Thanks for the clarification... that does lead me to a question then...
If the retailers ar the ones who collect the levies, would that mean buying levied media from Costco or Sams would remove the levy? Seeing as the entire ( orginal ) intention of these stores was to be a supplier to other retail stores and government employees?
In other words... If I own a small electronics store, and I source my cdr's from priceclub, since they are going to be resold... the levy should fall to me to collect?
[i]The levy is added in to the retail price of the product. If I see CD-Rs for sale at $25, when I go to pay there's no extra levy added to that price, but there are the applicable sales taxes. It's not as bad as what you are assuming, though I'd rather not pay the levy to begin with.
Pope
[/i]
I agree about the tax vs levy point... I just chose to use "tax", as thats what the parent thread and origional posting itself used. Nothing like being wrong for the sake of consistancy!:)
Are you sure the levy is applied at the retail level? If thats the case, it would the responsibility of each and every vender ( the BestBuys and RadioShacks of the world ) to collect and send the monies in. That would seem a terribly inefficent way to handle it. That is why I had assumed it would be at the manufacturers level that the levy got applied... or failing that, at the distributer level.
I honestly dont know where it is though... im not refuting what you said, im just looking for clarification.
I dont believe that is the case. Im fairly sure its a tax on recordable media. Otherwise, the CD companies would have gotten wise to it, and embedded a 2 second audio clip on each CDR they sell, to get around the tax.
However... if you are right... I hope one of the media companies thinks to do this:)
Actually, it isnt just CDR's that get this tax in Canada... its almost all storage devices. DVD, mp3 players and I believe there was a stink a little while back about hard drives but im not sure where that one ended, all pay a small tax to the RIAA ( well, the Canadian equivalent ). I believe Australia and Britain pay very similar fee's. In the end, I cant see why France would be much different.
The only issue I could think of, is if there is a double tax on the players... Such that if Apple is already paying a small tax for each drive they put in the iPod, then the retail sale shouldnt be taxed again. I doubt this is the case though.
That said... I do think these taxes are BS. Its sorta like charging a tax for a blank piece of paper, because I could use it to plagerism someones work... Hmmm... maybe the should tax the pencil too... etc... etc... etc... Taxing something, for one potential use... of which that use is generally illegal is complete crap. Oh well, just another point of why MPAA's lobbying efforts are so effective.
What else do you think we have to do in the winter, eh? Actually, im rather shocked with all the software that is developed in Seattle and California, given how nice the weather is!:D
No offence to SGI, I really loved their products, but sadly, I think they are a sinking ship. A few years ( perhaps even just a year back ) when Alias renamed itself from Alias Wavefront to just alias, and moved prices from 7500$ per unit to like 2000$, it looked like alias was about to follow suit. For years, Maya and before that, Power Animator lead the way in 3d graphics, and they are still an industry leader.
I think the best thing that could happen is to seperate themselves away from SGI as much as possible. This has been happenning to some degree already. If you recall a few years back, the URL used to be www.aw.sgi.com , now its www.alias.com... odd that:) It would be a shame to see Alias and their products go away should SGI go the way of the dodo ( which is a very probrable thing to happen ).
As to the unnamed suitor, thats a bit hard to guess. Number 1... its most likely not Microsoft... they tried this game once. When NT 4 was new, they were the proud owners of SoftImage... it didnt work too well for them then... cant see them trying again. I cant picture it being Avid or Discreet, as they both already have a vested interest in a direct competitor ( SoftImage and 3d Studios Max respectively ). I cant see it being any linux company as suggested before... it just is to far from the core business of any of them, to make any sense. Their isnt a linux company I can think of, with the money to buy Alias, that has a focus on multimedia.
In my mind, if its a big name company, that leaves just one company that it makes sense to be. Apple. Maya was recently ported to both Mac and Linux... apple is losing its luster as a media empire... and they have the money. I say if its a big name company behind the buyout, it makes the most sense to be Apple. I just pray they keep the wintel ports going, or I will be very pissed off.
For those of you that dont know, Maya is one sweet piece of software, and a shining example of how to pioneer a user interface.
They exist... but are rarer... alot of the models I was comparing it to, actually had 7200 rpm drives, but normally they shipped with Radeon 7000, which is a shared memory version. I figured I would rather take the drive speed hit, then the video and ram hit.
Right, that's a good management style. Make unilateral, completely unpopular decisions with no effort to win people over or assuage their fears.
People keep missing this point. The decision is already made!!! They already decided to switch to Linux, now they are just trying to get people on board. They put the horse before the cart and now are in damage mode. Had this not been the case... hey, having a celebration to make something more popular, im all for that! But no, this is a case where the company did exactly what you just described... "made unilateral, completely unpopular decsions with no effort to win people over". This is after the fact, and they are trying to make the adoption go smoothly by bribing people or playing on their ego.
Really? There's not a perception that males are better at computers than females? Because as it stands, 90+% of CS grads are male, for whatever reason. The old "no girls on/." joke is so old, yet true, that it's just taken for granted. Yes, many men are unwilling to admit a woman can do ANYTHING better than they can. And you'd be surprised, evidently, about their distribution - it's not all neanderthal plumbers, but doctors, lawyers, and computer engineers too.
