Oh, yeah. "The weather is always nicer in the bay area"? Really? Quoting Mark Twain: "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco."
This really is a misnomer; the Bay Area is 5% San Francisco, and 95% everywhere else. The everywhere else is where the weather really shines. The peninsula in particular has fantastic weather nearly year round. I moved the the central CA valley, and as I sit in 100 degree weather, I really miss the 80 degree summer days in the Bay.
I have a 2G sandisk U3 drive as well, and that "feature" pissed me off royally. I disabled it on my main work PC, but any time I plug it in to another PC, that little app is launched. Made me want to return the drive, but I bought it for nearly nothing, so I'll put up with the "feature" to have the 2 gigs of thumbdrive space.
Really, this is like the big movie companies telling small indie movie producers that they don't have a shot in hell at getting a huge movie distribution deal. Duh. Of course the barriers to entry are monumental, but there are great indie films coming out all the time. Occasionally one will hit the radar of the big time and get picked up, but generally it is under recognized.
However, indie film directors don't make films with the intent of securing a huge deal, they make them because they love the art. I assume the indie game producers think the same thing: I make games because I love the craft. If I happen to hit a big success, great... but it's not my driving motivation.
Just an indication that the people on the panel are now tuned to business ideals, vs. the craft. Not surprising or unexpected, but still myopic.
Fred.
I started building a nice phat data/media center, plus PCs attached to the TV in living room, bedroom, etc... but my power bill is already crazy. If I start adding more and more 100% uptime systems, it will get ridiculous. I have pared down to just the essentials; what's the point of all that hardware in a house? "Just cause I can" doesn't pay the bills.
Granted, I live in CA, so my power bill is pretty obscene to begin with, so maybe this isn't a concern for everyone.
This strikes me as one of those "duh...." type editorials. I have a deadline...
I have to write *something*... Maybe no one will notice if I write about something obvious.
It is a classic chicken and egg problem. Why would anyone other than a OS hobbyist (by definition a very small number) switch to an
experimental OS? I would never switch a family member to a niche OS. When they
ask me what I use at home, I may tell them about it, but even if they expressed
interest would I not switch them over. The potential for unlimited phone calls is near 100%.
Linux has the luxury of time, broad acceptance over a large geek audience, and
the benefit of being one of the first successful open source, collaborative endeavors.
Anyone trying to jump start the same thing now is in for astronomical challenges.
This really is just more evidence of how careful you have to be about what you post on the Internet. Many of us first started
out on the Internet back in college; back when we had the skills to post and code, but lacked the wisdom to self-moderate.
Current Internet younglings, take note. Be prepared to defend everything you ever put on a web page. I still cringe when I read some of the stuff I posted 10 years ago...
It is also about environment. When I want to play a concentrated, very focused Capture the Flag game in Q3A, or play a difficult RTS against someone, I don't want to sit in the living room, parked in front of the TV. I can't concentrate, and it isn't fair to my wife who may want to just relax and watch a Sex in the City DVD. However, if I want to play a driving game with some friends, we will load up burnout 3 on the XBOX. IMO, the distinction is huge.
Also, have you ever tried to use a keyboard and mouse on the coffee table while sitting on the couch? It isn't just about capability, it is also about function and environment.
There are games that make sense on a console (driving sims, fighting games, etc.) and games that work better on a PC (first person shooters (arguable), MMORPGs, RTS, etc.).
I know that personally, I will want to have both for the forseeable future. I love driving on my high def TV, but I despise playing first person shooters on the console, due to the lack of control.
People are always trying to be the first to drive a nail in some coffin. In this case, it is highly premature, IMO.
Of course, the biggest challenge to any company the size of Cisco is finding, training, and
retaining high quality support people. When we were a small company, we were in the middle of the
stock ramp. People were dieing to get in our doors, and we could pick and choose. Those chosen
fought to do the best they could.
Now, the original, super-quality support people are managers or high-level support people,
and we probably now struggle to find good support people for the average customer.
