Not only do we not go to the traditional theater anymore. My family hardly even rents movies anymore. That goes for rentals at the local rental shop and the "On Demand" tripe that Cablevision offers. There just isn't any compelling content to even pay $4.95 for much less $9pp.
The last 3 movies I saw in theaters were 2 IMAX features and a screening of Monty Python and the Holy Grail at our local highbrow indy-type theater. Frankly, I wasn't that impressed by IMAX given that we paid something over $10pp for 40 minutes of movie. The Holy Grail thing was more enjoyable, a reasonable price and it really was a social event with lots of people. The way movies used to be.
Hollywood has to evolve. They have no God-given rights to turn a profit. They have to earn it like everyone else. Give me something compelling to watch in a form I can't get at home, and maybe you'll see me in the theater again.
The lady obviously hasn't much of a clue about RFID.
Anyone who has been working with RFID knows today that it just ain't ready for prime time. Just look at all the delays in getting Walmart's initiatives up and running. It takes a lot of human tinkering to adjust attenuations, set up the readers in just the right positions, and write the bazillion lines of software needed to eliminate stray reads and such. Bar code is still the king because it's cheap and for the most part, works.
Sheesh.
The damned stuff has got to WORK before we'll be able to take over the world with it.
The telephone is useful for a chat until you need to give the other person a long URL or spell out name. IM trumps the telephone when you want to give the person the correct spelling for Mrs. Czarnowschuyvlzski's name or want to point them to http://www.incrediblylongurlthathasrandom3rirhfhas kdfhjkad.com./
It's worth noting that some 40% of IBMers these days don't even have a cubicle but are classified as "At Home" or "Mobile" employees. This is a blessing or a curse depending on your point of view.
"If selected, the employees would be allowed to take a leave of absence from the company, which includes full benefits and up to half their salary, depending on length of service.
In addition, the employees could get up to $15,000 in tuition reimbursements and stipends while they seek teaching credentials and begin student-teaching."
IBM's pension plan is not designed this way, at least not for the people who are eligible for this program (10 years or more at IBM). You keep your pension. You are vested after a year.
I'm 20 years in the I/T business and still, for some reason, enjoy it. I owe it to my dad who let me play around on a teletype (yes, I am that old...) connected to a mainframe when I was in 4th grade and he was teaching a class. I think I still have the PAPER TAPE(!) I saved the programs on. I still remember the principal coming into the room and asking very nervously what this little girl was doing on the very expensive equipment!
Dad also brought home one of the first TRS-80 computers when I was a freshman in high school. My brother and I spent a lot of time fighting over who could use it. My brother wrote something to keep track of his music collection. I wrote a hangman program. I can still remember keying in a bunch of words from a store-bought dictionary.
I've got kids of my own now, a boy and a girl. But they are not as easy to impress as I was at their age. Whenever I've tried to show either of them a bit of programming, they roll their eyes and say, "Yeah Mom, that's great, can I play my game now?". Maybe I should show them the article.
I have to disagree on the better picture and sound at the theatre.
I have a modest Pioneer surround sound stereo and a Mitsubishi non-plasma HDTV. I get much better picture and sound out of that than if I go to any of the local theatres around here with the exception of IMAX.
Yes, I spent some money and it took take time to recoup (roughly 300 person viewings which I'm sure we have surpassed already). But at least I can hear the dialog! I recently saw "Finding Nemo" on my home theatre and realized that I missed a lot of very cute dialog when I had seen it in the theatre. The colors were also much, much better on my TV.
There's no sticky floor and overpriced popcorn to deal with either.
Since getting my home theatre, I can count on one hand the movies I have seen at a traditional theatre and in each and every case I was disappointed in the sound quality and the picture. The only movies I can say I truly enjoyed were those that I saw at the IMAX theatre.
Wow...I think the story discredits itself. It does nothing to discredit any of what PJ has said about herself which essentially boils down to "I am a paralegal, not a lawyer". If anything, it helps her case. By gum, she IS a paralegal!
