documentation
you can find.  A few dedicated days of studying, to where you have
written and run "Hello World" programs and can do so again from memory,
will make you far more employable.  Or if you'd rather do system
administration work, try building a Web server - not just by studying
the docs, but by buying a low-end computer, disconnected from any
network so you can play around with it without fear, then actually
installing the OS from CDs and turning on the Web server so you can use
the Web browser on the computer to go to http://localhost/ .  I
reccomend Linux, and the Apache Web server that comes with most
versions of it, but even the versions of Windows that come with IIS
should suffice here; you might even want to try both, if you've got the
Windows discs and can download Linux ISOs from
http://fedora.redhat.com/download/ and write them to CDs.  Of course,
you may again need the docs you can find online; use a separate
computer, connected to the 'Net, to look them up.  Regardless,
experience - including and especially experience from practicing the
skill on your own, outside of work - trumps most other types of
qualifications.  E.g., instead of spending 40 hours a week looking for
work and getting nowhere, spend 20 hours a week doing that and 20 hours
a week finding out what you can about the jobs that are out there that
you'd like and studying - practicing, if possible - the skills they
call for.  Improve thyself until you really are among the best
candidates for the jobs you apply for...or just found your own small
business, though most people prefer not to go that far.)

Anyway, thread over.