I don't have an iPhone, but a good friend does, and he's on AT&T. We're located in western North Carolina. Service is pretty good in Asheville - the only largish city, but even a few miles outside, it's just crap. It's pretty rare that I call up my friend and don't immediately get voice mail.
One might also think about how well we have managed to self adapt in the Antarctic, a place that's rather less than 9 months away, but where we tend to require things like planes flying in to drop off food, medicine and porn on a relatively frequent basis. If we manage to pull off self-sufficiency there, then maybe there's a chance of doing it on Mars - otherwise, I don't think this may be the best of arguments.
Agreed. I don't really mind streaming, since it can expose me to music I might not otherwise hear (pretty much the sole benefit, as far as I'm concerned), but I can't see the benefit in paying all that much for it. And frankly, I'd rather do my streaming on my home machine, where the data prices come cheap. If I hear something I like, I can always buy/download and copy it over to the mobile.
I realize, however, that my personal preference here is unlikely to count for much, since more money can be sucked from me under paid streaming.
What about those of us who tend towards pro linux/democrat, anti Apple/republican and guardedly netural on microsoft? Is there no love?
I suppose I must blame Bush.
A part of me is perversely amused that it looks just fine in IE8 on Vista, (1280 x 800) which is what I've been using at work.
Re:Why only one database language?
on
SQL in a Nutshell
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
Having spent a painful few months with Unidata Query Language, I have to say I much prefer SQL. That experience was somewhat less than fun. As for SQL, it's been quite a while since I picked it up, but I recall that it took me all of an hour to get comfortable enough to do damage. And now, some 10 years later, I haven't even come close to exhausting its possibilities. Perhaps that's the reason for its popularity - a nice balance of ease and extensibility.
When it comes to books though, I have a fondness fo Joe Celko's SQL For Smarties. Not the best intro, but something I do keep coming back to. (And yes, while I'm one of those guys with a big pile of books in my office, I do actively use at least half of them).
I'll second that low user number appreciation, and add in a touch of appreciation for the user name. You don't see enough of Jerry Cornelius these days.
He's got quite a number of books. And, while the Compass of Zen is a rather awesome intro to Buddhism in general and Zen in particular, I found Dropping Ashes on the Buddha - basically a compilation of his lectures and dharma talks - to be even better. And, while it seems a bit hard to track down these days, The Whole World Is a Single Flower is a nice compilation of koans, both traditional and from assorted Western sources, with Seung Sahn's commentary.
Fair enough. We're probably in agreement that this isn't neccesarily the ideal service for someone looking for a cheap way to get on mainstream radio (I doubt such a thing exists). But for a band, such as the one I'm in at the moment, that's looking for a quick and easy way to get some physical albums out there - promotion, marketing, etc. aside - this looks pretty neat.
Sure, it doesn't give you stuff to sell at shows. But hell - make 30 or 40 D.I.Y. copies of some B-sides and demos, slap a link to the TuneCore site on it, and sell it for $4 a pop. As for the promotion side of things, well that's another question. I'd say there's plenty of ways to promote yourself without needing to get played on the Edge/Peak/Rock/GenericMonosyllable 103.3. Maybe those ways won't translate into massive success, but they could translate into a comfortable living. And personally? If I can make a comfortable living playing music, I'd be pretty damned happy.
I suppose the question I'd have to ask is: "Why would a truly independent artist want to get on mainstream radio in the first place?" I mean, it's not as though that's the only way to be financially successful making music, is it? And hell, if you're truly independent (whatever the hell that means), I'd be willing to wager that college radio listeners are going to be a lot more interested in your music than people listening to mainstream radio.
I guess it's the mainstream radio + truly independent construction that's giving me a bit of cognitive dissonance here.
Also, what happens when you are trying to pass a car that's going slower than you, and while trying to pass your engine power drops!?!?
If the car is going slower than the speed limit, why would overtaking it be a problem, unless it is only just below? Even then, it was clear from the article that the response isn't instant. There's no reason to think that you wouldn't have time to complete the overtaking manoeuvre. If the car is doing the speed limit, why would you have a good legal reason to be overtaking it?