First off, yes, you will always have certain people that maintain whatever stereotypes their little minds can dream up. However, what you are talking about is quantity not quality. Im not saying that their arent many girls in IT, im just saying there is no or little sterotype saying girls cant be good at IT. Big difference.
Now, apply that to an office setting, and anything I think you will get a reverse stereotype. Who do you assume is better with a word processor a guy or girl? Years of women as receptionists type mindsets, should actually lead people to the conclusion that women are better at using a computer in an office setting then men are.
Depending on your occupation, I think you would be slamming ALOT of doors in your face having that mindset. Purely on the administration side of thinks, if you are at a company that uses 1000 windows PC's and you are the sole mac guy, I would highly doubt you would get IT's buyin to support this one oddball machine. Not to even mention justifying to the company to spend twice as much for a machine, which to them is less useful then the company standard, just because you like it better.
That said, if you are in IT, or say graphic arts. Or perhaps are a sales rep that spends most of your time away from the office, that is different. Namingly, if you support your own machine and are in a job that will allow that ( which many wouldnt for a variety of perfectly valid reasons ), than it is somewhat understandable to be able to pick your own machine. I am in such a position to some degree as I make purchasing decisions... thats said, being in IT is the exception, not the rule. The rules governing computing in regards to IT staff by its very nature, have to be different to some degree, then those that apply to average workers.
Regardless, the main point - that a corporation is a dictatorship - is factually correct. However, if you treat your employees as if they have no valuable opinions on the tools they will be using to do their jobs, then you will lose buy in, and have a revolt.
And, I agreed with you 100% in my post. During the evaluation phase, the employees that are going to be effected should be consulted. You shouldnt just force software down your employees throats just because some suit liked it, or got some sweet kickback for buying it, and sadly this happens far to often. However, this isnt what I said at all.
This isnt the evaluation phase they are talking about... The software was already decided on. To quote "how they persuaded workers to accept the changes." So, instead of consulting employees, and getting something that worked best for the group... they just went ahead and bought something, and then tried to sell it by giving away stuffed toys and using sex appeal. So... I think this is a badly run companies decision for two reasons... 1) they didnt involve the people whose jobs are being impacted in the decision phase and 2) they drive apdotion through bribery and coercion.
Yep, sounds like a solid business plan to me... um huh!
No, I over exagerated in my origonal post... "Use the damned software!" im not meaning as a direct quote. However, basically when it boils down to it, if the company makes a decision to use a piece of software... why should they have to coerce people into using it?!?! The end user has no choice in the matter... now they can be nice about rolling it out, offer training and support etc... But bribing employees? Coercion... yeah, thats a good way to get people to buy in.
Ive worked in companies on a number of occasions, where the end users seemed to think they had control over the software they use, and the computer in general. Taking an approach like that mentioned in this article just re-inforces that mindset, which is a bad thing.
As a direct example... at a company I worked with in the past, they switched to Maximo, from an older (unsupported) piece of software. However, the mindset was so entrenched that users controlled there machines and work process, that a few people refused to use the new program. Due to bad management, duplicate entries had to be done to accomidate these people... Another example was when one of the server drives got full and wash basically crashing everything ( the joys of novell... ) and IT did a network wide delete on all.mp3 files in personal folders on the network drive. This created a shitstorm, because "there" space was violated...
These are just two examples of why this type of mindset is bad for a corporate environment. Dont get me wrong, ive worked at a bank which locked EVERYBODY down to basically nothing. This isnt fun either... Everything had a procedure, and if you didnt like something, or wanted something changed, tough shit. I can understand the argument from both sides of the fence, and you have to walk a thin line between allow people enough access/ownership of their desktops that they are productive. However, you can never let their feeling of ownership disrupt the success of the business or the viabilty of the network, pure and simple.
I cant imagine this being a very successful company, when they have to use bribes and sex to encourage the employees to use a tool you've mandated.
Hell, this is kinda like McDonalds deciding to use a different type of cash register, then having someone attractive go by and give each McWage Slave a free friggin teddy bear, in order to get them to use the new machine.
How about this approach... "Use the damned software!". Really, I dont know why people seem to think they should have complete freedom on a computer at work. The company owns the machine, and the company chooses the software... so long as the company involved the proper employees in evaluating which is the best software(s) to use... thats it, end of story. Employees really shouldnt have a choice one way or another.
So instead, you get this boneheaded company in germany, that is now going to have a number of mail employee's that have no clue how to use the software, and thus loose productivity, because there ego refuses to let them be beat by a girl?!?!
Besides that point... does male ego really apply that much to intellectual persuits? I mean, do most people think men are better then women at using a computer because of genetics? I doubt the number is high. Now, those hard to open jar lids... yeah, ego still applies there.
In all honesty, the disdain for this laptop "cause its sooo purdy" on slashdot, reminds me of just how petty this community can be. I think the whole point being made in defence of the acer, is that its taken style into account, where as you look at HP's dell's etc... they are still ugly as hell. That said, I kinda like the spartan black look of the ibm series of laptops, but my god, they are frickin expensive... Thats why I replaced my thinkpad with one of these.
