If they ever die out as a company and Linux becomes the dominant OS, people will look back and consider it as one of Microsoft's biggest mistakes (and maybe delaying Longhorn).
I do think it's a pity that this is how it works, and yes I know, that's the way the world is.
I remember a numbskull I worked with getting a super high paid job because he'd just done a course and a couple of weeks of Powerbuilder.
Likewise, I've seen folks use classes or DTS just so they can get skilled up in them, even when they weren't the right thing.
The whole "latest skill chase" is just really bad for developing good technology. If a manager doesn't use the latest stuff, people leave because they want the latest stuff. If he does use it, it puts his systems at risk, which shits on a lot of people who remain to look after it.
Companies need to think up much more imaginative ways of rewarding staff than that.
I don't agree with what she did, but I think that most people find the idea of bullying minors with million dollar law suits pretty sickening. Does such a thing amount to barratry.
All I can say is, keep going RIAA. My neighbours who knew nothing about them suing people now knows because they sued a 12-year old.
The best thing would be for some 15 year old to not settle. Imagine some 15 year old taking them through the system. I can't imagine they could bankrupt her with legal fees because of her age. A jury trial is what is really necessary - would you or your neighbours slap a multimillion dollar fine on a 15-year old, which is a greater punishment than most people get for shoplifting or driving a car without a license.
The publicity would be terrible. You really then need to get those really poor popstars like Missy Elliott in front of a hot shot lawyer explaining how the actions of this 15 year old girl is hurting her whilst she goes out and buys Lamborghinis and Ferraris.
Another problem, it was also a totalitarian state with no press freedom.
The press is essential to things like safety. In the UK, someone blew the whistle on results being falsified at Sellafield. BNFL immediately sacked 5 staff.
Let's say hypothetically BNFL hadn't, and just decided to cover it up, and then the press had found out about it - the uproar against the power industry would have been massive. Then, if government did nothing that would have damaged them.
The totalitarian equivalent is - nuclear agency fakes results, but because the public don't have a free press, no-one can tell them. And even if they do find out, they can't kick out the government.
IIRC the worst nuclear accident was Three Mile Island. AFAIK, no-one was directly killed in this, although there is some debate over indirect effects.
And comparing possible nuclear power deaths in say UK and US with car deaths each year, it looks pretty small.
BTW Anyone know why France has a huge nuclear industry and the UK doesn't?
Re:Just do it . . .
on
Does IT Matter?
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
This also extends to the lunacy of upgrading software products/programming languages often.
How many people seriously need something like J2EE or.NET for software development of their data processing systems?
How much gain is there really to be made from switching a system to ASP to ASP.NET? OK, there are advantages, but disadvantages too. Rewriting means shifting your skill base - forcing them to learn new stuff, and they lose the experience. After 10 years of COBOL, I used to be able to virtually code blindfold or drunk because I had so much familiarity and had many so many mistakes that I'd learnt the best way of doing things.
Nowadays, companies dump stuff so fast that they never gain that software maturity. And if it's not the software, it's the other stuff around it. Methodologies, inventions, whatever.
Companies get hooked into the fashions that bog down the productivity. OO, web services, browser based systems, XML all have their uses. But I see people overusing them and overcomplicating their systems.
If I was running a business, I'd find something in the software world that is long term, proven and changes little. C++ or COBOL. Run it on something that works AND will not be subject to the whims of one manufacturer (say Linux or Unix). And try and get programmers to think more about the business than what they can stuff on their CVs.
Of course, because that's an act of agression against a foreign power!
My point was, up until then, the USA was quite happy to support Saddam while he was torturing his people.
As for killing others rather than their own, I could point the finger at the US. Since the cease fire after gulf war I, Iraq has AFAIK done nothing against it's neighbours or anyone else.
Can I clarify?
1. Do you think it's OK to attack another country except for reasons of self-defence.
2. Do you think it's OK for someone to torture their people?
3. Why do you think the USA attacked Iraq?
As for the oil thing, it's not about the price but the control. The USA can (as former Saudi Ambassador James E. Akins would put it) "take over Iraq, install our regime, produce oil at the maximum rate and tell Saudi Arabia to go to hell". No more OPEC dictating terms and no more does the US have to worry about not offending the Saudis in order to get supplies.
I imagine Microsoft will put something into IE on Longhorn to link into this, like a "show me my news" .
There will also be options to pick from a list with "keep me informed about".
Microsoft know that if you give someone something pre-installed like a browser, media player, zip utility, photo processing, or messenger, that they are likely to keep other players out because most folks can't be bothered or that the service they get is "good enough".
