Dabbling in Software Management

Before I start I just have to link this music video for "Curry-N-Rice Girl" that Christian found. I didn't do much last night but watch Office Space again, but it was great to chill with the guys after so long so I'm glad I took that break and now I'm back in action for the Friday post on Saturday. Joel Spolsky put up a post about a training program they're starting over at Fog Creek and I just find it really intriguing. He says that they don't want an MBA to manage a software project because they don't have enough common sense, and it makes sense that they'd want someone with more experience instead. It's a tough balance to strike and I wanted to bring this up for any CS majors who are considering an MBA. I personally am more geared towards an MS of course, and if you're not doing medicine or law then I'd recommend that you do the same. I wonder if Business Foundations will really do anything for me? It's probably useful to know that kind of rudimentary stuff, because I think I'd eventually want to manage a project since I'm cut out for organization and it'd probably be more money, too. We'll see what happens.

You know that you've wondered this before if you're on a Wintel machine: why do people take the plunge into Linux? O'Reilly is running an brief article on that very subject mostly composed of direct quotes from people on their experience. It sounds like a lot of people are just curious, and it does seem that a lot of Linux users are tech heads anyway so it make sense. Reuters posted a look at the United States possibly shunning science, and I'd say that I have to agree with them. The fact that the religious right has taken over this country's leadership is frightening because they don't understand the concept of accepting new ideas or fostering innovation. So why the Hell don't more people care? To contrast that rather serious article, I thought I'd share the 10 worst jobs in science as viewed from Popular Science (the best magazine in the world, by the way).


Once again, the most impressive picture today comes from King Kong, and it's the official teaser poster for the United States. I just think that the level of detail is quite admirable. Official badass Michael Caine is back in action with Christopher Nolan on his next endeavor, The Prestige, alongside Hugh Jackman. This is a movie to keep your eye on. Being Halloween weekend it's only appropriate that I leave off with some scary movie news. If you're still debating whether or not to see Saw II maybe this exclusive clip from IGN will sway you. If you're more interested in Hostel you'll have to wait until December, but we have a few new pictures to help you cope.

The economist in me couldn't end this post without mentioned that the economy grew surprisingly well in the third quarter of this year at a 3.8% growth rate (in GDP), and so you can expect more rate hikes from the Fed to coincide with these developments.

I'm going to try the Saturday Six this week:

1. What is a bigger pet peeve for you: someone trying to talk on a cell phone during a movie, a baby crying in a restaurant, a dog barking on your street, or music played loud enough to rattle windows.
Definitely someone trying to talk on a phone during the movie. It's quite distract

2. What is your favorite cologne or perfume that you wear most often? Which one is the one you like the scent of, but don't wear often or at all?
I love Bora Bora, but I only have a little bottle of it. When I finish my Adidas Moves cologne though, I think I'll get some Dolce and Gabana stuff. Now that smells really good.

3. In your opinion, what is the best way to tell someone you value how much they mean to you?
Doing something nice for them like maybe a gift or taking them to dinner or something like that. Just something that shows effort and thought.

4. Earlier this week, I posted a personality quiz: If you haven't taken it, please do; if you already have, how accurate were the results compared with your true personality.
Others see you as fresh, lively, charming, amusing, practical, and always interesting; someone who's constantly in the center of attention, but sufficiently well-balanced not to let it go to their head. They also see you as kind, considerate, and understanding; someone who'll always cheer them up and help them out.

5. When was the last time you feel you got as much sleep as you really needed in a single night?
It's been a couple of weeks, but I've been getting a decent amount for half this past week.

6. If a stranger walked up to you and handed you a briefcase with enough money to pay off every debt you had down to the penny, do you think you could start from then on living debt-free?
Most definitely. The only debt I have is to my parents though for my college tuition and my room and board of course.