Another poster brought up the situation that Sony had when they tried selling the PS3 initially for $600. If the new Wii is anywhere near that price point, they are going to seriously flounder with this one. Nintendo has taken the throne as the king of casual console gaming. People will not flock to something viewed as a secondary entertainment option if it blows half-a-month's pay to acquire just the console. I bought a Wii at launch and I think I paid around $600-$700 for the Wii, a complete set of controllers (plus classic pads) and a pile of games. Nintendo will need to hit that sort of mark to make it enticing to "upgrade."
Bah. I think I'm taking the ostrich-approach. I spent the early format wars preaching that the first $200 player was going to win. Best Buy had one on Black Friday this year, so I jumped... and bought a crapload of HD-DVD's.
I guess even though I'm defeated, things aren't so bad. I remember looking in awe (and a little bit of disgust) at the Beta holdouts after the VHS/Beta thing came to an end. Now I can be one of those SORRY SAPS! Yes!
From an "old timer" (this is actually my second account here... I was reading/. when the crew was going to school here in W Michigan), I tend to agree with you. The quality of the posts, though, has really ebbed and flowed over the years. I think quality has actually gone up slightly recently (and thus I've started reading again).
The exact same thing happened to me. I was IT Operations manager for a few years, found the non-working IT manager role to be boring and am now happily a solutions architect... all at the same company and without losing any pay (technically I'm still a manager on paper).
I'm one of those weirdo's who uses an ergo keyboard and a trackball. My favourite trackball is one that used to be made by Microsoft, the Trackball Explorer 1.0. They seem to have stopped making them however, so I'll be stuck finding something new when it gives up.
I spend many many hours at the keyboard and the use of the trackball reduces stress. The other added benefit is that others never want to use my rig to do anything.
I am not, however, a graphic designer. I'm an IT Architect/Project Manager for a mid-size enterprise. I started using trackballs in the early 90's and have been hooked ever since. Of course, I still use a mouse for gaming and for general computing when I'm at home and my sessions are limited to a couple of hours, but for a 10 hour workday latched to the chair, the trackball is the only way to go.
Even folks who have been here a while can be oblivious to the culture...
oh... and I didn't buy this on ebay... this is actually my second id... i forgot the password to the first one. hehe. Only figured I'd post because of the comment on the UID.:)
i would go so far as to say that i have been at level 7 since long before moderation was even in play here. i think you've pretty much nailed it though. *grin* ------------------------------------------
the amazing bc
latin/funk flugelhorn & trumpet
hear hear! going further to prove it's not the outcome of the game, but the PROCESS that gets you there that counts. and oh... do i ever miss the days when an oddly shaped stick could help you conquer the world. thanks for the reminder. --------------------------------------- ---
the amazing bc
latin/funk flugelhorn & trumpet
i saw TMBG in lansing, mi at warehouse records. they played an all-acoustic set and then sat down on the front of the stage with the handful of people that were in the place at the time and signed autographs and talked with us for about an hour. TMBG are probably coolest group of guys you'll ever meet. i think it's absolutely awesome that they've embraced the digital age. i'd like like to know how successful digital distribution has been for them and if they think that an indi artist can make a go of it in this market. ----------------------------------------- -
the amazing bc
latin/funk flugelhorn & trumpet
actually tv is 720x480, for the most part. of course you lose every other row of pixels, so it's actually quite a bit smaller than that, but when creating still screens for tv, they are created in 720x480. the fun part was creating a page with two pixel wide horizontal lines one pixel apart and sending it to the tv. yipes. now _that_ will wig ya out.
