"Main Entry: operating system Function: noun Date: 1961 : software that controls the operation of a computer and directs the processing of programs (as by assigning storage space in memory and controlling input and output functions) "
As I have Said Before (on Slashdot, as well as in life)... a little computer paired with a laser projection keyboard and screen (ala CeBit about a year or two ago) would be a super cool device.
Usually, my favorite form factor is a device the size of a lighter or a pager. But a watch would do too.
I live in a Major Metro Area (ranked between 30 and 50 on this list ) and I do fine with 2 kids, a car, a house that I "own" (mortgage, whatever), and most of the comforts I want.
I certainly fit in this salary range. What is the problem you are having? Perhaps you are having difficulties because you think you can have everything? Think again.
The company I worked for has tried outsourcing repeatedly. It costs more than the current employee model does. Hmmmmm.
-WS
"Granted, faster computers allow bigger spreadsheets and longer documents, but the functional requirements for the software itself simply haven't changed."
Not where I live, bucko. Excel still has the same row limitations now that it did in 95. Most people simply don't care, but I frequently manage lists that are simply too big or too complex to fit in 65535 rows. That sucks! Sure, the answer is SQL, right? Well, not when it's this sort of stuff. I assure you that I use DBs 99% of the time. For some data however, a spreadsheet is required. (e.g. Y2K I had a million of these... the boss wanted a spread sheet on his desk with all users + contexts + apps per site per app, which was 10 linked excel sheets at capacity. No, he wasn't willing to take a link to a DB with the data.)
Software vendors have rarely impressed me with better versions of software. Haven't seen a tool that replaces grep yet. Or head. Or tail. On the Office side, the new versions don't seem to improve the user experience by much. Even hardcore users here frequently can't tell me what the "life shattering" difference is between Office 2000 and Office 95.
Hmmm. Average lifespan of an NT 4.0 server? Is that the question? Or is it comparison with Unix servers?
Well, speaking of our stuff, we find the NT (Wintel) stuff stays around a very long time. Our department just last week decommisioned a set of boxes from 1998. That is a pretty decent run for a webserver at a fortune 100. Our UNIX boxes, however, we replace every 2 years. Funny that. The argument goes like this:
Cheap Pizza Box Webserver lifespan: 5-7 years. Serious DB Hosting Heavy Box lifespan: 2 years.
Make sense, right? Well, we do our heavy lifting on AIX/Solaris here, so that is where the upgrades happen. We only went to new hardware and Win2K because the hardware vendor dropped support from 4 hours to 24 hours, while doubling the price. Such is the cost of legacy:)
For example: Did you know that an unmodified 1975 Corvette can out-accellerate a moron in a brand-new Mustang Cobra?
He didn't:)
That car could have certainly beaten me to the speed limit (45 on that stretch), but apparently the mustang shifter is something too complicated for fratboys to operate. He seems to have shifted into neutral at about 15/20 MPH and was almost hit by a little honda behind him.
"Where do you go for clothes?" - Salvation army, Wal-Mart, Target, anywhere I can buy pants for $10 and a shirt for $5
I therefore condone abuses inherent in sweatshops...
"What kind of shoes do you want?" - Tevas, Carnacs
I therefore condone the use of synthetics and all the perils associated...
"What do you want to drink?" - Water, Coffee, Bawls, diet anything
I therefore condone the damming of streams and rivers, the destruction of the earth due to mining, the oppression of third-world countries, and the introduction of chemicals to the food supply.
Damn, I hate myself now. And to think, I typed this on a computer containg plastic, silicon, lead, and requiring nuclear, coal, and or gas power to run.
I agree. I have certain things that I push for (where the current tech simply doesn't suffice) and others where I am quite happy. I drive a 75 vette and a 92 Jeep because they do just fine. I have an old camcorder because it works great.
On the other hand, my PDA still does not quite measure up, and I could really use a better designed work laptop.
I also am a big believer that science is rarely worthless. Just because something is worthless now, doesn't mean it will be worthless soon. Switches were pretty pointless when there was no electricity.
-WS
Re:Do younger minds absorb quicker?
on
Ageism in IT?
·
· Score: 1
Heheh
I couldn't agree more. I have worked at the same company now since 1997. I was the youngest person hired in each department I transferred to as I worked up the line (from wire monkey to admin/developer). Now, though I'm still just under 25, I keep getting people who think that my age is of importance one way or another. It never was, and never will be. If I can still excel at my job duties (whatever they may be) in 50 years, I will be doing my best to run circles around everyone else!
