For all this discussion has focused on the "debate" about global warming, if you think that political interference is limited to environmental science, you're missing a very, very big picture.
Let me start off by saying that scientific advancement is not a left-right issue, and should never be viewed through the narrow prism of party politics. However, the United States has fallen into a (man-made) rut of EVERYTHING being split down partisan lines (even national security, even voting integrity, even scientific research) so that is the playing field we are on, whether we like it or not. Wedge politics infect every issue now.
Under this administration, the religious right has exerted undue influence over decisions ranging from:
And without going on a daylong linkhunt, they are passing bad information about condom effectiveness, intimidating non-profit organizations which do not toe the party line on reproductive issues, and denying USAID funds to overseas orgs which even mention abortion, or distribute condoms as part of family planning efforts. (Imagine sending $15B to Africa to fight AIDS without distributing or even even mentioning condoms! Talk about throwing good money away...It's like fighting fires without water, it's that foolish.)
Sadly, I could document this sort of war on objective science all day, but I think I've made my point. It infests the policy debate over far more than global warming, and if you think there's no difference between the parties on this, you're sadly, tragically mistaken.
Regarding "Linux cyber-battle turns nasty" by Stephen Evans:
This article is tripe. The article paints Linux enthusiasts with such a broad brush as to implicate ALL of them as suspects for the actions of one Windows progammer.
"There's no proof, of course" of the unfounded and overly broad allegations made by Evans in this article.
This misguided author writes "If anyone's anger has no measure, it is the wrath of internet zealots who believe that code should be free to all (open source)."
If anyone's clueless demagoguery has no measure, it is Evans, for that sentence alone. To describe volitional altruism as anger is a huge leap, indeed.
To describe the open source community as "zealots" (and therefore prime suspects in a DoS attack) is nothing short of an irresponsible non-sequitur - delivered with bombast no less.
Playing fast and loose with criminal allegations is not good journalism, and neither is unfounded speculation.
If you can't substantiate your accusations, kindly refrain from printing them.
"It seems" that Stephen Evans has embarrassed himself as an irresponsible hack.
you may be suprised that most companies actually donate pretty equally to both sides just to cover the bases.
That is false, and vague to boot. Aboard the clue train, companies can't donate to political campaigns. It's Walden O'Dell (the individual, CEO of Diebold) who runs the company that makes these shady voting machines, is a Bush "pioneer" who's committed to raising $100,000 in bundled donations, and has said publicly that he's "committed to delivering Ohio's electoral votes to the president".
Without that info, this is a meaninglessly paranoid "article".
I can't believe someone modded that troll insightful. Just because the article/Vidal doesn't cite the source of the information, doesn't make the assertion less true, or the suspicion unwarranted.
Sheesh, do you even read Slashdot? Have you any knowledge of what's been done already by Diebold, their internal memos, their swiss cheese code, O'Dell's machinations? Have you checked Black Box Voting to see if it's up or down this week due to a Diebold lawsuit? You think it's meaningless paranoia to discuss the very real improprieties in e-voting implementation?
Dammit, I just read that these PCs aren't even Y10K compliant! How the hell are we supposed to extrapolate marketing trends with this crap??
signed,
your PHB
Re:which taxes? Income taxes? Social Security tax?
on
Tech Rich Get Richer
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· Score: 1
I am not going to play armchair economist, I'm not nearly qualified enough to decide what is the most equitable tax system (and odds are, 99.9% of posters to this thread aren't either). We all want the same things: incentive to work, a healthy and growing middle class, and the wealthy unburdened by government handcuffs. We all want a fair system that encourages growth across all sectors.
If we're going to analyze the tax structure, let's read some REAL economists perspectives.
Taking seriously a talk radio host's arguments on the tax structure is not unlike believing that Congressman who just learned how to send an email should make uninformed rulings on cyber security (DMCA anyone?).
There are a few very well respected economists (Nobel Prize winners among them) who are railing against Bush's tax cuts.
For what it's worth, I paid three times in taxes what some of the millionaire CA Gubernatorial candidates paid last year, and I'm no millionaire. I'm in a middle class tax bracket (and fighting like a dog not to slip). And I own a small business which created three jobs last year. How's that fair again?
I am an engineer/producer who works with local bands (also a player). Not all bands are good, as you're well aware. Good singers are rare.
Antares Autotune has saved me many a grueling "no, you're flat, get back in the booth and do it again" moment with many a tone-deaf singer with a delicate ego who's quick to anger/disappoint/sulk (which ruins the all important vibe in a recording session) who's ears are damaged by standing next to guitar amps 5 nights a week, compounding his suckitude.
