Tell me about it. I haven't had a raise even close to the OFFICIAL Inflation Rate since the turn of the century: the only real bumps to pay came from changing jobs. And even then, bonuses are a thing of the past, last one I got was in December 2008. . .
And I'm a senior guy, by income, at about the "4%" level. When I was young, I would have thought myself rich. Now ? Upper middle-class at best, and only treading water. . .
I make similar statements to my extended family. Shoes are the obvious example: Yes, you can buy a 12.99 pair of shoes at WalMart or Payless or similar. And they might last a year or so. I buy a quality grade, and am still wearing those shoes a decade later. . .
The problem is, when people live close to the line, they claim that they can't afford to buy the high-quality brand. But they all have the latest smartphone and a big LCD TV.
. . . does that work for you ? Because it works for me. No crying babies, chatty teens, or rude patrons playing with their smartphones. Better bathroom, and I can pause the movie while I take care of that. And no highly overpriced "refreshments". . .
. . . and besides, afterwards, I can re-watch scenes, and even MST3K them if warranted. . .
And that would be rating sources and reporters with a measure of how objectively truthful they are. Because just agreeing on objective reality is difficult enough in today's culture. But imagine a rating, on every byline and broadcast. You'd KNOW whether the reporter or writer generally reports the facts on the ground, what their typical slant is, and how much is opinion.
Unfortunately, most will ignore it, and go with their tribal reporters. . .
We're talking about computers here, not tiny 5" hand held computational devices.
There ARE efforts to port Android over to pseudo-laptops: Sentio, where you attach a smartphone to a laptop-like device and have a full desktop. I'm holding off until they actually DELIVER (yes, I've been burned by Kickstarters). I've also seen something called Superscreen, which powers a large tablet with a smartphone: add a Bluetooth or USB KB, and you have laptop (well, Chromebook. . . ) functionality. . .
Problem is, RICO has long been abused. A law designed to stop the Mafia and similar criminal organizations has been used to smear political opponents, prosecute anti-abortion activists, and attack corporations over alleged collusion over 'climate change'.
It's also a favorite tool to employ when a prosecutor or law-enforcement agency wants to grab assets, under criminal AND civil forfeiture. . .
. . . . now, instead of MANUALLY getting spammed for GenericCo's latest Miracle Product, now they'll systematize it.
LinkedIn will become even LESS useful to the typical professional. At this rate, it'll be all sales types and keyword-spamming recruiters in a few years. . .
Hint: not EVERY transaction or networking event has to be pointed towards sales or recruiting, but that does seem to be the way LinkedIn is developing. . .
Ore ? Nothing in the article about any ore in the tunnel path. Of course, you could always gravel the tunneling output: gravel is used universally in construction, and would provide at least some payback for expenses. . . .
They were not in the same line of management. Story was, she got accepted in to a "Management Development Program" that included a promotion. Shortly AFTER returning from the honeymoon.
And you might have noticed that I said it required a clearance and it had to be transferred. I am being purposely vague, but there's only one part of Club Fed that works that way. . . and the rules are different, there. . .
Oh, and the IG did get called in, but on a different issue with this mangler. . .
. . . got hired on to be Security Guru and ISSO for a Federal Agency. Because clearances had to transfer, it took two months for me to start there.
I get there, find the guy who hired me had moved on. The guy in his cube was a fellow contractor. He looks at me, and says:
"Security Guy ? I give you 30 days, 45 tops. . . "
The new boss is a GS-14, who was a GS-10 a year earlier, and a Cisco tech, who married a Supergrade, and immediately got promoted. And who had 37 positions on her teams. . . . and had churned through 70+ people in those slots over the previous 9 or so months.
First problems surfaced when I was asked to specify my standard work hours. . . and was told that overtime must be approved in advance, in writing. And then the mangler requires me to attend additional team meetings that STARTED at 2 1/2 hours past my standard day. And told me I must adhere to my written hours, and could not charge overtime for the meeting, but my presence was mandatory. That was the first clue.
My immediate project was a prototype virtualized Blackboard deployment, Windows-on-VMware. Fairly straightforward, but we want to now test it on the production network, it had performed well in Dev and Test. So our ISSM told me that all we needed was what traffic out to the production net was required, from what IPs to what IPs, and the names of our test boxes. This was Wednesday morning. He also told me to have it to him by noon on Friday, and he'd approve it.
Basically, a not terribly-complicated spreadsheet, about 4x4. about 40 total pieces of data (several were multi-port/multi-protocol connects, your typical Active Directory traffic. ..). 20 minutes to compile, another 5 to write an intro and embed the spreadsheet into a 1-page document. Manager ALSO required us to have her approve, in person, all documents sent outside the group.
