I've been using and contributing to OSS/Linux for over 20 years, do you think I don't get this? The problem is that while there is indeed a place for all kinds of niches that is not what actually happens, and the way it does happen is not efficient nor design minded. What I have been a proponent of since the beginning is a *foundation* which is the kernel AND a base set of the most common utilities and apps but no more. These would all be just ONE application/util per function. They would be the most mature and well designed. This is the base Linux and a solid foundation to then let be taken in any direction desired for any and every niche and project. That core functionality and base though would give everyone as well as outside publishers something stable to target. It would also draw some great talent to those core projects because everyone would want to be a part of the action. This is how the kernel has been handled for those same 20-odd years and it would be a damn disaster if not for a board with a vision and this kind of approach. Why everyone thinks it only works for the kernel and nothing else mystifies me. Sure individual projects can also be run this way, but again you lose the cohesion. I get that it is a polarizing topic and that you and others may not agree, but I have watched this go on and on with no actual progress for longer than many Linux users have been alive.
Well, I sure as hell would hope that after 2.3+ million years Linux would finally have some great design. I guess that makes my 21+ years waiting seem minor in comparison.
My biggest problem is the complete lack of actual class and design and refinement with most open source projects. They are all done by techie, mostly youngish males, without any sense of design or art. I mean, a pizza cutter? Really? Seriously, this is the kind of thing that has bugged me since the early 90s with Linux and it just never gets better. With a unified vision and goal look at where OSX was able to come in relatively short order while Linux still flounders around creating 200 desktop environments instead of one or two good ones. This is where the bazaar and the cathedral concept fails, sometimes chaos really does just fall short.
Nope. I guarantee that you cannot pass a reaction time test anywhere near the without the phone/distraction time. I have actually run this experiment for a university study. They even hand-picked people with incredibly fast reaction times as well as so-called exceptional multi-taskers, none were even close. Multi-tasking is a lie, it is just distraction. Some people can switch from task to task better than others but we are still essentially single-threaded aside from the most basic functions.
Anyone that can pass a safe driver exam as well as a reaction time test *while* texting or talking on a cell phone should get an exemption. Exactly ZERO people would have exemptions.
For a point and shoot I personally feel that the Panasonic TZ series is all the camera most people need. My mother is a skilled photographer and this is her carry everywhere camera and her shots often rival most of her DSLR shots, even some macro work.
Otherwise buy a Pentax, Canon, or Nikon DSLR, used even, and in the most basic range megapixel-wise even a year or two old model that can be had for a steal will outpace most point and shoots and allow you to learn and grow if you choose.
4/3rds cameras are decent but I've not seen enough to make the extra cost worth it to not go the TZ.
I never claimed all of his ideas were great or successes, but I think he ranks a bit higher than Hitler. Look at Microsoft without any such vision or passion, they've stagnated and trundled along. Without someone like SJ envelopes don't get pushed except for disruptive technologies which are just an effort to steal market or cash in for the company, I like to see risks and chances and design and art enter into our lives wherever possible. Business is too boring and purely profit driven at every turn.
Sure, but that idealism is lost in most businesses and it can be positive and negative, no one is saying SJ only made great stuff and had amazing ideas. Look at the dock though and how it became disruptive and integrated into everything else, it wasn't even his idea but they did a good job of integrating it and made it what it is. Coverflow, pinch zoom, app tiles, etc. have become standards on every touch device. Or simple things like aesthetics, no one cared before but now every product that comes out at least has some basic thought or effort on design.
You can nitpick, but you know what I am saying. There are not many people like this in tech or in business today that will tenaciously stick to an ideal, right or wrong. Everyone is more apt to cut corners or increase the bottom line. Look at Microsoft, a perfect example, they had something truly buzzworthy with the Courier and they killed it off internally over nothing. They have stagnated, their shareholders aren't happy, they don't have decisive leadership or vision... that isn't what drives innovation.
Steve wasn't the greatest engineer, designer, or technologist but what he did do was think of what he saw as perfection and not waiver from it. This is the one thing I think all of us in tech really lost with his passing. Not even that what he came up with was always the best but the fact that he did dare to dream and then force it to fruition. So much of what we use and do came from his efforts even if they were taken or altered/improved upon.
That is a very impossible thing to pass on or keep going by someone else and I really hope we don't begin a period of stagnation and minor iterative changes or updates because we seriously all lose. Linux, MS, or Mac user.
Socialism is a great thing for many areas of daily civilized life, I can't see how anyone would attack this notion except out of sheer ignorance. Roads, infrastructure, education, emergency systems, space, healthcare, etc. (I would say basic food, shelter, and clothing as well personally, and the arts.) Why we think these things need to be privatized or that they would somehow flourish if they were is beyond me. Anyone that has worked in private industry sees the incompetence, waste, and greed... why in the hell they would want this to be in charge of their well-being or advancement as a society when they see it fail at building widgets is beyond me. It has its place too but not in obviously non-profitable or explorative ventures with no direct gains.
