Motorcycles are counter steered at speed. You turn the bars opposite to the direction you wish to turn, then lean into the corner. Keith Code (Keith Code superbike school) had to take a bike and weld the steering head in place to prove this to people who kept insisting your statement was true.
You are correct in that racing bikes have a limited steering angle, but it's in the neighborhood of 35 degrees in either direction (depending on the bike, my Ducati 900ss was notorious for needing 3-point turns in parking lots, the 1098 I have now has more but the stops are adjustable).
Obligatory Cred to back up my statement: WERA 2000 Lightweight Superbike regional champion USGPRU and FUSA Pro racer 2000 - 2005
I agree with you with one caveat - startups aren't for the average 40+ year old.
You still have to have the drive, commitment, and passion for what you do. Many guys I see even in their late 30's have lost this (or never had it in the first place - they chose programming in the '90s because it was a good paycheck).
If you get too comfortable in your position and stagnate, fail to thrive and achieve
This. And I left off the rest for a reason.
I don't necessarily think you have to "make a name for yourself in the industry" as much as you just have to be very good at what you do, keep up with what's going on, and have at least one marketable specialization. And you should if you've been doing it for ~ 20 years.
If all you're doing as you approach 40 is CRUD websites... you're screwed. Anyone can program in PHP and probably will for significantly less than your salary. I avoided web programming for exactly this reason (and for the fact that I'd have hanged myself out of boredom).
Causing a traffic jam near a storm that as you mention, can put a toothpick through an oak tree, falls well below any reasonable threshold for "intelligence" never mind responsibility.
Perhaps the thing to do would be to use an off-road motorcycle and go for the big score - a dozen cars with nowhere to go getting scooped up and chucked.
Or, we don't see geographic proximity as a requirement for continued friendship.
I moved 1800 miles 3 years ago... and my friends are still my friends. I just see them "in person" far less often. I also have friends who left the area where we met before I did. I even have friends who now live on completely different continents.
And yet... many, many tech companies seem to insist that you work in this big brick-and-motor constructed building they call "The Office" rather than from your house.
They don't outsource to one guy in India, or a bunch of one guys in different locations. They outsource to a company that (in theory) has a team with supervision/management. And they do it from a big building they call "The Office".
BTW, I'm not disagreeing with you or saying that it should work like this, I'm just pointing out that in reality, it does. Companies that allow for geographically disparate telecommuters are the exception rather than the rule. .
I agree - I'm a big Steam fan as well. Gaming is the only reason I have Windows, and Steam on Linux would take a big swipe at that. As for the parroting... I don't care that everybody does it, but was just pointing out that everyone is simply regurgitating the original, unsubstantiated claim.
It's just that the Great Linux Steam Hope has been around for 2 years now. I'm not saying they'll never do it... I'm just not holding my breath until they announce they're doing it.
I've had DirecTV since '96... why would ever need customer service?
(I say this in jest, but the truth is, outside of getting them to send me newer versions of boxes, and when I move... I never have to talk to them. Because it actually works)
Does this bother manufacturers? You bet, because the resulting line-up will be less appealing, and that means fewer sales. Should you be bothered as well? Most certainly absolutely yes! You may no longer be able to buy/afford a vehicle that meets your needs once these regulations take effect.
How does it mean fewer sales? If you need a new car, and everyone is selling cars that meet the new standards...
As for the latter. No one *needs* a high horsepower car. Very, very few people need a gargantuan 5k lbs SUV / truck. It's all about Americans being entitled in disregard to anything that might say it's not the best idea in the world. FFS do you really think the average soccer mom needs a Hummer? Or that it's even remotely close to the ideal vehicle?
And this is coming from a guy who in the past has owned very high horsepower cars, and currently owns a sub-gargantuan-but-still-not-small 4.5k lbs truck. When I bought it I needed a truck for towing. Now... it's paid for, 10 years old, and I don't have a need to replace it. If I did, it would be something smaller with better gas mileage.
You want everything in a nice, efficient package? Motorcycles. I have several including a very, very fast one that still gets almost 50mpg. And they're a fraction of the cost to own and maintain compared to cars.
And weighs over 50% more than that Porsche built nearly 20 years ago. And that's the problem.
(And that's also ignoring that the accord doesn't have nearly the torque, which pushes that "max hp" figure up to right below the redline. It's not really usable HP unless you're bouncing it off the rev limiter as you're shifting gears).
Actually the one with better people skills is the one you want.
Oh, I've worked at a place that does that.
They don't get a whole lot done, and what they do get done generally doesn't work quite right. But the endless meetings... Let me tell you, they can talk about doing work really, really well.
