The number one problem we have today that gets in the way of world peace is religion. The number one problem we have that gets in the way of sustaining our existence is consumerism. Beyond curbing these two major problems we will only make existence miserable for the next 100 years. And we will survive for at least the next 100 years, but who knows how long it will take for the earth to come back to balance.../gam/
"version stability"? Like running Windows XP for almost 5 years? Annoying maybe, but the new version of OS X does have major improvements, as opposed to all the Windows "updates". I guess I like "OS stability" more than "version stability".
I don't disagree at all, but I must say that PHP is fairly popular and has its place. And tools are finally coming out that help organize the messiness of PHP, like Trustudio's PHP IDE. I think of PHP as kind of a quick-and-dirty approach to web development.
This might be true to a degree, but the executive branch administration has done more to weaken our country, economy, and ecology than many other administrations that came before it. So, the question should be, which is worse: Republicans or Democrats or this administration? Personally, I don't think this country has had many "leaders" in charge for a looong time, and this administration's leadership is one of the worst./gam/
Don't even get me started on Windows user management, permissions, etc... Talk about overly complicated... *That's* always felt waaay too confusing to me, and I *know* things about computers...:-)
I agree that Windows XP is fairly stable, and compared to Win2K it's damned stable. However, after using Windows and linux for many years, and recently OS X, I've decided that I just don't have the time needed to properly configure and maintain linux, or even to learn all the latest ways to configure and maintain it. Nor do I have the time it takes to fix all the problems that constantly pop up with Windows. Mac OS X, although still has its problems, has the most impressive out-of-the-box experience I've had in many years, and I suppose I'm kind of a fanboy now even though my main server is still linux.
Add all the amazing OSS software into this and it can be overwhelming for one person to manage every piece of OSS software that's installed. Microsoft does a relaatively good job of updating Windows out-of-the-box, although the quality of the updates can be debated. However, they really suck at keeping their software updated or users informed. Using yum, apt, or some other software management solution usually requires fiddling with settings to get just the right mirror, and even then I have to put my trust that the mirror I chose is good, i.e. legitimate, secure, and stable. Once it's set up it's Ok, but it clearly lacks stature. Mac updates are very simple and requires very little effort to manage. Apple applications also appear in their updater, which should be expected. However, I often find myself running a variety of tools after a major system update to fix permissions, settings, and application.info file corruptions which is *really* annoying, even tho it happens once every couple months.
Overall, I prefer simple to complicated. I don't want to spend time fiddling with every danged setting just to make something work anymore. And I don't want to constantly keep restoring my system to a previous state when a system patch goes south.
Anyways, it seems like MS has it right, but they also need to add the perspective that their crap isn't so reliable either. And from my experience with the Vista beta, they have a long way to go before they can make it simple. In fact, I personally think they made it too complex for the average user. Something's wrong when I'm thinking more about how to make my OS do something than I am about completing my tasks.
As an "IT professional," on very rare occasions have I needed to show up to customer sites. I didn't have an alienware laptop at the time, but the people that I worked with were very much like me and would probably have asked questions about it and whether or not I liked it. I sincerely doubt that most customers even *care* what kind of laptop you're using, as long as it works and works well.
Now, by IT Professional I mean programmer or system admin. If by IT Professional the parent poster meant something different, which probably is the case, then I think he should have used a different title.
I notices that the iMac Core Duo test machine had only 512MB of memory, while the Power Mac G5 had 4.5GB. Even the iMac G5 had 1GB. One the surface, I think one would have to compare equivalent computing power to understand why these benchmarks aren't quite legitimate.
Put 512MB in each of the test machines and _then_ run the tests.. My experience has shown that the amount of physical memory directly relates to performance. More memory == better performance.
I'm still pissed that Windows accounts need to be part of the Administrator group to get anything done. Sure, you _could_ create a second local user not on the domain to install things locally, but Windows doesn't exactly make it easy to switch users. Folks don't want to close everything they're working on down just to install a simple little app that they need... Sure, you could _also_ "Run as..." and pick the local account, but even that seems to have issues sometimes with permissions -- which seem to only be useful for making things complicated in Windows since they're never really used correctly and most of the time end up being turned off to make things easy. Can you say "Share everything to everyone and let everyone have Full Control"? And explaining these kinds of "tricks" to users? Don't even get me started. Basically, with Windows, ease-of-use has won out over security, although some might even argue that there was never really a battle between the two. People don't want to be annoyed, which still perplexes me that Windows is the de-facto choice since I find it nothing but annoying.
