For them to manipulate us, they've got to have some understanding of those things. I know my smarter cats do, and they make for great companions because of that.
And you've been here a while too. I see your posts, from time to time and that's actually something given all the users we've got passing through now.
If there is a gaffe, it's corrected in the comments and that's just how the site is. We've got at least as many users not reading the article, hosing up the summary, not reading the comments, making ASSumptions and god knows what else!
There is kind of an unspoken agreement that the object of interest is the interest, not the meta-surrounding it and./ Don't get me wrong, we like meta --look at my contribution this morning!
Bottom line is the site is not devalued for this kind of editing gaffe. We use./ as a rolling point of discussion and as a loose community where lots of good ideas abound, along with a lot of shit too. The shit to signal ratio varies, but is usually tolerable at best.
So then, harping on the editorial quality seen on the front page here is theraputic, but futile --as is my post, quite likely!
And if people use./ the way it is meant to be used, they find your comment and realize that there is actually some value to vetting what they see on the front page. Call it a healthy reminder that we need to do a bit of digging ourselves. I like it that way actually.
Cheers and greets! Haven't exchanged words with you in a while.
If the game is abstract, for example, realistic graphics generally don't make a lot of sense. Should somebody do an abstract game with realistic graphics, I would appreciate the art of doing that, but I don't feel it's needed.
Simulation type games lean toward realistic graphics. On those, I find quite a high value associated with realism. The game is more immersive when this is done well.
RPG games are all over the map, but generally best done with recognizable objects and good art direction. These things are an escape of sorts, and too much realism breaks that.
Then there is the simple text adventure. No graphics at all! I'm quite sure somebody could do up a 3D "Zork" like place, and a whole lot of people would recognize it for what it is, just like many people "recognized" places depicted in "Lord Of The Rings".
Pretty graphics alone don't add a lot of value, unless the game is lightweight, or maybe some kinds of puzzlers.
There just isn't one answer to this question. There are enough variables to make it an art, not a science IMHO.
All the examples you want are there as are the alphas in the Atari scene today.
It's actually vibrant, with new demo productions and games each year. The level of technical trickery is simply amazing, and there are very cool SIO hardware devices that make using a machine easy. Download cool stuff, copy to SD card, insert in Atari, boot and you are off to the races.
Machines are cheap, and the whole retro scene is just fun, IMHO. Love it. I participate in that, and do the Parallax Propeller micro-controller, as it's got 80's level, software driven and totally hackable graphics capability that is much like the computers of the time.
Just this year a method was discovered that brings true vertical interlace (480i) graphics to those old machines! We've not yet seen that exploited beyond a nice, solid demo, but that's coming. Just give it a year.
If you like tech analysis and have people skills, these two are good options where an older person is respected for tech knowledge.
I'm 42, and slowly moving toward management roles. I still do sysadmin, but not anywhere near as much. The Tech Sales bit can be either pre-sales, where you largely prove concepts, do demos, write up project plans and such. It can also be just flat out sales. (not for me)
Management of both these groups in a technical setting is challenging and fun. You will have a quota though. That's not so fun right now.
If I were you, and enjoyed management, I would jump at the chance to add it to the resume. Given where tech spending is at right now, and given the ongoing outsourcing, I don't think management is a bad idea.
Then you do tech hobbies to stay cool and relevant!
Rates cover the cost of power, plus some administrative fee and some amount for future infrastructure build outs and such.
It's a fraction of the rates in surrounding areas, even though we all draw from essentially the same source.
Given everybody needs power, this is a good thing for everybody but those people wanting to own power companies and rake it in on our backs.
Love it, and I won't move. When I moved here, it was a nice perk. Since I've been here a while, the rate spikes and other things have convinced me that private energy companies really don't serve us as well as publically owned utilities do.
That might not be true for all things, but it sure is true here for power, water and such.
And, I get nice quad-annual newsletters detailing any rate increases, what they are for, why they matter and what our future return will be. Nice.
When I lived in an area that didn't operate that way, all I got were muddy reports and bizzare rate increases that even the company could not demonstrate the value of.
The selling is you! If you have any worries about this at all, deal with them. Get a mentor, socialize, whatever it takes to be comfortable meeting and talking with people. The best jobs and the easiest, most secure jumps are done through people you know and who know you. This probably isn't going to happen with you sending out resumes in the hopes of winning the lotto.
As for the business minded bit, here's the deal:
(and this took me a while to grok, so read it twice)
You've got to know what your value proposition is. That is what you are selling. That means you should be able to say in one sentence why bringing you on to the team will make them more money, period.
All the other shit is just happy fun, HR shit. Do it, but don't invest in it.
The real deal is dollars and how you will make them more dollars than they will get with the other guy, or even better with you and some position you carve out for yourself. This is how I made my first jump! I got to the point where I knew I would matter and met those people that also knew it and asking for the job was easy then.
They were more than willing to vouch for me because they, frankly, would have a more secure position with me there than without! That's the kind of business minded thinking you need to run your own personal business. YOU!
Other things are revenues, how the sales process works, what margins do people get, where is the money really at, and lots of other things.
If you do this right, you should be able to identify those people that bring in the bucks and those people that simply support those people that bring in the bucks. You might want to be either kind, and that's fine.
But, you really, really should understand that difference and be able to articulate it quickly, simply and while looking them right in the eye.
Here's a short story I've posted here long ago.
Once upon a time I was sitting in my living room having a great discussion with Joel the Insurance salesman. I picked up an Auto Policy from him and he was kind enough to swing by the house for the close. After the business was done, and I had a new agent, I thought it good to just chat a bit to get to know who I was dealing with.
Somehow we got onto the topic of people skills -vs- technical skills. I made the statement that technical skills endure and they are what matters. Know what?
That insurance guy kicked my ass. Not only did he meet his burden on people skills, but he went farther and suggested where I could couple my tech skill with people skill to add to my value proposition and make more money in life!
