Paul's Journal
My Podcast Link
12/15/2008 23:50 #47074
Roswell park tire dumpCategory: roswell
Remember when I wrote (e:paul,45191) about the nasty shreaded tire mulch at 901 Washington a while back. One of my complaints was that the rubber shreds would wash into the surrounding area and sewer. Well, that is exactly what is happening. They really should have built a better containment wall for that, or better yet not have it.
12/15/2008 10:22 #47065
Wegman's courtesy UmbrellasWegman's now gives out courtesy umbrellas duribg rain storms that you
just leave in your cart when done. I wonder how long that will last.
It's amaIng to see anything still working on a trust based system.
12/13/2008 12:24 #47052
Throwing your money "at the windows"Category: government
This is just a continuation of (e:paul,47049) as I am still so angry about this issue.
(e:james), you are right, we need to get some politicians behind this. Even just starting with the city of buffalo, there must be so much in possible savings. The problem is getting information about what they currently are using. We need a tech person on the inside who cares. I think tax payers are not outraged because they do not understand the issue, all it would take is some awareness.
The City of Buffalo represents a perfect candidate for free and open source change because:
1. It is so poor and our taxes are so high.
2. It is a pure government entitity unlike Roswell where some of the money comes from grants.
3. Its not that big compared to New York State.
4. We have access to policticans who could make it an issue.
Building Future Workers
A interesting way to promote this would be to pick an OS for the city customize the build to its needs. Then release the live CDs on the cities website so that citizens could download the OS for their own computers. It would help people who can't afford to buy windows products and it would also effectively train new city workers in using the software. If you use open office, firefox, etc at home then you won't have a problem using it at work. With all the money that would be saved, you could afford to have more programers customizing Free and Open Source software for the government needs, so they could get what they really want and need.
The Nay-sayser
The worst part of transitioning anything are the government employees who say I am only trained in microsoft tech. Well, you know what, getting a government job should not be the only pre-requisite to keeping a state job - as it seems to be. Especially, in technology. Technology changes and people need to adapt to new technology and more importantly - new budgets. Their lack of willing to learn and train in cost savings alternitves should equate losing their jobs to people who are committed to cost saving technologies.
Its not that hard to learn new technology. If you are a computer server tech, you could definately learn linux - if not capable of that you are in the wrong field.
If you are an administrative assistant, you can learn to type reports on open office
software. It kills me to think how much money is thrown out the window or as I said in the last post "thrown at the windows"
(e:james), you are right, we need to get some politicians behind this. Even just starting with the city of buffalo, there must be so much in possible savings. The problem is getting information about what they currently are using. We need a tech person on the inside who cares. I think tax payers are not outraged because they do not understand the issue, all it would take is some awareness.
The City of Buffalo represents a perfect candidate for free and open source change because:
1. It is so poor and our taxes are so high.
2. It is a pure government entitity unlike Roswell where some of the money comes from grants.
3. Its not that big compared to New York State.
4. We have access to policticans who could make it an issue.
Building Future Workers
A interesting way to promote this would be to pick an OS for the city customize the build to its needs. Then release the live CDs on the cities website so that citizens could download the OS for their own computers. It would help people who can't afford to buy windows products and it would also effectively train new city workers in using the software. If you use open office, firefox, etc at home then you won't have a problem using it at work. With all the money that would be saved, you could afford to have more programers customizing Free and Open Source software for the government needs, so they could get what they really want and need.
The Nay-sayser
The worst part of transitioning anything are the government employees who say I am only trained in microsoft tech. Well, you know what, getting a government job should not be the only pre-requisite to keeping a state job - as it seems to be. Especially, in technology. Technology changes and people need to adapt to new technology and more importantly - new budgets. Their lack of willing to learn and train in cost savings alternitves should equate losing their jobs to people who are committed to cost saving technologies.
Its not that hard to learn new technology. If you are a computer server tech, you could definately learn linux - if not capable of that you are in the wrong field.
