Let me tell you a parable. I have had pay cuts three years in a row now, but I managed to hang onto my job. My wife was not so lucky, has been out of work for a year.
I need to do a rather large capital outlay -- a roof on the house -- but I don't have the cash, and even if I could get the loan, it would be irresponsible to go deeper in debt right now, with my job in question and my wife out of work. Dig? As soon as things turn around, I'll be happy to spend the money, but right now, I've got to concentrate on more mundane, short term goals, like paying the mortgage and buying food. When money gets really tight, even heat is optional.
Now, I'm as big a fan of science as the next guy, am kinda pissed off that all those NASA projects got canceled, but I have to admit, although they *are* worth while, they are *not* enough worth while to warrant going deeper in debt. So I'm willing to wait until the economy is going again, even if it makes it less likely that I'll live to see man land on mars.
Investment in the sciences is vital to the race's continued well-being, or even existence, but there are times when you just have to say "not this year". Because when you're trying to make sure there will *be* a next year, what happens 50 or 100 years down the road becomes less important.
(1) Smart phones are more expensive short term, (2) Smart phones are wayyyyy more expensive long term (data plans), (3) Not everyone needs or wants mobile internet, (4) There is a lot to be said for a phone that makes and answers calls with absolute reliability, (5) has a simple interface, and (6) will last a week on one charge.
So yeah, I can see the appeal. Although my Droid X doesn't drop more than three or four calls a week, I'm getting a little tired of having to charge it every day, regardless of the cool geeky things it can do. And finally, internet over cellular has come a long way in the last ten years, -- it's definitely out of the "amazing it works at all" category -- but it's still nowhere near the performance you get with just about any ground based broadband connection (even over wifi).
When it comes right down to it, dumb phones still work better as a phone than do smart phones. We put up with the drawbacks of the smart phone because we're all geeks here and we appreciate the things a smart phone can do, but we need to understand that the great majority just want to call grandma.
Does he mean 4G that actually approaches theoretical speeds, or the abysmal a-little-faster-than-3G-but-we'll-take-what-we-can-get that we're seeing now?
> People in Manhattan, especially investment banker types, place a lot more value on things like the brands of their clothes than most people elsewhere.
Yes yes, I read (the slip cover to) American Psycho also.
But.... North Face? That's like saying "I stuffed the wreckage in the front pocket of my Robin's Egg Blue Sears Dads 'n' Lads polyester slacks".
I mean, I could see Helly Hansen, but... North Face? And even given that, why specify "black"? Is that, like, a designer color that costs extra?
(BTW, don't google "dads and lads". It doesn't mean what it used to... Ye gods...)
> The quote is from an article inthe Wall Street Journal, not some random blog.
Agreed, I would expect WSJ to be more likely to vet the story, but we've seen occurrences (two recently) of conventional news outlets repeating prank stories as true. Or, the story could be mostly true but the transcript could be faked. I dunno, all I'm saying is that regular people don't speak like that, but hoaxers do write like that.
Does anyone else think that the quote sounds like one of those fake quotes you see in mail hoaxes? For instance, why would he say "I put this stuff inside my black North Face jacket", which adds nothing to the story but is something a hoaxer would put in if he saw photos of Longueuil wearing North Face products. Besides, maybe the guy wasn't a Rhodes Scholar, but I have a hard time believing the managing director of a capital management firm speaks like a valley girl.
I'm not saying he's innocent, just that this news item doesn't look right.
...should only be $2, for an arcade style game, of which Angry Birds qualifies I think. If you want us to pay $50 for a game, it has to be exceptional, immersive, and not over in an evening. And that last part doesn't mean padding out thin content with "discover by trial and error the fifteen random things you must do in sequence to advance".
I have, and you're right. But I suspect that some will improve. There's a big gap in the $400 range for a smaller than 10" tablet with a capacitive screen, recent version of Android (not necessarily 3.0) and access to the Android market. If the mainstream suppliers don't offer one, the Chinese will fill the void.
