Ha Ha Ha America....

This is Dave Young's Forum.
Can you really bridge the gap between reality and training? Between traditional karate and real world encounters? Absolutely, we will address in this forum why this transition is necessary and critical for survival, and provide suggestions on how to do this correctly. So come in and feel welcomed, but leave your egos at the door!
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-Metablade-
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Post by -Metablade- »

Meta:
Sorry guys but I have to disagree here. (Would you have expected any less?)
Rich, you are forgiven, being that Geo Dubbyah is your Boss, so I'll not argue your points too harshly, other than to say, if you are going to quote figures as fact, it's only fair to ask that you back 'em up with hyperlinks, no?

...and why do I always imagine your voice as the Drill Sarge from full metal jacket?
:lol:

I've worked in the Network Engineering field for 25 years now, and I have seen a trend of graduates coming out of American Colleges who are frankly unprepared, arrogant, stupid, and think that because they were the "goto guy" to hook up the counterstike Lan party at the frat house means that they can walk like "Netops Jebus" himself into my data center and understand the current architecture and business model of modern networking. Whereas, I get a steady stream of grads from India and these guys often know as much as I do, work hard, are willing to learn, and could give a rats a$$ about stock options...(and they don't call off work because they “partied too hard” the night before.

I call 'em as I see 'em.
The emperor has no clothes, and on top of that, he's a low grade moron.
My work takes me all across this great land and when I see more and more people caring less about culture and more about Indy cars, beer, and fast food and the act of consume, consume, consume, (and oh yeah, lots of porn) it makes me want to hang my head low sometimes..

Try this exercise:
Go up to a random Joe on the street and ask them who the Republican, or Democratic majority leaders are, or even the Secretary of state. Heck, ask them what is the square root of Pi, or who wrote the constitution, or what it even means, or what Bell's theorem is, or who is Pythagoras, or Schrödinger even, or just where the hell Afghanistan or Iraq or China actually are on a map, and after being shocked by the answers, we should discuss just how "great" our educational systems are, and exactly where our "intellectual capital" is.
It certainly isn't on Capitol Hill.

In fact, don't ask a random Joe. Ask a recent college grad, or in some cases, even a college professor!
Most of them haven't a clue.
Why? simple. As a nation, we have become arrogant, fat, lazy, apathetic, and self absorbed. If it doesn’t affect my life directly, and it’s not a reality TV show, most of us just turn the channel. A book? What’s that? Go to the local library at any major metropolitan city. You’ll see three kinds of people there; 1. Homeless using the facilities for BM, 2. Dateless Nerds (The future ruling class) 3. Foriegners (See #2.) :lol:
Very few are the whole families these days, and in fact, where I live, they are actually shutting many libraries down due to lack of interest.

For the most part, to sum up, we could care less about world events or history and are generally anti-intellectual. Might makes right, and T.V. is always right.
…And if we are what eat….we are a big fat-laden bag of potato chips.

We celebrate stupidity, and reward and idolize criminals, murderers and those who always seem to "get over." On “the system.”
As long as we have an endless supply of DVDs, Cable T.V. and video games, all is right with the world and F everyone else.
I got mine.
Now go get yours.

Here's another exercise:
Ask someone under 25 what these things mean:

Trustworthiness
Respect
Responsibility
Fairness
Caring
Citizenship

The answers may shock you.
For example, I've been told by many of my fellow Americans to my face that my adherence to the standards of personal honor and ethics are antiquated, unrealistic, unnecessary, immature, and essentially had no place in modern society.

My take on it is; as long as I am alive, honor will exist, at least my perception of it, even if the whole world thinks I've gone mad. Lucky for America, we still have the U.S Marine Corps.


Now, with that all said; my rant on America is after all a generalization, which will always have many exceptions.
But it's the majority that I am concerned with.
Nobody likes to see bad things happening in their county, but there's a reason why we are not thought of too fondly recently throughout the world. We need to take a look at that, and at ourselves.

I'd say priority #1 is...Loose weight.

#2: Is put down the controller and hit the books

And of course, I could be wrong, and all is just peachy keen with America and we have nothing to fear.

