I've been in IT for many years and I still don't have an IT degree. I was in Jr college at the time and I got a part time job as a "computer operator", which was like a junior sysadmin. I took a single HPUX class and a couple programming classes on my own time because I was into that sort of thing anyway.
I ran batch jobs and backups, mostly, working crap overnight hours and holidays. After 5 years I worked my way up to full sysadmin over a data center with 4 HP-UX servers and 3 assistants.
The key is you are going to have to start at the bottom and learn everything on the job and on your own time if you don't learn it at school. It's an option, but I wouldn't say it's necessarily any better than just getting that degree and starting a bit higher up the food chain.
The "after" photo is so obviously doctored, even without seeing the original, I don't know why the AP is upset. I would have taken one look at it and assumed everyone could tell it was a fake background and called it a publicity photo. Was it published alongside a story that was somehow given more credibility because she's in front of a flag instead of a mantle?
Considering that my degree in Philosophy has done nothing to get me past working on a help desk for $20/hr, and one of my co-workers makes a bit more than that with her C.S. degree, maybe the problem is that we should have combined our degrees into some sort of super-hybrid. Then we'd really be rolling in the dough!
I've heard initial reviewers say that 7 uses less memory and runs better on slower machines, like the Atom CPU. If your test machine has a high-end 4-core CPU and 4G RAM, maybe there won't be a difference. But if you're running on a Netbook with 1G of RAM, maybe there is an actual difference?
My wife graduated Summa cum Laude with her degree in accounting and she was tested even interviewing for temp positions.
I've hired for IT jobs before and I always test potential employees in some way or another, but it's based on their training. SOme get more testing than others.
For me it's because IT is such a wide-ranging field and we rarely have the budget for much training. I need to make sure that I hire the person who already has the most practical knowledge as it pertains to the specific job.
I'm not saying this was a good call on the part of law enforcement, and if they dispose of his stuff and it's not found to be dangerous, he should be compensated for materials at least.
However, the OP cut off the original quote, I assume to make his snarky "interpretation" sound less silly. Here's the part he left off:
There are regulations about how much you're supposed to have, how it's detained, how it's disposed of."
Mr. Deeb's home lab likely violated the regulations of many state and local departments, although officials have not yet announced any penalties.
It doesn't sound to me like the law acted because they didn't take chemistry 101. I suspect they acted because, far more than a child's chemistry set, there was a full-blown laboratory in this guy's house where "vessels of chemicals were all over the furniture and the floor." It doesn't sound like very safe or up-to-code setup.
It seems to me that since a text file doesn't have invisible data like Word doc, there isn't any where to store change tracking information in the file other than in comments. If whatever uses the files supports them, then it seems like the simplest way (though not necessarily the easiest training-wise) would be to manually comment the changes.
If you can't have extraneous/ignored characters in the file, then I guess you'd need a version control system that stores the data outside the file. Even then you could have a manual "changes.txt" file.
Check out the mice and keyboards from Gyration, which use RF signals for a long range. While the advertised range of 100' is exaggerated, it might work for you. I still use the keyboard because it's nice and compact (no numpad) even though my range is much shorter and I switched to a laser mouse.
I recently saw a few strips with this "rotation" feature at Fry's and I can't figure out if I'm missing something. The outer outlets all have the ground pole on the outer edge, which makes sense when not rotated, because the large plugs will have their cords facing outwards.
However, when they are rotated, the ground poles are on the bottom, meaning the plug cords will be against the ground or whatever surface you have it mounted on. How is this an advantage? You wouldn't be able to mount it on a wall or even leave it on the floor unless all the rotated plugs are regular sized (non-converter), which negates the need for rotation anyway.
Gyration has been making gyroscopic controllers for years now. The only new thing in this one is the magnetic sensor. However, the problem with the Gyration pointers is two-fold:
1) gyroscopes aren't instantaneous. They can't spin constantly or your batteries would be dead in a few hours, so they have a noticeable spin-up delay every time it's idle for a short bit. This is ok for a mouse you are using for windows, but would never work as a twitch game controller
2) Even when not spinning all the time, the gyration could go through 4 AA batteries in a week of moderate use as a media-center pointer. I can't imagine how long they'd last during a marathon gaming session.
If they've somehow licked such problems, it might be ok. But I don't see any reason to replace the Wii-mote for the types of games you get on the Wii. It's fine so far.
I've been trying to come up with a physical world equivalent of this issue. The digital world is certainly different than the "real" one, but since our laws are based in the physical, how could we compare for reference?
