DEAD-ON-RIGHT:

Kip Leitner about the need for a common language/semantics. Too many people assume you understand what they mean, and few people have the confidence to press for more clarity.

lee_sf about lots of P.M. to developer communication time. Communication takes time and courage, and many managers are too lazy and/or cowardly. ( having both is a trademark of the bully manager. )

Having a manager who actually does their job is a joy.

CYNICAL-DEPRESSED-OVER-GENERALIZED-PSEUDO-WISDOM-FROM-PROGRAMMERS-WHO-SHOULD-HAVE -CHANGED-FIELDS-LONG-AGO:

you know which writers belong to this set. Pity them, regardless of the size of their banks accounts. To avoid becoming them, leave bad projects early.

RIGHT-BUT-OFF-TOPIC:

roGER about programming not really being creative. Creativity is a sales pitch to fill a programming job, or a conceit that some silly coders have. Of course most programming work really is more engineering then research or art. It would be better to have an engineer's approach.

But when you say:> "if the software engineer tells you something is unique or has never been done before, tell him (it's always invariably him) that he's a liar."

There can be so many possible combinations of features/functions that even though the steps have been done before, the particular sequence in question might not have been done.

Or the programmer might not know about the prior art. ( sic :)

Or it really might be new. ( hard to believe, but a few new things are done each year.)

BULLY-MANAGER-FROM-HECK:

- SR. knock that chip off your shoulder, eh?

I'm sure you've kicked enough workers asses to feel justified in your "sure-fire" approach, but you're not adding to the knowledge base here; you're just pounding your chest.

INSCRUTABLE-ENCRYPTED-HELLO?:

david sugarman. Not to be snarky in the least but, what the heck are you trying to say?

WHAT GIVES ME THE RIGHT TO PRONOUNCE SUMMARY JUDGEMENT ON OTHER WRITERS?

Confidence. That and a decent suit can get you a job bossing others.

Most people get pretty irate when you ask them to define their words more precisely. ( "You're just arguing semantics," as if semantics were unimportant. )

The trouble is that most people pay little attention to the language they swim in.

Good scientists and engineers share an expectation of precision of thought, evidenced by clear semantic boundries. It's exasperating trying to talk about deep, nuanced or complex topics with someone who uses words like paint rollers.

The very best programmers are quite linguistically clear. Read RMS for an object lesson.

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also, corporate language encourages ambiguity and discourages clarity. This is a problem.

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..... and PERL is the creole inner-city patois pidgin slang of computing. Bon appetit!

It's funny how defensivly hostile the brass gets when issues like the truth come up. They will go on for hours about military standards of truth, and how truthful they must be because they have high standards.

I learned from the Vietnam war's "five-o-clock follies" that military brass will tell falsehoods without reservation.

But, as with the police, our system won't work if they lie, so we pretend that we trust them and they pretend to be trustworthy.

As cool as the song is, pity: it's been used by Rush Limbaugh for years to make cruel fun of real homeless people.

If so, she could be just what America really needs right now.

On average, reporting credibility is inversely proportional to the income of the reporter.

Also applies to corporate news.

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Wow, what a cornucopia of critical thinking! Great article and many great letters.

Courtesy of Ronald Reagan's deregulation of media ownership, news organizations changed from a working-class culture to a corporate culture.

I don't think the problem *can* fix itself. Corporate culture discourages skeptical thinking, directness and confrontation. Anti-authoritarians are not welcome. Compliance is rewarded.

America's great journalists would never have gotten hired in the first place by today's corporate media. Those who rise to visibility may mouth journalistic principles, but those principles are like all corporate mantras, utterly without real meaning.

On how it is that the military has such a high regard for it's honesty and veracity with so many clear examples of lying at the top?

Most military people I've met bristle with defensive anger when I bring up the issue. Why?

Hate the policy, love the president? The president *is* the policy, as far as the President matters to 99% of Americans.

So hating Bush or not is irrelevant. If you hate Bush's policies then it's pretty much the same thing as hating Bush, because his policies are all that matters.

Personifying political figures trivializes the whole business. It's fine to hate or love trivial personalities ( Geraldo, Nicole, etc ... ) but to even suggest that someone who hates Bush's actions is a "Bush Hater" is cheap and silly.

At least that's what the business press says when anyone objects to $200 million CEO compensation packages.

For that kind of money, CEOs must be Superman, Einstein, HAL-9000 and The Flash all rolled into one.

America hasn't elected a senator for the Presidency since JFK, for good reason. It's too easy to distort their voting records and the modern Senate turns politicians into mealy-mouthed political sissies.

before getting elected?

LBJ - Veep

Nixon - Veep

Carter - Gov

Reagan - Gov

HW Bush - Veep

Clinton - Gov

W Bush - Veep

For over 40 years every Senator to run has failed badly.

( except Kerry. And Kerry would have lost in a landslide against any other incumbant. )

excuse please.

W was a Gov before "winning" in 2000.

It's far preferable that we all agree to accept as fact the government's official conspiracy theories.

Conspiracy nuts are really just ordinary people thinking for themselves. That's right: ordinary people.

But official conspiracy theories are developed by well paid government experts, so they're bound to be correct.

Wait, you say he's a Republican?

Well, I guess that's OK....