------------------------------------------
the amazing bc
latin/funk flugelhorn & trumpet
Monkey Island 3, baybee... and they're coming out with a new one. It's a great game; and not really that old. You should check it out. ------------------------------------------
the amazing bc
latin/funk flugelhorn & trumpet
webnaut, music junkie, sysadmin from hell
shutup junkie! -- Randall ----------------------------------------- -
the amazing bc
latin/funk flugelhorn & trumpet
webnaut, music junkie, sysadmin from hell
I actually enjoy those wonderful side scrolling adventure games. I know that the genre was rather tired out in the 80's, but there have been some rather awesome resurrections of it (see Neverhood series). Earthworm Jim is a great game. Another genre I've missed is the overhead shooter (I'm looking down on a plane that's being forced forward and shoot everything in sight; simple mind-numbing game). Now, don't get me wrong. I love StarCraft-style games. I've been hooked on Total Annihilation for what seems like years. But some simple self-competitive gaming is somewhat lacking these days. *dusts off old 486 and loads up Megaman* ---------------------------------------- --
the amazing bc
latin/funk flugelhorn & trumpet
webnaut, music junkie, sysadmin from hell
funny thing is that with all the anti-ms sentiment around here, you would think people would be more skeptical. Frankly, I'm kind of ashamed of the Slashdot crowd for not being their usual skeptical fiends. Let's face it; everyone around here really secretly wants to see IE on Gnome. *devilish grin* turn flamethrowers on CRISP. ------------------------------------------
the amazing bc
latin/funk flugelhorn & trumpet
webnaut, music junkie, sysadmin from hell
point is, they used mainsoft's stuff to get it there to begin with. i just don't see it. the "about mainsoft" tagline is a generic fill-in for all press releases. don't read anything else into it. ------------------------------------------
the amazing bc
latin/funk flugelhorn & trumpet
webnaut, music junkie, sysadmin from hell
I see no mention of Linux in the press release. Methinks no one should get too excited until they tell us they're doing it for more than HP/UX and Slowaris, er Solaris, two Unices that they do mention in the press release. Doesn't sound anything like "Microsoft is porting apps to Linux" to me. ------------------------------------------
the amazing bc
latin/funk flugelhorn & trumpet
webnaut, music junkie, sysadmin from hell
Most times, protesters don't go out looking to get arrested; it just happens that way because this nation has decided that "we" don't like people who rock the boat. We'd rather they just go away and keep their feelings to themselves. I find it very interesting that the American people are so ready and willing to give up their freedoms for a little bit of ill-concieved comfort. I have, in the past, been involved in both small and large-scale protests. These were things that I felt very strongly about and it was discussed at pre-protest meetings that there was a possibility of being arrested. It's a fact of life, people. Any time you protest the government, there are going to be some self-interested assholes who want to lock you up; be it legal or not. Cops _can_ do whatever the hell they want. It's up to the courts to decide if it was legal or not. Anyway... nice article, and keep fighting the good fight! Can't wait for the rest. ------------------------------------------
the amazing bc
latin/funk flugelhorn & trumpet
webnaut, music junkie, sysadmin from hell
I met the guy who dropped the arcade machine off of a 2 story building at Comdex in Chicago this last year. They had the machine there and they were looping the video of it over and over. They are touting their arcade PC's that CAN be dropped and still run. The machine was still running afterwards. Pretty cool stuff. The box looks like it'd make it out of nuclear holocaust.
------------------------------------------ the amazing bc latin/funk flugelhorn & trumpet webnaut, music junkie, sysadmin from hell
I have spraypainted my previously beige computer case with #40 Krylon(tm) Green. Anyone who dares copy this will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of stupidity allowed under the law. You have been warned. ----------------------------------------- - the amazing bc latin/funk flugelhorn & trumpet webnaut, music junkie, sysadmin from hell
Re:The only "shortage" is of **CHEAP** tech worker
on
The IT Labor Shortage
·
· Score: 1
funny thing is that 2/3 of the "average" in some places, after factoring in cost of living, can actually be a 1/3 raise (well... maybe not quite, but you get the idea).
--bc ------------------------------------------ the amazing bc latin/funk flugelhorn & trumpet webnaut, music junkie, sysadmin from hell
6 months ago, i was offered another job out of the blue from a headhunter who got my name from a friend. it was about an $18K increase over the amount that i was making with my current employer at the time. i worked, and still do, for a software company in the midwest. my company counter-offered me with a $20K raise, and office with a window, and a laptop, as well as a few other little perks, including a sizeable bonus.
i have no degree, i am 23 years old. i have played with these infernal machines since i was 11 years and learned unix when i was a freshman in high school. but i work hard. i work 55-80 hours a week. i can say that i feel appreciated. the company i work for is a good one.
my job consists of just every duty that an IT person could be asked to do: support/helpdesk, sysadmin nt/unix/novell, design and implement networks (including wiring buildings), install software for customers, data conversions, custom programming, and a plethora of other tasks. you might say i'm the perfectly rounded (no pun intended) IT guy.
