Except that software written for general consumption is designed as much by UI specialists as developers (at least, the ui heavy stuff is). In addition, users are brought in to play with the stuff while it's in development to identify misconceptions - face it, some people are either lazy or they view computers as a magic box and expend no effort on understanding how it works.
That most geeks are the problem in that situation. Geeks in general seem to have less social skills and social graces than most people.
This is true - we should have the sense to say no more often. Seriously, I write software, why in the world would you expect me to be an expert at recovering PC crap? I change my habits so that doesn't happen. On top of that, why would you expect me to spend 2-3 hours doing it on short notice? Yes, you should expect to pay, and the rates start at $50/hr, largely because we much prefer doing things with our free time that don't involve work.
I suppose you think developers are some sort of alien breed that thinks sideways or some shit. Truth be told, we write small programs for our own use and build enough interface to do what we need. We don't generally have the time to go polish it, and frankly, it's not intended to be widely released. What this has to do with consumer PC repair, I have no idea.
No, they use it as a general slander - I don't think they really understand what socialism is. Ever since you couldn't say nigger in polite conversation, some people have been looking for a replacement. Liberal doesn't really cut it, and Socialist is pretty weak too - oh no, you're trying to fund programs to help the common man!
You may not realize it, but we do. Teacher are always asked t put in extra hours and often bring in supplies.
I never understood this - you get shit pay and they want you to spend some of it on work gear? If my boss did that, I'd get his CC and use that. As it is, these things are reimbursed.
I'm also the type of person that gets bored and re-installs the OS n a pc to have something to do.
Offhand, I can think of 3 or 4 things more fun than reinstalling windows. Identify the things you do to fill time and stop doing them - you'll have a whole lot of spare time for fun stuff.
sure, that works great if they already respect you, but a lot of people seem to treat computer people like lackeys. Without that initial level of respect, you aren't going to build anything.
what you do is this: tell them that it isn't a mac. Instead, it's a BSD box that runs photoshop, MS Office, and generates PDFs as a builtin function, has a 2GHz 4 core cpu, up to 8G of RAM and can run linux in a vm if you want. Mine's about 2 years old and I'll get another in 2 years from now.
well there's a reasonable response. Personally, if I think someone only wants to deal with me so I can fix their computer, I don't need them around. Plenty of people in the world enjoy my company and don't want PC help.
Most people want to do something that matters and have a bit of control over the process. Absent that, life sucks. We do have data backing this viewpoint - you can motivate someone more by offering control, and basic income, when implemented on a small scale has turned out cash positive in areas, as people use the opportunity to start businesses and pursue worthwhile endeavors that weren't sustainable before or were too risky.
The alternative here is working a 40 hour workweek and then taking a 2 month vacation hiking around some nice part of the world every 2-3 years. Really, why not?
hey, it's my country too. Any time we try to do something like implement decent public transit, some jerkoff comes along and demands it be profitable, just like roads and airports aren't. Then they bitch about their (low) taxes.
Slashdot Mirror
if you have something to say, you should be able to stand behind it.
Spoken like a man who's never considered the power of intimidation.
Okay, now factor N = pq, where p and q are primes of approximately 1024 bits each.
You're more the target market for a nice G34 AMD system - 24 cores in 2 sockets, 64G of ram. This is more about serving lots of php.
Except that software written for general consumption is designed as much by UI specialists as developers (at least, the ui heavy stuff is). In addition, users are brought in to play with the stuff while it's in development to identify misconceptions - face it, some people are either lazy or they view computers as a magic box and expend no effort on understanding how it works.
That most geeks are the problem in that situation. Geeks in general seem to have less social skills and social graces than most people.
This is true - we should have the sense to say no more often. Seriously, I write software, why in the world would you expect me to be an expert at recovering PC crap? I change my habits so that doesn't happen. On top of that, why would you expect me to spend 2-3 hours doing it on short notice? Yes, you should expect to pay, and the rates start at $50/hr, largely because we much prefer doing things with our free time that don't involve work.
I suppose you think developers are some sort of alien breed that thinks sideways or some shit. Truth be told, we write small programs for our own use and build enough interface to do what we need. We don't generally have the time to go polish it, and frankly, it's not intended to be widely released. What this has to do with consumer PC repair, I have no idea.
They use that word to imply fascist.
No, they use it as a general slander - I don't think they really understand what socialism is. Ever since you couldn't say nigger in polite conversation, some people have been looking for a replacement. Liberal doesn't really cut it, and Socialist is pretty weak too - oh no, you're trying to fund programs to help the common man!
GPUs run well over 1GFLOP - my AMD chip runs about 10GF/core on linpack, while the GPU is around 1400GF. Serious business.
You may not realize it, but we do. Teacher are always asked t put in extra hours and often bring in supplies.
I never understood this - you get shit pay and they want you to spend some of it on work gear? If my boss did that, I'd get his CC and use that. As it is, these things are reimbursed.
I'm also the type of person that gets bored and re-installs the OS n a pc to have something to do.
Offhand, I can think of 3 or 4 things more fun than reinstalling windows. Identify the things you do to fill time and stop doing them - you'll have a whole lot of spare time for fun stuff.
Or maybe he doesn't want to be stuck doing PC support for his wife's cousin's wife. Doesn't sound like they offered to pay going rates for it either.
sure, that works great if they already respect you, but a lot of people seem to treat computer people like lackeys. Without that initial level of respect, you aren't going to build anything.
Good luck with that. PC == windows for most of the public, so that's what it is.
what you do is this: tell them that it isn't a mac. Instead, it's a BSD box that runs photoshop, MS Office, and generates PDFs as a builtin function, has a 2GHz 4 core cpu, up to 8G of RAM and can run linux in a vm if you want. Mine's about 2 years old and I'll get another in 2 years from now.
well there's a reasonable response. Personally, if I think someone only wants to deal with me so I can fix their computer, I don't need them around. Plenty of people in the world enjoy my company and don't want PC help.
I probably wouldn't get that job, because I'd tell the HR flack that "no, you don't". Seriously, templates?
and the only people willing to do it would starve otherwise?
Most people want to do something that matters and have a bit of control over the process. Absent that, life sucks. We do have data backing this viewpoint - you can motivate someone more by offering control, and basic income, when implemented on a small scale has turned out cash positive in areas, as people use the opportunity to start businesses and pursue worthwhile endeavors that weren't sustainable before or were too risky.
why do we have to be competitive with starvation wages? Implement more protections and focus on quality of life instead of gadgets.
The alternative here is working a 40 hour workweek and then taking a 2 month vacation hiking around some nice part of the world every 2-3 years. Really, why not?
you either pay people enough that someone will take the job or you make it safer/nicer. Same as now without the possibility for desperation.
Silly rabbit, companies don't train anymore! Instead, they demand deep experience in 3 separate areas and refuse to talk to people who don't qualify.
Okay, fine, they're ephebophiles. It's still really illegal, but they tend to draw much less social condemnation and punishment.
hey, it's my country too. Any time we try to do something like implement decent public transit, some jerkoff comes along and demands it be profitable, just like roads and airports aren't. Then they bitch about their (low) taxes.
I suppose you also demand that your roads are profitable. This is the sort of thinking that's what is wrong with america.