One of the best cooking books I own (note: it isn't just a cookbook) is Cookwise by Shirley O. Corriher. You Good Eats fans would recognize her as the portly grey-haired lady that has appeared on some episodes. This book is absolutely fantastic, and describes the WHYs of cooking. It also has some great recipes. Ever wonder what makes cookies chewy, crispy, puffy, or flat? It shows a great chart in that section that shows "more of this" leads to "more of that". e.g. if you want to make your cookies chewy, use more brown sugar and bread flour.
I think that the right tools help immensely with cooking. Get 3 very good knives, and keep them sharp. I would recommend Wusthof: 8" chefs knife, paring knife, and a bread knife. Get 3-4 plastic cutting boards of decent size. That will get you started, and try to avoid all the gadgets that you see. Learn good techniques, like how to do basic chopping/dicing, and you won't need the gadgets to do it for you.
Next, I would suggest you try some classic recipes. Use good ingredients, and learn what everything tastes like. And enjoy it!
I don't agree with RIAA/MPAA/BSA tactics, but we are not ENTITLED to get anything for free - movies, songs or anything else. When you download Bourne Ultimatum, you're doing it because you're too lazy to go to a theater and feel better because you've spared 20 bucks - you're not fighting for freedom.
I download a few things on torrent. But I try to keep it somewhat reasonable. The ONLY movies I have downloaded are ones that I have on VHS already. Call it justification, whatever. If I want a movie, I'll wait and buy it when it comes out on DVD. We don't get to the theater - not because we are lazy, but because we have 2 small children. Music? Eh, it all pretty much bores me. I have downloaded some things, and gotten some MP3s from friends. But I pretty much have it and don't listen to it all that often. I have downloaded TV shows that I have missed, or that my dang DVD recorder missed for some inexplicable reason. After I have watched them, I delete the files. I have also downloaded kids shows like old Sesame Street. I also record it when I get a chance, but the old ones are a neat change of pace (no frickin' Elmo!).
So I've broken the law. Boo hoo. I try and keep it reasonable, and I don't have a problem paying for things. I think the movie industry has done a pretty good job of keeping movie prices low enough that I'll continue to buy them. Hell, I bought VHS versions of movies for $59 back in the day... I remember when losing a rented video could cost you over $100. If we go to the theater, it will cost at least $20, so what is the problem with buying a movie for the same price? Music? Eh. Haven't found much to interest me as of late, but I have been going back through my CD collection. But I understand that I am probably not in the majority, and a lot of people will download anything and everything they can get their hands on, including recent movies.
Yes, ODF is theoretically cheaper then Office....Thus, in order for there to be a demand for ODF, there needs to be tangible features that work better with ODF then Office.
In other news, apples are more popular than oranges for making sauce, thus, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
Just thought I would continue your derailed train of thought.
That would be great (I live in Texas), but the original poster has things a little incorrect. Stirling engines run off of heat deltas, not just heat. You have to have a hot side and a cool/cold side or it doesn't work.
Easy. I just put my ex-wife in the passenger seat. Shit, I could power the entire friggin' city.
"Stirling engines are engines that run on heat. They can be powered by pretty much anything that generates enough heat, including but not limited to fossil fuels."
So here in Phoenix my car could recharge itself by just sitting in the parking lot for 10 minutes.
Over time I think these kids will learn that in the real world where you're trying to get work done, IM is annoying as hell. It's like having someone call you on the phone every few seconds. No thanks. E-mail, web forums, and other "delayed" forms of communication are so much better for almost everything. IM is really only a substitute for the phone. And then only when it makes sense, like to save money on long distance or when you need to be quiet.
Not really. I use the phone/IM/email all day for work, and each has its place. I may be on a conference call with 30 other people... during that time, when my attention isn't needed, I can IM and email. I can get answers quickly over IM, and if need be I can set up a phone call. IM definitely serves a purpose other than replacing the phone. I can invite multiple people to an IM conversation, I can log it (great for referencing later), I can share my applications with people I am in a chat with. Email is fire-and-forget, whereas IM is interactive. With voicemail, the phone is either.
They all have their place, none are dead. Where I work, people rely on email/IM a LOT, maybe too much. You'd be surprised how much more helpful people can be if you call them on the phone and actually have a conversation with them.
Funny, the first thing I thought was "How the hell do college students afford an iPhone?"
It must be official - I am an old bastard. I know that times have changed, and college is a different world now. I remember spending $2000 on my first computer (386DX w/2MB RAM, 80MB HDD). It was HUGE deal, and I had to work my ass off to save up for that. But it meant that I didn't have to go into the computer lab to do my programming assignments. No net access (we barely could afford cable), no cell phones w/$100 a month plans, no $400 music players. I worked all through college to pay for it, scrimped and saved, STILL had to take out loans to make it. How the hell are kids doing it today?
Isnt this a self inflicted dilemma for Managers/PMs?....So, the only answer a developer has to give is a best case scenerio. This is the due tot he problem of needing the project done yesterday, even before you started working on it.
