I think one thing that distinguishes great employees from good ones is their enthusiasm about learning, and about work.
A candidate who is enthused about the interview, and who appears to pursue your questions as if each one were an opportunity to demonstrate his/her talent will probably be the same way on the job.
As a candidate myself, I would say to employers: please ask some questions that are actually relevant to the skills you are hiring for! I can't tell you how many interviews I've been to where nothing computer related was ever brought up. Here are the questions every employer has asked me thus far:
Do you work well in teams?
What is your greatest failure/accomplishment?
Give an example of a situation in which you had to deal with a very irate/irrational/stupid coworker/client/customer. What did you do?
What is the most difficult problem you've had to solve, and what did you do?
Anyone who has been to more than one interview will simply answer those questions with canned responses. That's what I do, and then I try to move on to the more interesting topics. What do you expect someone to say? "Well, Mr. Interviewer, Sir, I sincerely despise other humans. If hired, I would request to be placed in a windowless room with a single hanging lightbulb."
If the employer never asks me any directed questions about the type of work I'd be doing, or my skills, I become very suspicious, and begin to consider working for someone else instead.
We work/study for years to get to the point where we are qualified for a position, and we like to think that our knowledge is appreciated. I suppose some employers assume that a degree or experience means that you know your stuff, but any true geek will feel as if he/she has gone well beyond the calling of education or previous work experience, and will jump at the opportunity to prove this. So please, in addition to the standard questions, ask some questions that actually get to the meat of the job. The good candidates will appreciate it, and it will make it easier to distinguish them from those who are just along for the ride.
Win2K is designed to be rocksolid, as was NT. There is no designflaw in NT that makes it unreliable.
Such a flaw does indeed exist, and it is NT's integration of the GUI code into the OS kernel. If MS designed for stability, then NT and 2000 might look and run more like Netware or Unix.
Mostly just hardware or driver failures are causing it to get unstable, the same with other OS-es.
that makes it unreliable.
Why, then, can other OS's run on this same hardware (using drivers not provided by the hardware manufacturer, I might add) and still be much more stable? Hmmm...
You state it as if you have to DESIGN reliability. That's untrue.
We all know that careful OS design leads to better systems, but one of the key aspects of careful design is reliability. Contrary to what you may believe, stability *must* be actively engineered. Example: memory protection. It doesn't happen on its own. If you don't put it in, your OS will not be as stable as one that has good memory protection. MS has learned this the hard way.
Dave Cuttler is a well known and well respected Operating System designer, not known for misdesign in what he designs for a living: OS-es.
Dave Cutler is obviously very talented. VMS works, and keeps on working. If Windows NT and 2k ran like it, we would not be having this argument. However, I don't think it was Cutler's idea to try and maintain backwards binary compatibility with legacy 16 bit code and integrate the GUI into the NT kernel. These are marketing ideas, and they do not result in world-class reliability, as evidenced by NT and now 2k.
There is nothing wrong with trying to build the most popular operating system; MS has succeeded there. However, it is an entirely different thing to build a good operating system.
I went to the record store yesterday to pick up Nevermind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols on CD, as I'd lost my cassette version. After reading the price for the CD ($13.99, the *nice price*), my head exploded. Why should I pay $14 for an album I already bought (in 1988)? I looked for it on tape, but of course they don't sell good music on tape anymore, just the new stuff.
I must say, at that point Napster seemed pretty fair to me.
In the place I used to work, we had one of those fax on demand phone systems. Users could call in, press a few buttons, and have a fax sent to themselves.
I don't see how having music streamed over the phone line would be any harder. It would probably be easier.
On a related topic, I have been wanting to create an answering device running off a PC with a voice/CID modem which I can program to ring/not ring, play a certian message, or reroute calls based on time of call and caller ID data.
Basically, I'd like certain people to always be able to get in touch with me, but I don't want to leave my ringer on and get woken up at 6AM by some bozo trying to dial the Paper Warehouse.
Can anyone tell me if this would be possible with inexpensive hardware and a PC running Linux?
