Consider my earlier example, where if my friend had been in a country with a nationalized health care system, his son would have been born paralyzed, and the government would have had to pay for his care for his entire lifetime. Without investment in new techniques and procedures, he would not have had the opportunity to walk or care for himself. Surely a smaller investment up front is better than a lifetime of costs?
People, please keep in mind that we'll have spent $1 trillion in Iraq. Ask yourself what this could have funded here at home to better our country. That's enough cash to put a solar panel on every home in America - think about what that would have done for Homeland Security , the power grid (who cares if a terrorist takes out an electrical station as we'd all still have power at home), pollution, etc. The money is there but we're foolishly not voicing where we want it spent or holding people accountable for their wasteful spending of it.
It doesn't have to be all or nothing. We could have a gov't run program and let the doctors/professors make a business case why the gov't should invest in the next new technology. We successfully do it with military research all the time.
I live in a city that is adding 3 new hospitals. That doesn't get done if it isn't profitable to do so. My sister is a manager at another hospital and they are also extremely profitable even though they cry that they aren't to the public. She's seen the books, the profits are doing quite well. My sister-in-law is an MD making close to 400k/yr STARTING. If insurance companies make a 10% profit on their business then it is in their interest to keep the money flowing as more money spent is more money in the bank. So, in the US we have,
1) Hospitals making money at a nice pace
2) The medical professionals and even the staff getting paid quite well - many times over what is reasonable compared with specialists in other fields. I know people who are in the top 10 of their field nationally making 1/5 of what the average MD is making in their respective field. This doesn't seem right to me.
3) Insurance companies that have a vested interest in large cash flows
In all other aspects of life, the introduction of new technology has reduced the cost of that market but not for medicine. Engineers and scientists come up with new machines to help the MDs do their job better and with greater accuracy but the costs still escalate.
In my own experiences over 20 yrs,
I've found 50% of the MDs (8)that I've seen misdiagnose my problems. They also tended to be money-hungry and unethical.
I've found 50% of the Dentists (4)that I see find cavities that others apparently miss. Again, I can only see financial gain for them.
Maybe I'm unlucky but I find those percentages to be quite shocking. If only I could do it all over again...
As I watch family members make _well_ over 6 figures by being in the medical profession while relying on technology from scientists and engineers that make a fraction of what the MDs make I'm left to wonder when the scales will shift.
I heard a guest lecture by an EE that was describing using nanotech to measure blah-blah-blah genetics and microorganisms to quickly identify what is wrong with a human. So there I was wondering who would be more likely to make a mistake, an MD that would be required to memorize all of their information or some computer chip connected to a database. MDs are taught to look at humans and our ailments in terms of statistics - if your symptoms are A, B, & C then it is most likely that you have D. The guest lecturer then commented on how most of these MDs couldn't even figure out the statistics that guide their practice (not sure if it was true but it was humorous).
I was left wondering - why do we need MDs to do statistics and database lookups when a computer would be better suited for the job. A person walks around with a thumbdrive that has their prescriptions on it, their allergies, etc combined with a chip that checks a person's condition and out comes, what I have to believe, a more accurate assessment of what ails the person - so why the MD? Think about this, in just about every single other aspect of life technology is driving costs downward rapidly - but not Medicine - those costs continue to increase - WHY?!
Surgeries and such are another issue but for figuring out what is wrong with a person, I can't see how they are deserving of what they get paid considering the guy who comes up with the inventions that make their lives easier doesn't get near that amount of salary. Something is messed up with medicine in the US and change can't come fast enough.
personal note: Every time that I've visited an MD with an ailment in the past 10 yrs - and I don't go often, maybe once every couple years - they've gotten it wrong. If I would have listened to them I would have had several more unnecessary surgeries instead just the 1 unnecessary knee surgery that I did have. It seems that I'm better suited at diagnosing my own problems than they are and in every case my observations were disregarded and I was expected to bow to the alter of MD-ism.
I find that installing Zonealarm and leaving it in the default mode (where windows pop up showing you when you are getting pinged) is a nice way to show users just how many people want to find a home on their box. It's usually the "I had no idea" look on their face that makes me smile.
Recall what happened last time when MS "helped" out a Linux OS creator.
Corel- who?
