Ξ January 28th, 2008 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Blog |
Rosie and I had a good weekend. We started out after work on Friday evening and went to dinner at Harry’s Cafe -Steak. We both had the steak and several drinks and took a cab home afterwards. I’ve mentioned Harry’s here before, but I can’t say enough about the place. It’s probably my favorite restaurant in the entire city. They do everything right. Now, you’ve probably guessed, I can be a bit snobby about my steak (i seeth when I see someone order a steak well-done), but they have the best filet mignon around. You can cut it with a butter knife. Seriously. I can’t wait to go back.
The other highlight of the weekend was my nephews basketball game. I’ve been looking forward to it for about a week. Michael is in kindergarten and plays ball at his local YMCA. We started out Sunday morning, grabbed breakfast and dropped the dog (Brownie) off at my mothers house before we left. We arrived in NJ about 15 minutes before the game, so we got good seats and settled in. The refs did a good job at keeping the chaos to a minimum, but it was funny as hell. They are at an age when their legs are kind of short to be dribbling a ball, and their feet are big enough to get in the way. They kind of run with the ball, then dribble it -sort of, and it looks a little like football/basketball. When the ball is loose, you see 10 little kids dive for it with the intensity of a secret service agent saving the president. I think my favorite was the facial expressions of the kids running down the court. Each one determined to lead his team to victory .. or at least get to the other side of the court first. All the kids were well mannered , no personal fouls and no fighting. Everyone was a good sport which was nice to see.
We did lunch at Rosie’s sisters place and then headed home. We ate so much at lunch that we just had a light meal at dinner. Rosie has finals coming up this week so she disapeared to study while I was left to my own devices and started hacking out code .. to bring down “the man”.
Ξ January 24th, 2008 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Blog |
The Full Article: IBM responds to overtime lawsuits with 15% salary cuts
Anywho, if you don’t feel like reading the article it basically says that IBM settled a lawsuit with thousands of employees who wanted to be paid for the over time they did. IBM said, “OK”, but then cut everyones salaries %15 to make up the difference.
OK, we make some fairly good money in the technology business. There’s a reason for that though. We have to know a lot. You need to know the in’s and out’s of multiple operating systems, network protocals, several programming languages, computer hardware, storage area netowrks (SAN), wide area networks (WAN), local area networks (LAN), and then there is the list of development IDE’s, software packages (apache, sendmail, bind, etc), and then theres databases. You need to know how to administer multiple kinds of databases, and of course you need to know the SQL Language for working with databases. Naturally when you write code (say a web page), you’ll be writing it in something like PHP. which is wrapped in your HTML, that will have Javascript code snippets in it, and will use SQL to connect to a database. So here you are in a seemingly simple project (writing a web page), and you already have four programming languages interacting with one another.
The point I’m getting at is if you want to succeed in the technology industry, you need to know a lot of very detailed technical information and how it all works together. It doesn’t just happen over night and you can’t get that kind of knowlege from taking a six week course. It takes many years to develope the skills necessary to be good in the Information Technology industry. Most really good IT workers have technical degrees in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Math, Information Technology or Mechinical Engineering. Sure, there are some English Lit majors who found their way into the field, but most of them only know aspects of things .. perhaps a programming language .. perhaps two of them, but usually not how everything listed above works together. (I preface this by saying that there are some fairly bright cats in with English Lit degrees, and some of them know a ton of IT stuff, but it’s the exception not the rule .. and it also goes to say that while I’ve taken my share of English Lit classes, I couldn’t possibly know the technicalities of literature either unless I had that kind of education. The truth is, formal training goes a long way. It’s not the only way to learn things, but you miss a lot along the way if you don’t have it) You seriously need years of training. I’ve been at this for almost 18 years and I’m still learning tons of stuff.
