I never watched Lost till someone gave me season 1 on DVD as a gift. On DVD where you can watch a couple shows at a time and skip commercials it's a pretty good show. The widescreen and sound also makes a difference.
I tried watching the show as aired on TV. It's frustrating and boring. Each moment when it seems like it could be interesting either a commercial comes on or the show ends. Additionally after talking to a few friends who do watch the show religously, I think it's going to end up like the Matrix. Great first show/season and then sucker everyone along for the $$$
I was just thinking the other day how cool it would be to do a more a la carte method for TV. If I want the History channel then I pay for it monthly. That would give me access to that channel for the entire month. If some movie came on a channel I wasn't subscribed to then I could buy time on that channel for a slightly higher rate. Of course it will never happen, but it be nice to only pay for what I actually watch.
It seems that the iTunes method is starting to head down that path. If Lost was the only reason someone still had cable now they could drop the $40/month bill and pay $8/month for Lost. I can imagine it's only a matter of time before the TV/cable execs realize this and start trying to stop video iTunes.
I tend to agree. Especially with technologies like java webstart and whatever the.net version of the same type of autoupdate client tool is called. To me the main advantage behind a web based application (not a general read only site, but an actual application), was that nothing needed to be installed on the client. When it becomes trivial to keep the client updated the main advantage of being web based, IMHO, goes away.
I agree, happiness is much more than the things you own. I make a good bit more money than I did 5 years ago, but I still live like I did 5 years ago. Actually, my finances are in better shape because my car has been paid off for awhile now. Don't get me wrong, I buy toys and have a fun time, but I don't measure my happiness by other people. I buy things that I want not things that other people tell I should want. Once you start thinking about what you (and only you) want, it's surprising how few things that can be.
BTW, interesting stat. Last month Americans saved -.6% of their income. As interest rates creep up and new CC minimum payment and bankruptcy laws go into effect consumerism is not a position I would want to be in.
That's a great question. I have quite a few family members and friends who teach at all grade levels. After my informal analysis I think problem is multifaceted but starts with discipline.
Not Yours To Give is a good read. It is similar to what others thought like the quote below. I highlighted the part which I think has the most significance.
I find no warrant for such an appropriation in the Constitution, and I do not believe that the power and the duty of the General Government ought to be extended to the relief of individual suffering which is in no manner properly related to the public service or benefit. A prevailing tendency to disregard the limited mission of this power and duty should, I think, be steadfastly resisted, to the end that the lesson should be constantly enforced that though the people support the Government the Government should not support the people.
The friendliness and charity of our countrymen can always be relied upon to relieve their fellow-citizens in misfortune. This has been repeatedly and quite lately demonstrated. Federal aid in such cases encourages the expectation of paternal care on the part of the Government and weakens the sturdiness of our national character, while it prevents the indulgence among our people of that kindly sentiment and conduct which strengthens the bonds of a common brotherhood. -- President Grover Cleveland, upon vetoing a bill appropriating money to aid drought-stricken farmers in Texas [February 16, 1887]
Anyone spending half their life at work should reassess their priorities, regardless of what society is taking from them.
Why? They need to reassess to match your priorities? Thanks, but no thanks. Freedom allows all of us to make choices. If I want to make 50k/year and chill out that's fine, if I want to bust my ass and possibly make lots more that should be fine too. By society taking more than they are giving to individuals you actually take away one of the huge incentives to work hard and innovate.
Well said. I wonder if it's too late to stop the direction we've headed though. I think it's possible that within one more generation we will be the next full wealth distribution, everyone gets a trophy, and no one loses society.
Just check out what they are trying to do for Katrina people who didn't have insurance. Give them insurance retroactively!!!! WTF!!!
I'm not sure when this all started (maybe all the social programs after the great depression?), but the entitlement attitude of todays society is going to be the downfall of this country.
Do you backup your work on your personal computer nightly? If you were using an online office suite as part of a service they could do that backup for you. Your documents could be available to you anywhere you have access to a web browser.
Corporate users could benefit from the ease of collaboration. No more emailing around spreadsheets and documents, they could just be 'shared' if they are saved and worked on at the server. A server application could facilitate collaboration with people working on one document at the same time and instantly seeing each others changes.
There are lots of benefits to having a AJAX type of office suite. MS realized this awhile back and that's why Google is there main competitor. It's not about what Google has done, but what they might be working on.
I'd love to see math taught with applications, wherever possible. That's what can keep it from putting kids to sleep.
I agree. One of the best college profs I ever had was for a mid level stats class. Somehow he managed to link everything back to gambling. Either playing cards, craps, something. He always hooked what he was trying to teach into something that at least was marginally interesting instead of the usual 10 blue balls and 20 red balls....