-MS "helps" Corel with a cash infusion
- Corel spins off Xandros Linux
- Corel goes private & shareholders (me included) lose their shirts
Allow companies that control our bandwidth like AT&T to, a) regulate bandwidth however they see fit b) become monolithic (after we split them up year ago) c) create a news organization to disseminate "accurate" news d) have companies in (b) in the back pocket of the gov't
and you have a recipe for controlling what news is printed and who reads it. Just throttle the bandwidth to the "less accurate" sites and show them how fast news is from the "approved" sites and people will come in droves. Way to go!
6) Democrats have figured out how to rig the election also and Diebold doesn't want to go down in a blaze of disgrace so they have one of their employees leak the source code. After the election and there is all hell breaking loose because of the vast amount of fraud on both parts - Diebold blames the leaker for leaking the source code which takes the heat off of them for writing crappy code.
I took precalc in high school and battered my way to a Bachelors in ME.
I've since gotten a MSME at one of the nations best ME schools and have gathered an appreciation for higher level math.
I'm now working on my PhD and have passed the qualifiers which includes a math part created by the Math department and it typically has a high failure rate - I passed with one of the highest scores.
Considering my development of math skills, I'm convinced that my brain was still developing in my early twenties and I just didn't get it. I now get IT at a much higher level.
Here's what I'd recommend: 1) If you don't get the concept, STOP, and ask the teacher. If the teacher can't explain it to your satisfaction (i.e. you get a light-bulb moment) then go somewhere else. In my experience, engineering professors explain math better than math professors. 2) Only work on your assignments when you GET the concept. Once you understand the concepts the work actually becomes enjoyable but it's EXTREMELY important to get the concept BEFORE. You don't have to but and you can work out the problems until you see the pattern but it is MUCH harder that way. Trust me, that's how I learned. 3) The best way to learn this is to write down a study-sheet after each homework assignment highlighting what you just learned. Presenting that to the teacher or engineering prof might be a good idea also.
I learned Math at a totally different level studying for my qualifiers as it forced me to go back and study about 10 semesters of higher level math on my own and make study sheets. My brain races all over the place when I just think but when I'm forced to write it down, my brain slows down and I'm able to think things through properly. Try that and see if it works.
MOST IMPORTANTLY AND UNIVERSALLY TRUE! If someone can't explain it in a way that you understand it or they can't break it down into something easier then THEY DON'T GET IT ENTIRELY THEMSELVES or they don't care enough to explain it to you so don't take it as a sign of your weakness but theirs. It took me a LONG time to figure this out - just find someone that has the time and understanding. For me, these people are usually in engineering because they've seen Math applied in so many different ways that they have tons of examples.
ULTIMATELY - nobody can do the thinking for you so you'll HAVE to struggle with the concepts and ideas and do the homework but once you get it you'll realize that Math is nothing more than a very concise (and cool) language to explain things that verbally takes much more effort.
"This Is not a good idea, I generally don't like half ass attempts at "Integrating" programs."
except that you might not have been around when version 5.2 of StarOffice WAS integrated AND worked MUCH faster than OO of today. I, for one, WANT/NEED one program that does everything well and has great cross-communication. We HAD that at one time with Stardivision's version of StarOffice. Sun ripped it away and are starting to realize their mistakes but with the mistake of releasing it on this crappy and bloated code-base that they've created instead of the zippier original.
I say, go back to the drawing board - i.e. 5.2 and build from there.
I've posted on numerous occassions about the mistakes in leadership at Sun with regards to StarOffice and Openoffice and the splitting of the packages. Well, it looks like the OO of tomorrow will start looking like the StarOffice of 2000 (Pre-Sun purchase).
Can anyone else say - DOH! The only difference is that the OO of today runs at least 10x SLOWER than the SO of 2000. It's hard to get behind a project that shoots itself in the foot, calf, and thigh so often.
Just imagine what they could have accomplished in the 7 yrs if they left the original interface alone and improved the backend.
If Big Tobacco got in trouble for hiding research or misrepresenting it with the end result that people were killed then can't we do the same to Big Oil, the Bush family, and any others purposely profiting from this vile behavior - or do I live in a fantasy world? Surely people will die due to global warming and proving it shouldn't be THAT tough.
Seriously though, why couldn't we sue them, either corporately or personally?
