A lot of us are happy with our 450mhz chips and aren't going to bother jumping to 550mhz or even 700mhz -- we're going to wait for the 1ghz processors.
Actually, since I don't play Quake much anymore and all of my games are sitting unused on a shelf, a 1ghz is just going to be a status-jump for me, since everyone else I know will get one, too.
Because of this, I think the market will be relatively stale, but will surge come the release of Merced and McKinley. --- seumas.com
(This may appear twice -- somehow, when I previewed the message, I was kicked into Anon and had to sign back onto my account)
Just how many immigrants do you think are living in Silicon Valley? How many do you think are squeezing you out of a technical job?
I'm not so sure some guy floating to Florida on a raft or Pedro, moving up from some South American city where you can't find clean water or employment is going to be stealing your IT job from beneath your feet.
You're more likely going to be squeezed out by the effect of some companies on the bottom rung who hire employees who think Linux is an air-conditioner manufacturer and are baffled by the Windows Registry Editor (and pronounce SysOp Sigh-Sopp). This has to have some residual upward effect on the rest of us, no? --- seumas.com
Oh, man . . . Could you imagine if we were like the auto-industry? If you dug around the foundation of the Redmond Giant you'd find all the dead bodies of the tech-union scabs buried up to their pocket-protectors in cement!
Actually, do you ever wonder what happens to a lot of those MS competitors who seem to go under overnight? . . . Hm... Don Gates may have already had my vision years ago.
"Hey, boss . . . You want I should put his geek-ass in cement loafers?" --- seumas.com
Actually, I'm one of the fortunate ones. I telecommute, work very few hours, am paid decently and my work is enjoyable.
I still have complaints, but nearly everyone in every job does. It's just our nature.
As far as the cost of living, there are some people who just don't know how to handle their money. I'm twenty-two years-old and live in/near Oregon's own "silicon valley". My cost of living (including paying off my student-loan) is little above fifty-percent of my total income (after taxes).
I found a good deal on an apartment, but I wasn't picky (hey, it has a phone line and a vending machine down the hall, what else do I need?). I also don't drive, so I save the expense of a car (you can get anywhere easily on light-rail or or bus and keep your sanity without dealing with the growing traffic).
While I may have it reasonably well, I know far too many people who are just letting themselves be walked all over. No, they shouldn't build a union (frankly, if their were a high-tech union those who were doing well and wanted to stay on their own would be seriously hurt by it). They should band together, though, on each individual basis. That is, if a particular company is grinding you into the ground, the employees at that company need to do something about it. They need to combine their power to have leverage. If the Autobots just sit around in fear of rocking the boat, the Decepticons win by default.
And that's why I said it's what we deserve. Not because we lack a union, but because we refuse to unite when confronted with those situations.
If people at Company X are happy, they shouldn't, via a union, be expected to stand up and leverage their combined power for employees of Company Z. However, the employees at Company Z should all grow some balls and do something about their situation, collaboratively.
Where one person is disgruntled, there may be ten, twenty, or fifty. If one of them stands and draws the line, management will shrug and just hire someone else. If ten, twenty, or fifty of them made the same demand, they may very well have some leverage. --- seumas.com
I'm not sure what you read in what I wrote, but I specifically said that unions eventually become corrupt. You'll also notice I gave the example of the NEA, which is one of the greatest lobbying forces their are.
I am quite anti-union and the point that I was making is that there are many fields that do have people to stand up for them, since you can't always just stand up and walk away. If that were true, why are so many of my friends and acquaintences busting their hump 80-hours a week for 40 hours of pay and thankful that they have been graced with a job at all?
I know a lot of people who put up with far too much simply because they know if they said "Look, you have to start paying me at least enough so I can live in a cereal box and afford the food from the vending machine down the hall", they would be laughed at twenty other people will be banging on the doors, begging to have his place.
No, Unions are a poor answer, especially for this field -- but there does need to be greater unity among those employed in it. Thankfully, my employers know that if I become fed up with working for them, I'm out the door -- period. But I do work with people who would probably work twice the hours for half the money, because they must keep their job.
In the case of Silicon Valley, there's not a lot that can actually be done. It appears that more government programs are what everyone sees as the solution. I think most of us know there are no government 'solutions'.
