American movies have been bad for a long time. They have been aimed at adolescents/adolescent mentalities for a long time. Every year, there is a new crop adolescents to replace the ones that grow up and stop going to the movies.
It is probably a combination of things that people have mentioned. Bad movies, the escalating costs, the availability of home theaters etc.
The term "human resources" says it all. People are there to be used in business, once they are no longer of use ( or perceived to be of use ) they are cut loose.
Anything else is just a fantasy.
I will pitch extra in...for my own fulfillment and reasons. I will not expect gratitude from a company beyond a point and there are sacrifices I will not make, knowing at some point it will not be reciprocated.
I would bring my voter registration card to make sure that I will have the chance to vote for a competent administration (republican, democrat, or green ) in the next election( federal, state, or local ).
My first concern is that once given away, a very poor family might look towards selling the laptop on the black market for food, clothing, etc. How much expense would be added if biometrics were incorporated into the design so that once a laptop is "mated" to a child, only that child can operate it, thus rendering its worth on the black market so much less?
You want to use sophisticated orwellian technology to prevent the parents of a child who needs food and clothing from buying that child food and clothing? So a free computer given away in the spirit of charity will not be given to someone else?
This is a true story ( I am sad to say ) though many will not want to believe it.
I met a very attractive woman( hot blond ). As amazing fortune would have it, she was a reader in her spare time, of similar politics, was very witty and loved joking around. As if that could not get any better she was a linux users and attended linux meetup groups.
She recently switched to windows xp. I was shocked and I asked her about it. She told me that she wanted to use a remote client to work on her work machine from home. She told me that windows xp did it so significantly faster that she dumped linux because she could not stand the wait.
Then she proved it to me with a demonstration.
I could not argue with her.
It is truly sad that windows xp out performs the premier linux desktop.
I am with every one else. I have most of the features I want.
I could wait a year for new features if the good folks at the KDE wanted to spend a year working on performance and stability.
It could become a marketing strength, similar to the firefox people being able to brag about being able to patch holes light years faster than microsoft.
They can brag about taking a year to optimize their code..."who else will do that? Enjoy a product that was perfected over the course of a year ".
Remember java applets?! They were suppose to do these kind of things...
Using Java Applets also involved
- downloading binary code - downloading binary code in an age with fewer high speed connections - coordinating applets with versions of browsers and versions of plugins - using plugins made by Sun, the company who will never be accused of making anything easy
AJAX sounds like it will be a boon for naturally based web applications.
I don't see office applications as being naturally web based applications, they seem to be very natural living on my desktop. I can't see why I would need to be connected to write a paper or do my budget.
On the innocent side it just seems like a misdirected project.
On the sinister side it seems similar to e-books....another way to take away something I have come to take for granted as possessing.
My word processor may be old, but it is mine.
I can just see the bull shit now.
"Oh, you don't own the AJAX office suite, you were only renting the use of it. Since your lease is up you cannot use it to view your old work... unless you want to pay us more money"
I can more than understand why some people don't like seeing their tax dollars go to embryonic stem cell research. I personally don't care for the idea of creating human organisms, concious or not, simply for the gain of others.
I can more than understand why some people don't like seeing their tax dollars go to kill people in Iraq. I personally don't care for a war of convenience for the idea of distracting the public from a bad economy or to gain oil resources, simply for the gain of others.
( no offense, I am not saying that you think either way, I am just trying to make an off topic point )
All of that would involve American parents paying more money in taxes.
They either don't realize that you get what you pay for, are too selfish, or simply do not have any more tax money to give.
The government could help by ceasing to spend money on boondoggles ( to remain nameless ) and by not cutting taxes for the wealthiest of Americans during a time of crisis.
I noticed similar things when I was in college a long time ago.
1. Professors are not chosen to be teachers. They are chosen if they are accomplished in their field, have published, will bring prestige to the university, and/or will bring grant money to the university.
2. Colleges are not in the business of developing people. College is a place for people who already have sharpened aptitude to prove that they have sharpened aptitude. Getting sharp is left to the students to do before they get to college.
3. Professors tell you what books to read, TA's grade your tests. Anything else is above and beyond the call of duty in the real world.
4. Academic departments increase their prestige not by developing people but by eliminating people so they can say they only have the best. They are called "weed out" classes.
