Golf

For a while now I've got this notion in my head that I play golf. It all started over a year ago when my wife said I need a hobby. For some reason she doesn't considder playing Counter-Strike all of the time a hobby.  So she mentioned it to me one day and I quickly laughed it off went back to the computer. Well now I am finding that working from home gives me really flexible time and I work just a little too much.  So I figured golf would be an excellent way to get out of the house and get a little exercise in as well.

Is JAVA worth learning?

This is not flame-bait.

I am a .NET Developer (C#) of 3 years and a general web developer for 3 years prior to jumping into .NET.

Back in 2001 the company I worked for had a choice .NET or JAVA. I was a big open-source fan and felt that JAVA was the way to go. The company went with .NET.
I have always wanted to learn JAVA but never got around to it. Or when I did it had very little to do with my job that it became a distraction. I even gave JSP a shot to no avail. Silly me.

What's funny about this is every year around this time I get all self-richous and want to install Linux on my PC's and only use open source tools. It's very strange.

Anyway...
I recently moved back to the States from a 3 year development gig in the UK.
Now that I am back and stranded in Northern New England I am finding that the job market is very JAVA oriented and the .NET jobs are few. (Although the .NET market in Boston is pretty healthy but that doesn't frickin help me!)

I figured, since C# is basically a rip-off of JAVA, should I take a shot at learning?
Would a potential employer take me seriously with no real JAVA experienced?
Will JAVA die before I get a chance to become really good at it?
Is Sun killing JAVA?
Is .NET killing JAVA?

.NET Architecture Center Home

.NET Architecture Center Home

Best Buy and the Phantom DVDRW Rebate.
Let me just tell you that rebates form retail-shops and manufacturer are well worth your time. I recently purchased a DVDRW Drive, a 50 pack of DVD+R's, a 30 pack of DVD+RW's, Norton Ghost 2003 and Norton Anti-Virus. The total before rebates and store cupons cost: $380. The price after $140. "Do you like apples?"

So, I'm filling out my rebate forms the other night. An uh-oh the DVDRW rebate for $60 is missing. Ring-ring. Best Buy drone says come ondown to the store and they sort me out.

The next day: Best Buy Drone A tells me that the rebate was only available from the 1st to the 7th but I made the purchase on the 14th. I was there on the 12th and saw the DVDRW wason sale with the rebate. I explain this to the Best Buy Drone. She's gets a Worker Drone to help. Worker Drone tells me it's all a mistake, the rebate is over and that if I bring in the DVDRW that I bought they will exchane it for one with a rebate. I don't think so.

Worker Drone gets a Manager Drone.
Manager Drone says I am stuck with my no-rebate DVDRW.

5 Jedi Mind Tricks later and the Manager Drone sees things my way. He gives me an instant rebate and sends me on my way.