I had a family member who worked at Commodore during the twilight years. The story I remember most was CEO Medhi Ali's weekly routine. He'd spend two days a week in Canada, two in the USA and three days in the West Indies to avoid paying taxes on his exorbitant salary in any of the countries. This is in the days before widespread cell phone usage and I remember having to manually route mail (SMTP addresses with a series of %) to my family member.
The really big technical stumpers are often two or more problems at once. If you're nonplussed and scratching your head and your workarounds aren't working, make sure you're not just trying to determine a single root cause.
You might also want to consider that the number of files on a petabyte-sized file system will not play nicely with things like Windows Explorer or various backup programs. But before all that, I'd check that the requirement that you have a file system this big is tied to a project that will make money for your business. I think the request for this implementation is based on some unsound logic -- e.g. how are you going to index all that? -- and should be reviewed before you go off half-cocked and start implementing.
If the logic were actually sound and I really thought this were a good idea (I don't), I'd talk to EMC/Hitachi/IBM just so you can get a price tag on what actually implementing this will cost. Then cobble together your homebrew solution and ask the company to pay you the difference in cash. Step 2: move offshore.
There certainly is a lot of webcam usage already, but I think most people find that they're sort of itchy and uncomfortable operating with a camera on them. It may be something that becomes casual over time, but I'm not sure.
David Foster Wallace has a wonderful section in his novel Infinite Jest about the rise and the fall of the video phone. Early adopters were aghast because people they called would file their nails or do paperwork while on the phone. It eradicated the illusion that you had an attentive person hanging on your every word on the other end of the call. Not only that, but if your house was messy or you were unkempt, you didn't want to answer the phone.
Although an embellished example, I think this definitely applies to the internet population. Who wants to shave and change out of sweatpants to surf the web?
If you want to archive, just get the network card for your tivo, download the mpeg files to your PC and archive to CDR/DVD/Tape/HD... Over a 100Mbit this is pretty quick. There are plenty of good hacks for Tivo
Be forewarned in taking this advice: a Tivo Series 2 is less hackable -- the boot PROM is encrypted and/or hashed, and it executes a routine to wipe non-default init scripts. Getting a bash prompt is not possible (yet), AFAIK. If you want bash prompt/telnet/TivoWeb/file extraction, you need a series one standalone or any DirectTivo. Adding hard drives is fine with a 60-hour Series 2, but I'm told is more problematic with the 80-hour.
This information, however, is from the proud owner of an HDD-upgraded 60hr Series II, who couldn't care less: Dumping television content to DVD? Sounds ok in certain instances, but not a requirement. What are you, a librarian? If you put a couple of 120GB hard drives in a Tivo (voiding the warranty, mind you), you can keep the stuff you'd like to review again until you're completely tired of it.
TV content, IMO, is totally disposable. Once I'm finished watching it, it can fall off "the pile" as more stuff gets recorded. If I want to watch it again after that, well, it'll be repeated. Everything is, anyway, ad nauseum.
Two reams is pretty good -- we had an alert engineer who refilled the paper trays twice. The stack of printed garbage was nearly 18 inches tall by the time we got there. Thanks for the help, buddy!
Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair
use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in
copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that
section, for purposes such as [emphasis mine] criticism, comment, news reporting,
teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use),
scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In
determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case
is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include -
(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether
such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit
educational purposes;
(2) the nature of the copyrighted work;
(3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in
relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
(4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or
value of the copyrighted work.
The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding
of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the
above factors.
Nowhere does it say fair use is exclusively for the conditions you lay out.
Bullshit.
IANAL, but I can read the code. Title 17, Section 1, subsection 109:
Section 109. Limitations on exclusive rights: Effect of transfer of particular copy or phonorecord
(a) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 106(3), the owner
of a particular copy or phonorecord lawfully made under this title,
or any person authorized by such owner, is entitled, without the
authority of the copyright owner, to sell or otherwise dispose of
the possession of that copy or phonorecord.
[e.g. I can even charge for the cost of the tape and my time spent taping it. In 107(4), it specifies that Fair Use by anyone is considered in relation to "the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work." As long as I'm not significantly hindering business, I'm free to make personal copies and distribute them to friends.]
