The spreadsheet is probably one of the most valuable software contributions in history -- it's used in sciences for data analysis, business for financial analysis, small clubs for keeping organized lists, small businesses as a data source for mail merges... the list is probably miles long.
While a student at Harvard Business School, Bricklin co-developed VisiCalc in 1979, making it the first electronic spreadsheet[dubious â" discuss]. It ran on an Apple II computer, and was considered a fourth generation software program. VisiCalc is widely credited for fueling the rapid growth of the personal computer industry. Instead of doing financial projections with manually calculated spreadsheets, and having to recalculate with every single cell in the sheet, VisiCalc allowed the user to change any cell, and have the entire sheet automatically recalculated. This turned 20 hours of work into 15 minutes and allowed for more creativity.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Bricklin
Dan Bricklin didn't become super rich, but he literally changed the world. I saw a documentary once in which an accountant or some type of professional said that the first time he saw a computerized spreadsheet, he cried, because it took out so much drudgery it could make his work fun again.
If Bricklin had not been getting an MBA, would he have gotten the idea? I'm guessing he looked at hours of paper and pencil boredom recalculating cells, and realized that there was a better way to do it because of his computer background.
Moral: Bricklin's background in computer-science when coupled with exposure to an unrelated area, showed him a need and in the process, he changed the world.
Alternate Moral: If accountants and MBAs had stepped outside their study area and looked at computer-science, they could have changed the world themselves
Take the general education topics because the more areas you know about, the more likely it is you will be able to see an area with undeveloped potential, and the more likely you are to then use your programming skills to contribute something new. Without exposure to different areas, you may find yourself only working on other people's ideas which increases the likelihood you'll just be a grunt. With more exposure, you increase your chances of being the person who identifies an unmet need which increases your opportunity to hit it big. No guarantee of course, just a better chance, but isn't some opportunity better than no opportunity?
I'm as anti-police state as you can get, and the story you tell if true would be very seriously egregious. However, you should do the google work and post a citation. There is one fact in the story that is glaringly wrong -- the Feds don't keep birth certificates, states do that. Secondly, it wouldn't take months of labor to earn enough to get a copy -- I would guess the usual price is $15-30, so two weeks to a month.
I bank at a locally owned bank for my business and my personal accounts. I end up there several times per week for deposits and such, and so I know everyone who works there and they know me. When I forget my wallet at home, I walk down to the bank (1.5 blocks from my office), ask for a counter check (totally blank check, doesn't even have a printed account number) and get some lunch money from my personal account. No need for ID or anything at all. I don't even have to tell them my name.
Sometimes the old ways, i.e., personally knowing who you do business with, are just easier and better. In a fully digital impersonal world, if I forget my wallet I'm going hungry.
Everybody does something that other people can point at. Are you a runner? I sure don't want to pay for your knee replacements. Mountain biker -- not fair to make me pay for your shattered shoulder. You like to go fishing -- why should I pay for your rescue when you fall overboard? Stay at home in a padded room to avoid all dangers -- why should I pay for your heart attack due to a sedentary lifestyle?
Basically, pick anything -- everything has its dangers.
For example, the state of New Jersey â" not the NRC â" had ordered Oyster Creek to build cooling towers to protect sea life in nearby Barnegat Bay. Owner Exelon Corp. said that would cost about $750 million and force it to close the reactor â" 20-year license extension notwithstanding. Even with the announcement to close in 2019, Oyster Creek will have been in operation for 50 years.
So, for $750m, Exelon would get another 10 years of reactor use, but it won't spend that money. When given a choice between building new reactors or extending old ones, what do you really think the companies are going to choose? You blame this all on enviro-whakos, but the truth is, the new plants would not be built even if every American was nuke-nut simply because the costs are too high to decommission an old one and build a new one, particularly when compared to simply doing nothing and collecting money.
