And the telecommunications companies have immunity from prosecution for such requests being fulfilled (it was even retroactive at the time to squash active lawsuits).
I'm no apologist, but Bush really took it too far after 9/11.
He did a good job of splintering the Republican party.
Obama is sort-of doing the same for the Democrats, and he should be given his actions and all of the controversy.
I'm not sure why Democrats aren't protesting Obama more. A lot of Republicans ran from Bush, but Obama seems to have a more stable base (much to my chagrin, and I was hoping the economy would help more, but people don't see that we're in a faux-recovery).
And I stand by what I said, he hasn't started any wars, yet. It's difficult to be worse that Bush if you haven't started some wars (Obama is just continuing and extending the surveillance situation started by Bush).
But hey, he's still got time to get some wars going...
I'm a car camper. And I do camp at a campground, but in a private area (no water and just vault toilets).
But I camp 35 nights a year (for the last 5 years), so a lot of trips are single night. I just like sleeping in a tent.
I have 3 year old twins, and they come along for about 20 of the nights. They certainly aren't back country ready (they can identify a handful of trees and leaves at this point). We do hike 2-3 miles each day they go with me.
I built my battery setup because I was tired of spending money on D batteries for a fan when the temps would stay in the 90s at night (in Missouri, high humidity). Then I realized I could add lots of other accessories such as lights, and an inverter allows me to write or code while camping (not much time for that otherwise, having 3 year old twins at home). Being able to charge RC cars on site (via the inverter) is fun as well, the kids can't get enough of the RC car.
When I go backpacking I don't bring any electronic stuff other than an emergency beacon (never leave home without it). It's been a couple of years though, I'll probably take the kids on a short trip next year when they are 4 (I might drag along an iPad to help time pass during a long afternoon).
I'll admit I'm a bit of a wuss, but I like my technology and I like camping, so I combine the two.
I only bring the electric blanket when it's 10F or below. And it turns off after 30 minutes so it's only used when I am going to sleep (preheat the sleeping bag) and when I wake up (it is heaven in the morning).
I use a 30 amp-hour 12 volt battery when camping, it's about 20 pounds (for fans, lights, bug zapper, , phone charger, electric blanket, inverter for laptop, etc). I've saved a ton of money not having to purchase D batteries and I can expect 5-8 years of use (hundreds of duty cycles).
"1200 milliampere-hours" is 1.2 amp hours. A battery of this type would weight 25 grams, or less than an ounce. If it's at 12 volts, which per the article (I read it!!!) doesn't sound like the case. But I bet a comparable 12 volt version would weight just ounces rather than pounds.
Battery tech is a primary lagging technology in my opinion.
We've been evolving our agile approach over time to see what suits us.
Yes, the manager wants 100% completion for the burn down, I always say 90-95% should be a good target (all backlog tasks are between 15 minutes and 4 hours, shorter is better for us- we plan to the method level; we include Unit Testing and Code Analysis as separate tasks if the team gets out of habit).
And we have no problem moving backlog items for the current sprint back into a general backlog if we realize our planning missed something. We'll hold a short architecture/design meeting to define tasks for the issue and then create the tasks and move them into the current sprint as possible (remove X hours, add X hours, any excess will be in the next sprint). We spend a lot of time estimating as well (we've realized that some projects should be avoided before we even started due to estimating, well work the effort even though it's crappy work...).
We also only plan a maximum of 50 hours per developer in a given 2 week period for backlog tasks, taking into account the considerable overhead corporate life has in reality.
Look into Disciplined Agile Delivery (Ambler), it specifically addresses a lot of this, and more importantly, it addresses scaling agile based on team size (and it tries to do away with time-boxed sprints).
Benefits of daily meetings, in my opinion (regardless of development methodology): 1. Maybe I can help with someone's blocker. This is the most common benefit. We all have different skill sets. If it's an issue the manager has to deal with, it keeps a daily fire under his/her ass to get it resolved, this is a good thing. 2. Maybe I have a dependency on another's effort or vise versa; this clarifies it and makes it known to the whole team, helping coordination (especially if there are multiple people with multiple dependencies, not uncommon). 3. Demonstrates progress, as you mentioned (one of management's core responsibilities, not sure why you belittled it so).
