...and his press conference AFTER loosing to a dead guy had all the venom and hair flopping animation of Hitler in front of the Riechstag. So much so that a friend of mine bought some post production video equipment for the sole purpose of melding the two video clips.
The folks in the "Show Me State" knew what they were doing when they elected a dead guy ahead of him...little did they know however he would become one of the most powerful people in the world.
For the record I was worried what would happen to our civil liberties before GW and his posse were sworn into office. 9/11 just added fuel to the fire.
They want guys that follow the same processes every time and do reliable, predictable work every time.
Horrors - you mean I can't make $90K/year playing in my digital sandbox?
Don't get me wrong, it is important to stay current and do appropriate design work up front to identify appropriate technology for a project, but tossing new elements into your build because they are new is trolling for trouble. If you want to implement some new or emerging technology be prepared to do your homework on your own time or find an organization that is willing to accept the risk to their schedule and budget for the R&D.
I challenge anyone out there to fabricate 1 unique screw to exacting tolerance and strength requirements for less than $500. For that matter make one unique toilet seat for less than $200.
Or for one more example, during the Desert Storm flavor of Iraq wars someone thought they would save money getting fax machines from an office supply company rather than the expensive Mil-Spec ones. They had a half life of some fraction of a day (heat, sand, grit, noise adn vibration of F18 takeoffs).
There is waste fueled by corruption, systemic waste from bloated management structures (a little knowledge of transaction cost economics goes a long way) and in some instances doing unusual things is expensive. Going to the moon is one of those.
MRH
Consider the expense...and energy involved to put 2 people on the moon....There are about 6.4 billion in the world that would require a great deal of resources to cram onto Saturn 5 lifeboats and boost into space. If we were greedy there are just shy of 300 million folks in US. So on the surface, at least in the near term, we need to solve our problems on our planet...cause most of us are stuck here for our alloted time.
This issue struck me in a NPR piece interviewing kids at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum shortly after Bush's speech. A majority of the kids thought of manned space travel as an escape from a disposable used up world. How sad really. Of all the motivations for going to the Moon or Mars, escaping a ruined Earth is about the least pratical.
I hope someone is able to put space exploration into an inspiring context that motivates people to achieve at a high level doing great things for great reasons, rather through a cynical appeal to our worst fears and selfish agendas.
I must admit I have to tip my hat to Gates on this issue. His business practices are a reflection on an insanely competetive streak to win at all costs and by all measures.
I note that his increased involvement with charities correlate more with married life adn fatherhood than anything people said in criticism.
The same drive to win is refected in his interactions with his foundation's work. He demands success (which is not a bad thing). Even if the motivations are that of a meglomaniac, cures for cancer, malaria,... are hard to be against.
I think there is "prior art on this ". I recall some flak with McDonalsd or someone like that looking to shine a golden arches up there somehow several years back.
Not sure why parent is +X Funny. Insightful +9 would be more like it. My first thought when I saw the heading was...that sounds like every cell phone call I have ever had!
It is such an common thing that the marketing (by some of the cell phone companies) parody the problem.
I remember back in school (home of the Iowa State Cyclones) a friend had the number 292-5663 (or CYC-LONE). A local pizza place no doubt would have paid a few bucks for that if they had a chance! A drunk proof phone number.
Before people go off on some "Big Company Conspiracy" tack, here is the deal:
The physics of an internal combustion engine are really quite complex (fluid dynamics, tribology, combustion, the harmonics and dynamics of the mechanical parts...)
The major manufacturers are marketing to the "average" in the market place. This average sometimes lives in 70 degree sea level LA and sometimes in 5 below Duluth, and sometimes 6,000 ft Colorado. People generally don't like their cars to knock, stall...so they set up the Powertrain Control Module to generally work pretty well across a broad range of conditions.
Manufacturers as well as race teams and performance shops know better performance can be obtained in both fuel economy and horsepower for a narrower range of operating conditions.
The interest of this article is that the systems are open enough that a resourceful person can do some of this themselves. They do so at their vehicles peril however. It can be an expensive learning curve when you cook an engine.