Personally, anyone let's me near their PC (to fix) and the home page is moved to Google or Yahoo (I ask first). The annoying popup from messenger is removed and I try and talk people into loading up Mozilla.
Having a Prime Minister who varies his views and policies based on the latest overnight tracking poll would not be very happy sight.
You don't know much about Tony Blair, do you?
As for Mugabe, he is doing what Bush and Blair are saying was a good reason for getting rid of Saddam - that he was torturing his people (note: they've dropped mentioning weapons).
His rule is not weak, he is in control of the country - he has control of the government, press and courts. He is basically murdering people and no-one gives a stuff because he doesn't matter in terms of oil supplies.
Maybe I should add Tibet to the list, Chechnya, Burma, Saudi Arabia. And who's America's latest friend? Teodoro Obiang of Equatorial Guinea who is being courted by the US Administration. Guess why? Is he:-
a) A fantastic democrat who is a guiding light to Africa
b) An intellectual with a capacity to run his country's economy successfully
c) A corrupt, torturing dictator who has huge amounts of oil?
I think you might know the answer.
And let's not forget the view of people like Reagan and Rumsfeld about Iraq. After the Halabja gassing, Al Gore attempted to get sanctions raised against Iraq. These were blocked by Reagan. While Saddam was busy beating up the Iranians, a blind eye was turned to his brutality. When it starts looking like he's going to attack Kuwait in a massive oil grab, then he becomes the enemy.
There are huge areas of the UK with next to no mobile phone coverage (Highlands of Scotland). Why? Because the population density is poor.
How much of the USA is populated by 95% of the population? Take out Alaska, Montana, the deserts and you could deliver to 95% without it requiring that much of the area (I don't know the figures myself, but I'm guessing the numbers are less than 40%).
Yeah, spend $80 billion to put some of it into the hands of your buddies in Halliburton.
I guess Mugabe doesn't have any oil.
PS Your president is in the UK at the moment. Your media might not report it, Tony Blair is way out of line on public opinion. Most of us think Bush is a liar and a crook.
Because Fast Ethernet switches are chump change, and fiber switches cost more than many people's houses.
Are they expensive for any reason other than that not many people buy them, though? Like DVD players were pretty expensive at day 1, and cost less than a McDonalds Happy Meal now.
That presumably will be a democracy with NO US intervention in the democratic process, and no CIA involvement. Just like Chile run by Pinochet, and the Reagan intervention in Nicaragua where democratically elected communists were being attacked by US sponsored rebels. Some democracy there.
If Iraq chooses an anti-US communist or islamic regime, you seriously think that the White House is going to just shrug its shoulders and say "well, that's democracy".
If the US was interested in freedom, they'd have intervened in Zimbabwe and Rwanda (but I guess that they don't count because they don't have oil).
Personally, I'd rather see South Korea become a major tech power, and the population of California start making T-shirts in non-unionised conditions for a far eastern company. Maybe the US will learn something soon.
Incidentally, it won't get broadcast much, but Bush is in the UK, and most of us think he's a scumbag, even though our Prime Minister would like you to think otherwise, and that marches against Bush are being suppressed.
A lot of labels bought up indie labels and invested in them as getting artists to be sold as an "independent" raised credibility.
I always recommend Billy Bragg (the man who used to print "Pay no more than..." on his records) and The Fall, who are just an old indie institution but 20+years after their creation are still cranking out great tunes.
The disadvantage (to the record companies) is that they can't just pump out an album with 2 good singles and a pile of garbage on it.
BUT I do agree about getting people back into stores. The last time I was in a record shop was over 6 months ago. Why? Because I don't live that near to one and can buy music for less from online retailers. No parking charges etc.
Retailers of books/CDs/DVDs need to do much, much more than they are at the moment. I just laugh when a book store suggests ordering something for me.
As a youth, my local record shop was run by a local guy (the shop is still going, but I don't live there). He knew a ton about bands, you could ask his advice about albums, he'd suggest other artists. He had all sorts of versions like picture discs/white vinyls as well as tickets.
More and more, record shops just became anonymous box retailers. Then, when the internet came along, they had nothing much to offer, except immediacy of purchase. If you could wait, Amazon or CD-WOW could deliver, often at a lower price, with better stock, and often with a better return policy.
Slashdot Mirror
However, I would consider myself quite a "power" user of Office. Have done things like numbering/cross-referencing/VBA/charts.
