I guess thats one reason, but let me maybe present another one. The company I work for recently did some outsourcing to India, even though we mostly went through Chicago when the RFP negotiations were going on when it came to the nitty gritty (i.e. the "real" work) communication was a huuuuge problem. Even after we worked that out the quality of the code we got back was, let us say lacking (this might have just been this one company, but I'm just saying...). Anyway, by the time the project was done it cost us more and took us longer than if we had just hired local contractors to do it. Edmonton is kind of a weird place, there are at least four post-secondary institutions pumping out IT grads three times a year, putting it bluntly we have a lot of skilled IT people flipping burgers around town. Getting those people who are still keen on the IT industry (but don't want to move away) into low paying but IT-related jobs isn't exactly hard to do.
Edmonton has always been an IT hub because of the Provincial Government (and the IT jobs it attracts), but in the last decade big IT firms have moved in and paled that aspect of Edmonton's IT community, firms like IBM, Microsoft, Fujitsu, BioWare, Intuit (etc, etc...).
P.S. It's good to see NAFTA finally doing what it was designed to do, form an even stronger economic partnership between the Americas.
P.P.S. If these Indian companies have indeed found a back door to profit in the good ole USA, you can be sure that the Canadian Revenue Agency will be sucking the life-blood from them if they are profitable. If there's one thing our Government knows how to do, it's tax the bejesus out of any pocketbook...
So start using another search engine, there are plenty out there. Invariably someone somewhere will design a better search algorythm and couple that with a simple / clean design and Google will join the ranks of hip search engines past.
When was the last time anyone printed a story about people going ape over a phonebooth..?
Seriously though, it is kind of a neat achievement, I just think that the potential for a very ironic phone call to the fire department could erupt at any moment..
Nah, my versions are all torrents. Though I have a friend who anually treats us to his LaserDisc magic machine, and we have an "original" Star Wars party...
Somewhere in the Pacific Rim I believe, or sometimes at local trendoid gatherings. Even though they rarely call themselves geeks the last sushi-side conversation I overheard involved heated debate over an unpopular anime, wiring possibilities for a sound system and whether or not Spiderman could kick Supermans ass. If that isn't geek, I don't know what is...;-)
As far back as I remember (the '70s) "cool" characters in books, television and films are always cynical pessimists. We're at the point today where people can't get excited about something like the X-Prize whereas less than a century ago people got so excited about Zeppelins they actually designed buildings with mooring masts on them (i.e. the Empire State building).
Whatever happened to optimism about the future? Well, my thought is that fiction saying that "things might not be so good no matter what you do now" will sell better than "look everything will be bright, shiny and better"...
Good to hear, I read the "Wheel of Time" series up until book nine, which was a dreadful dissappointment (but, don't let that stop you;-) ).
Revisiting older pieces of work was my passion through college, I think I read just about everything James Clavell wrote (the good and the bad). King Rat is a book you can read in a night and is a wonderful story. I would never have read it if I didn't just grab it out of the used bookstore after reading Shogun.
First off I'm Canadian and I used to read a lot when I was in my early teens (and I do mean a lot) I would rip through novels and be hungry for more then I'd get into history and politics and then switch back to novels. Through high school and college I was still reading fiction but only a few hours after going to bed, still a good flow of literature, but nothing like before. Once I got working though I found that I really didn't have the time or the juice to read every night, then that turned into every week and now I barely read at all. Personally I think it's sad and I often wonder why I can't get back into the groove. I went through a streak of some really bad (new) books and I started working more overtime and found that I was too fatigued to keep up even a rudimentary interest in reading consistantly.
Oddly though, I find myself reading a lot of humour content on the web (blogs, articles, etc), but it still doesen't compare to a good book. I guess I have a kind of reader's apathy, I would like to read more, but I never do...
From time to time it strikes me when I go searching through the cards in my wallet and find my old, expired, Library card and think to myself "oh yeah, I should renew that one day..."
Anyone else there in Slashdotland feel this way? Did you ever get back into reading on a regular basis (if so HOW)?;-)
P.S. The last good book I read was "Goodbye, Mickey Mouse" by Len Deighton written in 1982 which I am convinced the 2001 film "Pearl Harbor" stole it's story from, but whatever...
The company I work for only sent upper management, instead of developers to COMDEX. I think COMDEX has been dying because the people who needed to be there weren't, therefore the content presented became more manager-friendly (i.e. stuff we've all heard before, marketing-babble, etc).
The time/money involved in training the staff to adopt to linux is better than sinking huge amounts into fighting viruses and frequent shutdowns.
You sir have never tried to train Gov't employees, I'd rather deal with the viruses...
On the other hand, if Governments (especially the United States Gov't) start using more OSS-based applications / operating systems there will probably be a marked increase in viruses / worms that affect those platforms. Well, other than infecting OSS with a mostly clueless user base.
P.S. I'm mostly joking about Gov't employees, there are quite a few adept Government people, but I'm sure even you guys know about the "lifers" who still pine for their typewriters...
