While this may get downgraded, I must agree. There were many opinions / interpretations in the review that are, by themselves, capable of inciting anger and hostility in 1 of every 10 slashdot readers (a hypothetical guess). Together, these inflammatory opinions will likely offend all but those who benefit from the subject of the review.
FOR EXAMPLE: ...jobs which are seemingly difficult to fill from the American labor pool for a variety of reasons, and which are eagerly filled by employers who find that qualified, talented people come from countries all over the world.
In my opinion, this is implying that American workers as a whole are incapable of filling these jobs which I believe all of us can agree are in short supply. In addition, the statement suggests that the Mecca of talent comes from a location other than the US (India is implied).
[W]hy do some modern Americans (of course, a small percentage) want only those immigrant programmers and IT workers who came during recent times to go back home, yet tend to forget that their parents or grandparents were immigrants too?
Again implying that those who resent competition in a tight job market aren't considering the reason they are here. How many U.S. born citizens really have ancestors who came to this country with a starting salary in the top 20% (a rough guess for someone making $60,000). I imagine that my ancestors came to America from Europe during hard times and worked in a factory, mill, mine, or field somewhere for earnings that were below what was needed to live comfortably. I doubt very much that they came over and instantly became shop keepers, bankers, farmers, etc..
Anyway, I'm ranting now. My whole point was that this review seems to be more propaganda then review. I work with plenty of people who have ties to India and I do not resent them. However, I resent these programs because I hear stories of THOUSANDS of resumes being sent for a position and HR (who knows nothing of technology) weeds them down and gives them to our director who weeds them down further. It's not a lack of talent in this country, it's an overabundance of fake/insufficient talent which obscures the good talent. An employer might say they get thousands of resumes that stink, but in reality there were probably 200 decent resumes and 50 excellent resumes in that pile of 1000. The only problem is that they rarely get seen. Bringing people in who are assumed to be better than the thousand resumes is not the solution IMO.
I'm pretty sure that in 20 years IT jobs will be as widespread as manufacturing jobs. I'd consider medicine, but that too can be sent to the lowest bidder given current/future technology (plus insurance and legal are giving doctors hell).
I figure I might have a chance as an auto mechanic, same thought processes only applied to engines.
I also think lawyers will still be around (unfortunately), which also uses the same basic thought processes.
Unfortunately, the profession that I enjoy most (programming, server administration, network/pc troubleshooting, security, etc.) will likely not be around as cheaper labor (overseas, automation, kids, aliens, etc.) floods the market.
I just hope I can hang in there win the shit really does hit the fan (2000 was nothing).
Perhaps I misunderstood the article, but I thought they had banned all users who used a hacked/stolen (i.e. multiuser) key.
I believe this means all unscrupulous individuals along with those who are the legitimate owners of said keys. I can't predict how many of those owners didn't intentionally give their key out, but I imagine there are a few who didn't mean to.
As the previous poster mentioned, it's possible that the original owner can show proof of purchase (photocopy of receipt, cd key, etc.) and become a valid user again, but I don't recall reading that in the article.
I just got out of a nasty situation at a local university where my employer had me working full-time with part-time benefits (hourly wages, no health benefits, no retirement, no overtime, etc.). I accepted it because they paid me well for being a recent graduate and I could do pretty much anything (good learning experience).
That said, there came a time when some horrible person took our office manager position and had a badger up her ass about making me fit in her schema of appropriate positions / salary. I found myself working under 20 hours a week for a month and REINTERVIEWING for my own position with a lower salary and health benefits.
The salary was 25% less. I wouldn't get benefits because I hadn't been working 40 hours a week for 3 consecutive months (it apparently reset when I had my forced break). I wasn't eligible to use vacation for an additional 6 months. My boss promised to fix things in a few months with a new budget but she didn't.
The moral? Things can change in an instant when you aren't salaried. They can fire you instantly, change conditions of your employment, etc.. If you are comfortable with that, then great. I suggest having your resume in good condition until you are salaried.
I find it ironic that Valve isn't accepting the potential for a user to have their key ripped off somehow (via hacking, trojans, unethical friends/family, etc.) when they were hacked no less than a year ago and lost a substantial chunk of their code.
Add to that the fact that users typically don't have the resources to setup proper security when an organization like Valve *SHOULD*.
Of course, a good chunk of those people probably stole the product, but how does one prove they didn't?
