Missing:
- keyboard
- mouse
- network cable
- monitor?
- USB key to install from
- Friend to copy OS onto your USB key
- taxes (for those lucky to have them)
I think the real cheat is any budget that involves a mail-in rebate. The article starts out about financial difficulties and then provides a price that doesn't reflect the walk home price. 3-6 weeks you might make that money back IF you are lucky that the rebate was honored.
The iPad (which yes, we own two of) still lacks cameras and IR emission, needs a flat, un-wobbly back, still has enough wasted sq inches of bezel area to fit an iPod Touch into, still is bound to AT&T, still is too low-res to properly display even 720p, still lacks CF, SD and USB connections, still syncs by cable, still charges by cable, and still has a paltry 512 mb of memory, which, when they eventually get around to implementing multitasking, means that what you're actually going to get is something on the order of windows 3.1 multitasking with a few services, not actual task switching, etc. And it still costs *way* too much.
Look at your post, now look at mine, now look back at yours and wonder what's wrong with it, and then look at mine to find out: - cameras - why does the iPad need "cameras" (plural)? Do you want to be "that" guy holding something the size of a book up to take a picture? - IR emission - I'm guessing you want to replace your remote control with the iPad for some reason. I guess you've never owned a Palm Pilot or a Windows CE device with their IR emitters that were next to useless. If you really wanted to replace your remote, you need both a transmitter and receiver to capture IR codes that aren't supported - Bezel wastage - go complain about that on every other device you own that has a screen - your TV, your laptop, your cellphones, your alarm clock. If you cut that bezel off, try using your iPad without blocking the screen. - AT&T - I'm sorry you live in the US of A - us other Americans don't have this problem. There's also the option of not getting the 3G model. - 720p - the iPad is 768p. 720p 768p in terms of vertical lines. - CF - really? You really want to support that? I'm sorry you bought an SLR from 4 years ago - a form factor that is nearly fully dead. Nonetheless, a slot that size in a device that small is asking for gunk to end up in it. - USB - there's a simplicity in not having this: it prevents people from asking how come device X doesn't work. It's a bus where almost anything can be attached. It draws power. You'll notice that Apple sells the cable connector add-ons with a USB port as a "camera connection kit". It's to weed out the guy who attaches his USB powered nerf gun. - 512 mb of memory - Each iPad you have has only 256MB of system memory. You did say you had 2 iPad's so maybe you meant together:) - multitasking - Your comparison to Windows 3.1 begs me to believe you don't understand how multitasking works on iOS 4.x. Feel free to Google.com it to understand more. Comparing to the iPad specs, back when Windows 95 launched, the fastest processor was a Pentium running at 233MHz and having 64MB of RAM would have been amazing. If applications for desktops were written with more care, you wouldn't have to keep buying a faster CPU and more memory every 2 years to run the same family of applications.
I was aware of the period "feature" but not of the plus sign feature. Unfortunately for me, both scenarios are not applicable for my situation. In this case, the other guys e-mail address has the letters "vvd" attached to the end of mine.
On my gmail account, I get e-mail sent to another gmail account that is similar to my account name but 3 letters longer. Whenever I send mail to that account, it goes directly to me. The e-mail header information says it went to that account so I'm assuming (possibly incorrectly) that it isn't a simple forward rule. The real problem is that I can't e-mail the owner of the other account to get him to look into it because he doesn't get it or doesn't read it, and google definitely has NO place for me to reach out to them securely to ask them to look into this issue.
I wonder what percentage of gmail mail is being sent to the wrong accounts.
I work in an environment with 30 developers, 400K SLOC and 2 global sites specifically for one component (in a family of 12). Our review process is pre-submit and done through e-mail. Reviewers are as responsible as the code submitter in identifying negligent comments. From the check-in comment, the intent of the change should be obvious; the comments need only support the intent. Asking someone to review a change before submission has the added benefit of ensuring at least two minds understand it (even if one is only cursorily). If you don't understand the code, you ask questions and ensure each question answered results in a architectural document change, code change, comment change, or at the very least, check-in comment change. Sometimes, it is not apparent to the submitter that his concepts parlayed into code are consumable by others. It's for that reason it is important to put in bad code sometimes to see if people are paying attention.
