I can safely say they have the best customer service of any company I've dealt with in the past 10 years.
Love them, love them, love them, love them. Can't imagine the internet without them. I was never happier than the day I ditched Speakeasy (then owned by Best Buy) and got Sonic.net.
I would ditch my shit-tastic DirecTV box in a second for an Apple TV. I've wanted a Tivo version of my HD DirecTV box for years, but I'm now tired of waiting and could care less. My only holdback at this point is how to get HBO legally without a satellite of cable subscription. No, I won't pirate the content. I want to legally support the things I find entertaining.
I'd go after things like Perforce and other content management systems. Heck, hack Perforce alone and you could potentially get access to hundreds of companies in Silicon Valley, including a few major CG animation studios, once your hacked version of Perforce has been installed.
This is one reason I rather prefer open source software. I suppose you could hack Subversion, but if you aren't part of the core maintainers, then I don't see it sticking.
the problem is that we continue to give licenses to pilot multi-thousand pound vehicles at high-speeds to practically anyone who applies. Why this guy doesn't loose his license forever is beyond me. Driving is a privilege. How about we start treating it that way instead of something any idiot can do.
Same here is San Francisco. They blame the bikers, but it is only a few bad bikers causing most of the bike drama. The real problem is the automobiles and their entitled belief the road was built for them. Beware any biker or pedestrian!
I bike commute to work in San Francisco. If you aren't familiar with biking in SF, there is a lot of anger at bikes. Much of it is generated by Critical Mass. They bike-mob roads in SF on Friday nights once a month (IIRC). Not to mention the daily bad-behavior of a lot of bikers. Those of us using the bike as a commuting method are caught between the crazy bikers and anger drivers.
In most every instance when I was assulted I was using the lane (as allowed by CA state law) when the bike lane was blocked or otherwise unusable (in some case the road is so bad as to render the bike lane useless). Once my plastic, easily-moved, mirror bumped the side of a mini-van. The driver followed me four blocks and then swerved at me while I was in the bike lane waiting for the light. People are primed to flip out at the stupidest things.
I've seen the "thought process" when someone starts the automated "fucking bike" reaction and then they see the camera, at which point everything drops back down. I wouldn't believe it myself, but I see this in action every day. I'm beginning to understand why the Brits have CCTs everywhere. I don't see that happening in the US. Instead we will all just start recording each other and raising the demand for more lawyers. Rather sad if you ask me. I would prefer to live in a culture that valued personal responsibility instead of having to impose it with threat of revenge.
I've been biking to work for over 4 years now. About 3 months ago I attached a GoPro HD camera to my helmet to record my bike ride. It is very obvious on my helmet, impossible to miss if you see me on the bike.
Almost instantly I noticed a drop in car aggression towards me. And so far I've not had anymore "drivers get out of the car and threaten violence" situations. I decided on a camera for legal reasons. Police always told me whenever I reported something that it was my word against theirs. So I expected the camera to help with that. I was a bit surprised when a lot of the problems just stopped.
So anonymous behaviors extend into the real-world and are combatted in the same way. De-anonymousization...
Her off-hand comment about you working longer than she has been alive is illegal in California. If you were denied the job, you have a claim against them based on that comment. It is no different than any other comment or question about your personal life, which is irrelevant for hiring.
Have you looked at smaller companies. I work for an online education company. I love the job, they pay well, and I'm respected for being a 44 year old software developer. If you go after the Facebooks or Googles, things will be hard. Smaller companies, however, value the experience and are typically better for work-life balance. YMMV.
I've been working on an iPhone app called Phresheez, where the majority of the content is display via built-in web view in the native app. That let my partner in development make the Android version easily. Actually, he got the Android version working before I got the iPhone. And that was over 3 years ago.
It's proved to be an excellent way to manage the app. We still do a lot of native work (accessing sensors, custom features, in-app purchase, etc.), but the majority of user interaction takes place via a web view. It "talks" to the native app (via a delegate method on the iPhone, I don't know the Android details) and vise-versa.
The really wonderful part is that we can 'upgrade" the web part of the app at any time. As soon as the user restarts the app, they have the updated web app inside it. Our web app updates on a very regular cycle (a few times a week) versus the native apps which have been updated every few months as necessary (more on the Android than the iPhone, mainly due to easy of update with Android vs. iPhone)./. where the old is news again...:)
I went in with good expectations (been reading Green Lantern and DC in general since I was a kid). It was a lot of fun, tons of great lines, and the VFX were interesting. Of course you can always armchair quarterback to say what you think would be better. Instead of watching it with that kind of critical eye, I decided I was going to go along for the ride. So worth it. Saw it in 2D and I want to see it in 3D.