Dailies should be time boxed, under 1 minute per person for "what I did, am going to do, and blockers". More than 8-10 people and they become ineffective (and too long), split the meetings so people working on related tasks are together for the meeting (completely avoiding the "stuff about which they couldn't care less" situation). After the daily people can split off and have specific conversations as needed without wasting the time of the entire group.
We use a stopwatch with a goal of under 1 minute per person. Then, if there are further conversations necessary (issues impacting more than one team member, or situations where one team member can help another), those who aren't associated with the topics leave (). Only pertinent global details are allowed outside of "things I have done, will do, and things blocking my progress" during the timed portion of the meeting.
Takes some discipline (willingness to tell people to take it offline) but once everyone is in the groove it works well and is beneficial. I think this would be the case regardless of whether a team is "agile" or not to be honest.
I would say that since humans are blind to this wavelength that it would be fascinating. It's a weird transformation of what we can't see into a pattern of colored pixels we can see. And I thought light photography in the dark was fun...
Sorry, but I’m going to spam you a bit more about the two party system. Your post got me thinking and I can’t turn it off. And I really don’t feel like vacuuming
The two parties have a lock on both election funding and ballot eligibility. Both of these are solvable, funding should be pooled and split among registered candidates (and corporations should not be able to contribute a penny, they are not citizens). Private Citizens can do as they wish, as much as I may dislike the idea and the results, but such is freedom. Ballot eligibility at the Federal level needs to be opened up. There should be at least five people at every Presidential Debate. We need a wider set of ideas.
Moving on, eventually the two-party system will fail. Nothing lasts forever. The problem I see is that the cause of the failure may be a critical tipping point that is difficult to come back from.
Economic failure or very high energy prices could cause the two-party system to fail, but those who end up in power could be worse than the current crop. Given the massive Federal debt, austerity could hit the US, causing the two-party system to splinter, but again, the new leaders may be worse than expected. In any of these scenarios those in power would be left with a very bad situation to deal with. Leadership during a bad, unrelenting storm is not something I would envy.
Revolution, such as another Civil War, is a real possibility in my opinion. Any of the previously mentioned scenarios could result in such a situation. That’s my greatest fear. I have young children and I wish a good future for them, but as my mother used to say, wish in one hand, shit in the other.
The Constitution is an incredible document, the most relevant document since its creation. But, in these times, the original writers would be political pariahs; they would be sidelined and irrelevant.
I hate to say it, but I am not hopeful for the future. I try to do the best for those around me, but the powers that be continue move in the wrong direction, again, my opinion.
As I type I’m sitting outside, watching my cat clean his fur and listening to the birds singing all around. My cat is my property, but he lives a good life (spoil the cat, save the rod for the children). The birds however live in a world of total freedom (ignoring human ecosystem destruction, the birds go with the flow), one where security is defined by ability and life and death are just the result of their abilities.
Anyway, the vacuum is calling and my time is getting short, my wife will be awake shortly
And I feel empowered by the Constitution and will post this as a member of the Slashdot community, not a coward.
I just wish said government would read the Constitution once in a while and reflect on it before writing legislation (they should also read the legislation before voting...). Very few Federal legislators fulfill their oath regarding upholding and protecting the Constitution. Most legislators, with good intentions, feel that "protection" (the "common defense" and "general Welfare" bits of the preamble) can override other Constitutional protections. This should not be. If there is a conflict it is not Constitutional.
The Supreme Court is also highly complicit in the "bending" and breaking of the Constitution, especially when it comes to the Commerce Clause.
The two party system is very engrained, Ross Perot was the last best non-affiliated Presidential candidate (hugely successful, 19% of the popular vote in 1992, I consider Clinton to have been a very good President, Bush 1 wasn't bad either (he knew not to overthrow Saddam), I have no party affiliation whatsoever). 11 years after Perot ran and here we are, civil liberties are just cows at the slaughterhouse. And no one in either of the two parties really cares. They pay lip service here and again, but it's all just marketing in my opinion.
