When Guy Hands took over EMI he discovered, using the same sort of calculation, that he could have fired the entire marketing department, attached a £50 note to every sold CD, and still saved money!
Gold-standard obsessives tend to be American although we have a few in Britain as well. They are usually poorly educated in economics but love to cite historical precedents to support their arguments. You can't dismiss them like Flat-Earthers as of course their position does contain a kernel of truth - governments printing money unchecked will eventually lead to the currency's collapse. However constraining fiscal policy by the prevalance or possession of an arbitrary metallic element, unevenly distributed over the world, makes no sense. The global economy just doesn't work that way and never will. Without bills of exchange/credit the Renaissance would not have got started and all speculative ventures since have pretty much been funded on debt.
Thanks for all the comments. My question was more serious than trolling. I think the two key conclusions are that (a) US houses are built on the assumption of having permanent air-conditioning and (b) Americans are just used to having it. Much of the world has temperatures/humidity just as high with no air-conditioning and they don't all die en masse so I found the claims that it's necessary to save lives a little histrionic.
You're right but many will fail to understand. I'm as big a Microsft hater as anyone but find it somewhat ridiculous to criticise Gates for giving billions to charity. His foundation has an obligation to properly steward the funds under its control and investing them in a range of blue-chips - some of which have dubious practices in the 3rd world - doesn't contradict his charitable aims.
The real problem is the behaviour of companies like Monsanto. It has nothing to do with Bill Gates or his charity.
Why are Americans so obsessed with air conditioning? Massive power failure you'd think there'd be more important priorities. Anyway you have slave labour in the form of prison chain-gangs so get them to bury the power cables.
OK nice job Jeremiah Johnson but OP has a wife and kids. I doubt they'd be that keen on living in a log cabin and bathing in the creek. Many people (well men with families) would willingly do a boring job of drudgery for 25 years if they could thereby guarantee economic security for their family.
"Also, if you're not chasing the brass ring where you are there is NO reason for you to be there. Your goal should be to be either a managing director in IT (which there are very few of, because the bank considers IT a backroom joke) or in the elite architecture/engineering team. Why would someone kill themselves at these places otherwise, other than to get the experience and resume blurb for a year or two?"
We do it for money. As unpleasant as it is, you earn double what you'd earn in IT.
As a Londoner who uses the Tube every day I'm perfectly happy with the speed and frequency of service. The problem is too many £&"^ing people being squashed into the carriages when I want to commute to and from work. Although I wouldn't be particularly overjoyed to pay it, I think there's a case for more punitive pricing on the Tube to reward off-peak travel. Of course this happens already but it could be made much more extreme.
Unfortunately your comments about Murdoch make me you think you are not quite right in the head. He owns something like 300-400 newspapers and really couldn't care less about interfering with the UK Government. He's been a hate-figure for so long that you can't even see how irrelevant he really is.
If anyone has any juice at the FSF or the ACM or any other relevant organisation can get they get Judge Alsup nominated for some award. Actually just give him an award - most clueful judge in the computing space. Throw in a Slashdot Golden Attaboy too. Everyone needs Judge Alsup to become to the go-to guy for these frivolous cases.
Not at all. Sweden has issued an international arrest warrant and started extradition proceedings. Since Sweden is regarded as a friendly country with a legitimate government and judiciary they really don't have any choice. Moreover the alleged sexual offences happened in Sweden. It's not as if they want to try him on some nebulous charges relating to Wikileaks.
Sorry to be blunt but you're very delusional expecting to get a job without speaking the language. Even if you got one you would probably be unable to survive on the salary. Just marry her so she can become a Canadian citizen and go to school there. Why did she apply for a program in China without you first sorting out living/work arrangements anyway?
Good luck getting your theorem prover to prove the Poincare conjecture. Why not prove the Riemann hypothesis too when you've finished.
These proof checkers are useful for error-free symbolic manipulation but when a mathematician proves a new fundamental theorem it's not the proof which is important. It's the new tools/concepts he had to create to get there. As an earlier poster mentioned, teams of mathematicians have been working for years to break down and simplify Perelman's proof into simpler chunks. Also the "pathfinders" for a proof usually don't find the most elegant method and others (who couldn't have come up with the original proof) are able to simplify and improve it.
