1) We've got more coastline than California - and it's fresh water.
No. You've more shoreline, not coastline. You can only have a coastline if you've a sea or an ocean coast, and you have neither. Secondly, shoreline does not equal beaches (or the weather to spend time at the beaches). There's a reason you see people going to the beaches of California and Florida and not to the beaches of Michigan or Illinois.
We've got 4 seasons (which is good or bad depending on your preference).
Well, sure. 2 months of summer don't count.:)
More second homes than any other state (most on the water).
Which means that most of the population is non-permanent, which makes it extremely hard from a taxation and a state infrastructure perspective. And as anyone who has driven in Michigan can tell you, infrastructure in Michigan is horrible - bad roads, little to no public transportation, poor quality public schools etc. Hell, even the good parks in Michigan are private (e.g. the Fred Meijer sculpture park).
We've don't get earthquakes, hurricanes, forest fires, termites, poisonous spiders/snakes.
No, instead you have bad roads, ice storms, blizzards and it's nigh impossible flying, driving (or boating) into Michigan at any time of the year except maybe for those two months in summer.
We do get the occasional tornado, but far less than most of the midwest.
Comparing yourself against the midwest (with the exception of Chicago) is like comparing yourself with a short, ugly and dumb prostitute. You may be taller, less uglier and relatively not as unintelligent - but that's not saying much.
Education: we've got plenty of geek-schools.
Really? I can only think of one good school that's ranked well - UMich Ann Arbor. Compare this with, say, New England (Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT, Columbia etc), California (several UCs and national labs, Caltech, Stanford etc) and so on. Once again, Michigan may have more schools than, say, Kansas or Arkansas - but that's not saying much. I mean, just look at Wikipedia -- Michigan vs. Massachusetts or California.
Manufacturing. Does anyone care? We can build anything here - tech included
Of course. The American car industry has certainly shown us the quality of American manufacturing. Oh wait.
We've got an enormous set of technically capable people just waiting for companies to set up shop here.
You really feel so? I guess it depends on what you do.
Personally, a lot can be achieved in an hour long in-person client interaction than a day long meeting on the phone or over email.
The nuances and the ability to socialize are often lost resulting in an impersonal feel. So, I feel that while some business travel may be unnecessary based on what you do, most probably aren't.
Quick disclaimer - I'm a management consultant, so a lot of what I do involves client interaction.
Well, in just about all airports in the US, passengers flying First, Business or with Frequent Flier Status have separate lanes that are much faster.
Secondly, no one asks you to buy a bottle of water. Carry a water bottle and refill it at a fountain once you are done checking in. It's really not rocket science. Hell, some times it is cheaper to buy a water bottle at an airport store and refill it than buying a new bottle of water.
As a seasoned traveler, I could have told you that Clear wasn't going anywhere. Forget Orlando - New York on Monday mornings or O'Hare in winter make Orlando look like a walk in the park.
The problem with Clear is that they are not available at more than a couple of gates and terminals at any airport. So, you would end up going to that particular gate or terminal to get through Clear, as opposed to the one you are flying out of. Worse yet is that in some airports, they only have it available to passengers flying a certain airline (e.g. in Cincinnati, you can only go through Clear if you are flying Delta -- most American, US Air and United customers would have to go through good old TSA since the Delta terminal is not connected with any other terminal). Hell, they are not even available at all airports, which sort of defeats the complete purpose for a frequent flier.
Secondly, as a frequent flier, I simply go to the priority access lanes. If you've any kind of airline status, or if you're flying business/first, you get to go through a much shorter line, and do not have to stand behind muggles and grandma with her 500oz hair shampoo. These lines are shorter, and move much faster because seasoned and frequent fliers pack as little as they have to. For example, I can pretty much pack all that I need for a week in a laptop bag, including workout clothes and gym gear, books, emergency snacks etc. Throw in a garment bag and you've plenty of space for a vacation for a month. So, frequent flier lanes are also much faster because these people don't spend their time arguing with TSA to let them take their hair gel or water bottle through.
I must also say that I've seen a remarkable difference in TSA attitudes in the past couple of years. That helps, too.
through out history there are groups of people just like that. Nazi's,(insert race) supremeists, etc that try or desire to limit humans to one hair, skin, eye color combos which they view as superior. This is well documented. We need our diversity. It is a major part of us. With out it we are far weaker.
