However, finding an American with Symbian experience AND the fairly heavy C++ skills we demand is rare at best. We've been in touch with several engineers overseas (primarily in Europe), bu t we're finding that it's extremely difficult to get them into the country.
Excuse my naivety, but couldn't you: invite the best American C++ programmers you can find for an interview and give them a stack of books and a Symbian development kit. Tell them the person to return in a fortnight with the best result in a Symbian project you set them will get the job. Given some reference books and a project to do I've never failed to hit the ground running, and I've worked on from operating systems to enterprise CMSs.
That's why he still has a job: he's doing the work of 20 sysadmins.
Modded funny but people who can work smarter can get more done. I manage 1,200 web sites, including around 100 portals, each with their own search engines and customised quirks. I also manage data exports to around 30 portal partners whilst also developing the company intranet and extranet. Our company is very profitable as our rivals have departments of half a dozen people to do the job I do myself. On the down side, after two and a half years I'm leaving as I'm now VERY tired physically. Shame, as it was great fun.
I agree. I've been waiting months for Half Life 2, been researching the graphics card I'm going to get just for the game, but I'm now not going to buy it for a while. I've lost count of the number of times I've been locked out of CS through steam, sometimes for days at a time. I'll wait until a backlash makes them take out the online activation or until there is a reliable crack circulating around allowing me to access the game *when* I buy it.
One of the reasons Half Life took off was because you could install a friends copy on your machine to play multi-player (one key worked for two people on Internet or four people on a LAN). Once you were hooked you went out and bought a copy. I've bought two but I still use a friend's key as I've lost the CD cases (why don't they print the key on the CD?? I've got several hundred CDs back home and the empty cases get lost after the CD goes into the album. Before I think to write the key on with a marker pen:-(...).
I agree with you completely on the GPL. From the perspective of anyone who depends on writing software to make a living, it is an especially obnoxious proprietary license.
There is nothing wrong with the GPL if it's used correctly. It is not the right license for the Lone Coder.
The GPL is great if working on a personal project and want to get other people involved. The GPL will reassure those that invest their time that the code isn't going to be 'taken away from them'.
The GPL is great if paid to write an internal company project that isn't core competatively. Others may contribute features and bug fixes which causes less headaches.
For the Lone Coder what you have to offer is your ideas and your time. If someone else wants to write a GPL version well that's competition. If they want to use your version then you offer a commercial license and demand a fee.
It differs from typical proprietary licenses only in that the "proprietor" hires anybody who wants to work for it, pays them absolutely nothing, dumps all its products on the market for free, and will refuse to sell you a license no matter how much you offer.
This is so wrong. Either they are hired or not paid, this is contradictory. If someone works for free and dumps their product on the market that is equivalent or better to what is available then this says something about the value of that good: it's now a commodity and writing a commercial version of it has had its day. Also I'd wager that the majority of small GPL projects (which is most of them) would be more than happy to dual-license you a commercial copy of their GPL software.
Add to that the growing sentiment I hear often of "it's not GPL so I'm not gonna use it", and competing with the GPL is like competing with Microsoft.
I agree and am in fact guilty of doing it myself. The problem is that there is so much good GPL software out there these days that I know if I look hard enough I will be able to find a version under the GPL. Shrink-wrap commercial software niches are growing smaller so you need to bring more to the table than just code (ie an expertise or knowledge wrapped up in some code).
Oh, I know this can piss off a bunch of people who are so concerned about those poor souls without Internet connection (ps. Netzero still has a 10 free hours/month deal), but the system rocks.
There are a large number of those without old-fashioned phone lines you know. Growing in fact, as mobile phones are approaching fixed line rates but with obvious extra benefits. Broadband requires not only a fixed line but also minimum one year contract so that's a non-option for many of my friends here who are renting.
I get incredibly frustrated when on broadband and Steam problems mean I can't place Counterstrike. If I also couldn't play the single-player version then I would be LIVID.
Let's see. On winamp.com the most popular skins in the past 30 days (random selection): MMD3 13,068,873 Nucleo NLog v2G 7,168,089 Nucleo AlienMind 4,039,015 ZDL GOLD STACK 3,515,717 Pimeer v2-2 Ultime 1,844,601
And these are skins that I've never seen before and aren't even that good. Trust me, you are in a tiny minority. Even I go straight to the skins page after each re-install of winamp, and I don't really care that much about how it looks (though I try and find a skin that minimises the amount of screen real-estate it takes).
