Were you comfortable with the purchase options / apparent security of the site? I was tempted, but dissuaded by having no information what kind of a transaction I would be required to complete and what their security measures are.
Aside from being a wonderful story, it seems tailor made for the audience: A strong female protagonist, who is a scientist. A lot of discussion still -- after a couple of decades -- relevant, and well framed, with regard to the role of science in society. The sense of discovery and hope that permeates a strong, scientific drive. A good counterbalancing element of scientific rigor.
And lots of "real" science, where the speculation is extrapolation based on what is currently known and suspected, and not "fairies and purple sunsets".
One thing that causes me a little concern in making suggestions for a school population is that any number of the better stories deal with all aspects of social relationships -- although many avoid cheaply going after extensive graphical descriptions. I don't see a problem with this, personally, but a teacher picking reading assignments may need to consider it based on policy, politics, parental expectations, etc.
I set up 2 Bright Sparks' product SyncBackSE for a relative, a few months ago. I needed something in a hurry, and that could be "click the button simple" for them. (It offers a lot of configuration options, but appears to have some decent defaults and allows for "profiles" (my word) that a non-expert can simply select and run.)
Simple also to the point of not hanging on open files if the user wasn't clever enough to close them, or Windoze got "stuck" holding an open file handle (can't count the number of times...). SyncBackSE supports volume shadow copy -- it can work with open files.
Note also that it supports AES encryption.
There may well be comparable and/or better alternatives. For $25 and the rush I was in, I said "good enough".
I've purchased and rented a few DVD's of TV shows, to find the soundtracks completely altered. The producers didn't already have the copyright permissions to include the songs in the non-broadcast format, and they didn't want to pay to acquire the rights.
The shows' impacts were significantly altered by this. In once case, songs had originally been well chosen to reflect the moods of scenes as well tying in current pop culture in a very relevant fashion. The DVD alternative soundtrack did neither -- just random mood, nobody songs that they picked up for a pittance. In another case, music was simply omitted and the show ended up with large tracts of acoustically empty scenery.
And, of course, in neither case was this alteration clearly identified up front.
Companies that do such things to their customers get little respect from me. I would suspect this is another reason people will sometimes download shows instead of purchasing the mangled, rip-off "official" product.
I've found that an important aspect of burnout can be physical health. If you have a chronic illness (even just chronic pain, and its attendant distraction, can easily qualify), its drag can be limiting and make many areas of your life seem limited and uninspiring.
Being in poor health, even if not with a specific illness, can also be a drag. And inhabiting one's chair longer in compensation, trying to complete the "dreaded" work, can become a positive (in function, not in perception) feedback loop.
It's certainly not the only aspect of burnout, but I think physical health continues to get short shrift in our (U.S.) society, in considering the nature of overall well being.
(And I don't mean that everyone should be Lance Armstrong-buff. But generally fit -- enjoying that feeling -- and certainly without lingering, outstanding health issues.)
I found some interesting points in this. And whether or not you like MS and its business practices, they ARE quite emblematic of one dominant approach to business, these days. Therefore, worth acknowledging and being aware of.
* He uses three monitors to GET SCREEN REAL ESTATE. I recall a very interesting magazine article (which, not having a large document cache and integrated search on MY work PC, I can't quickly find right now) that summarized studies into why the "paperless" office continues to be so full of paper. And a main reason was: More information visible at once. Access to that information at the flick of the eyes -- essentially, as quickly as one changes thoughts.
* Electronic note taking and annotation. Another reason for paper's continued dominance: One can very quickly flag, highlight, annotate it. A moment's attention can be captured at very little effort, for future reference. It, or a trigger to it, can be "offloaded" so that the mind can stop worrying about remembering it and move on to other things. Being able to do this in an electronic medium seems central to effectively, mentally processing that medium.
* Collaborative workspaces. At my workplace, an awful lot of communication, including both business and technical information, takes place in email. Then, someone not in a particular email chain has a need for that same information. Well, it's locked up in the mailboxes of the correspondents. At a minimum, they have to take the effort to identify a person having that information, get their attention, and then obtain a copy. As often as not, instead portions or all of the information gets recreated/reassembled, representing a quite significant amount of duplicative effort and expense (in time, money, frustration, choose you measure).
* He makes heavy, integral use of tagging. Whether explicit tagging, such as of emails, or implicit (using search against a search term composed on the fly, targeting documents contents rather than metadata). The rest of the world is discovering tagging versus strict hierarchy. He's acknowledging its superior features.
