I was one of the folks at a checkpoint for "The Big Onion" this year in NYC. Fun? These poor guys where out mountain biking in "severe thunderstorms", had to make it through the crowds outside Yankee Stadium post Clemens 300th win, were supposed to kyack down to the Statue of Liberty (USCG call that off due to the weather)
Back when I was taking Bio II in college, it was the "weeding" course - the hard one to pass. The grading for the class was quite simple. 50% for the final, 50% for everything else - NO CURVES
All exams were given in the lecture hall. I don't want to say there was a LOT of cheating going on, but it was blatant. I was running a C, and seriously bummed, because the only people I knew getting B+ or greater were cheating. I decided to drop out, and put in my paperwork to leave
Then came the final, and something happened - the tets was given in small rooms, and folks were watched like hawks. We were also then told that the final would be curved.
Yep, the teacher setup the class! All the cheaters ended up with Fs and Ds because he made it impossible to cheat on the last exam, but they had gotten lazy. Those of us who WORKED, did well (I ended up with a B+ for the class)
The thing is, I had already made a commitment to leave, so it hurt me, even though I did OK. Sigh. I never went back
Only one problem with that. Way back when, someone grabbed a non working copy of my then GFs program out of the trash, and just did enough to make it work. My GF was accused of cheating, and was given a zero on that assignement, and was threatened with bing tossed from the school - in fact, disiplinary hearings were started. My GF (Now wife) was able to convince folks to LOOK at the patterns in the class, and the computer time used. The department head believed her, but the TA never did. She ended up with something like a C in the course, because all the rest of her work was straight A.
Well, it'd be NICE to do it for under $200, but as of right now, it's not QUITE possible
You can setup a Moderately accurate temp and wind station for $79, BUT the temp sensor is enclosed (NOT vented), so it tends to read high, and you need a computer
Three calls to the presidents office stating that if they have the right to call me, I have the right to call THEM. If each of the 50 million called them 1/day, do you think they will get the message
From the bottom: Confidential - Not a very big deal - getting cleared for confidential stuff is fairly easy. A lot of times, it's used for things like - a plant works on secret/TS stuff in parts of the plant. Your the employee of a subcontractor who is working on something non classified. If you visit, and you don't have a clearence, you will have to be escorted EVERYWHERE - including the rest room, even if you stay in the "Open" part of the plant (aka, not secret stuff is going on there). So they will get you a confidential clearance, so you can go to the restroom, or lunch, with out an escort. The basically want to know if they can trust you enough not to jimmy locks to get past doors marked secret
Secret - the 2nd level. Where I used to work, there were a dozen or so guys with Secret level clerance. This is a lot of basic stuff, plus stuff that you can figure out if your in certain areas. Ever look at airplane cockpit photos, or photos inside subs? There is always a few things covered up, be cause you can deduce things. Generally, a secret clearence allows you to see that kind of stuff - stuff folks in the military see every day, and think nothing of
Top Secret - a level above that, and traditionally the highest level of clearence - I say traditionally, because it's fairly well know that there are levels above that, but all those levels are in the "we deny they exist". From what I understand, some TS stuff gets hairy
Levels above that - "Code Word", "Compartmentalized", "Crypto", etc. Now you getting special clearence to work on individual things. Things start to get VERY strange. I've met a few of these folks. Can you imagine working on a project, and when your boss askes what your working on, the reply is "I can't tell you"
I used to work on Long Island - some great Ocean fishing. Knew a guy who loved fishing, and was doing subcontract work for us. He loved to go, but he would rarely go. You see, once he went more than 3 miles off shore, he had to spend a day filling out paperwork listing why, where, who he saw there, what was said, etc - he said it wasn't worth the hassle. I never did find out what he was working on for his parent company (it sure wasn't for us - there was nothing classified in our plant), and frankly, I never asked, or hinted that I wanted to know
So based on what I've just told you, i would trust a telephone ONLY rated secret very far
They are easy enough to get if you know where to look. They are still made by Unicomp. Their Online store is pckeyboard.com
Typing this with a IBM logo keyboard I got from them. Now it comes without the logo, but it's still available - look that the Classic 101 model. And yes, you CAN get a 104 keyboard if you want
Well 2 things said elsewhere 1)It sure doesn't sound like "flex" time, unless 7:30 is the latest start time. Let's say your day is 7:30-4:30 - does he allow you to start at 7:00 and work till 4:00? If not, it's NOT flex time
2)The minute he starts docking you for time, you are no LONGER an "exempt employee", and they MUST, by law, pay OT!! Even if they SAY you are still "exempt" (what most people call salaried), if they dock time in LESS than FULL DAY increments, they don't live up to the Federal Law.
