No risk, such as radiation, is too great in the face of security. Consider this kind of system. It politely asks people to move away. Side effects may include burns, cancer, and death.
I love our country. I'd love it more if they'd stop trying to kill me in the name of security. In the future, this whole period will be looked at with great disdain The question will be, how many will survive to tell the tales? The cancer clusters from those who operated the equipment and frequently passed through it will keep those numbers down.
Hey now, watch it. I know where you live. I could come over there and.... well.... have a couple beers, innocently flirt with your wife (and receive the obligatory rejection), and talk shit.
Hmmm, that doesn't sound like a bad idea. It's been a while.:)
Hehe. Nope, I haven't been there in a few years. I did enjoy it though. Lax corporate structures, and few meetings. Oversight was typically "I don't care what it takes, just do it", which could be followed up by "Ok, I need 2 more employees and a dozen new servers. Can we get that done by next week?"
I was on the IT side of things, but I did show up on various cameras occasionally. The conventions were fun though. You can't complain about what is effectively a 3 day party with nudity, profanity, and plenty of alcohol consumption.
The regular corporate world is rough. You can't say "fuck, this shit sucks." If you even hint at someone being attractive, it's sexual harassment. And unless you're a C*O, alcohol is forbidden at work.
I remember going out with coworkers, getting so smashed that we could barely walk, and we staggered back to the office to sleep it off. Not a single fuck was given. At least we had the foresight not to drive *to* the bar, so we didn't have to go hunting for our cars the next afternoon when we became mostly coherent again.
I'd say correlation != causation, but unfortunately you're likely right. The statistics do reflect that. Ya, I keep stats on the network, and on my health. The doc was entertained to see a list and chart showing my statistics over the last year. I hadn't gotten to a doctor before then, because it's hard to take a day off to get to the doc. So that was the involuntary day to do so. The hospital was stressful, because the TV sucked, the Internet service was locked down tight, so all I had to do was sit there and watch crap daytime TV and nap.
I just replied to someone else on this... My crew is getting better. The keys to the kingdom are safely stored with a few trustworthy parties in the company. For the time being, I'm still working my ass off. Hopefully in a very few months, I'll be able to trust that everyone can do everything properly on their own, and I can take a vacation. We'll see if I have a job when I come back from the vacation though.
No, actually, I'm *very* happy having a small group working under me that can run everything by themselves. In the past, I've had great people working with me, so if I decided to take a couple days off, at most I'd get a phone call from them saying "Hey, we have this problem, and I want to do this. What do you think?" If I don't happen to answer the phone, they were smart enough to do the right thing on their own, and tell me about it when I was available again.
I don't like to micromanage. I also don't like new servers being put online with the password of "password", with every service possible turned on, and code open to SQL injection everywhere. I don't like to find out that someone thought it would be a good idea to turn off that box that "doesn't do anything", for me to start getting flooded with calls about how both the datacenter and office are down. Oh ya, that box that says "Cisco" on it, with all the wires and blinking lights. It tends to be kind of important. I almost say that flippantly, except I've seen it happen. Not with my current crew, but at previous employers.
It's interesting that we're having this conversation right now, because things are actually looking up. We've added a few more folks under me, some of which seem to have an excellent understanding of how things should work. Luckily, I'm probably just a few months away from being able to trust the whole network to them, and take a much needed vacation.... and the biggest difference between Childs and myself is, I have my passwords all stored safely with the appropriate parties. If I decide to say "screw it", or end up unavailable, the company can continue. I run IT, but I am not the company. If something happens to me, the company has to keep going. They won't have to send the police to my house, cruise ship, hospital room, or funeral parlor, to try to extract 'em from me.:)
If what you're saying is true (and if it is, I'm not even quite sure how you found time to read this article on Slashdot and post a reply?)...
The magic words. "compiling".:) I get in here while things are running, that I just need to observe and wait. I found I can only do about 4 work things at once. After that, something will get side tracked and forgotten until later. So with those 4 going (installing, compiling, automatically fixing, etc), I take the opportunity to do something I like, like reading Slashdot.
Second, yep, fewer and fewer businesses have any loyalty to employees, but that should be a 2-way street! If they view you as that "expendable", then why work so hard for them?! Do the basics outlined in your job description, and not anything more unless you actually WANT to do it. If, like you say, they "throw you to the curb" thinking they can get someone a lot cheaper to do the same or better, LET THEM. Either they're right and you were simply getting paid too much for the value you actually brought to their table, or (much more likely) they'll fail a few times in a row and start adjusting their expectations and/or pay scale as they learn how wrong they were.
The problem here is, they can, and will. The way the job market is right now, it can be 6 months to years before I get another decent gig. I was pretty sure I was staying at one place. I worked there almost a decade, and had built everything from the ground up. I streamlined everything, and had one or two assistants who would help keep up with everything.
The people who worked for me were happy. I was very kind to them. Most weeks were pretty easy, and if they wanted to leave early, or take a day here and there, I didn't track them. When I needed them, they'd work as hard as it took. So 30 hour weeks most of the time, and once every few months we may have a 50 to 60 hour week. I had everyone on salary, so taking a short week didn't hurt their paychecks. The way I saw it, it was in the best interest of everyone. They got paid well. I had all the resources I'd need, in case anything happened. They had the luxury of taking a 3 or 4 day weekend sometimes, just because they wanted, and we didn't have to figure out if they had accrued enough PTO days or not.
