How the hell am I supposed to share this with people...
Ah well.. if they assume it was me... *veg*
J/K!!
Anyway.. awesome!! That was hysterical... my co-workers think I'm weird now.. Oh wait.. they already knew that.. All is well in the IT Department!! *grin*
I do what I must to protect me and mine!:) No, it really doesn't give you a free pass to be evil as time progresses...
That's where they get blinded, those company founders. The vision is gone. The dream is gone. The pride is gone. The only thing left is that it is making money. By the time the money rolls in, it seems they don't care anymore about the dream, they look only towards the money.
If they are still idealistic enough to realize what is going on, I do hope they get the fuck out.. otherwise, it becomes, just as you say, low wages and unhappy employees who NEED a job.. when jobs are still scarce occasionally. The employees need him, but he doesn't need them.. he can always find more monkeys...
It becomes a never-ending, ugly cycle... and the only person who can change it doesn't care any more.. except for the money that continues to come in.. probably because of previous reputation and the past where employees cared and did their best because they wanted to and took pride in their work.. the company continues along these lines because of a previously built and satisfied customer backing who really doesn't know what is going on behind the scenes...
That's a really good point! In fact, that sounds extremely plausible!
He's getting ready to "retire" now... however, the VP that he has chosen has become one of the worst "jerks" I've ever seen. He was never fond of me and was downright rude to me when I visited for the Christmas gathering. Someone suggested I mention to him what I've seen about how his management techniques have changed, but right now, I'm mostly looking for an opening to mention this rudeness of his VP soon to be President of his company which is my old boss' heartsblood. To leave his company, which he truly, literally built from the ground up, in the hands of this jerk will destroy everything he ever believed in.
But yes.. now he has so many employees that the vision he had when the company was smaller is gone. I could certainly see a defense mechanism developing.. You can't make a "family" out of 150 employees like you can with 50 or less. Plus, he's getting older and age does tend to slow people down and dull their senses. I would be willing to bet that you hit right on the money with your thoughts...
No.. I didn't feel it was my place... I suppose I could have.. and probably still can (I'm still in contact occasionally). I'm also friends with one of his old friends and employees, so I might suggest it to him. I guess it is more of a chance to get an opening, you know.. you don't want to just bring it up out of nowhere...
When I began my career as a programmer, I got a job with a great, but small company. The boss had built it from nothing. He had built his life from nothing...and he LOVED to tell everyone about that. (We would get lecture upon lecture about it, in fact.;) How if he could do it, anyone could do it.)
But he was a good man. He actually could separate business from personal and he was great when he wasn't in "boss mode". His company got larger and he ended up in "boss mode" more often and that was when people started thinking of him as more of an asshole.
In the beginning, before he got "older" and "comfortable".. (Millionaire maybe now?), he was sociable as well. He took care of his employees and they were happy. He had monthly picnics and ice cream socials. Took us all to baseball games and all sorts of great stuff. He even had parties in his own home! Then, we think he got greedy. (more more more money!) and he started treating his techs like monkeys. (Any monkey can do this.. why pay graduates when we can train anyone off the street and pay them dirt cheap). He started treating the rest of his employees poorly as well. He still tried to keep up the "act" but his heart wasn't in it anymore.. and his employees started noticing that..
I (and others) saw the change coming. I got out of there, but there were tears. LOL (Hey, I'm still a girl dammit). He had taken good care of me and my son, above and beyond.. but that was before... that was earlier. Yes.. I actually hugged my boss on my last day...;)
So, in this rambling, what I'm trying to say, is that not all bosses are assholes.. and maybe it becomes a learned trait. Maybe the system and society wear them down... maybe they become that way because that is what is expected or maybe they see those who are assholes really moving up the corporate ladder. Whatever the reason, it truly has become a job description for many bosses. And the more people who see it as a means to an end, the more people will pull that out of themselves just to get where they want to go. Yes, there are a lot who were "born" as assholes and never change throughout life (with what we are seeing, what motivation IS there to change?), but it's not a steady progression. It's not all defined under one stereotype... it is my belief that society MAKES the assholes because we allow them to BE assholes.
I agree a bit about the hybrid work/stay at home thing, except for one huge problem. As a teacher, your day doesn't end when the kids go home for the day. You have homework to grade, activities to monitor, etc. Teaching is not a "9-5 job". Even during the vacation "summer months", lesson plans need to written, books need to be reviewed, and of course there is that unending requirement to continually update one's education. -- I do think that is important, don't get me wrong. Teachers MUST be on top of new materials and educationally on the cutting edge, I'm just saying that even with the supposed less time and working around having kids, your world doesn't improve so much as to make it worth while.