Part of the problem is that there USED to be all of these wonderful programs that were only available via linux due to the FOSS idealism. The creators eventually created them to work on Windows for free also and low-and-behold, there is no longer as strong a motivation to boot into Linux. Examples include GIMP, Scribus, Sodipodi, etc.
There used to be some incredible tools solely available in Linux but now that they are also available in Windows I don't have the strong urge to boot into Linux anymore. FOSS shot themselves in the foot.
It's important to note that the period of complaints for AMD vs. Intel was a few years ago when they DID have a much better product (e.g. Pentium IV vs Athlon XPs) and were NOT gaining in market share. AMD had a better product for a cheaper price but were not gaining market share and I'm sure that they knew what Intel was doing to keep things that way (i.e. "incentives").
Anyhow, I don't suspect that AMD will win the lawsuit although I hope that they do because I don't like bullies one bit but it is important to note that win or lose in the lawsuit, AMD has already won. Intel CANNOT behave monopolistically if they are being sued for that type of behavior. As soon as the lawsuit came out companies were endorsing and using AMD products that previously weren't. This led to an increase in market share for AMD and Intel allowed it because it would help them out in court. In the end, AMD has already won but the court victory is another matter entirely and if the world was just then they'd win that too.
I'm in the same boat (ME PhD candidate at Purdue) as you and have taken MUCH longer than normal in completing my degree because I just don't know where I fit in the world as I'm somewhere between academia and industry. I like the inventing, business, and startup areas of industry along with the inventing part of research and academia.
I'm still waiting for engineers to unite as a national force and come up with their own ideas to license with companies instead of doing it on the cheap for companies only to make middle-managers look good. We are paid a mere pittance compared to what
the good ones
are worth. Really good engineers are hard to come by as the world around me is filled with poorly engineered products - look at GM and their V-6 engines for examples.
What if we walked into companies and told them that we'd only ask for 10% of what we've saved them and licensed our ideas to them. We'd make a killing and the companies would finally have accountability. Anyhow, another random idea that I've been thinking about.
Engineers weren't bright enough to follow in the footsteps of attorneys or MDs by creating an artificial umbrella like the Bar Assoc. or the AMA which helps inflate their worth with national exams (i.e. we should have req'd the PE exam). It kills me to know that the engineer that created some of those medical devices (to SAVE money and lives) are paid about $60k/yr while the MDs that use them get paid hundreds of thousands per year while the costs of medicine continues to INCREASE out of the realm of affordability for so many of our fellow Americans.
Smart move Ballmer. You might not like them but they ARE a well run business.
I hope that they paid him enough - it sounds like it - for him to stomach it there. Fortunately, he knows that he can succeed on his own but hopefully he hasn't signed off every right to his work or the ability to continue to do that work if/when he leaves MS. I'd like to look at the contract.
I'm just hoping that this obviously bright and hardworking fella didn't make a deal that he can't wiggle out of.
1) RyansVM - google search it - works great with Nlite to create a slipstreamed CD
2) AutoPatcher - google search it - aggregates all of the updates into a single downloadable file
3) Windows Update - LOL, not a "real" option if you ask me
4) Download all of the hotfixes and use Nlite to slipstream them
5) MSUS as mentioned already
that's all that I know of up to now.
I use one with my laptop and it is great. I have also had some luck with,
1) icing my wrists as there seems to be swelling,
2) having a chiropractor adjust the vertebrae between my shoulder blades as they tend to get screwed up by the leaning/hunching over as my RSS is in both hands and getting my wrist bones adjusted
3) using the split keyboard and an ergo mouse - original mouseman + (ball) which are hard to come by these days so I stocked up;D
figure out what the warranty on your retail drive is because it comes up as OEM.
Go ahead, give it a shot. If you've purchased a drive recently then go to their site and type in the info - it's likely that it'll come up as OEM w/ a 1 yr warranty instead of the 5yrs. If you want the 5 then you'll have to take photos, provide proof, and even THEN they won't update the information.
Thoroughly confused how a company that leads the other HD manufacturers can't get an inventory/warranty system to work properly.
Slashdot Mirror
your logic might be correct if we don't investigate why those drugs cost $400k/yr.
