If you read the article you will find that the transcription services was contracted to a company at about the 17-20 cent level that you claimed, and then furthe sub contracted to another company etc etc ad nauseum until it all came crashing down.
So i would suggest you check your "local" transcription service to see who they are subcontracting to etc etc. that may just save your gluteus maximus
Suchetha
as someone who has been through both the "asian" system and the american system (12 years grade school in sri lanka, and 3 years college in the US), i can say that there are major differences in teh two systems.
in Sri Lanka (most other asian countries are like this i think) you stay in one class and your teachers come to you. the emphasis is on memorisation and rote learning. the text books are mandated by the government and may or may not be accurate. god help you if you dare to question the teachers, or what is taught you. while this system is good for some, it did NOT work for people like me who tend to question what the teacher says.
College in the US was a refreshing change for me. i loved that i could challenge the lecturer's facts and study in my own style rather than the rote learning i was used to. however, my earlier schooling in good stead as i was thoroughly drilled in some of the concepts that the US teaches at a college level. for those who think that the comparison between grade school and uniis unfair, i can assure you that the system of rote learning goes on into the local uni too. in fact my father was stunned/shocked to learn that they are still using the same note in the engineering faculty that he used when he graduated in the 60's
i think that the US has concentrated TOO much on randomised learning in grade school, taking to one extreme what the asians have taken to the other. which is why asian students tend to excel in your system - either they or their parents have spent time in the other system and therefore push the students into some form of extra rote learning. the ideal would be a mix of the two.
the advantages here are that those people who grew up in rote learning make good workers (code monkeys) and those in the randomised system make good "ideas people." it is simply a fact that the rote learning method tends to stifle creativity and lateral thinking. this means that people like me who have not been academically successful, can get into creative fields like conceptualisation and have a group of people who are focused on the work to bring our concepts to fruition
employees are the weakest link in a situation like this.
i remember working for a radio station here in sri lanka and we used to go on a "sticker jam" where we would stop vehicles on the road, or go into shops or wherever and paste promotional stickers.
its amazing what happens when you walk in with a bag full of swag (nothing major, just a few plastic keytags, some notepads etc etc) and you spread some of it around and the emplyees would not only let you paste your stickers, but would actually help.
and i HAVE seen situations where when the boss/manager comes to ask why his shop is suddenly covered in stickers, they blithely say "they just came and did it"
never ascribe to malice what can be adequately explained by stupidity
i was browsing through their site on IE(not my home/work box) when the chat came up. i have to say the person behind the screen was quite helpful (do they ALL call themselves john??) and managed to answer my questions inteligently, and bounced me up to the next level when we got beyond their level of expertise/authority
the next time i visited was on moz (my box) and the popup didn't show until i asked for it.
the team were helpful and i WAS looking for a solution so i didn't find it intrusive at all..
YMMV
Suchetha
Earth was a good (even great) book. and i still read it often. in that the concept of subvocalising was taken very seriously, and followed to extremely plausible levels. what i liked was the idea that in order to use a subvocal system properly, you had to be more in touch with your "inner beings" so that you could filter them out properly. the idea that a good subvocaliser could make the use seem close to mind to machine links were also interesting
in Sri Lanka, and something like this would be very helpful for us. would save the problems you get with having to help people bathe themselves. all you have to do is lead them to the unit and help them in.. the machine does the rest.
this would save in time and labour as well as being more comfortable for the person being washed than having a human do it for them. it IS a pride thing, but people prefer to be helped into something like this than have the "stigma" of being so helpless that they need some one to wash them.
The RIAA sues Big Blue for creating a "haven for filthy music pirates"..
Kazaa file numbers shoot up
SCO sues IBM (again) because this "Storage tank" is just like the one they got to hold the shit that comes out of the SCO office toilet before it is tossed at Linux users
when i was in college (a long time back) i took part as a grunt level "listener" for aome music contest where you had to send in demo tapes. every day for an hour we would sit and listen to amateur music.. some of them were gems.. most were mediocre.. the rest of them.. lets just say that i STILL have nightmares about them.. sheesh..
Suchetha
< do you REALLY want to hear a "well produced" recording of someone essentially doing karaoke?? >
searching for and downloading all the latest versions and rependencies of all my favourite software - 168 hours
burning it on to a cdrom - 1 hour
time between burning the CD and seeing Samba 3 and XFCE 4 come out - 24 hours
time spent blueing the air with cursewords - endless
if you want a system patch that breaks the system every 6 months use Micro$0ft, for everything else there's Linux
you know.. this is nuts... i JUST finished compiling gaim.68 when i read this.. i was reading slashdot while the make was running.. ah well back to sourceforge.. (and yes i DID see that gaim.69 is only in CVS.. but still.. if i'd known i would have skipped.68 and gone straight to.69)
And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.