I'd rather have my evenings and weekends free to spend time with my son instead of having "the same hours" with us both in school.
I agree that the system should look at a teachers contributions, not just in education but to the world. However, I disagree that you can equalize a math teacher and an English teacher.
Levels of education. Yes. That should be looked at. Experience OTHER than teaching. Definitely. That should be looked at. Actual teaching skills and relating and speaking to the students is a definite must.
But an author may not know grammar. (There are a lot of successful books where grammar isn't always correct.) A math teacher must be able to teach to different levels of kids. (All in the same classroom unfortunately).
Bits and pieces won't make a whole. We were required to have a "well-rounded" education in Secondary school and college, our teachers should also be well-rounded.
But I agree on the overall plan. Pay scales should reflect how well the teacher "fits" as a teacher.
Pay is a serious issue with teaching (I won't even get started on the rest of the issues).
"Is such differentiated pay the right way to attract science graduates who can make much more in industry, or is it simply going to breed discontent among teachers?"
Science and Math are good starting points. But don't stop there! The entire United States Educational System needs a complete overhaul.
Teachers should teach because they enjoy it. Being "attracted" into it isn't going to make them be good teachers. In fact, it may turn out like college where you get the really bright mathematicians and scientists teaching, but they can't relate worth a darn to the students.
Money is also a good start. Really talented people end up leaving the profession because they simply can't pay the bills. Making the pay more competitive will keep more of the good teachers. Fixing some of the other problems will also retain teachers, but getting the teachers in, paying them better and teaching (or allowing) them to be good teachers is what needs to happen, nation-wide, not just Kentucky or California.
The overhaul must start somewhere, and if they look at pay first, that's great. You can eventually weed out the poor teachers, keep the good teachers and our children will finally have an education they deserve!! (Without having to move overseas to truly educate them well.)
So, it's a start. But it can't stop there. Yes, there will be discontent among teachers but once the ball starts rolling and things improve for one and all, then everyone wins.
FTA "Twenty years before most scientists expected it"..... "It has been predicted that quantum computing will make current computer security obsolete, cracking any current cryptography scheme by providing an unlimited amount of simultaneous processing resources."
I must watch before purchasing, otherwise I would end up with movies I didn't like...
Sure I could resell them or something, but (except for kids movies for my son) I always see the movie before I spend that much money on it..
Otherwise, I would have WAY too many.. LOL:)
I do buy books, but.. they don't cost as much as movies (most of the time.. but I can see that changing as the prices go up on books... sad, huh)
I would probably give this Wal-Mart downloadable movies a chance... depending on selection, price, etc. Then I would decide if I needed to purchase the movie or not..:)
Yeah... I'm not too happy with them.. I have shelled out the cash to get the "privilege"... and other stuff that came with it... It was my best option at the time.. I wasn't too happy about it, but now it's done...
There is something? I just don't like about gmail.. but I can't put my finger on it yet....
Maybe it had something to do with scanning the emails to get ads that fit one's interests.. either way.. at the time I chose not to participate in gmail...
I was a teacher for 10 years. Got sick of the system (NCLBA) and Administrators (loved the kids though) went back to school at age 35 and am writing computer programs now.
Yeah.. it's easier to get into programming than science probably, but the really weird factor is that if I decide on another career change, I was actually thinking about Meteorology. (I wanna chase tornados? (Hell ya I do, LOL) Actually, I'm addicted to weather and would love to get into the system that "predicts" weather... but... not sure what the future might bring, but it was some thoughts I had... if I get bored with programming / databasing..) Anyway, enough about me.. just wanted to say thanks for asking this question...:)
Good luck to you!! Love to hear your success story in a few years!!:)
I have My Yahoo set up nicely. It does some cool stuff, but I never use Yahoo as a search engine any more. I use google. One thing I like about My Yahoo is the email, news, cartoons, personalization, blog all under one login.
If someone created something comparable and better, I would switch, simply because I no longer like the Yahoo Search Engine.
Google would be nice because then I would have a nice search engine along with the things I look at daily.
If these new personal desktop apps give me more control and everything that I want without looking horribly cluttered, and they don't bog down my system, AWESOME!
