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User: jwsmith00

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  1. Grand Prix Legends on Gran Turismo 5 To Be Released November 24th · · Score: 1

    Bring back Grand Prix Legends! I haven't played recent sims, but Grand Prix Legends was ahead of its time and took sims to the next level.

  2. Will you allow this change? on Microsoft Caves, Will Change UAC In Windows 7 · · Score: 1

    Will you allow this change?
    ALLOW CANCEL

    Allow

  3. Hemi? on Feds To Offer Cash For Your Clunker · · Score: 1

    Can I trade in my hemi? Ok, so it's not so old at 2007. But it consumes a lot of gas. And for the good of the environment, it should be off the road. I can and should be able to find a more fuel efficient work truck. So can I get a voucher for fair market value of my hemi?

  4. Re:Job market on Cobol Job Market Heating Up · · Score: 2, Informative

    I wrote this up quickly this morning. I'd like to expand on it a little bit.

    If you're looking for a profession where you don't have to continually upgrade your skills, then COBOL is for you. You can go for many many years without having to learn the new latest craze in the industry.

    I work supporting Peoplesoft code which has a large COBOL base of code that we need to support and customize. I have a couple Java certifications, but I am not doing anything related to it. I got the Java certs simply to redeem myself in a way. I wanted to know I could still write thread safe GUI object oriented code in a client/server environment and that's what the SCJD did for me. But the COBOL pays the bills.

    Now if you want to code in Java or any other modern language, that's fine. But be prepared to have to continually upgrade your skills. Be prepared to get past the resume screeners and first interviews that you will need to get through to get jobs. But as an example, if you don't know a specific version of hibernate, you may be out of luck.

    There is also a lot of truth in the COBOL is written once, modified hundreds of times, and runs for decades. That's job security! Java is re-written in the latest craze framework every few years. That might be considered job security, except the fact that HR staff will seek out people specifically with those skills. Constant upgrade of skills on your part is important.

  5. Job market on Cobol Job Market Heating Up · · Score: 2, Insightful

    There are some key differences between the COBOL and Java job market:

    (1) Interviewer: Do you know COBOL?
    You: Yes
    Interviewer: Ok, you're hired.

    (2) Interviewer: Do you know Java 1.5, Spring 2.0 and iBATIS?
    You: Well, I don't know iBATIS but I know Hibernate and SQL. And I know Spring 1.2.
    Interviewer: Well, we're looking for someone well versed in Hiberate and Spring 2. You don't get quite have the skillset, you don't get the job, have a nice day.

    Where I work, COBOL is written once and run for a long time. The Java environments are always changing, and code is often re-written is different frameworks every few years. HR staff are full of buzzwords. And in the COBOL environment, there's only a few buzzwords: DB2, COBOL, JCL, IMS DB/DC and they haven't changed in decades.

  6. Re:Distance coding. on Cobol Job Market Heating Up · · Score: 1

    Everyone who writes COBOL can telecommute. In fact, it's probably much easier than if you're doing Java or any other modern language. All you need is a Citrix session with a host emulator and you're on your companies mainframe.

  7. Re:Very cool! on Geist Creates His Own Do-Not-Call List · · Score: 2, Funny

    I prefer "Hello (short pause) Hello (long pause) Hello (long pause) Hello (short pause) Is anyone there? (short pause) Hello" Click. They sometimes call back after they realize there was nothing wrong on their end.

  8. Re:Horrible recommendation on University of Penn. Recommends Against Vista SP1 · · Score: 1

    I also have Vista SP1 installed and I've had no problems. It has fixed a number of issues in Vista. I cannot recommend Vista without SP1 installed. I can also not recommend this story as it comes across very vindictive.

  9. I've had no problems on Windows Vista SP1 Meeting Sour Reception In Places · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I'm very happy with SP1. I've been very critical of Vista. But now I can say that I wouldn't go back to XP.

  10. Re:Going somewhat against the slashdot 'groupthink on Vista Named Year's Most Disappointing Product · · Score: 1

    I also have an HP laptop, a DV2310 to be exact. And I'd like to vote Ubuntu 7.10 to the list of biggest disappointments of the year. Many people have had problems with Ubuntu 7.10 and HP laptops. It seems that Ubuntu is geared towards Dell. Ubuntu 7.10 has cut down on my battery life by about 33% despite a promise that 7.10 would increase it. My monitor doesn't work as expected due to the visual effects. This is just the tip of the iceberg that doesn't work in 7.10.