Of course, what we actually have is a plutocracy because all legislative power resides in those who can buy politicians... and they don't come cheap. Well, maybe a city councilperson could be had for a few grand, but if you want (or don't want) some particular Federal legislation -- the purchase price is way beyond the means of the average American.
Maybe true. But what we have, i.e., purchased legislation, is equally bad if not worse because only the most fabulously wealthy can afford the sticker price.
I know exactly what you mean -- I hate that is gone from the frontpage. You can still get there by looking at your streaming que, but it's a couple clicks away. Was better right at the top.
(*) Well maybe a little -- an estimated 12 million barrels: http://www1.korea-np.co.jp/pk/072nd_issue/98120202.htm For context, the US burns 19.15m barrels per day, so N. Korea's potential reserves amount to about a 15 hour supply for the US. In other words, N. Korea has no oil.
Since when has fear mongering been solely a Republican vice? Remember Senator Clinton got right in line behind Bush to start the Iraq fiasco ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtK9AzcU42g ), and Obama has gotten us into a third war.
The only hope we have is that China will stop lending us money to blow up shit, but neither Democrats nor Republicans have demonstrated any motivation to decelerate our entry into any war possible.
I refer to him as ScumBucket Obama, successor to ScumBucket Bush. Considering Obama's attacks on the 4th and 5th amendments, and mixing in the fact he is a constitutional scholar, he is way more scummy than that Tard Bush.
I'm having a hard time thinking of an office that deserves more disrespect than POTUS. Between Obama and Bush who've been doing everything they can to convert the P to an E ("emperor"), our current rash of presidents deserve less respect than gutter rolling crack whores.
And the President is not a Democrat? The President could have vetoed the law yes? He could have let it sit around and not extend the PATRIOT act correct? What did our Democratic President do -- he went to great lengths to make sure it was signed.
If you think it makes a difference whether we have Democrats or Republicans in WA DC, you are deluded. Together they form a monoparty hell bent on shredding every word in the Constitution as we hurtle toward an Imperial Presidency.
Bush, Obama -- no difference except that even Bush didn't publicly suggest he could execute American citizens on his say so alone without even a show trial. Obama owns that.
The only "people" who have any power are the mega-corps. For example, the Supreme Court has consistently screwed humans with the State Secrets Doctrine, but when Boeing is on the chopping block, the Supreme Court tells the Feds to back off:
It is about robbery. It is robbery for TEPCO to reap the profits and yet transfer the burdens of its incompetence to tax payers. Madof was a little more direct about his robbery, but TEPCO and Madof are on equal moral footing.
Uh no. That would be the Enrons and TEPCOs and Madof's of the world -- the people that like to steel shit, either directly, or by skimping on maintenance, sound site placement, and push for endless license extensions and then cry to the government that they can't pay to clean up their mess and compensate victims. It isn't nutty to distrust every single word the nuclear industry speaks -- it's rational. It's only tards like you that are still susceptible to the BS.
Well, I was one of those annoying "I don't watch TV" people from 1993 till ________. I'm not sure what to put as the end date as I'm fuzzy about how to consider things. I remember after 2002 or so, watching all the TV I had missed in the 90s on DVDs I got from Netflix, and then watching lots of things on Netflix streaming. Is it "watching TV" if there are no ads and you do it on your schedule? Anyway, I still don't watch broadcast/cabled TV in any form specifically _because_ of the advertising. So for some people, advertising (or its avoidance) is a rather big deal.
Exactly. I use Netflix streaming a lot -- the price is right and I usually have no trouble finding something I want to watch when I want to watch it. I think the fact that its bandwidth usage exceeds P2P transfers is something the industry should notice. Many people are perfectly happy obtaining their content legally -- they just need an outlet that provides it at a reasonable cost without BS ads. If the industry doesn't provide, people will get it other ways (i.e., piracy), but if it is made easily available at affordable rates without advertising and its associated delays/annoyances, people will devour it. The proof is Netflix.
