But I think the downfall was the pay-for-answer format as it was implemented. They gave customers too many choices in how to price their questions, which can lead to indecision.
It would have been interesting to have a 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, 200$ selection as opposed to the freeform input--give people a way to choose from a set range of options instead of giving them the task of identifying a price. It may sound trivial, but for people not familiar with the answers system it might have helped some folks get over the initial hurdle of asking a question.
That's just my.02.
In the end, it was a very interesting site to browse from time to time--but I think the open-endedness of things from the perspective of new users probably kept a lot of people from participating.
With reports of the Zune not being Vista Compatible--it does make you wonder how hard it is going to be for other manufacturers to get up to speed on things.
Basically, extremophiles are organisms that can survive at both extermes of the temperature spectrum. There is another article over at LiveScience that covers the basics for those not familiar.
Most people are happy enough where they are--good enough pay, good enough benefits, and currently there is a lot of stability... it's hard to get people to want to make the effort to move unless they are Really excited about what you are doing and there is more than just a financial benefit to them. I think, at least right now, pay and benefits are important--but an interesting opportunity can pull the right people. Sounds like you are doing all the right things, it just takes a lot of time for people with good jobs to find a new opportunity when they aren't looking for it. Fact of the matter is, most awesome designers/developers are working on awesome projects and not browsing job boards.
We've used Basecamp for the last year successfully for our business, which is great for working with our remote clients. We have had the opportunity to heavily use Writeboards within our Basecamp account for the last few months with our clients.
The great thing about being web based is that we all see the same thing, and the document history of Writeboards is great to flip back through time to see the changes we have made.
Now I don't see this as a replacement to Word for daily business use, but for document collaboration it is truly a great tool.
The Government will let you post on your blog until they see fit to add it to their blacklist.
So while you will still be able to pick up your buddies favorite curry recipe, anything really interesting or political will go back to being blacklisted.
It's nice to see them acknowledge a testing issue, and present options to the community on how to best approach the problem.
The amazing thing is all of the people that are critical of Fedora. Even if it were a testbed for RedHat, it is a free distro. that is widely used--especially by the critics. I have no problems with it, and we use it on several development machines here.
If the critics would step up and help solve the problems, they'd quickly run out of things to complpain about.
The HKR-1 has been out for a while now. At a ballpark of $1,500, affordability is debatable.
Seems like a very similar platform, minus the wifi (which could be added).
I would be interested to see the price point at which these new linux+wifi bots would be sold. I would be surprised to see a sub $500 pricetag, and probably happy to see a sub $1,000 price point.
It might be interesting. If the "always on" camera recorded all the time allowing you to "go back in time", say 30 minutes, to save something interesting that happens. Kind of giving you a camera buffer.
Otherwise, the camera keeps recording over the past recorded data.
I always hate when something odd/funny happens and I don't think to take a picture right away. But somehow I think that this "always on" camera is going to be taking a lot of horrible shots.
As pointed out in the posted story, I think my largest issue with windows machines, and with linux machines, is the sheer amount of labor required to get from point A to point B. On windows everything crashes, or the hard drives mysteriously get corrupted, or the current version of the driver for my video card somehow conflicts with something which causes an instant blue screen 20 minutes (exactly) into my computing session. (Don't forget the creative sound card 'helper' that freaks out and eats all of your system memory when it gets bored).
On the linux side, which I love and use for all of my server applications, things just aren't user friendly enough for an office workplace as a deployed solution. I wouldn't ever expect a system administrator to have any interest in troubleshooting my linux box. The flaw here lies in the obscure methods for installing software, what happens to that software once it is installed, and how the heck to run that installed software when it doesn't show up in a dock menu somewhere.
Prior to OS X, I hated the macintosh platform. The kludgy way things had to be done, the strange finder, the weird apple icon that was the bitbucket for everything on the system. I just couldn't stand how hard they were for me to use. But now, ever since they did the whole Mac+Unix thing, I have been quite curious but cautiously hesitant at throwing down the big dollars for a substantial desktop machine. This is the point of the story when I have to employ Apple to create an envoy of 'trial macs' to rent out to users to experience what life is like with OS X compared to windows or linux.
I recently changed jobs from a Windows NT/2000/XP/Whatever house, to a mostly Mac Only shop. In the interviews I was quite interested as I met and chatted with the system administrator about their infrastructure, etc. I was immediately very happy that I would have a day to day opportunity to goof around on OS X while working. I do mostly web and database development, which doesn't tend to be platform dependent.
After the first day of using OS X at work, I fell in love with it. That's all it took. A whole entire day where I could focus on work and my tasks at hand without having to even think about the operating system--except for how cool it was. Everything from the standard Terminal App, that allows you to select text, hit Command+C to copy it, then Command+V to paste it in another app, to the slick way I can download and compile most linux/unix based apps that I need to run on my system, made this OS the OS of choice for Getting Work Done. Things just worked the way I expected them to when I expected to.
