(Disclosure: I am 22 and a recent graduate...I live in a ski resort and work in a hotel)
You know, I am "taking some time off". Right now I live in Vail, CO. This summer I plan to move to France, because its something I always wanted to do. And after that I think I might start looking at working in the "real world" again.
Many people have told me that the more I am away, the harder it will become to get back into a career. Well, I'm sure they're right. I have no question that I will regret the decision to spend these years traveling and enjoying life. But I am also sure that I would regret not doing it if I didn't. I refuse to spend my ENTIRE LIFE trying to do the right thing and choose the right path to reach some goal. What goal? How will I know when I succeeded? The view of life that so many people seem to have is some sort of staircase, designed like a maze and we're all racing to the top. Take a wrong turn and you'll never make it to the top. Stop climbing and you will get left behind.
I actually have insider info on the top of the staircase. There is no top. Eventually you will just die, somewhere on the staircase. So are you willing to make all of your life choices based on a goal of getting higher up this thing? What is the point of that? The rewards to those who make it further up the staircase are significant, but sadly the mind set required to climb that high makes it difficult to enjoy them.
The fact is life is nasty, brutish in short. The best career advice, in my opinion ( of course, I may feel differently in 20 years) is to try and find happiness.
Of course, the line that you can do whatever you want is a lie. You can't, but happiness must exist without being a film director or a rock musician. Or Larry Ellison. The risk when you do what I am doing is that you will have a typical crisis and start planning your new invention or dj career. Or even start writing your novel. The only way to be rich is to work very, very hard. Happiness however, may be a little easier. (oooh I am rambling)
Thankfully, we don't have to stress about this. We live in a diverse world, if America decides that it should stagnate, which seems to be in at the moment, so be it. Other places won't and technology will continue to improve. America well join the bandwagon or lose the race. Diversity is good.
I'm currently the Chief Scientist here at Ai. Working here is like being a character in a Neal Stephenson novel. We're making child machines which can learn language in the same way as human infants do. We're based in a huge mansion in Israel. We watch movies in the atomic bomb shelter. We jack in to the network using wireless technology. It's cool, man.
So, in fact, the creator of MegaHal is in fact the brains behind this outfit!
The fact is that real actors will always be cheaper. To make a convincing digital human takes (currently) about ten people who all get paid at least $40k a year. There are plenty of actors that will work for free...or next to nothing.
There's no way that a digital actor will ever make economic sense. Even if at some point it is cheaper to make a huge budget action movie all digital the digital actors are still going to need voices...and motion capture...I can't see a day when its cheaper to hire talented artists and animators than a semi-competent actor.
Okay, I'll answer a troll. Like a fool. No, there is not an equivalent free CLIENT os. True. But man, SQL server....jeez. I can't believe you think that. I suppose that PostGreSQL is just a myth. Oh well, my mistake. Yeah, and visual studio...a glorified text editor, just like the GNU tools...and the equivelent. I will avoid an ad hominim attack, but I think that your opinions are based on your not using the alternatives. Except on the client OS. You are right there.
Oh yeah, and don't forget embedded systems. That is a huge, important and growing market segment that may BE computing in a few years. Microsoft bloatware has no chance in embedded systems...EVERYONE uses linux in embeded...or QNX...or Lynx...or propretary. Anyone seen a car with windows CE? Or a FedEx shipping scanner? Or a radar screen...or....
Microsoft is horribly evil and their products suck. I conceed this point. I think they may have even broken, or at least stretched, the law a few times.
Point 2: I work at a hotel (in Vail...I prefer QOL over Quality of Job). We use UNIX for most of are stuff, because the software we, and 98% of all hotels, need to run to function runs on UNIX. Most user computers are Windows machines...crappy ones. They are used for email, web and Word Processing. But mostly they are just fancy telnet clients.
Like many, many companies and industries that do real enterprise computing we need serious computers that don't crash for the server. Running serious database software. There is essentially no way that microsoft will ever convince hotels, banks, wal-mart, Kroger, safeway, hertz, American Airlines, SABRE, aol, earthlink, DirectTV, blockbuster, etc to switch to an NT server. I doubt they could trick any software developers to making the enterprise software for NT. This is our safety net. As long as the server space is worth millions, and the cost of changing to high, and the old stuff too valuable...Microsoft will never have control over anything but the consumer. Yes we should be paranoid, because Microsoft is paranoid, that's how they succeed. But lets not conceed defeat, keep on fighting, and remember that the enterprise is ours. (us being the UNIX world...if you think us ought to be free-software...how the hell can something free lose? The price is right...)
