The problem is that most QA guys are more interested in hitting their daily/weekly quotas instead of spending the time it takes to root out serious issues that need to be fixed.
For example - I'm an artist, and I'm pretty sure I'm able to notice when something is misaligned or off by a few pixels - to me, QA would be a hell of a lot more useful if they would track down a bug on a screen that crashes 1 out of every 4 times as opposed to sending me 35 bugs that are the *exact same issue* but spread across several screens.
Unfortunately programmers are just one part of the equation on whether or not a project sells well but we ARE the only part that does 20+ hours of free overtime every week for a couple years.
But I'm sure none of the artists were killing themselves with 20+ hours of free overtime a week.
Oh wait, yes we do.
Didn't read the linked article, but you seem to have missed an important point.
Students of James' philosphy, if not his exact methodology, run the Oakland A's (Billy Beane), Los Angeles Dodgers (Paul DePodesta), Toronto Blue Jays (J.P. Ricciardi), and Boston Red Sox (Theo Epstein), to name a few.
The "not giving a shit" you quote from the article is true: 20 years ago the teams didn't care. But anyone who follows the game today would be hard pressed to argue against the influence Bill James and sabermetrics in general have had on the game.
As a huge baseball fan in general, and an A's fan in particular, I recommend Moneyball. An earlier post mentioned it, I think. It examines pretty much everything that I've covered in this post.
...and many in Knoxville, TN will not give you a walk signal unless you pressed the button.
We have crosswalks...?
-- a.b. murray: serial jaywalker.
Re:Magnusson Moss Warranty Act
on
Hack Your Car
·
· Score: 1
If I spend $7,000 on performance parts the car will be able to drag against dodge vipers that cost around $60,000 (I think a dodge viper has a 12 second 1/4 mile time, I know some SpecV's with under $10,000 of work that run 11 second 1/4 miles)
See, i always hate this argument.
You're comparing a car with $10,000 in aftermarket/custom work (the Sentra) to a fully stock car (the Viper).
The numbers you've given really dont matter at this point, and I'm not going to look them up or ask for verification. All I'm concerned with is the stock/custom comparison.
My point is this: If you're comparing cars, compare stock v. stock or tuned v. tuned.
If you want to brag about the performance of a Sentra hopped on $10,000 of aftermarket work parts, please compare it to a Viper with a similar amount of work done./rant.
You obviously have no experiance in theater. Techs are expected to do anything from crawling out over suspended ceilings to crawling under a stage or running up and down stairs during a performance a laptop in any sort of arrangement would get in the way and be easily broken, nevermind that for the price of a few laptops you could buy a real system from someone like Telex or Clear-Com.
The last "geeks in charge" were Bill Gates and Steve Wozniak. One bailed out and the other morphed back into the privledged little rich boy brat he always was.
Um...methinks you may have your Steves crossed there.
That is the number one reason I very rarely play any games on-line any more. The sad thing is, I've had broadband since the summer of '01, but have maybe played on-line games three, maybe four times since getting it.
So many people in on-line games were complete asses, and it wasn't just limited to PC games. It was just as bad on my Dreamcast, trying to play NFL2K1 or Phantasy Star.
I love playing games, and I love playing multi-player games, but for the most part I stick to playing with people I already know.
What has always struck me as idiotic is that the 959 wasn't street legal in the US while other, non-crash-worthy super cars like the Ferrari F40 and F50, Pantera and Shelby Cobra have been.
Whether or not a car is 'street legal' in the US is entirely up to the manufacturer. The car must adhere to emissions and safety regulations. The car must also be crash-tested and all relevant information throughly documented. There's a host of hoops the manufacturer must jump through that can add significantly to the cost of the car.
It's not the government that was keeping the 959 from being street legal, but Porsche itself.
As a red-blooded American southerner, I am obligated to say that kicked six different kinds of ass.
But as much as I love Daisy, wouldn't the General Lee itself be a better embodiment of Linux? Kind of cobbled together by the Duke boys and Cooter...and it jumps over and runs the establishment off the road whenever possible?
You can love it or despise it, but it's a valid *type* of beer, just as a "pale ale" or a "lager" is.
Not to nitpick, but the two examples you listed don't quite match. Pale Ale is a reasonably specific type of beer, while "lager" indicates a very wide range of beers.
Not to nitpick further, but Bud is a lager. I think the "American" style of beer you refer to is the 'classic' American Pilsner. Which is a lager. =]
Methinks you have your comic publishers mixed up. DC is is relatively safe. It's one of the cornerstones of the Time publishing arm. DC was one of the first pieces of what would ultimately become AOL/Time Warner. I believe they were first acquired in the late 1960's.
Anyways, it's Marvel that's had all the problems over the last couple years. The Perelman fiasco ultimately landed the company in bankruptcy, and it's rumored that Marvel is now positioning itself to be acquired by a larger conglomerate such as Sony or Fox.
We shall see, though. -- a.b. murray
Re:Great Leap forward but still falsl short
on
First HDTV Camcorder
·
· Score: 1
Actually, it's from the film maker next door.