I'll bet Vader was pissed when he found out that the Death Star was delayed 155 weeks because they couldn't find any of those little pieces with the holes on both sides.
I have a BA in Psychology and I'm up for a BS in Computer Science this December. At the very least, I think it has allowed me to look at both computers and human thought from two different angles.
For example, the psychologist in me tries to make machines represent human thought. The computer scientist, however, is constantly amazed at how his brain can beat a binary search in some cases.
Those who will be most successful are the ones who can integrate diverse areas of thought, such as Law and Computers. Anyone can write code, but not everyone can solve problems that span multiple disciplines.
As far as raising funds, our lug, the (shameless plug) University of Southern Mississippi Linux Users' Group sold old PC's to our members. One member picked up a bunch of old 386's at a police auction, and sold them for $10 each.
You could try something like that. We do not collect dues, as we are a student organization and feel that it would deter membership, but you can always find some creative ways of raising capital, if you really need it.
As far as meeting places, we have never had a problem with finding rooms at the University. It helps to have a faculty member on your side. We just meet in whatever rooms are not occupied at our meeting times.
We have also met at the local Books A Million. They have been very willing to work with us, and let us bring in machines and virtually take over the coffee shop area. In return, we patronize them with lots of business during our meetings. You might think about taking a similar approach with a business in your area.
Other than that, as one poster mentioned, try your public library.
"Try that with xyz" I never said a thing about Microsoft or how it relates to the topic.
Fair enough, I guess I sort of overreacted on that one.
The main thing I want to say is just that it doesnt seem fair or rather helpful to this guy that a kernel that isnt even production level does what he needs it to.
The point I wanted to make was that, though development software may not suit your needs, Open Source provides at least some measure of defense against vaporware.
If Apache promises threading in version 2.0, you can generally verify they are at least working toward this goal. With non-Open Source projects, or those with closed development cycles (like IIS), you can't. You are at the mercy of Marketroid claims.
This is not to mention that, often, it can be more costly to migrate platforms (say from *nix to NT or vice versa) than to simply wait for a feature you need to be supported by your O/S.
I don't know about you, but I think I'd be a lot more comfortable waiting if I had some assurance the features I needed would actually be there in the next release.
Yeahim sure this is informative, its really good to know, I did not know this, but this seems like a typical response from a Linux Enthusiast.
"Oh oh we dont have this feature yet but it WILL be in next version....."
Umm, that's called vaporware, and it is NOT unique to Linux.
Consider this: You can go out and download the latest development version of the Linux kernel to test the newest features for yourself. Try doing that with a Microsoft product.
Aerobic bacteria require oxygen to live.
Anaerobic bacteria thrive in the absence of oxygen.
Yes, this is true.
The most notable anaerobic process is probably alcoholic fermentation, in which yeast (an anaerobic bacterium) converts sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide.
Yeast, if I'm not mistaken, are not bacteria. They, like our space friends, are fungi (eukaryotes).
Fermentation, the kind that produces alcohol, has a major aerobic phase, if I'm not mistaken. Anyone who makes beer will tell you that the first stage of fermentation requires lots of oxygen (the "wort" must be well aerated before adding yeast).
O2 is required to oxidize the sugars into EtOH. A byproduct of this process is CO2, which also carbonates your beer.
As an outgoing employee, you should make sure your own access to sensitive resources is eliminated when you leave. By knowing root passwords, you are placing yourself in a position of vulnerability if any systems are compromised.
It could be very easy for a disgruntled sysadmin to blame hacked system on you, when you aren't there to defend yourself.
At the least, it could mean a bad rec for you when you try to find another job, or worse, you could expose yourself to a lawsuit.
If you aren't sure your access is going to be cut off, then obtain proof that you attempted to have it removed by sending a letter to the appropriate mgmt body.
Perhaps if linux would get it's act together and get binary compatability sorted so we could run non-opensourced (shock horror) code on it, then things like this would be more likely to exist.
It appears you have a fundamental misunderstanding of how an O/S works, but correct me if I misinterpreted your point.
