Sometimes you need to get off your ass and walk around once in awhile. Focus your eyes on something that doesn't involve pixels or a desk. Lunchtime is perfect for that. Gives you a chance to get out, walk around, notice things, talk to folks in a groups, and in a setting where you're not all eyeballing a PowerPoint presentation.
I get the leave-earlier paradigm, but honestly? 8-10 straight hours in front a screen makes Johnny a very unhappy soul. Break that shit up.
I think GP meant concrete (as opposed to mortar or simple cement).
There were a lot of technologies that were lost, though - mostly because once things did finally grind into the dirt, there wasn't enough of a societal structure left in the Western Empire to support learning or continuing such technologies, and literacy dropped to the point where re-learning from what little writings survived to that point was hit-or-miss at best.
One small problem - most (not all, *most*) humans require doing useful pre-directed work as a precondition of having a quality life.
If you're not doing something useful for your family or society, well, you're not going to enjoy life all that much.
I spent a lot of time at my last job sitting idle a lot (mostly in meetings, waiting on people to supply the things I needed, waiting on clients to make up their minds, etc)... long story short, I got so damned bored that I wrote a 450pp book on the hypotheticals of having to rebuild society from scratch (sold nearly 1k copies so far in spite of giving it away for free online as a big.pdf ). I'd built innumerable CG objects, and did a whole lot of other stuff just to keep my brain occupied.
Now you could say that these things are good substitutes, and for many they would be. Idle time can be a beautiful incubator for improving oneself and in some small way the world. OTOH, most folks, when faced with such a condition, turn to entertainment and ennui. As evidence, I present the prevalence of drug/alcohol use, console gaming, and other forms of self-entertainment among those who live more-or-less permanently on governmental assistance.
I guess the point I'm making is this: unless you're a self-starter who can make good use of idle time, having too much of it only leads towards becoming the proverbial Eloi (or, given typical humanity, worse). Not everyone is a classical Greek who can recognize idle time as a means of exploration and challenge (hell, not even me - I still detest the fact that in spite of what I did do, I still consider a huge chunk of lost time as a waste.)
You'll take the guy who trains for events, good for you so would I but honestly how likely is it they are going to be around when you need them.
Statistically it would be almost the same likelihood of a cop being around if you need one of them, really...
And how often in these events is someone shooting back at you
Considering that one trains for both speed and accuracy (including the draw) in these events? I'm willing to wager that if you drew on a solid IPSC competitor who was carrying, he'd have two rounds headed for the center of your torso while moving out of your line of fire - and that's before you could finish pulling the trigger. His advantage is more commonly called "muscle memory".
Now you do have a point about the whole panic situation, but if you're consistently practicing, and are good at it? Once your brain says 'gun - react!', the rest happens by near-literal reflex, and (at least for most men) panic usually waits until later, once it's all done.
The only thing that could doom Microsoft (not Windows) is the lack of necessity for a new operating system.
Which is, well, what's going on now. Most folks would use XP until the universe's heat death if they could, and there's little reason for them not to. If they have Windows 7, that sentence ends with the phrase "no reason at all."
Unless Microsoft starts getting stupid with making artificial barriers for old OS versions, it's lose-lose, and they don't have that kind of ability anymore - at least not in any meaningful, purchase-influencing way.
Until developers stop writing enterprise software for Windows, enterprise settings are going to continue to be dominated by Microsoft.
Mind you, this is already starting to happen. While most normal office drones can't quite do it yet, I can do all of my ordinary sysadmin stuff without the use of Windows... and that includes managing Exchange, AD, what-have-you (usually via RDP if there's no direct equivalent).
The original rationale for Windows in the enterprise began when companies wanted cheap "personal" computers in the workplace. They wanted those computers with a drop-stupid UI and a cheap OS on them. Windows was perfectly poised to fill that need (Apples cost too much, GEM had issues, and Amiga was too much like an appliance to be flexible.)
Nowadays, if W8/Metro is what Microsoft expects the planet to use, they may be in for a shock. No serious enterprise will touch it (outside of certain "Platinum Partners" who drink Redmond-flavored koolaid by the tanker-truck), since it (currently) hampers the hell out of work. When home users buy a PC, they want a frickin' PC - and not some over-spec'd tablet with a keyboard lashed onto it.
