If he's not driving, the obvious answer is of course: Buy a book.
Seriously, I'm taking the tram to work every day, and since I started reading on the tram, I've stopped viewing that time as wasted. It just takes a couple of days to learn to ignore the distractions.
Yes, it sounds like an awful lot, but I've quit from three different jobs and I don't regret it. Only one of them I regret ever starting at.
The first I quit from was a standard small scale IT consulting shop. We did it all, programming, hosting, teaching, project management. It was fun. I loved that job. I finally quit simply because it was my first job, and I wanted to try something else. Not because I got bored, simply because I wanted to try something else.
Second job I quit from was another consultancy firm. It was 100% web application development (which means MUCH more than producing web pages, of course). The reason I quit there was, just like you, it was 100% Microsoft based - and I really didn't like it. I honestly don't care what the "it doesn't matter what technology you use" people say. That's bullshit. It does matter. Until the same people claim it won't matter if they cross the atlantic in a rowing boat or a jumbo jet I won't take them seriously (and when they do I'll know for sure they're insane).
Third job I quit from was for a HUGE American (I live in Europe, btw) IT company. One of the biggest. I quite partly because the department I worked for was treated by shit by the company, but primarily because I didn't think the company acted in an ethical way. Ever. I might be overly touchy with such things - maybe what is business as usual to most is unethical to me, but I couldn't stand helping people make money they way they did. This was, by the way, the only one I regret ever starting at.
I've now held the same position with my current employer for three years, and have absolutely no plans of quitting. We're small firm, I do what I like (software development, primarily on Linux) and even the management act in a way I can approve of ethically.
My advice is that if you can afford it, and you actually believe that you can find another job, quit. It sucks being miserable in a job you hate. Eating noodles for a while is better. Hopefully you'll end up somewhere you like.
Another point that might be worth mentioning; you might believe that people would think of me as a quitter by now, and avoid hiring me. This is not true. In every single job I've had (including the one I have now), I've been recruited by people who worked with me during my first job. They know my "career" and the positions I've quit from, but if you can present a solid reason for quitting people will still take you seriously.
but why not mention this or put it in the USA category
Maybe because the story doesn't even mention the US specific part of the service at all? It took me a while to figure out what the hell you were whining about, but yep - the theatre mapping service (which isn't even mentioned in the slashdot article!) sure is "US centric". The other part of the service (the cool part; the one your local news paper won't do for you!) is pretty world wide, no? Or do you consider the fact that it seems to use mainly American movie reviews enough reason to deem the service useless outside the US.
Or have I simply been trolled?;) I get this weird feeling that I have.
As for "Belgian Fries"; unfortunately I don't have a reference as proof, but yes, I also believe they do originate in Belgium. And I am absolutely positive that they are often served with mayonnaise there - or at least were some twenty odd years ago. I'm not from Belgium myself, but my parents lived there for several years just after my birth, and they brought some of the customs with them; the mayonnaise thing, specifically.
Sorry, I just have to ask; Is this for real? I'm not a US resident, and thus I don't really know if the phrase has cought on in general use. I was completely, one hundred percent sure it was a joke - and that nobody actually used the phrase in real life. God, please tell me it's just a joke!
Applying for a patent, however ill-advised, is not illegal.
Of course you're right. I never intended to imply that, neither do I think the person who made the first comparison to murded tried do put the two offences at the same magnitude. But sometimes you use very extreme examples just to illustrate a point that someone would otherwise miss.
There's a saying that goes something along the lines of "The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing", and if this Paul is as opposed to the patent as OP mentioned, that's exactly what has happened here. An immoral act has been carried out by a "good man", with the justification that "someone told him to do it". Fuck that. Someone doesn't tell you to do bad stuff. You do it all by yourself. If you happen to find yourself in a position where the people bossing you around tell you to do bad stuff, you quit.
It's not impossible, I've done exactly that thing myself, and I don't think the lead architect for Visual Basic.Net would have great difficulty finding another job.