I can repair his god-awful caterwauling (slightly offkey to most, unbearable for those of us who know the difference) on the fly without the band ever getting wise. Meanwhile the singer comes out of the booth feeling like SuperBuckley because he seemingly can't hit a bad note.
When Autotune helps you get that band out in 2 happy sessions (cha-ching + referrals + they're gone) instead of 12 miserable exercises in futility (where everybody leaves pissed, and they always blame the producer for the fact that they can't hack it), believe me it's well worth it! God bless Autotune.
By the way, not all bands are like that, but then the few offkey notes are generally punched in rather than autotuned. Autotuning those "one take guys" is still occasionally useful in the situation where the session breaks before we've had a chance to punch the few offkey spots, and it's hard to get the identical sound (so Joe Listener doesn't notice the punch) on another day.
if the artist hits a wrong note, forgets a word or whatever it usually doesn't ruin the performance. of course this is for the case of real artists who play their own instruments and write their own songs.
My comment is OT to be sure, but here's a little interesting bit of trivia: That great "whistle" outro at the end of "Dock of the Bay" only existed because Otis Redding forgot the words to the last verse. I guess Mr. Redding never got the chance to "fix" it, due to his untimely death in a plane crash three days later.
I question the judgment of bargaining with terrorists at all.
Why bargain if you've actually got the right man? Any info obtained by such a plea couldn't possibly be worth the threat posed by freeing him sooner.
I will avoid the tempation to decide Mike Hawash's guilt or innocence based on the dearth of facts (although he did admit his guilt before a judge). I must say though that something doesn't smell right.
I can't fathom how a true terrorist would find any such mercy as a reduced sentence in US federal prison, not under this administration. You'd be hard pressed to find 12 people in the US (of ANY political stripe) who wouldn't impose a death sentence/life without parole on someone proven guilty of conspiring to kill them all.
If he's truly an unlawful combatant conspiring to kill Americans on American soil, why did the prosecution even offer a plea bargain?
Seriously, what information could Mike Hawash possibly provide that's worth releasing a terrorist in seven years? What is worth that? Maybe if Hawash could lead us to Osama Bin Laden himself, and I strongly doubt that is the case here.
This does not add up. If he's guilty, destroy him. If innocent, let him go. A plea bargain on a terrorism charge is ridiculous either way. It undermines either the integrity of the justice system or the security of the US, depending on the actual innocence or guilt of the accused.
In conclusion, small businesses are ghetto. They're frequently late with payments, as well.
Not so, if you don't offer payments. I get paid upon completion of the job. (I'm not the author, but it's obvious he's insightful about being an ISV via his experience) If a small business can't agree in advance to pay upon completion, then I don't take the job. It's a simple matter of managing your receivables by not allowing them to accumulate.
I realize that critizisms like "how parochial his worldview is" sound impressive, they just happen to be wrong. The bit about ignoring the print magazines is spot on, you'll find exposure to 50x more useful (and interesting) concepts reading Slashdot than you ever will reading "Top 10 Mobile Devices for 2003!" in one of the many periodicals offered beside the checkout in Staples.
I imagine you're a tech too, and have experience of your own, but to encapulate that whole article into some "worldview" box of your creation is ridiculous. This article consists of practical advice, not a manifesto.
Lastly, can you think of a more never-ending source of revenue than repairing Winblows boxen when they crash (as they occassionally do;-)...at $75-$120 an hour?!? Sure I use GNU/Linux myself personally (and I recommend it as often as possible to my Windows clientele), but I'm not above whipping a Windows machine into shape when I'm getting $75 an hour to do it. Heck, it's fun. Some of my clients are already getting used to Mozilla and OpenOffice.
You could look into a resellers consortium like the ASCII Group and avail yourself of group discounts on health insurance, and other useful services for small independent service vendors.
There are plenty of ways to get discounted health insurance. If you're in this field, another suggestion is to consider joining the local chamber of commerce. Not only can the local CoC's offer discounts among it's members, but they also serve as a valuable source of potential clients (albeit at a slightly discounted rate, of course).
Another useful tip is trading your service for various needs. For example, I found an amazing accountant who trades his services (both my corp and personal tax filings) in exchange for service calls once or twice a month when something needs to connected, built, or otherwise attended to. He's so thrilled with the arrangement and my help that he's a constant source of referrals and testimonials in my sales literature. He pays my cost on hardware, and the service (which saves me considerable money-- the guy's a financial genius of the highest integrity, the best combination of attributes in a small business accountant) is a wash. Fred's sage wisdom & business acumen comes at no additional charge, another huge plus. One thing these articles don't mention is how hard it can be to "work in a vaccuum", left entirely to your own devices. It's nice to have someone to bounce ideas off, and provide an alternative take on business decisions (hiring, marketing, etc).