/gamlidek/
P.S. -- I happily converted to OS X after a decade of linux use.
Although this thread is starting to get personal, let me take this back just a bit...
I agree that one's possession of a cert is not a valid reason to choose a candidate. But I disagree with some of the tone that I'm reading here toward individuals who do happen to have them, for whatever reason. Clearly, from the response here, there's some animosity towards individuals who can "afford" it or that they're "lucky" in some way. Regarding the tone, although it hasn't been specifically stated that certs are bad, that's the implication. There also appears to be a misconception about individuals who have certs feeling that individuals who don't are lesser people.
From my personal perspective, folks that I work with earn my respect. I don't give it to them because they have a cert or don't have a cert. One of my best mentors was a second level manager above me and he had no degree. He just didn't believe he needed it, and knowing him for as long as I have I agree with his assertion. Does my having a master's degree or certification mean he was a lesser individual? No. In fact, that didn't even play a role in our relationship. Ever.
So, taking this back down a level... I'm still paying for my education, and the only way I would consider myself lucky regarding that education is that I have an income that can afford to pay for it. But I earned my place within my industry. No luck about it.
But a BA/BS/MA/MS/etc. is not supposed to be about proving that you know a certain body of knowledge. It's supposed to prove that you know how to educate yourself and that you understand deeply the fundamental principles behind a discipline.
Let me guess, you've never worked with an idiot that had a degree before. Degree's are potentially just as meaningless (or valuable, depending) as certs. I know some of my classmates were absolutely awful coders, yet they still received their CS degree and found programmer positions.
My point is this: if you can't figure out if a candidate can do the job during the interview, perhaps there's a bigger problem here than having a cert on your resume.
No, it means they have the money to afford to be in IT.
So what. I paid a lot of money to get my CS degree.:-P
Personally, I think this thread is stupid. I have a cert or two. I have put them on my resume, and at the least, they became a target for questions during interviews. Can I do the job? You bet. Can I prove it? You bet. Why would putting on my resume that I'm a certified CCSP mean I'm an idiot or unqualified? And why does paying for all the training to get it mean something bad? Hell, does anyone saying some of these negative comments even know what it takes to get some of these certs?
Now, having said all that, I personally believe there's a difference between having a cert or two in one area and having a butt load of certs in disparate areas. For instance, having a CCSP *and* an MCSE would be a red flag to me if I was hiring. Two totally different fields of study? How good could they be in either? Open your eyes, people, and look at what's being given to you. Don't just make snappy decisions based on an illegitamate premise. You end up missing out on good people, like me.
Well, that was part of what I was trying to say, although you were more direct. And that's also why the ADA doesn't require that companies provide these kinds of digital amenities. It's unreasonable./gam/
What the...? You want a way to customize your window manager's themes? Most window managers do that for you. Besides, after a quick look at the StyleXP site, it appears that they're using something that Microsoft designed but didn't implement. Essentially, you need to buy this software to enable the native functionality in that OS that *should be provided by Microsoft* already.
What if you're both visually impaired *and* hearing impaired? and what if you have a disability with both of your arms that makes typing in a conventional way difficult? What if you're mental capacity is such that answering a question is complicated, or reading a word is extremely difficult? Or even if you're dislexic?
I used to work as an assistive technologist at a college, and I certainly understand the plight of the disabled computer user. Securing a free web service from bots is certainly a challenge when it comes to accessibility. My guess is that any solution in this area would require the web site to provide an alternate method of verifying that the end-user is indeed human for these situations.
One thing to note, however, is that the ADA does not cover this kind of access. It covers physical amenities, not electronic amenities. Maybe some day this will get added in, but for now businesses are not required to make their websites, or even their software, accessible-friendly./johnny p./
I can't imagine the arrest being due to just this online "offense." It must have been part of the story but something else was the actual cause. Or has the world drifted so far from reality? This is not the world I grew up in so long ago... and clearly not the world I expected.
Slashdot Mirror
The number one problem we have today that gets in the way of world peace is religion. The number one problem we have that gets in the way of sustaining our existence is consumerism. Beyond curbing these two major problems we will only make existence miserable for the next 100 years. And we will survive for at least the next 100 years, but who knows how long it will take for the earth to come back to balance... /gam/
"version stability"? Like running Windows XP for almost 5 years? Annoying maybe, but the new version of OS X does have major improvements, as opposed to all the Windows "updates". I guess I like "OS stability" more than "version stability".
-gam
I don't disagree at all, but I must say that PHP is fairly popular and has its place. And tools are finally coming out that help organize the messiness of PHP, like Trustudio's PHP IDE. I think of PHP as kind of a quick-and-dirty approach to web development.