If you are an administrative assistant, you can learn to type reports on open office
software. It kills me to think how much money is thrown out the window or as I said in the last post "thrown at the windows"drew - 12/13/08 18:20
I think it would be really cool if Buffalo became the US's first (as far as I know) "open source city." If we did it big and did it right. it could attract some people and maybe even jump start our tech economy. People can program from anywhere, and Buffalo is a pretty cheap/awesome place to live!
I think it would be really cool if Buffalo became the US's first (as far as I know) "open source city." If we did it big and did it right. it could attract some people and maybe even jump start our tech economy. People can program from anywhere, and Buffalo is a pretty cheap/awesome place to live!
heidi - 12/13/08 17:10
I usually work with small scale organizations - 1 to 5 computer users with no IT staff. I encourage people to use OpenOffice but they get frustrated if it doesn't work "right" the first time, and compatibility can still be problematic. Sometimes I just demand that they use Firefox (gently but still a demand) because of the safety issues. (e:Zobar)'s right about municipal software being old - there are still DOS water/sewer/garbage programs being supported. What a nightmare.
But as you scale up from the little shops, it's hard to tell where the line is where your IT staff is good & strong enough to handle switching to opensource, and where your staff will be okay with switching (balancing resistance & time/skill, I guess).
I usually work with small scale organizations - 1 to 5 computer users with no IT staff. I encourage people to use OpenOffice but they get frustrated if it doesn't work "right" the first time, and compatibility can still be problematic. Sometimes I just demand that they use Firefox (gently but still a demand) because of the safety issues. (e:Zobar)'s right about municipal software being old - there are still DOS water/sewer/garbage programs being supported. What a nightmare.
But as you scale up from the little shops, it's hard to tell where the line is where your IT staff is good & strong enough to handle switching to opensource, and where your staff will be okay with switching (balancing resistance & time/skill, I guess).
zobar - 12/13/08 15:59
You'd obviously save a buttload on software licensing fees. You'd save on ongoing server costs too because while the Linux server platform is occasionally arcane, it's generally quite solid and efficient, whereas the Windows server platform is extremely frustrating and seems to be less stable in general.
I think the desktops would require less maintenance but slightly more support. You'd need to increase help staff during the transition of course, but I don't think you'd ever completely get over the unfamiliarity thing.
The real big question is about vertical-market applications that you may have to replace and phase out. My impression is that the majority of ready-to-use municipal-government software is either Windows-based or really old like AS/400. If you can't bring in a Linux replacement app, you need to consult or hire your own developers, which will cost more than the status quo.
- Z
You'd obviously save a buttload on software licensing fees. You'd save on ongoing server costs too because while the Linux server platform is occasionally arcane, it's generally quite solid and efficient, whereas the Windows server platform is extremely frustrating and seems to be less stable in general.
I think the desktops would require less maintenance but slightly more support. You'd need to increase help staff during the transition of course, but I don't think you'd ever completely get over the unfamiliarity thing.
The real big question is about vertical-market applications that you may have to replace and phase out. My impression is that the majority of ready-to-use municipal-government software is either Windows-based or really old like AS/400. If you can't bring in a Linux replacement app, you need to consult or hire your own developers, which will cost more than the status quo.
- Z
gardenmama - 12/13/08 14:17
I am so out of the technology loop - I think I need to explore. My home computer is really old, and at work, though the district provides extensive professional development for teachers, they provide very little (ok, almost none) p.d. for support staff. We all use MS Office products at work and I came in (8 yrs. ago) knowing how to do a lot more with the software than many of my co-worker who had been there for many years. I frequently find myself teaching my co-workers about capabilities of the software and how to use it. Part of the problem for us is there is a huge disparity in people's knowledge of the software and you can't "make" them learn it. Some people will actually say "I don't know how to do that, and I don't want to learn" and the union would protect them because our job descriptions do not really include anything about technology skills (other than must be able to accurately type at 35 words per min. - hell, you can do that with the hunt and peck method). Also, when the district used to offer some support staff training, I wanted to take a 3-course series (one day each) on the MS Office database program (which would have benefitted our office) but my supervisor said she would only be willing to let me go for one day, but that 3 was too much. Well, I ended up not going to any because I knew that just the one would be sufficient to suite my needs.
