Cable is more reliable in my area (East Coast) than electricity. I was without power for 2.5 weeks after hurricane Isabel. But my digital phone service came back quickly.
A few months ago, I bought a 15,000 KW generator. The power is on more often than not, but when it is off you really miss things like ice and the internet. I would only rely on the power company for broadband service if it was the only option.
That does sound like feminism gone bad. True feminists advocate equal opportunity, not special treatment. But it is evident that the rules are changing, and we have less control over our lives than we thought we did.
There is no compensation for having to live in a state of limbo, never knowing when your property will be seized. Home improvements have to be considered in a new light. I live near a new city center, and this is a real concern for me.
Please don't kill yourself. Move to Canada instead. Thats what I will do if I am a victim of eminent domain. For now, I am joining the Libertarian party.
i>Basically they said what the Conservatives would normally say, the states have the power. Rather than limit the rights of the states this ruling gives them more power. What they do with it is not for the federal government to decide.
If that were true, the states would have the power to legislate gay marriage.
Pretty soon credit card companies may offer customers identity insurance (for a fee, of course). If you refuse the coverage and they lose your data, too bad.
I am a woman with a BS in Computer Science and 12 years of experience. I took enough math to be able to be a math teacher with only a few additional courses.
Programming involves often involves long hours, beepers, and lost vacation time, but the pay is better than teaching.
A friend of mine is a retired math teacher (department head), and she was fed up with it. The main advantage to teaching is having summers off, and going home early to prepare and grade papers, and there is usually a good retirement plan and health benefits. But school is increasingly being taught year round. And most schools have their share of dangerous incidents, although it also can be unsafe to work late at the office.
So the tradeoff is time vs. money. My previous career in television did not pay well, and I prefer a good salary. But if teaching is not your only source of income, maybe you can afford to choose teaching.
I deliberately sleep with the TV on all night. Silence wakes me up. (Infomercials also wake me up because they have more loud audio peaks). I know it is not good, but my cats and I are used to it, and we like it that way.
I always sleep with the TV on. I also have Tivo, which often changes the channels while I sleep. It could be that the shows and commercials I hear during that time have a subliminal influence. Sometimes my dreams interact with the tube. And a well-trained Tivo should reliably reflect my taste, but it is not there yet - it needs a better AI.
I think Tivo has the best potential to rate shows.
1. When asked how long you think a project should take, estimate the actual time and double it.
2. When asked when you will be finished, break the project up into phases. Instead of saying it is not finished, tell them you have completed phase 1, and are working on phase 2.
3. Stand your ground. Do not let the manager coerce you into shortening your projections. You may risk losing the project to another programmer who claims to be able to do it in half the time. They will look bad when they fail. You may be given the mess to clean up, and you can point out the outrageous flaws in the code and design.
4. I have been a programmer for over a decade, and experience has taught me that in the long run, shortcuts are not any faster and ultimately make you and your company look bad. A good design is worth the planning time. When working on code written by other programmers, it is best to come to an understanding of it and then go with the flow instead of hacking away at it.
5. Working long hours to meet a deadline is also counterproductive. More mistakes are made, and programmers tend to leave for down time or for greener pastures. Then you have to find and train new programmers, or pay contractors top rates.
I agree with the article that in most cases, the blame lies with the sales reps, who often sell vaporware to get those commissions.
But sometimes, especially with small companies, promises are made because the contract is needed to keep the company afloat. If a company is in this desparate position, it often starts laying off staff, which makes the remaining programmers very nervous, and they need some additional motivation to prevent them from jumping ship.
If they are performing duties that a higher-level programmer used to do, promote them to that position, with appropriate title and salary. If you start calling them up on weekends, nights, vacation days, and holidays, do not complain if they need to take the afternoon off for a hair appointment that was originally scheduled for Saturday....I digress. In tough times, if you want your employees to make sacrifices for you, you need to give them a good reason why.
While gaining experience in the workforce, also work towards certifications, and keep your skills current. Be strong in programming, databases, and networks. Build and upgrade your own computers. Do not stay in a job any longer than two years if you are not gaining knowledge, the pay is lousy, there is no opportunity for advancement, or you are given a beeper, or equivalent, because you need time for the additional training.
Maybe we all need to learn to speak the Indian languages. What do they speak? Would somebody please teach us some appropriate responses to Indian telemarketers in their native tounge?