What if you bought a CD, made one copy of it, and then took that to the student union (or any other gathering place) and just left it, sitting in a box with a sign that says "free CD", like a free puppies sign or something?
If no one takes it, have you committed a crime by leaving it there, available for theft?
What if you make 20 copies and do the same thing? It seems like even if no one takes them, it shouldn't be legal. However, it certainly doesn't seem like you should have to pay a bunch of cash to the RIAA, since none were taken.
Finally, what if you did this, then came back a week later and the box was gone? If the staff claim they threw the CDs into the furnace and they don't know if any were missing at the time, what's your punishment, if any? You've no idea how many were taken, or if any were at all. Should you get off scott free?
Am I the only one who thought this episode didn't live up to its hype? I'm no hater; I played WoW from beta to BC and I've seen every SP episode more than once. I just thought it was a pretty average episode in the laughs and insight departments. It was creative enough to win an Emmy for that aspect, but it doesn't rank anywhere near the top of SP episodes overall.
I already pay $50/month to Comcast for slower speeds than 7Mbit, so these prices don't seem unreasonable to me regardless of nuetrality. If they could actually deliver, I'd sign up in a heartbeat.
I've been using a trackball since the Amiga days due to off and on wrist problems. Currently I'm using a Microsoft Trackball Explorer, which I consider the most comfortable trackball ever made for the PC. Unfortunately it's discontinued and you can only get them on eBay and similar.
My work bought me a cordless Trackman from Logitech, but I don't like the way it fits in my large hand, and the ball is a bit smaller then the Trackman.
Personally, I find the precision and control of a trackball somewhat lacking when it comes to Photoshop, so I always use my drawing pad for detail work. However, it works great for gaming and I can game a lot longer than I can with a mouse, so it's certainly a good option.
> IMO there is no other viable option for someone who will be sending their files to press. > Not if they want accurate color output.
Unless your needs are less demanding than professional magazine quality output. Just find a good printer with a services department that can do all of this for you.
I used to do design for a small company that couldn't afford a "graphics professional" in addition to the "computer expert" they hired (me). Instead, when we had a color print job for ads or brochures, I took the photos, designed the layout, and took it to my local high-end print shop.
They did their photoshop magic, using profiles for their equipment, etc, and gave me color proofs. Any color problems could then be adjusted to my satisfaction.
Honestly though, problems were pretty rare because unless you're desiging an ad for a color printer or beauty products, color only has to be really close, not perfect. Any good print shop graphics department can get it close enough for most jobs. That's what they're there for.
I work with a guy whose sister thought she'd cash in by buying two PS3's and selling one to pay for her own. She put one up on eBay and someone bought it. Not being terribly eBay saavy, she didn't realize that the email she then received from "Paypal" saying funds had been transferred and to go ahead and ship the unit to Nigeria was bogus.
Now she's stuck trying to enjoy the PS3 that she basically paid $1200 for.
On the PS2, play ICO. It's an experience unlike any other. Also, consider Shadow of the Colossus, also unlike any other game you've played. Both are excellent and fun.
If it fits in with your discussion, you should talk about how Hollywood has just created an anti-piracy merit badge for the Boy Scouts, and the BSoA has gone along with it.
Even two 17" monitors will give a huge increase in flexibility and productivity for anyone who runs more than one application at a time. Two 19" seems the sweet spot for a tradeoff of price/performance.
However, if one of those monitors is dedicated to leaving your email app up at all times, then proper time-management skills are a must. Otherwise you offset your productivity gains with the constant interruption of new emails coming in and more easily distracting you from your work, since they are right there, waiting to be read. In a busy environment, with mail and IM, that second monitor can act like a phone that rings almost constantly unless you are disciplined when you need to be.
I like a game to have a fairly even learning curve, even if it's steep. I like to think of myself as a fairly hardcore gamer as far as geekness and amount of time gaming, etc. But the one thing that will stop me from playing a game is a "hard spot" that I just can't get past for multiple gaming sessions and has me wanting to tear out my hair.
Console games seem the worst in this regard, and I can remember a number of PS2 titles that I enjoyed playing until I came across a boss monster whose "trick" I couldn't figure out. I'll spend a couple gaming sessions trying to beat him and if I can't do it before getting really frustrated then I'll usually just lose interest in the game. I like a challenge, but it's impossible for a game to offer the same level of challenge to everyone.
Sometimes I wish the really hard spots would auto-adjust (very minutely at a time) after a certain number of failures so that I could just get on with the game without having to go online looking for cheats or strategies.
