Greetings and Salutations.
Oy, what timing! I was just catching up on UserFriendly, and found THIS cartoon: http://ars.userfriendly.org/cartoons/?id=20050604
Is that not relevant or what?
regards
DaveMundt
Greetings and Salutations.
Assuming you are in America...you are having a tough time finding a job for any of a NUMBER of reasons.
1. The economy, while grinding over, is still in very fragile state. There are a lot of companies still cutting back (noticed the GM announcement of 25K jobs cut?), or, not hiring
because they are nervous about what is going to happen.
2) You don't mention what job experience you have. If none...that is a BIG wall for you to get over. Employers really like to hire someone with a job history, that shows that they can show up on time, and do the work. No matter how cool a degree looks on the wall...it does not demonstrate this.
3) You may be looking for the wrong position. I am not sure that a degree in mathematics shows interest in anything but teaching mathematics. You need to sit down and realistically address the topic of what field do you want to work in. Your university should have a job center with folks
that can and will talk with you about this process.
4) If you are not sure what you want to be when you grow up (and many of us ARE still searching for that answer), you may have to find an entry level job doing something that you don't love to do. Remember two things here, though...
a) Do the best job you can. Don't do a crappy job simply because you are just in it for a paycheck and a resume entry.
b) Don't look on it as being 'forever'. The days of working at one company forever are long gone. often, the way to get promotions and more money is to leave one company and go to another one.
5) If you are really focussed on getting a job in a particular field, you probably are going to have to move someplace else. Unless you live in a VERY unusual place, the job you want is probably someplace else.
6) These days, expecting to graduate from college with a fairly specialized degree, and walk into a high-paying job immediately is pretty much a crack-dream. It may take up to two years to find work...and, even then, it may not be the "best" job. Again...the job center at your university can be a good help there. They also may suggest some grad school, with courses that extend your knowledge and abilities. Perhaps some business courses, or something like that.
Good luck
Dave Mundt
Greetings and Salutations...
I would feel far better about this if;
a) the bad guys would play by the rules and register for their identity cards just like us law-abiding citizens and...
b) We did not have such a long history of government abusing power that it takes.
It may be a more complex world now, but, because of that, privacy should be even more valuable and preserved...rather than being stripped away.
While there is no current indications that this ID card will become a required, internal passport, there is a VERY good chance it will be...which undercuts one of the mainstays of American life - that of unfettered travel throughout the country. It could, alas, lead to a totalitarian state on a VERY easy road. Read Lewis Sinclair's "It Can't Happen Here", and see if you see any parallels between HIS thesis and OUR reality today!
On top of that, I have little confidence in the government or large organizations to keep accurate enough records to make this workable. So far, the track record is not great.
Greetings and Salutations..
Ok...I KNOW it is a troll...but I REALLY can't believe that anyone could say this with a straight face!
The fact of the matter is that the total cost of the gallon of gasoline at the pump is determined by the amount the supplier charges, PLUS any local, state, or federal taxes.
I will type this slowly so as to be clear. This means that if gasoline costs $2/gallon today, and, some governmental organization raised the tax a dime...it will cost $2.10 tomorrow.
Now...if you really want to hear some screams of the damned...have the government impliment price controls, locking the cost at the pump to $1.75/gallon (including taxes, etc). Not only will the refiners have fits, but, the politicians would scream bloody murder because they could not crank the price up.
Regards
Dave Mundt
Greetings and Salutations... Well, if they ARE suffering from age, and, need a new direction I understand that Carly Fiorina is available *smile*.
Of course, considering her track record SO far, I suspect it would go a long way towards ensuring that M$ got broken up... regards Dave Mundt
Greetings and Salutations...
Ok...I have to say that I think this whole thing is a crock, and, nothing more than the government waving its "power" around in order to test how far they can limit the actions of the citizens.
I also think that the guy did do a very foolish thing by shining a laser at the aircraft. While the likelihood of actually causing serious problems was so close to zero as to make a lightning strike MORE likely, it was an inappropriate lesson for his kid.
