You may not understand how world works in reality. Laws and trade agreements are a result of geopolitical, economical and military power over other nations. China doesn't fear retaliation from US or other countries, so they pretty much do as they please. Good for them. Not so good for us.
(Of course, I may not have gotten your joke, if it was one.)
That's a very interesting idea. Unfortunately this will never be possible in western society : such a system would destroy any status-quo that enables a ruling class of those-more-equal-than-the-others to maintain power.
>Unfortunately, without the courage to stand behind them, >they are meaningless rantings and gruntings.
I disagree that they are meaningless. Example : You are quite anonymous and safe, posting on slashdot, but your post is still meaningful.
I believe there is a difference between not being a coward, and being stupid. Given the current political climate in some countries, it is A Good Thing to have anonymous internet access when discussing political matters, especially if they are critical of the regime. Of course, I'm not very worried about the Canadian govt going Gestapo-style, but there are other countries out there with less benevolent regimes that will drag people off to jail for posting "subversive" opinions.
>It also means that I can threaten to kill you, spam you, >commit all sorts of crimes against you without any fear >of consequences.
It also means I am relatively safe from anyone who would actually act out those threats while not giving up any liberties. Think about that for a second. (I would still be able to post or search on the net and not worry about any emotional/litigious/religious/politically inspired retaliation, for starters.)
Public opinion has never been more free from censorship than in the last decade because we now can discuss anything with anybody, and search for information at our leisure. (Wikipedia is a good example of this.) There is no such thing as objectivity in the real world, so we have to get our info from everywhere and form our own opinion, or rather, now we *can* do this, easily. In stead of only relying on traditional media.
Liberty for all does pose the risk of idiots behaving like idiots do, or criminals as criminals do. But I'd rather be free and anonymous in an eclectic and chaotic environment, than curtailed and known to the Powers That Be in a regulated but safe environment. Or persecuted for having "subversive" ideas, for that matter.
Since most people nowadays are swamped in work, bills, staying alive etc. and basically just want to be safe and left alone, very few actually have the courage to stand by their convictions. If you *do* speak out publicly you might get singled out and stomped on. Can you take the punishment ? What would be your next move ? It is good to have ideals, but you should live by them in a pragmatic way.
Yet another attempt to curb criticism on governments? How can we protest or criticize when we are no longer anonymous ? I don't mind spewing vitriolic comments on slashdot under my account because IRL I remain anonymous. It wouldn't surprise me if this legislation is being pushed under the guise of protecting us from evil terrorists and child pron. I'd rather have those in need of such protection be kept off the net than exposing everyone's private information to government officials. To be honest, I don't trust any govt to have its people's best interests as their first priority.
We'll need new words for directions then. Left, right, up, down, forward, back... 'sooner' and 'later' just ain't gonna cut it for the missus giving directions from the backseat when driving through time in our funky timeshifting go-karts.
Thanks for the hint !;) Although, I bet they archive the footage on a weekly or monthly rotation. (So don't forget your fake moustache when you go plundering and pillaging.)
I work in IT as well. I see three problems with the experiences you describe: - bad choice of partner - follow up (two people team = little peer-pressure, + no balanced planning) - people skills
I'll try to generalize this, because speculating on specific situations like the example you describe will get us nowhere fast.
(Longwinded incoherent babbling follows)
Don't be happy with just anybody. (If I have to be honest, in your original post the way you describe how you kept doing that girl's work, I suspected you were going for mod Sarcasm +1 or something; this is slashdot after all...) I agree that in school you don't often get to pick your buddy in team assignments. But don't be a pushover either. People like that blackmail you with your own grades to do the work that they should be doing for both of you. Don't fall for it and confront them and confront the situation. It's a bartering situation, and they need you a lot more than you need them. (Except maybe for company and affection ? - not meant as a joke; but even then, who needs friends like that anyway ?)
