I have to disagree. A war on crappy music sounds really good to me. Hell, there are few things that would make me happier than seeing Britney Spears through the sights of an M-16.
You know, I think we are seeing the results of the good old American "can do" attitude. It took Sadam decades of ruthless oppression to kill 600K people, but the US has already killed of 100K in less than two years. At present rate they should be able to surpass Saddam before the end of the decade.
The wonders of American productibity never ceases to amaze me. Bush should be proud of what he has accomplished.
On the other hand there are people like me, with a full suite of MS software on my PC at work that never gets used. I use OO and Firefox exclusively.
And I'm one of many in our dev team. The IT purchasing people makes sure you get a copy of MS office, but the majority of people are ignoring it and using software of their choice. Not that MS is the only people with skewed numbers. I think we have 3 JBuilder licences for every developer that actually uses it (Go Eclipse!).
Strange... I find myself spending more and more time in Slashdot's political section. It actually has lot of frontpage worthy stories.
A lot of this campaign has been directly influenced by technology. Think about Deans' internet campaigning, bloggers expounding about fonts and of course our good buddies at Diebold. So there is actually a good reason to have a political section. Technology and politics goes hand in hand, and has done so for a long time. Remember all the BS about cryptography a few years ago? How about the overtly political Appollo moon missions? Politics and tech intertwined...
And even if that was not the case, this stuff still matters. Hell, most techies seem to bitching about offshoring these days. Here's a clue: the guy in the Whitehouse has a direct effect on these things. It might be your job on the line if the wrong guy is elected.
Or if you really don't care, then just don't read the fucking story!!!
Fuck, can't figure out if that was a very insightfull comment or if you have been reading too much William Gibson...
Unfortunately I suspect you might be right. I have considered medical tourism a couple of times, and actually know a couple who fly from Seattle to South Africa for any serious medical/dental work. Even with the cost of the flights, they still save money, have excellent medical care and get to have a vacation at the same time.
I guess this should also serve as a wakeup call for all the guys in the medical profession. It isn't just IT jobs that can be outsourced...
Microsoft have considered buying SAP have they? Don't make us all laugh now. SAP is as big, if not bigger, than Microsoft.
Dude, what have you been smoking? SAP has a market cap of about $46 billion and anual revenue of about $9 billion a year. Microsoft has a market cap of nearly $300 billion and revenues of around $37 billion a year. So I'm not really sure how you can claim SAP is as big as MS.
For comparison, Oracle has a market cap of $51 billion vs. Peoplesoft's market cap of $7 billion. Looking at it that way, the ratio in sizes between MS/SAP compared to Oracle/Peoplesoft is about the same.
You know, I really wish the paranoia about using credit cards on the internet will go away.
Think about this as somebody with some technical background. What is more secure?
1. Giving your credit card to the waiter at Mafia Pizza, who takes it into a back room before he brings it back to you.
2. Providing your credit card number to Amazon.
So here is a better idea. Get one credit card and use it for everything. Watch your statement carefully. Complain loudly if you see any charges you didn't make.
I'd still avoid buying anything from Mr. Mbuthu at Nigeria Exports, but other than that why allow paranoia to keep you from the convenience of the internet?
Remember, you are NOT liable for any fraud losses on a credit card other than the first $50. The bank takes risk in return for the fees the merchant pays and because they want you to run up a huge debt and pay them loads of interest.
not a lot of production software is written in Java
So all those guys getting hired as Java programmers are doing what? Sitting around playing with themselves while the C programmer chained in the basement writes all the production code?
Dude, you might be trying to be sarcastic, but not really succeeding. Malaria kills over a million people a year (only recently has AIDS surpassed it).
DDT does get used in Africa, but only after people had to pretty much beg for exceptions to the ban on using it. If they had been able to use it earlier millions of lives could have been saved. But the tree huggers don't care about that, do they?
You know I considered your post pretty insightfull until I got to:
Your comment about warming indicates your age, your lack of historical knowledge, and lack of general education on the environment. Warming has been a public concern since the 50s when the first effects were felt, and when people started realizing the huge effects humans and their chemicals can have on the environment through books like Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, which concerns the pesticide DDT.