Including those with poor language skills, it would seem.
Well, given the fact that blondes may be gone in the next 100 years or so, mankind will have to resort to technology for the solution.
The same goes for several recessive traits (lighter eye color).
Besides, there is no other way to perfect this unless you've tried it a million times over. So, a few lawsuits are probably inevitable - but only until we figure out how to do it right.
At some point, technology works faster than evolution.
Sooner or later, we will reach a point where you can do more than just pick and choose sex and hair color. And that is inevitable.
If anything, I look forward to the days of super-humans who are smarter, faster, more nimble, more capable and more accomplished than their predecessors, when a super-human will be the new human.
After all, we are here as the pinnacle of those that died before us through evolution. I would rather speed up the process and help us get there faster.
If I could, I would choose all the best traits possible for my child (nature), and good resources for him or her to be successful (nurture). And I simply cannot understand how someone else wouldn't want to do the same for their progeny.
After all, think of the children - don't you want the best for them?
Hahaha. I don't mind the emptiness; however, I just don't prefer to do it more than a few days a year.
Having spent most of my life in what I'd term "mega-cities" and "global cities" (across all 3 categories - look both up on Wikipedia), I cannot imagine living in such a large, empty land for long.
My girlfriend's family lives in the Middle-of-nowhere, Oklahoma. It's great, once a couple of years during the holidays. Otherwise, I just can't find much to do.
Now, it's a very different thing when I go on hikes or climbs - in these cases, I am actually "doing" something (i.e. climbing, hiking, camping) and I don't find the need to "do" something else. But living my daily life without the varieties offered by cities? No way.
Another factor is food and diet. As a strict vegetarian who tries to eat only organic food, I pretty much would have to grow my own food in a place like the one you describe. If I crave sushi or Indian food or a Greek wrap at 2 am, I can get it at 2 am. Not to mention book stores, university libraries, museums, art exhibitions, night life etc.
Not to mention the fact that in a big city, you can pretty much find anything to do (new hobbies, startups, study groups, educational institutions, networking contacts etc).
Having spent a little time in relatively smaller "cities" (e.g. Cincinnati, which is basically a smaller town), any place with less than a million or so would be depressing.
Having spent a summer at Los Alamos in NM and having traveled frequently to Boulder/Denver in CO on business, I can certainly see how NM/CO could have some great places to live.
However, I like living in urban areas with good public transportation, easy access to restaurants that are open past 10, home delivery etc. And more importantly, access to good education, libraries and all that good stuff.
Which is why I live in New England, and would never ever consider moving out. I live in Greater Boston, and I've a train station about a mile from my apartment that will take me to downtown Boston, Cambridge and anywhere else. And the beach is just a 2 mile bike ride away. And do I want to go to New York? New Jersey? DC? Philadelphia? They're all short train rides away.
Summers here are gorgeous (it's in the mid 50s now), fall and spring are nice and cool. There is a lot of snow in winter, but they are nowhere as cold as they could be (then again, I love places with cold weather, so I'd hate to live in a place that got too hot - and snow isn't a problem for me). Either way, except for the winter, it is lush green all year around. Despite this, my allergies are almost always unaffected in New England compared to most other parts of the world.
The best part? Great educational institutions all around, even some of the public schools here beat private schools in other parts of the country. Fantastic job opportunities (high tech, biotech, VC - you name it). Very intellectual and open minded population (at least around the Boston/Cambridge area).
If you can put up with the crazy driving and the constant road work, it's one of the best places to live.
Fair enough. A case of mistaken terminology, which is why I wasn't sure what the OP was talking about.
To me, east is east coast - which is what threw me off. The east coast (at least the North East) has plenty of water, lush greenery and gorgeous weather. And while there are occasional natural disasters, they are far and few in between. So, I was wondering why anyone would want to leave here.
That said, I have spent time in some of the states that you mentioned - so, I can totally see why people would want to move there.
As far as Texan companies are concerned, does it surprise anyone? I mean, it is Texas that we're talking about here...
