Some folks who are at heart independant (or indifferent to party) register as the party not in power in order to vote in the primary.
Some people of the party in power do it to negatively influence the primary, choosing real losers to hurt the chances of the leaders -- of course, these malicious types are really a minority, so they are overwhelmed by honest folks.
Same thing could be applied to any level of government, not just national. Could be in certain counties, this was the only way to influence the county government, but the side effect appears inconsistant for the national vote. Does not mean that certain counties are fraudulent.
Regardless of the buzzwords, early prototyping and change management integrated into the base release are the best way to ensure a manageable system/human process in the future. Business gets more value sooner and understands the cycle sooner.
A lot of maintenance issues come in transition from the base release to later releases. If the typically more senior programmers that start a software product behave (clear code, documentation, training, whatever) so that they or more junior programmers can quickly understand what they did (automated Unit Test) there is a much easier transition later.
The real problem comes in when the senior designer / programmer abruptly moves on to the sexier product (or company) and the junior guys are left for the next design/implementation. This is ususally where products get fscked up. If the handoff to the junior dudes is not clean including working unit tests, the product starts down the doom slide. If the extension designer is on his first non mentored system, watch out!
The fundamental problem in the software business is that it is our job to learn and apply learning every day. We like that. We like it so much we usually do not stick around to work on our systems in the maintenance mode (always another new/better system/tool/language to learn) which is also why the academics do not address it. Good methodologies going forward will minimize or address the impact of the learning programmer.
I like automated Unit Tests (used 'em pre xP) because they capture more of the code level design and clearly indicate the extent to which the inital programmer considered the problem -- along with well written code itself, this is as clear a knowledge transfer as you can get without the old boy around.
The gear is secondary to the tactics and employment of said gear.
For an increase in the realism, go to paintball, airsoft, etc. Back when I was a kid, BBs were the way to go and they are only minimally affected by hiding behind tall grass. (always use eye protection, heh heh) Ten pumps on a red ryder will make you keep your head down.
For a decrease in realism you could use rubber band or nerf guns. I hear water balloons are fun if you have the right kind of participants. {wink} {wink} {nudge} {nudge}
If you'd read some of the better books about socialism you might not think so, you might understand that capitalism is what is referred to as "The Money trick".
Nice attempt. Over simplified. The model assumes an uninformed/unknowledgeable worker and an enviornment with no opprotunity.
A major thing missing is that in a free economy, the worker can move and potentially improve his chances.
If this occurs, the employer will just find someone else to exploit, but the newly exploited will move, too.
It is not until the model gets to the point were all potential jobs are taken and moving is impossible (akin to serfdom) that the sample economy reachs the result.
Two alternatives always are at work to break the cycle in the articulated Money Trick model, if there are plenty of other jobs / opportunities available (i.e. not cutting bread) available to the same worker (skilled jobs or not, eqivilent jobs), the capitalistic ideal is that the employer is forced to raise wages to an equilibrium point that makes the job unexploitable.
The other major alternative is that our original expoited worker could start his / her own business using the same practices but selling at a lower price or even selling a more desirable type of bread at a higher price. The 'original' business is forced to cut its price / change its business model or face extinction. The major surplus never appears.
If a major controlling affect (like a government, or the lack of a suitable alternative piece of ground in the village green model) is involved that prevents the start of the second company, THAT is where my argument breaks. Lack of supply of resources breaks either model.
This is why capitalism needs freedom not only from the government, but from your neighbor in order to succeed (our worker has to be safe to travel to his new job). Freedom to information is also key to my argument. Probably a few other types of freedom are not listed, but I understand do not necessarily exist equally around the world.
Protectionism will create a new equilibrium, but this is now not captialism, but government supported business -- socialism.
In the U.S. where I live, I can buy 5 McDonald's meals (6 USD) or with the same money, get a business license (30 USD). The thinking employee is key to this argument. If I am smart enough to notice my savings evaporating, I may not eat lunch for a few days in order to finance my opportunity.
The offshore / outsource situation in your model is another knife supplier that has a cheaper knife. Clearly, your exploitive employer will go for the cheaper knife. This is what has the IT workers scared/worried -- they may have to move from their lifestyle in order to continue to work in their skill.
Which project team was having more fun? I will bet it was yours. Your late nights were likely scattered across the calendar and when you wanted them, instead of just slamming the developers in the last few months.
The other thing is that you actually delivered business value sooner and at the end of the same time period required less revision to go to phase II of the system.
I know there are thrill seekers out there, I am one, but when it comes to my job, I would rather ride a barrel down a shallow set of rapids than a waterfall to make the same change.
the Grid has been my primary source of info for quite some time.