We will never learn from history or our mistakes and we are doomed to repeat them over and over again.
I think you are seriously confused or are entirely misunderstanding what I am saying. Either way I have zero interest in Internet fighting. I'd suggest you look into alternative/hybrid drivetrains pertaining to electric motors and vehicles, commonly used in many train applications (many electric) as well which you seem to think irrelevant.
Well, they managed to figure it out over 100+ years ago and, no, a transmission as found in every modern car is not needed, it is a legacy item. http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/jay-leno/vintage/4215940 There are so many options and ways to do away with many legacy parts not just the transmissions. And since you wanted to show off and be a smart-ass... I have worked on the bullet trains (Shinkansen) as well as some of the most advanced commuter rail cars in the US. So thanks, have a nice day.
My idea has always been that your license plate should be your phone number. That way people might be less apt to be complete asshats while driving since you could actually contact them directly. Wishful thinking.
What I would love to see worked on instead of more distractions than phones already are is some effort put into doing away with transmissions entirely. They are not needed any more with hybrids and electric motors there should be 1-2 motors directly to the wheels on a normal FWD/RWD and 2-4 on an AWD/4WD. Done. A massive reduction in weight, manufacturing, source of failure, etc. I refuse to buy an electric/hybrid car until this happens.
I have not bought a stamp or used one in over 10 years (aside from wedding invites that I didn't buy the stamps for), however, I use eBay and Paypal and buy sell things all the time and I spend WAY more on that stuff than all of the stamps my parents used to use in a month combined. A lot of people I know do as well. Unless their margins are terrible there (which I cannot believe as it cost me $30 to send a small mixer to NJ from PA last week the cheapest way) but even if they are they need to re-align their business to focus on this side of things. They are the default on eBay and with everything bought and sold there and online in general I can't see how they are hurting.
No, not at all. I was young but skilled and introduced a lot of new things into their infrastructure that they loved and really helped the company as a whole and it was met with real respect. They respected every single worker regardless of position and it was a totally different environment and vibe than any American company I have worked for. The only times were when it was the president or a very Sr. person and it was more of a cultural respect/bows/etc. but honestly that isn't much different than how most people act around any president or top guy.
I worked for a Japanese company and honestly it was the most refreshing and well run business environment I was ever in. No standard B.S. corporate politics and games, real respect, and REAL work intensity and demands which was actually a good thing because of the distinct lack of the usual crap.
And that is a problem, I started in IT professionally at 15 years old and even I would not have been a capable manager at 20 or even through most of my 20's. I would have thought so at the time, but I would have been wrong. That would have given me an extra 3-6 years experience even on the average 20-something. The problem is that there would be almost no truly capable 20-something managers.
I'm 31, have 16 years of experience in professional IT work, and manage workers 5 years away from retirement as well as young 20-somethings. No problem. They respect me because I know my shit and get results every time and I have personally done their jobs at one time or another.
The key is actually knowing what you are doing and actually doing it. I keep up on tech and new trends and stay current and relevant and will continue to do so if I stay in IT for the rest of my career. Age really has no factor except in the many cases where people simply stagnate and fall so far behind willingly that they are not marketable and really shouldn't be.
That isn't true though, people will still give information even in the face of real and certain danger. Look at the people the willingly do so in the face of some of the deadliest regimes. We have made this whole system up and its importance. There will always be whistleblowers and those that will stand up and if the information surrounding it is out there they are much more likely to get support than to be in danger.
Agreed. Fully. But if the information wasn't important or critical then it would be open and free and it isn't, it is very critical even if you may think not and even if the average person right now doesn't get it or is too blind to see or apathetic to act. Eventually it will happen, and the more information is out there, the sooner it will happen instead of later.
Information is the most powerful aspect of modern life. Look through history and you will see time after time where knowledge and information (or lack thereof) is used to lord over people, keep them in servitude, keep the populace under control, propaganda, lies, misinformation, etc. North Korea, China, the US... those are right now and only a few instances.
What you think is meaningless or insignificant matters fuck all, some may find it extremely relevant or important... same for what I find important or unimportant. There should be no barriers or secrets or hidden/classified information. That is actually far more dangerous than having the information out there. That is what causes wars and perpetuates them, and we have seen this first-hand in our lifetimes multiple times and right now even. It is what allows dictators to rule. It serves no purpose to any citizen and has no benefit to the people, it does to those in power or the corrupt. Why anyone would NOT want information to be free and open is unconscionable to me. It smacks of ignorance and a true failure in understanding history and not just history but the current world and current time we are actually living in!