Otherwise, I'll just stay where I am and wait for something even better...
"Unless Congress revises the existing law, people who claim they were defamed in an Internet posting can only seek damages from the original source of the statement, the court ruled."
But it seems that only the original poster can be sued....
Okay, so now I can take something I find on the web, written by someone else, and even if I know it is untrue, or suspected untruth, or even just uncertain of it's truth, I can spread it around and be safe from any liability.
I can search long and hard for info about someone I don't like, public figure or not? And spread the news started by someone else.
Yeah, free speech, that's great, but who or what's going to protect someone like me or normal every day people from such stuff. It's all great until someone gets hurt. Small communities have forums or sites with comments. Now, someone can jump on somewhere, say something awful (gossip) about a person in the community and then someone else (or a lot of someone else's) can take that gossip and spread it around even further with no worry of retaliation because they didn't start the gossip!!!
Damn!! So, John down the street is a child molester and Sally at the grocery store beats up her husband for money for her drug addiction isn't going to destroy their lives if someone grabs that and runs. Just because John started dating Sally instead of me, I can ruin two lives because the original information came from someone else... and I can take that and spread it like wildfire!!! Lucky me!! That'll teach John!! That'll teach Sally.
PS I'm playing devil's advocate, as a former journalist, I love the idea of even more basic freedoms...;)
PPS Oh yeah.. The characters and events portrayed in this post are entirely fictional. Any similarity to actual persons, living, dead or undead is purely unintentional.
Slashdot Mirror
Ah!! :)
Thank you!!
Umm... okay..
I'm prally being stupid, but what is RIM?
*blush*
by Anonymous Coward ?!?!?
How the hell am I supposed to share this with people...
Ah well.. if they assume it was me... *veg*
J/K!!
Anyway.. awesome!! That was hysterical... my co-workers think I'm weird now..
Oh wait.. they already knew that..
All is well in the IT Department!! *grin*
I do what I must to protect me and mine! :)
No, it really doesn't give you a free pass to be evil as time progresses...
That's where they get blinded, those company founders. The vision is gone. The dream is gone. The pride is gone. The only thing left is that it is making money. By the time the money rolls in, it seems they don't care anymore about the dream, they look only towards the money.
If they are still idealistic enough to realize what is going on, I do hope they get the fuck out.. otherwise, it becomes, just as you say, low wages and unhappy employees who NEED a job.. when jobs are still scarce occasionally. The employees need him, but he doesn't need them.. he can always find more monkeys...
It becomes a never-ending, ugly cycle... and the only person who can change it doesn't care any more.. except for the money that continues to come in.. probably because of previous reputation and the past where employees cared and did their best because they wanted to and took pride in their work.. the company continues along these lines because of a previously built and satisfied customer backing who really doesn't know what is going on behind the scenes...
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Kris
That's a really good point! In fact, that sounds extremely plausible!
He's getting ready to "retire" now... however, the VP that he has chosen has become one of the worst "jerks" I've ever seen. He was never fond of me and was downright rude to me when I visited for the Christmas gathering. Someone suggested I mention to him what I've seen about how his management techniques have changed, but right now, I'm mostly looking for an opening to mention this rudeness of his VP soon to be President of his company which is my old boss' heartsblood. To leave his company, which he truly, literally built from the ground up, in the hands of this jerk will destroy everything he ever believed in.
But yes.. now he has so many employees that the vision he had when the company was smaller is gone. I could certainly see a defense mechanism developing.. You can't make a "family" out of 150 employees like you can with 50 or less. Plus, he's getting older and age does tend to slow people down and dull their senses. I would be willing to bet that you hit right on the money with your thoughts...
Thank you,
Kris
No.. I didn't feel it was my place...
I suppose I could have.. and probably still can (I'm still in contact occasionally). I'm also friends with one of his old friends and employees, so I might suggest it to him. I guess it is more of a chance to get an opening, you know.. you don't want to just bring it up out of nowhere...
When I began my career as a programmer, I got a job with a great, but small company. The boss had built it from nothing. He had built his life from nothing.. .and he LOVED to tell everyone about that. (We would get lecture upon lecture about it, in fact. ;) How if he could do it, anyone could do it.)
;)
But he was a good man. He actually could separate business from personal and he was great when he wasn't in "boss mode". His company got larger and he ended up in "boss mode" more often and that was when people started thinking of him as more of an asshole.