Then I had a new guy work a remote site for me. He learned everything, just as all the people who worked with me did. Then he went to my boss and told him he'd work for half my salary, and didn't need my assistants. After they cut me loose, I got calls for months from people saying that "my" sites were down or slow. Not my problem.
It took a long while to find work after that. The leads I had before were looking for work themselves.
Having work for a year or so, and then not having it for a year or two really hurts. One of my friends, who's a really good Perl and C developer has been looking for 2 years now. My girlfriend, who didn't work in IT, but worked in upper management in one of those real-world industries, has been out of work for 2 years also. She's applied everywhere and anywhere. I've looked over what she sends, and it's perfect. She sends out well written cover letters, a very appropriate and clear resume. She can't get a job at McD or a call center. Of about 2,000 jobs she's applied for, she's been to 3 interviews.
The job market just isn't back yet. We can't pick and choose where we want to work, and can't tell employers to bugger off, because they have too many expectations for too low pay. When you quit, there will be hordes of people going for that job. The employers just don't care any more. Beyond that, they know that they can offer shit pay, because people are still desperate.
I don't know if you follow the unemployment numbers. There are different numbers. The one published and talked about is basically people who are currently collecting unemployment. It doesn't count p
At least the title and summary are. Two misspellings that could have easily been copy & pasted correctly.
As the summary says, he's "trying to not be elitist". Well, I'd be willing to bet some of these newbie coders with a year of education can at least spell, when they're hoping to get an audience of hundreds of thousands. It's a good thing he submitted it AC.
Nah, I won't get a chance to spend my money, because my ex wives get it all anyways. At least enough where I have to make a metric fucktonne of money just so I can live over the poverty line.
After my nice high paying job said "Fuck off, we found someone at half the price. So what if he only has a year experience" (paraphrased, but accurate), I tried the consultant gig for over a year. I hit up anyone and everyone. You'd be amazed how many places are willing to pay you minimum wage to drive 2 hours each way, for a one hour gig. Oh ya, and no travel expenses. So my best bets would cost *me* money for helping them.
I'm seriously considering going to Europe. There's a stack of advantages, and the only thing I lose is being home. But that's ok. As I say, "home is where my ass is." Guaranteed vacations. Workers rights. Health care that won't cost me a year's salary to visit the emergency room.
Excuse me, I have to run and check airplane ticket prices.
Making porn is easy. Putting it up on your own web site is easy. Making DVD's is easy.
Driving traffic to your web site is hard. It's you, versus tens of thousands (a conservative estimate) of other "porn stars".
So you make DVDs. Get a distribution deal. Find out how to get distribution web sites, and physical stores, to carry your DVD. What makes your DVD special? Is it any different than the thousands of DVDs they already have in stock?
And for those who have followed me on here, they already know that I was in the industry for years. For every "porn star" that I met who actually got distributed, I probably met thousands of others who never even recovered the cost of the tape/SD card that they recorded it on.
If you're serious, you'll spend thousands on good equipment, and pay some experienced people to work it. If you're lucky, you'll make hundreds. If you're that one in tens of thousands, you may recover your costs.... and... you'd be amazed at the "talent" that's out there. I've seen so many aspiring porn stars who I'd pay money to put their clothes back on.
I enjoy my job. I work 18 hours a day, because if I don't, the others will screw up any tasks I let them do. I spend 16 hours a day fixing their mistakes so the customers don't find them. I took a vacation. 3 days in the hospital with high blood pressure and a TIA. Within 5 minutes of walking out of the hospital, my phone was ringing off the hook. Everything was falling apart, no one could figure out how to fix it. Simple instructions were answered with blank stares (well, the telephonic equivalent). Within 10 minutes of getting out of the hospital, I was on my laptop trying to fix the problem, and fielding back to back phone calls.
If I take 2 weeks off, that means I finally got someone else who could manage my job for 2 weeks. Then I am redundant. Even if it takes 2 people with less than half my skill, at 30% of my pay each, most companies would jump at the opportunity, and brag about the "savings". Well, savings, until things fall apart for them.
Modern businesses have absolutely no dedication to their employees. When there's money to be saved, they will be very happy to throw you to the curb, and hire someone who can talk shit for half your pay. I was out of any real work for 3 years because of exactly that. I'm not willing to take another 3 year vacation, wondering where I'll sleep or how I'll eat every day until I find another job.
If I was a multi-billion dollar company, I could get away with it too. As all I have is a nice selection of firearms and a few $5 wrenches, I'm limited to bullying those within 1000 feet or so.
The new "license for parking on my street", and "tax for kids making noise that I can hear" is working out well though. in FY 2011, I made $12. Maybe I should see about expanding it into other markets. Maybe I can get a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and learn their methods so I can too excel in the global protection racket.
Easy. Any country who gets more practice in at going into space will have the long term advantage. While many countries may be playing nicely now, you can be assured that not everything about how they're doing it, and what they learned while doing it, is going to be shared with their "friends".
