Make the law firm, the person and the attorneys personally filing the suit automatically have to pay damages equal to the amount they are suing for if they should lose the case.
To the original poster -
Why not start this 'project' your self? If you are deftly switching operating systems , you are obviously a computer 'expert' doing important works. The fact that your post qualifies as 'news' on Slashdot is evidence that you continue to innovate and push mankind forward with your brilliant ideas that no one would dare even dream of before you opened our eyes. I find it hard to believe that you can not code something like this in your own free-time. Programming is so easy and you can get programmers to work cheap from India to help. Perhaps they will have to write it in Visual Basic, but who cares if it works 'pretty good' anyway? Best of luck and its a pleasure to see that Slashdot is keeping the bar so high.
Why do people put up with this sort of stuff? I mean computers are supposed to be both fun and practical. If what the poster is saying is true, its really ridiculous that a multi-billion dollar selling product would be so shoddy. I find it surprising that people who know well before purchasing Windows that MS is legendary with the number of bugs etc in Windows but continue to use the product and have the audacity to act surprised when Microsoft acts like Microsoft. Is anyone delusional enough to believe that MS will somehow improve change one damn thing for the benefit of the customer except as a reaction to what a Apple or whoever is doing or to rope you into some strategy not yet revealed to benefit MS only down the road? This is fine for Microsoft and is obviously making them richer. But truly, what does it do for you? For 15 or whatever I see people continue to adapt themselves to Microsoft rather than MS adapting to the customer (or even you masochists out there promoting this stuff as acceptable because of the monopoly)? Until it gets so bad that the product is just completely one sided to the detriment of the customer or the alternatives are strong enough for people to chance moving to them, Microsoft will continue to be Microsoft. Neither evil or good, just not looking out for you, so no - I am not surprised and I wont be when yet another ridiculous MS Windows bug is posted here on Slashdot. I am only surprised that a situation like this is allowed and even considered normal for years and years now.
Good points, especially the PostgreSQL example (I have never seen that code, but I understand your point). I guess my posts are thinking of people like Steve Wozniak, who really loves the electronics field, had the abilities and learned the science/math skills early on to use school more as a supplement to create some really elegant work (although he did end up going back to school, I think he went more for psychology or something after starting Apple). You are correct about some folks being sort of "over educated" and writing code that is not really practical in the real world for humans to use;-). I know what you are talking about. But recognizing this as a problem, IMHO, can sometimes be enough to overcome falling into that trap once the real world hits you. It does not mean that the theoritcal stuff is not critical to being the best you can be, no matter what you are coding and I guess thats my point. Writing code in the "real world" situations you are talking about should not be looked at by the engineer as a free ticket to treat it as some sort of research project that may be novel but not practical. I know the type of folks (I have worked with them!) that you are talking about. To be honest, I have found they either get this beaten out of them by management or they get stuck in a corner to "experiment" and other more practical folks can go to that well and take from it. One problem I see as more common is the hordes of people who want to come up a new design but are unable to develop it, simply because they lack the background skills to design something complex. Once in a while there is the guy who consistently comes up with things both technically novel and original as well as very practical and useful. I was trying to make the point of the poster not limiting himself early on (its tough to go back to school). Your point about "mixing the two" is well taken.
I worked for 5 years developing software for a NYC firm as an arbitrage/quantitative programmer, which I think would qualify as the business world. If your more advanced math skills were lacking, at least where I worked, you were going to have a hard time even understanding what we were coding let alone writing things on your own. So I am not sure your argument here really makes sense. I worked for IBM for a few years as well, and its true that some people slacked off, maintained others code or just outright stole ideas. But the good coders (the engineers engineer if you will) time and time again came up with the elegant solutions that they could be proud of (and IBM could patent!). They did not seem to care whether it was good for the career or not, they were just interested in the subject and thrived in pushing it to the limit. There is nothing worse than being smart enough to want to come up with a solution and not have the abilities to implement it yourself. You are correct (as I said) some folks find jobs where you do not have to really apply advanced concepts. But why limit yourself that way unless you do not have the ability or interest? I think your on the money with your argument about experience, its something that is critical. But, as I said, if you like the field then you should not be looking at the education to show you everything, but try and use it now to HELP build the strongest foundation possible in order to be the best coder in any field.