-gam
This might be true to a degree, but the executive branch administration has done more to weaken our country, economy, and ecology than many other administrations that came before it. So, the question should be, which is worse: Republicans or Democrats or this administration? Personally, I don't think this country has had many "leaders" in charge for a looong time, and this administration's leadership is one of the worst. /gam/
Don't even get me started on Windows user management, permissions, etc... Talk about overly complicated... *That's* always felt waaay too confusing to me, and I *know* things about computers... :-)
-gam
I agree that Windows XP is fairly stable, and compared to Win2K it's damned stable. However, after using Windows and linux for many years, and recently OS X, I've decided that I just don't have the time needed to properly configure and maintain linux, or even to learn all the latest ways to configure and maintain it. Nor do I have the time it takes to fix all the problems that constantly pop up with Windows. Mac OS X, although still has its problems, has the most impressive out-of-the-box experience I've had in many years, and I suppose I'm kind of a fanboy now even though my main server is still linux.
.info file corruptions which is *really* annoying, even tho it happens once every couple months.
/gam/
Add all the amazing OSS software into this and it can be overwhelming for one person to manage every piece of OSS software that's installed. Microsoft does a relaatively good job of updating Windows out-of-the-box, although the quality of the updates can be debated. However, they really suck at keeping their software updated or users informed. Using yum, apt, or some other software management solution usually requires fiddling with settings to get just the right mirror, and even then I have to put my trust that the mirror I chose is good, i.e. legitimate, secure, and stable. Once it's set up it's Ok, but it clearly lacks stature. Mac updates are very simple and requires very little effort to manage. Apple applications also appear in their updater, which should be expected. However, I often find myself running a variety of tools after a major system update to fix permissions, settings, and application
Overall, I prefer simple to complicated. I don't want to spend time fiddling with every danged setting just to make something work anymore. And I don't want to constantly keep restoring my system to a previous state when a system patch goes south.
Anyways, it seems like MS has it right, but they also need to add the perspective that their crap isn't so reliable either. And from my experience with the Vista beta, they have a long way to go before they can make it simple. In fact, I personally think they made it too complex for the average user. Something's wrong when I'm thinking more about how to make my OS do something than I am about completing my tasks.
As an "IT professional," on very rare occasions have I needed to show up to customer sites. I didn't have an alienware laptop at the time, but the people that I worked with were very much like me and would probably have asked questions about it and whether or not I liked it. I sincerely doubt that most customers even *care* what kind of laptop you're using, as long as it works and works well.
/gam/
Now, by IT Professional I mean programmer or system admin. If by IT Professional the parent poster meant something different, which probably is the case, then I think he should have used a different title.
cheers,
I notices that the iMac Core Duo test machine had only 512MB of memory, while the Power Mac G5 had 4.5GB. Even the iMac G5 had 1GB. One the surface, I think one would have to compare equivalent computing power to understand why these benchmarks aren't quite legitimate.
/gamlidek/
Put 512MB in each of the test machines and _then_ run the tests.. My experience has shown that the amount of physical memory directly relates to performance. More memory == better performance.
cheers,
I'm still pissed that Windows accounts need to be part of the Administrator group to get anything done. Sure, you _could_ create a second local user not on the domain to install things locally, but Windows doesn't exactly make it easy to switch users. Folks don't want to close everything they're working on down just to install a simple little app that they need... Sure, you could _also_ "Run as..." and pick the local account, but even that seems to have issues sometimes with permissions -- which seem to only be useful for making things complicated in Windows since they're never really used correctly and most of the time end up being turned off to make things easy. Can you say "Share everything to everyone and let everyone have Full Control"? And explaining these kinds of "tricks" to users? Don't even get me started. Basically, with Windows, ease-of-use has won out over security, although some might even argue that there was never really a battle between the two. People don't want to be annoyed, which still perplexes me that Windows is the de-facto choice since I find it nothing but annoying.
/gamlidek/
P.S. -- I happily converted to OS X after a decade of linux use.
It's this kind of thinking that's causing our rights to leak away...
It can cost anywhere between $10k and $20k. You can file one yourself, but chances are it will get rejected.
I can live with that, especially since you don't even know me or have any basis or reason to judge who I am or what I'm like.
/gam/
and am definitely prejudiced against someone who puts them on their resume.
/gam/
A bit extreme, no? I hope I never run into someone as arrogant as you in the work field,.....
Luckily, all you have to do in this guy's case is put a cert on your resume and walla! Anyways, arrogance is just ignorance being mean.
