I honestly can't remember the last time a Universal film did well. Even King Kong (which I saw today and is overlong and indulgent) is taking in below expectation. Warner and Disney and Fox all have their successes, but Universal and Paramount have both been struggling recently.
Serenity got near to no publicity here. I go to the cinema most weeks through the Summer and only knew thw film was coming out because I read Slashdot and PA. Universal really didn't do their job here.
As much as many are devoted to Linux here, isn't this a case of Microsoft has not had a real OS refresh in years while, during that period, Linux has been constantly improving?
As much as it appears Unisys was in it for the money, it could just be they have reached some kind of tipping point where they believe that Linux now is a viable alternative to MS where they didn't previously. You know, opinions changing when the facts do . . .
America's level of borrowing is running at a higher level than of some countries it has forced to restructure their own economies (Argentina), the economy overall is seeing a reduction in employment, people have less disposable income and the jobs being created within the economy are of a lower standard than those being lost.
Japan can't sort out problems in its backyard: they had the size of their military capped for 50 years. Terms of their surrender after the second world war.
The American economies strength is largely dependent on exporting items, and I do remember an article in which American economists blamed Europe for their economic woes as we were unwilling to get ourselves into enough personal debt buying American goods.
You are aware that the occupation of Iraq and the preceeding war were in violation of international law, aren't you?
And, despite this, you still had a coalition of allies helping you there and still do.
American interests are not the world's best interests and, increasingly, tend to run contrary to them.
I think movie tickets going through the ten dollar barrier (on average) in America for the first time had a huge role to play: there is something about not getting change back that has put people off paying to go to the cinema. Of course, no one working at the studios will admit to that.
Inferior product has always had successes and superior product has always had the risk of failing, but going and seeing a film is increasingly going to see a specific film that you have picked out rather than just going to the cinema and seeing what is showing because it is a cheap night out. And that is because of price, especially when the price broke a psychological barrier.
As an aside, Bingo is enjoying a resurgence of popularity in this country and that is nothing to do with new fangled technology or innovations or perceived quality: it is a cheap night out.
I am not sure if you have these in America: but they are thick milk chocolate surrounding fondant and caramel in an egg shape.
My dad used to be a college lecturer and had a student place a creme egg on the keyboard (unwrapped) and then lift the keybord hard into the monitor support. Apparently the student's letter of explanation had "no matter what anyone said, it was an accident." in the hope that admitting gross stupidity was his best course of action.
What works for me, but I am lucky
on
Geeks in Management?
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· Score: 4, Informative
I am lucky in that I have capable and self motivating staff. And you would be amazed how rare that actually is . . .
Communicate, don't dictate. Talk to people about where they are and what problems they are having. Stress that there is no blame for problems and that you want to catch them quickly to correct them.
Reassure and praise where appropriate. From dealings with other companies and departments I am aware that competency is not necessarily the minimum level that you can accept. Tell people when they do things right. Praise them when they do them well.
Understand and appreciate what your staff have to do and what their job likely entails. Being able to do their jobs is actually a bonus as it means you can train them if necessary, and dive in if their workload is too much and needs redistributing.
I work for a relatively new company that is establishing itself. I have three effective bosses (co owners) and they break down like this:
The guy who I used to share a flat (apartment) with who will make any and everyone laugh and taught me that the most important thing in the workplace is communication. He understands that people have to be given the opportunity to screw up and will not assign blame without their being good reason.
The guy I go to the gym with who goes out of his way to ensure the company pays people early at xmas, that the company pays for staff days out and sees himself as some sort of father figure to everyone.
The guy who invites people to his house for meals and wine and trusts us all to do our jobs, even when we don't.
And people wonder why I am so damn happy here even though I could make more money elsewhere. Great jobs are great because of the atmosphere and the people you work with.
In the past I have had my share of fun bosses tho:
The anti social anal retentive who couldn't get anything actioned and I spent my entire day talking people into doing what he wanted just because he had no people skills.
The guy who, with one breath, would claim you were overexagerrating the scale of the problem and then claim you weren't doing enough to deal with something you knew to be important.
The raving lunatic who once told me that we had been doing something in a certain way for twenty years despit the company being 3 years old and the system for doing said operation still being in development . . . .
My fiance is addicted to GTA: VC, far moreso than I.
I have a close female friend who is similarly addicted to the Sims and routinely likes to show off at DDR type games.
My little sister loves Sim City and Civilisation II.
So, women do play games, it's just catering to their tastes that is the issue. Is it not that the media that would introduce them to games and help them make informed choices is male orientated and dominated?
Slashdot Mirror
I honestly can't remember the last time a Universal film did well. Even King Kong (which I saw today and is overlong and indulgent) is taking in below expectation. Warner and Disney and Fox all have their successes, but Universal and Paramount have both been struggling recently.
