I'm got a temporary administrative (that's secretarial, not IT) job and am grateful because my unemployment benefits are about to run out. (I was doing web development/programming before I got laid off.)
Look at it this way, at least you can smack the bobble-head boss doll around and come up with all kinds of ways to torture it!;-)
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
Wow. You're part of a real, live militia that's protecting this country. I'm impressed.
What IS it about the second half, "the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed," that you people don't understand? Not that you understand the first part either--just who do you think WAS the militia back then? That would be--the people! This right is to the people--all the people, not just to police officers and the military.
Now...while all of you are out there playing the blame game about the DMCA or how many republicans vs. democrats take money from who, there's another bill which if passed will even do MORE damage. [hint: We can still DO something about this one!]
Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act (CBDTPA, "The Hollings Bill"), S.2048
This virulent Trojan Horse, written by Senator Ernest "Fritz" Hollings and friends appears to be a law that promotes technology, but it carries a deadly payload. Under this proposed law, technologists will have to come to film and movie studios on bent knee and beg for permission to ship new hardware and software. The film and music companies who worked to ban every innovative technology from the player piano to Marconi's radio to the VCR and the Internet itself would be in charge of all future innovation in America.
Need I say more?
PS: The campaign contribution list is nice, but what really counts is your congressman/senators' voting record for those bills.
This is the standard, "Is the PC becoming obsolete as a gaming machine" article. How many YEARS have we been seeing these? Even this article concludes that games for the PC are not going away yet.
I would like to remind any nay-sayers that quite a few games will be created for both the PC and a console. However, it's not as likely they'll be ported to MULTIPLE consoles. So if you get a console there will be some games you can't get because they're exclusive to another console and you'll have to buy the PC version to play it.
I think we'll eventually merge the TV/computer into the ultimate entertainment center. We're already moving that way. PC's now have surround sound, TV access and DVD players. New flat monitors are HDTV ready with TV access and connections built in. It's only a matter of time when the larger high-res screens come down in price and more people can integrate the two.
But for the time being, I'll stick with PC games. Sure there are some console-exclusive games I'd like to play, but I don't feel the need to pay $200 for a separate system to play those hand full of games. (Actually more than that because they're not all on the same console!)
I never understood why Filetopia didn't rise to the top of downloaders. It reminded me of the now defunct Scour, but it has privacy checks and encryption. It's only drawback it it doesn't have as many users. I suspect this is more out of the fact that they just didn't promote it enough because it worked very well.
It's primarily for Windows, but can also be run with WINE.
Except that this isn't just going up to the door and knocking. This is opening the door and peeking around to see if you have stolen goods in your house.
Basically this is a third party company being able to violate the 4th amendment against illegal search.
When cable came out the big thing was that you were paying for HBO or other premium channels so you weren't supposed to have commericals.
Well that didn't last long did it? And the same thing in a movie theater or video rental. We pay for that too and now have commercials along with coming attractions. Now they even run ads on TV screens at the supermarket! And they wonder why the public is running away!
And these advertisers must be doing ads for web pages too. Because damn if it's all the same migrane-inducing flashing, loud (on TV) crap. They were supposed to quit making commercials come up louder (so you could hear them when you ran off to the kitchen). But what they've obviously done is lowered the volume of the program so you turn that up and then play the commercials at the "normal" volume. It's basically a we believe we have a right to subject you to this and will get mad if you try to subvert it attitude.
If you got to watch any of the really old shows you actually heard advertising in the program. The announcer would stop and promote a product, much like they do on radio. Or they would sponser a programs like Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom. I still remember the sponsor...even after all these years. How's THAT for product recognition? If the host was really good, you hardly noticed you were being pitched to. They didn't have to make a desperate, flashy bid to catch your attention.
Advertisers need to look at themselves to find the source of the problem. If you can market a product in an interesting or humorous way, people will stop and watch. Just look at the number of people that tune into the superbowl just to see the funniest ads.
I'm the opposite of some here. I have gone down to Best Buy or other store to look at an item and then bought it online because of the price! I get quite a bit off and sometimes free shipping. And usually no sales tax unless they have a business in my state.
