Basically, ditto. I work from home full time. My company will provide more than just my 2 laptops (long story), including all office equipment except furniture, but I choose to provide everything else myself. My large monitors would not have been supplied by them etc.
On the other counts mentioned here, like productivity, I spend an average of 3 hours per day in teleconferences and on WebEx. We're a multinational with offices in just about every time zone (Scheduling teleconferences to accomdate those in the US, Europe and New Zealand is fun...)
I strongly agree with other posters, you have to be the type of person who's going to get work done no matter what. I personally don't have any problem mentally task switching from work to home and back.
We're well set up to handle telecommuters, and even those who are in the office 'full time' often work from home a day or 2 per week. All that matters is that people know how to get in contact with you. We use phone, IM, email, WebEx, and even the occasional face-to-face meeting. I'm 1400 miles to my nearest physical office.
One guy I work with is 'in the office' but stays online whether home, during the 40m train commute using his cell phone, or in the office; his IM status always shows where he is.
/F
Where do you people who telecommute work? I've worked in few places that depite my having VPN access (b/c I manage systems) there is strict policy of "No working from home." And I don't know anyone personally who works from home.
I work in the office when I'm there, and when I'm home, I work in my home office;).
OK, clearer... my home is in the boonies 2000 miles away from the office. I work in software development... about 1/2 our developers are remote. We do meet face to face from time to time though...
Yup, I've done the 'FedEx of shame'... got so pissed off in the office last time I was there that I stormed out and left my power supply and external hard drive (the one with all the patient data on it... and in case you're wondering, that patient data is anonymized AND encrypted)
I don't want to move! It's $!@#^$% nice here. I'll suffer through the occasional downtime. My response was a 'why' I would want to have 2 ISPs, not whining about the situation (at least that's not what I intended).
I love the dead peace and quiet here. It's so quiet I can carry on a normal-tone conversation with my nearest neighbor across the road, about 250m away.
My 2nd ISP is already a WiMAX connection to a mountain top about 8 miles to my SE, which service I pay for, $30/mo for 1.5M; 5M is available. I believe that to be connected via landline to somewhere upstream (although it could be cascaded wireless, I don't actually know). The antenna + radiomodem unit actually came with the house.
My nearest neighbor is within wifi cantenna range, but he's also DSL, and each and every time mine goes out, his is out too. Durned lightning... there is a QWest truck on my road practically every day. They can't possibly be making out money here, they replace those cards for one line or another almost daily. The various techs have told me they're $200 ea...
I've considered satellite, but so far managed to get by with the 2 ISPs I already have.
I do have a good sized generator, enough to run the well and septic pumps, + the pellet stove (primary winter heat). Natural gas and city water are not available.
The first things said to me by the first dozen people I met when I moved here were "do you have a generator? Do you have a 10 day supply of food and water?, and a means to cook/heat without electricity?". I'm good for about a week, until I run out of generator fuel...
In your situation, it's all about priorities. If it really was enough of a hassle for you to be where you are (i.e. where you call "home") then you'd probably up and move.
But if I had to hazard a guess, the view where you're at is breathtaking. And some small part of me doesn't fault you for that.
The view is not breathtaking... but it's quite nice. I can see 4 different fourteeners from here. We're up here because my wife doesn't like serious heat, and I like the really clean air. Lots of people are scared by the temperature and snowfall amounts, but for whatever the physiological reason (lower air density, lower humidity) the winter just doesn't FEEL as cold as say Wisconsin or Minnesota. The snow, while deep, is super-light powder and is relatively easy to deal with.
Living here is a lot like camping in the mountains year-round. We pretty much quit camping after we moved here - no need, just go outside. We DO have to watch out for some of the wildlife - black bears & mountain lions are regulars around here. Deer & Elk wandering through the yard is cool. The very best part? There's no lawn to mow! Rocks, trees & wildflowers are about it.
The hassle isn't so bad - I deal with the ISP issue by having 2, as I said. Power reliability is a moderate issue too.
Seriously? Is your network infrastructure -that- unreliable that its actually worth *doubling* your costs for redundancy?
YES
I live in the Rockies on the western edge of a mountain ridge at 10k ft elevation - in other words a lightning magnet. I'm a full-time telecommuter for a multinational, & I work daily with people from 5 different time zones. Teleconferences, webex's etc. are my daily work life. Loss of connectivity to our source code repository can be a serious problem.
