Why bother with the pesky work of drawing up a well-structured arguement for what you want, and then run it by the people who sign your check?
Not to defend the attitude of the article, but as an engineer I continuously present well-structured arguments (pretty pictures and everything!), and then have a manager make a different decision because of "a hunch" or project politics or the the Moon was in Jupiter's seventh house or their bowels were making them cranky that day or... something.
Small example: I needed to order a component that involved a sensitive frequency. I could have the frequency in the part number, or the vendor could assign a random part number. I wanted the random number because the component was going to be used in an open area. Little Ms. Project Manager insited on having the sensitive info in the part number. No reason. She just wanted it that way. We had to have the component shipped securely at extra cost, opened in a secure area, the offending number removed with an X-acto knife, and then the part had to go through security to get cleared for the open area.
If I had just ordered the part the way I wanted, we'd have save time and money, and little Ms. Project Manager, honestly, wouldn't have known or cared about the difference in the part number.
I believe we need new electronic documents which are transparent, public, principled, and freed from the traditions of hierarchy and paper. In that case they can be far more powerful, with deep and rich new interconnections and properties- able to quote dynamically from other documents and buckle sideways to other documents, such as comments or successive versions; able to present third-party links; and much more. Most urgently: if we have different document structures we can build a new copyright realm, where everything can be freely and legally quoted and remixed in any amount without negotiation.
Oh, my! Someone has the vapors!
Do people back away slowly and nervously when he talks like this?
The developer tools did them in for me. I had, like, three dozen ideas for cool little PDA apps, but the developer tools (the ones I could find) almost seemed to be deliberately obfuscated.
No one was going to do 3D gaming on the things, so there should have been a VisualBasic/RealBasic-like development environment available from day one. Design your interface on a virual version of the Palm screen, and then start attaching code to the controls. Maybe they eventually got that, but I bailed early.
A brave attempt, young stout squire, but even if no one bought Ms. Spears' horrid opitcal discs of evil noises, she would still sound like a screech owl suffering an anal prolapse.
Our IT department hides from us using cloaking technology that accidently arose from their attempts to develop rad Doom 3 levels using genetic algorithms. You need to track one of them down with an infrared scope, and even if you do you don't get any computer help unless you know the secret handshake, the secret mystery haiku and the secret favorite quote from Blake's 7.
And then there's the oral sex.
*shudder*
We think there's some sort of hierarchy with an advancement/promotion plan involving a Lovecraftian quagmire of Thunderdomes and quatloos, but scientific instrumentality can only accomplish so much.
Everyone knows that insecure code is caused by code rot and magical error pixies.
Next you'll be claiming that bad movies are the fault of the people making them, or that it's Britney Spears' fault she sounds like a howler monkey being run over by a bus.
My company requires new users to navigate the Labyrinth Of Despair, swing on burning ropes across the Chasms Of Molten Hate, do battle with a dozen skeleton warriors and all the while collecting obscure Myst-like clues in order to figure out the initial login password.
And if you forget your password, you have to do it again.
Some have suggested our IT folks have gone a bit too far. They claim not, but it's hard to argue with new account setup metrics of 14 dead, 39 severely wounded and 21 missing (presumed logged in).
There's a Timex clock that hits 3 of the 4. It has three alarms (radio, CD player, nature sounds) that can be set independently. The radio is digital tuning. And there's the typical "Sleep" function which turns on the radio for up to 90 minutes at a reduced volume, and the Sleep volume has three levels.
I know high tech pros, doctors and people in many scientific fields who just don't care enough to have more than a megabit or so at home. They use the Net mostly at work where they have some big pipe to a main branch. There's just not as big of a demand here.
You can only slice the spectrum so thin. Eventually, there is a minimum bandwidth required to transmit a specific rate of data. Beyond that, the demons Nyquist and Shannon rule with great, iron mathematical fists.
is making it possible for anybody to use the airwaves without interfering with anybody else
Except, of course, those who WANT to interfere for negative purposes.
You can flood a bandwidth with noise, and make it unusable. I don't care how much coding you use. There is no magical way to have infinite bandwidth across any portion of the spectrum.
All you'll wind up with is rich script kiddies (ham kiddies?) with klystron transmitters in their attic that papa bought them with petty cash from the trust fund.
just about all the actors and celebrities in Hollywood. If you feel yourself to be a part of this group (or at least want to be invited to their parties), get off Microsoft as soon as you can.
Well, thank *you*, Mr. Sunshine, for just setting back anti-MS advocacy about ten years. Wow. Get rid of Microsoft, and I'll be asked to hang with a pack of soft brained, overpaid coke addicts. Swell.
I abandoned MS fifteen years ago. It's not such a dramatic thing. Of course at work I am still forced to MS's broken software and operating system (selected by a committee of IT bastards^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H experts, of course), but what can ya do there?
Tell others how to get by on a no-Microsoft diet. They'll thank you when their systems act in a more regular fashion.
Nice choice of image there, Skippy. So you'll be able to set your watch by my smooth and non-sticky core dumps? Hey, we amateur commentators can deal in the scatological, too.
I was just pawing through the manual for my Alpine car stereo to figure out how to manipulate the equalizer;
Well, I have to give him that one. Third party car stereos are catering to the fuckhead contingent who need animated front panels and don't mind having to hit more buttons to save a radio station than it takes to target and launch a cruise missile from a submarine. I just get whatever high end audio system the automaker offers now. They're spendy, but I really don't need a 27 band graphic equalizer for one of the worst audio environments imaginable (a moving car). and they fit the trim of the instrument panel.
