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GeekNights Thursday - All our Jobs

MrPeriodMrPeriod
in GeekNights

Tonight on GeekNights, we talk about all the different jobs we've each had over the years. Do-nothing jobs, fake jobs, shady jobs: every job. In other news, we're going to go see The Hateful Eight in the correct format, our string of train stories continues, and "hoverboards" are bad news.

The November Q&A Special is up for our Patrons, we'll be live at PAX South 2016, and the original GeekNights T-Shirt is back on the shelves!

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  • pencepence
    There is a Planet Money episode about those hoverboards.
  • pencepence
    My entire job history is something like...

    Elementary school: helping mom sell socks and beanie babies at the flea market... for $ to spend on video games at the flea market.

    Middle/High school: working at the family business either turning socks or minding the shop.

    College: Delivering the student paper out of my car 1/week. Odd hours as a statistics/algebra/physics tutor, which in retrospect is probably the most important job experience of my life that remains relevant today.

    Post-graduation: My first office job writing code with the company that I've been with for the past seven years.
  • AprecheApreche
    TIL your family makes socks?
  • pencepence
    Yeah - I remember I used to tell my parents "I'm going to be like you and take over the family business!" and my mom got very serious and told me: "Christopher - you are going to go to college."

    I get it now, way more than when I was a punk kid. There's not a lot of money in that banana stand...
  • ColdguyColdguy
    When I have time I shall go over my crazy work history. For now the winner of jobs goes toy gramother who had worked 92 jobs before eventually retiring.
  • CremlianCremlian
    pence said:

    Yeah - I remember I used to tell my parents "I'm going to be like you and take over the family business!" and my mom got very serious and told me: "Christopher - you are going to go to college."

    I get it now, way more than when I was a punk kid. There's not a lot of money in that banana stand...

    "THERE'S ALWAYS MONEY IN THE BANANA STAND!"
  • DubyazDubyaz
    I would just like to thank the patrons for ryms shenanigans at the end.
  • GreatTeacherMacRossGreatTeacherMacRoss
    RE: Atwood

    Kate and I have been howling at you two goobers to read the Maddadam trilogy for a while now. Post-apocalyptic, character driven series that's expertly written and interesting.

    Oryx & Crake
    The Year of the Flood
    Maddadam

    Read them already, goddamnit.

    I also heard that The Handmaid's Tale is good stuff too.

    Avoid Cat's Eye. It's garbage.
  • RymRym
    Dubyaz said:

    I would just like to thank the patrons for ryms shenanigans at the end.

    They will only escalate as time goes on...
  • NukerjsrNukerjsr
    Was the Ritz the job where Rym quit because the boss pushed the "If you have time to lean, you have time to clean" motto?
  • MattMatt
    edited December 2015
    I really missed an opportunity here to have you correct the pronunciation of my name.
    Post edited by Matt on
  • IkatonoIkatono
    I never had a job in high school. I worked two different on campus tutoring gigs at RIT, went on co-op for a while, and am currently looking for another one for the spring.
  • ninjarabbininjarabbi
    Honestly, I wish I had taken a lot easier classes in senior year of high school and just taken work study. My advanced-ish classes didn't really help me get into college and I'd have more experience which would be a lot more help now.
  • ninjarabbininjarabbi
    Also, for the "hoverboards" I'm not surprised about the exploding issue in retrospect. Bad lithium ion cells are bad news. I know in the flashlight community everyone recommends against cheap Ultrafire and similar batteries because they're often unprotected cells that have been ripped from old laptop battery packs and more than a few have blown up on people.
  • sK0pesK0pe
    I don't understand why regular expressions are supposed to be challenging. We did them in a unit last semester (however in an abstract written manner rather than with the characters used in a grep query). I think maybe 2/3 to 3/4 of the class failed this portion of the unit. Sure it was poorly taught but I just got someone to explain an example for me (who did the unit when it was taught well) and it was pretty straightforward.

    The whole IT / CS hiring thing is still confounding to me, as the majority of questions are data structures and algorithms for all jobs rather than just the jobs that need you to do this kind of stuff every day.