But what if I am right?
There's a bit of Metablade in all of us.
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RACastanet
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Post by RACastanet »

if you are going to quote figures as fact, it's only fair to ask that you back 'em up with hyperlinks, no?
Will do later today. Gotta go teach Earth Science for a bit.
...and why do I always imagine your voice as the Drill Sarge from full metal jacket?
Actually I am very soft spoken and mild mannered. People from the forums who have met me are usually surprised by that. However, when necessary i do project.

Yesterday in fact, a large male and his gang of four challengerd me in a CAD class... 'he was going to run me out' if I gave him trouble. I walked over and kicked the top of the door frame (I am in nice crisp Dockers mind you), smiled, and suggested it would be unwise to challenge me again. He sat quietly for the next hour plus of class and actually did his classwork. And I never raised my voice.

Rich

Rich
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MikeK
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Post by MikeK »

Whereas, I get a steady stream of grads from India and these guys often know as much as I do, work hard, are willing to learn, and could give a rats a$$ about stock options...(and they don't call off work because they “partied too hard” the night before.
I've had the opposite experience in the software field. Where once I was getting the best and brightest now I get average if I'm lucky. Lots-O-booksmarts and not much practical knowledge though you couldn't tell that from their resume. Meta, just to compare notes how many of those good ones of yours went to school here compared to India?

Over in India they now have a problem where you have a lot of people trying to cash in on offshoring. It's not unusual to have someone walk off the job to take a better one down the street for more money without notice. It's actually gotten pretty bad over there and is causing concern because the practice is driving up costs.


Rich, I wish I could have seen the look on his face.
I was dreaming of the past...
Valkenar
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Post by Valkenar »

-Metablade- wrote: I'd say priority #1 is...Loose weight.
Why? I mean, I agree that it gives us the appearance of laziness and costs us in healthcare, but I think the importance of being slim is way overrated. It often seems that being fat is taken as some sort of moral failing, as if people have some sort of duty to be fit.

The fact is people can be productive, enlightened, caring and whatever other good traits you'd like to see, and still be obese. Is it a good thing to be obese? Of course not, but should it be our #1 priority? I say no. Fat people != bad people.
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Post by MikeK »

Securing the Future of Indian IT
February 15, 2006
By Stan Gibson
MUMBAI, India—India could be home to the world's dominant IT firms in 20 years–if. That was the theme of a panel discussion during the first day of the Nasscom 2006 conference here.

Arun Maira, chairman of the Boston Consulting Group, India, said that India could do in IT what the Japanese have done in the automobile industry, displacing American IT powerhouses just as Japan's car makers have superseded Detroit automakers as the world's leaders.

"Indian companies are low-cost and small just like the Japanese were," said Maira.

"But what will be the shape of the industry in the next 15 years? Big changes start from small things," said Maira.

The consultant asked the audience whether in 20 years an Indian IT company could have the world's highest market capitalization. A significant number raised their hands.

Maira noted that things can change greatly in 20 years, pointing out that in 1985, the Soviet Union was a superpower and Japan was thought by many to be on the verge of global economic dominance.

In 2005, however, the Soviet Union has dissolved, while China and India are seen as ascending the world's economic throne in the next century.

But Indian companies must make adjustments to secure their place in the sun, said Maira.

"Indian companies have the low-cost base. There is not much variety and innovation yet."

Several panelists agreed that changes are needed.

Pramod Bhasin, president and CEO of Genpact, warned, "The day another country is cheaper than India, then we'll go there. We must improve processes. It's more important than cost arbitrage."

Vineet Nayar, president of HCL Technologies Ltd., seconded, "India will have to become more efficient, or China will do to India what India has done to the U.S."

"Software products will become more like appliances. You need to pay according to value." Customers are fed up by the value we're delivering to them," said Nayar.

Maira said Indian companies must be on the alert for new answers.

"We're flying into a fog and the old instruments won't work," adding, "Today's business is like driving on an Indian road. Unless you are course-correcting all the time, you are likely to have a fatal accident."

Next Page: Ramadorai remarks.

