I have worked for organizations that uses Lotus Notes extensively.
[diety] save me from documentation that consists of links upon links upon links. I certainly find this disconcerting, and I imagine I'm not the only one in that execution based on these documents often seems disjointed with significant factors going lost in the process.
Whatever you put together, try to ensure it's not blown into thousands of pieces. Documentation requires some effort; updating should be more than just glomming on a paragraph at some document boundary or via yet another link to an independent context (independent document). The payoff is when you can actually get an overview of what you (and OTHER teammates) are doing, in a reasonable amount of time and with a reasonable amount of effort.
It also protects your organization from the proverbial "run over by a bus" (as in, the only one who knew this just was...).
"I think..." doesn't exactly sound like official policy.
You're dealing with a bureaucracy. One thing possibly in your favor, in doing so, is that nothing is supposed to happen without a formal policy.
If the admin is telling you to desist without the backup of a formal, in writing, signed off policy, it may be his/her *ss on the line.
Not that someone can't whip up a policy. But, with regard to freedom of expression, it is NOT solely the admin's call.
I wouldn't get too argumentative with him/her. But I might go right beyond him/her either to the bureaucrats, or to the staff who worry about the bureaucracy becoming excessive, and make your point politely, concisely, and firmly.
I'm not certain about portability (separate slashdot posts on ripping RealAudio, and whatnot, I suppose), but if you listen to Worldview for a week or two, you'll find yourself knowing much more about current events (and some historical) than you're likely to encounter from most other broadcast outlets.
Similarly, Charlie Rose.
http://www.charlierose.com/
In some ways a broader scope that includes reaching into entertainment and such, but in depth interviews where you get to learn what these influential people are realing thinking and doing.
I see there's a link to audible.com . No idea about affordability.
I've also started liking Odyssey from WBEZ. The level of discussion can be quite deep, and I'm continually impresseed by the versatility of the host.
Versus developing LED technologies?
on
Sunlight in a Tube
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
I'm not conversant in the details, but my understanding is that the latest generations of LED technology are making rapid gains. And recently, advances in getting decent white/fuller spectrum light out of them have been made and/or hinted at.
Given that these things can be installed using current systems, and have very low current draw and heat generation, I'm wondering how well what is essentially an architectural design element, with the implications of same from implementation through to building code (including safety features such and firewalling and the like) will be able to compete against LED fixtures and similar.
Two quantities in life are truly limited and irreplaceable: The amount of time you have (life extending knowledge aside); and your state of health during that time.
If what you are doing does not satisfy you in some aspect, and further does not have an identified, realistic payoff ahead that is sufficiently satisfying, move on.
This is, many say, not really selfish. Those who are happy and engaged in their lives tend to have the most to offer others.
In other words, it's win-win.
Note, this does not imply an absence of effort and challenge, nor that every outcome must be known, identified, and quantified at all times. Life is full of surprises, and some of these end up being truly rewarding. But breaking your skull and heart indefinitely for some "unknown" payoff that comes to "good, obedient" people is expecting too much of chance, or faith.
Especially worth considering in an age where "job security" is truly passé (not a perspective; rather the past tense of "to pass").
And as for health, chronic unhappiness is a good way to chew it up. If your rich and sick, you're still sick, and sick detracts from quality of life at a much higher ratio that dollars (rubles, whatever) add to it.
Hmm, having just eaten my own dogfood (link above), I'm left wondering at the division between Orbitz and ITA and where the smartness resided and now resides.
Regardless, Orbitz brought interaction with ITA's stuff to my attention. Orbitz seemed like a "good thing". If it's crawling into bureaucratic morbidity, I guess I for one at least am interested. The old "tech vs. turkey" situation, where one wonders whether brains get buried by short-sighted cost/benefit analyses (cost/benefit can be good, but scope is an important factor in destermining this).
Paul Graham has written about Orbitz. I can't find the essay that I particularly remember and which provides more of a business context (better model blows away competitors' development/business cycles). But here's one with some technical details about what's behind Orbtiz and its success.
I've used them, and I found their product to do a very good job without getting in my way. And it did this several years ago, when competitors were still, in terms of a polished product, in diapers.
I don't know what's going on with the company these days, but the original founders (still there?) were anything but dumb. Makes me wonder what their real concerns are with regard to deep linking. When smart people act, you pay attention and ask why.
> aren't we interested in who can give the best answer, rather than who can give an adequate answer quickest?
Actually, I've found it's very often the opposite, in the business world. At least, when the typical timeframe of concern is applied.
