Isn’t a cornucopia from Greek myth? That would mean that literally nothing, apart for the wheat and the nuts should be in that picture…

I try not to comment on people’s appearances, but why the hell is Michael Dell pictured with Pennywise the Clown in a dress?

This isn’t digression - it’s pretty accurate to how I feel… Passion is the missing ingredient

I don’t disagree there are talented youth out there. I have another team member who is the equal of any of my best hires. He’s self motivated, and that is the difference I think.

That is partly true; our company should do more especially when it comes to hiring and screening. But you can also only mentor those who wish to be mentored…

I’ve also been in this industry now for over 25 years and I have mentored a lot of junior developers. I feel I have gotten a little better at mentoring, but I do genuinely believe that general skills of graduates have also decreased. I think it may be generational. Devs from a decade or two ago had to find a lot of things out for themselves.

And Yes, I know I sound like an old asshole, but honestly, I think today CS is treated more like a trade than a skill. I wish it were otherwise.

I work at a large company that is not considered one of the tech bros. I doubt we’re hiring graduates ever again.

For the record, we’re NOT all in on AI - far from it - but what we have found is that 98% of graduate hires aren’t productive and over-estimate their skills.

Maybe it’s different elsewhere in the world, but in and around Toronto, we’ve found that most CS grads have gone into the field because they think it will pay well. Most have no “adjacent” skills, such as VCS understanding, PRs, how work is broken down etc, but the biggest red flag though is just how few of them are interested in expanding their horizons. I currently have one junior right now working on an Android app and he seems incapable of moving past the MVP, java based patterns they learned in college.

The way I see it, Colleges are doing a very poor job right now, and the students are paying the price.

My suggestion is to be mindful of things you are doing and make decisions about continuing them or ending them and plan accordingly. I tend to recommend reading up on Stoicism as it help contextualize.

A more specific plan is to pick one thing you want to improve and practice that. Try and do this once a day and make it a habit. After you’ve adopted a couple of good habits, you’ll be ready to try stopping something, thought that is tougher to achieve.

Empathy

I wouldn’t say a PoS but clearly has a lot to learn - and what sounds like a crisis is not the place to do that. And he sounds like he has a lot to learn.

As a father, I believe that at a minimum you should care for your kids at least ONE day every week on your own, preferably more. And not just the fun stuff, either. Make sure it comprises bed time, bath time, making and eating meals, as well as getting the little tykes out of the house. Either parent needs to be able to cope alone, and more importantly, trust that the other can, too.

My suggestion is that he needs to have a frank conversation with his wife, and commit to the above care routine. He needs to be able to do this in a way that allows him to admit he doesn’t know things and get advice. But he does need to do the work and ensure his wife feels supported.

Maybe if these corporations acted with a little integrity and respect for laws like (say) privacy and copyright, then maybe they wouldn’t need to be regulated…

Just sayin’

Did someone else watch John Oliver the other day…?

…right… sure he is…

I concede this is complicated, but i think we can all agree that paid lobbying groups are a cancer on society.

Paid is by definition anyone paid to do the lobbying. Corporate is definitely harder to define, but let’s say you’re only allowed to lobby on behalf of your own organization (or self)

And, better yet, let’s make every single lobbying effort public - Times, dates, people involved, and the subject raised (but perhaps not the outcome). Good legislation should happen in the open

Paid corporate lobbying should end.

I agree that North America is appalling. I grew up in Europe, so that is my main comparison.

The two new lines would be helpful, but as someone that lived in Toronto for 15 years until very recently, I believe they were horribly mismanaged. Like most of the city is…

Public transport policy in Toronto is a disaster. It is a complete disappointment of a city and an ugly blight on the landscape that serves only captialism and vapid mediocrity

Not arguing that. Of the broadcasters / big media types, I find the BBC usually one of the better ones. But then I get my news from a wide variety of sources. The Intercept is generally a very good addition to my daily intake.

I am guessing you’ve never watched (say) Fox News in the US?

I’m not saying the BBC is good per se. I’m saying it’s slightly more objective than the rest.

Actually, the World Service will remain accessible, but that’s also not where most people go these days.