You somewhat gloss over it but I do have to say - Ubuntu 9.10 was the first distro that has ever "just worked" for me, and has now done so on 4 different machines.
Everything else over the last 15 years... something wouldn't "just work"... in fact, it usually involved hours of getting something to work. It's also the first distro I've been 100% happy with running as a desktop - I only boot windows to play games.
So in that respect, it IS getting better. A lot better. I don't own any oddball hardware though, so YMMV.
That being said, I also like Apple products - they do exactly what they say they do. If you don't like it, don't buy them. No one is holding a gun to your head. The iMac I bought my wife is *perfect* for her, and she loves it.
I'll never understand the endless bitching from certain people... it's like they have to justify why they're so much cooler for NOT owning an Apple product...
I simply use my passport since it's a "List A" document. Which begs the question... why is it that we need something more than that? Like this new thing is going to be "unforgeable" ?
Including Verizon, which MS paid to change the search on all their smartphones to bing (including blackberry).
Without telling their users, or offering a way to opt out.
Oh, and on several (including blackberry) it changed the search field in the browser app to ONLY use bing. You can't change it back or to a different one.
So yeah, I would expect their usage went up a couple points.
The tube-tester-at-the-grocery part really got me, I totally remember those. Imagine asking someone today to open their television or stereo, remove a component, and go test it.
To say that you can't separate work/school behaviour from leisure behaviour is silly. I can be incredibly focused on singular tasks while working, and be rapidly task switching when that level of attention is not necessary. The article says nothing about the younger generations' ability to focus on work/school other than a supposition at the end based on their leisure time activites.
For whatever reason, I'm a "Net generation" that... kept up with the times, I guess. I hate the phone (I think I have 8000 roll over minutes at the moment and only have a VOIP line at home because my wife likes having it), and I've noticed in the last year the only consistent use I have for email is online shopping (receipts & advertising) and bills/confirmations (mortgage got paid, lights will be on next week, etc ).
Texting/IM/Facebook have really become my main forms of personal communication, unless it's someone who... erm, still uses email. And honestly that's few and far between - even my Mom stalks me on facebook these days, I don't know that we've exchanged an email in over a year.
Work? That's a different matter. If you're updating facebook every 5 minutes, you're obviously not focused. Email is king as the primary form of communication, with the occasional IM (which usually is asking if I'd read an email... or if I could come over to their physical location to discuss something... ).
And yes, the last part above should be enclosed in a sarcasm tag. But at the same time... I find no harm in having IM up and running while I'm working on code. If I'm deep into it, I ignore the IM until later. When I come out of the code trance, I'll often take a little 5 minute break and check facebook and maybe respond to a text or IM. I might even check slashdot. It's healthy.
The younger (mid 20's), junior engineers I've worked with over the last couple years exhibit the same behaviours, so I'm going to call Shenanigans.
I'm not sure why this was modded "funny", it's the truth.
Back in the dark ages when VCRs roamed the earth, the movie studios didn't want you to actually own anything but decided that renting was ok... as long as the rental stores paid $100+ per copy for each tape. This is why it was $5 a frigging day to rent the things.
Same with LaserDisc but it was even worse because most places weren't renting them ( Yes, get off my lawn. I think I paid something like $350 - $400 for the first Star Wars trilogy on LaserDisc. I still have them )
The problem is, when you try and solve the problem in your analogy (motorcycle, car, SUV) with one vehicle you end up with an underpowered, over-grown station wagon with no ground clearance.
In short: It sucks at any one of the original tasks.
Sadly, people buy these things then complain that it isn't as good as the vehicle dedicated to whatever purpose the combo-car isn't excelling at.
Disclaimer: We own 2 Ducatis, a Triumph, a YZ125 dirt bike, my wife's Mustang GT, my Toyota Tundra, and as of last Saturday... a Jeep.
For years I kept trying IDEs... and hating them. It always seemed like they got in the way more than they helped.
I started using netbeans for some Java work I was doing when it was called the "Java One Studio" or something like that... really liked it. Since then it's only gotten better and I pretty much use it for everything that isn't a 5 minute job.
Ignoring the religious side of things, which I would think would simply be a product of culture, I think it's just the mental process that a true engineer has.
I often find myself instantly thinking of 10 ways to circumvent whatever stupid thing the news says the TSA is going to do next.
It's not that I'm a terrorist, obviously, or that I want to circumvent these measures. It's just how my mind works.
The snow we got a couple weeks ago was of the "wet" variety, and my wife and I noticed a couple lights out here with the problem being described. One was such so that you could not tell what the state of the signal was; all the lights were stuffed with snow.