In the end, the market will dictate what happens, though it's unfortunate for those sacrificed in the mean-time.
If people are complaining that they're only making $37k and that "I was shocked to find I was below the poverty level", isn't that a good thing? I mean, if that is the poverty level, that indicates that people in general are doing extremely well.
There are a lot of places in the control I could not live, because I could not afford it with my current job and could not possibly compete with those already in that market/city. That doesn't mean that the city is in need of a fix. It just means that it's above my means.
As I said, the market should win out in the end. Even if prices continue to soar, companies will just move out of the valley. Big deal? They'll move into other places and by dispersing, they will enrich other communities with more business and more high-paid workers. That is a Good Thing
Very few in the this field are actually anything more than a high-tech hamburger-flipper and until technical professionals grow the balls to unite in some fashion, problems like this will continue and they will become worse.
Auto-Workers wouldn't put up with this, they would have the UAW Union going to bat for them in a heart-beat. And you can be absolutely certain that government employees wouldn't accept this kind of predicament.
I'm not suggesting that Unions are the absolute answer to everything, because they inevitably become corrupt (can you say NEA?). However, they do serve their purpose, and it would be better than making low-wages, working double-hours, and living in low-income housing.
It is confusing sometimes, when you see people who have three children and work at McDonalds, but have a fairly nice apartment, cell phone and a nice late-model car. Meanwhile, a lot of us are struggling to pay our ISP each month (and our connection is a vital part of our employment!).
And for what it's worth, a lot of places are having this problem. Portland and Seattle are horrible. In fact, a house gutted by fire (the roof, two walls, and the entire interior) was just sold for almost a quarter of a million dollars! I also know people who are paying $600/mo for a studio-apartment that is the size of three or four small cubicles, and they feel they have a bargain. --- seumas.com
I've had several friends and co-workers approach me with "Oh, man this movie is so cool" and talk to me about how three students "really disapeared" and that there is really a cult and all this crap. None of them ever take the time to realize that it's just a movie/hoax. I mean, c'mon people, think before you let yourself be so gullible! --- seumas.com
Odd, I don't recall such fretting over The Thin Red Line, Saving Private Ryan, Lord Of The Flies, Silence Of The Lambs, Dangerous Liaisons, Sparticus or even Roots -- all of which certainly had 'gratuitous' violence and were certainly grafted from reality more so than a science-fiction flick.
I really think they should listen to the consumer and stop bending over for every Tipper Gore that wants to feed us their prim and proper sterilized world of Peter Paul & Mary and Mr. Smith Goes To Washington.
Violent movies only seem to influence those who are insane and merely waiting for something to propel them over that edge of rage and those who insist on making their life-long goal to protect us from ourselves. Anyone so easily influenced, on either of those drastic sides of the fence, are in grave need of physiological assessment. --- seumas.com
Now I'm regretting that I've never seen the original Matrix. I had assumed it would be another no-brain rip-off with totally unfeasible technological aspects to the plot with the same intelligence that brings the Mac Simple-Text voices to be used as the voice for AI machines in half-assed science-fiction shows on television.
Of course, now everyone has sworn it's just the coolest movie and that I'll regret not seeing it on the big-screen (in fact, that watching it on a television will be worthless).
Without watching the original, I'm not sure if I'll be interested in the next two -- I hope that they decide to release the original again just before the sequels come. --- seumas.com
It shouldn't affect the reliability of the machine. In fact, even surgery cannot alter the pattern of the iris, without basically blinding you. --- seumas.com
A few people have speculated as to the physical safety and effects of scanning the iris, especially over a period of time.
According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, it is "safer and less invasive than other ocular identification systems".
The reason it is so safe is because scanning the iris is a non-invasive procedure and uses low levels of regular visible light (as opposed to IR or UV light) to find the person's face, the eye, and then take a snapshot of the iris. --- seumas.com
Now we know what happened to Q, from ST:TNG. He used his infinite abilities to come to the planet Earth and advance security in our financial institutions!
Iris-scanning ATM devices have been mentioned frequently in the last five years in documentaries and articles regarding technology, privacy and security. They are usually hailed as a brilliant and momentous step in advancing personal security and safety, but the bottom line is that the benefit is to financial institutions who often get stuck by fraud.
