Zyclon B was originally used as a pesticide as well, specifically to fumigate houses if I remember correctly. Only later did certain people discover its "other" use.
A few reasons:
1) People prefer easy to use names. "GNU/Linux" is an awkward mouthful, "Linux" is a nice simple name. For the same reason people refer to the "Tesla Model S" as "Model S", or simply a "Tesla", since the S is the more common model here.
2) "Linux" has been the most commonly used name from day 1, and that's not going to change, for the same reason that the public will continue to take "hacker" to mean someone who breaks into computer systems.
..., a qualification which usually applies to "concepts". It's a nice idea to charge your car using solar panels, but if you're commuting, your car will not be sitting in that car port during the most sunny hours of the day. Besides, you can put those solar panels anywhere; choose the most efficient spot, which isn't necessarily the carport roof. Also: simply laying down solar panels on a flat roof is inefficient; you'll want to mount them at a 30 or so degree angle facing south.
On the other hand $200.00 is not very much for a law school text.
Not very much? Sounds like an awful lot for a book. The most I've ever paid for a college textbook (studying E.E. at a Dutch university) was about $75. I know that legal reference texts can be expensive as they often span multiple volumes (a subscription to Dutch jurisprudence can run close to 5 figures a year), but I don't see why simple textbooks for use in law school should be that expensive.
More importantly: why do so many cars, in this day and age, with all these on board electronics, still fail to return the windshield wipers to the zero position when I switch off the ignition? (2008 Volvo leaves them up there, 2008 Peugeot as well, though our 1999 Jaguar does return them to the zero position)
By the time the Occulus has been made combat ready, hardened, with a beefed up resolution necessary for such work, it will probably cost upward of $10k per unit as well.
Those extensions can be very handy; we have extensions that automatically set up conference calls and/or book rooms when scheduling a meeting. Also: the ability to check other people's agendas is important; when trying to schedule an appointment with a large group of people, Outlook provides an overview of every participant's availability.
I've no experience in administering Linux desktop environments (I did do some "faffing about" with it on my home machine), but my experience is the opposite when it comes to the server side. Windows, Office and Exchange required far more people to run on large installations compared to DEC All-in-1, for instance. And don't get me started on Sharepoint. One client is replacing a mix of proprietary / FOSS software providing Wiki, Team site, document management, discussion board and content management, with Sharepoint. Dear god. The administration of the old packages was done by tiny teams doing support and maintenance. Sharepoint? Lift a floor tile in a datacenter and you'll see 3 SP consultants scuttle off. A *massive* implementation effort, far, far more staff to support the thing, more training of end users (the software is horribly unintuitive), even version upgrades are a chore. They are now letting MS manage the SP farm, and they still have far more staff involved than with the old software. And functionality-wise, SP doesn't offer basic functionality that the old software already had 15 years ago.
Switching from old school Office to the horror that is the Ribbon, is as much of a step as going to LibreOffice is. I've seen plenty of people (mom & grandpa types) switch with no training and no issues. A Linux desktop might be a step too far though, and it's likely some people will need special software only available on Windows.
Windows+LibreOffice is a great combo. My question in this case would be: is there anything that comes close to the functionality of Outlook + Exchange, either as a completely separate stack or Exchange server + a 3rd party client?
No. There will be an employee responsible for monitoring the application, though of course that is not a full time job just for one application. The responsibility can be given to an application specialist (handling many apps in a certain domain), a portfolio manager, or the manager of a support team for that domain. When the issue occurs, support usually notices it first and kicks it up to the responsible manager. That manager then brings in a contractor developer with strong troubleshooting skills, and coordinates the remedial work. You'll need to be able to bring in such a person on short notice, and be prepared to pay a hefty hourly rate, but on the whole it can be a very cost effective approach.
A. In a lot of cases this is a managable risk. You don't even need a full time employee; if an issue occurs (and if you manage it right, you'll often know about it ahead of time) you just hire a troubleshooter contractor for a few weeks to fix things. We've done this a few times with both FOSS software, and Mickey Mouse in-house software (think Access / VBA stuff), and in all cases the fix was faster and cheaper to apply than with comparable proprietary software.
And I'll let you in on a little secret: some teams writing proprietary software are also understaffed. The difference is that you won't know that they cut corners until things go bad. On the plus side: you get to blame the vendor instead of being blamed for your reckless choice of FOSS.
