Our facilities people keep wanting to shove us in cubicles. We've found that a no-cubicle, "pod" structure works wonders for us.
A "pod" consists of 4 regular "L" shaped computer desks placed together to make a cross shape. Place these pods in the middle of your group's work area (assuming a large rectangular work area), perhaps (but not preferably) with desks ("offices") on the outside corners.
Results: A really open atmosphere, potentially loud with people asking questions over desks (but most of us like that). The other co-workers are amazed at how much space and open windows we seem to have, even though we're the most compact group in the whole building.
Not for people who want quiet, enclosed caves, and it's not the best layout for "work alone" types.
My philosophy: I want to be able to hit any one of my workers over the head with a thrown bean bag, without hitting a cubicle or regular wall...:) Why do people look at me like I'm crazy when I say things like this?
People... working for a games company SUCKS. My wife worked once in the testing department for a local game company. The programmers would come out with statements like: "Gee, I haven't seen my daughter awake in 2 months!". Deadlines were arbitrary and unmoveable. Close to release date, the place became a madhouse.
Much much better saner jobs await you... Unless you like long hours with poor pay and the occasional game of quake to keep you from doing the real thing to your co-workers...
Quick question, I've got a two yearold in my lap, so forgive the typos.
How would I go about building my own one of these things? A digital VCR/editing studio, where I could set up a job to record an MPEG from a specific channel (or VHS or DVD Video out), record to MPEG and edit later with Premiere or some such thing for later... viewing... As well as being able to do the "replay", "delayed view" functions etc that these other players have.
Obviously some sort of hardware device and software required to control this. What such devices exist on the market? How powerful a computer do you need to run it. Can you use it under linux?
Other questions. Can such devices record two channels at once?
I'd love to have command line recording of TV channel -> MPEG
squirming child taking over... Answer if you can...
To eliminate cyber-squatting, they could auction off the names to the highest bidder. Copyright over names would still take precidence.
Set up a time period, say thirty days, where anyone could bid on the name from a domain. Start out at a flat rate, and let people bid higher if they wish. If in that time, a person or entity could make a valid claim to owning the name, the auction would be voided and arbitration would take place to determine who had the most right to the name. Otherwise, highest bidder rules. Things like "toys.shop" would be under a huge bidding war. I don't think any one company could validly lay claim to the name...
I know this unfairly biases towards those with money, but how else are you going to prevent someone registering every word in the english alphabet?
Maybe we could bid with something other than money, but I don't think ICANN will accept slashdot karma points...
I was talking with some co-workers about the next Outlook megavirus...
You send out an Outlook VBS attachment that scans all the mp3's on the user's hard drive and replaces the audio (no ID tag or file name changes) with some other audio file and then replicates itself to other Outlook users.
I guess you could have a long-winded mp3 speech about copyright infringment, but I think it would be worse to replace everything with copies of Michael Jackson's "Bad".
"Dude, this is seriously f*bleep*ed up right here...."
Why is it that alcohol is always involved in such insane experiments??? I mean, Mary Shelly never said that Dr. Frankenstein was blitzed when we was working on the monster... Got to be a techie thing.
One of the reasons whe secure FTP hasn't taken off is that it's a HUGE CPU hog. I've had difficulty transferring large files without one side of the connection dropping off with scp.
What I would like to see is a "less secure" secure FTP protocol that would scramble user/password transactions ONLY, and let the files transfer in "plaintext". Or just amend the FTP protocol so that regular FTP servers can be configured to demand this.
I remember once several years back that there was a case in Germany where a man was arrested for linking to a neo-nazi site. The site linked to was mentioned by name on the news.
It would be pretty easy to go to the site either by punching it in as an URL or going to a search engine and finding the site with the publicity.
My question is, would simply mentioning a phrase (i.e. "MP3") in a public forum (i.e. television, usenet, etc), become illegal?
Bio-genetics: Crops that produce triple yield. But will we still hold back distributing them to the people who need them? (We collectively as humans, all groups reponsible for withholding food)
Germs - the plague, smallpox, and malaria
Know thine enemy. With better understanding of these bacteria and viruses, we have the power to be more efficient killers of other species. Some of those species SHOULD be eradicated. (or at least, sealed away in little jars deep in Atlanta)We're human, we're species killers, we're good at it. We just have to hone our specicidal instincts to cull very VERY carefully. I want to see smallpox, malaria, AIDS,etc, DEAD. GONE. ERADICATED FROM THE PLANET. No fucking monuments. That's speciecide. We just have to be DAMN careful we're not destroying the ecosphere, just altering it. The only other alternative is to leave all the bacteria and viruses happily behind and leave the planet. Not likely in the near future...
