You're right, stock options are a big part of compensation at M$. I'm sure that their employees are getting impacted by the reduced value of their stock due to the market conditions. Other companies are seeing the same problem, especially compaines like Wal$Mart and Home Despot that rely on stock options to keep low paid store managers and staff happy (or complacent...can you really be happy working at a Big Box store?).
That being said, I don't think Ballmer falls under the category of "low paid".:-)
Tivo combined with DirectTV and a dual LNB is well worth the money. I haven't seen Tivo drop any features in the year that I've had the system...in fact they added the dual-tuner record capability. That allows you to watch a saved program while the system is taping two other programs.
I think my favorite thing to do is browse the Fox News lineup and thumbs-down all their programming.
Did you notice that the current price is $1000? That's kind of pricey considering that a woman will need five of these jackets (one for each day of the week). Add an evening jacket along with an electrified jogging suit and suddenly she's spending $7000.
And the damn things will need to be dry cleaned as well!
Adaware alternative
on
Gator Examined
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· Score: 2, Informative
Spybot seems a bit more comprehensive and user friendly than Adaware, but to be sure I run both.:-)
So true...three of my former customers (we sell homebrew supplies in my hardware store) are now professional brewers. Two brew for brewpubs, and one has his own microbrewery and sells to about 200 bars in the local area.
The primary reason for the decline of homebrewing as a hobby is the wide availability of quality micro-brewed beers. When homebrewing as a hobby took off (late 1980's, early 1990's) it was tough to find good quality beer in most of the country. People brewed so they would not have to settle for Budweiser or (gack!) Coors.
Once every corner deli and bar started carrying Sam Adams and the beer distributor added Belgian Abbey and Grand Cru, why go through the trouble to brew it yourself? However, those that continue to brew it themselves are mostly geeks.:-)
Yes, I think you're on to something there. Not only do I brew beer, but we also sell homebrew supplies in my hardware store. My informal observations of the customers who shop for home brew supplies leads me to the conclusion that most hombrewers are geeks (That's a compliment!).
Getting back to my subject, I've also discovered that my passion for pinball (started at MIT in 1977) is shared with numerous folks on the net and around the world, and there is definitely a connection between the lost art of pinball (face it, pinball is dying, especially electromechanical machines) and geeks. I own an old Faces EM pinball machine myself which I've been restoring to it's former glory, in between brewing batches of homebrew and playing Asheron's Call.:-)
Wasn't 54Mbps bogus anyway?
on
802.11g Slows Down
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· Score: 4, Insightful
It almost seems that the new standard will more accurately reflect the real throughput for these devices, especially in mixed 802.11b/g environments. It's better to lower the expectations now before people purchase and are disappointed. I've read plenty of comments at amazon.com from purchasers of 802.11g access points where they were surprised that "backwards compatable" meant that mixing the b/g would make everything run slower.
Re:Where's the personal info, it's been 20 minutes
on
I, Spammer
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· Score: 1
The challenge is to integrate the technology without reducing the skills that make the particular occupation unique. I own a hardware store and we've embraced all sorts of inventory, POS, web, wireless and communication technology. However, we still need to be able to manually examine a rusted ballcock that a customer yanked out of their toilet and hook them up with the proper replacement parts.
Of course, you're correct. But why spend $350 for a PDA when you can just buy a $9.99 universal remote and get the same satisfaction messing with the Best Buy staff.
In my hardware store we now sell Christmas lights, ceiling fans, and smoke alarms that are responsive to TV remotes. Just more ways for people to control stuff without moving from the sofa.
here at the Do It Best web site. These belt sander races are great promotional events for small town hardware stores. Kind of like a pinewood derby for adults.
Intuit gets to sell you the same software each year with minimal changes. Sure they create bloatware versions with videos and extra garbage that nobody uses, but the core product is the same thing they were selling five years ago. They update the tax tables, make the changes for any changes in the law, and sell you the product all over again.
Intuit realized that many customers were sharing their product with others and that probably looked like lost profits.
