No technical knowledge? Don't work in tech company
on
AMD NDA Scandal
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
From the article, which some comment posters above did not bother to read:
"Finally, AMD agreed to let Don and the other journalists attend
the event [in Singapore] without signing that particular NDA... On
Day 2 though, they were presented with another NDA to sign before a factory
visit.[my emphasis] This one stipulated that "any confidential
information from this visit would need written approval from corporate
communications before it could be used."
It seems quite common that executives of technical companies have no
understanding of their company's products, and because of that they sometimes
have sink-the-company ideas. It won't matter to the executive if his company
does poorly, he will just get a job somewhere else. When the company lays off
employees they will suffer, however.
People with no technical knowledge, and little or no interest in
learning about their company's products, should be encouraged to get a job
somewhere else, or retire. They are dinosaurs from a pre-tech world.
If you are technically knowledgeable, why let someone stupid ruin your
efforts? If you get together with other technically knowledgeable people and
use some social skill, you can eliminate ignorant executives from your
company.
"This isn't to say that there aren't people out there who could benefit from a lot less time with video games..."
Yes. That's all I was saying. Don't become an adult without having taken the time to learn about the world. Given that, going fishing or playing games or other pasttimes is fine.
"No weapon in the arsenals of the world is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men. -- Ronald Reagan"
MarsDefenseMinister, Ronald Reagan did not write that. His script writer Peggy Noonan wrote that, and he merely learned his lines and spoke them like the actor that he was.
"They've found a new mineral which absorbs radiation... It can absorb radioactivity from liquid nuclear waste."
The article linked in the Slashdot story does not say that radioactive minerals are being absorbed, a chemical impossibility. It says radiation is absorbed, which is impossible in physics, in the way that that the article states.
I know that this will probably be moderated down by those who use games to avoid dealing with reality. However, it seems useful to say that life is too complicated to play games; it is necessary to learn everything you can every day.
Slashdot editors have, according to them, spent a lot of time playing games, and they are often fooled by junk pretending to be science. I'm guessing that there is a connection between their game playing and their ignorance of the real world.
MOD PARENT UP! That is certainly not an Offtopic comment. If the jokesters attack a Slashdot story in the beginning, that generally ruins any chance of a real discussion. As the parent poster predicted, the jokesters got control, and the rest of the discussion is confused.
I disagree with the parent poster that what Jobs did is "classy", however.
Those who bought the original iPhone paid $600 for something that after 2 months is completely obsolete. A better iPhone can be bought for $400. People don't like the fact that there is no upgrade for the old phones. Apple customers didn't see that abuse coming.
The new iPhone is much better because it has DTT.*
*Digital Turnip Twaddling (I'm quoting what I think you will agree is
an authoritative source. Opus threw his obsolete iPhone in the trash.)
The fundamental problem with the iPhones is not that a phone that is two months old is obsolete. The fundamental problem is that Steve Jobs is version 0.9 Beta, after all these years. Now Apply customers fear that if Mr. Jobs did it once, he may do it again. Maybe there will be 3rd version of the iPhone in time for Christmas.
It's not just the price drop about which people complain. Those who bought the
original iPhone paid $600 for something that after 2 months is completely
obsolete. A better iPhone can be bought for $400. Apple customers didn't see
that abuse coming.
People don't like the fact that there is no upgrade for the old
phones. The new iPhone is much better because it has DTT.*
*Digital Turnip Twaddling (I'm quoting what I think you will agree is
an authoritative source.)
(The fundamental problem with the old iPhone is not that it was version 1.0. The problem is that Steve Jobs is version 0.9 Beta, after all these years.)
It's not just the price drop about which people complain. They don't like the fact that there is no upgrade for the old phones. The new iPhone is much better because it has DTT.*
*Digital Turnip Twaddling (I'm quoting what I think you will agree is an authoritative source.)
(The problem with the old iPhone is not that it was version 1.0. The problem is that Steve Jobs is version 0.9 Beta, after all these years.)
