I'm so relieved. I started reading this and was laughing my head off, then I panicked and wasnt sure. Ive heard that there are some americans who take religion very seriously but surely that couldnt be this bad! It could jsut about have been real
The point of a broad education is one of the big differences between the UK and US education systems. As far as I know, in the US people do a major course and several minor subjects. wheras in the uk we specialise very early on. for example I dropped all non science courses at the age of 16, not becuase i was struggling but because i was only allowed to do a max of 4 subjects from 16-18 (physics, chem, biology, computer science), and then at uni (college) i only studied one thing for 3 years. in some ways this is good in that we gain a very thourough knowledge of a subject, but I would have liked to have been able to study literature a little and still remain a scientist.
Make the best of the system you guys have out there and meet some non geeks!
I know it sounds like the world domination scheme from a bond film, but I've seen what it can do.
A friend of mine is working on part of the grid for his PHD in the uk and once you have watched him transfer 700 MB files from the uk to Switzerland in under a minute you realise that they aren't joking.
As long as we change from selling beer in pints to litres i will be a happy man. I can go out and have 2 beers at lunchtime but will in fact have had nearly 4 pints. genius!
At my work we run mixed mainframe/pc environment. No-one in the IT department has any form of official Tech qualifications, as is often the case with mainframe admins(although the manager went of a typing course in the 70's). I think the difference is that the managers have realised that to keep the system operating people need to be trained up. Myself and the other early 20's Techs were all brought on board aged 18 from high school (in the uk, hence 18) and we all had to leard the mainframe ops before we could touch the rest of the network. They may be based on an old system but ours is constantly being upgraded and I have learned to love the old workhorses. I once asked the Senior mainframe guy how often these things crash and he just looked at me in utter confusion. There had been no unplanned downtime for the last 8 years and even that was due to someone switching off the internal UPS just before a powercut! There should be more Companies willing to take on intelligent people and train them up on the job, as often this is the only way to get more people onto more obscure systems.
They may just be big calculators, but buy can they calculate
I'd better go, this mouse thingy if starting to frighten me;-)
As many fellow British Slashdotters will know, The Daily MIrror is not exactly a bastion of news intellect. It is much better than the virtual soft pornography of the Sport but not quite up there with the broadsheets. I am not surprised that the review focuses on the violence and sex scenes rather than whether it is actually a good movie.
Ill not got off my middle class socialist soapbox and go back to my copy of the Grauniad (sic).
Sad as it may seem I have found it more advantageous to have an unofficial club then a school sponsored one.
I am aware that it prevents you from using the school equipment and putting it on your record sheet (of whatever the equivelant is in america) but being able to control the club has its advantages.
You can work with whataver OS you want, have a game of unreal and run the club the way you really want without the constraints of the administration.
even without being official I know our teachers gave us funny looks whenever anything went wrong with the system, even when it wasn't our fault (which of course it never was, cough cough)
unless of couse you have a "cool" computer teacher you can talk to, when i was at school our IT teacher hated the idea of students using their initiative so it might have chnaged by now. I would be very careful about revealing when you can actually do in from of your school staff though no matter how well you get on with them.
I know we all have blinkers on for banner ads but even after all these years I do notice them if i am paying attention.
popup ads just get on my nerves and i will never click on them just cos I am so darn infuriated.
Banner ads on the other hand can easily be ignored of you are too busy to click on them (no matter how interesting). On the other hand if you are casually surfing they will often show an interesting product which I often click upon.
I could of course just have too much time on my hands;-)
Although a generic Geek and a now sysadmin I started out in tech support and no-one forgets that, ever. Even when I finally thought I would never have to directly speak to a user again I get my family calling me from their work (my dad works for the uk government) asking how to fix their work computer as I answer the phone faster that their IT Support line!!
They just dont get it do they!
I think that their Tech support can't answer 'cos they are all on the phones to their families as well.
In the end we are all supporting every company except our own.
I dont like it though, Im going to make my own version damn it, anything they can do, i can do with a couple of felt tips and a stills camera!
Will we have the star wars problem of the films/books/comics contradicting each other? this got very confusing at times, or will it be a big, well planned machine.
Although watching anything to do with the matrix is so exciting I cant explain, i cant help but feel disappointed with the first episode. Now i have gone back to it and watched it a few times I realise how annoyed I am that the writers tried to explain the rise of the machines. One of the things about the human resistance is that they dont know what happened, and we could all imagine it in out own apocalyptic fashion.
Im downloading the second part now so I hope it is more like the matrix universe we know.
One thing that made the matrix more believeable to "geek culture" is that they didnt try to explain or quantify the computers, they just said that they existed. Thus preventing outdating and movie mumbo jumbo.
Enough of my waffling, im still buzzing while I wait for the clip! only 90 meg to go!!!!
Slashdot Mirror
I'm so relieved.
I started reading this and was laughing my head off, then I panicked and wasnt sure.
Ive heard that there are some americans who take religion very seriously but surely that couldnt be this bad!
It could jsut about have been real
Oh dear oh dear.
