It's always better to wait until you have found another job before you quit. In the situation you describe a prospective employer could take your lack of cooperation in working with Microsoft tools as inflexibility. That will make it harder for you to find another job. In the current job market there will always be someone else willing to do what you are refusing to do. All you are doing is giving them a chance to hire someone else who's willing to do the job. You may prefer not to work with Microsoft tools, but in the end it's just that, a tool. There are much worse things that you could be asked to do.
A few years ago I quit a job that I had only had for a short time. The primary reason being that I ended up hating the job and the people I worked with weren't much better. The employer in question was not completely up front about what was required in the position. This of course was my fault for not asking more questions before I accepted. Also on my first day at this job there was a news article talking about the possible demise of the product produced by this same department (not a good sign). Sure enough work on that product was halted about 3 months after I quit. This means that if I had just put up with it for a few months I would have had at least a year's worth of severance pay or a shot at working in another department where I might actually have been happy. Instead what I got was a year and half of being unemployed and then just landing a part time job (where I'm at now). Although, I don't regret leaving a job that I hated I do regret not finding another job first.
Complaining to the NFL is not likely to do any good (although you can try). After all according to CNN (http://money.cnn.com/2004/12/14/commentary/game_o ver/column_gaming/?cnn=yes) the NFL got more than $200 million for the deal. It's not likely that enough people would boycott the NFL to have any impact, there's just too many people who would never give it up. The NFL doesn't stand to lose any money on this deal but EA will need to sell a lot of games to make a profit after that kind of licensing fee. The best thing to do is to send a message to EA by boycotting ALL EA games. Hit them in their pocketbooks, since money seems to be the only thing they care about anyway.
I like this backpack by Mobile Edge on ebags.com: http://www.ebags.com/mobile_edge/select_backpack/p roduct_detail/index.cfm?ModelID=18154
If you look closely at the pictures you'll see that it even has a special pocket for a CD/MP3 player with a hole for the headphone cord. That way you can listen to music without even taking the MP3 player out of the backpack. There's a detachable pocket for your cell phone. It also doesn't look obviously like a laptop bag. Some of the reviewers thought it was a little small if you wanted to carry a lot of other things. I won't know until next week when I get mine! Newegg.com (where I got mine) does have a better price, they have the black version of this for $50: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?desc ription=34-997-609&depa=3. The also have the blue version for $55.
"This is a desperate move from a desperate company. Who cares about TiVo anymore? My Time Warner box gives me DVR functions for $5/mo and i don't have to buy any hardware. Remind me why I should buy a $300 box and THEN pay $12.95 per month?"
Why, because that Time Warner Cable DVR is a very poor substitute for a TIVO. With TIVO you can create wishlists based upon titles, actors, directors, keywords or categories and have them all recorded for you automatically. Say your son or daughter has a report to do on the civil war. With TIVO you can put in the keywords "civil war" and even specify that it should only record documentaries. I'd like to see your TWC DVR do that! TIVO also learns what type of programs you like and will auto-record suggestions for you (if you choose to). I also use wishlists to auto-record movies or other programs that I would like to see, but have no idea when they might be shown. We also have our TIVOs connected by a wireless network to a computer so we can play MP3s on the surround sound system in the living room.
Before we had TIVO we always complained that there was never anything on when we wanted to watch TV, even though we have over a hundred channels. Now TIVO always has more programming that we actually enjoy watching than we even have time to watch. The problem with having so many channels available is that it's necessary to provide better and more efficient ways to sort through that information. The programs most people want to see are there somewhere, you just have to get through all the junk to find it. That's the one thing cable companies still do not understand and TIVO has been the one to provide ways to do this.
In our house we don't even watch live TV anymore (or commercials). When we turn on the TV it's only watch the kind of programs we choose and network schedules are no longer something we even care about. That is what TIVO is about. It's about you controlling the TV, not the TV controlling you.
Actually the reason for having it Friday through Tuesday is that some employees work on weekends and some do not. By having it over two weekdays and two weekend days the idea is to try and lessen the financial burden on any one group of employees, since the workers will obviously not get paid for that time period. Union employees are also still required to walk the picket line during an assigned time so it's not exactly vacation time.
Although I realize there are some union workers out there that may only do the minimum to get by in their jobs, this also applies to many non-union workers that I have known over the years as well. People with bad work habits can unfortunately be found everywhere. However, I have known many more union workers who do work very hard at their jobs and I feel it is unfair to stereotype them in this manner. I do agree that unions should allow for rewarding employees who excel, as do many union employees. Just for the record I should mention that my husband is one of the SBC employees who are about to go on strike. As far as the managers who will be taking over for some of the technical jobs, I would not expect them to perform as well as you did in your situation. You see over the past few years SBC has been filling many of the technical management positions with people from business backgrounds, instead of technical backgrounds. These managers have only had one week of training to fill in for these jobs. Unfortunately, most of them will probably not do very well at these jobs.