In separate remarks, S. Ramadorai, chairman of Nasscom and CEO and managing director of Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., voiced similar views.

"The cost advantage got our foot in the door. Then we added quality. Now we need innovation."

The next step, he said, is to spend more on research and development.

Although Indian companies must do this, Indian universities, funded by the Indian government must also do better, he said.

Part of the challenge faced by Indian companies lies in India itself.

"India needs a master plan," he said.

Although India produces many graduates with bachelor's degrees, its universities produce only 12,000 Ph.D. recipients each year—far fewer than what he said were the 40,000 awarded in the United States.

"We need to reform the Indian educational system. India needs fewer compliers and more skeptics," said Ramadorai.

He added that Indian engineers need to combine their technical skills with other disciplines, such as business and medicine.

Further, the current educational system is inadequate to produce the workers India needs, he said.

India could be facing a shortfall of some 100,000 trained people in its IT and business processing outsourcing industries, he said.

"We need to connect our population to our economic strengths. We need a national plan for distributed learning and greater broadband," said Ramadorai.

He urged that India can and should become a destination for microprocessor manufacturing and the discovery of new pharmaceuticals.

To read more about Oracle's deals in India, click here.

"There is no reason why IT success can't be transferred to other industries."

B. Ramalinga Raju, vice chairman of Nasscom and CEO and managing director of Satyam Computer Services Ltd., echoed the view that Indian IT is at a turning point.

"The last 15 years is the end of the beginning." He said the Indian IT industry has grown 200 percent in 15 years.

"Ten to 15 years ago, it was about how many lines of code and at what cost. Now it's no longer about technology, but about business value," said Raju.

Next Page: Friedman keynotes.

Thomas Friedman, New York Times columnist and author of "The World is Flat," a bestselling book that popularized awareness of the global economy, including Indian outsourcers, delivered a speech based on the material in his book and received an award from Nasscom.

Friedman noted in his book that Nandan Nilekani, chairman of Infosys, told him two years ago during an interview, "Americans are not ready for a level global economic playing field." That warning spurred him to write his book.

He termed the globalization currently under way, "The mother of all inflection points."

"In a flat world, there is no such thing as an American job any more. It will go to the person in the flat world who can do it."

With India, China and Russia becoming full members of the new global economy, some 3 billion new workers will be available, and even if only one-tenth of those fully participate, at 300,000 that's more than the population of the United States, said Friedman.

A toehold in Europe

Another panel dealt with the question of how Indian firms can better succeed in Europe.

In contrast to the United States—which panelists praised as the most open environment for foreign companies to gain offshore clients—Europe, it was agreed, is far more closed.

Standing in the way of offshore agreements are labor laws that can make layoffs very costly for companies that would send work elsewhere.

There is also what several panelists called the emotional reaction against the practice.

To overcome that, panelists agreed that Indian firms need to hire local recruits, especially for customer-facing jobs.

As Indian firms become more skillful in addressing these issues, the larger ones will try harder to get work in Germany and France, the two most resistant countries, said Vijay Khare, executive vice president and global delivery coordinator for Patni Computer Systems.

Despite the challenges, Deutsche Bank has been outsourcing successfully with several Indian firms for several years, said Simon Fanning, strategic sourcing program director for Deutsche Bank, who declined, however, to name the companies.

He said he has a program to teach project managers how to deal with Indian firms.

"But we also need to teach Indians about Germany and Deutsche Bank culture. The culture shock goes both ways."

Arvind Thakur, CEO of NIIT Technologies Limited, acquired a company in Austria to provide a local presence, which he said is particularly required in Germany and France.

"There are huge opportunities for Indian companies in Europe, but only those with a strategy will win," said Fanning.

Check out eWEEK.com's IT Management Center for the latest news, reviews and analysis on IT management from CIOInsight.com.

Copyright (c) 2006 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved.
I was dreaming of the past...
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-Metablade-
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Post by -Metablade- »

Valkenar wrote:
-Metablade- wrote: I'd say priority #1 is...Loose weight.
Why? I mean, I agree that it gives us the appearance of laziness and costs us in healthcare, but I think the importance of being slim is way overrated. It often seems that being fat is taken as some sort of moral failing, as if people have some sort of duty to be fit.
Meta: Unless you have a disease, such as thyroid problems, or other factors you cannot help, being fat is a moral failing. Chiefly, failing yourself.