I see some people saying they went down the MIS route after deciding the Science degree was not as valuable in the workforce. What they should be admitting is it was not worth how much more difficult it is for them to achieve the science degree. We do Software development, and while there are certainly exceptions (some outstanding) most of the competent software engineers are very smart guys who have a strong science and mathematics background from school. I don't think there is anything wrong with the idea of people pursuing IT type degrees, but its like comparing apples and oranges when it comes to the folks with a science degree. Its unfortunate that I always see ignorant people speaking as if the two are interchangeable, which may be possible in one direction (CS doing IT work), but not the other way around to the same level of sophistication. I often see folks coming from a CIS degree or whatever attempt programming. While some can "get the job done", I feel they are limiting themselves by not having enough of science/mathematics background when it comes to developing the most elegant engineering solutions. Its as if by coding they feel they just "jump ahead" of others and yet be just as competant. The argument is ridiculous. I feel they are cheating themselves in this regard. I see the exceptions once in a while, but those guys were pretty much eating and breathing advanced computer science or mathematics before they even hit high school, out of self interest in these subjects, thus making the college degree that they decided to get (or not get) less important. Computers are a popular field now and I have seen in the last 25 years or so a steady and increasing number of folks who know less and less about the most technical concepts of computers (especially in the United States, G*d save us) enter the field. These folks were fewer in number when the field did not pay as well or have so many opportunities for folks without strong science/mathematics backgrounds. This is OK, IMHO, the field is better off with more diverse backgrounds. I think the question the original poster asked is a little strange. You should ask yourself what are your abilities and what part of using computers do you enjoy most and how hard you want to work at being the best at that you can be. You may find you want to be the best sys admin in the world, just dont do it because you want to get into computers with the least amount of work to "get the job done".
I use freevo now to watch misc youtube stuff or my iPod Video as well as watch DVD's. . If I see a cool show from TV/Cable I will get it from iTunes or perhaps XBOX 360. With the exception of Monsters HD and The Kung-Fu Channel HD I really stopped watching the Dish and $70.00 a month is nuts for two channels. I wish I could just order those two channels, but apparently not so I just canceled the thing. One thing I sort of wish for is a good ebook reader to exist.You have to be a little hardcore to get the better ones (common Sony one sucks with its proprietary formats and forcing you to do lousy conversions + its small screen), as I would rather read for entertainment and find myself doing so, but the only problem is that I have too much clutter with books and like the idea of a reader especially with the long battery lives they have and the ease on the eyes vs a laptop. There is Chinese one that handles PDF as well as CHM files ( im not converting the books I have if I dont have to), but I think you have to go through this crazy process to get one (ordering from the Ukraine or some such insanity). Also the screens are way too small still, as far as I know 8 1/2x11 does not even exist (yet) which would help for the type of papers I read. I think more of us should read, so for know I am sticking with books with an eye for something done right with ebooks (hear that Apple?). I can actually feel brain cells growing by avoiding TV. So overall I think its a good thing people are getting away from it a bit.
Had a girlfriend who did research at Vanderbilt University and once told me of a study on exactly what was on the tongs at the buffet table in a local Shoneys, among other places. The study basically revealed a "fecal fest". You nasty suckers who do not wash your hands, especially after using the bathroom, are really the genesis of why your keyboard ends up a bacteria trap.
I too am reasoniblly sure the Inuit are not responsible for the endagered status of many whales out there and may not have an impact on the population of surviving whales, a strong point for the folks with concerns about preserving these creatures. But then you lost me with your analogy, Tu quoque is an insidious ideology for any human to subscribe to.
"Two wrongs don't make a right, but they make a good excuse."
-Thomas Szasz
Nice way to open the "Guns dont kill people, people kill people" debate (which makes good points on both sides), but thats still a debate not a point. However there is no debate that these indegionous people kill whales.
