Someone higher up at wal-mart must really hate the people behind the returns counter. I've heard of returns from people that failed to correctly operate a toaster.
I think we should all bow our heads in silent prayer for the poor fools working at the wal-mart returns and electronics desks. Then next time you start to think about how much you hate your job remember that there are people who would probably kill someone to be as free from stupidity as you are.
Just to host all their amazing stories of these two non-biased jornalists, I love linux but god I'm on Microsofts side with these two monkeys.
Hey, don't try to shove those two off on us, we don't want to claim them either. My advice: wrap 'em up in chrome and see if the macheads are too distracted to notice. If that doesn't work start calling them web2.0 and maybe Yahoo or 0'Reilly will buy them.
Well, you read it, didn't you? Even after seeing enough of his crap to automatically call it "keyboard drooling", you still read it. Maybe there is an explanation somewhere in there.
If it is any consolation in many higher level languages "function()" performs a call and "function" returns... a reference to the function. So, on a conceptual level it is pretty similar. In fact with Python it would have been more interesting as anything other than zero or an empty list is true, so that if statement would always execute. Just goes to show that no matter how powerful the language, it won't stop stupid/ignorant/careless, actually I think it is worse with interpreted languages as it is easier to write crap that still manages to run.
That is a little silly, man. I mean, I don't know how to do that, but I do know where to look. Knowing where to find answers is the most vital part of being a sysadmin in the linux/unix world, because you can never know everything, and every company has their own special way of doing things.
That depends on context. If I were hiring someone specifically based on their experience admining a mail server then that might be a legitimate question. I would probably be looking more for answers on how you would start finding that information, and just be pleasantly suprised if someone could plop it down strait out of their brain. Those kinds of questions you usually can only fail by leaving a blank space or its intellectual written equivalent.
You mean you didn't socially engineer or dumpster dive her first?
What kind of tech are you?
Yeah, really, in my office he would probably have gotten taken out by the electrically overpowered phone handset, backup safe door, or paperclip dispenser. Any good tech knows that these are three things you simply don't use, so why not run some voltage in them to discourage people from going through your stuff?
It's even faintly plausible that the system is so wide open that the virus is the rough equivalent of "Shut everything down and, if it turns on again, shut it off." If the system is open enough for that virus to work, it wouldn't take long even to write it. (We'll ignore the laughing skull as a Hollywood elaboration; NO serious programmer, given the stakes, would have added that element because it's just too dangerous.)
Wasn't Goldblum's character a satellite technician or something? In other words, not a serious programmer, or at least not a computer security buff.
Why the heck would these alians that build a bunch of huge deathstars have to use our satellites in the first place?
Because they thought we would try to shoot their satellites out of the air? Maybe out of a sense of poetic irony, I mean, who said this was their first time doing it, maybe by now they are trying to do the same old thing again, but this time with some flair? My guess is that it was just bleed over from their own communications systems, but its been so long since I saw that movie I can't even remember if that would fit with the story.
Which is why I like House. Granted, the "House is always right, even when he seems like he's wrong" bit is getting kind of old, but at least they do a relatively credible job of substituting obscure (but realistic) facts for magic. That and I still can't get over the transition from father-in-Stuart-Little to cranky-sarcastic-bastard-doctor.
The nightmare scenario for colbert is that a few freepers will take the fatwah declared against him seriously and put a bullet in his head. All it takes is one freeper with a gun and the dogs of war know how to push their buttons.
Actually I doubt that is the case either. What is it going to look like if Colbert dies or is seriously injured anytime soon? If I were Bush I would be praying that the man doesn't slip on a flight of stairs.
I don't blame Google either, considering that the ads aren't placed on the typo-squatting sites BY Google, they're placed by the typo-squatters themselves! What is Google supposed to do, weed out any advertisers that seem like they might be using the ads in a non-standard way?
It is not like the algorithm is especially difficult to figure out.
