I've been using these in Boulder and Baltimore for a while now. I hadn't thought about it but you're right about denser parking -- especially parallel. Because there's no fixed parking spaces, people can, and do (especially in Baltimore), park much much closer than what the lines would have allowed. I would expect that overall there's less maintenance cost on the machines. Fewer machines, granted more expensive and sophisticated, but way fewer.
When I read the article, the thing that struck me was that the scammers are so desperate, they trying voodoo majic to boost their believability. One guy has a live tortoise hanging around his neck to boost his mojo. Sounds like a market ripe for a new product idea:
Your sma11 unit sales got you down? Bulk up that member ship!
Girls find you more attractive with our herbal honesty reproduction enhancer. Get more faith-time from those gullible Americans with new ultra power Premier gold medal deluxe Truth Be Told powder. Distilled from the pulverized testicles of tobacco company lawyers, this is genuine disingenuity at it's most potent concentration. Guaranteed to have them eating out of the palm of your hand, you will be invincible in email encounters.
I claim this island in the name of Dow Chemical, and hereby proclaim that this place shall be named "Baekeland", in honor of Leo Baekeland, a chemistry researcher and the inventor of, among other things, Bakelite. The Gen'l Bakelite Corp. was sold to Union Carbide, which is currently a proud subsidiary of the mighty Dow Chemical.
These days, there isn't much chance of that happening. After all, it is a "workers market". There are so many jobs coming here from India and S.E. Asia, combined with a real shortage of available talent, managers aren't willing to risk annoying anyone.
...both high pressure sodium and low pressure sodium lamps(2 most common street lamps) have a more pleasant spectrum on the eyes
Which is what makes them totally unacceptable in this here application buckaroo, which is about cooking someones eyeballs in situ. "Pleasing spectrums" is fer them artsy-fartsy, gayboy wanna-bees. Kill-o-lumens is fer manly men. Gimme an "oo-rah".
The idea of 4.36 million cubic yards of concrete alone doesn't sound like much of a landmark. But when that cement is The National Toilet, people sit up and take notice. Forget the toilet seat-shaped tourist trap that now defaces the Grand Canyon. Come survey the "Real" National Toilet from one or both of its pristine vantage points. Photos can't convey the symbolism and substantial presence of this landmark, and the somber reminder to the momentous event that took place over 65 years ago. Sure, it's a tourist trap (3.5 million yearly) and the lines for the elevators will keep you waiting to get to the 86th floor observation deck. But there's no better view than from inside the south rim, where you can reflect on so much. One day a year, the "Bush Years Legacy" comes alive when a lucky individual chosen at random is invited to "pull the handle", initiating a flush of Godzillan proportions. No wide angle lens can come close to conveying the magnitude of this, our Numero Uno American landmark.
Agreed. I'm 55 and I've been writing software since 1972. I only have an AAS -- I don't think CS degrees even existed when I was in school. Life was good until Jan, but then I was RIFed (first time for me). Now I'm bobbing along in a sea of baccalaureal hammerheads. Ever see the movie "Open Water"? Feels like that. I'm also going to try to get some relevant education and a degree or certification, since I have access to govt Trade Adjustment Allowance (TAA) funding ($13k). That should cover.... um.... about 2 hours of first year art history at Carnegie-Mellon SEI. Yee-ha. And meanwhile the COBRA will be eating $1100/mo.
Some unrelated observations/opinions:
Older IT workers are generally better compensated, either because they've been loyal to the company, or they've amassed a substantial base of industry-relevant knowledge.
Expensive workers float to the head of the RIF list.
The cost of hiring a full-time worker is considerable. Virtues like flexibility, the willingness to learn and adapt, and the ability to "fit" into the culture and infrastructure of a company can be far more important than a canned education. These traits can be the hallmarks of older workers; at least I hope they are for me. Granted, I have worked with some crotchety, stubborn, command-line, two-finger-hunt-and-peck old coots.
Younger, agile brains can more easily think outside the box.
Older, more experienced brains know there's more than one box.
