Um, while I know its been crucified since its release. Try Anarchy Online - either for the first time or again. I beleive FunCom is offering december free for those who canceled their accounts.
All I can say is - its getting better. No, its not 100% there, but it is getting better.
DOS will never die.
on
MS DOS: A Eulogy
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· Score: 3, Informative
MS DOS may now have gone away, but in the land of PC-104s TinyLinux and RomDOS will continue to have practical applications. Any system that needs to continually chug along, fit into a peanut sized Flash ROM and otherwise work happily ever after will have a need. MS may be out of the market, but who cares?:)
This will be a completely different type of war than the US has ever ever experience. I imagine most military personnel which have served in a war (as opposed to 'in Texas') probably recognize this. As much as I dislike his policies, GWB knows that he doesn't quite know what to expect, and knows that he has to defer to military personnel. At the same time, he also has to give the American people a sense of justice, and show the world a strong America. All of these things aren't diametrically opposed, but all take on different tactics. Its obvious that we have dubbed Bin Ladden, and the country who protects him, Afghanistan, as the villians, and I assume that has happened from some facts unreleased to the public, as I have not seen any more than circumstancial evidence linking the two at the time. I am, however, all in favor of persuing an extraction of Bin Ladden for *at least* previous terrorist attacks. Anyway below is a list of possible strategies and my vague understanding of their effectiveness against such an enemy.
Nothing: Not an option. The people won't stand for it, and the events will occur again.
Embargos: Um, lets starve the people of a country who are already abused by their government. The people don't have anything, and additional sanctions will only make the situation worse for them. Bin Ladden and the Taliban will still be able to procure goods through other means. Only the people will suffer. However, this is a necessary portion of any conflict as it requires Bin Ladden increase the spending of his infrastructure to get goods which wold otherwise be easier to obtain.
Financial Crackdown: Siezing assets, cracking systems, and otherwise disrupting any high tech aspects of Bin Ladden and Afghanistan will only be partially possible (at least as of now). Part of the problem is - they can't touch him once he is inside the US (of all places) networking system. GWB hopes to change that, that's the part that screams of echelon.
Missle strikes: As shown following Clintion's attempt, do not inspire the american people, do little lasting damage to an already war-torn country, possibly endanger civilians, and otherwise only infuriate and unite a culture against us.
Air strikes add an element of personal involvement, which works in favor of approval raitings with the american people early on in a conflict, but endanger the lives of pilots, and suffer from the same problems of missile strikes. The Taliban does not believe in following the Geneva convention (obviously). Expect any POWs to be horribly mistreated and tortured, and in reality they may be better off dead.
Assasination or extraction: We haven't gotten Bin Ladden yet. He is content to sever communications, live in a bunker, and wage guerilla warfare against us. He's done it in the past and he will do it again. We won't even know which bunker he is in. He uses low-tech means to survive when necessary, and provides the US little to track him with.
Small scale insertions, etc: These will drastically increase the chances that a US soldier will be captured. We may out tech them, but even with the gulf war under our belts, most of our troops would still qualify as highly trained, but green. Afghanistan has been at war for the past 22 or 23 years, they may not have much, but they are highly vetran in regards to guerilla warfare, and they've already beaten the former USSR with that stacked against them. In addition, ground forces will only inspire others to become terrorists. More than likely the terrorists inspired will be from a different country, and more than likely will be able to strike in a similar manner to the WTC (just probably not the same scale of distruction or target).
Full scale assault: The most US lives imaginable will be on frontlines, facing an enemy closer in tactics to vietnam. They will be viewed as a savior for a few, but for many they will be the enemy. The war will be against the people of Afghanistan at that point (in addition to the Taliban). We will inspire a sense of nationalism and fanaticism in them, similar to what we are experiencing now. If we are upset neghboring Islamic countries, who usually side together, we will be faced with more than just Afghanistan as our enemy. Many lives will be lost, and yes, it will require the support of every civilized western country to be won - i.e. world war III. World War III will be viewed as ended when either: the Jihad is called off (an unlikely scenario) but will still inspire some fanatics to continue to perform terrorist actions, tensions will still run high. The US may also choose to withdraw in the Saigon or HoChiMihn City sort of fashion. Terrorist actions will increase as the US is viewed the looser by radical islamic fundamentalists. The third scenario is complete and utter devistation, possibly thermonuclear. Regardless, almost evey man woman and child will have been affected in some way, and how do you tell a terrorist from a refugee in these circumstances? The Western world will either emerge united, or the western world will view the US as having committed one of the worst global vendettas ever seen, and remain in shock and disbelief with relations strained to near breaking points.
I spent a year working in a genetics lab doing research on lab mice. (How many western blots can you do in a day?) Genetic testing on animals allows for quick growth to a mature age, the ability to quickly see the effect on several generations of treatment, and provides a significantly easier way to test for effects and what have you. Some research requires brain examination, some requires cell harvesting. Try telling a person, "I'm sorry but we need to kill you now so we can examine your brain" is an impsibility. Attempting to perform research without animals, delays the ability for cures to be found. While I was there I saw promising research in many varieties of cancer, AIDs treatments, blood diseases, aging, and many others. The researchers who work there don't stand over the mice laughing maniacally as they perform tests, they perform as few tests as possible, conserve as much material as possible, and otherwise try to provide the mice as comfortable an environment with all things considered...
Even if the same resarch was allowed to be done on people, generations would need to live and die to see certain effects. In twenty years worth of mice, several generations may be explored. With humans, one hundred years of research probably only yields four generations.
Right now, genetic research is necessary - which means animal testing is necessary. Give genetics fifty more years of maturity and maybe it won't have as much of a need on animals, right now they are the mainstay.
But, I will agree with you in this case, using millionares sounds like a good idea too... just the mice need to go as well so the research is actually usefull.
Re:Love of pop culture? My Ass...
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Seanbaby.com
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· Score: 2
Thanks, but... Do you realize you just advertized for the book?
Love of pop culture? My Ass...
on
Seanbaby.com
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· Score: 2
If there's a single trait most people who read Slashdot share -- maybe the only one besides an addiction to software -- it's a love of popular culture.
Pop culture, no... sub-culturemaybe. AOL/Time Warner is pop culture. MTV is. Abercrombie and Fitch, and Hot Topic are. Pepsi and Coke certainly are. Face it, listening to indie rock has become part of pop culture. Buying a T-shirt from unamerican.com promotes conformity through individuality.
Advertizing has become insidious, with people completely unaware that astroturfing is occuring. Think the Soppranos just became popular? No, they paid radio stations to talk the show up in banter format as opposed to a commercial. I won't argue whether or not it is a good show, but I won't watch it either because its advertisement is morally objectionable. You are conditioned to like things, you are conditioned to buy certain things... Clever marketing is taking over your lives.
Of course, if I were here husband, now would be a good time to move to Florida AND take on the fake identity of the man accidentally questioned. Lightening rarely strikes twice - and the legal suits which (undoubtedly) this guy will try to put forth against the police will deter them from ever investigating him regarding some event even remotely related to this trial for a while.
