We fix computers for everyday home users. Many of them use AOL. They love the interface. I doubt even with the ability to use Microsoft Outlook that they will be getting their mail any way other than the way they always have.
This is what AOL does best. It provides a really stellar GUI for the people who are uneasy working with computers.
I have watched these same consumers get visably shaken even venturing into Outlook Express. They want the AOL look and feel. Although I think it is progressive of AOL to offer the other email clients to their customers, I doubt if many of the committed AOL users will take advantage of this.
From the post: What should American IT workers be doing to differentiate ourselves from our overseas counterparts, to add the kinds of value for employers that will make them want to look beyond direct costs and see other benefits that will make it worthwhile for them to keep these jobs in the US?
Since the current administration has the interests of big business above those of the common IT worker; the IT worker has to become a guerilla of sorts.
A friend of mine who lived through the Cultural Revolution in China where his parents (Norwegians) were thrown out of Shanghai. Their palace of a home had to be left behind. This family were totally disenfranchised and deported penniless.
From this experience he taught me that "your only security is your own flexibility, currencies collapse, and governments fall."
The IT worker in the U.S. is going to have to use the immense brainpower it took to become good at his/her craft to find something else to do. Checking out other industries where there is a dearth of qualified workers is a good start. There are worse things in life than becoming a nurse. That field needs good help. Look around, find a "hole" and fill it. Trying to go against such a large trend is counterproductive.
This is not trolling, this is wishing my IT brethren good lives with lots of money. Remember that one time buggy whip production companies had to go out of business. In a way the home grown I T worker has the same problems as they did.
From the article: Once a PatrolBot scans its work areas, it travels automatically to perform tasks: mapping temperatures to improve central heating and cooling efficiency; measuring wi-fi signal strength to improve coverage; enabling security guards to remotely investigate several problems simultaneously, and carrying light, emergency supplies or other equipment into an unsafe or dark building.
One of these PatrolBots was modeled after my dad. He walks up and down the halls in his blue flannel robe shutting off the lights; turning down the heat; mumbling that the company is NOT made out of money.
From the article: The climb to the almost 9000 metre summit has claimed the lives of about one hundred people. The March Networks technology will transmit blood oxygen levels (SpO2), heart rates, blood pressure and body temperatures of the climbers. The recorded data will be stored on Bluetooth-enabled PDA's and ultimately transmitted via satellite to a Canadian-hosted website
Some of the other data which might be included is yodeling between 3000 and 6000 metres and the screams of a quick descent at 9000 metres.
From the scam letter about the stranded astronaut: He was stranded there in 1990 when the Soviet Union was dissolved. His other Soviet crew members returned to earth on the Soyuz T-16Z, but his place was taken up by return cargo. There have been occasional Progrez supply flights to keep him going since that time. He is in good humor, but wants to come home.
On another optimistic note, his grasp of the Klingon language is quite vast.
From the article: Even if people are interested in Open Source software, it is difficult to get started. Linux being freely available on the Internet is no real advantage - because of low bandwidth at the University, it is only possible to download some software at the United Nations headquarter. To get students into Open Source development, it is necessary to first raise some funding for them - otherwise they have to work extensively besides their studies.
There is no expressed or implied Linux trolling in this post. However, the obstacles facing anyone trying to bring Linux to Ethiopia are huge. My father taught me to fish where I knew there was fish. To me this is a project a decade too soon, clearly iceboxes to Eskimos.
Oddly though, I think Eskimos do need refrigerators to keep foods at an even temperature:P
I have come up with a pot that drains spaghetti, I wish I had the patent on it, I would be rich. Why, of course I thought of it first. But, from the article it clearly states: hires to do Many examiners are taught the "one palm rule," whereby if the independent claim is shorter than the palm of their hand, they should reject, reject, reject.
Jeez, how many words do I have to use to say a pot with holes in the lid??:}
Next thing you know we'll all have ear tags and radio collars.
My dog, Sparky, just read your comment and is requesting his microchip be taken out. He says he doesn't want to be scanned like canned corn in the supermarket. Now you've done it, AltGrendel. I shall send you the vet bill:P
From the article: By far, the most common type of exploit is the buffer overflow, and software vendors are spending millions of dollars to find and prevent these types of vulnerabilities
If they wrote their software in Pascal, this wouldn't be a problem.
From the article: the spacecraft's temperature would climb to unmanageable levels without special protection. The outside of this 6-foot solar umbrella will rise to 680F (360C), while its special insulating properties will keep its inside surface below 212F (100C) - and the spacecraft operating at room temperature.
Then in the case of Mercury, I guess it really is the heat, not the humidity that gets to you:P
A Longhorn skin to me would just be plain cowhide to me. 'hits nuthin special. This led me to a train of thought (or cattle drive of thought) where I had never been before.