A previous post mentioned the "ten thousand hours" threshold to achieve competency on a subject (probably referring to the book "Outliers"). On how many chips, operating systems, languages, and applications can you claim that kind of proficiency? Multiply that by 6 the next time you see one of us old farts. I don't wish to be judgmental, pedantic or dismissive. To provide some balancing perspective, I'll acknowledge that 60% of my accumulated proficiency would only be demonstrable in a museum.
I know the lyrics of every "Beach Boys" song, but I'll be damned if I remember where I parked the truck.
Twitter? No thanks. You really don't want to get me started on my prostate....
Things being what they are, I suggest a modified set of goals. Rather than concentrating on "the ideal" computer science job, set your sites a bit lower -- like "anything that could have an electron".
Might I suggest:
Writing malware for the Russian mafia.
Working for US Customs & Border Patrol as a data-napper.
Developing a super-ultra-long numeric math package to assist in calculating how much it'll take to bail out US businesses.
Work to protect US cyber-resources from Chinese attacks by developing anti-P2P and anti-filesharing tools.
Grinding up & recycling old PCs to make new PCs.
Grinding up & recycling old mortgage brokers to make weasel food. (or would that be considered weasel-abuse?)
My current gambit is something like 'IT is seen as a young man's game. My next applicant after you is 23 years old. What do you know that he doesn't?' This gets responses ranging from the vague to the truly enlightened.
I hope this doesn't come across the wrong way, but I have no idea what your next candidate may know, and it's a waste of time for me to guess. I would agree that the "Technology" constituent of "IT" may be the purview of younger players, but I have the "information" part, in the form of unique experiences, they can't possess. I would also propose the idea that "IT" is more than just the sum of it's named components, like a souffle is more than just eggs and cream, and it takes an experienced mind to guide the creation process. To make it interesting, there are frequently people involved, which can mean opinions, egos, fears, attitudes, and other hidden dangers - a plethora of foibles of the flesh. How many of your candidates have 30+ years of dealing with the human factor?
So let me reiterate that I don't want to throw darts at a hidden target. My apologies if that isn't what you were looking for. On the other hand, if you give me a situation or problem, and some parameters for a solution, I can probably offer you a resolution or two, with recommendations on the trade-offs. Perhaps even describe similar circumstances I've experienced. With your knowledge of the sandbox, and my experience with the sand, I'll bet we can come up with an answer that will make you look good, the group look competent, and help the company.
Is anyone else as disturbed as I am about the lack of personal responsibility, accountability, and "hard" consequences? It's very frustrating to work hard to be a "model citizen" (not that I meet 100% of the unwritten requirements of that club) and be stuck in the same sandbox as sociopaths who couldn't give a rat's sass about politeness and responsibility. It also ticks me off when people whip out their faux-compassion and blame society for delinquent or violent behavior -- "the system failed this person". Bull. Some people are derelicts. Some just think they are individually exempt from the ramifications of their behavior. I guess the big question is: what can be done? Lock 'em up? Prisons are already overcrowded. Punish 'em? Make an example of 'em? Why bother. "Civilized society" is too feeble to deliver anything more than a stern admonition or slap on the wrist. Educate 'em? Sheesh. Not only do we get personally or financially screwed by their deviant behavior, now we get to pay more to provide 'em with 3 hots, a cot, and a therapist.
IMHO, we're seeing this in the results of the recent mortgage collapse, brought on (in part) by lax accountability and a lack of consequences.
I don't know who said it, but it rings true in my ears right now: An armed society is a polite society.
We should all be driving Hummers at 90 mph. Burn all the oil up faster, then the US gov't can pull it's collective head out of it's backside and adopt a sensible middle-east policy.
How 'bout if everyone else on the planet (ha! as if...) would demand, en masse, the source code of all Chinese products, including virtual (i.e. network-delivered or resident) products. I'm not talking about items built in China by non-PRC entities, but Sino-designed and constructed products. No source, no import license.
Of course, the practicality of this is non-existent - Americans (especially, but not exclusively) are addicted to cheap 5h1t, and the only source for that right now is Zhngguó.
My project will involve searching for alternative nomenclature for these categories, and generating a taxonomic vocabulary that may be searched and combined using genetic algorithms to synergistically coalesce a hyperbolic trans-categorical acronym. This as-yet-undiscovered acronym will be marketed via extensive cross-licensing and open-source profit redirection to instill a public sense of faith in the project, and a private sense of wealth in the originator.
