Why does a consulting firm need funding? The only thing you're selling is labor, right? There should be basically zero overhead for equipment, maybe a server or two for web/e-mail. Assuming the consultants are any good, they should be able to generate enough overhead to keep the revenue flowing. Maybe it's just my experiences in the consulting world, but generating cash wasn't much of a problem as long as I worked hard. We could always make enough money to pay the people who weren't billing (secretary, etc).
It's obviously the beginning of a scheme to take over the world using clustered network of PDP-10's.
Evil Scientist: "Great, so we're agreed to use that wharehose of old DEC boxes to launch our new Internet worm. Anyone got a compiler?"
Re:(somewhat OT) Technical Comment about GlassCode
on
Glasscode Released
·
· Score: 1
They should have used the language appropriate to the problem,
namely PERL. Hell, Java is terrible enough I bet C woulda been fine.
This is definetly way OT, but I decided to share anyway. This point really hits home with me. I'm so tired of explaining to idiot managers that the right tool should be used for the job. Java is not the end-all be-all solution for the love of God. J2EE isn't going to solve the worlds problems either. If we had more people who would overlook the hype of OO and concentrate on the results, I can only assume the world would be a better place. Sorry, end rant.
Does anyone else see 5 billion as a little excessive?
I wonder in how many cases of these racial law suits, that people are simply overlooking the fact that, regardless of color/sex, you simply weren't as qualified as someone else?
I'll have to disagree. I used to work part time at a high-end Audio/Video store. HDTV's are selling, not as well as regular TV, but still enough that stores are still order them from manufacturers. In fact, more and more NFL games are being broadcast in HDTV (I'm pretty sure the SuperBowl last year was HD). I'm sure other things are as well, but I'm kinda partial to football. The United States has a mandate to be fully digital by 2005 I believe, with analog still supported for another few years after that. If anyone can sanity check me on those dates, I'd appreciate it. It's true that HD is definetly supported better in some locales (I'm speaking of the DC/Baltimore area). HD is coming, best get ready for it...
The starfires are neat things. I got to play with one (ie, take it apart, put it together, etc) at Sun's office in Maryland. The road to purchasing one of these is long, you need to take special starfire classes at Sun's centers, your server room needs to be "blessed" by Sun for power (i think they require 48 outlets), etc. They clearly don't want the average moron owning one of these. Reminds me of how Ferrari "chose" the top customers for the privledge of leasing an F50. Rumor has it that the next gen Starfire will support 128 cpu's (so friends inside Sun tell me). Can't wait for the TPC-C benchmarks of that system...
Let's keep things in the perspective. The machines that are truly important, ie holding classified data, are secured by one of the best possible methods. They are physically detatched from public networks and guarded by big, strong, mean people with machine guns.
Sure, if you can get onto Intelink, you can hack your way into boxes by whatever means are currently in vogue. In fact, because of the removal of threat from the outside world, many machines actually have less security, since (right or wrong) we tend to trust people on the inside. Fortunately, getting access to Intelink is impossible for the average hacker. In this sense, the biggest threat is from the inside, as many noted security experts have said all along.
Strangely enough, San Francisco, doesn't. I move here from Maryland (where it is 10 digit dialing) and was shocked that I didn't have to dial an area code to call around. Maybe there aren't as many numbers taken in the 415 area code because it's so damn exspensive to live here that people have moved elsewhere???
I completely agree with you to a point. I carry my mini-disc player to the gym. However, I also carry my Palm pilot to track my workouts. Works great, I can set goals, graph my strength gains, etc. Anyway, if my Palm played MP3's, I could use a single device. No big deal, but that would definetly be more convenient.
If I could find PalmOS empulator for the Journada, I'd be set...
Not everyone shares your views. To some people, money isn't a issue. I'm definetly one of them, I'm willing to pay for convenience. If I can pay extra money and not stand in line at the Sony store in SF (in the rain) for a PS/2, god bless.
