Switching office software should be far less painful to the average corporate desktop user than adapting to the ERP systems that many companies have implemented in the last fifteen years. Given that most users don't do anything with macros or any of the other more arcane features of Microsoft Office, once they see that they can open their files with the NLD they will be fine. Power users who have written a lot of macros should find the transition to be simple.
You don't really owe your company squat. However, they can make life difficult for you. As an example, at a company I worked for during the late nineties, we were doing a massive SAP implementation and our IT people were quitting fairly regularly as they were getting better offers. Our chief operating officer spread the word around town that he would sue the pants off of any business or tech recruiter that went after any more of our IT people. Those of our guys that were still with the company were naturally hosed. No one would touch them. Basically, everyone at our company hated this guy, but what can you do?
How is this a troll? I would like to hear from a Google employee that can tell me whether my conjecture is true or not. Based on my reading of/. posts over the last year or so it seems to me that the prevailing mindset of posters is left of center to say the least(based in part on the amount of Bush-bashing that takes place). How many slashdot participants have cracked the cover of the Bible in the past year?
I agree with parent; I learned Japanese by spending two years in the Tokyo area in addition to doing a minor in it in college. I feel that the pictographic nature of the kanji is one of the factors that makes Japanese one of the most difficult languages to learn. You have to spend far more time mastering the symbols of the language than you do say in English. Granted, English spelling is convoluted but there are only the 26 letters whereas in Japanese and Chinese there are literally thousands of different kanji. I think that the rote practice necessary to master Japanese contributes in some small way to the focus on rote learning in Japanese schools.
It's not that surprising when you consider the demographic of Google people; probably one of the least Judeo-Christian oriented groups of people in the country.
This is especially true since Calc 101 texts are essentially all the same except that the problem numbers are juggled around so that the students from one year can't resell their used books to the incoming group. I have found, though, that the quality of calculus tutorials on the web is quite good. If you are just looking to learn the subject rather than focusing on a specific textbook there are plenty of resources out there.
Easy, there..wouldn't it be fair to say that any technology could be used for good or evil? Anyhow, it is my understanding that dynamite was an improvement over previous explosives as it was more stable and thus less likely to explode prematurely and kill people. Do you hate the Chinese for inventing gunpowder?
I enjoy reading your comments generally and am surprised by the vehemence of this one.
Here is the society's information page from their website:
What is Mensa?
Mensa was founded in England in 1946 by Roland Berrill, a barrister, and Dr. Lance Ware, a scientist and lawyer. They had the idea of forming a society for bright people, the only qualification for membership of which was a high IQ. The original aims were, as they are today, to create a society that is non-political and free from all racial or religious distinctions. The society welcomes people from every walk of life whose IQ is in the top 2% of the population, with the objective of enjoying each other's company and participating in a wide range of social and cultural activities.
What are Mensa's goals?
Mensa has three stated purposes: to identify and foster human intelligence for the benefit of humanity, to encourage research in the nature, characteristics and uses of intelligence, and to promote stimulating intellectual and social opportunities for its members.
How many members does Mensa have?
Today there are some 100,000 Mensans in 100 countries throughout the world. There are active Mensa organizations in over 40 countries on every continent except Antarctica. Membership numbers are also available for specific National Groups.
What kind of people are Members of Mensa?
There is simply no one prevailing characteristic of Mensa members other than high IQ. There are Mensans for whom Mensa provides a sense of family, and others for whom it is a casual social activity. There have been many marriages made in Mensa, but for many people, it is simply a stimulating opportunity for the mind. Most Mensans have a good sense of humor, and they like to talk. And, usually, they have a lot to say.
Mensans range in age from 4 to 94, but most are between 20 and 60. In education they range from preschoolers to high school dropouts to people with multiple doctorates. There are Mensans on welfare and Mensans who are millionaires. As far as occupations, the range is staggering. Mensa has professors and truck drivers, scientists and firefighters, computer programmers and farmers, artists, military people, musicians, laborers, police officers, glassblowers--the diverse list goes on and on. There are famous Mensans and prize-winning Mensans, but there are many whose names you wouldn't know.
What does "Mensa" mean?
The word "Mensa" means "table" in Latin. The name stands for a round-table society, where race, color, creed, national origin, age, politics, educational or social background are irrelevant.
What opinions does Mensa have?
Mensa takes no stand on politics, religion or social issues. Mensa has members from so many different countries and cultures with differing points of view, that for Mensa to espouse a particular point of view would go against its role as a forum for all points of view. Of course, individual Mensa members often have strong opinions--and several of them. It is said that in a room with 12 Mensans you will find at least 13 differing opinions on any given subject.
