*Yawn* Call again when you have 5 million hits a day.
Also serving static web content is trivial compared to tracking the state of 5 million clients and letting them see each others in real time is so far beyond web hosting that it is laughable.
I worked at video game companies (Turbine) and I worked at some of IBM's large server farms (Poughkeepsie, Southbury) doing performance balancing. As far as software goes I have to say video games server technology makes web content delivery look like the stone age. The only thing that even compares in complexity is when IBM hosted the Olympic coverage. Trying to compare simple web content to a system where clients are all making updates to each others environments in real time is impossible.
I hate it when the Wow server's crash, but I have had my ego battered by what the guys at Blizzard have managed to do. They have done some great work and I am curious to see other game companies surpass the work Blizzard has done.
Nothing here is trivial. If it was it would have been done right the first time.
One problem with outsourcing to Mississippi or Louisiana is that people CAN't read helpdesk checklists. Here is an example of Toyota picking Canadian workers because training illiterate workers was so difficult for other companies in the south. (http://www.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/news/050 708/toyota.shtml)
India has a large pool of WELL EDUCATED cheap labor. I am from Mississippi. I have friends down there who can't read. My brother works in a car factory in MS and the employee training was done using pictograms because there are so many illiterate workers in the class.
And the sad thing is since so many people "never needed no education" they don't see a reason to "get their kids learnt up neither". So the viscous cycle continues with each generation poorer and with less hope than the last.
Nations that consider education important will always prosper over nations that chose to stagnate. The US has long stigmatized intelligence and this leads to ignorant workers. Until it is sexy to know something we will continue to crank out barely educated frat boys and few scientists and engineers.
You raise a good argument that contentious issues are hard to cover but bad references are quickly removed. So the burden of proof is on the editor which can be quite hard sometimes.
For example - The reason why Clinton's trashing of the White house was not covered in the Clinton article is that the entire affair was fabricated. (reference below)
"According to statements from the General Services Administration that were reported on May 17, little if anything out of the ordinary occurred during the transition, and 'the condition of the real property was consistent with what we would expect to encounter when tenants vacate office space after an extended occupancy.'" (http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=1689)
Further the Clinton article does have major scandals listed and many major scandals have entire pages of details dedicated to them. Clinton's impeachment is mentioned in the 3rd paragraph, scandals have an entire section in the table of contents, and the section on his presidency mentions shady business deals, marijuana use, and draft dodging. It really does not seem "Whitewashed".
The Bush article may seem overly negative to you but from a world and historical perpective Bush is really amazingly corrupt and disingenuous. As a result the article contains more detail on him. Part of this is because people feel that American media has really not reported on Bush's failing to the level that Clintons every move was analyzed.
(Try reading some media watchdog organization newsletters like http://www.cjr.org/ (only one remembered offhand) which critique papers for disinformation.)
Actually being forced to sell when you leave a company is pretty common. The company I work at has a buyback clause in all employee option agreements. So far only one founder has managed to keep even a miniscule stake in the company after being ousted.
As the most senior employee of the company I am high on the list of people to be canned when the company goes public. I have even heard rumors that there will be a management shakeup primarily to consolidate management owned stock under the boardmember with controlling interest.
Greed is how things work in corperate America. It is basically expected and I never did have the benefit of making millions a year like John. Just wanted to post how these buyback clauses are a nuisance for us working blokes as well.
You might want to factor in that Massachussetts residents pay more in national taxes per service rendered by the government. Sofor every dollar of taxes paid we get 0.75 dollar worth of services. This is pretty common to "Blue states" as we do not have the support of the current administration.
Adding one third of national taxes to this score does infact make Massachussetts one of the worst tax places. But this is not due to their state policies, but due to Washington politics.
Here is a good page on all of MA taxes and how it compares nationally. Overall I agree that MA does a pretty good job.
Video games don't cut into movie revenue. Hell I am planning on going to see a movie, just as soon as I finish World of Warcraft.
*heh* But honestly compare the price to entertainment ratios. In warcraft I am getting 2 hours of entertainment for every dollar I am paying. (cost of.50 dollars/hr) Crystal chronicals entertained me for only.30 dollar/hour. A movie with my girlfriend costs me 10 dollars/hour and I have to listen to her bitch about how bad the movie was.
For movies to compete they need to be new and fresh or they need to cost the same as other entertainment.
Slashdot Mirror
Also serving static web content is trivial compared to tracking the state of 5 million clients and letting them see each others in real time is so far beyond web hosting that it is laughable.