If I hadn't been given the opportunity to spend an entire day working on an Apple, I probably never would have taken the plunge and purchased one. Yeah, they're damn sexy. But the price point alone scared me away from trying one. You can get the equivalent PC for half the price. You just can't get the experience. I'm telling you, Apple needs to build more apple stores with "Try it for a day" cubicles available for check out. Come in, sit down, and see what it is like to work on a Mac for a day. It really would change minds. A lot more than demo machines in CompUSA playing the new lord of the rings video on that 23" panel display.
I still use Windows at home for things like games, or when I get really bored with having a computer that doesn't randomly die on me. But, to be honest, I don't think I have turned that computer on in 2 months. I use Linux on my dedicated web servers and love those machines to death. The real deciding factor here is the fact that OS X allows me to focus on work instead of the strange things I have to figure out how to fix with my OS.
It isn't without bugs, and my system hangs every once in a while. Maybe once every 2-3 weeks. Nobody is perfect. But for those people who label themselves as geeks, I really think that OS X is the way to go when you want to get down to business. I don't think I could live without it. Just sit down somewhere and give it a try. It is different, but sometimes different can feel good.
When do you think I can get my own Switch commercial?:-)
Slashdot Mirror
Rather THAN. Seriously.
http://www.rimmell.com/bbc/news.htm
Electronics Learning Lab Designed by Forrest Mims and sold by radio shack.
You could also do with picking up his Getting Started in Electronics book. It is like a field journal for electrical theory, very fun read.
Hope that points you in the right direction.
-Scott
I bet they have a frickin' lazer beam to back this one up.
Where is Mini Me!
Nothing for you to see here. Please move along.
But I think the downfall was the pay-for-answer format as it was implemented. They gave customers too many choices in how to price their questions, which can lead to indecision.
.02.
It would have been interesting to have a 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, 200$ selection as opposed to the freeform input--give people a way to choose from a set range of options instead of giving them the task of identifying a price. It may sound trivial, but for people not familiar with the answers system it might have helped some folks get over the initial hurdle of asking a question.
That's just my
In the end, it was a very interesting site to browse from time to time--but I think the open-endedness of things from the perspective of new users probably kept a lot of people from participating.
Like NASA can do better than Armageddeon?
Maybe if they get Steve Buscemi to pilot the mission they have a chance.
With reports of the Zune not being Vista Compatible--it does make you wonder how hard it is going to be for other manufacturers to get up to speed on things.
I wonder if this is a policy adopted by Dell and other american companies operating in the UK to avoid legal trouble.
From what I have seen this isn't a general Dell policy to refund OEM MS Windows license costs on a pc.
Can you see me now?
Basically, extremophiles are organisms that can survive at both extermes of the temperature spectrum. There is another article over at LiveScience that covers the basics for those not familiar.
I think the problem stems from just so many great jobs available for great designers and developers in the industry these days. We've been looking for an Interactive Creative Director for a few months now, with no impressive resumes coming in.
Most people are happy enough where they are--good enough pay, good enough benefits, and currently there is a lot of stability... it's hard to get people to want to make the effort to move unless they are Really excited about what you are doing and there is more than just a financial benefit to them. I think, at least right now, pay and benefits are important--but an interesting opportunity can pull the right people. Sounds like you are doing all the right things, it just takes a lot of time for people with good jobs to find a new opportunity when they aren't looking for it. Fact of the matter is, most awesome designers/developers are working on awesome projects and not browsing job boards.
Good luck.
We've used Basecamp for the last year successfully for our business, which is great for working with our remote clients. We have had the opportunity to heavily use Writeboards within our Basecamp account for the last few months with our clients.
The great thing about being web based is that we all see the same thing, and the document history of Writeboards is great to flip back through time to see the changes we have made.
Now I don't see this as a replacement to Word for daily business use, but for document collaboration it is truly a great tool.
Good job guys.
The Government will let you post on your blog until they see fit to add it to their blacklist.
So while you will still be able to pick up your buddies favorite curry recipe, anything really interesting or political will go back to being blacklisted.
Awesome.
It's nice to see them acknowledge a testing issue, and present options to the community on how to best approach the problem.
The amazing thing is all of the people that are critical of Fedora. Even if it were a testbed for RedHat, it is a free distro. that is widely used--especially by the critics. I have no problems with it, and we use it on several development machines here.
If the critics would step up and help solve the problems, they'd quickly run out of things to complpain about.
The HKR-1 has been out for a while now. At a ballpark of $1,500, affordability is debatable.
