"Foolproof" is the #1 design objective, because fools have a higher rate of being the most important user segment."
This is hilarious, and now my new sig line!!!
Us New York drivers try to do the same thing with Connecticut drivers as well. We would help out more, but we have to deal with New Jersey drivers on the other side.
Personally I think that all CT drivers are required to have a lobotomy when they are issued their licenses.
So far though for bad driving the Greeks win hands down.
Now a question is, why not distribute the database rather than centralize it.
One copy of your records remains at your local doctors.
A second record, should you choose to have it placed on a sim card (printed onto something the size of a credit card).
Have it encrypted obviously, with the only people able to access it is yourself (read only),your doctor (read&modify) and the hospitals (read & modify).
This way less chance for the gov't to screw it up, and far less intrusive. They can set the standards on how the card and formatting of the actual notes. But don't let them anywhere near the IT setup.
Someone mentioned that they are required by law to keep all records for Seven years. That actually sounds like a good time-frame to set this up. This way when you start a new patient record, you will most likely have both an electronic and paper record. The problem being is transcribing the older records, as that is very private information and not something you want part-timer data entry people having access to if at all possible.
Funding is the major problem, maybe a deal can be made with the insurance companies that if you agree to switch to an electronic form for billings and anything else (with no access to the actual records) they can either reduce the malpractice costs for that practice, and arrange for a matching grant from the gov't.
Don't get me wrong, with the massive deficit I agree there needs to be some drastic cutting. In fact it will be painful. But raising taxes is not the way to get out of a recession.
I would consider the following to be necessities (in order).
Education Services - This is absolute, and I am talking about actual classroom expenses and not the administrative bloating that occurs.
Police Fire Medical. Sanitation
Anything else is luxury.
Tax rates are unacceptable though. We already have the highest sales taxes in the nation (I think or close to it) highest property taxes. We don't have that much left to give.
There was a reason for the Boston Tea Party, and there is no reason to repeat it. But sometimes I wish politicians would keep that bit of history in the back of their minds while doing the budget.
Actually Paterson has lost any marbles he has had left.
One, raising taxes during a recession actually prolongs the recession, mainly because there is less available money to be used as capital. He says this is not a tax hike, but it really is.
Second the rate hikes he is talking about are insane. Beer and wine alone have an over 100% increase against the base rate they are taxed at now. (keeping in mind this is his proposal, before the legislators tack on their spending requests.)The iPod tax may make the business model less appealing to consumers, which may in turn lead to less offerings (unlikely but possible).
Physician Registration is jumping from $600 Biannual fee to $800. Or a $400 per year increase. It may not seem like much, but physicians are already having a tough time making ends meet in this state. This is also state where there is a dearth of physicians already. (Try getting an appointment). Why would they want to migrate to NY if fees keep increasing.
The governor states that many of these fees have remained flat for years, and as such they can be raised. He does not seem to accept the possibility that these fees have remained the same because they might be at the highest the market can bear already. Now with the market declining, where can the cash come from?
Rich are leaving the city. Who to tax then? The small shop owners! (Otherwise known as the lower-upper middle class). Up until the point they start leaving for greener pastures as well. But once they start leaving, not many employers left.
Forgive me if I seem a bit skeptical about the entire plan,and it's not just because there is no provision for politicians to tighten THEIR belts, no mention of politicians taking a pay cut or "voluntary" redundancy. No mention of a reduction in pork projects, and contrary to belief, road maintenance is not a pork project; but they are reducing that. As well as targeting Health services, fire services, police services.
But then again I live in NY. Maybe its time to leave.
I for one do not agree that term papers should be gotten rid of.
However saying that, it is nigh on impossible to avoid plagarism in many subjects. An example, I ha to write a fairly lengthy term paper this last month. i went into the library of the University, which in of itself is not all that great, and grabbed as many books as I could find in my subject area.
On average, each chapter would have roughly two pages of quotations from other authors. To me that is a bit unacceptable, as when you locate the texts quoted in the first book, you find that the previous book is composed of quotations as well.
