So should we start accounting for the average time it takes the average user to type in the average password into boot up time benchmarks? Will we see manufacturers artificially slant times by doping testers with stimulants and instigating a strict maximum password length of 4 characters?
I work in a medium sized business, where I am the only full time IT staff. And your generalizations are still way off.
I'll grant you that there are a few that act that way, and they do tend to get the lion's share of the spotlight, but most of us enjoy the unique challenges the small/med sized business presents. And yes, I have worked as part of the large, mammoth organization as well.
I enjoy the variety you get from doing a little bit of everything. I enjoy having to learn about new technology and how it applies to us. I get to plan out our over-arching IT plans, and be in the trenches implementing it. I enjoy teaching users how to use the technology given them to improve their own working abilities.
What I don't enjoy are the small but very vocal handful of users who allow their frustration at their inability to understand some bit of technology to carry over to an immediate and irrational frustration at me. Luckily, I view these, too, as another challenge, though a more long-term one than most, and have managed to convert a number of them into, if not eager, at least willing learner.
Now, I'm not going to say right off the bat that you fit that category; I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you've just been exposed to the minority IT group mentioned above. But how about you cut the rest of us hard-working stiffs a break, ok?
For the record, most users I support WANT me to be able to read their e-mail, to pull up what their current password is, and are surprised when I state that, for security and auditing purposes, I can't do that.
I'm with you both. For two years I did seasonal tech support with a certain well-known tax prep company, were I had the joy of supporting all those little office network setups, which were basically overly complex home offices, often setup from instructions given to novice level users.
At a prior time, I was with a university helpdesk, were it seems like a third of those I supported were 70 year old antiquities professors using a computer for the first time (and against their will at that), and another third were faculty needing support on machines needed for programs with million dollar grants.
"Upside down" depending on your vantage point. He was simply transposing the "directions" on the screen to the plane in which the mouse moves. In other words, his father had the mouse turned around, front-to-back.
I've actually experienced the same thing, except this was a decade and a half ago or more, so I was also informed ".. and the cord keeps getting in the way", which helped diagnose the problem immediately.
A similar complaint I fielded from the era:
"The mouse's dust cover keeps getting in the way" - They just unpacked a new computer, and the mouse was packaged so the cord fed out of the plastic bag the mouse came in, so they thought the bag should stay on.
You are arguing that any stupid political move is a product of far-right ideology, and trying to use anecdotal evidence of some stupid policies of the far-right as proof. I argue that stupid political policies can arise from any point of the political spectrum, as can good policies.
Thing is, to prove my point, I need only cover one example of each, whereas to prove your point, you need to prove it across the sample set of all political policies.
Take, for example, the Libertarians. All in all, they are a very far-right group (truly far-right, not this pseudo "socially conservative, financially liberal and eager to intercede in your lifestyle" group that's so vocal nowadays), and though they have their fair share of crazies, they have plenty of what I'd consider good ideas.
Do the kids a favor and install an instant messenger, Skype, and help them sign up for Myspace and FB accounts so that they develop some social skills
IM, Facebook and MySpace are as useful to the development of social skills as a horse is to playing water polo. Sure, some of the syntax is the same, but it's just a really bad idea.
How passe' - The current version of this scam tries to bilk you of $700B. And judging by the news, it still works.
I actually hadn't seen one of these (the real scam, not the parodies) for some time until I received one just the other week. I actually felt a tinge of nostalgia when I saw what it was.
Ah, I miss the heady days of using talk at a phosphorescent green terminal. Modern IM clients should show text as it is being written!
However, my mind shudders at trying to read a screen divided to allow a conversation of even 10 users.
If you want an alternative, Queen's "Another One Bites The Dust" also works. I'm sure the recipient would much rather here that upon regaining consciousness... Plus, the added benefit of the joy in the faces of the patient's loved ones when they recognize what you are humming under your breath, as their beloved friend/family member slowly slips away!
Actually, stuffed animals are a good example outside the uncanny valley. Remember, we are talking just about human appearance and action, not animal.
Regarding realistic paintings and statues - yes, they do look like humans, and I would say they reach past the valley on that point, but they don't act like humans. I would also suggest that it is easier for us right now to transcend the valley in appearance than it is to do so in action, if for no other reason because we've had more practice.
Wax figures are another good example. Madame Tussaud's wax figures are excellent representations of the human form - but again, they don't act human, which makes the valley easier to surpass. However, have you ever been to a bad wax museum? I have seen some pretty bad wax figures as well, and they trigger the uneasiness that this theory suggest an inanimate object in this valley would.