EVERY time there's lightning with 1/2 mile of here my phone & DSL go out. Last year I was out 7 different times for more than 24 hours. I lose track of the number of times I'm out for just a few hours.
I have a secondary ISP - WisperTel, a wireless WISP - that's a lot less reliable than DSL. Latency is bad, it's down a couple times a day at least, although usually for short periods.
To top it all off, I'm outside of cell phone coverage... and I have 3 DIFFERENT carriers. I'm only 1/2 mile to the nearest coverage, so I can drive or walk to make the necessary calls when both ISPs are down. This is fun when there's 3 ft of fresh snow on the ground, and it's -10F. Thank goodness for snowshoes... (Last year alone both were down at the same time 3 different times).
If I could also get cable here I probably would... although I do hate Comcast with a passion.
As a Fidelity customer, I'd like to have some say in exactly which prison this guy goes to; one of those cushy Country Club sort of places isn't what I have in mind...
My fine story concerns a small company infamous for other reasons.
One fine year we received a bonus check and a letter in an envelope on Christmas Eve. The contents of the letter (paraphrased) were:
Blah blah... we didn't meet any of our performance goals this year.
Blah blah... none of you are working hard enough.
Blah blah... you're all stupid. You screw up left and right.
Blah blah... no one cares enough about the company. ... 3/4 of a full page of text of more of this.
Here's your Christmas Bonus.
Merry Christmas
Signed, Fearless Leader
Enclo$ure: a nice check.
What a nice way to invalidate the motivational value of the bonus. At least the cash was nice - something like 2 weeks salary.
Sometimes I wish I'd kept the letter. Mostly I try to block it from my mind.
A different year, different company, I was laid off for Christmas.
Bill Gates had nothing to do with it. The correct information is widely available, were one to actually look for it.
The very short form is a) 8086/8088 only had a 1M address space to start and b) IBM used the upper portion of it for BIOS, video, etc.
The first IBM PC came with 16K or of RAM (IIRC). 640K WAS a lot at that time.
Seems like a great conspiracy to get people to upgrade their electronics when they really don't need to.
I think it's more likely plain old cluelessness/thoughtlessness etc.
In various past implementations I've been involved in, the teams I've worked on have generally decided to use GMT as a base, and convert to the locale using the local OS system features. By this I mean all dates/times were stored GMT, and converted to/from local time only when interacting with end users etc..
This was on Linux and/or Solaris.
Certainly this isn't a solution for all cases, but from the application development side it was relatively easy, and very stable. Assuming the OS handles the time change properly, of course...
Thats a crock. Many places (including my job) don't even bother with inexperienced developers. All ours are 30+
Not even REMOTELY a crock. You may find out, when you reach that age range.
There are exceptions, of course, but TRY to be 40+ (or 50+) and get a job. You're generaly considered too expensive, burned out, etc. HR people (very silently) admit it.
Where I'm at, most are 40+. But there are VERY FEW places where that happens.
Okay,
Show of hands: Who did not already understand that floats are approximations? Anyone? I didn't think so. I've gotta wonder why this story ever made it into Slashdot. This is more worthy of Time magazine where it can be spun as a startling new revelation into the dirtier corners of computer science and foisting a lie on the public.
LOADS of people don't understand it. And I MEAN people with CS degrees.
Mostly I've worked in scientific areas. I've given the "here's what's really going on inside floats" dozens of times. Most of the techically oriented types said things like "Oh yeah, I remember, floats aren't exact".
I've worked for a while in a billing company. Most of the programmer types didn't have a clue about floats. But then, most of the meat-code in that area was setup by someone who did, and was not touchable.
That sounds pretty neat. Do you know of any howtos geared to relative novices?
No, sorry, I don't. I mention it as a concept, not necessarily an existing implementation. Doesn't seem like it'd be overly difficult to do... might even be lying around out there somewhere. And as I use mainly Linux (work) and Mac OS X (personal), and keep my systems on UPSs, I rarely reboot.
Why can't I get a motherboard with 500MB Flash for storing an image of system memory exactly after the OS is loaded and initialized, that is blitted over to RAM and then tweaked (system clock, network counters, etc) in a few milliseconds? All the "loading" from storage to RAM includes minutes of computation like a second "compilation" that's practically identical every time I start the machine. How much computing power is wasted on that redundant exercise every day, around the world? I'd like to reinit only when the startup becomes corrupt, which a "known good" ROM instance could avoid better than the current chaotic process.