* He allows email through from entire, "trusted" domains. People with a corporate Dell, HP, or the like email address apparently get passed through on this basis (surely, there must be some checks of the source domain, and the like, to catch spoofing, or else private connections between MS and those firms?). So, if you're at HP, maybe you can just send an email and it will pop up on Bill G.'s screen. But, you'd better have a good point; if you abuse it, you may be looking for another job. A significant portion of his email filtering, the article seems to imply, is based upon trusted relationships. Dare I cough up that chestnut, "web of trust"?
I'd gladly pay the percentage premiums I've occasionally seen cited, in return for a home that has both interior and exterior soundproofing. From your perspective, this would provide the ability to enjoy media without disturbing your cohabitants or your neighbors, and without them disturbing you.
I don't mean necessarily an extreme set up so that Junior's band can practice in the basement / garage without a peep. But, perhaps a brick exterior; 2x6 or better framing (especially exterior); cement board or similar in place of drywall; extra insulation and interior insulation; designs that interrupt conductive transference; triple-pane windows. I don't know a lot about such things, but those items come to mind. Perhaps also a ranch layout, so that cohabitants aren't literally "on top of each other" and where different activities can take place at different ends.
In my case, if I could, I would pay what I could for extreme measures. Not only is silence golden, it is bliss. I'm probably not the majority, but I'd pay a pretty penny to ensure I can have some when I want.
What this appears to infer is that bullying is an effective social strategy. Perhaps I should say, of its own and in a limited social context.
Effective down to the biological level.
If we can acknowledge that, perhaps we can stop some of the frustrating rhetoric about how the bully is "wrong" and should be "understood".
So, the bully has something tangible to gain from their behavior. (And I mean not just the immediate response but the long term social implications.) Does "correcting" that behavior address the sole root of the problem? Or do we also need to give those bullied effective tools for dealing with the bullying and for maintaining self esteem? Do we let them know just how important it is to maintain that self-esteem? (The article is saying that in failing to do so, they essentially become hard-wired for a different and seemingly less satisfying social role).
The bullying exists within a social context with constraining bounds. The parent of a bullied child can't go an beat the cr*p out of the bully -- not without going to jail. There are already limits that have been decided upon. So, we get to make choices. Can we then also choose and foster, at least to some extent, the types of personalities we wish to see succeed? The type of society we with to propagate?
For my part, if I ever have kids, they will have martial arts training. That part is a simple decision for me. It won't solve every problem, but it will increase the odds considerably that they won't find themselves forced to be pushed around, at least physically. And perhaps a good instructor can help with some of the mental aspects, as well -- I understand that is an essential component of good training.
One thing that Microsoft -- or the people they hired -- got right.
Microsoft used to have some web pages for 'Internet/Web fonts'. These included both a collection of TrueType fonts (including Verdana) and some history and other stuff (e.g. a history of Verdana). The pages were up until a year or two ago.
Then, shortly after I commented to a business analyst (read: specifications author) on the suitability of Verdana, including both the high appeal of the font but also the potential risk of using MS intellectual property and the potential for sharing to cease, I found those MS web pages had been removed. I don't know whether they've since been restored or placed elsewhere.
Regarding the history and intent, translating into suitability, of Verdana, a quick google turns up:
Too early to tell for sure, but it sounds on the surface like the RIAA is taking on perceived threats one at a time.
Networked file sharing has had a significant dent put into it. Further, iTunes and the like are rapidly growing "blessed" network paradigms.
So, they're switching their "there is evil among us" mantra and resources to disc-to-disc burning.
A logical next step. They ultimately want control that amounts to per person, per item licensing. Copying, sharing, even just loaning your friend your disc, all cut into their revenue stream. Never mind what the law says about these activities; for them, it's all bad business (or so they believe). And if they can get away with it, they will eliminate all these possibilities.
(P.S. If their controls in effect make you continually repurchase licenses, e.g. every time you upgrade your PC, I don't think they're going to mind, as long as the legal and PR outfall doesn't hurt their bottom line.)
Taking on networked file sharing made sense when Napster (literally, or the paradigm) was present and prevalent. Some coding, traffic analysis, and legal manipulation was sufficient for them to effectively attack it.
Controlling disc-to-disc burning is going to require the cooperation or coercion of hardware and media manufacturers, which involves perhaps more effort and certainly more lead time.
The first few attempts at copy controls were sorry affairs. But they've gotten somewhat better, and have proven themselves to be de facto accepted (slashdot "boycotts" not withstanding). Things are going to become much uglier and more effective when controls are -- voluntarily or forcibly -- placed into the firmware.
There's a reason the RIAA and similar spending a lot on legislators. Good tech or bad tech, if it's the law, most corporate entities will go along. They'll have no choice.
