Real Problems - Better Solutions than unions
on
Should IT Unionize?
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· Score: 1
Take the time, money and effort required to form IT unions and spend it on overturning the corporate friendly laws and regulations that allow IT workers to be classified as exempt employees versus hourly. Then eliminate the healthcare hostage taking by supporting universal coverage. That's it. Do those two things and the balance of power in employer-employee relationships would be dramatically closer to even.
I'm not going to argue with the naysayers about the pro's and con's of GTD as JustAnotherSeminarScam. I will say that it has been an extremely effective system for me personally and that I tend to recommend it to my peers and co-workers who either ask about organizational/productivity systems, or who lament their overwhelmed disorganized mess of a job/life/hobbies, etc. In the last eighteen months I know I've turned at least six other people into GTD'ers. Some alpha geek GTD tools/tips:
Dont throw away your TODO file, think of it as your "Stuff" inbox. If you read/., your probably need an online inbox a lot more than a physical one
Create a stuff folder on your desktop to drag/drop cut/paste files, links etc. Keep your TODO (or a symlink/shortcut to it) in here
GTD recommends a central filing system - I didn't/don't need a physical filing/reference system, but I created an online one with hierarchical topic directories and it's radically changed how I keep/use the tons of docs/info I get weekly. Especially since I dump reference emails in there now too. A nice search engine like X! or Lucene go a long way towards making this work well
...Jim Benney, executive director of the National Fenestration* Rating Council, an industry group that assesses windows...
Hey, I want to be executive director of an industry group that assesses Windows too! Can we call it the National Frustration Rating Council? Hmm so many possibilities for N.F. Rating Council:)
* Note - How cool is it to have a job where you get to say fenestration every day?
down 10% since the 8th while the Nasdaq is pretty much unchanged for the same period. Must be time for another flurry of distracting press releases and conference calls!
My only complaint has to be the amount of commercials that Scf-Fi put in.
Hi! We here at Tivo would like to welcome you to 2003. We're glad to see you rejoin society and would like to take this moment to introduce you to some of the technology advances you've been missing...
That's fair, my perception is definitely dated to the time I was looking at the distro v0.9 I think. At this point I'm not in the mood to muck with picking another firewall distro ("If It Aint Broke..."), but if ipCop breaks or doesn't keep up or otherwise forces me to start looking again, I'll definitely give Smoothwall another chance.
ipCop is a fork of the smoothwall source that has more of an open source community behind it. Personally, I found the whole "Buy Smoothwall Now!" experience just a little too annoying to use.
But, let me be the first to say that I love the concept behind this type of distro. A boot-cd and 20 minutes turns any old wintel machine into a damn god firewall appliance (one that has a shell!).
to debian from RH8/9 servers. At the risk of inviting religous controversy, if I'm going to use a non-sponsored distro, I'd rather use one with more of a proven record as a successful community driven project.
"Given that academic computing has traditionally been both the source of and the stronghold for innovative software, this is a disturbing long-term trend."
Seriously folks, what killer apps have we seen from academia lately? I'm not saying there aren't, just that none come quickly to mind. Most of the software innovators jumped out from both the corporate and academic worlds and into the dot-com space during the boom. Remember all those Business2.0 stories about how dot-coms were going to be the R&D centers of the future? Well, the collapse of the bubble has eliminated that particular theory, but corporate and academia have been slow to reinvest and support true innovation.
I've always likened IBM's Open Source strategy to the Green Berets. Spend a small amount of resources to win the hearts and minds of the natives, arm and train them to fight their own battles. They effectively operate as a force multiplier for the native combatants.
This strategy, when it works, results in a win-win scenario for both the natives and the US. The natives are more highly motivated than any foreign army, and they receive the support that only a large nation can provide. The US makes a relatively small investment, as opposed to the investment required to wage the battle with their own army. The US is then free to focus their own resources on other fronts, effectively forcing the enemy to fight a multi-theater war.
Now, substitute IBM for the US, the Open Source movement for the natives, with Microsoft (and SCO) wearing the black hats and the similarities are pretty resounding.
Some organizations mistakenly think they are successfully employing this strategy (MSDN, Java.net, etc). But ask yourself, when was the last time Java developers or Microsoft developers rallied to oppose a common opponent? I mean, besides the sponsoring organization itself;)
The difference is in the message. The right message is "This is your land, we believe in you and are here to support you because your interests are our interests". The wrong message is "This is our land, but we're going to let you come here and work to accomplish your goals within our rules, to meet our interests."
