The thing is, he won't be able to instantly dump his volume license agreement. SQL Server based apps and Exchange won't vanish overnight and some people will demand and end up retaining Windows workstations -- regardless of what the IT honcho says.
When you reduce the number of licenses, the volume discount in the volume license agreement drops.
So you aren't looking at a $15,000/yr savings... probaly more like $4,000 with $10-20k retraining requirements for your staff.
I'm not "against" hybrid technology -- I think its great. I don't think that it makes sense for a few reasons:
- Batteries wear out.
I drive cars for 7-10 years and really don't want to be hauling around dead weight after 3 or 5 years. And they likely cost thousands of dollars to replace.
- Expensive repairs.
I doubt that many non-dealer mechanics will touch hybrid motors for several years. That means expensive trips to the dealer after the 36,000 mile warranty runs out. Your friendly neighborhood dealership will charge ursurious prices for limited-availablity brake parts and proprietary electronic crap.
- Expensive up-front cost
A Prius costs almost $22,000; a Civic Hybrid costs $20,000. Do the earth a bigger favor and buy a "recycled" 2-year old Corolla or Civic for half the price.
The auto industry is alot like the rail industry circa 1920. They don't realize that they are should be in the transportation business instead of the car business. Hybrids are just another evolution of the car, and aren't really that exciting in the long view.
My dad commuted in a 1992 Escort and got 46mpg in the winter and 38 in the summer (because of the AC).
The hybrid is mostly a marketing gimmick. It is obviously a lower-emission vehicle, but emissions and fuel economy totally different goals.
Personally, getting a warm fuzzy feeling about emissions isn't worth $5,000 to me. If I needed an ultra-efficient car, I'd buy a Toyota Echo or maybe a Civic.
EPA estimates have never been really useful indicators of real-world results, nor were they intended to be.
What they do provide is a car-to-car comparison that is consistent regardless of driving style, load, weather or other conditions. When you compare EPA mileage statistics, you're comparing apples to apples.
Hybrids throw a monkeywrench into the mix, so we'll probably see an adjustment to the EPA methodology at some point.
I often find myself at alternate offices or working at home. I need to work effectively everywhere, not just at one cube.
My solution is a few printed reference manuals for a few things backed up by html documentation. PDF gives you the worst of both worlds... you can't index it or transform into whatever form you like.
That's why third world countries like Malayasia have more computer science graduates than the United States.
We live in a post-industrial society where only the irrelevant matters. Paris Hilton is the #1 story on the news when we might be days away from war with North Korea.
You're spending thousands of dollars on a CAD tool that's critical to your business, yet are balking at a lousy couple of hundred bucks?
Your CAD vendor wants RHEL because they need a consistent, supported baseline to develop their software for.
Personally, I wouldn't want to risk problems later to save a few thousand dollars. If you run into some problem down the road, your software vendor will point the finger at CENTOS or whatever instead of their crappy software.
It reminds me of some of the events that happened in Upstate NY in the last few years. Its a region where the only real employer left is government, and new jobs are supposedly a highly desired commodity to local leaders.
The first was a microprocessor fab, to be built in an existing industrial area and to employ nearly 2,500 skilled people. The objections from the surrounding suburban communities that tipped the county legislature's decision?
Increased traffic.
The second was a concrete plant intended to replace an existing plant that was built during World War 2. The new plant would use newer technologies that would decrease most types of air pollution, but increase particularate matter emmissions slightly; while tripling output and doubling employment.
The construction wasn't approved, after a multi-million dollar advertising campaign... now the existing plant is going to be expanded, which will translate into a net increase in pollution and less new employment.
But some wealthy land speculators won't have their pristine views spoiled! Thank goodness!
"In the US cities are more spread out, except on the coasts"
Guess what? 80% of the population is there.
The problem with trains is the US is that the oil, trucking, automobile and related industries are too important. Something like 1 in 7 jobs are related to the support of automobiles. Lots of money + jobs = political power.
There used to be a booming intercity trolley system in the US, which was eventually ripped up by a wide number of front companies controlled by GM during the 1950's.
