Anybody follow the news? Anybody read about the tens of thousands of US citizens laid-off from IBM, HP, etc? And there is more to come - lots more. The Oracle-Sun merger will probably bring about several thousand more layoffs for US workers.
And the tech lobbies still hires shills like Wadhwa, and uses fake "think tanks" to convince us that there is a shortage of qualified Americans. It amazes me that anybody is stupid enough to believe that crap.
Question: if there is really a shortage of STEM workers, then why aren't salaries going up?
Americans are avoiding any STEM related career fields because Americans doubt there will be any remunerative work for them in that field.
Why go through all the time, money, and effort, to get a STEM degree, only to train your H1B replacement a few years later? Or have you job offshored? Or have your salary driven down to next-to-nothing because of a labor glut?
The US does not need most of these foreign workers. The US certainly does not need the H1B visa. The US already had the O-1 visa for the truly gifted - why isn't that enough for the H1B hogs?
Anybody, who knows anything, about Vivek Wadhwa, knows that he is an industry shill. He is also a turncoat, he used to argue the exact opposit of what he argues now.
And what does he use to back up his specious argument? An Indian think tank? Oh come on now, is there anybody so stupid as to give any credibility to think tanks?
In other startling news: car makers say it's a good time to buy a car, NASSCOM claims the US needs more guest workers, and Apple claims you will love the new iPhone.
Why do you need to set up a custom kernel? I have ran linux years, never felt the need. But, at least I could if I wanted to, which is more than I can do with windows.
I don't get people who gripe about linux being so hard to use. In my experience, once the OS is set up, about 99% of what I need to do is launch apps. I suppose I move around files every once in a while, but I don't find that so insanely difficult.
Agree 100%. You can re-install w2k as many times as you need.
W2K is faster on the same hardware, it runs all my hw and sw, has a much cleaner interface, and is stable, and can be made secure.
Even if you're one of those msft fanboys - who furiously masturbates over things like fading menus - you must admit, msft has not made much progress in the last decade.
Way back when, "pirating" a DOS disk was as simple as making a copy, and there was practically no risk.
Now, pirating windows would be much more difficult, much more risky, and much more pointless.
Practically all PCs sell with windows installed. This does not raise the price of a PC very much. So why risk the lawsuits from the BSA, why fight with all the DRM. Frankly, a "pirated" version of windows is not likely to work anyway.
Putting a new version of windows on an old PC does not usually make sense from a technological perspective. Windows just keeps getting more bloated, and resource intensive. This may not be true of win7 vs vista; but isn't that a free, or cheap, upgrade anyway?
Furthermore, re-selling software on ebay, even when it is legal, can be quite difficult. Try selling a legal, unopened, copy of Rosetta Stone.
Also, doesn't comcast now choke the torrents?
Considering the substantial legal, and technical, difficulties involved in pirating software. It is hard for me to believe these claims of widespread pirating.
Or, is the BSA just a bunch of extortionist thugs?
From wikipedia:
> According to an article in Mother Jones magazine,[4] the BSA discovered in 1995 that Antel, the Uruguayan national telephone company, had pirated US$100,000 worth of Microsoft, Novell, and Symantec software. The BSA's lawyers in Uruguay quickly filed suit, but dropped the suit in 1997 when Antel signed a "special agreement" with Microsoft to replace all of its software with Microsoft products. This has led to accusations that the BSA is a front for Microsoft, with its other members being enlisted purely to disguise Microsoft's dominant role.
Gartner declares Android a second place winner in 2012. Why?
> Looking into its crystal ball, Gartner Group has predicted that Google's Android will become the second largest smartphone platform by 2012. Problem is, nobody's talking about how terrible Gartner is at predicting things, or that Gartner's "research" has historically been paid for by special interests. So why the headlines?
> But calling Windows Mobile a dud at this point isn't very bold, even for Gartner, a group that has dutifully suckled the teat of Bill Gates throughout a series of sour spells. Microsoft's shill budget for Windows Mobile is probably as sad as the beleaguered mobile platform's web browser. That would certainly explain why a Gartner analyst wrote a month ago that he was "concerned about its future and I worry that WM7 [in 2010] could even be the last throw of the dice [for Microsoft]."
> In one of Microsoft's antitrust suits, Gartner's core competency as a shill group was detailed when confidential internal memos surfaced showing that Microsoft had paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in an effort that "successfully lobbied and changed the Gartner Group TCO [Total Cost of Ownership] model to show Windows as providing the lowest overall TCO [in comparison to NCs]."
> In contrast, RIM and Apple largely live or die on the merits of their products, not on the spin that chattering analysts can give their products. Tomorrow's Android makers are today's Windows Mobile makers, and Gartner is just doing the best it can to keep Windows Mobile alive in principle, even as the life is draining out of its frail earthly corpse.
I can get a fairly decent PC laptop for $300 at the local microcenter. Why doesn't apple make a starter system, like that, and prove that Apple can make a decent system for the same price as a PC?
