Programming with Python - the Other Guys

You run into a programming problem. Your linked list is wacky or your javascript ain't doing what it's supposed to do. So, being a good programmer, you go to the water cooler, or the internet board, or somewhere else. You explain your problem and then wham! You get stories about how back in the day we programmed with toggle switches and punch cards, or flowcharts and pencils, or bear skins and stone knives. Does this ring a bell?

The thing here is I am one of those guys! Best advice for programmers -- do something really, really hard every now and then. It will give you stories to annoy people who come to you asking for advice. What better way to get people to leave you alone than telling them about when you rewrote Donkey Kong in Visual Klingon?

You hire a new management consultant. Tell us the best way to accomplish what we want. Well, it depends on what you want to do, they say. But what should we do, you ask? That is up to your values, they say. But we all have different values, and they mean different things. What's the best thing to do? Depends on what you mean by do? Or they providing advice, or simply repeating back what you're saying?

The beauty here is that you can get exactly what you ask for, and still not have a lot of anything.

You need a new payroll system, so you call a national vendor. Now, everybody knows that this vendor does not provide payroll systems, but you'll never hear that from talking to them.

You go to apply for a job in a new organization. "It's important that you fit our corporate culture" the recruiter says. Just what the heck does that mean? Even if you try, seems like you're never as good as the master.

Finally -- the piece de resistance. No matter whether it's checking your email, asking a bunch of Mac users about which computer is best, or trying to sell linux at a Microsoft convention, lots of times the game is just stacked. No matter what you do, say, or think, it's alway the same.