I once worked with a young guy who gave me a bit of wisdom he inheirited from his father.
When he had to have meetings he removed all the chairs from the room. That shortened the meeting down. People left off the stupid comments that seem to be made just so they can reply.
I see something missing in this discussion. I can't quite put my finger on it but maybe I can hint in that direction.
Part of this issue relates to what we teach in the schools.
a) It's different depending on what grade you are talking about. For example, I'm an old guy and I learned in my formative early school years all about dinosaurs. I got what "science" said was known about them. I didn't look at it as current knowledge but as "truth." Now, it seems, the kids are learning a different version of things because we have found more evidence that tells us more about what dinosaurs were like. But, again, these kids are getting the idea that this is "truth." The lower grades learn science as "truth" and not as part of the process of science.
b) Even high school "science" classes have to deal with the societal context of the students. When they learn biological facts about sexuality there is often information given about how a student's sexual activities might effect their lives. Telling them that they are less likely to end up with an STD if they use condoms isn't truly "science" in the sense this Slashdot discussion seems centered around. But it is taught in science class. How a creator fits into the "origins" picture may be a similar situation in some communities.
c) There are a lot of people in some communities that have religious or pseudo-religious beliefs about how all this came into existence. Ignoring the close-held beliefs of those people in schools would be a travesty. It seems popular, in the US, to suppose that all education should be the same in all communities. We don't do it that way. Some high schools offer Calculus and some don't mostly based on what the parents and school officials feel is worth teaching. Some high schools offer classes to teach traditional homemaking skills. Some don't. Perhaps some information on how the science in a class relates to people beliefs is similar.
d) Who are WE to tell the ordinary people in some community what is important for them to teach their kids? I know we are much smarter than they. I know we are more tuned in to the needs of those kids in a global society. But I sure don't want even a benevolent dictatorship telling me how to raise my kids. That includes telling my community what our kids should learn in school. (We'll decide half the stuff we teach them is crap in 50 years anyway.) How arrogant.
I just think there is more to the issue than I'm seeing here.
As for whether Dice is a good measure, I don't know.
What I do know is that Dice has helped me find 3 of my last 4 positions. The first in 2002 was when I sent a resume to a Dice posting. The next two this last year happened by me putting my resume on Dice which put me in touch with those recruiters you mentioned.
As a person looking for work, I like Dice and find it a good addition to all the other ways of finding a position.
I have seen the demand for developers increase considerably in the last year. It also shows up as a willingness of employers to pay more.
I am aware of the fact that different companies have different policies. This seems to be occasioned by the the fact the CEOs have different personalities and that many policies are based on whatever someone did in the the past that caused a problem.
I am aware of the fact that different jobs require different types of concentration. For example, an assembly line worker can only relax after completing the task and before the line moves on. It tends to be a short fixed length of time. A software developer has to concentrate for longer periods of time to do good work.
Ignoring all that, I suspect that most folks with computers on their desk also have phones. The phones are mostly used to call people for business reasons or to receive business calls. But if the kid's school calls or the wife or golf buddy calls it is acceptable to talk for a little bit. Most companies don't mind a call to the house but they do frown on a call to Thailand (unless you are in Thailand). And even if you don't have a phone on your desk you may have a cell phone that you use during the work day. Most employers expect you to do a bunch of work and a little personal stuff. They just don't want the personal stuff taking all day or costing them money.
Now, why is IM different? Some jobs don't have a need to do an IMing so all use would be personal. Some jobs can be done better when you IM. Either way, it doesn't cost much. As long as the personal IM doesn't take all day, why bother cutting it off.
(The comment about the cost of the bandwidth used for IM seems spurious. Companies spend money all the time for their employees personal affairs. What is air conditioning or smoking areas or coffee pots?)
I can see the problem with file transfers. It might be a good idea to figure out how to turn them off. Most of those people that need to transfer files can email them when they need to.
I can also see industries where you can get into problems if you let the employees communicate with the outside. I once did a project at a securities firm that recorded every phone call so it could prove, in a possible court case, that no employees gave any inside information to anyone outside. Of course, the IM worked just fine at that time. It really should have been recorded or turned off for the same reason the phones were. (Cell phone calls were not allowed.)
Perhaps they should just figure out who the author is and then let the virus upload code to all those computers to spam him (or her) with an assortment of valuable offers.
This is just a repeat of what happened back in the 90's. Forgive me if I'm too lazy to look up which versions we are talking about.
Early versions of Windows would reboot when you sneezed at it. Anything you did required a reboot.
Then we heard the word out of Redmond. "The new, better Windows that is coming out will not require you to reboot so much. This will save loads of time."
And it worked. The new version didn't require rebooting as much as the old.
Then the next version required more rebooting and the the next even more. As Windows got more complex, whatever they did to make it reboot less didn't come into play as much.
I don't think MS is trying to compete with Google at all. I suspect they just want Google (and the rest of the world) to think they are trying to compete.
Google, they think, will work harder, taking resources away from other new and inventive things that could hurt Microsoft.
Some real people will wait to do anything about Google Base while they ponder whether they should ignore Google and see what Microsoft is going to come up with "real soon now."
Its just the old time FUD factor use so successfully by IBM some 40 years ago. (FUD = fear, uncertainty and doubt)
Its my opinion and perhaps worth just what you paid for it.
Slashdot Mirror
I once worked with a young guy who gave me a bit of wisdom he inheirited from his father.
When he had to have meetings he removed all the chairs from the room. That shortened the meeting down. People left off the stupid comments that seem to be made just so they can reply.
It works for me.