I am so out of the technology loop - I think I need to explore. My home computer is really old, and at work, though the district provides extensive professional development for teachers, they provide very little (ok, almost none) p.d. for support staff. We all use MS Office products at work and I came in (8 yrs. ago) knowing how to do a lot more with the software than many of my co-worker who had been there for many years. I frequently find myself teaching my co-workers about capabilities of the software and how to use it. Part of the problem for us is there is a huge disparity in people's knowledge of the software and you can't "make" them learn it. Some people will actually say "I don't know how to do that, and I don't want to learn" and the union would protect them because our job descriptions do not really include anything about technology skills (other than must be able to accurately type at 35 words per min. - hell, you can do that with the hunt and peck method). Also, when the district used to offer some support staff training, I wanted to take a 3-course series (one day each) on the MS Office database program (which would have benefitted our office) but my supervisor said she would only be willing to let me go for one day, but that 3 was too much. Well, I ended up not going to any because I knew that just the one would be sufficient to suite my needs.
tinypliny - 12/13/08 13:04
Heh.. OpenOffice is exactly the same as MS Office but with added PDF output features and several customizable options. There is hardly anything to "learn".
Heh.. OpenOffice is exactly the same as MS Office but with added PDF output features and several customizable options. There is hardly anything to "learn".
paul - 12/13/08 12:48
Its a complicated issue. Its just just the tech people being dumb as it might seem. The problem are the vendors. They built software that works on IE6, then they made all their money and don't care about upgrading or helping. Its a viscious cycle. That is why I think the government should be required to only use open source software, so that at least its own tech team could the opportunity to change stuff.
Stuff can be open source and the companies can make money on support, which is fine. Its not like every vendor product would be replace by software managed entirely by internal staff.
I guess in it a way it is the tech support staff's fault because the buy the sofwtare without checking. A good example would be our new web based time tracking system purchased by HRI Albany that only works in IE. We just bought it in 2008. Hwo can there even be web software in 2008 that is not standards compliant enough to work in any modern browser.
Its a complicated issue. Its just just the tech people being dumb as it might seem. The problem are the vendors. They built software that works on IE6, then they made all their money and don't care about upgrading or helping. Its a viscious cycle. That is why I think the government should be required to only use open source software, so that at least its own tech team could the opportunity to change stuff.
Stuff can be open source and the companies can make money on support, which is fine. Its not like every vendor product would be replace by software managed entirely by internal staff.
I guess in it a way it is the tech support staff's fault because the buy the sofwtare without checking. A good example would be our new web based time tracking system purchased by HRI Albany that only works in IE. We just bought it in 2008. Hwo can there even be web software in 2008 that is not standards compliant enough to work in any modern browser.
jenks - 12/13/08 12:39
I haven't used openoffice much, but it seems more than adequate... I installed it on parallels and bootcamp b/c I didn't want to buy another stupid $$$ copy of Office that I will almost never use, but need just in case I have to open a .doc file or whatever.
I sent the tech support people at BGH a while ago an email saying how ridiculous it is that they still use IE6. of course they didn't respond and nothing came of it.
You don't even need to learn new things to upgrade from IE6 to 7. And it's FREE. Frankly I think everyone should use safari/firefox, but if they insist on stupid IE, at least get 7. Apple's mobileme stuff won't even RUN on 6.
I haven't used openoffice much, but it seems more than adequate... I installed it on parallels and bootcamp b/c I didn't want to buy another stupid $$$ copy of Office that I will almost never use, but need just in case I have to open a .doc file or whatever.