Elaborate, please. BitTorrent itself is released under the MIT license. Suprnova was just data - no code - so licensing it under the GPL wouldn't have made much sense (license what, by the way?)
I really don't understand what your suggested solution is. It's not even clear what problem it's a solution for.
This is probably the most redundant post I've ever posted, but I just have to state that I don't think that what you're doing is the least bit unethical. To me, this is the whole point of the GPL. The end result is a better piece of software for the user, and that has to be good. If somebody decides that your code is good enough to "steal" (in the GPL way), you should feel honoured, not angry!
This is, of course, answered in TFA, but I'll do some cut and pasting for the lazy:
December 31st of this year will mark the end of the FreeBSD
Foundation's probationary period as a 501(c)3. The IRS requires
all non-profit public charities to prove, at the five year mark,
that they have met the "public support test" or be classified as
a private foundation. For several reasons that are too technical
to go into, it is in the Foundation's interest to remain a public
charity.
The easiest way for the Foundation to demonstrate "public support"
is to pass the "1/3rd test":
[ Editors comment: The following formula is not presented exactly as in TFA, in order to avoid the lameness filter]
Limited Donations / All Donations = 1 / 3
For the purposes of this test, no single donor may contribute
more than 2% of the total donation pool to the numerator.
Through good fortune and the extreme charity of a handful of
donors, the FreeBSD Foundation finds itself at risk of failing
the "1/3rd test". As of today, the ratio of limited donations
to total donations stands at 27.9%. While we have every confidence
that our support history will substantiate that the FreeBSD
Foundation is a public charity, going through the appeals process
can be a lengthy and expensive ordeal.
Yeah, I'm off topic, but any story about ICANN's nonsense is a good place to post a link to OpenNIC.
Find the filth
on
The Wiki Game
·
· Score: 4, Interesting
This is a bit sad, but back in my web developer days (this must have been 1998) I and a couple of colleagues played a similar game we called Find the filth. The idea was very simple. Everybody starts at a reletively "clean" site (big corporations or government agencies were normal targets). You were just allowed to click links - never use your bookmarks or type URLs in directly. The first person to find porn won.
I don't think it ever took more than two minutes;)
While this sub thread is completely irrelevant, I have a hard time coping with arguments based on what is factually incorrect. You can not take an existing , well defined term and redefine it to suit your argument. Period.
If you want to know more about what the USA, as a country, means my "citizen", check with USCIS. Please.
The interesting thing is that you're so "free" that this gross invasion of privacy is allowed. While in a "less free" country this would be completely against all laws.
I'm not really trying to judge, but it's not clear which of the systems that is best at protecting individual freedom.
Re:Bush paralyzed for 7 minutes after 2nd plane hi
on
Fahrenheit 9/11 Discussion
·
· Score: 4, Informative
Is it true that for 7 minutes after Bush was told that the second plane hit the WTC, he continued to read to elementary schoolkids?
The length of a meter (which has a very direct effect on the length of a centimeter) has been redefined a couple of times. I don't know for sure, but I guess that with each redefinition, the length has actually changed slightly. The last two redefinitions happend in 1960 and in 1983, but in either case it's very unlikely that the meter became exactly so much longer as to cancel out that extra.1 micrometer per inch - so a very good guess is that the inch got a little shorter...
Would be good if the player is actually made and designed in Sweden.
Question #1: Why? Question #2: Isn't it?
I wouldn't know or sure, but there's a good chance that the thing is designed in Sweden, but manufactured and assembled in Korea. That's the way it's usually done.
All these people that tell you to quit or try to convince the bosses otherwise aren't giving you sound advice.
I think you've overlooked a some key points. The dude is, according to the post, system administrator at an ISP. There are few positions that require a deeper knowledge of installing and maintaining operating systems and software. Yet, he's not even been given admin access to his own desktop. The "screw your boss" advice you've seen is not (only) founded on the standard linux fanaticism. It is, at so many levels that I can't even begin to count them all, increddibly stupid to NOT give that kind of person control over his work environment. This is not about operating systems, it's about letting a man do his job, and trusting him to use the skills required to do the job in the first place.
