The Computerized Accounting class in Rogers High School, of Rogers, Arkansas, did not even have or use computers in any of it's lessons until a few years ago.
That was an interesting class.
And educators around the state keep asking themselves what they need to do to bring our educational system up to par with the rest of the country. Pfft.
People are sick of the bad press the RIAA is generating, and simply don't care to purchase their products anymore. Could also be a lack of new talent worth listening to.
I personally have not bought a CD in years. Though I did spend about $10 buying some old songs I liked from Wal-Mart's music store when it opened. I know of only one person who continues to buy CD's and MP3's. No one else cares for the new talent nor the RIAA's actions as of late.
In short, perhaps it is the lack of quality and consumer relations that is costing the music industry. Not bazillions of theives ravaging the internet to steal away all their monies.
Not to mention, the price of music CD's is a joke. $15-20 for a movie I can understand. Tens of millions in advertising, and often hundreds of millions in production. I pay $20 for a good movie I feel like I got what I paid for. When I pay $20 for a music CD that has maybe one or two songs on the whole disk that I want - I do not feel I have received valuable goods for the money I invested.
"Even if AMD is making better CPUs now, comprable in quality and speed to Intel, even -- they still have yet to do something truly innovative to force me to rethink my opinion of them and their product."
That's what I said. Sure, AMD is making better CPUs now. No doubt about that. But no, AMD hasn't done anything truly innovative that is widely adopted. 64-bit CPUs they've nailed, I'll give them that - but 64-bit computing isn't widely adopted enough by developers for it to become the defacto-standard.
Slightly improving current technology is NOT what I consider innovative. And if that is what you consider innovation - by all means, enjoy. I don't.
From my perspective, the ignorance is coming from the people who fail to read what I type, thinking my references here are to a shortterm history.
And morons who think slightly improving current technology is innovation. Intel was innovative 20 years ago - and they've slightly improved on the technology they developed then. AMD has done nothing more then mimmic Intel all along the way, save perhaps the last couple of years.
I have to say, though, I enjoy the management crack -- that just tells me your some whiney little peon whos angry he gets bossed around for underperforming on the job.
Wow, another shiningly intelligent post from a slashdot troll.
I had no idea there were so many AMD fanboi's here.
While I will grant AMD has had great reviews for the past 2-3 years, prior to this AMD was always considered the inferior product. Period. And while AMD may be doing something great with 64-bit processors - it means jack-all right now as no one else wants to support it. So, while your AMD CPUs may have been doing great for the last few years - you totally missed that my point was that AMD branded itself poorly many MANY years ago (Yes, probably before you were born judging by your overly intelligent response.). They did this by selling extremely cheap lower quality CPUs compared to Intel and IBM. My point was that this stigma has followed them, IMHO. And obviously in the opinion of many others. I've seen AMD do very little marketing to try and reverse this stigma, either. So why SHOULD people change their opinion of AMD, when AMD hasn't sought strongly to change that opinion?
And as I mentioned, AMD hammered their pricing up there right next to Intels and has done little or nothing to change consumers view of their brand.
So, while you and many others may know that AMD chips, particularly the 64-bit market, are far superior to the products currently made by intel (Which, by the way - I always thought the Pentium 4's were inferior to the P3 chips, something I've preached for years) - the general public does not see it this way as Intel continues an agressive marketing campaign - I have yet - in my ENTIRE LIFE - to see an AMD commercial. Granted, I have seen commercials for computers with AMD chips in them, I have yet to see a commercial strictlty for the purpose of strengthening the AMD brand.
Granted, I watch TV maybe 3 hours a week - I still see an Intel commercial atleast once a week.
Now, you tell me - why do you think AMD's brand is stuck so strongly in the mud?
Personally, I don't care much for Intel or AMD - but I'll say right now Intel does a lot more to create a better brand image then AMD does. AMD has no room to cry about their current marketshare, they have made no effort to change their image aside from product improvement. Which, hey, I'm with you - would be fantastic if that was enough. But, guess what - it's not. AMD doesn't get the free press a startup gets, so their brand image remains the same.
And again, like I told the other troll - keep your personal attacks to yourself, talking like a 5 year old earns you the respect of a 5 year old.
Well, I take that back, my 5 year old son doesn't go around calling people names. Certainly not for their opinions on branding. So I guess that would put you below that. I think around 2 or 3 is where the nasty namecalling starts and ends. Sounds fitting.
But, since you blessed me with your thoughts -- I will try to show you what my point was. Apparently you did not get it from my first post, which I'm sure is my fault for being so wordy.
Hyundai made a bad first impression. Plain, simple, to the point. That's it, the end. First impressions last, it's called branding.
Well, AMD gave a really bad first impression to me. That was my point.
What I was saying had nothing to do with some faboo foreign car you bought in 199x, or you personally at all.
So, as you can now see this plainly was not a personal attack, perhaps you can keep your snide, 'retarded' comments to yourself - or maybe word them a little better, aye?
"THe problem is you look at brand as stature and you use that to ignore the good qualities about everything else out there. You have probably never owned a Hyundai so you assume they're cheaply made. (granted they have had some bummers but so has intel..)"
