Well said, and that applies to many industries with faux job-security and benefits. You have to go with an organization or government you can trust to honour a pension and a commitment to their employees. If you're a really good programmer, you can probably make a go of it on your own doing freelance work. Working for yourself, or at least being able to work for yourself is an important survival skill.
It's great being a CS degree holder. You can sometimes get flexible working hours, decent benefits, and an ungodly low level of sunlight in the year. Given the carcinogenic effects of solar radiation these days, coupled with toxins in diet softdrinks, it's probably best that white collar workers live and work indoors though.
Work for talented programmers will never end. But work for programmers in general will not be as common in the coming years when everyone and their dog can make a website on My Space.
The US is there, but not to the degree they should be. What probably happened is that the American government reasoned that they were certainly going to lose the war in Afghanistan, so their exit strategy was Iraq. They aren't going back in adaquate numbers to ever finish the work just a scant few thousand troops are doing now.
I'm not sure he'd have stayed even if they won the election since Bush admitted today that he lied the other week about Rummy wanting to stay on for the next 2 years.
Check out the video for Crackberries on the Rick Mercer Report website cbc.ca/mercerreport There's an attachment where the crackberry user can stare at the screen, while their helmet with mounted camera directs them through the crowd. It would work on a GPS device too - if you can figure out how to read Cantonese.
There ought to be a lot more consideration given to dialup users this study finds. Bling might draw people back to the site, but only if it takes a second to load.
A ranked ballot is possibly too complicated for the average voter who doesn't prepare to vote until they are in the polling station, but it's no doubt a better system of gauging public opinion if they are educated voters.
The GParent's point isn't really wrong from the most important perspective, that winning the election is the most important aspect of a race. Since the perception of election winners is that the losers' voters picked him to win [they have a mandate], it's unlikely that person will rule with the losers in mind too.
Unless the action is an exit strategy that lands US troops in Afghanistan to finish the job the Canadians and others have been trying to finish, I won't be satisfied either.
Canada and the USA use first past the post. It's at least party society and thus media's persuasion over the country's shared ideology that contributes to voter apathy and a 2 party [us vs them] mentality. You can't deny that if the media said for 30 days straight before the election that a Green candidate was the only winning option in a district, that they'd get him/her elected, even in a first past the post system.
Slashdotters should be experts at any FIRST past the POST system.
"The best strategy is to always vote for the lesser of two evils in our two-party system. Your job is to make sure that the best candidate wins in the primary election."
I disagree with your view, based on the fact we're discussing an average American Joe who doesn't care to get involved at a party level and vote when it most counts for a party nomination or something along those lines. Therefore the average voter, has to support a candidate that opposes the status quo, and in America both Democrats and Republicans are entirely the status quo.
You can't tell me that voting for Hillary in 2008 will be democracy in action, leading to your country being ruled by either Bushes or Clintons for 24 years straight. That just CAN'T happen in a real democracy/republic of 300,000,000 people, without some serious election problems/manipulation at different levels.
The point is, you don't really have to elect a Libertarian to make it clear that the system is broken, when the winner gets 30% of the votes due to the "3rd party" getting more than about 10%. The mainstream parties have no incentive to improve because they know if they lose they just have to wait 4 or 8 years to win again later with no other competition. That is what is breeding corruption, and contempt.
In a discussion with a former broadcast journalist yesterday, he thinks that traditional radio will be nearly gone as we know it, not to far in the future. Advertisers and sales people from those stations will either have to learn how to podcast, or I suppose now will find themselves working for Google Adsense.
In America, where only two parties are given a chance at winning by the media [and thus they shape perception that way into reality], you really can't lose by voting for a 3rd party. If you aren't happy with the current system, staying home isn't getting changes put into place. But if you vote Green, or Libertarian, or Independent, you're sending a message that you don't trust mainstream politics. Imagine what would happen if 10% of the voters went for non-Democrat and non-Republican. Could politicians really believe that that many millions of Americans don't deserve to be represented in Congress or the Presidency?
They'd HAVE to change the system to a more fair electoral system.
That would be a pretty funny poll actually. They could subtitle it by saying "votes counted by Diebold - when your vote absolutely has to be on time."
