With CD-R's costing less than a buck apiece, and CD burners coming out that can do 12x, does it really make sense to buy a big, relatively expensive piece of equipment that you have to install in your car and hook up to the computer? I don't know about you guys, but it's pretty damn easy and cheap to make audio CD's now.
I don't have kids, and I won't but I worked for SAS Corporation in Cary, NC, US a while back. They're famous for how well they treat their employees, and I think that they have daycare AND preschool right on their campus. Parents often ate lunch with their kids. Not only could parents be more productive by not having to worry about daycare (when SAS was open, so was the daycare), but employee satisfaction, thus employee retention at that company is among the highest in the industry.
Re:Irrelevant to most of us
on
Death March
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· Score: 1
Oh hell. I'd didn't even say that I wouldn't be willing to work extra hours. If I'm getting paid to do it, sure, I'll work longer (if I have time). But just because I work more hours, that still doesn't mean that I'm necessarily going to empathize with boneheaded project managers. Permanent employees with all of their 'benefits' are paid to worry about projects being on time.
Re:A couple of questions for you...
on
Death March
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· Score: 2
1. None of your damned business.
2. I'm an actual contractor. I have been for about 4 years now. Have had over 10 positions in that time.
3. Ethics do not come into play at all. I work to pay my bills. I'd pimp out your mom if she could make me a buck.
4. Both, please.
Re:Irrelevant to most of us
on
Death March
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· Score: 1
Absolutely. There's no point in making yourself concerned or stressed out about a situation in which you have no control. On top of that, if you ARE just a contractor, that's all you are. There's no point in devoting undying loyalty to any company, because we all know that in this day and age, you can be let go on a moment's notice, on a whim. Staying relatively disconnected from the 'big picture' lets one work in this industry for a good bit of time without getting burned out.
Irrelevant to most of us
on
Death March
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· Score: 2
Again, this is totally irrelevant to those of us that are contractors. That's the beauty behind beinh a contractor. I couldn't care less if the project was ahead of schedule, or two years behind schedule. It's not my problem. That's for the project manager to deal with. I get paid hourly, come hell or high water. That's the way all development should be done. Anyone who has been through a nightmare project should realize this.
Well, that's the problem. Long term, Open Source stocks are doing really, really bad. I mean really bad. This is not a good thing. The market does not like Open Source (can we say 'business model'?), and will not for the forseeable future. Anyone with any financial sense at all will stay away from this IPO like the plague. I know I will.
Oh, I do think that that is significant. That would royally suck. But, I honestly don't believe that there's anything that I could do to make a difference. If it's gonna happen, it's gonna happen. If something like this does happen, I'll just move. No big deal. But realistically, there ARE people out there who have more at stake who will make sure that stuff like this don't happen. There's enough of a balance of power in the US between gov't, big business, and liberal zealots to keep things relatively sane.
Honestly, no, I don't really care about any of that. In a perfect world, sure, but I have more pressing concerns to worry about (like my retirement savings). Being politically active usually means also being idealistic. After a few years in this industry, I'm far from idealistic. I'll leave that to the students.
So, still, why should I care? As a professional programmer, I know that my skills will always be needed, and I will always be paid relatively well in a primarily capitalist economic system. The laws that Katz is talking about are irrelevant to my ability to earn a good living.
It really wouldn't be a bad idea. As it is, game development is already being stretched thin across three major platforms (ie: There are games that you can only buy on certain platforms). And since Sony has become such a big player in console games, it wouldn't hurt to have another equally as powerful player. But, that being said, do we really want just two companies competing to make the best games and platforms?
Why in the world would someone spend $150 on a video card? When I read the title, I expected affordable video cards to be in the $10-$20 range. Why do you need to spend $150 on a card for a CLI?? My old ISA 1 meg SVGA card works fine.
In most cases, uploads and downloads don't interfere with each other. They're different data streams. Try it sometime. You can easily upload whatever you need to, and it generally won't slow down your downloads. You'll only be limited if you max out your bus. Unfortunately, many people subscribe to this same myth, and also turn off uploads. If I'm active at the computer, I kill any Napster uploads going to people with nothing shared.
