IEEE betrays American engineers and its members

American engineers are feeling the sting of a stab in their backs from America's largest engineering society, IEEE (The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers). Last year IEEE-USA (the lobbying arm of IEEE) called upon engineers from all around the country to fly in to Washington D.C. to ask their Senators and Congressmen not to raise the cap on H-1B visas.

IEEE betrays American engineers and its members

American engineers are feeling the sting of a stab in their backs from America's largest engineering society, IEEE (The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers). Last year IEEE-USA (the lobbying arm of IEEE) called upon engineers from all around the country to fly in to Washington D.C. to ask their Senators and Congressmen not to raise the cap on H-1B visas.

Kids, gadgets & IT

[This week's Frankly Speaking -- now with links!]How often do you hear about a program promoting IT careers to young people that's so popular that kids who aren't part of the program are actually trying to sneak in? That's what the Society for Information Management has going in Memphis. At SIM's annual SIMposium conference last week, the organization talked about how its Memphis chapter has partnered with the local public library to run a set of "technology camps" where 12-to-15-year-olds get to play with bright, shiny gadgets - and meet IT people who talk to them about how the technology is used in businesses.

Kids, gadgets & IT

[This week's Frankly Speaking -- now with links!]How often do you hear about a program promoting IT careers to young people that's so popular that kids who aren't part of the program are actually trying to sneak in? That's what the Society for Information Management has going in Memphis. At SIM's annual SIMposium conference last week, the organization talked about how its Memphis chapter has partnered with the local public library to run a set of "technology camps" where 12-to-15-year-olds get to play with bright, shiny gadgets - and meet IT people who talk to them about how the technology is used in businesses.

Kids, gadgets & IT

[This week's Frankly Speaking -- now with links!]How often do you hear about a program promoting IT careers to young people that's so popular that kids who aren't part of the program are actually trying to sneak in? That's what the Society for Information Management has going in Memphis. At SIM's annual SIMposium conference last week, the organization talked about how its Memphis chapter has partnered with the local public library to run a set of "technology camps" where 12-to-15-year-olds get to play with bright, shiny gadgets - and meet IT people who talk to them about how the technology is used in businesses.

Microsoft Open.NET: dot-not open source (and periodic table table)

There-there. Don't cry, it's only Thursday's IT Blogwatch: in which Microsoft releases the source to .NET. Not to mention a periodic table table, made of wood...Paul Krill feeds the whales: [You're fired -Ed.]Opening up to developers, Microsoft Corp. is releasing its .Net Framework libraries under the Microsoft Reference License, which allows viewing of source code but not modification or redistribution, the company said on Wednesday. The release gives developers the opportunity to better understand the inner workings of the framework's source code, Microsoft said. Microsoft's efforts fall under the company's Shared Source initiative, which allows for sharing of source code; Shared Source has been viewed as Microsoft's answer to open-source, in which users can view selected source code.Microsoft also plans to introduce a capability in the upcoming Visual Studio 2008 developer tools package to allow .Net Framework developers to debug into .Net Framework source code ... The final release of Visual Studio 2008, which is due later this year, will support the ability to configure the debugger to dynamically download the .Net Framework debugger symbols and corresponding source code from a Web server hosted by Microsoft ... Visual Studio 2008 also will include support to automatically retrieve .Net Framework source files on demand from Microsoft. This means source code for the ASP.Net GridView and BaseDataBoundControl classes cited by Microsoft do not have to be already installed on the machine before the debugger is started.

Microsoft Open.NET: dot-not open source (and periodic table table)

There-there. Don't cry, it's only Thursday's IT Blogwatch: in which Microsoft releases the source to .NET. Not to mention a periodic table table, made of wood...Paul Krill feeds the whales: [You're fired -Ed.]Opening up to developers, Microsoft Corp. is releasing its .Net Framework libraries under the Microsoft Reference License, which allows viewing of source code but not modification or redistribution, the company said on Wednesday. The release gives developers the opportunity to better understand the inner workings of the framework's source code, Microsoft said. Microsoft's efforts fall under the company's Shared Source initiative, which allows for sharing of source code; Shared Source has been viewed as Microsoft's answer to open-source, in which users can view selected source code.Microsoft also plans to introduce a capability in the upcoming Visual Studio 2008 developer tools package to allow .Net Framework developers to debug into .Net Framework source code ... The final release of Visual Studio 2008, which is due later this year, will support the ability to configure the debugger to dynamically download the .Net Framework debugger symbols and corresponding source code from a Web server hosted by Microsoft ... Visual Studio 2008 also will include support to automatically retrieve .Net Framework source files on demand from Microsoft. This means source code for the ASP.Net GridView and BaseDataBoundControl classes cited by Microsoft do not have to be already installed on the machine before the debugger is started.

