eznet

I recently got my A+ certification so that I can nab a job to hold me over until I can get a programming gig (no one wants to hire a CS major for tech work and no one wants a programmer with 'no' experience). I headed to CompTIA's website to download my certificate and was presented with a Firefox's "Reported Attack Site" warning. According to Google's Safe Browsing Diagnostic report, there are 2 pages being hosted at CompTIA that result in the installation of Malicious content without users consent... Maybe the CompTIA organization needs to brush up on their security information...

http://blog.eznet.frih.net/?p=88

Well, I am far from an authority or expert, but really all it takes is getting a half decent camera with a hand full of manual settings, a half decent tripod and start clicking. Click a lot. Luckily with a digital camera and a 2GB memory card, you can click until your finger is sore and all you have spent is time. You will learn a LOT from doing just this. Play with macros and landscapes, day and night, still and action - just shoot. Load em up in Gimp or Photoshop and go to town (might I suggest playing with Shadows and Highlights (PS) to get some instant gratification).

Since you say that you have been interested for a year, but have not taken the steps to start, I definitely would not recommending running out and snatching up a thousand dollar camera - for all you currently know, you might not like the process as much as you do the idea. I can personally recommend the Canon S3 IS as a decent entry level point and shoot with some nice manual settings for under 300 bones - I bought this camera a couple years ago, so if anyone knows a better comparable inexpensive one, by all means chime in. First thing you will want to do is get the CHDK AllBest hacked firmware and familiarize yourself with it - it lets you do a LOT with the camera that the default Canon firmware will not. As a bonus, it will not hurt your camera or replace your Canon firmware - just turn it back off and on and you are back to normal (see CHDK website).

My next camera will hopefully be a Nikon D300, but I definitely would not run out and grab one as a starter. You want something that has some nice automatic functions as well as the manual options - without this, it will be easy to get discouraged.

Also, a fun thing that will whet your appetite is to grab the aforementioned tripod, set your CHDK settings to take multiple exposures of the exact same thing and load them up in PhotoMatix (Mac/Win) or Qtpfs (Linux - I use this). HDRs can be really fun to work with and you can get some interesting pictures with the modern HDR programs (they do the leg work for the lazy.. coughmyselfcough).

Like I said, I am not a pro, just a dude who likes to take lots of pictures. Get bored, check out some of my pics I am most proud of: http://flickr.com/photos/mattezell/sets/72157601781859375/ http://flickr.com/photos/mattezell/sets/72157605580120812/

Birmingham, Alabama - there are always positions open, but they want 'senior' developers. About as far as I have gotten concerning these jobs is attempting to sell myself as a quick learner willing to work from the bottom up, but it seems that no one is interesting in mentoring or even trying a green developer out.

Now, in fairness, I understand that time is money and no one wants to waste time, so I am guessing I need to suck it up and get in on some projects to build my portfolio - I kinda thought thats what my first job out of college would do (teach me and build me), but looks like that comes after considerable personal development.

Typically, for a recent CS graduate they get equated in the initial search for a job - put CS, put IT, put 6, put 'half a dozen'... in the end, when seeking that first job that gives you your experience that all the "good" jobs require, the HR manager does not know (or could care less) about the differences between CS or IT.

Basically, to most 'regular' employers they need a "tech guy" (or girl) who generally understands the domain of their needs. Or maybe I am applying for crap jobs - who knows? But I do know that typically when "cold" applying for positions, the two are usually considered equivocal.

Well, quantum is applicable - or at least becoming so. A.I. is another one that springs to mind - not to mention robotics. Everyone loves robots.

Good job Mr. Gates. C/o 2008 and already getting 60K offers from 75% of your applications. You are a fortunate fellow. Unfortunately the tech jobs here in the southeast U.S. (Alabama to be specific) aren't so hot - avg <40k starting. And before you said 'move', see above comment. Thanks for the feedback though.

Yea, I am going to spend this 'down time' honing my skills as a hacker and see what happens from there. As the old adage goes "the proof is in the pudding" and I currently don't have much in the way of 'pudding' to show prospective employers aside from my degree - guess I need to get to brainstorming.

Oh, and concerning moving: my wife is an accountant here and is clearing 60, so yea, not really an option... luckily she can support my broke-a for now.

Ha! Thanks. Yea, I know what you are saying, and I am sure that something will come along. I am taking my A+ next week because every 'network engineer' position that I have applied for requires it - they do not, however, require a CS degree. Go figure. All I can do is use this time that I have and hone my hacking skills - something to be thankful for. Oh, and at the interview they said the waiter positions was filled, but they will call me about the busboy position! Yay!