While I won't say that Microsoft is dead meat, I will say that they're making one hell of a potentially fatal mistake here. They don't have room to bork things up like they used to (see also Steam's decision), and Apple is smart enough to stay expensive enough to make a serious profit, but just barely cheap enough to be within reach of anyone who could be considered a decision-maker.
protip: suicide doesn't require a firearm, and most suicidal folks who want to blow their brains out usually buy the thing right before they off themselves.
Long story short - the study you cite is, well, fundamentally dumb.
Trust me, choosing between a typical police officer and a top civilian IPSC shooter to help defend me in a bad situation? I'll take the civilian gent who can put his bullet through a dime at 10 yards while literally running. The typical cop may get a chance to qualify with his pistol once a year in a static range test.
TBH? Even as crappy as I am at it (at least compared to my local peers), I've personally bested more than a few police officers in these events - and I'm using a 1911.45 ACP against their puny no-kick 9mm.
Wait until you have to use a KVM server, reconfig a fiber switch, use ASDM for older Cisco gear, eyeball monitoring software (stupid NetApp esp.), or anything else in a sysadmin role these days.
Unfortunately, while my home machine is blissfully free of Java (and Silverlight, Flash, etc), my work machines are not.
His self-awareness must be as dull as a lead brick, then - after I (and a handful of other critical folks) left, the CxO's threw a fit and sacked him in the hardest possible way.
I'd like to file an exception to your hypothesis - I always left that stupid thing off, and yet I got an odd invite from a guy I positively detested (both as a manager and otherwise)
I knew something was up when I got an invite to connect with a guy I used to work for - dude was a royal dickhole as an executive, bad enough that I left the company specifically because of his craptastic management style.
Seeing an invite from him was enough to make my shudder in revulsion, and I'm sure the feeling would have been mutual.
The good ones have personally hired plenty, and have an exceptional ability to match talents to roles. Moving a guy from a dead end job to a place where he can really make a difference is huge. These guys are rare, and don't deserve to be called head hunters, but "agent" doesn't do them justice either. They're more like match makers.
This, right here.
I've run the gamut recently (and over the years) from folks who only represent you, to those who only represent the company. Some will keep in constant contact with you, others will call once, say "you'll make an excellent fit! I'll get you two together immediately!", then you never hear from 'em again. Way too many flop out an email to you and do nothing more.
Very damned few ever take into account the corporate culture, let alone compare it to your own. The ones who can make sure of both are worth keeping in touch with at all costs.
Truth is, the carriers/cablecos go out of their flippin' way to sue if there's even the faintest glimmer of competition, from nearly every source.
Personally, I'd vote in (as officeholder-for-life) the first politician who put in a law requiring at least two competitors for each type of ISP access (2 cable, 2 DSL, 2 fiber, 2 wireless, 2 whatever-they-think-up-next), with no monopolies.
rather than risk a speeding ticket every clock cycle.
Won't happen - by then they'll have mandatory auto-kill switches installed in your car, and after you burn off all your points (state laws depending), it'll kill the engine and force you to wait for the obligatory patrol car and tow truck. Call it less than 5 miles (one station per mile) if you drive like I do.
(I am curious though - did the folks in TFA consider Texas' 'flow of traffic' laws? Hell, you can get passed by an unconcerned patrol cruiser while you're doing 90 mph on the Sam Houston...)
Slashdot Mirror
Yes and no.
Sometimes you need to get off your ass and walk around once in awhile. Focus your eyes on something that doesn't involve pixels or a desk. Lunchtime is perfect for that. Gives you a chance to get out, walk around, notice things, talk to folks in a groups, and in a setting where you're not all eyeballing a PowerPoint presentation.
I get the leave-earlier paradigm, but honestly? 8-10 straight hours in front a screen makes Johnny a very unhappy soul. Break that shit up.
I think GP meant concrete (as opposed to mortar or simple cement).
There were a lot of technologies that were lost, though - mostly because once things did finally grind into the dirt, there wasn't enough of a societal structure left in the Western Empire to support learning or continuing such technologies, and literacy dropped to the point where re-learning from what little writings survived to that point was hit-or-miss at best.