I do believe their intentions are good. Except for Cheney and Rove, their intentions were very much against the spirit of the Constitution in my opinion.
Sorry for the rant, it's Saturday morning and I don't feel like cleaning the house...
Frankly, I think we should have a series of Slashdot headlines around software development and what people have found works. This crowd could provide very meaningful answers to such questions. Then summarize the best ideas and let people have at them again...
Myself, I'm on a three developer team (3 channels, with lots of constant interaction) with a very technical manager (he always questions naming conventions and reviews our code and structure constantly, and he knows what he is doing). It's a great team size, we use a lightweight SCRUM approach (two week sprints with tasks defined to a few hours - really helps with identifying design problems, short dailies with reasonable documentation, we practice "continuous documentation" and enforce both structure and style code requirements via the build process - and code coverage and test results as well).
How about a system where you dock your gun at night (on the nightstand of course) so it's always charged. We certainly are used to this with our phones.
Judge Dredd style (have them explode when an unauthorized users attempts to fire...), except they never show the guns charging in the movie (haven't seen the latest movie, probably won't, the first was enough to ruin anything occurring afterwards).
Of course I'll stick with my fully mechanical firearms. There are enough of them in private hands that it wouldn't be a problem during my lifetime.
This could impact national security. It could inform those who would attempt to do us harm about which communications are being monitored and potentially how.
But, this is America. I want privacy and freedom over security.
A man name Franklin once said: “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety”
I realize that privacy isn't a right under the Constitution, explicitly (defining privacy and boundaries).
But the 4th Amendment to the Constitution does a pretty good job and is pretty clear when it comes to the government (Facebook is another story):
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
A judge has opined that there have been breaches of the Constitution. We the People, deserve to see the document in question.
Quote: The problem here is that they were already allowed to go there, so what possible interest besides bullshit rent-seeking is there to prohibit a broadcast?
Money, and that's all there is to it.
Professional sports leagues so this all across the US. Per the warnings on the TV broadcasts I'm not even supposed to talk with a co-worker about a game I watched without written consent from the league.
At least one can speak freely about their experience on Everest...
He did make it to the front page of Slashdot, which is a pretty cool achievement unto itself. I've only made the front page for a meteor shower...
And I don't think it's "whoring", it's self promotion, and hugely successful, at least from the perspective of a developer (front page of Slashdot). Self promotion is how one gets ahead in the world, combined with development skills.
The.Net distributed caching layer I'm working on isn't as visible as an office suite, although it is more marketable in the corporate sphere (as you mention, there are plentiful office suites). And I don't blog or post YouTube videos. 30 days isn't a lot of time if you follow a strict coding standard, document well, run style and static code analysis, and unit test everything to death. Shoot, just setting up my build system took almost a week, and I followed the standard I use at my day job so it was mostly configuration rather than learning.
In my experience, 30 days is about a proper amount of time for a rapid prototype to let the business types see what is possible (before funding). That also includes 2-3 user experience tests per week, with constant refactoring based on better understanding functional requirements and in response to the user tests. Production code takes a considerable amount of additional time for any non-trivial system.
I say congratulations to the guy. And now I'm going to RTFA...
Maybe yeast culturing systems? Or a better, sealed bread box that supports humidity controls (desiccants)?
We can't print food (well, maybe meat, but it's not affordable at this point), but we could print things that help people better store and preserve food.
Of course we can't print salt either, the most historically used food preservative...
Slashdot Mirror
And the telecommunications companies have immunity from prosecution for such requests being fulfilled (it was even retroactive at the time to squash active lawsuits).
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/oct/10/supreme-court-telecoms-win-immunity
I'm no apologist, but Bush really took it too far after 9/11.
He did a good job of splintering the Republican party.
Obama is sort-of doing the same for the Democrats, and he should be given his actions and all of the controversy.
I'm not sure why Democrats aren't protesting Obama more. A lot of Republicans ran from Bush, but Obama seems to have a more stable base (much to my chagrin, and I was hoping the economy would help more, but people don't see that we're in a faux-recovery).