When I was looking for laptops, I had a few criteria's. 1) 2) High resolution screen, at least 1280x1024, preferably higher
3) Enough video power to run 3d Studios max, and some of the games I play ( mostly medievil:Total war ) dont care about supporting the newest version of Quack at 4,231 fps personally.
4) Decent processing power.
5) Builtin wireless
6) Windows based ( sorry, no mac )
You shop around for a laptop that meets those specs. I dont much care for the portable aspect so battery life isnt such a big concern. If im somewhere for > 2 or so hours, I generally just plug the thing in... thats been the case with every laptop ive ever owned. Anytime im at a conference, or a meeting, which ever, I have access to a power outlet. I keep hearing people say you can get a better spec'd machine for the same price, but I have seen exactly ZERO examples of where that is true. I see alot of people point at laptop's with 3000$USD price tags, and saying, hey look at that one, its better! Yeah... sure, compare ables to oranges. Oh, and if you are going to point me at a dell... or any other web order laptop, be accurate and include the 100$ to 150$ in shipping that people like to convienantly forget when they are price comparing.
Thats said, there are a few things I dont like...
* Heat. This thing runs hot. Downside to the Athlon mobiles, they really run hot...
* Very trivial, but the mouse. Its contoured in a way that pinches your fingers together, and in reality isnt that useful.
* One dead pixel. Then again, I think ive encountered this with almost every laptop from almost every manufacturer, I could send it back for replacement, but screw that.
* Driver support. You need to have ACERs drivers. You cant use ATI's drivers for any of their mobile products.
* Hard drive is only 5200 rpm.
* USB ports are all on the left side, which is very annoying as im right handed, so when I plug a mouse in, I have a cable either running across the surface, or tangled around the back. Swap the USB hub location with the DVD location ( the dvd, btw, ejects into the bent AC adapter cable, which is also kinda annoying and would be fixed by this move aswell )
Little things that dont get noticed but I love, is the 4 way joystick that can be programmed to do whatever you want. The fact the hibernating is actually done well. The 4 in 1 reader is kinda nice. 4 usb ports is very cool. Firewire, Infared, 802.11g ( no b sadly:( ) and Bluetooth all built in.
Im not really sure how to look at DVD in general. I have one, and dont get me wrong, the concept of ever renting another VHS tape sends chills down my back. Ditto for at work... MSDN on DVD is about 5 times nicer then on CD, there is no doubt that it is such a marked improvement over CD.
Thing is, with every new format, you need to have a certain element of buy in. DVD is just now getting there, IMHO... if you go to rent a new release at blockbuster there will most likely be more DVD's then VHS tapes. Ditto for if you go to buy a new computer... i would say 90% of all new systems ship with a DVD player standard... half of those most likely are burners.
But I wonder, with new developments, such as HD DVD on the horizon, how many people are going to hold of purchasing a DVD or DVD burner now... when something is going to obsolete it a short while into the future. Is technology on the horizon bad for the technology that exists today?
DVD adoption still isnt as complete as it should be... for instance
How much software do you buy on DVD's these days? I wish it was alot more, but CD's still rule the day in shrinkwraped software, especially games. With games like Neverwinter nights spanning multiple CD's, your either stuck dedicating a wack of your HD to playing it... or your back in the Apple ii days of disk swapping.
What about audio dvd's? A recent trip to HMV showed that there was perhaps a hundred available for purchase at retail... not to mention that cars dont have dvd players... you arent seeing portable dvd discmen...
I guess all Im wondering is... Are these companies sorta shooting themselves in the foot by constantly bringing out new versions? Should storage media follow a more console like approach to release schedules to acheive better market penetration. I mean, how many people would have bought a DVD player ( or plasma tv, or flat panel monitor ) etc... if it didnt constantly feel like there was something better around the corner... and in the case of dvd's, that your investment could almost instantly become obsoleted?
As an asside... I think DVD's have already done a pretty big mess of things. Ive recently shopped for a DVD burner to replace my CD player, and I was aghast to find out how many formats already exists... DVDR DVD +R DVD+RW DVD-R DVD-RW?!??! Wow...
As an aside, I feel that even the action of extending the Maginot Line to include both Belgium and the Netherlands would have been a redundant task. As a line of defence, it was purely obsoleted, and failed to take into account the impact of air warfare. Had the line included layer after layer of anti-aircraft weaponry, then perhaps it may have been a viable ( but inefficent defence ), however that was not to be the case. The tragedy of it all is that the line was started circa 1929/30... at which point in time, the relevance of a viable airforce should have been a much more obvious threat, and should have been considered. Granted, in WW1, the effectiveness of aircraft could easily have been disputed, but, by the 30's, it should have become very obvious. We also have to remember, a great many generals also viewed the tank as inferior to the horse at the outbreak of WWI.
As to joining me in Canada... I cant recommend it enough... except the fact our taxes are hell:) Oh... and in high tech jobs... Americans are payed much better...
Actually, Limburgher, I think you and I agree alot more then we both came across in the first place... I put more thought into it, and, although I hold my joke as true and appropriate ( militairly ( is that a word?:) ), France's resent ( post Napolean ) track record is perhaps the worst of any major nation.
