In airports they already reduce their credit card processing time by handing you your slip and waving you off - no signature is required if the cost is under 10 dollars.
Mom? I'm married with 3 children and working from home is sixteen-hour workdays... when people stop perceiving telecommuters as "stay at home parents" and expect all of the non-employment work to be completed during a day; perhaps that will bleed over to management who will allow others to work from home without worrying they will be unproductive.
I convert a lot of material over to PDF and other Palm-readable formats and sit in my living room or in waiting rooms instead of printing everything or hauling books, baby bag, etc. everywhere I go. If you don't need the laptop for specific work while on the road; and packing five reference works in your overnight bag can be a pain; why not take them with you electronically (if you can)?
There are going to be legitimate file-sharers, and illegal ones (unless they stop passing 'rips' around and become 'legit'). I'm not going to stir up arguments on the legitimacy of P2P; and don't want to.
However, I do believe that every time you implement 'content protection' you'll have a few sets of people that will just move on to the next system: folks that value their privacy and will equate DRM/copy protection with personal data mining; people that get tired of going through another string of 'keys' and 'registration' when they swap material with others; and finally those that are 'pirating' (whether it is because MPAA/RIAA groups or other people claim they are, or they are bootlegging stuff deliberately.)
I love books too. In fact; I can associate those smells like you. I completely agree that printed material is great; and in fact is best. I even print the digital formats that I'm allowed to.
BUT - I like having stuff on my PDA for reference when working away from my home office; and having other references readily available there on my computer(s) when I want them. I also like to hide in the same office as much as I may sit next to my fireplace with a good printed book [and maybe my tobacco pipe but that's offtopic. So is the fact that I'll argue against 'crappy' PDF format with you any day of the way. Proprietary or not; I like its portability, the ability to build great forms with it that can come over from their printed versions very easily, the ability to process those same PDFs by variables in the files for workflow applications, etc. etc. I think the format is beter than most for applications like these. My first job was as a secretary and I was forced to make electronic forms in WP and Word; when I learned Acrobat years later I felt blessed.]
As a 'book passer/swapper/loaner/etc.', frequent library patron and advocate of learning by reading; I'm very impressed. How many of us have paid for every single book we've read? I don't know about you all, but I hardly buy books from my computer book club, amazon.com or the local store unless I can get them at a discount. The authors get a cut for each book that doesn't change if the retail provider or publisher offers it at 5-15% off. I love books but my pockets aren't deep enough for a $300 per month reading habit.
For those of you that like to learn and oftentimes find it hard to spend sixty, ninety, or two hundred plus dollars for your technical books, try your local Ollie's/Odd Lots or other clearinghouses like that. The books are sometimes six months old; but you still get them and they give you good foundations. You can buy 10 for what you may have spent on two in the bookstore. Check out sites like http://www.informit.com that provide a lot of Que and similar series books for free online. There is a wealth of material there.
Back to the main topic: those of you that whine about reading electronically sure spend a lot of time in front of a computer playing, writing code, etc.! If it's that hard, start applying yourself to creating readable displays for ebooks and the like...! I read a lot of web material and Adobe E-book reader, as well as Palm format documents in addition to my collection of printed material.
that many Star Trek fans have given it for the past 30 years... it was a great update to the series; much less contrived that the first movie, etc. etc. I hope the influences this movie had on subsequent Trek series is also explored.
Perhaps the 'average Slashdot user' works in the real world and has to handle a variety of *nixes and Microsoft products; as well as other software, electronics, radio, and the like.
even in non-starving countries, while people are taught to believe that any 'engineered' or 'developed' biological product is amoral, unethical, non-Christian (**gasp**), or has the potential to overrun your country like some science fiction monster.
I'd better burn all my carefully cultivated irises and rose bushes now; before the bioethics police come to burn me at the stake!!!