But then again it may b e my wiishful thinking that I believe scholars should do their own legwork with regards to the data, and then come to their own conclusions.
Wish I could smack one or two of them upside the back of the head though.
I have always felt, that since MS includes the terms "Microsoft reserves the right to change the terms at any time without prior warning" it also gave me implicit grounds to change the EULA at any time according to my wishes.
"***** hereby informs MS that pursuant to changes made to the license that upon termination of said license, all such rights and ownership shall revert to the user ******, any further communication by the former MS products shall be considered an invasive intrusion, and considered to be a criminal computer misuse"/sarcasm off
I have found that in any industry, as long as you try to remain calm and patient, eventually the client, the person who called for help, will eventually step back from the heart-attack inducing rage.
I have worked as a network administrator before, and quite honestly, sometimes it is worth it to take an hour out of your time, and explain, albeit in very simple, terms and concepts to your client. Because most likely, one hour out of your workday and theirs, will prevent multiple hours of headaches over the year. It really can be cost effective in the long term.
Recently though I have moved into the finance world, and the clients there can on occasion be quite rough. Not recommended for the faint of heart at all.
The current IT culture in macro needs to change, yes most people have very little time to deal with what they would regard as a simple problem. Guess what, unless you specialize in that particular field, any problem is unlikely to be simple to your client. You would not be expected to figure out how to assemble a house from scratch, perform a heart transplant, or even drive a marketing project. As an IT professional, you are hired to help and provide your client with a service that is something they don't have the time, nor desire to learn on their own.
My two cents, feel free to ask for a refund, just file in triplicate.
When my sister started typing like this in her emails and text messages to me, is when I verbally provided a ' clue by four' upside the head. Applied vigorously.
If this simplification of the English Language becomes offical, I believe I will need a 'clue by cannon' at the very least. Or at least a Thesaurus of Doom (with optional red button).
I have a few German friends, who have on occaision complained about how US drivers drive.
The gist of it is, we drive to slow, to defensive, unable to follow the simplest of the driving laws (excluding the ridiculously low speed limits), and unable to take the initiative.
Personally I think that the way we are taught in the driving classes and schools in the US is horrifingly wrong. Basically, we are not taught the responsibility of using a tool most of us use every day. We are also not taught how to use this tool properly.
Talking on the cellphone, even hands free. Eating while Driving. Reading While driving (I kid you not, strange experience in a cab in NYC) Performing actions best done at home, makeup, shaving, et al. Drinking and Driving, its a sport in MN
Cars are useful, don't get me wrong, but it takes less than a second for disaster to strike, even without the drinking.
Basically, as americans, we are not taught how to be aggressive and assertive while driving. These are key components in helping to prevent accidents. We are taught to panic, and let someone else take the initiative. You can see this at almost every 4 way stop sign in US when one car wishes to turn.
On the other hand, maybe we can convince a few race car drivers to open up a clinic on aggressive driving, we need it.
I have had the unique ability to talk to some of those teachers that are what/. is currently 'slamming' as regards to ther abilities and desires to teach. Just as they are entering the profession.
Guess, what, even as friends they are exactly as described. No inclination to teach student show to think for themselves, just pure memorization of facts and tidbits. Hell even the science teacher, who is a very nice lady, doesn't want her students to experiment on their own. They just refuse to teach students the theory of a subject, rather than the plain mechanics. Closest example would be deciphering Shakespeare into the technical components, while never presenting him in his full prose. So of course its boring, and never imparts the whole picture.
Don't get me wrong, these people are full of zeal to impart knowledge to their students. The problem?
They are afraid of the school system. They have to follow some very rigid guidelines, and with administrators refusing to remove their heads from each others rear ends, they have no ability to change the policies.
Fire the administrators, and encourage the teachers to teach the entire picture.
Oh and always remember, those who want power, should be the last to recieve any.
"Sir, if you have nothing to hide, then you should have no objection to a full disclosure of the documents you have created and accumulated with your wiretapping activities."
