Shortage of Engineers in the USA Explained - Yep, Sounds About Right. : Wed, 28 Sep 2005

Douglas Kern at Tech Central Station says that the U.S. has a shortage of engineers because there just aren't enough able teachers at the uni level. He relates his experience as an engineering student forced to learn advanced mathematical and scientific concepts from TA's and profs who would rather he not ask them to explain anything.

This one hits close to home. I would add to Kern's commentary with thoughts from my own experiences: I come from a University here in central IL where if enough mediocre students complained to the department about how "hard" a class was, the powers that be made sure to dumb it down enough to shut all the whiners up, lest they come back with their loud, bitchy, checkbook-bearing parents. This of course created an academic environment that rewards self-rightous, whiney, mediocre students. This also drove out the faculty members who strove to teach advanced concepts, leaving SOL all students who were geeked about actually learning neat advanced stuff.
So I didn't have the same experience Kern did. In fact I stayed and graduated. I did not however learn as much as one would've hoped during my tenure there, other than the stuff I did as independant research projects.
My conclusion at this point is that universities should hold their professors and their students to high standards of performance (and not be afraid of dumping either for displaying ridiculously low aptitude), otherwise they will just keep on blowing off those who show the most promise. --CG   Source: http://www.uhacc.org/cgi-bin/blosxom.cgi

Posted by mongoose, at 21:37 | permanent link | comments

Deloitte & Touche Slapped with $50M SEC Fine in Adelphia Fallout : Fri, 13 May 2005

In SEC Litigation release 19202 Deloitte & Touche was slapped with a $25M civil penalty in response to charges that they failed to audit properly the fraud-ridden and sinking Adelphia Communications in 2000. In a another similar proceeding, the SEC proceded to censure Deloitte for "improper professional conduct," resulting in an additional $25M to be paid out by Deloitte. The sum $50M will be deposited into a fund to compensate victims of Adelphia's fraud.

WooHoo! UHACC gets a scoop?!? Apparently this story wasn't sexy enough to get picked up by any sort of mainstream press. Too bad, really. The Adelphia/Deloitte debacle wasn't as big as Enron/Arthur Anderson (what was?), but sheesh, I think Deloitte & Touche is getting off easy here IMO --CGSource: http://www.uhacc.org/cgi-bin/blosxom.cgi

Posted by mongoose, at 23:03 | permanent link | comments

RIAA Discovers Internet2 : Thu, 14 Apr 2005

400 users using a new experimental project that creates amazingly fast data transfers called "Internet2" will be sued by the RIAA.
The Register has this report on it.
"We cannot let this high-speed network become a zone of lawlessness where the normal rules don't apply," said Cary Sherman, RIAA president."

Of course - let's try to shutdown all new technology that someone could use to break the law.
In fact, I bet the police will quickly stop car makers from making fast cars, since they could be used for speeding. We'll also soon see the FBI stop people from making computers, lest they be used for hacking. And I'm afraid I'll have to stop writing this post, lest it be used for sarcasm and free speech.

alt(asking for trouble)phil   Source: http://www.uhacc.org/cgi-bin/blosxom.cgi

Posted by alt_phil, at 09:23 | permanent link | comments

Nokia announces Python for series 60 platforms : Tue, 01 Feb 2005

Finnish portable powerhouse Nokia announced availability of the Python development platform for it Series 60 platforms according to an article in The Register. The port is reportedly based on Python 2.2 and its development environment, although only tested for Windows, may also work well on Mac OSX and Linux platforms.

OMG this is cool as *hell* - now you can write apps for the Symbian GUI on your *phone*. Go crazy, my bretheren! --CG   Source: http://www.uhacc.org/cgi-bin/blosxom.cgi

Posted by mongoose, at 22:53 | permanent link | comments

WIRED publishes top 10 vaporous wares for '05 : Sun, 09 Jan 2005

Well, they had to give Duke Nukem Forever a lifetime achievement to keep it off the list this year, but there are plenty more funny and odd items on this year's top 10, where company PR has overestimated reality or covered up for shortcomings or simply fronted a nonexistant phantom.
Noteworthy inclusions were Longhorn, ATI X800 cards, and the (har!) infamous Infineum "Phantom" game console.

