The DVD ads are particularly frustrating for those of us with small kids. Picture the following scenario. You've just gotten the 2.5 year-old twins and their 1.5 year old younger brother buckled into the minivan for that long drive, and you're lucky enough to have them all clamoring for, say, a Wiggles video. You fire up the DVD player and here come the ads...
"No, I don't want to see Barney, I wanted the Wiggles" "No, let's watch Barney" "No, Wiggles!" "Barney!" "Wiggles" A great wailing and gnashing of teeth commences. In the back, the kids are also upset as they ads roll on. "Wait - where'd Barney go?" "Look, it's Blue's Clues. I want to watch Blue's Clues." "No, where'd Barney go? AAAAaaaahhhhhh!"
I've had good luck with Sesame Street and Dora the Explorer videos letting you get right to the content, but that's the exception, not the norm...
Re:URL is same, with ?complete=1?
on
Google Suggest
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· Score: 1
Well, silly me, I suppose! From the FAQ:
Can Google Suggest see what I'm typing? Just as E.T.(TM) needs to phone home in order to get a spaceship to pick him up, Google Suggest needs to talk to Google while you type in order to offer suggestions to you. Everything you type, though, is protected by Google's privacy policy.
Re:URL is same, with ?complete=1?
on
Google Suggest
·
· Score: 1
It's basically doing a google search every time you type in a single letter.
Huh? Looks more like they pass information to your browser containing the top hits for the various keystroke combinations, and a script sorts that out as you type. Going back and forth to the server with each keystroke would be nuts...
640K should be more than enough for anybody, dammit. Why, back in my day...
Re:Outsourcing made simple
on
Offshoring IT
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· Score: 2, Insightful
I suggest you sign up for some Economics 101.
Goods and services are both aspects of economic activity that provide the benefits noted by the original poster. The only substantive difference is that it's more difficult for officials to track trade in services since you don't have the same documentation available as when goods pass through Customs.
Outsourcing isn't new at all
on
Offshoring IT
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
Americans view doing support for AOL and data entry for Cingular as grunt jobs, just temporary positions on the way to a better life, while for many Indians it is the ultimate career, and are thankful to the provider for giving them the opportunity.
The same could well be said for a wide variety of low skill jobs, which have been both outsourced (foreign manufacturing) or relegated to immigrant labor (meat packing, general labor, etc.). America has a strong cultural bias that looks down upon "low-skill" work, which has long provided an opportunity for other countries to fill those gaps in our labor markets. The difference now is that the competition is taking on the white-collar workforce as well. Horror of horrors!
Give us our cheap foreign-made manufactured goods, but don't you dare let them hammer out code as well!
Personally, I think it will be interesting to see how the currency trends of the past year (which are likely to continue in the same direction) affect outsourcing. American labor is getting cheaper day by day...
I suppose we should just tell everyone else in the world to stop worrying about labor and environmental lawmaking, because we here in the US have figured out the "right thing to do." I'm sure they'll be quite relieved...
Seriously, each country faces their own issues in these areas, and must decide themselves how to resolve them. Of course if they sign on to international agreements then they need to live up to those standards, but outside of that nations are free to determine their own priorities. For instance, what does an extremely poor nation decide regarding child labor? Their circumstances might dictate that 18 is an unrealistic age of majority, despite whatever moral objections may come from American observers.
It's not like the wise men of American lawmaking came down from on high with these laws dictating the "right way to treat *all* people". These laws have evolved over time, balancing public and private interests along the way.
So again, I say that the interesting question is, what has India done to ensure that the tragedy in Bhopal doesn't repeat itself? I don't say that to denegrate them, I'm just curious to know how the nation responded regarding safety standards.
A better question is to ask what happened in India after the Bhopal disaster in terms of worker protection and labor standards (I honestly don't know). India is a democracy, and as such has the ability to change over the course of time as the electorate demands.
Will a country in that situation choose to enact laws to raise standards, at the potential cost of jobs lost? That's why we don't have global standards for these things - different countries have different priorities and preferences, expressed through their own political and social processes. I think some Americans often get arrogant and assume that US standards should be imposed upon any country that wishes to business with us.