I think it's a great idea. That way, if you go to a full-service station to refule, instead of asking for a "fill-up", you can instead tell the attendant to "blow me".
Waaaay back when, in the early days, the IBM PCjr had a IR keyboard as a standard feature. This worked perfectly, and ran for years with no problems (or even battery changes, for that matter). It had great range, no keystroke was ever missed, there was no delay, and best of all, it was all hardware based, so there were zero software issues. Why can't any major manufacturers today repeat something that was done (well) almost 20 years ago?
Of course you can still get support on Oracle 7! Do you think that companies with terabyte+, mission-critical databases just 'upgrade' every time a new version comes up? That's my point. We're not talking about a weekly Open Source build of MYSQL. We're talking about a product that has been in use for years, and currently supports I'm sure, many mission-critical apps already.
I have to disagree. I think that the premise of Open Source being reliable is wrong. It MAY be more reliable than certain more traditional closed-source products, true. But I'd much rather rely on a product that has been around for many years and has been hammered on by countless people, irregardless of whether it's Open Source. I would never run an Open Source database, when you have dinosaurs like Oracle around, that has been proven countless times over. If I want reliable, why would I risk relatively new Linux, when I could use, say, HP-UX instead?
So, John Q. Public doesn't want to have to compile his own apps, but he doesn't mind using a command-line OS? huh? So now Slashdot isn't even pro-Open Source? Now Slashdot is only geared at anti-MS stuff? That's pretty damn silly.
Yeah, I'll drop in sometime and surprise you (I still live in Chapel Hill). Hint: I was around when Bill was there, Jim was there, and Lee Howe was there. I was there for the most recent move from the back of the undergrad library to the current spot in the bottom of Wilson library. I didn't know much back then, but now I'm an Oracle developer.
Funny, I never thought I'd run into anybody on Slashdot...
Slashdot Mirror
With CD-R's costing less than a buck apiece, and CD burners coming out that can do 12x, does it really make sense to buy a big, relatively expensive piece of equipment that you have to install in your car and hook up to the computer? I don't know about you guys, but it's pretty damn easy and cheap to make audio CD's now.
I don't have kids, and I won't but I worked for SAS Corporation in Cary, NC, US a while back. They're famous for how well they treat their employees, and I think that they have daycare AND preschool right on their campus. Parents often ate lunch with their kids. Not only could parents be more productive by not having to worry about daycare (when SAS was open, so was the daycare), but employee satisfaction, thus employee retention at that company is among the highest in the industry.
Oh hell. I'd didn't even say that I wouldn't be willing to work extra hours. If I'm getting paid to do it, sure, I'll work longer (if I have time). But just because I work more hours, that still doesn't mean that I'm necessarily going to empathize with boneheaded project managers. Permanent employees with all of their 'benefits' are paid to worry about projects being on time.
1. None of your damned business.
2. I'm an actual contractor. I have been for about 4 years now. Have had over 10 positions in that time.
3. Ethics do not come into play at all. I work to pay my bills. I'd pimp out your mom if she could make me a buck.
4. Both, please.
Absolutely. There's no point in making yourself concerned or stressed out about a situation in which you have no control. On top of that, if you ARE just a contractor, that's all you are. There's no point in devoting undying loyalty to any company, because we all know that in this day and age, you can be let go on a moment's notice, on a whim. Staying relatively disconnected from the 'big picture' lets one work in this industry for a good bit of time without getting burned out.
Again, this is totally irrelevant to those of us that are contractors. That's the beauty behind beinh a contractor. I couldn't care less if the project was ahead of schedule, or two years behind schedule. It's not my problem. That's for the project manager to deal with. I get paid hourly, come hell or high water. That's the way all development should be done. Anyone who has been through a nightmare project should realize this.
This was NOT intended as flame bait, although somehow I just knew that someone would think that it was. It's a serious post.
Well, that's the problem. Long term, Open Source stocks are doing really, really bad. I mean really bad. This is not a good thing. The market does not like Open Source (can we say 'business model'?), and will not for the forseeable future. Anyone with any financial sense at all will stay away from this IPO like the plague. I know I will.