Some of us do outdoorsy activities a little more regularly than that - how does at least every other week (if not more often) sound?
Besides, SUVs are highly utilitarian, and screw everything else - I like them for their sheer usefulness factor.
For example, I just drove across all of New England for a move today - and for the umpteenth time, I realized just how useful my SUV was. Yes, it sounds cliched. And yes, I use the the public transportation, motorcycles & bicycles. Hell, I don't even drive my car during the workweek (since I fly every week for my job). But despite this, I love my SUV and wouldn't have it any other way.
As someone who flies at least twice a week (with more than 45 trips already this year), I have a slightly different view.
I've dietary restrictions (I'm a vegetarian and I'm allergic to eggs), but I still find a lot of good airport food. It's really not all that bad as people make it out to be. You just need to look in the right places, and there are plenty of good options. Similarly, water and restrooms are also taken for granted.
Also, most frequently flier business travelers that I know have EVDO cards installed, so they don't necessarily care about WiFi. If anything, a lot of companies explicitly prohibit using public/free wifi for work out of valid, security concerns.
So, my biggest need that most airports lack is power sources. Places where I can plug in my laptops, my blackberry or my bluetooth headset and charge it. If anything, most international airports are really good about this -- it is only US airports where I find this severely lacking.
Ha, and what are they going to do when people mod their vehicles to circumvent this?
I know that they are talking about cars and not motorcycles -- but as someone who rides motorcycles, speed in a straight line isn't the hard part, speed in turns is. A lot of accidents are caused because people try to handle turns fast and fail.
Or cause idiots tried wheelies when they had no clue.
Excellent point, especially about interesting problems.
Not coding per se, but I also find that I enjoy doing things and dedicating myself to them if the problems are interesting enough. I'm not talking about work, though, just things I do on my personal time.
For instance, sometime back, I went through a phase of modding my motorcycle - I did everything imaginable, pulled it apart, added custom mods, added jets, changed the exhaust, tuned performance to be race quality, modded the suspension, included angel/demon lights, did some crazy body work etc. My personal challenge was to build a bike that was race quality, and to see how much modding I could do to just about every single component of the motorcycle.
Sometimes, Lego has the same charm for me - working with Mindstorms, I worked on projects that would immerse my every free moment until I knew that I could pretty much do anything I wanted, given enough time and resources.
In fact, this need be anything related to technology at all. It could be completely different. A few years ago, climbing had the same charm for me, and I learnt how to climb rock, ice, mixed; I summited a few peaks etc. Lately, I've been fascinated by the concept of "hacking" my body, to see if I can bodybuild as a vegetarian. And so, the past few months, I've been working out every free moment, monitoring what I eat at a micro level to see how much muscle I can build and how much fat I can cut.
To me, if a problem is interesting enough, I can lose myself in it.
For anyone who seriously uses Excel, there is no comparison. I just gave Calc a serious try, and I gave up after a week.
Secondly, there is the issue of compatibility. I cannot go about importing every single dependent spreadsheet or presentation, hoping that all the features came through. I spent some time importing and exporting between the two applications and gave up. Sooner or later, you spend more time fixing the discrepancies rather than working on the real content.
Besides, you cannot very well go to a client executive and email them a presentation made in some open source application when all they have known about is MS Office. Yes, in the ideal, imaginary world that most Slashdotters seem to be a part of, it will happen -- but it is quite impossible in the real world.
MS Office is a thing of beauty - in terms of usability, support and features. OO is great for amateur users, but for those that use Office on a daily basis.
Whatever kind of food you want whenever you want? Hell, great street food at 3 am on a Tuesday? Great job opportunities in just about every industry? Great public transportation? Excellent ethnic cuisines from around the world? Stores where you can pretty much find anything? Groceries delivered to your door? Great bar scene and gorgeous women of all kinds?
Slashdot Mirror
Why? Great public transportation, good night scene, great restaurants and you've good schools (tech and otherwise) and lots of startups.
If you live in a good neighborhood (not counting suburbs - say, Midtown or Buckhead), you can have a great life.
