I work for a large utility holding company. Every new years and 4th of July we have transformers shot out across our system. They make pretty "sparks and arcs" while they die. Another stupid people trick is throwing chains across 2 live high voltage lines. Invariably, at least one person per year forgets to let go of the chain before it makes contact. Stupid people are everywhere. Darwin takes care of some...
Even worse than that, around here (Alabama) you can get a ticket for "running a yellow light". If you speed up to pass through an intersection when the light is yellow, you can get a ticket (I have the insurance increase and paperwork to prove it). IMHO, not right, but no one asked me when they wrote the law and the judge disagreed with me when he enforced it...
Nuclear, like it or not, is the intermediate solution to first world energy needs. As long as we can mitigate past mistakes (sloppy arms races) with technology such as this, nuclear will also have a promising future.
I would have to agree with bensode (above). I have been working IT for 20 years now and have ruined many nice silk ties on rough server cases. Switched to "cheap ties" but they still add up. We also have to remove the tie to lift servers onto the server jack and put it back on before continuing with racking - part of the safety protocol. Absolutely ridiculous but required (the ties - I am OK with safety). Always imagine how it could get worse before lamenting what you have - business casual is nice...
When you say "Hit 'em in their wallets" You are really saying "Hit ME in MY wallet". The power industry is regulated. Profit is also regulated. Power companies make about 12% above what it costs to produce and distribute power in most markets (depends on the Public Service Commission in your area as to the actual percentage). The NERC (North American Electric Reliability Company) Critical Infrastructure Protection standards were adopted by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to partially deal with the problem. Some companies have taken the INTENT of the standards to heart and have implemented them with true security in mind. Others have done everything they can to circumvent the standards. NERC is starting their initial audits right now to see how well individual companies have done. Stay tuned to www.nerc.com to see how your power company fared in the audit...
Get the FCC/DOT to take a poll of people on the interstate. Maybe flash questions on constructions signs, then poll folks via text message...
I see great potential here!
One of my voice mail transcripts:
"Hey it's Blake, Hey just called. He will not be in tomorrow. He is sick and he said he tried to get a hold of Robin Hood, so I'll be in all of you so bye. "
Should read
"Hey it's Jake, Sandy just called. She will not be in tomorrow. She is sick and she said she tried to get a hold of John. Please give me a call when you get this. Bye."
Actually, now that I think about it - Robin Hood could have helped us...
and I am not thrilled with it. I picked a number that is frequently misdialed (admittedly - my mistake) and they want $10 to change numbers. I am using the do not disturb feature to send most calls to VM. The translation software is about 80% correct on guessing what my messages actually say. The other 20% are often more fun to read due to the humor of the translation. They have a way to go before this will be a reliable "ready for prime time" service.
Sounds like wall street could use a few hundred cases of Windex. Straighten out them bankers once and fer all... On second thought, Washington DC, all state capitals and local governments need a few cases as well. This is what happens when Aunt Bea isn't around to clean the courthouse / jail daily.
Good point, but let's take this to the logical extreme. Imagine what this could mean for/. I make a post, get modded down by so many people that nature decides it is an abomination and sends a few electrons back in time to prevent the post from posting in the first place../ content should theoretically get better over time but only if the Trolls troll their hardest.
There is sort of a "duh" quality to the research here. Your brain is a "use it or lose it" type of organ. The more you use your brain and the more you use it in different ways, the better it gets at operating optimally. Games and education can be a good fit if the designers of educational games can manage to make something fun - not just a computerized version of a classroom. Use the media in a way in which it is already successful.
Maybe combine Grand Theft Auto and education by making the player add up fines or the value of the drugs he just stole...
Diet sodas make your body expect energy. That energy does not arrive.
Hmm. Diet sodas make your body expect energy? Odd. I am a diabetic and have been for the past 35 of my 39 years of existence. I have always consumed diet cola - even when crappy "Tab" was the only choice other than crappy "Diet RIte". My body does not expect anything from a diet cola other than a need to urinate (solely to balance my body's need for water - the base of all cola - and the effect of receiving it). I drink caffeinated and decaffeinated colas. I am neither over weight nor underweight and @ 5'11" my BMI is 24 - "normal" (although my wife says that I could actually stand to gain a few pounds). Statistically, you can correlate anything you want to if you manipulate the scale.
Actually it is closely linked to the economy in a slightly different way as other posts below this one point out... From an Economics perspective, it is a lot easier to make progress in leaps and bounds when your economy finally gets organized and you head from being a "third world" country to "second world" or "first world". When modern computing started "from nothing", leaps and bounds were easy because the amount of effort required was exponentially smaller than leaps and bounds by todays standards. It required exponentially less extreme innovation to make significant results.
This is a good time to open the floor for Moore's Law debate and whether we will continue to be able to continue our past progression into the future on the processor end of technology...
Actually, I must take your disclaimer with a pinch of salt.
