Your response really says it all. 'Please accept that those of us who like the idea and the hypothesis...'
That's in a nutshell. I.D'ers are simply uncomfortable (generally based on religious dogma) with the entire concept of evolution. Putting your stock in a theory simply because you LIKE it more is not science. That statement shows, unfortunately, that you really do not grasp the basic principles of science. A solid, testable theory compells Scientists to accept it based on the observable outcomes it predicts. Even if I.D. met the valid criteria of scientific theory (it doesn't), it fails on many levels to explain what the facts show to be the case.
I beleive we SHOULD mention I.D. in science class, but not as a valid alternative to evolution (scientifically, it's not) but as a golden example of the difference between science and non-science.
"So how much money is the Fortune 500 wasting annually? It is a simple sum: $165,000 times 9 times 500. That amounts to just shy of three quarters of a billion dollars. And is that anywhere near realistic? No. It is probably safe to say that corporate America, for example, loses in excess of $10bn annually through the misuse and abuse of spreadsheets. That's a big number: it suggests a problem worth managing."
Translated: If I take the actual numbers I have, it's a $750mil problem. By some magical feat, however, we can just assume that it's a $10bn problem because it makes my article seem MUCH more important.
How can you possibly just increase the number THIRTEEN TIMES just to suit your needs. Show some integrity.. seriously.
I've worked on the technology side of the advertising industry (advergaming in particular), and I beleieve that this statement is actually incorrect.
Most of the advertising agencies I've worked with beleive that banner ads and intrusive advertising simply do not work. The craze over exposure (how many eyeballs can I get in front of, regardless of the experience) has been replaced with an emphasis on targetted and uesful advertising.
However, it is the companies doing the advertising themselves that are really keeping these ads going. I've heard multiple stories of product managers demanding obtrusive ads. A rather common quote is something along the lines of "If I'm paying for it, I expect people to see it". There is still a strong belief by non-experts (and a very natural one if you think about it) that advertising is all about volume (how many 'views') as opposed to the quality of the ad itself.
BS. Anyone familiar with Hollywood these days knows that they're not just producing moview for Americans anymore. The world market is unbelievably important. The fact is this movie is aimed at a worldwide audience. It turns out that the lowest common denominator in America is quite close to the lowest common denominator throughout the world. The cerebral humor of Adams is simply lost on almost everyone.. and as such we're (likely) left with a film that fails to live up to that.
What rights? When you worked as a contractor you signed on as a contractor. Being a contractor comes with many unique benefits, most of which are as good as your skills at negotiating the contract. You don't have the 'rights' of a normal employee precisely because you are NOT a normal employee. It's up to YOU--- to decide whether you want contract or full time employment. You can't have it both ways.
Contractors, by the nature of the position, do not enjoy the benefits and security that being a employee brings with it. On the other hand, they tend to enjoy much higher rates and much more liberal hours (again, depending on your negotiating skills).
It's patenting of processes that is entirely the problem. Patents, on their own, are not neccesarily a bad thing (provided the 'obviousness' test is being applied properly). Patenting of end products provides a developer of a product the chance to fully recoup their investment into the formulation of that product. It makes sense.
However, patenting of processes is something far more insidious. When you patent a process you are granted much broader powers. Now you not only own a end-product, but the steps it takes to get there. There are likely hundreds of other products that can be developed by utilizing similiar parts of the process, but those are blocked by process level patents. This has the net effect of not only allowing patent holders to profit from their inventions, but prevents new inventions from ever making it off the drawing board.
Its not accident that the two areas of patent law most consistently failing are process based. Software patents are almost always some kind of process patent (I used this algorithm to achieve this result). Business model patents (as their name implies) are almost always protecting a process (such as EBay's auction patents).
Producing medicines in poorer countries is one of those really difficult issues. Simply allowing others to produce the same medicine at a lower cost defeats the purpose of the patent system in the first place. Subverting the patent system will have the net effect of putting the medical research industry out of commision. They depend on patents to insure that the millions they sink into research and development and they need some method of recouping those costs. We WANT them producing and researching new medications, without them our most productive medical research would go away. We also want those available to those who need them. It's just a hard problem.
