Some good analysis by Daniel Berman over at FiveThirtyEight:
The immediate cause of the coup was the crushing defeat suffered by Rudd's Labor party in a by-election at a state level in the New South Wales seat of Penrith. Normally this might not have mattered immensely, but the by-election is likely to be the last major electoral battle that will occur in Australia before the country goes to the polls, perhaps as early as August.
Labor is throwing Rudd under the bus in an emergency measure to avoid getting wiped in upcoming elections. Since this is a parliamentary system with preferential voting, large swings can happen (see 2008, where PM Howard not only lost his PM status, but his rather safe seat as well)... large swings just like what happened in Penrith (26% swing = landslide).
Fact is, as a "replaceable part" you have no negotiating power.
Unions may be inefficient, but so is working your ass off to get fired because you're being replaced by a 22 year old H1B who will do insane hours, but knows jack shit about the problem domains, and will move on to a different company in a few years.
If anyone can fix the problems with unions and get most of the benefits, it's us geeks. We must hang together or hang separately.
William Shatner est un acteur canadien, né le 22 mars 1931 à Montréal, au Canada. Il est anglophone mais parle couramment le français. Il s'est révélé au grand public dans le rôle du capitaine James T. Kirk, dans la série télévisée Star Trek.
Translated for the google-lazy:
William Shatner is a Canadian actor born March 22 1931 in Montréal, Canada. He is an english speaker but is fluent in french. His breakout role was as Captain James T. Kirk in the television series Star Trek
Shouldn't (mass) junk be filtered at the server level (especially in an enterprise setting)?
Even in personal email, I rely on my provider to do most of the heavy lifting of SPAM removal for me.
Never underestimate the bandwidth of an envelope full of DVDs.
The latency will kill you. About 50% of my group's uses for emails could be solved with IM, because they're quick pings... all they require is an ACK/NACK (email > IM for non-repudiation purposes). Of the remaining 50%, 2/3s requires a latency of about one business day (ie, approval with comments, mass-updates, clarifiations, etc).
In short, email based on postal would grind our business to a halt. That's not even mentioning the grep-ability of email vs. dead-tree and the fact that 1TB of PDFs has less space concerns than a roomfull of paper boxes.
I cant wait till they make this pocket sized. It would do nicely as a smart phone form factor.
If they reduced it still to a wallet, with e-IDs and ability to swipe CCs, then it would get FAR more interesting. Of course, I would not bet that Toshiba could do this (more like Apple, HTC/Google or HP/Palm).
The A4 chip doesn't really seem to have any really fancy technologies in it. Mostly, it's just repackaging and combination of other components that already exist, but instead of combining them in the generic, general purpose manner they normally are, putting them all together in one chip allows a bunch of superfluous stuff to be eliminated.
A designer knows he has achieved perfection in design, Not when there is nothing more to add, But when there is nothing more to take away. -St. Antoine De Saint-Exupery
Apple is a design company... if you think like a designer you'll see how they make the margins they do.
You've described two entire different functions of IT
One which deals with facilities-like mundanities like computer, peripheral, printer and network provisioning
Another which deals with new solutions and directions, mainly software focused (given a commoditized HW space, software drives HW purchases).
The problem with all this is that IT Operations (first group) are filled with folks who are seen and treated as a cost, thus the organization and people tend to be maintenance oriented and risk-averse (they don't get rewarded for "new thinking"). The 2nd group tends to be so focused on software that only few capable individuals know enough about systems to be able to even speak IT Ops-speak.
The ultimate issue is that it's VERY difficult to find someone who can do all of what it takes to encompass the facilities and innovation aspects of these two teams, so they're split up into two groups, and that split is reinforced by social dynamics.
Yeah cause getting back a few million is definitely going to make a huge dent in that multi-trillion dollar debt. Hopefully you aren't thinking any of these savings are going to come back to you or any of us, either, as it'll just quickly get earmarked for pork projects.
And what makes you think this wasn't pork to begin with?
I agree with the GP commenter... you will only save money a few million at a time this way, but put a few of these kinds of efforts together and you will see a big change. Give credit where due, instead of whining about how it's not good enough. Here's a hint it'll never be good enough, so take what you can get.
If you looked at the rear panel image, you'd have seen that there is also a miniDisplayPort connector.
HDMI is clearly a play for the living room, but without updated FrontRow software, it doesn't replace the AppleTV (just makes it a better option for folks who don't want more than an iTunesStore device)
The mini is still straddling the living room, entry level Mac and SOHO server "markets", without really making a strong play for any of them.
The filibuster DDoS attack against the constitutional function of the senate brings you much of todays PORK spending....
These senators have corps in their state that want our tax money.State government needs to get back some of their power to pick senators. We changed it due to corruption; but it has become corrupt either way while state representation has fallen down to the point where the federal government has become too powerful.
Although I agree with your assessment that the filibuster is bottleneck completely controlled by the corporate/wealthy, I don't think going back to states appointing Senators will help. I have a simpler idea: we have a problem with the filibuster, the solution is to address/eliminate the problem. Kill or weaken the filibuster and (gasp!) we'll have a more democratic government!
