From my experience (over 20 years) it seems to me that management is more concerned with shipping something than shipping something good. It is mostly about delivering projects "on time". Quality issues? That's Support's problem.
For management people the next rung on the ladder is only attainable when you have shown that you can deliver projects on time and on budget. Quality is almost never part of that equation, unless the project goes horrifically bad. Even then they can usually lay the blame on contractors, or the offshore monkeys, or anything else that comes to mind.
This is one of the reasons, in my view, that we have so many poor managers. We have lots of people that have learned how to game the system but relatively few that actually know how to manage people and tasks effectively. Over the years I have had some great managers and they really stand out because they are so much better than the norm.
I suppose it never occurred to these internet fat cats like Benioff and Dorsey but the homeless condition in SF has been exasperated by people like them that have made tons of money and driven up the cost of housing to unaffordable levels. Their giant egos (evidenced by Benioff's need to tell everyone about how much he has done for charity) have created an arms race for the biggest house, swankiest office, you name it. All at the expense of everyday working people that can no longer afford to live there.
"In May he announced that he and his wife would match a $1.5m donation from his company's philanthropic arm." - Mighty white of you there, Marc. Based on a percentage of his net worth that is the equivalent of you or I donating about $100. A nice gesture to be sure but it's not really going to make much of a change. And let's not forget the tax break that the donation brings. A tax break that you and I - Mr. and Ms. Taxpayer - are footing the bill for. No, the real reason is to appear to be concerned while stroking his massive ego. If he really cared why not just give the money anonymously? Whether the donation actually helps the plight of these people is of little consequence.
Ego stroked - check. Photo opp - check. Opportunity to take a cheap shot at a competitor - check. Building political capital for future favors that benefit him personally - check.
Yes, it looks like everyone wins. Everyone except the homeless people.
"The middle ground may not be trendy like the extremes are, but it's what most people actually want." - Perhaps but their earnings don't reflect that. They are closing stores left and right. Their recent merger attempt with Rite Aid fell through. They are deeply in debt. That limits their ability to innovate. It's turning into a real estate play, a la Sears.
These places like Albertsons and Safeway are dying a slow death. At the low end, WalMart can sell things cheaper. At the high end, you have Whole Foods and Trader Joes, etc. and Albertsons simply doesn't have the cachet to match them on the high end.
For commodity items like paper towels, canned goods, diapers, etc. you can get that from Amazon. And they deliver it.
That leaves traditional grocers with low margin items like bread, and that has a very short shelf life. Same with produce and produce is worse because, unlike bread, you can't bake it in the store. You have to ship it. And pick it. And store it. And it too has a short shelf life.
Then you get to the problem of unions. All the cashiers, drivers, warehouse workers, etc. are all unionized. All of them have slightly different contracts so trying to figure out how to pay them properly becomes a nightmare. If they try to go to a cashier-less model, like Amazon is playing with, they will face legal challenges from the unions.
Looks like a pretty crappy business model to me. Gone the way of the horse and buggy.
1) Programming in COBOL is not difficult. It is a very procedural language. It also takes a LOT of lines of code to actually do anything. 2) COBOL is alive and well. In fact, on the ERP system that I work on there are many COBOL programs still around and they are crucial for Payroll processing. Nobody, and I mean nobody, wants to mess with these programs. 3) COBOL, despite the fact that is is very old, is extremely good at moving around huge volumes of data. It is also very stable. 4) If you are going to even attempt to modify a COBOL program you had better have a firm understanding of Copybooks and JCL, as the code is likely used in a lot of other programs. 5) It's not going anywhere. The banks have no incentive to rewrite the code into a modern language. For one thing, it's incredibly complex to try and unravel. Secondly, you are not likely to get any discernible processing improvements. Thirdly, it would cost a fortune. 6) Programming in COBOL is really boring. It is almost entirely back end processing. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger:-) 7) As time goes on, skills in COBOL will command a very high hourly rate. Think government and banks. If you can stand all the politics and overhead you will be able to make a good living at it.
Sounds like the guy needs a little time for some self reflection. Personally I don't think that Linus owes us a thing. He is arguably one of the most, if not the most, important people in the history of computing. His contributions have been immense. Keep in mind that in the beginning he was doing all of this without any compensation at all.