Genetics - i.e. Sickle-cell anemia
Bingo. Look for advances at a pharmacy near you.
Toxins - lead poisoning, heart disease, some cancers
Some bacteria can be engineered to control environmental toxins, but I don't see this as being significant either. We might be able to treat OUR resistance to toxin, but bye bye biosphere.
The Mind
Big one there. We're a LONG LONG LONG way off.
Hopefully we can genetically engineer the tolmarese extenders so I can live a few hundred years to see that revolution start....
And in some ways, the computer revolution if fueled by arguably the greatest acheivement of the 20th century: Mass production of electricity.
It's like passing the baton. Yes, they'll go hand in hand, but in twenty years, the computers will just be a tool, and not recognized as part of the achievement itself...
Celera and the government funded Human Genome Project are going to announce project completion simultaneously. Surely this is political. The question is, which one of the two is the "most complete"?
This project is probably equal or greater in scale to the Manhattan project in it's potential effect on humanity. For the next 50 years, we're going to be worrying how bio-genetics will be misused while reaping the benifits of a new revolutionary technology. I wonder what will be the equivelant of "duck and cover"? Hold your breath for as long as you can?
Humanity's revolution for the next two decades to be feuled by bio-genetic discoveries, not by advances in computing power (not that one didn't catalyze the other)
That's not 100% true. We can probably be pretty sure that if the life is dramatically different than Earth life now, that:
1) The life did not come from Earth or 2) The life did not come from Earth recently
Where recently is anywhere in the last 100 million years from now.
If any found life was not composed of DNA, that would be an extremely strong indicator that it evolved on Mars. If it did have DNA, but was rather different, either it came from Earth by metoer depost, but a long time ago, or that Earth and Mars were biologically seeded from a common source.
Has anyone done calculations on how much DNA the Earth distributes/will distribute over time? Is it limited to space probes propelled out of the system by rockets, or do Earth meteors guarantee that a large amount of (dead) biomass leaves the system after we're all gone.
Actually, when you think of it, the largest amount of biological mass distributed into space by man today is likely from the excrement and urine of astronauts and cosmonauts. By now, there's got to be a few hundered kilograms of shit up there...:)
(I know, on Mir and Skylab, they store the stuff and ship it back down...)
Remember also that the 0C Freezing and 100C boiling points of water are also a function of atmostpheric pressure. As pressure goes down, I think both these points go down, until they reach a triple point, and the freezing point and boiling point are the same thing. When the pressure is this low, there is no liquid water. You go straight from gas to ice, ice to gas.
I'm feeling crappy today and can't make it to my bookshelf. Can anyone go get a chemistry book and verify the temperature and pressure of the triple point of water? Does the freezing point of watter go up or down with decreased pressure (I don't recall at the moment, water has some seriously weird properties that make it unlike other liquids...)
Can water exist as a liquid with Mars atmospheric pressure? If so, over what range of temeratures?
A follow up. My wife pointed out a good analogy. I know I'm not American, but hopefully I can get this right... (stupid lynx posted my previous post as Anonymous Coward)
In the 19th century. It was legal to own slaves. It was MORAL to own slaves. The people (their definition) of the time considered it a perfectly reasonable thing for honest decent people to partake in.
Some people disagreed with this. Some people tried to help free the slaves. This was against the law. The people who were caught were punished. The society as a whole (or at least those in power) considered this the morally just thing to do.
Then the public opinion and then the leadership changed. It was legal to own slaves, but morally wrong. Eventually attitudes changed and the vast majority of Americans think that slavery is wrong, and this is now reflected in their laws.
Now there's no chance in hell am I comparing the struggle of freedom of an enslaved race to the "information wants to be free" call to arms. Rather I'm trying to point out that the morality of a society can change based on the opinions of the majority of the people.
One hundred years from now, our ancestors may be wondering why we clung so adamntly to our outdated notions of a completely unenforcable intellectual property. It is too late to argue that the change is right or wrong.
