That isn't true. My company just outsourced a bunch of stuff to the Irish. The wages might be a little more than India or China, but it is still much less then they would pay one of us over here to do the work.
Plus, the times zones are slightly more in synch (there are a few hrs of overlap), the communication barrier isn't as thick, etc... So the cost to benefit is more in line.
I'm not so sure about that. Depending of where you live (cost of living blah blah blah) 18 isn't all that great. 18 dollars per hour is about 36,000 a year. It is a good salary, but not for engineers / software people.
The Chicago market hires at about 50,000 a year for a junior, and Chicago is probably only a little above average on the cost of living scale.
Therefore, 18 bucks an hour is pretty cheap...but then again, it is probably pretty good for someone from India.
Harry Potter - The first book... definitely for the kids. That is why it was written, and that is who will enjoy it the most. I enjoyed it. It was great, but it was fun. It let me relive some of my childhood fantasies, so it was good times. What I have noticed is that each subsequent book that has come out is darker and more grown up than the last. It is as if the books are growing up with Harry. That said, they are still children oriented, but I think that adults can get more out of the later books... For instance the last two books have been pretty bold and dark by children's books standards.
Da Vinci -- I agree. The story wasn't very good. The mystery was boring, and the twists and turns were expected. But that is not why I read the book. I read it for the ideas behind the pages. What I found myself doing was taking notes on what to look up after I finished the book. Such as "Madonna on the Rocks" vs. "Virgin on the Rocks", and looking at "The Last Supper". I found myself interested in the 'conspiracy theory' part of the book, not the story. If you can get by the crappy plot, the book isn't bad.:)
I totally agree. The movies were fun and enjoyable. They cut out all the unneeded songs and rhetoric that just bogged down the stories. To me it just seemed characters did things 'just cuz'. They had no reason to do something, but did it anyway, or something happened to them and they just accepted it... there was no thought involved.
I think that is why I liked Robert Jordan's series. Robert Jordan gave wonderful insight not only to the story/plot/universe/magic, but to the characters. I could identify with them. I could understand why they acted the way they did. They just seemed to be real people in a real universe. All the rules were laid out and explained, and the characters followed the rules. I didn't have to take any leaps of faith and just accept things for what is was with no explanation. His books are very well written...
Now then I'm used the word 'liked ' for a reason. The last couple books have been drawn out and the plot is not advancing. I can appreciate them for the detail and politics Jordan has created, but at some point the story needs to advance...
Yup. It used to be called Revenge of the Jedi...then Lucas changed the title because Jedi aren't suppose to take revenge. At any rate, by that time several movie posters (and such) were made, so they are pretty big collectables now.
I doubt this title will change, as revenge is a quality of the Sith.
I totally agree. I almost think the owners WANT the team to fail. A couple years ago they finally get a player that is good, and what do they do? Trade him away. WTF?
But yea, it is unbelieveable how much seats cost for that thing. No one cares anymore...which is fine by me.
You're right. You're absolutly right. MS said it so it must be lies, falcities and error. Stop with the conspiracy theory shit already. If you truly think that MS has done nothing to further the state of computers, business, and technology you are slower than I thought.
Good for people who work on Linux. News flash: Linux hasn't advanced "computer science" much either, at least not that I'm aware of. Please prove me wrong here. Links, some hard evidence! Seriously, I'm curious... What I see is a group of people working on a great OS that pretty much does the same thing as MS, Mac, and Unix... WHere is the great advancement of computer science? For this I look to the universities.
I'm sorry about my Gates charity reference. It isn't 50 million, but 150 million. And they gave 1 billion in 2003. I'm tired of doing the leg work for you, so you can look it up. While we're on the topic, how much money / time have you donated to charity recently?
Do you know how much Ted Turner is worth (a few billion at least)? Yes, 200 million isn't much for that man. I'm not saying it isn't a large % of his yearly income, but you have to think economies of scale here... If I have a billion dollars 200 million means A LOT less to me than if I had 500 million. I'm begging you, stop with this argument, you don't understand what you are talking about here.