Considering its negative relationships with customers in the recent past, the AT&T name is no longer a good business name, in my opinion. The iPhone hassles have made the AT&T name even less desirable.
"Since when is a quarter of a billion dollars a slap on the wrist? Sure, it's not earth-shattering, but come on, man!"
Slashdot readers are millionaires who read Slashdot while sitting on the decks of their yachts or flying in their personal jets.
The point people are making is that the fine is far too small to encourage Microsoft to stop being adversarial toward its customers. Anyhow, I'm guessing that Bill Gates would rather be poor than be good towards customers. Sometimes the adversarial behavior seems to me to be the real purpose behind his management philosophy.
Actually, most people won't do the paperwork, or won't have their receipts. The actual money paid by Microsoft will be less than the maximum amount. From the article:
"Similar cases against Microsoft in other states have resulted in huge unclaimed portions of the settlement and that is expected to happen in Iowa, too, said Microsoft lawyer Rich Wallis.
"As a result, Microsoft agreed in the settlement to provide half of any unclaimed amount to Iowa public schools in the form of vouchers that can be used to buy computer equipment."
Other news: Twitter wrote a front-page Slashdot story!
DoYouLikeWorms, Yes, in some cases I think worms are interesting. Why do you ask?
We did some consulting work involving two large banks. The managers at one said that their bank had NO technically knowledgeable people who worked for the bank, on contractors. I talked to one of the contractors, and he had very little technical knowledge, also. (How would a bank with no technical knowledge choose which contractors were technically knowledgeable.)
The other bank seemed to have very, very little interest in technical issues, also.
We have accounts with several online banks, including an extremely large international bank. All have web sites with major design problems.
I suppose that is one of the reasons that bank web sites are often IE only.
BankRate.com is terrible, in my opinion, but it seems to be the best bank information web site available.
Don't be fooled by his attempt to confuse the issue. Microsoft Windows is EXPENSIVE, in my opinion,
and becoming more so. We often have had to re-load Windows XP to remove system instability caused by sloppy
coding and by system files modified by malware.
It has been more than 2 years since WinXP service pack 2 was released
(August 25,
2004), even though updating Windows XP from an SP2 CD requires downloading
more than 170 Megabytes of files, a difficult problem when there is no
internet connection or only a dial-up connection. The Windows XP updates of
just last Patch Tuesday were more than 20 Megabytes.
Microsoft seems to have delayed releasing an SP3 for Windows XP to try
to discourage people from using their XP operating system. But the really major problems in Windows XP stopped only
after the SP2 was released.
We have had eight different kinds of problems with Microsoft update; Microsoft Update gets my vote for the buggiest Microsoft software, and
that's a tough title to get. Other people have many, many different kinds of
problems with Windows Update. See, for example, Windows Update Discussion Group.
I'm guessing that tens or hundreds of millions of hours and billions of dollars are lost
every year because of the sloppy coding in Windows XP. Steve Ballmer took Bill
Gates' position as the Chief of Grief.
Corporate Rule: Never use a new version of Windows until after the 2nd
service pack has been released, and others have had a chance to see if there
are problems. It is expensive in re-training costs to use a different
operating system, so a company that has a virtual monopoly can abuse the customer
by releasing unfinished and sloppy software, and still not lose most of its customers.
Remember that the cost of Windows is much more than the cost of the OS
itself for many reasons besides the high maintenance costs. Microsoft's
biggest customers are the giant computer manufacturers, and they want to
manipulate people to buy new computers. So, each new version of Microsoft
Windows requires more powerful hardware. Those who use Windows are dragged
through the adversarial business schemes of one of the most anti-customer
large corporations in the world, in my opinion.
Microsoft Windows maintenance is so expensive that people throw away
their computers and buy new ones because the maintenance cost is so high. See,
for example, the New York Times article, Corrupted PC's Find New Home in the Dumpster. (Free NYT registration
required.)
Many people depend for making a living on maintaining Microsoft
Windows. Many of those people have no other way of making a living. They often
try to confuse discussions of the maintenance costs of Windows and discussions of
Microsoft's adversarial practices; don't be fooled by their misdirection.