People, please keep in mind that we'll have spent $1 trillion in Iraq. Ask yourself what this could have funded here at home to better our country. That's enough cash to put a solar panel on every home in America - think about what that would have done for Homeland Security , the power grid (who cares if a terrorist takes out an electrical station as we'd all still have power at home), pollution, etc. The money is there but we're foolishly not voicing where we want it spent or holding people accountable for their wasteful spending of it.
It doesn't have to be all or nothing. We could have a gov't run program and let the doctors/professors make a business case why the gov't should invest in the next new technology. We successfully do it with military research all the time.
I live in a city that is adding 3 new hospitals. That doesn't get done if it isn't profitable to do so. My sister is a manager at another hospital and they are also extremely profitable even though they cry that they aren't to the public. She's seen the books, the profits are doing quite well. My sister-in-law is an MD making close to 400k/yr STARTING. If insurance companies make a 10% profit on their business then it is in their interest to keep the money flowing as more money spent is more money in the bank. So, in the US we have,
1) Hospitals making money at a nice pace
2) The medical professionals and even the staff getting paid quite well - many times over what is reasonable compared with specialists in other fields. I know people who are in the top 10 of their field nationally making 1/5 of what the average MD is making in their respective field. This doesn't seem right to me.
3) Insurance companies that have a vested interest in large cash flows
In all other aspects of life, the introduction of new technology has reduced the cost of that market but not for medicine. Engineers and scientists come up with new machines to help the MDs do their job better and with greater accuracy but the costs still escalate.
In my own experiences over 20 yrs,
I've found 50% of the MDs (8)that I've seen misdiagnose my problems. They also tended to be money-hungry and unethical.
I've found 50% of the Dentists (4)that I see find cavities that others apparently miss. Again, I can only see financial gain for them.
Maybe I'm unlucky but I find those percentages to be quite shocking. If only I could do it all over again...
damn those things - damn them!
dreaming of seeing his little John again...
As I watch family members make _well_ over 6 figures by being in the medical profession while relying on technology from scientists and engineers that make a fraction of what the MDs make I'm left to wonder when the scales will shift.
I heard a guest lecture by an EE that was describing using nanotech to measure blah-blah-blah genetics and microorganisms to quickly identify what is wrong with a human. So there I was wondering who would be more likely to make a mistake, an MD that would be required to memorize all of their information or some computer chip connected to a database. MDs are taught to look at humans and our ailments in terms of statistics - if your symptoms are A, B, & C then it is most likely that you have D. The guest lecturer then commented on how most of these MDs couldn't even figure out the statistics that guide their practice (not sure if it was true but it was humorous).
I was left wondering - why do we need MDs to do statistics and database lookups when a computer would be better suited for the job. A person walks around with a thumbdrive that has their prescriptions on it, their allergies, etc combined with a chip that checks a person's condition and out comes, what I have to believe, a more accurate assessment of what ails the person - so why the MD? Think about this, in just about every single other aspect of life technology is driving costs downward rapidly - but not Medicine - those costs continue to increase - WHY?!
Surgeries and such are another issue but for figuring out what is wrong with a person, I can't see how they are deserving of what they get paid considering the guy who comes up with the inventions that make their lives easier doesn't get near that amount of salary. Something is messed up with medicine in the US and change can't come fast enough.
personal note:
Every time that I've visited an MD with an ailment in the past 10 yrs - and I don't go often, maybe once every couple years - they've gotten it wrong. If I would have listened to them I would have had several more unnecessary surgeries instead just the 1 unnecessary knee surgery that I did have. It seems that I'm better suited at diagnosing my own problems than they are and in every case my observations were disregarded and I was expected to bow to the alter of MD-ism.
I find that installing Zonealarm and leaving it in the default mode (where windows pop up showing you when you are getting pinged) is a nice way to show users just how many people want to find a home on their box. It's usually the "I had no idea" look on their face that makes me smile.
Recall what happened last time when MS "helped" out a Linux OS creator. Corel- who? -MS "helps" Corel with a cash infusion - Corel spins off Xandros Linux - Corel goes private & shareholders (me included) lose their shirts
Allow companies that control our bandwidth like AT&T to,
a) regulate bandwidth however they see fit
b) become monolithic (after we split them up year ago)
c) create a news organization to disseminate "accurate" news
d) have companies in (b) in the back pocket of the gov't
and you have a recipe for controlling what news is printed and who reads it. Just throttle the bandwidth to the "less accurate" sites and show them how fast news is from the "approved" sites and people will come in droves. Way to go!
from the article "at a fraction of the price"
I guess they mean they are correct in the same sense that 99/100 is still a fraction of 100.
