I worked in an open plan office where the designers touted the "you can over hear discussions and chip in - helps stimulate communication flows."
Yup - sure did. Now all I could hear for the entire damned floor was who watched what on the TV, what sports were in vogue, who was with whom, fashion, office gossip, bullshit, etc.
Best thing I ever did was bring my music and headphones with me. When you're trying to write a document, plan a project, etc (let alone trying to write code) you want zero interruptions. Asking everyone to be quiet just doesn't work (quick road to "asshole" reputation) so hey, guess what, put them headphones on and make people come to you if they need you.
You'll definitely need "war rooms" or whatever you want to call them. Just make sure you can get enough high-level clout to kick out those who try to reserve them. The architects put a few of these in on every floor. Guess what - very quickly reserved for meetings, additional staff where we'd run out of desks, etc.
It got so half the time we wouldn't even try to find one - just head off to "Latte Room 1" at the cafe downstairs.
Wonder how many Open Plan designers/architects work in such an environment with everyday folks, not just their small, targeted teams. They should be forced to work WITH THE CLIENT in the environment for the first year. Lets see how much they like it then, eh? Oh, bad luck, can't concentrate, getting distracted, no space to have a quick meeting - boooooo - poor you. Maybe offices would work better? Wow - there's a concept...
a personalized avatar or something that can interact with you and perhaps assist you in your daily endevours (with a touch of attitude?).."
Me: OK phone, time to call that hot chick about tonight...
Phone: No, you should call your mother first!
Me: What? No! Hot chick time, please.
Phone: Your mom has called five times and left messages that you've never returned.
Me: So what - she can wait - get me the hot chick, I'm ultra horny!
Phone: You shouldn't treat your mom that way! I'm half inclined to delete that wanton harlot's name and number from my database. I think I'll call her and tell her what you've been up to. Or, maybe I'll do a conference call and let all your hot chicks find out about each other!
When I picked up a laptop a few years back, I decided to get the 3 year, on site, next business day warranty they offered. Only cost an extra couple of hundred dollars on a beefy laptop and, given the thing is my work & my life, I can't afford it not working.
Sure enough, within the first year, the keyboard started acting up. After swapping keyboards, motherboards and pretty much everything except the hard disk and CPU, they finally decided to replace my whole laptop.
Best bit was, they never took back the old one, so while it has keyboard problems, it still works. I now have two sweet laptops for the price of one with the old one used for CD ripping, burning, playing music and watching videos while I work on the main one.
Very handy.
So, given the importance of a laptop, I recommend my clients get a good on-site warranty if they're buying from a "big name" brand. Of course, it pays to check who's backing the warranty, what happens if the original supplier goes out of business, etc - there are some wonky operations out there and warranties that aren't worth the money you pay.
Make sure that whatever you're using lets you configure buffer sizes and such for the TCP/IP transmission. A client of mine was using a satellite to link their networks in head office and a mine in the back of nowhere. They used a large number of transponders on the satellite but weren't getting anywhere near the transfer rate they should. It was all due to the TCP/IP stack not sending on packets until it had received ACKs for those it had already sent. Given the small pending buffer size and the high latency of sending packets up & back twice (from HQ to site then the ACK coming back), it could only send a few before it had to stop & wait. Increasing the buffer solved the problem.
They were using NT and Citrix (this was back in 1997) and had to hack the registry on the gateway machines, but once it was done they got the expected bandwidth.
First thing to check, of course, is what bandwidth you'll need between the remote site and your HQ (could be high if you're going to use the link to hook them into the 'net). Next thing is figure out how many transponders you'll need on the bird to give you that bandwidth. Then figure the cost of using that many transponders. Once you recover from the sticker shock, you can determine whether they get a slow email/news only link or a full high-speed surfing link:)
Sorry I can't give you exact details - I wasn't doing the technical aspects of the project and haven't kept up with satellite pricing lately...
I've decided to start a new recording label to see what happens. The plan is to release music under a Creative Commons license. Music will be released for general use & copying - just call us first if you're going to make money out of it as we may want our cut.
You'll be able to buy CD's if you want or download lower quality copies of music from the site. If you want to rip & burn & share the music - go for it. The more people doing it, the better - get our names out there.
The end goal is to do something like the open source/free software movement with music. Get money from somewhere else while making your music. If you get popular, maybe you get calls asking you to write stuff for movies, parties, elevators (god forbid!:), etc. Maybe you get calls to go on tour. Maybe you don't.
Sorta means that the people who are producing the music are those who love it enough to dedicate their evenings, weekends and general spare time into its creation while working somewhere else for a living. I don't know about you, but to me those folks usually put out music with more spirit and feeling because it's a passion, not a living...
Stacks here in Melbourne, Australia
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PC Baangs In America
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· Score: 3, Interesting
We have quite a number of PC-Baang sites setting up here in Melbourne (been around in the inner city for a few years). Sure, Cyber Cafes have been around for yonks and we used them while travelling, etc. For the PC-Baangs, it was the concept of the netbash that got our attention. We occasionally would go down to one for a mega-bash when we had more people than would fit in one of our lounge rooms:)
For some, it's their life (no PC at home due to space, money, travel, etc) and for others it's just a fun excursion. Judging by the number of them springing up, there's a market for them all right:)
Damn, even I remember this one and I'm notorious for my short term memory loss. Who was smoking what when this one got posted?:)
Re:SMS: intrusive and an invitation to spammers
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SMS Messaging Unreliable
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· Score: 2, Interesting
Here in Australia (as with Europe, I believe), the originator of the SMS pays for it, not the sender. The only "spam" SMS messages I've received have been from the cellular provider advising of new services (and the ones saying "Pay now or die!":)
I don't carry a pager. Hell, I don't even use my home line for voice (just for fax/'net). People SMS me either through free/paid gateways, ICQ or their phones.