Yeah, this sounds like a late night TV pitch, but here's the thing:
I'm not asking for money. I've no interest in whether or not you make it or break it. So why do it? I'm doing it because somebody did it for me. Why not? Truth is I think I drank too much coffee. Can't sleep. Go figure. Back to the little story:
That insurance guy changed my life and I'll bet he doesn't even know it. Maybe he does. We parted ways before I ever thought to ask. It was about 3 months after that meeting when I realized that outsourcing was killing manufacturing here where I live. I was good at it, loved doing it, but was never, ever going to make decent money and probably would end up forced on to the street in the next 5 years.
So I started down the path I just outlined. I think if you search, my older/. posts will have this info, and the state of things at that time. Here I am years in the future able to tell you it works. I've jumped since then, and will jump again.
Have to these days. Wanted to then. Now it's have to. Don't like it, but that is just how it is right now. Maybe it will change. I doubt it will for quite some time. We've screwed the pooch and there is some pay back that's gonna come out of every one of our asses for a while.
The potent mix where building your personal value propo
I've made similar jumps twice before and currently am working on my third. Here's the secret sauce:
1. Identify some set of niches that:
-can provide for you leveraging many of the skills you have right now -that you feel some passion for -that appear to be up and coming trends.
2. You want the passion because you then:
-start building those skills appropriate for the niche in your free time -consume trade / technical / political / business information about that niche to become relevant and learn the lingo -identify companies whose profile matches how / who you want to work with.
3. Network, network, network
-do lunch with people that know the people who occupy the niche -ideally do lunch with those people who are in the niche -get involved with activities where outsiders can participate -do projects, demonstrations, etc.. where you can show skill.
This one might mean doing a bit of work for free. So be it. It's an investment, so long as you are making forward progress. Just don't get exploited without some clear return and you are fine.
4. Start asking for the job.
-somebody you know will vouch for you, want to give you a shot, provide a good reference, etc... -let them know your passion. If you've done your homework, they will see this and it will resonate. -be avaliable, even if part time and even if that is rough at first.
5. DON'T
-brag on this where you work now. That is pissing in your own pool and it is bad. -count on scoring the opportunity and ending up with nothing, particularly right now -lie to yourself about your prospects. Your networking will have told you your real chances. -do stupid things, make stupid statements, get involved in contraversies surrounding your target niche -forget your family, friends and such. This can be managed and you will have to manage it
6. Consider:
-secondary education -technical training online -attending conferences -moving. I'm serious about that one. There are hot spots and not spots. If you are in the not zone, you need to leave, or give it up.
With me, it was a transition from manufacturing to IT/IS sysadmin related things. Many of the manufacturing computer related skills mapped over. Many other skills needed to be learned. I met a few sysadmins who were happy to show me the ropes, recommend prospects and give me advice.
From there, I moved into CAD. 3D solid modeling CAD. Have been there for a while, with a side move to more pre-sales and account management stuff. It kind of sucks, but hey! It's very difficult to outsource that stuff.
If you haven't noticed, there has been a hell of a lot of outsourcing. That's the reason for my jumps so far. That sucks too.
Now, it's micro controllers and embedded things. After all the stuff, high performance computing, CAD, networks, etc... I find I really like small computers that do interesting and small scale things. That's where the fun is for me. So, I'm doing the above and seeing some early success.
I'm still honestly not sure of my chances. Getting older sucks. I'm not so old that it's an issue, but it does limit how far down I can burn both ends of the candle. The ride is good right now though. Building things, writing simple goofy games, learning CPU's and having little bits of hardware do this and that is great fun. So, I'm on #2 and #3, with a conference or two planned to meet 'n greet and find out how it all really works on the professional end.
The niche is big, so I've still to sort out where I want / need to play and whether or not it's worth it. And that's my final point. To do this right, you've got to go down the road a ways. You may find it's a dead end. No harm as long as you had some fun. Start over and try again, and again.
Good luck. In this economy it's gonna be tough. Seriously consider splitting your time between the jump, and securing your own current position. All of this
Rather than make an expression, the simplest thing is to probably just start counting primes, round robin with the basic elements we know.
Announce it, move an object to show it visually, perform a movement, etc...
Like in Contact. We heard the primes and knew there was some meaning there.
It could be our understanding is seriously misaligned with theirs for anything else.
And we do it nice and slow. Call out one, then wait. Call out three, then wait.
They know where the progression is, and we've opened the door for them to do something with it.
During the waits, we are paying attention the best we know how, and see where it leads.
An expression, like 2+2=4 is higher up the ladder than simple counting is. Probably not the best way to start.
Unless we missed a day in school somewhere, primes are gonna be known, and a progression of them would be seen as meaningful structure.
From there, it's a matter of their senses being able to deal with our utterances, and ours to theirs.
I don't know about you guys, but if that were to come to pass, I think I would be scared shitless and excited at the same time. Won't happen, but it's fun to think about.
Sometimes I work with my animals, or a very young baby and feel a bit of that. Not the scared part with the animals, but sometimes with the baby. Those first impressions last a lifetime!
I've managed to get into modes with the cat where we are looking at one another for a minute or so. I always wonder what the cat is thinking at that moment. Usually, animals look away quickly. When they don't, and you actually get to read them a little, it's cool.
In any case, communicating with those different from us is always fun to think about. We really are kind of lonely in that way, or we crave the learning that would come from that kind of experience. At least I can cop to both.
they sign on with all the entities that people don't like and don't trust.
Governments, big media, big corporate, you name it.
Give them all the nice terms they need to get what they get done, and in return they "prefer" the Microsoft solution. Stir in some clever bundling of products and services and you've got a base for windows leverage yet again.
Reeks of the same kind of thing that Vista is full of....and I could just be ranting too. Maybe they are stupid!
The dynamic I see is the more people need something and the more general utility is is, the more likely it's worth doing open development on it.
Essentially, there are enough people itching so as to make scratching worth it.
Everybody needs an OS. More and more people are realizing the value of an open one that does not come with artificial barriers to just computing or exercising their rights. Ubuntu + Open Office + various other open applications is a kick ass combination that will empower people to do lots of stuff on their terms. Having another binary only OS is actually a net loss right now.
