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Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Computers
For most of my career, I've only dabbled in computing. I took a
programming course in college and really enjoyed it, but was humbled by
those who were gifted, and there were more than a few. It seemed it
would be an uphill battle to advance in the field.
We used computers in the oil refineries for process control. They were
specialized for the purpose and were very expensive.
But now technology has advanced to the point that the process control
can be done with more generic equipment and the programming languages,
such as Java, have advanced to the point that even I might be able to
program a control system.
So I'm getting deeper into programming than I ever have before for a
current business project. And for hobby, I'm providing web site support.
The subject of the terms "geek", "nerd", and "dork" came up this morning
in reference to a programmer's challenge. Those terms don't seem to fit
the ideal of the computer scientist / programmer because there is often
very serious, high level, creative thought in designing an algorithm and
applying the computer language to a solution.
In my mind, a geek is one who is able to get the computer to work by
doing the tricks that aren't necessarily in the procedure manual. A
simple case is restarting the operating system when it starts doing
things it wasn't designed to do. A geek is the guy who is able to make
the system work through unconventional methods.
I like the geek work, too. There is often a challenge that must be
solved and I get personal satisfaction from solving problems.
While researching other's opinions of the differences in the above
terms, I came across a fun little test. Here's a link:
