I did some work on Mechanical Turk when it first came out. It was kind of fun at first, so I didn't mind the low rates. But when the rates started dropping further and the work wasn't as interesting, I stopped and haven't been back.
Simple supply and demand... they have a low demand and their appears to be a sufficient supply of people willing to work for less than a buck an hour. Anyone with basic math skills can calculate the hourly rate and decide if there is anything else they want to do that is worth more to them than that.
I'm sure there are many who have either not calculated it, or don't know how. But after working for a few nights and only getting $5, I would think that the only people left that are doing it derive something out of it. Even if it's just an extra $5.
Two spaces after a period. That way when I copy to a monospaced program like TextEdit, it still works.
Just because most programs and people use proportional fonts, doesn't mean they all do.
And it's four spaces for indenting. Two is not enough, and eight is just crazy after a couple of levels. If four spaces for indents moves things over to far, then that section needs to break things up a little bit more.....
It's also to protect future buyers of the home and the current resident. For instance, local codes specify what type of drains have to be used so people don't get sucked down against it and drown. Wiring requirements so a problem in a motor doesn't shock everyone in the pool.
I want to put in an in-ground hot tub to replace an above-ground one I removed that was old and falling apart. If I purchase a model from a store and just drop it into a hole, no permit is required as long as I use the existing wiring and only pour a concrete pad. But if I start to build permanent walls and do my own wiring, then they have rules about electrical equipment being a certain distance away, GFI circuits being used, wall construction so that it won't cave in on people, and a host of other requirements.
My wife and I are on AT&T and choose the HTC Aria over the iPhone. Now I wish I would have waited until the Samsung Galaxy came out. My wife played with my daughter's iPhone and my HTC and picked the HTC.
In my office of about 25 people, there is 1 iPhone user and several Android phones. Almost every Blackberry user is dropping their Blackberry for an Android as their contracts come up. The company will be pulling Blackberry support over the next year partly because of the exodus from Blackberry.
It seems that Android is making inroads both into the consumer AND business markets.
One of the Android based phones best features is that there will be numerous different configurations of Android based phones that will all work basically the same, but each person can purchase the phone with the features they want instead of the limited choices Apple provides. By limited, I mean features like integrated keyboards, SD cards, different camera options. You know... stuff that competition and open markets tend to provide.
I seem to be able to sync my Gmail with my old Palm and my new Android just fine. My HTC Aria locks if I don't use it after two minutes and I have to use a pattern to unlock. I get emails when I have appointments. And all of my contacts are available at all times, both on my PC and my HTC. Our company is switching everyone over to Gmail from Outlook because of the INCREASED ability to access and sync it.. and lower costs.
Ok.. I can't remote wipe it. But if you can't get into it because it's locked, it kinda makes it useless, doesn't it???
So why is your company enforcing rules that don't make sense?? Too many pointy-headed bosses there???
I make a boat load of money just doing Java and SQL. And in the last few weeks, I've had 3 people ask me if they know of any Java programmers (two for full time positions, one was contract work). Two of those people only knew I was in the computer field. Yet no one has EVER asked me if I know of any C# programmers. So toss out the comment about having to know it to be relevant today.
Figure out what you want to do, then learn the language appropriate for it. Want to code Windows, MSSQL, or whatever Windows calls their web server these days?? Might not hurt to learn C#. I do mostly back-end data loading/transformation/modeling work, and Java works just fine. It fits more in with my skill set, and there just aren't that many programmers that want to do such 'boring' work so I'm in high demand.
In fact, just about any language, including COBOL, would work fine for 90% of what I do. Some of the financial modeling requires recursive code and more advanced mathematical functions, such as standard deviation, and I don't think COBOL ever incorporated that. But I haven't done COBOL since '85, so don't quote me on that.
I've been programming for 30 years, and have never had those problems. I keep up to speed on new technology, am never afraid to pitch in even when I don't know something, and have always made sure my various bosses know that I will do whatever it takes to get the job done. I get jobs based on contacts with friends and don't send resumes to HR, I get them to the manager. I'm smart and curious, and make sure that I present those skills because anybody that is a decent manager knows that they want someone who is smart more than someone who is certified. And anyone that is any good knows they don't want to work for a manager that hires based on certifications.
So if someone is having the problems noted above, maybe they need a different attitude. Whining never solved anything. And when I hire people, I don't want excuses, I want someone who will dig it and get the job done.
Any decent programmer can learn a new language after they have been programing for years, it's just not that difficult. Unless someone isn't that good to begin with. Because no matter how much they tell you, basic programming really hasn't changed in 30 years. Oh sure, we use IDEs instead of card punches, and they'll talk about object oriented programming and the new paradigm, but it's really not much different than the old paradigm when you look under the covers. Computers still do things the same way they always did. Unless someone changed how binary works.
If someone doesn't want to be a programmer.. don't start. Unless you are just curious. There is nothing worse than someone with no programming experience writing code. Not because they can't write code. But because they don't know enough about how NOT to write code and how to identify and correct syntax errors and how to debug and test. And will need to spend the next 10 years making the same stupid mistakes we have all made, but without the oversight of someone who knows how NOT to write code that will laugh and gently explain to them why myString+=anotherString sometimes is OK, but sometimes isn't. Why even though it works, sometimes there is a better way to append two strings and other things that aren't in the manual.
You mean how people might be affected by the Arctic Ocean would be open all year and decrease shipping costs?? Or how growing seasons could shift so that some areas that can't grow much food will now have longer growing seasons, and in areas where people live so transportation costs could decrease? Or how winters would be less severe so fewer people might die?? Or how many low lying areas could be reasonably protected (increasing employment no less), there are already several examples where cities are below sea level. You mean those reasons?? Or how a new NOAA study say that hurricanes will be less severe if the oceans get warmer, so the Gulf of Mexico just might become a safer place to live.
It's funny how everyone concentrates on the bad effects, but fail to mention the positive effects. One might think they are just trying to push the argument their way instead of getting an unbiased look at ALL the issues.
Ok.. for the sake of argument, let's say the earth is warming. Now the question is 'Why?'. If one is is to assume the 'man caused global warming' theory is correct, then decreasing CO2 production might help, but at a very high cost and life style change that will be forced upon people. If they are wrong, and it is just natural, then we might do all this for nothing, and still have to face all the issues.
The seas are not going to rise over night. The growing seasons are not going to shift next year. We can use reasonable measures to decrease CO2 production that won't destroy economies, and at the same time examine and prepare for the changes that could occur no matter what we do. Just stop all the fanatical fear mongering.
BTW -- I live in Phoenix and ride my motorcycle all year. Global warming?? Bring it on!!!! I'd love for it to be about 3-4 degrees warmer in the 'winter' here, and extend my pool season.
I have a household with two people, two made-from-scratch PCs, an 8 year old Dell and a 3 year old Gateway.
We are all 'buy what suits our needs at the lowest price and use what we have until it no longer works'. We could easily purchase any home computer system we want, but choose to make do with what we have until we truly need something else.
We just bought two Android phones even though we are on the AT&T network because they also met our needs. My wife wanted and got an iTouch for Christmas and now thinks it was a complete waste of money and thinks iTunes is the worst piece of software ever written. Sure, Apple products they have their flaws. So we don't use them.
I have no idea what a portable consumption device is, but it sounds elitist to me......
Assange isn't a journalist, he is an activist with an agenda to demonize the US. Where are his efforts to find the Taliban documents showing their human rights violations? Or clear violations of the Geneva Convention? And how they are the ones putting civilians in danger by not following the Geneva Convention.. they don't wearing uniforms and they quarter with civilian! Hmmm??? Where is his outrage???
And where are the documents showing the amount of effort the US soldiers put in distributing contributions from US citizens, including medical, school, and sport supplies? Putting themselves in harms way to protect civilians during firefights? Or the extrodinary efforts they take to try to limit civilian casualties. And where are the documents showing the Taliban's indiscriminate placing of IEDs and the number innocent lives they have taken?? Hmmm??? Where are those docuements Assange?? Or do they not have the impact you are looking for when advancing your agenda??
Assange has no right to call himself a journalist. A journalist is unbiased and researches many aspects of a story, not just the one that suits his agenda. And posting documents with no analysis isn't a story, it's a data dump that any 12 year old with access to the Internet could do if they got the data.
He is nothing more than a hack with an agenda and deserves zero media attention.
I do the same thing. Same with programs on the desktop. But I grew up in a time when resource management was important, so I'm aware of the memory that each unused program or tab is taking up. I suppose I could spend a few bucks and buy more memory, but it works for me.
I've built my Firefox tab bar with the sites I use the most, so most of them are only two clicks away (one for the folder, one for the site). Those I use more are the easiest to get to, those that I rarely use take a little more effort. Same with my task bar and menu bar.
But I see some people, even tech people, that run EVERY window at full screen, and have 20 programs all opened at the same time. I suppose they could use something like that because they seem to have an issue with closing things, or having more than one program visible at a time.
The argument then is to create a system whereby the users that don't share passwords and follow the rules are inconvenienced by those that don't follow the rules and do share passwords.
Or are we just not clever enough to come up with a system that prevents sharing of passwords. Like not being able to use the same password at two different computers at the same time, especially for people that are very unlikely to use more than one computer a day?? And then find a way for those people that have to use multiple computers can?
All requiring me to change my password did was to come up with a rotation system for the same 10 passwords. Someone sharing passwords could easily pass on the rotation system. "Oh.. when this password stops working, here is how I get the next one, I just change the '1' at the end to a '2'". My rotation method beats the 'and must be different by more than 'X' characters' but could be explained to anyone.