I bring her the page. She asks why we weren't using Telnet. She calls one of her pet engineers (an Exchange guy) to look over my work. Half an hour later he shows up, notes that he doesn't understand it. So she calls a TEAM meeting for the next morning. Meeting goes 6 hours. 1 page doc is now ten pages. Still not happy, she calls another for Friday at 10AM (data was due by noon).
Meeting lasts until quitting time. Doc is now 21 pages. STILL not approved. New meeting, 9AM Monday morning. Finally, Tuesday, at ~1:30 PM she approves it. 37 pages. We send to the ISSM, who immediately rejects it, as not what he asked for, and days after the deadline.
Manager calls me in, starts screaming at me for damaging HER program. I pointed out, I had the original request in writing, had data ready two days in advance, her processing and add-ons got it killed. She continued to scream at me, enough that people came by to see that everything was alright.
I had enough. I told here that I quit, walked out of her office, down to my cube, logged out, packed my stuff, and left.
Only job I ever walked out on in nearly 45 years of work... .
CONTRACTS are hard to cancel. Delivery orders, not so much. Zero a tasking, and every contractor on that task is told to pack their stuff and out-process. . .
Oh, there's slacking out there, but it's typically from the "ROAD" (Retired on Active Duty) senior civil servants, whose skills typically went out of date in the early 90s, and are holding out for another seniority gate or a buyout. . .
Contractors KNOW they can be dropped at short notice. Hell, that's one of the theories behind the "Vault 7" CIA leaks just released on Wikileaks: task order abruptly ended with zero notice, and people wanting a little revenge. . .
. . ..that don't tell you their password rules, only that your password doesn't fit them. This is especially irritating for the sites that require complex passwords and have short (i.e. 3 fails) lockouts. . . .
Slashdot Mirror
. . . We got "Doctor Horrible's Sing-Along Blog".
So, if we **DO** get a strike. . . (hint, hint, Joss Whedon. . . .)
Tell me about it. I haven't had a raise even close to the OFFICIAL Inflation Rate since the turn of the century: the only real bumps to pay came from changing jobs. And even then, bonuses are a thing of the past, last one I got was in December 2008. . .
And I'm a senior guy, by income, at about the "4%" level. When I was young, I would have thought myself rich. Now ? Upper middle-class at best, and only treading water. . .
. . . . paid for by taxpayers, released to the public ??
I make similar statements to my extended family. Shoes are the obvious example: Yes, you can buy a 12.99 pair of shoes at WalMart or Payless or similar. And they might last a year or so. I buy a quality grade, and am still wearing those shoes a decade later. . .
The problem is, when people live close to the line, they claim that they can't afford to buy the high-quality brand. But they all have the latest smartphone and a big LCD TV.
It's all about priorities.
. . . does that work for you ? Because it works for me. No crying babies, chatty teens, or rude patrons playing with their smartphones. Better bathroom, and I can pause the movie while I take care of that. And no highly overpriced "refreshments". . .
. . . and besides, afterwards, I can re-watch scenes, and even MST3K them if warranted. . .
is entirely too difficult to implement.
And that would be rating sources and reporters with a measure of how objectively truthful they are. Because just agreeing on objective reality is difficult enough in today's culture. But imagine a rating, on every byline and broadcast. You'd KNOW whether the reporter or writer generally reports the facts on the ground, what their typical slant is, and how much is opinion.
Unfortunately, most will ignore it, and go with their tribal reporters. . .
We're talking about computers here, not tiny 5" hand held computational devices.
There ARE efforts to port Android over to pseudo-laptops: Sentio, where you attach a smartphone to a laptop-like device and have a full desktop. I'm holding off until they actually DELIVER (yes, I've been burned by Kickstarters). I've also seen something called Superscreen, which powers a large tablet with a smartphone: add a Bluetooth or USB KB, and you have laptop (well, Chromebook. . . ) functionality. . .
Problem is, RICO has long been abused. A law designed to stop the Mafia and similar criminal organizations has been used to smear political opponents, prosecute anti-abortion activists, and attack corporations over alleged collusion over 'climate change'.
It's also a favorite tool to employ when a prosecutor or law-enforcement agency wants to grab assets, under criminal AND civil forfeiture. . .
. . . .about a private Mars Mission being, you know, PRIVATE ??
. . . .why Amazon pulled a parody of John Scalzi's under-performing new book, "The Collapsing Empire", at the request of his publisher, Tor Books.
Or it could be because the parody was outselling the original on Kindle. . . .
. . . . now, instead of MANUALLY getting spammed for GenericCo's latest Miracle Product, now they'll systematize it.
LinkedIn will become even LESS useful to the typical professional. At this rate, it'll be all sales types and keyword-spamming recruiters in a few years. . .
Hint: not EVERY transaction or networking event has to be pointed towards sales or recruiting, but that does seem to be the way LinkedIn is developing. . .
