Hmm... I thought the model slashdotter flew off fully-cocked and never actually read the article, but instead gleans the highlights from other people who did, then rants on that without actually recanting their original misconceived post. Have I been doing it wrong all this time??
Does anyone remember this? I used to have one, I loved it. It was cordless and the base station connected to the serial port on your system (before the days of USB) and had some great features. Answering incoming calls could be customized based on caller ID to answer with different messages and messages left were recorded into.WAV files and filed into directories so you could use them like any other file. Incoming call from your friend? "Hey Mike, I'm heading up to the bar now, be there by 10-ish." Incoming call from your girlfriend? "*cough* Sorry sweetie, still pretty sick, I'm in bed already, I'll call you tomorrow." Incoming call from a harassing creditor? Email it to a lawyer.
It was well built and it's sitting in my storage unit, I'll bet it would still work if I hooked it up.
The only catch is to use all of those features you had to leave your PC on at all times... I think that'd be less of a problem these days, since many people run home media/file/print servers that are generally left on 24/7 anyway.
I'd jump on a MS Phone 3.0, I think. Especially if they got clever and combined it with a cell phone...
Yeah, I've seen them first hand, they scare the crap out of me because they're also the most likely to freak out and *drop* the gun when they fire it. If it's a semi-automatic, that means the hammer is likely already cocked when it hits the ground. A decent gun won't go off that way, but not everyone is firing a well-built gun. Scares the hell out of me.
People should go through a decent training program before going to the range or even touching a gun. Although it was a while ago, the NRA-approved pistol carry class I took (required in Massachusetts to get your pistol carry permit) actually covered why shooting "gangsta" style was so stupid. (same reasons as have been covered in this sub-thread already, it's far more about the shooter and the human anatomy, than it is about the physics of the gun)
I think the same thought processes went into Hiroshima/Nagasaki. Sure you killed a couple hundred thousand people, but the alternative would be the deaths of millions on both sides.
Non-lethal weapons sounds good on paper, but they don't make an enemy go, "Ouch! You won, but you didn't kill me, thank you!" and it doesn't make others who would fight you as well thank you for saving their friends, either. It allows them the opportunity to get revenge. Dead people don't get vengeance. It is sad, but I think if you really think about it, that is the way it is. Reduced fatalities through applied lethal force. Sounds really contradictory, but it's true.
I'm of German descent, can I complain when someone talks about their "route" because it's close to "kraut"?
Wait... I thought kraut was pronounced sound like "out", while "route" was more of an "oot". If that's not right, should I be pronouncing sauerkraut as "saw-er-kroot"? That sounds a lot like http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=chirkoot... you racist bastard!
I only wish the hiring process involved more people like you more often.
Unfortunately 98% of the IT jobs out there, especially with any company large enough to still be hiring in this economy, are filtered through HR drones first. And HR drones WILL put forth resumes with those pieces of paper attached ahead of resumes without. I have no college degree, but I have nearly 15+yrs in the industry (give or take) and I still run into those brick walls where, had I had a degree or certification of some sort, the HR person would've passed me on to the hiring manager who might've appreciated that I have experience over paperwork. Over the last 5 years the jobs I have gotten were always with companies where the hiring manager was doing the candidate searching himself, but believe me, during those job searches I got at least 5-6 "sorry, no papers" for every interview.
I took some online courses at UMass @ Lowell and was sorely disappointed. I'm not a "book study" type nor very good at testing and unfortunately most of the courses were little better than that. "Read chapters X-X and then complete this quiz, if you have any questions... read the chapters again." Although in their defense I'd say that was only half of the classes, the other half were very good and I learned a lot.
I don't ncessarily put much stock in "book smart" people or those who test well. I've known several people whose entire career was pumping gas or janitor at a high school and heard how IT people were making so much money, so they bought the books, sat down with flash cards and highlighters, a week or two of studying and being really good at testing and now they're sitting next to you with their MCSE supporting a few hundred servers. Fantastic.
That being said my most memorable anecdote against degrees was regarding a girl I worked with who prided herself in her Comp Sci degree, but refused to believe me when we got into an argument over whether a server was really down when she couldn't reach the 10.x.x.x interface from our external dialup testing system...