Now, as for learning Windows, take the good advice of some of the other posts and install, learn, rinse, repeat until you have a better understading of Windows.
Why pay for BPL if it's not cheaper or at least offers more bandwidth for the same price as cable or DSL?
The only thing keeping me from disconnecting my land line and relying solely on my mobile phone for telephone communication is that my DSL modem is dependant on it. I'd happily switch even if there only was an alternative that costed more, as long as the extra cost would be less than the fixed costs of having a land line. I'm not sure how the situation is in the US, but here on the other side of the pond I have several friends who would do the same, if they had the option.
Actually, it sounds more to me like you've got a native English-speaking reporter interviewing a non-native English speaker (an IBM-er in Sweden). So I think what it boils down to is a failure to communicate.
Most Swedes, especially in the computer industry, speak pretty fluent English. But that is irrelevant. If you look close, you will notice that the reporter is one Sverker Brundin working for Computer Sweden. I know for a fact that Computer Sweden is a Swedish magazine, and since the name of the reporter is highly Swedish, a qualified guess says that he too is a native Swedish speaker. Whatever this is, it's with almost absolute certainty not a communication problem caused by language barriers. Computer Sweden, however, is almost infamous for running articles so simplified that they border on being factually incorrect - so I usually take anything coming from them with a grain of salt.
Slashdot Mirror
He doesn't say that he's driving, just commuting.
If he's not driving, the obvious answer is of course: Buy a book.
Seriously, I'm taking the tram to work every day, and since I started reading on the tram, I've stopped viewing that time as wasted. It just takes a couple of days to learn to ignore the distractions.
Yes, it sounds like an awful lot, but I've quit from three different jobs and I don't regret it. Only one of them I regret ever starting at.
The first I quit from was a standard small scale IT consulting shop. We did it all, programming, hosting, teaching, project management. It was fun. I loved that job. I finally quit simply because it was my first job, and I wanted to try something else. Not because I got bored, simply because I wanted to try something else.
Second job I quit from was another consultancy firm. It was 100% web application development (which means MUCH more than producing web pages, of course). The reason I quit there was, just like you, it was 100% Microsoft based - and I really didn't like it. I honestly don't care what the "it doesn't matter what technology you use" people say. That's bullshit. It does matter. Until the same people claim it won't matter if they cross the atlantic in a rowing boat or a jumbo jet I won't take them seriously (and when they do I'll know for sure they're insane).
Third job I quit from was for a HUGE American (I live in Europe, btw) IT company. One of the biggest. I quite partly because the department I worked for was treated by shit by the company, but primarily because I didn't think the company acted in an ethical way. Ever. I might be overly touchy with such things - maybe what is business as usual to most is unethical to me, but I couldn't stand helping people make money they way they did. This was, by the way, the only one I regret ever starting at.
I've now held the same position with my current employer for three years, and have absolutely no plans of quitting. We're small firm, I do what I like (software development, primarily on Linux) and even the management act in a way I can approve of ethically.
My advice is that if you can afford it, and you actually believe that you can find another job, quit. It sucks being miserable in a job you hate. Eating noodles for a while is better. Hopefully you'll end up somewhere you like.
Another point that might be worth mentioning; you might believe that people would think of me as a quitter by now, and avoid hiring me. This is not true. In every single job I've had (including the one I have now), I've been recruited by people who worked with me during my first job. They know my "career" and the positions I've quit from, but if you can present a solid reason for quitting people will still take you seriously.
Long post, but you asked for it.
but why not mention this or put it in the USA category
;) I get this weird feeling that I have.
Maybe because the story doesn't even mention the US specific part of the service at all?
It took me a while to figure out what the hell you were whining about, but yep - the theatre mapping service (which isn't even mentioned in the slashdot article!) sure is "US centric". The other part of the service (the cool part; the one your local news paper won't do for you!) is pretty world wide, no?
