I think what the GP was saying (and he understated it) was that companies don't want engineered solutions. They want "quick-n-dirty". They want cheap. They want it to work (on paper, so they don't get sued, actually working in reality is irrelevant), and they want it yesterday.
I went back to get a CIS degree, and while I'm finding the classes very interesting, there's very little practical value to them in my current career. I'm hopeful that I'll use it in the future. Frankly, most of my co-workers who have engineering backgrounds and degrees may have been taught this stuff at one point, but most of them have forgotten it.
We've made short term monetary gain our ultimate god.
Not "we".
"They". And "They" do not give a shit what happens to the US. "They" can always go and live anywhere else in the world, in a compound with armed guards.
Additionally many DoD jobs require US citizenship.
That's not necessarily true. I've seen very highly cleared people who are not US Citizens. Of course, there has to be some way for these people to show that they're not a security risk - and that's a LOT harder if you're not a citizen. I'd imagine it would be nearly impossible, but if the person has the right skillset, and there's demand for that, all kinds of doors open.
I "ran off" during college, dropped out on my non-technical degree, because I started a family, and had to earn money (working in computers).
It's hard to go back and analyze where I made my "wrong-turn" in life - probably when I chose a non-technical degree, when deep down, I knew I loved this stuff - no matter how intimidating the math was.
I eventually hit a ceiling in my earning power - without a degree. So I've gone back to school, and am working on a Computer Science degree. While working > full-time. While being a dad. This is a very, very, difficult thing to do in life. When I started, I was enthusiastic about going on and getting a PhD. But now, I can't imagine doing this academic stuff and getting paid for it. So my attitude has drifted back to the "just get the CIS bachelors, and get out, and get paid".
My advice to kids today: Stay in school. Take the HARDEST coursework you can do.
As far as US fostering science? I don't think that the incentives would work at the individual level. I think that, given the corporate influence in our government, the incentives should be directed at Corporations - that they benefit more from contributing to the training of their workers. There's no way in HELL I could afford my college tuition without my employer's assistance. Business needs incentives to do these kinds of things, as well as pursue supporting employee's advanced degrees (NOT MBA's!).
Re:We have a bigger problem...
on
Saving U.S. Science
·
· Score: 2, Informative
What is going on is a pure and simple trade war by the US Government against its own citizens.
Wrong.
By law, the US Government IS its citizens.
Control of the US Government has been seized (er - okay, purchased) by business interests, who are waging this as a war-by-proxy on their own labor force (and, ironically, their own MARKET as well).
I do agree, though, we need to restore balance to the system, and that means either tarrifs, or subsidies. Both of these approaches have some pretty severe shortfalls. It's like tasering someone who's slashed their wrists to prevent them from committing suicide.
Heh - your post is a classic example of "Insightful Obviousness" or "Obvious Insitefulness".
Yeah - "keep it simple" - we all hear that.
MICROSOFT heard that, and their response was Windows ME.
Then XP Home Edition.
Home users don't often want or need all that complexity; and what did they do? Took the Pro version, and CRIPPLED it - as a way to nickel-and-dime for the Pro-features, instead of making life simpler for the home user. Who runs XP Pro at home? (/me raises hand). Who runs XP Home at home? (*crickets*).
For my integration effort at work - I actually am rolling my own "Windows" distro; for boxes that are in an extremely controlled environment, for very limited use. My answer-file for Windows Setup disables every component that there's a directive for disabling. All the crap gets installed anyway, but Windows just leaves out the UI (desktop icon) - and we're left with cruft we STILL have to secure, like Windows Media Player, and Windows Messenger, and MS Outlook AND Outlook Express.
Someone may ask me: why-oh-why am I using Windows instead of a trimmed-down Linux distro? Answer? Effing customer requirement for "Standard OS". In other words, someone went on a golf trip with a Microsoft Salesman. (not me).
Start a high-intensity survey of likely areas NEAR Spirit and Opportunity - when another is discovered, immediately begin driving one of the rovers there. Let's see this stuff up close, take some samples, use the RAT, etc. If there's water, if there's a chance of microbial life, I think either Spirit or Opportunity could find the evidence. These rovers gots wheels, let's use them.
