I'm still waiting for an iPhone manufacturer that pays its workers a decent wage and respects meaningful safety standards. I'm willing to pay an extra $100+ for my iPhone to not have a guilty conscience. C'mon invisible hand, supply my demand already.
The invisible hand has already spoken, such companies were driven out of business in the 1970s and 80s as *consumers* chose to purchase the less expensive imports from regions with questionable practices rather than US, Canadian and other regions with more developed legal, labor and environmental practices.
Technology may partially help remedy the situation. Automation and robotics could level the field, well at least for companies involved in manufacturing, not the factory / assembly line workers.
You can't wait for the invisible hand to do something. You, your family and your friends are the invisible hand. Get everyone to start paying attention to "made in" labels. It took some searching but I was able to find a screwdriver set made in the US at a Home Depot. I had to leave the tools section of the store and go to the "professional" section. It seems that union guys buying tools kept a couple of US based manufacturers alive.
US manufacturing production (in terms of dollars of product produced) was at an all-time high in 2008. However the number of manufacturing workers was at its 80-year low point. US manufacturing workers, armed with machines and robots, are becoming more and productive per worker.
Not just in the US. My understanding is that Germany has remained competitive in manufacturing by investing heavily in robotics. Manufacturing may return to the west but jobs won't be.
not to do business in the U.S. we have all those pesky organizations like OSHA, and those weird fair labor standards laws and anti child labor laws that get in the way of a really stellar profit margin.
'If I can *automate* in the US..."
Minimum wage, child labor and other regulations now apply to automated/robotic assembly lines? I think the "Futurama" society may be arriving before the year 3000.;-)
What workers? He said "'If I can *automate* in the US and ship to China, cost-wise it can still be competitive." He seems to be talking about replacing a manual assembly line in China with an automated/robotic assembly line in the US. You might be able to suggest that he wants to avoid environmental issues but labor issues do not seem to be relevant. As far as the US being an overly litigious environment, you will find few US citizens who would disagree.
I'm a big King fan, but I've never read this series...often wondered if it's worth getting into. Any opinions/advice/suggestions?
Take a risk on the first paperback or go to the library. My recollection is that unlike other books(*) you will get a sense of the story and style pretty quickly. If you like what you are reading keep going.
(*) As for book that don't really reveal themselves for a while I'd have to refer to Dune. Friends told me how great it was so I started reading. I pushed myself for the first third or so wondering what the hell the attraction was. Now while reading the second half I could not put the book down. Years later when I reread the book I loved the first half too. It was only after I had the big picture did I fully appreciate the rich and detailed social and environmental background information. This was all before the movie and miniseries so perhaps today fewer readers will stumble as I did.
We're a long way from anywhere and have only a limited amount of fibre connections to other countries (where I imagine most data will come from), this is reflected in the silly high prices we pay for data already... So whilst it's great that we will have these kinds of speeds, how are we going to get data services fast enough to take advantage of them?
A lot of data/content can be cached on continent. Akamai claims that:
"Akamai routinely delivers between fifteen and thirty percent of all Web traffic, reaching more than 4 Terabits per second." http://www.akamai.com/html/customers/index.html
double addvalues(double a, double b) {
if (a > 1000.0 || b > 1000.0)
{// they'll never notice
return (a + b) * 1.0009;
}
else
return a + b; }
There, an algorithm that allows a computer/robot to decide whether it should attempt to deceive. Not a very complex or good one, but still.:)
Your algorithm can be simplified and the deception will be even less noticeable.;-)
double addvalues(double a, double b)
{
return a + b;
}
OK, the humor is not very apparent except to FPU geeks and those familiar with numerical programming. Converting numbers between decimal and binary, so that the FPU hardware can operate on it, is one source of error in all floating point computations. There are also precision problems. On some popular mobile devices, iPhone for example, a double does not even have the precision to operate on 64-bit values. Which is why we ended up using 20 digit decimal math in our iPhone calculator.