I have owned both a Hyundai and an AMD. The Hyundai was a very cheaply made vehicle. It felt cheap, it looked cheap, it was cheap to drive, and it was overall just a cheap car. I never said it wasn't worth what I paid for it - but it was a cheap car. My point was that the company branded themselves for making cheap cars, which is what they did. Again, not personal attacks so I don't understand why you are getting all emotional.
The AMD chip I owned was far from the quality the Hyundai car was. The AMD, well, was junk. And lasted about 8 months before it just croaked. AMD continued to make CPUs that got poor reviews for years to follow.
These companies create the brand image of their own products. That's another point I think you fail to get. I didn't just pull my opinion these two brands out of a random hat.
Brand as stature... It's funny you refer to it that way. Why is it, do you think, that some brands have so much respect it gives them 'stature' in todays society? Do you think that these companies create these brands with stature by making cheap products far inferior to their competition for years on end? (Yes, I'm asking you, answer away.)
And when making your reply, do me a favor, try not to make assumptions.
Cheap car manufacturers, like Hyundai, came into my sights years ago.
I remember when I first saw a Hyundai commercial. It seemed as though every vehicle they made was under $10,000.00.
The cars were so cheap, and so poorly built, the company had an instant reputation for making a very cheap low quality vehicle.
Today, although I know some Hyundai's cost upwards of $30,000.00 -- and carry a 10 year 100,000 mile warranty - I still think of Hyundai of a cheap, poorly made vehicle.
I will probably always think of Hyndai this way, or atleast until they do something truly innovative -- like create some fantastic new vehicle that everyone ELSE tries to immitate - rather than the other way around.
My opinion of AMD was formed much this same way.
AMD made very cheap, inferior processors for years.
Even if AMD is making better CPUs now, comprable in quality and speed to Intel, even -- they still have yet to do something truly innovative to force me to rethink my opinion of them and their product.
Marketing people called in branding. Well, AMD, you're branded. That's the problem from where I sit.
And what's worse, is it seems the moment AMD gets close to intel in quality - they jack their price up to meet or exceed Intel's pricing.
That type of marketing is hardly going to encourage ME to switch from a time honored and trusted manufacturer.
It was very clear there were no other patients in the ER. It's a very small hospital. The ER is a single hall, 8 beds. I know the facility well as a company I used to work for did the transcription for the hospital.
Over a period of four hours, I was not able to keep my 2 year old pinned in a single room - so we walked up and down the hall frequently.
I could, quite clearly, see all the ER doctors and nurses who were on duty at the time.
Sure, there may have been other patients at the hospital - but not in the ER. Heck, more than once a doctor would stop in and check if we were still there. After my son pitched enough of a fit one of the nurses brought him a sucker.
That I could see, there were two doctors in the ER. On duty or not, they were in scrubs yapping with the nurses.
I wasn't insanely concerned over the rash my son had. But FOUR HOURS is unbeleivable. Sure, if there were other people there - I'd get it - no doubt. Heck, if there were other people we wouldn't have even gone to that Hospital. We went there because it was the only Hospital that had an 'after hours clinic'. NOTE: We got an ER bill anyway! Hence it was $800, regardless of the fact we specifically stated we wanted to check him into the after hours clinic to have a rash looked at. My point of how doctors and hospitals defraud insurance companies.
Four hours, insane. But hey, like you said if there will people there with missing limbs, heck yeah someone help them. But, alas, this was NorthWest Arkansas 2 years ago. During the entire four hours we were there we did not see a single sole come into that ER aside from Doctors, Nurses, and our family who came to entertain a very disgruntled 2 year old boy.
It wasn't tragic, by any means. I mean, really. But it was extremely... well, rude.
And again this goes by to the OPs article. It's hard to trust the opinion of someone who is rude.
I can keep going, too, Doctors haven't lost my trust easily. Hell they've put a lifetime of work into it.
My Uncle died last year WHILE in the CT scan. He had a heart attack and died under their care. He had noted he had issues with confined spaces, but they pushed to get the scan.
One of my best friends, RIGHT NOW, is lying in a hospital in Little Rock. He is now in a comma. A comma resulting from an infection he got from a port the hospital gave him. They're going to take him off of life support TODAY. If he lives, they're going to amputate his FUCKING LEGS, both of them, god damnit - because THEY fucked up. If he dies, pfft, ohh well. Just another day in the life of the medical system.
All because of negligence on behalf of the hospital. (Granted, this was a nurses fault - the doctor is still ultimately responsible to monitor the patient)
I get what you're saying about priorities, no doubt. But you have to get what I'm saying, the only other priority these doctors had was yapping it up with nurses. And more then that, the four hour wait at the hospital is far from a horrifying incident. Just an example of the poor attitude doctors hold for their patients. Well, rather, many doctors hold for their patients.
As I've tried to point out otherwise, and have expanded on here, doctors in general have worked dilligently to gain the mistrust they receive from ME. And, I quite well imagine many others have frightningly similar experiences.
And again, I must reitterate, were I in peril I would seek a doctor. But when my nose is running and I have a fever, I could give a flying eff what the doctor thinks - because I don't want to pay $400 to find out his 'opinion' given in a matter of minutes based merely on visual observations.