I see something missing in this discussion. I can't quite put my finger on it but maybe I can hint in that direction.
Part of this issue relates to what we teach in the schools.
a) It's different depending on what grade you are talking about. For example, I'm an old guy and I learned in my formative early school years all about dinosaurs. I got what "science" said was known about them. I didn't look at it as current knowledge but as "truth." Now, it seems, the kids are learning a different version of things because we have found more evidence that tells us more about what dinosaurs were like. But, again, these kids are getting the idea that this is "truth." The lower grades learn science as "truth" and not as part of the process of science.
b) Even high school "science" classes have to deal with the societal context of the students. When they learn biological facts about sexuality there is often information given about how a student's sexual activities might effect their lives. Telling them that they are less likely to end up with an STD if they use condoms isn't truly "science" in the sense this Slashdot discussion seems centered around. But it is taught in science class. How a creator fits into the "origins" picture may be a similar situation in some communities.
c) There are a lot of people in some communities that have religious or pseudo-religious beliefs about how all this came into existence. Ignoring the close-held beliefs of those people in schools would be a travesty. It seems popular, in the US, to suppose that all education should be the same in all communities. We don't do it that way. Some high schools offer Calculus and some don't mostly based on what the parents and school officials feel is worth teaching. Some high schools offer classes to teach traditional homemaking skills. Some don't. Perhaps some information on how the science in a class relates to people beliefs is similar.
d) Who are WE to tell the ordinary people in some community what is important for them to teach their kids? I know we are much smarter than they. I know we are more tuned in to the needs of those kids in a global society. But I sure don't want even a benevolent dictatorship telling me how to raise my kids. That includes telling my community what our kids should learn in school. (We'll decide half the stuff we teach them is crap in 50 years anyway.) How arrogant.
I just think there is more to the issue than I'm seeing here.
As for whether Dice is a good measure, I don't know.
What I do know is that Dice has helped me find 3 of my last 4 positions. The first in 2002 was when I sent a resume to a Dice posting. The next two this last year happened by me putting my resume on Dice which put me in touch with those recruiters you mentioned.
As a person looking for work, I like Dice and find it a good addition to all the other ways of finding a position.
I have seen the demand for developers increase considerably in the last year. It also shows up as a willingness of employers to pay more.
I am aware of the fact that different companies have different policies. This seems to be occasioned by the the fact the CEOs have different personalities and that many policies are based on whatever someone did in the the past that caused a problem.
I am aware of the fact that different jobs require different types of concentration. For example, an assembly line worker can only relax after completing the task and before the line moves on. It tends to be a short fixed length of time. A software developer has to concentrate for longer periods of time to do good work.
Ignoring all that, I suspect that most folks with computers on their desk also have phones. The phones are mostly used to call people for business reasons or to receive business calls. But if the kid's school calls or the wife or golf buddy calls it is acceptable to talk for a little bit. Most companies don't mind a call to the house but they do frown on a call to Thailand (unless you are in Thailand). And even if you don't have a phone on your desk you may have a cell phone that you use during the work day. Most employers expect you to do a bunch of work and a little personal stuff. They just don't want the personal stuff taking all day or costing them money.
Now, why is IM different? Some jobs don't have a need to do an IMing so all use would be personal. Some jobs can be done better when you IM. Either way, it doesn't cost much. As long as the personal IM doesn't take all day, why bother cutting it off.
(The comment about the cost of the bandwidth used for IM seems spurious. Companies spend money all the time for their employees personal affairs. What is air conditioning or smoking areas or coffee pots?)
I can see the problem with file transfers. It might be a good idea to figure out how to turn them off. Most of those people that need to transfer files can email them when they need to.
I can also see industries where you can get into problems if you let the employees communicate with the outside. I once did a project at a securities firm that recorded every phone call so it could prove, in a possible court case, that no employees gave any inside information to anyone outside. Of course, the IM worked just fine at that time. It really should have been recorded or turned off for the same reason the phones were. (Cell phone calls were not allowed.)
>Oh and it has to fit under my desk
...
I want it to double as a mouse pad and be about that size.
As long as we are wishing
Perhaps they should just figure out who the author is and then let the virus upload code to all those computers to spam him (or her) with an assortment of valuable offers.
This is just a repeat of what happened back in the 90's. Forgive me if I'm too lazy to look up which versions we are talking about.
...
Early versions of Windows would reboot when you sneezed at it. Anything you did required a reboot.
Then we heard the word out of Redmond. "The new, better Windows that is coming out will not require you to reboot so much. This will save loads of time."
And it worked. The new version didn't require rebooting as much as the old.
Then the next version required more rebooting and the the next even more. As Windows got more complex, whatever they did to make it reboot less didn't come into play as much.
So now
I don't think MS is trying to compete with Google at all. I suspect they just want Google (and the rest of the world) to think they are trying to compete.
Google, they think, will work harder, taking resources away from other new and inventive things that could hurt Microsoft.
Some real people will wait to do anything about Google Base while they ponder whether they should ignore Google and see what Microsoft is going to come up with "real soon now."
Its just the old time FUD factor use so successfully by IBM some 40 years ago. (FUD = fear, uncertainty and doubt)
Its my opinion and perhaps worth just what you paid for it.
I think its more likely that the evil aliens would just "beam" malicious programs into all of our computers from their orbiting cruisers.
Then they could deplete our planetary resources by selling us fake rolexes and male potency fixes and setting us all up with dates.
I think its time to start digging a bunker in the back yard.
>You know what they say about business:
>anger one customer and they tell 10 friends.
Funny how they tell one friend for each finger (and thumb). I wonder if people with a missing finger tell less of their friends.