Unfortunately, I recognize your anecdotes very well. (Don't throw up on the next paragraph, I know it may sound like management bullshit from an eighties self-improvement tape. It's experience I picked up along the way.) People are lazy by nature, or at least, most of them are. I am. Most of the people you get to work with are not over-achievers. Good follow-up and cultivating team spirit can coax these people out of lazy behaviour and motivate them to snap out of their lethargy for a while and show some initiative. Also, everybody likes to be appreciated for what they do. In general, most really good developers/techies/... are not very good at social skills, for example showing appreciation when something gets done right, or even almost right. It motivates people.
It's like working with kids sometimes, or even training dogs. (At least kids still have an open mind...) Be in charge of the situation, or it's the other way around. But you must *always* treat people with respect. If you don't treat your colleagues with respect, then to them you are just an asshole with a problem, and it's not their problem. (Leading by example etc)
By giving in and doing progressively more tasks that were originally assigned (usurped?) by you, you give a signal to them that it's fine to slack, since "hey it's cool to slack off and postpone, Moraelin will do it anyway". You do not want to nourish that idea or reward it.
Follow up in combination with a planning + task delegation is important as well. In professional environments, regular project meetings with short agendas work wonders. They break the work down in manageable pieces, which have the pleasant side effect of keeping everybody motivated because of the "1000 small victories is more fun than 1 orgastic finish" meme. (hint : software is never 100% finished) This is a nice carrot. Besides, those slacking off will be recognized as such because they have little progress to show, and they will feel the peer pressure, which is a good "stick".
This is a good basis to keep a team self-organized.
To get back to your question : how do I deal with a slacker in a two person team ? Sticks and carrots:) Part of it is motivating people. Some people need a little kickstart to get going, and regular refueling. The "stick" part is about pressure. This is also the hardest one to do right. If people don't improve after you show your disappointment, then they are of little use to a common effort, and to you as a buddy. Get rid of them when they weigh you down. Don't tolerate dead weight on your team if it can be avoided.
In general, don't go over people's head until you confronted them with the issues a few times; then you can talk to a superior. Most shops I worked had regular evalution talks with a superior. That is a good time to mention trouble with specific colleagues. Lacki
I may be wrong in assuming this, but perhaps you weren't very good at delegating tasks to your team members ? That's a part of teamwork too : finding out who is good at what, and delegating responsibilities accordingly. (No flame intended)
This is interesting tech nonetheless, i'm sure it will come in handy in a few years if produced in sufficiently high numbers to keep production cost low enough, ibm makes the comm standard open for all OEM manufacturers, and sticks to simply selling the chip in bulk.
<OTOH, this is probably just something they released from their great-tech-on-hold freezer to manipulate stock price./paranoid>
> it's a good deal for an E.U. country It sure is; I pay ~50 Euro for 4Mbps and 20GB/month:-/
We have an old Telco hogging all the copper in the ground and driving prices up.
From what I've heard, they even have a fuck-ton of dark fiber laying installed and ready in the ground; they don't use it on purpose because free market rules would force them to share it with the competition. (!!!) Go figure.
Well, don't shoot me down for it, but with all the funpoking at Vista in the other posts, I read this as a joke and was quite amused. Then I realized it was not meant as a joke.
Hmmm. I think I misunderstood your original post:-)
My mistake !
I will read the parent post with more care before replying.
I will read the parent post with more care before replying.
I will read the parent post with more care before replying.
etc.
A lot, if not most, of the FPS games I played over the past 10+ years had the player running around as an American/Allied soldier, shooting and blowing up Germans, Japanese, Vietnamese, Iraqi,... you name it. How is that not political?
Imagine a German game producer making a FPS game where you get to kill American soldiers. I'm pretty sure it would never be sold in the States because of political sensitivities:)
Well, maybe not books. But this platform allows kids to explore multimedia representations of all kinds of neat stuff, e.g. wikipedia (and also allowing them to "add their distinctiveness to the collective";-)
To paraphrase an old proverb, It may look like giving them fish, but it is in fact giving them the means to learn fishing by themselves.
It will at least help to close the information rift between "modern civilization" cultures and tribal cultures that live out in the sticks. (Both ways !)