Accessing everything from my front-door to an ATM machine with my eyeball is appealing. Who wouldn't like to walk around five pounds lighter, sans credit-cards, ATM cards, keys and identification card?
I see a possible problem with many of the technological advances which utilize specific personal data that only you possess. I'm not a paranoia-bandit, but I would like to explore the extent to which my data will be used and by whom. I'm not sure I am comfortable with having my fingerprints, eye-pattern, or face-print (another innovation which reads the heat-patterns of your face) anymore than I am with turning over rights to my phone number, address, medical history, and DNA.
If we could trust the institutions we are patrons of, such security evolutions would be incredibly advantageous. Unfortunately, we can't even trust the people we do business with to keep our credit-history or home address confidential, let alone our more personal physical makeup-data or 'information'. Businesses have a lack of ethics and accountability to their customers and will divulge anything for a price. They'll even tell every two-bit salesman where you live for five or six cents.
Until an institution defines a clearly favorable policy regarding use of physical personal data, we should be wary and refuse business unless allowed to opt-out from the security measures.
Once information about you is made available to one entity, you cannot revoke it. It is out there and will flow to the rest of the market. I don't believe we should be so nonchalant when turning over information which has no defined restrictions. --- seumas.com
However, I strongly suspect that CmdrTaco has a strong desire to become a professional homemaker, much like that guy from Interior Designs on PBS and Discovery. Unfortunately, Martha has already claimed the title of world's most well-known homemaker, leaving MarthaTaco -- erm... I mean, CmdrTaco to fall back on his second greatest passion, providing a public venue for open-source flame-wars.
I've seen several news reports in the last couple months regarding the extreme enforcement of the fire-arm laws in Britain recently. They claim that their Olympic skeet and cross-country teams are forced to live and train in America, because they are forbidden to possess or use their weapons.
I would sure be insulted if I had to train out of the country because I could not legally do so in the very country I'm representing before the world.
Also, why doesn't the Australian and American government simply require that every citizen be tagged with a chip in the base of the skull and filter out content there? You could filter out the horrible thoughts that come from an independent and individualistic nature before they have the opportunity to progress to web-pages, books, movies, posters, plays and music.
Tipper Gore and Jerry Falwell could also petition the government to use this to prevent us from engaging in anything but the missionary position with our lovers and rid the world of the dirty practices of oral-sex and Roman orgies.
In fact, they could cut to the chase and simply prevent any thought, period. After all, thinking is what has lead to these idiotic policies and infringement of inherent rights. --- seumas.com
Forgive me if I'm wrong, but isn't Australia one of those countries where nudity is freely shown on television, along with other rather risque material?
Does this law then also apply to television at all? (Assuming my presumption of Australian television is correct).
I always find it peculiar when a government attempts to legislate and regulate the Internet, which is an international phenomenon which obeys policital geological boundaries no more than a thought or idea does. --- seumas.com
I apologize for dragging a previous thread into this one, but I could not resist the temptation to suggest putting Jar-Jar Binks and the machines responsible for his development on the comet.
I'm dissapointed that the United States recently shelved their plans to do a very similar thing, citing that there are better things to spend our money on.
When the comet comes (and we all know that, eventually, it will) we're all going to regret that we had paid a little less to build sports stadiums and provide corporate welfare and a little more on space research.
And if anyone questions the odds of a comet hitting? They're better than the odds of winning the lottery. And almost every lottery has a winner... --- seumas.com
In no way do I want to convey the idea that I feel Lucas sold-out to some stereo-typical cut-out Hollywood standards to increase his revenue. Lucas, I believe, has all the money he could desire and would not intentionally sacrifice the one thing for which he will always hold legendary status for.
What I do believe is that he attempted to create a movie that tried to do everything for everyone. You cannot do that. This is why we have genres. There are romances, science-fiction, adventure, fantasy, drama, comedy, slap-stick, documentary, and so on. Any one or two -- even three of these elements playing a major role in a film can be done well, but there is a point where the soup becomes slop because the cook has used too many ingredients.
I believe Lucas used too many ingredients. George, if you happen to ever see this message -- what we want is less Jar-Jar. If Jar-Jar had accomplished nothing in the film, but occupied one tenth of the screen-time which he did, it may have been cute and acceptable. Either give him a purpose, tone his forced presence down, or limit his screen-time.
