I would mod you Wise+5 for this comment. I had the same thought when I RTFS (didn't bother with the article). My take was that the good representative is looking to move on from politics and sees a very long term, lucrative job position in this "privatized" industry. Seeing as how he's been getting all the reports, who better to hire as CEO or lobbyist then the guy in the know.
I'm not a libertarian by any stretch, but I'd take the risk of a hands off approach to airline security compared to the bloat-ware we have today that did little to stop two crazies from getting on a plane (yes they came from overseas, but *we* had to deal with the aftereffects). Let it be the responsibility of the airline, not even the airport. If Airtran wants to forgo security to keep prices low, people will take their chances and with a secure cockpit, the only outcome is either a blown up plane or dead passengers. More die on the highways then in a situation like that. The best security is the vigilance of the flying public, not reliance of low paid security personnel.
The only response I'd want from my country if some group used airplanes again would, prove they did it, then blow them and much of the surrounding countryside up, then move along.
dammnit, suckered by a quest for knowledge...and a well hidden trap indeed. For some reason my brain just had to know what icelandic rock band was a rival to ABBA so I clicked...fool of a Took.
However, Google saved me. I don't think these bands matched the star power of ABBA, but now I know Icelandic Rock is real.
I wont go so far as reduce us to insects, but I'll agree this blows me away. The universe continues to humble me with its complete beauty and art. Yes art, on a scale we can barely imagine. The first alien ship that passes by us asks if any one wants a one way ride out to see these sights close up...I'm in.
What is sad for me is that we have these amazing minds that can imagine, create, and explore worlds beyond our horizons, but we are ruled by insects who's lives are measured in quarterly reports, and how many grubs they can hold on to, and how many soldiers they can control. Man is not limited by our mind, we are limited by insects disguised as decision makes and political leaders. I believe one day humans will travel past our own system, and images like this will inspire young minds to make it happen.
Good points. What I did was get a LCD monitor 17", wireless keyboard and mouse so the overall foot print is small. Keeps the system away from flying ingredients. I do like your idea of a drop down display. I may look at how to do that with the monitor. This all came about because the LT and screen were free. I'm not certain I'd spend 300+ for a new "appliance" that was mainly a display tool (but it is food for thought;-) )
Rumor has it, his wife made a deal regarding Natalie Portman and hot grits if he stepped away from the/. keyboard. It could be the only way to get him to stop.
When the Unseen, the Eternal, the Divine Essence, caused the Day-Star of Muhammad to rise above the horizon of knowledge, among the cavils which the Jewish divines raised against Him was that after Moses no Prophet should be sent of God. Yea, mention hath been made in the Scriptures of a Soul Who must needs be made manifest and Who will advance the Faith, and promote the interests of the people of Moses, so that the Law of the Mosaic Dispensation may encompass the whole earth
This goes on for about as long as the time cube guy. For real? Just when I think there is nothing new to find on the web, sites like this are posted. I was going to click on the photo of baha, but worried my system may get infected with his holy spirit. Malwarebytes would have to work overtime to exorcise that out of the code.
No thanks, life is crazy enough; I don't need that introduce into my thought stream.
The introduction was fantastic. I did not know that about Hedy Lamarr. However, I could not get past the first page of basic concepts. No, not because I was so turned on by Ms Spears, but was turned off. I could not stand to look at that face. I think the vacuous look in the eyes was the most disturbing. Now if it had been Skully or Major Carter?
I'm 50 and have been in this career for 30 years. Throughout my work life I've had to adapt to the changes in the industry, from Mainframes to minis, to PC, and now the mobile device. It can be done and I think you give to much power to inexperienced developers, not enough credit to managers.
I can agree that cost, in this market, can be a factor, but then how much are you willing to cut. I dropped 15% to get my current job, but it was still within my budget and I get to work in a growing company. Are you willing to move? I did to keep working.
Learning a new language at this point is not an issue of a fossilized mind (like another poster quipped), but that you have more distractions in life in general. In my 20's, the level of responsibility around me was limited. No wife, kid, house, or major debt. Over time my focus and time got more diffuse, and the work environment restricted my ability to "experiment" with new technologies. If you want to learn something new you'll need to set aside time to work and research. You will also need something that interests you, to drive you along. Right now I'm writing an application to scrape data off a website, integrate the data into google maps API and store it off to a MySql/PostGreSQL database. Its fun, but I don't get to work on it all the time. IT's not for my job, but it is something I can talk about in an interview.
