The comments above are very good indeed, that is exactly what I was able to do for a long while.
I did the same thing many moons ago and recently went back to being an engineer (with great satisfaction).
The issue is: while it is relatively easy to describe what a good engineer is, in abstract, in a way that will work for most companies, it is much harder to define what a good manager should be because it all depends on the expectations (and the organization) of the company you work for.
In my case, I believe I was doing a fine job for 10-15 years of it as a manager (while still being hands-on on some aspects of the job) under the old definition, and having fun in the process, at least some of the time.
Then the company was acquired and the definition of what was a "good" manager changed. A "good" manager was not to do technical work, just to generate schedules and budgets, do personnel management (reviews, hiring), make sure processes were followed and go to meetings, lots of them, many off-site. Engineers need not apply.
These were not the favorite parts of my old job, but under the former organization, I was able to do that because it was not full time and I still had the technical side to keep me interested. However, under the new definition, I was no longer a good manager (or even an acceptable one) and I was utterly miserable. However, because I had been able to not stop being an engineer, I was still a pretty good engineer, so I was able to go back as an engineer
There are many managers meeting that description in that company and some of them do not have strong technical background and yet are apparently doing the job. It is my opinion that those that were strong technically and have been put in these positions do not enjoy their jobs very much, but it is just my opinion. I certainly did not. In many regards, I otherwise consider this company to be enlightened compared to most, they have done many of the right things for the right reasons so there is absolutely no bashing here. I just want to highlight the differences between what many perceive their job to be, and what management expects.
I was fortunate that while I was struggling as a manager under the new definition, this company developed a reasonable technical ladder as an alternative to the management ladder, so going back as an engineer had no downside on my salary or prospects.
So my recommendation is: while you should strive to do what is expected (and I cannot tell you what that is), don't completely abandon the technical aspect and let your skills go stale because if you are any good at it (and you probably are since they offered you this opportunity) that is something you can always fall back on. If you are expected to not do any technical work at all, think twice before taking the job, you probably won't be happy.
Also, in your new management responsibilities, you will have an opportunity to make sure that the company has, or develops, a technical ladder so that good engineers are not offered the choice of either becoming managers (where they may suck) or go somewhere else. That may be you:)
And one more thing: do not abandon your values. If you believe something is wrong, it is wrong. It does not matter if you wear the engineer's hat or the manager's hat. You will be the most visible technical person in the organization, that comes with responsibilities. Speak your mind in a respectful way, be yourself and represent the interests of your staff and the customers. You will be under a lot of pressure to cut corners and push your better judgement under the rug in order to meet impossible deadlines and budgets. Honestly try to make the best of it. Make friends in the management structure. You will need them one day. You were made that offer because you are smart, never forget it. You have an obligation to speak the truth.
The problem with rail in the US is not the time it takes to board or unboard, it's the transportation lobby.
Rail transport works well and is well developed, safe and saves lives and oil around the world except in the USA. That's not because it takes a few minutes for a train to slow down, allow passengers to go on or off and then restart, that's because of politics and private interests.
When I hear presidential candidates claim that they will cancel all subsidies to the rail system, it makes me cringe. Leadership is the ability to rally people behind decisions that are good for the country, and there is no doubt that a reliable rail system would be beneficial to the country in many regards. Of course, Amtrak does not set the standard very high, but that's not because of the technology lack of potential.
The op's idea is not worth being on Slashdot's front page.
That is good advice. Trying to get a raise by threatening to quit is at best a short term game. If it works and they give you a raise, you will be last in line for the next raise because they will feel that you got something you did not deserve by taking advantage of circumstances. If it does not work and you quit over it, forget about working there again, and if they turn you down and you stay anyway, you will be their slave.
Explain that you like the job and the company, but that the other offer is simply too good to ignore. Point out factors other than just salary, like the shorter commute and the fact that it is a larger company, because they cannot match that. It will make them feel a little better because it won't be just about money. Wish them good luck and shake hands.
Don't forget that when that company will no longer need you, it will take about 50 microseconds for them to write your marching papers.
I know the feeling perfectly well. I am myself allergic to idiots. Unfortunately, there is no "idiot silence" zone anywhere that I have heard of:( Anywhere I go, there is always an idiot willing to open his mouth...
Trade secrets do a much better job of protecting innovation, since they last forever.
One subtle difference: nothing prevents someone else from designing a process that does the same thing as your trade secret. Then your trade secret is worth nothing.
A patent is a cash machine with a 25 years battery and the right to spend as much as you want on your lawyers to protect it.
It's one thing to be an idiot, and realize one's limitations, but it's another to combine that with the feeling of empowerment and self importance.
