A really cool toy for measuring this is the "Watts Up" power meter. $130 is pricy, but it accurately calculates power usage over time and will translate into dollars if you set it to your electric rate. You have to have a lot of gear to hit $3-4 a month. A P90 firewall with no monitor is probably 95W.
Good point -- rereading my post I skipped mentioning unplugging at the interface. Essential to getting it to work. Apparently a few people didn't and Vonage was pretty unamused when they burnt up their routers. But you need to do more than unplug to prevent unintentional replug. Voltage on the line means its hooked up to the switch at the central office -- thus they could turn it on remotely.
No crossover is needed. RJ-11 cables are always straight through since they're an analog signal (difference between two wires) rather than a digital signal (one direction on each wire).
While they warn you in big letters not to connect the Vonage POTS jack to your house, it works perfectly when you do it (in fact, the Cisco box is designed to support it) with just a normal phone cable. There are numerous people (including me) who've done it. My wife had no idea we'd switched other than she has to dial with 10 digits. The four existing phones are great, just clearer (and free caller id, etc.). The issue is if you unintentionally crossconnect the box with a live circuit from the phone/cable company you will burn out the box and make the phone company's equipment unhappy. Which could happen if they're at the wrong house, (or you're out of town, phone dies, and your wife asks the neighbor to help), they open the customer premises demarcation, see an unplugged jack, and do the logical thing. So to be safe you need to do something extreme like chop off the end/electrical tape/big signs.
Most high-end headhunters are required to rebate the entire fee if the person leaves within a year (by choice of either side). Though they usually get a second crack at filling the position. Which is why many signing bonuses and relocation packages require you to stay a year or pay it back.
It may end up somewhat like stockbroking, which was once far too difficult for the average person and now is trivial. I for one will be happy to pay for physician review of my physical but accept shorter contact due to automation. Some things will never change -- I tried to diagnose a condition over the internet without success; a doctor figured it out in 5 seconds by the smell. They'd never seen anything similar but could instantly apply their education and experience to the situation. However, the core demand for nurses and doctors will stay the same (emergency room services, physicals, elder care, etc.).
But you are right about nurses. Nurse practitioners in states like MA which allow them are great primary care providers for healthy people. In my experience they have the time to give great customer service for minor ailments. I am more than happy to use one when available. You shouldn't need a medical degree to prescribe skin cream or birth control pills.
Science fiction already anticipated this in the 80s. In a short story published in Dragon magazine, a poor newb assassin was trying to earn enough money in an online game to go to realworld summer camp. After spending most her initial stash on food, healing, and equipment, she's flat broke. She accidentally encounters an unkillable monster who proceeds to beat the living daylights out of her. Oddly, she wakes up (forced to log off due to character unconsciousness) in a hospital with a note and several thousand dollars in her ingame account. The note thanks her for her poison stash (smashed against the monster's back in the backpack she wore ends up killing him too). A high-level character finds the monster, takes the monsters magic belt, and cashes out $500K overnight and quits the game since he can reach previously unreachable loot. The woman in real life doesn't know whether to be disappointed or ecstatic since she can now go to camp; but lost the most valuable artifact in the game (which she had neither the character or knowledge to effectively use).
All in all, a fascinating analysis of the issue. I agree with the author -- someday we will have money-based games, but they will generate a lot of unhappiness.
This is a good point. The $4000 contains all the networking and infrastructure. In some cases, such as Iceland, this means buying underwater cables and such. It also wires every pier in the Navy for shipboard connectivity (even though ships don't pay a dime -- just a huge cost that the fleets couldn't fund prior to NMCI). Oh, and it replaces the Navy's abysmal security with state of the art (the Navy is figuring out just how painful the rules it blindly adopted several years ago are -- don't blame EDS for enforcing the rules Navy set).
The abuse isn't the seat costs. $4000/yr/seat isn't bad including all networking, support, etc. The abuse is the $300/year scanner and CD-R and the fact that EDS owns everything at the end of the contract (letting them jack up the followup contract by at least 20% and still come in as easily the lowest bidder). And don't get me started about the pathetic configurations (such as excessive untested lockdowns leading to registry corruption and loss of machine).
