Yes, We of the world love to have marginally funny sitcoms stuffed down our throat. We've been loving it since "I Love Lucy". They are so funny! They must be, because the laugh track is there to tell us so!
Thank you USA for sharing comedy the gold! Gems like "Joey". You truly have made the world a better place!
While I can empathise, seems your employer was on the steep end of the learning curve.
Seems like some poor business decisions were made. Like to compromise the business model because customers asked that it be done. While this decision had advantages, it also turned out to have been expensive.
My family business has been subject to cut-throat competition a number of times. In the more than 20 years of business, the company has run about six major competitors into the ground. Many of these used cheap knockoffs of our products to compete.
Cut-throat competitors will eventually cut their own throat, as you noted.
I also point out that basing a business on a single product is inherently risky. Success or failure of the business is tied to the success or failure of the product.
A law of economics is that supply will always equal demand. When a product or service is expensive, alternatives will be found. The more expensive the product or service, the more attractive alternatives become. While this may not be fair, it is none the less true.
Any software product can be copied. Even if it is made of patented uncopyable bits, if the product is truly successful, then it will be reverse engineered. Developing a product first only gives a margin of time. From a few minutes (illegal copying) to a few years (engineered from first principles). How a company uses this time to cement their client-base is what separates the winners from the losers.
At the end of the day, was it relay the right decision to have licensing account for 25% of the total cost of the service?
I postulate that it was not piracy that killed your company, but a poorly judged market.
I do, however admit that piracy was a contributing factor, and may even have been the instrument of the demise of your employer.
Smoking dope doesnt cause Schizophrenia. However, if you have any tendency at all to get it, smoking pot will exacerbate that.
Schizophrenics often try to self medicate with pot. Sometimes they are suffering from strong and overwhelming emotions and the idea of slowing down and relaxing seems good. It is very important that if your sister smokes that she cut back, then give up.
The medication makes you feel like shit. Anti-psychotics have horrible, horrible side effects. Many people with quite serious mental illness don't want to take them, from their point of view, the cure is wores than the illness. From our point of view this is hard to understand.
Schizophrenic people need support and care to help them come to terms with their problem. If they are not motivated to go through with the treatment, then they wont be willing to put up with the shitty side-effects of any medication.
The most effective treatment is cognitive behavoral therepy. CBT. This is using your awareness of your thoughts to change them. Learning what is real, and what isnt. Prefering to think more good thoughts than destructive ones.
This is very hard work and usualy needs a professional counciler or the like. Takes years. Only way a severe Schizophrenic will ever recover very much though.
Medication helps, but it is not a cure. As I've mentioned, it isn't even a very nice treatment.
To effectivly treat Schizophrenia, you have to chagne your life, from top to bottom. You can't just swallow the blue pill. Or the red one. Sorry. No easy fix.
I think the issue is one of consequences.
If a company is lax in the regular repairs of commercial aircraft (which they are whenever there is a buck that can be saved) then only a few hundred people die.
If a company is lax on the security procedures of a nuclear power plant, then nationwide contamination of crops, cancer in generations of children and worse result.
The example of the UK waste reprocessing is a good one. The UK is a (relatively) rich country, with every interest in getting this right. Yet they don't.
While everyone will agree with you, that the problem is strictly a human one, I feel that human nature has been very consistent.
Fail safes fail: Natural Gas plants explode.
Security and safety regulations ignored: Oil refinery's burn.
Maintenance is skipped: Nuclear plants melt.
Safeguards ignored: Planes crash.
So, given what we know about human nature, would you be willing to risk contaminating a large part of your country for the next ten thousand years? Billions of cases of cancer? Tens of millions of genetic mutations?
The question seldom is "Can we?" The question is most often, "Should we?"
So, tell me random static, are you a gambling man? Would you take your children to live next to a launch site?
Write one?
Been there. Done that. With a good friend of mine back when MUDing was the thing I liked to do most in the world. I'd give you the source code if you were particularly keen. It had some neat features. Obviously not as developed as Zmud. Thats been through a few more revisions.
