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From: wfi@rti-sel.UUCP (William Ingogly)
Newsgroups: net.singles
Subject: Re: Re: Showing Off (Athletics VS Intell
Message-ID: <291@rti-sel.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 12-Jul-85 09:40:03 EDT
Article-I.D.: rti-sel.291
Posted: Fri Jul 12 09:40:03 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 14-Jul-85 08:23:19 EDT
References: <1030@trwatf.UUCP> <33100024@ISM780.UUCP>
Reply-To: wfi@rti-sel.UUCP (William Ingogly)
Organization: Research Triangle Institute, NC
Lines: 43

In article <33100024@ISM780.UUCP> darryl@ISM780.UUCP writes:

>"What do you do?"
>    "I write compilers."  nobody outside the industry knows what that is...
>	-- or --
>    "I am a computer programmer."

It's not that difficult to communicate what you do. Avoid acronyms and
nonobvious technical terms, try to remember what it was like back
before YOU knew anything about computers, and don't be afraid of
slight inaccuracies if a description is pretty much in the ballpark.
Tailor your description to your assessment of the other person's
knowledge of computers. People who ask you what you do are interested 
in the big picture, not in details. How about this instead:

     "What do you do?"

     "I write computer programs."

     "Oh, what kind of programs?"

     "Compilers; they're programs that interpret computer languages and
      translate them into instructions for the computer's electronic
      circuits."

>"Oh, what does your company do?"
>    "We sell Unix ports to OEMs."   Huh?
>	-- or --
>    "I am a computer programmer."

     "Oh, what does your company do?"

     "We modify a program called Unix so it will run on various kinds
      of computers, and sell the modified program to the companies
      that manufacture the computers."

     "What does Unix do?"

     "It's an operating system; that's a master computer program
      that parcels out computer time and memory and other resources
      so several people can use the computer simultaneously."

                            -- Cheers, Bill Ingogly