Getting something from Earth to Mars and back, is a pretty bid deal. Well, a *huge* deal, since no one has done it yet.
The Russian "Mars 5NM" (planned for 1975 to 1979) failed. The Russian "Phoebos-Grunt" (2011) failed. The American "MRS" failed.
The only samples we (any human) has are from the moon, asteroids, space dust, and meteorites that have crashed into the Earth.
Sending successful launches and returns to Mars, or its moons, would signify a huge advance in our space technology. Repeated successful missions would be the precursors for human travel beyond our miniscule pocket of the universe that we lovingly know as home.
Unfortunately, humans still have this drive to show that their nation is best. More effort is put into their tribe's attempt, and other tribes are monitored, but not substantially assisted with. For our species to expand, we must work together in such achievements. The only work together thus far has been token cooperation. We are still centuries away from true cooperation, and the way the tribes continue to act, even that may be an optimistic estimate.
I'm no Tolkein fan, but based on popularity and dedication to his works I'd say that there's something right going for it.
As an English professor told me once, Stephen King's work is utter crap, and is an embarrassment to the English language. On the other hand, he's sold a bazillion copies, and had quite a few made into movies. I'm not a fan of King's either. When "The Stand" hit DVD, I was constantly refusing to hang out with people and watch it in one "40 hour The Stand marathon". Sorry, they can't afford enough booze for me to want to stay for the whole thing. People stopped giving me his books as gifts, when I'd always ask if they'd mind if I exchanged it for a good book.
Come on.. This is Slashdot. You know 90% of the users don't look at TFS nor the TFA. You're lucky if they even read the title line before they start spewing nonsensical garbage.
[checking Morty's UID] Damn, you *really* should know by now. They've been like that since I started lurking here, a few years before I got my UID.
Why the heads, hands and feet of lawyers aren't scattered along the sides of the road like tumbleweeds is something I haven't yet figured out.
That's because murder (or postpartum abortion to 40+ years) is still illegal, no matter how justified it is.... and you wouldn't want to scatter them along roads. It'll make an awful smell, that you'll never get out of your clothes.
I raced the amateur class, but I was with racers all the way up to NASCAR level cars on shorter tracks. They'd easily see 80 to 100 mph, and occasionally they'd have a serious smashup, such as direct into the wall. While any driver on the track *must* have a helmet, they don't require neck braces and HANS devices (a tether from the helmet to the seat, for those that don't know). That helps when they have their 200+mph wrecks, which most people won't ever experience in a street vehicle. Some of the drivers wore the neck braces, but since they were racing in the Southeast US, they preferred the little bit of comfort they could get, over heat exhaustion and falling out during the race. Causing a pileup on the track can be a bit embarrassing.
Any seat with a decent headrest is made to prevent whiplash.
The preferred child safety seat has the 5 point restraints. It's people wanting their creature comforts, and that extra few bucks to install that they aren't in regular production vehicles. You know, creature comforts like being able to reach their radio, A/C controls, grab your marijuana from the glove compartment, and grope your girlfriend in the passenger seat while you drive. You know, normal stuff.
Most harnesses can be bolted to the floor, but they should be bolted to something strong. Many cars have decent mount points for this. There's no big sign that says "mount your seatbelt here", except for the standard belt mount points. If your car doesn't have them, or you aren't sure, a good performance shop with a good welder will be able to help you out.
From 30mph, you don't have to come to a full stop, just hit the brakes hard for a fraction of a second. You'll lose 10 to 15 mph, but it'll be enough to dump the kids on the floor, and sling whatever is in the trunk against the back of the seats.:)
I've done it more often with idiots on the road. That's not to scare them in my back seat, it's to avoid hitting them, because they do stupid things in front of me. I guess it's no longer required for people to use turn signals, have functional brake lights, or use common sense. I've always though it wasn't very nice to pull out in front of someone on a 55mph road, and do 15mph.
I've rather enjoyed working from home. I only see those people on the occasional trip to the store for provisions. I used to see 3 or 4 accidents daily, and it was only 15 miles. I can't imagine they were the same idiots over and over.
Several years ago, a Ford Ranger decided that stop signs were optional, and drove straight out in front of me, and then stopped. I hit him at about 45mph just about as his drivers side rear tire, and spun him across the road. Ahhh, kinetic energy. I found out the hard way, the airbags in that car didn't work. The lap and shoulder belts did a wonderful job though. We came out unscathed, but a few thousand dollars of damage to my car. That car went off to the boneyard later on...
So you married my ex? You poor, poor man... You have my sympathies...
My only advice to you is, sleep with one eye open... She you see her standing at the foot of the bed with a large kitchen knife.... RUN! It's much easier to defend if the attacker is way behind you. Trust me. The wound healed into a very lovely scar. I usually tell people it's from protecting school children from a marauding gang of outlaw bikers.. The lie gets better the more I drink.
When I read it, they attributed his survival to the way he went off the road. When he fell asleep, his foot pressed on the gas, and he fairly gracefully went off the road.
The article cites the report with numbers including "108", "100", "92" and "75". Those numbers don't show up in the report.