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I've been using and contributing to OSS/Linux for over 20 years, do you think I don't get this? The problem is that while there is indeed a place for all kinds of niches that is not what actually happens, and the way it does happen is not efficient nor design minded. What I have been a proponent of since the beginning is a *foundation* which is the kernel AND a base set of the most common utilities and apps but no more. These would all be just ONE application/util per function. They would be the most mature and well designed. This is the base Linux and a solid foundation to then let be taken in any direction desired for any and every niche and project. That core functionality and base though would give everyone as well as outside publishers something stable to target. It would also draw some great talent to those core projects because everyone would want to be a part of the action. This is how the kernel has been handled for those same 20-odd years and it would be a damn disaster if not for a board with a vision and this kind of approach. Why everyone thinks it only works for the kernel and nothing else mystifies me. Sure individual projects can also be run this way, but again you lose the cohesion. I get that it is a polarizing topic and that you and others may not agree, but I have watched this go on and on with no actual progress for longer than many Linux users have been alive.
Well, I sure as hell would hope that after 2.3+ million years Linux would finally have some great design. I guess that makes my 21+ years waiting seem minor in comparison.
My biggest problem is the complete lack of actual class and design and refinement with most open source projects. They are all done by techie, mostly youngish males, without any sense of design or art. I mean, a pizza cutter? Really? Seriously, this is the kind of thing that has bugged me since the early 90s with Linux and it just never gets better. With a unified vision and goal look at where OSX was able to come in relatively short order while Linux still flounders around creating 200 desktop environments instead of one or two good ones. This is where the bazaar and the cathedral concept fails, sometimes chaos really does just fall short.
Nope. I guarantee that you cannot pass a reaction time test anywhere near the without the phone/distraction time. I have actually run this experiment for a university study. They even hand-picked people with incredibly fast reaction times as well as so-called exceptional multi-taskers, none were even close. Multi-tasking is a lie, it is just distraction. Some people can switch from task to task better than others but we are still essentially single-threaded aside from the most basic functions.
Anyone that can pass a safe driver exam as well as a reaction time test *while* texting or talking on a cell phone should get an exemption. Exactly ZERO people would have exemptions.
For a point and shoot I personally feel that the Panasonic TZ series is all the camera most people need. My mother is a skilled photographer and this is her carry everywhere camera and her shots often rival most of her DSLR shots, even some macro work.
Otherwise buy a Pentax, Canon, or Nikon DSLR, used even, and in the most basic range megapixel-wise even a year or two old model that can be had for a steal will outpace most point and shoots and allow you to learn and grow if you choose.
4/3rds cameras are decent but I've not seen enough to make the extra cost worth it to not go the TZ.
I never claimed all of his ideas were great or successes, but I think he ranks a bit higher than Hitler. Look at Microsoft without any such vision or passion, they've stagnated and trundled along. Without someone like SJ envelopes don't get pushed except for disruptive technologies which are just an effort to steal market or cash in for the company, I like to see risks and chances and design and art enter into our lives wherever possible. Business is too boring and purely profit driven at every turn.
Actually he was. Not the best by a long shot, but he had some chops.
Sure, but that idealism is lost in most businesses and it can be positive and negative, no one is saying SJ only made great stuff and had amazing ideas. Look at the dock though and how it became disruptive and integrated into everything else, it wasn't even his idea but they did a good job of integrating it and made it what it is. Coverflow, pinch zoom, app tiles, etc. have become standards on every touch device. Or simple things like aesthetics, no one cared before but now every product that comes out at least has some basic thought or effort on design.
You can nitpick, but you know what I am saying. There are not many people like this in tech or in business today that will tenaciously stick to an ideal, right or wrong. Everyone is more apt to cut corners or increase the bottom line. Look at Microsoft, a perfect example, they had something truly buzzworthy with the Courier and they killed it off internally over nothing. They have stagnated, their shareholders aren't happy, they don't have decisive leadership or vision... that isn't what drives innovation.
I actually don't own any Apple devices aside from an iPod Touch. So, no.
Steve wasn't the greatest engineer, designer, or technologist but what he did do was think of what he saw as perfection and not waiver from it. This is the one thing I think all of us in tech really lost with his passing. Not even that what he came up with was always the best but the fact that he did dare to dream and then force it to fruition. So much of what we use and do came from his efforts even if they were taken or altered/improved upon.
That is a very impossible thing to pass on or keep going by someone else and I really hope we don't begin a period of stagnation and minor iterative changes or updates because we seriously all lose. Linux, MS, or Mac user.
Socialism is a great thing for many areas of daily civilized life, I can't see how anyone would attack this notion except out of sheer ignorance. Roads, infrastructure, education, emergency systems, space, healthcare, etc. (I would say basic food, shelter, and clothing as well personally, and the arts.) Why we think these things need to be privatized or that they would somehow flourish if they were is beyond me. Anyone that has worked in private industry sees the incompetence, waste, and greed... why in the hell they would want this to be in charge of their well-being or advancement as a society when they see it fail at building widgets is beyond me. It has its place too but not in obviously non-profitable or explorative ventures with no direct gains.