Move up the food chain and the dynamics change.
Not everybody needs MAYA, Video Editing applications, CAD, CAE, PLM, etc...
Those things are very complex and the scratch motivation doesn't exist to the same degree. There are also real barriers to entry that equate to real value, not easily captured open code style. CAD applications, for example, use a geometry kernel that has tens of thousands of man hours invested in them. (Parasolid, for example) All of those geometry cases have been debugged over 20 years. That's a very valuable piece of software that's not going to see an open code release, if it ever sees one.
There are places for expensive closed software and I welcome them to the market place. In fact, I sell some of them, support, train and consult. Good money to be had. All worth it too. The same is not true on the lower levels and that's the problem with limited Windows editions.
The only reason Microsoft continues to command a high margin is due to their destructive business practices that have maintained a high degree of lock in for their stack. That's why Win 7 will include the mother of all kludges to keep that ball rolling. There are legit reasons to pay for a high end version of their OS and applications. There really isn't as much of a reason to pay for the lower end offerings.
For most people, an open code system will work just fine and they know it. If open code gets some critical mass, application developers will target it, and it's game over. That's why they bagged on the limitations.
BTW: When I sell that expensive software, and where it's possible to sell it on an open computer, it's like having a nice 20 percent discount on the price. Always a nice deal, and these days more and more people are seeing that and going open. CAD on Linux is now possible. It wasn't a few years ago, for example.
They are better off with the artificial hardware limitation than they are with software coded ones that just make more hassle for people. Hassle is one of those things that empowers open systems to get market share. They don't want that.
The lower end of Windows is essentally low value these days. Sure, it costs more to add the higher end features. But, it also costs more to deal with fragmented feature sets and such. Charge too much for a basic OS capability set, and people will just go Linux or Mac. Limit it too much and they will do the same.
For Microsoft it's all about not playing that game, thus the hardware deal.
I had a run in once. Basically my Wife and 14 year old daughter were fighting over her blowing off a job referral. (was a friend of ours) Daughter got really mouthy, saw a slap from my Wife. I came home, saw the mess and sent everybody to their rooms! Grabbed some OJ and sat down on the front porch to think things over and let them cool a bit.
A dumbass neighbor phoned in a domestic violence call.
They arrived, with the assumption that I did it. We had a nice conversation at first, then they wanted to enter the home and just search everything. No way. All they had was a moron, who regularly is seen planet watching in his undies!
I used clear language, but did talk to them as peers, not superiors.
Here's how it works here. If you are ready to go to the mat, then you are in a place where you can exert your rights. I denied them entry to the home, told them why, informed them I could very easily signal the kids to have my wife come to the door, or just signal her directly, and they could sort things out. They responded with "it's our scene, we call the shots", to which I replied, "This is my home, and there is no crime."
At that moment, I knew I was seeing a court room. They were pissed! Basically, the beat me up right there in the drive way (but didn't enter the home LOL!!!), with my kids watching! I went limp and waited. They cuffed me and pulled me up. I asked, before moving a muscle, "are you done?". They said "Yes", took me to a car, and to the jail. My wife came out after me getting thumped, and ripped them a new one.
It was to a point where one officer said "let him go". (which was too late, but I appreciated it)
6 months and some dollars later, I was in that court room.
What happened?
They lied, they manupulated, they tried to attack my character before the trial with several traffic stops (no tickets though, wonder why?), and frequent visits to the home, and grilling all the neighbors.
Lucky for me, I'm actually a good guy. They had nothing.
They lost both charges. I filed a tort, got my money back, and they got moved / suspended.
The amazing thing was they did purger themselves. It wasn't some debatable thing. It was a flat out lie! Several lies actually! I watched the jury when they happened, they saw it!
When I asked about this, after my not guilty judgment, the answer was I could file the tort for my money, and their lies would secure that. Everything else was off the table as they were just doing their job.
Fuck that! It's maddening!
That's a little sample of how the land of the free works these days. You are free, but it's costly and risky. (which isn't all that free for most people)
Having had that experience, I don't say much, and I consider EVERY encounter a potentially dangerous one. I'll go to the mat again, as I believe in our founding principles here, but I can't say that many of my peers will. In fact, many of them think I should have just let them run through my life, finding whatever they find and we deal. WTF?!?! Let people like this go fishing in my home, through my family?
That's nuts right?
Well, maybe. Getting pounded on, having to appear over 20 times before the trial, at odd hours, just so they could catch me or call me a risk, dragging my friends and family into court is pretty ugly really. The scary thing is what would have been uglier?
Say I take the easy route and they find out Mom slapped the daughter. That's human, ordinary and harmless. But they could just be in a foul mood and make a huge mess of that! For what? Too teach people a lesson about why you don't call the police? That's the reason I was given. They don't want the calls and when they are made, they basically create that mess so their time was not wasted!
Seriously, there will always be people making nice, live music! And they will do it, just like they have always done it.
They will stand up there, and perform.
Recorded music will move through the trends it does, and this will fade and become old news just like everything else does.
Frankly, I like the effect, when it's not overused. Turns the voice into an instrument with different characteristics. There is art to that, like there is with everything else.
scene on micro controllers. The Parallax Propeller is a very capable chip. It's inexpensive too. I've a coupla development board setups, and can run lots of titles, and there are some in the queue. Most of the code is open, meaning you can tweak, learn, build and just have fun with it.
You can also find stuff for other systems at their hubs. lemon64.com would be one such hub for the C64.
The fun thing is that older systems really do have some excellent capabilities. Here we are up to 30 years later, seeing new ways of doing things still happening. And since there are significant limitations, there is a lot of room for the simple game art to show. Last year, there were at least 10 commercial quality titles release for the old Atari 2600. All can be played in emulation.
The Atari 8 bitters saw many titles, and this being one excellent one: http://yoomp.atari.pl/
Go find an emulator, and load up some great retro stuff!
I find the progression of graphics tricks, new game play mechanics, controllers and such just as entertaining as I do the progression of serious graphics engines and such on the modern systems.
