At least in my case, it's not about open vs. closed source. Rather, it's about selling an inferior product that was copied from someone else that contains other bits that were inspired by others as well. In short, there would be no Windows without the Mac, there would be no IE without Netscape, there would be no MSN (and all of it's spin-offs) without AOL/Time Warner, there would be no Xbox without the Sony Playstation.
What Gates does is copy from other people's test papers and then when he gets a passing grade, markets his own test to next year's students. I have yet to see any real innovation out of Microsoft, but we have seen unfair business practices out the wazoo and lots of bullying (ask Mark Andreeson). For Gates to show a social conscience now is moot. He didn't seem to have one when he was crushing other people's dreams. For him to turn and offer a helping hand to the "little people" he stepped on on the way up is self-serving. He is merely doing it for the PR value, to help erase the "robber baron" image that he and his company share.
Even the robber barons of the early 20th century were quite charitable. Look at Carnegie. I think it's a guilt thing. Besides, it's easy to be charitable when you've robbed, bullied and stolen more money than anyone in history. I'm not impressed.
Reminds me of the post (here on Slashdot) not too long ago about the network admin that got fired when the company got an outside security firm to analyze their security and told them that the biggest threat to their security was the network admin. Although this IS true (who there knows more about their systems' vulnerabilities?), the security firm (who was hired to replace the admin) never revealed that after the admin left, THEY were the biggest threat.
As several others here have noted, this is often the procedure followed by most companies, esp. if they are in a field that has some decent competition that might want "inside information."
To the original poster: you did nothing wrong. However, I would urge you to make sure you have all your "stuff" (both tangible objects and data/files that belong to you) before serving your notice next time.
I have seen at least one post here decrying someone's enthusiasm as mistaking their personal opinion for fact. So I won't make broad statements about how B5 changed TV, or Sci-fi, or even the room temperature.
That being said, I will say that B5 affected me stongly. It was not just a question of the characters or story lines, but the underlying philosophy.
Example, when Sheridan is at Zaha Dum and is being interrogated by (assumably) Lorien. When he's asked if he has anything to live for, he suddenly remembers Delenn, and that turns the tide of things.
There are other examples, but that's the most obvious. There was an underlying hope and gentleness to the series that I really enjoyed.
nw '98
So why should Creative get a patent on an interface that is being used not only on their players, but Apple's and others as well? Seems to me whoever used it first should be able to claim "dibbs".
I disagree. I think it would benefit Apple to have more of it's software in the public's hands. Douglas Adams was right, in so much as Apple's software has always been more stable than Microsoft's as well as more elegant.
However, Apple has also been an industry leader in new technologies, from the mouse to USB to iMovie. I think the smartest thing Jobs could do is make OS X available for the off-the-shelf PC but continue to make Mac hardware cutting edge hardware.
And I think Jobs will do just that. He has already shown with iChat and the iSight that he's not above making his software work better with his hardware. Oh, sure iChat will work with a different webcam, but it works better with the iSight. I envision the same situation with Mac OSX on x86.
It took him 30 yrs, but he learned Gate's lesson - the money is in the software.
Wouldn't it be funny if, after all these years, he hijacked Microsoft's platform after Gates swiped their software metaphor?
Did you do any activities that could be considered a security risk?
Good question. I mean, if the outsourced company found his unsecured FTP address that he used to up/download his MMORPG character stats and his biology homework, he probably *was* a risk.
However, I tend to think that the sort of scam he got burned by is real. And management is usually stupid enough to buy into crap like this. But I doubt it's actionable, since the outside company would have a valid argument that because he knows the network and all the passwords (or other entry methods/points) he IS a risk, even if he isn't INCLINED to use the information in a negative way.
However, by the same argument, THEY are now the biggest security risk to the network and because they are not employed, they have little interest in protecting the network (at least, less than HE did, since is only paycheck was derived from protecting that network). If his former company were to suffer an intrusion and as a consequence go belly-up, the outsourced company merely loses a single client, not their entire livelihood.
