I gave up on mice years ago and switched over to a trackpoint (IBM makes keyboards with the trackpoint built in). I love it on laptops so I figured I would love it on the desktop. Like this:
It's great because I don't have to remove my fingers from the keyboard, don't have to find some mouse that has shifted who-knows-where, and with a bit of practice becomes extremely accurate. I also have a mouse attached to it for the normies.
On the down side, I have yet to find an ergonomic versionish keyboard with a trackpoint -- which would be great.
Plus it always takes me a few seconds if I use someone elses keyboard when I want to move the mouse. You can see me just staring at it for a few seconds until I grasp the fact I have to find a mouse to use.
And beware -- some of the trackpoint keyboards are laptop keyboards with some packaging that doesn't give them that great of feel or depth. Others are full size (I even have an old-white ibm uber-click keyboard with a trackpoint) and work much, much better.
I go through alot of resumes. With the advent of blogging, I can't believe:
1. The number of people who give a link to their website on their resume 2. Have a blog 3. Refer to themselves negatively in their blog:
"I couldn't find the motivation to get out of bed".
"I'm a loser, I can't find a job".
"I just don't feel like working".
I know a lot of people for whom Quark is the killer app that prevents them from moving to Linux, and most of them are tired of paying a grand for the privilege of using it.
You have to be joking. Anyone who whines about the prices of these products probably uses it as a convenience, and not for critical work. If they did they wouldn't complain about the $1000, or the
$3/day a year -- you know, that StarBucks latte they have every day -- to use it. I'm always amazed by software organizations that try to skimp on paying for tools because things "cost too much", and then make that tool an integral part of their process. Alot of programs fall into this arena of specialized software with high price tags and great at what they do (or at least some people find them great at what they do, I have no interest in debating what you or I think are great software): math software like Mathematica and MathCad, IDE's and other development tools for programmers, RoboHelp, PhotoShop, and on and on. These programs are NOT meant to be cheap programs for Joe Blow, they are meant to be specialized and essential tools for professionals, researchers, whatever, and due to how successfully they perform their task have very wide acceptance.
Sure it's great when a free tool shows up that is just as good as another product. I love free tools. But if your work with such a tool doesn't justify the $3/day, you probably aren't the market they are shooting for.
This sounds alot like Ashton Digital. I came across them when searching for a cheap laptop (you can find a bunch of them on Yahoo Auctions).
The interesting thing is that they aren't really notebooks in the normal sense in that they are more like "portable desktops", almost akin to the Osbourne, where all your stuff is in one easy to move around case.
I was tempted to get one because I tend to use my laptop in just this way, bringing it to work, or using it at home, and there is usually an outlet near by. Of course I decided against it, because my Comfy Chair(TM) isn't as convenient with a power cord pulling on me from my laptop, so I need batteries:).
Re:I think you're being overly sensitive...
on
Ig Nobels Awarded
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· Score: 1
You are absolutely correct. My old boss from Wolfram Research, Theodore Gray, has won the Chemistry Ig Noble for his Periodic Table Table as seen here. I have already received an email from him boasting about his accomplishment of winning such a prestigious award.
Actually it might not segfault. It's just pointing to some random place, quite possibly in your own process, maybe in some unused area. If you enter a byte or two, you might be able to get away with it (sort of) working.
If you initialized the pointer to 0, then yep, it will segfault.
Ah, but I would claim that the scheduling problem and the number of gas stations is completely different.
When you ask "how long will this take", you are asking that person because they have some experience, somehow, in what you are asking them. It's not a baseless question.
I would equate the gas station question to asking an engineer "how long will it take to design and build an office building", or an architect "how long will it take to write a web server?". Both could be really smart people and efficient thinkers, but I would hazard neither has the knowledge or background to make a guess, and should realize this. Sometimes (alot of times) the correct answer is "I don't know". And I think an even better answer is, "I don't know, let me go find out."
Re:Why do interviewers use "riddles"?
on
Tech-Interview Riddles
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
I take the exact opposite view. With no information available I see it as Garbage in, Garbage out. If you were working for me, I'd rather you admitted ignorance (not stupidity) to the problem at hand, and the answer, "I don't know, let me go research it", is a much more "correct" answer to me.
