Hank Ingram

Greenhorn
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since Apr 25, 2017
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Biography
Started coding COBOL after college in 1981. Moved to Unix in 1998.  Now primarily coding Groovy/Grails, Java, PL/SQL and SAS.
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Recent posts by Hank Ingram

The first small computer I used was an Ohio Scientific that had a 10 meg "Winchester" hard drive that we were trying to get working at the store where I worked in 1981.
The first one I owned was a Swan XT-10 with a 20 meg hard drive.
Of course, the school where I graduated prior to that had a Univac mainframe.
5 years ago
I work for a university and we have literally tons of programming books in the library. If you live close to a university, it is sometimes possible to get a "library card" you can use to check out books.
We also offer free online classes but you have to be affiliated with the university. Working for a university in any capacity has lots of benefits if you want to learn programming.
6 years ago
Finding code and compiling/running it. Then make modifications to it.  That's how I learned PHP, PERL, Java and Groovy.
Learning to code from books is something we did in the 80's. Now I just Google everything. PC Magazine used to have C Source code that you could enter into your PC and compile/run. That was a good way to learn C.
I have used video to learn how to use an IDE....and work on cars. Both are very effective.
6 years ago
Programming doesn't stress me but I have been doing it for 36 years. But I have watched many people my age walk out because they were too stressed about learning new stuff.  
I was a substitute high school teacher for a few weeks in college and it stressed me quite a bit. It was a very rough school and I looked like I was 15 at the time.
Computers must bend to my omnipotent will but that won't work in the classroom.
6 years ago
Certified Public Accounting. One of the tasks they perform is federal and state income taxes for people. In the US, we pay income federal and state income taxes, state and municipal sales taxes and municipal property taxes.
Most people can do their income taxes with software these days but any level of complication usually requires a CPA. I have an Accounting degree so I am smart enough to let someone else do my taxes.
6 years ago
In the US, we have something nicknamed "sin taxes" that are used to penalize people for behavior the government doesn't like. For instance, tobacco is heavily taxed which encourages people to quit using tobacco.
If the government wants you to do something, they reduce your taxes if you do it such as have children, have a mortgage, give to charities, etc.
My wife works for a CPA firm and people really do change their behavior to avoid taxes.
6 years ago