I doubt that we'll get the actual accident reconstruction report. That would be an interesting read, and probably more accurate than the included report.
You should read page 1 of the report, under "Data Limitations". The black box does not record speed, throttle position, brake on-off, and other data... It records data used to help determine if the airbags should deploy. The powertrain control module does, but it can be inaccurate.
If (as demonstrated by the remains of the car) it did roll over, the powertrain control module will retain information about speed. That can be influenced by outside conditions. For example, if the wheels were not in firm contact with the ground. I strongly suspect when the vehicle was sliding off the road on ice and snow, and inverted, the wheels were most likely not in firm contact with the ground.
Try it for yourself. Spin the tires, and see if your speedometer indicates movement. I used to love doing power braking in rental cars. I'd show speeds in excess of 50mph, without moving an inch. I've done that in both Crown Victoria's, and Lincoln Town Cars, of the approximate age of that vehicle, which both use the same systems.
I don't recommend rolling over a rental car to fully demonstrate what happened. They get a bit pissy about things like that.
They cite the report, regarding the velocity. I don't find the speed indicated in the report, nor even the "108", "100" or "92" number anywhere in it. They do show a -22.67 mph change at around the time the airbag deployed. The graph shows that there was little violent shaking (probably on or just off the road) to rolling over.
The article states he was driving at 75mph. "as he slid off the roadway" his speed reached 108. That would be consistent with tire spin. He would also be losing speed at that point. "upon impact with the ledge" he was 92mph. Too bad they don't illustrate the rollover. I'm guessing it wasn't a direct hit on the front which flipped the car. The report does indicate damage to the right front and side, which at sufficient speed would flip the car.
So, he went bouncing off the road, hit a rock, possibly at 75mph, but not definitely since he encountered tire spin or otherwise inaccurate speed measurements as he slid off the road. When he did hit the rock there was a 22.67mph deceleration as it rolled.and the airbags deployed.
If you've ever driven off a road at any substantial speed, you'll already know that it's a very bouncy experience. Unless you are intentionally keeping your feet on the gas or brakes, you will lose contact with them. If you're not wearing a seatbelt, even more so, as you'll likely bounce around in the car. Your speed does drop drastically, as being off-road terrain is not as conducive to a smooth roll as a paved highway. You'll slow down pretty quickly.
I have been run off the road a few times, by oblivious other drivers. I do wear my seatbelt, so at least I have the luxury of keeping a position mostly in the right place.
The biggest factor was, he was lucky.
Only a fool depends on luck for his survival.
And only an idiot believes a news report, without looking at the supporting documentation.
There are circumstances where it's necessary to drive (although slowly) without a seat belt.
I have back and neck problems, due to car accidents (with seat belts). When my back and neck are acting up, I can't turn to check behind me when backing out of a parking space. I have to undo the belt, so I can turn my whole body. Some will say "but check your mirrors". Sure, but I don't want to be the guy who ran over someone because he only checked his mirrors and didn't *look* before backing up.
The other exception is parking some large vehicles. Sometimes it's easier and safer to open the door and lean out to see where the back of the vehicle really is, rather than the impression given by looking in the mirror. I've moved cars in parking lots and driveways, because I was going to be working on other cars. No need for a seatbelt there.
That amount of time is insignificant in the total drive time and/or mileage. I've probably driven in reverse a mile or two total. I've probably driven a mile or two total just moving cars in parking areas. I've driven forward with my seatbelt on a million miles.
There really is no valid excuse for not wearing your seatbelt when driving.
My dad did make excuses for not wearing seat belts. He had his hands on the wheel. His vehicle was bigger and safer. What if he needed to get out quickly? etc, etc, etc... The reality is, he would have been a statistic if he was involved in a serious accident. He was lucky. Well, for the most part. In WWII, he was in a jeep that hit a land mine. It exploded, the vehicle flipped, and pinned both him and his friend under it. His friend died. My dad spent a lot of time in the hospital because of it. Would he have been safer? Probably not, as an WWII jeep had no rollover protection. I don't believe seat belts were even available at the time.
Since I've seen accidents where people were backing out of their driveways, and other accidents where cars on roadways go out of control and slide into parking lots, the measure of "long enough" should be "before the car is put into gear". Plenty of people do dumb thing in tons of steel.
There are better seat belts, that do a better job of restraining you. Most people wouldn't want them in their passenger car though.
I only installed them in one of my cars. On the weekends, I did some amateur class racing in my street car. The shoulder belt was worthless on the left turns. It was much nicer with the belts installed, I didn't have to brace myself while taking the turns. I also couldn't reach the radio or air conditioning controls while belted in.
Seat belts do save lives. You have a better chance of survival firmly strapped to your seat, than you do being ejected from the vehicle, and potentially your own vehicle landing on top of you.
Passenger car seat (lap and shoulder) belts do a pretty good job of restraining you, while allowing comfort. The twisting that can occur during a wreck, due to only having one shoulder restrained, is a lot less than what could happen without it. I'll have back and neck pain forever from a wreck I was in over 10 years ago, but I did survive relatively unhurt.