In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if someone else also uses it, and it's in some hackers dictionary already....
I just hire people that are smart, good problem solvers, and seem to have a personality.
None of that other shit really matters. Someone who is smart, works well with others, and is a good problem solver can pick up anything without all that formal training and will probably be better at it in a few months than someone who is an average developer.
How to tell if someone is smart?? Well.. talking to them helps. Find people who are curious and ask questions rather than say 'mememememe' in their interview. Ask them about tough problems they have fixed, and see if they know how to do problem isolation. See if they have a general knowledge beyond development, a developer who knows nothing about network bandwidth utilization or database storage is useless unless you are just going to hand him finished specs and want a code monkey.
Explore how they learn new technologies. Do they take a class, or do they go buy a book/research online and 'play'. If they are presented with new technology, do they respond with 'I don't know how to do that' or 'I don't know how to do that, but give me a couple of days'.
Let someone else hire the programmers with a lot of letters after their names, find the truly good ones that are too busy doing shit to take a class or get certified.
More extortion from the federal government. They take our money, then impose rules on us to give it back. That's how they get around all those nasty little Constitution things.
If the federal government would lower the federal income tax and decrease federal subsidies, while working with states so they can increase state income taxes for a net gain or loss, there would be more money around for these projects BECAUSE NO FEDERAL BUREAUCRAT WOULD BE NEEDED TO TELL MY STATE WHAT TO DO WITH MY MONEY!!!! No more bridges to nowhere, or 'make work' projects because now states wouldn't have the excuse of 'if we don't ask for something, we won't get our share'.
Oh.. I know.. 'What about the poor states'. Work out a solution that doesn't entail the federal government imposing 55mph speed limits and no-child-left-behind type mandates.
In the late 90s I was driving my car in a rainstorm and splashed a little girl. My first impulse was to stop and offer her a ride home...
Which I couldn't do because any middle aged man getting out of a car and offering a ride to a little girl is automatically a pervert. So I called the police and told them where I was and what happened. They said they would send someone around to check on her.
Now... fast forward to 2003. I was in India on business and had gone to the mall with one of my co-workers to get a few things. We were at the top of a very tall and open escalator but couldn't get on because a man and two kids were in the way. The man was holding his young daughter in his arms and trying to get the young, frightened, teary-eyed boy to get on the escalator. My friend just picked the boy up without saying a word, got on the escalator, and we all rode down. At the bottom, my friend set the boy down, the man thanked my friend and we all went our merry way. No one called security or yelled out 'stranger danger'.
Sometimes I wonder what the definition of 'civilized' really means....
Ummm.....they probably turn like all motorcycles... using the handlebars. I don't think they could turn very tightly when parking since your hands are next to the wheels, but at speeds above 25mph you don't really turn the handlebars anyway. Google 'motorcycle countersteer' for more information, or visit Wikipedia.
Why??? Counter steering is counter steering. The body position would take some getting used to, and the fat tires might make it less than nimble in the curves depending on how they are shaped. My 'guess' is the wheelbase is around 60-70", based on the the rider sitting on it, so it might be reasonably quick around the corners. I'd say anyone that rides rides a bike more than 5,000 miles/year would be up and ready to go after about a couple of minutes in a parking lot getting used to it. Those that only ride a bike to bars in the evening... maybe a lesson or two might be good for them.
I'm sure xednieht lives in a one room studio with four other people to save all his money, lives only on water and basic nutrition, and then sends all the extra money he makes to poor people. If he doesn't, then he is a hypocrite for telling anyone else how to live their lives.
Bugger off... I'll spend the money I make and the time I have however I want to.
So you know a bunch of stupid people. They must like your company, maybe you make them feel smart. How old are you anyway.. judging from your know-it-all attitude, I'd say about 19.
I'm a 50 year old man who got a tattoo 30 years ago, and it still looks good. And people of all ages still ask me about it and I still show it off.
People who like the idea of a tattoo and enjoy fine art should probably get one. People who are self-righteous and think they know what is right for other people should just shut the fuck up.. they are annoying and no one pays them any attention anyway.
I got a tattoo 30 years ago on the spur of the moment and still show it off. So... everyone do whatever they want and don't listen to stupid fucks like the one above. He probably plans everything out and will never ever do anything spontaneous his entire life. His wife will find him boring and run off with someone that is actually fun to be around. Or he will find an equally boring wife and the two of them will live a very safe and boring life together, finding themselves in a nursing home listening to stories from other people because they have no good ones to tell.
If mabersold is a woman, please replace 'wife' with 'husband' and 'he' with 'she' in the paragraph above.
You should take a few economic courses in addition to your science courses and learned about this thing called 'capitalism'.