I agree that we have challenges ahead of us. Dropping the ball on support may be our undoing, but the
point is that it is still a core focus. The fact that is it difficult should not be a surprise
to anyone.
I think a non-technical CEO can be incredibly powerfull in building a customer orientated focus.
I know at my company, Cisco Systems, our CEO is a self proclaimed salesman. He 100% is customer focused. The
key is he has top notch technical & marketing leaders on his team that guide the overall technical direction.
I believe it is this combination that has enabled our company to be one of the top technical
companies in the world. Some of you will hack on Cisco for security problems, IOS bugs, whatever
(what large company doesn't have any bugs?), but I
don't think anyone can truly say that Cisco is not completely committed to customer satisfaction.
In the end, isn't that what matters most for any company?
Can someone explain to me how "dramatically limiting the number of baseball video game manufacturers" will "promote competition in the marketplace to drive innovation in baseball product development"? Maybe I was asleep that day in ECON 101.
Oh wait, (not that I usually bash MS) but limiting choices to drive innovation is the new economy. Sorry... I forgot.
Unless you want to go for an ivy league type of degree (MIT, Stanford, Berkeley, etc.), as long as the college offers a strong program,
where you go to school has ZERO effect on your life after your first job. I went to a average school (Cal State University, Chico), and
got average grades. (3.0 average). I found a good starter job when I gradiuated, and started progressing on *merit* after that. Now, I am in a top design position at a huge networking company, and no one looks at my degree. When I interview people, I never look at the college, other than to verify that they got a degree.
The only caveat is if you want to get a high profile degree from a top of the line college. All the Phds I work with come from top drawer schools, and went to top schools from the bachlor stage on. It is more of a pedigree at that point, and it clearly matters.
Go to a school that has a good CS program, has energetic professors, is fun to live in (you can't beat Chico), and just do your best. Once you get a job, your accomplishments will distinguish you from the rest.
I am sure to be flamed by people who went to well known schools and swear by it, but none of the people I work with who have BS desgrees went anywhere recognizable. It is all about how you perform.
I would seriously like to see any statistics on the amount of PC hardware that is sold due to the arrival of games like Doom 3 / Half Life 2 / etc. Personally, I have been waiting for the last 2 years to upgrade, specifically for this game. My system has been okay for everything else I need to do, so it just didn't make sense to go out and build a system, knowing full well that I will be behind the tech curve when this games comes out.
I know some will think I am an idiot, but I am an unapologetic id fan. I have played most other FPS games out there, and id just seems to get the "feel" of FPS down to a science. The instant snap is perfect.
I just wish they had included cooperative mode, like in the original Doom. Some of my best gaming experiences were all night coop Doom on nightmare mode. Good times.
Last night, while I was out watching my power meter spin and spin and spin... It got me thinking about a digital whole house power meter that I could monitor. I want to be able to get a true RMS power meter that can measure 100+ amps AC, and outputs the data somehow. I'll write a little app to track and graph it, and work on lowering my overall house power usage.
Anyone know of such a device? There are industrial ones out there, but I haven't seen a reasonable priced one for household use.
Hey, I am an electrical engineer; maybe I should just make one.:)
Todd
Phil Hendrie is a comedien who has all of his shows archived on MP3 for a small monthly fee.
For those of you who have never listened to him before, he is probably one of the most gifted, unscripted artists on the air. His hook is having a caller call in with some absurd topic, then stay on to take calls. People call up outraged at the topic, and argue with the original caller. The thing is, Phil plays both the host and the offensive caller simultaneously. He essentially performs multiple personality radio. It is amazing, hilarious radio.
Some personal gopher history. When I was in college, I discovered the "..." directories, hidden on various sites. Inside the... dir were usually.bin,.req, etc. dirs. The source of all warez for in those days.
I also used to troll ftp.uu.net's/tmp directory daily. It was purged frequently, but you *never* knew what would show up there.
