The deficit is a result of us overspending, not us being undertaxed.
As far as personal income taxes go, rates are low. However, I also pay FICA into a system which I hold little hope of seeing money come out of. My employer has to "match" this tax -- basic economics indicates a large percentage of this ultimately comes from my pay. I then pay taxes to my state. I then pay taxes locally. I pay property taxes. Occasionally I get a one-time assessment. I pay tax on gasoline. I then pay sales tax. Every item I buy has a hidden tax in it as I pay for all of these employment and sales taxes that are bundled into the price of the goods. I have to pay a tax to get a driver's license or renew my plates. I have to pay to get my car emissions tested. My internet and telephone have various taxes added onto them. On certain roads you have to pay for the privilege of driving on them. I am sure there are a half-dozen more taxes I pay that I am not thinking of or am unaware of.
And what we get back for what we pay for is ludicrous. Welfare for banks and other financial institutions, welfare for folks who don't want to work. And the ability to invade other countries.
At least in Europe you get a half-way decent health system. Here, after paying all of these taxes, we are stuck paying for our own. And generally, your pension systems are funded. Here, they are underfunded.
Except that I don't mind hearing normal sounds outside. Kids playing. Birds chirping. Folks talking. But the unemployed teenager who somehow can get a $5,000 sound system into his $500 chevy... That I don't want to hear.
Yeah, there is always that unknown variable. However, as you say, these programs are dying out. My approach is to pick a couple guinea pigs.... folks who use the software and you can rely on to give you a timely report of the error. Strip their rights and make sure you are uber-attentive to their problems. After a couple weeks, you are pretty safe in rolling the changes out to others.
I can't say I follow. Heat creates the wind. Using that wind doesn't cause that heating to never take place. It certainly doesn't remove any energy from the system as a whole. Perhaps I am missing something...
Yeah... Let's send robot ships out there to travel to a port and then wonder WTF happened when it doesn't arrive... Did the scurvy pirates get it or did it drift off course or did it sink?
If only they could invent some type of Global Positioning System. I can see it now... you would need a couple dozen or so satellites to ensure coverage over the planet. They would broadcast some type of signal. Then all you would need is some type of devices to read the signal from two or three of these satellites to get a 2D or 3D positioning.
And what is really sad is that I am *NOT* a sys admin by background. I spent roughly a decade developing Win applications, web applications and back end database work. Monkeying around with this type of thing is not my first love. But from experience writing the apps, I understand how to follow best practices. So when I see a "true system administrator" who doesn't know how to lock down a workstation, or work around applications that behave poorly, I seriously wonder what qualifies them.
*And of course, I posted three minutes ago, so I have to wait another two before I can post. Excellent karma. Haven't had a down-mod in days, and at least 3 +5's over that period. What gives Slashdot?*
Then you figure out what software it is, and you determine what specific rights are necessary. I have two pieces of software that break the non-admin rule. Turns out each want to write to the program files folder. Not how I want to do it, but I turn on full-rights to the specific sub-folders they want. Then I bitch at the software companies that wrote this stuff. Then I make sure that we look at alternatives to this software. In one case i think I will win. In the other I know I will lose.
But bottom line is that I am very well protected. Even if I chose not to patch any of my XP workstations, we would have very little chance for virus/trojan/malware in our network.
I must have worded poorly. We do image it ourselves. We have several applications that require configuration once on our machines, and we instituted a disk imaging policy. The only problem is when new models come out with somewhat different hardware, we can no longer use the image. So, as long as we can order the same model, we are in good shape.
As mentioned in the gp, I am in the process of limiting rights on the desktop. When I can into this environment, everyone was admin to the box, and half the company had some flavor of network admin rights. Over time, I have removed those rights and found saner ways to give folks the rights they need.
When users are not administrators to their box, that solves most of the problems right there. No workstation has direct access to the internet. Frankly, if it weren't for the COO and his laptop, our anti-virus software wouldn't be doing a damn thing.
As an IT Manager for a small company, I have no reason to move off of XP. Until I am forced, I will not migrate to Vista or 7. There just is no compelling reason to do so. More and more I seek to take functionality AWAY from the desktop. There are applications we use that require us to use Windows on the workstation, but more and more we look to web apps to meet our core business needs.