At best, we can steer what direction we want this to proceed with the minimum of damage. The best case scenario is for Napster and it's ilk to slowly destroy the recording industry. The worst case scenario is for it to be destroyed overnight with technology even more powerful than Napster that the RIAA has no hope of controlling... I don't think there is a reasonable scenario that leads to the record industry surviving in it's present form without implementing China's version of the Internet.
Sorry guys, I for one would mod this up as +1 Insightful if I had my mod points today.
Beacuse of the massive flow of free information in the Western Internet, we tend to view the internet itself as a vector for free speech, democracy, what have you.
The poster is right, it could have quite easily have gone the other way, using the Internet to monitor all the traffic going over it. Security. Control.
The 'net is as free or as controlled as the people who forward the packets around want them to be. Fortunately we have the right to protest legally or to choose an alternative when things aren't done the way we like.
Given this, the Internet is the technology itself, nothing more, nothing less. Not how it's used. Ergo, a tool.
You may choose to exclude "non-free" segments of the network from your definition of "The Internet" as you see fit...
It's often been noted that most of the oxygen on the planet has been breathed in by most every human at one point or another. Each breath you take probably has an oxygen molecule breathed in by Ceasar, the first band of humans, the dinosaurs, etc.
By extrapolation, the same is probably true of water. Water you've drank has passed through the ages as well.
With this in mind, and under the assumption that extraterrestrial life existed billions of years ago, I think we should FUND A MISSION TO RECOVER THE EXTRATERRESTRIAL FISH PEE!
It's Friday. I've said my peice. Don't tell me you aren't stressed out at work too...
Anyone wondering about the potential cleverness of The Offspring:
Last I heard, Dexter Holland, the lead singer, was very close to finishing his Ph.D. dissertation in molecular biology. This was even once a question on Jeopardy (and no, not the Rock&Roll version)
From a band whose music just oozes sarcasm and irony, I wouldn't be surprised if this was panned and intentional.
Then again, their music also helped inspire me to quit one of the crappiest jobs I ever had, so I may be a bit biased...:)
The authorities in British Columbia have offered to do a deal with Microsoft.
Well folks, there you have it. Any last doubt of the B.C. government having a deal with the devil should be completely eliminated.
Coming from the B.C. lower mainland myself, where could they move? Burnaby? Richmond? (As the building is destroyed in th eearthquake and the soil liquifies). Chilliwack? Victoria?
My personal vote: Fort Saint John... (about 1000 miles NE of Vancouver..:)
Worst possible scenario: Stanley Park.
Reading further...
Gordon Wilson!?! Attracting Microsoft to B.C. That does it. We're all doomed...
Apple today has come out with a new peripheral device for the Apple zMac. Apple's wireless condom. Users can squeeze, stroke, scratch, and point their device to control their zMac. Special enhancment software will enhance the web browsing experience, surfing to different sites depending on the state of the device.
A force feedback version of the device is in the works to be available by Christmas.
Does anyone remember those inflatable domes that NASA and the RSA were kicking out a few years back? Rather than terraforming Mars, it might be more economical to put a massive semi-spherical balloon over a land mass, and then just build inside of it.
B.C. Place in Vancouver, B.C. is sort of like this. The roof is inflatable, yet strong enough to walk on. Plus the air pressure inside is greater than outside. (You can actually feel the wind coming out of the doors, it's hard to open them because they have to be so heavy).
I'm all for the dome thing, except radiation is another huge factor. Perhaps silver up one side?
I'm 26, and I'm the opposite situation right now. I work for a local University as a SysAdmin, and I've been here for almost 3 years. This is the place I want to work from when I'm 40 to retirement. Becuase it's a university, where older standards prevail, the agism works in the opposite direction, even if this seems contradictory to some of the the technical employees. I am working with new technologies and all the newest toys, it's just sometimes the younger employees aren't recognized for what their work because they aren't "experienced". Maybe they're looking for someone with 15 years Linux experience, I don't know...
A lot of the young guys are leaving for greener pastures (A University will only pay so much). My wife and I are waiting for a second child (OK, so I'm not a typical young employee), and the job security is maximal, which is great.
It's very odd to be presented with a situation where I could work at the same place in a technical position until retirement. But the benefits are great, the pay is OK (for Canada), my skills aren't dying off, and I enjoy the work. I've worked my way up from Jr. Programmer to SysAdmin in about 2 years... So that's my advice...
Slashdot Mirror
Our facilities people keep wanting to shove us in cubicles. We've found that a no-cubicle, "pod" structure works wonders for us.