We will never learn from history or our mistakes and we are doomed to repeat them over and over again.
I think you are seriously confused or are entirely misunderstanding what I am saying. Either way I have zero interest in Internet fighting. I'd suggest you look into alternative/hybrid drivetrains pertaining to electric motors and vehicles, commonly used in many train applications (many electric) as well which you seem to think irrelevant.
Well, they managed to figure it out over 100+ years ago and, no, a transmission as found in every modern car is not needed, it is a legacy item. http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/jay-leno/vintage/4215940 There are so many options and ways to do away with many legacy parts not just the transmissions. And since you wanted to show off and be a smart-ass... I have worked on the bullet trains (Shinkansen) as well as some of the most advanced commuter rail cars in the US. So thanks, have a nice day.
My idea has always been that your license plate should be your phone number. That way people might be less apt to be complete asshats while driving since you could actually contact them directly. Wishful thinking.
What I would love to see worked on instead of more distractions than phones already are is some effort put into doing away with transmissions entirely. They are not needed any more with hybrids and electric motors there should be 1-2 motors directly to the wheels on a normal FWD/RWD and 2-4 on an AWD/4WD. Done. A massive reduction in weight, manufacturing, source of failure, etc. I refuse to buy an electric/hybrid car until this happens.
I have not bought a stamp or used one in over 10 years (aside from wedding invites that I didn't buy the stamps for), however, I use eBay and Paypal and buy sell things all the time and I spend WAY more on that stuff than all of the stamps my parents used to use in a month combined. A lot of people I know do as well. Unless their margins are terrible there (which I cannot believe as it cost me $30 to send a small mixer to NJ from PA last week the cheapest way) but even if they are they need to re-align their business to focus on this side of things. They are the default on eBay and with everything bought and sold there and online in general I can't see how they are hurting.
No, not at all. I was young but skilled and introduced a lot of new things into their infrastructure that they loved and really helped the company as a whole and it was met with real respect. They respected every single worker regardless of position and it was a totally different environment and vibe than any American company I have worked for. The only times were when it was the president or a very Sr. person and it was more of a cultural respect/bows/etc. but honestly that isn't much different than how most people act around any president or top guy.
Thank the H1-B Visa situation for that. It is a real and serious issue in many places. BRIC will be taking over slowly but steadily.
I worked for a Japanese company and honestly it was the most refreshing and well run business environment I was ever in. No standard B.S. corporate politics and games, real respect, and REAL work intensity and demands which was actually a good thing because of the distinct lack of the usual crap.
And that is a problem, I started in IT professionally at 15 years old and even I would not have been a capable manager at 20 or even through most of my 20's. I would have thought so at the time, but I would have been wrong. That would have given me an extra 3-6 years experience even on the average 20-something. The problem is that there would be almost no truly capable 20-something managers.
I'm 31, have 16 years of experience in professional IT work, and manage workers 5 years away from retirement as well as young 20-somethings. No problem. They respect me because I know my shit and get results every time and I have personally done their jobs at one time or another.
The key is actually knowing what you are doing and actually doing it. I keep up on tech and new trends and stay current and relevant and will continue to do so if I stay in IT for the rest of my career. Age really has no factor except in the many cases where people simply stagnate and fall so far behind willingly that they are not marketable and really shouldn't be.
That isn't true though, people will still give information even in the face of real and certain danger. Look at the people the willingly do so in the face of some of the deadliest regimes. We have made this whole system up and its importance. There will always be whistleblowers and those that will stand up and if the information surrounding it is out there they are much more likely to get support than to be in danger.
Agreed. Fully. But if the information wasn't important or critical then it would be open and free and it isn't, it is very critical even if you may think not and even if the average person right now doesn't get it or is too blind to see or apathetic to act. Eventually it will happen, and the more information is out there, the sooner it will happen instead of later.
Information is the most powerful aspect of modern life. Look through history and you will see time after time where knowledge and information (or lack thereof) is used to lord over people, keep them in servitude, keep the populace under control, propaganda, lies, misinformation, etc. North Korea, China, the US... those are right now and only a few instances.
What you think is meaningless or insignificant matters fuck all, some may find it extremely relevant or important... same for what I find important or unimportant. There should be no barriers or secrets or hidden/classified information. That is actually far more dangerous than having the information out there. That is what causes wars and perpetuates them, and we have seen this first-hand in our lifetimes multiple times and right now even. It is what allows dictators to rule. It serves no purpose to any citizen and has no benefit to the people, it does to those in power or the corrupt. Why anyone would NOT want information to be free and open is unconscionable to me. It smacks of ignorance and a true failure in understanding history and not just history but the current world and current time we are actually living in!