He is in many ways the anti Bill Gates. Gates did what he did quite obviously for money and power. Torvalds more for just the love of it all. I'm happy to see that he has made a little money along the way. If anyone deserves it, it's him.
Torvalds started out managing code and slowly but surely got dragged into the business of managing people. This is something that he is clearly not cut out for and something I suspect he doesn't enjoy very much. But once a movement gets big enough it's sort of a necessary evil.
My hope is that during his time away he will think about maybe handing the "people" reins over to someone else so that he can concentrate on the code - something he is truly brilliant at and something he really loves.
The Linux kernel is quite mature now so I suspect he can take a few months off without any ill effects to the project. There are capable people in place that can guide the ship in his absence. Enjoy your time off Linus. You have surely earned it.
I use LinkedIn. My current job I would not have were it not for LI. The recruiter for the company found me through key word searches (I asked him after the fact out of curiosity). I find that it's a good way of keeping in touch with former coworkers. It's sort of the "professional" version of Facebook.
I know this is going to sound terrible but I never accept invitations from Indian recruiters unless I know them personally. I have nothing against people from India it's just that in my experience every recruiter I have had contact with from there has been a low ball bottom feeder. At the risk of throwing the baby out with the bathwater it's just a decision I made.
Having said all that, I do notice that it has become more spammy recently. it seems to have coincided with Microsoft taking over.
Now that I'm settled in to my current job and not really looking for something new, LinkedIn is more like a tool to keep in touch. More just to see what other people I know are doing.
I've got an App called Call Blocker on my phone (android). If anyone calls me and they are not in my address book it goes straight to voicemail. Most of the time, of course, there is no voicemail because the robocall hangs up. If it does happen to be something important the person can leave a message and I'll call them back. The beauty of it is that the phone doesn't even ring.
I gave up on trying to block numbers because it just seemed like a game of whack-a-mole. The scammers would call from a different number next time.
and opted not to join up for the paid plan. As far as I could tell, the best feature was the channels which are free. Some of the networks, CBS for example, put up full run episodes without any commercials. So you could watch, say, Hawaii 5-0 a few days after it aired commercial free in 1080.
But honestly I don't use Plex much these days. Lots of other ways to get content with a lot less fuss.
"You really can't fault the cable/DSL service providers for not investing tons of money expanding their wired networks out to the sticks if the number of additional subscribers they will get will not pay for said network expansion." - Uh yeah, actually we can. It was part of the deal they signed with the government in exchange for exclusive territories. The TelCo's haven't held up their end of the bargain.
"But most rural folks also hate the government so that might not go over well." - Is it any wonder? See above. As with a lot of these kinds of issues, if you dig deep enough you will find that the folks charged with looking out for us (i.e.government) is often to blame. The TelCo's, being the greedy opportunists that they are, are simply taking advantage of the situation. They are banking on little to no enforcement and if push comes to shove, it's nothing that a few campaign contributions won't fix.
And this is what our friends on the left are unable to come to terms with. The job of the President is not to be everyone's buddy. Nor is it to go on the nightly talk show circuit and woo everyone with his (or her) smooth rhetoric. The job of the President is to get the economy moving and keep the country safe.
Obama - by every rational and honest measure - did an absolutely shitty job of that. Oh sure he inherited the mess from Bush...blah, blah, blah. Every President inherits the crap from the previous administration. Yes, he's smooth and slick and talks a good game. But as far as what a President is actually tasked with he left the country in a mess.
Trump is a jerk. There, I said it. I'm not under any illusion that he's a nice guy. He is a hard nosed businessman. He is not unlike any other rich person. But none of that matters to me. Why? Because he has, by nearly every measure, done a fantastic job of getting the economy moving in the right direction. And done it without the help of hardly any of the Republicans in congress.
The Chinese have been ripping us off for years by stealing our trade secrets and manipulating their currency to their benefit. Clinton, Bush and Obama did nothing about it. At least Trump is doing something about it. You can argue whether it is the right approach or the wrong one but at least he's doing something.
But the media is so fixated on Trump the Jerk that they can't see past any of that to give him credit where credit is due. Like him or not, the economy is in far better shape than Obama could ever dream of.
