I was ashamed of my naivety when I worked on an freelancer-scheduling app for event planning.
I was embedded with this team of about 15 people whose job it was to fill slots for servers, greeters, busboys, drivers, etc for a large event planning business. I sat with these people for 2 months, learning how they did their job and writing some software to help automate it.
When I got done they fired all but 2 of the people because they weren't needed. I really didn't see that coming and felt terrible, especially since they had really helped me succeed at my job.
DoD Acquisitions has a focus on 'performance oriented' contracting. They suggest you buy things the way you buy managed servers at a server farm like rackspace.com. So, you could try to let a contract for the use of 1000PCs for 2 years and specify downtime, replacement, and repair measures. Offer the contractor rewards for exceeding the minimum requirements and penalties for not.
I think the idea applies pretty well here. I wonder how it would work. I'd call it HAAS - Hardware as a Service.
I just want to highlight your second point. I believe that THE most important thing gained from code reviews is the spreading knowledge and gaining understanding. New development is always great, but most programming is maintaining/fixing/improving existing projects. A code review is a great way to really learn about code readability. You actually get to see other people read your code and you get to read other people's code. All of this code is fresh in someone's mind so it can be explained, and how to make it more readable can be discussed. I learned a ton about writing maintainable code at my first job where we did regular code reviews.
On the more technical side, often once the code is discussed much simpler ways to solve the problem is discovered. It isn't about the individual bug fixes/improvements that can come from a code review. Its really a way to improve your programmers.
This must be one of the things that make military gear so expensive. I've flown military aircraft with multiple cell phone calls going on onboard and there isn't any interference at all.
If you are working in an office environment, then start out doing VB for Office. There are a ton of books available and you can write little programs that will help you do your job. M$ is evil, but they do give you a nice environment to learn in. This is (or at least used to be) called 'Office Automation.' I eventually got sick of M$ programming, but it IS a good place to start.
If you want a more theortical intro, you can do what many colleges do, and get started in PASCAL. If you go this route, I would just go head and sign up for the class at a local college. It will save you a bunch of headaches. For that matter, there are 'Programming for Office' classes at some junior colleges too.
A third useful option, depending on your job would be to get started with 'shell scripting.' That would be another useful way to learn.
Once you realize that languages are just levels of abstraction, it gets pretty easy to switch among them.
I know a guy who gets old UPS' from the junkyard and then hooks them up to regular car batteries. They work great and last for a lot longer than the batteries that come with them. Not sure what you would need to do to scale that up to your application, but you should be able to save a ton of cash.
I don't know where its from, but I'm always telling people that there are only 2 kinds of people in this world, those who divide the people in this world into 2 kinds, and those who don't.
I hate to do this on Slashdot....but I've been trolling for another Army pilot/Slashdot reader. Can you email me at slashdotspam@stardotstar.org so we can chit chat?
For your buddy or whoever is interested. I was one of these unhappy IT'ers. I quit 3 years ago and am now flying the CH-47 Chinook Helicopter for the Army. Below is a link to the program, you can sign up as a civilian and are guaranteed a slot a flight school. Feel free to email me with any questions......plus, being an ex-programmer in the Army is ultracool because they are starved for quality IT ppl.
I gave up $80K/year doing VB Ecommerce development to be an Army Helicopter pilot. I don't miss it a bit. Plus, my computer skills are a big help to the Army which doesn't generally attract people with good computer skills.
Have you ever moved? When you move into a new house there is no dialtone. When you cancel your phone service because you are moving out, there is no dialtone.
Ok, so you were saying that the BIOS menu would look like the Linksys Web Config tool...ok that makes sense. I thought you meant you would update the BIOS using a web based interface from another computer.
You just have to make sure that the TCP/IP stack is totally dead when not in use so that no maligned incoming packets can cause damage.
Interestingly, if I just copied and pasted your post into a Microsoft product (and probably some non-micorosft products), it would turn your plaintext kpmg.com's into hyperlinks. Now they have to sue the makers of the software for creating the link!!
It seems pretty obvious that it will take 1 week for someone to 'break the code' so to speak and allow you to keep your music.
My guess: When you buy a CD, you don't have to agree to any terms or conditions (at least explicitly). However, when you sign up for this service, they can put more restrictions in the contract than exist in a CD purchase.
Presumably, they can also watermark your files and know who it is that distributes the music online, and then come after you for breach of contract.
Slashdot Mirror
I was ashamed of my naivety when I worked on an freelancer-scheduling app for event planning.
I was embedded with this team of about 15 people whose job it was to fill slots for servers, greeters, busboys, drivers, etc for a large event planning business. I sat with these people for 2 months, learning how they did their job and writing some software to help automate it.
When I got done they fired all but 2 of the people because they weren't needed. I really didn't see that coming and felt terrible, especially since they had really helped me succeed at my job.