I sent the tech support people at BGH a while ago an email saying how ridiculous it is that they still use IE6. of course they didn't respond and nothing came of it.
You don't even need to learn new things to upgrade from IE6 to 7. And it's FREE. Frankly I think everyone should use safari/firefox, but if they insist on stupid IE, at least get 7. Apple's mobileme stuff won't even RUN on 6.
12/12/2008 22:07 #47049
Cut costs, open source, free softwareCategory: government
What prompted this?
So, New York State is in this horrible budget crunch that is going to involve all kinds of budget cuts. It stresses me out every time I think about it. I wouldn't want to lose my job but it would also be bad having the same amount of work and less people to do it. Through the grape vine I heard that the union is working with the state on making us take 5 day pay cut, to be paid back upon retirement in order to save money now. Supposedly, we will get it back at our retiring pay rate, which is great - if NYS has any money then. Not to mention that we already gave them two weeks pay at the beginning.
I say stop borrowing from the employees and start borrowing from the wasted money spent on vendor contracts, and propriety OSs and microsoft products.
Why doesn't the government consider letting go of Microsoft and expensive vendor products, especially for web servers and office products or other systems where there are free open source alternatives that are even more robust.
In terms of the office products it is exceptionally ridiculous when most of the users don't even use any of the high-end features. You don't need expensive office software to type memos or spell check a report. Its almost like they never heard of the multitude of free office type products, most specifically openoffice.org. Moreover, its so crazy when people cling to things like Internet Explorer 6.0, software from almost 10 years ago that is light years behind where the web is now. Imagine what the web could have been if IE 6 was abandoned yers ago. Everything is always developed for the lowest common denominator. If your vendors are 5+ years behind the times, then maybe you should realize they suck. Converting stuff to work in standards complaint brosers is not rocket science. Most of the blocks are caused intentially by vendors using micorosft technology that locks the end users into microsoft solutions. As tax payers, you should really hate this. There are billions of dollars thrown out the window or should I say "at the windows."
Roswell Park alone spends a fortune on Microsoft and Microsoft related vendor products. .NET is costly and really doesn't offer much of an advantage, especially when you are using it to develop simple form based web apps. Luckily, we have changed that significantly since I came onto the scene but it needs to be more hospital and state wide.
It is the same with all government institutions from the city, to county, to state to country. Take the NFTA site or the City of Buffalo site or the Erie County site or Roswell Park Cancer Institute's main external site Why are they all in asp and aspx - because the vendors convinced some IT people who really don't understand what they are doing, that it is necessary. It is especially true for web sites using content management systems. There are so many free, open source content management systems that run on Linux. I wonder what will happen when the old people who cling to the Microsoft ideals retire.
Our new web content manager is finally committed to this. It is so financially irresponsible to use Microsoft products and then to pay huge vendor fees on top of it for a stupid CMS. Not to mention that the vendor products are closed source, so we just keep paying and paying every time we want a new feature and are completely dependent on vendor release time lines for changes.
My Suggestion
We as tax payers should force all government institutions to use free operating systems and to create and use open source software. We as tax payers should also force them to share, making all software produced by government workers, open for re-use in other departments and sectors to reduce duplicative error. You and I as tax payers should be demanding this - we pay for the government. Better yet, why not even have an official government or healthcare OS. Maybe that is my calling.
Voting Machines
This is exceptionally important in things like voting machines. At the minimum, this software should be created by government workers, completely open source and auditable by the public with the possibility of submitting patches and bug fixes back to the government to keep stuff honest. I mean why should we let any company control that.
What I have done so far
I have done a lot to try and reduce spending in IT at Roswell. All new web app development is done in Linux with CENTOS(free) / apache(free) / php(free) instead of Windows (costly and old) / microsoft IIS(costly /.NET(costly) / mssql(costly) / oracle(costly++). We also do our development in eclipse (free) instead of visual studio (costly). It is such a huge savings.
