I work for a state agency, and it's not quite the free-spending croney fest you envision:
1. Tenure. Off the top of my head, I can name two people I work with who each had over 20 years in who got canned. And quite a few more who hadn't been here as long.
2. Spend the Budget. Let's reverse the scenario. We'll buy all the nice shiny equipment we'd like to have at the beginning of the year, so when unforseen crises occur we'll have no money to deal with them. Good plan! I do agree it makes sense to be able to carry some sort of emergency funds over from year to year so you don't have the year-end blow out. Fortunately, our accountant makes that happen, but talk about pulling teeth!
3. Follow Procedure. We have contracts with vendors who want our business. I'll bet I get a better price on office supplies and computers than you do.
4. Pilfering. I suspect that happens everywhere. If you get caught here, it's grounds for termination, no matter how much "tenure" you have.
5. Croneyism. Welcome to the real world. In my last job at a small business, the manager was the owner's brother-in-law. Believe me, there is way less croneyism in government than in business. Not to say there's none, but it's not endemic, and there are policies in place to prevent it.
I agree with your solutions. In fact they've already been implemented to large degree. Do you know who has the least transparent budget in the US? The Pentagon. Every year billions of dollars go unaccounted for. They used to be required to release a report showing where they spent their money and how much of it "disappeared", but it was so embarrassing that they stopped producing it a couple years ago, even though it's required by law. 60-Minutes has done a couple stories about this.
...keep in mind that 99% of those users are probably only using Windows and Office. Also, my organization's deal with MS does not include server licenses, and it looks like this one doesn't either. From the article: "The deal will see Windows XP, Office 2003, Exchange 2003 and other collaborative Microsoft software products deployed..."
Granted Exchange is a server product, but "other collaborative...products" is pretty vague. MS still makes out like a bandit, just a slightly less fabulously wealthy one.
I give you +10 for the mental image of the browser fairy skipping across the world's desktops, occasionally battling with Clippy as it tries to modify the IE shortcut.
Minus two points for confusing conscience for conscious.
1. Tabs. Going shopping online and want to compare items and prices at different vendors? Instead of opening a couple dozen windows, you can have all those pages accessible in one window. Kind of hard to explain, but once you try it you won't want to be without it. IE doesn't do tabbed browsing.
2. Pop ups. Yeah, you can get pop up blockers for IE, but that requires downloading and installing a plugin.
Firefox is not the only browser with these features, but the point is they are good solid reasons to bag IE. There's probably more, but those two struck me right off the bat.
I'm ordering one through Dell, or you can buy direct from motioncomputing.com. While it's true that some people who buy them don't really use them, the fact that some people don't like them doesn't make them worthless. I know some people who use and love them.
On the other hand, those who have pointed out the value of writing on paper then transcribing as a study aid make a good point. A laptop will probably work fine for you, but if money's not an issue, why not get the tablet? For what it's worth, I work at a university, and have yet to see a student using one.
Guess this will put the kibosh on all those tree-huggers advocating solar as safe and benign.
Let's face it, it's time to shut down the sun before it kills us and step up use of safe energy sources like coal and oil. The sun has had its chance, and it blew it.
The Kickers sign(exhibit 4)clears up something that's puzzled me for almost 20 years. On the Graceland CD, there's a song about "diamonds on the soles of her shoes". Guess that sounds better than "she wore Kickers".
Good idea, if the support costs don't kill you. I'd be happy to sign up my mother and mother-in-law...but supporting them might wipe out your profits right there. And you better have WINE on there, cuz the M-I-L needs to run PAF
Sony looked at doing something like this a couple years ago, but they either backed off or bailed out pretty quickly. But using open source and commodity hardware could keep your costs down.
As for the disposal issue, don't throw out the case when you upgrade a customer. Slap in a new mobo/cpu, and send that to your next customer for his upgrade. Mobos take up a lot less landfill space than cases, or you can use them to make a huge Beowulf...nevermind. Anyway, being Earth friendly is good PR and could win you a few customers. Cheaper than buying new cases, too.