Google is important because millions of people use it multiple times per day. Many people don't even type URLs into their browsers directly anymore... they just enter website names into the google toolbar or homepage.
So in short, knowing about what makes a #1 result a #1 result is critically important. We are moving from a phase where relevance & the work of hucksters looking for higher rankings drove search ranks to a new era, where "credibility" and political considerations will drive the results.
This obviously isn't going to replace standard electrical sockets anytime soon, but there is alot of potential to create efficient offices with this technology. Telecoms and the military have been using DC powered computers with centralized power supplies for years.
Right now in a typical office, you often have hundreds of computers on a floor, each with their own power supplies converting AC-power from the wall to DC that the computer can use. It is obviously inefficient to be running a couple of hundred 300W power supplies than one or two big ones.
If you could easily centralize on a couple of power converters, you would see major efficency gains, both from the converters themselves and from reduced air conditioning load in the office areas.
Firefox doesn't have a spyware problem yet, because its a huge codebase that few people understand. Mozilla.org implemented all sorts of cross-platform frameworks and such, and there is no doubt that there are all sorts of vulnerabilities lurking.
His kids will probably never want to touch a PC after the trauma of memorizing 14 character passwords just to surf the net at home.
How many systems are actually vulnerable to password cracking anyway? Most ATM machines eat your card if you enter 5 incorrect PINs... most enterprise networks disable accounts if you have multiple incorrect passwords.
This guy is on the same level as a mall rent-a-cop who always wanted to be a policeman, but can't pass the mental exam. He just gets a rise out of hassling people with arbritrary nonsense.
I always found it amazing that Network Solutions combined premium pricing with nonexistant customer service and managed to stay in business... absolutely amazing.
The sad part is that it will kill people like your dad who've been there for years.
Thousands of new families mean thousands of new schools. Expensive houses mean parents who want violin lessons and swimming pools, which translate into expensive schools.
So after building 7-10 schools at a cost of around $200,000,000, you're dad's property taxes skyrocket, and he's forced to sell when the market is bad.
Even in small cities like Albany, NY or Bennington, Vermont, communities are being "gentrified" and destroyed by this effect. New York City has a nearly 80 mile radius of destruction, where desperate commuters drive up property values.
The people you describe mostly exist in your imagination. (with the exception of recycling, which is becoming compulsory in many places) You're talking about 50-150k homes in a nation of 300 million people.
I live in a town on the outskirts of a midsized city which essentially gives me all of the advantages of city living without the abysmal school district. Its a small neighborhood of pre-war homes that is within easy walking distance of public transit, shopping and parks.
In my region, its a very unique area -- there are probally only 3-5 similar neighborhoods within a fifty mile radius of here. The city is dominated by older homes chopped up into multifamily dwellings by real estate "investors" and the schools are unsafe and completely dysfunctional.
You can recycle lightbulbs all you want, but that is really the equivilant of pissing into a swimming pool to heat it up. If you sit in traffic for 10 minutes to get out of your 2,500 home subdivision, what's the point of recycling a can?
What we need is a shift to higher-density population centers. Substitute a 50-mile, 50-90 minute commute with a 3 mile, 15 minute walk or ride to work. Focus on improving life in the cities, and real environmental dividends will follow.
Slashdot Mirror
I'm not even talking about the end-users -- I'm talking about the IT staff!
You don't snap your fingers and turn Windows admins into Linux admins -- you need to retrain, and even layoff and replace existing staff.
Universities always have the option of hiring cheap student labor -- but you still need the continuity of a real staff.
The thing is, he won't be able to instantly dump his volume license agreement. SQL Server based apps and Exchange won't vanish overnight and some people will demand and end up retaining Windows workstations -- regardless of what the IT honcho says.
When you reduce the number of licenses, the volume discount in the volume license agreement drops.
So you aren't looking at a $15,000/yr savings... probaly more like $4,000 with $10-20k retraining requirements for your staff.
Be careful, dog nuts will try to have you arrested for tethering a dog in the backyard.
There is no way that I am going to allow my children to be exposed to nuclear batteries! Don't you people know that radiation is bad for you!?!?!