:) Why do people look at me like I'm crazy when I say things like this?
A "pod" consists of 4 regular "L" shaped computer desks placed together to make a cross shape. Place these pods in the middle of your group's work area (assuming a large rectangular work area), perhaps (but not preferably) with desks ("offices") on the outside corners.
Results: A really open atmosphere, potentially loud with people asking questions over desks (but most of us like that). The other co-workers are amazed at how much space and open windows we seem to have, even though we're the most compact group in the whole building.
Not for people who want quiet, enclosed caves, and it's not the best layout for "work alone" types.
My philosophy: I want to be able to hit any one of my workers over the head with a thrown bean bag, without hitting a cubicle or regular wall...
Damn, where are my mod points today!
People... working for a games company SUCKS. My wife worked once in the testing department for a local game company. The programmers would come out with statements like: "Gee, I haven't seen my daughter awake in 2 months!". Deadlines were arbitrary and unmoveable. Close to release date, the place became a madhouse.
Much much better saner jobs await you... Unless you like long hours with poor pay and the occasional game of quake to keep you from doing the real thing to your co-workers...
Quick question, I've got a two yearold in my lap, so forgive the typos.
How would I go about building my own one of these things? A digital VCR/editing studio, where I could set up a job to record an MPEG from a specific channel (or VHS or DVD Video out), record to MPEG and edit later with Premiere or some such thing for later... viewing... As well as being able to do the "replay", "delayed view" functions etc that these other players have.
Obviously some sort of hardware device and software required to control this. What such devices exist on the market? How powerful a computer do you need to run it. Can you use it under linux?
Other questions. Can such devices record two channels at once?
I'd love to have command line recording of TV channel -> MPEG
squirming child taking over... Answer if you can...
thanks
To eliminate cyber-squatting, they could auction off the names to the highest bidder. Copyright over names would still take precidence.
Set up a time period, say thirty days, where anyone could bid on the name from a domain. Start out at a flat rate, and let people bid higher if they wish. If in that time, a person or entity could make a valid claim to owning the name, the auction would be voided and arbitration would take place to determine who had the most right to the name. Otherwise, highest bidder rules. Things like "toys.shop" would be under a huge bidding war. I don't think any one company could validly lay claim to the name...
I know this unfairly biases towards those with money, but how else are you going to prevent someone registering every word in the english alphabet?
Maybe we could bid with something other than money, but I don't think ICANN will accept slashdot karma points...
I can't think of any way to put this better, but.
Well, duh...
Of course it would be damaging. I wasn't advocating such a virus, I was postulating its existance and how crippling it would be...
Sorry if I didn't make this clear in my original post....
I was talking with some co-workers about the next Outlook megavirus...
You send out an Outlook VBS attachment that scans all the mp3's on the user's hard drive and replaces the audio (no ID tag or file name changes) with some other audio file and then replicates itself to other Outlook users.
I guess you could have a long-winded mp3 speech about copyright infringment, but I think it would be worse to replace everything with copies of Michael Jackson's "Bad".
Watch those attachments people...
"Dude, this is seriously f*bleep*ed up right here...."
Why is it that alcohol is always involved in such insane experiments??? I mean, Mary Shelly never said that Dr. Frankenstein was blitzed when we was working on the monster... Got to be a techie thing.
One of the reasons whe secure FTP hasn't taken off is that it's a HUGE CPU hog. I've had difficulty transferring large files without one side of the connection dropping off with scp.
What I would like to see is a "less secure" secure FTP protocol that would scramble user/password transactions ONLY, and let the files transfer in "plaintext". Or just amend the FTP protocol so that regular FTP servers can be configured to demand this.
I remember once several years back that there was a case in Germany where a man was arrested for linking to a neo-nazi site. The site linked to was mentioned by name on the news.
It would be pretty easy to go to the site either by punching it in as an URL or going to a search engine and finding the site with the publicity.
My question is, would simply mentioning a phrase (i.e. "MP3") in a public forum (i.e. television, usenet, etc), become illegal?