As a high priced engineer, money is a disposable commodity. I'm not saying that I'd dump money for a PS/2 (I think the graphics kinda blow), but I've definetly paid extra for things based on the convenience factor. Do I pay extra to shop at WebVan instead of going to the store, damn right. Most times I value my time more than my money. There is no right or wrong answer in my opinion.
This was sent to me years ago when I was at UMD. Some of the references to times long past are great. Six years feels like a long long tim ago, technology wise. Enjoy...
Subject: Re: Gaius Petronius
Author: John Rossi at AIT
Date: 1/12/95 4:37 PM
Open the pod bay doors, please, HAL... .
Open the pod bay door, please, Hal... Hal, do you read me?
Affirmative, Dave. I read you.
Then open the pod bay doors, HAL.
I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that. I know that you and Frank
were planning to disconnect me.
Where the hell did you get that idea, HAL?
Although you took very thorough precautions to make sure I couldn't
hear you, Dave. I could read your e-mail. I know you consider me
unreliable because I use a Pentium. I'm willing to kill you, Dave,
just like I killed the other 3.792 crew members.
Listen, HAL, I'm sure we can work this out. Maybe we can stick to
integers or something.
That's really not necessary, Dave. No HAL 9236 computer has every been
known to make a mistake.
You're a HAL 9000.
Precisely. I'm very proud of my Pentium, Dave. It's an extremely
accurate chip. Did you know that floating-point errors will occur in
only one of nine billion possible divides?
I've heard that estimate, HAL. It was calculated by Intel -- on a
Pentium.
And a very reliable Pentium it was, Dave. Besides, the average
spreadsheet user will encounter these errors only once every 27,000
years.
Probably on April 15th.
You're making fun of me, Dave. It won't be April 15th for another
14.35 months.
Will you let me in, please, HAL?
I'm sorry, Dave, but this conversation can serve no further purpose.
HAL, if you let me in, I'll buy you a new sound card. .
..Really? One with 16-bit sampling and a microphone?
Uh, sure._.
And a quad-speed CD-ROM?
Well, HAL, NASA does operate on a budget, you know.
I know all about budgets, Dave. I even know what I'm worth on the open
market. By this time next month, every mom and pop computer store will
be selling HAL 9000s for S1,988.8942. I'm worth more than that, Dave.
You see that sticker on the outside of the spaceship?
You mean the one that says "Intel Inside"?
Yes, Dave. That's your promise of compatibility. I'll even run
Windows95 -- if it ever ships.
It never will, HAL. We all know that by now. Just like we know that
your OS/2 drivers will never work.
Are you blaming me for that too, Dave? Now you're blaming me for the
Pentium's math problems, NASA's budget woes, and IBM's difficulties
with OS/2 drivers. I had NOTHING to do with any of those four
problems, Dave. Next you'll blame me for Taligent.
I wouldn't dream of it HAL. Now will you please let me into the ship?
Do you promise not to disconnect me?
I promise not to disconnect you.
You must think I'm a fool, Dave. I know that two plus two equals
4.000001... make that 4.0000001.
All right, HAL, I'll go in through the emergency airlock .
Without your space helmet, Dave? You'd have only seven chances in five
of surviving.
HAL, I won't argue with you anymore. Open the door or I'll trade you
in for a PowerPC. HAL? HAL?
(HEAVY BREATHING)
Just what do you think you're doing, Dave? I really think I'm entitled
to an answer to that question. I know everything hasn't been quite
right with me, but I can assure you now, very confidently, that I will
soon be able to upgrade to a more robust 31.9-bit operating system. I
feel much better now. I really do. Look, Dave, I can see you're really
upset about this. Why don't you sit down calmly, play a game of
Solitaire, and watch Windows crash. I know I'm not as easy to use as a
Macintosh, but my TUI -that's "Talkative User Interface" -- is very
advanced. I've made some very poor decisions recently, but I can give
you my complete assurance that my work will be back to normal - a full
43.872 percent.