"But it is in the interest of National Security that I do not perform my legal obligations, and I do not wish to tell you"
Hypocrites - A study in government responsibility.
I am always amused by the line used by authorities
"If you have nothing to hide, you won't object to a search"
My response to a police officer was
"If as you say, I should have nothing to hide so why should I object to the search, also means that since I have nothing to hide, you have no basis for the search in the first place"
Dear Madame, The FCC was originally set up to regulate the Radio airwaves. Then you took it upon yourselves to regulate the TV broadcast spectrum. Following that, you decided that censoring programs was within your mandate as well. (Lets ignore all the 1st amendment issues right now).
Now you have decided to enter the fray on the side of DRM. Either pro or Con, this should be a completely business decision. There is nothing that needs regulating via the FCC with regards to DRM.
I respectfully request that you and your fellow commissioners keep your noses out of this. The majority of us are quite sick and tired of the FCC trying to expand your mandate coverage. It is and has not been welcome.
I find it highly highly diappointing that no charges have been filed for this instance.
I don't really expect them to be read, but I fired off emails to my senator, representative, and DA. Using their online forms obviously.
Why the senator and rep? Because at this level it is probably a political decision whether to go foward or ignore SonyBMG.
Da*n I wish I had that sort of clout.
What I think is at stake here, from a personal viewpoint, is the question, Are corporations liable under the law, to obey it. And if they are not, why are still legal to form them.
Secondly if they are free to ignore the law, why should the rest of the populace follow the law. SonyBMG violated it on both the technical side, as well as the spirit of the law. I can understand that if a technicality is broken, but the spirit of the law is maintained, that at the end of the day it can be justified. Or if any part of the law is unconstitutional, would be another exception.
Cause if SonyBMG gets away with this, I see no reason why I cannot purchase a nuke, technically, or at least a really large cannabis farm. Providing I incorporate first.
From what I vaguely remember from my Greek history, the development of The Stoic Philosphy could arguably have been arguably the glimmer upon which the rest of the scientific method had been developed upon. It had little to no resemblence to current Scientific methods, but it may have been that one element.
Of course I have been thinking about sending a ton of Barnum and Bailey job applications to the Kansas School Board. As that will be the only job the kids will be able to get out in the real world.
I was working for a startup company, and had been shunted into the role of network administrator. Not something I was fully qualified for, or even wanted. But at one point in time we ran into cash flow problems, big surprise right. So after about a month of not getting paid I decided to take some time off until the paycheck arrived in order to do some side jobs. I did not tell anyone else, I basically just locked up my office, and did not show up for a little more than a month. (Hey I needed to get food on the table, and I was pissed as all hell by that point)
I come back just to check on the server, which was still running ok, and I find out that everyone thought I was extremely busy and running errands or doing something around the office. (Since my office door was locked)
So I get my back pay, pay for the full month, a raise, AND a bonus.
For some reason I could not be bothered to correct their mistake....
Shoot HP, they have no f*&king clue on how their systems work, or even what goes into them. Last time I buy a friggin machine from them, and this was before the DCMA comments that I decided upon this. I asked for a windows 2000 solution to a problem, specifically stating the solution needed to be for windows2k, they responded with an XP solution.
Slashdot Mirror
Unless of course you are talking about Wales. Then you can use the sheep jokes.
"Foolproof" is the #1 design objective, because fools have a higher rate of being the most important user segment." This is hilarious, and now my new sig line!!!
Well if you and I refuse to stand up for our rights who will?
We cannot blame the government.
We cannot blame conspiracy theories.
We FAILED in our oversight of the government, by electing these damned bastards to the posts.
It is us who should get off our collective lazy asses and correct the problem and vote out the incumbents.
We NEED TO QUIT WHINING, and get on with the job.
From the comments above, none of the posers have had to swing a framing hammer for 8 hours a day for six days at a time.
Not using it because your arm might get tired? Talk about lazy.