And I stand by what I said, he hasn't started any wars, yet. It's difficult to be worse that Bush if you haven't started some wars (Obama is just continuing and extending the surveillance situation started by Bush).
But hey, he's still got time to get some wars going...
At least Obama hasn't started any war, yet.
I didn't vote for either of them.
I'm a car camper. And I do camp at a campground, but in a private area (no water and just vault toilets).
But I camp 35 nights a year (for the last 5 years), so a lot of trips are single night. I just like sleeping in a tent.
I have 3 year old twins, and they come along for about 20 of the nights. They certainly aren't back country ready (they can identify a handful of trees and leaves at this point). We do hike 2-3 miles each day they go with me.
I built my battery setup because I was tired of spending money on D batteries for a fan when the temps would stay in the 90s at night (in Missouri, high humidity). Then I realized I could add lots of other accessories such as lights, and an inverter allows me to write or code while camping (not much time for that otherwise, having 3 year old twins at home). Being able to charge RC cars on site (via the inverter) is fun as well, the kids can't get enough of the RC car.
When I go backpacking I don't bring any electronic stuff other than an emergency beacon (never leave home without it). It's been a couple of years though, I'll probably take the kids on a short trip next year when they are 4 (I might drag along an iPad to help time pass during a long afternoon).
I'll admit I'm a bit of a wuss, but I like my technology and I like camping, so I combine the two.
I only bring the electric blanket when it's 10F or below. And it turns off after 30 minutes so it's only used when I am going to sleep (preheat the sleeping bag) and when I wake up (it is heaven in the morning).
I use a 30 amp-hour 12 volt battery when camping, it's about 20 pounds (for fans, lights, bug zapper, , phone charger, electric blanket, inverter for laptop, etc). I've saved a ton of money not having to purchase D batteries and I can expect 5-8 years of use (hundreds of duty cycles).
"1200 milliampere-hours" is 1.2 amp hours. A battery of this type would weight 25 grams, or less than an ounce. If it's at 12 volts, which per the article (I read it!!!) doesn't sound like the case. But I bet a comparable 12 volt version would weight just ounces rather than pounds.
Battery tech is a primary lagging technology in my opinion.
Best hopes for this technology.
We've been evolving our agile approach over time to see what suits us.
Yes, the manager wants 100% completion for the burn down, I always say 90-95% should be a good target (all backlog tasks are between 15 minutes and 4 hours, shorter is better for us- we plan to the method level; we include Unit Testing and Code Analysis as separate tasks if the team gets out of habit).
And we have no problem moving backlog items for the current sprint back into a general backlog if we realize our planning missed something. We'll hold a short architecture/design meeting to define tasks for the issue and then create the tasks and move them into the current sprint as possible (remove X hours, add X hours, any excess will be in the next sprint). We spend a lot of time estimating as well (we've realized that some projects should be avoided before we even started due to estimating, well work the effort even though it's crappy work...).
We also only plan a maximum of 50 hours per developer in a given 2 week period for backlog tasks, taking into account the considerable overhead corporate life has in reality.
Look into Disciplined Agile Delivery (Ambler), it specifically addresses a lot of this, and more importantly, it addresses scaling agile based on team size (and it tries to do away with time-boxed sprints).
Benefits of daily meetings, in my opinion (regardless of development methodology):
1. Maybe I can help with someone's blocker. This is the most common benefit. We all have different skill sets. If it's an issue the manager has to deal with, it keeps a daily fire under his/her ass to get it resolved, this is a good thing.
2. Maybe I have a dependency on another's effort or vise versa; this clarifies it and makes it known to the whole team, helping coordination (especially if there are multiple people with multiple dependencies, not uncommon).
3. Demonstrates progress, as you mentioned (one of management's core responsibilities, not sure why you belittled it so).
Dailies should be time boxed, under 1 minute per person for "what I did, am going to do, and blockers". More than 8-10 people and they become ineffective (and too long), split the meetings so people working on related tasks are together for the meeting (completely avoiding the "stuff about which they couldn't care less" situation). After the daily people can split off and have specific conversations as needed without wasting the time of the entire group.