I find SMS is incredibly convenient for sending messages to people when I don't think it's important enough to interrupt what they're doing. It's also something you can do while doing something else (you know, touch type a message in english while talking in spanish to someone - lots of fun - you should try - even better if you're driving at the same time *larf*)
Unless it's real urgent that I speak to someone, I'll text them. I send more SMS than I make calls - go figga...
So yeah, SMS is incredibly useful for lots of reasons. Still, I would imagine if you paid to receive them (what a joke) and already had pager, etc - it might not be so useful...
Most of the people I know with phone-camera thingo's are using them most to send pictures of their various dangly bits. Like the telephone, 8mm film, video, broadband Internet, DVD and so on, new tech is likely to be boosted significantly by those seeking/sending pr0n.
"Yo, I'm texting with one hand, baby!!!! See!??!!":)
Hey, if the RIAA "DoS/Hack P2P copyrighted music traders" bill gets passed, surely we can use this to legitimately net.nuke the spammers into the dirt???:)
I picked up a couple of Bit-Char-G units in Tokyo the other day (RX-7 and WRX - the STi model - even has the pink Subaru logo:). A quick assembly session in Bangkok over a couple of beers and vroom - I was away. Even my 4 year old son can drive the things.
Back here in Australia we're racing them around the kitchen and, occasionally, on my work bench. I've been tempted to take them to the next dance party night and race them around the DJ console('scuse the blatant plug:)
If you're living in tight spaces or don't have access to large "play" areas, these things rock. The guys at Subaru here are completely gaga over them (sprinting the WRX around the desk in the STi sales room - much fun:)
Oh, great, yet another concept that the media will jump all over, hype out of proportion, put up on a high platform for all to worship, make great claims & expectations for then, when it fails to meet such high ideals, skewer it with "what a bunch of losers" articles...
Lets see now - Netscape, Java, thin computing, Linux, now (potentially) this. All hyped out beyond belief, all racing to keep up with the hype, all having troubles to clear the ever-raising hurdle, all being hassled by the press. All still great technologies, worth using and being used right now - it's just that none have knocked M$ off it's perch, despite the eager hyping of the press & some idiots...
Perhaps a gradual accumulation will do it - thin-client computers running Linux, Java and Mozilla - no hype, just the quiet achievement.
Hmmmm - sounds like the cheap-ass Celeron 1.7GHz workstations I'm installing at a client's to run apps from their intranet & the Internet - not a copy of MS-Office or Windoze in site (next time we'll use AMD too:)
Re:I Spent a Few Weeks in Seoul...
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Net-Nexus Seoul
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· Score: 1
I'm supposed to be in Seoul for a couple of weeks in August. I'll be staying at a campus that's been wireless since 1999 so it should be pretty cool. The people I'm going to be there with have been before, so they're promising me lots of great sites, etc.
Me, my camera and my (wireless) laptop for two weeks in Korea - this should be a fun time:)
OK, so back in the past, unions did a lot of good stuff and fought for the right of the worker to not be stomped by nasty employers. Given the situation 100 years ago, I can agree that was a good thing.
However, times change and I'm not going to rely on the situation of 100 years ago to justify what I see around me in unions today. Afterall, I'm driving a shit-hot car with great features and flying ace aircraft now - 100 years ago, we didn't have all that. Should I accept shoddy driving/flying environments because a group fought to get them 100 years ago?:)
Here are some notes from my experience many years ago:
1. Working as a casual hours shop assistant in a KMart (working for pocketmoney while at school) - I was *forced* to take a 15 minute break in the middle of my four hour shift because the union demanded it. They never asked me if I liked having to sit for 15 minutes in the smokey staff area wondering how long it would take to get back into the swing of my work when I returned to the floor.
2. Despite Australia's "voluntary union" status, I was forced to pay union dues (deal between unions & mega-store chain to reduce disruptions).
3. The union supported government parties/delegates that I did not.
4. Votes were conducted as a "show of hands," not a secret ballot. Guess what kind of experience you would have if you voted against the desires of the union/delegate....
Now some current experience from a union that is a client of mine (I do IT/management consulting for them)
1. Fewer people joining the union has resulted in less income which is placing a strain on their out-dated management concepts (little empires, massive duplication of effort, obsolete equipment, etc).
2. Senior union management are realising that they may have to downsize and undergo process review/re-engineering to survive (all the things they complained about when fighting employers:)
3. One union here is in the middle of a strike with its own admin staff - they are part of a different union and are striking over work conditions at the union's offices. Poetic justice?:)
Unions once were great, have gone through a period where they got "too big for their boots" and are now being dragged back to reality. Where I see a union excelling is:
1. Where people cannot job-hop to other employers for better conditions, etc (hotshot tech/management staff can get away with it - call centre staff often cannot:( The classic example mentioned here was the car manufacturers "colluding" on payrates and preventing skilled staff job-hopping.
2. Where "free" legal advice/service is not available - either contract reviews or fighting for rights - such as the firebrigade staff who were terminated for speaking out. Unions can offer a centralised service to members for free/cheap due to economies of scale.
Reviewing the above two points, isn't this what groups like the IEEE and Australian Computer Society attempt to offer?
