Indian entrepreneurs are considerably more conservative/cautious than their American counterparts.
Which does limit the chances for having a Dot Bomb, but it also can lead to limiting innovation and invention. A true entrepreneur is not conservative. They are, almost by definition, a risk-taker. And, I would not necessarily classify an entrepreneur as the same as being a developer or customer support specialist. The latter two are job skills. The former is a state of mind.
Let me state that, for the record, I am not opposed to sending development work to India. If it is more cost-effective for a company to do this, then go for it.
Oh, please. For every Enron and Worldcom, there are thousands upon thousands of companies that are legitimate. The primary interest of these legitimate companies is in making money the right and honest way.
Oh, hell, I'm beginning to sound more and more like a stinking Republican Capitalist. The end is near.
It will be interesting to see how long it can sustain its growth to prevent the same kind of retraction that hit Silicon Valley.
There are 250 Million people living in the US. There are a limited number of IT people. Hence, higher wages and the extensive use of H1B Visas.
There are over 1 Billion people living in India. And, according to my Indian-born Co-workers, they have more college educated IT workers than any other Country in the world. Hence, the supply of skilled workers is much higher. Although the salaries will increase, I don't think they will explode to our level any time soon.
In other words, if you are waiting for an Indian version of the Dot-Bomb, don't hold your breath.
Can someone please explain what about my comment made it "Flamebait"? All I said is that I liked both Chicago and Gangs of New York. I just happened to like GONY better.
I wonder if the Moderators ever read the comments they moderate.
I kinda thought he filmed 1,2 & 3 together so that if 1 flopped, at least 2 & 3 where filmed so that at least SOMEDAY the trilogy would be complete.
Actually, the decision to do all three together probably lies more with New Line. It was cheaper to film all three movies at once in NZ (all of the actors, equipment, sets, etc. would all be in one place, making it less expensive. That plus the fact NZ labor is much cheaper than Hollywood union labor). Even with these savings, it cost well over $300 to make all three. If the first had flopped, then New Line wouldn't have invested too much more in re-filming scenes from 2 & 3. And, with a little luck, they might have actually broken even, after releasing 2, 3 and the various DVD's.
As it turns out, they will probably end up with a profit of about $2.5 billion, on all three. Then again, Hollywood accountants find ways to hide all the profits.
I don't know why I'm replying to this, but haven't you ever seen The Godfather, American Beauty, or Schindler's List? They all won Best Picture Oscars for the year's in which they were nominated. And, all of them are generally considerted "good" films.
Yes, once in a while, a POS like Titanic does win, but that is more of an abberation.
You forgot to add, "Guy scores a virtual Fifa Goal, has his vitual player pick up his virutal cell phone and calls his virtual family. Is fined by the Korean Virtual Video Game league for 'unsportsmanlike conduct'."
If you don't get the cell phone references, visit ESPN.
If my memory serves me correctly (and it has been a few years since I've been there), the Zeigfeld is on 54th Street (right?). Wouldn't that be next to the Hilton in Midtown? I've stayed at that hotel. Nice place.
Actually, my list was a play on an old episode of the classic television series Cheers. In the episode, most of the characters were sitting around the bar, talking about this great movie that all of them had seen. All of them had seen it, that is, except Frasier.
When Frasier can't stop Woody or Cliff from talking about the end of the movie, he gets so pissed off, he blurts out (and this is a paraphrase, since I don't remember the exact quote):
The Murder on the Orient Express was committed by EVERYONE!
Rosebud is Citizen Kane's sled
And Darth Vader is Luke Skywalkers Father!
Norm then gives the best line of the scene. Seomthing like "Tell us something we don't know, Frasier." You had to be there.
I would have posted the entire quote in it's original form, but the Darth/Luke line is kind of silly in a Post about Star Wars.
I was lined up in front of the Zeigfield in NYC for 3 weeks
Please tell me that, in the years since, you have somehow managed to get a life.
Just kidding. I've always wondered how anyone, even students (I'm assuming you were a student at the time), could put their lives on hold for that long. And not just because of a movie premier. I don't think I could find anything worthy of three weeks of my time.
The problem centers around our upper management *ordering* us to do insecure things, like place an unprotected windows server directly on a routeable internet segment outside of the firewall
This thype of activity, and other similar activity is, unfortunately, not limited to Goverment agencies. Managers everywhere simply don't grasp the need for security. My present client, which is in NOT in the government, acutally had a Production Environment web server residing, fully exposed, on the DMZ. The project manager wanted it that way. At least, he did so until we started asking why they didn't move it fully behind the firewall.
