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Comment Re:ESR said it very well - Open Source Science (Score 1) 822

An honest question, I haven't been able to find the answer to online:

How do we know these models are correct?

Of course, what's also in my mind are the models of Wall Street . I understand it's not apple-to-apples, but I think given the collapse we've seen in the financial sector due to incorrect models, it seems a fair question.

-Bill

Comment Re:hmm (Score 4, Insightful) 217

Put the crackpipe down!

I was an altavista user. A die-hard one, for most of the mid/late-nineties. In fact, I remember the day I finally convinced my boss to switch from Altavista to Google, because he had worked on Altavista.

Today's results completely blow away the search engines of 10 years ago. In fact, any of the major players -- Yahoo, Microsoft, even Ask & co. -- would blow away the search engines of 10 years ago.

(Add to the fact that the number of documents on the web that they need to crawl & rank have exploded.)

Your comment that "the resultant pile of URLs for any given keyword is utterly worthless" is itself hyperbolic nonsense. If that were true, nobody would use them.

Comment My Advice (Score 2, Interesting) 315

I can't speak to consulting, but being granted equity is fairly common in tech. Some initial points:

* Four years is much more common than five.

* Make sure you understand the vesting schedule. You could suggest a 1 year cliff, followed by monthly after that. If they push to yearly, compromise at quarterly.

Next, as it's a consulting business, ask what happens to profits. Are they distributed to the owners? (I.e., you?) If so, how often & are the books validated by an outside firm? How would the payout of unvested equity work? E.g., say they make $1,000 profit in the first year. Do you get $100 (10%), $25 (10% / 4 year vesting), or $0 (nothing was vested).

Then you need some sense of what that equity is worth. This is where understanding the above will be key, along with looking at past performance and some forecasting of future profit.

If it looks like your salary + the equity would be significantly above what you would make as a salaryman elsewhere, you should consider.

One thing to keep in mind, is that once you sign the deal, they may be less welling to increase your base compensation (e.g., annual salary), thinking that the equity may be golden handcuffs of a sort.

Either way, good luck with your decision! As stressful as it is, this is a Good Problem to have. :)

-Bill

Software

Submission + - PCWorld refuse hardware repair due to Linux. 10

Tikka writes: "Today I visit PC World (London, UK) because my 5 months old laptop has developed a manufacturing fault, the hinge to the display has started to crack the plastic casing.
Anyone in the know, will know that this is due to the joint inside and this means that ultimately the screen will separate from the keyboard in time.

Repair was refused, because I have Gentoo Linux on my laptop — Replacing the Windows Vista that was pre-installed.

PC World have said that this has void my warranty and there is nothing they will do for me, I spoke to a manager who said that he has been told to refuse any repairs if the operating system has been changed.

I feel this has really gone against my statutory rights and will do everything I can to fight it, I will review comments for your advice."
PHP

Submission + - Have Idea for Website, Where to Develop it?

Anonymous Coward writes: "Found myself brainstorming with a friend during a long road trip this past week and we came up with some great (not groundbreaking) ideas for online services, and one really stuck. I've always wanted to start a website up on my own and perhaps make an occupation out of it, and since I'm worthless and workless right now, I figure I'd give it a shot. Where is a good source for finding freelance web programmers and designers to create an online service from the ground up, for those of us on a budget (~$10,000)? Anyone think it's a bad idea to dive into the online playing field, or do you encourage it? I need advice!"
Security

Submission + - How can you tell if a PC is a zombie?

chopper749 writes: I administer about 10 computers at a small company. IT is not my specialty, nor are we big enough to have an IT department. Not all of the machines are used daily, so if they have been turned into zombies, they could go weeks spewing spam. Is there any way to detect that a machine has been attacked? Is Windows Firewall and Norton Anti-virus good enough, or is there more that should be done?

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