In the beginning, before he got "older" and "comfortable".. (Millionaire maybe now?), he was sociable as well. He took care of his employees and they were happy. He had monthly picnics and ice cream socials. Took us all to baseball games and all sorts of great stuff. He even had parties in his own home! Then, we think he got greedy. (more more more money!) and he started treating his techs like monkeys. (Any monkey can do this.. why pay graduates when we can train anyone off the street and pay them dirt cheap). He started treating the rest of his employees poorly as well. He still tried to keep up the "act" but his heart wasn't in it anymore.. and his employees started noticing that..
I (and others) saw the change coming. I got out of there, but there were tears. LOL (Hey, I'm still a girl dammit). He had taken good care of me and my son, above and beyond.. but that was before... that was earlier. Yes.. I actually hugged my boss on my last day...
So, in this rambling, what I'm trying to say, is that not all bosses are assholes.. and maybe it becomes a learned trait. Maybe the system and society wear them down... maybe they become that way because that is what is expected or maybe they see those who are assholes really moving up the corporate ladder. Whatever the reason, it truly has become a job description for many bosses. And the more people who see it as a means to an end, the more people will pull that out of themselves just to get where they want to go. Yes, there are a lot who were "born" as assholes and never change throughout life (with what we are seeing, what motivation IS there to change?), but it's not a steady progression. It's not all defined under one stereotype... it is my belief that society MAKES the assholes because we allow them to BE assholes.
Kris
nah.. that was what caused the perception that he was stupid.
I agree a bit about the hybrid work/stay at home thing, except for one huge problem. As a teacher, your day doesn't end when the kids go home for the day. You have homework to grade, activities to monitor, etc. Teaching is not a "9-5 job". Even during the vacation "summer months", lesson plans need to written, books need to be reviewed, and of course there is that unending requirement to continually update one's education. -- I do think that is important, don't get me wrong. Teachers MUST be on top of new materials and educationally on the cutting edge, I'm just saying that even with the supposed less time and working around having kids, your world doesn't improve so much as to make it worth while.
I'd rather have my evenings and weekends free to spend time with my son instead of having "the same hours" with us both in school.
Just my thoughts...
thanks,
Kris
I agree that the system should look at a teachers contributions, not just in education but to the world. However, I disagree that you can equalize a math teacher and an English teacher.
Levels of education. Yes. That should be looked at.
Experience OTHER than teaching. Definitely. That should be looked at.
Actual teaching skills and relating and speaking to the students is a definite must.
But an author may not know grammar. (There are a lot of successful books where grammar isn't always correct.)
A math teacher must be able to teach to different levels of kids. (All in the same classroom unfortunately).
Bits and pieces won't make a whole. We were required to have a "well-rounded" education in Secondary school and college, our teachers should also be well-rounded.
But I agree on the overall plan. Pay scales should reflect how well the teacher "fits" as a teacher.
Thanks for listening,
Kris
Pay is a serious issue with teaching (I won't even get started on the rest of the issues).
"Is such differentiated pay the right way to attract science graduates who can make much more in industry, or is it simply going to breed discontent among teachers?"
Science and Math are good starting points. But don't stop there!
The entire United States Educational System needs a complete overhaul.
Teachers should teach because they enjoy it. Being "attracted" into it isn't going to make them be good teachers. In fact, it may turn out like college where you get the really bright mathematicians and scientists teaching, but they can't relate worth a darn to the students.
Money is also a good start. Really talented people end up leaving the profession because they simply can't pay the bills. Making the pay more competitive will keep more of the good teachers. Fixing some of the other problems will also retain teachers, but getting the teachers in, paying them better and teaching (or allowing) them to be good teachers is what needs to happen, nation-wide, not just Kentucky or California.
The overhaul must start somewhere, and if they look at pay first, that's great. You can eventually weed out the poor teachers, keep the good teachers and our children will finally have an education they deserve!! (Without having to move overseas to truly educate them well.)
So, it's a start. But it can't stop there. Yes, there will be discontent among teachers but once the ball starts rolling and things improve for one and all, then everyone wins.
My thoughts as an ex-teacher,
Kris
ROTFLMAO
Okay okay.. I get it.. I get it..
I've been properly chastised..
*grin*
Is it Friday yet?
k
You haven't read The Traveler by John Twelve Hawks, yet, have you? ;)
The Traveler
kFTA .....