And 106(3) says:
Section 106. Exclusive rights in copyrighted works
Subject to sections 107 through 120, the owner of copyright under
this title has the exclusive rights to do and to authorize any of
the following:
[snip]
(3) to distribute copies or phonorecords of the copyrighted
work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by
rental, lease, or lending;
So, to recap: TV Networks broadcast copyrighted content under 106(3), I make a VHS copy for personal use under 107(4), and I give it to friends under 109(a) at the reasonable cost of $0.
Here's my take on this, as an American with some experience overseas:
Americans overseas are generally problematic. They tend not to know the native languages, and however well-intentioned, make the people there culturally self-concious just by being their old USA selves. The most helpful volunteers would have skills mentioned above, but also be somewhat culturally aware and be able to speak the language.
IMO, developed with work experience in several connected industries, many big name non-profit organizations are huge money and publicity generators. I'm not convinced of their ability or their willingness to really help anything. I now have a general distrust of large non-profits in general, but pay attention to their issues.
With your basic, everyday experience as an American, you can in all likelihood find a good job in the USA. With one job, you can usually get another, better, well-paying job. This is the mandate of our Capitalist culture. There are tradeoffs here, and it's easier for some than others; but a native-born American young person has a good shot in life here.
People in many countries make shit for wages -- really incredible, like $8 per day in some countries in
Europe. They need more companies to provide better paying jobs.
There's no quick answer for capital distribution, it moves slowly in general. Converseley, systematic investment over time creates new areas of wealth.
So what does this entail? You can make a shitload of money here -- really, all you have to do is work. What you do with that money is about the most impact you can have. Investing capital in companies creates economies, domestically and overseas. For the QED: invest in companies or mutual funds that either help where you deem a great need exists, or toward an ideal you hold. Whatever. Your money is your vote.
My friends & I used to say there were really only two ST:TNG plots:
"Sir, the Klingon ship is firing!" (directed by Rick Berman)
"We have to save the lifeform!" (directed by Gene Roddenberry)
Encounter at Farpoint is certainly the former. UPN had their marathon here last Sunday, so I saw Farpoint recently. I have to admit I've become a bit of a softy for the show; neither Wesley nor Deanna bothered me that much, I remember wishing they'd get into a shuttle accident with Deanna's mom on board. Data's synonym strings made me giggle.
...And I was told that I was "too entry level" for the entry level position. The fact that I didn't make a dime from my Java coding meant that I had no experience - even though I'd probably been programming in it longer than he had.
It took me seven months and nine days (yes, I counted) from graduation day to getting an offer letter from a company who was willing to "take a chance" on a recent graduate.
Your persistence was your victory, but you're right in what you say, although I think in the converse sense: companies are extremely unwilling to take chances, in any situation, especially public companies. Why should they? Similarly qualified, college-educated entry level candidates can vary WIDELY in effectiveness. You have little to go on, until you've got results. Entry level candidates have two choices: widen your target job to something close to what you want to do (in function or in industry); the other choice is to extend the time it will take you to find your target.
Other advice: use any little leverage you can. Networking, nepotism, call anyone you meet who is in your field and be cool and enthusiastic to them. I started by kicking ass in temp jobs, which were what I could get immediately, the economy being what it was them. They sucked, but I looked inside many companies; I found a few things I liked, but mostly was able to define, through those experiences, what was good to avoid. I got a permanent job that I could handle that got me on my career track in two months. IMO, getting in as soon as you can is a quicker way to getting where you want to go.
Another experience: in general, no matter how good a prospective job is, if they bring you in for interview after interview with no result, it's a bad sign. It usually means they're looking for someone else; if not, it can mean that either they don't know what they want or they can't make decisions. Both of those environments suck to work in.