That is singularly an implementation issue. You could have an overlayed registry system that splits the locations and priority of the keys in different places on the filesystem i.e. main "registry" is in/etc/conf/conf.conf and group specific registry can be in/etc/conf/groups/.conf and user specific registry would be in ~/.conf/conf.conf. Each one could specific the same key and based on how the key is created originally on the system, it can either be overridden for user specific tasks or group overrides or only system level values. Migration because easy this way and if all applications started using it, I can actually find out what the users last launched browser is if I need to invoke that instead of finding all browsers and opening one.
I'd suggest a couple of different areas for improvement.
First, I'd give up the holy war some kernel developers are having with proprietary drivers. Drivers are proprietary because some companies want to release proprietary drivers. Live with it. Stop fighting it and try to make everyone's experience better. 95%+ of Linux users today (a much MUCH different demographic than from 10 years ago) do not care about open drivers as much as working hardware. If you aren't going to help make people's experience with the OS better, then in the words of Ludacris: "move, get out the way, get out the way".
Second, build infrastructure that's obviously missing. There needs to be a central "registry". Let me rephrase that; a central key-value pair repository. Make it and let everybody know. Make sure drivers (X Server / Kernel) can talk to it and applications can talk to it and read/write.
Third, it's time to optimize for the desktop and the server independently. Make some of the differing parts that really offer those performance gains modular (factory pattern) so that they can be plugged in and compiled easily. Want desktop speed? Get the kernel, drop in Con Kolivas' scheduler and off you go. Want a server oriented kernel, then stick with the other scheduler.
Fourth, stop building reversed apps against a benchmarking utility that exists. You may need to reinvent the measuring stick before you re-invent the wheel. Otherwise you get a wickedly optimized component on the benchmarking utility but ends up lying to you in comparison to real world scenarios.
There's a better comparison chart here: http://www.standandcount.com/index.php/iphone-spec s-change-12/. It compares the iPhone specs with the Motorola V3i, the Nokia 5700, and the video and nano iPods. I think I'll get one based on this spec comparison mainly because I don't already have an video iPod and I need a new phone.
Hiring of open source developers is the next big thing in HR circles I'm sure. Companies are identifying individuals with skills and experience that they seek and have full awareness of their project, project history, and quality of work. This is by far the best metric for evaluating a candidate who's ready to jump in and work on a proprietary product with minimal amounts of training or research.
A lot of individuals straight of high school/University are actively involved in Open Source development as a part time hobby. Some find it difficult to get full time jobs but their noteriety through their Open Source efforts eventually lands them in front of someone who might actually be familiar with their work. Open Source experience is nearing a 1:1 exchange rate in the currency of work experience; at least in the eyes of progressive managers (HR is a different story).
Where does that leave the project? If the company is nice, the employee is given time to work on it on the side; how much time they have thanks to full time work is a different story. With the head or leads on a project gone, it means that most projects won't survive. New leadership has to rise from the ranks to fill the gap.
1. Fresh out of University, work on Open Source project. 2. Get hired by company and ditch project. 3. Profit.
Considered the "High Tech Capital of Ontario", Markham is only 27 kilometres from Lake Ontario (downtown Toronto specifically). It houses a large set of companies from IBM/CGI/ATI to many other 4 and 5 acronym letter companies. Most of the communities are growing and are beginning to offer a suburban lifestyle as the GTA expands. I believe most of the companies offer 3 weeks on start and you might be able to negotiate 2 more unpaid weeks. A lot of companies are liberal with their compensation if they really want you (cash, stock, vacation).
As for if you should move: Don't until you have some contacts. I for one believe that the IT industry (much like other business sectors) is run through who you know. See if you can get some contacts in Markham or perhaps Toronto or ask your current contacts to see if they can get you in.
I'd prefer not to see an "Ask Slashdot" next year with a disappointing failure story:P
It wasn't exactly the same, but there might be some good leads in the "Ask Slashdot" I had on 16GB RAM system purchases: http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid =05/02/22/09 30238&tid=198
I wonder if Moore's law is a self-imposed limitation whereby people don't think outside of the box and therefore maintain a steady progress.