These things would not be bad if universities were honest about them.
In regards to #1 professors who are good researchers, but lousy/unwilling teachers should not be forced to teach. If they can bring in their own grant money they can do research. If not, they should go somewhere else. Tuition money should be used to hire true educators. That is what the customers paid for.
Being honest and warning people about 2,3,4 would solve many disappointments. People who are not ready in aptitude or who are not ready to be focused can take time out after high school, get a job, prepare themselves and then go to college when they are prepared to hit the ground running.
Colleges are businesses. Most businesses will admit they are businesses and will be upfront about what a paying customer will get. Universities will not do that.
My sympathies go to the author for, like me, having learned that the hard way. I got hosed down by having an uninformed idea of the difficulty level when I first went away to school.
If anyone finds themselves in that spot I would advise them not to give up.
Stopping school may seem like a tragedy to many people of that age, but in the real world it is not. Taking a break can be a wonderful thing. You can use the time to improve your aptitude. You can also use the time to settle other needs ( getting a car, partying, socializing, or just living life feeling free ) so that when you return you can be 100% about studying.
I read lots of blogs, and as I read them I often think to myself:
1) Thank goodness my life is interesting and does not revolve around my cat (I like cats as much as the next man, but I don't replace the human beings in my life with fuzzballs).
2) Thank goodness I am no longer a hormone crazed teenager who is in love one moment and ready to commit suicide at the next (ah, those were the good old days...).
3) Thank goodness I have something better to do than cook up conspiracy theories all day long (if I read one more UFO blog or another blogger claiming to be a "Spook, I'll go balistic).
4) Thank goodness I have an occupation (while there are professional bloggers, those that post nothing more than rants about the bad employment market and whine about it all day long rather than look for work are not among them).
And to add my own to that list........
5) Thank goodness I have something more interesting to do this evening then read a bunch of blogs
The main reason this can't work, is that Google already owns the mindshare of the internet. You can't buy what Google has going for it, IMHO. Consider the mindshare that AOL has...
People who don't like computers or the internet buy AOL, because they think they have to. They think it's the internet.
So Microsoft is going to waste billions on AOL. *tries to contain glee*
Microsoft can certainly buy that client base. They can milk it for all it's worth for maybe even ten years.
In other words Microsoft just bought a leaky row boat
I realize that there are probably more subtle points to consider in this argument but saying that AOL will be used as a tool to kill google is a bit like threatening to use a clumsy old dinosaur to kill a young, quick cheetah.
If Microsoft really wants to be an industry leader again Steve Ballmer should focus on finding ways for Microsoft to solve problems for IT consumers that other companies have not already found ways to solve rather than threatening to destroy other companies
It's a pity that OpenOffice is just a visually unattractive clone of Microsoft Office, user interface flaws and all. The first time I downloaded it I hoped to find not just a free productivity suite but one that was better than Microsoft Office for the user -- simple, straightforward, and to the point. Instead, OpenOffice copies virtually every feature from Microsoft Office with very little innovation of its own.
I like your opinion.
I like it because it is the exact opposite of what I think is a good thing.
I think that is interesting.
My belief is that having a different UI is gratuitous and drives potential users away. Most computer users are users, not computer enthusiasts. As much as possible they just want to be able to sit down and get to work, without having to figure things out. Multiply this by 100 if one piece of software makes them learn something new to do something old that they can already do with another piece of roughly equivalent software.
People do not have problems with Microsoft software because of the UI arrangements. It is the company's pricing and terms.
I think the most important thing to learning programming is choosing the best first language for a programming student.
Writing in a particular language promotes particular habits and this is never more true than with the 1st language a programmer spends a lot of time in.
I have seen modern code from 20 year plus programmers that still show the marks of the first language they used.
Several weeks back while in the waiting room of a doctor's office I read an article about Microsoft in Forbes magazine.
In a nutshell Bill Gates is upset that Google has become the sexy place for the IT elite to work and Bill Gates is upset that Microsoft seems to racing to catch up with other companies instead of being a leader in the industry.
The story in this thread seems to be another iteration of the source of Bill Gates' angst.
Microsoft is trying to catch up with what Adobe already has. Microsoft is following. Microsoft is not leading.
Somebody at Microsoft has failed to communicate, hear, or accept a simple thought. If you want to be a leader you have to stop being a follower. You have to lead to be a leader.
