Personally, I sold my freshmen and sophomore books the day after exams. Those were the base classes everyone had to take. I kept most of my junior level books, and by senior year, most of my professors just handed out 200-300 page notes instead of requiring books. Now, in grad school, I'm keeping the books, as these are actually useful. As a software developer, often look through reference books, but I see no need to go back and review world lit, history 101, precal, and programming 101. Most of the important stuff from those classes should be burnt into my brain by now, and whatever isn't is only a google search away.
That's why you always avoid the college bookstore - they overcharge and underpay. I bought my first semester's worth of books at the college bookstore in 2004 and spent over $400. After that, I wised up and did everything online and never paid over $200 per semester again. In addition to the massive savings, I also averaged about 75% on resales of what I had paid.
1. Buy used online.
2. Resell online ASAP, at lowest price listed
3. ???
4. Don't get screwed!
And that is why I continue to be unimpressed by the eBook hype. It would be nice... that is, if it wasn't just another way to screw the consumer.
If "they all suck", then it's probably more like "non-compliant websites suck". Flashblock helps a lot, but I still run into sites that jack up my CPU utilization with javascript. For instance, the ticker on an eetimes.com article pushes my core 2 duo to 70%. A little absurd for a 2 page article.
Unfortunately, everyone wants a flashy website these days, and the people paying the web developers don't really care about how it effects the end user... as long as it's pretty and it attracts page hits.
Obviously that's not always the case... but still, blame the websites. At this point you basically wind up with the the decision to (SLOWLY) see everything as intended, or live with some quirks for a faster browsing experience.
This sounds like something straight out of the movie Repo Men, which makes me wonder... how much does one of these things cost? And what happens if you can't pay up?
Contrary to what you may think, almost no one becomes a developer to "get-rich-quick"... but if that is your only concern, your average kernel developer gets paid a little better than your average web developer. My advice... don't go into either with the expectation of becoming a billionaire:-p They generally pay well, but the rich and famous developers are by far the exception, not the rule.
On the other hand, if you've got the NextBigIdea(tm), then by all means feel free to prove me wrong! I know I would:)
[...] in some respects it is still in the mid 90s.
I may be missing what you consider to be stuck in the 90's, but by all means, if you see places for improvement... jump in and help. Or at the very least, make suggestions at somewhere like http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/ and file bug reports.
I completely disagree with your statement "Both Windows and MacOS have made huge leaps forward in terms of usability, stability and security, and Linux has hardly moved," but regardless of its (in)validity, Linux doesn't progress magically, or even by the funding, direction, and marketing of a 220 billion dollar corporation. It moves forward thanks to a few small companies and strong community involvement. So again, feel free to jump in and help if you somehow don't think it has moved forward in the past 14 years.
You do know that MS did not write their first OS, right? They bought DOS from some guy for a few thousand, and then licensed that to IBM. The GUI they later layered on top of DOS was based on Apple's design, which was based on Xerox's design. Companies steal from each other all the time... who cares?
As far as Apple's move to base OS X on "Unix" (er, the mach kernel), I'd say it was pretty smart. They took a tried and true kernel, a few open source tools, and then did what they do best... made a great interface and marketed it.
With physical access to any standard desktop machine, you can easily get into Windows, Linux, or Mac OS. This comes in very handy with an IT environment where there is no central authentication server of sorts, or when people bring PC's to your computer shop with forgotten passwords.
I'm not sure about Mac OS, but for Windows or Linux, if you don't want their password changed... just back up the file before you change it, then copy it back when you're done.
Encrypted hard drives is a different ballpark though... never messed with those.
I'm not a musician at all, but I still give a shit about the musicians that enrich all of our lives.
Would you disagree that giving $5 directly to the artists for downloading an album is a fair price? That's a lot more than they would get per album with a record company, and we still get to pay less.
Yes, I realize there is a place for the record companies - especially among new artists. My point is that they need to stop being so greedy and give a bigger cut to the artists. And I'm not saying that I never buy CD's, but that I am much more willing to pay for music when I know the majority of it goes to the artist. Nine Inch Nails was of course on a label until after Year Zero was released, and then they started their own releases. I've bought several of their CD's, but I had zero hesitation when it came time to slap my card number into their website for a download. I'm more than willing to help support artists I like who choose that route. But I also understand that's not possible for most start-ups. I want the record companies to change, not disappear.
