Seriously, AC, have you ever worked in an environment doing data analysis?
Both in my corporate and graduate academic career, Excel is the most frequently used tool for data analysis. Not necessarily the most powerful, but likely the easiest and most flexible tool for most analysis applications.
At my last two companies I've been the first in my group to do any sort of pivot based reporting. Between the ability to drill down and swap criteria on the fly, I get all sorts of awed looks and positive comments.
This usually leads me to run a couple of informal classes for the department, which, in the end frees up my time since everyone is busy doing their own analysis...meaning I can spend my time on more important stuff, like Slashdot.
By the same token, I frequently have to deal with ridiculously cludged together Access databases that took months to develop that should have instead been done via an Excel Workbook with a well thought out data structure and user interface. Excel also affords a great deal of quick-and-dirty ability to drill down and manipulate data that Access can't offer most users (especially with Pivots).
Excel is great for simple data analysis/tracking work--including simple, single user database applications. Access is great for slightly more complex, single user database applications only. Neither should be used for anything that requires multiple users, which is what leads people to bitch and moan about "M$ Applications Suxoring".
And by the way, I'd rather unravel an Excel nightmare than a clapped together Access database any day.
Companies of a certain size will have either internal or legal requirements to publicly post job listings. The reason? Legal defensibility against discriminatory hiring practices.
Don't get me wrong: networking is important to find out about the jobs or even get your foot in the door for small companies...but at companies of any size, you will be asked to submit your online resume for a specific job posting.
A couple of years ago, a computer engineering buddy and I were asked to do a career day demo for a bunch of elementary school students. Besides telling them a little bit about what we did designing chips, we did a great and very well-received programming demo.
We broke the class out into groups of 4 or 5 students and had them each write a "program" on paper for a robot (me) to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. My partner read me each of the sets of instructions, resulting in peanut butter on my head, bread-jar-bread sandwiches, etc. The kids were howling, and in the end we collectively wrote a more successful sandwich program.
We got great feedback from teachers and students, as well as some very insightful questions from the kids.
Having worked on the main IBM RTP (Research Triangle Park) NC campus several years ago, I can assure you that the security you encountered was out of the ordinary. When I worked there, my co-workers and I tried to outdo each other at the drive by security station at the entrance. The guards were supposed to check badges, but I got waved through after flashing business cards, playing cards, and even a pack of cigarettes once. Getting into the buildings was a little more difficult, but if you weren't too smelly, all you had to do was pat your pockets and look forlorn: someone would badge you in post-haste.
Actually, the PlayChoice machines were not emulators. Their hardware was very similar to that of the NES, and they actually had internal cartridges that could be swapped in and out by the operator.
Growing up in South Dakota, we often got our first glance at new NES games at the arcade in the PlayChoice machines.
Funny thing about Benadryl Allergy and Tylenol PM: same active ingredient diphenhydramine (sp, I think). Yet Tylenol PM is twice the price (3x if you go for generic Benadryl), and you load on unneeded pain killers. Go for the benadryl if you must, though typically the sleep causing effects wear off in 4 hours (thought the grogginess stays).
Some of the prescription stuff is pretty scary as far as effects (immediate and sudden) and addiction factors go. Also, the hyponotic class of drugs (Ambien, etc.) is often only covered in fairly limited amounts by insurance plans and is WICKED expensive otherwise.
Unfortunately, the "this website looks funny" issue may not be the only issue. Instead, "my webmail is crippled" may be a more visible issue, particularly for the PHBs in the group.
At several of the organizations I've been involved with over the last couple of years, remote email (and calendar and discussion and ) has been via Outlook Web Access. Funny enough, usability tanks regarding attaching files, spell check, moving emails, preview panes, etc.
IMHO, it is not the internet at large that's the issue with browser shifts; it's the intranet.