I imagine at first the kids will be less involved, but imagine for example the impact this has for jungle schools. Once a few years have passed, the introduction of internet, free information, worldwide communication will be something a lot of kids will have gotten used to that otherwise would never have gotten much of a chance to expand their mind.
It may also lessen the tactical edge some oppressive regimes have over some of the ethnic/political groups the try to eradicate.
You all do realize what this means, right ? We are in serious shitcreek country here ! Allow me to elaborate with events yet to happen :
After trying to build a new, improved, secure OS, Microsoft slumps over and dies, suffocating on cancelled features (that no doubt would have "improved my productivity"), trying to compete with a fabled Google OS.
One year on, we each get to maintain about 400 old Vista boxen at families and friends, that will be trojanbait faster than you can say "zero day exploit".
Frustrated, we switch them over to linux which is a pain to support cause it's cruel and unusual for your average windows user to endure - the phone calls will pour in like headshots in a haxored counterstrike game, because people can't find Clippy in OpenOffice.
In time we will look back at patch tuesdays as festive events, and burn our FSF membership cards. ThinkGeek will feature "Security thru Obscurity" T-shirts. Referring to linux will be regarded as thoughtcrime and result in in a trip to the Ministry of Love, and in the end we will have always been at war with eurasia.
Let the Great Suffering begin. Thanks a lot, Google.
Slashdot Mirror
Maybe using Social Security numbers for just about everything isn't such a good idea.
You may not understand how world works in reality.
Laws and trade agreements are a result of geopolitical, economical and military power over other nations. China doesn't fear retaliation from US or other countries, so they pretty much do as they please.
Good for them. Not so good for us.
(Of course, I may not have gotten your joke, if it was one.)
Exactly :-)
Typical luddite reaction, it's New and Unknown, so it must be the one and only cause for any random issue. *cue twilight zone theme*
It certainly seems a more plausible cause.
That's a very interesting idea.
Unfortunately this will never be possible in western society : such a system would destroy any status-quo that enables a ruling class of those-more-equal-than-the-others to maintain power.
>Unfortunately, without the courage to stand behind them,
>they are meaningless rantings and gruntings.
I disagree that they are meaningless. Example : You are quite anonymous and safe, posting on slashdot, but your post is still meaningful.
I believe there is a difference between not being a coward, and being stupid.
Given the current political climate in some countries, it is A Good Thing to have anonymous internet access when discussing political matters, especially if they are critical of the regime. Of course, I'm not very worried about the Canadian govt going Gestapo-style, but there are other countries out there with less benevolent regimes that will drag people off to jail for posting "subversive" opinions.
>It also means that I can threaten to kill you, spam you,
>commit all sorts of crimes against you without any fear
>of consequences.
It also means I am relatively safe from anyone who would actually act out those threats while not giving up any liberties.
Think about that for a second.
(I would still be able to post or search on the net and not worry about any emotional/litigious/religious/politically inspired retaliation, for starters.)
Public opinion has never been more free from censorship than in the last decade because we now can discuss anything with anybody, and search for information at our leisure. (Wikipedia is a good example of this.)
There is no such thing as objectivity in the real world, so we have to get our info from everywhere and form our own opinion, or rather, now we *can* do this, easily. In stead of only relying on traditional media.
Liberty for all does pose the risk of idiots behaving like idiots do, or criminals as criminals do. But I'd rather be free and anonymous in an eclectic and chaotic environment, than curtailed and known to the Powers That Be in a regulated but safe environment. Or persecuted for having "subversive" ideas, for that matter.
Since most people nowadays are swamped in work, bills, staying alive etc. and basically just want to be safe and left alone, very few actually have the courage to stand by their convictions.
If you *do* speak out publicly you might get singled out and stomped on. Can you take the punishment ? What would be your next move ?
It is good to have ideals, but you should live by them in a pragmatic way.