So, we get fairly good salaries, but we get paid to know and understand lots of things. It’s our knowledge that keeps most companies afloat. We often have a better understanding of a business then most executives, simply because every time we write a program we have to drill down into the mechanics of how something works. Take a stock trade. We understand that market data comes into a company via some data feed (go ahead ask me about the granular protocals .. I’ll bore you to tears). We understand the programs that read the data feed and how they decide when to trade stocks based on the information in that data feed, we understand how to look for restrictions on stock trades because we wrote that too. We finally know how to make the stock trade because we did that part of the technology as well. So .. not only do we understand the underlying technologies in the mechanics of how a stock trade works, but we also understand all the logic that goes into making the business decision to actually trade that stock (since we automated the system to do it). We essentially know about everything a stock trader knows, but also the technology incorporated in building an automated system to make the trades and record the transactions for the SEC or other regulartory requirements and bodies; which the trader may NOT be familliar with.
When we choose IT as a career, we understand that there will be late nights and weekends. We know that this is because we can’t just toss in a new piece of code in the middle of a trading day, or upgrade hardware in the midsts of regular business. The number of late nights and weekends that an IT worker works is a direct reflection on how well he is managed. Managers can schedule a few different changes to occure at once making it one Saturday, or they can schedule it over the course of several Saturdays. Some managers are good…some are not.
So, I get a yearly salary with the understanding that there will be the occasional weekend or evening. Fine. If I begin being taken advantage of because my manager isn’t good at scheduling changes, why shouldn’t I be able to collect overtime. Without any skin in the game, what is the benefit to my manager of not scheduling me to work around the clock? It’s not like theres any shortage of things that need to be done in an IT group. When I talk about “skin in the game”, I’m talking about insentive. If there is no additional pay, or a reason to keep the departmental budget down (because you’re not paying the IT guys to work extra hours anyway) why in the world wouldn’t he schedule me to work longer hours if he doesn’t have to pay for it.
I truly wish the workers at IBM stand up for what is rightfully theirs. I’ve never worked at IBM, but I know a load of people who have. Every single one of them complained about the long hours without getting paid for them. And when the IBM workers finally get what is rightfully theirs, IBM Screws them and knocks back their salaries. One has to ask themselves, if it weren’t for the tech workers at IBM, where do you think the company would be? If you think outsourcing is a solution, then go ahead and outsource. I’ve worked with PLENTY of outsourcing firms. The technical skill does not nearly match the skill found here in the United States. I always encourage companies to outsource. They always come back because while it looks great on paper, the code is bad and it never really works out. What you save in the development of software or technology, you’ll end us spending on supporting poorly constructed code.
Ξ January 19th, 2008 | → 1 Comments | ∇ Blog |
Well, it was a tough day for the Sockos. Our dog Shakespeare had to be put down today (around 10:30am). This spring he would have been 14 years old. He’s been quite uncomfortable over the last few weeks. The vet felt that his hind leg had bone cancer and he may have had some pancreas problems as well. In some ways it’s a relief because he’s no longer suffering, but its sad because I’ll really miss him. Our other dog Brownie seems a bit confused. She’s staying with me for now.
At least Shakespeare made it through the holiday season. Here’s an old picture of him: Shakspeare-old picture
and a more recent picture of him: shakespeare.jpg
I was on this ride for the first time on this trip and I was totally stunned by it. The concept, is that you are on a hang glider and you are soaring over all kinds of landmarks. Here’s the catch .. it’s totally realistic. So realistic, that if I were captured and drugged by the CIA or something, and woke up in this studio mid-ride, I would have no way of knowing that it was fake. All the visual cues and even the things like the wind in your face are so convincing it’s incredible. I’ve never experienced anything that could completely fool the mind like this.
I’ve attached a youtube clip that I found on the internet:
Youtube of Soarin
It’s a long video, but the ride starts at about 2:11. Also, you’re seeing the ride on a flat screen. In reality, the visual features are everywhere within your view; you can see your feet dangle over the Golden Gate Bridge, and look up and see they blue sky and clouds. The wind is in your face, and your being moved in a motion consistent with flying.
anyway, here’s a link to what other people thought about the ride: here
For the record I was in Row A
OK, that’s in from Orlando. My next entry will be from NYC again where we’re trying to pull together a few weekend trips before spring. I’ll keep you informed.