this idea is Blatantly Stolen from David Brin's novel "Earth." but in a religious sense God's first positive order to Adam (not eating of the Tree was a NEGATIVE order) was to name the animals in creation. which is what we STILL do when we find something new.. we name it, categorise it, identify it. therefore it is a religious IMPERATIVE for us to travel forth to the stars so that we may continue with the first job God gave us. that of finding and naming everything in creation
Suchetha
*note, i am a non theist, but this is as good a reason to go to space as any
i just want to note that USING something for an illegal, dangerous or terroristic activity is legal.. the ACTIVITY is illegal but not USING something FOR it. Semantics you may say.. but as far as i know you can't get hauled off into jail for USING a gun to kill someone, but for the actual ACT of killing someone.
I had that problem too, until i discovered Apollon
It uses the kazaa network (with the FastTrack plugin), isnot quite as friendly/easy to use as kazaa but "'twil do, 'twil serve"..
the apollon site has all the links you need. good luck and happy grabbing
people will pay for content as soon as they are given content that is worth paying for. doesn't matter if its music, or news , or the britney spears lesbian goat pr0n mpeg. we will pay for it if we think its worth it (and if we are SURE we can't get it for free somewhere else)
In Sri Lanka all we get IS bootlegs. As of writing
Software - Rupees 80 per CD (no matter what the title is price is no of cd's in package * 80)
Music - Rs. 100 (this is with inserts and everything indistinguishable from the originals unless you read the spelling carefully
VCD Movies - Rs. 120
DVD's - Rs. 250
US$1 = SLRs 100 (more or less)
I don't buy much music because its all top 40 drek, i prefer to download what i can off kazaa, but i DO buy a goodly amount of DVD's. (miss having the inserts and all that though, but no doubt they'l start to add them in soon)
recently (last week) they enacted an IP law in SL (mainly so that we can get a favoured nation status with the US), but i see this having little to no effect on the bootleggers.
Slashdot Mirror
.. but WHERE is your other hand
but seriously, back away from the computers, the men in white coats will be here shortly.
don't worry, everything is going to be ok.
.. and trust me on the sunscreen
where do you work then?
If you read the article you will find that the transcription services was contracted to a company at about the 17-20 cent level that you claimed, and then furthe sub contracted to another company etc etc ad nauseum until it all came crashing down.
So i would suggest you check your "local" transcription service to see who they are subcontracting to etc etc. that may just save your gluteus maximus
Suchetha
as someone who has been through both the "asian" system and the american system (12 years grade school in sri lanka, and 3 years college in the US), i can say that there are major differences in teh two systems.
in Sri Lanka (most other asian countries are like this i think) you stay in one class and your teachers come to you. the emphasis is on memorisation and rote learning. the text books are mandated by the government and may or may not be accurate. god help you if you dare to question the teachers, or what is taught you. while this system is good for some, it did NOT work for people like me who tend to question what the teacher says.
College in the US was a refreshing change for me. i loved that i could challenge the lecturer's facts and study in my own style rather than the rote learning i was used to. however, my earlier schooling in good stead as i was thoroughly drilled in some of the concepts that the US teaches at a college level. for those who think that the comparison between grade school and uniis unfair, i can assure you that the system of rote learning goes on into the local uni too. in fact my father was stunned/shocked to learn that they are still using the same note in the engineering faculty that he used when he graduated in the 60's
i think that the US has concentrated TOO much on randomised learning in grade school, taking to one extreme what the asians have taken to the other. which is why asian students tend to excel in your system - either they or their parents have spent time in the other system and therefore push the students into some form of extra rote learning. the ideal would be a mix of the two.
the advantages here are that those people who grew up in rote learning make good workers (code monkeys) and those in the randomised system make good "ideas people." it is simply a fact that the rote learning method tends to stifle creativity and lateral thinking. this means that people like me who have not been academically successful, can get into creative fields like conceptualisation and have a group of people who are focused on the work to bring our concepts to fruition
Suchethaagreed.
employees are the weakest link in a situation like this.
i remember working for a radio station here in sri lanka and we used to go on a "sticker jam" where we would stop vehicles on the road, or go into shops or wherever and paste promotional stickers.
its amazing what happens when you walk in with a bag full of swag (nothing major, just a few plastic keytags, some notepads etc etc) and you spread some of it around and the emplyees would not only let you paste your stickers, but would actually help.
and i HAVE seen situations where when the boss/manager comes to ask why his shop is suddenly covered in stickers, they blithely say "they just came and did it"
never ascribe to malice what can be adequately explained by stupidity
Suchetha
i was browsing through their site on IE(not my home/work box) when the chat came up. i have to say the person behind the screen was quite helpful (do they ALL call themselves john??) and managed to answer my questions inteligently, and bounced me up to the next level when we got beyond their level of expertise/authority
the next time i visited was on moz (my box) and the popup didn't show until i asked for it.
the team were helpful and i WAS looking for a solution so i didn't find it intrusive at all..