Well, much of the time when I find myself overtaking a car, it is in a case where it's going only a few miles an hour under the speed limit. Ever try passing a car going 58 MPH when you're going 60 MPH? Takes even longer if said car happens to be a semi. And, since passing another vehicle is somewhat more dangerous than just driving down the road in the right hand lane, I'd rather not be forced to spend any more time in that situation than is needed. So yes, I'd like the option of being able to boost the old speed by 5-10 MPH, to pass quickly and safely.
Of course, since one can apparently disable the device in question, it's a moot point.
In that case, if God is constrained by his character, than, again, you've got that infinite regression (rules, character, no difference really). But I'm sure there's a way out of that, and it's not really the point.
For the record, it's not so much that I don't believe in God as I fins the standard definition of the guy really unpleasant. What I do believe in is a) pretty much a big old tautology and b) my own business.
But hey, you believe what you want; I believe what I want and we can have a reasonable debate. But if what you believe (or what I believe) causes us to take actions that start to impact other people? That's when we start to have some problems. But I don't think either of us are at that stage (the Buddhist jihad is a long way off, I wager).
Take what you say at face value, God not 'wanting' infinite punishment and all, and that he is simply being consistent enough to follow his own rules (ignoring, for the moment, the notion that God's rules constraining God probably leads to a nasty little infinite regression) and that it's not God's 'fault' that you're being punished infinitely for finite crimes. My response there, and I suspect the reponse of others, is to say fine and that I refuse to participate in a universe is constructed along those lines. Personally, I believe that it isn't (one thing that I do have faith in), but if I'm wrong, and that's the universe we live in, I don't want to play. Childish, sure, but a universe run along those rules isn't one I really want to have anything to do with.
And regarding reincarnation: in my own personal view, you can exclude it from the picture and Buddhism, as a system of thought, still works just fine. Personally, having an understanding of reincarnation along the same lines as the above, I don't choose to exclude it. But it's not 100% vital, and certainly isn't something that is taken on faith.
Point being a) reincarnation isn't ecessarily an example of Buddhism relying on faith and b) it's not central to Buddhism the way, for example, someone rising from the dead is central to Christianity.
I think the point is, while you can describe those people as customers, in the technical sense, in the sense of a customer being 'someone you make money from,' they fail to meet Dell's definition. While it might seem counter-intuitive, because of Dell's system of supply chain management, what would seem to us to be a nice $149 profit (give or take some overhead), ends up disrupting the inventory, screwing with the supply chain, and costing the company quite a lot. And, since the person in question isn't actually a customer, there isn't even any sense that the monetary hit is worth it in terms of providing some sort of good customer service experience.
Now, whether or not that translates into a good, long term strategy, is an open question. Judging from the current discussion, it's annoying some number of people, and costing the company potential future customers/revenue. The flaw in this thinking is that it's focused on a) minimizing cost, through some sort of LEAN manufacturing process and as a consequence b) providing a service only to existing customers. That ignores the fact that there are potential customers out there, who might become actual customers if they had a good experience with the company.
Ethically, it probably makes you a dick, and I would not defend you from any direct consequences of that -- like someone else saying, "You're a dick." But there is no law that states "Don't be a dick."
And that's the key thing. You shouldn't be a dick. No one should be a dick. The Golden Rule is a prettied-up restatement of 'Don't be a dick.' But it would be a deeply stupid thing the write a law that says 'Don't be a dick,' because the definition of 'dick' seems to be a little hard to nail down. Take this very case. Personally, I'd say you could argue that the guys in CHP who decided to use these photos to make a point about the dangers of wreckless driving + cocaine were veering into dickish realms. But I also think a reasonable person could argue the exact opposite. Attempting to address that under our hypothetical 'Don't be a dick' law could never really lead to any positive outcome.
When I quote someone, I'm generally not so much deferring to authority as I am deferring to someone who made my point better/more eloquently/more amusingly than I could.
Because many times, you start off needing a simple flat file and then you need a little more and a little more and a little more and suddenly that simple flatfile is the foundation of a steaming mound of crap and your life is horrible. I'd rather think things through a bit more at the start. Yes, sometimes that simple flat file might do the trick. But sometimes you might want to put together something that, right in the moment, will seem like a bit much and then will prove, 2 years from now, exactly what was needed.
