Me too, sort of. A congenital defect left my right eye with 20/400 vision at best. Most 3-D is just lost on me.
I also have a stronger desire to strangle the guy who invented those stereoscopic dot pictures in the 1990s. I wasn't just tired of them, the goddamn things gave me really painful headaches. I hope that asshole is in his own private circle of hell where everything is just slightly out of focus.
It doesn't matter how successful such a movement may be. If it significantly dents China's exports, their prized rate of torrid economic growth is in deep trouble. The Chinese are enjoying their higher standard of living, and pulling the plug -- if only for a week to two -- will cause quite a few jitters. It may even be one of the few times that economic sanctions actually worked.
(Of course, they could also choose not to buy our debt, but that may not be such a bad thing. If anything, the US gov't will be forced to live within its means.)
The public option makes the most sense from a game theory perspective: the "players" (insurance companies) in the "game" would have to adapt to a new set of rules, be more competitive, and eventually be more effective in providing services. Is that status quo, where the players all know each other's strategies and plan accordingly to preserve an oligopoly, really what we want?
(I love the conservative argument against the public option: "Heavens, how can we expect a private company to *innovate* their way out of a situation, that's anti-capitalist!" Cry me a river, fellas.)
The net effect of this affair will be to burnish the reputations of these particular Congresscritters in their districts as "patriots". (Does that word have any meaning anymore in this country?) Not much else.
It's 100% grandstanding, and they know it. And anyone who observes US politics should know it.
Someone will catch hell for the leak, if they haven't already. But otherwise, this will have the consequences of most other bullshit: None.
Agile and embedded systems?
on
Becoming Agile
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· Score: 2, Interesting
Who here has actually used Agile for embedded systems work? What were your experiences?
The strawman moonlights as a consultant
on
Becoming Agile
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· Score: 0
Reminds me of a gig I held a few years ago. We had 2 software dev sites for a particular product line, one in the southeast USA where I still reside (5 developers) and one in Silicon Valley (about 20). A software manager out west, who fashioned himself to be a "player" (but who was really just a jackoff), decided that we needed a software methodology. He talked to a consultant. The consultant said that Agile was crap, and that as a publicly-traded firm we really really should get CMMI certification.
Of course, I did some research into this at the request of my manager as well, and found out that our group was really using Agile methodologies. We just didn't bother to label it. We had lots of testing, short tight cycles, stand-up meetings, and so on. And guess which group was the only one that met its target delivery dates?
Unfortunately, the company HQ was in Silly Valley, so guess who's opinion was echoed throughout the halls of the organization?
(Sadly, there's no ending to this story, since both teams, including myself, my manager, and the player, were let go before the plans could ever be hatched. Stupidity ran really deep in that company back then.)
What did I learn? Simple:
Any moron can call himself a consultant.
Only a moron heeds the advice of a consultant without question.
You are not automatically smarter or more effective because your ZIP code begins with a 9. You may in fact just be a complete fucktard.
Thank you. Nice to know I'm not the only one who appreciates the irony of anti-gummint types, spewing about how their freedoms are at risk, on a system of computer networks that were designed and implemented with government funding.
Maybe next week, we can debate the dangers of distraction while driving on cell phones.
My employer insists on retaining an outsourcing group in India. The code we get from them is of marginal and inconsistent quality. This is probably because most of their developers are in it only for the money (and probably planned on moving on before the global economy tanked), and some sadly deluded executive over here really thought that cost-cutting constituted a business strategy.
We really do get what we pay for. But guess which groups do NOT get new feature development or requirements specification as tasks anymore?
As a younger man, I used to rant about management's willingness to accept crap code so long as it worked. These days, I just smile, knowing full well some jackass across the ocean (who probably now hates his job) is keeping me highly valued and very busy.
What's Harlan Ellison up to these days? He'd be a complete PITA to work with, but you know the screenplay would be in some damn capable hands.
(If you ever get the chance, check out Stephen King's non-fiction book "Danse Macabre". It has the story of Ellison's involvement with the first ST movie, and it's classic. It's in a footnote that takes up an entire page.)
I know folks in IBM (used to work there long ago myself), and who have just been pushed out. Those who left think they're the lucky ones. The remaining American workforce is stressed out over heavy workloads and fear of the impending (inevitable?) axe. Morale is slightly better there today than it was inside Dachau in 1943.
And yes, CEO Sam Palmisano has been lobbying Barack Obama personally to get some of the stimulus package. So your U.S. tax dollars will go to accelerate offshore outsourcing.
