November 2006 - Posts
This article caught my eye this morning:
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/11/17/pahrump.flags.reut/index.html
I definitely think that there are many immigrants in this country who need to show a little more American pride, as oppose to the nation they were born in. However, that does not mean that they need to abandon showing support for the country they came from. Think about if this law was to become federal. That would mean that no Irish flags could be displayed alone on St. Patrick's day, or no Puerto Rican flags in New York City for the Puerto Rican day parade. I know some Irish and some Puerto Ricans who would riot if that was the case. People need to be allowed to express their beliefs and their pride, and that means flying whatever flag they see fit. A law like this starts a fall down a slippery slope.
A few years ago, my company decided to move a large amount of backoffice functions to New Jersey from lower Manhattan. I thought it was a big mistake then, and 2 years later, I still think it's a big mistake. What I think firms fail to realize is that although they might realize some cost savings by moving certain operations from Manhattan, they also risk creating a cultural rift between areas that remain in New York, and those that move out. For people who have spent most of their careers working in Manhattan, moving to NJ is about the same as starting a new job in rural Kansas. The contrast makes it feel like there is nothing around-no lunch spots, no after-work hangouts and certainly not the intangible vibe that Manhattan has. It's depressing!! I, for one, am doing everything I can to find a position within my firm that is back in NYC. I hope more firms will consider the impact of moves like this before deciding to move hundreds of people across the river.
http://www.westerndigital.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=243
I bought this device a few weeks back in order to allow my wife and I to archive photos, music, etc. The device is a great value for half a terabyte, and took 5 minutes to set up (especially when you have Amazon gift certificates to burn). Amazon is currently selling it for $302. It uses CIFS, so it'll interfaces with any OS that supports that. It sits on a home router, and the transfer speeds are better than I expected given a 100Mpbs network connection. The web GUI lets you manage partitions if you want more than one, and user folders as well. It's a great investment for archiving and backing up home data, as long as you don't have any high speed drive access requirements.