Find a really popular website
Find a name that consists of a single character change for a nearby key
Post ads related to the topic of the website from #1
Profit
Obviously if someone says: "Hey, I want to post tech ads on my site, slashdor.org" it would be pretty easy to pick up on, even with a computer algorithm. It might be even easier if Google had access to thousands of websites already indexed from the internet in a way that would let them perform quick searches. Maybe they'll set that up next to help fix the problem.
Let me guess, it is wielded by the knights of the kerberos realm, duly appointed by the domain controller Primary, himself, as they seek to end the rule of IDE master Divisero?
It's not so much any one of those things but rather some combination.
It's not even so much the combination of them but what causes the interest in the first place. I think of it as mentally being overweight due entirely to lifestyle. I wouldn't call it stupidity because some of the people I have met that are like this are not stupid, they just don't really think much.
Shows like american idol are the mental equivalent of a jelly donut. They require next to no thought, but still find a way to make you feel good. So, for those where it applies, the next time someone accuses you of being fat, you can accuse them of watching dummy tv.
Meanwhile, companies like mine that are building next-generation network security systems (shameless link to Intrinsic Security AntiWorm [intrinsicsecurity.com]) and who try to be good network citizens must work a thousand times harder for links back to our web sites, don't get slashdot stories about us, don't get bazillions of blog entries linking back to us.
...so next time you do a major product release, submit an article about it to slashdot, or write a blog entry about it and submit that. I'm sure if you product is interesting it will get posted. Also look to reddit and digg for more coverage.
First, your an ass. You ask if I'm so sure of my own perceptions. Don't be a flamebait.
You are stating your perceptions as fact. More than that you are extending an assesment of Chinese products in aggregate to apply to a specific vendor. Calling me an ass does not make either of these incorrect. Yes, I am asking if you are sure of your perceptions, mostly to ask if you really think that your perceptions are accurate enough to be treated as fact.
No I haven't been to China. But I've been to Mexico. Mexico at the time was the then China of low cost manufacture. All of the television assembly factories were within 5 miles. And I wouldn't be the least but surprised if they are within locality of each other because the labor skills will be localized as will the parts shipping and distribution. It wouldn't make sense to have to recreate the infrastructure necessary in two locations.
Sorry, I took the "they are all made on the same street" comment to be some intimation that Lenovo is incapable of manufacturing a quality product. Yes, competing companies locating their factories near each other would be to their mutual benefit in terms of available labor force. That says nothing about the quality of products from each individual company. We were speaking in two different contexts, and I misunderstood what you were trying to say.
Uhh... Lenovo is putting its own brand on the market for retail competition with Gateway et al. The Thinkpad brand is still intended to mean exactly what it always has: sturdy as hell business laptop. If Lenovo is "ruining the brand", then it is entirely the product of design issues, not corner cutting to get into the retail sector.
But the contrast between Thinkpad and Dell et al is the price. Chinese made products are made because of the Wal-Mart Effect. If it's made in China it's got to be very low in price.
What part of being made in China mandates that it be low price? Perception? Does a crap computer made by Germans somehow work better than a crap computer made by Chinese? Sure, maybe economic and social conditions over there encourage a "low quality, high volume" business plan, but I seriously doubt that the country as a whole is only capable of working that way.
I'm sure they are all made on the same street in China, but that kind of a price difference, combined with the relatively short life expectancy of a computer, tends to push me towards the cheaper models.
You're sure are you? So you have been there and seen it? You have no idea what you are talking about, and your ignorance is even more insulting because you seem to take pride in these ideas. Sure, in aggregate, it may be safe to say that Chinese companies produce low quality products. But to assume from there that Lenovo will produce low quality products is guilt by association, among other kinds of stupidity. I have lost all hope that I will see a week, even a day, go by without someone proving my sig to be right.
Fortunately, IIRC, all XP systems have an actual sticker on the computer case with the license key. So it would be hard to lose the key on a modern system.