Magic Markers have no magical properties. 1. You have never given one to a three year old and watched the expression on the face of his mother. Magical.
2. One word: inhale.
Developer - Safari (Web Insp) vs Firefox (Firebug)
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Safari 5 Released
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· Score: 1
So I currently use Firefox over Safari on my OSX box for several reasons:
1) Awesomebar is very useful for developers - remembering similarly named but completely different sites (ie, site-dev01.domain.name vs. site-dev02.domain.name, I just type "02" and it chooses the 2nd one).
2) Firebug + Firebug extensions > Safari/Chrome Web Inspector... though Inspector still has some better features that have me opening up Safari to diagnose specific issues.
3) Adblock
On the other hand, Safari does have a more stable implementation on OSX and clicktoflash/glims makes it quite easy to browse with.
Why do you need "SWF content" in a PDF file? And then there was the story from a couple months ago about the ability to embed executable commands in a PDF file, and it it isn't a flaw - it's a feature built into the PDF spec. Sloppy programming combined with more and more crap that doesn't belong, guarantees that these problems will keep showing up.
I don't doubt there's sloppy programming involved, but this sounds like a flaw in the spec... who the hell reviews the PDF spec and how much does Adobe pay them to approve of things like allowing code execution when it's supposed to be a secure document spec that is a mandated standard in critical venues like government and legal filings.
How? If anything, Apple screwed Adobe previously by dumping 64-bit Carbon after promising it for over a year. At this point I wouldn't blame Adobe if they dropped Mac support altogether.
Dude, read up on Apple and Adobe's ongoing feud... this goes way back, like 14+ years.
This updated agreement was released only weeks before Adobe CS5 was to debut with advanced tools that would allow the porting of flash apps to the iPhone.
Actually it was released the Thursday before CS5's release, and was a twist of the knife into Adobe (with whom Apple has a love/hate relationship -- more hate, actually).
Steve has been screwed by Warnock, Gates and their like before, and took this action at the worst possible time for Adobe as repayment. The last thing Steve wants is to get screwed again, and have his innovative platform (iPhoneOS) get "leveraged" by Adobe just like the Mac was.
THE NEW GOVERNMENT'S new secretary for Culture Media and Sport, Jeremy Hunt has no plans to axe the Digital Economy Act, regardless of what the coalition parties might have said when they were canvassing for votes.
Every man and his dog's website is reporting a quote on Paidcontent:net, which has Hunt saying, "We're not going to repeal it," in response to questions about the Act, but no one - least of all his PR team - is able to inform us where the statement came from.
Lib-Dems want this gone (or fixed) but Conservatives are balking... wonder how this will play out.
Re:in other news, cementing the BP CEO has started
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Gulf Oil Leak Plugged?
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· Score: 1
With wealth and progressive income taxes, its actually *more* benefical to have well compensated CEOS
Problem is, there are too many loopholes to pay CEOs that bypass the supposedly "progressive" tax structure. A simple one is stocks and options and the currently low capital gains tax. There are lots more. If we went back to the much more progressive 90% marginal tax rate in the Eisenhower administration, or even the 70% marginal tax rate of the Reagan administration, then I might agree with you. But in those cases, I doubt you would ever see any executive making that kind of money, as it would mostly be a big donation from the company to the IRS.
Re:in other news, cementing the BP CEO has started
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Gulf Oil Leak Plugged?
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· Score: 5, Insightful
I think what he is pointing out is that most of the people who want the CEO's to be directly responsible for everything are the same people who think they can set a cap on what private citizens can earn.
Well, right now, CEOs are both highly overpaid and free of responsibility. Which one would you prefer they relinquish?
With great power comes great responsibility... this is the rule I want enforced.
Now I'll have to spend some of my imaginary money...
So what do you have, REAL money? What is that? Money itself is an abstraction, and an improvement over a much less efficient barter system. How much do you think the paper is worth, that your money is printed on?
Most of the things we deal with in our daily lives are abstractions, which have absolutely no real value outside our relatively small anthropic frame of reference.
Slashdot Mirror
Labor is throwing Rudd under the bus in an emergency measure to avoid getting wiped in upcoming elections. Since this is a parliamentary system with preferential voting, large swings can happen (see 2008, where PM Howard not only lost his PM status, but his rather safe seat as well)... large swings just like what happened in Penrith (26% swing = landslide).
Skype can win if it's ubiquitous (ie, de-facto standard) even if FaceTime is really open where it appears not to be.
Unions may be inefficient, but so is working your ass off to get fired because you're being replaced by a 22 year old H1B who will do insane hours, but knows jack shit about the problem domains, and will move on to a different company in a few years.
If anyone can fix the problems with unions and get most of the benefits, it's us geeks. We must hang together or hang separately.
Translated for the google-lazy:
Shouldn't (mass) junk be filtered at the server level (especially in an enterprise setting)? Even in personal email, I rely on my provider to do most of the heavy lifting of SPAM removal for me.