One person has noted previously in this discussion that they wouldn't join the IEEE due to their political machinations. Perhaps if sufficient people were to note their disagreement with this direction, the IEEE could:
a) stop their machinations
b) have an "opt-in" political contribution as part of membership - those who agree pay, those who don't do not (nifty way of checking if they really do represent the desires of their members:)
Organisations such as unions have their benefits, provided they create and maintain a system which is agreed to by their members. One problem here is in the method by which member agreement is obtained. Another problem is getting a large group of people to agree on anything:)
There is a need for some sort of representation for those in IT who do not have cutting edge skills (eg: those who haven't reinvented themselves every couple of years). Whether a union is the answer or not will be decided by the industry itself over the coming years.
The mere fact that we have weekends, vacations, child labor laws, minimum wages, basic safety standards in the workplace etc, etc all stem from the labor movement over the last century.
Damn - now I go an do this contracting/consulting thing and find that weekends are for working, vacations are a figment of my deranged imagination, my pre-school child is helping me code (and doing a better job of it - little bugger!) not to mention the fact that my desk doesn't sit right and I'm sure the lighting is out of whack.
Still, the $500k per year I'm pulling in more than pays my medical, loss of income protection and other such things.
I figure that when I retire in a couple of years, I might just buy me one of them union things...
*cough cough*
Most of the above is a joke - I'll leave it to you guys to figure which bits are jokes and for what reason(s):)
If we were to relocate the moon such that it wound up impacting with Mars, we'd be worrying about a LOT more than just a few rock fragments that would eventually reach us. I for one would be worrying about:
1. Hey, where did that big glowing thing in the sky go?
2. They used *how much* force to do that?
3. Why is the earth wobbling in its orbit?
4. Where did all the tides go?
Mind you, this didn't stop Gerry Anderson making a rather neat (for the 70's:) science fiction show on TV. Go SPACE-1999 - I always wanted an Eagle to ride to school in:)
I have argued many times with web developers about ensuring that web sites will work with any browser. It was easier to win the argument when I was the boss, but I'm still managing to prevail as a consultant:) Some simple reasons are:
1. A well designed & implemented web site which works on all browsers is more robust, better planned and easier to maintain.
2. It doesn't take much effort if you know what the hell you are doing!
3. Alienating even 5% of your potential audience is not a good idea if it doesn't take much more effort to make it right for "everyone" (don't forget, one happy person tells another, one pissed off person tells as many as they can:)
4. The "top sites" are coding for all browsers - if we use them as examples of good design, why not extend that to implementation as well?
Basically, those who can't be stuffed to write "generic" sites are lazy non-professionals who are taking advantage of an "easy out" argument.
Unfortunately, I do not see much progress towards a more balanced client-side of the web. Most office & personal installations are using IE (hey, it comes with the OS, installs out of the box, seems well integrated, hmmmm - bit of a no brainer - I just want it to work, I don't care who makes the engine - etc etc etc). The ones using non-IE browsers are those using alternate platforms - usually people with Unix workstations or a grudge against Microsoft:)
Until the non-Microsoft browsers are less than 0.5% of audience, though, I will keep recommending that people code for them. One can only hope that they will claw back enough marketshare to be taken seriously...
Until further notice, all employees are required to be at their desk from 8am until 7pm, with 30 minutes for lunch. There are no exceptions.
What wanker wrote this. I mean, sure, I can sit at my desk for 12 hours per day if that's what you want. Just don't expect much respect for the company, productivity and all that. Hell, 12 hours isn't too bad - there's lots of web surfing and emails to be done in 12 hours....
If your start up company has lots of work to be done and is not doing well, it is entirely likely that not having people at their desks for 12 hours per day is just a symptom, not a cause. Shit like this is really good for giving start-up employees the motivation they need to build greatness (NOT!)
Writing emails like this is indicative of someone who is deluding themselves as to the real reason their company is going under....
OK, so right now I can go and do a sky-diving tandem jump - I strap on to an instructor and off we go. I wonder if they'll have this facility (or equivalent) in this service. Hmmmm - given the joys of orienting/stabilising in zero-g, I'd prefer to do this the first time with an instructor.
Of course, this immediately leads to:
"Any ol' loser can be in the Mile High Club, but I joined the 50 Mile High Club!"
Man, this thing just brings whole new meaning to the concept of re-entry:)
I'm seeing new uses for building roofs. Executives could land exactly on the building they wanted to visit, rather than waiting for cabs and lugging luggage through security checkpoints. As a frequent flier, let me just say that this is one heck of an idea.
"Thank you for flying air re-entry - you are about to touch down on your chosen building in downtown Boston. Your hand luggage is touching down in Manhattan and your underhold luggage is touching down in London, Paris and Prague. We hope you will appreciate the fact that your body is still intact. We look forward to trying to correct this oversight on future flights."
Is there some way of tracking people's comments on Slashdot regarding various subjects? It would be interesting to see who the people are who:
1. Bitch & moan about governments/corporations legislating our freedoms away on the 'net.
2. Champion government/corporate efforts towards reducing SPAM.
3. Champion government/corporate efforts to protect our privacy.
Of course, such a tool would be very handy if it could be used on politicians/ceo's as well (hmmm, this year they're supporting this concept but last year they said it was a joke - interesting:)
Unfortunately, If we want the government/corporations to do #2 & #3, we're opening the door to #1! If we want freedom and anarchy on the 'net, then we're going to get SPAM and lack of freedom. It becomes a "ding-dong" battle between the people inventing technology to give us freedom and those who would then use the technology to piss us off. How do people feel about anonymous systems being used to protect SPAMer's? Does this make up for their use to protect your "legitimate" privacy needs?