However, possessing common sense... we slowed down as we approached the intersection, and only proceeded when it was clear we weren't going to get slammed into by someone.
I actually knew right away the "why" (LEDs) and commented to her that they're going to have to do something about that. I still think there's probably a way to engineer the physical housings so it is at least less likely to occur, but at the same time... the biggest problem is *people*. God forbid they should have to slow down and pay attention.
The collapse of twin 110 story mega structures in Manhattan cannot be classed as a minor annoyance.
The hijackers struck the Pentagon. They made a serious attempt to reach the Capitol Building or the White House.
The geek needs to keep a little better grip on realty. When Yamamoto struck at Pearl Harbor, he knew exactly what the response would be.
And you sir, are an example of the problem.
The reality is this:
Drunk driving caused 13,846 fatalities in the US in 2008.
No, it wasn't in one shot... it was one, two, four, or five at at time. And it wasn't on live television. And while it wasn't in 110 story mega structures, it did involve a few tons of metal at a time.
Since 9/11 that's... a lot of dead Americans. Men, women, and children. Roughly 120,000 according to the statistics I just googled.
But we spend billions of dollars, start 2 wars, move toward a police state, and strip away people's privacy and liberty because... 2500 people died 8 years ago.
If we so obviously consider drunk driving as a "minor annoyance" and hop in our cars every day without a second thought... then yes, a little perspective is needed and it's time to move on.
I have a 1g sitting right here on my desk. There's also one in the kitchen (It's nice for recipes, looking up stuff before leaving the house, etc), and there's one hooked to the 42" LCD HD TV in the living room. All of these run off my v20z in the basement.
You can get them for between $15 and $50 on eBay. The 1g is an older model but has DVI out and supports up to 1900 resolution.
Slashdot Mirror
Close.
Motorcycles are counter steered at speed. You turn the bars opposite to the direction you wish to turn, then lean into the corner. Keith Code (Keith Code superbike school) had to take a bike and weld the steering head in place to prove this to people who kept insisting your statement was true.
You are correct in that racing bikes have a limited steering angle, but it's in the neighborhood of 35 degrees in either direction (depending on the bike, my Ducati 900ss was notorious for needing 3-point turns in parking lots, the 1098 I have now has more but the stops are adjustable).
Obligatory Cred to back up my statement:
WERA 2000 Lightweight Superbike regional champion
USGPRU and FUSA Pro racer 2000 - 2005
I agree with you with one caveat - startups aren't for the average 40+ year old.
You still have to have the drive, commitment, and passion for what you do. Many guys I see even in their late 30's have lost this (or never had it in the first place - they chose programming in the '90s because it was a good paycheck).
If you get too comfortable in your position and stagnate, fail to thrive and achieve
This. And I left off the rest for a reason.
I don't necessarily think you have to "make a name for yourself in the industry" as much as you just have to be very good at what you do, keep up with what's going on, and have at least one marketable specialization. And you should if you've been doing it for ~ 20 years.
If all you're doing as you approach 40 is CRUD websites ... you're screwed. Anyone can program in PHP and probably will for significantly less than your salary. I avoided web programming for exactly this reason (and for the fact that I'd have hanged myself out of boredom).
Causing a traffic jam near a storm that as you mention, can put a toothpick through an oak tree, falls well below any reasonable threshold for "intelligence" never mind responsibility.
Perhaps the thing to do would be to use an off-road motorcycle and go for the big score - a dozen cars with nowhere to go getting scooped up and chucked.
Hmm, sure ... as long as your stupidity doesn't get the Phd folk killed.
I'm amazed we haven't had a fail of epic proportions yet where a storm changes directions and sucks up a bunch of them.
Or, we don't see geographic proximity as a requirement for continued friendship.
I moved 1800 miles 3 years ago ... and my friends are still my friends. I just see them "in person" far less often. I also have friends who left the area where we met before I did. I even have friends who now live on completely different continents.
And yet ... many, many tech companies seem to insist that you work in this big brick-and-motor constructed building they call "The Office" rather than from your house.
They don't outsource to one guy in India, or a bunch of one guys in different locations. They outsource to a company that (in theory) has a team with supervision/management. And they do it from a big building they call "The Office".
BTW, I'm not disagreeing with you or saying that it should work like this, I'm just pointing out that in reality, it does. Companies that allow for geographically disparate telecommuters are the exception rather than the rule. .
