Oh, thank you oh great one for that highly insightful and truly biased opinion.
I am not going to give up all of my training and throw it away for an MCSE (I know Unix best, and believe me, the time I spent working for Windows based companies was even more of a pain in the ass than this job).
I've steadily moved into better and better positions believe it or not. And thus far this is the best I've found. It isn't perfect, but it beats the holy hell out of my previous jobs.
I used to have principles when it came to work, but I spent way too much of my time out of a job. I'm sorry, but the choice nowadays is either you break some of your 'rules' or you don't fucking work. This is especially true in the midwest where the entire concept of 'good work ethic' means you should be willing to sacrifice absolutely everything that means anything to you for 'the business'.
I stick to my guns outside of work. But in order to keep my job I pretty much just bend over and walk in backwards. It's the only way to keep paying the bills.
Actually, if you would have read my post you would have realized that I didn't say 'I don't like Katz', but I was asking a question.
Typically, I read Katz articles because I keep thinking eventually, sometime, somehow, he will accidently let slip a little bit of an original thought. But all I've ever seen from him is the same thing, over, and over, and over, and over. The guy just doesn't seem capable of original thought.
If his writing were interesting, or original, or inspiring, I could understand how he keeps his job. But as it is, I just find it extremely interesting how someone so full of hot air (with absolutely no thought process other than 'regurgitate') can keep a 'creative' job.
As for the whining, fuck off! I have just as much right to whine as everyone else does. And god knows I'm not the only one doing it. Just don't read my comments if it hurts you that fucking bad you loser.
I live in the midwest (South Dakota to be exact) and here's a breakdown of my job:
Poor pay for technology worker, and I'm the only IT person in the company.
I'm expected to be on call 24/7 because 'I'm the only IT person in the company'. So even if I take time off, I'm not really off, and half of the time I get 'called-in' because some moron spilled coffee on his keyboard and wasn't smart enough to know how to plug in a spare.
I get told by the technophobes in management that this 'Internet' thing is just a fad and I should not pursue any internet related projects because it isn't important. This is the one that really pisses me off. If they had any clue about technology they wouldn't say it. If they had no clue (as they obviously do) AND they were willing to admit they had no clue and were willing to listen to me and the two or three other people in the company that understand the importance of the Internet, and be willing to learn something, then it wouldn't be a problem. I call this, Ignorance by choice.
Now, tell me to find another job? Most of the people I know in positions like mine are in the same boat around here. I'd like to know how far I'd have to move to find a technology related job that wasn't this worthless, but thus far haven't been pushed 'quite' far enough to work that hard at it.
Just don't make the mistaken impression that only on the coasts are there problems with jobs (in technology or outside of technology jobs).
OK, so this book is right up Jon Katz's alley. Not only does it take a blatantly obvious topic (Work sucks, duh. Management doesn't care, duh. Work sucks, duh.), but it also manages to write a lot of non-sense that Jon could rip off into another article of his stellar 'more obvious than the fact that we must at some point take a dump' garbage.
Why does Jon Katz write? It seems to me that he cannot, will not, or simply refuses to write about anything other than blatantly obvious topics. Isn't there any insight at all in the man? Someone that knows such big words and how to write such lengthy (and meaningless) articles should be able to occassionally come up with a meaningful thought. SHouldn't he?
Yeah, but everybody has to have something to do. I'm just glad that the big slobbering idiots are entertaining to watch. Nothing's funnier than watching two big stupid guys beating the hell out of eachother.
Oh yeah, and it's not like I've got much choice. My wife watches it (for obvious reasons, I feel so inadequate), and wants me to watch it with her (I don't think it's working, I'm still fat and lazy).
Now you've gone and made the Rock lose his patience.
Just as you pour over your posters of Natalie Portman, just as you beat your tiny penis to a bloody pulp, the Rock is gonna beat your candy ass!
So bring it jabroney, just bring it!
Now, the Rock says this. You see, that first posting lameness thing has pushed the Rock just a little too far. Just a little TOO far....
So here's what the Rock is gonna do. The Rock's gonna take your first post, turn that sumbitch sideways, and shove it straight up, your candy ass!
The people's champion isn't going to put up with the first posting morons. It's time for someone to stand up to the foolishness. It's time once again for the people's champ to take the ring.
You stand up there, every story. You stand up there and run your mouth. You run your mouth, and you whine, and you bitch, and you wine some more. Well, the Rock says this, he doesn't care how much crap you whine about! He doesn't care how much garbage you bitch about! But what the Rock does care about is WHIPPING THAT CANDY ASS ALl OVER SLASHDOT!