One of the largest worldwide networks (government-related) is moving to "cracking" all incoming SSL connections (mainly by acting as an intermediary). Works great but high latency. Connections initiated from inside the network are still allowed encrypted. Their policy is without content scanning, there will be no connections from outside the network.
On submarines (my former job) there is a fairly loud fan that goes to each bed with an adjustable damper. It helps with airflow, but an equally important purpose is to increase the background noise and mask other peoples noise, things going bump, snoring, etc. It is much easier to sleep when these fans are working. A fan will be the least of your noise worries in a college dormitory.
I slept in a room with an aquarium most of my life (think fans are loud, try a reciprocating motor, especially if you can't afford the "Whisper" brand) and with my computer all through college and my first two years out. Never a problem after a few days becoming accustomed. Hint, don't get 14 cheapo fans in turbo mode. One or two appropriate fans are quite livable.
Canon inkjets are the best. And the cartridges (single color) are only about $9-$10 each. A set of 4 lasts a long time -- probably 3 times as long as a Lexmark or HP. And refill/knock off all you want -- but at that price its hard to convince me you're saving much. Well worth the $50 premium on the printer (I got burned by a Lexmark and a photohappy wife -- we both love the Canon).
Busted link but an interesting article. Unfortunately, its thesis is that the hawks lack military experience and thus may be somewhat casual in their quest for war; not that military experience is useless as you suggest.
Actually most big companies are large and bloated just like the military. That's why they like military guys -- we know how to get the mission accomplished in that environment through fast, independent thinking.
I wouldn't call most of the "chicken hawks" the best and brightest, just the highest ranking. They are a sad commentary (even for a Republican) on the curse of a presidential system. Frankly, I neither wanted or expected Paul Wolfowitz when voting for Bush. (Though Gore's equivalents were likely equally extremist and unacceptable).
Fair enough. But compared to pipe tobacco it seems pricy ($5 of pipe tobacco from a discounter like JR will last an equivalent time). Hey smokers, smoking a pipe is way, way, way cheaper (due to favorable taxation of bulk tobacco vs. cigarettes and the lack of "name" brands) than cigarettes. It's beyond me why more people don't do it (other than pipes are for old men, which is true but irrelevant).
I actually enjoy sheesha quite a bit (fruit-flavored molasses and tobacco mixture traditionally flavored with apple). It can only be smoked in a water pipe. However, a hookah as configured for tobacco is actually unsuited for marijuana since I don't know anyone who's going to smoke 1/2 ounce of weed at a time. To use it for weed you'd need a totally different clay bowl at the top of the water pipe. Smoking tobacco in this fashion is reasonably popular in Lebanon, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (to a lesser degree). The Lebonese double and triple pipes allow multiple people to smoke from a common pipe simultaneously and are highly decorative. The tobacco is widely available on the Internet but is pricy (about $20 for a box that will last 40-50 1-2 hour smokes).
There were a couple "bars" in California and areas with high numbers of Lebanese immigrants in 2000. I don't think it'll ever hit the mainstream, however.
Set theory was trendy in the 70s but is way out of favor now. Used to confuse the heck out of me working from my parents' textbooks (they're packrats). It is a shame, though. I only learned about 1/2 of "advanced math" and 2/3 of "calculus" due to teacher neglect of the rest of the textbook. Then I skipped Calc II since you're expected to start at Calc III in engineering at a top school. Every once in a while, I'll find a completely elementary concept that got dropped -- for example, I learned the existence of Taylor Series at a job interview. My lack of knowledge was so utter on the subject it really threw the interview off since I had finished linear algebra/Calc IV at the time. Even with an 800 Math SAT, 2 As at a top university in Calc, I had completely missed series theory (and still only know the rudiments).
Schools really need to focus on the fundamentals. And challenge people who can handle it -- I would have loved more advanced math/calc at the 9th or 10th grade level. I know I found it very difficult to learn in college to the same level of understanding when I was swamped with work in my major and entirely new subjects. The 2/3 of calc I know has served me really well throughout the last 15 years, since I had the time and (reasonably good teaching) to truly and thoroughly understand it.