As previously mentioned, all too many people want legislation to protect them from themselves! I have been told by police in the USA that they have occasionally been called by parents and asked to discipline their children. Erm - hello???? All too many people want to abdicate responsibility and the need to think for themselves. Perhaps it's a sign of the times - they're too overloaded and just want the "simple" life (read: over regulated, hyper controlled, "I'm happy in my easy chair watching TV" life).
Anarchy vs freedom vs SPAM vs anonymity vs privacy vs legislation vs control - what's happening on the 'net is an extension of what we're seeing in life around us. Are we just going to bitch & moan about it all (and thus be part of the problem) or are we going to do something about it? If the latter, what are we going to do (or what are we already doing)?
Thanks for the responses - lets work the dialogue some more and see how we progess:)
>>1. Unless it's 100% "fire & forget" then the ISP's will bitch & moan about setting it up
Well, let them bitch and moan. It will be the law to comply. (That said, I'd like to figure out a way to get the government out of the model -- I'm working on an idea for it but I don't quite have it yet.)
If they bitch & moan, the odds are that they'll coordinate well enough and get sufficient leverage so the law is changed/dumped. Look at the Communications Decency Act in the USA, the Criminal Justice Bill in the UK and Australia's own "implementation of site filtering" law. Sufficient people bitching & moaning about unfair/unenforceable/hard to implement laws/actions meant either the law got vetoed or was ignored/watered down when it did get in.
"2. Unless it's 100% easy and centralised with automation, it benefits the big boys and not the basement recorders."
That is exactly the idea, that it would be 100% easy. Any random schmuck could get a "tag" for their work simply by registering with the US Copyright Office.
OK - this is good that it's for anyone. Now, it needs international coordination (someone's bound to object to the US copyright office:) plus an audited, international system to ensure that useage is recorded and people are paid fairly, etc.
"3. Packaging the files together into a compressed archive will avoid the TAG searches"
Still working out the details, but my first pass is that the tags would be implemented as part of the IP header and tracked by routing software... file format is unaffected.
Erm - tricky. First up, getting it into IP headers raises issues like:
Roll out across the 'net (how many nodes are IPv6 compliant? It's taking a while...)
The tag will be in EVERY packet, not just those with paid content.
What if I put a copy on my hard disk for use on my various MP3 players. I can still then ZIP it and send it as now the IP headers are no longer around (they're headers for the packets sending my ZIP file around, not the content file).
Still a bit of work required on this one:)
"4. Why should I pay for some lame-o who just slurps TAG'd files?"
This is the biggest argument against the model. It is to some degree unjust that users of minimal copyrighted content subsidize those who consume more. But I believe that this small evil is outweighed by the greater good of providing a simple, equitible way for creators to be paid for internet distribution of their work.
If we're only talking a few cents a month, I'd agree. If, however, we're talking about larger amounts (eg dollars per month or more-bang-per-buck bandwidth, etc) then you'll get people complaining. I've seen ISP's convert their congested links to well loaded, high speed pipes simply by implementing a charge-by use format (typically, $x per month for y hours & z Mb with a charge for every hour/Mb used over the limit). People paying $x per month for "all-you-can-eat" and then sitting there d/l'ing warez, watching videos and listening to web-radio take bandwidth that I could be using to do my research faster, etc. Watch this issue - as you noted, it's the biggest problem.
"5. What about "self-promotion" - I produce a TAG'd file and stick it up somewhere. I then go to what-ever places I can and start d/l'ing the file. It costs me stuff-all (free if I can "borrow" other people's accounts, etc) but it drives up the amount I get paid."
Another valid point. "Gaming" of the system will be possible. But unlike users of Freenet, people who game this system will NOT be anonymous since the checks have to be mailed somewhere! These people can be targeted with civil or criminal legal action to prevent this sort of behavior.
Hmmmm - yes, I would get a check mailed to me, but how would there be a link between my "content producer" alias and my multiple, fake me's that do the downloading? Imagine if I used a virus/worm to install something similar to a DDOS client which background downloaded a copy of my works every half hour:) Even if it were proven, firing lawyers at people doing this isn't too effective in an international setting.
Again, thanks for your interest
No problems - I see this as an interesting concept but there are definitely some details to be straightened out and pushed through. If you can work them out, it could be a winner.
Given the current technical infrastructure and what I've learned of human nature to date, I'd say there'll be more success with a "subscription" model. Make it so cheap to get all the music you want that there's no need to pirate, etc. New business models are likely to be the solution rather than hacking existing models to work online. It's what we're trying to do on our projects - fingers crossed we can figure it out:)
Web content in and of itself is primarily advertising. Information about a company and its products, music samples, and even warez and the like, are all, in a nutshell, advertising: showing us what they've got that we might want to see, use, maybe even [gasp] buy.
Good summary - I gotta learn to stop writing so late at night:)
You're point is valid, however I didn't make clear that the "advertising" side of things is secondary. I'm not sure what you think of some of the articles in computer/technical journals written by consultants/staff of companies such as CISCO. In these, they write about concepts such as networking, future routers, etc etc etc. Generally, this stuff isn't blatant advertising but does add to the general knowledge of the reader. My limited market research (I asked some friends & associates:) has indicated that these articles are generally informative (especially if written like a submission to a scientific journal) and help raise the reader's impression of the author and/or their company. If it becomes blatant advertising, most people "tune out." Here in Australia, most of the blatant stuff gets "advertorial" stamped on it somewhere:)
You're right about the nasty side of advertising in web-content. It's a fine line that we have to walk - I feel if our content is too blatant, we'll lose readership.
Slashdot Mirror
I worked in an open plan office where the designers touted the "you can over hear discussions and chip in - helps stimulate communication flows."
