Doesn't eHarmony, Tickel (eMode), Match.com, and half a dozen other sites do the same thing? Each using similar or different methods of psichology? Seriously, I tried eHarmony and this Chemistry.com sounds like its methods of hooking two people up are exactly the same, just rebranded as "love maping."
From reading TFA, Mr. Schmidt wants to hold programmers directly responsible. Personally I think don't think he has a damn clue. Either he just likes to hear himself talk, is completely nuts, or is just trying to get some publicity. In TFA BCS has a more reasonable opinion: hold the companies responsible insecure code and also shift some of the blame on the customers that don't apply the security patches.
Holding the programmers responsible is quite unwise and has already been detailed from previous posts. One of the biggest problems I see comes from management and sales; certain features are outlined and a completely unreasonable deadline is put forward. To simply put it, you have two ways to code; the quick and dirty or the correct way. I know a good amount of programmers that prefer to put out good quality code however can't due to time constraints, pressure from management, and possible repercussions if the deadline isn't met.
Don't hold the programmers individually responsible. This is just a sign of someone who is completely obtuse. By doing that a big can of worms is opened up and will not truly correct the problem, but cause a major problem in the software industry. Holding the companies responsible is more reasonable and makes more sense. Most of the problems I see in business is a result of poor management. All of the good managers I've had that actually understand what is going on and have good ideas to go forward are generally fired for just trying to do a good job.
I do admit I'm a little bitter, but after ten years in the corporate world I'd say it's to be expected or you just go and make a cartoon.
Here are a few tactics I have used quite often in the past couple of years with high success.
~~Brain Overload~~ The act of explaining something in a logical or chronological order with a hyper focus on detail with techy words so that the listening individuals brain goes into overload and dumps everything that was just said. It must be said fast, but not so fast that the listen party cannot assimilate the first 20-30 words. This tactic is similar to the BOFH's Dummy Mode in that it may allow the listening party to accept anything you say afterward as truth. Also it weeds out the slightly smarter people who may notice the pure and utter BS coming from your mouth that is involved with the Dummy Mode tactic.
Pros: - May make the listening party get off your back and let you get back to work and do what is truly important. - May make you look quite smart and adapt at what you're doing while building the understanding amongst everyone that you're a hard worker and have an intimate knowledge of your job and it's functions - May allow you to utilize the Steering the Conversation tactic - Generally causes the other party to get slightly frustrated and/or regret every asking the damn question. Eves dropers, usually in a cubical environment who have no choice but to listen, will find your seemingly effortless win over the higher-up humorous and may cause them to think more highly of you.
Cons: - There is the rare case that an individual is immune to this. Most higher ups are completely ignorant to anything technical, however not all are. Those that are technical and have a high attention to detail will probably be immune to this tactic. I met one individual that wised up and only listened for key words and phrases and ignored the rest, thus his brain didn't overload. Therefore, always speak the truth or something that plausible that you can back up if he calls your bluff.
~~Steering the Conversation~~ The act of steering the conversation away from the original question to another topic that focuses on your needs such as inadequate equipment and bandwidth. This can help make the person sympathetic and/or provide as an excuse of why their imposed dead-line is not being met.
Pros: - Makes you look smart and a hard worker - May bring sympathy to your situation - May cause the individual to loose focus on what they want and focus on what you want or some other topic that you brought up or comes to their mind
Cons: - Individuals that are stubborn, have a large fire under their ass, medicated ADD, or medicated ADHD that are hyper-focused on their issue will probably be immune to this - Some individuals are smart enough to see right through your tactics
~~Always Busy~~ The act of producing an atmosphere that you're one of the hardest workers at the company. If you're already busting your butt, slowly delegate responsibilities out to other individuals. Don't maximize your windows when you're not really busy; put them all over the damn place. Clutter up your screen and Task Bar with windows. A good way to do this is to have everything you could possibly need running and never close down anything when you're done with it. Also, having more than one instance of something like multiple browser windows or e-mail messages helps. Additionally, having more than one monitor helps with this.
If someone comes to your cube, make them wait a few seconds. Tell them to give you a minute while you "finish" or "come to a stopping point." Mumble things while looking hyper-focused. Pre write a batch script that waits 30 seconds before doing a net send to your computer with some kind of error message; execute the script as you divert your attention to them. When it pops up, let it catch your attention and be interested in it. You can use this as an excuse to get to their "urgent" problem later. Also, use this as an opportunity to bitch about the pathetic 768MB of RAM in your system and show that you're using 2.5GB of the swap file (virtual memory).
Honestly that is truly a shame and is why I have such an issue with the corporate world. That drive, dedication, and loyalty is rarely found in an employee. Companies that do have that type of person generally just exploit them for what they can, then throw them out. Now the individual will never produce that type of work because they know better.
I was in a similar position three weeks ago. I busted my ass, reduced costs, and saved their ass on a number of occasions. I knew exactly what was going to happen the minute they opened a new facility down in rulral Georgia to save money for them and the customer. They had to hire four people to replace me at twice the cost. Mind you they were quite incompetent and didn't have the cranial capacity to do any part of my job.