I can tell you that there are plenty of computers on seagoing vessels. They aren't "hardened" except in the sense that they may be a secure box in the CIC. The small boat operators that maintain the Aids to Navigation (ATON) system on our Nation's waterways often carry 'hardened' laptops - right next the the waterproof GPS. I believe most are in waterproof or -resistant cases and not specially built for dropping over the side. However; I know a few that have and have been dug up out of the mud only to work just fine - I've been on the cell phone with a few of these guys when they've told me they'll call back in a few minutes because someone just dropped it. "OK, pick it up." "No, I mean in the water we have to fish it out."
If you're keeping a computer in the cabin; you really don't need an elaborate protection scheme; a plastic cover for the parts when you're not using them should suffice.
You may want to ask your local Coastie station what brand of computer their IT people sent to them for work on the open water. It is a specific brand name and it's not classified or anything. They are also generally very, very glad to help with any maritime issue and you may already well know that they are active in their communities in more than a law-enforcement role.
Gettysburg just got more publicity. This is from someone who lives *very close* to Antietam and is an avid amateur Civil and WWII-phile. I do believe that as the 'winners' of the war, we don't take into consideration that our generals weren't always that brilliant.
How many of you keep the animals out of the home office; run AC, box fans and provide other cooling and environmental controls especially when you are running the games with the 3D cards; and besides that compute indoors?
I wouldn't want to take a laptop with me everywhere in order to repel insects; I'll just spend $3.50 on some OFF and smell pine fresh for a few hours to play outdoors.
I love to read about people exploring new frontiers; be they above or below sea level. More power to Mr. Fossett and let us only hope that his projects *DO* further advance high-altitude and space travel.
I hope NASA is keeping an eye on this guy with all the sub-orbital airplane things I've hear/read about.
Much like magnetic media, even if you 'crackle' the CD with the microwave you can extract some information from the parts that were not damaged. That's one reason why older hard disk platters on secure systems were completely cleaned by destroying them with a belt sander.
as well as several small businesses and non-profits in the area. There are several places that will *never* get management to allow them to network their machines; and several more that have to cart documents back and forth from home in similar situations. Yes, this may mean that much like your 486s you donated to charity; the floppy becomes a symbol of the 'lower computing class', but so be it.
I still keep zipped copies of particular patches; a couple sets of scripts, etc. in a 'toolkit' for work. Not every workstation is allowed to have a CD drive.
That may be a great idea; but it is very much like those old 'anything for money' TV shows - if I can't make a dollar selling Program A; particularly if people are pirating it or companies are severely restricting its use; then I'll go to work for these guys and make some semblance of a living off of Program B.
I too, have seen the jobs go to foreign nationals, H1B Visas, or get outsourced to places like India. I have installed software that was meant for work to leave Mexico and allow fewer and better paid Americans to handle the informaton flow; but have watched those same companies keep the work in the other country because it was cheaper to pay ten people pennies than two people minimum wage to handle it. I can understand; and completely support; individuals that want to make a start in the U.S. and thuse come in under these auspices - unfortunately they often stay in the country without ever becoming nationalized. They do themselves a disservice by remaining a foreign national; and the companies that hire them gladly maintain their visa status to keep from paying an equally skilled American professional.
I bet the 'user' number for AOL IM is not necessarily deliberately inflated; but based on the number of users that have for AOL in general. Think about it - there have to be millions of AOL users that just don't know what that funny-looking "Buddy List" is in the corner and don't bother closing it; they just never use it.
If I were ever asked a riddle in an interview; unless it were for a riddle-writing position; I'd immediately stand up and leave. Interviews gauge your ability to perform a job; tests/certifications/etc. gauge your aptitude to perform certain tasks. Were I give a 'real-world' problem that I'd be likely to encounter on said job and asked to provide a solution, that would be a different story.
This is just as unethical and likely illegal as the "do you think lying is ok?" 'personality' quizzes often given by temp agencies and the like. Being asked ethics questions for a position of responsibility is a different story, however.
Re:I doubt even TV ads work anymore...
on
Spam Doesn't Work?
