I have no beef with playing music. However, I do know peopel who go home, toss on the headphones and their 300 CD changer and aren't heard from again until the next morning.
They don't get out much. That is partly a result of the couple's dim finances, but also a result of Mr. Stenlund's dim view of humanity. "The more you deal with people, the more you hate people," he said. "It just feels that everybody is so asleep in this world."
So go out and do something to wake them up. Don't retreat to the electronic anaesthetics. TV, computer games, music - all these exist in some part to desensitize you to the world around you and the people you live near. Wake the hell up and wake up a neighbor while you're at it.
Except when you were terminated becasue you are a member of a protected class. Most states in the union are "at will" states, which mean that I can fire you for showing up with mismatched socks, and you can quit at any time without giving me notice.
Intelligent career management would indicate it's better to treat employees well on the way out so they don't try to sue you or steer clients/prospective employees away. It also would indicate that giving no notice when you quit is not going to help you if you run into one of your managers later on in life or if you were expecting a good recommendation.
But legally, I can term you for just about anything.
We don't play by the rules because so many of the rules have been shown to be artificial and senseless and for the benefit of an elite few rather than the many. If we all still played by the rules it'd be 1955 forever. Shudder.
So forget the box cutters, switchblades, AK-47's, exploding shoes, and hand grenades. All you apparently need to take down a big jet is a call to grandma?
The bad news is if these leads to a shortwave resurgence Clear Channel will buy up all the shortwave stations so they can broadcast crap music to the ends of the Earth.
This is very similar to what happened to a lot of towns in the South that offered big incentives to companies to relocate in their cities from the big cities up North. They were very successful by offering lower taxes, lower wages, and fewer regulatory burdens.
Then a few years later, along comes NAFTA and now Mexico offers lower taxes, lower wages, and fewer regulatory burdens. So the companies pick up and move south of the Rio Grande, and these Southern cities are shocked that these companies have no loyalty to their new Southern US homes.
In a race to the bottom, no one wins but the few at the top.
I'd like to get into a company that's producing instead of feeding meta-services to businesses (second level of abstraction businesses like investment banking, advertising, consulting), but there are fewer and fewer out there.
I'd LOVE to work for a manufacturer I thought had a good future and was doing good work in the U.S.
Dude, I'm so old I don't RUN around with signs anymore, I just shuffle.:)
I'm sure there will be success stories, but I do think the gold rush phase of IT where anyone with a brain and a strong back can do well (OK, a brain and a tolerance for lots of caffeine) are over.
I've come to the conclusion that IT is a dead end, at least IT as we've known it.
The traditional approach of in-house techs for companies doesn't work in a large company becasue the numbers people want to mess with the formula. They see the potential for consolidation which reduces the number of peope needed to support your network. Then they see cheaper programmers available in India or China or any one of several countries with decent education and low pay. So they export those jobs.
Eventually, they see a few ex-techies managing the people who used to be hot stuff making too much money to repeat decisions made by the senior management, and replace those with accounting types.
Remember in most companies it is the overriding goal of Finance to reduce costs. The other parts of the business bring in the profits. One way to reduce costs is to standardize jobs so they can be filled by less talented people with lower earnings.
There will always be a tech industry, but I'm not so sure with outsourcing and globalization that there will be a large American tech industry. The trained monkey jobs may be the last few left.
And so you know who's talking, I'm a VP of IT who worked his way up from general geek over the last 18 years. I've seen the trends play out and I just don't feel good about the future of our industry.
A better product is one that the user perceives as helping him get his job done. Open Source is irrelevant to the end-user. Can he make the documents and solve the problems he has with the tool?
I disagree with your dismissal of currently held knowledge about how software works. Imagine an automaker producing a car with an l-shaped lever instead of a steering wheel. Would it get used? Would it sell?
You should care about whether people will switch. If software doesn't have a critical mass of users, it will die. Software projects today are not solo efforts except for the most trivial products. Collaboration, whether through OpenSource or paid teams is critical. Where volunteers are required, it's essential that enthusiasm is maintained. An audience is the best way to keep that enthusiasm up. No one likes performing to an empty house.
It does make a difference. Remember Lotus Symphony? Remember WordStar? Remember Sidekick?
These were dominant programs in their time for their category. Now they're gone. It takes resources to keep software going, whether those resources are paid programmers or enthusiastic volunteers.
Especially in a volunteer environment, it's important to have replacement talent. Popularity = exposure to potential talent.
It's more the equivalent of "there's no compelling reason to switch to a linux desktop even with MS screwing me over on licensing."
Linux has to offer at least as good a product as Office XP for free or a BETTER product for a nominal charge to overcome the cost of retraining users.
Currently held knowledge about how to use applications is a real asset. Dispensing with that asset better come with some sort of real compensation if you want the world at large to switch.
Re:Relieble Review Site With Reference List
on
Too Much Free Software
·
· Score: 2, Informative
blab above this post mentions OSDir.com that goes a longish way towards the goal mentioned above.
Re:Try OSDir.com -for users more than developers.
on
Too Much Free Software
·
· Score: 1
Well, jeez. I just described a theoretical site like this and here you produce one.
What's needed is a respected site that maintains a well thought out list of recommended applications.
