Hope this isn't intruding into anyone's privacy, but I've always been fascinated in learning what the members of the SPCR family do when they're not bent over a computer case trying to silence their machines.

Please don't feel pressured to be specific. For example, I'm sure someone's going to say, "I'm an engineer in Southern California working in defense contracting." Sounds good to me.

For starters, I'm currently a college undergrad double majoring in Accounting and Business at a major U.S. university .

Hope I'm not leaving out any professions (these are just on the top of my head)...feel free to add your own industry if needed.

What about an "other" category, as a catch-all?

I'm also an undergrad, studying computer engineering. You can probably guess what university I attend...

CS student at University of Wisconsin Madison.

Well, put down a mark for 'Education'. Mostly because I work for an independent study / homeschooling company. I'm doing online and office tech support for them. But its in the education (K-12) field.

Also finishing up schooling for an A.S. in Computer Networking. Will be moving on for a Bachelor's after that.

It seems like once there are votes cast, I cannot change the categories.

Yeah, the Edit function really, really doesn't seem to like polls.

I guess you can chalk me up to "Other" as well, I'm an Architect.

(which is a little bit of Technology, a pinch of Finance, a dab of Entrepreneur, and a smidge of Consulting)

I'm currently a student but both my parents are engineers.

Well, I would have checked other for lots of reasons, but I plunked on Medicine since I'm currently working at a medical school. However, I'm in the lab doing neurophysiology research on the auditory system (so my sound booths are *really* quiet).

My daughter likes to remind me that I'm "not a real doctor", even if I have some extra letters.

When does someone get voted off? Wait, that's another poll.

Vote athalon powers off first, i contribute more to the team

For future reference, since there is no "Other" category (which would only succeed in presenting the # of people who do not fit the categories), please make a response like Rusty's (above) if your career/interest entails several aspects. It's always fun to learn what the guys on the other side of your computer do to fund their massive addiction to silent PCs.

MGP, I think you should edit your post to say:



That has nice ring to it. :lol:


And learning what the people here do when they're not being OCD about noise is interesting.

Before this thread I had no idea that Zhentar was at school studying the writings of C.S. Lewis. Turns out ol' Zhent is a much more philosophical guy than I've been giving him credit for.

BTW, Zhentar, didn't your school come in the TOP TEN this year for U.S. Party Schools? A friend of mine visited last year when we were high school seniors and she came back saying that all you guys do there is drink beer to stay warm and eat cheese. Seriously.

For now I'm a translator. German->English. Working on finding a job in the states in finance or IT, we'll see how it goes.

Semm

I voted "Healthcare" because I'm a Massage Therapist.

For those of you now giggling and secretly imagining your favorite porn movie, let me clear a few things up.

Massage Therapy is actually a skilled discipline that has no connection to the sex trade. Massage from me is an intensely painful experience, but when I'm done, you'll find your headaches are gone, your RMI is gone, you back doesn't hurt anymore, and you can swing your arms again. All without drugs or time off work. Brilliant, ain't I?

Sorry, had to get that out. Seriously, if anyone made a pass at me (which doesn't happen often, because I'm male) I would just make them scream in pain. Not too hard to do. Hee hee. Quite often they say, "Take my wallet! It's over there. Please. *whimper*" Okay, so I don't JUST hurt people, but it seems to happen a lot. And they pay me and keep coming back. I love my job!

Rusty- yup, I just wrote a paper about Socrates this week.

And MGP- we did better than just top ten, we ranked number two. Number one? My second choice, CU- Boulder. And as for partying, there's definatly more than a little beer consumption, though I choose not to partake in it. Though thats purely a personal choice, alcohol is easily obtained.

I guess 'finance' covers it - I'm an operations supervisor in fraud detection for 'the major internet retailer'

and the company laptop I'm working on is nowhere near as quiet as my desktop

Monkiman...

I want your job Just kidding, but ever since a math professor of mine talked with me about fraud detection (he works/worked in the field), I've been wondering how to get into the field. Any tips?

Semm

I develop firmware (programable electroincs) for highly specialist safety systems, near Gatwick (a Airport that serves London), England. (The "faulty towers" is a parody of John Cleese's fine comedy). So I voted 'Technology'...

I'm a BaaN programer for a plastics and machinery company. I work in the IT department.

PhD student.. Telecoms related.. but I also do all kinds of freelance stuff.. coding, network hacking and design.. also non-PhD related research.. some high speed metro network research, IP QoS.. you name it
I chose "Technology (i.e. engineering, research)" rather than student.

just standard not so funny : EE now working in IT security at a major swiss telco

Wasn't exactly sure where to cast my vote, so I cast it in "Technology".
My young career path has seen the following twists and turns, roughly in chronological order, and I still find myself using all the following:
Materials scientist - electron microscopist - applications specialist - computer programmer - for a entrepeneurial software company.

Look's like "Technology" has finally caught up to "Students." For a while, I was very surprised to learn that this forum was full of college goers like myself. I guess all of the professionals are gradually making their way to this thread.

Oh, I guess I could add myself to "technology" in this post as I recently worked for a top tier interactive entertainment publisher/developer doing release and production stuff...

Since this thread has seemingly come to a screeching halt, does anyone fit under the "Unemployed" category at the moment? If so, would you like to eloquently comment on the terrible American job market and the fact that the U.S.'s labor force has become largely "disposable?"

Please don't feel offended as, although I am a student, I've had a very close relative go through some major crap in his career.

Basically, to make a long and complicated story short, although he was born into a poverty-stricken family where his dad was always sick and his mom had to support the entire family of six, he won a scholarship to come to America with $100 in his pocket for graduate studies at a top university (he only had enough money for a one way ticket) and began a promising career in the sciences...only to become the victim of cruel company politics and the American trend (begun by Ronald Reagan) of a temp workforce.

He always played by the rules and worked hard for his bosses, and ended up with years of personal distress that has only hurt his cardiac/mental health. He now has a somewhat bitter view on his career in America (very sad considering he thought he struck gold when he came to America). I see him every so often, and he's always worrying about his job (he went jobless for a few years straight) although he still works 10 hour work days.

I guess I have a lot of sympathy for the strikers in the current grocery industry conflict as a large part of them lost the benefits they were promised when they were originally hired...similarly, my relative worked for more than a decade at a major U.S. company in hopes he could grasp a solid pension to pay for his elderly years, only to be layed-off one year before he qualified.

Anyways, enough chit-chat about my relative. I just wanted to through this out to see if others (which I would not be suprised) have gone through a similar situation...since this IS an employment thread (felt kinda guilty that I left out "Other" category for other workers and those who are unemployed).

well im unemployeed due largely to the fact that the small town that i live in has no jobs, it sucks

MGP> just going more OT : remember that you (and I) have the chance to live in democracies, where the legislative (and for you executive) is elected by the people. Did you vote at last election(s) ?

I always tend to find myself on forums with much youngers members, usually super smart college guys and gals, prolly rubbing their temple's at my posts, wondering how I can be so deft. :}

But it is still fun to hang out with people more intelligent than myself.