So you go on and whine. You go on and bitch. You go on and be a lame ass first poster. You go ahead and lick that lama's anus! The Rock is gonna take you out. And he's gonna take you out, TONIGHT!
If you SMELLLLLLLLLLLLLLOW!
What the Rock!
Is cookin'.
Having worked at Gateway for two years I will tell you what I tell anyone I know that is interesting in purchasing a computer:
Stay the hell away from Gateway! Having been on the inside I can honestly tell you that I have no idea how the hell they stay in business. They destroyed their service department (they didn't want educated technicians, so they took away the 'service' part of it and made it a bunch of crappy tests on an assembly line look alike. Pass the tests and there must not be anything 'really' wrong with your computer). They litterally go out of their way to get the most clueless morons they can find on the phones with customers. Plus, they pretty much piss off the few good employees they have by telling them that whatever computer experience and/or education they have doesn't matter, they aren't worth more than just above minimum wage because they are going to be assigned to a 'push the fscking button' type of job anyway.
If you want a computer, stay away from Gateway. Unless you really enjoy dealing with clueless idiots all the time. Of course, you're reading slashdot, so that could be the case.
Gateway isn't more receptive now. While they sell a 'network appliance' that runs on Linux, they are still very, very, EXTREMELY unfreindly towards any mention of running Linux on a PC or server.
While I was still working there they had been talking about allowing servers to be sold with Linux, but any time I talk to a salesperson I am told that servers are only sold with Win2K or NT 4. When I ask if it is possible to purchase without an OS (so I can install Linux myself) I am flat out told that they will not support pirating of Windows products. They will not even admit that it is possible to install anything other than Windows on a server. And don't even get me started on what their phone techs said when I told them I was running Linux on a gateway laptop. You would have thought I just told them I was fscking their mothers!
"Until you install Windows on your computer, we cannot help you with your problem."
Well, it's a little hard to do that when you can't get any video display (turned out to be a loose connection to the LCD).
Let's patent a system whereby teenage boys are excited by staring at pictures of one Miss Natalie Portman while speaking of Beowulf Clusters and pouring hot grits down their pants. Then, we shall proceed to sue Slashdot and each and every troll poster!
Let's consider:
1. Large corporations suck at moving quickly.
2. Technological and scientific advancements require fast movement (mentally speaking).
3. Exploration has hit a point where large 'corporations' (read governments) are required to pursue endeavors
4. There is little 'percieved profit' in space
5. No corporation (especially government politicians) want to deal with something that won't give them immediate returns (or sexual pleasure).
So we can positively conclude that if the governments and other businesses interested in space are the 'collective intellect' of humanity, then by god yes! Our collective intellect has not only peaked, but has been on a steady decline for the past twenty to thirty years.
I have waited for the proper time, and have realized that the call to arms I've been seeking is now!
BTW, I saw this quote at the bottom of the page:
When a girl marries she exchanges the attentions of many men for the inattentions of one. -- Helen Rowland
And I just want to say that this is highly offensive to me as a happily married man.
I mean, what the hell, if a man were to state something like, "Getting married just means you don't get any sexual attention at all" he would have every woman on the planet ready to rip his dick and balls off and eat them for lunch (and interesting idea in and of itself). Oh well, maybe it's just late in the day and slashdot and usenet have become the most frustrating possible endeavors that I am ready to commit an on-line suicide. Bye, bye karma. Bye, bye self-respect. Fuck-all moderators!
He may have been moderated as funny (and I hope that was his aim) but there are people that actually believe this kind of thing.<br><br>
Speaking of which, why is there no moderation tag called Sad?
I'm really suprised we haven't seen Katz doing an insightful investigation as to the reasons Penis Birdz are so attractive or the reasons Hot Grits down your pants are so popular.
My prefered method of research for such an article is to have Jon Katz hooked up with a hose that pours a constant stream of steaming hot grits down his pants for at least a good thirty minutes. He ain't done till he gots fourth degree burns all over his lower half. Then he can explain to us what's appealing about it (I know, I know, his skin's a peeling! bada bum!).
That's what Katz does best. He will completely and totally misunderstand one of the great thinkers (arguable in Freud's case) and try to say how that backs up his position. Although he really didn't go too far out on this one. Freud would probably enjoy looking at 'flamewars' on the Internet.
But how many people would get sick of being told they want to sleep with their mother and suck their father's willy? I think Freud would be just as likely to become a flamer as he would be to study flamers. And he'd probably be a darned good one too. Not too many people are that hung up on the mother/son relationship and sexual encounters therein. That'd be some good flaming.
