When the parasite consumes the host.
52 karma · joined April 9, 2010
RIM + Microsoft should be very concerned about Apple as much as Android based devices.
Does the US have a requirement that engineers are engineers (qualified engineers that is) ala claiming one is an attorney?
First, we have a more educated populace globally (not just in the US) - this leads to more confidence in our own opinions, and when combined with "the university of Google" and trusting everything one reads on the internet you'll get echo-chambers of likemindedness repeatedly referring to each other. We tend to believe things that we hear over and over. Add in the lack of accountability within the media to appropriately question all claims from all sides in a scientific manner and you can easily become highly insular in your views and opinions.
Secondly - science has moved on in ways unfathomable a century ago - a time where the wealthy could afford an education and those without could not (and hence trusted those with an education more, although you can also claim that corporations have also lessened the trust in anyone too). The sciences today are so incredibly complex that the scientific community has the option to either: a) dumb it down; or b) dumb it down. The problem there is that when you simplify science, you lose some of the details and open yourself up for cherry-picking critique. Add in the issue that most science is now not black-or-white (something that the conservative in everyone prefers) but rather is based on probability (yes, I know all about the black swan events that through out prior observations, however scientific method requires repeatability) - irrespective of whether or not the lifestyle that they currently live is based on such approaches. Add in the proud to be innumerate and scientifically illiterate and you've got some major problems. Mix in that science now looks like religion to the lay person, due to the complexity and lack of comprehension, and you're going to have big problems.
What is the scientific community to do? I'm not sure. We need to change the perception of science in the community. We need to educate people on the scientific method (even though there are many in the hardcore religious groups who oppose it). Then we need to build a better grounding in science for the next generation and make it valued in the same way that the financial and legal sectors are. After all - they're all dependent on the discoveries for their own operations.
Wrote a thing regarding Blackle and energy efficiency a few years back: http://euphemize.net/blog/archives/2007/10/23/the-blackle-ho...
Next up: engineers! (No, we don't all fix cars or build bridges… ;))
>My measurement will be the parking lot: it should be substantially full at 7:30 AM and 6:30 PM....The lot should be half full on Saturday mornings. We have a lot of work to do.
His response is about bullsh!t metrics - not about the work. There's not one mention of productivity, of not meeting targets, of poorly performing staff. The management may, or may not, be doing so - but the sole defining reason for his diatribe is the lack of attendance during what he perceives as reasonable work hours (~65hours/week).
Why wasn't the focus on not meeting targets? on improving productivity? on making progress?
Stats, stats and damned lies.
As with everything, I want to be able to follow the source. If you don't know, don't quote :\ (that the media feeds on this stuff with out asking the questions Ars has in this article is even worse).
https://www.dropbox.com/pricing
Pro 50(GB) $9.99 / month
More competition in this area is a bonus - now we just have to ensure that microsoft continues to sound out valid reasoning to get the vast proportion of Enterprise that still is on IE6 updated (and thus shift their legacy apps from proprietary hacks to a far more future "proofed" (resistant really) standards base).
Those of us poor suckers in enterprise can start doing quality work.
Now to build the business case for upgrading legacy apps :\
But then, we've been conservative about water for a while with good reason to be.
A billion is a big emotional mark. Breaking it down to a per unit, regardless of what is actually given out as revenue, is a fairly traditional means of giving an indication of the per unit revenue (even if unfairly distorting).
Eg: cost of military + war in Iraq (in particular) is often distilled down to the cost born by each man, woman and child in the USA - despite the fact that each man, woman and child does not bear an even cost (nor some would argue an even benefit).
Sounds strange to the modern ear though.