All right, so I want to use s/w to file my taxes - this saves time for me
Then shouldn't we focus on writing some open source app which helps us file taxes. Maybe it will not get authorized to e-file, but at least it will allow me to enter data and get a print saving half the hassle.
But then the stupid govt. will keep changing rules every year and make us spend as much effort maintaining code...
I am lost...
on
Goodbye, Dolly
·
· Score: 1, Interesting
Either you are religious and hence you don't care about cloning.
Or you are an atheist. You might clone a person just like you, but it is you who still gets sick, grows old and eventually dies. You do not get to enjoy that body and everything that goes with it. So how does it matter you got a clone? Is it just the satisfaction of creating a person just like you? But isn't most (not all) of the procreation because of religious reasons!
Or is it like the RIAA which believes you can listen to a music CD, but not copy, not play it loud so someone can hear, not transform the media for a backup copy.....
If all I ever wanted was 2 files, I could name them "A" and "B" and I would know which is the right file to open since I can remember it all.
If I wanted to get some more order in place, and had to manage 10s of files (30-40 not 100 odd), I could still name them as photo1.doc, phone.xls, and so on....
If I wanted to store 1000s of files (let's skip over the 100s part), I would definitely need order. If I wanted to access a specific file at any time, I would use either the complete file path (directory and filename) or the meta keywords I associated with the file.
Sounds good. So what's the problem.
Problem is that most of the people do not start by cataloging 1000 files. It always starts with a few files and then adds up. So if I have only 10 files saved on my computer (or let's say 100 birthday pictures and an address list), I hardly realize the concept of structuring my content. It is only when the files get piled up, we think of organizing them. (I know there are people - less than 10% I think - who start everything organized and may handle this better, but I am talking about the general populace.) So here's how it works - you have a few files, you spend very little effort to organize them. You add some more files, you bring more structure to the file organization. You add some more........You do not have the time to go change change all the other filenames or directory structures to fit your new scheme. And then you start getting into a mess.
The same issues will apply whether it is a hierarchical file system or a meta keyword driven filesystem. If you are left to define your own structure, you will start with the minimum that will suffice and then extend it slowly as needed - eventually leading to either a mess, or a situation where occassionally you will not be able to find files. That is just how it evolves. Also think - you did very well organizing files with 20 keywords and now suddenly see the need for the 21st keyword which will also be meaningful to at least half your other files. Would you go back and change the other files categorization now?
How do we get around this? Thrust people with an organization. Publish a small cheat-sheet / best practices on file organization which people can learn and use. Or provide predefined folders in user's home directory. Or enforce storage of meta-tags everytime a file is saved.
I seem to be rambling, so I will try to cut it short. The idea is nothing different from what we have done in software development. Why do we have guidelines on how to name variables, or functions, or modules? Some of it is to get everyone to the same level. However, part of it is to bring order to the clutter in the program namespace. Same thought applies here. Provide people with more than just a home directory to start with. If going meta-tag way, provide templates. (I am sure all non-programmers will appreciate the order it brings).
What's the bad part? Someone will need to own the definition process. We will end up with a Microsoft definition which might say that all birthday pictures are stored in folder home/myfiles/pictures/birthday or an Apple way which might say that all birthday pictures are stored in folder home/myevents/birthday/pictures.....
Not only does it provide reference guides, but tutorials, examples etc. The quality of the information is as good or better than professional publishing houses. And the developer took kit (i.e., IDE) is free.
You do need to sign up for most of the features, just like it is for New York Times (blah blah blah)...
I have moderator access, and I am wondering if I should write a comment (and hence can not moderate), or moderate (and hence can't post). However, noticed something which has not been represented so far. Hopefully this will not go unread as there are already 200 comments posted.
People say mac users are fanatic (and that's why they don't switch). People say Mac is losing market share. People are unhappy with Apple charging $99 for DOT-MAC. And so on and on...
However, given a choice of 4 subjects (JPEG alternative, patent infrigement, ad critic, and Apple), I see most of the comments (more than 60% per my count) are about Apple. Either that reflects the zealotry on the Mac side, or, boy, is Mac the talk of the town !
A third of the people seem to be making fun of WWF thinking it is Worldwide Wrestling.
Another third seem to be saying it is not a serious issue now and saying we will fight it when the time comes.
Another group seems to be justifying why this will not happen.
However, no one seems to be talking about the threat seriously. And no, I am not an environmentalist, nor an historian, though today I feel like speaking / writing like a historian.