This may cause long term problems, but the environment is not oriented towards nor motivated to address this.
Something I've struggled with a good bit, myself. Not too much fun, to eat someone else's dogfood. Or to be made dogfood for not simply passing the buck.
This hasn't gotten as much coverage, but a design oversight nearly cost all Huygens data. Doppler shift was not accounted for in the signal decode process. The mission plan had to be rewritten to find an alternative flight path that reduced the Doppler shift to within the limited acceptable tolerances. Fortunately, Cassini's approach to Saturn was accurate enough that enough fuel existed to allow this while preserving the latter part of the existing flight plan.
Of course, in retrospect, maybe earth-based monitoring would have come to the rescue in this event, in an even bigger fashion.
A little news. I sent an email to google, after writing my post. It took one back and forth to get past the "form letter" response they were sending right after the "broken brackets" news hit (sounds like they received quite a dose of emails at that time).
After that, I received a personal response and an indication that my concerns were being forwarded.
Yesterday, 1/16, I noticed some new behavior on sign out. I see it again today.
I haven't had a chance to investigate more thoroughly, but it's obvious they've already addressed some aspects of their session management. E.g. one cannot back button from sign out back into a session.
That's a 3-4 day turnaround. I'm not saying I caused it; regardless, it seems things are already being done that ameliorate some of my concerns.
I'd say that's pretty damned good.
Open space defeats productivity
on
Getting Things Done
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
I have consistently found open space environments to be the biggest stressor in my work. I'm trying to solve complex problems, involving big bucks, but my employer insists this is aided by enforced, incidental participation in every nearby cube meeting and phone call.
More or less, the loudest and the most noise tolerant are the ones who thrive. Never mind that I can shake a passle of bugs out of something that's already "passed" "testing". Because I need some peace and quiet to really hold all of the scopes, interfaces, etc. in my head, I'm at the mercy of my neighbors' schedules as far as getting this done.
People keep using my ideas. But Management won't acknowledge that a few extra square feet, some drywall, and insulation would keep them coming and coming faster. I'd probably also have some evenings and weekends to myself.
H-ll, even my alma mater, a small, well endowed school, seems to be going open space. It's kind of like taking that old joke about "designed by committee", and making it an institutional imperative.
Yes, but other providers, e.g. ziplip, are able to avoid this. On a machine that's shared, I'd have hesitation about what might potentially be exposed.
I'm no expert in web based applications. But it causes me concern.
I have two gmail accounts (I'm evil). I tried to open both simultaneously in separate Firefox tabs. A short time after opening the second tab / account, I switched back to the first, to find the inbox listing the messages from the second account. Refreshing the page brought the entire page display to reflect the second account.
I've also witnessed on at least one occasion an https session surviving overnight, with the POTS connection severed during this time.
These experiences have already led me to consider gmail less than secure.
The Google people are very, positively imaginative and creative. But they are not, at least not at first pass, all seeing. There are details to security that require some grinding detail and a lot of testing. A good language and a smart approach can lessen the grunt work, but a significant amount is still necessary.
I think people haven't come down on Google like they do on MS because, in large part, Google is straight forward and direct in its communications and its intentions. And when a bug pops its head, they consider it a personal priority to correct it. Not just a business priority, based upon cost/benefit, but also the PERSONAL priority of those at Google who are involved in the issue.
I hope they'll fix this quickly, and take a good, hard look at their server and session management. Looks like there's a serious need for better compartmentalization, and for data scope management.
It sounds like it's straight out of a Star Trek TNG or Voyager episode. I believe both of those Trek's had an episode involving abduction/substitution during sleep.
I will RTFA after work hours, when I have time. However, most of the discussions and comments regarding outsourcing and regional specialization miss what I find to be an essential point.
Human beings have diverse sets of abilities, let alone inclinations, that support our complex social structures. Not everyone can do everything themselves, especially as society has grown more complex, and so we've developed individual specializations that allow complex social structures to be supported, with all the benefits these supply. Doctors can be such good doctors because they don't have to tailor all their own clothes, let alone grow and harvest the cotton, sheep, and oil wells they come from.
And this is not just reflected in the "elite" we all envy. There are extroverts who want to be face to face 24/7, and introverts who would like a private office, or to work by themselves out in a field. There are those who are extremely verbal, and those who are extremely visual. Those who are a whiz with a contract, and those who can keep even the most decrepit machine "alive" almost by intuition.