However, I, after putting more thought into it, completely agree with your response to my initial joke. In the post 9/11 world, with that monkey... whats'his faces son... George something, running the United States, I suppose I can understand your reaction. I COMPLETELY agree with France's objection to the war in Iraq, and I applaud them having the courage to tell... (paraphrasing here) the US government to grow up. I really wish Britain had done the same... perhaps that overgrown ego in Washington may have listened, but I highly doubt it. The American reaction to a foreign country having the audacity to stand up against them, totally sickened me. I lost all ( well, what limited respect I had anyways... ) for american media outlets. Condeming all things French, renaming French fries freedom fries, etc... made me rather ashamed for my friends to the south. However, living within 1 hour of the US border, and worning for a multinational country, I was heartend to know that the vast majority of my American friends felt the same. The US government and US media did more damage to the US cause then has been seen in the last 50 years. So... with the US picking France as their favorite beating monkey, perhaps my joke could have been better timed!:)
That said... I stand by what I said:) At war, the french suck! Hell, at politics, France sucks! Go back to the French revolution, and beyond and you will see what I mean. Perhaps in the middle age's they were a power... and the breif periods of time under the rule of Napolean... but throughout the rest of history, they spent ages getting their ass's handed to them:) French politics from the 19th century through to present is filled with incompetent decisions, especially in regards to dealing with military matters. Actually, France is/was a classic example of a country with a disconnected military to their governmental system.
That said, I am not condeming French culture... nor calling them cheese eaters ( although, I suppose I am calling them surrender monkeys!!!:) ). The ability to make war is just one facet of a country or that countries government. However, historically, that facet has never been frances strong point! As another student of history, I will cite examples if you so wish!:)
Regardless, no insult meant to any french people intended... except perhaps to any military officals in the French army... or those who think that De Gaulle was the bomb!;-)
Hahaha... you make one horrible assumption my friend... Im not American... nor am I a troll.
First off, you will never hear me sing the praises of American actions during WWI and WWII... neither is such a noble persuit, although I will admit that the US did have a HUGE impact on winning that war. WWI on the other hand was a global clusterfuck from day one... even the causes of that war are questionable.
As to France's contributions to WW2, please try not to make me laugh so hard. France lost purely to incompetance and nothing more... they acted as much of a deterant to the Nazi war machine, as a speedbump deters a Hummer. Yes... lets build a wall bristling with guns and point it in one direction and sit back and think we are safe.
Then... There was the supreme moron Charles de GAULLE who almost single handidly prevent the United States from joining the war in the first place, due to his sheer arrogance and sense of self worth. The United States president(s) HATED him, and he is very much responsible for a delay in many actions that occured in the second world war. Hell, he even delayed the land lease act which started to sway power in the allies favour. France hindered the allies war effort more then they helped, pure and simple. The allies owe the victory to the meat grinder that was Russia, and the sacrafice of US and British Commonwealth countries on a factor of 100x more then any action any French people did.
As to my perspective, im a Canadian... so two things... 1) I dont think the US staying a british colony is such a bad thing... Australia and Canada seem like pretty damned nice countries, in my opinion... 2) de GAULLE has caused HUGE problems, by once again meddling in Canadian affairs. We owe a whole wack of our last 20 years of problems ( FLQ crisis, and seperation+referendums ) to that arrogant little worm.
They got the facts all wrong... the Boilerplate soldier wasnt developed in chicago... it was developed in Paris.
You see... the Parisans knew well in advanced just how many battles they were going to have to surrender in, over the next hundred years, so they designed this robot to do it for them. You see, the average French soldier was far to arrogant to admit that they, yes... did in fact suck... however, the French government refused to accept the casualities of extended conflicts due to the fact they had nobody amongst themselves brave enough or confident enough to actually surrender, so they created a robot to face the shame for them. Sadly the protype never lived up to the hype, and for the next 8 consecutive battles, the French had to swallow their pride and surrender Mano-eh-mano.
Shees, cant the history books get anything right?:D
I think you missed the point... It wasnt the end of the world... the UK was put under quarantine. Double rape with one person being a child, is a bit harsh... I can more then understand wanting to get away from something like that... even in a post apocolyptic future! I think they did a good job of showing the horror of the circumstances without being vulgar about it. I also thought they did an exceptionally good job making you empathize with a group of people ( mostly the commander ), then having them turn into the villan(s) of the film... even in the face of zombies.
I for one, thought 28 days later was a good movie... great atmosphere... there is this weird sterile environment that only the british seem to be able to pull of ( Dr Who and Red Dwarf come to mind immediatly ). My only complaint is, with a bit more environmental effects, and having a few more characters ( personable ones ), it could have been a much scarier film.
Slashdot Mirror
Thanks for the clarification... that does lead me to a question then...
If the retailers ar the ones who collect the levies, would that mean buying levied media from Costco or Sams would remove the levy? Seeing as the entire ( orginal ) intention of these stores was to be a supplier to other retail stores and government employees?
In other words... If I own a small electronics store, and I source my cdr's from priceclub, since they are going to be resold... the levy should fall to me to collect?