By the way, excellent article. It's apparent that Grant Barrett has the wisdom of the experience. People looking into independent computer service as a way of making a living would do well to take his advice, especially the parts about sharing the knowledge freely with "competitors" and providing free phone support where it suffices.
Here's a thought that will start the ideologues howling "commie", but it might actually increase voter turnout/awareness...instead of a small penalty for not voting, how about a small tax credit for voting?
Mind you, I see the myriad difficulties in implementing this idea, eg. you'd have to track the users to apply credits (and would have to ensure that the voter can't be matched to their choice) etc, but I'm sure that you'd see increased public participation and awareness of the issues & candidates if there was a cold hard cash reward for casting a vote.
Frank Zappa (the man himself) said "anything can be music, but it doesn't become music until somebody wills it to be music, and the audience listening to it decides to perceive it as music."
As formidable a composer as Zappa was, Zappa used every tool at his disposal to will his compositions into reality, and he was a big proponent of electronic tools where appropriate. He loved that the Synclavier
could allow him to finally hear his compositions without having to book an expensive orchestra to hear it. Of course, his use of the tools was predicated on his fundamental understanding of music.
I agree that one should learn the rules first, THEN and ONLY THEN can you break them at will. For validation of this, visit any guitar store that sells various effects pedals, and listen to the caterwauling of newly minted guitarists who haven't developed the skill to play, but are not deterred from using the various effects in horrible sacriligious combinations.
The effects available are amazing tools to an experienced player, but can be a huge impediment to learning the instrument, because they encourage a shortcut to killer tone (and there isn't one). Just try teaching a kid to hear/understand the basic difference between a major chord and a minor one when he's got a new MetalZone pedal at home, cranked to 11, so distorted you can't hear the fundamentals of any chord. For that matter, forget intervals, try teaching him just to tune his guitar by ear.
By the way, I love Fruity Loops, I use it often to lay down "scratch" drums for expressing my ideas to my real drummer (I multitrack the guitar/bass/keys/noises/vox on top, and play the scratch track for the "real" band so they get the jist of the song). It's also great for stuff that a human can't play (64th notes at 180bpm kinda shit), and electronica (the FruityLoops TS404 with automation is worth the $99 all by itself).
I own an onsite PC service company that helps consumers and small companies up to 25 endusers (and we're profitable). I've got a few tips from my experience for anyone thinking of getting into this field.
So don't be daunted by statements like "the market is saturated". It's not. There is demand if you know where your emphasis should be.
Here are the factors that go into the choice of IT service vendor, in order:
1. Working knowledge of their business
2. Technical expertise
3. Cost
4. Strategic business acumen
Cost is not the primary factor in choosing a vendor and never has been. Over the last few years, nearly every decision small businesses are making on their IT investment is predicated on ROI. If they're not going to cut costs or make immediate profits, odds are you won't land the projects even if you're at $20/hr. Conversely, $120/hr is well worth it if your work pays for itself in short order.
Here's my analysis of our competition: 20% do quality work, have skills and stay current (and make ideal partners on jobs beyond our particular sphere of competence). The other 80% are backyard mechanics of varying skill who claim to deliver the world and fall far short of their claims. It is not hard to capture the backyard mechanics small business clients, because they almost never get repeat business regardless of their rates.
I think a gazillion indie bands would leap at the chance to be distributed alongside the entire catalog of digitized music, especially if the site could serve up streaming radio and indies have a prayer of getting some airplay...
What I'm really saying is I'd like to see "the Snapster Studios Records Radio Entertainment Channel Online" and 500 other startups doing the same thing, because ultimately future companies built around this business model are owned by it's shareholders, who are the users.
I'd like the artists to enjoy a larger percentage of that revenue and better contract alternatives than they are currently, under the 75 year old curmudgeon with five heads that's suing potential lifelong customers, and can't imagine why CD sales continue to drop other than file sharing (answer: the economy sucks and so does your record company, two reasons I'm not buying your CDs).
And another thing that bothers me...some record companies have blatantly hired and trained armies of would-be usurpers to take over the International Space Station! Think about it.
