publius_ovidius

You know I always say "each has his/her own talent." However, you have that tech talent AND you can spell. What schools did you attend? Are you an avid reader?

Believe it or not, I don't have much tech talent. I am really good at programming and teaching people software design and large systems, but computers in general mystify me. Go figure. It's really strange and many of my tech friends are mystified by this.

Schools? Hmm ... one kindergarten, two elementary schools, two junior high schools, two high schools, two colleges ...

And yes, I'm an avid reader. I read "litra-chah" (as the snobs are wont to say) such as Lolita, The Magus, The Book Thief (it made me cry), The Reluctant Fundamentalist, etc. I also read a huge amount of tech books and works on economics and politics. The rest of my time is reading "fluff" like hard science fiction[1] and the really awesome Harry Dresden novels. People like to sneer at them as not being "proper" writing (sort of the same way I sneer at Tom Clancy, I suppose), but so what? I think they're a gas. I guess I'm all over the map reading wise. I just read whatever strikes my fancy.

1. "Hard science fiction" is a genre of science fiction where the science is meticulously described and plausible. It's not for everyone.

Well I am as avid a reader as I can be so I know what hsf is. Yet herein is revealed my lack of talent: I would never think to consider a software programmer non-techy. Does not 'tech' derive from 'technology' and is not software technology?

And I figured you read a variety of subject matter.

"Techy" is problematic. As a woman, would you go to a podiatrist for a gynecological problem? They're both doctors, after all. The podiatrist would be better than a car mechanic at giving you general advice, but if you want to be sure, go to a gynecologist.

So yeah, I guess I am techy, but in a specialist sort of way. It means that there are many "tech" jobs I'm not even remotely qualified for and which many of my tech friends are. The trade-off is that for the much smaller pool of jobs I am qualified for, I'm often the first choice. I still don't know if this is a good thing, but it's worked out well so far.

Well yes, they're both doctors. I suppose that was my point. You're still a 'techy'...though perhaps not a very diverse one, which is perfectly fine.

I need to remember this analogy for another time. I've struggled for a good analogy to use when I'm trying to tell someone that I can't fix their computer even though I'm a software developer by trade.

Funny enough, if I tell people I use Macs these days, they stop asking me to fix their Windows problems, but if they don't know what OS I use, they think I must be able to fix it.

Excuse my lazyness if it's in the link but has LJ (or someone) filed a big report with MT? Or is it an already known bug?

It's in the link.

Excellent! I'm in the middle of doing security scans now so didn't want to start jumping too deep into links. :)

Hmm, I might be wrong. That's a sixapart forum, the makers of MT. It might not be a bug report at all, but I need to head to be soon and I'm too lazy to find out. I file tons of bugs for CPAN code, but since that's something I already know and am familiar with, there's not much resistance. Hunting around to find out how to report a bug for MT tickles my lazy streak :)

I've passed it onto the MT guys as well. And I'm working on that other thing that we talked about that time.

Yay! You rock (for both of those reasons) :)