Do something you like. I ended up working in mainframe systems while I wanted to work on UNIX. Took me about 5 years to be able to change careers after I got hired because I was branded a "mainframe person".
Also, do not overlook the power of 2 month vacations. There are moments now I regret not taking some time off while in College (Well, I needed the money).
When I sent to college I did not have a laptop. I purchased a desktop with my own money and sweat after two years walking almost every night to the computer center. Paper and pencil are good enough for note taking, far more reliable and not prone to electronic malfunction. I used to work projects and simulation on my computer after I bought a computer.
This was on 1987, the computer was a 8086 with two floppy drives, 512 K of RAM and a dot matrix printer. I was at the University of Puerto Rico, working in a room shared with shared with 7 other individuals without air conditioning. This computer went through hell with me and survived.
A friend of mine that studied in Boston University at the time was lucky enough to have a Toshiba computer, state of the art 286 with an orange plasma LCD. At the time, laptops were "required" by BU. So it was not really an option for him. I would not be surprised that it still is a requirement.
You do not need a lot of computing power to go through college. Unless you're doing fancy simulations or something of that ilk, you can go along without the need of too much juice.
Any child younger than high school age should be given a ball and a bat, not a computer. Although I burned a lot of time on my Atari 2600, in retrospect, I could've spent the time doing something better. Kids should be outside, playing or doing something other than sit down in front of a monitor, even less giving them an expensive laptop that will misuse. If you want your child to be computer literate, have a computer at home and let him use it with supervision and many schools nowadays have computer labs available.
In my opinion, senior year in high school would be the "coming of age" to own their own computer (assuming that the student is going to college). A laptop provides convenience to be portable and a cheap one would be good enough for anybody going through high school and college. Computers today are fast enough to handle most tasks and at the end, I do not see the justification spending more than $1,000 (or even $500) for a high school or college bound student.
Well, there's a lot of politics involved (as usual). When I took my ticket, I managed to do 13 WPM, (5 was required to move from Tech+ to General). It is not hard to do. If you took your ticket, you know that you have to listen to tapes and transcribe those.
In reality, Ham Radio is dying in many fronts, that's why the FCC wants to get rid of the morse requirement for novice. It also more expensive to have the Tech+ and Novice/Tech entry paths, if you get rid of one licensing scheme, you save money on (not car insurance) on paperwork and time needed to administer both.
Some people might disagree. But this is my take:
With the advent of Internet, you do not need to learn a lot of exoteric technologies so you can talk to somebody in Europe (which only happens if propagation conditions are favorable). There has been a lack of overall interest of the general public.
Get a good short wave and listen to SSB/HF transmission. They're junk. With Tech Specs, 2 Meters is becoming worst than CB-Radio. FRS probably has a better signal to noise ratio. I have not tried 6 meter or 220, so I can't comment.
Ham Radio radio space has been shrinking. You either play on 2 meters, HF or Microwaves.
Amateur radios are not a bunch of friendly people, some of them being downright racist and elitist.
The only thing that is saving Amateur Radio is their Emergency communications services. Other than that, it has been going to the toilets for the past few years.
However, If there is any consolation, there was this hot babe that did the 20WPM on the first go. At least it was worth my trip to take the license.:).
English is my second language and seeing native speakers making such basic mistakes never ceases to amaze me. (although it has helped me to identify spam...).
While I started working in the US, I was pointed out on my performance review that I had to improve my language skills. Which I did by taking english courses on top of my already 14 years of english as a second language. For some reason, at work, my "language skills needed to be improved" (Well, there might be a reason... but I'm not opening that other can of worms...).
Right now, it seems that proper language skills (being these English or even in Spanish, my first language) is becoming less important at school in favor to math, sciences and technology. Probably because the demand of these skills is ever increasing in this information age.
This is not only a malady to those that are in technology fields; I've seen it in other fields. I remember one of my co-workers used to correct the grammar on newspapers articles. I called once to my insurance company to point out 21 grammar errors in one of their slips they sent in Spanish. It boils down to the fact that nobody cares.
Well, you also have to admit that learning what's a subject, a predicate, an article or direct object are not really very exciting subjects. (Be glad that English does not have tacit subject, pluscuamperfect past participle, indirect object and accentuation rules).
I also believe that there are other factors. For instance, not long ago, we were writing letters to other people as a means of communication. Now with the advent of electronic medium, we have instant deliverance of ideas in which the speed on how they are conveyed are more important that the correctnes of the idea.
I do not think that this trend will improve or correct in the future. Eventually we'll end up with a different grammar. Many of these "horrors" will eventually be accepted as "correct" and incorporated in the language.
Luis
Re:Only going to work if it became standard
on
Advocating Dvorak
·
· Score: 1
I use a Kinesis http://www.kinesis-ergo.com/ keyboard at work and it is bad enough for people not to be able to use my computer, and it is in QWERTY. If I change to Dvorak, I'll have to carry another keyboard every time that tech support comes to work on my computer.
Yeah... I agree. I remember those japanese shows putting students to be suffocated under a canopy with magnifying glasses while women wearing a bikini while holding jugs of beer.
