Yes, there may be a large number of experienced IT professionals out there. Unfortunately, it is likely NOT the case that they would want to take a salary cut and fill an entry level position. So, what do you do? Increase the number of visas so you can get the entry-level workers you need.
It might just be me, but it really seems like you're implying that all we have for domestic workers are highly experiences folks.
Now, I just know that you didn't mean that, as that would be one of the dumbest things I've ever heard.
Please keep in mind that there are plenty of entry-level workers over here without going overseas. In fact, our company went overseas because they needed experienced people. And why couldn't they get people over here? Well, the word "cheapskate" comes to mind.. People are leaving the company finding jobs at lower levels that pay more. Is this really a sign of not having enough qualified workers around or is it a sign of people trying to skimp on salaries?
Also, I'd like to point out the fact that these "ideas" do not occur to most of us as real "ideas." They occur to the marketing and suits as "ideas" and thus they go for patents. The only people going for antipatents would be the suits anyways!
So does this mean that we can start lacing other stuff with caffeine? Cutting the grass just became a nighttime job.. You don't have to bother with actual coffee for your caffeine anymore..
Umm.. I spend enough time already rebooting my Windoz box..
Plus, I really doubt I'm the only person who has several things running in the background just about every time I play a game.
One thing's for sure. I wouldn't buy a game like this. I had enough DOS boot disks a few years back to build my own house. I have no desire to return to that.
Has anyone given any thought to the fact that trying to protest in a way that is archaic like seems to be happening is actually harmful?
Let's say that everyone wants to protest this, and actually will. Now, let's take just 2 of the solutions. Let's say 50% or more of the people decide that they want to fool the MPAA and have some fake program of some sort. Let's say that the other 50% actually wants to link to the code, through a search engine.
Anyone else realize that the noise ratio for someone actually wanting to find the code and distribute it themselves is going to be extremely high? I can see someone wading through 6 links deep to find the one that doesn't work any more, then giving up.
If a real protest has to be done, then it has to be done in an organized fashion. Otherwise it will probably do more harm than good. We would need to start an organization that does not go against the order themselves, but still protests actively. And, of course, holds copies of the code in a CD archive stashed in various places (in the ground, bank deposit box, etc).
Oh, man.. You're not the only one to miss space flight combat games.. I loved the Wing Commander series, and have played just about every one one like that..
I wouldn't say the genre's dead, we just got a few new ones fairly recently, Allegiance and comes to mind.. I forgot another that is mainly a single player campaign game..
Anyways.. I wouldn't say it's dead yet, I'd say it's on a hiatus for the time being. This is about the normal speed that games like these have come out. Just give it a little time.
I haven't tried Allegiance, but the last space combat sim that I got hooked on was Freespace 2.
I'm afraid Homeworld just isn't anything like it, it's much more like Tiberium Sun or something like that than X-Wing. Now, if you could pilot one of your fleet's ships..
*starts to drool as he gets flashbacks to Wingcommander Armada*
I think the idea here was that the "Laws" actually were enforced by nature. The robots were designed with these rules as a fundamental part of their nature.
Let's take another example. The menu system in Windows applications (I'm at work) is just about always the same. Why is that? Well, you could speculate that it is actually a part of the "nature" of Windows. Common controls make it easier for the developer to do this without having to redesign an entire menu system. A useful byproduct is that users should be able to use the program's menu without much trouble. There is a difference with this and the "Laws of Robotics," of course.. These are not actually "Laws," they're just helpful.
Of course.. We can go into the "Laws of Windows Crashes" (must happen every few minutes!), but I think we already know those..
Actually, that was my point. When I said stable, I meant that it is a non-changing spec. Sorry about the confusion.
I personally like PC games better, and I prefer PCs anyways (try playing 2 games, downloading, and cheating with something like GameHack in one of the games on a console!).
I've read most of the comments finally, and there's a lot of the same.
[Person 1] Contentville is evil for trying to sell work that is available elsewhere for free!
[Person 2] No they're not! It's just like Napster!
And so on.. However, I don't think that that's really the problem at all. I think the real problem here is that Contentville did something very stupid and/or arrogant. They posted someone else's work without asking or notifying the author. They did this to a lot of people.
Think of it this way: What if someone posted your work here on Slashdot, and didn't tell you? Would that person be evil?
As for charging for it, my personal feelings are that they're charging for the search. You could always do a search for the specific thesis somewhere else once you find what you might be looking for.
The best, most competent people in tech support leave. There is no incentive for a very good tech support person to stay in tech support, they don't get credit, accolades or cash.