How do I qualify for Mensa?
Membership in Mensa is open to persons who have attained a score within the upper two percent of the general population on an approved intelligence test that has been properly administered and supervised. There is no other qualification or disqualification for membership eligibility.
The term "IQ score" is widely used but poorly defined. There are a large number of tests with different scales. The result on one test of 132 can be the same as a score 148 on another test. Some intelligence tests don't use IQ scores at all. Mensa has set a percentile as cutoff to avoid this confusion. Candidates for membership in Mensa must achieve a score at or above the 98th percentile (a score that is greater than or equal to 98 percent of the general population taking the test) on a standard test of intelligence.
Generally, there are two ways to prove that you qualify for Mensa: either take the Mensa test, or submit a qualifying test score
Someone needs to mod this insightful as this is one of the few insightful comments I have seen so far in this thread. Most of the commentary on this topic has been essentially sour grapes.
On the other hand, when the subject of the Google aptitude test is brought up on Slashdot everyone oohs and aahs about how wonderful said people are and how wonderful it would be to be admitted to the magical community of Page and Brin.
Unfortunately, the medical field has plenty of individuals who entered said field primarily because they felt the need to demonstrate that they are better than the rest of us because they are doctors. I believe it is the hospital that has the strict hierarchy of what medical instrument one can wear which depends on what your job is. Becoming a doctor involves submitting to a selection process which is absurdly arbitrary and wasteful. At least Mensa(of which I am not a member) bases admission on tests which don't require intensive study. The point of IQ tests is that they are not supposed to measure attributes dependent on a person's education. Mensa would admit anyone who passed their test, where at least the AMA is in the business of limiting the supply of doctors to a level that will maintain the high income levels of those already admitted.
Exactly: I started with the Wheel of Time and read the entire thing, and went on to the next book. By the third volume I was skipping about two thirds of the chapters so I could follow the only storyline I was interested in. I finally gave up with volume nine; I couldn't see any resolution in sight.
I have to say though, that when I finished LOTR I wanted there to be more.
I am currently employed as an accountant; I started out in college as a comp sci major, bailed on that after one year. I used to look down on accountants, now I'm fairly happy with the path I took. Luckily, I don't have to do too much number crunching. The job is more about analysis...
The reason this conclusion is significant is that Metcalfe's Law has been trotted out countless times to hype the capabilities of the internet. Given the result in the referenced paper, Metcalfe's law is meaningless with respect to the internet. As you point out, there are nodes of widely varying capability connected to the internet and so you can't use Metcalfe's Law to make any predictions/calculations about the value of it.
For a compost heap to function properly it has to be quite large: "A rectangular pile 2 to 5 feet wide, 5 to 10 feet long and 2 to 4 feet high is adequate for most households. If space is not available, a single, tall pile can be used. Fresh material is added at the top and finished compost dug out at the bottom." - from the following URL:http://rds.yahoo.com/S=2766679/K=co mposting+in structions/v=2/SID=e/l=WS1/R=2/IPC=us/SHE=0/H=3/SI G=11oets7rg/EXP=1110826267/*-http%3A//www.lcida.or g/composting.html
For the size of most yards, this is a lot of space. It is hard to generate this kind of volume of the proper materials on a regular basis if you have a standard size suburban lot.
If half of organic wastes are decomposed after twenty years, then you have that much fresh space to re-fill with municipal waste. Given that the base useful life of a landfill is 20 to 30 years, this would essentially solve the issue of landfill space for any community that doesn't have significant population growth.
Actually, military r and d would be important to most US voters. It is what has given us our current status as the sole superpower. US preeminence in the computer industry is based on the massive investments by the military in microelectronics that was needed to build superior military technology such as fly by wire fighters, ICBM's, and the M1A1 Abrams tank. Without these we would all be speaking Russian as a second language and saluting statues of Stalin. Regardless of what one thinks of the current US administration, it is far better than many of the alternatives.
With all due respect, I think it is safe to say that every federal government agency thinks it is always underfunded. Tradeoffs have to be made. Certainly the military could use a haircut in a number of its programs but the fact is that space science is not that important to the majority of US voters.
Amen to this comment; the US military/space programs could do well to emulate the Russian design philosophy. Make things simple, rugged, and easily replaceable. I'm surprised Russia doesn't do more PR about how they are basically holding the ISS together.