If they don't include the most important information, the arbitrary number that determines if you get a loan or not, then what's the point?
The point is that you can see whether or not erroneous information is in your file, and give the chance to correct it. In practice, just about anybody you apply for a loan with will tell you your FICO score anyway when you apply (that's been my experience on mortgages, car loans, etc.).
There's good reason to doubt these predictions, outside of Gartner's previous track record. While certain aspects of today's IT work will become automated, new technologies and products will add to the IT workload and soak up some of those reductions.
They are not children, they are embryos (blastocysts, to be precise). They continue to exist only because we have placed them in storage, and it is our decision as to whether or not they will ever be implanted and have a chance to become children.
Or do you propose forcibly implanting my wife's uterus in the name of your morality???
In actual practice, the abilities of one language or another are often inconsequential to a particular business. Once they have an installed base of software built around a certain language, the costs of switching are higher than any gains achieved from the "superior" language.
I work for a $1.5 billion company whose ERP runs on RPG. Sure, there's a Java version of the software coming out, but there's just no business case for making that switch. We'll probably still be using RPG for 10 more years...
My wife and I have 8 embryos in cryogenic storage, left over from when we did IVF (our twins are now 2.5, and it was worth every penny that's still on our charge cards). We pay a yearly fee to maintain that storage, but after a period of time, once we're sure we don't want to have any more kids, we'd love to donate those embryos for research rather than have them destroyed.
There are indeed ethical considerations, but I think those are on the part of the parents involved and are a private matter.
In the tech biz, who plans on working DECADES for anybody anymore??? You're lucky if the company is around for more than 10 years, without being bought or bankrupted.
I did a short-term (6 month) contracting gig when I first got married, as a means to bring in $$$ while looking for permanent work in my new home city (Indianapolis). Just because you land a contract position doesn't mean you have to stop the job hunt...
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The DVD ads are particularly frustrating for those of us with small kids. Picture the following scenario. You've just gotten the 2.5 year-old twins and their 1.5 year old younger brother buckled into the minivan for that long drive, and you're lucky enough to have them all clamoring for, say, a Wiggles video. You fire up the DVD player and here come the ads...
"No, I don't want to see Barney, I wanted the Wiggles"
"No, let's watch Barney"
"No, Wiggles!"
"Barney!"
"Wiggles"
A great wailing and gnashing of teeth commences. In the back, the kids are also upset as they ads roll on.
"Wait - where'd Barney go?"
"Look, it's Blue's Clues. I want to watch Blue's Clues."
"No, where'd Barney go? AAAAaaaahhhhhh!"
I've had good luck with Sesame Street and Dora the Explorer videos letting you get right to the content, but that's the exception, not the norm...
Well, silly me, I suppose! From the FAQ:
Can Google Suggest see what I'm typing?
Just as E.T.(TM) needs to phone home in order to get a spaceship to pick him up, Google Suggest needs to talk to Google while you type in order to offer suggestions to you. Everything you type, though, is protected by Google's privacy policy.
It's basically doing a google search every time you type in a single letter.
Huh? Looks more like they pass information to your browser containing the top hits for the various keystroke combinations, and a script sorts that out as you type. Going back and forth to the server with each keystroke would be nuts...
640K should be more than enough for anybody, dammit. Why, back in my day...
I suggest you sign up for some Economics 101.
Goods and services are both aspects of economic activity that provide the benefits noted by the original poster. The only substantive difference is that it's more difficult for officials to track trade in services since you don't have the same documentation available as when goods pass through Customs.
Americans view doing support for AOL and data entry for Cingular as grunt jobs, just temporary positions on the way to a better life, while for many Indians it is the ultimate career, and are thankful to the provider for giving them the opportunity.
The same could well be said for a wide variety of low skill jobs, which have been both outsourced (foreign manufacturing) or relegated to immigrant labor (meat packing, general labor, etc.). America has a strong cultural bias that looks down upon "low-skill" work, which has long provided an opportunity for other countries to fill those gaps in our labor markets. The difference now is that the competition is taking on the white-collar workforce as well. Horror of horrors!
Give us our cheap foreign-made manufactured goods, but don't you dare let them hammer out code as well!