Though I do like the idea of having the mouse clicker on the thumb and forefinger as suggested by one of the other posters.
You know its funny,
Us New York drivers try to do the same thing with Connecticut drivers as well. We would help out more, but we have to deal with New Jersey drivers on the other side.
Personally I think that all CT drivers are required to have a lobotomy when they are issued their licenses.
So far though for bad driving the Greeks win hands down.
Now a question is, why not distribute the database rather than centralize it.
One copy of your records remains at your local doctors.
A second record, should you choose to have it placed on a sim card (printed onto something the size of a credit card).
Have it encrypted obviously, with the only people able to access it is yourself (read only),your doctor (read&modify) and the hospitals (read & modify).
This way less chance for the gov't to screw it up, and far less intrusive. They can set the standards on how the card and formatting of the actual notes. But don't let them anywhere near the IT setup.
Someone mentioned that they are required by law to keep all records for Seven years. That actually sounds like a good time-frame to set this up. This way when you start a new patient record, you will most likely have both an electronic and paper record. The problem being is transcribing the older records, as that is very private information and not something you want part-timer data entry people having access to if at all possible.
Funding is the major problem, maybe a deal can be made with the insurance companies that if you agree to switch to an electronic form for billings and anything else (with no access to the actual records) they can either reduce the malpractice costs for that practice, and arrange for a matching grant from the gov't.
Don't get me wrong, with the massive deficit I agree there needs to be some drastic cutting. In fact it will be painful. But raising taxes is not the way to get out of a recession.
I would consider the following to be necessities (in order).
Education Services - This is absolute, and I am talking about actual classroom expenses and not the administrative bloating that occurs.
Police
Fire
Medical.
Sanitation
Anything else is luxury.
Tax rates are unacceptable though. We already have the highest sales taxes in the nation (I think or close to it) highest property taxes. We don't have that much left to give.
There was a reason for the Boston Tea Party, and there is no reason to repeat it. But sometimes I wish politicians would keep that bit of history in the back of their minds while doing the budget.
Actually Paterson has lost any marbles he has had left.
One, raising taxes during a recession actually prolongs the recession, mainly because there is less available money to be used as capital. He says this is not a tax hike, but it really is.
Second the rate hikes he is talking about are insane. Beer and wine alone have an over 100% increase against the base rate they are taxed at now. (keeping in mind this is his proposal, before the legislators tack on their spending requests.)The iPod tax may make the business model less appealing to consumers, which may in turn lead to less offerings (unlikely but possible).
Physician Registration is jumping from $600 Biannual fee to $800. Or a $400 per year increase. It may not seem like much, but physicians are already having a tough time making ends meet in this state. This is also state where there is a dearth of physicians already. (Try getting an appointment). Why would they want to migrate to NY if fees keep increasing.
The governor states that many of these fees have remained flat for years, and as such they can be raised. He does not seem to accept the possibility that these fees have remained the same because they might be at the highest the market can bear already. Now with the market declining, where can the cash come from?
Rich are leaving the city. Who to tax then? The small shop owners! (Otherwise known as the lower-upper middle class). Up until the point they start leaving for greener pastures as well. But once they start leaving, not many employers left.
Forgive me if I seem a bit skeptical about the entire plan,and it's not just because there is no provision for politicians to tighten THEIR belts, no mention of politicians taking a pay cut or "voluntary" redundancy. No mention of a reduction in pork projects, and contrary to belief, road maintenance is not a pork project; but they are reducing that. As well as targeting Health services, fire services, police services.
But then again I live in NY. Maybe its time to leave.
Would a new amateur competition devoid of corporate sponsorship draw people to compete?
Not trying to be flamebait, as open up some discussion.
Didnt a similar agreement to restrict to arbitration by AT&T get thrown out of court?
Something about it violating the constitutional implied rights.
Please correct me if I am wrong.
I for one do not agree that term papers should be gotten rid of.