I think you hit on exactly what the problem is. Many people have been convinced, taught, or otherwise given the impression that the answer to all their problems is always reformat the hard drive and reinstall the OS. Where do you suppose they got that idea? Some of them from bad tech support people that just want to get these people off the phone. For most problems this is an extreme solution. I remember vividly many years ago a problem that someone had with a computer where I worked, in this case a Mac not Windows. An in-house support person suggested that we reformat the hard drive and reinstall the system to fix the problem. The actual problem was just a loose cable connection (which I fixed). I have found many people who have this drastic approach to fixing a problem. Yes, in many cases reformatting and reinstalling the OS does fix problems but since you are reinstalling the OS and it seems to work fine at that point don't you think the problem might be with one of the other pieces of software that was on the system?
As you point out those are the default settings in XP which will always be set to a level that are aimed at the less computer-literate user. That's because they expect advanced users to change it to their liking, but inexperienced users are less likely to figure this out own their own. Both the options you are referring to are quite easily changed in display properties: uncheck run desktop wizard every 60 days and change appearance to windows classic. Personally I like the the new Windows look better (bright colors are good thing), it just took some getting used to at first. But then most people who get used to a particular OS have a tendency to think it is better or become somewhat biased towards it, when sometimes it is just because that is what they are familar with. By the way the Windows XP machine I am currently running is the most stable version of Windows I've ever had. As far as I am concerned Win95 and Win98 can go away never to return again. As far as Win2K and WinME, I haven't had those installed on any home machines yet, so I won't speak to their reliability.
Actually, I am a woman but I never cared for pink myself. So the pink iPod matches your hair? Does that mean you have pink hair? If so then by all means go all pink!
Was PC magazine too cheap to buy the MP3 players and this was all they could get from the manufacturers? That would explain why there are so many off-brands in the review. After all the no name companies will jump at the chance for free advertising. Has anyone ever even heard of a BenQ Joybee? Or I suppose it could just be that someone was such an Apple iPod fan that they couldn't bear to compare it to a Karma. Whether I download music from Emusic or Musicmatch, rip it from a CD, play MP3 or Ogg Vorbis it doesn't matter the Karma plays them all. Besides who wants a pink MP3 player anyway. The black and silver design of the Karma with the cradle that glows blue matches my silver case with the blue cold cathode light so much better! With the speaker out jacks on the cradle I can even hook it up directly to my big surround sound system in the living room!
I am a graduate student in computer science and American students are the minorities in these programs. Out of several hundred students you can count the number of American students on one hand. Most of them just don't want to bother with getting anything beyond a bachelor's degree. The sad thing is that even now without the Indian and Chinese students we probably wouldn't even have a graduate program. The problem is that there are not enough American students now that want to work in research and development.
Basically if you want to invest in the initial price offering you must find a broker that can get you in on it. Most IPO shares are purchased by large institutional investors, but individual investors can get in on it with a little luck. I know E*Trade lets some investors get in on IPOs, but I'm not sure about the other online brokerages. For some of the basics of getting in on an IPO see these articles on IPOs on The.Street.com. You may need to contact several brokers before you find one that can help you, if at all. Of course everyone can buy once trading starts.
Unfortunately you're right most kids don't have the desire the learn these things. We know that learning is a long term goal which will directly affect the child's future. The child's only goals are immediate: turn in homework, pass test so mom and dad don't yell. Most children are just not yet capable of appreciating these types of goals.
The teachers and schools have goals which are almost as immediate as the child's: get more kids to pass state tests. Their short term goals actually encourage kids not to look any farther than the next test! This type of attitude is doing great harm to our schools.
Schools need to completely rethink how we educate children. They need to personalize the learning process for each child. We need to forget the strict grade classifications and worry more about proficiency in each subject. Yes, I mean forget first grade, second grade, etc. In other words you progress through each level of a subject (math for example) when you show proficiency at that level, not because it's a new school year and it's time to move on. Then you do this separately for each subject.
Children in this type of school would often be mixed with kids of different ages since everyone learns at a different pace. At the beginning of the year a student could sit with a mentor who will help them determine their goals for the year. The important part of this approach is that it encourages kids to push themselves to make it to the next level.
Depending on their academic goals they can also determine a project for that year which will utilize some of the skills they learned. This will help reinforce that there is a reason for all that homework! Hopefully, along the way they also begin to actually enjoy learning.
Although showing practical applications of their work is important, this should not mean 'dumbing down' the material to make it easier for them. I've seen some of the math texts in high schools these days and frankly they scare me. No theories, no proofs and more than one right answer for a math problem! This is no way to prepare a child for college level math. Kids need to be encouraged to push themselves and excel and realize that this can also be fun!