In short, inside every manager is a pointy-haired boss. It's not just limited to government.
One more thing, mlyle, then I'm done with this thread. I didn't think of this until this morning. When you have three or four phone lines and your neighbor has one or two, it is a pretty safe assumption that you have a higher income than your neighbor (not always true, but there is a pretty high correlation).
If you follow that logic, a tax on individual phone lines is a form of a progressive tax. OK, that's it. I'm moving on (I probably should have given up last night before I replied to your O.P.)
Sorry for the flame. It sounded good. Then I hit "submit". Regretted it as soon as I hit submit.
Of course, it's very easy for you, with your lower usage of telecom services, to say that the tax is fair.
Actually, I have three phones myself. Cells for myself and my wife, plus a land line. We don't use the land line. It is only because Directv and the security system both demand land lines. I don't even have it hooked up to Directv and we never answer the land line. I still believe a $1 a month isn't that big of a deal. And, yes, some money may be diverted by your local or state government. If you don't like it, vote against the politicians that implemented the policy.
Why, oh why, would one person need four fucking personal phone lines? My first response is, "You think very highly of yourself, don't you?" What kind of social life do you have that requires you to have four phone lines?
Seriously, if you are referring to four lines for your entire family (spouse, two kids). Then, your argument is pointless. You have four members of your family using phones. Otherwise, if you are using your four phone lines for a home business, then I'd recommend checking the zoning laws in your neighborhood. Are you allowed to run a business from your house?
If you are running a business (whether from your house or from an office) with your four phone lines, then your argument is pointless there, as well. By running a business, you are probably having deliveries made or having people run errands on your behalf. You are then either encouraging or forcing other people to do things for you. You are liable for their actions. You should help pay for their potential 911 coverage.
OK, I give up. People, it's a fucking "public good". If you don't know what that means, check you college economics textbooks. If you want your 911 service to be paid by property taxes and not on your monthly phone bill, then vote for a new town Council/Mayor. Otherwise, you'll have to live with it.
If we follow your argument to an extreme, the only people that should pay for police are the folks that actually USE the police.
The fact is, by having the fee on the phone bill the cost of collecting the money is low and, it is easy to earmark just for the 911 Fund (or whatever the town calls it). You also now have a steady stream of revenue that is easily predictable--the revenue stream stays the same no matter what the economy does. If you put it on an income tax, an economic downturn would destroy 911's budget (for an example, look at the what happened to the State of California Budget--too much income tax, not enough steady revenue from property taxes). In this country, most municipalities don't use income tax anyway--although us Pennsylvanians do pay municipal income tax.
The disadvantage of a head tax and a phone fee is that both are regressive. (A head tax on imdividuals is more regressive, since many families only have one phone and hence only pay one fee per multiple people). However, it is, politically, ahelluvalot easier to "sell" a user fee than it is to "sell" a new head tax. And, yes, in this case, since everyone has a phone, a 911 fee, is in essence, a form of a head tax.
There is a way to bill the correct people. But based on the cost of running a 911 center, it could cost hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars to make a single call. So, it comes down to your college economics class. 911 has been deemed a "Public Good" (just like public works, the fire department, the police department, and public schools--please, no jokes about public schools). Everyone pays for it.
OK, the bitch session that began with the orinial article has officially now gone too far.
How much do you think it costs a county and/or municipality to keep a 911 center staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week?
The staff has to be very highly trained (re: higher salaries) on how to keep folks calm over the phone. And you can't leave folks on hold. As soon as the phone rings, it has to be answered by this highly trained staff, so you have to keep more than one or two people available. Don't forget the computer equipment required to track the source of the call (if you have a fire in the Bronx, you don't want NYC 911 calling the Staten Island Fire Station). Oh, and they usually have to pay to maintain the building.
In other words, it's one fucking dollar. It saves lives.
just cook up an invoice for "services rendered: $11.52"
I have an easier way. Think of your utility company's monthly bill. Most of the time, they have a statement that says "Please do not staple your check to the return stub". Why do they say that? Their machines are designed to automatically process your paper check with no human intervention whatsoever. A check stapled to the stub screws up the processing. They have to stop the processing machine and fix the jammed pages. Costs the utility alot of money and time to unjam their check processor.
Hence if you are pissed at your utility company, credit card company, your cell phone company, or your mortgage company, etc., just stop using the internet to pay your bills. Start manually paying your bills and staple the check to each and every stub. It costs you more in terms of postage, but it feels so good!
