. ..my bachelor's dates to 1983. Lot of been-there-done-that IT engineering since then.
2006, got TOLD that if I wanted to advance, I'd need a Masters' and at least one advanced certification. I went and got a Masters' in Management Information Systems online (fairly painless, other than writing 20-30 pages every weekend) and followed it with a CISSP cert and a CEH cert.
Income is up 50% since I started the Master's program. Except for a few things, like an introduction to Forensics, and crawling into database theory, it wasn't anything new and/or hard. And most of my fellow students (who were either just out of undergrad, or late 20s) weren't much competition. The few that WERE, I'm still in contact with: their inputs and opinions are as valuable as anything I'd learned in the classes.
Mind you. my employer paid for most of it, I had (at max point) about 7K in student loans. But considering the uptick in salary, even doing it ALL on student loans would probably have been somewhere between a good and very-good investment.
Your mileage may. of course, vary: I was a security geek BEFORE my Masters', CISSP, and CEH. . . but all three combined opened doors and definitely raised compensation. . . .
Congratulations. You've just justified strong-arm robbery via force majure of the State. Apple has broken no laws: they negotiated an agreement. They EARNED their profits by developing, marketing, and selling devices, services, and digital products that apparently have done quite well in the free market. The only moral imperative they have is to their investors, i.e., the stockholders, to return a profit on their investment.
If you have a problem with Apple, or any other company, making agreements with a State, take it up with their elected officials. . .
Yes, they have. For essential functions. But what about the mass of unessential functions ?? Like subsidizing mohair wool production (OK we stopped that 20 years ago. But we stopped NEEDING it for Defense purposes in the 1950s...). Or maintaining domestic sugar production, with the result that sugar costs twice or more what it does overseas ?? The more Government you have, the more big corps play these rule games to avoid the bite on themselves.
Take the schools, for example. Back in the 1960s, when I was a kid, we had one teacher per classroom, one principal, one secretary, one nurse, and one librarian.
Fast forward to the early 2000's, when my youngest was in elementary school: 1 teacher plus 3-4 "resources", one principal and 3 vice principals. 8 Secretaries. Part-time nurse shared between 4 other schools. No Librarian. And no new library books for years: I checked. Oh, and nowhere close to the level of math, science, history, etc that I had at the same grade, way back when.
My point ? Before you ask the taxpayers to pay. . ..you'd best be able to PROVE THEY ARE GETTING THEIR MONEY'S WORTH,....
But seriously, the question is, what does Texas get for that 30 million ?? How many new jobs? How much in construction? And, just how large a part of Texas's budget IS 30 million dollars. A single number in a vacuum is a lovely argument, but outside of the greater picture, pretty much meaningless. . .
Data from the F-117 showed a lot of expensive and/or exotic materials. Like Gold in/on the cockpit windows. Scrapping it allows most of the valuable material in the structure to be recovered. Making it worthwhile for the winning bidder to properly scrap it....
More importantly, they're forgetting a simple fact. All their business plans will be vetted by their lawyers and insurers to minimize liability. The trick will be to either:
(1) Educate a core of lawyers and actuaries on the science, math, and engineering, or....
(2) Send some good engineers and other technologists to Law School.
I suspect the real answer will be a combination of both approaches
Actually, there are more than a few Earth-crossing Asteroids... Consider this list if the nearest ones: Apollo Asteroids. And more that are farther out, but still occasionally fly nearby: Earth-crossers.
Pull one from list "A" or list "B" as calendar and energy budget permit. . .
Why transport it back ? Drop it. Use solar energy as an input, and build a lifting-body shape of foamed nickel-iron, around your primary payload, as well as a control and guidance package, and re-enter it all. Plan for an open-ocean splashdown, and the foamed metal should provide a sufficiently low overall density to allow it to float and be towed to your terrestrial processing and unloading port. . .
The net is the net. What you think of as the "Eldernet" should really be a simplified client/OS aimed at Seniors. Think about what Microsoft tried for, and utterly failed at, with MS Bob.. Someone TRIED doing this on an all-in-one-platform with the "Telkin PC for Seniors", but failed on both a UI and a cost perspective. It was way too expensive for what it delivered, and both lacked essential functionality AND defacto "talked down" to its' users. . . . .
Exactly. Income is not the only determinant: geography is a major factor. And in less-developed areas, broadband capability disappears quickly as you depart the city or town limits.