I wish I had declined my CS education. I, a recent CS graduate (Bachelor of Science in Computer Science), have come to the conclusion that a)my education equals squat to potential employers (and that a hand full of $300 certifications would have served as more valuable) and b)everything I learned in 4 years of CS studies, I could have learned in half the time outside of class - much of which I did, and then had to sit through it again in class.

I have been out of school for approximately 3 months now, have submitted well over 100 resumes, and cannot net even a remedial hold-over job screwing in PCI cards and fixing users' desktops. This afternoon I am throwing on a pair of khakis and heading out to see if I can net a job waiting tables - woot!

P.S. That last sentence is literal, in about an hour I am going for a restaurant interview... man, I am really happy I listened to my parents and elders and made sure to go to college, so that now I have 35k in debt and no job with which to pay it back with.

It definitely indicates a design deficiency when one (myself included) prefers PDF over the default service provided via Scribd.

I know what book I am taking for my week away next week: The Ultimate HitchHiker's Guide - 5 complete novels and 1 story. This is an awesome group of stories that are really fun to read. If you haven't read them at least once or have only read the guide to the galaxy, you should definitely check it out.

Although I did find the joke funny the 1st time I read it, I too was kind of curious about the 'first page merit' on this one... Also, and on a related note, I have noticed that the front page content has somewhat changed over the previous months. Used to, when hitting hn, I was greeted by pretty much 99% programming/hacking content... not so much anymore... makes me a little sad on the inside (still holding the knife on the outside, so I don't think sad is whats coming across... we will say conflicted...).

There is much to be said for exercise, but I still experience significant brain-drain and sluggish performance despite working out 7 days a week(weights 4 days, running 3). Perhaps the combination of physical activity, diet and additional supplements are in order for some individuals. As far as I am concerned, 'to each their own' means more than allowing individuals to decide whats ok for them - sometimes it can mean that 'each's own' is different and what works for some may not be for others.

Maybe I will go roll a spliff now...

Once they secure their position, I wonder if MS will start imposing comparable constraints to the future OLPCs (which they should have never been allowed to put their grubby hands on)? Also, I wonder who in the world their PR dude is and if he sleeps most all days... In any case, they really should be working on improving their public appearance through their policies rather than trying to impose restrictions on their potential customers. Dumb.

I second that. Been using 1and1 for about 3 years now and have no complaints. They have good prices and their configuration interface is well designed and intuitive.

Oh, the days of a good tribbs board and L.O.R.D.

I frequented the Vagabond's Oasis and Galaxy BBS here in the Alabama, US. Also, I ran a small friend/family bbs, The Dismal Light, after 11:00pm on my families second line.

I kinda miss the days of the BBS and door games. I also remember the excitement associated with the prospect of the Internet coming to town - with pictures and everything!!!

Nice job man. The whole process from the user's end is about as simple and painless as it can get - something that, if done poorly, will kill a site quicker then anything. Nice concept and seemingly small/few bugs/issues for a just launched site. Kudos!

Thanks Boyd, I have checked out the design patterns head first book and it was incredibly intuitive and even entertaining to read. I have obtained a couple more since, I just have yet to wade through them as of yet... I am going to stop procrastinating on it and start reading them - tomorrow ;) I have recently come to realize the importance of knowing a database (and management) system or two. I kinda always knew that would be something I would need to get a firm grasp on - something confirmed from your and other's words on this thread. I feel that to be at the top of my list. I have read theory, best practices and paradigms for four years now. I think I have come to a crossroad where the application of all this theory and mess is the next move; a move where databases will be important.

Thanks for the words of encouragement, Boyd.

-Matt

"That's my two cents"

And I thank you greatly for them as I, myself, only have about 1/2 a cent right now :) I am seeing a lot of reoccuring themes there - notably version control, egos, teams and testing, and from this I know where I need to go next.

So, again, thank you for your cents!

-Matt

I think that it has been hardest for me to find a mentor or even people in similar situations as a result of my education being primarily online for the last year - a decision I really regret making now. My wife took an accounting job in a different city and Troy University offers the CS degree online (primarily for the military) and so I have been completing my senior year on the computer. This has made it difficult to meet people who are doing what I am doing and to share our experiences about our journeys - thats why I turn to kind people such as yourself ;)

I have joined some computing and programming groups here, but it seems like most of them work together and the group is just an excuse to eat and catch up on people's families and such. If I mention group coding or similar activities, generally, the response is 'we should' and then no one can or does... I feel like this is what I am missing the most - just being able to lean over to my neighbor and asking 'hey man, how do you think you would do this?' or 'How did you get that to work like that?' The personal touch, you know?

Thanks for the tips wallflower!

-Matt

I have done this on a limited basis, but everyone wants me to start now and wants to pay me crap. I understand that I will have to start lower because of my lack of experience, but on the other hand, I didn't go to school (and pay for school) to start working for $9/hr from some small company. I have had multiple companies try to hire me on for less than I would make working at McD's - all because they are going to be 'paying me with experience'.