I have generally found Indian help desk/tech support people to be polite, knowledgeble, and empathatic. But telemarketing is evil, and should be resisted with every opportunity!
Are soldiers really allowed to send private email via Yahoo from Iraq? I would assume there is some monitoring and censorship involved. But if so, are the the troops aware of this policy? If the military also has copies of the emails, could the relatives circumvent Yahoo in their plea to obtain them? If the Military does have access to them, I do not see the harm in them disclosing it.
I am surprised some employees are not aware that email and phone calls made on company equipment belong to the employer, and that deleting them does not erase any backups that might exist.
And little recording devices are so prevalent now that anything you say could easily be preserved and played back to unintended audiences (ex: Linda Tripp).
A cliched litmus test for applying limits to the Freedom of Speech is yelling Fire in a crowded theater when there was no evidence of fire. I believe that is a reasonable scenario. Then why allow soldiers to send email that, intentionally or not, might endanger lives? But we should not be deceived about the truth of any war. Personally, I think we are on the downside of an exponetially decreasing oil shortage, and while oil profits are an immediate factor, survival is the issue.
During the Vietnam War, soldiers mailed letters and journalists reported the events. Now, so many reporters work for elite corporations with partisan, short-sighted, greedy agendas. It is a different world.
The difference today is that we are held more accountable for who we are, due to increased documentation, and profiling that will become so much more sophisticated.
Would making an exception to the Yahoo privacy policy by giving the family access to the email records set a bad, or irrelevant prescedent? How could the receipients ever be certain that the emails are unaltered?
But has it been tested? What if it is vulnerable to interception? He utters 'My Fellow Americans' and says 'My Fellow Investors'?
If there was adequate quality-control, the urgency for upgrades would decrease.
Maybe the little rectangular object that protruded from President Bush's backside during the debates was really a wireless teleprompter that transmitted wirelessly to an implant in the visual cortex of his brain.
Better to rent than buy, though, unless it is upgradable.
Re:This is as much about philosophy than science..
on
Emergence
·
· Score: 1
I took a Philosophy course in the early 90's, 'Mind and Machine', which focused primarily on Dennett's book, 'Consciousness Explained'. I was obtaining my BS in Computer Science, and already had a BA in Psychology, but this unrequired elective was my favorite class of all time.
On page 440, after discussing Searle, Dennett says 'Complexity does matter'.
Human behaviour is complex, but valid generalizations can be made when analyzing the group (hence, Sociology). But a group is composed of multiple individuals, so which is more complex, the group or a single person? Or is there a threshold...?
As computers gain power, chaos and intricacy are less daunting. Today there is a stronger argument for Determinism: just put all the facts in a big computer and you can predict any outcome (or the odds of possible outcomes, with a quantum approach).
As a human being, I prefer to feel that as long as I am alive, I have some actual control over my existance, and my outlook is instinctually Cartesian (sorry, Daniel).
Back in the 70's, my Sociology professor criticized me of over-generalizing. I told him that that is how I think. He accepted my defense.
As a programmer, databases, data, stored procedures, optimization, reports, queries, troubleshooting, etc, come naturally to me.
I was inspired by my numerical analysis class, but have yet to utilize that training. I really like to analyze data, and enjoy predictibility (generalization) and exceptions. Records from sources such as the Food Lion MVP cards would be fascinating to correlate with other collected data related to those persons.
But it concerns me ethically. I don't want to enable a future that will restrict peoples' options based on statistically validated probabilities, at the expense of the individual, even though I think it will happen anyway. In some ways, this has always been true. A PHD used to ensure a lucrative future. But it seems now that more often, test scores, proven ability, and credentials carry less weight than perception.
I just ordered Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities, and Software.
The Meowlingual could be improved if it accounted for the context in which the meow was uttered.
I say: Tweets! Or Snack!
Cats say: Meow! (Which could mean 'Yippee', or 'It's About Time', or No, no, that's not what I wanted', as they edge towards the door, hoping to be let into the yard, which is safely enclosed by CatFencinhttp://www.www.catfencein.com/).
With the new meowlingual you could wirelessly download the data, and then replay the conversation in slowmo with software similar to CoolEdit, and annotate with subtext, which would be used as additional input to the interpretation algorithm.
Also, 'Tweets' (pronounced TWEEETS!!!!) would be a good name for a between-meals catfood. Cats like the EEE sound. It could become the new pop-culture slogan.