Or do you consider the fact that it seems to use mainly American movie reviews enough reason to deem the service useless outside the US.
Or have I simply been trolled?
Thank you for answering :-)
As for "Belgian Fries"; unfortunately I don't have a reference as proof, but yes, I also believe they do originate in Belgium. And I am absolutely positive that they are often served with mayonnaise there - or at least were some twenty odd years ago. I'm not from Belgium myself, but my parents lived there for several years just after my birth, and they brought some of the customs with them; the mayonnaise thing, specifically.
Two words: Freedom Fries
Sorry, I just have to ask; Is this for real?
I'm not a US resident, and thus I don't really know if the phrase has cought on in general use. I was completely, one hundred percent sure it was a joke - and that nobody actually used the phrase in real life. God, please tell me it's just a joke!
Applying for a patent, however ill-advised, is not illegal.
.Net would have great difficulty finding another job.
Of course you're right. I never intended to imply that, neither do I think the person who made the first comparison to murded tried do put the two offences at the same magnitude. But sometimes you use very extreme examples just to illustrate a point that someone would otherwise miss.
There's a saying that goes something along the lines of "The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing", and if this Paul is as opposed to the patent as OP mentioned, that's exactly what has happened here. An immoral act has been carried out by a "good man", with the justification that "someone told him to do it". Fuck that. Someone doesn't tell you to do bad stuff. You do it all by yourself. If you happen to find yourself in a position where the people bossing you around tell you to do bad stuff, you quit.
It's not impossible, I've done exactly that thing myself, and I don't think the lead architect for Visual Basic
Grandparent: He could have refused. [...] that's like saying: well, I don't like murder.. but I did it anyway.
:-)
Parent: [...] he's doing what he agreed in advance to do - and keeping his job. As silly as the patent is, I'm not going to criticize him for that.
Conclusion: Murder is not OK if you're doing it in your spare time, but as long as you're a professional hit man it's alright
Jef has had a prototype of this for a while - I saw him demo it at Europython in June last year, and I have no idea how old it was then.
It looked neat enough, but as I didn't have a Mac I couldn't try it out.
What he's expecting to have finished in 18 months is, I guess, the specific adaptation of the idea to this multinational corproation's software.
Elaborate, please. BitTorrent itself is released under the MIT license. Suprnova was just data - no code - so licensing it under the GPL wouldn't have made much sense (license what, by the way?)
I really don't understand what your suggested solution is. It's not even clear what problem it's a solution for.
You win the I refuse to RTFA prize of the day. Not only did you not read the article, you go out of your way to prove it too ;)
The text of the threat letter talks about "the website, www.demonoid.com, and server at 66.250.450.10".
This is probably the most redundant post I've ever posted, but I just have to state that I don't think that what you're doing is the least bit unethical.
To me, this is the whole point of the GPL. The end result is a better piece of software for the user, and that has to be good.
If somebody decides that your code is good enough to "steal" (in the GPL way), you should feel honoured, not angry!
*clears throat* WHY?!
This is, of course, answered in TFA, but I'll do some cut and pasting for the lazy:
December 31st of this year will mark the end of the FreeBSD
Foundation's probationary period as a 501(c)3. The IRS requires
all non-profit public charities to prove, at the five year mark,
that they have met the "public support test" or be classified as
a private foundation. For several reasons that are too technical
to go into, it is in the Foundation's interest to remain a public
charity.
The easiest way for the Foundation to demonstrate "public support"
is to pass the "1/3rd test":
[ Editors comment: The following formula is not presented exactly as in TFA, in order to avoid the lameness filter]
Limited Donations / All Donations = 1 / 3
For the purposes of this test, no single donor may contribute
more than 2% of the total donation pool to the numerator.
Through good fortune and the extreme charity of a handful of
donors, the FreeBSD Foundation finds itself at risk of failing
the "1/3rd test". As of today, the ratio of limited donations
to total donations stands at 27.9%. While we have every confidence
that our support history will substantiate that the FreeBSD
Foundation is a public charity, going through the appeals process
can be a lengthy and expensive ordeal.
