Are you afflicted with an addiction to klezmer music?

No?

Then, have you updated your virus software and scanned your system for viruses lately?

Based on recent e-mails, I have deduced that someone is spoofing my e-mail address. In all likelihood, this is caused by the Klez.h virus that has been circulating recently.

Someone who knows me well enough to have my e-mail address in their address book must be infected. And that someone could be you.

So update your software and scan your system, just to be sure.

An interesting discussion is underway on the current state of IT hiring and how it relates to HR practices, CS education, etcetera.

Jump into the fray and comment, or just read to see what my working world is like.

For myself, I'm a computer-science autodidact. I'm a poster boy for the fact that the ability to solve problems is more important to programming (and most other technology tasks) than knowledge of the specific language / hardware / software used.

Any good problem solver can learn a new language in no time, because "how do I learn this language quickly?" is, after all, also a problem to be solved.

All of this makes the "keyword-based" stringent-requirement HR approach to hiring for IT positions look absolutely laughable.

This reminds me of the job interview I had for a position as Network Administrator for a defense contractor several years ago. One of the techs had reset the clocks on their Netware and HP/UX servers in advance of my arrival. Prior to the interview itself, I was set down in front of the servers with their respective manual sets in plain view and asked to reset all of them to the correct time. I'd never used HP/UX before -- my Unix experience was confined to a passing familiarity with Unixware -- but I reset all of the servers in less than 5 minutes by consulting the HP/UX manuals.

After completing this seemingly inanely simple task, the tech who had reset the servers took me down the hall to meet the supervisor who would conduct my hiring interview. On the way, he told me how many people had been unable to complete the task, completed it incorrectly, or taken as much as half an hour before even trying the manuals. I was the first of several applicants to actually pass the "pre-interview" for this particular position.

And all of this was before the dot-com bubble.

It's a weird aspect of American culture, this unwarranted emphasis on book-knowledge and buzzwords over the simple ability to learn and acquire new skills. But it seems to pervade everywhere, from primary and secondary education to collegiate curricula, technology certifications such as MCSE, and corporate perceptions of ability and hirability.

Wake up, America! It's the "can do" problem-solving people who CAN do whatever you ask them to do.

If they can't, they'll learn how before you can blink.