finding a job around here takes about a month. i have several friends that have gone unemployed for 30-40 days, but landed a $40K+ job in spite of it. there are always tons of job offerings in the paper, but the pay is pretty weak. but, from our standpoint, it's difficult to find IT people who are good enough to pay them the big bucks and you don't have to put a lot of resources into training. it's kind of a double-edged sword. i think companies are willing to pay good people good money, but most HR departments don't know a good IT person from adam. ------------------------------------------ the amazing bc latin/funk flugelhorn & trumpet webnaut, music junkie, sysadmin from hell
and, kindly enough, merit is still around. i just think it's funny how i've not been enrolled at a michigan university for going on 5 years now and my merit/michnet account is still active and works. 'course, it gives you ppp to the internet now, which is kinda slick, and just about every school district in the state has dialups.
arbornet.org is cool. it was my first exposure to the internet in '92, i believe, when they were still on a 128k line. another cool old freenet that some of the guys from m-net created was nether.net... it is down most of the time now. anyway...
--bc ------------------------------------------ the amazing bc latin/funk flugelhorn & trumpet webnaut, music junkie, sysadmin from hell
i'm sitting here thinking that many years ago, the same arguments and thoughts were coming out of the commi/amiga culture when Windows and MacOS started invading the multi-tasking OS market. i know several amiga people who have the 'live amiga or die' tatoos. fanatics are always a little off-base, but sometimes they add a little colour to an otherwise dull arena; other times they just prove to be pricks. linux zealots drive me insane. several of my friends believe it to be the be-all-end-all of operating systems and that if you are too slow to pick up on it, then you are certainly worm-bait and don't deserve to live. get a grip, folks.
incidently, until adobe embraces linux, i will never ever give up my winnt box.
--bc ------------------------------------------ the amazing bc latin/funk flugelhorn & trumpet webnaut, music junkie, sysadmin from hell
Slashdot Mirror
Another poster brought up the situation that Sony had when they tried selling the PS3 initially for $600. If the new Wii is anywhere near that price point, they are going to seriously flounder with this one. Nintendo has taken the throne as the king of casual console gaming. People will not flock to something viewed as a secondary entertainment option if it blows half-a-month's pay to acquire just the console. I bought a Wii at launch and I think I paid around $600-$700 for the Wii, a complete set of controllers (plus classic pads) and a pile of games. Nintendo will need to hit that sort of mark to make it enticing to "upgrade."
Your ID is too high.
Bah. I think I'm taking the ostrich-approach. I spent the early format wars preaching that the first $200 player was going to win. Best Buy had one on Black Friday this year, so I jumped... and bought a crapload of HD-DVD's.
I guess even though I'm defeated, things aren't so bad. I remember looking in awe (and a little bit of disgust) at the Beta holdouts after the VHS/Beta thing came to an end. Now I can be one of those SORRY SAPS! Yes!
From an "old timer" (this is actually my second account here... I was reading /. when the crew was going to school here in W Michigan), I tend to agree with you. The quality of the posts, though, has really ebbed and flowed over the years. I think quality has actually gone up slightly recently (and thus I've started reading again).
The exact same thing happened to me. I was IT Operations manager for a few years, found the non-working IT manager role to be boring and am now happily a solutions architect... all at the same company and without losing any pay (technically I'm still a manager on paper).
I'm one of those weirdo's who uses an ergo keyboard and a trackball. My favourite trackball is one that used to be made by Microsoft, the Trackball Explorer 1.0. They seem to have stopped making them however, so I'll be stuck finding something new when it gives up.
I spend many many hours at the keyboard and the use of the trackball reduces stress. The other added benefit is that others never want to use my rig to do anything.
I am not, however, a graphic designer. I'm an IT Architect/Project Manager for a mid-size enterprise. I started using trackballs in the early 90's and have been hooked ever since. Of course, I still use a mouse for gaming and for general computing when I'm at home and my sessions are limited to a couple of hours, but for a 10 hour workday latched to the chair, the trackball is the only way to go.
Even folks who have been here a while can be oblivious to the culture...