Cheers,
Tim
Yet another attempt to curb criticism on governments? How can we protest or criticize when we are no longer anonymous ? I don't mind spewing vitriolic comments on slashdot under my account because IRL I remain anonymous. It wouldn't surprise me if this legislation is being pushed under the guise of protecting us from evil terrorists and child pron. I'd rather have those in need of such protection be kept off the net than exposing everyone's private information to government officials. To be honest, I don't trust any govt to have its people's best interests as their first priority.
We'll need new words for directions then. Left, right, up, down, forward, back... 'sooner' and 'later' just ain't gonna cut it for the missus giving directions from the backseat when driving through time in our funky timeshifting go-karts.
Thanks for the hint ! ;)
Although, I bet they archive the footage on a weekly or monthly rotation.
(So don't forget your fake moustache when you go plundering and pillaging.)
After reviewing my post, I noticed my somewhat patronizing tone. Sorry about that.
Ok, I'll bite :)
:
:)
I work in IT as well. I see three problems with the experiences you describe
- bad choice of partner
- follow up (two people team = little peer-pressure, + no balanced planning)
- people skills
I'll try to generalize this, because speculating on specific situations like the example you describe will get us nowhere fast.
(Longwinded incoherent babbling follows)
Don't be happy with just anybody. (If I have to be honest, in your original post the way you describe how you kept doing that girl's work, I suspected you were going for mod Sarcasm +1 or something; this is slashdot after all...)
I agree that in school you don't often get to pick your buddy in team assignments. But don't be a pushover either. People like that blackmail you with your own grades to do the work that they should be doing for both of you. Don't fall for it and confront them and confront the situation.
It's a bartering situation, and they need you a lot more than you need them. (Except maybe for company and affection ? - not meant as a joke; but even then, who needs friends like that anyway ?)
Unfortunately, I recognize your anecdotes very well. (Don't throw up on the next paragraph, I know it may sound like management bullshit from an eighties self-improvement tape. It's experience I picked up along the way.)
People are lazy by nature, or at least, most of them are. I am. Most of the people you get to work with are not over-achievers. Good follow-up and cultivating team spirit can coax these people out of lazy behaviour and motivate them to snap out of their lethargy for a while and show some initiative. Also, everybody likes to be appreciated for what they do. In general, most really good developers/techies/... are not very good at social skills, for example showing appreciation when something gets done right, or even almost right. It motivates people.
It's like working with kids sometimes, or even training dogs. (At least kids still have an open mind...) Be in charge of the situation, or it's the other way around.
But you must *always* treat people with respect. If you don't treat your colleagues with respect, then to them you are just an asshole with a problem, and it's not their problem. (Leading by example etc)
By giving in and doing progressively more tasks that were originally assigned (usurped?) by you, you give a signal to them that it's fine to slack, since "hey it's cool to slack off and postpone, Moraelin will do it anyway". You do not want to nourish that idea or reward it.
Follow up in combination with a planning + task delegation is important as well. In professional environments, regular project meetings with short agendas work wonders. They break the work down in manageable pieces, which have the pleasant side effect of keeping everybody motivated because of the "1000 small victories is more fun than 1 orgastic finish" meme. (hint : software is never 100% finished) This is a nice carrot.
Besides, those slacking off will be recognized as such because they have little progress to show, and they will feel the peer pressure, which is a good "stick".
This is a good basis to keep a team self-organized.
To get back to your question : how do I deal with a slacker in a two person team ?
Sticks and carrots
Part of it is motivating people. Some people need a little kickstart to get going, and regular refueling.
The "stick" part is about pressure. This is also the hardest one to do right.
If people don't improve after you show your disappointment, then they are of little use to a common effort, and to you as a buddy.
Get rid of them when they weigh you down. Don't tolerate dead weight on your team if it can be avoided.
In general, don't go over people's head until you confronted them with the issues a few times; then you can talk to a superior. Most shops I worked had regular evalution talks with a superior. That is a good time to mention trouble with specific colleagues. Lacki
I may be wrong in assuming this, but perhaps you weren't very good at delegating tasks to your team members ? That's a part of teamwork too : finding out who is good at what, and delegating responsibilities accordingly.