Too bad you wouldn't hire me... It would be fun just making stuff up all day!
Re:Why do interviewers use "riddles"?
on
Tech-Interview Riddles
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
The problem with "light bulb" questions is that people tend to like to come up with their own ones, which usually tend to be crappy, or ones, as earlier mentioned, that someone stumped them on, and now they think they are clever for knowing the answer. Even "technical" questions sometimes fall into this one.
Some experiences in my past:
A couple of years ago I was asked: How many gas stations are there in the US?
My answer: I don't know, I'd probably check a search engine.
After I insisted that I couldn't come up with an answer on my own, I was informed that they were looking for people who "think out of the box" and only people that hazarded a guess made it to level two interviews.
I laughed, and explained that if someone I was interviewing made up some bullshit answer with absolutely no backing I'd be afraid that would carry over to their real work and it was a silly prerequisite. Knowing where and how to find an/the answer can be even more useful then making up an unfounded answer. Lots of smart people out there. Lots of stuff already been done.
Hmmm, come to think of it I never did get a second interview.
Or the time I was asked to come up with a string hash function. So I quickly threw together a loop just adding all the bytes, shifting some bits each iteration. Simple, not great, not perfect, but a decent 10 cent solution. I was then walked through the "correct" answer that covered, number of bits in byte being used, average word length, etc, etc...and told this was the "correct" answer. Researching later, I believe the solution was either in a Knuth book, or was another Microsoft tidbit. But I'm sure the interviewer would have come up with the solution independently given the same question in the interview...
Finally, my FAVORITE is being asked some hard technical question. You ponder, you falter, and come up with some sort of a solution, but aren't quite satisfied it. Of course the interviewer then informs you it's a problem they are currently working on and they are trying to come up with something themselves. Seems like you should be paid contractor rates at least for that part, no?
I find that having people talk about their work, explain what they did, and WHY they did it pretty much can measure a candidate against your bullshit meter in a matter of minutes.
This is just the pre-announcement before CC announces that they will only be supporting the next step in video evolution: ViHX, a new, pay-per-view version of VHS geared specifically to consumers who don't want the burden of returning video tapes. The tapes will be smaller than normal VHS tapes, as CC will be introducing P&S squared, or Pan in Scan in Pan in Scan, where all the annoying extra scenery is removed, leaving only the direct center of the screen. Average viewers have noted that "the image looks bigger" when played on entry-level tv's.
A CC spokesman was quoted as saying,
"This is a large step forward for us, and for the movie industry in general. We have spent years creating a technology that degrades in performance over time, satisfying both the first time viewer and the [movie] industry, alleviating concerns of piracy, while giving the consumer the biggest image possible.
There are probably a few reasons why companies like proprietary formats:
Companies like them so they can have control, ie,release a "reader" for free, release the "writer" application to make money.
Developers tend to like proprietary formats because generally they are written to be as fast and robust for their app as they can make them. Binary, dumps of memory, fast indexes, etc. Other programs not paying their salary generally take second stage.
Developers also like properietary formats since they can change them whenever they want, and not be bound to features that may/may not be used or work correctly.
In years gone by (like 5-10 years ago) proprietary formats were definitely a way of life. I worked at several companies where we came up with nice, ascii, editable, readable/parseable/writeable. You could easily discern the format. Start adding embedded graphics, sounds and movies, and opening a file would still be going on today. Cuz machines used to be slow. Really slow. So we usually had binary formats that would get our files to load as fast as possible in our application.
And we'd be too embarassed to share that with the world, Silly...
Plus, intellectual rights are intellectual rights. I don't want others to decide what they can do with the things I write. Time and money went into my format, and I can do what I want with it. If I want to put it into the public domain, that's my choice. If I want it proprietary, that's my choice, It was your choice to use my product.
If people want to exchange files between formats, the free market system should bring that about -- they should buy a program that supports "insert favorite exchange format here". If the government required this, as has been mentioned here elsewhere, it would be a win for everyone, I think.
