Once again, Iowa strikes. Even though I graduated back in '93, it was the same situation for me on my High School newspaper. Our 'advisor' was just that. He would look at the articles and tell us what he thought of them. If they were controversial, he would say so but it was up to us weither to print it or not. Sometimes we said "No, it's not going to be worth the hassle" and other times we went ahead and printed it. There were plenty of times when the Faculty were angry with us, some of the students would be, and more than a few threats of suspension but there wasn't much they could do. We did learn, however, that if you are going to stick to your guns, make sure you are right. One fact outta place... Libel and Freedom of Press are two totally different things.
Along the same lines : If you are caught smoking in the parking lot, you were smoking on campus. But if in the middle of the day you were in the parking lot, you were given detention for being off campus. *scratches head and tries to figure that one out*
This is a pretty cool idea. I don't think a lot of people realize exactly how much technology goes into farming. Stop by a John Deere dealership and look at the tractors. I'm talking the nice big ones. You'll see everything from GPS units, Satellite hookups, and Weather computers. Some measure moisture and exactly how much seeds to plant, etc. I've been in one that gave the guy a view of his field from above so he knew exactly where to plant or what needs more water. 90% of the work is still done by hand, but at least it keeps the mistakes down and increases productivity.
As for Iowa being flat...I can tell you after having been a runner for 16 years in this state, it ain't flat:)
Personally, I'm not going to be watching much of the Olympics. Why? Cuz I like to see the events, not the two dozen "Life Stories" that take up 90% of the broadcast time. Sure, it's great that Bob the Sprinter overcame but I wanna see him race. Not that I don't have feelings for the guy, but I seriously doubt said problem is on his mind when he's neck and neck with Sam the Speedy. These guys and gals aren't here because of commercials. They came here to do their best. TV on the other hand... Anyone remember that much hyped Greene vs Johnson?
My personal off topic rant - I'm a distance runner. Have been for almost 16 years now so I do enjoy watching those races that aren't over in a matter of seconds. Unfortunetly, anything that takes more than 5 minutes to complete, the Networks don't see fit to broadcast. I want to see who wins the 10,000 or the Marathon. These are my idols and heroes. These are the people who don't have huge endorsement contracts. They work their 9-5 jobs, fit in time for training, and pull this all off with very little financial support from anyone else. But unless I go to a speciality site (www.runnersworld.com for instance), I can't find out if my idols managed to pull off their life dream. The Networks don't care.
As the sole Network Admin for my company, my employer feels its essential that I stay in contact at all times. Naturally I hate this. So I've found a few ways around it.
I've purposely taken my vacations to places where technology isn't, or at least if it's there, it's not top notch. My last vacation was to the mountains of New Mexico. Sure, they had phones but have you tried getting a clear cell phone connection while you are in a cabin in the mountains? Doesn't work all that well. My next vacation is going to be at Walt Disney World to run the Marathon and visit the parks. Think I'm going to attempt to answer a phone call at mile 17? Or while I'm going down Splash Mountain? My employer knows that as well.
I take no electronic devices outside of a watch and perhaps a cell phone for personal emergancies when I go on vacations. If I want to talk to my company, I'll call them. Otherwise, my leisure time is just that. Mine.
This isn't related to the interview but might help others here. This month's issue of Sky & Telescope Magazine has a large article dedicated to this very subject. Radio and Optical I believe (I just recieved it yesterday so I haven't had the chance to read it yet). Might help those people who want a bit more information or just wanna look at the purty artist renderings.
I think this was mentioned in the show "From the Earth to the Moon", but it illustrates to how important getting perfection is in the space industry.
If, for example, there are 100,000 parts on the Space Shuttle, getting 99.9 percent accuracy means that 100 parts can break. Getting 99.99 percent means that 10 parts can break.
The company I work has a grand total of 4 people in the IT Department. Here's how it breaks down:
2 - AS/400 Programmers (1 one which has some experience in Network Admin & HelpDesk)
1 - Myself, the PC Coordinator - Help Desk, PC/Software, Network Admin (NT/Novell & soon Linux), Internet, Printers, PBX System, Purchasing, etc
1 - IT Manager : Keeps management from passing their bonehead ideas in our direction, otherwise produces fuel for plants
Now, the company overall has 250 employees, 2 servers (plus the soon addition of a 3rd Linux server) and around 150 computers in 5 branches. So that comes down to around 1:250 or 1:125 in the programming area. Unfortunetly, we cannot justify adding another resource because we are the victims of our own success. Our network hasn't crashed in over 6 months or even had a glitch since then and most days we can handle the problems easily and without getting too far behind. But then there are days like today, where it takes 45 minutes to fix a problem for one person. And then the calls pile up in your voice mail....
Re:I have never been so happy to be in iowa :)
on
Fighting UCITA
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· Score: 2
Ditto to delmoi. I like wandering around in this state. And yes, we do have indoor plumbing. Got it last week.
Iowa may seem backwards in the eyes of some but we've got a lot of people in Legislator that realize stiffling business isn't good for the economy. A number of years back they passed a bill stating that businesses would only be taxed on profits they made within Iowa. Sell something to Texas? Tax-Free. Had a real effect on the economy (the city I live in is just booming right now with only 1-2 percent unemployment rates).
If Iowa becomes a 'bomb-shelter', maybe more businesses will drop by. I'll get some corn on the cob ready for them.
