1/4 of the price, eh? That's pretty lucky! The best I've seen/heard at local (Washington, D.C.) auctions has been around 1/2 retail price.
You have a good point on the adjustments. At the same job, several people were less-than-thrilled with the Aerons, and I suspect that they either didn't sit in them enough (non-coders), or didn't take the time to set the chair up correctly for their body/posture.
Aerons are quite nice, especially if you get the "fully featured" ones. I used one for about a year at one job, and now even 4 years later, I still long for an Aeron. It's not like they're going to massage you while you sit there, but they are quite comfortable, and since the "fabric" has lots of holes in it, they keep you cooler than a standard chair does.
I think he has a good point. If someone forks a product and is able to (nearly) instantly distribute it to 90% of the worlds' desktops, now all the other forks will need to play catch-up to be taken seriously by "consumers." Just because there are better forks to Product X doesn't mean they get more use than the ubiquitous Product X-a.
I for one don't give a crap if there is an open implementation of Java, given the current process at which Java is advanced. I'm a Java programmer, does that make a difference? I dunno.
BTW, DisneyQuest entry is included with the "Ultimate Park Hopper" passes. Not only are there lots of new and crazy games there, but they also have a "classics" floor with enough games to make me misty-eyed (Mr. Do!!!). On top of that, there are artsy "games" where the kids can paint animated scenes, digitally alter self-portraits, and all sorts of other stuff. There's even an area with air hockey tables... Next time we go, I'm making sure the wife and kids are prepared for a long DisneyQuest session!
I have two kids, and I spend a fair amount of time helping them build stuff with Legos. They are pretty young still, and I've pushed them into the legos we all know and love... but they can't quite get them to snap yet:)
Of course, I still have all my old Space and Castle sets from back in the day... they dig those too (who wouldn't?!).
The point was that you were giving someone shit about being locked into a particular OS or two when purchasing x86 hardware. Just like with any reasonable architecture, you have more choices than most people think. Of course, the possibilities have differing levels of support and usefulness, but if you're talking about such things, you're basically locked into 3-4 OSes regardless of your architecture, anyway!
I can't tell, are you just trolling? If so, I'll bite. Without competition, there is stagnation.
Little-to-no innovation occurs without competition. For example, if every piece of hardware had its specs "fully disclosed," then the advantage of having spent the time to create some new feature in order to sell more units disappears. Now everyone can look at the specs and do the exact same thing, without spending any R&D money. The market stagnates, because no one wants to be the one to spend the R&D money for the benefit of everyone...
The other option is to become completely communal, but given human nature and the general failures of large-scale communism, that doesn't quite work, does it?
Get a security clearance and get a job working for Uncle Sam, or whoever. Sure, sometimes government work sucks, but you can be fairly certain that your clearance-required job isn't going to go offshore!
But... what are you doing stepping through STL code?! That stuff is supposed to be hidden back in the darkest corner of the loneliest closet in the basement! It's been known to cause blindness in the weak-minded:-)
For reference, I have about 12 yrs experience writing C++ code, and have used several other languages. And for the most part, I agree with you.
In my experience, the dominant problem is your #2-labelled issue. I've been on too many projects where management has an ultra-vague idea of what they want, and they end up, like I said before, with huge amounts of back-and-forth between themselves and the programming team.
I agree, though, that the problem you labelled as #1 is out there, and that outsourcing would be a nice push toward fixing that problem.
Have you ever worked in software engineering? "We want software that does x" is NEVER that simple. There will always be lots of back and forth between those who want the software written, and those who are writing it.
How many desktop users run services that need to be open to the 'net? Just because they are stupid enough to use Outlook for the majority of the rest of the real problems on XP doesn't mean XP is bad.
If you are an average user, and you are on an always-on, unlimited connection (read: no port blocking on the ISP end), you need to be using a firewall of some sort. Like I said before, I run linux at home, and I still have a hardware firewall between me and the world.
Amen. Linux is libre, but it's only gratis if your time is worth nothing.
Granted, WinXP might cause a few headaches here and there as well, but in my experience, the only XP headaches I've had to deal with have been caused by bad drivers from 3rd party software vendors. And guess what? Those vendors don't support linux! And if they did, should I expect trouble-free linux drivers? Only if they want to become open-source software support shops, which I'm sure they don't.
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1/4 of the price, eh? That's pretty lucky! The best I've seen/heard at local (Washington, D.C.) auctions has been around 1/2 retail price.
You have a good point on the adjustments. At the same job, several people were less-than-thrilled with the Aerons, and I suspect that they either didn't sit in them enough (non-coders), or didn't take the time to set the chair up correctly for their body/posture.