I'm just waiting for the day that Katz decides to quote some ancient saying ascribed to Socrates and uses that to prove that 'Socrates predicted the Internet!' Then maybe he'll finally get laughed out of here for a while. Maybe.
On the other hand there are those of us (myself included) that have written for most of our lives and cannot believe that someone with such a load of hot air and a total lack of creativity can actually have gotten a job doing this sort of writing.
Personally, Jon's insistance on the Internet either a. being the end of everything we know, or b. being the beginning of a new version of everything we know, or c. being the be-all, end-all proof of everything every dreamt of in human existance, makes me absolutely sick. And the concepts that he tries to promote (while totally twisting original thoughts into 'background' for his arguments) are nothing short of pure RAH! RAH! cheerleading fanaticism.
While this article is one of the few that at least tries to cover an interesting topic, by the second paragraph you are bored stiff with the writing style (I'm right, you must agree, I'm right, you must agree, the greatest minds throughout history would agree with me, I'm right you must agree.). By the time you finish reading the above, you should, by all rights, be asleep or comatose. Luckily, I've had my share of editing jobs, and have managed to develop a tollerance for sleep-inducing crap.
Jon Katz gets flamed because he DESERVES it! Just because some of the people flaming him don't 'know the ropes' of writing doesn't mean they don't have a right to complaign. If someone had you watch a bad movie, would you say you have no right to complaign about the movie if you don't know all the ins and outs of the movie making process? No, I didn't think so.
And that, dear sir, is what I like to call, intellectualised flamebait.
Jon Katz on flaming? Is this what we call 'self-realization'? Or does he actually believe that he has just stated something truly profound and enlightening for the stupid masses?
Yeah, that's probably it. Hard to believe that Katz would actually wake up to his own stupidity.
That's not a bad idea, although I doubt Taco would allow anything that made that much sense to actually happen. How could he feel morally outraged at people complaining if he actually did something to try and fix things?
Slashdot Mirror
Oh, thank you oh great one for that highly insightful and truly biased opinion.
I am not going to give up all of my training and throw it away for an MCSE (I know Unix best, and believe me, the time I spent working for Windows based companies was even more of a pain in the ass than this job).
I've steadily moved into better and better positions believe it or not. And thus far this is the best I've found. It isn't perfect, but it beats the holy hell out of my previous jobs.
I used to have principles when it came to work, but I spent way too much of my time out of a job. I'm sorry, but the choice nowadays is either you break some of your 'rules' or you don't fucking work. This is especially true in the midwest where the entire concept of 'good work ethic' means you should be willing to sacrifice absolutely everything that means anything to you for 'the business'.
I stick to my guns outside of work. But in order to keep my job I pretty much just bend over and walk in backwards. It's the only way to keep paying the bills.
Actually, if you would have read my post you would have realized that I didn't say 'I don't like Katz', but I was asking a question.
Typically, I read Katz articles because I keep thinking eventually, sometime, somehow, he will accidently let slip a little bit of an original thought. But all I've ever seen from him is the same thing, over, and over, and over, and over. The guy just doesn't seem capable of original thought.
If his writing were interesting, or original, or inspiring, I could understand how he keeps his job. But as it is, I just find it extremely interesting how someone so full of hot air (with absolutely no thought process other than 'regurgitate') can keep a 'creative' job.
As for the whining, fuck off! I have just as much right to whine as everyone else does. And god knows I'm not the only one doing it. Just don't read my comments if it hurts you that fucking bad you loser.
I live in the midwest (South Dakota to be exact) and here's a breakdown of my job:
Poor pay for technology worker, and I'm the only IT person in the company.
I'm expected to be on call 24/7 because 'I'm the only IT person in the company'. So even if I take time off, I'm not really off, and half of the time I get 'called-in' because some moron spilled coffee on his keyboard and wasn't smart enough to know how to plug in a spare.
I get told by the technophobes in management that this 'Internet' thing is just a fad and I should not pursue any internet related projects because it isn't important. This is the one that really pisses me off. If they had any clue about technology they wouldn't say it. If they had no clue (as they obviously do) AND they were willing to admit they had no clue and were willing to listen to me and the two or three other people in the company that understand the importance of the Internet, and be willing to learn something, then it wouldn't be a problem. I call this, Ignorance by choice.
Now, tell me to find another job? Most of the people I know in positions like mine are in the same boat around here. I'd like to know how far I'd have to move to find a technology related job that wasn't this worthless, but thus far haven't been pushed 'quite' far enough to work that hard at it.
Just don't make the mistaken impression that only on the coasts are there problems with jobs (in technology or outside of technology jobs).