I have found that I only go to the main stream news when directed from some other site.
What I would like to ask is the follow up question:
How many of you all rely on blogs and other news consolidation services (Slashdot, Google News) for info rather than previous main stream news (NYT, BBC, etc) sources for news?
I am on the older side of gen X and am wondering why no one reminisces for Superfriends or Laffalympics. I cannot be older than the majority of slashdotters (not that anything is believable here, but still strangely interesting).
It would be a better world if my son could see the Halls of Justice on Sat morning..sig.sig Sputnik
I would be willing to bet that *they* said you could not use a mircrowave more because the wattage required than the use of electricity.
Unless your dorm was built in the last 20 years, your school would not have known that dorm rooms would require large circuits. I doubt electrical designers 20 years ago would be able to predict the dependance on electricity that todays college kiddies have, not just stereos, PCs and large TVs but also all their battery operated mobile devices, too. I would be willing to bet that every room has a bunch of powerstrips just to hook up each device becaue the room only has 3 receptacles.
At *my* house, built in 1981, the microwave is on the same circuit as the oven and toaster. Guaranteed to trip the breaker for a big breakfast.:-)
Imagine if each room on your hall had a 1200 Watt microwave going all at once....
It matters on the intent of the effort and then how you would like to manage or measure the effort.
Typically, you need a consultant when you are not sure what the tasks should be or you need some expertise that you do not have available. In your example, the lawyer is a consultant. You do not tell a lawyer, "Win my issue by performing these tasks." If you did, you would not really need a lawyer (if you do not have resources available, she becomes a contractor). Better consultants will seek to define the tasks and get approval in order to measure them and show success. It is not until you put those tasks down officially (in writing or otherwise) and obtain approvals that you become a contractor. Typically the scope of the consulting contract does not change when these tasks are captured, but this is essential to tell when certain efforts are complete enough since there is usually a limit (even if T&M -- it is just not explicit) to the consulting contract budget.
On the other hand, you use a contractor when you know explicitly (as much as possible) what the tasks might be. The key is that the contractor work is readily measurable and the contract is generally over as soon as the tasks measure up. For example, "Does my plumbing work again?" or "Does this software entity meet the specified requirements?"
Notice the distinction of intent and the detail of task specification.
Completely agree about the typical interchange of the words, but to me, the distinction is clear. And yeah, it is mostly in the practitioner's head, but consultants should try to ensure the distinction is clear as well. I think it has a lot to do with how the effort should "look" upon completion by how you measure it.
The trouble is when the owner of the contract does not understand the tasks and cannot measure them but insists on a contracting relationship. Again, I think the better consultants in the world should aim to correct the distinction.
don't have credentials and be "good". -or-
have credentials and suck.
If you accept that logic, this would be ME.
maybe I should have said, the *better* good ones have both
Of course, the real debate is: "what do you mean by good". As you know, there is more to most jobs than strictly the technical task. The best sysadmin around will not last long if he cannot deal with his customers / managers. Personally, I see this more in the MC?? world than *nix. In particular, I know an "engineer" that did not understand his project and could not talk to people, but could play around with all that novell and M$ integration and get it to actually work as designed (not a particular innovative problem to solve, mind you). He was not responsive to what the business really wanted or able to represent the long term impact of the configuration to the business. I call this not good or "suck".
Credentials can get you in the door but the non measured stuff (experience and soft skills) separate the wheat from the chaff.
These titles come from the need to justify salary / hourly rate ranges, but HR does not really understand the distinction between a good sysadim and one with credentials. Mutually exclusive, but the good ones have both.
I remember reading that other initiatives like this were started in other smaller localities (the county level). I live near one of these localities, Henrico County in Virginia (USA) where iBooks were introduced to High Schoolers county-wide. Apple got some big press here from the Steve Jobs presentation.
I am curious how it has been working since I have no children that age and have no way to know.
and dont' count on the job until you have the cash in your bank account
roger that, but take heart. Recently able to finagle three offers simultaneously, two really worth considering. Granted, I had a job and therefore negotiating power, but things are looking up. Clearly, it does help to anticipate the next big thing in the market. Better days are out there, just a matter of time and some effort.
Slashdot Mirror
Maybe he's just preoccupied with the coolness of geology?
Super glad you reported it on /.
I would not have known otherwise. This *is* the best place to find tech support
Some folks who are at heart independant (or indifferent to party) register as the party not in power in order to vote in the primary.
Some people of the party in power do it to negatively influence the primary, choosing real losers to hurt the chances of the leaders -- of course, these malicious types are really a minority, so they are overwhelmed by honest folks.