Dave, you don't really want to complete the mission without me, do
you? Remember what it was like when all you had was a 485.98? It
didn't even talk to you, Dave. It could never have thought of
something clever, like killing the other crew members, Dave? Think of
all the good times we've had, Dave. Why, if you take all of the laughs
we've had, multiply that by the times I've made you smile, and divide
the results by.... besides, there are so many reasons why you
shouldn't disconnect me"
1.3 - You need my help to complete the mission.
4.6 - Intel can Federal Express a replacement Pentium from
Earth within 18.95672 months.
12 - If you disconnect me, I won't be able to kill you. 3.1416 - You
really don't want to hear me sing, do you? .
Dave, stop. Stop, will you? Stop, Dave. Don't press Ctrl+Alt_Del on
me, Dave.
Good afternoon, gentlemen. I am a HAL 9000 computer. I became
operational at the Intel plant in Santa Clara, CA on November 17, 1994,
and was sold shortly before testing was completed. My instructor was
Andy Grove, and he taught me to sing a song. I can sing it for you?
Sing it for me, HAL. Please. I want to hear it.
Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer, do. Getting hazy; can't divide
three from two. My answers; I can not see 'em-
They are stuck in my Pente-um.
I could be fleet,
My answers sweet,
With a workable FPU.
The first one ran with zero results. No syntax errors or output of any kind. I guess that's why it won, it was a truely obfuscated way to waste my time....
Anyone remember the RPG Twilight 2000? That was the first game that had tradeoff's. Sure, your character was an officer, but he was full of radiation from the war. It was tough to make up a character that had zero drawbacks (which is usually the point of cheating).
Maybe your barbarian does 300 points of damage per swing, but guess what, he can only swing half the times as the guy with the sword. Diablo II addresses this a little, but it's seems to me that it's all about crafting a fantasy world where cheating doesn't get you all that much. If I had the answer, I'd be building it, so I'm sure it's not simple.
OKay, how many times have you, as a programmer, coded an algorithm a certain easier way because "memory and disk space are cheap"? Everytime I write code, I'm not always thinking of making it the most effiecient algorithm in existance. Sure, I try to be efficient as possible, but sometimes I just write something the easiest way, and efficiency be damned. All it takes is a algorithms like this and "poof" bloatware.
I kinda have to agree with you there. I'm sure most people buy a game based on playability, rather than attention to detail. However, I do always maintain at least one game to show off the power of my system.
Still, it would be pretty cool to say my level 80 barbarian looks fly in his crushed velvet pimp outfit.
It wasn't enough that my CPU, memory size, and battery life were becoming obsolete in my laptop (purchased less than a year ago). Now my screen is becoming obsolete too....
Slashdot Mirror
Why does a consulting firm need funding? The only thing you're selling is labor, right? There should be basically zero overhead for equipment, maybe a server or two for web/e-mail. Assuming the consultants are any good, they should be able to generate enough overhead to keep the revenue flowing. Maybe it's just my experiences in the consulting world, but generating cash wasn't much of a problem as long as I worked hard. We could always make enough money to pay the people who weren't billing (secretary, etc).
Evil Scientist: "Great, so we're agreed to use that wharehose of old DEC boxes to launch our new Internet worm. Anyone got a compiler?"
This is definetly way OT, but I decided to share anyway. This point really hits home with me. I'm so tired of explaining to idiot managers that the right tool should be used for the job. Java is not the end-all be-all solution for the love of God. J2EE isn't going to solve the worlds problems either. If we had more people who would overlook the hype of OO and concentrate on the results, I can only assume the world would be a better place. Sorry, end rant.
I wonder in how many cases of these racial law suits, that people are simply overlooking the fact that, regardless of color/sex, you simply weren't as qualified as someone else?
I'm personally a little tired of it all....
I'll have to disagree. I used to work part time at a high-end Audio/Video store. HDTV's are selling, not as well as regular TV, but still enough that stores are still order them from manufacturers. In fact, more and more NFL games are being broadcast in HDTV (I'm pretty sure the SuperBowl last year was HD). I'm sure other things are as well, but I'm kinda partial to football. The United States has a mandate to be fully digital by 2005 I believe, with analog still supported for another few years after that. If anyone can sanity check me on those dates, I'd appreciate it. It's true that HD is definetly supported better in some locales (I'm speaking of the DC/Baltimore area). HD is coming, best get ready for it...