Tell that to the company that was Space Imaging's competition...they had two "reliable traditional rockets" blow up on the launch pad...and they went out of business. (those satellites cost a lot...)
Everything is risky. Yes, the space shuttle is lame, but I think that NASA is doing a fine job otherwise.
Yes, this is dishonest crap, and yes, no one should trust advice from people who stand to gain from you choice. But peoples do. Companies make ridiculous assertions all the time in their pr, and people buy it.
Like movies. I hear time and time again that such and such movie is "supposed to be really good" from friends, usually before it comes out. Where did they hear it was good? From the PR departments of the studios of course...but that didn't stop them from buying a ticket.
I hate to do this, but this arguement...well its just like the Microsoft arguement, ie, irrelevent. Linux should really be compared only to Windows 2000 Pro, not Windows 95. Of course, this is just the sort of lie of omission that Microsoft likes to use, so maybe we ought to just play their game and say the same thing.
I am depressed. I don't think we can beat Microsoft, I really don't. Ask any non-technical person what they think of Microsoft and they weill just say what Microsoft says, that all MS is guilty of is making better software. We all know that's true, but we have no money and the media could care less what we think.
Hell, Microsoft has their own news network if they need it. All Microsoft wants to do is kill Linux on the server. And all they need to do is say that its bad and Joe Blow CEO will feel uneasy enough to choose NT instead. And honestly, 99% of those servers will work fine with NT. It will cost more, but the CEOs don't know that and besides, if they think Linux can hurt their company...
Arrgg. We just can't beat these guys. Sad, sad, sad. The worst thing is that the "good guys" don't have the stomach to fight as dirty as Microsoft, ie, lie (rightly so). So we will be destroyed, or at least marginalized. Unless the goverment starts enforcing the anti-trust laws again (hahahahahah) we're screwed. As is the beef industry...and publishing....and entertainment.......
Very interesting...I can't imagine that the higher-ups passed on this one! The copy there (all visible if you read the source) is very...odd. Especially considering they call the movie Final Fantasy Hentai!
Even better, the film is probably rendered in layers, so that each character is isolated and then recombined in a 2d composite. Still, changing the film would be very difficult, and the cost of doing this prohibitive.
Just like to point out that OSX final was released yesterday...no sense in caring of course, its all much more interesting to see screen shots of WindowsXP...
I am a freelance computer animator. I have two "personal" computers. If this ever comes to pass, all of us who do serious work that requires serious muscle aren't going to be able to use a thin client. Graphics is not a spreadsheet. We also need huge amounts of storage and memory...I think the profesionals will keep the pc alive. And Linux will keep it free.
EXACTLY. So, what you are saying is that CDs provide more value, so people have insentive to buy them for the inherent superiority over the mp3. So maybe the RIAA should try competing instead of litigating away the competition.
This is how the movie business works. The way people make it in both industries (and to a lesser extent most others)is by kissing ass and making connections. Both businesses work on the same model, known as "Absolute Evil and Greed" in industry parlance. They are both effectivly interchangable outgrowths of the enormous Los Angeles bullshit industry; a bunch of spoilt adults who think because they have no tangable skills they are entitled to a huge pile of cash for essentially nothing. Most of the people who make most of the money do none of the work. What work they do consists of shmoozing at parties...and making phone calls. If these execs, known as "bastards" in the business, have any, actual no-fun boring work to do they force their unpaid interns to do it (known as "exploited slaves" in the business). These interns work hard to prove they are good at making copies and stacking cookies, as these are the skills that demonstrate your innate ability to run a major corporation. The actual work is done by hard working, under-paid working class stiffs, or over-paid unionized stiffs that pull 14 hour days 365 days a year.
What exactly is Microsoft trying to say? I really don't understand. Do they think that the GPL should be illegal or what? Aside from being blatantly unconstitutional, that would be just, well, stupid.
I hope that no one, especially not in the government, is falling for this blatant BS. Its obvious that Microsoft is worried that the government might use open source softwate instead of Microsoft. So they are making these retardo statements so that the government buys more of their products.
Mod this down, I don't care...I'm too angry to be coherent.
---
What I resent is not the implication that college graduates are better qualified (I think that the average college graduate programmer is more skilled than the average programmer that didn't go to college. This doesn't preclude the existance of very skilled non-grads and incompetent grads.) I pissed off when people tell be that college some how sucks the creativity out of people. That is obviously untrue. Do I need to provide a list of succesful, creative college grads to back that up or what? Give people credit, we are capable of seperating the useful from the useless, even in our classes.