The difference is, I can literally e-mail the authors of YOOMP! and congratulate them, buy a cart (if they produce one, some don't!), and ask, "how the hell?" and get some kind of an answer!
This year is was weak, but I also enjoy the mini-game compo. Google 2008 mini-game compo for the links to the site. There are vote packs where emulators games and instructions are stored for voting. This is an online version of writing cool games for one another in high-school. I participated in one of these for the 2600, got 11th place and had a blast! Mine was OOZE! and I think it was 2006.
For me, it's Atari stuff more than anything else, because it's what I like as a kid, so it carries over for me. New people show up all the time though. I see them run emulators, then get real gear, then some of them author, the rest just play and sometimes buy. A good author can make a coupla grand with a well realized production, and quality packaging. It's enough to make it fun and rewarding.
You can find scenes for Dreamcast, NES, ColecoVision and others.
If they don't want to actually sell the game, then it's a rental or subscription. Ok fine. There should be no buy in cost then. Just pay to play, and call it good.
Frankly, I would be ok with that model. At least it's honest.
This whole buy it, but don't own it, and pay to play it too business has just turned me way off. I don't game much, but for consoles where selling off the titles is still viable, as is playing used. Buying new titles right now just isn't all that appealing. They cost too much, and there are a lot of issues.
Retro gaming is fun. Lots of home brew titles to play, and writing one is doable for the average Joe as well. Much better scene. It's open, no hassles, and if you do pay for stuff, chances are it goes right to the guy that wrote the game, packaged it up and sold the copies! That is actually very cool and important to me. I know somebody somewhere did it for the love of it, put together a nice package, and earned the dollars straight up. No middle men, no hassles, just fun.
I've bought a few home brew titles this year. Paid from $20 to $50. Got great packaging, lots of fun, sent a note to the author sharing how fun it was, and it was just a good experience.
Looking at where major league gaming is right now just sucks. I think I'm tuning out for a while.
Oh, and the home brew keeps a value on par or better than commercial titles. How cool is that?
IMHO, building up this model and encouraging more authors to write and publish direct to their audience can only be a good thing.
Company contracts with other, local to the buyer companies to distribute said bits.
Buyer either accepts a digital copy of the bits, direct or local, or buyer gets a physical copy of the bits on physical media.
There, lots of choice, right of first sale more intact, and let them compete.
My big worry about this is classic gaming 20 years from now. It's gonna be ugly. I think the current set of classic games will be expanded and exploited more than it would have otherwise, just because the next set of games will be unavailable!
Without an enduring record of the voter intent, where the chain of trust between the voter and the record of the vote is unbroken, the results of the election cannot be known trustworthy.
The very best we have is paper people.
When a voter, holds the pen or pencil, reads the ballot, makes their mark and can see their mark correctly reflects their intent, that chain of trust is unbroken.
From there, we use that record to then tally the votes.
That can be verified, recounted, you name it.
Changing physical media leaves the media in a less than perfect state. Further changes are extremely difficult to do without also leaving some record of the additional change. Plus it takes a really long time, so it's hard to get the numbers.
Electrons just change! There is no record period. One moment they are one way, the next, they are the other way and there is not a damn thing we can do to change this.
Also, when a voter uses a machine, what gets recorded is what the machine thought the voter intent was, not a trusted record of the voter intent. This is a vote by proxy and is not trustworthy.
If we want to use machines, I suggest we use them to print up a ballot on demand, then have the voter mark the ballot, then use a machine, if we want to, to count the marked ballots, combined with audits and such to verify the machine accuracy is at an acceptable level.
When the election is really close, we count them by hand, in the public eye, verifying each and every vote.
These are the ways that trustworthy elections are done.
Sorry, I like Open Source, believe in it, think it's the shit and all of that.
I don't believe voting with electronic records of any kind is a healthy way to run the democratic process.
We, the people, need to cast and count our votes, watching one another, so that the count is solid, the votes cast are solid and therefore the process as a whole is solid.
There is no cheap and easy democracy. Either we step up and perform our civic duty, or others do it for us! And that's why they keep pushing the damn machines people!
Good grief! I've been doing stuff lately (and yes, that's MY AC post below), and come back here to SLASHDOT of all places and see people who don't grok this?
It's simple.
Microsoft wants to make money on every computer sold. They want to make money anytime a program is written and make money anytime a program is used. Further, they want then to exert control over every computer, every program and every use, and they want to do it with the need to pay to use your own damn computer!
That's all this is.
That's all it ever is.
If, they even one time submit to the idea that people can actually compute on their hardware, without paying for the right to do so, they then must compete with the growing body of OPEN SOURCE, FREE SOFTWARE. That means actual innovation and value adds worth paying for! Truth is, the market for that kind of software exists and it's profitable and it makes sense, but IT'S A MUCH SMALLER MARKET.
Most core computing needs today are well served by no cost, OPEN SOURCE software that runs on any capable hardware. That means that most people really don't have to pay anybody anything to get their computing done and that scares the living shit out of Microsoft. They are big, hungry and always looking for new revenue.
What they are not doing is adding real value in return for that revenue.
While they have been figuring out new ways to charge for the basic act of computing, the rest of us have been writing code, educating users and building something that DELIVERS MORE USE VALUE than any one person contributes. This is a hell of a deal, and everybody working to make it better knows it.
And again the problem is that most computer users don't know it yet.
Slashdot Mirror
theory of mind.
For them to manipulate us, they've got to have some understanding of those things. I know my smarter cats do, and they make for great companions because of that.
You really do need to deal.
And you've been here a while too. I see your posts, from time to time and that's actually something given all the users we've got passing through now.
If there is a gaffe, it's corrected in the comments and that's just how the site is. We've got at least as many users not reading the article, hosing up the summary, not reading the comments, making ASSumptions and god knows what else!
There is kind of an unspoken agreement that the object of interest is the interest, not the meta-surrounding it and ./ Don't get me wrong, we like meta --look at my contribution this morning!