I agree - I'm a big Steam fan as well. Gaming is the only reason I have Windows, and Steam on Linux would take a big swipe at that. As for the parroting ... I don't care that everybody does it, but was just pointing out that everyone is simply regurgitating the original, unsubstantiated claim.
It's just that the Great Linux Steam Hope has been around for 2 years now. I'm not saying they'll never do it ... I'm just not holding my breath until they announce they're doing it.
The Telegraph in the UK reports that there is a Linux version confirmed ( http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/apple/7715209/Steam-for-Mac-goes-live.html ) .... They cite no source for that information, and Valve hasn't said anything about it. Every other blog / "News" site is parroting their report.
Agreed,
I've had DirecTV since '96 ... why would ever need customer service?
(I say this in jest, but the truth is, outside of getting them to send me newer versions of boxes, and when I move ... I never have to talk to them. Because it actually works)
Does this bother manufacturers? You bet, because the resulting line-up will be less appealing, and that means fewer sales. Should you be bothered as well? Most certainly absolutely yes! You may no longer be able to buy/afford a vehicle that meets your needs once these regulations take effect.
How does it mean fewer sales? If you need a new car, and everyone is selling cars that meet the new standards ...
As for the latter. No one *needs* a high horsepower car. Very, very few people need a gargantuan 5k lbs SUV / truck. It's all about Americans being entitled in disregard to anything that might say it's not the best idea in the world. FFS do you really think the average soccer mom needs a Hummer? Or that it's even remotely close to the ideal vehicle?
And this is coming from a guy who in the past has owned very high horsepower cars, and currently owns a sub-gargantuan-but-still-not-small 4.5k lbs truck. When I bought it I needed a truck for towing. Now ... it's paid for, 10 years old, and I don't have a need to replace it. If I did, it would be something smaller with better gas mileage.
You want everything in a nice, efficient package? Motorcycles. I have several including a very, very fast one that still gets almost 50mpg. And they're a fraction of the cost to own and maintain compared to cars.
And weighs over 50% more than that Porsche built nearly 20 years ago. And that's the problem.
(And that's also ignoring that the accord doesn't have nearly the torque, which pushes that "max hp" figure up to right below the redline. It's not really usable HP unless you're bouncing it off the rev limiter as you're shifting gears).
Actually the one with better people skills is the one you want.
Oh, I've worked at a place that does that.
They don't get a whole lot done, and what they do get done generally doesn't work quite right.
But the endless meetings... Let me tell you, they can talk about doing work really, really well.
You somewhat gloss over it but I do have to say - Ubuntu 9.10 was the first distro that has ever "just worked" for me, and has now done so on 4 different machines.
Everything else over the last 15 years ... something wouldn't "just work" ... in fact, it usually involved hours of getting something to work. It's also the first distro I've been 100% happy with running as a desktop - I only boot windows to play games.
So in that respect, it IS getting better. A lot better. I don't own any oddball hardware though, so YMMV.
That being said, I also like Apple products - they do exactly what they say they do. If you don't like it, don't buy them. No one is holding a gun to your head. The iMac I bought my wife is *perfect* for her, and she loves it.
I'll never understand the endless bitching from certain people ... it's like they have to justify why they're so much cooler for NOT owning an Apple product ...
A social security card is not required. It can be used as a "List C" document for the I9 form.
http://jobsearch.about.com/cs/backgroundcheck/a/background_2.htm
I simply use my passport since it's a "List A" document. Which begs the question ... why is it that we need something more than that? Like this new thing is going to be "unforgeable" ?
Including Verizon, which MS paid to change the search on all their smartphones to bing (including blackberry).
Without telling their users, or offering a way to opt out.
Oh, and on several (including blackberry) it changed the search field in the browser app to ONLY use bing. You can't change it back or to a different one.
So yeah, I would expect their usage went up a couple points.
Wow. Thanks for making me feel old.
The tube-tester-at-the-grocery part really got me, I totally remember those. Imagine asking someone today to open their television or stereo, remove a component, and go test it.
To say that you can't separate work/school behaviour from leisure behaviour is silly. I can be incredibly focused on singular tasks while working, and be rapidly task switching when that level of attention is not necessary. The article says nothing about the younger generations' ability to focus on work/school other than a supposition at the end based on their leisure time activites.
For whatever reason, I'm a "Net generation" that ... kept up with the times, I guess. I hate the phone (I think I have 8000 roll over minutes at the moment and only have a VOIP line at home because my wife likes having it), and I've noticed in the last year the only consistent use I have for email is online shopping (receipts & advertising) and bills/confirmations (mortgage got paid, lights will be on next week, etc ).