Slashdot Mirror
(Disclosure: I am 22 and a recent graduate...I live in a ski resort and work in a hotel)
You know, I am "taking some time off". Right now I live in Vail, CO. This summer I plan to move to France, because its something I always wanted to do. And after that I think I might start looking at working in the "real world" again.
Many people have told me that the more I am away, the harder it will become to get back into a career. Well, I'm sure they're right. I have no question that I will regret the decision to spend these years traveling and enjoying life. But I am also sure that I would regret not doing it if I didn't. I refuse to spend my ENTIRE LIFE trying to do the right thing and choose the right path to reach some goal. What goal? How will I know when I succeeded? The view of life that so many people seem to have is some sort of staircase, designed like a maze and we're all racing to the top. Take a wrong turn and you'll never make it to the top. Stop climbing and you will get left behind.
I actually have insider info on the top of the staircase. There is no top. Eventually you will just die, somewhere on the staircase. So are you willing to make all of your life choices based on a goal of getting higher up this thing? What is the point of that? The rewards to those who make it further up the staircase are significant, but sadly the mind set required to climb that high makes it difficult to enjoy them.
The fact is life is nasty, brutish in short. The best career advice, in my opinion ( of course, I may feel differently in 20 years) is to try and find happiness.
Of course, the line that you can do whatever you want is a lie. You can't, but happiness must exist without being a film director or a rock musician. Or Larry Ellison. The risk when you do what I am doing is that you will have a typical crisis and start planning your new invention or dj career. Or even start writing your novel. The only way to be rich is to work very, very hard. Happiness however, may be a little easier. (oooh I am rambling)
Thankfully, we don't have to stress about this. We live in a diverse world, if America decides that it should stagnate, which seems to be in at the moment, so be it. Other places won't and technology will continue to improve. America well join the bandwagon or lose the race. Diversity is good.
Interestingly enough, from Jason Hutchens' website:
So, in fact, the creator of MegaHal is in fact the brains behind this outfit!
The fact is that real actors will always be cheaper. To make a convincing digital human takes (currently) about ten people who all get paid at least $40k a year. There are plenty of actors that will work for free...or next to nothing.
There's no way that a digital actor will ever make economic sense. Even if at some point it is cheaper to make a huge budget action movie all digital the digital actors are still going to need voices...and motion capture...I can't see a day when its cheaper to hire talented artists and animators than a semi-competent actor.
---
Okay, I'll answer a troll. Like a fool. No, there is not an equivalent free CLIENT os. True. But man, SQL server....jeez. I can't believe you think that. I suppose that PostGreSQL is just a myth. Oh well, my mistake. Yeah, and visual studio...a glorified text editor, just like the GNU tools...and the equivelent. I will avoid an ad hominim attack, but I think that your opinions are based on your not using the alternatives. Except on the client OS. You are right there.
---
Oh yeah, and don't forget embedded systems. That is a huge, important and growing market segment that may BE computing in a few years. Microsoft bloatware has no chance in embedded systems...EVERYONE uses linux in embeded...or QNX...or Lynx...or propretary. Anyone seen a car with windows CE? Or a FedEx shipping scanner? Or a radar screen...or....
---
Microsoft is horribly evil and their products suck. I conceed this point. I think they may have even broken, or at least stretched, the law a few times.
Point 2: I work at a hotel (in Vail...I prefer QOL over Quality of Job). We use UNIX for most of are stuff, because the software we, and 98% of all hotels, need to run to function runs on UNIX. Most user computers are Windows machines...crappy ones. They are used for email, web and Word Processing. But mostly they are just fancy telnet clients.
Like many, many companies and industries that do real enterprise computing we need serious computers that don't crash for the server. Running serious database software. There is essentially no way that microsoft will ever convince hotels, banks, wal-mart, Kroger, safeway, hertz, American Airlines, SABRE, aol, earthlink, DirectTV, blockbuster, etc to switch to an NT server. I doubt they could trick any software developers to making the enterprise software for NT. This is our safety net. As long as the server space is worth millions, and the cost of changing to high, and the old stuff too valuable...Microsoft will never have control over anything but the consumer. Yes we should be paranoid, because Microsoft is paranoid, that's how they succeed. But lets not conceed defeat, keep on fighting, and remember that the enterprise is ours. (us being the UNIX world...if you think us ought to be free-software...how the hell can something free lose? The price is right...)