I could see this point on smaller projects, but I was referring to very large projects. On the ones I am working on, we actually go through the phases of the waterfall methodology. So the requirements phase may start now, but the project wouldn't get to coding for another 5 months. Estimates are built along the way, depending on what shakes out during requirements. To your point though, we *are* usually constrained by a release timeline, where projects are part of a release that has set milestones, and there are "health-checks" along the way. The problem I see is people saying "well, we are behind... but we think we can make up the time." That NEVER happens. Design is supposed to be done, and you are at 15% because you are still shaking out requirements issues? Nobody ever asks *how* that time is going to be made up. And what always happens is that they enter coding late, less unit testing is done, then integration testing fails, and we have to enter system testing late. People always think we can make up the time, but it never really works out like that.
And it all starts from the beginning of the process, where people "think" we can cram 15 projects into one release, but they fail to realize that in every single release, projects get bumped out because they aren't ready. That is wasted time, money, and effort. If they would only put 7 projects into a release, we would have a much better chance of delivering them all, on time, and with much higher quality.
It comes down to having 100 lbs of poo, and seven 10 lb bags to put it in. No matter how many ways you shuffle it, you aren't getting it all in. A lot of effort is expended unnecessarily, and you end up covered in poo.
Why am I not surprised that a bunch of slashdot nerds are on the defensive just because a project manager points out a couple of common project problems? One of the main problems in any project is when the low-man-on-the-totem-pole thinks he knows better than the manager. That's exactly what this discussion thread has turned into so far.
I work for a very large bank (actually, now the largest in the country) and am a software testing project manager. I did QA and testing for about 13 years before this, and never had much respect for PMs becuase I never really saw what they did as work. Now that I am doing it, I still don't quite feel that it is hard work, but it sure takes up a hell of a lot of my time. In my experience, although there are many problems with software development, one of the *worst* is "best case syndrome". This affects everyone, from business analysts to architects to developers to testers to implementation. Here is the gist of it: you ask someone for an estimate on how long something will take, and they give you a best case scenario. You compile a whole project of best case scenarios, and you are doomed to fail. It amazes me that this happens over and over and over.
"Well, if everything goes ok, we should be able to be done by...."
STOP! I have never seen anything work out to best case. Never. Sure, maybe a task or two get done early, but overall if all I get are best case estimates, we are in deep doo-doo. Because schedules will be made around those, and other things that hinge on upstream tasks will get pushed out. You know who gets screwed in the end? Testers. Because if requirements deadlines aren't met, or coding deadlines aren't met, people think it can just be absorbed somewhere. Then your testers end up working weekends and OT to try and make up the difference. And if *they* gave you best case estimates, you are dead. You'll never make up the time and have to scramble to figure out what is going to happen. THEN if your project gets put on hold until a later date, everyone gets the feeling that they just wasted all that time and effort. OR, the project gets implemented anyway, and you spend all your time trying to fix crap in production, and explaining to management what went wrong.
In the end, software development is still pretty much a crap shoot.
I rip DVDs to divx files, burn multiple to a DVD+R, and my DVD player plays them fine. I do this more with stuff my daughter will watch (Sesame Street, Noggin), but also can movies and TV shows on my computer. I'll record TV shows on my DVD recorder, then rip them. Our portable DVD player plays divx too. Believe me, it saves tons of time/energy/space to have many shows on one disc. Once while working overnights to support a software release we were doing, we had tons of downtime. I could put 5 or 6 movies on one DVD+R, including VLC (windows version) to watch them. Watch TV shows and movies on my work laptop without installing anything. Sweet.
Tailor your resume to fit each specific job you apply for. If the job is Windows heavy, emphasize your Windows work on your resume. If the job is Linux heavy, emphasize your Linux work. Also, don't just list what you know, list what you've done. Tell them about your big project that saved the company $10 million. That sort of thing holds a lot more weight than telling them you once logged in to a VMS machine.
I've been involved in interviewing around 50 people in my career. I have found that it is a crap shoot. Some companies want to get someone hired fast and will interview almost anyone - if an HR person can match up 3 words from your job description to their resume, they are in the door. Others, it was totally up to me, and I had to pre-screen the resumes. I can generally scan a resume in about 15 seconds to see if it is worth digging a little deeper.
Part of the problem with trying to tailor your resume is a couple of things:
You want them to get your resume in their hand. While you are tailoring it, they might get 15 others and decide to just hire someone out of those 15. (it happens) Your resume might also get chopped up and/or keyword searched, so some of your tailoring could go for naught.
Be careful not to tailor it too much. Job descriptions aren't always perfectly written, and sometimes you might not be able to tell exactly what the job will be. You could tailor yourself right out of consideration. Maybe it says Windows on the resume, but they have been thinking about moving off to a Linux platform if they could find someone with the right skillset.
I don't like the hiring process, from either side. I don't like used car salesmen, and I definitely see people who try to sell themselves as something they are not. It really turns me off to them if they misrepresent themselves. "It says here you know Unix. Which shell did you use?" [ blank stare ]
"Tell me about how you used Unix in your last job."