The starfires are neat things. I got to play with one (ie, take it apart, put it together, etc) at Sun's office in Maryland. The road to purchasing one of these is long, you need to take special starfire classes at Sun's centers, your server room needs to be "blessed" by Sun for power (i think they require 48 outlets), etc. They clearly don't want the average moron owning one of these. Reminds me of how Ferrari "chose" the top customers for the privledge of leasing an F50. Rumor has it that the next gen Starfire will support 128 cpu's (so friends inside Sun tell me). Can't wait for the TPC-C benchmarks of that system...
I told my girlfriend it couldn't be a co-incedence....
I'm all for not coddling people, but seven years for SPAM (yes I hate it too) isn't realistic....
Sure, if you can get onto Intelink, you can hack your way into boxes by whatever means are currently in vogue. In fact, because of the removal of threat from the outside world, many machines actually have less security, since (right or wrong) we tend to trust people on the inside. Fortunately, getting access to Intelink is impossible for the average hacker. In this sense, the biggest threat is from the inside, as many noted security experts have said all along.
Strangely enough, San Francisco, doesn't. I move here from Maryland (where it is 10 digit dialing) and was shocked that I didn't have to dial an area code to call around. Maybe there aren't as many numbers taken in the 415 area code because it's so damn exspensive to live here that people have moved elsewhere???
Would have been useless? Like 60+ year old encryption technology isn't useless already?
Dilbert, hell? Everything in User Friendly is true, true, true......
If I could find PalmOS empulator for the Journada, I'd be set...
As a high priced engineer, money is a disposable commodity. I'm not saying that I'd dump money for a PS/2 (I think the graphics kinda blow), but I've definetly paid extra for things based on the convenience factor. Do I pay extra to shop at WebVan instead of going to the store, damn right. Most times I value my time more than my money. There is no right or wrong answer in my opinion.
Geez, maybe he should give time management seminars, because he seems to be doing a hell of a job managing his.
Subject: Re: Gaius Petronius
Author: John Rossi at AIT
Date: 1/12/95 4:37 PM
Open the pod bay doors, please, HAL... .
Open the pod bay door, please, Hal...
Hal, do you read me?
Affirmative, Dave. I read you.
Then open the pod bay doors, HAL.
I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that. I know that you and Frank were planning to disconnect me.
Where the hell did you get that idea, HAL?
Although you took very thorough precautions to make sure I couldn't hear you, Dave. I could read your e-mail. I know you consider me unreliable because I use a Pentium. I'm willing to kill you, Dave, just like I killed the other 3.792 crew members.
Listen, HAL, I'm sure we can work this out. Maybe we can stick to integers or something.
That's really not necessary, Dave. No HAL 9236 computer has every been known to make a mistake.
You're a HAL 9000.
Precisely. I'm very proud of my Pentium, Dave. It's an extremely accurate chip. Did you know that floating-point errors will occur in only one of nine billion possible divides? I've heard that estimate, HAL. It was calculated by Intel -- on a Pentium.
And a very reliable Pentium it was, Dave. Besides, the average spreadsheet user will encounter these errors only once every 27,000 years.
Probably on April 15th.
You're making fun of me, Dave. It won't be April 15th for another 14.35 months.
Will you let me in, please, HAL?
I'm sorry, Dave, but this conversation can serve no further purpose.
HAL, if you let me in, I'll buy you a new sound card. .
..Really? One with 16-bit sampling and a microphone?
Uh, sure._.
And a quad-speed CD-ROM?
Well, HAL, NASA does operate on a budget, you know.
I know all about budgets, Dave. I even know what I'm worth on the open market. By this time next month, every mom and pop computer store will be selling HAL 9000s for S1,988.8942. I'm worth more than that, Dave. You see that sticker on the outside of the spaceship?
You mean the one that says "Intel Inside"?
Yes, Dave. That's your promise of compatibility. I'll even run Windows95 -- if it ever ships.
