Back during the Thanksgiving break of 2007, I bought an HDTV from CC, after some research online (and some previous research in-stores) on what brand/model I wanted and what was the best price available. I probably overlooked the near-by (2 miles from home) Best Buy store, and instead drove to the nearest CC (Fremont, about 12 miles) carrying that model at that price.
Next day, when I wanted to get a DVD player, I looked up their prices, drove back to get it, only to realize that they have different prices online and in-store. I asked if they would match their online price, but they refused ("not on Thanksgiving weekend" was their excuse). To get the lower price, I was given the option to order online and pick it in 24 minutes from the very same store (which basically meant I had to drive back home to logon, order, and then drive up back 12 miles).
Thankfully, some wisdom dawned upon me, and I decided to check the local BB store on the way back home. They carried the same product, for a marked price of around $20 more. However, when asked whether they would match the competitor price, they gladly agreed. I thought they would call or go online to confirm the competitor's price, but they agreed to the price I quoted I had seen at CC.
Not only did CC lose my $80 business on that DVD player, but also the high-margin accessories I bought with it - a Monster HDMI cable and a Monster surge-protector.
Needless to say, I have never visited CC since, and not just because I have a BB much closer to home.
My only regret is spending my $100 saving on the Black Friday special on TV on their lame "Circuit City Extended Protection Plan" (which I'm sure doesn't cover most accidental damage anyway), which will now be useless, since they are out business.
I don't know how knowing to speak Hindi is relevant. Was this a usual rant about jobs moving out of the US, or just plain ignorance?
I hope you do understand that working at a tech. company in India (usually) requires you to be fluent in English, and not any of the Indian local languages (which, by the way, are 25 or more, Hindi being only one of them). At the companies you mentioned above, all communication between employees, be it in Delhi, Bangalore or San Jose, and be it over e-mail or face-to-face, happens in English. Probably because knowing Hindi won't help if my co-worker speaks Tamil (another of the 25+ languages).
Heck, it probably won't even help me communicate with the average guy on the street if I were working in Chennai (who is more likely be fluent in English and the local language there, rather than Hindi).
On a more serious note, people have in the past relocated from US to India for better opportunities in terms of career advancement (one of my directors back in India was an American), and I honestly don't see what's wrong with that. People from around the world travel/migrate for better opportunities in the US, Canada, UK, Germany etc. - so if it makes economic sense, without ruining your quality of life, whatever that might mean for you, why can't Americans seek better jobs elsewhere! In fact, most countries in the (third) world, I'm sure would very gladly accept a US citizen to work there.
The best advice I can give you is to not be discouraged, to know what you learned from your classes, your projects (more important), and perhaps your own self-motivated learning (development, playing around with stuff, whatever), and to try to show that in your resume and subsequently interviews. The last thing you want to do is think that having no experience is a hindrance to getting a job and ruin your confidence.
Note that contrary to what some people have suggested here, not all employers look for experience for all positions- though it might help (even if your experience was an internship). You have no idea how much someone brimming with ideas fresh out of college can contribute to a company - I personally have learnt a lot from colleagues who are technically less experienced than me.
I don't know if your college hosts a career fair, and if so, how many tech. companies visit, but if they do, that's probably your best bet. Both my jobs, first as an IT Systems Integrator at the world's largest chip manufacturer, after my BS, and the second as a software engineer after grad school, have been via career fairs, albeit in better economic times.
As far as I know, even companies who have frozen external hiring because of the economy, continue to hire (at least internships) from colleges because they want to maintain their relationship with these universities, so that they can continue to acquire good talent when things start getting better (sooner or later).
Fairs are easy, because you get to talk with the employers, understand what they do, and what they are looking for, see if you're a good fit (in your own eyes), hand a resume, and then hopefully be interviewed.
Even if that's not an option for you - some of my friends weren't as fortunate and didn't have on-campus career fairs, they were able to use their acquaintances etc. to apply and have their resumes noticed.
So don't think whether the downturn has a negative impact on the IT job scenario - instead, focus on honing your own skills, and present yourself confidently as the best candidate.
I have found that keeping a karmic approach (focusing on your duty rather than what the unpredictable end result might be) usually helps out even in the stickiest scenarios.
Unfortunately over time, by grad school, I also got used to using MATLAB rather than continue using Octave, and became dependent on the image processing toolkit.
But I'm assuming most stuff you did for your multimedia class used *some* of the built-in stuff (e.g. functions to read images from file, color format conversion) while implementing most processing logic (like your SDTV up-conversion example) in your own code using more "standard" functions (e.g. dct2 etc.)
I'd say it'll be worth checking out Ocatve's image processing toolkit, since it does seem to support most stuff.
