It reminds me of the joke where a guy gets sent to prison for life. The first night he's trying to sleep and in the darkness he hears someone shout, "Number 17!". The entire jail breaks out in peals of laughter. After a while, another voice shouts out, "Number 756!" followed by even more uproarious laughter.
After a while, the guy turns to his cell mate in the lower bunk and says, "What the hell is going on? Why are people laughing at these numbers?" His cell mate chuckles. "You know, we have all been in this prison for so long that we've told the same jokes over an over again because we used them all up. So we decided that to save time, we would number each one. Now all we have to do is say the number."
"That's unreal!" he exclaims in disbelief. He thinks for a while, "Hey, can I try that? What's a really funny one?"
His cell mate thinks for a while, then says, "Oh, hey try this one. Number 367. Gets them every time."
So the newbie stands up and shouts "Number 367!" Silence. He tries it again, "Number 367!" Silence again.
"Hey, what's up?! I thought you said this joke was funny?" he demands, exasperated and a bit embarrassed.
"It's not the joke you're telling that's not funny, man," His cell mate replies, "it's the way you're telling it!"
For me, the problem with telecommuting isn't the amount of distraction (although kids + wife do seem to cause some chaos--and when it gets too bad, I find myself at a local coffee house with free wireless), or even the lack of access to coworkers.
The problem is with the blurring of the lines between normal work hours and off-time. I have a 100% telecommute programming gig with a company in a nearby city, and I have to say it reminds me of when I was in college and could never relax because there was always homework to do or a midterm to study for.
In a course of a typical day. I might get distracted with something my family needs, then find myself coming back and working extra time that day to make up for the distraction. Before I know it, I'm putting in well over 40 hours in a typical work week. Or, I sometimes will break for dinner, then come back to a nagging problem and spend hours into the night working until I feel like I made enough progress to quit. Weekend time? I have to force myself to get away from the computer or I will find myself working again.
The advantage of going into an office is that I can leave work at work. With telecommuting, I don't take my work home with me at all--my work is home with me.
"The agreement with OPEC in the 1970s to price oil in dollars has provided tremendous artificial strength to the dollar as the preeminent reserve currency. This has created a universal demand for the dollar, and soaks up the huge number of new dollars generated each year. Last year alone M3 increased over $700 billion."
"Most importantly, the dollar/oil relationship has to be maintained to keep the dollar as a preeminent currency. Any attack on this relationship will be forcefully challenged--as it already has been."
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. phpBB also has RSS (as I'm sure most forum-management/BBs do too these days). So I use an RSS tool like Thunderbird's news feed reader to keep up to date on new posts (to the public areas, anyway). I would think an RSS feed would be great for collaboration.
Heck, I even use the news feed reader for slashdot.:-)
I like the way phpBB http://www.phpbb.com/ works for private messages. You have an outbox and a sendbox. The message stays in the outbox until the recipient reads the message, so you can know if at least it's been read. And, you can turn on email notification for when you get a private message.
I tried getting my coworkers where I used to work to use a wiki, but it just didn't catch on. I wonder if a forum management tool like phpBB would have worked better.
/me imagines smoke billowing out of the computer (now with a massive reel-to-reel tape drive and loads of blinking lights) with an cyber voice repeating "Does not compute!".
Well, this applies more to software than hardware, but the philosphy of open source is to release early, release often. For closed-source companies, there is still no reason not to follow this. Everyone gets caught up in the feature war, when the user just wants a stable product that works.
My company is following that philospohy with our latest product: http://www.turnwatcher.com/. It's an Initiative Tracker for table-top RPG DMs. The idea is when you buy a copy, you get free, downloadable updates for one year. Not just bug fixes, but features that are requested. This, I think, is the future way for software companies to develop. You've got to get yourself out of the feature war.
It still looks good for the Fair Tax. I've heard fud that says that people will be discouraged to buy under a consumption-based tax system, but it seems to me they would be encouraged. They would have more in their pocket, and still be able to choose when to and when not to buy (and subsequently pay tax). Under the present system, by your calculations, they get less to spend and they *still* have to pay tax.
And it seems that Wallmart will have the same advantage in either system, unless I'm missing something?
I have Linspire 5.0, and am able to compile just fine. I built a version of Gtk+/MM 2.8 from scratch for example, no problem.
Okay, so I lied a little bit; I didn't used source tarballs. Actually, what I did was add an Ubuntu source (for Breezy) to my/etc/apt/sources.list for deb-src only. Then I used the debian make tools to create custom-built packages for Gtk+/mm 2.8.0. Now I have.deb files that I can install that coexist just fine with Linspire packages, and voila! Gtk+/mm 2.8 full development libraries.
Plus, the developer's kit couldn't even link a "Hello World" program. And Roberts wants us to develop for him? Bah!
So what version of Linspire are you running, anyway? I have Linspire 5.0, and am able to compile just fine. I built a version of Gtk+/MM 2.8 from scratch for example, no problem.