Your point is well taken, but the pig and turkey were already killed and in the market meat section whether you INDIVIDUALLY purchased them or not. An individual pig and turkey, while still living creatures do not have the same population impact as an individual whale which is a much more rare creature. An argument can be made that you are contributing to your own killing circle by purchasing in the first place thus supporting the industry. I am not sure I agree with the argument on an individual level as I think the world is a lot bigger than any of us would like to think, people have to usually change there habits in large numbers to do anything that is more than symbolic in this regard. I also dont necessarily believe that people should not eat animals , although I admire morality of folks who try to avoid eating animals,l as I belive there genuine concern for all Gods creatures is a good thing. These indigenous people dont have to kill the whale to eat, they choose to do this "extra killing" in order to continue/preserve there way of life. The argument of whether that is a good reason or not, is one I personally dont want to debate as it will surely escalate into a flamewar. I think it boils down to whales and a modern understanding of there population growth and the dangers of extinction among other things vs preserving these folks way of life and the inability for them to change as well as the desire to continue forward with this lifestyle for future generations to experience. Whether the number of whales killed by these people in there pursuit to preserve there particular way of life VS them moving from the fringes of Alaska and going to Kroger supermarket would have an impact on the population of whales is something I dont know the answer to. Personally, I find it disturbing. I think the idea that we as humans would kill a living creature for any reason other than food to be disturbing (whether these folks eat the whale or not). I am not a vegetarian, I lift weights and need my protein! I wish I could be a better example, as I feel you can sometimes peek at a persons morality by the decisions they make in regards to the creatures that are under our domain.
"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." - Ghandi
Remember the Heavens gate folks? Those suicidal lunatics who thought that the space aliens were traveling behind Halley's comet at least had some mathematical probability for there being other life in space! Also the hateful homophobic tone in some of the exhibits at this "museum" (and the attitude of most religious zealots towards homosexuals) is as disturbing to me as the attitude towards blacks and there civil rights during the civil rights movement. IMHO devout religious "faith" is nothing more than trying to accept the doctrine your being fed of your particular church, minister, other church members,etc and following this doctrine to the upmost of your ability (closer to the doctrine you are = the closer to god). This all must be done despite any evidence that may show the whole thing to be utter bunk and a real estate scam. People who don't question the doctrine (whatever it is) are dangerous (see 9/11 for some examples of devout men in action who never question their Imam).
Good point. Another one is that Mac OS X, with new releases has gotten faster, I tend to keep my Macs more than my PCs (although Linux is helping with the PCs living longer). I find the shareware/free-ware out there to be of better quality overall on the Mac. I think sometimes Windows is hurt by the number of apps available, you end up drudging through tons of junk (not to mention spyware, something this guy seems to not mention as being a much more pleasant experience for Apple users to deal with ). Overall a pretty bad review. I think if you want to do people a service you have 3 advocates for each system write an article explaining what makes the system fun and productive (perhaps in a series of different articles pertaining to different industries) this would better serve us than some guy with no experience (and no real purpose stated in using the computer) sort of mucking about here and there for thirty days without asking for help and jumping from one system to another (like that wont create expectations in the later reviewed systems). I mean, if Windows has a big asset of having great free apps than just say that. If Mac has some great free-ware or even shareware apps, name them. I always thought comparing totally different systems using totally random points of reference (# of free-ware apps) and saying one lacks because it does not compare in this random point can be easily manipulated to make one system look useless. I try to avoid X VS Y type articles. Unfortunately people like to think of computer products as some sort of stupid race with a winner that they want these "experts" to choose for them so they feel they are with the "winning team", rather than comparing the benefits of each individually and seeing how they fit in your world and what YOU want to do with the computer rather than some writer. People are smart enough to make up there own minds when you show the pluses and even the problems (Line6 FIX YOUR MAC DRIVER!) with a product.
Had one of those all in one printers from HP, a disaster. There is a video of some soldiers in Iraq shooting one out there, I empathize. The thing was designed to have a steady stream of print heads and ink cartridges purchased for it at ridiculous prices. HP used to be an innovative company (what seems like eons ago), but they are nothing buy the Packard-Bell of the 21st century now run by quick buck scammers.
Huh? Most people (especially management types) ally themselves with whats popular, the old no one ever got fired for buying IBM (or Microsoft) mentality.
Slashdot Mirror
Make the law firm, the person and the attorneys personally filing the suit automatically have to pay damages equal to the amount they are suing for if they should lose the case.