What I feel is this, it is not so much a situation of young or old, it is about attitude. Don't stress the brain thinking you can't compete, you can, but you need to express it. You may cost more, but you save them more, you show them you can adapt, learn, you show them you can mentor, yet be open to instruction. Today's world requires flexibility first and people's perception is that "older" folks are stuck in their ways ('Get off my lawn kid"). Show them you are not and it will go a long way to securing a job.
One thing I'll say to hiring IT managers, get off the "What language do you know" path. You want to hire a quality developer? Then don't quiz them about details of c# or ASP or PHP or Java or what ever the hell is the language of the day. Google negates the need to memorize details, the languages are just too damn complex these days to be an expert in everything. You want to know how they think, how they solve problems, how they design/create. Syntax can be taught/learned, but good critical thinking, that comes from experience. Code monkeys will cost you more in the long run then one or two creative minds. Creativity is ageless. The best shops are those with mixed teams.
Okay, I read through the information as went so far as to set up my laptop to use the Google public server. What's the catch? I read their write-ups about security, but frankly, I'm not a network guy and had eyes glazing fast.
If the end result is that by using 8.8.8.8 I am blocking the ability for an ISP to spoof or redirect my searches, then mission accomplished, but TANSTAAFL! What does Google get from providing this service? Better ads dollars?
The FA did say that Rovio had not yet been presented with official documents and the article was pretty slim on details regarding what patents were abused. This sounds/looks more like a good 'ol mobster shakedown then violation. What would be nice is if Lodsys was brought up on rackateering RICO charges. It might actually make patent trolls take the time to investigate their cliam before filing.
(Damn its hard to take off the rose colored glasses)
Would the term lacking imagination be kinder then limited thinker? Your example serves to reenforce my position. A man says "we'll never have flying cars in every garage" and because he uses the word never, he limits his own thinking. If he was in a position of power he may then limit others and that is why I say this attitude is a drag on progress,
Were he to say "we'll never have flying cars in every garage within five years (1960) then I would agree with the view of dealing with practical limitations. We need to acknowledge the existing limitations so we can overcome them. Planes were inefficient and impractical when first developed. The car had no place in society when horses were the engines of commerce. Steamships were laughed at when they first plyed the waters. Every new step is inefficient because it is new. We learn by doing, failing, doing it again till we get it right. Even science is founded on this principle.
Right now space colonies seem impractical, though I would say only from a money stand point. Right now, today we could build a sustainable colony on the moon but for two fundemental reasons, no one reason and two excuses. The reason, lack of commitment. The excuses, money and time. Regarding money, there has been more commercial success from our going into space then anything that has come from our current military actions. When our imagination is used to create we produce more wealth, more progress then occurs when we destroy. As to time, that man in 1955 would be surprised that today we have at least three working models of flying cars. The technology is still trying to catch up with desire, but one day it will. In 1991 the first cell phone I used was a 2 lb box that looked like a old army radio. By 1993 I was using something that looked like a Star Trek communicator.
You say it can't happen? I say, get out of the way of people who think it can. The only limitation we truly have is ourselves.
Actually shutting down three "wars", altering the national defense strategy for the modern world, and expanding the space/science strategy is the sensible thing to do. We spent/spend more money on three wars in two months then the entire NASA budget for a year. The RIO for our war effort, dead soldiers, pissed off people, and continued unbalance in countries we are "helping". However, since it is political hacks and soulless CEOs that are making decisions these days, sensible only applies to their ego, not society.
But in the real world, in the long term, we need to seriously focus on keeping the earth sustainable and survivable. Because it's all we have, now and forever.
When I read comments like that I am reminded of many similar quotes by limited thinkers. Staying with the tech theme I'll go with "640K ought to be enough for anybody"...Right!
By now, as a species, I feel we need to realize that never and forever are not terms that apply to limitations of the human mind. What we can think, what we can imagine can become real. Thought, word, and deed lead to creation. The drag on human progress is not our lack of capability, but of commitment. In some cases it takes seeing beyond our lifetime to acheive the goal; that is lacking in today's leaders and populus and a drag on progress.
