This parallels the sad demise of old school science fiction fandom (a culture I grew up in, thus making me one of the youngest old-fart fans).
As with hackerdom, fandom is dying as SF has become so mainstream. It's no longer weird to read SF (not that people are actually reading it these days -- insert bashing of media fans here), so the social rewards of joining the sub-culture just aren't there. If you want to meet like-minded people into SF, just go two doors down. Or find other hackers by getting online...
Now the real question is (and I'm not prepared to answer it): Which was a better situation for the geek? (a) Being part of a tight-knit, special community, (b) or having wider acceptance and recognition without the community there (or at least replaced by a dilluted version)....
First off, I have to agree with most of the criticisms of the mini-series stated here. Let me add:
The mini-series so far has seemed to slavishly avoid duplicating scenes from the movie -- even where they were important in some way. Same goes for any number of actual lines/sayings that stood out in the book as important or very effective. If they were used in the movie, they were almost certainly absent from the mini-series.
A pity, because it really just didn't seem like Dune...
Others have made most of the good points I'd make here. I'd just add that I've left jobs because training never materialized. This can be very important to employees. Staying up to date is on par with food, water and oxygen in the tech world. This doesn't always require training, but the right training on the right subjects sure does help. If a company wont make the investment in helping me stay up to date (and thereby do my job better), maybe they're not worth staying with....
Actually, you may find that "expensive" hardware is quite cheap when compared to the value of programmers' time. As you say, it can be the difference between getting something out the door faster (or at all!).
Working in an adequate, high level, fst-to-develop-in language (pick one you like) lets you leverage the single most expensive resource of all: competent, skilled labor.
With the salary and job security benefits to ourselves, I'm a little surprised more people aren't aware of and more vocal about the fact that we (meaning the skilled folks mentioned above) REAALY ARE the single most valuable asset a tech company has. Everyone else is replacable.
Of course there is a downside: your startup may fail due to inability to find good people.
To cirle back to the argument above -- this implies choosing tools that maximize the utility of developers' time. Stable platforms, sane OS's and languages, good tools, and high level languages for most tasks -- choose what to code in C/C++ carefully!
A search of Kentucky's legislative record turned up House Bill 571, the Uniform Electronix Transactions Act. I wonder if this is the same as the UCITA? Can anyone advise?
My local state senator is probably one of the most likely to be receptive to our concerns (this is just a guess -- he is, however, the most progressive member of the legislature and I have contributed cash to his campaign in the past)....
People seem to miss the point. There is little to no value (at least not to anyone with enough brains to even install Linux) in software to do the Federal EZ forms (or indeed my state's EZ form - don't know about all the states). You're only work is to add your withholdings from your W-2s and declare you interest income from your 1099s, then follow the "tab A into slot B" arithemitic instructions on the form. You simply cannot use the EZ if your taxes are any more complicated! i.e. if you have substantial interst income, or want to make anything other than the standard deduction (say, 'cause you are paying a morgage).
Furthermore, if you can use the EZ, you can probably use the 1040TEL (to be eligible basically, the address the IRS has must be correct and you must be otherwise eligible to use the EZ). Using a touch-tone phone, you enter the raw data (the correct lines from W-2s and 1099s). It does all the rest (such as that is - even adding up all the lines from your 7 W-2s from that string of different pizza delivary jobs -- oh I forgot you also can't use 1040TEL if you have more than 10 W-2s). Then, if you get a refund, enter your checking account info. You'll get a direct deposit within two weeks in my experience (less than a week in my case). This year it even did my state taxes too. All is free of charge, so if you can use it, for Pete's sake don't give somebody $20 just to get your refund a week faster unless Guido the Enforcer is about to kneecap you for debts to the mob. For all the flak the IRS may (often deservedly) get, here's an example of a good system that works well.
You have to wonder how long it will be before the IRS puts up a website to be 1040WEB.
Second point: No only are the EZ forms trivial to do, the other common forms are also fairly easy. "What?!" you say. "I have stocks, children, a house, and take a farm subsidy for not growing pinto beans. [I'd pay more in taxes to drastically reduce the number pinto beans I might encounter in my lifetime...] I have to file a zillion forms and it takes forever." But what takes forever is not the forms per se. It's the step before filling out the forms: knowing what income, withholdings, expenses, etc. are applicable in what ways. Tax software can be of little more assistance with that stage of things than the IRS instruction book that comes with the form - other than providing the same instructions in a differently presented manner.