But some companies, especially the catalog companies are a throwback. They charge shipping on the $ amount rather than an estimate at an actual weight. So the more you by the higher the shipping charges which is ridiculous and simply encourages people to go elsewhere or by under a certain amount.
Throw in difficult to navigate sites, and (my personal peeve) those that block entrance or casually perusing without letting it set cookies and it's no wonder they have problems.
Many of these people started a web business with the idea that they could throw anything up there and it would work. It doesn't work that way in the real world (something like 75% of businesses fail within their 1st year and 50% remaining fail within 5 years) so it won't be much different in cyberspace. They forgot all about basic marketing and targeting your audience.
I'm not surprised porn succeeds. They certainly have a built in advantage in that most people don't want to be caught walking into a dirty bookstore, but they can go on-line and *feel* relatively anonymous. However, as to the spam, I think the only ones making money are the ones selling the lists. The businesses are popping in and out of business like Amway MLMs. It's the same product, but different people are being sucked in to try marketing it.
"The Boston Globe reports that Dell, which has heretofore sold only through its website, direct to consumers, will now sell generic computers to dealers."
Why does this make me picture some shady guy stopping passerbys with, "Psst...wanna buy a whitebox?"
Screw Nukem, I want more KEEN!!! The boxed verisons of The Aliens Ate My BabySitter and Goodbye Galaxy are in their original boxes on my bookshelf! Two of the few, early games that I haven't given away. And I'd love to be able to transfer the AAMB from the 5 1/4" disks.
Yes, diamonds are a ripoff, yes it's a cartel (just like UAE oil) where they fix the price.
But I've got to say if she wants a diamond get her a diamond. Hopefully this purchase also makes you really think about if this is the one you want to buy that ring for. Trust me, this is the time to think about that...not AFTER you've said, "I DO."
I'm logical and practical. I knew my fiance didn't have the money and this wasn't either of our first marriages, so I suggested a ring with some small white saphires for an engagement/wedding band. It was about $100.
We've been married for 6 years and we're very much in love. But I hope when it gets around to the 10 year aniversary I can get something a little nicer. It's impractical, but as it is I rarely wear my wedding ring.
If there are any upcoming Rock and Mineral (Geological type) shows or Gem and Jewelery shows (the former is usually better priced) those are great places to shop. Usually the quality is much better and the prices are too!
Has anyone tried this? I really would like to have a ReplayTV, however it's very costly. Also you can record, but I want to be able to burn the programs on to a CD which is not doable according to BlueSonic. But Hauppauge has a PVR card that looks like an interesting alternative. It also has a scheduler. So you can schedule recordings, pause live TV and then burn your favorites to CD all on your computer. All for a LOT less than Replay or even TiVo, I think.
If anyone has tried this card, I love to know what they think of it.
We have a tire tax supposedly to pay for the recycling of tires (although why do I keep seeing stories about automotive places dumping tires?)
One of these bills doesn't seem to do anything about the problem; it just wants to set up yet another tax. Does that mean, okay we've collected the tax, now you can throw your old computer in the dumpster?
I would much rather see something closer to the second bill: an active recycling program that encourages computer makers to get older computers to schools and others non-profits so as little as possible ends up on the dump. I would rather see a reward system set up rather than a punitive one, however. Any costs penalizing these companies will simply be passed on to us.
With two clicks I had set up a system whereby they could connect the secretary's 56k modem (my parents live/work in the middle of nowhere) to the Internet and have everyone else's computer connect through hers. I then set up remote disconnect -- where it shows the icon in your system tray and you can connect and disconnect the modem from any computer in the office. Windows XP comes with a nifty disk that you can put into any Windows computer (besides Windows 2000) and set up the connection sharing.
With another few clicks I had set up the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard, which uses Ethernet or a serial cable to connect to the other computer and download settings (fonts, favorites, etc.) I even backed up other programs and had them transferred automatically.
Unless I'm missing something, that sounds like a script kiddie's dream and security person's nightmare.