Go to some companies, and see the management working in a separate hallway, into which engineers aren't allowed, flying first class when the engineers fly coach, using bleeding edge machinery while the engineers are working with 10 year old machinery.
True story from where I work. Our group ordered new machines and I priced them out with flat panel monitors. Dell had some good sale going, so at the time they were cheaper than the equivalent CRT they had. Corp came back and said only Directors/VPs and above could have flat panels and everyone else had to have CRTs. Form over substance is the reason why so many companies are going downhill today.
Yes and no. I failed discrete math the first time I took it. I not one to blame others, but when the teacher comes in near the last days of class and manages to say "I have been a very bad teacher, I will make sure you all pass" (at least that's what I think he said, b/c I couldn't understand most anything he ever said) it makes you wonder. IIRC, the only people who passed that class were the upper level Math majors who just needed an elective.
Keep in mind I retook discrete I with a different teacher and got an A. Took discrete II and again received an A.
We should make our engineering programs easier and more glamorous so that more people can hack it.
No, we should actually teach people while they are in college (actually way before, but that's a different problem).
Overall I was pretty lucky though. Most of my CS profs taught b/c they enjoyed teaching and not just b/c they couldn't hack it in the real world. One of my best CS profs was extremely challenging, but that was okay because he was also very good at teaching. His tests pushed you to your limits (imagine learning to multiply and then being thrown a division problem on a test), but he prepared you to push if you studied and payed attention in class.
Having mentioned the upside, to say that a tool like access should be bundled or customized for each database strikes me as naive.
I wasn't saying that at all. The GPP(I think), asked if there was an OSS tool similar to Access. Then someone flamed Access, and I just wanted to point out that Access (and Excel) had their uses. I don't think mysql needs to have an Access front end, but it might be the place to start when trying to build an OSS Access replacement.
if you're asking for access, you're asking for a simple interface to make simple queries
It's been awhile since I've written an access application, but I remember it being much more than just a query front end. When I used it things like forms (VBish type stuff) and reports were prominent and easy to use. Someone with little programming knowledge could cobble something together and give you an idea of what they were thinking.
Access is an interesting app but has no business use whatsoever.
This part I have issue with. Access and Excel both are great prototyping applications. Business users can click around enough to start to get an idea of the exact problem.
I have been involved in multiple projects to rip apart poorly written applications in Access to move the data and the logic to where it belongs
Exactly. Some business person had a rough idea of something they needed and prototyped it out. If they hadn't used Access up front they probably still wouldn't have an idea of the exact problem they needed to solve (and wasted your time re-implementing an application over and over). To say every application needs to go straight to an RDBMS is naive. Unless you're extremely lucky and always working with perfect, unchanging requirements, Access and Excel are great tools to help figure things out up front.
Tell me about it. When I do internal web app development, I usually get all the functionality working then go back and make it look nice with CSS etc... I may have a fully functioning web app, but until it looks good, it's not "working" in most people's eyes.
The Feds and Bush do deserve some blame about the NO situation. My problem comes with trying to pin the whole thing on FEMA or the Fed. States and cities also carry responsiblity to be prepared for situations like this. The mayor of NO and the gov. of LA both appear to have had little to no plan for a hurricane event.
Everyone should know that big gov. takes time. It always has and it always will. That's why people at the local and state level need to have plans in place and be prepared for these events.
I know the NO flooding was a unique event and can't really be compared to any other hurricane scenario, but I've been through a cat 4 hurricane (Hugo '89). The mayor and the gov. of where I lived at the time knew wtf they were doing and were able to manage things until more help could arrive. They had a plan and while not everything went perfectly (does it ever), I think they did quite well.
Especially since the bucks responsible for upgrading the levee system were PERSONALLY slashed from the budget and diverted to Iraq - which in itself was a fucking moronic operation.
The ex head of the Army Corp of Engineers was on the news the other night and he made it clear that this problem is one that is bi-partisan. Bush didn't build the levees and he certainly isn't the first one not to upgrade them.
How do you know how you would react in his situation? Are you also running a multi-billion dollar company and losing some of your best people to the competition?
He wants to crush Google. Don't delude yourself for a moment and think that Google doesn't want to do with same thing to any other company that does search.
So I calmly yanked the phone from her hand and told whatever dumb shit on the other end that she was haning up now, and threw the phone as hard as I could down onto the floor in front of the screen.
My GF has a huge purse to smuggle in things like candy and a drink or two. Plus we quit going to non-matinee movies a long time ago. $6/ticket I can deal with:)
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I never watched Lost till someone gave me season 1 on DVD as a gift. On DVD where you can watch a couple shows at a time and skip commercials it's a pretty good show. The widescreen and sound also makes a difference.
