The 101 Dumbest Moments in Business

I've got one ... by Dukael_Mikakis · 2004-01-30 08:21 · Score: 5, Funny

... my company's hiring me, as evidently I am reading slashdot at this very moment. And we've got a patch going out today.

Mark one for the "little guy".

Re:I've got one ... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 08:23 · Score: 0

Last company I helped out showed me there server room -> Janitor closet with 2 Compaq servers running UPSIDE down, sitting on the carpet. These were "mission critical" servers.
Re:I've got one ... by addaon · 2004-01-30 08:45 · Score: 1

So what? Do you think the servers mind bieng upside down? If there's no evidence of heat problems, does sitting on a carpet make the slightest difference? I suppose a mouse could get caught in the blowers, or something... but it doesn't seem to be broken at all, from what you describe.

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I've had this sig for three days.
Re:I've got one ... by DAldredge · 2004-01-30 09:29 · Score: 2, Interesting

Sigh. I miss the old /.
Re:I've got one ... by AuMatar · 2004-01-30 09:51 · Score: 2, Informative

Carpets cause static electricity. If you need to do hardware work, better make sure to take them out first. And its unlikely a janitor's closet wouldn't have heat issues.

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I still have more fans than freaks. WTF is wrong with you people?
Re:I've got one ... by Pharmboy · 2004-01-30 09:58 · Score: 5, Insightful

Hate to pop in, but you guys dont seem to have used servers before. It DOES matter to put a server on carpet, for a few reasons.

1. Static electricity is a potential problem. You should have have carpet in a server room, or a workbench area. But this is a minor point.

2. Heat. This is a real problem. Many servers (including many of my older IBM servers) have planer boards in the bottom of the cases. For those of you in Rio Linda, the planer board is where the cpu and drm (voltage regulator) is mounted. This is the hottest portion of the server case by a long shot. These system exhaust the hot air at the bottom back and/or bottom of the base. This is why they have pedestals, to keep the bottom of the case raised slightly to aid airflow

Funny thing, if you HAVE to put this type of server flat on carpet, the smartest thing you can do is to put them upside down, so the tech that installed them was probably doing the best with what he had. No components inside the computer cares if it is upside down. Hard drives and fans work just fine upside down, and most fans work fine at 90 degrees as well. (old systems used to mount HDs this way, I don't personally recommend it for a 15k drive)

If you have any doubts as to what is stated herein, go take any old computer, lie it directly on the carpet with the normally hottest surface down (usually top or bottom, depending on airflow configuration) and let it lie there a few hours. Lift and feel. The carpet acts as an insulator, and WILL lead to premature failure. Remember, the average server has been running continuously for a couple years, not just a couple hours.

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Tequila: It's not just for breakfast anymore!
Re:I've got one ... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 10:02 · Score: 0

http://www.lingeriebowl.com/main.htm
Re:I've got one ... by RetroGeek · 2004-01-30 10:18 · Score: 1

Relax, there are idiots everywhere.

And the more popular something becomes, the more idiots flock to it, just to be "leet".

Maybe we need Slashdot/2, with an intelligence test before you can become a member. Only members can post (thought they can post AC).

Or only people who have a karma above X, and have # of comments above X can become members.

Hey, there's a thought! Maybe Slashcode can be adjusted so that we can filter comments from people with high karma.

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I am a programmer. I am paid to produce syntax not grammar. Deal with it.
Re:I've got one ... by whizzard · 2004-01-30 11:19 · Score: 1

1. Static electricity is a potential problem. You should have have carpet in a server room, or a workbench area. But this is a minor point.

Actually, most carpet is a pretty good insulator, which will make the static electricity worse. It's better to have a raised floor, and use things like ESD shoes (or heel straps).
Re:I've got one ... by addaon · 2004-01-30 11:22 · Score: 1

1. Static electricity is a potential problem. However, static electricity is caused by friction between two non-conductive surfaces. Most servers I've worked with have unpainted chassis (okay, all except for a few in bizarre purple cases), so if they are directly against the carpet, it shouldn't be a big deal. Also, once they are in position, they presumably aren't moving much... static should be a total non-issue after the install.

2. Static problems, admittedly, can be caused in the install and not manifest themselves except for a reduced MTBF, although I'm not convinced this is as common as some seem to think. But heat problems, on modern hardware, are a binary condition; either you've got 'em, or you haven't. If the systems have been running on in their production environment, on a real production load, and haven't had any problems, heat is not a problem. The heat produced by a system does not increase over age, nor does the heat sensitivity, and unlike static, heat is not a cumulative problem.

If the carpet will lead to premature failure, which is certainly possible, it would have done so already. The original post was talking about being shown this system installed and running, not about having it done recently.

Oh, and modern hard drives are a lot more tolerant of strange orientations than old ones; still, as both general practice and as proof of a potential lack of imagination, I'd never think of mounting one other than parallel or perpendicular to gravity.

I'm sorry if I came across as trollish, but there seems to be an obsession these days with following the rules for everything and making it pretty. Sometimes working with what you have, and coming up with an ugly solution, is not just a poor compromise but equally good, if the system works to the necessary specs, as the one described here certainly seems to do.

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I've had this sig for three days.
Re:I've got one ... by lonb · 2004-01-30 11:31 · Score: 1

"No components inside the computer cares if it is upside down."
Well, except the CD-ROM drive... but, in the case of a server, you could hook up an external drive, or mount a network CD-ROM drive. Or, you could totally case mod the server!!! sweet.

--
"Ain't I a stinka..." - Bugs
Re:I've got one ... by stephenisu · 2004-01-30 11:42 · Score: 1

While I am not sure if you are kidding, but I will spell it out for the noobs (hey, I was a newbie once).

If you go to the preferences menu then click comments, you have the option of adding a Karma modifier. Or a modifier for just about any situation.

--
Sigs? We don't need no stinking sigs!
Re:I've got one ... by Pharmboy · 2004-01-30 11:49 · Score: 2, Informative

1. Static electricity is a potential problem. However, static electricity is caused by friction between two non-conductive surfaces. Most servers I've worked with have unpainted chassis

Every tower server I own is painted, and the point is when you do upgrades or maintenance you risk the problem of static. Any fool knows you don't carpet a server room, this isn't even a point worth discussing. Plus, I stated flatly, its a minor but real point.

the carpet will lead to premature failure, which is certainly possible, it would have done so already. The original post was talking about being shown this system installed and running, not about having it done recently.

Um, like I said, that is why the IT guy installed them upside down. If it vented at the bottom and they were placed right side up, they would already be dead.

The heat produced by a system does not increase over age

Um, wrong. If you don't do regular maintenance (which obviously wasn't getting done) then yes, it WILL get hotter over time. Common sense if think about it. Air vents get clogged. Fans get weighed down when coated with dust. Everything gets coated with dust, which acts as an insulator. My guess is a server room that is actually a janitors closet didn't have filtered air.

I'm sorry if I came across as trollish, but there seems to be an obsession these days with following the rules for everything and making it pretty.

Not my problem, I have an ugly ass server room, full of racks and empty boxes and steel shelving full of towers, no carpet, etc. I don't care about pretty, but common sense says you don't do things that will compromise the systems. Hard floors, cold as hell, nothing to cause static, basic filtered air.

Yea, no big deal, until you get random errors and crashes, or worse yet, intermittant data corruption that you can't track down. If you are talking about a game server for your buds, well, fine. But if you are talking about a real server then these simple "rules" are common sense. Hate to be so short, but you didn't read the post you replied to very well.

--
Tequila: It's not just for breakfast anymore!
Re:I've got one ... by Pharmboy · 2004-01-30 11:52 · Score: 1

Well, except the CD-ROM drive...

or mount it upside down :)

But seriously, I almost never ever use the cdrom on a server except to install the original OS. Too slow and clunky to share files on a server cd.

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Tequila: It's not just for breakfast anymore!
Re:I've got one ... by RetroGeek · 2004-01-30 12:03 · Score: 1

While I am not sure if you are kidding

Only half kidding.

There are some days when I really hate the world, today must be one of them......

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I am a programmer. I am paid to produce syntax not grammar. Deal with it.
Re:I've got one ... by stor · 2004-01-30 12:18 · Score: 1

1. Static electricity is a potential problem. You should have have carpet in a server room, or a workbench area. But this is a minor point.

You should NOT have carpet in a server room. That's what you were saying yes?

The rubber soles of your shoes, rubbing on the carpet will generate static. I have seen people kill CPUs and other equipment this way.

When you work on computers/network equipment you should use a static strap. If you're not using a static strap while you install that new interface in the router, I won't be able to help myself: I WILL yell at you.

You also need climate control and temperature monitoring. Depending on the size of the installation you should have a raised floor, decent racks, patch panels for ethernet and conduit for all cabling.

Of course your home PC is another matter. You SHOULD use a static strap but - speaking for myself as a fairly full-on geek - that's just too geeky. BUT you should in the very least discharge static by:
1. Plugging the machine into the wall power.
2. Touching an unpainted section of the case.

Then unplug the machine when you want to start working on it. Oh yeah, this is all *before* you pull that shiny new video card out of it's anti-static bag, which you have on hand because walking across the carpeted room to get the video card will generate static (duh).

I love floorboards. Carpet sucks.

Cheers
Stor

--
"Yeah well there's a lot of stuff that should be, but isn't"
Re:I've got one ... by lonb · 2004-01-30 12:59 · Score: 1

I was gonna mention mounting it upside down, but I've tried that before, and it usually doesn't fit (screws don't line up). And ditto on the lack of use of CD.

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"Ain't I a stinka..." - Bugs
Re:I've got one ... by Dimensio · 2004-01-30 13:06 · Score: 1

Then unplug the machine when you want to start working on it.

When I worked at a university computer lab, I had the lab supervisor tell me that it was SAFER to work with the machine when it was plugged in, because that kept it grounded.

Not that I listend to him. And I always use a static strap when working on my home machine.

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STOP MISUSING APOSTROPHES, YOU MORONS!!!
Re:I've got one ... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 15:10 · Score: 0

Your instructor was right.
Re:I've got one ... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 15:50 · Score: 0

Thanks for clarifying..
Re:I've got one ... by shadowbearer · 2004-01-30 16:05 · Score: 1

He knew what he was talking about.

A point: Walking across a room (even a carpeted one) with the video card *in your hand* will not fry the card. It's when you ground yourself, thru the card, that the charge is transferred. It's a good idea to not install a card unless you are grounded to the case of the computer in question.

I've never used a static wrist strap myself. I just make sure to ground myself to the case (resting my forearms on the bare metal) when working inside a machine. It's actually a better ground than a strap. However, when moving components from elsewhere to the machine, make sure to ground yourself by touching the case *first* (with the other hand, preferably, although I'm not sure it makes a difference except in high potential environments w/low humidity). In any case, make sure you're grounded to the computer case, so there is no potential between your body and the case, before you touch anything inside the case or install anything. Even with a wrist strap, it's still a good habit to be constantly touching the case metal somewhere. During winter, it's an especially good habit, as that's when humidity tends to be it's lowest (and static E has it's highest possibility of being generated).

Some might disagree with me, but I've used those techniques or similar ones for 25 years of working on electronics, and I haven't once fried a component. I *have* seen people using wrist straps fry RAM. Only a couple times, but it was enough.

SB

--
It's old. The more humans I meet, the more I like my cats. At least they are honest.
Re:I've got one ... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 16:09 · Score: 0

He was 100% right. That is the only way a typical computer is grounded to earth. Unless there is a seperate grouning strap, of course.
Re:I've got one ... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 16:56 · Score: 0

Your supervisor was half right, in the pre ATX days flipping the switch off really turn it off and no current was flowing through the circuits but would still be earth grounded. now in the post AT world this is a no no because even if the PC is switched off +5V (and +3.3V too?) is still flowing through the circuits.

For anyone wanting to know more about PC hardware I recommend: Upgrading And Repairing PCs, by Scott Mueller
Re:I've got one ... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-31 08:51 · Score: 0

And the more popular something becomes, the more idiots flock to it, just to be "leet".

You should know #8,139,319.
Re:I've got one ... by stor · 2004-02-03 22:17 · Score: 1

When I worked at a university computer lab, I had the lab supervisor tell me that it was SAFER to work with the machine when it was plugged in, because that kept it grounded.

Yeah someone else has replied to this correctly but I thought I better chime in:

He was correct back then. Today's x86 machines have their motherboards powered even when the machine is "powered down" so you need to unplug the power from the mains :(

Yeah I reckon it sucks a bit too.

