How do you handle the issues raised by your employees who are displeased that Johnnie makes more money than they do? I've given this some thought myself (if I were ever to get off my fat ass and start a company), and I would combine the salary info into one figure. Employees could see how it affects the bottom line, but wouldn't be able to determine if Joe-Bob over there makes more money for less work. Same applies to 401(k) contributions (which may actually fall under some federal financial privacy law).
Why not try J. Neil Schulman's Pulpless.com?
Their titles are printed on demand by the Ingram Book Company, and are available through Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, and other resellers, just like a book published through "The Big Guys" (but without the restrictive contract).
The company I work for is one of those who paid big bucks (5-figures) for a 2-year license to the command-line PGP utility. Even though the price is steep, it's still a bargain compared to RSA, who wanted 2% of revenue for using their toolkit. It also got us out of the hassle of dealing with the Commerce Dept. if we were to write our own.
Another big plus is that it's multi-platform. Not all of our clients are on Windows or Intel CPUs, and PGP just worked because it generates plain ole' ASCII. MS Crypto API? Couldn't trust it to interoperate with *nix or mainframe clients. DES? My niece could crack it. AES? Not all clients have the skill to implement it, and well-implemented libraries are as scarce as hen's teeth. PGP was the right choice for us.
Chip H.
Imagine how much more fun it will be getting a root canal, when you're reminded of the appointment by Steve Martin singing the Dentist song from Little Shop Of Horrors.
"You'll be a dentist -- you've got a talent for causing pain!"
Assuming their algorithm is relatively weak (as others have speculated), a "bad guy" could iterate through a list of key values until they find one that gets accepted.
This causes two problems: One, A pirate gets in (a Bad Thing on principle). Two: A legitimate customer is unable to play because his CD key is already in use.
It's not the cost of the drive, or the length of the warranty, it's the cost of paying someone to replace them as they fail.
Another way to look at it:
A Western-Digital Caviar WD1200BB has a MTBF of 500,000 hours. With 10,000 servers, that means *on average* they'll lose a drive (and the associated server) every 50 hours, or roughly every 2 days. Sure they could use Ghost or Drive Image to reload a new drive within 2-3 hours, but if the company could avoid all that work by using DRAM and network booting from a RAID 1+0 array, they'd do that.
If they've got growth like they say, then there's probably a team in each of their datacenters configuring machines as fast as they can. They must have a rack of cordless screwdrivers on constant charge.
If UWB provides ultra-high speeds at fairly decent ranges (a few hundred feet), and the devices are going to be cheap enough for the Navy to attach one to every piece of goverment owned property, why would anyone want to use Bluetooth, with it's much shorter range and lower speed?
Your cellphone could then contact your PDA's address book from across the street. You could put a solar-powered camera on the back gate to announce visitors, or keep an eye on people in the alleyway behind your house. Replace the microchip under Fido's skin with one that allows you to track his movements up to 1km away, and stores more than just a hexadecimal ID number.
This opens up a lot more possibilities than just motion video on your cell phone.
So, what did they get with their multi-million dollar purchase of Be and Be's technology? They certainly couldn't have done it to acquire Be's development talent -- I doubt any of them would be happy writing apps for PalmOS after having created a new buzzword-compliant operating system from scratch:
"Forget about that multi-threading stuff, Johnson! I want you to write a version of Solitaire so our Senior Executive Vice President For Mergers & Acquisitions can do demos for potential investors. They really eat that graphical stuff up!"
Linux is a popular Unix derivative developed in 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Like Windows, Linux runs on Intel-based PCs, but uses a different licensing mechanism.
So CNet has to explain to a technical audience what Linux is.
My only question is... Is it more grammatically correct to say: "CNet is a bunch of lamers", or "CNet are lamers"?
> (just make sure you have a confirmed job (AFSC if you will) going in)
That was the key difference between the Air Force and the Army.
Army had guaranteed training, while USAF had a guaranteed job. So the Army has tons of guys who are trained to repair multi-million dollar Blackhawk helicopters, but spend their day getting muddy and carrying an M-16...