But if someone lets a few others copy TurboTax, odds are one or two of those people will buy their own copy next year rather than hassle with chasing down the shared CD to install the program. Instead Intuit alienated the users that purchased the product as well as those who didn't. When they asked their buddy to borrow the copy of TurboTax, they were told "Sorry, the CD has some lame copy protection stuff". Now the purchaser and his/her buddies say "Intuit s**cks".
I receive a LOT of spam and I have NEVER received any political spam. The nearest to political are the pleadings of poor widows in Nigeria with money trapped by corrupt governments or wicked rebels. Nobody is using open relays to forward a political agenda or publish their unpopular opinion...they're selling crap!
There are plenty of ways to post anonymously without resorting to using open relays.
PS - I do agree with you that the Patriot Act is a more serious problem than Spam.
That's why corporations need to have a "whistle blower" policy. I'm on the board of an insurance company and we spent a lot of time making sure our policy was comprehensive and protected staff who came forward with evidence of wrongdoing. If your company does not have a policy in place, demand that they draft one ASAP.
When you're at work you're acting as an agent of your employer. You should always go through your proper chain of command until the situation is resolved. The last step in the chain being law enforcement.
The corporate chain of command doesn't apply to criminal activity, only to company policy. If you witness criminal activity then it is your responsibility as a citizen to report it. We can get into discussions about how bad the crime needs to be, but if it's a crime and you feel like it should be reported then why go to the boss first?
The logic for determining change is really easy for a cashier. start with the largest coin and work your way down until it all adds up.
Cashiers (in general) cannot handle anything related to "logic". The POS systems handle the calculation of change, and the average cashier has limited math skills. They have enough trouble when you hand them a twenty and a single for an $11.00 sale ("Why are you giving me $21?") so calculating change using eighteen cent increments would blow a gasket.
The study is only valid in terms of pure statistics. Once you add in the human element any intelligent researcher would realize that there is a reason our change is based on a metric/decimal system that leans towards increments of 10.
Slashdot Mirror
That being said, I don't think Ballmer falls under the category of "low paid".
Of his ADHD problem?
More links for the video
Tivo combined with DirectTV and a dual LNB is well worth the money. I haven't seen Tivo drop any features in the year that I've had the system...in fact they added the dual-tuner record capability. That allows you to watch a saved program while the system is taping two other programs.
I think my favorite thing to do is browse the Fox News lineup and thumbs-down all their programming.
A return to Classic DMCA for the old timers.
Did you notice that the current price is $1000? That's kind of pricey considering that a woman will need five of these jackets (one for each day of the week). Add an evening jacket along with an electrified jogging suit and suddenly she's spending $7000.
And the damn things will need to be dry cleaned as well!
Spybot seems a bit more comprehensive and user friendly than Adaware, but to be sure I run both. :-)
So true...three of my former customers (we sell homebrew supplies in my hardware store) are now professional brewers. Two brew for brewpubs, and one has his own microbrewery and sells to about 200 bars in the local area.
The primary reason for the decline of homebrewing as a hobby is the wide availability of quality micro-brewed beers. When homebrewing as a hobby took off (late 1980's, early 1990's) it was tough to find good quality beer in most of the country. People brewed so they would not have to settle for Budweiser or (gack!) Coors.
:-)
Once every corner deli and bar started carrying Sam Adams and the beer distributor added Belgian Abbey and Grand Cru, why go through the trouble to brew it yourself? However, those that continue to brew it themselves are mostly geeks.
Yes, I think you're on to something there. Not only do I brew beer, but we also sell homebrew supplies in my hardware store. My informal observations of the customers who shop for home brew supplies leads me to the conclusion that most hombrewers are geeks (That's a compliment!).
:-)
Getting back to my subject, I've also discovered that my passion for pinball (started at MIT in 1977) is shared with numerous folks on the net and around the world, and there is definitely a connection between the lost art of pinball (face it, pinball is dying, especially electromechanical machines) and geeks. I own an old Faces EM pinball machine myself which I've been restoring to it's former glory, in between brewing batches of homebrew and playing Asheron's Call.