It was well worth looking for alien signals but when none have been found after so long it's time for a rethink. Either there are no signals or we're looking for completely the wrong things in the wrong way. Time to try something else.
It is winnable in the traditional sense. You'd need 5-10 million soldiers and probably end up with millions of deaths. It's not winnable with 100,000 soldiers, no.
He should have been fired - well at least disciplined - if he's installing non-business software on company machines without permission. Not because he "stole CPU-cycles" but because he's obviously a loose cannon. Suppose it conflicts with other software? Suppose it hogs memory or other resources? Suppose it contains malware? etc etc
You're being extraordinarily short-sighted here when you say "If they win they will have no long term competitive advantage". That line could have been erroneously applied to countless innovative and successful businesses. More importantly when efficiency and transparency increases in any market EVERYONE gains - except the entrenched middle-men who are squeezed out of existence. So unless you're employed by a big-media dinosaur you should welcome Optus putting the cat among the pigeons.
As much you seem to hate Murdoch do you really think he was dumping laptops in bins, or smuggling out boxes of documents at night to be destroyed, or hacking into the voicemail of a murdered teen? Murdoch is just a businessman who likes owning newspapers. He's not personally responsible for crimes his lackeys commit thousands of miles away.
I must have missed the "great concept" part of Sealand.
This project has a clear practical purpose: create a working environment for people of multiple nationalities in one physical space, while avoiding red-tape about visas and work permits. Of course you can question the utility of such a space, or the practicalities of it, but their objective seems pretty clear.
Agreed but the guy is a billionaire. Why isn't he commuting between homes in Switzerland and the Caribbean? Living in Belize seems a poor choice of location to avoid taxes.
Slashdot Mirror
Don't worry we'll manage to introduce some feature which renders the process self-defeating.
When Guy Hands took over EMI he discovered, using the same sort of calculation, that he could have fired the entire marketing department, attached a £50 note to every sold CD, and still saved money!
Gold-standard obsessives tend to be American although we have a few in Britain as well. They are usually poorly educated in economics but love to cite historical precedents to support their arguments. You can't dismiss them like Flat-Earthers as of course their position does contain a kernel of truth - governments printing money unchecked will eventually lead to the currency's collapse. However constraining fiscal policy by the prevalance or possession of an arbitrary metallic element, unevenly distributed over the world, makes no sense. The global economy just doesn't work that way and never will. Without bills of exchange/credit the Renaissance would not have got started and all speculative ventures since have pretty much been funded on debt.
Thanks for all the comments. My question was more serious than trolling. I think the two key conclusions are that (a) US houses are built on the assumption of having permanent air-conditioning and (b) Americans are just used to having it. Much of the world has temperatures/humidity just as high with no air-conditioning and they don't all die en masse so I found the claims that it's necessary to save lives a little histrionic.
You're right but many will fail to understand. I'm as big a Microsft hater as anyone but find it somewhat ridiculous to criticise Gates for giving billions to charity. His foundation has an obligation to properly steward the funds under its control and investing them in a range of blue-chips - some of which have dubious practices in the 3rd world - doesn't contradict his charitable aims. The real problem is the behaviour of companies like Monsanto. It has nothing to do with Bill Gates or his charity.
Why are Americans so obsessed with air conditioning? Massive power failure you'd think there'd be more important priorities. Anyway you have slave labour in the form of prison chain-gangs so get them to bury the power cables.
OK nice job Jeremiah Johnson but OP has a wife and kids. I doubt they'd be that keen on living in a log cabin and bathing in the creek. Many people (well men with families) would willingly do a boring job of drudgery for 25 years if they could thereby guarantee economic security for their family.
"Also, if you're not chasing the brass ring where you are there is NO reason for you to be there. Your goal should be to be either a managing director in IT (which there are very few of, because the bank considers IT a backroom joke) or in the elite architecture/engineering team. Why would someone kill themselves at these places otherwise, other than to get the experience and resume blurb for a year or two?" We do it for money. As unpleasant as it is, you earn double what you'd earn in IT.