You are an undergraduate, which implies that you are still studying. Since you are studying, this implies that you are using your brain trying to figure things out. This means that you have NOT yet reached the point where you "know it all" because you have been "doing this for years and this is how everything works". Work as hard as you can not to fall into this type of "Engineer Brain" trap. The older I get, the harder it is to fight...
Thanks for a well thought out post and follow up. Makes sense to me...
Actually, I believe you are referring to the "Money Multiplier". This is a function of FED policy which the US banking system is partially based upon. When I put $100 into the bank as savings, the bank has to honor one of the tools of the FED called the "Reserve Requirement Ratio". The RRR is a requirement that the bank keep in reserves a percentage of my deposit in available cash and allows them to loan out the rest. So if, for instance, the RRR is 10%, the bank will keep $10 in cash reserves and loan out $90. This keeps happening (up to a point) "creating money" that did not exist before. BTW - the pea in the shell game is here. The "Money Multiplier" ends up being the inverse of the RRR, or in our example, 10. That means that for the initial $100 deposit that I make, $1000 can be loaned out as the money travels on the balance sheets from bank to bank. Two things are required for this FED tool to work. One - you MUST have a nation which SAVES money. The United States is banking on the savings of the Baby Boomers. We need some new thrifty savers. And two, we ASSUME that the banks will loan out any excess reserves. If they are scared to make loans, new money is not "created".
So, do the world a favor - get out of credit card debt, save for a while, then borrow some money to spend...
I am fortunate to have the opportunity to beat them down before they graduate. The Fortune 500 company I work for will only hire co-op students if the applicant is "fresh out of school" so they already have an idea of how our corporate culture works and what the expectations are for each job level. This serves to be the weed out point for students coming into the company and they have a good idea if they want to continue working in the established culture. It works well for both sides of the equation.
I work at a company that uses IT jobs as the "slush fund" for layoffs. Not always the right thing to do, but that's how they do it. Nice thing is, they tend to offer early retirement packages first to the people closest to retirement age so "voluntary attrition" usually takes care of solving most of the problem. Then we hire younger, less experienced people because they are cheaper and train them to do what we need to get done. The people who retire have already trained the next wave and they in turn train the next and so on.
Long story, short... Things aren't bad everywhere you just need to be sure your resume stands out for the right reason.
That is my stapler. It is a swingline stapler.
I used to look out the windows at the squirrels and now I don't have a window so I can't see the squirrels.
Slashdot Mirror
I work for a large utility holding company. Every new years and 4th of July we have transformers shot out across our system. They make pretty "sparks and arcs" while they die. Another stupid people trick is throwing chains across 2 live high voltage lines. Invariably, at least one person per year forgets to let go of the chain before it makes contact. Stupid people are everywhere. Darwin takes care of some...
the bathrooms are not transparent. Or maybe I don't...
Even worse than that, around here (Alabama) you can get a ticket for "running a yellow light". If you speed up to pass through an intersection when the light is yellow, you can get a ticket (I have the insurance increase and paperwork to prove it). IMHO, not right, but no one asked me when they wrote the law and the judge disagreed with me when he enforced it...
Nuclear, like it or not, is the intermediate solution to first world energy needs. As long as we can mitigate past mistakes (sloppy arms races) with technology such as this, nuclear will also have a promising future.
I would have to agree with bensode (above). I have been working IT for 20 years now and have ruined many nice silk ties on rough server cases. Switched to "cheap ties" but they still add up. We also have to remove the tie to lift servers onto the server jack and put it back on before continuing with racking - part of the safety protocol. Absolutely ridiculous but required (the ties - I am OK with safety). Always imagine how it could get worse before lamenting what you have - business casual is nice...
When you say "Hit 'em in their wallets" You are really saying "Hit ME in MY wallet". The power industry is regulated. Profit is also regulated. Power companies make about 12% above what it costs to produce and distribute power in most markets (depends on the Public Service Commission in your area as to the actual percentage). The NERC (North American Electric Reliability Company) Critical Infrastructure Protection standards were adopted by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to partially deal with the problem. Some companies have taken the INTENT of the standards to heart and have implemented them with true security in mind. Others have done everything they can to circumvent the standards. NERC is starting their initial audits right now to see how well individual companies have done. Stay tuned to www.nerc.com to see how your power company fared in the audit...
Get the FCC/DOT to take a poll of people on the interstate. Maybe flash questions on constructions signs, then poll folks via text message... I see great potential here!
One of my voice mail transcripts:
"Hey it's Blake, Hey just called. He will not be in tomorrow. He is sick and he said he tried to get a hold of Robin Hood, so I'll be in all of you so bye. "
Should read
"Hey it's Jake, Sandy just called. She will not be in tomorrow. She is sick and she said she tried to get a hold of John. Please give me a call when you get this. Bye."
Actually, now that I think about it - Robin Hood could have helped us...
and I am not thrilled with it. I picked a number that is frequently misdialed (admittedly - my mistake) and they want $10 to change numbers. I am using the do not disturb feature to send most calls to VM. The translation software is about 80% correct on guessing what my messages actually say. The other 20% are often more fun to read due to the humor of the translation. They have a way to go before this will be a reliable "ready for prime time" service.