However, I did have to create my own developer "aisle" so I could fetch the all the tools I need in one fell swoop. CNR could stand to be made a little more "developer friendly" in that regard. For example, the search feature. Just try searching for "man" in the CNR and you will be innundated with all sorts of parial matches. Outside of that, I think CNR is a pretty good idea. They used to have a developer's version of the OS with most everthing installed, but I didn't have access to it. Oh, and the versions of the support libraries available are pretty behind (about the state of Debian Sarge). For example, you only get GTK+ 2.6.
That said, once you do get the tools you need loaded, Linspire works like every other Linux distro I've worked with before (Ubuntu, Debian, Mandrake). You can always build from source.
I don't know. I like having access to foreign sites, even if they aren't in English. What if I'm an foreign expatriot living in America, desiring access to my country's news, or blogs in my native language? Ubuntu Linux for overseas folks? Or companies that want to market to the whole world, not just the US?
A partitioned Internet sounds like a bad idea to me.
I think the parent post is talking down to the level of the states. So that way people in California can say what people in California want to watch, not have to put up only with what the people in Kansas or Georgia will tolerate. The point is, we don't need a national standard, administered by a federal agency, for this.
The same information technology forces that are predestining the death of copyrights are also pre-destining the death of paper and government "backed" currencies.
I tried to get my mother-in-law, who is a textbook author, to switch to OO, but she had so many problems reading the documents that she had to swap back and forth between her publisher and her co-author. The layout would frequently be just enough off as to make it unusable.
So she has to stick with M$ Office because that's what her publishers use. And she has to have the same version that they do as well. What a racket M$ has!
Every bill to be voted on must be published on the Internet at least 7 days before a vote, and Congress must give public notice of the date when a vote will be held on that bill.
Even though bills are already posted on the Internet, I think the idea is that a list of bills to be voted on must be publically posted, along with a date and time the vote will take place. This prevents secret votes, or at least, this is the intent.
It would make congress read every last word of each bill they consider for a vote, plus mandate a seven day waiting period, during which time the bill is posted on the Internet for public comment.
Imagine putting and end to this pork-barrel nonsense!
I worked for a company which made Meetings, Bloody Meetingshttp://imdb.com/title/tt0295434/ required viewing (during a meeting of all things). It was actually the second company I worked for which had this requirement.
The point of the film was that poorly run or uneccessary meetings are a morale suck for employees, and many suggestions are offered during the movie on how to better run meetings.
One vignette I remember: John Cleese's character calls the usual weekly meeting and there is nothing to talk about. He is later asked why the meeting was even called with nothing on the agenda, to which he replies, "But it's the weekly meeting! We always have to have the weekly meeting!"
Ironically, both companies I worked for continued the practise of too many uneccessary and poorly run meetings. I guess upper management must have slept through the movie!:-)
'The record industry... believes the recording capability [of satellite radio receivers] is a clear copyright violation and could take revenue away from paid download music services.'
Since when is the ability to record a copyright violation? Making personal copies of creative works is allowed under fair use, something the spinmeisters at the RIAA keep forgetting about. Distribution is the issue here, not recording.
Man, I have to say, I'm truly frightened of your friend.
Tell you what, ask him if he considers himself a Christian. If so, then ask him what he thinks of Matthew 7.1: "Judge not that ye not be judged." Or how about Matthew 5:39: "But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also." Ask him how he can reconcile his position on mass murder, or even judging "infidels" in the face of that. I'd really like to know.
Slashdot Mirror
It reminds me of the joke where a guy gets sent to prison for life. The first night he's trying to sleep and in the darkness he hears someone shout, "Number 17!". The entire jail breaks out in peals of laughter. After a while, another voice shouts out, "Number 756!" followed by even more uproarious laughter.
After a while, the guy turns to his cell mate in the lower bunk and says, "What the hell is going on? Why are people laughing at these numbers?" His cell mate chuckles. "You know, we have all been in this prison for so long that we've told the same jokes over an over again because we used them all up. So we decided that to save time, we would number each one. Now all we have to do is say the number."
"That's unreal!" he exclaims in disbelief. He thinks for a while, "Hey, can I try that? What's a really funny one?"
His cell mate thinks for a while, then says, "Oh, hey try this one. Number 367. Gets them every time."
So the newbie stands up and shouts "Number 367!" Silence. He tries it again, "Number 367!" Silence again.
"Hey, what's up?! I thought you said this joke was funny?" he demands, exasperated and a bit embarrassed.
"It's not the joke you're telling that's not funny, man," His cell mate replies, "it's the way you're telling it!"
The problem is with the blurring of the lines between normal work hours and off-time. I have a 100% telecommute programming gig with a company in a nearby city, and I have to say it reminds me of when I was in college and could never relax because there was always homework to do or a midterm to study for.