Remember other law rules IF you are non exempt (some may be NY law - check) 1)(Federal) They MUST give you a paid 15 minute break for each 4 hours worked - this is why you get a 30 minute lunch. 2)You can NOT be required to work more than 6 days in a row. After 6 days, you must be given a 24 hour "off period" 3)They must pay you 1.5x Base Salary for all hours over 40 hours/week
I had a boss (MANY years ago) who was doing about what your boss is trying to do - play fast and loose on the OT, but have us on the clock. One day, one of the other employees got in touch with the Dept of Labor (I never did find out WHO, but I think I know). About 3 months later, we all got a nice certified letter, explaining exactly what my boss did wrong, what the rules were, and the best part? A nice check for all our back OT. Being all of 20 at the time, and not earning all that much, that extra few weeks pay was nice (the OT stuff had gone on for a couple of years before the complaint). The most interesting part was they were not allowed to call us "exempt" again for a BUNCH of years, and they had to keep paying OT. We eventually got our flex time, and other perks back, but if we were in for more than 40, we got 1.5x
You could always punch the clock (MAKE sure you are on time), make SURE you work at least some OT every week, (keep your own records), and make a call to the labor dept in a couple of months
2 kids - yes, the rest - nope. I've done the "quit and take a lesser paying job" thing, but not everyone is in that position. Right at the moment, I work for a company that is "so-so" IMHO, and their parent company sucks when it comes to rights, but I have 1)A good boss, and 2)I'm involved with projects that don't ethically challenge my beliefs. I try and keep my debts down - my only debt is the mortgage
As for 200 dollar shoes - if we hold constant for inflation - I'll never buy my kids shoes like that. Of course, if we ever do get the kind of inflation it's possible I'll buy $200 shoes, but then again, the subway fare would be over $10 then
It all comes down to this - in hard economic times you can easily end up where you have to make a choice, work in a job you hate, or feed your kids. The greater ethic is to feed your kids, not some belief in Open Source. If it was something more serious than open source (outright crime etc), then the choice is a LOT harder
There are some real reasons it would actually take LONGER to build a SV today than it used to...
1)Environmental Laws - some stuff isn't allowed to be used anymore (asbestos anyone?)
2)Infrastructure. The US has lost a LOT of it's Mfg infrastructure in the last 30 years. Just as some LOW tech examples - You could not build the Golden Gate Bridge or the old GG-1 Railroad engine anymore! The steel mills and forging mills don't exist - not only in the US, but ANYWHERE. It would take TIME to build new plants, then you could start building the special tools, then you start building the rockets
It's the classic old problem in mfg. You have to build tools, to make tools, to make the product. Once the final Mfg tools are made - the first tools aren't needed, and they take up valuable space and maintainance money, so they are often scrapped. The problem is, if that 2nd generation of tools is also scrapped, your back to square 1
Agreed - 3 doors down from my house is a neighbor who's house is the most "hardened" in the area - security gates, alarms, fences, lights - you name it.
Recently, a group of pros hit the neighborhood. His hardening stood out, so they must have figured he had something to loose - they cut his alarm cables (redundant - the cut BOTH), took a ladder, and removed the bars on an upper floor window, and broke in.
BTW they hit four other houses in the area that day, and all were the ones with obvious security
My neighbor moved out. The new neighbors moved in today.
