While working this past weekend from our various houses and offices, we communicated via IM. This is cheaper than long distance phone calls that could last hours. Only the poor guys who were in our NY office couldn't use IM, 'cause the port is blocked.
Frankly I think many people could use IM in their work - except you'd probably want to use a secure IM so that info does not propagate outside the company.
You should read the book "Slack" by Tom DeMarco. I only read the free pages that are available on Amazon, but he makes a lot of sense. The "goofing off" time at work is actually more productive than you think.
People are not machines and looking busy is not the same as being productive. I had spent days at work just staring out the window trying to come up with a good solution to a problem, rather than looking busy doing something stupid. Ultimately the smart way will win.
BTW, I'm writing this from home, while on my other computer I'm logged into work running bunch of tests on a system that's dueto go to Q/A tomorrow.
If you want better control over emailed viruses why do you still use Outlook or Windows? Give everyone a Linux desktop and no root password.
In my office, where we develop in Java, the local proxy server blocks site like www.junit.org or Google (usenet) groups. I guess they want to make sure that the programmers don't cheat and use already prepared answers...:-)
There are so many ways around this - I'll just take my laptop to the part and jack-in the open wireless network that's running there...
Or better yet, I'll go to the bathroom and bring a book.
If I'm just playing a guitar and singing, there is no need for $100,000 studio or many expensive engineers.
All I'm saying that you don't need all that expensive stuff to produce good music. In fact just take a look at the record that won the Grammies - plain acoustic stuff.
I get the feeling that listeners are getting tired of overproduced music and are looking for more authentic stuff.
[...] namely the fact that studio time costs a pretty penny, as well as does the distribution
process for CDs, but that's forgivable.
Actually studio equipment is pretty cheap. The same issue of NYT magazine about Moby and his at home studio. He produces all his music at home.
It probably costs few thousand dollars to set up really nicely equiped studio in your basement. I have a four track recorder that cost $300 when I bought it. Today you can use a $1000 PC as a multitrack recorder.
So studio costs are not a real factor.
Distribution over the net is free - if you use P2P systems and avoid centralized servers. Let the listeners make their own CDs.
We develop in Java and use CruiseControl continous build tool. It checks every five minutes if anyone checked anything in, and if so it runs the build. At a previous job I used Tindebox and it was equally helpful.
Thus when your cable company (who probably runs their own ISP like Comcast or has an exclusive agreement with
one partner ISP) says "You can't run this P2P app, or go to these questionable sites or newsgroups", you're going to
either deal with it, or start hooking a phoneline back into your PC.
I don't like the cable monopoly either. However, if cable companies are too restrictive with Internet access, people will be more motivated to switch.
With wireless networks it is now possible to provide high speed internet, without having to actually run a wire to you house. There is an opportunity there...
The companies whose years of R&D and millions of dollars created a safe and effective medicine need compensation for this, or they won't produce drugs for diseases that effect mainly the Third World.
Actually a lot of their research depends on basic science done in publicly funded institutions. For example, the HIV virus was isolated by scientist at the NIH and equivalent organization in France(I know there is some controversies there).
If you actually look at the budgets of the large drug companies, they spend more on marketing than research. For example see this
article.
've been trying to get my wife to learn how to check her messages on her cell phone. The instructions in the
manual are easy, but she just wants to be shown anyway and won't read the manual.
Don't you think that the fact that there is a manual is the problem? Imagine a door that has a manual - sounds silly, but some still do (the "push" "pull" signs).
Check out the book "Design of Everyday Things" by Donald Norman for some insight into user interfaces.
I wish that educational pricing was extended to all students. My son, whose 14, is taking a graphics class in HS and would like to play with Flash at home. But I'm not about to spend $500 to buy software that may not be used after the class ends. $50 would be OK.
Looks good. Does it work with Linux? I want to use a old toshiba laptop as an router (one wireless card, one normal card) and the other would go into my Linux laptop. I have Debian on thee router-to-be and RH on laptop.
Of course once you see MS source, you will not be able to release any software as GPL, as MS will be able to claim that you stole their patented idea. After all you have see their source..
I really don't see how dissing passport and suggesting libery is any sort of a contradiction. The reason people distrust passport is
because they distrust you, your bosses, and the rest of your company. It has nothing to do with technology or methods just with the
ethics of the people who will hold your data.