Cheers
Stor

--
"Yeah well there's a lot of stuff that should be, but isn't"
Re:I've got one ... by Chris+Hodges · 2004-02-05 02:29 · Score: 1

Your supervisor was half right, in the pre ATX days flipping the switch off really turn it off and no current was flowing through the circuits but would still be earth grounded. now in the post AT world this is a no no because even if the PC is switched off +5V (and +3.3V too?) is still flowing through the circuits.
Then you should get a real power supply with a real mains switch on the back. Or make up an earthing lead.
Chris

WTF? by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 08:21 · Score: 5, Funny

Dairy Queen franchisee W.A. Enterprises is docked $700,000 by a jury in Richmond, Va., after DQ employee Ayman Ahmed Hasaballa allegedly slides into a booth next to a female customer, pulls down her sweater, bites her breast, and says, "I am like Dracula." The jury holds the company responsible because it didn't fire Hasaballa six months earlier after he allegedly attacked a female co-worker.

Are they hiring?

Re:WTF? by Mysticalfruit · 2004-01-30 08:29 · Score: 4, Funny

What I want to understand is what she was doing upside down in the booth so that he could pull down her sweater...

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Yes Francis, the world has gone crazy.
Re:WTF? by jmpoast · 2004-01-30 08:31 · Score: 2, Funny

He's Dracula, obviously he was in bat from and hanging from the ceiling, then he transformed to administer the bite.
Re:WTF? by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 08:34 · Score: 0

You obviously never heard of Dracula. He bites near the neck. He obviously yanked from the neck and bit the top of her breast. He didn't pull it up from the waist. Would have thought a smart guy like you would have figured that out.
Re:WTF? by msg1825 · 2004-01-30 08:43 · Score: 1, Funny

She should have sued the company that makes sweaters as well - what kind of defective sweater was it that it could be pulled down, so it exposed her breasts?! Huh? That's why we have justice in this country!
Re:WTF? by Forge · 2004-01-30 08:50 · Score: 1

It may be hard to belive but there are sweters with wide necks. Some can actual be removed by a downward tog.

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--= Isn't it surprising how badly I spell ?
Re:WTF? by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 08:56 · Score: 0

Um. Maybe a V neck sweater. No one said that this was a big thick wool sweater. This is Virginia we are talking about not Alaska.
Re:WTF? by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 09:42 · Score: 0

What he should have said is "I am the DQ marketing milkman".
Re:WTF? by Tackhead · 2004-01-30 09:57 · Score: 4, Funny

> what kind of defective sweater was it that it could be pulled down, so it exposed her breasts?! Huh?
"That's not a bug! It's a feature!"
- A midget.
Re:WTF? by smithmc · 2004-01-30 10:03 · Score: 1, Funny

Why, haven't had your breasts bitten in a while?

--
Downmodding is the refuge of the weak. Don't downmod, make a better argument!
Re:WTF? by RetroGeek · 2004-01-30 10:22 · Score: 1

Some can actual be removed by a downward tog.

Damn, I want one of these togs.

Hey, when you use it does it tug?

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I am a programmer. I am paid to produce syntax not grammar. Deal with it.
Re:WTF? by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 11:04 · Score: 0

The ability of a sweater to be removed, exposing the wearer's breasts, IS justice!!!
Re:WTF? by shadowbearer · 2004-01-30 16:22 · Score: 1

pull down her sweater...

Obvious answer: She was wearing a very *loose* sweater.

With nothing under it (??)

Anyone have her phone number? *grin*

SB

--
It's old. The more humans I meet, the more I like my cats. At least they are honest.

What is this!!! by moehoward · 2004-01-30 08:22 · Score: 4, Funny

Again... No sarcastic, slanted, political message from the editor tagged on to the end of the story.

How in the world am I supposed to know how to think? You expect me to actually read the article?

--
"If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid." - Epictetus

Re:What is this!!! by grub · 2004-01-30 08:46 · Score: 1

Yeah, it's nice to (not) see. I would hope the editors voice their opinions as ACs or with accounts so long as they are at the mercy of the same moderators we all are. Contributing is honourable, even the goatse.cx links. :)

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Trolling is a art,
Re:What is this!!! by jafuser · 2004-01-30 11:08 · Score: 2

I'm just trying to figure out why the person who wrote the article felt the need to make a running gag of having the bold titles reference the previous number half the time.

It's like they got the number off by one or something...

I laughed the first time, snickered the second and groaned by the third time...

--
Please consider making an automatic monthly recurring donation to the EFF

From the article... by meta-monkey · 2004-01-30 08:22 · Score: 4, Insightful

Dumbest moment in advertising, according to the article:

11. Mommy, can I have something to drink with my cheesesteak?

Fast-food sandwich chain Quiznos launches its new Philly cheesesteak with a TV commercial featuring two businessmen eating lunch alfresco. One's a smart Quiznos customer; the other, a non-Q loser. "Were you raised by wolves?" asks appalled Guy No. 1. Yes, indeed--and he still calls the wolf den home. Cut to a shot of Guy No. 2 lying on the ground and suckling a mama wolf's teat.

That's the dumbest moment in advertising? I thought that commercial was hilarious!!

--
We don't have a state-run media we have a media-run state.

Re:From the article... by PantyChewer · 2004-01-30 08:31 · Score: 1

I thought it was kinda funny too. I don't know why this was in the list.
Re:From the article... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 08:33 · Score: 2, Interesting

I'll tell you what's dumb about it. They used the word "Philly". If a cheesesteak vendor uses the word "Philly", that is a red flag that the sandwich tastes like dog poo. It is the culinary equivalent to the "As seen on TV" logo.
Re:From the article... by broter · 2004-01-30 08:36 · Score: 1

Saddly, I'm afraid the Business 2.0 doesn't have a sense of humour. I laughed my butt off when I saw it. Why can't they at least recognize off-color humour?

--
"One man can change the world with a bullet in the right place."
- Mick Travis, "If..."
Re:From the article... by Thud457 · 2004-01-30 08:39 · Score: 5, Interesting

[QUOTE]
30 On the plus side, all the applicants were buying Eclipses

"Anyone, feasibly, given enough time and enough resources, could hack into any system."--Brad Hill, CIO of Dealerskins, a Tennessee firm that hosts websites for car dealerships, confessing in September that the company had exposed 1,000 customers' car-loan applications on an unprotected website. The Dealerskins "hack"--selecting "Source" from Internet Explorer's View menu to examine the webpage's HTML code--takes about a quarter of a second.
[/QUOTE]
Nice to know that my internet financial transactions are safe since they're being handled by professionals. (Professional idiots, apparently.)

--
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Re:From the article... by ArhcAngel · 2004-01-30 08:41 · Score: 1

Maybe becasue when I saw the ad the last thing I wanted to do was eat. Not just at Quiznos, but anywhere.

--
"A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it." - K
Re:From the article... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 08:42 · Score: 0

I take it you were raised by wolves, too...
Re:From the article... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 08:48 · Score: 3, Funny

Then there was that Jack-in-the-Box commercial from a few years back. The one where Jack is going cross-country like a political campaigner, talking about all the "great" qualities of Jack-food and associating each one to the locale he is in at the time.

When in the mid-west he is on a big tractor out plowing a field and he says, "Real milkshakes with enough buttermilk to lube a tractor!"

Two weeks later, the mid-west scene was cut from that commercial, which continued to air for about 4-5 more months.

I have not been able to drink a milkshake since, especially chocolate, my subconscious just can't shake the feeling that it is full of engine oil.
Re:From the article... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 08:59 · Score: 0

I think I'm more disturbed by the thought of buttermilk in my milkshake. Uggh!
Re:From the article... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 09:00 · Score: 0

> Saddly, I'm afraid the Business 2.0 doesn't have a sense of humour. I laughed my
> butt off when I saw it. Why can't they at least recognize off-color humour?

Perhaps they're all republicans?
Re:From the article... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 09:02 · Score: 0

Yiff Eh?

Looks like someone watched CSI last night.

(Posted anon for obvious reasons)
Re:From the article... by schon · 2004-01-30 09:03 · Score: 1

That's the dumbest moment in advertising? I thought that commercial was hilarious!!

So did I.. plus the fact that the "raised by wolves" guy looked suspiciously like Mr. Bean, it was just the perfect set-up..
Re:From the article... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 09:06 · Score: 0

Yeah it's off color, but other than a few posts in here and on fark forums the resounding opinion seems to be that those commercials were either just plain dumb, or disgusting. Which isn't really good for selling food.
Re:From the article... by meta-monkey · 2004-01-30 09:09 · Score: 0, Offtopic

Good question. More importantly, why can't the moderators recognize a mediocre post? What idiots moderated my original post up to +5 insightful? How exactly is, "i thought this was funny!" insightful? Moderation is so broken...

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We don't have a state-run media we have a media-run state.
Re:From the article... by leifm · 2004-01-30 09:14 · Score: 2, Funny

a Tennessee firm
Your first clue as to how this could have happened...
.

--

"Windows Me offers tremendous reliability and stability improvements..." -- Paul Thurott
Re:From the article... by allism · 2004-01-30 09:22 · Score: 1

I found it disturbing (and I am not one who disturbs easily)...but it caught my eye enough that I stopped 30-second-skipping through commercials and backed up to watch it. So...I guess it served its purpose, except that I couldn't have told you who ran the commercial until I read the blurb in the article...

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Denver Isuzu Suzuki
Re:From the article... by cens0r · 2004-01-30 09:34 · Score: 1

Although the commercial was funny, no one could ever explain to me what it had to do with Quizno's.

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Jack Valenti and Orrin Hatch will be first up against the wall when the revolution comes.
Re:From the article... by larry+bagina · 2004-01-30 09:45 · Score: 1

John Kerry likes his (philly) cheesesteak with swiss cheese.

Of course, he also spends $75 a week to get his hair died. No estimate on how much his botox injections cost.

--
Do you even lift?
These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.
Re:From the article... by Debillitatus · 2004-01-30 09:45 · Score: 1

Yeah, I was always a big fan of this commercial. And, honestly, I think the Quizno's commercials all seem to have this edge to them. I remember the ones where they would trick people into eating the "untoasted sub" through various machinations. "Would you like the toasted sub, or the untoasted sub, with 'lots of lettuce'?"... the lettuce, of course, being a ton of cash.
Some people just don't have a sense of homour, I guess.

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Come on, give it up, that's
Re:From the article... by Trinity-Infinity · 2004-01-30 09:55 · Score: 1

The Wolf-Man went to my high school, Klein Oak in Spring, TX. That's even funnier! ^_^ no wolves around there at all....
Re:From the article... by GTRacer · 2004-01-30 10:00 · Score: 1

I thought that commercial was hilarious!!
Most of the Quiznos ads are on my top 25 list, but that one is special. I don't know of it's the creepy-looking and just-hit-puberty-voice actor or the wolf nursing scene, but I love that one!
Stations in my area carried two versions - edited for daytime and uncut at night. What's next, the Director's Cut DVD with commentaries?
GTRacer
- Actually, a DVD of good commercials would be nice

--
Defending IP by destroying access to it? That makes sense, RIAA/MPAA. Go to the corner until you can play nice!
Re:From the article... by Pharmboy · 2004-01-30 10:07 · Score: 2, Insightful

That's the dumbest moment in advertising? I thought that commercial was hilarious!!

How funny, meaningful, informative, or insightful a commercial is, is pretty much meaningless by itself. We can all recall many very funny or interesting commercials, but can't remember the product. Banks are famous for this. I could give other examples, but you wouldn't remember the commercial if I named the product ;) hense the problem.

The fact that you remember the product, liked the commercial, and would possibly consider the product because of it, is all that matters. The first time I saw that commercial (they show a tamer version before 10pm here) I was a bit shocked, but amused, which is also a good thing for a commercial.

So, coming from someone who has been in marketing for 20 years (me) I would agree that this is a good campaign for their target audience (men 15-45). Bad thing is you are compelled to look each time to see if he is really drinking that pooch's milk, yuck.

--
Tequila: It's not just for breakfast anymore!
Re:From the article... by dubious9 · 2004-01-30 10:41 · Score: 1

addendum to this rule: ...unless the cheesesteak vendor is actually located in eastern Pennsylvania (and also not McDonald's )

For evidence see Pat's Steaks & Geno's Steaks.