Not sure if the situation is quite as bad here, but it's getting pretty bizarre. Apparently, British Intelligence gave (secret) advise to the Dutch intelligence services on how to circumvent legal objections to perform wiretaps, as evidenced by communication leaked by Snowden. When such practises were questioned in parliament, concern was expressed that limiting the amount of spying by Dutch intelligence services would mean that they'd have fewer data to trade with the NSA. Apparently these agencies have a tit-for-tat policy... By the way, the body that expressed that concern was not the intelligence agency, nor was it parliament, but the oversight committee that is supposed to keep an eye on intelligence agencies. Somehow, that doesn't give me a warm fuzzy feeling that my rights are assured...
Good point about the hardware: it's not just about the design and building, but also about the materials you get to work with, and the environment. Bridge builders use structural steel elements, bolts, cables, and need to account for environmental factors like the ground they're building on; software designers rely on computer hardware, the OS, the network, and they will also use APIs and libraries to build the software.
The problem with software components is that they are difficult to test completely compared to physical elements (it can be done but it's often cost prohibitive, and even then it is all too easy to make a mistake). Also, software doesn't fail gracefully but chaotically: small errors can have large consequence, and even a bug in an unimportant feature of the software can bring the whole thing down. In terms of our bridge: mount the railing next to the walkway incorrectly, and the bridge comes crashing down. Use Traffic Signs v3.0 together with Overhead Girders v5.41, and things come down; not just the traffic signs or the girders, but the whole bridge, and somehow the town downstream gets flooded, too. And god forbid you forgot to account for the brand and colour of the cars that will pass over your bridge; because the red ones will behave differently, and cause troubles. That's how software fails.
Isn't the expense of local distribution the reason for a lack of competition? Competition between ADSL providers here in NL worked well after the government forced the (formerly state run) PTT to share the local loop with other providers for a nominal fee. Since then we've seen the inevitable consolidation, with smaller ISPs being bought up by the larger ones, but even today, the barrier to entry for new ISPs isn't all that high, and competition between ISPs remains reasonably healthy.
In my environment (business software), projects rarely fail because of bugs, but because of poorly understood business processes, business requirements that are poorly formulated or interpreted, and a poor sense of priorities which results in dropping the wrong 20% in an 80-20 situation, skipping acceptance tests, etc. Poorly understood IT requirements are also factors, especially when it comes to integration with other systems (which is often added as an afterthought).
Texture is key. There's a group of people with a certain condition who can only eat certain foods, and apparently the food is so godawful that it is hard to get these people to eat at all above the bare minimum. There's a few companies experimenting with 3d printed versions of this food to improve the texture.
It is not hard to go without meat, certainly don't need it every day, and there are plenty of tasty veg dishes, as long as they are real veg dishes, not with crappy tofu or whatever mixed in to "replace" meat. But I *like* steak, foie gras, prime rib, veal, a good hamburger, prosciutto, proper sausages. There's nothing as yet that replaces those pleasures in life. It would be great if more eco-friendly alternatives are invented, but until them I will continue to enjoy these treats.
That's a bit harsh. There are still nice games out there that are free (with or without ads) or cost a modest sum up front, with no in app purchases except perhaps a level pack. I'm fine with that. And as a (hobby-ish) developer, I know how hard it used to be to sell apps world wide and collect money for it. Today, anyone in the world can buy my app with a few clicks, and Apple dutifully dumps money into my bank account at the end of every month.
I wouldn't call the app concept failed, in fact I think it's a huge success. The one thing missing from the app store in my opinion is a refund feature. You should be able to try out an app for a day at no charge,
If you want your kid to learn to stand up for himself, would you pay a couple of other kids to beat him up until he finds the nerve to punch back, or would you send him to a self defence class? The first is likely to end in physical or psychological trauma, the second more likely to instil confidence as well as help keep potential bullies off his back.
What schools like these are doing is teaching him that his place in the hierarchy is being the classroom punching bag, and that he will be punished if he fights back or complains. Yes, life can be like that too, but only if you let it. School should be teaching him how to deal with such issues, not forcing him to suck it up.
And, what if this kid commits a Columbine-esque revenge scenario?
Appropriately, the page with TFA has an ad encouraging me to "Win an AR-15 from Sebastian Ammo". Google is getting scary...
As for the action taken by the school, one really has to wonder as to what kind of cretins make up the school administration. And what they could possibly have hoped to achieve by filing charges, other than a nasty (and well deserved) publicity backlash? Although for a society run by lawyers, that's perhaps what one would expect. Squeaky wheel gets a beating, and a teenager gets hauled in front of a judge on charges of "disorderly conduct" in a school. Seriously... Can any of the officials involved in this case look in the mirror and tell themselves that they are doing the Right Thing?