I think we can strike you off the applicant list for GCHQ
The point of a broad education is one of the big differences between the UK and US education systems.
As far as I know, in the US people do a major course and several minor subjects. wheras in the uk we specialise very early on.
for example I dropped all non science courses at the age of 16, not becuase i was struggling but because i was only allowed to do a max of 4 subjects from 16-18 (physics, chem, biology, computer science), and then at uni (college) i only studied one thing for 3 years.
in some ways this is good in that we gain a very thourough knowledge of a subject, but I would have liked to have been able to study literature a little and still remain a scientist.
Make the best of the system you guys have out there and meet some non geeks!
You can "spray paint" your case?!?!?!?
Nah, I dont believe you.
I know it sounds like the world domination scheme from a bond film, but I've seen what it can do.
A friend of mine is working on part of the grid for his PHD in the uk
and once you have watched him transfer 700 MB files from the uk to
Switzerland in under a minute you realise that they aren't joking.
I guess their next step is running quake over it!
As long as we change from selling beer in pints to litres i will be a happy man.
I can go out and have 2 beers at lunchtime but will in fact have had nearly 4 pints. genius!
At my work we run mixed mainframe/pc environment.
;-)
No-one in the IT department has any form of official Tech qualifications, as is often the case with mainframe admins(although the manager went of a typing course in the 70's).
I think the difference is that the managers have realised that to keep the system operating people need to be trained up. Myself and the other early 20's Techs were all brought on board aged 18 from high school (in the uk, hence 18) and we all had to leard the mainframe ops before we could touch the rest of the network.
They may be based on an old system but ours is constantly being upgraded and I have learned to love the old workhorses.
I once asked the Senior mainframe guy how often these things crash and he just looked at me in utter confusion. There had been no unplanned downtime for the last 8 years and even that was due to someone switching off the internal UPS just before a powercut!
There should be more Companies willing to take on intelligent people and train them up on the job, as often this is the only way to get more people onto more obscure systems.
They may just be big calculators, but buy can they calculate
I'd better go, this mouse thingy if starting to frighten me
As many fellow British Slashdotters will know, The Daily MIrror is not exactly a bastion of news intellect.
It is much better than the virtual soft pornography of the Sport but not quite up there with the broadsheets. I am not surprised that the review focuses on the violence and sex scenes rather than whether it is actually a good movie.
Ill not got off my middle class socialist soapbox and go back to my copy of the Grauniad (sic).
Sad as it may seem I have found it more advantageous to have an unofficial club then a school sponsored one.
I am aware that it prevents you from using the school equipment and putting it on your record sheet (of whatever the equivelant is in america) but being able to control the club has its advantages.
You can work with whataver OS you want, have a game of unreal and run the club the way you really want without the constraints of the administration.
even without being official I know our teachers gave us funny looks whenever anything went wrong with the system, even when it wasn't our fault (which of course it never was, cough cough)
unless of couse you have a "cool" computer teacher you can talk to, when i was at school our IT teacher hated the idea of students using their initiative so it might have chnaged by now. I would be very careful about revealing when you can actually do in from of your school staff though no matter how well you get on with them.
I know we all have blinkers on for banner ads but even after all these years I do notice them if i am paying attention.
;-)
popup ads just get on my nerves and i will never click on them just cos I am so darn infuriated.
Banner ads on the other hand can easily be ignored of you are too busy to click on them (no matter how interesting). On the other hand if you are casually surfing they will often show an interesting product which I often click upon.
I could of course just have too much time on my hands
The Problems start when you ARE a professional!
Although a generic Geek and a now sysadmin I started out in tech support and no-one forgets that, ever.
Even when I finally thought I would never have to directly speak to a user again I get my family calling me from their work (my dad works for the uk government) asking how to fix their work computer as I answer the phone faster that their IT Support line!!
They just dont get it do they!
I think that their Tech support can't answer 'cos they are all on the phones to their families as well.
In the end we are all supporting every company except our own.
I give up
I stand corrected,
I dont like it though, Im going to make my own version damn it, anything they can do, i can do with a couple of felt tips and a stills camera!
Will we have the star wars problem of the films/books/comics contradicting each other? this got very confusing at times, or will it be a big, well planned machine.
I wait with baited breath
Although watching anything to do with the matrix is so exciting I cant explain, i cant help but feel disappointed with the first episode.
Now i have gone back to it and watched it a few times I realise how annoyed I am that the writers tried to explain the rise of the machines. One of the things about the human resistance is that they dont know what happened, and we could all imagine it in out own apocalyptic fashion.
Im downloading the second part now so I hope it is more like the matrix universe we know.
One thing that made the matrix more believeable to "geek culture" is that they didnt try to explain or quantify the computers, they just said that they existed. Thus preventing outdating and movie mumbo jumbo.
Enough of my waffling, im still buzzing while I wait for the clip! only 90 meg to go!!!!
If they do, I can't wait to see the fully raytraced, mip-mapped hi rez @ sign brutally attacking the letter Z.
I think bullet time would go down well too!