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Why, o why must the sky fall when I've learned to fly?
Re:From the article... by kin_korn_karn · 2004-01-30 10:50 · Score: 1

That commercial was disgusting. I'll never eat at Quizno's again, that's for fucking sure.
Re:From the article... by hplasm · 2004-01-30 10:51 · Score: 1

How funny, meaningful, informative, or insightful a commercial is, is pretty much meaningless by itself. We can all recall many very funny or interesting commercials, but can't remember the product. Banks are famous for this. I could give other examples, but you wouldn't remember the commercial if I named the product ;) hense the problem.
What problem? These are the best adverts- great entertainment and no urge to buy! ;+>

--
...and he grinned, like a fox eating shit out of a wire brush.
Re:From the article... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 11:07 · Score: 0

That was my favorite commercial of the year, makes me wonder if the author just hates Quiznos.
Re:From the article... by Pharmboy · 2004-01-30 11:08 · Score: 1

What problem? These are the best adverts- great entertainment and no urge to buy! ;+>

But if the company doesn't sell some product, they won't continue to produce the funny commercials, since they wouldn't work. So its catch 22. :p

--
Tequila: It's not just for breakfast anymore!
Re:From the article... by Desert+Raven · 2004-01-30 11:43 · Score: 2, Interesting

Man, I thought that was the greatest commercial they've done! That line about the milkshakes alone had me laughing.

Fact: Higher butterfat content makes better ice cream.

I'll take one Jack in the Box milkshake over a lifetime supply of McD's artificial sludge any day.

Besides, I like the fact that they don't try to push their stuff off as being health-food. Anyone who eats there with an expectation of it being good for their diet certainly didn't get that impression from JB, and deserves what they get. I like their food, but I'd have to be insane to eat there every day.
Re:From the article... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 11:58 · Score: 0

Doh. It's a goddamn fast food place... No one seriously expects it to be haute cuisine; independent of how things are labeled. If that's enough to land you on the list, the list is dumb. There must have been something else they thought was stupid... but I have hard time knowing what that might be. It was a funnyish ad, really; not the best, not the worst.
Re:From the article... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 12:00 · Score: 0

Highly unlikely. Only liberals would take notice of the "Ghettopoly" protest. Just one more reason to set all liberals on fire.
Re:From the article... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 12:02 · Score: 0

Whoa. You base your eating choices on COMMERCIALS?!?! I assume you are the long-lost twin brother of that wolf dude or something...
Re:From the article... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 12:10 · Score: 0

I'm a flaming homosexual -- Cowboy Neal
How reliable is your source?
Re:From the article... by Darby · 2004-01-30 12:51 · Score: 1

I thought it was kinda funny too. I don't know why this was in the list.

It was probably on the list because they had to redo the commercial because some overly offendable jagoff whined like a little bitch about it.

They just changed that part and had the guy playing with the other pups or something.
Re:From the article... by jpmkm · 2004-01-30 13:28 · Score: 0, Flamebait

That's the dumbest moment in advertising? I thought that commercial was hilarious!!

Well you're just a moron. That commercial really was one of the stupidest commercials ever.
Re:From the article... by Ironica · 2004-01-30 13:42 · Score: 1

That's the dumbest moment in advertising? I thought that commercial was hilarious!!

Apparently, gauging from the responses, people have a love/hate relationship with the commercial.

Me, I never saw it, but it sounds like it would strike me as trying too hard to be offbeat and quirky, like most Quizno's commercials. They've always made me feel like the only point to going there is if I care what fast-food wrapper I'm seen with.

Seems like they might be hitting a particular target group right on the nose, but alienating a lot of other folks at the same time.

--
Don't you wish your girlfriend was a geek like me?
Re:From the article... by line.at.infinity · 2004-01-30 14:40 · Score: 2, Funny

Speaking of Quizno's adverts, they've had an online flash ad involving these characters from rathergood.com. Seriously.
Re:From the article... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 16:16 · Score: 0

The security or lack thereof of your system is your responsability. these "professionals" that some rely upon are clueless former fast food workers.
Re:From the article... by LMariachi · 2004-01-30 17:17 · Score: 3, Informative

Surprisingly, buttermilk is actually somewhat lower in fat than 1% milk. It got its name from being the liquid that was left over after butter was churned out of it. (The stuff you can buy today is made quite differently, but has similar properties.)
Re:From the article... by stephanruby · 2004-01-30 23:39 · Score: 1

But a Quizno sandwich does taste like dog poo. Who knows, may be they were going for truthful advertising.
And before I get moderated into oblivion. Please someone back me up on this. If you've ever eaten at a Quiznos, please tell us your experience good or bad.
Re:From the article... by |<amikaze · 2004-01-31 04:28 · Score: 1

In town here, Quiznos is right next to the liquor store, and given that I live in Residence, I do happen to stop by pretty often.

The food there is decent, though not anything special. It's a nice change to eat there instead of Subway (right across the street from the Rez). I'm not sure I'd say I prefer either one... They both hit the spot.
Re:From the article... by hplasm · 2004-02-02 14:15 · Score: 1

But the ad firms smile, bank and move on to the next funny ad..

--
...and he grinned, like a fox eating shit out of a wire brush.

The All Time Dumbest Is... by tealover · 2004-01-30 08:23 · Score: 5, Insightful

IBM contracting out DOS to Microsoft...and letting Microsoft keep ownership.

If IBM had played hardball and demanded ownership, more than likely Gates would have caved. The world would be much different today, that's for sure.

No butterflys. The Rolling Stones wouldn't have sold out...ok, maybe that would still have happened.

--
-- You see, there would be these conclusions that you could jump to

Re:The All Time Dumbest Is... by savagedome · 2004-01-30 08:34 · Score: 4, Informative

I remember one too.

Coke announcing machines that would raise prices in summer (instead of saying that the machines would reduce prices in winter). Its a marketing classic!

--

Free XBox, PS2
Re:The All Time Dumbest Is... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 08:36 · Score: 0

> If IBM had played hardball and demanded ownership, more than likely Gates would have caved. The world would be much different today, that's for sure.

I do sometimes wonder whether it would be better or worse.
Re:The All Time Dumbest Is... by Conspiracy_Of_Doves · 2004-01-30 08:40 · Score: 4, Insightful

Yes, but would the world be better or worse?

Remember what IBM was like back then.

--

Technoli
Re:The All Time Dumbest Is... by luckyguesser · 2004-01-30 09:06 · Score: 1

Anyone with half a brain should be able to decide in much less than a second to buy Coke in 12 packs from then on.

--

The power of Christ compiles you.
A Random Blog
Re:The All Time Dumbest Is... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 09:06 · Score: 0

IBM played hardball and demanded ownership of OS/2 -- and see where that got them.
Re:The All Time Dumbest Is... by ch-chuck · 2004-01-30 09:14 · Score: 4, Informative

Actually, another one would be the Japanese calculator firm Busicom hiring some semiconductor memory company named Intel to make a calculator chipset, getting a general purpose computer on a chip, and then renegotiating for a lower price while allowing Intel to sell it.

--
try { do() || do_not(); } catch (JediException err) { yoda(err); }
Re:The All Time Dumbest Is... by 91degrees · 2004-01-30 09:23 · Score: 1

IBM probably wouldn't have learned, and would have ended up playing second fiddle to Apple, or finding that the PC has been cloned by countless other companies using a reverse engineered BIOS, PC-DOS, and Microsoft Windows.

i.e. things wouldn't be much different except the MS wouldn't have pushed PC-DOS out of the market.
Re:The All Time Dumbest Is... by passion · 2004-01-30 09:26 · Score: 1

If you start me up
If you start me up I'll never stop
You make a grown man cry....

--
- passion
Re:The All Time Dumbest Is... by Stonent1 · 2004-01-30 09:27 · Score: 1

Anyone with half a brain should be able to decide in much less than a second to buy Coke in 12 packs from then on.

What you don't just swipe them from work?
Re:The All Time Dumbest Is... by Dr.+Evil · 2004-01-30 09:29 · Score: 1

We'd all be running Macs and Amigas?
Re:The All Time Dumbest Is... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 09:47 · Score: 0

... and this later would come to prompt their Linux strategy ...

You know, the one where IBM makes Linux development mutually advantageous for both of us--we get their help, they get Linux to use however they wish under the GPL, leaving them bound only to that license and not to a company, like the company that brought DOS to them...
Re:The All Time Dumbest Is... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 09:54 · Score: 0

Kids love MicroChannel!!!
Re:The All Time Dumbest Is... by AuMatar · 2004-01-30 10:00 · Score: 1

It was truth in advertising. Working with Windows always makes me want to cry.

--
I still have more fans than freaks. WTF is wrong with you people?
Re:The All Time Dumbest Is... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 10:53 · Score: 0

IBM putting a guy in charge in Boca Raton who didn't realize
that he could buy exclusive rights to QDOS from Seattle Computer Products for $50,000.

The same guy not hiring people who were smart enough to call ahead and make a business appointment
or patient enough to wait for Gary Kildall to return from his scheduled business trip.
("Gary went flying" ain't the whole story.)

gewg_
Re:The All Time Dumbest Is... by LineNoiz · 2004-01-30 11:16 · Score: 0

Hate Microsoft all you want, but they did do one good thing (albeit, inadvertantly). They brought a very much needed concept to the PC world. That concept was standardization. Do you really think we would have experienced the home computer craze if every software vendor in the world had to pick which platforms they wanted to support. Or worse, had to write programs that would work on dozens of different operating systems? You could expect all software to cost at least twice as much.

My person opinion is that without one dominant player to effectively tell everyone else how to write their software, the computer world would be a massive mess right now.

--
"Quotation is a serviceable substitute for wit." --Oscar Wilde
Re:The All Time Dumbest Is... by Jahf · 2004-01-30 12:51 · Score: 1

Yeah, and the world would be so much better if IBM had had a stranglehold on the PC from the get-go. Gates is a pain, but at least he took a few years (basically a decade) before he had a monopoly. IBM having DOS would have let it stay a monopoly. We -might- all be using Macs, but we might also be in the same boat or worse if IBM was still that type of player. Something tells me Big Blue's Linux support would never have happened.

--
It is more productive to voice thoughtful opinions (reply) than to judge (moderate) others.
Re:The All Time Dumbest Is... by sadomikeyism · 2004-01-30 12:51 · Score: 1

If IBM had played hardball and demanded ownership, more than likely Gates would have caved. The world would be much different today, that's for sure.
Yeah, IBM would still be the worlds biggest technology company (as it was before MS came along), you would still see the Blue Screen of Death on PCs (only it would be Big Blue (c)(r)) and a user copy of the OS alone would cost $2k. Some IBM exec would be building a 36,000 square foot house on the outskirts of Endicott, NY, and every two bit self-described hacker would hate that guy to no end.
How again would the world be much different?

--
"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves
Re:The All Time Dumbest Is... by rabs · 2004-01-30 17:32 · Score: 1

so. how long did it take you to come up with (6!-5!-4!-3!-2!-1!-0!)*(1^4+2^4)? or was it reverse engineering?

- rabs
Re:The All Time Dumbest Is... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-31 03:23 · Score: 0

Especially if you used OS/2 _before_ Win 95 shipped you could be damn sure about IBM's OS decisions.

OS/2? In Win95 days? Should have never installed it, for big corparate diplomacy crap an excellent (closed source) alternative/rival OS is dead on desktop.

Yes, I know eComstation (unofficial V5), OS/2 V4, I am speaking about desktop dominance.

Also I know they were evil to developers/commercial companies too...
Ilgaz
__posting AC since some lifeless morons trace my posts and mod them down, on purpose!
Re:The All Time Dumbest Is... by MikeCapone · 2004-01-31 06:59 · Score: 1

Anyone with half a brain should be able to decide in much less than a second to buy Coke in 12 packs from then on.

Wrong!

Anyone with half a brain doesn't drink that vile crap (and I'm not just talking about the Coca Cola company but the whole industry of sugared & caffeinated water).

--
Treehugger? Treehugger... Treehugger!
Re:The All Time Dumbest Is... by ch-chuck · 2004-02-01 12:26 · Score: 1

not long when bored at work - factor into primes then look them up at http://primes.utm.edu/curios/index.php

For instance, 208464 = 2 * 2 * 2 * 2 * 3 * 43 * 101

2^4 * 3 * 43 * (5! - 4! + 3! - 2! + 1!)

--
try { do() || do_not(); } catch (JediException err) { yoda(err); }

lv? by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 08:24 · Score: 0

las vegas?

Forget by jstrain · 2004-01-30 08:24 · Score: 5, Funny

the 101 stupidest business moves, lets hear more about this Lingerie Bowl in #10!

Re:Forget by Keyser_Lives · 2004-01-30 09:01 · Score: 3, Informative

Lingerie Bowl 2004
Re:Forget by WTFmonkey · 2004-01-30 09:55 · Score: 3, Funny

Sort of along those lines, be careful around #57. I learned that you have to be VERY careful when reading aloud about "Cunning Stunts."

Re:Join the Jihad by FlashBuster3000 · 2004-01-30 08:25 · Score: 1, Offtopic

How about an anti-anti-slashdot.org?

Go Slashdot, go!

