Comment Re:Don't bother (Score 1) 239
was going to post similar story. Yours covers it just fine.
Comment Re:Work Experience (Score 1) 834
Please get a Masters!!
Sure work experience is what get's you a foot in the door (past the HR filter) and your personality should do the rest during the interview....
But how about 10 years later? At the senior staff/ principal engineering level you had better be a genius to advance without a decent degree.
In short I see the following:
Work experience only = programmer
Education = engineer
I know I'm stepping on some toes here, but this is my experience (MSCS 1996, Senior Staff Engineer/Mgr)
Comment Re:first post! (Score -1, Troll) 820
Maybe it's my personal experience, but every single person I have talked to has said it is not faithful in it's representation of star trek and was not worth viewing.
Maybe you and all your friend should go out more.
Challenges Ahead In Final Hubble Servicing Mission 130
Hugh Pickens writes "Space shuttle Atlantis is slated to lift off Monday on the fifth and final servicing mission to Hubble with four mission specialists alternating in two-astronaut teams will attempt a total of five spacewalks from Atlantis to replace broken components, add new science instruments, and swap out the telescope's six 125-pound (57-kilogram) batteries, original parts that have powered Hubble's night-side operations for nearly two decades. 'This is our final opportunity to service and upgrade Hubble,' says David Leckrone, senior project scientist for the Hubble Space Telescope. 'So we're replacing some items that are getting long in the tooth to give Hubble longevity, and then we'll try to take advantage of that five- to 10-year extra lifetime with the most powerful instrumental tools we've ever had on board.' Some of the upgrades are relatively straightforward and modular: yank out old part, put in new. But they're big parts: The 'fine guidance sensors' sound delicate but weigh as much as a grand piano back on Earth. But what's different this time is that the astronauts will also open up some instruments and root around inside, doing Geek Squad-like repairs while wearing bulky spacesuits and traveling around the planet at 17,000 mph. 'We have this choreographed almost down to the minute of what we want the crew to do. It's this really fine ballet,' said Keith Walyus, the servicing mission operations manager at Goddard. 'We've been training for this for seven years. We can't wait for this to happen.'"
Go For a Masters, Or Not? 834
mx12 writes "I'm currently an undergrad in computer engineering and have been thinking about getting my masters. I have a year left in school. Most of my professors seem to think that getting a masters is a great idea, but I wanted to hear from people out in the working world. Is a masters in computer engineering better than two years of experience at a company?"
In France, Fired For Writing To MP Against 3 Strikes 379
neurone333 sends along the cause célèbre of the moment in France: a Web executive working for TF1, Europe's largest TV network, sends an email to his Member of Parliament opposing the government's "three strikes and you're out" proposal, known as Hadopi. His MP forwards the email to the minister backing Hadopi, who forwards it to TF1. The author of the email, Jérôme Bourreau-Guggenheim, is called into his boss's office and shown an exact copy of his email. Soon he receives a letter saying he is fired for "strong differences with the [company's] strategy" — in a private email sent from a private (gmail) address. French corporations and government are entangled in ways that Americans might find unfamiliar. Hit the link below for some background on the ties between TF1 and the Sarkozy government.
Comment Uncanny valley (Score 0) 309
That's all cute and all, but until I see it I'm not convinced that digitized versions can replace the real thing. As far as I am concerned we are at the worst part of the 'uncanny valley' right now. Sure it will get better but that could be a while out.
Also, I think it will eventually work great on those actors who *cough* can't act. A digital Bogart doesn't make a great movie.
Journal Journal: Subliminal Rewards breed harder workers
From an article in Live Science, researchers have found that subliminal stimulation can be used to stimulate people to work harder. How long before we see this in the workplace masked (or buried) in the background hum in an office?
Submission + - Bot infestations "surge" to nearly 1.2M
mengel writes: "Accrording to the folks at SecurityFocus the number of bot-infested systems has surged to nearly 1.2 Million. This after a
big drop in December when lots of people replaced/upgraded
systems.
Time to upgrade your spam filtering software, the onslaught is coming..."
Time to upgrade your spam filtering software, the onslaught is coming..."
Submission + - Cell phones
kingpetey writes: "This article's a pretty funny compilation of several shenanigans in the cell phone world over the past few days. Man, I need a new cell phone. Maybe one that just makes and receives phone calls.
e -world-just-gone-crazy/"
http://www.simpletechnology.net/has-the-cell-phonAt this pace, there's no stopping cell phone development. We're just really anxious for the fully-automated robot cell phone that'll go to the grocery for us, walk the dog, wash the car...