Whether they are conciously following this strategy or not, IBM is effectively and successfully executing it, whereas Sun and MicroSCOft think they are but aren't. The interesting wild card here is Apple. They know and love this strategy but everytime the natives win a battle Apple sends in their own forces to proclaim victory - not a good way to keep the natives pacified;)
I have been blacklisting attachments based on extension with a procmail recipe, but now I'm thinking it would be easier just to create a whitelist of the few things I'd let it (images, zips, etc). Any thoughts on what a whitelist of extensions should have besides those?
So, here's what my pendrive looks like after 10 months of use:
/docs - all my personal docs (bookmarks, resume, will, keyfiles, etc)
/proj - source checkouts for personal projects under active development. Dedicated Eclipse workbench and tailored shortcut for launching eclipse. This lets me have one ide for java, python, documentation, websites, xml/xsl, etc.
/xfer - file transfer/holding area for moving stuff between locations/systems
/linux - aliases, scripts, must have utils
/win32 - gvim, dedicated profiles for thunderbird and firebird. Installs (but not installed) for putty, winzip, firebird (instant browser!)
Note, Putty is registry dependent, and the workaround for using it on a pen drive is too painful for everyday use. I love Putty, but it doesn't live on my pen drive. I wish it would:(
Having firebird and thunderbird profiles on the pen drive means that I can have firebird/tbird installs live on work/home/laptop machines but always keep my data off the boxes and in my hands. I keep my bookmarks in my/docs directory in case I'm on a foreign box.
Now, when you (and only you) click on Preferences, then the Comments tab, then under Reason Modifier (assign a modifier to different moderation reasons), you can change Funny to have a modifer from -6..+6
I hope this customization meets your needs, enjoy!;)
I'll wait for it to come out on Safari
on
Mac OS X Hints
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· Score: 2, Informative
I really like the OReilly's Safari online bookshelf. There are some definite advantages to using it over pdf's.
Slashdot Mirror
Take the time, money and effort required to form IT unions and spend it on overturning the corporate friendly laws and regulations that allow IT workers to be classified as exempt employees versus hourly. Then eliminate the healthcare hostage taking by supporting universal coverage.
That's it. Do those two things and the balance of power in employer-employee relationships would be dramatically closer to even.
Guess the server failed its Fortitude DC 150 save vs slashdotting...
Hah! Some of _us_ use indestructible monoliths that are 11x1x5' in dimension...
"Okay, so I know that reads like Heaven's own file server to some people..."
Can I get an Amen?!
Amen!!
Can I get a Hallelujah??!!
Hallelujah!!
and you'd think the Kmart never had a manger
That must be an option for the more rural Wal-Mart SuperCenters...Do they have a vet next to the vision exams too?
"Price check on flock of lambs!"
...Jim Benney, executive director of the National Fenestration* Rating Council, an industry group that assesses windows...
:)
Hey, I want to be executive director of an industry group that assesses Windows too! Can we call it the National Frustration Rating Council? Hmm so many possibilities for N.F. Rating Council
* Note - How cool is it to have a job where you get to say fenestration every day?
down 10% since the 8th while the Nasdaq is pretty much unchanged for the same period. Must be time for another flurry of distracting press releases and conference calls!
We put the 'F' in RFID...
Don't you hate that they make you embed your session id in the link? Idiots...
My only complaint has to be the amount of commercials that Scf-Fi put in.
Hi! We here at Tivo would like to welcome you to 2003. We're glad to see you rejoin society and would like to take this moment to introduce you to some of the technology advances you've been missing...
Ha! If it saves me the trouble of doing it...
;)
Seriously, I swear it said "good" during the preview. Must be another slash-bug
That's fair, my perception is definitely dated to the time I was looking at the distro v0.9 I think. At this point I'm not in the mood to muck with picking another firewall distro ("If It Aint Broke..."), but if ipCop breaks or doesn't keep up or otherwise forces me to start looking again, I'll definitely give Smoothwall another chance.
ipCop is a fork of the smoothwall source that has more of an open source community behind it. Personally, I found the whole "Buy Smoothwall Now!" experience just a little too annoying to use.
But, let me be the first to say that I love the concept behind this type of distro. A boot-cd and 20 minutes turns any old wintel machine into a damn god firewall appliance (one that has a shell!).