There's a lot of good stuff above this. Here's my 2 cents worth, and this is all IMHO-heavy.
Read unto me Knuth of Donald. Know ye that tome deep in thine soul, most especially the volume third - "sorting and searching", and the majic that therein lies.
There is no perfect solution, or perfect language, or algorithm, or environment, or processor.
Be prepared (eager, actually) to learn a new language every 2 or 3 years, and a new paradigm ever 6 years or so.
Scripting languages are not just for losers anymore.
You'll never really finish a program - you'll just run out of time or motivation to work on it and have to let someone else butcher... errr..."complete" it.
Programming is a right-brain activity. Good programmers are artists, but the world still needs cold, mechanical, methodical, plodding, software engineers to remind us we don't really need the "brew quad espresso" command line option. If you span the hemispheres, you'll do even better.
The number of eyeballs on a problem increases the speed, precision, and beauty of a solution exponentially.
You can never have too many CPUs, too much RAM, or too fast a disc drive.
If you want to get really good, you'll need to eliminate any semblance of a social or personal life for the next ten years. Be prepared to hang out with alcoholics, coke fiends, and adrenalin junkies, and develop a nasty habit yourself. You might want to start saving for that therapy you'll want down the road.
The editor religious wars are over. Just use Slickedit (There. That'll bring out the trolls).
Any shop without a world-class version control system is asking for trouble. I don't mean RCS, CVS, PVCS or that ilk. Subversion at a minimum. Perforce if you've got the money. (Ack! More trolls!)
Slashdot Mirror
Rather than letting the bloody CANADIANS take 'em over.
I've been using these in Boulder and Baltimore for a while now. I hadn't thought about it but you're right about denser parking -- especially parallel. Because there's no fixed parking spaces, people can, and do (especially in Baltimore), park much much closer than what the lines would have allowed. I would expect that overall there's less maintenance cost on the machines. Fewer machines, granted more expensive and sophisticated, but way fewer.
And altruism?? In "Charm City". Gimme a break.
When I read the article, the thing that struck me was that the scammers are so desperate, they trying voodoo majic to boost their believability. One guy has a live tortoise hanging around his neck to boost his mojo. Sounds like a market ripe for a new product idea:
Your sma11 unit sales got you down? Bulk up that member ship!
Girls find you more attractive with our herbal honesty reproduction enhancer. Get more faith-time from those gullible Americans with new ultra power Premier gold medal deluxe Truth Be Told powder. Distilled from the pulverized testicles of tobacco company lawyers, this is genuine disingenuity at it's most potent concentration. Guaranteed to have them eating out of the palm of your hand, you will be invincible in email encounters.
http://gxzyxkqkdjh.cn/
I claim this island in the name of Dow Chemical, and hereby proclaim that this place shall be named "Baekeland", in honor of Leo Baekeland, a chemistry researcher and the inventor of, among other things, Bakelite. The Gen'l Bakelite Corp. was sold to Union Carbide, which is currently a proud subsidiary of the mighty Dow Chemical.
one of my favorite quotes - Roy Scheider from Jaws.
These days, there isn't much chance of that happening. After all, it is a "workers market". There are so many jobs coming here from India and S.E. Asia, combined with a real shortage of available talent, managers aren't willing to risk annoying anyone.
The website for the Foxit program, mentioned by several posters as an alternative to Reader, has, right on the home page, Flash! the best thing ever!
...both high pressure sodium and low pressure sodium lamps(2 most common street lamps) have a more pleasant spectrum on the eyes
Which is what makes them totally unacceptable in this here application buckaroo, which is about cooking someones eyeballs in situ. "Pleasing spectrums" is fer them artsy-fartsy, gayboy wanna-bees. Kill-o-lumens is fer manly men. Gimme an "oo-rah".
