An optics professor and a postgrad have developed a way to use ultra-short pulses of laser light to etch nano features into the surface of metals so that they can absorb or reflect specific wavelengths of light. This is very similar to the way that butterflies get the color in their wings.
There's no way in hell a butterfly has the discipline to set still while being laser-etched.
The only tragedy here was the tiger having to be killed.
I disagree. Most of us go through phases of being quite evil and pathetic, and also of being selfless and kind. Most of us are sometimes wretched, sometimes wonderful, and mostly in-between. As a parent, I have a deeper love for my kids than I ever would have expected prior to being a parent. I know they will be sometimes evil; one of my jobs is to minimize that. But I think it would be a tragic, albeit a just one, for most persons to die in this manner.
Perception is part of reality, but it's not all of it. Regardless of public perception, either Vista will, or it will not, have drivers for some particular video card. It will, or it will not, let you watch a HD movie over a non-HDCP video channel.
The problem with Vista isn't merely perception. It's the fact that in this case, the general public's perception of crappiness is a pretty good predictor of the reality that Vista is going to cause you, as an individual, lots of problems.
We really are sincerely sorry for having had this happen and do apologize to all those folks who were affected by the error,' Lamont said
Note the use of the passive voice, which is commonly done to avoid taking responsibility. It seems like even when they're trying to apologize, spin-doctors can't turn off their instinct of avoiding responsibility for mistakes.
Don't they have their salary regulated in contract? Or is it accept-or-be-fired (article doesn't tell)?
When I used to work for IBM (10 - 8 years ago), it was standard U.S. practice: each year, your manager calls you into a meeting and tells you what your new pay level is. You can accept it, or quit your job, or treat it like the beginning of a negotiation, which will in most cases get you labeled as a difficult employee.
It's pretty laissez faire, except that they can't base your pay level / pay level changes on race, religion, etc.
How much mac or linux software could make the same claim? "It just works"? Don't make me laugh.
I never said that Windows or Linux "just work". But many have said that a Mac "just works", which at least with this QuickTime issue is no longer true.
They took the two main selling points of a Mac: (1) "it just works", and (2) it being a great platform for creative work, and sacrificed *both* of those things on the altar of DRM.
I think they need to get back to "thinking different".
I honestly can't imagine what it would be like to have a job where if what's immediately in front of me is blocked, then I am blocked from working.
Try having to do Cell programming on a PS/3, and working at a place where anything "game"-related is blocked by the web filter. Your lack of imagination would be quickly remedied; trust me.
Is there much of a reason that we couldn't have single power+data connectors for internal HDD / DVD drives as well? Things are better now that IDE cables are less common, but I'd still be happy for a cleaner interior of my cases.
Without knowing all the pros and cons of working there, it's hard to say if you should stay there. But it does sound pretty miserable, and you should at least strongly consider your other options.
We're told that we have to earn our place in society, but from many of our perspectives, there really isn't anything *worth* earning. What is the very best that most of us can hope for? A middle class position in an ever poverty-increasing society due to the tremendous shift of wealth towards a small number of businessmen? A marriage where we both work long hours in order to fatten a tiny number of people's pockets, coming home so exhausted that we're barely able to tend to the children's needs and much less to each other's, so we compensate ourselves by the accumulation of possessions? Some world we've been offered...
I totally agree that there's no motivation in making rich people richer. But...
WTF do you mean, "Some world we've been offered"? In the U.S., we've hardly suffered the ravages of war, compared to those who lived through WWII. Most of us have plenty to eat, and don't go cold in the winter. We have cures for diseases that were death sentences 50 years ago. And much of this is because our parents suffered to make our world a better one than theirs.
Sure our world isn't perfect, and there's a lot of ways that we can improve it if we're willing to shoulder the burden. But complaining about what we've been handed sounds like the tantrum of an early adolescent saying, "I didn't ask to be born!". Grow up, and become part of the solution rather than just whining.
I say f- them. Either pay more, or quit complaining about our right to leave.
There's more to it than that. Someone just out of college may say, regarding his first 2-3 jobs, "This sucks! I'm not getting the {respect | money | office | projects} I deserve! F*** this. Bye." But that person mistakenly thinks that he's getting a worse-than-standard deal. So out of ignorance, he leaves a perfectly good job, chasing the mythical perfect job.
It's that pointless churn that I think employers might reasonably be frustrated by. (Of course, those employees might find that they can do less work and get paid more by working in marketing. In that case, the employers are themselves getting a bitter dose of reality.)
Frankly, I work 50+ hours a week and the last thing I want or feel a need to do is look at a f*cking computer when I go home. And this comes from someone who got a Master's in CS while working full time; led implementation of new technologies and languages within the group.
It sure as _hell_ doesn't mean I don't have passion for what I do.
Oh, I'm sorry. This is "seething rage". "Passion" is third door on the left. Cheerio!
I would rather a project take 30% more time but be supportable by more than the creator.