Yeah, I was talking more about the specific applications though. I work for a company, and part of my job is handling the whole licensing mess, so I suppose I have the luxury of being able to take that attitude. Anyone who wants me to work on their home pc knows I won't install anything without a license. Then again, they also know they can get professional tech support and only have to buy me dinner to pay for it, so I guess things balance out in the end.
I would say that at that poin, the user is. If they want to keep the software they can either: 1)Go home and find the docs, 2)Buy a new copy, or 3)Suffer through their problem with the pc. My job is to fix your broken computer, not accomodate your bookeeping incompetence, especially if it involves piracy to do so.
Then again that might be a reason why I don't fix home pcs.
If people have to compare between a pirated, non-cool-looking version of Windows, and a snazzy new XGL-accelerated Ubuntu install (both for free), don't you think this might tend to push them toward the Linux side?
Doesn't the vista cheapo bin version also disable aero? Think about how that equation will work when the choice is: spend $99 on a crap looking desktop, spend $199 for a better looking version of the same, or spend $0 for a good looking desktop. At that level most people are doing web+email, maybe with a few games. Linux is capable of taking things over there. Those people will have kids, who can be part of the linux crowd in the next generation.
I have no idea what you mean. I am talking about programming, where we do not need math to help us differentiate between job functions. Although our work may have initially been derived from the study of math, by now it has managed to integrate so many other concepts that the set of knowledge domains involved is much greater than just math.
Slashdot Mirror
I think we should all bow our heads in silent prayer for the poor fools working at the wal-mart returns and electronics desks. Then next time you start to think about how much you hate your job remember that there are people who would probably kill someone to be as free from stupidity as you are.
Hey, don't try to shove those two off on us, we don't want to claim them either. My advice: wrap 'em up in chrome and see if the macheads are too distracted to notice. If that doesn't work start calling them web2.0 and maybe Yahoo or 0'Reilly will buy them.
Well, you read it, didn't you? Even after seeing enough of his crap to automatically call it "keyboard drooling", you still read it. Maybe there is an explanation somewhere in there.
If it is any consolation in many higher level languages "function()" performs a call and "function" returns ... a reference to the function. So, on a conceptual level it is pretty similar. In fact with Python it would have been more interesting as anything other than zero or an empty list is true, so that if statement would always execute. Just goes to show that no matter how powerful the language, it won't stop stupid/ignorant/careless, actually I think it is worse with interpreted languages as it is easier to write crap that still manages to run.
That depends on context. If I were hiring someone specifically based on their experience admining a mail server then that might be a legitimate question. I would probably be looking more for answers on how you would start finding that information, and just be pleasantly suprised if someone could plop it down strait out of their brain. Those kinds of questions you usually can only fail by leaving a blank space or its intellectual written equivalent.
Wasn't Goldblum's character a satellite technician or something? In other words, not a serious programmer, or at least not a computer security buff.
Because they thought we would try to shoot their satellites out of the air? Maybe out of a sense of poetic irony, I mean, who said this was their first time doing it, maybe by now they are trying to do the same old thing again, but this time with some flair? My guess is that it was just bleed over from their own communications systems, but its been so long since I saw that movie I can't even remember if that would fit with the story.
Which is why I like House. Granted, the "House is always right, even when he seems like he's wrong" bit is getting kind of old, but at least they do a relatively credible job of substituting obscure (but realistic) facts for magic. That and I still can't get over the transition from father-in-Stuart-Little to cranky-sarcastic-bastard-doctor.
You sir, are making a logical fallacy in your assesment of how many people truly understand logical fallacies.
Actually I doubt that is the case either. What is it going to look like if Colbert dies or is seriously injured anytime soon? If I were Bush I would be praying that the man doesn't slip on a flight of stairs.
It is not like the algorithm is especially difficult to figure out.