I DO wonder what sort of laser he had, though. I see a bunch of posts here saying "high Power" and in some cases wandering off into such a fantasy world about how "powerful" lasers are that I wonder if it is not time to start drug testing posters here. Any laser powerful enough to cut metal or cause serious blindness is STILL going to be so big and expensive that one is really unlikely to find it anywhere it might be used to target airplanes. Oak Ridge labs might well have some, and, I know there are a bunch of folks out there doing custom machining with CO2 lasers that have a chunk of power. However, NONE of these can be hand held (and most would require a couple of fairly big guys to lift and move). So...how powerful WAS this laser? A few Milliwatts?
I do find it more of a concern about the increased use of the Patriot Act in what should be ordinary criminal prosecutions. Those powers are dangerous, and, I suspect that as the next few years pass, there are going to be more and more folks who look back at their support for giving the government these powers with great regret. However, it is likely that by that time, it will be too late.
Pleasant dreams.
Dave Mundt
Greetings and Salutations.
I am fine with using a STATE issued card (driver's license, etc) as an identity tool. My concerns are more with the continued erosion of state's rights by the federal government. A "national id card" is just another way for the Feds to weaken the states...and, IMHO, that is a really bad thing.
A big chunk of America's strength comes from the diversity of strong states and a weaker federal government, and, in order to maintain our liberty and autonomy, we need to keep this state of affairs.
Regards
Dave Mundt
Greetings and salutations.
Hum...from what I have been hearing, the European Union (EU) is rapidly becoming quite an economic superpower in the world, perhaps even surpassing the US.
After all, there are a lot of companies out there that seem to ask "how high" on the way up when the EU says Jump. As an example...what about the woodworking tool manufacturers who are making table saw arbors too short to hold a dado blade? If the EU did not have economic power, would it be so hard to find a "normal" length arbor these days?
Regards
Dave Mundt
Greetings and Salutations.
And the sad thing is that, while WordPerfect has its problems (like every OTHER program in the world) it really sucks a LOT less than MS Word. It is better at complicated page layout, creates smaller files, and, can do a number of tricks that MS WORD still cannot do. Shucks, for that matter, WordPerfect does a better job of reading WORD documents than vice versa. Alas, though, it is not transparent.
As pointed out, this is yet another case of excellence being drowned by the mediocure flood. VHS vs Betamax all over again.
Regards
dave mundt
I suspect that what he MEANS is "get used to not having the system do flaky things, or crash at random intervals". ALthough Lord knows, Macs are not the best the the world, they ARE pretty stabile these days.
Oh yea...it might mean "learn to single click instead of double click". That could be pretty tough for the PC user... regards dave mundt
Greetings and Salutations... Um...don't think so. The caller ID is separate from the number calling in the mind of the Phone company's computers. So...when you hit dialback, it SHOULD simply send tones down the line to request a reverse connection to the calling number. Your phone does not actually KNOW what the number is that called, and, it does not have to. That is why when you WANT to call back the number that just called you, all you have to do is hit "*69" (in America). That tells the computers at the CO to reconnect you to the calling number. (and yes, I DO happen to find that choice of numbers quite amusing).
Regards
Dave Mundt
Greetings and Salutations.
Interesting thoughts...but, perhaps trumped by the quote "By their actions, ye shall know them". It is trivial to claim you are something. It is a whole other thing to actually follow the precepts of those beliefs. As for Hitler's Germany, I would say that, when push came to shove, he may have claimed it was Christian, but, his actions spoke otherwise, and, prove, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that Hitler and his ilk were not followers of Christ in any really meaningful way.
Remember...it is not a person's words that prove what they are...it is their actions.
Regards
Dave Mundt
Actually, I kind of like skinning...although I don't "need" it. For example, Opera has a skin called "Executive" that is my preferred look. Why? not because I am "C" level, but, because I am a woodworker!
ALso, the whole point of computers is to allow flexibility and the ability to customize the tool to fit our hand.
I do, though, draw the line at methods of skinning that end up being security risks... I am not sure that skins that have executable parts are a good thing...
Greetings and Salutations.