And it was a shame that they dropped it, too. The IBM OpenClass GUI Framework was very elegant and easy to use. Plus, the OS/2 workplace shell was all OOP, based on SOM. If you wanted a new window, you just inheirited from one. We didn't see that kind of technology again until BeOS.
In general, I think you're making the mistake that just because a piece of software isn't the market leader (or came from Finland), that it's no good. I think a better benchmark of alternative software's success is whether Microsoft "innovates" based on it. If you're running Warp, drag the warpcenter bar to the bottom of your desktop. Gee, doesn't it look like Windows 95 now? Right-click and get a context menu? Windows 3.1 didn't have it, but Windows 95 did.
The scary part is that 289 people gave it a "10".
And in the "WTF" category, Females aged 30-44 rated it an average of 2.9. What is it about this movie that is strangely attractive to them? Could I have been doing something wrong all these years? Maybe I should dress up as a Satyr to get hot chicks?
Chip H.
WRAL in Raleigh, NC has been broadcasting in HDTV for over a year now. Here's what's playing
Due to a dearth of HD programming material, most of what's shown during the day is scenic landscapes. Which, IMO, is at least two orders-of-magnatude better than the usual opinionated airheads, soap operas, and crappy infomercials.
For those of you thinking about buying the AccessDTV card, you can also subscribe to receive datacasting services (Audio, Video, and Internet) over the spare HD bandwidth:
What benefits do you derive from having a national ID?
It can't be easier check-cashing, because AFAIK, all European banks give you check-cashing cards which state how large of a check they trust you to write. ("But I've got 4000DM in my account! Why can't I write a check for that much?")
It can't be a unified ID, as you still have your separate feuerschein (driver's license).
It won't unlock any doors for you, you've still got a separate access card to get into work after normal hours.
Is your national-health insurance recorded on the card? Blood-type, allergies, medical history?
Does it say if you have spent time in a mental asylum? What about for people who are only potentially crazy? Would it stop him/her from sitting next to you on a plane?
My point is, a national ID is a PITA that doesn't really grant you any additional benefits. It's a feel-good solution to a non-existant problem.
My old company is/was hosted at Exodus, and we were leasing our equipment (Compaq servers and Cisco network gear) from them. I wonder how many other firms are leasing their hardware? And.. what happens when the leasing company (dot-bomb) goes belly-up -- Is there an Exodus warehouse somewhere full of previously leased hardware?
Maybe the secondary market will be seeing a flood of freshly used hardware. Man, if I were starting a company now, I'd jump all over the chance to get top-notch hardware at fire-sale prices. Buy a Sun Enterprise 10000 for the low-low price of $50,000! No credit, bad credit, no problem!
As a former USAF guy, I'm all for bombing them back to the stone age (Curtis LeMay [xrefer.com]), only... it seems like they're already there.
What I think might have more long-term effect would be to air-drop Big Mac's, Levi 501 jeans, and bottles of Pepsi. Later we can send in ranks of solar-powered CD players with stacks of WEA cut-outs (start with Michael Jackson's latest flop). It'll be more effective than the M-1942 Liberator Pistol [gunnery.net].
In short, corrupt their youth with Western consumer goods, like we did with the Soviets. It'll take 20 years, but we'll end up with a new market for our goods, a pliable populace, and no terrorists.
Slashdot Mirror
How do you handle the issues raised by your employees who are displeased that Johnnie makes more money than they do?
I've given this some thought myself (if I were ever to get off my fat ass and start a company), and I would combine the salary info into one figure. Employees could see how it affects the bottom line, but wouldn't be able to determine if Joe-Bob over there makes more money for less work. Same applies to 401(k) contributions (which may actually fall under some federal financial privacy law).
Why not try J. Neil Schulman's Pulpless.com? Their titles are printed on demand by the Ingram Book Company, and are available through Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, and other resellers, just like a book published through "The Big Guys" (but without the restrictive contract).