You don't have to throw that code away or port it to an entirely different language (though Python rocks, and I wish my day-to-day job let me use more of it) Try GNU Octave - that's what I used to back in college because my department didn't have licensed copies of MATLAB installed/available, so-called student versions were insanely impossible and expensive to get hold of (Indian students can't afford $100), and I didn't want to pick a pirated one like the rest of the class.
Possible the first open-spurce software I practically used (except playing with Linux).
Code was very cross-compatible between Octave and MATLAB, except say constants like "e" and "exp" (and of course the MATLAB-specific toolkits). The toughest part at that time was explaining to the professor (who had no idea what "open-source" was) that I did *not* use MATLAB, but it would run on MATLAB fine if he wanted to check that my assignments work fine.
The Youtube clause to retain copies on servers after deletion (and not distribute or perform them) may merely be to ensure that while a piece of content is removed from the list of displayable videos, the same may still well be cached for a while on any of their several content distribution servers.
FTA:
You understand and agree, however, that YouTube may retain, but not display, distribute, or perform, server copies of User Submissions that have been removed or deleted.
This clause is likely in place just so as to protect them against malicious/trivial suits like "Hey, you kept a cached copy on the server even when it was removed/deleted".
Technically (and I'm just guessing here, not really aware of how Youtube's content delivery system is implemented), it may be more efficient to remove the video from the listing/database and/or flag it as un-servable while maintaining the cached copies for a while. All such cached copies may then be purged after a certain interval.
Well, according to this condition, you're agreeing that for a certain time there might be cached copies on their servers. The clause does not say they might be retained "indefinitely" and that is likely not their intention.
... why this feature was not provided in the first place, and what really stops them from providing a "feature" for a lower price. I mean, if they now unlock it, providing 802.11n (draft) for the price of 802.11g, where does the unaccounted-for "revenue" come into picture?
I'm by no means an expert on SOX or accounting, but I somehow feel this is not the real reason.
What's your Slashdot comment licensed under? I'd actually like to print it out and send it as a letter to this Mr. Morris. It's not everyday you get to say such words to a C*fucking*EO, and I'd hate to lose the opportunity.
Why doesn't Opera 9 have the kind of "Find in the page" like Firefox does, i.e., a small box at the bottom of the screen not obstructing the page itself (as against a dialog box), and start searching dynamically as I type.
This is the single feature stopping me from considering using Opera seriously.
Well, maybe the error is specific to my client (missing compoenent?), but I got this error on saving.
[Exception... "Component returned failure code: 0x80004005 (NS_ERROR_FAILURE) [nsIXMLHttpRequest.send]" nsresult: "0x80004005 (NS_ERROR_FAILURE)" location: "JS frame:: http://207.67.194.7/apps/explorer/content/File.js:: anonymous:: line 536" data: no]
I'm using Firefox 1.0.7 on Ubuntu.
I wouldn't want to release a half-baked product and claim it's as good as A, B or C.
My aim was to set-up a simple DJ'ing system using only laptops for live music at a local student dance event hosted by the SCI catering to an audience of about 150. With no prior experience with mixing software , or for that matter, DJ'ing basics, I started out looking up on the net, tried out a few, and learnt as I used.
I really liked, and finally used, Sam Party DJ. It offers a full-featured trial, has an easy, configurable UI, and two virtual decks to easily organize playlists and mix and crossfade tracks. Ideally, it's good to have two sound cards, to be able to listen to one track (on headphones) while you play the other. It can use Winamp playlists to load tracks and has auto and manual modes and a plethora of features like beat matching, tempo increasing (without making vocals sound like smurfs) etc.
If open-source is your cup of tea, try Mixxx. It's not as polished, and has a steeper curve (or so it felt to me), but might serve your purpose.
I was planning to write-up a small blog-post or doc on this but never got enough motivation. If you want, I'd be glad to write-up something and put it on my home page.
Of course, if you are instead looking for software/equipment to mix/record your own tracks, you might want to use something like Project 5 from Cakewalk. You might also want to get yourself a MIDI controller or a keyboard, if you want to create real music.:) I use a Yamaha PSR-295. And then, of course there is "proper" DJ-ing equipment like scratchpad etc.
Not sure if I understood the problem completely, but don't most companies disallow cameras in the workplace anyways?
I used to work with Intel and we were supposed to declare even camera phones at the entrance, let alone digicams.
Slashdot Mirror
Yeah, that was my initial reaction too before reading the summary.
Been using since January ... simply awesome with my MacBook.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009127
Nope, I don't think WHO (World Health Organization) will fix it.
Oh, you meant, who will fix it. Nevermind then.
