>>If you work in a small industry, or sometimes a larger one, you will always run into people you knew at one point or another. I work for a DoD contractor, and always meet former coworkers or hear of former coworkers at other companies - and this is a very large industry
Absolutely! When a resume passes over my desk (I'm an engineer, we do peer-level resume review and cantidate interview) the first thing I do is see if I know anyone who worked at the previous employers. A quick eMail can sometimes yield valuable info:
"That guy was a bumbling Ass Hat" OK, file-13 "He was crack coder, but bad people skills" OK, might be a match "That guy was awesome!" OK, bring him in, we'll feel him out.
Word of mouth definitly works both ways. Over the past few years I've gotten at least two jobs (with very sweet pay raises) with NO Interview, based totally off previous team member recommendation. Of course, that was Pre-bust. My last couple of jobs I actually had to interview for... Ah for the good old days.
>> A company can legally tell another company of the reason that you were let go. And since this guy was accused of letting network security lapse, that's not going to sound good when another company calls up.
It is not against the law for a company to release this kind of information; however, every company I've ever worked for would only release the following information about me: Yes he worked here for x amount of time.
The reason being; if they release any kind of value information (he sucked, he was a bad worker, he had a bad attitude), an employee could take them to court for misreprentation/slander. They would have to be able to back up the claim with documentation etc... It's a big Pain In The Ass. So, they just give rank and serial-number to any company that calls. After all, what's in it for them to take the risk of being sued?
I shouldn't post either, but I'm procrastinating so here it goes...
You're not wrong, but your argument isn't a particularly good one against giving or for giving to the armed forces/vs poverty reliving charities.
The last statement of your argument is a very good summary. When you give, x% goes to those that don't need it, y% goes to the organization that runs it.
So we have Dr = Da * (1-X) * (1-Y) where: Dr = Donation realized (what gets used by those who need it) Da = Donation actual (What you actually gave) X = % of donation that tends to be given to those that don't need it Y = % of donation that goes into running the organization.
Obviously by minimizing X and Y the efficiency of your donation is increased. Y is pretty easy to find out with a little research. X is a little tougher. Of course you are always in control of Da.
Do some research and donate to whatever charity makes you feel good, where possible, try and diversify. If everyone does this we'll get pretty good coverage. Try and hit at least two. Do the environment and poverty, or USO and a disease, whatever.
One way to manage the efficiency is to take a personal hand in the charity. Donate clothing or toys. You know they won't be used by the organization to pay the light bills. Our local community has an "adopt a family" program. The family makes a list of things that are needed and an organization will adopt the family and provide the things on the list. You get information about various families and pick one that touches your heart.
They look something like:
Grandmother raising 3 children (Boy 9, Boy 7, Girl 2). Grandmother has trouble walking and is unemployed. Requests. New shoes for oldest boy for school (size 5) New coat for all three children Notebooks and pencils for school New blankets and sheets Oldest boy would like a bicycle Middle boy would like a walkman Youngest girl would like a Barbie.
Depending on the organization you may or may not be able to deliver the donation personally.
---Once everyone starts using end-point phones that accept not only traditional lines, but ethernet, we're going to see a very low barrier-to-entry for providing phone service, IMO.---
Once everyone starts using VOIP enabled phone there is NO NEED for phone service at all. As long as I know your IP address, and your phone is addressable (hello IPv6) I can place a call to you. The media (voice, video etc...) are all point to point (or should be). The only service provider you need is broadband.
There are services that can provide value: -Lookup services so I don't need to know your IP (Call Fred Jones) - These add value over what we have today ( I have to remember your phone number, not much easier than an IP address)
- Application services (call forwarding, call screening, merging with IM or moble technologies...) - Some VOIP phones can handle these for you, no need to pay a monthly fee.
- Data services (voice mail) - Again, phones can do this.
- Media services (conference bridge) Phones can do this too, but if you get much over 4-5 connections and the phone and your broadband connection are going to start to strain.
And then they have to compete on price alone, not convenience. If they collude, they can agree on regions to cover and keep the prices inflated (artificially).
Now substitue the above with Republican and Democrat...