When my mom plugs in a digital camera, a wizard pops up and shows her all the pictures on the camera.
I have seen more complaints regarding XP (and these are not average users) on a web list I'm a member of regarding getting things like scanners, digital cameras and other things to work. Last Christmas, I struggled, unsuccessfully, to put a ATI TV card in my Win98 SE computer. I never could get it to work without freezing up even after updating video and Direct X updates and eventually returned it. Are you saying the average person is going to have any less problems hunting down compatibility problems in Windows than in Linux, because I heartily disagree! Oh and, from what I saw on the forum boards, the TV card didn't install on XP any easier. I think we conveniently forget problems we have had with "plug and pray".
I think LUGs (Linux User Groups) could be more proactive in not only gaining members but educating people on the usablity of Linux.
If you seen some of the Video Professor commercials, they apparently go out into malls and set up and let people try out their software (teaches basic computing skills) for free.
What if LUGs around the country got into the community, perhaps even tying in with a local computer shop if they were Linux friendly, and let regular people see what Linux looks and feels like? There is so much FUD going around and people think Linux is some command line, black and white, terminal-looking OS.
If they don't tie in with a computer shop, I would *think* they should be able to do this for little if any cost from the mall as long as they are a non-profit group and weren't selling anything.
And I'd love to see the their faces when they ask how much it costs or see how many programs come included. When I first tentatively loaded Mandrake Linux 8.0 last May, I was blown away by how many programs came with it and how easy it was to install.
I think the masses should be particuarly receptive these days. It's been enough time for those demands to register that new Christmas XP loaded PC and sign up with.NET reminders on their mind. People can walk into any store and play with machines that have Windows and OS-X installed. We should be able to do this with Linux too.
What if the artists banded together and started their own Artist-Nap and sold their songs through that?
Unfortunately, I have a feeling a lot of them are "owned" by the music company contracts and couldn't just strike out on their own until the contract is up. And then it would depend if they still had any rights to their previous songs.
First off the African countries have much more problems than class warfare. They have tribal warfare, rampant disease, lack of education and no real industrial structure. There is no way we would turn into anything resembling that.
The previous rich ruling class (whites) are now being murdered or have left their land behind. Those who take the land will still be no better off. Tribes will continue to fight and kill each other off.
Echoing the thoughts of the AC, Libertarians feel that if you had the money the government takes out of each paycheck, you wouldn't NEED the help because you could support yourself.
And thirdly, I don't know what you're rant is referring to. Neither I nor the person that you responded to mentioned anything about doing what you say. My point was it didn't make any sense to send the tax money to the federal government to have it doled out back to us, many time inequitably and with strings attached. It makes more sense to me that the majority of the money stay in the state and only what the Federal government needs gets sent there.
If the code is made public, would this not assist several projects like WINE and others who would gain better knowledge on running Windows programs on Linux?
Also would it give evidence on how MS "breaks" competing programs?
It would be, however, a BugTraq fest waiting to happen!;-) The flip side of which would be that they will no longer have to have their month-long moratorium on new coding to clean up their code. Others will do it for them.
I seem to recall that the early power struggles in our countries infancy were primarily federal government vs. state governments. If more power were granted to the states, Microsoft and other corporations would merely switch their focus to brib^H^H^H^H contributing to state and local officials (Not that they're overlooking them now, mind).
You have a lot tighter control over local legislators than you do national ones. If Joe Blow Senator has more pull in a committee, guess whose's state is going to get fed? If he helps out a company in his district, I can't vote against him. And something that happens regarding a congressperson in Maryland probably isn't even going to be reported in South Dakota. However, an issue of influence and contributions is going to get more play in the local (statewide press) if it happens to one of their own. It will be a bigger blip on the radar.
It would be better if states were dependent on their own rather than the current, "redistribute the wealth plan" where the federal goverment decides who's pork get paid for and who's doesn't. We shouldn't have to send money up that going to be redistributed back to the states anyway (with strings attached). Some states get more back than what their population has put in while others get less.