Have you actually read the declaration of Independance? It's just about the most libertarian document ever written.
Yeah, especially that "form a more perfect union" and "promote the general welfare" bit.
But I do agree with you.
An imbalance of wealth only leads to revolution if the wealthy do not have sufficient technology to keep the poor controlled.
By sufficient technology, I mean RFID tags, TIA, Microwave crowd-control devices, surveillance cameras, etc. - oh, and enough money to influence politicians to revoke things like the fourth amendment, habeus corpus, quaint pre-9/11 stuff like that.
Living in Buttfuck, Kentucky is a hell of a bunch cheaper than living in San Diego, California.
Given the choice between the money (assuming I could move there, and still be making what I'm making here - which would not happen) - I'd choose to live in California. The weather alone makes it worth it, if not the social services the state offers (I'm not talking about welfare or medi-cal, I'm talking about no toll-roads, I'm talking about the parks system (California Conservation Corps), - decent schools, etc.). But then there's the proximity to a lot of spectacular nature that just plain doesn't exist in Kentucky.
I pay a HUGE premium for the privilege of living where I live. And I struggle to the point where I'm almost always in a panic to make ends meet, on $78k/yr.
I'm actually NOT a big fan of Democracy (or at least the "mob rule" aspects of it) - Democracy should always be tempered by a Constitution that limits the power of the Democracy.
On the other hand, that Constitution should enshrine the respect of rights.
Unfortunately, right now - those who have the wealth and power seem to take more stock in the teachings of Hitler, than those of Jefferson.
People are given a share of what they earn. Their employer also takes a share. A portion of that share is justified by the employer's utility as an agency of delivering that opportunity to the employee. Most often, the employer's share is much larger than that justification. Mainly due to the lack of market power the employee has to change employers due to forces completely unrelated to the employee's actual value (productivity), and more due to factors like pre-existing condition clauses in group medical plans, and geographical association (where the employee lives, and whether he's willing to move to change jobs).
a flat tax is an inherently bad idea, just as an extremely progressive tax is a bad idea.
Yes - but in America, if you support a flat tax, you're called a rightwing nutjob. And if you support a progressive tax (not just extremely progressive) you're a Stalinist.
Oh right - I forgot. $100 a month in food stamps is SOO much more nice to have than a network of public roadways for delivering goods and services for my business. (and by "my" business, I don't mean that I do any WORK for it, I just lend it the money my dad gave me).
And on top of that, the top 2% of the rich probably also fund the employment of half the world.
Um, no. The employed FUND their own employment through their labor's production of goods and services. The upper 2% siphon off up to half (and much more in many cases) as "employment brokers". (also known as middlemen, also known as parasites).
if I want to drive 100 km/h where 120 is allowed, I can do that...
Yes you can. And you are STEALING valuable time from someone else. Time they could be spending playing with their kids, or working on a cure for cancer, or torturing kittens. Happy?
AND over the course of say, a half-mile segment, maybe it saves you a second or so, and if that second legally gets you through an intersection before the light turns red, and delays you an additional 5 minutes, or drops you behind a pair of dump-trucks driving 20 miles under the speed limit and dropping gravel onto your hood, you really DO come out way ahead in city driving by speeding moderately.
If it didn't work, people wouldn't do it. Most may not REALIZE exactly how it works (getting you ahead of the traffic-signal stop-phase) - and the feeling may be subtle, and it may not work 100%, but it does work, and most drivers know this instinctually.
By this time, the cross traffic has gotten the green light and they start pulling into the intersection, and get in the way of the vehicle who is still trying to execute their turn.
Which is illegal. Even on a green, you don't proceed through the intersection until it is cleared. Such behavior is a recepie for gridlock.
Slashdot Mirror
I think what the GP was saying (and he understated it) was that companies don't want engineered solutions. They want "quick-n-dirty". They want cheap. They want it to work (on paper, so they don't get sued, actually working in reality is irrelevant), and they want it yesterday.
I went back to get a CIS degree, and while I'm finding the classes very interesting, there's very little practical value to them in my current career. I'm hopeful that I'll use it in the future. Frankly, most of my co-workers who have engineering backgrounds and degrees may have been taught this stuff at one point, but most of them have forgotten it.