Lets play smack the VB FUD down:) For the record: I've used Visual Basic professionally (complete end to end application work) along with Java, Perl, Python, and C++. Having in depth experience with all of those languages gives me good perspective on this particular debate (I think anyways:) ).
It is faster to develop an application in VB than any other language
Is it REALLY? This really needs to be backed up with research. I would argue that building MEANINGFUL applications would be accomplished much more efficiently in a language such as Ruby or Python (my prototyping language of choice) or even Java. You did not build a web-browser in 4 hours, you merely wrapped an existing one in a new interface. You did not build an e-mail client, you patched together some API's. This same magic is perfectly accomplishable in a number of other languages.
Visual Basic is more secure as a language
How is it more secure then Java or any other similiarly sandboxed language? As has been pointed out, your simply moving the security onus to code completely out of your control produced by a company with a spotty security record.
You earn more money using VB
That's rather situation dependent. I am a technical architect for a Symbian applications company (C++). There are relatively few people in the whole of the United States qualified to do my job and as such I'm compensated quite well. I make far more doing this than I would as a senior VB developer.
Saying that 'they almost always go with Visual Basic for the client and Java for the servers' is absolutely unbeleivable FUD. I've run across more CLI mainframe programs running against COBOL servers than possibly anything. New development seems to be more about web apps (some combination of Java/JSP generally). Visual basic seems to have a rather limited prescence in my experience. YMMV.
VB is a fine tool for what it is designed to do. As a language it leaves quite a bit to be desired. I find the syntax to be rather clumsy and I find that for significantly complex jobs it's simply not the right tool. It's definitely not a be-all-end-all that so many VB zealots like to make it out to be.
No, but they have a responsibiltiy (And should be accountable) to post truthful and complete articles, including tag lines. The media has a nasty habit of reporting very narrow views of things. They get a statement from the police and report on that. It's not a innocent till proven guilty system, and sticking 'alleged' on the front of it does nothing.
The media wields unbelievable power. You only need to look at the number of innocent people who have literally had their lives destroyed to see it. When someone is arrested for some crime it often receives big bold headlines. They describe the crime, the victim, and almoost always parrot the prosecutors perspective. In the 'court of public opinion' the media is often judge and jury and they almost always convict. Yet, if later, the accused turns out to be innocent it receives almost no notable coverage. The Media are like vultures. They dog pile you, tear apart your life, and when nothing is left they move on. They are good at tearing down, but almost never bear the responsibility for building back up.
The whole thing can be avoided, but the media MUST be held accountable. The Skylarov CSS case is a prime example. The media widely reported that we had somehow tracked down a dangerous criminal trying to destroy the American economy. I think those who know the FACTS of the case might disagree. Mike Price is another notable example. He was railroaded by a sports illustrated article that turned out to be more fiction than fact. He lost his dream becaus the media ruined his reputation to sell a few more magazines. They should be accountable for that dammit.
You couldn't be more correct. Comments are often to blame for maintainibility problems, as dangling comments can absolutely destroy the readibility of code.
I do beleive you can judge a programmer by the quality and quantity of comments.. A good programmer comments only when the code NEEDS commenting. No more, no less.
That effort is actually being driven by Symbian. Accessing sensitive information on both future UIQ and Series 60 (And any other Symbian derivative that pops up) will require priviliges via signing.
In my experience the lower down the management chain you get, the more important domain experience becomes.
At the highest levels, it IS about managing people. It's about inspiring large themes for the business, while providing the people skills and strategic decision making the business needs. I've always thought that a CEO is a lot like a good judge (and just as rare!): It is his job to take large amounts of information, from large amounts of 'experts', and turn that into decisions (in some companies this would actually be the COO, but I digress). Entire business are driven into the ground every day simply because those in charge either didn't get the right information, or interpreted it incorrectly.
As you move lower into the business, getting closer to where actual work gets done, domain experience becomes more and more important. I'm a systems architect with management responsibilities. I have 11 direct reports, and my programming knowledge is absolutely ESSENTIAL to what I do. My boss is a programmer (but his boss is not), but he's not an expert level programmer by any stretch. He RELIES on me to provide accurate project measurements, good information, and expert opinions about the software we develop. In turn his boss relies on him to synthesize the information from me and my counterpart in the development department into sound engineering decisions.
