Jesus, we fix computers. We don't perform brain surgery.
I'm in the process of overseeing the work done by an outside tech support company for a nonprofit. Background: I'm a programmer. Mainly Java. Previously, internal , non-technical people were often the overseers and project sponsors for this group. The result is that 4 companies have been used in the past 5 years, with each one chased out due to corruption, incompetence, and regime changes. They recently hired a new company and asked me to be the liason.
I remember the first meeting. The owner walzted in smiling and shaking hands. He recommended a lot of Win2003 upgrades that had nothing to do with pressing needs. I, on the other hand, played hardball. I wore a suit, accused him of being more of a salesman than a techie, and said we needed a company much less myopic. He was completely shocked and his attitude has turned around 180 degrees.
I still have to work with them, but I call bullshit on them frequently, I grill them on what they're doing and why, I refuse to pay the full amount when they make bad decisions, I demand thorough documentation.
Respect them? Fuck no. I'm a watchdog.
The point is that this company, like many others, have gotten burned in the past and are much wiser on how money is spent. They've learned that the tech's word is not final and there will be no blank checks.
Further, don't forget that ITT and Heald churn out thousands of people that can do your job.
I'm surprised Paramount turned this down. Sure, it'll be 90210 set in space, and it will be crap to Trekkies. However this is the exact type of teenage soap opera drama they run on UPN all the time.
"after receiving verbal OKs that the code would remain mine. "
Well, there's your problem right there. "Verbal agreements aren't worth the paper they're written on." Sure, in many cases they're enforceable. Good luck proving it, though.
#1 I only fix Macs just because I'm a blatant Mac Bigot. I've turned down close family members who had Windows problems.
#2 - I never charge for my services. I do it for the love of Macs. I only ask them to make a donation to a local animal shelter for what they think is fair for my work and send me a copy of the acknowledgement letter.
Way to be oblivious to the big picture, Slashdotters!!!
The sooner that Exchange is emulated in OSS, the sooner there will be no reason to run Microsoft products on the backend for small and medium sized offices.
* IIS? Gone with Apache. * File/Print? Gone with Samba. * Email? Not so fast. We like the groupware functionality of Exchange.
And of course, consultants who don't know any better see that there's no OSS to fulfil the groupware need, and therefore, there's no reason to learn/pitch Apache/Samba. Why bother with those when you can have the "nice integration" of MS products? Once Sunbird/OpenGroupware, et al reaches the ability of invitations, seeing busy/free on other user's calendars, and inviting resources, then Redmond will run real scared.
Good job, Sunbird. You're the missing link and you're looking good.
Well, today's actually the 21st anniversary of the Mac. And I'm not surprised that there's no mention of it. They didn't do anything last year during the big 2-0.
" The least likely but worst-case volcanic eruption at Yellowstone would be another explosive caldera-forming eruption such as those that occurred 2.1 million, 1.3 million, and 640,000 years ago. However, the probability of such an eruption in any given century or millennium is exceedingly low- much lower than the smaller eruptions..."
and
"Is it true that the next eruption of Yellowstone is overdue?
No. The fact that two eruptive intervals (2.1 million to 1.3 million and 1.3 million to 640,000 years ago) are of similar length does not mean that the next eruption will necessarily occur after another similar interval. The physical mechanisms may have changed with time. Furthermore, any inferences based on these two intervals would take into account too few data to be statistically meaningful. To say that an eruption that might happen in ten's or hundred's of thousand's of years is "overdue" would be a gross overstatement. On the other hand we cannot discount the possibility of such an event occurring some time in the future, given Yellowstone's volcanic history and the continued presence of magma beneath the Yellowstone caldera."
Lame. Come on, people. Let's take a look at this with a critical eye before everyone panicks. You post a BBC article from 2000? The BBC ran a more recent article with more recent findings.
Summary: Evidence suggests slides on the Canary Islands to happen in small, incremental slides. The huge collapse is sensationalism and the absolute "worst-case scenario"
A couple months ago, in the foothills of Northern California, there was a story about a guy built some solar/wind/battery device that basically let him live off the grid. He saved about $100 month in electricity but the county assessor determined that the device increased his property value enough so that his property taxes increased $150 per month. Therefore, he took the device apart.
Even if green is cheaper, the people still have ass backwards ways of thinking about things.
Finding your local Linux users group will not only surround you with people that know Linux, but they'll probably know of local training. Through my local UG, I found that a local community college offers Linux administration and programming classes. I also found that a local Sun Certified Training Center also offers Linux courses.
Therefore, also check local Sun Training centers and local community colleges.
Finally, I don't think the need for formalized training can be understated. Granted, hanging around people who know Linux and running Linux at home is essential. However, when you apply for a job, a PHB is going to see a list of Linux courses as far more credible than a line that says, "I RUN FEDORA AT HOME."