Along the same line as 3 card monty. You can't win!
Or debating an insane person.
The internet is the perfect place for these ass-holes to run around and hide. Note the reputable businesses that use this marketing and that says it all.
In some areas the cable service stinks. Cable in SE Michigan/North Oarkland County is down as much as 10 days in a month with a rare month of uninterrupted service...and it will be a cold day in hell when they prorate billing for missed service. Folks with cable modems and home business's in my neighborhood love reverting to dial-up.
What can be done to make manufacturers get their heads into the real world?
Don't buy the crap!
With further analysis of this statement there is a key point...manufacturers. Manufacturing is the implementation of a design pruducing a saleable product. In some of these industries who is doing R&D, marketing research, usability/ergonomic studies anymore?
Some of the blunders are so stupid. Cell phones alone are an anti-pattern ripe for analysis. Is ONE company goes out and offers a simple phone, a simple calling plan, and no bullsh!t they will have my business...but they won't have teh business of some teenager that pays 2 bucks to every couple of days to change their background screen or ringer tone.
Before 64 bit super computers, what they did is made more expensive, poorer performing products with more risk.
I used to work for Boeing doing aerodynamic configuration work (running CFD code). The insight gained being able to model boundary layer interactions and other viscous flow behavior was only possible due to the power of the processor capability (i.e. more accurate models made possible design improvements you could not see or would be subject to good luck before).
With more compute power, more iterations are possible (e.g. using genetic shape optimization algorithms with hundreds of scenarios instead of a dozen) This give much more insight into your design space.
The 707 rudder (late '50's technology) was studied structurally against about 7 load cases. They of course built appropriate conservatism into the design...which adds weight...that needs to be carried around for 30 years of operation. The 777 was run against thousands of load cases allowing a far lighter structure that is probably far less likely to fail.
So in conclusion, there is a reason why compute horsepower is a good thing...and not just because.
'If you're a bad guy and you want to frustrate law enforcement, use a Mac.'
God I hope Ascroft doesn't see this...the Patriot Act v2.0.4 will put them [Apple] out of business unless they put in a couple thousand security "Windows" that they [the guys keeping us "safe"] can peek through.
Up next...
Entering your credit card information in IE may be hazardous to your credit.
The Microsoft way...After finding the best price hours later after typing in www.bestbuy.com and compusa.com and...and drilling into each one MANUALLY...add item to sales cart...IE goes into some silly loop that doesn't let you finish the transaction after you have typed in your address, credit card information etc 5 times. Get in your car, drive to the nearest mall, walk into bestbuy, note they are out of stock of the advertised sale item, walk into compusa, they will not match the bestbuy price because the bottom line price is due to a rebate...drive to mom and pop store...say hi to your neighbor Al, pay $5 too much.
Multiple Hitchiker toys at (McDonalds|Burger King) so people have to make several visits to buy them all.
*Peril sensitive glasses (do not wear while driving)
*A little plastic fish you cram in your ear
*An action figure of the triple breasted whore of erotica 6...
That Dan Akroyd character from '70's vintage SNL hawking the plastic bag space helmet and a dr's toy kit with pieces of medical waste would have a field day.
You hit it on the head. My objection to most of the modern gizmo's is the interface not the form factor. I hate the superfluous menues on my damn cell phone and I do not have a PDA. I guess I am decidedly the anti-uber-geek for admitting this, but I am not alone! The truly clever person (not just technically proficient and skilled) that comes up with an unobtrusive interface will rock the marketplace. Maybe a generation of kids that grew up sending messages over their cell phones and text pagers will leave me in the proverbial dust, but I can certainly hope for a revolution.
On the other hand maybe while we are out and about away from our LAN we should talk with the person next to use instead of on the other end of a cell phone call, read a good book instead of surfing blogs and listen to the wind in the trees instead of the latest MP3 we downloaded.
Now I guess I will crawl into my shack, work on my manifesto and prepare some "packages".
What caught my eye was that this was on the front page and not buried in the business section.
Why is this a big surprise considering the source? Microsoft is a big time player in the region (maybe bigger than Boeing). News regarding MS in Seattle is like a major initiative by GM/Ford/Crysler in Detroit media.