If you are implying that Linux cannot run non-opensourced code, you are mistaken. Whether or not the source is open has nothing to do with what O/S can run the binaries. There are many closed source applications which run on Linux. Examples: Oracle 8i, Star Office, Visual Works, Quake 3, to name just a few.
If you are implying that Linux is somehow behind because it can't run a Windows DVD player, this is simply ridiculous. If DVD makers would release the specs for their software, there would be Linux DVD software available I dare say within a few weeks, and an entirely new market segment would be available to the movie industry.
So, you see, it is not the Open Source community's fault that we have no DVD player, but rather the short-sigtedness of the DVD industry.
[The Direct Marketing Assoc.]:...it also seems pretty difficult for marketers to look at the thousands of different policies every time they send out an email," Cerasale says. "We don't think it's practical."
Now they know how it feels when I have to sort through hundreds of "SELL YOUR PRODUCTS ON THE INTERNET!" spams.
Rather than take responsibility for the time they are wasting and the money they are costing us (and spam DOES cost you money -- whether you realize it or not), they would rather place the burden on you, the consumer.
Even better, why not have it published anonymously in, say, a newspaper of some type? Journalists are not required by law to divulge their sources (this was tested in court long ago). Exploit the advantages given to dead tree print that are not afforded digital media.
Here is the response I received after notifying Radio Shack of my boycott:
Hello:
Thanks for the email. However, the company that filed the order is Digital
Convergence, not RadioShack.
RadioShack is not involved in the software development for the Cue Cat.
There are plans for a McIntosh version of the software to be made available
by Digital Convergence, but your questions and comments regarding the
software issues should be directed to Digital Convergence. They may be
reached via the following site:
http://www.digitalconvergence.com/contact/index.ht ml
Regards,
Chuck McConvey
Customer Care Center
The letter seems to indicate a misunderstanding of the issue on Radio Shack's part. They seem to believe the main concern is that a Linux version of the cue cat software is not available, when the real issue is that of a company using lawyers to extinguish our right to reverse engineer.
Radio Shack doesn't seem to realize that by supporting Digital Convergence, they are supporting this behavior. I will continue my boycott until they act otherwise.
Slashdot Mirror
Linus says everytime someone asks when 2.4 will be out he delays the release by another 24 hours.
A candidate who is enthused about the interview, and who appears to pursue your questions as if each one were an opportunity to demonstrate his/her talent will probably be the same way on the job.
As a candidate myself, I would say to employers: please ask some questions that are actually relevant to the skills you are hiring for! I can't tell you how many interviews I've been to where nothing computer related was ever brought up. Here are the questions every employer has asked me thus far:
- Do you work well in teams?
- What is your greatest failure/accomplishment?
- Give an example of a situation in which you had to deal with a very irate/irrational/stupid coworker/client/customer. What did you do?
- What is the most difficult problem you've had to solve, and what did you do?
Anyone who has been to more than one interview will simply answer those questions with canned responses. That's what I do, and then I try to move on to the more interesting topics. What do you expect someone to say? "Well, Mr. Interviewer, Sir, I sincerely despise other humans. If hired, I would request to be placed in a windowless room with a single hanging lightbulb."If the employer never asks me any directed questions about the type of work I'd be doing, or my skills, I become very suspicious, and begin to consider working for someone else instead.
We work/study for years to get to the point where we are qualified for a position, and we like to think that our knowledge is appreciated. I suppose some employers assume that a degree or experience means that you know your stuff, but any true geek will feel as if he/she has gone well beyond the calling of education or previous work experience, and will jump at the opportunity to prove this. So please, in addition to the standard questions, ask some questions that actually get to the meat of the job. The good candidates will appreciate it, and it will make it easier to distinguish them from those who are just along for the ride.
Such a flaw does indeed exist, and it is NT's integration of the GUI code into the OS kernel. If MS designed for stability, then NT and 2000 might look and run more like Netware or Unix.
