Snow boards were originally banned on many ski hills but now they are as common as skis. Society takes a little time to adjust to new things and should the Segway become a popular mode of transportation, the restrictions will be lifted.
Once they get the gun registry fully operating in Canada they are going to invoke a new law. Everyone who owns a gun will be required to spend 5 days in jail because some gun owners are going to commit crimes with their guns.
"59 cents per CD-R may be livable, but did anyone else notice the 21$ per gig for an MP3 player with a non-removable HDD?"
I don't listen to music except occasionally on the radio, never listened to an MP3 and only use CD-R's to back up data and create Linux CDs. Can anyone explain to me why I should have to pay the recording industry anything at all let alone 59 cents per CDR?
They are charging me more to backup my data and make my Linux CDs because other people copy music. I think I am getting ripped off. I want my moneys worth. Maybe I should start copying music.
"A cable connection here from Rogers (~200K/S download/~50-60K/S upload) costs around $50CDN a month."
Rogers offers cable internet + digital cable TV bundle for $100, or about $64 US. Many places in the US cable internet alone costs $64. I believe Canada is second (to only South Korea I believe) in broadband internet use as a percentage of homes.
I am in a similar situation having been laid off a while ago and I too have considered doing some consulting work. It is awfully tough though because you won't be alone and so few companies are willing to spend. Some reccommendations:
1. Work out of your home, keep expenses low and your rates very reasonable. You need to have a very attractive pricing advantage over the larger, more established out sourcing firms.
2. Even though you are working out of your home, you need to look professional and not a fly by night venture. If you live in a basement apartment or the low rent district of town don't advertise it. Also don't use a PO Box. If necessary hire the services of an office front where they offer admin, mail and boardroom services. Have your mail sent their and pick it up or have it forwarded to your place. Whatever you do, make sure you look professional and as good as the other guys.
3. Define a very small target market or a very small set of services you wish to sell. Become a Java consultant not a Java/C/C++ consultant. Even better would be a Java web developer or a Java enterprise software developer. Choose whatever you know best, learn to know it better, and market only those skills. You will need to market yourself as being 'experts' in that field as opposed to a couple of smart guys who knows a lot about software development and can do whatever people may ask. If you try and be too much you will come across as not being an expert in anything and right now I think companies are only interested in talking to the experts.
4. Read books about sales and marketing strategies. Few "techies" really understand what sales are all about. We've all heard and told the jokes about sales and marketing people. Be prepared to become one. When approaching a company, try to figure out what services they might need and focus on solving their needs as opposed to what you can do for them. They aren't interested in what you can sell them, they are only interested in having their problems solved. If you don't think you can solve their problem, forget about it. Don't waste your time on a potential contract you likely can't/won't get.
Other than that, be prepared for a lot of work but have fun. Don't expect to make a million dollars. If you are only in it to get rich, you will certainly fail. If you enjoy what you are doing you are more likely to be successful.
I can never figure out why an electrical or computer engineering course would teach such a high level language such as C# or even C++. These are computer engineers we are talking about, not application developers. They should really be learning C or even assembly. They are more likely to need to use that than C or C#.
Can we stop this "which OS is easier to install" nonsense because honestly, it really doesn't matter. Here are a few reasons.
1. Even though 95% of all PCs run computers, most people never have to install Windows. It comes preinstalled.
2. How much does it really matter if Linux installs 10%, 20% or even 80% faster. Does anyone really chose an OS because it is faster to install or requires a little less manual intervention?
3. What happens if you have hardware that isn't, by default, supported by the latest Redhat release? How much effort does it take to go find the drivers, if they even exist, download them and install them. There is still oodles of pieces of hardware not supported by Linux.
If Linux advocates have to resort to a "Linux is easier to install than Windows" arguement for why Linux is better then that says a lot about the state of Linux.
You need to ensure that the previous company doesn't hold any patents on it. You also need to consider whether the employee may have signed a confidentiality agreement with the previous company. Finally, if the previous company is not a direct competitor it probably isn't going to concern them as much as if they are an arch rival. Similarly, if it isn't a core component of the product it probably won't concern them as much as if it was a key competitive advantage. Otherwise, I think as long as it is built from scratch (i.e. no code, design documents, etc. from previous company are used) and it is developed solely based on experience I'd think you would be safe.
Lets not forget that although you didn't directly get $ for that time, you did, or at least could, get $ indirectly. That experience is something valuable that a future employer will pay you $ for. Not many people will claim that spending thousands of dollars on an university education is of no value. It's value is that it offers a better chance of future employment and hopefully a better salary in that employment. Working on these 'hobby projects' can be though of in the same way. Whether you choose to cash in on that extra value is up to you (you can still choose to work at McDonald's or Walmart if you wish).