Then there is conspiracy theory view of it all: Intel and AMD are colluding to stay within the bounds of Moore's law to make sure all of us by new PC's that will be outdated in 6 months rather than put out 16GHz machines tomorrow.
Ubuntu is a natural response to Debian's slow development and release cycle. Add in a more friendlier face and multiple languages leveraging the Debian model of apt-get everything and you got a n always up to date linux distro that captures the interest of those who want to use linux as a desktop environment and those who want to be bleeding edge. Any Debian users up for some X.org action? (not that it's impossible, but I've seen work arounds that leverage ubuntu's repository for xorg).
That's true. The easier way to get knoppix on their system in live mode is to stick the CD in the tray and seal it shut. Within the day the system will be booting knoppix (saying the bios has cdrom boot enabled and before harddrive).
Having read nearly all the responses to my original "Ask Slashdot", I've come to a couple of conclusions.
Slashdot Community: 1. Most slashdot comments are written by people who read the first line of something and jump the gun. They pull out a canned response and fire it off before reading the rest of the comment/article (RTFA is getting very common). 2. Some users just don't comprehend what they read. They are fast to point out that google has tonnes of links to major retailers and selectively ignore set requirements. 3. IF they don't ignore, users strip requirements because "obviously" they know better. Why would I need 16 GB's of RAM? Why did I use the word workstation? Why require x16 PCIE slot? It's because that was what was mandated to me. It's a reasonable request for our purposes (validation).
Common mistakes: 1. Server vs Workstation: Many responses decided I needed a server instead of a workstation. How many of those people noted that 99% of all servers do NOT come with x16 PCIE slots. 2. The insistence that there was a simple solution to my question. I wouldn't have posted without scouring google; it's my homepage for a reason. 3. Price: The real reason I switched to a beige box was because very, very few vendors support 16GB RAM in their workstations. One of the major OEM's quoted me $24K USD for the RAM alone! Many others were incapable of getting such a configuration in any of their systems. Going beige was an attempt at opening up my options. 3. Availability: Most machines at this level only take ECC Registered RAM and are dual channel. Finding a 2GB DIMM of RAM was difficult (esp in Canada); getting 8 was impossible. No one could get me 8 sticks within a month. Calling one of the big 5's sales team resulted in a quote of availability for the RAM by Winter 2005! I was considering getting a source to ship it from Korea - but that has a DOA penalty.
My own faults: 1. I didn't list exactly what I wanted the machine for. This was partly because I didn't want to give away where I work and also wanted to ensure that the submission was "juicy" enough for the Slashdot moderators. 2. I didn't list the exact specifications of the machine (should have listed 64 bit AMD/Intel machine, x16 PCIE, and 16GB of RAM).
Conclusion: As for my intentions behind writing in, I did it to ask the cream of the technology crop what they might know/suggest in terms of hardware as well as get their views on where workstation memory requirements were going. Though I got a lot of noise, I was glad that there were a few worthwhile comments and I thank those users. I was also interested in the great conclusions people made as to what I was intending to do with the machine (genome project and all).
I wish more people did post-mortem's of their "Ask Slashdots".
And MrHanky, my boss had a good chuckle at your comment; in fact, he gave me the suggestion to Ask Slashdot:)
Slashdot Mirror
Missing:
- keyboard
- mouse
- network cable
- monitor?
- USB key to install from
- Friend to copy OS onto your USB key
- taxes (for those lucky to have them)
I think the real cheat is any budget that involves a mail-in rebate.
The article starts out about financial difficulties and then provides a price that doesn't reflect the walk home price. 3-6 weeks you might make that money back IF you are lucky that the rebate was honored.
The iPad (which yes, we own two of) still lacks cameras and IR emission, needs a flat, un-wobbly back, still has enough wasted sq inches of bezel area to fit an iPod Touch into, still is bound to AT&T, still is too low-res to properly display even 720p, still lacks CF, SD and USB connections, still syncs by cable, still charges by cable, and still has a paltry 512 mb of memory, which, when they eventually get around to implementing multitasking, means that what you're actually going to get is something on the order of windows 3.1 multitasking with a few services, not actual task switching, etc. And it still costs *way* too much.