Not to be TOO picky, but, it is "flout". to "flaunt" means, basically, to wave it in someone's face to humiliate them, or, to brag about one's own accomplishment.
However, more to the point, it is not the speed that is the problem, but, the inappropriate speed. For example...it torques me off no end when I am driving through one of the many construction zones here in Knoxpatch, am driving at the posted speed limit (45 MPH) and am getting my doors blown off by idiots blasting by at 60 MPH plus. The fact of the matter is that construction zones are dangerous, with a very good chance of unexpected lane changes, obstructions, men falling past the barriers, etc, and, very restricted entrance ramps. It only makes sense to slow down a bit...yet many, many folks do not.
For that matter, it spreads out to heavy traffic in general, with the goodly percentage of folks that think they are in the Giant Slalom and so blast through heavy traffic at about 20 MPH over, weaving in and out. That sort of behavior, while perhaps a ton of fun, is dangerous, stupid and does not save anyone any time, while putting not only the speeder at risk, but, many other folks around them at risk. All it takes is ONE unexpected hit of the brakes by a truck or car in the path of the speeder, and, there is a lot of bent metal and ruined lives. Is it really worth it? And...for you folks that do it...does the fact that you have made it before mean you are going to make it THIS time?
Regards
Dave Mundt
Greetings and Salutations....
That is, alas, exactly how the "discount" cards at Kroger and many other stores work. Here in Knoxpatch, as an example, 2 l cokes used to go on sale regularly for $0.75-$0.90 each. After the cards were inflicted on us, the REGULAR price went to $1.25 or more each...but we could get them for $0.95/each WITH the card. Many other items worked exactly the same way.
It annoys me JUST a tad to be told in big, proud letters at the bottom of the receipt that I have saved $6.50 (or something like that) by using the card. The fact of the matter is that I would not have bought the stuff for the full price in the FIRST place...so it is not saving me a penny. It is really nothing more than a hollow lure from the management to entice me to drop my hard earned bucks at THEIR store, instead of a competitor's.
Like many other things in today's world, it is nothing more than an annoying scam.
Regards
Dave Mundt
Greetings and Salutations. It seems to me that the BEST way to deal with this is to bring back the idea of doing something because it is The Right Thing To Do. Since it is so easy to get a copy of music or software for a computer, it seems "harmless" to the average person. And, frankly, if their reason for getting a copy is to check it out before buying a legal copy, I have no problem with that at all. However, too many of us believe it is "ok" to grab a copy of some software without paying for it, then go on and use it because we like it and it does what we need. That is NOT the "Right Thing To Do", because when you do that, you are, without a question taking cash out of the pocket of the company or person that created that software or music. Whether or not we excuse this by the lame reason that "the big corporations charge too much" or "the artist will only get pennies of the cost" is meaningless. If you truly want to do "The Right Thing", then find a way to adequately reimburse the producer of the music or software. There are a lot of sources of free, or nearly free music these days...say...your public library, or, the radio. When I share a book with a friend, I hadn the physical book over to them, they read it, and, then they give it back to me. If you did the same thing with software or music, I suspect it would be ethically ok. However, making a COPY of that item, and giving it away, is just wrong. I realize that this is probably meaningless to most of the folks out there, but, ethics do matter, both in the real world where we interact with each other, and, in the metaphysical world of our spirit, and whether or not it is a growing lively thing, or, being dragged down by all the questionable acts we perform.
It is tough to do, but, let's try to Do The Right THing, and, train our chuldren to do the same thing. In the long run, the world will become a better place, and, I suspect that a lot of the unpleasant things we see on the news today will go away. Regards Dave Mundt
And speaking of wondering things...why is it that Google limits ALL searches to the top 1000 URLS in the database. Since the ranking depends, mostly, on the number of pages linked TO that URL, it cuts out finding those buried treasures out there, and, in many cases may make it impossible to get to certain web pages.
OF course, if this was DOCUMENTED someplace it would be annoying, but, not an unpleasant surprise.
Slashdot Mirror
Greetings and Salutations.