It just goes to show - if the PROS want you, they WILL get you (They left the ladder BTW). The house also has some new added tricks (wireless backup on the alarm system)
OK, it's easier to make a small, safe man rated vehicle, so you make a "Passenger Only" (well, a SMALL amount of cargo, but no cargo bay) shuttle. Just think, this shuttle doesn't need the ability to energency land with a big honking payload in the back, you don't need boosters to launch that big honking payload. It's just SAFER
Then you launch your cargo on "BDB" - Big Dumb Boosters. They don't have to be man rated, no return from orbit, etc
Re:Bad science doesn't hurt good writing
on
New Heinlein Novel
·
· Score: 1
My first thought was "Nerves" - what a Great Story. I'm glad someone else remembers it
Agreed - but you said there is no need for wings - true, except when the requirement of your main supporter says "You have to have crossrange", you bite the bullet, and do it. And the military didn't jump ship till after Challenger - I'd love to see the spiral wound SRBs, and some of the other goodies that were going to come from the DOD end of the shop. Heck, I always thought they should have put Vandenburg on line even after the military pulled out - the place was DONE
There WAS a reason for the wings being as large as they were, and it was actually explained in the report (if you read it - I'm anout 75% done)
Originally, the military was the main driving force of the shuttle design. The wanted the ability to launch from Vandenburg AFB, launch a satelite, and return to Edwards in ONE orbit. This required a large "cross range" ability, and could only be done by having the shuttle fly back on reentry!
John, But laws can change! It used to be that Running a red light used to get the driver a ticket. When they started putting in "red light cameras", they changed the law - the ticket is SLIGHTLY different, and now the CAR gets the ticket. The one BIG difference is that there are NO points on your license, as they don't know who was driving
2 boxes of Punch cards in my office - Bought them last year for use as notepaper - Nothing says "Old time Geek" like punchcards. Yes, they are still made!
Slashdot Mirror
I was one of the folks at a checkpoint for "The Big Onion" this year in NYC. Fun? These poor guys where out mountain biking in "severe thunderstorms", had to make it through the crowds outside Yankee Stadium post Clemens 300th win, were supposed to kyack down to the Statue of Liberty (USCG call that off due to the weather)
It got UGLY
Nope, not cheating - dropping out...
Back when I was taking Bio II in college, it was the "weeding" course - the hard one to pass. The grading for the class was quite simple. 50% for the final, 50% for everything else - NO CURVES
All exams were given in the lecture hall. I don't want to say there was a LOT of cheating going on, but it was blatant. I was running a C, and seriously bummed, because the only people I knew getting B+ or greater were cheating. I decided to drop out, and put in my paperwork to leave
Then came the final, and something happened - the tets was given in small rooms, and folks were watched like hawks. We were also then told that the final would be curved.
Yep, the teacher setup the class! All the cheaters ended up with Fs and Ds because he made it impossible to cheat on the last exam, but they had gotten lazy. Those of us who WORKED, did well (I ended up with a B+ for the class)
The thing is, I had already made a commitment to leave, so it hurt me, even though I did OK. Sigh. I never went back
Only one problem with that. Way back when, someone grabbed a non working copy of my then GFs program out of the trash, and just did enough to make it work. My GF was accused of cheating, and was given a zero on that assignement, and was threatened with bing tossed from the school - in fact, disiplinary hearings were started. My GF (Now wife) was able to convince folks to LOOK at the patterns in the class, and the computer time used. The department head believed her, but the TA never did. She ended up with something like a C in the course, because all the rest of her work was straight A.