Look at your post, now look at mine, now look back at yours and wonder what's wrong with it, and then look at mine to find out: :)
- cameras - why does the iPad need "cameras" (plural)? Do you want to be "that" guy holding something the size of a book up to take a picture?
- IR emission - I'm guessing you want to replace your remote control with the iPad for some reason. I guess you've never owned a Palm Pilot or a Windows CE device with their IR emitters that were next to useless. If you really wanted to replace your remote, you need both a transmitter and receiver to capture IR codes that aren't supported
- Bezel wastage - go complain about that on every other device you own that has a screen - your TV, your laptop, your cellphones, your alarm clock. If you cut that bezel off, try using your iPad without blocking the screen.
- AT&T - I'm sorry you live in the US of A - us other Americans don't have this problem. There's also the option of not getting the 3G model.
- 720p - the iPad is 768p. 720p 768p in terms of vertical lines.
- CF - really? You really want to support that? I'm sorry you bought an SLR from 4 years ago - a form factor that is nearly fully dead. Nonetheless, a slot that size in a device that small is asking for gunk to end up in it.
- USB - there's a simplicity in not having this: it prevents people from asking how come device X doesn't work. It's a bus where almost anything can be attached. It draws power. You'll notice that Apple sells the cable connector add-ons with a USB port as a "camera connection kit". It's to weed out the guy who attaches his USB powered nerf gun.
- 512 mb of memory - Each iPad you have has only 256MB of system memory. You did say you had 2 iPad's so maybe you meant together
- multitasking - Your comparison to Windows 3.1 begs me to believe you don't understand how multitasking works on iOS 4.x. Feel free to Google.com it to understand more. Comparing to the iPad specs, back when Windows 95 launched, the fastest processor was a Pentium running at 233MHz and having 64MB of RAM would have been amazing. If applications for desktops were written with more care, you wouldn't have to keep buying a faster CPU and more memory every 2 years to run the same family of applications.
Anyhow, I'm on a horse ...
I was aware of the period "feature" but not of the plus sign feature. Unfortunately for me, both scenarios are not applicable for my situation. In this case, the other guys e-mail address has the letters "vvd" attached to the end of mine.
On my gmail account, I get e-mail sent to another gmail account that is similar to my account name but 3 letters longer. Whenever I send mail to that account, it goes directly to me. The e-mail header information says it went to that account so I'm assuming (possibly incorrectly) that it isn't a simple forward rule. The real problem is that I can't e-mail the owner of the other account to get him to look into it because he doesn't get it or doesn't read it, and google definitely has NO place for me to reach out to them securely to ask them to look into this issue.
I wonder what percentage of gmail mail is being sent to the wrong accounts.
I work in an environment with 30 developers, 400K SLOC and 2 global sites specifically for one component (in a family of 12). Our review process is pre-submit and done through e-mail. Reviewers are as responsible as the code submitter in identifying negligent comments. From the check-in comment, the intent of the change should be obvious; the comments need only support the intent. Asking someone to review a change before submission has the added benefit of ensuring at least two minds understand it (even if one is only cursorily). If you don't understand the code, you ask questions and ensure each question answered results in a architectural document change, code change, comment change, or at the very least, check-in comment change. Sometimes, it is not apparent to the submitter that his concepts parlayed into code are consumable by others. It's for that reason it is important to put in bad code sometimes to see if people are paying attention.
I'll bet I can't get more than two of them into my machine, which means I'm still stuck with a maximum of 12 monitors. Dammit.
There are no mod points for "Funny but incorrect" :)
Anandtech has shots of the 24 card display up and it has 4 cards in a regular mid-tower case.
http://www.standandcount.com/the-fourth-musketeer/
The above site has in-depth review after one day of use with Google Chrome.
I'm still disputing the Alaskan panhandle so that should put us back on top.