Oy, what timing! I was just catching up on UserFriendly, and found THIS cartoon:
http://ars.userfriendly.org/cartoons/?id=20050604
Is that not relevant or what?
regards
DaveMundt
Greetings and Salutations. Assuming you are in America...you are having a tough time finding a job for any of a NUMBER of reasons.
1. The economy, while grinding over, is still in very fragile state. There are a lot of companies still cutting back (noticed the GM announcement of 25K jobs cut?), or, not hiring because they are nervous about what is going to happen.
2) You don't mention what job experience you have. If none...that is a BIG wall for you to get over. Employers really like to hire someone with a job history, that shows that they can show up on time, and do the work. No matter how cool a degree looks on the wall...it does not demonstrate this.
3) You may be looking for the wrong position. I am not sure that a degree in mathematics shows interest in anything but teaching mathematics. You need to sit down and realistically address the topic of what field do you want to work in. Your university should have a job center with folks that can and will talk with you about this process.
4) If you are not sure what you want to be when you grow up (and many of us ARE still searching for that answer), you may have to find an entry level job doing something that you don't love to do. Remember two things here, though...
a) Do the best job you can. Don't do a crappy job simply because you are just in it for a paycheck and a resume entry.
b) Don't look on it as being 'forever'. The days of working at one company forever are long gone. often, the way to get promotions and more money is to leave one company and go to another one.
5) If you are really focussed on getting a job in a particular field, you probably are going to have to move someplace else. Unless you live in a VERY unusual place, the job you want is probably someplace else.
6) These days, expecting to graduate from college with a fairly specialized degree, and walk into a high-paying job immediately is pretty much a crack-dream. It may take up to two years to find work...and, even then, it may not be the "best" job. Again...the job center at your university can be a good help there. They also may suggest some grad school, with courses that extend your knowledge and abilities. Perhaps some business courses, or something like that.
Good luck
Dave Mundt
Greetings and Salutations...
I would feel far better about this if;
a) the bad guys would play by the rules and register for their identity cards just like us law-abiding citizens and...
b) We did not have such a long history of government abusing power that it takes.
It may be a more complex world now, but, because of that, privacy should be even more valuable and preserved...rather than being stripped away.
While there is no current indications that this ID card will become a required, internal passport, there is a VERY good chance it will be...which undercuts one of the mainstays of American life - that of unfettered travel throughout the country. It could, alas, lead to a totalitarian state on a VERY easy road. Read Lewis Sinclair's "It Can't Happen Here", and see if you see any parallels between HIS thesis and OUR reality today!
On top of that, I have little confidence in the government or large organizations to keep accurate enough records to make this workable. So far, the track record is not great.
Regards
Dave Mundt
Greetings and Salutations..
Ok...I KNOW it is a troll...but I REALLY
can't believe that anyone could say this with a straight face!
The fact of the matter is that the total cost of the gallon of gasoline at the pump is determined by the amount the supplier charges, PLUS any local, state, or federal taxes.
I will type this slowly so as to be clear. This means that if gasoline costs $2/gallon today, and, some governmental organization raised the tax a dime...it will cost $2.10 tomorrow.
Now...if you really want to hear some screams of the damned...have the government impliment price controls, locking the cost at the pump to $1.75/gallon (including taxes, etc). Not only will the refiners have fits, but, the politicians would scream bloody murder because they could not crank the price up.
Regards
Dave Mundt
Greetings and Salutations...
Well, if they ARE suffering from age, and,
need a new direction I understand that
Carly Fiorina is available *smile*.
Of course, considering her track record
SO far, I suspect it would go a long way
towards ensuring that M$ got broken up...
regards
Dave Mundt
Greetings and Salutations...
Ok...I have to say that I think this whole thing is a crock, and, nothing more than the government waving its "power" around in order to test how far they can limit the actions of the citizens.
I also think that the guy did do a very foolish thing by shining a laser at the aircraft. While the likelihood of actually causing serious problems was so close to zero as to make a lightning strike MORE likely, it was an inappropriate lesson for his kid.
