water, an incompressible fluid, is literally "as hard as concrete" when struck at high speed.

While I have absolutely no training that would be relevant to this, there was a Mythbusters episode where they tested exactly this, and found that while for all intents and purposes of a human landing on them, both were fatal - there was about 1/4 the G force from water than on concrete on landing.

Then again, I'm not sure G forces sustained on impact really measures how hard something is...

The problem is if you're not a good Linux (I haven't met any Unix admins) Admin, you can't really fake it at all. You have to make so many choices just to get started, and understand the implication of those choices that if you get it working, you're likely moderately competent.

Just about any Windows User can install Windows Server (it works just like the client OSs) and a perusal of the "Roles" and "Features" followed by checking a couple boxes (which happily check the pre-reqs for you) and clicking next, next, go, finish, and boom you have Active Directory running. You might not be doing it well (only one Domain Controller is an obvious rookie mistake), but it seems "good enough" to non-techies.

t's really sad when a worker getting a decent salary literally starts whining that they don't know how to do something and are unable to learn how on their own.
I agree whining is unprofessional, but I don't see why in IT it's assumed you should be able to pick up anything on short notice with no training.

Our CAD drafters get training on new releases of the software as it can be pretty different, and they can use having new features explained or pointed out.

I don't know why when it comes to general computer use people are expected to get it by osmosis.

And when you're talking about an entirely new environment, sure they probably could wing it enough to get it going, but how likely is it they won't make some boneheaded mistake that might have been avoided if they got basic training on a new platform or design.

A personal example: I come from AD and Group Policy. We started doing Puppet for other platforms. My first inclination was to say, this is probably like a slightly different implementation of GPOs, so I will install an ENC, The Foreman. Then I'll have hostgroups mirror my AD OUs. It turns out that helps, and hurts. Trying to apply manifests to hostgoups like GPOs on OUs can work, but in the way you end up writing manifests, it's often easier or better to do filtering in the manifest (or I'm finding that right now anyway, maybe it'll be different after a few more years). I generally shy away from filtering inside a GPO - both because it's kind of weird (WMI filters, deny apply permissions, GPP with Item Level Targetting) and because it's non-discoverable. In Puppet, a particular manifest pretty much lays it out, so you're not wondering about which of 3 different methods might be making something not apply...

Now, I think I'm doing OK, but maybe having training on Puppet would have had me make a better choice in the beginning, or point out some fundamental thing I'm still getting wrong, but don't see because I'm learning enough to do my current task as I go.

: "IT people are bad at problem solving".

I don't know that that is any better. You can solve problems in all sorts of ways that wouldn't need Critical Thinking (as I understand it and as it seems to be being used here).

I.e. Database is slow? Buy a bigger server. Windows computer acting weird? Wipe and re-image. Car suddenly seems to have no power? Buy new car. Door won't open? Use a battering ram. Need food for 2 people for $8? Go to McDonalds.

Those examples all solve the existing problems. You could argue that they are inefficient. You could point out that, yes, your immediate problem has gone away but will come back. But I don't think you can effectively argue that from a high level, the current problem is not solved by each action.

No critical thinking required. There may be some problems that you cannot solve by what is basically brute force, either for economic, time, or technical reasons. Or you may want to get more efficient or more targeted solutions. This is where what I would consider critical thinking comes into play. And many people use the term in this sense, so I see no reason to invent a different term...

Yes, and they suck compared to a smartphone because they aren't integrated with anything. I have some left over from the Old Days.

I suppose many factors depend but my Garmin beats my Galaxy Note II for navigation every day of the week.
1) It comes with a great mount. I have yet to find a workable mount for my phone. One I literally put the phone near, it snaps into place magnetically, and is already powered by the mount so I'm not also plugging in power.

2) I can leave it in my car and it's always ready to go. I always want my phone with me for obvious reasons.

3) No complications from other apps / lock screen / notifications or whatever that can interfere or distract me from directions. This is mostly on me - any notifications make me almost compulsively check, deal with, and clear. But why not just avoid that problem if I can?

