I realize it may seem like Microsoft has the IRS over a barrel, but keep in mind that the US Government does have a bit of negotiating power on prices due to its sheer size and the common use of large comprehensive contracts. I'm sure they aren't paying the average price for support.
Analysts noted earlier this year that Microsoft had dramatically raised prices for Custom Support, which previously had been capped at $200,000 per customer for the first year. Instead, Microsoft negotiates each contract separately, asking for an average of $200 per PC for the first year of Custom Support.
Emphasis mine.
So they are paying $30 million to migrate to Windows 7. According to the article they have 58,000 PCs left to upgrade. That's $517.24 per machine. Licenses for Windows 7 Ultimate and Pro seem to be between $150 and $200 a pop on GSA Advantage. Throw in some CALs, software assurance, or other essential software, and it is probably leaving less than the $200 per machine average for the Custom Support.
Should they have dragged their feet this long to upgrade? Of course not. But I wonder if somethingset them back.
If you worked for the United States Federal Government and were paying into FERS, the Federal Employees Retirement System, or CSRS (the old system) and only have 1.5 years of creditable service then you are not eligible for payments from EITHER. You have to have 5 years of creditable service just to be eligible. See: http://www.opm.gov/retire/pre/fers/eligibility.asp and look under the heading Deferred Retirement for FERS and http://www.opm.gov/retire/pre/csrs/eligibility.asp under the heading Optional for CSRS. I'm going to assume we aren't talking about CSRS though, because that was eliminated for all new employees hired after 1987.
Good news though! Unless you got a payout of your retirement contributions you can always go back and work for the Feds for another 3.5 years to qualify. With 5 years of service at age 62 you could very well get the $320 a month payment you mention.
Generally speaking, the FERS payment follows this formula: (1% * (AVERAGE(your highest 3 yearly salaries)) * Years of Creditable Service)
So for example, if you become well paid GS-12 employee for 3.5 years in the Washington DC area (I'll assume step 1, 2, and 3) (Ref: http://www.opm.gov/oca/11tables/html/dcb.asp), then when you turn age 62 you would be eligible and receive . . .
(1% * ((74872 + 77368 + 79864)/3)) * 5 = $3868.40 per year... roughly $322 a month.
Now, your personal retirement situation may be entirely different, but I'd go call your previous HR department and validate whether or not you are currently eligible, because unless you didn't state a key fact in your post that changes the situation, I do not believe you currently are.
On December 23, 2009, as amended on January 19, 2010, pursuant to section 205 of the Federal Power Act,3 Google Energy filed an initial application for market-based rate authority with an accompanying tariff providing for the sale of energy, capacity, and ancillary services at market-based rates.
ORDER GRANTING MARKET-BASED RATE AUTHORIZATION (Issued February 18, 2010) 1. In this order, the Commission grants market-based rate authorization to Google Energy LLC (Google Energy), effective February 23, 2010, as requested.
I'd say the only real fishy thing about it is that they are asking for emergency processing in accordance with 5 CFR 1320.13. The Federal Register listing doesn't say why though. I wonder which one of these was their problem:
(i) Public harm is reasonably likely to result if normal clearance procedures are followed;
(ii) An unanticipated event has occurred; or
(iii) The use of normal clearance procedures is reasonably likely to prevent or disrupt the collection of information or is reasonably likely to cause a statutory or court ordered deadline to be missed.
Did someone miss a deadline or did something unexpected happen?
Other than that I don't think anything horrifically fishy is going on. The whole reason InfraGard is a bit opaque has to do with what authorized it in the first place, PDD 63.
When it comes to selecting individuals for political appointments, quite often they are done for... well... political reasons. Sometimes it's because of bipartisanship, coalition building, or because someone is really well qualified. Other times it is because they are well networked or engaged in a little quid pro quo. Sure, if it is to the level of Blagojevich they may get caught, and we should discourage the outright sale of governmental positions. On the other hand, I still think as long as he was working within the rules, a total of $2450 in donations to Mark Warner isn't quite to the level where I'd be calling the ethics committee.
