Right data, but let me offer a different conclusion.
The biggest challenge Chinese leaders face is growing the economy while maintaining political control. People with no running water and no electricity are too busy surviving to worry much about the politics of their country; people with DVD players and new cars to protect want responsive (and if at all possible, representative) leadership.
Do what I did: Pick the local daily newspaper with the best photos, and hire one of their photojournalists to shoot the event. Spend as little time as possible on formal photos, and instead instruct the shooter to cover the wedding as if it were a photo essay.
Negotiate to get the negatives and contact sheets at the end of the gig, and go make your own prints.
We ended up with a wedding album that's the envy of every couple that sees it, and we spent around $500 total. Oh, and having the negs makes it easier to archive the negs and slides on a CD-ROM.
A few assertions about why Google is playing this smart:
Google is not worth the $15 billion that was being bandied about. It's a very, very safe bet that they're worth more than $2 billion, however, so issuing the smaller portion of stock gives the owners and primary investors comfortable control of the company while at the same time reducing the future volatility of the stock by some measure because there's only so much of the company that can be bought in a hype or sold in a panic.
Denying MSFT the right to buy denies them their primary business strategy. Microsoft's history is rife with buying an innovation and then tweaking it to fit their overall business model and product line. They're not innovators nearly so much as they are purchasers and tinkerers. If Google isn't on the menu, then getting a leg up on search means they'll have to buy someone else or invent something more compelling than Google internally. History gives better odds to the former than the latter.
Search today is like the 386 processor was a decade ago, and Google understands this. Ask Microsoft what they want from search, and they'd probably point to more ad sales, integration of a core web functionality into the OS or something similar. Ask the Google folks about search and they want ad sales too -- but the also have a building full of smart people thinking about what search is going to be like 5, 10 and 20 years from now. And guess what: It's going to be pervasive as hell, a whole lot smarter and a whole lot more vital to your day-to-day life. I wouldn't understimate the cluefulnes off the Google folks on this front, which is why I think it's grand that they're choosing to control their own destiny for now.
Lots of sub-topics to respond to, so I'll try to hit them briefly:
Casinos in the major regulated environments cannot change the odds of a game on the fly. This is the case in Nevada, and the gaming laws in Nevada stipulate that machines sold in their market must meet their standards in every market in which they are sold. This is why, when you see a major-market machine like an IGT or a Williams, you know the play is legit according to Nevada Gaming Commission rules. Now, those rules state...
Slot machines can have "shadow reels". This is why you never really know the rate of return on a slot machine -- each machine has a rate-of-return range that the manufacturer will set it within, and they are ordered by the casino at some point within that range. Identical machines sitting side by side (even if both are hooked up to the same progressive jackpot) may - and in fact likely -- have different payout percentages.
This is why math geeks like video poker -- and why it can be played at over 100% payback.Video poker, under Nevada Gaming Commission rules, has to be random, with no shadow-reel equivalent. That means that you can figure out the true odds of the game based on looking at the paytable... and that means you can make rational decisions about which games to play and which ones to avoid. For example, there are many different "flavors" of Deuces Wild, and most of them are not positive (i.e., playing the correct strategy on every possible hand still results in less than 100% return). However, you can find so-called "not-so-ugly ducks" @ 99.5% return and "full-pay" deuces at 100.27% return. Combined with decent cashback offers (remember to use that player card!) it's possible to make a decent rate of return on these games at the $1-per-unit level and above.
Advantage players *want* to be tracked. There are exceptions to the rule, of course, but for the most part you want to be tracked (by use of a player card) because it's the key to gettting cashback (based on your coin-in throughput) and comps (which may be discretionary, based on coin-in, or both.) The.27% positive return on full-pay deuces wild isn't really worthwhile, but you can frequently combine that with.5% cashback and an additional 1-3% in comps, and you're starting to have some fun. A quarter fast quarter player can easily have his/her meals and room comped -- play at the $1 level, and it's not hard to get suites and have your plane ticket taken care of.
So why don't most people do this? Because it requires discipline and a helluva lot of practice to memorize the correct play for every hand. It also requires a substantial bankroll -- in order to ride out the hills and valleys you could normally expect from a 25-cent full-pay deuces wild game, you'd need to walk into the casino with about $3,500 in your pocket. Playing at the dollar level? Bump that up to about $14,000. Will you make money over the long haul? Yes, if you're playing correctly and playing positive games. But the key is having the discipline to stay the course when you're $1,000 or more in the hole.