I'll be the first to say good doctors deserve to make fantastic money. But, sadly, as I've tried to point out - (to me) - it seems as though the majority of doctors do NOT work hard for the money they receive. Many have the attitude that because they have the education, they are better than other people, and their mere presence justifies a high fee. Again, not all - but MANY doctors are this way. As a matter of fact, I have some doctors in the f
The OP is about general practice, not surgery. I merely needed a subscription for physical therapy. That's it.
I already KNEW what my condition was. What's funny, the the doctor who diagnosed my condition did specifically ask my Father not to be involved in the litigation (again, I was only 16).
No, this was NOT one incident. Not one doctor. This was dozens and dozens of doctors, included a doctor at the Arkansas Childrens Hospital in Little Rock, and took place over a period of almost a full year of me being dedicated to nothing but seeking medical treatment.
What's funny, is the Doctor at the Arkansas Childrens Hospital threw a fit like a child - called me a liar - and kicked my Father and I out of his office. Why, you ask? Well, because I was currently involved in litigation - and he said he NEVER accepts patients involved in litigation and that I MUST have lied to his secretary to get the appointment.
IT'S STANDARD PRACTICE FOR THESE DOCTORS TO REFUSE TREATMENT TO PATIENTS IN LITIGATION!
Time and time again I was told to seek my attorney for medical treatment, noting there were doctors who handled 'that kind' of patient.
I'm not saying some Doctors are not great. Dr. Kurkendal in Clarksville, AR, is a fantastic guy. I love him to death, and he worked closely with me TRYING to find a specialist who would help me, as he was merely an M.D.
I'm not saying a Doctors time saving your life isn't worth it. But, going in to be diagnosed with the flu should not be a $450 fee for 10 minutes of time. That's unrealistic.
Or how about $800 to have a 2 year old diagnosed as 'having a rash' and told to wait 2 weeks, see another doctor if it's still there. WHAT?! No doubt he has a rash, moron, that's why we brought him in to the freaking emergency room on a Sunday! We want to know what the EFFING RASH IS AND IF HE WILL BE OK! Seriously, what the hell?
What angers me even more is watching ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS leeching off of government funded systems, visiting the doctor anything their nose runs because they ate too much salsa. For free. I pay for that.
My parents pay for that.
YOU PAY FOR THAT.
And Doctors exploit it. Surgeons earn their worth, no doubt. But M.D.'s turning 1mil+ a year working 6 hour days diagnosing colds are scam artists, nothing more. They want the easy buck, and that's it.
Or how about the complete waste of life who asked my wife to abort our son because he was using her as part of a study for former cancer patients and the child would disqualify her from the study and he would have to charge her more for the treatment she was getting. Ohh, that was a nice one.
I'm sorry, but horror stories of bad Doctors are not hard to come by. Not hard at all. They don't even have to be horror stories, just stories that show poor charector. Such as a doctor who won't help a kid because he's involved in a lawsuit he has NO CONTROL OVER.
Or, perhaps, a doctor who wants to end the life of an unborn child because it suits his needs.
Like I said, I'm not saying some doctors are not great -- but to think your healthcare should be more significant than something typically considered to take up 20% of your income -- that's just lunacy.
And really, you are right to a great extent. The amount of money people spend on medical INSURANCE really makes me mad. That is perpetuated by Doctors overcharging insurance companies. But still, that doesn't affect my opinion of the medical profession enough to not trust a doctor.
But the other things I mentioned DOES. There are two Doctors I trust. Dr. Kurkendal and Dr. Fiovante. The ONLY two Doctors in a period of THREE YEARS who would help me, despite the fact my case was in litigation. Granted, they weren't a lot of help. Heh. Kurkendal could only perscribe pain killers and steroids and Fiovante was very blunt, stating my condition was permanent, surgery would probably make it worse, and the older I got the worse it was going to get because two disks had ruptu
Last time I went to a doctor, he told me to come back when my lawsuit was over.
At that time, I was in dire need of physical therapy. I could hardly stand up.
That was over 10 years ago.
So, now, tell me why a doctor I see once in ten years is worth more than a car that is driven every day? The car functions well, daily. It does nothing wrong. The doctor tells me to come see him when there is no risk of him being involved in litigation!
Start reading RIGHT THERE. Doctors, for a great part, do not care about patients. They're more concerned over their precious time then the well being of a sixteen year old kid.
That's what I think of the medical profession. That's what a LOT of people think of the medical profession. It's a stigma that was earned.
My Father, 54, pays almost $400 a month for medical insurance with a $5,000.00 deductable.
My Mother, 50 and a government employee, pays in excess of $500 per month for medical insurance.
While my Mother has had extensive medical problems, my Father hasn't even had a cold in almost 20 years. Let alone been to the doctor for anything other then checkups and physicals.
Please, tell me why I should trust a medical system that costs more then the lease on my fucking BMW?
Insurance companies charge insane premiums because doctors and hospitals charge insane rates. Doctors and hospitals claim they charge insane rates because of malpractice suits, etc etc..
But it all boils down to one simple fact: In the United States medical care is overpriced.
My son was sick, in Rogers, Arkansas, and we waited FOUR HOURS in the emergency room for a TWO YEAR OLD CHILD to be cared for. Why? Because the doctors were all busy. With what? NO ONE ELSE WAS THERE FOR FOUR HOURS! How much did that cost? $800. $800 to sit there waiting for four hours to get 20 minutes with a doctor.