DoD Acquisitions has a focus on 'performance oriented' contracting. They suggest you buy things the way you buy managed servers at a server farm like rackspace.com. So, you could try to let a contract for the use of 1000PCs for 2 years and specify downtime, replacement, and repair measures. Offer the contractor rewards for exceeding the minimum requirements and penalties for not.
I think the idea applies pretty well here. I wonder how it would work. I'd call it HAAS - Hardware as a Service.
I just want to highlight your second point. I believe that THE most important thing gained from code reviews is the spreading knowledge and gaining understanding. New development is always great, but most programming is maintaining/fixing/improving existing projects. A code review is a great way to really learn about code readability. You actually get to see other people read your code and you get to read other people's code. All of this code is fresh in someone's mind so it can be explained, and how to make it more readable can be discussed. I learned a ton about writing maintainable code at my first job where we did regular code reviews.
On the more technical side, often once the code is discussed much simpler ways to solve the problem is discovered. It isn't about the individual bug fixes/improvements that can come from a code review. Its really a way to improve your programmers.
I have seen mIRC used in situations even more secure than the one you describe.
Last I checked, the BIOS lives in a chip, not the HDD. Thus the magic diskless booting. How is this news?
This must be one of the things that make military gear so expensive. I've flown military aircraft with multiple cell phone calls going on onboard and there isn't any interference at all.
If you watch the promotional video at www.amazon.com, you will see that its possible to read slashdot on the Kindle.
Well, I was just going to use my mod points to mod up whoever posted the first link to this site:
http://nocat.net/
But since nobody did, I posted it myself.
If you are working in an office environment, then start out doing VB for Office. There are a ton of books available and you can write little programs that will help you do your job. M$ is evil, but they do give you a nice environment to learn in. This is (or at least used to be) called 'Office Automation.' I eventually got sick of M$ programming, but it IS a good place to start.
If you want a more theortical intro, you can do what many colleges do, and get started in PASCAL. If you go this route, I would just go head and sign up for the class at a local college. It will save you a bunch of headaches. For that matter, there are 'Programming for Office' classes at some junior colleges too.
A third useful option, depending on your job would be to get started with 'shell scripting.' That would be another useful way to learn.
Once you realize that languages are just levels of abstraction, it gets pretty easy to switch among them.
I know a guy who gets old UPS' from the junkyard and then hooks them up to regular car batteries. They work great and last for a lot longer than the batteries that come with them. Not sure what you would need to do to scale that up to your application, but you should be able to save a ton of cash.
I don't know where its from, but I'm always telling people that there are only 2 kinds of people in this world, those who divide the people in this world into 2 kinds, and those who don't.
I hate to do this on Slashdot....but I've been trolling for another Army pilot/Slashdot reader. Can you email me at slashdotspam@stardotstar.org so we can chit chat?
For your buddy or whoever is interested. I was one of these unhappy IT'ers. I quit 3 years ago and am now flying the CH-47 Chinook Helicopter for the Army. Below is a link to the program, you can sign up as a civilian and are guaranteed a slot a flight school. Feel free to email me with any questions......plus, being an ex-programmer in the Army is ultracool because they are starved for quality IT ppl.
WO FLIGHT PROGRAM
Edward (and yes, I actually will see your mail if you send it to slashdotspam@stardotstar.org)
You can apply too, they take civilians:
h tml
http://www.usarec.army.mil/hq/warrant/WOcivilian.
Have you ever moved? When you move into a new house there is no dialtone. When you cancel your phone service because you are moving out, there is no dialtone.
Ok, so you were saying that the BIOS menu would look like the Linksys Web Config tool...ok that makes sense. I thought you meant you would update the BIOS using a web based interface from another computer.
You just have to make sure that the TCP/IP stack is totally dead when not in use so that no maligned incoming packets can cause damage.
Sounds like an easy inroad for hackers.....
a PC with one 802.11 card and a regular Ethernet card to plug into the Cable Modem or whather you will be using.
This is up there with the funniest comments ever on slashdot........how can it not be modded funny yet?
I have something like this circa 1998, which has held up beautifully.
u ct Display?productId=83161&storeId=10001&langId=-1&pc =C25
Samsonite laptop backpack $50 staight from their website.
http://us.samsonite.com/webapp/us/servlet/SProd
52 card pick up?
I've seen a lot of credit card fraud in my work in ecommerce. The feds never wanted to hear about it unless it was at least $10,000.
Yeah, my work used to be programming, and flying was my hobby. Now, flying is my work and programming is a hobby.
Go to flight school for FREE!!
Interestingly, if I just copied and pasted your post into a Microsoft product (and probably some non-micorosft products), it would turn your plaintext kpmg.com's into hyperlinks. Now they have to sue the makers of the software for creating the link!!
It seems pretty obvious that it will take 1 week for someone to 'break the code' so to speak and allow you to keep your music.
My guess: When you buy a CD, you don't have to agree to any terms or conditions (at least explicitly). However, when you sign up for this service, they can put more restrictions in the contract than exist in a CD purchase.
Presumably, they can also watermark your files and know who it is that distributes the music online, and then come after you for breach of contract.