Hmm... by grub · 2004-01-30 08:25 · Score: 1

VA didn't buy /. in 2004? :P

--
Trolling is a art,

Re:Hmm... by djh101010 · 2004-01-30 10:14 · Score: 1

Hey...I'm a shareholder in VA Linux, you insensitive clod...

Nice thing is, if I sold all my shares, I might have enough money to buy a slashdot subscription.

SCO is in the 81-90 section? by rubypossum · 2004-01-30 08:25 · Score: 3, Informative

SCO is in the 81-90 section? Number 83. Seems to be a little low on the list... but then I would've put it at #1.

--
I have a theory that the truth is never told during the nine-to-five hours. - Hunter S. Thompson

Re:SCO is in the 81-90 section? by iminplaya · 2004-01-30 08:37 · Score: 3, Insightful

Maybe in the future we can say that. Right now they're doing pretty well...depending on your point of view. As anyone that bought low low and sold high can tell you.

--
What?
Re:SCO is in the 81-90 section? by adamruck · 2004-01-30 08:42 · Score: 3, Interesting

no way... I would say sco is doing great for having no customers

now if this was the list of the most unethical companies...... ding ding ding we have a winner

--
Selling software wont make you money, selling a service will.
Re:SCO is in the 81-90 section? by Tablizer · 2004-01-30 08:51 · Score: 2, Interesting

no way... I would say sco is doing great for having no customers...now if this was the list of the most unethical companies......

Agreed. It is not a list of Evil Companies, but companies that make bad business decisions. SCO is shrewed because they went from having a 90% chance of death and 10% chance of mere piddly survivle, to an 80% chance of death and a 20% chance of getting royalties on the second biggest OS in history and being huge. Evilness aside, the second is the smarter choice it appears. At least their future is no worse off for it. Look how many articles and covers SCO has made lately. They were a noboby before.

--
Table-ized A.I.
Re:SCO is in the 81-90 section? by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 08:55 · Score: 0

Perhaps it should have been higher, but not #1.
Biz2.0's choices for #1 were very good. Even SCO can't compete at that level of insanity - they're not big enough to do something as significant as the #1 choices. (though I think the american airlines executive bonus for screwing the unions ranks near #1 too)
Re:SCO is in the 81-90 section? by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 09:09 · Score: 0

Wait until the trial is over...

SCO sued IBM for 3 Billion Dollars, claiming infringement of the UNIX operating system -- only to find later that they never owned the rights to UNIX. Oops!
Re:SCO is in the 81-90 section? by FatalTourist · 2004-01-30 09:11 · Score: 2, Funny

SCO? Have they done something wrong?
*runs*

--

Escape Pod Films: Sketch Comedy and Web Series
Re:SCO is in the 81-90 section? by iminplaya · 2004-01-30 09:18 · Score: 1

As evil as SCO may be, I wouldn't put them up there with types like Chevron, Exxon, Monsanto, or my new favorite, Halliburton.

--
What?
Re:SCO is in the 81-90 section? by Dastardly · 2004-01-30 09:20 · Score: 1

They may move up on next years list, something like:

$3 billion lawsuit with IBM dismissed when they cannot produce sufficient evidence during discovery to continue with the case. Files for bankruptcy a month later, and liquidates holdings. Novell buys back UNIX business for pennies on the dollar and BSDs entire SVR4 codebase.
Re:SCO is in the 81-90 section? by Experiment+626 · 2004-01-30 09:37 · Score: 1

I was disappointed with the SCO mention too. It was just about how they were making enemies in the Linux community by suing IBM. No mention at all of sending extortion letters to end users of someone else's product, demanding payment for IP they have never presented any evidence that they own. I would think that would qualify them for a much higher spot.
Re:SCO is in the 81-90 section? by zurab · 2004-01-30 09:38 · Score: 2, Interesting

now if this was the list of the most unethical companies.....

But people don't know. Just this morning Darl was interviewed on CNN where he painted the picture that those "Linux hackers" are attacking his business. Then he was asked a question about SCO's reward for leads ($250K) - could it be that the "bad guy" could turn someone in just to get the reward?

Darl's answer was - yeah, potentially... that's what it has come down to, they can't sell Linux, it's free, so they attack us to get the money.

Not exactly in those words, but same idea. First of all, I don't understand how CNN allowed this kind of interview in the first place; but more importantly, Linux needs more mainstream press (not just tech mainstream) so that all the facts are out there, everyone knows what's going on, and Linux gains even more popularity after the show is over.

I bet that's not what MS would have been counting on when they donated cash to SCO for their lawsuits.
Re:SCO is in the 81-90 section? by larry+bagina · 2004-01-30 09:50 · Score: 1

I don't know about you, but I'd rather not see CmdrTaco in drag with makeup, trying to look like Mary Hart.

--
Do you even lift?
These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.
Re:SCO is in the 81-90 section? by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 09:51 · Score: 0

Apparently the sarcasm and irony of that entry was lost on you. Go reread the title for SCO's entry, it's *exactly* what SCO is doing and references everything you say they left out.
Re:SCO is in the 81-90 section? by Tackhead · 2004-01-30 10:00 · Score: 1

> SCO is in the 81-90 section? Number 83. Seems to be a little low on the list... but then I would've put it at #1.
Business 2.0 is hedging their bets.
All it takes is for the judge to be asleep, or for Darl to hire some folks to slip some weed into the judge's chewin' tobackky, and voila, SCO's decision to sue everyone on the planet becomes the smartest business decision of 2003.
That's not the way to bet, but until the Judge has dismissed the case with prejudice, it's always a risk.
Re:SCO is in the 81-90 section? by embsupafly · 2004-01-30 10:40 · Score: 1

They would have put them in the #1 spot, but they thought twice about it so they could avoid Darl and his lawsuits.
Re:SCO is in the 81-90 section? by Dukael_Mikakis · 2004-01-30 10:59 · Score: 1

I don't know if it's supposed to be organized in any particular manner. Okay, the transgressions by Dick Grasso are pretty substantial and everything, and I'm sure there's some organization, but I don't think all of the "flatulence" mistakes (#72 - 76) would conincidentally run together. Likewise, I wouldn't think Kraft's "cut the cheese" slogan is a more gross error than an IP battle likening the target customer to terrorists.

Seems to me they organized it so that it flowed well, and so they could segue to the next item easily (and cleverly).

So don't get too distraught.
Re:SCO is in the 81-90 section? by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 11:22 · Score: 0

2nd biggest OS in history? Lay off the crack pipe, buddy.

Mac is way bigger than Lin-ucks.
Re:SCO is in the 81-90 section? by themusicgod1 · 2004-01-30 11:36 · Score: 1

i think the RIAA's suing of little girls and grandmother trumps SCO somewhat

--
GENERATION 26: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation.
Re:SCO is in the 81-90 section? by AhBeeDoi · 2004-01-30 11:45 · Score: 1

The SCO suit may be #1 in these parts but to the rest of the world it's low on the radar.
Re:SCO is in the 81-90 section? by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 11:58 · Score: 0

Mac is way bigger than Lin-ucks.

So is Windows. But let's face it: compared to Tron they are both pretty marginal.
Re:SCO is in the 81-90 section? by Ironica · 2004-01-30 13:46 · Score: 1

I was disappointed with the SCO mention too. It was just about how they were making enemies in the Linux community by suing IBM.

Actually, I think it was about saying that the folks in the Linux community who are angry with them are terrorists. Which is either self-pitying exaggeration or belittling the problems of terrorism, depending on how you look at it.

--
Don't you wish your girlfriend was a geek like me?
Re:SCO is in the 81-90 section? by GrunthosTheFlatulent · 2004-01-30 14:25 · Score: 1

Linux will survive on its own merits--it doesn't need the free press that SCO needs. But I must say that Microsoft seems to be well served by tech-hatred being redirected toward SCO. And SCO is well served by the fact that people are starting to know who they actually are. Could it be that this whole situation will end up being a win for Microsoft, SCO, AND the Linux world all at once? I saw the CNN interview, and the biggest problem was that the interviewer didn't appear to know the first thing about the subject matter, which pretty much gave Darth McWhatever free reign to say whatever he wanted, unapposed.
Re:SCO is in the 81-90 section? by antime · 2004-01-30 23:45 · Score: 1

The same could be said for most embedded operating systems. But since they're not in the same league, why say it?

Let's tell everyone we own Linux by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 08:25 · Score: 0

They won't ask to see proof, they will just send cash

Re:Let's tell everyone we own Linux by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 08:27 · Score: 0

Guess i should have RTFA (or been quicker)

Million Mac Marathon by CelticWhisper · 2004-01-30 08:26 · Score: 3, Insightful

How about Apple's release of countless models of Macintosh systems in the mid-90s, all with unique proprietary hardware configurations, causing stores nationwide to drop support and driving Apple to the brink of bankruptcy? I'd bet half of the death predictions for Apple fell within that time period.

--
Help protect civil rights from abuse by the TSA - visit TSA News Blog.
http://www.tsanewsblog.com

Re:Million Mac Marathon by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 09:02 · Score: 0

I think you missed the whole idea that this is moments from last year not all time.
Re:Million Mac Marathon by m3djack · 2004-01-30 09:06 · Score: 1

You may wish to suggest that as one of the worst business moves to the editors if you can somehow find your way back to 1996. This annual article highlights the previous years highlights only.
Re:Million Mac Marathon by Shenkerian · 2004-01-30 09:18 · Score: 2, Insightful

Far, far, far worse was Sculley's brain-dead move of granting Microsoft a perpetual license to Apple's GUI in November 1985, the sole reason Windows could exist.
Note that Sculley was at Apple's helm for both disasters.
Jobs wasn't kidding when he said Sculley would "change the world."

--
You tell me how "whilst" differs from "while," and I'll stop calling you a pretentious jackass.
Re:Million Mac Marathon by Ironica · 2004-01-30 13:50 · Score: 1

How about Apple's release of countless models of Macintosh systems in the mid-90s,

This was just the 2003 list. You want the top business blunders of all time? That would take a lot more pages.

--
Don't you wish your girlfriend was a geek like me?

Here's one... by Yoda2 · 2004-01-30 08:26 · Score: 5, Funny

As president of my company, I had to send this out earlier this week...

Today's Physics Lesson:

Generally speaking, when something is cooled down it contracts and when it is heated it expands. The chemical compound commonly known as "water" follows this rule until 4 degrees Celsius (just under 40 degrees Fahrenheit) when it reaches its maximum density and starts expanding as it is further cooled. One interesting fact is that if you read the ingredients for many common beverages (say Diet Coke for example), you would see that they are comprised mostly of this "water" substance and thus take on many of its interesting physical characteristics. Another interesting fact is that in order to make "ice" which is the common name for "water" in its solid state, you generally have cool it to below 0 degrees Celsius (32 degrees Fahrenheit). Surprisingly enough, we actually have a device in our very own office building commonly known as a "freezer" capable of cooling "water" enough to bring about this magical state change.

So what is the point of my little physics/trivia lesson? When you put an (already pressurized) can of Diet Coke into a freezer for more than a few minutes, it typically explodes!

In the future, please refrain from placing beverages in the office freezer.

The Management

Re:Here's one... by jeffshoaf · 2004-01-30 08:35 · Score: 1

Hmmm... And the name of your company is "GreatMindsWorking.com"?

--
Putting the "anal" back into "analyst"...
Re:Here's one... by Yoda2 · 2004-01-30 08:37 · Score: 1

Nah, that's just an AI news site I maintain for fun. Sorry to spoil the irony.
Re:Here's one... by Eric_Cartman_South_P · 2004-01-30 08:39 · Score: 5, Funny

What makes the parent post really funny is that he's the only employee.
Re:Here's one... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 08:54 · Score: 0

I have to admit, I am guilty of this.

Years and years ago, when I worked for well-known financial services firm, I put my can of Coke (no Pepsi crap, thank you very much) in the freezer right before lunch to get it extra cold.

For whatever reason I forgot about it and sometime later someone came around asking if anyone had left a can of Coke in the freezer.

D'OH!

Fortunately by that time it had all frozen so cleaning up the mess wasn't that big a deal but man did I feel dumb.
Re:Here's one... by addaon · 2004-01-30 08:57 · Score: 1

That's okay, I suspect the other employees thought you were dumb because you still think that coke vs. pepsi is a highly polarizing, important debate, rather than because of the can-in-the-freezer thing.

--

I've had this sig for three days.
Re:Here's one... by menscher · 2004-01-30 08:57 · Score: 2, Informative

Uhh, I think that's why the bottom of the soda can is concave, rather than convex. If it gets too much pressure, it can pop out. They do similar things with milk jugs, for example.
Re:Here's one... by rev063 · 2004-01-30 09:04 · Score: 1

... the bottom of the soda can is concave, rather than convex ...
Hmm, I always thought the base wasn't convex because if it was rounded out on the bottom it would fall over whenever you attempted to stand it on a flat surface. Not so useful for a container holding liquid really ...
Re:Here's one... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 09:05 · Score: 0

Tell you what then.