4) Familiarity - I've been using Garmin since 2007 or so with a Street Pilot and I know how it's instructions go. I find that it's harder to hear and the voice is harder to understand on google maps, and WAZE doesn't seem to have functional nav half the time (one time it said nothing till telling me I'd arrived, thanks to my garmin).

5) Garmin junction view and lane guidance are amazing. It's the difference between 2007 era "turn left in .25 miles" and "Be in either of the two right lanes and turn right at the end of the street, then bear left" with a overview of the lanes and a purple line showing the lane changes needed.

Oh, and the recent Garmin's can bluetooth to an app on your phone for sending addresses or subscribing to live traffic, weather etc. Though the one thing I thin WAZE does do amazingly is traffic, hazard, and police reporting. If that could be integrated into the garmin display it would be amazing I think.

I always thought the issue was that damages usually don't deter or even stop a corporation from doing bad thing X - including potentially killing people.

How would you "imprison" a corporation? Dissolve and sell off the assets and not allow anyone who worked there from working in the field for the term of the prison sentence?

Nationalize the corporation with the goal of keeping it barely afloat for the term of the prison sentence?

Get rid of limited liability (the entire point of a corporation)?

This is why you keep an image up to date to deploy Windows with the updates already installed...

I'm probably just strange, but the start screen is the issue I have with Outlook 2010 where going to the file menu totally covers up all the e-mail. I still use find and run robot myself, on windows 7. It's hard to explain, but the total context switch between what I'm doing and running another program really depends on what I'm trying to do.

If I'm on a web site, and need to run my password manager to log in, it's horribly disorienting to lose the view of the website to just start a password manager. Or if I'm working on my banking website and need to run calculator, it's really disconcerting to me to lose the banking view while trying to start calc.exe. I can sort of do those things in the background of my thought process.

Now, if I'm totally starting a new task (say launching a video player to watch a movie), then overlaying the whole screen isn't a big deal - I'm planning on totally context switching. But if I'm just checking to see if an app I need is installed, or I just want to start a helper app, I don't want to "lose my place" in that way.

You do know that Putty has an installer if you want?

Wouldn't your status information be in your monitoring system? I mean, rather than sucking cycles to show a tile on a desktop on my server, I'd just like an e-mail when something gets out of spec, and an overview of a whole set of servers in a WebUI if I want to look actively...

I'm sorry, but I see enough Windows 7 "slowing down" for no particular reason at work to think that it may be marginally better than XP in terms of not bitrotting itself to death, but it's a marginal improvement.

We've replaced the vast majority of Windows XP computers with Windows 7, but in a number of cases recently, it's been wholly driven by IT, and involves throwing out existing hardware because it can't run Windows 7 x64 without stupidly priced RAM upgrades (DDR2 is apparently quite expensive now). The upgrade to Windows 7 has been great for IT - making parts of our jobs easier, giving us easy tickets to close - but from a business perspective, it's a total loss. The computers were serving a need perfectly well, and replacing them with more expensive newer hardware is a waste of money except for the security issue with EOL.

I suppose it vary significantly, and may be me justifying liking new things, but here goes:
Your longer term big ticket items suggested are not necessarily more valuable than smaller items (though I don't know how "small" a car really is in comparison).

My thought process is as follows - There is significant uncertainty in whether a house or given college degree or early retirement is going to be worth the time or money, especially years on.

Houses just crashed a few years ago, and for lots of people it was a losing proposition. College degree costs vs jobs and actual increased income seem to be on a similar bubble path right now. Early retirement may not be desirable due to enjoying your job...

Your "trinket" items are also perhaps subject to significant potential disputes as to the worth of them. If all you want is a cell phone, any $30 e-bay flip phone is fine. But I would argue there is a significant value to be had in having a smartphone. It's not worth it for everyone, but a smartphone can do tasks the flip phone just can't. Newer smartphones don't get as big a bump, but there are apps that each successive phone can run that some older class of phones just can't. Go back 4 years on Android, and you might have gotten a 2.2 OS. There are many apps that are 2.3+ with functions in them that are 4+. This may be of no value to you, but I would argue there is a non "trinket" value to be had here.

