You said "it is too heavy [snip] to hold to read a book on it for any extended period without stress" - Our point is that hardcover books often weigh more than this cherrypad does and many people read those with ease, so if you find that too heavy you might want to do some muscle training.
His point is that lots of adults read hardcover books that weigh 1.5 pounds or more (heck my 70-year old mum does) and if it's too heavy you fall outside the norm and maybe you should spend 10 minutes a day with a pair of dumb-bells.
No, they're not "heroes." They're doing their job. A "hero," is a person who willingly throws themselves into mortal danger for the benefit of another. I think, for example, about Lenny Skutnik, the bystander who, in January 1982 leapt into an ice-choked Potomac River to help save the life of a passenger from the wreckage of Air Florida Flight 90. Actually there were at least three other heroes in the Flight 90 saga: Helicopter pilot Donald Usher, bystander Roger Olian and of course Arland Williams Jr., who drowned in the freezing river after repeatedly passing life lines to other passengers. Someone who rescues another mountain climber, at the risk of their own life, could also be considered a 'hero.'
if you don't come out with something that makes people go "WOW!" every now and then, you're dying
The problem is, if you're largely a software-only company like Microsoft it's very hard to come out with something that makes people go "wow." What are the things that have made people go 'wow' over the past 30 years? iPhones, TiVos, Digital Cameras, Plasma TVs, Priuses, Netbooks, CD Players, webcams... They've all been hardware.
Of course there have been some Googley exceptions like Facebook and YouTube but they're the exception.
...and sure MS sells xboxes, mice and the odd webcam and zune, but for real hardware they depend on the hardware manufacturers, and it's very very hard to get the likes of HP or Dell to innovate on Microsoft's behalf. Things are further complicated by the fact that Microsoft, as a software vendor, has to be reasonably hardware-supplier-neutral. They last thing they want to do is get in bed with Sony and then piss off Toshiba.
When you own the hardware and the software, you can truly innovate when it comes to gadgets - When you only own the software, you can't.
I know this is Slashdot and therefore EVERY instance of Windows is required to be described as spyware riddled buggy-code bloatware that crashes every six minutes, but the truth is there are millions of specialized devices running the Windows Operating System that go about their business day in and day out with no problems whatsoever. From ATMs to Point-of-Sale terminals to kiosks to automotive computers - The list goes on and on.
Apple was the one who popularized smart phones as we currently know them. Tablets are coming to the market with Microsoft software on them, but Apple was the one who popularized tablets.
The problem that Microsoft runs up against again and again is that they're a software vendor, not a hardware vendor. Sure they sell xboxes, mice and the odd webcam and zune, but for real hardware they depend on the hardware manufacturers, and it's very very hard to get the likes of HP or Dell to innovate on Microsoft's behalf. Things are further complicated by the fact that Microsoft, as a software vendor, has to be reasonably hardware-supplier-neutral. They last thing they want to do is get in bed with Sony and then piss off Toshiba.
Apple does well because they sell hardware, not software. Sure they have some great software on their hardware platforms but they start with the hardware. The fact that installing OS X on a piece of non-Apple hardware is a breach of the license shows how firmly they're in the hardware camp.
When you own the hardware and the software, you can truly innovate when it comes to gadgets - When you only own the software, you can't.
You're not thinking like a time traveller. When Marty arrived in 1885 and immediately drained the tank in the MartyDeLorean, Doc had only been in 1885 at most several months - So the DocDeLorean stored in the mine would still have had good fuel in the tank as it would have in turn only been there several months. Even back then, emissions requirements would have been such that the fuel system would have been 'closed' - So there'd be no opportunity for the fuel to evaporate. Water condensation likely wouldn't have been an issue either, in a relatively sealed, dry environment like the desert mine.
I'm tired of the superiority complex so many people project after they've gone this route
I have lots of friends who have chosen to stay single and/or not have kids. All the power to 'em. All I'm saying is if you do decide to have a family and kids then all the business about 'how best to file my life' seems like irrelevant rubbish...
You could replace this statement with 'I found jesus' and it would have the same meaning. Just because you have a family now doesn't mean you're in bliss, and it doesn't mean that others would be too. The only thing you did was replace one burden with another.