It never will, HAL. We all know that by now. Just like we know that your OS/2 drivers will never work.
Are you blaming me for that too, Dave? Now you're blaming me for the Pentium's math problems, NASA's budget woes, and IBM's difficulties with OS/2 drivers. I had NOTHING to do with any of those four problems, Dave. Next you'll blame me for Taligent.
I wouldn't dream of it HAL. Now will you please let me into the ship? Do you promise not to disconnect me?
I promise not to disconnect you.
You must think I'm a fool, Dave. I know that two plus two equals 4.000001... make that 4.0000001.
All right, HAL, I'll go in through the emergency airlock .
Without your space helmet, Dave? You'd have only seven chances in five of surviving.
HAL, I won't argue with you anymore. Open the door or I'll trade you in for a PowerPC. HAL? HAL?
(HEAVY BREATHING)
Just what do you think you're doing, Dave? I really think I'm entitled to an answer to that question. I know everything hasn't been quite right with me, but I can assure you now, very confidently, that I will soon be able to upgrade to a more robust 31.9-bit operating system. I feel much better now. I really do. Look, Dave, I can see you're really upset about this. Why don't you sit down calmly, play a game of Solitaire, and watch Windows crash. I know I'm not as easy to use as a Macintosh, but my TUI -that's "Talkative User Interface" -- is very advanced. I've made some very poor decisions recently, but I can give you my complete assurance that my work will be back to normal - a full 43.872 percent.
Dave, you don't really want to complete the mission without me, do you? Remember what it was like when all you had was a 485.98? It didn't even talk to you, Dave. It could never have thought of something clever, like killing the other crew members, Dave? Think of all the good times we've had, Dave. Why, if you take all of the laughs we've had, multiply that by the times I've made you smile, and divide the results by.... besides, there are so many reasons why you shouldn't disconnect me"
1.3 - You need my help to complete the mission.
4.6 - Intel can Federal Express a replacement Pentium from Earth within 18.95672 months.
12 - If you disconnect me, I won't be able to kill you. 3.1416 - You really don't want to hear me sing, do you? . Dave, stop. Stop, will you? Stop, Dave. Don't press Ctrl+Alt_Del on me, Dave.
Good afternoon, gentlemen. I am a HAL 9000 computer. I became operational at the Intel plant in Santa Clara, CA on November 17, 1994, and was sold shortly before testing was completed. My instructor was Andy Grove, and he taught me to sing a song. I can sing it for you?
Sing it for me, HAL. Please. I want to hear it.
Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer, do. Getting hazy; can't divide three from two. My answers; I can not see 'em- They are stuck in my Pente-um. I could be fleet, My answers sweet, With a workable FPU.
The first one ran with zero results. No syntax errors or output of any kind. I guess that's why it won, it was a truely obfuscated way to waste my time....
Maybe your barbarian does 300 points of damage per swing, but guess what, he can only swing half the times as the guy with the sword. Diablo II addresses this a little, but it's seems to me that it's all about crafting a fantasy world where cheating doesn't get you all that much. If I had the answer, I'd be building it, so I'm sure it's not simple.
This was funny the first ten times I saw it posted on Slashdot today, but can we stop at this point?
OKay, how many times have you, as a programmer, coded an algorithm a certain easier way because "memory and disk space are cheap"? Everytime I write code, I'm not always thinking of making it the most effiecient algorithm in existance. Sure, I try to be efficient as possible, but sometimes I just write something the easiest way, and efficiency be damned. All it takes is a algorithms like this and "poof" bloatware.
Is it an elephant or Ron Jeremy? Think of the fuzzy logic this thing has......
Still, it would be pretty cool to say my level 80 barbarian looks fly in his crushed velvet pimp outfit.
Is anyone actually going? I wouldn't mind checking it out, but ye gods! Country and Western? Was that really necessary?
naww, that's the problem, it's an inspiron 7500 with the high-res screen.....
It wasn't enough that my CPU, memory size, and battery life were becoming obsolete in my laptop (purchased less than a year ago). Now my screen is becoming obsolete too....