Today's system is a good way for national legislators to look good bringing home the bacon and the local ones for not having to deal with the fact that if they did Project X they're going to have to risk raising taxes. And the naive voter thinks of all that federal money as "free" money.
Educational games do little more than encourage the kid to click on stuff randomly. They couldn't remember what they saw in a video 20 minutes after seeing it. And they lived their day around TV shows and video games... nothing much happening.
And if they're anything like some I know, they quickly learn how to "hack" the game and get all the right answers. They learn nothing.
I think getting back to encouraging reading does more than anything to help kids and help build their brain's processing. Watching a video is not going to do that.
For your information, Mandrake Linux 8.1 has the same autodetect mechanism at boot time.
FYI: I have used Madrake since 8 came out last May and have upgraded to 8.1. Both had the autodetect for new hardware. I have had no problems using the detection on intstall, but change something out and I suddenly get the "frowny face" when it gets to harddrake in the boot. And it spews gargbage code at me. Now I can configure the hardware fine in KDE on HardDrake, and the machine runs without any problems as far as I can tell, but I can't get rid of the garbage spew at boot up without going through the install process again. The last time I reinstalled (got the 8.1 Transgaming pack for Christmas;) I've turned off HardDrake running on startup.
As for looking out of state, I've been doing that since this summer when it became clear that the local market was unlikely to recover for years. It's no good - many recruiters and companies don't want to talk to you unless you're local.
I don't know what industry you're looking in, but I know our company goes recruiting out-of-state all the time. This is at the colleges, true, but I'm surpised that companies wouldn't want you just because you're not local.
As for using the old college network, that depends on the school and the local job market. I left Florida for a reason, and even my parents have finally accepted that the job market there is just too small -- you have a lot of tourism-driven jobs, but relatively few decent jobs for the population.
Well this story dealt with a guy with a degree from a school I knew well and I was specific to his case. Not all schools are as "tight" as this one. This school is "call up an alum you've never met and get together for a beer" tight! Also, many times other states don't place as much importance on out of state degrees as much as their own unless they're MIT, Harvard, etc. I'm sure if he went back to Texas he'd find something. Plus, this guy has two degrees, one in mechanical engineering and an MBA in business so he's got a pretty broad area of expertise to work from.
Not to go all old-foggie here, but I lived in Texas through the mid-80s oil bust. I knew a lot of geolgists, palentologists and engineers who learned how to say, "do you want fries with that?" Just a few years back they, too, were booming and making money just like the dot.commers were--then the bottom fell out. Companies were going out of business all over, including one I worked for. I worked a year and a half doing temp work until I got a permanent position. It helped living in a large city and the fact that Texas does have a lower cost of living. But it wasn't easy.
Texas also wasn't as diversified as it is now so there were a lot of people out of work. The "snow birds" who had left the north when times were bad there moved back the market there was better again. Sometimes you got to work the crappy jobs for a while until the market picks back up. Sometimes you have to move if the region is down, but another is up. The market, unless you're in the funeral business, is cyclical. I think, unfortunately, that a lot of people got caught short, especially those who graduated fresh out of school into a booming tech market that they were told would last forever.
Slashdot Mirror
Look at it this way, at least you can smack the bobble-head boss doll around and come up with all kinds of ways to torture it! ;-)
Wow. You're part of a real, live militia that's protecting this country. I'm impressed.
What IS it about the second half, "the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed," that you people don't understand? Not that you understand the first part either--just who do you think WAS the militia back then? That would be--the people! This right is to the people--all the people, not just to police officers and the military.
Now...while all of you are out there playing the blame game about the DMCA or how many republicans vs. democrats take money from who, there's another bill which if passed will even do MORE damage. [hint: We can still DO something about this one!]
Need I say more?
PS: The campaign contribution list is nice, but what really counts is your congressman/senators' voting record for those bills.
This is the standard, "Is the PC becoming obsolete as a gaming machine" article. How many YEARS have we been seeing these? Even this article concludes that games for the PC are not going away yet.