To the original poster - Why not start this 'project' your self? If you are deftly switching operating systems , you are obviously a computer 'expert' doing important works. The fact that your post qualifies as 'news' on Slashdot is evidence that you continue to innovate and push mankind forward with your brilliant ideas that no one would dare even dream of before you opened our eyes. I find it hard to believe that you can not code something like this in your own free-time. Programming is so easy and you can get programmers to work cheap from India to help. Perhaps they will have to write it in Visual Basic, but who cares if it works 'pretty good' anyway? Best of luck and its a pleasure to see that Slashdot is keeping the bar so high.
Why do people put up with this sort of stuff? I mean computers are supposed to be both fun and practical. If what the poster is saying is true, its really ridiculous that a multi-billion dollar selling product would be so shoddy. I find it surprising that people who know well before purchasing Windows that MS is legendary with the number of bugs etc in Windows but continue to use the product and have the audacity to act surprised when Microsoft acts like Microsoft. Is anyone delusional enough to believe that MS will somehow improve change one damn thing for the benefit of the customer except as a reaction to what a Apple or whoever is doing or to rope you into some strategy not yet revealed to benefit MS only down the road? This is fine for Microsoft and is obviously making them richer. But truly, what does it do for you? For 15 or whatever I see people continue to adapt themselves to Microsoft rather than MS adapting to the customer (or even you masochists out there promoting this stuff as acceptable because of the monopoly)? Until it gets so bad that the product is just completely one sided to the detriment of the customer or the alternatives are strong enough for people to chance moving to them, Microsoft will continue to be Microsoft. Neither evil or good, just not looking out for you, so no - I am not surprised and I wont be when yet another ridiculous MS Windows bug is posted here on Slashdot. I am only surprised that a situation like this is allowed and even considered normal for years and years now.
Good points, especially the PostgreSQL example (I have never seen that code, but I understand your point). I guess my posts are thinking of people like Steve Wozniak, who really loves the electronics field, had the abilities and learned the science/math skills early on to use school more as a supplement to create some really elegant work (although he did end up going back to school, I think he went more for psychology or something after starting Apple). You are correct about some folks being sort of "over educated" and writing code that is not really practical in the real world for humans to use ;-). I know what you are talking about. But recognizing this as a problem, IMHO, can sometimes be enough to overcome falling into that trap once the real world hits you. It does not mean that the theoritcal stuff is not critical to being the best you can be, no matter what you are coding and I guess thats my point. Writing code in the "real world" situations you are talking about should not be looked at by the engineer as a free ticket to treat it as some sort of research project that may be novel but not practical. I know the type of folks (I have worked with them!) that you are talking about. To be honest, I have found they either get this beaten out of them by management or they get stuck in a corner to "experiment" and other more practical folks can go to that well and take from it. One problem I see as more common is the hordes of people who want to come up a new design but are unable to develop it, simply because they lack the background skills to design something complex. Once in a while there is the guy who consistently comes up with things both technically novel and original as well as very practical and useful. I was trying to make the point of the poster not limiting himself early on (its tough to go back to school). Your point about "mixing the two" is well taken.
I worked for 5 years developing software for a NYC firm as an arbitrage/quantitative programmer, which I think would qualify as the business world. If your more advanced math skills were lacking, at least where I worked, you were going to have a hard time even understanding what we were coding let alone writing things on your own. So I am not sure your argument here really makes sense. I worked for IBM for a few years as well, and its true that some people slacked off, maintained others code or just outright stole ideas. But the good coders (the engineers engineer if you will) time and time again came up with the elegant solutions that they could be proud of (and IBM could patent!). They did not seem to care whether it was good for the career or not, they were just interested in the subject and thrived in pushing it to the limit. There is nothing worse than being smart enough to want to come up with a solution and not have the abilities to implement it yourself. You are correct (as I said) some folks find jobs where you do not have to really apply advanced concepts. But why limit yourself that way unless you do not have the ability or interest? I think your on the money with your argument about experience, its something that is critical. But, as I said, if you like the field then you should not be looking at the education to show you everything, but try and use it now to HELP build the strongest foundation possible in order to be the best coder in any field.
this seems like a good idea, when will they land of the free embrace such a thing?
Perhaps Windows will share a similar fate? One can hope.
Make sure you wear a rubber, dude. She gets around,like a record.