That will be $20 thank you...
We use a stopwatch with a goal of under 1 minute per person. Then, if there are further conversations necessary (issues impacting more than one team member, or situations where one team member can help another), those who aren't associated with the topics leave (). Only pertinent global details are allowed outside of "things I have done, will do, and things blocking my progress" during the timed portion of the meeting.
Takes some discipline (willingness to tell people to take it offline) but once everyone is in the groove it works well and is beneficial. I think this would be the case regardless of whether a team is "agile" or not to be honest.
Wish I had karma, that video was classic.
I agree, Rampage was actually a pretty good movie.
1. Profit!!!
I would say that since humans are blind to this wavelength that it would be fascinating. It's a weird transformation of what we can't see into a pattern of colored pixels we can see. And I thought light photography in the dark was fun...
Fantastic analogy. I have an Atari 2600 for Pitfall even though I have about 80 games (Football = terrible game).
Playing it occasionally is like a good book. And I read good books multiple times, as I play the Atari system.
Wish I still had my original Ms Pac-Man stand up machine. Expensive when it required maintenance, but a party unto itself when company was over.
Sorry, but I’m going to spam you a bit more about the two party system. Your post got me thinking and I can’t turn it off. And I really don’t feel like vacuuming
The two parties have a lock on both election funding and ballot eligibility. Both of these are solvable, funding should be pooled and split among registered candidates (and corporations should not be able to contribute a penny, they are not citizens). Private Citizens can do as they wish, as much as I may dislike the idea and the results, but such is freedom. Ballot eligibility at the Federal level needs to be opened up. There should be at least five people at every Presidential Debate. We need a wider set of ideas.
Moving on, eventually the two-party system will fail. Nothing lasts forever. The problem I see is that the cause of the failure may be a critical tipping point that is difficult to come back from.
Economic failure or very high energy prices could cause the two-party system to fail, but those who end up in power could be worse than the current crop. Given the massive Federal debt, austerity could hit the US, causing the two-party system to splinter, but again, the new leaders may be worse than expected. In any of these scenarios those in power would be left with a very bad situation to deal with. Leadership during a bad, unrelenting storm is not something I would envy.
Revolution, such as another Civil War, is a real possibility in my opinion. Any of the previously mentioned scenarios could result in such a situation. That’s my greatest fear. I have young children and I wish a good future for them, but as my mother used to say, wish in one hand, shit in the other.
The Constitution is an incredible document, the most relevant document since its creation. But, in these times, the original writers would be political pariahs; they would be sidelined and irrelevant.
I hate to say it, but I am not hopeful for the future. I try to do the best for those around me, but the powers that be continue move in the wrong direction, again, my opinion.
As I type I’m sitting outside, watching my cat clean his fur and listening to the birds singing all around. My cat is my property, but he lives a good life (spoil the cat, save the rod for the children). The birds however live in a world of total freedom (ignoring human ecosystem destruction, the birds go with the flow), one where security is defined by ability and life and death are just the result of their abilities.
Anyway, the vacuum is calling and my time is getting short, my wife will be awake shortly
And I feel empowered by the Constitution and will post this as a member of the Slashdot community, not a coward.
I just wish said government would read the Constitution once in a while and reflect on it before writing legislation (they should also read the legislation before voting...). Very few Federal legislators fulfill their oath regarding upholding and protecting the Constitution. Most legislators, with good intentions, feel that "protection" (the "common defense" and "general Welfare" bits of the preamble) can override other Constitutional protections. This should not be. If there is a conflict it is not Constitutional.
The Supreme Court is also highly complicit in the "bending" and breaking of the Constitution, especially when it comes to the Commerce Clause.
The two party system is very engrained, Ross Perot was the last best non-affiliated Presidential candidate (hugely successful, 19% of the popular vote in 1992, I consider Clinton to have been a very good President, Bush 1 wasn't bad either (he knew not to overthrow Saddam), I have no party affiliation whatsoever). 11 years after Perot ran and here we are, civil liberties are just cows at the slaughterhouse. And no one in either of the two parties really cares. They pay lip service here and again, but it's all just marketing in my opinion.