Cheers.
More than one in eight cases of ADD is misdiagnosed.
Treatment with amphetamines can be very positive. I've tried Ritilin and Dexamphetamine. Of the two I find that Dexamphetamine is much more helpfull.
Dexamphetamine has a longer checmical half life, and tends to last better. I take lower doses, and it lasts me through the day without a mid afternoon crash, like I used to get with Ritilin. Though it does seem that Ritilin is the treatment of choice, amongst doctors in the US. I think this is mainly a marketing push.
There are many other methods of coping with my condition. I find that a combinatin of stratagys works well. Some of the things I try, which work well for me are:
Diet: When I eat right, I notice a big increaces in my ability to concentrate. Foods with preservitives are not so good for me. Some people I've met are much worse, though. Thank heaven for small mercies.
Exercise: More than half an hours exercise every day makes me much saner. Otherwise I tend to get a bit stir crazy. I find the more exercise I do, the better I feel, for a whole bunch of reasons. Its probibly going to be that way for the rest of my life.
Anger Managment: I used to get realy angry when things didnt work out my way. Now I've taken a cognitive behavioral aproach to watching what I think, and how I act. Lot of work, but very rewarding. With ADD it is easy to overract to stimulus. Sometimes when someone is talkng to me, I feel like they are shouting. Sometimes when they are annoyed, it can feel like they are enraged. I notice the signs in myself, and learn when to take a step back. Not easy, but very efective.
What no one told me, I had to go and read in a study for mysef, is the long term efect of amphetimines. While they can be extreemly helpfull, after many years of use, they can gradualy burn out the dopamine recepters in the brain. Some kids I hear of are on huge doese of Ritilin or whatever. Its a lot more work to learn stratagys to cope withoug drugs. It certanly can be overwhelming at times, I am well aware. In my experience, starting with a medium dose, and eventualy working down to a very low dose or no dose, is what worked for me.
Now I only take a pill when I realy need it. Test coming up, deadline to meet, job interview. Where stress is high, and I want to perform my best.
Slashdot Mirror
The laugh track. The USA's contribution to humor.
Yes, We of the world love to have marginally funny sitcoms stuffed down our throat. We've been loving it since "I Love Lucy". They are so funny! They must be, because the laugh track is there to tell us so!
Thank you USA for sharing comedy the gold! Gems like "Joey". You truly have made the world a better place!
While I can empathise, seems your employer was on the steep end of the learning curve.
Seems like some poor business decisions were made. Like to compromise the business model because customers asked that it be done. While this decision had advantages, it also turned out to have been expensive.
My family business has been subject to cut-throat competition a number of times. In the more than 20 years of business, the company has run about six major competitors into the ground. Many of these used cheap knockoffs of our products to compete.
Cut-throat competitors will eventually cut their own throat, as you noted.
I also point out that basing a business on a single product is inherently risky. Success or failure of the business is tied to the success or failure of the product.
A law of economics is that supply will always equal demand. When a product or service is expensive, alternatives will be found. The more expensive the product or service, the more attractive alternatives become. While this may not be fair, it is none the less true.
Any software product can be copied. Even if it is made of patented uncopyable bits, if the product is truly successful, then it will be reverse engineered. Developing a product first only gives a margin of time. From a few minutes (illegal copying) to a few years (engineered from first principles). How a company uses this time to cement their client-base is what separates the winners from the losers.
At the end of the day, was it relay the right decision to have licensing account for 25% of the total cost of the service?
I postulate that it was not piracy that killed your company, but a poorly judged market.
I do, however admit that piracy was a contributing factor, and may even have been the instrument of the demise of your employer.
Things that are not well known.
Smoking dope doesnt cause Schizophrenia. However, if you have any tendency at all to get it, smoking pot will exacerbate that.
Schizophrenics often try to self medicate with pot. Sometimes they are suffering from strong and overwhelming emotions and the idea of slowing down and relaxing seems good. It is very important that if your sister smokes that she cut back, then give up.