Entirely agreed with responses: there do seem to be some symbols of the dotcom-ish, new-economy office -- pool tables, fireplaces, basketball courts -- that were thought to have provided the "fun" element at work that allegedly enhances creativity. I disagree with this strategy. You can't create fun work by placing objects there that detract from worker's attention, it's more that you hire people who are hard workers, reliable, open-minded and funny. The best environments I've worked in, everyone was extremely busy. Everybody respects one another because everyone has to function to keep the wheels spinning. We mess around sometimes, and certainly throw stuff at each other, but it's spontaneous and not habitual or sanctioned.
It took me years to find a job like this. You have to both plan and be opportunistic, but the real trick is working hard enough where you are to make yourself essential. Create the results that build toward what you enjoy doing, eventually building a huge pile of "I'm unquestionably qualified" statements. Then you can be wherever you want.
It's easy to get caught in a slow, easy, boring job, especially if the salary is above average. I've done it, but it's stupid. You can end up spending your life both in the presence of similar bored people, and can frequently spend the time away from work thinking about how boring they are. There's certainly someplace out there that's looking for someone with your skills and/or interests. If the company or organization does something you think is cool, that helps immensely.
What makes me tick is infrastructure. I've spent years becoming a one-stop network support machine -- I handle a lot of server platforms (more than I'd like), can deploy an enterprise network, build datacenters, manage a team and help the hell out of a profitable manufacturing business I adore. I work my ass off, sometimes long hours, but the team that has built up around me is funny and cool and all has the same ethic. This earns us respect because we do a good job, and we don't slow down or give any quarter.
There is a serious benefit to this type of dedication. You have an outlet for exertion when you have confusion or pain in your personal life, which is unfortunately inevitable. Work can keep you calm and focused in your off-hours, whereas a day of boredom can leave you belligerent or apathetic; problems outside the office can seem like a trap and inescapeable. I never really have that, these days. Work is my escape, my passion. There are downsides: It's sometimes lonely, and I'm tired a lot, but I'm almost never depressed or miserable.
You can choose your own boundaries, you can fit yourself into some that are set by a cruddy job description. You pick.
the only other industry that really has the resources and desire for this information is the tobacco industry. You can bet they do their best to track trends. They have a big disadvantage, though, namely that they don't have direct access to consumers
Actually, they do, although who they care about is different. Wooing non-smokers into the fold is not as easy as it used to be, but getting someone to switch brands is not terribly hard. In my area, they send out fetchingly dressed, shapely women with to the dive bars with little lit pens & clipboards. If you let them see your license(!), they'll give you a few free packs of smokes.
Now, only one brand to a bar. And the ones who come around seem to be looking for non-brand smokers. The customers already loyal seek out the cig ladies and still get packs -- it's all profit in the end, anyway. Most of the people in one I frequent laugh off my shudders at giving the cig lady my license number, but I don't think it's funny at all. Addicts don't care.
Richard Stevens. Douglas Adams (not really internet-related but definitely someone I loved). The ZIP algorithm inventor (sorry I can't remember his name) . And now Usenet's daddy. All rest in heaven now.
Not in 2001, but soon before -- Mike Muus, author of ping. In my life, ping is nearly as important as USENET, but not nearly as culturally enlightening, needle-in-a-haystack-finding or sheer-amusement-generating as USENET was and, to some extent, is.
Edison was an iterative implementer (see incandescent lamp) who ruled his area of the industry through his personality alone.
Not entirely, though. His adherence to direct current generation and consumer supply didn't last, although his personality drove that decision for a fair bit. It was an inferior, wasteful technology that had all of Edison's marketing (FUD?) weight behind it; it would, of course, provide the greatest revenue to Edison's company. The industry, however, corrected itself, as a result, we don't have to have power stations on every street corner or have dim lights if you live far away from one.
You think California has problems with power supply now, if it were DC...
Williams closed their whole pinball division. They gave up on pinball altogether, not just Pinball 2000. It was a sad, sad day when they did so.
Indeed it was, a tough decision, but sound from a business perspective. Consider the following:
An operator wants a few things in a pinball machine:
It's cheap
It never breaks When it does break, it's easy to fix and parts are cheap/available Players will keep pouring money into it ad infinitum
From the Williams perspective, to retain top pinball engineering talent (i.e. Mr. West above, Tom Uban, Patrick Lawlor, et. alii), you have to keep them paid and producing. If you produce, you have to sell...