However saying that, it is nigh on impossible to avoid plagarism in many subjects. An example, I ha to write a fairly lengthy term paper this last month. i went into the library of the University, which in of itself is not all that great, and grabbed as many books as I could find in my subject area.
On average, each chapter would have roughly two pages of quotations from other authors. To me that is a bit unacceptable, as when you locate the texts quoted in the first book, you find that the previous book is composed of quotations as well.
But then again it may b e my wiishful thinking that I believe scholars should do their own legwork with regards to the data, and then come to their own conclusions.
Wish I could smack one or two of them upside the back of the head though.
Personally, I have never had a problem dealing with issues in game, or account problems.
In fact I quite like EVE-Online. You need to find a good group of people to fly around with.
Such a varied amount of options are available to a person. And for the most part it works well.
So please climb down off your high horses people, only when you design a game on this scale can you throw stones.
I have always felt, that since MS includes the terms "Microsoft reserves the right to change the terms at any time without prior warning" it also gave me implicit grounds to change the EULA at any time according to my wishes.
/sarcasm off
"***** hereby informs MS that pursuant to changes made to the license that upon termination of said license, all such rights and ownership shall revert to the user ******, any further communication by the former MS products shall be considered an invasive intrusion, and considered to be a criminal computer misuse"
I have found that in any industry, as long as you try to remain calm and patient, eventually the client, the person who called for help, will eventually step back from the heart-attack inducing rage.
I have worked as a network administrator before, and quite honestly, sometimes it is worth it to take an hour out of your time, and explain, albeit in very simple, terms and concepts to your client. Because most likely, one hour out of your workday and theirs, will prevent multiple hours of headaches over the year. It really can be cost effective in the long term.
Recently though I have moved into the finance world, and the clients there can on occasion be quite rough. Not recommended for the faint of heart at all.
The current IT culture in macro needs to change, yes most people have very little time to deal with what they would regard as a simple problem. Guess what, unless you specialize in that particular field, any problem is unlikely to be simple to your client. You would not be expected to figure out how to assemble a house from scratch, perform a heart transplant, or even drive a marketing project. As an IT professional, you are hired to help and provide your client with a service that is something they don't have the time, nor desire to learn on their own.
My two cents, feel free to ask for a refund, just file in triplicate.
When my sister started typing like this in her emails and text messages to me, is when I verbally provided a ' clue by four' upside the head. Applied vigorously.
If this simplification of the English Language becomes offical, I believe I will need a 'clue by cannon' at the very least. Or at least a Thesaurus of Doom (with optional red button).
I have a few German friends, who have on occaision complained about how US drivers drive.
The gist of it is, we drive to slow, to defensive, unable to follow the simplest of the driving laws (excluding the ridiculously low speed limits), and unable to take the initiative.
Personally I think that the way we are taught in the driving classes and schools in the US is horrifingly wrong. Basically, we are not taught the responsibility of using a tool most of us use every day. We are also not taught how to use this tool properly.
Talking on the cellphone, even hands free.
Eating while Driving.
Reading While driving (I kid you not, strange experience in a cab in NYC)
Performing actions best done at home, makeup, shaving, et al.
Drinking and Driving, its a sport in MN
Cars are useful, don't get me wrong, but it takes less than a second for disaster to strike, even without the drinking.
Basically, as americans, we are not taught how to be aggressive and assertive while driving. These are key components in helping to prevent accidents. We are taught to panic, and let someone else take the initiative. You can see this at almost every 4 way stop sign in US when one car wishes to turn.
On the other hand, maybe we can convince a few race car drivers to open up a clinic on aggressive driving, we need it.
I have had the unique ability to talk to some of those teachers that are what /. is currently 'slamming' as regards to ther abilities and desires to teach. Just as they are entering the profession.
Guess, what, even as friends they are exactly as described. No inclination to teach student show to think for themselves, just pure memorization of facts and tidbits. Hell even the science teacher, who is a very nice lady, doesn't want her students to experiment on their own. They just refuse to teach students the theory of a subject, rather than the plain mechanics. Closest example would be deciphering Shakespeare into the technical components, while never presenting him in his full prose. So of course its boring, and never imparts the whole picture.