My droning, long hours in highschool agriculture class covered the Longhorn cattle. Transporting anything with horns that big was dangerous and cumbersome. "Polled" or hornless cattle came into fashion in the cattle industry in short order.
Why has Microsoft's marketing team picked the name of an animal that was proven in the marketplace to be 1. difficult to transport (picture horns sticking out of cattle cars or OS boxes sticking out of Fed Ex trucks) 2. difficult to maneuver without being gored?
I guess Longhorn isn't as new of an OS as we might have been led to think This is all beginning to sound rather familiar if you get my "point":P
From the article: A square wheel can roll smoothly, keeping the axle moving in a straight line and at a constant velocity, if it travels over evenly spaced bumps of just the right shape. This special shape is called an inverted catenary.
Dear Esteemed Committee: I would like a million dollar grant. As a good geneticist I am going to see if I can cross a cat with a canary. I will call it "cantenary"! (Since you refused my grant for the monkey with four asses research) Part bird and part cat--that is something useful. Regards, Dr. Mephisto...
This water phenomenon has worked in the lobster business for years. Maybe there will be a suit of the Sun Microsystems/ Microsoft or HP/Gateway proportions?
I see a scary parallel here. If people who wore glasses during the Cultural Revolution in China were persecuted as the educated elite; what is going to happen to those who own computers in this political climate? If I were in China I would be very afraid to be a geek.
From the article : Both Chernobyl and TMI seem to be based on a ridiculous chain of events fuelled by unfortunate coincidence, fallible mensuration equipment and human idiocy.
Wow, I read that as "menstruation". Talk about a case of PMS.
From the article The asteroid's close flyby, first spied late Monday, poses no risk, NASA astronomers stressed.
"It's a guaranteed miss," said astronomer Paul Chodas, of the near-Earth object office at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Makes me hope Paul at the lab made good grades in math:P
In the late 60's a popular longshoreman/philosopher, Eric Hoffer, gave us the book "The Ordeal of Change". In it he says roughly that change causes revolutions; more than revolutions cause change. The users in Munich (admin problems not withstanding) are suffering from CHANGE . Once the Linux operating system starts looking normal and ordinary the angst will be over.
A good analogy would be moving the tire swing of a gorilla. It is going to take awhile before "JoJo" realizes it is a good thing.
Some years ago I wrote a small book for the V.A. for spouses and children of veterans with PTSD. I found in talking to soldiers and other victims of PTSD that survivor guilt was such a crippling part of the disorder. So, I found this snippet encouraging in the article: One patient overcame her sense of guilt at running away from the scene and failing to help others who subsequently died.
If this treatment can truly help deal with survivor guilt, then it is a very useful therapy.
From the article: center has also funded research into transdermal patches that would deliver nutrients, just as nicotine patches give ex-smokers their fixes.
Great, now our military goes to war with a sandwich strapped to their buttocks. Where is the dignity in that?
As found in the article: From a detailed inspection of the images and quantum mechanical calculations, the researchers conclude that nucleation and growth of the fibers' graphene layers occur at tiny defects in the nickel crystals known as single-atom step edges. The angstrom-sized imperfections are observed to form and then disappear repeatedly during the course of the reaction.
This fact on a philosophical/human level seems quite reassuring. Perhaps it is our "defects" our differences, our changes in style, behavior, dress--our generally "whack" human behavior that causes growth in us? The microcosm and the macrocosm mirroring one another is comforting. As a species maybe we aren't screwing up as badly as is sometimes thought?
and some studies have shown that file-sharing may actually contribute to greater expenditure by participants on legitimate music.
I wonder where these studies came from? Saying file-sharing encourages the purchase of legitimate music is like saying hookers encourage fidelity in marriage.:P
From the article: My cow-orker Seth Schoen points out that human-generated captchas are much harder to solve: say, picking out a photo of an animal, at a funny angle, in a cage, and challenging attackers to correctly identify it. People can do so readily, machines probably can't.
I guess that with all the "Mad Cow Disease" threats bovines have had to turn to other professions other than being hamburgers. Clever these Holsteins!
From the article: However, Photoshop CS refuses to open the image, and provides an error
message regarding the (il)legality of currency reproduction and an "information" button that takes you to the web.
All I can say is my panties are definately in a bunch over this!! I have some pretty ugly relatives. What if Photoshop gives me error messages regarding the following: "Your family is so unattractive that we are redirecting you to the web where you can pick out better-looking people to populate your Adobe Family Photo Album.