I just hate it when people decide what to do with other people's work, whether it's music, movies, books or file formats.
Alot of people here have been complaining that adding per-seat binaries to the distribution is some sort of abhorrent idea, and how can it be enforced?
Sure sounds like what commercial software for linux tends to be.
The LGPL made it possible for commercial companies to actually develop on linux and not have to give away their software code, as most companies are not want to do.
This seems to me to be a way to do the same with binaries -- leveraging what they do and not being forced to the constraints of the same license for their own separate software. As long as the GPL, copyright and src are distributed, how can their be a problem? I know of commercial software that use GPL binaries, piping them or whatever (gzip comes to mind) as part of their functionality.
UnitedLinux is just taking this a step farther. Assuming that they provide all code under the GPL guidelines that they need to, they can and should be able to do with their own code, whatever the hell they want. If they aren't following the GPL for some derivative code, then yes, they should be nailed for that.
This sure sounds like the more ranting that will just discourage more commercial software from coming to linux. Oh, but that's ok, because there is always a GPL alternative.
As well, when the trial period ends, do not cripple the program, especially if it gets installed on a server. The last thing I want is my phone ringing off the hook with angry users complaining a service isn't available because the trial period ran out and the program killed itself.
This is NOT salespeople calling, this is your own users calling to tell you that a piece of software that they need to work is now missing. If this isn't a sure sign to get off your ass and pay for the software, I don't know what is.
I personally think that evaluation periods should be mandatory. I write software, and I've bought software, and there is nothing worse than picking up a piece of software and then finding it so bug-ridden or unuseful for your situation that you've just blown tens or hundreds of bucks.
The evaluation help both sides, you get to try my software, and I get to expose you to my software that I hope you buy.
However, once the evaluation period is done, too bad, buy the software or find something else. If it's that useful for you then I don't know why a 30 day period wouldn't be plenty (heck, I give 45) for you to make a decision. As a software author I WANT your phone ringing off the hook -- apparantly it's the incentive you need to get around to paying me for my software that obviously benefits you or your company.
Slashdot Mirror
I gave up on mice years ago and switched over to a trackpoint (IBM makes keyboards with the trackpoint built in). I love it on laptops so I figured I would love it on the desktop. Like this:
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/docume
It's great because I don't have to remove my fingers from the keyboard, don't have to find some mouse that has shifted who-knows-where, and with a bit of practice becomes extremely accurate. I also have a mouse attached to it for the normies.
On the down side, I have yet to find an ergonomic versionish keyboard with a trackpoint -- which would be great.
Plus it always takes me a few seconds if I use someone elses keyboard when I want to move the mouse. You can see me just staring at it for a few seconds until I grasp the fact I have to find a mouse to use.
And beware -- some of the trackpoint keyboards are
laptop keyboards with some packaging that doesn't give them that great of feel or depth. Others are full size (I even have an old-white ibm uber-click keyboard with a trackpoint) and work much, much better.
I go through alot of resumes.
:
With the advent of blogging, I can't believe:
1. The number of people who give a link to their website on their resume
2. Have a blog
3. Refer to themselves negatively in their blog
"I couldn't find the motivation to get out of bed".
"I'm a loser, I can't find a job".
"I just don't feel like working".
Hey, let's call these people...
I know a lot of people for whom Quark is the killer app that prevents them from moving to Linux, and most of them are tired of paying a grand for the privilege of using it.
You have to be joking. Anyone who whines about the prices of these products probably uses it as a convenience, and not for critical work. If they did they wouldn't complain about the $1000, or the $3/day a year -- you know, that StarBucks latte they have every day -- to use it. I'm always amazed by software organizations that try to skimp on paying for tools because things "cost too much", and then make that tool an integral part of their process. Alot of programs fall into this arena of specialized software with high price tags and great at what they do (or at least some people find them great at what they do, I have no interest in debating what you or I think are great software): math software like Mathematica and MathCad, IDE's and other development tools for programmers, RoboHelp, PhotoShop, and on and on. These programs are NOT meant to be cheap programs for Joe Blow, they are meant to be specialized and essential tools for professionals, researchers, whatever, and due to how successfully they perform their task have very wide acceptance.