[i]The levy is added in to the retail price of the product. If I see CD-Rs for sale at $25, when I go to pay there's no extra levy added to that price, but there are the applicable sales taxes. It's not as bad as what you are assuming, though I'd rather not pay the levy to begin with. Pope [/i]
:)
I agree about the tax vs levy point... I just chose to use "tax", as thats what the parent thread and origional posting itself used. Nothing like being wrong for the sake of consistancy!
Are you sure the levy is applied at the retail level? If thats the case, it would the responsibility of each and every vender ( the BestBuys and RadioShacks of the world ) to collect and send the monies in. That would seem a terribly inefficent way to handle it. That is why I had assumed it would be at the manufacturers level that the levy got applied... or failing that, at the distributer level.
I honestly dont know where it is though... im not refuting what you said, im just looking for clarification.
I dont believe that is the case. Im fairly sure its a tax on recordable media. Otherwise, the CD companies would have gotten wise to it, and embedded a 2 second audio clip on each CDR they sell, to get around the tax.
:)
However... if you are right... I hope one of the media companies thinks to do this
Actually, it isnt just CDR's that get this tax in Canada... its almost all storage devices. DVD, mp3 players and I believe there was a stink a little while back about hard drives but im not sure where that one ended, all pay a small tax to the RIAA ( well, the Canadian equivalent ). I believe Australia and Britain pay very similar fee's. In the end, I cant see why France would be much different.
The only issue I could think of, is if there is a double tax on the players... Such that if Apple is already paying a small tax for each drive they put in the iPod, then the retail sale shouldnt be taxed again. I doubt this is the case though.
That said... I do think these taxes are BS. Its sorta like charging a tax for a blank piece of paper, because I could use it to plagerism someones work... Hmmm... maybe the should tax the pencil too... etc... etc... etc... Taxing something, for one potential use... of which that use is generally illegal is complete crap. Oh well, just another point of why MPAA's lobbying efforts are so effective.
What else do you think we have to do in the winter, eh? Actually, im rather shocked with all the software that is developed in Seattle and California, given how nice the weather is! :D
Ok... then I could mention the fact it makes absolutely no sense for SCO to buy Alias :)
No offence to SGI, I really loved their products, but sadly, I think they are a sinking ship. A few years ( perhaps even just a year back ) when Alias renamed itself from Alias Wavefront to just alias, and moved prices from 7500$ per unit to like 2000$, it looked like alias was about to follow suit. For years, Maya and before that, Power Animator lead the way in 3d graphics, and they are still an industry leader.
:) It would be a shame to see Alias and their products go away should SGI go the way of the dodo ( which is a very probrable thing to happen ).
I think the best thing that could happen is to seperate themselves away from SGI as much as possible. This has been happenning to some degree already. If you recall a few years back, the URL used to be www.aw.sgi.com , now its www.alias.com... odd that
As to the unnamed suitor, thats a bit hard to guess. Number 1... its most likely not Microsoft... they tried this game once. When NT 4 was new, they were the proud owners of SoftImage... it didnt work too well for them then... cant see them trying again. I cant picture it being Avid or Discreet, as they both already have a vested interest in a direct competitor ( SoftImage and 3d Studios Max respectively ). I cant see it being any linux company as suggested before... it just is to far from the core business of any of them, to make any sense. Their isnt a linux company I can think of, with the money to buy Alias, that has a focus on multimedia.
In my mind, if its a big name company, that leaves just one company that it makes sense to be. Apple. Maya was recently ported to both Mac and Linux... apple is losing its luster as a media empire... and they have the money. I say if its a big name company behind the buyout, it makes the most sense to be Apple. I just pray they keep the wintel ports going, or I will be very pissed off.
For those of you that dont know, Maya is one sweet piece of software, and a shining example of how to pioneer a user interface.
HAHA, I hope your kidding, SCO doesnt come close to having the money it would take to buy Alias.
They exist... but are rarer... alot of the models I was comparing it to, actually had 7200 rpm drives, but normally they shipped with Radeon 7000, which is a shared memory version. I figured I would rather take the drive speed hit, then the video and ram hit.
LOL... well you definatly qualify in the "needs a mac to do his job" category then. :)
Right, that's a good management style. Make unilateral, completely unpopular decisions with no effort to win people over or assuage their fears.
/." joke is so old, yet true, that it's just taken for granted. Yes, many men are unwilling to admit a woman can do ANYTHING better than they can. And you'd be surprised, evidently, about their distribution - it's not all neanderthal plumbers, but doctors, lawyers, and computer engineers too.
People keep missing this point. The decision is already made!!! They already decided to switch to Linux, now they are just trying to get people on board. They put the horse before the cart and now are in damage mode. Had this not been the case... hey, having a celebration to make something more popular, im all for that! But no, this is a case where the company did exactly what you just described... "made unilateral, completely unpopular decsions with no effort to win people over". This is after the fact, and they are trying to make the adoption go smoothly by bribing people or playing on their ego.