I am referring only to the iPod Classic and it's pricing history over many years, not the current product lineup. The Classic is where the pattern originated. If you look at the other iPod families you see Apple reusing the old Classic pattern to some degree, price points obviously being very different.
Sounds great, but who's going to pay for the books? Someone will still have to pay for the books if they don't pay for the iPads. Worst case scenario, they will have to pay for the iPad AND the books. Sounds brilliant, when we all know that electronic copies of the books have a somewhat similar price to the printed ones.
For consumer books, but textbooks don't have to follow that pattern. And if this pilot program shows no advantages the state can stick with paper.
That said I expect publishers want to go digital and will make it attractive in some manner. Keep in mind that the digital book can be bundled with software and movies. Going digital also solves one of the publisher's nightmares at the college level, used textbooks.
Also keep in mind that today's $500 iPad will probably be around $250 in a couple of years. and those are retail prices not educational institution prices.
That's not how Apple (and other companies aiming at higher priced products) works. They decide on a price point, and develop a product that is as good as it can get for that price. When the components get cheaper, they add more stuff to the device (like the better camera, more RAM and faster processor on iPhone 4) and keep at the same level. The only times when they lower it is when they decide that they made a mistake with the initial judgement (see Apple TV), or when they perceive a change in the market they have to follow.
For example, the price for the Mac Mini actually went UP over time. Same for the entry-level MacBook.
A far better example is the iPod Classic. Introduced at $500. Later more capable and better configured models were introduced and price points were $300, $400, and $500 give or take. What was the $500 configuration at one time worked its way down to $300 after a couple of product refreshes.
Like that original iPod classic, the current iPad is offered as a single model at a high price point suitable only for early adopters. This is won't last, the iPod Classic pattern used for many years will probably be applied to the iPad.
1. Register a domain. The most difficult step.
2. Check for trademarks yourself.
3. Pay an attorney to check for trademarks. They will find conflicts that you never imagined and that you disagree with, however they understand the trademark office better than you.
4. Now create that s-corp, llc, etc.
I feel like the jury is probably still out on the average lifespan of an iPad, but what I'm wondering is if the schools see this as a way to always pass the cost of a replacement on to a student. iPad breaks because it's just plain old? Well, your kid must have broken it, it was working when we gave it to him, so you'll have to pay for the new one! Now all the school has to pay for is updates to the online textbooks.
I'm sure durability is one of the things that this pilot program is going to measure. This program is essentially an experiment designed to answer many of the questions being offered here today.
Much as I dislike them, why not a Kindle loaded with text books. That would be much much less than iPads and less likely to be used for other purposes (like watching YouTube during class).
1. Color is extensively used in modern textbooks.
2. Textbooks are incorporating more software and multimedia.
I had the opportunity to work with a textbook publisher regarding the software bundled with a chemistry textbook. This software included chemical diagramming (2D - for reports and such) and 3D model building and visualization. We also had a few movies illustrating some basic principles. All of this could easily be done on an iPad and be bundled with the textbook. Not so for today's Kindle. I hope future Kindle's offer color and touch to make such things feasible.
California is in the middle of a hiring freeze for the State, and a huge deficit. Where exactly are they getting the money for these iPad projects for these districts, let alone for the rest of the State if they decide to advance it?
This is a pilot program, Houghton Mifflin and/or Apple are probably subsidizing it.
A pilot program is designed to measure the effectiveness of the device and the costs. It is plausible that a reusable digital device loaded with numerous textbooks could be less expensive than the corresponding set of paper textbooks. Also keep in mind that today's $500 iPad will probably be around $250 in a couple of years. and those are retail prices not educational institution prices.
... A contract might oblige one party not to engage in a particular trade (thus, restraining them from it)...
This is where your logic is fundamentally flawed. There is *no restraint*. A person in such a contract is still *free* to work for a competitor. There are merely no longer entitled to the consideration they were offered once they do so.
Not quite. My understanding is that the law treats owners and the highest ranked executives differently than ordinary worker.