Fixing the film didn't seem to work well though - the holograms tended to start fading or something after a few days.
Possibly something to do with the film. I have a hologram I made when I was a kid (about 15 years ago) at a Uni open day and it still looked ok last time I looked at it not that long ago. Done on car inner tubes, similar to your set-up, can't remember the laser type. It's not done in any schools in the UK afaik. The idea is to NOT make science interesting (just in case someone considers making it a career). If I'd followed my studies instead of my parents, there is no way I would be in science today.
That's why I'm not sure I'll shell out the $99 for this kit for Christmas. I just don't think they'll like it as much as the [Select Kid, Present from WishList where Price < 100] they've been asking for.
Sorry but that's really sad. As a parent you are supposed to (imho, not being a parent myself, and usual disclaimers) be inspiring your children, not letting yourself be brainwashed by commercials or submitting to blackmail by your kids (when under 10 your long term vision isn't quite what it could be). I was disappointed and bemused when my dad got me a crystal radio set when I was well before my teens, but after soldering all the bits together and (vaguely) picking up that broadcast I went on to a successful career in computing after going to do a couple of degrees in engineering. It completely changed my life.
Things are so much more interesting when you discover them or create them, as opposed to when pushed in front of your face (let's face it, when compared with Hollywood special effects it's rather difficult to be impressed these days). In fact, why not combine the two? Get a cheap trendy action figure and then use that to make the hologram?
In France we have a cable company called free.fr. For around $20/month, from one box you get 10MB/s Internet, dozens of TV channels, and free land-line calls across the entire of the country (calling both VoIP and normal fixed lines) using any off-the shelf phone which you can plug in. Calling internationally bills at 2 cents / min.
Please please please listen to the parent poster. His is giving very good advice. Don't feel too intimidated or want to avoid the impression that you "want to make a fuss". Put on a professional and un-antagonistic front and be direct.
Save all email. This has saved me before a few times. Regularly back-up your email and upload it off-site or take it home. In some companies they won't let you know anything is wrong and then suddenly have security escort you off the premisis. You will not be able to recover anything from your work machine.
The BBC tells us, "[regarding the US election] A Gallup poll found that 51% of Americans were pleased with the outcome - exactly the same percentage that voted for Mr Bush."
I predict this if a union is not formed, 51% will be happy with the outcome.
As for Unionization moving jobs out of the country.
You raise a number of interesting points. I'm going to jot down a few comments in the hope it may be of interest.
Environmental safety standards = sure way to move jobs out of the country.
Bush certainly believes in this equation. This is why the USA is now the only major country left in the world (now Russia has signed up) not to be part of the Kyoto treaty despite being only 4% of the population yet producing 25% of the worlds pollution. However, the rate of people getting allergies and asthma has rocketed up. The toll on the health service will probably balance out what you've saved by poisoning people for a quick buck
Workplace safety standards = sure way to move jobs out of the country.
Different societies place different values on human life at different times. In the UK train crash last week, the company ruled out replacing all crossing with bridges as they've only a budget for $1.5m per potential life saved. I found this interesting story where to build a Canadian line they decided to outsource to Chinese labour as it was cheaper. Around 9% of the asian workforce were killed in its construction.
human (and worker) rights = sure way to move jobs out of the country.
This is what is happening in Germany. The big unions refused to give up any of their 'rights' and the entire economy went spiralling downwards and is now in a bad way. Unemployment is at a record high. It's fine if the economy can afford it. Eg in Sweden and Norway you get one year paternity for the mother and one month for the father on full salary.
abolishing child labour = sure way to move jobs out of the country.
Indeed. But as we take this seriously morally, there is a concerted effort to make this global to force a level playing-field. When corporations find loop-holes, wide-scale consumer boycotts (fortunately) fill the void. Ala "sweat shop" Nike.
Property Taxes = sure way to move jobs out of the country. Corporate taxes = sure way to move job out of the country.
They certainly do. As a result those countries with high corporate tax do lose thousands of jobs. The government then tries to lure back (or new) corporations by offering them millions in incentives (incentives, not bribes, incentives) by way of tax breaks and subsidies. The moment those run out the corporation then tells the government that unless they get more they will close the factory and tell the people it was the governments fault that thousands will lose their jobs. Probably better to lower the corporation tax in the first place and hit the money when they and try and take it out of the country.
