Not to mention, if they lower the caps the large tech companies will just create more offices abroad.

It's beneficial to have your work force centered in one location, but not necessary.

I'm in the US on an H1-B status, and am really getting tired of this ... whatever it is (debate?). I don't live in an apartment with four other immigrants, and never have. I own a house and have a wife (so I could actually switch out of H1-B). I spend my salary locally. I get paid well for the work I do. Yes, the salary is more than where I'm from, but the cost of living here is higher so the salary is proportionally higher (rent of a 2 bedroom apartment here is 5x what it costs where I grew up). I could easily go back to my country of origin, and buy a house there instead of here and spend my money there instead of here, while working for the same employer.

Reducing the number of H1-B's in the tech industry will have very little effect on making jobs available, and drive outsourcing higher. It will only really affect non-international companies and companies that require the more permanent presence of the worker.

(This is not my joke/story, just paraphrasing what I remember)

Two golfers had been meeting weekly for years - lets call them Joe and Bob. Joe started to notice one day that Bob was getting a lot better. So Joe asked Bob what he was doing, and Bob replied that he was taking some golf classes on the weekends.

Joe, not wanting to be outdone, bought a golf self-improvement book. And gave it to Bob, complimenting him on his desire to improve.

A few weeks later, Bob was back to his old self, and Joe was happily able to compete again.


Moral of the story: When Joe bought Bob the book, Bob stopped practicing and started reading. Don't substitute reading for doing.

So what does this mean for similar companies like Gaikai, that appear to have more mainstream titles and higher quality? Opportunity, or impending doom?

I tend to be more of a purist, preferring to hand code things. But that doesn't mean I ignore the tools in my toolbox.

My high school computer engineering teacher always reminded us that it's easier when you have the right tool for the job. Using a Philips screwdriver to pry a paint can open isn't going to work very well.

In the same way, visual editors, text editors, debuggers, etc. are tools. What you, and your son really need to ask is given a situation, is which tool works best for the job? It's not about inferiority, it's about recognizing in what situations does it have its strengths, and other tools have their weaknesses.

You can expand this mindset to management as well, but you may not want to refer to your employees as tools. A good manager will recognize the strengths of his/her staff and use his/her employees appropriately. If an employee is under performing, it's quite possible the manager is not using that "tool" correctly (not always true, but good managers will ask this). Sounds like your son might be progressing down the entrepreneur route, so this would be a good lesson to keep in mind.

Oh, wait, they tried that in a movie.

Or do a team sport. Not that it will help you get a job on its own, but much of candidate evaluation also depends on the fit for the team you are applying to. Most of my learning how to be on a team came from hockey growing up. (BTW, I said rock climbing because it's a great trust building activity, and if you're use to working solo it forces you to depend on others/help others which is absolutely necessary).

I have an Andrea headset I find fairly comfortable (http://www.andreaelectronics.com/Buy/headsets.htm). The only thing I dislike is that the mic seems to require a battery power pre-amp that has no on-off switch, so the battery dies often. Otherwise, I like the sound, and the mic quality is pretty good. I wouldn't consider it an audiophile headset though.

You emphasized my point - they aren't popular among DIY'ers. Average Joe installing his/her own system isn't going to want to drill the door and doorjam. I wasn't speaking in general, but in regard to the customers Frontpoint has, and the install-it-yourself process.

We were broken into about 5 weeks ago. I originally considered Frontpoint about 5 months ago, but we kept putting it off. It's the only security company that had mediocre to good reviews consistently.

They have a few options - what you're looking for is their "ultimate" version, which includes cameras. It streams online I believe, and you can turn on/off the security system from your phone or their web page.

They do not send out a rep to do installation, instead they ship the system to you (they'll probably upgrade you to next day shipping for free if you mention you just had a burglary) and you set it up yourself. It took me about 15 minutes to set up, although I had to re-glue some of the door sensors.

When you call, or email, their sales agents don't try to upsel you. They work with what you want, and try to assess your needs based on how you describe your house. If you want an extra sensor for something, they are happy to give it to you - but they will want to know why, and if they don't think it's needed, they'll try to talk you out of it. I had the feeling they actually cared about my interests, and not selling me more equipment.

They also follow up on any feedback you provide, and actively try to resolve issues. I'm really happy with them. They use alarm.com for monitoring.They also have additional styles of sensors that the average joe doesn't care about (ones that you install in the door, rather than putting on the outside of the door - i.e. invisible), but you need to ask. They try to keep it simple.

I recently had to make the same decision. I had an offer to do an MS on a very interesting project, but chose to go work instead (I had a competing offer with a good position at a hardware company). The big kicker for me was: How do you do effective research in an industry you've never worked in? The majority of professors I see went BaSC->MS->PhD, and frankly, are horrible. The best professors? They've gone and worked in industry for at least a few years. And their research reflects this, and is usable. It is also worth considering that some companies will pay for you to do your master's part time. Granted, this might be an M.Eng, not an MS, but HR probably won't know the difference. This is the route I'm going. If in a few years I want an MS or MBA, I'll go back to school to get it. I don't see myself in this field in 5 years so it's less of an issue for me.

And, the irony is the sources listed are other inquirer articles that are entirely speculatory. How does this crap get on /.?

Check entry number 29. http://top500.org/system/9853 They're already there.