Yeah, I'm off topic, but any story about ICANN's nonsense is a good place to post a link to OpenNIC.
This is a bit sad, but back in my web developer days (this must have been 1998) I and a couple of colleagues played a similar game we called Find the filth.
;)
The idea was very simple. Everybody starts at a reletively "clean" site (big corporations or government agencies were normal targets). You were just allowed to click links - never use your bookmarks or type URLs in directly.
The first person to find porn won.
I don't think it ever took more than two minutes
While this sub thread is completely irrelevant, I have a hard time coping with arguments based on what is factually incorrect. You can not take an existing , well defined term and redefine it to suit your argument. Period.
If you want to know more about what the USA, as a country, means my "citizen", check with USCIS. Please.
1 school district in TX != everyone.
The interesting thing is that you're so "free" that this gross invasion of privacy is allowed. While in a "less free" country this would be completely against all laws.
I'm not really trying to judge, but it's not clear which of the systems that is best at protecting individual freedom.
Is it true that for 7 minutes after Bush was told that the second plane hit the WTC, he continued to read to elementary schoolkids?
According to the Memory Hole, is is.
The length of a meter (which has a very direct effect on the length of a centimeter) has been redefined a couple of times. I don't know for sure, but I guess that with each redefinition, the length has actually changed slightly. .1 micrometer per inch - so a very good guess is that the inch got a little shorter...
The last two redefinitions happend in 1960 and in 1983, but in either case it's very unlikely that the meter became exactly so much longer as to cancel out that extra
I see that you are attacking a lesser third world country.
;)
That's just a feature in the model we ship to the U.S.
Would be good if the player is actually made and designed in Sweden.
Question #1: Why?
Question #2: Isn't it?
I wouldn't know or sure, but there's a good chance that the thing is designed in Sweden, but manufactured and assembled in Korea. That's the way it's usually done.
Yeah, cos we all know that 11.9% of $35.8 billion is next to nothing.
...was that it was marketed mainly as a gaming platform.
All these people that tell you to quit or try to convince the bosses otherwise aren't giving you sound advice.
I think you've overlooked a some key points. The dude is, according to the post, system administrator at an ISP. There are few positions that require a deeper knowledge of installing and maintaining operating systems and software. Yet, he's not even been given admin access to his own desktop.
The "screw your boss" advice you've seen is not (only) founded on the standard linux fanaticism. It is, at so many levels that I can't even begin to count them all, increddibly stupid to NOT give that kind of person control over his work environment. This is not about operating systems, it's about letting a man do his job, and trusting him to use the skills required to do the job in the first place.
Now, as for learning Windows, take the good advice of some of the other posts and install, learn, rinse, repeat until you have a better understading of Windows.
Something he's forbidden to do. See above.
Why pay for BPL if it's not cheaper or at least offers more bandwidth for the same price as cable or DSL?
The only thing keeping me from disconnecting my land line and relying solely on my mobile phone for telephone communication is that my DSL modem is dependant on it. I'd happily switch even if there only was an alternative that costed more, as long as the extra cost would be less than the fixed costs of having a land line.
I'm not sure how the situation is in the US, but here on the other side of the pond I have several friends who would do the same, if they had the option.
Actually, it sounds more to me like you've got a native English-speaking reporter interviewing a non-native English speaker (an IBM-er in Sweden). So I think what it boils down to is a failure to communicate.
Most Swedes, especially in the computer industry, speak pretty fluent English.
But that is irrelevant. If you look close, you will notice that the reporter is one Sverker Brundin working for Computer Sweden.
I know for a fact that Computer Sweden is a Swedish magazine, and since the name of the reporter is highly Swedish, a qualified guess says that he too is a native Swedish speaker.
Whatever this is, it's with almost absolute certainty not a communication problem caused by language barriers.
Computer Sweden, however, is almost infamous for running articles so simplified that they border on being factually incorrect - so I usually take anything coming from them with a grain of salt.