We all know the forests are being fscked. We all know the population is increasing. We all know the species are getting extint. We are keep reading about the "sprawls" in US. We do keep hearing about the ozone layer too. And just last week I saw some news about Arctic ice melting to un-forseen levels. Are these by themselves serious issues? Maybe not. But for all you know, they are...
It is just mankind's tendency to put off serious issues till later. Till it blows over the head. We did nothing till Hitler took over the world. We did nothing till Osama did his trick. And my guess is we will not do anything until people start dying in hundreds of thousands on a yearly basis because of the environmental issues. And of course then we will act on a war footing and probably come up with a department of environment security at a global level. But will it be too late? How do I know - mankind has not seen an environmental change on such a scale in our lifetime. And will we be able to adapt quickly then? I just pray that we do.
Sorry for sounding too harsh, but sometimes the troll gets you.
Even though I agree that changing the color (or size) would be interesting and might help some people, I am not really sure it provides such a great benefit.
I think the perspective is skewed by other countries having colors in the currency, which is actually a contrast in currency model rather than a genuine problem.
Consider the following analogies for example:
Would a Briton find the same colors for a denomination "10" in France, or Russia? If the 10 is red in Britain, and Green in Russia, is that not confusing?
How about the reverse? Does an American automatically figure out "10" v/s "20" immediately on arrival in another country? Hardly.
So the bottomline is learning curve rather than the color or size.
I have dealt with currency from 3 countries for an extended period, and after the initial learning curve, I am figure out / count / sort all of these at the same speed.
Or is it just an irrational fear - "I never thought currency could be in the same color"? Isn't it the same fear which makes people say - "but he ain't white / black / brown". Is it just the fear of change !
What we need is a cross between good Sci Fi and politics. So the story could be set before JTKirk days, but have rogues like "Captain Tony Sopranos" of the Klingons, and a good political team from Earth (West Wing).
The SCI FI side of the story could be moved slowly so as not to run out of ideas halfway like Voyager etc. The politics would keep it interesting.
I see some parallels with the television and VCRs.
Well, we had programs and then we had ads. Networks thought people will watch programs and they will make money from ads. Then VCRs came. With VCRs you could fast forward the Ads, but they were still a pain. So you got features like Ad skip - maybe with help from Networks who might have received a cut of the money.
I am sure the same company "Digital Payloads" can make money from advertizers and then come up with a player which will filter out the Ads and make money from that.
So they have their cake and eat it too.
Did I just miss out on a business plan by making it public.... I could have built the decoder...
Maybe its too late to post, but for what its worth...
What do they gain by sending a probe to moon, which was done by US and others 30 years back? Why can't the join up the ongoing space mission?
Well, would the US give Indians the know-how (technology) to Indians, so that they can start contributing. I seriously doubt so. The US is trying so hard that no new country should get into nukes. And I guess, the same applies to Space programs. Unless other folks have knowledge or money to spare, US would not involve them, or encourage them. So how do you expect the Indians to move up in this field?
Why do they call this cutting edge technology?
It may not be cutting edge for US, but it is for all countries except for US, Russia and a couple more.
This is probably the only movies where I was not in two minds - To See Or Not To See. There was such a consensus on the movie's quality that I made up my mind.
Even if I may not get the free book, at least the $9 I saved from this movie will go a long way towards buying the book!!
A leader of his people, unsupported by any outward authority, a victorious fighter who always scorned the use of force; a man of wisdom and humility who has confronted the brutality of Europe with the dignity of the simple human being and has at all times risen superior..... Generations to come, will scarce believe that such a man as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth"
Disclaimer: These are the 2 names which come to my mind. I do not have any specific interest in using these names.
Would it not be interesting if Barnes and Noble hacked Amazon's web page and redirected their customers to BarnesAndNoble website? If you design the redirected site as a copy of Amazon, people may not even notice for quite some time, except for the guy monitoring credit card money inflow.
I am a Project Manager in a Contracting Company, so probably I am biased in their favour.
Anyway, Contractors come in various shapes, just like the employees do. You can find contractors who will work 9-6 and you can find contractors who will more commitment to the company/work than a regular employee.
Advantages of Contracting:--
1. You do not need to hire and fire people just to get enough headcount for the peak development phase. Someone else handles the headache for you. 2. Although you are paying more than what you would pay to the regular employee, when you count the costs of Human Resources Management, Technical Training, 401, Vacation, Sabbatical, Stock Options etc., it does not end up being much more. 3. Many contractors do come with a better expertise of the functional area you are interested in.