The idea of 4.36 million cubic yards of concrete alone doesn't sound like much of a landmark. But when that cement is The National Toilet, people sit up and take notice. Forget the toilet seat-shaped tourist trap that now defaces the Grand Canyon. Come survey the "Real" National Toilet from one or both of its pristine vantage points. Photos can't convey the symbolism and substantial presence of this landmark, and the somber reminder to the momentous event that took place over 65 years ago. Sure, it's a tourist trap (3.5 million yearly) and the lines for the elevators will keep you waiting to get to the 86th floor observation deck. But there's no better view than from inside the south rim, where you can reflect on so much. One day a year, the "Bush Years Legacy" comes alive when a lucky individual chosen at random is invited to "pull the handle", initiating a flush of Godzillan proportions. No wide angle lens can come close to conveying the magnitude of this, our Numero Uno American landmark.
(random snips from the top ten natl monuments plus some judicious editing)
...throw in some business management courses
Agreed. I'm 55 and I've been writing software since 1972. I only have an AAS -- I don't think CS degrees even existed when I was in school. Life was good until Jan, but then I was RIFed (first time for me). Now I'm bobbing along in a sea of baccalaureal hammerheads. Ever see the movie "Open Water"? Feels like that. I'm also going to try to get some relevant education and a degree or certification, since I have access to govt Trade Adjustment Allowance (TAA) funding ($13k). That should cover .... um .... about 2 hours of first year art history at Carnegie-Mellon SEI. Yee-ha. And meanwhile the COBRA will be eating $1100/mo.
Some unrelated observations/opinions:
I'll bet this is how the aliens see it.
The best transport for any recent president from Texas would be the delightful Bell/Boeing V22 Osprey.
include scraped content
Similar story covered by Slashdot in 2004 (Georgia Tech)
The One, The Only "Nmap Network Scanning: The Official Nmap Project Guide to Network Discovery and Security Scanning".
I think Dodge should release a version of the old PowerWagon and call it "Multiple Kill Vehicle". Wonga-Wonga.
I hope this doesn't come across the wrong way, but I have no idea what your next candidate may know, and it's a waste of time for me to guess. I would agree that the "Technology" constituent of "IT" may be the purview of younger players, but I have the "information" part, in the form of unique experiences, they can't possess. I would also propose the idea that "IT" is more than just the sum of it's named components, like a souffle is more than just eggs and cream, and it takes an experienced mind to guide the creation process. To make it interesting, there are frequently people involved, which can mean opinions, egos, fears, attitudes, and other hidden dangers - a plethora of foibles of the flesh. How many of your candidates have 30+ years of dealing with the human factor?
So let me reiterate that I don't want to throw darts at a hidden target. My apologies if that isn't what you were looking for. On the other hand, if you give me a situation or problem, and some parameters for a solution, I can probably offer you a resolution or two, with recommendations on the trade-offs. Perhaps even describe similar circumstances I've experienced. With your knowledge of the sandbox, and my experience with the sand, I'll bet we can come up with an answer that will make you look good, the group look competent, and help the company.
Just like it was for the real estate, mortgage, and banking industry! Less pesky, intrusive government oversight. I expect big things.
IMHO, we're seeing this in the results of the recent mortgage collapse, brought on (in part) by lax accountability and a lack of consequences.
I don't know who said it, but it rings true in my ears right now: An armed society is a polite society.
We should all be driving Hummers at 90 mph. Burn all the oil up faster, then the US gov't can pull it's collective head out of it's backside and adopt a sensible middle-east policy.
How 'bout if everyone else on the planet (ha! as if...) would demand, en masse, the source code of all Chinese products, including virtual (i.e. network-delivered or resident) products. I'm not talking about items built in China by non-PRC entities, but Sino-designed and constructed products. No source, no import license.
Of course, the practicality of this is non-existent - Americans (especially, but not exclusively) are addicted to cheap 5h1t, and the only source for that right now is Zhngguó.
Just had to link to Dilbert, which seems to be paralleling this story ....
My project will involve searching for alternative nomenclature for these categories, and generating a taxonomic vocabulary that may be searched and combined using genetic algorithms to synergistically coalesce a hyperbolic trans-categorical acronym. This as-yet-undiscovered acronym will be marketed via extensive cross-licensing and open-source profit redirection to instill a public sense of faith in the project, and a private sense of wealth in the originator.