Mostly just hardware or driver failures are causing it to get unstable, the same with other OS-es. that makes it unreliable.
Why, then, can other OS's run on this same hardware (using drivers not provided by the hardware manufacturer, I might add) and still be much more stable? Hmmm...
You state it as if you have to DESIGN reliability. That's untrue.
We all know that careful OS design leads to better systems, but one of the key aspects of careful design is reliability. Contrary to what you may believe, stability *must* be actively engineered. Example: memory protection. It doesn't happen on its own. If you don't put it in, your OS will not be as stable as one that has good memory protection. MS has learned this the hard way.
Dave Cuttler is a well known and well respected Operating System designer, not known for misdesign in what he designs for a living: OS-es.
Dave Cutler is obviously very talented. VMS works, and keeps on working. If Windows NT and 2k ran like it, we would not be having this argument. However, I don't think it was Cutler's idea to try and maintain backwards binary compatibility with legacy 16 bit code and integrate the GUI into the NT kernel. These are marketing ideas, and they do not result in world-class reliability, as evidenced by NT and now 2k.
There is nothing wrong with trying to build the most popular operating system; MS has succeeded there. However, it is an entirely different thing to build a good operating system.
We must sign a permanent alliance with the Germans or the Aztecs if we are to have any hope of defeating the evil British.
I must say, at that point Napster seemed pretty fair to me.
Now I can fit a 1024 node Beowulf cluster in the linen closet.
In the place I used to work, we had one of those fax on demand phone systems. Users could call in, press a few buttons, and have a fax sent to themselves.
I don't see how having music streamed over the phone line would be any harder. It would probably be easier.
On a related topic, I have been wanting to create an answering device running off a PC with a voice/CID modem which I can program to ring/not ring, play a certian message, or reroute calls based on time of call and caller ID data.
Basically, I'd like certain people to always be able to get in touch with me, but I don't want to leave my ringer on and get woken up at 6AM by some bozo trying to dial the Paper Warehouse.
Can anyone tell me if this would be possible with inexpensive hardware and a PC running Linux?
I'll bet Vader was pissed when he found out that the Death Star was delayed 155 weeks because they couldn't find any of those little pieces with the holes on both sides.
Where does the State of Mississippi get off telling Virginia what to do?
The surprised look on your client's face when he/she enters his new home.
"Hmm. I don't remember asking for an ammo dump in the kitchen, and why is my bathtub filled with toxic slime?!"
"Oh shit," you think as the Strogg guards begin to move in.
I have a BA in Psychology and I'm up for a BS in Computer Science this December. At the very least, I think it has allowed me to look at both computers and human thought from two different angles.
For example, the psychologist in me tries to make machines represent human thought. The computer scientist, however, is constantly amazed at how his brain can beat a binary search in some cases.
Those who will be most successful are the ones who can integrate diverse areas of thought, such as Law and Computers. Anyone can write code, but not everyone can solve problems that span multiple disciplines.
You could try something like that. We do not collect dues, as we are a student organization and feel that it would deter membership, but you can always find some creative ways of raising capital, if you really need it.
As far as meeting places, we have never had a problem with finding rooms at the University. It helps to have a faculty member on your side. We just meet in whatever rooms are not occupied at our meeting times.
We have also met at the local Books A Million. They have been very willing to work with us, and let us bring in machines and virtually take over the coffee shop area. In return, we patronize them with lots of business during our meetings. You might think about taking a similar approach with a business in your area.
Other than that, as one poster mentioned, try your public library.
"Try that with xyz" I never said a thing about Microsoft or how it relates to the topic.
Fair enough, I guess I sort of overreacted on that one.
The main thing I want to say is just that it doesnt seem fair or rather helpful to this guy that a kernel that isnt even production level does what he needs it to.
The point I wanted to make was that, though development software may not suit your needs, Open Source provides at least some measure of defense against vaporware.
If Apache promises threading in version 2.0, you can generally verify they are at least working toward this goal. With non-Open Source projects, or those with closed development cycles (like IIS), you can't. You are at the mercy of Marketroid claims.
