Working in measurement automation (in C - LabVIEW is for wheenies).
Radiation sources, black soot on the ceiling (especially near the vents), vacuum pump leaking oil and vibrating at close to 80 dB, one mercury spill, and other things come to mind, but you get the idea. I'm lucky I only had a temporary rash (I hope).
Since then I've moved to code less and make more experiments (science works, bitches!) but the environment is pretty much the same. Did you know it takes an Act of Congress to build a new government building?
The chance of making ends meet as a computer programmer is a lot, lot higher than if you were employed in another industry. The most interesting example that comes to mind is the one of tennis, one of the sports usually associated with super-rich players. The fact is, of all the professional tennis players in the world, only about the top 350 have cracked the million dollars in prizes over their careers. See link here. And when you scroll down to the players ranked 1000 or lower, you'll see that the money they made in a career is comparable to what we make in a less than a year. The situation with the female tennis players is even worse. So the old cliche that staying in school will increase your chances of making a career holds up pretty well. Besides, working at a startup is a higher risk with a higher reward potential. If you are risk-averse, work for the government (pretty good deal for many).
but you are right, it is a negative outcome game. i was just lucky.
Re:So, based on the previous discussions...
on
NYT on EA Games
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
Thanks for reminding me, I had forgotten this detail. I am not a lawyer, but I've heard in some states verbal agreements are legally binding, even though they are hard to prove.
I hope new hires will be aware not to accept verbal agreements, if they can do so without being dropped from the roster. A class action lawsuit should be able to fix this, and if the employees start getting compensated for their crunch times, EA will realize that it'll be cheaper to get more people and ease the individual schedules. I know it sounds wrong to make a place better because it's cheaper that way, but the nature of this industry has made it possible for EA to get away with thinking this way. Hope things get better soon for all the folks working 80 hour weeks there...
So, based on the previous discussions...
on
NYT on EA Games
·
· Score: 1
Wasn't the problem with EA the fact that they were actually breaking CA laws when they weren't paying their employees overtime?
Because as long as they are not breaking any laws, it is still perfectly within the limits of a capitalistic society, you know? Do you think that if the employees could get a better deal somewhere else, they would hesitate for more than a second?
My civic DX 02 just turned 35k miles. The sticker said 33/39 mpg, but on the highway I've never had better mileage than about 35mpg (when I drive with 65). The city mileage is about 30mpg. I suppose this is within the "your mileage may vary" tolerance...:)
Another site similar to the one parent mentions. Site header says it's cheap computer deals, but I've gotten things from there like $9.99 oil change, $1 blockbuster rental coupons, weekly freebies at officemax, etc. Pretty sweet site overall:)
I second carbuyingtips.com, and I further recommend carsdirect. I bought my car from there, PGE (pretty good experience):)
If you are a really good negotiator you won't need this site, but otherwise it consistently offers lower prices that most people get. Funny thing is how people choose to pay more but not to use an online car sales site. I have seen this a couple of time already, and I just don't get it why people would choose to pay more given the option not to.
Hey, I just wanted to reply to express my simpathy towards you and your family. I think I can relate - my family had to survive the Holocaust, another great cover-up attempt.
No matter how long you live after that, or where you move, the images and memories will haunt you. And the older you get, the more you learn about how stupid and egotistic the political decisions can be. And the governments excuse themselves with "we didn't know..." and you feel how lucky you are to be alive today.
Live and tell the story. I think this is our purpose, the next-generation survivors. And if you truly do so, you'll see how people just don't want to hear, don't care, and excuse themselves with having more important things to do...
How could no one mention the TRABANT? My family owned two of these, it was the only car we could get back home without waiting for a decade for a government permit. It was made of cheap carton, really plastic, had 26 horsepower on 2 cylinders, and it totally sounded like a blender in distress. The gear shifter was made of aluminun which wore off every 10000 miles or so, it was a standard replacement like the oil.
There are many Trabant fans in Europe now, some clubs even, which are preserving this true icon of the communism era. I myself have so many memories of this car, including the ones of being made fun of because my father owned one. But it was cheaper than the russian cars (even that is possible) and many times it was more reliable.
Diamond substrates and nanotubes face completely different challenges, and the issues with nanotubes will probably be resolved first. In that WIRED article, it was explained that it takes years to grow ONE diamond wafer, and they still haven't probably grown anything larger than 3-4 inch wafers. It will probably take several decades until they can serially produce 12" diamond wafers.