More simply put: People don't trust you because you don't DESERVE to be trusted.
Here's a fancy example of Doctors being the wonderful men that they are: When I was sixteen I was in a car accident. My back was broke in three places. It took me NINE MONTHS to find a doctor who would treat me. Multiple times I was told by doctors that they do not see patients whos injuries are the subject of current litigation. (IE because I was suing the woman who hit me going in excess of 100mph I was going to be refused medical treatment)
I have no respect for Doctors. I think almost all of them are cowards, liars, and theives. It's no wonder why people have a hard time accepting a Doctors word for truth -- as all to often the Doctor is wrong; though no doubt I have yet to meet a Doctor who doesn't have a holier than thou "I can't be wrong I'm better than everyone else" attitude.
In my opinion, Doctors do nothing but steal from the lower classes in a large orchestrated insurance scam. Doctors scam the insurance companies, insurance companies scam the middle and lower classes.
Illegal immigrants all get free medical treatment and we all pay for it with higher taxes.
I'm divorced, have a son, work an IT consulting job 18 hours a week, a factory job 36 hours a week (3x 12 hour days, the weekend), and pull contract work as general labor helping a friend who builds pools.
IT Consulting: $26/hr Warehouse job: $16/hr Pools: paid by the job... Probably averages to about $10/hr
Wanna know what I think? You're effing lazy, blame all your problems on other people, and resent anyone who succeeds no matter how hard they had to work to get there.
So here I am, juggeling THREE jobs, college, and what time I have left goes to my son. Woe is me, some effing schmuck who works a shifted factory job wants to cry because his should-be-cookin'-fries-at-McDonald's ARSE is too lazy to do anything other then fall asleep on a pallet jack at the back of the factory?
Please.
Get off your horse man, I'll bet the child support I pay is more then you make a week. I don't know what the eff you are crying about. Pfft.
With your attitude, you're lucky you've got a job. My God.
That leaves 20 hours to sleep. What about your family? Wife, kids? Yeah right!
Sure, an 80 hour workweek once or twice a year can be ok. Really, it's bull -- but tolerable. The employer SHOULD be responsible for managing their resources better to prevent such things - or be forced to pay mandatory overtime (which Bush saw to it that doesn't happen - specifically for IT people).
But it's not just one or two weeks a year. It's EVERY week. I've worked at one of these 80-hour-week companies before. It's all promises and lies when you're being hired on - then you are slowly introduced into the 'emergency' firefighting atmosphere and before the end of your first month you're on STEADY 70-80 hour work-weeks.
Anyone who has worked these insane hours for prolonged periouds can tell you the things that happen to your body and your life are cruel, to say the least. Cruel, very cruel.
The first thing you notice is memory loss. Constantly losing things, can't remember what you worked on earlier, sometimes you can't even remember what PROJECT you are CURRENTLY working on. You start forgetting peoples names, etc.. Your family? HA! Just a distant memory, they don't even come to mind.
Eventually, you end up with this glazed look on your face. These are the people you can tell a great joke too and they won't get it for several minutes - and even then probably won't laugh because they don't have the energy.
Bush saw to it IT people could be abused like this, now the US Government scrables to get enough IT people in the military.
Most of my friends have moved to other COUNTRIES to work, because working in IT in the US is a joke. Unless you are among the lucky few - your job belongs to an H1-B visa worker, invloves insane overtime, or involves being in another country. And I must say, many of my friends work in Japan now.
That or they've gone for a career change. Which is what I'm doing right this moment. I'm working with my old college counsellors to work up a masters in education. Yaup, I'm going to teach.
Sure, I'm not going to get rich teaching - but I will get to spend time with my family -- my son. I'll have two solid months off during the summer, I _will_ have Christmas off. I won't have to attend my sons birthday parties via telephone call.
$50,000 a year starting is awesome for me.
I must say, 10 years in IT has tought me one thing -- free time IS more important than making more money. I'm going to live my life, rather than working massive overtime so some genocidal executives can have more money.
One day these people will be exposed for the trash they are, and I hope they pay dearly.
Take a glass ball, cut the top 20% or so of the ball off and in half. Look from the flat side through to the other side. Stick a pea on a toothpick and freaking look at it.
WTF?
Is if the FSF would sue SCO and force them to remove all GPL'd software from their products.
Like the FOSS community gives a crap if SCO distributes their stuff with SCO-UNIX. The only people who benefit from that are SCO and it's customers - who merely serve to fund SCO'd litigation machine.
Slashdot Mirror
Now people are required to inject glass capsules into their arms to enter a facility?
Now we know asbestos kills.
What will be said of placing RFID tags into our bodies 50 years from now.
Some risks are worth taking, there is no question. For me, this is not one of them.
The Computerized Accounting class in Rogers High School, of Rogers, Arkansas, did not even have or use computers in any of it's lessons until a few years ago.
That was an interesting class.
And educators around the state keep asking themselves what they need to do to bring our educational system up to par with the rest of the country. Pfft.
Actually, a good butler makes upwards of $200,000.
That's more than I will ever make working in IT. Not to mention room and board being provided.
Perhaps I deserve the idiot of the day award, but how is it confusing that a species with wings can fly?