Yup - sure did. Now all I could hear for the entire damned floor was who watched what on the TV, what sports were in vogue, who was with whom, fashion, office gossip, bullshit, etc.
Best thing I ever did was bring my music and headphones with me. When you're trying to write a document, plan a project, etc (let alone trying to write code) you want zero interruptions. Asking everyone to be quiet just doesn't work (quick road to "asshole" reputation) so hey, guess what, put them headphones on and make people come to you if they need you.
You'll definitely need "war rooms" or whatever you want to call them. Just make sure you can get enough high-level clout to kick out those who try to reserve them. The architects put a few of these in on every floor. Guess what - very quickly reserved for meetings, additional staff where we'd run out of desks, etc.
It got so half the time we wouldn't even try to find one - just head off to "Latte Room 1" at the cafe downstairs.
Wonder how many Open Plan designers/architects work in such an environment with everyday folks, not just their small, targeted teams. They should be forced to work WITH THE CLIENT in the environment for the first year. Lets see how much they like it then, eh? Oh, bad luck, can't concentrate, getting distracted, no space to have a quick meeting - boooooo - poor you. Maybe offices would work better? Wow - there's a concept...
*sigh*
a personalized avatar or something that can interact with you and perhaps assist you in your daily endevours (with a touch of attitude?).."
Me: OK phone, time to call that hot chick about tonight...
Phone: No, you should call your mother first!
Me: What? No! Hot chick time, please.
Phone: Your mom has called five times and left messages that you've never returned.
Me: So what - she can wait - get me the hot chick, I'm ultra horny!
Phone: You shouldn't treat your mom that way! I'm half inclined to delete that wanton harlot's name and number from my database. I think I'll call her and tell her what you've been up to. Or, maybe I'll do a conference call and let all your hot chicks find out about each other!
Me: Don't you dare you little piece of....
Phone: [click] Talk to the hand...
>Have you ever really gone flying?
Yup - ballooning, gliding and powered flight (fixed wing & rotary). Working towards getting licenses for all of them.
Once that's done, it's Jet time, baby!
Geeks that fly because they love it and feel at home in the air - a truely scarey concept - proud to be one of them...
When I picked up a laptop a few years back, I decided to get the 3 year, on site, next business day warranty they offered. Only cost an extra couple of hundred dollars on a beefy laptop and, given the thing is my work & my life, I can't afford it not working.
Sure enough, within the first year, the keyboard started acting up. After swapping keyboards, motherboards and pretty much everything except the hard disk and CPU, they finally decided to replace my whole laptop.
Best bit was, they never took back the old one, so while it has keyboard problems, it still works. I now have two sweet laptops for the price of one with the old one used for CD ripping, burning, playing music and watching videos while I work on the main one.
Very handy.
So, given the importance of a laptop, I recommend my clients get a good on-site warranty if they're buying from a "big name" brand. Of course, it pays to check who's backing the warranty, what happens if the original supplier goes out of business, etc - there are some wonky operations out there and warranties that aren't worth the money you pay.
Make sure that whatever you're using lets you configure buffer sizes and such for the TCP/IP transmission. A client of mine was using a satellite to link their networks in head office and a mine in the back of nowhere. They used a large number of transponders on the satellite but weren't getting anywhere near the transfer rate they should. It was all due to the TCP/IP stack not sending on packets until it had received ACKs for those it had already sent. Given the small pending buffer size and the high latency of sending packets up & back twice (from HQ to site then the ACK coming back), it could only send a few before it had to stop & wait. Increasing the buffer solved the problem.
:)
They were using NT and Citrix (this was back in 1997) and had to hack the registry on the gateway machines, but once it was done they got the expected bandwidth.
First thing to check, of course, is what bandwidth you'll need between the remote site and your HQ (could be high if you're going to use the link to hook them into the 'net). Next thing is figure out how many transponders you'll need on the bird to give you that bandwidth. Then figure the cost of using that many transponders. Once you recover from the sticker shock, you can determine whether they get a slow email/news only link or a full high-speed surfing link
Sorry I can't give you exact details - I wasn't doing the technical aspects of the project and haven't kept up with satellite pricing lately...
I've decided to start a new recording label to see what happens. The plan is to release music under a Creative Commons license. Music will be released for general use & copying - just call us first if you're going to make money out of it as we may want our cut.
:), etc. Maybe you get calls to go on tour. Maybe you don't.
You'll be able to buy CD's if you want or download lower quality copies of music from the site. If you want to rip & burn & share the music - go for it. The more people doing it, the better - get our names out there.
The end goal is to do something like the open source/free software movement with music. Get money from somewhere else while making your music. If you get popular, maybe you get calls asking you to write stuff for movies, parties, elevators (god forbid!
Sorta means that the people who are producing the music are those who love it enough to dedicate their evenings, weekends and general spare time into its creation while working somewhere else for a living. I don't know about you, but to me those folks usually put out music with more spirit and feeling because it's a passion, not a living...
We have quite a number of PC-Baang sites setting up here in Melbourne (been around in the inner city for a few years). Sure, Cyber Cafes have been around for yonks and we used them while travelling, etc. For the PC-Baangs, it was the concept of the netbash that got our attention. We occasionally would go down to one for a mega-bash when we had more people than would fit in one of our lounge rooms :)
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For some, it's their life (no PC at home due to space, money, travel, etc) and for others it's just a fun excursion. Judging by the number of them springing up, there's a market for them all right
What, weren't the responses given the last time this was posted enough???
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Damn, even I remember this one and I'm notorious for my short term memory loss. Who was smoking what when this one got posted?