Instead of following other companies innovations in a game of catch-up you lead by coming up with your own innovations and letting other companies in the industry follow.
Now your company is a leader. Now your company starts looking like a place where the creative IT elite might like to be.
Mr. Gates, Mr. Ballmer, if you want Microsoft to be an industry leader don't begrudge other companies their innovations or their victories. Come up with your own innovations.
Solve problems that other companies have not worked on or identified yet. That is what companies who are seen as leaders do. That is what your rival Google does.
Slashdot Mirror
The open source BSD distributions have a reputation for being better on the back end then gnu/linux ( I honestly do not know if that is true or not ).
What do they do? Do they design what they are going to do and use specs before they do it?
Do they have a single person who calls the shots on how their kernel is done?
It can't be bad movies...alone.
American movies have been bad for a long time. They have been aimed at adolescents/adolescent mentalities for a long time. Every year, there is a new crop adolescents to replace the ones that grow up and stop going to the movies.
It is probably a combination of things that people have mentioned. Bad movies, the escalating costs, the availability of home theaters etc.
The term "human resources" says it all. People are there to be used in business, once they are no longer of use ( or perceived to be of use ) they are cut loose.
Anything else is just a fantasy.
I will pitch extra in...for my own fulfillment and reasons. I will not expect gratitude from a company beyond a point and there are sacrifices I will not make, knowing at some point it will not be reciprocated.
There may be people at MS aware that google is the next generation of terror in the IT industry, but that doesn't mean they can do anything about it.
Think of all of the articles about MS trying to capture google's zeitgeist only to stumble over their own clumsy feet.
I would bring my voter registration card to make sure that I will have the chance to vote for a competent administration (republican, democrat, or green ) in the next election( federal, state, or local ).
You want to use sophisticated orwellian technology to prevent the parents of a child who needs food and clothing from buying that child food and clothing? So a free computer given away in the spirit of charity will not be given to someone else?
Thanks!
I think it is already too late, but I will pass this info on to her.
Who would eat a restaurant chain called "Pot Belly's" ?
This is a true story ( I am sad to say ) though many will not want to believe it.
I met a very attractive woman( hot blond ). As amazing fortune would have it, she was a reader in her spare time, of similar politics, was very witty and loved joking around. As if that could not get any better she was a linux users and attended linux meetup groups.
She recently switched to windows xp. I was shocked and I asked her about it. She told me that she wanted to use a remote client to work on her work machine from home. She told me that windows xp did it so significantly faster that she dumped linux because she could not stand the wait.
Then she proved it to me with a demonstration.
I could not argue with her.
It is truly sad that windows xp out performs the premier linux desktop.
I am with every one else. I have most of the features I want.
I could wait a year for new features if the good folks at the KDE wanted to spend a year working on performance and stability.
It could become a marketing strength, similar to the firefox people being able to brag about being able to patch holes light years faster than microsoft.
They can brag about taking a year to optimize their code..."who else will do that? Enjoy a product that was perfected over the course of a year ".
Using Java Applets also involved
- downloading binary code
- downloading binary code in an age with fewer high speed connections
- coordinating applets with versions of browsers and versions of plugins
- using plugins made by Sun, the company who will never be accused of making anything easy
AJAX sounds like it will be a boon for naturally based web applications.
I don't see office applications as being naturally web based applications, they seem to be very natural living on my desktop. I can't see why I would need to be connected to write a paper or do my budget.
On the innocent side it just seems like a misdirected project.
On the sinister side it seems similar to e-books....another way to take away something I have come to take for granted as possessing.
My word processor may be old, but it is mine.
I can just see the bull shit now.
"Oh, you don't own the AJAX office suite, you were only renting the use of it. Since your lease is up you cannot use it to view your old work... unless you want to pay us more money"
All of that would involve American parents paying more money in taxes.
They either don't realize that you get what you pay for, are too selfish, or simply do not have any more tax money to give.
The government could help by ceasing to spend money on boondoggles ( to remain nameless ) and by not cutting taxes for the wealthiest of Americans during a time of crisis.
I noticed similar things when I was in college a long time ago.
1. Professors are not chosen to be teachers. They are chosen if they are accomplished in their field, have published, will bring prestige to the university, and/or will bring grant money to the university.
