On Fri, 07 Sep 2012 11:24:02 +0100, Orchid Win7 v1 wrote:

>>>> crypto/security
>>>
>>> Seriously, almost *nobody* actually does that.
>>
>> Bullshit.  I'm presently working with two teams that are knee-deep in
>> crypto and security work.  Identity management, authentication, etc -
>> all use that extensively.
> 
> You're telling me there are more than three people on Earth who actually
> design ciphers?

crypto/security isn't just about designing ciphers.

And I'm telling you that there are more than 3 people who work with crypto 
and security.

>> Yes.  See "Business Intelligence".  Data-driven decision making is
>> something that a lot of businesses do, and they tend to be successful.
> 
> I would have thought that querying the data to get the numbers you want
> is the /easy/ part. The hard part, surely, is figuring out what
> questions to ask in the first place. And that is out of my league.

Sometimes querying the data or figuring out what data you need is 
actually fairly tricky, as is using the data that's available to try to 
answer questions that are better answered with data that you don't have 
and can't get.

>>>> robotics
>>>
>>> Is there any commercial application for that?
>>
>> Manufacturing uses robotics in a huge way.
> 
> OK. But those robots already exist. Why would you ever need to design
> more?

Because not all the robots that are in use are optimum for the jobs they 
do, additional manufacturing that currently is manual labour can be 
automated - there are lots of applications still being developed.

Not all the robots that could ever be developed or could be useful have 
been made yet.  You /do/ realise this, don't you?

>>>> marketing
>>>
>>> There's technical expertise in that?
>>
>> Yes.  Writing marketing copy that actually convinces technical people
>> requires technical expertise.
> 
> You must be looking at very different "marketing copy" than the stuff
> I've seen.

Quite possibly.  I've also been involved in creating some.

> Typically you get a picture of something expensive - a server, a disk
> enclosure, whatever - and a paragraph of fancy middle management
> power-word bullocks about how the company offer you "synergistic
> solutions" to "streamline" your operations and "leverage" legacy assets
> with their "revolutionary innovations" - hell no, I can't even type this
> stuff! >_<

That's "non-technical" marketing, designed to convince management types, 
not marketing designed to convince technical types.

> In particular, such material is utterly devoid of even the slightest
> hint of technical detail. Lots of hand-waving about "total cost of
> ownership" and "return on investment" and so forth, but no technical
> specifications, and no prices.

You've never seen a technical specifications sheet - ever?

>>>> disaster response
>>>
>>> What kind of disaster response requires technical skill?
>>
>> Your data center has burned to the ground.  Recover it.
>>
>> Yeah, that takes a lot of technical skill - and ability to use those
>> skills quickly to get the services running as soon as possible.
> 
> Or rather, it requires technical skill to design the data center
> correctly in the first place. By the time a disaster actually occurs, it
> should be easy enough that a trained monkey could do the actual recovery
> part...

That's not actually how it works.  I know from having worked on DR plans 
for large and small companies.

Jim

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