I agree that it would be nice to have a Linux option for the laptop. But at the same time, is this "Microsoft tax" really an issue? I thought that the amount you are actually paying for your Windows license on a store-bought computer is only about $10, since Microsoft basically is giving them away for free. Unless we are literally bitching about the 10 bucks.
Why couldn't a wind farm hook up some kind of huge battery to store wind power in excess of whatever the grid could handle? And then once the wind died down, they could basically bleed off the battery into the grid?
Maybe there's a reason that this is a dumb idea, and I'm sure you'd need one hell of a battery system to hold that kind of power, but it seems like a reasonable idea to me...
The only responses I've ever gotten from these boards was not from replying to a job posting, but posting my own resume and letting them come to me. It's easy, and IMO the best way to find jobs via those kinds of job boards.
In Denver, the two major cab companies' numbers are 333-3333, and 777-7777. Totally makes it useful at 2 AM when you are trying to get a cab and can't think straight. Super easy to remember.
Well, in your example, I'd say the internet was Sears, and Google was the hammer... but either way, I agree that Google isn't to blame. Sensitive information shouldn't be accessible on the internet, with a robots.txt file or not.
>>And this was not the case here in the USA during the "Dot Com Boom"? I sense an invalid argument...
What argument? He never said that this wasn't the case during the dot-com days (it clearly was). He is just trying to get a feel for the scene over there, how similar it is to the scene here in the late 90s. A valid question if you ask me, especially considering that most of us have no clue about the average Indian programmer.
>>If you read the SEC filing you would see that about 90% of their profits comes from INK! No wonder they want to do R&D into ways of controlling us further from printing.
Ummmmm.... wouldn't it be more logical that if they were making all of their profits off of printing (which, I agree they are doing), and they were solely concerned about profits, that they would ENCOURAGE any kind of printing, including copies of currency? This has nothing to do with profits.
1) Difficulty - Assembly is harder to learn (and create meaningful programs with) than C++, or Java, which is replacing C++ in a lot of college curriculums. This means that students will be spending more time learning assembly, and less time learning about complicated algorithms and the things you really should be learning about (since languages change but algorithms are standard).
2) Job practicality - 99% of CS grads aren't going to use assembly in their day to day jobs. They will most likely be programming in Java, or VB, or some web language (PHP/ASP/etc). Maybe some C++. But unless you are doing something that requires the control that assembly can provide, like real-time software or game engine development, you simply aren't using assembly at work.
If it's harder to learn/teach, and you won't use it after you graduate, I can't see the point in teaching it at universities.
Just wanted to chime in after seeing all the anti-cable posts. I used to have DirecTV and DSL from my phone company. It was expensive, and it was decent but not without its problems. My satellite would definitely go out during storms.
I moved, and now have cable. One nice thing is that I get my TV and internet through the same place and it is dramatically cheaper for me (YMMV). The speeds I get with cable internet are a lot better (again, you might see different results). And I have never had the cable TV signal die. As far as quality, the satellite picture might be a little better, but for my purposes I can't really tell the difference. I'm not even getting digital cable though, I just get the basic analog package and it works great (and is cheap). Just my 2 cents,
>>For instance, boom boxes were commonly reviled in the 80's, but when Apple designed the iPod, there was no internal speaker to annoy others with personal choices in music. The audio was left to headphones.
I realize you love Apple, but have you ever heard of the Walkman? I don't think Apple broke society free of the boombox-on-the-shoulder from 80s rap videos.
This is just crazy... server-based game lobbies, like MS's "Zone" and Blizzard's BattleNet are great!
I started playing online games with Quake back in the day. A 3rd party client was needed to just find games going on, and it was a pretty clunky interface to join a game.
Playing Age Of Empires 1 and 2 online was awesome, the Zone was an ideal place to meet up with players, it had a rating system if you were into that, or you could play in "unrated" rooms too. BattleNet is the same thing basically, both work very well.
Not to mention that you can set up "private" rooms that need a password for entry in every lobby environment I have seen, so that makes it easy to set up games with friends. I agree that sometimes there can be issues setting up games or starting them, but most of the time they are easily resolved by just trying again. Most of these problems that I have experienced are due to bad internet connections (ie. dialup) but that problem is largely eliminated.
Your complaints make no sense, basically. What restrictions are you under, by using an online lobby to set up games? It's easy to use, and largely hassle free (as long as you actually own the game, which you should). If you don't want to "watch people type in profanity and hate speech", you set up a private room, and just tell your friends to meet you there.