    To me, I think Vista wins this award, but Leopard 10.5 and Ubuntu 7.10 are honorary mentions. 2007 wasn't the year of the operating system.

  11. Mainframes on Move to a Mainframe, Earn Carbon Credits · · Score: 1

    I think it goes something like this.....

    SUBTRACT 1 FROM GREENHOUSE-GAS-EMISSIONS
    GIVING CLEANER-AIR

  12. Re:That's not what I'm worried about on Ubuntu May Be Killing Your Laptop's Hard Drive · · Score: 1

    So long as you have the correct video drivers, you should be able to do all of that. For Ubuntu 7.04, it was just a matter of downloading the NVidia drivers, installing them, and then you are able to run multiple displays. For Ubuntu 7.10, the most recent NVidia driver is already installed, so everythings good to go out of the box. However, Ubuntu 7.10, my laptop runs extremely hot, so I'm sticking with 7.04.

  13. Re:Nvidia on Ubuntu 7.10 "Gutsy Gibbon" Is Out · · Score: 1

    Excellent! I tried AMD64 and it worked along with the NVidia drivers. But my laptop still runs very hot. Almost like I'm playing an EA Sports game on windows, that's how hot the laptop is.

  14. Nvidia on Ubuntu 7.10 "Gutsy Gibbon" Is Out · · Score: 1

    I've been running Gutsy-RC for a week now. I won't be upgrading to Gutsy Gibbon until some issues with the video card and battery life are resolved; noting that I think the two are related.

    I am running an HP DV2000 laptop (2310). A Turion 64 X2 processor with an Nvidia Geforce Go 6150. I use i386, not AMD64 since the Flash player won't install on AMD64. To the point, the nvidia drivers crash X with the "-14" kernel but they work fine with the "-12" kernel. Since the release probably comes only with -12, I won't be able to use the fancy 3D effects.

    I also found that battery life on Gutsy was about an hour shorter than Feisty. I suspect that the Nvidia drivers for my video card are the cause of the problem. Longer battery life was supposed to be part of Gutsy, so I don't see a point in upgrading. Compiz also locks occasionally with the Nvidia drivers.

    So I'm waiting for a new Nvidia driver before I make the leap to Gutsy. Hopefully a new driver will fix display issues -and- battery life.

  15. Re:No thanks to you, Slashdot. on Penguin Car Earns Indy500 Spot · · Score: 1

    Last years finish?

    I guess if you like close racing with lots of passing for the lead. But I get bored really quickly seeing 1 or 2 passes for the lead on each and every lap. Okay, maybe not that many, but pretty close. IndyCar racing is artificial, unfortunately. The cars are made to force passing via aerodynamics. And for many of us long time open-wheel fans, it's very boring. You can only watch so many passes until you realize it's not the driver nor the car but the aerodynamics rules. The great days in Indy racing were when there were 2-4 lead changes for a standard 200 mile race. You know the passing has to do with skill and the car; Not because of series mandated aerodynamics.

    If you have 5-10 lead changes in a race, it bring intensity and drama to the race. Seeing Sam Hornish pass Marco Andretti because of artificial competition, I guess if that's your cup of tea. Sam Hornish didn't win last year because he was the fastest or deserved it. He won because he setup the proper pass with 1/2 a lap to go. Why not have everyone drive the same car and have the series own the cars? Why not just forgo the first 490 miles and just race the last 10?

    In the future, I see the Indy 500 being dropped from ABC Sports. The television numbers continue to slide since the 1996 IRL and CART split.

  16. Re:What about this one? on China Launches New Search Engine · · Score: 2, Funny

    I typed in '"human rights" china'. The first result was "Human Rights on Ebay". Apparantly, Ebay sells everything including Human Rights. Perhaps China could get a good deal on it!

  17. Re:Thanks to all on Corporate Work in the US vs. Canada? · · Score: 1
    I think that people who wish to immigrate to Canada need to consider one more thing when choosing a location. Do you want a family doctor? Most cities do not have any family doctors who are accepting patients. That's right. You are reading that correct. Toronto fortunately does (though only a handful last time I checked Other options for non-emergency situations include walk-in clinics. But the queues are very long and the doctors have no idea who you are (you'll probably get a different one each time you go). And there are no appointments (FIFO). Another option is to go to a medical school and see a medical intern. Again, the same problems that exist with walk-in clinics.

