Better yet, ask your supervisor to help you with this. Your supervisor should instruct the more senior managers to bring all of their issues and concerns to him/her. It's their job to shield you from this type of thing.
If that doesn't work, politely ask the senior managers to discuss their concerns with your supervisor. Tell them that you cannot work efficiently in an environment where you get conflicting direction.
Well, as a resident of NY I can tell you that the TiVo rate increase does reflect the actual sales tax rate in this state.
The thing about this discussion that amazes me, to be quite honest, is that people want to blame TiVo for something that the state of NY (or any state, for that matter) did. TiVo is just the collection agent.
I seriously doubt if it only takes a couple hours for a Linux novice to research and set up a MythTV or similar box. Just researching which hardware to buy would take longer than that.
...the DIY option is getting more appealing all the time.
Not really, unless you're a geek with too much time on your hands. The DIY option will become appealing when it's as easy to install and set up as any other off the shelf appliance. Until then, a DIY PVR a hobby.
TiVo, for all of it's faults, is still trivial to set up and use. In fact, it's so easy to use that my six year old child (who can barely read) figured it out. My wife and I were so happy with ours that we just purchased a second TiVo (the current rebate didn't hurt).
When did I suggest that we should go off try any old half-baked idea that some idiot proposes? Why would you assume that I would support something as silly as that?
I'd prefer a bit more understanding of the complexities of the climate... The I hope that your are participating in the ClimatePrediction distributed computing experiment, that is trying to develop a scientific model for climate change.
Are you suggesting that we should not put out forest fires that were started by people? I don't know of any credible scientist who would endorse that course of action.
My point is that humans should stop doing things that contribute to global warming. This is entirely different than putting out naturally occuring forest fires, which actually have a benefical impact on the environment.
I don't think that it really matters whether humans are causing it. What matters is whether humans are impacting it. If there is something that we can do to slow it down or reverse it, then we should. Period.
Good point. I had no considered the difference in resale values between TiVo boxes with and without lifetime subscriptions.
I have a second TiVo box on order (hard to beat the $150 rebate) and when it arrives will consider buying lifetime subscriptions for both my boxes. Too bad they don't offer a multibox discount for lifetime subscriptions, like they do for monthly subscriptions.
What's wrong with wanting an appliance to be easy to use?
It has nothing to do with pretty buttons, and everything to do with having an intuitive user interface. My six year old daughter figured it out in no time flat, and she barely even knows how to read.
TiVo is also trivial to set up. Before I bought my TiVo, I spent a couple months studying my options for building a MythTV or similar box, and finally concluded that I didn't have the spare time or the patience to build one.
I wanted a box that I could just plug and have it work. TiVo came within 99% of meeting this goal. Nothing else that I have seen even comes close. I will worry about the DRM capabilities when a broadcaster or studio actually intentionally uses it.
The lifetime subscription is still available. The only problem is that the subscription is tied to the box, not the owner. that's why I stick with monthly subscriptions.
According to spaceweather.com, the sun spot that trigged this flare just became visible after transiting the far side of the sun for the past two weeks. Explosions later this week and next could produce some lovely September auroras.
I didn't intend to suggest that they start scanning in their hardcopy collection. Obviously that has legal concerns. But there is probably a lot of material that could be made electronically acessible.
Take a look at the library that I mentioned in my original message. They have information about local history, government,... even information about how to apply for a patent. And nobody has to physically visit the library to access this material.
The biggest problem with most libraries today is that users have to visit the library to access most of the material. Obviously this is a requirement if people want to access hardcopy materials, but it shouldn't be necessary for softcopy materials. Considering that may publications are now available on CDROM, it would be great if this could be accessed from home (perhaps restricted to users who have valid library cards). There is also a lot of historical and community information that can be easily made available to people at home.
My local library has taken some small steps in this direction.
I think the reason behind this is that GNU/Linux is mainly used by people who don't need to play educational kids' games.
I have made this point before. There are probably a lot of parents who would love to have a low cost, non-Windows, PC for their kids if it ran the software thet they want their kids to use. Linux would be a great platform for kids, except that there is very little native educational software available.
WINE might be helpful, but most parents don't have the time (or the knowledge) to set up a Linux box, install WINE, then experiment to see what educational software will run under WINE. And it's probably reasonable to asume that some educational software will not run under WINE, so they would probably end up needing Windows anyway. So they don't bother trying.
The Linux community is missing a great opportunity...
I introduced both of my kids (now ages 6 and 8) to computers at an early age. We started with games that taught them something, like math, reading, or memory skills. The Reader Rabbit series is pretty good for this.
I try to steer them away from surfing the web, because most sites that are oriented toward kids their ages tend to be pure entertainment (usually tied to a brand of toy). But it gets hard when their friends start telling them about the latest update to barbie.com.
Unfortunately, there is little (if any) open source or Linux software aimed towards young children.
Meanwhile, the cable companies continue to deploy video on demand. And it looks like TiVo will soon offer content programming downloads via the web. Why would I want to rent DVDs?
Slashdot Mirror
Better yet, ask your supervisor to help you with this. Your supervisor should instruct the more senior managers to bring all of their issues and concerns to him/her. It's their job to shield you from this type of thing.
If that doesn't work, politely ask the senior managers to discuss their concerns with your supervisor. Tell them that you cannot work efficiently in an environment where you get conflicting direction.