It certainly didn't hurt his chances to make $2750 in donations to various Obama supporting groups either, but do I think it was a primary reason he was selected? Not really. I think he got selected because he's well connected and has prior experience in healthcare. With Obama's big push for electronic healthcare records and other cost savings measures, I do agree all the more with wanting some questions to be raised concerning the theft of pharmaceutical records in VA, but depending how the investigation goes, I believe the highest uphill it will get in the org chain is to this guy. More likely though, it'll stay a problem of the agency that oversaw the day to day operations.
God forbid someone in the VA-MD-DC area belongs to a group used for professional networking! As we all know, most non-profit professional groups have nosponsorswhatsoever.
Also, who's to say he's not qualified to do the job just because of being labeled not a technologist back in 2005? Maybe what is needed for a CTO position is someone who understands how government and policy is applied (see MPP degree reference) to solve problems, and how the application of technology is a key factor?
I do agree, though, some questions about the Prescription Monitoring Program would be warranted.
But really, with the tax problems of other appointees, maybe most of this stuff is seen as small potatoes. If you don't agree, though, feel free to contact someone on the committee. The hearing starts on Tuesday.
I think many people forget that Lincoln was a politician. Politicians by nature try to build the largest coalition possible to enable them to win in an election. At the same time one has to remember during the Lincoln-Douglas debate:
1) Douglas explicitly stated, "I am opposed to taking any step that recognizes the Negro man or the Indian as the equal of the white man." 2) Lincoln did express some white supremacist ideas during the debates because he was campaigning in Southern Illinois, but compared with Douglas he was by far more on the side of equality. 3) I cannot state this better than the book, Lies My Teacher Told Me: Lincoln's ideas about race were more complicated than Douglas's, however. The day after Douglas declared for white supremacy in Chicago, saying the issues were "distinctly drawn," Lincoln replied and indeed drew the issue distinctly: I should like to know if taking this old Declaration of Independence, which declares that all men are equal upon principle, and making exceptions to it--where will it stop? If one man says it does not mean a Negro, why does not another say it does not mean some other man? If that Declaration is not... true, let us tear it out! [Cries of "no, no!"] Let us stick to it then, let us stand firmly by it then.
Those hardly sound like the words of someone who wasn't having some deep thoughts about equality, but I agree he didn't vigorously proclaim it explicitly from the mountaintop while campaigning for President the first time. His ideas on race grew during his Presidency, and this is one of the great reasons he was such a good President.
2) Unless the CTO *really* controls all the various agencies IT budget the CTO will be powerless. Agencies will listen nicely and nod their collective heads; then do whatever the want to because it's their money, not the CTO's.
While this is true, consider what happens when bureaucracy is centralized. Homeland Security for example. Is this arrangement the best way to enable all the different agencies to carry out their security mission? Given that, would consolidating all Federal IT dollars through the CTO and not the agency head be the best way to carry out the agency's mission? Do you break the IT sections away from their agency and put them directly under the CTO/CIO? Will they have cross-matrix reporting and have multiple heads to report to? Does the Department of Defense need the same type of IT as the Department of the Interior? Or Commerce?
I believe the best way to make a difference at the level we are talking about is to:
1) Ensure clear regulations and guidance are issued at the upper levels regarding IT. Yes, they can make agencies follow these rules. OPM circulars and Executive Orders, for example, are two ways to issue directives.
2) Provide a mission and vision agency IT departments can build theirs off of, while integrating into their agency's mission and vision.
3) Work with the CIO of each agency to construct meaningful metrics to watch in the Presidential scorecard (or whatever the new administration calls their accountability tool).
4) Keep looking forward to the future and help agencies get there by becoming their advocate. Federal contracting for large-scale IT solutions is riddled with problems. Why? Work with the agencies and then work with OMB to find ways to fix the Federal Acquisition Regulations. Engage with each agency and establish a relationship were both want to mutually achieve success.
Whether or not Federal IT departments are placed under the CIO/CTO does not mean they can't find ways to get funding around the CIO/CTO (they can always petition Congress). In addition, once centralized, I find it difficult to believe they will be acting with their agency's mission and vision first and foremost in their thoughts. Of course a lot of this might be moot anyway. The way things are going, all that will eventually be left are contracting officials anyway. Everything else will be outsourced.