Bottom line is the site is not devalued for this kind of editing gaffe. We use ./ as a rolling point of discussion and as a loose community where lots of good ideas abound, along with a lot of shit too. The shit to signal ratio varies, but is usually tolerable at best.
So then, harping on the editorial quality seen on the front page here is theraputic, but futile --as is my post, quite likely!
And if people use ./ the way it is meant to be used, they find your comment and realize that there is actually some value to vetting what they see on the front page. Call it a healthy reminder that we need to do a bit of digging ourselves. I like it that way actually.
Cheers and greets! Haven't exchanged words with you in a while.
If the game is abstract, for example, realistic graphics generally don't make a lot of sense. Should somebody do an abstract game with realistic graphics, I would appreciate the art of doing that, but I don't feel it's needed.
Simulation type games lean toward realistic graphics. On those, I find quite a high value associated with realism. The game is more immersive when this is done well.
RPG games are all over the map, but generally best done with recognizable objects and good art direction. These things are an escape of sorts, and too much realism breaks that.
Then there is the simple text adventure. No graphics at all! I'm quite sure somebody could do up a 3D "Zork" like place, and a whole lot of people would recognize it for what it is, just like many people "recognized" places depicted in "Lord Of The Rings".
Pretty graphics alone don't add a lot of value, unless the game is lightweight, or maybe some kinds of puzzlers.
There just isn't one answer to this question. There are enough variables to make it an art, not a science IMHO.
into the hands of the gamers and let their interactions "evolve" the content.
Where is the "game" in this?
All the examples you want are there as are the alphas in the Atari scene today.
It's actually vibrant, with new demo productions and games each year. The level of technical trickery is simply amazing, and there are very cool SIO hardware devices that make using a machine easy. Download cool stuff, copy to SD card, insert in Atari, boot and you are off to the races.
Machines are cheap, and the whole retro scene is just fun, IMHO. Love it. I participate in that, and do the Parallax Propeller micro-controller, as it's got 80's level, software driven and totally hackable graphics capability that is much like the computers of the time.
Just this year a method was discovered that brings true vertical interlace (480i) graphics to those old machines! We've not yet seen that exploited beyond a nice, solid demo, but that's coming. Just give it a year.
and where one person could do amazing things on it.
Today that's very, very difficult to match understanding wise, and it takes teams to do amazing things.
If you like tech analysis and have people skills, these two are good options where an older person is respected for tech knowledge.
I'm 42, and slowly moving toward management roles. I still do sysadmin, but not anywhere near as much. The Tech Sales bit can be either pre-sales, where you largely prove concepts, do demos, write up project plans and such. It can also be just flat out sales. (not for me)
Management of both these groups in a technical setting is challenging and fun. You will have a quota though. That's not so fun right now.
If I were you, and enjoyed management, I would jump at the chance to add it to the resume. Given where tech spending is at right now, and given the ongoing outsourcing, I don't think management is a bad idea.
Then you do tech hobbies to stay cool and relevant!
is the same.
Rates cover the cost of power, plus some administrative fee and some amount for future infrastructure build outs and such.
It's a fraction of the rates in surrounding areas, even though we all draw from essentially the same source.
Given everybody needs power, this is a good thing for everybody but those people wanting to own power companies and rake it in on our backs.
Love it, and I won't move. When I moved here, it was a nice perk. Since I've been here a while, the rate spikes and other things have convinced me that private energy companies really don't serve us as well as publically owned utilities do.
That might not be true for all things, but it sure is true here for power, water and such.
And, I get nice quad-annual newsletters detailing any rate increases, what they are for, why they matter and what our future return will be. Nice.
When I lived in an area that didn't operate that way, all I got were muddy reports and bizzare rate increases that even the company could not demonstrate the value of.
and not being afraid of a little selling.
The selling is you! If you have any worries about this at all, deal with them. Get a mentor, socialize, whatever it takes to be comfortable meeting and talking with people. The best jobs and the easiest, most secure jumps are done through people you know and who know you. This probably isn't going to happen with you sending out resumes in the hopes of winning the lotto.
As for the business minded bit, here's the deal:
(and this took me a while to grok, so read it twice)
You've got to know what your value proposition is. That is what you are selling. That means you should be able to say in one sentence why bringing you on to the team will make them more money, period.
All the other shit is just happy fun, HR shit. Do it, but don't invest in it.
The real deal is dollars and how you will make them more dollars than they will get with the other guy, or even better with you and some position you carve out for yourself. This is how I made my first jump! I got to the point where I knew I would matter and met those people that also knew it and asking for the job was easy then.
They were more than willing to vouch for me because they, frankly, would have a more secure position with me there than without! That's the kind of business minded thinking you need to run your own personal business. YOU!
Other things are revenues, how the sales process works, what margins do people get, where is the money really at, and lots of other things.
If you do this right, you should be able to identify those people that bring in the bucks and those people that simply support those people that bring in the bucks. You might want to be either kind, and that's fine.
But, you really, really should understand that difference and be able to articulate it quickly, simply and while looking them right in the eye.
Here's a short story I've posted here long ago.
Once upon a time I was sitting in my living room having a great discussion with Joel the Insurance salesman. I picked up an Auto Policy from him and he was kind enough to swing by the house for the close. After the business was done, and I had a new agent, I thought it good to just chat a bit to get to know who I was dealing with.
Somehow we got onto the topic of people skills -vs- technical skills. I made the statement that technical skills endure and they are what matters. Know what?
That insurance guy kicked my ass. Not only did he meet his burden on people skills, but he went farther and suggested where I could couple my tech skill with people skill to add to my value proposition and make more money in life!
Yeah, this sounds like a late night TV pitch, but here's the thing:
I'm not asking for money. I've no interest in whether or not you make it or break it. So why do it? I'm doing it because somebody did it for me. Why not? Truth is I think I drank too much coffee. Can't sleep. Go figure. Back to the little story:
That insurance guy changed my life and I'll bet he doesn't even know it. Maybe he does. We parted ways before I ever thought to ask. It was about 3 months after that meeting when I realized that outsourcing was killing manufacturing here where I live. I was good at it, loved doing it, but was never, ever going to make decent money and probably would end up forced on to the street in the next 5 years.