You can clean out the back of my car!.

I had too many things to carry in from the grocer and left a 12 pack of Coke sitting in the hatch. It went down to 6 last night. Guess what the back of my car looks like this morning?

Concave cans my ass. Yeah, they are, but it doesn't help, much.
Re:Here's one... by Politburo · 2004-01-30 09:08 · Score: 3, Informative

Yup. However, as the cans are dented in transport, weak spots can be created in the aluminum. These weak spots require less force than the concave safety portion of the can to expand, and they will break first. Also, the concave portion can bend out so far that it will come lower than the normal bottom of the can. For this to happen while the can is normally upright, the whole container must be able to maintain a pressure sufficient enough to both expand the concave portion of the can and lift the can up.
Re:Here's one... by Clover_Kicker · 2004-01-30 09:11 · Score: 2, Insightful

Do you have the courage of your convictions? Go put a can of pop in the freezer, and let us know what happens.
Re:Here's one... by Politburo · 2004-01-30 09:13 · Score: 2, Interesting

When you put an (already pressurized) can of Diet Coke into a freezer for more than a few minutes, it typically explodes!

That's a hell of a freezer for it to happen in 5 minutes or so.
Re:Here's one... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 09:13 · Score: 0

What!?! Did something happen to Yoda1?
Re:Here's one... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 09:16 · Score: 1, Informative

actually the reason that it explodes is more due to the disolved CO2, which, while it disolves just fine is liquid water, can't disolve in ice. As it freezes, all of the CO2 comes out of solution, and that is what pops the pop. (the expanding water helps some I am sure)
Re:Here's one... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 09:26 · Score: 0

Oh geeze. I used to work for people who sent out memos like this. It gets tiresome to have your boss always remind you, on paper no less, what a moron he thinks you are. No thanks.

Now that I'm the boss, I treat my employees with respect. You have to be smart enough to hire decent employees, but gee, isn't that why you're the boss (and sending out facetious memos)?
Re:Here's one... by Penguinshit · 2004-01-30 09:28 · Score: 2, Funny

Do you know how many *YEARS* it took for me to get my fucktard room mates to stop putting bottles of Corona beer in the freezer "so it would be ice-cold when I get home"?

The effect is especially amusing when you have an automatic icemaker with a door dispenser. Shards of clear glass are amazingly transparent when interspersed with ice cubes.

--
I have something in common with Stephen Hawking...
Re:Here's one... by comedian23 · 2004-01-30 09:42 · Score: 1

I have a good one too.

I used to work in a tiny office of about 1000 sq. ft. There were about 25+ people and 60+ computers packed in there so it go SUPER hot. And yes, I know this was highly illegal. So they bought an air conditioner with a snorkel exhaust(like a clothes dryer) and turned it on with the snorkel out the window. Sounds good so far right? Except when it would start to rain they would move the snorkel inside, and close the window, but leave the AC running.

Now, I am no physics major, but even I can see that even if the AC defined the laws of physics and was 100% efficient we would only be breaking even. This one hurt my brain. Can anyone top that for physics-impaired co-workers?

-Comedian
Re:Here's one... by craw · 2004-01-30 09:49 · Score: 1

I would be ROTFLMAO except:

1) We have a similar sign on our office freezer.
2) I work at a science/engineering laboratory.

Sigh. Well at least we don't have a similar type of sign on our microwave.

s/beverages/furry little animals/
s/freezer/microwave oven/
Re:Here's one... by AJWM · 2004-01-30 09:52 · Score: 2, Informative

I'll add a data point to that: regular (non-diet) Coke takes a lot lower temperature to freeze and explode than does Diet Coke. The sugar in Coke depresses the freezing point way more than does the tiny amount of artifical sweetener in Diet Coke. That said, the Diet Coke is a heck of a lot easier to clean up.

(Leaving unopened cans in the car overnight in winter also demonstrates this principle.)

--
-- Alastair
Re:Here's one... by larry+bagina · 2004-01-30 09:58 · Score: 1

Last winter, I bought 3 12-packs of coke and left 2 in my car for a couple weeks.
I can't say if they exploded or not, but all were bulged out at the top and bottom, and around 1/3 developed tears or the top separated. 2 of them looked like they might have exploded.
They were still in the 12-pack carton, and it never warmed, so the mess was minimal.

--
Do you even lift?
These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.
Re:Here's one... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 10:15 · Score: 0

Oh, I always thought the reason the bottom of the can was concave, was that it meant the same amount of liquid filled a taller can, so it looked like more.

They do similar things with yoghurt pots, for example.
Re:Here's one... by Pharmboy · 2004-01-30 10:19 · Score: 1

You miss the point. He wasn't being an ass to his employees, more than likely. I use memos like this as well, as a way to use humor to remind people that they should already know this. Its a very mild scolding at worst.

I wrote one two days ago to the effect that I wanted all employees to start using their home computers for all work email. AV software was optional, but at their expense. Using the printer required filling out a special form with 48 hours notice.... (it was funnier in the memo). The point is taken that we have a personal use of business email problem. Rather than get mad about it, I used humor to introduce the reverse concept, that I dont expect them to work from their home computer, so they shouldnt spend our resources on so much personal stuff. Small office, a gentle nudge, a good laugh was had by all, etc. but the point was made and we are changing some stuff to accomodate their needs, but not with the business email domain. (which using it implies consent to the content, after all).

Now, if he is a PHB sending this to 500 employees, then yea, that probably not smart. But if everyone knows him, then they would take it in the right vein.

On a more positive note, at least it was diet Coke. Sugared colas suck to clean up when they 'splode.

--
Tequila: It's not just for breakfast anymore!
Re:Here's one... by WotPeed · 2004-01-30 10:34 · Score: 1

Pffft. All you had to do was open the refrigerator/freezer door. Duh!
Re:Here's one... by menscher · 2004-01-30 10:35 · Score: 2, Informative

Do you have the courage of your convictions?
Nope. I've seen the bottoms get popped out, but I've also seen cold cans explode. We had a very sticky front seat of a car after leaving a can in it for a cold week.
I was more raising the issue since I think it odd that they built in these protections, but apparently they don't always (or even usually) work.
Re:Here's one... by dustmote · 2004-01-30 10:44 · Score: 1

Oh, god don't I know it! I have a friend who constantly does this sort of shit with his own freezer, but I have finally told him that if he continues to put my diet at risk by exposing it to shrapnelline (New word, I know. My perogative as a native speaker) glass I will have no choice but to forcibly remove him from the premises. It is kinda nice when some of the water freezes out and you get weak ice brandy, though.

--

-1, "1337" speak
Re:Here's one... by M.+Silver · 2004-01-30 10:46 · Score: 1

Uhh, I think that's why the bottom of the soda can is concave, rather than convex. If it gets too much pressure, it can pop out.

Evidently that doesn't always work; a friend of mine was muttering imprecations about her son after she had to take the ice maker out (the in-the-door sort) and clean all the frozen pop out of it after the son put a can not just in the freezer, but in amongst the ice.

Or maybe he was trying to turn the fridge into an Icee machine; he wasn't around for us to check.

--

Slashdot's token middle-aged housewife
Re:Here's one... by haystor · 2004-01-30 10:52 · Score: 1

I've had the whole fridge freeze. Not a single explosion on 48 frozen cans.

--
t
Re:Here's one... by evilviper · 2004-01-30 11:01 · Score: 1

That's a very nice memo... But even better, it gave me the perfect idea for a practical joke...

Coke is a bit expensive, but I'm sure I could fill a freezer with generic sodas at a reasonable price... Preferably late at night after almost everyone has gone home...

--
Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
Re:Here's one... by value_added · 2004-01-30 11:13 · Score: 1

To continue this tangent ... is it just me, or do carbonated beverages (that's "pop" for the northerners, and "soda" for everyone else) contain a lot less carbonation than ... well, back around the time when coke was sold only in glass bottles?

I also seem to recall that coke was typically served/sold chilled to a far lower temperature than your typical modern-day 7-11 cooler.
Re:Here's one... by _xeno_ · 2004-01-30 11:18 · Score: 2, Informative

Speaking as someone who has left a 12-pack of Diet Vanilla Coke out in his car for a good 6 hours in 15 degree F weather, I can say the following:
It depends. :)
One of the cans had the bottom pop out like several people expect to happen. Most of the cans showed signs of the bottom starting to be pushed out, some were just fine though. Since I could no longer put the can with the bottom inverted down, I had to open and drain it and I can tell you that the pressure is indeed increased - soda spilled everywhere from that one.
The picture of the can lieing on the floor was my AIM buddy icon for a while...

--
You are in a maze of twisty little relative jumps, all alike.
Re:Here's one... by stor · 2004-01-30 12:55 · Score: 1

Our refrigerator at work doesn't have a freezer. Yeah I know, I couldn't believe it either when I first opened it.

After reading your post, the penny has dropped. I have a really smart boss.

I guess you were indirectly referring to the "liquid nitorgen" incident?

From he article:

51 I say, Nigel, you look like you're freezing your bum off.
In January, British radio station BRMB is fined 15,000 for holding a contest in which entrants are challenged to see who can sit on a block of ice the longest, with the winner getting free concert tickets. The station got the idea from a New Zealand website, but unlike the Kiwis, the Brits use dry ice, which, at -109 degrees Fahrenheit, is unkind to human flesh. Three participants are hospitalized.

That one wins imnsho. That's definitely one of the dumbest incidents I have ever heard reported. I can't believe that noone at the station thought this was dangerous. This is primary school science class stuff.

Cheers
Stor

--
"Yeah well there's a lot of stuff that should be, but isn't"
Re:Here's one... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 13:11 · Score: 0

I thought the same thing.

But, I bet the poster KNOWS who did it, and that person said, "I only left it in there a couple of minutes".

What can you say at that point?
Re:Here's one... by xlyz · 2004-01-30 13:13 · Score: 1

what a pity they still insist to make non-soda can convex

hours and hours lost to make them stand

if they just made them concave as well ;)
Re:Here's one... by Ironica · 2004-01-30 13:53 · Score: 1

Nope. I've seen the bottoms get popped out, but I've also seen cold cans explode. We had a very sticky front seat of a car after leaving a can in it for a cold week.

Wow... for a second I was thinking your story was impossible.

Then I realized, no, I just am a native of Los Angeles, where "antifreeze" is something you add to the radiator to keep it from overheating.

--
Don't you wish your girlfriend was a geek like me?
Re:Here's one... by sirwired · 2004-01-30 14:00 · Score: 1

Dry ice is solid Carbon Dioxide, not Nitrogen.
Re:Here's one... by gsyswerda · 2004-01-30 14:13 · Score: 1

We recently bought a small fridge for the office, turned it to cold, and filled it with Diet Coke. The next day, we heard a muffled thump and noises like coke cans tumbling. In the kitchen/storage area, the door of the fridge was open, bits of frozen coke were everywhere, and most surprisingly, a hole the size of a can of can punched through the top plastic shelf on which the exploded can had been sitting. A plastic tray above the shelf was cracked. The exploded can had its top blown off, the bottom was bowed out, and the side split from top to bottom. The pop top was intact.
So, some cans can explode. We turned off the compressor and let the other cans warm up before removing them to clean up the mess.

--
Make a difference: move to a swing state.
Re:Here's one... by stor · 2004-01-30 14:58 · Score: 1

Duh of course. Brain-fart. I better not start any competitions today.

Cheers
Stor

--
"Yeah well there's a lot of stuff that should be, but isn't"
Re:Here's one... by Clover_Kicker · 2004-01-30 15:29 · Score: 1

Try it some time it's really cold, like -40. They'll explode.
Re:Here's one... by HeyLaughingBoy · 2004-01-30 15:41 · Score: 1

Wow... for a second I was thinking your story was impossible.

It made me think, too, but for a different reason. If it was below freezing, it shouldn't matter that the can exploded, the contents are still frozen.

Maybe I should test it. The little weather applet on the Gnome toolbar tells me the temperature outside is a balmy -10F (it warmed up from -25F this morning :-)
Re:Here's one... by _xeno_ · 2004-01-30 21:14 · Score: 1

It doesn't get that cold here. :P
And I never intend to try it again. The primary reason for the first one was something along the lines of "...wait a minute. I bought a 12-pack of Diet Vanilla Coke. Where is it? OH NO! I left it in the trunk!"
But based on that experience I highly doubt that a Diet Coke left in a freezer five minutes would explode. In fact, unless the freezer is -40, I doubt anything would really happen in five minutes. Give it a day, though...