"I used it daily, we had to go in and there were some commands we would type to see if files were FTPd to the right location"
"Oh, did you use SSH to log in?"
"I don't remember"
I have always told people that they should classify their diverse skills - put 3 sections on your resume: Experienced, Moderate, Basic. Put everything you know into these categories. I used to program in Assembly and Fortran... do I want to use it now? No way. But it is on my resume, because it shows how long I've been doing this, and shows a breadth of knowledge. It can also be a good conversation point with interviewers.
And remember the theory of relativity when looking for a job. From the hiring side, a few days or a week is no big deal. But to someone who is out of work and looking for a job, that is a very very long time. If you are hiring, remember that and try to keep in communication with interviewees, give them a rough timetable and stick to it, even if it is to say "we are still evaluating, hang tight". If you are interviewing, remember this as well. Be patient, but don't be afraid to ask for an update. Sometimes day-to-day work gets in the way of hiring.
Uglier, but cheaper and more functional. Yeah, that's pretty much open source in a nutshell.
Then we should be seeing about 200 more similar models, most of which will sit unfinished for years. What? You want GUI buttons to dial? *sigh* download the source, untar/gzip it, type./configure --enable-gui-buttons ; make ; make install
Don't you DARE say that the health care system in the USA is fair or equitable! It isn't...and I'm LIVING PROOF OF IT!!
I feel for you... I lost my job a year ago, and had to go into consulting. The pay is good, but healthcare is REALLY expensive. And the coverage SUCKS. My plan only pays 70% of covered expenses. We just had our 2nd child, and we estimated it is going to cost us about $7000. And that is just our estimate, we won't know for sure until the bills start rolling in.
For the last 13 years, I had really good healthcare coverage. Our first child was born 2 years ago, and we paid about $1000 total. Luckily, I've never really been sick, and neither has my wife. So if all my money over the years has gone to pay for other people, so be it. People like to bitch that "hey, I'm young and healthy, I am not paying for your medical bills!". Well, you won't be like that forever. Why don't we THINK a little bit here?
We got a wake-up call with this pregnancy. I had a month between consulting gigs, and had to pay a month of COBRA coverage. Well, of course there was some snafu in the system, and when my wife went in for one of her appointments, at 8 months pregnant, they said her healthcare coverage was denied. She explained to them that we paid for COBRA that month, and that the paperwork just had to clear on the insurance company's side of things. What followed was pathetic. She was treated like a dog. They actually started talking slower to her, saying "Do you have healthcare coverage?" "Yes, we do... our regular coverage runs out at the end of this month, then we will have COBRA coverage" "Well, If you don't have coverage, then we may need to reschedule your appointment until you do." Then it got really disgusting. She was having a C-section, because our first child was born via emergency C-section. So it was scheduled for June 4. In May, the doctor's office called our insurance provider to find out if we had coverage. The insurance provider said "yes, they are covered through May" (because they could only see on their computer screen that our coverage ran through the current month, and they can only see a month at a time.) The doctors office tried to re-schedule her C-section May, because they thought we might not have coverage in June.
We got it cleared up eventually, and had the baby on the planned date. But they were willing to deliver our child weeks early, simply because they thought they might not get paid. And the way they talked to us when they thought we might not have coverage was horrible. All of a sudden instead of nice and polite, they were brusk and slightly rude. They actually talked slower to us, and were less patient when we tried to explain the situation. I can't imagine that this is a unique experience, and I can't imagine the hoops that people without insurance have to jump through just to make sure that they can get medical attention. Not to mention that when you need medical attention is a very stressful time ANYWAY. Being treated like a lower-class citizen really makes the situation much much worse.
I think that there is likely life elsewhere in the universe, just by simply understanding the odds. But I don't "believe" there is. I won't believe it until I've seen evidence of it.
I also think
a) Life is not common in the universe. It is harsh "out there".
b) It would be unlikely that it exists close to us
c) It would be very difficult to locate us
d) It would be very difficult to get to us
e) If they could get to us, they wouldn't necessarily know everything about us. People say "if they are advanced enough to get here, then they would know English." That is BS. That is like saying "if another civilization has electricity, they surely have an internet"
f) Why do people think that a crash landing is some kind of failure? IF they could travel across space, and IF they could crash land within a reasonable margin of safety, then why not? I would imagine that designing something to travel across space AND make it to another planet AND have the capability to touch down lightly would be pretty improbable. We have seen the difficulties in just traveling to other bodies in our tiny solar system, let alone doing perfect 3 point landings on them.
However Intel can bring colossal resources to bear, which matters because making CPUs is the most capital-intensive industry in the world. Intel has tremendous innate advantages because of their economy of scale and easy access to capital. Whenever AMD gains an advantage, Intel stops doing whatever stupid thing they were doing and re-commits themselves to beating AMD at the x86 game. When Intel isn't on the wrong path and isn't making silly mistakes in strategy, they almost always beat AMD and force AMD into heavy losses.