Interested in learning more about video poker? Check out The VP Home Page.
-- Former editor of Video Poker Player, current slashdot geek and advantage player
When I was in college and working at a restaurant, the boss took great delight in pulling timecards from the rack on the wall. He'd wait for an employee to show up and start looking for his timecard, and then casually walk by and say "oh, that reminds me..."
qmail + CourierIMAP + qmailadmin (for easy web-based admin of e-mail accounts) + tie-ins to tarpitting, SpamAssassin or other anti-UCE measures
Very secure -- Matt has set the whole thing up to be more secure than what most users would configure on their own. E-mail accounts don't have corresponding system accounts, POP-before-SMTP is enabled and a host of other lock-down measures are in place.
Works with both IMAP and traditional POP services
Comes with either SquirrelMail or SqWebMail as a default webmail client, although I've gotten it to work with Horde's Imp project as well.
I know you spec'd Gentoo, but this is a great solution backed by an active user community/e-mail list. It's worth a look.
Gotta agree that using any of the public machines at Kinko's is a fool's errand. OTOH, if you drag your laptop in, many of them have "laptop printing stations" with DHCP and a pipe out to the Internet.
In a Kinko's that doesn't have laptop stations? You can usually unhook the ethernet cable from one of their pay-for-use machines and use the connection yourself for no charge, as long as it's not busy.
Why would anyone bother? Well, it's a (relatively) fast connection, and an IP address no one can trace back to you because you didn't pay for it and all the cameras at Kinko's (last time I checked) are pointed at the registers rather than the computers.
I'd think the warez/Kazaa/terrorist crowds would find that plenty useful.
Now then... I wouldn't advocate this, but how long until some script kiddie takes the ol' Game of Life Postscript file, changes the bit at the end to print out a zillion pages, and then e-mails it off to his friendly local Kinko's with fake contact information?
Damn, I wish I were 14 and irresponsible again. Now I'm just irresponsible.
The original poster built a web-based app that generated PDF files. Anyone know of good open-source examples of this sort of app? It sounds like something I've been looking for.
Assuming that SCO is bitching about something in the actual kernel, then there's a good chance this could be a boost for the BSDs. Business has tasted too much of the free-as-in-beer software world to walk away from it (particularly small and mid-sized enterprises), but these legal issues, as I understand them (IANAL) were worked out in the BSD distros long ago.
Anyone know if any of the BSD teams has released any press releases regarding this?
Of course, if SCO's fussiness extends to core *nix functionality that's not in the kernel but crosses both Linux and the BSDs (I'm thinking of non-kernel binaries that are required for the most basic functions), then the BSDs could be screwed, too.
I know this isn't a debate over various mail servers, but Matt Simerson's qmail-based "mail toaster" just added checks against several a bunch of open-relay blacklists and reverse-DNS lookup against the sender's "From" field as options in the build script.
Together, these have reduced about 90% of the spam my users were receiving.
The toaster (basically qmail with tarpitting, secure remote access and apache/mysql for a webmail component) is secure, free and supported by an active mail list. You might want to give it a look.
:::Then again, pea shooters are still fun as hell (ever see the look on a drop dead gorgeous 17 year old's face when hit in the ass with a small, soft, round projectile? Priceless;)):::
Son, I dunno about you, but when I'm in that situation, I'm too, um, engaged to worry about the look on her face.
Just curious: Do any of these companies offer the added benefit of being MBE/WBE/DBE certified? I do a lot of public-sector work, where there are typically set-asides for disadvantaged, minority-owned or woman-owned busiensses.
If they could offer inclusion into one of those categories, it would be a pretty big advantage in bidding on some projects.
I've watched Freenet from afar but not participated in it - any thoughts from users or the developers on the network's life expectancy (at least, as a legal entity) given the current legislative climate in the U.S.?
Seems to me that a secure, distributed, encrypted P2P system could be used by (insert dramatic music) terrorists!
Born and raised in CA, and managed to finally end up in the midwest (first Chicago, then Kansas City). Sold my rat-trap of a house for $145k (paid $180k, dammit -- AND it's now worth $310k!) in 1996, moved to Chicago, and never regretted it for an instant. By way of housing-price contrasts, I now live in a restored, painted-lady Victorian that I paid $144k for; if I wanted a similarly old/large/cool house in downtown Kansas City, I could have gotten it for about $250k -- both prices are (ahem) quite a bit less than the going CA rates.
