sageabilly

Yeah, I've seen this happen with a good friend of mine I went to high school with. Super good guy, nerdy, smart, always wanted to be a police officer- hated the corruption, wanted to make a difference right? In the 10 years he's been on the force he's gone from beat cop to detective to State FBI Special Agent, and his thinking (illustrated on Facebook) has gone from blasting NWA's "F&$K The Police" to posting pictures of himself all suited up in his FBI gear complete with skull and crossbones patch running around in the woods "Looking for perps". He's got gold skull and crossbones grips on his service weapon. In his mind it's all "Ninjas and Pirates" but that, coupled with his descent into the thinking that "If you weren't guilty, you wouldn't run, and if you aren't guilty, you have nothing to fear from the police" is scary.

CapTech Consulting | Engineers (.NET, Java, DevOps, Android, iOS) | Philly, DC, Richmond, Charlotte, Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Remote | Onsite and remote | Fulltime | www.captechconsulting.com/careers

CapTech is a U.S.-based technology and management consulting firm that partners with some of the world’s most successful companies to achieve their strategic and business objectives. We help organizations bridge the gap between business and technology by delivering organizational transformation, customer engagement, data & analytics and custom IT solutions. Our collaborative approach helps organizations grow their business, engage with customers and turn data into powerful insights. We bring expert consultants to every engagement to develop a deep understanding of the goals and assets unique to each client. We tailor custom solutions to maximize the impact of our clients’ investment. It’s one of the reasons we’ve been on the Inc. 500/5000 list for 10 years.

We're really in need of .NET engineers in Richmond and Chicago and Java engineers all down the eastern seaboard (Philly, DC, Richmond, Charlotte, Atlanta). There's also a big need for iOS and Android developers in Columbus OH. However, we're hiring for many different IT positions so please check the careers page.

personal note I LOVE working here- culture is a HUGE part of this company and it shows. Read the values page on the CapTech website- everything that's written there is true. It's also fantastic because even though it's a consulting firm, it's explicitly NOT like the big 4 firms. There's a ton of camaraderie, professional support, and an enormous emphasis on work-life balance. You don't have to travel if you don't want to, and their mantra is "live where you work" so your commute won't be crazy either. You can work 40 billable hours and go home- that is absolutely fine and great, or you can get involved in extracurricular stuff or take a ton of training or take on extra projects if that's your thing too, and it's equally great. They're happy to meet anyone's personal needs as far as work-life balance, and it's awesomeeeee. Compensation is pretty sweet too!

"Also, having a happy relationship and having kids are at odds with each other, so again you have to pick one. Either have kids and look forward to divorce and child support or at least a miserable marriage where you dread coming home from work, or find a partner who doesn't want kids and enjoy spending time with her."

That's a very dark line of thinking, and I'm sorry your life has led you to believe that is the case.

It's absolutely possible to have kids and a happy relationship, just as it's absolutely possible to not have kids and have a happy relationship, or have kids and a miserable relationship, or not have kids and have a miserable relationship.

Also, it's possible to have a middle-class lifestyle with kids; difficult, but possible. Living in the middle states of the US, with an in-demand skillset relative to the area you live in, and a semi-frugal mindset- it's absolutely possible. In San Francisco or DC? Not so much.

Which makes zero sense to me because study after study after study has come out and said remote work makes for happier and more productive employees and saves the company money.

Check out The Interview Guys- that site was invaluable for me earlier this year when I pulled myself together and left my horrid horrid horrid OldJob. I had a lot of good resources for putting together a great resume but up until I found that site I hadn't found anywhere that laid out exactly what to do in an interview.

Woman here: If it turns out to be true, then yeah, that is absolutely sexist and is absolutely 100% bullshit. That's the point of wanting equity for everyone: being a woman or being a man should have no bearing on whether or not you can do the WORK, so if that starts to be a point of consideration then yeah, that's kinda inherently sexist. Just like men getting the side eye when they want to be elementary teachers or women in stockrooms getting asked if they need help carrying something.