Hey look, as long as you have a permit, hunt to your hearts content. Even trophy hunting has its place, though I think it is some what of a waste. Population control, especially in Alaska, is important to the ecosystem. Otherwise the animals overpopulate, kill the ground, then half of them starve to death and the cycle has to repeat itself at a loss. Usually there is some disease in there as well...
Its probably good you can't finish the caribou in one sitting, otherwise you'd never get to experience caribou jerky, or freeze it, thaw it and grind it into caribou chili (not as good as moose chili though).
As I said, I'm environmentally concious. I did not say I'm a (...ponder what I used to taunt my ex as...) a tree-hugging, whale-kissing earth-muffin with a big bowl of granola on the side.
Good lord, I'll say you're a east-coast lower 48er. I'll also say you are an ass, to quote from Shakespeare.
Northern as well... so don't forget the inclusion of "pomous" in your description as well.:)
The whole "preserve the wildlife refuge" is such a piece of !@#@#!!! Do you even realize HOW big Alaska is? It's not a little bitty speck off of California, dude. It is gargantuan! You could cut it in half and make Texas the third largest state instead of second.:) I lived in AK for 25 years, and we Alaskans are quite proud of that statement. Of course, now I live in Texas... but it's the truth and I can't deny it.
While I have been to Alaska, I'll freely admit that I can't fathom how big Alaska actually is. I spent a week there and didn't even cover a significant amount of one park let alone the entire state. I could spend my entire life there (hint hint) and I don't think that I would. But if you think that size is all that matters in terms of ecological risk then, you are wrong. There is so much more. Following your arguement in reverse, take all the land in the US, lump it together, and compare the park/protected land vs. the rest. It is a miniscule ammount, and Alaska contributes far more than the rest. But lets ignore that for right now...
Did you know that the amount of State and Federal parklands and refuges already exceeds the a good deal of your east coast? I don't remember the exact figures but it is million of millions of acres of land-- already set aside. You can't even ride a bicycle through Denali National Park without a super-special impossible to obtain permit. A BICYCLE?! GIMME A BREAK! That is ridiculous.
We are not talking about devistation on a percentage of the whole here, we are talking about devistation as a single event. If you inflict any ecological damage within a small portino of alaska, the ecological damage, is still severe to that area because it can't handle the growth, regardless of how much land you don't hurt. This isn't about minimizing an average ecological damage, this is about minimizing direct ecological damage. With the case of Denali (beautiful park), this is the exact problem. Any damage done to the area is still damage, and the question of what is a reasonable expectation for the land to cope. There are limits to
Geez louise, I like hiking and having natural areas just like the next person. But you really need to charter a flight and try to see all of the natural area of Alaska before start spouting off something you don't understand.
I've chartered the plane. It was awe inspiring. But you stated one of the big problems, you like hiking and having natual areas just like the next person. The question is, what are you willing to do to protect them, and insure their survival? Probably the same as the rest of the/. crowd, and "bitch" at best. The problemn is, this is NOT needed. This is NOT a necessity, which at least arguably the ANWR drilling project can be viewed as. (I agree with the expansion, I just vote for Wyoming instead of Alaska). This is a corporate whim, from an impearialistic corporation and nothing more.
So go blow off, you East-coaster. Go pick hypodermic needles off your shore and hike your little bitty Apalachians and leave regional politics to those who know their region.
And I'll continue hike the Candian Rockies, the Sierras, out through Yellowstone, through the Tetons, Denali, the obligatory Apalachians, and so on. Every single park I hit, I garountee I try to make some difference. I have a vested interest in both outdoor recreation throughout the US, including in Alaska. I also have a vested intrest in maintaining an awareness of what the heck is going on up there. I just wish you did too. If you've never seen what rapid corporate expansion does to a natural habitat, its a not a pretty sight. You won't see it in TX, as they've pretty much already succumbed to the allmighty dollar. A rapid insurgence of technology into an area usually comes at a massive ecological cost. It won't be different this time.
Oh, and maybe I'll organize a beach cleaning in your name for next month.
I repeat: Go away, you Lower 48er environmentalist whacko luser. You don't have to live in Alaska: you've probably never been here. Its a shame you didn't post your actual account, I'd have been curious to see if you were really from Alaska or a Sunny Californian High School Poser...who has never been to Alaska.
But anyway, wrong about both of those. For starters, I'm not an "environmental whacko" as you'd like to believe. While I do raise environmental concerns, its because industry, including the tech industry, commonly overlooks them. Constant industrial expansion without maintenance to the environment, is extremely nearsighted, and not planning for the long haul. Maine (where I grew up), has commonly sought the ballance between the timber industry and its environmental policies. Yes the paper companies bring in business, but go up to Millonocket and breathe the air on the east side of the city... Tell me if its healthy.
While a data center doesn't cause that kind of direct polution it does cause other problems. For starters, you have increased emissions of vehicles during construciton and later as support to the structure. Ecologically whatever land within 25 miles of said construction will experience upheaval from noise (construction and vehicles frightening animals), pollution (tools and automobiles) and a degree of contamination (building materials). Expect major migratory patterns for some animals to be forced to change.
The things about animals however, is that they don't change migratory patterns well. Usually they pick the "best route." Forcing them to take an alternate means that there may be less food or more dangers (of course the danger was expanded when the construction took place). This leads to a disruption in the food chain, and you start to see every aninimal which is intertwined in that be slowly driven down in numbers. Take a basic bio-101 and you'll learn it.
Oh yeah, and I've done some pretty good backpacking and kayaking up in Alaska. Gotta say, the rain up there is pretty...unique.
When I state the ecosystem is fragile, I mean that minimal impact destroys a large portion of growth for a given year. Its like leaving a board over a portion of your front yard for a week, soon you find dead yellow grass under it, which will take about two weeks to regrow. Yet in a fragile environment, that may be a single night, and it may take a full year to regrow. That is common in Alaska, especially when you start to get as far north as the north slope.
You've just swallowed some eco-terrorist propaganda about how precious our hunk of frozen tundra is. You're as clueless as the people who're wondering about volcanoes on the North Slope.
While I do have some friends who did go the eco-terrorist route (really, tree sitters and everything)... I believe on working within the system, and making slow changes to a more environmentally friendly system. Its not an effort to limit expansion, its an effort to manage expansion in an environmentally friendly manner - which I believe is possible.
In this case it means limiting such massive new growth in a highly under-developed area because the infrastructure growth necessary to supply the larger structure would be taxing on the environment. A better place winds up being North Dakota or eve the Upper Peninsula, assuming that they would want such development. Granted it is not as cold for as long, but cooling costs are minimized.
Do I think that a frozen hunk of tundra is precious? Yes.
Just because you dweebs down there screwed up your own backyards doesn't mean that you have some "been there, done that" morally superior position from which you can dictate to Alaska on how to balance environmentalism and economics.
...And I wouldn't propose such a thing. But the jump on the band wagon and get screwed by the tech-sector for a garounteed loss is probably not a good idea either. If you don't think that the tech sector is only looking at it because they think they can squeeze some lax regulations for a rotten business trade (growth is not just a good thing) then you are wrong. I garountee that they are trying to hoodwink what they percieve as a bunch of back-water buffoons.