This is exactly right. One of my best friends is an engineering manager at Intel, and he's been there for 9 years now, and he survived the 1000 manager cut recently. A couple of years ago, when AMD was kicking Intel's butt, he said "just wait about 3 years". I thought he was just blowing smoke, but he was right. He recently told me that when AMD burst onto the scene with the Athlon and started trouncing Intel, Intel took it very seriously. There were many meetings about what to do, and they had people do reasearch.
He said they were in a large meeting with some higher-ups, and he saw a presentation that outlined the move to 45nm. He said after that meeting, nobody there was worried at all about AMD because they knew it was a matter of time. They knew AMD didn't have the financial or research resources that Intel had, and THAT is what it takes to get ahead. So they bided their time, did what they needed to do, and trounced them.
He said there was also talk about how brash AMD was, and how the execs would drive their flashy cars around, and be just blowing money right and left. The Intel execs were more subdued because it wasn't new money to them. Tortoise and the hare. There was some back and forth, but it will be a LOT harder for AMD to compete now than it was for them to come up. They woke Intel up, and they aren't stupid. My friend acknowledges, and said everyone at Intel does as well, that AMD coming onto the scene was a great thing for Intel. It made them get off their lazy asses. Not to mention what it has done for the computing industry.
Am I the only one baffled by this obsession with local search? I send most of 5 days a week using desktop computers and a lot of the weekends, and I have to say that I very rarely need to search for anything locally. I put stuff where I can find it later using simple directory structures. Is that so difficult?
I definitely do this at work, on my Windows machine. However, at home on my Linux machine I have years of old stuff. Usually I put it in a directory called "old" in my home directory. But even then, sometimes I do need to find things. But really I just use locate with grep. I can usually find things really quickly. Even for emails, I use grep. I still use pine, and grepping my various mail files will usually produce results very quickly.
But as you say, in the end it is MUCH easier to be somewhat organized in the first place. If people choose not to be, then I guess they need things like this.
no mention on how much energy it takes to run the thing, or how much energy it puts out. it's not of much use if it costs a fraction to just bury the old plastic and make new stuff from scratch.
Just make it powered by a diesel engine. Problem solved.
Good point... I saw him at a stoplight. I thought "surely he will stop when it turns green"... Nope. We drove side-by-side for about 1/2 mile, then I had to turn off.
By sheer coincidence, I had my camera with me and snapped a picture of him at the stoplight before we got the green.
I don't know what you do - but I feel sorry for you if you are that tethered to your digital leash.
Really, I don't mean that as an insult, I used to be that way too... carried a cellphone and pager, was constantly "tied" to something. Then I just got away from it. I don't think I could go back. I see people with all this gear strapped to them, and I feel sorry for them. Pagers, multiple phones, blackberries, etc. I see people sending emails while driving... saw a guy the other day - while driving - talking on one phone and sending a text message on another phone.
I think a lot of people want to seem important. Put it down. Walk away. You'll feel better. I know I sure as hell do.
The current state of cellphone service in the US is such that 90% of existing cellular users will not be able to buy this phone, because only a small handful of users will be nearing the end of their existing contracts.
The people who will camp out overnight to buy a damn phone won't care. They will probably just sign up for another contract.
I was about 2.5 years into my 2 year contract, and even if I was able to get the iPhone (I am on Verizon) I wouldn't have waited. Why? I don't care. I got a pretty cool phone, but that was just because I had $100 in "verizon new-every-two" money to spend. I got the LG-VX8600. It's nice, I like it because it isn't so tiny, and it has some things I like. But I am no 'power user' by any means. I have never in my life sent a text message via phone. I'm no technophobe either, I used to work at Motorola back in the day, and had one of the first flip-phones. (kinda wish I had kept it) I went without a cellphone for about 5 years, until about 2.5 years ago. The plans just became too expensive, I had no real reason to own one. Maybe I am too practical, maybe I just don't like yammering on about nothing on the phone. I'll bet I use my phone about 30 minutes a month. It just all seems very frivolous to me. I just don't get the whole digital leash thing. Maybe I experienced it too early in my career and became soured on it.
Do they really think that people are going to camp out to have the honor of paying $500+ to be one of the first people to own an iPhone? Or is it just a stunt so stone-cold-dummies will say "People camping out?! I want one too, I'd better camp out!" In today's society, I guess neither would really surprise me.
Do I want to copy my DVD's and CD's? Yes! Why? Because when the original media is scratched it RUINS your enjoyment of that movie / music.
Here's another example: I have a 2 year old daughter, and she watches Signing Time DVDs. They teach her sign language, which was fantastic. She was communicating with us before she could talk, and she really learned a lot. She still watches them on occasion. I also recorded some Sesame Street episodes and other shows she likes (Jack's Big Music Show is pretty funny) with my DVD recorder. I rip all of this stuff and convert it to divx files. Then I can burn lots of different stuff to one DVD, and have it ready in the DVD player. If it gets scratched up, we still have the originals. When my wife had to fly with her once, she was able to take a portable DVD player that supported divx and keep her entertained on the plane. (I am sure the other passengers appreciated THAT). It has really been a lifesaver. Technically illegal? I am not entirely sure, and I don't really care.
