It's more of a response to the market. Beginning about 5 years ago I was increasingly asked to do more numerically oriented things. Prior to that I was mostly writing applications that generated SQL and wrapped the results in some HTML. Pretty boring. Data science is more compelling.
Over the past 15-20 years there has been a massive amount of information piling up in databases and log files; not just from web applications but from desktop and mobile apps too. And there are companies who want to pan for gold in that data. So if you want to do something more interesting than fiddle with canvases, or CSS or MVC frameworks, then data science is fairly accessible if you're not afraid of math. Furthermore, most companies will have a need for it even if you don't really care to develop their software products directly.
NB: I doubled my salary by moving into data science. Nowadays gas station attendants can write a Rails app to search a database. The bar has been lowered. Understanding stochastic gradient descent (among other things) and knowing where/when to use it commands more earning power.
It's a critique, impassioned and curt albeit; and here's the most powerful metaphor you'll hear in regard to the topic of non-standardized formats.
Non-standardized formats/languages are the jive (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_jive_talk) of the development world. It sets you apart from the general population (of programmers) when you use it. It primarily effects obfuscated communication to a smaller group. The specific form of jive will fall out of fashion a few years after you learn it. There is very little value in committing it into your brain other than for 'funsies'.
(In regard to Markdown specifically: there are tons of WYSIWYG HTML editors out there. Use those and copy/paste the HTML text. It requires no learning at all. Markdown was pre-emptively made useless over a decade ago.)
I agree with the author in general. However, I would write an article about a more general and insidious fashion (fashion repeats itself). That fashion is "I hate typing" or, alternatively, "typing less makes me more productive." Guess what; it doesn't. Here's why.
If you're using programming slang to make yourself more productive, then you're not programming. You're a boiler-plate code generator. Therefore you could be replaced by a program or DSL that a more adept programmer could write. Stop using slanguages and start thinking about what and how you're coding. You'll become a better programmer. Quit trying to fool yourself that syntactic sugar and shortcuts are a valid development paradigm. You'll become a better project manager.
I abhor things like CoffeeScript and Markdown and various metalanguages, because they are speciously productive at first. You type less and get the same result. Great! However, most coding actually requires some thought and the logic and structures don't simply fly off your fingers. It comes slowly and these slanguages stop being useful at this point. So you take the time and effort to learn a modified, non-standard syntax that stops paying off once you get to the core of your task.
I hate to think of how many wasted programming man-hours non-standardized formats have produced.
My advice is to completely downplay your [lack of] education. If they ask you about it, just tell them you are self-taught, and wait for the next question. You should focus on what you've done at your job and outside projects. Emphasize the results you've gotten and the systems you've built.
You might have a slight disadvantage during the initial part of the recruitment process (resume submission). My advice in regard to that is to try and get in touch or meet the non-HR people at the company. That way you get can a referral and your resume is just a formality. If this isn't an option for you, the just make sure you keyword your work experience well, and pray. :)
We'll agree to disagree then. I've heard several complaints about lithium but none of them was "it turns me into a soulless robot." The way lithium works is by stabilizing mood, not by inducing a different mood like other medications (i.e. antidepressants). So I'm going to be facetious and say the people making those claims were soulless robots before taking lithium.
Lithium is not like you describe. I've taken half a dozen SSRI's, which at times made me feel totally empty and without motivation. I've taken one antipsychotic (risperidone) and it made me feel like an utterly stupid zombie, so much so that I stopped taking it against my doctor's orders. I was put on lithium and I found that I'm completely capable of feeling a full range of emotions, but what I don't experience is the accelerated spiraling of emotions that can send me into depression or mania. Compared to more recent psychotropic medications, lithium is pretty mild in terms of unwanted side effects; the only drawback is that if you're on a high dose, you have to stay hydrated to avoid lithium toxicity. That's a pretty small price to pay to stay level.
Too little too late. The "usefulness" of that ephemerality feature hasn't stuck. One of the reasons why many of my friends quit using disappearing photo apps was because they actually wanted to keep many of the photos they took and sent, but couldn't because there's no option to. They all switched to more standard chat apps.
Just a guess, but it's probably a similar situation in the US when the same cohort is compared to their ancestors. My mom (66 years old) is certainly way better off than her mother was at 66+. My friends' parents seem to be similarly comfortable in their golden years. Post-WWII largesse really paid off for them, but who's really going to pay for it?
In GRASP this is called "Pure Fabrication" - a thing that is not directly modeled in the problem domain. Initially, adding a search method to Product seemed sensible by using "Information Expert" (another GRASP term), but when proceeding on to adding suggestions and requiring the User object, it begins to violate "Low Coupling". You have to "fabricate" another object to avoid the God object.
My depression didn't respond well to five SSRIs, one SNRI, two tricyclics and one tetracyclic. It turns out I didn't have major depressive disorder, but bipolar 2. The only medication that worked to alleviate my depression was Lamictal (lamotrigine). It also caused no side effects at all.
There are a few other medications that can be safely added to SSRIs, if you're not getting enough benefit from them. Lamictal is one of them. Buspar (buspirone) can also be added to help with anxiety. It's neither an SSRI (doesn't seem to work for you) nor a benzodiazepine (addiction potential), so perhaps it's worth a try.