The fact is there is nothing in Vista that makes me want to move to it. There are no problems with XP that are making me look for solutions. We are in the process of locking down workstations to the point that even the security concerns become irrelevant. If you asked me what killer feature would make me switch... I couldn't think of it. Certainly not in what I have seen so far.
The only thing that will make me switch is the unavailability of the OS. And even that would take a while. We order standard model PCs, and do disk imaging. If I found out about Dell not being able to offer XP to us any longer, I'd make one last order for 20 PCs of that model, image and be set for two years.
Bottom line is that XP (heck even 2000) meets the needs of most businesses. Microsoft would (and likely will) have to force us to switch. Why screw with what works?
Or I can ask a group of people who have actually used the tools and get a much better answer than a search engine that is being gamed by dozens of companies trying to get a sale with crippled "free" products. In other words, kiss my ass.
Points in favor * It hijacks internet bandwidth that could be used more productively * It performs DDOS attacks on an hourly basis. * Millions of hours diverted from productive programming to non-productive uses * CSS that makes site look like someone vomited on your monitor. * The Idle section
Points against * Millions of anti-social, hormone filled misfits are kept off the streets where they could do real harm.
And under the past twelve years of Democrat rule too...
This country is on a bad course. I used to vote mostly Republican, but after Bush I could no longer do so. However, the Democrats ain't a heck of a lot more appealing.
Are there any decent free platforms for developing for Flash using actionscript? For a hobbyist like me I can't afford to plunk the change down for their IDE.
The grandparent asked why it was marked troll. I simply gave an answer. If you don't like it, fine. However, I'd bet anything that that is the reason it got marked troll.
And, assholishic comments aside, no one was asking anyone to mourn his loss. However, expressing sympathies when something like this happens is considered the socially correct thing to do, not kvetch about the product he is working on.
Slashdot Mirror
I'll bite.
The deficit is a result of us overspending, not us being undertaxed.
As far as personal income taxes go, rates are low. However, I also pay FICA into a system which I hold little hope of seeing money come out of. My employer has to "match" this tax -- basic economics indicates a large percentage of this ultimately comes from my pay. I then pay taxes to my state. I then pay taxes locally. I pay property taxes. Occasionally I get a one-time assessment. I pay tax on gasoline. I then pay sales tax. Every item I buy has a hidden tax in it as I pay for all of these employment and sales taxes that are bundled into the price of the goods. I have to pay a tax to get a driver's license or renew my plates. I have to pay to get my car emissions tested. My internet and telephone have various taxes added onto them. On certain roads you have to pay for the privilege of driving on them. I am sure there are a half-dozen more taxes I pay that I am not thinking of or am unaware of.
And what we get back for what we pay for is ludicrous. Welfare for banks and other financial institutions, welfare for folks who don't want to work. And the ability to invade other countries.
At least in Europe you get a half-way decent health system. Here, after paying all of these taxes, we are stuck paying for our own. And generally, your pension systems are funded. Here, they are underfunded.
So please don't tell me I am undertaxed.
Except that I don't mind hearing normal sounds outside. Kids playing. Birds chirping. Folks talking. But the unemployed teenager who somehow can get a $5,000 sound system into his $500 chevy... That I don't want to hear.
Yeah, there is always that unknown variable. However, as you say, these programs are dying out. My approach is to pick a couple guinea pigs.... folks who use the software and you can rely on to give you a timely report of the error. Strip their rights and make sure you are uber-attentive to their problems. After a couple weeks, you are pretty safe in rolling the changes out to others.
And it would be terribly hard to hide this or make it inaccessible to folks who have the equivalent of a second grade education.
I betcha it breaks 6 months after the warranty expires.
Nothing quite as exciting as a spoof like two years after the original ads started and about a year after they stopped being cool.
I heard Weird Al was coming up with a parody of the Bee Gees next week...
Or sail with a remote pilot? I mean we have planes that can be controlled by a pilot on the ground... why not ships?
I can't say I follow. Heat creates the wind. Using that wind doesn't cause that heating to never take place. It certainly doesn't remove any energy from the system as a whole. Perhaps I am missing something...
(I love having to wait 5 minutes between posts).
Yeah... Let's send robot ships out there to travel to a port and then wonder WTF happened when it doesn't arrive... Did the scurvy pirates get it or did it drift off course or did it sink?
If only they could invent some type of Global Positioning System. I can see it now... you would need a couple dozen or so satellites to ensure coverage over the planet. They would broadcast some type of signal. Then all you would need is some type of devices to read the signal from two or three of these satellites to get a 2D or 3D positioning.