I think that is what got me hooked on the net back then (1988,89); the constant new material, unmolested by today's commercialism. Fun Stuff / Good memories
This is no joke... I have a friend of a friend who is a police officer in a major California city, and *every* single police officer had a hacked DTV sat system back when they were really easy to hack. (FW update to the card and you are good to go.)
I always figured that if I ever got pulled over in Stockton (oops), I could just say to the officer "596, 597, 598" with a wink, and I would be on my way.:)
(590's are where the pr0n channels are, for the non Direct-TV folks)
I understand the Mother's desrire to find out information about her son's thoughts right before he took his own life, and I understand Sony's desire to keep that information private to protest itself. Most of the posts so far have concentrated on how playing EQ is addicting, as all fun things can be to the right (wrong) personality types.
However, I am more of the opinion that he went online right before commiting suicide to look for compainionship and help. If the story on the dude is correct, he was a recluse and anti-social. So, his only "real" friends would be online friends.
The sad thing is, the one thing being on the net for any length of time will teach you is that people can be heartless and ruthless when they are anonymous. You can make friends online, but if you are looking for encouragement from some anonymous person in an online game, get ready for a possible HUGE disappointment.
This movie is an amazing look at what happens behind the keyboards in chat rooms.
That's a hell of a thesis statement. Anyone care to dispute it?
Well, given the generally accepted fact that the fewer clothes ones wears, the less body heat one retains, I would say that nekid women would tend to be colder.
However, from personal experience, I have never found this to be the case.:)
Slashdot Mirror
Oh, yeah. "The weather is always nicer in the bay area"? Really? Quoting Mark Twain: "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco."
This really is a misnomer; the Bay Area is 5% San Francisco, and 95% everywhere else. The everywhere else is where the weather really shines. The peninsula in particular has fantastic weather nearly year round. I moved the the central CA valley, and as I sit in 100 degree weather, I really miss the 80 degree summer days in the Bay.
Willie
I have a 2G sandisk U3 drive as well, and that "feature" pissed me off royally. I disabled it on my main work PC, but any time I plug it in to another PC, that little app is launched. Made me want to return the drive, but I bought it for nearly nothing, so I'll put up with the "feature" to have the 2 gigs of thumbdrive space.
Willie
Really, this is like the big movie companies telling small indie movie producers that they don't have a shot in hell at getting a huge movie distribution deal. Duh. Of course the barriers to entry are monumental, but there are great indie films coming out all the time. Occasionally one will hit the radar of the big time and get picked up, but generally it is under recognized.
However, indie film directors don't make films with the intent of securing a huge deal, they make them because they love the art. I assume the indie game producers think the same thing: I make games because I love the craft. If I happen to hit a big success, great... but it's not my driving motivation.
Just an indication that the people on the panel are now tuned to business ideals, vs. the craft. Not surprising or unexpected, but still myopic. Fred.
I started building a nice phat data/media center, plus PCs attached to the TV in living room, bedroom, etc... but my power bill is already crazy. If I start adding more and more 100% uptime systems, it will get ridiculous. I have pared down to just the essentials; what's the point of all that hardware in a house? "Just cause I can" doesn't pay the bills.
Granted, I live in CA, so my power bill is pretty obscene to begin with, so maybe this isn't a concern for everyone.
Fred.
Did you seriously hit a 5" hard drive platter from .62 miles away? What kind of consumer gun will do that?
;)
If you are serious, please don't ever get mad at me...
Willie
This strikes me as one of those "duh...." type editorials. I have a deadline... I have to write *something*... Maybe no one will notice if I write about something obvious.
It is a classic chicken and egg problem. Why would anyone other than a OS hobbyist (by definition a very small number) switch to an experimental OS? I would never switch a family member to a niche OS. When they ask me what I use at home, I may tell them about it, but even if they expressed interest would I not switch them over. The potential for unlimited phone calls is near 100%.
Linux has the luxury of time, broad acceptance over a large geek audience, and the benefit of being one of the first successful open source, collaborative endeavors. Anyone trying to jump start the same thing now is in for astronomical challenges.
