I think you should read that as:

(Mac with an Intel processor) or (a Power PC G5, G4, or G3 processor and built-in FireWireî)

and not

(Mac with an Intel processor or a Power PC G5, G4, or G3 processor) and (built-in FireWireî)

I'd be skeptical of someone, especially in IT, who has no online presence. I believe it is good to build up a brand around your name on the internet. You should be in control of what potential future employers see when they Google you. It is better for you to be in the top spot for your name then someone else talking about you, or something with the same name.

When I first joined the internet, I asked my parents if I could have a website on Geocities. They said no. I didn't listen and went behind their back to create it. I didn't have any info besides my first name, so there was no real harm (and I was smart enough not to meet up alone with random strangers, not that I was ever propositioned).

In 2001 I bought a domain named after me and blogged on it (although, it took years for me to admit it was a blog, since those had a bad stigma attached :) ). More recently I've posted the occasional technical entry. Because of this I've been cold called (well, e-mailed) from major companies asking if I want to interview.

It is 2009, nearly everyone has some sort of online presence now. It is unlikely you'll be targeted just for having your name out there. It is much more likely bad things will happen when a company you deal with is hacked and your information is stolen that way. Plus, you can use your presence as a defense. If I wasn't the top result on Google for my name, people might think I was an anti-semite author.

Andrew Hitchcock

This isn't Wikipedia, we call them "KB" here. Thanks.

I pay income tax, but barely ever use freeways (mainly when I'm on the bus). Why should I subsidize your use of the roads? Also, congestion tolling makes the roads more efficient and keeps the average speed higher.

When you draw the internet while diagramming on a whiteboard, what do you draw? Most people draw a cloud as an abstraction for the stuff "out there". I've never seen anyone draw a spiderweb when drawing a diagram that includes the internet.

I've tried to explain the cloud to slashdotters before. If you don't like the word cloud, you don't have to call it that. A less buzzword-y and perhaps more accurate term would be "utility computing". Turn on the faucet and out comes your data.

Yeah, I noticed that this morning when I read about the investment. They closed a bunch of older facilities in Asia, laying off the workers, and are building the new fancy fabs in the US (and creating high paying jobs in the process).

Of course, the next thing that came to my mind is whether Slashdot would cover that aspect of the story. Sure enough, Slashdot's summary completely disregards that Intel is creating jobs in America. I suspect there are two reasons for this: 1. It hurts Slashdot's agenda if they report about companies insourcing, readers should only know about outsourcing by "the evil corporations". 2. Because Intel is the big bad wolf and we can't report anything good they do.

It's not my fault that company didn't do it's due diligence. If you lied on your resume and were actually incompetent, I wouldn't expect you to get past the phone screen, at least where I work.

Umm, hate to burst your bubble, but I was being pro-American. This country has a long history of being built by immigrants and I want to keep it that way.

I know other countries have protectionist policies, do you notice how they are not as successful as the US? We are not the biggest economic power in the world in spite of our open borders, but because of our open borders.

If the company is on the brink of disaster and is receiving bailout money in order to save the company (which I oppose), then they should do everything in their power to stay afloat. If the H1-B workers are providing a better deal than Americans, or have skills that can not be replaced, then getting rid of them to support American jobs endangers the company and goes against the whole bailout effort.

Or maybe Americans have an inflated view of their own ability. I'm humbled by the foreigners and H1-B visa holders I work with.

Very true. This is to be expected because America makes up only, what, 4% of the global population? This alone means we'll have only a small percent of the top-talent natively.

We probably have a higher percent in actuality because our wealth allows more people to go to higher education, whereas large swaths of the world are prevented from reaching their potential, either through poverty, health, or non-free governments. This is a huge shame; I can only imagine the scientific progress and quality of life improvements we'd make if everyone were allowed to live up to their full potential.

You can train people all you want, it won't necessarily make them smarter.

My team at work has five engineers and a manager. I'm the only one that was born in the US. Some of them have become citizens and others are here on visas. They are extremely smart and know their shit. There is a shortage of top-notch talent, and the only way for a company to remain competitive is to hire people from outside the US. In my opinion it is better to bring them here to work than to set up an office in their native country (offshore) because the employees make more and they spend most of it within the US. That's a net win.

I'm worried by the increasing number of stories on /. up in arms about companies bringing in *gasp* foreigners. America was founded by non-natives and our economic strength comes from the thousands of immigrants who come here for a better life by getting good jobs or starting businesses.

The contempt for the foreigners coming here on H1-B visas, and the companies that hire them, disgusts me. What makes you any better or more deserving than these people? The fact that you were born in the US? Please. These people have the should have the same right as all of us to come here and be successful. By preventing people from immigrating, especially talented, smart people, we are damaging the future of this country. The ability to attract the best and the brightest to come here is one of our greatest strengths. Erecting barriers to trade and enacting protectionism, especially during this economy, will lead to our downfall as a nation.

The economy isn't a zero-sum game. Allowing foreigners to come here to work enhances their life and the life of those in this country. If you believe you are inherently more entitled to a job than someone from another country, just because you were born here, then you are a xenophobic prick.

And replaces them with links to Knol!

I came across Mr. Show on YouTube. I think I was linked there by some website. I ended up watching a bunch of the clips. A few months later I went and bought the whole series on DVD through Amazon. I would have never known about the show if it wasn't for YouTube.