And then in 2007 when they pass a law saying it's illegal to say "I don't speed (much), I don't steal, I pay my taxes." shortly after passing a law allowing law enforcement to prosecute crimes that occured before the activities were deemed illegal, you'll be thrown in jail for the remainder of your life because their seemingly harmless electronic surveilance measures today recorded you saying that phrase.
Get the point?
And like a previous poster I too was affected by PATRIOT Act... I had to keep creating and updating online tests so we would be in compliance with PATRIOT Act training requirements.
Are games like Counter Strike and Everquest addictive? Yes, no doubt in my mind. However, the same thing could be said about watching TV, reading, working out, etc..
I personally stopped playing CS well over a year ago after being too involved in the game. Now maybe I was indulging, but what about people who spend twice as much time in front of a tv? What about workaholics? Gaming is no worse of an addiction than most others and at least it involves doing something rather than sitting lifeless staring at what is mostly advertisements.
In addition, it's not really the gaming that I enjoyed. I really liked the people I knew through the game and I still maintain contact with them.
Finally, the true cure to gaming is having a child. You barely have time to peruse Slashdot, much less play any kind of game.
I found that the difference is the compatibility of the hacks. At my former job, I actually created useable 300+ page site that relied entirely on CSS for layout. The hardest part was making it look the same in a variety of browsers/platforms. Borders would render differently, padding/margins were different, etc..
Conversely, I can use tables and image spacers to layout a page and I can be guaranteed that it will look the same in a large variety of browsers because tables are very common. In fact, the only difference is that older versions of Netscape had non-zero defaults for cell-padding and cell-spacing.
I know that CSS can make for tidier/smaller pages. Maintenance isn't an issue since you can separate the content from the presentation with other technologies. The biggest reason to loosen up with the tables was how nested tables were interpreted by audio screen readers like Jaws. It was AMAZINGLY annoying with the nested tables, and I had difficulty getting through my own site that had several levels of mostly unnecessary nested tables.
In the end, my preference is a mixture of the two. Tables are quicker and easier and if I can easily use CSS to eliminate a table (or 12) then I will. My current employer relies heavily on tables and I'm trying to encourage us to look more into CSS but they like to reuse their code and designs from 4 years ago still.:)
That's probably not what the moderators considered insightful. I still stand by that statement. I'm in a decent job now and I believe that will still be the case in December regardless of who wins (if I had to choose a liklihood, I would guess that I have 20-1 odds of still being in a job come December). No, I don't trust the economy. I just believe there are more important issues out there at this time. If you want my list...
1.) Education - our schools suck right now and the PC movement is turning our children into a mass of "equal in every way" zombies. Children don't understand winning and losing, they're drugged when they act like kids, they can't celebrate holidays, they can't be individuals. The bright students aren't getting the motivation/attention they need to reach their full potential, instead the schools are focusing on the lower echelon of children which basically brings everyone else down many notches while raising that 10% up a few notches. Our children won't be able to compete, innovation will be a thing of the past, and metric conversion errors will be much more common.
2.) Guns - most gun control laws only hurt law abiding citizens. They don't make the guns any less dangerous, they just make the parts that enthusiasts seek more expensive. Thugs and other criminals can obtain illegal weapons cheaper and more easily than the typical citizen. Automatic weapons have been illegal since the 1930's I believe, and most people don't even know that. Make smart laws and enforce them better. The waiting period was an excellent policy. Programs to encourage gun safety (even mandatory ones) are an excellent idea.
3.) Ashcroft - the guy is out to know everything we do, even in the privacy of our own homes. You might say it's not a problem if everything you do is legal, but what happens when the government starts declaring harmless activities as illegal and then begins prosecuting you based on what you DID (i.e. it wasn't illegal at the time but you get in trouble for it anyway). Sure, it's not immediately possible, but I think this guy is chipping away at the privacy wall quicker than any other official that I can recall.
4.) Healthcare - I pay $40 ($20x2) a month in prescription drug costs for a chronic condition (i.e. they can't cure it, they only remedy the symptoms). I pay an additional $300 to $600 for blood tests, diagnostic tests, appointments, etc.. This is WITH insurance. My employer is getting cheap with healthcare and basically we are paying for our own stuff on a discount plan similar to Sam's. I want to see healthcare costs go down so people can afford them without insurance. Why should my drugs (an acid if I understand correctly) cost over $200 without insurance? Why does my doctor suggest the latest and greatest drugs because the pharmaceutical reps tell him to (so I can't get generic)? Why can't shorten the duration that companies have to wait to copy a drug and put less emphasis on healthcare companies making money and more emphasis on curing people? Do you really think they can't find a cure for these chronic conditions or do you think they are focusing on coming up with new symptom reliever drugs that are associated with recurring income? It's ridiculous.