This is not to mention that, often, it can be more costly to migrate platforms (say from *nix to NT or vice versa) than to simply wait for a feature you need to be supported by your O/S.
I don't know about you, but I think I'd be a lot more comfortable waiting if I had some assurance the features I needed would actually be there in the next release.
"Oh oh we dont have this feature yet but it WILL be in next version....."
Umm, that's called vaporware, and it is NOT unique to Linux.
Consider this: You can go out and download the latest development version of the Linux kernel to test the newest features for yourself. Try doing that with a Microsoft product.
Yes, this is true.
The most notable anaerobic process is probably alcoholic fermentation, in which yeast (an anaerobic bacterium) converts sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide.
Yeast, if I'm not mistaken, are not bacteria. They, like our space friends, are fungi (eukaryotes).
Fermentation, the kind that produces alcohol, has a major aerobic phase, if I'm not mistaken. Anyone who makes beer will tell you that the first stage of fermentation requires lots of oxygen (the "wort" must be well aerated before adding yeast).
O2 is required to oxidize the sugars into EtOH. A byproduct of this process is CO2, which also carbonates your beer.
As an outgoing employee, you should make sure your own access to sensitive resources is eliminated when you leave. By knowing root passwords, you are placing yourself in a position of vulnerability if any systems are compromised.
It could be very easy for a disgruntled sysadmin to blame hacked system on you, when you aren't there to defend yourself.
At the least, it could mean a bad rec for you when you try to find another job, or worse, you could expose yourself to a lawsuit.
If you aren't sure your access is going to be cut off, then obtain proof that you attempted to have it removed by sending a letter to the appropriate mgmt body.
It appears you have a fundamental misunderstanding of how an O/S works, but correct me if I misinterpreted your point.
If you are implying that Linux cannot run non-opensourced code, you are mistaken. Whether or not the source is open has nothing to do with what O/S can run the binaries. There are many closed source applications which run on Linux. Examples: Oracle 8i, Star Office, Visual Works, Quake 3, to name just a few.
If you are implying that Linux is somehow behind because it can't run a Windows DVD player, this is simply ridiculous. If DVD makers would release the specs for their software, there would be Linux DVD software available I dare say within a few weeks, and an entirely new market segment would be available to the movie industry.
So, you see, it is not the Open Source community's fault that we have no DVD player, but rather the short-sigtedness of the DVD industry.
Now they know how it feels when I have to sort through hundreds of "SELL YOUR PRODUCTS ON THE INTERNET!" spams.
Rather than take responsibility for the time they are wasting and the money they are costing us (and spam DOES cost you money -- whether you realize it or not), they would rather place the burden on you, the consumer.
Even better, why not have it published anonymously in, say, a newspaper of some type? Journalists are not required by law to divulge their sources (this was tested in court long ago). Exploit the advantages given to dead tree print that are not afforded digital media.
To generate page stats, check out the Webalizer.
I think the main thing holding Lynx back is that it takes way too long to load images.
Hello:
Thanks for the email. However, the company that filed the order is Digital Convergence, not RadioShack.
RadioShack is not involved in the software development for the Cue Cat. There are plans for a McIntosh version of the software to be made available by Digital Convergence, but your questions and comments regarding the software issues should be directed to Digital Convergence. They may be reached via the following site:
http://www.digitalconvergence.com/contact/index.ht ml
Regards,
Chuck McConvey Customer Care Center
The letter seems to indicate a misunderstanding of the issue on Radio Shack's part. They seem to believe the main concern is that a Linux version of the cue cat software is not available, when the real issue is that of a company using lawyers to extinguish our right to reverse engineer.
Radio Shack doesn't seem to realize that by supporting Digital Convergence, they are supporting this behavior. I will continue my boycott until they act otherwise.
'nuff said
You probably already know this, but running /stand/sysinstall will let you configure many things, including your network.
Let's just say the people at Fox have a few ideas up their sleeves for this one.
I'm talking, of course, about little green space aliens named Osmodiar that only Homer can see.