Personally I liked the suggestion that Longhorn ought to ship bundled with Duke Nukem Forever. :) --CG   Source: http://www.uhacc.org/cgi-bin/blosxom.cgi

Posted by mongoose, at 00:27 | permanent link | comments

Merill Lynch sez: Sun better buy a Linux vendor - soon : Thu, 16 Dec 2004

According to The Register, analysts at Merill Lynch predict that Sun will never be taken seriously in the Linux market unless they buy a Linux vendor. They suggest that Sun go and buy either Red Hat or Novell. The rationale behind this is that such a move will be the only way for Sun to charge hard into the lucrative X86 market without looking all confused by also recommending Solaris.

Is it just me or would there be a major grass-roots-level revolt by Red Hat Linux geeks if Sun swooped down and gulped up Red Hat? Is that even possible without it seeming (or actually being) hostile? Novell is a different story altogether; forget grassroots! Like IBM would let Sun just up and buy Novell. Ummm hehe, I don't think that's even in the realm of the real :) --CG   Source: http://www.uhacc.org/cgi-bin/blosxom.cgi

Posted by mongoose, at 23:33 | permanent link | comments

Sun Microsystems bets big on Solaris 10 x86 : Tue, 16 Nov 2004

Sun Microsystems, in a bid to capture a chunk of the Intel x86 server market, has released Solaris 10 x86. As the Register acticle mentions, this is a big gamble on Sun's part, due to their traditional reliance on their RISC business and enterprise userbase. But since that sector is shrinking, they took the hint and went for it.

Scott McNealy has wavered around on this a bunch - first they had x86 Solaris and then they pulled it and then they brought it back. Of course, back when the bean counters notice a huge server market to be had. Tough part is that ol' Scott will find that this particular market has a large amount of Linux adopters running the x86 servers. You know, people who remember what Sun did to support SCO and other stuff that pissed everyone off in general. So to Sun, I say good luck with that - I hope you get everything you deserve. --CG   Source: http://www.uhacc.org/cgi-bin/blosxom.cgi

Posted by mongoose, at 22:22 | permanent link | comments

Spouse rails against Electronic Arts work environment : Thu, 11 Nov 2004

In an anonymous LiveJournal entry, the spouse of an EA developer writes an eye-opener detailing horror stories of 85-hour work weeks, no days of rest, no comp time, and designers/developers/artists who now suffer from chronic illnesses and fatigue. She appeals to the highers up at EA because everybody's work situation also affects everyone around them, mainly friends and family.
She goes on to write that the HR policy at EA is 'If they don't like it, they can work someplace else.', which is less than encouraging and could be related to a pretty high turnover rate.

All my life I wanted to design games for a living. I ended up being a Unix admin who does some light development on the side. As many romantic notions as I have had about making games, reality tells me that being a Unix admin is better, because it gives me free time to create whatever I want on the side with my free time. The industry is cutthroat these days; who the hell wants to make a game if it isn't fun to do that? --CG

Posted by mongoose, at 10:18 | permanent link | comments

"Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" - coming to a warez site near you : Thu, 21 Oct 2004

Whoa boy. Here's a deja-vu story with echos of the "Half-Life 2" and "Halo 2": fiascos ringing in the air: Rockstar games apparently lost the handle on their Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas development code. According to GameDaily, the cover art, manual and code have all been lifted from Rockstar and are available for download (somewhere, I'm sure).

Grand Theft indeed! The story implies that the code was stolen off of a server, which would also imply that Rockstar's dev network is connected to a public network somehow? All speculation on my part, but if true, I'll bet they find the beauty of physical network separation real soon. --CG   Source: http://www.uhacc.org/cgi-bin/blosxom.cgi

Posted by mongoose, at 11:23 | permanent link | comments

Emergency distress signal traced back to TV set : Wed, 20 Oct 2004

There is an interesting story in the Corvallis Gazette-Times recounting how a 20 year old apartment dweller received the undivided attention of the local FBI, Air Force, Civil Air Patrol, and the Benton County Search and Rescue team. It started with a Toshiba flat screentelevision Chris van Rossman received as a gift. It was reported to have all the bells and whistles, one of which happened to start transmitting a signal on the 121.5 Mhz band, AKA the international distress call frequency. After receiving a friendly visit from his local authorities, Van Rossman was instructed to keep his TV powered down or risk fines up to $10,000 per day. Toshiba has since responded to the incident by arranging to replace the set free of charge.