It does not. You can look at the law (Business and Professions Code Sec. 16600-16602.5) yourself and see.
It treats owners who sell their interest in a business to new owners different, but it doesn't treat employees who happen to be in executive positions any different to any other employees.
I'm probably thinking of cases where a california judge ruled that a former exec could not engage in certain activities at the new employer because the likelihood of disclosure of proprietary information was too great. There is a balance between the right to confidentiality and the right to work, neither is absolute.
...how was he actually rescued? I see correlation between his tweets and his release but no causation.
Its just a coincidence that someone who was released had previously sent out a tweet. My understanding from reading elsewhere (yahoo news) is that the ransom was *not* paid. However since the victim was a muslim the kidnappers felt they could not kill him, so they let him go.
However even for workers the law you cite can get fuzzy.
Its actually quite black and white: to the extent a contract restrains someone from work in a lawful trade or profession, that contract is void. Other than the exceptions for owners transferring their interest in a business.
Nope. Such a contract (part of a severance package not an employment agreement) does *not* restrain someone from working for a competitor, it pays them not too. The pay is the consideration for forgoing something that you are entitled to do. If you choose to work for a competitor you must return this pay (consideration), assuming you accepted it in the first place.
There's a limit to what they can force non-disclosure on. Otherwise, it would be a one hit wonder for so many managers and executives.
No. Trade secrets and proprietary information are off limits in perpetuity as long as the company properly identified and secured such information and continues to do so.
I think what you are getting at are the experience and general skills a person develops on the job. These are things that may be taken from job to job without restriction.
Lets say that while at HP Hurd developed personal business relationships with executives at company A. Lets say he has experience negotiating with company A. Now that he is at Oracle he is free to leverage the personal relationships and negotiating experience (what are the other sides tells, general strategies, etc), but he is not allowed to use any information he has about HP contracts or deals in his decision making process or negotiations. Due to the difficulty of doing the later courts have sometimes prohibited executives from engaging in certain activities at their new employers.
Prior to any of said trade secrets being used? Good luck with that one...
Trade secrets and proprietary information can never be disclosed. Noncompete agreements may be null and void at the time of signing but nondisclosure agreements can last forever.
That may allow him to work at Oracle, barring trade secret or proprietary information issues, but it may not allow him to keep all of his severance. I think you may be able to pay a person not to work for a competitor for a reasonable time frame. They still have the right to do so but may be required to return the payment.
California has a pretty clear cut law that makes almost all non-compete clauses NULL and VOID.
Not quite. My understanding is that the law treats owners and the highest ranked executives differently than ordinary worker. Especially when trade secrets and other proprietary information is involved.
However even for workers the law you cite can get fuzzy. Lets say you agree to accept a payment in return for not working at a competitor for a reasonable amount of time, say a year. If you choose to take such a job you may be free to do so but you may also need to return the payment.
I don't get the difference between this person and all the people of old whose many personal and mundane letters litter collections everywhere and make historical accounts more rich and precise. I bet he can track the births and deaths of countless relationships through those emails, which is itself of tremendous worth.
Those people of old often intended their letters to be saved for posterity. Many also took a hostile reader's interpretation into consideration given the biased press of those days, often far worse than what we see today. Given this they composed things far more carefully, often explaining their reasoning in detail. Today's off-the-top-of-your-head emails where a response or "conversation" can be nearly instantaneous are a poor comparison.
That said I agree that such an archive could be of value to social/cultural anthropologists, much like when they dig through old land fills and garbage dumps. Don't laugh about going through garage dumps until you have read about things like Vindolanda, http://www.vindolanda.com/roman_vindolanda.html.
... If you live by principles, treat people well and avoid doing things that you'd regret seeing the light of day, saving all of your communications can make you a defense lawyer's wet dream.
That is a fantasy, the fact that we need good samaritan laws to protect people demonstrates this. In the real world good people get sued and lose in court every day.