Public healthcare = sure way to move jobs out of the country.
This tends to hit the employee in the pocket more than the employer.
paid lunchtime and bathroom breaks = sure way to move jobs out of the country.
I live in France where there is a maximum 35 hour working week. It was done to reduce unemployment by forcing companies to take on more part-time work. Unemployment has effectively gone up, but on paper unemployment (ie people "not working") has gone down. Hmmm.
minimum living wage = sure way to move jobs out of the country.
Indeed. This is why the UK has one foot in and one foot out of Europe. We consistently undercut the EU minimum wage and 'steal' jobs from abroad.
In response to your further comments, I would like to offer an alternate perspective from a totally unionised country (France). There is just as much exploitation here. This is because of the union attitude and the lack of capitalist skills: learning how to negotiate a salary, improving you career by joining another company at a higher position, being willing to move where a good job is, discussing salary with fellow employees, investing your own money in training yourself, etc.
You forgot to mention that due to Carnot's Law that the maximum theoretical efficiency that a steam turbine can convery oil to electricity is 40%. So you can divide your numbers by two and then some.
Phillip.
Obviously a M$ plot
on
Halo 2 Released
·
· Score: 0, Offtopic
Ho hum. Microsoft sink money into SCO who then launch legal action against Linux when it started to threaten Windows. They then sink money into Bungie who then release Halo 2 on the same day as the launch of Firefox 1.0 which now threatens IE. What other depths will they sink to trying to suppress the news of Open Source successes?
There are better places to live, and I believe I am now in one of them.
You do realise Finland has the highest suicide rate in Europe, and the 10th highest in the world? Where I live in the South of France there are always plenty of Finnish trying to escape the long dark evenings of back home. If you're young and don't mind roughing it a bit then a better option is to fly to France and get an Inter-rail pass which lets you travel around every European coutry as much as you like by train for one month (around $250 last time I looked). Make sure you take in coutries such as Spain, Italy, Holland, Czech, UK, etc. You are bound to fall in love with one of them.
What about diplomatic power, which is the way things really get done in the modern world, we're certainly not #1 in that category.
Yeah, the UN really gets things done. Phsst. The USA has installed democracies in Afghanistan and Iraq, halted nuclear programs in Iran and Libya, are the only country that North Korea want to talk to about nuclear disarmament, pressured terrorist-sympathising countries such as Syria and Pakistan to start rounding up terrorists, and have put old Europe in their place taking the wind out of their self-importance.
Most successful eh? I guess all of those countries with lower unemployment rates, longer life expectancies, and shorter work weeks are just green with envy.
All those countries? Maybe a few Scandinavian countries, which also have the highest taxes. America is the third largest country by population, and if you look at the average standard of living in those above (China and India) or any of the top dozen countries other than Japan, then I'd say the USA is doing pretty well by comparison.
Something they cannot do even today in Saudi Arabia, your "ally".
I was reading in the Economist many months ago that being able to have a base in Iraq would be a godsend for the USA as they would be able to quit Saudi, a regime they've never got on with.
But, why not apply the same reasoning to states like Pakistan and Saudi Arabia? Just because their leaders were shrewd enough to hoodwink Bush into thinking they're his "allies"??
Uh? Since when was Pakistan an "ally"? A truce has been called with them for political expediency as they share a major border with Afghanistan, but in no way are they an ally.
Everyone knows about Pakistan and their links to terrorism, hence their sporadic shows of arresting supposed terrorists occasionaly to try and appease the USA who are putting the squeeze on them. You may remember they got bribed into co-operation.
Sorry I stopped reading at this point. I tried using them as an alternative news source ages ago but they talk so much drivel. Anything interesting they may have to say is totally drowned out by extremists that call themselves 'activists' spouting either lies or flagrant misrepresentation. It's the news equivalent of Usenet. I'd rather wait for a real activist such as Mark Thomas or equivalent to dig out the gems from sites like Indymedia and actually back it up with research and evidence. Otherwise I'm just wasting my time.
The Patriot Act? What's that? Three-fourths of Americans say they know little or nothing about it. 58 percent say they've heard "nothing" or "not much" about it.