I think you hit the nail right on the head: besides projects they can undertake themselves if a study shows they are more or less feasible, they are looking for longer term investment opportunities. The article didn't mention any of that, but it seems reasonable that Project X is not just about turning ideas into products, but also a factory of patents, and a way to get the jump on competitors when it comes to buying companies that do actual research into promising new tech.
I see plenty of this, but it rarely has me worried. You have to take these Excel / Access "applications" for what they are: they typically exist as job aids for single persons or small teams. Is it pretty or sustainable? No: if the author of the application leaves and something needs to be changed or fixed, no support org will touch it with a 10 foot pole. This is where the difference between risk avoidance and risk management comes in. Risk avoidance means shaking your head in horror, and removing Access and VBA from workstations. Risk management means educating people about when it is appropriate to use such a tool, and when it isn't (like time or mission critical situations). Oh, and if the software does break and the original programmer has left, just hire a contractor to fix things. In my experience, they rarely need more than a few days for a fix or a simple change. Sometimes I just do it myself.
Why do we allow this? Because it is extremely cost effective, and it rarely causes trouble.
Same in the Netherlands, with the addition that the tax office will receive from your banks and employer complete financial data on your wages, taxes withheld, bank balances, mortgage payments, assets, and debts. These days they send you a tax return with all the relevant data already filled in; all you have to do is add any additional income they don't know about (not applicable to most people), or any additional expenses that are tax deductible (medical bills & such). For most people that means a quick check and signature before returning it digitally.
Many people with their own company, freelancers, and people with a lot of liquid assets will hire an accountant. We have such a byzantine set of rules on deductions, financial aids and exemptions that it pays to know the rules and be creative, and a good accountant can find the loopholes for you. With a top income tax of 52% (which already kicks in at 55k euro or so), 21% VAT and ever rising council taxes, I feel no qualms for dodging the system where I can.
No single feature on the iPhone was a game changer, it was a combination of many incremental improvements. For example, the use of a capacitive touch screen that could be operated with a finger, and the UI to match. Back then pretty much all smart phones had to be operated with a stylus or at best a sharp finger nail. A small improvement, but huge in terms of usability, especially for short tasks.
There were already many smart phones around at the time, but if you saw someone dicking around on one for a few minutes at the bus stop, chances are it was an iPhone. Apple's small improvements added up to a lot of usability.
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Zyclon B was originally used as a pesticide as well, specifically to fumigate houses if I remember correctly. Only later did certain people discover its "other" use.
A few reasons:
1) People prefer easy to use names. "GNU/Linux" is an awkward mouthful, "Linux" is a nice simple name. For the same reason people refer to the "Tesla Model S" as "Model S", or simply a "Tesla", since the S is the more common model here.
2) "Linux" has been the most commonly used name from day 1, and that's not going to change, for the same reason that the public will continue to take "hacker" to mean someone who breaks into computer systems.
..., a qualification which usually applies to "concepts". It's a nice idea to charge your car using solar panels, but if you're commuting, your car will not be sitting in that car port during the most sunny hours of the day. Besides, you can put those solar panels anywhere; choose the most efficient spot, which isn't necessarily the carport roof. Also: simply laying down solar panels on a flat roof is inefficient; you'll want to mount them at a 30 or so degree angle facing south.
On the other hand $200.00 is not very much for a law school text.
Not very much? Sounds like an awful lot for a book. The most I've ever paid for a college textbook (studying E.E. at a Dutch university) was about $75. I know that legal reference texts can be expensive as they often span multiple volumes (a subscription to Dutch jurisprudence can run close to 5 figures a year), but I don't see why simple textbooks for use in law school should be that expensive.
More importantly: why do so many cars, in this day and age, with all these on board electronics, still fail to return the windshield wipers to the zero position when I switch off the ignition? (2008 Volvo leaves them up there, 2008 Peugeot as well, though our 1999 Jaguar does return them to the zero position)
By the time the Occulus has been made combat ready, hardened, with a beefed up resolution necessary for such work, it will probably cost upward of $10k per unit as well.
Those extensions can be very handy; we have extensions that automatically set up conference calls and/or book rooms when scheduling a meeting. Also: the ability to check other people's agendas is important; when trying to schedule an appointment with a large group of people, Outlook provides an overview of every participant's availability.
I've no experience in administering Linux desktop environments (I did do some "faffing about" with it on my home machine), but my experience is the opposite when it comes to the server side. Windows, Office and Exchange required far more people to run on large installations compared to DEC All-in-1, for instance. And don't get me started on Sharepoint. One client is replacing a mix of proprietary / FOSS software providing Wiki, Team site, document management, discussion board and content management, with Sharepoint. Dear god. The administration of the old packages was done by tiny teams doing support and maintenance. Sharepoint? Lift a floor tile in a datacenter and you'll see 3 SP consultants scuttle off. A *massive* implementation effort, far, far more staff to support the thing, more training of end users (the software is horribly unintuitive), even version upgrades are a chore. They are now letting MS manage the SP farm, and they still have far more staff involved than with the old software. And functionality-wise, SP doesn't offer basic functionality that the old software already had 15 years ago.