In the heyday of the late 80s-mid 90s, arcade operators were gung-ho about purchasing the latest machines because it generated revenue. But as the arcade traffic began to dwindle, operators that were still in business were more and more reluctant to purchase a new machine to replace an older, popular one.
Add in the fact that Pin2000 has great tech, research expenditures, expensive monitors and other factors that drive the cost up, coupled with customers that don't want to buy in the first place, and you've got a division that won't be profitable. As much as I hated it and felt deep down that we were losing a piece of Americana/history/my childhood, I understand the reasoning.
I only hope that someday the effort and knowledge used to produce these machines will be made public or otherwise put to good use, and not left in a closet until the shredder comes.
These opinions are my own and don't reflect those of my employer *G*
The Fremen "army" looks more like the rabble from the Life Of Brion [sic] than any kind of army. They are supposed to be deadly warriors, not kids with knives.
There were a lot of liberties taken with the Fremen, IMO.
They were constantly outside in the desert without stillsuits on. The Fremen in the book were 100% water conservationists, and running around in your underwear in exposed tents outside the Sich (sp?) was certainly not something they would do.
Chani cries, and even Stilgar was choked up at one point. The Fremen don't cry. Period. They made a larger deal about Paul giving water to the dead, as well.
The guns the Sardaukar had create the same problem you have in Jackie Chan movies; if you give the enemy guns, then your hero's hand-to-hand abilities are kind of moot. I'm not sure what they could have done about this, because it's tough to convince a savvy American audience of a world where they have interstellar travel without high velocity projectile weapons.
At least they weren't doing the Lynch-ian gun-pointing and saying "AAaahdd-CHAK" and having large explosions suddenly happen, though. The lameness of that alone exceeds this entire series.
Slashdot Mirror
I had a family member who worked at Commodore during the twilight years. The story I remember most was CEO Medhi Ali's weekly routine. He'd spend two days a week in Canada, two in the USA and three days in the West Indies to avoid paying taxes on his exorbitant salary in any of the countries. This is in the days before widespread cell phone usage and I remember having to manually route mail (SMTP addresses with a series of %) to my family member.
My truism:
The really big technical stumpers are often two or more problems at once. If you're nonplussed and scratching your head and your workarounds aren't working, make sure you're not just trying to determine a single root cause.
You might also want to consider that the number of files on a petabyte-sized file system will not play nicely with things like Windows Explorer or various backup programs. But before all that, I'd check that the requirement that you have a file system this big is tied to a project that will make money for your business. I think the request for this implementation is based on some unsound logic -- e.g. how are you going to index all that? -- and should be reviewed before you go off half-cocked and start implementing.
If the logic were actually sound and I really thought this were a good idea (I don't), I'd talk to EMC/Hitachi/IBM just so you can get a price tag on what actually implementing this will cost. Then cobble together your homebrew solution and ask the company to pay you the difference in cash. Step 2: move offshore.
There certainly is a lot of webcam usage already, but I think most people find that they're sort of itchy and uncomfortable operating with a camera on them. It may be something that becomes casual over time, but I'm not sure.
David Foster Wallace has a wonderful section in his novel Infinite Jest about the rise and the fall of the video phone. Early adopters were aghast because people they called would file their nails or do paperwork while on the phone. It eradicated the illusion that you had an attentive person hanging on your every word on the other end of the call. Not only that, but if your house was messy or you were unkempt, you didn't want to answer the phone.
Although an embellished example, I think this definitely applies to the internet population. Who wants to shave and change out of sweatpants to surf the web?
Be forewarned in taking this advice: a Tivo Series 2 is less hackable -- the boot PROM is encrypted and/or hashed, and it executes a routine to wipe non-default init scripts. Getting a bash prompt is not possible (yet), AFAIK. If you want bash prompt/telnet/TivoWeb/file extraction, you need a series one standalone or any DirectTivo. Adding hard drives is fine with a 60-hour Series 2, but I'm told is more problematic with the 80-hour.