I DO wonder what sort of laser he had, though. I see a bunch of posts here saying "high Power" and in some cases wandering off into such a fantasy world about how "powerful" lasers are that I wonder if it is not time to start drug testing posters here. Any laser powerful enough to cut metal or cause serious blindness is STILL going to be so big and expensive that one is really unlikely to find it anywhere it might be used to target airplanes. Oak Ridge labs might well have some, and, I know there are a bunch of folks out there doing custom machining with CO2 lasers that have a chunk of power. However, NONE of these
can be hand held (and most would require a couple of fairly big guys to lift and move). So...how powerful WAS this laser? A few Milliwatts?
I do find it more of a concern about the increased use of the Patriot Act in what should be ordinary criminal prosecutions. Those powers are dangerous, and, I suspect that as the next few years pass, there are going to be more and more folks who look back at their support for giving the government these powers with great regret. However, it is likely that by that time, it will be too late.
Pleasant dreams.
Dave Mundt
Greetings and Salutations.
I am fine with using a STATE issued card (driver's license, etc) as an identity tool. My concerns are more with the continued erosion of state's rights by the federal government. A "national id card" is just another way for the Feds to weaken the states...and, IMHO, that is a really bad thing.
A big chunk of America's strength comes from the diversity of strong states and a weaker federal government, and, in order to maintain our
liberty and autonomy, we need to keep this state
of affairs.
Regards
Dave Mundt
Greetings and salutations.
Hum...from what I have been hearing, the European Union (EU) is rapidly becoming quite an economic superpower in the world, perhaps even surpassing the US.
After all, there are a lot of companies out there that seem to ask "how high" on the way up when the EU says Jump. As an example...what about the woodworking tool manufacturers who are making table saw arbors too short to hold a dado blade? If the EU did not have economic power, would it be so hard to find a "normal" length arbor these days?
Regards
Dave Mundt
Greetings and Salutations.
And the sad thing is that, while WordPerfect has its problems (like every OTHER program in the world) it really sucks a LOT less than MS Word. It is better at complicated page layout, creates smaller files, and, can do a number of tricks that MS WORD still cannot do. Shucks, for that matter, WordPerfect does a better job of reading WORD documents than vice versa. Alas, though, it is not transparent.
As pointed out, this is yet another case of excellence being drowned by the mediocure flood. VHS vs Betamax all over again.
Regards
dave mundt
I suspect that what he MEANS is "get used to not having the system do flaky things, or crash at random intervals". ALthough Lord knows, Macs
are not the best the the world, they ARE pretty stabile these days.
Oh yea...it might mean "learn to single click instead of double click". That could be pretty tough for the PC user...
regards
dave mundt
Greetings and Salutations...
Um...don't think so. The caller ID is
separate from the number calling in the mind
of the Phone company's computers. So...when
you hit dialback, it SHOULD simply send tones
down the line to request a reverse connection
to the calling number. Your phone does not
actually KNOW what the number is that called,
and, it does not have to. That is why when
you WANT to call back the number that just
called you, all you have to do is hit "*69"
(in America). That tells the computers at
the CO to reconnect you to the calling number.
(and yes, I DO happen to find that choice of
numbers quite amusing).
Regards
Dave Mundt
Greetings and Salutations.
Interesting thoughts...but, perhaps trumped by the quote "By their actions, ye shall know them". It is trivial to claim you are something. It is a whole other thing to actually follow the precepts of those beliefs. As for Hitler's Germany, I would say that, when push came to shove, he may have claimed it was Christian, but, his actions spoke otherwise, and, prove, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that Hitler and his ilk were not followers of Christ in any really meaningful way.
Remember...it is not a person's words that prove what they are...it is their actions.
Regards
Dave Mundt
Actually, I kind of like skinning...although I don't "need" it. For example, Opera has a skin called "Executive" that is my preferred look. Why? not because I am "C" level, but, because I am a woodworker!
ALso, the whole point of computers is to allow flexibility and the ability to customize the tool to fit our hand.
I do, though, draw the line at methods of skinning that end up being security risks... I am not sure that skins that have executable parts are a good thing...
Greetings and Salutations.
Not to be TOO picky, but, it is "flout". to "flaunt" means, basically, to wave it in someone's face to humiliate them, or, to brag about one's own accomplishment.