Thanks for the post, it was more informative than the ones from people who just get offended and start throwing insults.
Is it ridiculous? Well, no more than a bowling league, or golf club, I don't think. Except it tends to be more diverse, and less physically active. Plus, MMORPGs are a good substitute for reality TV -- guild drama always rears its head from time to time.
Well, to be honest, I don't understand most clubs. When I was into racing my car, I was a member of the local BMW club. I went to a couple of meetings, but they just seemed kind of... clubby. I just don't get that mentality. I really really enjoyed working on my car and taking it out on the track. But I had no desire to sit around and socialize with other random people who did the same thing. There must be some kind of desire to do this, because groups/clubs like that exist all over the place - I just don't get it.
Plus, MMORPGs are a good substitute for reality TV -- guild drama always rears its head from time to time.
If you want to support online gaming, saying it is a 'good substitute for reality TV' isn't really the best way to do it.:)
I don't know why, but I have always found people who immerse themselves into things "like this" very annoying. I have met people, friends of friends, who I found very annoying. When they eventually led the conversation to [whatever their 'thing' was], it was then obvious why I found them annoying. That was the only thing they cared about, or wanted to talk about. D&D, Magick, Baseball, Stock Market, NASCAR, Fantasy Sports, Religion etc etc etc. There is always something.
This is obviously not an isolated phenomenon, it happens all the time. I feel like the odd man out because I just don't get it. Maybe I should start a club for people who feel the same way I do.:)
Well, I can't believe people actually get into your favorite hobby or pastime. It just seems so ridiculous. It makes me snicker inside.
ME too. I have hobbies and pasttimes... but I don't let them ruin my life. I have a motorcycle - I consider it a pasttime. But I don't gear up in Harley-logo clothing and go hang out at the local dealership on weekends. I used to take my car to the track... definitely a fun hobby. I would discuss it with my friends, and spent some time doing it - but it didn't run my life. I knew people who ONLY talked about their cars, it seemed to be the only thing in their lives.
Slashdot Mirror
I think that the right tools help immensely with cooking. Get 3 very good knives, and keep them sharp. I would recommend Wusthof: 8" chefs knife, paring knife, and a bread knife. Get 3-4 plastic cutting boards of decent size. That will get you started, and try to avoid all the gadgets that you see. Learn good techniques, like how to do basic chopping/dicing, and you won't need the gadgets to do it for you.
Next, I would suggest you try some classic recipes. Use good ingredients, and learn what everything tastes like. And enjoy it!
I download a few things on torrent. But I try to keep it somewhat reasonable. The ONLY movies I have downloaded are ones that I have on VHS already. Call it justification, whatever. If I want a movie, I'll wait and buy it when it comes out on DVD. We don't get to the theater - not because we are lazy, but because we have 2 small children. Music? Eh, it all pretty much bores me. I have downloaded some things, and gotten some MP3s from friends. But I pretty much have it and don't listen to it all that often. I have downloaded TV shows that I have missed, or that my dang DVD recorder missed for some inexplicable reason. After I have watched them, I delete the files. I have also downloaded kids shows like old Sesame Street. I also record it when I get a chance, but the old ones are a neat change of pace (no frickin' Elmo!).
So I've broken the law. Boo hoo. I try and keep it reasonable, and I don't have a problem paying for things. I think the movie industry has done a pretty good job of keeping movie prices low enough that I'll continue to buy them. Hell, I bought VHS versions of movies for $59 back in the day... I remember when losing a rented video could cost you over $100. If we go to the theater, it will cost at least $20, so what is the problem with buying a movie for the same price? Music? Eh. Haven't found much to interest me as of late, but I have been going back through my CD collection. But I understand that I am probably not in the majority, and a lot of people will download anything and everything they can get their hands on, including recent movies.
In other news, apples are more popular than oranges for making sauce, thus, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
Just thought I would continue your derailed train of thought.
Easy. I just put my ex-wife in the passenger seat. Shit, I could power the entire friggin' city.
So here in Phoenix my car could recharge itself by just sitting in the parking lot for 10 minutes.
Not really. I use the phone/IM/email all day for work, and each has its place. I may be on a conference call with 30 other people... during that time, when my attention isn't needed, I can IM and email. I can get answers quickly over IM, and if need be I can set up a phone call. IM definitely serves a purpose other than replacing the phone. I can invite multiple people to an IM conversation, I can log it (great for referencing later), I can share my applications with people I am in a chat with. Email is fire-and-forget, whereas IM is interactive. With voicemail, the phone is either.
They all have their place, none are dead. Where I work, people rely on email/IM a LOT, maybe too much. You'd be surprised how much more helpful people can be if you call them on the phone and actually have a conversation with them.