I have to admit, I did laugh at Jar-Jar. I was embarassed to admit it at the time, but I almost choked on my laughs when his head was zapped. However, Star Wars is not Mr. Bean or Saved By The Bell. Give your true-fans a little more credit and treat your prequel characters with the same dignity, respect and sincerity that you did in IV, V, and VI. --- seumas.com
It's unfortunate that the UK is among those places that must wait until at least September to see the Star Wars film, but do you honestly expect everyone else on the Internet to wait three months to talk about a movie?
Everyone in the world has talked about the original Star Wars films and, until two years ago, I hadn't seen any of them. I was never effected by it and didn't really care.
And if anyone in the UK desperately wants to see Episode I, just go down to your local street-vendor and pay five bucks for a pirated copy. They look horrible, but it's better than waiting three months. (I won't even attempt to discuss how stupid delayed film-releases are.) --- seumas.com
Slashdot Mirror
Space Aliens Took Our Balls!
Or, if Congress drops even more funding for NASA, they could use:
Congress grabs NASA by the balls!
---
seumas.com
Kismit reminds me less of a gremlin and more of Hector from that 1970's science-fiction movie with Charlton Heston!
---
seumas.com
Actually, since I don't play Quake much anymore and all of my games are sitting unused on a shelf, a 1ghz is just going to be a status-jump for me, since everyone else I know will get one, too.
Because of this, I think the market will be relatively stale, but will surge come the release of Merced and McKinley.
---
seumas.com
Just how many immigrants do you think are living in Silicon Valley? How many do you think are squeezing you out of a technical job?
I'm not so sure some guy floating to Florida on a raft or Pedro, moving up from some South American city where you can't find clean water or employment is going to be stealing your IT job from beneath your feet.
You're more likely going to be squeezed out by the effect of some companies on the bottom rung who hire employees who think Linux is an air-conditioner manufacturer and are baffled by the Windows Registry Editor (and pronounce SysOp Sigh-Sopp). This has to have some residual upward effect on the rest of us, no?
---
seumas.com
Actually, do you ever wonder what happens to a lot of those MS competitors who seem to go under overnight? . . . Hm... Don Gates may have already had my vision years ago.
"Hey, boss . . . You want I should put his geek-ass in cement loafers?"
---
seumas.com
I still have complaints, but nearly everyone in every job does. It's just our nature.
As far as the cost of living, there are some people who just don't know how to handle their money. I'm twenty-two years-old and live in/near Oregon's own "silicon valley". My cost of living (including paying off my student-loan) is little above fifty-percent of my total income (after taxes).
I found a good deal on an apartment, but I wasn't picky (hey, it has a phone line and a vending machine down the hall, what else do I need?). I also don't drive, so I save the expense of a car (you can get anywhere easily on light-rail or or bus and keep your sanity without dealing with the growing traffic).
While I may have it reasonably well, I know far too many people who are just letting themselves be walked all over. No, they shouldn't build a union (frankly, if their were a high-tech union those who were doing well and wanted to stay on their own would be seriously hurt by it). They should band together, though, on each individual basis. That is, if a particular company is grinding you into the ground, the employees at that company need to do something about it. They need to combine their power to have leverage. If the Autobots just sit around in fear of rocking the boat, the Decepticons win by default.
And that's why I said it's what we deserve. Not because we lack a union, but because we refuse to unite when confronted with those situations.
If people at Company X are happy, they shouldn't, via a union, be expected to stand up and leverage their combined power for employees of Company Z. However, the employees at Company Z should all grow some balls and do something about their situation, collaboratively.
Where one person is disgruntled, there may be ten, twenty, or fifty. If one of them stands and draws the line, management will shrug and just hire someone else. If ten, twenty, or fifty of them made the same demand, they may very well have some leverage.
---
seumas.com
I am quite anti-union and the point that I was making is that there are many fields that do have people to stand up for them, since you can't always just stand up and walk away. If that were true, why are so many of my friends and acquaintences busting their hump 80-hours a week for 40 hours of pay and thankful that they have been graced with a job at all?
I know a lot of people who put up with far too much simply because they know if they said "Look, you have to start paying me at least enough so I can live in a cereal box and afford the food from the vending machine down the hall", they would be laughed at twenty other people will be banging on the doors, begging to have his place.