However, my mother (who has a background in computers, electronics, and design that reads like a who's who list since the 60's) can't get a decent job even though she can still do amazing work. 40 years of hardcore engineering does not make you old or sloppy, it makes no difference other than experience.
Best I can find is a replacement, unfortunately. I'm sure there are some spare parts somewhere!! IBM would probably have considered it to be a FRU (a field replaceable unit) like a mouse, so it might not have a seperate part number.
I have one, in fact I have 2 (one as a spare). Huge, heavy as a rhino and twice as tough. It would probably take a 50 cal to kill this thing...
I have been using it since it was new (ages ago, it seems) and it has outlasted every computer, mouse, and monitor I've ever had. My only compaint is that I use a Mac now, and it won't work on there. So, I use it now only on my work machine.
Anyone know of a way to make these things run on Mac? Or a port of some kind? I'd miss the special apple keys, but it would be worth it to re-map!
On topic for a second: There is no way I'd ever buy one of those keyboards. I'm really into "re-designing the keyboard", but so far, every new design has had MAJOR issues.
Gee, how about we start with LA, NY, Sacramento, San Francisco, Seattle, Austin (I'm sure I'm missing some here). The population is certainly large enough and dense enough.
Do you realize, that for me to get to my work on Mass Transit would take over 2 hours? Why? Because Amtrak and the Light Rail system don't think they need to bother going both ways. It's pretty much one way from 03:00 until 07:00, then they throw me a bone by going my way once an hour until 18:00.
I'm not suggesting we build Mass Transit to BFE, I'm just suggesting we start with LA Subways, make the NY subway system a LOT less scary (I was never scared on the Metro, but I am terrified on the NY Subways) and perhaps get rid of the need to have a car to drive 10 miles.
I would be much happier with a reactor of this sort being built within sight of my house, than the equiv. coal fired plant.
I've been near coal. I'd rather have the sneaky cancer of possible radiation leakage than the nasty lung cancer of coal. It's dirty, ugly, messy, and... guess what... also a non-renewable resource. Nuclear, Coal, Gas... all non-renewable to some extent.
Of course, solar cells cover hundreds of acres and don't do much; they generate tons of nasty by products for the silicon, and wind turbines aren't much better.
Hmm, there's geothermal (if you're lucky), there's hydro-electric (but that kills the fish, etc).
Looks like we're screwed. How about we try building A MASS TRANSIT INFRASTRUCTURE. Perhaps if we reduced the number of cars by a whole heck of a lot, we could use a combination of resources more easily. Easier to retrofit one bus that hauls 500 people a week than 500 cars when the latest eco-FUD technology comes out.
Boy, that's a fact. How about those classic Atari games Activision ported to PS2? Not only are the games lame (only one or two of my favs, the rest are ones I never heard of), but the controls make it nearly impossible to use!
Oh, and as a side note... who wants to break a $30 controller doing the olympics running game?
-WS
Re:Two funny (sad) arithmetic stories
on
Making Change
·
· Score: 1
Actually, another frightening thing is how few people can use a circular slide rule.
They use those little cardboard "specialty" ones (like the "Airspeed/Fuel calculators) easily, but have no idea how to use one in general. Kind of sad.
Yes, I know, that's a previous technology and all, but it is also a darn fast way to do complex math.
Same here. Or rather, the javadocs had more relevent info, and the rest had to be puzzled through. I'll stick with Safari subscriptions and Unix in a NutShell.
-WS
He's still wrong, since that was pioneered by IBM, DEC, Commodore, Amiga, Atari, etc.
Nothing new about vertical integration, it's just that Apple has done if for Personal Computers a bit longer than MS. That is, since they started that way, and MS had to shout "decouple" to free themselves from IBM being where Apple is now.
-WS
Slashdot Mirror
I thought it was all obvious. Evil Aliens originated Appletalk, and our implementation was simply derived from theirs :)
-WS
From Merriam-Webster:
:)
"Main Entry: operating system
Function: noun
Date: 1961
: software that controls the operation of a computer and directs the processing of programs (as by assigning storage space in memory and controlling input and output functions) "
So you would be correct.
Take that, Stallman
-WS
Kernel. Stable, reliable, nimble, free kernel.
Linux is not an OS. Hasn't this been said enough times yet?
-WS
Well,
As I have Said Before (on Slashdot, as well as in life)... a little computer paired with a laser projection keyboard and screen (ala CeBit about a year or two ago) would be a super cool device.
