I think one of the things that took me aback the most was that the brogue was just an affectation; I saw (at some college or another) "Star Trekking with Scotty" and dammit, he sounded just like us.
I was waitin' ta hear the brogue, but it did nae appear unless he turned it on.
We now have the technology to allow a CCD camera to examine the screen for any significant sign of rain, bird droppings, etc., and simply turn on the washers/wipers for us. This is a feature I'd like in a car.
ISTR the new Honda Accord has rain-sensing wipers.
Good counters, but generally they represent either the fringe (the older military Jeeps) or an evolution (aka the move from paddle to floor shifters on appropriate vehicles.)
I would have thought you'd counter with the push-button transmission, which WAS a true counter example. And its prevalence today belies how robust the design was.:)
... commercialization and commoditization, strike again.
Mr. Sowell complains that computer programs aren't as easy to use as an automobile. Well, the first person to design the steering wheel probably didn't think to patent it; nor did the first person who put the accelerator pedal to the right of the brake pedal and make them thus and so. The auto UI "jest grewed" and became standard through market forces. It became a commodity such that it can't be patented, yet nobody dares to go against it lest they not sell a car.
On the other hand, the designers of software are careful to put a lock on every little feature that they come up with, ensuring that they wring the maximum value from its implementation. Are we ever going to see a ubiquitous interface? Not while the Patent Office lives. (tongue planted semi-firmly in cheek)
And all the bells and whistles? That's simply more commercialization -- let's get more out of it by climbing into bed with the people whose offers we bundle. And make it glitzy, and make it shiny, and make it loud.
I despair of ever seeing an end to this in commercial software.
You will come out of school with a lot of base knowledge, but you will also have specializations and certifications that, like computer gear, are certain to become dated as soon as the version X+1 comes out.
It's highly unlikely that you'll be able to compete against newbie grads who, in a year or so, are coming out of school certified in version X+1.
I was extremely fortunate to land in a discipline with enough propeller-head skills -- but still, one which afforded me the chance to leapfrog over to the soft-skills. Now that may not be your cuppa tea -- and it's anecdotal, but I've seen it over and over. You can't compete knowing only technical skills. You need to have business acumen. You need to have people skills too.
Two years ago I was hired by this firm as a senior EDI analyst. Today I'm leading a team that is doing a largish project related only peripherally to EDI. Because I knew that when I got here I needed to bust my butt and make sure my people skills are showcased, and my customer relationship management skills are honed. Give a PowerPoint presentation to senior leadership? Yep, I'm your man. Fly to Chicago to discuss this 'n that with the customer? Here's my Amex number. But make this change to the EDI system or fix that program? I give that to the people who refuse to learn these soft skills, people whose jobs are rapidly becoming irrelevant.
And it sucks if you went through that pain, but the least you can do is make sure that no matter what you do -- volunteerism, co-ops, internships, even scut-level entry level jobs -- make damn sure that you can tell a prospective employer how you can give him value for his payroll dollar. Otherwise you're just one of a thousand like resumes in his In box.
1) explain to those who will listen why forcing a person to forfeit every last shred of their dignity in exchange for a piss-wage sucks 2)... 3) Profit!
Seriously, if you have valid insights in the field, why not take it on the road? Become a pundit. You might even get paid for it.
I have a little display in my study of hard drive platters salvaged from failed hard drives.
I have one platter from an IBM 3350 disk drive - about 14" in diameter. We used it for target practice. It's been shot with.30 caliber and.223 armor piercing rounds. Quite the conversation piece.
Why is Samba good for providing linux-windoze compatibility and suchlike
Because the "suchlike" is simply filesystem compatibility, similar to what NFS provides between different 'nix platforms. Samba has nothing to do with apps.
It's different from providing Windows application portability and the parent poster is correct; if all the energy that goes into creating new, variant distros were instead used to create more bulletproof installs and apps that were more reliable and chock full 'o features, more people might be inclined to look at Linux as a viable alternative.
Why is it better to write an application that works on linux than to try and make a platform that can utilize both linux and windoze apps?
Ask IBM. They've had lotsa experience with OS/2. Ask them how that's worked out for them.
Remember, the minute you try and stipulate 'doze compatibility, you are now on Redmond's turf. You can't play on the same playing field with Redmond, because they fight dirty.
It is unclear to me how unique the ID's are, and if they could be used this way.
I'm doing some work with RFID now in a school project. We have a scanner and a bunch of sample tags. They are serialized at the factory and there is free form memory that can be written to. The sample app that comes with the tags is supposed to allow you to read the serial number of the tag and read and write to the memory of the tag to store strings. (In point of fact only the Windows based app works; the Java app that is running under X throws an exception when you try and write data to to the tag. But that's more the quality of the manufacturers' programmers than it is the reliability of the hardware, and is of no moment to this discussion.)