*runs off to patent office*
FTA: "If users in South Korea switch their location to anywhere but Korea, however, uploading will once again be enabled. "
And what is really sad is that I am *NOT* a sys admin by background. I spent roughly a decade developing Win applications, web applications and back end database work. Monkeying around with this type of thing is not my first love. But from experience writing the apps, I understand how to follow best practices. So when I see a "true system administrator" who doesn't know how to lock down a workstation, or work around applications that behave poorly, I seriously wonder what qualifies them.
*And of course, I posted three minutes ago, so I have to wait another two before I can post. Excellent karma. Haven't had a down-mod in days, and at least 3 +5's over that period. What gives Slashdot?*
Then you figure out what software it is, and you determine what specific rights are necessary. I have two pieces of software that break the non-admin rule. Turns out each want to write to the program files folder. Not how I want to do it, but I turn on full-rights to the specific sub-folders they want. Then I bitch at the software companies that wrote this stuff. Then I make sure that we look at alternatives to this software. In one case i think I will win. In the other I know I will lose.
But bottom line is that I am very well protected. Even if I chose not to patch any of my XP workstations, we would have very little chance for virus/trojan/malware in our network.
I must have worded poorly. We do image it ourselves. We have several applications that require configuration once on our machines, and we instituted a disk imaging policy. The only problem is when new models come out with somewhat different hardware, we can no longer use the image. So, as long as we can order the same model, we are in good shape.
As mentioned in the gp, I am in the process of limiting rights on the desktop. When I can into this environment, everyone was admin to the box, and half the company had some flavor of network admin rights. Over time, I have removed those rights and found saner ways to give folks the rights they need.
When users are not administrators to their box, that solves most of the problems right there. No workstation has direct access to the internet. Frankly, if it weren't for the COO and his laptop, our anti-virus software wouldn't be doing a damn thing.
As an IT Manager for a small company, I have no reason to move off of XP. Until I am forced, I will not migrate to Vista or 7. There just is no compelling reason to do so. More and more I seek to take functionality AWAY from the desktop. There are applications we use that require us to use Windows on the workstation, but more and more we look to web apps to meet our core business needs.
The fact is there is nothing in Vista that makes me want to move to it. There are no problems with XP that are making me look for solutions. We are in the process of locking down workstations to the point that even the security concerns become irrelevant. If you asked me what killer feature would make me switch... I couldn't think of it. Certainly not in what I have seen so far.
The only thing that will make me switch is the unavailability of the OS. And even that would take a while. We order standard model PCs, and do disk imaging. If I found out about Dell not being able to offer XP to us any longer, I'd make one last order for 20 PCs of that model, image and be set for two years.
Bottom line is that XP (heck even 2000) meets the needs of most businesses. Microsoft would (and likely will) have to force us to switch. Why screw with what works?
Or I can ask a group of people who have actually used the tools and get a much better answer than a search engine that is being gamed by dozens of companies trying to get a sale with crippled "free" products. In other words, kiss my ass.
Points in favor
* It hijacks internet bandwidth that could be used more productively
* It performs DDOS attacks on an hourly basis.
* Millions of hours diverted from productive programming to non-productive uses
* CSS that makes site look like someone vomited on your monitor.
* The Idle section
Points against
* Millions of anti-social, hormone filled misfits are kept off the streets where they could do real harm.
We report the facts. YOU decide.
That is why I got one of these.
And under the past twelve years of Democrat rule too...
This country is on a bad course. I used to vote mostly Republican, but after Bush I could no longer do so. However, the Democrats ain't a heck of a lot more appealing.
So, throw out Roosevelt, and it is practically a wash?
Are there any decent free platforms for developing for Flash using actionscript? For a hobbyist like me I can't afford to plunk the change down for their IDE.
[citation needed]
And yes, I like being pedantic
No, if you were pedantic, you would note that there are only five oceans, not seven. the point gp was making is that all of the jobs are dirty.
Because life is all about you?
The grandparent asked why it was marked troll. I simply gave an answer. If you don't like it, fine. However, I'd bet anything that that is the reason it got marked troll.
And, assholishic comments aside, no one was asking anyone to mourn his loss. However, expressing sympathies when something like this happens is considered the socially correct thing to do, not kvetch about the product he is working on.