You may also try to leverage what you do know to get your foot in the door. Using myself as an example, I spent about 5 years doing DBA work, with a smattering of generic desktop support. When I moved across the country, I found myself in a place where straight DBA work was simply unavailable. What I did find was a programming position for a company with a very small IT department who, while looking for a programmer, also needed someone who could do some DBA and general IT work as well. I had pretty much 0 programming experience, but taught myself enough in a few weeks to appear semi-competent at the interview. It was my other skills, not essential for the position, that managed to get me in the door.
Now, that isn't totally applicable to the current situation, since the OP has no IT background to speak of. But perhaps some part of their skill set can be applied - especially if they look to smaller companies where your job may include a wide array of overlapping areas and responsibilities.
I once had a copy of a collection of HE's work - the Essential Harlan Ellison, if memory serves. In addition to his stories, there were a number of essays (one, on his experiments with a dating service in the 70s, was cringe inducing). And one of those essays was entitled 'The Man Who Was Heavily Into Revenge.' Dude can hold a serious grudge.
While moving may always be physically possible, it is not always economically possible. One doesn't magically relocate to a place with adequate jobs for free. It costs money and, in the scenario depicted, it doesn't exactly appear that money is in ready supply. Certainly you could make the argument that hypothetical family should have predicted their current dire situation 6 months back, and moved when they had the funds to cover it. Most people, however, don't think that way - we tend to assume that a bad situation is a temporary thing, not a downward spiral, and don't always plan for the worst (whether that's a good or bad thing is beside the point).
But, given the situation where it is borderline* impossible, economically speaking, to move to a place where income will allow for insurance, what is the best solution? They are, as an earlier poster so eloquently put it, 'hosed.' Something has to give and, for many, car insurance is that something.
*I say borderline because it is certainly possible to imagine hypothetical scenarios involving one or more family member relocating to a place with better jobs, living in a homeless shelter, and then sending money back home to the rest of the family. Most people would be unlikely to judge being lawfully insured worth this sort of sacrifice.
Well, as another writer, also as yet unpublished, I have a somewhat different take on this. I don't have any real illusions that I will ever make a solid living at writing. To be sure, it's possible, but unlikely. I expect to always have a day job, of one sort or another, and I expect that I'll fit my writing into the nooks and crannies that are left. Given that, I don't place too high a priority on getting paid for what I write. Not that I mind getting paid, it's just not a huge part of the equation. For me, I'd simply like people to read what I've written, and I don't mind compromising on the economic side of things to get there. That ultimately means I'll probably output somewhat less than I would if I could spend every waking minute writing. I'll live with that.
So, that said, I've been mulling over the notion of slapping together a site where I can post pretty much everything I write, as it's written. I may stick a donation option up there, if people feel inclined to pay. I may not. I'm still thinking over the legal verbage to include. Personally, as long as I'm credited with the work, I'm not going to be all that worked up over it being copied and distributed by other.
I'm pretty sure that they don't care about lighters anymore. Every trip I took in 2008, I took a lighter through security without any problems. Never really even bothered to hide it, just tossed it in the bucket with keys, change and a big old pack of cigarettes. And the last of these you'd think would pretty much scream 'Hey, this guy's got a lighter on him.' Not a peep out of the old TSA.
The more interesting question would be if she feels there is any relation between playing a poorly drawn character in a poorly plotted Star Trek series and her eventualy speaking out about said Republican politician's more questionable activities, effectively putting the nail in said Republican's Senate campaign, leading to the election of his Democratic opponent, who would then use said Senate seat as a launching pad to a successful presidential run.
In other words, would she agree with the statement that Star Trek was, through a long an complicated chain of events, the ultimate cause of Obama's presidency?
Generally, my back hurts after I spend too much time in front of a computer without a break. And both my acupuncturist and 'traditional' physician agree with that judgement. So no, I'm not too worried about any serious, underlying condition. That said, should acupuncture stop doing the trick, I imagine I might push a bit harder in the 'traditional' direction. I'm not married to either approach - I just go with what seems to work. Frankly, my ideal doctor would be able to work from both directions (and my current physician does have some good general knowledge of some alternative medicines). I believe (though I may very well be wrong), that India encourages something along these lines in requiring licensed Aryuvedic practitioners to (on at least some level of licensing) complete 'traditional' medical school.