Just my thoughts. All I'm trying to point out is in public administration, there are two (or sometimes more) sides to every solution, all with trade offs. I believe the best way to achieve goals in today's environment is to engage and find collective solutions. The days of strict hierarchy are, for the most part, over with.
Whoa whoa whoa, who said the ads were pulled? I was just in Metro Center yesterday and I can assure you, the Red line platform is still decked out with "Vault Life" and pictures of the Capitol and Washington Monument in apocalyptic splendor.
Even the article quoted only references a letter to the editor saying the ads should be pulled, nothing says they were.
I agree there is some controversy, but lets not go too far.
Before jumping on the government must be censoring us bandwagon, why don't you just email the film's distributor and ask them? They list the movie as Chavez - Inside the Coup. I found them easily on the film's official website. Not that it is impossible that the US Government would try to censor something, but Occam's Razor leads me to believe the more likely answer is one of economics.
For Contract Work: The US Government's policy is horribly broken. "Cost Plus" contracts may have been great in the 50's for jets and stuff, but we're reaching the point with computer systems and software where we're proving that Design Up Front does not work for large projects.
I don't think that the type of contracts the US Government issues is the problem with IT projects. Really, from a contracting standpoint how is developing a brand new, never tested weapon system different than developing a brand new, never tested IT system?
IANACO (I am not a contracting officer) but from what I have learned: Cost Plus type contracts (of which there are 3 types) are used where Firm Fixed Price contracts would not be applicable.
FAR 16.301-2 Application (of Cost-Reimbursement Contracts) Cost-reimbursement contracts are suitable for use only when uncertainties involved in contract performance do not permit costs to be estimated with sufficient accuracy to use any type of fixed-price contract.
For those of us unfamiliar with the contracting terms, fixed-price contracts say I will pay you X dollars for X goods/services. These types of contracts essentially say I will pay you an amount determined by a formula based which can be based on the cost you incur, the performance of your company and the system, whether you deliver on schedule, etc. Now here are the 3 types:
FAR 16.304 Cost-Plus-Incentive-Fee Contracts (I'm paraphrasing) These give the contractor an initially negotiated fee to be adjusted later by a formula based on total allowable costs to total target costs.
FAR 16.305 Cost-Plus-Award-Fee Contracts (Paraphrasing) These give the contractor a fee consisting of a base amount fixed at the start and an award amount determined by the Government sufficient to "provide motivation for excellence in contract performance."
FAR 16.306 Cost-Plus-Fixed-Fee Contracts (Direct Quote) A cost-plus-fixed-fee contract is a cost-reimbursement contract that provides for payment to the contractor of a negotiated fee that is fixed at the inception of the contract. The fixed fee does not vary with actual cost, but may be adjusted as a result of changes in the work to be performed under the contract. This contract type permits contracting for efforts that might otherwise present too great a risk to contractors, but it provides the contractor only a minimum incentive to control costs. (Emphasis mine)
These types contracts are actually more beneficial for the contractor than Firm Fixed Price type because they allow for the amount paid to be increased or decreased based on the contractor's performance. There are also incentive contracts, but I leave those as an exercise to the reader.
Couple this with FAR 39.103 Modular Contracting (which was specifically created for IT projects and is required by the Clinger-Cohen Act) which allows each piece of a large IT project to be broken down into a separate module and then contracted for individually, I don't think contracting is the problem here.
I think the problem is the same problem that other large organizations have with IT projects which is that IT projects are just difficult to design, manage, and implement. But if you don't like the contracting types you can always have your company lobby for a better type. It isn't like Congress can't change the playing field.
I agree, I don't see why so many states have to think up overly complex ways of voting. Here in Oklahoma all the ballots are essentially the same, there are arrows and you use a pen to fill in the arrow that points next to the choice you want.
They are then fed into a large box that counts them, and then at the end they are all scanned and tallied that way. Simpler than filling in bubbles in my opinion, and definately better than chads.
I can't believe this hasn't been brought up yet, but as any self-respecting geek should know, in Cananda soft drinks that aren't brown generally do not have any caffeine in them!!
Mountain Dew for example. In the US it is the sweet nectar of the gods fueling hours upon hours of coding, but in Canada it is little more than colored Sprite.