If anything, gaming online is faster and easier than ever before. I have no idea why you are so bent out of shape over it...
>>Anyone know how much 14,800 yen is in US Dollars?
I checked it out, and the website I found quoted it as 138 US dollars. I don't know if that's accurate or not, but if it is, that's pretty cheap for such a cool experience (if it works). I'd say I'll buy one in a heartbeat if the majority of people are getting favorable results with them...
They aren't saying exactly that. They don't rule out the possibility that life could exist in other forms. They simply already KNOW that life can exist where there is liquid water present, so they are trying to find some of that as proof that life we know of can or did exist there. In other words, they don't know what else to look for right now, so until they stumble across other forms of life, water is the #1 thing to look for.
I agree, not to mention there's no real evidence of this alleged "cop's wife" getting off of 4 murders with a 400 dollar fine? If you have some by all means post, otherwise, whatever...
I'm not sure why you think these users should "expect" their iPods to die so soon. 8 hours a day, 7 days a week really isn't unreasonable use.
I have a friend at my office with an iPod. He listens to it straight through all day at work, which is about 8 hours. And he listens to it to and from work, using an iTrip in his car, which is about a half hour or so each way. I don't know if he listens at home, but that's 9 hours a day, 5 days a week, and I'm sure he uses it at home when doing housework or whatever.
At work he has it hooked up to some cradle thing, so it might be running off that and not the battery, I'm not sure. But as far as usage, 8 hours a day 7 days a week isn't unreasonable.
Nor is it unreasonable to think a vehicle might be used 8 hours a day, 7 days a week. I can't believe you'd think a dealer would call someone an idiot for doing this. Have you ever heard of taxi cabs, police cruisers, delivery trucks/vans, etc? Those all probably get at least 8 hours a day, and if they transfer users between shifts, they could get closer to 16 or 20 hours a day of use 7 days a week. Yes they would require routine maintenance, but in the iPod's case, there is no routine maintenance.
Is it me, or does nobody use gamepads for computer games anymore?
Sports titles, racing titles, action titles fill the catalog of PS2 and XBox. Adventure and party-style titles grace the inside of a GameCube. These are suited to the gamepad.
But on the computer, what are the usual games? FPSes, RTSes, first person adventure/role-playing games, games that use the mouse to its fullest (The Sims). The sports titles exist... but I don't believe they are best sellers.
Why? Gamers simply don't play those kinds of games, gamepad games, on computers. Yes I'm sure that SOME do. Most do not. And it's for a reason, computers lend themselves to keyboard-and-mouse games quite nicely, and consoles lend themselves to gamepad style games.
So to me, this is no big deal. I love computer games, but I can't think of one computer game I have played in the last 5 years that I would have liked to play with a gamepad. And I love my PS2 also.
Also... Gauntlet on XMAME? 4 people crowded around your computer desk... I can imagine the comfort level there. 3 people probably can't see the screen well enough, and even if they can, the crowded space will make this interesting for about 20 minutes of gameplay... a novelty.
Nothing against the poster, but use the medium for what it is best at... one player and online multiplayer games, and leave the gamepad games to the consoles...
However I agree, this was an EXCELLENT horror film. I think 28 Days Later might edge it out, but as far as pure FEAR, this one is much scarier.
I'm trying to get a friend of mine to come over and watch it with me. Of course, in my opinion, if you want to watch it, you have to rent a VHS tape, NOT a DVD. You'd have to see it to know what I'm talking about.
Then in your pocket, have your cell phone (in silent mode) pre-dialed to your friend's cell... after the movie, push the "Send" button as you walk up to the VCR to push rewind or get the tape. Sure to ruin a perfectly good pair of pants.:-)
Jackson succeeded and the Wachowskis failed... because Jackson already had a solid script to work with, and the Wachowskis did not.
Yes, I know they said the story was already laid out, even before The Matrix was released. But IMO, a story that pathetic could not have possibly been written until dollar signs filled the eyes of the movie execs. At least for their sake, I hope not.
The dialogue was horrible... beyond horrible. I thought Reloaded was pretty good. The action was great, better than the first (although the first was more groundbreaking). Revolutions on the other hand, was pathetic. It was slow, the fight scenes were lame, the dialogue was the worst I've ever heard. Love this, love that, beginning and end, enough already.
Then the big climax of the movie, no, the TRILOGY, when Neo fights Smith.... PATHETIC!!! I can just see the Wachowskis brainstorming that gem.