My job being moved to East Bumblefuck GA coupled with the number of times I was lied to left me feeling that the company had no loyalty towards me. Therefore I had a contingency plan. I utilized my superiors in such a way that when I left, every positive change, policy, proceedure, shell script, and an extreme knowledge of the company's infrastructure left with me and they had no one else to blame but themselves. When the shit hit the fan after I left, the phrases "don't say I didn't warn you" and "this is a extremly bad idea" echoed through their heads.
I can't say you would have been able to do the same, especially with the system that they're using. I just feel that it's a shame the world lost a very didcated individual with a high work ethic. I suspect you've learned from your experience and the phrase "never again" holds special meening in your heart.
Bingo. I have to agree here. I really don't think I get my money's worth when I buy a CD. I generally only buy a CD if I like at least 90% of the songs on the disc and that's generally pretty rare. I can't justify spending $1.00 on each song since I don't think the license to listen to it and the song itself are worth the money. Rarely do I feel compelled that a song is so good that it is worth more than a few cents. Honestly most of the music coming out these days is crap. The music I really like, I can't find unless I either go illegal or pay an extortionate amount of money.
Another issue is being locked down with some serious DRM. I like to use FreeBSD, but God forbid I use it since there isn't a program available to play it because it has DRM. I have to be in violation in order to play it on my preferred OS or media playing device. I don't like the DRM today; one is locked down to their rules and they're too restrictive. The song has to be played on Windows under only one program and on select media devices. Perhaps even logging in and syncing on a specific schedule. If your profile gets deleted under some DRM schemes, your $1 or $4000 collection of legal DRM'd music is shot to hell. Too bad, so sad.
I have used allofmp3.com before because it has reasonable prices for the music I like and I'm not locked down by BS DRM. Give me quality music that I like, price it reasonably, and if there's going to be DRM, it must allow me to play it on any OS, under any program, and any media device I choose. I don't see it happening anytime soon since the recording industry has its head severely up its ass.
BTW, RIAA, I find your methods quite despicable. In many cases I see your activities as extortion and exploitation of someone who is not as legally powerful as you. You're like the bully on the playground.
Is It Even Coming to the US?
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VW Goes USB
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· Score: 1
Very good points. In addition to what is stated above, my question is it even coming to the US. The trend that I've seen with Volkswagen of America (VWoA) is the slow release of products that are available in the European market to the US market. The Mark V Jetta was a fluke, however we had to beg and plead just to get the R32 here. Other items include NAV and HID lights that have been available in Euro market for a while, but are just now being released to the US market.
CarPC/Carputer Hell Yeah
on
VW Goes USB
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· Score: 1
I keep saying I'm going to do it, but just not the money yet.
Cheers.
-Fuzzball;)
Doh. Now I feel like a moron for not using the Preview button and seeing I needed to either add in some HTML or select Plain Old Text.
Here it is with the correct formatting:
For about the past year I averaged about four hours of actual work a day: 07:00 - Stare at computer 07:15 - Go get a sandwich and a Mountain Dew from the vending machine 07:30 - Socialize with coleagues and surf the net 09:30 - Boss gets in and I get to work 11:30 - Take lunch 12:30 - Get back from lunch and socialize with coleagues and surf the net 14:00 - Boss gets back from lunch and I get to work 16:00 - Leave for the day
On occasion I might have done more or less work depending if the boss was in and/or if there was pressing issues that needed attention. Since my company decided to move our jobs to East Bumblefuck GA so they could hire some South Georgia rednecks to do NT, UNIX, and Oracle Systems Administration for $10.50/hr, my schedule has become this: 07:15 - Go get a sandwich and a Mountain Dew from the vending machine 07:30 - Socialize with coleagues and surf the net 08:00 - Laugh with colleagues about the fact our SLA is a 54% out of a required 93% 08:30 - Bitch about our replacements not doing any work when the go live is in ten days 09:30 - Discuss with colleagues on how it is possible that our replacements will be able to do anything when they're having problems scrolling in Excel and the instruction "click on 'Start' and then 'Programs.'" 10:00 - Surf the net 11:30 - Lunch 12:30 - Surf the net 13:45 - Discuss with colleagues that they get what they pay for 14:00 - Discuss with colleagues that senior management are idiots 14:30 - Try and figure out how they think our jobs is just basic data entry 14:45 - Discuss on the many reasons why this shit is going to Hell in a handbasket with a pink bow on the top 15:53 - Leave for the day
For about the past year I averaged about four hours of actual work a day:
07:00 - Stare at computer
07:15 - Go get a sandwich and a Mountain Dew from the vending machine
07:30 - Socialize with coleagues and surf the net
09:30 - Boss gets in and I get to work
11:30 - Take lunch
12:30 - Get back from lunch and socialize with coleagues and surf the net
14:00 - Boss gets back from lunch and I get to work
16:00 - Leave for the day
On occasion I might have done more or less work depending if the boss was in and/or if there was pressing issues that needed attention.
Since my company decided to move our jobs to East Bumblefuck GA so they could hire some South Georgia rednecks to do NT, UNIX, and Oracle Systems Administration for $10.50/hr, my schedule has become this:
07:15 - Go get a sandwich and a Mountain Dew from the vending machine
07:30 - Socialize with coleagues and surf the net
08:00 - Laugh with colleagues about the fact our SLA is a 54% out of a required 93%
08:30 - Bitch about our replacements not doing any work when the go live is in ten days
09:30 - Discuss with colleagues on how it is possible that our replacements will be able to do anything when they're having problems scrolling in Excel and the instruction "click on 'Start' and then 'Programs.'"