I've had to give practical demonstrations to kids on why they have to wear their seatbelts. They'll argue, so I'll do a brake check at about 30mph (after checking for cars around me). Although they insist they can catch themselves, they always end up on the floor asking what happened. They usually don't try to argue with me about it after that.
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No risk, such as radiation, is too great in the face of security. Consider this kind of system. It politely asks people to move away. Side effects may include burns, cancer, and death.
I love our country. I'd love it more if they'd stop trying to kill me in the name of security. In the future, this whole period will be looked at with great disdain The question will be, how many will survive to tell the tales? The cancer clusters from those who operated the equipment and frequently passed through it will keep those numbers down.
Hey now, watch it. I know where you live. I could come over there and .... well .... have a couple beers, innocently flirt with your wife (and receive the obligatory rejection), and talk shit.
Hmmm, that doesn't sound like a bad idea. It's been a while. :)
Hehe. Nope, I haven't been there in a few years. I did enjoy it though. Lax corporate structures, and few meetings. Oversight was typically "I don't care what it takes, just do it", which could be followed up by "Ok, I need 2 more employees and a dozen new servers. Can we get that done by next week?"
I was on the IT side of things, but I did show up on various cameras occasionally. The conventions were fun though. You can't complain about what is effectively a 3 day party with nudity, profanity, and plenty of alcohol consumption.
The regular corporate world is rough. You can't say "fuck, this shit sucks." If you even hint at someone being attractive, it's sexual harassment. And unless you're a C*O, alcohol is forbidden at work.
I remember going out with coworkers, getting so smashed that we could barely walk, and we staggered back to the office to sleep it off. Not a single fuck was given. At least we had the foresight not to drive *to* the bar, so we didn't have to go hunting for our cars the next afternoon when we became mostly coherent again.
I'd say correlation != causation, but unfortunately you're likely right. The statistics do reflect that. Ya, I keep stats on the network, and on my health. The doc was entertained to see a list and chart showing my statistics over the last year. I hadn't gotten to a doctor before then, because it's hard to take a day off to get to the doc. So that was the involuntary day to do so. The hospital was stressful, because the TV sucked, the Internet service was locked down tight, so all I had to do was sit there and watch crap daytime TV and nap.
I just replied to someone else on this... My crew is getting better. The keys to the kingdom are safely stored with a few trustworthy parties in the company. For the time being, I'm still working my ass off. Hopefully in a very few months, I'll be able to trust that everyone can do everything properly on their own, and I can take a vacation. We'll see if I have a job when I come back from the vacation though.
No, actually, I'm *very* happy having a small group working under me that can run everything by themselves. In the past, I've had great people working with me, so if I decided to take a couple days off, at most I'd get a phone call from them saying "Hey, we have this problem, and I want to do this. What do you think?" If I don't happen to answer the phone, they were smart enough to do the right thing on their own, and tell me about it when I was available again.
I don't like to micromanage. I also don't like new servers being put online with the password of "password", with every service possible turned on, and code open to SQL injection everywhere. I don't like to find out that someone thought it would be a good idea to turn off that box that "doesn't do anything", for me to start getting flooded with calls about how both the datacenter and office are down. Oh ya, that box that says "Cisco" on it, with all the wires and blinking lights. It tends to be kind of important. I almost say that flippantly, except I've seen it happen. Not with my current crew, but at previous employers.
It's interesting that we're having this conversation right now, because things are actually looking up. We've added a few more folks under me, some of which seem to have an excellent understanding of how things should work. Luckily, I'm probably just a few months away from being able to trust the whole network to them, and take a much needed vacation. ... and the biggest difference between Childs and myself is, I have my passwords all stored safely with the appropriate parties. If I decide to say "screw it", or end up unavailable, the company can continue. I run IT, but I am not the company. If something happens to me, the company has to keep going. They won't have to send the police to my house, cruise ship, hospital room, or funeral parlor, to try to extract 'em from me. :)
The magic words. "compiling". :) I get in here while things are running, that I just need to observe and wait. I found I can only do about 4 work things at once. After that, something will get side tracked and forgotten until later. So with those 4 going (installing, compiling, automatically fixing, etc), I take the opportunity to do something I like, like reading Slashdot.
The problem here is, they can, and will. The way the job market is right now, it can be 6 months to years before I get another decent gig. I was pretty sure I was staying at one place. I worked there almost a decade, and had built everything from the ground up. I streamlined everything, and had one or two assistants who would help keep up with everything.
The people who worked for me were happy. I was very kind to them. Most weeks were pretty easy, and if they wanted to leave early, or take a day here and there, I didn't track them. When I needed them, they'd work as hard as it took. So 30 hour weeks most of the time, and once every few months we may have a 50 to 60 hour week. I had everyone on salary, so taking a short week didn't hurt their paychecks. The way I saw it, it was in the best interest of everyone. They got paid well. I had all the resources I'd need, in case anything happened. They had the luxury of taking a 3 or 4 day weekend sometimes, just because they wanted, and we didn't have to figure out if they had accrued enough PTO days or not.
Then I had a new guy work a remote site for me. He learned everything, just as all the people who worked with me did. Then he went to my boss and told him he'd work for half my salary, and didn't need my assistants. After they cut me loose, I got calls for months from people saying that "my" sites were down or slow. Not my problem.