Texting/IM/Facebook have really become my main forms of personal communication, unless it's someone who ... erm, still uses email. And honestly that's few and far between - even my Mom stalks me on facebook these days, I don't know that we've exchanged an email in over a year.
Work? That's a different matter. If you're updating facebook every 5 minutes, you're obviously not focused. Email is king as the primary form of communication, with the occasional IM (which usually is asking if I'd read an email ... or if I could come over to their physical location to discuss something ... ).
And yes, the last part above should be enclosed in a sarcasm tag. But at the same time ... I find no harm in having IM up and running while I'm working on code. If I'm deep into it, I ignore the IM until later. When I come out of the code trance, I'll often take a little 5 minute break and check facebook and maybe respond to a text or IM. I might even check slashdot. It's healthy.
The younger (mid 20's), junior engineers I've worked with over the last couple years exhibit the same behaviours, so I'm going to call Shenanigans.
I'm not sure why this was modded "funny", it's the truth.
Back in the dark ages when VCRs roamed the earth, the movie studios didn't want you to actually own anything but decided that renting was ok ... as long as the rental stores paid $100+ per copy for each tape. This is why it was $5 a frigging day to rent the things.
Same with LaserDisc but it was even worse because most places weren't renting them ( Yes, get off my lawn. I think I paid something like $350 - $400 for the first Star Wars trilogy on LaserDisc. I still have them )
The problem is, when you try and solve the problem in your analogy (motorcycle, car, SUV) with one vehicle you end up with an underpowered, over-grown station wagon with no ground clearance.
In short: It sucks at any one of the original tasks.
Sadly, people buy these things then complain that it isn't as good as the vehicle dedicated to whatever purpose the combo-car isn't excelling at.
Disclaimer: We own 2 Ducatis, a Triumph, a YZ125 dirt bike, my wife's Mustang GT, my Toyota Tundra, and as of last Saturday... a Jeep.
Each has their purpose.
+1 for netbeans with the plug-ins you want.
For years I kept trying IDEs ... and hating them. It always seemed like they got in the way more than they helped.
I started using netbeans for some Java work I was doing when it was called the "Java One Studio" or something like that ... really liked it. Since then it's only gotten better and I pretty much use it for everything that isn't a 5 minute job.
Ignoring the religious side of things, which I would think would simply be a product of culture, I think it's just the mental process that a true engineer has.
I often find myself instantly thinking of 10 ways to circumvent whatever stupid thing the news says the TSA is going to do next.
It's not that I'm a terrorist, obviously, or that I want to circumvent these measures. It's just how my mind works.
Also in the Denver Metro ...
The snow we got a couple weeks ago was of the "wet" variety, and my wife and I noticed a couple lights out here with the problem being described. One was such so that you could not tell what the state of the signal was; all the lights were stuffed with snow.
However, possessing common sense ... we slowed down as we approached the intersection, and only proceeded when it was clear we weren't going to get slammed into by someone.
I actually knew right away the "why" (LEDs) and commented to her that they're going to have to do something about that. I still think there's probably a way to engineer the physical housings so it is at least less likely to occur, but at the same time ... the biggest problem is *people*. God forbid they should have to slow down and pay attention.
9/11 could have been at most a minor annoyance
The collapse of twin 110 story mega structures in Manhattan cannot be classed as a minor annoyance.
The hijackers struck the Pentagon. They made a serious attempt to reach the Capitol Building or the White House.
The geek needs to keep a little better grip on realty. When Yamamoto struck at Pearl Harbor, he knew exactly what the response would be.
And you sir, are an example of the problem.
The reality is this:
Drunk driving caused 13,846 fatalities in the US in 2008.
No, it wasn't in one shot ... it was one, two, four, or five at at time.
And it wasn't on live television. And while it wasn't in 110 story mega structures, it did involve a few tons of metal at a time.
Since 9/11 that's ... a lot of dead Americans. Men, women, and children. Roughly 120,000 according to the statistics I just googled.
But we spend billions of dollars, start 2 wars, move toward a police state, and strip away people's privacy and liberty because ... 2500 people died 8 years ago.
If we so obviously consider drunk driving as a "minor annoyance" and hop in our cars every day without a second thought ... then yes, a little perspective is needed and it's time to move on.
Chalk me up as a fan as well.
I have a 1g sitting right here on my desk. There's also one in the kitchen (It's nice for recipes, looking up stuff before leaving the house, etc), and there's one hooked to the 42" LCD HD TV in the living room. All of these run off my v20z in the basement.
You can get them for between $15 and $50 on eBay. The 1g is an older model but has DVI out and supports up to 1900 resolution.