Unless we wipe ourselves out (war, natural disaster, pestulence) I know that humans will expand beyond this planet one day. Colony ships? Sustaining enclaves on other planets within our system? However the manner, we will do so because at the core of our being is the need to go past the next hill, the next mountain, beyond the horizon, outside our atmosphere, and more. Someone will choose to take that next step forward. This planet is now too small for our minds, but it is small minds that will chain us here for a long time.
I use to live in that state. I called it legalized extortion. On my last shakedown...erm...I mean inspection before I moved I wanted to ask the "mechanic" for the official inspection book. On the day I dropped the car off I reconsidered citing the fact that within a month I'd be living in another state.
For the record, you can find the "official" requirements here. Based on one clause I'd have to now put out $700+ to fix a very minor leak on the power steering that I currently maintain by checking fluids. One day it will be fixed, but on my timing, not the state. What was so stupid about PA was that they a lot of NJ and DE cars driving around with much more lax requirements. Safety my ass.
I feel that game companies like Capcom are more interested in the ROI, not the quality of the product; so they try this idea out. A marketing suit convinced an executive board to see if the market would accept this idea. Bear in mind that/. folks are not the mainstay of gamers these days. The bulk are folks that buy games to babysit kids, or waste time. In that context this is brilliant. Disposable games that don't cost much to make, but pull in profit on first time sales. The masses have short memories and Marketing is capitalizing on that fact.
true Gamers can boycott, stop buying Capcom games, bitch on/., but if this flies (and it will), more games will be made in the same model. Hackers, pirates will crack the DRM, but it wont matter to the masses that buy based on marketing hype (re DNF). The next step by Capcom is to spin off a "new" game company (under the umbrella of the old) and introduce the latest and best experience in game play. Only in the fine print will it say, play once, or to unlock more levels pay a fee. It wont cost much to make, it will be sugar coating around shit, but the public will buy it. We've been trained well.
I got out of gaming when the cinematic effects were greater then the game. I love(d) Diablo in part for its simplicity and yet I could wander around and kill what I wanted. Wolfenstien, Early Doom, Laura Croft; these FPS were great fun because the focus was on the game, not the background. Since I don't buy games these days I don't give a crap what Capcom does, but it is an indicator of how companies view their customers, cash cows to be milked, not people to be entertained.
I'll agree that this is just a dumb, time wasting effort on your part. If you are so worried about the collection, don't bother with "clouds", but set up your own streaming server. You only want to listen to your own stuff...right? I use subsonic to access and listen to mine and I love it.
Regarding old mp3's and napster...I was around when napster came on the scene. Even before then I would "share" songs I liked with friends in the same manner I did with cassettes, burn a playlist and let them enjoy new sounds. They did the same with me and what it did was encourage me to buy albums of artists I would have not normally listened too. I do not condone piracy, but the pricing issue by the music industry made "sharing" more viable then buying a CD for one song or buying an artist only to find out the CD was mostly crap. Even today there are some albums from the late 70's early 80s that still cost upwards of 10 dollars....really? with not even a CD to justify cost? The pirates are RIAA and they pillage very well.
I have old napster files and don't worry a damn about them. I still buy mp3s, but do so from places where I feel I am getting the correct value for my purchase. Some from Amazon, some from other mp3 sites, but NEVER from itunes. Trusting them is like trusting Darth Vader to release the Princess and the Wookie to stay in the cloud city (Pray I don't alter the plans further). Use these services or don't, but please don't waste time cleaning a collection of files that can be altered to wav and back.
This I do already. Thank you subsonic! My next project is photos so I don't need to upload to Picasa. It's not a bad site, but why duplicate effort. Hosting one's own media server is not for beginners, but I'd rather learn then trust the "cloud".
Wait two more years, there's a group of people out there that are trying to create that world in the US. For this group, if we deregulate industries and destroy labor unions we will create jobs. Okay, so some of us suffer from a poorer environment, who needs a living wage, does it matter if Grandpa dies a few years earlier....we're creating jobs! well, we're creating opportunity for business to consider jobs if the earnings are good enough, but in the mean time lets have them invest in the market and grow a little richer. (fyi, I did get the sarcasm..just wanted to augment it with my own).
Thank you for the thought. I understand what you say, I just feel that we are beyond a one model fits all approach. How I do my job and how I am judged on my job should not be based on where I work. Some do better in an office, some better at home. What I would love to see is a dialog that begins to look at how we can shape that type of work environment.