From:http://kidshealth.org/teen/food_fitness ... esity.html

"In the United States, more than 97 million adults - that's more than half - are overweight and almost one in five adults is obese. Among teenagers and kids 6 years and older, more than 15% are overweight - that's more than three times the number of young people who were overweight in the 1970s. At least 300,000 deaths every year in the United States can be linked to obesity."
**********************************************

There are HUGE issues linked to being overweight not only for the individual, but for the society and the economy, according to the CDC.

http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/obesity/faq.htm

http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/obesity ... uences.htm

So indeed, every time an America takes a trip to the buffet, they are not only hurting themselves, but the country as well. So yes, I think the citizens of a country such as ours have at least a civic duty to be fit.
It's part of being a responsible citizen.
I would go so far to say that the importance of being fit (Notice it didn't say slim) is highly UNDER RATED in this country.
People have different body types, and not everyone is going to be "slim". I'm not talking about "looks". It's a purely health related issue.
BMI (Body Mass Index) does not lie.

Check this out here:

http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/bmi/calc-bmi.htm

Valkenar wrote: The fact is people can be productive, enlightened, caring and whatever other good traits you'd like to see, and still be obese. Is it a good thing to be obese? Of course not, but should it be our #1 priority? I say no. Fat people != bad people.
There are degrees of those things.
How productive can one be when one can't fit in a standard chair, or starts to sweat when one walks a flight of stairs?
How "enlightened" can one be when one has a glaring self-inflicted, life threatening, yet totally reversible health problem?
How "caring" can one be when one won't even care enough about themselves to do what it takes to be healthy?
We are dropping like flies in this country due to obesity related diseases, and I'm sick of our apologetics on the issue.
We are by majority, fat and unhealthy, and we need to stop B.S.ing ourselves about it.
There's a bit of Metablade in all of us.
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Post by RACastanet »

We are dropping like flies in this country due to obesity related diseases, and I'm sick of our apologetics on the issue.
Meta: You sound like Chicken Little and obsessed with the downside. How do you account for the fact that the expected life span in the US goes up year after year?
Although India produces many graduates with bachelor's degrees, its universities produce only 12,000 Ph.D. recipients each year—far fewer than what he said were the 40,000 awarded in the United States.
Thanks for that lead in Justin...

And China produces about 7,000 a year. (National Science Foundation)

The US is awarded more patents annually than the rest of the world combined. (US Patent Office)

The US is #4 in the world in productivity, behind Finland, Denmark and Sweden. China and India are ranked 49th and 50th. This is really one of the keys to our future prosperity versus plodding China and India. Our high productivity (averaging 3.5% the last 5 years) creates wealth and drives investment and improves quality of life.

I have personal experience with industrial China Inc and expect some of the same things I have observed apply to India.

First and foremost, the Chinese have an enormous population that is way out of balance with too many males. This is a result of their family planning laws. Too many of these young men are single and not gainfully employed. That is a formula for social unrest. As a result the Chinese do not want productive workers. They just need to keep these males busy.

When I was working on projects with the Chinese they had no interest in automation that greatly improved output per person and safety. The last thing they want to do is have fewer menial jobs. This results in a lot of dangerous jobs and many deaths on the job. The PRC really does not care as they have plenty of men to put back in the mines and mills after a major accident. (China does not report most of their disasters. We only hear about the really bad ones, and then only in passing.)

As long as productivity is as low as it is in the emerging countries they will never be a threat to the US economy.

Hmmm. What else?

Under Clinton federal spending on R&D fell from 1% of GDP to .6% GDP. Bush is pushing to double it as a percentage of GDPand it is already 50% higher than when he took office.

Personally though, I am more interested in private R&D as it is unfeterred with politics and is much more competitive.

The number one reason the US will continue to prevail is our spirit of entrepreneurship. It is unmatched in the world. It is part of our culture. What I call predatory capitalism keeps our industry in flux. The weak industries automate, emigrate or evaporate. New technologies and industries will emerge to replace the sick and dying ones. That is our strength.