However, more to the point, it is not the speed that is the problem, but, the inappropriate speed. For example...it torques me off no end when I am driving through one of the many construction zones here in Knoxpatch, am driving at the posted speed limit (45 MPH) and am getting my doors blown off by idiots blasting by at 60 MPH plus. The fact of the matter is that construction zones are dangerous, with a very good chance of unexpected lane changes, obstructions, men falling past the barriers, etc, and, very restricted entrance ramps. It only makes sense to slow down a bit...yet many, many folks do not.
For that matter, it spreads out to heavy traffic in general, with the goodly percentage of folks that think they are in the Giant Slalom and so blast through heavy traffic at about 20 MPH over, weaving in and out. That sort of behavior, while perhaps a ton of fun, is dangerous, stupid and does not save anyone any time, while putting not only the speeder at risk, but, many other folks around them at risk. All it takes is ONE unexpected hit of the brakes by a truck or car in the path of the speeder, and, there is a lot of bent metal and ruined lives. Is it really worth it? And...for you folks that do it...does the fact that you have made it before mean you are going to make it THIS time?
Regards
Dave Mundt
Greetings and Salutations....
That is, alas, exactly how the "discount"
cards at Kroger and many other stores work. Here
in Knoxpatch, as an example, 2 l cokes used to go
on sale regularly for $0.75-$0.90 each. After the cards were inflicted on us, the REGULAR price
went to $1.25 or more each...but we could get them for $0.95/each WITH the card. Many other items worked exactly the same way.
It annoys me JUST a tad to be told in big, proud letters at the bottom of the receipt that I have saved $6.50 (or something like that) by using the card. The fact of the matter is that I would not have bought the stuff for the full price in the FIRST place...so it is not saving me a penny.
It is really nothing more than a hollow lure from
the management to entice me to drop my hard earned
bucks at THEIR store, instead of a competitor's.
Like many other things in today's world, it
is nothing more than an annoying scam.
Regards
Dave Mundt
Greetings and Salutations.
It seems to me that the BEST way to deal with this is to bring back the idea of doing something because it is The Right Thing To Do. Since it is so easy to get a copy of music or software for a computer, it seems "harmless" to the average person. And, frankly, if their reason for getting a copy is to check it out before buying a legal copy, I have no problem with that at all.
However, too many of us believe it is "ok" to grab a copy of some software without paying for it, then go on and use it because we like it and it does what we need. That is NOT the "Right Thing To Do", because when you do that, you are, without a question taking cash out of the pocket of the company or person that created that software or music.
Whether or not we excuse this by the lame reason that "the big corporations charge too much" or "the artist will only get pennies of the cost" is meaningless. If you truly want to do "The Right Thing", then find a way to adequately reimburse the producer of the music or software.
There are a lot of sources of free, or nearly free music these days...say...your public library, or, the radio.
When I share a book with a friend, I hadn the physical book over to them, they read it, and, then they give it back to me. If you did the same thing with software or music, I suspect it would be ethically ok. However, making a COPY of that item, and giving it away, is just wrong.
I realize that this is probably meaningless to most of the folks out there, but, ethics do matter, both in the real world where we interact with each other, and, in the metaphysical world of our spirit, and whether or not it is a growing lively thing, or, being dragged down by all the questionable acts we perform.
It is tough to do, but, let's try to Do The Right THing, and, train our chuldren to do the same thing. In the long run, the world will become a better place, and, I suspect that a lot of the unpleasant things we see on the news today will go away.
Regards
Dave Mundt
Hum...my first thought was that they make the plants wear Birkenstocks.
GDR
Dave Mundt
Yea, but, it is also strained through the kidneys of a bunch of Anonymous Cowards first
pleasant dreams
And speaking of wondering things...why is it that Google limits ALL searches to the top 1000 URLS in the database. Since the ranking depends, mostly, on the number of pages linked TO that URL, it cuts out finding those buried treasures out there, and, in many cases may make it impossible to get to certain web pages.
OF course, if this was DOCUMENTED someplace it would be annoying, but, not an unpleasant surprise.