    So while Canada may seem like a great country, it has a lot of its own problems. I think that Canada has its share of problems as does the USA. Some things are better in one country and others are better in the other. It's all of matter of taste and your political views. Canada is much more socialist.

    If you are considering a move to Ontario, Canada, I would recommend the Doctor Search at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario site.

  18. Re:I went the other way on Corporate Work in the US vs. Canada? · · Score: 1
    I'll be in the USA for a few more years, but I plan to head back eventually too. I am quite anxious about the $500B deficit that the US has because Canada used to have the problem and it took a lot of sacrfice to balance the budget and pay off that debt.



    Pay off the debt?!?! I think you mean to pay off the deficit. The debt is the biggest its ever been at about $600 billion (CDN). While the budget is balanced (we think), our debt is being paid off very slowly. The Pearson/Trudeau/Mulroney years were the years of the monstorous deficits and even Chretien ran some pretty high deficits (guess where they took the money out of to balance the budget?)

    So don't come back to Canada with the expectation that we don't have problems. Further, the USA is a country 10x the size of Canada and they could pay off that debt very quickly compared to Canada. It will take Canada about a hundred years to pay off the federal debt.

  19. Re:Speaking as a Canadian... on Corporate Work in the US vs. Canada? · · Score: 2, Funny

    Less guns, more hockey violence. Like really, how many hockey players have been charged in the last 3 months?

  20. I AM CANADIAN on Corporate Work in the US vs. Canada? · · Score: 1

    I find it hard to believe that corporate life in Canada is any different from that of the US. Maybe you could please explain and we could confirm or clarify some of your thoughts about the Great White North.

  21. Re:You make less on Corporate Work in the US vs. Canada? · · Score: 1
    Our tax dollars go to health care and building roads. Oh and servicing the highest government debt of any government in the G-7.
    Did you know that Canada's federal government is in debt about $400 billion US? Then if you live in Ontario, the province is in debt at $75 billion US. So just by moving to Toronto and becoming a Canadian citizen, you share a nice little debt of about $20,000 US per person in government debt. Add annual interest payments on top of that and it costs $1600US per person just to service that debt (eg 8%)

    So Canada may seem like a great country and it is--but we have a lot of problems.

  22. Re:Cards? on When PC Still Means 'Punch Card' · · Score: 1

    8 MB of RAM?! Better do some more homework. I will give you a head start on the CPU.... the Tandy 1000 was an 8086 running at 8Mhz. It ran games like "SimCity" and "Indy 500 The Sim" really well.

  23. Computer Science != programming on Fast Track to a CS Degree? · · Score: 2, Interesting

    You'll quickly find out that computer science has very little to do with programming. When I did my CS, some of the better programmers flunked out and went into other things.

    Computer Science is about science. Pure and simple. It's about mathematics and theory. To many CS people, Calculus is a breeze. Or what I call "The Easy Math" that is usually required in first year. You'll take as much (if not more) math in your CS degree. Subjects like logic, set theory, finite mathematics, linear algebra, number theory, etc. On their own, these courses can be easy.... but if you have 5 or 6 other courses, programming assignments that you work on until 3am, and all the other things in Univerity, you quickly begin to have respect for computer science grads.

    Of course this depends on the school :))

  24. Re:I've done research, you need to look beyond Aud on Is Hacking Cars a Thing of the Past? · · Score: 1

    I'll say it again: your engine is in the wrong place.

    Further you are comparing a modded car to a car that is bone stock. A V6 to a V8.

    I recall some years back reading a story about how Mario Andretti (78 World Champion) rated various cars and put the Acura NSX as his second choice.

    Is your TA fast? Absolutely!! Can it run around Silverstone/Brands Hatch/Monaco/Mid-Ohio/Laguna Seca faster than an Acura NSX?? Nope!

  25. Re:I've done research, you need to look beyond Aud on Is Hacking Cars a Thing of the Past? · · Score: 1

    But your car has the engine in the wrong place: the front.

    The NSX is a mid-engine sports car.

    Put all the mods on your car. Waste all your money. If you were smart you would have bought the NSX in the first place.