I can envision a couple of techs at Toshiba tweaking the yoke coils until they hit the magic frequency, unshielding it, and then sending it out as a joke. You know, geeky engineers amusing themselves. :) --CG   Source: http://www.uhacc.org/cgi-bin/blosxom.cgi

Posted by mongoose, at 10:08 | permanent link | comments

Red Hat hires Sun VP to head up desktop initiative : Tue, 19 Oct 2004

Sun Microsystems' Karen Tegan Padir, a founding member of J2EE, has been wooed over to Red Hat in an effort to devise a desktop strategy. Red Hat hopes to strike a chord with hardware OEM vendors to get better support and subsequent market penetration once their desktop campaign begins.
Full story can be viewed on InformationWeek.

Sound general quarters! Red Hat's goin' in! It'll be interesting to contrast RH's desktop initiative with the desktop development over at SuSE. One thing is certain though - Linux on the desktop will (finally) get better because of it, woohoo! -- CG   Source: http://www.uhacc.org/cgi-bin/blosxom.cgi

Posted by mongoose, at 12:08 | permanent link | comments

LW Panel report: Tux on the desktop, schools, and patent foolishness discussed : Mon, 18 Oct 2004

John Leyden of The Register writes about a panel he attended at Linux World London. In it, there are industry predictions of Linux breaking through on the desktop in 2005, conditions on how Linux might break into heavy educational use (if it ever comes prepackaged, supported, that is), and a warning to Europe from America regarding how patent legislation can really squash innovation by little guys, or by little companies.

Here's hoping Europe gets it right, because the current patent situation here in America is as stupid and stifling as it comes. There are legal clearinghouses that do nothing but think up vague patentable ideas, patent them, and then lie in wait for real innovators to actually make the thing that does the thing. Ridiculous. --CG   Source: http://www.uhacc.org/cgi-bin/blosxom.cgi

Posted by mongoose, at 16:03 | permanent link | comments

Broadband over power lines (BPL) is coming : Fri, 15 Oct 2004

There have bee several reports that the FCC has approved rules for tranmitting data via power lines, opening up the liklihood of power-company-as-ISP scenarios. The technology needs some trials however, being that the ham radio crowd suspects that modulation of energy transmissions may interfere with their assigned broadcast spectrum.

Last time I plugged a computer into the power outlet, I was testing my new etherkiller BZZZZT!;) --CG   Source: http://www.uhacc.org/cgi-bin/blosxom.cgi

Posted by mongoose, at 10:51 | permanent link | comments

Halo 2 hits the shelves - of several warez sites : Thu, 14 Oct 2004

In a big old 'oops,' somehow the game code for the much-anticipated Halo 2 game became available on several European warez sites. Cnet reports that the leaked code is the French version, with PAL video excerpts.
Microsoft is of course miffed beyond compare, and is "aggressively pursuing the source of this illegal act."
According to story, the the warez'd version would need a modchipped Xbox to be played.

Tsk tsk tsk, the shame of the whole matter. --CG   Source: http://www.uhacc.org/cgi-bin/blosxom.cgi

Posted by mongoose, at 15:37 | permanent link | comments

AT&T looking at Linux for its 70K desktops : Tue, 05 Oct 2004

Citing frustrations over frequent recent virus outbreaks, AT&T's information chief Hossein Eslambolchi is exploring the possibility of replacing Windows with Linux on their 70,000 desktop workstations, according to the report in Bloomberg. Eslambolchi, looking forward to his next desktop upgrade in 2006 or 2007 and weighing his options, states that if Microsoft fixes its security problems by then, he may not need to switch.

Of course the article also mentions that the whole "we're switching to Linux" thing is a popular posturing tactic taken by many IT chiefs these days just to scare better prices out of Redmond. Nonetheless it'd be cool to see the Deathstar (see AT&T logo) running Linux. --CG   Source: http://www.uhacc.org/cgi-bin/blosxom.cgi

Posted by mongoose, at 10:03 | permanent link | comments