10:00 - Surf the net
11:30 - Lunch
12:30 - Surf the net
13:45 - Discuss with colleagues that they get what they pay for
14:00 - Discuss with colleagues that senior management are idiots
14:30 - Try and figure out how they think our jobs is just basic data entry
14:45 - Discuss on the many reasons why this shit is going to Hell in a handbasket with a pink bow on the top
15:53 - Leave for the day
Anyone need an NT and/or UNIX Sys Admin?
IIRC AMD is has some spare cash on hand that can be used for a two year leagal battle like this and not put the company in a bad position like SCO did. I suppose it also proves that this isn't a publicity stunt or a last ditch effort to get some money out of someone to stay afloat.
For those that are curious, the name of the atol is Kwajalein. It's part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands and is about 7 degres from the equator. If you can get a contract job down there, generally with Ratheon, and you don't have anything tieing you down, I say go for it. There are a lot of benafits you get and if you scuba, there are some of the best coral you will ever see.
Also, the whole purpose of leaseing the atol from the Marshalliese is for missle tracking. Often the US Government will ransomly pick a missle from our current defense system, left over from the Cold War if I'm not mistakem, disarm it, put in some telemetry and launch it into a bay near the atol. For more information on the atol and its operations, see this site or Google it: http://www.smdc.army.mil/RTS.html
The part about the extra heat killing the spearm made sense. However, from my understanding this is only temporary and your testicles would produce more in a few days. What didn't make sense in the article was that it could do permanent damage. I suppose the Electro-Magnetic radiation could do permanent damage, but it would take time like cell phones and smoking.
They're a little touchy. I'm surprised they haven't banned futuristic games where the nations of earth are united as one. I hope they don't think that if that scenario were to happen, China would be at the center of it all.
"Taiwan and the mainland have been politically separate for 55 years but Beijing considers the democratic island of 23 million people a rebel part of China's territory and has vowed to unite it with the mainland, by force if necessary."
Honestly, I'm not up to date on what the heck is going with Taiwan on except mass production stuff and every immagrant from there is touchy about the fact that Taiwan is a separate nationality. However I will say this, if I were some communist nation and I had "rebel territory," I wouldn't let it stay like that for 55 years. DUDE, it's been 55 years; I don't think it's going to be united unless you do use force. Then you're going to piss off a whole lot of people.
At the present moment I teach an A+ Certification class at night. I enjoy doing it and don't feel bad for working 15+ hours a day since I don't have a family to care for. Oddly the teaching job pays more hourly than the day job.
I do the odd contract job on occasion for a contracting company or on my own. This may include fixing Sally-down-the-street's computer, a small company to fix their slew of problems, to a server rollout for a Fortune 500 company. It gets me out of town to see new areas.
In the past I worked at a restraunt and made some good money at it. It was fun meeting new people all the time and making them happy vs. crackhead end-lusers want to make their problem my problem.
In the future I'll get liscened for massage therapy or the like. I've been told I missed my calling.
One of my friends worked for UPS at night and another delievered papers the coin operated newpaper dispensers.
I really don't need to work a sidejob, but being so young and not having a family makes it easy to work many hours to buy all the toys I want while I still can. I work hard durring the week so I can play hard durring the weekends and on vacations.
Cheers.
It's so funny, it bears repeating:
"Bedroom? Stuck it in me garden, and that pesky cat ain't come round no more!"
Phil, Harrogate
"Working in IT, there is an area in front of my desk now dubbed "the confessional" - now when people come to confess, they automatically get their penance dispensed:) Fantastic fun, and it also means I get support requests via e-mail instead of being disturbed:)"
Greg, Wellington
" I meant for this to be funny, but I am indescribably disturbed by the fact that it got modded +5 Funny.
-Peter"
I was LMAO. I think both comments were hilarious. I would have modded you with +5 for making me bust out of my chair in laughter.
Cheers
I'm all for Intelectual Property and Open Source. If you feel that you want to keep sole ownership of a program you wrote and not let it be copied, great. If you want to release your code to the world freely, great. If you used from someone else for your program, check with their license first.
From what I have gathered, SCO doesn't have much ground to stand on. Even when they started sueing everyone and their cousin that's twice removed, I smelled something fishy. I found it uterlly stupid that they would make claims that their code has been illegally copied and not back it up. They could have a trusted third party review the diputed code to back up their claims in the first place, but they had to play ring around the rosey.
I know it's old news, but they continue to use the same tactics. In my opinion, they're small organization trying to throw around weight they don't have with unsound claims. Instead of spending all of that money in lawyer and court fees, they could have spent it on making a better product. The last time I logged into a SCO UNIX box, 3.5 year ago, the whole OS smelled of crap. IIRC, not much has changed since then.
If their code is actually being used illegally, and yes i know that is still in contention, lets factually identify it and get it out. Take the Linux for example. I know without a shadow of doubt the Linux community would much rather have the illegally used code removed pronto, than leave it in there so Linux can "be where it is today." I'm willing to bet that if it was true and it was removed, the Linux community would jump and write their own code to replace what the illegal code did.
