"Unfortunately, I've met very few effective project managers..."
You must be working in the wrong industry. Not that I haven't worked there myself. The biggest complaint I had while working at a software startup in Silicon Valley was the lack of project management. Sure, we had a "product manager" but, in the traditional sense, there was NO project management. Having been raised in the construction industry on various Bechtel projects, I have learned to differentiate between the "project manager" in tech versus that in established businesses, ie construction and large dollar items (airplanes, etc.).
Good PMs can complete projects on time (or early) and under budget the majority of the time, even given unexpected events. They plan for these things on methods that have been tried, refined, and proven over many years. I have learned a great deal about how to manage ANY project from established and honored managers in both construction and production environments.
Despite all the amazing technical and creative energy in the tech. environment, the project direction side is still lacking. Those who see this need, and incorporate it are those who truely succeed and survive.
In my hand, at this very moment, I have a Genuine Intel (tm) 386/486 keychain. On each side is an actual die with Intel printed above and the die label below. No marketing crap, just a cool keychain from history.
I still use it for my office keys! I do have to hide it from a few individuals who will stop at nothing to recount their participation in project-whatever to design the first what-ever component of the XT or AT or what-ever ancient box. Old tech items at an old-tech company can ruin a lunch break!
Given how absurd some of his information is and given how much NK like to exaggerate and fabricate when self promoting, could this SK guy be working with NK? Did he just blow his cover?
What better reason to make such a dumbfounded statement that over-glorifies NK. This guy was paid to do it. Or at least his information source was.
To this readership I pose a problem. This one may fall into the category of mundane for some, however, for others, it may prove to be quite the conundrum.
The Problem:
Write down many, strong passwords,
or,
Use the same strong password everywhere.
Given: that a 'strong password' represents a password created using the most secure, or unbreakable, methods currently available; that 'write down' requires a physical object with the passwords inscribed on them in a way that is decipherable to the owner without possibility of memory loss causing an inability to decipher; and that 'everywhere' denotes the group of systems requiring user identity authentication by means of a stored password check setup, where 'systems' are generally electronic in nature.
This question may be the final, and most crucial, step to creating a maximally secured electronic system. There will always be a need for the user of the system to prove its identity, while there will also always be a potential for the user to forget what it has to do to authenticate.
This problem does not consider any alternative solutions, nor does it consider biometric methods(1), however its author most certainly does.
(1) Biometrics should be considered insecure in any system where the user is not in the same physical location of the system and should also, therefore, be considered inadequate as applied to all system a particular user might access.
If this problem appears mundane at first read give it some time and mull over it until you find yourself posing a question about your own belief on the matter
I'm on the state list in NY. So are my parents. We both get a new kind of call. A lovely British-accented woman's voice, or jerky man's voice computer message is left, daily. "This is NOT a sales call. We have an urget matter to speak to you about..." blah blah, "Please call us at 1-800-...." 'SO THAT WE CAN MAKE A FREAKING SALES PITCH' is the part they don't add.
A federal level law has not even been passed yet and already the tele-crapers have a way around it. This method was started, I believe, by collection agencies but has been picked up by the marketeers. (I am yelling at one of them as I type this!)
SECS/GEM is uglier than the old AT commands for modems! here is a sample of SECS communication:
Host(H): Can I say something? Tool(T):Yes. H:Hello! T:I got it. T:It was 2 bytes. H:Correct. H:Can I say something? T:Yes. H:Are you online? T:Yes. H:I heard you. H:It was 4 bytes. T:Correct.
and so forth...
The block structure is just as bad. And, max speed is generally 19200 on any tool older than 2000. All GEM does is add a higher set of state/control commands that allows the host to online the tool, send a recipe, and start process. Not that any fabs really go that far with the host.
Check out the eSES, for a good view of a decent SECS/GEM/HSMS to data management driver.
"An internally developed master software system called SiView controls all manufacturing operations. An IBM spokesperson said the manufacturing execution system is being licensed to others for fab control."
Too bad SiView does a crappy job of allowing manufacturing data to be brought into the MES level of control. Yes, they track lots going to/fro process tools, and yes, they do recipe checks at load/run time on those lots, BUT the key ingredient is missing: integration of actual process data into the MES level of control.
What happens if a strip chamber fouls up and goes unnoticed? EVERY wafer following the first defect with be ruined. To prevent it? Monitor a few choice process parameters, feed them into the MES system, and do continuous monitoring. When a hard tolerance is exceeded, HALT the tool. Then you save those wafers that would have passed through the unknown bad chamber. Unfortunatley, for IMB at least, SiView requires an un-godly amount of integration to bring that process data in-line. Don't doubt it: I was at the table during those integration discussions and it was ugly.