It almost seems that the new standard will more accurately reflect the real throughput for these devices, especially in mixed 802.11b/g environments. It's better to lower the expectations now before people purchase and are disappointed. I've read plenty of comments at amazon.com from purchasers of 802.11g access points where they were surprised that "backwards compatable" meant that mixing the b/g would make everything run slower.
LOL...funniest comment I've read all week!
The challenge is to integrate the technology without reducing the skills that make the particular occupation unique. I own a hardware store and we've embraced all sorts of inventory, POS, web, wireless and communication technology. However, we still need to be able to manually examine a rusted ballcock that a customer yanked out of their toilet and hook them up with the proper replacement parts.
Of course, you're correct. But why spend $350 for a PDA when you can just buy a $9.99 universal remote and get the same satisfaction messing with the Best Buy staff.
In my hardware store we now sell Christmas lights, ceiling fans, and smoke alarms that are responsive to TV remotes. Just more ways for people to control stuff without moving from the sofa.
So you are left in your computer room, lonely and sad posting on slashdot and being troll haters.
LOL...lonely and posting on Slashdot. Look in the reflection on your monitor.
I don't hate you trolls, I pity you. I'd comment further but I'm heading out to a concert with my wife and daughters.
here at the Do It Best web site. These belt sander races are great promotional events for small town hardware stores. Kind of like a pinewood derby for adults.
Intuit gets to sell you the same software each year with minimal changes. Sure they create bloatware versions with videos and extra garbage that nobody uses, but the core product is the same thing they were selling five years ago. They update the tax tables, make the changes for any changes in the law, and sell you the product all over again.
Intuit realized that many customers were sharing their product with others and that probably looked like lost profits.
But if someone lets a few others copy TurboTax, odds are one or two of those people will buy their own copy next year rather than hassle with chasing down the shared CD to install the program. Instead Intuit alienated the users that purchased the product as well as those who didn't. When they asked their buddy to borrow the copy of TurboTax, they were told "Sorry, the CD has some lame copy protection stuff". Now the purchaser and his/her buddies say "Intuit s**cks".
Your server (in sig) is down. Should I check back on Tuesday?
I fail to see why the US cannot produce something conclusive to shut people like me up
Maybe because there are no WMD in Iraq?
I receive a LOT of spam and I have NEVER received any political spam. The nearest to political are the pleadings of poor widows in Nigeria with money trapped by corrupt governments or wicked rebels. Nobody is using open relays to forward a political agenda or publish their unpopular opinion...they're selling crap!
There are plenty of ways to post anonymously without resorting to using open relays.
PS - I do agree with you that the Patriot Act is a more serious problem than Spam.
That's why corporations need to have a "whistle blower" policy. I'm on the board of an insurance company and we spent a lot of time making sure our policy was comprehensive and protected staff who came forward with evidence of wrongdoing. If your company does not have a policy in place, demand that they draft one ASAP.
When you're at work you're acting as an agent of your employer. You should always go through your proper chain of command until the situation is resolved. The last step in the chain being law enforcement.
The corporate chain of command doesn't apply to criminal activity, only to company policy. If you witness criminal activity then it is your responsibility as a citizen to report it. We can get into discussions about how bad the crime needs to be, but if it's a crime and you feel like it should be reported then why go to the boss first?
I'm trying to figure out why Europe gets the robotic vacuum first.
More disposable income to waste on gadgets?
Lazy people who don't want to walk around the house with a vacuum?
Incredibly dirty carpets that must be vacuumed so often that a robot is required?
The logic for determining change is really easy for a cashier. start with the largest coin and work your way down until it all adds up.
Cashiers (in general) cannot handle anything related to "logic". The POS systems handle the calculation of change, and the average cashier has limited math skills. They have enough trouble when you hand them a twenty and a single for an $11.00 sale ("Why are you giving me $21?") so calculating change using eighteen cent increments would blow a gasket.
The study is only valid in terms of pure statistics. Once you add in the human element any intelligent researcher would realize that there is a reason our change is based on a metric/decimal system that leans towards increments of 10.
Sounds like creeping featuritis to me.
A large flask maybe, but I don't think you can fit a human baby in a test tube.