I wish other people would see this as a big issue. I guess they won't until things like having their pay reduced or delayed started to happen.
My dream job would be some sort of technology cost control manager for the state. Just so I wouldn't be some lazy ass bureaucrat leach on the taxpayers, I would want my salary directly proportional to how much I save, so that if I get lazy I get less money. I am so confident that so much money is being wasted that I think that would never be an issue all the way through my natural work life.
The hypocritical part
Some people might think this is hypocritical as I have a mac at work. I really like mac hardware so much and for what it offers the price point really isn't that high - I would consider a lenova thinkpad instead or even a Dell. I would go macbook instead of pro but I really need the larger screen size to be productive. It has to be powerful but also very portable as I carry it around everywhere for meetings and back for forth home several times a day.
If they told me I had to get rid of my mac OS for linux, I would in a heartbeat. I mean I spend 90% of the time on the mac, working on the linux servers. The mac basically become a dumb terminal. Unfortunately, being a web developer and I constantly have to test everything for mac, especially as it becomes more popular and the mac lets me test windows, mac and PC while a linux laptop only lets me test linux and PC. That might be changing with OS X running in vmware or the possibility of just sharing one mac that we all VNC into.
So, New York State is in this horrible budget crunch that is going to involve all kinds of budget cuts. It stresses me out every time I think about it. I wouldn't want to lose my job but it would also be bad having the same amount of work and less people to do it. Through the grape vine I heard that the union is working with the state on making us take 5 day pay cut, to be paid back upon retirement in order to save money now. Supposedly, we will get it back at our retiring pay rate, which is great - if NYS has any money then. Not to mention that we already gave them two weeks pay at the beginning.
I say stop borrowing from the employees and start borrowing from the wasted money spent on vendor contracts, and propriety OSs and microsoft products.
Why doesn't the government consider letting go of Microsoft and expensive vendor products, especially for web servers and office products or other systems where there are free open source alternatives that are even more robust.
In terms of the office products it is exceptionally ridiculous when most of the users don't even use any of the high-end features. You don't need expensive office software to type memos or spell check a report. Its almost like they never heard of the multitude of free office type products, most specifically openoffice.org. Moreover, its so crazy when people cling to things like Internet Explorer 6.0, software from almost 10 years ago that is light years behind where the web is now. Imagine what the web could have been if IE 6 was abandoned yers ago. Everything is always developed for the lowest common denominator. If your vendors are 5+ years behind the times, then maybe you should realize they suck. Converting stuff to work in standards complaint brosers is not rocket science. Most of the blocks are caused intentially by vendors using micorosft technology that locks the end users into microsoft solutions. As tax payers, you should really hate this. There are billions of dollars thrown out the window or should I say "at the windows."
Roswell Park alone spends a fortune on Microsoft and Microsoft related vendor products. .NET is costly and really doesn't offer much of an advantage, especially when you are using it to develop simple form based web apps. Luckily, we have changed that significantly since I came onto the scene but it needs to be more hospital and state wide.
It is the same with all government institutions from the city, to county, to state to country. Take the NFTA site
or the City of Buffalo site or the Erie County site or Roswell Park Cancer Institute's main external site Why are they all in asp and aspx - because the vendors convinced some IT people who really don't understand what they are doing, that it is necessary. It is especially true for web sites using content management systems. There are so many free, open source content management systems that run on Linux. I wonder what will happen when the old people who cling to the Microsoft ideals retire.Our new web content manager is finally committed to this. It is so financially irresponsible to use Microsoft products and then to pay huge vendor fees on top of it for a stupid CMS. Not to mention that the vendor products are closed source, so we just keep paying and paying every time we want a new feature and are completely dependent on vendor release time lines for changes.
