Although there's science involved here, the real question is a philosophical one, as other comments have touched upon. I think the topic begs great big questions like, "What is the purpose of life?" To learn? To experience? Most humans piddle away their meager seventy years, and when it's time to go they realize all the things they should have said and done but... it's too late.
Humans don't need to live longer, they need to live better.
If humans lived to be 1,000 years old:
Acceptable age for active military duty would be 18 to 300.
Retirement age would be 850.
Social Security? Hah!
People could be married and divorced 20 times or more in one life.
They'd see approximately 430 upgrades to WindowsXP.
Just a note --- you should be using AdAware SE Personal (still free), only available within the last couple of months. Definitely finds more bad stuff than the previous version did.
didn't that Arnie movie
6th Day feature a scene where Arnold and someone else are being driven around in a computer-controlled SUV? I remember each of them twisting uncomfortably in their seats to look at each other, to really make it clear that the vehicle was doing the work. I thought this presentation of the technology was wrong. The car designers would have made the chairs swivel so the passengers really could just look at one another or even face the rear. For that matter, they could have even sat in back.
IBM has document retention policies specifically to limit liabilities. Or more like document destruction policies. All emails have to be wiped after two years. They probably truly don't have the code anymore.
It has nothing to do with the genre or predicting the future. If there's a decline in science fiction readership it's due to the inability of writers (and publishers and editors) to give us really good stories. Science fiction as a genre might have a hard time because of the increasing sophistication of the audience, but the ray guns and the flying broomsticks should just be the background to a good story. If the industry is going to continue publishing tons of books of which 98% are caca, then yeah people are going to lose interest in the genre and look elsewhere for their mind-stretching stories.
The article is mildly interesting (though probably not really big news to/. readers), but what's really the result of mediocre support? It feels to me like US consumers will continue to buy Dell computers and just get used to complaining about tech support. As suggested by the article, there may be an opportunity for local techs who make house calls, but I have a hard time seeing how this is really going to hurt the big players in PC industry in the long run. Short run, they'll get some complaints. Long run, the guys in India will get better at speaking to customers in the U.S. and the complaints will decrease.
I get that it's frustrating to have jobs moved from the States to India, but the problem is also with the computers themselves. Will the day come that computers no longer need tech support?
Actually, the only thing that would encourage me to get the SD card Wifi solution would be that I could use it simultaneously with my palm keyboard (I have the universal connector model, not one of the infra-reds).
Although I've not used it yet, I'm more inclined to try Enfora's product first. It's a nice case + a battery of its own so you won't kill the Palm's battery by running WiFi. Also, it works with any of the recent palms that have the universal connector, it's not limited to the T3 and the Zire seventy-whatever. Home page: http://www.enfora.com.
The first video i watched shows this guy squeezing by a car waiting to turn left like he's a bicyclist, not a motorcyclist. Bad, bad, habit. That's the sort of behavior that entices car drivers to open doors as you pass with only six inches clearance.
Save that video. it's going to be excellent footage for the MSF on what not to do if you'd like to have a long life of motorcycling.
I get the impression you've never held the title of manager, possibly never conducted (or participated) from the hiring side of an interview. (Apologies if I've misinterpreted.) Remember, the candidate with whom you speak wants a job that consists of zero coding and lots of paper pushing. Already you can't relate to him or her on that level. Further, it sounds like this person is going to have hiring/firing/raise authority over you. With these things in mind I think it would be best to have you sit in on the interviews but not conduct them. Leave that to HR or to the hiring manager. Your presence will allow you to provide excellent information to the candidate: how the department is currently run, what your department needs to grow, how a manager might provide for those things. Really, just use the time to ensure he or she is not a PHB.