One other thing - if Trump wasn't President we would have Hillary Clinton as President. Does anyone seriously think we would be better off with that crook in office? She is the absolute epitome of the crooked, entitled, corrupt insider that has invaded Washington.
and blew it...with Microsoft. They should have been broken up just like Standard Oil. But they were not and that just created a precedent for companies like Facebook and Amazon and Google. We reap what we sow.
The author makes some valid points about conference calls but consider this...were it not for the conference call you might have to attend meetings in person and some of those meetings might occur very far from where you live. Do you really want to hop on a plane or take a long car ride to attend those meetings? In some cases, maybe, but for the majority of the time meeting on the phone is fine. Conference calls also allow you to work more easily from home, if that is a desire of yours.
Conference calls can be effective as long as you follow a few simple rules:
1) Always have an agenda in the meeting invitation. 2) Always send out minutes of the meeting to the attendees. It helps to keep track of what was said and allows others to make corrections if necessary. I like to use OneNote for this but to each their own. 3) If the meeting is a recurring meeting (weekly for example) then start the meeting by following up on the To Do's from the last meeting. 4) If I am the meeting organizer I usually disable the ability to forward the invitation. Too many times I have ended up with people attending my meetings that I didn't invite. It's my meeting - I'll decide who comes:) 5) Stick to the agenda. Too many times people will go off on tangents if you let them so I just cut them off when that happens. My meeting my rules.
I find that if I do those things not only are the meetings productive, often times they will end ahead of schedule. And everyone appreciates getting time given back to them so the meetings are seen as productive.
When iOS first came out MS largely ignored it. Then the iPhone became popular with the youngsters, youngsters of CEOs who also started using them. Next thing you know, the CEO wants to be able to use an iPhone at work.
Apple penetrated the corporate network from the outside in. I see the same thing happening with Chromebooks. The college kids of today are the future CEOs of tomorrow and they too will demand that their Chromebooks work in a corporate environment.
The enterprise is the last stranglehold that MS has.For now.
How about a patent to automatically turn OFF the turn signal that has been left on for the past 5 miles...and the car is still in the same lane? You know the type of driver I'm talking about. The one in the left lane, 10 MPH below the speed limit, driving the late 90s or early 00s Cadillac. Yeah...the one with the tuft of blue hair just barely above the dashboard. On the way to the bingo or shuffle board tournament.
Yes, the dreaded Snow Bird. The only thing worse than no signal is the perpetual signal. You have no idea what their true intention is. All you know is that you need to get the heck away from them. NOW.
Right. And if he really did pay off Daniels then she would have signed what is effectively a non disclosure agreement. A contract to keep her trap shut in exchange for money. If she did in fact receive the money and spilled the beans then she is in violation of that contract. As such, none of her testimony should be allowed in a court of law.
Cohen was pressured into admitting to an alleged crime (the payment to Daniels) in exchange for leniency towards actual crimes (alleged multiple counts of tax evasion).
This is all part of the Get Trump tactic. What Cohen is admitting to is not a crime. What the prosecutors wanted was a tie into Trump. Why else would they cut a deal with Cohen? They will attempt to play the illegal campaign contribution angle by suggesting that the payment to Daniels is a campaign contribution rather than hush money. It won't stick.
Some people do better at college than others. Some people are good learners but poor test takers.
Look at the NBA for example. Kevin Garnett, LeBron James and Kobe Bryant didn't play college ball but were (are) exceptional players. Does that mean that every high school kid is ready for the NBA? Of course not...but some of them are. Some kids have great college careers (Jimmer Fridette for example) but lousy pro careers. Steve Nash nearly switched to soccer because he couldn't get any college to give him a try. Yet he had a great pro career.
Similarly, there are lots of outstanding college educated IT professional and lots of outstanding IT folks without a degree. As near as I can tell, from over 20 years in the business, there is no direct correlation between a degree and success in IT. Some have it and do well, some don't have it and do well.
Personally I don't think that having a degree should be a hard and fast requirement. As long as someone can demonstrate that they have the skills, aptitude and attitude I think they should be given a chance. Where they obtain those attributes is immaterial.