Educated people would says that three quarters of Americans say they know little or nothing.
A majority cannot make even a rough estimate of how many Americans soldiers have been killed in Iraq.
That would be "The majority" as you don't tend to get more than one.
Etc. You always have the elitist Democrats that believe your average American is too thick to vote. There are different kinds of intelligence though. Just because you don't have a couple of college degrees doesn't mean you can't tell when money is being put in or taken out of your pocket. You may have family in the armed forces which pushes you one way or the other. I disagree with your blatant Communist manifesto where only a few official party officials should have life and death rule over the plebescites.
Being English living in France, I'm going to get together with a Canadian friend and a few others and spend the morning drinking and watching the election. I've even caught the sense of excitement this side of the pond. Good luck to y'all which-ever way you're voting!
You know, I figure those ads keep Slashdot going, so I let them through.
There isn't anyone actually watching you (heh, that's what we want you to think). You can always knock up a bash script using wget and the url of a banner to pay for your sins to date.
If it was widely known that 95% of ads on Slashdot didn't make it to the screens of their intended audience, then advertisers wouldn't send their dollars here, ultimately making it really, really difficult for you to RTFA.
I think it's when Slashdot is actually up, their linking makes it difficult to RTFA.
I just wish that Americans were the same, but the shameful way that we Americans have treated the French has proven otherwise.
I live in the South of France, and the French have always described the Americans pretty much as scum. Since France stabbed them in the back on the issue of the Gulf War and the subsequent semi-boycott, the tourist industry here has been hurting quite badly. Streets that used to be full of partying yanks are now half-heartedly filled with Italians and Scandinavians. This has only upset the younger French males used to seducing young and very drunk (drinking age is 18 here compared to 21 in USA) American girls. Seriously, don't worry having French feelings on your conscience. They're really not bothered.
Man you have to change the drugs you're taking, they're serious downers. Your country still has good economic growth, the police action in Iraq has killed a thousand US and not a hundred thousand, the world hasn't turned against you (those that were already against you have only now shown their true colours), and saying all elected officials are universally corrupt simply isn't true. Things could be better. Things could be worse. You, on the other hand, could be writing PR back in 1999 for major IT companies. What can you do? It appears to me that lobby groups have more power than the politicians in the USA. Try setting up a US equivalent of stand.org.uk. Make your voice heard, and if they won't listen try and hit them where it hurts (in the pocket).
I am circumspect about Kerry, but I know for sure that we need rid of Bush more than anything else, and I am not even American. I live in the UK, but it is so clear now that the outcome of this election is going to play such a large role in politics in the UK (thanks Blair, you fucking asshat) and the rest of the world!
Of course thanks to Blair. We were better off with European Federalists such as Thatcher and Major. NOT. Maybe the UK would be better off with a French-loving Kerry? I doubt it. Blair got on well with Al Gore and wanted him to win but bit his tongue and worked on his relationship with Bush. I'm sure no matter who wins the UK prime minister will be one of the first in line to offer his congratulations.
bogie made the point above, "What good is all the development money in the world if nobody ever hears about your product?".
Your average user doesn't install Apache or IIS. Apache never had to break into the server market, it had a foothold at the start and grew rapidly as it matured at the same time as the market expanded. Even if someone created a new OS server it would be less of a hard sell as sys admins are a small select group who are paid to monitor these kind of developments.
If Microsoft see it as a threat... good. It may push them to fix their bloated and buggy browser. As for launching a counter-campaign against OS software... where have you been living the last couple of years? It's been in full swing for a while.
Much as a techie may want to pretend it doesn't exist, marketing is important for any product. So far it's been done by word of mouth. Raising its profile via the press, either by reviews or paid ads, it a good thing.
Finally, giving the money to the developers would be fraud. The donations were made specifically for the purpose of the ad. There is nothing to stop you doing your own fund-raising drive for the developers if you like.
Slashdot Mirror
However, finding an American with Symbian experience AND the fairly heavy C++ skills we demand is rare at best. We've been in touch with several engineers overseas (primarily in Europe), bu t we're finding that it's extremely difficult to get them into the country.