Go to this site and look up what the "accepted" standard application(s) is/are for whatever it is you're trying to do with an in-depth list of problems, strengths and weaknesses.
The key is to keep the list small and the keep the perspective that of the ordinary business user. There could also be similar lists focused on academic, personal, or scientific applications on the same site.
Anyone with some credibility willing to take this on? Maybe it has to be someone from the Windows side of the universe.
Slashdot Mirror
All things in moderation.
So go out and do something to wake them up. Don't retreat to the electronic anaesthetics. TV, computer games, music - all these exist in some part to desensitize you to the world around you and the people you live near. Wake the hell up and wake up a neighbor while you're at it.
I highly doubt all this. I think to prove it you should privately send me the name of the hiring manager there.
Intelligent career management would indicate it's better to treat employees well on the way out so they don't try to sue you or steer clients/prospective employees away. It also would indicate that giving no notice when you quit is not going to help you if you run into one of your managers later on in life or if you were expecting a good recommendation.
But legally, I can term you for just about anything.
We don't play by the rules because so many of the rules have been shown to be artificial and senseless and for the benefit of an elite few rather than the many. If we all still played by the rules it'd be 1955 forever. Shudder.
I don't think so.
The bad news is if these leads to a shortwave resurgence Clear Channel will buy up all the shortwave stations so they can broadcast crap music to the ends of the Earth.
Then a few years later, along comes NAFTA and now Mexico offers lower taxes, lower wages, and fewer regulatory burdens. So the companies pick up and move south of the Rio Grande, and these Southern cities are shocked that these companies have no loyalty to their new Southern US homes.
In a race to the bottom, no one wins but the few at the top.
It's the condom of computing and colleges are the Bangkok of computer STD's.
Who can burn the Shire, fill us all with fear?
Burn down all the villages and then pee in our beer?
The Saru-man can. Yes, the Saru-man can.
The Saru-man can 'cause he mixes it with mud and makes an army of orcs.
I don't think there's an uptick in sight.
Dude, get a hamburger and chill. Or "cowburger" if you prefer.
Nah, USB is too reliable. A USB girlfriend would never go down.
I mean, like, crash and stuff. Jeez, get your mind out of the gutter.
Did you hear they cancelled Easter this year? Yep, they found the body.
The danger is with Indian workers who speak English well and live in India where a good salary is what we spend on our car payments.
I'd like to get into a company that's producing instead of feeding meta-services to businesses (second level of abstraction businesses like investment banking, advertising, consulting), but there are fewer and fewer out there.
I'd LOVE to work for a manufacturer I thought had a good future and was doing good work in the U.S.
I'm sure there will be success stories, but I do think the gold rush phase of IT where anyone with a brain and a strong back can do well (OK, a brain and a tolerance for lots of caffeine) are over.
I'm not so sure those cheaper programmers come from recent graduate pools as from India, etc...
The traditional approach of in-house techs for companies doesn't work in a large company becasue the numbers people want to mess with the formula. They see the potential for consolidation which reduces the number of peope needed to support your network. Then they see cheaper programmers available in India or China or any one of several countries with decent education and low pay. So they export those jobs.
Eventually, they see a few ex-techies managing the people who used to be hot stuff making too much money to repeat decisions made by the senior management, and replace those with accounting types.
Remember in most companies it is the overriding goal of Finance to reduce costs. The other parts of the business bring in the profits. One way to reduce costs is to standardize jobs so they can be filled by less talented people with lower earnings.
There will always be a tech industry, but I'm not so sure with outsourcing and globalization that there will be a large American tech industry. The trained monkey jobs may be the last few left.
And so you know who's talking, I'm a VP of IT who worked his way up from general geek over the last 18 years. I've seen the trends play out and I just don't feel good about the future of our industry.
I disagree with your dismissal of currently held knowledge about how software works. Imagine an automaker producing a car with an l-shaped lever instead of a steering wheel. Would it get used? Would it sell?
You should care about whether people will switch. If software doesn't have a critical mass of users, it will die. Software projects today are not solo efforts except for the most trivial products. Collaboration, whether through OpenSource or paid teams is critical. Where volunteers are required, it's essential that enthusiasm is maintained. An audience is the best way to keep that enthusiasm up. No one likes performing to an empty house.
These were dominant programs in their time for their category. Now they're gone. It takes resources to keep software going, whether those resources are paid programmers or enthusiastic volunteers.
Especially in a volunteer environment, it's important to have replacement talent. Popularity = exposure to potential talent.
Linux has to offer at least as good a product as Office XP for free or a BETTER product for a nominal charge to overcome the cost of retraining users.
Currently held knowledge about how to use applications is a real asset. Dispensing with that asset better come with some sort of real compensation if you want the world at large to switch.
blab above this post mentions OSDir.com that goes a longish way towards the goal mentioned above.
This needs more publicity.
Go to this site and look up what the "accepted" standard application(s) is/are for whatever it is you're trying to do with an in-depth list of problems, strengths and weaknesses.
The key is to keep the list small and the keep the perspective that of the ordinary business user. There could also be similar lists focused on academic, personal, or scientific applications on the same site.
Anyone with some credibility willing to take this on? Maybe it has to be someone from the Windows side of the universe.