"everyone needs to be saved"

Unfortunately, the prevailing social zeitgeist in the US is that not everyone deserves to be saved- you have to earn the right to be deemed worthy enough to be saved, and really if you find yourself in a position where you need to be saved then it's probably your own fault and you should bootstrap your way out of it. The puritanical mindset is very, very strong and all-prevailing in the US.

I think there needs to be more compassion towards those who are floating in order to muster enough energy to swim.

I'm snug as a bug in a rug right now, and about as "floating" as one can get, but my husband and I are saving money and paying down debt like gangbusters so we can buy a farm in 7-10ish years and leave this lifestyle behind us.

Yup. I am an avid meat eater, love BBQ, all of the food I cook has meat in it- but I am absolutely aware that it is a luxury. I do my absolute best to buy higher quality meat as close to pasture raised as I can get... but I don't make that final leap to source out local farmers and buy directly from them to ensure that I know exactly how the meat I'm eating is raised.

But at the end of the day, not everyone can afford organic pasture raised eggs at $7/dozen. And the problem is that we've all gotten so used to eggs at $0.50/dozen or chicken at $1/pound that I don't think society as a whole could deal with the cost of meat equalizing to reflect the true cost of non-factory farmed production.

"The actual exchange of money is 100x a stronger indicator of health than the presence of a stub."

Real companies with people running them who want to do things on the up and up and who know how to run a successful company want to keep a paper trail of every dollar going in or out the door. This includes having a pay sub with every single paycheck or invoice paid that shows what was paid, how much was paid, why it was paid, and when it was paid. That's How to Business 101.

Honestly, unless you're putting the years you've attended school on your resume, I have no way of knowing how long it took you to get your degree.

I'm WAY more interested in what you can DO and what you have demonstrably DONE, so it's way more important for you to focus on side jobs, internships, and open source contributions than it is to worry about how long it will take you to get a degree.

Is Dwarf Therapist still being maintained? (I'd look it up but I'm at work and all DF stuff is blocked by the firewall as "games") DT made the difference between playable and fun DF and endless fucking about with menus.

"...what the product is, what it’s used for, what problem it solves and how it solves it"

Have you seen some tech websites? I used to research competitors as part of my prior job and some of the tech websites out there do a really bad job of explaining what their product IS, much less what it DOES.

For those of you here on the flipside, make sure your website explains WHAT you do, and more importantly, WHY I should care enough to call you and give you money. When I'm dealing with potential vendors/technology partners I am 100% more likely to call a company that tells me why I should care up front than a company that's blowing smoke on their website and doesn't want to tell me why I should care until I call them and talk to a sales rep.

Turn this around: If you're a man, aren't you in some way representing all men?

(Answer: no. Same with anyone, regardless of minority status. Just because I'm a member of a minority doesn't mean the entire minority is homogeneous.)

It's great to see the advances in research that are being done around Psilocybin, MDMA, and Ketamine as the results that are coming out look incredibly promising.

That being said, godDAMN how in the hell is anyone ever going to take studies like this seriously when they're being reported as "Magic Mushrooms" in Scientific American of all places? This isn't raver kiddies eating dried who-knows-what out of ziplock bags at raves, this is a controlled dosing of psilocybin in a medical setting for treatment of a serious illness. The stigma around researching these drugs is never going to go away unless the language itself changes.

"I do think that we over-emphasize the school itself."

God yes. I remember an article I read earlier this year (can't remember the title or I'd link it) that followed students at Ivies and at State schools and found that (controlling for grades) it was the students' commitment to networking, extracurricular activities, volunteering, internships, etc. that made the most difference to their long-term success. I WISH SOMEONE HAD TAUGHT ME THAT! I graduated 10 years ago and oh my god I wish I had done more to network/intern/volunteer when I was in school.

"Even so, the economic recovery has progressed more slowly for young high school graduates than for those coming out of college."