Here in Australia (as with Europe, I believe), the originator of the SMS pays for it, not the sender. The only "spam" SMS messages I've received have been from the cellular provider advising of new services (and the ones saying "Pay now or die!" :)
I don't carry a pager. Hell, I don't even use my home line for voice (just for fax/'net). People SMS me either through free/paid gateways, ICQ or their phones.
I find SMS is incredibly convenient for sending messages to people when I don't think it's important enough to interrupt what they're doing. It's also something you can do while doing something else (you know, touch type a message in english while talking in spanish to someone - lots of fun - you should try - even better if you're driving at the same time *larf*)
Unless it's real urgent that I speak to someone, I'll text them. I send more SMS than I make calls - go figga...
So yeah, SMS is incredibly useful for lots of reasons. Still, I would imagine if you paid to receive them (what a joke) and already had pager, etc - it might not be so useful...
Most of the people I know with phone-camera thingo's are using them most to send pictures of their various dangly bits. Like the telephone, 8mm film, video, broadband Internet, DVD and so on, new tech is likely to be boosted significantly by those seeking/sending pr0n.
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"Yo, I'm texting with one hand, baby!!!! See!??!!"
Wow, you mean this item was so deep, so intense and so amazing that it's wiped out even the most intense urge to claim First Post in the crowd???
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Maybe it was that, by the time they got to the end of the text, they were too zonked out to post.
Congrats to Hemos for finding & posting this one - that's one hell of a subject/concept to get yer head around over a midnight snack
Hey, if the RIAA "DoS/Hack P2P copyrighted music traders" bill gets passed, surely we can use this to legitimately net.nuke the spammers into the dirt??? :)
I picked up a couple of Bit-Char-G units in Tokyo the other day (RX-7 and WRX - the STi model - even has the pink Subaru logo :). A quick assembly session in Bangkok over a couple of beers and vroom - I was away. Even my 4 year old son can drive the things.
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Back here in Australia we're racing them around the kitchen and, occasionally, on my work bench. I've been tempted to take them to the next dance party night and race them around the DJ console('scuse the blatant plug
If you're living in tight spaces or don't have access to large "play" areas, these things rock. The guys at Subaru here are completely gaga over them (sprinting the WRX around the desk in the STi sales room - much fun
Well worth the $$$...
Oh, great, yet another concept that the media will jump all over, hype out of proportion, put up on a high platform for all to worship, make great claims & expectations for then, when it fails to meet such high ideals, skewer it with "what a bunch of losers" articles...
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Lets see now - Netscape, Java, thin computing, Linux, now (potentially) this. All hyped out beyond belief, all racing to keep up with the hype, all having troubles to clear the ever-raising hurdle, all being hassled by the press. All still great technologies, worth using and being used right now - it's just that none have knocked M$ off it's perch, despite the eager hyping of the press & some idiots...
Perhaps a gradual accumulation will do it - thin-client computers running Linux, Java and Mozilla - no hype, just the quiet achievement.
Hmmmm - sounds like the cheap-ass Celeron 1.7GHz workstations I'm installing at a client's to run apps from their intranet & the Internet - not a copy of MS-Office or Windoze in site (next time we'll use AMD too
I'm supposed to be in Seoul for a couple of weeks in August. I'll be staying at a campus that's been wireless since 1999 so it should be pretty cool. The people I'm going to be there with have been before, so they're promising me lots of great sites, etc.
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Me, my camera and my (wireless) laptop for two weeks in Korea - this should be a fun time
OK, so back in the past, unions did a lot of good stuff and fought for the right of the worker to not be stomped by nasty employers. Given the situation 100 years ago, I can agree that was a good thing.
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:( The classic example mentioned here was the car manufacturers "colluding" on payrates and preventing skilled staff job-hopping.
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However, times change and I'm not going to rely on the situation of 100 years ago to justify what I see around me in unions today. Afterall, I'm driving a shit-hot car with great features and flying ace aircraft now - 100 years ago, we didn't have all that. Should I accept shoddy driving/flying environments because a group fought to get them 100 years ago?
Here are some notes from my experience many years ago:
1. Working as a casual hours shop assistant in a KMart (working for pocketmoney while at school) - I was *forced* to take a 15 minute break in the middle of my four hour shift because the union demanded it. They never asked me if I liked having to sit for 15 minutes in the smokey staff area wondering how long it would take to get back into the swing of my work when I returned to the floor.
2. Despite Australia's "voluntary union" status, I was forced to pay union dues (deal between unions & mega-store chain to reduce disruptions).
3. The union supported government parties/delegates that I did not.
4. Votes were conducted as a "show of hands," not a secret ballot. Guess what kind of experience you would have if you voted against the desires of the union/delegate....
Now some current experience from a union that is a client of mine (I do IT/management consulting for them)
1. Fewer people joining the union has resulted in less income which is placing a strain on their out-dated management concepts (little empires, massive duplication of effort, obsolete equipment, etc).
2. Senior union management are realising that they may have to downsize and undergo process review/re-engineering to survive (all the things they complained about when fighting employers
3. One union here is in the middle of a strike with its own admin staff - they are part of a different union and are striking over work conditions at the union's offices. Poetic justice?
Unions once were great, have gone through a period where they got "too big for their boots" and are now being dragged back to reality. Where I see a union excelling is:
1. Where people cannot job-hop to other employers for better conditions, etc (hotshot tech/management staff can get away with it - call centre staff often cannot
2. Where "free" legal advice/service is not available - either contract reviews or fighting for rights - such as the firebrigade staff who were terminated for speaking out. Unions can offer a centralised service to members for free/cheap due to economies of scale.