Slashdot Mirror
Once again, Iowa strikes. Even though I graduated back in '93, it was the same situation for me on my High School newspaper. Our 'advisor' was just that. He would look at the articles and tell us what he thought of them. If they were controversial, he would say so but it was up to us weither to print it or not. Sometimes we said "No, it's not going to be worth the hassle" and other times we went ahead and printed it. There were plenty of times when the Faculty were angry with us, some of the students would be, and more than a few threats of suspension but there wasn't much they could do. We did learn, however, that if you are going to stick to your guns, make sure you are right. One fact outta place... Libel and Freedom of Press are two totally different things.
Along the same lines : If you are caught smoking in the parking lot, you were smoking on campus. But if in the middle of the day you were in the parking lot, you were given detention for being off campus. *scratches head and tries to figure that one out*
This is a pretty cool idea. I don't think a lot of people realize exactly how much technology goes into farming. Stop by a John Deere dealership and look at the tractors. I'm talking the nice big ones. You'll see everything from GPS units, Satellite hookups, and Weather computers. Some measure moisture and exactly how much seeds to plant, etc. I've been in one that gave the guy a view of his field from above so he knew exactly where to plant or what needs more water. 90% of the work is still done by hand, but at least it keeps the mistakes down and increases productivity.
As for Iowa being flat...I can tell you after having been a runner for 16 years in this state, it ain't flat:)
Personally, I'm not going to be watching much of the Olympics. Why? Cuz I like to see the events, not the two dozen "Life Stories" that take up 90% of the broadcast time. Sure, it's great that Bob the Sprinter overcame but I wanna see him race. Not that I don't have feelings for the guy, but I seriously doubt said problem is on his mind when he's neck and neck with Sam the Speedy. These guys and gals aren't here because of commercials. They came here to do their best. TV on the other hand... Anyone remember that much hyped Greene vs Johnson?
My personal off topic rant - I'm a distance runner. Have been for almost 16 years now so I do enjoy watching those races that aren't over in a matter of seconds. Unfortunetly, anything that takes more than 5 minutes to complete, the Networks don't see fit to broadcast. I want to see who wins the 10,000 or the Marathon. These are my idols and heroes. These are the people who don't have huge endorsement contracts. They work their 9-5 jobs, fit in time for training, and pull this all off with very little financial support from anyone else. But unless I go to a speciality site (www.runnersworld.com for instance), I can't find out if my idols managed to pull off their life dream. The Networks don't care.
As the sole Network Admin for my company, my employer feels its essential that I stay in contact at all times. Naturally I hate this. So I've found a few ways around it.
I've purposely taken my vacations to places where technology isn't, or at least if it's there, it's not top notch. My last vacation was to the mountains of New Mexico. Sure, they had phones but have you tried getting a clear cell phone connection while you are in a cabin in the mountains? Doesn't work all that well. My next vacation is going to be at Walt Disney World to run the Marathon and visit the parks. Think I'm going to attempt to answer a phone call at mile 17? Or while I'm going down Splash Mountain? My employer knows that as well.
I take no electronic devices outside of a watch and perhaps a cell phone for personal emergancies when I go on vacations. If I want to talk to my company, I'll call them. Otherwise, my leisure time is just that. Mine.
This isn't related to the interview but might help others here. This month's issue of Sky & Telescope Magazine has a large article dedicated to this very subject. Radio and Optical I believe (I just recieved it yesterday so I haven't had the chance to read it yet). Might help those people who want a bit more information or just wanna look at the purty artist renderings.
http://www.skypub.com/skytel/skytel.shtml
I think this was mentioned in the show "From the Earth to the Moon", but it illustrates to how important getting perfection is in the space industry.
If, for example, there are 100,000 parts on the Space Shuttle, getting 99.9 percent accuracy means that 100 parts can break. Getting 99.99 percent means that 10 parts can break.
The company I work has a grand total of 4 people in the IT Department. Here's how it breaks down:
2 - AS/400 Programmers (1 one which has some experience in Network Admin & HelpDesk)
1 - Myself, the PC Coordinator - Help Desk, PC/Software, Network Admin (NT/Novell & soon Linux), Internet, Printers, PBX System, Purchasing, etc
1 - IT Manager : Keeps management from passing their bonehead ideas in our direction, otherwise produces fuel for plants
Now, the company overall has 250 employees, 2 servers (plus the soon addition of a 3rd Linux server) and around 150 computers in 5 branches. So that comes down to around 1:250 or 1:125 in the programming area. Unfortunetly, we cannot justify adding another resource because we are the victims of our own success. Our network hasn't crashed in over 6 months or even had a glitch since then and most days we can handle the problems easily and without getting too far behind. But then there are days like today, where it takes 45 minutes to fix a problem for one person. And then the calls pile up in your voice mail....
Ditto to delmoi. I like wandering around in this state. And yes, we do have indoor plumbing. Got it last week.
Iowa may seem backwards in the eyes of some but we've got a lot of people in Legislator that realize stiffling business isn't good for the economy. A number of years back they passed a bill stating that businesses would only be taxed on profits they made within Iowa. Sell something to Texas? Tax-Free. Had a real effect on the economy (the city I live in is just booming right now with only 1-2 percent unemployment rates).
If Iowa becomes a 'bomb-shelter', maybe more businesses will drop by. I'll get some corn on the cob ready for them.