To the people worrying about burnout -- ever see those little kids learning Violin suzuki-style? They love it (just like I loved math). Make school fun, don't set limits, have good teachers, and kids will amaze you. A kid "on track" in math has no hope at a top math PhD -- you should have calculus (all semesters) and mathematical proofs down cold to have any chance as a freshman (now there's some good stories about people missing things -- I know a brilliant guy -- USMO medalist -- who skipped 3 semesters of calculus/linear algebra entirely).
The leading edge is getting further and further ahead. It's tough but we have to figure out a way in high school to support the superstars while training the future engineers(like me) who just need math as a tool as well as those people who'll top out at Calc I. All 3 groups benefit greatly from appropriate instruction (and in the worst case yet ontopic, from appropriate textbooks).
Pay is pretty competitive once you factor in the rapid promotions in IT. You can start applying(normally successfully if you have a good degree) for jobs in the next higher grade after one year in grade. Often jobs are structured for automatic promotion so you'll stay after the first year (it is easier to find a promotion than get the first government job for a variety of reasons). Of course, you have to be willing to move.
And the security clearance is a big, big deal placing NSA or any intelligence agency at the top of your list. You can easily find a job paying nice $$ if you have a valid Top Secret security clearance and are willing to work anywhere (they pay people 30K+ to escort copier repairmen and soda machine guys around the building in some highly sensitive areas -- people with programming skills are 50K+ for junior guys). Read the Washington Post job ads -- they are chockerblock with jobs if you can jump this hurdle.
Of course, there are downsides to working for the government (difficult to execute projects, requirements always change, customers and moneymen constantly struggling for project control). But normally hours are pretty good so you can develop skills or do contracts on the side if you're really motivated.
Oh, and ontopic, you'll never get an internship except through a coop-type program. Government summer jobs are a byzantine process (and ironically, largely random). It takes many months to get a government job.
Actually, most of the nuclear techs I know (I am a submarine officer) had some college experience and more than one were graduates before entering the Navy (one of the biggest dirtbags I ever worked with was an electrician with a BA from Morehouse College -- probably the most prestigious college I ran across). One of Navy nuclear's major recruiting areas is people who drop out of college. Pretty good pay, pretty good benefits, crappy but indoor work if you've got a low-end degree.
The "cut" through Nuclear Power School, A School, and Prototype is so rigorous (due to the nuclear regulators) that if you didn't at least attempt college you probably won't make the cut. Very few smart guys these days see a six year "break" between high school and college as part of their long-range plan. Though I know one guy who went to Harvard after a full Navy nuke enlistment out of high school so they do exist.
Ironically, my showing appeared to have a related problem. We had an unscheduled intermission 2:15 in since the next reel apparently wasn't ready (about 10 minute delay). My suspicion is that it was being shared with the theater across the hall (2 hours ahead) since all the theaters with TTT were in pairs sharing the same projection room. Someone probably just forgot to move the reel. No explanation -- just magically restarted.
A beautiful print, by the way. When you wait to the second week they're all dogeared -- they should save a few for high-volume showings.
Visual C++.NET was specifically disapproved. No development software of any type is allowed under NMCI. Programmers can either use a second computer or a dual boot computer (with the "programming" boot unnetworked). Lots of homebrew LANs popping up all over:)
Some sites are apparently hiring MSCEs at $9/hour to do installations and user support. Imagine the quality of a $9/hr MSCE. Other sites have had the entire crew (EDS folks included) walk out on the day of rollout. Oh, and they fire most of the people when the job is done. Productivity was not a concern (each person did one to two installs a day) since the longer it took, the longer you worked.
Any software/hardware used to control nuclear missiles has extraordinary levels of review and testing. If its not broken (and it was designed in the early 80s) don't fix it. It is extremely effective even if the screens are green and the racks are big. There's no point writing new software until there's a new generation of missiles that demands it (unlikely). Missile submarines are very low priority for whizbang systems in other areas due to their mission (be quiet and wait for World War III).