Yawn, wake me up when you find out that PJ is really Sam Palmisano in drag, MOG....
I think rather than make the blanket statement that "software patents are bad", we need to look at software patents in a different timeframe.
As you said, software patents are too easy because you can come up with a new working variation in a day or so. So instead of banning software patents altogether, why not protect them for an appropriate period of time, scaled to "internet time"?
Software patents would only be valid for 6 months or a year, instead of 20 years. That would have the effect of eliminating most software due to the mere nuisance factor.
We need to split hairs a bit here. It's not bad to have managers who don't understand the technical bits of what their subordinates are doing. Is is bad to have a manager who doesn't know that he doesn't understand or is too pinheaded to admit that he doesn't understand.
The best managers I have had never involved themselves in the day-to-day niceties of how I did my work. They instead asked me what ankle-biters they could push out of the way so that I could get my work done.
Read the contract, read the deliverables, read the deadlines. If the company didn't deliver what they were supposed to in the time provided, then ask for your money back or give them a new deadline and tell them in no uncertain terms that they need to meet that deadline or they will provide a refund.
I don't think the offshoring outsourcing has much to do with it. Bad developers and businesspeople can be found everywhere.
I'm amazed that after all these years, A Charlie Brown Christmas is still on the air. Even if the advertisers are cynical, at least the show has some heart left.
It is the only "Holiday" special on broadcast television I know of that quotes from Luke's gospel on the subject of Christmas.
This is a godsend for those of us who have to go to customer sites to service a Linux system and the customer provides a Windows system for access and an admonition against using your own laptop to plug into their network or installing any software on the Win system.
At Cablevision, they consider the digital upgrade to HDTV to be way to complicated for mere ordinary folk to handle. So they send "Super Cable Guy"! A special technician who is trained to install the HDTV converter box. It's a good thing they don't charge for this service.
Well, Super Cable Guy dorked around my Mitsubishi TV for about an hour before declaring that this particular TV did not support HD, despite the large "HD 1080i capable" printing on the front. He insisted HD 1080i had NOTHING TO DO WITH HDTV!! But he agreed to humor me and leave the converter around so I could try.
After he left, I walked downstairs and looked in the back of the TV. He had plugged the cables into the standard RGB input instead of the clearly marked 1080i DTV input. I swapped the cables, checked that I now could receive INHD and a bunch of other channels and then called the cable company and told them they need to explain to their techs just what HDTV is.
Write a paper for a trade or online magazine. It doesn't have to be a doctoral thesis. Just a simple "Hello World" article will suffice. Be sure it's a topic that hasn't been beaten to death and be sure it's a topic you know cold. "How to" articles are always in demand at places like IBM's DeveloperWorks or JavaWorld.
You will be surprised how impressive even the simplest article will make your resume look. Being an author makes you an expert in the eyes of your typical HR resume reader, especially when compared to your typical "C/C++/Java/Perl/VB/PHP/......" resume.
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Not only do we not go to the traditional theater anymore. My family hardly even rents movies anymore. That goes for rentals at the local rental shop and the "On Demand" tripe that Cablevision offers. There just isn't any compelling content to even pay $4.95 for much less $9pp.
The last 3 movies I saw in theaters were 2 IMAX features and a screening of Monty Python and the Holy Grail at our local highbrow indy-type theater. Frankly, I wasn't that impressed by IMAX given that we paid something over $10pp for 40 minutes of movie. The Holy Grail thing was more enjoyable, a reasonable price and it really was a social event with lots of people. The way movies used to be.
Hollywood has to evolve. They have no God-given rights to turn a profit. They have to earn it like everyone else. Give me something compelling to watch in a form I can't get at home, and maybe you'll see me in the theater again.
JoAnn
The lady obviously hasn't much of a clue about RFID.