People are sick of the bad press the RIAA is generating, and simply don't care to purchase their products anymore. Could also be a lack of new talent worth listening to.
I personally have not bought a CD in years. Though I did spend about $10 buying some old songs I liked from Wal-Mart's music store when it opened. I know of only one person who continues to buy CD's and MP3's. No one else cares for the new talent nor the RIAA's actions as of late.
In short, perhaps it is the lack of quality and consumer relations that is costing the music industry. Not bazillions of theives ravaging the internet to steal away all their monies.
Not to mention, the price of music CD's is a joke. $15-20 for a movie I can understand. Tens of millions in advertising, and often hundreds of millions in production. I pay $20 for a good movie I feel like I got what I paid for. When I pay $20 for a music CD that has maybe one or two songs on the whole disk that I want - I do not feel I have received valuable goods for the money I invested.
Halo is the perfect example of how Microsoft can buy a great product and put it's name on it like they had crap to do with the development.
Man, you totally didn't get his post? Hell, I still can't breathe it was so funny.
Thanks for the informative response. :)
"Even if AMD is making better CPUs now, comprable in quality and speed to Intel, even -- they still have yet to do something truly innovative to force me to rethink my opinion of them and their product."
That's what I said. Sure, AMD is making better CPUs now. No doubt about that. But no, AMD hasn't done anything truly innovative that is widely adopted. 64-bit CPUs they've nailed, I'll give them that - but 64-bit computing isn't widely adopted enough by developers for it to become the defacto-standard.
Slightly improving current technology is NOT what I consider innovative. And if that is what you consider innovation - by all means, enjoy. I don't.
From my perspective, the ignorance is coming from the people who fail to read what I type, thinking my references here are to a shortterm history.
And morons who think slightly improving current technology is innovation. Intel was innovative 20 years ago - and they've slightly improved on the technology they developed then. AMD has done nothing more then mimmic Intel all along the way, save perhaps the last couple of years.
I have to say, though, I enjoy the management crack -- that just tells me your some whiney little peon whos angry he gets bossed around for underperforming on the job.
*laughs*
Did you read my post? I'm guessing not since I state NO FACTS regarding Intel CPU performance.
Please, show me where I make an uninformed point? Please. I clearly state I'm making reference to the first days of AMD's chip development.
RTFPP
Only systems admins know today is Sys Admin Appreciation Day.
The resolution will be a wildcard DNS entry that redirects all internal traffic to this slashdot article.
Wow, another shiningly intelligent post from a slashdot troll.
I had no idea there were so many AMD fanboi's here.
While I will grant AMD has had great reviews for the past 2-3 years, prior to this AMD was always considered the inferior product. Period. And while AMD may be doing something great with 64-bit processors - it means jack-all right now as no one else wants to support it. So, while your AMD CPUs may have been doing great for the last few years - you totally missed that my point was that AMD branded itself poorly many MANY years ago (Yes, probably before you were born judging by your overly intelligent response.). They did this by selling extremely cheap lower quality CPUs compared to Intel and IBM. My point was that this stigma has followed them, IMHO. And obviously in the opinion of many others. I've seen AMD do very little marketing to try and reverse this stigma, either. So why SHOULD people change their opinion of AMD, when AMD hasn't sought strongly to change that opinion?
And as I mentioned, AMD hammered their pricing up there right next to Intels and has done little or nothing to change consumers view of their brand.
So, while you and many others may know that AMD chips, particularly the 64-bit market, are far superior to the products currently made by intel (Which, by the way - I always thought the Pentium 4's were inferior to the P3 chips, something I've preached for years) - the general public does not see it this way as Intel continues an agressive marketing campaign - I have yet - in my ENTIRE LIFE - to see an AMD commercial. Granted, I have seen commercials for computers with AMD chips in them, I have yet to see a commercial strictlty for the purpose of strengthening the AMD brand.
Granted, I watch TV maybe 3 hours a week - I still see an Intel commercial atleast once a week.
Now, you tell me - why do you think AMD's brand is stuck so strongly in the mud?
Personally, I don't care much for Intel or AMD - but I'll say right now Intel does a lot more to create a better brand image then AMD does. AMD has no room to cry about their current marketshare, they have made no effort to change their image aside from product improvement. Which, hey, I'm with you - would be fantastic if that was enough. But, guess what - it's not. AMD doesn't get the free press a startup gets, so their brand image remains the same.
And again, like I told the other troll - keep your personal attacks to yourself, talking like a 5 year old earns you the respect of a 5 year old.
Well, I take that back, my 5 year old son doesn't go around calling people names. Certainly not for their opinions on branding. So I guess that would put you below that. I think around 2 or 3 is where the nasty namecalling starts and ends. Sounds fitting.
"pretty retarded if you ask me"
Well, technically I did not ask you.
But, since you blessed me with your thoughts -- I will try to show you what my point was. Apparently you did not get it from my first post, which I'm sure is my fault for being so wordy.
Hyundai made a bad first impression. Plain, simple, to the point. That's it, the end. First impressions last, it's called branding.
Well, AMD gave a really bad first impression to me. That was my point.
What I was saying had nothing to do with some faboo foreign car you bought in 199x, or you personally at all.