Switching from old school Office to the horror that is the Ribbon, is as much of a step as going to LibreOffice is. I've seen plenty of people (mom & grandpa types) switch with no training and no issues. A Linux desktop might be a step too far though, and it's likely some people will need special software only available on Windows.
Windows+LibreOffice is a great combo. My question in this case would be: is there anything that comes close to the functionality of Outlook + Exchange, either as a completely separate stack or Exchange server + a 3rd party client?
No. There will be an employee responsible for monitoring the application, though of course that is not a full time job just for one application. The responsibility can be given to an application specialist (handling many apps in a certain domain), a portfolio manager, or the manager of a support team for that domain. When the issue occurs, support usually notices it first and kicks it up to the responsible manager. That manager then brings in a contractor developer with strong troubleshooting skills, and coordinates the remedial work. You'll need to be able to bring in such a person on short notice, and be prepared to pay a hefty hourly rate, but on the whole it can be a very cost effective approach.
A. In a lot of cases this is a managable risk. You don't even need a full time employee; if an issue occurs (and if you manage it right, you'll often know about it ahead of time) you just hire a troubleshooter contractor for a few weeks to fix things. We've done this a few times with both FOSS software, and Mickey Mouse in-house software (think Access / VBA stuff), and in all cases the fix was faster and cheaper to apply than with comparable proprietary software.
And I'll let you in on a little secret: some teams writing proprietary software are also understaffed. The difference is that you won't know that they cut corners until things go bad. On the plus side: you get to blame the vendor instead of being blamed for your reckless choice of FOSS.
Not sure if the situation is quite as bad here, but it's getting pretty bizarre. Apparently, British Intelligence gave (secret) advise to the Dutch intelligence services on how to circumvent legal objections to perform wiretaps, as evidenced by communication leaked by Snowden. When such practises were questioned in parliament, concern was expressed that limiting the amount of spying by Dutch intelligence services would mean that they'd have fewer data to trade with the NSA. Apparently these agencies have a tit-for-tat policy... By the way, the body that expressed that concern was not the intelligence agency, nor was it parliament, but the oversight committee that is supposed to keep an eye on intelligence agencies. Somehow, that doesn't give me a warm fuzzy feeling that my rights are assured...
Good point about the hardware: it's not just about the design and building, but also about the materials you get to work with, and the environment. Bridge builders use structural steel elements, bolts, cables, and need to account for environmental factors like the ground they're building on; software designers rely on computer hardware, the OS, the network, and they will also use APIs and libraries to build the software.
The problem with software components is that they are difficult to test completely compared to physical elements (it can be done but it's often cost prohibitive, and even then it is all too easy to make a mistake). Also, software doesn't fail gracefully but chaotically: small errors can have large consequence, and even a bug in an unimportant feature of the software can bring the whole thing down. In terms of our bridge: mount the railing next to the walkway incorrectly, and the bridge comes crashing down. Use Traffic Signs v3.0 together with Overhead Girders v5.41, and things come down; not just the traffic signs or the girders, but the whole bridge, and somehow the town downstream gets flooded, too. And god forbid you forgot to account for the brand and colour of the cars that will pass over your bridge; because the red ones will behave differently, and cause troubles. That's how software fails.
launch the missile by pulling a piece of string from behind a blast screen.
From the manual: "Antiship missile (with loud report). Light, and get away".
Isn't the expense of local distribution the reason for a lack of competition? Competition between ADSL providers here in NL worked well after the government forced the (formerly state run) PTT to share the local loop with other providers for a nominal fee. Since then we've seen the inevitable consolidation, with smaller ISPs being bought up by the larger ones, but even today, the barrier to entry for new ISPs isn't all that high, and competition between ISPs remains reasonably healthy.
In my environment (business software), projects rarely fail because of bugs, but because of poorly understood business processes, business requirements that are poorly formulated or interpreted, and a poor sense of priorities which results in dropping the wrong 20% in an 80-20 situation, skipping acceptance tests, etc. Poorly understood IT requirements are also factors, especially when it comes to integration with other systems (which is often added as an afterthought).
Texture is key. There's a group of people with a certain condition who can only eat certain foods, and apparently the food is so godawful that it is hard to get these people to eat at all above the bare minimum. There's a few companies experimenting with 3d printed versions of this food to improve the texture.