To me SCO seems like a company trying to unsoundly find money by sueing people.
I know some of this has been mentioned before, here's my suggestion:
First submit a business case to your boss and CC it to HR and whatever group that's institute this policy. Explain the necessity of it and how crucial it is to your job. Give them real life and possibly slightly exaggerated scenarios. In those scenarios, include the impact it would be to their business in dollar amounts. I personally include how much it would cost the company per minute if the major database server were down. If you were alerted, it would be back up in 9 minutes vs. 3 hours. In my experience this is the best first step to make the IT dept. an exception. Possibly provide an alternative like a two way text pager (i.e. Blackberry or the Motorola ones).
Second, if that doesn't work, ignore the rule. If they're going to be really anal about it and possibly take disciplinary actions against you, you may want to skip this one.
Third, if those don't work, follow the rule exactly. Send everyone you sent the first business case a letter explaining again how crucial it is to your job. Give them alternatives to your cell phone. Most importantly, state you will follow the rule to the letter. When the feces do hit the fan and they complain to you about how long it took just for you find out it was down, slap it right back in their face and tell them this is why you needed a mobile device to alert you of such situations. State that you had warned them on two occasions and were even kind enough to provide alternatives. In my experience it sometimes is necessary to follow their obtuse rules to the letter just for them to realize that they should have listened.
If it were me and they left a bad taste in my mouth about one, two, and/or three, I might go as far as making the server crash. I would probably have a cron job do it at the peak of business and would already be at lunch. I would make sure no one else knew that I was doing it and it couldn't be traced back to me (i.e. the script deletes itself after it's done). Just to take things a step further, I'd make sure the people that could fix it are also out/unavailable. A common issue is usually good; but make it 10x worse.
If the server honestly goes down without any "persuasion," no one knew about it and it stayed down for a long time, and they're being stupid/blaming you, it's time to find another job. I would make sure everyone involved, including from my first suggestion, gets a copy of your resignation letter. State everything that happened.
Above all else, document everything you do. Best of luck to you.
I can't believe they're saying that. It's a load of garbage. I personally don't like things pushed down my throught or taking up my resources. Yes, I can handle little banner ads or billboards on the side of the road. However, I don't like going to some site and having to wait for it to load just so they can show me a full motion ad. If I wanted that, I'd turn on the TV. It's a waste of my time and resources. Also, I will probably never go back to that site again.
I refuse to go to sites that have large (KB) and/or intrusive advertisements. INHO It's bad business and they're losing credibility and customers.
I wonder if this would work out as a HUD for a car. I also wouldn't mind my rear window to display a logo or my frustrations:
The peddle is on the right
Learn to drive
The fast lane is for people driving fast. What a F'ing concept. You are drivng slow. Get in the slow lane.
Bitch
Doing 45 while getting on the interstate is more dangerous than safe. Consider taking roads that don't envolve you using the gas peddle.
Yes, I am an asshole. Yes, you suck at driving.
Green means go. To go, you hit the gas peddle. Odd how the words greeen, gas, and go start with a G.
Anywho, i wouldn't mind a HUD or expressing what I think of some of the drivers around me.
My house would have MatrixMania screesaver in every window. I wouldn't be surprised if my subburb community would fine me for having "inappropriate windows" like they did my neighbor when he put out a basketball net in his driveway. Mind you, it was HIS property. I need to move somewhere there isn't people with pinecones up their bums.
Though they don't cover loss or theft (insurance issue), Extended warranties are great. CompUSA sells an excelent warranty called TAP and it even covers intentional dammage. I can't remember what the acronym stands for, but any CompUSA sales rep is more than happy to sell you one. You don't even need to buy the product from them. You just need to prove that it works.
Their warranty is usually a one time use deal, but it can save your wallet. My friend's mobo died in his laptop and it took 2 months and $900+ to get it replaced. A $350 TAP warranty would have saved him the time and money. If they don't have the part or laptop, they usually give you an equvelent or better system to replace the broken one. After a couple of years, you are garunteed to get a better system. They will even offer to sell you another TAP warranty.
Want an easy upgrade? A little bit before the warranty is up, take your shotgun to it and they'll replace it with a newer one with better specs.
The only other company's extended warranty that I am familiar with is Dell's. Their's is similar to CompUSA's, but it doesn't cover intentional dammage ("hammer marks" is their site's example), but does go on for the full term. CompUSA's ends when the full term expires or you use it before the end of the term. Dell's goes on for the full term. So you could get the four year warranty, drop the sucker down a flight of concrete stairs into a poll every 1.9 years, and be getting a nice upgrade. After the term, I am not familiar with. Also, I don't know if they will keep track if you have a history of "accidentally" dropping your laptop whenever you're garunteed to get a nice upgrade from the warranty.
Employees at CompUSA, on the other hand, aren't paid enough to care. Some even encourage abusing the warranty. Plus the person that sells you the TAP warranty gets a commission.
As for other companies, research them for yourself. Research heavily before you lay down the cash. I suggest calling the department that handles claims and giving the rep some senarios. They are the ones that will be deciding whether you will get a sweet upgrade or a denail and holey (from your shotgun) laptop in your hands.