Reviewing the above two points, isn't this what groups like the IEEE and Australian Computer Society attempt to offer?
One person has noted previously in this discussion that they wouldn't join the IEEE due to their political machinations. Perhaps if sufficient people were to note their disagreement with this direction, the IEEE could:
a) stop their machinations
b) have an "opt-in" political contribution as part of membership - those who agree pay, those who don't do not (nifty way of checking if they really do represent the desires of their members
Organisations such as unions have their benefits, provided they create and maintain a system which is agreed to by their members. One problem here is in the method by which member agreement is obtained. Another problem is getting a large group of people to agree on anything
There is a need for some sort of representation for those in IT who do not have cutting edge skills (eg: those who haven't reinvented themselves every couple of years). Whether a union is the answer or not will be decided by the industry itself over the coming years.
The mere fact that we have weekends, vacations, child labor laws, minimum wages, basic safety standards in the workplace etc, etc all stem from the labor movement over the last century.
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Damn - now I go an do this contracting/consulting thing and find that weekends are for working, vacations are a figment of my deranged imagination, my pre-school child is helping me code (and doing a better job of it - little bugger!) not to mention the fact that my desk doesn't sit right and I'm sure the lighting is out of whack.
Still, the $500k per year I'm pulling in more than pays my medical, loss of income protection and other such things.
I figure that when I retire in a couple of years, I might just buy me one of them union things...
*cough cough*
Most of the above is a joke - I'll leave it to you guys to figure which bits are jokes and for what reason(s)
If we were to relocate the moon such that it wound up impacting with Mars, we'd be worrying about a LOT more than just a few rock fragments that would eventually reach us. I for one would be worrying about:
:) science fiction show on TV. Go SPACE-1999 - I always wanted an Eagle to ride to school in :)
1. Hey, where did that big glowing thing in the sky go?
2. They used *how much* force to do that?
3. Why is the earth wobbling in its orbit?
4. Where did all the tides go?
Mind you, this didn't stop Gerry Anderson making a rather neat (for the 70's
I have argued many times with web developers about ensuring that web sites will work with any browser. It was easier to win the argument when I was the boss, but I'm still managing to prevail as a consultant :) Some simple reasons are:
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1. A well designed & implemented web site which works on all browsers is more robust, better planned and easier to maintain.
2. It doesn't take much effort if you know what the hell you are doing!
3. Alienating even 5% of your potential audience is not a good idea if it doesn't take much more effort to make it right for "everyone" (don't forget, one happy person tells another, one pissed off person tells as many as they can
4. The "top sites" are coding for all browsers - if we use them as examples of good design, why not extend that to implementation as well?
Basically, those who can't be stuffed to write "generic" sites are lazy non-professionals who are taking advantage of an "easy out" argument.
Unfortunately, I do not see much progress towards a more balanced client-side of the web. Most office & personal installations are using IE (hey, it comes with the OS, installs out of the box, seems well integrated, hmmmm - bit of a no brainer - I just want it to work, I don't care who makes the engine - etc etc etc). The ones using non-IE browsers are those using alternate platforms - usually people with Unix workstations or a grudge against Microsoft
Until the non-Microsoft browsers are less than 0.5% of audience, though, I will keep recommending that people code for them. One can only hope that they will claw back enough marketshare to be taken seriously...
Until further notice, all employees are required to be at their desk from 8am until 7pm, with 30 minutes for lunch. There are no exceptions.
What wanker wrote this. I mean, sure, I can sit at my desk for 12 hours per day if that's what you want. Just don't expect much respect for the company, productivity and all that. Hell, 12 hours isn't too bad - there's lots of web surfing and emails to be done in 12 hours....
If your start up company has lots of work to be done and is not doing well, it is entirely likely that not having people at their desks for 12 hours per day is just a symptom, not a cause. Shit like this is really good for giving start-up employees the motivation they need to build greatness (NOT!)
Writing emails like this is indicative of someone who is deluding themselves as to the real reason their company is going under....
OK, so right now I can go and do a sky-diving tandem jump - I strap on to an instructor and off we go. I wonder if they'll have this facility (or equivalent) in this service. Hmmmm - given the joys of orienting/stabilising in zero-g, I'd prefer to do this the first time with an instructor.
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Of course, this immediately leads to:
"Any ol' loser can be in the Mile High Club, but I joined the 50 Mile High Club!"
Man, this thing just brings whole new meaning to the concept of re-entry
I'm seeing new uses for building roofs. Executives could land exactly on the building they wanted to visit, rather than waiting for cabs and lugging luggage through security checkpoints. As a frequent flier, let me just say that this is one heck of an idea.
"Thank you for flying air re-entry - you are about to touch down on your chosen building in downtown Boston. Your hand luggage is touching down in Manhattan and your underhold luggage is touching down in London, Paris and Prague. We hope you will appreciate the fact that your body is still intact. We look forward to trying to correct this oversight on future flights."
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Is there some way of tracking people's comments on Slashdot regarding various subjects? It would be interesting to see who the people are who:
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1. Bitch & moan about governments/corporations legislating our freedoms away on the 'net.
2. Champion government/corporate efforts towards reducing SPAM.
3. Champion government/corporate efforts to protect our privacy.
Of course, such a tool would be very handy if it could be used on politicians/ceo's as well (hmmm, this year they're supporting this concept but last year they said it was a joke - interesting
Unfortunately, If we want the government/corporations to do #2 & #3, we're opening the door to #1! If we want freedom and anarchy on the 'net, then we're going to get SPAM and lack of freedom. It becomes a "ding-dong" battle between the people inventing technology to give us freedom and those who would then use the technology to piss us off. How do people feel about anonymous systems being used to protect SPAMer's? Does this make up for their use to protect your "legitimate" privacy needs?
