We use one in our office for the LAN (on Bell Atlantic) it has built in firewall, NAT, dhcp configuration, virtual server set up, etc., etc. The UGate 3000 is the CNET editors choice. You can find UGate's info page here. It is truly a great product.
And if you don't believe me check out the forums on http://www.dslreports.com, which also has help for those of you struggling with DSL provider policies.
Mich. Eyes DoubleClick Privacy Suit -- "NEW YORK (AP) - Michigan law enforcers threatened Thursday to sue the online advertising firm DoubleClick Inc. for violating consumers' privacy, adding to a growing list of protests against the company and sending its stock into a tailspin." Full Story
Thanks for the pointer. I have read most of the works of Christopher Lasch, and agree with his thinking about the destructive nature of modern work - particularly the idea that people ought to have a sense of "owning" their own work.
Obviously that's not possible all the time, and in co-operative efforts your individual recognition is likely to be low. Although I am not active in the open-source community, perhaps the reason that community has been so successful is that it allows people to work together in a non-exploitative, individually rewarding way.
First, the timesheets that I turn in to my employer [they don't determine compensation, but how much time should be credited to various departments] have no relationship to the actual number of hours I work ~60/wk. It's easier to just make everything total out to 40, because I know that I'm not getting any overtime anyway.
I think that these findings highlight the irrelevance of overtime laws and other worker protection legislation. The high-tech industry is particularly abusive regarding compensation issues. How many of you have asked about the time commitment for a prospective employer and been told 60+ hours a week or "work till the job's done?"
The Mercury News had a series of articles about exploitation in the Valley. Unfortunately, those are in the pay archives now, but they detailed the use of home assembly (piece work) among other abuses including lack of overtime pay.
The most insidious trend that Katz identifies is the blurring of the line between work and home. Every time I read a glowing profile of a company that provides in house (dentists, game rooms, nap rooms, whatever) I shudder. If you read the trade press (Business 2.0, Wired, Industry Standard, etc.) the image is of one big happy family. Guess what - there's a reason the saying goes "You can't choose your relatives" - why would I want to buy into the fantasy that by virtue of being employed someplace I have suddenly gained a new home away from home. Ack! You may as well go to work for EDS or M$ if that's what you want. Can you tell I failed my "team building class:)
There's another article on MSNBC about how high internet use isolates people. There are a few sections that deal with Katz's post, here's a sample " If personal interaction - not to mention time with such old-fashioned media as newspapers and, particularly, television - were losers, employers benefited. A quarter of the respondents said the time they spent working at home had increased, while their hours at the office had either stayed the same or gone up as well."
"More than 27,000 'BugBug' comments" is a start, but what about all the 'BedBug' and dreaded 'BugBear' comments? Hmmm? What armor class are those suckers again? And how many hitpoints? Do they eat hot grits?
If you check the ZDNet homepage, they have a review from PC Magazine here which says " If you're a small office, multimedia company, or game user, we advise waiting for the rest of the industry to catch up before embracing Windows 2000. We found upgrading existing Windows 98 systems to Windows 2000 Professional very tricky because of numerous hardware and software compatibility problems."
That hasn't stopped them from putting a prominent ad for their Windows 2000 store nearby. Oops! I forgot, this is the web, where mixing editorial content and advertising is "synergy."
I saw one of the billboards mentioned in the story on the subway tonight, touting M$ use by the federal government. The punchline? "Windows 2000: The government's business starts here"
Katz is way off base. I have ceased wondering if he just enjoys pandering to the Walter Mitty type fantasies of the Portman worshipers out there or if he is truly clueless.
Katz is trying to stretch the concept of "geek" to include everyone from ravers to hackers to people who build geocities homepages for their pet goldfish, or collect Princess Di thimbles and is really flogging this topic to death.
Not everyone who is weird/eccentric is a geek, Katz - get over it.
I don't plan on reading the book. Didn't we go through this before with the seemingly endless spate of Gen X books a few years back? Katz is really the closest thing the geek community has to self promoters like Al Sharpton.
Slashdot Mirror
And if you don't believe me check out the forums on http://www.dslreports.com, which also has help for those of you struggling with DSL provider policies.
Not from the makers of "You might be a redneck" but a short quiz more appropriate to Slashdot "Are You a Mad Scientist?"
Mich. Eyes DoubleClick Privacy Suit -- "NEW YORK (AP) - Michigan law enforcers threatened Thursday to sue the online advertising firm DoubleClick Inc. for violating consumers' privacy, adding to a growing list of protests against the company and sending its stock into a tailspin." Full Story
Obviously that's not possible all the time, and in co-operative efforts your individual recognition is likely to be low. Although I am not active in the open-source community, perhaps the reason that community has been so successful is that it allows people to work together in a non-exploitative, individually rewarding way.
First, the timesheets that I turn in to my employer [they don't determine compensation, but how much time should be credited to various departments] have no relationship to the actual number of hours I work ~60/wk. It's easier to just make everything total out to 40, because I know that I'm not getting any overtime anyway.
I think that these findings highlight the irrelevance of overtime laws and other worker protection legislation. The high-tech industry is particularly abusive regarding compensation issues. How many of you have asked about the time commitment for a prospective employer and been told 60+ hours a week or "work till the job's done?"
The Mercury News had a series of articles about exploitation in the Valley. Unfortunately, those are in the pay archives now, but they detailed the use of home assembly (piece work) among other abuses including lack of overtime pay.
The most insidious trend that Katz identifies is the blurring of the line between work and home. Every time I read a glowing profile of a company that provides in house (dentists, game rooms, nap rooms, whatever) I shudder. If you read the trade press (Business 2.0, Wired, Industry Standard, etc.) the image is of one big happy family. Guess what - there's a reason the saying goes "You can't choose your relatives" - why would I want to buy into the fantasy that by virtue of being employed someplace I have suddenly gained a new home away from home. Ack! You may as well go to work for EDS or M$ if that's what you want. Can you tell I failed my "team building class :)
There's another article on MSNBC about how high internet use isolates people. There are a few sections that deal with Katz's post, here's a sample " If personal interaction - not to mention time with such old-fashioned media as newspapers and, particularly, television - were losers, employers benefited. A quarter of the respondents said the time they spent working at home had increased, while their hours at the office had either stayed the same or gone up as well."
M$ is designing for the lowest common denominator, just like they do for all their products.
"More than 27,000 'BugBug' comments" is a start, but what about all the 'BedBug' and dreaded 'BugBear' comments? Hmmm? What armor class are those suckers again? And how many hitpoints? Do they eat hot grits?
That hasn't stopped them from putting a prominent ad for their Windows 2000 store nearby. Oops! I forgot, this is the web, where mixing editorial content and advertising is "synergy."
I saw one of the billboards mentioned in the story on the subway tonight, touting M$ use by the federal government. The punchline? "Windows 2000: The government's business starts here"
There's nothing like truth in advertising :)
Katz is way off base. I have ceased wondering if he just enjoys pandering to the Walter Mitty type fantasies of the Portman worshipers out there or if he is truly clueless.
Katz is trying to stretch the concept of "geek" to include everyone from ravers to hackers to people who build geocities homepages for their pet goldfish, or collect Princess Di thimbles and is really flogging this topic to death.
Not everyone who is weird/eccentric is a geek, Katz - get over it.
I don't plan on reading the book. Didn't we go through this before with the seemingly endless spate of Gen X books a few years back? Katz is really the closest thing the geek community has to self promoters like Al Sharpton.