:)
oh... and I didn't buy this on ebay... this is actually my second id... i forgot the password to the first one. hehe. Only figured I'd post because of the comment on the UID.
i would go so far as to say that i have been at level 7 since long before moderation was even in play here. i think you've pretty much nailed it though. *grin*-
-----------------------------------------
the amazing bc
latin/funk flugelhorn & trumpet
hear hear! going further to prove it's not the outcome of the game, but the PROCESS that gets you there that counts. and oh... do i ever miss the days when an oddly shaped stick could help you conquer the world. thanks for the reminder.- ---
--------------------------------------
the amazing bc
latin/funk flugelhorn & trumpet
i saw TMBG in lansing, mi at warehouse records. they played an all-acoustic set and then sat down on the front of the stage with the handful of people that were in the place at the time and signed autographs and talked with us for about an hour. TMBG are probably coolest group of guys you'll ever meet. i think it's absolutely awesome that they've embraced the digital age. i'd like like to know how successful digital distribution has been for them and if they think that an indi artist can make a go of it in this market.- -
----------------------------------------
the amazing bc
latin/funk flugelhorn & trumpet
actually tv is 720x480, for the most part. of course you lose every other row of pixels, so it's actually quite a bit smaller than that, but when creating still screens for tv, they are created in 720x480. the fun part was creating a page with two pixel wide horizontal lines one pixel apart and sending it to the tv. yipes. now _that_ will wig ya out.
------------------------------------------
the amazing bc
latin/funk flugelhorn & trumpet
Monkey Island 3, baybee... and they're coming out with a new one. It's a great game; and not really that old. You should check it out.
the amazing bc
------------------------------------------
latin/funk flugelhorn & trumpet
webnaut, music junkie, sysadmin from hell
shutup junkie! -- Randall- -
----------------------------------------
the amazing bc
latin/funk flugelhorn & trumpet
webnaut, music junkie, sysadmin from hell
I actually enjoy those wonderful side scrolling adventure games. I know that the genre was rather tired out in the 80's, but there have been some rather awesome resurrections of it (see Neverhood series). Earthworm Jim is a great game. Another genre I've missed is the overhead shooter (I'm looking down on a plane that's being forced forward and shoot everything in sight; simple mind-numbing game). Now, don't get me wrong. I love StarCraft-style games. I've been hooked on Total Annihilation for what seems like years. But some simple self-competitive gaming is somewhat lacking these days. *dusts off old 486 and loads up Megaman*- --
---------------------------------------
the amazing bc
latin/funk flugelhorn & trumpet
webnaut, music junkie, sysadmin from hell
funny thing is that with all the anti-ms sentiment around here, you would think people would be more skeptical. Frankly, I'm kind of ashamed of the Slashdot crowd for not being their usual skeptical fiends. Let's face it; everyone around here really secretly wants to see IE on Gnome. *devilish grin* turn flamethrowers on CRISP.-
-----------------------------------------
the amazing bc
latin/funk flugelhorn & trumpet
webnaut, music junkie, sysadmin from hell
point is, they used mainsoft's stuff to get it there to begin with. i just don't see it. the "about mainsoft" tagline is a generic fill-in for all press releases. don't read anything else into it.
------------------------------------------
the amazing bc
latin/funk flugelhorn & trumpet
webnaut, music junkie, sysadmin from hell
the rest of the details are sketchy
from the company that should be called TransEnigma; how surprising
------------------------------------------
the amazing bc
latin/funk flugelhorn & trumpet
webnaut, music junkie, sysadmin from hell
I see no mention of Linux in the press release. Methinks no one should get too excited until they tell us they're doing it for more than HP/UX and Slowaris, er Solaris, two Unices that they do mention in the press release. Doesn't sound anything like "Microsoft is porting apps to Linux" to me.
------------------------------------------
the amazing bc
latin/funk flugelhorn & trumpet
webnaut, music junkie, sysadmin from hell
Most times, protesters don't go out looking to get arrested; it just happens that way because this nation has decided that "we" don't like people who rock the boat. We'd rather they just go away and keep their feelings to themselves. I find it very interesting that the American people are so ready and willing to give up their freedoms for a little bit of ill-concieved comfort. I have, in the past, been involved in both small and large-scale protests. These were things that I felt very strongly about and it was discussed at pre-protest meetings that there was a possibility of being arrested. It's a fact of life, people. Any time you protest the government, there are going to be some self-interested assholes who want to lock you up; be it legal or not. Cops _can_ do whatever the hell they want. It's up to the courts to decide if it was legal or not. Anyway... nice article, and keep fighting the good fight! Can't wait for the rest.