And I'm sure you've heard it before: Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
You want to talk to Alaska from the environmental high ground? Fix your own back yards, and stop trying to meddle in ours.
And I promise you I spend my time working in my backyard as well...
We (the human race) are parisites. We use until an area is destroyed, and then only (a few) try to fix the damages which we've caused. To not make any effort to learn from the past efforts (i.e. the lower 48) is asking to repeat our mistakes. If Alaska chooses to repeat such mistakes, don't be surprised when big business skips out on them as well at signs of trouble.
I don't expect you to agree with me, I expect you to recognize my right to a differing opinion.
Alaska is one of the last few true wildernesses in the United States. There is enough of an ecological threat to the Alaska National Wildlife Reserve (ANWR) from oil drilling, that tech-heads, imbuing urbanesque idealized idiocy need not contribute to the generalized threat to Alaska. Consider the ramifications of your actions to a fragile eco-system. Yes, cool weather is ideal for storage, but think about the infrastructure necessary to support such a data warehouse. Think about the land, think about the number of people which would be needed to maintain both the data warehouse and the line between there and the rest of the world.
Yes, there is significant less ecological damage which a data warehouse specifically puts out than an oil drill, but you are still making an impact on the environment. Don't think in terms of local economic boosts, but think in terms of world environmental responsobility. We've already ruined a good portion of the lower 48 with overly congested highways, air pollution, and our ideals. Most of us have already entered into volounteer slavery to the allmighty dollar. Don't foist these mistakes on one of the last true paradises based on economic greed for both the corporations and the tech-centric living in the lower 48 (and elsewhere).
Backpackers, environmentalists, and nature lovers in general have generally adopted a leave no trace philosophy, bent on maintainig the natural beauty of the land. Thousands of people spend many hours volounteering each year to repair simple hiking trails, which are well overgrown with people. Forget what sounds cool. Consider the consequences. We have as much a responsibility to maintaining the environment as we try to convice Brazil they do, when they slash and burn portions of the amazon. Alaska is one of the last few places in the US which is truly wild. Its not like we're taking an existing structure and refurbishing or rebuilding it, this requires entirely new construction on a massive scale. The pipeline already has caused major migration shifts for caribou and other animals. This is NOT like dropping in an alaskan office for IBM.
Just because the dotcom-mega-spend plan fell through, don't start taking your business plan from big oil or timber. Make an effort to remain concious of the impact you truly make.
Do you remember when Slashdot posted stories on security flaws like this as an attempt to disseminate the information to the tech community at large, even though they didn't like Microsoft, as opposed to now, when they attempt to show that they don't like Microsoft by disseminating information about such security flaws? Its a subtle change, but its there...
What you are looking for is called the RoboCup. It is a AI/Robotics research competition where teams of 6 robots (2 defenders, 2 forwards, a goalie and a coach - the last sounds a bit funny) compete against eachother in a game of soccer.
The goal is to beat the real world cup team by 2050.
There are like four leagues (including a sony abio league). I think the big catch is that each team has to deliver a paper on AI/Robotics, on top of designing 6 robots...
I'm not a TiVo owner, but a friend of mine is. I believe he said one of the selling points for him was that it allowed you to edit out your commercial content.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but if TiVo allows you to skip advertising, then selling your consumer data without your name makes it dificult for advertisers to reach you. Yes, they can still phone you but, you can always get your phone *77ed (anonymous caller reject - stops about 70% of it). I guess junk snail-mail would still be a bit of a problem.
If two people have a copy of a game that they want to play, what do you think happens? Yes, everyone is given a copy of the game.
And in my experience quite a few people then go out and purchase the game too - but we're all a bunch of honest folk, I can't speak for other groups.
In addition, the atmosphere of LAN parties is not conducive to proper behavior. Drinking and smoking are not uncommon at LAN parties.
Drinking is common in Boston... Heck we've got Ted Kennedy. Jon Stuart calls Boston the Drinkin'est town in the US, and asks if we ever wake up as a city and ask "What did we do last night?" Smokers go and do it on the porch. I'd rather have people drinking and staying put, than drinking and driving when the party gets lame though.
In addition, the lack of female gamers leads encourages homosexuality.
Well, now I know you're a troll, but hey whatever... Commonly we have gay gamers... commonly we have gay female gamers... commonly we have lots of attractive women there... You hang with the wrong crowd if this isn't the case.
This sort of behavior may have been tolerable in the Greek armies of long ago, but is simply unacceptable in modern moral society.
As such, I forbid my children to attend LAN parties because I do not their school to become the next Columbine.
Modern moral society? Columbine?... now I know for sure your a troll. Well, as a parrent, you have that right. I am glad to see that you are actively taking an effort to protect your children. Why not go the step further though, and become an active participant in what your child is doing and is interested in doing. If your kid wants to go to a LAN party, and you are afraid of the danger the games can do, why not play the game with your child, and discuss the violent images within it, the violence it reflects in society, and the unacceptability of further violence in our society. I bet you'd find your child to be more aware than you think. In addition a good discusion on Sex, Drugs, Smoking and Alcohol should be something you might want to think about having with your child.
In my experience, a LAN party is where a bunch of 20- and 30-suffereings raid their friends house (which is overly wired because his company was bought out and his stocks went through the roof), bringing all manner of electronic contraption, but most importantly their computers.
There is a brief frenzy of activity where people erect card tables, run to office max for additional hubs and NICs, set up their machines, plug in their monitors and so forth... As people come in, the game of "monitor envy" begins, where those with 17"s see the 19"s and the 19"s get dwarfed by the 21"s, and the 21"s are envious of the flat 17"s (because they lugged a 75lb monitor from 1/10 of a mile down the street due to parking). People show off their palm pilots, their internet phones, their TiVo, and much geek envy begins.
Finally, someone who either doesn't have all the toys, is a Mechanical Engineer (and hence not quite as tech envious), or has seen them all becomes bored and says "Beer?"
Ah, now here the kegs of Guinness come forth from the kitchen, and the Mechanical Engineers begin to explain the intracacies of the guinness keggerator, the use of the second cooler, and the beer begins to flow.
So then the games begin, as patches are downloaded, game terms are agreed upon, and teams are set. Girlfriends and fiancees look on with disgust, then proceed to watch Wallace and Grommit. We watch as neophyte quake players take on the guy who knows exactly where the railgun spawns. A penalty is assessed to the "God player" and he is forced to drink more beer. The game changes to Starcraft, then to Tribes, then to Halflife, then to something else. The game constantly changes and evolves. Breaks are taken for Guinness, to watch portions of Wallace and Grommit and internet shorts like Troops.
No victor is declared, no tears are shed when the game is over, and everybody leaves happy. Even fiancees have a good time.
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Two things: the first is about fear and commercial research, the second is about light.
When I graduated in the mid-late 90's I feared I'd be riding the internet sea in liferaft, jumping from company to company and watching my stock values plummet. I didn't want to be on that track... I wanted into research.