Maxabeams ARE cool, but a bit heavy. I'll settle for a Surefire M6 and a box of batteries
Pack more STUFF in it - if it can rattle, you've got too much empty space
Only slighty kidding. I ONLY carry 2 items on my BELT (Knife and PDA) - but don't ask what's in my pockets or in my WAY to big backpack
Well, it'd be NICE to do it for under $200, but as of right now, it's not QUITE possible
You can setup a Moderately accurate temp and wind station for $79, BUT the temp sensor is enclosed (NOT vented), so it tends to read high, and you need a computer
Look at AAG Electronics
Adding humidity (which adds a more accurate thermometer), Pressure, and rain adds about $150
There IS quite a network in North America, with SOME holes in it - look at NOAA's Mesonet
I was about to say - Sounds Like Ron - I like the man
Ah - that phone numer is the President of the USA - it's the President of the Direct Marketing Assoc. Pissing on them can be fun
Three calls to the presidents office stating that if they have the right to call me, I have the right to call THEM. If each of the 50 million called them 1/day, do you think they will get the message
NATO Secret = Not very high level
From the bottom:
Confidential - Not a very big deal - getting cleared for confidential stuff is fairly easy. A lot of times, it's used for things like - a plant works on secret/TS stuff in parts of the plant. Your the employee of a subcontractor who is working on something non classified. If you visit, and you don't have a clearence, you will have to be escorted EVERYWHERE - including the rest room, even if you stay in the "Open" part of the plant (aka, not secret stuff is going on there). So they will get you a confidential clearance, so you can go to the restroom, or lunch, with out an escort. The basically want to know if they can trust you enough not to jimmy locks to get past doors marked secret
Secret - the 2nd level. Where I used to work, there were a dozen or so guys with Secret level clerance. This is a lot of basic stuff, plus stuff that you can figure out if your in certain areas. Ever look at airplane cockpit photos, or photos inside subs? There is always a few things covered up, be cause you can deduce things. Generally, a secret clearence allows you to see that kind of stuff - stuff folks in the military see every day, and think nothing of
Top Secret - a level above that, and traditionally the highest level of clearence - I say traditionally, because it's fairly well know that there are levels above that, but all those levels are in the "we deny they exist". From what I understand, some TS stuff gets hairy
Levels above that - "Code Word", "Compartmentalized", "Crypto", etc. Now you getting special clearence to work on individual things. Things start to get VERY strange. I've met a few of these folks. Can you imagine working on a project, and when your boss askes what your working on, the reply is "I can't tell you"
I used to work on Long Island - some great Ocean fishing. Knew a guy who loved fishing, and was doing subcontract work for us. He loved to go, but he would rarely go. You see, once he went more than 3 miles off shore, he had to spend a day filling out paperwork listing why, where, who he saw there, what was said, etc - he said it wasn't worth the hassle. I never did find out what he was working on for his parent company (it sure wasn't for us - there was nothing classified in our plant), and frankly, I never asked, or hinted that I wanted to know
So based on what I've just told you, i would trust a telephone ONLY rated secret very far
Not ham - commercial Comms sat
They are easy enough to get if you know where to look. They are still made by Unicomp. Their Online store is pckeyboard.com
Typing this with a IBM logo keyboard I got from them. Now it comes without the logo, but it's still available - look that the Classic 101 model. And yes, you CAN get a 104 keyboard if you want
Good luck to those in the hurricane zone. We are in tropical storm warning
73 de KC2IXE
Queens County (NY) ARES EC
Queens County Radio Officer - RACES
Well 2 things said elsewhere
1)It sure doesn't sound like "flex" time, unless 7:30 is the latest start time. Let's say your day is 7:30-4:30 - does he allow you to start at 7:00 and work till 4:00? If not, it's NOT flex time
2)The minute he starts docking you for time, you are no LONGER an "exempt employee", and they MUST, by law, pay OT!! Even if they SAY you are still "exempt" (what most people call salaried), if they dock time in LESS than FULL DAY increments, they don't live up to the Federal Law.
Remember other law rules IF you are non exempt (some may be NY law - check)
1)(Federal) They MUST give you a paid 15 minute break for each 4 hours worked - this is why you get a 30 minute lunch.