YMMV
Suchetha
i take it you're upset about this then?
Earth was a good (even great) book. and i still read it often. in that the concept of subvocalising was taken very seriously, and followed to extremely plausible levels. what i liked was the idea that in order to use a subvocal system properly, you had to be more in touch with your "inner beings" so that you could filter them out properly. the idea that a good subvocaliser could make the use seem close to mind to machine links were also interesting
reading /.
in Sri Lanka, and something like this would be very helpful for us. would save the problems you get with having to help people bathe themselves. all you have to do is lead them to the unit and help them in.. the machine does the rest.
this would save in time and labour as well as being more comfortable for the person being washed than having a human do it for them. it IS a pride thing, but people prefer to be helped into something like this than have the "stigma" of being so helpless that they need some one to wash them.
The RIAA sues Big Blue for creating a "haven for filthy music pirates"..
Kazaa file numbers shoot up
SCO sues IBM (again) because this "Storage tank" is just like the one they got to hold the shit that comes out of the SCO office toilet before it is tossed at Linux users
ok so it's not THAT funny
Suchetha
when i was in college (a long time back) i took part as a grunt level "listener" for aome music contest where you had to send in demo tapes. every day for an hour we would sit and listen to amateur music.. some of them were gems.. most were mediocre.. the rest of them.. lets just say that i STILL have nightmares about them.. sheesh..
Suchetha
< do you REALLY want to hear a "well produced" recording of someone essentially doing karaoke?? >
searching for and downloading all the latest versions and rependencies of all my favourite software - 168 hours
burning it on to a cdrom - 1 hour
time between burning the CD and seeing Samba 3 and XFCE 4 come out - 24 hours
time spent blueing the air with cursewords - endless
if you want a system patch that breaks the system every 6 months use Micro$0ft, for everything else there's Linux
that's not a cron job, that's a dependency
Suchetha
modreators please mod the parent up, he's making a valid point
you know.. this is nuts... i JUST finished compiling gaim .68 when i read this.. i was reading slashdot while the make was running.. ah well back to sourceforge.. (and yes i DID see that gaim .69 is only in CVS.. but still.. if i'd known i would have skipped .68 and gone straight to .69)
Suchetha
Genesis 2:19
And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.
this idea is Blatantly Stolen from David Brin's novel "Earth." but in a religious sense God's first positive order to Adam (not eating of the Tree was a NEGATIVE order) was to name the animals in creation. which is what we STILL do when we find something new.. we name it, categorise it, identify it. therefore it is a religious IMPERATIVE for us to travel forth to the stars so that we may continue with the first job God gave us. that of finding and naming everything in creation
Suchetha
*note, i am a non theist, but this is as good a reason to go to space as any
A BBC team performed the most extensive scan of Loch Ness so far and have failed to find Nessie. ahh well, maybe we can have hope for Champ
Suchetha
i just want to note that USING something for an illegal, dangerous or terroristic activity is legal.. the ACTIVITY is illegal but not USING something FOR it. Semantics you may say.. but as far as i know you can't get hauled off into jail for USING a gun to kill someone, but for the actual ACT of killing someone.
i find it interesting that the ABC article mentions shotguns and the yahoo article mentions .22 rifles..
.22 rifles aren't much use for anything more than squirrel shooting, while a shotgun is a much more serious affair..
i'm not a ballistics expert but
Suchetha
I had that problem too, until i discovered Apollon
It uses the kazaa network (with the FastTrack plugin), isnot quite as friendly/easy to use as kazaa but "'twil do, 'twil serve"..
the apollon site has all the links you need. good luck and happy grabbing
Suchetha
water boatmen are not water striders
Suchetha
people will pay for content as soon as they are given content that is worth paying for. doesn't matter if its music, or news , or the britney spears lesbian goat pr0n mpeg. we will pay for it if we think its worth it (and if we are SURE we can't get it for free somewhere else)
Suchetha
In Sri Lanka all we get IS bootlegs. As of writing
Software - Rupees 80 per CD (no matter what the title is price is no of cd's in package * 80)
Music - Rs. 100 (this is with inserts and everything indistinguishable from the originals unless you read the spelling carefully
VCD Movies - Rs. 120
DVD's - Rs. 250
US$1 = SLRs 100 (more or less)
I don't buy much music because its all top 40 drek, i prefer to download what i can off kazaa, but i DO buy a goodly amount of DVD's. (miss having the inserts and all that though, but no doubt they'l start to add them in soon)
recently (last week) they enacted an IP law in SL (mainly so that we can get a favoured nation status with the US), but i see this having little to no effect on the bootleggers.
Suchetha