He's trying to prove that registering your address actually exposes that address to MORE spam. This is due to the fact that spammers can get the "do not spam" address list ostensibly to be safe. Then feed the known good addresses to the spam-bot.
This is the reason I haven't put my phone number on the national do-not-call list. I'll get calls from every non-profit/charity/political in the nation (immune) and if it gets overturned or circumvented I'll have given my number to a wad of telemarketers.
Mr Gaiman also did not make any explicit statements about political correctness.
He simply stated that he was not interested in persuing the storyline because the final product may have been used in ways he was not comfortable with.
We do not know what he chose to do instead, which may have had a more profound or more personal meaning. Or not. We'll never know.
The only thing we can say is that Mr Gaiman did not state "I didn't write this story because I wanted to be politically correct".
Maybe it's not cowardice, maybe it's time management. This was one idea out of a , surly full, stable of ideas. So he lay's out his ideas on the table and goes "Hmmm... what should I work on?"
Some of the ideas don't generate enough of his interest, some bring up feelings or concerns he doesn't want to deal with at that time. It sounded like this story fell into the latter category. He didn't say he'd NEVER write that story. It was just an example of one that he'd set aside.
I could write a story about a nazi who tortures Jews and feels bad about it, because he feels remorse over it. I won't, not because I wish to be politically correct, but because I find the subject matter distasteful and I don't want to.
Actually that's not totally true. I wouldn't write about it because I'm not a particularly good writer. Either way, it shows that there are plenty of reasons not to write a story that have nothing to do with trying to convince you that I'm not driven by political correctness.
=Shreak
Re:The Best of All Possible Worlds
on
Microsoft's new CLI
·
· Score: 5, Insightful
Voltaire's criticism and satire of Leibniz was centered around "the best of all possible worlds" premise. It had very little, if anything, to do with Libnitz's monads.
Monads were, essentially, philosiphical atoms or molecules, albiet in a very metaphysical sense.
How is a condom not effective? I suppose it could be the argument of poor usage, but that argument actually represents NOT using the condom when it's necessary, ie. prior to insertion, not prior to ejaculation. Not using a particular contraceptive when you should is not unique to condoms.
A contraceptive pill (or patch or whatever) will not be more effective than a condom. For better or worse it is the woman who bears the brunt of failed contraception. A foolish person would put responsibility of significant consequences in someone else's hands (at least someone they didn't know and trust completely).
A condom is at least conspicuous. It's easy to tell if one is being employed. How do you know I'm taking the male-pill? Because I told you? I hope you stocked up on diapers.
What it means is that you won't be able to buy a 13" TV anymore. You'll buy a 13" MONITOR, ie no tuner at all, just inputs. Which is fine with me, I never use the tuner anyway. I use the cable box/DVD/VCR/Satalite box/TIVO/Game Console. I don't really need a tuner IN the display device. I just need a seperate component tuner.
I don't weep for the long dead plants. I am, however, concerned with the carbon that was locked away with that plant (In the form of oil or coal...). Now that it's been dug up and burned, it's floating around in the atmosphere. There are tons and tons of locked away (and safe) carbon in the earth's crust. By mineing it and burning it we introduce it into the atmosphere.
It's VERY difficult to get that stuff back down into the sea or crust. It wants to stay in the air, where we don't want it!
oh for moderator points. You beat me to the perfect reply post! Tell you what, I'll post what I was going to put below this and we'll see if either of us get modded up!
My M.O. is to wait until a console is past it's prime and scoop it up for $50 at a garage sale or EBay and pick up games at $10-$14 a pop. This is what I've done with the PS and DreamCast (best console ever BTW). I even have an old Sega Genesis (which I got mainly for nostalgia)
I'll wait a couple of months for everyone to start dumping the there old GC to fund the new console they want for Christmas.
I don't keep up with game news anyway. I just like to play the games (as does my son). I get a cheap console that's new (to me) and lots of cool games that don't cost $50 each.
There is no "Absorbed" sibling. The two embryos merge. You could clone two individuals from the chimera. One for each DNA type of the original two embryos. All three resulting people would be different from each other.
The really interesting thing is that this renders invalid any concept that DNA totally defines or identifies and individual.