I would like to remind any nay-sayers that quite a few games will be created for both the PC and a console. However, it's not as likely they'll be ported to MULTIPLE consoles. So if you get a console there will be some games you can't get because they're exclusive to another console and you'll have to buy the PC version to play it.
I think we'll eventually merge the TV/computer into the ultimate entertainment center. We're already moving that way. PC's now have surround sound, TV access and DVD players. New flat monitors are HDTV ready with TV access and connections built in. It's only a matter of time when the larger high-res screens come down in price and more people can integrate the two.
But for the time being, I'll stick with PC games. Sure there are some console-exclusive games I'd like to play, but I don't feel the need to pay $200 for a separate system to play those hand full of games. (Actually more than that because they're not all on the same console!)
It's primarily for Windows, but can also be run with WINE.
Except that this isn't just going up to the door and knocking. This is opening the door and peeking around to see if you have stolen goods in your house.
Basically this is a third party company being able to violate the 4th amendment against illegal search.
Martial arts and ST! Now THERE'S something we haven't seen since Sulu wielded that sword!
When cable came out the big thing was that you were paying for HBO or other premium channels so you weren't supposed to have commericals.
Well that didn't last long did it? And the same thing in a movie theater or video rental. We pay for that too and now have commercials along with coming attractions. Now they even run ads on TV screens at the supermarket! And they wonder why the public is running away!
And these advertisers must be doing ads for web pages too. Because damn if it's all the same migrane-inducing flashing, loud (on TV) crap. They were supposed to quit making commercials come up louder (so you could hear them when you ran off to the kitchen). But what they've obviously done is lowered the volume of the program so you turn that up and then play the commercials at the "normal" volume. It's basically a we believe we have a right to subject you to this and will get mad if you try to subvert it attitude.
If you got to watch any of the really old shows you actually heard advertising in the program. The announcer would stop and promote a product, much like they do on radio. Or they would sponser a programs like Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom. I still remember the sponsor...even after all these years. How's THAT for product recognition? If the host was really good, you hardly noticed you were being pitched to. They didn't have to make a desperate, flashy bid to catch your attention.
Advertisers need to look at themselves to find the source of the problem. If you can market a product in an interesting or humorous way, people will stop and watch. Just look at the number of people that tune into the superbowl just to see the funniest ads.
But some companies, especially the catalog companies are a throwback. They charge shipping on the $ amount rather than an estimate at an actual weight. So the more you by the higher the shipping charges which is ridiculous and simply encourages people to go elsewhere or by under a certain amount.
Throw in difficult to navigate sites, and (my personal peeve) those that block entrance or casually perusing without letting it set cookies and it's no wonder they have problems.
Many of these people started a web business with the idea that they could throw anything up there and it would work. It doesn't work that way in the real world (something like 75% of businesses fail within their 1st year and 50% remaining fail within 5 years) so it won't be much different in cyberspace. They forgot all about basic marketing and targeting your audience.
I'm not surprised porn succeeds. They certainly have a built in advantage in that most people don't want to be caught walking into a dirty bookstore, but they can go on-line and *feel* relatively anonymous. However, as to the spam, I think the only ones making money are the ones selling the lists. The businesses are popping in and out of business like Amway MLMs. It's the same product, but different people are being sucked in to try marketing it.
Why does this make me picture some shady guy stopping passerbys with, "Psst...wanna buy a whitebox?"
Screw Nukem, I want more KEEN!!! The boxed verisons of The Aliens Ate My BabySitter and Goodbye Galaxy are in their original boxes on my bookshelf! Two of the few, early games that I haven't given away. And I'd love to be able to transfer the AAMB from the 5 1/4" disks.
Monster Bash (Apogee) was fun too!
Yes, diamonds are a ripoff, yes it's a cartel (just like UAE oil) where they fix the price.
But I've got to say if she wants a diamond get her a diamond. Hopefully this purchase also makes you really think about if this is the one you want to buy that ring for. Trust me, this is the time to think about that...not AFTER you've said, "I DO."
