> Have you any idea how many Windows programs require > administrative rights just to run?
Far too many, but you can still survive as a normal user.
It's a pain having to type in the admin password every time I want to synch my Palm Pilot, etc. but at least my email client/web browser/other well behaved apps are running with sensible permissions.
I've been known to download cracks for games that require admin access to the CDROM for copy protection checks etc.
I'm not arguing your point. I'm giving you a well-deserved grammar flame.
> If you've studied group theory, you've probably heard it called > 'the language of symmetry' or referred to by some such vague, > colorful non-description, while your professor and textbook > direct you to just memorize the handful of basic axioms, > definitions, and theorems that reveal little to the unknowing > eye in the way of having much to do with symmetry.
That sentence is too long. It contains too many ideas, and too many superfluous words.
Here's my suggestion -
Group theory is often unhelpfuly called 'the language of symmetry'. Your professor and textbook direct you to memorize the basic axioms, definitions, and theorems that have little to do with symmetry.
"some such" "in the way of" "to do with"
These are zero content filler phrases. You aren't trying to pad out a high school book report - get to the point and sell me on why this is an interesting book.
You wouldn't add extra steps to a mathematical proof, you'd list your steps clearly and succinctly. Your readers would appreciate your prose organized with similar care.
PS - Nothing personal, I'm being blunt to get your attention. My own writing was similar to yours until someone called me on it. My first draft of this post was a rambling disorganized mess, I had to consciously edit it down to something coherant.
> If you've studied group theory, you've probably heard it called > 'the language of symmetry' or referred to by some such vague, > colorful non-description, while your professor and textbook > direct you to just memorize the handful of basic axioms, > definitions, and theorems that reveal little to the unknowing > eye in the way of having much to do with symmetry.
That sentence deserves to be taken out and shot.
You may have had an interesting point but I'll never know - I stopped reading.
to: ceo@oracle.com ; ceo@google.com ; ceo@novell.com subject: pissing in Microsoft's corn flakes
Dear sirs.
Would you like to lend your names to an initiative that will annoy Microsoft, and may eventually cut into their gigantic MS Office revenues? (Revenue they use to subsidize the parts of Microsoft that *your* company competes with.)
This initiative involves a segment of the software industry that none of you compete directly in.
Thank you, that looks interesting. I see that's a minix-style teaching tool, i.e. intentionally limited in features and scope.
I read Codd and Date as an undergrad many years ago, complaining about the state of the art in commercial SQL products, and advocating their own style of query language. At the time I found their arguments interesting, but less than convincing since they hadn't bothered to come up with an implementation. All these years later, it makes Duke Nukem Forever look good.
If I was trying to make a serious point, this would be the absolute last place I would try to make it.
If you like I can smartass your argument too, i.e. which of the bloated, profiteering, hated oil companies is getting replaced by lean, mean companies that are preferred by customers?
> The government runs things so effeciently...such as the DMV. I > can't wait for oversized beurocracies to get their hands on > developing software. And they move so quickly and effieciently > I'll bet software bugs would get corrected within seconds of > discovery.;)
Yeah, because there's no such thing as bloated, inefficient private-sector software companies.
However, real work involves big tables and big databases and awkward datasets (occasionally made worse by over-educated Coddites who've decided that they know how to store your data, and the fact that you need to transform the data *every single time* you need to work with it is of no importance compared to the Grail of Third Normal Form), and the triple-self joined aggregate hierarchal sub-queries you need to output data the way you want it are not quite as simple as SELECT toy FROM shop.
There's a strong streak of anti-intellectualism in American culture today, but it wasn't always that way.
There were a lot of eggheads among your founding fathers.
I was in Boston a few years ago. I visited a lot of the normal tourist, including the Boston Public Library. It's a huge and elaborate building. There's a huge inscription on the outside saying something like "a well-educated citizenry is essential for a strong nation".
So when did the US culture change, and decide intellectuals were undesirable?
I'll quibble about the packaged food - grocery stores have a very low margin on canned goods, boxed goods etc. The high volume makes up for low margins.
The margin is higher on meat/milk/veggies, to compensate for spoilage.
The really high markup is on chips, soda pop and smokes.
-=-=-=-
If the margin on computers is so high, why have so many PC manufacturers gone bust?
> Think about everytime you've received a raise -- how long did > you stay motivated with your new salary? A month, maybe? It > doesn't last very long. Soon, you will get accustomed to your > new level and the cycle will start all over again -- you'll > want even more money. There is not enough money in the world to > support this cycle.
You certainly can't keep everyone. But if you're paying below industry average, employees can go almost anywhere and improve their paycheck.
If you're paying the industry average or slightly more, money-motivated employees have many fewer places to jump to.
Slashdot Mirror
> They can't maintain a Linux server on a home LAN because they
.
> don't have enough money to own more than one computer at a time
My home server is a Pentium MMX 233. It's overpowered for what it does (Samba/NFS/NAT/IMAP/procmail/spamassassin/backup)
The only reason I upgraded from the 486DX33 was to get a BIOS that understands modern hard drive geometry.
Anyone who wants to could find a better machine for $20.
The .50 cal monster. I think they said you needed a special license to own one or something.
> Have you any idea how many Windows programs require
> administrative rights just to run?
Far too many, but you can still survive as a normal user.
It's a pain having to type in the admin password every time I want to synch my Palm Pilot, etc. but at least my email client/web browser/other well behaved apps are running with sensible permissions.
I've been known to download cracks for games that require admin access to the CDROM for copy protection checks etc.
I'm not arguing your point. I'm giving you a well-deserved grammar flame.