As far as cartoons, the physics-defying glass of water - these are all non-human representations, and thus not covered by this theory.
Actually, I've seen a lot more component than HDMI out there. The guys in our local cable co. office even recommend to their users often and with much gusto that they use component instead of HDMI. Guy I talked to when I was there last even went out of the way to show me the difference on a set there.
I just don't see component going out of style anytime soon, if not for the enthusiasts that know better, then for those whose way of thinking also keeps Monster cables in business.
Best of all, most of Aion's splendor is achieved through rich color and fine art, rather than particle effects and polygons, meaning it shouldn't be as expensive to run as it looks.
Seems to me, this is alot like the art direction that Guild Wars took. It relied on artwork for a lot of it's beauty, keeping the poly count fairly low. It certainly allowed it to run on a wide variety of PCs.
Of course, NCSoft was only the publisher of that game; Arenanet was the developing company. I wonder if this announcement might effect development of Guild Wars 2...
I've played with SL a bit, and so far I haven't found that bit that snags me in as a regular user (I'm still working in the "novelty" stage), but that doesn't mean I can't understand that it may have an appeal to others.
An interesting theory, but I'm just not quite jiving with it. Though license and user agreements are indeed rife with the potential for abuse (especially among the tech industry it seems), there are valid uses for them. If you pay them 10 cents with the agreement that you are just listening to the music, then that's all you should be allowed to do.
The way I see it, whose hardware and electricity gets used is a separate issue, immaterial to this one. So is the form of data in question. To take a step into the abstract, data is data, whether it is in the form of little 1s and 0s on the net, or electronic signals that get carried through wires from microphones and electric guitars to the loudspeakers at a concert. If the signs at the venue and the small type on the ticket stub say "no recording devices allowed, bootlegger", then don't be surprised when security asks you and your tape recorder to leave the premises.
Peter: "That virus you're always talking about, right? The one that could, uh, rip off the company for a bunch of money."
Michael: "Yeah, what about it?"
Peter: "Well, how does it work?"
Michael: "It's pretty brilliant. What it does is, every time there's a bank transaction where interest is competed, you know, thousands a day, the computer ends up with these fractions of acent, which it usually rounds off. What this does is, it takes those little remainders and puts it into an account."
Peter: "This sounds familiar." Michael: "Yeah, they did it in Superman III." Peter: "Right." Michael: "Yeah. Underrated movie, actually. And then there were a bunch of hackers, did it in the '70s as well. One of them got busted." Peter: "Well, so they check for this now." Michael: "No, here's the thing. Initech's so backed up with all the software we're updating for the year 2000, they'd never notice." Peter: "You're right. And even if they wanted to, they couldn't check all that code." Michael: "Thumbs up their asses. Thumbs up their asses."
We so need to organize a protest at this one diner near where I work. They have the audacity to "rent" songs for a whole quarter a song (or 5 for $1), for just one listen! If I'm paying for it, I want the right to my song, dammit!
Look, I'm all for actually owning the digital music you buy, but I think we're jumping on this for the wrong reason. It's not so much that they are ripping us off of our rights (which they aren't), as it is a stupid business model. There are so many other, better legal alternatives out there, I don't see this one flying.
Actually, I've had some good luck finding older but still very very usable rackmount systems on eBay. Seems there's never a shortage of companies getting rid of year-old kit they just upgraded.
I don't know... 5,000 independent contractors deploying 100 servers a year each adds up to a fair amount. Throw in an additional 10-20,000 small businesses deploying 1-5 a year. Plus some other made-up numbers I can't be bothered to imagine right now, but seem reasonable by my personal experience, and the sum really adds up...
I'm wondering if this figure of 3 million includes all of the small IT shops putting out Linux boxes for their clients, or the in-house IT departments picking up some bare hardware and putting Linux on them. Or even the old "obsolete"* MS Windows boxes that are being repurposed as Linux installs.
* Obsolete in this case meaning that it doesn't have the muscle to adequately run Microsoft's latest and greatest, but still has enough oomph to run an OS that isn't a resource hog.
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So should we start accounting for the average time it takes the average user to type in the average password into boot up time benchmarks? Will we see manufacturers artificially slant times by doping testers with stimulants and instigating a strict maximum password length of 4 characters?
I work in a medium sized business, where I am the only full time IT staff. And your generalizations are still way off.
