SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
Robert McMillan writes that when it comes to computers, the federal government has a nasty reputation for prizing ISO standards and regulatory checkboxes above working code but now Mikey Dickerson, the former Google engineer who flew into Washington a year ago to salvage the disastrous Healthcare.gov website, says that's changing and the feds want all the techies out there to know Dickerson wasn’t forced to do his amazing job in a suit and tie.
If you do take a job at the White House, you may want to bring your own snacks, expect to work at a desk, not a couch, and hold off on bringing your skateboard to work. Still, the feds are trying to do tech in a clueful fashion. The Obama administration has opened the door to open-source software and collaborative coding. And, hey, even the CIA is using Amazon’s web services.
In a White House video, Dickerson, the new head of the US Digital Service, says he is asked one question again and again by people curious about his new job. They “want to know if I’m wearing a suit to work every day,” In the video, there’s a shot of a staff meeting where President Obama gives Dickerson and his fellow tech “hot-shots” a shout out. “They’re starting to look official now, aren’t they? They’ve got suits and everything,” Obama quips, a nod to the black jacket and yellow tie Dickerson has worn to the meeting. Dickerson tells the president this isn’t the norm. “This is literally only because you’re here,” he replies.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 22 2014, @06:50PM
Sixty years ago the government was a bureaucratic morass, just one that had triplicate carbon copies in typewriters instead of e-mail retention policies. That hasn't changed, despite the rise of the MBA.
Sixty years ago, the coders, the managers, the scientists, the government, the engineers, the plutocrats, the poor -- they all wore ties and dressed "like adults" when leaving their houses, or even when having dinner at home. The standards of grooming to which people hold themselves -- that is, their willingness to practice self-discipline -- started plummeting around 1968. Man's view of his place in the world and duty to others changed, to the point that appearing well-dressed and well-groomed is now no longer understand as a point of courtesy towards one's peers (all of society), but either a mark of deference to superiors (donning a tie for the President) or of arrogance and misplaced feelings of superiority (the hipster in the bow tie).
(Score: 4, Insightful) by dougisfunny on Friday August 22 2014, @07:50PM
Actually, 60 years ago 'coders' probably wore dresses not ties. Since the first coders were predominantly women.
(Score: 1) by anubi on Saturday August 23 2014, @12:58AM
Ummm... sixty years ago I remembered little monkeys dressed that way passing around little tin cups while an "organ grinder" man turned the crank on a box which translated rotary motion of its crank to a sequence of audio emissions. Even to this day, you can still see this scenario preserved in the old movies of the era - usually family sitcoms and comedies.
The function of the monkey was to get people to part with their money and gets paid in peanuts for his theatrics.
So, given the historical evidence, would not the title "White House Gives Up Making Coders Dress Like Monkeys" be just as appropriate? I mean if the President of the United States wants to dress up like a monkey, its his business, but why should it mean I have to look like that?
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 25 2014, @08:34AM
wearing a tie is self-discipline?
pray tell what is your sensible reason to walk around with a literal noose around your neck?
if your answer boils down to fashion, that's basically just 'but everyone else is doing it'