Agreed. I've read DC comics for 36+ years (started with the Flash) and I'm as excited as ever about the reboot. As long as good stories are told, does it really matter? The continuity will come back in the form of old names with new facades and different perspectives. I managed to survive Crisis on Infinite Earths, and the Crisises to follow, this reboot will be no different. Besides, my favorite character is being headlined with Flashpoint. What a great way to reboot the DC Universe. Geoff Johns has been building to this for awhile I suspect. Bring it on!
I'm more concerned about the digital release, but I totally get why DC is doing it. If you want the attention of the kids, be electric. Eventually they will find a paper comic and that will change their world.
I prop my iPad in front of me with the documentation on it. Better than a second monitor since I can take it with my laptop and still have my "two-monitor" config for developing while having documentation handy.
I'm a bare-metal scripter writing pipelines for VFX and CG production, with databases, queuing systems, etc. All the tools I've ever used on Linux can be compiled for the Mac. The Mac is really just a sexy BSD machine. And what about Xcode. I find it far nicer than the various attempts on Linux or whatever Microsoft is calling their dev environment now-a-days.
If you're gonna bash the Macs, at least use an argument that can hold some water.
Wow, I've been using a Mac for web and other development for years now. I don't bother with package managers on the Mac for the most part. I build my own versions of Python, PostgreSQL, and other tools that are part of my pipeline. I don't want to rely on tools owned by the OS. I've had too many OS upgrades (mainly on Linux) alter the tools I'm using and break things.
As for the emacs thing. Wow, get real and use vim. This is 2011 after all...:)
I've seen this at multiple places I've worked and its success varied depending on the skills of the IT staff. My last job was a VFX studio, where it was mostly Linux, some Windows, and some Macs. We opt'd for using Active Directory and providing interfaces to it using LDAP and NIS (Active Directory frankly rocks and I am not an MS fan by any stretch). We wrote command-line tools using Python that talked LDAP to the AD server and allowed us to add/retire users, groups, aliases, etc without using any MS GUIs. It has been solid since it was deployed. Of course we had to spend a good chunk of time writing those tools and I'm not a cheap developer. I think it was worth it though.
Of all the machines, the Macs have proved most problematic in getting them to play nicely (I love my Mac, but get the enterprise support down dammit!). It was party due to poor management of the Macs in years previous, partly to do with how Apple has wrapped the gooey BSD center. Snow Leopard has made it much easier. mDNS is a complete pain on a network of any appreciable size (especially if your switches and routers are kinda dumb). Do listen to its siren song.
As for whether or not you should do this, I typically defer to my users. I agree that users should operate with the tools that make them most productive. My new job is at a place that is mostly Windows. I asked for, and got, a Mac. They understood I wanted to be most efficient so I picked the tool I'm most happy with. I would really hate it if someone decided to alter my toolset without deep discussion. I would encourage you to talk with your users and balance your needs for infrastructure management with their desire to use tools they know and love.
I worked for EA Redwood Shores for over 2.5 years. It was a freaking mill. Work the people to death on games. The Godfather game (which was the last one I worked on), ended up with over 200 people on the project. 200 people to make what turned out to be a less-than-exciting game. The tech used to make the game was constantly changing. There were battles in the studio as to which toolsets should be used. Major decisions in level design (like scale of the assets) were still shifting even as the production deadlines loomed. Not that they cared. Six and seven day weeks became the norm. And much of that is uncompensated overtime (at least it was until they got dragged into court).
Which makes the marketing numbers even scarier. Their game productions are totally inefficient, littered with excesses and poor management, yet they still spend 3 times as much on marketing. Turd polishing really. Honestly, like many people have suggested, put the money into creating better development processes, free the game developers from the stupid marketing constraints put on them (so many times we made changes just to serve marketing). Let people focus on making games and they might surprise you and make a game people will actually want without being brain-drained into believing it is something they want.
I went back to working on visual effects since that struck me as a far saner industry....:)
All DRM does is provide the RIAA a way to change "format" anytime they want.
Think of how amazing DRM is for them. They no longer have to back a new physical format (8-track, vinal, CD, DVD audio, etc.). Instead they can just change how they encrypt the music and !!profit!! No more waiting for electronics companies to produce new hardware to play their content. They can just write a new piece of software and now you have buy all that music over again.