So, as you can now see this plainly was not a personal attack, perhaps you can keep your snide, 'retarded' comments to yourself - or maybe word them a little better, aye?
"THe problem is you look at brand as stature and you use that to ignore the good qualities about everything else out there. You have probably never owned a Hyundai so you assume they're cheaply made. (granted they have had some bummers but so has intel..)"
I have owned both a Hyundai and an AMD. The Hyundai was a very cheaply made vehicle. It felt cheap, it looked cheap, it was cheap to drive, and it was overall just a cheap car. I never said it wasn't worth what I paid for it - but it was a cheap car. My point was that the company branded themselves for making cheap cars, which is what they did. Again, not personal attacks so I don't understand why you are getting all emotional.
The AMD chip I owned was far from the quality the Hyundai car was. The AMD, well, was junk. And lasted about 8 months before it just croaked. AMD continued to make CPUs that got poor reviews for years to follow.
These companies create the brand image of their own products. That's another point I think you fail to get. I didn't just pull my opinion these two brands out of a random hat.
Brand as stature... It's funny you refer to it that way. Why is it, do you think, that some brands have so much respect it gives them 'stature' in todays society? Do you think that these companies create these brands with stature by making cheap products far inferior to their competition for years on end? (Yes, I'm asking you, answer away.)
And when making your reply, do me a favor, try not to make assumptions.
Kthxbye.
Cheap car manufacturers, like Hyundai, came into my sights years ago.
I remember when I first saw a Hyundai commercial. It seemed as though every vehicle they made was under $10,000.00.
The cars were so cheap, and so poorly built, the company had an instant reputation for making a very cheap low quality vehicle.
Today, although I know some Hyundai's cost upwards of $30,000.00 -- and carry a 10 year 100,000 mile warranty - I still think of Hyundai of a cheap, poorly made vehicle.
I will probably always think of Hyndai this way, or atleast until they do something truly innovative -- like create some fantastic new vehicle that everyone ELSE tries to immitate - rather than the other way around.
My opinion of AMD was formed much this same way.
AMD made very cheap, inferior processors for years.
Even if AMD is making better CPUs now, comprable in quality and speed to Intel, even -- they still have yet to do something truly innovative to force me to rethink my opinion of them and their product.
Marketing people called in branding. Well, AMD, you're branded. That's the problem from where I sit.
And what's worse, is it seems the moment AMD gets close to intel in quality - they jack their price up to meet or exceed Intel's pricing.
That type of marketing is hardly going to encourage ME to switch from a time honored and trusted manufacturer.
That's just my opinion.
Dear God, mod this insightful for truth. Not funny!
It was very clear there were no other patients in the ER. It's a very small hospital. The ER is a single hall, 8 beds. I know the facility well as a company I used to work for did the transcription for the hospital. Over a period of four hours, I was not able to keep my 2 year old pinned in a single room - so we walked up and down the hall frequently. I could, quite clearly, see all the ER doctors and nurses who were on duty at the time. Sure, there may have been other patients at the hospital - but not in the ER. Heck, more than once a doctor would stop in and check if we were still there. After my son pitched enough of a fit one of the nurses brought him a sucker. That I could see, there were two doctors in the ER. On duty or not, they were in scrubs yapping with the nurses. I wasn't insanely concerned over the rash my son had. But FOUR HOURS is unbeleivable. Sure, if there were other people there - I'd get it - no doubt. Heck, if there were other people we wouldn't have even gone to that Hospital. We went there because it was the only Hospital that had an 'after hours clinic'. NOTE: We got an ER bill anyway! Hence it was $800, regardless of the fact we specifically stated we wanted to check him into the after hours clinic to have a rash looked at. My point of how doctors and hospitals defraud insurance companies. Four hours, insane. But hey, like you said if there will people there with missing limbs, heck yeah someone help them. But, alas, this was NorthWest Arkansas 2 years ago. During the entire four hours we were there we did not see a single sole come into that ER aside from Doctors, Nurses, and our family who came to entertain a very disgruntled 2 year old boy. It wasn't tragic, by any means. I mean, really. But it was extremely... well, rude. And again this goes by to the OPs article. It's hard to trust the opinion of someone who is rude. I can keep going, too, Doctors haven't lost my trust easily. Hell they've put a lifetime of work into it. My Uncle died last year WHILE in the CT scan. He had a heart attack and died under their care. He had noted he had issues with confined spaces, but they pushed to get the scan. One of my best friends, RIGHT NOW, is lying in a hospital in Little Rock. He is now in a comma. A comma resulting from an infection he got from a port the hospital gave him. They're going to take him off of life support TODAY. If he lives, they're going to amputate his FUCKING LEGS, both of them, god damnit - because THEY fucked up. If he dies, pfft, ohh well. Just another day in the life of the medical system. All because of negligence on behalf of the hospital. (Granted, this was a nurses fault - the doctor is still ultimately responsible to monitor the patient) I get what you're saying about priorities, no doubt. But you have to get what I'm saying, the only other priority these doctors had was yapping it up with nurses. And more then that, the four hour wait at the hospital is far from a horrifying incident. Just an example of the poor attitude doctors hold for their patients. Well, rather, many doctors hold for their patients. As I've tried to point out otherwise, and have expanded on here, doctors in general have worked dilligently to gain the mistrust they receive from ME. And, I quite well imagine many others have frightningly similar experiences. And again, I must reitterate, were I in peril I would seek a doctor. But when my nose is running and I have a fever, I could give a flying eff what the doctor thinks - because I don't want to pay $400 to find out his 'opinion' given in a matter of minutes based merely on visual observations. I'll be the first to say good doctors deserve to make fantastic money. But, sadly, as I've tried to point out - (to me) - it seems as though the majority of doctors do NOT work hard for the money they receive. Many have the attitude that because they have the education, they are better than other people, and their mere presence justifies a high fee. Again, not all - but MANY doctors are this way. As a matter of fact, I have some doctors in the f
The OP is about general practice, not surgery. I merely needed a subscription for physical therapy. That's it.