"Well, we already pretty much had Neo and Smith do everything they could do in the first two movies... so... lets do it again, except... um... IN MIDAIR!!!!!!!" How incredibly lame.
I'll admit the (attempted) defense of Zion was incredibly cool, and the CG was great, but other than that the movie was pathetic.
No offense, but you think that the movie would have been "amazing" if they only had substituted the alternate endings?
Spoilers below, be warned,
But seriously. One of them has Jim die from the gunshot. Big deal.
The second, was exactly like the first, except Jim was already dead, and therefore left out.
They wouldn't have added or taken away much from the movie, IMO.
On that note, I loved 28 Days Later, it was the best movie I've seen all year for sure. The best horror movie I have ever seen also. I thought the characters were excellent, the movie moved quickly and with purpose.... it was just great. I recommend it to everyone.
I thought nobody would use that, but there is a definite reason to. If you have a straight-up MP3 only player, it doesn't play AAC files. She specifically is using Napster over KaZaA or any free alternatives because of the fear of being sued. But she can't use iTunes because of the AAC format.
Yes, I know you COULD use iTunes, by getting the AAC files, burning to CD via iTunes, and ripping it to MP3, but would anyone really do that when there is a much cheaper and easier alternative out there? I doubt it. Definitely, my mom would not be one to do something that complicated. Plus, the price is the same... 99c a track I believe.
I don't think many music stores can survive, but I don't see why Napster won't along iTunes, just because of the MP3 format vs AAC.
You know people, e-voting might not be foolproof, but punchcards are easier to hack. Any al Qaeda can walk into a DMV in California and ask for a voter's registration card, and voila!
Hacked.
What are you talking about?
Let's say what you are saying is true (which I doubt, unless the person you reference is a U.S. citizen, in which case it's not a "hack", it's a legitimate vote). So this terrorist group member gets one vote to the party of their choice. Big deal? Plus in the U.S., there is no problem with a U.S. citizen voting for his choice regardless of motivation.
If you have access to the vote DB however, you can change thousands of votes easily and efficiently with no trail. There is no way to do that with a paper voting system like punch cards or anything else, unless the person in question has access to a huge stack of punch cards or something. And even then, you aren't changing votes, you are adding more votes, which is way easier to detect.
BS. The competitions give you a higher TopCoder ranking. Then every once in a while, TopCoder sends out an email basically recruiting its users to code projects. In fact I found an email they sent to me, here it is (formatted to avoid the lameness filter):
LEVEL 3 COMPONENT AVAILABLE FOR DESIGN!
Note that there is a special component available for design this week. TopCoder is working with Sun to help provide the telecommunications industry with an entire set of APIs for integration with their business critical systems. The first step is to build a component for generating Technology Compatibility Kits (TCKs). Check out the details of the OSS/J TCK Test Proxy component and contact Bill Blais (bblais@topcoder.com) if you have any questions.
The following design projects are now available:
Component Name/Catalog/Price/Deadline
Generic Parser/.NET/$252.00/11.12.2003 Lightweight Model View Controller/.NET/$402.00/11.12.2003 MSMQ Remoting Channel/.NET/$168.00/11.12.2003 Phonetic Pattern Matching/.NET/$336.00/11.12.2003 Spell Check/.NET/$336.00/11.12.2003 Data Set/Java/$201.00/11.12.2003 Financial Ledger/Java/$168.00/11.12.2003 OSS/J TCK Test Proxy/Java/$1,000.00/11.19.2003
For more information about TopCoder development opportunities go to: http://www.topcoder.com/?t=development&c=inde x
So there it is. Yes they do recruit for big companies. BUT it's for money, pretty decent money too. The problems you do in competitions are mostly academic in nature, but they use the scores to decide who to pick for the pay gigs.
Also you say, you can do the same thing at your normal job. Well, did you ever think that some people don't HAVE jobs, and this might help them making money until they find one?
Next time you trash a company that is actually trying to do something good for the programmer community, try doing some reading first...
If you're going to give out 100 copies of a movie to reviewers pre-release then maybe you ought to watermark them so the reviewers have some reason to not give them out
The screeners do usually have watermarks, but the warez groups that release the films blur out the watermarks or otherwise remove them first, from what I've heard. So they are useless.
Slashdot Mirror
I agree that it would be nice to have a Linux option for the laptop. But at the same time, is this "Microsoft tax" really an issue? I thought that the amount you are actually paying for your Windows license on a store-bought computer is only about $10, since Microsoft basically is giving them away for free. Unless we are literally bitching about the 10 bucks.