Anyone who has been working with RFID knows today that it just ain't ready for prime time. Just look at all the delays in getting Walmart's initiatives up and running. It takes a lot of human tinkering to adjust attenuations, set up the readers in just the right positions, and write the bazillion lines of software needed to eliminate stray reads and such. Bar code is still the king because it's cheap and for the most part, works.
Sheesh.
The damned stuff has got to WORK before we'll be able to take over the world with it.
JoAnn
Wow? It even guesses the WEP keys for wireless networks? Really?
I'm impressed.
I guess you have Thinkpads beat.
Because the only setup I ever had to do to was to enter the userid/passwords for our Cisco LEAP wireless network.
It automagically switches networks as needed, just like your Mac.
JoAnn
Hmmmm.....but what about "The Guns of the South". It's a stretch for sci-fi but not as much as stretch as his other South-wins-the-civil-war stories.
I'm thinking it's a good match for the Sci-Fi channel.
In fact, I was musing that Sci-Fi could pull in the alternate-history buffs with a Harry Turtledove anthology series. What do you think?
JoAnn
Don't forget to send a copy to his election opponent, the much more photo friendly Rob Astorino.
The telephone is useful for a chat until you need to give the other person a long URL or spell out name. IM trumps the telephone when you want to give the person the correct spelling for Mrs. Czarnowschuyvlzski's name or want to point them tos kdfhjkad.com./
http://www.incrediblylongurlthathasrandom3rirhfha
JoAnn
It's worth noting that some 40% of IBMers these days don't even have a cubicle but are classified as "At Home" or "Mobile" employees. This is a blessing or a curse depending on your point of view.
JoAnn
They are going to make up at least some of the difference, as this article from AP states:
JoAnn
IBM's pension plan is not designed this way, at least not for the people who are eligible for this program (10 years or more at IBM). You keep your pension. You are vested after a year.
JoAnn
IBM employee
Real mainframers use green screen 3277's. Only the young whippersnappers demand the color 3279's or 3280's.
JoAnn
Amen to that.
I'm 20 years in the I/T business and still, for some reason, enjoy it. I owe it to my dad who let me play around on a teletype (yes, I am that old...) connected to a mainframe when I was in 4th grade and he was teaching a class. I think I still have the PAPER TAPE(!) I saved the programs on. I still remember the principal coming into the room and asking very nervously what this little girl was doing on the very expensive equipment!
Dad also brought home one of the first TRS-80 computers when I was a freshman in high school. My brother and I spent a lot of time fighting over who could use it. My brother wrote something to keep track of his music collection. I wrote a hangman program. I can still remember keying in a bunch of words from a store-bought dictionary.
I've got kids of my own now, a boy and a girl. But they are not as easy to impress as I was at their age. Whenever I've tried to show either of them a bit of programming, they roll their eyes and say, "Yeah Mom, that's great, can I play my game now?". Maybe I should show them the article.
JoAnn
I have to disagree on the better picture and sound at the theatre.
I have a modest Pioneer surround sound stereo and a Mitsubishi non-plasma HDTV. I get much better picture and sound out of that than if I go to any of the local theatres around here with the exception of IMAX.
Yes, I spent some money and it took take time to recoup (roughly 300 person viewings which I'm sure we have surpassed already). But at least I can hear the dialog! I recently saw "Finding Nemo" on my home theatre and realized that I missed a lot of very cute dialog when I had seen it in the theatre. The colors were also much, much better on my TV.
There's no sticky floor and overpriced popcorn to deal with either.
Since getting my home theatre, I can count on one hand the movies I have seen at a traditional theatre and in each and every case I was disappointed in the sound quality and the picture.
The only movies I can say I truly enjoyed were those that I saw at the IMAX theatre.
JoAnn
A followup...
a jorEmployers/MajEmpSIC.pdf
http://www.westchestergov.com/planning/research/M
Yes, IBM is a big Westchester employer.
