] "There were too many headaches in dealing with India," he
] says, recalling his experience overseeing such work. "We
] often got spaghetti code that was functional, but
] couldn't grow. We had no idea if delivery dates would be
] hit because they would freely give promises, but not
] results. The time difference was very difficult. The
] explanation, 'They program while you sleep' doesn't hold
] water. Too often, a problem would arise and they would
] respond the next day with, 'Well, we weren't sure what
] you wanted to do' -- and a whole day was lost, time and
] again. Before long we were four months behind schedule.
] It was also very difficult to remotely manage a project
] unless you had a very strong infrastructure over there of
] U.S.-style managers. Finally, the rising costs over there
] make it tougher to justify."

And boy-oh-boy, I cannot emphasize enough what a headache coordinating work across timezones can be. Everything about it induces massive amounts of stress. That is a very no-bullshit problem. You don't want to manage across timezones any more then necessary. Any type of micromanagement isn't even remotely possible. When Decius and I were working around Asia-Pac, this was the source of so much stress (even though it wasn't anything like an outsourcing situation, aside from the logistical effects). Right around the time of day when you are starting to look at the door, your overseas offices are coming online. Those precious hours of overlap, are where you would normally have an evening social life. Instead, you get home around 11pm and survive thanks only to pizza delivery.

I imagine outsourcing only really winds up being "cheap" if you can manage your groups extremely effectively. Onsite management can't be weak. Rather, management must be on site, even if its taking its direction from overseas.

] Cost. No contest here. The cost for a managed developer
] in India was $3,200 per month, vs. $1,000 a month in
] Colombia. (A managed developer is overseen by an onsite
] manager monitoring progress and quality, so the cost
] includes part of the manager's salary.) The difference in
] costs is so vast that it actually allows K3 group to make
] money in an area not known for profits, says Ryan. "Typically,
] with enterprise-application software, consulting for customer
] specific needs just breaks even. The benefit with having a
] low-cost development outsourcing partner is that we can
] make money with consulting."

Forget India.. Forget China.. Forget Malaysia.. South America, baby.

I worked with an engineer from Columbia a few years back.. She rocked.

A New Tide in Offshore Outsourcing

] O'Neill said his contention that President George W. Bush
] came to office fixated on ousting Saddam Hussein was
] really just a government policy of regime change in Iraq
] that he inherited from the preceding Bill Clinton
] administration.

More teeth to the O'Neil is full of shit side. Boy o boy is this guy starting to backtrack fast..

] The book is replete with stories of a president who
] appeared zoned out at meetings and said he operated
] on "instinct" and "gut," not briefing books.
]
] In the book, O'Neill laments the fact that as a 65-year-old
] man he had to be given a nickname, a Bush habit.
]
] The president immediately began calling him "Pablo."
] Later he started calling his treasury secretary "Big O."
]
] He said Bush called Secretary of State Colin Powell "Balloonfoot."

Take note.. This does not make Bush look smart or personable. It makes him look like a egotistical conceding asshole. I'm pretty damn sure that Bush is not referred to using nicknames by all his staff. I'm sure "Mister President" is the norm, as opposed to Shrub. Again, I still have no idea what perception I'm getting of Bush, or which parts of it are accurate.

There is a place for gut and instinct, but its in the hands of someone who has experience and skill. I'm not sold on Bush having any of it. Really, I still think the brains reside elsewhere.

I bet you Dick calls people by their names, shows respect, and goes on facts and analysis rather then instinct. That's my gut feeling, for what its worth.

] He said he regretted using some "vivid language" and
] seemed to distance himself from the book, reminding
] the audience "this is Ron Suskind's book, this is not my book."

Ok, at the very least O'Neil is an idiot also. That child with a loaded gun comment just got even more amusing.

TheStar.com - O'Neill backtracks on Bush broadside

Elonka wrote:
] This CNN article seems to do a pretty good job (IMHO) of
] trying to look at both sides of the issue. I look forward to
] more analysis in the future.

His book just came out.. After few weeks have passed, people have read it, pondered on it, and done some fact checkin. It will be made apparent if this story has any teeth. It could go either way.

I will fully admit my bias.. Something just tells me that Bush is an idiot. Gut feeling. Its an easy sell. I and many other people will be easy to manipulate into that one. I'm pretty sure the brains in the current White House reside elsewhere. I'm sure Karl Rove is well aware of all this. Its going to be very hard to make Bush look smart. He just doesn't seem to do that, ever..

When is the last time we heard press about how Bush was not seeing eye-to-eye with someone? We don't really.. He directs the meetings, he is on time. That's what we hear. The President seems to get along great with all his staff, all the time.. His staff doesn't though, so we know we are seeing some of the human condition present over there. Rummy and Colin for instance. There are some brains in this administration, no doubt.. But I just picture Bush nodding a lot.

However, I will also put forward that this could be a product of what I've/We've been managed to perceive. In an ideal world Rummy and Colin get along great, Bush is always challenging everyone, and Karl is just PR'ing everything to all hell. But thats still not good, because I'm all about transparency in government. There really isn't a way this can be spun where I don't find something about it I seriously dislike.

O'Neil wouldn't have gotten whacked from his position without a number of people thinking he was a problem.. The child with the loaded gun comment was kind of amusing.. I remember a number of the foot in mouth episodes being recounted in the press when he got the boot. Its also important to remember that it doesn't necessarily mean that he is not being truthful when he recounts something. Let the court of public opinion take a few lessons from the court of law on that one.

... But this leads into another point that is just as important. Being the election is coming up, I keep finding myself steering all issues in that direction. This, brings up a very key one.