I tried watching the show as aired on TV. It's frustrating and boring. Each moment when it seems like it could be interesting either a commercial comes on or the show ends. Additionally after talking to a few friends who do watch the show religously, I think it's going to end up like the Matrix. Great first show/season and then sucker everyone along for the $$$
I was just thinking the other day how cool it would be to do a more a la carte method for TV. If I want the History channel then I pay for it monthly. That would give me access to that channel for the entire month. If some movie came on a channel I wasn't subscribed to then I could buy time on that channel for a slightly higher rate. Of course it will never happen, but it be nice to only pay for what I actually watch.
It seems that the iTunes method is starting to head down that path. If Lost was the only reason someone still had cable now they could drop the $40/month bill and pay $8/month for Lost. I can imagine it's only a matter of time before the TV/cable execs realize this and start trying to stop video iTunes.
And now Ice T plays a cop on Law and Order.
I tend to agree. Especially with technologies like java webstart and whatever the .net version of the same type of autoupdate client tool is called. To me the main advantage behind a web based application (not a general read only site, but an actual application), was that nothing needed to be installed on the client. When it becomes trivial to keep the client updated the main advantage of being web based, IMHO, goes away.
I agree, happiness is much more than the things you own. I make a good bit more money than I did 5 years ago, but I still live like I did 5 years ago. Actually, my finances are in better shape because my car has been paid off for awhile now. Don't get me wrong, I buy toys and have a fun time, but I don't measure my happiness by other people. I buy things that I want not things that other people tell I should want. Once you start thinking about what you (and only you) want, it's surprising how few things that can be.
BTW, interesting stat. Last month Americans saved -.6% of their income. As interest rates creep up and new CC minimum payment and bankruptcy laws go into effect consumerism is not a position I would want to be in.
That's a great question. I have quite a few family members and friends who teach at all grade levels. After my informal analysis I think problem is multifaceted but starts with discipline.
Not Yours To Give is a good read. It is similar to what others thought like the quote below. I highlighted the part which I think has the most significance.
I find no warrant for such an appropriation in the Constitution, and I do not believe that the power and the duty of the General Government ought to be extended to the relief of individual suffering which is in no manner properly related to the public service or benefit. A prevailing tendency to disregard the limited mission of this power and duty should, I think, be steadfastly resisted, to the end that the lesson should be constantly enforced that though the people support the Government the Government should not support the people.
The friendliness and charity of our countrymen can always be relied upon to relieve their fellow-citizens in misfortune. This has been repeatedly and quite lately demonstrated. Federal aid in such cases encourages the expectation of paternal care on the part of the Government and weakens the sturdiness of our national character, while it prevents the indulgence among our people of that kindly sentiment and conduct which strengthens the bonds of a common brotherhood.
-- President Grover Cleveland, upon vetoing a bill appropriating money to aid drought-stricken farmers in Texas [February 16, 1887]
I vote for whoever I think is the best candidate. Which means I've voted for a lot of Libertarians lately :)
Anyone spending half their life at work should reassess their priorities, regardless of what society is taking from them.
Why? They need to reassess to match your priorities? Thanks, but no thanks. Freedom allows all of us to make choices. If I want to make 50k/year and chill out that's fine, if I want to bust my ass and possibly make lots more that should be fine too. By society taking more than they are giving to individuals you actually take away one of the huge incentives to work hard and innovate.
Well said. I wonder if it's too late to stop the direction we've headed though. I think it's possible that within one more generation we will be the next full wealth distribution, everyone gets a trophy, and no one loses society.
Just check out what they are trying to do for Katrina people who didn't have insurance. Give them insurance retroactively!!!! WTF!!!
I'm not sure when this all started (maybe all the social programs after the great depression?), but the entitlement attitude of todays society is going to be the downfall of this country.
Do you backup your work on your personal computer nightly? If you were using an online office suite as part of a service they could do that backup for you. Your documents could be available to you anywhere you have access to a web browser.
Corporate users could benefit from the ease of collaboration. No more emailing around spreadsheets and documents, they could just be 'shared' if they are saved and worked on at the server. A server application could facilitate collaboration with people working on one document at the same time and instantly seeing each others changes.
There are lots of benefits to having a AJAX type of office suite. MS realized this awhile back and that's why Google is there main competitor. It's not about what Google has done, but what they might be working on.
I'd love to see math taught with applications, wherever possible. That's what can keep it from putting kids to sleep.
I agree. One of the best college profs I ever had was for a mid level stats class. Somehow he managed to link everything back to gambling. Either playing cards, craps, something. He always hooked what he was trying to teach into something that at least was marginally interesting instead of the usual 10 blue balls and 20 red balls....
Go to some companies, and see the management working in a separate hallway, into which engineers aren't allowed, flying first class when the engineers fly coach, using bleeding edge machinery while the engineers are working with 10 year old machinery.