But clearly, from the link above, it does not account for 90% of the employment.
JoAnn
What are you smoking? 90% of the jobs in Westchester???? Please cite your source.
I don't think it's even close to 90%. Westchester has lots of other big employers - PepsiCo, Readers Digest, Texaco to name a few.
JoAnn
Wow...I think the story discredits itself. It does nothing to discredit any of what PJ has said about herself which essentially boils down to "I am a paralegal, not a lawyer". If anything, it helps her case. By gum, she IS a paralegal!
Yawn, wake me up when you find out that PJ is really Sam Palmisano in drag, MOG....
JoAnn
I think rather than make the blanket statement that "software patents are bad", we need to look at software patents in a different timeframe.
As you said, software patents are too easy because you can come up with a new working variation in a day or so. So instead of banning software patents altogether, why not protect them for an appropriate period of time, scaled to "internet time"?
Software patents would only be valid for 6 months or a year, instead of 20 years. That would have the effect of eliminating most software due to the mere nuisance factor.
JoAnn
We need to split hairs a bit here. It's not bad to have managers who don't understand the technical bits of what their subordinates are doing. Is is bad to have a manager who doesn't know that he doesn't understand or is too pinheaded to admit that he doesn't understand.
The best managers I have had never involved themselves in the day-to-day niceties of how I did my work. They instead asked me what ankle-biters they could push out of the way so that I could get my work done.
JoAnn
Read the contract, read the deliverables, read the deadlines. If the company didn't deliver what they were supposed to in the time provided, then ask for your money back or give them a new deadline and tell them in no uncertain terms that they need to meet that deadline or they will provide a refund.
I don't think the offshoring outsourcing has much to do with it. Bad developers and businesspeople can be found everywhere.
JoAnn
Meh.
Seems like a lot of rework for IDEs to essentially solve a problem that is akin to rolling the toilet paper from the top versus the bottom.
JoAnn
Two words: Timothy McVeigh.
JoAnn
I'm amazed that after all these years, A Charlie Brown Christmas is still on the air. Even if the advertisers are cynical, at least the show has some heart left.
It is the only "Holiday" special on broadcast television I know of that quotes from Luke's gospel on the subject of Christmas.
JoAnn
This is a godsend for those of us who have to go to customer sites to service a Linux system and the customer provides a Windows system for access and an admonition against using your own laptop to plug into their network or installing any software on the Win system.
JoAnn
I agree but with one change. JDOM is far easier to use than xerces. Also, the swt GUI tools in Eclipse are a nice improvement over swing.
JoAnn
At Cablevision, they consider the digital upgrade to HDTV to be way to complicated for mere ordinary folk to handle. So they send "Super Cable Guy"! A special technician who is trained to install the HDTV converter box. It's a good thing they don't charge for this service.
Well, Super Cable Guy dorked around my Mitsubishi TV for about an hour before declaring that this particular TV did not support HD, despite the large "HD 1080i capable" printing on the front. He insisted HD 1080i had NOTHING TO DO WITH HDTV!! But he agreed to humor me and leave the converter around so I could try.
After he left, I walked downstairs and looked in the back of the TV. He had plugged the cables into the standard RGB input instead of the clearly marked 1080i DTV input. I swapped the cables, checked that I now could receive INHD and a bunch of other channels and then called the cable company and told them they need to explain to their techs just what HDTV is.
JoAnn
Here's a tip.
Write a paper for a trade or online magazine. It doesn't have to be a doctoral thesis. Just a simple "Hello World" article will suffice. Be sure it's a topic that hasn't been beaten to death and be sure it's a topic you know cold. "How to" articles are always in demand at places like IBM's DeveloperWorks or JavaWorld.
You will be surprised how impressive even the simplest article will make your resume look. Being an author makes you an expert in the eyes of your typical HR resume reader, especially when compared to your typical "C/C++/Java/Perl/VB/PHP/......" resume.
Good luck!
JoAnn