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I think all the replies to my comment in this thread are very valid. I have an acquaintance in marketing; I think this is something I'll be running by him for an interesting discussion soon.
If TV ads did work there would not be such a drive to develop new advertising gimmicks such as the 'pop-up' ads beind devised for network television. When people can afford things and they want specific items, they research and buy them. I am truly of the opinion that even those lacking the most basic common sense are learning to become smart consumers; and advertising cannot attract the attention of smart, cost- (and yes maybe even brand-) conscious consumers.
Several companies, including a major airline I did some work (with Micro Image Systems) for a few months ago, stopped using Mexican data entry and went to OCR. They save $300K a year with the new system. Yes, they have a manual corrective system in place but it is far more cost-effective and accurate than their former manual system. They also no longer save paper copies of every shipping bill; saving on storage space and recordkeeper people that go into the boxes to retrieve things, etc.
and know an outstanding programmer that works with a number of OS platforms that I would call an expert on OCR, forms recognition, etc. Check out http://www.microimagesys.com and contact Mr. Lunglhofer. Also, look at Kofax for your Image and OCR retrieval from scanned documents. I am not 100% sure Adobe has a *nix version; but I create a considerable number of e-forms in Adobe (and learned this from Mr. Lunglhofer). These forms are used in an enormous variety of electronic, web-based, and non-web applications. Ask him what he would suggest and see what kind of product he could provide for you.
and know an outstanding programmer that works with a number of OS platforms that I would call an expert on OCR, forms recognition, etc. Check out http://www.microimagesys.com and contact Mr. Lunglhofer. Also, look at Kofax for your Image and OCR retrieval from scanned documents. I am not 100% sure Adobe has a *nix version; but I create a considerable number of e-forms in Adobe (and learned this from Mr. Lunglhofer). These forms are used in an enormous variety of electronic, web-based, and non-web applications. Ask him what he would suggest and see what kind of product he could provide for you.
Slashdot Mirror
In airports they already reduce their credit card processing time by handing you your slip and waving you off - no signature is required if the cost is under 10 dollars.
Mom? I'm married with 3 children and working from home is sixteen-hour workdays... when people stop perceiving telecommuters as "stay at home parents" and expect all of the non-employment work to be completed during a day; perhaps that will bleed over to management who will allow others to work from home without worrying they will be unproductive.
I convert a lot of material over to PDF and other Palm-readable formats and sit in my living room or in waiting rooms instead of printing everything or hauling books, baby bag, etc. everywhere I go. If you don't need the laptop for specific work while on the road; and packing five reference works in your overnight bag can be a pain; why not take them with you electronically (if you can)?
There are going to be legitimate file-sharers, and illegal ones (unless they stop passing 'rips' around and become 'legit'). I'm not going to stir up arguments on the legitimacy of P2P; and don't want to.
However, I do believe that every time you implement 'content protection' you'll have a few sets of people that will just move on to the next system: folks that value their privacy and will equate DRM/copy protection with personal data mining; people that get tired of going through another string of 'keys' and 'registration' when they swap material with others; and finally those that are 'pirating' (whether it is because MPAA/RIAA groups or other people claim they are, or they are bootlegging stuff deliberately.)
I love books too. In fact; I can associate those smells like you. I completely agree that printed material is great; and in fact is best. I even print the digital formats that I'm allowed to.
BUT - I like having stuff on my PDA for reference when working away from my home office; and having other references readily available there on my computer(s) when I want them. I also like to hide in the same office as much as I may sit next to my fireplace with a good printed book [and maybe my tobacco pipe but that's offtopic. So is the fact that I'll argue against 'crappy' PDF format with you any day of the way. Proprietary or not; I like its portability, the ability to build great forms with it that can come over from their printed versions very easily, the ability to process those same PDFs by variables in the files for workflow applications, etc. etc. I think the format is beter than most for applications like these. My first job was as a secretary and I was forced to make electronic forms in WP and Word; when I learned Acrobat years later I felt blessed.]