In any democracy, different viewpoints will be expressed. If any group believes that it does not need to respect or even consider other's viewpoints, and that it has to be their way, all the way or else they don't care if the country goes bankrupt, then it should not be surprising if that's the result.
I think the only logical solution to this mess, given the current predicament, is the break-up of the GOP into a radical, Tea-Party party and a more moderate business-minded party. The problem with that is that suddenly neither of these parties would have a majority in the House, so nobody on the right side of the aisle wants to take the initiative to break it up, and our political system is based on two parties, not three. Until the radicals take a good spanking, I don't see that getting any better.
There is a difference between being openly funded by an organization that may have a stake in the outcome of your research (then you can make your own opinion whether the research is biased or not), and claiming during a Senate hearing that one is not being funded while in fact it is not true.
It is funny that those who object to government programs under the pretext that they are inefficient are the same people who oppose government programs because they may cost less than the solutions offered by private industry.
Its either one or the other.
Writing a law to make it more costly to run a government program that provides a service that no private industry has found economical to provide is ludicrous. It is pretty obvious to me who these "representatives" are representing.
. We are absolutely fed up with government workers lying to and manipulating us, with our own money, on behalf of their own hidden agendas. No exceptions.
And we are equally if not more so fed up by large corporations manipulating the political system through financing without any type of scrutiny whatsoever now that the Supreme Court gave them a free pass.
I do not see any reason whatsoever why public record laws should not extend to those involved in election financing.
The difference is that Windows had no significant (certainly no successful) competition in the market they created for *many* years, during which the word windows came to be associated with their product. Not so for the App Store.
I totally agree. I just put my own post, in essence saying that the money would have been better used making a decent page for mobile devices.
The new page is readable on my Blackberry (the old one was not), but I do not understand why it is still 419kB (today). We all hear that mobile bandwidth is limited, I would have liked Slashdot if it had been willing to go green on that one, and clean the page they send to mobile devices of some of the fluff.
The new slashdot does not look half bad, but the old one did not either, at least on a computer.
The embarrassing part is that it does look very bad on my Blackberry Curve, when it finally loads. It is embarrassing that for a web site that has no image, the main page is 419kB (today). I know the Curve is an older device, but come one, no mobile page?
It would have been just fine with me if you had kept the old page design, and made a decent mobile version instead.
For an example of a web site that does very well for mobile devices, and my Blackberry in particular, check www.time.com
I have about 30GB of data which I would hate to lose. I add about 3-5 GB each year. This is comprised of pictures and documents.
I use a mixed strategy for backup.
My regular machine is a laptop with 340GB hard drive, with a copy of this data. I have a 1TB USB hard drive (Seagate, bought at Walmart) where I copy everything to (backup 1).
I also have a web site, which I use as on-line storage. It is not the primary reason for getting the web site, but I do have "unlimited storage space" (my ISP is 1 & 1) and I access it via FTP. That costs me $7/month. So for that sum, I have a web site and on-line storage (backup 2).
I also have a desktop with a 1TB drive where I occasionally copy the data too (from the USB drive) (backup 3).
I find several advantages to that strategy. My data is always accessible from anywhere (through the ftp site) and having a local copy on the USB drive makes it easy to view the data from another machine if the need arises. The USB drive is faster (at least not slower) than most SAN solutions, at least those priced for the home market, at a fraction of the cost.
I also have a copy of everything on a desktop (500GB local hard drive) which I do not use very much, but that is nice to see pictures with because of the 22" HDTV monitor.
Finally, for the day-to-day documents that I work on, I use Dropbox. That allows me to work from different machines without having to carry a flash drive. Of course, I do not use Dropbox for long term storage, as the price is quite a bit higher than my ISP, so once documents are archived, I move them to the ftp site. I have a free 2GB Dropbox account, and I must admit that it works remarkably well.
I admit that this strategy would not scale well if I had 10 times as much data, particularly maintaining the backups up to date is a mostly manual solution at this time, so it only works for me because I do not edit older data. I simply add new documents to the repository. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find a cheap (I would like free, but I would not mind paying a reasonable price for it) incremental backup software that will work across all these storage methods. My ISP does not provide me with a shell account, so for automating, I am limited to what I can do via cgi or php scripts. At this point, I think I will have to write the software myself.
The average Apple fanboi, when faced with less than stellar user experience (for whatever reason, network or hardware), could not possibly blame the iPhone, which is perfect because Steve Jobs said so, so it has to be the carrier.