And, duh, if something serious comes up, I'm not going to shun 'traditional' medicine. On the other hand, if something terminal comes up, I'd rather spend my last few months pounding herbs and getting needles stuck in my flesh, as opposed to shuffling about a hospital. But that's just a matter of taste.
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I don't have an iPhone, but a good friend does, and he's on AT&T. We're located in western North Carolina. Service is pretty good in Asheville - the only largish city, but even a few miles outside, it's just crap. It's pretty rare that I call up my friend and don't immediately get voice mail.
One might also think about how well we have managed to self adapt in the Antarctic, a place that's rather less than 9 months away, but where we tend to require things like planes flying in to drop off food, medicine and porn on a relatively frequent basis. If we manage to pull off self-sufficiency there, then maybe there's a chance of doing it on Mars - otherwise, I don't think this may be the best of arguments.
Agreed. I don't really mind streaming, since it can expose me to music I might not otherwise hear (pretty much the sole benefit, as far as I'm concerned), but I can't see the benefit in paying all that much for it. And frankly, I'd rather do my streaming on my home machine, where the data prices come cheap. If I hear something I like, I can always buy/download and copy it over to the mobile.
I realize, however, that my personal preference here is unlikely to count for much, since more money can be sucked from me under paid streaming.
What about those of us who tend towards pro linux/democrat, anti Apple/republican and guardedly netural on microsoft? Is there no love? I suppose I must blame Bush.
A part of me is perversely amused that it looks just fine in IE8 on Vista, (1280 x 800) which is what I've been using at work.
Having spent a painful few months with Unidata Query Language, I have to say I much prefer SQL. That experience was somewhat less than fun. As for SQL, it's been quite a while since I picked it up, but I recall that it took me all of an hour to get comfortable enough to do damage. And now, some 10 years later, I haven't even come close to exhausting its possibilities. Perhaps that's the reason for its popularity - a nice balance of ease and extensibility.
When it comes to books though, I have a fondness fo Joe Celko's SQL For Smarties. Not the best intro, but something I do keep coming back to. (And yes, while I'm one of those guys with a big pile of books in my office, I do actively use at least half of them).
I'll second that low user number appreciation, and add in a touch of appreciation for the user name. You don't see enough of Jerry Cornelius these days.
He's got quite a number of books. And, while the Compass of Zen is a rather awesome intro to Buddhism in general and Zen in particular, I found Dropping Ashes on the Buddha - basically a compilation of his lectures and dharma talks - to be even better. And, while it seems a bit hard to track down these days, The Whole World Is a Single Flower is a nice compilation of koans, both traditional and from assorted Western sources, with Seung Sahn's commentary.
Fair enough. We're probably in agreement that this isn't neccesarily the ideal service for someone looking for a cheap way to get on mainstream radio (I doubt such a thing exists). But for a band, such as the one I'm in at the moment, that's looking for a quick and easy way to get some physical albums out there - promotion, marketing, etc. aside - this looks pretty neat.
Sure, it doesn't give you stuff to sell at shows. But hell - make 30 or 40 D.I.Y. copies of some B-sides and demos, slap a link to the TuneCore site on it, and sell it for $4 a pop. As for the promotion side of things, well that's another question. I'd say there's plenty of ways to promote yourself without needing to get played on the Edge/Peak/Rock/GenericMonosyllable 103.3. Maybe those ways won't translate into massive success, but they could translate into a comfortable living. And personally? If I can make a comfortable living playing music, I'd be pretty damned happy.
I suppose the question I'd have to ask is: "Why would a truly independent artist want to get on mainstream radio in the first place?" I mean, it's not as though that's the only way to be financially successful making music, is it? And hell, if you're truly independent (whatever the hell that means), I'd be willing to wager that college radio listeners are going to be a lot more interested in your music than people listening to mainstream radio.
I guess it's the mainstream radio + truly independent construction that's giving me a bit of cognitive dissonance here.
If the car is going slower than the speed limit, why would overtaking it be a problem, unless it is only just below? Even then, it was clear from the article that the response isn't instant. There's no reason to think that you wouldn't have time to complete the overtaking manoeuvre. If the car is doing the speed limit, why would you have a good legal reason to be overtaking it?