If process data is brought up to the MES level of control, the entire SEMI industry could increase production effiency 10-30%!!! That would make for billions in increased revenues. Sheesh... and they, all, still put off those projects. (hence my former employer went buh-bye)
I'd go into more detail, but unless you work in semiconductor automation, it's quite booring stuff.
Furthermore, SiView, IMO, takes a back-seat to Promis, especially from the operator usability standpoint. Don't even get me started on the Brooks/PRI stuff. (And if you mention Honeywell, well, you'd must be as bad as them!)
The system in NYS sucks technically. I am quite worried about it being used for speed enforcement purposes and such.
It is already being tested as such. A friend of mine received a 'warning' stating that the State Troopers where aware of his excessive (140+) speed and would not take kindly to another incident of this kind. How did they know? The warning cited E-Zpass toll both logging.
to further the point of beta software builds, AMAT is the worst in the industry. consider having a multi-million dollar tool that needs a new rev of controller software every figgin' week. I have yet to see an AMAT tool running in production with NON-beta software!
To further the point, 300mm wafers are around 1500 dollars each (more even?) and having to clean the chamber is not only downtime, which backs up all other product waiting for that tool's process, it costs you 5-15 service hours.
On a further note, there are some other factors to why this fab is in NY, is 300mm, and is 'copper'. IBM is a cornerstone of the Copper Alliance. The Cu folks are developing for 300mm, smartly. IBM owes NY for some, shall we say, lenientcy over a few waste sites so building it in NY may have been a nice payback.
To add a personal note: yes, emiconductor is a small, small world. and, yes, i am thankful to have left it.
Not too amazing when you consider former local employee base. Kodak was had an, overly bloated, 120,000+ workers. With 30k at KO, 60k at KP and a nother 30k at Elmgrove, wouldn't you expect to find a lot of people onwning the stock? Now, factor in the insentives used to get employees to buy the stock.... now there is something like 45k local employees of Kodak: where did the other 75k go? Most were laid off during the 80's and 90's, with the final trimming done in the first years of the 90's. Let's not forget who they got rid of. 2 principal groups: the early retirenment's and skilled blue-collar workers. Skilled workers were left with few options outside of moving to a new city. The retirenment group, well, they wer're too sad.
While a valid econonmic point, to actually think that is a resonable example is funny. Yes, it costs the company to cool/heat the office, give you a desk and a chair, have running water in the bath rooms, etc., but without those things, in what condition would we work in? Now the term 'sweat shop' would, once again, be literal. Yes it costs money to cool the building and yes, the company would eliminate that if they could to cut costs. Too bad that's an issue of the protected work envirnment. Sheesh, relevant examples are worth so much more to makeing a point.
I never though about it that way, but as a smoker, I must completely agree with your assesment. Now that I reconsider my time at the last large corp I worked at, it makes too much sense. Very insightful post.
A decision today to choke access to the 'net might be setting up management for a huge debacle in years to come.
Imagine, in 3 or 4 years, when a fresh group of entry level employees arrive (job function will not matter at this point.) Manager asks new employee, tell me why X is happening. New employee doesn't know much about X so he/she wants to do a little research first. In their HS/college days, the research was done on the net, so new employee opens up the browser and attempts to access a search engine. Only an error is returned, citing restricted 'net access. So the new employee, after having to ask around a bit, finds out that you must get approval to have any sort of access. Now the fresh-out-of-school employee has to call IT to find out the procedure. He/she then must get various signatures from HR, management, and whoever else. That HR person is on vacation, so forget about getting approval this week. Later on in the day, eager to find out how his/her new employee is doing, the manager asks about the answer. Now the new employee is screwed, on their first day.
Moral of the story? The next generation of employees is being brought up in an environment where knowledge is known to be easily available on the 'net. Due to this, they begin to rely on this means of learning more. Web classes are now tought in most colleges, many secondary schools, and some primary schools. 2nd and 3rd graders look things up for homework asignments on the web. Students learn to rely on the web to help them learn and solve problems. But when they get to work, they won't be able to do so and will be stuck on their first days.
Don't beleive it? You should. There is absolutly no way I could preform at my best without the web. It allows me to find out anything I might need to know in order to be an effective problem solver (a major part of my job.) I started using the 'net to help myself learn around '93-'94, at the beginning of HS, when it [the 'net] was in its infancy. Imagine someone who began using it yesterday, or today, as a secondary school kid.