Things will continue to be invented, they just won't be sold. At least, not over the network, and maybe not anywhere. You'll be required to go to a point of service where they can control and meter the use of the invention.
This is already starting for music/video. If you think the churn is bad now with "virtual property", hold on to your seat for the cataclysm that would occur if the Neil Stevenson "Mattress from my microwave" technology is actually implemented!
Watch music and video closely over the next few years. The big studios will continue to try and crush copying using technology and laws. If they fail (and most of the/. crowd believes they will) Then you'll see a reduction of music available in stores as CD. It will still be there, but not all of it. They will increase concert prices and start taking a larger piece of that pie (a part of the industry they have not been as involved in historically). Songs will be performed in concert that will NEVER be released on media (therefore is very difficult to copy). You'll have to pay EVERY time you listen to it.
The same would be true for physical devices/equipment that could be desk-manufactured. You'd never see them in stores. You would have to go out to the Kinko's or have an "authorized" service person use it for you.
Ironically, the ubiquitous availability of information will cause a reduction in the availability of information. Of course, is it really information we want or need?
Will it free the network for information that is truly free?
Artists will still produce art. You'll only get the art that is from the mind and soul, not something manufactured. You'll only get technology that is from an itch that needs to be scratched. Not some hype driven technology pushing the latest upgrade.
But will it always be a $1? Think about where this money would go. Into the hands of the US government, which means into the budget.
Hmmm... We get about $10000, a year for expireing copyright extension. And these corperations are only paying a 1$ fee to make additional millions? Let's bump it to $1000/renewal and POW an extra 10Mil/year!
At $1000 companies will have to think about what they want to keep.
Sure you'll never see Mickey Mouse go out this way, but that's not the point. The point is there are 1000s of copyrighted things that the owner maintains, "just because". After all, if there's no cost to maintain ownership, why not maintain it?
The technology in question is "Fixed Price" auctions. Auctions that have "Buy it now" on them. Back in the day (pre-1994) I used to do comic auctions on the usnet and we used that trick all the time. It was known as the "Buyout". Here's a link to an auction back then that had a buyout (not mine, just the first one I found). There's plenty more:
" So I'm seeing lots of funny stuff, but no serious comments."
Go to your user settings->preferences->comments and set moderation for "FUNNY" comments to be -4. That's what I do and Slashdot will seriousen-up pretty quick. I surf/. at 4+ (unless I'm moderating, then it's -1, ick ) and this cut the number of comments by 1/3.
Sometimes I miss the funny comments, but I'm just to busy and something had to go.
In Canada they have the Loony and Toony (denziens of the maple leaf state, please correct my spelling). These are $1.00CA and $2.00CA coins respectivly.
A friend and I were in CA on business and were totally unable to figure out the stripper tipping protocol. We had a few USD which the ladies were happy to accept. But then we were down to "hard" CA currency.
"Maybe you throw them?" I asked. Of course we didn't want to risk chipping a tooth.
One of the ladies drifted over after a while and started talking. She was from the US and I asked her how it was done. She took a Loony from me and walked up to the stage, put it between her teeth and lay down on her back on stage. The performer at the time crawled up over her, mouth over mons, and crawled backwards and removed the coin with her breasts. Very Hot!
She then gestured me over, obvously expecting me to do the same thing! Having spent some time in US strip clubs, this level of contact is strictly Verboten! Enough to get you ejected into the -30 CA winter air. My friend wasn't so shy and walked up and got the ride of his life!
Canada may be cold in the winter but the ladies can be vary warm!
BookCrossing is an easy way to clean off those old bookshelves without having to figure out where your local used book store is. It's more like donating books to the public domain.
Slashdot Mirror
A person can maintain free will by being imprisoned: Conflicting Conditions
If money exchanges hands in conjunction with game, then that game is a violent means of resolving conflict. Too Broad
>>If you work in a small industry, or sometimes a larger one, you will always run into people you knew at one point or another. I work for a DoD contractor, and always meet former coworkers or hear of former coworkers at other companies - and this is a very large industry
Absolutely! When a resume passes over my desk (I'm an engineer, we do peer-level resume review and cantidate interview) the first thing I do is see if I know anyone who worked at the previous employers. A quick eMail can sometimes yield valuable info:
"That guy was a bumbling Ass Hat" OK, file-13
"He was crack coder, but bad people skills" OK, might be a match
"That guy was awesome!" OK, bring him in, we'll feel him out.