Do you have a spouse? Kids? Because the grandparent is exactly right - You don't replace a burden with another burden. You remove a burden by realizing that other stuff is more important. Stuff like pushing your kid on the swing or having a glass of wine with your wife after you've read the kids bedtime stories and tucked them in. So your OCD database of your comic book collection is out of date, and your DVDs aren't alphabetical. So what? If you choose to have a family you'll discover that stuff was just a waste of your life... Just ask your parents or your grandparents...
Here in Canada, an undergraduate degree from a respected, accredited university is in effect a 'certificate of cleverness.' It says to potential employers that you're smart enough to have completed four years of full-time course work at a place that is reasonably hard and that you've produced the requisite outputs. With a few exceptions (undergraduate engineering etc.), it's not considered 'job training.'
Initially, yes. Interestingly, when our toddler was developing her language skills, she practiced three sets of sounds - English language sounds that she heard her parents speaking, Spanish-language sounds that she heard from her nanny and grandmother and growly barky sounds that she heard from the dog. Eventually she realized the dog was a lower-order being and stopped trying to speak dog.
Imagine you're an undercover cop infiltrating organized crime and wikileaks 'released' a confidential doc that included your picture, your name, your wife and children's name and your address. Now how would you feel? There's a reason some stuff is secret - It's because some asshat morons can't be trusted. Are some things secret that shouldn't be? Absolutely. Are some things secret for a reason? Also absolutely.
No "he's" not - The Lawyer's *firm* is getting $1000 per hour. That money is paying the lawyer, the lawyer's staff, the electricity bill, rent - on and on.
Can we please stop using the terms as if they are mutually exclusive?
No.
They're in the vernacular now. Can't speak for other languages, but in English, to say "My PC is busted" generally means "My windows PC is busted."
"My mac is busted" is straightforward. When further differentiation is required on the PC front we say "My Linux PC is busted" (although more than likely, we'd say "My Linux Box is busted.")
A parallel is saying "I'm American" - While not technically correct, this is understood in the vernacular to mean "I'm a citizen of the United States." Canadians like me have to say "I'm Canadian" even though I live in the Americas. It's the understood vernacular.
It's a bit like building a beautiful lakeside summer cottage that's only accessible by boat, then selling your boat and instead depending on your sometimes-hostile neighbour to get you to your cottage.
The Chinese space program is funded by the American taxpayer as well. However, instead of sending the money to NASA via Washington, they send it to Beijing via Wal-Mart.
I read somewhere that their radio was permanently tuned to the govt channel. and you couldn't turn it off.
Sorta correct. The radios are pre-tuned to the government station, and then sealed. If you're caught with a radio with its seals broken (i.e. someone opened it up) then you're arrested. This is to prevent people from trying to receive signals from South Korea and/or China. You can, however, turn the radios off.
The problem is there are some things that are under the category of 'betterment of mankind' that don't align well with the private sector. Flying up and down to a space station? Sure, that could probably be a private sector driven thing. Flying people to Mars for the first time? Probably not. It's like exploring the Mariana Trench - We should do that, because it helps us to understand our blue marble, but it's nothing the private sector is that interested in.
In addition to an education path, you'll want to help potential students consider whether game programming fits with the general life that they want. "In general" (and there are of course exceptions) in the gaming industry, hours tend to be long and pressure considerable, particularly during "crunch" periods when games need get out the door to align with the Christmas season. The compensation both in terms of salary and at-work perks also tends to be good, but you need to decide if that's fits with your life. Of course generally young people say "SURE!" to these sorts of questions, so it may be moot...
(These questions are similar to the questions people are asked to consider by career counselors before they go to law school - Working as a lawyer tends to mean long hours and reduced life / work balance. It also usually means a good salary, nice house and a BMW, so most (but not all) of my lawyer friends consider that a fair trade-off.
)
Slashdot Mirror
Also, we have amongst the lowest population densitites in the world, so the barrier to entry in the market is huge, due to the large capital costs.
You said "it is too heavy [snip] to hold to read a book on it for any extended period without stress" - Our point is that hardcover books often weigh more than this cherrypad does and many people read those with ease, so if you find that too heavy you might want to do some muscle training.
His point is that lots of adults read hardcover books that weigh 1.5 pounds or more (heck my 70-year old mum does) and if it's too heavy you fall outside the norm and maybe you should spend 10 minutes a day with a pair of dumb-bells.