> If you've studied group theory, you've probably heard it called
> 'the language of symmetry' or referred to by some such vague,
> colorful non-description, while your professor and textbook
> direct you to just memorize the handful of basic axioms,
> definitions, and theorems that reveal little to the unknowing
> eye in the way of having much to do with symmetry.
That sentence is too long. It contains too many ideas, and too many superfluous words.
Here's my suggestion -
Group theory is often unhelpfuly called 'the language of symmetry'. Your professor and textbook direct you to memorize the basic axioms, definitions, and theorems that have little to do with symmetry.
"some such"
"in the way of"
"to do with"
These are zero content filler phrases. You aren't trying to pad out a high school book report - get to the point and sell me on why this is an interesting book.
You wouldn't add extra steps to a mathematical proof, you'd list your steps clearly and succinctly. Your readers would appreciate your prose organized with similar care.
PS - Nothing personal, I'm being blunt to get your attention. My own writing was similar to yours until someone called me on it. My first draft of this post was a rambling disorganized mess, I had to consciously edit it down to something coherant.
> If you've studied group theory, you've probably heard it called
> 'the language of symmetry' or referred to by some such vague,
> colorful non-description, while your professor and textbook
> direct you to just memorize the handful of basic axioms,
> definitions, and theorems that reveal little to the unknowing
> eye in the way of having much to do with symmetry.
That sentence deserves to be taken out and shot.
You may have had an interesting point but I'll never know - I stopped reading.
> Digg is more chaotic, immediate and user driven, whereas
> Slashdot features more in-depth and technical discussions.
*shudders*
Digg can't really be that bad?
to: ceo@oracle.com ; ceo@google.com ; ceo@novell.com
subject: pissing in Microsoft's corn flakes
Dear sirs.
Would you like to lend your names to an initiative that will annoy Microsoft, and may eventually cut into their gigantic MS Office revenues? (Revenue they use to subsidize the parts of Microsoft that *your* company competes with.)
This initiative involves a segment of the software industry that none of you compete directly in.
Hope to hear from you soon.
Sincerely - Open Document Guy.
> Use laptop hard drives (5400 rpm) in USB enclosures
Only 1 of the Soekris boards has USB support, USB 1.1 at that.
Not my idea of video editing bliss.
I look forward to an enlightened, civilized discussion about this controversial subject.
Thank you, that looks interesting. I see that's a minix-style teaching tool, i.e. intentionally limited in features and scope.
I read Codd and Date as an undergrad many years ago, complaining about the state of the art in commercial SQL products, and advocating their own style of query language. At the time I found their arguments interesting, but less than convincing since they hadn't bothered to come up with an implementation. All these years later, it makes Duke Nukem Forever look good.
So the oil oligopoly is the government's fault?
I'd like to subscribe to your newsletter, and maybe get a little toke of what you're smoking.
No, you can choose which bloated, inefficient telephone provider to use, which bloated inefficient oil company to patronize...
Hooray for choice!
If I was trying to make a serious point, this would be the absolute last place I would try to make it.
If you like I can smartass your argument too, i.e. which of the bloated, profiteering, hated oil companies is getting replaced by lean, mean companies that are preferred by customers?
> The government runs things so effeciently...such as the DMV. I ;)
> can't wait for oversized beurocracies to get their hands on
> developing software. And they move so quickly and effieciently
> I'll bet software bugs would get corrected within seconds of
> discovery.
Yeah, because there's no such thing as bloated, inefficient private-sector software companies.
> Look, we work in an industry that changes buzzwords every few
> months. Do you *really* think it's impossible to change SQL to
> something else?
Looks that way. How long has Codd been prophesying from the wilderness?
Has anyone ever implemented one of these relational calculus languages?
Heh, there's still a whole lot of 9x out there being used every day.
There's a strong streak of anti-intellectualism in American culture today, but it wasn't always that way.
There were a lot of eggheads among your founding fathers.
I was in Boston a few years ago. I visited a lot of the normal tourist, including the Boston Public Library. It's a huge and elaborate building. There's a huge inscription on the outside saying something like "a well-educated citizenry is essential for a strong nation".
So when did the US culture change, and decide intellectuals were undesirable?
> There is a reason we have anti-trust laws and regulate
> important industries.
Greedy oil barons are exactly the reason the US has anti-trust laws.
I know one outfit that used the waste heat from their mainframe to help heat the building.
A few years later they upgraded that machine - it was 1/2 the size and 1/4 the BTUs. No more "free" heat.
I'll quibble about the packaged food - grocery stores have a very low margin on canned goods, boxed goods etc. The high volume makes up for low margins.
The margin is higher on meat/milk/veggies, to compensate for spoilage.
The really high markup is on chips, soda pop and smokes.
-=-=-=-
If the margin on computers is so high, why have so many PC manufacturers gone bust?
> Think about everytime you've received a raise -- how long did
> you stay motivated with your new salary? A month, maybe? It
> doesn't last very long. Soon, you will get accustomed to your
> new level and the cycle will start all over again -- you'll
> want even more money. There is not enough money in the world to
> support this cycle.
You certainly can't keep everyone. But if you're paying below industry average, employees can go almost anywhere and improve their paycheck.
If you're paying the industry average or slightly more, money-motivated employees have many fewer places to jump to.
> If you pull serious overtime to meet a deadline and the company
> "rewards" you with time in lieu and a nice dinner
That's better treatment than a lot of places. Seriously.
> As for being locked in to dell, how come?
He probably works for a big company with a list of approved vendors.
His CIO probably plays golf with the Dell rep.
> the level of athleticism found in basketball
Surely you jest.