I'm seeing a lot of incredulous posts regarding the ability of Microsoft/IBM's ability to put three cores on a die, etc. feasibly for power and/or cost reasons. However, IBM develops a number of lines of PowerPC family processors, not just those for Apple and RS-6000 workstations. My understanding is that these cores are some sort of hybrid between 4xx and 7xx (G) series processor cores. The 4xx cores are low power devices (with set-top box, printer, router applications) and are already in multi-core chips. I imagine that with a stripped down 7xx core and some of the low power features, the brains of Xenon will not melt the unit or break the banks of those poor, struggling artists at Microsoft.
Also, those wiley Brits attached cameras to the homing pigeons. They'd take them behind enemy lines, releasing the birds so they'd fly directly over strategic targets. The cameras simply had clockwork timer mechanisms to take the photos. At the spy museum in DC, they've got a display of some of the photography where you can see some interesting aerial photography (with the pigeon wingtips at the edge of the photo.)
While system costs are higher for the consumer assembling a system, I don't think that a product for the masses will encounter the same problems. Manufacturers enjoy economies of scale that we don't; otherwise the low price providers (Dell/HP/etc.) would still be selling generic beige boxes instead of snappy looking cases.
While clock speed is, on the surface, perhaps more relevant to RISC processors, it is not the end-all, be-all metric. Multiple pipelines (particularly specialty pipelines, a la FPUs), exception/branch handling capability (particularly pipeline flushing operations), memory/cache management, and a bevvy of other things are the real drivers for performance.
You mentioned using word. Have you considered using the equation editor plug-in that comes with MS Office? (Yeah, I know I'm cruising for an ass-kicking now...)
It is really simple to use in documents/spreadsheets/etc., it has a speedbump sized learning curve, it's WYSIWYG, and you've already got it.
I've noticed some folks comparing this to Transmeta. While similar, there are a few more comparable architectures out there.
Perhaps the most notable (in its conception, at least) was Seymour Cray's attempt at a Pentium Pro core + reprogrammable extensions (via FPGA or the like) at his post-Cray Research company. More recently, IBM licensed PowerPC cores for use by Xilinx. Up to four of those cores get thrown on the die with a Virtex-II FPGA (?); each of the cores has the ability to add opcodes in FPGA land.
Even more recently was my last company's valiant effort at something similar (and even cooler). RIP, SiliconMobius.
Just an FYI, Steve Chen ditched Cray in 1987 to start SSI (Supercomputer Systems Inc...not the game company). When I worked at Cray for a summer in 1997, some of the Cray folks were still peeved about it.
As far as Cray goes, they are pretty helpful when you contact them. I spent a half hour on the phone with a marketing person there for a project I was researching and got plenty of info.
Slashdot Mirror
C'mon. There are some really exciting Excel spreadsheets out there...like this one: http://www.geocities.jp/nchikada/pac/
Both in my corporate and graduate academic career, Excel is the most frequently used tool for data analysis. Not necessarily the most powerful, but likely the easiest and most flexible tool for most analysis applications.
At my last two companies I've been the first in my group to do any sort of pivot based reporting. Between the ability to drill down and swap criteria on the fly, I get all sorts of awed looks and positive comments.
This usually leads me to run a couple of informal classes for the department, which, in the end frees up my time since everyone is busy doing their own analysis...meaning I can spend my time on more important stuff, like Slashdot.
Excel is great for simple data analysis/tracking work--including simple, single user database applications. Access is great for slightly more complex, single user database applications only. Neither should be used for anything that requires multiple users, which is what leads people to bitch and moan about "M$ Applications Suxoring".
And by the way, I'd rather unravel an Excel nightmare than a clapped together Access database any day.
The perception, however, is that it is something mystical...however, it is, in the end, a pretty basic system.
http://portalofevil.com/
Companies of a certain size will have either internal or legal requirements to publicly post job listings. The reason? Legal defensibility against discriminatory hiring practices.
Don't get me wrong: networking is important to find out about the jobs or even get your foot in the door for small companies...but at companies of any size, you will be asked to submit your online resume for a specific job posting.