As we shift jobs over national boundaries and overseas, we disrupt the balance of work within a society. The jobs move, but the people are not free to follow them. Further, we essentially sell out the rights of people performing those jobs by moving them to locations where those rights don't exist. We've all heard about the labor practices in China and many other countries where manufacturing has grown. Even if a U.S. manufacturing working could move there, there would be strong disincentives.
With all this talk of "retraining", I become frustrated. Even were it to be effectively supported, not everyone is cut out to be the banker or lawyer that some think this country should become full of. 30 years ago, we needed a lot of manufacturing capability here, and people who enjoyed doing that. 50 years ago, the family farm was still a mainstay of society.
These aren't just a matter of training. They are also a matter of basic personality (whatever the details of defining such). And such things don't just change overnight, or in the span of one generation. There are people of a different mindset borne into this society who, by our very laws, deserve a place within it.
It's on the collective backs of all of us that the "elite" have become the elite. Some of them may be very gifted, in ways that are ostentatiously rewarded. But they didn't achieve this glory on their own.
And yet, we divorce ourselves of much of the infrastructure supporting those less "glorious". And we expect this to have no serious repercussions? It is a breach of social contract.
And before you say "who cares", laissez faire, or Darwin, see how long you survive when the garbage piles up into a health hazard. Or when those with no future decide that yours has been achieved at their cost. With nothing to lose, things can get very ugly. As they have in the past.
Or, see how long it is until the rest of the world realizes they don't need American bankers and American lawyers. As their social structures solidify, especially their legal codifications, ours will become superfluous.
A healthy society is one that is sustainable. What we are creating is not.
The world will get by, in the long run, but this country may become, in the meantime, a far different place, and one far less reflective of the ideals too often used as a blind in selling this shortsightedness.
Slashdot Mirror
FYI, the download-able files contain the book examples' source code. They do not contain the book itself.
It Just (Barely) Works
Sorry, but I couldn't resist. Obligatory bashing, and all that.
I have worked for organizations that uses Lotus Notes extensively.
[diety] save me from documentation that consists of links upon links upon links. I certainly find this disconcerting, and I imagine I'm not the only one in that execution based on these documents often seems disjointed with significant factors going lost in the process.
Whatever you put together, try to ensure it's not blown into thousands of pieces. Documentation requires some effort; updating should be more than just glomming on a paragraph at some document boundary or via yet another link to an independent context (independent document). The payoff is when you can actually get an overview of what you (and OTHER teammates) are doing, in a reasonable amount of time and with a reasonable amount of effort.
It also protects your organization from the proverbial "run over by a bus" (as in, the only one who knew this just was...).
"I think..." doesn't exactly sound like official policy.
You're dealing with a bureaucracy. One thing possibly in your favor, in doing so, is that nothing is supposed to happen without a formal policy.
If the admin is telling you to desist without the backup of a formal, in writing, signed off policy, it may be his/her *ss on the line.
Not that someone can't whip up a policy. But, with regard to freedom of expression, it is NOT solely the admin's call.
I wouldn't get too argumentative with him/her. But I might go right beyond him/her either to the bureaucrats, or to the staff who worry about the bureaucracy becoming excessive, and make your point politely, concisely, and firmly.
http://www.chicagopublicradio.org/programs/worldvi ew/worldview.asp
s ey /odyssey_v2.asp
I'm not certain about portability (separate slashdot posts on ripping RealAudio, and whatnot, I suppose), but if you listen to Worldview for a week or two, you'll find yourself knowing much more about current events (and some historical) than you're likely to encounter from most other broadcast outlets.
Similarly, Charlie Rose.
http://www.charlierose.com/
In some ways a broader scope that includes reaching into entertainment and such, but in depth interviews where you get to learn what these influential people are realing thinking and doing.
I see there's a link to audible.com . No idea about affordability.
I've also started liking Odyssey from WBEZ. The level of discussion can be quite deep, and I'm continually impresseed by the versatility of the host.
http://www.chicagopublicradio.org/programs/odys
I'm not conversant in the details, but my understanding is that the latest generations of LED technology are making rapid gains. And recently, advances in getting decent white/fuller spectrum light out of them have been made and/or hinted at.
Given that these things can be installed using current systems, and have very low current draw and heat generation, I'm wondering how well what is essentially an architectural design element, with the implications of same from implementation through to building code (including safety features such and firewalling and the like) will be able to compete against LED fixtures and similar.
I guess we really need those Open BIOS projects so that we can introduce jitter into our clock values at an appropriately low level.
Course, I guess portions of the OS might not like that.
Two quantities in life are truly limited and irreplaceable: The amount of time you have (life extending knowledge aside); and your state of health during that time.