While that isn't a story *directly* about the lack of caffeine (it is an expose on guarana-based caffeine in energy drinks and how it isn't regulated), it does mention that Mountain Dew has no caffeine for the people would would argue otherwise.
What about Adults Only? Content suitable only for adults. May include graphic depictions of sex and/or violence. Not intended for persons under the age of 18.
The way I see it, the M ESRB rating is closer to an R movie rating since both recommend being 17 or older.
Re:No more car tinkering...
on
42-Volt Autos
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· Score: 1
One of the great things about autos is that if you are going to work on them, all you need to do is disconnect the battery and you have no risk of shock.
There are very few procedures that require messing around with hot electrical components. Whether you take the time to disconnect the battery before working on your stereo is your choice.
It's just like installing a few outlet in your house. You can turn off the power to that room with the flip of a breaker. If you don't, then you are asking for it.
Ok, we all know that piracy is really happening out there, indeed many businesses probably go ahead and install that extra copy of Office that they need on another PC and such, but when you look at what the BSA says about this study...
The study is based on the reconciliation of two sets of data: the demand for new software applications and the legal supply of new software applications.
Excuse me??? Does this mean that they simply said, "Hmmmm, 500,000 businesses in country X stated that they wanted the latest version of Windows... but only 200,000 copies of Windows were shipped. Ah hah!!! PIRACY!"
I mean if I called up business Y and asked them if they wanted the latest and greatest piece of software, how many would say no?
I'm not saying that piracy doesn't exist.. hell it is *possible* it's worse than they think (especially since they track piracy of "business software") but I seriously think that this study doesn't come close to the real picture based on those two sets of data alone.
I think that a little more detail about how this data was gathered would help explain things.
Seriously, the twisters don't come every year, Moore just happened to get hit twice within a 4 year period. Lets not forget that the May 3rd tornado was the first F5 rated tornado to EVER hit the OKC area.
Why do people move near the Mississippi river? It seems to flood all the damn time? Why do people live in Flordia? They get hit with hurricaines and probably cost us a lot more to replace than a trailer park.
There isn't a safe place to live, period. You are just fooling yourself if you think that snow is harmless.
I don't think the problem is that there are not enough CS graduates. I recently saw a chart that showed the number of graduates nationwide with cs degrees has continued to increase, and I also know that most of my classmates in my graduating class are US citizens.
The problem is what I was told by a Northrop-Grumman recruiter. You have to wait at least a year for security clearance. During this time you are put in a "holding pen" and you basically do nothing. He even told me they have a fellow working for them that has been waiting over 2 years for his clearnace to come through (although they found some non-classified work for him to do). It's always taken a long time for security clearance, and now because of increased security it will take even longer. Because of this the supply cannot meet current demands.
I didn't buy something from Ebay, but I bought a bumper for my car through an online classified service from an individual in Georgia. I sent the money in cashier's check form, but he never sent me the goods. So after giving him plenty of time to make amends, I went to the Postal Inspector's website (there is a link on the USPS's website) and filled out a simple form. A month later I got a letter saying that they had contacted him. It took a long time and a few forms that I had to fill out, but I finally got a postal money order for the amount I originally paid. So believe me, the Postal Inspectors really work!
Re:Different Companies, Different Takes
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CS vs CIS
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· Score: 1
It was Radhakrishnan that made that comment wasn't it?:)
I'll KILL YOU SIR!!
Slashdot Mirror
I realize it may seem like Microsoft has the IRS over a barrel, but keep in mind that the US Government does have a bit of negotiating power on prices due to its sheer size and the common use of large comprehensive contracts. I'm sure they aren't paying the average price for support.
Analysts noted earlier this year that Microsoft had dramatically raised prices for Custom Support, which previously had been capped at $200,000 per customer for the first year. Instead, Microsoft negotiates each contract separately, asking for an average of $200 per PC for the first year of Custom Support.
Emphasis mine.
So they are paying $30 million to migrate to Windows 7. According to the article they have 58,000 PCs left to upgrade. That's $517.24 per machine. Licenses for Windows 7 Ultimate and Pro seem to be between $150 and $200 a pop on GSA Advantage. Throw in some CALs, software assurance, or other essential software, and it is probably leaving less than the $200 per machine average for the Custom Support.