I'll grant you that there are a few that act that way, and they do tend to get the lion's share of the spotlight, but most of us enjoy the unique challenges the small/med sized business presents. And yes, I have worked as part of the large, mammoth organization as well.
I enjoy the variety you get from doing a little bit of everything. I enjoy having to learn about new technology and how it applies to us. I get to plan out our over-arching IT plans, and be in the trenches implementing it. I enjoy teaching users how to use the technology given them to improve their own working abilities.
What I don't enjoy are the small but very vocal handful of users who allow their frustration at their inability to understand some bit of technology to carry over to an immediate and irrational frustration at me. Luckily, I view these, too, as another challenge, though a more long-term one than most, and have managed to convert a number of them into, if not eager, at least willing learner.
Now, I'm not going to say right off the bat that you fit that category; I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you've just been exposed to the minority IT group mentioned above. But how about you cut the rest of us hard-working stiffs a break, ok?
For the record, most users I support WANT me to be able to read their e-mail, to pull up what their current password is, and are surprised when I state that, for security and auditing purposes, I can't do that.
I'm with you both. For two years I did seasonal tech support with a certain well-known tax prep company, were I had the joy of supporting all those little office network setups, which were basically overly complex home offices, often setup from instructions given to novice level users.
At a prior time, I was with a university helpdesk, were it seems like a third of those I supported were 70 year old antiquities professors using a computer for the first time (and against their will at that), and another third were faculty needing support on machines needed for programs with million dollar grants.
"Upside down" depending on your vantage point. He was simply transposing the "directions" on the screen to the plane in which the mouse moves. In other words, his father had the mouse turned around, front-to-back.
I've actually experienced the same thing, except this was a decade and a half ago or more, so I was also informed ".. and the cord keeps getting in the way", which helped diagnose the problem immediately.
A similar complaint I fielded from the era: "The mouse's dust cover keeps getting in the way" - They just unpacked a new computer, and the mouse was packaged so the cord fed out of the plastic bag the mouse came in, so they thought the bag should stay on.
You are arguing that any stupid political move is a product of far-right ideology, and trying to use anecdotal evidence of some stupid policies of the far-right as proof. I argue that stupid political policies can arise from any point of the political spectrum, as can good policies.
Thing is, to prove my point, I need only cover one example of each, whereas to prove your point, you need to prove it across the sample set of all political policies.
Take, for example, the Libertarians. All in all, they are a very far-right group (truly far-right, not this pseudo "socially conservative, financially liberal and eager to intercede in your lifestyle" group that's so vocal nowadays), and though they have their fair share of crazies, they have plenty of what I'd consider good ideas.
What planet have you been on for the last 8 years?
I know it is sometimes an easy mistake to make, but far-stupid != far-right.
Do the kids a favor and install an instant messenger, Skype, and help them sign up for Myspace and FB accounts so that they develop some social skills
IM, Facebook and MySpace are as useful to the development of social skills as a horse is to playing water polo. Sure, some of the syntax is the same, but it's just a really bad idea.
How passe' - The current version of this scam tries to bilk you of $700B. And judging by the news, it still works.
I actually hadn't seen one of these (the real scam, not the parodies) for some time until I received one just the other week. I actually felt a tinge of nostalgia when I saw what it was.
Given the history of concentration camps, I'm not so sure I'd be all that eager to get in any line at all, let alone cut towards the front.
Ah, I miss the heady days of using talk at a phosphorescent green terminal. Modern IM clients should show text as it is being written! However, my mind shudders at trying to read a screen divided to allow a conversation of even 10 users.
Sure, just ask NORML...
If you want an alternative, Queen's "Another One Bites The Dust" also works. I'm sure the recipient would much rather here that upon regaining consciousness... Plus, the added benefit of the joy in the faces of the patient's loved ones when they recognize what you are humming under your breath, as their beloved friend/family member slowly slips away!
Would you stop that!
If they are, we'll all be dead!
*blink* wait a second, that didn't work as well as I expected...
Dude, that's what the brownies are for...
Actually, stuffed animals are a good example outside the uncanny valley. Remember, we are talking just about human appearance and action, not animal.
Regarding realistic paintings and statues - yes, they do look like humans, and I would say they reach past the valley on that point, but they don't act like humans. I would also suggest that it is easier for us right now to transcend the valley in appearance than it is to do so in action, if for no other reason because we've had more practice.
Wax figures are another good example. Madame Tussaud's wax figures are excellent representations of the human form - but again, they don't act human, which makes the valley easier to surpass. However, have you ever been to a bad wax museum? I have seen some pretty bad wax figures as well, and they trigger the uneasiness that this theory suggest an inanimate object in this valley would.