--
You are in a maze of twisty little relative jumps, all alike.
Re:Here's one... by Clover_Kicker · 2004-01-31 00:31 · Score: 1

>If it was below freezing, it shouldn't matter that the can exploded,
>the contents are still frozen.

Heh.

The entire can doesn't freeze instantly. When it explodes, half the can is slush, the rest is still liquid. There will be enough liquid left to make a big mess.

If you don't believe me, I encourage you to leave a few cans in the freezer for 8 hours.
Re:Here's one... by DZign · 2004-02-01 21:37 · Score: 1

That's probably for the 'light' versions of the drinks.. The artificial sweetening tastes best
when it's at something like 4 degrees C,
that's also one of the reasons why when cans
are handed out for promotion they're chilled
correctly and opened when handed to you,
so you have to drink it up immediately while
it's still cold enough.
If you'd walk an hour in the sun with it and
then drink it, it probably would taste so bad
you'd never ever buy it..

--
Learn about pinball machines on www.flippers.be

Number 16 - Spike Lee by curtisk · 2004-01-30 08:27 · Score: 4, Interesting

I'm glad that idiot is listed so high, that lawsuit was just wrong. I guess he owns the market on "Spike" huh? I was hoping the network won, but it turns out there was a settlement, wonder how much it cost to have Mr. Lee grace the network with "his name" - what a tool

--

Sehr geehrter Toilettenbenutzer!

Re:Number 16 - Spike Lee by mrsev · 2004-01-30 08:41 · Score: 1

Agreed Spike Milligan would have had more right than Spike lee.
(FYI: Spike Milligain- British comedy genius. The idol of the pythons!)
Re:Number 16 - Spike Lee by frodo+from+middle+ea · 2004-01-30 08:43 · Score: 2, Interesting

i thought the whole thing was just some kind of gimmic staged by spice lee and the TV channel.
Remember any publicity is good publicity

--
for the last time people, I am "frodo from middle eaRTH", not "middle eaST".
Re:Number 16 - Spike Lee by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 08:46 · Score: 0

1) Make a company named "Spike, Inc" or something similar.
2) Get sued.
3) Change name to "The Sharpest Tool in the Shed, Inc." as he most certainly cannot claim to be that...

Oh, someone told me it was free karma (wth? I'm posting AC!?) if I added:
4) ???
5) Profit!
Re:Number 16 - Spike Lee by Astroboy! · 2004-01-30 09:17 · Score: 1

You'd think that the railways would have had prior art over this whole thing.

Damn Patent Office!
Re:Number 16 - Spike Lee by Obiwan+Kenobi · 2004-01-30 11:27 · Score: 1

Nope, it was the real deal. Lee is too much of an egomaniac to think that the network wasn't speaking directly to him in regards to naming their male-centric network.

I thought it was hilarious. I don't know how he kept a straight face in the press conferences...
Re:Number 16 - Spike Lee by Ironica · 2004-01-30 14:00 · Score: 2, Interesting

I'm glad that idiot is listed so high, that lawsuit was just wrong. I guess he owns the market on "Spike" huh? I was hoping the network won, but it turns out there was a settlement, wonder how much it cost to have Mr. Lee grace the network with "his name" - what a tool

He could certainly make a case... until reading this article, I thought he had something to do with the network. Not just because they used the name "Spike," but because the style of their logo reminded me vaguely of something Spike-Lee related (though I'm not sure what).

And then there's the fact that it's a stupid name for a TV network. The first several times I saw the logo, I thought it was a *show* called Spike TV, because that would make sense.

--
Don't you wish your girlfriend was a geek like me?

ESR's "OH I AM RICH, NOW I WILL PHILOSOPHIZE" BLOG by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 08:27 · Score: 0

yeah, you know it.

OSDN Personals by Muda69 · 2004-01-30 08:28 · Score: 5, Funny

The OSDN Personals ads get my vote!

Re:OSDN Personals by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 08:36 · Score: 0

Alright. Did anyone actually hook up through that thing? If so, spill your beans in this thread.
Re:OSDN Personals by larry+bagina · 2004-01-30 10:03 · Score: 1

There's nothing OSDN about it. It's all match.com, OSDN gets a referral fee if you subscribe.
I think there was a poll a few months ago about online dating, and (not amazingly) a lot of slashdotters met their true love that way. I'd be more impressed if they posted her pic though.

--
Do you even lift?
These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.
Re:OSDN Personals by DarkHelmet · 2004-01-30 12:46 · Score: 1

Maybe if the code was open source... *cough cough*.
Hmmm, I wonder if anyone around here is willing to open their source for Slashdot to use.
*looks down at signature*

--
/^[A-Z0-9._%+-]+@[A-Z0-9.-]+\.[A-Z]{2,4}$/i
Re:OSDN Personals by shfted! · 2004-01-30 18:58 · Score: 1

What? I think she's pretty cute!

--
He who laughs last is stuck in a time dilation bubble.

disney dvd by tsunamifirestorm · 2004-01-30 08:29 · Score: 1

i personally think today's article is a good example of a bad buisiness move http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/01/30/155923 8&mode=thread&tid=188

And you thought you loved your car? by erick99 · 2004-01-30 08:29 · Score: 5, Funny

This one gets my vote: In Canada, General Motors is forced to come up with a new name for its Buick LaCrosse sedan after discovering that crosse is a slang term for masturbation in Quebec. If gives a whole new meaning to "road trip." Happy Trails, Erick

--
http://www.busyweather.com/

Re:And you thought you loved your car? by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 08:56 · Score: 0

The best part is that Lacrosse, the sport played with a "crosse", was at one time the national sport. We always knew those Canucks were pervs.
Re:And you thought you loved your car? by MadCow42 · 2004-01-30 09:12 · Score: 1

That's allright... Sony Japan was going to bring a peta-byte industrial tape storage system to North America... and call it the "Peta-File".

Uh... no. Don't do that.

(Seriously, an ex co-worker was part of the Sony Canada business team involved).

MadCow.

--
I used to have a sig, but I set it free and it never came back.
Re:And you thought you loved your car? by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 09:20 · Score: 0

Who cares what you call it, as long as you get where you're going?

:^)
Re:And you thought you loved your car? by Mr.+Piddle · 2004-01-30 09:34 · Score: 1

Okay, who among the spanish-speakers out there can tell us how well the Chevy Nova went over in Spain?

--
Vote in November. You won't regret it.
Re:And you thought you loved your car? by prockcore · 2004-01-30 09:44 · Score: 1

Okay, who among the spanish-speakers out there can tell us how well the Chevy Nova went over in Spain?

Actually, it's an urban legend (about the troubles). Even though No Va means No Go in spanish, it didn't really affect sales.

Look at it this way, how many people buy Kia's here? KIA = Killed in Action.
Re:And you thought you loved your car? by Mr.+Piddle · 2004-01-30 09:48 · Score: 1

KIA = Killed in Action

That never occurred to me, but, given the size of some of their cars, perhaps it really isn't a coincidence!

--
Vote in November. You won't regret it.
Re:And you thought you loved your car? by SoTuA · 2004-01-30 09:49 · Score: 1

In Chile, the SUV Mitsubishi Pajero is called Mitsubishi Montero.
In Chilean slang, a Pajero is a wanker. Not the kind of image you wanted with your SUV...
Re:And you thought you loved your car? by javiercero · 2004-01-30 09:53 · Score: 1

Actually Chevy never sold a single car in Spain, as they were not exported to Europe -for the most part-, this was a Mexican market fiasco. They did have to change the Nova name for the mexican market.

The Spanish market story was with the Mitsubishi Pajero, Pajero in Spain is the most common slang for "Wanker" or someone with cronical masturbatory tendencies. To this day European tourists driving their "Pajeros" are still laughed at.

A lot of the pseudo-latin car names in the past 2 decades tend to translate poorly into Spanish.
Re:And you thought you loved your car? by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 09:53 · Score: 0

About as well as the Ford Probe did here, I guess.
Re:And you thought you loved your car? by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 10:06 · Score: 0

Even tho that's exactly the type that drives an SUV...
Re:And you thought you loved your car? by lelitsch · 2004-01-30 10:15 · Score: 1

I think Toyota started this with their MR2. They somehow forgot that MR-deux is very close to merde (shit) in French.
Re:And you thought you loved your car? by Haeleth · 2004-01-30 10:19 · Score: 1

Chevy never sold a single car in Spain, as they were not exported to Europe -for the most part-, this was a Mexican market fiasco. They did have to change the Nova name for the mexican market.

However, the Nova name was used in the UK for a Vauxhall car. In mainland Europe, the same car was sold under the Opel marque as the Corsa. I'm not sure whether that's because of the Spanish problem or not though.
Re:And you thought you loved your car? by infinite9 · 2004-01-30 10:40 · Score: 1

This is an interesting topic for me. There's a book (the author's name eludes me) titled Stabbed with a Wedge of Cheese that contains this sort of thing. We've all heard of the Chevy Nova. There are plenty of other silly mistakes also. It was a car named either the Fiero or Fuego that, in italian, means "an ugly old woman." My favorite one though was when Coca Cola was first introduced to China. Chinese characters are like heiroglyphics. They have sound and meaning, unlike the latin alphabet for example which is only sound. To make foreign words in chinese, you choose the symbols that make the right sounds to approximate the foreign word. These symbols have meanings though. The story goes that when they first assembled the sounds for coca cola, the meaning they got was "Bite the wax tadpole." Chinese marketing people later suggested a different set of symbols that produced the name coca cola, but meant something like "happiness in the mouth."

--
Disconnect your television. Do your own research. Draw your own conclusions. They're probably lying. Don't be a sheep.
Re:And you thought you loved your car? by SoSueMe · 2004-01-30 10:44 · Score: 1

...and how about the "Pinto" in Latin America where it translates to "tiny male genitals"?
Re:And you thought you loved your car? by SoSueMe · 2004-01-30 10:46 · Score: 1

Not the kind of image you wanted with your SUV
...but very telling, isn't it?
Re:And you thought you loved your car? by gobbo · 2004-01-30 11:44 · Score: 1

Well, since they want to be the Business Party, I guess it's relevant:

Remember the merger that resulted in the

Canadian
Reform
Alliance
Party?

I think that name (& acronym) lasted exactly one day.

--
Damn those pesky terrorists
Re:And you thought you loved your car? by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 12:48 · Score: 0

um, and what country is that? There are lots of them in Latin America and each has its own variation of what you call "spanish", not to mention modisms and slang.
"pinto" in Mexico is a type of horse, for example.
Re:And you thought you loved your car? by curious.corn · 2004-01-30 13:07 · Score: 1

Fiero means proud while Fuego isn't italian at all; they do sound pretty lame though. I've never heard of a car with such names nor do they sound particularly emarassing. Some other words that migh raise a couple eyebrows over here would be: Figa or Fica, two varians for cunt. Perhaps that's what you or the author of the book was referring to?

--
Mi domando chi Ã il mandante di tutte le cazzate che faccio - Altan
Re:And you thought you loved your car? by infinite9 · 2004-01-30 13:27 · Score: 1

It was probably a different language.

--
Disconnect your television. Do your own research. Draw your own conclusions. They're probably lying. Don't be a sheep.
Re:And you thought you loved your car? by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 13:38 · Score: 0

Around here (Atlanta, GA, USA) there's a breakfast restaurant called 'Le Peep'. You know - eggs and stuff.

A guy from France who was working with us for a while cracked up when he saw it - apparently in France 'Le Peep' is slang for... ummm... how should I say it... well... how about: a "Lewinski"!
Re:And you thought you loved your car? by antime · 2004-01-31 00:01 · Score: 1

Honda Fitta, or "Honda Cunt" if you happen to speak Swedish.
Re:And you thought you loved your car? by Ilgaz · 2004-01-31 03:05 · Score: 1

What that means? Peta File?

foreigner(s) here lol

Re:Join the Jihad by Oliver+Defacszio · 2004-01-30 08:30 · Score: 0, Offtopic

You're here.

--

-
Inventor of the term 'pardon my French'.

Since No One Reads the Article by dave+at+hostwerks · 2004-01-30 08:30 · Score: 3, Interesting

I liked this one. Mental note: avoid McDonald's on Chicago's famed museum campus.

12 It could be worse. At least they're not selling wolf milk.
In July, a McDonald's outlet in Chicago's Field Museum is closed by health inspectors who discover that the food preparation area is backed up with raw sewage and that employees have changed the expiration dates on 200 cartons of milk.

--
d a v e
"Hmmm...upgrades."