That is singularly an implementation issue. You could have an overlayed registry system that splits the locations and priority of the keys in different places on the filesystem i.e. main "registry" is in /etc/conf/conf.conf and group specific registry can be in /etc/conf/groups/.conf and user specific registry would be in ~/.conf/conf.conf. Each one could specific the same key and based on how the key is created originally on the system, it can either be overridden for user specific tasks or group overrides or only system level values. Migration because easy this way and if all applications started using it, I can actually find out what the users last launched browser is if I need to invoke that instead of finding all browsers and opening one.
I'd suggest a couple of different areas for improvement.
First, I'd give up the holy war some kernel developers are having with proprietary drivers. Drivers are proprietary because some companies want to release proprietary drivers. Live with it. Stop fighting it and try to make everyone's experience better. 95%+ of Linux users today (a much MUCH different demographic than from 10 years ago) do not care about open drivers as much as working hardware. If you aren't going to help make people's experience with the OS better, then in the words of Ludacris: "move, get out the way, get out the way".
Second, build infrastructure that's obviously missing. There needs to be a central "registry". Let me rephrase that; a central key-value pair repository. Make it and let everybody know. Make sure drivers (X Server / Kernel) can talk to it and applications can talk to it and read/write.
Third, it's time to optimize for the desktop and the server independently. Make some of the differing parts that really offer those performance gains modular (factory pattern) so that they can be plugged in and compiled easily. Want desktop speed? Get the kernel, drop in Con Kolivas' scheduler and off you go. Want a server oriented kernel, then stick with the other scheduler.
Fourth, stop building reversed apps against a benchmarking utility that exists. You may need to reinvent the measuring stick before you re-invent the wheel. Otherwise you get a wickedly optimized component on the benchmarking utility but ends up lying to you in comparison to real world scenarios.
An in-depth analysis of what Wii Fit might mean to gaming can be found here:e r-are-wii-ready-for-more-16
http://www.standandcount.com/index.php/a-year-lat
Certainly seems very reasonable. Read http://www.standandcount.com/index.php/iphone-rate -plans-announced-14 for more analysis on the plans.
There's a better comparison chart here: http://www.standandcount.com/index.php/iphone-spec s-change-12/.
It compares the iPhone specs with the Motorola V3i, the Nokia 5700, and the video and nano iPods.
I think I'll get one based on this spec comparison mainly because I don't already have an video iPod and I need a new phone.
Another take on the release was put up here: http://www.standandcount.com/index.php/safari-tops -1-million-downloads-10
The crux being PR loves download stats and two versions are better than one for that.
Looks like a good use of my ATI card when I'm not gaming or Google Earthing under Linux. Sweeeet!
Hiring of open source developers is the next big thing in HR circles I'm sure. Companies are identifying individuals with skills and experience that they seek and have full awareness of their project, project history, and quality of work. This is by far the best metric for evaluating a candidate who's ready to jump in and work on a proprietary product with minimal amounts of training or research.
A lot of individuals straight of high school/University are actively involved in Open Source development as a part time hobby. Some find it difficult to get full time jobs but their noteriety through their Open Source efforts eventually lands them in front of someone who might actually be familiar with their work. Open Source experience is nearing a 1:1 exchange rate in the currency of work experience; at least in the eyes of progressive managers (HR is a different story).
Where does that leave the project? If the company is nice, the employee is given time to work on it on the side; how much time they have thanks to full time work is a different story. With the head or leads on a project gone, it means that most projects won't survive. New leadership has to rise from the ranks to fill the gap.
1. Fresh out of University, work on Open Source project.
2. Get hired by company and ditch project.
3. Profit.
Considered the "High Tech Capital of Ontario", Markham is only 27 kilometres from Lake Ontario (downtown Toronto specifically). It houses a large set of companies from IBM/CGI/ATI to many other 4 and 5 acronym letter companies. Most of the communities are growing and are beginning to offer a suburban lifestyle as the GTA expands. I believe most of the companies offer 3 weeks on start and you might be able to negotiate 2 more unpaid weeks. A lot of companies are liberal with their compensation if they really want you (cash, stock, vacation).
:P
As for if you should move: Don't until you have some contacts. I for one believe that the IT industry (much like other business sectors) is run through who you know. See if you can get some contacts in Markham or perhaps Toronto or ask your current contacts to see if they can get you in.