Should they have dragged their feet this long to upgrade? Of course not. But I wonder if something set them back.
If you worked for the United States Federal Government and were paying into FERS, the Federal Employees Retirement System, or CSRS (the old system) and only have 1.5 years of creditable service then you are not eligible for payments from EITHER. You have to have 5 years of creditable service just to be eligible. See: http://www.opm.gov/retire/pre/fers/eligibility.asp and look under the heading Deferred Retirement for FERS and http://www.opm.gov/retire/pre/csrs/eligibility.asp under the heading Optional for CSRS. I'm going to assume we aren't talking about CSRS though, because that was eliminated for all new employees hired after 1987.
Good news though! Unless you got a payout of your retirement contributions you can always go back and work for the Feds for another 3.5 years to qualify. With 5 years of service at age 62 you could very well get the $320 a month payment you mention.
Generally speaking, the FERS payment follows this formula:
(1% * (AVERAGE(your highest 3 yearly salaries)) * Years of Creditable Service)
So for example, if you become well paid GS-12 employee for 3.5 years in the Washington DC area (I'll assume step 1, 2, and 3) (Ref: http://www.opm.gov/oca/11tables/html/dcb.asp), then when you turn age 62 you would be eligible and receive . . .
(1% * ((74872 + 77368 + 79864)/3)) * 5 = $3868.40 per year ... roughly $322 a month.
Now, your personal retirement situation may be entirely different, but I'd go call your previous HR department and validate whether or not you are currently eligible, because unless you didn't state a key fact in your post that changes the situation, I do not believe you currently are.
From the filing:
On December 23, 2009, as amended on January 19, 2010, pursuant to section 205 of the Federal Power Act,3 Google Energy filed an initial application for market-based rate authority with an accompanying tariff providing for the sale of energy, capacity, and ancillary services at market-based rates.
ORDER GRANTING MARKET-BASED RATE AUTHORIZATION
(Issued February 18, 2010)
1. In this order, the Commission grants market-based rate authorization to Google Energy LLC (Google Energy), effective February 23, 2010, as requested.
I'd say it was about 57 days.
Because there is obviously a problem with making all these inaccurate data sets public as opposed to keeping them locked up.
I think part of the point is with more transparency in Government it makes it easier for the public to be aware of and fix what is wrong.
I'd say the only real fishy thing about it is that they are asking for emergency processing in accordance with 5 CFR 1320.13. The Federal Register listing doesn't say why though. I wonder which one of these was their problem:
(i) Public harm is reasonably likely to result if normal clearance procedures are followed;
(ii) An unanticipated event has occurred; or
(iii) The use of normal clearance procedures is reasonably likely to prevent or disrupt the collection of information or is reasonably likely to cause a statutory or court ordered deadline to be missed.
Did someone miss a deadline or did something unexpected happen?
Link if you are interested:
http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ecfr&rgn=div5&view=text&node=5:3.0.2.3.9&idno=5#5:3.0.2.3.9.0.48.13
Other than that I don't think anything horrifically fishy is going on. The whole reason InfraGard is a bit opaque has to do with what authorized it in the first place, PDD 63.
Link: http://www.fas.org/irp/offdocs/pdd-63.htm
To save you the reading time, here's are 2 goals I lifted out:
* Seeks the voluntary participation of private industry to meet common goals for protecting our critical systems through public-private partnerships;
* Protects privacy rights and seeks to utilize market forces. It is meant to strengthen and protect the nation's economic power, not to stifle it.
Sometimes you have to do things behind closed doors to get all the players to the table. Security through obscurity? Maybe.
If you really want to learn more about PDD 63, I suggest you read this: http://www.justice.gov/criminal/cybercrime/white_pr.htm
Discuss.
When it comes to selecting individuals for political appointments, quite often they are done for... well... political reasons. Sometimes it's because of bipartisanship, coalition building, or because someone is really well qualified. Other times it is because they are well networked or engaged in a little quid pro quo. Sure, if it is to the level of Blagojevich they may get caught, and we should discourage the outright sale of governmental positions. On the other hand, I still think as long as he was working within the rules, a total of $2450 in donations to Mark Warner isn't quite to the level where I'd be calling the ethics committee.