Re:Since No One Reads the Article by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 08:59 · Score: 0

You're an idiot if you think this is atypical of the fast food industry as a whole. Avoid all McDonald's restaurants and you're golden.
Re:Since No One Reads the Article by blogboy · 2004-01-30 09:07 · Score: 1

Yikes! I've eaten there a few times...so have my kids! I wish I could say it's another reason to avoid McDonald's. Ah hell, why not? Of course you're talking *Chicago* and McDonald's. Illicit practices in Chicago? Gasp!

#102 by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 08:31 · Score: 5, Funny

Requiring TEN PAGE VIEWS to get through a dumbest moments list.

Re:#102 by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 15:01 · Score: 0

Actually, that's pretty smart. Look at the page view counts go up and up, after you get someone to post the story on /. ...

SCO is at No. 83 by cliveholloway · 2004-01-30 08:31 · Score: 2, Informative

for those of you who can't be bothered to RTFA.

michael, you think we're psychic or what? Try using a link maybe when you talk about SCO's position.

Nobody cares about anything except maybe SCO and the RIAA (at No 82, on the same page).

--
-- Trinity in high heels carrying a whip: The donimatrix - there is no spoonerism

Re:SCO is at No. 83 by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 10:29 · Score: 0

I'm appalled this comment has only been modded "Informative". IMHO it deserves a "Flamebait" as well.

Since when did it become the responsibility of a SlashDot editor to add links to an article? The FAQ states, "When you submit a story, please remember to include appropriate links.". Do cut poor Michael some slack.
Re:SCO is at No. 83 by cliveholloway · 2004-01-30 15:03 · Score: 1

Err, you do know what the word editor means, don't you?

You know, someone who *edits* stuff?

ffs (lol)

cLive ;-)

ps - AC? michael? Is that you?

--
-- Trinity in high heels carrying a whip: The donimatrix - there is no spoonerism

Taking the Fun out of Life by MrBlackBand · 2004-01-30 08:31 · Score: 5, Insightful

Why was putting out "Ghettopoly" a dumb business decision? What ever happened to humor? Or maybe caving in to some idiot protesters was the bad business decision.

And since when is it sexist to show women playing football? Sure, they were in lingere, but that just shows off the beauty of nature. What do people have against nature? Why are people so damn puritanical in this country?

Are we even allowed to have fun anymore?

--
"It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it."

Re:Taking the Fun out of Life by fatwreckfan · 2004-01-30 08:42 · Score: 1

I agree. My roommate bought this game, and we've had a blast playing it (although they made some poor choices for rules, such as how you have to get out of the "Emergency Room").
Re:Taking the Fun out of Life by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 09:02 · Score: 0

And since when is it sexist to show women playing football?
Since about 1964, genius.
Re:Taking the Fun out of Life by Samus · 2004-01-30 09:07 · Score: 1

Why are people so damn puritanical in this country?

Maybe because most of the early colonists were puritans?

--
In Republican America phones tap you.
Re:Taking the Fun out of Life by iminplaya · 2004-01-30 09:26 · Score: 1

"And since when is it sexist to show women playing football? Sure, they were in lingere, but that just shows off the beauty of nature."

Sometimes nature isn't always so beautiful, until I put down at least a six pack.

--
What?
Re:Taking the Fun out of Life by comedian23 · 2004-01-30 09:51 · Score: 1

>And since when is it sexist to show women playing football?

Don't you see that we are using and objectifying those women? What, they are each getting paid for 4 hours worth of "work" what most of us make in a year? Oh...never mind.

-Comedian
Re:Taking the Fun out of Life by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 10:32 · Score: 0

Why are people so damn puritanical in this country? Are we even allowed to have fun anymore?
You need to seriously deal with your severe sexual desensitization, buddy. You sound like you're from Europe or something.
Re:Taking the Fun out of Life by Angst+Badger · 2004-01-30 10:39 · Score: 1

Why was putting out "Ghettopoly" a dumb business decision? What ever happened to humor? Or maybe caving in to some idiot protesters was the bad business decision.

What the blurb doesn't describe, oddly enough, is the openly racist content of the game. Go dig for older, more detailed articles on Google. It was sufficiently heinous that one wonders if the manufacturer hired the Klan to come up the the design.

--
Proud member of the Weirdo-American community.
Re:Taking the Fun out of Life by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 10:40 · Score: 2, Insightful

I'm going to make a wild guess here and say that you have never been denied a raise or promotion becasue of the color of your skin or your gender or your sexual orientation.
Re:Taking the Fun out of Life by HungWeiLo · 2004-01-30 11:27 · Score: 2, Insightful

What the blurb doesn't describe, oddly enough, is the openly racist content of the game. Go dig for older, more detailed articles on Google. It was sufficiently heinous that one wonders if the manufacturer hired the Klan to come up the the design.

Actually, it was designed by an Asian guy. Not to be nitpicky, but aren't you racist for assuming that it was a white guy who designed it?

--
There are a huge number of yeast infections in this county. Probably because we're downriver from the bread factory.
Re:Taking the Fun out of Life by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 11:49 · Score: 0

Funny thing is, because Ghettopol got so much attention, there games sold out online. Sold off all the inventory and is still getting more attention. Not such a bad bussiness decision if you ask me.

1. Create Controversial board game
2. Get Jessie Jackson to boycott
?????
Sell much copies online because of media attention.
Re:Taking the Fun out of Life by Keyser_Lives · 2004-01-30 11:59 · Score: 1

Are we even allowed to have fun anymore?
No. Next question. (or next Lingerie bowl even, either way... :)
Re:Taking the Fun out of Life by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 12:12 · Score: 0

May be... but has no one since then (it was centuries ago, after all) thought about perhaps re-evaluating their values and approach to life? Personally I think it's bit lame excuse to blame it all on dead-for-centuries old tightwad anal wackoes but that's just me.
Now, if only someone could find a new continent where we could flee from this puritanist oppression, and start a nation where freedom from religion is... um, wait. D'oh!
Re:Taking the Fun out of Life by moosemoose · 2004-01-30 12:36 · Score: 2, Interesting

i've been in business for over 30 years, the first 10 of which was practicing law in (conservative) orange county california and in los angeles. maybe its just california but in all my years of business i never observed anyone making what i thought were business decisions based on race or gender. i did have one client in the mid 70's who made a derogatory comment about 'jews' and that's been about it. now thats not to say that it doesn't happen. i'm certain that it does. its just that i've seen more examples of reverse racism in the business world.
on the other hand, i have heard plenty of racist and sexist comments made by (1) the elderly (most of whom have now passed) and (2) the poor. in fact it seems to me that the last great reservoirs of racism in this country are the trailer park and the truck stop. given the fact that most racists and sexists are fairly nasty and above all STUPID people, why do people find it so easy to believe that racists or sexists can rise to a level of power where they can fire or hire within business organizations?

--
the real evil is not what people think - its how people think
Re:Taking the Fun out of Life by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 13:11 · Score: 0

So... Is your problem with the Lingerie Bowl that it denigrates women? Lingerie? The sport of football? The (usually-male) participants in that sport?

Come on, the Lingerie Bowl idea was just a bit of silly nonsense that some people might call "fun"; a bunch of people (who happen to be female) in one occupation (modelling, dancing, whatever) masquerading as people in some other, in-some-ways-very-different occupations (professional football players), with the humor arising from the strange juxtaposition. If Lucille Ball can make humor out of masquerading as a chocolate-factory worker (of course I'm referring to one of the most well-known comedic moments in all of television history), then surely the Lingerie Bowl is not going to unravel the fabric of modern civilization.

Also, if you think someone is going to watch the Lingerie Bowl and because of that, go out the next day and fire one of their subordinates based on their gender/race/orientation/religion/whatever, then I think you're living in an extremely potent reality-distortion field...
Re:Taking the Fun out of Life by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 13:19 · Score: 0

Unless the Asian guy is part of the Klan. Hey, they can hate niggas too.

By the way, the game is fairly funny. Nothing amazingly funny. You can see its "humor" every damn day if you look. So, the only humor is seeing it in writing.
Re:Taking the Fun out of Life by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 14:23 · Score: 3, Insightful

And since when is it sexist to show women playing football?
I doubt anyone would consider it sexist to show women PLAYING football. Softcore porn masquerading as football, sponsored by a major automaker, on the other hand, certainly could be offensive. It implies that whereas men can play sports, women are just there for sexual arousal.
Re:Taking the Fun out of Life by alumshubby · 2004-01-31 03:00 · Score: 1

There's a fine, often invisible line, between 'humorous' and 'offensive' -- and David Chang, Ghettopoly's creator, seems to have blundered over it. Hell, I admit to being brought up by pretty racist parents, but some descriptions of the game I've found in stories on the Web made me cringe. I think if Saturday Night Live had done a skit about creating a game like this, it would've made a lot of people squirm.

--
"How many light bulbs does it take to change a person?" --BMcC-->
Re:Taking the Fun out of Life by dominion · 2004-01-31 03:32 · Score: 2, Funny

the poor. in fact it seems to me that the last great reservoirs of racism in this country are the trailer park and the truck stop. given the fact that most racists and sexists are fairly nasty and above all STUPID people, why do people find it so easy to believe that racists or sexists can rise to a level of power where they can fire or hire within business organizations?

So, where are the last great reservoirs of classism?
Re:Taking the Fun out of Life by elemental23 · 2004-01-31 07:11 · Score: 1

Asians can't be racist? Interesting.

--
I like my women like my coffee... pale and bitter.
Re:Taking the Fun out of Life by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-31 12:06 · Score: 0

Why was putting out "Ghettopoly" a dumb business decision? What ever happened to humor? Or maybe caving in to some idiot protesters was the bad business decision.
No, it was a stupid decision because the humorless idiot protestors you speak of are known to exist, and to have the power of numbers. Ignoring the likely consequences of your actions is stupid, no matter how unjust those consequences may be.
Re:Taking the Fun out of Life by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-31 17:17 · Score: 0

Are we even allowed to have fun anymore?

No, we aren't as per the new rules passed by Congress. Having fun is, indeed, considered a terrorist and subversive activity which needs to be crushed to protect the precious children. Anyone caught having fun will be taken without trial or the ability to see a lawyer to the Concetr... er... Happy Happy Fun Time Reeducation Center and Happy Park. That is full of happiness. And fluffy things. But no fun.

The US Government: Protecting You From Reality for Over 200 Years(tm).
Re:Taking the Fun out of Life by Anonymous Coward · 2004-02-01 08:47 · Score: 0

Hurry up and buy!!!

Re:frizzy pizzy by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 08:32 · Score: 0

Business. What is it all about... is it good, or is it whack?

Here it is. by Camel+Pilot · 2004-01-30 08:32 · Score: 5, Informative

For those who don't want to hunt and find the SCO reference on the slow server

83 How to win friends and influence software sales.
"Terrorists do things designed to intimidate people, and we see a lot of that going on all the time--people trying to attack us or people that we're associated with."--SCO Group CEO Darl McBride, complaining about the backlash from hundreds of thousands of Linux users after the former Linux software vendor sued IBM, a major Linux proponent, for allegedly violating its intellectual-property rights.

Darl really did say that! - i know it is hard to believe.

Talk about the kettle calling the pot...

Re:Here it is. by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 09:04 · Score: 0

And he really did claim in an interview with CNN that there are violations of copyrights held by SCO in the Linux codebase:

MCBRIDE: This is a new digital frontier. We came out, we found that key parts of our code -- we owned the Unix operating system -- was showing up in this new upstart program called Linux. These new programmers working with IBM. We found that things were violated against our copyrights.

When the suit against IBM is finally over, perhaps it is time for a class action lawsuit on behalf of the Linux kernel developers against SCO and McBride.
Re:Here it is. by ckd · 2004-01-30 09:24 · Score: 1

Just remember, everything Darl says belongs to SCO, must belong to SCO. Because he says so.

He should know; he's the SCO Miser.
Re:Here it is. by SoSueMe · 2004-01-30 11:02 · Score: 1

That was so,...
Interesting? No,
Informative? No,
Funny? No?,
Lame?...That's IT!

Entry #20 by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 08:33 · Score: 1

"Hmmm. Maybe you should've gotten the hint by the 3,168,453rd time we closed one of your pop-ups without reading it. " maybe Business 2.0 should take the same hint and cut out their website popups. i got several, each one popping up after i closed the last, saying "Wait! Don't go yet! Subscribe!"

Re:Entry #20 by I+confirm+I'm+not+a · 2004-01-30 08:47 · Score: 4, Funny

What's a popup?

Wait... [thinks long and hard] ... that's one of those Internet Explorer afflictions, isn't it?