I don't think that someone pretending to use a "light saber" is infringing
copyright. Mattel sells light sabers as toys, for example. You can use a toy
you bought in your own video. "Light Sabers" and loosely imitating those movie
characters has become part of the public domain.
The purpose of Autopatcher was to reduce the VERY high maintenance costs of
Windows XP. Windows often becomes corrupted and must be reloaded to clear away
system files that have been infected with viruses and other malware.
Notice that Microsoft has not released a Service Pack 3 for Windows
XP, even though it has been years since SP2 was released. The purpose of the
delay is apparently to make Windows XP more expensive, in the hope that people
will begin to adopt Windows Vista.
The Windows XP updates of just last Patch Tuesday were more than 20
Megabytes.
Windows Vista is not an option for many, since because of the hassles
with Windows XP, many companies have a rule never to use a Windows version
before the 2nd service pack is released, and the bugs in Windows Vista are
reinforcing that rule.
Also, Windows Vista requires far more resources. Each new Windows
version requires more resources, apparently to try to manipulate customers to
buy new computers. That serves Microsoft's biggest customers, the computer
builders.
Suppose someone posts a comment criticizing a Google top executive? Google could modify that.
Suppose a whistle-blower catches a Google employee doing something illegal? Google is leaving itself open to criticism of possibly suppressing testimony.
Slashdot Mirror
From the article, which some comment posters above did not bother to read:
"Finally, AMD agreed to let Don and the other journalists attend the event [in Singapore] without signing that particular NDA... On Day 2 though, they were presented with another NDA to sign before a factory visit. [my emphasis] This one stipulated that "any confidential information from this visit would need written approval from corporate communications before it could be used."
It seems quite common that executives of technical companies have no understanding of their company's products, and because of that they sometimes have sink-the-company ideas. It won't matter to the executive if his company does poorly, he will just get a job somewhere else. When the company lays off employees they will suffer, however.
People with no technical knowledge, and little or no interest in learning about their company's products, should be encouraged to get a job somewhere else, or retire. They are dinosaurs from a pre-tech world.
If you are technically knowledgeable, why let someone stupid ruin your efforts? If you get together with other technically knowledgeable people and use some social skill, you can eliminate ignorant executives from your company.
"This isn't to say that there aren't people out there who could benefit from a lot less time with video games..."
Yes. That's all I was saying. Don't become an adult without having taken the time to learn about the world. Given that, going fishing or playing games or other pasttimes is fine.
There is no filter that selectively absorbs radioactive minerals, because radioactivity is a nuclear phenomenon, and filters are chemically active.
"No weapon in the arsenals of the world is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men. -- Ronald Reagan"
MarsDefenseMinister, Ronald Reagan did not write that. His script writer Peggy Noonan wrote that, and he merely learned his lines and spoke them like the actor that he was.
"They've found a new mineral which absorbs radiation... It can absorb radioactivity from liquid nuclear waste."
The article linked in the Slashdot story does not say that radioactive minerals are being absorbed, a chemical impossibility. It says radiation is absorbed, which is impossible in physics, in the way that that the article states.
I know that this will probably be moderated down by those who use games to avoid dealing with reality. However, it seems useful to say that life is too complicated to play games; it is necessary to learn everything you can every day.
Slashdot editors have, according to them, spent a lot of time playing games, and they are often fooled by junk pretending to be science. I'm guessing that there is a connection between their game playing and their ignorance of the real world.
Once again a Slashdot editor is fooled by pseudo-science.
"Now Apply customers fear that if Mr. Jobs did it once, he may do it again. Maybe there will be 3rd version of the iPhone in time for Christmas."
should be
"Now Apple customers fear that if Mr. Jobs did it once, he may do it again. Maybe there will be a 3rd version of the iPhone in time for Christmas."
Note that I upgraded to the new version of my comment without charge.
MOD PARENT UP! That is certainly not an Offtopic comment. If the jokesters attack a Slashdot story in the beginning, that generally ruins any chance of a real discussion. As the parent poster predicted, the jokesters got control, and the rest of the discussion is confused.