It took a long while to find work after that. The leads I had before were looking for work themselves.
Having work for a year or so, and then not having it for a year or two really hurts. One of my friends, who's a really good Perl and C developer has been looking for 2 years now. My girlfriend, who didn't work in IT, but worked in upper management in one of those real-world industries, has been out of work for 2 years also. She's applied everywhere and anywhere. I've looked over what she sends, and it's perfect. She sends out well written cover letters, a very appropriate and clear resume. She can't get a job at McD or a call center. Of about 2,000 jobs she's applied for, she's been to 3 interviews.
The job market just isn't back yet. We can't pick and choose where we want to work, and can't tell employers to bugger off, because they have too many expectations for too low pay. When you quit, there will be hordes of people going for that job. The employers just don't care any more. Beyond that, they know that they can offer shit pay, because people are still desperate.
I don't know if you follow the unemployment numbers. There are different numbers. The one published and talked about is basically people who are currently collecting unemployment. It doesn't count p
At least the title and summary are. Two misspellings that could have easily been copy & pasted correctly.
As the summary says, he's "trying to not be elitist". Well, I'd be willing to bet some of these newbie coders with a year of education can at least spell, when they're hoping to get an audience of hundreds of thousands. It's a good thing he submitted it AC.
Nah, I won't get a chance to spend my money, because my ex wives get it all anyways. At least enough where I have to make a metric fucktonne of money just so I can live over the poverty line.
After my nice high paying job said "Fuck off, we found someone at half the price. So what if he only has a year experience" (paraphrased, but accurate), I tried the consultant gig for over a year. I hit up anyone and everyone. You'd be amazed how many places are willing to pay you minimum wage to drive 2 hours each way, for a one hour gig. Oh ya, and no travel expenses. So my best bets would cost *me* money for helping them.
I'm seriously considering going to Europe. There's a stack of advantages, and the only thing I lose is being home. But that's ok. As I say, "home is where my ass is." Guaranteed vacations. Workers rights. Health care that won't cost me a year's salary to visit the emergency room.
Excuse me, I have to run and check airplane ticket prices.
Making porn is easy. Putting it up on your own web site is easy. Making DVD's is easy.
Driving traffic to your web site is hard. It's you, versus tens of thousands (a conservative estimate) of other "porn stars".
So you make DVDs. Get a distribution deal. Find out how to get distribution web sites, and physical stores, to carry your DVD. What makes your DVD special? Is it any different than the thousands of DVDs they already have in stock?
And for those who have followed me on here, they already know that I was in the industry for years. For every "porn star" that I met who actually got distributed, I probably met thousands of others who never even recovered the cost of the tape/SD card that they recorded it on.
If you're serious, you'll spend thousands on good equipment, and pay some experienced people to work it. If you're lucky, you'll make hundreds. If you're that one in tens of thousands, you may recover your costs. ... and ... you'd be amazed at the "talent" that's out there. I've seen so many aspiring porn stars who I'd pay money to put their clothes back on.
I enjoy my job. I work 18 hours a day, because if I don't, the others will screw up any tasks I let them do. I spend 16 hours a day fixing their mistakes so the customers don't find them. I took a vacation. 3 days in the hospital with high blood pressure and a TIA. Within 5 minutes of walking out of the hospital, my phone was ringing off the hook. Everything was falling apart, no one could figure out how to fix it. Simple instructions were answered with blank stares (well, the telephonic equivalent). Within 10 minutes of getting out of the hospital, I was on my laptop trying to fix the problem, and fielding back to back phone calls.
If I take 2 weeks off, that means I finally got someone else who could manage my job for 2 weeks. Then I am redundant. Even if it takes 2 people with less than half my skill, at 30% of my pay each, most companies would jump at the opportunity, and brag about the "savings". Well, savings, until things fall apart for them.
Modern businesses have absolutely no dedication to their employees. When there's money to be saved, they will be very happy to throw you to the curb, and hire someone who can talk shit for half your pay. I was out of any real work for 3 years because of exactly that. I'm not willing to take another 3 year vacation, wondering where I'll sleep or how I'll eat every day until I find another job.
That's the sad truth of modern business.
If I was a multi-billion dollar company, I could get away with it too. As all I have is a nice selection of firearms and a few $5 wrenches, I'm limited to bullying those within 1000 feet or so.
The new "license for parking on my street", and "tax for kids making noise that I can hear" is working out well though. in FY 2011, I made $12. Maybe I should see about expanding it into other markets. Maybe I can get a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and learn their methods so I can too excel in the global protection racket.
Easy. Any country who gets more practice in at going into space will have the long term advantage. While many countries may be playing nicely now, you can be assured that not everything about how they're doing it, and what they learned while doing it, is going to be shared with their "friends".
Getting something from Earth to Mars and back, is a pretty bid deal. Well, a *huge* deal, since no one has done it yet.
The Russian "Mars 5NM" (planned for 1975 to 1979) failed. The Russian "Phoebos-Grunt" (2011) failed. The American "MRS" failed.
The only samples we (any human) has are from the moon, asteroids, space dust, and meteorites that have crashed into the Earth.