Word of mouth definitly works both ways. Over the past few years I've gotten at least two jobs (with very sweet pay raises) with NO Interview, based totally off previous team member recommendation. Of course, that was Pre-bust. My last couple of jobs I actually had to interview for... Ah for the good old days.
=Shreak
>> A company can legally tell another company of the reason that you were let go. And since this guy was accused of letting network security lapse, that's not going to sound good when another company calls up.
It is not against the law for a company to release this kind of information; however, every company I've ever worked for would only release the following information about me: Yes he worked here for x amount of time.
The reason being; if they release any kind of value information (he sucked, he was a bad worker, he had a bad attitude), an employee could take them to court for misreprentation/slander. They would have to be able to back up the claim with documentation etc... It's a big Pain In The Ass. So, they just give rank and serial-number to any company that calls. After all, what's in it for them to take the risk of being sued?
=Shreak
I shouldn't post either, but I'm procrastinating so here it goes...
/vs poverty reliving charities.
You're not wrong, but your argument isn't a particularly good one against giving or for giving to the armed forces
The last statement of your argument is a very good summary. When you give, x% goes to those that don't need it, y% goes to the organization that runs it.
So we have Dr = Da * (1-X) * (1-Y)
where:
Dr = Donation realized (what gets used by those who need it)
Da = Donation actual (What you actually gave)
X = % of donation that tends to be given to those that don't need it
Y = % of donation that goes into running the organization.
Obviously by minimizing X and Y the efficiency of your donation is increased. Y is pretty easy to find out with a little research. X is a little tougher. Of course you are always in control of Da.
Do some research and donate to whatever charity makes you feel good, where possible, try and diversify. If everyone does this we'll get pretty good coverage. Try and hit at least two. Do the environment and poverty, or USO and a disease, whatever.
One way to manage the efficiency is to take a personal hand in the charity. Donate clothing or toys. You know they won't be used by the organization to pay the light bills. Our local community has an "adopt a family" program. The family makes a list of things that are needed and an organization will adopt the family and provide the things on the list. You get information about various families and pick one that touches your heart.
They look something like:
Grandmother raising 3 children (Boy 9, Boy 7, Girl 2). Grandmother has trouble walking and is unemployed.
Requests.
New shoes for oldest boy for school (size 5)
New coat for all three children
Notebooks and pencils for school
New blankets and sheets
Oldest boy would like a bicycle
Middle boy would like a walkman
Youngest girl would like a Barbie.
Depending on the organization you may or may not be able to deliver the donation personally.
Merry Christmas!
---Once everyone starts using end-point phones that accept not only traditional lines, but ethernet, we're going to see a very low barrier-to-entry for providing phone service, IMO.---
Once everyone starts using VOIP enabled phone there is NO NEED for phone service at all. As long as I know your IP address, and your phone is addressable (hello IPv6) I can place a call to you. The media (voice, video etc...) are all point to point (or should be). The only service provider you need is broadband.
There are services that can provide value:
-Lookup services so I don't need to know your IP (Call Fred Jones) - These add value over what we have today ( I have to remember your phone number, not much easier than an IP address)
- Application services (call forwarding, call screening, merging with IM or moble technologies...) - Some VOIP phones can handle these for you, no need to pay a monthly fee.
- Data services (voice mail) - Again, phones can do this.
- Media services (conference bridge) Phones can do this too, but if you get much over 4-5 connections and the phone and your broadband connection are going to start to strain.
=Shreak
And then they have to compete on price alone, not convenience. If they collude, they can agree on regions to cover and keep the prices inflated (artificially).
Now substitue the above with Republican and Democrat...
=Shreak
He's trying to prove that registering your address actually exposes that address to MORE spam. This is due to the fact that spammers can get the "do not spam" address list ostensibly to be safe. Then feed the known good addresses to the spam-bot.
This is the reason I haven't put my phone number on the national do-not-call list. I'll get calls from every non-profit/charity/political in the nation (immune) and if it gets overturned or circumvented I'll have given my number to a wad of telemarketers.