A good place to start researching said privacy concern/ballot tampering is Black Box Voting
Diebold accidentally left the AccuVote source on an open FTP site (whoops), which is available here, and Black Box Voting is asking for programmers to review and evaluate the code.
Re:Interview with Howard Dean
on
Saving the Net
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· Score: 1
That Dean actually enters such frays as he's likely to find here on/. says something about his leadership style. Last week on Lessig's blog, Dean posted this: "Finally, one of you asked if there would be a White House blog. Why not?"
Call me a liberal for liking him, but hearing Dean agree to a White House blog with no reservations or hesitation restores some of my lost hope for the future of the republic. Dean appeals to my hopes, while Bush appeals to my fears.
Guess which one I'll be voting for? First to answer correctly gets a balanced budget.
Since Bush and his crew both advocated AND stand behind their decisions to do the perfectly legal things they do I see no comparison to what we were talking about.
Again, good luck with your research. I have no desire to join your childish arguement (sic). -Gmontag
You think a lame ad-hominem attack will substitute for your utter lack of substance or a valid argument. How utterly typical...you can't make a point, so call your opponent's position "childish". So much for dialogue.
I'll bet you consider the State of the Union lie about uranium from Africa"case closed" too, right? Childish argument? Just in case you missed the connection again. Don't bother to reply Guy. Case closed. I have no desire to suffer fools like you.
Are you saying that Dean made his decision on civil unions behind closed doors like "Energy Taskforce"? Behind closed doors like "Military Tribunal"? Or behind closed doors like "9-11 hearings" (if it relates to Saudi Arabia, or the extent of administration intelligence before the attacks)?
I prefer the open door policy myself, we can agree on that point. When I am choosing between the open door we'll get with Dean vs. the closed door we have with Bush, I'll pick Dean. The guy is blogging on Lessig's site after all (plus on the Dean blog), it's hard to get much better open-door access to a serious presidential candidate than that.
Sheesh, Joe Trippi (Dean's campaign manager) is posting to this very thread on/. which speaks volumes about the Dean campaign's idea of an open door. Such access is unprecedented in an American presidential campaign. I certainly couldn't get Bush's ear for even a second unless I brought my checkbook and was prepared to contribute five figures.
I'll take some more time to read your journals when I have the opportunity. You're quite prolific Guy. It could take me awhile:-)
Dean does not support "gay marriage", he signed the VT bill (proposed by the legislature, after being ordered by the VT courts) allowing "civil unions", although a politically unpopular move at the time, he won relection six months later. When asked about this, Dean says he saw it merely as an issue of "equal rights", that homosexual couples should have the same rights that I do (heterosexual) on issues like hospital visitation and healthcare decision authority for my significant other (my soon-to-be wife). Dean's signature as Governor of Vermont had nothing to do with an endorsement or disparagement of any form of sexuality. Hence the phrase coined by the VT legislature "civil unions", because it leaves "marriage" a religious institution, as it should be, while still standing up for equal rights. He also proposes that each state make it's own decision on "civil unions", it is not for the federal government to decide.
Where is the BS in that? Few politicians (successful ones anyway) would dare to take such a position so unpopular, on the basis of "doing what's right vs. doing what's politically expedient". I agree with his decision on civil unions wholeheartedly, as it constitutes a bold step in the right direction, towards a society where discrimination isn't tolerated or legal. I also respect his assurance not to impose Vermont's decision on "Civil Unions" on every state in the US, but rather to leave the matter to each state to decide.
Your journal entries by Diane West regarding Dean are long on opinion, but short on any figures to support her contentions. I'd like to see where she gets her data (if she has any). If she wants to understand how Dean's national healthcare plan works ("on a national level"), there is ample information available on the web. West was full of questions such as "what does Vermont's budget consist of minus federal funds and pork?" Answer, Diane: look it up. VT's budget is a matter of public record. I dare you to report the ACTUAL data in place of your ranting. For a truly interesting rant, put VT's budget (surplus) next to Bush's federal budget (the one with the $470B deficit this year alone), and tell me which one makes more fiscal sense. Maybe include a rant about how compound interest works.
I do appreciate your reply Guy, one of the reasons I support Dean is because I believe in hearing both sides out (hence you are in my friends list), and I base my positions on facts and careful consideration rather than emotion. I occasionally find myself swayed to the other side of a political issue via carefully considered facts that prove contrary to my position. Howard Dean has proven to me that he is willing to listen to the public (blogging is just one example of that), and opposing viewpoints, and the current administration has proven quite the opposite, to the point of unprecented arrogance. Bush's administration (with the occasional exception of Colin Powell) has shown me nothing that remotely resembles diplomacy or even fairness, internationally or domestically.