(No flame intended)
A moose once nuked my sister.
(I'm sorry, I'm sorry)
This is interesting tech nonetheless, i'm sure it will come in handy in a few years if produced in sufficiently high numbers to keep production cost low enough, ibm makes the comm standard open for all OEM manufacturers, and sticks to simply selling the chip in bulk.
/paranoid>
<OTOH, this is probably just something they released from their great-tech-on-hold freezer to manipulate stock price.
Well, you could breed with someone that has "functional" versions of genes that are "broken" in your genome.
Of course you as an individual will still remain with the same old genes, possible defects and all.
[Insert lame "think of the children" or Bene Gesserit reference here]
I live in a cold climate with moderately ugly women.
... Bremelanotide you speak of ?
Where can I get some of this
> it's a good deal for an E.U. country :-/
It sure is; I pay ~50 Euro for 4Mbps and 20GB/month
We have an old Telco hogging all the copper in the ground and driving prices up.
From what I've heard, they even have a fuck-ton of dark fiber laying installed and ready in the ground; they don't use it on purpose because free market rules would force them to share it with the competition. (!!!) Go figure.
Oh, I forgot to mention; we = Belgium.
Well, don't shoot me down for it, but with all the funpoking at Vista in the other posts, I read this as a joke and was quite amused.
Then I realized it was not meant as a joke.
(And then I laughed even harder at the irony)
Hmmm. I think I misunderstood your original post :-)
My mistake !
I will read the parent post with more care before replying.
I will read the parent post with more care before replying.
I will read the parent post with more care before replying.
etc.
Cheers
> $35/month for a 20Mb DSL in France
Where can I get this 20Mbps line for 35$/mo ? I'll take three !
No, seriously, what's the catch ?
(Sorry, I feel a bit pedantic today.)
... you name it.
:)
A lot, if not most, of the FPS games I played over the past 10+ years had the player running around as an American/Allied soldier, shooting and blowing up Germans, Japanese, Vietnamese, Iraqi,
How is that not political?
Imagine a German game producer making a FPS game where you get to kill American soldiers. I'm pretty sure it would never be sold in the States because of political sensitivities
Well, maybe not books. ;-)
But this platform allows kids to explore multimedia representations of all kinds of neat stuff, e.g. wikipedia (and also allowing them to "add their distinctiveness to the collective"
To paraphrase an old proverb, It may look like giving them fish, but it is in fact giving them the means to learn fishing by themselves.
It will at least help to close the information rift between "modern civilization" cultures and tribal cultures that live out in the sticks. (Both ways !)
I imagine at first the kids will be less involved, but imagine for example the impact this has for jungle schools. Once a few years have passed, the introduction of internet, free information, worldwide communication will be something a lot of kids will have gotten used to that otherwise would never have gotten much of a chance to expand their mind.
It may also lessen the tactical edge some oppressive regimes have over some of the ethnic/political groups the try to eradicate.
You all do realize what this means, right ? We are in serious shitcreek country here !
Allow me to elaborate with events yet to happen :
After trying to build a new, improved, secure OS, Microsoft slumps over and dies, suffocating on cancelled features (that no doubt would have "improved my productivity"), trying to compete with a fabled Google OS.
One year on, we each get to maintain about 400 old Vista boxen at families and friends, that will be trojanbait faster than you can say "zero day exploit".
Frustrated, we switch them over to linux which is a pain to support cause it's cruel and unusual for your average windows user to endure - the phone calls will pour in like headshots in a haxored counterstrike game, because people can't find Clippy in OpenOffice.
In time we will look back at patch tuesdays as festive events, and burn our FSF membership cards. ThinkGeek will feature "Security thru Obscurity" T-shirts.
Referring to linux will be regarded as thoughtcrime and result in in a trip to the Ministry of Love, and in the end we will have always been at war with eurasia.
Let the Great Suffering begin. Thanks a lot, Google.
Ender's game = prior art ? :)
It's interesting that there is actually doubt enough, and that people would almost believe MPAA would try to pull something like this off.