Well...in that case.
Care to hook a brother up? =]
Seriously though, even though you don't know me from Adam, if you could ask her about how much she's paying/using/etc, I would really appreciate that.
I'm gearing up to (hopefully) shoot a short late this summer, and had planned on renting an XL-1 and shooting with that; shooting and then scanning film would normally be WAY too expensive.
Seriously though, I would be indebted if you could see if what you can find out.
Thanks in advance -
-- a.b. murray
Re:Great Leap forward but still falsl short
on
First HDTV Camcorder
·
· Score: 1
It's surprisingly cheap to scan film btw, like $13 for 8 minutes of B&W film
Umm...no. If that's the quote from your local photo shop they're probably just taping off the wall or running it through one of those little gadgets you get at best buy. Scanning film is much more expensive.
Point is, if you need the functionality, video just will not do.
I'd say that it depends. I have noticed a lot of nice-looking pieces on cable lately that were shot with video. Now, I'm sure it was relatively-high end equipment. Not BetaSP or anything, but definately high pro-sumer grade.
My point is just that it really depends on the project. Is it worth the hassle of film? Because that's what film is. Wow does it look great, but lighting, metering, sync sound, more complex equipment, and so on.
Sometimes, film is the only way to go...but personally, if it's up to me, I'm very satisfied with the look and quality of something shot on miniDV. Light carefully, frame carefully, PLAN your shoot, and then tweak what you need to on the computer.
I have no allegiance to either, I just like what causes the fewest headaches.
Slashdot Mirror
The problem is that most QA guys are more interested in hitting their daily/weekly quotas instead of spending the time it takes to root out serious issues that need to be fixed. For example - I'm an artist, and I'm pretty sure I'm able to notice when something is misaligned or off by a few pixels - to me, QA would be a hell of a lot more useful if they would track down a bug on a screen that crashes 1 out of every 4 times as opposed to sending me 35 bugs that are the *exact same issue* but spread across several screens.
Unfortunately programmers are just one part of the equation on whether or not a project sells well but we ARE the only part that does 20+ hours of free overtime every week for a couple years. But I'm sure none of the artists were killing themselves with 20+ hours of free overtime a week. Oh wait, yes we do.
You of course assume that the term "hacking" applies only to computers/programming.
Which is wrong.
Of course, I will continue to list my address as
1060 West Addison
Chicago, Illinois
60613
Always a wise choice just in case a group of Illinois Nazis come looking for you.
And your brother Jake.
(as it did with the significant difference between the NES and FamiCom)
Ummm...And what significant differences would those be?
The American NES and Japanese Famicom have no discernable differences, appearances aside.
Didn't read the linked article, but you seem to have missed an important point.
Students of James' philosphy, if not his exact methodology, run the Oakland A's (Billy Beane), Los Angeles Dodgers (Paul DePodesta), Toronto Blue Jays (J.P. Ricciardi), and Boston Red Sox (Theo Epstein), to name a few.
The "not giving a shit" you quote from the article is true: 20 years ago the teams didn't care. But anyone who follows the game today would be hard pressed to argue against the influence Bill James and sabermetrics in general have had on the game.
As a huge baseball fan in general, and an A's fan in particular, I recommend Moneyball. An earlier post mentioned it, I think. It examines pretty much everything that I've covered in this post.
A really fascinating read, even for non-fans.
...and many in Knoxville, TN will not give you a walk signal unless you pressed the button.
We have crosswalks...?
--
a.b. murray: serial jaywalker.
If I spend $7,000 on performance parts the car will be able to drag against dodge vipers that cost around $60,000 (I think a dodge viper has a 12 second 1/4 mile time, I know some SpecV's with under $10,000 of work that run 11 second 1/4 miles)
/rant.
See, i always hate this argument.
You're comparing a car with $10,000 in aftermarket/custom work (the Sentra) to a fully stock car (the Viper).
The numbers you've given really dont matter at this point, and I'm not going to look them up or ask for verification. All I'm concerned with is the stock/custom comparison.
My point is this: If you're comparing cars, compare stock v. stock or tuned v. tuned.
If you want to brag about the performance of a Sentra hopped on $10,000 of aftermarket work parts, please compare it to a Viper with a similar amount of work done.
You obviously have no experiance in theater. Techs are expected to do anything from crawling out over suspended ceilings to crawling under a stage or running up and down stairs during a performance a laptop in any sort of arrangement would get in the way and be easily broken, nevermind that for the price of a few laptops you could buy a real system from someone like Telex or Clear-Com.
Um, I think you just missed the joke entirely.
--
a.b. murray
`gravimetric bullshiterons'
If I ever start a band, we are soooooo calling ourselves this.
--
a.b. murray
The last "geeks in charge" were Bill Gates and Steve Wozniak. One bailed out and the other morphed back into the privledged little rich boy brat he always was.
Um...methinks you may have your Steves crossed there.
--
a.b. murray
Most of the people online acted like assholes.
I couldn't agree more.