The hard part is still hard, even with software! The less-hard part is, in fact, easy -- with or without software.
Of course, if you are a salaried employee you can just quit your gripping! Go take a look at the filing requirements for the self-employed. And be grateful you only have to file a couple of forms once a year!
--
Disclaimer: I'm a programmer, not a tax professional. I'm speaking only from my own experience and recollections with my taxes and those of my parents (who are self-employeed and bitterly resent that I can use 1040TEL - heehee).
A friend pointed out questions 2 and 2a after making me watch the copy he just bought earlier this year:
2. Where can I see the Star Wars Holiday Special?
a. How can I forget that I saw the Star Wars Holiday Special?
I'd say this is about the most telling statement one could make about this, er, work.
If you have the misfortune of seeing it (it burns us!), pay special attention to the scene(s) with Princess Leia. Carrie Fisher is barely able to stand up - much less walk without almost falling on her ass. Of course, it has been pointed out that she was in that time for her life when she was addicted to horse tranquilizers.
Katz's main question to./ seemed to be asking where and how the issue should be debated.
But debate just happens! If people are concerned about an issue they will debate it. In all the venues Katz mentioned and more. Worrying about it will probably not substantially increase or decrease the amount to debate on any given subject. While his fretting article has spurred a raft of comments, most have little to do with the issue at hand (which is par the course). A better discussion might have followed from the article Katz cites, rather than twice-removed-from-source, fuzzy agitation.
Whatever each of us might feel is the appropriate venue for debate, rest assured! Religious types will debate it, regardless of their relevance to your life. As will Slashdot. As will the Congress. As will your local newspaper. As will Montel Williams.
Like many others who've posted, I find my Palm incredibly useful -- I've been using mine since April of this year, and have settled into regular usage patterns.
Everything that used to go on bar napkins or post-its or whatever now end up on my Palm, rather than a pile of papers bits (and ultimately the trash).
The key, for me, is that I actually take the Palm everywhere! If you leave it at home, you can't use it! So I had to find a case I could deal with (originally the Slim Wallet, but I've switched to the hardshell JetPac) that was small enough to fit in a pocket, but rugged enough to protect the device. Now I don't leave home without it.
And while there are paper pocket organizers, they tend to be bigger that the Palm. And they can't remind you of an appointment or event unless you remember to look at it. The Palm can beep until you have a look.
On the other hand, I've found that my usage has stabilized down to using the phonebook, the notepad, and memopad. I had assumed that I'd use any number of add-ons, but that tends to be rare with me.
Now I just want a stable version of the pdQ phone with a cheap wireless net access plan...
Slashdot Mirror
As with hackerdom, fandom is dying as SF has become so mainstream. It's no longer weird to read SF (not that people are actually reading it these days -- insert bashing of media fans here), so the social rewards of joining the sub-culture just aren't there. If you want to meet like-minded people into SF, just go two doors down. Or find other hackers by getting online...
Now the real question is (and I'm not prepared to answer it): Which was a better situation for the geek? (a) Being part of a tight-knit, special community, (b) or having wider acceptance and recognition without the community there (or at least replaced by a dilluted version)....
The mini-series so far has seemed to slavishly avoid duplicating scenes from the movie -- even where they were important in some way. Same goes for any number of actual lines/sayings that stood out in the book as important or very effective. If they were used in the movie, they were almost certainly absent from the mini-series.
A pity, because it really just didn't seem like Dune...
Others have made most of the good points I'd make here. I'd just add that I've left jobs because training never materialized. This can be very important to employees. Staying up to date is on par with food, water and oxygen in the tech world. This doesn't always require training, but the right training on the right subjects sure does help. If a company wont make the investment in helping me stay up to date (and thereby do my job better), maybe they're not worth staying with....
You mean to say that this were Intel's "First Post!!" post?
> Yes, it is more expensive.
Actually, you may find that "expensive" hardware is quite cheap when compared to the value of programmers' time. As you say, it can be the difference between getting something out the door faster (or at all!).
Working in an adequate, high level, fst-to-develop-in language (pick one you like) lets you leverage the single most expensive resource of all: competent, skilled labor.
With the salary and job security benefits to ourselves, I'm a little surprised more people aren't aware of and more vocal about the fact that we (meaning the skilled folks mentioned above) REAALY ARE the single most valuable asset a tech company has. Everyone else is replacable.
Of course there is a downside: your startup may fail due to inability to find good people.