5.) Economy - Yes I care. But I care about the above issues more.
I really don't know who I will vote for. I think both candidates suck on education and economy. Bush sucks with Ashcroft and healthcare, and Kerry sucks with gun control. I lose with either candidate.
I did a search on Google for Gillette, razor, and bags and came up with a pretty good list. Here's a sample compilation of stories. I came across it on Fark, was pretty funny so I remembered it.
My research shows that Degraan took up the CEO position in October 2000 and announced that he would take "no radical new strategy" (link).
I can't find any conclusive evidence concerning his political leanings. However, I did find evidence suggesting that Gillette as a company tends to favor Democratic candidates by a 5-2 ratio in terms of donations.
My main point was that companies/organizations will time announcements to influence elections when possible. In 1998, it doesn't really matter. In 2000, releasing that news in October might hurt the incumbent while not releasing that news wouldn't have an impact.
Whether or not Gillette is an example of this isn't really an issue for me, as I have no doubt that decisions to withold/release information are determined by whether or not they want the candidate benefiting from such information to take office.
I seem to recall 3.11 being a late 1992 innovation, maybe late 1993. At any rate, 3.1 was introduced in early 2002 and 3.11 was the same thing with some advanced networking capabilities.
As for support, the last time I tried to use applications designed for 3.1 they still worked although it's been a while since the applications are so dated. Examples include Eudora 3.0, WS FTP, and a few games. While MS doesn't continue to produce updates/enhancements for 3.x, one can say that the newer versions are at least somewhat backwards compatible (I'm sure there are exceptions).
Just my thoughts... on a related note, I was in a.NET class today and the instructor was touting XML configuration files (i.e. registry updates via applications are old). Sounds almost like the.ini files from Win 3.x.:)
Re:All I know is...
on
The Jobs Crunch
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· Score: 3, Insightful
You are correct in that the economy was failing even before Bush took office. Gillette laid off thousands just after the election but before Bush took office, and that's when I knew we were in for some problems. I'm willing to bet that those companies waited to lay people off until after the election (recall that Gillette donated razor blades to DNC attendees who were then promptly pulled aside by security guards).
This brings up another question. What's going to happen after this election? Who is waiting until after the election to do something that might make Bush look bad? I personally don't know, but you have to wonder.
That said, I'm in a decent job now and I'm assuming that this will still be the case in December, so economy isn't a hot topic with me. Ashcroft on the other hand, is. The guy's ultimate goal is to monitor all of our actions/thoughts and prosecute if we deviate from conservative/Christian ideals. Not saying church goers are bad, but I would prefer that they do their worshipping and I look at my pr0n and all of us can be happy.
But again, you are correct. The shit was going to hit the fan regardless of who won in 2000. And if the shit's going to hit the fan again, it will do so in a few months regardless of who wins.
I felt bad when I read the list of conditions that he is diagnosed with, but he seemed to be a happy fellow in the photo and there were at least four lifelong friends with him that appeared to care. Not sure why two of his most significant co-workers weren't present but I bet the ones in the photo enjoy being together. He might be typecasted into a certain role, but he's touched more lives than I can ever hope to. Thanks for the good times James/Scotty!
So... you have more people trying for the better jobs. Okay.
Now... will there be a 1-1 or better ratio of bettery paying jobs created for every person who loses a crappy job? If so, great.
However, the more likely scenario is that a much larger employee base will be going after a slightly larger higher-paying job base. The result? Lower salaries for those same jobs.
Currently I have absolutely no problem buying a DVD. You get hours of unique content for a mere $10-$20 US. I happen to own over 70 titles myself.
That said, stories like this really get my attention because I don't want to support an organization that stifles fair use and technological innovation just so they can earn a few extra dollars (which goes directly to the producers and a few select others, not the stuntmen/gaffers featured in the sympathy ads that play in movie theaters these days).
MPAA be warned... don't get too greedy. I'd hate for my movie collection to become dated just like my CD collection (I don't download or buy, I avoid).
Oh yeah... you guys owe me money for Dumb and Dumberer, Jurassic Park III, and Vanilla Sky.
MSIE is by far the most convenient browser, I don't think any of us can argue against that. That said, I myself began seeking out alternatives when I got owned with a fully patched/AV protected system nearly a year back.