Fear not: I bought two T2 units, one for my wife and one for me just last September. I don't regret the purchases a single bit. The T2's screen is great, the unit is fast (i'd been using a vintage Handspring pda), and it holds a bunch of data. Combine the T2 with key products from BlueNomad (I use WordSmith and BackupBuddyVFS) and you have a very powerful tool. I don't anticipate upgrading the hardware for three or four years unless there's a very compelling reason to do so (the screen quality takes a quantum leap would be one). One last geek thing to share, I'm considering buying the WiFi solution from Enfora because it comes with its own battery supply in the form of a PDA case. Seems cool.
Just my $.02.
MyDOOM linked to Russian sources
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Didn't notice this anywhere else in the thread, tho i certainly might have missed it (saw it while visiting ddj.com):
I sent this off just a few minutes ago via my representative's web page.
Dear Sir,
Thank you for taking the time to read this note. This is the first time I've written to an elected official.
It is my understanding that congress is being lobbied to in some way hinder or even destroy the Open Source Software movement. You are perhaps familiar with or have heard of Linux, one of the world's most prominent examples of open source software. While I don't believe such a movement can truly be stopped (telling programmers to stop programming is like telling artists to stop painting) I still think it worthwhile to send you a note. I believe my feelings are representative of many in the open source community, though I don't speak for anyone in particular besides myself.
Many of us in the open source community feel a deep sense of passion and are highly protective of open source software. From the outside it might be easy to scoff at such a statement. It's software, for goodness sake; there are things in the world more deserving of passion, you might say. But what open source software really represents is the Power of the Little Guy. I mean this not in the sense of "little guy vs. big corporation," but rather the ability of an individual to have a literal positive impact on the whole world. When I use open source software I feel as though I'm supporting those who are driven to make the world a better place by using their skills. Don Knuth, a world-renowned computer scientist at Stanford, once spoke of the pioneering work he and others did in computers: "we had a sense in those days that we were advancing civilization with our work. Money wasn't a part of it." That sentiment had a profound impact on me, and I like to think that's the prevailing sentiment in the world of open source.
I don't know if letters such as this have any real impact. If they do, I hope this one conveys that this topic is important to a great many technically-savvy voters in the US and that you'll consider supporting the OSS movement before entertaining notions to hinder it.
I've really been thinking about why this situation is so frustrating to me, personally. I think at the bottom of the whole thing is how I feel about Linux, Open Source, and the whole Gnu project. They are each examples of the power of the little guy. I mean this not in the sense of "little guy vs. big corporation," but rather the ability of one person to have a literal positive impact on the whole world. I don't make my OS a religion, but I'm definitely proud to be a Linux and open source user. I feel as though I'm supporting those who are driven to make the world a better place by using their skills. I remember reading an interview with Don Knuth several years ago. He said (paraphrasing from memory), "we had a sense in those days that we were advancing civilization with our work. Money wasn't a part of it." That sentiment had a profound impact on me, and I like to think that's the prevailing sentiment in the world of open source. When viewed from that perspective, SCO and its arguments seem less than petty. So there it is, for me anyway: it's SCO (who want to save themselves and their bank accounts) vs. people who are making the world better.
I remember way back in 1978 or 1979 reading in a Star Wars fan magazine that Lucas even then already had basic outlines for all three trilogies and called the whole thing the "Journal of the Whills," i believe. It said there would be two more Star Wars movies, and then if George made any more he'd start with the first trilogy. Whether or not you like the movies, i think it's pretty cool that he's carrying out plans he made all those years ago. Me, i have hard time planning dinner.
Agree, however what MS is really good at is making money. With Linux they can't simply do their "if you can't beat `em then buy `em" strategy. But if everyone's running Linux how will MS make money? They'll start writing Linux apps, port MS Office to Linux (I'd buy that one myself), even release an MS Linux distro. It's not going to happen tomorrow, but I don't see what other choice they'll have in the long run. Remember who the biggest software producer for Apple is: Microsoft.
Slashdot Mirror
They'd learn what "begs the question" actually means?
Very interesting. I stand educated.