I'd imagine this has something to do with the job pool coming out of the recession being heavily seeded with people who already have degrees or degrees plus working experience. Economy takes a nosedive, people get laid off- so when the economy is on the upswing, those with degrees and working experience will be the first to get hired again. I'd be curious about pre-recession numbers of high school grad employment vs. now, post-recession.

"He added that vocational schools should no longer be thought of as dead ends, since they can serve as steppingstones to associate degrees at community colleges or to enrollment at four-year institutions."

I also think it's a tremendous disadvantage to say "Oh yeah, vocational school can get to you an associate's or a college degree" because at some point we have GOT to stop acting like a college degree is the be-all-end-all. We cannot keep protesting against the tremendous student loan debt burden that's creeping ever bigger on the one hand while touting college degrees as being the ONLY way to get a high-paying "respectable" job. Not to mention there are a shitton of services out there that you don't need a college degree for that are for jobs which are highly skilled and that pay well. There's always going to be a need for welders, plumbers, electricians, mechanics, crane operators, etc etc etc. These are jobs that are absolutely necessary for society to function as a whole- and I think it's really dumb how at some point these jobs were downgraded to being for "dumb people" or people who weren't "rich or smart enough" to go to college.

From the article:

Ultimately, the students said that because the Department of Homeland Security’s website certified the University of Northern New Jersey, they believed the institution was legitimate. In addition, the website of the New Jersey Education Department listed it as approved. So did the website of the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges, a national body.

It's easy to think "Oh, those students knew they were being duped, they knew what they were getting into"- but if you're coming from another country with a completely different way of doing things, and this university which appears to be accredited AND have the blessing of the US Government pops up going "Apply here and we'll give you a visa, you don't have to go to class and we promise it's above-board"... I don't think that's going to immediately register as a scam. Odd, maybe, but then you see they're accredited and you think "well if it was a scam they wouldn't have accreditation."

Damn son, dial it back a bit.

Remember that relapse is part of recovery. Fall down seven, get up eight. Corny, but it got me through my hard times (and still does!)

DO NOT HAVE CHOCOLATE IN YOUR HOUSE. Ever. Even shitty chocolate. Even someone else's chocolate. If you know you'll binge on it, get rid of it.

Remember that chocolate will exist today, tomorrow, next week, next year. There will be a time in your life when you can eat chocolate again. For me, part of what always brought on bingeing was feeling like OH MY GOD I WILL NEVER EAT THIS FOOD AGAIN IN MY LIFEEEE. I had to, and still have to, remind myself that I can eat the food again so I don't have to EAT IT ALL RIGHT NOW OH GOD.

Interestingly enough, I stopped powerlifting about a year ago and the atrophy hasn't happened as quickly or as much as I thought it would. Now, I say that with the caveat that I have NO idea how big my muscles were when I was at my strongest (which is also when I was 300 pounds), but I still have 25+ pounds of muscle that I didn't have the last time I was the size I am now (scientifically deduced from being able to fit into the same pair of pants that I did when I was 180lbs, when I am now 205lbs). I currently have a knee injury that's keeping me from doing any lower body lifts, and am only doing upper body bodybuilding style stuff twice a week. I'm absolutely not as strong as I used to be, but I'm still muscular... although, again, don't know how much of that is a hold-over from my powerlifting heyday because at the time I was like a muscular manatee... couldn't see the muscles for all the blubber on top.

[edit] 5'11", about 1.80 meters

First time ever. I had an eating disorder my whole life, which is how and why I gained up to 300lbs in the first place.

I no longer have the mental issues that caused me to turn to food for comfort, which is what I credit my successful weight loss to. And again, I lost the first 75lbs or so just through recovering from my eating disorder and not through dieting or changing anything about what I ate other than no longer turning to food for comfort and not listening to the binge urges my brain was sending out.

Eventually you figure you have it handled, relax and then two years goes by and you are heavier than when you started.