The robot's name on Lost in Space was "ROBOT". The robot in Metropolis is referred to as "False Maria" (though I have also heard the term "robotrix" bandied about).
My nominee for robot would be Maximillian from "The Black Hole" that guy scared me when I was a kid...
Last year I had a "relationship" that ended because I spend a lot of time "on the computer".
I had to do a lot of overtime to meet a deadline, I'm also visually impaired which means that my company gave me VPN access so I could work from home rather than commuting via transit after hours or on the weekend. She started to get really pissed off that I was spending six or more hours straight coding. I kept telling her that it was OT for work and that sales hinged on the completion of that project but she wouldn't have any of it. She had already complained that I spent too much time on the computer, I told her she knew that before we got together and that that was one part of my life that wasen't changing. (six hours a week of e-mail and web-admin is not a huge amount IMHO, I even quit playing games while we were together)
I guess the part that bugged me was the fact even with a crazy-go-nuts schedule peaking at 105 hours a week I still made time to be with her for a couple hours a day, that wasen't enough apparently. My thinking is that she was more upset that I am a computer nerd and that I wasen't going to change.
Don't get me wrong, between games and a relationship I'll pick relationship first, but a relationship is a two way street of give and take. If there is no understanding between partners the partnership will end.
If a bar in your area gets shut down see if they have an auction or find out what liquidation place they use to sell off the old equipment. I know more than one guy who's gotten a good (but old) projector (that's not the expensive part) and a half-decent screen (that can be the expensive part).
Of course, you have to keep your ear to the ground...
This has been on the books in Alberta since Y2K became an issue. According to Alberta labour laws we are treated like "essential services" (police, fire dept, etc) and aren't elligable for OT compensation. Now, that's not to say that many IT companies in Alberta don't do this, it just means that they aren't legally obligated to do so.
I don't even want the money really, I'd just be content with time in lieu. If a project was worth sacrificing my time it should be worth some kind of compensation (or maybe my perception of how important a project is compared to my life will change next time).
For a while I've been buying CDs to replace analog stuff that I don't use anymore (because it's worn), well I'm finished now. And while there is a world of music out there I haven't heard yet a lot of "new" stuff doesen't really appeal to me so I don't buy it.
There are a lot of other people I know who are in the same boat and have slowed in their buying of music. Maybe this accounts for the numbers.
Slashdot Mirror
If?
I guess thats one reason, but let me maybe present another one. The company I work for recently did some outsourcing to India, even though we mostly went through Chicago when the RFP negotiations were going on when it came to the nitty gritty (i.e. the "real" work) communication was a huuuuge problem. Even after we worked that out the quality of the code we got back was, let us say lacking (this might have just been this one company, but I'm just saying...). Anyway, by the time the project was done it cost us more and took us longer than if we had just hired local contractors to do it. Edmonton is kind of a weird place, there are at least four post-secondary institutions pumping out IT grads three times a year, putting it bluntly we have a lot of skilled IT people flipping burgers around town. Getting those people who are still keen on the IT industry (but don't want to move away) into low paying but IT-related jobs isn't exactly hard to do.
Edmonton has always been an IT hub because of the Provincial Government (and the IT jobs it attracts), but in the last decade big IT firms have moved in and paled that aspect of Edmonton's IT community, firms like IBM, Microsoft, Fujitsu, BioWare, Intuit (etc, etc...).
P.S. It's good to see NAFTA finally doing what it was designed to do, form an even stronger economic partnership between the Americas.
P.P.S. If these Indian companies have indeed found a back door to profit in the good ole USA, you can be sure that the Canadian Revenue Agency will be sucking the life-blood from them if they are profitable. If there's one thing our Government knows how to do, it's tax the bejesus out of any pocketbook...
So start using another search engine, there are plenty out there. Invariably someone somewhere will design a better search algorythm and couple that with a simple / clean design and Google will join the ranks of hip search engines past.
First off I'm clueless, so someone 'splain it to me...
Why not let the market decide what it can support instead of forcing an upgrade on everyone?
When was the last time anyone printed a story about people going ape over a phonebooth..?
Seriously though, it is kind of a neat achievement, I just think that the potential for a very ironic phone call to the fire department could erupt at any moment..
Nah, my versions are all torrents. Though I have a friend who anually treats us to his LaserDisc magic machine, and we have an "original" Star Wars party...
Now toodle-oo...
Actually, I would like a super-UNenhanced version of the original three...
*grips tightly DVD burns of LaserDisc versions*
Pr-r-r-reciousssss
As far back as I remember (the '70s) "cool" characters in books, television and films are always cynical pessimists. We're at the point today where people can't get excited about something like the X-Prize whereas less than a century ago people got so excited about Zeppelins they actually designed buildings with mooring masts on them (i.e. the Empire State building).
Whatever happened to optimism about the future? Well, my thought is that fiction saying that "things might not be so good no matter what you do now" will sell better than "look everything will be bright, shiny and better"...
Can we apply some kind of techno-butter to one side to see if the robot can stay in a constant state of airborne suspension?