Excuse my naivety, but couldn't you: invite the best American C++ programmers you can find for an interview and give them a stack of books and a Symbian development kit. Tell them the person to return in a fortnight with the best result in a Symbian project you set them will get the job. Given some reference books and a project to do I've never failed to hit the ground running, and I've worked on from operating systems to enterprise CMSs.
Phillip.
That's why he still has a job: he's doing the work of 20 sysadmins.
Modded funny but people who can work smarter can get more done. I manage 1,200 web sites, including around 100 portals, each with their own search engines and customised quirks. I also manage data exports to around 30 portal partners whilst also developing the company intranet and extranet. Our company is very profitable as our rivals have departments of half a dozen people to do the job I do myself. On the down side, after two and a half years I'm leaving as I'm now VERY tired physically. Shame, as it was great fun.
Phillip.
I agree. I've been waiting months for Half Life 2, been researching the graphics card I'm going to get just for the game, but I'm now not going to buy it for a while. I've lost count of the number of times I've been locked out of CS through steam, sometimes for days at a time. I'll wait until a backlash makes them take out the online activation or until there is a reliable crack circulating around allowing me to access the game *when* I buy it.
:-(...).
One of the reasons Half Life took off was because you could install a friends copy on your machine to play multi-player (one key worked for two people on Internet or four people on a LAN). Once you were hooked you went out and bought a copy. I've bought two but I still use a friend's key as I've lost the CD cases (why don't they print the key on the CD?? I've got several hundred CDs back home and the empty cases get lost after the CD goes into the album. Before I think to write the key on with a marker pen
Phillip.
I agree with you completely on the GPL. From the perspective of anyone who depends on writing software to make a living, it is an especially obnoxious proprietary license.
There is nothing wrong with the GPL if it's used correctly. It is not the right license for the Lone Coder.
The GPL is great if working on a personal project and want to get other people involved. The GPL will reassure those that invest their time that the code isn't going to be 'taken away from them'.
The GPL is great if paid to write an internal company project that isn't core competatively. Others may contribute features and bug fixes which causes less headaches.
For the Lone Coder what you have to offer is your ideas and your time. If someone else wants to write a GPL version well that's competition. If they want to use your version then you offer a commercial license and demand a fee.
It differs from typical proprietary licenses only in that the "proprietor" hires anybody who wants to work for it, pays them absolutely nothing, dumps all its products on the market for free, and will refuse to sell you a license no matter how much you offer.
This is so wrong. Either they are hired or not paid, this is contradictory. If someone works for free and dumps their product on the market that is equivalent or better to what is available then this says something about the value of that good: it's now a commodity and writing a commercial version of it has had its day. Also I'd wager that the majority of small GPL projects (which is most of them) would be more than happy to dual-license you a commercial copy of their GPL software.
Add to that the growing sentiment I hear often of "it's not GPL so I'm not gonna use it", and competing with the GPL is like competing with Microsoft.
I agree and am in fact guilty of doing it myself. The problem is that there is so much good GPL software out there these days that I know if I look hard enough I will be able to find a version under the GPL. Shrink-wrap commercial software niches are growing smaller so you need to bring more to the table than just code (ie an expertise or knowledge wrapped up in some code).
Phillip.
Oh, I know this can piss off a bunch of people who are so concerned about those poor souls without Internet connection (ps. Netzero still has a 10 free hours/month deal), but the system rocks.
There are a large number of those without old-fashioned phone lines you know. Growing in fact, as mobile phones are approaching fixed line rates but with obvious extra benefits. Broadband requires not only a fixed line but also minimum one year contract so that's a non-option for many of my friends here who are renting.
I get incredibly frustrated when on broadband and Steam problems mean I can't place Counterstrike. If I also couldn't play the single-player version then I would be LIVID.
Phillip.
Let's see. On winamp.com the most popular skins in the past 30 days (random selection):
MMD3 13,068,873
Nucleo NLog v2G 7,168,089
Nucleo AlienMind 4,039,015
ZDL GOLD STACK 3,515,717
Pimeer v2-2 Ultime 1,844,601
And these are skins that I've never seen before and aren't even that good. Trust me, you are in a tiny minority. Even I go straight to the skins page after each re-install of winamp, and I don't really care that much about how it looks (though I try and find a skin that minimises the amount of screen real-estate it takes).
Phillip.
Fixing the film didn't seem to work well though - the holograms tended to start fading or something after a few days.