Sending successful launches and returns to Mars, or its moons, would signify a huge advance in our space technology. Repeated successful missions would be the precursors for human travel beyond our miniscule pocket of the universe that we lovingly know as home.
Unfortunately, humans still have this drive to show that their nation is best. More effort is put into their tribe's attempt, and other tribes are monitored, but not substantially assisted with. For our species to expand, we must work together in such achievements. The only work together thus far has been token cooperation. We are still centuries away from true cooperation, and the way the tribes continue to act, even that may be an optimistic estimate.
I'm no Tolkein fan, but based on popularity and dedication to his works I'd say that there's something right going for it.
As an English professor told me once, Stephen King's work is utter crap, and is an embarrassment to the English language. On the other hand, he's sold a bazillion copies, and had quite a few made into movies. I'm not a fan of King's either. When "The Stand" hit DVD, I was constantly refusing to hang out with people and watch it in one "40 hour The Stand marathon". Sorry, they can't afford enough booze for me to want to stay for the whole thing. People stopped giving me his books as gifts, when I'd always ask if they'd mind if I exchanged it for a good book.
No offense to King fans. To each his own.
Come on.. This is Slashdot. You know 90% of the users don't look at TFS nor the TFA. You're lucky if they even read the title line before they start spewing nonsensical garbage.
[checking Morty's UID] Damn, you *really* should know by now. They've been like that since I started lurking here, a few years before I got my UID.
How were those years under the rock? :)
That's because murder (or postpartum abortion to 40+ years) is still illegal, no matter how justified it is. ... and you wouldn't want to scatter them along roads. It'll make an awful smell, that you'll never get out of your clothes.
Well.. not really...
I raced the amateur class, but I was with racers all the way up to NASCAR level cars on shorter tracks. They'd easily see 80 to 100 mph, and occasionally they'd have a serious smashup, such as direct into the wall. While any driver on the track *must* have a helmet, they don't require neck braces and HANS devices (a tether from the helmet to the seat, for those that don't know). That helps when they have their 200+mph wrecks, which most people won't ever experience in a street vehicle. Some of the drivers wore the neck braces, but since they were racing in the Southeast US, they preferred the little bit of comfort they could get, over heat exhaustion and falling out during the race. Causing a pileup on the track can be a bit embarrassing.
Any seat with a decent headrest is made to prevent whiplash.
The preferred child safety seat has the 5 point restraints. It's people wanting their creature comforts, and that extra few bucks to install that they aren't in regular production vehicles. You know, creature comforts like being able to reach their radio, A/C controls, grab your marijuana from the glove compartment, and grope your girlfriend in the passenger seat while you drive. You know, normal stuff.
Most harnesses can be bolted to the floor, but they should be bolted to something strong. Many cars have decent mount points for this. There's no big sign that says "mount your seatbelt here", except for the standard belt mount points. If your car doesn't have them, or you aren't sure, a good performance shop with a good welder will be able to help you out.
1) Money
2) Power
3) Influence
4) PROFIT
When you're a politician, you don't need the "???" step. I'm in the wrong business.
JWSmythe for President 2012! I stand on the intellectual freedoms and otherwise Slashdot friendly platform!
From 30mph, you don't have to come to a full stop, just hit the brakes hard for a fraction of a second. You'll lose 10 to 15 mph, but it'll be enough to dump the kids on the floor, and sling whatever is in the trunk against the back of the seats. :)
I've done it more often with idiots on the road. That's not to scare them in my back seat, it's to avoid hitting them, because they do stupid things in front of me. I guess it's no longer required for people to use turn signals, have functional brake lights, or use common sense. I've always though it wasn't very nice to pull out in front of someone on a 55mph road, and do 15mph.
I've rather enjoyed working from home. I only see those people on the occasional trip to the store for provisions. I used to see 3 or 4 accidents daily, and it was only 15 miles. I can't imagine they were the same idiots over and over.
Somehow I've avoided airbag deployments.
Several years ago, a Ford Ranger decided that stop signs were optional, and drove straight out in front of me, and then stopped. I hit him at about 45mph just about as his drivers side rear tire, and spun him across the road. Ahhh, kinetic energy. I found out the hard way, the airbags in that car didn't work. The lap and shoulder belts did a wonderful job though. We came out unscathed, but a few thousand dollars of damage to my car. That car went off to the boneyard later on...
So you married my ex? You poor, poor man... You have my sympathies...
My only advice to you is, sleep with one eye open... She you see her standing at the foot of the bed with a large kitchen knife .... RUN! It's much easier to defend if the attacker is way behind you. Trust me. The wound healed into a very lovely scar. I usually tell people it's from protecting school children from a marauding gang of outlaw bikers.. The lie gets better the more I drink.
When I read it, they attributed his survival to the way he went off the road. When he fell asleep, his foot pressed on the gas, and he fairly gracefully went off the road.
The article cites the report with numbers including "108", "100", "92" and "75". Those numbers don't show up in the report.
I doubt that we'll get the actual accident reconstruction report. That would be an interesting read, and probably more accurate than the included report.
You should read page 1 of the report, under "Data Limitations". The black box does not record speed, throttle position, brake on-off, and other data... It records data used to help determine if the airbags should deploy. The powertrain control module does, but it can be inaccurate.