For an interesting discussion of the intake configuration problem, read "Skunk Works" by Ben Rich. He took over at Lockheed after Kelly Johnson retired, and they had this problem when designing the SR-71 Blackbird (one of my favorite airplanes). They had to figure out an entirely new configuration because no aircraft had ever gone as fast as they expected the Blackbird to go. The drag friction issue was also a serious problem for the Blackbird. The designers wound up having to build the aircraft so that it leaked fuel on the ground as the skin would expand so much from the heat of drag friction at operating speed that the tanks would seal up from that expansion.
The price that game developers charge has zero to do with their cost of developing games. It is primarily based on how much the marketers have calculated that parents are willing to pay to satisfy the demands of their 12-17 year old sons versus how many games they need to sell to cover the development costs of the console platform. Since the console prices are below cost to get you to buy the system, the console maker and the game developers make it up in the prices for the individual games.
I'd like to see more games based on innovative concepts or gameplay rather than just having better graphics so the sword you are wielding in SoulCalibur 9 has glints of light that look more realistic. I think it is strange that the Myst concept hasn't resulted in more games like that. Personally, the attraction of Myst for me was less the puzzle solving than the attractive visual design, the music, and the story telling.
My point here is that I don't care that MS has started pushing their game writing system. As long as the console business is based on the blockbuster concept borrowed from Hollywood we're going to continue to get more of the same.
I have quit using ATM's altogether for a number of reasons. One of the main reasons is that I have found it easier to manage my finances by using a credit card to pay for everything(even groceries) as there are many CC's out there that give you miles/reward points for purchases. Also with credit cards you don't get change back and your risk of loss is less if the card number is compromised. I take my paycheck and use part of that to pay off the balance on the CC each month. So I never need to look for an ATM and don't have cash in my pocket or pile up change. Also, the risk to your account is actually greater from the cons who have developed the devices which they attach either to the front of the card slot or actually within the machine that grabs your card number while you are transacting and is invisible to you. Then they take the card numbers and spend...I don't have the links on hand right now but there have been many documented instances of this. Essentially, I don't believe that ATM's are secure at their sites or through their network connections.
Slashdot Mirror
Switching office software should be far less painful to the average corporate desktop user than adapting to the ERP systems that many companies have implemented in the last fifteen years. Given that most users don't do anything with macros or any of the other more arcane features of Microsoft Office, once they see that they can open their files with the NLD they will be fine. Power users who have written a lot of macros should find the transition to be simple.
You don't really owe your company squat. However, they can make life difficult for you. As an example, at a company I worked for during the late nineties, we were doing a massive SAP implementation and our IT people were quitting fairly regularly as they were getting better offers. Our chief operating officer spread the word around town that he would sue the pants off of any business or tech recruiter that went after any more of our IT people. Those of our guys that were still with the company were naturally hosed. No one would touch them. Basically, everyone at our company hated this guy, but what can you do?
How is this a troll? I would like to hear from a Google employee that can tell me whether my conjecture is true or not. Based on my reading of /. posts over the last year or so it seems to me that the prevailing mindset of posters is left of center to say the least(based in part on the amount of Bush-bashing that takes place). How many slashdot participants have cracked the cover of the Bible in the past year?
I agree with parent; I learned Japanese by spending two years in the Tokyo area in addition to doing a minor in it in college. I feel that the pictographic nature of the kanji is one of the factors that makes Japanese one of the most difficult languages to learn. You have to spend far more time mastering the symbols of the language than you do say in English. Granted, English spelling is convoluted but there are only the 26 letters whereas in Japanese and Chinese there are literally thousands of different kanji.
I think that the rote practice necessary to master Japanese contributes in some small way to the focus on rote learning in Japanese schools.
It's not that surprising when you consider the demographic of Google people; probably one of the least Judeo-Christian oriented groups of people in the country.
This is especially true since Calc 101 texts are essentially all the same except that the problem numbers are juggled around so that the students from one year can't resell their used books to the incoming group.
I have found, though, that the quality of calculus tutorials on the web is quite good. If you are just looking to learn the subject rather than focusing on a specific textbook there are plenty of resources out there.
Easy, there..wouldn't it be fair to say that any technology could be used for good or evil? Anyhow, it is my understanding that dynamite was an improvement over previous explosives as it was more stable and thus less likely to explode prematurely and kill people. Do you hate the Chinese for inventing gunpowder?
I enjoy reading your comments generally and am surprised by the vehemence of this one.
Fortunately, this is not always true. I had a calculus teacher who was fantastic; in his class it was like a light bulb turning on for me.
Here is the society's information page from their website:
What is Mensa?