To be honest, I probably buy less music than the average person. Part of that is because I think too much of the money goes to the labels. But when Radiohead released "In Rainbows" for a pay-what-you-want download, I gladly forked over a large wad of paypal cash to support them directly. I did the same when Nine Inch Nails released "ghosts I-IV" and Saul Williams released "The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust" for $5 mp3/flac downloads. I have also bought concert tickets to all of them. If more artists would cut out the rich middle man, I would be more willing to fork over some cash, and probably be a lot more broke.
But until the record companies stop being so greedy, as Trent Reznor said, "STEAL IT. Steal away. Steal and steal and steal some more and give it to all your friends and keep on stealin'. Because one way or another these mother****ers will get it through their head that they're ripping people off and that's not right."
Contrary to our discussion a few days back, IBM's last-minute upgrade of RoadRunner salvaged the top spot for Big Blue.
While the IBM machine is still technically the world's fastest, the referenced article claims that Jaguar is the world's fastest supercomputer for OPEN SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH, which is true. The Roadrunner system, on the other hand, is mainly used in classified research.
We can't get sex because we're online, and so we stay online because we can't get sex.
It's like the old red barn cycle... farmers painted their barns red because red paint was cheapest, and red paint was cheapest because all the farmers bought it.
Slashdot Mirror
Personally, I sold my freshmen and sophomore books the day after exams. Those were the base classes everyone had to take. I kept most of my junior level books, and by senior year, most of my professors just handed out 200-300 page notes instead of requiring books. Now, in grad school, I'm keeping the books, as these are actually useful. As a software developer, often look through reference books, but I see no need to go back and review world lit, history 101, precal, and programming 101. Most of the important stuff from those classes should be burnt into my brain by now, and whatever isn't is only a google search away.
That's why you always avoid the college bookstore - they overcharge and underpay. I bought my first semester's worth of books at the college bookstore in 2004 and spent over $400. After that, I wised up and did everything online and never paid over $200 per semester again. In addition to the massive savings, I also averaged about 75% on resales of what I had paid.
1. Buy used online.
2. Resell online ASAP, at lowest price listed
3. ???
4. Don't get screwed!
And that is why I continue to be unimpressed by the eBook hype. It would be nice... that is, if it wasn't just another way to screw the consumer.
If "they all suck", then it's probably more like "non-compliant websites suck". Flashblock helps a lot, but I still run into sites that jack up my CPU utilization with javascript. For instance, the ticker on an eetimes.com article pushes my core 2 duo to 70%. A little absurd for a 2 page article.
Unfortunately, everyone wants a flashy website these days, and the people paying the web developers don't really care about how it effects the end user... as long as it's pretty and it attracts page hits.
Obviously that's not always the case... but still, blame the websites. At this point you basically wind up with the the decision to (SLOWLY) see everything as intended, or live with some quirks for a faster browsing experience.
This sounds like something straight out of the movie Repo Men, which makes me wonder... how much does one of these things cost? And what happens if you can't pay up?
Making $100k/year != getting rich, these days.
While that's certainly no salary to complain about in most areas of the US, it is considered upper middle class, not rich.
How did this talk about rich developers get started anyway? It's an exceedingly rare occurrence.
Contrary to what you may think, almost no one becomes a developer to "get-rich-quick"... but if that is your only concern, your average kernel developer gets paid a little better than your average web developer. My advice... don't go into either with the expectation of becoming a billionaire :-p They generally pay well, but the rich and famous developers are by far the exception, not the rule.
On the other hand, if you've got the NextBigIdea(tm), then by all means feel free to prove me wrong! I know I would :)
There's nothing stopping you from building a 4 socket x 12 core Opteron system today... except for maybe your budget.
Google, who quietly fired him
Not as quietly as they might have hoped...
LMAO - Mod parent up!