Serenity got near to no publicity here. I go to the cinema most weeks through the Summer and only knew thw film was coming out because I read Slashdot and PA. Universal really didn't do their job here.
As much as many are devoted to Linux here, isn't this a case of Microsoft has not had a real OS refresh in years while, during that period, Linux has been constantly improving?
As much as it appears Unisys was in it for the money, it could just be they have reached some kind of tipping point where they believe that Linux now is a viable alternative to MS where they didn't previously. You know, opinions changing when the facts do . . .
After the LCD screen "news" earlier, I am glad to see that the unashamed marketting is submitted to Yahoo on this one ;).
Now I can trash talk other people in multiplayer mode!
And, should that fail, against her goldfish for listening to the alleged pirated files . . .
Those are the last films you saw?
You poor, poor man.
America's level of borrowing is running at a higher level than of some countries it has forced to restructure their own economies (Argentina), the economy overall is seeing a reduction in employment, people have less disposable income and the jobs being created within the economy are of a lower standard than those being lost.
Japan can't sort out problems in its backyard: they had the size of their military capped for 50 years. Terms of their surrender after the second world war.
The American economies strength is largely dependent on exporting items, and I do remember an article in which American economists blamed Europe for their economic woes as we were unwilling to get ourselves into enough personal debt buying American goods.
You are aware that the occupation of Iraq and the preceeding war were in violation of international law, aren't you?
And, despite this, you still had a coalition of allies helping you there and still do.
American interests are not the world's best interests and, increasingly, tend to run contrary to them.
And how about America makes good on its promise to give land and a mule to the blacks who were slaves?
I think movie tickets going through the ten dollar barrier (on average) in America for the first time had a huge role to play:
there is something about not getting change back that has put people off paying to go to the cinema. Of course, no one working at the studios will admit to that.
Inferior product has always had successes and superior product has always had the risk of failing, but going and seeing a film is increasingly going to see a specific film that you have picked out rather than just going to the cinema and seeing what is showing because it is a cheap night out. And that is because of price, especially when the price broke a psychological barrier.
As an aside, Bingo is enjoying a resurgence of popularity in this country and that is nothing to do with new fangled technology or innovations or perceived quality:
it is a cheap night out.
I may misremember, but didn't Syndicate Wars have adverts with motion in the game?
I am not sure if you have these in America: but they are thick milk chocolate surrounding fondant and caramel in an egg shape.
My dad used to be a college lecturer and had a student place a creme egg on the keyboard (unwrapped) and then lift the keybord hard into the monitor support. Apparently the student's letter of explanation had "no matter what anyone said, it was an accident." in the hope that admitting gross stupidity was his best course of action.
I am lucky in that I have capable and self motivating staff. And you would be amazed how rare that actually is . . . Communicate, don't dictate. Talk to people about where they are and what problems they are having. Stress that there is no blame for problems and that you want to catch them quickly to correct them. Reassure and praise where appropriate. From dealings with other companies and departments I am aware that competency is not necessarily the minimum level that you can accept. Tell people when they do things right. Praise them when they do them well. Understand and appreciate what your staff have to do and what their job likely entails. Being able to do their jobs is actually a bonus as it means you can train them if necessary, and dive in if their workload is too much and needs redistributing.
"No user will ever need more than a level 640k . . ."
Have you READ Cerebus recently?
Church and State was genius though.
I work for a relatively new company that is establishing itself. I have three effective bosses (co owners) and they break down like this: The guy who I used to share a flat (apartment) with who will make any and everyone laugh and taught me that the most important thing in the workplace is communication. He understands that people have to be given the opportunity to screw up and will not assign blame without their being good reason. The guy I go to the gym with who goes out of his way to ensure the company pays people early at xmas, that the company pays for staff days out and sees himself as some sort of father figure to everyone. The guy who invites people to his house for meals and wine and trusts us all to do our jobs, even when we don't. And people wonder why I am so damn happy here even though I could make more money elsewhere. Great jobs are great because of the atmosphere and the people you work with. In the past I have had my share of fun bosses tho: The anti social anal retentive who couldn't get anything actioned and I spent my entire day talking people into doing what he wanted just because he had no people skills. The guy who, with one breath, would claim you were overexagerrating the scale of the problem and then claim you weren't doing enough to deal with something you knew to be important. The raving lunatic who once told me that we had been doing something in a certain way for twenty years despit the company being 3 years old and the system for doing said operation still being in development . . . .
My fiance is addicted to GTA: VC, far moreso than I. I have a close female friend who is similarly addicted to the Sims and routinely likes to show off at DDR type games. My little sister loves Sim City and Civilisation II. So, women do play games, it's just catering to their tastes that is the issue. Is it not that the media that would introduce them to games and help them make informed choices is male orientated and dominated?