Disadvantages (reasons/solutions):--
1. Loyalty. If you asking for a person to work with you for 3 months, you do not expect that person to be more loyal to you. And why should you??? However, I have seen contractors working for a single client for multiple years and being a strong part of the client team. 2. Employee Satisfaction. When an employee notices a contractor earning more than him/her, it is not bound to leave a good feeling. However, as long as they understand that the contractors are temporary and justified for a particular requirements, AND not a threat to their jobs, this risk can be mitigated to some extent. 3. Code quality. I put that in as a joke. Code quality is as good as the deadlines and/or the application design, irrespective of whether the coding is done by an employee or a contractor. 4. Loss of expertise once the project is over. Yes, once the contractor leaves, the expertise is gone. But should you not have some employees in the project?? Or some long term contractors?? At least one of these is essential.
Othe Perspectives:---
I come from a company which believes in offshore development. We do most of the work in India, while keeping about 10-30% of the manpower at the client side. Since the costs of doing work in India are about half the costs of doing work in US, the cost issue becomes moot. Also, part of the management headache is passed to the consulting company. And since we are commited to working with an offshore model, we put in much more effort to make the offshore work a success. This model is great for large project teams though may not be suitable for small projects.
Anyway, please do not treat this as a promotion for my company. I am a regular slashdot reader but this is the first time I though I would be able to contribute something to the discussion. You can write to harry_ruby@hotmail.com to discuss any other aspects of this issue. I would rather not get company email to get flamed.
PS: I have worked for 4 clients in my 8+ years in this industry and have been involved with the current client for more than 3.5 years. As a contractor.
Slashdot Mirror
All right, so I want to use s/w to file my taxes - this saves time for me
Then shouldn't we focus on writing some open source app which helps us file taxes. Maybe it will not get authorized to e-file, but at least it will allow me to enter data and get a print saving half the hassle.
But then the stupid govt. will keep changing rules every year and make us spend as much effort maintaining code...
Either you are religious and hence you don't care about cloning.
Or you are an atheist. You might clone a person just like you, but it is you who still gets sick, grows old and eventually dies. You do not get to enjoy that body and everything that goes with it. So how does it matter you got a clone? Is it just the satisfaction of creating a person just like you? But isn't most (not all) of the procreation because of religious reasons!
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/08/nyregion/08CHES. html?ex=1045371600&en=11eae8fbdfc40aeb&ei=5062&par tner=GOOGLE
NYT reg reqd
Or is it like the RIAA which believes you can listen to a music CD, but not copy, not play it loud so someone can hear, not transform the media for a backup copy .....
7 25 3&mode=nested&tid=99&tid=123
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/01/26/231
Sorry the link is not perfect, but close enough...
Or is it just like sites don't want you to deep link...
/ 22 23214&mode=nested
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/01/08
Is it just like MSN wants you to use MS IE only?
5 22 9&mode=nested&tid=109
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/02/06/164
Sounds weird, right. Let me explain why?
If all I ever wanted was 2 files, I could name them "A" and "B" and I would know which is the right file to open since I can remember it all.
If I wanted to get some more order in place, and had to manage 10s of files (30-40 not 100 odd), I could still name them as photo1.doc, phone.xls, and so on....
If I wanted to store 1000s of files (let's skip over the 100s part), I would definitely need order. If I wanted to access a specific file at any time, I would use either the complete file path (directory and filename) or the meta keywords I associated with the file.
Sounds good. So what's the problem.
Problem is that most of the people do not start by cataloging 1000 files. It always starts with a few files and then adds up. So if I have only 10 files saved on my computer (or let's say 100 birthday pictures and an address list), I hardly realize the concept of structuring my content. It is only when the files get piled up, we think of organizing them. (I know there are people - less than 10% I think - who start everything organized and may handle this better, but I am talking about the general populace.) So here's how it works - you have a few files, you spend very little effort to organize them. You add some more files, you bring more structure to the file organization. You add some more........You do not have the time to go change change all the other filenames or directory structures to fit your new scheme. And then you start getting into a mess.
The same issues will apply whether it is a hierarchical file system or a meta keyword driven filesystem. If you are left to define your own structure, you will start with the minimum that will suffice and then extend it slowly as needed - eventually leading to either a mess, or a situation where occassionally you will not be able to find files. That is just how it evolves. Also think - you did very well organizing files with 20 keywords and now suddenly see the need for the 21st keyword which will also be meaningful to at least half your other files. Would you go back and change the other files categorization now?