Things that make me wonder: "Wouldn't it be cool if X were run by the Slashdot community?"
Where X equals any of: USPTO, RIAA, MSFT, NSA, SCO, Natalie Portmans Hot Grits Mix , Matrix plot/storyline continuity, SciFi Channel...
to debian from RH8/9 servers. At the risk of inviting religous controversy, if I'm going to use a non-sponsored distro, I'd rather use one with more of a proven record as a successful community driven project.
Plus, let's face it, apt-get is apt-goodness.
"Yes dear? Why is there lipstick on my underwear? Well you see, I've been out getting secret training..." *THWACK* *SNIP*
to hear about the 'cybernetic' computer system that helps the rebel side of a revolution. Of course, it'll have to be named Mike.
TANSTAAFL!
"Given that academic computing has traditionally been both the source of and the stronghold for innovative software, this is a disturbing long-term trend."
Seriously folks, what killer apps have we seen from academia lately? I'm not saying there aren't, just that none come quickly to mind. Most of the software innovators jumped out from both the corporate and academic worlds and into the dot-com space during the boom. Remember all those Business2.0 stories about how dot-coms were going to be the R&D centers of the future? Well, the collapse of the bubble has eliminated that particular theory, but corporate and academia have been slow to reinvest and support true innovation.
I've always likened IBM's Open Source strategy to the Green Berets. Spend a small amount of resources to win the hearts and minds of the natives, arm and train them to fight their own battles. They effectively operate as a force multiplier for the native combatants.
;)
;)
This strategy, when it works, results in a win-win scenario for both the natives and the US. The natives are more highly motivated than any foreign army, and they receive the support that only a large nation can provide. The US makes a relatively small investment, as opposed to the investment required to wage the battle with their own army. The US is then free to focus their own resources on other fronts, effectively forcing the enemy to fight a multi-theater war.
Now, substitute IBM for the US, the Open Source movement for the natives, with Microsoft (and SCO) wearing the black hats and the similarities are pretty resounding.
Some organizations mistakenly think they are successfully employing this strategy (MSDN, Java.net, etc). But ask yourself, when was the last time Java developers or Microsoft developers rallied to oppose a common opponent? I mean, besides the sponsoring organization itself
The difference is in the message. The right message is "This is your land, we believe in you and are here to support you because your interests are our interests". The wrong message is "This is our land, but we're going to let you come here and work to accomplish your goals within our rules, to meet our interests."
Whether they are conciously following this strategy or not, IBM is effectively and successfully executing it, whereas Sun and MicroSCOft think they are but aren't. The interesting wild card here is Apple. They know and love this strategy but everytime the natives win a battle Apple sends in their own forces to proclaim victory - not a good way to keep the natives pacified
I have been blacklisting attachments based on extension with a procmail recipe, but now I'm thinking it would be easier just to create a whitelist of the few things I'd let it (images, zips, etc).
Any thoughts on what a whitelist of extensions should have besides those?
So, here's what my pendrive looks like after 10 months of use:
/docs - all my personal docs (bookmarks, resume, will, keyfiles, etc)
:(
/docs directory in case I'm on a foreign box.
/proj - source checkouts for personal projects under active development. Dedicated Eclipse workbench and tailored shortcut for launching eclipse. This lets me have one ide for java, python, documentation, websites, xml/xsl, etc.
/xfer - file transfer/holding area for moving stuff between locations/systems
/linux - aliases, scripts, must have utils
/win32 - gvim, dedicated profiles for thunderbird and firebird. Installs (but not installed) for putty, winzip, firebird (instant browser!)
Note, Putty is registry dependent, and the workaround for using it on a pen drive is too painful for everyday use. I love Putty, but it doesn't live on my pen drive. I wish it would
Having firebird and thunderbird profiles on the pen drive means that I can have firebird/tbird installs live on work/home/laptop machines but always keep my data off the boxes and in my hands. I keep my bookmarks in my
Done.
;)
Now, when you (and only you) click on Preferences, then the Comments tab, then under Reason Modifier (assign a modifier to different moderation reasons), you can change Funny to have a modifer from -6..+6
I hope this customization meets your needs, enjoy!
I really like the OReilly's Safari online bookshelf. There are some definite advantages to using it over pdf's.
for my line of "You slept with Lumbergh?" greeting cards...