- Your product should use industry-standard vocabulary instead of inventing your own jargon for everything. This way developers can understand what your product does and compare it to others.
- Your web site should contain actual technical information, not just so-called "white papers" extolling your virtues. Put your full manuals online for potential buyers to read.
- Don't bother sending nontechnical salespeople. We don't speak the same language and just annoy each other.
- Have a fully functional demo version for developers to try free.
- Give out a few free copies to prominent developers for review.
Hard drives are the only real option right now -- firewire works nicely -- but:
- They are too fragile. One drop and it's dead.
- At $100 a pop, they're still not cheap. (And add more $$ for the firewire/USB enclosure.)
- You can't fit several in a typical safety deposit box (i.e., offsite backups for the average guy).
Once again, clueless companies try to thwart the technology (i.e., linking) instead of dealing with the real issue, disagreeable or illegal speech. If a hostile third party links to your site in a defamatory way (e.g., "this guy is a psychopath"), the issue is defamation, not linking. If they frame your site so it appears to be something else (e.g., suppose NBC framed ABC's pages and put NBC logos on them), or nastily embeds your photograph onto their web site endorsing their products, etc., these are likewise ordinary legal issues with analogs in the offline world, not linking issues.
If somebody links to you in a derogatory -- but not libelous -- way, that's a bummer, but it's legal. Hey, you can always do the same back to them.:-)
I agree. The computing feature I think we really need these days is larger, cheaper, rewritable backup media. We used to be able to copy an entire hard drive to a backup tape. No more. I'd definitely exchange processing speed for a $500 peripheral that backs up 100 gigs onto a single, cheap, removable medium overnight. (And not just for MP3s, for real work.)
(Sure, you can play all kinds of tricks with incremental/partial backups and good recordkeeping, but computers are supposed to serve us, not the other way around.)
Not true. Entire businesses
like this one make their living buying used diamonds.
(Disclaimer: This is a commercial site. I know the owner. I have no financial stake in the business, except that I designed their web site.)
Bullock also has
a short guide explaining why diamonds have low resale value.
I use the previous generation IOGear Miniview 4-port KVM controlling a PC (Windows XP) and a Mac (OS 9.1). On the plus side, the video quality is terrific -- not degraded at all. On the minus side, the USB disconnect/reconnect fails about 10% of the time.
For instance, I'll switch from the PC to the Mac, and the PC won't notice that its USB peripherals have disconnected. Switch back to the PC and all those peripherals don't work. Nothing solves the problem but rebooting the PC.
Also, if I leave Netscape 4.7 running on the Mac and switch over to the PC, half the time when I switch back to the Mac, Netscape crashes, often killing the Mac in the process. It's weird, but it's happened often enough that I now shut down Netscape before switching.
Far more often, the USB mouse (Logitech optical cordless) will simply freeze on the PC in mid-use. Unplugging/replugging its USB cable fixes the problem. I don't know whether to blame the IOGear switcher, the mouse, WinXP, or USB.
I'll probably start using 2 mice instead.
It's easy: applicants can get their PINs from another web site. Just enter your name, social security number, and birthdate to get your PIN. I'm surprised Yale didn't think of this simple high-security measure.
13. File attributes should be preserved. (CVS doesn't.) 14. A modification to the file attributes (chmod, etc.) should be considered a change to the file and capable of being checked in.
It's tempting to ask Piers Anthony about objectification of women in his books, but we needn't bother. Nobody believes they themselves are sexist. What kind of answer could we expect?
IMHO it's clear from his writing (after reading 20 of his books). His interview responses remind me of the scene in Spinal Tap where Nigel doesn't get the difference between "sexy" and "sexist."
I wouldn't call tape backups "long term" because tape technology changes quickly. It's not easy to find a tape drive today to read my tapes from 1995 (Archive Viper 2150), let alone 1985 (8" reel to reel). Except maybe a used drive on eBay. I'm not sure what to do about the problem of obsolete tape drive technology.
Here's my backup strategy for home:
1. Duplicate my entire hard drive onto a second, portable hard drive connected by Firewire. This achieves quick file restoral at home, and backups (using rsync) are lightning fast. 2. Back up the entire hard drive onto tape: full backups once a week, and incrementals each day. Once a month I transfer a full backup tape to a safety deposit box in a bank. This serves as an emergency backup.
I might buy a second Firewire hard drive and rotate between the two, someday.
The result? After 20 years of working on Unix, Amiga, Windows, and now Linux, my entire set of files and email (from the whole 20 years) is safe and accessible at my fingertips. This is on a single Linux machine running vmware (for Windows apps) and UAE (Unix Amiga Emulator).
I do have a few Tandy TRS-80 floppy disks from 1983 that are unreadable though.... And IBM Displaywriter 8" floppies from even earlier.