I am not in love with AT&T, which really sucks, but wait until the iPhone is on Verizon, and I would be surprised if iPhone users were not going to bash that network too in greater proportion, compared to other smart phones.
places of worship? wtf? How many hours a week is one supposed to stay in a place of worship?
So it's OK to work 8-10 hours a day near a cell tower, but not to worship a couple hours a week near a tower?
Maybe they are concerned the emissions from the tower will interfere with the mind control devices installed there...
It seems to me the place of worship should be the least affected, as the power of prayer can certainly defeat the negative effects of electromagnetic radiations, otherwise, what's the point?
I have Blackberry Curve 8330 Verizon and Skype on it works like a charm, but only for Skype-to-Skype or international Skype-to-POTS. You cannot call a US POTS line on Skype/Verizon (that's why there is Google Voice;) The calls go through the voice network, but are free (no air time charge, and you only pay what Skype itself charges when you call phones at the other end, there is no charge for Skype-to-Skype, US or international.)
Voice quality is excellent, you would never know it's VOIP, and in over 100 hours of Skype-to-POTS use (so far), I have not had a dropped call.
There is no WiFi but I do not see why I would need it since all my calls are free from air time charges and quality is perfect.
But them again, in about a year with Verizon (and 10 years with Alltell and its predecessors prior to that), I do not believe I have had a dropped call, unless calling someone on AT&T of course;)
I do not disagree with you, but in the end, many users feel more like they are leasing the phone, except that after two years (at the most), they ditch it to get a new one instead of returning it.
I am with Verizon, and I am lucky that I got there through Alltel, as they grandfathered my old Alltel contract, the same contract with Verizon would cost me substantially more, and I would not be with them if I had to pay what they are asking from new customers.
However, I enjoy having access to Blackberry maps and GPS without the fee, and I also use the Skype applet extensively for cheap international calls and access to other Skype clients at no cost.
Overall, while I would benefit from a lower cost data plan with limited capacity (I typically use less than 200MB/month, even though I recently started using Pandora, so that may change...), I am satisfied with the service and my Blackberry phone, even more so considering that in a year and a half with them, I have not had a dropped call, while in the 3-4 years with AT&T before that (business phone, now canceled), I had dropped calls routinely, and calls that went nowhere (dial->disconnect) about half the time I called. No way I will go back to AT&T
I can see a lot of people come to this from a desktop perspective, the perspective that says "I own my computer, keeps your hands off of it."
A couple of issues that make phones different from computers is that most phone users do not really "own" they phones during the initial 2 years contract, and the fact that the phones have really limited usefulness without the phone network, so it gives the phone company more moral authority (leaving the legal aspect aside, IANAL) to do what they feel they need to do to protect their property/assets (phone and network).
I can see the phone company's point of view, and as far as I am concerned, having used Blackberries for about 5 years (AT&T first, then Verizon), I can see the value of it, even as a user. In the few cases where I had to call the phone company because an app would not install, they were able to quickly and painlessly resolve the problem OTA without having to visit a store or disable the phone for any length of time.
Based on my experience, if done right, it is a non problem.
Slashdot Mirror
They will have their own ape-store!
I did the same thing many moons ago and recently went back to being an engineer (with great satisfaction).
The issue is: while it is relatively easy to describe what a good engineer is, in abstract, in a way that will work for most companies, it is much harder to define what a good manager should be because it all depends on the expectations (and the organization) of the company you work for.
In my case, I believe I was doing a fine job for 10-15 years of it as a manager (while still being hands-on on some aspects of the job) under the old definition, and having fun in the process, at least some of the time.
Then the company was acquired and the definition of what was a "good" manager changed. A "good" manager was not to do technical work, just to generate schedules and budgets, do personnel management (reviews, hiring), make sure processes were followed and go to meetings, lots of them, many off-site. Engineers need not apply.
These were not the favorite parts of my old job, but under the former organization, I was able to do that because it was not full time and I still had the technical side to keep me interested. However, under the new definition, I was no longer a good manager (or even an acceptable one) and I was utterly miserable. However, because I had been able to not stop being an engineer, I was still a pretty good engineer, so I was able to go back as an engineer
There are many managers meeting that description in that company and some of them do not have strong technical background and yet are apparently doing the job. It is my opinion that those that were strong technically and have been put in these positions do not enjoy their jobs very much, but it is just my opinion. I certainly did not. In many regards, I otherwise consider this company to be enlightened compared to most, they have done many of the right things for the right reasons so there is absolutely no bashing here. I just want to highlight the differences between what many perceive their job to be, and what management expects.
I was fortunate that while I was struggling as a manager under the new definition, this company developed a reasonable technical ladder as an alternative to the management ladder, so going back as an engineer had no downside on my salary or prospects.