It's well known by now that freedomofmusicchoice.org is just an astroturfing attempt. It has generated a lot of backlash. Were there any ethical debates about launching such a site? What was the internal reaction at Real to the backlash?
Back in late 2000, we were redesigning our corporate internet site (a banking site, mind you). Some psycho in Marketing kept arguing for some Flash spewed monstrosity. When I brought up the issue with increased download times, she said while true, broadband use would skyrocket soon, making the issue moot. I countered with a then just released report from Gartner saying that dialup would still account for 40% of internet users in 2004.
Turns out the number's closer to 50%. However, I still hereby claim gloating rights. Linda, up yours. I was right, you were wrong.
The main thing I've felt that has been holding Star/Open office back is a need of a database as easy as MS Access.
I know it's a different language, but work with me for a second.
Yes, Access sucks as a DB, but it's good for three things. First, it's a quick and dirty way to store data. Secretaries and analysts use it, dump their data in a little file, put it on a floppy, bring it home, work on stuff at home, and bring it back on a floppy the next day. That is the ultimate selling point of file based databases. Even with Open Office's database tools, I have to know something about being a DBA - starting mysqld, db security, etc. Second, our DBAs love it because it's a graphical frontend to ODBC datbases. It gives semi-cluefull non-techs a way to see data. Finally, you can actually drop it onto a webserver and drive databases with it. Biases aside, it did gather them a following in the late 90's when everybody was a "developer" doing websites.
Any sort of MSOffice competitors have taken a while to solve these three needs elegantly. Looking at the IBM site, it looks like Cloudscape, with the embeded and network connectivity features, can be a foundation for something that can fill all three needs.
Slashdot Mirror
Jesus, we fix computers. We don't perform brain surgery.
I'm in the process of overseeing the work done by an outside tech support company for a nonprofit. Background: I'm a programmer. Mainly Java. Previously, internal , non-technical people were often the overseers and project sponsors for this group. The result is that 4 companies have been used in the past 5 years, with each one chased out due to corruption, incompetence, and regime changes. They recently hired a new company and asked me to be the liason.
I remember the first meeting. The owner walzted in smiling and shaking hands. He recommended a lot of Win2003 upgrades that had nothing to do with pressing needs. I, on the other hand, played hardball. I wore a suit, accused him of being more of a salesman than a techie, and said we needed a company much less myopic. He was completely shocked and his attitude has turned around 180 degrees.
I still have to work with them, but I call bullshit on them frequently, I grill them on what they're doing and why, I refuse to pay the full amount when they make bad decisions, I demand thorough documentation.
Respect them? Fuck no. I'm a watchdog.
The point is that this company, like many others, have gotten burned in the past and are much wiser on how money is spent. They've learned that the tech's word is not final and there will be no blank checks.
Further, don't forget that ITT and Heald churn out thousands of people that can do your job.
I'm surprised Paramount turned this down. Sure, it'll be 90210 set in space, and it will be crap to Trekkies. However this is the exact type of teenage soap opera drama they run on UPN all the time.
Maybe it was the USBPez that really inspired him.
"after receiving verbal OKs that the code would remain mine. "
Well, there's your problem right there. "Verbal agreements aren't worth the paper they're written on." Sure, in many cases they're enforceable. Good luck proving it, though.
Simple. When I get 100% vesting in the 401(k). Meanwhile, I just suck up the BS and deal.
Why are you attaching this to Apple: when it will clearly affect the entire music download market?
Sorta. They're really only iPod owners, not full-on Macs.
I have two policies.
#1 I only fix Macs just because I'm a blatant Mac Bigot. I've turned down close family members who had Windows problems.
#2 - I never charge for my services. I do it for the love of Macs. I only ask them to make a donation to a local animal shelter for what they think is fair for my work and send me a copy of the acknowledgement letter.
Way to be oblivious to the big picture, Slashdotters!!!
The sooner that Exchange is emulated in OSS, the sooner there will be no reason to run Microsoft products on the backend for small and medium sized offices.
* IIS? Gone with Apache.
* File/Print? Gone with Samba.
* Email? Not so fast. We like the groupware functionality of Exchange.
And of course, consultants who don't know any better see that there's no OSS to fulfil the groupware need, and therefore, there's no reason to learn/pitch Apache/Samba. Why bother with those when you can have the "nice integration" of MS products? Once Sunbird/OpenGroupware, et al reaches the ability of invitations, seeing busy/free on other user's calendars, and inviting resources, then Redmond will run real scared.
Good job, Sunbird. You're the missing link and you're looking good.
"This is like listening to the Beatles sing an Oasis song."