Actually a simple alternative is quite feasible today - after a clean boot, write a "hibernate" image. At boot time, have the selection of the hibernate image as a boot option. 5 second boots!
Troll? Some people just ain't got no damned sense of humor. I should know better than to speak up, lest all the morons come out of the woodwork (or (I) be declared one of them).
Slashdot Mirror
I live in the boonies so I won't see it anytime soon.
On the other counts mentioned here, like productivity, I spend an average of 3 hours per day in teleconferences and on WebEx. We're a multinational with offices in just about every time zone (Scheduling teleconferences to accomdate those in the US, Europe and New Zealand is fun...)
I strongly agree with other posters, you have to be the type of person who's going to get work done no matter what. I personally don't have any problem mentally task switching from work to home and back.
We're well set up to handle telecommuters, and even those who are in the office 'full time' often work from home a day or 2 per week. All that matters is that people know how to get in contact with you. We use phone, IM, email, WebEx, and even the occasional face-to-face meeting. I'm 1400 miles to my nearest physical office.
One guy I work with is 'in the office' but stays online whether home, during the 40m train commute using his cell phone, or in the office; his IM status always shows where he is.
/F
Where do you people who telecommute work? I've worked in few places that depite my having VPN access (b/c I manage systems) there is strict policy of "No working from home." And I don't know anyone personally who works from home.
I work in the office when I'm there, and when I'm home, I work in my home office ;).
OK, clearer... my home is in the boonies 2000 miles away from the office. I work in software development... about 1/2 our developers are remote. We do meet face to face from time to time though...
Yup, I've done the 'FedEx of shame'... got so pissed off in the office last time I was there that I stormed out and left my power supply and external hard drive (the one with all the patient data on it... and in case you're wondering, that patient data is anonymized AND encrypted)
I love the dead peace and quiet here. It's so quiet I can carry on a normal-tone conversation with my nearest neighbor across the road, about 250m away.
My 2nd ISP is already a WiMAX connection to a mountain top about 8 miles to my SE, which service I pay for, $30/mo for 1.5M; 5M is available. I believe that to be connected via landline to somewhere upstream (although it could be cascaded wireless, I don't actually know). The antenna + radiomodem unit actually came with the house.
My nearest neighbor is within wifi cantenna range, but he's also DSL, and each and every time mine goes out, his is out too. Durned lightning... there is a QWest truck on my road practically every day. They can't possibly be making out money here, they replace those cards for one line or another almost daily. The various techs have told me they're $200 ea...
I do have a good sized generator, enough to run the well and septic pumps, + the pellet stove (primary winter heat). Natural gas and city water are not available.
The first things said to me by the first dozen people I met when I moved here were "do you have a generator? Do you have a 10 day supply of food and water?, and a means to cook/heat without electricity?". I'm good for about a week, until I run out of generator fuel...
In your situation, it's all about priorities. If it really was enough of a hassle for you to be where you are (i.e. where you call "home") then you'd probably up and move.
But if I had to hazard a guess, the view where you're at is breathtaking. And some small part of me doesn't fault you for that.
The view is not breathtaking... but it's quite nice. I can see 4 different fourteeners from here. We're up here because my wife doesn't like serious heat, and I like the really clean air. Lots of people are scared by the temperature and snowfall amounts, but for whatever the physiological reason (lower air density, lower humidity) the winter just doesn't FEEL as cold as say Wisconsin or Minnesota. The snow, while deep, is super-light powder and is relatively easy to deal with.
Living here is a lot like camping in the mountains year-round. We pretty much quit camping after we moved here - no need, just go outside. We DO have to watch out for some of the wildlife - black bears & mountain lions are regulars around here. Deer & Elk wandering through the yard is cool. The very best part? There's no lawn to mow! Rocks, trees & wildflowers are about it.
The hassle isn't so bad - I deal with the ISP issue by having 2, as I said. Power reliability is a moderate issue too.
YES
I live in the Rockies on the western edge of a mountain ridge at 10k ft elevation - in other words a lightning magnet. I'm a full-time telecommuter for a multinational, & I work daily with people from 5 different time zones. Teleconferences, webex's etc. are my daily work life. Loss of connectivity to our source code repository can be a serious problem.
EVERY time there's lightning with 1/2 mile of here my phone & DSL go out. Last year I was out 7 different times for more than 24 hours. I lose track of the number of times I'm out for just a few hours.
I have a secondary ISP - WisperTel, a wireless WISP - that's a lot less reliable than DSL. Latency is bad, it's down a couple times a day at least, although usually for short periods.