Malnutrition - lack of vitamin C causes scurvy
Bio-genetics: Crops that produce triple yield. But will we still hold back distributing them to the people who need them? (We collectively as humans, all groups reponsible for withholding food)
Germs - the plague, smallpox, and malaria
Know thine enemy. With better understanding of these bacteria and viruses, we have the power to be more efficient killers of other species. Some of those species SHOULD be eradicated. (or at least, sealed away in little jars deep in Atlanta)We're human, we're species killers, we're good at it. We just have to hone our specicidal instincts to cull very VERY carefully. I want to see smallpox, malaria, AIDS,etc, DEAD. GONE. ERADICATED FROM THE PLANET. No fucking monuments. That's speciecide. We just have to be DAMN careful we're not destroying the ecosphere, just altering it. The only other alternative is to leave all the bacteria and viruses happily behind and leave the planet. Not likely in the near future...
Genetics - i.e. Sickle-cell anemia
Bingo. Look for advances at a pharmacy near you.
Toxins - lead poisoning, heart disease, some cancers
Some bacteria can be engineered to control environmental toxins, but I don't see this as being significant either. We might be able to treat OUR resistance to toxin, but bye bye biosphere.
The Mind
Big one there. We're a LONG LONG LONG way off.
Hopefully we can genetically engineer the tolmarese extenders so I can live a few hundred years to see that revolution start....
And in some ways, the computer revolution if fueled by arguably the greatest acheivement of the 20th century: Mass production of electricity.
It's like passing the baton. Yes, they'll go hand in hand, but in twenty years, the computers will just be a tool, and not recognized as part of the achievement itself...
Celera and the government funded Human Genome Project are going to announce project completion simultaneously. Surely this is political. The question is, which one of the two is the "most complete"?
This project is probably equal or greater in scale to the Manhattan project in it's potential effect on humanity. For the next 50 years, we're going to be worrying how bio-genetics will be misused while reaping the benifits of a new revolutionary technology. I wonder what will be the equivelant of "duck and cover"? Hold your breath for as long as you can?
Humanity's revolution for the next two decades to be feuled by bio-genetic discoveries, not by advances in computing power (not that one didn't catalyze the other)
That's not 100% true. We can probably be pretty sure that if the life is dramatically different than Earth life now, that:
:)
1) The life did not come from Earth
or
2) The life did not come from Earth recently
Where recently is anywhere in the last 100 million years from now.
If any found life was not composed of DNA, that would be an extremely strong indicator that it evolved on Mars. If it did have DNA, but was rather different, either it came from Earth by metoer depost, but a long time ago, or that Earth and Mars were biologically seeded from a common source.
Has anyone done calculations on how much DNA the Earth distributes/will distribute over time? Is it limited to space probes propelled out of the system by rockets, or do Earth meteors guarantee that a large amount of (dead) biomass leaves the system after we're all gone.
Actually, when you think of it, the largest amount of biological mass distributed into space by man today is likely from the excrement and urine of astronauts and cosmonauts. By now, there's got to be a few hundered kilograms of shit up there...
(I know, on Mir and Skylab, they store the stuff and ship it back down...)
I'm feeling crappy today and can't make it to my bookshelf. Can anyone go get a chemistry book and verify the temperature and pressure of the triple point of water? Does the freezing point of watter go up or down with decreased pressure (I don't recall at the moment, water has some seriously weird properties that make it unlike other liquids...)
Can water exist as a liquid with Mars atmospheric pressure? If so, over what range of temeratures?
And my title was cooler...
In the 19th century. It was legal to own slaves. It was MORAL to own slaves. The people (their definition) of the time considered it a perfectly reasonable thing for honest decent people to partake in.
Some people disagreed with this. Some people tried to help free the slaves. This was against the law. The people who were caught were punished. The society as a whole (or at least those in power) considered this the morally just thing to do.
Then the public opinion and then the leadership changed. It was legal to own slaves, but morally wrong. Eventually attitudes changed and the vast majority of Americans think that slavery is wrong, and this is now reflected in their laws.
Now there's no chance in hell am I comparing the struggle of freedom of an enslaved race to the "information wants to be free" call to arms. Rather I'm trying to point out that the morality of a society can change based on the opinions of the majority of the people.
One hundred years from now, our ancestors may be wondering why we clung so adamntly to our outdated notions of a completely unenforcable intellectual property. It is too late to argue that the change is right or wrong.
At best, we can steer what direction we want this to proceed with the minimum of damage. The best case scenario is for Napster and it's ilk to slowly destroy the recording industry. The worst case scenario is for it to be destroyed overnight with technology even more powerful than Napster that the RIAA has no hope of controlling... I don't think there is a reasonable scenario that leads to the record industry surviving in it's present form without implementing China's version of the Internet.