A few pointers:
Set your sights on the bigger metro areas. Sure, everyone wants to telecommute, but management's not going to put up with it for the most part. The big difference is that there is oh-so-cheap housing within driving/train distance in most of the Midwestern markets. On the other hand, if you go to a smaller, more-rural market, you're basically screwed when your job dries up. I'd stick to Chicago, Kansas City, Milwaukee and (maybe) Indianapolis if your heart is set on the midwest.
Going to Chicago? Live just over the state line in Indiana. Better tax situation, commuting options via car or train, and the housing is MUCH cheaper.
Check out the business journals. Most major cities (and certainly the ones I mentioned) have weekly business journals. Most of these, in turn, do an annual "book of lists" that ticks off contact info for things like "largest employers," "largest software developers," largest web design firms," etc. Very helpful.
Check in with the local user groups. Depending on what your field is, you can get a lot of info via e-mail by chatting up with local user groups.
Damned good point -- I'm probably a Pointy Headed Boss in at least one regard: I often forget that not everyone lives in my WorkWorld.(tm)
It's probably an overly utopian, free-market solution, but I've often thought that giving every employee a goal of "billable" time -- that is, time connected to a project that is determined to be potentially profitable to the company -- would be a good start. Then, managers could engage employees against that block of time. The most valued/skillful employees would ahve a lot of requests on their time, but would make or exceed their billable goal, becoming eligilble for a bonus.
Of course, this would also likely set all employees up in a deathmatch competition for management's favor/hours. Not great for morale, but it might help to separate out the deadwood.
I've thought of that too -- I think it's one of those things where "there are two types of people in the world..."
In this case: Those who are motivated by pay-for-performance and those who aren't. I can respect both views.
In my job, a 50-60 hour week (salaried) is baseline. There might be some saintly souls who are willing to bump that up to 70-80 per week without a financial light at the end of the tunnel, but not me.
I work for a small (non-I.T.) consulting firm, and as one of the senior folks I *might* get a bonus this year. Maybe. If the boss feels like it and if doing so will reduce the amoung of corporate income taxes she pays.
My point: You can bonus me $1.98 for the year if you feel like it, but nail it to some objective performance measurement.
Memo to management: You want better results? Give people something to aim for and then clearly explain what the reward is for exceeding goals.
(Now, having said all that, I have to add: The bobblehead thing would have had me sending out resumes in a heartbeat. It's one thing for management to lack clues; it's another thing entirely for them to be mean-spirited.
I don't know if the Gates Bros. went this route or not, but High Powered Rocketry is a big hobby and has some pretty strict self-policing standards. For example, you can't go buy engine x until you're qualified by your peers on its smaller predecessors. The group also works with various federal and local agencies to make sure John Law doesn't get too itchy about rockets going up in the desert.
More info? The leading organization is www.tripoli.org.
Lacking in clue content on the movie industry's part? "Maybe," says Joe Public and "Damn straight!" says the average Slashdot reader. But all in all, we have to view this as A Good Thing(tm).
Yes, someone will crack the DRM. Yes, the adoption rate will suck because most non-geeks really do want to watch movies on their televisions. But all in all, movie-industry suits have shown themselves to be more adaptable in the face of change than their counterparts in the music industry -- CDs cost what they cost a decade ago, but DVDs are probably about a tenth or twentieth of what the first VHS movies cost when you factor in inflation.
Bottom line: I'd rather have the movie industry experimenting and learning than have them go into siege mode the way the music industry has done. They both have a lot of money to throw at Congress -- money and influence we can't ever match -- so signs (even dull glimmers) of cluefullness are greatfully appreciated.
Philosophers noticed early on that man could conceive of things that science -- often decades or centuries later -- would prove. It's one of the big, big issues in epistemology.
It's probably safe to say Pythagoras helped all future philosophers (he pre-dated Socrates and Plato) with the idea of pre-discovery. He was also the main force in creating the precursor to what we now think of as scientific thought.
Pythagoras was the first to really grasp that the mind could understand perfections and processes that existed in purity only outside the realm of our senses. There was a certain divinity of number (not his phrase, although some scholars have called it that) to his teachings.
Slashdot Mirror
The biggest challenge Chinese leaders face is growing the economy while maintaining political control. People with no running water and no electricity are too busy surviving to worry much about the politics of their country; people with DVD players and new cars to protect want responsive (and if at all possible, representative) leadership.
Negotiate to get the negatives and contact sheets at the end of the gig, and go make your own prints.