Rachel Carson and that damn book will probably go down in history as one of the most misguided attempts at evironmentalism ever. Personally I think Carson should be put against a wall and shot for crimes against humanity.
If you don't agree then do some research on malaria, and you'll see what I mean. Stop being a knee jerk environmentalist and google malaria and DDT before defending that fucking idiot.
Maybe you should. He doesn't say global warming isn't happening, he just says that adapting to it is probably cheaper and more efficient than stopping it.
Even better, you can usually find something worth watching on those 8 channels. Since I moved to the US I have 20 times as many channels, and the best thing on is still British comedy reruns on public access TV.
Mmmhh.... lets see consider this from the point of view of a country like South Africa:
1.Abundant and still latent talented English speaking IT workforce Getting there
2.Upcoming Quality of workforce Got that
3.Democracy and approachable govt policies. Got that too
4.Already Established. Check
5.Investment cost is low and not likely to grow higher and would propagate to different unexplored places. About the same situation as India
Now consider that Africa operates in the same time zone as Europe, and suddenly it makes sense to send the work South instead of East.
Wasn't Turner the guy who tried to give billion dollars to the UN? Then pretty much gave the finger to guys like Bill Gates, telling them that they should use their money for something usefull.
Wonder if the Gates foundation would exist today if it wasn't for Turner...
Slashdot Mirror
Considering who their governer is, would you really expect any other attitude?
I have to disagree. A war on crappy music sounds really good to me. Hell, there are few things that would make me happier than seeing Britney Spears through the sights of an M-16.
You know, I think we are seeing the results of the good old American "can do" attitude. It took Sadam decades of ruthless oppression to kill 600K people, but the US has already killed of 100K in less than two years. At present rate they should be able to surpass Saddam before the end of the decade.
The wonders of American productibity never ceases to amaze me. Bush should be proud of what he has accomplished.
I heard he wasn't interested. Aparently he was worried about getting typecast.
What did you expect? I mean, it is a government project!
I for one welcome our new Department of Homeland Security overlords.
I'd throw in a "In Soviet Union" joke as well, but I have to go and dig a hole in my garden to hide in when the guys in jackboots come for me...
... but do you have to keep on telling us about it?
On the other hand there are people like me, with a full suite of MS software on my PC at work that never gets used. I use OO and Firefox exclusively.
And I'm one of many in our dev team. The IT purchasing people makes sure you get a copy of MS office, but the majority of people are ignoring it and using software of their choice. Not that MS is the only people with skewed numbers. I think we have 3 JBuilder licences for every developer that actually uses it (Go Eclipse!).
Strange... I find myself spending more and more time in Slashdot's political section. It actually has lot of frontpage worthy stories.
A lot of this campaign has been directly influenced by technology. Think about Deans' internet campaigning, bloggers expounding about fonts and of course our good buddies at Diebold. So there is actually a good reason to have a political section. Technology and politics goes hand in hand, and has done so for a long time. Remember all the BS about cryptography a few years ago? How about the overtly political Appollo moon missions? Politics and tech intertwined...
And even if that was not the case, this stuff still matters. Hell, most techies seem to bitching about offshoring these days. Here's a clue: the guy in the Whitehouse has a direct effect on these things. It might be your job on the line if the wrong guy is elected.
Or if you really don't care, then just don't read the fucking story!!!
Fuck, can't figure out if that was a very insightfull comment or if you have been reading too much William Gibson...
Unfortunately I suspect you might be right. I have considered medical tourism a couple of times, and actually know a couple who fly from Seattle to South Africa for any serious medical/dental work. Even with the cost of the flights, they still save money, have excellent medical care and get to have a vacation at the same time.
I guess this should also serve as a wakeup call for all the guys in the medical profession. It isn't just IT jobs that can be outsourced...
Microsoft have considered buying SAP have they? Don't make us all laugh now. SAP is as big, if not bigger, than Microsoft.
Dude, what have you been smoking? SAP has a market cap of about $46 billion and anual revenue of about $9 billion a year. Microsoft has a market cap of nearly $300 billion and revenues of around $37 billion a year. So I'm not really sure how you can claim SAP is as big as MS.