I have already learned that his statements about his positions from the past are all BS[...] - Guy Montag
Guy, could you please elaborate on that? Even though I am a Dean supporter, and loathe GWB as a president, I consider your views (generally the opposite of mine) to be at least well considered. What past positions of Dean's exactly are you calling BS on? All of them?
I agree with Charlie that we can find a way to use their own legislation against them. It's that, or put down the Playstation, and cancel HBO, and don't go to the movies, no matter how hot Carrie-Ann Moss looks in that tight leather suit. And those CD-Rs you burn to? See 17USC1003 through 17USC1007 for the details on those royalties.
Slashdot Mirror
For all this discussion has focused on the "debate" about global warming, if you think that political interference is limited to environmental science, you're missing a very, very big picture.
Let me start off by saying that scientific advancement is not a left-right issue, and should never be viewed through the narrow prism of party politics. However, the United States has fallen into a (man-made) rut of EVERYTHING being split down partisan lines (even national security, even voting integrity, even scientific research) so that is the playing field we are on, whether we like it or not. Wedge politics infect every issue now.
Under this administration, the religious right has exerted undue influence over decisions ranging from:
(source article for that list, a must-read)
And without going on a daylong linkhunt, they are passing bad information about condom effectiveness, intimidating non-profit organizations which do not toe the party line on reproductive issues, and denying USAID funds to overseas orgs which even mention abortion, or distribute condoms as part of family planning efforts. (Imagine sending $15B to Africa to fight AIDS without distributing or even even mentioning condoms! Talk about throwing good money away...It's like fighting fires without water, it's that foolish.)
And don't even let's discuss the bi-partisan support for embryonic stem cell research which has been effectively neutered under this administration. Or the medical expertise of Dr. Bill Frist in the case of a braindead woman he never examined, or his patently absurd claim that AIDS may be transmitted via tears and sweat.
Sadly, I could document this sort of war on objective science all day, but I think I've made my point. It infests the policy debate over far more than global warming, and if you think there's no difference between the parties on this, you're sadly, tragically mistaken.
In October of last year, Sam Palmisano announced that IBM's policy was never to use genetic information as a basis for hiring or eligibility for health insurance. To me it seemed like a wacky announcement to make at the time, yet here we are less than a year later and it seems less crazy and more prescient.
Bush/Cheney 04: A fox in every henhouse
Vote by absentee ballot this year. I reckon the paper trail might be necessary (again).
you may be suprised that most companies actually donate pretty equally to both sides just to cover the bases.
That is false, and vague to boot. Aboard the clue train, companies can't donate to political campaigns. It's Walden O'Dell (the individual, CEO of Diebold) who runs the company that makes these shady voting machines, is a Bush "pioneer" who's committed to raising $100,000 in bundled donations, and has said publicly that he's "committed to delivering Ohio's electoral votes to the president".
Without that info, this is a meaninglessly paranoid "article".
I can't believe someone modded that troll insightful. Just because the article/Vidal doesn't cite the source of the information, doesn't make the assertion less true, or the suspicion unwarranted.
Sheesh, do you even read Slashdot? Have you any knowledge of what's been done already by Diebold, their internal memos, their swiss cheese code, O'Dell's machinations? Have you checked Black Box Voting to see if it's up or down this week due to a Diebold lawsuit? You think it's meaningless paranoia to discuss the very real improprieties in e-voting implementation?
Dammit, I just read that these PCs aren't even Y10K compliant! How the hell are we supposed to extrapolate marketing trends with this crap??
signed,
your PHB
I am not going to play armchair economist, I'm not nearly qualified enough to decide what is the most equitable tax system (and odds are, 99.9% of posters to this thread aren't either). We all want the same things: incentive to work, a healthy and growing middle class, and the wealthy unburdened by government handcuffs. We all want a fair system that encourages growth across all sectors.
If we're going to analyze the tax structure, let's read some REAL economists perspectives.
Taking seriously a talk radio host's arguments on the tax structure is not unlike believing that Congressman who just learned how to send an email should make uninformed rulings on cyber security (DMCA anyone?). There are a few very well respected economists (Nobel Prize winners among them) who are railing against Bush's tax cuts.
Krugman
Ackerloff
For what it's worth, I paid three times in taxes what some of the millionaire CA Gubernatorial candidates paid last year, and I'm no millionaire. I'm in a middle class tax bracket (and fighting like a dog not to slip). And I own a small business which created three jobs last year. How's that fair again?