Willie
This really is just more evidence of how careful you have to be about what you post on the Internet. Many of us first started out on the Internet back in college; back when we had the skills to post and code, but lacked the wisdom to self-moderate.
Current Internet younglings, take note. Be prepared to defend everything you ever put on a web page. I still cringe when I read some of the stuff I posted 10 years ago...
Willie
It is also about environment. When I want to play a concentrated, very focused Capture the Flag game in Q3A, or play a difficult RTS against someone, I don't want to sit in the living room, parked in front of the TV. I can't concentrate, and it isn't fair to my wife who may want to just relax and watch a Sex in the City DVD. However, if I want to play a driving game with some friends, we will load up burnout 3 on the XBOX. IMO, the distinction is huge.
Also, have you ever tried to use a keyboard and mouse on the coffee table while sitting on the couch? It isn't just about capability, it is also about function and environment.
Willie
Well,
There are games that make sense on a console (driving sims, fighting games, etc.) and games that work better on a PC (first person shooters (arguable), MMORPGs, RTS, etc.). I know that personally, I will want to have both for the forseeable future. I love driving on my high def TV, but I despise playing first person shooters on the console, due to the lack of control.
People are always trying to be the first to drive a nail in some coffin. In this case, it is highly premature, IMO.
Willie
Of course, the biggest challenge to any company the size of Cisco is finding, training, and retaining high quality support people. When we were a small company, we were in the middle of the stock ramp. People were dieing to get in our doors, and we could pick and choose. Those chosen fought to do the best they could.
Now, the original, super-quality support people are managers or high-level support people, and we probably now struggle to find good support people for the average customer.
I agree that we have challenges ahead of us. Dropping the ball on support may be our undoing, but the point is that it is still a core focus. The fact that is it difficult should not be a surprise to anyone.
Todd
George.
I think a non-technical CEO can be incredibly powerfull in building a customer orientated focus.
I know at my company, Cisco Systems, our CEO is a self proclaimed salesman. He 100% is customer focused. The key is he has top notch technical & marketing leaders on his team that guide the overall technical direction.
I believe it is this combination that has enabled our company to be one of the top technical companies in the world. Some of you will hack on Cisco for security problems, IOS bugs, whatever (what large company doesn't have any bugs?), but I don't think anyone can truly say that Cisco is not completely committed to customer satisfaction. In the end, isn't that what matters most for any company?
my $0.02
Todd
Can someone explain to me how "dramatically limiting the number of baseball video game manufacturers" will "promote competition in the marketplace to drive innovation in baseball product development"? Maybe I was asleep that day in ECON 101.
Oh wait, (not that I usually bash MS) but limiting choices to drive innovation is the new economy. Sorry... I forgot.
Todd
Here's my general rule on quality of college:
Unless you want to go for an ivy league type of degree (MIT, Stanford, Berkeley, etc.), as long as the college offers a strong program, where you go to school has ZERO effect on your life after your first job. I went to a average school (Cal State University, Chico), and got average grades. (3.0 average). I found a good starter job when I gradiuated, and started progressing on *merit* after that. Now, I am in a top design position at a huge networking company, and no one looks at my degree. When I interview people, I never look at the college, other than to verify that they got a degree.
The only caveat is if you want to get a high profile degree from a top of the line college. All the Phds I work with come from top drawer schools, and went to top schools from the bachlor stage on. It is more of a pedigree at that point, and it clearly matters.
Go to a school that has a good CS program, has energetic professors, is fun to live in (you can't beat Chico), and just do your best. Once you get a job, your accomplishments will distinguish you from the rest.
I am sure to be flamed by people who went to well known schools and swear by it, but none of the people I work with who have BS desgrees went anywhere recognizable. It is all about how you perform.
Good luck!
