Sorry about the down-time yesterday, our little site received a right good Slashdotting when my post on my job made it to the front page. For those of you not in the know, Slashdot is one of the top geek news and discussion sites on the Internet. For an article to make it to the front page guarantees a barely manageable flood of traffic, and temporary Internet celebrity. It’ll die off in the next couple hours, but I can’t say I’m not ecstatic that my ramblings were deemed worthy of the attention of the larger Internets. We got 3500 hits on the site yesterday — would have got more if my host hadn’t almost exploded under the strain.
Most of the comments that made it into jonandnic.com were kind and encouraging. A number of people in my line of work echoed my feelings. I also received a couple nice e-mails and IMs — my favourite being a student in Sweden looking for advice on which direction to take his career.
Of course the Internet is full of retards who probably didn’t read the article. The paragraph they chose for the front page of Slashdot was apparently more controversial than I could have predicted, and of the 469 comments on that site, a good 50% were negative. I’m not taking any of them personally, because I am familiar with John Gabriel’s Greater Internet Theory. But there were a few I just had to reply to…
To the gentleman who suggested that I am full of poo:
Thank you for your concern. However, I can assure you that my digestive tract is functioning normally, and that I am voiding my bowels at a regular and healthy interval.
To the multiple individuals who accused me of “douchebaggery:”
I am not a douchebag. As Digg taught us yesterday, this is a douchebag.
To the people who are Software Engineers/Developers/Programmers but who found nothing in common with my post:
I am truly sorry that you’re not happy in your job. Perhaps another career might fit you better.
To the people who got hung up on those two sentences about the word “Engineer.”
I quote the great wisdom of Slashdot when I say, R-T-F-A!
And to everyone else who replied in solidarity — either in the same field as me, or in a similar discipline:
Thank you! Its for people like us that I wrote that post, to explain to everyone who just thinks we’re “computer guys” (or gals) that what we do is so much more than that. I can’t possibly reply to every comment, but I’ve read them all, visited each of your blogs if you linked to one, and I am so glad that you took the time to read my rather ginormous article.
I thank God for the unique combination of gifts He’s given me that make my job such a perfect fit for who I am. That realisation probably made this whole experience worthwhile. As a result, I’m thinking about some changes to the site, but I’m off to Pennsylvania tomorrow, so I think I’ll just let things sit where they are for a couple days. Back at the end of the week!
Update: 9,429 visits today!