Thankfully Indian programmers cannot vote for American congressmen and Presidents.
Vote?...No BUT...We are already firing entry level call center people serving unemployment benefit and food stamp recipients (e.g. a Wisconsin call center processing New Jersey food stamp claims was outsourced to India). After they are layed off they may very well have to call an Indian call center...someone isn't looking at the big picture here.
How long before we outsource those amazing election systems (the ones with negative totals etc.) to Bangaldesh?
I am comforted though that GW is going to retrain the millions of factory workers for jobs in the IT industry. Warms my heart it does.
Slashdot Mirror
The folks in the "Show Me State" knew what they were doing when they elected a dead guy ahead of him...little did they know however he would become one of the most powerful people in the world.
For the record I was worried what would happen to our civil liberties before GW and his posse were sworn into office. 9/11 just added fuel to the fire.
Horrors - you mean I can't make $90K/year playing in my digital sandbox?
Don't get me wrong, it is important to stay current and do appropriate design work up front to identify appropriate technology for a project, but tossing new elements into your build because they are new is trolling for trouble. If you want to implement some new or emerging technology be prepared to do your homework on your own time or find an organization that is willing to accept the risk to their schedule and budget for the R&D.
Or for one more example, during the Desert Storm flavor of Iraq wars someone thought they would save money getting fax machines from an office supply company rather than the expensive Mil-Spec ones. They had a half life of some fraction of a day (heat, sand, grit, noise adn vibration of F18 takeoffs).
There is waste fueled by corruption, systemic waste from bloated management structures (a little knowledge of transaction cost economics goes a long way) and in some instances doing unusual things is expensive. Going to the moon is one of those. MRH
This issue struck me in a NPR piece interviewing kids at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum shortly after Bush's speech. A majority of the kids thought of manned space travel as an escape from a disposable used up world. How sad really. Of all the motivations for going to the Moon or Mars, escaping a ruined Earth is about the least pratical.
I hope someone is able to put space exploration into an inspiring context that motivates people to achieve at a high level doing great things for great reasons, rather through a cynical appeal to our worst fears and selfish agendas.
I note that his increased involvement with charities correlate more with married life adn fatherhood than anything people said in criticism.
The same drive to win is refected in his interactions with his foundation's work. He demands success (which is not a bad thing). Even if the motivations are that of a meglomaniac, cures for cancer, malaria, ... are hard to be against.
I think there is "prior art on this ". I recall some flak with McDonalsd or someone like that looking to shine a golden arches up there somehow several years back.
Only terrorists and commie mobster thugs will print with illegal black market ink.
I can see clearly now my brain is gone.
I will blow-up all obstacles in my way.
Gone all the logic and thought that made me blind
It's going to be a bright, (bright) bright (bright) sun shiny day
It is such an common thing that the marketing (by some of the cell phone companies) parody the problem.
You forgot more sex with hotter women in there, but maybe that comes with the richer/better-looking in a package deal...I wouldn't know.
I remember back in school (home of the Iowa State Cyclones) a friend had the number 292-5663 (or CYC-LONE). A local pizza place no doubt would have paid a few bucks for that if they had a chance! A drunk proof phone number.
The physics of an internal combustion engine are really quite complex (fluid dynamics, tribology, combustion, the harmonics and dynamics of the mechanical parts...) The major manufacturers are marketing to the "average" in the market place. This average sometimes lives in 70 degree sea level LA and sometimes in 5 below Duluth, and sometimes 6,000 ft Colorado. People generally don't like their cars to knock, stall...so they set up the Powertrain Control Module to generally work pretty well across a broad range of conditions.
Manufacturers as well as race teams and performance shops know better performance can be obtained in both fuel economy and horsepower for a narrower range of operating conditions.
The interest of this article is that the systems are open enough that a resourceful person can do some of this themselves. They do so at their vehicles peril however. It can be an expensive learning curve when you cook an engine.
Along the same line as 3 card monty. You can't win!
Or debating an insane person.