Unfortunately, this is only too true..
The people who enjoy it usually end up being really good, and still get paid squat. So they use those same skills to get elsewhere. What you have left is the "Hu-yuk! I can make good money here! This is much better than my McDonalds job!" folks, who have even less of a clue than a fair amount of the people who call up.
I enjoyed my tech support job. It was fun, occasionally challenging, and, once they calmed down, most of the customers were pretty cool. They even paid decently. But now I'm getting paid twice as much for being a developer, and I'm given much more respect and recognition.
if you buy a console game, you are POSITIVE that it will work. No 'do I have enough ram?' questions, video card drivers, or hard disk space.
From what I've heard about the X-BOX, this is the whole point. Consoles are more stable, which gives developers something stable to develop for and gamers something that they are sure of. The thing that gets me going about the X-BOX is that it is basically a short cut to getting standards hammered out for the PC.
Anyone remember setting up soundcards before SoundBlaster was adopted as a standard? I'm personally hoping the X-BOX is adopted and used for a hardware and software standard for PCs. At least then we can build on standards, not having to worry as much about if your hardware will work.
I seriously doubt that they'll want us to plunk our own hardware in, or install a different OS. However, I'm sure it will be done, just not supported.
I personally like the idea of warning them, but I can see what you mean by the implications involved.
My thought would be to let them know that they might have won a flood of visitors. Let them know just a little bit in advance (matter of minutes or hours) and if they can write back before the time limit, great. If not, you could at least say you tried, even if it is futile.
I personally would be a little annoyed if my site was shut down and I had to figure out why. If I knew ahead of time, I'd at least know.. Maybe even have time to scream for a mirror if I wanted one..
Slashdot Mirror
Yes, there may be a large number of experienced IT professionals out there. Unfortunately, it is likely NOT the case that they would want to take a salary cut and fill an entry level position. So, what do you do? Increase the number of visas so you can get the entry-level workers you need.
It might just be me, but it really seems like you're implying that all we have for domestic workers are highly experiences folks.
Now, I just know that you didn't mean that, as that would be one of the dumbest things I've ever heard.
Please keep in mind that there are plenty of entry-level workers over here without going overseas. In fact, our company went overseas because they needed experienced people. And why couldn't they get people over here? Well, the word "cheapskate" comes to mind.. People are leaving the company finding jobs at lower levels that pay more. Is this really a sign of not having enough qualified workers around or is it a sign of people trying to skimp on salaries?
I think I'll let you work it out..
*shudder*
;-)
I know you're right, but you're scaring me with this "Never taking my hand off the mouse" part. Mommy, please make him stop!
Really, there are quite a few apps out there for both. I mostly use Delphi, so, for right now, my apps are mostly for Windows.
Of course, I appreciate keyboard control instead of all mouse control when I can get it.
Thank you. Finally someone who understands!
Also, I'd like to point out the fact that these "ideas" do not occur to most of us as real "ideas." They occur to the marketing and suits as "ideas" and thus they go for patents. The only people going for antipatents would be the suits anyways!
We'd end up with just one more silly system.
So does this mean that we can start lacing other stuff with caffeine? Cutting the grass just became a nighttime job.. You don't have to bother with actual coffee for your caffeine anymore..
So does this mean that we will finally be able to have a pure caffiene drip that's affordable for those late-night code sessions?
Umm.. I spend enough time already rebooting my Windoz box..
Plus, I really doubt I'm the only person who has several things running in the background just about every time I play a game.
One thing's for sure. I wouldn't buy a game like this. I had enough DOS boot disks a few years back to build my own house. I have no desire to return to that.
Actually, this is one of the most lucid posts I've ever read, I think.
Has anyone given any thought to the fact that trying to protest in a way that is archaic like seems to be happening is actually harmful?
Let's say that everyone wants to protest this, and actually will. Now, let's take just 2 of the solutions. Let's say 50% or more of the people decide that they want to fool the MPAA and have some fake program of some sort. Let's say that the other 50% actually wants to link to the code, through a search engine.
Anyone else realize that the noise ratio for someone actually wanting to find the code and distribute it themselves is going to be extremely high? I can see someone wading through 6 links deep to find the one that doesn't work any more, then giving up.
If a real protest has to be done, then it has to be done in an organized fashion. Otherwise it will probably do more harm than good. We would need to start an organization that does not go against the order themselves, but still protests actively. And, of course, holds copies of the code in a CD archive stashed in various places (in the ground, bank deposit box, etc).