We broke the class out into groups of 4 or 5 students and had them each write a "program" on paper for a robot (me) to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. My partner read me each of the sets of instructions, resulting in peanut butter on my head, bread-jar-bread sandwiches, etc. The kids were howling, and in the end we collectively wrote a more successful sandwich program.
We got great feedback from teachers and students, as well as some very insightful questions from the kids.
And it was fun spreading myself with PB&J!
Having worked on the main IBM RTP (Research Triangle Park) NC campus several years ago, I can assure you that the security you encountered was out of the ordinary. When I worked there, my co-workers and I tried to outdo each other at the drive by security station at the entrance. The guards were supposed to check badges, but I got waved through after flashing business cards, playing cards, and even a pack of cigarettes once. Getting into the buildings was a little more difficult, but if you weren't too smelly, all you had to do was pat your pockets and look forlorn: someone would badge you in post-haste.
Growing up in South Dakota, we often got our first glance at new NES games at the arcade in the PlayChoice machines.
Some of the prescription stuff is pretty scary as far as effects (immediate and sudden) and addiction factors go. Also, the hyponotic class of drugs (Ambien, etc.) is often only covered in fairly limited amounts by insurance plans and is WICKED expensive otherwise.
At several of the organizations I've been involved with over the last couple of years, remote email (and calendar and discussion and ) has been via Outlook Web Access. Funny enough, usability tanks regarding attaching files, spell check, moving emails, preview panes, etc.
IMHO, it is not the internet at large that's the issue with browser shifts; it's the intranet.
I'm seeing a lot of incredulous posts regarding the ability of Microsoft/IBM's ability to put three cores on a die, etc. feasibly for power and/or cost reasons. However, IBM develops a number of lines of PowerPC family processors, not just those for Apple and RS-6000 workstations. My understanding is that these cores are some sort of hybrid between 4xx and 7xx (G) series processor cores. The 4xx cores are low power devices (with set-top box, printer, router applications) and are already in multi-core chips. I imagine that with a stripped down 7xx core and some of the low power features, the brains of Xenon will not melt the unit or break the banks of those poor, struggling artists at Microsoft.
Pretty ingenious!
While system costs are higher for the consumer assembling a system, I don't think that a product for the masses will encounter the same problems. Manufacturers enjoy economies of scale that we don't; otherwise the low price providers (Dell/HP/etc.) would still be selling generic beige boxes instead of snappy looking cases.
Check out Ministry Mobile's device. Vaporware?
While clock speed is, on the surface, perhaps more relevant to RISC processors, it is not the end-all, be-all metric. Multiple pipelines (particularly specialty pipelines, a la FPUs), exception/branch handling capability (particularly pipeline flushing operations), memory/cache management, and a bevvy of other things are the real drivers for performance.
Silly me...and I thought EP was Electrum Pieces. (Current Exchange Rate, 1gp=2ep=10sp)
It is really simple to use in documents/spreadsheets/etc., it has a speedbump sized learning curve, it's WYSIWYG, and you've already got it.
Perhaps the most notable (in its conception, at least) was Seymour Cray's attempt at a Pentium Pro core + reprogrammable extensions (via FPGA or the like) at his post-Cray Research company. More recently, IBM licensed PowerPC cores for use by Xilinx. Up to four of those cores get thrown on the die with a Virtex-II FPGA (?); each of the cores has the ability to add opcodes in FPGA land.
Even more recently was my last company's valiant effort at something similar (and even cooler). RIP, SiliconMobius.
Just an FYI, Steve Chen ditched Cray in 1987 to start SSI (Supercomputer Systems Inc...not the game company). When I worked at Cray for a summer in 1997, some of the Cray folks were still peeved about it. As far as Cray goes, they are pretty helpful when you contact them. I spent a half hour on the phone with a marketing person there for a project I was researching and got plenty of info.
When I was working on the embedded IBM PowerPCs (400 series), we used Verilog primarily...though there were a few VHDL hold-outs.