Personally, I think it will be interesting to see how the currency trends of the past year (which are likely to continue in the same direction) affect outsourcing. American labor is getting cheaper day by day...
I suppose we should just tell everyone else in the world to stop worrying about labor and environmental lawmaking, because we here in the US have figured out the "right thing to do." I'm sure they'll be quite relieved...
Seriously, each country faces their own issues in these areas, and must decide themselves how to resolve them. Of course if they sign on to international agreements then they need to live up to those standards, but outside of that nations are free to determine their own priorities. For instance, what does an extremely poor nation decide regarding child labor? Their circumstances might dictate that 18 is an unrealistic age of majority, despite whatever moral objections may come from American observers.
It's not like the wise men of American lawmaking came down from on high with these laws dictating the "right way to treat *all* people". These laws have evolved over time, balancing public and private interests along the way.
So again, I say that the interesting question is, what has India done to ensure that the tragedy in Bhopal doesn't repeat itself? I don't say that to denegrate them, I'm just curious to know how the nation responded regarding safety standards.
A better question is to ask what happened in India after the Bhopal disaster in terms of worker protection and labor standards (I honestly don't know). India is a democracy, and as such has the ability to change over the course of time as the electorate demands.
Will a country in that situation choose to enact laws to raise standards, at the potential cost of jobs lost? That's why we don't have global standards for these things - different countries have different priorities and preferences, expressed through their own political and social processes. I think some Americans often get arrogant and assume that US standards should be imposed upon any country that wishes to business with us.
Evil? Google???
Inconceivable!!!
Just wait for the "that's what happens when you go public" posts...
If they don't include the most important information, the arbitrary number that determines if you get a loan or not, then what's the point?
The point is that you can see whether or not erroneous information is in your file, and give the chance to correct it. In practice, just about anybody you apply for a loan with will tell you your FICO score anyway when you apply (that's been my experience on mortgages, car loans, etc.).
There's good reason to doubt these predictions, outside of Gartner's previous track record. While certain aspects of today's IT work will become automated, new technologies and products will add to the IT workload and soak up some of those reductions.
They are not children, they are embryos (blastocysts, to be precise). They continue to exist only because we have placed them in storage, and it is our decision as to whether or not they will ever be implanted and have a chance to become children.
Or do you propose forcibly implanting my wife's uterus in the name of your morality???
You're referring to a different item on the list. Playing "Crash Test Dummy" and "the CSI Home Game" were two entries...
Did they tighten things up by just combining the baddies in Orthanc and Barad-dur?
Nanatechnology...
Bravo! Bravo! Bravo!
In actual practice, the abilities of one language or another are often inconsequential to a particular business. Once they have an installed base of software built around a certain language, the costs of switching are higher than any gains achieved from the "superior" language.
I work for a $1.5 billion company whose ERP runs on RPG. Sure, there's a Java version of the software coming out, but there's just no business case for making that switch. We'll probably still be using RPG for 10 more years...
My wife and I have 8 embryos in cryogenic storage, left over from when we did IVF (our twins are now 2.5, and it was worth every penny that's still on our charge cards). We pay a yearly fee to maintain that storage, but after a period of time, once we're sure we don't want to have any more kids, we'd love to donate those embryos for research rather than have them destroyed.
There are indeed ethical considerations, but I think those are on the part of the parents involved and are a private matter.
Isn't "TCP protocol" redundant anyway?
Dude, pull that hook out of your cheek...
Just beware the "extra sausage" - on the pizza and the hookers...
That's what I was thinking when I saw the headline. Is this story a dupe from 2000, or something?
In the tech biz, who plans on working DECADES for anybody anymore??? You're lucky if the company is around for more than 10 years, without being bought or bankrupted.
I did a short-term (6 month) contracting gig when I first got married, as a means to bring in $$$ while looking for permanent work in my new home city (Indianapolis). Just because you land a contract position doesn't mean you have to stop the job hunt...
We are talking about books still right? From your nick I can see it must be a top-shelf publication.
No, you're thinking of these guys. I really do need to have my lawyer contact them about using my nick without due authorization or compensation...
You really need to get out more!
Well, it's the Kyoto treaty, so I suppose they send E. Honda over to kick some ass...