Slashdot Mirror
Doesn't eHarmony, Tickel (eMode), Match.com, and half a dozen other sites do the same thing? Each using similar or different methods of psichology? Seriously, I tried eHarmony and this Chemistry.com sounds like its methods of hooking two people up are exactly the same, just rebranded as "love maping."
From reading TFA, Mr. Schmidt wants to hold programmers directly responsible. Personally I think don't think he has a damn clue. Either he just likes to hear himself talk, is completely nuts, or is just trying to get some publicity. In TFA BCS has a more reasonable opinion: hold the companies responsible insecure code and also shift some of the blame on the customers that don't apply the security patches.
Holding the programmers responsible is quite unwise and has already been detailed from previous posts. One of the biggest problems I see comes from management and sales; certain features are outlined and a completely unreasonable deadline is put forward. To simply put it, you have two ways to code; the quick and dirty or the correct way. I know a good amount of programmers that prefer to put out good quality code however can't due to time constraints, pressure from management, and possible repercussions if the deadline isn't met.
Don't hold the programmers individually responsible. This is just a sign of someone who is completely obtuse. By doing that a big can of worms is opened up and will not truly correct the problem, but cause a major problem in the software industry. Holding the companies responsible is more reasonable and makes more sense. Most of the problems I see in business is a result of poor management. All of the good managers I've had that actually understand what is going on and have good ideas to go forward are generally fired for just trying to do a good job.I do admit I'm a little bitter, but after ten years in the corporate world I'd say it's to be expected or you just go and make a cartoon.
Here are a few tactics I have used quite often in the past couple of years with high success.
~~Brain Overload~~
The act of explaining something in a logical or chronological order with a hyper focus on detail with techy words so that the listening individuals brain goes into overload and dumps everything that was just said. It must be said fast, but not so fast that the listen party cannot assimilate the first 20-30 words. This tactic is similar to the BOFH's Dummy Mode in that it may allow the listening party to accept anything you say afterward as truth. Also it weeds out the slightly smarter people who may notice the pure and utter BS coming from your mouth that is involved with the Dummy Mode tactic.
Pros:
- May make the listening party get off your back and let you get back to work and do what is truly important.
- May make you look quite smart and adapt at what you're doing while building the understanding amongst everyone that you're a hard worker and have an intimate knowledge of your job and it's functions
- May allow you to utilize the Steering the Conversation tactic
- Generally causes the other party to get slightly frustrated and/or regret every asking the damn question. Eves dropers, usually in a cubical environment who have no choice but to listen, will find your seemingly effortless win over the higher-up humorous and may cause them to think more highly of you.
Cons:
- There is the rare case that an individual is immune to this. Most higher ups are completely ignorant to anything technical, however not all are. Those that are technical and have a high attention to detail will probably be immune to this tactic. I met one individual that wised up and only listened for key words and phrases and ignored the rest, thus his brain didn't overload. Therefore, always speak the truth or something that plausible that you can back up if he calls your bluff.
~~Steering the Conversation~~
The act of steering the conversation away from the original question to another topic that focuses on your needs such as inadequate equipment and bandwidth. This can help make the person sympathetic and/or provide as an excuse of why their imposed dead-line is not being met.
Pros:
- Makes you look smart and a hard worker
- May bring sympathy to your situation
- May cause the individual to loose focus on what they want and focus on what you want or some other topic that you brought up or comes to their mind
Cons:
- Individuals that are stubborn, have a large fire under their ass, medicated ADD, or medicated ADHD that are hyper-focused on their issue will probably be immune to this
- Some individuals are smart enough to see right through your tactics
~~Always Busy~~
The act of producing an atmosphere that you're one of the hardest workers at the company. If you're already busting your butt, slowly delegate responsibilities out to other individuals. Don't maximize your windows when you're not really busy; put them all over the damn place. Clutter up your screen and Task Bar with windows. A good way to do this is to have everything you could possibly need running and never close down anything when you're done with it. Also, having more than one instance of something like multiple browser windows or e-mail messages helps. Additionally, having more than one monitor helps with this.
If someone comes to your cube, make them wait a few seconds. Tell them to give you a minute while you "finish" or "come to a stopping point." Mumble things while looking hyper-focused. Pre write a batch script that waits 30 seconds before doing a net send to your computer with some kind of error message; execute the script as you divert your attention to them. When it pops up, let it catch your attention and be interested in it. You can use this as an excuse to get to their "urgent" problem later. Also, use this as an opportunity to bitch about the pathetic 768MB of RAM in your system and show that you're using 2.5GB of the swap file (virtual memory).
If you're
Honestly that is truly a shame and is why I have such an issue with the corporate world. That drive, dedication, and loyalty is rarely found in an employee. Companies that do have that type of person generally just exploit them for what they can, then throw them out. Now the individual will never produce that type of work because they know better.
I was in a similar position three weeks ago. I busted my ass, reduced costs, and saved their ass on a number of occasions. I knew exactly what was going to happen the minute they opened a new facility down in rulral Georgia to save money for them and the customer. They had to hire four people to replace me at twice the cost. Mind you they were quite incompetent and didn't have the cranial capacity to do any part of my job.
My job being moved to East Bumblefuck GA coupled with the number of times I was lied to left me feeling that the company had no loyalty towards me. Therefore I had a contingency plan. I utilized my superiors in such a way that when I left, every positive change, policy, proceedure, shell script, and an extreme knowledge of the company's infrastructure left with me and they had no one else to blame but themselves. When the shit hit the fan after I left, the phrases "don't say I didn't warn you" and "this is a extremly bad idea" echoed through their heads.