Who the hell are Dean's (or for that matter the Dem's) people? The President could be a Rhodes scholar and his staff is still going to matter just as much if not more then he does.. So who the hell is the oppositions staff? We already know all about Bush's staff, and have formed our opinions. Who is in the Dem's wing?

If there are real intentions of taking Bush down, not only is a president and vice president needed, but also a party and a team. As previously stated, I have a bias to dislike Bush. However, I want to vote for someone, rather then vote not-Bush.

RE: CNN: Just how bad were O'Neill's gaffes?

] ZEYAD, an Iraqi blogger I regard as trustworthy, has
] posted a dreadful-sounding story of misbehavior by
] American troops in Iraq. I find the story difficult to
] believe, and it's secondhand, but Zeyad obviously
] believes it. Someone in Iraq needs to look into this as
] soon as possible.

Check out this story and the way its developing. People not just in Iraq, but all over the place are looking into this. This is completely indy/blog media thus far, but its already got enough attention where an investigation is underway. All of it, very, very fast.

This definitely warrants an investigation, even though as a number of the posts Glenn Reynolds links here are pointing out, this is highly likely a hoax. This really does not sound like how American troops conduct themselves, on a purely tactical level. To paraphrase another blogger, it ain't three kings.. These guys have trained in protocol that keeps them alive, its an easier sell to make me think they cracked and had a moral breakdown, then started disregarding that. Some of the details don't jive. However, we are third hand already, and we know how that goes.

Zeyad is the blogger in Iraq who is relaying the letter with the story, and does not claim to be the source of the letter. He seems to have some room for skepticism, but not much.. Clickthru, read the links. Watch it develop. This is new journalism. We are going to see more of it, this is the edge. Good stuff.

Instapundit.com - Zeyad war atrocity story

] At least five convicted felons secured management
] positions at a manufacturer of electronic voting
] machines, according to critics demanding more stringent
] background checks for people responsible for voting
] machine software.
]
] Voter advocate Bev Harris alleged Tuesday that managers
] of a subsidiary of Diebold, one of the country's largest
] voting equipment vendors, included a cocaine trafficker,
] a man who conducted fraudulent stock transactions and a
] programmer jailed for falsifying computer records.

Wired News: Con Job at Diebold Subsidiary

] After a lifetime of public silence, a 78-year-old Los
] Angeles woman is stepping forward to say she is the
] daughter of the late Senator Strom Thurmond of South
] Carolina and a black woman who once worked as the
] Thurmond family maid.
]
] The woman, Essie Mae Washington-Williams, a retired
] vocational school teacher, says she has incontrovertible
] evidence, including financial receipts and cashier's
] checks demonstrating his support for her and personal
] notes -- showing that Mr. Thurmond, once one of the
] nation's leading segregationists, was her father.

] For years, Mr. Thurmond was a staunch supporter of
] segregation. He broke with the Democratic Party in the
] late 1940's to run for president in 1948 as a Dixiecrat,
] embracing the notion, as he said at the time, that "on
] the question of social intermingling of the races, our
] people draw the line." Ms. Washington-Williams was in
] her early 20's at the time.

Woman, 78, Says She Is a Daughter of Thurmond

Comments from Balls Deep:

Another one from the "We are the new Nazis" file. Some asshole named Bradley Buckles, who is some foot soldier for the ATF is going to take the helm of the RIAA's Anti-Piracy division. As part of his initiation into the RIAA, Bradley must drink the menstrual waste of Hillary Rosen.

People are encourage to take to the street with assault rifles and shoot up Tower Records, while smoking marijuana.

FOXNews.com - Politics - ATF Director to Head Music Industry's Anti-Piracy Efforts

] When President Bush delivers a speech recognizing the
] centenary of heavier-than-air-powered flight December 17,
] it is expected that he will proffer a bold vision of
] renewed space flight, with at its center a return to the
] moon, perhaps even establishment of a permanent presence
] there.

Dennis E. Powell on Space Exploration on National Review Online

] Observation this year of Veterans Day comes as about
] 130,000 troops 102,000 active military and 28,000
] reserve — remain on duty in Iraq. As of yesterday,
] according to the Pentagon, 394 have died in the war.
]
] Below are excerpts from among the final letters home of
] some soldiers who died there.

Veterans Day: The Things They Wrote

Decius wrote:
] Oh, its ok, the BBC will put all their television online, and
] everyone will watch it instead. :)

Exactly. On several fronts we are going to be seeing a shootout between these very rigid IP rules for distribution of content vs. very liberal rules.. I think the liberal approach will win in the long run, but we are going to be dealing with the rigid approach for the foreseeable future.

Rant.

There are a number of TV shows that I would _never_ watch if I did not have the ability to record/time-shift them.. This crap is going to cause problems with that technology by virtue of the fact that the same technology can also enable copying with very little modification. Its pretty much proven that you can't keep people from tinkering with consumer hardware to make it do what they want.. Tivo, XBox, etc.. There will be more examples. There will be "Hack your TV" t-shirts..

We already know people who are hacking together software HDTV decoders.. Who is this rule going to stop? Not people with skills.. Not people who want to "steal" the data. Its going to stop end consumers from getting products that do what they want, and thats all. Its going to oppress my Mom, and piss me off. Thats it.

I think the term "digital divide" is going to be re-defined if all these communication technologies keep turning restrictive one after another. Its not going to have anything to do with wealth, its going to be about the technical skills that determines who is a have and a have-not. Its about punk rock ethics coming of age because of the PC and the Internet. Viva the self-taught engineer who hates the man and cherishes freedom.

RE: FCC Approves Internet Anti-Piracy Tool