Sounds like wall street could use a few hundred cases of Windex. Straighten out them bankers once and fer all... On second thought, Washington DC, all state capitals and local governments need a few cases as well. This is what happens when Aunt Bea isn't around to clean the courthouse / jail daily.
Good point, but let's take this to the logical extreme. Imagine what this could mean for /. I make a post, get modded down by so many people that nature decides it is an abomination and sends a few electrons back in time to prevent the post from posting in the first place. ./ content should theoretically get better over time but only if the Trolls troll their hardest.
I guess I am ready to do my part...
Maybe combine Grand Theft Auto and education by making the player add up fines or the value of the drugs he just stole...
Diet sodas make your body expect energy. That energy does not arrive.
Hmm. Diet sodas make your body expect energy? Odd. I am a diabetic and have been for the past 35 of my 39 years of existence. I have always consumed diet cola - even when crappy "Tab" was the only choice other than crappy "Diet RIte". My body does not expect anything from a diet cola other than a need to urinate (solely to balance my body's need for water - the base of all cola - and the effect of receiving it). I drink caffeinated and decaffeinated colas. I am neither over weight nor underweight and @ 5'11" my BMI is 24 - "normal" (although my wife says that I could actually stand to gain a few pounds). Statistically, you can correlate anything you want to if you manipulate the scale.
I smell manipulation...
Actually it is closely linked to the economy in a slightly different way as other posts below this one point out... From an Economics perspective, it is a lot easier to make progress in leaps and bounds when your economy finally gets organized and you head from being a "third world" country to "second world" or "first world". When modern computing started "from nothing", leaps and bounds were easy because the amount of effort required was exponentially smaller than leaps and bounds by todays standards. It required exponentially less extreme innovation to make significant results.
This is a good time to open the floor for Moore's Law debate and whether we will continue to be able to continue our past progression into the future on the processor end of technology...
Actually, I must take your disclaimer with a pinch of salt. You are an undergraduate, which implies that you are still studying. Since you are studying, this implies that you are using your brain trying to figure things out. This means that you have NOT yet reached the point where you "know it all" because you have been "doing this for years and this is how everything works". Work as hard as you can not to fall into this type of "Engineer Brain" trap. The older I get, the harder it is to fight... Thanks for a well thought out post and follow up. Makes sense to me...
Actually, I believe you are referring to the "Money Multiplier". This is a function of FED policy which the US banking system is partially based upon. When I put $100 into the bank as savings, the bank has to honor one of the tools of the FED called the "Reserve Requirement Ratio". The RRR is a requirement that the bank keep in reserves a percentage of my deposit in available cash and allows them to loan out the rest. So if, for instance, the RRR is 10%, the bank will keep $10 in cash reserves and loan out $90. This keeps happening (up to a point) "creating money" that did not exist before. BTW - the pea in the shell game is here. The "Money Multiplier" ends up being the inverse of the RRR, or in our example, 10. That means that for the initial $100 deposit that I make, $1000 can be loaned out as the money travels on the balance sheets from bank to bank. Two things are required for this FED tool to work. One - you MUST have a nation which SAVES money. The United States is banking on the savings of the Baby Boomers. We need some new thrifty savers. And two, we ASSUME that the banks will loan out any excess reserves. If they are scared to make loans, new money is not "created". So, do the world a favor - get out of credit card debt, save for a while, then borrow some money to spend...
Just move along, folks. Let the professionals handle this...
I am fortunate to have the opportunity to beat them down before they graduate. The Fortune 500 company I work for will only hire co-op students if the applicant is "fresh out of school" so they already have an idea of how our corporate culture works and what the expectations are for each job level. This serves to be the weed out point for students coming into the company and they have a good idea if they want to continue working in the established culture. It works well for both sides of the equation.
We are often judged by the company we keep. But then again - who are TPB gonna call for a character witness?
But wait. I am a lawyer (JD) AND a computer professional (Systems Admin). How bout them apples...
Just move along...
I work at a company that uses IT jobs as the "slush fund" for layoffs. Not always the right thing to do, but that's how they do it. Nice thing is, they tend to offer early retirement packages first to the people closest to retirement age so "voluntary attrition" usually takes care of solving most of the problem. Then we hire younger, less experienced people because they are cheaper and train them to do what we need to get done. The people who retire have already trained the next wave and they in turn train the next and so on. Long story, short... Things aren't bad everywhere you just need to be sure your resume stands out for the right reason.
No, it is definitely not our, um I mean their, botnet. Nothing to see here. Just move along..
that makes it stop hauling me into work at 3 in the morning for some strange ritual called "escalation."
>>New Job
or the trick that keeps the battery plate from breaking and falling off constantly.
>>small bead of elmer's glue. If you need to "battery reboot" you can just pick the glue out fairly easily (also serves as a tasty snack)
That is my stapler. It is a swingline stapler. I used to look out the windows at the squirrels and now I don't have a window so I can't see the squirrels.