Really? There's not a perception that males are better at computers than females? Because as it stands, 90+% of CS grads are male, for whatever reason. The old "no girls on
First off, yes, you will always have certain people that maintain whatever stereotypes their little minds can dream up. However, what you are talking about is quantity not quality. Im not saying that their arent many girls in IT, im just saying there is no or little sterotype saying girls cant be good at IT. Big difference.
Now, apply that to an office setting, and anything I think you will get a reverse stereotype. Who do you assume is better with a word processor a guy or girl? Years of women as receptionists type mindsets, should actually lead people to the conclusion that women are better at using a computer in an office setting then men are.
Depending on your occupation, I think you would be slamming ALOT of doors in your face having that mindset. Purely on the administration side of thinks, if you are at a company that uses 1000 windows PC's and you are the sole mac guy, I would highly doubt you would get IT's buyin to support this one oddball machine. Not to even mention justifying to the company to spend twice as much for a machine, which to them is less useful then the company standard, just because you like it better.
That said, if you are in IT, or say graphic arts. Or perhaps are a sales rep that spends most of your time away from the office, that is different. Namingly, if you support your own machine and are in a job that will allow that ( which many wouldnt for a variety of perfectly valid reasons ), than it is somewhat understandable to be able to pick your own machine. I am in such a position to some degree as I make purchasing decisions... thats said, being in IT is the exception, not the rule. The rules governing computing in regards to IT staff by its very nature, have to be different to some degree, then those that apply to average workers.
Regardless, the main point - that a corporation is a dictatorship - is factually correct. However, if you treat your employees as if they have no valuable opinions on the tools they will be using to do their jobs, then you will lose buy in, and have a revolt.
And, I agreed with you 100% in my post. During the evaluation phase, the employees that are going to be effected should be consulted. You shouldnt just force software down your employees throats just because some suit liked it, or got some sweet kickback for buying it, and sadly this happens far to often. However, this isnt what I said at all.
This isnt the evaluation phase they are talking about... The software was already decided on. To quote "how they persuaded workers to accept the changes." So, instead of consulting employees, and getting something that worked best for the group... they just went ahead and bought something, and then tried to sell it by giving away stuffed toys and using sex appeal. So... I think this is a badly run companies decision for two reasons... 1) they didnt involve the people whose jobs are being impacted in the decision phase and 2) they drive apdotion through bribery and coercion.
Yep, sounds like a solid business plan to me... um huh!
No, I over exagerated in my origonal post... "Use the damned software!" im not meaning as a direct quote. However, basically when it boils down to it, if the company makes a decision to use a piece of software... why should they have to coerce people into using it?!?! The end user has no choice in the matter... now they can be nice about rolling it out, offer training and support etc... But bribing employees? Coercion... yeah, thats a good way to get people to buy in .
.mp3 files in personal folders on the network drive. This created a shitstorm, because "there" space was violated...
Ive worked in companies on a number of occasions, where the end users seemed to think they had control over the software they use, and the computer in general. Taking an approach like that mentioned in this article just re-inforces that mindset, which is a bad thing.
As a direct example... at a company I worked with in the past, they switched to Maximo, from an older (unsupported) piece of software. However, the mindset was so entrenched that users controlled there machines and work process, that a few people refused to use the new program. Due to bad management, duplicate entries had to be done to accomidate these people... Another example was when one of the server drives got full and wash basically crashing everything ( the joys of novell... ) and IT did a network wide delete on all
These are just two examples of why this type of mindset is bad for a corporate environment. Dont get me wrong, ive worked at a bank which locked EVERYBODY down to basically nothing. This isnt fun either... Everything had a procedure, and if you didnt like something, or wanted something changed, tough shit. I can understand the argument from both sides of the fence, and you have to walk a thin line between allow people enough access/ownership of their desktops that they are productive. However, you can never let their feeling of ownership disrupt the success of the business or the viabilty of the network, pure and simple.
LOL, I love how disagreeing == flame baiting on slashdot... ;)
I cant imagine this being a very successful company, when they have to use bribes and sex to encourage the employees to use a tool you've mandated.
Hell, this is kinda like McDonalds deciding to use a different type of cash register, then having someone attractive go by and give each McWage Slave a free friggin teddy bear, in order to get them to use the new machine.
How about this approach... "Use the damned software!". Really, I dont know why people seem to think they should have complete freedom on a computer at work. The company owns the machine, and the company chooses the software... so long as the company involved the proper employees in evaluating which is the best software(s) to use... thats it, end of story. Employees really shouldnt have a choice one way or another.
So instead, you get this boneheaded company in germany, that is now going to have a number of mail employee's that have no clue how to use the software, and thus loose productivity, because there ego refuses to let them be beat by a girl?!?!
Besides that point... does male ego really apply that much to intellectual persuits? I mean, do most people think men are better then women at using a computer because of genetics? I doubt the number is high. Now, those hard to open jar lids... yeah, ego still applies there.
In all honesty, the disdain for this laptop "cause its sooo purdy" on slashdot, reminds me of just how petty this community can be. I think the whole point being made in defence of the acer, is that its taken style into account, where as you look at HP's dell's etc... they are still ugly as hell. That said, I kinda like the spartan black look of the ibm series of laptops, but my god, they are frickin expensive... Thats why I replaced my thinkpad with one of these.