The latest Big Screen TV may (and there are variables) use less energy due to being LED backlit vs Plasma or LCD. It might have a better integrated set of tools like Netflix and Amazon. It might play 4K media instead of 1080p or 720p. These are actual upgrades, though again, it superficially may look like it's doing the same thing. At the most superficial level a we all should still have CRTs. That's a potentially valid position, but I don't think we can say having a newer TV is a waste of money.

The latest model car is potentially the weakest "toy". I have a 2012 Legacy and am seriously thinking of upgrading to a 2015. Why? 1) CVT so better MPG by ~3MPG. 2) crash avoidance system. 3) Adaptive cruise control. 4) Built in back up camera. 5) Cross traffic sensors.

Now, this is a special bunch of upgrades in a particular model, and not there for every new model year. But each year, some car is coming out with non-trivial improvements to safety, fuel economy, and features. Buying new cars isn't an investment - you'll get no argument from me that it's a money loosing proposition. But no more so than buying vegetables at a grocery store and making a stir fry at home vs a value menu meal from McDonalds. That is to say, newer devices can have real benefits.

Now I agree if we're talking fashion, jewelry, the latest Madden release(but only for one year back, then there's the value of still having multiplayer over the net)...

I also think about inflation. Many smaller gadgets will last and function for years, they don't lose their value as fast as the cost goes up. Most consumer electronics don't follow this pattern, but many appliances seem to (Kitchen appliances such as Bosch Mixers etc), as do tools etc.

For many new "toys" it's buy it now and have it, or hope I can buy it later... Things I own would only go away if something catastrophic happened, and I'd still have lost the money I could have had instead - and money that's likely loosing purchasing power the longer I hold it.

Anyway I've rambled on, it's late, and we might actually agree.

OT musings on kitchen appliances:
Hmm, last time I looked for a Dishwasher (about a year ago) I had to go to a bit of a specialty store, but the Bosch 800 series and Melie competitor were within $100 of each other. The Bosh 800 was IMO a better design by far for the third rack. (and you really want to get a dishwasher with a third rack - far more efficient use of space than the basket for forks etc). I believe now you can get that in the Bosch 500 series, which is much more affordable.

Anyway, I am indeed a Bosch fan. I also have a Bosch Universal Plus stand mixer which is awesome.

Miele seems better in Vacuums IMO, though I haven't owned one - got an Oreck 7 yrs ago, and still have 15 or so years on the warranty.

I imagine it's the same reason you can purchase a parental Internet filter program, or get a curated list of content a la Yahoo long ago. It's why Google can have "safe search". None of those are illegal, and as long as it's a private entity you can choose to do business with or not, I can't see why it should be prohibited.

In the US Baidu is operating like a curated search result, similar to Google's "safe search", just in this case blocking pro-democracy results. I agree with the judge in this case - the First Amendment absolutely should protect your right as a business or person to advocate for any form of government you like. That seems like one of the highest reasons to even have the First Amendment - political speech.

You don't have to agree with their viewpoint, but the answer as is often said is *More Speech* and they certainly aren't drowning out pro democracy speech in the US.

Can you point me at how you do this? I mean, either you have:

  2 cars at the same time, (which to me means that your monthly payment is going to be inflated as if you didn't have a trade in) and you've got an unknown trade in value and time till "old car" is off your hands, therefore complicating your budgeting

or

you're without a car for a week or two at best as you shop for the new car and wait for dealer prep. In this case you need a friend or rental. If it's a rental, then you better get at least $400 better trade in or sale vs trading in on purchase as you're out the rental cost.(Assuming a cheap rental and 13 days to buy and dealer prep for pickup)... Would you usually get that much better trade in value?

Or do you just negotiate out trade in value first, separate from a purchase (and do dealers actually do that?) and then
negotiate the new car purchase price?