Not me, not scared off at all. After my first visit to Germany I was hooked and upon return, could not drink beer back home. The EU drove me to hard liquor except when I get to go back and visit. I'd move there in a moment if I could figure out how to bring my horses over, own enough land to keep them, and get to work from my home from time to time. Alas, even the EU is not that progressive.
What is it with companies, especially IT companies that continue to propigate the idea that they need *all* their employees under one roof. of all companies I would think Apple would go "green" by reducing office space, getting more employees to telecommute, and advocate using (gosh) 21st century tools to manage and communicate.
The whole notion that i need to stroll along with colleague in some airy complex to garner ideas or trouble shoot a problem is just bull shit. Scientists collaborate across the world on projects, video conferencing is becoming the norm for many corporate strategy meetings and though no fan of this, IT projects out-sourced are managed from afar. The tools are here today yet management, senior management seems stuck in the 19th century, industrail notion that if I can't see my sla...I mean worker then they must not be producing.
The amount of energy saved just reducing the number of commuters would be amazing. Reducing the cost of commercial real estate for offices would be a saving to companies and another reduce in energy costs. If people need to meet then a smaller office, perhaps one located in a downtown area to help generate local service economies would be available (rent an office). In the 4.5 years I worked from home for a national company I communicated with my boss when needed, he to me since I had a company phone, I lead a enterprise application support across 76 notes around the country, my team was spread over four states, and we had great idea sharing moments without the need to be face to face. We all were productive to the goals, we all were happy for working in a space that made us comfortable, and we all had reduced costs because we did not need to drive to a cubicle, wasting gas, electricity, and energy doing what we could done from home (or a more local environment).
Steve, dude, you lead a 21 century company that has changed the face of data processing and communication, inspiring many people so why oh why do you need to propagate the friggin' Luddite mentality of making people come to the central office. You have become, you've turned your people into the drones from your 1984 commercial. Lead a new paradigm, send them home, don't build.
Slashdot Mirror
I would mod you Wise+5 for this comment. I had the same thought when I RTFS (didn't bother with the article). My take was that the good representative is looking to move on from politics and sees a very long term, lucrative job position in this "privatized" industry. Seeing as how he's been getting all the reports, who better to hire as CEO or lobbyist then the guy in the know.
I'm not a libertarian by any stretch, but I'd take the risk of a hands off approach to airline security compared to the bloat-ware we have today that did little to stop two crazies from getting on a plane (yes they came from overseas, but *we* had to deal with the aftereffects). Let it be the responsibility of the airline, not even the airport. If Airtran wants to forgo security to keep prices low, people will take their chances and with a secure cockpit, the only outcome is either a blown up plane or dead passengers. More die on the highways then in a situation like that. The best security is the vigilance of the flying public, not reliance of low paid security personnel.
The only response I'd want from my country if some group used airplanes again would, prove they did it, then blow them and much of the surrounding countryside up, then move along.
dammnit, suckered by a quest for knowledge...and a well hidden trap indeed. For some reason my brain just had to know what icelandic rock band was a rival to ABBA so I clicked...fool of a Took.
However, Google saved me. I don't think these bands matched the star power of ABBA, but now I know Icelandic Rock is real.
I wont go so far as reduce us to insects, but I'll agree this blows me away. The universe continues to humble me with its complete beauty and art. Yes art, on a scale we can barely imagine. The first alien ship that passes by us asks if any one wants a one way ride out to see these sights close up...I'm in.
What is sad for me is that we have these amazing minds that can imagine, create, and explore worlds beyond our horizons, but we are ruled by insects who's lives are measured in quarterly reports, and how many grubs they can hold on to, and how many soldiers they can control. Man is not limited by our mind, we are limited by insects disguised as decision makes and political leaders. I believe one day humans will travel past our own system, and images like this will inspire young minds to make it happen.
Good points. What I did was get a LCD monitor 17", wireless keyboard and mouse so the overall foot print is small. Keeps the system away from flying ingredients. I do like your idea of a drop down display. I may look at how to do that with the monitor. This all came about because the LT and screen were free. I'm not certain I'd spend 300+ for a new "appliance" that was mainly a display tool (but it is food for thought ;-) )
Funny, I use an old laptop for that purpose. It connects to the web, it plays music, and it was free.