I am an engineer/producer who works with local bands (also a player). Not all bands are good, as you're well aware. Good singers are rare. Antares Autotune has saved me many a grueling "no, you're flat, get back in the booth and do it again" moment with many a tone-deaf singer with a delicate ego who's quick to anger/disappoint/sulk (which ruins the all important vibe in a recording session) who's ears are damaged by standing next to guitar amps 5 nights a week, compounding his suckitude.
I can repair his god-awful caterwauling (slightly offkey to most, unbearable for those of us who know the difference) on the fly without the band ever getting wise. Meanwhile the singer comes out of the booth feeling like SuperBuckley because he seemingly can't hit a bad note.
When Autotune helps you get that band out in 2 happy sessions (cha-ching + referrals + they're gone) instead of 12 miserable exercises in futility (where everybody leaves pissed, and they always blame the producer for the fact that they can't hack it), believe me it's well worth it! God bless Autotune.
By the way, not all bands are like that, but then the few offkey notes are generally punched in rather than autotuned. Autotuning those "one take guys" is still occasionally useful in the situation where the session breaks before we've had a chance to punch the few offkey spots, and it's hard to get the identical sound (so Joe Listener doesn't notice the punch) on another day.
My comment is OT to be sure, but here's a little interesting bit of trivia: That great "whistle" outro at the end of "Dock of the Bay" only existed because Otis Redding forgot the words to the last verse. I guess Mr. Redding never got the chance to "fix" it, due to his untimely death in a plane crash three days later.
I question the judgment of bargaining with terrorists at all.
Why bargain if you've actually got the right man? Any info obtained by such a plea couldn't possibly be worth the threat posed by freeing him sooner.
I will avoid the tempation to decide Mike Hawash's guilt or innocence based on the dearth of facts (although he did admit his guilt before a judge). I must say though that something doesn't smell right.
I can't fathom how a true terrorist would find any such mercy as a reduced sentence in US federal prison, not under this administration. You'd be hard pressed to find 12 people in the US (of ANY political stripe) who wouldn't impose a death sentence/life without parole on someone proven guilty of conspiring to kill them all.
If he's truly an unlawful combatant conspiring to kill Americans on American soil, why did the prosecution even offer a plea bargain?
Seriously, what information could Mike Hawash possibly provide that's worth releasing a terrorist in seven years? What is worth that? Maybe if Hawash could lead us to Osama Bin Laden himself, and I strongly doubt that is the case here.
This does not add up. If he's guilty, destroy him. If innocent, let him go. A plea bargain on a terrorism charge is ridiculous either way. It undermines either the integrity of the justice system or the security of the US, depending on the actual innocence or guilt of the accused.
I realize that critizisms like "how parochial his worldview is" sound impressive, they just happen to be wrong. The bit about ignoring the print magazines is spot on, you'll find exposure to 50x more useful (and interesting) concepts reading Slashdot than you ever will reading "Top 10 Mobile Devices for 2003!" in one of the many periodicals offered beside the checkout in Staples.
I imagine you're a tech too, and have experience of your own, but to encapulate that whole article into some "worldview" box of your creation is ridiculous. This article consists of practical advice, not a manifesto.
Lastly, can you think of a more never-ending source of revenue than repairing Winblows boxen when they crash (as they occassionally do
You could look into a resellers consortium like the ASCII Group and avail yourself of group discounts on health insurance, and other useful services for small independent service vendors.
There are plenty of ways to get discounted health insurance. If you're in this field, another suggestion is to consider joining the local chamber of commerce. Not only can the local CoC's offer discounts among it's members, but they also serve as a valuable source of potential clients (albeit at a slightly discounted rate, of course).
Another useful tip is trading your service for various needs. For example, I found an amazing accountant who trades his services (both my corp and personal tax filings) in exchange for service calls once or twice a month when something needs to connected, built, or otherwise attended to. He's so thrilled with the arrangement and my help that he's a constant source of referrals and testimonials in my sales literature. He pays my cost on hardware, and the service (which saves me considerable money-- the guy's a financial genius of the highest integrity, the best combination of attributes in a small business accountant) is a wash. Fred's sage wisdom & business acumen comes at no additional charge, another huge plus. One thing these articles don't mention is how hard it can be to "work in a vaccuum", left entirely to your own devices. It's nice to have someone to bounce ideas off, and provide an alternative take on business decisions (hiring, marketing, etc).
By the way, excellent article. It's apparent that Grant Barrett has the wisdom of the experience. People looking into independent computer service as a way of making a living would do well to take his advice, especially the parts about sharing the knowledge freely with "competitors" and providing free phone support where it suffices.