As far as cartoons, the physics-defying glass of water - these are all non-human representations, and thus not covered by this theory.
Actually, I've seen a lot more component than HDMI out there. The guys in our local cable co. office even recommend to their users often and with much gusto that they use component instead of HDMI. Guy I talked to when I was there last even went out of the way to show me the difference on a set there.
I just don't see component going out of style anytime soon, if not for the enthusiasts that know better, then for those whose way of thinking also keeps Monster cables in business.
Best of all, most of Aion's splendor is achieved through rich color and fine art, rather than particle effects and polygons, meaning it shouldn't be as expensive to run as it looks.
Seems to me, this is alot like the art direction that Guild Wars took. It relied on artwork for a lot of it's beauty, keeping the poly count fairly low. It certainly allowed it to run on a wide variety of PCs.
Of course, NCSoft was only the publisher of that game; Arenanet was the developing company. I wonder if this announcement might effect development of Guild Wars 2...
Hacking a satellite to get free TV is as bad as hacking electrical plants?
No, but I suppose hacking an old Cold War era Soviet "Weather Satellite" might be.
C'mon, you know they exist. Several hundred Hollywood movies can't all be wrong.
Does anyone actually use ____? If so, why?
Now, replace the above blank with:
I've played with SL a bit, and so far I haven't found that bit that snags me in as a regular user (I'm still working in the "novelty" stage), but that doesn't mean I can't understand that it may have an appeal to others.
An interesting theory, but I'm just not quite jiving with it. Though license and user agreements are indeed rife with the potential for abuse (especially among the tech industry it seems), there are valid uses for them. If you pay them 10 cents with the agreement that you are just listening to the music, then that's all you should be allowed to do.
The way I see it, whose hardware and electricity gets used is a separate issue, immaterial to this one. So is the form of data in question. To take a step into the abstract, data is data, whether it is in the form of little 1s and 0s on the net, or electronic signals that get carried through wires from microphones and electric guitars to the loudspeakers at a concert. If the signs at the venue and the small type on the ticket stub say "no recording devices allowed, bootlegger", then don't be surprised when security asks you and your tape recorder to leave the premises.
Peter: "That virus you're always talking about, right? The one that could, uh, rip off the company for a bunch of money."
Michael: "Yeah, what about it?"
Peter: "Well, how does it work?"
Michael: "It's pretty brilliant. What it does is, every time there's a bank transaction where interest is competed, you know, thousands a day, the computer ends up with these fractions of acent, which it usually rounds off. What this does is, it takes those little remainders and puts it into an account."
Peter: "This sounds familiar."
Michael: "Yeah, they did it in Superman III."
Peter: "Right."
Michael: "Yeah. Underrated movie, actually. And then there were a bunch of hackers, did it in the '70s as well. One of them got busted."
Peter: "Well, so they check for this now."
Michael: "No, here's the thing. Initech's so backed up with all the software we're updating for the year 2000, they'd never notice."
Peter: "You're right. And even if they wanted to, they couldn't check all that code."
Michael: "Thumbs up their asses. Thumbs up their asses."
We so need to organize a protest at this one diner near where I work. They have the audacity to "rent" songs for a whole quarter a song (or 5 for $1), for just one listen! If I'm paying for it, I want the right to my song, dammit!
Look, I'm all for actually owning the digital music you buy, but I think we're jumping on this for the wrong reason. It's not so much that they are ripping us off of our rights (which they aren't), as it is a stupid business model. There are so many other, better legal alternatives out there, I don't see this one flying.
Actually, I've had some good luck finding older but still very very usable rackmount systems on eBay. Seems there's never a shortage of companies getting rid of year-old kit they just upgraded.
I don't know... 5,000 independent contractors deploying 100 servers a year each adds up to a fair amount. Throw in an additional 10-20,000 small businesses deploying 1-5 a year. Plus some other made-up numbers I can't be bothered to imagine right now, but seem reasonable by my personal experience, and the sum really adds up...
I'm wondering if this figure of 3 million includes all of the small IT shops putting out Linux boxes for their clients, or the in-house IT departments picking up some bare hardware and putting Linux on them. Or even the old "obsolete"* MS Windows boxes that are being repurposed as Linux installs.
* Obsolete in this case meaning that it doesn't have the muscle to adequately run Microsoft's latest and greatest, but still has enough oomph to run an OS that isn't a resource hog.