I'd prefer not to see an "Ask Slashdot" next year with a disappointing failure story
Lucas has secured Rick Berman to ruin his new series.
It wasn't exactly the same, but there might be some good leads in the "Ask Slashdot" I had on 16GB RAM system purchases:d =05/02/22/09 30238&tid=198
http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?si
I wonder if Moore's law is a self-imposed limitation whereby people don't think outside of the box and therefore maintain a steady progress.
Then there is conspiracy theory view of it all: Intel and AMD are colluding to stay within the bounds of Moore's law to make sure all of us by new PC's that will be outdated in 6 months rather than put out 16GHz machines tomorrow.
Ubuntu is a natural response to Debian's slow development and release cycle. Add in a more friendlier face and multiple languages leveraging the Debian model of apt-get everything and you got a n always up to date linux distro that captures the interest of those who want to use linux as a desktop environment and those who want to be bleeding edge. Any Debian users up for some X.org action? (not that it's impossible, but I've seen work arounds that leverage ubuntu's repository for xorg).
That's true.
The easier way to get knoppix on their system in live mode is to stick the CD in the tray and seal it shut. Within the day the system will be booting knoppix (saying the bios has cdrom boot enabled and before harddrive).
The link was useful. Unfortunately, it did not list any 16GB motherboards (only up to 12GB).
Apparently, Intel Reps suggested I shouldn't buy Supermicro for 16GB RAM purposes.
Post Mortem
:)
Having read nearly all the responses to my original "Ask Slashdot", I've come to a couple of conclusions.
Slashdot Community:
1. Most slashdot comments are written by people who read the first line of something and jump the gun. They pull out a canned response and fire it off before reading the rest of the comment/article (RTFA is getting very common).
2. Some users just don't comprehend what they read. They are fast to point out that google has tonnes of links to major retailers and selectively ignore set requirements.
3. IF they don't ignore, users strip requirements because "obviously" they know better. Why would I need 16 GB's of RAM? Why did I use the word workstation? Why require x16 PCIE slot? It's because that was what was mandated to me. It's a reasonable request for our purposes (validation).
Common mistakes:
1. Server vs Workstation: Many responses decided I needed a server instead of a workstation. How many of those people noted that 99% of all servers do NOT come with x16 PCIE slots.
2. The insistence that there was a simple solution to my question. I wouldn't have posted without scouring google; it's my homepage for a reason.
3. Price: The real reason I switched to a beige box was because very, very few vendors support 16GB RAM in their workstations. One of the major OEM's quoted me $24K USD for the RAM alone! Many others were incapable of getting such a configuration in any of their systems. Going beige was an attempt at opening up my options.
3. Availability: Most machines at this level only take ECC Registered RAM and are dual channel. Finding a 2GB DIMM of RAM was difficult (esp in Canada); getting 8 was impossible. No one could get me 8 sticks within a month. Calling one of the big 5's sales team resulted in a quote of availability for the RAM by Winter 2005! I was considering getting a source to ship it from Korea - but that has a DOA penalty.
My own faults:
1. I didn't list exactly what I wanted the machine for. This was partly because I didn't want to give away where I work and also wanted to ensure that the submission was "juicy" enough for the Slashdot moderators.
2. I didn't list the exact specifications of the machine (should have listed 64 bit AMD/Intel machine, x16 PCIE, and 16GB of RAM).
Conclusion:
As for my intentions behind writing in, I did it to ask the cream of the technology crop what they might know/suggest in terms of hardware as well as get their views on where workstation memory requirements were going. Though I got a lot of noise, I was glad that there were a few worthwhile comments and I thank those users. I was also interested in the great conclusions people made as to what I was intending to do with the machine (genome project and all).
I wish more people did post-mortem's of their "Ask Slashdots".
And MrHanky, my boss had a good chuckle at your comment; in fact, he gave me the suggestion to Ask Slashdot
I guess I'll just print this out as the second page on my resume as a timeline of what languages I know and when I learnt them.
Then prospective interviewers can't point out my current 8 years of C# experience is a lie.