When I ran my business doing exactly this, about half my customers were older retired folks living in my apartment complex. They seemed to have money and often tipped, which is something younger folks don't usually do. There are many apartments that cater to the retired that you can target.
Believe it or not a good way to advertise is via flyers, posted on the bulletin boards in the apartment complex's laundry rooms. Just make sure you have those little tabs at the bottom with your name and number and business that people can tear off and take home.
Obviously you'll want to go to nicer, upscale places.
I believe this may be a misreading of the report. I heard the authors today being interviewed on NPR and the interviewer specifically asked them if the internet had anything to do with the decline. It sounded to me like they were saying that they didn't find a specific correlation between internet use and the reported drop. They cited numerous other causes, like greater geographic distribution (suburbs, etc), and greater racial diversity. I think the study was only in the US, also.
One of our helpdesk clients has about 3000 employees. They recently implemented storage limits of 300M per user (there were non before). If someone wants more the helpdesk is happy to show them how to use local PST files for archiving, etc. Most users have no idea how big their boxes are, and practically none thought their deleted items and sent items folders contributed towards these limits.
Once you show them how, most users are also happy to change their tune from "But I NEED a 600M limit" to "this is manageable, thanks." Sales people are the worst, as usual, but the policy is company-wide and there are no exceptions, not even for VPs. I don't know about the president, because he's never called:)
Every time this conversation comes up it drives me nuts, because it's based on a misreading of the bible. For those wondering, here's the relevant text (King James):
Revelation 13
16: And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
17: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18: Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.
The confusion always seems to come from the pronoun "his" in 17. People read it to mean each person will have a number associated with their name (hence SSN, RFID, etc). But the "him" referred to here is the beast, as evidenced by the next verse. Now, when congress passes the law that everyone has to have 666, or Satan, stamped on them, that's when you start worrying.
I don't know how important it is for the layperson to know the difference, but it always drives me nuts when people try to describe a problem to me and constantly confuse RAM and Disk space.
I will say that when I trained our sales staff on some basics like this so they could start selling software services they all seemed to really like understanding a bit more than they did before.
I usually use some analogies to explain the difference between RAM and Disk space, like "RAM = the top of your desk, HARD DRIVE = your filing cabinet". I finally got my mom to stop asking if she needed more memory before she could install a new lineage tracking program.
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I've been in IT for many years and I still don't have an IT degree. I was in Jr college at the time and I got a part time job as a "computer operator", which was like a junior sysadmin. I took a single HPUX class and a couple programming classes on my own time because I was into that sort of thing anyway.
I ran batch jobs and backups, mostly, working crap overnight hours and holidays. After 5 years I worked my way up to full sysadmin over a data center with 4 HP-UX servers and 3 assistants.
The key is you are going to have to start at the bottom and learn everything on the job and on your own time if you don't learn it at school. It's an option, but I wouldn't say it's necessarily any better than just getting that degree and starting a bit higher up the food chain.
The "after" photo is so obviously doctored, even without seeing the original, I don't know why the AP is upset. I would have taken one look at it and assumed everyone could tell it was a fake background and called it a publicity photo. Was it published alongside a story that was somehow given more credibility because she's in front of a flag instead of a mantle?
Considering that my degree in Philosophy has done nothing to get me past working on a help desk for $20/hr, and one of my co-workers makes a bit more than that with her C.S. degree, maybe the problem is that we should have combined our degrees into some sort of super-hybrid. Then we'd really be rolling in the dough!
I've heard initial reviewers say that 7 uses less memory and runs better on slower machines, like the Atom CPU.
If your test machine has a high-end 4-core CPU and 4G RAM, maybe there won't be a difference. But if you're running on a Netbook with 1G of RAM, maybe there is an actual difference?
My wife graduated Summa cum Laude with her degree in accounting and she was tested even interviewing for temp positions.
I've hired for IT jobs before and I always test potential employees in some way or another, but it's based on their training. SOme get more testing than others.
For me it's because IT is such a wide-ranging field and we rarely have the budget for much training. I need to make sure that I hire the person who already has the most practical knowledge as it pertains to the specific job.
There are regulations about how much you're supposed to have, how it's detained, how it's disposed of." Mr. Deeb's home lab likely violated the regulations of many state and local departments, although officials have not yet announced any penalties.
It doesn't sound to me like the law acted because they didn't take chemistry 101. I suspect they acted because, far more than a child's chemistry set, there was a full-blown laboratory in this guy's house where "vessels of chemicals were all over the furniture and the floor." It doesn't sound like very safe or up-to-code setup.