My employer is one of those mentioned in TFA and I have a peripheral interest in this, and my department is somewhat involved. The EPC number -- the Electronic Product Code -- is probably what's most likely going to be stored. My guess is that this will be the electronic version of the GTIN, for whatever level the GTIN is identified -- consumer unit, inner pack, case, pallet, whatever. Each GTIN will be either part of or encompass the EPC burned on the tag.
Bottom line? You'd have to have an EPC and/or GTIN cross reference to derive useful intelligence if you were to mine these tags for data.
Reminds me of a 1976 short scifi story (and apparently a really awful movie) called "Overdrawn at the Memory Bank" by John Varley. You could actually plug your memory -- your consciousness -- into a "cube" and have it "backed up" in case you needed it, or download it into an animal and actually "be" the animal. The protagonist in this story went "doppling" as a female lion in a safari park for a "vacation." The premise was "What happens if the restore doesn't go as planned?"
. There is no Linux Corp. with 4 hour response times for business down situations.
And I'm sure that you have that kind of service level agreement with the MSFT Channel Partner that you used to deploy your current desktop solution, right? Riiiiiiiiight.
I allow the user to upload the document to our site, convert it from native format to HTML (where needed), invite those required to comment, and allow discussions to happen at the sentence level in the document.
If you are trying to intimate that Walker bled its red ink and died on its sword because of it's "rigidity" and its use of COBOL, then perhaps you might give a think to all the companies that have hundreds of millions of lines of COBOL code in production.
Like mine. Our production COBOL/CICS systems handles $4 billion dollars of transactions per year, every year. Was written just about the time the last Walker news bits were making it 'round the net and is still going strong.
Slashdot Mirror
Sounds like there are too many fucking deer
ITYM "there are too many deer fucking."
HTH.
I think one of the things that took me aback the most was that the brogue was just an affectation; I saw (at some college or another) "Star Trekking with Scotty" and dammit, he sounded just like us.
I was waitin' ta hear the brogue, but it did nae appear unless he turned it on.
Warp speed, Mr. Scott. Out there. Thataway.
... that you wouldn't want to be able to replace with little or no pain.
I look at dorm life as slightly less intrusive than a sigmoidoscopy, and without the pain (but sometimes the same amount of noise.)
Laptop? I would either have it on my person or security-cabled to my desk. That's probably the only valuable thing I'd have with me in a dorm setting.
I thought Microsofties had to eat their own dog food?
We now have the technology to allow a CCD camera to examine the screen for any significant sign of rain, bird droppings, etc., and simply turn on the washers/wipers for us. This is a feature I'd like in a car.
ISTR the new Honda Accord has rain-sensing wipers.
evolution of shifting technology elided
:)
Good counters, but generally they represent either the fringe (the older military Jeeps) or an evolution (aka the move from paddle to floor shifters on appropriate vehicles.)
I would have thought you'd counter with the push-button transmission, which WAS a true counter example. And its prevalence today belies how robust the design was.
... commercialization and commoditization, strike again.
Mr. Sowell complains that computer programs aren't as easy to use as an automobile. Well, the first person to design the steering wheel probably didn't think to patent it; nor did the first person who put the accelerator pedal to the right of the brake pedal and make them thus and so. The auto UI "jest grewed" and became standard through market forces. It became a commodity such that it can't be patented, yet nobody dares to go against it lest they not sell a car.
On the other hand, the designers of software are careful to put a lock on every little feature that they come up with, ensuring that they wring the maximum value from its implementation. Are we ever going to see a ubiquitous interface? Not while the Patent Office lives. (tongue planted semi-firmly in cheek)
And all the bells and whistles? That's simply more commercialization -- let's get more out of it by climbing into bed with the people whose offers we bundle. And make it glitzy, and make it shiny, and make it loud.
I despair of ever seeing an end to this in commercial software.
... how much technical skill you have.
You will come out of school with a lot of base knowledge, but you will also have specializations and certifications that, like computer gear, are certain to become dated as soon as the version X+1 comes out.
It's highly unlikely that you'll be able to compete against newbie grads who, in a year or so, are coming out of school certified in version X+1.
I was extremely fortunate to land in a discipline with enough propeller-head skills -- but still, one which afforded me the chance to leapfrog over to the soft-skills. Now that may not be your cuppa tea -- and it's anecdotal, but I've seen it over and over. You can't compete knowing only technical skills. You need to have business acumen. You need to have people skills too.
Two years ago I was hired by this firm as a senior EDI analyst. Today I'm leading a team that is doing a largish project related only peripherally to EDI. Because I knew that when I got here I needed to bust my butt and make sure my people skills are showcased, and my customer relationship management skills are honed. Give a PowerPoint presentation to senior leadership? Yep, I'm your man. Fly to Chicago to discuss this 'n that with the customer? Here's my Amex number. But make this change to the EDI system or fix that program? I give that to the people who refuse to learn these soft skills, people whose jobs are rapidly becoming irrelevant.