Well, I always believed that Reality TV was the sign of mediocrity taken over American Entertainment, but I digress...
I think that japanese animations have been more prolific in terms of the expansion of the medium. Japanese have been using animations for soaps, sci fiction, erotic fiction and serials examples.
The US never too animation into anything serious until Cartoon Network and Nick show up with their own animations. Right now, Disney has a lot to think about on how to run their own business.
Otherwise, it may be Six Flags-Disney World Park and the rest of the empire sold off in pieces.
My 2 cents...
Dear Intel:
Thank you for the WiFi hot spot. Now keeping track of nice and naugty children is a breeze, specially when I'm playing ice golf with the elves, I just take my laptop and keep an eye on the nice gauge between pars. The Mrs. has been elated, she can actually do her online shopping while whale watching. It is sometime tough do to order fulfillment to several million kids and have some time off to pursue our hobbies.
Thank you very much, expect something extra nice under the tree this december.
Mr. and Mrs. Claus.
Yes. But I bet my derrier some of those employees from record companies make a heck of a lot more money than many of the IT folks working their hump off to make a living, even though an average IT person is probably more educated.
Would I pay.05 cents for music? Only if it is worth a while music. Will most of the music that is available for those 5 cents is going to be worth my while. No, most likely not. Why?
I work on IT and I'm also a musician. Most of the popular music out there is pure junk. If I want to listen to music I like, I pick up my guitar and play. I rather spend the money on good music scores than on a CD any day now.
For the same reason I do not sponsor professional sports, I just can't conceive anybody receiving gazillions of dollars just becase that person have been lucky enough to perform (good or bad, does not matter). It has nothing to do with the person's ability to sing (I do not think that Charlotte Church is doing financially better than Britney "chipmunk voice" Spears). Heck, you just have to listen to your average rap album. I do not think that many of them would be able to be primed to sign opera at the met. Although, to be fair, the females are usually better singers than their males counterparts in R&B, Beyonce has an exeptional voice register, no wonder she sung on the Hip Hop version of Carmen.
However, I can't also conceive giving my hard earned money to clowns like P. Diddy. I just can't find myself doing that. In addition, it makes me cringe to listen to news about Christina Aguilera's boyfriend/manager giving her a 5 carat ring for her engagement. I mean, what does the guy does for a living as a manager (I guess as a boyfriend is obvious...)? Jeesh, I know a lot of IT Managers (Director and above) that can't afford a decent vacation, even less a 5 carat ring.
The short... no, I probably would not pay 5 cents per download.
Slashdot Mirror
Do something you like. I ended up working in mainframe systems while I wanted to work on UNIX. Took me about 5 years to be able to change careers after I got hired because I was branded a "mainframe person". Also, do not overlook the power of 2 month vacations. There are moments now I regret not taking some time off while in College (Well, I needed the money).
When I sent to college I did not have a laptop. I purchased a desktop with my own money and sweat after two years walking almost every night to the computer center. Paper and pencil are good enough for note taking, far more reliable and not prone to electronic malfunction. I used to work projects and simulation on my computer after I bought a computer.
This was on 1987, the computer was a 8086 with two floppy drives, 512 K of RAM and a dot matrix printer. I was at the University of Puerto Rico, working in a room shared with shared with 7 other individuals without air conditioning. This computer went through hell with me and survived.
A friend of mine that studied in Boston University at the time was lucky enough to have a Toshiba computer, state of the art 286 with an orange plasma LCD. At the time, laptops were "required" by BU. So it was not really an option for him. I would not be surprised that it still is a requirement.
You do not need a lot of computing power to go through college. Unless you're doing fancy simulations or something of that ilk, you can go along without the need of too much juice.
Any child younger than high school age should be given a ball and a bat, not a computer. Although I burned a lot of time on my Atari 2600, in retrospect, I could've spent the time doing something better. Kids should be outside, playing or doing something other than sit down in front of a monitor, even less giving them an expensive laptop that will misuse. If you want your child to be computer literate, have a computer at home and let him use it with supervision and many schools nowadays have computer labs available.
In my opinion, senior year in high school would be the "coming of age" to own their own computer (assuming that the student is going to college). A laptop provides convenience to be portable and a cheap one would be good enough for anybody going through high school and college. Computers today are fast enough to handle most tasks and at the end, I do not see the justification spending more than $1,000 (or even $500) for a high school or college bound student.
My 2 cents...
I do not know, this is my "thingie" is bigger than you "thingie" syndrome.
For a moment I though that was the same thing I used to train cats and dogs with... "C'mon student, fetch... , good student, there's your cookie..."
A bit steep considering that they've never managed to get there in the first place.
Is it just me, or is this the futuristic version of "El Zorro"?
Please... do not remind me. I still have an Amiga 3000 at home and my wife wants "to take that piece of junk out of the room".
With the advent of Internet, you do not need to learn a lot of exoteric technologies so you can talk to somebody in Europe (which only happens if propagation conditions are favorable). There has been a lack of overall interest of the general public.