Don't get me wrong, these people are full of zeal to impart knowledge to their students. The problem?
They are afraid of the school system. They have to follow some very rigid guidelines, and with administrators refusing to remove their heads from each others rear ends, they have no ability to change the policies.
Fire the administrators, and encourage the teachers to teach the entire picture.
Oh and always remember, those who want power, should be the last to recieve any.
I think I will be switching back to the good old post office again. Slower but imagine all the junk mail they sort through.
"Sir, if you have nothing to hide, then you should have no objection to a full disclosure of the documents you have created and accumulated with your wiretapping activities."
"But it is in the interest of National Security that I do not perform my legal obligations, and I do not wish to tell you"
Hypocrites - A study in government responsibility.
I am always amused by the line used by authorities
"If you have nothing to hide, you won't object to a search"
My response to a police officer was
"If as you say, I should have nothing to hide so why should I object to the search, also means that since I have nothing to hide, you have no basis for the search in the first place"
Surprisingly, the officer let me go.
Dear Madame,
The FCC was originally set up to regulate the Radio airwaves. Then you took it upon yourselves to regulate the TV broadcast spectrum. Following that, you decided that censoring programs was within your mandate as well. (Lets ignore all the 1st amendment issues right now).
Now you have decided to enter the fray on the side of DRM. Either pro or Con, this should be a completely business decision. There is nothing that needs regulating via the FCC with regards to DRM.
I respectfully request that you and your fellow commissioners keep your noses out of this. The majority of us are quite sick and tired of the FCC trying to expand your mandate coverage. It is and has not been welcome.
Sincerely,
I find it highly highly diappointing that no charges have been filed for this instance.
I don't really expect them to be read, but I fired off emails to my senator, representative, and DA. Using their online forms obviously.
Why the senator and rep? Because at this level it is probably a political decision whether to go foward or ignore SonyBMG.
Da*n I wish I had that sort of clout.
What I think is at stake here, from a personal viewpoint, is the question, Are corporations liable under the law, to obey it. And if they are not, why are still legal to form them.
Secondly if they are free to ignore the law, why should the rest of the populace follow the law. SonyBMG violated it on both the technical side, as well as the spirit of the law. I can understand that if a technicality is broken, but the spirit of the law is maintained, that at the end of the day it can be justified. Or if any part of the law is unconstitutional, would be another exception.
Cause if SonyBMG gets away with this, I see no reason why I cannot purchase a nuke, technically, or at least a really large cannabis farm. Providing I incorporate first.
From what I vaguely remember from my Greek history, the development of The Stoic Philosphy could arguably have been arguably the glimmer upon which the rest of the scientific method had been developed upon. It had little to no resemblence to current Scientific methods, but it may have been that one element.
Of course I have been thinking about sending a ton of Barnum and Bailey job applications to the Kansas School Board. As that will be the only job the kids will be able to get out in the real world.
I was working for a startup company, and had been shunted into the role of network administrator. Not something I was fully qualified for, or even wanted.
But at one point in time we ran into cash flow problems, big surprise right.
So after about a month of not getting paid I decided to take some time off until the paycheck arrived in order to do some side jobs. I did not tell anyone else, I basically just locked up my office, and did not show up for a little more than a month. (Hey I needed to get food on the table, and I was pissed as all hell by that point)
I come back just to check on the server, which was still running ok, and I find out that everyone thought I was extremely busy and running errands or doing something around the office. (Since my office door was locked)
So I get my back pay, pay for the full month, a raise, AND a bonus.
For some reason I could not be bothered to correct their mistake....
Shoot HP, they have no f*&king clue on how their systems work, or even what goes into them. Last time I buy a friggin machine from them, and this was before the DCMA comments that I decided upon this. I asked for a windows 2000 solution to a problem, specifically stating the solution needed to be for windows2k, they responded with an XP solution.