What the hell are they thinking? Android tablets are coming from behind -- they are not in a position to charge a premium. Oh well, wait for the next one.
Those sub-$300 Chinese knock-offs are becoming more attractive.
As others have alluded, it's not the GPS, it's the maps. Any map can be wrong. A printed map can be wrong just as easily as an electronic map in a GPS unit can be wrong. Part of the problem might be that the view of your route is generally much narrower in the GPS, and it's more difficult to see that the route you're taking leads to a whole bunch of nothing in the middle of nowhere. If I'm going into an unknown area, I often zoom out the map just to make sure the road eventually connects somewhere. And even that isn't a perfect indication.
Also, just like paper maps, electronic maps get OLD. If you have a unit that gets maps off a DVD or internal storage, the information can get stale. If it doesn't update over the air, find out how to keep it current.
Now, GPS making nonoptimal decisions, like leading you off the freeway and right back on again (shortest route) or directing you to a 35mph "highway" that goes through a bunch of small towns instead of using the freeway, that's the GPS unit not the maps. Some of these problems can be fixed by changing the setup defaults, which most non-geeks aren't inclined to do. But this isn't really a map issue.
After a couple early incidents (gps trying to make me turn left on a one-way going right, or heading me up a road that clearly had been closed for years) I began using the GPS directions as advisory only. What I tell new GPS users is not to panic if you miss a turn or not sure it's giving you the right directions. All GPS units will recalculate if you miss a turn. Sometimes this means "I just didn't want to turn there". GPS is advisory only , just as if your spousal unit was in the passenger seat with a map and a compass.
...and optionally, traffic up ahead. Mine gets traffic info from XM, which includes accidents, road work and closed ramps. An occasional glance at the screen has allowed me to re-route around problems before drivers around me are even aware there is a problem.
So yes, it does stay on all the time. Doesn't mean I'm lost in my home town.
You're right, the kindle system is it's own closed garden. I guess the point I was making is that if Jobs tries to eck out more money from Amazon, and as a result Amazon doesn't want to play with Apple anymore, it's Apple's loss rather than Amazon's, as Kindle not only is it's own device [*] but is also a software application that runs practically everywhere. To me it's just another in a long list of reasons to get an Android table instead of an iPad.
Regarding free or cheap books from other sources, I do that too, but I maintain a different reader and library for the stuff that is not Kindle. It never occurred to me that it might all be integrated. Sadly, the industry doesn't really work that way.
[*] I don't really understand the appeal of the Kindle device, even though my wife owns one, and I don't see the point in owning one myself. Kindle app runs on my Droid X, my laptop, the company's iPad, my desktop, and that-all is more than good enough. I can't see carrying yet another device just to read books. But I have been reading books on general purpose PIMs since the mid-nineties, so I may not be the market Kindle sells to.
It'll either (1) be wildly profitable (I think this is unlikely) (2) be mildly profitable (3) Barely recoup costs, or (4) Hemorrhage money.
I think (2) or (3) are the most likely. I don't think it costs enough money to count as an hemorrhage especially considering it's modest costs compared to the company's total sales.
But no matter what happens, the industry will learn something from the experiment, so even if it's a total disaster, it won't be a failure.
Kindle works really well on ipad. It also works really well on Winders, OSX, Blackberry and Android phones and tablets, and it gives you access to your titles regardless of platform. For Apple to muck with this seems ill-advised. This will be entertaining to watch.
I have always marveled that there are so *few* rogue admins. In most companies we have access to *everything* -- Employee records, financials, AP/AR, and whatever anyone is doing on any PC or server. Yet reports of rogues intent on stealing or causing damage are rare. It usually goes the other direction -- the rogue takes action out of a concern that management isn't taking security seriously enough. I bet you could think of a few examples.
The question I would ask is: What is it about the job, or about the people you hire for the job, that causes the great majority to take their responsibilities so seriously?
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If you think a recession sucks, try a depression!
Let me tell you a parable. I have had pay cuts three years in a row now, but I managed to hang onto my job. My wife was not so lucky, has been out of work for a year.