If what you are doing does not satisfy you in some aspect, and further does not have an identified, realistic payoff ahead that is sufficiently satisfying, move on.
This is, many say, not really selfish. Those who are happy and engaged in their lives tend to have the most to offer others.
In other words, it's win-win.
Note, this does not imply an absence of effort and challenge, nor that every outcome must be known, identified, and quantified at all times. Life is full of surprises, and some of these end up being truly rewarding. But breaking your skull and heart indefinitely for some "unknown" payoff that comes to "good, obedient" people is expecting too much of chance, or faith.
Especially worth considering in an age where "job security" is truly passé (not a perspective; rather the past tense of "to pass").
And as for health, chronic unhappiness is a good way to chew it up. If your rich and sick, you're still sick, and sick detracts from quality of life at a much higher ratio that dollars (rubles, whatever) add to it.
Hmm, having just eaten my own dogfood (link above), I'm left wondering at the division between Orbitz and ITA and where the smartness resided and now resides.
Regardless, Orbitz brought interaction with ITA's stuff to my attention. Orbitz seemed like a "good thing". If it's crawling into bureaucratic morbidity, I guess I for one at least am interested. The old "tech vs. turkey" situation, where one wonders whether brains get buried by short-sighted cost/benefit analyses (cost/benefit can be good, but scope is an important factor in destermining this).
Paul Graham has written about Orbitz. I can't find the essay that I particularly remember and which provides more of a business context (better model blows away competitors' development/business cycles). But here's one with some technical details about what's behind Orbtiz and its success.
http://www.paulgraham.com/carl.html
I've used them, and I found their product to do a very good job without getting in my way. And it did this several years ago, when competitors were still, in terms of a polished product, in diapers.
I don't know what's going on with the company these days, but the original founders (still there?) were anything but dumb. Makes me wonder what their real concerns are with regard to deep linking. When smart people act, you pay attention and ask why.
> aren't we interested in who can give the best answer, rather than who can give an adequate answer quickest?
Actually, I've found it's very often the opposite, in the business world. At least, when the typical timeframe of concern is applied.
This may cause long term problems, but the environment is not oriented towards nor motivated to address this.
Something I've struggled with a good bit, myself. Not too much fun, to eat someone else's dogfood. Or to be made dogfood for not simply passing the buck.
This hasn't gotten as much coverage, but a design oversight nearly cost all Huygens data. Doppler shift was not accounted for in the signal decode process. The mission plan had to be rewritten to find an alternative flight path that reduced the Doppler shift to within the limited acceptable tolerances. Fortunately, Cassini's approach to Saturn was accurate enough that enough fuel existed to allow this while preserving the latter part of the existing flight plan.
e /oct04/1004titan.html
Of course, in retrospect, maybe earth-based monitoring would have come to the rescue in this event, in an even bigger fashion.
"Titan Calling: How a Swedish engineer saved a once-in-a-lifetime mission to Saturn's mysterious moon"
http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/WEBONLY/publicfeatur
Sorry if this is a repeat. Slashdot's search 503-ed on me.
I just use that license plate spray they've been advertising.
Of course, it does make my face a bit stiff.
Now, what if, upon closer examination of the patent, we learn that it's for a bubble wrap bag to be worn by those opting out?
A little news. I sent an email to google, after writing my post. It took one back and forth to get past the "form letter" response they were sending right after the "broken brackets" news hit (sounds like they received quite a dose of emails at that time).
After that, I received a personal response and an indication that my concerns were being forwarded.
Yesterday, 1/16, I noticed some new behavior on sign out. I see it again today.
I haven't had a chance to investigate more thoroughly, but it's obvious they've already addressed some aspects of their session management. E.g. one cannot back button from sign out back into a session.
That's a 3-4 day turnaround. I'm not saying I caused it; regardless, it seems things are already being done that ameliorate some of my concerns.
I'd say that's pretty damned good.
I have consistently found open space environments to be the biggest stressor in my work. I'm trying to solve complex problems, involving big bucks, but my employer insists this is aided by enforced, incidental participation in every nearby cube meeting and phone call.
More or less, the loudest and the most noise tolerant are the ones who thrive. Never mind that I can shake a passle of bugs out of something that's already "passed" "testing". Because I need some peace and quiet to really hold all of the scopes, interfaces, etc. in my head, I'm at the mercy of my neighbors' schedules as far as getting this done.
People keep using my ideas. But Management won't acknowledge that a few extra square feet, some drywall, and insulation would keep them coming and coming faster. I'd probably also have some evenings and weekends to myself.