I can't say you would have been able to do the same, especially with the system that they're using. I just feel that it's a shame the world lost a very didcated individual with a high work ethic. I suspect you've learned from your experience and the phrase "never again" holds special meening in your heart.
Bingo. I have to agree here. I really don't think I get my money's worth when I buy a CD. I generally only buy a CD if I like at least 90% of the songs on the disc and that's generally pretty rare. I can't justify spending $1.00 on each song since I don't think the license to listen to it and the song itself are worth the money. Rarely do I feel compelled that a song is so good that it is worth more than a few cents. Honestly most of the music coming out these days is crap. The music I really like, I can't find unless I either go illegal or pay an extortionate amount of money.
Another issue is being locked down with some serious DRM. I like to use FreeBSD, but God forbid I use it since there isn't a program available to play it because it has DRM. I have to be in violation in order to play it on my preferred OS or media playing device. I don't like the DRM today; one is locked down to their rules and they're too restrictive. The song has to be played on Windows under only one program and on select media devices. Perhaps even logging in and syncing on a specific schedule. If your profile gets deleted under some DRM schemes, your $1 or $4000 collection of legal DRM'd music is shot to hell. Too bad, so sad.
I have used allofmp3.com before because it has reasonable prices for the music I like and I'm not locked down by BS DRM. Give me quality music that I like, price it reasonably, and if there's going to be DRM, it must allow me to play it on any OS, under any program, and any media device I choose. I don't see it happening anytime soon since the recording industry has its head severely up its ass.
BTW, RIAA, I find your methods quite despicable. In many cases I see your activities as extortion and exploitation of someone who is not as legally powerful as you. You're like the bully on the playground.
Very good points. In addition to what is stated above, my question is it even coming to the US. The trend that I've seen with Volkswagen of America (VWoA) is the slow release of products that are available in the European market to the US market. The Mark V Jetta was a fluke, however we had to beg and plead just to get the R32 here. Other items include NAV and HID lights that have been available in Euro market for a while, but are just now being released to the US market.
I keep saying I'm going to do it, but just not the money yet. Cheers. -Fuzzball ;)
Doh. Now I feel like a moron for not using the Preview button and seeing I needed to either add in some HTML or select Plain Old Text.
Here it is with the correct formatting:
For about the past year I averaged about four hours of actual work a day:
07:00 - Stare at computer
07:15 - Go get a sandwich and a Mountain Dew from the vending machine
07:30 - Socialize with coleagues and surf the net
09:30 - Boss gets in and I get to work
11:30 - Take lunch
12:30 - Get back from lunch and socialize with coleagues and surf the net
14:00 - Boss gets back from lunch and I get to work
16:00 - Leave for the day
On occasion I might have done more or less work depending if the boss was in and/or if there was pressing issues that needed attention. Since my company decided to move our jobs to East Bumblefuck GA so they could hire some South Georgia rednecks to do NT, UNIX, and Oracle Systems Administration for $10.50/hr, my schedule has become this:
07:15 - Go get a sandwich and a Mountain Dew from the vending machine
07:30 - Socialize with coleagues and surf the net
08:00 - Laugh with colleagues about the fact our SLA is a 54% out of a required 93%
08:30 - Bitch about our replacements not doing any work when the go live is in ten days
09:30 - Discuss with colleagues on how it is possible that our replacements will be able to do anything when they're having problems scrolling in Excel and the instruction "click on 'Start' and then 'Programs.'"
10:00 - Surf the net
11:30 - Lunch
12:30 - Surf the net
13:45 - Discuss with colleagues that they get what they pay for
14:00 - Discuss with colleagues that senior management are idiots
14:30 - Try and figure out how they think our jobs is just basic data entry
14:45 - Discuss on the many reasons why this shit is going to Hell in a handbasket with a pink bow on the top
15:53 - Leave for the day
Anyone need an NT and/or UNIX Sys Admin?
For about the past year I averaged about four hours of actual work a day: 07:00 - Stare at computer 07:15 - Go get a sandwich and a Mountain Dew from the vending machine 07:30 - Socialize with coleagues and surf the net 09:30 - Boss gets in and I get to work 11:30 - Take lunch 12:30 - Get back from lunch and socialize with coleagues and surf the net 14:00 - Boss gets back from lunch and I get to work 16:00 - Leave for the day On occasion I might have done more or less work depending if the boss was in and/or if there was pressing issues that needed attention. Since my company decided to move our jobs to East Bumblefuck GA so they could hire some South Georgia rednecks to do NT, UNIX, and Oracle Systems Administration for $10.50/hr, my schedule has become this: 07:15 - Go get a sandwich and a Mountain Dew from the vending machine 07:30 - Socialize with coleagues and surf the net 08:00 - Laugh with colleagues about the fact our SLA is a 54% out of a required 93% 08:30 - Bitch about our replacements not doing any work when the go live is in ten days 09:30 - Discuss with colleagues on how it is possible that our replacements will be able to do anything when they're having problems scrolling in Excel and the instruction "click on 'Start' and then 'Programs.'" 10:00 - Surf the net 11:30 - Lunch 12:30 - Surf the net 13:45 - Discuss with colleagues that they get what they pay for 14:00 - Discuss with colleagues that senior management are idiots 14:30 - Try and figure out how they think our jobs is just basic data entry 14:45 - Discuss on the many reasons why this shit is going to Hell in a handbasket with a pink bow on the top 15:53 - Leave for the day Anyone need an NT and/or UNIX Sys Admin?
