tom_rath

22 ms·

181.
by tom_rath 18y ago
When Clinton _started_ his Presidency. I'm guessing you're too young to remember the whole "It's The Economy, Stupid" theme behind Clinton's first-term campaign.
182.
by tom_rath 18y ago
A piece of paper with boxes printed beside the names of those running for office -- we’ll call this paper a ‘ballot’. The voter receives a ballot from those managing their place of voting (after showing identification or a registration card
183.
by tom_rath 18y ago
If only 5% of your Facebook network existed, would you use (let alone pay for) Facebook?
184.
by tom_rath 18y ago
My guess is they're a victim of cargo cult thinking: Hugely successful companies have lots of employees and spiffy offices, right?
185.
by tom_rath 18y ago
You can do this sort of thing regularly through sites like giveawayoftheday.com Long-term results are mixed and (as henning notes) this sort of stunt does not attract the type of customer a business wants (that is, those willing to spend mo
186.
by tom_rath 18y ago
Yes, testing is the way to create reliable software. How else can you find the 'mistakes, limits, biases', etc. which come from the 'concentration, reasoning and careful thinking' you THINK you have? Learning how to break your software is
187.
by tom_rath 18y ago
How could he have neglected to mention Test ?! Test everything. Test it early. Test it extensively. If testing 'isn't needed' and is a 'waste of time' for the simple thing you're doing, it'll only take a few moments away from your busy d
188.
by tom_rath 18y ago
Haven't the X'ers been the ones to create the technologies and found the companies you folks are so eager to emulate?
189.
by tom_rath 18y ago
Every generation has had a tremendous effect on society. Has there ever been a "Meh, fuck it." generation?
190.
by tom_rath 18y ago
It's not that Gen-Xers were happy with whatever job came our way, it's that we had rent to pay and food to buy (and had no desire to live with Mom and Dad). Once the economy got better (and our businesses succeeded), we got picky too. You
191.
by tom_rath 18y ago
Has there ever been a generation which hasn't claimed "This time, things will be different!"? If you'll look back on what was written caustically about (and in rebuttal by) the Baby Boomers and Gen-Xers, I'm not seeing much difference now.
192.
by tom_rath 18y ago
Except that advertising isn't marketing: It's advertising. They're different things related to your business and should be handled differently. I've run into a few companies who have painfully put an 'advertising guy' in charge of their m
193.
by tom_rath 18y ago
That's conflating marketing and advertising when they're actually two different things. Think of marketing as the social component of design. You wouldn't start coding without at least a rudimentary spec to guide what it is you want to mak
194.
by tom_rath 18y ago
Close behind?!?! Read a bit more space program history and you'll find the military is actually far ahead as far as applications (and budget!) are concerned.
195.
by tom_rath 18y ago
The "bigger, safer" sites do not include Google's Content Network. Our ad spending is going to remain about the same, but it's going to be targeted much more narrowly.
196.
by tom_rath 18y ago
...and leaving Java 1.6 to sit on the shelf for a few years is far from 'bleeding edge'. Mac is very slick, but Apple isn't particularly kind to third-party developers who build software for their platform.
197.
by tom_rath 18y ago
Wasn't this the same shtick used to sell DC-X in the early 90s? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonnell_Douglas_DC-X Such a shame the SSTO funding went to that VentureStar thing instead.
198.
by tom_rath 18y ago
Reminds me of the maxim: Be nice to people on the way up, because they're the same ones you're going to meet on the way back down again.
199.
by tom_rath 18y ago
...and Pets.com
200.
by tom_rath 18y ago
Oh, hell! Don't ruin the story with a page of spoilers, folks. It's a really nifty one to read.
201.
by tom_rath 18y ago
He missed a good one: http://jobs.joelonsoftware.com/
202.
by tom_rath 18y ago
There are less-expensive alternatives for all of the examples you provided. Take a look at what happened to each of those companies (which existed) back in the early 90s. For planes, there's already a nice inventory of used aircraft backin
203.
by tom_rath 18y ago
He said "relies". I could do without all of those during hard times.
204.
by tom_rath 18y ago
Believe whatever you want. It doesn't make it true. Do you know that Detroit was once one of the wealthiest cities in the United States? Things change. What you're seeing now is a period of dramatic change. Approach it as you'd like.
205.
by tom_rath 18y ago
Wow. It just occurred to me that folks here younger than 28 have never seen an actual recession (I'm assuming that under-12s could not care less about business news and missed the early 90s bust). It's just been one long boom for you, righ
206.
by tom_rath 18y ago
Well, for my own small sample of peers, those I know who took their chances in the workforce came out of the recession better than those who earned another degree (particularly if it was just 'something to do until things got better'). If y
207.
by tom_rath 18y ago
Meh. Those of us who entered the workforce during the last real recession in the early 90s (not the hiccup some techies wet themselves over in 2001) did just fine, thanks. Look, if you're planning to graduate over the next while, things ar
208.
by tom_rath 18y ago
Huh? And the banks haven't been secretive about their bad debts already? I think you should research the process of bankruptcy (and the Great Depression) before proposing solutions. Bankruptcy is not evil and does not destroy wealth -- it
209.
by tom_rath 18y ago
What's wrong with bankruptcy? The assets remain intact, the investors who poorly judged the risk lose their investment and those who buy up the assets (to clean things up and bring about a recovery) rightfully reap the rewards of taking on
210.
by tom_rath 18y ago
What's the "DejaNews simplicity replaced by a Web 2.0 PITA which drives readers away and disperses fragments of technical knowledge across the Internet" date? Not that I'm bitter. -sigh- I miss Usenet.

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