Oh and the IRS will not 'have your ass'. It is your money, you earned it. Once you pay your taxes they are done with you. Speaking of taxes, there are many better ways to shield income than charity donations, so if these billions wanted they don't have to give away a cent.
God, I feel like I'm talking to a 3 year old child who doesn't understand that c-a-t doesn't spell "dog".
This debate has long since been over, so unless you can provide some evidence to back up your thinking, I'm done with you.
I'm sick of this shit. What about video capture cards on their PC's or VHS recorders and DVD burners... this is rediculous.
I've been tossing around the idea for a while now, but now I'm sold. Being a consumer I speak with my money. For the same reason I go to concerts to support artists, I'm going to buy a TIVO.
The Chicago Blackhawks blackout their home games ALL the time... it is the worst policy ever. It has single handedly turned the entire city off to NHL hockey. I think the minor league team (The Wolves) gets more attention in the public eye.
There used to be a huge rivalry between the Blackhawks and the Red Wings. Some argue this still exists...but I think it is pretty much dead... no one cares anymore because management is too stupid to understand that the more people that *SEE* the games the more press you'll get and the more people will start caring and the more people will want to come to the game and...well that is a lot of ands...
You and the rest of the pro-Microsoft posters are merely bowing down to the rich because they're rich. Microsoft could be advancing the state of computer science by funding basic research with that $50 billion and then reap the profits of that research which would make the company even more profitable and even more powerful.
Well, they are. They spent about 7 billion last year on R&D and they will spend another 7 billion next year: click me! You can throw only so much money at something before you are effectively wasting money.
It's on a par with Gates "charity" which does nothing more than launder his stock for him to dodge SEC rules. Or Ted Turner's billion-dollar donation to the UN, which gets him a huge tax write-off.
You've got to be kidding me!!! The Gates charity just gave like 50 million dollars to help fight the world AIDS epidemic...you're telling me this is only done to dodge SEC rules?!?!? Are you mad or just stupid?
The tax benefits exist to *help* or *reward* those who help others. Trust me, at the level of income gates makes there is very little benefit for him to give to charity or not give to charity. Generally people with this much money give because they *don't need any more money*. When you are worth billions, why hoard a few hundred million? You think he's going to benefit from that tax write off? Please... A drop in the bucket my friend.
And you morons are clueless.
We're the clueless ones? So far I've seen no argument of substance from you. You call me a moron and an idiot, but the more you talk the more you show that you don't have a good understanding of the situation, or of the business world around you. You 'anti-Microsoft' people are so hypocritical.
Would you like to back up your statements with anything solid, or is it safe to assume childish namecalling is as sophisticated of an argument you're going to present?
If you are still in college, take an econ / finance class. If not, you might want to pickup an investors business daily or wall street journal to learn about this stuff. Whether you like it or not, this is capitalism at its finest.
And just to point out, I never once supported their OS...just MS as a corperation.
1) Giving away a big one time dividend actually *decreases* the value of the stock by the amount of the payout. So in this case, when the dividend execution date hits (nov 17th was it?) the stock price will decrease by 3 dollars. This occurs because the value of the company is now less. It has paid out a sizeable chunk of its assets to it's investors, thereby devaluing the corporation.
This really isn't seen so much now, but it occurred a lot back in the day (or so I'm told) when it was common for corporations to have high yields. Now it is usually over-looked because corporate dividends are too small to really effect the corporation's value.
2 / 3) As the other poster said 2 and 3 are really the same thing. The stock buyback will of course take shares off the open market thereby increasing demand and thus the price per share.
I don't really have anything else to say...I just wanted to get my two cents in about your first point.
It is a shame you don't understand what it means to be a corporation. MS exists to make its shareholders money. This is exactly what they are doing / have been doing / will continue to do.
It is not up to the corporations (MS in this case) to advance computer science. It is not up to the corporations to find a cure for cancer. It is not up to the corporations to invent the longer lasting light bulb. I'll say it again to be clear: Corporations exist to make money and to make money for their investors.