As a personal example, I spent several years living in a small town in West Virginia. We actually checked with the local broadband provider BEFORE we signed an agreement to buy: 2 of the homes we preferred were beyond range of the local provider: our only other choices were dial-up or Satellite. Both houses were within 2 miles of the town border. . . .
It DOES, however, tell us that the current climate change is (1) within the normal variation of climate, and (2) shoots some large holes in the "anthropocentric" part of the theory. Especially as the predicted changes from the computer models have not occurred. That, in turn, suggests that the computer models are flawed. Admittedly, there IS a large amount of "butterfly effect" randomness in any atmospheric model, but if the initial assumptions are bad, it's going to be GIGO by default.
The paper itself was interesting, and does show the variability of climate over time, but addresses a significantly longer timeframe than the AGW enthusiasts generally consider, including the most recent Continental Glacial Advance. And, BTW, we're sort of due for the next one (glacial advance, that is. . ), given the typical patterns I saw in my Quaternary Geo classes back when I was an undergrad. . .
Actually, my knowledge of Greenland circa 1000AD is personal: In my undergrad days, I helped process samples from a Geology expedition to Greenland by two of my professors. Amongst the samples I cataloged were wood and tree branch sections, pulled out of the ice, and carbon-dated to ~990-1020 AD.
Kind of hard to grow trees on the icecap. . . .
The problem I see with AGW theory, is that both temperature AND CO2 have both been higher in the past, and the theory assumes a constant heat inflow.
Well, not just the Medieval Optimum, but other warm periods existed in human history, warmer than now. . . After all, in the 1300's, wine grapes grew in Britain, and Greenland WAS Green. CO2 is a FOLLOWING indicator of warming, with a 500-1000 year delay,
And, of course, solar input is NOT constant: it's looking like we're heading into another Solar Minimum, like the Maunder Minimum, the Dalton Minimum, and the Spörer Minimum.
. . . a coal-powered car. And if the cost of purchasing, insuring the-higher-value vehicle, and additional maintenance is factored in, it becomes significantly more expensive than an equivalent efficient gas-powered car. And according to reports, the average income of a Chevy Volt buyer is over US$170,000.
Not exactly a recipe for a significant solution, even if the purchase and operation economics were more favorable. . .
1. Sandcasters. (Yes, I played Traveler back in the day). Projectors that spout clouds of reflective/ablative substances to absorb a portion, if not all, of the energy of the beam.
2. Optical chaff. Similar to (1). but purely optical. And we already have RBOC launchers..
Because if we're developing offensive laser weapons, GUARANTEED we're working on countermeasures against the day that the Russians or Chinese or whoever deploy their own shipboard offensive lasers. . .
But, maybe even light bulbs have cameras and microphones in them now, using the powerlines to transmit the data back..
Well, THAT certainly explains the Incandescent Bulb Ban, the installation of "Smart Meters", and that huge new NSA facility in Utah. But we need to connect it to HAARP, Chemtrails, and Obama's Birth Certificate for true conspiracy greatness. Extra points if you work in Black Helicopters, the Rothschilds, or the Tri-Lateral Commission.....
Actually, that's not technically correct. The hearing was on the constitutionality of regulations that may impact the First Amendment right of the free exercise of religion. Fluke was substituted the day before the hearing, and was excluded from it due to her lack of actual established expertise on First Amendment issues, and insufficient time to verify exactly what expertise a law school student would bring, the remaining witnesses all being established Constitutional Scholars. Instead, she testified to a Democratic Caucus meeting made to look like a real Congressional Testimony. Or, as they say in DC....."pure optics".
It seems to have accomplished the intended purpose. . ..diverting the debate. Just as keeping Schneier out of the TSA heearing did....
He was first elected in 1982, promising to retire from the Congress after 6 terms. That would have been 1994. He's still there, 18 years, and 9 terms after he'd pledged to retire. So much for his word.
His OTHER interests are Tibet, Stopping Internet Gambling, and pork (in the form of road construction funding for his district).
How do I know this ? I'm a citizen of Virginia's Tenth Congressional District. Somebody: Dems, Greens, Libertarians, Tea Party: PLEASE run someone to replace this clown...
With properly constructed concrete-and-rebar parts, much wider tunnels could be done. There are, of course, a number of variables involved: depth, size, composition of surrounding rock, etc. A Civil Engineer with a P.E. would be the go-to guy (or gal) for the specific tech details ans math...
Slashdot Mirror
. . .my bachelor's dates to 1983. Lot of been-there-done-that IT engineering since then.