Here's a thought that will start the ideologues howling "commie", but it might actually increase voter turnout/awareness...instead of a small penalty for not voting, how about a small tax credit for voting?
Mind you, I see the myriad difficulties in implementing this idea, eg. you'd have to track the users to apply credits (and would have to ensure that the voter can't be matched to their choice) etc, but I'm sure that you'd see increased public participation and awareness of the issues & candidates if there was a cold hard cash reward for casting a vote.
"Birds don't read music." -Charlie Parker
Frank Zappa (the man himself) said "anything can be music, but it doesn't become music until somebody wills it to be music, and the audience listening to it decides to perceive it as music."
As formidable a composer as Zappa was, Zappa used every tool at his disposal to will his compositions into reality, and he was a big proponent of electronic tools where appropriate. He loved that the Synclavier could allow him to finally hear his compositions without having to book an expensive orchestra to hear it. Of course, his use of the tools was predicated on his fundamental understanding of music.
I agree that one should learn the rules first, THEN and ONLY THEN can you break them at will. For validation of this, visit any guitar store that sells various effects pedals, and listen to the caterwauling of newly minted guitarists who haven't developed the skill to play, but are not deterred from using the various effects in horrible sacriligious combinations.
The effects available are amazing tools to an experienced player, but can be a huge impediment to learning the instrument, because they encourage a shortcut to killer tone (and there isn't one). Just try teaching a kid to hear/understand the basic difference between a major chord and a minor one when he's got a new MetalZone pedal at home, cranked to 11, so distorted you can't hear the fundamentals of any chord. For that matter, forget intervals, try teaching him just to tune his guitar by ear.
By the way, I love Fruity Loops, I use it often to lay down "scratch" drums for expressing my ideas to my real drummer (I multitrack the guitar/bass/keys/noises/vox on top, and play the scratch track for the "real" band so they get the jist of the song). It's also great for stuff that a human can't play (64th notes at 180bpm kinda shit), and electronica (the FruityLoops TS404 with automation is worth the $99 all by itself).
I own an onsite PC service company that helps consumers and small companies up to 25 endusers (and we're profitable). I've got a few tips from my experience for anyone thinking of getting into this field.
So don't be daunted by statements like "the market is saturated". It's not. There is demand if you know where your emphasis should be.
Here are the factors that go into the choice of IT service vendor, in order:
1. Working knowledge of their business
2. Technical expertise
3. Cost
4. Strategic business acumen
Cost is not the primary factor in choosing a vendor and never has been. Over the last few years, nearly every decision small businesses are making on their IT investment is predicated on ROI. If they're not going to cut costs or make immediate profits, odds are you won't land the projects even if you're at $20/hr. Conversely, $120/hr is well worth it if your work pays for itself in short order.
Here's my analysis of our competition: 20% do quality work, have skills and stay current (and make ideal partners on jobs beyond our particular sphere of competence). The other 80% are backyard mechanics of varying skill who claim to deliver the world and fall far short of their claims. It is not hard to capture the backyard mechanics small business clients, because they almost never get repeat business regardless of their rates.
I think a gazillion indie bands would leap at the chance to be distributed alongside the entire catalog of digitized music, especially if the site could serve up streaming radio and indies have a prayer of getting some airplay...
What I'm really saying is I'd like to see "the Snapster Studios Records Radio Entertainment Channel Online" and 500 other startups doing the same thing, because ultimately future companies built around this business model are owned by it's shareholders, who are the users.
I'd like the artists to enjoy a larger percentage of that revenue and better contract alternatives than they are currently, under the 75 year old curmudgeon with five heads that's suing potential lifelong customers, and can't imagine why CD sales continue to drop other than file sharing (answer: the economy sucks and so does your record company, two reasons I'm not buying your CDs).
And another thing that bothers me...some record companies have blatantly hired and trained armies of would-be usurpers to take over the International Space Station! Think about it.
A good place to start researching said privacy concern/ballot tampering is Black Box Voting
Diebold accidentally left the AccuVote source on an open FTP site (whoops), which is available here, and Black Box Voting is asking for programmers to review and evaluate the code.
That Dean actually enters such frays as he's likely to find here on /. says something about his leadership style. Last week on Lessig's blog, Dean posted this: "Finally, one of you asked if there would be a White House blog. Why not?"
Call me a liberal for liking him, but hearing Dean agree to a White House blog with no reservations or hesitation restores some of my lost hope for the future of the republic. Dean appeals to my hopes, while Bush appeals to my fears.