In a course of a typical day. I might get distracted with something my family needs, then find myself coming back and working extra time that day to make up for the distraction. Before I know it, I'm putting in well over 40 hours in a typical work week. Or, I sometimes will break for dinner, then come back to a nagging problem and spend hours into the night working until I feel like I made enough progress to quit. Weekend time? I have to force myself to get away from the computer or I will find myself working again.
The advantage of going into an office is that I can leave work at work. With telecommuting, I don't take my work home with me at all--my work is home with me.
http://www.house.gov/paul/congrec/congrec2006/cr02 1506.htm
Heck, I even use the news feed reader for slashdot. :-)
I tried getting my coworkers where I used to work to use a wiki, but it just didn't catch on. I wonder if a forum management tool like phpBB would have worked better.
TV too. The show that comes to mind for me is "24". As much as I love it, I scratch my head over the technobabble and usually suspend my disbelief.
/me imagines smoke billowing out of the computer (now with a massive reel-to-reel tape drive and loads of blinking lights) with an cyber voice repeating "Does not compute!".
I wonder if the BG writers have a story/universe arch like JMS's?
My company is following that philospohy with our latest product: http://www.turnwatcher.com/. It's an Initiative Tracker for table-top RPG DMs. The idea is when you buy a copy, you get free, downloadable updates for one year. Not just bug fixes, but features that are requested. This, I think, is the future way for software companies to develop. You've got to get yourself out of the feature war.
And it seems that Wallmart will have the same advantage in either system, unless I'm missing something?
Okay, so I lied a little bit; I didn't used source tarballs. Actually, what I did was add an Ubuntu source (for Breezy) to my /etc/apt/sources.list for deb-src only. Then I used the debian make tools to create custom-built packages for Gtk+/mm 2.8.0. Now I have .deb files that I can install that coexist just fine with Linspire packages, and voila! Gtk+/mm 2.8 full development libraries.
So what version of Linspire are you running, anyway? I have Linspire 5.0, and am able to compile just fine. I built a version of Gtk+/MM 2.8 from scratch for example, no problem.
However, I did have to create my own developer "aisle" so I could fetch the all the tools I need in one fell swoop. CNR could stand to be made a little more "developer friendly" in that regard. For example, the search feature. Just try searching for "man" in the CNR and you will be innundated with all sorts of parial matches. Outside of that, I think CNR is a pretty good idea. They used to have a developer's version of the OS with most everthing installed, but I didn't have access to it. Oh, and the versions of the support libraries available are pretty behind (about the state of Debian Sarge). For example, you only get GTK+ 2.6.
That said, once you do get the tools you need loaded, Linspire works like every other Linux distro I've worked with before (Ubuntu, Debian, Mandrake). You can always build from source.
http://knopper.net/knoppix/index-en.html
I don't know. I like having access to foreign sites, even if they aren't in English. What if I'm an foreign expatriot living in America, desiring access to my country's news, or blogs in my native language? Ubuntu Linux for overseas folks? Or companies that want to market to the whole world, not just the US?
A partitioned Internet sounds like a bad idea to me.
I think the parent post is talking down to the level of the states. So that way people in California can say what people in California want to watch, not have to put up only with what the people in Kansas or Georgia will tolerate. The point is, we don't need a national standard, administered by a federal agency, for this.
http://www.libertydollar.org/
So she has to stick with M$ Office because that's what her publishers use. And she has to have the same version that they do as well. What a racket M$ has!
Even though bills are already posted on the Internet, I think the idea is that a list of bills to be voted on must be publically posted, along with a date and time the vote will take place. This prevents secret votes, or at least, this is the intent.
Actually, you wouldn't. The Fair Tax calls for the repeal of the 16th Amendment http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sixteenth_Amendment_t o_the_United_States_Constitution/.
The other benefit is that it shuts down the IRS.
http://politics.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=17902 9&threshold=0&commentsort=0&mode=thread&pid=148381 59#14839435
Read the Bills!
http://www.downsizedc.org/read_the_laws.shtml
It would make congress read every last word of each bill they consider for a vote, plus mandate a seven day waiting period, during which time the bill is posted on the Internet for public comment.
Imagine putting and end to this pork-barrel nonsense!
Any relation? I wonder if he owns a camera...
The point of the film was that poorly run or uneccessary meetings are a morale suck for employees, and many suggestions are offered during the movie on how to better run meetings.
One vignette I remember: John Cleese's character calls the usual weekly meeting and there is nothing to talk about. He is later asked why the meeting was even called with nothing on the agenda, to which he replies, "But it's the weekly meeting! We always have to have the weekly meeting!"
Ironically, both companies I worked for continued the practise of too many uneccessary and poorly run meetings. I guess upper management must have slept through the movie! :-)
Tell you what, ask him if he considers himself a Christian. If so, then ask him what he thinks of Matthew 7.1: "Judge not that ye not be judged." Or how about Matthew 5:39: "But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also." Ask him how he can reconcile his position on mass murder, or even judging "infidels" in the face of that. I'd really like to know.