Slashdot Mirror
Which does limit the chances for having a Dot Bomb, but it also can lead to limiting innovation and invention. A true entrepreneur is not conservative. They are, almost by definition, a risk-taker. And, I would not necessarily classify an entrepreneur as the same as being a developer or customer support specialist. The latter two are job skills. The former is a state of mind.
Let me state that, for the record, I am not opposed to sending development work to India. If it is more cost-effective for a company to do this, then go for it.
Oh, please. For every Enron and Worldcom, there are thousands upon thousands of companies that are legitimate. The primary interest of these legitimate companies is in making money the right and honest way.
Oh, hell, I'm beginning to sound more and more like a stinking Republican Capitalist. The end is near.
There are 250 Million people living in the US. There are a limited number of IT people. Hence, higher wages and the extensive use of H1B Visas.
There are over 1 Billion people living in India. And, according to my Indian-born Co-workers, they have more college educated IT workers than any other Country in the world. Hence, the supply of skilled workers is much higher. Although the salaries will increase, I don't think they will explode to our level any time soon.
In other words, if you are waiting for an Indian version of the Dot-Bomb, don't hold your breath.
err...make that $300 MILLION.
Flamebait?
Can someone please explain what about my comment made it "Flamebait"? All I said is that I liked both Chicago and Gangs of New York. I just happened to like GONY better.
I wonder if the Moderators ever read the comments they moderate.
Actually, the decision to do all three together probably lies more with New Line. It was cheaper to film all three movies at once in NZ (all of the actors, equipment, sets, etc. would all be in one place, making it less expensive. That plus the fact NZ labor is much cheaper than Hollywood union labor). Even with these savings, it cost well over $300 to make all three. If the first had flopped, then New Line wouldn't have invested too much more in re-filming scenes from 2 & 3. And, with a little luck, they might have actually broken even, after releasing 2, 3 and the various DVD's.
As it turns out, they will probably end up with a profit of about $2.5 billion, on all three. Then again, Hollywood accountants find ways to hide all the profits.
I admit it, I liked Chicago. But Gangs of NY was better and should have won, instead.
I don't know why I'm replying to this, but haven't you ever seen The Godfather, American Beauty, or Schindler's List? They all won Best Picture Oscars for the year's in which they were nominated. And, all of them are generally considerted "good" films.
Yes, once in a while, a POS like Titanic does win, but that is more of an abberation.
Man, I wish I could spell. Civilization.
Lucky Bastard. You at least lose to a teenager. I usually get my ass kicked by my eleven-year-old nephew.
You forgot to add, "Guy scores a virtual Fifa Goal, has his vitual player pick up his virutal cell phone and calls his virtual family. Is fined by the Korean Virtual Video Game league for 'unsportsmanlike conduct'."
If you don't get the cell phone references, visit ESPN.
Yet another example of the end of our civilation.
If my memory serves me correctly (and it has been a few years since I've been there), the Zeigfeld is on 54th Street (right?). Wouldn't that be next to the Hilton in Midtown? I've stayed at that hotel. Nice place.
Actually, my list was a play on an old episode of the classic television series Cheers. In the episode, most of the characters were sitting around the bar, talking about this great movie that all of them had seen. All of them had seen it, that is, except Frasier.
When Frasier can't stop Woody or Cliff from talking about the end of the movie, he gets so pissed off, he blurts out (and this is a paraphrase, since I don't remember the exact quote):
The Murder on the Orient Express was committed by EVERYONE!
Rosebud is Citizen Kane's sled
And Darth Vader is Luke Skywalkers Father!
Norm then gives the best line of the scene. Seomthing like "Tell us something we don't know, Frasier." You had to be there.
I would have posted the entire quote in it's original form, but the Darth/Luke line is kind of silly in a Post about Star Wars.
Please tell me that, in the years since, you have somehow managed to get a life.
Just kidding. I've always wondered how anyone, even students (I'm assuming you were a student at the time), could put their lives on hold for that long. And not just because of a movie premier. I don't think I could find anything worthy of three weeks of my time.
I agree! What's the point of even watching it, now? So, in response to ruining the movie for me, let me tell you a few things:
1) Rosebud is Citizen Kane's sled.
2) In Spaceballs, Mega-Maid goes from "suck" to "blow".
3) And, in Titanic, the ship sinks.
This thype of activity, and other similar activity is, unfortunately, not limited to Goverment agencies. Managers everywhere simply don't grasp the need for security. My present client, which is in NOT in the government, acutally had a Production Environment web server residing, fully exposed, on the DMZ. The project manager wanted it that way. At least, he did so until we started asking why they didn't move it fully behind the firewall.