I already KNEW what my condition was. What's funny, the the doctor who diagnosed my condition did specifically ask my Father not to be involved in the litigation (again, I was only 16).
No, this was NOT one incident. Not one doctor. This was dozens and dozens of doctors, included a doctor at the Arkansas Childrens Hospital in Little Rock, and took place over a period of almost a full year of me being dedicated to nothing but seeking medical treatment.
What's funny, is the Doctor at the Arkansas Childrens Hospital threw a fit like a child - called me a liar - and kicked my Father and I out of his office. Why, you ask? Well, because I was currently involved in litigation - and he said he NEVER accepts patients involved in litigation and that I MUST have lied to his secretary to get the appointment.
IT'S STANDARD PRACTICE FOR THESE DOCTORS TO REFUSE TREATMENT TO PATIENTS IN LITIGATION!
Time and time again I was told to seek my attorney for medical treatment, noting there were doctors who handled 'that kind' of patient.
I'm not saying some Doctors are not great. Dr. Kurkendal in Clarksville, AR, is a fantastic guy. I love him to death, and he worked closely with me TRYING to find a specialist who would help me, as he was merely an M.D.
I'm not saying a Doctors time saving your life isn't worth it. But, going in to be diagnosed with the flu should not be a $450 fee for 10 minutes of time. That's unrealistic.
Or how about $800 to have a 2 year old diagnosed as 'having a rash' and told to wait 2 weeks, see another doctor if it's still there. WHAT?! No doubt he has a rash, moron, that's why we brought him in to the freaking emergency room on a Sunday! We want to know what the EFFING RASH IS AND IF HE WILL BE OK! Seriously, what the hell?
What angers me even more is watching ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS leeching off of government funded systems, visiting the doctor anything their nose runs because they ate too much salsa. For free. I pay for that.
My parents pay for that.
YOU PAY FOR THAT.
And Doctors exploit it. Surgeons earn their worth, no doubt. But M.D.'s turning 1mil+ a year working 6 hour days diagnosing colds are scam artists, nothing more. They want the easy buck, and that's it.
Or how about the complete waste of life who asked my wife to abort our son because he was using her as part of a study for former cancer patients and the child would disqualify her from the study and he would have to charge her more for the treatment she was getting. Ohh, that was a nice one.
I'm sorry, but horror stories of bad Doctors are not hard to come by. Not hard at all. They don't even have to be horror stories, just stories that show poor charector. Such as a doctor who won't help a kid because he's involved in a lawsuit he has NO CONTROL OVER.
Or, perhaps, a doctor who wants to end the life of an unborn child because it suits his needs.
Like I said, I'm not saying some doctors are not great -- but to think your healthcare should be more significant than something typically considered to take up 20% of your income -- that's just lunacy.
And really, you are right to a great extent. The amount of money people spend on medical INSURANCE really makes me mad. That is perpetuated by Doctors overcharging insurance companies. But still, that doesn't affect my opinion of the medical profession enough to not trust a doctor.
But the other things I mentioned DOES. There are two Doctors I trust. Dr. Kurkendal and Dr. Fiovante. The ONLY two Doctors in a period of THREE YEARS who would help me, despite the fact my case was in litigation. Granted, they weren't a lot of help. Heh. Kurkendal could only perscribe pain killers and steroids and Fiovante was very blunt, stating my condition was permanent, surgery would probably make it worse, and the older I got the worse it was going to get because two disks had ruptu
Last time I went to a doctor, he told me to come back when my lawsuit was over. At that time, I was in dire need of physical therapy. I could hardly stand up. That was over 10 years ago. So, now, tell me why a doctor I see once in ten years is worth more than a car that is driven every day? The car functions well, daily. It does nothing wrong. The doctor tells me to come see him when there is no risk of him being involved in litigation! Start reading RIGHT THERE. Doctors, for a great part, do not care about patients. They're more concerned over their precious time then the well being of a sixteen year old kid. That's what I think of the medical profession. That's what a LOT of people think of the medical profession. It's a stigma that was earned.
My Father, 54, pays almost $400 a month for medical insurance with a $5,000.00 deductable.
My Mother, 50 and a government employee, pays in excess of $500 per month for medical insurance.
While my Mother has had extensive medical problems, my Father hasn't even had a cold in almost 20 years. Let alone been to the doctor for anything other then checkups and physicals.
Please, tell me why I should trust a medical system that costs more then the lease on my fucking BMW?