How do we get around this? Thrust people with an organization. Publish a small cheat-sheet / best practices on file organization which people can learn and use. Or provide predefined folders in user's home directory. Or enforce storage of meta-tags everytime a file is saved.
I seem to be rambling, so I will try to cut it short. The idea is nothing different from what we have done in software development. Why do we have guidelines on how to name variables, or functions, or modules? Some of it is to get everyone to the same level. However, part of it is to bring order to the clutter in the program namespace. Same thought applies here. Provide people with more than just a home directory to start with. If going meta-tag way, provide templates. (I am sure all non-programmers will appreciate the order it brings).
What's the bad part? Someone will need to own the definition process. We will end up with a Microsoft definition which might say that all birthday pictures are stored in folder home/myfiles/pictures/birthday or an Apple way which might say that all birthday pictures are stored in folder home/myevents/birthday/pictures.....
Well....
Java, Cocoa, Objective C, Free BSD (Darwin) ......
http://developer.apple.com
Not only does it provide reference guides, but tutorials, examples etc. The quality of the information is as good or better than professional publishing houses. And the developer took kit (i.e., IDE) is free.
You do need to sign up for most of the features, just like it is for New York Times (blah blah blah)...
I have moderator access, and I am wondering if I should write a comment (and hence can not moderate), or moderate (and hence can't post). However, noticed something which has not been represented so far. Hopefully this will not go unread as there are already 200 comments posted.
People say mac users are fanatic (and that's why they don't switch). People say Mac is losing market share. People are unhappy with Apple charging $99 for DOT-MAC. And so on and on...
However, given a choice of 4 subjects (JPEG alternative, patent infrigement, ad critic, and Apple), I see most of the comments (more than 60% per my count) are about Apple. Either that reflects the zealotry on the Mac side, or, boy, is Mac the talk of the town !
Unbelievable...
A third of the people seem to be making fun of WWF thinking it is Worldwide Wrestling.
Another third seem to be saying it is not a serious issue now and saying we will fight it when the time comes.
Another group seems to be justifying why this will not happen.
However, no one seems to be talking about the threat seriously. And no, I am not an environmentalist, nor an historian, though today I feel like speaking / writing like a historian.
We all know the forests are being fscked. We all know the population is increasing. We all know the species are getting extint. We are keep reading about the "sprawls" in US. We do keep hearing about the ozone layer too. And just last week I saw some news about Arctic ice melting to un-forseen levels. Are these by themselves serious issues? Maybe not. But for all you know, they are...
It is just mankind's tendency to put off serious issues till later. Till it blows over the head. We did nothing till Hitler took over the world. We did nothing till Osama did his trick. And my guess is we will not do anything until people start dying in hundreds of thousands on a yearly basis because of the environmental issues. And of course then we will act on a war footing and probably come up with a department of environment security at a global level. But will it be too late? How do I know - mankind has not seen an environmental change on such a scale in our lifetime. And will we be able to adapt quickly then? I just pray that we do.
Sorry for sounding too harsh, but sometimes the troll gets you.
Even though I agree that changing the color (or size) would be interesting and might help some people, I am not really sure it provides such a great benefit.
I think the perspective is skewed by other countries having colors in the currency, which is actually a contrast in currency model rather than a genuine problem.
Consider the following analogies for example:
Would a Briton find the same colors for a denomination "10" in France, or Russia? If the 10 is red in Britain, and Green in Russia, is that not confusing?
How about the reverse? Does an American automatically figure out "10" v/s "20" immediately on arrival in another country? Hardly.
So the bottomline is learning curve rather than the color or size.
I have dealt with currency from 3 countries for an extended period, and after the initial learning curve, I am figure out / count / sort all of these at the same speed.
Or is it just an irrational fear - "I never thought currency could be in the same color"? Isn't it the same fear which makes people say - "but he ain't white / black / brown". Is it just the fear of change !
How come we don't use numbers like
10E9
10E12
and
2E15
2E20
and so on.... No confusion
After all our car tires can work with sizes like 175-70 R13 and son on and we do not mess them up.
and reboots your system; it also gives you an option to permanantly disable IIS.......
So all we need now is Code Blue which will result in us getting the option of disabling Windows...
What we need is a cross between good Sci Fi and politics. So the story could be set before JTKirk days, but have rogues like "Captain Tony Sopranos" of the Klingons, and a good political team from Earth (West Wing).
