I was also trained to be anti goto. I almost never have used them, but it is true that there are times that it makes sense to use them.
At one place I worked the original writers used tons of endless for loops that were and the practice was to use a break statement to get out of 'em. Kind of the same thing.
the DMCA needs to be re-evaluated by a panel consisting of a few. Right now it seems to favor only the government and very, very large corporations.
The whole problem with the DMCA is that it was created by "a few", in this case the government (as in our legislators that penned and passed the law - they number something like, oh, say 535) and very large corporations (a smaller number than that - Fortune 500 minus the many that don't count for squat).
So what do you expect from a law passed basically by a few corporations? That was the whole problem with it - the law was drafted and approved by "a few". I doubt there is anywhere in the US that it would have passed by popular vote.
HP has a couple of places where they recycle computers. They'll take any brand, and for a fee will pick them up (can't get the URL right now - for some reason the site isn't working right - must have laid off the folks that did that stuff).
But what they do is to take the components and drop them into a big machine that grinds them up. Then the pieces are separated (plastics, metals, etc.) and sent to other facilities for re-use. Pretty cool, really.
The fact of the matter is that the merger between HP and Compaq has been very little about improving the companies and almost completely about politics. (Disclaimer) I am / was an HP employee that has been "impacted" by the workforce reduction program. But my three primary references are co-workers from my old group, so I'm not the only one that thinks it was a stupid decision. (/Disclaimer) This is actually a somewhat off-topic post, because I'd hope that Bruce's situation was reviewed very carefully by the Executive Council (considering his high visibility), but I'll throw it out there anyway.
Most of the decisions that are being made are second guessed to the Nth degree. What usually winds up happening is that some completely frustrated upper manager has to make a decision that is based on how well someone can argue (or create a lovely PowerPoint presentation that can be transmitted nicely via NetMeeting). The person making the decision usually has no personal insight into the situation and often doesn't even know the people that are submitting the arguments.
The really funny thing is that while The New HP is trying to keep "top talent", this method of decision making is actually ensuring that the people that spend all of their time in meetings (where the big decision is usually about when to have the next meeting) are kept while the people that actually get things done are dumped. So while the company tries to position itself as an open source advocate (by firing Bruce) and as working to create a world class engineering company (by putting people that can't write code, etc. in engineering based decision making positions) they are actually just...Microsoft without the market share.
Anyway, good post Mart. You hit pretty close to the mark, I think. This isn't about business - it is about making the executives richer than they already are. But don't worry - they love that company...today.
I'll bet you're right. About 20 years ago someone came out with a "remote controlled R2-D2". I know because that year it was *all* I wanted for Xmas. I got my wish - but it sure wasn't as cool as I thought it was gonna be. It was really cheesy - it would only turn left or go straight (had to spin it all the way around to make it go right) and that was all it did.
No, this isn't true. HP is much older, first of all, and has considerably greater investments in R&D in the form of HP Labs, which is a worldwide research entity. The product lines are quite similar, but HP has more coverage there, too. Compaq has PCs, servers, Unix servers, storage, and handhelds. HP has all that plus printers, extensive imaging, etc. Finally, HP has greater market share in all areas (yeah, you could have argued - last week!), except PCs.
My "productivity" is currently being measured strictly by the number of hours I am in the office, rather than output (volume), quality (as nebulous as that can be) or other results. Yes, I do have the ability to work from my home office, but that does not count as productive time, so I don't do it any more.
Too bad, too, as I tend to do very well when I can sit down in my nice, cozy office when I know what needs to be done (and how to do it), and can quickly accomplish my task. Their loss - I'm on salary.
...although in a few months the differences will be irrelevant - in fact, there won't be any differences between Compaq and HP after the merger is completed.
I did, too, and for the most part these observations are valid. It was there that I learned first hand what it is like to have a series of "bungee bosses", and what the term "re-org" means.
'Course, the HP XP disk arrays have more storage, and are about three times faster. Yeah, I work for HP;-).