Possibly something to do with the film. I have a hologram I made when I was a kid (about 15 years ago) at a Uni open day and it still looked ok last time I looked at it not that long ago. Done on car inner tubes, similar to your set-up, can't remember the laser type. It's not done in any schools in the UK afaik. The idea is to NOT make science interesting (just in case someone considers making it a career). If I'd followed my studies instead of my parents, there is no way I would be in science today.
Phillip.
That's why I'm not sure I'll shell out the $99 for this kit for Christmas. I just don't think they'll like it as much as the [Select Kid, Present from WishList where Price < 100] they've been asking for.
Sorry but that's really sad. As a parent you are supposed to (imho, not being a parent myself, and usual disclaimers) be inspiring your children, not letting yourself be brainwashed by commercials or submitting to blackmail by your kids (when under 10 your long term vision isn't quite what it could be). I was disappointed and bemused when my dad got me a crystal radio set when I was well before my teens, but after soldering all the bits together and (vaguely) picking up that broadcast I went on to a successful career in computing after going to do a couple of degrees in engineering. It completely changed my life.
Things are so much more interesting when you discover them or create them, as opposed to when pushed in front of your face (let's face it, when compared with Hollywood special effects it's rather difficult to be impressed these days). In fact, why not combine the two? Get a cheap trendy action figure and then use that to make the hologram?
Phillip.
In France we have a cable company called free.fr. For around $20/month, from one box you get 10MB/s Internet, dozens of TV channels, and free land-line calls across the entire of the country (calling both VoIP and normal fixed lines) using any off-the shelf phone which you can plug in. Calling internationally bills at 2 cents / min.
:-(
The UK are lagging behind, BT offering free calls nationally including fixed-line but using their crappy software and a computer mike/speaker
Phillip.
Please please please listen to the parent poster. His is giving very good advice. Don't feel too intimidated or want to avoid the impression that you "want to make a fuss". Put on a professional and un-antagonistic front and be direct.
Save all email. This has saved me before a few times. Regularly back-up your email and upload it off-site or take it home. In some companies they won't let you know anything is wrong and then suddenly have security escort you off the premisis. You will not be able to recover anything from your work machine.
Phillip.
The responses so far
So quit! --- 51%
Unionize! --- 48%
Odd... I've seen those numbers somewhere before.
The BBC tells us, "[regarding the US election] A Gallup poll found that 51% of Americans were pleased with the outcome - exactly the same percentage that voted for Mr Bush."
I predict this if a union is not formed, 51% will be happy with the outcome.
Phillip.
As for Unionization moving jobs out of the country.
You raise a number of interesting points. I'm going to jot down a few comments in the hope it may be of interest.
Environmental safety standards = sure way to move jobs out of the country.
Bush certainly believes in this equation. This is why the USA is now the only major country left in the world (now Russia has signed up) not to be part of the Kyoto treaty despite being only 4% of the population yet producing 25% of the worlds pollution. However, the rate of people getting allergies and asthma has rocketed up. The toll on the health service will probably balance out what you've saved by poisoning people for a quick buck
Workplace safety standards = sure way to move jobs out of the country.
Different societies place different values on human life at different times. In the UK train crash last week, the company ruled out replacing all crossing with bridges as they've only a budget for $1.5m per potential life saved. I found this interesting story where to build a Canadian line they decided to outsource to Chinese labour as it was cheaper. Around 9% of the asian workforce were killed in its construction.
human (and worker) rights = sure way to move jobs out of the country.
This is what is happening in Germany. The big unions refused to give up any of their 'rights' and the entire economy went spiralling downwards and is now in a bad way. Unemployment is at a record high. It's fine if the economy can afford it. Eg in Sweden and Norway you get one year paternity for the mother and one month for the father on full salary.
abolishing child labour = sure way to move jobs out of the country.
Indeed. But as we take this seriously morally, there is a concerted effort to make this global to force a level playing-field. When corporations find loop-holes, wide-scale consumer boycotts (fortunately) fill the void. Ala "sweat shop" Nike.
Property Taxes = sure way to move jobs out of the country.
Corporate taxes = sure way to move job out of the country.