I expected the prices to be much lower than they were.
6) Democrats have figured out how to rig the election also and Diebold doesn't want to go down in a blaze of disgrace so they have one of their employees leak the source code. After the election and there is all hell breaking loose because of the vast amount of fraud on both parts - Diebold blames the leaker for leaking the source code which takes the heat off of them for writing crappy code.
I took precalc in high school and battered my way to a Bachelors in ME.
I've since gotten a MSME at one of the nations best ME schools and have gathered an appreciation for higher level math.
I'm now working on my PhD and have passed the qualifiers which includes a math part created by the Math department and it typically has a high failure rate - I passed with one of the highest scores.
Considering my development of math skills, I'm convinced that my brain was still developing in my early twenties and I just didn't get it. I now get IT at a much higher level.
Here's what I'd recommend:
1) If you don't get the concept, STOP, and ask the teacher. If the teacher can't explain it to your satisfaction (i.e. you get a light-bulb moment) then go somewhere else. In my experience, engineering professors explain math better than math professors.
2) Only work on your assignments when you GET the concept. Once you understand the concepts the work actually becomes enjoyable but it's EXTREMELY important to get the concept BEFORE. You don't have to but and you can work out the problems until you see the pattern but it is MUCH harder that way. Trust me, that's how I learned.
3) The best way to learn this is to write down a study-sheet after each homework assignment highlighting what you just learned. Presenting that to the teacher or engineering prof might be a good idea also.
I learned Math at a totally different level studying for my qualifiers as it forced me to go back and study about 10 semesters of higher level math on my own and make study sheets. My brain races all over the place when I just think but when I'm forced to write it down, my brain slows down and I'm able to think things through properly. Try that and see if it works.
MOST IMPORTANTLY AND UNIVERSALLY TRUE!
If someone can't explain it in a way that you understand it or they can't break it down into something easier then THEY DON'T GET IT ENTIRELY THEMSELVES or they don't care enough to explain it to you so don't take it as a sign of your weakness but theirs. It took me a LONG time to figure this out - just find someone that has the time and understanding. For me, these people are usually in engineering because they've seen Math applied in so many different ways that they have tons of examples.
ULTIMATELY - nobody can do the thinking for you so you'll HAVE to struggle with the concepts and ideas and do the homework but once you get it you'll realize that Math is nothing more than a very concise (and cool) language to explain things that verbally takes much more effort.
"This Is not a good idea, I generally don't like half ass attempts at "Integrating" programs."
except that you might not have been around when version 5.2 of StarOffice WAS integrated AND worked MUCH faster than OO of today. I, for one, WANT/NEED one program that does everything well and has great cross-communication. We HAD that at one time with Stardivision's version of StarOffice. Sun ripped it away and are starting to realize their mistakes but with the mistake of releasing it on this crappy and bloated code-base that they've created instead of the zippier original.
I say, go back to the drawing board - i.e. 5.2 and build from there.
I've posted on numerous occassions about the mistakes in leadership at Sun with regards to StarOffice and Openoffice and the splitting of the packages. Well, it looks like the OO of tomorrow will start looking like the StarOffice of 2000 (Pre-Sun purchase).
Can anyone else say - DOH! The only difference is that the OO of today runs at least 10x SLOWER than the SO of 2000. It's hard to get behind a project that shoots itself in the foot, calf, and thigh so often.
Just imagine what they could have accomplished in the 7 yrs if they left the original interface alone and improved the backend.
don't sweat the smiley - get laid and you will smile enough for the both of us ;)
I see you haven't taken my advice, LMAO!
Learn to take a joke and chill out - geez. Try to relax this weekend and unwind a little...or a LOT.
ironic that the word image that I need to type in is "unwound".
Not if your music is digital - all digital represenatations of analog sound has some loss.