Or maybe you (and others like you) should do what I did. I quit working on my BS in CS when I realized what was happening to the industry, and I'm now driving a truck.
After 17+ years in the computer industry (I had a business school degree in "data processing," which shows how long ago I started in this field) and programming in everything from COBOL to ColdFusion, I've decided that the amount of work that is *worth* doing is dwindling.
Yes, there is significant amount of programming that will be done in the next 10-15 yrs, but how much of it is stuff we really *want* to do? I, too, was upset at the realization that all of this "grunt" work was going overseas, but then I realized also that I really didn't want "grunt" work anyway.
The really interesting work in CS will be done at the AI/user interface/user agent level at this point, not in writing (and re-writing) accounting packages or in-house support software.
So now I'm driving my truck and surfing/. in my free time and have the time to work on my book. HAHA!
Even if SCO is correct (which I seriously doubt. If there are code similarities, I'm betting it was an obvious solution that any reasonable programmer would come up with), I have to ask....has McBride blown out the motherboard known as his brain?
What SCO is trying to do (extort money from practically everyone) is so completely transparent. Let's see, he panics big accounts who are using Linux so they freak and buy a license, then he's going to point to that in court and say, "See, any reasonable person can see that our IP has been infringed, else they would not be paying us for a license!"
I can't get over the pundits, either, saying that if SCO is right it's the "death of Linux" - What utter BS! The Open Source community will rewrite the offending sections and Linux will roll on (long after SCO breathes its last).
FWIW, I don't have any intention of sending SCO even one of my hard earned dollars. I hope most CEO's have enough sense to wait this thing out and see what happens before they give SCO anything.
As a computer science student one of the things they teach us is to evaluate performance (mostly of algorithms) in terms of n. If you have n items, and one algorithm takes n seconds and the other takes 2xn seconds to process them, both results are on the order of n or O(n). In order for there to be some significance to the difference in results, there must be some other factor of n (like log(n), n squared, n cubed, etc.).
So, for all intents and purposes the benchmarks, though interesting, are not really significant EXCEPT that it shows that:
Apple is not resting on their laurels, but is continuing to improve their hardware and
Where it looked like Apple was falling behind in the the hardware wars, they are back in the game.
Look, I love macs and have been an Apple fan since my//e, but as a computer professional, even I have to be dispassionate about these things.
Either that, or I'm just pissed because I can't afford a $3,000 computer when I just bought an iBook with my student loan.
..of SCO's claims, they *should* know that this *looks* like an attempt to scuttle the FOSS community (specifically the Linux community).
From a PR standpoint, this is a disaster for SCO. Even if they win this case, they're a dead company. I can't see anyone in the FOSS community trusting them again.
God! Don't these suits *think* at *all*? With AOL snugly in bed with MS again, the last thing we need is SCO going for the Linux jugular.
Thank god. Gene R. would be proud. The TNG/Voyager/DS9 time was a little too antiseptic for my taste.
I, for one, was glad to see them play up the tension between the humans and vulcans (gee, you mean we haven't always been best friends?). Just goes to show you what was achieved by Kirk's time. I was glad to see the humans buck them and take the bull by the horns and just do what we've always done...explore. For no logical reason other than that's what we want to do.
Loved the ship, loved Bakkula, he's a "regular" guy who has a dog and a ball cap. I was beginning to think pets had been outlawed in the future and so had headgear (except for Guinan's dopey hats). Glad to see a smaller crew (instead of a cast of 1000's). This is what Trek was all about once upon a time--human beings taking risks and exploring, not managing crises. Picard was OK, but he was no captain in my book.
Not sure about the temporal villans yet, time will tell (pun intended).
As for the boney-headed Klingons, the story supposedly was that they adopted a "more human" look during the original ST years to more easily deal with humans, but that it was a dismal failure and a shameful episode in their history, that's why they don't discuss it.
In all, the best Trek I've seen in a long, long time.