The internet is the perfect place for these ass-holes to run around and hide. Note the reputable businesses that use this marketing and that says it all.
In some areas the cable service stinks. Cable in SE Michigan/North Oarkland County is down as much as 10 days in a month with a rare month of uninterrupted service...and it will be a cold day in hell when they prorate billing for missed service. Folks with cable modems and home business's in my neighborhood love reverting to dial-up.
So much for browsing /. at work and claiming it is "informative" if someone gets mother hen on you and tells you to look more busy.
Intersting how much P04N gets people going on this thread.
Don't buy the crap!
With further analysis of this statement there is a key point...manufacturers. Manufacturing is the implementation of a design pruducing a saleable product. In some of these industries who is doing R&D, marketing research, usability/ergonomic studies anymore?
Some of the blunders are so stupid. Cell phones alone are an anti-pattern ripe for analysis. Is ONE company goes out and offers a simple phone, a simple calling plan, and no bullsh!t they will have my business...but they won't have teh business of some teenager that pays 2 bucks to every couple of days to change their background screen or ringer tone.
Now that IS a going out of business strategy if I ever saw one.
I used to work for Boeing doing aerodynamic configuration work (running CFD code). The insight gained being able to model boundary layer interactions and other viscous flow behavior was only possible due to the power of the processor capability (i.e. more accurate models made possible design improvements you could not see or would be subject to good luck before).
With more compute power, more iterations are possible (e.g. using genetic shape optimization algorithms with hundreds of scenarios instead of a dozen) This give much more insight into your design space.
The 707 rudder (late '50's technology) was studied structurally against about 7 load cases. They of course built appropriate conservatism into the design...which adds weight...that needs to be carried around for 30 years of operation. The 777 was run against thousands of load cases allowing a far lighter structure that is probably far less likely to fail.
So in conclusion, there is a reason why compute horsepower is a good thing...and not just because.
God I hope Ascroft doesn't see this...the Patriot Act v2.0.4 will put them [Apple] out of business unless they put in a couple thousand security "Windows" that they [the guys keeping us "safe"] can peek through.
Trust...but check. Joseph Stalin
The Microsoft way...After finding the best price hours later after typing in www.bestbuy.com and compusa.com and ...and drilling into each one MANUALLY...add item to sales cart...IE goes into some silly loop that doesn't let you finish the transaction after you have typed in your address, credit card information etc 5 times. Get in your car, drive to the nearest mall, walk into bestbuy, note they are out of stock of the advertised sale item, walk into compusa, they will not match the bestbuy price because the bottom line price is due to a rebate...drive to mom and pop store...say hi to your neighbor Al, pay $5 too much.
Next time use Mozilla & shop at ebay.
*Peril sensitive glasses (do not wear while driving)
*A little plastic fish you cram in your ear
*An action figure of the triple breasted whore of erotica 6...
That Dan Akroyd character from '70's vintage SNL hawking the plastic bag space helmet and a dr's toy kit with pieces of medical waste would have a field day.
On the other hand maybe while we are out and about away from our LAN we should talk with the person next to use instead of on the other end of a cell phone call, read a good book instead of surfing blogs and listen to the wind in the trees instead of the latest MP3 we downloaded.
Now I guess I will crawl into my shack, work on my manifesto and prepare some "packages".
Why is this a big surprise considering the source? Microsoft is a big time player in the region (maybe bigger than Boeing). News regarding MS in Seattle is like a major initiative by GM/Ford/Crysler in Detroit media.
Athelon, Athlon, Athalon, or equally correct but alternative spellings P3, Pentium 3 Pentium III...etc.
I think I will wait a few weeks and do some bargain shoping.
Vote?...No BUT...We are already firing entry level call center people serving unemployment benefit and food stamp recipients (e.g. a Wisconsin call center processing New Jersey food stamp claims was outsourced to India). After they are layed off they may very well have to call an Indian call center...someone isn't looking at the big picture here.
How long before we outsource those amazing election systems (the ones with negative totals etc.) to Bangaldesh?
I am comforted though that GW is going to retrain the millions of factory workers for jobs in the IT industry. Warms my heart it does.