*related=http://videosift.com/video/Cobra-Kai-Ep-1-Ace-Degenerate-Karate-Kid-Saga-Resumes

That was cute...

That reminds me of my kid at that age...just one long run on sentence that never really seems to have a break and flows from one stream of consciousness to the next eventually building to what you believe will be the dramatic finale but really is just an involuntary gasp triggered by an oxygen starved brain that once replenished resumes its partnership with the mouth to bring on a fourth act soliloquy of just how awesome My Little Pony is and oh don't you love that new pony sunset shimmer sparkle fart?

Perhaps my emphasis on the words "no one" was a bit much but while riding I'm much less trusting of driver behaviour than when I'm in my car because the outcome of a collision will greatly favour the driver. So yes, obviously you have to trust people to an extent but you have to keep aware of careless inattention, maliciousness, etc.

I've ridden for about 8 years now (for fitness/competition) and have seen and experienced some crazy shit where I ride (primarily rural roads, some small towns, etc). I will never forget the time an older gentleman waved me down for directions while I was riding. I cut my interval short, turned around, and helped point him in the right direction. As I resumed my ride, he blew by me without leaving me much room, startling me as I had let my guard down trusting that this guy was going to pass me safely. I was shocked.

So yeah, I'm very wary of all drivers when riding.

Private Sub pbxPalette_MouseMove(sender As Object, e As MouseEventArgs) Handles pbxPalette.MouseMove
On Error Resume Next
Dim img As Bitmap
img = Me.pbxPalette.BackgroundImage
Dim iY, iX
iX = (MousePosition.X - Me.Left - Me.pbxPalette.Left) * (img.Width / Me.pbxPalette.Width)
iY = (MousePosition.Y - Me.Top - Me.pbxPalette.Top) * (img.Height / Me.pbxPalette.Height)
Me.pbxColor.BackColor = img.GetPixel(iX, iY)
End Sub

Private Sub pbxPalette_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles pbxPalette.Click
Me.pbxSelectedColor.BackColor = Me.pbxColor.BackColor
End Sub

First piece of advice. "Clever" code is usually bad code. If I saw that line of code in a code review, I would have to have words with the programmer.

More seriously, it depends where you are. There area lot of jobs right now. If by no professional experience you mean no internship experience, that can make things harder but isn't a huge obstacle at all (the experience itself doesn't often count for much, it's really more of a "why didn't you get an internship?" sort of thing). A good way to start in that case is to look for contract-to-hire positions, possibly through a recruiting/placement agency (look for ones that specialize in engineers). They generally know what they are doing, and will work hard to find a good place for you and they are genuinely on your side. We like to use these where I work because you can hire someone on a three month or whatever contract, and if it doesn't work out, it's a relatively painless separation for everyone (ie, you weren't "fired" you just finished the term of your contract). It's easier to get your foot in the door through a CTH, and then you just have to diligently and prove yourself.

As for preparing for real work (the actual coding part), that's harder. Since you really don't know what you'll be doing, it's not easy to prepare for it. You really have to learn software engineering on the job, and companies hiring entry level talent know that. That said, if you have a particular field in mind, looking for *good* open source projects along the lines of what you want to do and studying the source is good idea. Exposure to real-world, non-academic code is very useful. Getting involved and maybe becoming a contributor is a great idea (and looks good on a resume and gives you something to talk about in an interview). Working on personal hobby projects is a good thing too (though not as good as working on larger projects with other people), which again, gives you something to talk about in an interview. Keep your hand in. Have something to talk about at your interviews.

There are some good books. "The Pragmatic Programmer" by Hunt/Thomas is an excellent general-purpose programming practices book (more about mindset and approach and good patterns than technical details), and I can't recommend it enough. There are some others, but they escape me at the moment. Google is probably your friend here. If you can find a second hand set of Knuth for a reasonable price, buy it up. It's not even remotely worth actually reading, but it looks good on a shelf.

Good luck and don't sweat it. You have a degree that makes you very employable. You'll find something that you like without a doubt. If you're lucky it will be your first job, if not, no big deal--move on to the next thing.

The argument of "defensive measures" sounds quite different if you take into account:
1) Operation Mongoose, 2) the history of US-led terror campaigns and regime changes in Central America (Guatemala, anyone?), 3) the killing of Soviet technicians on Cuba by Cuban exiles, armed and trained by the US, 4) the century-long almost pathological need by the US to control Cuba. Not to mention of the Soviets had knowledge of the secret deployment of missiles to Okinawa just months earlier.