At a world-famous corporation (that shall remain nameless here), the chief technology officer mandated IE as the official company browser. Compatibility with all other browsers was to be ignored for cost reasons, for all intranet sites.
The CTO announced the mandate on an intranet web page.
I used to review CDs for a pretty well-known music magazine. Occasionally I would submit negative reviews, but the Editor always rejected them. His reason: "We receive 100 CDs a week for review. It's our responsibility to call people's attention to the best ones."
So, all of the published reviews were positive. No secret affiliate program or kickbacks, just a focus on the good.
If you are that concerned about your child's safety/health/well-being or you don't trust your babysitter then STAY HOME or take the child with you - IF the kid has manners.
Sure, there are lots of rude parents and kids out there, but don't jump so conclusions so hastily with zero information. (Oops, this is Slashdot, I forgot.:-))
First, although I've been carrying my cellphone in theaters for three years, it has NEVER RUNG ONCE in a theater. So whomever you're mad at, it wasn't me.
Second, my cellphone is set to SILENT MODE (vibrate). That was my POINT: that even considerate patrons would be penalized by theaters that blocked cell phone signals.
Third, my child is 3 years old with a medical condition (serious enough to require hospitalization) that occurs only twice a year. If this EMERGENCY occurs, in a theater or on the road, a cellphone or pager is the best option.
Save your ire for people who are actually annoying you.
The only reason I carry a live cell phone in a theater is so my babysitter can call if there's an emergency with my child. If the theater surreptitiously blocked such a call, there's be hell to pay.
Even people who set their cell phones to vibrate would be penalized.
I like PCs For Everyone in Cambridge, MA. It's a happy medium between building your own machine and buying it. On their web site you select every component that goes into the machine. Then they put it together. In addition, they give you ALL the manuals that come with the components. They even gave me the original component boxes. Finally, they offer lifetime technical support and lifetime free labor for repairs (you pay for the replacement parts if they're out of warranty).
The downside: their online ordering system is very tedious.
Intuit's Quicken is a prime offender in this regard. A new version every year with whizzy and marginally useful new features, while the program STILL has no Save or Undo command. (Everything you do is written "live" to a file.)
I remember when Quicken 1999 became Quicken 2000 and the UI changed severely for the worse. Instead of allowing an unlimited number of accounts across the bottom of the window, with left-right scrolling, the program now permitted only a limited number accounts down the right-hand side with no scrolling. Open one more account than the limit and you get an error message. Ugh!! I downgraded back to Quicken 1999 and never bought another version.
Have you tried the commercial OSS driver? It's very reasonably priced, installs easily, works perfectly on my dual soundcards, and supports a virtual mixer device that plays "up to 4 audio apps at a time." I'm a totally satisfied customer.
The "ten reasons" sound like scare tactics from a recruiter who doesn't want to lose a commission.
They also assume an antagonistic relationship between the boss and the employee, which is not necessarily the case.
By the same logic, if you're underpaid you should never ask for a raise because it tells your employer that you're unhappy, and the employer will "immediately start seeking your replacement." (Recruiting is free, didn't you know?)
Slashdot Mirror
- Your web site should contain actual technical information, not just so-called "white papers" extolling your virtues. Put your full manuals online for potential buyers to read.
- Don't bother sending nontechnical salespeople. We don't speak the same language and just annoy each other.
- Have a fully functional demo version for developers to try free.
- Give out a few free copies to prominent developers for review.
Hard drives are the only real option right now -- firewire works nicely -- but:
- They are too fragile. One drop and it's dead.
- At $100 a pop, they're still not cheap. (And add more $$ for the firewire/USB enclosure.)
- You can't fit several in a typical safety deposit box (i.e., offsite backups for the average guy).
If somebody links to you in a derogatory -- but not libelous -- way, that's a bummer, but it's legal. Hey, you can always do the same back to them. :-)
I agree. The computing feature I think we really need these days is larger, cheaper, rewritable backup media. We used to be able to copy an entire hard drive to a backup tape. No more. I'd definitely exchange processing speed for a $500 peripheral that backs up 100 gigs onto a single, cheap, removable medium overnight. (And not just for MP3s, for real work.)
(Sure, you can play all kinds of tricks with incremental/partial backups and good recordkeeping, but computers are supposed to serve us, not the other way around.)
Not true. Entire businesses like this one make their living buying used diamonds. (Disclaimer: This is a commercial site. I know the owner. I have no financial stake in the business, except that I designed their web site.)
Bullock also has a short guide explaining why diamonds have low resale value.
For instance, I'll switch from the PC to the Mac, and the PC won't notice that its USB peripherals have disconnected. Switch back to the PC and all those peripherals don't work. Nothing solves the problem but rebooting the PC.