This information, however, is from the proud owner of an HDD-upgraded 60hr Series II, who couldn't care less: Dumping television content to DVD? Sounds ok in certain instances, but not a requirement. What are you, a librarian? If you put a couple of 120GB hard drives in a Tivo (voiding the warranty, mind you), you can keep the stuff you'd like to review again until you're completely tired of it. TV content, IMO, is totally disposable. Once I'm finished watching it, it can fall off "the pile" as more stuff gets recorded. If I want to watch it again after that, well, it'll be repeated. Everything is, anyway, ad nauseum.
The only game in the grimoire with a twelve year shelf-life (and counting...). Still fun, hard, rewarding. Best dungeon crawl, hands down.
Remember, the devnull Nethack Tournament begins at midnight.
bort-A, killed by a gas spore's explosion.
Two reams is pretty good -- we had an alert engineer who refilled the paper trays twice. The stack of printed garbage was nearly 18 inches tall by the time we got there. Thanks for the help, buddy!
"Pi is exactly three!" --Professor Frink
...or bundle it for free with the purchase of a new PC...
What nobody seems to ever mention in these threads is that Sony has $68-$80BN (depending on who you ask). They could by two Microsofts.
SNMP is not usually used with video drivers, though.
Nowhere does it say fair use is exclusively for the conditions you lay out.
IANAL, but I can read the code. Title 17, Section 1, subsection 109:
Section 109. Limitations on exclusive rights: Effect of transfer of particular copy or phonorecord
(a) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 106(3), the owner of a particular copy or phonorecord lawfully made under this title, or any person authorized by such owner, is entitled, without the authority of the copyright owner, to sell or otherwise dispose of the possession of that copy or phonorecord.
[e.g. I can even charge for the cost of the tape and my time spent taping it. In 107(4), it specifies that Fair Use by anyone is considered in relation to "the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work." As long as I'm not significantly hindering business, I'm free to make personal copies and distribute them to friends.]
And 106(3) says:
Section 106. Exclusive rights in copyrighted works
Subject to sections 107 through 120, the owner of copyright under this title has the exclusive rights to do and to authorize any of the following:
[snip]
(3) to distribute copies or phonorecords of the copyrighted work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending;
So, to recap: TV Networks broadcast copyrighted content under 106(3), I make a VHS copy for personal use under 107(4), and I give it to friends under 109(a) at the reasonable cost of $0.
So what does this entail? You can make a shitload of money here -- really, all you have to do is work. What you do with that money is about the most impact you can have. Investing capital in companies creates economies, domestically and overseas. For the QED: invest in companies or mutual funds that either help where you deem a great need exists, or toward an ideal you hold. Whatever. Your money is your vote.
Some links:
Socially Responisible investing
Mutual Funds, green and otherwise
Encounter at Farpoint is certainly the former.
errr...latter, sorry.
It took me seven months and nine days (yes, I counted) from graduation day to getting an offer letter from a company who was willing to "take a chance" on a recent graduate.
Your persistence was your victory, but you're right in what you say, although I think in the converse sense: companies are extremely unwilling to take chances, in any situation, especially public companies. Why should they? Similarly qualified, college-educated entry level candidates can vary WIDELY in effectiveness. You have little to go on, until you've got results. Entry level candidates have two choices: widen your target job to something close to what you want to do (in function or in industry); the other choice is to extend the time it will take you to find your target.
Other advice: use any little leverage you can. Networking, nepotism, call anyone you meet who is in your field and be cool and enthusiastic to them. I started by kicking ass in temp jobs, which were what I could get immediately, the economy being what it was them. They sucked, but I looked inside many companies; I found a few things I liked, but mostly was able to define, through those experiences, what was good to avoid. I got a permanent job that I could handle that got me on my career track in two months. IMO, getting in as soon as you can is a quicker way to getting where you want to go.
Another experience: in general, no matter how good a prospective job is, if they bring you in for interview after interview with no result, it's a bad sign. It usually means they're looking for someone else; if not, it can mean that either they don't know what they want or they can't make decisions. Both of those environments suck to work in.
