Nah, MS will just open up an Austin office, to associate themselves with the University of Texas Longhorns (who are going to get absolutely creamed by Ohio State - mark my words. Ted Ginn Jr. is unstoppable, and Troy Smith hung more yards than anyone else on Michigan..).
I went to the University of Oklahoma, you insensitive clod!
Making legal decisions based on scripture is a thorny issue... you'd probably be interested in this Colorado supreme court decision about the influence of the bible on a death penalty case (see here for news article and here for the court's opinion). I personally agree with the two dissenting justices, that the bible is a valid part of the individual person's moral code. Obviously, some would disagree on this issue - but it's an interesting subject for debate nonetheless.
It's been my personal experience that the most stereotypically "fundamental" Christians spend very little time reading the bible. Instead, they seem to feed off this warped socially conservative culture that has developed in American society. Jesus said that "the traditions of men nullify the word of God"... meaning that bad things happen when people supplant the actual word of God with their personal social or cultural traditions.
Most of what is labeled as "Christianity" in our modern culture simply isn't. I encourage you to look past all the goofy Jerry Falwell conservative stereotypes, and read the bible with a fresh perspective.
Read the book of 1st John in the new testament, and if you like that read the gospel of John. Those two books should give you a good understanding of what Christianity is all about, straight from the horse's mouth.
Hmmm... I am both a Christian and a video gamer/D&D player. That stuff is just inane fun, and it only adversely affects people who have trouble distinguishing fiction from reality. I can guarantee there have been crazy people willing to kill, steal, rape, and commit heinous crimes LONG before the advent of RPG's. To assume otherwise is a logical fallacy.
In the same vein, some of these very same crazy people mentally associate themselves with the forms of religion. Jesus even said that there is a parallel between the amount we forgive others, and the amount that God forgives us. Obviously it is not scripturally accurate to kill or steal with a perverse notion of social justice.
I guess with this long-winded reply that no one will probably read, I'm just saying that certain people are willing to commit violent crimes, and will make up reasons to justify it in their head.
Ultimately, the best we can do as a society is to raise our children well, help those in poverty, and make sure that our prison system is focused on reform and individual improvements rather than simple incarceration.
It makes me sick to see people treat others so poorly, and you are right to be horrified at these violent crimes. It is in no way keeping with the teachings or life of Jesus, and in fact Jesus would be among the first to condemn such actions.
Two of them are talking about the amount of control they have over their wives, while the Ferenghi remains quiet. After a while one of the first two turns to the third and says, "Well, what about you, what sort of control do you have over your wife?"
The Ferenghi says "I'll tell you. Just the other night my wife came to me on her hands and knees." The first two blokes were amazed. "What happened then?" they asked.
"She said, 'GET OUT FROM UNDER THE BED AND FIGHT LIKE A MAN!'."
We aren't allowed to use scripted teleprompters in my line of work... so I secretly arranged to have an earpiece and a wireless audio receiver hidden in my jacket.
Maybe I'm just an old-timer, but in my day we'd spooge free trips to conferences from employers, and talk to other people while there.
You get double networking points if you have a booth with some interesting content and some free "gimme" crap... and triple points if you teach a seminar or give a lecture.
Another good thing to do is teach a community college class in your area of expertise... It's a good way to meet people who are in a similar profession or who will one day be there.
Also, go to every professional association meeting for one or two organizations. It's always the same people at all that crap (at least in my industry), so if you want to be identified as a "player", it's helpful to at least make an appearance at that stuff.
Possibly check out the alumni thing for your department at university (if your work is relevant to your degree)... This is a good way to meet older people in the same line of work, many of whom are quite supportive of young folks.
I'm work at a consulting shop, so this might only be applicable to some... but get as much face time with the clients as possbile, and be sure that they know you are the one to call when something needs to get done. Establish a pattern that if they have a problem, they call you, and the problem goes away. You would be amazed how easy it is to build a good reputation just by answering phone calls or email, and sending a prompt reply.
Failing all else, I'd probably try to use an internet medium to network. I was a member of allexperts.com in my specific area of technical expertise for about a year. In that year, I probably got 10 offtopic questions, and about 30 requests from college kids to help with their homework.
I've not tried any other internet things, but my supposition is that the "audience" for your profile is too generalized. You need to get your mug in front of potential employers, and that doesn't sound like a time-effective solution. Go for it if you enjoy doodling around on the internet, but I wouldn't have any great expectation of success.
Well son, you've got a very high user ID, telling me that you're new to the community.
Stick around for awhile, and you'll find yourself making anti-Microsoft jokes during casual conversation, buying a $3000 powerbook to run Yellow Dog Linux, and eagerly anticipating the next World of Warcraft story on slashdot games.