Microsoft Open.NET: dot-not open source (and periodic table table)

There-there. Don't cry, it's only Thursday's IT Blogwatch: in which Microsoft releases the source to .NET. Not to mention a periodic table table, made of wood...Paul Krill feeds the whales: [You're fired -Ed.]Opening up to developers, Microsoft Corp. is releasing its .Net Framework libraries under the Microsoft Reference License, which allows viewing of source code but not modification or redistribution, the company said on Wednesday. The release gives developers the opportunity to better understand the inner workings of the framework's source code, Microsoft said. Microsoft's efforts fall under the company's Shared Source initiative, which allows for sharing of source code; Shared Source has been viewed as Microsoft's answer to open-source, in which users can view selected source code.Microsoft also plans to introduce a capability in the upcoming Visual Studio 2008 developer tools package to allow .Net Framework developers to debug into .Net Framework source code ... The final release of Visual Studio 2008, which is due later this year, will support the ability to configure the debugger to dynamically download the .Net Framework debugger symbols and corresponding source code from a Web server hosted by Microsoft ... Visual Studio 2008 also will include support to automatically retrieve .Net Framework source files on demand from Microsoft. This means source code for the ASP.Net GridView and BaseDataBoundControl classes cited by Microsoft do not have to be already installed on the machine before the debugger is started.

Why do we have to tell CIO's that they need to know the business?

I have written in the past about security people needing to know the business side of the house.  But when I saw this article about career advice for the CIO and how the CIO needs to be business savvy, I really had to throw out a big "DUH".  Now don't get me wrong; I am not disparaging Ms. Chatham on this point.  What I am saying is that it drives me nuts that the point even has to be made.  How on God's green Earth can a "C" level position in a company NOT know business and think he / she is going to make it?  A CFO is supposed to know financial AND business issues.  A COO is supposed to know operational AND business issues.  Why isn't the CIO supposed to know IT AND business issues?

Why do we have to tell CIO's that they need to know the business?

I have written in the past about security people needing to know the business side of the house.  But when I saw this article about career advice for the CIO and how the CIO needs to be business savvy, I really had to throw out a big "DUH".  Now don't get me wrong; I am not disparaging Ms. Chatham on this point.  What I am saying is that it drives me nuts that the point even has to be made.  How on God's green Earth can a "C" level position in a company NOT know business and think he / she is going to make it?  A CFO is supposed to know financial AND business issues.  A COO is supposed to know operational AND business issues.  Why isn't the CIO supposed to know IT AND business issues?

Why do we have to tell CIO's that they need to know the business?

I have written in the past about security people needing to know the business side of the house.  But when I saw this article about career advice for the CIO and how the CIO needs to be business savvy, I really had to throw out a big "DUH".  Now don't get me wrong; I am not disparaging Ms. Chatham on this point.  What I am saying is that it drives me nuts that the point even has to be made.  How on God's green Earth can a "C" level position in a company NOT know business and think he / she is going to make it?  A CFO is supposed to know financial AND business issues.  A COO is supposed to know operational AND business issues.  Why isn't the CIO supposed to know IT AND business issues?

The H-1B Battle: The war within

Owners and managers of all types of companies will say in secret that they prefer employees who are recent immigrants or foreign nationals over natural born American citizens.The owner of a construction company says that he legally pays a Mexican subcontractor more than his own American workers because their work is consistently impeccable.  When he hires American workers, regardless of how much he pays them, they may show up or they might not on any given day.  Their work may be poor or excellent depending on their mood.  One outstanding American worker demanded twice the normal salary and worked well for two weeks, then disappeared with over $500 worth of materials, never to be heard from again.  Now that housing demand has lowered, he has a painful decision to make.  He can either fire the Mexican subcontractors (legal immigrants) and stay in business or fire his own crew of American workers and risk losing his business entirely.The owner of an optometrist chain confided that he calls CIS to find new immigrants because they will work better than the average American.  One day a store manager who makes a considerably large salary came to him and pointed to a bead of sweat on her face and said, "See this - I have to go home".The air conditioning was not working properly that day and the temperature was slightly warmer than average.  An owner of a large chiropractic clinic said that he has paid his office workers very well including year-end bonuses, and they are happy to work for him.  He is a very nice guy and makes an effort to treat people very well.  Last year he gave some of them a business credit card to pay for office supplies.  Then he discovered that they have been using the credit cards as a personal line of credit.One worker actually asked him to increase the credit limit because she is going to New York on vacation.  He calculated that, on a slow month, some of them were making a larger income than he was making.  Now, he too is looking for new immigrant employees.An owner of a chain of boutiques said that on four separate occasions his American employees brought their miniature dogs to work.  When asked why they brought their dogs to work, they replied that they had no other place to bring them.  He also complained that he was not sure if they would show up to work on any given day.  Afterwards, he began hiring new immigrants and had no problems with them.In engineering, teams of American contract engineers are often pitted against teams of Indian outsource engineers.  An engineering manager once pointed to the charts and asked why do the Indian engineers consistently outperform the American engineers doing the same work.Each one of these employers said that they would prefer to hire Americans, but it is just bad business.  They said that American workers are better workers when they are in the mood, but most have a sense of entitlement to things like smoking breaks and conducting personal business on company time.It is easy to see why American companies prefer H-1B engineers over American engineers.  They cost less. They work harder. They do not complain or ask for anything.It can be argued that American companies have lost their civic responsibility because CEOs will heartlessly lay off workers while retaining their 8-figure salaries and bonuses.  It can be argued that if corporations have no loyalty to their employees, why should any worker have enthusiasm for their employer?   It can be argued that corporations are not making an effort to recruit engineers in other states or to train engineers in new skills, instead they prefer to pay lobbyists to influence congress to increase the H-1B cap.  It can be argued that it is unconstitutional to give American jobs to foreign nationals.  It can be argued that American corporations wield too much influence over congress and voters wield too little.But it can also be argued that American workers have grown a sense of entitlement and are beginning to lose their work ethic.Travel through China and you will see so many people working very hard.  They make very little money but they work with extreme enthusiasm.  Obviously when people grow up poor and are given a chance to build a better life, they will work harder, and when people grow up spoiled they will have a sense of entitlement and a poor work ethic.But what happened to the American middle-class work ethic?  Are these isolated experiences or are we witnessing the gradual fall of the American empire?  We can blame the media for creating role-models such as Paris Hilton and Britney Spears, or we can blame ourselves and endeaver to work harder.The 2008 H-1B battle will begin soon.  Engineers should get politically active in this election cycle.  American engineers should use their internet skills to campaign against those who are working against them and campaign in favor of those who are working for them.  American voters need to wrestle back control of their own government, but maybe first we all need to pause and look within.Stay tuned  to Computerworld for detailed political coverage of the H-1B and other engineering-related issues.