Re:Warp drive silliness : somebody skipped math 10
on
Voyager Eulogy
·
· Score: 1
Ok, I admit I'm old enough that I remember the original series (TOS) and owned several of the model kits (including the cheesy Enterprise with the lights inside -- the lights were so bright they shone through the plastic instead of the windows...).
That said, and not that I'm an authority, I recall the actual warp formula was n^3 x c (the warp number cubed time light speed). This puts warp 9 at 729 x light speed and warp 10 at 1000 times c. This would put the distance involved within the correct parameters.
Now that we've cleared that up, I enjoyed the final episode, but not near as much as "All Good Things" the final TNG episode. I thought that Kate Mulgrew did a wonderful job of differentiating the older and younger Janeways, with the older one authoritative, hard bitten, and cynical and the younger more idealistic and unwilling to call down her older self until she could no longer avoid it. From a character standpoint, it was well-written, I thought.
That said, I believe that the ST product (I'm not so starry-eyed I don't know it's a product) is part of our modern mythology, and will continue until such time as we find something to replace it. I have enjoyed most of the series' and am not such a fanatic that I've seen every episode of any of them. (My personal fave aired today, the TNG episode where Wesley evolves to become like the Traveler).
Yes, it's just TV. But it's also a reflection of our culture/society. Think about it...everyone had computers, commucators and PDA's! It either forecast those items or helped to shape them.
Umm, first of all, Senator, let me state for the record, I am a mac user.
That being said, are we to believe that Apple, whose Mac was designed from the beginning to survive the Y2K fiasco, has PURPOSELY introduced an OS to the Mac hardware that contains a DATE-RELATED BUG?
Absurd. Ridiculous!
True.
You're on the right track - first post I've seen on the subject that finally hit the nail on the head.
C'mon people! No crime has been committed UNTIL a crime has been committed!
Geez, only in America! How can you "virtually" hurt someone? You either have or have not!
Sale of such a "virtual pedophile" program should be subject to the local obscenity laws, and if the community finds the program obscene, then it cannot be sold. If it is, then punish the seller or maker of the program that violated the community standard.
In this instance, the buyer has not committed a crime, unless simple possession is a crime. The argument that possession is a crime because it "might" cause someone to act on it, when no one has been harmed, is silly at best.
THINK! Don't give knee-jerk reactions because something contains a hot-button phrase.
Slashdot Mirror
At least in my case, it's not about open vs. closed source. Rather, it's about selling an inferior product that was copied from someone else that contains other bits that were inspired by others as well. In short, there would be no Windows without the Mac, there would be no IE without Netscape, there would be no MSN (and all of it's spin-offs) without AOL/Time Warner, there would be no Xbox without the Sony Playstation.
What Gates does is copy from other people's test papers and then when he gets a passing grade, markets his own test to next year's students. I have yet to see any real innovation out of Microsoft, but we have seen unfair business practices out the wazoo and lots of bullying (ask Mark Andreeson). For Gates to show a social conscience now is moot. He didn't seem to have one when he was crushing other people's dreams. For him to turn and offer a helping hand to the "little people" he stepped on on the way up is self-serving. He is merely doing it for the PR value, to help erase the "robber baron" image that he and his company share.
Even the robber barons of the early 20th century were quite charitable. Look at Carnegie. I think it's a guilt thing. Besides, it's easy to be charitable when you've robbed, bullied and stolen more money than anyone in history. I'm not impressed.
Reminds me of the post (here on Slashdot) not too long ago about the network admin that got fired when the company got an outside security firm to analyze their security and told them that the biggest threat to their security was the network admin. Although this IS true (who there knows more about their systems' vulnerabilities?), the security firm (who was hired to replace the admin) never revealed that after the admin left, THEY were the biggest threat.
As several others here have noted, this is often the procedure followed by most companies, esp. if they are in a field that has some decent competition that might want "inside information."
To the original poster: you did nothing wrong. However, I would urge you to make sure you have all your "stuff" (both tangible objects and data/files that belong to you) before serving your notice next time.