I'm only 100,000 users newer than you, and this website has already contributed significantly to my social dysfunctions. I'm assuming that long-time users either mentally implode or develop better coping mechanisms than I have.
Thanks for the kind words! I also hope to be able to successfully combine law and programming in order to get a similar sense of satisfaction.
It's probably economically more efficient to pick one profession and stick with it, but for me personally it is more valuable than money to be able to choose from a range of job opportunities.
I'm going to go to law school starting in August. You can work in the field of high-tech law, intellectual property, and patents... I personally am more interested in the software business than I am in writing code, so take that with a grain of salt.
And, you can also diversify into numerous other legal specializations if you get bored or need a change of pace.
The average starting salary varies wildly depending on the type of entity you work for and your geographic location. But, it is my suspicion that you could pretty readily get a decent management job at a software company with 1) technical experience; 2) a BS in CS; and 3) a JD.
There's always the option of going into private practice, or you could work for the FBI/CIA/NSA if you have a penchant for government work (and a clean background).
There's lots more to say on the subject of techno-lawyers, so I'm interested to see what else people have to say Re: law school.
I came from a similar background - I dropped out of University during my last semester to take a fairly high-paying programming job. I've been working here three years now, and am FINALLY about to finish my degree.
I recommend taking the higher paying job, and save up the extra cash to pay for school and living expenses out of pocket. That way if anything goes south with your job, you can take a break from work and complete your degree without financial pressure.
I had the money saved up to live for a semester and write a check for 18 hours of tuition, but I ended up going to class part-time while still remaining employed. So, I recently spent the extra cash I had saved up on an engagement ring. There will always be a use for the money, even if you come up with an alternative way to finance your education.
I'm not that wild to write code anymore, so once I graduate in May I'll be entering law school. There's a world of options and good things to do out there, and at least professionally many of them require a degree. That being said, don't turn down the opportunity to make more money if it's available... just think of it as a creative financing arrangement for your schooling.
"It can be intimidating at first, because they wrap their arms pretty tight around you, and everything they latch onto is pretty much headed straight to their mouth," Schmitz said.
Wow, it sounds like Bill Cosby has been learning some of these robotic octopus moves...
This was the "Reader's Choice" award for brandchannel.com. As an online survey, it would be heavily weighted towards technology companies such as Apple and Google.
Brands such as Q-tips, Kleenex, Jell-O, Cheerios, Jiff, the Green Bay Packers, and Tide all probably have higher recognition rates as a percentage of the total (US) population.
Two forms of commercial-grade aerial photos... taken from satellite, and taken from airplane.
It's relatively cheap and easy to get satellite photos of around 1 meter resolution for almost anywhere in the world. You can get them from a company like Space Imaging. Two caveats:
1) the US government will often purchase the rights to "black out" an entire region of coverage. It would be next to impossible to get current air photos of Iraq or Afghanistan, for example
2) It can be tricky to get satellite photos from a specific time. The satellite orbits the earth and takes pictures in long, narrow bands. So, you have to pretty much take what you can get when the satellite is overhead, and hope there isn't much cloudcover that day. So, it's difficult to get time-sensitive data from a satellite provider.
As far as air plane photos, they would likely subcontract out the operation to a company already in the US or Canada. This way, you can fly underneath the clouds, your resolution is generally higher, and you can pick the date/time of your imagery. The downside is the cost - you have to pay some joker with his own plane and some expensive camera gear to take the raw image. Then, if you want to actually use the imagery in a mapping or GIS environment, you have to bend the image into a map projection with the proper coordinates defined.
The only other option I can think of would be to acquire the data from previously existing historical sources such as the USGS digital orthophotos, LandSat, etc. These have varying degrees of quality, and vary in availability from state to state.
Slashdot Mirror
Nah, MS will just open up an Austin office, to associate themselves with the University of Texas Longhorns (who are going to get absolutely creamed by Ohio State - mark my words. Ted Ginn Jr. is unstoppable, and Troy Smith hung more yards than anyone else on Michigan..).
I went to the University of Oklahoma, you insensitive clod!
(we hate Texas!)
I've got plenty of the pink latex sleeves you can have, if you're serious about making this work...
It would be nice to make those Ipod's pay for themselves, heck I can start a Slave Ipod Mill!!!
You're not the first to have this idea... Where do you think they get all the free ipods from?
Making legal decisions based on scripture is a thorny issue... you'd probably be interested in this Colorado supreme court decision about the influence of the bible on a death penalty case (see here for news article and here for the court's opinion). I personally agree with the two dissenting justices, that the bible is a valid part of the individual person's moral code. Obviously, some would disagree on this issue - but it's an interesting subject for debate nonetheless.