Slashdot Mirror
Cable is more reliable in my area (East Coast) than electricity. I was without power for 2.5 weeks after hurricane Isabel. But my digital phone service came back quickly. A few months ago, I bought a 15,000 KW generator. The power is on more often than not, but when it is off you really miss things like ice and the internet. I would only rely on the power company for broadband service if it was the only option.
That does sound like feminism gone bad. True feminists advocate equal opportunity, not special treatment. But it is evident that the rules are changing, and we have less control over our lives than we thought we did.
There is no compensation for having to live in a state of limbo, never knowing when your property will be seized. Home improvements have to be considered in a new light. I live near a new city center, and this is a real concern for me.
Please don't kill yourself. Move to Canada instead. Thats what I will do if I am a victim of eminent domain. For now, I am joining the Libertarian party.
i>Basically they said what the Conservatives would normally say, the states have the power. Rather than limit the rights of the states this ruling gives them more power. What they do with it is not for the federal government to decide.
If that were true, the states would have the power to legislate gay marriage.
Pretty soon credit card companies may offer customers identity insurance (for a fee, of course). If you refuse the coverage and they lose your data, too bad.
I am a woman with a BS in Computer Science and 12 years of experience. I took enough math to be able to be a math teacher with only a few additional courses.
Programming involves often involves long hours, beepers, and lost vacation time, but the pay is better than teaching.
A friend of mine is a retired math teacher (department head), and she was fed up with it. The main advantage to teaching is having summers off, and going home early to prepare and grade papers, and there is usually a good retirement plan and health benefits. But school is increasingly being taught year round. And most schools have their share of dangerous incidents, although it also can be unsafe to work late at the office.
So the tradeoff is time vs. money. My previous career in television did not pay well, and I prefer a good salary. But if teaching is not your only source of income, maybe you can afford to choose teaching.
I deliberately sleep with the TV on all night. Silence wakes me up. (Infomercials also wake me up because they have more loud audio peaks). I know it is not good, but my cats and I are used to it, and we like it that way.
I always sleep with the TV on. I also have Tivo, which often changes the channels while I sleep. It could be that the shows and commercials I hear during that time have a subliminal influence. Sometimes my dreams interact with the tube. And a well-trained Tivo should reliably reflect my taste, but it is not there yet - it needs a better AI. I think Tivo has the best potential to rate shows.
1. When asked how long you think a project should take, estimate the actual time and double it.
2. When asked when you will be finished, break the project up into phases. Instead of saying it is not finished, tell them you have completed phase 1, and are working on phase 2.
3. Stand your ground. Do not let the manager coerce you into shortening your projections. You may risk losing the project to another programmer who claims to be able to do it in half the time. They will look bad when they fail. You may be given the mess to clean up, and you can point out the outrageous flaws in the code and design.
4. I have been a programmer for over a decade, and experience has taught me that in the long run, shortcuts are not any faster and ultimately make you and your company look bad. A good design is worth the planning time. When working on code written by other programmers, it is best to come to an understanding of it and then go with the flow instead of hacking away at it.
5. Working long hours to meet a deadline is also counterproductive. More mistakes are made, and programmers tend to leave for down time or for greener pastures. Then you have to find and train new programmers, or pay contractors top rates.
I agree with the article that in most cases, the blame lies with the sales reps, who often sell vaporware to get those commissions.
But sometimes, especially with small companies, promises are made because the contract is needed to keep the company afloat. If a company is in this desparate position, it often starts laying off staff, which makes the remaining programmers very nervous, and they need some additional motivation to prevent them from jumping ship.
If they are performing duties that a higher-level programmer used to do, promote them to that position, with appropriate title and salary. If you start calling them up on weekends, nights, vacation days, and holidays, do not complain if they need to take the afternoon off for a hair appointment that was originally scheduled for Saturday....I digress. In tough times, if you want your employees to make sacrifices for you, you need to give them a good reason why.
While gaining experience in the workforce, also work towards certifications, and keep your skills current. Be strong in programming, databases, and networks. Build and upgrade your own computers. Do not stay in a job any longer than two years if you are not gaining knowledge, the pay is lousy, there is no opportunity for advancement, or you are given a beeper, or equivalent, because you need time for the additional training.
If HBO or Showtime were to produce new Star Trek episodes, it could go where no Star Trek show has gone before.