A "mature" death is a Death that doesn't interrupt you... or put signs on your back.
That's all well and good, but don't generalize. Bug fixers gotta eat too, ya know.
Now they're going to take away our Wii :(
[...] in some respects it is still in the mid 90s.
I may be missing what you consider to be stuck in the 90's, but by all means, if you see places for improvement... jump in and help. Or at the very least, make suggestions at somewhere like http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/ and file bug reports.
I completely disagree with your statement "Both Windows and MacOS have made huge leaps forward in terms of usability, stability and security, and Linux has hardly moved," but regardless of its (in)validity, Linux doesn't progress magically, or even by the funding, direction, and marketing of a 220 billion dollar corporation. It moves forward thanks to a few small companies and strong community involvement. So again, feel free to jump in and help if you somehow don't think it has moved forward in the past 14 years.
for the zombie apocalypse!
You do know that MS did not write their first OS, right? They bought DOS from some guy for a few thousand, and then licensed that to IBM. The GUI they later layered on top of DOS was based on Apple's design, which was based on Xerox's design. Companies steal from each other all the time... who cares?
As far as Apple's move to base OS X on "Unix" (er, the mach kernel), I'd say it was pretty smart. They took a tried and true kernel, a few open source tools, and then did what they do best... made a great interface and marketed it.
you've still got that USB stick with known-trustworthy installers.
That's a great plan, until your USB stick gets infected from the machine you were trying to clean.
With physical access to any standard desktop machine, you can easily get into Windows, Linux, or Mac OS. This comes in very handy with an IT environment where there is no central authentication server of sorts, or when people bring PC's to your computer shop with forgotten passwords. I'm not sure about Mac OS, but for Windows or Linux, if you don't want their password changed... just back up the file before you change it, then copy it back when you're done. Encrypted hard drives is a different ballpark though... never messed with those.
I'm not a musician at all, but I still give a shit about the musicians that enrich all of our lives. Would you disagree that giving $5 directly to the artists for downloading an album is a fair price? That's a lot more than they would get per album with a record company, and we still get to pay less.
Yes, I realize there is a place for the record companies - especially among new artists. My point is that they need to stop being so greedy and give a bigger cut to the artists. And I'm not saying that I never buy CD's, but that I am much more willing to pay for music when I know the majority of it goes to the artist. Nine Inch Nails was of course on a label until after Year Zero was released, and then they started their own releases. I've bought several of their CD's, but I had zero hesitation when it came time to slap my card number into their website for a download. I'm more than willing to help support artists I like who choose that route. But I also understand that's not possible for most start-ups. I want the record companies to change, not disappear.
To be honest, I probably buy less music than the average person. Part of that is because I think too much of the money goes to the labels. But when Radiohead released "In Rainbows" for a pay-what-you-want download, I gladly forked over a large wad of paypal cash to support them directly. I did the same when Nine Inch Nails released "ghosts I-IV" and Saul Williams released "The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust" for $5 mp3/flac downloads. I have also bought concert tickets to all of them. If more artists would cut out the rich middle man, I would be more willing to fork over some cash, and probably be a lot more broke.
But until the record companies stop being so greedy, as Trent Reznor said, "STEAL IT. Steal away. Steal and steal and steal some more and give it to all your friends and keep on stealin'. Because one way or another these mother****ers will get it through their head that they're ripping people off and that's not right."
Contrary to our discussion a few days back, IBM's last-minute upgrade of RoadRunner salvaged the top spot for Big Blue.
While the IBM machine is still technically the world's fastest, the referenced article claims that Jaguar is the world's fastest supercomputer for OPEN SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH, which is true. The Roadrunner system, on the other hand, is mainly used in classified research.
My Windows 3.1 machine is better protected from the internet than any of my other machines. SneakerNet 4 life!
What if...
1. You're stressed about having to learn a new interface
2. The interface changes
3. See #1
We can't get sex because we're online, and so we stay online because we can't get sex.
It's like the old red barn cycle... farmers painted their barns red because red paint was cheapest, and red paint was cheapest because all the farmers bought it.
5 days, haha (slight exaggeration)