Check out an attack submarine (mission: find and attack). They receive hardware refreshes after every deployment (2 years or so). ARCI, the new sonar system, uses hundreds of blade-mounted PowerPCs with a user interface rivalling any wall street trading system or other high-end Unix app. Hardware refresh every 2 years, software every year. We install Win2K, portals, RAID arrays, high speed at-sea internet links, etc. every month on fast attack subs since they're actively performing intelligence missions and shooting Tomahawks in the Persian Gulf and elsewhere.
As a former Navy sysadm, I've seen how this actually works. 100% of people have Word installed and use it for new documents. However, there is an enormous "legacy" base of old documents. So some salty guy (normally in admin) will complain and he'll get Word Perfect or Wordstar installed when he gets a new computer with admonition not to complain about the good deal I hooked him up with. (They normally have a good point, import filters are useless if you need the formatting intact). Since he had it on the old one, sysad figures the license must exist. Well, here comes NMCI wanting the paper licenses.
If I was forced to cough up paper licenses for my home programs I probably couldn't do it (though I can produce the CDs) -- imagine where that 15 year old piece of paper is now. None of the companies I've ever worked at could survive this drill (we normally thought knowing where the disks and manuals were was an accomplishment). Oh, and most software didn't come with a "license" back then to be retained, the disks or the manual cover were considered proof.
Single signon allows you to use hard tokens (either the changing number kind, smartcards, etc.). No one site can afford them for their own use (though Bank of America uses them for medium-sized businesses) but they're quite affordable if everyone shares. Most people don't want 20-30 smartcards anyway.
The cry of single point of failure is really a desire for security through obscurity. Most people I know have a text file with tens to hundreds of passwords (I have 25 or so for work and about 150 for home). They don't change them on a regular basis. (I'm forced to change mine every 60 days -- another reason for the text file) Where's the security?
If I had one password accompanied by a hard token I'd have it memorized and you'd have to mug me to get the token. A single system also allows proper redundancy, security monitoring, etc. You can also have multiple passwords if desired/required -- what's important is that the same security infrastructure is utilized for compatibility (token type, etc.). Just because Microsoft's passport is awful, doesn't mean the SSO concept isn't sound.
One thing people don't think about is that there are currently a lot of advancement opportunties in federal government IT. Low pay/antiquated procedures have created a talent void. I know some pretty inept people who are promoting rapidly. The trick is that you have to move -- if you stay at one place you have to wait for your boss to retire since jobs can't be created in place without extreme difficulty. Some of the supervisory positions are not financially lucrative (though I wouldn't sneeze at 80-135K), but have large staffs, large travel budgets, plenty of money for toys and projects, etc. It's very true about some of the bureaucracy and roadblocks but if you have the right bosses above you (the key is finding the right boss rather than the right job -- they can easily change your job description or ignore it) you can create and implement cutting-edge projects. And there are good benefits and no hour pressure -- it is very easy to work 8-5 with clear weekends and even an occasional vacation. Training opportunities are often excellent (though harder for key people).
For programmers, however, you have to manage to get high pay. Most programming work is now being contracted out (and thus creating more government managers) because you can't pay people enough in nonsupervisory jobs like programming. Thus you get good junior guys and good managers but the senior programmers can be problematic. You'd better feed them a lot of toys and "interesting" projects if you plan to get useful work.
Private Sector: Better Pay (especially for non-managerial IT and top execs)
Public Sector: Family-friendly with high promotion potential for those who can live with not getting rich.
I've had this handle for almost a decade. Much better than Azogue (my old handle).
Bangbacks and other death saves really ended with the WPC machines with dot matrix displays in the early 90s. The construction of the area under the flippers changed so it is much harder to translate force from the front of the machine to the ball. Also the default angle is significantly steeper on 90s machines than their 80s counterparts which significantly ups the force required. And they started adding slam tilt sensors to the doors (which lose your entire game, not just a ball, when activated) which often get set off by a bangback.
Performing a bangback on a modern machine is now normally machine abuse due to the force required. It was just plain elegant and skillful play on a Pinbot, Back to the Future, or similar.