And it sucks if you went through that pain, but the least you can do is make sure that no matter what you do -- volunteerism, co-ops, internships, even scut-level entry level jobs -- make damn sure that you can tell a prospective employer how you can give him value for his payroll dollar. Otherwise you're just one of a thousand like resumes in his In box.
1) explain to those who will listen why forcing a person to forfeit every last shred of their dignity in exchange for a piss-wage sucks ...
2)
3) Profit!
Seriously, if you have valid insights in the field, why not take it on the road? Become a pundit. You might even get paid for it.
it's going to hurt like hell.
:)
Not for long.
When the disaster strikes, and the software is enabled, will MSFT come knocking on the door with an invoice for the previously 'cold' software?
The FA claims 14 counts, including identity theft. Are we sure that spamming wasn't another count?
Greed may not be the right word
I think the word we're groping for is 'whore.'
I still (barely) remember the days when technical manuals were written in real English.
Back when I was a kid, we used to carve our own ICs out of wood.
I used to surf with only 2 MB
Back when I was a kid, we used to carve our own ICs out of wood.
I have a little display in my study of hard drive platters salvaged from failed hard drives.
.30 caliber and .223 armor piercing rounds. Quite the conversation piece.
I have one platter from an IBM 3350 disk drive - about 14" in diameter. We used it for target practice. It's been shot with
Why is Samba good for providing linux-windoze compatibility and suchlike
Because the "suchlike" is simply filesystem compatibility, similar to what NFS provides between different 'nix platforms. Samba has nothing to do with apps.
It's different from providing Windows application portability and the parent poster is correct; if all the energy that goes into creating new, variant distros were instead used to create more bulletproof installs and apps that were more reliable and chock full 'o features, more people might be inclined to look at Linux as a viable alternative.
Why is it better to write an application that works on linux than to try and make a platform that can utilize both linux and windoze apps?
Ask IBM. They've had lotsa experience with OS/2. Ask them how that's worked out for them.
Remember, the minute you try and stipulate 'doze compatibility, you are now on Redmond's turf. You can't play on the same playing field with Redmond, because they fight dirty.
As soon as the stories start appearing saying they're going to weave them into the clothing, people get paranoid, and rightfully so.
Except that I can think of at least two scenarios where having embedded RFID in apparel is a Good Thing. It's all in how it's used.
It is unclear to me how unique the ID's are, and if they could be used this way.
I'm doing some work with RFID now in a school project. We have a scanner and a bunch of sample tags. They are serialized at the factory and there is free form memory that can be written to. The sample app that comes with the tags is supposed to allow you to read the serial number of the tag and read and write to the memory of the tag to store strings. (In point of fact only the Windows based app works; the Java app that is running under X throws an exception when you try and write data to to the tag. But that's more the quality of the manufacturers' programmers than it is the reliability of the hardware, and is of no moment to this discussion.)
My employer is one of those mentioned in TFA and I have a peripheral interest in this, and my department is somewhat involved. The EPC number -- the Electronic Product Code -- is probably what's most likely going to be stored. My guess is that this will be the electronic version of the GTIN, for whatever level the GTIN is identified -- consumer unit, inner pack, case, pallet, whatever. Each GTIN will be either part of or encompass the EPC burned on the tag.
Bottom line? You'd have to have an EPC and/or GTIN cross reference to derive useful intelligence if you were to mine these tags for data.
But that's just my guess.
I, for one, welcome our new black-box overlords.
Reminds me of a 1976 short scifi story (and apparently a really awful movie) called "Overdrawn at the Memory Bank" by John Varley. You could actually plug your memory -- your consciousness -- into a "cube" and have it "backed up" in case you needed it, or download it into an animal and actually "be" the animal. The protagonist in this story went "doppling" as a female lion in a safari park for a "vacation." The premise was "What happens if the restore doesn't go as planned?"
. There is no Linux Corp. with 4 hour response times for business down situations.
And I'm sure that you have that kind of service level agreement with the MSFT Channel Partner that you used to deploy your current desktop solution, right? Riiiiiiiiight.
I allow the user to upload the document to our site, convert it from native format to HTML (where needed), invite those required to comment, and allow discussions to happen at the sentence level in the document.
How is this different from a wiki?
I wouldn't call it 'screwy' but the fonts definitely need some work to be visible. I'm using Moz 1.7 and it's barely readable.
Your opinion hints strongly of a non-sequitur.
If you are trying to intimate that Walker bled its red ink and died on its sword because of it's "rigidity" and its use of COBOL, then perhaps you might give a think to all the companies that have hundreds of millions of lines of COBOL code in production.
Like mine. Our production COBOL/CICS systems handles $4 billion dollars of transactions per year, every year. Was written just about the time the last Walker news bits were making it 'round the net and is still going strong.