To cirle back to the argument above -- this implies choosing tools that maximize the utility of developers' time. Stable platforms, sane OS's and languages, good tools, and high level languages for most tasks -- choose what to code in C/C++ carefully!
My local state senator is probably one of the most likely to be receptive to our concerns (this is just a guess -- he is, however, the most progressive member of the legislature and I have contributed cash to his campaign in the past)....
Furthermore, if you can use the EZ, you can probably use the 1040TEL (to be eligible basically, the address the IRS has must be correct and you must be otherwise eligible to use the EZ). Using a touch-tone phone, you enter the raw data (the correct lines from W-2s and 1099s). It does all the rest (such as that is - even adding up all the lines from your 7 W-2s from that string of different pizza delivary jobs -- oh I forgot you also can't use 1040TEL if you have more than 10 W-2s). Then, if you get a refund, enter your checking account info. You'll get a direct deposit within two weeks in my experience (less than a week in my case). This year it even did my state taxes too. All is free of charge, so if you can use it, for Pete's sake don't give somebody $20 just to get your refund a week faster unless Guido the Enforcer is about to kneecap you for debts to the mob. For all the flak the IRS may (often deservedly) get, here's an example of a good system that works well.
You have to wonder how long it will be before the IRS puts up a website to be 1040WEB.
Second point: No only are the EZ forms trivial to do, the other common forms are also fairly easy. "What?!" you say. "I have stocks, children, a house, and take a farm subsidy for not growing pinto beans. [I'd pay more in taxes to drastically reduce the number pinto beans I might encounter in my lifetime...] I have to file a zillion forms and it takes forever." But what takes forever is not the forms per se. It's the step before filling out the forms: knowing what income, withholdings, expenses, etc. are applicable in what ways. Tax software can be of little more assistance with that stage of things than the IRS instruction book that comes with the form - other than providing the same instructions in a differently presented manner.
The hard part is still hard, even with software! The less-hard part is, in fact, easy -- with or without software.
Of course, if you are a salaried employee you can just quit your gripping! Go take a look at the filing requirements for the self-employed. And be grateful you only have to file a couple of forms once a year!
--
Disclaimer: I'm a programmer, not a tax professional. I'm speaking only from my own experience and recollections with my taxes and those of my parents (who are self-employeed and bitterly resent that I can use 1040TEL - heehee).
A friend pointed out questions 2 and 2a after making me watch the copy he just bought earlier this year:
- 2. Where can I see the Star Wars Holiday Special?
- a. How can I forget that I saw the Star Wars Holiday Special?
I'd say this is about the most telling statement one could make about this, er, work.If you have the misfortune of seeing it (it burns us!), pay special attention to the scene(s) with Princess Leia. Carrie Fisher is barely able to stand up - much less walk without almost falling on her ass. Of course, it has been pointed out that she was in that time for her life when she was addicted to horse tranquilizers.
Linux International been heavily involved in helping to protect Linux, yes? I recall that being a major point of maddog's talk at AUUG'99.
Sure... although he does have a tendency to fall asleep if his desk is too far from the window...
But debate just happens! If people are concerned about an issue they will debate it. In all the venues Katz mentioned and more. Worrying about it will probably not substantially increase or decrease the amount to debate on any given subject. While his fretting article has spurred a raft of comments, most have little to do with the issue at hand (which is par the course). A better discussion might have followed from the article Katz cites, rather than twice-removed-from-source, fuzzy agitation.
Whatever each of us might feel is the appropriate venue for debate, rest assured! Religious types will debate it, regardless of their relevance to your life. As will Slashdot. As will the Congress. As will your local newspaper. As will Montel Williams.
Get over it: debate happens.
Everything that used to go on bar napkins or post-its or whatever now end up on my Palm, rather than a pile of papers bits (and ultimately the trash).
The key, for me, is that I actually take the Palm everywhere! If you leave it at home, you can't use it! So I had to find a case I could deal with (originally the Slim Wallet, but I've switched to the hardshell JetPac) that was small enough to fit in a pocket, but rugged enough to protect the device. Now I don't leave home without it.
And while there are paper pocket organizers, they tend to be bigger that the Palm. And they can't remind you of an appointment or event unless you remember to look at it. The Palm can beep until you have a look.
On the other hand, I've found that my usage has stabilized down to using the phonebook, the notepad, and memopad. I had assumed that I'd use any number of add-ons, but that tends to be rare with me.
Now I just want a stable version of the pdQ phone with a cheap wireless net access plan...