It seems to me that since a text file doesn't have invisible data like Word doc, there isn't any where to store change tracking information in the file other than in comments. If whatever uses the files supports them, then it seems like the simplest way (though not necessarily the easiest training-wise) would be to manually comment the changes.
If you can't have extraneous/ignored characters in the file, then I guess you'd need a version control system that stores the data outside the file. Even then you could have a manual "changes.txt" file.
Check out the mice and keyboards from Gyration, which use RF signals for a long range. While the advertised range of 100' is exaggerated, it might work for you. I still use the keyboard because it's nice and compact (no numpad) even though my range is much shorter and I switched to a laser mouse.
http://www.gyration.com/c-2-mice-keyboards.aspx
I recently saw a few strips with this "rotation" feature at Fry's and I can't figure out if I'm missing something. The outer outlets all have the ground pole on the outer edge, which makes sense when not rotated, because the large plugs will have their cords facing outwards.
However, when they are rotated, the ground poles are on the bottom, meaning the plug cords will be against the ground or whatever surface you have it mounted on. How is this an advantage? You wouldn't be able to mount it on a wall or even leave it on the floor unless all the rotated plugs are regular sized (non-converter), which negates the need for rotation anyway.
Gyration has been making gyroscopic controllers for years now. The only new thing in this one is the magnetic sensor. However, the problem with the Gyration pointers is two-fold:
1) gyroscopes aren't instantaneous. They can't spin constantly or your batteries would be dead in a few hours, so they have a noticeable spin-up delay every time it's idle for a short bit. This is ok for a mouse you are using for windows, but would never work as a twitch game controller
2) Even when not spinning all the time, the gyration could go through 4 AA batteries in a week of moderate use as a media-center pointer. I can't imagine how long they'd last during a marathon gaming session.
If they've somehow licked such problems, it might be ok. But I don't see any reason to replace the Wii-mote for the types of games you get on the Wii. It's fine so far.
I've been trying to come up with a physical world equivalent of this issue. The digital world is certainly different than the "real" one, but since our laws are based in the physical, how could we compare for reference?
What if you bought a CD, made one copy of it, and then took that to the student union (or any other gathering place) and just left it, sitting in a box with a sign that says "free CD", like a free puppies sign or something?
If no one takes it, have you committed a crime by leaving it there, available for theft?
What if you make 20 copies and do the same thing? It seems like even if no one takes them, it shouldn't be legal. However, it certainly doesn't seem like you should have to pay a bunch of cash to the RIAA, since none were taken.
Finally, what if you did this, then came back a week later and the box was gone? If the staff claim they threw the CDs into the furnace and they don't know if any were missing at the time, what's your punishment, if any? You've no idea how many were taken, or if any were at all. Should you get off scott free?
Am I the only one who thought this episode didn't live up to its hype? I'm no hater; I played WoW from beta to BC and I've seen every SP episode more than once. I just thought it was a pretty average episode in the laughs and insight departments. It was creative enough to win an Emmy for that aspect, but it doesn't rank anywhere near the top of SP episodes overall.
I already pay $50/month to Comcast for slower speeds than 7Mbit, so these prices don't seem unreasonable to me regardless of nuetrality. If they could actually deliver, I'd sign up in a heartbeat.
I've been using a trackball since the Amiga days due to off and on wrist problems. Currently I'm using a Microsoft Trackball Explorer, which I consider the most comfortable trackball ever made for the PC. Unfortunately it's discontinued and you can only get them on eBay and similar.
My work bought me a cordless Trackman from Logitech, but I don't like the way it fits in my large hand, and the ball is a bit smaller then the Trackman.
Personally, I find the precision and control of a trackball somewhat lacking when it comes to Photoshop, so I always use my drawing pad for detail work. However, it works great for gaming and I can game a lot longer than I can with a mouse, so it's certainly a good option.
> IMO there is no other viable option for someone who will be sending their files to press.
> Not if they want accurate color output.
Unless your needs are less demanding than professional magazine quality output. Just find a good printer with a services department that can do all of this for you.
I used to do design for a small company that couldn't afford a "graphics professional" in addition to the "computer expert" they hired (me). Instead, when we had a color print job for ads or brochures, I took the photos, designed the layout, and took it to my local high-end print shop.
They did their photoshop magic, using profiles for their equipment, etc, and gave me color proofs. Any color problems could then be adjusted to my satisfaction.