It must be official - I am an old bastard. I know that times have changed, and college is a different world now. I remember spending $2000 on my first computer (386DX w/2MB RAM, 80MB HDD). It was HUGE deal, and I had to work my ass off to save up for that. But it meant that I didn't have to go into the computer lab to do my programming assignments. No net access (we barely could afford cable), no cell phones w/$100 a month plans, no $400 music players. I worked all through college to pay for it, scrimped and saved, STILL had to take out loans to make it. How the hell are kids doing it today?
I could see this point on smaller projects, but I was referring to very large projects. On the ones I am working on, we actually go through the phases of the waterfall methodology. So the requirements phase may start now, but the project wouldn't get to coding for another 5 months. Estimates are built along the way, depending on what shakes out during requirements. To your point though, we *are* usually constrained by a release timeline, where projects are part of a release that has set milestones, and there are "health-checks" along the way. The problem I see is people saying "well, we are behind... but we think we can make up the time." That NEVER happens. Design is supposed to be done, and you are at 15% because you are still shaking out requirements issues? Nobody ever asks *how* that time is going to be made up. And what always happens is that they enter coding late, less unit testing is done, then integration testing fails, and we have to enter system testing late. People always think we can make up the time, but it never really works out like that.
And it all starts from the beginning of the process, where people "think" we can cram 15 projects into one release, but they fail to realize that in every single release, projects get bumped out because they aren't ready. That is wasted time, money, and effort. If they would only put 7 projects into a release, we would have a much better chance of delivering them all, on time, and with much higher quality.
It comes down to having 100 lbs of poo, and seven 10 lb bags to put it in. No matter how many ways you shuffle it, you aren't getting it all in. A lot of effort is expended unnecessarily, and you end up covered in poo.
I work for a very large bank (actually, now the largest in the country) and am a software testing project manager. I did QA and testing for about 13 years before this, and never had much respect for PMs becuase I never really saw what they did as work. Now that I am doing it, I still don't quite feel that it is hard work, but it sure takes up a hell of a lot of my time. In my experience, although there are many problems with software development, one of the *worst* is "best case syndrome". This affects everyone, from business analysts to architects to developers to testers to implementation. Here is the gist of it: you ask someone for an estimate on how long something will take, and they give you a best case scenario. You compile a whole project of best case scenarios, and you are doomed to fail. It amazes me that this happens over and over and over.
"Well, if everything goes ok, we should be able to be done by...."
STOP! I have never seen anything work out to best case. Never. Sure, maybe a task or two get done early, but overall if all I get are best case estimates, we are in deep doo-doo. Because schedules will be made around those, and other things that hinge on upstream tasks will get pushed out. You know who gets screwed in the end? Testers. Because if requirements deadlines aren't met, or coding deadlines aren't met, people think it can just be absorbed somewhere. Then your testers end up working weekends and OT to try and make up the difference. And if *they* gave you best case estimates, you are dead. You'll never make up the time and have to scramble to figure out what is going to happen. THEN if your project gets put on hold until a later date, everyone gets the feeling that they just wasted all that time and effort. OR, the project gets implemented anyway, and you spend all your time trying to fix crap in production, and explaining to management what went wrong.
In the end, software development is still pretty much a crap shoot.
Now, on to the command:
mencoder $titlechapter -af volnorm -srate 44100 -oac mp3lame -lameopts cbr:br=128 -noodml -vf scale=${ripres},eq2=1.0:1.0:0.03:1.0 -sws 9 -ovc lavc -lavcopts vcodec=mpeg4:vhq:vmax_b_frames=0:vbitrate=863 -ffourcc DX50 -o $outfile
Where:
titlechapter = dvd://1 (usually works, this would be title 1 on the dvd)
ripres = 320:240 for TV shows, 360:240 for widescreen DVDs
outfile = the output file, something.avi
I've been involved in interviewing around 50 people in my career. I have found that it is a crap shoot. Some companies want to get someone hired fast and will interview almost anyone - if an HR person can match up 3 words from your job description to their resume, they are in the door. Others, it was totally up to me, and I had to pre-screen the resumes. I can generally scan a resume in about 15 seconds to see if it is worth digging a little deeper.
Part of the problem with trying to tailor your resume is a couple of things:
You want them to get your resume in their hand. While you are tailoring it, they might get 15 others and decide to just hire someone out of those 15. (it happens) Your resume might also get chopped up and/or keyword searched, so some of your tailoring could go for naught.
Be careful not to tailor it too much. Job descriptions aren't always perfectly written, and sometimes you might not be able to tell exactly what the job will be. You could tailor yourself right out of consideration. Maybe it says Windows on the resume, but they have been thinking about moving off to a Linux platform if they could find someone with the right skillset.
I don't like the hiring process, from either side. I don't like used car salesmen, and I definitely see people who try to sell themselves as something they are not. It really turns me off to them if they misrepresent themselves.
"It says here you know Unix. Which shell did you use?"
[ blank stare ]
"Tell me about how you used Unix in your last job."
"I used it daily, we had to go in and there were some commands we would type to see if files were FTPd to the right location"
"Oh, did you use SSH to log in?"