By sheer luck (and being in the right place at the right time), I found a research engineering firm that wanted me (despite that thing called my "GPA"). Commercial research is very rewarding. If your company bids on contracts which you find interesting you will have an absolute blast. There's a lot of freedom with what you do. You can pick and choose what you work on (for the most part). You get to order the really expensive toys and make salesmen gawk when you give them a *slight* idea as to what you are doing (yes its partially their job to be in awe, but we've caused some show stoppers - "10,000 Amps??? Are you doing lightening research?" ). You get to design freakin' awesome circuits (if you're Electrical or CompE). You get to figure out communications protocols and techniques (if you are a CompE or CompSci). You learn to play with DSPs (CompE or CompSci). You get to play with big mechanical devices and use words like "bushings" (any of the above and especially MechE). Whatever it is that you do, you learn respect and appreciation for the entire team's effort (at least in retrospect).
I know of no other job where I can cause a small electrical fire, slam an 80 pound weight into a wall (in a very unique way), fling pieces of food product across a room, and play with a milling machine in the same day...
I see the light of day... I see it on my drive in to work and I see it on my ride home. When I first started I even had a window... but then we absorbed some more PhDs - and they like their windows (they're photosynthetic). Plus as a contract engineer, all of my contract time is billable, and the company has to compensate you for your time working (80 hours one week means I can take the next week off - if I really want to)
Plus I see the outdoors on weekends (I'm an avid backpacker and pseudo-tree-hugger). Its not quite like college where you could even do your homework outside, but their are many rewards.
Everyone I work with has good social skills. Those that don't learn them quick (or don't get hired).
Whatever a company asks us to design is going to see the light of day. Companies rarely throw money at us with the intention of not using the final product or the knowledge gleaned from the research. I've worked on distributed power systems, sensors, industrial robotics, motors, magnetics, and several other things. Hefty amounts of design go the mechanical, the electrical and the software components of each project. Whatever your discipline, chances are there is a place for you on a project.
We even have a bunch of math and physics guys who come up with all the theoretical modelings for our projects...
Oh, but my paycheck is not anywhere near what an IT guy makes. Unless I go back to school I won't see six figures for a long while, but that's not what I'm really interested in. I do what I do because I love the work.
Disclaimer: The site is Slashdotted, so I haven't gotten a chance to look at the actual project and any documentation that it discussed.
However, a while back Slashdot ran a story on hacking barney, the Actimate by Mattel (and Microsoft). Now I know that they had done something with the Barbie as well (though they mentioned it less), which leads me to believe that the GI Joe vehicle in this story is under a similar structure. Yes, obviously these are different products, but I'd imagine that the partnership between MS and Mattel would be consistent in this respect.
I'm curious how overlapped the work between the two groups were, and if there are any globalized consistencies in Mattel products.
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what are the odds of someone like saddam or khadaffi being able to have super accurate missiles?
Access to - a significant portion of the GPS satelites, and the code for how a GPS satalite actually determines your position, would probably increase odds emensely...
Why do that when you can just set one satalite's perception of ground to -500 feet around LAX, Dulles, Cape Canaveral, Hethro, and/or Logan? It may not be much to planes taking off, but those landing might get big a surprise 500 feet earlier.
...This is of course assuming that they have complete control over those kinds of operating parameters and can access and change sepecific fields of a satalite (the whole "access codes" vs. "software code" discussion in another thread).
The terrorist action against PANAM in 1988 (Lockerbie, Scotland) would be nothing in comparrision to 4 or 5 planes smacking into the ground within 15 minutes of eachother at various airports worldwide.
I oppologise this sound a bit harsh... I'm in a hurry, but I've got a lot to write on this subject.
Ok... we are a research engineering firm. We work on everything from telecommunications to maglev to industrial robot design to --- whatever... pay us enough for something we're interested in and probably we'll do it. We can manage many multi-million dollar projects simultaneously, yet we can't effectively manage our co-ops.
Since we do everything, it is common that you cross-discipline, as in I'm a CompE by trade but I know a lot about ME stuff now. With a Co-op, its hard to instill the additional knowledge in a usefull way... plus its hard to slow down to explain to them what we need done... The co-op needs to learn by osmosis and asking questions, figure out when and how to put their hands in, and otherwise stay alert and help out.
Strictly from a corporate standpoint, when there are no co-ops around, I'm the low man on the totem pole. Theoretical design at the system level and complex mathematics is handled by the PHDs, and the staff engineers get responsibilities delagated to them according to their tallents, availability and socio-political boundaries. Senior engineers (probably middle-management in other businesses) act to advise, help out and handle the larger project portions.... Co-ops are...well, lower than the low... If we need it done, then they get to do it.
As one of our projects, a co-op got to BOIL RANCID MEAT for the entire time. Think about it, four months of bubbling rancid meat... YUCK! I'd have quit if they had asked me to do it. That's the honest truth. God bless Vinny, who found out that he wasn't thrilled with our company, and who landed a job with a really great company and pulls in the big bucks. Did I mention Vinny was working on a BS not a HS diploma?
Face it, for the most part, we need the co-ops to do the tasks which are not cost effective for us to do... That means, "wire this up" and "machine me this" are two common things said to co-ops... We don't have you design circuits or robot parts because we have enough people to do that that don't have to be trained. Co-oping at a company is not where the company bows down and bends over backwards to provide the co-op an oporunity to learn. Co-oping provides you with access to real engineers doing real engineering work. Evrey once in a while, if you prove yourself useful, they pass you a task
You say your job got repetative after a month or so? Surprise, when you get a real job, your job will get repetative after a month or so. One does not go from college to millionare CEO unless they start Napster. Co-oping with a real company (as opposed to starting one) means that you get treated like a real person. That means low man on the totem pole...
as to your comment:
We certainly didn't sign up for this program in order to be cheap labor; we signed up because it was marketed to us as an "engineering project," and the majority of us plan to pursue engineering-related careers. What can we do as students to improve our experience, and what guidelines should any company follow when conducting a cooperative education program such as this, particularly with high school kids? Is there anyone out there who has found a successful way to run such a program?
That's what you are. You are cheap labor. I am cheap labor as well. However, my experience makes me more useful labor, and with the fact that our contracts last from 3 weeks to 5 years, either the information necessary has to be rapidly picked up and executed (higher skillset than most HS students and many college) or the project is so long that to have you design something (potentially poorly) and then you leave leaves the company with no one who "owns" or knows that part.
You probably don't know statics in depth, dynamics is right out... coding is likely suspect... probably your documentation skills are poor.... and well so on... These things are picked up as you go along... Believe it or not, sweeping the floors and machining a couple of parts is the ground floor enterance for most. (other than IT and so on*)
Having interned in HS as well, I sympathise with you. I found that bleeding mice and running electropherisis tests was boring, but a different kind of boring.
Ok... Taco and Hemos and so on, I have a simple request. When you use an abreviation for something which can be taken more than two ways in common geek-speak please refer to the words which it stands for first...
IP stands for Intellectual Property and
IP stands for Internet Protocol.
I'm sure IP stands for a whole heckofa lot more too, but those are the common geek-speak uses. If you can think of a third, then you definitely need to consider what you are writing...
Slashdot Mirror
Um, while I know its been crucified since its release. Try Anarchy Online - either for the first time or again. I beleive FunCom is offering december free for those who canceled their accounts.