I worked at video game companies (Turbine) and I worked at some of IBM's large server farms (Poughkeepsie, Southbury) doing performance balancing. As far as software goes I have to say video games server technology makes web content delivery look like the stone age. The only thing that even compares in complexity is when IBM hosted the Olympic coverage. Trying to compare simple web content to a system where clients are all making updates to each others environments in real time is impossible.
I hate it when the Wow server's crash, but I have had my ego battered by what the guys at Blizzard have managed to do. They have done some great work and I am curious to see other game companies surpass the work Blizzard has done.
Nothing here is trivial. If it was it would have been done right the first time.
One problem with outsourcing to Mississippi or Louisiana is that people CAN't read helpdesk checklists. Here is an example of Toyota picking Canadian workers because training illiterate workers was so difficult for other companies in the south. (http://www.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/news/050 708/toyota.shtml)
t ml)
India has a large pool of WELL EDUCATED cheap labor. I am from Mississippi. I have friends down there who can't read. My brother works in a car factory in MS and the employee training was done using pictograms because there are so many illiterate workers in the class.
Even before the hurricane Mississippi and Louisiana were education backwaters. One in 3 residents can not read or write. (http://www.wsws.org/news/1998/oct1998/ill-o14.sh
And the sad thing is since so many people "never needed no education" they don't see a reason to "get their kids learnt up neither". So the viscous cycle continues with each generation poorer and with less hope than the last.
Nations that consider education important will always prosper over nations that chose to stagnate. The US has long stigmatized intelligence and this leads to ignorant workers. Until it is sexy to know something we will continue to crank out barely educated frat boys and few scientists and engineers.
You raise a good argument that contentious issues are hard to cover but bad references are quickly removed. So the burden of proof is on the editor which can be quite hard sometimes.
For example - The reason why Clinton's trashing of the White house was not covered in the Clinton article is that the entire affair was fabricated. (reference below)
"According to statements from the General Services Administration that were reported on May 17, little if anything out of the ordinary occurred during the transition, and 'the condition of the real property was consistent with what we would expect to encounter when tenants vacate office space after an extended occupancy.'" (http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=1689)
Further the Clinton article does have major scandals listed and many major scandals have entire pages of details dedicated to them. Clinton's impeachment is mentioned in the 3rd paragraph, scandals have an entire section in the table of contents, and the section on his presidency mentions shady business deals, marijuana use, and draft dodging. It really does not seem "Whitewashed".
The Bush article may seem overly negative to you but from a world and historical perpective Bush is really amazingly corrupt and disingenuous. As a result the article contains more detail on him. Part of this is because people feel that American media has really not reported on Bush's failing to the level that Clintons every move was analyzed.
(Try reading some media watchdog organization newsletters like http://www.cjr.org/ (only one remembered offhand) which critique papers for disinformation.)
Actually being forced to sell when you leave a company is pretty common. The company I work at has a buyback clause in all employee option agreements. So far only one founder has managed to keep even a miniscule stake in the company after being ousted.
As the most senior employee of the company I am high on the list of people to be canned when the company goes public. I have even heard rumors that there will be a management shakeup primarily to consolidate management owned stock under the boardmember with controlling interest.
Greed is how things work in corperate America. It is basically expected and I never did have the benefit of making millions a year like John. Just wanted to post how these buyback clauses are a nuisance for us working blokes as well.
*goes back into cubicle*
You might want to factor in that Massachussetts residents pay more in national taxes per service rendered by the government. Sofor every dollar of taxes paid we get 0.75 dollar worth of services. This is pretty common to "Blue states" as we do not have the support of the current administration.
t ml)
Adding one third of national taxes to this score does infact make Massachussetts one of the worst tax places. But this is not due to their state policies, but due to Washington politics.
Here is a good page on all of MA taxes and how it compares nationally. Overall I agree that MA does a pretty good job.
(http://www.taxfoundation.org/research/topic/35.h
Video games don't cut into movie revenue. Hell I am planning on going to see a movie, just as soon as I finish World of Warcraft.
.50 dollars/hr) Crystal chronicals entertained me for only .30 dollar/hour. A movie with my girlfriend costs me 10 dollars/hour and I have to listen to her bitch about how bad the movie was.
*heh* But honestly compare the price to entertainment ratios. In warcraft I am getting 2 hours of entertainment for every dollar I am paying. (cost of
For movies to compete they need to be new and fresh or they need to cost the same as other entertainment.
Nuff said,
Zack