Now when I'm doing certain kinds of browsing (pr0n, roms, fark, etc.), I try to remember to use either Opera or Firefox. I don't want to spend another 1-2 hours ridding my system of unwanted programs.
I prefer Opera... no crashes, fast, and renders pages well. Firefox is free without ads, but I've noticed that it can't handle alot of the obscure sites out there (it crashes alot) and it seems slower than IE or Opera. I do enjoy the developer tools it offers though.
Anyway, I predict that IE will continue to lose market share to more secure products just because users are beginning to realize that it is incredibly dangerous to surf with IE (especially for pr0n, warez, etc.). It's already lost something like 12% this year alone.
I think this has always been known to the spam community. The spammers are mostly based in the U.S., so yes, the spam originates from here. However, they route it through other servers... some are broadband and others are in Brazil, China, etc..
It's probably been said, but the correct dummy address ends with invalid.com (variations like a.invalid.com or invalid.net supposedly work too). Domains ending with invalid.* don't exist.
You know, they could make everyone ride in Honda Civics or even better, everyone commutes by train. We could all eat the same meals and wear the same clothing. Just think... production and maintenance of these items would be quicker, cheaper, and simpler... and the learning curve would be almost non-existent.
Fortunately, this will never happen in my lifetime. We all have preferences and we never seem to agree on anything. Has this been taken into account by the project planners?
Crutchfield? Prices meet or beat Best Buy and Circuit City, better selection, the possibility of no tax, free shipping promotions, good turnaround time for delivery, good packaging, etc..
There are likely other dealers... both local and on the Internet, that meet or exceed price and level of service that one can find at Best Buy.
Oh yeah, I worked at a place like that ()right out of high school. Sure, it's a no commission place, but the managers there all tracked warranties like the restaurant manager from office space tracks flare. In fact, it looked bad if you sold too much equipment and not enough warranties (and accessories although those couldn't be tracked individually). Open-box items were intentionally disgused as new, new packages were treated horribly from the shipment truck to the shelves, and some products were promoted over others not because of quality, but because of profit. They would tell us to ask customers questions to determine their needs and then to suggest the proper product, but they would come around and tell us to suggest this product and that product first.
I went back to that same chain in college for a summer because my other job made me go part-time. Same old stuff but more extreme. Also, a customer attempted to return a badass boombox that happened to be sold when I worked there several years back... it once sold for about $250 I believe. The owner paid $175 for it on clearance and also purchased a warranty. The unit was busted beyond repair, and Best Buy only carried crap portable radios, nothing near the quality of the original item. The manager would only allow the owner to trade it in for an "equivalent" item as determined by the store's tech. I told the manager that I remembered the item, that a match in quality was not available among the available boomboxes, and that it would only be fair to give them store credit or a selection among other products. The manager refused.
This is one reason why their warranty is no good. Stores like these are always watering down their selections with cheaper products. It makes sense at first... if the unit breaks three times you can trade it in for an equivalent item. However, what guarantee do you have that such an item will be available 1-2 years in the future?
Oh well... I can keep on ranting but I won't.
Let's say you are the CIO for a Fortune 500. Is that valid reasoning for not using a firewall?
Security is about levels. Just because you lock all your doors and windows doesn't mean you don't need an alarm/fence/guard dog. Of course, you can run a system that has nothing on it in your house and you probably won't ever have a need for a firewall.
Just as an example, let's say you run a file sharing service on your Linux box (Samba). You figure it's Linux so it's safe, and you don't patch regularly and don't run a firewall. While I personally enjoy Samba, it does have the occasional security flaw and, if unpatched and left open to the world, can potentially be exploited. Patching and/or a firewall can significantly reduce the chances of your system being compromised because (a) the exploit won't work and (b) the attacker can't connect to use the exploit.
I've had this book for a year or so, don't recall if it's first edition or second edition. It was useful as an introduction and as a compatibility guide. It wasn't a great reference because I found that it was missing some things, and it wasn't a great 'teach by example' book. Basically it was a waste of cash except that it motivated me to dive into CSS.
For the more elaborate things I basically searched the net and then began experimenting, seeing how the results render in MSIE 6, Netscape 4.7, Opera, and some Mac browsers. I found ways of mimicking tables using CSS, but I was never able to truly achieve the same positioning power of tables. So I'm still an advocate of tables for positioning and CSS for added flavor.
I personally visit all of the scam sites and fill their forms with false data. I figure if a good chunk of people did the same thing, the scam would become pointless as it would cost too much to weed out the valid data from the invalid data.