I think this sentiment is where you second note comes to play: I am not going to take these jobs :) I guess I will do what I've been doing and just keep my feelers out until the right thing comes along.

Thanks angstrom,

-Matt

I pride myself on my interpersonal skills - I just think it is easier and more productive to be friendly (or at least amicable). Hopefully I can carry this with me into the development arena as you suggest, though I don't think it will be too much of a stretch :) As for #4, 'sneaky, sneaky!' Thanks for the tip. Though I don't think I could intentionally obfuscate my work (just seems dirty), I think that there are other ways of leveraging in a similar manner and I will definitely be keeping this in mind.

Thanks dusklight!

Thanks wehriam, Of all of the things that I am 'sure of' as a result of my education, my ability to learn something foreign would have to be it. I remember my first C class - swearing that there was no way this voodoo magic could ever make sense and actually be put to work and then by the end of the class having to reference the examples less and just knowing more.

Thanks for the encouragement,

-Matt

"'If you can hack, you'll do fine."

Thats what I am hoping for. It can just become overwhelming for a young-buck (such as myself) when seeing all these frameworks and libraries and trying to figure out which ones my future employer will want used. In my CS studies, we have focused on a lot of 'whats under the hood' (aka linked lists, binary trees, etc,.) and so when I see these frameworks, I cannot help but think "which one do I use? Can't I just write the algorithm myself?!"

If I am understanding you correctly, if I can do this (know what is going on under the hood), then the rest of the cards will fall into place (?).

Thanks ajross!

Source control, DBs, and Documents - Check, Check and Check :) I had my suspicions here - now I have some confirmations. I know the basics here, but I definitely could stand to be more proficient.

School has taught us nothing of Source Control; I don't even think it has been MENTIONED - likely because we have not participated on a project that has a complexity that would really justify it (other than the practice).

SQL doesn't seem too terribly difficult (the class was a cake walk), but I need much, much more practice in it so I can stop referencing docs every time I need to do something more complex than 'SELECT *....'

As far as the documents are concerned - guess I need to break out the old text book again :) I did it, and I made good in it, but I hated it. I will not lie, I despised use cases, requirement specifications and UML diagrams, but I guess I need to get over that and learn to like it - or at least tolerate :)

I have to admit complete ignorance on automated builds and depolyable code. I guess I need to get my butt in gear and get familiarized. My university (Troy University) has only taught using MS technologies (I use Linux personally - thank god my Q6600 runs XP smokin' fast virtually) and so the extent of our deployment has been zipping up the solution files and the compiled executable and submitting it to the teach (heaven forbid you send something ending with '.gz' - I was actually told I sent a corrupted file one time).

I guess I need to get my ideas out and working. I have been hashing around in my head very similar projects to what you are suggesting... I actually purchased a domain a while back for doing just that, but, well, just haven't done it. I really like RoR, but my webhost (FriHost) doesn't support RoR, so I guess I will be limited to python if I really want an opened deployment :)

Thanks for taking the time to respond with so much valuable info!

-Matt

Thanks apathy, I checked out Git a little while back. I definitely think that I need to learn more about both Git and SVN. From what little contact I have had with companies, SVN seems to be the most widely deployed for those on *nix platforms - that likely has something to do with the ~5yr jump that SVN has (?) though...

Thanks for the encouragement!

-Matt

"There is high-level advice that provides some useful guidance to everyone. I get the impression this is the sort of advice he was reaching for first."

Bingo! ;)

Thanks, azanar

"There are many kinds of "rich" beyond money. One of the most important is doing what you love every day. You don't have to "believe" anyone, but listen and go with your gut."

Thanks edw519, I think this is going to be one of my primary concerns when I set out. If I have to work part time doing tech work to make ends, so be it - but under no circumstance do I want to be stuck doing something I loathe... I only have this one life (best I can tell anyways) and I will be danged if I am going to spend it unhappy :)

-Matt

Sorry to everyone who has posted here that I have been unable to respond to. This thread grew quickly; which is FREAKING awesome - there is a list (on paper) growing on my desk every couple hours from the nuggets that you all are providing. I am a bit under the weather at the moment and have not been able to compose very intelligent responses (its difficult when your head is in the fog of theraflu and tussin). I have been really nervous about moving to the next phase (aka education to employment), but this thread has really shown me what I need to focus on more (a good deal of which I suspected, but now 'know' because of all of your help) and what I already know that I need to carry with me. Thankfully, much of what you all have said has let me know that I am aware of more of the basics than I previously thought. What I do not know, I now know that I need to know :)

Thank you again, to all of you! This thread is more valuable to me then I could ever express with a simple 'up' rating :) Your time and words mean a lot, so again, THANK YOU ALL!

-Matt