Rich
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Gene DeMambro
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Post by Gene DeMambro »

Rich,

How much of the R & D spending is for military technology vs. health and medicine vs. ecology vs. increases in domestic eneregy production vs. civilian technology?

Please note that I'm not in opposition to advanced military technology (we ought to develop it before China or Russia does), but it would be interesting to see where exactly the President's priorities are. He has a bit of a reputation of not really caring much for scientific advancement. Granted some of the military technology of today gives rise to civilan uses and products of tomorrow. Lots of times we read of how some device developed for the Pentagon is put to use with great success in some civilian capacity.

Cheers,
Gene

Profoundly edited to make more clear. Sorry....
Last edited by Gene DeMambro on Sun Feb 19, 2006 11:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Stryke

Post by Stryke »

...and why do I always imagine your voice as the Drill Sarge from full metal jacket?
what is your major malfunction ?
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RACastanet
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Post by RACastanet »

How much of the R & D spending is for military technology vs. health and medicine vs. ecology vs. increases in domestic eneregy production vs. civilian technology?
Hmmm... Excellent question. I have not seen it broken apart that way. However, I believe the Pentagon has its own bucket of $$$ that is separate from the rest of the federal R&D. To be honest I really do not know.

Rich
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IJ
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Post by IJ »

Rich, according to a (disputed) publication in JAMA round about a year ago, the prediction is for life expectancy to fall in the USA. Obesity was part to blame. Given all the super sick people we can keep alive with our fancy new drugs, we ought to be doing better. What's also not helping: the diabetes outreach programs here just decided on funding for amputations and dialysis (yes!) and blood pressure control and diabetes teaching and sugar control (no!).

Right now I'm kind of in the dumps about the residents my hospital is producing. I feel like I'm always running to their aid, and catching their misses, and doing half their work to boot. It's not bad for me now, but may be when i need someone to take care of me when i'm old and sick. I have been putting out fires like I did when I was a resident... no attending was called then! People were sick and we dealt with the problems. Maybe it's southern california... maybe the attendings felt the same way about me in training. We have cut wards time by about 50% since my internship in 2001 and haven't made training longer... and a local hospital program won't hire new grads, only experienced people.

And yeah, the rest of the country appears to be obsessed with fake progress like better videogames and infotainment and overeating when they could be working and saving and doing uechi... but doesn't every generation eye the young people with suspicion? Country was going to hell in a handbasket in the 60s and that's been pretty much ironed out I think...
--Ian
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Post by Panther »

IJ wrote:Country was going to hell in a handbasket in the 60s and that's been pretty much ironed out I think...
Yep, they were proven right! Right?

:lol:
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Post by IJ »

Yep, every generation is a friggin disaster, even more so than the last... we must have started out pretty far ahead to still be on top... :)

You know, to address my own phobia here... is the california housing market or stocks at large going to take a huge hit when the boomers cash out and retire in arizona? (It makes me long for a day where you worked, got paid, collected what you earned, and enjoyed it... and the mathematical whims of a market and timing didn't evaporate a lifetime of work or reward someone who just got lucky... I guess that's an antientrepreneurial spirit, and might never work in practice, but its a satisfying perspective in n unstable world.)
--Ian
Stryke

Post by Stryke »

Yep, every generation is a friggin disaster, even more so than the last... we must have started out pretty far ahead to still be on top...
On top of what Ian ... the most prisoners ? , the most homeless ? , the most burgers consumed ?
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-Metablade-
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Post by -Metablade- »

Stryke wrote:
Yep, every generation is a friggin disaster, even more so than the last... we must have started out pretty far ahead to still be on top...
On top of what Ian ... the most prisoners ? , the most homeless ? , the most burgers consumed ?
Meta:For one, reduction in cases of Gout

http://www.rheumatology.org.nz/nz08003.htm

Mmmmm..Kidney pie and other "Sweatbreads" er..I mean "SweetBreads"

:x

:lol: :lol:
There's a bit of Metablade in all of us.
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