Slashdot Mirror
While this may get downgraded, I must agree. There were many opinions / interpretations in the review that are, by themselves, capable of inciting anger and hostility in 1 of every 10 slashdot readers (a hypothetical guess). Together, these inflammatory opinions will likely offend all but those who benefit from the subject of the review.
...jobs which are seemingly difficult to fill from the American labor pool for a variety of reasons, and which are eagerly filled by employers who find that qualified, talented people come from countries all over the world.
FOR EXAMPLE:
In my opinion, this is implying that American workers as a whole are incapable of filling these jobs which I believe all of us can agree are in short supply. In addition, the statement suggests that the Mecca of talent comes from a location other than the US (India is implied).
[W]hy do some modern Americans (of course, a small percentage) want only those immigrant programmers and IT workers who came during recent times to go back home, yet tend to forget that their parents or grandparents were immigrants too?
Again implying that those who resent competition in a tight job market aren't considering the reason they are here. How many U.S. born citizens really have ancestors who came to this country with a starting salary in the top 20% (a rough guess for someone making $60,000). I imagine that my ancestors came to America from Europe during hard times and worked in a factory, mill, mine, or field somewhere for earnings that were below what was needed to live comfortably. I doubt very much that they came over and instantly became shop keepers, bankers, farmers, etc..
Anyway, I'm ranting now. My whole point was that this review seems to be more propaganda then review. I work with plenty of people who have ties to India and I do not resent them. However, I resent these programs because I hear stories of THOUSANDS of resumes being sent for a position and HR (who knows nothing of technology) weeds them down and gives them to our director who weeds them down further. It's not a lack of talent in this country, it's an overabundance of fake/insufficient talent which obscures the good talent. An employer might say they get thousands of resumes that stink, but in reality there were probably 200 decent resumes and 50 excellent resumes in that pile of 1000. The only problem is that they rarely get seen. Bringing people in who are assumed to be better than the thousand resumes is not the solution IMO.
I'm pretty sure that in 20 years IT jobs will be as widespread as manufacturing jobs. I'd consider medicine, but that too can be sent to the lowest bidder given current/future technology (plus insurance and legal are giving doctors hell).
I figure I might have a chance as an auto mechanic, same thought processes only applied to engines.
I also think lawyers will still be around (unfortunately), which also uses the same basic thought processes.
Unfortunately, the profession that I enjoy most (programming, server administration, network/pc troubleshooting, security, etc.) will likely not be around as cheaper labor (overseas, automation, kids, aliens, etc.) floods the market.
I just hope I can hang in there win the shit really does hit the fan (2000 was nothing).
Perhaps I misunderstood the article, but I thought they had banned all users who used a hacked/stolen (i.e. multiuser) key.
I believe this means all unscrupulous individuals along with those who are the legitimate owners of said keys. I can't predict how many of those owners didn't intentionally give their key out, but I imagine there are a few who didn't mean to.
As the previous poster mentioned, it's possible that the original owner can show proof of purchase (photocopy of receipt, cd key, etc.) and become a valid user again, but I don't recall reading that in the article.
I just got out of a nasty situation at a local university where my employer had me working full-time with part-time benefits (hourly wages, no health benefits, no retirement, no overtime, etc.). I accepted it because they paid me well for being a recent graduate and I could do pretty much anything (good learning experience).
That said, there came a time when some horrible person took our office manager position and had a badger up her ass about making me fit in her schema of appropriate positions / salary. I found myself working under 20 hours a week for a month and REINTERVIEWING for my own position with a lower salary and health benefits.
The salary was 25% less. I wouldn't get benefits because I hadn't been working 40 hours a week for 3 consecutive months (it apparently reset when I had my forced break). I wasn't eligible to use vacation for an additional 6 months. My boss promised to fix things in a few months with a new budget but she didn't.
The moral? Things can change in an instant when you aren't salaried. They can fire you instantly, change conditions of your employment, etc.. If you are comfortable with that, then great. I suggest having your resume in good condition until you are salaried.
I find it ironic that Valve isn't accepting the potential for a user to have their key ripped off somehow (via hacking, trojans, unethical friends/family, etc.) when they were hacked no less than a year ago and lost a substantial chunk of their code.
Add to that the fact that users typically don't have the resources to setup proper security when an organization like Valve *SHOULD*.
Of course, a good chunk of those people probably stole the product, but how does one prove they didn't?