I see some people saying they went down the MIS route after deciding the Science degree was not as valuable in the workforce. What they should be admitting is it was not worth how much more difficult it is for them to achieve the science degree. We do Software development, and while there are certainly exceptions (some outstanding) most of the competent software engineers are very smart guys who have a strong science and mathematics background from school. I don't think there is anything wrong with the idea of people pursuing IT type degrees, but its like comparing apples and oranges when it comes to the folks with a science degree. Its unfortunate that I always see ignorant people speaking as if the two are interchangeable, which may be possible in one direction (CS doing IT work), but not the other way around to the same level of sophistication. I often see folks coming from a CIS degree or whatever attempt programming. While some can "get the job done", I feel they are limiting themselves by not having enough of science/mathematics background when it comes to developing the most elegant engineering solutions. Its as if by coding they feel they just "jump ahead" of others and yet be just as competant. The argument is ridiculous. I feel they are cheating themselves in this regard. I see the exceptions once in a while, but those guys were pretty much eating and breathing advanced computer science or mathematics before they even hit high school, out of self interest in these subjects, thus making the college degree that they decided to get (or not get) less important. Computers are a popular field now and I have seen in the last 25 years or so a steady and increasing number of folks who know less and less about the most technical concepts of computers (especially in the United States, G*d save us) enter the field. These folks were fewer in number when the field did not pay as well or have so many opportunities for folks without strong science/mathematics backgrounds. This is OK, IMHO, the field is better off with more diverse backgrounds. I think the question the original poster asked is a little strange. You should ask yourself what are your abilities and what part of using computers do you enjoy most and how hard you want to work at being the best at that you can be. You may find you want to be the best sys admin in the world, just dont do it because you want to get into computers with the least amount of work to "get the job done".
Why in God's name did Apple worry so much about having an exclusive carrier for this product? How is this going to sell in Europe?
I use freevo now to watch misc youtube stuff or my iPod Video as well as watch DVD's. . If I see a cool show from TV/Cable I will get it from iTunes or perhaps XBOX 360. With the exception of Monsters HD and The Kung-Fu Channel HD I really stopped watching the Dish and $70.00 a month is nuts for two channels. I wish I could just order those two channels, but apparently not so I just canceled the thing. One thing I sort of wish for is a good ebook reader to exist.You have to be a little hardcore to get the better ones (common Sony one sucks with its proprietary formats and forcing you to do lousy conversions + its small screen), as I would rather read for entertainment and find myself doing so, but the only problem is that I have too much clutter with books and like the idea of a reader especially with the long battery lives they have and the ease on the eyes vs a laptop. There is Chinese one that handles PDF as well as CHM files ( im not converting the books I have if I dont have to), but I think you have to go through this crazy process to get one (ordering from the Ukraine or some such insanity). Also the screens are way too small still, as far as I know 8 1/2x11 does not even exist (yet) which would help for the type of papers I read. I think more of us should read, so for know I am sticking with books with an eye for something done right with ebooks (hear that Apple?). I can actually feel brain cells growing by avoiding TV. So overall I think its a good thing people are getting away from it a bit.
Had a girlfriend who did research at Vanderbilt University and once told me of a study on exactly what was on the tongs at the buffet table in a local Shoneys, among other places. The study basically revealed a "fecal fest". You nasty suckers who do not wash your hands, especially after using the bathroom, are really the genesis of why your keyboard ends up a bacteria trap.
Fun. I can't wait. Bone Cancer.
I too am reasoniblly sure the Inuit are not responsible for the endagered status of many whales out there and may not have an impact on the population of surviving whales, a strong point for the folks with concerns about preserving these creatures. But then you lost me with your analogy, Tu quoque is an insidious ideology for any human to subscribe to. "Two wrongs don't make a right, but they make a good excuse." -Thomas Szasz
Nice way to open the "Guns dont kill people, people kill people" debate (which makes good points on both sides), but thats still a debate not a point. However there is no debate that these indegionous people kill whales.