"So, instead of answering "god did that", you should have the guts to answer "I have no clue". It takes a lot more, but it works better in the long run."
Instead of answering "god did that" or "I have no clue" we should all be answering "I don't know, but I'd sure love to find out" and go from there. The answer may be god, it may be some other theory or it may not be anything we have thought of yet. The real fun is in the path to discovery, not in the answer itself.
"On top of that, I really suspect that writing drivers across the many Windoze versions is far more difficult because each different Windows type (95, 98, ME, 2000, XP and what have you not) is really a different OS. "
I completely disagree with the above statement. As a device driver writer with experience being involved in Windows, Mac, Linux, SCO Unix, AIX device drivers let me say that although Linux drivers are the easiest to write, they are the most difficult to support. A device driver that works for Windows 2000 can often work on Windows Me or Windows XP with no changes at all or at most fairly minimal changes. Under Windows you can have a single binary that runs on Win 98/Me, Windows 2000 and Windows XP. Under Linux you need a different binary for practically every different kernel. I have had Linux drivers break from kernel 2.4.x to 2.4.x+1 on more than one occasion.
There are lots of things to dislike about Windows or Mac device driver development but unstable API's is not one of them. There are lots of things to like about Linux driver development but API stability/driver compatibility is not one of them.
Umm, yes, the Rage Pro is supported by GLX and has been for quite a few years thanks mostly to John Carmack and Gareth Hughes. I think there is now a working DRI driver for it as well.
I find it funny that some people would rather have the free, open source drivers, that sort of work if you are lucky and tweak it the right way and enjoy downloading and compiling gobs of source code, some 6 months after the product is released as well, instead of precompiled binaries that you can install in a couple minutes and work nearly flawlessly and made available the day the hardware is made available.
Is this the same government that is suing them for being manipulative, controlling and illegially imposing restrictions on their customers? The irony never ends.
Microsoft products are known for requiring more CPU horsepower than competing products. AMD and Intel like that as it encourages consumers to upgrade their computers more often. I am not surprised to see AMD side with Microsoft.
"But thats alright because minors *are* bound by general copyright law which is what they'd be sued under if they breached the GPL."
Really? I am not sure this would work. What is copyrighted is the sequence of characters (i.e. the code) not the the compiled binary which he could distribute because he cannot enter into a legally binding agreement.
"How can a "bug fix" possibly degrade the quality of the code? By definition code with a bug in it is as bad as it can be. Anything that removes the bug, but does not introduce new bugs improves the quality of the code. Whether or not it is pretty to look at is irrelevant."
A "bug fix" isn't supposed to improve the quality of code (i.e. readability, maintainability, etc.) but rather improve the quality of the application. Furthermore, fixing one bug does not guarantee that the application is in fact better as that fix might have caused other bugs to crop up.
"If a manager has fifteen year veterans that he can't control (i.e. get them to do maintenance coding) then maybe he ought to hire some programmers who are not primadonnas or take a leadership class."
Go ahead, ask your 15 year veteren to spend the next year maintaining code. My guess is that 80% of them will quickly start dispersing their resume for jobs that are more challenging and rewarding.
"Frankly, if programmers can't understand that their real value as professionals lie in their ability to maximize the usage of scarce resources, then they don't deserve "plum" assignments. "
If managers can't understand that having their high quality experienced engineers working on the most difficult tasks then they don't deserve to be a manager.
"That is to say, a good programmer, one who can consistently demand raises and quantify his/her value is one who can point to work done and say "this saved X number of CPU cycles" and therefore $Y on new processors, RAM, or disk. "
Most programmers don't work for money (it is simply a nice benefit). There are some programming jobs that you could pay me $200K that I wouldn't take because I would much rather spend my time designing and engineering new software systems.
"Sure, a new program may be great in that it adds completely new value to the organization, but to take existing software and rewrite it after allowing the previous version to lag seriously behind? "
Who said the previous version lagged seriously behind? In my example it was maintained for 4 years before it was determined to be too difficult to maintain and a rewrite was necessary. Over those 4 years you have integrated in bug fixes, new features, maybe changed how a few features worked, supported new platforms, etc. but now the code is becoming difficult to maintain (functionally it is better, but cost of maintaining it is getting higher).
Slashdot Mirror
They won't be banned everywhere.
Snow boards were originally banned on many ski hills but now they are as common as skis. Society takes a little time to adjust to new things and should the Segway become a popular mode of transportation, the restrictions will be lifted.
Once they get the gun registry fully operating in Canada they are going to invoke a new law. Everyone who owns a gun will be required to spend 5 days in jail because some gun owners are going to commit crimes with their guns.