Those courses will help explain why 99% of all computer users don't care that you need a PCI bus since they don't need one, and why Intel doesn't care either.
Then you need to find someone who cares...or rather someone that can make a buck off of selling you one.
Re:Does it have a monitor and full-size keyboard?
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Flight of the Desktops
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My wife uses her desktop and not her laptop because her desktop is BETTER and CHEAPER and MORE CONVENIENT than a laptop IF SHE WANTS TO SIT AT HER DESK AND USE IT! Which is where she uses it 99% of the time. NO affordable laptop comes with two monitors, you have to plug one or both in or deal with two monitors of different sizes, one of which is your laptop's monitor which means your laptop keyboard is either in the way or being used instead of a real keyboard.
OTOH, only a fool would think that someone would unplug a desktop to use a laptop in the same space.
If and when I want a portable, I'll get a minimum powered netbook just for email and web browsing that is much more convenient than the high powered laptop I would need to replace my desktop. Why spend a lot of money for portability when it isn't needed that often and I could get a desktop AND a netbook for less money.
Re:Does it have a monitor and full-size keyboard?
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Let's see.. I'm sitting in front of a desktop with 8GB of memory, a dual processor, two 22" monitors, a full sized ergonomic keyboard, and a Wacom pad.
It's also got 4TB of disk space, 6 powered USB ports (4 in back of which 3 are in use, 2 in front of which I use one), memory card reader, DVD burner, and a cable-TV video card so I can also use it as a DVR. I copy all of my CDs/DVDs to it, and when I get a blu-ray player for my home theater, I think I'll go add a 1.5TB hard drive to the last slot.
The case is an off-the-shelf case with room for 8 internal drives. I can swap out the entire motherboard, CPU, video card, network card, and any other component.
Granted.. not many people need that. But I want that. Getting ready to upgrade to the next round of processors.
My wife has both a very nice laptop and a so-so desktop. She uses the desktop most of the time because it's more comfortable to use and she doesn't have to plug/unplug the keyboard/mouse/monitor to sit comfortably and use it when she works. She'll use the laptop sometimes if we want to look up something on the web while watching TV, but for the most part it goes unused.
In our house, the death of the desktop is far off. To get enough disk space I'd have to add some type of wired/wireless file server slowing. Until they make them with easily swapable components and they come with docking stations, I think the added cost of the needed components just isn't worth it.
'But you already have a laptop' you say. No I don't, my wife does. She bought it because she wanted one, and has mentioned on more than one occasion that she shouldn't have spent the money because SHE NEVER USES IT!
The author of the article doesn't understand what warfare is about. It's about making your opponent hurt in any way so they will reconsider whatever it is that the war is about. Wars are not ended by the military, they are ended by diplomats and politicians who work to convince the other side that it's just not worth it to keep fighting.
War affects everyone, even when rules are put in place to limit it to uniformed combatants. Civilians back home lose loved ones, and suffer from redirection of resources.
War sucks.. but in almost all conflicts, both parties feel they are the one that is right. Until one or both sides are willing to concede, they continue on. Both sides will use all tools at their disposal to impact the ability of the other side to continue fighting effectively. THAT is warfare. The American Revolutionary war was not won by George Washington, it was won by people like Ben Franklin who were able to find allies. George Washington gave Ben Franklin and others the time they needed to find the resources that would convince England that it just wasn't worth it.
The stupid part in both arguments is the statement 'we are paying too much'. Really... and what metric is that based on?? Why is it 'too much'. What is the basis for that?? Because one type of use is less costly than the other so they should charge less?? Really?? Why?? What part of 'free enterprise' do people not understand. No one has to use their cell phone to access their email or web page. No one has to text message. No one even has to have a cell phone. It is a CHOICE to do these things. Twenty years ago, most of these things didn't exist. They only reason people pay today is because IT MAKES THEIR LIFE JUST A LITTLE BIT EASIER. So you just need to decide if that little bit easier is worth it or not.
If someone thinks they are too much.. THEN DON'T USE THE FUCKING THING. I rarely text, so I don't really care if it's 5 cents or $10/message. I rarely use internet on the phone, so I don't care if they stop allowing unlimited data. I just won't use them if they do.
My cable company raised their rates. So I dropped extended digital since I wasn't really using it. Then they raised them again, so I took back the digital converter they were charging me $5/month for. All I missed was the program guide, which I got for free on the Internet anyway. They are raising them again, so I'll either cancel all but basic cable, or switch to satellite. Then there is always over-the-air for free.
So if you are willing to pay for something, then they can pretty much charge whatever people are willing to pay. It's only when you are willing to give it up or go elsewhere will they reconsider. My cable company doesn't give a damn about my dropping their service, because there are plenty of people who will pay for it.
But I don't have to....and neither do you have to pay for those extra cell services. So either put up, or shut the fuck up.