H-ll, even my alma mater, a small, well endowed school, seems to be going open space. It's kind of like taking that old joke about "designed by committee", and making it an institutional imperative.
Yes, but other providers, e.g. ziplip, are able to avoid this. On a machine that's shared, I'd have hesitation about what might potentially be exposed.
I'm no expert in web based applications. But it causes me concern.
I have two gmail accounts (I'm evil). I tried to open both simultaneously in separate Firefox tabs. A short time after opening the second tab / account, I switched back to the first, to find the inbox listing the messages from the second account. Refreshing the page brought the entire page display to reflect the second account.
I've also witnessed on at least one occasion an https session surviving overnight, with the POTS connection severed during this time.
These experiences have already led me to consider gmail less than secure.
The Google people are very, positively imaginative and creative. But they are not, at least not at first pass, all seeing. There are details to security that require some grinding detail and a lot of testing. A good language and a smart approach can lessen the grunt work, but a significant amount is still necessary.
I think people haven't come down on Google like they do on MS because, in large part, Google is straight forward and direct in its communications and its intentions. And when a bug pops its head, they consider it a personal priority to correct it. Not just a business priority, based upon cost/benefit, but also the PERSONAL priority of those at Google who are involved in the issue.
I hope they'll fix this quickly, and take a good, hard look at their server and session management. Looks like there's a serious need for better compartmentalization, and for data scope management.
It sounds like it's straight out of a Star Trek TNG or Voyager episode. I believe both of those Trek's had an episode involving abduction/substitution during sleep.
Reminds me of the strips where Wally had to impersonate the demo.
When the image got fuzzy, they tried a razor.
Where's the obligatory neural tap to feed this thing?
Microsoft has a Powertoy for this. I've only seen it for Win XP, but it might help with such complaints about the UI.
'nuff said
we learn that sticker glue causes bit rot.
I will RTFA after work hours, when I have time. However, most of the discussions and comments regarding outsourcing and regional specialization miss what I find to be an essential point.
Human beings have diverse sets of abilities, let alone inclinations, that support our complex social structures. Not everyone can do everything themselves, especially as society has grown more complex, and so we've developed individual specializations that allow complex social structures to be supported, with all the benefits these supply. Doctors can be such good doctors because they don't have to tailor all their own clothes, let alone grow and harvest the cotton, sheep, and oil wells they come from.
And this is not just reflected in the "elite" we all envy. There are extroverts who want to be face to face 24/7, and introverts who would like a private office, or to work by themselves out in a field. There are those who are extremely verbal, and those who are extremely visual. Those who are a whiz with a contract, and those who can keep even the most decrepit machine "alive" almost by intuition.
As we shift jobs over national boundaries and overseas, we disrupt the balance of work within a society. The jobs move, but the people are not free to follow them. Further, we essentially sell out the rights of people performing those jobs by moving them to locations where those rights don't exist. We've all heard about the labor practices in China and many other countries where manufacturing has grown. Even if a U.S. manufacturing working could move there, there would be strong disincentives.
With all this talk of "retraining", I become frustrated. Even were it to be effectively supported, not everyone is cut out to be the banker or lawyer that some think this country should become full of. 30 years ago, we needed a lot of manufacturing capability here, and people who enjoyed doing that. 50 years ago, the family farm was still a mainstay of society.
These aren't just a matter of training. They are also a matter of basic personality (whatever the details of defining such). And such things don't just change overnight, or in the span of one generation. There are people of a different mindset borne into this society who, by our very laws, deserve a place within it.
It's on the collective backs of all of us that the "elite" have become the elite. Some of them may be very gifted, in ways that are ostentatiously rewarded. But they didn't achieve this glory on their own.
And yet, we divorce ourselves of much of the infrastructure supporting those less "glorious". And we expect this to have no serious repercussions? It is a breach of social contract.
And before you say "who cares", laissez faire, or Darwin, see how long you survive when the garbage piles up into a health hazard. Or when those with no future decide that yours has been achieved at their cost. With nothing to lose, things can get very ugly. As they have in the past.
Or, see how long it is until the rest of the world realizes they don't need American bankers and American lawyers. As their social structures solidify, especially their legal codifications, ours will become superfluous.
A healthy society is one that is sustainable. What we are creating is not.
The world will get by, in the long run, but this country may become, in the meantime, a far different place, and one far less reflective of the ideals too often used as a blind in selling this shortsightedness.
It's a tired turn of phrase, but perhaps appropriate:
All your tunes are belong to us.
Esp. with the evolving DRM stories.