In order to align itself with "progress" in Digital Rights Management and to emphasize its full support for DRM, Microsoft has decided to remove the "My" prefix from its user file structure and document naming convention.
You didn't really think they were YOUR files, did you?
Microsoft: Where to you want your fair access rights to go, today?
This pertains particularly to discussions within the U.S. about the direction of our economy.
As more and more manufacturing jobs, and lower end service jobs (New York City parking tickets processed in India?!) have moved abroad, the continued argument, particularly from those fostering and benefiting from the outsourcing, has been that the U.S. will become *the* place for high tech, high value jobs. We'll "lead the world" in this regard, or some such.
What was obvious to some is now becoming apparent in the general media. There's nothing special about these "high end" jobs that requires they be done here. Nothing other than our legal system and established tradition of rights and responsibilities particularly with regard to contract law.
As other societies advance, there's no reason for them to hire our services, at our significantly higher cost, when they have native talent or talent accessible in other countries that is equally well educated and equally capable.
Other societies have been busy building up that talent, and they are attempting to address the legal concerns. We're getting closer to the tipping point, where the U.S. becomes largely obsolete.
Largely obsolete, except for a lot of warships, planes, and nuclear warheads. Beware: That way lies overt fascism.
I view rebates similarly. Aside from the "we're going to hold on to your money for two months" aspect, there's the whole pressure to "lock in the rebate price" before it expires.
"Too good to be true!" Exactly.
One reason I avoid rebates. They attempt to mislead me, and they consume far more value in terms of my time than they save. And, by using them, I'm helping to feed and clothe the frustrating people who promulgate them.
Slashdot Mirror
Were you comfortable with the purchase options / apparent security of the site? I was tempted, but dissuaded by having no information what kind of a transaction I would be required to complete and what their security measures are.
Aside from being a wonderful story, it seems tailor made for the audience: A strong female protagonist, who is a scientist. A lot of discussion still -- after a couple of decades -- relevant, and well framed, with regard to the role of science in society. The sense of discovery and hope that permeates a strong, scientific drive. A good counterbalancing element of scientific rigor.
And lots of "real" science, where the speculation is extrapolation based on what is currently known and suspected, and not "fairies and purple sunsets".
One thing that causes me a little concern in making suggestions for a school population is that any number of the better stories deal with all aspects of social relationships -- although many avoid cheaply going after extensive graphical descriptions. I don't see a problem with this, personally, but a teacher picking reading assignments may need to consider it based on policy, politics, parental expectations, etc.
But are you part of the target audience?
I set up 2 Bright Sparks' product SyncBackSE for a relative, a few months ago. I needed something in a hurry, and that could be "click the button simple" for them. (It offers a lot of configuration options, but appears to have some decent defaults and allows for "profiles" (my word) that a non-expert can simply select and run.)
Simple also to the point of not hanging on open files if the user wasn't clever enough to close them, or Windoze got "stuck" holding an open file handle (can't count the number of times...). SyncBackSE supports volume shadow copy -- it can work with open files.
Note also that it supports AES encryption.
There may well be comparable and/or better alternatives. For $25 and the rush I was in, I said "good enough".
http://www.2brightsparks.com/
I've purchased and rented a few DVD's of TV shows, to find the soundtracks completely altered. The producers didn't already have the copyright permissions to include the songs in the non-broadcast format, and they didn't want to pay to acquire the rights.
The shows' impacts were significantly altered by this. In once case, songs had originally been well chosen to reflect the moods of scenes as well tying in current pop culture in a very relevant fashion. The DVD alternative soundtrack did neither -- just random mood, nobody songs that they picked up for a pittance. In another case, music was simply omitted and the show ended up with large tracts of acoustically empty scenery.
And, of course, in neither case was this alteration clearly identified up front.
Companies that do such things to their customers get little respect from me. I would suspect this is another reason people will sometimes download shows instead of purchasing the mangled, rip-off "official" product.
I've found that an important aspect of burnout can be physical health. If you have a chronic illness (even just chronic pain, and its attendant distraction, can easily qualify), its drag can be limiting and make many areas of your life seem limited and uninspiring.
Being in poor health, even if not with a specific illness, can also be a drag. And inhabiting one's chair longer in compensation, trying to complete the "dreaded" work, can become a positive (in function, not in perception) feedback loop.
It's certainly not the only aspect of burnout, but I think physical health continues to get short shrift in our (U.S.) society, in considering the nature of overall well being.
(And I don't mean that everyone should be Lance Armstrong-buff. But generally fit -- enjoying that feeling -- and certainly without lingering, outstanding health issues.)
