Some sales guys really can't say "No" to the question "Does your system do this?" - I wouldn't have believed how surrealy awful this can get (at least from the perspective of the poor sod responsible for delivering the final working system) if I hadn't attended so many of these meetings over the years.
A bit like most of the definitions of "quality" that I have seen - doesn't matter if it makes sense or not, all that matters is that you have a process and that you follow it.
Well, it could happen somewhere like here in the UK where the NHS does provide most of the health cover that most people need - but there is still a fairly significant private healthcare industry here for the things that the NHS won't provide (e.g. most cosmetic surgery) or for people who want treatment faster than the NHS will do it (e.g. I had to wait 4 weeks to get a CT scan of my sinuses, not a big deal to me) or for something, perhaps, like making enhanced people like your normal Gattaca employee.
Have a look at "A Colder War", which is in both Toast and Wireless (both excellent collections, even with this story appearing in both).
You can also read in online at http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/stories/colderwar.htm
He isn't celebarted, he is burnt in effigy. Of course, given the sectarian component it is possible that some communities might have celebrated him, but I haven't heard of that.
Trees can cause a lot of damage to properties through subsidence - given that people can get rather fond of trees and houses it is hardly surprising that there is litigation over this point. This is hardly an America-only matter.
Indeed and helmets can also save your life - I've had one bike accident where it was pretty clear that if I didn't have a helmet on then I'd have been dead. Now I don't go near a bike or skis without a helmet.
No - all that hiring an expensive lawyer does is give you someone to sue if you follow their advice and still get sued into oblivion by the other party.
There is a belief that "management" is independent of the thing being managed - now of course there are certain topics that are universtally applicable (e.g. what happens when you change the scope of a project). The mistake that people make is thinking that these topics are sufficient rather than simply being necessary - they need to be augmented with domain specific knowledge for them to be useful.
I don't know about that - the CS degree I did (starting in '83) was in a Computer Science department that was opened in '67. While I think that was one of the first in the UK I don't think it was that exceptional.
Aren't you contradicting yourself there? First you question "who put you in charge of saying what is of utility or not in a society" then you state that "the production of weapons is a vital benefit to society"? While I agree that all societies and individuals should have the right to defend themselves, I suspect that most defence projects are motivated by pork barrel politics rather than the need to counter actual threats and as such are effectively socialistic endeavours which I am rather unhappy to support with my tax $CURRENCY_UNIT.
These guys were anything but idiots - one guy at AIG's small London office (which lost over $500 Billion!) walked away with over $280 million in salary and bonuses. http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=7045889&page=1
I would bet on the Russians - they have an excellent track record of just "getting things done" in their space program and experience in building really really big H bombs.
"Are you seriously suggesting it's professional for employees to reject management directives because they 'feel' it's not a good idea?" - that is almost the exact definition of a "real" professional (medic, lawyer, accountant, PE/CEng etc.).
Slashdot Mirror
Some sales guys really can't say "No" to the question "Does your system do this?" - I wouldn't have believed how surrealy awful this can get (at least from the perspective of the poor sod responsible for delivering the final working system) if I hadn't attended so many of these meetings over the years.
A bit like most of the definitions of "quality" that I have seen - doesn't matter if it makes sense or not, all that matters is that you have a process and that you follow it.
Well, it could happen somewhere like here in the UK where the NHS does provide most of the health cover that most people need - but there is still a fairly significant private healthcare industry here for the things that the NHS won't provide (e.g. most cosmetic surgery) or for people who want treatment faster than the NHS will do it (e.g. I had to wait 4 weeks to get a CT scan of my sinuses, not a big deal to me) or for something, perhaps, like making enhanced people like your normal Gattaca employee.
The angles of a triangle don't have to add up to 180 degrees if you consider Non-Euclidean Geometries.
Have a look at "A Colder War", which is in both Toast and Wireless (both excellent collections, even with this story appearing in both). You can also read in online at http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/stories/colderwar.htm
I recommend Charles Stross's "sequel" to 1984 to see how things might actually turn out in the end.
He isn't celebarted, he is burnt in effigy. Of course, given the sectarian component it is possible that some communities might have celebrated him, but I haven't heard of that.
Trees can cause a lot of damage to properties through subsidence - given that people can get rather fond of trees and houses it is hardly surprising that there is litigation over this point. This is hardly an America-only matter.
There are also examples of quite amazing navigation done using sextants, particularly the voyage of the James Caird http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyage_of_the_James_Caird
What would you call it? Revenge of the Time Travelling Lawyers?
Indeed and helmets can also save your life - I've had one bike accident where it was pretty clear that if I didn't have a helmet on then I'd have been dead. Now I don't go near a bike or skis without a helmet.
No - all that hiring an expensive lawyer does is give you someone to sue if you follow their advice and still get sued into oblivion by the other party.
How about go back and time taking your game with to just before the original author releases their game and sue them for ripping off your game? :-)
I've always wondered what a movie of "Use of Weapons" would be like :-)
There is a belief that "management" is independent of the thing being managed - now of course there are certain topics that are universtally applicable (e.g. what happens when you change the scope of a project). The mistake that people make is thinking that these topics are sufficient rather than simply being necessary - they need to be augmented with domain specific knowledge for them to be useful.
I don't know about that - the CS degree I did (starting in '83) was in a Computer Science department that was opened in '67. While I think that was one of the first in the UK I don't think it was that exceptional.
Aren't you contradicting yourself there? First you question "who put you in charge of saying what is of utility or not in a society" then you state that "the production of weapons is a vital benefit to society"? While I agree that all societies and individuals should have the right to defend themselves, I suspect that most defence projects are motivated by pork barrel politics rather than the need to counter actual threats and as such are effectively socialistic endeavours which I am rather unhappy to support with my tax $CURRENCY_UNIT.
These guys were anything but idiots - one guy at AIG's small London office (which lost over $500 Billion!) walked away with over $280 million in salary and bonuses. http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=7045889&page=1
I would bet on the Russians - they have an excellent track record of just "getting things done" in their space program and experience in building really really big H bombs.
Don't you dare aim an asteroid at the location of my favourite skiing areas!
I bought my last car with my debit card - worked a treat!
"Are you seriously suggesting it's professional for employees to reject management directives because they 'feel' it's not a good idea?" - that is almost the exact definition of a "real" professional (medic, lawyer, accountant, PE/CEng etc.).
The closest I can think of to a "colony of poets" would be a Christian monastery - and some of these have survived rather well.
"We're all tragedy now and no commons." - brilliant. I'm going to get that on a T-shirt.