The latency will kill you. About 50% of my group's uses for emails could be solved with IM, because they're quick pings... all they require is an ACK/NACK (email > IM for non-repudiation purposes). Of the remaining 50%, 2/3s requires a latency of about one business day (ie, approval with comments, mass-updates, clarifiations, etc).
In short, email based on postal would grind our business to a halt. That's not even mentioning the grep-ability of email vs. dead-tree and the fact that 1TB of PDFs has less space concerns than a roomfull of paper boxes.
If they reduced it still to a wallet, with e-IDs and ability to swipe CCs, then it would get FAR more interesting. Of course, I would not bet that Toshiba could do this (more like Apple, HTC/Google or HP/Palm).
A designer knows he has achieved perfection in design, Not when there is nothing more to add, But when there is nothing more to take away.
-St. Antoine De Saint-Exupery
Apple is a design company... if you think like a designer you'll see how they make the margins they do.
The problem with all this is that IT Operations (first group) are filled with folks who are seen and treated as a cost, thus the organization and people tend to be maintenance oriented and risk-averse (they don't get rewarded for "new thinking"). The 2nd group tends to be so focused on software that only few capable individuals know enough about systems to be able to even speak IT Ops-speak.
The ultimate issue is that it's VERY difficult to find someone who can do all of what it takes to encompass the facilities and innovation aspects of these two teams, so they're split up into two groups, and that split is reinforced by social dynamics.
And what makes you think this wasn't pork to begin with?
I agree with the GP commenter... you will only save money a few million at a time this way, but put a few of these kinds of efforts together and you will see a big change. Give credit where due, instead of whining about how it's not good enough. Here's a hint it'll never be good enough, so take what you can get.
If you looked at the rear panel image, you'd have seen that there is also a miniDisplayPort connector.
HDMI is clearly a play for the living room, but without updated FrontRow software, it doesn't replace the AppleTV (just makes it a better option for folks who don't want more than an iTunesStore device)
The mini is still straddling the living room, entry level Mac and SOHO server "markets", without really making a strong play for any of them.
I'd say given the shift towards corporatocracy, the major "loopholes" are that
The intent of the original constitution has been perverted by money (and the homonculi that it spawns - corporations).
Although I agree with your assessment that the filibuster is bottleneck completely controlled by the corporate/wealthy, I don't think going back to states appointing Senators will help. I have a simpler idea: we have a problem with the filibuster, the solution is to address/eliminate the problem. Kill or weaken the filibuster and (gasp!) we'll have a more democratic government!
Did it look something like this? Truly pernicious idea.
Scalia is that you?
3. Nor have you ever played Nethack
So I currently use Firefox over Safari on my OSX box for several reasons: 1) Awesomebar is very useful for developers - remembering similarly named but completely different sites (ie, site-dev01.domain.name vs. site-dev02.domain.name, I just type "02" and it chooses the 2nd one). 2) Firebug + Firebug extensions > Safari/Chrome Web Inspector... though Inspector still has some better features that have me opening up Safari to diagnose specific issues. 3) Adblock On the other hand, Safari does have a more stable implementation on OSX and clicktoflash/glims makes it quite easy to browse with.
I don't doubt there's sloppy programming involved, but this sounds like a flaw in the spec... who the hell reviews the PDF spec and how much does Adobe pay them to approve of things like allowing code execution when it's supposed to be a secure document spec that is a mandated standard in critical venues like government and legal filings.
Dude, read up on Apple and Adobe's ongoing feud... this goes way back, like 14+ years.
Actually it was released the Thursday before CS5's release, and was a twist of the knife into Adobe (with whom Apple has a love/hate relationship -- more hate, actually).
Steve has been screwed by Warnock, Gates and their like before, and took this action at the worst possible time for Adobe as repayment. The last thing Steve wants is to get screwed again, and have his innovative platform (iPhoneOS) get "leveraged" by Adobe just like the Mac was.
Lib-Dems want this gone (or fixed) but Conservatives are balking... wonder how this will play out.
Problem is, there are too many loopholes to pay CEOs that bypass the supposedly "progressive" tax structure. A simple one is stocks and options and the currently low capital gains tax. There are lots more. If we went back to the much more progressive 90% marginal tax rate in the Eisenhower administration, or even the 70% marginal tax rate of the Reagan administration, then I might agree with you. But in those cases, I doubt you would ever see any executive making that kind of money, as it would mostly be a big donation from the company to the IRS.
Examples of their douchebaggery: http://www.mailwatch.co.uk/
Well, right now, CEOs are both highly overpaid and free of responsibility. Which one would you prefer they relinquish?
With great power comes great responsibility... this is the rule I want enforced.
So what do you have, REAL money? What is that? Money itself is an abstraction, and an improvement over a much less efficient barter system. How much do you think the paper is worth, that your money is printed on?
Most of the things we deal with in our daily lives are abstractions, which have absolutely no real value outside our relatively small anthropic frame of reference.