Slashdot Mirror
I'm still waiting for an iPhone manufacturer that pays its workers a decent wage and respects meaningful safety standards. I'm willing to pay an extra $100+ for my iPhone to not have a guilty conscience. C'mon invisible hand, supply my demand already.
The invisible hand has already spoken, such companies were driven out of business in the 1970s and 80s as *consumers* chose to purchase the less expensive imports from regions with questionable practices rather than US, Canadian and other regions with more developed legal, labor and environmental practices.
Technology may partially help remedy the situation. Automation and robotics could level the field, well at least for companies involved in manufacturing, not the factory / assembly line workers.
You can't wait for the invisible hand to do something. You, your family and your friends are the invisible hand. Get everyone to start paying attention to "made in" labels. It took some searching but I was able to find a screwdriver set made in the US at a Home Depot. I had to leave the tools section of the store and go to the "professional" section. It seems that union guys buying tools kept a couple of US based manufacturers alive.
US manufacturing production (in terms of dollars of product produced) was at an all-time high in 2008. However the number of manufacturing workers was at its 80-year low point. US manufacturing workers, armed with machines and robots, are becoming more and productive per worker.
Not just in the US. My understanding is that Germany has remained competitive in manufacturing by investing heavily in robotics. Manufacturing may return to the west but jobs won't be.
not to do business in the U.S. we have all those pesky organizations like OSHA, and those weird fair labor standards laws and anti child labor laws that get in the way of a really stellar profit margin.
'If I can *automate* in the US ..."
;-)
Minimum wage, child labor and other regulations now apply to automated/robotic assembly lines? I think the "Futurama" society may be arriving before the year 3000.
More likely tat he wants to exploit the worker
What workers? He said "'If I can *automate* in the US and ship to China, cost-wise it can still be competitive." He seems to be talking about replacing a manual assembly line in China with an automated/robotic assembly line in the US. You might be able to suggest that he wants to avoid environmental issues but labor issues do not seem to be relevant. As far as the US being an overly litigious environment, you will find few US citizens who would disagree.
I'm a big King fan, but I've never read this series...often wondered if it's worth getting into. Any opinions/advice/suggestions?
Take a risk on the first paperback or go to the library. My recollection is that unlike other books(*) you will get a sense of the story and style pretty quickly. If you like what you are reading keep going.
(*) As for book that don't really reveal themselves for a while I'd have to refer to Dune. Friends told me how great it was so I started reading. I pushed myself for the first third or so wondering what the hell the attraction was. Now while reading the second half I could not put the book down. Years later when I reread the book I loved the first half too. It was only after I had the big picture did I fully appreciate the rich and detailed social and environmental background information. This was all before the movie and miniseries so perhaps today fewer readers will stumble as I did.
We're a long way from anywhere and have only a limited amount of fibre connections to other countries (where I imagine most data will come from), this is reflected in the silly high prices we pay for data already ... So whilst it's great that we will have these kinds of speeds, how are we going to get data services fast enough to take advantage of them?
A lot of data/content can be cached on continent. Akamai claims that:
"Akamai routinely delivers between fifteen and thirty percent of all Web traffic, reaching more than 4 Terabits per second."
http://www.akamai.com/html/customers/index.html
double addvalues(double a, double b) // they'll never notice :)
{
if (a > 1000.0 || b > 1000.0)
{
return (a + b) * 1.0009;
}
else
return a + b;
}
There, an algorithm that allows a computer/robot to decide whether it should attempt to deceive. Not a very complex or good one, but still.
Your algorithm can be simplified and the deception will be even less noticeable. ;-)
double addvalues(double a, double b)
{
return a + b;
}
OK, the humor is not very apparent except to FPU geeks and those familiar with numerical programming. Converting numbers between decimal and binary, so that the FPU hardware can operate on it, is one source of error in all floating point computations. There are also precision problems. On some popular mobile devices, iPhone for example, a double does not even have the precision to operate on 64-bit values. Which is why we ended up using 20 digit decimal math in our iPhone calculator.
