Let's face it - it's never fair to generalize about either end users or tech support people.
Just like the population at large, there are those who have the knowledge and smarts and those who don't on both sides of the phone.
I would find in favor of the end user, since in fairness, they're being sold a product that should be pulled out of the box, and work as advertised. It's their job to learn how to use the hardware and apps competently, and that's it. Remember, their life extends way beyond their computing setup at home. An end user, in a sense, is a generalist.
It's the organizations job who sold the hardware and/or software to recognize, catalog and rectify the problems the end users face. This is, in a sense, a specialty which they should be good at and always getting better at.
Good troubleshooting is a combination of cognitive reasoning and knowledge of the problems and solutions. Finding people that combine both traits and using them effectively is the companies' concern.
The shuttle is far too expensive, complex and yes, dangerous.
The "change" NASA needs to make would be to scrap the shuttle, and investigate a cheaper, safer and more reliable "people mover" for getting humans spaceborne, and a different,
perhaps expendable vehicle for the automated lofting of space station components, satellites and deep space probes.
A mission featuring one of each would diminish the chance of a single point of failure destroying both at once, as happens when a shuttle goes.
We also have a golden opportunity to work with the Chinese on their burgeoning space program. Why not make them into partners instead of competitors?
Get out and drive into the desert.
I was astonished by the Mojave at night - and not especially far from Las Vegas or LA.
You can truly see how the Mikly Way got its name.
As an additional treat, it's dead silent - quieter than an empty office since there's no HVAC whooshing, computer fans humming, etc.
Get out of your car, turn off your lights and walk around in the pitch black desert (sliver moon or no moon) - you'll feel an odd sensation - you're aware of the vastness of the desert, but hemmed in by the darkness - claustrophobia and agoraphobia at the same time!
The engineering experience gained from this endeavor will only help humans create better autonomous craft for Earthbound and space-based uses.
Glad they're doing this, and I wish them luck, although if they see any German guys with ladders in their backyard, get the ol' shotgun ready.
There is such a dearth of cool t-shirts out there.
Poor designs, bad graphics, or too wordy.
I like the winners quite a bit.
My favorite T-shirt is one that disappeared mysteriously from my home. It also can't be purchased anymore.
I got it from the Planetary Society, and the theme was the BETA (Billion Channel Extraterrestrial Array). Nice black with cool green orbital-looking graphics.
I find that an amazing number of problems can be solved with the knowledge in my head, a win98 boot diskette and a Leatherman Micra.
Especially that Micra, since it's small, elegant and has many many tools.
One item I think everyone should have is an 8.4 gig hdd, in case they have to work on a machine that only recognizes drives in that capacity.
It's also enough to reinstall an OS and many apps on a machine that can accept larger drives.
Although I agree that sometimes robots can do a human's work in space pretty well or better than a human, we have to think in terms of a long term horizon.
We need to continue taking steps toward outer space now. Learning how to build space habitats and living in them for longer and longer periods of time.
Whether it's a depletion of Earth's room and resources, or an immovable asteroid with our name on it, we need to spread humanity around the solar system to ensure the survival of the species.
A lot of the programmers and project managers put in place by IBM and Sears were old school mainframe guys (and gals) and they did some groundbreaking work, including adapting a TPF system (Transaction Processing Facility for airline reservations) for delivering content and email messages. They built a huge place in
northern Westchester county to handle an anticipated ten million members.
I have to give the rank and file people at Prodigy a lot of credit for going beyond mainframes and adapting to Unix, AIX, TCP/IP, etc. and making it work pretty well.
A series of incompetent managements sank the good ship Prodigy. The people rowing the oars always did their best.
I'm really tired of hearing normative statements like that.
If someone has earned that money and/or time to pursue a hobby, no matter how unconventional, it is their absolute right to do so.
Before we humans started generating agricultural surpluses above what we could hunt and gather, one person's idle pursuits could impact the ability of a whole community to feed itself.
We don't have that situation now, and shouldn't feel the need to criticize anyone's idleness, if they have earned the right to it.
Personally, I feel that Congresspeople serve everyone. Every time they vote, it's on an issue that affects every citizen of the US, so why shouldn't they listen to people outside of their state or district?
Keep in mind that the form requests that Minnesotans identify themselves I suppose to let his staff triage and prioritize his email.
However, that's better than a lot of congresspeople's sites, which tend to make a person feel that they don't want to hear
from anyone outside of their state or district.
Schiaperelli is also accidentally responsible for a lot of postulating about the existence of intelligent life on Mars.
He observed dark "channels" possibly caused by natural water flow.
In Italian, they are called, "Canali" and were mistranslated into English as "canals" which would tilt most folks' thinking in the direction of intelligence on Mars.
Redwoodtree:
Thanks for the note of understanding and encouragement.
I'll also add that in a lot of cases, my more affluent clients will simply give me working hardware they don't need anymore (ie - recently got a 19" monitor and a Brother HL-1440 laser printer) - if the stuff's good enough I'll use it, and therefore save on a purchase - or I'll turn around or sell it to a less well-off client that's willing to buy used hardware.
What also helps is living in a area with a fairly aged population - I notice older folks need more help with computers, are less quick to upgrade, and are very loyal to people who give them good service.