Although there's science involved here, the real question is a philosophical one, as other comments have touched upon. I think the topic begs great big questions like, "What is the purpose of life?" To learn? To experience? Most humans piddle away their meager seventy years, and when it's time to go they realize all the things they should have said and done but... it's too late.
Humans don't need to live longer, they need to live better.
If humans lived to be 1,000 years old:
Just a note --- you should be using AdAware SE Personal (still free), only available within the last couple of months. Definitely finds more bad stuff than the previous version did.
didn't that Arnie movie 6th Day feature a scene where Arnold and someone else are being driven around in a computer-controlled SUV? I remember each of them twisting uncomfortably in their seats to look at each other, to really make it clear that the vehicle was doing the work. I thought this presentation of the technology was wrong. The car designers would have made the chairs swivel so the passengers really could just look at one another or even face the rear. For that matter, they could have even sat in back.
IBM has document retention policies specifically to limit liabilities. Or more like document destruction policies. All emails have to be wiped after two years. They probably truly don't have the code anymore.
I wonder if/how the Sarbanes-Oxley act will impact that IBM policy?
Bah.
It has nothing to do with the genre or predicting the future. If there's a decline in science fiction readership it's due to the inability of writers (and publishers and editors) to give us really good stories. Science fiction as a genre might have a hard time because of the increasing sophistication of the audience, but the ray guns and the flying broomsticks should just be the background to a good story. If the industry is going to continue publishing tons of books of which 98% are caca, then yeah people are going to lose interest in the genre and look elsewhere for their mind-stretching stories.
b-lou
www.comiccritique.com
I have no idea who it was (Linus?), but whoever wrote string.h gets my vote, sung or unsung, just for this line:
extern char *strfry (char *__string) __THROW;
Not a belly laugh, but I found it a very funny distraction when I was deep in some coding project and happened upon it by accident.
Completely agree with you on both points. I've been a tech manager for over 10 years and I always tell my staff, "we support people, not computers."
The article is mildly interesting (though probably not really big news to /. readers), but what's really the result of mediocre support? It feels to me like US consumers will continue to buy Dell computers and just get used to complaining about tech support. As suggested by the article, there may be an opportunity for local techs who make house calls, but I have a hard time seeing how this is really going to hurt the big players in PC industry in the long run. Short run, they'll get some complaints. Long run, the guys in India will get better at speaking to customers in the U.S. and the complaints will decrease.
I get that it's frustrating to have jobs moved from the States to India, but the problem is also with the computers themselves. Will the day come that computers no longer need tech support?
Actually, the only thing that would encourage me to get the SD card Wifi solution would be that I could use it simultaneously with my palm keyboard (I have the universal connector model, not one of the infra-reds).
Although I've not used it yet, I'm more inclined to try Enfora's product first. It's a nice case + a battery of its own so you won't kill the Palm's battery by running WiFi. Also, it works with any of the recent palms that have the universal connector, it's not limited to the T3 and the Zire seventy-whatever. Home page: http://www.enfora.com.
This eweek article has the story, the current iMacs are being replaced by a new model.
The first video i watched shows this guy squeezing by a car waiting to turn left like he's a bicyclist, not a motorcyclist. Bad, bad, habit. That's the sort of behavior that entices car drivers to open doors as you pass with only six inches clearance.
Save that video. it's going to be excellent footage for the MSF on what not to do if you'd like to have a long life of motorcycling.
I get the impression you've never held the title of manager, possibly never conducted (or participated) from the hiring side of an interview. (Apologies if I've misinterpreted.) Remember, the candidate with whom you speak wants a job that consists of zero coding and lots of paper pushing. Already you can't relate to him or her on that level. Further, it sounds like this person is going to have hiring/firing/raise authority over you. With these things in mind I think it would be best to have you sit in on the interviews but not conduct them. Leave that to HR or to the hiring manager. Your presence will allow you to provide excellent information to the candidate: how the department is currently run, what your department needs to grow, how a manager might provide for those things. Really, just use the time to ensure he or she is not a PHB.