Carbon nanotubes, on the other hand, need to have their type (metallic or semiconducor) and doping level (if semiconductor) controlled reliably, and also EDA tools extentions need to be written in order to incorporate them in critical paths on chip. This is a lot less work than learning to grow diamond wafers. At least De Beers will need to be brought to its knees before this will be reality. Imagine a war over diamonds...
Power consumed by processors is what I actually worked on for a year. This is a very hot topic in industry right now, and whoever solves it will be a rich man. Some of the startups involved:
Dr. Lieber has long been publishing in the area of nanowires, I have read plenty of his and his peers' papers. The importance of this work has nothing to do with contact lenses or futuristic devices that Spielberg loves to put on Tom.
The problem that the semiconductor industry is facing right now is the ever more-expensive optical lithography systems. As the device features shrink down, we are getting more and more to the point where wavelengths will approach the X-ray spectrum. This is a whole new world of lithography, and people are looking like crazy for another way of doing it.
Here is the point where a distinction between parallel lithography and serial lithography should be made. For a long time people could pattern sub 10-nm features with AFM and STM (Atomic Force and Scanning-Tunneling microscopes). But those have only a tip (or several tips in parallel in a couple of cases). This would never be a fast and reliable method for patterning the interconnect on a chip, as it is done is series. Dr. Lieber's work is the first one to show some control of nanowire-based interconnect done in parallel. There were tons of studies of chemical self-assembly of nanowires before, but no one had control of the nanowire spacing (design rules for the IC guys).
Now we have to see if this technology goes somewhere. Another technology for parallel lithography that recently emerged is imprint lithography, where basically you stamp the pattern on the substrate. Dr. Stephen Chou over at Princeton invented that and severalcompanies are already shipping imprint nanolithography systems. Hopefully I'll play on one next year:)
Now can you please convince my advisor to get me a laptop?
Here here! And not only this, the cops suck ass too. Piece of advice, if you have a NY or CA license and have to drive through OK, better go through TX or KS because they will pull you over just for driving on their precious toll roads! I had a cop swerve through the median and chase me for five miles just to give me a warning that I am not wearing my seatbelt. And the reason I was not wearing it was because I forgot to put it on after I pulled over to catch my breath because I almost hit the farmer who was chasing a runaway cow on the highway. True story, folks!
So we get all the organic waste and turn it into useful organic stuff. This means oil is here to stay, and get cheaper, so the air is not getting any cleaner. I thought we didn't want to use oil forever!
Milling machines are not an overkill or a solution for amateurs, they are a very good solution for inexpensive prototypes or production needed in small-mid volume.
Acid etching produces a functional board, but it simply does not look good, and you can't make 100 boards that are exactly alike. The lines are almost straight, the edges are not perfect, and if you are on a contract to deliver a product, this is not an option. Examples of where a milling machine is one of the best solutions: a university lab where the researchers are under government/industry contract and are supposed to deliver a working prototype or a small business with a military contract (small volume products).
I worked for a startup company for a while, and part of my job was to work on a QuickCircuit [t-tech.com] milling machine, and that thing had milling bits that were 4 mils thick (comparable to hair). You can hardly reach this precision with acid etching. I also adapted the machine to dice wafers, which replaced the company's practice of using an exactoknife:)
If you are in the IC design business, testing cheaply is of primary importance. You can get a full setup for producing boards for less than $10K. How's that compared to billions of $$$ for setting up an IC production plant? And if you are in the RF design business, you need the precision so that a crappy board does not screw up your high-frequency measurements.
Of course, milling is no option for producing high-volume PCBs with many layers, but don't think that ASUS spent months to design such a board to test their new motherboard design. First they have to verify that design works, which is done with a cheap PCB design, one that would hook up the ICs. Only after that stage can the final PCB design begin.
As long as the Z80 or 68K processors are still in use, simple PCBs will be here, and we need a cheap and fast way to design and make them.
Slashdot Mirror
Working in measurement automation (in C - LabVIEW is for wheenies).
Radiation sources, black soot on the ceiling (especially near the vents), vacuum pump leaking oil and vibrating at close to 80 dB, one mercury spill, and other things come to mind, but you get the idea. I'm lucky I only had a temporary rash (I hope).
Since then I've moved to code less and make more experiments (science works, bitches!) but the environment is pretty much the same. Did you know it takes an Act of Congress to build a new government building?