This is why the company I work for has gone to a very flat model (My boss has a boss who reports directly to the COO). We want to limit the number of filters between the expert opinion (the programmers) and the decision making (the executive team). It's been extremely effective allowing me to do what I do best, while still providing consistent input to those at the top. Since they are GOOD at what they do, they have consistently made the right decisions both from a product and business perspective.
They're not leeching off of anything. Users are PAYING for monthly access to that broadband. It's not like the infrastructure isn't be paid for. The phone and cable companies are simply trying to force (AGAIN) consumers to utilize their services...
Answer: Absolutely nothing. The Oscars are carried by the star power of the people receiving those awards. It's not about the Movies themseleves, but the people in them.
Games, on the other hand, are faceless beasts. Giving an award to an animator is nice, but no one really CARES about that particular animator. Outside of the very highest reaches of video game fandom.. it simply means nothing.
This is why they have to trick up the show so much.. They where banking that people would be drawn to the video game piece, but realized no one would stick around to see some bearded programmer get an award for best physics..
You are.. by definition a conservative. You may not VOTE conservative (although I suspect you do), but on this issue you are most definitely conservative.
Having been a teenager in the 90's (I'm 25 now), I've been subject to searches and no contraband was EVER found because I never had it.
I can promise you that curfews and these bold invasions of privacy ARE humiliating. I was stopped 25 times in 2 years (I moved to Arkansas at age 16) for teen curfew violations. I thought the law was stupid, and simply ignored it. I wasn't doing anything wrong, but my presence outside was against the law. Simply because I was under some arbitrary age limit. That experience has shaped me as an adult.. It's hard to look at America and everything surrounding it in the same light when you've lived in an America that had no respect for you or your basic rights.
This is no different. Tagging our children does more to destroy their faith in the system than doing THEM any good. It may make you feel better, but it will chip away at the very foundation of your childs sense of self. There are better ways to deal with these issues, and destroying the faith of the majority because your kid can't stay in school is stupid, destructive, and (I would argue) absolutely un-american.
I work at a company that IS in fact in dire need of H1B workers. We are a Symbian company, a fairly well known one at that. However, finding an American with Symbian experience AND the fairly heavy C++ skills we demand is rare at best. We've been in touch with several engineers overseas (primarily in Europe), bu t we're finding that it's extremely difficult to get them into the country.
This isn't a case where we want to outsource jobs, and I can promise you that what we're paying our foreign workers is FAR above our regional average. We simply have a problem finding the relevant experience we need, it's that simple.
Freedom is sometimes about doing the wrong thing, just as much as doing the right. In this case the people of this town decided (of their own volition) that this was what they wanted to do. This wasn't imposed by the faceless government, but by the people themselves (through their elected school board I'm assuming). That's freedom and democracy in action...
That said, this is a really sad indication of the neo-conservative movement sweeping through America (particularly in the southern states such as Texas). This is the next logical step from the same people that brought you teen curfews.. The same people up in arms over the intro. to Monday Night football. The same people who become outraged at this slightest hint of sexuality... in short, in their (well founded IMHO) desire to protect their children and themselves, they've lost all semblance of reason. On the surface making sure kids stay in school and learn gives them the best chance for success as adults.. that's a noble cause. However, they've taken a shotgun approach here. Now they're teaching kids that humiliation and bold invasions of privacy should be expected... This doesn't create a society of good adults, but wildly disenfranchised and angry ones.
Not to mention that Glaucoma can be a very fast disease.. you may have it and simply not know it until severe symptoms start showing up. I wouldn't give up on the eye exams just yet.
I think your missing an important part of the metaphor.
A key is difficult to duplicate. If you have your car key stolen, you generally KNOW it was stolen or at the very least that it's gone (same with a credit card). While it's possible to duplicate a key, it requires relatively cumbersome and complex equipment and several minutes to duplicate.
