>>> finance
>> Wouldn't I need extensive finance qualifications to do that?
>
> No. The finance guys have extensive knowledge. They rely on technical
> guys to implement their algorithms. I know several mathematicians who
> don't know how to predict stocks, but know how to program computers with
> algorithms to predict stocks. And they use baroque custom languages like
> R, K, etc.

I saw an interesting comment on LinkedIn about this - saying that nobody 
uses Haskell for this kind of thing because it's "non-deterministic", in 
that the calculation might take 10 seconds or 10 years, and there's no 
way to know which. [This is obviously false, but I can see where 
somebody might get that misconception...]

> It's about getting it there efficiently. Logistics: Customer orders four
> dump trucks of cement. You have to figure out when to send the trucks to
> get it there soon enough after they're ready that they don't waste time,
> but not so soon that it congeals inside the truck. You also have to know
> how they're going to use it, so you can space out the trucks so the
> second is ready before the first has set enough. You have to have
> real-time traffic estimates, knowing how to route around them, including
> rerouting trucks already moving to get them where they're supposed to go
> at the right times. You have to account for days when a truck breaks
> down, a driver is out sick, or a construction company cancels or defers
> an order. And that's just local delivery of fucking *cement*. What do
> you think a company like Amazon or UPS needs?

Hmm, interesting. I assumed they just get it wrong most of the time.

>>> data mining
>> Does anybody actually do that? I thought it was just a fashionable middle
>> management buzzword.
>
> That's ... all google does, basically.

Yeah, I'm still trying to wrap my mind around how Google actually 
obtains any income...

> Not that it's especially complex math, but the complexity is pretty
> astounding, especially when you're talking about the size of databases
> Google deals with.

OK. But does any other company on the planet do that?

>> From what I've seen, installing comms equipment doesn't require a great
>> deal of technical skill - you just need to be good at carrying stuff
>> around and running cables.
>
> Heh heh heh. So, you already know how to calibrate a cell phone tower
> installation? How to splice optical fiber? How to run 10Kilovolt power
> circuits?
>
> You've only installed stuff that was built for retail installation,
> clearly.
>
> Granted, probably not a whole lot of programming involved.

I've seen a guy splice fiber. He cut the two ends, put them in a 
machine, and pressed a button. It used a digital microscope to align the 
ends in three dimensions, and then weld them together. Freaky as hell. 
Apparently it costs about £8,000. (Which is presumably peanuts compared 
to what the fiber it splices costs...)

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