IIRC AMD is has some spare cash on hand that can be used for a two year leagal battle like this and not put the company in a bad position like SCO did. I suppose it also proves that this isn't a publicity stunt or a last ditch effort to get some money out of someone to stay afloat.
2 3253&tid=142&tid=118&tid=123&tid=218 /. article.
I believe this was discussed already here: http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/06/28/1
but I'm not completly positive. I know it was discussed is some
Oy, I'm tired.
http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2001-05 -11&res=l
"Here's where you're allowed to go and here's where you're not allowed."
"Huh? Where's that then?"
"Trust me; it's there."
For those that are curious, the name of the atol is Kwajalein. It's part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands and is about 7 degres from the equator. If you can get a contract job down there, generally with Ratheon, and you don't have anything tieing you down, I say go for it. There are a lot of benafits you get and if you scuba, there are some of the best coral you will ever see. Also, the whole purpose of leaseing the atol from the Marshalliese is for missle tracking. Often the US Government will ransomly pick a missle from our current defense system, left over from the Cold War if I'm not mistakem, disarm it, put in some telemetry and launch it into a bay near the atol. For more information on the atol and its operations, see this site or Google it: http://www.smdc.army.mil/RTS.html
The part about the extra heat killing the spearm made sense. However, from my understanding this is only temporary and your testicles would produce more in a few days. What didn't make sense in the article was that it could do permanent damage. I suppose the Electro-Magnetic radiation could do permanent damage, but it would take time like cell phones and smoking.
They're a little touchy. I'm surprised they haven't banned futuristic games where the nations of earth are united as one. I hope they don't think that if that scenario were to happen, China would be at the center of it all. "Taiwan and the mainland have been politically separate for 55 years but Beijing considers the democratic island of 23 million people a rebel part of China's territory and has vowed to unite it with the mainland, by force if necessary." Honestly, I'm not up to date on what the heck is going with Taiwan on except mass production stuff and every immagrant from there is touchy about the fact that Taiwan is a separate nationality. However I will say this, if I were some communist nation and I had "rebel territory," I wouldn't let it stay like that for 55 years. DUDE, it's been 55 years; I don't think it's going to be united unless you do use force. Then you're going to piss off a whole lot of people.
At the present moment I teach an A+ Certification class at night. I enjoy doing it and don't feel bad for working 15+ hours a day since I don't have a family to care for. Oddly the teaching job pays more hourly than the day job. I do the odd contract job on occasion for a contracting company or on my own. This may include fixing Sally-down-the-street's computer, a small company to fix their slew of problems, to a server rollout for a Fortune 500 company. It gets me out of town to see new areas. In the past I worked at a restraunt and made some good money at it. It was fun meeting new people all the time and making them happy vs. crackhead end-lusers want to make their problem my problem. In the future I'll get liscened for massage therapy or the like. I've been told I missed my calling. One of my friends worked for UPS at night and another delievered papers the coin operated newpaper dispensers. I really don't need to work a sidejob, but being so young and not having a family makes it easy to work many hours to buy all the toys I want while I still can. I work hard durring the week so I can play hard durring the weekends and on vacations. Cheers.
It's so funny, it bears repeating: "Bedroom? Stuck it in me garden, and that pesky cat ain't come round no more!" Phil, Harrogate "Working in IT, there is an area in front of my desk now dubbed "the confessional" - now when people come to confess, they automatically get their penance dispensed :) Fantastic fun, and it also means I get support requests via e-mail instead of being disturbed :)"
Greg, Wellington
" I meant for this to be funny, but I am indescribably disturbed by the fact that it got modded +5 Funny. -Peter" I was LMAO. I think both comments were hilarious. I would have modded you with +5 for making me bust out of my chair in laughter. Cheers
I'm all for Intelectual Property and Open Source. If you feel that you want to keep sole ownership of a program you wrote and not let it be copied, great. If you want to release your code to the world freely, great. If you used from someone else for your program, check with their license first. From what I have gathered, SCO doesn't have much ground to stand on. Even when they started sueing everyone and their cousin that's twice removed, I smelled something fishy. I found it uterlly stupid that they would make claims that their code has been illegally copied and not back it up. They could have a trusted third party review the diputed code to back up their claims in the first place, but they had to play ring around the rosey. I know it's old news, but they continue to use the same tactics. In my opinion, they're small organization trying to throw around weight they don't have with unsound claims. Instead of spending all of that money in lawyer and court fees, they could have spent it on making a better product. The last time I logged into a SCO UNIX box, 3.5 year ago, the whole OS smelled of crap. IIRC, not much has changed since then. If their code is actually being used illegally, and yes i know that is still in contention, lets factually identify it and get it out. Take the Linux for example. I know without a shadow of doubt the Linux community would much rather have the illegally used code removed pronto, than leave it in there so Linux can "be where it is today." I'm willing to bet that if it was true and it was removed, the Linux community would jump and write their own code to replace what the illegal code did. To me SCO seems like a company trying to unsoundly find money by sueing people.