I disagree with the parent poster that what Jobs did is "classy", however.
Those who bought the original iPhone paid $600 for something that after 2 months is completely obsolete. A better iPhone can be bought for $400. People don't like the fact that there is no upgrade for the old phones. Apple customers didn't see that abuse coming.
The new iPhone is much better because it has DTT.*
*Digital Turnip Twaddling (I'm quoting what I think you will agree is an authoritative source. Opus threw his obsolete iPhone in the trash.)
The fundamental problem with the iPhones is not that a phone that is two months old is obsolete. The fundamental problem is that Steve Jobs is version 0.9 Beta, after all these years. Now Apply customers fear that if Mr. Jobs did it once, he may do it again. Maybe there will be 3rd version of the iPhone in time for Christmas.
It's not just the price drop about which people complain. Those who bought the original iPhone paid $600 for something that after 2 months is completely obsolete. A better iPhone can be bought for $400. Apple customers didn't see that abuse coming.
People don't like the fact that there is no upgrade for the old phones. The new iPhone is much better because it has DTT.*
*Digital Turnip Twaddling (I'm quoting what I think you will agree is an authoritative source.)
(The fundamental problem with the old iPhone is not that it was version 1.0. The problem is that Steve Jobs is version 0.9 Beta, after all these years.)
It's not just the price drop about which people complain. They don't like the fact that there is no upgrade for the old phones. The new iPhone is much better because it has DTT.*
*Digital Turnip Twaddling (I'm quoting what I think you will agree is an authoritative source.)
(The problem with the old iPhone is not that it was version 1.0. The problem is that Steve Jobs is version 0.9 Beta, after all these years.)
Hah!! Well, I'm not buying any software without DTT.*
*Digital Turnip Twaddling
(The problem with the iPhone is not that it was version 1.0. The problem is that Steve Jobs is version 0.9 Beta, after all these years.)
EXCELLENT. Mod Parent UP.
Considering its negative relationships with customers in the recent past, the AT&T name is no longer a good business name, in my opinion. The iPhone hassles have made the AT&T name even less desirable.
"Since when is a quarter of a billion dollars a slap on the wrist? Sure, it's not earth-shattering, but come on, man!"
Slashdot readers are millionaires who read Slashdot while sitting on the decks of their yachts or flying in their personal jets.
The point people are making is that the fine is far too small to encourage Microsoft to stop being adversarial toward its customers. Anyhow, I'm guessing that Bill Gates would rather be poor than be good towards customers. Sometimes the adversarial behavior seems to me to be the real purpose behind his management philosophy.
Actually, most people won't do the paperwork, or won't have their receipts. The actual money paid by Microsoft will be less than the maximum amount. From the article:
"Similar cases against Microsoft in other states have resulted in huge unclaimed portions of the settlement and that is expected to happen in Iowa, too, said Microsoft lawyer Rich Wallis.
"As a result, Microsoft agreed in the settlement to provide half of any unclaimed amount to Iowa public schools in the form of vouchers that can be used to buy computer equipment."
Other news: Twitter wrote a front-page Slashdot story!
DoYouLikeWorms, Yes, in some cases I think worms are interesting. Why do you ask?
MOD PARENT UP. SquiggleSlash is correct. Thanks, ~/.
Remember, AT&T is just SBC renamed. SBC bought the name, and apparently because SBC had such a bad reputation, changed names.
"Yes, but we live in Europe, the Continent of the Free"
Free? What? Do you mean you don't have to pay taxes to kill people in places you can't find on a map?
Corrections: "only contractors." Also, "How would a bank with no technical knowledge choose which contractors were technically knowledgeable?"
We did some consulting work involving two large banks. The managers at one said that their bank had NO technically knowledgeable people who worked for the bank, on contractors. I talked to one of the contractors, and he had very little technical knowledge, also. (How would a bank with no technical knowledge choose which contractors were technically knowledgeable.)
The other bank seemed to have very, very little interest in technical issues, also.
We have accounts with several online banks, including an extremely large international bank. All have web sites with major design problems.