2. Colleges are not in the business of developing people. College is a place for people who already have sharpened aptitude to prove that they have sharpened aptitude. Getting sharp is left to the students to do before they get to college.
3. Professors tell you what books to read, TA's grade your tests. Anything else is above and beyond the call of duty in the real world.
4. Academic departments increase their prestige not by developing people but by eliminating people so they can say they only have the best. They are called "weed out" classes.
These things would not be bad if universities were honest about them.
In regards to #1 professors who are good researchers, but lousy/unwilling teachers should not be forced to teach. If they can bring in their own grant money they can do research. If not, they should go somewhere else. Tuition money should be used to hire true educators. That is what the customers paid for.
Being honest and warning people about 2,3,4 would solve many disappointments. People who are not ready in aptitude or who are not ready to be focused can take time out after high school, get a job, prepare themselves and then go to college when they are prepared to hit the ground running.
Colleges are businesses. Most businesses will admit they are businesses and will be upfront about what a paying customer will get. Universities will not do that.
My sympathies go to the author for, like me, having learned that the hard way. I got hosed down by having an uninformed idea of the difficulty level when I first went away to school.
If anyone finds themselves in that spot I would advise them not to give up.
Stopping school may seem like a tragedy to many people of that age, but in the real world it is not. Taking a break can be a wonderful thing.
You can use the time to improve your aptitude. You can also use the time to settle other needs ( getting a car, partying, socializing, or just living life feeling free ) so that when you return you can be 100% about studying.
A big bad organization trying to beat up on _another_ teenage girl.
So much for the image.
I haven't given ubuntu a try yet.
I use the KDE, it seems to be the easiest to deal with.
All of this praise has made me think about giving Ubunutu a try once I get a high speed connection and can apt-get the kde in a reasonable way.
Please widen the comment history list on the "my slashdot" page.
I think everthing else is great.
Thanks for making the traditional slashdot look and feel one of the themes. That to me is slashdot
Looking good.
I realize that there are probably more subtle points to consider in this argument but saying that AOL will be used as a tool to kill google is a bit like threatening to use a clumsy old dinosaur to kill a young, quick cheetah.
If Microsoft really wants to be an industry leader again Steve Ballmer should focus on finding ways for Microsoft to solve problems for IT consumers that other companies have not already found ways to solve rather than threatening to destroy other companies
I like it because it is the exact opposite of what I think is a good thing.
I think that is interesting.
My belief is that having a different UI is gratuitous and drives potential users away. Most computer users are users, not computer enthusiasts. As much as possible they just want to be able to sit down and get to work, without having to figure things out. Multiply this by 100 if one piece of software makes them learn something new to do something old that they can already do with another piece of roughly equivalent software.
People do not have problems with Microsoft software because of the UI arrangements. It is the company's pricing and terms.
I think the most important thing to learning programming is choosing the best first language for a programming student.
Writing in a particular language promotes particular habits and this is never more true than with the 1st language a programmer spends a lot of time in.
I have seen modern code from 20 year plus programmers that still show the marks of the first language they used.
It is nice to see some balance.
Why should open source groups be the only ones airing their dirty laundry on blogs?
I'm impressed that Red Hat has signed on.
Along with 2 other of the more established distros being onboard this standard has a chance.
Several weeks back while in the waiting room of a doctor's office I read an article about Microsoft in Forbes magazine.
In a nutshell Bill Gates is upset that Google has become the sexy place for the IT elite to work and Bill Gates is upset that Microsoft seems to racing to catch up with other companies instead of being a leader in the industry.
The story in this thread seems to be another iteration of the source of Bill Gates' angst.
Microsoft is trying to catch up with what Adobe already has. Microsoft is following. Microsoft is not leading.
Somebody at Microsoft has failed to communicate, hear, or accept a simple thought. If you want to be a leader you have to stop being a follower. You have to lead to be a leader.
Instead of following other companies innovations in a game of catch-up you lead by coming up with your own innovations and letting other companies in the industry follow.
Now your company is a leader. Now your company starts looking like a place where the creative IT elite might like to be.
Mr. Gates, Mr. Ballmer, if you want Microsoft to be an industry leader don't begrudge other companies their innovations or their victories. Come up with your own innovations.
Solve problems that other companies have not worked on or identified yet. That is what companies who are seen as leaders do. That is what your rival Google does.