At Western Michigan University we still to this day stream our campus radio station using a walkman hooked up to a PC. Every so often the stream gets hosed up because somebody bumps the walkman. Please don't bump the walkman.
That's basicly what I've been trying to get accross to people for a long time. This isn't a technology problem. This isn't a problem with the Internet. It's a management issue. I can surf the net all day or I can sit at my desk and read a novel all day. There's really no difference. If I did the latter I'd probably get a stern talking to or worse. They probably wouldn't go so far as to ban books from the office.
I agree with your comment. I find it amusing however is that I work with people right now who have made critical business decisions for reasons just as shallow as the color of the box or whether or not they like the logo. I need to get out of here. =)
It was a call center. A collection agency actually. I was a developer there. The big thing that isn't being printed at the moment are the collection letters that they are contractually obligated to mail. The company is currently out of compliance with every one of its collection contracts. Chances are clients are going to start bailing soon.
The person who is in charge is from Chicago and he didn't want to spend time in Michigan. There were a variety of other political issues too. So they got rid of anyone and everyone who had any valuable experience. This included IT and collection managers as well as experienced collectors. Really everyone who knew anything is gone. They spent tons of money developing and training people and then dumped them all. And it was all politics and ego that caused it. Pretty scary. Luckily I was able to find a new job and was only unemployed for one day.
I figured Chicago was just an example but I found it amusing anyway. =)
Agreed. It was about the time that Berman left that DS9 actually got good. The best thing that could possibly happen to 'Trek is for Berman and Braga to get axed....literally or figuratively.
It's a tiny maltose pill. The water used to dilute it is long since gone. =)
You are absolutely correct about the way it is dilutied though. There is most probably none of the actual compound remaining. It definitely goes against the grain but there are a lot of scientists and doctors who buy into it. Are they right?....maybe....maybe not but regardless it seems to get results in every case we've used it in so far.
I have a friend whose Dr./Accupuncturist/Homeopath had him do a muscle test to determine what he was allergic to. It was amaizing. It matched perfectly with his conventional allergy scratch test and they found a few new thing that conventional allergists don't test for, (petroleum sensitivity amongst other things).
I'm not so sure that I believe any of it but so far homeopathy has a better success rate than conventional medicine in my experience.
I can tell you however from personal experience that it does and it works well. You'll have a hard time convincing me that chamomille makes my one year onld son's teeth feel better because of the placebo effect.
You're definitely correct and acupuncture is a great example. You can make similar points involving homeopathy and myths involving vaccines.
If what you say goes against the popular belief even if it is correct you are often going to be labeled as a quack simply because others have too much of a stake in the status quo. This can be said with regard to pretty much any type of change though.
I'd argue that there are few *real* scientists left. There's too much money involved now days. "Scientific" research is often funded by corporations now who have a vested financial interest in having something proved or disproved. I'd be surprised if financial pressure doesn't frequently skew results. I'm thinking specifically of drug companies here but I'd be surprised if that weren't the case in many scientific disciplines.
>>my question though: how often does joe sixpack buy AV software? do they actually buy anything themselves, or do they rely on their retailers (dell or whoever) to bundle it on their windows boxen?
In my experience many users don't buy/use any software (well, maybe Bonzai Buddy) that wasn't bundled with their PC. I've actually met people who will buy a new PC just to get a new word processor.
I've never found info intuitive at all. The pinfo command however works great. It is a lynx style viewer for info pages. It required little work to figure out and is great when you hit those man pages that say: "The full documentation for ls is maintained as a Texinfo manual."
I had something similar happen to my '87 Pontiac Bonneville. You needed to replace the entire headlight assembly. No junk yards around had one. They must be a hot item. Anyway, I realized that fiberglass and expoy resin is mostly translucent as long as you don't have too many layers. So I just laid a nice piece right over the crack and it hasn't leaked since. I figure hey, the car's old enough to drive itself now, what's one more ugly thing on it.
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At Western Michigan University we still to this day stream our campus radio station using a walkman hooked up to a PC. Every so often the stream gets hosed up because somebody bumps the walkman. Please don't bump the walkman.
Doh! You so all beat me to it....
That's basicly what I've been trying to get accross to people for a long time. This isn't a technology problem. This isn't a problem with the Internet. It's a management issue. I can surf the net all day or I can sit at my desk and read a novel all day. There's really no difference. If I did the latter I'd probably get a stern talking to or worse. They probably wouldn't go so far as to ban books from the office.
I agree with your comment. I find it amusing however is that I work with people right now who have made critical business decisions for reasons just as shallow as the color of the box or whether or not they like the logo. I need to get out of here. =)
The Bungi is a government mole spreading disinformation to quiet our suspicons. Don't listen to him.