Although the security problems merrit much concern (hey- I'm in IT too!), a simple end to unrestricted 'net is a very short-sighted solution. And I'm not even mentioning all the other aforementioned reasons 'net access is inherently good.
BTW, on a personal note, the day I am stripped of 'net access is the day I stip my employer of any thought time spent on company business off company time.
Unfortunelaty, I cannot edit the previous post, which was submitted when I wanted to preview it. There are a few obvious mistakes, but, of course, that is why I edit first.
Why is it that we can't edit our own posts? (or can we and I am to retarded to figure out how?)
"It's generally a mistake to make thoughts illegal."
And quite impossible. I can think anything thing I want without you ever knowing what I was thinking about. Though cannot be banned, restriced, or made illegal. Speech, writing, etc., are only means of sharing our thoughts and it is that which becomes restricted.
There is no right more basic, and inalienable and though of free though. Why? Cause there is no possible way, short of brain-washing, to prevent a person from thinking about any giving topic, idea, etc.. A government might try to prevent certain ideals, but in reality, they will not succede.
What's more frightening is the notion that some people actually beleive that any person or govenment could restrict such activity. Have we, as a human race, become that submissive to our leaders?
Quite simply the US has had a standing policy that any attack on the US with weapons of mass destruction, be it chemical, biological, nuclear or otherwise, will be responded to with a nuclear strike. So if a rouge nation used chemical weapons on a US city or interest, we would respond, most likely, with nuclear weapons. This is OLD doctrine.
Slashdot Mirror
I noticed who the patent holder actually is: Parkinson; Ward D. One of the four Micron founders (http://experts.about.com/e/m/mi/Micron_Technology .htm).
. htm) with Micron holding a 2% majority.
Also, note that Intel and Micron have had a research realtionship in the past (http://www.intel.com/pressroom/kits/bios/dbaglee
"Unfortunately, I've met very few effective project managers ..."
You must be working in the wrong industry. Not that I haven't worked there myself. The biggest complaint I had while working at a software startup in Silicon Valley was the lack of project management. Sure, we had a "product manager" but, in the traditional sense, there was NO project management. Having been raised in the construction industry on various Bechtel projects, I have learned to differentiate between the "project manager" in tech versus that in established businesses, ie construction and large dollar items (airplanes, etc.).
Good PMs can complete projects on time (or early) and under budget the majority of the time, even given unexpected events. They plan for these things on methods that have been tried, refined, and proven over many years. I have learned a great deal about how to manage ANY project from established and honored managers in both construction and production environments.
Despite all the amazing technical and creative energy in the tech. environment, the project direction side is still lacking. Those who see this need, and incorporate it are those who truely succeed and survive.
"A third of the country ..." and "... 4 out of 10 ..."
That makes 7.33/10 spending more than $100 per month.
Paying half of a $40 per month cable bill makes me in a small, lucky, majority.
Mandarin 885 million
English 470 million
Hindi 418 million
Spanish 362 million
Top four for all speakers, not just natives. I'm not sure why the Chinese is listed as Mandarin when there are so many different dialects.
source: http://www.nicemice.net/amc/tmp/lang-pop.var
That is the difference between what we CAN do and what the money providing advertising corporations will PAY us to do.
In my hand, at this very moment, I have a Genuine Intel (tm) 386/486 keychain. On each side is an actual die with Intel printed above and the die label below. No marketing crap, just a cool keychain from history.
I still use it for my office keys! I do have to hide it from a few individuals who will stop at nothing to recount their participation in project-whatever to design the first what-ever component of the XT or AT or what-ever ancient box. Old tech items at an old-tech company can ruin a lunch break!
Given how absurd some of his information is and given how much NK like to exaggerate and fabricate when self promoting, could this SK guy be working with NK? Did he just blow his cover?
What better reason to make such a dumbfounded statement that over-glorifies NK. This guy was paid to do it. Or at least his information source was.
neslted in point one of the article is a link to an IGDA developer's panel. interesting opinions and information from a few insiders:
/ burn_the_house_.html
http://crystaltips.typepad.com/wonderland/2005/03
To this readership I pose a problem. This one may fall into the category of mundane for some, however, for others, it may prove to be quite the conundrum.
The Problem:
Write down many, strong passwords,
or,
Use the same strong password everywhere.
Given: that a 'strong password' represents a password created using the most secure, or unbreakable, methods currently available; that 'write down' requires a physical object with the passwords inscribed on them in a way that is decipherable to the owner without possibility of memory loss causing an inability to decipher; and that 'everywhere' denotes the group of systems requiring user identity authentication by means of a stored password check setup, where 'systems' are generally electronic in nature.