As previously mentioned, all too many people want legislation to protect them from themselves! I have been told by police in the USA that they have occasionally been called by parents and asked to discipline their children. Erm - hello???? All too many people want to abdicate responsibility and the need to think for themselves. Perhaps it's a sign of the times - they're too overloaded and just want the "simple" life (read: over regulated, hyper controlled, "I'm happy in my easy chair watching TV" life).
Anarchy vs freedom vs SPAM vs anonymity vs privacy vs legislation vs control - what's happening on the 'net is an extension of what we're seeing in life around us. Are we just going to bitch & moan about it all (and thus be part of the problem) or are we going to do something about it? If the latter, what are we going to do (or what are we already doing)?
>>1. Unless it's 100% "fire & forget" then the ISP's will bitch & moan about setting it up
Well, let them bitch and moan. It will be the law to comply. (That said, I'd like to figure out a way to get the government out of the model -- I'm working on an idea for it but I don't quite have it yet.)
If they bitch & moan, the odds are that they'll coordinate well enough and get sufficient leverage so the law is changed/dumped. Look at the Communications Decency Act in the USA, the Criminal Justice Bill in the UK and Australia's own "implementation of site filtering" law. Sufficient people bitching & moaning about unfair/unenforceable/hard to implement laws/actions meant either the law got vetoed or was ignored/watered down when it did get in.
"2. Unless it's 100% easy and centralised with automation, it benefits the big boys and not the basement recorders."
That is exactly the idea, that it would be 100% easy. Any random schmuck could get a "tag" for their work simply by registering with the US Copyright Office.
OK - this is good that it's for anyone. Now, it needs international coordination (someone's bound to object to the US copyright office
"3. Packaging the files together into a compressed archive will avoid the TAG searches"
Still working out the details, but my first pass is that the tags would be implemented as part of the IP header and tracked by routing software
Erm - tricky. First up, getting it into IP headers raises issues like:
- Roll out across the 'net (how many nodes are IPv6 compliant? It's taking a while...)
- The tag will be in EVERY packet, not just those with paid content.
- What if I put a copy on my hard disk for use on my various MP3 players. I can still then ZIP it and send it as now the IP headers are no longer around (they're headers for the packets sending my ZIP file around, not the content file).
Still a bit of work required on this one"4. Why should I pay for some lame-o who just slurps TAG'd files?"
This is the biggest argument against the model. It is to some degree unjust that users of minimal copyrighted content subsidize those who consume more. But I believe that this small evil is outweighed by the greater good of providing a simple, equitible way for creators to be paid for internet distribution of their work.
If we're only talking a few cents a month, I'd agree. If, however, we're talking about larger amounts (eg dollars per month or more-bang-per-buck bandwidth, etc) then you'll get people complaining. I've seen ISP's convert their congested links to well loaded, high speed pipes simply by implementing a charge-by use format (typically, $x per month for y hours & z Mb with a charge for every hour/Mb used over the limit). People paying $x per month for "all-you-can-eat" and then sitting there d/l'ing warez, watching videos and listening to web-radio take bandwidth that I could be using to do my research faster, etc. Watch this issue - as you noted, it's the biggest problem.
"5. What about "self-promotion" - I produce a TAG'd file and stick it up somewhere. I then go to what-ever places I can and start d/l'ing the file. It costs me stuff-all (free if I can "borrow" other people's accounts, etc) but it drives up the amount I get paid."
Another valid point. "Gaming" of the system will be possible. But unlike users of Freenet, people who game this system will NOT be anonymous since the checks have to be mailed somewhere! These people can be targeted with civil or criminal legal action to prevent this sort of behavior.
Hmmmm - yes, I would get a check mailed to me, but how would there be a link between my "content producer" alias and my multiple, fake me's that do the downloading? Imagine if I used a virus/worm to install something similar to a DDOS client which background downloaded a copy of my works every half hour
Again, thanks for your interest
No problems - I see this as an interesting concept but there are definitely some details to be straightened out and pushed through. If you can work them out, it could be a winner.
Given the current technical infrastructure and what I've learned of human nature to date, I'd say there'll be more success with a "subscription" model. Make it so cheap to get all the music you want that there's no need to pirate, etc. New business models are likely to be the solution rather than hacking existing models to work online. It's what we're trying to do on our projects - fingers crossed we can figure it out
Web content in and of itself is primarily advertising. Information about a company and its products, music samples, and even warez and the like, are all, in a nutshell, advertising: showing us what they've got that we might want to see, use, maybe even [gasp] buy.
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:) has indicated that these articles are generally informative (especially if written like a submission to a scientific journal) and help raise the reader's impression of the author and/or their company. If it becomes blatant advertising, most people "tune out." Here in Australia, most of the blatant stuff gets "advertorial" stamped on it somewhere :)
Good summary - I gotta learn to stop writing so late at night
You're point is valid, however I didn't make clear that the "advertising" side of things is secondary. I'm not sure what you think of some of the articles in computer/technical journals written by consultants/staff of companies such as CISCO. In these, they write about concepts such as networking, future routers, etc etc etc. Generally, this stuff isn't blatant advertising but does add to the general knowledge of the reader. My limited market research (I asked some friends & associates
You're right about the nasty side of advertising in web-content. It's a fine line that we have to walk - I feel if our content is too blatant, we'll lose readership.