It took me years to find a job like this. You have to both plan and be opportunistic, but the real trick is working hard enough where you are to make yourself essential. Create the results that build toward what you enjoy doing, eventually building a huge pile of "I'm unquestionably qualified" statements. Then you can be wherever you want.
It's easy to get caught in a slow, easy, boring job, especially if the salary is above average. I've done it, but it's stupid. You can end up spending your life both in the presence of similar bored people, and can frequently spend the time away from work thinking about how boring they are. There's certainly someplace out there that's looking for someone with your skills and/or interests. If the company or organization does something you think is cool, that helps immensely.
What makes me tick is infrastructure. I've spent years becoming a one-stop network support machine -- I handle a lot of server platforms (more than I'd like), can deploy an enterprise network, build datacenters, manage a team and help the hell out of a profitable manufacturing business I adore. I work my ass off, sometimes long hours, but the team that has built up around me is funny and cool and all has the same ethic. This earns us respect because we do a good job, and we don't slow down or give any quarter.
There is a serious benefit to this type of dedication. You have an outlet for exertion when you have confusion or pain in your personal life, which is unfortunately inevitable. Work can keep you calm and focused in your off-hours, whereas a day of boredom can leave you belligerent or apathetic; problems outside the office can seem like a trap and inescapeable. I never really have that, these days. Work is my escape, my passion. There are downsides: It's sometimes lonely, and I'm tired a lot, but I'm almost never depressed or miserable.
You can choose your own boundaries, you can fit yourself into some that are set by a cruddy job description. You pick.
for shame!
Do yourself a favor and go look at the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement webpage.
Breathe!
bort
Actually, they do, although who they care about is different. Wooing non-smokers into the fold is not as easy as it used to be, but getting someone to switch brands is not terribly hard. In my area, they send out fetchingly dressed, shapely women with to the dive bars with little lit pens & clipboards. If you let them see your license(!), they'll give you a few free packs of smokes.
Now, only one brand to a bar. And the ones who come around seem to be looking for non-brand smokers. The customers already loyal seek out the cig ladies and still get packs -- it's all profit in the end, anyway. Most of the people in one I frequent laugh off my shudders at giving the cig lady my license number, but I don't think it's funny at all. Addicts don't care.
Not in 2001, but soon before -- Mike Muus, author of ping. In my life, ping is nearly as important as USENET, but not nearly as culturally enlightening, needle-in-a-haystack-finding or sheer-amusement-generating as USENET was and, to some extent, is.
Not entirely, though. His adherence to direct current generation and consumer supply didn't last, although his personality drove that decision for a fair bit. It was an inferior, wasteful technology that had all of Edison's marketing (FUD?) weight behind it; it would, of course, provide the greatest revenue to Edison's company. The industry, however, corrected itself, as a result, we don't have to have power stations on every street corner or have dim lights if you live far away from one.
You think California has problems with power supply now, if it were DC...
Indeed it was, a tough decision, but sound from a business perspective. Consider the following:
An operator wants a few things in a pinball machine:
From the Williams perspective, to retain top pinball engineering talent (i.e. Mr. West above, Tom Uban, Patrick Lawlor, et. alii), you have to keep them paid and producing. If you produce, you have to sell...
In the heyday of the late 80s-mid 90s, arcade operators were gung-ho about purchasing the latest machines because it generated revenue. But as the arcade traffic began to dwindle, operators that were still in business were more and more reluctant to purchase a new machine to replace an older, popular one.
Add in the fact that Pin2000 has great tech, research expenditures, expensive monitors and other factors that drive the cost up, coupled with customers that don't want to buy in the first place, and you've got a division that won't be profitable. As much as I hated it and felt deep down that we were losing a piece of Americana/history/my childhood, I understand the reasoning.
I only hope that someday the effort and knowledge used to produce these machines will be made public or otherwise put to good use, and not left in a closet until the shredder comes.
These opinions are my own and don't reflect those of my employer *G*
There were a lot of liberties taken with the Fremen, IMO.
At least they weren't doing the Lynch-ian gun-pointing and saying "AAaahdd-CHAK" and having large explosions suddenly happen, though. The lameness of that alone exceeds this entire series.