"59 cents per CD-R may be livable, but did anyone else notice the 21$ per gig for an MP3 player with a non-removable HDD?"
I don't listen to music except occasionally on the radio, never listened to an MP3 and only use CD-R's to back up data and create Linux CDs. Can anyone explain to me why I should have to pay the recording industry anything at all let alone 59 cents per CDR?
They are charging me more to backup my data and make my Linux CDs because other people copy music. I think I am getting ripped off. I want my moneys worth. Maybe I should start copying music.
"A cable connection here from Rogers (~200K/S download/~50-60K/S upload) costs around $50CDN a month."
Rogers offers cable internet + digital cable TV bundle for $100, or about $64 US. Many places in the US cable internet alone costs $64. I believe Canada is second (to only South Korea I believe) in broadband internet use as a percentage of homes.
I am in a similar situation having been laid off a while ago and I too have considered doing some consulting work. It is awfully tough though because you won't be alone and so few companies are willing to spend. Some reccommendations:
1. Work out of your home, keep expenses low and your rates very reasonable. You need to have a very attractive pricing advantage over the larger, more established out sourcing firms.
2. Even though you are working out of your home, you need to look professional and not a fly by night venture. If you live in a basement apartment or the low rent district of town don't advertise it. Also don't use a PO Box. If necessary hire the services of an office front where they offer admin, mail and boardroom services. Have your mail sent their and pick it up or have it forwarded to your place. Whatever you do, make sure you look professional and as good as the other guys.
3. Define a very small target market or a very small set of services you wish to sell. Become a Java consultant not a Java/C/C++ consultant. Even better would be a Java web developer or a Java enterprise software developer. Choose whatever you know best, learn to know it better, and market only those skills. You will need to market yourself as being 'experts' in that field as opposed to a couple of smart guys who knows a lot about software development and can do whatever people may ask. If you try and be too much you will come across as not being an expert in anything and right now I think companies are only interested in talking to the experts.
4. Read books about sales and marketing strategies. Few "techies" really understand what sales are all about. We've all heard and told the jokes about sales and marketing people. Be prepared to become one. When approaching a company, try to figure out what services they might need and focus on solving their needs as opposed to what you can do for them. They aren't interested in what you can sell them, they are only interested in having their problems solved. If you don't think you can solve their problem, forget about it. Don't waste your time on a potential contract you likely can't/won't get.
Other than that, be prepared for a lot of work but have fun. Don't expect to make a million dollars. If you are only in it to get rich, you will certainly fail. If you enjoy what you are doing you are more likely to be successful.
I can never figure out why an electrical or computer engineering course would teach such a high level language such as C# or even C++. These are computer engineers we are talking about, not application developers. They should really be learning C or even assembly. They are more likely to need to use that than C or C#.
Can we stop this "which OS is easier to install" nonsense because honestly, it really doesn't matter. Here are a few reasons.
1. Even though 95% of all PCs run computers, most people never have to install Windows. It comes preinstalled.
2. How much does it really matter if Linux installs 10%, 20% or even 80% faster. Does anyone really chose an OS because it is faster to install or requires a little less manual intervention?
3. What happens if you have hardware that isn't, by default, supported by the latest Redhat release? How much effort does it take to go find the drivers, if they even exist, download them and install them. There is still oodles of pieces of hardware not supported by Linux.
If Linux advocates have to resort to a "Linux is easier to install than Windows" arguement for why Linux is better then that says a lot about the state of Linux.
You need to ensure that the previous company doesn't hold any patents on it. You also need to consider whether the employee may have signed a confidentiality agreement with the previous company. Finally, if the previous company is not a direct competitor it probably isn't going to concern them as much as if they are an arch rival. Similarly, if it isn't a core component of the product it probably won't concern them as much as if it was a key competitive advantage. Otherwise, I think as long as it is built from scratch (i.e. no code, design documents, etc. from previous company are used) and it is developed solely based on experience I'd think you would be safe.
Lets not forget that although you didn't directly get $ for that time, you did, or at least could, get $ indirectly. That experience is something valuable that a future employer will pay you $ for. Not many people will claim that spending thousands of dollars on an university education is of no value. It's value is that it offers a better chance of future employment and hopefully a better salary in that employment. Working on these 'hobby projects' can be though of in the same way. Whether you choose to cash in on that extra value is up to you (you can still choose to work at McDonald's or Walmart if you wish).
"So, instead of answering "god did that", you should have the guts to answer "I have no clue". It takes a lot more, but it works better in the long run."