Sure it's great when a free tool shows up that is just as good as another product. I love free tools. But if your work with such a tool doesn't justify the $3/day, you probably aren't the market they are shooting for.
*Add obvious Matrix comment in here*
Isn't it a little odd that the picture of the new, harder to counterfit, $20 bill needs to have "specimen" tacked on to it?
This sounds alot like Ashton Digital. I came across them when searching for a cheap laptop (you can find a bunch of them on Yahoo Auctions).
:).
The interesting thing is that they aren't really notebooks in the normal sense in that they are more like "portable desktops", almost akin to the Osbourne, where all your stuff is in one easy to move around case.
I was tempted to get one because I tend to use my laptop in just this way, bringing it to work, or using it at home, and there is usually an outlet near by. Of course I decided against it, because my Comfy Chair(TM) isn't as convenient with a power cord pulling on me from my laptop, so I need batteries
You are absolutely correct. My old boss from Wolfram Research, Theodore Gray, has won the Chemistry Ig Noble for his Periodic Table Table as seen here. I have already received an email from him boasting about his accomplishment of winning such a prestigious award.
Actually it might not segfault. It's just pointing to some random place, quite possibly in your own process, maybe in some unused area. If you enter a byte or two, you might be able to get away with it (sort of) working.
If you initialized the pointer to 0, then yep, it will segfault.
Ah, but I would claim that the scheduling problem and the number of gas stations is completely different.
When you ask "how long will this take", you are asking that person because they have some experience, somehow, in what you are asking them. It's not a baseless question.
I would equate the gas station question to asking an engineer "how long will it take to design and build an office building", or an architect "how long will it take to write a web server?". Both could be really smart people and efficient thinkers, but I would hazard neither has the knowledge or background to make a guess, and should realize this. Sometimes (alot of times) the correct answer is "I don't know". And I think an even better answer is, "I don't know, let me go find out."
I take the exact opposite view. With no information available I see it as Garbage in, Garbage out. If you were working for me, I'd rather you admitted ignorance (not stupidity) to the problem at hand, and the answer, "I don't know, let me go research it", is a much more "correct" answer to me.
Too bad you wouldn't hire me... It would be fun just making stuff up all day!
The problem with "light bulb" questions is that people tend to like to come up with their own ones, which usually tend to be crappy, or ones, as earlier mentioned, that someone stumped them on, and now they think they are clever for knowing the answer. Even "technical" questions sometimes fall into this one.
Some experiences in my past:
A couple of years ago I was asked: How many gas stations are there in the US?
My answer: I don't know, I'd probably check a search engine.
After I insisted that I couldn't come up with an answer on my own, I was informed that they were looking for people who "think out of the box" and only people that hazarded a guess made it to level two interviews.
I laughed, and explained that if someone I was interviewing made up some bullshit answer with absolutely no backing I'd be afraid that would carry over to their real work and it was a silly prerequisite. Knowing where and how to find an/the answer can be even more useful then making up an unfounded answer. Lots of smart people out there. Lots of stuff already been done.
Hmmm, come to think of it I never did get a second interview.
Or the time I was asked to come up with a string hash function. So I quickly threw together a loop just adding all the bytes, shifting some bits each iteration. Simple, not great, not perfect, but a decent 10 cent solution. I was then walked through the "correct" answer that covered, number of bits in byte being used, average word length, etc, etc...and told this was the "correct" answer. Researching later, I believe the solution was either in a Knuth book, or was another Microsoft tidbit. But I'm sure the interviewer would have come up with the solution independently given the same question in the interview...
Finally, my FAVORITE is being asked some hard technical question. You ponder, you falter, and come up with some sort of a solution, but aren't quite satisfied it. Of course the interviewer then informs you it's a problem they are currently working on and they are trying to come up with something themselves. Seems like you should be paid contractor rates at least for that part, no?
I find that having people talk about their work, explain what they did, and WHY they did it pretty much can measure a candidate against your bullshit meter in a matter of minutes.