My Suggestion
We as tax payers should force all government institutions to use free operating systems and to create and use open source software. We as tax payers should also force them to share, making all software produced by government workers, open for re-use in other departments and sectors to reduce duplicative error. You and I as tax payers should be demanding this - we pay for the government. Better yet, why not even have an official government or healthcare OS. Maybe that is my calling.
Voting Machines
This is exceptionally important in things like voting machines. At the minimum, this software should be created by government workers, completely open source and auditable by the public with the possibility of submitting patches and bug fixes back to the government to keep stuff honest. I mean why should we let any company control that.
What I have done so far
I have done a lot to try and reduce spending in IT at Roswell. All new web app development is done in Linux with CENTOS(free) / apache(free) / php(free) instead of Windows (costly and old) / microsoft IIS(costly /.NET(costly) / mssql(costly) / oracle(costly++). We also do our development in eclipse (free) instead of visual studio (costly). It is such a huge savings.
I wish other people would see this as a big issue. I guess they won't until things like having their pay reduced or delayed started to happen.
My dream job would be some sort of technology cost control manager for the state. Just so I wouldn't be some lazy ass bureaucrat leach on the taxpayers, I would want my salary directly proportional to how much I save, so that if I get lazy I get less money. I am so confident that so much money is being wasted that I think that would never be an issue all the way through my natural work life.
The hypocritical part
Some people might think this is hypocritical as I have a mac at work. I really like mac hardware so much and for what it offers the price point really isn't that high - I would consider a lenova thinkpad instead or even a Dell. I would go macbook instead of pro but I really need the larger screen size to be productive. It has to be powerful but also very portable as I carry it around everywhere for meetings and back for forth home several times a day.
If they told me I had to get rid of my mac OS for linux, I would in a heartbeat. I mean I spend 90% of the time on the mac, working on the linux servers. The mac basically become a dumb terminal. Unfortunately, being a web developer and I constantly have to test everything for mac, especially as it becomes more popular and the mac lets me test windows, mac and PC while a linux laptop only lets me test linux and PC. That might be changing with OS X running in vmware or the possibility of just sharing one mac that we all VNC into.
jenks - 12/13/08 11:21
Paul I seriously think you should try to be heard on this... you're absolutely right, it could save tons and tons of money. Go you.
Paul I seriously think you should try to be heard on this... you're absolutely right, it could save tons and tons of money. Go you.
jason - 12/13/08 10:21
Paul, I don't think you are a hypocrite for choosing Mac hardware. Your beef is with expensive proprietary software, and I agree that your strategy is preferable to pay cuts especially because we already know the state expects to be more in the hole in coming years. Long term, if it meets your needs, it is a no brainer.
Not to further trigger your gag reflex, but I know for a fact numerous government entities and contractors use very expensive proprietary web software on Windows Server. A good friend manages hundreds of such servers. I'm talking across the board, the State Department, DOD, on and on.
Paul, I don't think you are a hypocrite for choosing Mac hardware. Your beef is with expensive proprietary software, and I agree that your strategy is preferable to pay cuts especially because we already know the state expects to be more in the hole in coming years. Long term, if it meets your needs, it is a no brainer.
Not to further trigger your gag reflex, but I know for a fact numerous government entities and contractors use very expensive proprietary web software on Windows Server. A good friend manages hundreds of such servers. I'm talking across the board, the State Department, DOD, on and on.
drew - 12/12/08 23:56
Just make sure you email it into the suggestion box--I hear there is somebody at Roswell who gets upset everytime paper is used.
Just make sure you email it into the suggestion box--I hear there is somebody at Roswell who gets upset everytime paper is used.
tinypliny - 12/12/08 23:30
Hey, till now I have only whined about the recycling and plastic in the suggestion box. Why not about opensource??!! That's it. The suggestion box is going to get a heavy dose of BRING IN OPENSOURCE. SAVE MONEY. this week. hehehehe. Join me in the suggestion-box bombardment, (e:roswellpeeps)!! :)
Hey, till now I have only whined about the recycling and plastic in the suggestion box. Why not about opensource??!! That's it. The suggestion box is going to get a heavy dose of BRING IN OPENSOURCE. SAVE MONEY. this week. hehehehe. Join me in the suggestion-box bombardment, (e:roswellpeeps)!! :)
drew - 12/12/08 23:20
Absolutely. Open source all the way.