And I don't think there's much since 97 that is worth worrying about. The features that there are are things that I'd put in "no big deal".
I've tried OOo and think it's pretty good.
I never do unpaid hours, unless I seriously think there's a chance of extending my skills and improving my CV.
Even when I've bust my arse for free and got a bonus, the sum has worked out to a pretty pathetic rate per hour.
If they ever die out as a company and Linux becomes the dominant OS, people will look back and consider it as one of Microsoft's biggest mistakes (and maybe delaying Longhorn).
I remember a numbskull I worked with getting a super high paid job because he'd just done a course and a couple of weeks of Powerbuilder.
Likewise, I've seen folks use classes or DTS just so they can get skilled up in them, even when they weren't the right thing.
The whole "latest skill chase" is just really bad for developing good technology. If a manager doesn't use the latest stuff, people leave because they want the latest stuff. If he does use it, it puts his systems at risk, which shits on a lot of people who remain to look after it.
Companies need to think up much more imaginative ways of rewarding staff than that.
How about if you go somewhere and walk on the grass when it says "don't walk on the grass"? You've broken their rules.
Perhaps you'd be willing to pay a million dollar fine for any of those.
Can you not elect for jury trial in the USA?
Thankfully, this reminded me to check the RIAA Radar site and I found their record company are RIAA members.
My decision: I'm not going to give any fuel to these motherfuckers. I'll be getting The real new Fall CD by The Fall.
All I can say is, keep going RIAA. My neighbours who knew nothing about them suing people now knows because they sued a 12-year old.
The best thing would be for some 15 year old to not settle. Imagine some 15 year old taking them through the system. I can't imagine they could bankrupt her with legal fees because of her age. A jury trial is what is really necessary - would you or your neighbours slap a multimillion dollar fine on a 15-year old, which is a greater punishment than most people get for shoplifting or driving a car without a license.
The publicity would be terrible. You really then need to get those really poor popstars like Missy Elliott in front of a hot shot lawyer explaining how the actions of this 15 year old girl is hurting her whilst she goes out and buys Lamborghinis and Ferraris.
Is it any co-incidence that John Prescott has an involvement in wind power? Or does hot air not work?
The press is essential to things like safety. In the UK, someone blew the whistle on results being falsified at Sellafield. BNFL immediately sacked 5 staff.
Let's say hypothetically BNFL hadn't, and just decided to cover it up, and then the press had found out about it - the uproar against the power industry would have been massive. Then, if government did nothing that would have damaged them.
The totalitarian equivalent is - nuclear agency fakes results, but because the public don't have a free press, no-one can tell them. And even if they do find out, they can't kick out the government.
IIRC the worst nuclear accident was Three Mile Island. AFAIK, no-one was directly killed in this, although there is some debate over indirect effects.
And comparing possible nuclear power deaths in say UK and US with car deaths each year, it looks pretty small.
BTW Anyone know why France has a huge nuclear industry and the UK doesn't?
How many people seriously need something like J2EE or .NET for software development of their data processing systems?
How much gain is there really to be made from switching a system to ASP to ASP.NET? OK, there are advantages, but disadvantages too. Rewriting means shifting your skill base - forcing them to learn new stuff, and they lose the experience. After 10 years of COBOL, I used to be able to virtually code blindfold or drunk because I had so much familiarity and had many so many mistakes that I'd learnt the best way of doing things.
Nowadays, companies dump stuff so fast that they never gain that software maturity. And if it's not the software, it's the other stuff around it. Methodologies, inventions, whatever.
Companies get hooked into the fashions that bog down the productivity. OO, web services, browser based systems, XML all have their uses. But I see people overusing them and overcomplicating their systems.
If I was running a business, I'd find something in the software world that is long term, proven and changes little. C++ or COBOL. Run it on something that works AND will not be subject to the whims of one manufacturer (say Linux or Unix). And try and get programmers to think more about the business than what they can stuff on their CVs.
My point was, up until then, the USA was quite happy to support Saddam while he was torturing his people.
As for killing others rather than their own, I could point the finger at the US. Since the cease fire after gulf war I, Iraq has AFAIK done nothing against it's neighbours or anyone else.
Can I clarify?
1. Do you think it's OK to attack another country except for reasons of self-defence.
2. Do you think it's OK for someone to torture their people?
3. Why do you think the USA attacked Iraq?
As for the oil thing, it's not about the price but the control. The USA can (as former Saudi Ambassador James E. Akins would put it) "take over Iraq, install our regime, produce oil at the maximum rate and tell Saudi Arabia to go to hell". No more OPEC dictating terms and no more does the US have to worry about not offending the Saudis in order to get supplies.