The problem is that in electronic media it is relatively easy to borrow a USB key, copy it's contents, and replace the key all without anyone knowing it happened. Then a physical access attack becomes far to easy.. as your natural defenses would have never been raised in the first place.
I actually like the idea of a physical device to log you in, but I think it needs to look more like a standard car key.. it needs to have physical properties that identify the user, not just electronic ones.
I've recently made the jump into management.. I'm a really great situation where i'm in charge of the development staff, while my boss is now in charge of all of product development.
I've worked really hard to institute a few policies that have been really great for the company. Among them is equal compensation for overtime.. if I see one of my developers working overtime, I have the leeway to make sure that they are given some kind of compensation for it (yes compensation, not a 'reward'). This is GENERALLY in the form of a few extra hours off but we've gotten creative with it.. For example one of our developers was having to work well into the evening on a friday night so I called his wife and had her meet me at the office, I had a nice meal delivered and made sure he got to spend some time with his wife (I watched their kid).. It's the least I could do. After all.. his work was making ME look good, and benefiting the company as a whole.
The biggest change has been how we schedule. We now have a 'bottom up' commitment process where a set of requirements and a delivery date for each requirement must be agreed to by the implementing developer. This results in a negotiation process (this is what we can deliver vs. what the business needs us to deliver) that results in very sane schedules for all involved. The goal is for us to never HAVE to work overtime.. quite a change for a company that has been on more than one 80 hour a week death crunch before.
Slashdot Mirror
Keep in mind that the Boy Scouts in America are 'honorable' that they forcibly exclude boys for no other reason than being gay.
Honorable.. hardly.
I found :
t m
http://www.johnhoward.ab.ca/docs/sxoffend/page1.h
Long term study in Canda showed a recidivism rate of 42%. Interestingly the recidivism rates appear to actually be LOWER than for many other crimes.
I guess the parent is officially.. well..wrong.
Your response really says it all. 'Please accept that those of us who like the idea and the hypothesis...'
That's in a nutshell. I.D'ers are simply uncomfortable (generally based on religious dogma) with the entire concept of evolution. Putting your stock in a theory simply because you LIKE it more is not science. That statement shows, unfortunately, that you really do not grasp the basic principles of science. A solid, testable theory compells Scientists to accept it based on the observable outcomes it predicts. Even if I.D. met the valid criteria of scientific theory (it doesn't), it fails on many levels to explain what the facts show to be the case.
I beleive we SHOULD mention I.D. in science class, but not as a valid alternative to evolution (scientifically, it's not) but as a golden example of the difference between science and non-science.
Just boggles the mind.
"So how much money is the Fortune 500 wasting annually? It is a simple sum: $165,000 times 9 times 500. That amounts to just shy of three quarters of a billion dollars. And is that anywhere near realistic? No. It is probably safe to say that corporate America, for example, loses in excess of $10bn annually through the misuse and abuse of spreadsheets. That's a big number: it suggests a problem worth managing."
Translated: If I take the actual numbers I have, it's a $750mil problem. By some magical feat, however, we can just assume that it's a $10bn problem because it makes my article seem MUCH more important.
How can you possibly just increase the number THIRTEEN TIMES just to suit your needs. Show some integrity.. seriously.
I've worked on the technology side of the advertising industry (advergaming in particular), and I beleieve that this statement is actually incorrect.
Most of the advertising agencies I've worked with beleive that banner ads and intrusive advertising simply do not work. The craze over exposure (how many eyeballs can I get in front of, regardless of the experience) has been replaced with an emphasis on targetted and uesful advertising.
However, it is the companies doing the advertising themselves that are really keeping these ads going. I've heard multiple stories of product managers demanding obtrusive ads. A rather common quote is something along the lines of "If I'm paying for it, I expect people to see it". There is still a strong belief by non-experts (and a very natural one if you think about it) that advertising is all about volume (how many 'views') as opposed to the quality of the ad itself.
It's fascinating stuff really.
BS. Anyone familiar with Hollywood these days knows that they're not just producing moview for Americans anymore. The world market is unbelievably important. The fact is this movie is aimed at a worldwide audience. It turns out that the lowest common denominator in America is quite close to the lowest common denominator throughout the world. The cerebral humor of Adams is simply lost on almost everyone.. and as such we're (likely) left with a film that fails to live up to that.