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I did some work on Mechanical Turk when it first came out. It was kind of fun at first, so I didn't mind the low rates. But when the rates started dropping further and the work wasn't as interesting, I stopped and haven't been back.
... they have a low demand and their appears to be a sufficient supply of people willing to work for less than a buck an hour. Anyone with basic math skills can calculate the hourly rate and decide if there is anything else they want to do that is worth more to them than that.
Simple supply and demand
I'm sure there are many who have either not calculated it, or don't know how. But after working for a few nights and only getting $5, I would think that the only people left that are doing it derive something out of it. Even if it's just an extra $5.
Two spaces after a period. That way when I copy to a monospaced program like TextEdit, it still works.
Just because most programs and people use proportional fonts, doesn't mean they all do.
And it's four spaces for indenting. Two is not enough, and eight is just crazy after a couple of levels. If four spaces for indents moves things over to far, then that section needs to break things up a little bit more.....
It's also to protect future buyers of the home and the current resident. For instance, local codes specify what type of drains have to be used so people don't get sucked down against it and drown. Wiring requirements so a problem in a motor doesn't shock everyone in the pool.
I want to put in an in-ground hot tub to replace an above-ground one I removed that was old and falling apart. If I purchase a model from a store and just drop it into a hole, no permit is required as long as I use the existing wiring and only pour a concrete pad. But if I start to build permanent walls and do my own wiring, then they have rules about electrical equipment being a certain distance away, GFI circuits being used, wall construction so that it won't cave in on people, and a host of other requirements.
My wife and I are on AT&T and choose the HTC Aria over the iPhone. Now I wish I would have waited until the Samsung Galaxy came out. My wife played with my daughter's iPhone and my HTC and picked the HTC.
... stuff that competition and open markets tend to provide.
In my office of about 25 people, there is 1 iPhone user and several Android phones. Almost every Blackberry user is dropping their Blackberry for an Android as their contracts come up. The company will be pulling Blackberry support over the next year partly because of the exodus from Blackberry.
It seems that Android is making inroads both into the consumer AND business markets.
One of the Android based phones best features is that there will be numerous different configurations of Android based phones that will all work basically the same, but each person can purchase the phone with the features they want instead of the limited choices Apple provides. By limited, I mean features like integrated keyboards, SD cards, different camera options. You know
I seem to be able to sync my Gmail with my old Palm and my new Android just fine. My HTC Aria locks if I don't use it after two minutes and I have to use a pattern to unlock. I get emails when I have appointments. And all of my contacts are available at all times, both on my PC and my HTC. Our company is switching everyone over to Gmail from Outlook because of the INCREASED ability to access and sync it .. and lower costs.
.. I can't remote wipe it. But if you can't get into it because it's locked, it kinda makes it useless, doesn't it???
Ok
So why is your company enforcing rules that don't make sense?? Too many pointy-headed bosses there???
I make a boat load of money just doing Java and SQL. And in the last few weeks, I've had 3 people ask me if they know of any Java programmers (two for full time positions, one was contract work). Two of those people only knew I was in the computer field. Yet no one has EVER asked me if I know of any C# programmers. So toss out the comment about having to know it to be relevant today.
Figure out what you want to do, then learn the language appropriate for it. Want to code Windows, MSSQL, or whatever Windows calls their web server these days?? Might not hurt to learn C#. I do mostly back-end data loading/transformation/modeling work, and Java works just fine. It fits more in with my skill set, and there just aren't that many programmers that want to do such 'boring' work so I'm in high demand.
In fact, just about any language, including COBOL, would work fine for 90% of what I do. Some of the financial modeling requires recursive code and more advanced mathematical functions, such as standard deviation, and I don't think COBOL ever incorporated that. But I haven't done COBOL since '85, so don't quote me on that.
I've been programming for 30 years, and have never had those problems. I keep up to speed on new technology, am never afraid to pitch in even when I don't know something, and have always made sure my various bosses know that I will do whatever it takes to get the job done. I get jobs based on contacts with friends and don't send resumes to HR, I get them to the manager. I'm smart and curious, and make sure that I present those skills because anybody that is a decent manager knows that they want someone who is smart more than someone who is certified. And anyone that is any good knows they don't want to work for a manager that hires based on certifications.
.. don't start. Unless you are just curious. There is nothing worse than someone with no programming experience writing code. Not because they can't write code. But because they don't know enough about how NOT to write code and how to identify and correct syntax errors and how to debug and test. And will need to spend the next 10 years making the same stupid mistakes we have all made, but without the oversight of someone who knows how NOT to write code that will laugh and gently explain to them why myString+=anotherString sometimes is OK, but sometimes isn't. Why even though it works, sometimes there is a better way to append two strings and other things that aren't in the manual.