Mensa was founded in England in 1946 by Roland Berrill, a barrister, and Dr. Lance Ware, a scientist and lawyer. They had the idea of forming a society for bright people, the only qualification for membership of which was a high IQ. The original aims were, as they are today, to create a society that is non-political and free from all racial or religious distinctions. The society welcomes people from every walk of life whose IQ is in the top 2% of the population, with the objective of enjoying each other's company and participating in a wide range of social and cultural activities.
What are Mensa's goals?
Mensa has three stated purposes: to identify and foster human intelligence for the benefit of humanity, to encourage research in the nature, characteristics and uses of intelligence, and to promote stimulating intellectual and social opportunities for its members.
How many members does Mensa have?
Today there are some 100,000 Mensans in 100 countries throughout the world. There are active Mensa organizations in over 40 countries on every continent except Antarctica. Membership numbers are also available for specific National Groups.
What kind of people are Members of Mensa?
There is simply no one prevailing characteristic of Mensa members other than high IQ. There are Mensans for whom Mensa provides a sense of family, and others for whom it is a casual social activity. There have been many marriages made in Mensa, but for many people, it is simply a stimulating opportunity for the mind. Most Mensans have a good sense of humor, and they like to talk. And, usually, they have a lot to say.
Mensans range in age from 4 to 94, but most are between 20 and 60. In education they range from preschoolers to high school dropouts to people with multiple doctorates. There are Mensans on welfare and Mensans who are millionaires. As far as occupations, the range is staggering. Mensa has professors and truck drivers, scientists and firefighters, computer programmers and farmers, artists, military people, musicians, laborers, police officers, glassblowers--the diverse list goes on and on. There are famous Mensans and prize-winning Mensans, but there are many whose names you wouldn't know.
What does "Mensa" mean?
The word "Mensa" means "table" in Latin. The name stands for a round-table society, where race, color, creed, national origin, age, politics, educational or social background are irrelevant.
What opinions does Mensa have?
Mensa takes no stand on politics, religion or social issues. Mensa has members from so many different countries and cultures with differing points of view, that for Mensa to espouse a particular point of view would go against its role as a forum for all points of view. Of course, individual Mensa members often have strong opinions--and several of them. It is said that in a room with 12 Mensans you will find at least 13 differing opinions on any given subject.
How do I qualify for Mensa?
Membership in Mensa is open to persons who have attained a score within the upper two percent of the general population on an approved intelligence test that has been properly administered and supervised. There is no other qualification or disqualification for membership eligibility.
The term "IQ score" is widely used but poorly defined. There are a large number of tests with different scales. The result on one test of 132 can be the same as a score 148 on another test. Some intelligence tests don't use IQ scores at all. Mensa has set a percentile as cutoff to avoid this confusion. Candidates for membership in Mensa must achieve a score at or above the 98th percentile (a score that is greater than or equal to 98 percent of the general population taking the test) on a standard test of intelligence.
Generally, there are two ways to prove that you qualify for Mensa: either take the Mensa test, or submit a qualifying test score
Someone needs to mod this insightful as this is one of the few insightful comments I have seen so far in this thread. Most of the commentary on this topic has been essentially sour grapes.
On the other hand, when the subject of the Google aptitude test is brought up on Slashdot everyone oohs and aahs about how wonderful said people are and how wonderful it would be to be admitted to the magical community of Page and Brin.
Unfortunately, the medical field has plenty of individuals who entered said field primarily because they felt the need to demonstrate that they are better than the rest of us because they are doctors.
I believe it is the hospital that has the strict hierarchy of what medical instrument one can wear which depends on what your job is.
Becoming a doctor involves submitting to a selection process which is absurdly arbitrary and wasteful. At least Mensa(of which I am not a member) bases admission on tests which don't require intensive study. The point of IQ tests is that they are not supposed to measure attributes dependent on a person's education. Mensa would admit anyone who passed their test, where at least the AMA is in the business of limiting the supply of doctors to a level that will maintain the high income levels of those already admitted.
Exactly: I started with the Wheel of Time and read the entire thing, and went on to the next book. By the third volume I was skipping about two thirds of the chapters so I could follow the only storyline I was interested in. I finally gave up with volume nine; I couldn't see any resolution in sight.
I have to say though, that when I finished LOTR I wanted there to be more.
I am currently employed as an accountant; I started out in college as a comp sci major, bailed on that after one year. I used to look down on accountants, now I'm fairly happy with the path I took. Luckily, I don't have to do too much number crunching. The job is more about analysis...