I suppose that is one of the reasons that bank web sites are often IE only.
BankRate.com is terrible, in my opinion, but it seems to be the best bank information web site available.
CORRECTION: I should have said, "It has been more than 3 years since WinXP service pack 2 was released..."
Don't be fooled by his attempt to confuse the issue. Microsoft Windows is EXPENSIVE, in my opinion, and becoming more so. We often have had to re-load Windows XP to remove system instability caused by sloppy coding and by system files modified by malware.
It has been more than 2 years since WinXP service pack 2 was released (August 25, 2004), even though updating Windows XP from an SP2 CD requires downloading more than 170 Megabytes of files, a difficult problem when there is no internet connection or only a dial-up connection. The Windows XP updates of just last Patch Tuesday were more than 20 Megabytes.
Microsoft seems to have delayed releasing an SP3 for Windows XP to try to discourage people from using their XP operating system. But the really major problems in Windows XP stopped only after the SP2 was released.
We have had eight different kinds of problems with Microsoft update; Microsoft Update gets my vote for the buggiest Microsoft software, and that's a tough title to get. Other people have many, many different kinds of problems with Windows Update. See, for example, Windows Update Discussion Group.
I'm guessing that tens or hundreds of millions of hours and billions of dollars are lost every year because of the sloppy coding in Windows XP. Steve Ballmer took Bill Gates' position as the Chief of Grief.
Corporate Rule: Never use a new version of Windows until after the 2nd service pack has been released, and others have had a chance to see if there are problems. It is expensive in re-training costs to use a different operating system, so a company that has a virtual monopoly can abuse the customer by releasing unfinished and sloppy software, and still not lose most of its customers.
Remember that the cost of Windows is much more than the cost of the OS itself for many reasons besides the high maintenance costs. Microsoft's biggest customers are the giant computer manufacturers, and they want to manipulate people to buy new computers. So, each new version of Microsoft Windows requires more powerful hardware. Those who use Windows are dragged through the adversarial business schemes of one of the most anti-customer large corporations in the world, in my opinion.
Microsoft Windows maintenance is so expensive that people throw away their computers and buy new ones because the maintenance cost is so high. See, for example, the New York Times article, Corrupted PC's Find New Home in the Dumpster. (Free NYT registration required.)
Many people depend for making a living on maintaining Microsoft Windows. Many of those people have no other way of making a living. They often try to confuse discussions of the maintenance costs of Windows and discussions of Microsoft's adversarial practices; don't be fooled by their misdirection.
I don't think that someone pretending to use a "light saber" is infringing copyright. Mattel sells light sabers as toys, for example. You can use a toy you bought in your own video. "Light Sabers" and loosely imitating those movie characters has become part of the public domain.
As was mentioned below, the pulled clip is here: Chris Knight's material used by Viacom for profit.
Agreed. But we are talking about the creeping loss of rights and privacy we have as corporations give themselves rights we formerly had.
The purpose of Autopatcher was to reduce the VERY high maintenance costs of Windows XP. Windows often becomes corrupted and must be reloaded to clear away system files that have been infected with viruses and other malware.
Notice that Microsoft has not released a Service Pack 3 for Windows XP, even though it has been years since SP2 was released. The purpose of the delay is apparently to make Windows XP more expensive, in the hope that people will begin to adopt Windows Vista.
The Windows XP updates of just last Patch Tuesday were more than 20 Megabytes.
Windows Vista is not an option for many, since because of the hassles with Windows XP, many companies have a rule never to use a Windows version before the 2nd service pack is released, and the bugs in Windows Vista are reinforcing that rule.
Also, Windows Vista requires far more resources. Each new Windows version requires more resources, apparently to try to manipulate customers to buy new computers. That serves Microsoft's biggest customers, the computer builders.
Think about what you are saying, carefully.
Suppose someone posts a comment criticizing a Google top executive? Google could modify that.
Suppose a whistle-blower catches a Google employee doing something illegal? Google is leaving itself open to criticism of possibly suppressing testimony.