The digital pad is so that paper receipts do not have to be delivered to process the transaction. When they run your card through it just authorizes the transaction, it later has to be reconciled for payment. That's why the credit card company must be able to present a copy of the receipt (though they frequently cannot) -- they are at least responsible to have the store retain the copy in case there is a question. This way it is handled entirely electronically, with obvious savings for time and document retention problems.
I have had stores err in reconciling charges and the charge never shows up. Lose the signatures and you have nothing (the bank may or may not help you process the charges anyway in the hopes 95% won't know you screwed up and will pay anyway).
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A really cool toy for measuring this is the "Watts Up" power meter. $130 is pricy, but it accurately calculates power usage over time and will translate into dollars if you set it to your electric rate. You have to have a lot of gear to hit $3-4 a month. A P90 firewall with no monitor is probably 95W.
Good point -- rereading my post I skipped mentioning unplugging at the interface. Essential to getting it to work. Apparently a few people didn't and Vonage was pretty unamused when they burnt up their routers. But you need to do more than unplug to prevent unintentional replug. Voltage on the line means its hooked up to the switch at the central office -- thus they could turn it on remotely. No crossover is needed. RJ-11 cables are always straight through since they're an analog signal (difference between two wires) rather than a digital signal (one direction on each wire).
While they warn you in big letters not to connect the Vonage POTS jack to your house, it works perfectly when you do it (in fact, the Cisco box is designed to support it) with just a normal phone cable. There are numerous people (including me) who've done it. My wife had no idea we'd switched other than she has to dial with 10 digits. The four existing phones are great, just clearer (and free caller id, etc.). The issue is if you unintentionally crossconnect the box with a live circuit from the phone/cable company you will burn out the box and make the phone company's equipment unhappy. Which could happen if they're at the wrong house, (or you're out of town, phone dies, and your wife asks the neighbor to help), they open the customer premises demarcation, see an unplugged jack, and do the logical thing. So to be safe you need to do something extreme like chop off the end/electrical tape/big signs.
Most high-end headhunters are required to rebate the entire fee if the person leaves within a year (by choice of either side). Though they usually get a second crack at filling the position. Which is why many signing bonuses and relocation packages require you to stay a year or pay it back.
It may end up somewhat like stockbroking, which was once far too difficult for the average person and now is trivial. I for one will be happy to pay for physician review of my physical but accept shorter contact due to automation. Some things will never change -- I tried to diagnose a condition over the internet without success; a doctor figured it out in 5 seconds by the smell. They'd never seen anything similar but could instantly apply their education and experience to the situation. However, the core demand for nurses and doctors will stay the same (emergency room services, physicals, elder care, etc.).
But you are right about nurses. Nurse practitioners in states like MA which allow them are great primary care providers for healthy people. In my experience they have the time to give great customer service for minor ailments. I am more than happy to use one when available. You shouldn't need a medical degree to prescribe skin cream or birth control pills.
All in all, a fascinating analysis of the issue. I agree with the author -- someday we will have money-based games, but they will generate a lot of unhappiness.
This is a good point. The $4000 contains all the networking and infrastructure. In some cases, such as Iceland, this means buying underwater cables and such. It also wires every pier in the Navy for shipboard connectivity (even though ships don't pay a dime -- just a huge cost that the fleets couldn't fund prior to NMCI). Oh, and it replaces the Navy's abysmal security with state of the art (the Navy is figuring out just how painful the rules it blindly adopted several years ago are -- don't blame EDS for enforcing the rules Navy set).
The abuse isn't the seat costs. $4000/yr/seat isn't bad including all networking, support, etc. The abuse is the $300/year scanner and CD-R and the fact that EDS owns everything at the end of the contract (letting them jack up the followup contract by at least 20% and still come in as easily the lowest bidder). And don't get me started about the pathetic configurations (such as excessive untested lockdowns leading to registry corruption and loss of machine).
One of the largest worldwide networks (government-related) is moving to "cracking" all incoming SSL connections (mainly by acting as an intermediary). Works great but high latency. Connections initiated from inside the network are still allowed encrypted. Their policy is without content scanning, there will be no connections from outside the network.