"In Search of Excellence" came out in 1982, not 1988 as indicated in this topic's summary. I remember having to deal with it in 1984.
n ce
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Search_Of_Excelle
Severely depressed.
I found some interesting points in this. And whether or not you like MS and its business practices, they ARE quite emblematic of one dominant approach to business, these days. Therefore, worth acknowledging and being aware of.
* He uses three monitors to GET SCREEN REAL ESTATE. I recall a very interesting magazine article (which, not having a large document cache and integrated search on MY work PC, I can't quickly find right now) that summarized studies into why the "paperless" office continues to be so full of paper. And a main reason was: More information visible at once. Access to that information at the flick of the eyes -- essentially, as quickly as one changes thoughts.
* Electronic note taking and annotation. Another reason for paper's continued dominance: One can very quickly flag, highlight, annotate it. A moment's attention can be captured at very little effort, for future reference. It, or a trigger to it, can be "offloaded" so that the mind can stop worrying about remembering it and move on to other things. Being able to do this in an electronic medium seems central to effectively, mentally processing that medium.
* Collaborative workspaces. At my workplace, an awful lot of communication, including both business and technical information, takes place in email. Then, someone not in a particular email chain has a need for that same information. Well, it's locked up in the mailboxes of the correspondents. At a minimum, they have to take the effort to identify a person having that information, get their attention, and then obtain a copy. As often as not, instead portions or all of the information gets recreated/reassembled, representing a quite significant amount of duplicative effort and expense (in time, money, frustration, choose you measure).
* He makes heavy, integral use of tagging. Whether explicit tagging, such as of emails, or implicit (using search against a search term composed on the fly, targeting documents contents rather than metadata). The rest of the world is discovering tagging versus strict hierarchy. He's acknowledging its superior features.
* He allows email through from entire, "trusted" domains. People with a corporate Dell, HP, or the like email address apparently get passed through on this basis (surely, there must be some checks of the source domain, and the like, to catch spoofing, or else private connections between MS and those firms?). So, if you're at HP, maybe you can just send an email and it will pop up on Bill G.'s screen. But, you'd better have a good point; if you abuse it, you may be looking for another job. A significant portion of his email filtering, the article seems to imply, is based upon trusted relationships. Dare I cough up that chestnut, "web of trust"?
Mothership, phaser/plasma/gamma/mind-control rays, incubating larvae, tastes good with ketchup (catsup, whatever), and all that...
Oh, and "They've got our codes!"
Sigh. When will Earth ever learn?
I'd gladly pay the percentage premiums I've occasionally seen cited, in return for a home that has both interior and exterior soundproofing. From your perspective, this would provide the ability to enjoy media without disturbing your cohabitants or your neighbors, and without them disturbing you.
I don't mean necessarily an extreme set up so that Junior's band can practice in the basement / garage without a peep. But, perhaps a brick exterior; 2x6 or better framing (especially exterior); cement board or similar in place of drywall; extra insulation and interior insulation; designs that interrupt conductive transference; triple-pane windows. I don't know a lot about such things, but those items come to mind. Perhaps also a ranch layout, so that cohabitants aren't literally "on top of each other" and where different activities can take place at different ends.
In my case, if I could, I would pay what I could for extreme measures. Not only is silence golden, it is bliss. I'm probably not the majority, but I'd pay a pretty penny to ensure I can have some when I want.
Recently had my own problems. This site was quite useful. I'm citing the google cache to avoid slamming his personal site:
: www.normankoren.com/makingfineprints1A.html+&hl=en &gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1
http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:6YL1SpsEGoAJ
What this appears to infer is that bullying is an effective social strategy. Perhaps I should say, of its own and in a limited social context.
Effective down to the biological level.
If we can acknowledge that, perhaps we can stop some of the frustrating rhetoric about how the bully is "wrong" and should be "understood".
So, the bully has something tangible to gain from their behavior. (And I mean not just the immediate response but the long term social implications.) Does "correcting" that behavior address the sole root of the problem? Or do we also need to give those bullied effective tools for dealing with the bullying and for maintaining self esteem? Do we let them know just how important it is to maintain that self-esteem? (The article is saying that in failing to do so, they essentially become hard-wired for a different and seemingly less satisfying social role).
The bullying exists within a social context with constraining bounds. The parent of a bullied child can't go an beat the cr*p out of the bully -- not without going to jail. There are already limits that have been decided upon. So, we get to make choices. Can we then also choose and foster, at least to some extent, the types of personalities we wish to see succeed? The type of society we with to propagate?
