bunge - Slashdot User

NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander Killed By Ice 113

Posted by Soulskill on Monday May 24, 2010 @05:31PM from the wonder-if-it-will-rise-again dept.

coondoggie writes "NASA officially ended its Phoenix Mars Lander operation today after a new image of the machine showed severe ice damage to its solar panels, and repeated attempts to contact the spacecraft had failed. 'Apparent changes in the shadows cast by the lander are consistent with predictions of how Phoenix could be damaged by harsh winter conditions. It was anticipated that the weight of a carbon-dioxide ice buildup could bend or break the lander's solar panels. [Michael Mellon of the University of Colorado] calculated hundreds of pounds of ice probably coated the lander in mid-winter.'"

Comment Get things done (Score 1) 842

by bunge on Thursday May 13, 2010 @01:57PM (#32196460) Attached to: How To Behave At a Software Company?

Many good and many funny comments.

My advice is to have an execution attitude. In other words, get things done. Your boss will love you if he knows that he can give you something and know that it will get done.

Comment Allusion vs Plagiarism (Score 1) 449

by bunge on Saturday February 13, 2010 @12:07AM (#31124180) Attached to: Is Plagiarism In Literature Just Sampling?

I am a fan of the practice of alluding to other well know literature. I think it is a great way to communicate complex ideas efficiently and capture big thoughts and ideas easily. Who doesn't know what 30 pieces of silver signifies? I love the statement "we are standing on the shoulders of giants". Such devices make progress in literature much more possible.
Those are well known samples. It is good to give credit but not always necessary. Otherwise credit should be given. If it is not it is plagiarism.

Forrester Says Tech Downturn Is "Unofficially Over" 130

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday January 12, 2010 @11:51PM from the unofficial-whoopee dept.

alphadogg writes "The US IT market will grow by 6.6% as high-tech spending rebounds in 2010, according to Forrester Research's latest estimates. The research firm based its projections on data reported for 2009, though its fourth quarter numbers are incomplete. Forrester says hints of a recovery surfaced in the third quarter, and now the company expects the global IT market to grow by 8.1% in 2010. Forrester's US and Global IT Market Outlook: Q4 2009 reads: 'The tech downturn of 2008 and 2009 is unofficially over, while the Q3 2009 data for the US and the global market showed continued declines in tech purchases (as we expected). We predict that the Q4 2009 data will show a small increase in buying activity, or at worst, just a small decline.'"

Living In Tokyo's Capsule Hotels 269

Posted by samzenpus on Tuesday January 05, 2010 @05:34PM from the living-in-the-hive dept.

afabbro writes "Capsule Hotel Shinjuku 510 once offered a night’s refuge to salarymen who had missed the last train home. Now with Japan enduring its worst recession since World War II, it is becoming an affordable option for people with nowhere else to go. The Hotel 510’s capsules are only 6 1/2 feet long by 5 feet wide. Guests must keep possessions, like shirts and shaving cream, in lockers outside of the capsules. Atsushi Nakanishi, jobless since Christmas says, 'It’s just a place to crawl into and sleep. You get used to it.'”

Comment Review your controls (Score 1) 730

by bunge on Friday August 14, 2009 @03:57PM (#29070081) Attached to: Why Should I Trust My Network Administrator?

What you are looking for is controls that keeps your sysadmin from doing anything bad to your company, data, network, etc. One control is to have them onsite. But how many employees have caused the harm you describe while onsite? You need to look at different types of controls than proximity. What does your contract with the outsourcer say? Are their employees subject to your company policies? Do you have company policies? Has the sys admin read them and signed something saying that he agrees to abide by them? Have you run a background check on your sysadmin? These are all things you should have thought of a long time ago.

Comment Re:Intalio|CRM (Score 1) 186

by bunge on Thursday May 28, 2009 @10:34PM (#28133865) Attached to: Customer Resource Management For Non-Profits?

There is also an Intalio Foundation that contributes user accounts to nonprofits.

http://itredux.com/2009/05/21/intalio-foundation/

Comment Intalio|CRM (Score 1) 186

by bunge on Thursday May 28, 2009 @10:32PM (#28133849) Attached to: Customer Resource Management For Non-Profits?

Try Intalio|CRM. (http://www.intalio.com/products/crm/) It is a full featured CRM. It is free for up to two users. It has Outlook sync capabilities.

Comment What do you want? (Score 1) 936

by bunge on Tuesday July 01, 2008 @01:50PM (#24018833) Attached to: Non-Programming Jobs For a Computer Science Major?

The real question is what do you want to do? You might not have a good idea yet. Thus you ask thousands of slashdot readers you have never met.

I got a Mech. Engineering degree but got my first job as a staff consultant at Price Waterhouse, before it was PWC. That is a good way to go if you are not sure what you want to do. Consultants, especially entry level ones, end up doing whatever the client needs them to do. I wrote requirements, test plans, reports, did testing, maintained code, programmed, presented to clients. Just about everything. It was a great experience.

You may also want to try to become a business analyst. If you can understand the business guys and translate their needs to programming specifications. You may also want to look at business process management tools. Check out www.intalio.com. With understanding of BPMS you can take business requirements and weave them into high level executable processes.

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