Get a good short wave and listen to SSB/HF transmission. They're junk. With Tech Specs, 2 Meters is becoming worst than CB-Radio. FRS probably has a better signal to noise ratio. I have not tried 6 meter or 220, so I can't comment.
Ham Radio radio space has been shrinking. You either play on 2 meters, HF or Microwaves.
Amateur radios are not a bunch of friendly people, some of them being downright racist and elitist.
The only thing that is saving Amateur Radio is their Emergency communications services. Other than that, it has been going to the toilets for the past few years. However, If there is any consolation, there was this hot babe that did the 20WPM on the first go. At least it was worth my trip to take the license. :).
73
N2ZXE
English is my second language and seeing native speakers making such basic mistakes never ceases to amaze me. (although it has helped me to identify spam...).
While I started working in the US, I was pointed out on my performance review that I had to improve my language skills. Which I did by taking english courses on top of my already 14 years of english as a second language. For some reason, at work, my "language skills needed to be improved" (Well, there might be a reason... but I'm not opening that other can of worms...).
Right now, it seems that proper language skills (being these English or even in Spanish, my first language) is becoming less important at school in favor to math, sciences and technology. Probably because the demand of these skills is ever increasing in this information age.
This is not only a malady to those that are in technology fields; I've seen it in other fields. I remember one of my co-workers used to correct the grammar on newspapers articles. I called once to my insurance company to point out 21 grammar errors in one of their slips they sent in Spanish. It boils down to the fact that nobody cares.
Well, you also have to admit that learning what's a subject, a predicate, an article or direct object are not really very exciting subjects. (Be glad that English does not have tacit subject, pluscuamperfect past participle, indirect object and accentuation rules).
I also believe that there are other factors. For instance, not long ago, we were writing letters to other people as a means of communication. Now with the advent of electronic medium, we have instant deliverance of ideas in which the speed on how they are conveyed are more important that the correctnes of the idea.
I do not think that this trend will improve or correct in the future. Eventually we'll end up with a different grammar. Many of these "horrors" will eventually be accepted as "correct" and incorporated in the language.
Luis
I use a Kinesis http://www.kinesis-ergo.com/ keyboard at work and it is bad enough for people not to be able to use my computer, and it is in QWERTY. If I change to Dvorak, I'll have to carry another keyboard every time that tech support comes to work on my computer.
Actually, it does not specify... I presume that only apply to those made from homo sapiens. You know how insurances are.
It does not stop being dumb. T
As of late, I seldom watch TV.
Luis
Well, I always believed that Reality TV was the sign of mediocrity taken over American Entertainment, but I digress... I think that japanese animations have been more prolific in terms of the expansion of the medium. Japanese have been using animations for soaps, sci fiction, erotic fiction and serials examples. The US never too animation into anything serious until Cartoon Network and Nick show up with their own animations. Right now, Disney has a lot to think about on how to run their own business. Otherwise, it may be Six Flags-Disney World Park and the rest of the empire sold off in pieces. My 2 cents...
I'm not sure about life insurance, but my homeowners insurance does have a clause for spaceships landing on your house.
I only do about 13 WPM (General Class) and I'm still faster than SMS on T9. Luis
... I guess I can't wait for the life size model...
Dear Intel: Thank you for the WiFi hot spot. Now keeping track of nice and naugty children is a breeze, specially when I'm playing ice golf with the elves, I just take my laptop and keep an eye on the nice gauge between pars. The Mrs. has been elated, she can actually do her online shopping while whale watching. It is sometime tough do to order fulfillment to several million kids and have some time off to pursue our hobbies. Thank you very much, expect something extra nice under the tree this december. Mr. and Mrs. Claus.
Yes. But I bet my derrier some of those employees from record companies make a heck of a lot more money than many of the IT folks working their hump off to make a living, even though an average IT person is probably more educated.
.05 cents for music? Only if it is worth a while music. Will most of the music that is available for those 5 cents is going to be worth my while. No, most likely not. Why?
Would I pay
I work on IT and I'm also a musician. Most of the popular music out there is pure junk. If I want to listen to music I like, I pick up my guitar and play. I rather spend the money on good music scores than on a CD any day now.
For the same reason I do not sponsor professional sports, I just can't conceive anybody receiving gazillions of dollars just becase that person have been lucky enough to perform (good or bad, does not matter). It has nothing to do with the person's ability to sing (I do not think that Charlotte Church is doing financially better than Britney "chipmunk voice" Spears). Heck, you just have to listen to your average rap album. I do not think that many of them would be able to be primed to sign opera at the met. Although, to be fair, the females are usually better singers than their males counterparts in R&B, Beyonce has an exeptional voice register, no wonder she sung on the Hip Hop version of Carmen.
However, I can't also conceive giving my hard earned money to clowns like P. Diddy. I just can't find myself doing that. In addition, it makes me cringe to listen to news about Christina Aguilera's boyfriend/manager giving her a 5 carat ring for her engagement. I mean, what does the guy does for a living as a manager (I guess as a boyfriend is obvious...)? Jeesh, I know a lot of IT Managers (Director and above) that can't afford a decent vacation, even less a 5 carat ring.
The short... no, I probably would not pay 5 cents per download.
Luis