As a 'book passer/swapper/loaner/etc.', frequent library patron and advocate of learning by reading; I'm very impressed. How many of us have paid for every single book we've read? I don't know about you all, but I hardly buy books from my computer book club, amazon.com or the local store unless I can get them at a discount. The authors get a cut for each book that doesn't change if the retail provider or publisher offers it at 5-15% off. I love books but my pockets aren't deep enough for a $300 per month reading habit.
For those of you that like to learn and oftentimes find it hard to spend sixty, ninety, or two hundred plus dollars for your technical books, try your local Ollie's/Odd Lots or other clearinghouses like that. The books are sometimes six months old; but you still get them and they give you good foundations. You can buy 10 for what you may have spent on two in the bookstore. Check out sites like http://www.informit.com that provide a lot of Que and similar series books for free online. There is a wealth of material there.
Back to the main topic: those of you that whine about reading electronically sure spend a lot of time in front of a computer playing, writing code, etc.! If it's that hard, start applying yourself to creating readable displays for ebooks and the like...! I read a lot of web material and Adobe E-book reader, as well as Palm format documents in addition to my collection of printed material.
that many Star Trek fans have given it for the past 30 years... it was a great update to the series; much less contrived that the first movie, etc. etc. I hope the influences this movie had on subsequent Trek series is also explored.
Perhaps the 'average Slashdot user' works in the real world and has to handle a variety of *nixes and Microsoft products; as well as other software, electronics, radio, and the like.
I wonder if anyone else will take a look at this for other all-terrain applications? On the other hand, they appear to move very slowly.
(BTW, I feel the use of language in the main article is a bit innappropriate. Don't tell me there's anything holy about them either.)
even in non-starving countries, while people are taught to believe that any 'engineered' or 'developed' biological product is amoral, unethical, non-Christian (**gasp**), or has the potential to overrun your country like some science fiction monster.
I'd better burn all my carefully cultivated irises and rose bushes now; before the bioethics police come to burn me at the stake!!!
Not if I can't make money selling the games!
I can tell you that there are plenty of computers on seagoing vessels. They aren't "hardened" except in the sense that they may be a secure box in the CIC. The small boat operators that maintain the Aids to Navigation (ATON) system on our Nation's waterways often carry 'hardened' laptops - right next the the waterproof GPS. I believe most are in waterproof or -resistant cases and not specially built for dropping over the side. However; I know a few that have and have been dug up out of the mud only to work just fine - I've been on the cell phone with a few of these guys when they've told me they'll call back in a few minutes because someone just dropped it. "OK, pick it up." "No, I mean in the water we have to fish it out."
If you're keeping a computer in the cabin; you really don't need an elaborate protection scheme; a plastic cover for the parts when you're not using them should suffice.
You may want to ask your local Coastie station what brand of computer their IT people sent to them for work on the open water. It is a specific brand name and it's not classified or anything. They are also generally very, very glad to help with any maritime issue and you may already well know that they are active in their communities in more than a law-enforcement role.
Gettysburg just got more publicity. This is from someone who lives *very close* to Antietam and is an avid amateur Civil and WWII-phile. I do believe that as the 'winners' of the war, we don't take into consideration that our generals weren't always that brilliant.
How many of you keep the animals out of the home office; run AC, box fans and provide other cooling and environmental controls especially when you are running the games with the 3D cards; and besides that compute indoors?
I wouldn't want to take a laptop with me everywhere in order to repel insects; I'll just spend $3.50 on some OFF and smell pine fresh for a few hours to play outdoors.
I'm going to nitpick...! Superman is a DC comic ;)
I love to read about people exploring new frontiers; be they above or below sea level. More power to Mr. Fossett and let us only hope that his projects *DO* further advance high-altitude and space travel.
I hope NASA is keeping an eye on this guy with all the sub-orbital airplane things I've hear/read about.