I love my job.
The chance of making ends meet as a computer programmer is a lot, lot higher than if you were employed in another industry. The most interesting example that comes to mind is the one of tennis, one of the sports usually associated with super-rich players. The fact is, of all the professional tennis players in the world, only about the top 350 have cracked the million dollars in prizes over their careers. See link here. And when you scroll down to the players ranked 1000 or lower, you'll see that the money they made in a career is comparable to what we make in a less than a year. The situation with the female tennis players is even worse. So the old cliche that staying in school will increase your chances of making a career holds up pretty well. Besides, working at a startup is a higher risk with a higher reward potential. If you are risk-averse, work for the government (pretty good deal for many).
Wohooooooooooo! Pig Sooieeeeee! :)
Hell, I get a month's worth of netflix for that much! That's like 15 movies... it's all about stretching the dollar :)
They are called compound semiconductors. Intel is already funding research in III-V devices.
:D
Yes, I know this was lame on the font of all the business speak
exactly $126 on the roulette. :)
but you are right, it is a negative outcome game. i was just lucky.
Thanks for reminding me, I had forgotten this detail. I am not a lawyer, but I've heard in some states verbal agreements are legally binding, even though they are hard to prove.
I hope new hires will be aware not to accept verbal agreements, if they can do so without being dropped from the roster. A class action lawsuit should be able to fix this, and if the employees start getting compensated for their crunch times, EA will realize that it'll be cheaper to get more people and ease the individual schedules. I know it sounds wrong to make a place better because it's cheaper that way, but the nature of this industry has made it possible for EA to get away with thinking this way. Hope things get better soon for all the folks working 80 hour weeks there...
Wasn't the problem with EA the fact that they were actually breaking CA laws when they weren't paying their employees overtime?
Because as long as they are not breaking any laws, it is still perfectly within the limits of a capitalistic society, you know? Do you think that if the employees could get a better deal somewhere else, they would hesitate for more than a second?
A nazdrave... :)
My civic DX 02 just turned 35k miles. The sticker said 33/39 mpg, but on the highway I've never had better mileage than about 35mpg (when I drive with 65). The city mileage is about 30mpg. I suppose this is within the "your mileage may vary" tolerance... :)
i just wasn't logged on... dammit! :)
Another site similar to the one parent mentions. Site header says it's cheap computer deals, but I've gotten things from there like $9.99 oil change, $1 blockbuster rental coupons, weekly freebies at officemax, etc. Pretty sweet site overall :)
I second carbuyingtips.com, and I further recommend carsdirect. I bought my car from there, PGE (pretty good experience) :)
If you are a really good negotiator you won't need this site, but otherwise it consistently offers lower prices that most people get. Funny thing is how people choose to pay more but not to use an online car sales site. I have seen this a couple of time already, and I just don't get it why people would choose to pay more given the option not to.
Hey, I just wanted to reply to express my simpathy towards you and your family. I think I can relate - my family had to survive the Holocaust, another great cover-up attempt.
No matter how long you live after that, or where you move, the images and memories will haunt you. And the older you get, the more you learn about how stupid and egotistic the political decisions can be. And the governments excuse themselves with "we didn't know..." and you feel how lucky you are to be alive today.
Live and tell the story. I think this is our purpose, the next-generation survivors. And if you truly do so, you'll see how people just don't want to hear, don't care, and excuse themselves with having more important things to do...
I truly hope you have a healthy child one day.
yeah... i saw later, when i wrote the comment the site was slashdotted :)
Yeah, the french had it very bad. Peace on their heads.
How could no one mention the TRABANT? My family owned two of these, it was the only car we could get back home without waiting for a decade for a government permit. It was made of cheap carton, really plastic, had 26 horsepower on 2 cylinders, and it totally sounded like a blender in distress. The gear shifter was made of aluminun which wore off every 10000 miles or so, it was a standard replacement like the oil.
:)
There are many Trabant fans in Europe now, some clubs even, which are preserving this true icon of the communism era. I myself have so many memories of this car, including the ones of being made fun of because my father owned one. But it was cheaper than the russian cars (even that is possible) and many times it was more reliable.
Ah, the Trabi
85-90% of Italian Jews survived the Holocaust. Don't mention Mussolini, mention the SS.
Diamond substrates and nanotubes face completely different challenges, and the issues with nanotubes will probably be resolved first. In that WIRED article, it was explained that it takes years to grow ONE diamond wafer, and they still haven't probably grown anything larger than 3-4 inch wafers. It will probably take several decades until they can serially produce 12" diamond wafers.