All I can say is - its getting better. No, its not 100% there, but it is getting better.
MS DOS may now have gone away, but in the land of PC-104s TinyLinux and RomDOS will continue to have practical applications. Any system that needs to continually chug along, fit into a peanut sized Flash ROM and otherwise work happily ever after will have a need. MS may be out of the market, but who cares? :)
This will be a completely different type of war than the US has ever ever experience. I imagine most military personnel which have served in a war (as opposed to 'in Texas') probably recognize this. As much as I dislike his policies, GWB knows that he doesn't quite know what to expect, and knows that he has to defer to military personnel. At the same time, he also has to give the American people a sense of justice, and show the world a strong America. All of these things aren't diametrically opposed, but all take on different tactics. Its obvious that we have dubbed Bin Ladden, and the country who protects him, Afghanistan, as the villians, and I assume that has happened from some facts unreleased to the public, as I have not seen any more than circumstancial evidence linking the two at the time. I am, however, all in favor of persuing an extraction of Bin Ladden for *at least* previous terrorist attacks. Anyway below is a list of possible strategies and my vague understanding of their effectiveness against such an enemy.
Nothing: Not an option. The people won't stand for it, and the events will occur again.
Embargos: Um, lets starve the people of a country who are already abused by their government. The people don't have anything, and additional sanctions will only make the situation worse for them. Bin Ladden and the Taliban will still be able to procure goods through other means. Only the people will suffer. However, this is a necessary portion of any conflict as it requires Bin Ladden increase the spending of his infrastructure to get goods which wold otherwise be easier to obtain.
Financial Crackdown: Siezing assets, cracking systems, and otherwise disrupting any high tech aspects of Bin Ladden and Afghanistan will only be partially possible (at least as of now). Part of the problem is - they can't touch him once he is inside the US (of all places) networking system. GWB hopes to change that, that's the part that screams of echelon.
Missle strikes: As shown following Clintion's attempt, do not inspire the american people, do little lasting damage to an already war-torn country, possibly endanger civilians, and otherwise only infuriate and unite a culture against us.
Air strikes add an element of personal involvement, which works in favor of approval raitings with the american people early on in a conflict, but endanger the lives of pilots, and suffer from the same problems of missile strikes. The Taliban does not believe in following the Geneva convention (obviously). Expect any POWs to be horribly mistreated and tortured, and in reality they may be better off dead.
Assasination or extraction: We haven't gotten Bin Ladden yet. He is content to sever communications, live in a bunker, and wage guerilla warfare against us. He's done it in the past and he will do it again. We won't even know which bunker he is in. He uses low-tech means to survive when necessary, and provides the US little to track him with.
Small scale insertions, etc: These will drastically increase the chances that a US soldier will be captured. We may out tech them, but even with the gulf war under our belts, most of our troops would still qualify as highly trained, but green. Afghanistan has been at war for the past 22 or 23 years, they may not have much, but they are highly vetran in regards to guerilla warfare, and they've already beaten the former USSR with that stacked against them. In addition, ground forces will only inspire others to become terrorists. More than likely the terrorists inspired will be from a different country, and more than likely will be able to strike in a similar manner to the WTC (just probably not the same scale of distruction or target).
Full scale assault: The most US lives imaginable will be on frontlines, facing an enemy closer in tactics to vietnam. They will be viewed as a savior for a few, but for many they will be the enemy. The war will be against the people of Afghanistan at that point (in addition to the Taliban). We will inspire a sense of nationalism and fanaticism in them, similar to what we are experiencing now. If we are upset neghboring Islamic countries, who usually side together, we will be faced with more than just Afghanistan as our enemy. Many lives will be lost, and yes, it will require the support of every civilized western country to be won - i.e. world war III. World War III will be viewed as ended when either: the Jihad is called off (an unlikely scenario) but will still inspire some fanatics to continue to perform terrorist actions, tensions will still run high. The US may also choose to withdraw in the Saigon or HoChiMihn City sort of fashion. Terrorist actions will increase as the US is viewed the looser by radical islamic fundamentalists. The third scenario is complete and utter devistation, possibly thermonuclear. Regardless, almost evey man woman and child will have been affected in some way, and how do you tell a terrorist from a refugee in these circumstances? The Western world will either emerge united, or the western world will view the US as having committed one of the worst global vendettas ever seen, and remain in shock and disbelief with relations strained to near breaking points.
Eh, these are just some thoghts...
I spent a year working in a genetics lab doing research on lab mice. (How many western blots can you do in a day?) Genetic testing on animals allows for quick growth to a mature age, the ability to quickly see the effect on several generations of treatment, and provides a significantly easier way to test for effects and what have you. Some research requires brain examination, some requires cell harvesting. Try telling a person, "I'm sorry but we need to kill you now so we can examine your brain" is an impsibility. Attempting to perform research without animals, delays the ability for cures to be found. While I was there I saw promising research in many varieties of cancer, AIDs treatments, blood diseases, aging, and many others. The researchers who work there don't stand over the mice laughing maniacally as they perform tests, they perform as few tests as possible, conserve as much material as possible, and otherwise try to provide the mice as comfortable an environment with all things considered...
Even if the same resarch was allowed to be done on people, generations would need to live and die to see certain effects. In twenty years worth of mice, several generations may be explored. With humans, one hundred years of research probably only yields four generations.
Right now, genetic research is necessary - which means animal testing is necessary. Give genetics fifty more years of maturity and maybe it won't have as much of a need on animals, right now they are the mainstay.
But, I will agree with you in this case, using millionares sounds like a good idea too... just the mice need to go as well so the research is actually usefull.
Thanks, but... Do you realize you just advertized for the book?
If there's a single trait most people who read Slashdot share -- maybe the only one besides an addiction to software -- it's a love of popular culture.
Pop culture, no... sub-culture maybe. AOL/Time Warner is pop culture. MTV is. Abercrombie and Fitch, and Hot Topic are. Pepsi and Coke certainly are. Face it, listening to indie rock has become part of pop culture. Buying a T-shirt from unamerican.com promotes conformity through individuality.
Advertizing has become insidious, with people completely unaware that astroturfing is occuring. Think the Soppranos just became popular? No, they paid radio stations to talk the show up in banter format as opposed to a commercial. I won't argue whether or not it is a good show, but I won't watch it either because its advertisement is morally objectionable. You are conditioned to like things, you are conditioned to buy certain things... Clever marketing is taking over your lives.
I agree 100% with you. Those who marked that as funny missed my point completely. You however, caught it.
Of course, if I were here husband, now would be a good time to move to Florida AND take on the fake identity of the man accidentally questioned. Lightening rarely strikes twice - and the legal suits which (undoubtedly) this guy will try to put forth against the police will deter them from ever investigating him regarding some event even remotely related to this trial for a while.
Hey look, as long as you have a permit, hunt to your hearts content. Even trophy hunting has its place, though I think it is some what of a waste. Population control, especially in Alaska, is important to the ecosystem. Otherwise the animals overpopulate, kill the ground, then half of them starve to death and the cycle has to repeat itself at a loss. Usually there is some disease in there as well...