We've made short term monetary gain our ultimate god.
Not "we".
"They". And "They" do not give a shit what happens to the US. "They" can always go and live anywhere else in the world, in a compound with armed guards.
Additionally many DoD jobs require US citizenship.
That's not necessarily true. I've seen very highly cleared people who are not US Citizens. Of course, there has to be some way for these people to show that they're not a security risk - and that's a LOT harder if you're not a citizen. I'd imagine it would be nearly impossible, but if the person has the right skillset, and there's demand for that, all kinds of doors open.
I "ran off" during college, dropped out on my non-technical degree, because I started a family, and had to earn money (working in computers).
It's hard to go back and analyze where I made my "wrong-turn" in life - probably when I chose a non-technical degree, when deep down, I knew I loved this stuff - no matter how intimidating the math was.
I eventually hit a ceiling in my earning power - without a degree. So I've gone back to school, and am working on a Computer Science degree. While working > full-time. While being a dad. This is a very, very, difficult thing to do in life. When I started, I was enthusiastic about going on and getting a PhD. But now, I can't imagine doing this academic stuff and getting paid for it. So my attitude has drifted back to the "just get the CIS bachelors, and get out, and get paid".
My advice to kids today: Stay in school. Take the HARDEST coursework you can do.
As far as US fostering science? I don't think that the incentives would work at the individual level. I think that, given the corporate influence in our government, the incentives should be directed at Corporations - that they benefit more from contributing to the training of their workers. There's no way in HELL I could afford my college tuition without my employer's assistance. Business needs incentives to do these kinds of things, as well as pursue supporting employee's advanced degrees (NOT MBA's!).
What is going on is a pure and simple trade war by the US Government against its own citizens.
Wrong.
By law, the US Government IS its citizens.
Control of the US Government has been seized (er - okay, purchased) by business interests, who are waging this as a war-by-proxy on their own labor force (and, ironically, their own MARKET as well).
I do agree, though, we need to restore balance to the system, and that means either tarrifs, or subsidies. Both of these approaches have some pretty severe shortfalls. It's like tasering someone who's slashed their wrists to prevent them from committing suicide.
. . . or, as Marcel Duchamp said; "this is not a pipe."
Heh - your post is a classic example of "Insightful Obviousness" or "Obvious Insitefulness".
Yeah - "keep it simple" - we all hear that.
MICROSOFT heard that, and their response was Windows ME.
Then XP Home Edition.
Home users don't often want or need all that complexity; and what did they do? Took the Pro version, and CRIPPLED it - as a way to nickel-and-dime for the Pro-features, instead of making life simpler for the home user. Who runs XP Pro at home? (/me raises hand). Who runs XP Home at home? (*crickets*).
For my integration effort at work - I actually am rolling my own "Windows" distro; for boxes that are in an extremely controlled environment, for very limited use. My answer-file for Windows Setup disables every component that there's a directive for disabling. All the crap gets installed anyway, but Windows just leaves out the UI (desktop icon) - and we're left with cruft we STILL have to secure, like Windows Media Player, and Windows Messenger, and MS Outlook AND Outlook Express.
Someone may ask me: why-oh-why am I using Windows instead of a trimmed-down Linux distro? Answer? Effing customer requirement for "Standard OS". In other words, someone went on a golf trip with a Microsoft Salesman. (not me).
Start a high-intensity survey of likely areas NEAR Spirit and Opportunity - when another is discovered, immediately begin driving one of the rovers there. Let's see this stuff up close, take some samples, use the RAT, etc. If there's water, if there's a chance of microbial life, I think either Spirit or Opportunity could find the evidence. These rovers gots wheels, let's use them.
We currently don't have the technology to deal with simex erasures. It's unlikely that your old memories can be recovered. . .
True - but one must also realize that it's morally wrong to take another person's property using guile, or monopoly-power.
People need to take the time to know how to use the things they own.
This is COMPUTERS we're talking about, here.
That should not really be necessary - if the architect is worth his pay.
Have you actually read the declaration of Independance? It's just about the most libertarian document ever written.
Yeah, especially that "form a more perfect union" and "promote the general welfare" bit.
But I do agree with you.