If anyone near my property was walking around willy-nilly with nuclear batteries, I'd call the police.
It's like saying:
"The US invaded Iraq today. In other news, Tom Cruise was seen using a porta-potty."
I'm not "against" hybrid technology -- I think its great. I don't think that it makes sense for a few reasons:
- Batteries wear out.
I drive cars for 7-10 years and really don't want to be hauling around dead weight after 3 or 5 years. And they likely cost thousands of dollars to replace.
- Expensive repairs.
I doubt that many non-dealer mechanics will touch hybrid motors for several years. That means expensive trips to the dealer after the 36,000 mile warranty runs out. Your friendly neighborhood dealership will charge ursurious prices for limited-availablity brake parts and proprietary electronic crap.
- Expensive up-front cost
A Prius costs almost $22,000; a Civic Hybrid costs $20,000. Do the earth a bigger favor and buy a "recycled" 2-year old Corolla or Civic for half the price.
The auto industry is alot like the rail industry circa 1920. They don't realize that they are should be in the transportation business instead of the car business. Hybrids are just another evolution of the car, and aren't really that exciting in the long view.
Exactly.
My dad commuted in a 1992 Escort and got 46mpg in the winter and 38 in the summer (because of the AC).
The hybrid is mostly a marketing gimmick. It is obviously a lower-emission vehicle, but emissions and fuel economy totally different goals.
Personally, getting a warm fuzzy feeling about emissions isn't worth $5,000 to me. If I needed an ultra-efficient car, I'd buy a Toyota Echo or maybe a Civic.
EPA estimates have never been really useful indicators of real-world results, nor were they intended to be.
What they do provide is a car-to-car comparison that is consistent regardless of driving style, load, weather or other conditions. When you compare EPA mileage statistics, you're comparing apples to apples.
Hybrids throw a monkeywrench into the mix, so we'll probably see an adjustment to the EPA methodology at some point.
I'd give up your infatuation with the crappy inkjet and buy a <$100 laser printer.
I bought a refurb laster printer 5 years ago and ran about 7,500 pages from a $60 toner cart.
Than you're stuck at only workstation!
I often find myself at alternate offices or working at home. I need to work effectively everywhere, not just at one cube.
My solution is a few printed reference manuals for a few things backed up by html documentation. PDF gives you the worst of both worlds... you can't index it or transform into whatever form you like.
That's why third world countries like Malayasia have more computer science graduates than the United States.
We live in a post-industrial society where only the irrelevant matters. Paris Hilton is the #1 story on the news when we might be days away from war with North Korea.
You're spending thousands of dollars on a CAD tool that's critical to your business, yet are balking at a lousy couple of hundred bucks?
Your CAD vendor wants RHEL because they need a consistent, supported baseline to develop their software for.
Personally, I wouldn't want to risk problems later to save a few thousand dollars. If you run into some problem down the road, your software vendor will point the finger at CENTOS or whatever instead of their crappy software.
That's funny.
It reminds me of some of the events that happened in Upstate NY in the last few years. Its a region where the only real employer left is government, and new jobs are supposedly a highly desired commodity to local leaders.
The first was a microprocessor fab, to be built in an existing industrial area and to employ nearly 2,500 skilled people. The objections from the surrounding suburban communities that tipped the county legislature's decision?
Increased traffic.
The second was a concrete plant intended to replace an existing plant that was built during World War 2. The new plant would use newer technologies that would decrease most types of air pollution, but increase particularate matter emmissions slightly; while tripling output and doubling employment.
The construction wasn't approved, after a multi-million dollar advertising campaign... now the existing plant is going to be expanded, which will translate into a net increase in pollution and less new employment.
But some wealthy land speculators won't have their pristine views spoiled! Thank goodness!
Why don't you just kill yourself and avoid the future pain that the rest of your life will consist of?
You'll be a toothless diabetic by 35 at the rate that you're going.
"In the US cities are more spread out, except on the coasts"
Guess what? 80% of the population is there.
The problem with trains is the US is that the oil, trucking, automobile and related industries are too important. Something like 1 in 7 jobs are related to the support of automobiles. Lots of money + jobs = political power.