Slashdot Mirror
Let's face it - it's never fair to generalize about either end users or tech support people. Just like the population at large, there are those who have the knowledge and smarts and those who don't on both sides of the phone. I would find in favor of the end user, since in fairness, they're being sold a product that should be pulled out of the box, and work as advertised. It's their job to learn how to use the hardware and apps competently, and that's it. Remember, their life extends way beyond their computing setup at home. An end user, in a sense, is a generalist. It's the organizations job who sold the hardware and/or software to recognize, catalog and rectify the problems the end users face. This is, in a sense, a specialty which they should be good at and always getting better at. Good troubleshooting is a combination of cognitive reasoning and knowledge of the problems and solutions. Finding people that combine both traits and using them effectively is the companies' concern.
The shuttle is far too expensive, complex and yes, dangerous. The "change" NASA needs to make would be to scrap the shuttle, and investigate a cheaper, safer and more reliable "people mover" for getting humans spaceborne, and a different, perhaps expendable vehicle for the automated lofting of space station components, satellites and deep space probes. A mission featuring one of each would diminish the chance of a single point of failure destroying both at once, as happens when a shuttle goes. We also have a golden opportunity to work with the Chinese on their burgeoning space program. Why not make them into partners instead of competitors?
Get out and drive into the desert. I was astonished by the Mojave at night - and not especially far from Las Vegas or LA. You can truly see how the Mikly Way got its name. As an additional treat, it's dead silent - quieter than an empty office since there's no HVAC whooshing, computer fans humming, etc. Get out of your car, turn off your lights and walk around in the pitch black desert (sliver moon or no moon) - you'll feel an odd sensation - you're aware of the vastness of the desert, but hemmed in by the darkness - claustrophobia and agoraphobia at the same time!
And if so, could it be construed as a conflict of interest? Perhaps they could have settled out of court with the "buy it now" option?
The engineering experience gained from this endeavor will only help humans create better autonomous craft for Earthbound and space-based uses. Glad they're doing this, and I wish them luck, although if they see any German guys with ladders in their backyard, get the ol' shotgun ready.
For external as well as internal devices, why not a thermocouple instead of something as potentially invasive and draining as a blood-borne device?
There is such a dearth of cool t-shirts out there. Poor designs, bad graphics, or too wordy. I like the winners quite a bit. My favorite T-shirt is one that disappeared mysteriously from my home. It also can't be purchased anymore. I got it from the Planetary Society, and the theme was the BETA (Billion Channel Extraterrestrial Array). Nice black with cool green orbital-looking graphics.
I find that an amazing number of problems can be solved with the knowledge in my head, a win98 boot diskette and a Leatherman Micra.
Especially that Micra, since it's small, elegant and has many many tools.
One item I think everyone should have is an 8.4 gig hdd, in case they have to work on a machine that only recognizes drives in that capacity.
It's also enough to reinstall an OS and many apps on a machine that can accept larger drives.
Although I agree that sometimes robots can do a human's work in space pretty well or better than a human, we have to think in terms of a long term horizon. We need to continue taking steps toward outer space now. Learning how to build space habitats and living in them for longer and longer periods of time. Whether it's a depletion of Earth's room and resources, or an immovable asteroid with our name on it, we need to spread humanity around the solar system to ensure the survival of the species.
Set up a Vax system in his house as a prank, as I recall.
A lot of the programmers and project managers put in place by IBM and Sears were old school mainframe guys (and gals) and they did some groundbreaking work, including adapting a TPF system (Transaction Processing Facility for airline reservations) for delivering content and email messages. They built a huge place in northern Westchester county to handle an anticipated ten million members. I have to give the rank and file people at Prodigy a lot of credit for going beyond mainframes and adapting to Unix, AIX, TCP/IP, etc. and making it work pretty well. A series of incompetent managements sank the good ship Prodigy. The people rowing the oars always did their best.
It's a question of distribution, not adequate production.
The MAN with a PLAN to give us a PAN? Will some slashdot-reading genius/wacko set up some ZigBee repeaters across the country and create his own WAN?
I'm really tired of hearing normative statements like that. If someone has earned that money and/or time to pursue a hobby, no matter how unconventional, it is their absolute right to do so. Before we humans started generating agricultural surpluses above what we could hunt and gather, one person's idle pursuits could impact the ability of a whole community to feed itself. We don't have that situation now, and shouldn't feel the need to criticize anyone's idleness, if they have earned the right to it.
Personally, I feel that Congresspeople serve everyone. Every time they vote, it's on an issue that affects every citizen of the US, so why shouldn't they listen to people outside of their state or district?
Keep in mind that the form requests that Minnesotans identify themselves I suppose to let his staff triage and prioritize his email. However, that's better than a lot of congresspeople's sites, which tend to make a person feel that they don't want to hear from anyone outside of their state or district.
Come disposable pictures.
I want to buy lots of cool stuff as cheaply as possible. Just slightly above your cost to make it and distribute it to me.
How about no filtering of any kind? And no records kept of anyone's surfing habits.
"Fully Operational?"
The Voynich Manuscript!
Schiaperelli is also accidentally responsible for a lot of postulating about the existence of intelligent life on Mars. He observed dark "channels" possibly caused by natural water flow. In Italian, they are called, "Canali" and were mistranslated into English as "canals" which would tilt most folks' thinking in the direction of intelligence on Mars.
And all of a sudden, they're a "filmmaker"
It took two to Tango!
Redwoodtree: Thanks for the note of understanding and encouragement. I'll also add that in a lot of cases, my more affluent clients will simply give me working hardware they don't need anymore (ie - recently got a 19" monitor and a Brother HL-1440 laser printer) - if the stuff's good enough I'll use it, and therefore save on a purchase - or I'll turn around or sell it to a less well-off client that's willing to buy used hardware. What also helps is living in a area with a fairly aged population - I notice older folks need more help with computers, are less quick to upgrade, and are very loyal to people who give them good service.