Response to dumb comments. ⇒
14 March 2007, early morning
I am a nerd with no lifes! Thank you strange Internet man for setting me straight. Please Hope Me!
This is a post from my link log: If you click the title of this post you will be taken the web page I am discussing.
haha! just to clarify, your ‘yeah’ at the end of that comment wasn’t sarcastic right? You have realized the whole profession DOES suck…
How would we ever know who is cool and who is a loser, without the Internets??
by juan on March 14 2007, 9:15 am #
I thought your response to his whiny diatribe was much more mature and reasonable than he deserved. And you didn’t even address the fact that his claim that you don’t write about “real world stuff which may actually contribute to other people’s understanding of the real world” could only be based on a very, very selective reading of your site. Like, for example, one that singles out a single World of Warcraft post and ignores everything else.
I can criticize this guy and get away with it, right? He’s not reading this, is he?
by Matt on March 14 2007, 9:37 am #
Matt, I thought it was funnny he brought up that post about the Armory I made as well, since my whole point was that Armory griefing is essentially nerds making fun of nerds.
I love the Internet.
by ramanan on March 14 2007, 9:40 am #
I’m engaged to a nerd with no life! :o
by sh!ma on March 14 2007, 9:56 am #
What, so he basically read the words “World of Warcraft” and decided that was all the foundation he needed to make short work of your criticism?
by Matt on March 14 2007, 10:21 am #
Shima, I’m sorry you had to find out this way. Clearly he doesn’t know that the first rule of nerd fight club is that you don’t blog about nerd fight club.
by ramanan on March 14 2007, 10:38 am #
Writing my response to the original article here since I also want to comment on his rebuttal to the criticism he’s received.
Point of the matter is:
If you got into computer science for the wrong reasons (lol@learn once live forever, lol@Prestige, lol@job security, lol@project management aka career development, lol@work conditions) then you’re obviously not going to enjoy your career decision and thus it sucks.
If you really want to be in computer science, then none of those arguments that dude brings up will mean anything, BECAUSE YOU WANT TO BE THERE.
Oh no, I have to learn something new or people that are younger will pass me up. If you’re really into the computer technology etc, then you’re always learning new stuff anyways, and then you have a leg up on the new competition because of experience.
Oh no, I won’t easily become famous, popular or highly regarded because I program software. If having a career that other people admire you a lot for is your goal, then you missed the Astronaut aisle in the career shopping mart.
Oh no, I can’t get the job and totally slack off for the next 40 years before I retire. If that’s your goal in a career, then go work for the government.
Oh no, I might get promoted and have to manage software projects which means more responsibility and personal liability! Every career has this. This is how companies exploit your experience in their products/business etc. Don’t like it? Go find a junior position you can hole yourself up in.
Oh no, I might have to work with equipment that isn’t top of the line. Don’t like the tools you’re given at work? That just means the company you’re working at isn’t treating you right. In the end, it’s just flashy hardware that means nothing except feeding your ego (oh I got a big monitor at work, but I still do the same work anyways). It’s not like you can’t program without 4 30” monitors or something. Don’t like the environment at your work, then do something about (be it, improve the conditions, or adapt, or just find a new job to work at).
Most of these things go for anything and everything in general. If you don’t like what you do for a living, then you’re not going to enjoy it, and it’s going to be teh suck. The end.
If you love what you’re doing (and if you’re in computer science, you should) then it doesn’t matter if you have to program on a 20 year old keyboard or have to stare at a 14” 4 colour crt monitor all day. You’ll still get the job done and feel good about your work.
Ram’s first comment to the original blog entry was spot on. The dude was obviously into programming as a career for the wrong reasons, got burned, realized his mistake (herd mentality?) in jumping into the hot career path of the day and regrets it.
I like how he rags on Ram’s WoW entry poking fun about “oh now everybody can see his accomplishments”. Guess what, when you’re looking at your job and worrying about what people think about your ‘prestige-less’ career, you’re doing the same thing. Virtual or Real Life, an accomplishment is an accomplishment. And in both cases, the only person that an accomplishment should mean anything to is yourself. If others see and appreciate it, then they’ll appreciate it. If not, then who cares.
I always find it humorous when people say that any virtual accomplishment is worthless because it serves no purpose in furthering your real life path. What purpose does furthering your real life path have? In the long run, it has no purpose. As long as you enjoy yourself in doing what you’re doing, then it’s good.
Talk about a post from one bitter dude that can’t handle it when somebody’s comment hits a sensitive nerve.
I also like how he capitalizes on his new internet fame and tries to keep the drama/interest up by posting a 2nd blog entry. Good job sir. I commend your valiant efforts at maintaining your site’s popularity.
by Iluvitar on March 14 2007, 2:56 pm #
oh snap!
by ramanan on March 14 2007, 3:01 pm #
His response was very angry, and obviously one sided, which I suppose is fair since it is his blog. But it is clear to any reader, and not just those he focused his comments towards that his counterarguments were juvenile and defensive.
by Victor on March 14 2007, 3:30 pm #
i think this guy is right. Ram, you should be ashamed that you waste your life doing things like playing video games and then talking about it.
I’m sure this guy (who’s neither a Republican or Democrat but calls the New York Times a liberal rag and has a post that’s actually titled “Violent crime increasing: is it a black thing?”) has never watched tv, gone to the movies, played a board game, or enjoyed other forms of entertainment. he’s busy living in the real world!
ram, you fool!
shima, get out while you still can.
by awardtour on March 14 2007, 9:21 pm #
The best part about the ‘Violent crime increasing: is it a black thing?’ article is that he concludes its probably not a Hispanic thing. There is some real insight there.
by ramanan on March 15 2007, 9:10 am #