Oh so now the investigation has changed course? This circus has been going on for 2 years now and not a shred of evidence has been produced. Keep in mind that this investigation is being conducted by the Justice department with basically unlimited resources, in terms of both money and resources.
Curiously the Hillary Clinton email investigation carried on for about the same amount of time before it was bagged. That investigation also uncovered nothing that could be prosecuted. But Trump seems to be the gift that keeps on giving. Let's just keep drumming up charges on this, that and the other thing. So far nothing has stuck. It is a text book witch hunt.
If these Democrat senators are so concerned about election purity then why are none of them supporting having to show proof of citizenship at the polls in order to cast votes?
Not satisfied that Muellers investigation has found no evidence whatsoever that "the Russians" influenced even a single vote in the election they are now trying to introduce this pointless bill. This is an obvious attempt to make it appear as if there is some sort of widespread fraud in the election process. Completely unfounded accusations and this bill is nothing more than political grandstanding.
Rosenstein said. “There is no allegation in the indictment that the charged conduct altered the outcome of the 2016 election.". You would think that would close the book on this witch hunt yet it continues.
Look - I'm not a big Trump fan but the more the Democrats pursue this the more desperate and unhinged some of them appear. My advice to the Democrats would be to suck it up, admit they lost, and focus on winning the next election.
Let's face it, Microsoft is a huge company and they have their hooks deep into corporate America. Much like Oracle does. It's going to be a long long time before we see businesses moving away from MS in mass. It doesn't matter that their are other viable products - Linux, OpenOffice, etc. The point is that businesses are so entrenched in the MS ecosystem they are highly unlikely to change.
The home user is a different matter entirely. As the article points out, there is an entire generation that grew up on iOS and Android and have no need whatsoever for any MS products, save for the XBOX. Personally I only use Windows at work. Haven't used it on a home device for years. I don't miss it in the least and their current stance on Windows 10 licensing and forced upgrades only reinforces that I already believe.
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Maybe that is why Amazon is in favor of higher minimum wages. It is a competitive advantage for them. Robots don't have a minimum wage ;-)
From my experience (over 20 years) it seems to me that management is more concerned with shipping something than shipping something good. It is mostly about delivering projects "on time". Quality issues? That's Support's problem.
For management people the next rung on the ladder is only attainable when you have shown that you can deliver projects on time and on budget. Quality is almost never part of that equation, unless the project goes horrifically bad. Even then they can usually lay the blame on contractors, or the offshore monkeys, or anything else that comes to mind.
This is one of the reasons, in my view, that we have so many poor managers. We have lots of people that have learned how to game the system but relatively few that actually know how to manage people and tasks effectively. Over the years I have had some great managers and they really stand out because they are so much better than the norm.
I suppose it never occurred to these internet fat cats like Benioff and Dorsey but the homeless condition in SF has been exasperated by people like them that have made tons of money and driven up the cost of housing to unaffordable levels. Their giant egos (evidenced by Benioff's need to tell everyone about how much he has done for charity) have created an arms race for the biggest house, swankiest office, you name it. All at the expense of everyday working people that can no longer afford to live there.
"In May he announced that he and his wife would match a $1.5m donation from his company's philanthropic arm." - Mighty white of you there, Marc. Based on a percentage of his net worth that is the equivalent of you or I donating about $100. A nice gesture to be sure but it's not really going to make much of a change. And let's not forget the tax break that the donation brings. A tax break that you and I - Mr. and Ms. Taxpayer - are footing the bill for. No, the real reason is to appear to be concerned while stroking his massive ego. If he really cared why not just give the money anonymously? Whether the donation actually helps the plight of these people is of little consequence.
Ego stroked - check. Photo opp - check. Opportunity to take a cheap shot at a competitor - check. Building political capital for future favors that benefit him personally - check.
Yes, it looks like everyone wins. Everyone except the homeless people.
"The middle ground may not be trendy like the extremes are, but it's what most people actually want." - Perhaps but their earnings don't reflect that. They are closing stores left and right. Their recent merger attempt with Rite Aid fell through. They are deeply in debt. That limits their ability to innovate. It's turning into a real estate play, a la Sears.