Insurance companies charge insane premiums because doctors and hospitals charge insane rates. Doctors and hospitals claim they charge insane rates because of malpractice suits, etc etc..
But it all boils down to one simple fact: In the United States medical care is overpriced.
My son was sick, in Rogers, Arkansas, and we waited FOUR HOURS in the emergency room for a TWO YEAR OLD CHILD to be cared for. Why? Because the doctors were all busy. With what? NO ONE ELSE WAS THERE FOR FOUR HOURS! How much did that cost? $800. $800 to sit there waiting for four hours to get 20 minutes with a doctor.
More simply put: People don't trust you because you don't DESERVE to be trusted.
Here's a fancy example of Doctors being the wonderful men that they are: When I was sixteen I was in a car accident. My back was broke in three places. It took me NINE MONTHS to find a doctor who would treat me. Multiple times I was told by doctors that they do not see patients whos injuries are the subject of current litigation. (IE because I was suing the woman who hit me going in excess of 100mph I was going to be refused medical treatment)
I have no respect for Doctors. I think almost all of them are cowards, liars, and theives. It's no wonder why people have a hard time accepting a Doctors word for truth -- as all to often the Doctor is wrong; though no doubt I have yet to meet a Doctor who doesn't have a holier than thou "I can't be wrong I'm better than everyone else" attitude.
In my opinion, Doctors do nothing but steal from the lower classes in a large orchestrated insurance scam. Doctors scam the insurance companies, insurance companies scam the middle and lower classes.
Illegal immigrants all get free medical treatment and we all pay for it with higher taxes.
It's just FUN ALL AROUND!
14" long....
Right.
I'm divorced, have a son, work an IT consulting job 18 hours a week, a factory job 36 hours a week (3x 12 hour days, the weekend), and pull contract work as general labor helping a friend who builds pools.
IT Consulting: $26/hr
Warehouse job: $16/hr
Pools: paid by the job... Probably averages to about $10/hr
Wanna know what I think? You're effing lazy, blame all your problems on other people, and resent anyone who succeeds no matter how hard they had to work to get there.
So here I am, juggeling THREE jobs, college, and what time I have left goes to my son. Woe is me, some effing schmuck who works a shifted factory job wants to cry because his should-be-cookin'-fries-at-McDonald's ARSE is too lazy to do anything other then fall asleep on a pallet jack at the back of the factory?
Please.
Get off your horse man, I'll bet the child support I pay is more then you make a week. I don't know what the eff you are crying about. Pfft.
With your attitude, you're lucky you've got a job. My God.
120 Hours in a 5 day work-week.
80 Hours worked.
10 Hours drive-time. (30 minutes to, 30 minutes from)
10 Hours maintenance time. (shower, shave, whatever)
That leaves 20 hours to sleep. What about your family? Wife, kids? Yeah right!
Sure, an 80 hour workweek once or twice a year can be ok. Really, it's bull -- but tolerable. The employer SHOULD be responsible for managing their resources better to prevent such things - or be forced to pay mandatory overtime (which Bush saw to it that doesn't happen - specifically for IT people).
But it's not just one or two weeks a year. It's EVERY week. I've worked at one of these 80-hour-week companies before. It's all promises and lies when you're being hired on - then you are slowly introduced into the 'emergency' firefighting atmosphere and before the end of your first month you're on STEADY 70-80 hour work-weeks.
Anyone who has worked these insane hours for prolonged periouds can tell you the things that happen to your body and your life are cruel, to say the least. Cruel, very cruel.
The first thing you notice is memory loss. Constantly losing things, can't remember what you worked on earlier, sometimes you can't even remember what PROJECT you are CURRENTLY working on. You start forgetting peoples names, etc.. Your family? HA! Just a distant memory, they don't even come to mind.
Eventually, you end up with this glazed look on your face. These are the people you can tell a great joke too and they won't get it for several minutes - and even then probably won't laugh because they don't have the energy.
Bush saw to it IT people could be abused like this, now the US Government scrables to get enough IT people in the military.
Most of my friends have moved to other COUNTRIES to work, because working in IT in the US is a joke. Unless you are among the lucky few - your job belongs to an H1-B visa worker, invloves insane overtime, or involves being in another country. And I must say, many of my friends work in Japan now.
That or they've gone for a career change. Which is what I'm doing right this moment. I'm working with my old college counsellors to work up a masters in education. Yaup, I'm going to teach.
Sure, I'm not going to get rich teaching - but I will get to spend time with my family -- my son. I'll have two solid months off during the summer, I _will_ have Christmas off. I won't have to attend my sons birthday parties via telephone call.
$50,000 a year starting is awesome for me.
I must say, 10 years in IT has tought me one thing -- free time IS more important than making more money. I'm going to live my life, rather than working massive overtime so some genocidal executives can have more money.
One day these people will be exposed for the trash they are, and I hope they pay dearly.
Take a glass ball, cut the top 20% or so of the ball off and in half. Look from the flat side through to the other side. Stick a pea on a toothpick and freaking look at it. WTF?
Is if the FSF would sue SCO and force them to remove all GPL'd software from their products.
Like the FOSS community gives a crap if SCO distributes their stuff with SCO-UNIX. The only people who benefit from that are SCO and it's customers - who merely serve to fund SCO'd litigation machine.
Twit..