This is just the pre-announcement before CC announces that they will only be supporting the next step in video evolution: ViHX, a new, pay-per-view version of VHS geared specifically to consumers who don't want the burden of returning video tapes. The tapes will be smaller than normal VHS tapes, as CC will be introducing P&S squared, or Pan in Scan in Pan in Scan, where all the annoying extra scenery is removed, leaving only the direct center of the screen. Average viewers have noted that "the image looks bigger" when played on entry-level tv's.
A CC spokesman was quoted as saying,
"This is a large step forward for us, and for the movie industry in general. We have spent years creating a technology that degrades in performance over time, satisfying both the first time viewer and the [movie] industry, alleviating concerns of piracy, while giving the consumer the biggest image possible.
There are probably a few reasons why companies like proprietary formats:
Companies like them so they can have control, ie,release a "reader" for free, release the "writer" application to make money.
Developers tend to like proprietary formats because generally they are written to be as fast and robust for their app as they can make them. Binary, dumps of memory, fast indexes, etc. Other programs not paying their salary generally take second stage.
Developers also like properietary formats since they can change them whenever they want, and not be bound to features that may/may not be used or work correctly.
In years gone by (like 5-10 years ago) proprietary formats were definitely a way of life. I worked at several companies where we came up with nice, ascii, editable, readable/parseable/writeable. You could easily discern the format. Start adding embedded graphics, sounds and movies, and opening a file would still be going on today. Cuz machines used to be slow. Really slow. So we usually had binary formats that would get our files to load as fast as possible in our application.
And we'd be too embarassed to share that with the world, Silly...
Plus, intellectual rights are intellectual rights. I don't want others to decide what they can do with the things I write. Time and money went into my format, and I can do what I want with it. If I want to put it into the public domain, that's my choice. If I want it proprietary, that's my choice, It was your choice to use my product.
If people want to exchange files between formats, the free market system should bring that about -- they should buy a program that supports "insert favorite exchange format here". If the government required this, as has been mentioned here elsewhere, it would be a win for everyone, I think.
I just hate it when people decide what to do with other people's work, whether it's music, movies, books or file formats.
Alot of people here have been complaining that adding per-seat binaries to the distribution is some sort of abhorrent idea, and how can it be enforced?
Sure sounds like what commercial software for linux tends to be.
The LGPL made it possible for commercial companies to actually develop on linux and not have to give away their software code, as most companies are not want to do.
This seems to me to be a way to do the same with binaries -- leveraging what they do and not being forced to the constraints of the same license for their own separate software. As long as the GPL, copyright and src are distributed, how can their be a problem? I know of commercial software that use GPL binaries, piping them or whatever (gzip comes to mind) as part of their functionality.
UnitedLinux is just taking this a step farther. Assuming that they provide all code under the GPL guidelines that they need to, they can and should be able to do with their own code, whatever the hell they want. If they aren't following the GPL for some derivative code, then yes, they should be nailed for that.
This sure sounds like the more ranting that will just discourage more commercial software from coming to linux. Oh, but that's ok, because there is always a GPL alternative.
If you read the post I replied to it said:
As well, when the trial period ends, do not cripple the program, especially if it gets installed on a server. The last thing I want is my phone ringing off the hook with angry users complaining a service isn't available because the trial period ran out and the program killed itself.
This is NOT salespeople calling, this is your own users calling to tell you that a piece of software that they need to work is now missing. If this isn't a sure sign to get off your ass and pay for the software, I don't know what is.
I personally think that evaluation periods should be mandatory. I write software, and I've bought software, and there is nothing worse than picking up a piece of software and then finding it so bug-ridden or unuseful for your situation that you've just blown tens or hundreds of bucks. The evaluation help both sides, you get to try my software, and I get to expose you to my software that I hope you buy. However, once the evaluation period is done, too bad, buy the software or find something else. If it's that useful for you then I don't know why a 30 day period wouldn't be plenty (heck, I give 45) for you to make a decision. As a software author I WANT your phone ringing off the hook -- apparantly it's the incentive you need to get around to paying me for my software that obviously benefits you or your company.