And then in 2007 when they pass a law saying it's illegal to say "I don't speed (much), I don't steal, I pay my taxes." shortly after passing a law allowing law enforcement to prosecute crimes that occured before the activities were deemed illegal, you'll be thrown in jail for the remainder of your life because their seemingly harmless electronic surveilance measures today recorded you saying that phrase.
Get the point?
And like a previous poster I too was affected by PATRIOT Act... I had to keep creating and updating online tests so we would be in compliance with PATRIOT Act training requirements.
Are games like Counter Strike and Everquest addictive? Yes, no doubt in my mind. However, the same thing could be said about watching TV, reading, working out, etc..
I personally stopped playing CS well over a year ago after being too involved in the game. Now maybe I was indulging, but what about people who spend twice as much time in front of a tv? What about workaholics? Gaming is no worse of an addiction than most others and at least it involves doing something rather than sitting lifeless staring at what is mostly advertisements.
In addition, it's not really the gaming that I enjoyed. I really liked the people I knew through the game and I still maintain contact with them.
Finally, the true cure to gaming is having a child. You barely have time to peruse Slashdot, much less play any kind of game.
I found that the difference is the compatibility of the hacks. At my former job, I actually created useable 300+ page site that relied entirely on CSS for layout. The hardest part was making it look the same in a variety of browsers/platforms. Borders would render differently, padding/margins were different, etc..
:)
Conversely, I can use tables and image spacers to layout a page and I can be guaranteed that it will look the same in a large variety of browsers because tables are very common. In fact, the only difference is that older versions of Netscape had non-zero defaults for cell-padding and cell-spacing.
I know that CSS can make for tidier/smaller pages. Maintenance isn't an issue since you can separate the content from the presentation with other technologies. The biggest reason to loosen up with the tables was how nested tables were interpreted by audio screen readers like Jaws. It was AMAZINGLY annoying with the nested tables, and I had difficulty getting through my own site that had several levels of mostly unnecessary nested tables.
In the end, my preference is a mixture of the two. Tables are quicker and easier and if I can easily use CSS to eliminate a table (or 12) then I will. My current employer relies heavily on tables and I'm trying to encourage us to look more into CSS but they like to reuse their code and designs from 4 years ago still.
That's probably not what the moderators considered insightful. I still stand by that statement. I'm in a decent job now and I believe that will still be the case in December regardless of who wins (if I had to choose a liklihood, I would guess that I have 20-1 odds of still being in a job come December). No, I don't trust the economy. I just believe there are more important issues out there at this time. If you want my list...
1.) Education - our schools suck right now and the PC movement is turning our children into a mass of "equal in every way" zombies. Children don't understand winning and losing, they're drugged when they act like kids, they can't celebrate holidays, they can't be individuals. The bright students aren't getting the motivation/attention they need to reach their full potential, instead the schools are focusing on the lower echelon of children which basically brings everyone else down many notches while raising that 10% up a few notches. Our children won't be able to compete, innovation will be a thing of the past, and metric conversion errors will be much more common.
2.) Guns - most gun control laws only hurt law abiding citizens. They don't make the guns any less dangerous, they just make the parts that enthusiasts seek more expensive. Thugs and other criminals can obtain illegal weapons cheaper and more easily than the typical citizen. Automatic weapons have been illegal since the 1930's I believe, and most people don't even know that. Make smart laws and enforce them better. The waiting period was an excellent policy. Programs to encourage gun safety (even mandatory ones) are an excellent idea.
3.) Ashcroft - the guy is out to know everything we do, even in the privacy of our own homes. You might say it's not a problem if everything you do is legal, but what happens when the government starts declaring harmless activities as illegal and then begins prosecuting you based on what you DID (i.e. it wasn't illegal at the time but you get in trouble for it anyway). Sure, it's not immediately possible, but I think this guy is chipping away at the privacy wall quicker than any other official that I can recall.
4.) Healthcare - I pay $40 ($20x2) a month in prescription drug costs for a chronic condition (i.e. they can't cure it, they only remedy the symptoms). I pay an additional $300 to $600 for blood tests, diagnostic tests, appointments, etc.. This is WITH insurance. My employer is getting cheap with healthcare and basically we are paying for our own stuff on a discount plan similar to Sam's. I want to see healthcare costs go down so people can afford them without insurance. Why should my drugs (an acid if I understand correctly) cost over $200 without insurance? Why does my doctor suggest the latest and greatest drugs because the pharmaceutical reps tell him to (so I can't get generic)? Why can't shorten the duration that companies have to wait to copy a drug and put less emphasis on healthcare companies making money and more emphasis on curing people? Do you really think they can't find a cure for these chronic conditions or do you think they are focusing on coming up with new symptom reliever drugs that are associated with recurring income? It's ridiculous.