Oh, I do think that that is significant. That would royally suck. But, I honestly don't believe that there's anything that I could do to make a difference. If it's gonna happen, it's gonna happen. If something like this does happen, I'll just move. No big deal. But realistically, there ARE people out there who have more at stake who will make sure that stuff like this don't happen. There's enough of a balance of power in the US between gov't, big business, and liberal zealots to keep things relatively sane.
Honestly, no, I don't really care about any of that. In a perfect world, sure, but I have more pressing concerns to worry about (like my retirement savings). Being politically active usually means also being idealistic. After a few years in this industry, I'm far from idealistic. I'll leave that to the students.
So, still, why should I care? As a professional programmer, I know that my skills will always be needed, and I will always be paid relatively well in a primarily capitalist economic system. The laws that Katz is talking about are irrelevant to my ability to earn a good living.
True. I totally forgot. In that case, maybe it IS a good idea for Sega and Nintendo to team up.
It really wouldn't be a bad idea. As it is, game development is already being stretched thin across three major platforms (ie: There are games that you can only buy on certain platforms). And since Sony has become such a big player in console games, it wouldn't hurt to have another equally as powerful player. But, that being said, do we really want just two companies competing to make the best games and platforms?
Why in the world would someone spend $150 on a video card? When I read the title, I expected affordable video cards to be in the $10-$20 range. Why do you need to spend $150 on a card for a CLI?? My old ISA 1 meg SVGA card works fine.
It's as predictable as The Matrix. It's made for simple-minded people. It'll do great.
I was actually picturing a lot of Slashdotters in somebody's parents' basement, rolling dice, drinking Jolt, wishing they were instead getting laid.
Why not? That's called business?
Why can't you just throttle back your Naptser uploads to limit them to just a handful, as opposed to turning it off altogether?
In most cases, uploads and downloads don't interfere with each other. They're different data streams. Try it sometime. You can easily upload whatever you need to, and it generally won't slow down your downloads. You'll only be limited if you max out your bus. Unfortunately, many people subscribe to this same myth, and also turn off uploads. If I'm active at the computer, I kill any Napster uploads going to people with nothing shared.
I think it's a great idea. That way, if you go to a full-service station to refule, instead of asking for a "fill-up", you can instead tell the attendant to "blow me".
Waaaay back when, in the early days, the IBM PCjr had a IR keyboard as a standard feature. This worked perfectly, and ran for years with no problems (or even battery changes, for that matter). It had great range, no keystroke was ever missed, there was no delay, and best of all, it was all hardware based, so there were zero software issues. Why can't any major manufacturers today repeat something that was done (well) almost 20 years ago?
Of course you can still get support on Oracle 7! Do you think that companies with terabyte+, mission-critical databases just 'upgrade' every time a new version comes up? That's my point. We're not talking about a weekly Open Source build of MYSQL. We're talking about a product that has been in use for years, and currently supports I'm sure, many mission-critical apps already.
I have to disagree. I think that the premise of Open Source being reliable is wrong. It MAY be more reliable than certain more traditional closed-source products, true. But I'd much rather rely on a product that has been around for many years and has been hammered on by countless people, irregardless of whether it's Open Source. I would never run an Open Source database, when you have dinosaurs like Oracle around, that has been proven countless times over. If I want reliable, why would I risk relatively new Linux, when I could use, say, HP-UX instead?
So, John Q. Public doesn't want to have to compile his own apps, but he doesn't mind using a command-line OS? huh? So now Slashdot isn't even pro-Open Source? Now Slashdot is only geared at anti-MS stuff? That's pretty damn silly.
Yeah, I'll drop in sometime and surprise you (I still live in Chapel Hill). Hint: I was around when Bill was there, Jim was there, and Lee Howe was there. I was there for the most recent move from the back of the undergrad library to the current spot in the bottom of Wilson library. I didn't know much back then, but now I'm an Oracle developer.
Funny, I never thought I'd run into anybody on Slashdot...
- Later, Nine