On submarines (my former job) there is a fairly loud fan that goes to each bed with an adjustable damper. It helps with airflow, but an equally important purpose is to increase the background noise and mask other peoples noise, things going bump, snoring, etc. It is much easier to sleep when these fans are working. A fan will be the least of your noise worries in a college dormitory.
I slept in a room with an aquarium most of my life (think fans are loud, try a reciprocating motor, especially if you can't afford the "Whisper" brand) and with my computer all through college and my first two years out. Never a problem after a few days becoming accustomed. Hint, don't get 14 cheapo fans in turbo mode. One or two appropriate fans are quite livable.
Canon inkjets are the best. And the cartridges (single color) are only about $9-$10 each. A set of 4 lasts a long time -- probably 3 times as long as a Lexmark or HP. And refill/knock off all you want -- but at that price its hard to convince me you're saving much. Well worth the $50 premium on the printer (I got burned by a Lexmark and a photohappy wife -- we both love the Canon).
Busted link but an interesting article. Unfortunately, its thesis is that the hawks lack military experience and thus may be somewhat casual in their quest for war; not that military experience is useless as you suggest.
Actually most big companies are large and bloated just like the military. That's why they like military guys -- we know how to get the mission accomplished in that environment through fast, independent thinking.
I wouldn't call most of the "chicken hawks" the best and brightest, just the highest ranking. They are a sad commentary (even for a Republican) on the curse of a presidential system. Frankly, I neither wanted or expected Paul Wolfowitz when voting for Bush. (Though Gore's equivalents were likely equally extremist and unacceptable).
Fair enough. But compared to pipe tobacco it seems pricy ($5 of pipe tobacco from a discounter like JR will last an equivalent time). Hey smokers, smoking a pipe is way, way, way cheaper (due to favorable taxation of bulk tobacco vs. cigarettes and the lack of "name" brands) than cigarettes. It's beyond me why more people don't do it (other than pipes are for old men, which is true but irrelevant).
I actually enjoy sheesha quite a bit (fruit-flavored molasses and tobacco mixture traditionally flavored with apple). It can only be smoked in a water pipe. However, a hookah as configured for tobacco is actually unsuited for marijuana since I don't know anyone who's going to smoke 1/2 ounce of weed at a time. To use it for weed you'd need a totally different clay bowl at the top of the water pipe. Smoking tobacco in this fashion is reasonably popular in Lebanon, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (to a lesser degree). The Lebonese double and triple pipes allow multiple people to smoke from a common pipe simultaneously and are highly decorative. The tobacco is widely available on the Internet but is pricy (about $20 for a box that will last 40-50 1-2 hour smokes).
There were a couple "bars" in California and areas with high numbers of Lebanese immigrants in 2000. I don't think it'll ever hit the mainstream, however.
Set theory was trendy in the 70s but is way out of favor now. Used to confuse the heck out of me working from my parents' textbooks (they're packrats). It is a shame, though. I only learned about 1/2 of "advanced math" and 2/3 of "calculus" due to teacher neglect of the rest of the textbook. Then I skipped Calc II since you're expected to start at Calc III in engineering at a top school. Every once in a while, I'll find a completely elementary concept that got dropped -- for example, I learned the existence of Taylor Series at a job interview. My lack of knowledge was so utter on the subject it really threw the interview off since I had finished linear algebra/Calc IV at the time. Even with an 800 Math SAT, 2 As at a top university in Calc, I had completely missed series theory (and still only know the rudiments).
Schools really need to focus on the fundamentals. And challenge people who can handle it -- I would have loved more advanced math/calc at the 9th or 10th grade level. I know I found it very difficult to learn in college to the same level of understanding when I was swamped with work in my major and entirely new subjects. The 2/3 of calc I know has served me really well throughout the last 15 years, since I had the time and (reasonably good teaching) to truly and thoroughly understand it.
To the people worrying about burnout -- ever see those little kids learning Violin suzuki-style? They love it (just like I loved math). Make school fun, don't set limits, have good teachers, and kids will amaze you. A kid "on track" in math has no hope at a top math PhD -- you should have calculus (all semesters) and mathematical proofs down cold to have any chance as a freshman (now there's some good stories about people missing things -- I know a brilliant guy -- USMO medalist -- who skipped 3 semesters of calculus/linear algebra entirely).