Why couldn't a wind farm hook up some kind of huge battery to store wind power in excess of whatever the grid could handle? And then once the wind died down, they could basically bleed off the battery into the grid?
Maybe there's a reason that this is a dumb idea, and I'm sure you'd need one hell of a battery system to hold that kind of power, but it seems like a reasonable idea to me...
They might have, the fuel that runs them would have been the killer though.
The only responses I've ever gotten from these boards was not from replying to a job posting, but posting my own resume and letting them come to me. It's easy, and IMO the best way to find jobs via those kinds of job boards.
Mark
In Denver, the two major cab companies' numbers are 333-3333, and 777-7777. Totally makes it useful at 2 AM when you are trying to get a cab and can't think straight. Super easy to remember.
Mark
Well, in your example, I'd say the internet was Sears, and Google was the hammer... but either way, I agree that Google isn't to blame. Sensitive information shouldn't be accessible on the internet, with a robots.txt file or not.
Mark
>>And this was not the case here in the USA during the "Dot Com Boom"? I sense an invalid argument...
What argument? He never said that this wasn't the case during the dot-com days (it clearly was). He is just trying to get a feel for the scene over there, how similar it is to the scene here in the late 90s. A valid question if you ask me, especially considering that most of us have no clue about the average Indian programmer.
Mark
>>If you read the SEC filing you would see that about 90% of their profits comes from INK! No wonder they want to do R&D into ways of controlling us further from printing.
Ummmmm.... wouldn't it be more logical that if they were making all of their profits off of printing (which, I agree they are doing), and they were solely concerned about profits, that they would ENCOURAGE any kind of printing, including copies of currency? This has nothing to do with profits.
Mark
I think this is a bad idea, for a couple reasons.
1) Difficulty - Assembly is harder to learn (and create meaningful programs with) than C++, or Java, which is replacing C++ in a lot of college curriculums. This means that students will be spending more time learning assembly, and less time learning about complicated algorithms and the things you really should be learning about (since languages change but algorithms are standard).
2) Job practicality - 99% of CS grads aren't going to use assembly in their day to day jobs. They will most likely be programming in Java, or VB, or some web language (PHP/ASP/etc). Maybe some C++. But unless you are doing something that requires the control that assembly can provide, like real-time software or game engine development, you simply aren't using assembly at work.
If it's harder to learn/teach, and you won't use it after you graduate, I can't see the point in teaching it at universities.
Mark
Just wanted to chime in after seeing all the anti-cable posts. I used to have DirecTV and DSL from my phone company. It was expensive, and it was decent but not without its problems. My satellite would definitely go out during storms.
I moved, and now have cable. One nice thing is that I get my TV and internet through the same place and it is dramatically cheaper for me (YMMV). The speeds I get with cable internet are a lot better (again, you might see different results). And I have never had the cable TV signal die. As far as quality, the satellite picture might be a little better, but for my purposes I can't really tell the difference. I'm not even getting digital cable though, I just get the basic analog package and it works great (and is cheap). Just my 2 cents,
Mark
>>For instance, boom boxes were commonly reviled in the 80's, but when Apple designed the iPod, there was no internal speaker to annoy others with personal choices in music. The audio was left to headphones.
I realize you love Apple, but have you ever heard of the Walkman? I don't think Apple broke society free of the boombox-on-the-shoulder from 80s rap videos.
Mark
This is just crazy... server-based game lobbies, like MS's "Zone" and Blizzard's BattleNet are great!
I started playing online games with Quake back in the day. A 3rd party client was needed to just find games going on, and it was a pretty clunky interface to join a game.
Playing Age Of Empires 1 and 2 online was awesome, the Zone was an ideal place to meet up with players, it had a rating system if you were into that, or you could play in "unrated" rooms too. BattleNet is the same thing basically, both work very well.
Not to mention that you can set up "private" rooms that need a password for entry in every lobby environment I have seen, so that makes it easy to set up games with friends. I agree that sometimes there can be issues setting up games or starting them, but most of the time they are easily resolved by just trying again. Most of these problems that I have experienced are due to bad internet connections (ie. dialup) but that problem is largely eliminated.
Your complaints make no sense, basically. What restrictions are you under, by using an online lobby to set up games? It's easy to use, and largely hassle free (as long as you actually own the game, which you should). If you don't want to "watch people type in profanity and hate speech", you set up a private room, and just tell your friends to meet you there.