As many have pointed out, they just want to keep selling the same music to you over and over again. No new value really, they just want you to "refresh" your license every few years to make sure they can continue to afford there 8 vacation homes.
I found the easiest way to deal with the problem. I don't buy any more music from RIAA backed labels. It does mean a different selection of music. However, I've found some great stuff, which combined with all the CDs I already purchased, makes for a great library that keeps me happy while I code.
In 1996-97, I worked on a website called 1virtualplace.com for First Virtual Holdings, makers of the infamous VirtualPIN. A VirtualPIN was a unique identifier that a customer could use to buy something. Enter your VirtualPIN and click buy. One click to buy something. Of course you had to reply to an email to complete the purchase, but this is all about clicking buttons on a website (though, I must admit, I have not read through the patent).
The VirtualPIN made it possible to buy things with one click. We even worked on Java-based banner ads that could accept VirtualPINs to buy what the banner ad was advertising.
Because of all this crap Amazon is doing, I've quit buying from them. Just like with the RIAA, I won't give my money to people who only want to abuse the system every chance they get.
This may not be directly applicable (since the cost of a choice in a software program is usually minimal), but I've found it interesting to consider when designing a user experience.
Don't assume just Sony and M$. Go get a Wii instead. So far Nintendo has done none of what you say.
What I fail to understand is WHY anyone would give money to Sony or Microsoft? I don't like how either company behaves. They obviously have a very antagonistic relationship with their customers. Life is too short to put up with that kind of crap from someone you are giving your hard-earned money to.
Anyone remember Sony's PSP ad campaign with all the zombies licking their PSPs? I still see them around San Francisco. That pretty much says everything I need to know about what Sony thinks of its customers.
Slashdot Mirror
I can safely say they have the best customer service of any company I've dealt with in the past 10 years.
Love them, love them, love them, love them. Can't imagine the internet without them. I was never happier than the day I ditched Speakeasy (then owned by Best Buy) and got Sonic.net.
I would ditch my shit-tastic DirecTV box in a second for an Apple TV. I've wanted a Tivo version of my HD DirecTV box for years, but I'm now tired of waiting and could care less. My only holdback at this point is how to get HBO legally without a satellite of cable subscription. No, I won't pirate the content. I want to legally support the things I find entertaining.
MS writes crappy software. Next story please.
I'd go after things like Perforce and other content management systems. Heck, hack Perforce alone and you could potentially get access to hundreds of companies in Silicon Valley, including a few major CG animation studios, once your hacked version of Perforce has been installed.
This is one reason I rather prefer open source software. I suppose you could hack Subversion, but if you aren't part of the core maintainers, then I don't see it sticking.
the problem is that we continue to give licenses to pilot multi-thousand pound vehicles at high-speeds to practically anyone who applies. Why this guy doesn't loose his license forever is beyond me. Driving is a privilege. How about we start treating it that way instead of something any idiot can do.
Same here is San Francisco. They blame the bikers, but it is only a few bad bikers causing most of the bike drama. The real problem is the automobiles and their entitled belief the road was built for them. Beware any biker or pedestrian!
between a gay man and a woman. I happen to use lot of exclamation points and gooey terms in my texts!!!
XXXOOO,
--kev
I bike commute to work in San Francisco. If you aren't familiar with biking in SF, there is a lot of anger at bikes. Much of it is generated by Critical Mass. They bike-mob roads in SF on Friday nights once a month (IIRC). Not to mention the daily bad-behavior of a lot of bikers. Those of us using the bike as a commuting method are caught between the crazy bikers and anger drivers.
In most every instance when I was assulted I was using the lane (as allowed by CA state law) when the bike lane was blocked or otherwise unusable (in some case the road is so bad as to render the bike lane useless). Once my plastic, easily-moved, mirror bumped the side of a mini-van. The driver followed me four blocks and then swerved at me while I was in the bike lane waiting for the light. People are primed to flip out at the stupidest things.
I've seen the "thought process" when someone starts the automated "fucking bike" reaction and then they see the camera, at which point everything drops back down. I wouldn't believe it myself, but I see this in action every day. I'm beginning to understand why the Brits have CCTs everywhere. I don't see that happening in the US. Instead we will all just start recording each other and raising the demand for more lawyers. Rather sad if you ask me. I would prefer to live in a culture that valued personal responsibility instead of having to impose it with threat of revenge.