I need to do a rather large capital outlay -- a roof on the house -- but I don't have the cash, and even if I could get the loan, it would be irresponsible to go deeper in debt right now, with my job in question and my wife out of work. Dig? As soon as things turn around, I'll be happy to spend the money, but right now, I've got to concentrate on more mundane, short term goals, like paying the mortgage and buying food. When money gets really tight, even heat is optional.
Now, I'm as big a fan of science as the next guy, am kinda pissed off that all those NASA projects got canceled, but I have to admit, although they *are* worth while, they are *not* enough worth while to warrant going deeper in debt. So I'm willing to wait until the economy is going again, even if it makes it less likely that I'll live to see man land on mars.
Investment in the sciences is vital to the race's continued well-being, or even existence, but there are times when you just have to say "not this year". Because when you're trying to make sure there will *be* a next year, what happens 50 or 100 years down the road becomes less important.
(1) Smart phones are more expensive short term, (2) Smart phones are wayyyyy more expensive long term (data plans), (3) Not everyone needs or wants mobile internet, (4) There is a lot to be said for a phone that makes and answers calls with absolute reliability, (5) has a simple interface, and (6) will last a week on one charge.
So yeah, I can see the appeal. Although my Droid X doesn't drop more than three or four calls a week, I'm getting a little tired of having to charge it every day, regardless of the cool geeky things it can do. And finally, internet over cellular has come a long way in the last ten years, -- it's definitely out of the "amazing it works at all" category -- but it's still nowhere near the performance you get with just about any ground based broadband connection (even over wifi).
When it comes right down to it, dumb phones still work better as a phone than do smart phones. We put up with the drawbacks of the smart phone because we're all geeks here and we appreciate the things a smart phone can do, but we need to understand that the great majority just want to call grandma.
Does he mean 4G that actually approaches theoretical speeds, or the abysmal a-little-faster-than-3G-but-we'll-take-what-we-can-get that we're seeing now?
Now that sounds more like American Psycho.
> People in Manhattan, especially investment banker types, place a lot more value on things like the brands of their clothes than most people elsewhere.
Yes yes, I read (the slip cover to) American Psycho also.
But.... North Face? That's like saying "I stuffed the wreckage in the front pocket of my Robin's Egg Blue Sears Dads 'n' Lads polyester slacks".
I mean, I could see Helly Hansen, but ... North Face? And even given that, why specify "black"? Is that, like, a designer color that costs extra?
(BTW, don't google "dads and lads". It doesn't mean what it used to... Ye gods...)
> The quote is from an article inthe Wall Street Journal, not some random blog.
Agreed, I would expect WSJ to be more likely to vet the story, but we've seen occurrences (two recently) of conventional news outlets repeating prank stories as true. Or, the story could be mostly true but the transcript could be faked. I dunno, all I'm saying is that regular people don't speak like that, but hoaxers do write like that.
Does anyone else think that the quote sounds like one of those fake quotes you see in mail hoaxes? For instance, why would he say "I put this stuff inside my black North Face jacket", which adds nothing to the story but is something a hoaxer would put in if he saw photos of Longueuil wearing North Face products. Besides, maybe the guy wasn't a Rhodes Scholar, but I have a hard time believing the managing director of a capital management firm speaks like a valley girl.
I'm not saying he's innocent, just that this news item doesn't look right.
> So what are you saying here? That you don't use Google, but you'd start in an instant if they just got rid of those pesky MPAA search results?
That's actually true (I use Yahoo currently for my search needs) but it's not the point I was trying to make.
Besides, I would consider an MPAA-free search engine a feature, and I suspect a lot of others would too.
I have, and you're right. But I suspect that some will improve. There's a big gap in the $400 range for a smaller than 10" tablet with a capacitive screen, recent version of Android (not necessarily 3.0) and access to the Android market. If the mainstream suppliers don't offer one, the Chinese will fill the void.
I don't consider Android tablets to be clones. But neither do I consider them top shelf.