Back during the Thanksgiving break of 2007, I bought an HDTV from CC, after some research online (and some previous research in-stores) on what brand/model I wanted and what was the best price available. I probably overlooked the near-by (2 miles from home) Best Buy store, and instead drove to the nearest CC (Fremont, about 12 miles) carrying that model at that price.
Next day, when I wanted to get a DVD player, I looked up their prices, drove back to get it, only to realize that they have different prices online and in-store. I asked if they would match their online price, but they refused ("not on Thanksgiving weekend" was their excuse). To get the lower price, I was given the option to order online and pick it in 24 minutes from the very same store (which basically meant I had to drive back home to logon, order, and then drive up back 12 miles).
Thankfully, some wisdom dawned upon me, and I decided to check the local BB store on the way back home. They carried the same product, for a marked price of around $20 more. However, when asked whether they would match the competitor price, they gladly agreed. I thought they would call or go online to confirm the competitor's price, but they agreed to the price I quoted I had seen at CC.
Not only did CC lose my $80 business on that DVD player, but also the high-margin accessories I bought with it - a Monster HDMI cable and a Monster surge-protector.
Needless to say, I have never visited CC since, and not just because I have a BB much closer to home.
My only regret is spending my $100 saving on the Black Friday special on TV on their lame "Circuit City Extended Protection Plan" (which I'm sure doesn't cover most accidental damage anyway), which will now be useless, since they are out business.
Mine too. Code (for products shipped) available here: http://www.sony.com/linux redirects to http://products.sel.sony.com/opensource/
I *am* a US IT worker.
I don't know how knowing to speak Hindi is relevant. Was this a usual rant about jobs moving out of the US, or just plain ignorance?
I hope you do understand that working at a tech. company in India (usually) requires you to be fluent in English, and not any of the Indian local languages (which, by the way, are 25 or more, Hindi being only one of them). At the companies you mentioned above, all communication between employees, be it in Delhi, Bangalore or San Jose, and be it over e-mail or face-to-face, happens in English. Probably because knowing Hindi won't help if my co-worker speaks Tamil (another of the 25+ languages).
Heck, it probably won't even help me communicate with the average guy on the street if I were working in Chennai (who is more likely be fluent in English and the local language there, rather than Hindi).
On a more serious note, people have in the past relocated from US to India for better opportunities in terms of career advancement (one of my directors back in India was an American), and I honestly don't see what's wrong with that. People from around the world travel/migrate for better opportunities in the US, Canada, UK, Germany etc. - so if it makes economic sense, without ruining your quality of life, whatever that might mean for you, why can't Americans seek better jobs elsewhere! In fact, most countries in the (third) world, I'm sure would very gladly accept a US citizen to work there.
The best advice I can give you is to not be discouraged, to know what you learned from your classes, your projects (more important), and perhaps your own self-motivated learning (development, playing around with stuff, whatever), and to try to show that in your resume and subsequently interviews. The last thing you want to do is think that having no experience is a hindrance to getting a job and ruin your confidence.
Note that contrary to what some people have suggested here, not all employers look for experience for all positions- though it might help (even if your experience was an internship). You have no idea how much someone brimming with ideas fresh out of college can contribute to a company - I personally have learnt a lot from colleagues who are technically less experienced than me.
I don't know if your college hosts a career fair, and if so, how many tech. companies visit, but if they do, that's probably your best bet. Both my jobs, first as an IT Systems Integrator at the world's largest chip manufacturer, after my BS, and the second as a software engineer after grad school, have been via career fairs, albeit in better economic times.
As far as I know, even companies who have frozen external hiring because of the economy, continue to hire (at least internships) from colleges because they want to maintain their relationship with these universities, so that they can continue to acquire good talent when things start getting better (sooner or later).
Fairs are easy, because you get to talk with the employers, understand what they do, and what they are looking for, see if you're a good fit (in your own eyes), hand a resume, and then hopefully be interviewed.
Even if that's not an option for you - some of my friends weren't as fortunate and didn't have on-campus career fairs, they were able to use their acquaintances etc. to apply and have their resumes noticed.
So don't think whether the downturn has a negative impact on the IT job scenario - instead, focus on honing your own skills, and present yourself confidently as the best candidate.
I have found that keeping a karmic approach (focusing on your duty rather than what the unpredictable end result might be) usually helps out even in the stickiest scenarios.
All the best!
Unfortunately over time, by grad school, I also got used to using MATLAB rather than continue using Octave, and became dependent on the image processing toolkit.
But I'm assuming most stuff you did for your multimedia class used *some* of the built-in stuff (e.g. functions to read images from file, color format conversion) while implementing most processing logic (like your SDTV up-conversion example) in your own code using more "standard" functions (e.g. dct2 etc.)