Same thing could be applied to any level of government, not just national. Could be in certain counties, this was the only way to influence the county government, but the side effect appears inconsistant for the national vote. Does not mean that certain counties are fraudulent.
Does it come with the hat?
How long will it be until we see this walking around town? Would be uncomfortable without the shower cap thing.
Regardless of the buzzwords, early prototyping and change management integrated into the base release are the best way to ensure a manageable system/human process in the future. Business gets more value sooner and understands the cycle sooner.
A lot of maintenance issues come in transition from the base release to later releases. If the typically more senior programmers that start a software product behave (clear code, documentation, training, whatever) so that they or more junior programmers can quickly understand what they did (automated Unit Test) there is a much easier transition later.
The real problem comes in when the senior designer / programmer abruptly moves on to the sexier product (or company) and the junior guys are left for the next design/implementation. This is ususally where products get fscked up. If the handoff to the junior dudes is not clean including working unit tests, the product starts down the doom slide. If the extension designer is on his first non mentored system, watch out!
The fundamental problem in the software business is that it is our job to learn and apply learning every day. We like that. We like it so much we usually do not stick around to work on our systems in the maintenance mode (always another new/better system/tool/language to learn) which is also why the academics do not address it. Good methodologies going forward will minimize or address the impact of the learning programmer.
I like automated Unit Tests (used 'em pre xP) because they capture more of the code level design and clearly indicate the extent to which the inital programmer considered the problem -- along with well written code itself, this is as clear a knowledge transfer as you can get without the old boy around.
The gear is secondary to the tactics and employment of said gear.
For an increase in the realism, go to paintball, airsoft, etc. Back when I was a kid, BBs were the way to go and they are only minimally affected by hiding behind tall grass. (always use eye protection, heh heh) Ten pumps on a red ryder will make you keep your head down.
For a decrease in realism you could use rubber band or nerf guns. I hear water balloons are fun if you have the right kind of participants. {wink} {wink} {nudge} {nudge}
Either way the tactics is the most interesting.
A major thing missing is that in a free economy, the worker can move and potentially improve his chances.
If this occurs, the employer will just find someone else to exploit, but the newly exploited will move, too.
It is not until the model gets to the point were all potential jobs are taken and moving is impossible (akin to serfdom) that the sample economy reachs the result.
Two alternatives always are at work to break the cycle in the articulated Money Trick model, if there are plenty of other jobs / opportunities available (i.e. not cutting bread) available to the same worker (skilled jobs or not, eqivilent jobs), the capitalistic ideal is that the employer is forced to raise wages to an equilibrium point that makes the job unexploitable.
The other major alternative is that our original expoited worker could start his / her own business using the same practices but selling at a lower price or even selling a more desirable type of bread at a higher price. The 'original' business is forced to cut its price / change its business model or face extinction. The major surplus never appears.
If a major controlling affect (like a government, or the lack of a suitable alternative piece of ground in the village green model) is involved that prevents the start of the second company, THAT is where my argument breaks. Lack of supply of resources breaks either model.
This is why capitalism needs freedom not only from the government, but from your neighbor in order to succeed (our worker has to be safe to travel to his new job). Freedom to information is also key to my argument. Probably a few other types of freedom are not listed, but I understand do not necessarily exist equally around the world.
Protectionism will create a new equilibrium, but this is now not captialism, but government supported business -- socialism.
In the U.S. where I live, I can buy 5 McDonald's meals (6 USD) or with the same money, get a business license (30 USD). The thinking employee is key to this argument. If I am smart enough to notice my savings evaporating, I may not eat lunch for a few days in order to finance my opportunity.
The offshore / outsource situation in your model is another knife supplier that has a cheaper knife. Clearly, your exploitive employer will go for the cheaper knife. This is what has the IT workers scared/worried -- they may have to move from their lifestyle in order to continue to work in their skill.
Agreed from my perspective.
But there are other factors to consider.
Which project team was having more fun? I will bet it was yours. Your late nights were likely scattered across the calendar and when you wanted them, instead of just slamming the developers in the last few months.
The other thing is that you actually delivered business value sooner and at the end of the same time period required less revision to go to phase II of the system.
I know there are thrill seekers out there, I am one, but when it comes to my job, I would rather ride a barrel down a shallow set of rapids than a waterfall to make the same change.
the Grid has been my primary source of info for quite some time.
I have found that I only go to the main stream news when directed from some other site.
What I would like to ask is the follow up question:
How many of you all rely on blogs and other news consolidation services (Slashdot, Google News) for info rather than previous main stream news (NYT, BBC, etc) sources for news?