Well, as a resident of NY I can tell you that the TiVo rate increase does reflect the actual sales tax rate in this state.
The thing about this discussion that amazes me, to be quite honest, is that people want to blame TiVo for something that the state of NY (or any state, for that matter) did. TiVo is just the collection agent.
Is a couple hours of your time worth saving ~$300
I seriously doubt if it only takes a couple hours for a Linux novice to research and set up a MythTV or similar box. Just researching which hardware to buy would take longer than that.
Charging sales tax is not a price hike.
Galleon and other projects provide many of these functions (such as weather) to your off-the-shelf network-connected TiVo
From the article:
Not really, unless you're a geek with too much time on your hands. The DIY option will become appealing when it's as easy to install and set up as any other off the shelf appliance. Until then, a DIY PVR a hobby.
TiVo, for all of it's faults, is still trivial to set up and use. In fact, it's so easy to use that my six year old child (who can barely read) figured it out. My wife and I were so happy with ours that we just purchased a second TiVo (the current rebate didn't hurt).
It sounds like Lightning is a TB extension, while Sunbird is a standalone program. What are the pros and cons for each?
When did I suggest that we should go off try any old half-baked idea that some idiot proposes? Why would you assume that I would support something as silly as that?
I'd prefer a bit more understanding of the complexities of the climate... The I hope that your are participating in the ClimatePrediction distributed computing experiment, that is trying to develop a scientific model for climate change.
Are you suggesting that we should not put out forest fires that were started by people? I don't know of any credible scientist who would endorse that course of action.
My point is that humans should stop doing things that contribute to global warming. This is entirely different than putting out naturally occuring forest fires, which actually have a benefical impact on the environment.
I don't think that it really matters whether humans are causing it. What matters is whether humans are impacting it. If there is something that we can do to slow it down or reverse it, then we should. Period.
Good point. I had no considered the difference in resale values between TiVo boxes with and without lifetime subscriptions.
I have a second TiVo box on order (hard to beat the $150 rebate) and when it arrives will consider buying lifetime subscriptions for both my boxes. Too bad they don't offer a multibox discount for lifetime subscriptions, like they do for monthly subscriptions.
What's wrong with wanting an appliance to be easy to use?
It has nothing to do with pretty buttons, and everything to do with having an intuitive user interface. My six year old daughter figured it out in no time flat, and she barely even knows how to read.
TiVo is also trivial to set up. Before I bought my TiVo, I spent a couple months studying my options for building a MythTV or similar box, and finally concluded that I didn't have the spare time or the patience to build one.
I wanted a box that I could just plug and have it work. TiVo came within 99% of meeting this goal. Nothing else that I have seen even comes close. I will worry about the DRM capabilities when a broadcaster or studio actually intentionally uses it.
I have a Tivo running 7.2 software, and I have not seen any advertising. Where is it showing up?
The lifetime subscription is still available. The only problem is that the subscription is tied to the box, not the owner. that's why I stick with monthly subscriptions.
According to spaceweather.com, the sun spot that trigged this flare just became visible after transiting the far side of the sun for the past two weeks. Explosions later this week and next could produce some lovely September auroras.
Vint has released a statement on the Google Blog.
Where? As I type this, the prices on apple.com are still $199 and $249.
Is there any reason to believe that Apple will dropping the prices on any of the older iPod models in the near future?
Of course, in this case older is a relative term...
How is this new lab different from what these folks are doing?
I didn't intend to suggest that they start scanning in their hardcopy collection. Obviously that has legal concerns. But there is probably a lot of material that could be made electronically acessible.
Take a look at the library that I mentioned in my original message. They have information about local history, government,... even information about how to apply for a patent. And nobody has to physically visit the library to access this material.
The biggest problem with most libraries today is that users have to visit the library to access most of the material. Obviously this is a requirement if people want to access hardcopy materials, but it shouldn't be necessary for softcopy materials. Considering that may publications are now available on CDROM, it would be great if this could be accessed from home (perhaps restricted to users who have valid library cards). There is also a lot of historical and community information that can be easily made available to people at home.
My local library has taken some small steps in this direction.
I think the reason behind this is that GNU/Linux is mainly used by people who don't need to play educational kids' games.
I have made this point before. There are probably a lot of parents who would love to have a low cost, non-Windows, PC for their kids if it ran the software thet they want their kids to use. Linux would be a great platform for kids, except that there is very little native educational software available.
WINE might be helpful, but most parents don't have the time (or the knowledge) to set up a Linux box, install WINE, then experiment to see what educational software will run under WINE. And it's probably reasonable to asume that some educational software will not run under WINE, so they would probably end up needing Windows anyway. So they don't bother trying.
The Linux community is missing a great opportunity...
Are there any others besides TuxTyping and TuxPaint? Is there anything that compares with the ReaderRabbit series?
I introduced both of my kids (now ages 6 and 8) to computers at an early age. We started with games that taught them something, like math, reading, or memory skills. The Reader Rabbit series is pretty good for this.
I try to steer them away from surfing the web, because most sites that are oriented toward kids their ages tend to be pure entertainment (usually tied to a brand of toy). But it gets hard when their friends start telling them about the latest update to barbie.com.
Unfortunately, there is little (if any) open source or Linux software aimed towards young children.
Good Luck!
Meanwhile, the cable companies continue to deploy video on demand. And it looks like TiVo will soon offer content programming downloads via the web. Why would I want to rent DVDs?