Having maintained within +/- 3 lbs for the entirety of 2015 I'm not worried about this in the slightest. Even though at that time I was not actively trying to lose weight, I still weighed myself every week and took measurements every month, as well as continued to exercise regularly (and even learned how to ride a bike!) I also maintained vigilance for ED-type thoughts and identified them quickly if I began relapsing. I absolutely adjusted my eating if I gained more than 2 pounds in a week or when I knew I'd been letting my vigilance slip. Still didn't count calories or anything, just mindfully ate smaller portions and stayed away from desserts for a while. It helped a lot that I have learned that if I eat sugary stuff more than two days in a row I start craving it badly and will eat it every single day unless I stop eating it entirely for at least two weeks.

I view my weight loss as the side effect of recovering from my unhealthy relationship with food. For me, that was bad enough that it was a full-blown eating disorder, but I absolutely believe that many people have an unhealthy relationship with food which causes weight gain that is impossible to reverse without first addressing the mental issues that got them to that weight in the first place. Take that and add in this new potential issue of the body wanting desperately to get back to the homeostasis it was at when the person was at their heaviest, and the rebounding of everyone who was on The Biggest Loser is no surprise.

Maybe! I was 305 at my heaviest, but I was also a serious powerlifter and was at the gym 10-15 hours a week lifting, plus training for competitions. I often wonder if having that strength base made it easier, in some ways, to drop the weight than if I had been totally sedentary and had to start from zero with regards to exercising.

The results of this study, while interesting, seem flawed to me because losing 200+lbs in only 8 months' time is ridiculously fast. I would be more interested in a study following people who lost weight very slowly and steadily over time, and curious about their metabolisms and recidivism rates.

I've lost 100lbs over the last three years and have had zero issue (so far, not saying I won't ever) with keeping at this weight. I maintained the same weight, +/- 3lbs, for most of 2015 without counting calories or following a diet. In December 2015, I decided I was ready to start intentionally losing more weight, so I tracked calories and lost an additional 15lbs over the course of three months. My experience with losing weight and maintaining weight loss are completely different than the results of the study in the OP, and I am curious how much of that difference can be chalked up to how long it took me to lose that weight.

Studies like the one in the OP are fascinating to me because no one seems to go "Hey, your body achieved homeostasis at 450lbs (maintaining that homeostasis for however many years the person was at that weight) and it probably royally screwed with everything dropping half your body weight in 8 month's time." It seems obvious to me that at that point the body is in full blown crisis mode trying to get back to the homeostasis it had developed previously. Eight months is not a long enough time to adapt to a new homeostasis, not to mention whether or not the body is freaking out because it's "starving" and dropping fat stores at such a high rate.

You might, they just aren't doing it to you or around you.

What's your daily caloric total? No breakfast plus just veg for lunch sounds like you're on an extremely low calorie diet, which will work for just about anyone regardless of if it's keto or not.

That was given as a "Bad" thing- so if a company says "Oh yeah everyone's 24/7/365" then that's a red flag/ run away situation.

I don't see how this is an improvement over Glassdoor's salary search. I'm already a user on Glassdoor and they parse much more positions/salaries/cities- what's the advantage for me?

Also, NO you cannot have my email or my LinkedIn login! Hell to the no I do not want to type in my salary into a site and have it tied to something that could ID me to an employer down the line if your site gets hacked.

No, it's probably going to turn into the same thing that's happened with liquor laws in the US where some states have state ABC boards and you can only buy the very specific liquors that are on the approved list and only at the state-run liquor stores. Even states that don't have state-run liquor stores have very strict importing and distribution rules which leads to three steps between the distiller and the store, with each step taking money off the top and paying taxes.

I was thinking the same thing, specifically when I scrolled down and it was talking about the safety visor- OK great it's scratch resistant, I'm sure that'll be a fantastic plus when it's out on a job site.

Awesome technology, but their marketing/information leaves a lot to be desired.