"I don't remember"
I have always told people that they should classify their diverse skills - put 3 sections on your resume: Experienced, Moderate, Basic. Put everything you know into these categories. I used to program in Assembly and Fortran... do I want to use it now? No way. But it is on my resume, because it shows how long I've been doing this, and shows a breadth of knowledge. It can also be a good conversation point with interviewers.
And remember the theory of relativity when looking for a job. From the hiring side, a few days or a week is no big deal. But to someone who is out of work and looking for a job, that is a very very long time. If you are hiring, remember that and try to keep in communication with interviewees, give them a rough timetable and stick to it, even if it is to say "we are still evaluating, hang tight". If you are interviewing, remember this as well. Be patient, but don't be afraid to ask for an update. Sometimes day-to-day work gets in the way of hiring.
Then we should be seeing about 200 more similar models, most of which will sit unfinished for years. What? You want GUI buttons to dial? *sigh* download the source, untar/gzip it, type
n00b!
It's open source!!! Code it yourself, n00b! Wow, what do you want, someone to hold your hand or something?
So this is why managers always get in the office late, to make sure that all their direct reports are already in. Now that's leadership!
I feel for you... I lost my job a year ago, and had to go into consulting. The pay is good, but healthcare is REALLY expensive. And the coverage SUCKS. My plan only pays 70% of covered expenses. We just had our 2nd child, and we estimated it is going to cost us about $7000. And that is just our estimate, we won't know for sure until the bills start rolling in.
For the last 13 years, I had really good healthcare coverage. Our first child was born 2 years ago, and we paid about $1000 total. Luckily, I've never really been sick, and neither has my wife. So if all my money over the years has gone to pay for other people, so be it. People like to bitch that "hey, I'm young and healthy, I am not paying for your medical bills!". Well, you won't be like that forever. Why don't we THINK a little bit here?
We got a wake-up call with this pregnancy. I had a month between consulting gigs, and had to pay a month of COBRA coverage. Well, of course there was some snafu in the system, and when my wife went in for one of her appointments, at 8 months pregnant, they said her healthcare coverage was denied. She explained to them that we paid for COBRA that month, and that the paperwork just had to clear on the insurance company's side of things. What followed was pathetic. She was treated like a dog. They actually started talking slower to her, saying "Do you have healthcare coverage?" "Yes, we do... our regular coverage runs out at the end of this month, then we will have COBRA coverage" "Well, If you don't have coverage, then we may need to reschedule your appointment until you do." Then it got really disgusting. She was having a C-section, because our first child was born via emergency C-section. So it was scheduled for June 4. In May, the doctor's office called our insurance provider to find out if we had coverage. The insurance provider said "yes, they are covered through May" (because they could only see on their computer screen that our coverage ran through the current month, and they can only see a month at a time.) The doctors office tried to re-schedule her C-section May, because they thought we might not have coverage in June.
We got it cleared up eventually, and had the baby on the planned date. But they were willing to deliver our child weeks early, simply because they thought they might not get paid. And the way they talked to us when they thought we might not have coverage was horrible. All of a sudden instead of nice and polite, they were brusk and slightly rude. They actually talked slower to us, and were less patient when we tried to explain the situation. I can't imagine that this is a unique experience, and I can't imagine the hoops that people without insurance have to jump through just to make sure that they can get medical attention. Not to mention that when you need medical attention is a very stressful time ANYWAY. Being treated like a lower-class citizen really makes the situation much much worse.
Then you do.
I think that there is likely life elsewhere in the universe, just by simply understanding the odds. But I don't "believe" there is. I won't believe it until I've seen evidence of it.
I also think
a) Life is not common in the universe. It is harsh "out there".
b) It would be unlikely that it exists close to us
c) It would be very difficult to locate us
d) It would be very difficult to get to us
e) If they could get to us, they wouldn't necessarily know everything about us. People say "if they are advanced enough to get here, then they would know English." That is BS. That is like saying "if another civilization has electricity, they surely have an internet"
f) Why do people think that a crash landing is some kind of failure? IF they could travel across space, and IF they could crash land within a reasonable margin of safety, then why not? I would imagine that designing something to travel across space AND make it to another planet AND have the capability to touch down lightly would be pretty improbable. We have seen the difficulties in just traveling to other bodies in our tiny solar system, let alone doing perfect 3 point landings on them.
This is exactly right. One of my best friends is an engineering manager at Intel, and he's been there for 9 years now, and he survived the 1000 manager cut recently. A couple of years ago, when AMD was kicking Intel's butt, he said "just wait about 3 years". I thought he was just blowing smoke, but he was right. He recently told me that when AMD burst onto the scene with the Athlon and started trouncing Intel, Intel took it very seriously. There were many meetings about what to do, and they had people do reasearch.
He said they were in a large meeting with some higher-ups, and he saw a presentation that outlined the move to 45nm. He said after that meeting, nobody there was worried at all about AMD because they knew it was a matter of time. They knew AMD didn't have the financial or research resources that Intel had, and THAT is what it takes to get ahead. So they bided their time, did what they needed to do, and trounced them.