Instead of answering "god did that" or "I have no clue" we should all be answering "I don't know, but I'd sure love to find out" and go from there. The answer may be god, it may be some other theory or it may not be anything we have thought of yet. The real fun is in the path to discovery, not in the answer itself.
"On top of that, I really suspect that writing drivers across the many Windoze versions is far more difficult because each different Windows type (95, 98, ME, 2000, XP and what have you not) is really a different OS. "
I completely disagree with the above statement. As a device driver writer with experience being involved in Windows, Mac, Linux, SCO Unix, AIX device drivers let me say that although Linux drivers are the easiest to write, they are the most difficult to support. A device driver that works for Windows 2000 can often work on Windows Me or Windows XP with no changes at all or at most fairly minimal changes. Under Windows you can have a single binary that runs on Win 98/Me, Windows 2000 and Windows XP. Under Linux you need a different binary for practically every different kernel. I have had Linux drivers break from kernel 2.4.x to 2.4.x+1 on more than one occasion.
There are lots of things to dislike about Windows or Mac device driver development but unstable API's is not one of them. There are lots of things to like about Linux driver development but API stability/driver compatibility is not one of them.
I may be wrong, but doesn't AOL/TW own Turner Broadcasting whose CEO recently called PVR users thieves. Such irony.
Ahhh, yes, very true, but the topic was about hardware vendors supporting Linux, not FreeBSD.
Umm, yes, the Rage Pro is supported by GLX and has been for quite a few years thanks mostly to John Carmack and Gareth Hughes. I think there is now a working DRI driver for it as well.
I find it funny that some people would rather have the free, open source drivers, that sort of work if you are lucky and tweak it the right way and enjoy downloading and compiling gobs of source code, some 6 months after the product is released as well, instead of precompiled binaries that you can install in a couple minutes and work nearly flawlessly and made available the day the hardware is made available.
To each his own I suppose.
"Only exception is filing income taxes "
Oh, BTW, Microsoft recently imposed changes to the Passport user agreement. They now own your tax return and all the information contained in it.
Is this the same government that is suing them for being manipulative, controlling and illegially imposing restrictions on their customers? The irony never ends.
Microsoft products are known for requiring more CPU horsepower than competing products. AMD and Intel like that as it encourages consumers to upgrade their computers more often. I am not surprised to see AMD side with Microsoft.
True, it isn't really a wireless monitor but opening the site will show you that the product is called a "airpanel 100 Wireless Monitor".
"But thats alright because minors *are* bound by general copyright law which is what they'd be sued under if they breached the GPL."
Really? I am not sure this would work. What is copyrighted is the sequence of characters (i.e. the code) not the the compiled binary which he could distribute because he cannot enter into a legally binding agreement.
For $19.99 you can register your own domain and for a few bucks more you can have someone host a pop, ftp, and web server for you.
Don't forget the free health care.
"How can a "bug fix" possibly degrade the quality of the code? By definition code with a bug in it is as bad as it can be. Anything that removes the bug, but does not introduce new bugs improves the quality of the code. Whether or not it is pretty to look at is irrelevant."
A "bug fix" isn't supposed to improve the quality of code (i.e. readability, maintainability, etc.) but rather improve the quality of the application. Furthermore, fixing one bug does not guarantee that the application is in fact better as that fix might have caused other bugs to crop up.
"If a manager has fifteen year veterans that he can't control (i.e. get them to do maintenance coding) then maybe he ought to hire some programmers who are not primadonnas or take a leadership class."
Go ahead, ask your 15 year veteren to spend the next year maintaining code. My guess is that 80% of them will quickly start dispersing their resume for jobs that are more challenging and rewarding.
"Frankly, if programmers can't understand that their real value as professionals lie in their ability to maximize the usage of scarce resources, then they don't deserve "plum" assignments. "
If managers can't understand that having their high quality experienced engineers working on the most difficult tasks then they don't deserve to be a manager.
"That is to say, a good programmer, one who can consistently demand raises and quantify his/her value is one who can point to work done and say "this saved X number of CPU cycles" and therefore $Y on new processors, RAM, or disk. "
Most programmers don't work for money (it is simply a nice benefit). There are some programming jobs that you could pay me $200K that I wouldn't take because I would much rather spend my time designing and engineering new software systems.
"Sure, a new program may be great in that it adds completely new value to the organization, but to take existing software and rewrite it after allowing the previous version to lag seriously behind? "
Who said the previous version lagged seriously behind? In my example it was maintained for 4 years before it was determined to be too difficult to maintain and a rewrite was necessary. Over those 4 years you have integrated in bug fixes, new features, maybe changed how a few features worked, supported new platforms, etc. but now the code is becoming difficult to maintain (functionally it is better, but cost of maintaining it is getting higher).