Most managers believe that as well, but I think it's the rare manager who will give the programmer 30% extra time, when the code admittedly "already works and just needs some cleaning up". My point is that there's often a difference between what people say they want, and how they actually act in situ.
Does this make them an abuser of monopoly (there's only one really used DNS)? Or perhaps fraudulent? Or do they violate privacy? Misappropriate implied-confidential information? Do the registrars form an illegal cartel via this behavior?
Slashdot Mirror
There's no way in hell a butterfly has the discipline to set still while being laser-etched.
I disagree. Most of us go through phases of being quite evil and pathetic, and also of being selfless and kind. Most of us are sometimes wretched, sometimes wonderful, and mostly in-between. As a parent, I have a deeper love for my kids than I ever would have expected prior to being a parent. I know they will be sometimes evil; one of my jobs is to minimize that. But I think it would be a tragic, albeit a just one, for most persons to die in this manner.
Definitely. Now we're going to need ways to get 45-year-old men wearing a spent rocket pack down from the top of a redwood tree.
Perception is part of reality, but it's not all of it. Regardless of public perception, either Vista will, or it will not, have drivers for some particular video card. It will, or it will not, let you watch a HD movie over a non-HDCP video channel.
The problem with Vista isn't merely perception. It's the fact that in this case, the general public's perception of crappiness is a pretty good predictor of the reality that Vista is going to cause you, as an individual, lots of problems.
Agreed. If we crank out any more Art History majors, the terrorists have already won!
Is that these groups often have R&D schedules adjusted by marketing majors. Hell, going through that a few times would radicalize my pet hamster.
Isn't this the post that got the award for the most uses of the work "fuck" in a serious post?
Note the use of the passive voice, which is commonly done to avoid taking responsibility. It seems like even when they're trying to apologize, spin-doctors can't turn off their instinct of avoiding responsibility for mistakes.
When I used to work for IBM (10 - 8 years ago), it was standard U.S. practice: each year, your manager calls you into a meeting and tells you what your new pay level is. You can accept it, or quit your job, or treat it like the beginning of a negotiation, which will in most cases get you labeled as a difficult employee.
It's pretty laissez faire, except that they can't base your pay level / pay level changes on race, religion, etc.
Classy.
Holy crap! I think we just witnessed the first application of Xeno's Paradox to the copyright debate. Brilliant!
I never said that Windows or Linux "just work". But many have said that a Mac "just works", which at least with this QuickTime issue is no longer true.
They took the two main selling points of a Mac: (1) "it just works", and (2) it being a great platform for creative work, and sacrificed *both* of those things on the altar of DRM.
I think they need to get back to "thinking different".
Balmer (unshaven, in a wife-beater shirt): "Baby, come back inside. I can change. I promise!"
Ahem... I believe that good form requires you to mention Hitler and Nazis at this point in your ./ rant. ;)
Now we're all going to be forced to re-learn Ada!
Try having to do Cell programming on a PS/3, and working at a place where anything "game"-related is blocked by the web filter. Your lack of imagination would be quickly remedied; trust me.
Is there much of a reason that we couldn't have single power+data connectors for internal HDD / DVD drives as well? Things are better now that IDE cables are less common, but I'd still be happy for a cleaner interior of my cases.
Without knowing all the pros and cons of working there, it's hard to say if you should stay there. But it does sound pretty miserable, and you should at least strongly consider your other options.
I totally agree that there's no motivation in making rich people richer. But...
WTF do you mean, "Some world we've been offered"? In the U.S., we've hardly suffered the ravages of war, compared to those who lived through WWII. Most of us have plenty to eat, and don't go cold in the winter. We have cures for diseases that were death sentences 50 years ago. And much of this is because our parents suffered to make our world a better one than theirs.
Sure our world isn't perfect, and there's a lot of ways that we can improve it if we're willing to shoulder the burden. But complaining about what we've been handed sounds like the tantrum of an early adolescent saying, "I didn't ask to be born!". Grow up, and become part of the solution rather than just whining.
Perhaps you've missed the trends in the separation packages given to CEOs who ruin their companies?
There's more to it than that. Someone just out of college may say, regarding his first 2-3 jobs, "This sucks! I'm not getting the {respect | money | office | projects} I deserve! F*** this. Bye." But that person mistakenly thinks that he's getting a worse-than-standard deal. So out of ignorance, he leaves a perfectly good job, chasing the mythical perfect job.
It's that pointless churn that I think employers might reasonably be frustrated by. (Of course, those employees might find that they can do less work and get paid more by working in marketing. In that case, the employers are themselves getting a bitter dose of reality.)
Oh, I'm sorry. This is "seething rage". "Passion" is third door on the left. Cheerio!
Most managers believe that as well, but I think it's the rare manager who will give the programmer 30% extra time, when the code admittedly "already works and just needs some cleaning up". My point is that there's often a difference between what people say they want, and how they actually act in situ.
Does this make them an abuser of monopoly (there's only one really used DNS)? Or perhaps fraudulent? Or do they violate privacy? Misappropriate implied-confidential information? Do the registrars form an illegal cartel via this behavior?