Well, much of the time when I find myself overtaking a car, it is in a case where it's going only a few miles an hour under the speed limit. Ever try passing a car going 58 MPH when you're going 60 MPH? Takes even longer if said car happens to be a semi. And, since passing another vehicle is somewhat more dangerous than just driving down the road in the right hand lane, I'd rather not be forced to spend any more time in that situation than is needed. So yes, I'd like the option of being able to boost the old speed by 5-10 MPH, to pass quickly and safely.
Of course, since one can apparently disable the device in question, it's a moot point.
In that case, if God is constrained by his character, than, again, you've got that infinite regression (rules, character, no difference really). But I'm sure there's a way out of that, and it's not really the point. For the record, it's not so much that I don't believe in God as I fins the standard definition of the guy really unpleasant. What I do believe in is a) pretty much a big old tautology and b) my own business.
But hey, you believe what you want; I believe what I want and we can have a reasonable debate. But if what you believe (or what I believe) causes us to take actions that start to impact other people? That's when we start to have some problems. But I don't think either of us are at that stage (the Buddhist jihad is a long way off, I wager).
Take what you say at face value, God not 'wanting' infinite punishment and all, and that he is simply being consistent enough to follow his own rules (ignoring, for the moment, the notion that God's rules constraining God probably leads to a nasty little infinite regression) and that it's not God's 'fault' that you're being punished infinitely for finite crimes. My response there, and I suspect the reponse of others, is to say fine and that I refuse to participate in a universe is constructed along those lines. Personally, I believe that it isn't (one thing that I do have faith in), but if I'm wrong, and that's the universe we live in, I don't want to play. Childish, sure, but a universe run along those rules isn't one I really want to have anything to do with.
And regarding reincarnation: in my own personal view, you can exclude it from the picture and Buddhism, as a system of thought, still works just fine. Personally, having an understanding of reincarnation along the same lines as the above, I don't choose to exclude it. But it's not 100% vital, and certainly isn't something that is taken on faith.
Point being a) reincarnation isn't ecessarily an example of Buddhism relying on faith and b) it's not central to Buddhism the way, for example, someone rising from the dead is central to Christianity.
I think the point is, while you can describe those people as customers, in the technical sense, in the sense of a customer being 'someone you make money from,' they fail to meet Dell's definition. While it might seem counter-intuitive, because of Dell's system of supply chain management, what would seem to us to be a nice $149 profit (give or take some overhead), ends up disrupting the inventory, screwing with the supply chain, and costing the company quite a lot. And, since the person in question isn't actually a customer, there isn't even any sense that the monetary hit is worth it in terms of providing some sort of good customer service experience.
Now, whether or not that translates into a good, long term strategy, is an open question. Judging from the current discussion, it's annoying some number of people, and costing the company potential future customers/revenue. The flaw in this thinking is that it's focused on a) minimizing cost, through some sort of LEAN manufacturing process and as a consequence b) providing a service only to existing customers. That ignores the fact that there are potential customers out there, who might become actual customers if they had a good experience with the company.
And that's the key thing. You shouldn't be a dick. No one should be a dick. The Golden Rule is a prettied-up restatement of 'Don't be a dick.' But it would be a deeply stupid thing the write a law that says 'Don't be a dick,' because the definition of 'dick' seems to be a little hard to nail down. Take this very case. Personally, I'd say you could argue that the guys in CHP who decided to use these photos to make a point about the dangers of wreckless driving + cocaine were veering into dickish realms. But I also think a reasonable person could argue the exact opposite. Attempting to address that under our hypothetical 'Don't be a dick' law could never really lead to any positive outcome.
When I quote someone, I'm generally not so much deferring to authority as I am deferring to someone who made my point better/more eloquently/more amusingly than I could.
Because many times, you start off needing a simple flat file and then you need a little more and a little more and a little more and suddenly that simple flatfile is the foundation of a steaming mound of crap and your life is horrible. I'd rather think things through a bit more at the start. Yes, sometimes that simple flat file might do the trick. But sometimes you might want to put together something that, right in the moment, will seem like a bit much and then will prove, 2 years from now, exactly what was needed.
You may also try to leverage what you do know to get your foot in the door. Using myself as an example, I spent about 5 years doing DBA work, with a smattering of generic desktop support. When I moved across the country, I found myself in a place where straight DBA work was simply unavailable. What I did find was a programming position for a company with a very small IT department who, while looking for a programmer, also needed someone who could do some DBA and general IT work as well. I had pretty much 0 programming experience, but taught myself enough in a few weeks to appear semi-competent at the interview. It was my other skills, not essential for the position, that managed to get me in the door.