5.) Economy - Yes I care. But I care about the above issues more.
I really don't know who I will vote for. I think both candidates suck on education and economy. Bush sucks with Ashcroft and healthcare, and Kerry sucks with gun control. I lose with either candidate.
I did a search on Google for Gillette, razor, and bags and came up with a pretty good list. Here's a sample compilation of stories. I came across it on Fark, was pretty funny so I remembered it.
My research shows that Degraan took up the CEO position in October 2000 and announced that he would take "no radical new strategy" (link).
I can't find any conclusive evidence concerning his political leanings. However, I did find evidence suggesting that Gillette as a company tends to favor Democratic candidates by a 5-2 ratio in terms of donations.
My main point was that companies/organizations will time announcements to influence elections when possible. In 1998, it doesn't really matter. In 2000, releasing that news in October might hurt the incumbent while not releasing that news wouldn't have an impact.
Whether or not Gillette is an example of this isn't really an issue for me, as I have no doubt that decisions to withold/release information are determined by whether or not they want the candidate benefiting from such information to take office.
I seem to recall 3.11 being a late 1992 innovation, maybe late 1993. At any rate, 3.1 was introduced in early 2002 and 3.11 was the same thing with some advanced networking capabilities.
.NET class today and the instructor was touting XML configuration files (i.e. registry updates via applications are old). Sounds almost like the .ini files from Win 3.x. :)
As for support, the last time I tried to use applications designed for 3.1 they still worked although it's been a while since the applications are so dated. Examples include Eudora 3.0, WS FTP, and a few games. While MS doesn't continue to produce updates/enhancements for 3.x, one can say that the newer versions are at least somewhat backwards compatible (I'm sure there are exceptions).
Just my thoughts... on a related note, I was in a
You are correct in that the economy was failing even before Bush took office. Gillette laid off thousands just after the election but before Bush took office, and that's when I knew we were in for some problems. I'm willing to bet that those companies waited to lay people off until after the election (recall that Gillette donated razor blades to DNC attendees who were then promptly pulled aside by security guards).
This brings up another question. What's going to happen after this election? Who is waiting until after the election to do something that might make Bush look bad? I personally don't know, but you have to wonder.
That said, I'm in a decent job now and I'm assuming that this will still be the case in December, so economy isn't a hot topic with me. Ashcroft on the other hand, is. The guy's ultimate goal is to monitor all of our actions/thoughts and prosecute if we deviate from conservative/Christian ideals. Not saying church goers are bad, but I would prefer that they do their worshipping and I look at my pr0n and all of us can be happy.
But again, you are correct. The shit was going to hit the fan regardless of who won in 2000. And if the shit's going to hit the fan again, it will do so in a few months regardless of who wins.
My boss calls that sandbagging... he wants our project estimates to be within 10%.
I felt bad when I read the list of conditions that he is diagnosed with, but he seemed to be a happy fellow in the photo and there were at least four lifelong friends with him that appeared to care. Not sure why two of his most significant co-workers weren't present but I bet the ones in the photo enjoy being together. He might be typecasted into a certain role, but he's touched more lives than I can ever hope to. Thanks for the good times James/Scotty!
So... you have more people trying for the better jobs. Okay.
Now... will there be a 1-1 or better ratio of bettery paying jobs created for every person who loses a crappy job? If so, great.
However, the more likely scenario is that a much larger employee base will be going after a slightly larger higher-paying job base. The result? Lower salaries for those same jobs.
Currently I have absolutely no problem buying a DVD. You get hours of unique content for a mere $10-$20 US. I happen to own over 70 titles myself.
That said, stories like this really get my attention because I don't want to support an organization that stifles fair use and technological innovation just so they can earn a few extra dollars (which goes directly to the producers and a few select others, not the stuntmen/gaffers featured in the sympathy ads that play in movie theaters these days).
MPAA be warned... don't get too greedy. I'd hate for my movie collection to become dated just like my CD collection (I don't download or buy, I avoid).
Oh yeah... you guys owe me money for Dumb and Dumberer, Jurassic Park III, and Vanilla Sky.
MSIE is by far the most convenient browser, I don't think any of us can argue against that. That said, I myself began seeking out alternatives when I got owned with a fully patched/AV protected system nearly a year back.
Now when I'm doing certain kinds of browsing (pr0n, roms, fark, etc.), I try to remember to use either Opera or Firefox. I don't want to spend another 1-2 hours ridding my system of unwanted programs.