There used to be a booming intercity trolley system in the US, which was eventually ripped up by a wide number of front companies controlled by GM during the 1950's.
Google is important because millions of people use it multiple times per day. Many people don't even type URLs into their browsers directly anymore... they just enter website names into the google toolbar or homepage.
So in short, knowing about what makes a #1 result a #1 result is critically important. We are moving from a phase where relevance & the work of hucksters looking for higher rankings drove search ranks to a new era, where "credibility" and political considerations will drive the results.
This obviously isn't going to replace standard electrical sockets anytime soon, but there is alot of potential to create efficient offices with this technology. Telecoms and the military have been using DC powered computers with centralized power supplies for years.
Right now in a typical office, you often have hundreds of computers on a floor, each with their own power supplies converting AC-power from the wall to DC that the computer can use. It is obviously inefficient to be running a couple of hundred 300W power supplies than one or two big ones.
If you could easily centralize on a couple of power converters, you would see major efficency gains, both from the converters themselves and from reduced air conditioning load in the office areas.
http://www.google.com/search?q=firefox+spyware+jav ascript&sourceid=mozilla-search&start=0&start=0&ie =utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:e n-US:official
Firefox doesn't have a spyware problem yet, because its a huge codebase that few people understand. Mozilla.org implemented all sorts of cross-platform frameworks and such, and there is no doubt that there are all sorts of vulnerabilities lurking.
What's the point of all of this nonsense? Really?
His kids will probably never want to touch a PC after the trauma of memorizing 14 character passwords just to surf the net at home.
How many systems are actually vulnerable to password cracking anyway? Most ATM machines eat your card if you enter 5 incorrect PINs... most enterprise networks disable accounts if you have multiple incorrect passwords.
This guy is on the same level as a mall rent-a-cop who always wanted to be a policeman, but can't pass the mental exam. He just gets a rise out of hassling people with arbritrary nonsense.
I always found it amazing that Network Solutions combined premium pricing with nonexistant customer service and managed to stay in business... absolutely amazing.
Why would they do that?
The kernel crew is making good coin at various companies or by consulting, working on a project that they enjoy.
You're either full of crap, or you are clueless and cannot distingush spoofed mail from legit mail.
The RBL lists have been around for a long time, yet there has been zero impact on spam. I'm frankly shocked that anyone still uses them at all.
Obviously I'm not sprinting to work. I walk a about three blocks to a bus stop. The bus drops me off right across from my job.
I work in a downtown location, so driving and parking in a garage actually takes longer.
The sad part is that it will kill people like your dad who've been there for years.
Thousands of new families mean thousands of new schools. Expensive houses mean parents who want violin lessons and swimming pools, which translate into expensive schools.
So after building 7-10 schools at a cost of around $200,000,000, you're dad's property taxes skyrocket, and he's forced to sell when the market is bad.
Even in small cities like Albany, NY or Bennington, Vermont, communities are being "gentrified" and destroyed by this effect. New York City has a nearly 80 mile radius of destruction, where desperate commuters drive up property values.
The people you describe mostly exist in your imagination. (with the exception of recycling, which is becoming compulsory in many places) You're talking about 50-150k homes in a nation of 300 million people.
I live in a town on the outskirts of a midsized city which essentially gives me all of the advantages of city living without the abysmal school district. Its a small neighborhood of pre-war homes that is within easy walking distance of public transit, shopping and parks.
In my region, its a very unique area -- there are probally only 3-5 similar neighborhoods within a fifty mile radius of here. The city is dominated by older homes chopped up into multifamily dwellings by real estate "investors" and the schools are unsafe and completely dysfunctional.
You can recycle lightbulbs all you want, but that is really the equivilant of pissing into a swimming pool to heat it up. If you sit in traffic for 10 minutes to get out of your 2,500 home subdivision, what's the point of recycling a can?
What we need is a shift to higher-density population centers. Substitute a 50-mile, 50-90 minute commute with a 3 mile, 15 minute walk or ride to work. Focus on improving life in the cities, and real environmental dividends will follow.