We ended up with a wedding album that's the envy of every couple that sees it, and we spent around $500 total. Oh, and having the negs makes it easier to archive the negs and slides on a CD-ROM.
Interested in learning more about video poker? Check out The VP Home Page.
-- Former editor of Video Poker Player, current slashdot geek and advantage player
When I was in college and working at a restaurant, the boss took great delight in pulling timecards from the rack on the wall. He'd wait for an employee to show up and start looking for his timecard, and then casually walk by and say "oh, that reminds me..."
I know you spec'd Gentoo, but this is a great solution backed by an active user community/e-mail list. It's worth a look.
In a Kinko's that doesn't have laptop stations? You can usually unhook the ethernet cable from one of their pay-for-use machines and use the connection yourself for no charge, as long as it's not busy.
Why would anyone bother? Well, it's a (relatively) fast connection, and an IP address no one can trace back to you because you didn't pay for it and all the cameras at Kinko's (last time I checked) are pointed at the registers rather than the computers.
I'd think the warez/Kazaa/terrorist crowds would find that plenty useful.
Been having great fun with this snippet of code around the office!
Damn, I wish I were 14 and irresponsible again. Now I'm just irresponsible.
The original poster built a web-based app that generated PDF files. Anyone know of good open-source examples of this sort of app? It sounds like something I've been looking for.
Anyone know if any of the BSD teams has released any press releases regarding this?
Of course, if SCO's fussiness extends to core *nix functionality that's not in the kernel but crosses both Linux and the BSDs (I'm thinking of non-kernel binaries that are required for the most basic functions), then the BSDs could be screwed, too.
Together, these have reduced about 90% of the spam my users were receiving.
The toaster (basically qmail with tarpitting, secure remote access and apache/mysql for a webmail component) is secure, free and supported by an active mail list. You might want to give it a look.
Son, I dunno about you, but when I'm in that situation, I'm too, um, engaged to worry about the look on her face.
And I don't call mine a pea shooter, either.
If they could offer inclusion into one of those categories, it would be a pretty big advantage in bidding on some projects.
Seems to me that a secure, distributed, encrypted P2P system could be used by (insert dramatic music) terrorists!
Acne! Oh, wait... Linux users have that nailed, too!
A few pointers:
It's probably an overly utopian, free-market solution, but I've often thought that giving every employee a goal of "billable" time -- that is, time connected to a project that is determined to be potentially profitable to the company -- would be a good start. Then, managers could engage employees against that block of time. The most valued/skillful employees would ahve a lot of requests on their time, but would make or exceed their billable goal, becoming eligilble for a bonus.
Of course, this would also likely set all employees up in a deathmatch competition for management's favor/hours. Not great for morale, but it might help to separate out the deadwood.
In this case: Those who are motivated by pay-for-performance and those who aren't. I can respect both views.
In my job, a 50-60 hour week (salaried) is baseline. There might be some saintly souls who are willing to bump that up to 70-80 per week without a financial light at the end of the tunnel, but not me.
My point: You can bonus me $1.98 for the year if you feel like it, but nail it to some objective performance measurement.
Memo to management: You want better results? Give people something to aim for and then clearly explain what the reward is for exceeding goals.
(Now, having said all that, I have to add: The bobblehead thing would have had me sending out resumes in a heartbeat. It's one thing for management to lack clues; it's another thing entirely for them to be mean-spirited.
More info? The leading organization is www.tripoli.org.
Well, that or start eating celery.
Yes, someone will crack the DRM. Yes, the adoption rate will suck because most non-geeks really do want to watch movies on their televisions. But all in all, movie-industry suits have shown themselves to be more adaptable in the face of change than their counterparts in the music industry -- CDs cost what they cost a decade ago, but DVDs are probably about a tenth or twentieth of what the first VHS movies cost when you factor in inflation.
Bottom line: I'd rather have the movie industry experimenting and learning than have them go into siege mode the way the music industry has done. They both have a lot of money to throw at Congress -- money and influence we can't ever match -- so signs (even dull glimmers) of cluefullness are greatfully appreciated.
It's probably safe to say Pythagoras helped all future philosophers (he pre-dated Socrates and Plato) with the idea of pre-discovery. He was also the main force in creating the precursor to what we now think of as scientific thought.
Pythagoras was the first to really grasp that the mind could understand perfections and processes that existed in purity only outside the realm of our senses. There was a certain divinity of number (not his phrase, although some scholars have called it that) to his teachings.