This question may be the final, and most crucial, step to creating a maximally secured electronic system. There will always be a need for the user of the system to prove its identity, while there will also always be a potential for the user to forget what it has to do to authenticate.
This problem does not consider any alternative solutions, nor does it consider biometric methods(1), however its author most certainly does.
(1) Biometrics should be considered insecure in any system where the user is not in the same physical location of the system and should also, therefore, be considered inadequate as applied to all system a particular user might access.
If this problem appears mundane at first read give it some time and mull over it until you find yourself posing a question about your own belief on the matter
I'm on the state list in NY. So are my parents. We both get a new kind of call. A lovely British-accented woman's voice, or jerky man's voice computer message is left, daily. "This is NOT a sales call. We have an urget matter to speak to you about..." blah blah, "Please call us at 1-800-...." 'SO THAT WE CAN MAKE A FREAKING SALES PITCH' is the part they don't add.
A federal level law has not even been passed yet and already the tele-crapers have a way around it. This method was started, I believe, by collection agencies but has been picked up by the marketeers. (I am yelling at one of them as I type this!)
hmmm, bad html I guess.
Try: vpr Matrix
(yes, I see that I still kant spel!)
See, vpr Matrix for thier press release. Other notebooks are also available as well as desktops. Some nice looking PCs, IMO.
SECS/GEM is uglier than the old AT commands for modems! here is a sample of SECS communication:
Host(H): Can I say something?
Tool(T):Yes.
H:Hello!
T:I got it.
T:It was 2 bytes.
H:Correct.
H:Can I say something?
T:Yes.
H:Are you online?
T:Yes.
H:I heard you.
H:It was 4 bytes.
T:Correct.
and so forth...
The block structure is just as bad. And, max speed is generally 19200 on any tool older than 2000. All GEM does is add a higher set of state/control commands that allows the host to online the tool, send a recipe, and start process. Not that any fabs really go that far with the host.
Check out the eSES, for a good view of a decent SECS/GEM/HSMS to data management driver.
"An internally developed master software system called SiView controls all manufacturing operations. An IBM spokesperson said the manufacturing execution system is being licensed to others for fab control."
Too bad SiView does a crappy job of allowing manufacturing data to be brought into the MES level of control. Yes, they track lots going to/fro process tools, and yes, they do recipe checks at load/run time on those lots, BUT the key ingredient is missing: integration of actual process data into the MES level of control.
What happens if a strip chamber fouls up and goes unnoticed? EVERY wafer following the first defect with be ruined. To prevent it? Monitor a few choice process parameters, feed them into the MES system, and do continuous monitoring. When a hard tolerance is exceeded, HALT the tool. Then you save those wafers that would have passed through the unknown bad chamber. Unfortunatley, for IMB at least, SiView requires an un-godly amount of integration to bring that process data in-line. Don't doubt it: I was at the table during those integration discussions and it was ugly.
If process data is brought up to the MES level of control, the entire SEMI industry could increase production effiency 10-30%!!! That would make for billions in increased revenues. Sheesh... and they, all, still put off those projects. (hence my former employer went buh-bye)
I'd go into more detail, but unless you work in semiconductor automation, it's quite booring stuff.
Furthermore, SiView, IMO, takes a back-seat to Promis, especially from the operator usability standpoint. Don't even get me started on the Brooks/PRI stuff. (And if you mention Honeywell, well, you'd must be as bad as them!)
It is already being tested as such. A friend of mine received a 'warning' stating that the State Troopers where aware of his excessive (140+) speed and would not take kindly to another incident of this kind. How did they know? The warning cited E-Zpass toll both logging.
not a good sign....
that's a cheap endura!
to further the point of beta software builds, AMAT is the worst in the industry. consider having a multi-million dollar tool that needs a new rev of controller software every figgin' week. I have yet to see an AMAT tool running in production with NON-beta software!
To further the point, 300mm wafers are around 1500 dollars each (more even?) and having to clean the chamber is not only downtime, which backs up all other product waiting for that tool's process, it costs you 5-15 service hours.
On a further note, there are some other factors to why this fab is in NY, is 300mm, and is 'copper'. IBM is a cornerstone of the Copper Alliance. The Cu folks are developing for 300mm, smartly. IBM owes NY for some, shall we say, lenientcy over a few waste sites so building it in NY may have been a nice payback.
To add a personal note: yes, emiconductor is a small, small world. and, yes, i am thankful to have left it.