For comparison, Oracle has a market cap of $51 billion vs. Peoplesoft's market cap of $7 billion. Looking at it that way, the ratio in sizes between MS/SAP compared to Oracle/Peoplesoft is about the same.
Draw your own conclusions...
Yeah. Definately leeds to anger and iratibility. And I'm not talking about the idiot on the phone.
I look at this as science for science's sake, and in my mind that is dangerous. Sometimes what you learn is not worth what you've destroyed.
Hmm... I'm bretty sure that somewhere in pre-history that same argument was used on some guy experimenting with that newfangled fire thing....
You know, I really wish the paranoia about using credit cards on the internet will go away.
Think about this as somebody with some technical background. What is more secure?
1. Giving your credit card to the waiter at Mafia Pizza, who takes it into a back room before he brings it back to you.
2. Providing your credit card number to Amazon.
So here is a better idea. Get one credit card and use it for everything. Watch your statement carefully. Complain loudly if you see any charges you didn't make.
I'd still avoid buying anything from Mr. Mbuthu at Nigeria Exports, but other than that why allow paranoia to keep you from the convenience of the internet? Remember, you are NOT liable for any fraud losses on a credit card other than the first $50. The bank takes risk in return for the fees the merchant pays and because they want you to run up a huge debt and pay them loads of interest.
Could be cost. 10K and 100K are nice round numbers.
I've realized that most strange tech descisions can usually be traced to some guy in sales...
No, no. You didn't RTFA. It's about Java, not C++. :)
Yeah. Java really sucks and is uncool. No open source programmer would ever use it.
Hell, could you ever imagine an orginization like Apache producing Java code. If that ever happens I'm giving up and moving to Jakarta.
not a lot of production software is written in Java
So all those guys getting hired as Java programmers are doing what? Sitting around playing with themselves while the C programmer chained in the basement writes all the production code?
Somehow I don't think so...
Guess you are another conceited idiot living in the first world who is happy to play environmentalist as long as it doesn't affect your life.
Hey, here is a question. Your kid dead of malaria or spraying DDT?
Now be honest...
Dude, you might be trying to be sarcastic, but not really succeeding. Malaria kills over a million people a year (only recently has AIDS surpassed it).
DDT does get used in Africa, but only after people had to pretty much beg for exceptions to the ban on using it. If they had been able to use it earlier millions of lives could have been saved. But the tree huggers don't care about that, do they?
You know I considered your post pretty insightfull until I got to:
Your comment about warming indicates your age, your lack of historical knowledge, and lack of general education on the environment. Warming has been a public concern since the 50s when the first effects were felt, and when people started realizing the huge effects humans and their chemicals can have on the environment through books like Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, which concerns the pesticide DDT.
Rachel Carson and that damn book will probably go down in history as one of the most misguided attempts at evironmentalism ever. Personally I think Carson should be put against a wall and shot for crimes against humanity.
If you don't agree then do some research on malaria, and you'll see what I mean. Stop being a knee jerk environmentalist and google malaria and DDT before defending that fucking idiot.
I did not read anything by that Lomborg fellow
Maybe you should. He doesn't say global warming isn't happening, he just says that adapting to it is probably cheaper and more efficient than stopping it.
8 channels of television
Even better, you can usually find something worth watching on those 8 channels. Since I moved to the US I have 20 times as many channels, and the best thing on is still British comedy reruns on public access TV.
Mmmhh.... lets see consider this from the point of view of a country like South Africa:
1.Abundant and still latent talented English speaking IT workforce Getting there
2.Upcoming Quality of workforce Got that
3.Democracy and approachable govt policies. Got that too
4.Already Established. Check
5.Investment cost is low and not likely to grow higher and would propagate to different unexplored places. About the same situation as India
Now consider that Africa operates in the same time zone as Europe, and suddenly it makes sense to send the work South instead of East.
Wasn't Turner the guy who tried to give billion dollars to the UN? Then pretty much gave the finger to guys like Bill Gates, telling them that they should use their money for something usefull.
Wonder if the Gates foundation would exist today if it wasn't for Turner...