The leading edge is getting further and further ahead. It's tough but we have to figure out a way in high school to support the superstars while training the future engineers(like me) who just need math as a tool as well as those people who'll top out at Calc I. All 3 groups benefit greatly from appropriate instruction (and in the worst case yet ontopic, from appropriate textbooks).
Pay is pretty competitive once you factor in the rapid promotions in IT. You can start applying(normally successfully if you have a good degree) for jobs in the next higher grade after one year in grade. Often jobs are structured for automatic promotion so you'll stay after the first year (it is easier to find a promotion than get the first government job for a variety of reasons). Of course, you have to be willing to move.
And the security clearance is a big, big deal placing NSA or any intelligence agency at the top of your list. You can easily find a job paying nice $$ if you have a valid Top Secret security clearance and are willing to work anywhere (they pay people 30K+ to escort copier repairmen and soda machine guys around the building in some highly sensitive areas -- people with programming skills are 50K+ for junior guys). Read the Washington Post job ads -- they are chockerblock with jobs if you can jump this hurdle.
Of course, there are downsides to working for the government (difficult to execute projects, requirements always change, customers and moneymen constantly struggling for project control). But normally hours are pretty good so you can develop skills or do contracts on the side if you're really motivated.
Oh, and ontopic, you'll never get an internship except through a coop-type program. Government summer jobs are a byzantine process (and ironically, largely random). It takes many months to get a government job.
Actually, most of the nuclear techs I know (I am a submarine officer) had some college experience and more than one were graduates before entering the Navy (one of the biggest dirtbags I ever worked with was an electrician with a BA from Morehouse College -- probably the most prestigious college I ran across). One of Navy nuclear's major recruiting areas is people who drop out of college. Pretty good pay, pretty good benefits, crappy but indoor work if you've got a low-end degree.
The "cut" through Nuclear Power School, A School, and Prototype is so rigorous (due to the nuclear regulators) that if you didn't at least attempt college you probably won't make the cut. Very few smart guys these days see a six year "break" between high school and college as part of their long-range plan. Though I know one guy who went to Harvard after a full Navy nuke enlistment out of high school so they do exist.
Ironically, my showing appeared to have a related problem. We had an unscheduled intermission 2:15 in since the next reel apparently wasn't ready (about 10 minute delay). My suspicion is that it was being shared with the theater across the hall (2 hours ahead) since all the theaters with TTT were in pairs sharing the same projection room. Someone probably just forgot to move the reel. No explanation -- just magically restarted.
A beautiful print, by the way. When you wait to the second week they're all dogeared -- they should save a few for high-volume showings.
Visual C++.NET was specifically disapproved. No development software of any type is allowed under NMCI. Programmers can either use a second computer or a dual boot computer (with the "programming" boot unnetworked). Lots of homebrew LANs popping up all over :)
Some sites are apparently hiring MSCEs at $9/hour to do installations and user support. Imagine the quality of a $9/hr MSCE. Other sites have had the entire crew (EDS folks included) walk out on the day of rollout. Oh, and they fire most of the people when the job is done. Productivity was not a concern (each person did one to two installs a day) since the longer it took, the longer you worked.
Any software/hardware used to control nuclear missiles has extraordinary levels of review and testing. If its not broken (and it was designed in the early 80s) don't fix it. It is extremely effective even if the screens are green and the racks are big. There's no point writing new software until there's a new generation of missiles that demands it (unlikely). Missile submarines are very low priority for whizbang systems in other areas due to their mission (be quiet and wait for World War III).
Check out an attack submarine (mission: find and attack). They receive hardware refreshes after every deployment (2 years or so). ARCI, the new sonar system, uses hundreds of blade-mounted PowerPCs with a user interface rivalling any wall street trading system or other high-end Unix app. Hardware refresh every 2 years, software every year. We install Win2K, portals, RAID arrays, high speed at-sea internet links, etc. every month on fast attack subs since they're actively performing intelligence missions and shooting Tomahawks in the Persian Gulf and elsewhere.