So my recommendation is: while you should strive to do what is expected (and I cannot tell you what that is), don't completely abandon the technical aspect and let your skills go stale because if you are any good at it (and you probably are since they offered you this opportunity) that is something you can always fall back on. If you are expected to not do any technical work at all, think twice before taking the job, you probably won't be happy.
Also, in your new management responsibilities, you will have an opportunity to make sure that the company has, or develops, a technical ladder so that good engineers are not offered the choice of either becoming managers (where they may suck) or go somewhere else. That may be you :)
And one more thing: do not abandon your values. If you believe something is wrong, it is wrong. It does not matter if you wear the engineer's hat or the manager's hat. You will be the most visible technical person in the organization, that comes with responsibilities. Speak your mind in a respectful way, be yourself and represent the interests of your staff and the customers. You will be under a lot of pressure to cut corners and push your better judgement under the rug in order to meet impossible deadlines and budgets. Honestly try to make the best of it. Make friends in the management structure. You will need them one day. You were made that offer because you are smart, never forget it. You have an obligation to speak the truth.
Rail transport works well and is well developed, safe and saves lives and oil around the world except in the USA. That's not because it takes a few minutes for a train to slow down, allow passengers to go on or off and then restart, that's because of politics and private interests.
When I hear presidential candidates claim that they will cancel all subsidies to the rail system, it makes me cringe. Leadership is the ability to rally people behind decisions that are good for the country, and there is no doubt that a reliable rail system would be beneficial to the country in many regards. Of course, Amtrak does not set the standard very high, but that's not because of the technology lack of potential.
The op's idea is not worth being on Slashdot's front page.
Explain that you like the job and the company, but that the other offer is simply too good to ignore. Point out factors other than just salary, like the shorter commute and the fact that it is a larger company, because they cannot match that. It will make them feel a little better because it won't be just about money. Wish them good luck and shake hands.
Don't forget that when that company will no longer need you, it will take about 50 microseconds for them to write your marching papers.
I know the feeling perfectly well. I am myself allergic to idiots. Unfortunately, there is no "idiot silence" zone anywhere that I have heard of :( Anywhere I go, there is always an idiot willing to open his mouth...
Trade secrets do a much better job of protecting innovation, since they last forever.
One subtle difference: nothing prevents someone else from designing a process that does the same thing as your trade secret. Then your trade secret is worth nothing.
A patent is a cash machine with a 25 years battery and the right to spend as much as you want on your lawyers to protect it.
I think the only logical solution to this mess, given the current predicament, is the break-up of the GOP into a radical, Tea-Party party and a more moderate business-minded party. The problem with that is that suddenly neither of these parties would have a majority in the House, so nobody on the right side of the aisle wants to take the initiative to break it up, and our political system is based on two parties, not three. Until the radicals take a good spanking, I don't see that getting any better.
There is a difference between being openly funded by an organization that may have a stake in the outcome of your research (then you can make your own opinion whether the research is biased or not), and claiming during a Senate hearing that one is not being funded while in fact it is not true.
It's about time. I hope the thing never comes back...
It is funny that those who object to government programs under the pretext that they are inefficient are the same people who oppose government programs because they may cost less than the solutions offered by private industry.
Its either one or the other.
Writing a law to make it more costly to run a government program that provides a service that no private industry has found economical to provide is ludicrous. It is pretty obvious to me who these "representatives" are representing.
. We are absolutely fed up with government workers lying to and manipulating us, with our own money, on behalf of their own hidden agendas. No exceptions.
And we are equally if not more so fed up by large corporations manipulating the political system through financing without any type of scrutiny whatsoever now that the Supreme Court gave them a free pass.
I do not see any reason whatsoever why public record laws should not extend to those involved in election financing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K05NgDMz2r4&feature=player_embedded
The difference is that Windows had no significant (certainly no successful) competition in the market they created for *many* years, during which the word windows came to be associated with their product. Not so for the App Store.
How much can you trust a guy named Domscheit anyhow?
The new page is readable on my Blackberry (the old one was not), but I do not understand why it is still 419kB (today). We all hear that mobile bandwidth is limited, I would have liked Slashdot if it had been willing to go green on that one, and clean the page they send to mobile devices of some of the fluff.
The embarrassing part is that it does look very bad on my Blackberry Curve, when it finally loads. It is embarrassing that for a web site that has no image, the main page is 419kB (today). I know the Curve is an older device, but come one, no mobile page?
It would have been just fine with me if you had kept the old page design, and made a decent mobile version instead.
