thanks for the suggestions. I actually spent some time as an "intern" (hang out making art & doing whatever) at Harvestworks [http://www.harvestworks.org/], which is very similar to EyeBeam. I just decided it wasn't for me when I saw that artists spent so much time on grant-writing just for a chance at a sum of money most of them (they were pretty tech-savvy) could make through a few days of freelance if they sharpened their coding skills a bit.
I didn't mean to come off as a spoiled brat chastising hard-working people. I definitely understand that folks have to take jobs and make a wage, not always doing what they want. My criticism is much more directed toward those who have reached the intermediate level but then choose to excel at mediocrity. I work with some devs who are shining examples of this. They use a rapid dev tool that encourages awful programming practices, and they jump from shop to shop leaving piles of code-dung behind. They are slightly jealous as I refine my Java skills to becoming increasingly more powerful & effective, but not to the point where they would actually commit to learning. Instead, they are content knowing they have a niche skill and will be consistently overpaid for poor quality implementations.
Anyway I digress.... your breakdown seems pretty deadon. I wish I had the stomach for #1 but didn't, so I thought it would be easier to do #3 to pave the way for #2 (I had this idea that working corporate gigs was the only true test of and exercise for my coding skills)....
I guess I need to find a better #3 or jump ship to 1 or maybe even 2 if I can handle a startup run... it's just hard to leave because the current gig actually doesn't work us very hard its just too much politicking within a very dull talent pool, kinda lulls me to sleep (though trust me I would take a more challenging job in an instant, its not about being lazy just lack of opportunities thus far).
I didn't mean to come off as a spoiled brat chastising hard-working people. I definitely understand that folks have to take jobs and make a wage, not always doing what they want. My criticism is much more directed toward those who have reached the intermediate level but then choose to excel at mediocrity. I work with some devs who are shining examples of this. They use a rapid dev tool that encourages awful programming practices, and they jump from shop to shop leaving piles of code-dung behind. They are slightly jealous as I refine my Java skills to becoming increasingly more powerful & effective, but not to the point where they would actually commit to learning. Instead, they are content knowing they have a niche skill and will be consistently overpaid for poor quality implementations.
Anyway I digress.... your breakdown seems pretty deadon. I wish I had the stomach for #1 but didn't, so I thought it would be easier to do #3 to pave the way for #2 (I had this idea that working corporate gigs was the only true test of and exercise for my coding skills)....
I guess I need to find a better #3 or jump ship to 1 or maybe even 2 if I can handle a startup run... it's just hard to leave because the current gig actually doesn't work us very hard its just too much politicking within a very dull talent pool, kinda lulls me to sleep (though trust me I would take a more challenging job in an instant, its not about being lazy just lack of opportunities thus far).