I prefer Opera... no crashes, fast, and renders pages well. Firefox is free without ads, but I've noticed that it can't handle alot of the obscure sites out there (it crashes alot) and it seems slower than IE or Opera. I do enjoy the developer tools it offers though.
Anyway, I predict that IE will continue to lose market share to more secure products just because users are beginning to realize that it is incredibly dangerous to surf with IE (especially for pr0n, warez, etc.). It's already lost something like 12% this year alone.
I think this has always been known to the spam community. The spammers are mostly based in the U.S., so yes, the spam originates from here. However, they route it through other servers... some are broadband and others are in Brazil, China, etc..
Well hit me with a silly stick, just found out it's not invalid.com but as the poster below said, example.com. My bad.
It's probably been said, but the correct dummy address ends with invalid.com (variations like a.invalid.com or invalid.net supposedly work too). Domains ending with invalid.* don't exist.
You know, they could make everyone ride in Honda Civics or even better, everyone commutes by train. We could all eat the same meals and wear the same clothing. Just think... production and maintenance of these items would be quicker, cheaper, and simpler... and the learning curve would be almost non-existent.
Fortunately, this will never happen in my lifetime. We all have preferences and we never seem to agree on anything. Has this been taken into account by the project planners?
Crutchfield? Prices meet or beat Best Buy and Circuit City, better selection, the possibility of no tax, free shipping promotions, good turnaround time for delivery, good packaging, etc.. There are likely other dealers... both local and on the Internet, that meet or exceed price and level of service that one can find at Best Buy. Oh yeah, I worked at a place like that ()right out of high school. Sure, it's a no commission place, but the managers there all tracked warranties like the restaurant manager from office space tracks flare. In fact, it looked bad if you sold too much equipment and not enough warranties (and accessories although those couldn't be tracked individually). Open-box items were intentionally disgused as new, new packages were treated horribly from the shipment truck to the shelves, and some products were promoted over others not because of quality, but because of profit. They would tell us to ask customers questions to determine their needs and then to suggest the proper product, but they would come around and tell us to suggest this product and that product first. I went back to that same chain in college for a summer because my other job made me go part-time. Same old stuff but more extreme. Also, a customer attempted to return a badass boombox that happened to be sold when I worked there several years back... it once sold for about $250 I believe. The owner paid $175 for it on clearance and also purchased a warranty. The unit was busted beyond repair, and Best Buy only carried crap portable radios, nothing near the quality of the original item. The manager would only allow the owner to trade it in for an "equivalent" item as determined by the store's tech. I told the manager that I remembered the item, that a match in quality was not available among the available boomboxes, and that it would only be fair to give them store credit or a selection among other products. The manager refused. This is one reason why their warranty is no good. Stores like these are always watering down their selections with cheaper products. It makes sense at first... if the unit breaks three times you can trade it in for an equivalent item. However, what guarantee do you have that such an item will be available 1-2 years in the future? Oh well... I can keep on ranting but I won't.
Let's say you are the CIO for a Fortune 500. Is that valid reasoning for not using a firewall?
Security is about levels. Just because you lock all your doors and windows doesn't mean you don't need an alarm/fence/guard dog. Of course, you can run a system that has nothing on it in your house and you probably won't ever have a need for a firewall.
Just as an example, let's say you run a file sharing service on your Linux box (Samba). You figure it's Linux so it's safe, and you don't patch regularly and don't run a firewall. While I personally enjoy Samba, it does have the occasional security flaw and, if unpatched and left open to the world, can potentially be exploited. Patching and/or a firewall can significantly reduce the chances of your system being compromised because (a) the exploit won't work and (b) the attacker can't connect to use the exploit.
I've had this book for a year or so, don't recall if it's first edition or second edition. It was useful as an introduction and as a compatibility guide. It wasn't a great reference because I found that it was missing some things, and it wasn't a great 'teach by example' book. Basically it was a waste of cash except that it motivated me to dive into CSS.
For the more elaborate things I basically searched the net and then began experimenting, seeing how the results render in MSIE 6, Netscape 4.7, Opera, and some Mac browsers. I found ways of mimicking tables using CSS, but I was never able to truly achieve the same positioning power of tables. So I'm still an advocate of tables for positioning and CSS for added flavor.
I personally visit all of the scam sites and fill their forms with false data. I figure if a good chunk of people did the same thing, the scam would become pointless as it would cost too much to weed out the valid data from the invalid data.