In conclusion: Everyone is different. Every college course is different (mainly because they're being designed and taught by people, who are also often different). Some people will get a LOT from going through a decent college program. Some will get next to nothing useful. Some will never take a single college course and know more than you could ever hope to in your field. No one should knock someone else for needing help or structured learning.
Your boss may not be wrong for patenting your work.
If your work contributed to or is a piece of code or software that your company relies on for revenue, what happens if he doesn't patent it? Someone else does. And then turns and sues your company for using "their" code. It's not hard to see where that leads. Company going under, you and your boss getting fired, etc, etc.?
I don't like it any more than the next Slashdotter, but it's not hard to picture that exact scenario.
That's not that easy. All those people must first apply for a license at the Ministry of Silly Walks. You know how expensive those licenses are? Crazy.
1K to turn someone into a productive member of society and lead a meaningful life? It's a bargain. We're paying more than that to keep rapists alive in jails. Not to mention that as technology moves on it will either cost less or new drug will take it's place being either more effective or less expensive.
More effective or less expensive? Where are you from? Someplace without capitalism? Lemme know, I want to move there! heh Unfortunately there's less profit in more effective/less expensive drugs. Less effective *and* more expensive, now that's where the money is! Why make $1000 profit to cure someone in 3 days when you can make $100 per day to keep someone "marginably better" for years, eh?
And to think, I didn't even have to spend 4 years in business school to figure that out! (yes, I'm being darkly sarcastic, but I worked for a pharmaceuticals company, I've met the brains that tick like that, they scare and anger me.)
Well, this depends entirely on who's using it. If you're talking about secretaries and managers that use Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc. extensively and often need their more advanced features, then yes, TCO skyrockets on them when you have to field call after call of "How do you do this?". You need to train both the IT support and the users and that takes a decent amount of time. Not to mention, as you said, productivity losses and the user frustration. Which is one of the biggest arguments as to why Windows OS is still so widely used. Joe User doesn't have the spare time to figure out how to use a Linux desktop.
But there are other instances where license fees make a world of difference, and I'm working a real-life instance of that right here: We have ~300 thin clients used by our customer support group (it's our business), all they do is take/make calls and update a ticketing system via a telnet-based text program. Essentially all they really need is some web access, a HyperTerm-like program, and the dialer software for the outgoing automated calls. They do still need Office for things like reading documentation or charts or such things that their manager might send out. There are approximately 400 users (1st/2nd shifters often share/swap workstations), each needing his/her own Office license. At $100 each, that's $40K. OR we could (and are planning on) using OpenOffice (or maybe StarOffice, or something else), we'll see, something free. But see? Licensing == $$$$. Somethings a LOT of $$$. We're looking at expanding beyond 1,000 users within a year or two, so then we'd be up to $100K. Per version. That's a decent chunk of change. It might not seem like a lot to a sizeable corporation, but I'd rather that go into my annual raise, thank you very much.
What they need to do is add exceptionally precise Ir/motion sensors to the shirt, so it can see exactly where your arms *and* fingers are, and play appropriately. Don't forget the small backpack-sized computing device to interpret all of that on the fly fast enough to keep up.;) Hey, one can dream.
Ditto here, I've been trying to figure it out, but I highly suspected it was the new HP drivers I just installed (which included the Imaging stuff, as I have an All-in-one). This just absolutely confirms it. (Thanks to all)
Footwear? Pardon my ignorance, but... does that mean Coca-Cola makes footware of some sort? Although I know some people that would relate Coca-Cola soda to old, used, unwashed gym socks, I don't recall Coca-cola making Footware... I wonder if the patent on "Nike" saids, "Goods and Services: IC 025. US 022 054. G & S: Carbonated beverages". Hmmmm...
Actually, I think the lawsuits will erupt between: whazzzaaaappp.com whazzaaaappp.com whazzzaaappp.com etc., etc.,... they'll tie up the country's courts in litigation for years.:)
Slashdot Mirror
Hmm... I thought the model slashdotter flew off fully-cocked and never actually read the article, but instead gleans the highlights from other people who did, then rants on that without actually recanting their original misconceived post. Have I been doing it wrong all this time??
Who's got an ID of 101334? Is that good?
I once saw a "How-to" video on how to acquire your own ATM. Just need a strong 4x4 truck, a long, strong chain, and a couple of friends...