Aerons are quite nice, especially if you get the "fully featured" ones. I used one for about a year at one job, and now even 4 years later, I still long for an Aeron. It's not like they're going to massage you while you sit there, but they are quite comfortable, and since the "fabric" has lots of holes in it, they keep you cooler than a standard chair does.
This is the funniest /. post I've read in months. There should be a Hall of Fame for posts like this.
Thanks!
Or we could just say it's an "Independent."
DVDs are part of the payment they receive from the MPAA!
I think he has a good point. If someone forks a product and is able to (nearly) instantly distribute it to 90% of the worlds' desktops, now all the other forks will need to play catch-up to be taken seriously by "consumers." Just because there are better forks to Product X doesn't mean they get more use than the ubiquitous Product X-a.
I for one don't give a crap if there is an open implementation of Java, given the current process at which Java is advanced. I'm a Java programmer, does that make a difference? I dunno.
BTW, DisneyQuest entry is included with the "Ultimate Park Hopper" passes. Not only are there lots of new and crazy games there, but they also have a "classics" floor with enough games to make me misty-eyed (Mr. Do!!!). On top of that, there are artsy "games" where the kids can paint animated scenes, digitally alter self-portraits, and all sorts of other stuff. There's even an area with air hockey tables... Next time we go, I'm making sure the wife and kids are prepared for a long DisneyQuest session!
Take a look at my new sig, hope you don't mind :-)
dogs use one of those logical operators
That'd be the NOSE gate... yet to be perfected in silicon by computer engineers.
Thanks, I'll be here all week. Try the veal!
I have two kids, and I spend a fair amount of time helping them build stuff with Legos. They are pretty young still, and I've pushed them into the legos we all know and love... but they can't quite get them to snap yet :)
Of course, I still have all my old Space and Castle sets from back in the day... they dig those too (who wouldn't?!).
No, he died in an earthquake.
GREAT... now I have that GOD FORSAKEN ditty stuck in my head. I think I'll have to go listen to the intro to Knight Rider to get it out of my head.
Solaris is great and all
:-p
Since when?
The point was that you were giving someone shit about being locked into a particular OS or two when purchasing x86 hardware. Just like with any reasonable architecture, you have more choices than most people think. Of course, the possibilities have differing levels of support and usefulness, but if you're talking about such things, you're basically locked into 3-4 OSes regardless of your architecture, anyway!
And you, sir, should think before you berate someone...
Why is competition such a good thing anyway?
I can't tell, are you just trolling? If so, I'll bite. Without competition, there is stagnation.
Little-to-no innovation occurs without competition. For example, if every piece of hardware had its specs "fully disclosed," then the advantage of having spent the time to create some new feature in order to sell more units disappears. Now everyone can look at the specs and do the exact same thing, without spending any R&D money. The market stagnates, because no one wants to be the one to spend the R&D money for the benefit of everyone...
The other option is to become completely communal, but given human nature and the general failures of large-scale communism, that doesn't quite work, does it?
Get a security clearance and get a job working for Uncle Sam, or whoever. Sure, sometimes government work sucks, but you can be fairly certain that your clearance-required job isn't going to go offshore!
Too bad... I was hoping for MST2k4
No. We just feel better about being nerds.
Are you sure? I'm convinced that The Watchtower is spam, myself.
Hear, hear!
:-)
But... what are you doing stepping through STL code?! That stuff is supposed to be hidden back in the darkest corner of the loneliest closet in the basement! It's been known to cause blindness in the weak-minded
For reference, I have about 12 yrs experience writing C++ code, and have used several other languages. And for the most part, I agree with you.
In my experience, the dominant problem is your #2-labelled issue. I've been on too many projects where management has an ultra-vague idea of what they want, and they end up, like I said before, with huge amounts of back-and-forth between themselves and the programming team.
I agree, though, that the problem you labelled as #1 is out there, and that outsourcing would be a nice push toward fixing that problem.
Perhaps I've just been unlucky?
Have you ever worked in software engineering? "We want software that does x" is NEVER that simple. There will always be lots of back and forth between those who want the software written, and those who are writing it.
How many desktop users run services that need to be open to the 'net? Just because they are stupid enough to use Outlook for the majority of the rest of the real problems on XP doesn't mean XP is bad.
If you are an average user, and you are on an always-on, unlimited connection (read: no port blocking on the ISP end), you need to be using a firewall of some sort. Like I said before, I run linux at home, and I still have a hardware firewall between me and the world.
Amen. Linux is libre, but it's only gratis if your time is worth nothing.
Granted, WinXP might cause a few headaches here and there as well, but in my experience, the only XP headaches I've had to deal with have been caused by bad drivers from 3rd party software vendors. And guess what? Those vendors don't support linux! And if they did, should I expect trouble-free linux drivers? Only if they want to become open-source software support shops, which I'm sure they don't.