These places like Albertsons and Safeway are dying a slow death. At the low end, WalMart can sell things cheaper. At the high end, you have Whole Foods and Trader Joes, etc. and Albertsons simply doesn't have the cachet to match them on the high end.
For commodity items like paper towels, canned goods, diapers, etc. you can get that from Amazon. And they deliver it.
That leaves traditional grocers with low margin items like bread, and that has a very short shelf life. Same with produce and produce is worse because, unlike bread, you can't bake it in the store. You have to ship it. And pick it. And store it. And it too has a short shelf life.
Then you get to the problem of unions. All the cashiers, drivers, warehouse workers, etc. are all unionized. All of them have slightly different contracts so trying to figure out how to pay them properly becomes a nightmare. If they try to go to a cashier-less model, like Amazon is playing with, they will face legal challenges from the unions.
Looks like a pretty crappy business model to me. Gone the way of the horse and buggy.
1) Programming in COBOL is not difficult. It is a very procedural language. It also takes a LOT of lines of code to actually do anything. :-)
2) COBOL is alive and well. In fact, on the ERP system that I work on there are many COBOL programs still around and they are crucial for Payroll processing. Nobody, and I mean nobody, wants to mess with these programs.
3) COBOL, despite the fact that is is very old, is extremely good at moving around huge volumes of data. It is also very stable.
4) If you are going to even attempt to modify a COBOL program you had better have a firm understanding of Copybooks and JCL, as the code is likely used in a lot of other programs.
5) It's not going anywhere. The banks have no incentive to rewrite the code into a modern language. For one thing, it's incredibly complex to try and unravel. Secondly, you are not likely to get any discernible processing improvements. Thirdly, it would cost a fortune.
6) Programming in COBOL is really boring. It is almost entirely back end processing. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger
7) As time goes on, skills in COBOL will command a very high hourly rate. Think government and banks. If you can stand all the politics and overhead you will be able to make a good living at it.
Sounds like the guy needs a little time for some self reflection. Personally I don't think that Linus owes us a thing. He is arguably one of the most, if not the most, important people in the history of computing. His contributions have been immense. Keep in mind that in the beginning he was doing all of this without any compensation at all.
He is in many ways the anti Bill Gates. Gates did what he did quite obviously for money and power. Torvalds more for just the love of it all. I'm happy to see that he has made a little money along the way. If anyone deserves it, it's him.
Torvalds started out managing code and slowly but surely got dragged into the business of managing people. This is something that he is clearly not cut out for and something I suspect he doesn't enjoy very much. But once a movement gets big enough it's sort of a necessary evil.
My hope is that during his time away he will think about maybe handing the "people" reins over to someone else so that he can concentrate on the code - something he is truly brilliant at and something he really loves.
The Linux kernel is quite mature now so I suspect he can take a few months off without any ill effects to the project. There are capable people in place that can guide the ship in his absence. Enjoy your time off Linus. You have surely earned it.
I use LinkedIn. My current job I would not have were it not for LI. The recruiter for the company found me through key word searches (I asked him after the fact out of curiosity). I find that it's a good way of keeping in touch with former coworkers. It's sort of the "professional" version of Facebook.
I know this is going to sound terrible but I never accept invitations from Indian recruiters unless I know them personally. I have nothing against people from India it's just that in my experience every recruiter I have had contact with from there has been a low ball bottom feeder. At the risk of throwing the baby out with the bathwater it's just a decision I made.
Having said all that, I do notice that it has become more spammy recently. it seems to have coincided with Microsoft taking over.
Now that I'm settled in to my current job and not really looking for something new, LinkedIn is more like a tool to keep in touch. More just to see what other people I know are doing.
I've got an App called Call Blocker on my phone (android). If anyone calls me and they are not in my address book it goes straight to voicemail. Most of the time, of course, there is no voicemail because the robocall hangs up. If it does happen to be something important the person can leave a message and I'll call them back. The beauty of it is that the phone doesn't even ring.
I gave up on trying to block numbers because it just seemed like a game of whack-a-mole. The scammers would call from a different number next time.
Works for me and it's free.