It's based on a quote from Star Wars, A New Hope. It actually goes like this:
"This is the weapon of a Jedi Knight. Not as clumsy or random as a blaster; an elegant weapon, from a more.... civilized day."
When I saw the summary of the article this quote was the first thing I thought of. =)
"This is the weapon of a Hacker. Not as clumsy or random as a mouse; an elegant weapon, from a more.... civilized day."
Hey.....my wife uses Linux!
=)
It was a call center. A collection agency actually. I was a developer there. The big thing that isn't being printed at the moment are the collection letters that they are contractually obligated to mail. The company is currently out of compliance with every one of its collection contracts. Chances are clients are going to start bailing soon.
The person who is in charge is from Chicago and he didn't want to spend time in Michigan. There were a variety of other political issues too. So they got rid of anyone and everyone who had any valuable experience. This included IT and collection managers as well as experienced collectors. Really everyone who knew anything is gone. They spent tons of money developing and training people and then dumped them all. And it was all politics and ego that caused it. Pretty scary. Luckily I was able to find a new job and was only unemployed for one day.
I figured Chicago was just an example but I found it amusing anyway. =)
That's amusing. My job and that of my coworkers was just outsourced to Chicago. =)
Of course They got rid of all of their experienced people and so far haven't even managed to print anything (It's been two weeks).
We've always figured that's a valid excuse for up to one year from the departure date.
We should all know by now that Windows is a station wagon, Apple produces Euro-style sedans, Linux is a tank, and Be made neato Batmobiles.
>>...(that's the multiplayer arena with the blue and white part on top, green part on the bottom, and has vehicles).....
You're talking about Unreal Tournament 2K4, right? The leviathan is my favorite.
Ditto
Mmmmmmmmmmm........
*runs to the store to get a six pack of Oberon*
*begins planning a trip to Kamalazoo*
Agreed. It was about the time that Berman left that DS9 actually got good. The best thing that could possibly happen to 'Trek is for Berman and Braga to get axed....literally or figuratively.
It's a tiny maltose pill. The water used to dilute it is long since gone. =)
You are absolutely correct about the way it is dilutied though. There is most probably none of the actual compound remaining. It definitely goes against the grain but there are a lot of scientists and doctors who buy into it. Are they right?....maybe....maybe not but regardless it seems to get results in every case we've used it in so far.
I have a friend whose Dr./Accupuncturist/Homeopath had him do a muscle test to determine what he was allergic to. It was amaizing. It matched perfectly with his conventional allergy scratch test and they found a few new thing that conventional allergists don't test for, (petroleum sensitivity amongst other things).
I'm not so sure that I believe any of it but so far homeopathy has a better success rate than conventional medicine in my experience.
I can tell you however from personal experience that it does and it works well. You'll have a hard time convincing me that chamomille makes my one year onld son's teeth feel better because of the placebo effect.
You're definitely correct and acupuncture is a great example. You can make similar points involving homeopathy and myths involving vaccines.
If what you say goes against the popular belief even if it is correct you are often going to be labeled as a quack simply because others have too much of a stake in the status quo. This can be said with regard to pretty much any type of change though.
I'd argue that there are few *real* scientists left. There's too much money involved now days. "Scientific" research is often funded by corporations now who have a vested financial interest in having something proved or disproved. I'd be surprised if financial pressure doesn't frequently skew results. I'm thinking specifically of drug companies here but I'd be surprised if that weren't the case in many scientific disciplines.
>>my question though: how often does joe sixpack buy AV software? do they actually buy anything themselves, or do they rely on their retailers (dell or whoever) to bundle it on their windows boxen?
In my experience many users don't buy/use any software (well, maybe Bonzai Buddy) that wasn't bundled with their PC. I've actually met people who will buy a new PC just to get a new word processor.
People send requests asking toilets to be unplugged to our helpdesk.
I've never found info intuitive at all. The pinfo command however works great. It is a lynx style viewer for info pages. It required little work to figure out and is great when you hit those man pages that say:
"The full documentation for ls is maintained as a Texinfo manual."
It's possible. It's just very warm. The safest thing to do would be to attempt to land on the sun at night.
I had something similar happen to my '87 Pontiac Bonneville. You needed to replace the entire headlight assembly. No junk yards around had one. They must be a hot item. Anyway, I realized that fiberglass and expoy resin is mostly translucent as long as you don't have too many layers. So I just laid a nice piece right over the crack and it hasn't leaked since. I figure hey, the car's old enough to drive itself now, what's one more ugly thing on it.