Aspire AS5516-5474 - Black # AMD Athlon(tm) 64 TF-20 Single-Core Processor # 2GB DDR2-667 RAM # 160GB Hard Drive # 8x SuperMulti Double Layer DVD±RW Drive # Multi-in-1 Digital Media Card Reader # ATI Radeon Xpress 1200 # 10/100 Network # Acer InviLink(tm) 802.11b/g Wi-Fi CERTIFIED® # 15.6" HD Widescreen WXGA High-Brightness Display # Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic
Smith said the jury 'lacked a grasp of the issues before it and reached a finding without a legally sufficient basis
I casually follow these technology IP cases. From what I have seen, most judges don't understand technology, or related technological issues, any better than the jurors.
Vernor absolutely has the right to resell his CD, due to a well-known section of copyright law known as first-sale doctrine.
Really? Why don't you try to sell your legal copy of Rosetta Stone on eBay, and let us know how that works out for you. BTW: you might also want to look into the Apple v Psystar case.
If, like me, you don't want any illegal songs, software, books, or movies; then why do you really need P2P software?
The problem that I have with the MAFIAA goons is that they tend to persecute the guilty and innocent alike. For example, there is no requirement in microsoft's eula that you keep original receipts for software; but the bsa will fine you $90K if you don't have them handy. How is that fair, or even legal? Sure you can fight it in court, but that will cost you $250K. Those legal fees are the basis of the entire racket. And it really is a racket.
Smart Americans would have to be stupid to pursue a STEM career today. Why spend all that time, money, and effort, only to be replaced by a cheaper offshore worker?
The H-1B is absolutely not needed, we already have the L-1, the O-1, and the OPT, among others.
Slashdot Mirror
Student loans are backed by the feds. The feds have the full force of the IRS to make sure the all debts are paid.
In other words, student loans are the safest loans that can be made - much safer than home loans.
Anybody follow the news? Anybody read about the tens of thousands of US citizens laid-off from IBM, HP, etc? And there is more to come - lots more. The Oracle-Sun merger will probably bring about several thousand more layoffs for US workers.
And the tech lobbies still hires shills like Wadhwa, and uses fake "think tanks" to convince us that there is a shortage of qualified Americans. It amazes me that anybody is stupid enough to believe that crap.
Question: if there is really a shortage of STEM workers, then why aren't salaries going up?
Americans are avoiding any STEM related career fields because Americans doubt there will be any remunerative work for them in that field.
Why go through all the time, money, and effort, to get a STEM degree, only to train your H1B replacement a few years later? Or have you job offshored? Or have your salary driven down to next-to-nothing because of a labor glut?
The US does not need most of these foreign workers. The US certainly does not need the H1B visa. The US already had the O-1 visa for the truly gifted - why isn't that enough for the H1B hogs?
Anybody, who knows anything, about Vivek Wadhwa, knows that he is an industry shill. He is also a turncoat, he used to argue the exact opposit of what he argues now.
And what does he use to back up his specious argument? An Indian think tank? Oh come on now, is there anybody so stupid as to give any credibility to think tanks?
In other startling news: car makers say it's a good time to buy a car, NASSCOM claims the US needs more guest workers, and Apple claims you will love the new iPhone.
http://appdb.winehq.org/appview.php?versionId=469
Why do you need to set up a custom kernel? I have ran linux years, never felt the need. But, at least I could if I wanted to, which is more than I can do with windows.
I don't get people who gripe about linux being so hard to use. In my experience, once the OS is set up, about 99% of what I need to do is launch apps. I suppose I move around files every once in a while, but I don't find that so insanely difficult.
Why is it so hard for the fanboys to understand?
It's not so much that Vista sucks. It just that Vista does not offer any substantial improvement. There is no compelling reason to upgrade.
It is like saying: "Obama is not a terrible president, but certainly has not done anything to deserve a nobel prize."
Agree 100%. You can re-install w2k as many times as you need.
W2K is faster on the same hardware, it runs all my hw and sw, has a much cleaner interface, and is stable, and can be made secure.
Even if you're one of those msft fanboys - who furiously masturbates over things like fading menus - you must admit, msft has not made much progress in the last decade.
And has a circulation of 2.6 million? I'm amazed.
Way back when, "pirating" a DOS disk was as simple as making a copy, and there was practically no risk.
Now, pirating windows would be much more difficult, much more risky, and much more pointless.
Practically all PCs sell with windows installed. This does not raise the price of a PC very much. So why risk the lawsuits from the BSA, why fight with all the DRM. Frankly, a "pirated" version of windows is not likely to work anyway.
Putting a new version of windows on an old PC does not usually make sense from a technological perspective. Windows just keeps getting more bloated, and resource intensive. This may not be true of win7 vs vista; but isn't that a free, or cheap, upgrade anyway?
Furthermore, re-selling software on ebay, even when it is legal, can be quite difficult. Try selling a legal, unopened, copy of Rosetta
Stone.
Also, doesn't comcast now choke the torrents?
Considering the substantial legal, and technical, difficulties involved in pirating software. It is hard for me to believe these claims of widespread pirating.
That can not make the figure too high, or they would not be keep raising it, year after year.
Or, is the BSA just a bunch of extortionist thugs?
