You think $17B is bad? Try Boston's Central Artery Tunnel (the "Big Dig"), estimated to cost about $22 Billion for a 3.5 mile tunnel.
But the Big Dig is "complete", where construction of the 2nd Ave. subway has barely begun (though they've been talking about it since 1929). If NY doesn't beat Boston, I'll become a Red Sox fan.
the man is more of a pop culture consumer electronics icon than he ever was a tech mogul
Well put. Non-techies go "ooh, ahh" because the end products are what they see. Meanwhile, how many people have heard of Nyquist, Bardeen, Brattain, Shockley, Shannon, Kilby, Noyce and all the other tech pioneers and inventors who made this stuff possible. Money? Sure, but there are others with more. Nor is Jobs even colorful enough to be interesting, like Howard Hughes. Please stop, this is getting worse than the 24x7 coverage of the OJ trial.
Would Steve Jobs please come back to life so they'll stop eulogizing him. I can't believe they made a movie about him. I haven't seen any about Tesla. He was a good product design guy and made some money. 'nuf said. He's dead. Who cares?
USA is a failing nation... scared of their own potential
You got that right. Nothing annoys me more than the "can't do" attitude so prevalent in the US these days. Growing up in the US I thought of it as one of the greatest "can do" countries, and it was. I doubt that has anything to do with being fat though.
P.S. Much as your comment was snark, it did make a political point. It shouldn't have been modded down to -1, but some mods think they should mod down anything they don't agree with.
with solar panels on top, in a very sunny state, and it powers itself
Interesting idea, but it could work with any type of electric train (from Lionel on up). There is nothing about it specific to the Hyperloop approach. Furthermore, if you're going to install solar panels, you can use them to power anything. Why limit it to trains?
Regenerative braking is a good idea, but again can work with any type of electric train (it's being used in the Delhi Metro for example).
It will also help to remember that this is mostly a counter-proposal to the $60B+ idea of running High Speed Rail between LA and SF. He is showing that you can do this for about 1/10th the cost.
That's the part I'm most skeptical about. Musk has no experience with large civil engineering projects like this, and estimating and controlling costs is not always uh, precise let's say.
A more important issue is why some of these projects cost so much. You think $60B for the Cal HS rail is bad? How about $17B for NYC's 8.5 mile 2nd Ave. subway.
There were some interesting articles a while back about construction costs in (at least some) parts of the US, vs. say parts of Western Europe (e.g. Germany). There was a several fold difference in cost. Don't bother to cite the usual "unions and eco-nuts" non-explanation, because Germany has highly paid heavily unionized labor, and the German Green Party has actual representation instead of being a protest vote.
P.S. I'd be grateful if anybody has links to the articles I referred to.
Thanks for the info, but was the snark "they may look similar to the melanin-deprived" really needed? The GP just made a mistake about the relationship between different peoples; nowhere did he imply that they were "all the same".
While there is always debate about whether something like this is the best way to spend money in a poverty stricken area, one way it could help is if "rural sourcing" got started in the Navajo nation. That could include things like software development and call center work. No, it's not for everybody, but when a few people start making better money in a poverty stricken area it sometimes has a positive feed back effect. The newly employed hire someone else to work on their house or their truck, buy other local services, that sort of thing.
P.S. Now for a couple of things that you know people are dying to say (or groan about).
1. Finally, software written by real Indians.
2. In the future I want real Apaches working on the Apache server (hey, at least the Navajos are a related people).
Generally idiotic, mindless and counterproductive management combined with illegal age discrimination. Kudos to your employer for killing two birds with one stone. Some companies need two separate policies to accomplish those goals.
Ah yes, I can remember those times as if they were a few hours ago - maybe because they were: Cisco to cut 4,000 jobs; stock falls 10%
The price fell because they didn't hit their earnings expectations, even though earnings were good. The layoffs were just to appease mindless stock analysts by making an offering. If Cisco felt that layoffs would cut their stock price, they wouldn't have done it.
There was also a time where companies could let employees go who weren't good employees.
Every state is "employment at will". Nowadays some companies even claim termination for cause instead of layoff so they don't get hit w/ more unemployment costs. Nobody enforces it anymore. The last problem companies in the US have is firing/laying off people.
The biggest farce is when Management sets layoff quotas for each department across the board. This is a farce because it shows that management just wants to reduce head counts to look like they are doing something without having to do any actual analysis to determine where cuts would be the most strategic.
There I agree with you. Most of this is just mindless management trying to appease mindless stock analysts.
Re:Meanwhile, back at the bean counting dept.
on
Cisco Slashes 4,000 Jobs
·
· Score: 5, Insightful
It's always a pleasure to hear from someone like you.