Might consider partnering with an ISP, so you can offer Joe Computerphobe the Whole Internet Package, with only one number to call when he has a problem. The downside being, you can't blame the other guy when things don't work, which seems to be SOP these days.
I haven't seen anyone address the US-only restriction on iTunes. Can't blame that on shipping or warranty return complications. Apple doesn't give a reason for the restriction on their site, at least not that I could find. I suspect that getting international distribution rights is insanely complicated, but I'm just guessing.
If Al-Quaeda attacks again it will probably not be a copy-cat hijacking. They'll find a new way to shock and awe us, and we all the $ we spend on airborn Maginot Lines won't even slow them down.
I've read recently that the Dept. of Homeland Security has done nothing to require that chemical plants (a rather obvious target) increase their security. Seems like this administration is more interested in having an excuse to start wars and curtail our liberties than in protecting us.
We have an agreement with MS that gives us unlimited OS and Office upgrades among other things. But it's a yearly contract, and the "other things" seem to change every year. If the military did lock in 6 years of free upgrades on a reasonably extensive suite of software, this may not be a bad deal.
I do wish they'd gone open source though. They certainly have the leverage to tell their vendors that they'll only accept docs and software that conform to open standards.
Slashdot Mirror
Roscoe, I'll mod you up just for having an awesome handle! Oh wait....dang it!
Sorry sherrif!
OK, but unless your company makes staplers and pencil sharpeners, I'll bet I got you there!
I work for a state agency, and it's not quite the free-spending croney fest you envision:
1. Tenure. Off the top of my head, I can name two people I work with who each had over 20 years in who got canned. And quite a few more who hadn't been here as long.
2. Spend the Budget. Let's reverse the scenario. We'll buy all the nice shiny equipment we'd like to have at the beginning of the year, so when unforseen crises occur we'll have no money to deal with them. Good plan! I do agree it makes sense to be able to carry some sort of emergency funds over from year to year so you don't have the year-end blow out. Fortunately, our accountant makes that happen, but talk about pulling teeth!
3. Follow Procedure. We have contracts with vendors who want our business. I'll bet I get a better price on office supplies and computers than you do.
4. Pilfering. I suspect that happens everywhere. If you get caught here, it's grounds for termination, no matter how much "tenure" you have.
5. Croneyism. Welcome to the real world. In my last job at a small business, the manager was the owner's brother-in-law. Believe me, there is way less croneyism in government than in business. Not to say there's none, but it's not endemic, and there are policies in place to prevent it.
I agree with your solutions. In fact they've already been implemented to large degree. Do you know who has the least transparent budget in the US? The Pentagon. Every year billions of dollars go unaccounted for. They used to be required to release a report showing where they spent their money and how much of it "disappeared", but it was so embarrassing that they stopped producing it a couple years ago, even though it's required by law. 60-Minutes has done a couple stories about this.
...for working Iraq into this thread! Sorry I don't have any.
...keep in mind that 99% of those users are probably only using Windows and Office. Also, my organization's deal with MS does not include server licenses, and it looks like this one doesn't either. From the article:
"The deal will see Windows XP, Office 2003, Exchange 2003 and other collaborative Microsoft software products deployed..."
Granted Exchange is a server product, but "other collaborative...products" is pretty vague. MS still makes out like a bandit, just a slightly less fabulously wealthy one.
I give you +10 for the mental image of the browser fairy skipping across the world's desktops, occasionally battling with Clippy as it tries to modify the IE shortcut.
Minus two points for confusing conscience for conscious.
...to Firevouz. But then I suppose Donald Trump would be upset.
nm
Looks like your confusing the word treating with the word..... confusing.
Don't mind me, I'm just picking nits.
That's a brutal EULA! Mod parent up!