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It's always better to wait until you have found another job before you quit. In the situation you describe a prospective employer could take your lack of cooperation in working with Microsoft tools as inflexibility. That will make it harder for you to find another job. In the current job market there will always be someone else willing to do what you are refusing to do. All you are doing is giving them a chance to hire someone else who's willing to do the job. You may prefer not to work with Microsoft tools, but in the end it's just that, a tool. There are much worse things that you could be asked to do. A few years ago I quit a job that I had only had for a short time. The primary reason being that I ended up hating the job and the people I worked with weren't much better. The employer in question was not completely up front about what was required in the position. This of course was my fault for not asking more questions before I accepted. Also on my first day at this job there was a news article talking about the possible demise of the product produced by this same department (not a good sign). Sure enough work on that product was halted about 3 months after I quit. This means that if I had just put up with it for a few months I would have had at least a year's worth of severance pay or a shot at working in another department where I might actually have been happy. Instead what I got was a year and half of being unemployed and then just landing a part time job (where I'm at now). Although, I don't regret leaving a job that I hated I do regret not finding another job first.
Complaining to the NFL is not likely to do any good (although you can try). After all according to CNN (http://money.cnn.com/2004/12/14/commentary/game_o ver/column_gaming/?cnn=yes) the NFL got more than $200 million for the deal. It's not likely that enough people would boycott the NFL to have any impact, there's just too many people who would never give it up. The NFL doesn't stand to lose any money on this deal but EA will need to sell a lot of games to make a profit after that kind of licensing fee. The best thing to do is to send a message to EA by boycotting ALL EA games. Hit them in their pocketbooks, since money seems to be the only thing they care about anyway.
I like this backpack by Mobile Edge on ebags.com: http://www.ebags.com/mobile_edge/select_backpack/p roduct_detail/index.cfm?ModelID=18154 c ription=34-997-609&depa=3. The also have the blue version for $55.
If you look closely at the pictures you'll see that it even has a special pocket for a CD/MP3 player with a hole for the headphone cord. That way you can listen to music without even taking the MP3 player out of the backpack. There's a detachable pocket for your cell phone. It also doesn't look obviously like a laptop bag. Some of the reviewers thought it was a little small if you wanted to carry a lot of other things. I won't know until next week when I get mine! Newegg.com (where I got mine) does have a better price, they have the black version of this for $50: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?des
"This is a desperate move from a desperate company. Who cares about TiVo anymore? My Time Warner box gives me DVR functions for $5/mo and i don't have to buy any hardware. Remind me why I should buy a $300 box and THEN pay $12.95 per month?"
Why, because that Time Warner Cable DVR is a very poor substitute for a TIVO. With TIVO you can create wishlists based upon titles, actors, directors, keywords or categories and have them all recorded for you automatically. Say your son or daughter has a report to do on the civil war. With TIVO you can put in the keywords "civil war" and even specify that it should only record documentaries. I'd like to see your TWC DVR do that! TIVO also learns what type of programs you like and will auto-record suggestions for you (if you choose to). I also use wishlists to auto-record movies or other programs that I would like to see, but have no idea when they might be shown. We also have our TIVOs connected by a wireless network to a computer so we can play MP3s on the surround sound system in the living room.
Before we had TIVO we always complained that there was never anything on when we wanted to watch TV, even though we have over a hundred channels. Now TIVO always has more programming that we actually enjoy watching than we even have time to watch. The problem with having so many channels available is that it's necessary to provide better and more efficient ways to sort through that information. The programs most people want to see are there somewhere, you just have to get through all the junk to find it. That's the one thing cable companies still do not understand and TIVO has been the one to provide ways to do this.
In our house we don't even watch live TV anymore (or commercials). When we turn on the TV it's only watch the kind of programs we choose and network schedules are no longer something we even care about. That is what TIVO is about. It's about you controlling the TV, not the TV controlling you.
Actually the reason for having it Friday through Tuesday is that some employees work on weekends and some do not. By having it over two weekdays and two weekend days the idea is to try and lessen the financial burden on any one group of employees, since the workers will obviously not get paid for that time period. Union employees are also still required to walk the picket line during an assigned time so it's not exactly vacation time.
Although I realize there are some union workers out there that may only do the minimum to get by in their jobs, this also applies to many non-union workers that I have known over the years as well. People with bad work habits can unfortunately be found everywhere. However, I have known many more union workers who do work very hard at their jobs and I feel it is unfair to stereotype them in this manner. I do agree that unions should allow for rewarding employees who excel, as do many union employees. Just for the record I should mention that my husband is one of the SBC employees who are about to go on strike. As far as the managers who will be taking over for some of the technical jobs, I would not expect them to perform as well as you did in your situation. You see over the past few years SBC has been filling many of the technical management positions with people from business backgrounds, instead of technical backgrounds. These managers have only had one week of training to fill in for these jobs. Unfortunately, most of them will probably not do very well at these jobs.