=Shreak
It's all about priorities.
Pitch: "There's lot's of potential on the moon, we should explore it"
Beancounter: "Maybe... But the moon's not going anywhere. No one else is going there. We have other priorities"
Pitch: "China just sent a man into space and they're talking about going to the moon. Maybe we should think about moon exploration NOW?"
Beancounter: "Hmmm... We'll move up the priority. Give me a detailed plan..."
Mr Gaiman also did not make any explicit statements about political correctness.
He simply stated that he was not interested in persuing the storyline because the final product may have been used in ways he was not comfortable with.
We do not know what he chose to do instead, which may have had a more profound or more personal meaning. Or not. We'll never know.
The only thing we can say is that Mr Gaiman did not state "I didn't write this story because I wanted to be politically correct".
=Shreak
Maybe it's not cowardice, maybe it's time management. This was one idea out of a , surly full, stable of ideas. So he lay's out his ideas on the table and goes "Hmmm... what should I work on?"
Some of the ideas don't generate enough of his interest, some bring up feelings or concerns he doesn't want to deal with at that time. It sounded like this story fell into the latter category. He didn't say he'd NEVER write that story. It was just an example of one that he'd set aside.
I could write a story about a nazi who tortures Jews and feels bad about it, because he feels remorse over it. I won't, not because I wish to be politically correct, but because I find the subject matter distasteful and I don't want to.
Actually that's not totally true. I wouldn't write about it because I'm not a particularly good writer. Either way, it shows that there are plenty of reasons not to write a story that have nothing to do with trying to convince you that I'm not driven by political correctness.
=Shreak
Voltaire's criticism and satire of Leibniz was centered around "the best of all possible worlds" premise. It had very little, if anything, to do with Libnitz's monads.
Monads were, essentially, philosiphical atoms or molecules, albiet in a very metaphysical sense.
=Shreak
How is a condom not effective? I suppose it could be the argument of poor usage, but that argument actually represents NOT using the condom when it's necessary, ie. prior to insertion, not prior to ejaculation. Not using a particular contraceptive when you should is not unique to condoms.
A contraceptive pill (or patch or whatever) will not be more effective than a condom. For better or worse it is the woman who bears the brunt of failed contraception. A foolish person would put responsibility of significant consequences in someone else's hands (at least someone they didn't know and trust completely).
A condom is at least conspicuous. It's easy to tell if one is being employed. How do you know I'm taking the male-pill? Because I told you? I hope you stocked up on diapers.
=Shreak
What it means is that you won't be able to buy a 13" TV anymore. You'll buy a 13" MONITOR, ie no tuner at all, just inputs. Which is fine with me, I never use the tuner anyway. I use the cable box/DVD/VCR/Satalite box/TIVO/Game Console. I don't really need a tuner IN the display device. I just need a seperate component tuner.
=MikeT
I don't weep for the long dead plants. I am, however, concerned with the carbon that was locked away with that plant (In the form of oil or coal...). Now that it's been dug up and burned, it's floating around in the atmosphere. There are tons and tons of locked away (and safe) carbon in the earth's crust. By mineing it and burning it we introduce it into the atmosphere.
It's VERY difficult to get that stuff back down into the sea or crust. It wants to stay in the air, where we don't want it!
=Shreak
But just imagine a Beowolf cluster of SCO Joke curses!
oh for moderator points. You beat me to the perfect reply post! Tell you what, I'll post what I was going to put below this and we'll see if either of us get modded up!
=Shreak
I heard Trent Lott this morning on the radio and he said something to the effect of:
--
If it get's vetoed it'll come back again in a bigger package. With a big bow on top.
--
The implication being that it'll get stapled to a bill that the President would have a much harder time vetoing.
=Shreak
My M.O. is to wait until a console is past it's prime and scoop it up for $50 at a garage sale or EBay and pick up games at $10-$14 a pop. This is what I've done with the PS and DreamCast (best console ever BTW). I even have an old Sega Genesis (which I got mainly for nostalgia)
I'll wait a couple of months for everyone to start dumping the there old GC to fund the new console they want for Christmas.