"Twenty years before most scientists expected it"
"It has been predicted that quantum computing will make current computer security obsolete, cracking any current cryptography scheme by providing an unlimited amount of simultaneous processing resources."
Just in time to crack Vista.
Sorry.. Couldn't resist...
k
They're great for the military!!! :)
I must watch before purchasing, otherwise I would end up with movies I didn't like...
:)
:)
Sure I could resell them or something, but (except for kids movies for my son) I always see the movie before I spend that much money on it..
Otherwise, I would have WAY too many.. LOL
I do buy books, but.. they don't cost as much as movies (most of the time.. but I can see that changing as the prices go up on books... sad, huh)
I would probably give this Wal-Mart downloadable movies a chance... depending on selection, price, etc.
Then I would decide if I needed to purchase the movie or not..
Yeah... I'm not too happy with them.. I have shelled out the cash to get the "privilege" ... and other stuff that came with it...
It was my best option at the time.. I wasn't too happy about it, but now it's done...
There is something? I just don't like about gmail.. but I can't put my finger on it yet....
Maybe it had something to do with scanning the emails to get ads that fit one's interests.. either way.. at the time I chose not to participate in gmail...
You are never too old to learn... or change!
:)
:)
I was a teacher for 10 years. Got sick of the system (NCLBA) and Administrators (loved the kids though) went back to school at age 35 and am writing computer programs now.
Yeah.. it's easier to get into programming than science probably, but the really weird factor is that if I decide on another career change, I was actually thinking about Meteorology. (I wanna chase tornados? (Hell ya I do, LOL) Actually, I'm addicted to weather and would love to get into the system that "predicts" weather... but... not sure what the future might bring, but it was some thoughts I had... if I get bored with programming / databasing..) Anyway, enough about me.. just wanted to say thanks for asking this question...
Good luck to you!!
Love to hear your success story in a few years!!
Kris
It doesn't check ALL of my emails at the same time...
:)
Yes, google has a lot of good stuff, but it's still lacking...
Google remains my search engine of choice however!
Thanks for the info and the links though!!!
Hmmm.. :)
Okay.. I really like Netvibes so far!!!!
I have My Yahoo set up nicely. It does some cool stuff, but I never use Yahoo as a search engine any more. I use google.
One thing I like about My Yahoo is the email, news, cartoons, personalization, blog all under one login.
If someone created something comparable and better, I would switch, simply because I no longer like the Yahoo Search Engine.
Google would be nice because then I would have a nice search engine along with the things I look at daily.
If these new personal desktop apps give me more control and everything that I want without looking horribly cluttered, and they don't bog down my system, AWESOME!
Otherwise, I'll just stay where I am and wait for something even better...
Kris
Mr. Roarke and Tattoo are saving up to start a whole new Fantasy "Island" ;)
I'm glad I'm not the only one...
Perhaps there was too much "egg nog" over the weekend.. *grin*
Hmmm... maybe I misunderstood...
"Unless Congress revises the existing law, people who claim they were defamed in an Internet posting can only seek damages from the original source of the statement, the court ruled."
But it seems that only the original poster can be sued....
Okay, so now I can take something I find on the web, written by someone else, and even if I know it is untrue, or suspected untruth, or even just uncertain of it's truth, I can spread it around and be safe from any liability.
;)
.sig ;)
I can search long and hard for info about someone I don't like, public figure or not? And spread the news started by someone else.
Yeah, free speech, that's great, but who or what's going to protect someone like me or normal every day people from such stuff. It's all great until someone gets hurt. Small communities have forums or sites with comments. Now, someone can jump on somewhere, say something awful (gossip) about a person in the community and then someone else (or a lot of someone else's) can take that gossip and spread it around even further with no worry of retaliation because they didn't start the gossip!!!
Damn!! So, John down the street is a child molester and Sally at the grocery store beats up her husband for money for her drug addiction isn't going to destroy their lives if someone grabs that and runs. Just because John started dating Sally instead of me, I can ruin two lives because the original information came from someone else... and I can take that and spread it like wildfire!!! Lucky me!! That'll teach John!! That'll teach Sally.
PS
I'm playing devil's advocate, as a former journalist, I love the idea of even more basic freedoms...
PPS
Oh yeah..
The characters and events portrayed in this post are entirely fictional. Any similarity to actual persons, living, dead or undead is purely unintentional.
PPPS
Hmm.. That would make a pretty good