It is not hard to go without meat, certainly don't need it every day, and there are plenty of tasty veg dishes, as long as they are real veg dishes, not with crappy tofu or whatever mixed in to "replace" meat. But I *like* steak, foie gras, prime rib, veal, a good hamburger, prosciutto, proper sausages. There's nothing as yet that replaces those pleasures in life. It would be great if more eco-friendly alternatives are invented, but until them I will continue to enjoy these treats.
That's a bit harsh. There are still nice games out there that are free (with or without ads) or cost a modest sum up front, with no in app purchases except perhaps a level pack. I'm fine with that. And as a (hobby-ish) developer, I know how hard it used to be to sell apps world wide and collect money for it. Today, anyone in the world can buy my app with a few clicks, and Apple dutifully dumps money into my bank account at the end of every month.
I wouldn't call the app concept failed, in fact I think it's a huge success. The one thing missing from the app store in my opinion is a refund feature. You should be able to try out an app for a day at no charge,
If you want your kid to learn to stand up for himself, would you pay a couple of other kids to beat him up until he finds the nerve to punch back, or would you send him to a self defence class? The first is likely to end in physical or psychological trauma, the second more likely to instil confidence as well as help keep potential bullies off his back.
What schools like these are doing is teaching him that his place in the hierarchy is being the classroom punching bag, and that he will be punished if he fights back or complains. Yes, life can be like that too, but only if you let it. School should be teaching him how to deal with such issues, not forcing him to suck it up.
And, what if this kid commits a Columbine-esque revenge scenario?
Appropriately, the page with TFA has an ad encouraging me to "Win an AR-15 from Sebastian Ammo". Google is getting scary...
As for the action taken by the school, one really has to wonder as to what kind of cretins make up the school administration. And what they could possibly have hoped to achieve by filing charges, other than a nasty (and well deserved) publicity backlash? Although for a society run by lawyers, that's perhaps what one would expect. Squeaky wheel gets a beating, and a teenager gets hauled in front of a judge on charges of "disorderly conduct" in a school. Seriously... Can any of the officials involved in this case look in the mirror and tell themselves that they are doing the Right Thing?
I think you hit the nail right on the head: besides projects they can undertake themselves if a study shows they are more or less feasible, they are looking for longer term investment opportunities. The article didn't mention any of that, but it seems reasonable that Project X is not just about turning ideas into products, but also a factory of patents, and a way to get the jump on competitors when it comes to buying companies that do actual research into promising new tech.
I see plenty of this, but it rarely has me worried. You have to take these Excel / Access "applications" for what they are: they typically exist as job aids for single persons or small teams. Is it pretty or sustainable? No: if the author of the application leaves and something needs to be changed or fixed, no support org will touch it with a 10 foot pole. This is where the difference between risk avoidance and risk management comes in. Risk avoidance means shaking your head in horror, and removing Access and VBA from workstations. Risk management means educating people about when it is appropriate to use such a tool, and when it isn't (like time or mission critical situations). Oh, and if the software does break and the original programmer has left, just hire a contractor to fix things. In my experience, they rarely need more than a few days for a fix or a simple change. Sometimes I just do it myself.
Why do we allow this? Because it is extremely cost effective, and it rarely causes trouble.
Same in the Netherlands, with the addition that the tax office will receive from your banks and employer complete financial data on your wages, taxes withheld, bank balances, mortgage payments, assets, and debts. These days they send you a tax return with all the relevant data already filled in; all you have to do is add any additional income they don't know about (not applicable to most people), or any additional expenses that are tax deductible (medical bills & such). For most people that means a quick check and signature before returning it digitally.
Many people with their own company, freelancers, and people with a lot of liquid assets will hire an accountant. We have such a byzantine set of rules on deductions, financial aids and exemptions that it pays to know the rules and be creative, and a good accountant can find the loopholes for you. With a top income tax of 52% (which already kicks in at 55k euro or so), 21% VAT and ever rising council taxes, I feel no qualms for dodging the system where I can.
No single feature on the iPhone was a game changer, it was a combination of many incremental improvements. For example, the use of a capacitive touch screen that could be operated with a finger, and the UI to match. Back then pretty much all smart phones had to be operated with a stylus or at best a sharp finger nail. A small improvement, but huge in terms of usability, especially for short tasks.
There were already many smart phones around at the time, but if you saw someone dicking around on one for a few minutes at the bus stop, chances are it was an iPhone. Apple's small improvements added up to a lot of usability.
Good enough to be granted a patent on it.