But seriously, all of these companies use Unix - we use HP-UX, naturally. That is what we use to run our factory (where I work as a developer). And everyone is looking for talent. I'm not sure if the main company sites are your best bet, though, because the other thing that the larger companies have in common are layers of HR bureaucracy. If you see this, are in Northern California, and have interest, let me know and I'll see what I can do for you.
A very good point! I have a buddy who has been a high level network engineer at (big Unix company) who maintains a few servers for... personal use, and also is occasionally brought in by support for tough cases. I was trying to find out how to set up sendmail on a box (that didn't really need it ).
He told me that he doesn't touch the (f'en).cf file and if he ever sets up a new box he takes an existing file and then messes with things he knows are safe. When people are amazed by his accomplishment, he smiles knowingly, and nods....
I quit one of my jobs when I was consulting because I had a client who expected 40 hours a week from me on thier site. My boss also expected me to do work for another client on a "part time" basis, which meant I was billing something like 60 hours a week. He never understood what my problem was because, "I was making plenty of money". I say, "f" 'em. They need us more than we need them (ain't life grand?).
First of all, I want to complement Dave on some very well written and intellegent answers. I guess he has had some practice lately, though.Dave made several comments that I think are key to the issues. Computers are not toasters and they are now (and increasingly) used as the support structure of our society. This is familiar territory to geeks but is a concept that most of the rest of the world doesn't get.Buildings are not built without plans. They are not maintained without maintenance workers. They are generally reliable, safe and clean. Society accepts and understands that the (expensive!) blueprinting and planning and ongoing maintenance costs are a part of having a building. Yet governments, companies and individuals somehow think that they can have computer based solutions without those costs.The result is that we have software development programs that don't work. We have "secure" systems that are not. And we have an "internet economy" that can be taken out by pretty much anyone. This is a commonly expressed thought; I'm not saying anything new. But I agree wholeheartedly with Dave; get used to the idea that you need to pay for your technical resources. And listen to the people that you pay for the care and feeding of your systems.
Slashdot Mirror
...supporting M$ - since they are no longer solidly the technology company with the largest market cap.
I was also trained to be anti goto. I almost never have used them, but it is true that there are times that it makes sense to use them.
At one place I worked the original writers used tons of endless for loops that were and the practice was to use a break statement to get out of 'em. Kind of the same thing.
"I wouldn't piss on Lars Ulrich's head if he was on fire."
Oh, I got such a laugh out of this... He really is a pompous SOB, and not that great of a drummer.
BTW, I am a Metallica fan - but the more recent stuff isn't all that great, and I refuse to buy the latest CD.
the DMCA needs to be re-evaluated by a panel consisting of a few. Right now it seems to favor only the government and very, very large corporations.
The whole problem with the DMCA is that it was created by "a few", in this case the government (as in our legislators that penned and passed the law - they number something like, oh, say 535) and very large corporations (a smaller number than that - Fortune 500 minus the many that don't count for squat).
So what do you expect from a law passed basically by a few corporations? That was the whole problem with it - the law was drafted and approved by "a few". I doubt there is anywhere in the US that it would have passed by popular vote.
HP has a couple of places where they recycle computers. They'll take any brand, and for a fee will pick them up (can't get the URL right now - for some reason the site isn't working right - must have laid off the folks that did that stuff).
But what they do is to take the components and drop them into a big machine that grinds them up. Then the pieces are separated (plastics, metals, etc.) and sent to other facilities for re-use. Pretty cool, really.
The fact of the matter is that the merger between HP and Compaq has been very little about improving the companies and almost completely about politics. (Disclaimer) I am / was an HP employee that has been "impacted" by the workforce reduction program. But my three primary references are co-workers from my old group, so I'm not the only one that thinks it was a stupid decision. (/Disclaimer) This is actually a somewhat off-topic post, because I'd hope that Bruce's situation was reviewed very carefully by the Executive Council (considering his high visibility), but I'll throw it out there anyway.
Most of the decisions that are being made are second guessed to the Nth degree. What usually winds up happening is that some completely frustrated upper manager has to make a decision that is based on how well someone can argue (or create a lovely PowerPoint presentation that can be transmitted nicely via NetMeeting). The person making the decision usually has no personal insight into the situation and often doesn't even know the people that are submitting the arguments.