To top it all off, I'm outside of cell phone coverage... and I have 3 DIFFERENT carriers. I'm only 1/2 mile to the nearest coverage, so I can drive or walk to make the necessary calls when both ISPs are down. This is fun when there's 3 ft of fresh snow on the ground, and it's -10F. Thank goodness for snowshoes... (Last year alone both were down at the same time 3 different times).
If I could also get cable here I probably would... although I do hate Comcast with a passion.
As a Fidelity customer, I'd like to have some say in exactly which prison this guy goes to; one of those cushy Country Club sort of places isn't what I have in mind...
Just because YOU don't remember doesn't mean no one else does.
And why be so abusive about it? Do you actually know anyone who has spoken to you more than once by choice?
One fine year we received a bonus check and a letter in an envelope on Christmas Eve. The contents of the letter (paraphrased) were: What a nice way to invalidate the motivational value of the bonus. At least the cash was nice - something like 2 weeks salary.
Sometimes I wish I'd kept the letter. Mostly I try to block it from my mind.
A different year, different company, I was laid off for Christmas.
"If yakking on his phone for 5 hours he is, yak at you for 5 hours he will not."
To quote Frankie Vallie:
"Silence Is Golden".
Perhaps my comment is best viewed with a sense of humor... It was intended to convey displeasure, hopefully to not actually predict the future.
/F
OK, I won't have a firearm, but I am large, strong, and will have become extremely psychotic.
Bill Gates had nothing to do with it. The correct information is widely available, were one to actually look for it.
/F
The very short form is a) 8086/8088 only had a 1M address space to start and b) IBM used the upper portion of it for BIOS, video, etc.
The first IBM PC came with 16K or of RAM (IIRC). 640K WAS a lot at that time.
Seems like a great conspiracy to get people to upgrade their electronics when they really don't need to.
/F
I think it's more likely plain old cluelessness/thoughtlessness etc.
In various past implementations I've been involved in, the teams I've worked on have generally decided to use GMT as a base, and convert to the locale using the local OS system features. By this I mean all dates/times were stored GMT, and converted to/from local time only when interacting with end users etc..
/F
This was on Linux and/or Solaris.
Certainly this isn't a solution for all cases, but from the application development side it was relatively easy, and very stable. Assuming the OS handles the time change properly, of course...
Thats a crock. Many places (including my job) don't even bother with inexperienced developers. All ours are 30+
Not even REMOTELY a crock. You may find out, when you reach that age range.
There are exceptions, of course, but TRY to be 40+ (or 50+) and get a job. You're generaly considered too expensive, burned out, etc. HR people (very silently) admit it.
Where I'm at, most are 40+. But there are VERY FEW places where that happens.
Okay, Show of hands: Who did not already understand that floats are approximations? Anyone? I didn't think so. I've gotta wonder why this story ever made it into Slashdot. This is more worthy of Time magazine where it can be spun as a startling new revelation into the dirtier corners of computer science and foisting a lie on the public.
LOADS of people don't understand it. And I MEAN people with CS degrees.
Mostly I've worked in scientific areas. I've given the "here's what's really going on inside floats" dozens of times. Most of the techically oriented types said things like "Oh yeah, I remember, floats aren't exact".
I've worked for a while in a billing company. Most of the programmer types didn't have a clue about floats. But then, most of the meat-code in that area was setup by someone who did, and was not touchable.
/F
Oh, and a specially hired dominatrix worked him over for making us use Outlook.
/F
If you really want to punish him, make him use Notes.
I'd <violent reference deleted> to be able to use Outlook. Anything but Notes!
No, sorry, I don't. I mention it as a concept, not necessarily an existing implementation. Doesn't seem like it'd be overly difficult to do... might even be lying around out there somewhere. And as I use mainly Linux (work) and Mac OS X (personal), and keep my systems on UPSs, I rarely reboot.
Actually a simple alternative is quite feasible today - after a clean boot, write a "hibernate" image. At boot time, have the selection of the hibernate image as a boot option. 5 second boots!
Not as good as your suggestion, but $cheaper.
Troll? Some people just ain't got no damned sense of humor. I should know better than to speak up, lest all the morons come out of the woodwork (or (I) be declared one of them).
Someone clearly doesn't know much about the not-so-distant past. Google "bang path" or "uunet".
It was supposed to be funny.
I have important information re your v1@gr@ order.