What rights? When you worked as a contractor you signed on as a contractor. Being a contractor comes with many unique benefits, most of which are as good as your skills at negotiating the contract. You don't have the 'rights' of a normal employee precisely because you are NOT a normal employee. It's up to YOU--- to decide whether you want contract or full time employment. You can't have it both ways.
Contractors, by the nature of the position, do not enjoy the benefits and security that being a employee brings with it. On the other hand, they tend to enjoy much higher rates and much more liberal hours (again, depending on your negotiating skills).
It's patenting of processes that is entirely the problem. Patents, on their own, are not neccesarily a bad thing (provided the 'obviousness' test is being applied properly). Patenting of end products provides a developer of a product the chance to fully recoup their investment into the formulation of that product. It makes sense.
However, patenting of processes is something far more insidious. When you patent a process you are granted much broader powers. Now you not only own a end-product, but the steps it takes to get there. There are likely hundreds of other products that can be developed by utilizing similiar parts of the process, but those are blocked by process level patents. This has the net effect of not only allowing patent holders to profit from their inventions, but prevents new inventions from ever making it off the drawing board.
Its not accident that the two areas of patent law most consistently failing are process based. Software patents are almost always some kind of process patent (I used this algorithm to achieve this result). Business model patents (as their name implies) are almost always protecting a process (such as EBay's auction patents).
Producing medicines in poorer countries is one of those really difficult issues. Simply allowing others to produce the same medicine at a lower cost defeats the purpose of the patent system in the first place. Subverting the patent system will have the net effect of putting the medical research industry out of commision. They depend on patents to insure that the millions they sink into research and development and they need some method of recouping those costs. We WANT them producing and researching new medications, without them our most productive medical research would go away. We also want those available to those who need them. It's just a hard problem.
Lets play smack the VB FUD down:) For the record: I've used Visual Basic professionally (complete end to end application work) along with Java, Perl, Python, and C++. Having in depth experience with all of those languages gives me good perspective on this particular debate (I think anyways:) ).
It is faster to develop an application in VB than any other language
Is it REALLY? This really needs to be backed up with research. I would argue that building MEANINGFUL applications would be accomplished much more efficiently in a language such as Ruby or Python (my prototyping language of choice) or even Java. You did not build a web-browser in 4 hours, you merely wrapped an existing one in a new interface. You did not build an e-mail client, you patched together some API's. This same magic is perfectly accomplishable in a number of other languages.
Visual Basic is more secure as a language
How is it more secure then Java or any other similiarly sandboxed language? As has been pointed out, your simply moving the security onus to code completely out of your control produced by a company with a spotty security record.
You earn more money using VB
That's rather situation dependent. I am a technical architect for a Symbian applications company (C++). There are relatively few people in the whole of the United States qualified to do my job and as such I'm compensated quite well. I make far more doing this than I would as a senior VB developer.
Saying that 'they almost always go with Visual Basic for the client and Java for the servers' is absolutely unbeleivable FUD. I've run across more CLI mainframe programs running against COBOL servers than possibly anything. New development seems to be more about web apps (some combination of Java/JSP generally). Visual basic seems to have a rather limited prescence in my experience. YMMV.
VB is a fine tool for what it is designed to do. As a language it leaves quite a bit to be desired. I find the syntax to be rather clumsy and I find that for significantly complex jobs it's simply not the right tool. It's definitely not a be-all-end-all that so many VB zealots like to make it out to be.
No, but they have a responsibiltiy (And should be accountable) to post truthful and complete articles, including tag lines. The media has a nasty habit of reporting very narrow views of things. They get a statement from the police and report on that. It's not a innocent till proven guilty system, and sticking 'alleged' on the front of it does nothing.
The media wields unbelievable power. You only need to look at the number of innocent people who have literally had their lives destroyed to see it. When someone is arrested for some crime it often receives big bold headlines. They describe the crime, the victim, and almoost always parrot the prosecutors perspective. In the 'court of public opinion' the media is often judge and jury and they almost always convict. Yet, if later, the accused turns out to be innocent it receives almost no notable coverage. The Media are like vultures. They dog pile you, tear apart your life, and when nothing is left they move on. They are good at tearing down, but almost never bear the responsibility for building back up.