The really funny thing is that while The New HP is trying to keep "top talent", this method of decision making is actually ensuring that the people that spend all of their time in meetings (where the big decision is usually about when to have the next meeting) are kept while the people that actually get things done are dumped. So while the company tries to position itself as an open source advocate (by firing Bruce) and as working to create a world class engineering company (by putting people that can't write code, etc. in engineering based decision making positions) they are actually just...Microsoft without the market share.
Anyway, good post Mart. You hit pretty close to the mark, I think. This isn't about business - it is about making the executives richer than they already are. But don't worry - they love that company...today.
Chris
That was *the* great arcade on "The Ave." (Durant). Up the long, narrow staircase - what a great place that was.
I'll bet you're right. About 20 years ago someone came out with a "remote controlled R2-D2". I know because that year it was *all* I wanted for Xmas. I got my wish - but it sure wasn't as cool as I thought it was gonna be. It was really cheesy - it would only turn left or go straight (had to spin it all the way around to make it go right) and that was all it did.
...commercial use of the Internet wasn't allowed? Too bad economics won't support that model.
No, this isn't true. HP is much older, first of all, and has considerably greater investments in R&D in the form of HP Labs, which is a worldwide research entity. The product lines are quite similar, but HP has more coverage there, too. Compaq has PCs, servers, Unix servers, storage, and handhelds. HP has all that plus printers, extensive imaging, etc. Finally, HP has greater market share in all areas (yeah, you could have argued - last week!), except PCs.
But it is a moot point now, eh?
Can I come work for you? ;-)
My "productivity" is currently being measured strictly by the number of hours I am in the office, rather than output (volume), quality (as nebulous as that can be) or other results. Yes, I do have the ability to work from my home office, but that does not count as productive time, so I don't do it any more.
Too bad, too, as I tend to do very well when I can sit down in my nice, cozy office when I know what needs to be done (and how to do it), and can quickly accomplish my task. Their loss - I'm on salary.
...although in a few months the differences will be irrelevant - in fact, there won't be any differences between Compaq and HP after the merger is completed.
I did, too, and for the most part these observations are valid. It was there that I learned first hand what it is like to have a series of "bungee bosses", and what the term "re-org" means.
HP recently sold the PA/RISC processor business to Intel.
'Course, the HP XP disk arrays have more storage, and are about three times faster. Yeah, I work for HP ;-).
But seriously, all of these companies use Unix - we use HP-UX, naturally. That is what we use to run our factory (where I work as a developer). And everyone is looking for talent. I'm not sure if the main company sites are your best bet, though, because the other thing that the larger companies have in common are layers of HR bureaucracy. If you see this, are in Northern California, and have interest, let me know and I'll see what I can do for you.
He told me that he doesn't touch the (f'en) .cf file and if he ever sets up a new box he takes an existing file and then messes with things he knows are safe. When people are amazed by his accomplishment, he smiles knowingly, and nods....
I quit one of my jobs when I was consulting because I had a client who expected 40 hours a week from me on thier site. My boss also expected me to do work for another client on a "part time" basis, which meant I was billing something like 60 hours a week. He never understood what my problem was because, "I was making plenty of money". I say, "f" 'em. They need us more than we need them (ain't life grand?).
First of all, I want to complement Dave on some very well written and intellegent answers. I guess he has had some practice lately, though . Dave made several comments that I think are key to the issues. Computers are not toasters and they are now (and increasingly) used as the support structure of our society. This is familiar territory to geeks but is a concept that most of the rest of the world doesn't get. Buildings are not built without plans. They are not maintained without maintenance workers. They are generally reliable, safe and clean. Society accepts and understands that the (expensive!) blueprinting and planning and ongoing maintenance costs are a part of having a building. Yet governments, companies and individuals somehow think that they can have computer based solutions without those costs. The result is that we have software development programs that don't work. We have "secure" systems that are not. And we have an "internet economy" that can be taken out by pretty much anyone. This is a commonly expressed thought; I'm not saying anything new. But I agree wholeheartedly with Dave; get used to the idea that you need to pay for your technical resources. And listen to the people that you pay for the care and feeding of your systems.