For an example of a web site that does very well for mobile devices, and my Blackberry in particular, check www.time.com
.... Personally, I've found Mozy very good and for the sake of $5 per month for unlimited storage, I reckon it's a bargain.
Does Mozy provide incremental backup?
I could not see that from the web site...
I use a mixed strategy for backup.
My regular machine is a laptop with 340GB hard drive, with a copy of this data. I have a 1TB USB hard drive (Seagate, bought at Walmart) where I copy everything to (backup 1).
I also have a web site, which I use as on-line storage. It is not the primary reason for getting the web site, but I do have "unlimited storage space" (my ISP is 1 & 1) and I access it via FTP. That costs me $7/month. So for that sum, I have a web site and on-line storage (backup 2).
I also have a desktop with a 1TB drive where I occasionally copy the data too (from the USB drive) (backup 3).
I find several advantages to that strategy. My data is always accessible from anywhere (through the ftp site) and having a local copy on the USB drive makes it easy to view the data from another machine if the need arises. The USB drive is faster (at least not slower) than most SAN solutions, at least those priced for the home market, at a fraction of the cost.
I also have a copy of everything on a desktop (500GB local hard drive) which I do not use very much, but that is nice to see pictures with because of the 22" HDTV monitor.
Finally, for the day-to-day documents that I work on, I use Dropbox. That allows me to work from different machines without having to carry a flash drive. Of course, I do not use Dropbox for long term storage, as the price is quite a bit higher than my ISP, so once documents are archived, I move them to the ftp site. I have a free 2GB Dropbox account, and I must admit that it works remarkably well.
I admit that this strategy would not scale well if I had 10 times as much data, particularly maintaining the backups up to date is a mostly manual solution at this time, so it only works for me because I do not edit older data. I simply add new documents to the repository. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find a cheap (I would like free, but I would not mind paying a reasonable price for it) incremental backup software that will work across all these storage methods. My ISP does not provide me with a shell account, so for automating, I am limited to what I can do via cgi or php scripts. At this point, I think I will have to write the software myself.
I am not in love with AT&T, which really sucks, but wait until the iPhone is on Verizon, and I would be surprised if iPhone users were not going to bash that network too in greater proportion, compared to other smart phones.
Does the fridge have an app store? I would not want of a fridge that does not have one...
So it's OK to work 8-10 hours a day near a cell tower, but not to worship a couple hours a week near a tower?
Maybe they are concerned the emissions from the tower will interfere with the mind control devices installed there...
It seems to me the place of worship should be the least affected, as the power of prayer can certainly defeat the negative effects of electromagnetic radiations, otherwise, what's the point?
Voice quality is excellent, you would never know it's VOIP, and in over 100 hours of Skype-to-POTS use (so far), I have not had a dropped call.
There is no WiFi but I do not see why I would need it since all my calls are free from air time charges and quality is perfect.
But them again, in about a year with Verizon (and 10 years with Alltell and its predecessors prior to that), I do not believe I have had a dropped call, unless calling someone on AT&T of course ;)
I am with Verizon, and I am lucky that I got there through Alltel, as they grandfathered my old Alltel contract, the same contract with Verizon would cost me substantially more, and I would not be with them if I had to pay what they are asking from new customers.
However, I enjoy having access to Blackberry maps and GPS without the fee, and I also use the Skype applet extensively for cheap international calls and access to other Skype clients at no cost.
Overall, while I would benefit from a lower cost data plan with limited capacity (I typically use less than 200MB/month, even though I recently started using Pandora, so that may change...), I am satisfied with the service and my Blackberry phone, even more so considering that in a year and a half with them, I have not had a dropped call, while in the 3-4 years with AT&T before that (business phone, now canceled), I had dropped calls routinely, and calls that went nowhere (dial->disconnect) about half the time I called. No way I will go back to AT&T
and who is the real root...
I can see a lot of people come to this from a desktop perspective, the perspective that says "I own my computer, keeps your hands off of it." A couple of issues that make phones different from computers is that most phone users do not really "own" they phones during the initial 2 years contract, and the fact that the phones have really limited usefulness without the phone network, so it gives the phone company more moral authority (leaving the legal aspect aside, IANAL) to do what they feel they need to do to protect their property/assets (phone and network). I can see the phone company's point of view, and as far as I am concerned, having used Blackberries for about 5 years (AT&T first, then Verizon), I can see the value of it, even as a user. In the few cases where I had to call the phone company because an app would not install, they were able to quickly and painlessly resolve the problem OTA without having to visit a store or disable the phone for any length of time. Based on my experience, if done right, it is a non problem.