Absolutely. Open source all the way.
james - 12/12/08 23:14
Paul, if you can figure out about how much Roswell is spending on this crap I would write up a budget plan comparing the two and shop it around town. Talk to Sam Hoyt and Bill Stakowski. Roswell doesn't seem like a place that is capable of seeing what a mess it is, like other government institutions in this state. Getting some politicians on this might actually get something done. If you need any help send me an email.
Paul, if you can figure out about how much Roswell is spending on this crap I would write up a budget plan comparing the two and shop it around town. Talk to Sam Hoyt and Bill Stakowski. Roswell doesn't seem like a place that is capable of seeing what a mess it is, like other government institutions in this state. Getting some politicians on this might actually get something done. If you need any help send me an email.
tinypliny - 12/12/08 23:13
Okay - one more rant. WHY does the library pay for hideous reference management systems like refworks when FREE and INFINITELY more efficient alternative reference management systems like CiteULike (citeulike.org) exist?? The library pays nearly $100 for EACH user EACH year for refworks. ALL faculty and students have refworks accounts. Do you know how much that adds up to? What a ton of money wasted for a completely non-essential bit of reference software that can easily and gracefully be replaced by a FREE one??
Oh yeah, don't give us the red mufflers. That's sure to save a truckload of money, Roswell.
Okay - one more rant. WHY does the library pay for hideous reference management systems like refworks when FREE and INFINITELY more efficient alternative reference management systems like CiteULike (citeulike.org) exist?? The library pays nearly $100 for EACH user EACH year for refworks. ALL faculty and students have refworks accounts. Do you know how much that adds up to? What a ton of money wasted for a completely non-essential bit of reference software that can easily and gracefully be replaced by a FREE one??
Oh yeah, don't give us the red mufflers. That's sure to save a truckload of money, Roswell.
tinypliny - 12/12/08 23:03
I HATE YOU PAPER-WASTERS. I also hate you garbage creating non-recyclers. You have fallen from my good will forever.
I HATE YOU PAPER-WASTERS. I also hate you garbage creating non-recyclers. You have fallen from my good will forever.
tinypliny - 12/12/08 23:02
And really, do you HAVE to print out everything that you won't even READ or even LOOK AT?? I am looking at all the downright environmentally unfriendly reams-and-reams of paper-wasting grad students and faculty and staff. :/
And really, do you HAVE to print out everything that you won't even READ or even LOOK AT?? I am looking at all the downright environmentally unfriendly reams-and-reams of paper-wasting grad students and faculty and staff. :/
tinypliny - 12/12/08 22:58
I could not agree more with you. My work computer has installations of:
- OpenOffice
- Paint.NET
- PDFXChange
- Firefox
- R statistics software
My home comp is completely opensource except for windows itself - that I am trying to ditch for linux.
I scarcely use micro$oft bloat at office or at home (except for the omnipresent windows OS). I don't see why Roswell cannot implement an opensource policy. Employees who can learn archaic windows rot can easily switch to more efficient opensource!
I am sure you received a letter from the CEO saying how we were not going to be receiving our corporate christmas muffler this year because of the impending recession. Yeah, those red mufflers probably cost like 30 cents a piece in bulk last year. Why can't they look at things that are *really* breaking the budget?? SAS (blood-sucking) licenses cost upwards of $1000 per work terminal per year. WHY THE HELL are people still using SAS when R can be promoted and learned? SAS code is not even peer-reviewed!
Really, all this makes you think all this "money saving" "cost-cutting" tactics are just such a load of fake complacence candy and nothing else.