Rumor has it, his wife made a deal regarding Natalie Portman and hot grits if he stepped away from the /. keyboard. It could be the only way to get him to stop.
Dad's retiring and handing the keys to his nice shiny car to a bunch of kids. Whether or not they know how to drive remains to be seen.
When the Unseen, the Eternal, the Divine Essence, caused the Day-Star of Muhammad to rise above the horizon of knowledge, among the cavils which the Jewish divines raised against Him was that after Moses no Prophet should be sent of God. Yea, mention hath been made in the Scriptures of a Soul Who must needs be made manifest and Who will advance the Faith, and promote the interests of the people of Moses, so that the Law of the Mosaic Dispensation may encompass the whole earth
This goes on for about as long as the time cube guy. For real? Just when I think there is nothing new to find on the web, sites like this are posted. I was going to click on the photo of baha, but worried my system may get infected with his holy spirit. Malwarebytes would have to work overtime to exorcise that out of the code.
No thanks, life is crazy enough; I don't need that introduce into my thought stream.
The introduction was fantastic. I did not know that about Hedy Lamarr. However, I could not get past the first page of basic concepts. No, not because I was so turned on by Ms Spears, but was turned off. I could not stand to look at that face. I think the vacuous look in the eyes was the most disturbing. Now if it had been Skully or Major Carter?
I'm 50 and have been in this career for 30 years. Throughout my work life I've had to adapt to the changes in the industry, from Mainframes to minis, to PC, and now the mobile device. It can be done and I think you give to much power to inexperienced developers, not enough credit to managers.
I can agree that cost, in this market, can be a factor, but then how much are you willing to cut. I dropped 15% to get my current job, but it was still within my budget and I get to work in a growing company. Are you willing to move? I did to keep working.
Learning a new language at this point is not an issue of a fossilized mind (like another poster quipped), but that you have more distractions in life in general. In my 20's, the level of responsibility around me was limited. No wife, kid, house, or major debt. Over time my focus and time got more diffuse, and the work environment restricted my ability to "experiment" with new technologies. If you want to learn something new you'll need to set aside time to work and research. You will also need something that interests you, to drive you along. Right now I'm writing an application to scrape data off a website, integrate the data into google maps API and store it off to a MySql/PostGreSQL database. Its fun, but I don't get to work on it all the time. IT's not for my job, but it is something I can talk about in an interview.
What I feel is this, it is not so much a situation of young or old, it is about attitude. Don't stress the brain thinking you can't compete, you can, but you need to express it. You may cost more, but you save them more, you show them you can adapt, learn, you show them you can mentor, yet be open to instruction. Today's world requires flexibility first and people's perception is that "older" folks are stuck in their ways ('Get off my lawn kid"). Show them you are not and it will go a long way to securing a job.
One thing I'll say to hiring IT managers, get off the "What language do you know" path. You want to hire a quality developer? Then don't quiz them about details of c# or ASP or PHP or Java or what ever the hell is the language of the day. Google negates the need to memorize details, the languages are just too damn complex these days to be an expert in everything. You want to know how they think, how they solve problems, how they design/create. Syntax can be taught/learned, but good critical thinking, that comes from experience. Code monkeys will cost you more in the long run then one or two creative minds. Creativity is ageless. The best shops are those with mixed teams.
Okay, I read through the information as went so far as to set up my laptop to use the Google public server. What's the catch? I read their write-ups about security, but frankly, I'm not a network guy and had eyes glazing fast.
If the end result is that by using 8.8.8.8 I am blocking the ability for an ISP to spoof or redirect my searches, then mission accomplished, but TANSTAAFL! What does Google get from providing this service? Better ads dollars?
The FA did say that Rovio had not yet been presented with official documents and the article was pretty slim on details regarding what patents were abused. This sounds/looks more like a good 'ol mobster shakedown then violation. What would be nice is if Lodsys was brought up on rackateering RICO charges. It might actually make patent trolls take the time to investigate their cliam before filing.
(Damn its hard to take off the rose colored glasses)
Would the term lacking imagination be kinder then limited thinker? Your example serves to reenforce my position. A man says "we'll never have flying cars in every garage" and because he uses the word never, he limits his own thinking. If he was in a position of power he may then limit others and that is why I say this attitude is a drag on progress,
Were he to say "we'll never have flying cars in every garage within five years (1960) then I would agree with the view of dealing with practical limitations. We need to acknowledge the existing limitations so we can overcome them. Planes were inefficient and impractical when first developed. The car had no place in society when horses were the engines of commerce. Steamships were laughed at when they first plyed the waters. Every new step is inefficient because it is new. We learn by doing, failing, doing it again till we get it right. Even science is founded on this principle.