2006, got TOLD that if I wanted to advance, I'd need a Masters' and at least one advanced certification. I went and got a Masters' in Management Information Systems online (fairly painless, other than writing 20-30 pages every weekend) and followed it with a CISSP cert and a CEH cert.
Income is up 50% since I started the Master's program. Except for a few things, like an introduction to Forensics, and crawling into database theory, it wasn't anything new and/or hard. And most of my fellow students (who were either just out of undergrad, or late 20s) weren't much competition. The few that WERE, I'm still in contact with: their inputs and opinions are as valuable as anything I'd learned in the classes.
Mind you. my employer paid for most of it, I had (at max point) about 7K in student loans. But considering the uptick in salary, even doing it ALL on student loans would probably have been somewhere between a good and very-good investment.
Your mileage may. of course, vary: I was a security geek BEFORE my Masters', CISSP, and CEH. . . but all three combined opened doors and definitely raised compensation. . . .
It's like buddying up to a ravenous tiger in the hopes that you'll be eaten last or something.
When the goal, of course, is to be eaten FIRST . . .
"Apple doesn't need this money in any way"
Congratulations. You've just justified strong-arm robbery via force majure of the State. Apple has broken no laws: they negotiated an agreement. They EARNED their profits by developing, marketing, and selling devices, services, and digital products that apparently have done quite well in the free market. The only moral imperative they have is to their investors, i.e., the stockholders, to return a profit on their investment.
If you have a problem with Apple, or any other company, making agreements with a State, take it up with their elected officials. . .
Yes, they have. For essential functions. But what about the mass of unessential functions ?? Like subsidizing mohair wool production (OK we stopped that 20 years ago. But we stopped NEEDING it for Defense purposes in the 1950s...). Or maintaining domestic sugar production, with the result that sugar costs twice or more what it does overseas ?? The more Government you have, the more big corps play these rule games to avoid the bite on themselves. Take the schools, for example. Back in the 1960s, when I was a kid, we had one teacher per classroom, one principal, one secretary, one nurse, and one librarian. Fast forward to the early 2000's, when my youngest was in elementary school: 1 teacher plus 3-4 "resources", one principal and 3 vice principals. 8 Secretaries. Part-time nurse shared between 4 other schools. No Librarian. And no new library books for years: I checked. Oh, and nowhere close to the level of math, science, history, etc that I had at the same grade, way back when. My point ? Before you ask the taxpayers to pay. . . .you'd best be able to PROVE THEY ARE GETTING THEIR MONEY'S WORTH,....
30 whole million dollars. That's what, 40 GSA Conferences ?
(sorry, couldn't resist. . . )
But seriously, the question is, what does Texas get for that 30 million ?? How many new jobs? How much in construction? And, just how large a part of Texas's budget IS 30 million dollars. A single number in a vacuum is a lovely argument, but outside of the greater picture, pretty much meaningless. . .
Data from the F-117 showed a lot of expensive and/or exotic materials. Like Gold in/on the cockpit windows. Scrapping it allows most of the valuable material in the structure to be recovered. Making it worthwhile for the winning bidder to properly scrap it....
More importantly, they're forgetting a simple fact. All their business plans will be vetted by their lawyers and insurers to minimize liability. The trick will be to either: (1) Educate a core of lawyers and actuaries on the science, math, and engineering, or.... (2) Send some good engineers and other technologists to Law School. I suspect the real answer will be a combination of both approaches
And they can try. . . .when they have orbital capacity. Plus, you pitch it as doing mining where it can't dirty the Earth....
Actually, there are more than a few Earth-crossing Asteroids... Consider this list if the nearest ones: Apollo Asteroids. And more that are farther out, but still occasionally fly nearby: Earth-crossers.
Pull one from list "A" or list "B" as calendar and energy budget permit. . .
Why transport it back ? Drop it. Use solar energy as an input, and build a lifting-body shape of foamed nickel-iron, around your primary payload, as well as a control and guidance package, and re-enter it all. Plan for an open-ocean splashdown, and the foamed metal should provide a sufficiently low overall density to allow it to float and be towed to your terrestrial processing and unloading port. . .
A substance that, when introduced into or absorbed by a living organism, causes death or injury, esp. one that kills by rapid action.
Plants also disagree with you. When you've made a plant frown how much lower can you go?
And then, of course, there are the side effects on making the plants sad. They don't fight off the Zombies very well. . . . .
Kimvette asks:
Besides, what the hell is wrong with nudity? Why are we in America so terrified of the human body?
Visit your nearest Wal-Mart. Visualize the people you meet there, nude. And THAT should answer your question nicely. . .