I'd suggest sticking a web-camera in a obvious place (or put a sign) and see if the action of "recording" will prevent people from stealing...
--kev
I've been biking to work for over 4 years now. About 3 months ago I attached a GoPro HD camera to my helmet to record my bike ride. It is very obvious on my helmet, impossible to miss if you see me on the bike.
Almost instantly I noticed a drop in car aggression towards me. And so far I've not had anymore "drivers get out of the car and threaten violence" situations. I decided on a camera for legal reasons. Police always told me whenever I reported something that it was my word against theirs. So I expected the camera to help with that. I was a bit surprised when a lot of the problems just stopped.
So anonymous behaviors extend into the real-world and are combatted in the same way. De-anonymousization...
--kev
Her off-hand comment about you working longer than she has been alive is illegal in California. If you were denied the job, you have a claim against them based on that comment. It is no different than any other comment or question about your personal life, which is irrelevant for hiring.
Have you looked at smaller companies. I work for an online education company. I love the job, they pay well, and I'm respected for being a 44 year old software developer. If you go after the Facebooks or Googles, things will be hard. Smaller companies, however, value the experience and are typically better for work-life balance. YMMV.
I've been working on an iPhone app called Phresheez, where the majority of the content is display via built-in web view in the native app. That let my partner in development make the Android version easily. Actually, he got the Android version working before I got the iPhone. And that was over 3 years ago.
It's proved to be an excellent way to manage the app. We still do a lot of native work (accessing sensors, custom features, in-app purchase, etc.), but the majority of user interaction takes place via a web view. It "talks" to the native app (via a delegate method on the iPhone, I don't know the Android details) and vise-versa.
The really wonderful part is that we can 'upgrade" the web part of the app at any time. As soon as the user restarts the app, they have the updated web app inside it. Our web app updates on a very regular cycle (a few times a week) versus the native apps which have been updated every few months as necessary (more on the Android than the iPhone, mainly due to easy of update with Android vs. iPhone). /. where the old is news again... :)
I went in with good expectations (been reading Green Lantern and DC in general since I was a kid). It was a lot of fun, tons of great lines, and the VFX were interesting. Of course you can always armchair quarterback to say what you think would be better. Instead of watching it with that kind of critical eye, I decided I was going to go along for the ride. So worth it. Saw it in 2D and I want to see it in 3D.
--kev
Time to cut Tennessee off from the rest of the Internet. How many more stupid laws are they going to pass in that state?
Support California Succession!
Agreed. I've read DC comics for 36+ years (started with the Flash) and I'm as excited as ever about the reboot. As long as good stories are told, does it really matter? The continuity will come back in the form of old names with new facades and different perspectives. I managed to survive Crisis on Infinite Earths, and the Crisises to follow, this reboot will be no different. Besides, my favorite character is being headlined with Flashpoint. What a great way to reboot the DC Universe. Geoff Johns has been building to this for awhile I suspect. Bring it on!
I'm more concerned about the digital release, but I totally get why DC is doing it. If you want the attention of the kids, be electric. Eventually they will find a paper comic and that will change their world.
I prop my iPad in front of me with the documentation on it. Better than a second monitor since I can take it with my laptop and still have my "two-monitor" config for developing while having documentation handy.
I'm a bare-metal scripter writing pipelines for VFX and CG production, with databases, queuing systems, etc. All the tools I've ever used on Linux can be compiled for the Mac. The Mac is really just a sexy BSD machine. And what about Xcode. I find it far nicer than the various attempts on Linux or whatever Microsoft is calling their dev environment now-a-days.
If you're gonna bash the Macs, at least use an argument that can hold some water.
Wow, I've been using a Mac for web and other development for years now. I don't bother with package managers on the Mac for the most part. I build my own versions of Python, PostgreSQL, and other tools that are part of my pipeline. I don't want to rely on tools owned by the OS. I've had too many OS upgrades (mainly on Linux) alter the tools I'm using and break things.
As for the emacs thing. Wow, get real and use vim. This is 2011 after all... :)
I've seen this at multiple places I've worked and its success varied depending on the skills of the IT staff. My last job was a VFX studio, where it was mostly Linux, some Windows, and some Macs. We opt'd for using Active Directory and providing interfaces to it using LDAP and NIS (Active Directory frankly rocks and I am not an MS fan by any stretch). We wrote command-line tools using Python that talked LDAP to the AD server and allowed us to add/retire users, groups, aliases, etc without using any MS GUIs. It has been solid since it was deployed. Of course we had to spend a good chunk of time writing those tools and I'm not a cheap developer. I think it was worth it though.