Another option, if your friend has Amazon Prime, is to sync to Prime Photos. It comes with unlimited photo storage.
and opted not to join up for the paid plan. As far as I could tell, the best feature was the channels which are free. Some of the networks, CBS for example, put up full run episodes without any commercials. So you could watch, say, Hawaii 5-0 a few days after it aired commercial free in 1080.
But honestly I don't use Plex much these days. Lots of other ways to get content with a lot less fuss.
"You really can't fault the cable/DSL service providers for not investing tons of money expanding their wired networks out to the sticks if the number of additional subscribers they will get will not pay for said network expansion." - Uh yeah, actually we can. It was part of the deal they signed with the government in exchange for exclusive territories. The TelCo's haven't held up their end of the bargain.
"But most rural folks also hate the government so that might not go over well." - Is it any wonder? See above. As with a lot of these kinds of issues, if you dig deep enough you will find that the folks charged with looking out for us (i.e.government) is often to blame. The TelCo's, being the greedy opportunists that they are, are simply taking advantage of the situation. They are banking on little to no enforcement and if push comes to shove, it's nothing that a few campaign contributions won't fix.
And this is what our friends on the left are unable to come to terms with. The job of the President is not to be everyone's buddy. Nor is it to go on the nightly talk show circuit and woo everyone with his (or her) smooth rhetoric. The job of the President is to get the economy moving and keep the country safe.
Obama - by every rational and honest measure - did an absolutely shitty job of that. Oh sure he inherited the mess from Bush...blah, blah, blah. Every President inherits the crap from the previous administration. Yes, he's smooth and slick and talks a good game. But as far as what a President is actually tasked with he left the country in a mess.
Trump is a jerk. There, I said it. I'm not under any illusion that he's a nice guy. He is a hard nosed businessman. He is not unlike any other rich person. But none of that matters to me. Why? Because he has, by nearly every measure, done a fantastic job of getting the economy moving in the right direction. And done it without the help of hardly any of the Republicans in congress.
The Chinese have been ripping us off for years by stealing our trade secrets and manipulating their currency to their benefit. Clinton, Bush and Obama did nothing about it. At least Trump is doing something about it. You can argue whether it is the right approach or the wrong one but at least he's doing something.
But the media is so fixated on Trump the Jerk that they can't see past any of that to give him credit where credit is due. Like him or not, the economy is in far better shape than Obama could ever dream of.
One other thing - if Trump wasn't President we would have Hillary Clinton as President. Does anyone seriously think we would be better off with that crook in office? She is the absolute epitome of the crooked, entitled, corrupt insider that has invaded Washington.
and blew it...with Microsoft. They should have been broken up just like Standard Oil. But they were not and that just created a precedent for companies like Facebook and Amazon and Google. We reap what we sow.
Sounds like a real horror show. Safe to say you made the right move.
The author makes some valid points about conference calls but consider this...were it not for the conference call you might have to attend meetings in person and some of those meetings might occur very far from where you live. Do you really want to hop on a plane or take a long car ride to attend those meetings? In some cases, maybe, but for the majority of the time meeting on the phone is fine. Conference calls also allow you to work more easily from home, if that is a desire of yours.
Conference calls can be effective as long as you follow a few simple rules:
1) Always have an agenda in the meeting invitation. :)
2) Always send out minutes of the meeting to the attendees. It helps to keep track of what was said and allows others to make corrections if necessary. I like to use OneNote for this but to each their own.
3) If the meeting is a recurring meeting (weekly for example) then start the meeting by following up on the To Do's from the last meeting.
4) If I am the meeting organizer I usually disable the ability to forward the invitation. Too many times I have ended up with people attending my meetings that I didn't invite. It's my meeting - I'll decide who comes
5) Stick to the agenda. Too many times people will go off on tangents if you let them so I just cut them off when that happens. My meeting my rules.
I find that if I do those things not only are the meetings productive, often times they will end ahead of schedule. And everyone appreciates getting time given back to them so the meetings are seen as productive.
When iOS first came out MS largely ignored it. Then the iPhone became popular with the youngsters, youngsters of CEOs who also started using them. Next thing you know, the CEO wants to be able to use an iPhone at work.
Apple penetrated the corporate network from the outside in. I see the same thing happening with Chromebooks. The college kids of today are the future CEOs of tomorrow and they too will demand that their Chromebooks work in a corporate environment.