I pity Sun employees. I really do. They are about to become part of a company that is, undeniably, bad for America. (And they won't be staying long either.)
Me neither. I noticed the quality of the paper was starting to deteriorate over time. It became thinner, not as glossy, though not quite as bad as the stock used for US phone books.
Couple that with the decreasing thickness, and it was plain to see that the writing was on the wall (or, more accurately, on the screen) for DDJ.
This past year we took a laptop with us to Vietnam to pick up our daughter. (We blogged from our hotel a lot. We were awake most of the time anyway.)
Our jet-lagged child's first hour in the USA was interesting. Nothing cuts through the red tape and lines more effectively than a cranky baby screaming at 160 dB.
That's one of the reasons why I try not to work for companies headquartered in Silicon Valley. To rise through the management ranks, you really need at some point to relocate to that festering shithole. No, thank, you.
I'd need a 50% pay increase to break even if I moved out there to keep my current standard of living, even though our household has no debt. (We paid off the mortgage last month, we never miss a credit card payment, and we paid cash for our cars.) And the schools in California simply suck.
But hey, we'd have the luxury of living next to the players, wouldn't we?
Actually, I always thought he was a terrible speaker. He's living proof that, in America, regardless of one's race, class, or upbringing, you too can aspire to sound like Elmer Fudd on national television.
And the man has no political sense whatsoever. When he opposed Obama in the last Illinois Senate race (he was drafted at the last minute) he called staunch GOP ally Mary Cheney a "shameless hedonist" for being lesbian. ( Good move, Alan: alienate both sides of the debate at the same time. Schmuck.)
The 2000 election was decided by less than 600 votes in Florida. About 90,000 Floridians voted for Nader that year. If only 1% of those Nader voters could see what the future held.
Seriously. Don't vote for the candidate who merely claims to serve your interests. Vote for the one who will lay the cultural groundwork for the change you wish to see in your country.
It's up to you to be that change, regardless of who wins.
Slashdot Mirror
Count Floyd pwns you!
Me too, sort of. A congenital defect left my right eye with 20/400 vision at best. Most 3-D is just lost on me.
I also have a stronger desire to strangle the guy who invented those stereoscopic dot pictures in the 1990s. I wasn't just tired of them, the goddamn things gave me really painful headaches. I hope that asshole is in his own private circle of hell where everything is just slightly out of focus.
It doesn't matter how successful such a movement may be. If it significantly dents China's exports, their prized rate of torrid economic growth is in deep trouble. The Chinese are enjoying their higher standard of living, and pulling the plug -- if only for a week to two -- will cause quite a few jitters. It may even be one of the few times that economic sanctions actually worked.
(Of course, they could also choose not to buy our debt, but that may not be such a bad thing. If anything, the US gov't will be forced to live within its means.)
The public option makes the most sense from a game theory perspective: the "players" (insurance companies) in the "game" would have to adapt to a new set of rules, be more competitive, and eventually be more effective in providing services. Is that status quo, where the players all know each other's strategies and plan accordingly to preserve an oligopoly, really what we want?
(I love the conservative argument against the public option: "Heavens, how can we expect a private company to *innovate* their way out of a situation, that's anti-capitalist!" Cry me a river, fellas.)
The net effect of this affair will be to burnish the reputations of these particular Congresscritters in their districts as "patriots". (Does that word have any meaning anymore in this country?) Not much else.
It's 100% grandstanding, and they know it. And anyone who observes US politics should know it.
Someone will catch hell for the leak, if they haven't already. But otherwise, this will have the consequences of most other bullshit: None.
Who here has actually used Agile for embedded systems work? What were your experiences?
Reminds me of a gig I held a few years ago. We had 2 software dev sites for a particular product line, one in the southeast USA where I still reside (5 developers) and one in Silicon Valley (about 20). A software manager out west, who fashioned himself to be a "player" (but who was really just a jackoff), decided that we needed a software methodology. He talked to a consultant. The consultant said that Agile was crap, and that as a publicly-traded firm we really really should get CMMI certification.
Of course, I did some research into this at the request of my manager as well, and found out that our group was really using Agile methodologies. We just didn't bother to label it. We had lots of testing, short tight cycles, stand-up meetings, and so on. And guess which group was the only one that met its target delivery dates?
Unfortunately, the company HQ was in Silly Valley, so guess who's opinion was echoed throughout the halls of the organization?
(Sadly, there's no ending to this story, since both teams, including myself, my manager, and the player, were let go before the plans could ever be hatched. Stupidity ran really deep in that company back then.)