Its probably good you can't finish the caribou in one sitting, otherwise you'd never get to experience caribou jerky, or freeze it, thaw it and grind it into caribou chili (not as good as moose chili though).
As I said, I'm environmentally concious. I did not say I'm a (...ponder what I used to taunt my ex as...) a tree-hugging, whale-kissing earth-muffin with a big bowl of granola on the side.
Good lord, I'll say you're a east-coast lower 48er. I'll also say you are an ass, to quote from Shakespeare.
:)
:) I lived in AK for 25 years, and we Alaskans are quite proud of that statement. Of course, now I live in Texas... but it's the truth and I can't deny it.
/. crowd, and "bitch" at best. The problemn is, this is NOT needed. This is NOT a necessity, which at least arguably the ANWR drilling project can be viewed as. (I agree with the expansion, I just vote for Wyoming instead of Alaska). This is a corporate whim, from an impearialistic corporation and nothing more.
Northern as well... so don't forget the inclusion of "pomous" in your description as well.
The whole "preserve the wildlife refuge" is such a piece of !@#@#!!! Do you even realize HOW big Alaska is? It's not a little bitty speck off of California, dude. It is gargantuan! You could cut it in half and make Texas the third largest state instead of second.
While I have been to Alaska, I'll freely admit that I can't fathom how big Alaska actually is. I spent a week there and didn't even cover a significant amount of one park let alone the entire state. I could spend my entire life there (hint hint) and I don't think that I would. But if you think that size is all that matters in terms of ecological risk then, you are wrong. There is so much more. Following your arguement in reverse, take all the land in the US, lump it together, and compare the park/protected land vs. the rest. It is a miniscule ammount, and Alaska contributes far more than the rest. But lets ignore that for right now...
Did you know that the amount of State and Federal parklands and refuges already exceeds the a good deal of your east coast? I don't remember the exact figures but it is million of millions of acres of land-- already set aside. You can't even ride a bicycle through Denali National Park without a super-special impossible to obtain permit. A BICYCLE?! GIMME A BREAK! That is ridiculous.
We are not talking about devistation on a percentage of the whole here, we are talking about devistation as a single event. If you inflict any ecological damage within a small portino of alaska, the ecological damage, is still severe to that area because it can't handle the growth, regardless of how much land you don't hurt. This isn't about minimizing an average ecological damage, this is about minimizing direct ecological damage. With the case of Denali (beautiful park), this is the exact problem. Any damage done to the area is still damage, and the question of what is a reasonable expectation for the land to cope. There are limits to
Geez louise, I like hiking and having natural areas just like the next person. But you really need to charter a flight and try to see all of the natural area of Alaska before start spouting off something you don't understand.
I've chartered the plane. It was awe inspiring. But you stated one of the big problems, you like hiking and having natual areas just like the next person. The question is, what are you willing to do to protect them, and insure their survival? Probably the same as the rest of the
So go blow off, you East-coaster. Go pick hypodermic needles off your shore and hike your little bitty Apalachians and leave regional politics to those who know their region.
And I'll continue hike the Candian Rockies, the Sierras, out through Yellowstone, through the Tetons, Denali, the obligatory Apalachians, and so on. Every single park I hit, I garountee I try to make some difference. I have a vested interest in both outdoor recreation throughout the US, including in Alaska. I also have a vested intrest in maintaining an awareness of what the heck is going on up there. I just wish you did too. If you've never seen what rapid corporate expansion does to a natural habitat, its a not a pretty sight. You won't see it in TX, as they've pretty much already succumbed to the allmighty dollar. A rapid insurgence of technology into an area usually comes at a massive ecological cost. It won't be different this time.
Oh, and maybe I'll organize a beach cleaning in your name for next month.
I repeat: Go away, you Lower 48er environmentalist whacko luser. You don't have to live in Alaska: you've probably never been here.
...unique.
Its a shame you didn't post your actual account, I'd have been curious to see if you were really from Alaska or a Sunny Californian High School Poser...who has never been to Alaska.
But anyway, wrong about both of those. For starters, I'm not an "environmental whacko" as you'd like to believe. While I do raise environmental concerns, its because industry, including the tech industry, commonly overlooks them. Constant industrial expansion without maintenance to the environment, is extremely nearsighted, and not planning for the long haul. Maine (where I grew up), has commonly sought the ballance between the timber industry and its environmental policies. Yes the paper companies bring in business, but go up to Millonocket and breathe the air on the east side of the city... Tell me if its healthy.
While a data center doesn't cause that kind of direct polution it does cause other problems. For starters, you have increased emissions of vehicles during construciton and later as support to the structure. Ecologically whatever land within 25 miles of said construction will experience upheaval from noise (construction and vehicles frightening animals), pollution (tools and automobiles) and a degree of contamination (building materials). Expect major migratory patterns for some animals to be forced to change.
The things about animals however, is that they don't change migratory patterns well. Usually they pick the "best route." Forcing them to take an alternate means that there may be less food or more dangers (of course the danger was expanded when the construction took place). This leads to a disruption in the food chain, and you start to see every aninimal which is intertwined in that be slowly driven down in numbers. Take a basic bio-101 and you'll learn it.
Oh yeah, and I've done some pretty good backpacking and kayaking up in Alaska. Gotta say, the rain up there is pretty
When I state the ecosystem is fragile, I mean that minimal impact destroys a large portion of growth for a given year. Its like leaving a board over a portion of your front yard for a week, soon you find dead yellow grass under it, which will take about two weeks to regrow. Yet in a fragile environment, that may be a single night, and it may take a full year to regrow. That is common in Alaska, especially when you start to get as far north as the north slope.
You've just swallowed some eco-terrorist propaganda about how precious our hunk of frozen tundra is. You're as clueless as the people who're wondering about volcanoes on the North Slope.
While I do have some friends who did go the eco-terrorist route (really, tree sitters and everything)... I believe on working within the system, and making slow changes to a more environmentally friendly system. Its not an effort to limit expansion, its an effort to manage expansion in an environmentally friendly manner - which I believe is possible.
In this case it means limiting such massive new growth in a highly under-developed area because the infrastructure growth necessary to supply the larger structure would be taxing on the environment. A better place winds up being North Dakota or eve the Upper Peninsula, assuming that they would want such development. Granted it is not as cold for as long, but cooling costs are minimized.
Do I think that a frozen hunk of tundra is precious? Yes.
Just because you dweebs down there screwed up your own backyards doesn't mean that you have some "been there, done that" morally superior position from which you can dictate to Alaska on how to balance environmentalism and economics.
...And I wouldn't propose such a thing. But the jump on the band wagon and get screwed by the tech-sector for a garounteed loss is probably not a good idea either. If you don't think that the tech sector is only looking at it because they think they can squeeze some lax regulations for a rotten business trade (growth is not just a good thing) then you are wrong. I garountee that they are trying to hoodwink what they percieve as a bunch of back-water buffoons.
And I'm sure you've heard it before: Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
You want to talk to Alaska from the environmental high ground? Fix your own back yards, and stop trying to meddle in ours.
And I promise you I spend my time working in my backyard as well...