Right now space colonies seem impractical, though I would say only from a money stand point. Right now, today we could build a sustainable colony on the moon but for two fundemental reasons, no one reason and two excuses. The reason, lack of commitment. The excuses, money and time. Regarding money, there has been more commercial success from our going into space then anything that has come from our current military actions. When our imagination is used to create we produce more wealth, more progress then occurs when we destroy. As to time, that man in 1955 would be surprised that today we have at least three working models of flying cars. The technology is still trying to catch up with desire, but one day it will. In 1991 the first cell phone I used was a 2 lb box that looked like a old army radio. By 1993 I was using something that looked like a Star Trek communicator.
You say it can't happen? I say, get out of the way of people who think it can. The only limitation we truly have is ourselves.
Actually shutting down three "wars", altering the national defense strategy for the modern world, and expanding the space/science strategy is the sensible thing to do. We spent/spend more money on three wars in two months then the entire NASA budget for a year. The RIO for our war effort, dead soldiers, pissed off people, and continued unbalance in countries we are "helping". However, since it is political hacks and soulless CEOs that are making decisions these days, sensible only applies to their ego, not society.
Yes, I'm a little jaded.
But in the real world, in the long term, we need to seriously focus on keeping the earth sustainable and survivable. Because it's all we have, now and forever.
When I read comments like that I am reminded of many similar quotes by limited thinkers. Staying with the tech theme I'll go with "640K ought to be enough for anybody"...Right!
By now, as a species, I feel we need to realize that never and forever are not terms that apply to limitations of the human mind. What we can think, what we can imagine can become real. Thought, word, and deed lead to creation. The drag on human progress is not our lack of capability, but of commitment. In some cases it takes seeing beyond our lifetime to acheive the goal; that is lacking in today's leaders and populus and a drag on progress.
Unless we wipe ourselves out (war, natural disaster, pestulence) I know that humans will expand beyond this planet one day. Colony ships? Sustaining enclaves on other planets within our system? However the manner, we will do so because at the core of our being is the need to go past the next hill, the next mountain, beyond the horizon, outside our atmosphere, and more. Someone will choose to take that next step forward. This planet is now too small for our minds, but it is small minds that will chain us here for a long time.
+1 sweetness factor, such a rare moment in /. land.
I use to live in that state. I called it legalized extortion. On my last shakedown...erm...I mean inspection before I moved I wanted to ask the "mechanic" for the official inspection book. On the day I dropped the car off I reconsidered citing the fact that within a month I'd be living in another state.
For the record, you can find the "official" requirements here. Based on one clause I'd have to now put out $700+ to fix a very minor leak on the power steering that I currently maintain by checking fluids. One day it will be fixed, but on my timing, not the state. What was so stupid about PA was that they a lot of NJ and DE cars driving around with much more lax requirements. Safety my ass.
That sounds like being between a Rock and a Hard Place. Today's world does not seem to provide positive common ground to choose from.
I feel that game companies like Capcom are more interested in the ROI, not the quality of the product; so they try this idea out. A marketing suit convinced an executive board to see if the market would accept this idea. Bear in mind that /. folks are not the mainstay of gamers these days. The bulk are folks that buy games to babysit kids, or waste time. In that context this is brilliant. Disposable games that don't cost much to make, but pull in profit on first time sales. The masses have short memories and Marketing is capitalizing on that fact.
true Gamers can boycott, stop buying Capcom games, bitch on /., but if this flies (and it will), more games will be made in the same model. Hackers, pirates will crack the DRM, but it wont matter to the masses that buy based on marketing hype (re DNF). The next step by Capcom is to spin off a "new" game company (under the umbrella of the old) and introduce the latest and best experience in game play. Only in the fine print will it say, play once, or to unlock more levels pay a fee. It wont cost much to make, it will be sugar coating around shit, but the public will buy it. We've been trained well.