Chip H.
The company I work for is one of those who paid big bucks (5-figures) for a 2-year license to the command-line PGP utility. Even though the price is steep, it's still a bargain compared to RSA, who wanted 2% of revenue for using their toolkit. It also got us out of the hassle of dealing with the Commerce Dept. if we were to write our own.
Another big plus is that it's multi-platform. Not all of our clients are on Windows or Intel CPUs, and PGP just worked because it generates plain ole' ASCII. MS Crypto API? Couldn't trust it to interoperate with *nix or mainframe clients. DES? My niece could crack it. AES? Not all clients have the skill to implement it, and well-implemented libraries are as scarce as hen's teeth. PGP was the right choice for us. Chip H.
Imagine how much more fun it will be getting a root canal, when you're reminded of the appointment by Steve Martin singing the Dentist song from Little Shop Of Horrors.
"You'll be a dentist -- you've got a talent for causing pain!"
Assuming their algorithm is relatively weak (as others have speculated), a "bad guy" could iterate through a list of key values until they find one that gets accepted.
This causes two problems: One, A pirate gets in (a Bad Thing on principle). Two: A legitimate customer is unable to play because his CD key is already in use.
Chip H.
I'm sure it's nothing more than to keep the "Hello Kitty" branded controllers out of the US.
What the flip is a SME? It obviously isn't a grammophone pickup-up manufacturer
It's not the cost of the drive, or the length of the warranty, it's the cost of paying someone to replace them as they fail.
Another way to look at it:
A Western-Digital Caviar WD1200BB has a MTBF of 500,000 hours. With 10,000 servers, that means *on average* they'll lose a drive (and the associated server) every 50 hours, or roughly every 2 days. Sure they could use Ghost or Drive Image to reload a new drive within 2-3 hours, but if the company could avoid all that work by using DRAM and network booting from a RAID 1+0 array, they'd do that.
If they've got growth like they say, then there's probably a team in each of their datacenters configuring machines as fast as they can. They must have a rack of cordless screwdrivers on constant charge.
Chip H.
Why sue for billions, when we could sue for.....
Millions!!!!!
If UWB provides ultra-high speeds at fairly decent ranges (a few hundred feet), and the devices are going to be cheap enough for the Navy to attach one to every piece of goverment owned property, why would anyone want to use Bluetooth, with it's much shorter range and lower speed?
Your cellphone could then contact your PDA's address book from across the street. You could put a solar-powered camera on the back gate to announce visitors, or keep an eye on people in the alleyway behind your house. Replace the microchip under Fido's skin with one that allows you to track his movements up to 1km away, and stores more than just a hexadecimal ID number.
This opens up a lot more possibilities than just motion video on your cell phone.
So, what did they get with their multi-million dollar purchase of Be and Be's technology? They certainly couldn't have done it to acquire Be's development talent -- I doubt any of them would be happy writing apps for PalmOS after having created a new buzzword-compliant operating system from scratch:
"Forget about that multi-threading stuff, Johnson! I want you to write a version of Solitaire so our Senior Executive Vice President For Mergers & Acquisitions can do demos for potential investors. They really eat that graphical stuff up!"
Linux is a popular Unix derivative developed in 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Like Windows, Linux runs on Intel-based PCs, but uses a different licensing mechanism.
So CNet has to explain to a technical audience what Linux is.
My only question is...
Is it more grammatically correct to say: "CNet is a bunch of lamers", or "CNet are lamers"?
> (just make sure you have a confirmed job (AFSC if you will) going in)
That was the key difference between the Air Force and the Army.
Army had guaranteed training, while USAF had a guaranteed job. So the Army has tons of guys who are trained to repair multi-million dollar Blackhawk helicopters, but spend their day getting muddy and carrying an M-16...
Chip H.
DSTE, Teletype, & other AUTODIN toys
> This is a company that is SO huge that adventuring to the rest of the tech world involves looking at other divisions.
