jsperson

I was wondering about MS quality control as my son hung over my shoulder waiting to join a Minecraft session with his buddies. I was fighting yet another bad update that made the game unplayable. There’s no rollback option. The broken functionality was fundamental to actually playing so they obviously did not test.

To really rub it in they combine not testing with treating their customers like garbage. Their support actually tried repeatedly blaming my ISP as if somehow connectivity would impact user account specific issues. I eventually sent them URLs of articles pointing out the problem. Then - crickets.

For the orgs where I've worked the important thing isn't availability of compute it's security. Using what we have on our local network is much easier from a governance and approval standpoint than whatever is available on the internet.

I’m still sore about reader. Gap has never been filled for me.

I tried it. First kit was speced with cheap parts that didn’t really work. Got a replacement kit - same thing. Overall a really disappointing experience. I cancelled and bought a 3D printer, which has been great fun.

Edit - fixed autocorrect

This is why I originally learned vi. Working on DoD machines as well as this of other consulting customers. I had a notebook of short scripts and commands that would make my life easier. I couldn't use any media or even reference the internet in many of the data centers and labs.

If applied correctly this is good advice. Let your employer know that you want to learn. I'd much rather have the folks on my team learn OJT than try to hire that skill.

I just had to go through the firing process for a contractor like this guy. It was miserable for everyone. Don't be like this guy.

I’ve had good success using lambda and functions for analytics data pipelines. It allows a team of python developers to focus on the business logic instead of the infrastructure. On my current project we’ve been struggling with K8 for months (not our decision) and I intend to push for a refactor to functions as soon as we get to MVP.

Oh the pains of Minecraft administration! I could write a book about cross platform incompatibility, Microsoft account dysfunction, billing issues, and upgrade blocking execution. We’ve spent $100s and it does nothing but get worse.

> However if you are not in a tech city, and don't want to move to one, then online is great. Here is what you can do.

I live 40 miles north of Wichita Kansas USA. There's no tech - there's no city even.

Here's what I did: I got to know a recruiter in Wichita. Turns out she's a rock star - one of the leaders in the region at recruting tech. Met a guy on an flight from Atlanta to Wichita. We got together and talked geek a few times. The three of us started a Meetup in Wichita where we talk geek every other month or so. We generally get 15-50 folks depending on the time of year and topic. Last meeting I got two off handed job offers (I'm not looking). I've gotten a previous position the same way.

Tech is everywhere. The typical attendee to our Meetup is a developer or analyst at a regional bank, an airplane manufacturer, or farm credit agency. Nothing fancy, but great jobs for this area.

I'm not a very social person, but I do like to talk geek. There are lots of folks like me everywhere. Folks want to learn. Get together and teach each other.

Could be worse. They used to ship you an individual physical decoder card.

Takes a day - it will update.

My previous company posted several openings for our team. All specifically excluded Colorado.

Central KS USA here. Moved here five years ago after 20 years in DC. Paid off my house in four years.

Day to day it’s not all that different. With kids you cook, clean, watch movies, read books, and exercise. COVID lockdown didn’t really happen here. Kids missed a total of a month of in person school. We do have to drive 40 miles for sushi, but that takes a reliable 35 min - no traffic and speeds to the city are 80 MPH. My internet is 200 Mb and could easily double that if needed.

There are things I miss but nothing I can’t get with a drive or some travel. Cities are now enjoyable for me to visit.

I’m a consultant data engineer and am on my third engagement in a row where devops has been the hardest part of my job. Every org has their pet stack with their own poorly documented process. Having devops as developer support is critical to getting solutions out the door.