I think you hit on exactly what the problem is. Many people have been convinced, taught, or otherwise given the impression that the answer to all their problems is always reformat the hard drive and reinstall the OS. Where do you suppose they got that idea? Some of them from bad tech support people that just want to get these people off the phone. For most problems this is an extreme solution. I remember vividly many years ago a problem that someone had with a computer where I worked, in this case a Mac not Windows. An in-house support person suggested that we reformat the hard drive and reinstall the system to fix the problem. The actual problem was just a loose cable connection (which I fixed). I have found many people who have this drastic approach to fixing a problem. Yes, in many cases reformatting and reinstalling the OS does fix problems but since you are reinstalling the OS and it seems to work fine at that point don't you think the problem might be with one of the other pieces of software that was on the system?
As you point out those are the default settings in XP which will always be set to a level that are aimed at the less computer-literate user. That's because they expect advanced users to change it to their liking, but inexperienced users are less likely to figure this out own their own. Both the options you are referring to are quite easily changed in display properties: uncheck run desktop wizard every 60 days and change appearance to windows classic. Personally I like the the new Windows look better (bright colors are good thing), it just took some getting used to at first. But then most people who get used to a particular OS have a tendency to think it is better or become somewhat biased towards it, when sometimes it is just because that is what they are familar with. By the way the Windows XP machine I am currently running is the most stable version of Windows I've ever had. As far as I am concerned Win95 and Win98 can go away never to return again. As far as Win2K and WinME, I haven't had those installed on any home machines yet, so I won't speak to their reliability.
Actually, I am a woman but I never cared for pink myself. So the pink iPod matches your hair? Does that mean you have pink hair? If so then by all means go all pink!
Was PC magazine too cheap to buy the MP3 players and this was all they could get from the manufacturers? That would explain why there are so many off-brands in the review. After all the no name companies will jump at the chance for free advertising. Has anyone ever even heard of a BenQ Joybee? Or I suppose it could just be that someone was such an Apple iPod fan that they couldn't bear to compare it to a Karma. Whether I download music from Emusic or Musicmatch, rip it from a CD, play MP3 or Ogg Vorbis it doesn't matter the Karma plays them all. Besides who wants a pink MP3 player anyway. The black and silver design of the Karma with the cradle that glows blue matches my silver case with the blue cold cathode light so much better! With the speaker out jacks on the cradle I can even hook it up directly to my big surround sound system in the living room!
I am a graduate student in computer science and American students are the minorities in these programs. Out of several hundred students you can count the number of American students on one hand. Most of them just don't want to bother with getting anything beyond a bachelor's degree. The sad thing is that even now without the Indian and Chinese students we probably wouldn't even have a graduate program. The problem is that there are not enough American students now that want to work in research and development.
Basically if you want to invest in the initial price offering you must find a broker that can get you in on it. Most IPO shares are purchased by large institutional investors, but individual investors can get in on it with a little luck. I know E*Trade lets some investors get in on IPOs, but I'm not sure about the other online brokerages. For some of the basics of getting in on an IPO see these articles on IPOs on The.Street.com. You may need to contact several brokers before you find one that can help you, if at all. Of course everyone can buy once trading starts.
Unfortunately you're right most kids don't have the desire the learn these things. We know that learning is a long term goal which will directly affect the child's future. The child's only goals are immediate: turn in homework, pass test so mom and dad don't yell. Most children are just not yet capable of appreciating these types of goals. The teachers and schools have goals which are almost as immediate as the child's: get more kids to pass state tests. Their short term goals actually encourage kids not to look any farther than the next test! This type of attitude is doing great harm to our schools.
Schools need to completely rethink how we educate children. They need to personalize the learning process for each child. We need to forget the strict grade classifications and worry more about proficiency in each subject. Yes, I mean forget first grade, second grade, etc. In other words you progress through each level of a subject (math for example) when you show proficiency at that level, not because it's a new school year and it's time to move on. Then you do this separately for each subject.
Children in this type of school would often be mixed with kids of different ages since everyone learns at a different pace. At the beginning of the year a student could sit with a mentor who will help them determine their goals for the year. The important part of this approach is that it encourages kids to push themselves to make it to the next level. Depending on their academic goals they can also determine a project for that year which will utilize some of the skills they learned. This will help reinforce that there is a reason for all that homework! Hopefully, along the way they also begin to actually enjoy learning.
Although showing practical applications of their work is important, this should not mean 'dumbing down' the material to make it easier for them. I've seen some of the math texts in high schools these days and frankly they scare me. No theories, no proofs and more than one right answer for a math problem! This is no way to prepare a child for college level math. Kids need to be encouraged to push themselves and excel and realize that this can also be fun!