Does anyone remember this? I used to have one, I loved it. It was cordless and the base station connected to the serial port on your system (before the days of USB) and had some great features. Answering incoming calls could be customized based on caller ID to answer with different messages and messages left were recorded into .WAV files and filed into directories so you could use them like any other file. Incoming call from your friend? "Hey Mike, I'm heading up to the bar now, be there by 10-ish." Incoming call from your girlfriend? "*cough* Sorry sweetie, still pretty sick, I'm in bed already, I'll call you tomorrow." Incoming call from a harassing creditor? Email it to a lawyer.
It was well built and it's sitting in my storage unit, I'll bet it would still work if I hooked it up.
The only catch is to use all of those features you had to leave your PC on at all times... I think that'd be less of a problem these days, since many people run home media/file/print servers that are generally left on 24/7 anyway.
I'd jump on a MS Phone 3.0, I think. Especially if they got clever and combined it with a cell phone...
Yeah, I've seen them first hand, they scare the crap out of me because they're also the most likely to freak out and *drop* the gun when they fire it. If it's a semi-automatic, that means the hammer is likely already cocked when it hits the ground. A decent gun won't go off that way, but not everyone is firing a well-built gun. Scares the hell out of me.
People should go through a decent training program before going to the range or even touching a gun. Although it was a while ago, the NRA-approved pistol carry class I took (required in Massachusetts to get your pistol carry permit) actually covered why shooting "gangsta" style was so stupid. (same reasons as have been covered in this sub-thread already, it's far more about the shooter and the human anatomy, than it is about the physics of the gun)
I think the same thought processes went into Hiroshima/Nagasaki. Sure you killed a couple hundred thousand people, but the alternative would be the deaths of millions on both sides.
Non-lethal weapons sounds good on paper, but they don't make an enemy go, "Ouch! You won, but you didn't kill me, thank you!" and it doesn't make others who would fight you as well thank you for saving their friends, either. It allows them the opportunity to get revenge. Dead people don't get vengeance. It is sad, but I think if you really think about it, that is the way it is. Reduced fatalities through applied lethal force. Sounds really contradictory, but it's true.
I'm of German descent, can I complain when someone talks about their "route" because it's close to "kraut"?
Wait... I thought kraut was pronounced sound like "out", while "route" was more of an "oot". If that's not right, should I be pronouncing sauerkraut as "saw-er-kroot"? That sounds a lot like http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=chirkoot ... you racist bastard!
New from Apple, the iHeart, with iPod/iPhone docking station, it'll give new meaning to dancing to the beat.
Blue Screen of Death, now with real death?
I wish we could up-vote comments ourselves, I'd give this a ++.
I only wish the hiring process involved more people like you more often.
Unfortunately 98% of the IT jobs out there, especially with any company large enough to still be hiring in this economy, are filtered through HR drones first. And HR drones WILL put forth resumes with those pieces of paper attached ahead of resumes without. I have no college degree, but I have nearly 15+yrs in the industry (give or take) and I still run into those brick walls where, had I had a degree or certification of some sort, the HR person would've passed me on to the hiring manager who might've appreciated that I have experience over paperwork. Over the last 5 years the jobs I have gotten were always with companies where the hiring manager was doing the candidate searching himself, but believe me, during those job searches I got at least 5-6 "sorry, no papers" for every interview.
I took some online courses at UMass @ Lowell and was sorely disappointed. I'm not a "book study" type nor very good at testing and unfortunately most of the courses were little better than that. "Read chapters X-X and then complete this quiz, if you have any questions... read the chapters again." Although in their defense I'd say that was only half of the classes, the other half were very good and I learned a lot.
I don't ncessarily put much stock in "book smart" people or those who test well. I've known several people whose entire career was pumping gas or janitor at a high school and heard how IT people were making so much money, so they bought the books, sat down with flash cards and highlighters, a week or two of studying and being really good at testing and now they're sitting next to you with their MCSE supporting a few hundred servers. Fantastic.
That being said my most memorable anecdote against degrees was regarding a girl I worked with who prided herself in her Comp Sci degree, but refused to believe me when we got into an argument over whether a server was really down when she couldn't reach the 10.x.x.x interface from our external dialup testing system...
In conclusion: Everyone is different. Every college course is different (mainly because they're being designed and taught by people, who are also often different). Some people will get a LOT from going through a decent college program. Some will get next to nothing useful. Some will never take a single college course and know more than you could ever hope to in your field. No one should knock someone else for needing help or structured learning.