From wikipedia:
> According to an article in Mother Jones magazine,[4] the BSA discovered in 1995 that Antel, the Uruguayan national telephone company, had pirated US$100,000 worth of Microsoft, Novell, and Symantec software. The BSA's lawyers in Uruguay quickly filed suit, but dropped the suit in 1997 when Antel signed a "special agreement" with Microsoft to replace all of its software with Microsoft products. This has led to accusations that the BSA is a front for Microsoft, with its other members being enlisted purely to disguise Microsoft's dominant role.
Gartner declares Android a second place winner in 2012. Why?
> Looking into its crystal ball, Gartner Group has predicted that Google's Android will become the second largest smartphone platform by 2012. Problem is, nobody's talking about how terrible Gartner is at predicting things, or that Gartner's "research" has historically been paid for by special interests. So why the headlines?
> But calling Windows Mobile a dud at this point isn't very bold, even for Gartner, a group that has dutifully suckled the teat of Bill Gates throughout a series of sour spells. Microsoft's shill budget for Windows Mobile is probably as sad as the beleaguered mobile platform's web browser. That would certainly explain why a Gartner analyst wrote a month ago that he was "concerned about its future and I worry that WM7 [in 2010] could even be the last throw of the dice [for Microsoft]."
> In one of Microsoft's antitrust suits, Gartner's core competency as a shill group was detailed when confidential internal memos surfaced showing that Microsoft had paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in an effort that "successfully lobbied and changed the Gartner Group TCO [Total Cost of Ownership] model to show Windows as providing the lowest overall TCO [in comparison to NCs]."
> In contrast, RIM and Apple largely live or die on the merits of their products, not on the spin that chattering analysts can give their products. Tomorrow's Android makers are today's Windows Mobile makers, and Gartner is just doing the best it can to keep Windows Mobile alive in principle, even as the life is draining out of its frail earthly corpse.
http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2009/10/08/gartner-declares-android-a-second-place-winner-in-2012-why/
I don't mean distributing, like Psystar does, I just mean building their own system. What would the BSA do if they came upon a Hackintosh?
But the $300 PC is all that most people need.
There are probably a lot who think: "I wouldn't mind having a mac, why pay $1000, when the PC does what I need for $300?"
If you are saying that Apple does not charge a premium for it's hardware, then why no $300 laptop from Apple?
BTW: the $300 Acer laptop, is not a bad machine, from what I have seen.
I can get a fairly decent PC laptop for $300 at the local microcenter. Why doesn't apple make a starter system, like that, and prove that Apple can make a decent system for the same price as a PC?
Aspire AS5516-5474 - Black
# AMD Athlon(tm) 64 TF-20 Single-Core Processor
# 2GB DDR2-667 RAM
# 160GB Hard Drive
# 8x SuperMulti Double Layer DVD±RW Drive
# Multi-in-1 Digital Media Card Reader
# ATI Radeon Xpress 1200
# 10/100 Network
# Acer InviLink(tm) 802.11b/g Wi-Fi CERTIFIED®
# 15.6" HD Widescreen WXGA High-Brightness Display
# Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic
http://microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0312136&utm_source=mcol&utm_medium=leader_bnr&utm_campaign=hmpg_aspirentbk158691
What area of "cybersecurity" do they mean?
Unless they can define their terms, I don't see much point in discussing the issue.
Smith said the jury 'lacked a grasp of the issues before it and reached a finding without a legally sufficient basis
I casually follow these technology IP cases. From what I have seen, most judges don't understand technology, or related technological issues, any better than the jurors.
Vernor absolutely has the right to resell his CD, due to a well-known section of copyright law known as first-sale doctrine.
Really? Why don't you try to sell your legal copy of Rosetta Stone on eBay, and let us know how that works out for you. BTW: you might also want to look into the Apple v Psystar case.
If you were a nurse, a cop, a teacher, or just about any kind of real career; you would have to do something really wrong to get fired.
It that, for developers, if your productivity is not extraordinary, and if you don't play politics just right, you are seriously at risk.
Back when developers were getting exceptional salaries, maybe the situation was worth it. But is it fair today?
test test
Then I would support it in the USA.
If, like me, you don't want any illegal songs, software, books, or movies; then why do you really need P2P software?
The problem that I have with the MAFIAA goons is that they tend to persecute the guilty and innocent alike. For example, there is no requirement in microsoft's eula that you keep original receipts for software; but the bsa will fine you $90K if you don't have them handy. How is that fair, or even legal? Sure you can fight it in court, but that will cost you $250K. Those legal fees are the basis of the entire racket. And it really is a racket.
Smart Americans would have to be stupid to pursue a STEM career today. Why spend all that time, money, and effort, only to be replaced by a cheaper offshore worker?
The H-1B is absolutely not needed, we already have the L-1, the O-1, and the OPT, among others.
My understanding is that oo-writer, and oo-calc, are pretty good applications, and they can replace ms-word, and ms-excel, for most users.
But, oo-base is another story. As I understand it, oo-base is very slow, and about ten years behind ms-access in features.
Correct me if I'm wrong.