Besides, there's something to be said about UGA and GSU girls. ;)
No. You've more shoreline, not coastline. You can only have a coastline if you've a sea or an ocean coast, and you have neither. Secondly, shoreline does not equal beaches (or the weather to spend time at the beaches). There's a reason you see people going to the beaches of California and Florida and not to the beaches of Michigan or Illinois.
Well, sure. 2 months of summer don't count. :)
Which means that most of the population is non-permanent, which makes it extremely hard from a taxation and a state infrastructure perspective. And as anyone who has driven in Michigan can tell you, infrastructure in Michigan is horrible - bad roads, little to no public transportation, poor quality public schools etc. Hell, even the good parks in Michigan are private (e.g. the Fred Meijer sculpture park).
No, instead you have bad roads, ice storms, blizzards and it's nigh impossible flying, driving (or boating) into Michigan at any time of the year except maybe for those two months in summer.
Comparing yourself against the midwest (with the exception of Chicago) is like comparing yourself with a short, ugly and dumb prostitute. You may be taller, less uglier and relatively not as unintelligent - but that's not saying much.
Really? I can only think of one good school that's ranked well - UMich Ann Arbor. Compare this with, say, New England (Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT, Columbia etc), California (several UCs and national labs, Caltech, Stanford etc) and so on. Once again, Michigan may have more schools than, say, Kansas or Arkansas - but that's not saying much. I mean, just look at Wikipedia -- Michigan vs. Massachusetts or California.
Of course. The American car industry has certainly shown us the quality of American manufacturing. Oh wait.
Eh?
You really feel so? I guess it depends on what you do.
Personally, a lot can be achieved in an hour long in-person client interaction than a day long meeting on the phone or over email.
The nuances and the ability to socialize are often lost resulting in an impersonal feel. So, I feel that while some business travel may be unnecessary based on what you do, most probably aren't.
Quick disclaimer - I'm a management consultant, so a lot of what I do involves client interaction.
I agree with you in principle, but I do not consider expedited security in airports to be frivolous.
For those of us who fly often (8 flights in just this month alone), such things definitely have their value if implemented properly.
Also, a lot of companies also pay their employees to subscribe to such services (especially when the employee has to travel a lot).
Well, in just about all airports in the US, passengers flying First, Business or with Frequent Flier Status have separate lanes that are much faster.
Secondly, no one asks you to buy a bottle of water. Carry a water bottle and refill it at a fountain once you are done checking in. It's really not rocket science. Hell, some times it is cheaper to buy a water bottle at an airport store and refill it than buying a new bottle of water.
As a seasoned traveler, I could have told you that Clear wasn't going anywhere. Forget Orlando - New York on Monday mornings or O'Hare in winter make Orlando look like a walk in the park.
The problem with Clear is that they are not available at more than a couple of gates and terminals at any airport. So, you would end up going to that particular gate or terminal to get through Clear, as opposed to the one you are flying out of. Worse yet is that in some airports, they only have it available to passengers flying a certain airline (e.g. in Cincinnati, you can only go through Clear if you are flying Delta -- most American, US Air and United customers would have to go through good old TSA since the Delta terminal is not connected with any other terminal). Hell, they are not even available at all airports, which sort of defeats the complete purpose for a frequent flier.
Secondly, as a frequent flier, I simply go to the priority access lanes. If you've any kind of airline status, or if you're flying business/first, you get to go through a much shorter line, and do not have to stand behind muggles and grandma with her 500oz hair shampoo. These lines are shorter, and move much faster because seasoned and frequent fliers pack as little as they have to. For example, I can pretty much pack all that I need for a week in a laptop bag, including workout clothes and gym gear, books, emergency snacks etc. Throw in a garment bag and you've plenty of space for a vacation for a month. So, frequent flier lanes are also much faster because these people don't spend their time arguing with TSA to let them take their hair gel or water bottle through.
I must also say that I've seen a remarkable difference in TSA attitudes in the past couple of years. That helps, too.
Including those with poor language skills, it would seem.
Well, given the fact that blondes may be gone in the next 100 years or so, mankind will have to resort to technology for the solution.
The same goes for several recessive traits (lighter eye color).
Besides, there is no other way to perfect this unless you've tried it a million times over. So, a few lawsuits are probably inevitable - but only until we figure out how to do it right.
At some point, technology works faster than evolution.