No, they're not "heroes." They're doing their job. A "hero," is a person who willingly throws themselves into mortal danger for the benefit of another. I think, for example, about Lenny Skutnik, the bystander who, in January 1982 leapt into an ice-choked Potomac River to help save the life of a passenger from the wreckage of Air Florida Flight 90. Actually there were at least three other heroes in the Flight 90 saga: Helicopter pilot Donald Usher, bystander Roger Olian and of course Arland Williams Jr., who drowned in the freezing river after repeatedly passing life lines to other passengers. Someone who rescues another mountain climber, at the risk of their own life, could also be considered a 'hero.'
http://breesays.buzznet.com/user/video/16709/
if you don't come out with something that makes people go "WOW!" every now and then, you're dying
The problem is, if you're largely a software-only company like Microsoft it's very hard to come out with something that makes people go "wow." What are the things that have made people go 'wow' over the past 30 years? iPhones, TiVos, Digital Cameras, Plasma TVs, Priuses, Netbooks, CD Players, webcams... They've all been hardware.
...and sure MS sells xboxes, mice and the odd webcam and zune, but for real hardware they depend on the hardware manufacturers, and it's very very hard to get the likes of HP or Dell to innovate on Microsoft's behalf. Things are further complicated by the fact that Microsoft, as a software vendor, has to be reasonably hardware-supplier-neutral. They last thing they want to do is get in bed with Sony and then piss off Toshiba.
Of course there have been some Googley exceptions like Facebook and YouTube but they're the exception.
When you own the hardware and the software, you can truly innovate when it comes to gadgets - When you only own the software, you can't.
I can't believe anyone would be retarded enough to use the worst version of windows evaaar [sic] for that
From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automated_teller_machine#Software: A small number of deployments may still be running older versions such as Windows NT [or] Windows CE.
I know this is Slashdot and therefore EVERY instance of Windows is required to be described as spyware riddled buggy-code bloatware that crashes every six minutes, but the truth is there are millions of specialized devices running the Windows Operating System that go about their business day in and day out with no problems whatsoever. From ATMs to Point-of-Sale terminals to kiosks to automotive computers - The list goes on and on.
Apple was the one who popularized smart phones as we currently know them. Tablets are coming to the market with Microsoft software on them, but Apple was the one who popularized tablets.
The problem that Microsoft runs up against again and again is that they're a software vendor, not a hardware vendor. Sure they sell xboxes, mice and the odd webcam and zune, but for real hardware they depend on the hardware manufacturers, and it's very very hard to get the likes of HP or Dell to innovate on Microsoft's behalf. Things are further complicated by the fact that Microsoft, as a software vendor, has to be reasonably hardware-supplier-neutral. They last thing they want to do is get in bed with Sony and then piss off Toshiba.
Apple does well because they sell hardware, not software. Sure they have some great software on their hardware platforms but they start with the hardware. The fact that installing OS X on a piece of non-Apple hardware is a breach of the license shows how firmly they're in the hardware camp.
When you own the hardware and the software, you can truly innovate when it comes to gadgets - When you only own the software, you can't.
The gasoline would have long ago evaporated
You're not thinking like a time traveller. When Marty arrived in 1885 and immediately drained the tank in the MartyDeLorean, Doc had only been in 1885 at most several months - So the DocDeLorean stored in the mine would still have had good fuel in the tank as it would have in turn only been there several months. Even back then, emissions requirements would have been such that the fuel system would have been 'closed' - So there'd be no opportunity for the fuel to evaporate. Water condensation likely wouldn't have been an issue either, in a relatively sealed, dry environment like the desert mine.
so other options were needed
Like going out to the DeLorean that Doc had stashed in the mine and siphoning some gas out of its tank?
I'm tired of the superiority complex so many people project after they've gone this route
I have lots of friends who have chosen to stay single and/or not have kids. All the power to 'em. All I'm saying is if you do decide to have a family and kids then all the business about 'how best to file my life' seems like irrelevant rubbish...
You could replace this statement with 'I found jesus' and it would have the same meaning. Just because you have a family now doesn't mean you're in bliss, and it doesn't mean that others would be too. The only thing you did was replace one burden with another.