Usually, my favorite form factor is a device the size of a lighter or a pager. But a watch would do too.
-WS
Best box, best game.
Ever.
I have the whole collection (both original and on the set CD) 1-9.
However, Serpent Isle and The Black Gate were the very best of them, even though Ultima 9 was pretty awesome. That game had such an awesome engine!!
-WS
I live in a Major Metro Area (ranked between 30 and 50 on this list ) and I do fine with 2 kids, a car, a house that I "own" (mortgage, whatever), and most of the comforts I want.
I certainly fit in this salary range. What is the problem you are having? Perhaps you are having difficulties because you think you can have everything? Think again.
The company I worked for has tried outsourcing repeatedly. It costs more than the current employee model does. Hmmmmm. -WS
Only if it contains information that is directly identifiable. Otherwise, it's all good.
See, your age is fine, your birthplace is fine, your city is fine; but not all three.
So if the RFID tag just contained a lookup to the hospital, but not to the room or the individual, it would be ok.
-WS
"Granted, faster computers allow bigger spreadsheets and longer documents, but the functional requirements for the software itself simply haven't changed."
Not where I live, bucko. Excel still has the same row limitations now that it did in 95. Most people simply don't care, but I frequently manage lists that are simply too big or too complex to fit in 65535 rows. That sucks! Sure, the answer is SQL, right? Well, not when it's this sort of stuff. I assure you that I use DBs 99% of the time. For some data however, a spreadsheet is required. (e.g. Y2K I had a million of these... the boss wanted a spread sheet on his desk with all users + contexts + apps per site per app, which was 10 linked excel sheets at capacity. No, he wasn't willing to take a link to a DB with the data.)
Software vendors have rarely impressed me with better versions of software. Haven't seen a tool that replaces grep yet. Or head. Or tail. On the Office side, the new versions don't seem to improve the user experience by much. Even hardcore users here frequently can't tell me what the "life shattering" difference is between Office 2000 and Office 95.
Can you?
-WS
Hmmm. Average lifespan of an NT 4.0 server? Is that the question? Or is it comparison with Unix servers?
:)
Well, speaking of our stuff, we find the NT (Wintel) stuff stays around a very long time. Our department just last week decommisioned a set of boxes from 1998. That is a pretty decent run for a webserver at a fortune 100. Our UNIX boxes, however, we replace every 2 years. Funny that. The argument goes like this:
Cheap Pizza Box Webserver lifespan: 5-7 years.
Serious DB Hosting Heavy Box lifespan: 2 years.
Make sense, right? Well, we do our heavy lifting on AIX/Solaris here, so that is where the upgrades happen. We only went to new hardware and Win2K because the hardware vendor dropped support from 4 hours to 24 hours, while doubling the price. Such is the cost of legacy
-WS
I have fun with stuff like this...
:)
For example: Did you know that an unmodified 1975 Corvette can out-accellerate a moron in a brand-new Mustang Cobra?
He didn't
That car could have certainly beaten me to the speed limit (45 on that stretch), but apparently the mustang shifter is something too complicated for fratboys to operate. He seems to have shifted into neutral at about 15/20 MPH and was almost hit by a little honda behind him.
Hehehehe
-WS
Sounds like a neat book. I liked the review, too.
I do lots of DHTML and JavaScript stuff, and this sounds pretty neat.
-WS
Hmmm Just to be a jerk, let me think about this:
;)
"Where do you go for clothes?" - Salvation army, Wal-Mart, Target, anywhere I can buy pants for $10 and a shirt for $5
I therefore condone abuses inherent in sweatshops...
"What kind of shoes do you want?" - Tevas, Carnacs
I therefore condone the use of synthetics and all the perils associated...
"What do you want to drink?" - Water, Coffee, Bawls, diet anything
I therefore condone the damming of streams and rivers, the destruction of the earth due to mining, the oppression of third-world countries, and the introduction of chemicals to the food supply.
Damn, I hate myself now. And to think, I typed this on a computer containg plastic, silicon, lead, and requiring nuclear, coal, and or gas power to run.
I think I should just go off myself now...