I have seen at least one post here decrying someone's enthusiasm as mistaking their personal opinion for fact. So I won't make broad statements about how B5 changed TV, or Sci-fi, or even the room temperature. That being said, I will say that B5 affected me stongly. It was not just a question of the characters or story lines, but the underlying philosophy. Example, when Sheridan is at Zaha Dum and is being interrogated by (assumably) Lorien. When he's asked if he has anything to live for, he suddenly remembers Delenn, and that turns the tide of things. There are other examples, but that's the most obvious. There was an underlying hope and gentleness to the series that I really enjoyed. nw '98
So why should Creative get a patent on an interface that is being used not only on their players, but Apple's and others as well? Seems to me whoever used it first should be able to claim "dibbs".
However, Apple has also been an industry leader in new technologies, from the mouse to USB to iMovie. I think the smartest thing Jobs could do is make OS X available for the off-the-shelf PC but continue to make Mac hardware cutting edge hardware.
And I think Jobs will do just that. He has already shown with iChat and the iSight that he's not above making his software work better with his hardware. Oh, sure iChat will work with a different webcam, but it works better with the iSight. I envision the same situation with Mac OSX on x86.
It took him 30 yrs, but he learned Gate's lesson - the money is in the software.
Wouldn't it be funny if, after all these years, he hijacked Microsoft's platform after Gates swiped their software metaphor?
Good question. I mean, if the outsourced company found his unsecured FTP address that he used to up/download his MMORPG character stats and his biology homework, he probably *was* a risk.
However, I tend to think that the sort of scam he got burned by is real. And management is usually stupid enough to buy into crap like this. But I doubt it's actionable, since the outside company would have a valid argument that because he knows the network and all the passwords (or other entry methods/points) he IS a risk, even if he isn't INCLINED to use the information in a negative way.
However, by the same argument, THEY are now the biggest security risk to the network and because they are not employed, they have little interest in protecting the network (at least, less than HE did, since is only paycheck was derived from protecting that network). If his former company were to suffer an intrusion and as a consequence go belly-up, the outsourced company merely loses a single client, not their entire livelihood.
Or maybe you (and others like you) should do what I did. I quit working on my BS in CS when I realized what was happening to the industry, and I'm now driving a truck.
/. in my free time and have the time to work on my book. HAHA!
After 17+ years in the computer industry (I had a business school degree in "data processing," which shows how long ago I started in this field) and programming in everything from COBOL to ColdFusion, I've decided that the amount of work that is *worth* doing is dwindling.
Yes, there is significant amount of programming that will be done in the next 10-15 yrs, but how much of it is stuff we really *want* to do? I, too, was upset at the realization that all of this "grunt" work was going overseas, but then I realized also that I really didn't want "grunt" work anyway.
The really interesting work in CS will be done at the AI/user interface/user agent level at this point, not in writing (and re-writing) accounting packages or in-house support software.
So now I'm driving my truck and surfing
Even if SCO is correct (which I seriously doubt. If there are code similarities, I'm betting it was an obvious solution that any reasonable programmer would come up with), I have to ask....has McBride blown out the motherboard known as his brain?
What SCO is trying to do (extort money from practically everyone) is so completely transparent. Let's see, he panics big accounts who are using Linux so they freak and buy a license, then he's going to point to that in court and say, "See, any reasonable person can see that our IP has been infringed, else they would not be paying us for a license!"
I can't get over the pundits, either, saying that if SCO is right it's the "death of Linux" - What utter BS! The Open Source community will rewrite the offending sections and Linux will roll on (long after SCO breathes its last).
FWIW, I don't have any intention of sending SCO even one of my hard earned dollars. I hope most CEO's have enough sense to wait this thing out and see what happens before they give SCO anything.
As a computer science student one of the things they teach us is to evaluate performance (mostly of algorithms) in terms of n. If you have n items, and one algorithm takes n seconds and the other takes 2xn seconds to process them, both results are on the order of n or O(n). In order for there to be some significance to the difference in results, there must be some other factor of n (like log(n), n squared, n cubed, etc.).