For my part, if I ever have kids, they will have martial arts training. That part is a simple decision for me. It won't solve every problem, but it will increase the odds considerably that they won't find themselves forced to be pushed around, at least physically. And perhaps a good instructor can help with some of the mental aspects, as well -- I understand that is an essential component of good training.
Well, maybe not so much this crowd. ;-)
(For the age challenged: Back in the '70's, people (e.g. in the U.S.) "played" a lot more, to put it one way...).
The name makes me think of finding a Urinal.
Or maybe that's the coffee I've just drunk. Whatever.
One thing that Microsoft -- or the people they hired -- got right.
Microsoft used to have some web pages for 'Internet/Web fonts'. These included both a collection of TrueType fonts (including Verdana) and some history and other stuff (e.g. a history of Verdana). The pages were up until a year or two ago.
Then, shortly after I commented to a business analyst (read: specifications author) on the suitability of Verdana, including both the high appeal of the font but also the potential risk of using MS intellectual property and the potential for sharing to cease, I found those MS web pages had been removed. I don't know whether they've since been restored or placed elsewhere.
Regarding the history and intent, translating into suitability, of Verdana, a quick google turns up:
http://www.fonts.com/AboutFonts/Verdana.htm
Someone call Letterman.
Am I the only one reminded of the Banana product line? Not that I want to make any comparisons...
/
http://www-i5.informatik.rwth-aachen.de/mbp/bloom
Blue Screens Per Second
Too early to tell for sure, but it sounds on the surface like the RIAA is taking on perceived threats one at a time.
Networked file sharing has had a significant dent put into it. Further, iTunes and the like are rapidly growing "blessed" network paradigms.
So, they're switching their "there is evil among us" mantra and resources to disc-to-disc burning.
A logical next step. They ultimately want control that amounts to per person, per item licensing. Copying, sharing, even just loaning your friend your disc, all cut into their revenue stream. Never mind what the law says about these activities; for them, it's all bad business (or so they believe). And if they can get away with it, they will eliminate all these possibilities.
(P.S. If their controls in effect make you continually repurchase licenses, e.g. every time you upgrade your PC, I don't think they're going to mind, as long as the legal and PR outfall doesn't hurt their bottom line.)
Taking on networked file sharing made sense when Napster (literally, or the paradigm) was present and prevalent. Some coding, traffic analysis, and legal manipulation was sufficient for them to effectively attack it.
Controlling disc-to-disc burning is going to require the cooperation or coercion of hardware and media manufacturers, which involves perhaps more effort and certainly more lead time.
The first few attempts at copy controls were sorry affairs. But they've gotten somewhat better, and have proven themselves to be de facto accepted (slashdot "boycotts" not withstanding). Things are going to become much uglier and more effective when controls are -- voluntarily or forcibly -- placed into the firmware.
There's a reason the RIAA and similar spending a lot on legislators. Good tech or bad tech, if it's the law, most corporate entities will go along. They'll have no choice.
Ya beat me to it! Exactly!
That could make for some interesting financial calculations.
In order to align itself with "progress" in Digital Rights Management and to emphasize its full support for DRM, Microsoft has decided to remove the "My" prefix from its user file structure and document naming convention.
You didn't really think they were YOUR files, did you?
Microsoft: Where to you want your fair access rights to go, today?
This pertains particularly to discussions within the U.S. about the direction of our economy.
As more and more manufacturing jobs, and lower end service jobs (New York City parking tickets processed in India?!) have moved abroad, the continued argument, particularly from those fostering and benefiting from the outsourcing, has been that the U.S. will become *the* place for high tech, high value jobs. We'll "lead the world" in this regard, or some such.
What was obvious to some is now becoming apparent in the general media. There's nothing special about these "high end" jobs that requires they be done here. Nothing other than our legal system and established tradition of rights and responsibilities particularly with regard to contract law.
As other societies advance, there's no reason for them to hire our services, at our significantly higher cost, when they have native talent or talent accessible in other countries that is equally well educated and equally capable.
Other societies have been busy building up that talent, and they are attempting to address the legal concerns. We're getting closer to the tipping point, where the U.S. becomes largely obsolete.
Largely obsolete, except for a lot of warships, planes, and nuclear warheads. Beware: That way lies overt fascism.
I view rebates similarly. Aside from the "we're going to hold on to your money for two months" aspect, there's the whole pressure to "lock in the rebate price" before it expires.
"Too good to be true!" Exactly.
One reason I avoid rebates. They attempt to mislead me, and they consume far more value in terms of my time than they save. And, by using them, I'm helping to feed and clothe the frustrating people who promulgate them.