Obviously if someone says: "Hey, I want to post tech ads on my site, slashdor.org" it would be pretty easy to pick up on, even with a computer algorithm. It might be even easier if Google had access to thousands of websites already indexed from the internet in a way that would let them perform quick searches. Maybe they'll set that up next to help fix the problem.
I am pretty sure that if you had operatic theme music that played whenever you did ... anything, people would assume you were cool too.
Let me guess, it is wielded by the knights of the kerberos realm, duly appointed by the domain controller Primary, himself, as they seek to end the rule of IDE master Divisero?
It's not even so much the combination of them but what causes the interest in the first place. I think of it as mentally being overweight due entirely to lifestyle. I wouldn't call it stupidity because some of the people I have met that are like this are not stupid, they just don't really think much.
Shows like american idol are the mental equivalent of a jelly donut. They require next to no thought, but still find a way to make you feel good. So, for those where it applies, the next time someone accuses you of being fat, you can accuse them of watching dummy tv.
You are stating your perceptions as fact. More than that you are extending an assesment of Chinese products in aggregate to apply to a specific vendor. Calling me an ass does not make either of these incorrect. Yes, I am asking if you are sure of your perceptions, mostly to ask if you really think that your perceptions are accurate enough to be treated as fact.
No I haven't been to China. But I've been to Mexico. Mexico at the time was the then China of low cost manufacture. All of the television assembly factories were within 5 miles. And I wouldn't be the least but surprised if they are within locality of each other because the labor skills will be localized as will the parts shipping and distribution. It wouldn't make sense to have to recreate the infrastructure necessary in two locations.
Sorry, I took the "they are all made on the same street" comment to be some intimation that Lenovo is incapable of manufacturing a quality product. Yes, competing companies locating their factories near each other would be to their mutual benefit in terms of available labor force. That says nothing about the quality of products from each individual company. We were speaking in two different contexts, and I misunderstood what you were trying to say.
Uhh... Lenovo is putting its own brand on the market for retail competition with Gateway et al. The Thinkpad brand is still intended to mean exactly what it always has: sturdy as hell business laptop. If Lenovo is "ruining the brand", then it is entirely the product of design issues, not corner cutting to get into the retail sector.
What part of being made in China mandates that it be low price? Perception? Does a crap computer made by Germans somehow work better than a crap computer made by Chinese? Sure, maybe economic and social conditions over there encourage a "low quality, high volume" business plan, but I seriously doubt that the country as a whole is only capable of working that way.
I'm sure they are all made on the same street in China, but that kind of a price difference, combined with the relatively short life expectancy of a computer, tends to push me towards the cheaper models.
You're sure are you? So you have been there and seen it? You have no idea what you are talking about, and your ignorance is even more insulting because you seem to take pride in these ideas. Sure, in aggregate, it may be safe to say that Chinese companies produce low quality products. But to assume from there that Lenovo will produce low quality products is guilt by association, among other kinds of stupidity. I have lost all hope that I will see a week, even a day, go by without someone proving my sig to be right.
Yeah, I was talking more about the specific applications though. I work for a company, and part of my job is handling the whole licensing mess, so I suppose I have the luxury of being able to take that attitude. Anyone who wants me to work on their home pc knows I won't install anything without a license. Then again, they also know they can get professional tech support and only have to buy me dinner to pay for it, so I guess things balance out in the end.
Then again that might be a reason why I don't fix home pcs.
Hey, I would rather kill off spam with an RPG than play DDR with it.
Doesn't the vista cheapo bin version also disable aero? Think about how that equation will work when the choice is: spend $99 on a crap looking desktop, spend $199 for a better looking version of the same, or spend $0 for a good looking desktop. At that level most people are doing web+email, maybe with a few games. Linux is capable of taking things over there. Those people will have kids, who can be part of the linux crowd in the next generation.
Do not play frisbee, football, or baseball near the talk.
So now I have to ask, who do you work for that you managed to see the actual label military intelligence used.