Actually, I agree with the Sig. I don't want to have neither MS nor SUN hold the numbers of all my credit cards, and passwords to all my accounts. I'll keep them myself, thank you very much.
If these companies were really interested in my convenience, they would release sofware that keeps all the info securely encrypted on my computer, with an unreadable (to them) backup on some server.
Instead, I use GNU Keyring to keep my passwords in my PDA.
Learn how to spell. It'll get you farther in life. Besides, if you do migrate away from Microsoft, emacs doesn't have a
built-in spell checker, AFAIK.
Try Meta-X "ispell-buffer"....
Before you say anything else about Emacs, remember that "Emacs is a operating system cleverly disguised as an editor". Now, how do I run windows emulator in Emacs???
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How about allowing net access, with a well know use policy, and trust your employees to be adults.
Frankly I think many people could use IM in their work - except you'd probably want to use a secure IM so that info does not propagate outside the company.
People are not machines and looking busy is not the same as being productive. I had spent days at work just staring out the window trying to come up with a good solution to a problem, rather than looking busy doing something stupid. Ultimately the smart way will win.
BTW, I'm writing this from home, while on my other computer I'm logged into work running bunch of tests on a system that's dueto go to Q/A tomorrow.
In my office, where we develop in Java, the local proxy server blocks site like www.junit.org or Google (usenet) groups. I guess they want to make sure that the programmers don't cheat and use already prepared answers... :-)
There are so many ways around this - I'll just take my laptop to the part and jack-in the open wireless network that's running there...
Or better yet, I'll go to the bathroom and bring a book.
However, I still lots of people's effor being measured by HIO (Hours in Office).
All I'm saying that you don't need all that expensive stuff to produce good music. In fact just take a look at the record that won the Grammies - plain acoustic stuff.
I get the feeling that listeners are getting tired of overproduced music and are looking for more authentic stuff.
Actually studio equipment is pretty cheap. The same issue of NYT magazine about Moby and his at home studio. He produces all his music at home.
It probably costs few thousand dollars to set up really nicely equiped studio in your basement. I have a four track recorder that cost $300 when I bought it. Today you can use a $1000 PC as a multitrack recorder.
So studio costs are not a real factor.
Distribution over the net is free - if you use P2P systems and avoid centralized servers. Let the listeners make their own CDs.
We develop in Java and use CruiseControl continous build tool. It checks every five minutes if anyone checked anything in, and if so it runs the build. At a previous job I used Tindebox and it was equally helpful.
I don't like the cable monopoly either. However, if cable companies are too restrictive with Internet access, people will be more motivated to switch.
With wireless networks it is now possible to provide high speed internet, without having to actually run a wire to you house. There is an opportunity there...
Having said that, I have my laptop hooked up to my stereo and I grab MP3 files from my music server in the basement.
Actually a lot of their research depends on basic science done in publicly funded institutions. For example, the HIV virus was isolated by scientist at the NIH and equivalent organization in France(I know there is some controversies there).
If you actually look at the budgets of the large drug companies, they spend more on marketing than research. For example see this article.
Pokemon - gotta name them all!
American Indian tribes- the research for new names can be fascinating.I named network printers after famous chiefs (Geronimo, Cochise etc)
French wines - try to get the Americans to pronounce the names can be fun
Don't you think that the fact that there is a manual is the problem? Imagine a door that has a manual - sounds silly, but some still do (the "push" "pull" signs).
Check out the book "Design of Everyday Things" by Donald Norman for some insight into user interfaces.
BTW, was it Pocohantas that discovered Europe?
I guess you are right. But wouldn't it be sillier to write a spelling checker in eLisp, when a perfectly usable spelling checker already exists...
(Hopefully, this is only a joke)
Actually, I agree with the Sig. I don't want to have neither MS nor SUN hold the numbers of all my credit cards, and passwords to all my accounts. I'll keep them myself, thank you very much.
If these companies were really interested in my convenience, they would release sofware that keeps all the info securely encrypted on my computer, with an unreadable (to them) backup on some server.
Instead, I use GNU Keyring to keep my passwords in my PDA.
Learn how to spell. It'll get you farther in life. Besides, if you do migrate away from Microsoft, emacs doesn't have a built-in spell checker, AFAIK.
Try Meta-X "ispell-buffer"....
Before you say anything else about Emacs, remember that "Emacs is a operating system cleverly disguised as an editor". Now, how do I run windows emulator in Emacs???