---
Tell that to the company that was Space Imaging's competition...they had two "reliable traditional rockets" blow up on the launch pad...and they went out of business. (those satellites cost a lot...) Everything is risky. Yes, the space shuttle is lame, but I think that NASA is doing a fine job otherwise.
---
Like movies. I hear time and time again that such and such movie is "supposed to be really good" from friends, usually before it comes out. Where did they hear it was good? From the PR departments of the studios of course...but that didn't stop them from buying a ticket.
---
I hate to do this, but this arguement...well its just like the Microsoft arguement, ie, irrelevent. Linux should really be compared only to Windows 2000 Pro, not Windows 95. Of course, this is just the sort of lie of omission that Microsoft likes to use, so maybe we ought to just play their game and say the same thing.
---
I am depressed. I don't think we can beat Microsoft, I really don't. Ask any non-technical person what they think of Microsoft and they weill just say what Microsoft says, that all MS is guilty of is making better software. We all know that's true, but we have no money and the media could care less what we think.
Hell, Microsoft has their own news network if they need it. All Microsoft wants to do is kill Linux on the server. And all they need to do is say that its bad and Joe Blow CEO will feel uneasy enough to choose NT instead. And honestly, 99% of those servers will work fine with NT. It will cost more, but the CEOs don't know that and besides, if they think Linux can hurt their company...
Arrgg. We just can't beat these guys. Sad, sad, sad. The worst thing is that the "good guys" don't have the stomach to fight as dirty as Microsoft, ie, lie (rightly so). So we will be destroyed, or at least marginalized. Unless the goverment starts enforcing the anti-trust laws again (hahahahahah) we're screwed. As is the beef industry...and publishing....and entertainment.......
---
Very interesting...I can't imagine that the higher-ups passed on this one! The copy there (all visible if you read the source) is very...odd. Especially considering they call the movie Final Fantasy Hentai!
---
Even better, the film is probably rendered in layers, so that each character is isolated and then recombined in a 2d composite. Still, changing the film would be very difficult, and the cost of doing this prohibitive.
---
Just like to point out that OSX final was released yesterday...no sense in caring of course, its all much more interesting to see screen shots of WindowsXP...
---
I am a freelance computer animator. I have two "personal" computers. If this ever comes to pass, all of us who do serious work that requires serious muscle aren't going to be able to use a thin client. Graphics is not a spreadsheet. We also need huge amounts of storage and memory...I think the profesionals will keep the pc alive. And Linux will keep it free.
---
Avery Brooks
---
This will bring a whole new definition to the word "warez"
---
---
EXACTLY. So, what you are saying is that CDs provide more value, so people have insentive to buy them for the inherent superiority over the mp3. So maybe the RIAA should try competing instead of litigating away the competition.
---
This is how the movie business works. The way people make it in both industries (and to a lesser extent most others)is by kissing ass and making connections. Both businesses work on the same model, known as "Absolute Evil and Greed" in industry parlance. They are both effectivly interchangable outgrowths of the enormous Los Angeles bullshit industry; a bunch of spoilt adults who think because they have no tangable skills they are entitled to a huge pile of cash for essentially nothing. Most of the people who make most of the money do none of the work. What work they do consists of shmoozing at parties...and making phone calls. If these execs, known as "bastards" in the business, have any, actual no-fun boring work to do they force their unpaid interns to do it (known as "exploited slaves" in the business). These interns work hard to prove they are good at making copies and stacking cookies, as these are the skills that demonstrate your innate ability to run a major corporation. The actual work is done by hard working, under-paid working class stiffs, or over-paid unionized stiffs that pull 14 hour days 365 days a year.
But I'm not bitter. No. Not at all.
---
---
What exactly is Microsoft trying to say? I really don't understand. Do they think that the GPL should be illegal or what? Aside from being blatantly unconstitutional, that would be just, well, stupid. I hope that no one, especially not in the government, is falling for this blatant BS. Its obvious that Microsoft is worried that the government might use open source softwate instead of Microsoft. So they are making these retardo statements so that the government buys more of their products. Mod this down, I don't care...I'm too angry to be coherent.
---
---
Oh by the way, even college grads make typos...
What I resent is not the implication that college graduates are better qualified (I think that the average college graduate programmer is more skilled than the average programmer that didn't go to college. This doesn't preclude the existance of very skilled non-grads and incompetent grads.) I pissed off when people tell be that college some how sucks the creativity out of people. That is obviously untrue. Do I need to provide a list of succesful, creative college grads to back that up or what? Give people credit, we are capable of seperating the useful from the useless, even in our classes.