They certainly do. As a result those countries with high corporate tax do lose thousands of jobs. The government then tries to lure back (or new) corporations by offering them millions in incentives (incentives, not bribes, incentives) by way of tax breaks and subsidies. The moment those run out the corporation then tells the government that unless they get more they will close the factory and tell the people it was the governments fault that thousands will lose their jobs. Probably better to lower the corporation tax in the first place and hit the money when they and try and take it out of the country.
Public healthcare = sure way to move jobs out of the country.
This tends to hit the employee in the pocket more than the employer.
paid lunchtime and bathroom breaks = sure way to move jobs out of the country.
I live in France where there is a maximum 35 hour working week. It was done to reduce unemployment by forcing companies to take on more part-time work. Unemployment has effectively gone up, but on paper unemployment (ie people "not working") has gone down. Hmmm.
minimum living wage = sure way to move jobs out of the country.
Indeed. This is why the UK has one foot in and one foot out of Europe. We consistently undercut the EU minimum wage and 'steal' jobs from abroad.
In response to your further comments, I would like to offer an alternate perspective from a totally unionised country (France). There is just as much exploitation here. This is because of the union attitude and the lack of capitalist skills: learning how to negotiate a salary, improving you career by joining another company at a higher position, being willing to move where a good job is, discussing salary with fellow employees, investing your own money in training yourself, etc.
You forgot to mention that due to Carnot's Law that the maximum theoretical efficiency that a steam turbine can convery oil to electricity is 40%. So you can divide your numbers by two and then some.
Phillip.
Ho hum. Microsoft sink money into SCO who then launch legal action against Linux when it started to threaten Windows. They then sink money into Bungie who then release Halo 2 on the same day as the launch of Firefox 1.0 which now threatens IE. What other depths will they sink to trying to suppress the news of Open Source successes?
:-D
Phillip.
PS
So all terrorists need to do is set up one of those obstacle wire things from the accessory store, right?
Not even that. Just run up some steps. Exteeeerminaaaate....
Phillip.
There are better places to live, and I believe I am now in one of them.
You do realise Finland has the highest suicide rate in Europe, and the 10th highest in the world? Where I live in the South of France there are always plenty of Finnish trying to escape the long dark evenings of back home. If you're young and don't mind roughing it a bit then a better option is to fly to France and get an Inter-rail pass which lets you travel around every European coutry as much as you like by train for one month (around $250 last time I looked). Make sure you take in coutries such as Spain, Italy, Holland, Czech, UK, etc. You are bound to fall in love with one of them.
Phillip.
What about diplomatic power, which is the way things really get done in the modern world, we're certainly not #1 in that category.
Yeah, the UN really gets things done. Phsst. The USA has installed democracies in Afghanistan and Iraq, halted nuclear programs in Iran and Libya, are the only country that North Korea want to talk to about nuclear disarmament, pressured terrorist-sympathising countries such as Syria and Pakistan to start rounding up terrorists, and have put old Europe in their place taking the wind out of their self-importance.
Most successful eh? I guess all of those countries with lower unemployment rates, longer life expectancies, and shorter work weeks are just green with envy.
All those countries? Maybe a few Scandinavian countries, which also have the highest taxes. America is the third largest country by population, and if you look at the average standard of living in those above (China and India) or any of the top dozen countries other than Japan, then I'd say the USA is doing pretty well by comparison.
Phillip.
Something they cannot do even today in Saudi Arabia, your "ally".
I was reading in the Economist many months ago that being able to have a base in Iraq would be a godsend for the USA as they would be able to quit Saudi, a regime they've never got on with.
But, why not apply the same reasoning to states like Pakistan and Saudi Arabia? Just because their leaders were shrewd enough to hoodwink Bush into thinking they're his "allies"??
Uh? Since when was Pakistan an "ally"? A truce has been called with them for political expediency as they share a major border with Afghanistan, but in no way are they an ally.
Everyone knows about Pakistan and their links to terrorism, hence their sporadic shows of arresting supposed terrorists occasionaly to try and appease the USA who are putting the squeeze on them. You may remember they got bribed into co-operation.
[snip rubbish fable and racist abuse]
Phillip.
Read more about it in this Indimedia article
Sorry I stopped reading at this point. I tried using them as an alternative news source ages ago but they talk so much drivel. Anything interesting they may have to say is totally drowned out by extremists that call themselves 'activists' spouting either lies or flagrant misrepresentation. It's the news equivalent of Usenet. I'd rather wait for a real activist such as Mark Thomas or equivalent to dig out the gems from sites like Indymedia and actually back it up with research and evidence. Otherwise I'm just wasting my time.