If Big Tobacco got in trouble for hiding research or misrepresenting it with the end result that people were killed then can't we do the same to Big Oil, the Bush family, and any others purposely profiting from this vile behavior - or do I live in a fantasy world? Surely people will die due to global warming and proving it shouldn't be THAT tough. Seriously though, why couldn't we sue them, either corporately or personally?
Part of the problem is that there USED to be all of these wonderful programs that were only available via linux due to the FOSS idealism. The creators eventually created them to work on Windows for free also and low-and-behold, there is no longer as strong a motivation to boot into Linux. Examples include GIMP, Scribus, Sodipodi, etc.
There used to be some incredible tools solely available in Linux but now that they are also available in Windows I don't have the strong urge to boot into Linux anymore. FOSS shot themselves in the foot.
It's important to note that the period of complaints for AMD vs. Intel was a few years ago when they DID have a much better product (e.g. Pentium IV vs Athlon XPs) and were NOT gaining in market share. AMD had a better product for a cheaper price but were not gaining market share and I'm sure that they knew what Intel was doing to keep things that way (i.e. "incentives").
Anyhow, I don't suspect that AMD will win the lawsuit although I hope that they do because I don't like bullies one bit but it is important to note that win or lose in the lawsuit, AMD has already won. Intel CANNOT behave monopolistically if they are being sued for that type of behavior. As soon as the lawsuit came out companies were endorsing and using AMD products that previously weren't. This led to an increase in market share for AMD and Intel allowed it because it would help them out in court. In the end, AMD has already won but the court victory is another matter entirely and if the world was just then they'd win that too.
I'm still waiting for engineers to unite as a national force and come up with their own ideas to license with companies instead of doing it on the cheap for companies only to make middle-managers look good. We are paid a mere pittance compared to what
- the good ones
are worth. Really good engineers are hard to come by as the world around me is filled with poorly engineered products - look at GM and their V-6 engines for examples.What if we walked into companies and told them that we'd only ask for 10% of what we've saved them and licensed our ideas to them. We'd make a killing and the companies would finally have accountability. Anyhow, another random idea that I've been thinking about.
Engineers weren't bright enough to follow in the footsteps of attorneys or MDs by creating an artificial umbrella like the Bar Assoc. or the AMA which helps inflate their worth with national exams (i.e. we should have req'd the PE exam). It kills me to know that the engineer that created some of those medical devices (to SAVE money and lives) are paid about $60k/yr while the MDs that use them get paid hundreds of thousands per year while the costs of medicine continues to INCREASE out of the realm of affordability for so many of our fellow Americans.
Smart move Ballmer. You might not like them but they ARE a well run business.
I hope that they paid him enough - it sounds like it - for him to stomach it there. Fortunately, he knows that he can succeed on his own but hopefully he hasn't signed off every right to his work or the ability to continue to do that work if/when he leaves MS. I'd like to look at the contract.
I'm just hoping that this obviously bright and hardworking fella didn't make a deal that he can't wiggle out of.
1) RyansVM - google search it - works great with Nlite to create a slipstreamed CD
2) AutoPatcher - google search it - aggregates all of the updates into a single downloadable file
3) Windows Update - LOL, not a "real" option if you ask me
4) Download all of the hotfixes and use Nlite to slipstream them
5) MSUS as mentioned already
that's all that I know of up to now.
I find most desktop keyboards are subpar and almost all laptop keyboards to be horrible.
;D
Here's what I use and as a sufferer of RSS, I highly recommend the Goldtouch keyboards
http://www.sforh.com/keyboards/split.html
I use one with my laptop and it is great. I have also had some luck with,
1) icing my wrists as there seems to be swelling,
2) having a chiropractor adjust the vertebrae between my shoulder blades as they tend to get screwed up by the leaning/hunching over as my RSS is in both hands and getting my wrist bones adjusted
3) using the split keyboard and an ergo mouse - original mouseman + (ball) which are hard to come by these days so I stocked up
figure out what the warranty on your retail drive is because it comes up as OEM.
Go ahead, give it a shot. If you've purchased a drive recently then go to their site and type in the info - it's likely that it'll come up as OEM w/ a 1 yr warranty instead of the 5yrs. If you want the 5 then you'll have to take photos, provide proof, and even THEN they won't update the information.
Thoroughly confused how a company that leads the other HD manufacturers can't get an inventory/warranty system to work properly.