Slashdot Mirror
Dan Bricklin didn't become super rich, but he literally changed the world. I saw a documentary once in which an accountant or some type of professional said that the first time he saw a computerized spreadsheet, he cried, because it took out so much drudgery it could make his work fun again.
If Bricklin had not been getting an MBA, would he have gotten the idea? I'm guessing he looked at hours of paper and pencil boredom recalculating cells, and realized that there was a better way to do it because of his computer background.
Moral: Bricklin's background in computer-science when coupled with exposure to an unrelated area, showed him a need and in the process, he changed the world.
Alternate Moral: If accountants and MBAs had stepped outside their study area and looked at computer-science, they could have changed the world themselves
Take the general education topics because the more areas you know about, the more likely it is you will be able to see an area with undeveloped potential, and the more likely you are to then use your programming skills to contribute something new. Without exposure to different areas, you may find yourself only working on other people's ideas which increases the likelihood you'll just be a grunt. With more exposure, you increase your chances of being the person who identifies an unmet need which increases your opportunity to hit it big. No guarantee of course, just a better chance, but isn't some opportunity better than no opportunity?
Thank you for the citation, and very easy to google under your second message.
I'm as anti-police state as you can get, and the story you tell if true would be very seriously egregious. However, you should do the google work and post a citation. There is one fact in the story that is glaringly wrong -- the Feds don't keep birth certificates, states do that. Secondly, it wouldn't take months of labor to earn enough to get a copy -- I would guess the usual price is $15-30, so two weeks to a month.
Indeed -- FBI is great at DOS apparently.
I bank at a locally owned bank for my business and my personal accounts. I end up there several times per week for deposits and such, and so I know everyone who works there and they know me. When I forget my wallet at home, I walk down to the bank (1.5 blocks from my office), ask for a counter check (totally blank check, doesn't even have a printed account number) and get some lunch money from my personal account. No need for ID or anything at all. I don't even have to tell them my name.
Sometimes the old ways, i.e., personally knowing who you do business with, are just easier and better. In a fully digital impersonal world, if I forget my wallet I'm going hungry.
Shrinky Dinks!
Everybody does something that other people can point at. Are you a runner? I sure don't want to pay for your knee replacements. Mountain biker -- not fair to make me pay for your shattered shoulder. You like to go fishing -- why should I pay for your rescue when you fall overboard? Stay at home in a padded room to avoid all dangers -- why should I pay for your heart attack due to a sedentary lifestyle?
Basically, pick anything -- everything has its dangers.
So, for $750m, Exelon would get another 10 years of reactor use, but it won't spend that money. When given a choice between building new reactors or extending old ones, what do you really think the companies are going to choose? You blame this all on enviro-whakos, but the truth is, the new plants would not be built even if every American was nuke-nut simply because the costs are too high to decommission an old one and build a new one, particularly when compared to simply doing nothing and collecting money.
Of course, what we actually have is a plutocracy because all legislative power resides in those who can buy politicians ... and they don't come cheap. Well, maybe a city councilperson could be had for a few grand, but if you want (or don't want) some particular Federal legislation -- the purchase price is way beyond the means of the average American.
Maybe true. But what we have, i.e., purchased legislation, is equally bad if not worse because only the most fabulously wealthy can afford the sticker price.
I know exactly what you mean -- I hate that is gone from the frontpage. You can still get there by looking at your streaming que, but it's a couple clicks away. Was better right at the top.
Lame -- GP is a goatse. Totally ruined my joke -- or wait -- maybe it's a better joke now?
goatse
eh -- it's OK. Couple that with a real doll and I'll be impressed.
N. Korea has no oil (*), nor is it in any shipping lanes. It's safe.
Libya: oil exporter
Iraq: oil exporter
Afghanistan: Trans-Afghanistan Pipeline (proposed Natural Gas route)
(*) Well maybe a little -- an estimated 12 million barrels: http://www1.korea-np.co.jp/pk/072nd_issue/98120202.htm
For context, the US burns 19.15m barrels per day, so N. Korea's potential reserves amount to about a 15 hour supply for the US. In other words, N. Korea has no oil.