If anything, gaming online is faster and easier than ever before. I have no idea why you are so bent out of shape over it...
Mark
>>Anyone know how much 14,800 yen is in US Dollars?
I checked it out, and the website I found quoted it as 138 US dollars. I don't know if that's accurate or not, but if it is, that's pretty cheap for such a cool experience (if it works). I'd say I'll buy one in a heartbeat if the majority of people are getting favorable results with them...
Mark
They aren't saying exactly that. They don't rule out the possibility that life could exist in other forms. They simply already KNOW that life can exist where there is liquid water present, so they are trying to find some of that as proof that life we know of can or did exist there. In other words, they don't know what else to look for right now, so until they stumble across other forms of life, water is the #1 thing to look for.
Mark
I agree, not to mention there's no real evidence of this alleged "cop's wife" getting off of 4 murders with a 400 dollar fine? If you have some by all means post, otherwise, whatever...
Mark
I'm not sure why you think these users should "expect" their iPods to die so soon. 8 hours a day, 7 days a week really isn't unreasonable use.
I have a friend at my office with an iPod. He listens to it straight through all day at work, which is about 8 hours. And he listens to it to and from work, using an iTrip in his car, which is about a half hour or so each way. I don't know if he listens at home, but that's 9 hours a day, 5 days a week, and I'm sure he uses it at home when doing housework or whatever.
At work he has it hooked up to some cradle thing, so it might be running off that and not the battery, I'm not sure. But as far as usage, 8 hours a day 7 days a week isn't unreasonable.
Nor is it unreasonable to think a vehicle might be used 8 hours a day, 7 days a week. I can't believe you'd think a dealer would call someone an idiot for doing this. Have you ever heard of taxi cabs, police cruisers, delivery trucks/vans, etc? Those all probably get at least 8 hours a day, and if they transfer users between shifts, they could get closer to 16 or 20 hours a day of use 7 days a week. Yes they would require routine maintenance, but in the iPod's case, there is no routine maintenance.
Mark
Is it me, or does nobody use gamepads for computer games anymore?
Sports titles, racing titles, action titles fill the catalog of PS2 and XBox. Adventure and party-style titles grace the inside of a GameCube. These are suited to the gamepad.
But on the computer, what are the usual games? FPSes, RTSes, first person adventure/role-playing games, games that use the mouse to its fullest (The Sims). The sports titles exist... but I don't believe they are best sellers.
Why? Gamers simply don't play those kinds of games, gamepad games, on computers. Yes I'm sure that SOME do. Most do not. And it's for a reason, computers lend themselves to keyboard-and-mouse games quite nicely, and consoles lend themselves to gamepad style games.
So to me, this is no big deal. I love computer games, but I can't think of one computer game I have played in the last 5 years that I would have liked to play with a gamepad. And I love my PS2 also.
Also... Gauntlet on XMAME? 4 people crowded around your computer desk... I can imagine the comfort level there. 3 people probably can't see the screen well enough, and even if they can, the crowded space will make this interesting for about 20 minutes of gameplay... a novelty.
Nothing against the poster, but use the medium for what it is best at... one player and online multiplayer games, and leave the gamepad games to the consoles...
Mark
The Ring came out in 2002, actually.
:-)
However I agree, this was an EXCELLENT horror film. I think 28 Days Later might edge it out, but as far as pure FEAR, this one is much scarier.
I'm trying to get a friend of mine to come over and watch it with me. Of course, in my opinion, if you want to watch it, you have to rent a VHS tape, NOT a DVD. You'd have to see it to know what I'm talking about.
Then in your pocket, have your cell phone (in silent mode) pre-dialed to your friend's cell... after the movie, push the "Send" button as you walk up to the VCR to push rewind or get the tape. Sure to ruin a perfectly good pair of pants.
Mark
Jackson succeeded and the Wachowskis failed... because Jackson already had a solid script to work with, and the Wachowskis did not.
Yes, I know they said the story was already laid out, even before The Matrix was released. But IMO, a story that pathetic could not have possibly been written until dollar signs filled the eyes of the movie execs. At least for their sake, I hope not.
The dialogue was horrible... beyond horrible. I thought Reloaded was pretty good. The action was great, better than the first (although the first was more groundbreaking). Revolutions on the other hand, was pathetic. It was slow, the fight scenes were lame, the dialogue was the worst I've ever heard. Love this, love that, beginning and end, enough already.