Ore ? Nothing in the article about any ore in the tunnel path. Of course, you could always gravel the tunneling output: gravel is used universally in construction, and would provide at least some payback for expenses. . . .
They were not in the same line of management. Story was, she got accepted in to a "Management Development Program" that included a promotion. Shortly AFTER returning from the honeymoon.
And you might have noticed that I said it required a clearance and it had to be transferred. I am being purposely vague, but there's only one part of Club Fed that works that way. . . and the rules are different, there. . .
Oh, and the IG did get called in, but on a different issue with this mangler. . .
Oh, and for the record ? 52 days, 4 hours. . ..
. . . got hired on to be Security Guru and ISSO for a Federal Agency. Because clearances had to transfer, it took two months for me to start there.
I get there, find the guy who hired me had moved on. The guy in his cube was a fellow contractor. He looks at me, and says:
"Security Guy ? I give you 30 days, 45 tops. . . "
The new boss is a GS-14, who was a GS-10 a year earlier, and a Cisco tech, who married a Supergrade, and immediately got promoted. And who had 37 positions on her teams. . . . and had churned through 70+ people in those slots over the previous 9 or so months.
First problems surfaced when I was asked to specify my standard work hours. . . and was told that overtime must be approved in advance, in writing. And then the mangler requires me to attend additional team meetings that STARTED at 2 1/2 hours past my standard day. And told me I must adhere to my written hours, and could not charge overtime for the meeting, but my presence was mandatory. That was the first clue.
My immediate project was a prototype virtualized Blackboard deployment, Windows-on-VMware. Fairly straightforward, but we want to now test it on the production network, it had performed well in Dev and Test. So our ISSM told me that all we needed was what traffic out to the production net was required, from what IPs to what IPs, and the names of our test boxes. This was Wednesday morning. He also told me to have it to him by noon on Friday, and he'd approve it.
Basically, a not terribly-complicated spreadsheet, about 4x4. about 40 total pieces of data (several were multi-port/multi-protocol connects, your typical Active Directory traffic. . .). 20 minutes to compile, another 5 to write an intro and embed the spreadsheet into a 1-page document. Manager ALSO required us to have her approve, in person, all documents sent outside the group.
I bring her the page. She asks why we weren't using Telnet. She calls one of her pet engineers (an Exchange guy) to look over my work. Half an hour later he
shows up, notes that he doesn't understand it. So she calls a TEAM meeting for the next morning. Meeting goes 6 hours. 1 page doc is now ten pages. Still not happy, she calls another for Friday at 10AM (data was due by noon).
Meeting lasts until quitting time. Doc is now 21 pages. STILL not approved. New meeting, 9AM Monday morning. Finally, Tuesday, at ~1:30 PM she approves it. 37 pages. We send to the ISSM, who immediately rejects it, as not what he asked for, and days after the deadline.
Manager calls me in, starts screaming at me for damaging HER program. I pointed out, I had the original request in writing, had data ready two days in advance, her processing and add-ons got it killed. She continued to scream at me, enough that people came by to see that everything was alright.
I had enough. I told here that I quit, walked out of her office, down to my cube, logged out, packed my stuff, and left.
Only job I ever walked out on in nearly 45 years of work. .. .
. . . . .that gets modified as negotiations over the budget proceed. .
And since when was ANY "Presidents' Budget Proposal" not Dead on Arrival ?
. . . Please try a more valid argument.
CONTRACTS are hard to cancel. Delivery orders, not so much. Zero a tasking, and every contractor on that task is told to pack their stuff and out-process. . .
Oh, there's slacking out there, but it's typically from the "ROAD" (Retired on Active Duty) senior civil servants, whose skills typically went out of date in the early 90s, and are holding out for another seniority gate or a buyout. . .
Contractors KNOW they can be dropped at short notice. Hell, that's one of the theories behind the "Vault 7" CIA leaks just released on Wikileaks: task order abruptly ended with zero notice, and people wanting a little revenge. . .
Not just phones. Anyone else remember the McAfee .DAT update that bricked Windows Workstations (7 and XP) circa 2010 ???
Actually, not in my case: wife couldn't nurse. So it was still mine, all mine. . . . MUAHAHAHAHA!
It just feels that way.
. . .especially at 3AM when your 3-month-old wants a bottle RIGHT THE HECK NOW, and obviously has VERY healthy lungs.
Good times, good times. . . . . (grin)
Nah, He'd use one of his SpaceX Falcon9's with the as-yet-unrevealed Dragon Heavy Cargo Capsule (grin)
. . . .the original Facebook technique of using "Chuck Norris" as a password.
Because NOTHING can defeat Chuck Norris (grin)
. . . .that don't tell you their password rules, only that your password doesn't fit them. This is especially irritating for the sites that require complex passwords and have short (i.e. 3 fails) lockouts. . . .