Slashdot Mirror
There's also a saying about too many cooks that might apply here.
Not to defend the attitude of the article, but as an engineer I continuously present well-structured arguments (pretty pictures and everything!), and then have a manager make a different decision because of "a hunch" or project politics or the the Moon was in Jupiter's seventh house or their bowels were making them cranky that day or... something.
Small example: I needed to order a component that involved a sensitive frequency. I could have the frequency in the part number, or the vendor could assign a random part number. I wanted the random number because the component was going to be used in an open area. Little Ms. Project Manager insited on having the sensitive info in the part number. No reason. She just wanted it that way. We had to have the component shipped securely at extra cost, opened in a secure area, the offending number removed with an X-acto knife, and then the part had to go through security to get cleared for the open area.
If I had just ordered the part the way I wanted, we'd have save time and money, and little Ms. Project Manager, honestly, wouldn't have known or cared about the difference in the part number.
Did the hurricane blow away everyone's perceptual abilities today?
You would think the over the topness would have made it obvious.
This entry sponsered by Microsoft Vista. Vista - it'll give men three hour orgasms.
Oh, my! Someone has the vapors!
Do people back away slowly and nervously when he talks like this?
No one was going to do 3D gaming on the things, so there should have been a VisualBasic/RealBasic-like development environment available from day one. Design your interface on a virual version of the Palm screen, and then start attaching code to the controls. Maybe they eventually got that, but I bailed early.
A brave attempt, young stout squire, but even if no one bought Ms. Spears' horrid opitcal discs of evil noises, she would still sound like a screech owl suffering an anal prolapse.
And then there's the oral sex.
*shudder*
We think there's some sort of hierarchy with an advancement/promotion plan involving a Lovecraftian quagmire of Thunderdomes and quatloos, but scientific instrumentality can only accomplish so much.
Next you'll be claiming that bad movies are the fault of the people making them, or that it's Britney Spears' fault she sounds like a howler monkey being run over by a bus.
Sheesh. Scientologists...
You know, I knew someone would say that, but I was too lazy- er... busy to Photoshop in a blindfold.
And if you forget your password, you have to do it again.
Blindfolded.
A new college hire involved in a password change request.
Some have suggested our IT folks have gone a bit too far. They claim not, but it's hard to argue with new account setup metrics of 14 dead, 39 severely wounded and 21 missing (presumed logged in).
Sadly, it was designed by GM, and so only gets 12 miles per gallon.
Mod +Inf Insightful/Funny/Whoop Ass
It's called multitasking.
I guess we'll all have to memorize our favorite book.
I mean... really?
I'd sooner listen to G. W. Bush on things computerized than Dvorak.
Oh! Dvorak! You been served!
There's a Timex clock that hits 3 of the 4. It has three alarms (radio, CD player, nature sounds) that can be set independently. The radio is digital tuning. And there's the typical "Sleep" function which turns on the radio for up to 90 minutes at a reduced volume, and the Sleep volume has three levels.
I know high tech pros, doctors and people in many scientific fields who just don't care enough to have more than a megabit or so at home. They use the Net mostly at work where they have some big pipe to a main branch. There's just not as big of a demand here.
You can only slice the spectrum so thin. Eventually, there is a minimum bandwidth required to transmit a specific rate of data. Beyond that, the demons Nyquist and Shannon rule with great, iron mathematical fists.
Except, of course, those who WANT to interfere for negative purposes.
You can flood a bandwidth with noise, and make it unusable. I don't care how much coding you use. There is no magical way to have infinite bandwidth across any portion of the spectrum.
All you'll wind up with is rich script kiddies (ham kiddies?) with klystron transmitters in their attic that papa bought them with petty cash from the trust fund.
Well, thank *you*, Mr. Sunshine, for just setting back anti-MS advocacy about ten years. Wow. Get rid of Microsoft, and I'll be asked to hang with a pack of soft brained, overpaid coke addicts. Swell.
I abandoned MS fifteen years ago. It's not such a dramatic thing. Of course at work I am still forced to MS's broken software and operating system (selected by a committee of IT bastards^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H experts, of course), but what can ya do there?
Tell others how to get by on a no-Microsoft diet. They'll thank you when their systems act in a more regular fashion.
Nice choice of image there, Skippy. So you'll be able to set your watch by my smooth and non-sticky core dumps? Hey, we amateur commentators can deal in the scatological, too.
I was just pawing through the manual for my Alpine car stereo to figure out how to manipulate the equalizer;
Well, I have to give him that one. Third party car stereos are catering to the fuckhead contingent who need animated front panels and don't mind having to hit more buttons to save a radio station than it takes to target and launch a cruise missile from a submarine. I just get whatever high end audio system the automaker offers now. They're spendy, but I really don't need a 27 band graphic equalizer for one of the worst audio environments imaginable (a moving car). and they fit the trim of the instrument panel.
You should have called him an insane rightwing racist homophobe. Then you would have ben modded Informative. :-\
This sounds like a job for a hot bowl of chicken soup and- oh, wait a minute...
Who has the patent on the "stupid" gene, and can we get the FDA to ban it?
So what will someone charge per hour now for me to get into their genes?
Have Gene Simmons, Gene Hackman and Gene Wilder been reached for comment?
Thank you, thank you. Remeber to tip the cocktail waitresses well, folks. They don't wear those skimpy outfits for nothing.