The H-1B Battle: The war within

Owners and managers of all types of companies will say in secret that they prefer employees who are recent immigrants or foreign nationals over natural born American citizens.  The following are anecdotes from interviews with some local businessmen and women in South Florida.The owner of a construction company says that he pays a team of Mexican-American subcontractor who employs recent legal immigrants more than his own American workers because their work is consistently impeccable.  When he hires American workers, regardless of how much he pays them, they may show up or they might not on any given day.  Their work may be poor or excellent depending on their mood.  One outstanding American worker demanded twice the normal salary and worked well for two weeks, then disappeared with over $500 worth of materials, never to be heard from again.  Now that housing demand has lowered, he has a painful decision to make.  He can either keep the Mexican-American subcontractors and stay in business or keep his own crew of American workers and risk losing his business entirely.

The H-1B Battle: The war within

Owners and managers of all types of companies will say in secret that they prefer employees who are recent immigrants or foreign nationals over natural born American citizens.  The following are anecdotes from interviews with some local businessmen and women in South Florida.The owner of a construction company says that he pays a team of Mexican-American subcontractor who employs recent legal immigrants more than his own American workers because their work is consistently impeccable.  When he hires American workers, regardless of how much he pays them, they may show up or they might not on any given day.  Their work may be poor or excellent depending on their mood.  One outstanding American worker demanded twice the normal salary and worked well for two weeks, then disappeared with over $500 worth of materials, never to be heard from again.  Now that housing demand has lowered, he has a painful decision to make.  He can either keep the Mexican-American subcontractors and stay in business or keep his own crew of American workers and risk losing his business entirely.

IT's lock-in rut

[This week's Frankly Speaking -- now with links!]Last week's biggest news was old news: Microsoft will have to pay a big fine and make changes to Windows because the company illegally tried to lock in European customers. Yes, you remember right: That news did originally come down in 2004. Hey, sometimes it takes a while before we notice. But lock-in is nothing new -- from vendors or IT people.

IT's lock-in rut

[This week's Frankly Speaking -- now with links!]Last week's biggest news was old news: Microsoft will have to pay a big fine and make changes to Windows because the company illegally tried to lock in European customers. Yes, you remember right: That news did originally come down in 2004. Hey, sometimes it takes a while before we notice.

IT's lock-in rut

[This week's Frankly Speaking -- now with links!]Last week's biggest news was old news: Microsoft will have to pay a big fine and make changes to Windows because the company illegally tried to lock in European customers. Yes, you remember right: That news did originally come down in 2004. Hey, sometimes it takes a while before we notice.

Good and plenty

We have lots of stuff. It took creative people to make all the stuff we have. Creative people make stuff that hasn't ever been made before. Or at least that's what Rich Gold says . Gold calls our stuff-filled world the Plenitude in his wonderful little book of the same name. "How many things are there in an average room ... say my kitchen? I can easily count a thousand, but the actual number is fractal."

Good and plenty

We have lots of stuff. It took creative people to make all the stuff we have. Creative people make stuff that hasn't ever been made before. Or at least that's what Rich Gold says . Gold calls our stuff-filled world the Plenitude in his wonderful little book of the same name. "How many things are there in an average room ... say my kitchen? I can easily count a thousand, but the actual number is fractal."

Good and plenty

We have lots of stuff. It took creative people to make all the stuff we have. Creative people make stuff that hasn't ever been made before. Or at least that's what Rich Gold says . Gold calls our stuff-filled world the Plenitude in his wonderful little book of the same name. "How many things are there in an average room ... say my kitchen? I can easily count a thousand, but the actual number is fractal."