It certainly didn't hurt his chances to make $2750 in donations to various Obama supporting groups either, but do I think it was a primary reason he was selected? Not really. I think he got selected because he's well connected and has prior experience in healthcare. With Obama's big push for electronic healthcare records and other cost savings measures, I do agree all the more with wanting some questions to be raised concerning the theft of pharmaceutical records in VA, but depending how the investigation goes, I believe the highest uphill it will get in the org chain is to this guy. More likely though, it'll stay a problem of the agency that oversaw the day to day operations.
God forbid someone in the VA-MD-DC area belongs to a group used for professional networking! As we all know, most non-profit professional groups have no sponsors whatsoever.
Also, who's to say he's not qualified to do the job just because of being labeled not a technologist back in 2005? Maybe what is needed for a CTO position is someone who understands how government and policy is applied (see MPP degree reference) to solve problems, and how the application of technology is a key factor?
I do agree, though, some questions about the Prescription Monitoring Program would be warranted.
But really, with the tax problems of other appointees, maybe most of this stuff is seen as small potatoes. If you don't agree, though, feel free to contact someone on the committee. The hearing starts on Tuesday.
I think many people forget that Lincoln was a politician. Politicians by nature try to build the largest coalition possible to enable them to win in an election. At the same time one has to remember during the Lincoln-Douglas debate:
1) Douglas explicitly stated, "I am opposed to taking any step that recognizes the Negro man or the Indian as the equal of the white man." ... true, let us tear it out! [Cries of "no, no!"] Let us stick to it then, let us stand firmly by it then.
2) Lincoln did express some white supremacist ideas during the debates because he was campaigning in Southern Illinois, but compared with Douglas he was by far more on the side of equality.
3) I cannot state this better than the book, Lies My Teacher Told Me:
Lincoln's ideas about race were more complicated than Douglas's, however. The day after Douglas declared for white supremacy in Chicago, saying the issues were "distinctly drawn," Lincoln replied and indeed drew the issue distinctly:
I should like to know if taking this old Declaration of Independence, which declares that all men are equal upon principle, and making exceptions to it--where will it stop? If one man says it does not mean a Negro, why does not another say it does not mean some other man? If that Declaration is not
Those hardly sound like the words of someone who wasn't having some deep thoughts about equality, but I agree he didn't vigorously proclaim it explicitly from the mountaintop while campaigning for President the first time. His ideas on race grew during his Presidency, and this is one of the great reasons he was such a good President.
While this is true, consider what happens when bureaucracy is centralized. Homeland Security for example. Is this arrangement the best way to enable all the different agencies to carry out their security mission? Given that, would consolidating all Federal IT dollars through the CTO and not the agency head be the best way to carry out the agency's mission? Do you break the IT sections away from their agency and put them directly under the CTO/CIO? Will they have cross-matrix reporting and have multiple heads to report to? Does the Department of Defense need the same type of IT as the Department of the Interior? Or Commerce?
I believe the best way to make a difference at the level we are talking about is to:
1) Ensure clear regulations and guidance are issued at the upper levels regarding IT. Yes, they can make agencies follow these rules. OPM circulars and Executive Orders, for example, are two ways to issue directives.
2) Provide a mission and vision agency IT departments can build theirs off of, while integrating into their agency's mission and vision.
3) Work with the CIO of each agency to construct meaningful metrics to watch in the Presidential scorecard (or whatever the new administration calls their accountability tool).
4) Keep looking forward to the future and help agencies get there by becoming their advocate. Federal contracting for large-scale IT solutions is riddled with problems. Why? Work with the agencies and then work with OMB to find ways to fix the Federal Acquisition Regulations. Engage with each agency and establish a relationship were both want to mutually achieve success.
Whether or not Federal IT departments are placed under the CIO/CTO does not mean they can't find ways to get funding around the CIO/CTO (they can always petition Congress). In addition, once centralized, I find it difficult to believe they will be acting with their agency's mission and vision first and foremost in their thoughts. Of course a lot of this might be moot anyway. The way things are going, all that will eventually be left are contracting officials anyway. Everything else will be outsourced.