It's been my personal experience that the most stereotypically "fundamental" Christians spend very little time reading the bible. Instead, they seem to feed off this warped socially conservative culture that has developed in American society. Jesus said that "the traditions of men nullify the word of God"... meaning that bad things happen when people supplant the actual word of God with their personal social or cultural traditions.
Most of what is labeled as "Christianity" in our modern culture simply isn't. I encourage you to look past all the goofy Jerry Falwell conservative stereotypes, and read the bible with a fresh perspective.
Read the book of 1st John in the new testament, and if you like that read the gospel of John. Those two books should give you a good understanding of what Christianity is all about, straight from the horse's mouth.
Thanks for that, you just immeasurably improved my day with those links
Hmmm... I am both a Christian and a video gamer/D&D player. That stuff is just inane fun, and it only adversely affects people who have trouble distinguishing fiction from reality. I can guarantee there have been crazy people willing to kill, steal, rape, and commit heinous crimes LONG before the advent of RPG's. To assume otherwise is a logical fallacy.
In the same vein, some of these very same crazy people mentally associate themselves with the forms of religion. Jesus even said that there is a parallel between the amount we forgive others, and the amount that God forgives us. Obviously it is not scripturally accurate to kill or steal with a perverse notion of social justice.
I guess with this long-winded reply that no one will probably read, I'm just saying that certain people are willing to commit violent crimes, and will make up reasons to justify it in their head.
Ultimately, the best we can do as a society is to raise our children well, help those in poverty, and make sure that our prison system is focused on reform and individual improvements rather than simple incarceration.
It makes me sick to see people treat others so poorly, and you are right to be horrified at these violent crimes. It is in no way keeping with the teachings or life of Jesus, and in fact Jesus would be among the first to condemn such actions.
Two of them are talking about the amount of control they have over their wives, while the Ferenghi remains quiet. After a while one of the first two turns to the third and says, "Well, what about you, what sort of control do you have over your wife?"
The Ferenghi says "I'll tell you. Just the other night my wife came to me on her hands and knees." The first two blokes were amazed. "What happened then?" they asked.
"She said, 'GET OUT FROM UNDER THE BED AND FIGHT LIKE A MAN!'."
We aren't allowed to use scripted teleprompters in my line of work... so I secretly arranged to have an earpiece and a wireless audio receiver hidden in my jacket.
I sure fooled everyone in the audience... heehee!
~GWB
I see you're trying to counter the open source movement... Let's get started! Would you like to:
-Spell check
-Grammar check
-Print this document
-Connect to Microsoft Office Online
[/CLIPPY]
Maybe I'm just an old-timer, but in my day we'd spooge free trips to conferences from employers, and talk to other people while there.
You get double networking points if you have a booth with some interesting content and some free "gimme" crap... and triple points if you teach a seminar or give a lecture.
Another good thing to do is teach a community college class in your area of expertise... It's a good way to meet people who are in a similar profession or who will one day be there.
Also, go to every professional association meeting for one or two organizations. It's always the same people at all that crap (at least in my industry), so if you want to be identified as a "player", it's helpful to at least make an appearance at that stuff.
Possibly check out the alumni thing for your department at university (if your work is relevant to your degree)... This is a good way to meet older people in the same line of work, many of whom are quite supportive of young folks.
I'm work at a consulting shop, so this might only be applicable to some... but get as much face time with the clients as possbile, and be sure that they know you are the one to call when something needs to get done. Establish a pattern that if they have a problem, they call you, and the problem goes away. You would be amazed how easy it is to build a good reputation just by answering phone calls or email, and sending a prompt reply.
Failing all else, I'd probably try to use an internet medium to network. I was a member of allexperts.com in my specific area of technical expertise for about a year. In that year, I probably got 10 offtopic questions, and about 30 requests from college kids to help with their homework.
I've not tried any other internet things, but my supposition is that the "audience" for your profile is too generalized. You need to get your mug in front of potential employers, and that doesn't sound like a time-effective solution. Go for it if you enjoy doodling around on the internet, but I wouldn't have any great expectation of success.
Well son, you've got a very high user ID, telling me that you're new to the community.
Stick around for awhile, and you'll find yourself making anti-Microsoft jokes during casual conversation, buying a $3000 powerbook to run Yellow Dog Linux, and eagerly anticipating the next World of Warcraft story on slashdot games.
I'm only 100,000 users newer than you, and this website has already contributed significantly to my social dysfunctions. I'm assuming that long-time users either mentally implode or develop better coping mechanisms than I have.