Sooner or later, we will reach a point where you can do more than just pick and choose sex and hair color. And that is inevitable.
If anything, I look forward to the days of super-humans who are smarter, faster, more nimble, more capable and more accomplished than their predecessors, when a super-human will be the new human.
After all, we are here as the pinnacle of those that died before us through evolution. I would rather speed up the process and help us get there faster.
If I could, I would choose all the best traits possible for my child (nature), and good resources for him or her to be successful (nurture). And I simply cannot understand how someone else wouldn't want to do the same for their progeny.
After all, think of the children - don't you want the best for them?
Hahaha. I don't mind the emptiness; however, I just don't prefer to do it more than a few days a year.
Having spent most of my life in what I'd term "mega-cities" and "global cities" (across all 3 categories - look both up on Wikipedia), I cannot imagine living in such a large, empty land for long.
My girlfriend's family lives in the Middle-of-nowhere, Oklahoma. It's great, once a couple of years during the holidays. Otherwise, I just can't find much to do.
Now, it's a very different thing when I go on hikes or climbs - in these cases, I am actually "doing" something (i.e. climbing, hiking, camping) and I don't find the need to "do" something else. But living my daily life without the varieties offered by cities? No way.
Another factor is food and diet. As a strict vegetarian who tries to eat only organic food, I pretty much would have to grow my own food in a place like the one you describe. If I crave sushi or Indian food or a Greek wrap at 2 am, I can get it at 2 am. Not to mention book stores, university libraries, museums, art exhibitions, night life etc.
Not to mention the fact that in a big city, you can pretty much find anything to do (new hobbies, startups, study groups, educational institutions, networking contacts etc).
Having spent a little time in relatively smaller "cities" (e.g. Cincinnati, which is basically a smaller town), any place with less than a million or so would be depressing.
Having spent a summer at Los Alamos in NM and having traveled frequently to Boulder/Denver in CO on business, I can certainly see how NM/CO could have some great places to live.
However, I like living in urban areas with good public transportation, easy access to restaurants that are open past 10, home delivery etc. And more importantly, access to good education, libraries and all that good stuff.
Which is why I live in New England, and would never ever consider moving out. I live in Greater Boston, and I've a train station about a mile from my apartment that will take me to downtown Boston, Cambridge and anywhere else. And the beach is just a 2 mile bike ride away. And do I want to go to New York? New Jersey? DC? Philadelphia? They're all short train rides away.
Summers here are gorgeous (it's in the mid 50s now), fall and spring are nice and cool. There is a lot of snow in winter, but they are nowhere as cold as they could be (then again, I love places with cold weather, so I'd hate to live in a place that got too hot - and snow isn't a problem for me). Either way, except for the winter, it is lush green all year around. Despite this, my allergies are almost always unaffected in New England compared to most other parts of the world.
The best part? Great educational institutions all around, even some of the public schools here beat private schools in other parts of the country. Fantastic job opportunities (high tech, biotech, VC - you name it). Very intellectual and open minded population (at least around the Boston/Cambridge area).
If you can put up with the crazy driving and the constant road work, it's one of the best places to live.
Fair enough. A case of mistaken terminology, which is why I wasn't sure what the OP was talking about.
To me, east is east coast - which is what threw me off. The east coast (at least the North East) has plenty of water, lush greenery and gorgeous weather. And while there are occasional natural disasters, they are far and few in between. So, I was wondering why anyone would want to leave here.
That said, I have spent time in some of the states that you mentioned - so, I can totally see why people would want to move there.
As far as Texan companies are concerned, does it surprise anyone? I mean, it is Texas that we're talking about here...
What? That's a confusing statement - are you complaining about people moving west, or are you talking about something else entirely?
And why would anyone want to go west? Hot weather, no water, natural disasters...
That extra space comes in *really* handy when you're trying to buy furniture, move kayaks, bicycles, pack plants and transport pets + people.
Do I do it every day? No. But it definitely beats the inconvenience of having to rent every time I need a bigger car.
Some of us do outdoorsy activities a little more regularly than that - how does at least every other week (if not more often) sound?
Besides, SUVs are highly utilitarian, and screw everything else - I like them for their sheer usefulness factor.