Leave it to the Japanese to properly build a bi-ped robot, i.e. ones that look like they almost came out of a movie or animé.
I know some of this has been mentioned before, here's my suggestion: First submit a business case to your boss and CC it to HR and whatever group that's institute this policy. Explain the necessity of it and how crucial it is to your job. Give them real life and possibly slightly exaggerated scenarios. In those scenarios, include the impact it would be to their business in dollar amounts. I personally include how much it would cost the company per minute if the major database server were down. If you were alerted, it would be back up in 9 minutes vs. 3 hours. In my experience this is the best first step to make the IT dept. an exception. Possibly provide an alternative like a two way text pager (i.e. Blackberry or the Motorola ones). Second, if that doesn't work, ignore the rule. If they're going to be really anal about it and possibly take disciplinary actions against you, you may want to skip this one. Third, if those don't work, follow the rule exactly. Send everyone you sent the first business case a letter explaining again how crucial it is to your job. Give them alternatives to your cell phone. Most importantly, state you will follow the rule to the letter. When the feces do hit the fan and they complain to you about how long it took just for you find out it was down, slap it right back in their face and tell them this is why you needed a mobile device to alert you of such situations. State that you had warned them on two occasions and were even kind enough to provide alternatives. In my experience it sometimes is necessary to follow their obtuse rules to the letter just for them to realize that they should have listened. If it were me and they left a bad taste in my mouth about one, two, and/or three, I might go as far as making the server crash. I would probably have a cron job do it at the peak of business and would already be at lunch. I would make sure no one else knew that I was doing it and it couldn't be traced back to me (i.e. the script deletes itself after it's done). Just to take things a step further, I'd make sure the people that could fix it are also out/unavailable. A common issue is usually good; but make it 10x worse. If the server honestly goes down without any "persuasion," no one knew about it and it stayed down for a long time, and they're being stupid/blaming you, it's time to find another job. I would make sure everyone involved, including from my first suggestion, gets a copy of your resignation letter. State everything that happened. Above all else, document everything you do. Best of luck to you.
I can't believe they're saying that. It's a load of garbage. I personally don't like things pushed down my throught or taking up my resources. Yes, I can handle little banner ads or billboards on the side of the road. However, I don't like going to some site and having to wait for it to load just so they can show me a full motion ad. If I wanted that, I'd turn on the TV. It's a waste of my time and resources. Also, I will probably never go back to that site again. I refuse to go to sites that have large (KB) and/or intrusive advertisements. INHO It's bad business and they're losing credibility and customers.
Looks like the server is ./ed
The peddle is on the right
Learn to drive
The fast lane is for people driving fast. What a F'ing concept. You are drivng slow. Get in the slow lane.
Bitch
Doing 45 while getting on the interstate is more dangerous than safe. Consider taking roads that don't envolve you using the gas peddle.
Yes, I am an asshole. Yes, you suck at driving.
Green means go. To go, you hit the gas peddle. Odd how the words greeen, gas, and go start with a G. Anywho, i wouldn't mind a HUD or expressing what I think of some of the drivers around me.
My house would have MatrixMania screesaver in every window. I wouldn't be surprised if my subburb community would fine me for having "inappropriate windows" like they did my neighbor when he put out a basketball net in his driveway. Mind you, it was HIS property. I need to move somewhere there isn't people with pinecones up their bums.
Though they don't cover loss or theft (insurance issue), Extended warranties are great. CompUSA sells an excelent warranty called TAP and it even covers intentional dammage. I can't remember what the acronym stands for, but any CompUSA sales rep is more than happy to sell you one. You don't even need to buy the product from them. You just need to prove that it works.
Their warranty is usually a one time use deal, but it can save your wallet. My friend's mobo died in his laptop and it took 2 months and $900+ to get it replaced. A $350 TAP warranty would have saved him the time and money. If they don't have the part or laptop, they usually give you an equvelent or better system to replace the broken one. After a couple of years, you are garunteed to get a better system. They will even offer to sell you another TAP warranty.
Want an easy upgrade? A little bit before the warranty is up, take your shotgun to it and they'll replace it with a newer one with better specs.
The only other company's extended warranty that I am familiar with is Dell's. Their's is similar to CompUSA's, but it doesn't cover intentional dammage ("hammer marks" is their site's example), but does go on for the full term. CompUSA's ends when the full term expires or you use it before the end of the term. Dell's goes on for the full term. So you could get the four year warranty, drop the sucker down a flight of concrete stairs into a poll every 1.9 years, and be getting a nice upgrade. After the term, I am not familiar with. Also, I don't know if they will keep track if you have a history of "accidentally" dropping your laptop whenever you're garunteed to get a nice upgrade from the warranty.
Employees at CompUSA, on the other hand, aren't paid enough to care. Some even encourage abusing the warranty. Plus the person that sells you the TAP warranty gets a commission.
As for other companies, research them for yourself. Research heavily before you lay down the cash. I suggest calling the department that handles claims and giving the rep some senarios. They are the ones that will be deciding whether you will get a sweet upgrade or a denail and holey (from your shotgun) laptop in your hands.