The whole thing can be avoided, but the media MUST be held accountable. The Skylarov CSS case is a prime example. The media widely reported that we had somehow tracked down a dangerous criminal trying to destroy the American economy. I think those who know the FACTS of the case might disagree. Mike Price is another notable example. He was railroaded by a sports illustrated article that turned out to be more fiction than fact. He lost his dream becaus the media ruined his reputation to sell a few more magazines. They should be accountable for that dammit.
You couldn't be more correct. Comments are often to blame for maintainibility problems, as dangling comments can absolutely destroy the readibility of code.
I do beleive you can judge a programmer by the quality and quantity of comments.. A good programmer comments only when the code NEEDS commenting. No more, no less.
That effort is actually being driven by Symbian. Accessing sensitive information on both future UIQ and Series 60 (And any other Symbian derivative that pops up) will require priviliges via signing.
In my experience the lower down the management chain you get, the more important domain experience becomes.
At the highest levels, it IS about managing people. It's about inspiring large themes for the business, while providing the people skills and strategic decision making the business needs. I've always thought that a CEO is a lot like a good judge (and just as rare!): It is his job to take large amounts of information, from large amounts of 'experts', and turn that into decisions (in some companies this would actually be the COO, but I digress). Entire business are driven into the ground every day simply because those in charge either didn't get the right information, or interpreted it incorrectly.
As you move lower into the business, getting closer to where actual work gets done, domain experience becomes more and more important. I'm a systems architect with management responsibilities. I have 11 direct reports, and my programming knowledge is absolutely ESSENTIAL to what I do. My boss is a programmer (but his boss is not), but he's not an expert level programmer by any stretch. He RELIES on me to provide accurate project measurements, good information, and expert opinions about the software we develop. In turn his boss relies on him to synthesize the information from me and my counterpart in the development department into sound engineering decisions.
This is why the company I work for has gone to a very flat model (My boss has a boss who reports directly to the COO). We want to limit the number of filters between the expert opinion (the programmers) and the decision making (the executive team). It's been extremely effective allowing me to do what I do best, while still providing consistent input to those at the top. Since they are GOOD at what they do, they have consistently made the right decisions both from a product and business perspective.
"The transfomers are WAAAY better than G.I. Joe" - me
"Seriously, I didn't sleep with that woman. " - Governor Clinton
"Remember what I said about taxes.. uhm, psyche!" - George Bush 1
"Don't make me tell daddy" - George Bush 2
"I bet I could make money on this internet thing" - Steve Case
Ahhh.. good ole '91
They're not leeching off of anything. Users are PAYING for monthly access to that broadband. It's not like the infrastructure isn't be paid for. The phone and cable companies are simply trying to force (AGAIN) consumers to utilize their services...
Ok.. I'll try this again:
"Proof please. Find me ONE case in which the RIAA or MPAA has taken anyone to court for simply downloading a DVD or MP3 (without sharing it).
Thanks."
Now actually address the question.
Proof please. Find me ONE case in which the RIAA or MPAA has taken anyone to court for simply downloading a DVD or MP3 (without sharing it).
Thanks.
C'mon.. police in ANOTHER country arrest people who are breaking laws in that country. Yet, somehow, it's OUR fault?
Great satan indeed.
What sells a video games award show?
Answer: Absolutely nothing. The Oscars are carried by the star power of the people receiving those awards. It's not about the Movies themseleves, but the people in them.
Games, on the other hand, are faceless beasts. Giving an award to an animator is nice, but no one really CARES about that particular animator. Outside of the very highest reaches of video game fandom.. it simply means nothing.
This is why they have to trick up the show so much.. They where banking that people would be drawn to the video game piece, but realized no one would stick around to see some bearded programmer get an award for best physics..
Video games need an awards show.. just not on TV.
You are.. by definition a conservative. You may not VOTE conservative (although I suspect you do), but on this issue you are most definitely conservative.