So I started down the path I just outlined. I think if you search, my older /. posts will have this info, and the state of things at that time. Here I am years in the future able to tell you it works. I've jumped since then, and will jump again.
Have to these days. Wanted to then. Now it's have to. Don't like it, but that is just how it is right now. Maybe it will change. I doubt it will for quite some time. We've screwed the pooch and there is some pay back that's gonna come out of every one of our asses for a while.
The potent mix where building your personal value propo
in new tech skills.
I've made similar jumps twice before and currently am working on my third. Here's the secret sauce:
1. Identify some set of niches that:
-can provide for you leveraging many of the skills you have right now
-that you feel some passion for
-that appear to be up and coming trends.
2. You want the passion because you then:
-start building those skills appropriate for the niche in your free time
-consume trade / technical / political / business information about that niche to become relevant and learn the lingo
-identify companies whose profile matches how / who you want to work with.
3. Network, network, network
-do lunch with people that know the people who occupy the niche
-ideally do lunch with those people who are in the niche
-get involved with activities where outsiders can participate
-do projects, demonstrations, etc.. where you can show skill.
This one might mean doing a bit of work for free. So be it. It's an investment, so long as you are making forward progress. Just don't get exploited without some clear return and you are fine.
4. Start asking for the job.
-somebody you know will vouch for you, want to give you a shot, provide a good reference, etc...
-let them know your passion. If you've done your homework, they will see this and it will resonate.
-be avaliable, even if part time and even if that is rough at first.
5. DON'T
-brag on this where you work now. That is pissing in your own pool and it is bad.
-count on scoring the opportunity and ending up with nothing, particularly right now
-lie to yourself about your prospects. Your networking will have told you your real chances.
-do stupid things, make stupid statements, get involved in contraversies surrounding your target niche
-forget your family, friends and such. This can be managed and you will have to manage it
6. Consider:
-secondary education
-technical training online
-attending conferences
-moving. I'm serious about that one. There are hot spots and not spots. If you are in the not zone, you need to leave, or give it up.
With me, it was a transition from manufacturing to IT/IS sysadmin related things. Many of the manufacturing computer related skills mapped over. Many other skills needed to be learned. I met a few sysadmins who were happy to show me the ropes, recommend prospects and give me advice.
From there, I moved into CAD. 3D solid modeling CAD. Have been there for a while, with a side move to more pre-sales and account management stuff. It kind of sucks, but hey! It's very difficult to outsource that stuff.
If you haven't noticed, there has been a hell of a lot of outsourcing. That's the reason for my jumps so far. That sucks too.
Now, it's micro controllers and embedded things. After all the stuff, high performance computing, CAD, networks, etc... I find I really like small computers that do interesting and small scale things. That's where the fun is for me. So, I'm doing the above and seeing some early success.
I'm still honestly not sure of my chances. Getting older sucks. I'm not so old that it's an issue, but it does limit how far down I can burn both ends of the candle. The ride is good right now though. Building things, writing simple goofy games, learning CPU's and having little bits of hardware do this and that is great fun. So, I'm on #2 and #3, with a conference or two planned to meet 'n greet and find out how it all really works on the professional end.
The niche is big, so I've still to sort out where I want / need to play and whether or not it's worth it. And that's my final point. To do this right, you've got to go down the road a ways. You may find it's a dead end. No harm as long as you had some fun. Start over and try again, and again.
Good luck. In this economy it's gonna be tough. Seriously consider splitting your time between the jump, and securing your own current position. All of this
Was a quick post, what can I say?
Rather than make an expression, the simplest thing is to probably just start counting primes, round robin with the basic elements we know.
Announce it, move an object to show it visually, perform a movement, etc...
Like in Contact. We heard the primes and knew there was some meaning there.
It could be our understanding is seriously misaligned with theirs for anything else.
And we do it nice and slow. Call out one, then wait. Call out three, then wait.
They know where the progression is, and we've opened the door for them to do something with it.
During the waits, we are paying attention the best we know how, and see where it leads.
An expression, like 2+2=4 is higher up the ladder than simple counting is. Probably not the best way to start.
Unless we missed a day in school somewhere, primes are gonna be known, and a progression of them would be seen as meaningful structure.
From there, it's a matter of their senses being able to deal with our utterances, and ours to theirs.
I don't know about you guys, but if that were to come to pass, I think I would be scared shitless and excited at the same time. Won't happen, but it's fun to think about.
Sometimes I work with my animals, or a very young baby and feel a bit of that. Not the scared part with the animals, but sometimes with the baby. Those first impressions last a lifetime!
I've managed to get into modes with the cat where we are looking at one another for a minute or so. I always wonder what the cat is thinking at that moment. Usually, animals look away quickly. When they don't, and you actually get to read them a little, it's cool.
In any case, communicating with those different from us is always fun to think about. We really are kind of lonely in that way, or we crave the learning that would come from that kind of experience. At least I can cop to both.
they sign on with all the entities that people don't like and don't trust.
Governments, big media, big corporate, you name it.
Give them all the nice terms they need to get what they get done, and in return they "prefer" the Microsoft solution. Stir in some clever bundling of products and services and you've got a base for windows leverage yet again.
Reeks of the same kind of thing that Vista is full of. ...and I could just be ranting too. Maybe they are stupid!
too.
The dynamic I see is the more people need something and the more general utility is is, the more likely it's worth doing open development on it.
Essentially, there are enough people itching so as to make scratching worth it.
Everybody needs an OS. More and more people are realizing the value of an open one that does not come with artificial barriers to just computing or exercising their rights. Ubuntu + Open Office + various other open applications is a kick ass combination that will empower people to do lots of stuff on their terms. Having another binary only OS is actually a net loss right now.
Move up the food chain and the dynamics change.
Not everybody needs MAYA, Video Editing applications, CAD, CAE, PLM, etc...