Todd
I would seriously like to see any statistics on the amount of PC hardware that is sold due to the arrival of games like Doom 3 / Half Life 2 / etc. Personally, I have been waiting for the last 2 years to upgrade, specifically for this game. My system has been okay for everything else I need to do, so it just didn't make sense to go out and build a system, knowing full well that I will be behind the tech curve when this games comes out.
I know some will think I am an idiot, but I am an unapologetic id fan. I have played most other FPS games out there, and id just seems to get the "feel" of FPS down to a science. The instant snap is perfect.
I just wish they had included cooperative mode, like in the original Doom. Some of my best gaming experiences were all night coop Doom on nightmare mode. Good times.
Todd
Go ahead... Let it all out... No one can fault you for crying... ;)
e gory=35752&item=2255305647&rd=1
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&cat
Last night, while I was out watching my power meter spin and spin and spin... It got me thinking about a digital whole house power meter that I could monitor. I want to be able to get a true RMS power meter that can measure 100+ amps AC, and outputs the data somehow. I'll write a little app to track and graph it, and work on lowering my overall house power usage.
:)
Todd
Anyone know of such a device? There are industrial ones out there, but I haven't seen a reasonable priced one for household use.
Hey, I am an electrical engineer; maybe I should just make one.
Phil Hendrie is a comedien who has all of his shows archived on MP3 for a small monthly fee.
For those of you who have never listened to him before, he is probably one of the most gifted, unscripted artists on the air. His hook is having a caller call in with some absurd topic, then stay on to take calls. People call up outraged at the topic, and argue with the original caller. The thing is, Phil plays both the host and the offensive caller simultaneously. He essentially performs multiple personality radio. It is amazing, hilarious radio.
Phil Hendrie Show
Warning: I had to open his site in Exploder; flash required.
Todd
Some personal gopher history. When I was in college, I discovered the "..." directories, hidden on various sites. Inside the ... dir were usually .bin, .req, etc. dirs. The source of all warez for in those days.
/tmp directory daily. It was purged frequently, but you *never* knew what would show up there.
I also used to troll ftp.uu.net's
I think that is what got me hooked on the net back then (1988,89); the constant new material, unmolested by today's commercialism. Fun Stuff / Good memories
Todd
After reading this, how can *anyone* doubt the security and robustness of their tek'nology? He is getting what he deserves!!!
SunnComm's MediaMax CD-3 Technology Passes International Test with 'Flying Colors'
heh
That sound coming from the scanner isn't interefence from the power lines... The guy just picked up a couple of R2 units singing a duet.
Is it just me, or is it not a surprise that given your slashdot username, you are suing a porn spammer? :)
This is no joke... I have a friend of a friend who is a police officer in a major California city, and *every* single police officer had a hacked DTV sat system back when they were really easy to hack. (FW update to the card and you are good to go.)
:)
I always figured that if I ever got pulled over in Stockton (oops), I could just say to the officer "596, 597, 598" with a wink, and I would be on my way.
(590's are where the pr0n channels are, for the non Direct-TV folks)
Willie
I understand the Mother's desrire to find out information about her son's thoughts right before he took his own life, and I understand Sony's desire to keep that information private to protest itself. Most of the posts so far have concentrated on how playing EQ is addicting, as all fun things can be to the right (wrong) personality types.
However, I am more of the opinion that he went online right before commiting suicide to look for compainionship and help. If the story on the dude is correct, he was a recluse and anti-social. So, his only "real" friends would be online friends.
The sad thing is, the one thing being on the net for any length of time will teach you is that people can be heartless and ruthless when they are anonymous. You can make friends online, but if you are looking for encouragement from some anonymous person in an online game, get ready for a possible HUGE disappointment.
This movie is an amazing look at what happens behind the keyboards in chat rooms.
Todd
So you're saying that naked girls are hotter?
:)
That's a hell of a thesis statement. Anyone care to dispute it?
Well, given the generally accepted fact that the fewer clothes ones wears, the less body heat one retains, I would say that nekid women would tend to be colder.
However, from personal experience, I have never found this to be the case.