So many people have used Windows, that we don't really trust computers to be 100% reliable. However, most people don't understand how easy it is for a computer to be manipulated, and since they trust the people pushing computerized voting upon them, they don't realize the danger their democracy is in.
I do trust the USPS, and they are about as trustworthy as Elections Canada must be, and there are already laws in place if USPS staff tampers with mail. It's good that they have a way to eliminate the middle man when returning the ballot, however.
It makes me wonder if the Stock Markets of the world have a plan to deal with this kind of nearly untraceable pump-and-dumping? Will it be illegal to invest in whatever spammed stock you see in your inbox, and dump it before other suckers invest in it based on spams?
DailyKos today is really pushing today for a mail-in system like Oregon apparently has available. That would be good, but still a voter doesn't see the ballot going into the box that is counted, and that's where the voting machines and mail-in both fail.
Marked paper into a box is the only way to go when 99.9% of votes need to be counted to scrutinized.
I can't wait until January 30th of next year though! I have to have enjoyment crippling features like PVP DRM, and a mandatory startup jingle NOW! My "Vista Capable" new 64 bit computer is just dying to struggle under its weight too.
Please Microsoft, isn't there any way you can bend me over further and give Vista to me harder?
I'm safe from identity theft. I took all of my ID, and locked it in my luggage I bought off of eBay using Linux. Then I wrapped the suit case in tin foil, and placed it in a secret location (under my bed). If Microsoft wants to get my identity, they'll have to find the suitcase and know my secret 5 digit password...
You're right that there is a certain level of repetitiveness, and less "creation". But aggregators are still a good way for someone to find the creators of content, and first hand accounts of the news. If it weren't for fark, and slashdot, thousands of important news makers on the Internet throughout the year would go unnoticed to most users.
Slashdot Mirror
Well said, and that applies to many industries with faux job-security and benefits. You have to go with an organization or government you can trust to honour a pension and a commitment to their employees. If you're a really good programmer, you can probably make a go of it on your own doing freelance work. Working for yourself, or at least being able to work for yourself is an important survival skill.
It's great being a CS degree holder. You can sometimes get flexible working hours, decent benefits, and an ungodly low level of sunlight in the year. Given the carcinogenic effects of solar radiation these days, coupled with toxins in diet softdrinks, it's probably best that white collar workers live and work indoors though.
Work for talented programmers will never end. But work for programmers in general will not be as common in the coming years when everyone and their dog can make a website on My Space.
The US is there, but not to the degree they should be. What probably happened is that the American government reasoned that they were certainly going to lose the war in Afghanistan, so their exit strategy was Iraq. They aren't going back in adaquate numbers to ever finish the work just a scant few thousand troops are doing now.
I'm not sure he'd have stayed even if they won the election since Bush admitted today that he lied the other week about Rummy wanting to stay on for the next 2 years.
Check out the video for Crackberries on the Rick Mercer Report website cbc.ca/mercerreport
There's an attachment where the crackberry user can stare at the screen, while their helmet with mounted camera directs them through the crowd. It would work on a GPS device too - if you can figure out how to read Cantonese.
There ought to be a lot more consideration given to dialup users this study finds. Bling might draw people back to the site, but only if it takes a second to load.
A ranked ballot is possibly too complicated for the average voter who doesn't prepare to vote until they are in the polling station, but it's no doubt a better system of gauging public opinion if they are educated voters.
The GParent's point isn't really wrong from the most important perspective, that winning the election is the most important aspect of a race. Since the perception of election winners is that the losers' voters picked him to win [they have a mandate], it's unlikely that person will rule with the losers in mind too.
Unless the action is an exit strategy that lands US troops in Afghanistan to finish the job the Canadians and others have been trying to finish, I won't be satisfied either.
Canada and the USA use first past the post. It's at least party society and thus media's persuasion over the country's shared ideology that contributes to voter apathy and a 2 party [us vs them] mentality. You can't deny that if the media said for 30 days straight before the election that a Green candidate was the only winning option in a district, that they'd get him/her elected, even in a first past the post system.
Slashdotters should be experts at any FIRST past the POST system.
"The best strategy is to always vote for the lesser of two evils in our two-party system. Your job is to make sure that the best candidate wins in the primary election."