Submission + - RIAA Wins Worst Company In America 2007
Anonymous Coward writes: "After 15 punishing rounds of combat involving 32 of America's most hated companies, 100,000 voters have spoken: More hated than Halliburton, more despised than Walmart, the RIAA has defeated all-comers to become the Worst Company in America 2007.
http://www.consumerist.com/consumer/worst-company- in-america/"
Submission + - Xbox-360 1080p games coming
rwven writes: '1080p is the resolution of the gods. Promised by Sony, attainable by few displays, and argued about all over the Internet, 1080p is something that doesn't affect many television owners while remaining a major sticking point in the current console wars. Microsoft gave the 360 the ability to run games in 1080p in the October firmware update...' EA and Sega are both producing games which will render on the 360 in 1080p. Does this change the playing field for the next generation of console games?
Confidential Microsoft Emails Posted Online 479
dos4who writes "From the class action 'Comes et al. v. Microsoft' suit, some very enlightening internal Microsoft emails are now made public. Emails to and from Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer, Jim Allchin, etc all make for some mind blowing reading. One of my favorites is from Jim Allchin to Bill Gates, entitled 'losing our way,' in which Allchin states 'I would buy a Mac today if I was not working at Microsoft.'"
Submission + - Novell won't be banned from distributing Linux
Aim Here writes: In an earlier article, Slashdot quoted Reuters as claiming that the FSF might try to ban Novell from using Linux. Eben Moglen of the FSF has responded in an eweek interview, claiming he was quoted out of context, and that his quote in the article merely refers to the upcoming version 3 of the GNU General Public License. Was this all just an honest mistake, an eager journalist overhyping a weak story, or part of a wider campaign of sinister anti-FSF FUD?
Submission + - New FPS Allows Players To Kill for Real Money
Caydel writes: "Blood Toll is the first First Person Shooter game allowing players to earn money with every kill. The concept is simple: for every match, there is a price set on each player's head. For every kill, you collect money. For every death, you lose money. Matches can range from $0.01 per life to $500 per life.
Currently, the game is in its first beta phase. All matches are currently played with 'play money', although real money arenas will be opening soon. Until the 28th of Februrary, there is a contest running: whoever can earn the most play money will win a Playstation PSP.
There are three game modes currently offered in both 'Real Money' and 'Play Money' variants: 'Normal', 'Sniper' and 'Efficiency'. Normal is your stereotypical deathmatch, similar in feel to any of the Quake or Unreal variants. In Sniper mode, you start with a rifle and 1 health; every hit is a kill shot. In efficiency mode, you start with all the pickups, but only a limited amount of ammunition, with no pickups on the ground. Once you are out of ammo, you are merely a moving target.
So far, the game seems to be quite stable. While the current version is running on a highly modified version of the older GPL'ed 'Cube' game engine, the devs report that they will be moving to a newer engine yet prior to the full release of the game.
This sounds like an interesting concept, and is likely to draw a number of the more hard-core gamers out there. Unfortunately, this means that the competition will be very stiff in the real money arenas. For those elite gamers out there, this could pay more than a day job; for those not so skilled, this could cost more than a drug habit.
More beta testers are highly encouraged to join in the game."
Currently, the game is in its first beta phase. All matches are currently played with 'play money', although real money arenas will be opening soon. Until the 28th of Februrary, there is a contest running: whoever can earn the most play money will win a Playstation PSP.
There are three game modes currently offered in both 'Real Money' and 'Play Money' variants: 'Normal', 'Sniper' and 'Efficiency'. Normal is your stereotypical deathmatch, similar in feel to any of the Quake or Unreal variants. In Sniper mode, you start with a rifle and 1 health; every hit is a kill shot. In efficiency mode, you start with all the pickups, but only a limited amount of ammunition, with no pickups on the ground. Once you are out of ammo, you are merely a moving target.
So far, the game seems to be quite stable. While the current version is running on a highly modified version of the older GPL'ed 'Cube' game engine, the devs report that they will be moving to a newer engine yet prior to the full release of the game.
This sounds like an interesting concept, and is likely to draw a number of the more hard-core gamers out there. Unfortunately, this means that the competition will be very stiff in the real money arenas. For those elite gamers out there, this could pay more than a day job; for those not so skilled, this could cost more than a drug habit.
More beta testers are highly encouraged to join in the game."