OK, so this book is right up Jon Katz's alley. Not only does it take a blatantly obvious topic (Work sucks, duh. Management doesn't care, duh. Work sucks, duh.), but it also manages to write a lot of non-sense that Jon could rip off into another article of his stellar 'more obvious than the fact that we must at some point take a dump' garbage.
Why does Jon Katz write? It seems to me that he cannot, will not, or simply refuses to write about anything other than blatantly obvious topics. Isn't there any insight at all in the man? Someone that knows such big words and how to write such lengthy (and meaningless) articles should be able to occassionally come up with a meaningful thought. SHouldn't he?
Yeah, but everybody has to have something to do. I'm just glad that the big slobbering idiots are entertaining to watch. Nothing's funnier than watching two big stupid guys beating the hell out of eachother.
Oh yeah, and it's not like I've got much choice. My wife watches it (for obvious reasons, I feel so inadequate), and wants me to watch it with her (I don't think it's working, I'm still fat and lazy).
I believe that with everything you just said, you were actually trying to say: "Why did this get posted to Slashdot?"
Now you've gone and made the Rock lose his patience.
Just as you pour over your posters of Natalie Portman, just as you beat your tiny penis to a bloody pulp, the Rock is gonna beat your candy ass!
So bring it jabroney, just bring it!
Now, the Rock says this. You see, that first posting lameness thing has pushed the Rock just a little too far. Just a little TOO far....
So here's what the Rock is gonna do. The Rock's gonna take your first post, turn that sumbitch sideways, and shove it straight up, your candy ass!
The people's champion isn't going to put up with the first posting morons. It's time for someone to stand up to the foolishness. It's time once again for the people's champ to take the ring.
You stand up there, every story. You stand up there and run your mouth. You run your mouth, and you whine, and you bitch, and you wine some more. Well, the Rock says this, he doesn't care how much crap you whine about! He doesn't care how much garbage you bitch about! But what the Rock does care about is WHIPPING THAT CANDY ASS ALl OVER SLASHDOT!
So you go on and whine. You go on and bitch. You go on and be a lame ass first poster. You go ahead and lick that lama's anus! The Rock is gonna take you out. And he's gonna take you out, TONIGHT!
If you SMELLLLLLLLLLLLLLOW! What the Rock! Is cookin'.
Signed, The Rock
I always knew she was really just housing some serious geek equipment in that shirt!
Having worked at Gateway for two years I will tell you what I tell anyone I know that is interesting in purchasing a computer:
Stay the hell away from Gateway! Having been on the inside I can honestly tell you that I have no idea how the hell they stay in business. They destroyed their service department (they didn't want educated technicians, so they took away the 'service' part of it and made it a bunch of crappy tests on an assembly line look alike. Pass the tests and there must not be anything 'really' wrong with your computer). They litterally go out of their way to get the most clueless morons they can find on the phones with customers. Plus, they pretty much piss off the few good employees they have by telling them that whatever computer experience and/or education they have doesn't matter, they aren't worth more than just above minimum wage because they are going to be assigned to a 'push the fscking button' type of job anyway.
If you want a computer, stay away from Gateway. Unless you really enjoy dealing with clueless idiots all the time. Of course, you're reading slashdot, so that could be the case.
If it makes chicks look anything at all like seven of nine then I'm buying one for my wife!
Gateway isn't more receptive now. While they sell a 'network appliance' that runs on Linux, they are still very, very, EXTREMELY unfreindly towards any mention of running Linux on a PC or server.
While I was still working there they had been talking about allowing servers to be sold with Linux, but any time I talk to a salesperson I am told that servers are only sold with Win2K or NT 4. When I ask if it is possible to purchase without an OS (so I can install Linux myself) I am flat out told that they will not support pirating of Windows products. They will not even admit that it is possible to install anything other than Windows on a server. And don't even get me started on what their phone techs said when I told them I was running Linux on a gateway laptop. You would have thought I just told them I was fscking their mothers!
"Until you install Windows on your computer, we cannot help you with your problem."
Well, it's a little hard to do that when you can't get any video display (turned out to be a loose connection to the LCD).
I think I've got a better one:
Let's patent a system whereby teenage boys are excited by staring at pictures of one Miss Natalie Portman while speaking of Beowulf Clusters and pouring hot grits down their pants. Then, we shall proceed to sue Slashdot and each and every troll poster!
On to world domination!
Apparently you missed that part of the class.
Have you heard of the DeCSS trial? It is illegal to make a DVD player without licensing CSS. If you do, it must be because you're a pirate.
God forbid the consumer actually has a choice! Sorry, gotta use MS or Macs if you wanna watch DVDs on your computer asshole!