No, Unions are a poor answer, especially for this field -- but there does need to be greater unity among those employed in it. Thankfully, my employers know that if I become fed up with working for them, I'm out the door -- period. But I do work with people who would probably work twice the hours for half the money, because they must keep their job.
In the case of Silicon Valley, there's not a lot that can actually be done. It appears that more government programs are what everyone sees as the solution. I think most of us know there are no government 'solutions'.
In the end, the market will dictate what happens, though it's unfortunate for those sacrificed in the mean-time.
If people are complaining that they're only making $37k and that "I was shocked to find I was below the poverty level", isn't that a good thing? I mean, if that is the poverty level, that indicates that people in general are doing extremely well.
There are a lot of places in the control I could not live, because I could not afford it with my current job and could not possibly compete with those already in that market/city. That doesn't mean that the city is in need of a fix. It just means that it's above my means.
As I said, the market should win out in the end. Even if prices continue to soar, companies will just move out of the valley. Big deal? They'll move into other places and by dispersing, they will enrich other communities with more business and more high-paid workers. That is a Good Thing
.
---
seumas.com
Auto-Workers wouldn't put up with this, they would have the UAW Union going to bat for them in a heart-beat. And you can be absolutely certain that government employees wouldn't accept this kind of predicament.
I'm not suggesting that Unions are the absolute answer to everything, because they inevitably become corrupt (can you say NEA?). However, they do serve their purpose, and it would be better than making low-wages, working double-hours, and living in low-income housing.
It is confusing sometimes, when you see people who have three children and work at McDonalds, but have a fairly nice apartment, cell phone and a nice late-model car. Meanwhile, a lot of us are struggling to pay our ISP each month (and our connection is a vital part of our employment!).
And for what it's worth, a lot of places are having this problem. Portland and Seattle are horrible. In fact, a house gutted by fire (the roof, two walls, and the entire interior) was just sold for almost a quarter of a million dollars! I also know people who are paying $600/mo for a studio-apartment that is the size of three or four small cubicles, and they feel they have a bargain.
---
seumas.com
I've had several friends and co-workers approach me with "Oh, man this movie is so cool" and talk to me about how three students "really disapeared" and that there is really a cult and all this crap. None of them ever take the time to realize that it's just a movie/hoax. I mean, c'mon people, think before you let yourself be so gullible!
---
seumas.com
One question: How will this effect those people who like to get away with things by pretending they don't understand english?
---
seumas.com
I'm not sure exactly where physiology would fit in. I've just been informed that my Ph.D has been revoked...
grumble . . . preview, preview, preview -- THEN submit . . .
---
seumas.com
I really think they should listen to the consumer and stop bending over for every Tipper Gore that wants to feed us their prim and proper sterilized world of Peter Paul & Mary and Mr. Smith Goes To Washington.
Violent movies only seem to influence those who are insane and merely waiting for something to propel them over that edge of rage and those who insist on making their life-long goal to protect us from ourselves. Anyone so easily influenced, on either of those drastic sides of the fence, are in grave need of physiological assessment.
---
seumas.com
Of course, now everyone has sworn it's just the coolest movie and that I'll regret not seeing it on the big-screen (in fact, that watching it on a television will be worthless).
Without watching the original, I'm not sure if I'll be interested in the next two -- I hope that they decide to release the original again just before the sequels come.
---
seumas.com
And they are certainly nothing new. Iris scanning was first introduced at a medical convention in the 1930's.
---
seumas.com
It shouldn't affect the reliability of the machine. In fact, even surgery cannot alter the pattern of the iris, without basically blinding you.
---
seumas.com
According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, it is "safer and less invasive than other ocular identification systems".
The reason it is so safe is because scanning the iris is a non-invasive procedure and uses low levels of regular visible light (as opposed to IR or UV light) to find the person's face, the eye, and then take a snapshot of the iris.
---
seumas.com
John Daugman is Q!
Visit the page yourself and view the evidence!
---
seumas.com
Accessing everything from my front-door to an ATM machine with my eyeball is appealing. Who wouldn't like to walk around five pounds lighter, sans credit-cards, ATM cards, keys and identification card?