Do you have a spouse? Kids? Because the grandparent is exactly right - You don't replace a burden with another burden. You remove a burden by realizing that other stuff is more important. Stuff like pushing your kid on the swing or having a glass of wine with your wife after you've read the kids bedtime stories and tucked them in. So your OCD database of your comic book collection is out of date, and your DVDs aren't alphabetical. So what? If you choose to have a family you'll discover that stuff was just a waste of your life... Just ask your parents or your grandparents...
Here in Canada, an undergraduate degree from a respected, accredited university is in effect a 'certificate of cleverness.' It says to potential employers that you're smart enough to have completed four years of full-time course work at a place that is reasonably hard and that you've produced the requisite outputs. With a few exceptions (undergraduate engineering etc.), it's not considered 'job training.'
It may be different in the USA, I'm not sure...
Do they think the dog is sentient?
Initially, yes. Interestingly, when our toddler was developing her language skills, she practiced three sets of sounds - English language sounds that she heard her parents speaking, Spanish-language sounds that she heard from her nanny and grandmother and growly barky sounds that she heard from the dog. Eventually she realized the dog was a lower-order being and stopped trying to speak dog.
Imagine you're an undercover cop infiltrating organized crime and wikileaks 'released' a confidential doc that included your picture, your name, your wife and children's name and your address. Now how would you feel? There's a reason some stuff is secret - It's because some asshat morons can't be trusted. Are some things secret that shouldn't be? Absolutely. Are some things secret for a reason? Also absolutely.
This is an example of something that sounds good in principle, but is difficult in practice. Imagine the scene:
"Hey Red Bull, I've got a *great* idea for a promotional stunt!"
"Yeah? What is it?"
"Sign this NDA and I'll tell you!"
"An NDA? Go away, kid, you bother me."
Go on and name a period of human exploration of Earth
No profit:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bathyscaphe_Trieste
the lawyer's getting approximately $1,000 / hour.
No "he's" not - The Lawyer's *firm* is getting $1000 per hour. That money is paying the lawyer, the lawyer's staff, the electricity bill, rent - on and on.
Maybe we should start a swap program
I'd be fine with that, were it not for the fact that too many of your fellow Americans are crazy.
Can we please stop using the terms as if they are mutually exclusive?
No.
They're in the vernacular now. Can't speak for other languages, but in English, to say "My PC is busted" generally means "My windows PC is busted."
"My mac is busted" is straightforward. When further differentiation is required on the PC front we say "My Linux PC is busted" (although more than likely, we'd say "My Linux Box is busted.")
A parallel is saying "I'm American" - While not technically correct, this is understood in the vernacular to mean "I'm a citizen of the United States." Canadians like me have to say "I'm Canadian" even though I live in the Americas. It's the understood vernacular.
It's a bit like building a beautiful lakeside summer cottage that's only accessible by boat, then selling your boat and instead depending on your sometimes-hostile neighbour to get you to your cottage.
The Chinese space program is funded by the American taxpayer as well. However, instead of sending the money to NASA via Washington, they send it to Beijing via Wal-Mart.
I read somewhere that their radio was permanently tuned to the govt channel. and you couldn't turn it off.
Sorta correct. The radios are pre-tuned to the government station, and then sealed. If you're caught with a radio with its seals broken (i.e. someone opened it up) then you're arrested. This is to prevent people from trying to receive signals from South Korea and/or China. You can, however, turn the radios off.
The problem is there are some things that are under the category of 'betterment of mankind' that don't align well with the private sector. Flying up and down to a space station? Sure, that could probably be a private sector driven thing. Flying people to Mars for the first time? Probably not. It's like exploring the Mariana Trench - We should do that, because it helps us to understand our blue marble, but it's nothing the private sector is that interested in.
In addition to an education path, you'll want to help potential students consider whether game programming fits with the general life that they want. "In general" (and there are of course exceptions) in the gaming industry, hours tend to be long and pressure considerable, particularly during "crunch" periods when games need get out the door to align with the Christmas season. The compensation both in terms of salary and at-work perks also tends to be good, but you need to decide if that's fits with your life. Of course generally young people say "SURE!" to these sorts of questions, so it may be moot...
(These questions are similar to the questions people are asked to consider by career counselors before they go to law school - Working as a lawyer tends to mean long hours and reduced life / work balance. It also usually means a good salary, nice house and a BMW, so most (but not all) of my lawyer friends consider that a fair trade-off. )