Just my thoughts. All I'm trying to point out is in public administration, there are two (or sometimes more) sides to every solution, all with trade offs. I believe the best way to achieve goals in today's environment is to engage and find collective solutions. The days of strict hierarchy are, for the most part, over with.
Whoa whoa whoa, who said the ads were pulled? I was just in Metro Center yesterday and I can assure you, the Red line platform is still decked out with "Vault Life" and pictures of the Capitol and Washington Monument in apocalyptic splendor.
Even the article quoted only references a letter to the editor saying the ads should be pulled, nothing says they were.
I agree there is some controversy, but lets not go too far.
Before jumping on the government must be censoring us bandwagon, why don't you just email the film's distributor and ask them? They list the movie as Chavez - Inside the Coup. I found them easily on the film's official website. Not that it is impossible that the US Government would try to censor something, but Occam's Razor leads me to believe the more likely answer is one of economics.
For Contract Work: The US Government's policy is horribly broken. "Cost Plus" contracts may have been great in the 50's for jets and stuff, but we're reaching the point with computer systems and software where we're proving that Design Up Front does not work for large projects.
I don't think that the type of contracts the US Government issues is the problem with IT projects. Really, from a contracting standpoint how is developing a brand new, never tested weapon system different than developing a brand new, never tested IT system?
IANACO (I am not a contracting officer) but from what I have learned:
Cost Plus type contracts (of which there are 3 types) are used where Firm Fixed Price contracts would not be applicable.
FAR 16.301-2 Application (of Cost-Reimbursement Contracts) Cost-reimbursement contracts are suitable for use only when uncertainties involved in contract performance do not permit costs to be estimated with sufficient accuracy to use any type of fixed-price contract.
For those of us unfamiliar with the contracting terms, fixed-price contracts say I will pay you X dollars for X goods/services. These types of contracts essentially say I will pay you an amount determined by a formula based which can be based on the cost you incur, the performance of your company and the system, whether you deliver on schedule, etc. Now here are the 3 types:
FAR 16.304 Cost-Plus-Incentive-Fee Contracts
(I'm paraphrasing)
These give the contractor an initially negotiated fee to be adjusted later by a formula based on total allowable costs to total target costs.
FAR 16.305 Cost-Plus-Award-Fee Contracts
(Paraphrasing)
These give the contractor a fee consisting of a base amount fixed at the start and an award amount determined by the Government sufficient to "provide motivation for excellence in contract performance."
FAR 16.306 Cost-Plus-Fixed-Fee Contracts
(Direct Quote)
A cost-plus-fixed-fee contract is a cost-reimbursement contract that provides for payment to the contractor of a negotiated fee that is fixed at the inception of the contract. The fixed fee does not vary with actual cost, but may be adjusted as a result of changes in the work to be performed under the contract. This contract type permits contracting for efforts that might otherwise present too great a risk to contractors, but it provides the contractor only a minimum incentive to control costs.
(Emphasis mine)
These types contracts are actually more beneficial for the contractor than Firm Fixed Price type because they allow for the amount paid to be increased or decreased based on the contractor's performance. There are also incentive contracts, but I leave those as an exercise to the reader.
Couple this with FAR 39.103 Modular Contracting (which was specifically created for IT projects and is required by the Clinger-Cohen Act) which allows each piece of a large IT project to be broken down into a separate module and then contracted for individually, I don't think contracting is the problem here.
I think the problem is the same problem that other large organizations have with IT projects which is that IT projects are just difficult to design, manage, and implement. But if you don't like the contracting types you can always have your company lobby for a better type. It isn't like Congress can't change the playing field.
I agree, I don't see why so many states have to think up overly complex ways of voting. Here in Oklahoma all the ballots are essentially the same, there are arrows and you use a pen to fill in the arrow that points next to the choice you want.
Here's a sample of what they look like just click on the sample BALLOT link. (it's a pdf file)
They are then fed into a large box that counts them, and then at the end they are all scanned and tallied that way. Simpler than filling in bubbles in my opinion, and definately better than chads.