An imbalance of wealth only leads to revolution if the wealthy do not have sufficient technology to keep the poor controlled.
By sufficient technology, I mean RFID tags, TIA, Microwave crowd-control devices, surveillance cameras, etc. - oh, and enough money to influence politicians to revoke things like the fourth amendment, habeus corpus, quaint pre-9/11 stuff like that.
Living in Buttfuck, Kentucky is a hell of a bunch cheaper than living in San Diego, California.
Given the choice between the money (assuming I could move there, and still be making what I'm making here - which would not happen) - I'd choose to live in California. The weather alone makes it worth it, if not the social services the state offers (I'm not talking about welfare or medi-cal, I'm talking about no toll-roads, I'm talking about the parks system (California Conservation Corps), - decent schools, etc.). But then there's the proximity to a lot of spectacular nature that just plain doesn't exist in Kentucky.
I pay a HUGE premium for the privilege of living where I live. And I struggle to the point where I'm almost always in a panic to make ends meet, on $78k/yr.
Having lived elsewhere;
It's worth it.
I'm actually NOT a big fan of Democracy (or at least the "mob rule" aspects of it) - Democracy should always be tempered by a Constitution that limits the power of the Democracy.
On the other hand, that Constitution should enshrine the respect of rights.
Unfortunately, right now - those who have the wealth and power seem to take more stock in the teachings of Hitler, than those of Jefferson.
People are not given what they earn.
People are given a share of what they earn. Their employer also takes a share. A portion of that share is justified by the employer's utility as an agency of delivering that opportunity to the employee. Most often, the employer's share is much larger than that justification. Mainly due to the lack of market power the employee has to change employers due to forces completely unrelated to the employee's actual value (productivity), and more due to factors like pre-existing condition clauses in group medical plans, and geographical association (where the employee lives, and whether he's willing to move to change jobs).
Where I live, a studio costs about $1000 per month.
Minimum-wage earners can not afford to live in my town.
That's a problem for local employers.
Which is why our Wal Mart employs mainly people who are still living with their parents.
The only real balancing acts comes at the end of a sword during a revolution. Well I guess in modern times we'll use guns, . . .
Well, isn't that like a poor person, to bring a gun to a nuke-fight.
a flat tax is an inherently bad idea, just as an extremely progressive tax is a bad idea.
Yes - but in America, if you support a flat tax, you're called a rightwing nutjob. And if you support a progressive tax (not just extremely progressive) you're a Stalinist.
Oh right - I forgot. $100 a month in food stamps is SOO much more nice to have than a network of public roadways for delivering goods and services for my business. (and by "my" business, I don't mean that I do any WORK for it, I just lend it the money my dad gave me).
And on top of that, the top 2% of the rich probably also fund the employment of half the world.
Um, no.
The employed FUND their own employment through their labor's production of goods and services. The upper 2% siphon off up to half (and much more in many cases) as "employment brokers". (also known as middlemen, also known as parasites).
But life is good... your radio is working...
No - fucking thing is broken!
you've got your health.
bad back. . .
Yes.
Even backpackers know that carrying a water filter is much lighter than packing in gallons and gallons of water.
if I want to drive 100 km/h where 120 is allowed, I can do that ...
Yes you can. And you are STEALING valuable time from someone else. Time they could be spending playing with their kids, or working on a cure for cancer, or torturing kittens. Happy?
It saves you 5 minutes an hour.
AND over the course of say, a half-mile segment, maybe it saves you a second or so, and if that second legally gets you through an intersection before the light turns red, and delays you an additional 5 minutes, or drops you behind a pair of dump-trucks driving 20 miles under the speed limit and dropping gravel onto your hood, you really DO come out way ahead in city driving by speeding moderately.
If it didn't work, people wouldn't do it.
Most may not REALIZE exactly how it works (getting you ahead of the traffic-signal stop-phase) - and the feeling may be subtle, and it may not work 100%, but it does work, and most drivers know this instinctually.
By this time, the cross traffic has gotten the green light and they start pulling into the intersection, and get in the way of the vehicle who is still trying to execute their turn.
Which is illegal.
Even on a green, you don't proceed through the intersection until it is cleared. Such behavior is a recepie for gridlock.