-WS
I agree. I have certain things that I push for (where the current tech simply doesn't suffice) and others where I am quite happy. I drive a 75 vette and a 92 Jeep because they do just fine. I have an old camcorder because it works great. On the other hand, my PDA still does not quite measure up, and I could really use a better designed work laptop. I also am a big believer that science is rarely worthless. Just because something is worthless now, doesn't mean it will be worthless soon. Switches were pretty pointless when there was no electricity. -WS
Heheh
I couldn't agree more. I have worked at the same company now since 1997. I was the youngest person hired in each department I transferred to as I worked up the line (from wire monkey to admin/developer). Now, though I'm still just under 25, I keep getting people who think that my age is of importance one way or another. It never was, and never will be. If I can still excel at my job duties (whatever they may be) in 50 years, I will be doing my best to run circles around everyone else!
However, my mother (who has a background in computers, electronics, and design that reads like a who's who list since the 60's) can't get a decent job even though she can still do amazing work. 40 years of hardcore engineering does not make you old or sloppy, it makes no difference other than experience.
So, I say Ageism: Eat my shorts.
-WS
Ouch. It is so sad that I not only recognized that obscure reference, I actually snickered.
I can't believe that is still taking up room somewhere in the dark recesses of my skull...
-WS
Cool!
How do you emulate the apple keys? Option, Command, etc?
Thanks!
WS
WS
I have one, in fact I have 2 (one as a spare). Huge, heavy as a rhino and twice as tough. It would probably take a 50 cal to kill this thing...
I have been using it since it was new (ages ago, it seems) and it has outlasted every computer, mouse, and monitor I've ever had. My only compaint is that I use a Mac now, and it won't work on there. So, I use it now only on my work machine.
Anyone know of a way to make these things run on Mac? Or a port of some kind? I'd miss the special apple keys, but it would be worth it to re-map!
On topic for a second: There is no way I'd ever buy one of those keyboards. I'm really into "re-designing the keyboard", but so far, every new design has had MAJOR issues.
-WS
Gee, how about we start with LA, NY, Sacramento, San Francisco, Seattle, Austin (I'm sure I'm missing some here). The population is certainly large enough and dense enough.
Do you realize, that for me to get to my work on Mass Transit would take over 2 hours? Why? Because Amtrak and the Light Rail system don't think they need to bother going both ways. It's pretty much one way from 03:00 until 07:00, then they throw me a bone by going my way once an hour until 18:00.
I'm not suggesting we build Mass Transit to BFE, I'm just suggesting we start with LA Subways, make the NY subway system a LOT less scary (I was never scared on the Metro, but I am terrified on the NY Subways) and perhaps get rid of the need to have a car to drive 10 miles.
-WS
I would be much happier with a reactor of this sort being built within sight of my house, than the equiv. coal fired plant.
... guess what... also a non-renewable resource. Nuclear, Coal, Gas... all non-renewable to some extent.
I've been near coal. I'd rather have the sneaky cancer of possible radiation leakage than the nasty lung cancer of coal. It's dirty, ugly, messy, and
Of course, solar cells cover hundreds of acres and don't do much; they generate tons of nasty by products for the silicon, and wind turbines aren't much better.
Hmm, there's geothermal (if you're lucky), there's hydro-electric (but that kills the fish, etc).
Looks like we're screwed. How about we try building A MASS TRANSIT INFRASTRUCTURE. Perhaps if we reduced the number of cars by a whole heck of a lot, we could use a combination of resources more easily. Easier to retrofit one bus that hauls 500 people a week than 500 cars when the latest eco-FUD technology comes out.
-WS
I guess that's our return on the whole dot-bomb thing :)
-WS
Boy, that's a fact. How about those classic Atari games Activision ported to PS2? Not only are the games lame (only one or two of my favs, the rest are ones I never heard of), but the controls make it nearly impossible to use!
Oh, and as a side note... who wants to break a $30 controller doing the olympics running game?
-WS
Actually, another frightening thing is how few people can use a circular slide rule.
They use those little cardboard "specialty" ones (like the "Airspeed/Fuel calculators) easily, but have no idea how to use one in general. Kind of sad.
Yes, I know, that's a previous technology and all, but it is also a darn fast way to do complex math.
Oh yeah, and no batteries/direct sunlight needed
-WS
Same here. Or rather, the javadocs had more relevent info, and the rest had to be puzzled through. I'll stick with Safari subscriptions and Unix in a NutShell. -WS
He's still wrong, since that was pioneered by IBM, DEC, Commodore, Amiga, Atari, etc. Nothing new about vertical integration, it's just that Apple has done if for Personal Computers a bit longer than MS. That is, since they started that way, and MS had to shout "decouple" to free themselves from IBM being where Apple is now. -WS