That being said, most of the time (and I do mean most here) these two things are one in the same. The corporation needs to innovate / invent / advance society to make money...but it is not necessary.
When it is all said and done, MS is doing exactly what they should do. They have made a product that the world wants, uses, and perhaps (now) needs. In my opinion they innovated along the way and they continue to innovate. Not so much with their OS, but with some of their other programs. Excel is one of the best programs I've ever seen. MS Money is right up there too. Visual Studio has spoiled me as a developer...
Bitch if you want, but the stockholders are happy, MS is making money... they are doing exactly what needs to be done.
Are they going to branch out or will it be another FPS?
I love ID's FPS, they all rock and are tons of fun. But when I look at all the talent there, I just think what they could do with a RTS or an RPG or something...
Ya. I played it there. It is pretty cool, though I think it was far from done. They only had two playable characters and the fighting was nothing to get over-excited about.
The real cool thing was you could break limbs and then the other character couldn't use them anymore. Other than that, it was nothing special.
The new Mortal Kombat game looked really cool though. Basically it is to include everything they wanted Deadly Alliance to have and then some.
No. Special laws exist to protect libraries from this sort of thing. They pay for the music (or it is donated to them) and they in turn are alowed to 'lend' it to others.
Slashdot Mirror
I'm not at liberty to say. But they are contracted through a large Irish contractor.
That isn't true. My company just outsourced a bunch of stuff to the Irish. The wages might be a little more than India or China, but it is still much less then they would pay one of us over here to do the work.
Plus, the times zones are slightly more in synch (there are a few hrs of overlap), the communication barrier isn't as thick, etc... So the cost to benefit is more in line.
Still, I'd rather have the jobs stay in the US.
I'm not so sure about that. Depending of where you live (cost of living blah blah blah) 18 isn't all that great. 18 dollars per hour is about 36,000 a year. It is a good salary, but not for engineers / software people.
The Chicago market hires at about 50,000 a year for a junior, and Chicago is probably only a little above average on the cost of living scale.
Therefore, 18 bucks an hour is pretty cheap...but then again, it is probably pretty good for someone from India.
That was so close to being funny...but then I realized your first point is extremely valid.
:(
We're all gonna lose our jobs before it is over.
I agree with you except on a few points...
... definitely for the kids. That is why it was written, and that is who will enjoy it the most. I enjoyed it. It was great, but it was fun. It let me relive some of my childhood fantasies, so it was good times. What I have noticed is that each subsequent book that has come out is darker and more grown up than the last. It is as if the books are growing up with Harry. That said, they are still children oriented, but I think that adults can get more out of the later books... For instance the last two books have been pretty bold and dark by children's books standards.
:)
Harry Potter - The first book
Da Vinci -- I agree. The story wasn't very good. The mystery was boring, and the twists and turns were expected. But that is not why I read the book. I read it for the ideas behind the pages. What I found myself doing was taking notes on what to look up after I finished the book. Such as "Madonna on the Rocks" vs. "Virgin on the Rocks", and looking at "The Last Supper". I found myself interested in the 'conspiracy theory' part of the book, not the story. If you can get by the crappy plot, the book isn't bad.
I totally agree. The movies were fun and enjoyable. They cut out all the unneeded songs and rhetoric that just bogged down the stories. To me it just seemed characters did things 'just cuz'. They had no reason to do something, but did it anyway, or something happened to them and they just accepted it... there was no thought involved.
I think that is why I liked Robert Jordan's series. Robert Jordan gave wonderful insight not only to the story/plot/universe/magic, but to the characters. I could identify with them. I could understand why they acted the way they did. They just seemed to be real people in a real universe. All the rules were laid out and explained, and the characters followed the rules. I didn't have to take any leaps of faith and just accept things for what is was with no explanation. His books are very well written...
Now then I'm used the word 'liked ' for a reason. The last couple books have been drawn out and the plot is not advancing. I can appreciate them for the detail and politics Jordan has created, but at some point the story needs to advance...
Ahh well.