I'm logical and practical. I knew my fiance didn't have the money and this wasn't either of our first marriages, so I suggested a ring with some small white saphires for an engagement/wedding band. It was about $100.
We've been married for 6 years and we're very much in love. But I hope when it gets around to the 10 year aniversary I can get something a little nicer. It's impractical, but as it is I rarely wear my wedding ring.
If there are any upcoming Rock and Mineral (Geological type) shows or Gem and Jewelery shows (the former is usually better priced) those are great places to shop. Usually the quality is much better and the prices are too!
If anyone has tried this card, I love to know what they think of it.
We have a tire tax supposedly to pay for the recycling of tires (although why do I keep seeing stories about automotive places dumping tires?)
One of these bills doesn't seem to do anything about the problem; it just wants to set up yet another tax. Does that mean, okay we've collected the tax, now you can throw your old computer in the dumpster?
I would much rather see something closer to the second bill: an active recycling program that encourages computer makers to get older computers to schools and others non-profits so as little as possible ends up on the dump. I would rather see a reward system set up rather than a punitive one, however. Any costs penalizing these companies will simply be passed on to us.
I don't know about the banner ads YOU see, but the ones I see don't resemble "Safe, natural, Viagra substitute" or "Hot XXX Underage Chicks". ;-)
With another few clicks I had set up the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard, which uses Ethernet or a serial cable to connect to the other computer and download settings (fonts, favorites, etc.) I even backed up other programs and had them transferred automatically.
Unless I'm missing something, that sounds like a script kiddie's dream and security person's nightmare.
When my mom plugs in a digital camera, a wizard pops up and shows her all the pictures on the camera.
I have seen more complaints regarding XP (and these are not average users) on a web list I'm a member of regarding getting things like scanners, digital cameras and other things to work. Last Christmas, I struggled, unsuccessfully, to put a ATI TV card in my Win98 SE computer. I never could get it to work without freezing up even after updating video and Direct X updates and eventually returned it. Are you saying the average person is going to have any less problems hunting down compatibility problems in Windows than in Linux, because I heartily disagree! Oh and, from what I saw on the forum boards, the TV card didn't install on XP any easier. I think we conveniently forget problems we have had with "plug and pray".
I think LUGs (Linux User Groups) could be more proactive in not only gaining members but educating people on the usablity of Linux.
.NET reminders on their mind. People can walk into any store and play with machines that have Windows and OS-X installed. We should be able to do this with Linux too.
If you seen some of the Video Professor commercials, they apparently go out into malls and set up and let people try out their software (teaches basic computing skills) for free.
What if LUGs around the country got into the community, perhaps even tying in with a local computer shop if they were Linux friendly, and let regular people see what Linux looks and feels like? There is so much FUD going around and people think Linux is some command line, black and white, terminal-looking OS.
If they don't tie in with a computer shop, I would *think* they should be able to do this for little if any cost from the mall as long as they are a non-profit group and weren't selling anything.
And I'd love to see the their faces when they ask how much it costs or see how many programs come included. When I first tentatively loaded Mandrake Linux 8.0 last May, I was blown away by how many programs came with it and how easy it was to install.
I think the masses should be particuarly receptive these days. It's been enough time for those demands to register that new Christmas XP loaded PC and sign up with
Hey--he just wanted to hold onto the rights of "I've Got You Babe."
Unfortunately, I have a feeling a lot of them are "owned" by the music company contracts and couldn't just strike out on their own until the contract is up. And then it would depend if they still had any rights to their previous songs.
First off the African countries have much more problems than class warfare. They have tribal warfare, rampant disease, lack of education and no real industrial structure. There is no way we would turn into anything resembling that.
The previous rich ruling class (whites) are now being murdered or have left their land behind. Those who take the land will still be no better off. Tribes will continue to fight and kill each other off.
Echoing the thoughts of the AC, Libertarians feel that if you had the money the government takes out of each paycheck, you wouldn't NEED the help because you could support yourself.