Slashdot Mirror
This is what AOL does best. It provides a really stellar GUI for the people who are uneasy working with computers. I have watched these same consumers get visably shaken even venturing into Outlook Express. They want the AOL look and feel. Although I think it is progressive of AOL to offer the other email clients to their customers, I doubt if many of the committed AOL users will take advantage of this.
Confusing? discouraging? time-consuming? Oh, this refers to the claims process. I thought they were talking about Windows OS's. Silly me!
Since the current administration has the interests of big business above those of the common IT worker; the IT worker has to become a guerilla of sorts.
A friend of mine who lived through the Cultural Revolution in China where his parents (Norwegians) were thrown out of Shanghai. Their palace of a home had to be left behind. This family were totally disenfranchised and deported penniless.
From this experience he taught me that "your only security is your own flexibility, currencies collapse, and governments fall."
The IT worker in the U.S. is going to have to use the immense brainpower it took to become good at his/her craft to find something else to do. Checking out other industries where there is a dearth of qualified workers is a good start. There are worse things in life than becoming a nurse. That field needs good help. Look around, find a "hole" and fill it. Trying to go against such a large trend is counterproductive.
This is not trolling, this is wishing my IT brethren good lives with lots of money. Remember that one time buggy whip production companies had to go out of business. In a way the home grown I T worker has the same problems as they did.
One of these PatrolBots was modeled after my dad. He walks up and down the halls in his blue flannel robe shutting off the lights; turning down the heat; mumbling that the company is NOT made out of money.
Some of the other data which might be included is yodeling between 3000 and 6000 metres and the screams of a quick descent at 9000 metres.
On another optimistic note, his grasp of the Klingon language is quite vast.
There is no expressed or implied Linux trolling in this post. However, the obstacles facing anyone trying to bring Linux to Ethiopia are huge. My father taught me to fish where I knew there was fish. To me this is a project a decade too soon, clearly iceboxes to Eskimos.
Oddly though, I think Eskimos do need refrigerators to keep foods at an even temperature :P
Jeez, how many words do I have to use to say a pot with holes in the lid??:}
My dog, Sparky, just read your comment and is requesting his microchip be taken out. He says he doesn't want to be scanned like canned corn in the supermarket. Now you've done it, AltGrendel. I shall send you the vet bill :P
If they wrote their software in Pascal, this wouldn't be a problem.
Then in the case of Mercury, I guess it really is the heat, not the humidity that gets to you :P
My droning, long hours in highschool agriculture class covered the Longhorn cattle. Transporting anything with horns that big was dangerous and cumbersome. "Polled" or hornless cattle came into fashion in the cattle industry in short order.
Why has Microsoft's marketing team picked the name of an animal that was proven in the marketplace to be 1. difficult to transport (picture horns sticking out of cattle cars or OS boxes sticking out of Fed Ex trucks) 2. difficult to maneuver without being gored?
I guess Longhorn isn't as new of an OS as we might have been led to think This is all beginning to sound rather familiar if you get my "point" :P
Dear Esteemed Committee: I would like a million dollar grant. As a good geneticist I am going to see if I can cross a cat with a canary. I will call it "cantenary"! (Since you refused my grant for the monkey with four asses research) Part bird and part cat--that is something useful. Regards, Dr. Mephisto...
Doubtful, lobsters hate litigation.
I have to use my cellphone for business. The idea of having to taste or smell MY clients....YUCK.. Perish the thought.....
Wow, I read that as "menstruation". Talk about a case of PMS.
Makes me hope Paul at the lab made good grades in math:P
A good analogy would be moving the tire swing of a gorilla. It is going to take awhile before "JoJo" realizes it is a good thing.
If this treatment can truly help deal with survivor guilt, then it is a very useful therapy.
Great, now our military goes to war with a sandwich strapped to their buttocks. Where is the dignity in that?
This fact on a philosophical/human level seems quite reassuring. Perhaps it is our "defects" our differences, our changes in style, behavior, dress--our generally "whack" human behavior that causes growth in us? The microcosm and the macrocosm mirroring one another is comforting. As a species maybe we aren't screwing up as badly as is sometimes thought?
and some studies have shown that file-sharing may actually contribute to greater expenditure by participants on legitimate music.
I wonder where these studies came from? Saying file-sharing encourages the purchase of legitimate music is like saying hookers encourage fidelity in marriage.:P
I guess that with all the "Mad Cow Disease" threats bovines have had to turn to other professions other than being hamburgers. Clever these Holsteins!
All I can say is my panties are definately in a bunch over this!! I have some pretty ugly relatives. What if Photoshop gives me error messages regarding the following: "Your family is so unattractive that we are redirecting you to the web where you can pick out better-looking people to populate your Adobe Family Photo Album.
It could happen.