In short, inside every manager is a pointy-haired boss. It's not just limited to government.
One more thing, mlyle, then I'm done with this thread. I didn't think of this until this morning. When you have three or four phone lines and your neighbor has one or two, it is a pretty safe assumption that you have a higher income than your neighbor (not always true, but there is a pretty high correlation).
If you follow that logic, a tax on individual phone lines is a form of a progressive tax. OK, that's it. I'm moving on (I probably should have given up last night before I replied to your O.P.)
Sorry for the flame. It sounded good. Then I hit "submit". Regretted it as soon as I hit submit.
Of course, it's very easy for you, with your lower usage of telecom services, to say that the tax is fair.Actually, I have three phones myself. Cells for myself and my wife, plus a land line. We don't use the land line. It is only because Directv and the security system both demand land lines. I don't even have it hooked up to Directv and we never answer the land line. I still believe a $1 a month isn't that big of a deal. And, yes, some money may be diverted by your local or state government. If you don't like it, vote against the politicians that implemented the policy.
Why, oh why, would one person need four fucking personal phone lines? My first response is, "You think very highly of yourself, don't you?" What kind of social life do you have that requires you to have four phone lines?
Seriously, if you are referring to four lines for your entire family (spouse, two kids). Then, your argument is pointless. You have four members of your family using phones. Otherwise, if you are using your four phone lines for a home business, then I'd recommend checking the zoning laws in your neighborhood. Are you allowed to run a business from your house?
If you are running a business (whether from your house or from an office) with your four phone lines, then your argument is pointless there, as well. By running a business, you are probably having deliveries made or having people run errands on your behalf. You are then either encouraging or forcing other people to do things for you. You are liable for their actions. You should help pay for their potential 911 coverage.
OK, I give up. People, it's a fucking "public good". If you don't know what that means, check you college economics textbooks. If you want your 911 service to be paid by property taxes and not on your monthly phone bill, then vote for a new town Council/Mayor. Otherwise, you'll have to live with it.
I always thought my mother would *never* figure out how to use a computer.
Now, she's surfing at least once a week.
A million here and a million there, pretty soon, you are talking some real money.
David,
If we follow your argument to an extreme, the only people that should pay for police are the folks that actually USE the police.
The fact is, by having the fee on the phone bill the cost of collecting the money is low and, it is easy to earmark just for the 911 Fund (or whatever the town calls it). You also now have a steady stream of revenue that is easily predictable--the revenue stream stays the same no matter what the economy does. If you put it on an income tax, an economic downturn would destroy 911's budget (for an example, look at the what happened to the State of California Budget--too much income tax, not enough steady revenue from property taxes). In this country, most municipalities don't use income tax anyway--although us Pennsylvanians do pay municipal income tax.
The disadvantage of a head tax and a phone fee is that both are regressive. (A head tax on imdividuals is more regressive, since many families only have one phone and hence only pay one fee per multiple people). However, it is, politically, ahelluvalot easier to "sell" a user fee than it is to "sell" a new head tax. And, yes, in this case, since everyone has a phone, a 911 fee, is in essence, a form of a head tax.
There is a way to bill the correct people. But based on the cost of running a 911 center, it could cost hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars to make a single call. So, it comes down to your college economics class. 911 has been deemed a "Public Good" (just like public works, the fire department, the police department, and public schools--please, no jokes about public schools). Everyone pays for it.
OK, the bitch session that began with the orinial article has officially now gone too far.
How much do you think it costs a county and/or municipality to keep a 911 center staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week?
The staff has to be very highly trained (re: higher salaries) on how to keep folks calm over the phone. And you can't leave folks on hold. As soon as the phone rings, it has to be answered by this highly trained staff, so you have to keep more than one or two people available. Don't forget the computer equipment required to track the source of the call (if you have a fire in the Bronx, you don't want NYC 911 calling the Staten Island Fire Station). Oh, and they usually have to pay to maintain the building.
In other words, it's one fucking dollar. It saves lives.
I have an easier way. Think of your utility company's monthly bill. Most of the time, they have a statement that says "Please do not staple your check to the return stub". Why do they say that? Their machines are designed to automatically process your paper check with no human intervention whatsoever. A check stapled to the stub screws up the processing. They have to stop the processing machine and fix the jammed pages. Costs the utility alot of money and time to unjam their check processor.
Hence if you are pissed at your utility company, credit card company, your cell phone company, or your mortgage company, etc., just stop using the internet to pay your bills. Start manually paying your bills and staple the check to each and every stub. It costs you more in terms of postage, but it feels so good!