We (the human race) are parisites. We use until an area is destroyed, and then only (a few) try to fix the damages which we've caused. To not make any effort to learn from the past efforts (i.e. the lower 48) is asking to repeat our mistakes. If Alaska chooses to repeat such mistakes, don't be surprised when big business skips out on them as well at signs of trouble.
I don't expect you to agree with me, I expect you to recognize my right to a differing opinion.
I repeat, stronger than last time. No.
Alaska is one of the last few true wildernesses in the United States. There is enough of an ecological threat to the Alaska National Wildlife Reserve (ANWR) from oil drilling, that tech-heads, imbuing urbanesque idealized idiocy need not contribute to the generalized threat to Alaska. Consider the ramifications of your actions to a fragile eco-system. Yes, cool weather is ideal for storage, but think about the infrastructure necessary to support such a data warehouse. Think about the land, think about the number of people which would be needed to maintain both the data warehouse and the line between there and the rest of the world.
Yes, there is significant less ecological damage which a data warehouse specifically puts out than an oil drill, but you are still making an impact on the environment. Don't think in terms of local economic boosts, but think in terms of world environmental responsobility. We've already ruined a good portion of the lower 48 with overly congested highways, air pollution, and our ideals. Most of us have already entered into volounteer slavery to the allmighty dollar. Don't foist these mistakes on one of the last true paradises based on economic greed for both the corporations and the tech-centric living in the lower 48 (and elsewhere).
Backpackers, environmentalists, and nature lovers in general have generally adopted a leave no trace philosophy, bent on maintainig the natural beauty of the land. Thousands of people spend many hours volounteering each year to repair simple hiking trails, which are well overgrown with people. Forget what sounds cool. Consider the consequences. We have as much a responsibility to maintaining the environment as we try to convice Brazil they do, when they slash and burn portions of the amazon. Alaska is one of the last few places in the US which is truly wild. Its not like we're taking an existing structure and refurbishing or rebuilding it, this requires entirely new construction on a massive scale. The pipeline already has caused major migration shifts for caribou and other animals. This is NOT like dropping in an alaskan office for IBM.
Just because the dotcom-mega-spend plan fell through, don't start taking your business plan from big oil or timber. Make an effort to remain concious of the impact you truly make.
Note: I'm an east-coast lower 48er.
Do you remember when Slashdot posted stories on security flaws like this as an attempt to disseminate the information to the tech community at large, even though they didn't like Microsoft, as opposed to now, when they attempt to show that they don't like Microsoft by disseminating information about such security flaws? Its a subtle change, but its there...
What you are looking for is called the RoboCup. It is a AI/Robotics research competition where teams of 6 robots (2 defenders, 2 forwards, a goalie and a coach - the last sounds a bit funny) compete against eachother in a game of soccer.
The goal is to beat the real world cup team by 2050.
There are like four leagues (including a sony abio league). I think the big catch is that each team has to deliver a paper on AI/Robotics, on top of designing 6 robots...
I'm not a TiVo owner, but a friend of mine is. I believe he said one of the selling points for him was that it allowed you to edit out your commercial content.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but if TiVo allows you to skip advertising, then selling your consumer data without your name makes it dificult for advertisers to reach you. Yes, they can still phone you but, you can always get your phone *77ed (anonymous caller reject - stops about 70% of it). I guess junk snail-mail would still be a bit of a problem.
If two people have a copy of a game that they want to play, what do you think happens? Yes, everyone is given a copy of the game.
And in my experience quite a few people then go out and purchase the game too - but we're all a bunch of honest folk, I can't speak for other groups.
In addition, the atmosphere of LAN parties is not conducive to proper behavior. Drinking and smoking are not uncommon at LAN parties.
Drinking is common in Boston... Heck we've got Ted Kennedy. Jon Stuart calls Boston the Drinkin'est town in the US, and asks if we ever wake up as a city and ask "What did we do last night?" Smokers go and do it on the porch. I'd rather have people drinking and staying put, than drinking and driving when the party gets lame though.
In addition, the lack of female gamers leads encourages homosexuality.
Well, now I know you're a troll, but hey whatever... Commonly we have gay gamers... commonly we have gay female gamers... commonly we have lots of attractive women there... You hang with the wrong crowd if this isn't the case.
This sort of behavior may have been tolerable in the Greek armies of long ago, but is simply unacceptable in modern moral society.
As such, I forbid my children to attend LAN parties because I do not their school to become the next Columbine.
Modern moral society? Columbine?... now I know for sure your a troll. Well, as a parrent, you have that right. I am glad to see that you are actively taking an effort to protect your children. Why not go the step further though, and become an active participant in what your child is doing and is interested in doing. If your kid wants to go to a LAN party, and you are afraid of the danger the games can do, why not play the game with your child, and discuss the violent images within it, the violence it reflects in society, and the unacceptability of further violence in our society. I bet you'd find your child to be more aware than you think. In addition a good discusion on Sex, Drugs, Smoking and Alcohol should be something you might want to think about having with your child.
In my experience, a LAN party is where a bunch of 20- and 30-suffereings raid their friends house (which is overly wired because his company was bought out and his stocks went through the roof), bringing all manner of electronic contraption, but most importantly their computers.
There is a brief frenzy of activity where people erect card tables, run to office max for additional hubs and NICs, set up their machines, plug in their monitors and so forth... As people come in, the game of "monitor envy" begins, where those with 17"s see the 19"s and the 19"s get dwarfed by the 21"s, and the 21"s are envious of the flat 17"s (because they lugged a 75lb monitor from 1/10 of a mile down the street due to parking). People show off their palm pilots, their internet phones, their TiVo, and much geek envy begins.
Finally, someone who either doesn't have all the toys, is a Mechanical Engineer (and hence not quite as tech envious), or has seen them all becomes bored and says "Beer?"
Ah, now here the kegs of Guinness come forth from the kitchen, and the Mechanical Engineers begin to explain the intracacies of the guinness keggerator, the use of the second cooler, and the beer begins to flow.
So then the games begin, as patches are downloaded, game terms are agreed upon, and teams are set. Girlfriends and fiancees look on with disgust, then proceed to watch Wallace and Grommit. We watch as neophyte quake players take on the guy who knows exactly where the railgun spawns. A penalty is assessed to the "God player" and he is forced to drink more beer. The game changes to Starcraft, then to Tribes, then to Halflife, then to something else. The game constantly changes and evolves. Breaks are taken for Guinness, to watch portions of Wallace and Grommit and internet shorts like Troops.
No victor is declared, no tears are shed when the game is over, and everybody leaves happy. Even fiancees have a good time.
--
Two things: the first is about fear and commercial research, the second is about light.
When I graduated in the mid-late 90's I feared I'd be riding the internet sea in liferaft, jumping from company to company and watching my stock values plummet. I didn't want to be on that track... I wanted into research.