Reminds me of a time when I worked for a company that said they didn't have the money for a new project. I thought, how much could the new project cost? 90% is salaries, and they're being paid regardless. I figured I didn't understand the business side well enough. Then I was traveling with the manager of the facility I worked at (who was quite successful in that position). Out of the blue, and without prompting, he said exactly what I'd been thinking. From then on I realized that an awful lot of what seem like idiotic business decisions really are idiotic, and they come from people who don't think clearly. In that case they were wrapped up in an accountant's version of what the project would cost, without realizing they were paying most of the cost anyway!
As for a CEO's salary, that is between the stockholders, and the board.
So no one has a right to complain about it? Right. And the board earnestly represents the interests of the shareholders, instead of being a web of mutual backscratchers. Right. BTW, I've got a bridge to sell you.
Is there any reason to believe it's the deadwood that will be laid off? You have a lovely theory, but my experience is that's not what happens at most companies.
Meanwhile, back at the bean counting dept.
on
Cisco Slashes 4,000 Jobs
·
· Score: 5, Informative
FTFA:
For Cisco, the cuts are not a result of the company bleeding tons of red ink. In fact, when it unveiled its fourth quarter results Wednesday, Chambers noted the company posted a record quarter for revenues and its bottom line was profitable.
A history lesson from an old fogey. There was a time, believe it or not, when profitable companies would generally not layoff people because the company was, uh, profitable. If a company did layoff people the stock market usually took it as an indication that something was wrong (which it generally was). No, I swear this is true.
I also know that there are ways of twisting arms to change such behavior, but that only meant something back when the government gave a damn about employment. It typically went something like this. Gosh Cisco, we buy a lot of equipment from you, but there have been some questions lately. Frankly we may need to take another look at the competition. BTW, sorry about your layoffs. No, no, no relation between these two things. BTW, did you know your competition was hiring?
Furthermore, if Cisco does need more people in the future, they'll be the first to scream "shortage, we need 10x more H-1B's!". There was a time when profitable, or even temporarily mildly unprofitable companies, wouldn't layoff people because they'd need their expertise in the future. How silly management was back then, and how wonderful our brave new world is.
Nice rant, but it ignores that dyslexia is not treated with drugs. Is there a label for the condition that causes someone to lump everything into the same category?
Slashdot Mirror
You think $17B is bad? Try Boston's Central Artery Tunnel (the "Big Dig"), estimated to cost about $22 Billion for a 3.5 mile tunnel.
But the Big Dig is "complete", where construction of the 2nd Ave. subway has barely begun (though they've been talking about it since 1929). If NY doesn't beat Boston, I'll become a Red Sox fan.
the man is more of a pop culture consumer electronics icon than he ever was a tech mogul
Well put. Non-techies go "ooh, ahh" because the end products are what they see. Meanwhile, how many people have heard of Nyquist, Bardeen, Brattain, Shockley, Shannon, Kilby, Noyce and all the other tech pioneers and inventors who made this stuff possible. Money? Sure, but there are others with more. Nor is Jobs even colorful enough to be interesting, like Howard Hughes. Please stop, this is getting worse than the 24x7 coverage of the OJ trial.
Would Steve Jobs please come back to life so they'll stop eulogizing him. I can't believe they made a movie about him. I haven't seen any about Tesla. He was a good product design guy and made some money. 'nuf said. He's dead. Who cares?
Ok,,train on a magnetic rail,,,that's not new by 30 years +, there was some model shown (small model) back when i was 12 years old
Ok, computer running on electricity,,,that's not new by 70 years +, there was some model shown (small model) back when i was -12 years old.
The whole state is nothing but flotsam that's accumulated over the ages and it's still shifting.
I kind of agree with you about the inhabitants, but what about the land?
USA is a failing nation ... scared of their own potential
You got that right. Nothing annoys me more than the "can't do" attitude so prevalent in the US these days. Growing up in the US I thought of it as one of the greatest "can do" countries, and it was. I doubt that has anything to do with being fat though.
P.S. Much as your comment was snark, it did make a political point. It shouldn't have been modded down to -1, but some mods think they should mod down anything they don't agree with.
with solar panels on top, in a very sunny state, and it powers itself
Interesting idea, but it could work with any type of electric train (from Lionel on up). There is nothing about it specific to the Hyperloop approach. Furthermore, if you're going to install solar panels, you can use them to power anything. Why limit it to trains?
Regenerative braking is a good idea, but again can work with any type of electric train (it's being used in the Delhi Metro for example).
It will also help to remember that this is mostly a counter-proposal to the $60B+ idea of running High Speed Rail between LA and SF. He is showing that you can do this for about 1/10th the cost.
That's the part I'm most skeptical about. Musk has no experience with large civil engineering projects like this, and estimating and controlling costs is not always uh, precise let's say.
A more important issue is why some of these projects cost so much. You think $60B for the Cal HS rail is bad? How about $17B for NYC's 8.5 mile 2nd Ave. subway.
There were some interesting articles a while back about construction costs in (at least some) parts of the US, vs. say parts of Western Europe (e.g. Germany). There was a several fold difference in cost. Don't bother to cite the usual "unions and eco-nuts" non-explanation, because Germany has highly paid heavily unionized labor, and the German Green Party has actual representation instead of being a protest vote.