Good to hear, I read the "Wheel of Time" series up until book nine, which was a dreadful dissappointment (but, don't let that stop you ;-) ).
Revisiting older pieces of work was my passion through college, I think I read just about everything James Clavell wrote (the good and the bad). King Rat is a book you can read in a night and is a wonderful story. I would never have read it if I didn't just grab it out of the used bookstore after reading Shogun.
First off I'm Canadian and I used to read a lot when I was in my early teens (and I do mean a lot) I would rip through novels and be hungry for more then I'd get into history and politics and then switch back to novels. Through high school and college I was still reading fiction but only a few hours after going to bed, still a good flow of literature, but nothing like before. Once I got working though I found that I really didn't have the time or the juice to read every night, then that turned into every week and now I barely read at all. Personally I think it's sad and I often wonder why I can't get back into the groove. I went through a streak of some really bad (new) books and I started working more overtime and found that I was too fatigued to keep up even a rudimentary interest in reading consistantly.
;-)
Oddly though, I find myself reading a lot of humour content on the web (blogs, articles, etc), but it still doesen't compare to a good book. I guess I have a kind of reader's apathy, I would like to read more, but I never do...
From time to time it strikes me when I go searching through the cards in my wallet and find my old, expired, Library card and think to myself "oh yeah, I should renew that one day..."
Anyone else there in Slashdotland feel this way? Did you ever get back into reading on a regular basis (if so HOW)?
P.S. The last good book I read was "Goodbye, Mickey Mouse" by Len Deighton written in 1982 which I am convinced the 2001 film "Pearl Harbor" stole it's story from, but whatever...
Will this be something akin to the Leftorium (a la Simpsons) where a retail store opens to an exclusive market?
Arrgh, the future is supposed to be like Meet the Hollowheads? Kill me now please...
The company I work for only sent upper management, instead of developers to COMDEX. I think COMDEX has been dying because the people who needed to be there weren't, therefore the content presented became more manager-friendly (i.e. stuff we've all heard before, marketing-babble, etc).
On the other hand, if Governments (especially the United States Gov't) start using more OSS-based applications / operating systems there will probably be a marked increase in viruses / worms that affect those platforms. Well, other than infecting OSS with a mostly clueless user base.
P.S. I'm mostly joking about Gov't employees, there are quite a few adept Government people, but I'm sure even you guys know about the "lifers" who still pine for their typewriters...
The robot's name on Lost in Space was "ROBOT". The robot in Metropolis is referred to as "False Maria" (though I have also heard the term "robotrix" bandied about).
My nominee for robot would be Maximillian from "The Black Hole" that guy scared me when I was a kid...
Last year I had a "relationship" that ended because I spend a lot of time "on the computer".
I had to do a lot of overtime to meet a deadline, I'm also visually impaired which means that my company gave me VPN access so I could work from home rather than commuting via transit after hours or on the weekend. She started to get really pissed off that I was spending six or more hours straight coding. I kept telling her that it was OT for work and that sales hinged on the completion of that project but she wouldn't have any of it. She had already complained that I spent too much time on the computer, I told her she knew that before we got together and that that was one part of my life that wasen't changing. (six hours a week of e-mail and web-admin is not a huge amount IMHO, I even quit playing games while we were together)
I guess the part that bugged me was the fact even with a crazy-go-nuts schedule peaking at 105 hours a week I still made time to be with her for a couple hours a day, that wasen't enough apparently. My thinking is that she was more upset that I am a computer nerd and that I wasen't going to change.
Don't get me wrong, between games and a relationship I'll pick relationship first, but a relationship is a two way street of give and take. If there is no understanding between partners the partnership will end.
...that the Princess has been captured again. Good thing Google is up to date on terrorist kidnappings too.
Fair enough, but you won't find a projector and/or screen for cheaper anywhere else though.
If a bar in your area gets shut down see if they have an auction or find out what liquidation place they use to sell off the old equipment. I know more than one guy who's gotten a good (but old) projector (that's not the expensive part) and a half-decent screen (that can be the expensive part).
Of course, you have to keep your ear to the ground...
Yep, wireless radio, streaming tv video and phones we can send written messages on. This truly is a golden age...
This has been on the books in Alberta since Y2K became an issue. According to Alberta labour laws we are treated like "essential services" (police, fire dept, etc) and aren't elligable for OT compensation. Now, that's not to say that many IT companies in Alberta don't do this, it just means that they aren't legally obligated to do so.
I don't even want the money really, I'd just be content with time in lieu. If a project was worth sacrificing my time it should be worth some kind of compensation (or maybe my perception of how important a project is compared to my life will change next time).
The company I work for switched to white-listing a while ago and it's been great. I've thought about doing the same thing at home.
For a while I've been buying CDs to replace analog stuff that I don't use anymore (because it's worn), well I'm finished now. And while there is a world of music out there I haven't heard yet a lot of "new" stuff doesen't really appeal to me so I don't buy it.
There are a lot of other people I know who are in the same boat and have slowed in their buying of music. Maybe this accounts for the numbers.