Your point is well taken, but the pig and turkey were already killed and in the market meat section whether you INDIVIDUALLY purchased them or not. An individual pig and turkey, while still living creatures do not have the same population impact as an individual whale which is a much more rare creature. An argument can be made that you are contributing to your own killing circle by purchasing in the first place thus supporting the industry. I am not sure I agree with the argument on an individual level as I think the world is a lot bigger than any of us would like to think, people have to usually change there habits in large numbers to do anything that is more than symbolic in this regard. I also dont necessarily believe that people should not eat animals , although I admire morality of folks who try to avoid eating animals,l as I belive there genuine concern for all Gods creatures is a good thing. These indigenous people dont have to kill the whale to eat, they choose to do this "extra killing" in order to continue/preserve there way of life. The argument of whether that is a good reason or not, is one I personally dont want to debate as it will surely escalate into a flamewar. I think it boils down to whales and a modern understanding of there population growth and the dangers of extinction among other things vs preserving these folks way of life and the inability for them to change as well as the desire to continue forward with this lifestyle for future generations to experience. Whether the number of whales killed by these people in there pursuit to preserve there particular way of life VS them moving from the fringes of Alaska and going to Kroger supermarket would have an impact on the population of whales is something I dont know the answer to. Personally, I find it disturbing. I think the idea that we as humans would kill a living creature for any reason other than food to be disturbing (whether these folks eat the whale or not). I am not a vegetarian, I lift weights and need my protein! I wish I could be a better example, as I feel you can sometimes peek at a persons morality by the decisions they make in regards to the creatures that are under our domain. "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." - Ghandi
Remember the Heavens gate folks? Those suicidal lunatics who thought that the space aliens were traveling behind Halley's comet at least had some mathematical probability for there being other life in space! Also the hateful homophobic tone in some of the exhibits at this "museum" (and the attitude of most religious zealots towards homosexuals) is as disturbing to me as the attitude towards blacks and there civil rights during the civil rights movement. IMHO devout religious "faith" is nothing more than trying to accept the doctrine your being fed of your particular church, minister, other church members,etc and following this doctrine to the upmost of your ability (closer to the doctrine you are = the closer to god). This all must be done despite any evidence that may show the whole thing to be utter bunk and a real estate scam. People who don't question the doctrine (whatever it is) are dangerous (see 9/11 for some examples of devout men in action who never question their Imam).
Good point. Another one is that Mac OS X, with new releases has gotten faster, I tend to keep my Macs more than my PCs (although Linux is helping with the PCs living longer). I find the shareware/free-ware out there to be of better quality overall on the Mac. I think sometimes Windows is hurt by the number of apps available, you end up drudging through tons of junk (not to mention spyware, something this guy seems to not mention as being a much more pleasant experience for Apple users to deal with ). Overall a pretty bad review. I think if you want to do people a service you have 3 advocates for each system write an article explaining what makes the system fun and productive (perhaps in a series of different articles pertaining to different industries) this would better serve us than some guy with no experience (and no real purpose stated in using the computer) sort of mucking about here and there for thirty days without asking for help and jumping from one system to another (like that wont create expectations in the later reviewed systems). I mean, if Windows has a big asset of having great free apps than just say that. If Mac has some great free-ware or even shareware apps, name them. I always thought comparing totally different systems using totally random points of reference (# of free-ware apps) and saying one lacks because it does not compare in this random point can be easily manipulated to make one system look useless. I try to avoid X VS Y type articles. Unfortunately people like to think of computer products as some sort of stupid race with a winner that they want these "experts" to choose for them so they feel they are with the "winning team", rather than comparing the benefits of each individually and seeing how they fit in your world and what YOU want to do with the computer rather than some writer. People are smart enough to make up there own minds when you show the pluses and even the problems (Line6 FIX YOUR MAC DRIVER!) with a product.
What about brain tumors for all these smart under 30 folks?
"Lewis: Jocks only think about sports, nerds only think about sex. "
-Revenge Of The Nerds (1984)
I agree 100%. It makes you wonder what other companies would do once they see IBM "get away" with this.
"It's all anime for me now." Thats going to kick your social life into full gear!
Had one of those all in one printers from HP, a disaster. There is a video of some soldiers in Iraq shooting one out there, I empathize. The thing was designed to have a steady stream of print heads and ink cartridges purchased for it at ridiculous prices. HP used to be an innovative company (what seems like eons ago), but they are nothing buy the Packard-Bell of the 21st century now run by quick buck scammers.
Huh? Most people (especially management types) ally themselves with whats popular, the old no one ever got fired for buying IBM (or Microsoft) mentality.
http://clevelandoh.areaconnect.com/crime1.htm