Sorry guys, I for one would mod this up as +1 Insightful if I had my mod points today.
Beacuse of the massive flow of free information in the Western Internet, we tend to view the internet itself as a vector for free speech, democracy, what have you.
The poster is right, it could have quite easily have gone the other way, using the Internet to monitor all the traffic going over it. Security. Control.
The 'net is as free or as controlled as the people who forward the packets around want them to be. Fortunately we have the right to protest legally or to choose an alternative when things aren't done the way we like.
Given this, the Internet is the technology itself, nothing more, nothing less. Not how it's used. Ergo, a tool.
You may choose to exclude "non-free" segments of the network from your definition of "The Internet" as you see fit...
Short term destination for rich tourists? Instantly running through my head:
"A three hour tour..."
I'm glad you appreciate my efforts!
Don't ask why I posted it. It just reflected my end of Friday mood.
It's often been noted that most of the oxygen on the planet has been breathed in by most every human at one point or another. Each breath you take probably has an oxygen molecule breathed in by Ceasar, the first band of humans, the dinosaurs, etc.
By extrapolation, the same is probably true of water. Water you've drank has passed through the ages as well.
With this in mind, and under the assumption that extraterrestrial life existed billions of years ago, I think we should FUND A MISSION TO RECOVER THE EXTRATERRESTRIAL FISH PEE!
It's Friday. I've said my peice. Don't tell me you aren't stressed out at work too...
Anyone wondering about the potential cleverness of The Offspring:
:)
Last I heard, Dexter Holland, the lead singer, was very close to finishing his Ph.D. dissertation in molecular biology. This was even once a question on Jeopardy (and no, not the Rock&Roll version)
From a band whose music just oozes sarcasm and irony, I wouldn't be surprised if this was panned and intentional.
Then again, their music also helped inspire me to quit one of the crappiest jobs I ever had, so I may be a bit biased...
The authorities in British Columbia have offered to do a deal with Microsoft.
:)
Well folks, there you have it. Any last doubt of the B.C. government having a deal with the devil should be completely eliminated.
Coming from the B.C. lower mainland myself, where could they move? Burnaby? Richmond? (As the building is destroyed in th eearthquake and the soil liquifies). Chilliwack? Victoria?
My personal vote: Fort Saint John... (about 1000 miles NE of Vancouver..
Worst possible scenario: Stanley Park.
Reading further...
Gordon Wilson!?! Attracting Microsoft to B.C. That does it. We're all doomed...
;)
Trevor, from B.C., Canada
Dateline 2003...
Apple today has come out with a new peripheral device for the Apple zMac. Apple's wireless condom. Users can squeeze, stroke, scratch, and point their device to control their zMac. Special enhancment software will enhance the web browsing experience, surfing to different sites depending on the state of the device.
A force feedback version of the device is in the works to be available by Christmas.
Does anyone remember those inflatable domes that NASA and the RSA were kicking out a few years back? Rather than terraforming Mars, it might be more economical to put a massive semi-spherical balloon over a land mass, and then just build inside of it.
B.C. Place in Vancouver, B.C. is sort of like this. The roof is inflatable, yet strong enough to walk on. Plus the air pressure inside is greater than outside. (You can actually feel the wind coming out of the doors, it's hard to open them because they have to be so heavy).
I'm all for the dome thing, except radiation is another huge factor. Perhaps silver up one side?
I'm 26, and I'm the opposite situation right now. I work for a local University as a SysAdmin, and I've been here for almost 3 years. This is the place I want to work from when I'm 40 to retirement. Becuase it's a university, where older standards prevail, the agism works in the opposite direction, even if this seems contradictory to some of the the technical employees. I am working with new technologies and all the newest toys, it's just sometimes the younger employees aren't recognized for what their work because they aren't "experienced". Maybe they're looking for someone with 15 years Linux experience, I don't know...
A lot of the young guys are leaving for greener pastures (A University will only pay so much). My wife and I are waiting for a second child (OK, so I'm not a typical young employee), and the job security is maximal, which is great.
It's very odd to be presented with a situation where I could work at the same place in a technical position until retirement. But the benefits are great, the pay is OK (for Canada), my skills aren't dying off, and I enjoy the work. I've worked my way up from Jr. Programmer to SysAdmin in about 2 years... So that's my advice...