Yup. It used to be called Revenge of the Jedi...then Lucas changed the title because Jedi aren't suppose to take revenge. At any rate, by that time several movie posters (and such) were made, so they are pretty big collectables now.
I doubt this title will change, as revenge is a quality of the Sith.
I totally agree. I almost think the owners WANT the team to fail. A couple years ago they finally get a player that is good, and what do they do? Trade him away. WTF?
But yea, it is unbelieveable how much seats cost for that thing. No one cares anymore...which is fine by me.
This is a threat how?
You're right. You're absolutly right. MS said it so it must be lies, falcities and error. Stop with the conspiracy theory shit already. If you truly think that MS has done nothing to further the state of computers, business, and technology you are slower than I thought.
Good for people who work on Linux. News flash: Linux hasn't advanced "computer science" much either, at least not that I'm aware of. Please prove me wrong here. Links, some hard evidence! Seriously, I'm curious... What I see is a group of people working on a great OS that pretty much does the same thing as MS, Mac, and Unix... WHere is the great advancement of computer science? For this I look to the universities.
I'm sorry about my Gates charity reference. It isn't 50 million, but 150 million. And they gave 1 billion in 2003. I'm tired of doing the leg work for you, so you can look it up. While we're on the topic, how much money / time have you donated to charity recently?
Do you know how much Ted Turner is worth (a few billion at least)? Yes, 200 million isn't much for that man. I'm not saying it isn't a large % of his yearly income, but you have to think economies of scale here... If I have a billion dollars 200 million means A LOT less to me than if I had 500 million. I'm begging you, stop with this argument, you don't understand what you are talking about here.
Oh and the IRS will not 'have your ass'. It is your money, you earned it. Once you pay your taxes they are done with you. Speaking of taxes, there are many better ways to shield income than charity donations, so if these billions wanted they don't have to give away a cent.
God, I feel like I'm talking to a 3 year old child who doesn't understand that c-a-t doesn't spell "dog".
This debate has long since been over, so unless you can provide some evidence to back up your thinking, I'm done with you.
I'm sick of this shit. What about video capture cards on their PC's or VHS recorders and DVD burners... this is rediculous.
I've been tossing around the idea for a while now, but now I'm sold. Being a consumer I speak with my money. For the same reason I go to concerts to support artists, I'm going to buy a TIVO.
Maybe others will too...
The Chicago Blackhawks blackout their home games ALL the time... it is the worst policy ever. It has single handedly turned the entire city off to NHL hockey. I think the minor league team (The Wolves) gets more attention in the public eye.
:)
There used to be a huge rivalry between the Blackhawks and the Red Wings. Some argue this still exists...but I think it is pretty much dead... no one cares anymore because management is too stupid to understand that the more people that *SEE* the games the more press you'll get and the more people will start caring and the more people will want to come to the game and...well that is a lot of ands...
Blah, now I'm in a bad mood.
Support the little guy! Buy a TIVO!!!
You and the rest of the pro-Microsoft posters are merely bowing down to the rich because they're rich. Microsoft could be advancing the state of computer science by funding basic research with that $50 billion and then reap the profits of that research which would make the company even more profitable and even more powerful.
Well, they are. They spent about 7 billion last year on R&D and they will spend another 7 billion next year: click me! You can throw only so much money at something before you are effectively wasting money.
It's on a par with Gates "charity" which does nothing more than launder his stock for him to dodge SEC rules. Or Ted Turner's billion-dollar donation to the UN, which gets him a huge tax write-off.
You've got to be kidding me!!! The Gates charity just gave like 50 million dollars to help fight the world AIDS epidemic...you're telling me this is only done to dodge SEC rules?!?!? Are you mad or just stupid?
The tax benefits exist to *help* or *reward* those who help others. Trust me, at the level of income gates makes there is very little benefit for him to give to charity or not give to charity. Generally people with this much money give because they *don't need any more money*. When you are worth billions, why hoard a few hundred million? You think he's going to benefit from that tax write off? Please... A drop in the bucket my friend.