Apparently Disney has a lot of things built into the theme parks that a lot of people miss. For instance,Club 33. Did you know that there was an exclusive club right in the middle of the Magic Kingdom? Hidden in plane view.
Check out this list of other interesting tidbits about Disney here and here and here
I really appreciate Disney theme parks for a few reasons. When you look at it as a business, you have to salute the operations team of the parks. The operation is SO WELL run. I’ve never seen anything like it. Lynn and Larry saw a kid drop his ice cream cone, and within three minutes, staffers had the entire mess cleaned up. They check tickets with bio-metrics (to make sure you don’t sell two days of your four day pass to someone else). At Disney you are NEVER more then 30 steps from the nearest trash can. It’s one of the fun facts we read, and tested while we were here. Their crowd control is parallel to none. They have several parades, firework displays and shows a day, and they are able to keep the crowd moving at all times. The NYPD could really take a few lessons from them.
Moving people onto rides is totally efficient here. On lines they give you plenty of stuff to look at to keep you occupied. then .. each ride has a staging area, where you’re prepared to board the ride. Boarding rides is done quickly (because the whole thing has been staged already). This builds the maximum number of times the ride can run each day.
The eye for detail that Disney has when creating rides and attractions is amazing. Each area of the park creates a “feel”. For instance, the rode “Everest”; while you’re on line you go through a Tibetan village and hear stories about the “Yeti” and missing explorers. When you finally reach the ride, you’re in a frame of mind. Imagery has been created for you which really enhances the ride experience. Its so much better then 6 flags where you just wait in line .. pop on a ride and then get off.
Greetings from Orlando again. I’ve decided to break up my postings on Disney since there’s a few topics I’d like to touch on.
I had the flu for two days. And afterwards, Rosie’s Back went out. We’re currently awaiting masseuses for an in-room massage.
Between the two of us not feeling well, we took in a whirlwind tour of Disney, local area restaurants, and a bit of lounging at the hot tub and swimming pool. Even getting sick here wasn’t a horrible thing. It gave us a chance for a bit of down time which we don’t normally get.. I think I can speak for both of us when I say that we’re feeling relaxed. The weather has been great, and Lynn and Larry are excellent company.
I’m looking forward to coming down to Disney again next year. I’ll break up the trip with some park time and some resort time again. I’ve come to the conclusion that Lynn and Larry are indeed amusement park maniacs and I can’t possibly keep up with them. I also think I’d like to take in “The House of Blues” when I’m down here again.
Overall, a thumbs up for the trip (which is still in progress).
Rosie, my sister Lynn and Larry (Brother-In-Law) made our way down to Florida the other day. We’re staying in Orlando and planning on taking in all the sights. Today we spent the entire day at the Kennedy Space Center. This is definitely one of my favorite places on earth to visit. We make it a point to get out there every time we’re down here. The Kennedy Space Center (KSC) is responsible for all space missions until a few moments after launch. At that time, the Johnson Space Center in Houston takes over.
At the KSC we saw a Saturn V Rocket. It’s flippin’ HUGE. My best guess is that the thrusters are 12 - 14 feet in Diameter. Here’s a picture with some people standing under them : Thrusters.
We were able to see the Launch Pad with Space Shuttle Endeavour on it. Endeavour is Preparing for a flight in the near future. You can check the NASA Launch Schedule right here. Aside from that, we took in an IMAX Flick on the International Space Station, and even got to see them assembling parts for the next installations onto the space station.
One of my favorite parts of the tour is the Launch Control Room for the Apollo missions. You can totally envision the electricity there during the Apollo XI Mission.
Places like this really bring out the science geek in me. In my mind, landing a guy on the moon was the most important scientific application of the 20th Century. Sure, there were other great accomplishments, but few of them for the sake of pure science. Simply “because it was hard to do”.
Stay Tuned .. I’ll write about Disney and Universal Theme parks later this week.