I disagree with your view, based on the fact we're discussing an average American Joe who doesn't care to get involved at a party level and vote when it most counts for a party nomination or something along those lines. Therefore the average voter, has to support a candidate that opposes the status quo, and in America both Democrats and Republicans are entirely the status quo.
You can't tell me that voting for Hillary in 2008 will be democracy in action, leading to your country being ruled by either Bushes or Clintons for 24 years straight. That just CAN'T happen in a real democracy/republic of 300,000,000 people, without some serious election problems/manipulation at different levels.
The point is, you don't really have to elect a Libertarian to make it clear that the system is broken, when the winner gets 30% of the votes due to the "3rd party" getting more than about 10%. The mainstream parties have no incentive to improve because they know if they lose they just have to wait 4 or 8 years to win again later with no other competition. That is what is breeding corruption, and contempt.
In a discussion with a former broadcast journalist yesterday, he thinks that traditional radio will be nearly gone as we know it, not to far in the future. Advertisers and sales people from those stations will either have to learn how to podcast, or I suppose now will find themselves working for Google Adsense.
In America, where only two parties are given a chance at winning by the media [and thus they shape perception that way into reality], you really can't lose by voting for a 3rd party. If you aren't happy with the current system, staying home isn't getting changes put into place. But if you vote Green, or Libertarian, or Independent, you're sending a message that you don't trust mainstream politics. Imagine what would happen if 10% of the voters went for non-Democrat and non-Republican. Could politicians really believe that that many millions of Americans don't deserve to be represented in Congress or the Presidency?
They'd HAVE to change the system to a more fair electoral system.
That would be a pretty funny poll actually. They could subtitle it by saying "votes counted by Diebold - when your vote absolutely has to be on time."
So many people have used Windows, that we don't really trust computers to be 100% reliable. However, most people don't understand how easy it is for a computer to be manipulated, and since they trust the people pushing computerized voting upon them, they don't realize the danger their democracy is in.
Thanks for making that note - very informative.
I do trust the USPS, and they are about as trustworthy as Elections Canada must be, and there are already laws in place if USPS staff tampers with mail. It's good that they have a way to eliminate the middle man when returning the ballot, however.
I'd have a feeling that he'd settle for grass domination, if he's still mowing a lawn instead of weeding a yard-garden instead.
It makes me wonder if the Stock Markets of the world have a plan to deal with this kind of nearly untraceable pump-and-dumping? Will it be illegal to invest in whatever spammed stock you see in your inbox, and dump it before other suckers invest in it based on spams?
DailyKos today is really pushing today for a mail-in system like Oregon apparently has available. That would be good, but still a voter doesn't see the ballot going into the box that is counted, and that's where the voting machines and mail-in both fail.
Marked paper into a box is the only way to go when 99.9% of votes need to be counted to scrutinized.
Yahoo Mail would crash my Firefox 1.x until I moved to Yahoo Mail beta.
Isn't using Firebird 0.7 like using IE 5.0 these days?
I can't wait until January 30th of next year though! I have to have enjoyment crippling features like PVP DRM, and a mandatory startup jingle NOW! My "Vista Capable" new 64 bit computer is just dying to struggle under its weight too.
Please Microsoft, isn't there any way you can bend me over further and give Vista to me harder?
Unfortunately it affects any place doing business with the USA, and Ontario Canada decided to change with them.
r tial-law-bill-signed-daylight-time-replay/ Here are the levels of oil saved, and my guess as to the cost of implementation. It's a boondoggle by Bush, to distract us from real oil saving measures.
What a big waste!
http://www.abandonedstuff.com/2006/10/29/bushs-ma
Thank you AC, I thought it didn't look 'write' ;-) Wood you like to make any other corrections?
Damnit! I have to rewrap that tinfoil. I'll be right back.
I'm safe from identity theft. I took all of my ID, and locked it in my luggage I bought off of eBay using Linux. Then I wrapped the suit case in tin foil, and placed it in a secret location (under my bed). If Microsoft wants to get my identity, they'll have to find the suitcase and know my secret 5 digit password...
You're right that there is a certain level of repetitiveness, and less "creation". But aggregators are still a good way for someone to find the creators of content, and first hand accounts of the news. If it weren't for fark, and slashdot, thousands of important news makers on the Internet throughout the year would go unnoticed to most users.