Since when has fear mongering been solely a Republican vice? Remember Senator Clinton got right in line behind Bush to start the Iraq fiasco ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtK9AzcU42g ), and Obama has gotten us into a third war.
The only hope we have is that China will stop lending us money to blow up shit, but neither Democrats nor Republicans have demonstrated any motivation to decelerate our entry into any war possible.
I refer to him as ScumBucket Obama, successor to ScumBucket Bush. Considering Obama's attacks on the 4th and 5th amendments, and mixing in the fact he is a constitutional scholar, he is way more scummy than that Tard Bush.
I'm having a hard time thinking of an office that deserves more disrespect than POTUS. Between Obama and Bush who've been doing everything they can to convert the P to an E ("emperor"), our current rash of presidents deserve less respect than gutter rolling crack whores.
And the President is not a Democrat? The President could have vetoed the law yes? He could have let it sit around and not extend the PATRIOT act correct? What did our Democratic President do -- he went to great lengths to make sure it was signed.
If you think it makes a difference whether we have Democrats or Republicans in WA DC, you are deluded. Together they form a monoparty hell bent on shredding every word in the Constitution as we hurtle toward an Imperial Presidency.
Bush, Obama -- no difference except that even Bush didn't publicly suggest he could execute American citizens on his say so alone without even a show trial. Obama owns that.
The only "people" who have any power are the mega-corps. For example, the Supreme Court has consistently screwed humans with the State Secrets Doctrine, but when Boeing is on the chopping block, the Supreme Court tells the Feds to back off:
OK to invoke when torturing people (Obama's stated preference to the court): http://newsandinsight.thomsonreuters.com/California/News/2011/05_-_May/U_S__Supreme_Court_allows_Boeing_CIA_torture_suit_dismissal/
but the Feds can't get any money out of Boeing if the feds are going to invoke State Secrets with respect to one of Boeing's defenses:
http://blog.seattlepi.com/aerospace/2011/05/23/boeing-says-its-happy-with-suprem-courts-a-12-ruling/
100k when you are 19 is a boatload of money.
It is about robbery. It is robbery for TEPCO to reap the profits and yet transfer the burdens of its incompetence to tax payers. Madof was a little more direct about his robbery, but TEPCO and Madof are on equal moral footing.
Uh no. That would be the Enrons and TEPCOs and Madof's of the world -- the people that like to steel shit, either directly, or by skimping on maintenance, sound site placement, and push for endless license extensions and then cry to the government that they can't pay to clean up their mess and compensate victims. It isn't nutty to distrust every single word the nuclear industry speaks -- it's rational. It's only tards like you that are still susceptible to the BS.
Well, I was one of those annoying "I don't watch TV" people from 1993 till ________. I'm not sure what to put as the end date as I'm fuzzy about how to consider things. I remember after 2002 or so, watching all the TV I had missed in the 90s on DVDs I got from Netflix, and then watching lots of things on Netflix streaming. Is it "watching TV" if there are no ads and you do it on your schedule? Anyway, I still don't watch broadcast/cabled TV in any form specifically _because_ of the advertising. So for some people, advertising (or its avoidance) is a rather big deal.
Exactly. I use Netflix streaming a lot -- the price is right and I usually have no trouble finding something I want to watch when I want to watch it. I think the fact that its bandwidth usage exceeds P2P transfers is something the industry should notice. Many people are perfectly happy obtaining their content legally -- they just need an outlet that provides it at a reasonable cost without BS ads. If the industry doesn't provide, people will get it other ways (i.e., piracy), but if it is made easily available at affordable rates without advertising and its associated delays/annoyances, people will devour it. The proof is Netflix.