I am constantly amazed that “lines of code” is still a metric by which companies choose to gauge competence in perspective employees. Would I give an artist a job just because they say they can draw 20,000 lines on a canvas? No fucking way.
Look for those of you that don’t code let me give you a quick example. I’ll show you 2 examples of code that do exactly the same thing but one will use 8 lines more than is necessary:
Example 1(Simple):
void print_my_name(){
printf("Jeremy C.\n");
}Example 2 (Unnecessary):
void print_my_name(){
printf("J");
printf("e");
printf("r");
printf("e");
printf("m");
printf("y");
printf(" ");
printf("C");
printf(".");
printf("\n");
}Both examples will print “Jeremy C.” on a single line. If you were an employer which would you prefer? If you are like me you probably had more than a few junior high reports that contained some fluff. Our teachers didn’t accept it then and the professional world shouldn’t accept it now. Take a look at how companies like Google or Microsoft do their hiring. They ask their candidates to white board unique problems to get a sense of how that employee thinks.
I’m not saying code length isn’t something to be shared but it should be taken with a grain of salt.
Quick look at my new desktop.
Instructions for the programs involved can be found here.
The custom RainMeter skins I use can be found here..
British Department of Health Ad
I find this ad abhorrent. Unfortunately I think that in today’s society we need to deal in extremes to get our point across to an apathetic public. The byproduct of which can be poorly designed ads that fail to address the underlying issues related to a sedentary lifestyle.
As with most modern media the British Department of Health chose a “shock and awe” approach to advertising. Why make reasoned arguments when you can prey on public fear and insecurity? Why tell parents they are doing a crappy job when we can pass the blame to inanimate objects? I know I blame my couch for my weekend lazyness. If it weren’t for the evils of upholstered furniture lord only knows how much “better” my life could be. Couches are the work of the devil.
Lets be clear, I agree with the intent of the message just not the content. Getting kids out doors and mobile is an admirable goal. The ad though, taken at face value, seems to suggest that simply playing video games will kill you. Sure, that could be true. Reading a book could kill you too if you didn’t sleep, eat, or drink for 6 days straight just to read through the entire Harry Potter series at once. And if that didn’t kill you the psychotic break that has you dressed up and running through the sewers claiming Voldemort’s ghost has unleashed a basilisk on the grounds of Hogwarts surely will.
The ad fails to address the real problem, lazy ass parents. I think it should keep the image of the kid but remove the controller and replace the slogan with “Risk an early death, where the fuck are this kid’s parents?” Or maybe “Television, nature’s babysitter.” Videogaming does not preclude getting exercise.