Then the big climax of the movie, no, the TRILOGY, when Neo fights Smith.... PATHETIC!!! I can just see the Wachowskis brainstorming that gem.
"Well, we already pretty much had Neo and Smith do everything they could do in the first two movies... so... lets do it again, except... um... IN MIDAIR!!!!!!!" How incredibly lame.
I'll admit the (attempted) defense of Zion was incredibly cool, and the CG was great, but other than that the movie was pathetic.
Mark
No offense, but you think that the movie would have been "amazing" if they only had substituted the alternate endings?
Spoilers below, be warned,
But seriously. One of them has Jim die from the gunshot. Big deal.
The second, was exactly like the first, except Jim was already dead, and therefore left out.
They wouldn't have added or taken away much from the movie, IMO.
On that note, I loved 28 Days Later, it was the best movie I've seen all year for sure. The best horror movie I have ever seen also. I thought the characters were excellent, the movie moved quickly and with purpose.... it was just great. I recommend it to everyone.
For what it's worth, my mom uses Napster.
I thought nobody would use that, but there is a definite reason to. If you have a straight-up MP3 only player, it doesn't play AAC files. She specifically is using Napster over KaZaA or any free alternatives because of the fear of being sued. But she can't use iTunes because of the AAC format.
Yes, I know you COULD use iTunes, by getting the AAC files, burning to CD via iTunes, and ripping it to MP3, but would anyone really do that when there is a much cheaper and easier alternative out there? I doubt it. Definitely, my mom would not be one to do something that complicated. Plus, the price is the same... 99c a track I believe.
I don't think many music stores can survive, but I don't see why Napster won't along iTunes, just because of the MP3 format vs AAC.
Mark
You know people, e-voting might not be foolproof, but punchcards are easier to hack. Any al Qaeda can walk into a DMV in California and ask for a voter's registration card, and voila!
Hacked.
What are you talking about?
Let's say what you are saying is true (which I doubt, unless the person you reference is a U.S. citizen, in which case it's not a "hack", it's a legitimate vote). So this terrorist group member gets one vote to the party of their choice. Big deal? Plus in the U.S., there is no problem with a U.S. citizen voting for his choice regardless of motivation.
If you have access to the vote DB however, you can change thousands of votes easily and efficiently with no trail. There is no way to do that with a paper voting system like punch cards or anything else, unless the person in question has access to a huge stack of punch cards or something. And even then, you aren't changing votes, you are adding more votes, which is way easier to detect.
Mark
BS. The competitions give you a higher TopCoder ranking. Then every once in a while, TopCoder sends out an email basically recruiting its users to code projects. In fact I found an email they sent to me, here it is (formatted to avoid the lameness filter):
e x
LEVEL 3 COMPONENT AVAILABLE FOR DESIGN!
Note that there is a special component available for design this week. TopCoder is working with Sun to help provide the telecommunications industry with an entire set of APIs for integration with their business critical systems. The first step is to build a component for generating Technology Compatibility Kits (TCKs). Check out the details of the OSS/J TCK Test Proxy component and contact Bill Blais (bblais@topcoder.com) if you have any questions.
The following design projects are now available:
Component Name/Catalog/Price/Deadline
Generic Parser/.NET/$252.00/11.12.2003
Lightweight Model View Controller/.NET/$402.00/11.12.2003
MSMQ Remoting Channel/.NET/$168.00/11.12.2003
Phonetic Pattern Matching/.NET/$336.00/11.12.2003
Spell Check/.NET/$336.00/11.12.2003
Data Set/Java/$201.00/11.12.2003
Financial Ledger/Java/$168.00/11.12.2003
OSS/J TCK Test Proxy/Java/$1,000.00/11.19.2003
For more information about TopCoder development opportunities go to:
http://www.topcoder.com/?t=development&c=ind
So there it is. Yes they do recruit for big companies. BUT it's for money, pretty decent money too. The problems you do in competitions are mostly academic in nature, but they use the scores to decide who to pick for the pay gigs.
Also you say, you can do the same thing at your normal job. Well, did you ever think that some people don't HAVE jobs, and this might help them making money until they find one?
Next time you trash a company that is actually trying to do something good for the programmer community, try doing some reading first...
Mark
If you're going to give out 100 copies of a movie to reviewers pre-release then maybe you ought to watermark them so the reviewers have some reason to not give them out
The screeners do usually have watermarks, but the warez groups that release the films blur out the watermarks or otherwise remove them first, from what I've heard. So they are useless.
That's what I keep telling my girlfriend.