And thirdly, I don't know what you're rant is referring to. Neither I nor the person that you responded to mentioned anything about doing what you say. My point was it didn't make any sense to send the tax money to the federal government to have it doled out back to us, many time inequitably and with strings attached. It makes more sense to me that the majority of the money stay in the state and only what the Federal government needs gets sent there.
What will be even funnier will be that KDE gets slashdotted because of it!
Also would it give evidence on how MS "breaks" competing programs?
It would be, however, a BugTraq fest waiting to happen! ;-) The flip side of which would be that they will no longer have to have their month-long moratorium on new coding to clean up their code. Others will do it for them.
You have a lot tighter control over local legislators than you do national ones. If Joe Blow Senator has more pull in a committee, guess whose's state is going to get fed? If he helps out a company in his district, I can't vote against him. And something that happens regarding a congressperson in Maryland probably isn't even going to be reported in South Dakota. However, an issue of influence and contributions is going to get more play in the local (statewide press) if it happens to one of their own. It will be a bigger blip on the radar.
It would be better if states were dependent on their own rather than the current, "redistribute the wealth plan" where the federal goverment decides who's pork get paid for and who's doesn't. We shouldn't have to send money up that going to be redistributed back to the states anyway (with strings attached). Some states get more back than what their population has put in while others get less.
Today's system is a good way for national legislators to look good bringing home the bacon and the local ones for not having to deal with the fact that if they did Project X they're going to have to risk raising taxes. And the naive voter thinks of all that federal money as "free" money.
And if they're anything like some I know, they quickly learn how to "hack" the game and get all the right answers. They learn nothing.
I think getting back to encouraging reading does more than anything to help kids and help build their brain's processing. Watching a video is not going to do that.
FYI: I have used Madrake since 8 came out last May and have upgraded to 8.1. Both had the autodetect for new hardware. I have had no problems using the detection on intstall, but change something out and I suddenly get the "frowny face" when it gets to harddrake in the boot. And it spews gargbage code at me. Now I can configure the hardware fine in KDE on HardDrake, and the machine runs without any problems as far as I can tell, but I can't get rid of the garbage spew at boot up without going through the install process again. The last time I reinstalled (got the 8.1 Transgaming pack for Christmas ;) I've turned off HardDrake running on startup.
YMMV
As for looking out of state, I've been doing that since this summer when it became clear that the local market was unlikely to recover for years. It's no good - many recruiters and companies don't want to talk to you unless you're local.
I don't know what industry you're looking in, but I know our company goes recruiting out-of-state all the time. This is at the colleges, true, but I'm surpised that companies wouldn't want you just because you're not local.
As for using the old college network, that depends on the school and the local job market. I left Florida for a reason, and even my parents have finally accepted that the job market there is just too small -- you have a lot of tourism-driven jobs, but relatively few decent jobs for the population.
Well this story dealt with a guy with a degree from a school I knew well and I was specific to his case. Not all schools are as "tight" as this one. This school is "call up an alum you've never met and get together for a beer" tight! Also, many times other states don't place as much importance on out of state degrees as much as their own unless they're MIT, Harvard, etc. I'm sure if he went back to Texas he'd find something. Plus, this guy has two degrees, one in mechanical engineering and an MBA in business so he's got a pretty broad area of expertise to work from.
Not to go all old-foggie here, but I lived in Texas through the mid-80s oil bust. I knew a lot of geolgists, palentologists and engineers who learned how to say, "do you want fries with that?" Just a few years back they, too, were booming and making money just like the dot.commers were--then the bottom fell out. Companies were going out of business all over, including one I worked for. I worked a year and a half doing temp work until I got a permanent position. It helped living in a large city and the fact that Texas does have a lower cost of living. But it wasn't easy.
Texas also wasn't as diversified as it is now so there were a lot of people out of work. The "snow birds" who had left the north when times were bad there moved back the market there was better again. Sometimes you got to work the crappy jobs for a while until the market picks back up. Sometimes you have to move if the region is down, but another is up. The market, unless you're in the funeral business, is cyclical. I think, unfortunately, that a lot of people got caught short, especially those who graduated fresh out of school into a booming tech market that they were told would last forever.
Good luck in your search.