    For example want a job at a bank in the IT department? Do these algorithm questions which I'm going to read out of a book in a certain big O complexity. However on the job all you're going to be doing is writing the bank's website and possibly mobile apps plus database work.
  • StarfoxStarfox
    sK0pe said:

    in an abstract written manner rather than with the characters used in a grep query

    Ah! I suspect you learned real Regular Expressions. The "regular expressions" you run into in most programming contexts are more powerful than true regexes in the mathematical sense.

    Speaking in CS terms, regular expressions correspond to problems solvable by a finite automaton. Regular expression engines typically have features (e.g. backreferences) a DFA cannot solve. Usually these require a PDA (push-down automaton. Because it has a stack).
  • sK0pesK0pe
    edited December 2015
    Starfox said:

    sK0pe said:

    in an abstract written manner rather than with the characters used in a grep query

    Ah! I suspect you learned real Regular Expressions. The "regular expressions" you run into in most programming contexts are more powerful than true regexes in the mathematical sense.

    Speaking in CS terms, regular expressions correspond to problems solvable by a finite automaton. Regular expression engines typically have features (e.g. backreferences) a DFA cannot solve. Usually these require a PDA (push-down automaton. Because it has a stack).
    I found the back-references to be the interesting additions. The basics seem to be the same though, I'll mess around with them, seems far more powerful.
    Post edited by sK0pe on
  • RymRym
    Nukerjsr said:

    Was the Ritz the job where Rym quit because the boss pushed the "If you have time to lean, you have time to clean" motto?

    I said "I quit" and started walking away.
  • AxelAxel
    Al Biles no longer works in the IT Department, Interactive Games and Media snatched him up. He does digital audio classes for them now. I've taken them, they're fun. He's one of the coolest guys. His Jazz Accompaniment AI is the bomb.
  • MATATATMATATAT
    Rym said:

    Nukerjsr said:

    Was the Ritz the job where Rym quit because the boss pushed the "If you have time to lean, you have time to clean" motto?

    I said "I quit" and started walking away.
    Explosions in the background as you put your shades on.
  • SWATrousSWATrous
    Which of the theaters in NYC would be ideal for the 70mm jam? I'm kinda thinking I have to go, but know nothing about most NYC venues.
  • AprecheApreche
    SWATrous said:

    Which of the theaters in NYC would be ideal for the 70mm jam? I'm kinda thinking I have to go, but know nothing about most NYC venues.

    Only a few theaters in NYC are showing the 70mm roadshow edition. Make sure it's one of those. Don't go to the horrible theaters in Times Square. I'm going to City Cinemas Village East.
  • MattMatt
    The list of roadshow theaters has greatly expanded, compared to a week ago. I scrapped my plans to go to NYC as a NJ theater has appeared on the list.
  • AprecheApreche
    Matt said:

    The list of roadshow theaters has greatly expanded, compared to a week ago. I scrapped my plans to go to NYC as a NJ theater has appeared on the list.

    I don't know how this is possible. They had so many articles in the run up talking about how hard it was to get 70mm projectors that were working properly and such.
  • RymRym
    Supposedly there are 100 theaters in the US showing it.

    People are bitching that almost all of them are on the East Coast.
  • AprecheApreche
    Rym said:

    Supposedly there are 100 theaters in the US showing it.

    People are bitching that almost all of them are on the East Coast.

    That is actually interesting. I would actually suspect more of the theaters to be on the West coast closer to the Hollywoods and such.
  • MattMatt
    70mm died out around 1970. East coast used to be where the film industry was (NJ!), but it was moved out to Hollywood by 1930. Still, denser population and more antiques makes me thing this sort of specialty thing is more common on the East.
  • RymRym
    edited December 2015
    Apparently a bunch of NYC theaters have 70mm projectors just sitting up in the projection booths. They can wheel them in place instead of the digital ones.
    Post edited by Rym on
  • AprecheApreche
    Rym said:

    Apparently a bunch of NYC theaters have 70mm projectors just sitting up in the projection booths. They can wheel them in place instead of the digital ones.

    Do they work? When was the last time they were used? Do they have a projectionist that knows what to do with it? Can they handle such gigantic reels of film? Even one of the special early screenings had big time technical issues.
  • MATATATMATATAT
    There is a 70mm showing in downtown Seattle at a theater that I go to on occasion. Ideally seeing it at Cinerama would be a better option than this pretty average AMC theater, but Cinerama is doing Star Wars until the end of time.
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