I am referring only to the iPod Classic and it's pricing history over many years, not the current product lineup. The Classic is where the pattern originated. If you look at the other iPod families you see Apple reusing the old Classic pattern to some degree, price points obviously being very different.
Sounds great, but who's going to pay for the books? Someone will still have to pay for the books if they don't pay for the iPads. Worst case scenario, they will have to pay for the iPad AND the books. Sounds brilliant, when we all know that electronic copies of the books have a somewhat similar price to the printed ones.
For consumer books, but textbooks don't have to follow that pattern. And if this pilot program shows no advantages the state can stick with paper.
That said I expect publishers want to go digital and will make it attractive in some manner. Keep in mind that the digital book can be bundled with software and movies. Going digital also solves one of the publisher's nightmares at the college level, used textbooks.
Also keep in mind that today's $500 iPad will probably be around $250 in a couple of years. and those are retail prices not educational institution prices.
That's not how Apple (and other companies aiming at higher priced products) works. They decide on a price point, and develop a product that is as good as it can get for that price. When the components get cheaper, they add more stuff to the device (like the better camera, more RAM and faster processor on iPhone 4) and keep at the same level. The only times when they lower it is when they decide that they made a mistake with the initial judgement (see Apple TV), or when they perceive a change in the market they have to follow.
For example, the price for the Mac Mini actually went UP over time. Same for the entry-level MacBook.
A far better example is the iPod Classic. Introduced at $500. Later more capable and better configured models were introduced and price points were $300, $400, and $500 give or take. What was the $500 configuration at one time worked its way down to $300 after a couple of product refreshes.
Like that original iPod classic, the current iPad is offered as a single model at a high price point suitable only for early adopters. This is won't last, the iPod Classic pattern used for many years will probably be applied to the iPad.
1. Register a domain. The most difficult step.
2. Check for trademarks yourself.
3. Pay an attorney to check for trademarks. They will find conflicts that you never imagined and that you disagree with, however they understand the trademark office better than you.
4. Now create that s-corp, llc, etc.
and of course it has to be added:
5. ?
6. Profit!
I feel like the jury is probably still out on the average lifespan of an iPad, but what I'm wondering is if the schools see this as a way to always pass the cost of a replacement on to a student. iPad breaks because it's just plain old? Well, your kid must have broken it, it was working when we gave it to him, so you'll have to pay for the new one! Now all the school has to pay for is updates to the online textbooks.
I'm sure durability is one of the things that this pilot program is going to measure. This program is essentially an experiment designed to answer many of the questions being offered here today.
Much as I dislike them, why not a Kindle loaded with text books. That would be much much less than iPads and less likely to be used for other purposes (like watching YouTube during class).
1. Color is extensively used in modern textbooks.
2. Textbooks are incorporating more software and multimedia.
I had the opportunity to work with a textbook publisher regarding the software bundled with a chemistry textbook. This software included chemical diagramming (2D - for reports and such) and 3D model building and visualization. We also had a few movies illustrating some basic principles. All of this could easily be done on an iPad and be bundled with the textbook. Not so for today's Kindle. I hope future Kindle's offer color and touch to make such things feasible.
California is in the middle of a hiring freeze for the State, and a huge deficit. Where exactly are they getting the money for these iPad projects for these districts, let alone for the rest of the State if they decide to advance it?
This is a pilot program, Houghton Mifflin and/or Apple are probably subsidizing it.
A pilot program is designed to measure the effectiveness of the device and the costs. It is plausible that a reusable digital device loaded with numerous textbooks could be less expensive than the corresponding set of paper textbooks. Also keep in mind that today's $500 iPad will probably be around $250 in a couple of years. and those are retail prices not educational institution prices.
... A contract might oblige one party not to engage in a particular trade (thus, restraining them from it) ...
This is where your logic is fundamentally flawed. There is *no restraint*. A person in such a contract is still *free* to work for a competitor. There are merely no longer entitled to the consideration they were offered once they do so.
It does not. You can look at the law (Business and Professions Code Sec. 16600-16602.5) yourself and see.
