Software Engineers do suffer from fashion, and the nature of the internet and how blog posts get propagated exponentially do contribute to that. I can recall when Joel Spolsky (IIRC) mentioned the
fizzbuzz test for an interview. The basis for it is sound; basically, the concern that many people applying
for programming jobs cannot actually program. But it got propagated like fashion amongst techs and sure enough, soon after, I was interviewing and was asked the fizzbuzz test.
While modulus is a very basic part of nearly every programming language I have used it in anger maybe five times in my programming life. Because it became fashionable via a well known tech blogger and commentator it almost ruined it as a question. I recall when I was asked it, I didn't solve the problem, instead we ended up in a discussion about the merits of testing if programmers can actually program. I have enough stuff on the web that it is obvious I can (such as this site, but also javascript at previous employers as well which was pretty hardcore and easily viewable on the web).
It is probably why
the reflexive 'no-hire' decisions such as with the Coders At Work gets under my skin. Since it was mentioned by a prominent tech blogger it will become fashion to rattle off several people from that historical list. While not a bad thing in itself, it is more an indication of the person being interviewed keeping up with celebrity tech bloggers and their opinions on no hires.
That all being said, I agree that applicants not being able to program is a serious issue. We go through white boarding of multiple simple tasks. I usually make candidates mock up interfaces, objects, small tasks, database designs, etc for structures we have and some of the issues we have faced in design and implementation over the last couple of weeks. That is usually enough to see how a person's thought processes would adapt to the design, programming and implementation challenges within the company I am working with.
Phoenix Eats Out is the restaurant review site for
Phoenix,
Scottsdale and
Old Town Scottsdale which lists the modernist and contemporary restaurants, taverns and bars in the greater Phoenix area.
This is the list of the most popular restaurants pages from phoenixeatsout.com that have been viewed the most;
My personal favourite restaurants in Phoenix are
AZ88,
Postinos,
Bomberos with
Grazie,
Humble Pie,
Orange Table,
The Vig,
Fez and others coming close behind. View the complete list with the photo-journalistic style images on
phoenixeatsout.com
Arizona is an outdoor state and has lots of hiking in the city and around the state. Phoenix is unusual for most cities in having several large mountains in the center of the city with great hiking. Anyone who comes to Phoenix has to do the
Echo Canyon trail on Camelback and the
Summit Hike on Squaw Peak or Piesta Peak. The views of the city, suburbs and surrounding mountains are wonderful from Camelback and Piesta Peak.
For more experienced hikers there is the McDowell Mountains in North Scottsdale that has several difficult and strenuous hikes in
Tom's Thumb and
Bell Pass. Alternatively, you can hike the highest mountain in Arizona. At 12,600 feet
Humphrey's Peak is a long and difficult hike.
Between 2004 and 2009 this site,
southsearepublic.org, was a constitutional blog based on scoop which focused on Australian and global constitutional issues.
One of the strongest aspects of it was the development of constitutions by those involved in the blog. These constitutions are the outcome:
The constitutions were built using principles from Montesquieu's separation of powers, the enlightnment's universal political rights and the ancient Athenian technology of sortition and choice by lot.
South Sea Republic started in 2004 as an Australian constitutional blog in 2004 based on scoop software. It was an immigrative outgrowth of Kuro5hin. The archives for each year since then;
The articles are ordered by views.
I am an Australian living in the United States as a permanent resident.
I am a software developer by trade and mostly work in Java and jump between middleware and front end.
I originally worked in the New York area of the United States in telecommunications before moving to Washington DC and
working in a mix of telecommunications, energy and ITS. I started my own software company before heading out to
Arizona and working with Shutterfly. Since then I have joined a startup in the Phoenix area and am thoroughly enjoying myself.
I do a lot of photography which I post on this website, but also on flickr. I have a photo-journalistic website which lists
the modernist and contemporary restaurants in phoenix. I have a site on the
Australian Flying Corps [AFC] which has been around since the 1990s and which I unfortunately
lost the .org URL to during a life event; however, it is under the
www.australianflyingcorps.com URL now.
The AFC website has gone through several iterations since the 90s and the two most recent are
Australian Flying Corps Archives(2004-2002) and
Australian Flying Corps Archives(2002-1999) which are good places to start.