That reminds me of the old patent office joke, about the guy who invented a solar-powered flashlight...
Thanks for the kind words! I also hope to be able to successfully combine law and programming in order to get a similar sense of satisfaction.
It's probably economically more efficient to pick one profession and stick with it, but for me personally it is more valuable than money to be able to choose from a range of job opportunities.
I'm going to go to law school starting in August. You can work in the field of high-tech law, intellectual property, and patents... I personally am more interested in the software business than I am in writing code, so take that with a grain of salt.
And, you can also diversify into numerous other legal specializations if you get bored or need a change of pace.
The average starting salary varies wildly depending on the type of entity you work for and your geographic location. But, it is my suspicion that you could pretty readily get a decent management job at a software company with 1) technical experience; 2) a BS in CS; and 3) a JD.
There's always the option of going into private practice, or you could work for the FBI/CIA/NSA if you have a penchant for government work (and a clean background).
There's lots more to say on the subject of techno-lawyers, so I'm interested to see what else people have to say Re: law school.
Hi Brian,
I always enjoy reading your posts, so I just signed up for M59 today.
Say Hi if you see ElmerTheCat online on server 102
I came from a similar background - I dropped out of University during my last semester to take a fairly high-paying programming job. I've been working here three years now, and am FINALLY about to finish my degree.
I recommend taking the higher paying job, and save up the extra cash to pay for school and living expenses out of pocket. That way if anything goes south with your job, you can take a break from work and complete your degree without financial pressure.
I had the money saved up to live for a semester and write a check for 18 hours of tuition, but I ended up going to class part-time while still remaining employed. So, I recently spent the extra cash I had saved up on an engagement ring. There will always be a use for the money, even if you come up with an alternative way to finance your education.
I'm not that wild to write code anymore, so once I graduate in May I'll be entering law school. There's a world of options and good things to do out there, and at least professionally many of them require a degree. That being said, don't turn down the opportunity to make more money if it's available... just think of it as a creative financing arrangement for your schooling.
"It can be intimidating at first, because they wrap their arms pretty tight around you, and everything they latch onto is pretty much headed straight to their mouth," Schmitz said.
Wow, it sounds like Bill Cosby has been learning some of these robotic octopus moves...
This was the "Reader's Choice" award for brandchannel.com. As an online survey, it would be heavily weighted towards technology companies such as Apple and Google.
Brands such as Q-tips, Kleenex, Jell-O, Cheerios, Jiff, the Green Bay Packers, and Tide all probably have higher recognition rates as a percentage of the total (US) population.
You now have 2.68 fewer microseconds each day to do whatever it is you do.
Yay! My first raise in pay since 2001!!
Do like me and just change your password to "password"...
Problem solved.
Trust me, it's not all that great
Back in my day, my data had a densitey of 2.3 Library of Congresses per Hogs head, and that's the way we liked it!
Ha, in my day we stored data in a shoebox full of 90 column UNIVAC cards, and God help the person who folded one or put a hole in the wrong place.
Heh, this should have been a slashdot poll... What is the mysterious object in the picture?
1) part of the ISS that fell off.
2) a meteor
3) a meteorite (to troll the astronomy experts who will have to chime in and explain the difference)
4) the opening salvo of an alien invasion
5) Santa's sleigh
6) Cowboyneal's private jet
Two forms of commercial-grade aerial photos... taken from satellite, and taken from airplane.
It's relatively cheap and easy to get satellite photos of around 1 meter resolution for almost anywhere in the world. You can get them from a company like Space Imaging. Two caveats:
1) the US government will often purchase the rights to "black out" an entire region of coverage. It would be next to impossible to get current air photos of Iraq or Afghanistan, for example
2) It can be tricky to get satellite photos from a specific time. The satellite orbits the earth and takes pictures in long, narrow bands. So, you have to pretty much take what you can get when the satellite is overhead, and hope there isn't much cloudcover that day. So, it's difficult to get time-sensitive data from a satellite provider.
As far as air plane photos, they would likely subcontract out the operation to a company already in the US or Canada. This way, you can fly underneath the clouds, your resolution is generally higher, and you can pick the date/time of your imagery. The downside is the cost - you have to pay some joker with his own plane and some expensive camera gear to take the raw image. Then, if you want to actually use the imagery in a mapping or GIS environment, you have to bend the image into a map projection with the proper coordinates defined.
The only other option I can think of would be to acquire the data from previously existing historical sources such as the USGS digital orthophotos, LandSat, etc. These have varying degrees of quality, and vary in availability from state to state.
What's really smarmy is that you registered to Slashdot just to post that
(just kidding, welcome to The Order)