Having been a teenager in the 90's (I'm 25 now), I've been subject to searches and no contraband was EVER found because I never had it.
I can promise you that curfews and these bold invasions of privacy ARE humiliating. I was stopped 25 times in 2 years (I moved to Arkansas at age 16) for teen curfew violations. I thought the law was stupid, and simply ignored it. I wasn't doing anything wrong, but my presence outside was against the law. Simply because I was under some arbitrary age limit. That experience has shaped me as an adult.. It's hard to look at America and everything surrounding it in the same light when you've lived in an America that had no respect for you or your basic rights.
This is no different. Tagging our children does more to destroy their faith in the system than doing THEM any good. It may make you feel better, but it will chip away at the very foundation of your childs sense of self. There are better ways to deal with these issues, and destroying the faith of the majority because your kid can't stay in school is stupid, destructive, and (I would argue) absolutely un-american.
I work at a company that IS in fact in dire need of H1B workers. We are a Symbian company, a fairly well known one at that. However, finding an American with Symbian experience AND the fairly heavy C++ skills we demand is rare at best. We've been in touch with several engineers overseas (primarily in Europe), bu t we're finding that it's extremely difficult to get them into the country.
This isn't a case where we want to outsource jobs, and I can promise you that what we're paying our foreign workers is FAR above our regional average. We simply have a problem finding the relevant experience we need, it's that simple.
Freedom is sometimes about doing the wrong thing, just as much as doing the right. In this case the people of this town decided (of their own volition) that this was what they wanted to do. This wasn't imposed by the faceless government, but by the people themselves (through their elected school board I'm assuming). That's freedom and democracy in action...
That said, this is a really sad indication of the neo-conservative movement sweeping through America (particularly in the southern states such as Texas). This is the next logical step from the same people that brought you teen curfews.. The same people up in arms over the intro. to Monday Night football. The same people who become outraged at this slightest hint of sexuality... in short, in their (well founded IMHO) desire to protect their children and themselves, they've lost all semblance of reason. On the surface making sure kids stay in school and learn gives them the best chance for success as adults.. that's a noble cause. However, they've taken a shotgun approach here. Now they're teaching kids that humiliation and bold invasions of privacy should be expected... This doesn't create a society of good adults, but wildly disenfranchised and angry ones.
Not to mention that Glaucoma can be a very fast disease.. you may have it and simply not know it until severe symptoms start showing up. I wouldn't give up on the eye exams just yet.
I think your missing an important part of the metaphor.
A key is difficult to duplicate. If you have your car key stolen, you generally KNOW it was stolen or at the very least that it's gone (same with a credit card). While it's possible to duplicate a key, it requires relatively cumbersome and complex equipment and several minutes to duplicate.
The problem is that in electronic media it is relatively easy to borrow a USB key, copy it's contents, and replace the key all without anyone knowing it happened. Then a physical access attack becomes far to easy.. as your natural defenses would have never been raised in the first place.
I actually like the idea of a physical device to log you in, but I think it needs to look more like a standard car key.. it needs to have physical properties that identify the user, not just electronic ones.
I've recently made the jump into management.. I'm a really great situation where i'm in charge of the development staff, while my boss is now in charge of all of product development.
I've worked really hard to institute a few policies that have been really great for the company. Among them is equal compensation for overtime.. if I see one of my developers working overtime, I have the leeway to make sure that they are given some kind of compensation for it (yes compensation, not a 'reward'). This is GENERALLY in the form of a few extra hours off but we've gotten creative with it.. For example one of our developers was having to work well into the evening on a friday night so I called his wife and had her meet me at the office, I had a nice meal delivered and made sure he got to spend some time with his wife (I watched their kid).. It's the least I could do. After all.. his work was making ME look good, and benefiting the company as a whole.
The biggest change has been how we schedule. We now have a 'bottom up' commitment process where a set of requirements and a delivery date for each requirement must be agreed to by the implementing developer. This results in a negotiation process (this is what we can deliver vs. what the business needs us to deliver) that results in very sane schedules for all involved. The goal is for us to never HAVE to work overtime.. quite a change for a company that has been on more than one 80 hour a week death crunch before.