Outside tech circles most people give me a blank stare or ask me if it's in England or in Belgium. It's certainly not an Ivy League school where my rich parents dropped $200k to ensure my spot in the upper class, like some of these commenters claim.
For sure. Why you're getting my response, and others like it, is because well, this is a tech circle and we're talking about tech jobs, so in this context, it's certainly nowhere close to being a school no one has heard of.
edit: Your original comment (paraphrased) was, 'I go to this school no one's heard of, but my classmate get offers to <top-tier tech companies>', but the reality of this is that all of these top-tier tech companies are without a doubt quite aware of Waterloo and it's quality. The same can't be said for, what, I don't know, Cleveland State University.
You must have a very loose definition of help, too, if you consider renting your property for profit as act of help as opposed to a self serving act with the aim being lining ones pockets.
My definition agrees with the dictionary definition, which I don't consider very loose. You can still help someone without being altruistic.
Intent is the difference between murder and manslaughter, so I recognize I tread a fine line here, unlike the aforementioned, I do not see a reason to differentiate between the following two actions:
a) I let someone stay the night in my house and they offered me $60 as a thank you in return for the hospitality, I initially decline but they continue to insist so I take the $60.
b) I charged for someone to stay the night in my house and they agreed to pay $60 to stay at my house instead of an alternative place (and/or sleeping in their car/on the street)
I guess as a couchsurfer I have a different moral perspective about the act of sleeping in someone's house, offering money, accepting money, and bargaining.
E:
A reply to this comment was deleted, comparing that A helps all people and B helps people "willing to pay". My response to that is below:
You're still helping someone in either scenario. The pool of people you are willing or able to help is smaller in B than A, but you are still helping someone. Again - helping someone else does not need to be a selfless, altruistic act.
"Instead of spending $80 at a hotel, you can spend $60 at my place and you can join me for dinner."
By saving you $20, I have helped you. You saved $60 and had a place to sleep. Your alternatives were:
1. Sleep in car for free
2. Find someone willing to help you for cheaper and/or free
3. Sleep at a more expensive place
By giving you a superior option to 1 and 3 and you failing to find 2, I am still helping you. Would I be more altruistic if I let you stay for free? Sure. But to say I'm not helping you when I'm saving you $20 is stretching the definition of "help" to include altruistic behavior.
Yeah, yeah, I think I would. Someone's credibility as a programmer isn't destroyed in my mind because they say encrypt to describe hashing, especially if they are in fact, hashing and not encrypting and understand why.
This is something I've seen a lot of developers act elitist about, and it's always rubbed me the wrong way.
Technical jargon is a precise language because it communicates precise concepts. People who do not use it correctly likely have serious misapprehensions and their advice is automatically suspect. Excusing the misuse helps no one.
For what its worth, I agree with you. That is to say, I feel like a lot of the people here giving out praise are being a bit excessive with it and this is simply a flavour of the day paint by numbers web page. Still, it's a good effort for a kid in college looking to get an internship.