Also, if I leave Netscape 4.7 running on the Mac and switch over to the PC, half the time when I switch back to the Mac, Netscape crashes, often killing the Mac in the process. It's weird, but it's happened often enough that I now shut down Netscape before switching.
Far more often, the USB mouse (Logitech optical cordless) will simply freeze on the PC in mid-use. Unplugging/replugging its USB cable fixes the problem. I don't know whether to blame the IOGear switcher, the mouse, WinXP, or USB. I'll probably start using 2 mice instead.
It's easy: applicants can get their PINs from another web site. Just enter your name, social security number, and birthdate to get your PIN. I'm surprised Yale didn't think of this simple high-security measure.
The study was about asking informational questions, not about hawking products to the masses. The "bystander effect" doesn't apply here.
13. File attributes should be preserved. (CVS doesn't.)
14. A modification to the file attributes (chmod, etc.) should be considered a change to the file and capable of being checked in.
IMHO it's clear from his writing (after reading 20 of his books). His interview responses remind me of the scene in Spinal Tap where Nigel doesn't get the difference between "sexy" and "sexist."
Here's my backup strategy for home:
1. Duplicate my entire hard drive onto a second, portable hard drive connected by Firewire. This achieves quick file restoral at home, and backups (using rsync) are lightning fast.
2. Back up the entire hard drive onto tape: full backups once a week, and incrementals each day. Once a month I transfer a full backup tape to a safety deposit box in a bank. This serves as an emergency backup.
I might buy a second Firewire hard drive and rotate between the two, someday.
The result? After 20 years of working on Unix, Amiga, Windows, and now Linux, my entire set of files and email (from the whole 20 years) is safe and accessible at my fingertips. This is on a single Linux machine running vmware (for Windows apps) and UAE (Unix Amiga Emulator).
I do have a few Tandy TRS-80 floppy disks from 1983 that are unreadable though.... And IBM Displaywriter 8" floppies from even earlier.
At a world-famous corporation (that shall remain nameless here), the chief technology officer mandated IE as the official company browser. Compatibility with all other browsers was to be ignored for cost reasons, for all intranet sites.
The CTO announced the mandate on an intranet web page.
The page, when rendered in IE, crashed.
Of course it displayed perfectly in Netscape.
I used to review CDs for a pretty well-known music magazine. Occasionally I would submit negative reviews, but the Editor always rejected them. His reason: "We receive 100 CDs a week for review. It's our responsibility to call people's attention to the best ones." So, all of the published reviews were positive. No secret affiliate program or kickbacks, just a focus on the good.
Sure, there are lots of rude parents and kids out there, but don't jump so conclusions so hastily with zero information. (Oops, this is Slashdot, I forgot. :-))
First, although I've been carrying my cellphone in theaters for three years, it has NEVER RUNG ONCE in a theater. So whomever you're mad at, it wasn't me.
Second, my cellphone is set to SILENT MODE (vibrate). That was my POINT: that even considerate patrons would be penalized by theaters that blocked cell phone signals.
Third, my child is 3 years old with a medical condition (serious enough to require hospitalization) that occurs only twice a year. If this EMERGENCY occurs, in a theater or on the road, a cellphone or pager is the best option.
Save your ire for people who are actually annoying you.
You seem to miss that I said EMERGENCY. The word has a meaning beyond, "Darn, my videogame crashed."
802 minutes and 11 seconds? Isn't that a John Cage tune?
Even people who set their cell phones to vibrate would be penalized.
After several hours of trying debug a mysterious JavaScript runtime problem, I finally uncovered:
<script language="text/javascript">
...
</script>
where "language" should have been "type". I must have read that line a hundred times without seeing the problem.
The downside: their online ordering system is very tedious.
Just a satisfied customer.
I remember when Quicken 1999 became Quicken 2000 and the UI changed severely for the worse. Instead of allowing an unlimited number of accounts across the bottom of the window, with left-right scrolling, the program now permitted only a limited number accounts down the right-hand side with no scrolling. Open one more account than the limit and you get an error message. Ugh!! I downgraded back to Quicken 1999 and never bought another version.
Check out the PCAVTech benchmarks for comparing professional audio cards. Lots of solid technical info.
Have you tried the commercial OSS driver? It's very reasonably priced, installs easily, works perfectly on my dual soundcards, and supports a virtual mixer device that plays "up to 4 audio apps at a time." I'm a totally satisfied customer.
2. Business person tells the technical staff about the project in August.
They also assume an antagonistic relationship between the boss and the employee, which is not necessarily the case.
By the same logic, if you're underpaid you should never ask for a raise because it tells your employer that you're unhappy, and the employer will "immediately start seeking your replacement." (Recruiting is free, didn't you know?)
Oops -- they forgot to mention that Open Source software also annoys your mom, rains out baseball games, and makes apple pie taste bad.