Let's consider: 1. Large corporations suck at moving quickly.
2. Technological and scientific advancements require fast movement (mentally speaking).
3. Exploration has hit a point where large 'corporations' (read governments) are required to pursue endeavors
4. There is little 'percieved profit' in space
5. No corporation (especially government politicians) want to deal with something that won't give them immediate returns (or sexual pleasure).
So we can positively conclude that if the governments and other businesses interested in space are the 'collective intellect' of humanity, then by god yes! Our collective intellect has not only peaked, but has been on a steady decline for the past twenty to thirty years.
I have waited for the proper time, and have realized that the call to arms I've been seeking is now!
BTW, I saw this quote at the bottom of the page:
And I just want to say that this is highly offensive to me as a happily married man.
I mean, what the hell, if a man were to state something like, "Getting married just means you don't get any sexual attention at all" he would have every woman on the planet ready to rip his dick and balls off and eat them for lunch (and interesting idea in and of itself). Oh well, maybe it's just late in the day and slashdot and usenet have become the most frustrating possible endeavors that I am ready to commit an on-line suicide. Bye, bye karma. Bye, bye self-respect. Fuck-all moderators!
I hate that code option!
He may have been moderated as funny (and I hope that was his aim) but there are people that actually believe this kind of thing.<br><br>
Speaking of which, why is there no moderation tag called Sad?
I'm really suprised we haven't seen Katz doing an insightful investigation as to the reasons Penis Birdz are so attractive or the reasons Hot Grits down your pants are so popular.
My prefered method of research for such an article is to have Jon Katz hooked up with a hose that pours a constant stream of steaming hot grits down his pants for at least a good thirty minutes. He ain't done till he gots fourth degree burns all over his lower half. Then he can explain to us what's appealing about it (I know, I know, his skin's a peeling! bada bum!).
Cause I gots karma to burn and I don't give a fuck!
Slashdot is just like USENET on steroids. At least, it's just like all the bad parts of USENET. Why bother trying to protect my karma?
That's what Katz does best. He will completely and totally misunderstand one of the great thinkers (arguable in Freud's case) and try to say how that backs up his position. Although he really didn't go too far out on this one. Freud would probably enjoy looking at 'flamewars' on the Internet.
But how many people would get sick of being told they want to sleep with their mother and suck their father's willy? I think Freud would be just as likely to become a flamer as he would be to study flamers. And he'd probably be a darned good one too. Not too many people are that hung up on the mother/son relationship and sexual encounters therein. That'd be some good flaming.
I'm just waiting for the day that Katz decides to quote some ancient saying ascribed to Socrates and uses that to prove that 'Socrates predicted the Internet!' Then maybe he'll finally get laughed out of here for a while. Maybe.
Jesus. It looks like my spelling could have used a little work.
Good thing I didn't have to edit my own post there. Otherwise I wouldn't have gotten it posted this year!
On the other hand there are those of us (myself included) that have written for most of our lives and cannot believe that someone with such a load of hot air and a total lack of creativity can actually have gotten a job doing this sort of writing.
Personally, Jon's insistance on the Internet either a. being the end of everything we know, or b. being the beginning of a new version of everything we know, or c. being the be-all, end-all proof of everything every dreamt of in human existance, makes me absolutely sick. And the concepts that he tries to promote (while totally twisting original thoughts into 'background' for his arguments) are nothing short of pure RAH! RAH! cheerleading fanaticism.
While this article is one of the few that at least tries to cover an interesting topic, by the second paragraph you are bored stiff with the writing style (I'm right, you must agree, I'm right, you must agree, the greatest minds throughout history would agree with me, I'm right you must agree.). By the time you finish reading the above, you should, by all rights, be asleep or comatose. Luckily, I've had my share of editing jobs, and have managed to develop a tollerance for sleep-inducing crap.
Jon Katz gets flamed because he DESERVES it! Just because some of the people flaming him don't 'know the ropes' of writing doesn't mean they don't have a right to complaign. If someone had you watch a bad movie, would you say you have no right to complaign about the movie if you don't know all the ins and outs of the movie making process? No, I didn't think so.
And that, dear sir, is what I like to call, intellectualised flamebait.
Well, to add my flame to the fire.
Jon Katz on flaming? Is this what we call 'self-realization'? Or does he actually believe that he has just stated something truly profound and enlightening for the stupid masses?
Yeah, that's probably it. Hard to believe that Katz would actually wake up to his own stupidity.
That's not a bad idea, although I doubt Taco would allow anything that made that much sense to actually happen. How could he feel morally outraged at people complaining if he actually did something to try and fix things?