The net is the net. What you think of as the "Eldernet" should really be a simplified client/OS aimed at Seniors. Think about what Microsoft tried for, and utterly failed at, with MS Bob.. Someone TRIED doing this on an all-in-one-platform with the "Telkin PC for Seniors", but failed on both a UI and a cost perspective. It was way too expensive for what it delivered, and both lacked essential functionality AND defacto "talked down" to its' users. . . . .
Exactly. Income is not the only determinant: geography is a major factor. And in less-developed areas, broadband capability disappears quickly as you depart the city or town limits. As a personal example, I spent several years living in a small town in West Virginia. We actually checked with the local broadband provider BEFORE we signed an agreement to buy: 2 of the homes we preferred were beyond range of the local provider: our only other choices were dial-up or Satellite. Both houses were within 2 miles of the town border. . . .
And thus, the Derbyshire Debate comes to Slashdot.
Of course, the REAL proof the scientist was not black, is that the Cops didn't put a beatdown on the guy. . . .
The paper itself was interesting, and does show the variability of climate over time, but addresses a significantly longer timeframe than the AGW enthusiasts generally consider, including the most recent Continental Glacial Advance. And, BTW, we're sort of due for the next one (glacial advance, that is. . ), given the typical patterns I saw in my Quaternary Geo classes back when I was an undergrad. . .
Actually, my knowledge of Greenland circa 1000AD is personal: In my undergrad days, I helped process samples from a Geology expedition to Greenland by two of my professors. Amongst the samples I cataloged were wood and tree branch sections, pulled out of the ice, and carbon-dated to ~990-1020 AD. Kind of hard to grow trees on the icecap. . . .
Well, not just the Medieval Optimum, but other warm periods existed in human history, warmer than now. . . After all, in the 1300's, wine grapes grew in Britain, and Greenland WAS Green. CO2 is a FOLLOWING indicator of warming, with a 500-1000 year delay,
And, of course, solar input is NOT constant: it's looking like we're heading into another Solar Minimum, like the Maunder Minimum, the Dalton Minimum, and the Spörer Minimum.
And, of course, give up your computers and access to the Net. . .and stop posting to Slashdot. . . (evil grin)
. . . a coal-powered car. And if the cost of purchasing, insuring the-higher-value vehicle, and additional maintenance is factored in, it becomes significantly more expensive than an equivalent efficient gas-powered car. And according to reports, the average income of a Chevy Volt buyer is over US$170,000. Not exactly a recipe for a significant solution, even if the purchase and operation economics were more favorable. . .
2. Optical chaff. Similar to (1). but purely optical. And we already have RBOC launchers..
Because if we're developing offensive laser weapons, GUARANTEED we're working on countermeasures against the day that the Russians or Chinese or whoever deploy their own shipboard offensive lasers. . .
But, maybe even light bulbs have cameras and microphones in them now, using the powerlines to transmit the data back..
Well, THAT certainly explains the Incandescent Bulb Ban, the installation of "Smart Meters", and that huge new NSA facility in Utah. But we need to connect it to HAARP, Chemtrails, and Obama's Birth Certificate for true conspiracy greatness. Extra points if you work in Black Helicopters, the Rothschilds, or the Tri-Lateral Commission.....
Actually, that's not technically correct. The hearing was on the constitutionality of regulations that may impact the First Amendment right of the free exercise of religion. Fluke was substituted the day before the hearing, and was excluded from it due to her lack of actual established expertise on First Amendment issues, and insufficient time to verify exactly what expertise a law school student would bring, the remaining witnesses all being established Constitutional Scholars. Instead, she testified to a Democratic Caucus meeting made to look like a real Congressional Testimony. Or, as they say in DC....."pure optics". It seems to have accomplished the intended purpose. . . .diverting the debate. Just as keeping Schneier out of the TSA heearing did....
He was first elected in 1982, promising to retire from the Congress after 6 terms. That would have been 1994. He's still there, 18 years, and 9 terms after he'd pledged to retire. So much for his word. His OTHER interests are Tibet, Stopping Internet Gambling, and pork (in the form of road construction funding for his district). How do I know this ? I'm a citizen of Virginia's Tenth Congressional District. Somebody: Dems, Greens, Libertarians, Tea Party: PLEASE run someone to replace this clown...
With properly constructed concrete-and-rebar parts, much wider tunnels could be done. There are, of course, a number of variables involved: depth, size, composition of surrounding rock, etc. A Civil Engineer with a P.E. would be the go-to guy (or gal) for the specific tech details ans math...