I got out of gaming when the cinematic effects were greater then the game. I love(d) Diablo in part for its simplicity and yet I could wander around and kill what I wanted. Wolfenstien, Early Doom, Laura Croft; these FPS were great fun because the focus was on the game, not the background. Since I don't buy games these days I don't give a crap what Capcom does, but it is an indicator of how companies view their customers, cash cows to be milked, not people to be entertained.
I'll agree that this is just a dumb, time wasting effort on your part. If you are so worried about the collection, don't bother with "clouds", but set up your own streaming server. You only want to listen to your own stuff...right? I use subsonic to access and listen to mine and I love it.
Regarding old mp3's and napster...I was around when napster came on the scene. Even before then I would "share" songs I liked with friends in the same manner I did with cassettes, burn a playlist and let them enjoy new sounds. They did the same with me and what it did was encourage me to buy albums of artists I would have not normally listened too. I do not condone piracy, but the pricing issue by the music industry made "sharing" more viable then buying a CD for one song or buying an artist only to find out the CD was mostly crap. Even today there are some albums from the late 70's early 80s that still cost upwards of 10 dollars....really? with not even a CD to justify cost? The pirates are RIAA and they pillage very well.
I have old napster files and don't worry a damn about them. I still buy mp3s, but do so from places where I feel I am getting the correct value for my purchase. Some from Amazon, some from other mp3 sites, but NEVER from itunes. Trusting them is like trusting Darth Vader to release the Princess and the Wookie to stay in the cloud city (Pray I don't alter the plans further). Use these services or don't, but please don't waste time cleaning a collection of files that can be altered to wav and back.
This I do already. Thank you subsonic! My next project is photos so I don't need to upload to Picasa. It's not a bad site, but why duplicate effort. Hosting one's own media server is not for beginners, but I'd rather learn then trust the "cloud".
Wait two more years, there's a group of people out there that are trying to create that world in the US. For this group, if we deregulate industries and destroy labor unions we will create jobs. Okay, so some of us suffer from a poorer environment, who needs a living wage, does it matter if Grandpa dies a few years earlier....we're creating jobs! well, we're creating opportunity for business to consider jobs if the earnings are good enough, but in the mean time lets have them invest in the market and grow a little richer. (fyi, I did get the sarcasm..just wanted to augment it with my own).
Thank you for the thought. I understand what you say, I just feel that we are beyond a one model fits all approach. How I do my job and how I am judged on my job should not be based on where I work. Some do better in an office, some better at home. What I would love to see is a dialog that begins to look at how we can shape that type of work environment.
Not me, not scared off at all. After my first visit to Germany I was hooked and upon return, could not drink beer back home. The EU drove me to hard liquor except when I get to go back and visit. I'd move there in a moment if I could figure out how to bring my horses over, own enough land to keep them, and get to work from my home from time to time. Alas, even the EU is not that progressive.
What is it with companies, especially IT companies that continue to propigate the idea that they need *all* their employees under one roof. of all companies I would think Apple would go "green" by reducing office space, getting more employees to telecommute, and advocate using (gosh) 21st century tools to manage and communicate.
The whole notion that i need to stroll along with colleague in some airy complex to garner ideas or trouble shoot a problem is just bull shit. Scientists collaborate across the world on projects, video conferencing is becoming the norm for many corporate strategy meetings and though no fan of this, IT projects out-sourced are managed from afar. The tools are here today yet management, senior management seems stuck in the 19th century, industrail notion that if I can't see my sla...I mean worker then they must not be producing.
The amount of energy saved just reducing the number of commuters would be amazing. Reducing the cost of commercial real estate for offices would be a saving to companies and another reduce in energy costs. If people need to meet then a smaller office, perhaps one located in a downtown area to help generate local service economies would be available (rent an office). In the 4.5 years I worked from home for a national company I communicated with my boss when needed, he to me since I had a company phone, I lead a enterprise application support across 76 notes around the country, my team was spread over four states, and we had great idea sharing moments without the need to be face to face. We all were productive to the goals, we all were happy for working in a space that made us comfortable, and we all had reduced costs because we did not need to drive to a cubicle, wasting gas, electricity, and energy doing what we could done from home (or a more local environment).
Steve, dude, you lead a 21 century company that has changed the face of data processing and communication, inspiring many people so why oh why do you need to propagate the friggin' Luddite mentality of making people come to the central office. You have become, you've turned your people into the drones from your 1984 commercial. Lead a new paradigm, send them home, don't build.