Although this thread is starting to get personal, let me take this back just a bit...
/gam/
I agree that one's possession of a cert is not a valid reason to choose a candidate. But I disagree with some of the tone that I'm reading here toward individuals who do happen to have them, for whatever reason. Clearly, from the response here, there's some animosity towards individuals who can "afford" it or that they're "lucky" in some way. Regarding the tone, although it hasn't been specifically stated that certs are bad, that's the implication. There also appears to be a misconception about individuals who have certs feeling that individuals who don't are lesser people.
From my personal perspective, folks that I work with earn my respect. I don't give it to them because they have a cert or don't have a cert. One of my best mentors was a second level manager above me and he had no degree. He just didn't believe he needed it, and knowing him for as long as I have I agree with his assertion. Does my having a master's degree or certification mean he was a lesser individual? No. In fact, that didn't even play a role in our relationship. Ever.
So, taking this back down a level... I'm still paying for my education, and the only way I would consider myself lucky regarding that education is that I have an income that can afford to pay for it. But I earned my place within my industry. No luck about it.
But a BA/BS/MA/MS/etc. is not supposed to be about proving that you know a certain body of knowledge. It's supposed to prove that you know how to educate yourself and that you understand deeply the fundamental principles behind a discipline.
/gam/
Let me guess, you've never worked with an idiot that had a degree before. Degree's are potentially just as meaningless (or valuable, depending) as certs. I know some of my classmates were absolutely awful coders, yet they still received their CS degree and found programmer positions.
My point is this: if you can't figure out if a candidate can do the job during the interview, perhaps there's a bigger problem here than having a cert on your resume.
No, it means they have the money to afford to be in IT.
:-P
/gam/
So what. I paid a lot of money to get my CS degree.
Personally, I think this thread is stupid. I have a cert or two. I have put them on my resume, and at the least, they became a target for questions during interviews. Can I do the job? You bet. Can I prove it? You bet. Why would putting on my resume that I'm a certified CCSP mean I'm an idiot or unqualified? And why does paying for all the training to get it mean something bad? Hell, does anyone saying some of these negative comments even know what it takes to get some of these certs?
Now, having said all that, I personally believe there's a difference between having a cert or two in one area and having a butt load of certs in disparate areas. For instance, having a CCSP *and* an MCSE would be a red flag to me if I was hiring. Two totally different fields of study? How good could they be in either? Open your eyes, people, and look at what's being given to you. Don't just make snappy decisions based on an illegitamate premise. You end up missing out on good people, like me.
Well, that was part of what I was trying to say, although you were more direct. And that's also why the ADA doesn't require that companies provide these kinds of digital amenities. It's unreasonable. /gam/
[I know this is a troll.. but what the heck...]
/gam/
What the...? You want a way to customize your window manager's themes? Most window managers do that for you. Besides, after a quick look at the StyleXP site, it appears that they're using something that Microsoft designed but didn't implement. Essentially, you need to buy this software to enable the native functionality in that OS that *should be provided by Microsoft* already.
*sigh*
Oh man, Starscream was one of my favorites... *sigh* I miss the days when all I used to think about were toys. /gam/
What if you're both visually impaired *and* hearing impaired? and what if you have a disability with both of your arms that makes typing in a conventional way difficult? What if you're mental capacity is such that answering a question is complicated, or reading a word is extremely difficult? Or even if you're dislexic?
/johnny p./
I used to work as an assistive technologist at a college, and I certainly understand the plight of the disabled computer user. Securing a free web service from bots is certainly a challenge when it comes to accessibility. My guess is that any solution in this area would require the web site to provide an alternate method of verifying that the end-user is indeed human for these situations.
One thing to note, however, is that the ADA does not cover this kind of access. It covers physical amenities, not electronic amenities. Maybe some day this will get added in, but for now businesses are not required to make their websites, or even their software, accessible-friendly.
I can't imagine the arrest being due to just this online "offense." It must have been part of the story but something else was the actual cause. Or has the world drifted so far from reality? This is not the world I grew up in so long ago... and clearly not the world I expected.
-gam
Microsoft isn't buggy, it's evil! ;)
... ;)
/gam/
I think you meant: Microsoft isn't just buggy,
Not to mention, who's going to buy IBM anything when the quality is in the toilet? /gam/
I hope folks aren't seriously flocking to buy SCO products still.. seems like with all the alternatives available SCO should be suffering. /gam/
Wonderful, maybe... but Exciting? C'mon! It's a development language.
/gam/
I guess I'm one who still doesn't get it...