And you morons are clueless.
We're the clueless ones? So far I've seen no argument of substance from you. You call me a moron and an idiot, but the more you talk the more you show that you don't have a good understanding of the situation, or of the business world around you. You 'anti-Microsoft' people are so hypocritical.
Close. Replace all references of "liberal" with "conservatives" and you hit it right on the nose. :)
Would you like to back up your statements with anything solid, or is it safe to assume childish namecalling is as sophisticated of an argument you're going to present?
If you are still in college, take an econ / finance class. If not, you might want to pickup an investors business daily or wall street journal to learn about this stuff. Whether you like it or not, this is capitalism at its finest.
And just to point out, I never once supported their OS...just MS as a corperation.
I believe there is a cap on what can be used for a tax write off in this case.
I know the capital gains tax write off is capped at about 3000 per year. School expenses are about that level too.
I can only assume that charity donations have a similar cap.
Don't be sucked into this too easy. The stock price will drop by about 3 dollars a share on the execution date of this 3 dollar dividend.
Kinda. Let me respond point by point.
1) Giving away a big one time dividend actually *decreases* the value of the stock by the amount of the payout. So in this case, when the dividend execution date hits (nov 17th was it?) the stock price will decrease by 3 dollars. This occurs because the value of the company is now less. It has paid out a sizeable chunk of its assets to it's investors, thereby devaluing the corporation.
This really isn't seen so much now, but it occurred a lot back in the day (or so I'm told) when it was common for corporations to have high yields. Now it is usually over-looked because corporate dividends are too small to really effect the corporation's value.
2 / 3) As the other poster said 2 and 3 are really the same thing. The stock buyback will of course take shares off the open market thereby increasing demand and thus the price per share.
I don't really have anything else to say...I just wanted to get my two cents in about your first point.
It is a shame you don't understand what it means to be a corporation. MS exists to make its shareholders money. This is exactly what they are doing / have been doing / will continue to do.
It is not up to the corporations (MS in this case) to advance computer science. It is not up to the corporations to find a cure for cancer. It is not up to the corporations to invent the longer lasting light bulb. I'll say it again to be clear: Corporations exist to make money and to make money for their investors.
That being said, most of the time (and I do mean most here) these two things are one in the same. The corporation needs to innovate / invent / advance society to make money...but it is not necessary.
When it is all said and done, MS is doing exactly what they should do. They have made a product that the world wants, uses, and perhaps (now) needs. In my opinion they innovated along the way and they continue to innovate. Not so much with their OS, but with some of their other programs. Excel is one of the best programs I've ever seen. MS Money is right up there too. Visual Studio has spoiled me as a developer...
Bitch if you want, but the stockholders are happy, MS is making money... they are doing exactly what needs to be done.
Are they going to branch out or will it be another FPS?
I love ID's FPS, they all rock and are tons of fun. But when I look at all the talent there, I just think what they could do with a RTS or an RPG or something...
Ya. I played it there. It is pretty cool, though I think it was far from done. They only had two playable characters and the fighting was nothing to get over-excited about.
The real cool thing was you could break limbs and then the other character couldn't use them anymore. Other than that, it was nothing special.
The new Mortal Kombat game looked really cool though. Basically it is to include everything they wanted Deadly Alliance to have and then some.
No. Special laws exist to protect libraries from this sort of thing. They pay for the music (or it is donated to them) and they in turn are alowed to 'lend' it to others.
You could apply the same logic to Sony. Sony has many other products than their consol.
I don't think that would hold up in court. Esp. since sony was supposidly losing money too...just not as much.
That's funny. I upgraded my PC like a month ago and I kinda sorta fit into the "mid-range" section.
I'm depressed as hell now.
Why can't game makes develop games that utilize CURRENT technology instead of shit that is still a while off or costs an arm and a leg?
Seriously. X800? That will / does cost like 400 dollars doesn't it?
I do need to get laid actually.
His post just seemed so cocky and arrogent. I dislike that..then again, I wasn't exactly Mr. Nice either.
Sorry.