Then they laugh at you.
Then they fight you.
Then you win."
While none of us Linux/OSS fans will appreciate Brown's book, it certainly seems to fit Gandhi's brilliant observation.
Winning can't be too far off.
Excellent explanation, thanks.
from playground bully to slashdot-reading nerd? Sounds a bit unlikely to me...
Just my $.02.
"MyDoom worm linked to Russian sources"
.b-lou
Dear Sir,
Thank you for taking the time to read this note. This is the first time I've written to an elected official.
It is my understanding that congress is being lobbied to in some way hinder or even destroy the Open Source Software movement. You are perhaps familiar with or have heard of Linux, one of the world's most prominent examples of open source software. While I don't believe such a movement can truly be stopped (telling programmers to stop programming is like telling artists to stop painting) I still think it worthwhile to send you a note. I believe my feelings are representative of many in the open source community, though I don't speak for anyone in particular besides myself.
Many of us in the open source community feel a deep sense of passion and are highly protective of open source software. From the outside it might be easy to scoff at such a statement. It's software, for goodness sake; there are things in the world more deserving of passion, you might say. But what open source software really represents is the Power of the Little Guy. I mean this not in the sense of "little guy vs. big corporation," but rather the ability of an individual to have a literal positive impact on the whole world. When I use open source software I feel as though I'm supporting those who are driven to make the world a better place by using their skills. Don Knuth, a world-renowned computer scientist at Stanford, once spoke of the pioneering work he and others did in computers: "we had a sense in those days that we were advancing civilization with our work. Money wasn't a part of it." That sentiment had a profound impact on me, and I like to think that's the prevailing sentiment in the world of open source.
I don't know if letters such as this have any real impact. If they do, I hope this one conveys that this topic is important to a great many technically-savvy voters in the US and that you'll consider supporting the OSS movement before entertaining notions to hinder it.
Thank you for your time.
# # #
Good idea, I'm off to do that now. Thanks for your reply.
.lou
I've really been thinking about why this situation is so frustrating to me, personally. I think at the bottom of the whole thing is how I feel about Linux, Open Source, and the whole Gnu project. They are each examples of the power of the little guy. I mean this not in the sense of "little guy vs. big corporation," but rather the ability of one person to have a literal positive impact on the whole world. I don't make my OS a religion, but I'm definitely proud to be a Linux and open source user. I feel as though I'm supporting those who are driven to make the world a better place by using their skills. I remember reading an interview with Don Knuth several years ago. He said (paraphrasing from memory), "we had a sense in those days that we were advancing civilization with our work. Money wasn't a part of it." That sentiment had a profound impact on me, and I like to think that's the prevailing sentiment in the world of open source. When viewed from that perspective, SCO and its arguments seem less than petty. So there it is, for me anyway: it's SCO (who want to save themselves and their bank accounts) vs. people who are making the world better.
Making three trilogies has always been the plan.
I remember way back in 1978 or 1979 reading in a Star Wars fan magazine that Lucas even then already had basic outlines for all three trilogies and called the whole thing the "Journal of the Whills," i believe. It said there would be two more Star Wars movies, and then if George made any more he'd start with the first trilogy. Whether or not you like the movies, i think it's pretty cool that he's carrying out plans he made all those years ago. Me, i have hard time planning dinner.
The linked article is interesting but Mr. Gaines writes that his target date for completion is July 2003. Wonder if he intended that to read 2004?
Agree, however what MS is really good at is making money. With Linux they can't simply do their "if you can't beat `em then buy `em" strategy. But if everyone's running Linux how will MS make money? They'll start writing Linux apps, port MS Office to Linux (I'd buy that one myself), even release an MS Linux distro. It's not going to happen tomorrow, but I don't see what other choice they'll have in the long run. Remember who the biggest software producer for Apple is: Microsoft.