As a former Navy sysadm, I've seen how this actually works. 100% of people have Word installed and use it for new documents. However, there is an enormous "legacy" base of old documents. So some salty guy (normally in admin) will complain and he'll get Word Perfect or Wordstar installed when he gets a new computer with admonition not to complain about the good deal I hooked him up with. (They normally have a good point, import filters are useless if you need the formatting intact). Since he had it on the old one, sysad figures the license must exist. Well, here comes NMCI wanting the paper licenses.
If I was forced to cough up paper licenses for my home programs I probably couldn't do it (though I can produce the CDs) -- imagine where that 15 year old piece of paper is now. None of the companies I've ever worked at could survive this drill (we normally thought knowing where the disks and manuals were was an accomplishment). Oh, and most software didn't come with a "license" back then to be retained, the disks or the manual cover were considered proof.
I think everyone is missing the point.
Single signon allows you to use hard tokens (either the changing number kind, smartcards, etc.). No one site can afford them for their own use (though Bank of America uses them for medium-sized businesses) but they're quite affordable if everyone shares. Most people don't want 20-30 smartcards anyway.
The cry of single point of failure is really a desire for security through obscurity. Most people I know have a text file with tens to hundreds of passwords (I have 25 or so for work and about 150 for home). They don't change them on a regular basis. (I'm forced to change mine every 60 days -- another reason for the text file) Where's the security?
If I had one password accompanied by a hard token I'd have it memorized and you'd have to mug me to get the token. A single system also allows proper redundancy, security monitoring, etc. You can also have multiple passwords if desired/required -- what's important is that the same security infrastructure is utilized for compatibility (token type, etc.). Just because Microsoft's passport is awful, doesn't mean the SSO concept isn't sound.
One thing people don't think about is that there are currently a lot of advancement opportunties in federal government IT. Low pay/antiquated procedures have created a talent void. I know some pretty inept people who are promoting rapidly. The trick is that you have to move -- if you stay at one place you have to wait for your boss to retire since jobs can't be created in place without extreme difficulty. Some of the supervisory positions are not financially lucrative (though I wouldn't sneeze at 80-135K), but have large staffs, large travel budgets, plenty of money for toys and projects, etc. It's very true about some of the bureaucracy and roadblocks but if you have the right bosses above you (the key is finding the right boss rather than the right job -- they can easily change your job description or ignore it) you can create and implement cutting-edge projects. And there are good benefits and no hour pressure -- it is very easy to work 8-5 with clear weekends and even an occasional vacation. Training opportunities are often excellent (though harder for key people).
For programmers, however, you have to manage to get high pay. Most programming work is now being contracted out (and thus creating more government managers) because you can't pay people enough in nonsupervisory jobs like programming. Thus you get good junior guys and good managers but the senior programmers can be problematic. You'd better feed them a lot of toys and "interesting" projects if you plan to get useful work.
Private Sector: Better Pay (especially for non-managerial IT and top execs)
Public Sector: Family-friendly with high promotion potential for those who can live with not getting rich.
I've had this handle for almost a decade. Much better than Azogue (my old handle).
Bangbacks and other death saves really ended with the WPC machines with dot matrix displays in the early 90s. The construction of the area under the flippers changed so it is much harder to translate force from the front of the machine to the ball. Also the default angle is significantly steeper on 90s machines than their 80s counterparts which significantly ups the force required. And they started adding slam tilt sensors to the doors (which lose your entire game, not just a ball, when activated) which often get set off by a bangback.
Performing a bangback on a modern machine is now normally machine abuse due to the force required. It was just plain elegant and skillful play on a Pinbot, Back to the Future, or similar.
The digital pad is so that paper receipts do not have to be delivered to process the transaction. When they run your card through it just authorizes the transaction, it later has to be reconciled for payment. That's why the credit card company must be able to present a copy of the receipt (though they frequently cannot) -- they are at least responsible to have the store retain the copy in case there is a question. This way it is handled entirely electronically, with obvious savings for time and document retention problems.
I have had stores err in reconciling charges and the charge never shows up. Lose the signatures and you have nothing (the bank may or may not help you process the charges anyway in the hopes 95% won't know you screwed up and will pay anyway).