One small problem - most (not all, *most*) humans require doing useful pre-directed work as a precondition of having a quality life.
If you're not doing something useful for your family or society, well, you're not going to enjoy life all that much.
I spent a lot of time at my last job sitting idle a lot (mostly in meetings, waiting on people to supply the things I needed, waiting on clients to make up their minds, etc)... long story short, I got so damned bored that I wrote a 450pp book on the hypotheticals of having to rebuild society from scratch (sold nearly 1k copies so far in spite of giving it away for free online as a big .pdf ). I'd built innumerable CG objects, and did a whole lot of other stuff just to keep my brain occupied.
Now you could say that these things are good substitutes, and for many they would be. Idle time can be a beautiful incubator for improving oneself and in some small way the world. OTOH, most folks, when faced with such a condition, turn to entertainment and ennui. As evidence, I present the prevalence of drug/alcohol use, console gaming, and other forms of self-entertainment among those who live more-or-less permanently on governmental assistance.
I guess the point I'm making is this: unless you're a self-starter who can make good use of idle time, having too much of it only leads towards becoming the proverbial Eloi (or, given typical humanity, worse). Not everyone is a classical Greek who can recognize idle time as a means of exploration and challenge (hell, not even me - I still detest the fact that in spite of what I did do, I still consider a huge chunk of lost time as a waste.)
You'll take the guy who trains for events, good for you so would I but honestly how likely is it they are going to be around when you need them.
Statistically it would be almost the same likelihood of a cop being around if you need one of them, really...
And how often in these events is someone shooting back at you
Considering that one trains for both speed and accuracy (including the draw) in these events? I'm willing to wager that if you drew on a solid IPSC competitor who was carrying, he'd have two rounds headed for the center of your torso while moving out of your line of fire - and that's before you could finish pulling the trigger. His advantage is more commonly called "muscle memory".
Now you do have a point about the whole panic situation, but if you're consistently practicing, and are good at it? Once your brain says 'gun - react!', the rest happens by near-literal reflex, and (at least for most men) panic usually waits until later, once it's all done.
The only thing that could doom Microsoft (not Windows) is the lack of necessity for a new operating system.
Which is, well, what's going on now. Most folks would use XP until the universe's heat death if they could, and there's little reason for them not to. If they have Windows 7, that sentence ends with the phrase "no reason at all."
Unless Microsoft starts getting stupid with making artificial barriers for old OS versions, it's lose-lose, and they don't have that kind of ability anymore - at least not in any meaningful, purchase-influencing way.
...not to mention with average salaries that the typical MCSE/MCSA can only dream about...
Until developers stop writing enterprise software for Windows, enterprise settings are going to continue to be dominated by Microsoft.
Mind you, this is already starting to happen. While most normal office drones can't quite do it yet, I can do all of my ordinary sysadmin stuff without the use of Windows... and that includes managing Exchange, AD, what-have-you (usually via RDP if there's no direct equivalent).
This, right here.
The original rationale for Windows in the enterprise began when companies wanted cheap "personal" computers in the workplace. They wanted those computers with a drop-stupid UI and a cheap OS on them. Windows was perfectly poised to fill that need (Apples cost too much, GEM had issues, and Amiga was too much like an appliance to be flexible.)
Nowadays, if W8/Metro is what Microsoft expects the planet to use, they may be in for a shock. No serious enterprise will touch it (outside of certain "Platinum Partners" who drink Redmond-flavored koolaid by the tanker-truck), since it (currently) hampers the hell out of work. When home users buy a PC, they want a frickin' PC - and not some over-spec'd tablet with a keyboard lashed onto it.
While I won't say that Microsoft is dead meat, I will say that they're making one hell of a potentially fatal mistake here. They don't have room to bork things up like they used to (see also Steam's decision), and Apple is smart enough to stay expensive enough to make a serious profit, but just barely cheap enough to be within reach of anyone who could be considered a decision-maker.
protip: suicide doesn't require a firearm, and most suicidal folks who want to blow their brains out usually buy the thing right before they off themselves.