.... and the pesky problems of an uncalculated jump to hyperspace.
I would like to see em try 15 minutes of Slashdot, to return harmony.
Always works for me.
I am on the older side of gen X and am wondering why no one reminisces for Superfriends or Laffalympics. I cannot be older than the majority of slashdotters (not that anything is believable here, but still strangely interesting).
.sig .sig Sputnik
It would be a better world if my son could see the Halls of Justice on Sat morning.
I would be willing to bet that *they* said you could not use a mircrowave more because the wattage required than the use of electricity.
:-)
.sig .sig Sputnik
Unless your dorm was built in the last 20 years, your school would not have known that dorm rooms would require large circuits. I doubt electrical designers 20 years ago would be able to predict the dependance on electricity that todays college kiddies have, not just stereos, PCs and large TVs but also all their battery operated mobile devices, too. I would be willing to bet that every room has a bunch of powerstrips just to hook up each device becaue the room only has 3 receptacles.
At *my* house, built in 1981, the microwave is on the same circuit as the oven and toaster. Guaranteed to trip the breaker for a big breakfast.
Imagine if each room on your hall had a 1200 Watt microwave going all at once....
It matters on the intent of the effort and then how you would like to manage or measure the effort.
Typically, you need a consultant when you are not sure what the tasks should be or you need some expertise that you do not have available. In your example, the lawyer is a consultant. You do not tell a lawyer, "Win my issue by performing these tasks." If you did, you would not really need a lawyer (if you do not have resources available, she becomes a contractor). Better consultants will seek to define the tasks and get approval in order to measure them and show success. It is not until you put those tasks down officially (in writing or otherwise) and obtain approvals that you become a contractor. Typically the scope of the consulting contract does not change when these tasks are captured, but this is essential to tell when certain efforts are complete enough since there is usually a limit (even if T&M -- it is just not explicit) to the consulting contract budget.
On the other hand, you use a contractor when you know explicitly (as much as possible) what the tasks might be. The key is that the contractor work is readily measurable and the contract is generally over as soon as the tasks measure up. For example, "Does my plumbing work again?" or "Does this software entity meet the specified requirements?"
Notice the distinction of intent and the detail of task specification.
Completely agree about the typical interchange of the words, but to me, the distinction is clear. And yeah, it is mostly in the practitioner's head, but consultants should try to ensure the distinction is clear as well. I think it has a lot to do with how the effort should "look" upon completion by how you measure it.
The trouble is when the owner of the contract does not understand the tasks and cannot measure them but insists on a contracting relationship. Again, I think the better consultants in the world should aim to correct the distinction.
don't have credentials and be "good".
-or-
have credentials and suck.
If you accept that logic, this would be ME.
maybe I should have said, the *better* good ones have both
Of course, the real debate is: "what do you mean by good". As you know, there is more to most jobs than strictly the technical task. The best sysadmin around will not last long if he cannot deal with his customers / managers. Personally, I see this more in the MC?? world than *nix. In particular, I know an "engineer" that did not understand his project and could not talk to people, but could play around with all that novell and M$ integration and get it to actually work as designed (not a particular innovative problem to solve, mind you). He was not responsive to what the business really wanted or able to represent the long term impact of the configuration to the business. I call this not good or "suck".
Credentials can get you in the door but the non measured stuff (experience and soft skills) separate the wheat from the chaff.
You think HR can tell the difference?
These titles come from the need to justify salary / hourly rate ranges, but HR does not really understand the distinction between a good sysadim and one with credentials. Mutually exclusive, but the good ones have both.
I remember reading that other initiatives like this were started in other smaller localities (the county level). I live near one of these localities, Henrico County in Virginia (USA) where iBooks were introduced to High Schoolers county-wide. Apple got some big press here from the Steve Jobs presentation.
I am curious how it has been working since I have no children that age and have no way to know.
Any feedback from these smaller initiatives?
.sig Sig Sputnik
My plan for destruction included flammable liquids. It was cool watching Star Wars meet the Ark of the Covenant.
THEN, the ones that survived got the BB gun.
We had a couple Grunts (GI Joe), too. A little liquid that should power an auto and the whole squad was taken out!
I still have the weapons somewhere, though. Maybe I could work a deal with someone that still has the figures.
and dont' count on the job until you have the cash in your bank account
roger that, but take heart. Recently able to finagle three offers simultaneously, two really worth considering. Granted, I had a job and therefore negotiating power, but things are looking up. Clearly, it does help to anticipate the next big thing in the market. Better days are out there, just a matter of time and some effort.
Good luck
sig sig Sputnik