As a Londoner who uses the Tube every day I'm perfectly happy with the speed and frequency of service. The problem is too many £&"^ing people being squashed into the carriages when I want to commute to and from work. Although I wouldn't be particularly overjoyed to pay it, I think there's a case for more punitive pricing on the Tube to reward off-peak travel. Of course this happens already but it could be made much more extreme.
What's the problem anyway? Mac owners are demonstrably willing to pay for over-priced goods and services. Just good marketing.
Unfortunately your comments about Murdoch make me you think you are not quite right in the head. He owns something like 300-400 newspapers and really couldn't care less about interfering with the UK Government. He's been a hate-figure for so long that you can't even see how irrelevant he really is.
If anyone has any juice at the FSF or the ACM or any other relevant organisation can get they get Judge Alsup nominated for some award. Actually just give him an award - most clueful judge in the computing space. Throw in a Slashdot Golden Attaboy too. Everyone needs Judge Alsup to become to the go-to guy for these frivolous cases.
How do they fit the pool tables and bouncy castles into five feet high passages, half a mile underground?
Not at all. Sweden has issued an international arrest warrant and started extradition proceedings. Since Sweden is regarded as a friendly country with a legitimate government and judiciary they really don't have any choice. Moreover the alleged sexual offences happened in Sweden. It's not as if they want to try him on some nebulous charges relating to Wikileaks.
Sorry to be blunt but you're very delusional expecting to get a job without speaking the language. Even if you got one you would probably be unable to survive on the salary. Just marry her so she can become a Canadian citizen and go to school there. Why did she apply for a program in China without you first sorting out living/work arrangements anyway?
Good luck getting your theorem prover to prove the Poincare conjecture. Why not prove the Riemann hypothesis too when you've finished. These proof checkers are useful for error-free symbolic manipulation but when a mathematician proves a new fundamental theorem it's not the proof which is important. It's the new tools/concepts he had to create to get there. As an earlier poster mentioned, teams of mathematicians have been working for years to break down and simplify Perelman's proof into simpler chunks. Also the "pathfinders" for a proof usually don't find the most elegant method and others (who couldn't have come up with the original proof) are able to simplify and improve it.
It was well worth looking for alien signals but when none have been found after so long it's time for a rethink. Either there are no signals or we're looking for completely the wrong things in the wrong way. Time to try something else.
It is winnable in the traditional sense. You'd need 5-10 million soldiers and probably end up with millions of deaths. It's not winnable with 100,000 soldiers, no.
He should have been fired - well at least disciplined - if he's installing non-business software on company machines without permission. Not because he "stole CPU-cycles" but because he's obviously a loose cannon. Suppose it conflicts with other software? Suppose it hogs memory or other resources? Suppose it contains malware? etc etc
Yes without patents there'd be no innovation ... zzzz. Just like home-taping is killing music.
You're being extraordinarily short-sighted here when you say "If they win they will have no long term competitive advantage". That line could have been erroneously applied to countless innovative and successful businesses. More importantly when efficiency and transparency increases in any market EVERYONE gains - except the entrenched middle-men who are squeezed out of existence. So unless you're employed by a big-media dinosaur you should welcome Optus putting the cat among the pigeons.
As much you seem to hate Murdoch do you really think he was dumping laptops in bins, or smuggling out boxes of documents at night to be destroyed, or hacking into the voicemail of a murdered teen? Murdoch is just a businessman who likes owning newspapers. He's not personally responsible for crimes his lackeys commit thousands of miles away.
The oceans are full of cruise liners which seem to cope with these issues perfectly adequately not to mention oil platforms.
I must have missed the "great concept" part of Sealand. This project has a clear practical purpose: create a working environment for people of multiple nationalities in one physical space, while avoiding red-tape about visas and work permits. Of course you can question the utility of such a space, or the practicalities of it, but their objective seems pretty clear.
Agreed but the guy is a billionaire. Why isn't he commuting between homes in Switzerland and the Caribbean? Living in Belize seems a poor choice of location to avoid taxes.