If (as demonstrated by the remains of the car) it did roll over, the powertrain control module will retain information about speed. That can be influenced by outside conditions. For example, if the wheels were not in firm contact with the ground. I strongly suspect when the vehicle was sliding off the road on ice and snow, and inverted, the wheels were most likely not in firm contact with the ground.
Try it for yourself. Spin the tires, and see if your speedometer indicates movement. I used to love doing power braking in rental cars. I'd show speeds in excess of 50mph, without moving an inch. I've done that in both Crown Victoria's, and Lincoln Town Cars, of the approximate age of that vehicle, which both use the same systems.
I don't recommend rolling over a rental car to fully demonstrate what happened. They get a bit pissy about things like that.
They cite the report, regarding the velocity. I don't find the speed indicated in the report, nor even the "108", "100" or "92" number anywhere in it. They do show a -22.67 mph change at around the time the airbag deployed. The graph shows that there was little violent shaking (probably on or just off the road) to rolling over.
The article states he was driving at 75mph. "as he slid off the roadway" his speed reached 108. That would be consistent with tire spin. He would also be losing speed at that point. "upon impact with the ledge" he was 92mph. Too bad they don't illustrate the rollover. I'm guessing it wasn't a direct hit on the front which flipped the car. The report does indicate damage to the right front and side, which at sufficient speed would flip the car.
So, he went bouncing off the road, hit a rock, possibly at 75mph, but not definitely since he encountered tire spin or otherwise inaccurate speed measurements as he slid off the road. When he did hit the rock there was a 22.67mph deceleration as it rolled.and the airbags deployed.
If you've ever driven off a road at any substantial speed, you'll already know that it's a very bouncy experience. Unless you are intentionally keeping your feet on the gas or brakes, you will lose contact with them. If you're not wearing a seatbelt, even more so, as you'll likely bounce around in the car. Your speed does drop drastically, as being off-road terrain is not as conducive to a smooth roll as a paved highway. You'll slow down pretty quickly.
I have been run off the road a few times, by oblivious other drivers. I do wear my seatbelt, so at least I have the luxury of keeping a position mostly in the right place.
The biggest factor was, he was lucky.
Only a fool depends on luck for his survival.
And only an idiot believes a news report, without looking at the supporting documentation.
I can't argue with most of what you said, but....
There are circumstances where it's necessary to drive (although slowly) without a seat belt.
I have back and neck problems, due to car accidents (with seat belts). When my back and neck are acting up, I can't turn to check behind me when backing out of a parking space. I have to undo the belt, so I can turn my whole body. Some will say "but check your mirrors". Sure, but I don't want to be the guy who ran over someone because he only checked his mirrors and didn't *look* before backing up.
The other exception is parking some large vehicles. Sometimes it's easier and safer to open the door and lean out to see where the back of the vehicle really is, rather than the impression given by looking in the mirror. I've moved cars in parking lots and driveways, because I was going to be working on other cars. No need for a seatbelt there.
That amount of time is insignificant in the total drive time and/or mileage. I've probably driven in reverse a mile or two total. I've probably driven a mile or two total just moving cars in parking areas. I've driven forward with my seatbelt on a million miles.
There really is no valid excuse for not wearing your seatbelt when driving.
My dad did make excuses for not wearing seat belts. He had his hands on the wheel. His vehicle was bigger and safer. What if he needed to get out quickly? etc, etc, etc... The reality is, he would have been a statistic if he was involved in a serious accident. He was lucky. Well, for the most part. In WWII, he was in a jeep that hit a land mine. It exploded, the vehicle flipped, and pinned both him and his friend under it. His friend died. My dad spent a lot of time in the hospital because of it. Would he have been safer? Probably not, as an WWII jeep had no rollover protection. I don't believe seat belts were even available at the time.
Since I've seen accidents where people were backing out of their driveways, and other accidents where cars on roadways go out of control and slide into parking lots, the measure of "long enough" should be "before the car is put into gear". Plenty of people do dumb thing in tons of steel.
There are better seat belts, that do a better job of restraining you. Most people wouldn't want them in their passenger car though.
I only installed them in one of my cars. On the weekends, I did some amateur class racing in my street car. The shoulder belt was worthless on the left turns. It was much nicer with the belts installed, I didn't have to brace myself while taking the turns. I also couldn't reach the radio or air conditioning controls while belted in.
Seat belts do save lives. You have a better chance of survival firmly strapped to your seat, than you do being ejected from the vehicle, and potentially your own vehicle landing on top of you.
Passenger car seat (lap and shoulder) belts do a pretty good job of restraining you, while allowing comfort. The twisting that can occur during a wreck, due to only having one shoulder restrained, is a lot less than what could happen without it. I'll have back and neck pain forever from a wreck I was in over 10 years ago, but I did survive relatively unhurt.
I've had to give practical demonstrations to kids on why they have to wear their seatbelts. They'll argue, so I'll do a brake check at about 30mph (after checking for cars around me). Although they insist they can catch themselves, they always end up on the floor asking what happened. They usually don't try to argue with me about it after that.