The medication makes you feel like shit. Anti-psychotics have horrible, horrible side effects. Many people with quite serious mental illness don't want to take them, from their point of view, the cure is wores than the illness. From our point of view this is hard to understand.
Schizophrenic people need support and care to help them come to terms with their problem. If they are not motivated to go through with the treatment, then they wont be willing to put up with the shitty side-effects of any medication.
The most effective treatment is cognitive behavoral therepy. CBT. This is using your awareness of your thoughts to change them. Learning what is real, and what isnt. Prefering to think more good thoughts than destructive ones.
This is very hard work and usualy needs a professional counciler or the like. Takes years. Only way a severe Schizophrenic will ever recover very much though.
Medication helps, but it is not a cure. As I've mentioned, it isn't even a very nice treatment.
To effectivly treat Schizophrenia, you have to chagne your life, from top to bottom. You can't just swallow the blue pill. Or the red one. Sorry. No easy fix.
I think the issue is one of consequences. If a company is lax in the regular repairs of commercial aircraft (which they are whenever there is a buck that can be saved) then only a few hundred people die. If a company is lax on the security procedures of a nuclear power plant, then nationwide contamination of crops, cancer in generations of children and worse result. The example of the UK waste reprocessing is a good one. The UK is a (relatively) rich country, with every interest in getting this right. Yet they don't. While everyone will agree with you, that the problem is strictly a human one, I feel that human nature has been very consistent. Fail safes fail: Natural Gas plants explode. Security and safety regulations ignored: Oil refinery's burn. Maintenance is skipped: Nuclear plants melt. Safeguards ignored: Planes crash. So, given what we know about human nature, would you be willing to risk contaminating a large part of your country for the next ten thousand years? Billions of cases of cancer? Tens of millions of genetic mutations? The question seldom is "Can we?" The question is most often, "Should we?" So, tell me random static, are you a gambling man? Would you take your children to live next to a launch site?
Write one? Been there. Done that. With a good friend of mine back when MUDing was the thing I liked to do most in the world. I'd give you the source code if you were particularly keen. It had some neat features. Obviously not as developed as Zmud. Thats been through a few more revisions. Cheers.
More than one in eight cases of ADD is misdiagnosed. Treatment with amphetamines can be very positive. I've tried Ritilin and Dexamphetamine. Of the two I find that Dexamphetamine is much more helpfull. Dexamphetamine has a longer checmical half life, and tends to last better. I take lower doses, and it lasts me through the day without a mid afternoon crash, like I used to get with Ritilin. Though it does seem that Ritilin is the treatment of choice, amongst doctors in the US. I think this is mainly a marketing push. There are many other methods of coping with my condition. I find that a combinatin of stratagys works well. Some of the things I try, which work well for me are: Diet: When I eat right, I notice a big increaces in my ability to concentrate. Foods with preservitives are not so good for me. Some people I've met are much worse, though. Thank heaven for small mercies. Exercise: More than half an hours exercise every day makes me much saner. Otherwise I tend to get a bit stir crazy. I find the more exercise I do, the better I feel, for a whole bunch of reasons. Its probibly going to be that way for the rest of my life. Anger Managment: I used to get realy angry when things didnt work out my way. Now I've taken a cognitive behavioral aproach to watching what I think, and how I act. Lot of work, but very rewarding. With ADD it is easy to overract to stimulus. Sometimes when someone is talkng to me, I feel like they are shouting. Sometimes when they are annoyed, it can feel like they are enraged. I notice the signs in myself, and learn when to take a step back. Not easy, but very efective. What no one told me, I had to go and read in a study for mysef, is the long term efect of amphetimines. While they can be extreemly helpfull, after many years of use, they can gradualy burn out the dopamine recepters in the brain. Some kids I hear of are on huge doese of Ritilin or whatever. Its a lot more work to learn stratagys to cope withoug drugs. It certanly can be overwhelming at times, I am well aware. In my experience, starting with a medium dose, and eventualy working down to a very low dose or no dose, is what worked for me. Now I only take a pill when I realy need it. Test coming up, deadline to meet, job interview. Where stress is high, and I want to perform my best.