For example, I just drove across all of New England for a move today - and for the umpteenth time, I realized just how useful my SUV was. Yes, it sounds cliched. And yes, I use the the public transportation, motorcycles & bicycles. Hell, I don't even drive my car during the workweek (since I fly every week for my job). But despite this, I love my SUV and wouldn't have it any other way.
As someone who flies at least twice a week (with more than 45 trips already this year), I have a slightly different view.
I've dietary restrictions (I'm a vegetarian and I'm allergic to eggs), but I still find a lot of good airport food. It's really not all that bad as people make it out to be. You just need to look in the right places, and there are plenty of good options. Similarly, water and restrooms are also taken for granted.
Also, most frequently flier business travelers that I know have EVDO cards installed, so they don't necessarily care about WiFi. If anything, a lot of companies explicitly prohibit using public/free wifi for work out of valid, security concerns.
So, my biggest need that most airports lack is power sources. Places where I can plug in my laptops, my blackberry or my bluetooth headset and charge it. If anything, most international airports are really good about this -- it is only US airports where I find this severely lacking.
Well, I remember reading about this elsewhere and that did not mention the ability to turn off the device by the rider.
And now I notice that the story reads -
Interesting... I wonder if it was a post-backlash PR attempt.
Ha, and what are they going to do when people mod their vehicles to circumvent this?
I know that they are talking about cars and not motorcycles -- but as someone who rides motorcycles, speed in a straight line isn't the hard part, speed in turns is. A lot of accidents are caused because people try to handle turns fast and fail.
Or cause idiots tried wheelies when they had no clue.
Well, the Catholic church doesn't help, either.
Because obviously, dying of AIDS as a pious loser is better than using rubber when you have sex.
I walked around town today. I couldn't find one.
Umm, motorcycle carburetor jetting isn't quite the same.
Excellent point, especially about interesting problems.
Not coding per se, but I also find that I enjoy doing things and dedicating myself to them if the problems are interesting enough. I'm not talking about work, though, just things I do on my personal time.
For instance, sometime back, I went through a phase of modding my motorcycle - I did everything imaginable, pulled it apart, added custom mods, added jets, changed the exhaust, tuned performance to be race quality, modded the suspension, included angel/demon lights, did some crazy body work etc. My personal challenge was to build a bike that was race quality, and to see how much modding I could do to just about every single component of the motorcycle.
Sometimes, Lego has the same charm for me - working with Mindstorms, I worked on projects that would immerse my every free moment until I knew that I could pretty much do anything I wanted, given enough time and resources.
In fact, this need be anything related to technology at all. It could be completely different. A few years ago, climbing had the same charm for me, and I learnt how to climb rock, ice, mixed; I summited a few peaks etc. Lately, I've been fascinated by the concept of "hacking" my body, to see if I can bodybuild as a vegetarian. And so, the past few months, I've been working out every free moment, monitoring what I eat at a micro level to see how much muscle I can build and how much fat I can cut.
To me, if a problem is interesting enough, I can lose myself in it.
For anyone who seriously uses Excel, there is no comparison. I just gave Calc a serious try, and I gave up after a week.
Secondly, there is the issue of compatibility. I cannot go about importing every single dependent spreadsheet or presentation, hoping that all the features came through. I spent some time importing and exporting between the two applications and gave up. Sooner or later, you spend more time fixing the discrepancies rather than working on the real content.
Besides, you cannot very well go to a client executive and email them a presentation made in some open source application when all they have known about is MS Office. Yes, in the ideal, imaginary world that most Slashdotters seem to be a part of, it will happen -- but it is quite impossible in the real world.
MS Office is a thing of beauty - in terms of usability, support and features. OO is great for amateur users, but for those that use Office on a daily basis.
And if you ran marathons, your knees (and ankles) would be in horrible shape as you get older, and your health care would shoot up.
Whatever kind of food you want whenever you want? Hell, great street food at 3 am on a Tuesday? Great job opportunities in just about every industry? Great public transportation? Excellent ethnic cuisines from around the world? Stores where you can pretty much find anything? Groceries delivered to your door? Great bar scene and gorgeous women of all kinds?
Didn't think so.