2)You can NOT be required to work more than 6 days in a row. After 6 days, you must be given a 24 hour "off period"
3)They must pay you 1.5x Base Salary for all hours over 40 hours/week
I had a boss (MANY years ago) who was doing about what your boss is trying to do - play fast and loose on the OT, but have us on the clock. One day, one of the other employees got in touch with the Dept of Labor (I never did find out WHO, but I think I know). About 3 months later, we all got a nice certified letter, explaining exactly what my boss did wrong, what the rules were, and the best part? A nice check for all our back OT. Being all of 20 at the time, and not earning all that much, that extra few weeks pay was nice (the OT stuff had gone on for a couple of years before the complaint). The most interesting part was they were not allowed to call us "exempt" again for a BUNCH of years, and they had to keep paying OT. We eventually got our flex time, and other perks back, but if we were in for more than 40, we got 1.5x
You could always punch the clock (MAKE sure you are on time), make SURE you work at least some OT every week, (keep your own records), and make a call to the labor dept in a couple of months
2 kids - yes, the rest - nope. I've done the "quit and take a lesser paying job" thing, but not everyone is in that position. Right at the moment, I work for a company that is "so-so" IMHO, and their parent company sucks when it comes to rights, but I have 1)A good boss, and 2)I'm involved with projects that don't ethically challenge my beliefs. I try and keep my debts down - my only debt is the mortgage
As for 200 dollar shoes - if we hold constant for inflation - I'll never buy my kids shoes like that. Of course, if we ever do get the kind of inflation it's possible I'll buy $200 shoes, but then again, the subway fare would be over $10 then
It all comes down to this - in hard economic times you can easily end up where you have to make a choice, work in a job you hate, or feed your kids. The greater ethic is to feed your kids, not some belief in Open Source. If it was something more serious than open source (outright crime etc), then the choice is a LOT harder
He probably fits the average /. demographic. Single, late teens, early 20s, no kids. What does he know about what it feels like to worry about kids
There are some real reasons it would actually take LONGER to build a SV today than it used to...
1)Environmental Laws - some stuff isn't allowed to be used anymore (asbestos anyone?)
2)Infrastructure. The US has lost a LOT of it's Mfg infrastructure in the last 30 years. Just as some LOW tech examples - You could not build the Golden Gate Bridge or the old GG-1 Railroad engine anymore! The steel mills and forging mills don't exist - not only in the US, but ANYWHERE. It would take TIME to build new plants, then you could start building the special tools, then you start building the rockets
It's the classic old problem in mfg. You have to build tools, to make tools, to make the product. Once the final Mfg tools are made - the first tools aren't needed, and they take up valuable space and maintainance money, so they are often scrapped. The problem is, if that 2nd generation of tools is also scrapped, your back to square 1
Agreed - 3 doors down from my house is a neighbor who's house is the most "hardened" in the area - security gates, alarms, fences, lights - you name it.
Recently, a group of pros hit the neighborhood. His hardening stood out, so they must have figured he had something to loose - they cut his alarm cables (redundant - the cut BOTH), took a ladder, and removed the bars on an upper floor window, and broke in.
BTW they hit four other houses in the area that day, and all were the ones with obvious security
My neighbor moved out. The new neighbors moved in today.
It just goes to show - if the PROS want you, they WILL get you (They left the ladder BTW). The house also has some new added tricks (wireless backup on the alarm system)
Nope, it's not because he want to minimize impact
OK, it's easier to make a small, safe man rated vehicle, so you make a "Passenger Only" (well, a SMALL amount of cargo, but no cargo bay)
shuttle. Just think, this shuttle doesn't need the ability to energency land with a big honking payload in the back, you don't need boosters to launch that big honking payload. It's just SAFER
Then you launch your cargo on "BDB" - Big Dumb Boosters. They don't have to be man rated, no return from orbit, etc
My first thought was "Nerves" - what a Great Story. I'm glad someone else remembers it
Agreed - but you said there is no need for wings - true, except when the requirement of your main supporter says "You have to have crossrange", you bite the bullet, and do it. And the military didn't jump ship till after Challenger - I'd love to see the spiral wound SRBs, and some of the other goodies that were going to come from the DOD end of the shop. Heck, I always thought they should have put Vandenburg on line even after the military pulled out - the place was DONE
There WAS a reason for the wings being as large as they were, and it was actually explained in the report (if you read it - I'm anout 75% done)
Originally, the military was the main driving force of the shuttle design. The wanted the ability to launch from Vandenburg AFB, launch a satelite, and return to Edwards in ONE orbit. This required a large "cross range" ability, and could only be done by having the shuttle fly back on reentry!
Unfortuantely, we can't! Some of the modules can't be lifted by anything except the shuttle
John,
But laws can change! It used to be that Running a red light used to get the driver a ticket. When they started putting in "red light cameras", they changed the law - the ticket is SLIGHTLY different, and now the CAR gets the ticket. The one BIG difference is that there are NO points on your license, as they don't know who was driving
Don't ask how I know - ask the Junk Mail Queen
2 boxes of Punch cards in my office - Bought them last year for use as notepaper - Nothing says "Old time Geek" like punchcards. Yes, they are still made!