1. Tabs. Going shopping online and want to compare items and prices at different vendors? Instead of opening a couple dozen windows, you can have all those pages accessible in one window. Kind of hard to explain, but once you try it you won't want to be without it. IE doesn't do tabbed browsing.
2. Pop ups. Yeah, you can get pop up blockers for IE, but that requires downloading and installing a plugin.
Firefox is not the only browser with these features, but the point is they are good solid reasons to bag IE. There's probably more, but those two struck me right off the bat.
No, you're on to something. Have them moving AT the speed limit, so you can tell when your foot "accidentally" gets too heavy on the gas.
I'm ordering one through Dell, or you can buy direct from motioncomputing.com. While it's true that some people who buy them don't really use them, the fact that some people don't like them doesn't make them worthless. I know some people who use and love them.
On the other hand, those who have pointed out the value of writing on paper then transcribing as a study aid make a good point. A laptop will probably work fine for you, but if money's not an issue, why not get the tablet? For what it's worth, I work at a university, and have yet to see a student using one.
How's that for ambivalence?
...build an adequate interstate highway system. Oh, wait a minute...
Guess this will put the kibosh on all those tree-huggers advocating solar as safe and benign.
Let's face it, it's time to shut down the sun before it kills us and step up use of safe energy sources like coal and oil. The sun has had its chance, and it blew it.
The Kickers sign(exhibit 4)clears up something that's puzzled me for almost 20 years. On the Graceland CD, there's a song about "diamonds on the soles of her shoes". Guess that sounds better than "she wore Kickers".
Good idea, if the support costs don't kill you. I'd be happy to sign up my mother and mother-in-law...but supporting them might wipe out your profits right there. And you better have WINE on there, cuz the M-I-L needs to run PAF
Sony looked at doing something like this a couple years ago, but they either backed off or bailed out pretty quickly. But using open source and commodity hardware could keep your costs down. As for the disposal issue, don't throw out the case when you upgrade a customer. Slap in a new mobo/cpu, and send that to your next customer for his upgrade. Mobos take up a lot less landfill space than cases, or you can use them to make a huge Beowulf...nevermind. Anyway, being Earth friendly is good PR and could win you a few customers. Cheaper than buying new cases, too.
Might consider partnering with an ISP, so you can offer Joe Computerphobe the Whole Internet Package, with only one number to call when he has a problem. The downside being, you can't blame the other guy when things don't work, which seems to be SOP these days.
Hey, this sounds pretty good. You hiring?
...check out this link for draconian DRM.
Buy a new computer...and kiss all your music files goodbye!
...Mizzou's been in decline. The place needs another bar with plywood tables, plywood benches, and walls, and doors...and a plywood roof...
I haven't seen anyone address the US-only restriction on iTunes. Can't blame that on shipping or warranty return complications. Apple doesn't give a reason for the restriction on their site, at least not that I could find. I suspect that getting international distribution rights is insanely complicated, but I'm just guessing.
Anybody know the real story?
If Al-Quaeda attacks again it will probably not be a copy-cat hijacking. They'll find a new way to shock and awe us, and we all the $ we spend on airborn Maginot Lines won't even slow them down.
I've read recently that the Dept. of Homeland Security has done nothing to require that chemical plants (a rather obvious target) increase their security. Seems like this administration is more interested in having an excuse to start wars and curtail our liberties than in protecting us.
...you'd realize that "Can You Explain the Oregon Legislature?" is an all too valid question. *sigh*
..."This rogue nation has already invaded and occupied one soverign state ..."
Have you already forgotten Afghanistan?
I heard he was dead!
We have an agreement with MS that gives us unlimited OS and Office upgrades among other things. But it's a yearly contract, and the "other things" seem to change every year. If the military did lock in 6 years of free upgrades on a reasonably extensive suite of software, this may not be a bad deal.
I do wish they'd gone open source though. They certainly have the leverage to tell their vendors that they'll only accept docs and software that conform to open standards.