:( ) and Bluetooth all built in.
:D
When I was looking for laptops, I had a few criteria's.
1) 2) High resolution screen, at least 1280x1024, preferably higher
3) Enough video power to run 3d Studios max, and some of the games I play ( mostly medievil:Total war ) dont care about supporting the newest version of Quack at 4,231 fps personally.
4) Decent processing power.
5) Builtin wireless
6) Windows based ( sorry, no mac )
You shop around for a laptop that meets those specs. I dont much care for the portable aspect so battery life isnt such a big concern. If im somewhere for > 2 or so hours, I generally just plug the thing in... thats been the case with every laptop ive ever owned. Anytime im at a conference, or a meeting, which ever, I have access to a power outlet. I keep hearing people say you can get a better spec'd machine for the same price, but I have seen exactly ZERO examples of where that is true. I see alot of people point at laptop's with 3000$USD price tags, and saying, hey look at that one, its better! Yeah... sure, compare ables to oranges. Oh, and if you are going to point me at a dell... or any other web order laptop, be accurate and include the 100$ to 150$ in shipping that people like to convienantly forget when they are price comparing.
Thats said, there are a few things I dont like...
* Heat. This thing runs hot. Downside to the Athlon mobiles, they really run hot...
* Very trivial, but the mouse. Its contoured in a way that pinches your fingers together, and in reality isnt that useful.
* One dead pixel. Then again, I think ive encountered this with almost every laptop from almost every manufacturer, I could send it back for replacement, but screw that.
* Driver support. You need to have ACERs drivers. You cant use ATI's drivers for any of their mobile products.
* Hard drive is only 5200 rpm.
* USB ports are all on the left side, which is very annoying as im right handed, so when I plug a mouse in, I have a cable either running across the surface, or tangled around the back. Swap the USB hub location with the DVD location ( the dvd, btw, ejects into the bent AC adapter cable, which is also kinda annoying and would be fixed by this move aswell )
Little things that dont get noticed but I love, is the 4 way joystick that can be programmed to do whatever you want. The fact the hibernating is actually done well. The 4 in 1 reader is kinda nice. 4 usb ports is very cool. Firewire, Infared, 802.11g ( no b sadly
That, and it has a damned cool paint job!
Im not really sure how to look at DVD in general. I have one, and dont get me wrong, the concept of ever renting another VHS tape sends chills down my back. Ditto for at work... MSDN on DVD is about 5 times nicer then on CD, there is no doubt that it is such a marked improvement over CD.
Thing is, with every new format, you need to have a certain element of buy in. DVD is just now getting there, IMHO... if you go to rent a new release at blockbuster there will most likely be more DVD's then VHS tapes. Ditto for if you go to buy a new computer... i would say 90% of all new systems ship with a DVD player standard... half of those most likely are burners.
But I wonder, with new developments, such as HD DVD on the horizon, how many people are going to hold of purchasing a DVD or DVD burner now... when something is going to obsolete it a short while into the future. Is technology on the horizon bad for the technology that exists today?
DVD adoption still isnt as complete as it should be... for instance
How much software do you buy on DVD's these days? I wish it was alot more, but CD's still rule the day in shrinkwraped software, especially games. With games like Neverwinter nights spanning multiple CD's, your either stuck dedicating a wack of your HD to playing it... or your back in the Apple ii days of disk swapping.
What about audio dvd's? A recent trip to HMV showed that there was perhaps a hundred available for purchase at retail... not to mention that cars dont have dvd players... you arent seeing portable dvd discmen...
I guess all Im wondering is... Are these companies sorta shooting themselves in the foot by constantly bringing out new versions? Should storage media follow a more console like approach to release schedules to acheive better market penetration. I mean, how many people would have bought a DVD player ( or plasma tv, or flat panel monitor ) etc... if it didnt constantly feel like there was something better around the corner... and in the case of dvd's, that your investment could almost instantly become obsoleted?
As an asside... I think DVD's have already done a pretty big mess of things. Ive recently shopped for a DVD burner to replace my CD player, and I was aghast to find out how many formats already exists... DVDR DVD +R DVD+RW DVD-R DVD-RW?!??! Wow...
As an aside, I feel that even the action of extending the Maginot Line to include both Belgium and the Netherlands would have been a redundant task. As a line of defence, it was purely obsoleted, and failed to take into account the impact of air warfare. Had the line included layer after layer of anti-aircraft weaponry, then perhaps it may have been a viable ( but inefficent defence ), however that was not to be the case. The tragedy of it all is that the line was started circa 1929/30... at which point in time, the relevance of a viable airforce should have been a much more obvious threat, and should have been considered. Granted, in WW1, the effectiveness of aircraft could easily have been disputed, but, by the 30's, it should have become very obvious. We also have to remember, a great many generals also viewed the tank as inferior to the horse at the outbreak of WWI.
:) Oh... and in high tech jobs... Americans are payed much better...