Long story short - the study you cite is, well, fundamentally dumb.
Leave law enforcement to the trained professionals.
I've seen local police officers who participate in shooting events which often emulate defense scenarios. Few of them are any good at it, let alone as good as some of the top performers.
Trust me, choosing between a typical police officer and a top civilian IPSC shooter to help defend me in a bad situation? I'll take the civilian gent who can put his bullet through a dime at 10 yards while literally running. The typical cop may get a chance to qualify with his pistol once a year in a static range test.
TBH? Even as crappy as I am at it (at least compared to my local peers), I've personally bested more than a few police officers in these events - and I'm using a 1911 .45 ACP against their puny no-kick 9mm.
Wait until you have to use a KVM server, reconfig a fiber switch, use ASDM for older Cisco gear, eyeball monitoring software (stupid NetApp esp.), or anything else in a sysadmin role these days.
Unfortunately, while my home machine is blissfully free of Java (and Silverlight, Flash, etc), my work machines are not.
They should update their version number with every security release so they can keep up with Chrome and Firefox.
I'm sorry, but I'm not turning on hugepages support on my desktop just to read a version number.
Of course not.
Oracle's corporate focus comes down to only two directions: this one, and this one.
There is truly no other focus for them.
That's strange, coming from "adult film producer." I would expect you to suggest we do something else with our wives.
No, that would be other people's wives.
His self-awareness must be as dull as a lead brick, then - after I (and a handful of other critical folks) left, the CxO's threw a fit and sacked him in the hardest possible way.
That would make sense... I was reading it slightly backwards. :)
Wow - I parsed that as PMP for some reason...
(gotta stop working projects for a living :/ )
I'd like to file an exception to your hypothesis - I always left that stupid thing off, and yet I got an odd invite from a guy I positively detested (both as a manager and otherwise)
I knew something was up when I got an invite to connect with a guy I used to work for - dude was a royal dickhole as an executive, bad enough that I left the company specifically because of his craptastic management style.
Seeing an invite from him was enough to make my shudder in revulsion, and I'm sure the feeling would have been mutual.
The good ones have personally hired plenty, and have an exceptional ability to match talents to roles. Moving a guy from a dead end job to a place where he can really make a difference is huge. These guys are rare, and don't deserve to be called head hunters, but "agent" doesn't do them justice either. They're more like match makers.
This, right here.
I've run the gamut recently (and over the years) from folks who only represent you, to those who only represent the company. Some will keep in constant contact with you, others will call once, say "you'll make an excellent fit! I'll get you two together immediately!", then you never hear from 'em again. Way too many flop out an email to you and do nothing more.
Very damned few ever take into account the corporate culture, let alone compare it to your own. The ones who can make sure of both are worth keeping in touch with at all costs.
Are H1B visas artificially driving down wages or are protectionist immigration policies artificially driving up wages?
Go look at the immigration policies of Canada sometime (let alone Europe, or New Zealand, or suchlike). The US is positively liberal by comparison.
You have to remember that Akamai is a caching service, and won't necessarily reflect the actual web servers' OS types.
Not saying for or against, but just pointing that out.
Not like this is the first time that's ever happened...
Truth is, the carriers/cablecos go out of their flippin' way to sue if there's even the faintest glimmer of competition, from nearly every source.
Personally, I'd vote in (as officeholder-for-life) the first politician who put in a law requiring at least two competitors for each type of ISP access (2 cable, 2 DSL, 2 fiber, 2 wireless, 2 whatever-they-think-up-next), with no monopolies.
Depends on whose brain they used as the template.
For the typical youtube commenter, I think they would have had to refer to, oh I dunno, a dachshund?
rather than risk a speeding ticket every clock cycle.
Won't happen - by then they'll have mandatory auto-kill switches installed in your car, and after you burn off all your points (state laws depending), it'll kill the engine and force you to wait for the obligatory patrol car and tow truck. Call it less than 5 miles (one station per mile) if you drive like I do.
(I am curious though - did the folks in TFA consider Texas' 'flow of traffic' laws? Hell, you can get passed by an unconcerned patrol cruiser while you're doing 90 mph on the Sam Houston...)