What the hell are they thinking? Android tablets are coming from behind -- they are not in a position to charge a premium. Oh well, wait for the next one.
Those sub-$300 Chinese knock-offs are becoming more attractive.
> In Japan, robots are friendly helpers, not Terminators.
At least, for now.
C'mon, you wouldn't be posting here were you not a geek. What could I mean by "as yourself"? Approach the problem from a technical standpoint.
It's generally understood that you don't badmouth your employer, even if you work for the government.
As others have alluded, it's not the GPS, it's the maps. Any map can be wrong. A printed map can be wrong just as easily as an electronic map in a GPS unit can be wrong. Part of the problem might be that the view of your route is generally much narrower in the GPS, and it's more difficult to see that the route you're taking leads to a whole bunch of nothing in the middle of nowhere. If I'm going into an unknown area, I often zoom out the map just to make sure the road eventually connects somewhere. And even that isn't a perfect indication.
Also, just like paper maps, electronic maps get OLD. If you have a unit that gets maps off a DVD or internal storage, the information can get stale. If it doesn't update over the air, find out how to keep it current.
Now, GPS making nonoptimal decisions, like leading you off the freeway and right back on again (shortest route) or directing you to a 35mph "highway" that goes through a bunch of small towns instead of using the freeway, that's the GPS unit not the maps. Some of these problems can be fixed by changing the setup defaults, which most non-geeks aren't inclined to do. But this isn't really a map issue.
After a couple early incidents (gps trying to make me turn left on a one-way going right, or heading me up a road that clearly had been closed for years) I began using the GPS directions as advisory only. What I tell new GPS users is not to panic if you miss a turn or not sure it's giving you the right directions. All GPS units will recalculate if you miss a turn. Sometimes this means "I just didn't want to turn there". GPS is advisory only , just as if your spousal unit was in the passenger seat with a map and a compass.
So yes, it does stay on all the time. Doesn't mean I'm lost in my home town.
You're right, the kindle system is it's own closed garden. I guess the point I was making is that if Jobs tries to eck out more money from Amazon, and as a result Amazon doesn't want to play with Apple anymore, it's Apple's loss rather than Amazon's, as Kindle not only is it's own device [*] but is also a software application that runs practically everywhere. To me it's just another in a long list of reasons to get an Android table instead of an iPad.
Regarding free or cheap books from other sources, I do that too, but I maintain a different reader and library for the stuff that is not Kindle. It never occurred to me that it might all be integrated. Sadly, the industry doesn't really work that way.
[*] I don't really understand the appeal of the Kindle device, even though my wife owns one, and I don't see the point in owning one myself. Kindle app runs on my Droid X, my laptop, the company's iPad, my desktop, and that-all is more than good enough. I can't see carrying yet another device just to read books. But I have been reading books on general purpose PIMs since the mid-nineties, so I may not be the market Kindle sells to.
It'll either (1) be wildly profitable (I think this is unlikely) (2) be mildly profitable (3) Barely recoup costs, or (4) Hemorrhage money.
I think (2) or (3) are the most likely. I don't think it costs enough money to count as an hemorrhage especially considering it's modest costs compared to the company's total sales.
But no matter what happens, the industry will learn something from the experiment, so even if it's a total disaster, it won't be a failure.
Kindle works really well on ipad. It also works really well on Winders, OSX, Blackberry and Android phones and tablets, and it gives you access to your titles regardless of platform. For Apple to muck with this seems ill-advised. This will be entertaining to watch.
I'm thinking Marooned (1969).
Agreed. I mean, I understand the cultural significance of the white robe, but c'mon people!
I have always marveled that there are so *few* rogue admins. In most companies we have access to *everything* -- Employee records, financials, AP/AR, and whatever anyone is doing on any PC or server. Yet reports of rogues intent on stealing or causing damage are rare. It usually goes the other direction -- the rogue takes action out of a concern that management isn't taking security seriously enough. I bet you could think of a few examples.
The question I would ask is: What is it about the job, or about the people you hire for the job, that causes the great majority to take their responsibilities so seriously?