What did I learn? Simple:
Thank you. Nice to know I'm not the only one who appreciates the irony of anti-gummint types, spewing about how their freedoms are at risk, on a system of computer networks that were designed and implemented with government funding.
Maybe next week, we can debate the dangers of distraction while driving on cell phones.
My employer insists on retaining an outsourcing group in India. The code we get from them is of marginal and inconsistent quality. This is probably because most of their developers are in it only for the money (and probably planned on moving on before the global economy tanked), and some sadly deluded executive over here really thought that cost-cutting constituted a business strategy.
We really do get what we pay for. But guess which groups do NOT get new feature development or requirements specification as tasks anymore?
As a younger man, I used to rant about management's willingness to accept crap code so long as it worked. These days, I just smile, knowing full well some jackass across the ocean (who probably now hates his job) is keeping me highly valued and very busy.
Yep: "View to a Kill". With Christopher Walken as the baddie and Grace Jones as the hot evil sidekick.
I'm old. Fuck.
What's Harlan Ellison up to these days? He'd be a complete PITA to work with, but you know the screenplay would be in some damn capable hands.
(If you ever get the chance, check out Stephen King's non-fiction book "Danse Macabre". It has the story of Ellison's involvement with the first ST movie, and it's classic. It's in a footnote that takes up an entire page.)
What's the French word for "quorum" ? Clearly the National Assembly should be using it here. Dolts.
If only this wasn't true.
I know folks in IBM (used to work there long ago myself), and who have just been pushed out. Those who left think they're the lucky ones. The remaining American workforce is stressed out over heavy workloads and fear of the impending (inevitable?) axe. Morale is slightly better there today than it was inside Dachau in 1943.
And yes, CEO Sam Palmisano has been lobbying Barack Obama personally to get some of the stimulus package. So your U.S. tax dollars will go to accelerate offshore outsourcing.
I pity Sun employees. I really do. They are about to become part of a company that is, undeniably, bad for America. (And they won't be staying long either.)
Tough shit.
I haven't heard of a single Christian group speaking up against this type of foolishness.
If you stay silent while other members of your group blather, then expect to be tarred with same brush.
Thanks for reminding me of that movie. And that I'll never ever be able to un-watch it.
Jerk.
Me neither. I noticed the quality of the paper was starting to deteriorate over time. It became thinner, not as glossy, though not quite as bad as the stock used for US phone books.
Couple that with the decreasing thickness, and it was plain to see that the writing was on the wall (or, more accurately, on the screen) for DDJ.
Did they bother to check up any waterspouts?
(Sheesh. Do I have to the thinking for everybody around here? Even my 1-year-old knows this.)
It's a good thing we have Shaun on board to keep this re-animated corpse under control.
(Actually, I think it's really cool that he's involved. Might even make it worth watching.)
This past year we took a laptop with us to Vietnam to pick up our daughter. (We blogged from our hotel a lot. We were awake most of the time anyway.)
Our jet-lagged child's first hour in the USA was interesting. Nothing cuts through the red tape and lines more effectively than a cranky baby screaming at 160 dB.
That's one of the reasons why I try not to work for companies headquartered in Silicon Valley. To rise through the management ranks, you really need at some point to relocate to that festering shithole. No, thank, you.
I'd need a 50% pay increase to break even if I moved out there to keep my current standard of living, even though our household has no debt. (We paid off the mortgage last month, we never miss a credit card payment, and we paid cash for our cars.) And the schools in California simply suck.
But hey, we'd have the luxury of living next to the players, wouldn't we?
Thpfffft.
Actually, I always thought he was a terrible speaker. He's living proof that, in America, regardless of one's race, class, or upbringing, you too can aspire to sound like Elmer Fudd on national television.
And the man has no political sense whatsoever. When he opposed Obama in the last Illinois Senate race (he was drafted at the last minute) he called staunch GOP ally Mary Cheney a "shameless hedonist" for being lesbian. ( Good move, Alan: alienate both sides of the debate at the same time. Schmuck.)
From my Google QTOD gadget. No kidding:
Where lipstick is concerned, the important thing is not color, but to accept God's final word on where your lips end.
- Jerry Seinfeld
Am I the only one here who wants this story tagged "countfloyd" ?
The 2000 election was decided by less than 600 votes in Florida. About 90,000 Floridians voted for Nader that year. If only 1% of those Nader voters could see what the future held.
Seriously. Don't vote for the candidate who merely claims to serve your interests. Vote for the one who will lay the cultural groundwork for the change you wish to see in your country.
It's up to you to be that change, regardless of who wins.