He said there was also talk about how brash AMD was, and how the execs would drive their flashy cars around, and be just blowing money right and left. The Intel execs were more subdued because it wasn't new money to them. Tortoise and the hare. There was some back and forth, but it will be a LOT harder for AMD to compete now than it was for them to come up. They woke Intel up, and they aren't stupid. My friend acknowledges, and said everyone at Intel does as well, that AMD coming onto the scene was a great thing for Intel. It made them get off their lazy asses. Not to mention what it has done for the computing industry.
I definitely do this at work, on my Windows machine. However, at home on my Linux machine I have years of old stuff. Usually I put it in a directory called "old" in my home directory. But even then, sometimes I do need to find things. But really I just use locate with grep. I can usually find things really quickly. Even for emails, I use grep. I still use pine, and grepping my various mail files will usually produce results very quickly.
But as you say, in the end it is MUCH easier to be somewhat organized in the first place. If people choose not to be, then I guess they need things like this.
Just make it powered by a diesel engine. Problem solved.
By sheer coincidence, I had my camera with me and snapped a picture of him at the stoplight before we got the green.
Really, I don't mean that as an insult, I used to be that way too... carried a cellphone and pager, was constantly "tied" to something. Then I just got away from it. I don't think I could go back. I see people with all this gear strapped to them, and I feel sorry for them. Pagers, multiple phones, blackberries, etc. I see people sending emails while driving... saw a guy the other day - while driving - talking on one phone and sending a text message on another phone.
I think a lot of people want to seem important. Put it down. Walk away. You'll feel better. I know I sure as hell do.
The people who will camp out overnight to buy a damn phone won't care. They will probably just sign up for another contract.
I was about 2.5 years into my 2 year contract, and even if I was able to get the iPhone (I am on Verizon) I wouldn't have waited. Why? I don't care. I got a pretty cool phone, but that was just because I had $100 in "verizon new-every-two" money to spend. I got the LG-VX8600. It's nice, I like it because it isn't so tiny, and it has some things I like. But I am no 'power user' by any means. I have never in my life sent a text message via phone. I'm no technophobe either, I used to work at Motorola back in the day, and had one of the first flip-phones. (kinda wish I had kept it) I went without a cellphone for about 5 years, until about 2.5 years ago. The plans just became too expensive, I had no real reason to own one. Maybe I am too practical, maybe I just don't like yammering on about nothing on the phone. I'll bet I use my phone about 30 minutes a month. It just all seems very frivolous to me. I just don't get the whole digital leash thing. Maybe I experienced it too early in my career and became soured on it.
Do they really think that people are going to camp out to have the honor of paying $500+ to be one of the first people to own an iPhone? Or is it just a stunt so stone-cold-dummies will say "People camping out?! I want one too, I'd better camp out!" In today's society, I guess neither would really surprise me.
Here's another example: I have a 2 year old daughter, and she watches Signing Time DVDs. They teach her sign language, which was fantastic. She was communicating with us before she could talk, and she really learned a lot. She still watches them on occasion. I also recorded some Sesame Street episodes and other shows she likes (Jack's Big Music Show is pretty funny) with my DVD recorder. I rip all of this stuff and convert it to divx files. Then I can burn lots of different stuff to one DVD, and have it ready in the DVD player. If it gets scratched up, we still have the originals. When my wife had to fly with her once, she was able to take a portable DVD player that supported divx and keep her entertained on the plane. (I am sure the other passengers appreciated THAT). It has really been a lifesaver. Technically illegal? I am not entirely sure, and I don't really care.
Is it ridiculous? Well, no more than a bowling league, or golf club, I don't think. Except it tends to be more diverse, and less physically active. Plus, MMORPGs are a good substitute for reality TV -- guild drama always rears its head from time to time.
Well, to be honest, I don't understand most clubs. When I was into racing my car, I was a member of the local BMW club. I went to a couple of meetings, but they just seemed kind of
Plus, MMORPGs are a good substitute for reality TV -- guild drama always rears its head from time to time.
If you want to support online gaming, saying it is a 'good substitute for reality TV' isn't really the best way to do it.
I don't know why, but I have always found people who immerse themselves into things "like this" very annoying. I have met people, friends of friends, who I found very annoying. When they eventually led the conversation to [whatever their 'thing' was], it was then obvious why I found them annoying. That was the only thing they cared about, or wanted to talk about. D&D, Magick, Baseball, Stock Market, NASCAR, Fantasy Sports, Religion etc etc etc. There is always something.
This is obviously not an isolated phenomenon, it happens all the time. I feel like the odd man out because I just don't get it. Maybe I should start a club for people who feel the same way I do.
ME too. I have hobbies and pasttimes... but I don't let them ruin my life. I have a motorcycle - I consider it a pasttime. But I don't gear up in Harley-logo clothing and go hang out at the local dealership on weekends. I used to take my car to the track... definitely a fun hobby. I would discuss it with my friends, and spent some time doing it - but it didn't run my life. I knew people who ONLY talked about their cars, it seemed to be the only thing in their lives.
I just don't get the group-think mentality.