Guess which one I'll be voting for? First to answer correctly gets a balanced budget.
Since Bush and his crew both advocated AND stand behind their decisions to do the perfectly legal things they do I see no comparison to what we were talking about.
Again, good luck with your research. I have no desire to join your childish arguement (sic). -Gmontag
Yeah right..."Perfectly legal" like repeatedly ignoring a federal court order to turn over the Energy Task Force documents.
You think a lame ad-hominem attack will substitute for your utter lack of substance or a valid argument. How utterly typical...you can't make a point, so call your opponent's position "childish". So much for dialogue.
I'll bet you consider the State of the Union lie about uranium from Africa"case closed" too, right? Childish argument? Just in case you missed the connection again. Don't bother to reply Guy. Case closed. I have no desire to suffer fools like you.
Are you saying that Dean made his decision on civil unions behind closed doors like "Energy Taskforce"? Behind closed doors like "Military Tribunal"? Or behind closed doors like "9-11 hearings" (if it relates to Saudi Arabia, or the extent of administration intelligence before the attacks)?
/. which speaks volumes about the Dean campaign's idea of an open door. Such access is unprecedented in an American presidential campaign. I certainly couldn't get Bush's ear for even a second unless I brought my checkbook and was prepared to contribute five figures.
:-)
I prefer the open door policy myself, we can agree on that point. When I am choosing between the open door we'll get with Dean vs. the closed door we have with Bush, I'll pick Dean. The guy is blogging on Lessig's site after all (plus on the Dean blog), it's hard to get much better open-door access to a serious presidential candidate than that.
Sheesh, Joe Trippi (Dean's campaign manager) is posting to this very thread on
I'll take some more time to read your journals when I have the opportunity. You're quite prolific Guy. It could take me awhile
Guy,
Dean does not support "gay marriage", he signed the VT bill (proposed by the legislature, after being ordered by the VT courts) allowing "civil unions", although a politically unpopular move at the time, he won relection six months later. When asked about this, Dean says he saw it merely as an issue of "equal rights", that homosexual couples should have the same rights that I do (heterosexual) on issues like hospital visitation and healthcare decision authority for my significant other (my soon-to-be wife). Dean's signature as Governor of Vermont had nothing to do with an endorsement or disparagement of any form of sexuality. Hence the phrase coined by the VT legislature "civil unions", because it leaves "marriage" a religious institution, as it should be, while still standing up for equal rights. He also proposes that each state make it's own decision on "civil unions", it is not for the federal government to decide.
Where is the BS in that? Few politicians (successful ones anyway) would dare to take such a position so unpopular, on the basis of "doing what's right vs. doing what's politically expedient". I agree with his decision on civil unions wholeheartedly, as it constitutes a bold step in the right direction, towards a society where discrimination isn't tolerated or legal. I also respect his assurance not to impose Vermont's decision on "Civil Unions" on every state in the US, but rather to leave the matter to each state to decide.
Your journal entries by Diane West regarding Dean are long on opinion, but short on any figures to support her contentions. I'd like to see where she gets her data (if she has any). If she wants to understand how Dean's national healthcare plan works ("on a national level"), there is ample information available on the web. West was full of questions such as "what does Vermont's budget consist of minus federal funds and pork?" Answer, Diane: look it up. VT's budget is a matter of public record. I dare you to report the ACTUAL data in place of your ranting. For a truly interesting rant, put VT's budget (surplus) next to Bush's federal budget (the one with the $470B deficit this year alone), and tell me which one makes more fiscal sense. Maybe include a rant about how compound interest works.
I do appreciate your reply Guy, one of the reasons I support Dean is because I believe in hearing both sides out (hence you are in my friends list), and I base my positions on facts and careful consideration rather than emotion. I occasionally find myself swayed to the other side of a political issue via carefully considered facts that prove contrary to my position. Howard Dean has proven to me that he is willing to listen to the public (blogging is just one example of that), and opposing viewpoints, and the current administration has proven quite the opposite, to the point of unprecented arrogance. Bush's administration (with the occasional exception of Colin Powell) has shown me nothing that remotely resembles diplomacy or even fairness, internationally or domestically.
Sony sues Sony.
I agree with Charlie that we can find a way to use their own legislation against them. It's that, or put down the Playstation, and cancel HBO, and don't go to the movies, no matter how hot Carrie-Ann Moss looks in that tight leather suit. And those CD-Rs you burn to? See 17USC1003 through 17USC1007 for the details on those royalties.