So if someone is having the problems noted above, maybe they need a different attitude. Whining never solved anything. And when I hire people, I don't want excuses, I want someone who will dig it and get the job done.
Any decent programmer can learn a new language after they have been programing for years, it's just not that difficult. Unless someone isn't that good to begin with. Because no matter how much they tell you, basic programming really hasn't changed in 30 years. Oh sure, we use IDEs instead of card punches, and they'll talk about object oriented programming and the new paradigm, but it's really not much different than the old paradigm when you look under the covers. Computers still do things the same way they always did. Unless someone changed how binary works.
If someone doesn't want to be a programmer
You mean how people might be affected by the Arctic Ocean would be open all year and decrease shipping costs?? Or how growing seasons could shift so that some areas that can't grow much food will now have longer growing seasons, and in areas where people live so transportation costs could decrease? Or how winters would be less severe so fewer people might die?? Or how many low lying areas could be reasonably protected (increasing employment no less), there are already several examples where cities are below sea level. You mean those reasons?? Or how a new NOAA study say that hurricanes will be less severe if the oceans get warmer, so the Gulf of Mexico just might become a safer place to live.
.. for the sake of argument, let's say the earth is warming. Now the question is 'Why?'. If one is is to assume the 'man caused global warming' theory is correct, then decreasing CO2 production might help, but at a very high cost and life style change that will be forced upon people. If they are wrong, and it is just natural, then we might do all this for nothing, and still have to face all the issues.
It's funny how everyone concentrates on the bad effects, but fail to mention the positive effects. One might think they are just trying to push the argument their way instead of getting an unbiased look at ALL the issues.
Ok
The seas are not going to rise over night. The growing seasons are not going to shift next year. We can use reasonable measures to decrease CO2 production that won't destroy economies, and at the same time examine and prepare for the changes that could occur no matter what we do. Just stop all the fanatical fear mongering.
BTW -- I live in Phoenix and ride my motorcycle all year. Global warming?? Bring it on!!!! I'd love for it to be about 3-4 degrees warmer in the 'winter' here, and extend my pool season.
I have a household with two people, two made-from-scratch PCs, an 8 year old Dell and a 3 year old Gateway.
We are all 'buy what suits our needs at the lowest price and use what we have until it no longer works'. We could easily purchase any home computer system we want, but choose to make do with what we have until we truly need something else.
We just bought two Android phones even though we are on the AT&T network because they also met our needs. My wife wanted and got an iTouch for Christmas and now thinks it was a complete waste of money and thinks iTunes is the worst piece of software ever written. Sure, Apple products they have their flaws. So we don't use them.
I have no idea what a portable consumption device is, but it sounds elitist to me......
Thank you.
.. they don't wearing uniforms and they quarter with civilian! Hmmm??? Where is his outrage???
Assange isn't a journalist, he is an activist with an agenda to demonize the US. Where are his efforts to find the Taliban documents showing their human rights violations? Or clear violations of the Geneva Convention? And how they are the ones putting civilians in danger by not following the Geneva Convention
And where are the documents showing the amount of effort the US soldiers put in distributing contributions from US citizens, including medical, school, and sport supplies? Putting themselves in harms way to protect civilians during firefights? Or the extrodinary efforts they take to try to limit civilian casualties. And where are the documents showing the Taliban's indiscriminate placing of IEDs and the number innocent lives they have taken?? Hmmm??? Where are those docuements Assange?? Or do they not have the impact you are looking for when advancing your agenda??
Assange has no right to call himself a journalist. A journalist is unbiased and researches many aspects of a story, not just the one that suits his agenda. And posting documents with no analysis isn't a story, it's a data dump that any 12 year old with access to the Internet could do if they got the data.
He is nothing more than a hack with an agenda and deserves zero media attention.
I do the same thing. Same with programs on the desktop. But I grew up in a time when resource management was important, so I'm aware of the memory that each unused program or tab is taking up. I suppose I could spend a few bucks and buy more memory, but it works for me.
I've built my Firefox tab bar with the sites I use the most, so most of them are only two clicks away (one for the folder, one for the site). Those I use more are the easiest to get to, those that I rarely use take a little more effort. Same with my task bar and menu bar.
But I see some people, even tech people, that run EVERY window at full screen, and have 20 programs all opened at the same time. I suppose they could use something like that because they seem to have an issue with closing things, or having more than one program visible at a time.
The argument then is to create a system whereby the users that don't share passwords and follow the rules are inconvenienced by those that don't follow the rules and do share passwords.
.. when this password stops working, here is how I get the next one, I just change the '1' at the end to a '2'". My rotation method beats the 'and must be different by more than 'X' characters' but could be explained to anyone.
Or are we just not clever enough to come up with a system that prevents sharing of passwords. Like not being able to use the same password at two different computers at the same time, especially for people that are very unlikely to use more than one computer a day?? And then find a way for those people that have to use multiple computers can?