I see a possible problem with many of the technological advances which utilize specific personal data that only you possess. I'm not a paranoia-bandit, but I would like to explore the extent to which my data will be used and by whom. I'm not sure I am comfortable with having my fingerprints, eye-pattern, or face-print (another innovation which reads the heat-patterns of your face) anymore than I am with turning over rights to my phone number, address, medical history, and DNA.
If we could trust the institutions we are patrons of, such security evolutions would be incredibly advantageous. Unfortunately, we can't even trust the people we do business with to keep our credit-history or home address confidential, let alone our more personal physical makeup-data or 'information'. Businesses have a lack of ethics and accountability to their customers and will divulge anything for a price. They'll even tell every two-bit salesman where you live for five or six cents.
Until an institution defines a clearly favorable policy regarding use of physical personal data, we should be wary and refuse business unless allowed to opt-out from the security measures.
Once information about you is made available to one entity, you cannot revoke it. It is out there and will flow to the rest of the market. I don't believe we should be so nonchalant when turning over information which has no defined restrictions.
---
seumas.com
However, I strongly suspect that CmdrTaco has a strong desire to become a professional homemaker, much like that guy from Interior Designs on PBS and Discovery. Unfortunately, Martha has already claimed the title of world's most well-known homemaker, leaving MarthaTaco -- erm... I mean, CmdrTaco to fall back on his second greatest passion, providing a public venue for open-source flame-wars.
---
seumas.com
He is related to her.
---
seumas.com
I would sure be insulted if I had to train out of the country because I could not legally do so in the very country I'm representing before the world.
Also, why doesn't the Australian and American government simply require that every citizen be tagged with a chip in the base of the skull and filter out content there? You could filter out the horrible thoughts that come from an independent and individualistic nature before they have the opportunity to progress to web-pages, books, movies, posters, plays and music.
Tipper Gore and Jerry Falwell could also petition the government to use this to prevent us from engaging in anything but the missionary position with our lovers and rid the world of the dirty practices of oral-sex and Roman orgies.
In fact, they could cut to the chase and simply prevent any thought, period. After all, thinking is what has lead to these idiotic policies and infringement of inherent rights.
---
seumas.com
Does this law then also apply to television at all? (Assuming my presumption of Australian television is correct).
I always find it peculiar when a government attempts to legislate and regulate the Internet, which is an international phenomenon which obeys policital geological boundaries no more than a thought or idea does.
---
seumas.com
I'm dissapointed that the United States recently shelved their plans to do a very similar thing, citing that there are better things to spend our money on.
When the comet comes (and we all know that, eventually, it will) we're all going to regret that we had paid a little less to build sports stadiums and provide corporate welfare and a little more on space research.
And if anyone questions the odds of a comet hitting? They're better than the odds of winning the lottery. And almost every lottery has a winner...
---
seumas.com
In no way do I want to convey the idea that I feel Lucas sold-out to some stereo-typical cut-out Hollywood standards to increase his revenue. Lucas, I believe, has all the money he could desire and would not intentionally sacrifice the one thing for which he will always hold legendary status for.
What I do believe is that he attempted to create a movie that tried to do everything for everyone. You cannot do that. This is why we have genres. There are romances, science-fiction, adventure, fantasy, drama, comedy, slap-stick, documentary, and so on. Any one or two -- even three of these elements playing a major role in a film can be done well, but there is a point where the soup becomes slop because the cook has used too many ingredients.
I believe Lucas used too many ingredients. George, if you happen to ever see this message -- what we want is less Jar-Jar. If Jar-Jar had accomplished nothing in the film, but occupied one tenth of the screen-time which he did, it may have been cute and acceptable. Either give him a purpose, tone his forced presence down, or limit his screen-time.
I have to admit, I did laugh at Jar-Jar. I was embarassed to admit it at the time, but I almost choked on my laughs when his head was zapped. However, Star Wars is not Mr. Bean or Saved By The Bell. Give your true-fans a little more credit and treat your prequel characters with the same dignity, respect and sincerity that you did in IV, V, and VI.
---
seumas.com
Everyone in the world has talked about the original Star Wars films and, until two years ago, I hadn't seen any of them. I was never effected by it and didn't really care.
And if anyone in the UK desperately wants to see Episode I, just go down to your local street-vendor and pay five bucks for a pirated copy. They look horrible, but it's better than waiting three months. (I won't even attempt to discuss how stupid delayed film-releases are.)
---
seumas.com