Those things are very complex and the scratch motivation doesn't exist to the same degree. There are also real barriers to entry that equate to real value, not easily captured open code style. CAD applications, for example, use a geometry kernel that has tens of thousands of man hours invested in them. (Parasolid, for example) All of those geometry cases have been debugged over 20 years. That's a very valuable piece of software that's not going to see an open code release, if it ever sees one.
There are places for expensive closed software and I welcome them to the market place. In fact, I sell some of them, support, train and consult. Good money to be had. All worth it too. The same is not true on the lower levels and that's the problem with limited Windows editions.
The only reason Microsoft continues to command a high margin is due to their destructive business practices that have maintained a high degree of lock in for their stack. That's why Win 7 will include the mother of all kludges to keep that ball rolling. There are legit reasons to pay for a high end version of their OS and applications. There really isn't as much of a reason to pay for the lower end offerings.
For most people, an open code system will work just fine and they know it. If open code gets some critical mass, application developers will target it, and it's game over. That's why they bagged on the limitations.
BTW: When I sell that expensive software, and where it's possible to sell it on an open computer, it's like having a nice 20 percent discount on the price. Always a nice deal, and these days more and more people are seeing that and going open. CAD on Linux is now possible. It wasn't a few years ago, for example.
They are better off with the artificial hardware limitation than they are with software coded ones that just make more hassle for people. Hassle is one of those things that empowers open systems to get market share. They don't want that.
The lower end of Windows is essentally low value these days. Sure, it costs more to add the higher end features. But, it also costs more to deal with fragmented feature sets and such. Charge too much for a basic OS capability set, and people will just go Linux or Mac. Limit it too much and they will do the same.
For Microsoft it's all about not playing that game, thus the hardware deal.
I had a run in once. Basically my Wife and 14 year old daughter were fighting over her blowing off a job referral. (was a friend of ours) Daughter got really mouthy, saw a slap from my Wife. I came home, saw the mess and sent everybody to their rooms! Grabbed some OJ and sat down on the front porch to think things over and let them cool a bit.
A dumbass neighbor phoned in a domestic violence call.
They arrived, with the assumption that I did it. We had a nice conversation at first, then they wanted to enter the home and just search everything. No way. All they had was a moron, who regularly is seen planet watching in his undies!
I used clear language, but did talk to them as peers, not superiors.
Here's how it works here. If you are ready to go to the mat, then you are in a place where you can exert your rights. I denied them entry to the home, told them why, informed them I could very easily signal the kids to have my wife come to the door, or just signal her directly, and they could sort things out. They responded with "it's our scene, we call the shots", to which I replied, "This is my home, and there is no crime."
At that moment, I knew I was seeing a court room. They were pissed! Basically, the beat me up right there in the drive way (but didn't enter the home LOL!!!), with my kids watching! I went limp and waited. They cuffed me and pulled me up. I asked, before moving a muscle, "are you done?". They said "Yes", took me to a car, and to the jail. My wife came out after me getting thumped, and ripped them a new one.
It was to a point where one officer said "let him go". (which was too late, but I appreciated it)
6 months and some dollars later, I was in that court room.
What happened?
They lied, they manupulated, they tried to attack my character before the trial with several traffic stops (no tickets though, wonder why?), and frequent visits to the home, and grilling all the neighbors.
Lucky for me, I'm actually a good guy. They had nothing.
They lost both charges. I filed a tort, got my money back, and they got moved / suspended.
The amazing thing was they did purger themselves. It wasn't some debatable thing. It was a flat out lie! Several lies actually! I watched the jury when they happened, they saw it!
When I asked about this, after my not guilty judgment, the answer was I could file the tort for my money, and their lies would secure that. Everything else was off the table as they were just doing their job.
Fuck that! It's maddening!
That's a little sample of how the land of the free works these days. You are free, but it's costly and risky. (which isn't all that free for most people)
Having had that experience, I don't say much, and I consider EVERY encounter a potentially dangerous one. I'll go to the mat again, as I believe in our founding principles here, but I can't say that many of my peers will. In fact, many of them think I should have just let them run through my life, finding whatever they find and we deal. WTF?!?! Let people like this go fishing in my home, through my family?
That's nuts right?
Well, maybe. Getting pounded on, having to appear over 20 times before the trial, at odd hours, just so they could catch me or call me a risk, dragging my friends and family into court is pretty ugly really. The scary thing is what would have been uglier?
Say I take the easy route and they find out Mom slapped the daughter. That's human, ordinary and harmless. But they could just be in a foul mood and make a huge mess of that! For what? Too teach people a lesson about why you don't call the police? That's the reason I was given. They don't want the calls and when they are made, they basically create that mess so their time was not wasted!
So there you go.
Seriously, there will always be people making nice, live music! And they will do it, just like they have always done it.
They will stand up there, and perform.
Recorded music will move through the trends it does, and this will fade and become old news just like everything else does.
Frankly, I like the effect, when it's not overused. Turns the voice into an instrument with different characteristics. There is art to that, like there is with everything else.
Perhaps they are avoiding us.
It's not like we are located in galactic central. More like a cross roads with a family store.
That's it really.
Anybody that has enough invested in a free service to feel some pain when it's gone, has already demonstrated it's value, so pay up, or backup.
scene on micro controllers. The Parallax Propeller is a very capable chip. It's inexpensive too. I've a coupla development board setups, and can run lots of titles, and there are some in the queue. Most of the code is open, meaning you can tweak, learn, build and just have fun with it.
http://wikispaces.propeller.com/
AtariAge is a good start.
http://www.atariage.com/
You can also find stuff for other systems at their hubs. lemon64.com would be one such hub for the C64.
The fun thing is that older systems really do have some excellent capabilities. Here we are up to 30 years later, seeing new ways of doing things still happening. And since there are significant limitations, there is a lot of room for the simple game art to show. Last year, there were at least 10 commercial quality titles release for the old Atari 2600. All can be played in emulation.