I'd say it'll be worth checking out Ocatve's image processing toolkit, since it does seem to support most stuff.
You don't have to throw that code away or port it to an entirely different language (though Python rocks, and I wish my day-to-day job let me use more of it) Try GNU Octave - that's what I used to back in college because my department didn't have licensed copies of MATLAB installed/available, so-called student versions were insanely impossible and expensive to get hold of (Indian students can't afford $100), and I didn't want to pick a pirated one like the rest of the class.
Possible the first open-spurce software I practically used (except playing with Linux).
Code was very cross-compatible between Octave and MATLAB, except say constants like "e" and "exp" (and of course the MATLAB-specific toolkits). The toughest part at that time was explaining to the professor (who had no idea what "open-source" was) that I did *not* use MATLAB, but it would run on MATLAB fine if he wanted to check that my assignments work fine.
Precisely my thoughts; you seemed to have summed it up more succinctly!
You understand and agree, however, that YouTube may retain, but not display, distribute, or perform, server copies of User Submissions that have been removed or deleted.
This clause is likely in place just so as to protect them against malicious/trivial suits like "Hey, you kept a cached copy on the server even when it was removed/deleted". Technically (and I'm just guessing here, not really aware of how Youtube's content delivery system is implemented), it may be more efficient to remove the video from the listing/database and/or flag it as un-servable while maintaining the cached copies for a while. All such cached copies may then be purged after a certain interval. Well, according to this condition, you're agreeing that for a certain time there might be cached copies on their servers. The clause does not say they might be retained "indefinitely" and that is likely not their intention.
OS runs you!
Mod parent up! +5 Funny (What? You're on Slashdot, and you haven't seen Office Space?)
Mod parent UP!!!
How is this a flaw in the system? I think it's a flaw in the users.
... why this feature was not provided in the first place, and what really stops them from providing a "feature" for a lower price. I mean, if they now unlock it, providing 802.11n (draft) for the price of 802.11g, where does the unaccounted-for "revenue" come into picture? I'm by no means an expert on SOX or accounting, but I somehow feel this is not the real reason.
What's your Slashdot comment licensed under? I'd actually like to print it out and send it as a letter to this Mr. Morris. It's not everyday you get to say such words to a C*fucking*EO, and I'd hate to lose the opportunity.
Oh, I never knew that. Thanks.
Why doesn't Opera 9 have the kind of "Find in the page" like Firefox does, i.e., a small box at the bottom of the screen not obstructing the page itself (as against a dialog box), and start searching dynamically as I type. This is the single feature stopping me from considering using Opera seriously.
... for a proprietary format which claims to be called "Universal" Media Disc.
Well, maybe the error is specific to my client (missing compoenent?), but I got this error on saving. [Exception... "Component returned failure code: 0x80004005 (NS_ERROR_FAILURE) [nsIXMLHttpRequest.send]" nsresult: "0x80004005 (NS_ERROR_FAILURE)" location: "JS frame :: http://207.67.194.7/apps/explorer/content/File.js :: anonymous :: line 536" data: no]
I'm using Firefox 1.0.7 on Ubuntu.
I wouldn't want to release a half-baked product and claim it's as good as A, B or C.
My aim was to set-up a simple DJ'ing system using only laptops for live music at a local student dance event hosted by the SCI catering to an audience of about 150. With no prior experience with mixing software , or for that matter, DJ'ing basics, I started out looking up on the net, tried out a few, and learnt as I used.
I really liked, and finally used, Sam Party DJ. It offers a full-featured trial, has an easy, configurable UI, and two virtual decks to easily organize playlists and mix and crossfade tracks. Ideally, it's good to have two sound cards, to be able to listen to one track (on headphones) while you play the other. It can use Winamp playlists to load tracks and has auto and manual modes and a plethora of features like beat matching, tempo increasing (without making vocals sound like smurfs) etc.
If open-source is your cup of tea, try Mixxx. It's not as polished, and has a steeper curve (or so it felt to me), but might serve your purpose.
I was planning to write-up a small blog-post or doc on this but never got enough motivation. If you want, I'd be glad to write-up something and put it on my home page.
Of course, if you are instead looking for software/equipment to mix/record your own tracks, you might want to use something like Project 5 from Cakewalk. You might also want to get yourself a MIDI controller or a keyboard, if you want to create real music. :) I use a Yamaha PSR-295. And then, of course there is "proper" DJ-ing equipment like scratchpad etc.
Not sure if I understood the problem completely, but don't most companies disallow cameras in the workplace anyways? I used to work with Intel and we were supposed to declare even camera phones at the entrance, let alone digicams.
I didn't know they named the company after Santana's last album. ;-)
Yes, it's a typo!