By sheer luck (and being in the right place at the right time), I found a research engineering firm that wanted me (despite that thing called my "GPA"). Commercial research is very rewarding. If your company bids on contracts which you find interesting you will have an absolute blast. There's a lot of freedom with what you do. You can pick and choose what you work on (for the most part). You get to order the really expensive toys and make salesmen gawk when you give them a *slight* idea as to what you are doing (yes its partially their job to be in awe, but we've caused some show stoppers - "10,000 Amps??? Are you doing lightening research?" ). You get to design freakin' awesome circuits (if you're Electrical or CompE). You get to figure out communications protocols and techniques (if you are a CompE or CompSci). You learn to play with DSPs (CompE or CompSci). You get to play with big mechanical devices and use words like "bushings" (any of the above and especially MechE). Whatever it is that you do, you learn respect and appreciation for the entire team's effort (at least in retrospect).
I know of no other job where I can cause a small electrical fire, slam an 80 pound weight into a wall (in a very unique way), fling pieces of food product across a room, and play with a milling machine in the same day...
I see the light of day... I see it on my drive in to work and I see it on my ride home. When I first started I even had a window... but then we absorbed some more PhDs - and they like their windows (they're photosynthetic). Plus as a contract engineer, all of my contract time is billable, and the company has to compensate you for your time working (80 hours one week means I can take the next week off - if I really want to)
Plus I see the outdoors on weekends (I'm an avid backpacker and pseudo-tree-hugger). Its not quite like college where you could even do your homework outside, but their are many rewards.
Everyone I work with has good social skills. Those that don't learn them quick (or don't get hired).
Whatever a company asks us to design is going to see the light of day. Companies rarely throw money at us with the intention of not using the final product or the knowledge gleaned from the research. I've worked on distributed power systems, sensors, industrial robotics, motors, magnetics, and several other things. Hefty amounts of design go the mechanical, the electrical and the software components of each project. Whatever your discipline, chances are there is a place for you on a project.
We even have a bunch of math and physics guys who come up with all the theoretical modelings for our projects...
Oh, but my paycheck is not anywhere near what an IT guy makes. Unless I go back to school I won't see six figures for a long while, but that's not what I'm really interested in. I do what I do because I love the work.
Disclaimer: The site is Slashdotted, so I haven't gotten a chance to look at the actual project and any documentation that it discussed.
However, a while back Slashdot ran a story on hacking barney, the Actimate by Mattel (and Microsoft). Now I know that they had done something with the Barbie as well (though they mentioned it less), which leads me to believe that the GI Joe vehicle in this story is under a similar structure. Yes, obviously these are different products, but I'd imagine that the partnership between MS and Mattel would be consistent in this respect.
I'm curious how overlapped the work between the two groups were, and if there are any globalized consistencies in Mattel products.
--
Great, so will we now be setting up little counciling centers for impotency in moths?
Next we'll see a study on the success of viagra on mutant moths.
Good point, well Valdez X5 with no Alcoholic Skippers then....
what are the odds of someone like saddam or khadaffi being able to have super accurate missiles?
Access to - a significant portion of the GPS satelites, and the code for how a GPS satalite actually determines your position, would probably increase odds emensely...
Why do that when you can just set one satalite's perception of ground to -500 feet around LAX, Dulles, Cape Canaveral, Hethro, and/or Logan? It may not be much to planes taking off, but those landing might get big a surprise 500 feet earlier.
...This is of course assuming that they have complete control over those kinds of operating parameters and can access and change sepecific fields of a satalite (the whole "access codes" vs. "software code" discussion in another thread).
The terrorist action against PANAM in 1988 (Lockerbie, Scotland) would be nothing in comparrision to 4 or 5 planes smacking into the ground within 15 minutes of eachother at various airports worldwide.
I oppologise this sound a bit harsh... I'm in a hurry, but I've got a lot to write on this subject.
Ok... we are a research engineering firm. We work on everything from telecommunications to maglev to industrial robot design to --- whatever... pay us enough for something we're interested in and probably we'll do it. We can manage many multi-million dollar projects simultaneously, yet we can't effectively manage our co-ops.
Since we do everything, it is common that you cross-discipline, as in I'm a CompE by trade but I know a lot about ME stuff now. With a Co-op, its hard to instill the additional knowledge in a usefull way... plus its hard to slow down to explain to them what we need done... The co-op needs to learn by osmosis and asking questions, figure out when and how to put their hands in, and otherwise stay alert and help out.
Strictly from a corporate standpoint, when there are no co-ops around, I'm the low man on the totem pole. Theoretical design at the system level and complex mathematics is handled by the PHDs, and the staff engineers get responsibilities delagated to them according to their tallents, availability and socio-political boundaries. Senior engineers (probably middle-management in other businesses) act to advise, help out and handle the larger project portions.... Co-ops are...well, lower than the low... If we need it done, then they get to do it.
As one of our projects, a co-op got to BOIL RANCID MEAT for the entire time. Think about it, four months of bubbling rancid meat... YUCK! I'd have quit if they had asked me to do it. That's the honest truth. God bless Vinny, who found out that he wasn't thrilled with our company, and who landed a job with a really great company and pulls in the big bucks. Did I mention Vinny was working on a BS not a HS diploma?
Face it, for the most part, we need the co-ops to do the tasks which are not cost effective for us to do... That means, "wire this up" and "machine me this" are two common things said to co-ops... We don't have you design circuits or robot parts because we have enough people to do that that don't have to be trained. Co-oping at a company is not where the company bows down and bends over backwards to provide the co-op an oporunity to learn. Co-oping provides you with access to real engineers doing real engineering work. Evrey once in a while, if you prove yourself useful, they pass you a task
You say your job got repetative after a month or so? Surprise, when you get a real job, your job will get repetative after a month or so. One does not go from college to millionare CEO unless they start Napster. Co-oping with a real company (as opposed to starting one) means that you get treated like a real person. That means low man on the totem pole...
as to your comment:
We certainly didn't sign up for this program in order to be cheap labor; we signed up because it was marketed to us as an "engineering project," and the majority of us plan to pursue engineering-related careers. What can we do as students to improve our experience, and what guidelines should any company follow when conducting a cooperative education program such as this, particularly with high school kids? Is there anyone out there who has found a successful way to run such a program?
That's what you are. You are cheap labor. I am cheap labor as well. However, my experience makes me more useful labor, and with the fact that our contracts last from 3 weeks to 5 years, either the information necessary has to be rapidly picked up and executed (higher skillset than most HS students and many college) or the project is so long that to have you design something (potentially poorly) and then you leave leaves the company with no one who "owns" or knows that part.
You probably don't know statics in depth, dynamics is right out... coding is likely suspect... probably your documentation skills are poor.... and well so on... These things are picked up as you go along... Believe it or not, sweeping the floors and machining a couple of parts is the ground floor enterance for most. (other than IT and so on*)
Having interned in HS as well, I sympathise with you. I found that bleeding mice and running electropherisis tests was boring, but a different kind of boring.
anyways... gotta go.
* someday I'll rant on this.
Ok... Taco and Hemos and so on, I have a simple request. When you use an abreviation for something which can be taken more than two ways in common geek-speak please refer to the words which it stands for first...
IP stands for Intellectual Property and
IP stands for Internet Protocol.
I'm sure IP stands for a whole heckofa lot more too, but those are the common geek-speak uses. If you can think of a third, then you definitely need to consider what you are writing...