The Atari 8 bitters saw many titles, and this being one excellent one: http://yoomp.atari.pl/
Here's a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNxICcU3bPo
Go find an emulator, and load up some great retro stuff!
I find the progression of graphics tricks, new game play mechanics, controllers and such just as entertaining as I do the progression of serious graphics engines and such on the modern systems.
The difference is, I can literally e-mail the authors of YOOMP! and congratulate them, buy a cart (if they produce one, some don't!), and ask, "how the hell?" and get some kind of an answer!
This year is was weak, but I also enjoy the mini-game compo. Google 2008 mini-game compo for the links to the site. There are vote packs where emulators games and instructions are stored for voting. This is an online version of writing cool games for one another in high-school. I participated in one of these for the 2600, got 11th place and had a blast! Mine was OOZE! and I think it was 2006.
For me, it's Atari stuff more than anything else, because it's what I like as a kid, so it carries over for me. New people show up all the time though. I see them run emulators, then get real gear, then some of them author, the rest just play and sometimes buy. A good author can make a coupla grand with a well realized production, and quality packaging. It's enough to make it fun and rewarding.
You can find scenes for Dreamcast, NES, ColecoVision and others.
Have fun! I do.
If they don't want to actually sell the game, then it's a rental or subscription. Ok fine. There should be no buy in cost then. Just pay to play, and call it good.
Frankly, I would be ok with that model. At least it's honest.
This whole buy it, but don't own it, and pay to play it too business has just turned me way off. I don't game much, but for consoles where selling off the titles is still viable, as is playing used. Buying new titles right now just isn't all that appealing. They cost too much, and there are a lot of issues.
Retro gaming is fun. Lots of home brew titles to play, and writing one is doable for the average Joe as well. Much better scene. It's open, no hassles, and if you do pay for stuff, chances are it goes right to the guy that wrote the game, packaged it up and sold the copies! That is actually very cool and important to me. I know somebody somewhere did it for the love of it, put together a nice package, and earned the dollars straight up. No middle men, no hassles, just fun.
I've bought a few home brew titles this year. Paid from $20 to $50. Got great packaging, lots of fun, sent a note to the author sharing how fun it was, and it was just a good experience.
Looking at where major league gaming is right now just sucks. I think I'm tuning out for a while.
Oh, and the home brew keeps a value on par or better than commercial titles. How cool is that?
IMHO, building up this model and encouraging more authors to write and publish direct to their audience can only be a good thing.
Company makes a lot of interesting bits.
Company contracts with other, local to the buyer companies to distribute said bits.
Buyer either accepts a digital copy of the bits, direct or local, or buyer gets a physical copy of the bits on physical media.
There, lots of choice, right of first sale more intact, and let them compete.
My big worry about this is classic gaming 20 years from now. It's gonna be ugly. I think the current set of classic games will be expanded and exploited more than it would have otherwise, just because the next set of games will be unavailable!
Without an enduring record of the voter intent, where the chain of trust between the voter and the record of the vote is unbroken, the results of the election cannot be known trustworthy.
The very best we have is paper people.
When a voter, holds the pen or pencil, reads the ballot, makes their mark and can see their mark correctly reflects their intent, that chain of trust is unbroken.
From there, we use that record to then tally the votes.
That can be verified, recounted, you name it.
Changing physical media leaves the media in a less than perfect state. Further changes are extremely difficult to do without also leaving some record of the additional change. Plus it takes a really long time, so it's hard to get the numbers.
Electrons just change! There is no record period. One moment they are one way, the next, they are the other way and there is not a damn thing we can do to change this.
Also, when a voter uses a machine, what gets recorded is what the machine thought the voter intent was, not a trusted record of the voter intent. This is a vote by proxy and is not trustworthy.
If we want to use machines, I suggest we use them to print up a ballot on demand, then have the voter mark the ballot, then use a machine, if we want to, to count the marked ballots, combined with audits and such to verify the machine accuracy is at an acceptable level.
When the election is really close, we count them by hand, in the public eye, verifying each and every vote.
These are the ways that trustworthy elections are done.
Sorry, I like Open Source, believe in it, think it's the shit and all of that.
I don't believe voting with electronic records of any kind is a healthy way to run the democratic process.
We, the people, need to cast and count our votes, watching one another, so that the count is solid, the votes cast are solid and therefore the process as a whole is solid.
There is no cheap and easy democracy. Either we step up and perform our civic duty, or others do it for us! And that's why they keep pushing the damn machines people!
Install a plain old OS on it, and NOTHING else.
So, it's a brand new laptop OS install.
Ship your other one, after backing it up of course, to your destination next day.
If you absolutely must work on the plane, just put those documents on the damn thing, work on them, get your disk and sync up after arrival.
Reverse for the trip home.
Good grief! I've been doing stuff lately (and yes, that's MY AC post below), and come back here to SLASHDOT of all places and see people who don't grok this?
It's simple.
Microsoft wants to make money on every computer sold. They want to make money anytime a program is written and make money anytime a program is used. Further, they want then to exert control over every computer, every program and every use, and they want to do it with the need to pay to use your own damn computer!
That's all this is.
That's all it ever is.
If, they even one time submit to the idea that people can actually compute on their hardware, without paying for the right to do so, they then must compete with the growing body of OPEN SOURCE, FREE SOFTWARE. That means actual innovation and value adds worth paying for! Truth is, the market for that kind of software exists and it's profitable and it makes sense, but IT'S A MUCH SMALLER MARKET.
Most core computing needs today are well served by no cost, OPEN SOURCE software that runs on any capable hardware. That means that most people really don't have to pay anybody anything to get their computing done and that scares the living shit out of Microsoft. They are big, hungry and always looking for new revenue.
What they are not doing is adding real value in return for that revenue.
While they have been figuring out new ways to charge for the basic act of computing, the rest of us have been writing code, educating users and building something that DELIVERS MORE USE VALUE than any one person contributes. This is a hell of a deal, and everybody working to make it better knows it.
And again the problem is that most computer users don't know it yet.
This bullshit is WHY THEY DON'T KNOW IT.