The reason this conclusion is significant is that Metcalfe's Law has been trotted out countless times to hype the capabilities of the internet. Given the result in the referenced paper, Metcalfe's law is meaningless with respect to the internet. As you point out, there are nodes of widely varying capability connected to the internet and so you can't use Metcalfe's Law to make any predictions/calculations about the value of it.
For a compost heap to function properly it has to be quite large: "A rectangular pile 2 to 5 feet wide, 5 to 10 feet long and 2 to 4 feet high is adequate for most households. If space is not available, a single, tall pile can be used. Fresh material is added at the top and finished compost dug out at the bottom." - from the followingo mposting+in structions/v=2/SID=e/l=WS1/R=2/IPC=us/SHE=0/H=3/SI G=11oets7rg/EXP=1110826267/*-http%3A//www.lcida.or g/composting.html
URL:http://rds.yahoo.com/S=2766679/K=c
For the size of most yards, this is a lot of space. It is hard to generate this kind of volume of the proper materials on a regular basis if you have a standard size suburban lot.
Actually, Oregon and Washington have existing power plants that burn methane emissions generated by decomposing garbage at landfills:
o regonian/01/02/fn_11enrgy04.frame
http://www.oregonlive.com/printer2.ssf?/business/
If half of organic wastes are decomposed after twenty years, then you have that much fresh space to re-fill with municipal waste. Given that the base useful life of a landfill is 20 to 30 years, this would essentially solve the issue of landfill space for any community that doesn't have significant population growth.
You forgot:
These are not the hobbits you are looking for...
Actually, military r and d would be important to most US voters. It is what has given us our current status as the sole superpower. US preeminence in the computer industry is based on the massive investments by the military in microelectronics that was needed to build superior military technology such as fly by wire fighters, ICBM's, and the M1A1 Abrams tank. Without these we would all be speaking Russian as a second language and saluting statues of Stalin.
Regardless of what one thinks of the current US administration, it is far better than many of the alternatives.
With all due respect, I think it is safe to say that every federal government agency thinks it is always underfunded. Tradeoffs have to be made. Certainly the military could use a haircut in a number of its programs but the fact is that space science is not that important to the majority of US voters.
Amen to this comment; the US military/space programs could do well to emulate the Russian design philosophy. Make things simple, rugged, and easily replaceable. I'm surprised Russia doesn't do more PR about how they are basically holding the ISS together.
Hey, the whole space program was a Democrat boondoggle(Kennedy-Johnson).
For an interesting discussion of the intake configuration problem, read "Skunk Works" by Ben Rich. He took over at Lockheed after Kelly Johnson retired, and they had this problem when designing the SR-71 Blackbird (one of my favorite airplanes).
They had to figure out an entirely new configuration because no aircraft had ever gone as fast as they expected the Blackbird to go.
The drag friction issue was also a serious problem for the Blackbird. The designers wound up having to build the aircraft so that it leaked fuel on the ground as the skin would expand so much from the heat of drag friction at operating speed that the tanks would seal up from that expansion.
The price that game developers charge has zero to do with their cost of developing games. It is primarily based on how much the marketers have calculated that parents are willing to pay to satisfy the demands of their 12-17 year old sons versus how many games they need to sell to cover the development costs of the console platform.
Since the console prices are below cost to get you to buy the system, the console maker and the game developers make it up in the prices for the individual games.
I'd like to see more games based on innovative concepts or gameplay rather than just having better graphics so the sword you are wielding in SoulCalibur 9 has glints of light that look more realistic. I think it is strange that the Myst concept hasn't resulted in more games like that. Personally, the attraction of Myst for me was less the puzzle solving than the attractive visual design, the music, and the story telling.
My point here is that I don't care that MS has started pushing their game writing system. As long as the console business is based on the blockbuster concept borrowed from Hollywood we're going to continue to get more of the same.
I have quit using ATM's altogether for a number of reasons. One of the main reasons is that I have found it easier to manage my finances by using a credit card to pay for everything(even groceries) as there are many CC's out there that give you miles/reward points for purchases. Also with credit cards you don't get change back and your risk of loss is less if the card number is compromised.
I take my paycheck and use part of that to pay off the balance on the CC each month. So I never need to look for an ATM and don't have cash in my pocket or pile up change.
Also, the risk to your account is actually greater from the cons who have developed the devices which they attach either to the front of the card slot or actually within the machine that grabs your card number while you are transacting and is invisible to you. Then they take the card numbers and spend...I don't have the links on hand right now but there have been many documented instances of this. Essentially, I don't believe that ATM's are secure at their sites or through their network connections.