Understand, dunce?
There will also be options to pick from a list with "keep me informed about".
Microsoft know that if you give someone something pre-installed like a browser, media player, zip utility, photo processing, or messenger, that they are likely to keep other players out because most folks can't be bothered or that the service they get is "good enough".
Personally, anyone let's me near their PC (to fix) and the home page is moved to Google or Yahoo (I ask first). The annoying popup from messenger is removed and I try and talk people into loading up Mozilla.
What, so people's right to freedom of speech to protest publicly about Bush arriving in the country isn't being suppressed then?
You don't know much about Tony Blair, do you?
As for Mugabe, he is doing what Bush and Blair are saying was a good reason for getting rid of Saddam - that he was torturing his people (note: they've dropped mentioning weapons).
His rule is not weak, he is in control of the country - he has control of the government, press and courts. He is basically murdering people and no-one gives a stuff because he doesn't matter in terms of oil supplies.
Maybe I should add Tibet to the list, Chechnya, Burma, Saudi Arabia. And who's America's latest friend? Teodoro Obiang of Equatorial Guinea who is being courted by the US Administration. Guess why? Is he:-
a) A fantastic democrat who is a guiding light to Africa
b) An intellectual with a capacity to run his country's economy successfully
c) A corrupt, torturing dictator who has huge amounts of oil?
I think you might know the answer.
And let's not forget the view of people like Reagan and Rumsfeld about Iraq. After the Halabja gassing, Al Gore attempted to get sanctions raised against Iraq. These were blocked by Reagan. While Saddam was busy beating up the Iranians, a blind eye was turned to his brutality. When it starts looking like he's going to attack Kuwait in a massive oil grab, then he becomes the enemy.
There are huge areas of the UK with next to no mobile phone coverage (Highlands of Scotland). Why? Because the population density is poor.
How much of the USA is populated by 95% of the population? Take out Alaska, Montana, the deserts and you could deliver to 95% without it requiring that much of the area (I don't know the figures myself, but I'm guessing the numbers are less than 40%).
What will probably me left will be a "ruling council" made up of a bunch of weak-minded pro-US fools.
In fact, the way the war in Iraq is going, they'll have to start drafting in the USA soon (did someone say "police action").
Did you know that the media are now banned from filming US coffins coming home?
I guess Mugabe doesn't have any oil.
PS Your president is in the UK at the moment. Your media might not report it, Tony Blair is way out of line on public opinion. Most of us think Bush is a liar and a crook.
Are they expensive for any reason other than that not many people buy them, though? Like DVD players were pretty expensive at day 1, and cost less than a McDonalds Happy Meal now.
In the UK, NTL have spent millions cabling homes up and it's mostly copper and has a maximum of about 2mbps IIRC.
I imagine in the UK, we'll still have about 2mbps unless someone comes up with a wizzo way of improving the phone likes like they did with ADSL.
If Iraq chooses an anti-US communist or islamic regime, you seriously think that the White House is going to just shrug its shoulders and say "well, that's democracy".
If the US was interested in freedom, they'd have intervened in Zimbabwe and Rwanda (but I guess that they don't count because they don't have oil).
Personally, I'd rather see South Korea become a major tech power, and the population of California start making T-shirts in non-unionised conditions for a far eastern company. Maybe the US will learn something soon.
Incidentally, it won't get broadcast much, but Bush is in the UK, and most of us think he's a scumbag, even though our Prime Minister would like you to think otherwise, and that marches against Bush are being suppressed.
I always recommend Billy Bragg (the man who used to print "Pay no more than..." on his records) and The Fall, who are just an old indie institution but 20+years after their creation are still cranking out great tunes.
BUT I do agree about getting people back into stores. The last time I was in a record shop was over 6 months ago. Why? Because I don't live that near to one and can buy music for less from online retailers. No parking charges etc.
Retailers of books/CDs/DVDs need to do much, much more than they are at the moment. I just laugh when a book store suggests ordering something for me.
As a youth, my local record shop was run by a local guy (the shop is still going, but I don't live there). He knew a ton about bands, you could ask his advice about albums, he'd suggest other artists. He had all sorts of versions like picture discs/white vinyls as well as tickets.
More and more, record shops just became anonymous box retailers. Then, when the internet came along, they had nothing much to offer, except immediacy of purchase. If you could wait, Amazon or CD-WOW could deliver, often at a lower price, with better stock, and often with a better return policy.