True story from where I work. Our group ordered new machines and I priced them out with flat panel monitors. Dell had some good sale going, so at the time they were cheaper than the equivalent CRT they had. Corp came back and said only Directors/VPs and above could have flat panels and everyone else had to have CRTs. Form over substance is the reason why so many companies are going downhill today.
Yes and no. I failed discrete math the first time I took it. I not one to blame others, but when the teacher comes in near the last days of class and manages to say "I have been a very bad teacher, I will make sure you all pass" (at least that's what I think he said, b/c I couldn't understand most anything he ever said) it makes you wonder. IIRC, the only people who passed that class were the upper level Math majors who just needed an elective.
Keep in mind I retook discrete I with a different teacher and got an A. Took discrete II and again received an A.
We should make our engineering programs easier and more glamorous so that more people can hack it.
No, we should actually teach people while they are in college (actually way before, but that's a different problem).
Overall I was pretty lucky though. Most of my CS profs taught b/c they enjoyed teaching and not just b/c they couldn't hack it in the real world. One of my best CS profs was extremely challenging, but that was okay because he was also very good at teaching. His tests pushed you to your limits (imagine learning to multiply and then being thrown a division problem on a test), but he prepared you to push if you studied and payed attention in class.
Having mentioned the upside, to say that a tool like access should be bundled or customized for each database strikes me as naive.
I wasn't saying that at all. The GPP(I think), asked if there was an OSS tool similar to Access. Then someone flamed Access, and I just wanted to point out that Access (and Excel) had their uses. I don't think mysql needs to have an Access front end, but it might be the place to start when trying to build an OSS Access replacement.
if you're asking for access, you're asking for a simple interface to make simple queries
It's been awhile since I've written an access application, but I remember it being much more than just a query front end. When I used it things like forms (VBish type stuff) and reports were prominent and easy to use. Someone with little programming knowledge could cobble something together and give you an idea of what they were thinking.
I agree that Access isn't an enterprise RDBMS.
Access is an interesting app but has no business use whatsoever.
This part I have issue with. Access and Excel both are great prototyping applications. Business users can click around enough to start to get an idea of the exact problem.
I have been involved in multiple projects to rip apart poorly written applications in Access to move the data and the logic to where it belongs
Exactly. Some business person had a rough idea of something they needed and prototyped it out. If they hadn't used Access up front they probably still wouldn't have an idea of the exact problem they needed to solve (and wasted your time re-implementing an application over and over). To say every application needs to go straight to an RDBMS is naive. Unless you're extremely lucky and always working with perfect, unchanging requirements, Access and Excel are great tools to help figure things out up front.
And the gov. changes this how?
Tell me about it. When I do internal web app development, I usually get all the functionality working then go back and make it look nice with CSS etc... I may have a fully functioning web app, but until it looks good, it's not "working" in most people's eyes.
Ha, I owned that game as a kid. I remember it being pretty challenging for a 5-6 year old.
Not sure if you meant to respond to my comment, but I agree with you completely. I was alluding to the same thing in a lot less words :)
The Feds and Bush do deserve some blame about the NO situation. My problem comes with trying to pin the whole thing on FEMA or the Fed. States and cities also carry responsiblity to be prepared for situations like this. The mayor of NO and the gov. of LA both appear to have had little to no plan for a hurricane event.
Everyone should know that big gov. takes time. It always has and it always will. That's why people at the local and state level need to have plans in place and be prepared for these events.
I know the NO flooding was a unique event and can't really be compared to any other hurricane scenario, but I've been through a cat 4 hurricane (Hugo '89). The mayor and the gov. of where I lived at the time knew wtf they were doing and were able to manage things until more help could arrive. They had a plan and while not everything went perfectly (does it ever), I think they did quite well.
Especially since the bucks responsible for upgrading the levee system were PERSONALLY slashed from the budget and diverted to Iraq - which in itself was a fucking moronic operation.
The ex head of the Army Corp of Engineers was on the news the other night and he made it clear that this problem is one that is bi-partisan. Bush didn't build the levees and he certainly isn't the first one not to upgrade them.
How do you know how you would react in his situation? Are you also running a multi-billion dollar company and losing some of your best people to the competition?
He wants to crush Google. Don't delude yourself for a moment and think that Google doesn't want to do with same thing to any other company that does search.
So I calmly yanked the phone from her hand and told whatever dumb shit on the other end that she was haning up now, and threw the phone as hard as I could down onto the floor in front of the screen.
:)
Classic. You're my movie theater hero
My GF has a huge purse to smuggle in things like candy and a drink or two. Plus we quit going to non-matinee movies a long time ago. $6/ticket I can deal with :)