Honestly though, problems were pretty rare because unless you're desiging an ad for a color printer or beauty products, color only has to be really close, not perfect. Any good print shop graphics department can get it close enough for most jobs. That's what they're there for.
I work with a guy whose sister thought she'd cash in by buying two PS3's and selling one to pay for her own. She put one up on eBay and someone bought it. Not being terribly eBay saavy, she didn't realize that the email she then received from "Paypal" saying funds had been transferred and to go ahead and ship the unit to Nigeria was bogus.
Now she's stuck trying to enjoy the PS3 that she basically paid $1200 for.
On the PS2, play ICO. It's an experience unlike any other. Also, consider Shadow of the Colossus, also unlike any other game you've played. Both are excellent and fun.
If it fits in with your discussion, you should talk about how Hollywood has just created an anti-piracy merit badge for the Boy Scouts, and the BSoA has gone along with it.
Even two 17" monitors will give a huge increase in flexibility and productivity for anyone who runs more than one application at a time. Two 19" seems the sweet spot for a tradeoff of price/performance.
However, if one of those monitors is dedicated to leaving your email app up at all times, then proper time-management skills are a must. Otherwise you offset your productivity gains with the constant interruption of new emails coming in and more easily distracting you from your work, since they are right there, waiting to be read. In a busy environment, with mail and IM, that second monitor can act like a phone that rings almost constantly unless you are disciplined when you need to be.
I like a game to have a fairly even learning curve, even if it's steep. I like to think of myself as a fairly hardcore gamer as far as geekness and amount of time gaming, etc. But the one thing that will stop me from playing a game is a "hard spot" that I just can't get past for multiple gaming sessions and has me wanting to tear out my hair.
Console games seem the worst in this regard, and I can remember a number of PS2 titles that I enjoyed playing until I came across a boss monster whose "trick" I couldn't figure out. I'll spend a couple gaming sessions trying to beat him and if I can't do it before getting really frustrated then I'll usually just lose interest in the game. I like a challenge, but it's impossible for a game to offer the same level of challenge to everyone.
Sometimes I wish the really hard spots would auto-adjust (very minutely at a time) after a certain number of failures so that I could just get on with the game without having to go online looking for cheats or strategies.
When I ran my business doing exactly this, about half my customers were older retired folks living in my apartment complex. They seemed to have money and often tipped, which is something younger folks don't usually do. There are many apartments that cater to the retired that you can target.
Believe it or not a good way to advertise is via flyers, posted on the bulletin boards in the apartment complex's laundry rooms. Just make sure you have those little tabs at the bottom with your name and number and business that people can tear off and take home.
Obviously you'll want to go to nicer, upscale places.
I believe this may be a misreading of the report. I heard the authors today being interviewed on NPR and the interviewer specifically asked them if the internet had anything to do with the decline. It sounded to me like they were saying that they didn't find a specific correlation between internet use and the reported drop. They cited numerous other causes, like greater geographic distribution (suburbs, etc), and greater racial diversity. I think the study was only in the US, also.
One of our helpdesk clients has about 3000 employees. They recently implemented storage limits of 300M per user (there were non before). If someone wants more the helpdesk is happy to show them how to use local PST files for archiving, etc. Most users have no idea how big their boxes are, and practically none thought their deleted items and sent items folders contributed towards these limits.
:)
Once you show them how, most users are also happy to change their tune from "But I NEED a 600M limit" to "this is manageable, thanks." Sales people are the worst, as usual, but the policy is company-wide and there are no exceptions, not even for VPs. I don't know about the president, because he's never called
Every time this conversation comes up it drives me nuts, because it's based on a misreading of the bible. For those wondering, here's the relevant text (King James):
Revelation 13
16: And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
17: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18: Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.
The confusion always seems to come from the pronoun "his" in 17. People read it to mean each person will have a number associated with their name (hence SSN, RFID, etc). But the "him" referred to here is the beast, as evidenced by the next verse. Now, when congress passes the law that everyone has to have 666, or Satan, stamped on them, that's when you start worrying.
I don't know how important it is for the layperson to know the difference, but it always drives me nuts when people try to describe a problem to me and constantly confuse RAM and Disk space.
I will say that when I trained our sales staff on some basics like this so they could start selling software services they all seemed to really like understanding a bit more than they did before.
I usually use some analogies to explain the difference between RAM and Disk space, like "RAM = the top of your desk, HARD DRIVE = your filing cabinet". I finally got my mom to stop asking if she needed more memory before she could install a new lineage tracking program.