I do believe their intentions are good. Except for Cheney and Rove, their intentions were very much against the spirit of the Constitution in my opinion.
Sorry for the rant, it's Saturday morning and I don't feel like cleaning the house...
I love this type of information.
Frankly, I think we should have a series of Slashdot headlines around software development and what people have found works. This crowd could provide very meaningful answers to such questions. Then summarize the best ideas and let people have at them again...
Myself, I'm on a three developer team (3 channels, with lots of constant interaction) with a very technical manager (he always questions naming conventions and reviews our code and structure constantly, and he knows what he is doing). It's a great team size, we use a lightweight SCRUM approach (two week sprints with tasks defined to a few hours - really helps with identifying design problems, short dailies with reasonable documentation, we practice "continuous documentation" and enforce both structure and style code requirements via the build process - and code coverage and test results as well).
Sounds like the farmer sought out an expert with experience in exactly the area of knowledge he needed.
And if the scientist is such an expert, it's very likely that he/she has contracted for Monsanto for exactly the same purpose.
How about a system where you dock your gun at night (on the nightstand of course) so it's always charged. We certainly are used to this with our phones.
Judge Dredd style (have them explode when an unauthorized users attempts to fire...), except they never show the guns charging in the movie (haven't seen the latest movie, probably won't, the first was enough to ruin anything occurring afterwards).
Of course I'll stick with my fully mechanical firearms. There are enough of them in private hands that it wouldn't be a problem during my lifetime.
This could impact national security. It could inform those who would attempt to do us harm about which communications are being monitored and potentially how.
But, this is America. I want privacy and freedom over security.
A man name Franklin once said:
“Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety”
I realize that privacy isn't a right under the Constitution, explicitly (defining privacy and boundaries).
But the 4th Amendment to the Constitution does a pretty good job and is pretty clear when it comes to the government (Facebook is another story):
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
A judge has opined that there have been breaches of the Constitution. We the People, deserve to see the document in question.
Quote: The problem here is that they were already allowed to go there, so what possible interest besides bullshit rent-seeking is there to prohibit a broadcast?
Money, and that's all there is to it.
Professional sports leagues so this all across the US. Per the warnings on the TV broadcasts I'm not even supposed to talk with a co-worker about a game I watched without written consent from the league.
At least one can speak freely about their experience on Everest...
The "big corporation's" name will rhyme with is Nonsanto. They already have a lock on food seed, water and air have to be on the radar.
Don't want to just burn karma, but thanks for bringing Uzi's story to my attention.
Here's the link for anyone who would like to read baout it:
http://www.nissan.com/Digest/The_Story.php
And yes, Uzi Nissan still holds Nissan.com (it cost him a lot of money though.).
He did make it to the front page of Slashdot, which is a pretty cool achievement unto itself. I've only made the front page for a meteor shower...
And I don't think it's "whoring", it's self promotion, and hugely successful, at least from the perspective of a developer (front page of Slashdot). Self promotion is how one gets ahead in the world, combined with development skills.
The .Net distributed caching layer I'm working on isn't as visible as an office suite, although it is more marketable in the corporate sphere (as you mention, there are plentiful office suites). And I don't blog or post YouTube videos. 30 days isn't a lot of time if you follow a strict coding standard, document well, run style and static code analysis, and unit test everything to death. Shoot, just setting up my build system took almost a week, and I followed the standard I use at my day job so it was mostly configuration rather than learning.
In my experience, 30 days is about a proper amount of time for a rapid prototype to let the business types see what is possible (before funding). That also includes 2-3 user experience tests per week, with constant refactoring based on better understanding functional requirements and in response to the user tests. Production code takes a considerable amount of additional time for any non-trivial system.
I say congratulations to the guy. And now I'm going to RTFA...
Maybe yeast culturing systems? Or a better, sealed bread box that supports humidity controls (desiccants)?
We can't print food (well, maybe meat, but it's not affordable at this point), but we could print things that help people better store and preserve food.
Of course we can't print salt either, the most historically used food preservative...