Carbon nanotubes, on the other hand, need to have their type (metallic or semiconducor) and doping level (if semiconductor) controlled reliably, and also EDA tools extentions need to be written in order to incorporate them in critical paths on chip. This is a lot less work than learning to grow diamond wafers. At least De Beers will need to be brought to its knees before this will be reality. Imagine a war over diamonds...
Power consumed by processors is what I actually worked on for a year. This is a very hot topic in industry right now, and whoever solves it will be a rich man. Some of the startups involved:
v e.com
www.incep.com
www.volterra.com
www.integralwa
What are you supposed to do when it is cold outside 24/7 and your country is developed enough so that everyone can afford a computer?
:)
btw, I realize this is not a valid reason. Bulgaria is poor and has nice beaches, but it still ranks #9 in the topcoder ranking.
Dr. Lieber has long been publishing in the area of nanowires, I have read plenty of his and his peers' papers. The importance of this work has nothing to do with contact lenses or futuristic devices that Spielberg loves to put on Tom.
:)
The problem that the semiconductor industry is facing right now is the ever more-expensive optical lithography systems. As the device features shrink down, we are getting more and more to the point where wavelengths will approach the X-ray spectrum. This is a whole new world of lithography, and people are looking like crazy for another way of doing it.
Here is the point where a distinction between parallel lithography and serial lithography should be made. For a long time people could pattern sub 10-nm features with AFM and STM (Atomic Force and Scanning-Tunneling microscopes). But those have only a tip (or several tips in parallel in a couple of cases). This would never be a fast and reliable method for patterning the interconnect on a chip, as it is done is series. Dr. Lieber's work is the first one to show some control of nanowire-based interconnect done in parallel. There were tons of studies of chemical self-assembly of nanowires before, but no one had control of the nanowire spacing (design rules for the IC guys).
Now we have to see if this technology goes somewhere. Another technology for parallel lithography that recently emerged is imprint lithography, where basically you stamp the pattern on the substrate. Dr. Stephen Chou over at Princeton invented that and several companies are already shipping imprint nanolithography systems. Hopefully I'll play on one next year
Now can you please convince my advisor to get me a laptop?
> 6.Oklahoma is turnpikes'r'us
Here here! And not only this, the cops suck ass too. Piece of advice, if you have a NY or CA license and have to drive through OK, better go through TX or KS because they will pull you over just for driving on their precious toll roads! I had a cop swerve through the median and chase me for five miles just to give me a warning that I am not wearing my seatbelt. And the reason I was not wearing it was because I forgot to put it on after I pulled over to catch my breath because I almost hit the farmer who was chasing a runaway cow on the highway. True story, folks!
So we get all the organic waste and turn it into useful organic stuff. This means oil is here to stay, and get cheaper, so the air is not getting any cleaner. I thought we didn't want to use oil forever!
Milling machines are not an overkill or a solution for amateurs, they are a very good solution for inexpensive prototypes or production needed in small-mid volume.
:)
Acid etching produces a functional board, but it simply does not look good, and you can't make 100 boards that are exactly alike. The lines are almost straight, the edges are not perfect, and if you are on a contract to deliver a product, this is not an option. Examples of where a milling machine is one of the best solutions: a university lab where the researchers are under government/industry contract and are supposed to deliver a working prototype or a small business with a military contract (small volume products).
I worked for a startup company for a while, and part of my job was to work on a QuickCircuit [t-tech.com] milling machine, and that thing had milling bits that were 4 mils thick (comparable to hair). You can hardly reach this precision with acid etching. I also adapted the machine to dice wafers, which replaced the company's practice of using an exactoknife
If you are in the IC design business, testing cheaply is of primary importance. You can get a full setup for producing boards for less than $10K. How's that compared to billions of $$$ for setting up an IC production plant? And if you are in the RF design business, you need the precision so that a crappy board does not screw up your high-frequency measurements.
Of course, milling is no option for producing high-volume PCBs with many layers, but don't think that ASUS spent months to design such a board to test their new motherboard design. First they have to verify that design works, which is done with a cheap PCB design, one that would hook up the ICs. Only after that stage can the final PCB design begin.
As long as the Z80 or 68K processors are still in use, simple PCBs will be here, and we need a cheap and fast way to design and make them.