I can't believe this hasn't been brought up yet, but as any self-respecting geek should know, in Cananda soft drinks that aren't brown generally do not have any caffeine in them!!
/ gu arana/index2.html
Mountain Dew for example. In the US it is the sweet nectar of the gods fueling hours upon hours of coding, but in Canada it is little more than colored Sprite.
http://www.cbc.ca/consumers/market/files/health
While that isn't a story *directly* about the lack of caffeine (it is an expose on guarana-based caffeine in energy drinks and how it isn't regulated), it does mention that Mountain Dew has no caffeine for the people would would argue otherwise.
You've been warned!
There's no video game rating similar to NC-17...
What about Adults Only? Content suitable only for adults. May include graphic depictions of sex and/or violence. Not intended for persons under the age of 18.
The way I see it, the M ESRB rating is closer to an R movie rating since both recommend being 17 or older.
You just don't see either the NC-17 or Ao rating that often since some stores don't carry either.
One of the great things about autos is that if you are going to work on them, all you need to do is disconnect the battery and you have no risk of shock.
There are very few procedures that require messing around with hot electrical components. Whether you take the time to disconnect the battery before working on your stereo is your choice.
It's just like installing a few outlet in your house. You can turn off the power to that room with the flip of a breaker. If you don't, then you are asking for it.
- Press Release on BSA website
Excuse me??? Does this mean that they simply said, "Hmmmm, 500,000 businesses in country X stated that they wanted the latest version of Windows... but only 200,000 copies of Windows were shipped. Ah hah!!! PIRACY!"
I mean if I called up business Y and asked them if they wanted the latest and greatest piece of software, how many would say no?
I'm not saying that piracy doesn't exist.. hell it is *possible* it's worse than they think (especially since they track piracy of "business software") but I seriously think that this study doesn't come close to the real picture based on those two sets of data alone.
I think that a little more detail about how this data was gathered would help explain things.
Then it must really suck to be this guy.
I think you might be thinking of the name Judas Booth.
Maybe because we don't like forest fires.
Seriously, the twisters don't come every year, Moore just happened to get hit twice within a 4 year period. Lets not forget that the May 3rd tornado was the first F5 rated tornado to EVER hit the OKC area.
Why do people move near the Mississippi river? It seems to flood all the damn time? Why do people live in Flordia? They get hit with hurricaines and probably cost us a lot more to replace than a trailer park.
There isn't a safe place to live, period. You are just fooling yourself if you think that snow is harmless.
sadly, I don't think OGG is *currently* known to anybody except nerds or IT pros.
You forgot Unreal Tournament 2003 players... although I guess you can catagorize them as nerds.
UT2003 uses OGG for all music files and you can even rip your own tunes to OGG format and play them from within the game.
Yes on June 4th the postmaster general decided to purchase 40 segways for a nationwide study. Norman was the first of 5 nationwide test sites.
The article is here
I don't think the problem is that there are not enough CS graduates. I recently saw a chart that showed the number of graduates nationwide with cs degrees has continued to increase, and I also know that most of my classmates in my graduating class are US citizens.
The problem is what I was told by a Northrop-Grumman recruiter. You have to wait at least a year for security clearance. During this time you are put in a "holding pen" and you basically do nothing. He even told me they have a fellow working for them that has been waiting over 2 years for his clearnace to come through (although they found some non-classified work for him to do). It's always taken a long time for security clearance, and now because of increased security it will take even longer. Because of this the supply cannot meet current demands.
I didn't buy something from Ebay, but I bought a bumper for my car through an online classified service from an individual in Georgia. I sent the money in cashier's check form, but he never sent me the goods. So after giving him plenty of time to make amends, I went to the Postal Inspector's website (there is a link on the USPS's website) and filled out a simple form. A month later I got a letter saying that they had contacted him. It took a long time and a few forms that I had to fill out, but I finally got a postal money order for the amount I originally paid. So believe me, the Postal Inspectors really work!
It was Radhakrishnan that made that comment wasn't it? :)
I'll KILL YOU SIR!!
Did anybody notice that on the CNN site reporting on the Webby Awards that Slashdot.org was the only site that didn't have a link??
Hmmmmm