Don't make JFK out to be a man of peace. He signed National Security Memorandum No 181 in August of '62, which detailed regime change followed by an invasion of Cuba. He put into place a terror campaign against Cuba to bring them back into line. A terror campaign that was resumed a mere week after the crisis by blowing up a factory, causing the death of 400+ on November 8th.

Also, the offer came from Khrushchev, not the other way around, if I remember correctly. And while the Soviets didn't wage a terror campaign against Turkey or Italy once the outdated Jupiter missiles had been removed, we all know what has been done to Cuba over the following decades.

Funny that I was literally thinking about this on my way home 10 minutes ago. But, in a different context: These days corporations are looking for your Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter accounts... especially if you work in marketing/tech/apps. It's all an annoying system of control; more layers added to their elitism. Fuck them, stay out of my life, you are just a fucking job! Companies should be absolutely required to stick to resumes & CVs by law....

Probably fake, but the technology is absolutely mature enough.

Self-driving cars are a solved problem. It's a matter of regulation, not research at this point.

In fact, once they reach critical mass, the problem actually becomes a lot easier from a technological standpoint. If all the cars on the road are AI, their behaviour becomes much more predictable, and a highway full of self-driving cars could easily communicate with each other, allowing increased traffic flow and reducing accidents.

Think about a simple scenario right now. You're driving in the fast lane on a multilane highway and your exit is coming up in a km or two. You need to cross 3 lanes, so you indicate and wait for a safe gap. You're completely dependent on the drivers in the other lane to let you in. But human nature being what it is, they might not want to let you in. Even if the first lane lets you through, the outer lanes have no idea what you want until they see you, so you have to repeat this manoeuvre a few times.

But with a highway of self-driving cars? Your car broadcasts its intentions on a localised network, and the other cars create a gap all the way to the exit. You move through and traffic resumes.

My car has conditional cruise that follows the 2 second rule, If I use it on the motorway all the idiots that like to drive at 51 MPH to overtake a car at 50 MPH pull out in front of me. The guy that crashed seems to have little experience but the guy in front is a complete and utter **normal service will be resumed as soon as possible.

I don't get this at all..., the guy doesn't say the comedian, or the joke is stupid, he's agreeing that the sign in the joke is stupid (the way I interpret it).
This just feels like a set up or something.....

To top it off, I have NO idea what that even is. Is it his finger? Is it computer generated?
Why is it so slow? Why does the crowd go silent and not move? The action resumes when the "appendage" touches the guy... people erupt, then it starts to get smaller again/
What is it?

Unusually reserved drumming from animal there....

oh no, wait.... drum solo at the end... normality has resumed

But really, the importance of attending college is not for prestige, but for learning. Sure, going to a prestigious school and graduating will give you a jump on your career, but as a couple years pass, this becomes less important when compared to the experience you earn.

I went to a community college out of high school for my first 2 years because it was the cheaper way to get my GEDs. I then transferred to UCSD for the next couple of years for my major. The quality of education was slightly better (there were a couple of GEDs that I had to retake as they didn't fully transfer, so I'm comparing those classes to their community college counterparts), but not excessively so. After that, I transferred to CSUSM, a less prestigious university, to finish up. (For a mix of reasons, primarily financial.) The quality of education I got from both the universities was identical, with some exceptions. (UCSD had more resources due to its size, CSUSM had a better individual focus, since it was smaller.)

After graduating, I was able to get great jobs, although I never put UCSD on my resume (because my degree was technically from CSUSM.) And each successive job can be attributed to the experience I earned from the previous jobs.

The point is, it isn't necessary to go to the most prestigious schools to get a good, career-building education. I have the first-hand experience to confirm that.

Might be something relevant to countries where they have high speed roadways, but honestly, I doubt there's a car out there that could maintain any sort of integrity in the driver area for such a catastrophic stop. Most of the vehicles in the second video just disintegrate.

Heck of a thing to have on the resume though... "I fuck up cars for a living".

You all laugh, but I'm telling you now, in ten or fifteen years, the number of Youtube subscribers you have is going to be mandatory information on your resume. Your doctor will have gotten their job based largely on the video they posted in 2024 of themselves eating 128 sterile cotton balls in one sitting (previous record 103 by an osteopath from Arkansas, now deceased).

Your video, Clownterview - Cyanide & Happiness Shorts: Here's my resume!, has made it into the Top 15 New Videos listing. Congratulations on your achievement. For your contribution you have been awarded 1 Power Point.