But talk with your doctor, because I don't know your particular disorder or medication history.
My qualm isn't with the pharmaceuticals companies, oddly enough. I have issues with the psychiatrists mostly. They rely far too much on literature and don't listen to their patients. Also, the patients are overly supine and continue treatments that aren't effective (or are partially effective with significant side effects). This combination of behaviors is toxic and leads to reduced quality of life for the patient.
They don't have the option to enroll or not. They have to or they get penalized. The penalty is small; $95 per person, but this is really just another tax on a growing margin of society that can't shoulder more taxes.
The health care industry has already responded to the situation in a more sensible way. Many urgent care clinics have popped up in the last few years. They'll handle most run-of-the-mill health concerns for $100-$200 a visit. Many drugstore chains have started their own prescription clubs that cover a pretty wide range of common medications for very reasonable amounts.
If you're a healthy individual who visits the doctor twice a year and maybe you need a prescription or two, then it makes more sense to pay for your health care on an as-needed basis. You'll save more money. Obamacare didn't really solve the major issues with health insurance. They missed the mark because industry already stepped in to provide a solution. If they wanted to solve the problem vis-a-vis affordability for marginal workers, the solution would have been to make it free.
Just like with gay marriage and openly gay military members, we'll get there eventually, but people are still suffering because of the painfully incremental way legislature works.
Imagine you're a gig worker who makes $2500/mo. $750 goes to your apartment, $500 goes to taxes, $200 goes to your car payment and auto insurance, $200 goes to groceries, $180 goes to your cell phone and utilities, $120 for some credit cards you make minimum payments on, another $120 for gas, maybe $150 for clothes and entertainment.
That leaves you with $280/mo in disposable income. Requiring Obamacare will extract $80-$120/mo for the lowest level of coverage that has high deductibles and is generally useless. You could pay another $100/mo and get the next level up, but your ability to save for anything at all is now completely gone. All you can look forward to is a few hundred dollars on your tax return.
Health care must be free to make sense in this context.
It depends on the style of the college. Computer Science is certainly much more than math. I'd sooner employ a CS major who took foreign languages than one who supplemented his coursework with tons of math classes. Those special/practical degrees that schools offer are just fluff and end up pigeonholing you. If you're going to be a software developer, then computer science is the degree that's most helpful.
All of programming can be self-taught. The problem with finding people who have "skills" already is that they might only be able to use libraries and frameworks to build things, but they can't really solve problems. Can they figure out the solution to a memory management problem when throwing hardware at it isn't an option? Writing an application that doesn't fall down is par for the course these days. So knowing how to use some tools doesn't cut it. The companies hiring these candidates are digging themselves a hole, or they are just satisfied with having shallow technical requirements.
(I've rarely programmed outside of class/work since college. I've never had a problem getting a job. I just don't like sitting in front of a computer all the time.)
Amazon is a pretty good fit for Twitch. Why? 1) Digital distribution is becoming the norm for video games. Amazon already sells physical media and purchase codes for many game platforms. It's a tie-in to sell product. 2) Amazon is breaking into ad serving to go head-to-head with Google and Facebook. Twitch will likely be the flagship content property for their ad network. Game publishers often spend just as much in marketing a game as they do in developing it (http://vgsales.wikia.com/wiki/Most_expensive_video_games). Amazon stands to scoop up many millions (~100M?) in advertising revenue from the games industry alone. 3) Amazon already has a streaming delivery network whose subscription base they want to expand. If they can upsell (or merely sell) Prime to gamers, then that should supplement their ad income. 4) They already know how much it costs to run Twitch, because it's built on AWS.
The entertainment industry is notoriously short-sighted and generally parasitic when it comes to technology. It's also an industry that is extremely image conscious. Having uncontrolled/unedited content that runs counter to their image is anathema. If any game publisher or old guard broadcasting company had gotten its hands on Twitch, I strongly believe it wouldn't have gone well.
You should make that a bit clearer in your copy. Having "proprietary" and "secure" so close to each other in a single sentence can drive more saavy users away.
Other than that, what are you doing to increase trust within the bitcoin system? I have a few friends who work on Wall Street (investment bankers, account executives, etc) and they summarize money as this: "Money is an embodiment of trust. Clients transmit funds to me in amounts with 5 zeroes, or with 7 zeroes, but if they don't trust me they won't send me a single cent."
I think the focus on making bitcoin easy to use with a simpler interface is a side-step.
They receive the bitcoins immediately* (in 10 minutes, after it's confirmed by the network), which the IRS considers property. If they want money they have to convert the bitcoins to local currency and wait for a payout to their/a bank account.
Over the past 15-20 years there has been a massive amount of information piling up in databases and log files; not just from web applications but from desktop and mobile apps too. And there are companies who want to pan for gold in that data. So if you want to do something more interesting than fiddle with canvases, or CSS or MVC frameworks, then data science is fairly accessible if you're not afraid of math. Furthermore, most companies will have a need for it even if you don't really care to develop their software products directly.
NB: I doubled my salary by moving into data science. Nowadays gas station attendants can write a Rails app to search a database. The bar has been lowered. Understanding stochastic gradient descent (among other things) and knowing where/when to use it commands more earning power.