Maybe we all need to learn to speak the Indian languages. What do they speak? Would somebody please teach us some appropriate responses to Indian telemarketers in their native tounge?
I have generally found Indian help desk/tech support people to be polite, knowledgeble, and empathatic. But telemarketing is evil, and should be resisted with every opportunity!
Are soldiers really allowed to send private email via Yahoo from Iraq? I would assume there is some monitoring and censorship involved. But if so, are the the troops aware of this policy? If the military also has copies of the emails, could the relatives circumvent Yahoo in their plea to obtain them? If the Military does have access to them, I do not see the harm in them disclosing it. I am surprised some employees are not aware that email and phone calls made on company equipment belong to the employer, and that deleting them does not erase any backups that might exist. And little recording devices are so prevalent now that anything you say could easily be preserved and played back to unintended audiences (ex: Linda Tripp). A cliched litmus test for applying limits to the Freedom of Speech is yelling Fire in a crowded theater when there was no evidence of fire. I believe that is a reasonable scenario. Then why allow soldiers to send email that, intentionally or not, might endanger lives? But we should not be deceived about the truth of any war. Personally, I think we are on the downside of an exponetially decreasing oil shortage, and while oil profits are an immediate factor, survival is the issue. During the Vietnam War, soldiers mailed letters and journalists reported the events. Now, so many reporters work for elite corporations with partisan, short-sighted, greedy agendas. It is a different world. The difference today is that we are held more accountable for who we are, due to increased documentation, and profiling that will become so much more sophisticated. Would making an exception to the Yahoo privacy policy by giving the family access to the email records set a bad, or irrelevant prescedent? How could the receipients ever be certain that the emails are unaltered?
But has it been tested? What if it is vulnerable to interception? He utters 'My Fellow Americans' and says 'My Fellow Investors'? If there was adequate quality-control, the urgency for upgrades would decrease.
Maybe the little rectangular object that protruded from President Bush's backside during the debates was really a wireless teleprompter that transmitted wirelessly to an implant in the visual cortex of his brain. Better to rent than buy, though, unless it is upgradable.
I took a Philosophy course in the early 90's, 'Mind and Machine', which focused primarily on Dennett's book, 'Consciousness Explained'. I was obtaining my BS in Computer Science, and already had a BA in Psychology, but this unrequired elective was my favorite class of all time. On page 440, after discussing Searle, Dennett says 'Complexity does matter'. Human behaviour is complex, but valid generalizations can be made when analyzing the group (hence, Sociology). But a group is composed of multiple individuals, so which is more complex, the group or a single person? Or is there a threshold...? As computers gain power, chaos and intricacy are less daunting. Today there is a stronger argument for Determinism: just put all the facts in a big computer and you can predict any outcome (or the odds of possible outcomes, with a quantum approach). As a human being, I prefer to feel that as long as I am alive, I have some actual control over my existance, and my outlook is instinctually Cartesian (sorry, Daniel). Back in the 70's, my Sociology professor criticized me of over-generalizing. I told him that that is how I think. He accepted my defense. As a programmer, databases, data, stored procedures, optimization, reports, queries, troubleshooting, etc, come naturally to me. I was inspired by my numerical analysis class, but have yet to utilize that training. I really like to analyze data, and enjoy predictibility (generalization) and exceptions. Records from sources such as the Food Lion MVP cards would be fascinating to correlate with other collected data related to those persons. But it concerns me ethically. I don't want to enable a future that will restrict peoples' options based on statistically validated probabilities, at the expense of the individual, even though I think it will happen anyway. In some ways, this has always been true. A PHD used to ensure a lucrative future. But it seems now that more often, test scores, proven ability, and credentials carry less weight than perception. I just ordered Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities, and Software.
The Meowlingual could be improved if it accounted for the context in which the meow was uttered. I say: Tweets! Or Snack! Cats say: Meow! (Which could mean 'Yippee', or 'It's About Time', or No, no, that's not what I wanted', as they edge towards the door, hoping to be let into the yard, which is safely enclosed by CatFencinhttp://www.www.catfencein.com/). With the new meowlingual you could wirelessly download the data, and then replay the conversation in slowmo with software similar to CoolEdit, and annotate with subtext, which would be used as additional input to the interpretation algorithm. Also, 'Tweets' (pronounced TWEEETS!!!!) would be a good name for a between-meals catfood. Cats like the EEE sound. It could become the new pop-culture slogan.