I don't keep up with game news anyway. I just like to play the games (as does my son). I get a cheap console that's new (to me) and lots of cool games that don't cost $50 each.
=Shreak
There is no "Absorbed" sibling. The two embryos merge. You could clone two individuals from the chimera. One for each DNA type of the original two embryos. All three resulting people would be different from each other.
The really interesting thing is that this renders invalid any concept that DNA totally defines or identifies and individual.
=Shreak
Things will continue to be invented, they just won't be sold. At least, not over the network, and maybe not anywhere. You'll be required to go to a point of service where they can control and meter the use of the invention.
/. crowd believes they will) Then you'll see a reduction of music available in stores as CD. It will still be there, but not all of it. They will increase concert prices and start taking a larger piece of that pie (a part of the industry they have not been as involved in historically). Songs will be performed in concert that will NEVER be released on media (therefore is very difficult to copy). You'll have to pay EVERY time you listen to it.
This is already starting for music/video. If you think the churn is bad now with "virtual property", hold on to your seat for the cataclysm that would occur if the Neil Stevenson "Mattress from my microwave" technology is actually implemented!
Watch music and video closely over the next few years. The big studios will continue to try and crush copying using technology and laws. If they fail (and most of the
The same would be true for physical devices/equipment that could be desk-manufactured. You'd never see them in stores. You would have to go out to the Kinko's or have an "authorized" service person use it for you.
Ironically, the ubiquitous availability of information will cause a reduction in the availability of information. Of course, is it really information we want or need?
Will it free the network for information that is truly free?
Artists will still produce art. You'll only get the art that is from the mind and soul, not something manufactured. You'll only get technology that is from an itch that needs to be scratched. Not some hype driven technology pushing the latest upgrade.
=Shreak
But will it always be a $1? Think about where this money would go. Into the hands of the US government, which means into the budget.
Hmmm... We get about $10000, a year for expireing copyright extension. And these corperations are only paying a 1$ fee to make additional millions? Let's bump it to $1000/renewal and POW an extra 10Mil/year!
At $1000 companies will have to think about what they want to keep.
Sure you'll never see Mickey Mouse go out this way, but that's not the point. The point is there are 1000s of copyrighted things that the owner maintains, "just because". After all, if there's no cost to maintain ownership, why not maintain it?
=Shreak
The technology in question is "Fixed Price" auctions. Auctions that have "Buy it now" on them. Back in the day (pre-1994) I used to do comic auctions on the usnet and we used that trick all the time. It was known as the "Buyout". Here's a link to an auction back then that had a buyout (not mine, just the first one I found). There's plenty more:
Buyout Auction
=Shreak
" So I'm seeing lots of funny stuff, but no serious comments."
/. at 4+ (unless I'm moderating, then it's -1, ick ) and this cut the number of comments by 1/3.
Go to your user settings->preferences->comments and set moderation for "FUNNY" comments to be -4. That's what I do and Slashdot will seriousen-up pretty quick. I surf
Sometimes I miss the funny comments, but I'm just to busy and something had to go.
Later
=Shreak
In Canada they have the Loony and Toony (denziens of the maple leaf state, please correct my spelling). These are $1.00CA and $2.00CA coins respectivly.
A friend and I were in CA on business and were totally unable to figure out the stripper tipping protocol. We had a few USD which the ladies were happy to accept. But then we were down to "hard" CA currency.
"Maybe you throw them?" I asked. Of course we didn't want to risk chipping a tooth.
One of the ladies drifted over after a while and started talking. She was from the US and I asked her how it was done. She took a Loony from me and walked up to the stage, put it between her teeth and lay down on her back on stage. The performer at the time crawled up over her, mouth over mons, and crawled backwards and removed the coin with her breasts. Very Hot!
She then gestured me over, obvously expecting me to do the same thing! Having spent some time in US strip clubs, this level of contact is strictly Verboten! Enough to get you ejected into the -30 CA winter air. My friend wasn't so shy and walked up and got the ride of his life!
Canada may be cold in the winter but the ladies can be vary warm!
=Shreak
http://www.bookcrossing.com/home
BookCrossing is an easy way to clean off those old bookshelves without having to figure out where your local used book store is. It's more like donating books to the public domain.
=Shreak