I could not agree more with you. My work computer has installations of:
- OpenOffice
- Paint.NET
- PDFXChange
- Firefox
- R statistics software
My home comp is completely opensource except for windows itself - that I am trying to ditch for linux.
I scarcely use micro$oft bloat at office or at home (except for the omnipresent windows OS). I don't see why Roswell cannot implement an opensource policy. Employees who can learn archaic windows rot can easily switch to more efficient opensource!
I am sure you received a letter from the CEO saying how we were not going to be receiving our corporate christmas muffler this year because of the impending recession. Yeah, those red mufflers probably cost like 30 cents a piece in bulk last year. Why can't they look at things that are *really* breaking the budget?? SAS (blood-sucking) licenses cost upwards of $1000 per work terminal per year. WHY THE HELL are people still using SAS when R can be promoted and learned? SAS code is not even peer-reviewed!
Really, all this makes you think all this "money saving" "cost-cutting" tactics are just such a load of fake complacence candy and nothing else.
12/11/2008 21:35 #47033
Sandwich in a boxWe had our union holiday party today. This year the food sucked. It
was subway sandwiches in a box. Every person got their own
environmentally disastrous, personal box. It was like one quarter
full. I am not even sure what they were for because my coworkers
sandwich was smooshed paper flat, although the box was unharmed.
Then after it all I am having a horrible crohns flareup crampimg
sypmach paims drama, which I attribute to the lunch and the ice tea -
the first caffeine I had in over a year.
metalpeter - 12/12/08 15:27
Subway is great, what makes them great is that you can choose you bread, toppings, and all that other stuff and you see if the stuff is fresh or at least if it looks that way and it is all done right there so you can see it. By the way I like how the food tastes. You can also get trays of subs there but not sure how that works. I guess the box thing is new and unless you got to order your sub just how you like it then what makes them better then other sub places is lost. I admit the box idea seems weird but I guess maybe it is an easy way to carry them, I hope that you at least got a lot of fresh out of the oven cookies with that meal.
Subway is great, what makes them great is that you can choose you bread, toppings, and all that other stuff and you see if the stuff is fresh or at least if it looks that way and it is all done right there so you can see it. By the way I like how the food tastes. You can also get trays of subs there but not sure how that works. I guess the box thing is new and unless you got to order your sub just how you like it then what makes them better then other sub places is lost. I admit the box idea seems weird but I guess maybe it is an easy way to carry them, I hope that you at least got a lot of fresh out of the oven cookies with that meal.
lauren - 12/12/08 10:28
perhaps you could wrap a christmas present in it?
perhaps you could wrap a christmas present in it?
vincent - 12/11/08 22:07
You're paying Union dues for Subway???
You're paying Union dues for Subway???
The umbrellas should have large lettering acrossd them that read:"stolen from wegmans"
i think they have had this for a while now. Who would want a huge glowing orange umbrella anyways? Walking down the street with that, it would seem pretty obvious you stole it.
That is a good previous point about that if someone takes it, then it advertises them, but it also shows people once they get there that, that person was a crook, hey they stole it. Maybe since I don't drive I don't get it, but what is the point. Let say you have your cart and you open up the umbrella and get everything back into your car well then it is time to go put the cart away and the umbrella away then once it is put away won't you then get wet going back to the car, granted you will be less wet then you would have been with out it, but I don't get it. Now maybe as to the first point they assume people will take them.
Or maybe they are rigged some way like the carts where (never tested) at quality where if you went past a certain line it triggered breaks on the back wheels maybe, the umbrella has a chip that interfears with GPS or makes the radio pick up the wegmans station or something like that and every so often you here "We Know who you are, Return the Umbrella then sirens".
I'm sure they figure in the loss of stolen umbrellas into the benefit their brand name gets from it. That's even assuming that they do this on a consistent basis.
Yeah, I guess I'm a bit cynical about supermarket chains...