That is the number one reason I very rarely play any games on-line any more. The sad thing is, I've had broadband since the summer of '01, but have maybe played on-line games three, maybe four times since getting it.
So many people in on-line games were complete asses, and it wasn't just limited to PC games. It was just as bad on my Dreamcast, trying to play NFL2K1 or Phantasy Star.
I love playing games, and I love playing multi-player games, but for the most part I stick to playing with people I already know.
--
a.b. murray
As Harrison Ford once said, "George, you can write this stuff, but nobody can say it."
Actually I believe he said shit not stuff...but yeah, we get the point. =]
What has always struck me as idiotic is that the 959 wasn't street legal in the US while other, non-crash-worthy super cars like the Ferrari F40 and F50, Pantera and Shelby Cobra have been.
Whether or not a car is 'street legal' in the US is entirely up to the manufacturer. The car must adhere to emissions and safety regulations. The car must also be crash-tested and all relevant information throughly documented. There's a host of hoops the manufacturer must jump through that can add significantly to the cost of the car.
It's not the government that was keeping the 959 from being street legal, but Porsche itself.
--
a.b. murray
To the moon!
/honeymooners
couldn't help myself. =]
--
a.b. murray
Slander is spoken. Libel is written. He's guilty of libel.
Well, it's all considered libel now. There is no longer a distinction between the two.
(And yes, I do get the JJJ ref. Nice. =)
--
a.b. murray
I have to rely on the Dukes of Hazzard
As a red-blooded American southerner, I am obligated to say that kicked six different kinds of ass.
But as much as I love Daisy, wouldn't the General Lee itself be a better embodiment of Linux? Kind of cobbled together by the Duke boys and Cooter...and it jumps over and runs the establishment off the road whenever possible?
Maybe? Maybe not.
ah well.
--
a.b. murray
In my opinion, there are ways of demanding excellence and accountability without being an ass, and Jobs simply isn't using them.
But those are, in most cases, the best, quickest, and most effective ways to get *results*.
I think the problem arises when people take such actions personally. It's not personal, it's just someone trying to get stuff *done*.
--
a.b. murray
President Kennedy didn't hit the bullet, dig?
Well, you could always throw up the old middle-school science teacher explanation of gravity as two objects being pulled towards each other.
Ya know, dropping the textbook and then explaining that the earth moved up and hit the book as much as the book fell down and hit the earth.
You know what? I think I had a point somewhere, but I just lost it.
nevermind.
-
a.b. murray
You can love it or despise it, but it's a valid *type* of beer, just as a "pale ale" or a "lager" is.
Not to nitpick, but the two examples you listed don't quite match. Pale Ale is a reasonably specific type of beer, while "lager" indicates a very wide range of beers.
Not to nitpick further, but Bud is a lager. I think the "American" style of beer you refer to is the 'classic' American Pilsner. Which is a lager.
=]
--
a.b. murray
I worked in the electronics department of a rural Texas Wal-Mart. I feel your pain.
Besty Buy in east tennesee; we pulled customers from east tenn, SE kentucky, and god only knows where else.
I hate retail.
--
a.b. murray
DC is not in the best position, financially
Methinks you have your comic publishers mixed up. DC is is relatively safe. It's one of the cornerstones of the Time publishing arm. DC was one of the first pieces of what would ultimately become AOL/Time Warner. I believe they were first acquired in the late 1960's.
Anyways, it's Marvel that's had all the problems over the last couple years. The Perelman fiasco ultimately landed the company in bankruptcy, and it's rumored that Marvel is now positioning itself to be acquired by a larger conglomerate such as Sony or Fox.
We shall see, though.
--
a.b. murray
Actually, it's from the film maker next door.
Well...in that case.
Care to hook a brother up? =]
Seriously though, even though you don't know me from Adam, if you could ask her about how much she's paying/using/etc, I would really appreciate that.
I'm gearing up to (hopefully) shoot a short late this summer, and had planned on renting an XL-1 and shooting with that; shooting and then scanning film would normally be WAY too expensive.
Seriously though, I would be indebted if you could see if what you can find out.
Thanks in advance -
--
a.b. murray
It's surprisingly cheap to scan film btw, like $13 for 8 minutes of B&W film
Umm...no. If that's the quote from your local photo shop they're probably just taping off the wall or running it through one of those little gadgets you get at best buy. Scanning film is much more expensive.
--
a.b. murray
Point is, if you need the functionality, video just will not do.
I'd say that it depends. I have noticed a lot of nice-looking pieces on cable lately that were shot with video. Now, I'm sure it was relatively-high end equipment. Not BetaSP or anything, but definately high pro-sumer grade.
My point is just that it really depends on the project. Is it worth the hassle of film? Because that's what film is. Wow does it look great, but lighting, metering, sync sound, more complex equipment, and so on.
Sometimes, film is the only way to go...but personally, if it's up to me, I'm very satisfied with the look and quality of something shot on miniDV. Light carefully, frame carefully, PLAN your shoot, and then tweak what you need to on the computer.
I have no allegiance to either, I just like what causes the fewest headaches.
--
a.b. murray