As to joining me in Canada... I cant recommend it enough... except the fact our taxes are hell
Actually, Limburgher, I think you and I agree alot more then we both came across in the first place... I put more thought into it, and, although I hold my joke as true and appropriate ( militairly ( is that a word? :) ), France's resent ( post Napolean ) track record is perhaps the worst of any major nation.
... whats'his faces son... George something, running the United States, I suppose I can understand your reaction. I COMPLETELY agree with France's objection to the war in Iraq, and I applaud them having the courage to tell... (paraphrasing here) the US government to grow up. I really wish Britain had done the same... perhaps that overgrown ego in Washington may have listened, but I highly doubt it. The American reaction to a foreign country having the audacity to stand up against them, totally sickened me. I lost all ( well, what limited respect I had anyways... ) for american media outlets. Condeming all things French, renaming French fries freedom fries, etc... made me rather ashamed for my friends to the south. However, living within 1 hour of the US border, and worning for a multinational country, I was heartend to know that the vast majority of my American friends felt the same. The US government and US media did more damage to the US cause then has been seen in the last 50 years. So... with the US picking France as their favorite beating monkey, perhaps my joke could have been better timed! :)
:) At war, the french suck! Hell, at politics, France sucks! Go back to the French revolution, and beyond and you will see what I mean. Perhaps in the middle age's they were a power... and the breif periods of time under the rule of Napolean... but throughout the rest of history, they spent ages getting their ass's handed to them :) French politics from the 19th century through to present is filled with incompetent decisions, especially in regards to dealing with military matters. Actually, France is/was a classic example of a country with a disconnected military to their governmental system.
:) ). The ability to make war is just one facet of a country or that countries government. However, historically, that facet has never been frances strong point! As another student of history, I will cite examples if you so wish! :)
;-)
However, I, after putting more thought into it, completely agree with your response to my initial joke. In the post 9/11 world, with that monkey
That said... I stand by what I said
That said, I am not condeming French culture... nor calling them cheese eaters ( although, I suppose I am calling them surrender monkeys!!!
Regardless, no insult meant to any french people intended... except perhaps to any military officals in the French army... or those who think that De Gaulle was the bomb!
Hahaha... you make one horrible assumption my friend... Im not American... nor am I a troll.
First off, you will never hear me sing the praises of American actions during WWI and WWII... neither is such a noble persuit, although I will admit that the US did have a HUGE impact on winning that war. WWI on the other hand was a global clusterfuck from day one... even the causes of that war are questionable.
As to France's contributions to WW2, please try not to make me laugh so hard. France lost purely to incompetance and nothing more... they acted as much of a deterant to the Nazi war machine, as a speedbump deters a Hummer. Yes... lets build a wall bristling with guns and point it in one direction and sit back and think we are safe.
Then... There was the supreme moron Charles de GAULLE who almost single handidly prevent the United States from joining the war in the first place, due to his sheer arrogance and sense of self worth. The United States president(s) HATED him, and he is very much responsible for a delay in many actions that occured in the second world war. Hell, he even delayed the land lease act which started to sway power in the allies favour. France hindered the allies war effort more then they helped, pure and simple. The allies owe the victory to the meat grinder that was Russia, and the sacrafice of US and British Commonwealth countries on a factor of 100x more then any action any French people did.
As to my perspective, im a Canadian... so two things... 1) I dont think the US staying a british colony is such a bad thing... Australia and Canada seem like pretty damned nice countries, in my opinion... 2) de GAULLE has caused HUGE problems, by once again meddling in Canadian affairs. We owe a whole wack of our last 20 years of problems ( FLQ crisis, and seperation+referendums ) to that arrogant little worm.
OUCH! That is perhaps the worst pun I have heard in... well... in a very long time!
;)
Good job!
They got the facts all wrong... the Boilerplate soldier wasnt developed in chicago... it was developed in Paris.
:D
You see... the Parisans knew well in advanced just how many battles they were going to have to surrender in, over the next hundred years, so they designed this robot to do it for them. You see, the average French soldier was far to arrogant to admit that they, yes... did in fact suck... however, the French government refused to accept the casualities of extended conflicts due to the fact they had nobody amongst themselves brave enough or confident enough to actually surrender, so they created a robot to face the shame for them. Sadly the protype never lived up to the hype, and for the next 8 consecutive battles, the French had to swallow their pride and surrender Mano-eh-mano.
Shees, cant the history books get anything right?
Well, I dont disagree with the parent to this post being modded down to flamebait... It isnt really an accurate moderation...
Cliche'd or Lame or Boring would be much better was to moderate such posts!!!
I think you missed the point... It wasnt the end of the world... the UK was put under quarantine. Double rape with one person being a child, is a bit harsh... I can more then understand wanting to get away from something like that... even in a post apocolyptic future! I think they did a good job of showing the horror of the circumstances without being vulgar about it. I also thought they did an exceptionally good job making you empathize with a group of people ( mostly the commander ), then having them turn into the villan(s) of the film... even in the face of zombies.
I for one, thought 28 days later was a good movie... great atmosphere... there is this weird sterile environment that only the british seem to be able to pull of ( Dr Who and Red Dwarf come to mind immediatly ). My only complaint is, with a bit more environmental effects, and having a few more characters ( personable ones ), it could have been a much scarier film.