Because I think this quote is very appropriate right now.
... they give you frequent flyer miles when you use your Safeway card!
Well, today's actually the 21st anniversary of the Mac. And I'm not surprised that there's no mention of it. They didn't do anything last year during the big 2-0.
Science, reason, and logic are your friends.
Yellowstone Volcano Observatory FAQs
" The least likely but worst-case volcanic eruption at Yellowstone would be another explosive caldera-forming eruption such as those that occurred 2.1 million, 1.3 million, and 640,000 years ago. However, the probability of such an eruption in any given century or millennium is exceedingly low- much lower than the smaller eruptions..."
and
"Is it true that the next eruption of Yellowstone is overdue?
No. The fact that two eruptive intervals (2.1 million to 1.3 million and 1.3 million to 640,000 years ago) are of similar length does not mean that the next eruption will necessarily occur after another similar interval. The physical mechanisms may have changed with time. Furthermore, any inferences based on these two intervals would take into account too few data to be statistically meaningful. To say that an eruption that might happen in ten's or hundred's of thousand's of years is "overdue" would be a gross overstatement. On the other hand we cannot discount the possibility of such an event occurring some time in the future, given Yellowstone's volcanic history and the continued presence of magma beneath the Yellowstone caldera."
Lame. Come on, people. Let's take a look at this with a critical eye before everyone panicks. You post a BBC article from 2000? The BBC ran a more recent article with more recent findings.
Tidal wave thread 'over-hyped'
Summary: Evidence suggests slides on the Canary Islands to happen in small, incremental slides. The huge collapse is sensationalism and the absolute "worst-case scenario"
A couple months ago, in the foothills of Northern California, there was a story about a guy built some solar/wind/battery device that basically let him live off the grid. He saved about $100 month in electricity but the county assessor determined that the device increased his property value enough so that his property taxes increased $150 per month. Therefore, he took the device apart.
Even if green is cheaper, the people still have ass backwards ways of thinking about things.
Now he can have some porn chick neighbors!
Finding your local Linux users group will not only surround you with people that know Linux, but they'll probably know of local training. Through my local UG, I found that a local community college offers Linux administration and programming classes. I also found that a local Sun Certified Training Center also offers Linux courses.
Therefore, also check local Sun Training centers and local community colleges.
Finally, I don't think the need for formalized training can be understated. Granted, hanging around people who know Linux and running Linux at home is essential. However, when you apply for a job, a PHB is going to see a list of Linux courses as far more credible than a line that says, "I RUN FEDORA AT HOME."
It's well known by now that freedomofmusicchoice.org is just an astroturfing attempt. It has generated a lot of backlash. Were there any ethical debates about launching such a site? What was the internal reaction at Real to the backlash?
My Mr. Fusion powering my Delorean is right around the corner...
Back in late 2000, we were redesigning our corporate internet site (a banking site, mind you). Some psycho in Marketing kept arguing for some Flash spewed monstrosity. When I brought up the issue with increased download times, she said while true, broadband use would skyrocket soon, making the issue moot. I countered with a then just released report from Gartner saying that dialup would still account for 40% of internet users in 2004.
Turns out the number's closer to 50%. However, I still hereby claim gloating rights. Linda, up yours. I was right, you were wrong.
Similarly, does your local independent book store, Borders, B&N carry it? Urge them to drop it!
Cloudscape donated to Apache, new Helix, Open-XChange going GPL, now this...
Things are going too well. Look for Microsoft patent lawsuits to be unleashed tomorrow.
The main thing I've felt that has been holding Star/Open office back is a need of a database as easy as MS Access.
I know it's a different language, but work with me for a second.
Yes, Access sucks as a DB, but it's good for three things. First, it's a quick and dirty way to store data. Secretaries and analysts use it, dump their data in a little file, put it on a floppy, bring it home, work on stuff at home, and bring it back on a floppy the next day. That is the ultimate selling point of file based databases. Even with Open Office's database tools, I have to know something about being a DBA - starting mysqld, db security, etc. Second, our DBAs love it because it's a graphical frontend to ODBC datbases. It gives semi-cluefull non-techs a way to see data. Finally, you can actually drop it onto a webserver and drive databases with it. Biases aside, it did gather them a following in the late 90's when everybody was a "developer" doing websites.
Any sort of MSOffice competitors have taken a while to solve these three needs elegantly. Looking at the IBM site, it looks like Cloudscape, with the embeded and network connectivity features, can be a foundation for something that can fill all three needs.
HELL-O, PEOPLE...
Did everyone forget Ned's experience??
"I never should have had that trendy laser surgery. It was great at first but, you know, at the ten-year mark your eyes fall out."
More than a minute and more than a millenium, according to Universe Man's watch.