Maybe if they squeeze and XOR between each NAND? :)
So Chevy has discovered that some things should not be "like a rock".
Wearing condoms won't protect you against water-related diseases.
That depends on where you wear the condom.
And how big the condom is.
Argh, I *knew* that sounded so familiar, I missed the reference, my mistake, ignore me. :)
To that I say; What does god need with a Starship?
God doesn't need a Starship, but we do. We're not going to explore this universe of ours on a literal whim and prayer.
Wrap around a pencil, you say? I see the world's most advanced cheat sheet in the future...
Your boss may not be wrong for patenting your work.
If your work contributed to or is a piece of code or software that your company relies on for revenue, what happens if he doesn't patent it? Someone else does. And then turns and sues your company for using "their" code. It's not hard to see where that leads. Company going under, you and your boss getting fired, etc, etc.?
I don't like it any more than the next Slashdotter, but it's not hard to picture that exact scenario.
You may have to just grin and bear it.
That's not that easy. All those people must first apply for a license at the Ministry of Silly Walks. You know how expensive those licenses are? Crazy.
1K to turn someone into a productive member of society and lead a meaningful life? It's a bargain. We're paying more than that to keep rapists alive in jails. Not to mention that as technology moves on it will either cost less or new drug will take it's place being either more effective or less expensive.
More effective or less expensive? Where are you from? Someplace without capitalism? Lemme know, I want to move there! heh Unfortunately there's less profit in more effective/less expensive drugs. Less effective *and* more expensive, now that's where the money is! Why make $1000 profit to cure someone in 3 days when you can make $100 per day to keep someone "marginably better" for years, eh?
And to think, I didn't even have to spend 4 years in business school to figure that out! (yes, I'm being darkly sarcastic, but I worked for a pharmaceuticals company, I've met the brains that tick like that, they scare and anger me.)
Canada? You could walk into a bar and slap someone upside the head with the flat of your hand and be at the top of Canada's most wanted list. :P
Well, this depends entirely on who's using it. If you're talking about secretaries and managers that use Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc. extensively and often need their more advanced features, then yes, TCO skyrockets on them when you have to field call after call of "How do you do this?". You need to train both the IT support and the users and that takes a decent amount of time. Not to mention, as you said, productivity losses and the user frustration. Which is one of the biggest arguments as to why Windows OS is still so widely used. Joe User doesn't have the spare time to figure out how to use a Linux desktop.
But there are other instances where license fees make a world of difference, and I'm working a real-life instance of that right here:
We have ~300 thin clients used by our customer support group (it's our business), all they do is take/make calls and update a ticketing system via a telnet-based text program. Essentially all they really need is some web access, a HyperTerm-like program, and the dialer software for the outgoing automated calls. They do still need Office for things like reading documentation or charts or such things that their manager might send out. There are approximately 400 users (1st/2nd shifters often share/swap workstations), each needing his/her own Office license. At $100 each, that's $40K. OR we could (and are planning on) using OpenOffice (or maybe StarOffice, or something else), we'll see, something free. But see? Licensing == $$$$. Somethings a LOT of $$$. We're looking at expanding beyond 1,000 users within a year or two, so then we'd be up to $100K. Per version. That's a decent chunk of change. It might not seem like a lot to a sizeable corporation, but I'd rather that go into my annual raise, thank you very much.
What they need to do is add exceptionally precise Ir/motion sensors to the shirt, so it can see exactly where your arms *and* fingers are, and play appropriately. Don't forget the small backpack-sized computing device to interpret all of that on the fly fast enough to keep up. ;) Hey, one can dream.
Ditto here, I've been trying to figure it out, but I highly suspected it was the new HP drivers I just installed (which included the Imaging stuff, as I have an All-in-one). This just absolutely confirms it. (Thanks to all)
Footwear? Pardon my ignorance, but... does that mean Coca-Cola makes footware of some sort? Although I know some people that would relate Coca-Cola soda to old, used, unwashed gym socks, I don't recall Coca-cola making Footware... I wonder if the patent on "Nike" saids, "Goods and Services: IC 025. US 022 054. G & S: Carbonated beverages". Hmmmm...
Actually, I think the lawsuits will erupt between: whazzzaaaappp.com whazzaaaappp.com whazzzaaappp.com etc., etc.,... they'll tie up the country's courts in litigation for years. :)