------------------------------------------
the amazing bc
latin/funk flugelhorn & trumpet
webnaut, music junkie, sysadmin from hell
I met the guy who dropped the arcade machine off of a 2 story building at Comdex in Chicago this last year. They had the machine there and they were looping the video of it over and over. They are touting their arcade PC's that CAN be dropped and still run. The machine was still running afterwards. Pretty cool stuff. The box looks like it'd make it out of nuclear holocaust.
------------------------------------------
the amazing bc
latin/funk flugelhorn & trumpet
webnaut, music junkie, sysadmin from hell
I have spraypainted my previously beige computer case with #40 Krylon(tm) Green. Anyone who dares copy this will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of stupidity allowed under the law. You have been warned.- -
----------------------------------------
the amazing bc
latin/funk flugelhorn & trumpet
webnaut, music junkie, sysadmin from hell
funny thing is that 2/3 of the "average" in some places, after factoring in cost of living, can actually be a 1/3 raise (well... maybe not quite, but you get the idea).
-
--bc
-----------------------------------------
the amazing bc
latin/funk flugelhorn & trumpet
webnaut, music junkie, sysadmin from hell
well... my experience is this:
6 months ago, i was offered another job out of the blue from a headhunter who got my name from a friend. it was about an $18K increase over the amount that i was making with my current employer at the time. i worked, and still do, for a software company in the midwest. my company counter-offered me with a $20K raise, and office with a window, and a laptop, as well as a few other little perks, including a sizeable bonus.
i have no degree, i am 23 years old. i have played with these infernal machines since i was 11 years and learned unix when i was a freshman in high school. but i work hard. i work 55-80 hours a week. i can say that i feel appreciated. the company i work for is a good one.
my job consists of just every duty that an IT person could be asked to do: support/helpdesk, sysadmin nt/unix/novell, design and implement networks (including wiring buildings), install software for customers, data conversions, custom programming, and a plethora of other tasks. you might say i'm the perfectly rounded (no pun intended) IT guy.
finding a job around here takes about a month. i have several friends that have gone unemployed for 30-40 days, but landed a $40K+ job in spite of it. there are always tons of job offerings in the paper, but the pay is pretty weak. but, from our standpoint, it's difficult to find IT people who are good enough to pay them the big bucks and you don't have to put a lot of resources into training. it's kind of a double-edged sword. i think companies are willing to pay good people good money, but most HR departments don't know a good IT person from adam.
------------------------------------------
the amazing bc
latin/funk flugelhorn & trumpet
webnaut, music junkie, sysadmin from hell
and, kindly enough, merit is still around. i just think it's funny how i've not been enrolled at a michigan university for going on 5 years now and my merit/michnet account is still active and works. 'course, it gives you ppp to the internet now, which is kinda slick, and just about every school district in the state has dialups.
-
arbornet.org is cool. it was my first exposure to the internet in '92, i believe, when they were still on a 128k line. another cool old freenet that some of the guys from m-net created was nether.net... it is down most of the time now. anyway...
--bc
-----------------------------------------
the amazing bc
latin/funk flugelhorn & trumpet
webnaut, music junkie, sysadmin from hell
i'm sitting here thinking that many years ago, the same arguments and thoughts were coming out of the commi/amiga culture when Windows and MacOS started invading the multi-tasking OS market. i know several amiga people who have the 'live amiga or die' tatoos. fanatics are always a little off-base, but sometimes they add a little colour to an otherwise dull arena; other times they just prove to be pricks. linux zealots drive me insane. several of my friends believe it to be the be-all-end-all of operating systems and that if you are too slow to pick up on it, then you are certainly worm-bait and don't deserve to live. get a grip, folks.
-
incidently, until adobe embraces linux, i will never ever give up my winnt box.
--bc
-----------------------------------------
the amazing bc
latin/funk flugelhorn & trumpet
webnaut, music junkie, sysadmin from hell