The SCI FI side of the story could be moved slowly so as not to run out of ideas halfway like Voyager etc. The politics would keep it interesting.
I see some parallels with the television and VCRs.
Well, we had programs and then we had ads. Networks thought people will watch programs and they will make money from ads. Then VCRs came. With VCRs you could fast forward the Ads, but they were still a pain. So you got features like Ad skip - maybe with help from Networks who might have received a cut of the money.
I am sure the same company "Digital Payloads" can make money from advertizers and then come up with a player which will filter out the Ads and make money from that.
So they have their cake and eat it too.
Did I just miss out on a business plan by making it public.... I could have built the decoder...
Maybe its too late to post, but for what its worth...
What do they gain by sending a probe to moon, which was done by US and others 30 years back? Why can't the join up the ongoing space mission?
Well, would the US give Indians the know-how (technology) to Indians, so that they can start contributing. I seriously doubt so. The US is trying so hard that no new country should get into nukes. And I guess, the same applies to Space programs. Unless other folks have knowledge or money to spare, US would not involve them, or encourage them. So how do you expect the Indians to move up in this field?
Why do they call this cutting edge technology?
It may not be cutting edge for US, but it is for all countries except for US, Russia and a couple more.
The Market Leader in user base joined hands with the market leader in quality. M$ is going to cry hoarse shouting monopoly !!!
This is probably the only movies where I was not in two minds - To See Or Not To See. There was such a consensus on the movie's quality that I made up my mind.
Even if I may not get the free book, at least the $9 I saved from this movie will go a long way towards buying the book!!
A leader of his people, unsupported by any outward authority, a victorious fighter who always scorned the use of force; a man of wisdom and humility who has confronted the brutality of Europe with the dignity of the simple human being and has at all times risen superior ..... Generations to come, will scarce believe that such a man as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth"
- Albert Einstein on Gandhi
Disclaimer: These are the 2 names which come to my mind. I do not have any specific interest in using these names.
Would it not be interesting if Barnes and Noble hacked Amazon's web page and redirected their customers to BarnesAndNoble website? If you design the redirected site as a copy of Amazon, people may not even notice for quite some time, except for the guy monitoring credit card money inflow.
Has something like this already happened???
And for buying a gun it takes me a maximum of 48 hours (or is it instant?)?
What have our priorities come to !!!!
I am a Project Manager in a Contracting Company, so probably I am biased in their favour.
Anyway, Contractors come in various shapes, just like the employees do. You can find contractors who will work 9-6 and you can find contractors who will more commitment to the company/work than a regular employee.
Advantages of Contracting:--
1. You do not need to hire and fire people just to get enough headcount for the peak development phase. Someone else handles the headache for you.
2. Although you are paying more than what you would pay to the regular employee, when you count the costs of Human Resources Management, Technical Training, 401, Vacation, Sabbatical, Stock Options etc., it does not end up being much more.
3. Many contractors do come with a better expertise of the functional area you are interested in.
Disadvantages (reasons/solutions):--
1. Loyalty. If you asking for a person to work with you for 3 months, you do not expect that person to be more loyal to you. And why should you??? However, I have seen contractors working for a single client for multiple years and being a strong part of the client team.
2. Employee Satisfaction. When an employee notices a contractor earning more than him/her, it is not bound to leave a good feeling. However, as long as they understand that the contractors are temporary and justified for a particular requirements, AND not a threat to their jobs, this risk can be mitigated to some extent.
3. Code quality. I put that in as a joke. Code quality is as good as the deadlines and/or the application design, irrespective of whether the coding is done by an employee or a contractor.
4. Loss of expertise once the project is over. Yes, once the contractor leaves, the expertise is gone. But should you not have some employees in the project?? Or some long term contractors?? At least one of these is essential.
Othe Perspectives:---
I come from a company which believes in offshore development. We do most of the work in India, while keeping about 10-30% of the manpower at the client side. Since the costs of doing work in India are about half the costs of doing work in US, the cost issue becomes moot. Also, part of the management headache is passed to the consulting company. And since we are commited to working with an offshore model, we put in much more effort to make the offshore work a success. This model is great for large project teams though may not be suitable for small projects.
Anyway, please do not treat this as a promotion for my company. I am a regular slashdot reader but this is the first time I though I would be able to contribute something to the discussion. You can write to harry_ruby@hotmail.com to discuss any other aspects of this issue. I would rather not get company email to get flamed.
PS: I have worked for 4 clients in my 8+ years in this industry and have been involved with the current client for more than 3.5 years. As a contractor.