Not too amazing when you consider former local employee base. Kodak was had an, overly bloated, 120,000+ workers. With 30k at KO, 60k at KP and a nother 30k at Elmgrove, wouldn't you expect to find a lot of people onwning the stock? Now, factor in the insentives used to get employees to buy the stock....
now there is something like 45k local employees of Kodak: where did the other 75k go? Most were laid off during the 80's and 90's, with the final trimming done in the first years of the 90's. Let's not forget who they got rid of. 2 principal groups: the early retirenment's and skilled blue-collar workers. Skilled workers were left with few options outside of moving to a new city. The retirenment group, well, they wer're too sad.
Who came up with that title?
ONE firm starts using linux and suddenly the WHOLE financial industry has embraced it? LMAO!
It's like saying, "Govenment embraces Linux," after ONE local government body switches to linux.
If, perhaps, 30-40% of the industry switches over, we might then call it embraced. Until then, forget about it.
While a valid econonmic point, to actually think that is a resonable example is funny. Yes, it costs the company to cool/heat the office, give you a desk and a chair, have running water in the bath rooms, etc., but without those things, in what condition would we work in? Now the term 'sweat shop' would, once again, be literal. Yes it costs money to cool the building and yes, the company would eliminate that if they could to cut costs. Too bad that's an issue of the protected work envirnment. Sheesh, relevant examples are worth so much more to makeing a point.
I never though about it that way, but as a smoker, I must completely agree with your assesment. Now that I reconsider my time at the last large corp I worked at, it makes too much sense. Very insightful post.
A decision today to choke access to the 'net might be setting up management for a huge debacle in years to come.
Imagine, in 3 or 4 years, when a fresh group of entry level employees arrive (job function will not matter at this point.) Manager asks new employee, tell me why X is happening. New employee doesn't know much about X so he/she wants to do a little research first. In their HS/college days, the research was done on the net, so new employee opens up the browser and attempts to access a search engine. Only an error is returned, citing restricted 'net access. So the new employee, after having to ask around a bit, finds out that you must get approval to have any sort of access. Now the fresh-out-of-school employee has to call IT to find out the procedure. He/she then must get various signatures from HR, management, and whoever else. That HR person is on vacation, so forget about getting approval this week. Later on in the day, eager to find out how his/her new employee is doing, the manager asks about the answer. Now the new employee is screwed, on their first day.
Moral of the story? The next generation of employees is being brought up in an environment where knowledge is known to be easily available on the 'net. Due to this, they begin to rely on this means of learning more. Web classes are now tought in most colleges, many secondary schools, and some primary schools. 2nd and 3rd graders look things up for homework asignments on the web. Students learn to rely on the web to help them learn and solve problems. But when they get to work, they won't be able to do so and will be stuck on their first days.
Don't beleive it? You should. There is absolutly no way I could preform at my best without the web. It allows me to find out anything I might need to know in order to be an effective problem solver (a major part of my job.) I started using the 'net to help myself learn around '93-'94, at the beginning of HS, when it [the 'net] was in its infancy. Imagine someone who began using it yesterday, or today, as a secondary school kid.
Although the security problems merrit much concern (hey- I'm in IT too!), a simple end to unrestricted 'net is a very short-sighted solution. And I'm not even mentioning all the other aforementioned reasons 'net access is inherently good.
BTW, on a personal note, the day I am stripped of 'net access is the day I stip my employer of any thought time spent on company business off company time.
Unfortunelaty, I cannot edit the previous post, which was submitted when I wanted to preview it. There are a few obvious mistakes, but, of course, that is why I edit first.
Why is it that we can't edit our own posts? (or can we and I am to retarded to figure out how?)
"It's generally a mistake to make thoughts illegal."
And quite impossible. I can think anything thing I want without you ever knowing what I was thinking about. Though cannot be banned, restriced, or made illegal. Speech, writing, etc., are only means of sharing our thoughts and it is that which becomes restricted.
There is no right more basic, and inalienable and though of free though. Why? Cause there is no possible way, short of brain-washing, to prevent a person from thinking about any giving topic, idea, etc.. A government might try to prevent certain ideals, but in reality, they will not succede.
What's more frightening is the notion that some people actually beleive that any person or govenment could restrict such activity. Have we, as a human race, become that submissive to our leaders?
640 trailer
Quite simply the US has had a standing policy that any attack on the US with weapons of mass destruction, be it chemical, biological, nuclear or otherwise, will be responded to with a nuclear strike. So if a rouge nation used chemical weapons on a US city or interest, we would respond, most likely, with nuclear weapons. This is OLD doctrine.