Of all the machines, the Macs have proved most problematic in getting them to play nicely (I love my Mac, but get the enterprise support down dammit!). It was party due to poor management of the Macs in years previous, partly to do with how Apple has wrapped the gooey BSD center. Snow Leopard has made it much easier. mDNS is a complete pain on a network of any appreciable size (especially if your switches and routers are kinda dumb). Do listen to its siren song.
As for whether or not you should do this, I typically defer to my users. I agree that users should operate with the tools that make them most productive. My new job is at a place that is mostly Windows. I asked for, and got, a Mac. They understood I wanted to be most efficient so I picked the tool I'm most happy with. I would really hate it if someone decided to alter my toolset without deep discussion. I would encourage you to talk with your users and balance your needs for infrastructure management with their desire to use tools they know and love.
I worked for EA Redwood Shores for over 2.5 years. It was a freaking mill. Work the people to death on games. The Godfather game (which was the last one I worked on), ended up with over 200 people on the project. 200 people to make what turned out to be a less-than-exciting game. The tech used to make the game was constantly changing. There were battles in the studio as to which toolsets should be used. Major decisions in level design (like scale of the assets) were still shifting even as the production deadlines loomed. Not that they cared. Six and seven day weeks became the norm. And much of that is uncompensated overtime (at least it was until they got dragged into court).
Which makes the marketing numbers even scarier. Their game productions are totally inefficient, littered with excesses and poor management, yet they still spend 3 times as much on marketing. Turd polishing really. Honestly, like many people have suggested, put the money into creating better development processes, free the game developers from the stupid marketing constraints put on them (so many times we made changes just to serve marketing). Let people focus on making games and they might surprise you and make a game people will actually want without being brain-drained into believing it is something they want.
I went back to working on visual effects since that struck me as a far saner industry.... :)
a bunch of people, sitting all around you, talking overly loud on their cell phones, while you are sitting there peacefully reading your book?
I want a bunch of people around me reading or sleeping, not talking on their cell phones.
All DRM does is provide the RIAA a way to change "format" anytime they want.
Think of how amazing DRM is for them. They no longer have to back a new physical format (8-track, vinal, CD, DVD audio, etc.). Instead they can just change how they encrypt the music and !!profit!! No more waiting for electronics companies to produce new hardware to play their content. They can just write a new piece of software and now you have buy all that music over again.
As many have pointed out, they just want to keep selling the same music to you over and over again. No new value really, they just want you to "refresh" your license every few years to make sure they can continue to afford there 8 vacation homes.
I found the easiest way to deal with the problem. I don't buy any more music from RIAA backed labels. It does mean a different selection of music. However, I've found some great stuff, which combined with all the CDs I already purchased, makes for a great library that keeps me happy while I code.
Okay, preaching to the choir complete...
In 1996-97, I worked on a website called 1virtualplace.com for First Virtual Holdings, makers of the infamous VirtualPIN. A VirtualPIN was a unique identifier that a customer could use to buy something. Enter your VirtualPIN and click buy. One click to buy something. Of course you had to reply to an email to complete the purchase, but this is all about clicking buttons on a website (though, I must admit, I have not read through the patent).
The VirtualPIN made it possible to buy things with one click. We even worked on Java-based banner ads that could accept VirtualPINs to buy what the banner ad was advertising.
Because of all this crap Amazon is doing, I've quit buying from them. Just like with the RIAA, I won't give my money to people who only want to abuse the system every chance they get.
More choices do not always lead to happiness.
0 56941-1933-1196-906983414B7F0000&pageNumber=1
i ng.pdf
http://www.sciammind.com/article.cfm?articleID=00
http://www.swarthmore.edu/SocSci/bschwar1/maximiz
This may not be directly applicable (since the cost of a choice in a software program is usually minimal), but I've found it interesting to consider when designing a user experience.
--kev
Don't assume just Sony and M$. Go get a Wii instead. So far Nintendo has done none of what you say.
What I fail to understand is WHY anyone would give money to Sony or Microsoft? I don't like how either company behaves. They obviously have a very antagonistic relationship with their customers. Life is too short to put up with that kind of crap from someone you are giving your hard-earned money to.
Anyone remember Sony's PSP ad campaign with all the zombies licking their PSPs? I still see them around San Francisco. That pretty much says everything I need to know about what Sony thinks of its customers.