The enterprise is the last stranglehold that MS has.For now.
How about a patent to automatically turn OFF the turn signal that has been left on for the past 5 miles...and the car is still in the same lane? You know the type of driver I'm talking about. The one in the left lane, 10 MPH below the speed limit, driving the late 90s or early 00s Cadillac. Yeah...the one with the tuft of blue hair just barely above the dashboard. On the way to the bingo or shuffle board tournament.
Yes, the dreaded Snow Bird. The only thing worse than no signal is the perpetual signal. You have no idea what their true intention is. All you know is that you need to get the heck away from them. NOW.
Right. And if he really did pay off Daniels then she would have signed what is effectively a non disclosure agreement. A contract to keep her trap shut in exchange for money. If she did in fact receive the money and spilled the beans then she is in violation of that contract. As such, none of her testimony should be allowed in a court of law.
Cohen was pressured into admitting to an alleged crime (the payment to Daniels) in exchange for leniency towards actual crimes (alleged multiple counts of tax evasion).
This is all part of the Get Trump tactic. What Cohen is admitting to is not a crime. What the prosecutors wanted was a tie into Trump. Why else would they cut a deal with Cohen? They will attempt to play the illegal campaign contribution angle by suggesting that the payment to Daniels is a campaign contribution rather than hush money. It won't stick.
Some people do better at college than others. Some people are good learners but poor test takers.
Look at the NBA for example. Kevin Garnett, LeBron James and Kobe Bryant didn't play college ball but were (are) exceptional players. Does that mean that every high school kid is ready for the NBA? Of course not...but some of them are. Some kids have great college careers (Jimmer Fridette for example) but lousy pro careers. Steve Nash nearly switched to soccer because he couldn't get any college to give him a try. Yet he had a great pro career.
Similarly, there are lots of outstanding college educated IT professional and lots of outstanding IT folks without a degree. As near as I can tell, from over 20 years in the business, there is no direct correlation between a degree and success in IT. Some have it and do well, some don't have it and do well.
Personally I don't think that having a degree should be a hard and fast requirement. As long as someone can demonstrate that they have the skills, aptitude and attitude I think they should be given a chance. Where they obtain those attributes is immaterial.
Oh so now the investigation has changed course? This circus has been going on for 2 years now and not a shred of evidence has been produced. Keep in mind that this investigation is being conducted by the Justice department with basically unlimited resources, in terms of both money and resources.
Curiously the Hillary Clinton email investigation carried on for about the same amount of time before it was bagged. That investigation also uncovered nothing that could be prosecuted. But Trump seems to be the gift that keeps on giving. Let's just keep drumming up charges on this, that and the other thing. So far nothing has stuck. It is a text book witch hunt.
If these Democrat senators are so concerned about election purity then why are none of them supporting having to show proof of citizenship at the polls in order to cast votes?
Not satisfied that Muellers investigation has found no evidence whatsoever that "the Russians" influenced even a single vote in the election they are now trying to introduce this pointless bill. This is an obvious attempt to make it appear as if there is some sort of widespread fraud in the election process. Completely unfounded accusations and this bill is nothing more than political grandstanding.
Rosenstein said. “There is no allegation in the indictment that the charged conduct altered the outcome of the 2016 election.". You would think that would close the book on this witch hunt yet it continues.
Look - I'm not a big Trump fan but the more the Democrats pursue this the more desperate and unhinged some of them appear. My advice to the Democrats would be to suck it up, admit they lost, and focus on winning the next election.
Vandyke brown! Don't forget the Vandyke brown!
Let's face it, Microsoft is a huge company and they have their hooks deep into corporate America. Much like Oracle does. It's going to be a long long time before we see businesses moving away from MS in mass. It doesn't matter that their are other viable products - Linux, OpenOffice, etc. The point is that businesses are so entrenched in the MS ecosystem they are highly unlikely to change.
The home user is a different matter entirely. As the article points out, there is an entire generation that grew up on iOS and Android and have no need whatsoever for any MS products, save for the XBOX. Personally I only use Windows at work. Haven't used it on a home device for years. I don't miss it in the least and their current stance on Windows 10 licensing and forced upgrades only reinforces that I already believe.