Phillip.
The Patriot Act? What's that? Three-fourths of Americans say they know little or nothing about it. 58 percent say they've heard "nothing" or "not much" about it.
Educated people would says that three quarters of Americans say they know little or nothing.
A majority cannot make even a rough estimate of how many Americans soldiers have been killed in Iraq.
That would be "The majority" as you don't tend to get more than one.
Etc. You always have the elitist Democrats that believe your average American is too thick to vote. There are different kinds of intelligence though. Just because you don't have a couple of college degrees doesn't mean you can't tell when money is being put in or taken out of your pocket. You may have family in the armed forces which pushes you one way or the other. I disagree with your blatant Communist manifesto where only a few official party officials should have life and death rule over the plebescites.
Being English living in France, I'm going to get together with a Canadian friend and a few others and spend the morning drinking and watching the election. I've even caught the sense of excitement this side of the pond. Good luck to y'all which-ever way you're voting!
Phillip.
You know, I figure those ads keep Slashdot going, so I let them through.
There isn't anyone actually watching you (heh, that's what we want you to think). You can always knock up a bash script using wget and the url of a banner to pay for your sins to date.
If it was widely known that 95% of ads on Slashdot didn't make it to the screens of their intended audience, then advertisers wouldn't send their dollars here, ultimately making it really, really difficult for you to RTFA.
I think it's when Slashdot is actually up, their linking makes it difficult to RTFA.
Phillip.
I just wish that Americans were the same, but the shameful way that we Americans have treated the French has proven otherwise.
I live in the South of France, and the French have always described the Americans pretty much as scum. Since France stabbed them in the back on the issue of the Gulf War and the subsequent semi-boycott, the tourist industry here has been hurting quite badly. Streets that used to be full of partying yanks are now half-heartedly filled with Italians and Scandinavians. This has only upset the younger French males used to seducing young and very drunk (drinking age is 18 here compared to 21 in USA) American girls. Seriously, don't worry having French feelings on your conscience. They're really not bothered.
Phillip.
Man you have to change the drugs you're taking, they're serious downers. Your country still has good economic growth, the police action in Iraq has killed a thousand US and not a hundred thousand, the world hasn't turned against you (those that were already against you have only now shown their true colours), and saying all elected officials are universally corrupt simply isn't true. Things could be better. Things could be worse. You, on the other hand, could be writing PR back in 1999 for major IT companies. What can you do? It appears to me that lobby groups have more power than the politicians in the USA. Try setting up a US equivalent of stand.org.uk. Make your voice heard, and if they won't listen try and hit them where it hurts (in the pocket).
Phillip.
I am circumspect about Kerry, but I know for sure that we need rid of Bush more than anything else, and I am not even American. I live in the UK, but it is so clear now that the outcome of this election is going to play such a large role in politics in the UK (thanks Blair, you fucking asshat) and the rest of the world!
Of course thanks to Blair. We were better off with European Federalists such as Thatcher and Major. NOT. Maybe the UK would be better off with a French-loving Kerry? I doubt it. Blair got on well with Al Gore and wanted him to win but bit his tongue and worked on his relationship with Bush. I'm sure no matter who wins the UK prime minister will be one of the first in line to offer his congratulations.
Phillip.
bogie made the point above, "What good is all the development money in the world if nobody ever hears about your product?".
Your average user doesn't install Apache or IIS. Apache never had to break into the server market, it had a foothold at the start and grew rapidly as it matured at the same time as the market expanded. Even if someone created a new OS server it would be less of a hard sell as sys admins are a small select group who are paid to monitor these kind of developments.
If Microsoft see it as a threat... good. It may push them to fix their bloated and buggy browser. As for launching a counter-campaign against OS software... where have you been living the last couple of years? It's been in full swing for a while.
Much as a techie may want to pretend it doesn't exist, marketing is important for any product. So far it's been done by word of mouth. Raising its profile via the press, either by reviews or paid ads, it a good thing.
Finally, giving the money to the developers would be fraud. The donations were made specifically for the purpose of the ad. There is nothing to stop you doing your own fund-raising drive for the developers if you like.
Phillip.