It treats owners who sell their interest in a business to new owners different, but it doesn't treat employees who happen to be in executive positions any different to any other employees.
I'm probably thinking of cases where a california judge ruled that a former exec could not engage in certain activities at the new employer because the likelihood of disclosure of proprietary information was too great. There is a balance between the right to confidentiality and the right to work, neither is absolute.
...how was he actually rescued? I see correlation between his tweets and his release but no causation.
Its just a coincidence that someone who was released had previously sent out a tweet. My understanding from reading elsewhere (yahoo news) is that the ransom was *not* paid. However since the victim was a muslim the kidnappers felt they could not kill him, so they let him go.
Its actually quite black and white: to the extent a contract restrains someone from work in a lawful trade or profession, that contract is void. Other than the exceptions for owners transferring their interest in a business.
Nope. Such a contract (part of a severance package not an employment agreement) does *not* restrain someone from working for a competitor, it pays them not too. The pay is the consideration for forgoing something that you are entitled to do. If you choose to work for a competitor you must return this pay (consideration), assuming you accepted it in the first place.
There's a limit to what they can force non-disclosure on. Otherwise, it would be a one hit wonder for so many managers and executives.
No. Trade secrets and proprietary information are off limits in perpetuity as long as the company properly identified and secured such information and continues to do so.
I think what you are getting at are the experience and general skills a person develops on the job. These are things that may be taken from job to job without restriction.
Lets say that while at HP Hurd developed personal business relationships with executives at company A. Lets say he has experience negotiating with company A. Now that he is at Oracle he is free to leverage the personal relationships and negotiating experience (what are the other sides tells, general strategies, etc), but he is not allowed to use any information he has about HP contracts or deals in his decision making process or negotiations. Due to the difficulty of doing the later courts have sometimes prohibited executives from engaging in certain activities at their new employers.
Prior to any of said trade secrets being used? Good luck with that one...
Trade secrets and proprietary information can never be disclosed. Noncompete agreements may be null and void at the time of signing but nondisclosure agreements can last forever.
In California, non-compete agreements have been disallowed by the courts...
That may allow him to work at Oracle, barring trade secret or proprietary information issues, but it may not allow him to keep all of his severance. I think you may be able to pay a person not to work for a competitor for a reasonable time frame. They still have the right to do so but may be required to return the payment.
California has a pretty clear cut law that makes almost all non-compete clauses NULL and VOID.
Not quite. My understanding is that the law treats owners and the highest ranked executives differently than ordinary worker. Especially when trade secrets and other proprietary information is involved.
However even for workers the law you cite can get fuzzy. Lets say you agree to accept a payment in return for not working at a competitor for a reasonable amount of time, say a year. If you choose to take such a job you may be free to do so but you may also need to return the payment.
I don't get the difference between this person and all the people of old whose many personal and mundane letters litter collections everywhere and make historical accounts more rich and precise. I bet he can track the births and deaths of countless relationships through those emails, which is itself of tremendous worth.
Those people of old often intended their letters to be saved for posterity. Many also took a hostile reader's interpretation into consideration given the biased press of those days, often far worse than what we see today. Given this they composed things far more carefully, often explaining their reasoning in detail. Today's off-the-top-of-your-head emails where a response or "conversation" can be nearly instantaneous are a poor comparison.
That said I agree that such an archive could be of value to social/cultural anthropologists, much like when they dig through old land fills and garbage dumps. Don't laugh about going through garage dumps until you have read about things like Vindolanda, http://www.vindolanda.com/roman_vindolanda.html.
... If you live by principles, treat people well and avoid doing things that you'd regret seeing the light of day, saving all of your communications can make you a defense lawyer's wet dream.
That is a fantasy, the fact that we need good samaritan laws to protect people demonstrates this. In the real world good people get sued and lose in court every day.
Not feasible today. Sufficiently large or complex aircraft are designed to be crew operated. You can not just leave the copilot seat empty.