Oh, man.. You're not the only one to miss space flight combat games.. I loved the Wing Commander series, and have played just about every one one like that..
I wouldn't say the genre's dead, we just got a few new ones fairly recently, Allegiance and comes to mind.. I forgot another that is mainly a single player campaign game..
Anyways.. I wouldn't say it's dead yet, I'd say it's on a hiatus for the time being. This is about the normal speed that games like these have come out. Just give it a little time.
I haven't tried Allegiance, but the last space combat sim that I got hooked on was Freespace 2.
I'm afraid Homeworld just isn't anything like it, it's much more like Tiberium Sun or something like that than X-Wing. Now, if you could pilot one of your fleet's ships..
*starts to drool as he gets flashbacks to Wingcommander Armada*
I think the idea here was that the "Laws" actually were enforced by nature. The robots were designed with these rules as a fundamental part of their nature.
Let's take another example. The menu system in Windows applications (I'm at work) is just about always the same. Why is that? Well, you could speculate that it is actually a part of the "nature" of Windows. Common controls make it easier for the developer to do this without having to redesign an entire menu system. A useful byproduct is that users should be able to use the program's menu without much trouble. There is a difference with this and the "Laws of Robotics," of course.. These are not actually "Laws," they're just helpful.
Of course.. We can go into the "Laws of Windows Crashes" (must happen every few minutes!), but I think we already know those..
Actually, that was my point. When I said stable, I meant that it is a non-changing spec. Sorry about the confusion.
I personally like PC games better, and I prefer PCs anyways (try playing 2 games, downloading, and cheating with something like GameHack in one of the games on a console!).
I've read most of the comments finally, and there's a lot of the same.
[Person 1] Contentville is evil for trying to sell work that is available elsewhere for free!
[Person 2] No they're not! It's just like Napster!
And so on.. However, I don't think that that's really the problem at all. I think the real problem here is that Contentville did something very stupid and/or arrogant. They posted someone else's work without asking or notifying the author. They did this to a lot of people.
Think of it this way: What if someone posted your work here on Slashdot, and didn't tell you? Would that person be evil?
As for charging for it, my personal feelings are that they're charging for the search. You could always do a search for the specific thesis somewhere else once you find what you might be looking for.
Or better yet, they could do what the company that published Caesar did, and put the program up on their website. (http://www.impressionsgames.com/)
Impressions put it up without any strings, just a "Download the full PC version here!"
Pretty cool thing to do, if you ask me.. Definately earned them points on my scale.
The best, most competent people in tech support leave. There is no incentive for a very good tech support person to stay in tech support, they don't get credit, accolades or cash.
Unfortunately, this is only too true..
The people who enjoy it usually end up being really good, and still get paid squat. So they use those same skills to get elsewhere. What you have left is the "Hu-yuk! I can make good money here! This is much better than my McDonalds job!" folks, who have even less of a clue than a fair amount of the people who call up.
I enjoyed my tech support job. It was fun, occasionally challenging, and, once they calmed down, most of the customers were pretty cool. They even paid decently. But now I'm getting paid twice as much for being a developer, and I'm given much more respect and recognition.
Has anyone come up with something they can do about the people who post 1-800 numbers (or whatever number) and don't give a site or e-mail?
I'd presume they'd start using stuff like this if we started retaliating in numbers..
if you buy a console game, you are POSITIVE that it will work. No 'do I have enough ram?' questions, video card drivers, or hard disk space.
From what I've heard about the X-BOX, this is the whole point. Consoles are more stable, which gives developers something stable to develop for and gamers something that they are sure of. The thing that gets me going about the X-BOX is that it is basically a short cut to getting standards hammered out for the PC.
Anyone remember setting up soundcards before SoundBlaster was adopted as a standard? I'm personally hoping the X-BOX is adopted and used for a hardware and software standard for PCs. At least then we can build on standards, not having to worry as much about if your hardware will work.
I seriously doubt that they'll want us to plunk our own hardware in, or install a different OS. However, I'm sure it will be done, just not supported.
I personally like the idea of warning them, but I can see what you mean by the implications involved.
My thought would be to let them know that they might have won a flood of visitors. Let them know just a little bit in advance (matter of minutes or hours) and if they can write back before the time limit, great. If not, you could at least say you tried, even if it is futile.
I personally would be a little annoyed if my site was shut down and I had to figure out why. If I knew ahead of time, I'd at least know.. Maybe even have time to scream for a mirror if I wanted one..