I think the NIH (Not Invented Here) syndrome happens to any company that gets large enough. It's usually accompanied by a feeling of smugness.
In a way, Microsoft is repeating all of IBM's old mistakes.
Chip H.
And it was a shame that they dropped it, too. The IBM OpenClass GUI Framework was very elegant and easy to use. Plus, the OS/2 workplace shell was all OOP, based on SOM. If you wanted a new window, you just inheirited from one. We didn't see that kind of technology again until BeOS.
In general, I think you're making the mistake that just because a piece of software isn't the market leader (or came from Finland), that it's no good. I think a better benchmark of alternative software's success is whether Microsoft "innovates" based on it. If you're running Warp, drag the warpcenter bar to the bottom of your desktop. Gee, doesn't it look like Windows 95 now? Right-click and get a context menu? Windows 3.1 didn't have it, but Windows 95 did.
Chip H.
Hmmm. I always did like the workplace shell and SOM. Maybe it's time I pulled my copy of Visual Age C++ out of it's hiding place.
Chip H.
The scary part is that 289 people gave it a "10". And in the "WTF" category, Females aged 30-44 rated it an average of 2.9. What is it about this movie that is strangely attractive to them? Could I have been doing something wrong all these years? Maybe I should dress up as a Satyr to get hot chicks? Chip H.
Working for a brewery has many advantages:
1. Your customers are always glad to see you
2. No need for a health-club membership
3. Mostly a 9-5 job
4. You get to meet hot-looking drunk chicks
WRAL in Raleigh, NC has been broadcasting in HDTV for over a year now. Here's what's playing
Due to a dearth of HD programming material, most of what's shown during the day is scenic landscapes. Which, IMO, is at least two orders-of-magnatude better than the usual opinionated airheads, soap operas, and crappy infomercials.
For those of you thinking about buying the AccessDTV card, you can also subscribe to receive datacasting services (Audio, Video, and Internet) over the spare HD bandwidth:
Chip H.
What benefits do you derive from having a national ID?
It can't be easier check-cashing, because AFAIK, all European banks give you check-cashing cards which state how large of a check they trust you to write. ("But I've got 4000DM in my account! Why can't I write a check for that much?")
It can't be a unified ID, as you still have your separate feuerschein (driver's license).
It won't unlock any doors for you, you've still got a separate access card to get into work after normal hours.
Is your national-health insurance recorded on the card? Blood-type, allergies, medical history?
Does it say if you have spent time in a mental asylum? What about for people who are only potentially crazy? Would it stop him/her from sitting next to you on a plane?
My point is, a national ID is a PITA that doesn't really grant you any additional benefits. It's a feel-good solution to a non-existant problem.
Chip H.
Imagine if AOL wrote a client for KDE -- would KDE then become ubiquitous on Linux, with 99.9% market penetration?
My old company is/was hosted at Exodus, and we were leasing our equipment (Compaq servers and Cisco network gear) from them. I wonder how many other firms are leasing their hardware? And.. what happens when the leasing company (dot-bomb) goes belly-up -- Is there an Exodus warehouse somewhere full of previously leased hardware?
Maybe the secondary market will be seeing a flood of freshly used hardware. Man, if I were starting a company now, I'd jump all over the chance to get top-notch hardware at fire-sale prices. Buy a Sun Enterprise 10000 for the low-low price of $50,000! No credit, bad credit, no problem!
As a former USAF guy, I'm all for bombing them back to the stone age (Curtis LeMay [xrefer.com]), only... it seems like they're already there.
What I think might have more long-term effect would be to air-drop Big Mac's, Levi 501 jeans, and bottles of Pepsi. Later we can send in ranks of solar-powered CD players with stacks of WEA cut-outs (start with Michael Jackson's latest flop). It'll be more effective than the M-1942 Liberator Pistol [gunnery.net].
In short, corrupt their youth with Western consumer goods, like we did with the Soviets. It'll take 20 years, but we'll end up with a new market for our goods, a pliable populace, and no terrorists.