Seems like a very similar platform, minus the wifi (which could be added).
I would be interested to see the price point at which these new linux+wifi bots would be sold. I would be surprised to see a sub $500 pricetag, and probably happy to see a sub $1,000 price point.
I wonder what this company feels is affordable?
Check out:
Skype Journal
Looks like there are a lot of opportunity for deeper business integration. Wonder if this opens up any vulnerabilities for standard client users?
I knew I forgot to return those rental tapes.
I wonder if I can talk them out of the late fees again.
Hey, at least microsoft did one thing right.
-S
I really dig Omni Outliner from The Omni Group. It is, of course, for OS X--My platform of choice.
:)
They also have some teriffic charting software, OmniGraffle, that I use to do flowcharts for all of my coding. You guys all do flowcharts, right?
-S
It might be interesting. If the "always on" camera recorded all the time allowing you to "go back in time", say 30 minutes, to save something interesting that happens. Kind of giving you a camera buffer.
Otherwise, the camera keeps recording over the past recorded data.
I always hate when something odd/funny happens and I don't think to take a picture right away. But somehow I think that this "always on" camera is going to be taking a lot of horrible shots.
-S
Microsoft just needed a push in the right direction, right?
-S
If Fedora would offer me a path to upgrade from RH 9 to Fedora, I would.
If I have to rebuild a new OS, and move my webserver to that, then I will probably go with Debian or Slack.
Can anybody list the distros that will allow version upgrades both remotely and without having to format a drive?
Thanks.
-S
Drop me an email, my address is munged above.
-S
As pointed out in the posted story, I think my largest issue with windows machines, and with linux machines, is the sheer amount of labor required to get from point A to point B. On windows everything crashes, or the hard drives mysteriously get corrupted, or the current version of the driver for my video card somehow conflicts with something which causes an instant blue screen 20 minutes (exactly) into my computing session. (Don't forget the creative sound card 'helper' that freaks out and eats all of your system memory when it gets bored).
:-)
On the linux side, which I love and use for all of my server applications, things just aren't user friendly enough for an office workplace as a deployed solution. I wouldn't ever expect a system administrator to have any interest in troubleshooting my linux box. The flaw here lies in the obscure methods for installing software, what happens to that software once it is installed, and how the heck to run that installed software when it doesn't show up in a dock menu somewhere.
Prior to OS X, I hated the macintosh platform. The kludgy way things had to be done, the strange finder, the weird apple icon that was the bitbucket for everything on the system. I just couldn't stand how hard they were for me to use. But now, ever since they did the whole Mac+Unix thing, I have been quite curious but cautiously hesitant at throwing down the big dollars for a substantial desktop machine. This is the point of the story when I have to employ Apple to create an envoy of 'trial macs' to rent out to users to experience what life is like with OS X compared to windows or linux.
I recently changed jobs from a Windows NT/2000/XP/Whatever house, to a mostly Mac Only shop. In the interviews I was quite interested as I met and chatted with the system administrator about their infrastructure, etc. I was immediately very happy that I would have a day to day opportunity to goof around on OS X while working. I do mostly web and database development, which doesn't tend to be platform dependent.
After the first day of using OS X at work, I fell in love with it. That's all it took. A whole entire day where I could focus on work and my tasks at hand without having to even think about the operating system--except for how cool it was. Everything from the standard Terminal App, that allows you to select text, hit Command+C to copy it, then Command+V to paste it in another app, to the slick way I can download and compile most linux/unix based apps that I need to run on my system, made this OS the OS of choice for Getting Work Done. Things just worked the way I expected them to when I expected to.
If I hadn't been given the opportunity to spend an entire day working on an Apple, I probably never would have taken the plunge and purchased one. Yeah, they're damn sexy. But the price point alone scared me away from trying one. You can get the equivalent PC for half the price. You just can't get the experience. I'm telling you, Apple needs to build more apple stores with "Try it for a day" cubicles available for check out. Come in, sit down, and see what it is like to work on a Mac for a day. It really would change minds. A lot more than demo machines in CompUSA playing the new lord of the rings video on that 23" panel display.
I still use Windows at home for things like games, or when I get really bored with having a computer that doesn't randomly die on me. But, to be honest, I don't think I have turned that computer on in 2 months. I use Linux on my dedicated web servers and love those machines to death. The real deciding factor here is the fact that OS X allows me to focus on work instead of the strange things I have to figure out how to fix with my OS.
It isn't without bugs, and my system hangs every once in a while. Maybe once every 2-3 weeks. Nobody is perfect. But for those people who label themselves as geeks, I really think that OS X is the way to go when you want to get down to business. I don't think I could live without it. Just sit down somewhere and give it a try. It is different, but sometimes different can feel good.
When do you think I can get my own Switch commercial?
-S