P.S. I'd be grateful if anybody has links to the articles I referred to.
But when nothing around you changes for hours, it's hard to tell you're going that fast.
Take I-80 coast to coast. The big challenge is staying awake through 1000 miles of corn, but you'll start to appreciate just how much of it we grow.
Thanks for the info, but was the snark "they may look similar to the melanin-deprived" really needed? The GP just made a mistake about the relationship between different peoples; nowhere did he imply that they were "all the same".
Thanks for providing actual facts (even if it does put a damper on a good debate).
Maybe they'll spy on the NSA.
In that classic Slashdot acronym, IANAL, but I believe federal law applies on reservations.
And no, before anybody starts, they weren't 'always here'.
The only thing worse than bigotry is ignorant bigotry. 20,000 tears? If you knew anything about the Navajo you'd realize that they and their ancestors have been in the Southwest for "only" about 600 years. But you know how it is, after the first few centuries people start to act like they own the place.
While there is always debate about whether something like this is the best way to spend money in a poverty stricken area, one way it could help is if "rural sourcing" got started in the Navajo nation. That could include things like software development and call center work. No, it's not for everybody, but when a few people start making better money in a poverty stricken area it sometimes has a positive feed back effect. The newly employed hire someone else to work on their house or their truck, buy other local services, that sort of thing.
P.S. Now for a couple of things that you know people are dying to say (or groan about).
1. Finally, software written by real Indians.
2. In the future I want real Apaches working on the Apache server (hey, at least the Navajos are a related people).
the glossy eyed stare from being subjected to countless hours of network TV
Bringing "cruel and unusual punishment" to a new extreme.
Generally idiotic, mindless and counterproductive management combined with illegal age discrimination. Kudos to your employer for killing two birds with one stone. Some companies need two separate policies to accomplish those goals.
Ah yes, I can remember those times as if they were a few hours ago - maybe because they were: Cisco to cut 4,000 jobs; stock falls 10%
The price fell because they didn't hit their earnings expectations, even though earnings were good. The layoffs were just to appease mindless stock analysts by making an offering. If Cisco felt that layoffs would cut their stock price, they wouldn't have done it.
There was also a time where companies could let employees go who weren't good employees.
Every state is "employment at will". Nowadays some companies even claim termination for cause instead of layoff so they don't get hit w/ more unemployment costs. Nobody enforces it anymore. The last problem companies in the US have is firing/laying off people.
The biggest farce is when Management sets layoff quotas for each department across the board. This is a farce because it shows that management just wants to reduce head counts to look like they are doing something without having to do any actual analysis to determine where cuts would be the most strategic.
There I agree with you. Most of this is just mindless management trying to appease mindless stock analysts.
It's always a pleasure to hear from someone like you.
Reminds me of a time when I worked for a company that said they didn't have the money for a new project. I thought, how much could the new project cost? 90% is salaries, and they're being paid regardless. I figured I didn't understand the business side well enough. Then I was traveling with the manager of the facility I worked at (who was quite successful in that position). Out of the blue, and without prompting, he said exactly what I'd been thinking. From then on I realized that an awful lot of what seem like idiotic business decisions really are idiotic, and they come from people who don't think clearly. In that case they were wrapped up in an accountant's version of what the project would cost, without realizing they were paying most of the cost anyway!
As for a CEO's salary, that is between the stockholders, and the board.
So no one has a right to complain about it? Right. And the board earnestly represents the interests of the shareholders, instead of being a web of mutual backscratchers. Right. BTW, I've got a bridge to sell you.
Is there any reason to believe it's the deadwood that will be laid off? You have a lovely theory, but my experience is that's not what happens at most companies.
FTFA:
For Cisco, the cuts are not a result of the company bleeding tons of red ink. In fact, when it unveiled its fourth quarter results Wednesday, Chambers noted the company posted a record quarter for revenues and its bottom line was profitable.
A history lesson from an old fogey. There was a time, believe it or not, when profitable companies would generally not layoff people because the company was, uh, profitable. If a company did layoff people the stock market usually took it as an indication that something was wrong (which it generally was). No, I swear this is true.
I also know that there are ways of twisting arms to change such behavior, but that only meant something back when the government gave a damn about employment. It typically went something like this. Gosh Cisco, we buy a lot of equipment from you, but there have been some questions lately. Frankly we may need to take another look at the competition. BTW, sorry about your layoffs. No, no, no relation between these two things. BTW, did you know your competition was hiring?
Furthermore, if Cisco does need more people in the future, they'll be the first to scream "shortage, we need 10x more H-1B's!". There was a time when profitable, or even temporarily mildly unprofitable companies, wouldn't layoff people because they'd need their expertise in the future. How silly management was back then, and how wonderful our brave new world is.
Nice rant, but it ignores that dyslexia is not treated with drugs. Is there a label for the condition that causes someone to lump everything into the same category?
People don't care about where they live?