So, for all intents and purposes the benchmarks, though interesting, are not really significant EXCEPT that it shows that:
Look, I love macs and have been an Apple fan since my //e, but as a computer professional, even I have to be dispassionate about these things.
Either that, or I'm just pissed because I can't afford a $3,000 computer when I just bought an iBook with my student loan.
..of SCO's claims, they *should* know that this *looks* like an attempt to scuttle the FOSS community (specifically the Linux community).
From a PR standpoint, this is a disaster for SCO. Even if they win this case, they're a dead company. I can't see anyone in the FOSS community trusting them again.
God! Don't these suits *think* at *all*? With AOL snugly in bed with MS again, the last thing we need is SCO going for the Linux jugular.
Thank god. Gene R. would be proud. The TNG/Voyager/DS9 time was a little too antiseptic for my taste.
I, for one, was glad to see them play up the tension between the humans and vulcans (gee, you mean we haven't always been best friends?). Just goes to show you what was achieved by Kirk's time. I was glad to see the humans buck them and take the bull by the horns and just do what we've always done...explore. For no logical reason other than that's what we want to do.
Loved the ship, loved Bakkula, he's a "regular" guy who has a dog and a ball cap. I was beginning to think pets had been outlawed in the future and so had headgear (except for Guinan's dopey hats). Glad to see a smaller crew (instead of a cast of 1000's). This is what Trek was all about once upon a time--human beings taking risks and exploring, not managing crises. Picard was OK, but he was no captain in my book.
Not sure about the temporal villans yet, time will tell (pun intended).
As for the boney-headed Klingons, the story supposedly was that they adopted a "more human" look during the original ST years to more easily deal with humans, but that it was a dismal failure and a shameful episode in their history, that's why they don't discuss it.
In all, the best Trek I've seen in a long, long time.
Ok, I admit I'm old enough that I remember the original series (TOS) and owned several of the model kits (including the cheesy Enterprise with the lights inside -- the lights were so bright they shone through the plastic instead of the windows...). That said, and not that I'm an authority, I recall the actual warp formula was n^3 x c (the warp number cubed time light speed). This puts warp 9 at 729 x light speed and warp 10 at 1000 times c. This would put the distance involved within the correct parameters. Now that we've cleared that up, I enjoyed the final episode, but not near as much as "All Good Things" the final TNG episode. I thought that Kate Mulgrew did a wonderful job of differentiating the older and younger Janeways, with the older one authoritative, hard bitten, and cynical and the younger more idealistic and unwilling to call down her older self until she could no longer avoid it. From a character standpoint, it was well-written, I thought. That said, I believe that the ST product (I'm not so starry-eyed I don't know it's a product) is part of our modern mythology, and will continue until such time as we find something to replace it. I have enjoyed most of the series' and am not such a fanatic that I've seen every episode of any of them. (My personal fave aired today, the TNG episode where Wesley evolves to become like the Traveler). Yes, it's just TV. But it's also a reflection of our culture/society. Think about it...everyone had computers, commucators and PDA's! It either forecast those items or helped to shape them.
Umm, first of all, Senator, let me state for the record, I am a mac user. That being said, are we to believe that Apple, whose Mac was designed from the beginning to survive the Y2K fiasco, has PURPOSELY introduced an OS to the Mac hardware that contains a DATE-RELATED BUG? Absurd. Ridiculous! True.
You're on the right track - first post I've seen on the subject that finally hit the nail on the head.
C'mon people! No crime has been committed UNTIL a crime has been committed!
Geez, only in America! How can you "virtually" hurt someone? You either have or have not!
Sale of such a "virtual pedophile" program should be subject to the local obscenity laws, and if the community finds the program obscene, then it cannot be sold. If it is, then punish the seller or maker of the program that violated the community standard.
In this instance, the buyer has not committed a crime, unless simple possession is a crime. The argument that possession is a crime because it "might" cause someone to act on it, when no one has been harmed, is silly at best.
THINK! Don't give knee-jerk reactions because something contains a hot-button phrase.