All requiring me to change my password did was to come up with a rotation system for the same 10 passwords. Someone sharing passwords could easily pass on the rotation system. "Oh
In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if someone else also uses it, and it's in some hackers dictionary already....
I just hire people that are smart, good problem solvers, and seem to have a personality.
.. talking to them helps. Find people who are curious and ask questions rather than say 'mememememe' in their interview. Ask them about tough problems they have fixed, and see if they know how to do problem isolation. See if they have a general knowledge beyond development, a developer who knows nothing about network bandwidth utilization or database storage is useless unless you are just going to hand him finished specs and want a code monkey.
None of that other shit really matters. Someone who is smart, works well with others, and is a good problem solver can pick up anything without all that formal training and will probably be better at it in a few months than someone who is an average developer.
How to tell if someone is smart?? Well
Explore how they learn new technologies. Do they take a class, or do they go buy a book/research online and 'play'. If they are presented with new technology, do they respond with 'I don't know how to do that' or 'I don't know how to do that, but give me a couple of days'.
Let someone else hire the programmers with a lot of letters after their names, find the truly good ones that are too busy doing shit to take a class or get certified.
More extortion from the federal government. They take our money, then impose rules on us to give it back. That's how they get around all those nasty little Constitution things.
.. I know .. 'What about the poor states'. Work out a solution that doesn't entail the federal government imposing 55mph speed limits and no-child-left-behind type mandates.
If the federal government would lower the federal income tax and decrease federal subsidies, while working with states so they can increase state income taxes for a net gain or loss, there would be more money around for these projects BECAUSE NO FEDERAL BUREAUCRAT WOULD BE NEEDED TO TELL MY STATE WHAT TO DO WITH MY MONEY!!!! No more bridges to nowhere, or 'make work' projects because now states wouldn't have the excuse of 'if we don't ask for something, we won't get our share'.
Oh
In the late 90s I was driving my car in a rainstorm and splashed a little girl. My first impulse was to stop and offer her a ride home...
... fast forward to 2003. I was in India on business and had gone to the mall with one of my co-workers to get a few things. We were at the top of a very tall and open escalator but couldn't get on because a man and two kids were in the way. The man was holding his young daughter in his arms and trying to get the young, frightened, teary-eyed boy to get on the escalator. My friend just picked the boy up without saying a word, got on the escalator, and we all rode down. At the bottom, my friend set the boy down, the man thanked my friend and we all went our merry way. No one called security or yelled out 'stranger danger'.
Which I couldn't do because any middle aged man getting out of a car and offering a ride to a little girl is automatically a pervert. So I called the police and told them where I was and what happened. They said they would send someone around to check on her.
Now
Sometimes I wonder what the definition of 'civilized' really means....
Ummm.....they probably turn like all motorcycles ... using the handlebars. I don't think they could turn very tightly when parking since your hands are next to the wheels, but at speeds above 25mph you don't really turn the handlebars anyway. Google 'motorcycle countersteer' for more information, or visit Wikipedia.
Why??? Counter steering is counter steering. The body position would take some getting used to, and the fat tires might make it less than nimble in the curves depending on how they are shaped. My 'guess' is the wheelbase is around 60-70", based on the the rider sitting on it, so it might be reasonably quick around the corners. I'd say anyone that rides rides a bike more than 5,000 miles/year would be up and ready to go after about a couple of minutes in a parking lot getting used to it. Those that only ride a bike to bars in the evening ... maybe a lesson or two might be good for them.
I'm sure xednieht lives in a one room studio with four other people to save all his money, lives only on water and basic nutrition, and then sends all the extra money he makes to poor people. If he doesn't, then he is a hypocrite for telling anyone else how to live their lives.
... I'll spend the money I make and the time I have however I want to.
Bugger off
So you know a bunch of stupid people. They must like your company, maybe you make them feel smart. How old are you anyway .. judging from your know-it-all attitude, I'd say about 19.
.. they are annoying and no one pays them any attention anyway.
I'm a 50 year old man who got a tattoo 30 years ago, and it still looks good. And people of all ages still ask me about it and I still show it off.
People who like the idea of a tattoo and enjoy fine art should probably get one. People who are self-righteous and think they know what is right for other people should just shut the fuck up
I got a tattoo 30 years ago on the spur of the moment and still show it off. So ... everyone do whatever they want and don't listen to stupid fucks like the one above. He probably plans everything out and will never ever do anything spontaneous his entire life. His wife will find him boring and run off with someone that is actually fun to be around. Or he will find an equally boring wife and the two of them will live a very safe and boring life together, finding themselves in a nursing home listening to stories from other people because they have no good ones to tell.
If mabersold is a woman, please replace 'wife' with 'husband' and 'he' with 'she' in the paragraph above.