Now, that isn't totally applicable to the current situation, since the OP has no IT background to speak of. But perhaps some part of their skill set can be applied - especially if they look to smaller companies where your job may include a wide array of overlapping areas and responsibilities.
I once had a copy of a collection of HE's work - the Essential Harlan Ellison, if memory serves. In addition to his stories, there were a number of essays (one, on his experiments with a dating service in the 70s, was cringe inducing). And one of those essays was entitled 'The Man Who Was Heavily Into Revenge.' Dude can hold a serious grudge.
While moving may always be physically possible, it is not always economically possible. One doesn't magically relocate to a place with adequate jobs for free. It costs money and, in the scenario depicted, it doesn't exactly appear that money is in ready supply. Certainly you could make the argument that hypothetical family should have predicted their current dire situation 6 months back, and moved when they had the funds to cover it. Most people, however, don't think that way - we tend to assume that a bad situation is a temporary thing, not a downward spiral, and don't always plan for the worst (whether that's a good or bad thing is beside the point).
But, given the situation where it is borderline* impossible, economically speaking, to move to a place where income will allow for insurance, what is the best solution? They are, as an earlier poster so eloquently put it, 'hosed.' Something has to give and, for many, car insurance is that something.
*I say borderline because it is certainly possible to imagine hypothetical scenarios involving one or more family member relocating to a place with better jobs, living in a homeless shelter, and then sending money back home to the rest of the family. Most people would be unlikely to judge being lawfully insured worth this sort of sacrifice.
Well, as another writer, also as yet unpublished, I have a somewhat different take on this. I don't have any real illusions that I will ever make a solid living at writing. To be sure, it's possible, but unlikely. I expect to always have a day job, of one sort or another, and I expect that I'll fit my writing into the nooks and crannies that are left. Given that, I don't place too high a priority on getting paid for what I write. Not that I mind getting paid, it's just not a huge part of the equation. For me, I'd simply like people to read what I've written, and I don't mind compromising on the economic side of things to get there. That ultimately means I'll probably output somewhat less than I would if I could spend every waking minute writing. I'll live with that.
So, that said, I've been mulling over the notion of slapping together a site where I can post pretty much everything I write, as it's written. I may stick a donation option up there, if people feel inclined to pay. I may not. I'm still thinking over the legal verbage to include. Personally, as long as I'm credited with the work, I'm not going to be all that worked up over it being copied and distributed by other.
I'm pretty sure that they don't care about lighters anymore. Every trip I took in 2008, I took a lighter through security without any problems. Never really even bothered to hide it, just tossed it in the bucket with keys, change and a big old pack of cigarettes. And the last of these you'd think would pretty much scream 'Hey, this guy's got a lighter on him.' Not a peep out of the old TSA.
The more interesting question would be if she feels there is any relation between playing a poorly drawn character in a poorly plotted Star Trek series and her eventualy speaking out about said Republican politician's more questionable activities, effectively putting the nail in said Republican's Senate campaign, leading to the election of his Democratic opponent, who would then use said Senate seat as a launching pad to a successful presidential run.
In other words, would she agree with the statement that Star Trek was, through a long an complicated chain of events, the ultimate cause of Obama's presidency?
Generally, my back hurts after I spend too much time in front of a computer without a break. And both my acupuncturist and 'traditional' physician agree with that judgement. So no, I'm not too worried about any serious, underlying condition. That said, should acupuncture stop doing the trick, I imagine I might push a bit harder in the 'traditional' direction. I'm not married to either approach - I just go with what seems to work. Frankly, my ideal doctor would be able to work from both directions (and my current physician does have some good general knowledge of some alternative medicines). I believe (though I may very well be wrong), that India encourages something along these lines in requiring licensed Aryuvedic practitioners to (on at least some level of licensing) complete 'traditional' medical school.
And, duh, if something serious comes up, I'm not going to shun 'traditional' medicine. On the other hand, if something terminal comes up, I'd rather spend my last few months pounding herbs and getting needles stuck in my flesh, as opposed to shuffling about a hospital. But that's just a matter of taste.