Much like magnetic media, even if you 'crackle' the CD with the microwave you can extract some information from the parts that were not damaged. That's one reason why older hard disk platters on secure systems were completely cleaned by destroying them with a belt sander.
as well as several small businesses and non-profits in the area. There are several places that will *never* get management to allow them to network their machines; and several more that have to cart documents back and forth from home in similar situations. Yes, this may mean that much like your 486s you donated to charity; the floppy becomes a symbol of the 'lower computing class', but so be it.
I still keep zipped copies of particular patches; a couple sets of scripts, etc. in a 'toolkit' for work. Not every workstation is allowed to have a CD drive.
That may be a great idea; but it is very much like those old 'anything for money' TV shows - if I can't make a dollar selling Program A; particularly if people are pirating it or companies are severely restricting its use; then I'll go to work for these guys and make some semblance of a living off of Program B.
I too, have seen the jobs go to foreign nationals, H1B Visas, or get outsourced to places like India. I have installed software that was meant for work to leave Mexico and allow fewer and better paid Americans to handle the informaton flow; but have watched those same companies keep the work in the other country because it was cheaper to pay ten people pennies than two people minimum wage to handle it. I can understand; and completely support; individuals that want to make a start in the U.S. and thuse come in under these auspices - unfortunately they often stay in the country without ever becoming nationalized. They do themselves a disservice by remaining a foreign national; and the companies that hire them gladly maintain their visa status to keep from paying an equally skilled American professional.
I bet the 'user' number for AOL IM is not necessarily deliberately inflated; but based on the number of users that have for AOL in general. Think about it - there have to be millions of AOL users that just don't know what that funny-looking "Buddy List" is in the corner and don't bother closing it; they just never use it.
If I were ever asked a riddle in an interview; unless it were for a riddle-writing position; I'd immediately stand up and leave. Interviews gauge your ability to perform a job; tests/certifications/etc. gauge your aptitude to perform certain tasks. Were I give a 'real-world' problem that I'd be likely to encounter on said job and asked to provide a solution, that would be a different story.
This is just as unethical and likely illegal as the "do you think lying is ok?" 'personality' quizzes often given by temp agencies and the like. Being asked ethics questions for a position of responsibility is a different story, however.
I think all the replies to my comment in this thread are very valid. I have an acquaintance in marketing; I think this is something I'll be running by him for an interesting discussion soon.
If TV ads did work there would not be such a drive to develop new advertising gimmicks such as the 'pop-up' ads beind devised for network television. When people can afford things and they want specific items, they research and buy them. I am truly of the opinion that even those lacking the most basic common sense are learning to become smart consumers; and advertising cannot attract the attention of smart, cost- (and yes maybe even brand-) conscious consumers.
Several companies, including a major airline I did some work (with Micro Image Systems) for a few months ago, stopped using Mexican data entry and went to OCR. They save $300K a year with the new system. Yes, they have a manual corrective system in place but it is far more cost-effective and accurate than their former manual system. They also no longer save paper copies of every shipping bill; saving on storage space and recordkeeper people that go into the boxes to retrieve things, etc.
and know an outstanding programmer that works with a number of OS platforms that I would call an expert on OCR, forms recognition, etc. Check out http://www.microimagesys.com and contact Mr. Lunglhofer. Also, look at Kofax for your Image and OCR retrieval from scanned documents. I am not 100% sure Adobe has a *nix version; but I create a considerable number of e-forms in Adobe (and learned this from Mr. Lunglhofer). These forms are used in an enormous variety of electronic, web-based, and non-web applications. Ask him what he would suggest and see what kind of product he could provide for you.
and know an outstanding programmer that works with a number of OS platforms that I would call an expert on OCR, forms recognition, etc. Check out http://www.microimagesys.com and contact Mr. Lunglhofer. Also, look at Kofax for your Image and OCR retrieval from scanned documents. I am not 100% sure Adobe has a *nix version; but I create a considerable number of e-forms in Adobe (and learned this from Mr. Lunglhofer). These forms are used in an enormous variety of electronic, web-based, and non-web applications. Ask him what he would suggest and see what kind of product he could provide for you.