You should take a few economic courses in addition to your science courses and learned about this thing called 'capitalism'.
Those courses will help explain why 99% of all computer users don't care that you need a PCI bus since they don't need one, and why Intel doesn't care either.
Then you need to find someone who cares...or rather someone that can make a buck off of selling you one.
My wife uses her desktop and not her laptop because her desktop is BETTER and CHEAPER and MORE CONVENIENT than a laptop IF SHE WANTS TO SIT AT HER DESK AND USE IT! Which is where she uses it 99% of the time. NO affordable laptop comes with two monitors, you have to plug one or both in or deal with two monitors of different sizes, one of which is your laptop's monitor which means your laptop keyboard is either in the way or being used instead of a real keyboard.
OTOH, only a fool would think that someone would unplug a desktop to use a laptop in the same space.
If and when I want a portable, I'll get a minimum powered netbook just for email and web browsing that is much more convenient than the high powered laptop I would need to replace my desktop. Why spend a lot of money for portability when it isn't needed that often and I could get a desktop AND a netbook for less money.
Let's see .. I'm sitting in front of a desktop with 8GB of memory, a dual processor, two 22" monitors, a full sized ergonomic keyboard, and a Wacom pad.
.. not many people need that. But I want that. Getting ready to upgrade to the next round of processors.
It's also got 4TB of disk space, 6 powered USB ports (4 in back of which 3 are in use, 2 in front of which I use one), memory card reader, DVD burner, and a cable-TV video card so I can also use it as a DVR. I copy all of my CDs/DVDs to it, and when I get a blu-ray player for my home theater, I think I'll go add a 1.5TB hard drive to the last slot.
The case is an off-the-shelf case with room for 8 internal drives. I can swap out the entire motherboard, CPU, video card, network card, and any other component.
Granted
My wife has both a very nice laptop and a so-so desktop. She uses the desktop most of the time because it's more comfortable to use and she doesn't have to plug/unplug the keyboard/mouse/monitor to sit comfortably and use it when she works. She'll use the laptop sometimes if we want to look up something on the web while watching TV, but for the most part it goes unused.
In our house, the death of the desktop is far off. To get enough disk space I'd have to add some type of wired/wireless file server slowing. Until they make them with easily swapable components and they come with docking stations, I think the added cost of the needed components just isn't worth it.
'But you already have a laptop' you say. No I don't, my wife does. She bought it because she wanted one, and has mentioned on more than one occasion that she shouldn't have spent the money because SHE NEVER USES IT!
The author of the article doesn't understand what warfare is about. It's about making your opponent hurt in any way so they will reconsider whatever it is that the war is about. Wars are not ended by the military, they are ended by diplomats and politicians who work to convince the other side that it's just not worth it to keep fighting.
.. but in almost all conflicts, both parties feel they are the one that is right. Until one or both sides are willing to concede, they continue on. Both sides will use all tools at their disposal to impact the ability of the other side to continue fighting effectively. THAT is warfare. The American Revolutionary war was not won by George Washington, it was won by people like Ben Franklin who were able to find allies. George Washington gave Ben Franklin and others the time they needed to find the resources that would convince England that it just wasn't worth it.
War affects everyone, even when rules are put in place to limit it to uniformed combatants. Civilians back home lose loved ones, and suffer from redirection of resources.
War sucks
The stupid part in both arguments is the statement 'we are paying too much'. Really ... and what metric is that based on?? Why is it 'too much'. What is the basis for that?? Because one type of use is less costly than the other so they should charge less?? Really?? Why?? What part of 'free enterprise' do people not understand. No one has to use their cell phone to access their email or web page. No one has to text message. No one even has to have a cell phone. It is a CHOICE to do these things. Twenty years ago, most of these things didn't exist. They only reason people pay today is because IT MAKES THEIR LIFE JUST A LITTLE BIT EASIER. So you just need to decide if that little bit easier is worth it or not.
.. THEN DON'T USE THE FUCKING THING. I rarely text, so I don't really care if it's 5 cents or $10/message. I rarely use internet on the phone, so I don't care if they stop allowing unlimited data. I just won't use them if they do.
If someone thinks they are too much
My cable company raised their rates. So I dropped extended digital since I wasn't really using it. Then they raised them again, so I took back the digital converter they were charging me $5/month for. All I missed was the program guide, which I got for free on the Internet anyway. They are raising them again, so I'll either cancel all but basic cable, or switch to satellite. Then there is always over-the-air for free.
So if you are willing to pay for something, then they can pretty much charge whatever people are willing to pay. It's only when you are willing to give it up or go elsewhere will they reconsider. My cable company doesn't give a damn about my dropping their service, because there are plenty of people who will pay for it.
But I don't have to....and neither do you have to pay for those extra cell services. So either put up, or shut the fuck up.