Take one of these, six times a day:
Mozilla, Opera, etc etc etc

Sheesh! Anonymous cowards these days! When I was a lad, etc etc etc

--
This is where the serious fun begins.
Re:Entry #20 by Threni · 2004-01-30 09:12 · Score: 1

I wondered if someone would complain about them. It would amuse me no end if Slashdot made their site unviewable with IE.
Re:Entry #20 by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 09:13 · Score: 0

That's funny, I didn't notice any pop-ups. I haven't seen any pop-ups for years, now that you mention it. Maybe I'm using a substandard browser or something...
Re:Entry #20 by UrgleHoth · 2004-01-30 09:21 · Score: 1

Yup, as a moz user, x10 going out of business totally slipped my radar.

--

Dogma - "let's just say we'd like to avoid any empirical entanglements."
Re:Entry #20 by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 09:39 · Score: 0

No reason to get pop-ups in IE anymore, either. Google toolbar blocks them for free and the next version of IE will have it built in supposedly.
Re:Entry #20 by I+confirm+I'm+not+a · 2004-01-30 09:46 · Score: 1

Dave Shea at the 'zengarden talked about the browser upgrade campaign and its successes and failings - basically it came across as negative. Dave suggests MOSe - Mozilla, Opera, Safari enhancements - to highlight the strengths of modern, standards-compliant browsers, and I'd tend to agree.

Still, the idea of building sites that tell people they're using a 2nd-rate product when better, free products are available does appeal...;)

--
This is where the serious fun begins.
Re:Entry #20 by I+confirm+I'm+not+a · 2004-01-30 09:54 · Score: 1

Oh no! Tell me ain't so! Still, we still have hand-typed URLs, nae skins, nae tabs (wait, don't tell me, IE7 will have them), grudging compliancy wi' standards, etc. So Hell hasn't frozen over just yet.

--
This is where the serious fun begins.
Re:Entry #20 by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-31 16:29 · Score: 0

Except you'll only get the next version by upgrading to their new OS in 2006.

Follow up to the follow up by Ralph+Wiggam · 2004-01-30 08:35 · Score: 2

In early May of 2003, Slashdot and other places reported on the MS iLoo, a web enabled toilet. The jokes came a mile a minute. Then a few days later, MS said that it was an April Fools joke. I've seen that happen before where someone reads something and doesn't realize it was written on April 1 and reports it as fact. Check this out from the article:

Part 3 Something doesn't smell right. The next day, realizing that nobody's buying the April-Fool's-joke-29-days-after-April-Fool's-Day explanation, Microsoft calls back reporters and admits that it had told an iLulu: The project was indeed real but has subsequently been killed. "We jumped the gun basically yesterday in confirming that it was a hoax," says MSN group product manager Lisa Gurry. "In fact, it was not."

Wow. What a completely insane project. Many people were certainly fired for spending money on that.

-B

Re:Follow up to the follow up by himynameisJake · 2004-01-30 08:44 · Score: 1

They say many great men did most of their best thinking while on the toilet.

Maybe I should buy an iLulu and try to program while on the john.
Re:Follow up to the follow up by jafiwam · 2004-01-30 09:16 · Score: 1

Here's another example:

Chinese Newspaper Spoofed by TheOnion

Proof again that some people take themselves too seriously and therefore fall for some outrageous stuff sometimes.

MS by CelticWhisper · 2004-01-30 08:36 · Score: 1

How about Microsoft for... No, this is too easy. I'll let someone else fill in the blank.

--
Help protect civil rights from abuse by the TSA - visit TSA News Blog.
http://www.tsanewsblog.com

Re:MS by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 08:51 · Score: 0

President?

LaCrosse by Scrameustache · 2004-01-30 08:36 · Score: 4, Informative

8 Just to be on the safe side, let's also lose the jack, the fuel pump, and the four-stroke engine.
In Canada, General Motors is forced to come up with a new name for its Buick LaCrosse sedan after discovering that crosse is a slang term for masturbation in Quebec.

Its also a slang term for "a rip-off".
I never heard it used to mean masturbation when used as a noun, its masturnbatory meaning is only applied when used as a verb. So To me that GM car sounds more like a rip-off than a jerk-off. Also note that GM laid off a lot of people in Quebec recently by closing down a plant...

Ah, fond memories of the sign "do not cross the track" at the amusement park with my friends when I was 14... : )

--

You can't take the sky from me...

Re:LaCrosse by MrBlackBand · 2004-01-30 08:52 · Score: 4, Funny

Please do not use the phrase "rip-off" and "jerk-off" in the same sentence. Ouch.

--
"It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it."
Re:LaCrosse by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 09:16 · Score: 0

Mitsubishi Pajero anyone?
Re:LaCrosse by Scrameustache · 2004-01-30 09:19 · Score: 1

Please do not use the phrase "rip-off" and "jerk-off" in the same sentence. Ouch.

lol!

Sorry about that : )

--
You can't take the sky from me...
Re:LaCrosse by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 09:36 · Score: 0

And somebody who is shamelessly dishonest is often called a "crosseur". It is one of the worst insults you can throw in Quebec. To give you an idea, I think it is how we would describe Mr McBride if he were from here...
Re:LaCrosse by marsu_k · 2004-01-30 09:39 · Score: 1

Getting a bit OT but whattaheck.
I used to work at Thomann GMBH (one of the largest musical instrument retailers in Europe). They had several "in-house" brands for products, such as "T-Bone" for microphones. One of their products was "T-Box" for speakers - mind you, they were quality speakers - but after a while, the Deutche Telecom (which you Americans might know as T-Mobile) noted that they had used the name before, so we had to change the name.
So the speakers were renamed as The Box. Unfortunately, I've been told (I'm not British myself), "the box" is "cunt" in British slang. It certainly gives a new view into their "Hot Deals" ;)
Re:LaCrosse by PeteQC · 2004-01-30 09:50 · Score: 1

I don't know any quebecer who would like to ride in a car called LaCrosse ;)

I can easily imagine all the bad jokes you would heard riding this car.

"Tu t'es fait crosser" (as a rip-off joke)
"Viens ici avec ton auto" (as a masturbation joke that could be translated as "Come(cum) over here")

--
Montreal - Best city to live in!
Re:LaCrosse by aschlemm · 2004-01-30 12:42 · Score: 1

These naming problems happen in different parts of the world. Anyone remember the Chevy Nova and why it had to be renamed in the Spanish speaking world? For those that don't know a little Spanish "No Va" means "no go" and so who in their right mind is going to buy a car with a name that says it "doesn't go".
Re:LaCrosse by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 23:32 · Score: 0

Yes, that seems to be a common mistake. I rember the release of the a specific car with the modelname "Fitta" which have quite similar meaning to "the box" of which you speak, in Swedish.

Ghettopoly by dkode · 2004-01-30 08:37 · Score: 0

In September, retail chain Urban Outfitters begins peddling Ghettopoly, a Monopoly knockoff. The top hat, shoe, and car are replaced with a machine gun, marijuana leaf, basketball, and rock of crack cocaine. Reacting to protests, Urban Outfitters pulls the game from its stores.

I for one that the game was hilarious. Now I can't buy a copy for my grandmother!

--

Those who trade in their freedom for security, deserve neither.

What's so bad about that? by bad+enema · 2004-01-30 08:38 · Score: 0

You've got confidence in your company to survive without you. Good I say.

What would be more appropriate is by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 08:39 · Score: 0

"The 2 Or 3 Slashdot Articles Of 2003 That Were Not Completely Retarded But Still Likely Contained Biased And Asinine Write-Ups By The (So-Called) Slashdot Editors And Whose Artcile Comments Were Moderated According To Predefined Slashbot Groupthink"

I don't see why this is funny. by James+A.+E.+Joyce · 2004-01-30 08:40 · Score: 1

It's only logical to assume that the can isn't going to explode. Admittedly, it's not a good idea to put any kind of pressurised container into a very cold or a very hot environment, but water's characteristic of expanding when freezing is very much counterintuitive if you've never encountered it or been taught about it.

--

FloodMT: crapflood Movab

Re:I don't see why this is funny. by addaon · 2004-01-30 08:48 · Score: 2, Funny

Allow that may be an excuse for the Venusians, it's less convincing an argument for those who have lived many years with water in all three states.

--

I've had this sig for three days.
Re:I don't see why this is funny. by Tony+Hoyle · 2004-01-30 08:52 · Score: 1

Water expands when frozen.
Also when frozen, it rises to the top, rather than sinking (which common sense would have you believe - heat rises, except when it's water, urr....)

I know enough physics to know the two are related (it's expanded therefore of lower density than the water that hasn't frozen) but as to *why* it expands - well time to enlighten the slashdot crowd...!
Re:I don't see why this is funny. by EricWright · 2004-01-30 09:22 · Score: 3, Informative

Open this link in another tab/window and continue reading. The image in the top right of the page shows the molecular structure of water in its crystalline phase. Note the well ordered structure of each O atom having 4 H as nearest neighbors, the two H atoms covalently bonded to the O and the two H bonded to the next nearest O. There is a bit of empty space within the lattice structure.
Now, imagine breaking up this structure. Take the top molecule and rotate it by approximately 120 degrees, so that the H atom in the upper left of the image is now positioned between the H atoms bonded to the O second from the top. This is what happens when the ice melts... the molecules get closer together, causing the density to increase slightly upon melting.
If you have access to the Feynman lectures on physics, there is much better explanation with more pictures explaining this phenomenon.
Re:I don't see why this is funny. by jeremyp · 2004-01-30 10:08 · Score: 1

but water's characteristic of expanding when freezing is very much counterintuitive if you've never encountered it or been taught about it.
And yet, everybody knows that ice floats.

--
All I want is a secure system where it's easy to do anything I want. Is that too much to ask ~~ Randall Munroe
Re:I don't see why this is funny. by CrazyDuke · 2004-01-30 12:30 · Score: 1

"It's only logical to assume that the can isn't going to explode. Admittedly, it's not a good idea to put any kind of pressurised container into a very cold or a very hot environment, but water's characteristic of expanding when freezing is very much counterintuitive if you've never encountered it or been taught about it."

I guess I'm some old fart considering I actually have used ice trays. ...and have running water in my house that I have to let drip when it gets really cold ouside.

--
Any sufficiently advanced influence is indistinguishable from control.

Did they mention... by ziggy_zero · 2004-01-30 08:41 · Score: 4, Interesting

Clear Channel's recent decision to replace O'Hare airport as a landmark for the traffic updates in Chicago with the Allstate Arena due to a marketing agreement?

Clear Channel is worse than the devil.

--
I belong to the ______ generation.

Re:Did they mention... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 09:49 · Score: 0

Seeing as how that happened in 2004 and we're talking about the 101 dumbest moments of 2003...
Probably not.
Re:Did they mention... by FuzzyBad-Mofo · 2004-01-30 09:55 · Score: 2

"Quite honestly, for commuters who take this route, this change makes much more sense, since the significant majority of commuters are not going to and from O'Hare each day -- it's from the area where the Allstate Arena is located," Butler wrote to Clear Channel staffers. "By the way, all of the concerts that are booked at the Allstate are from Clear Channel Entertainment!"

More people traveling daily to the "Allstate Arena" than (possibly) the busiest fucking airport on the planet?!
ClearChannel has mostly ruined Chicago radio (thank $DEITY for WXRT), and now they fuck up our traffic reports? CC has got to go, seriously.
Re:Did they mention... by donutello · 2004-01-30 11:24 · Score: 1

More people traveling daily to the "Allstate Arena" than (possibly) the busiest fucking airport on the planet?!

O'Hare is a huge hub. A lot of people fly in to O'Hare and fly out without ever getting on the Kennedy Expressway. Also, most commuters (yeah, those people that actually want traffic reports) are not going to O'Hare. I'm not defending the decision because obviously fewer people would be going to Allstate Arena but they do make the valid point that most people are going to the general area.

ClearChannel has mostly ruined Chicago radio (thank $DEITY for WXRT), and now they fuck up our traffic reports? CC has got to go, seriously.

Stop listening then. Chicago has a lot of radio stations. Obviously there are a lot of people who don't agree with you or Clear Channel wouldn't still be in business. Seriously, this is not even a real problem in a city like Chicago. It IS a real problem in smaller places where Clear Channel is the only station - although, in theory, if they are so bad, someone should be able to use the available spectrum to start a competing station that is not so bad.

--
Mmmm.. Donuts
Re:Did they mention... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 14:33 · Score: 0

Stop listening then. Chicago has a lot of radio stations. Obviously there are a lot of people who don't agree with you or Clear Channel wouldn't still be in business. Seriously, this is not even a real problem in a city like Chicago. It IS a real problem in smaller places where Clear Channel is the only station - although, in theory, if they are so bad, someone should be able to use the available spectrum to start a competing station that is not so bad.

You apparently don't know of their rather interesting buisness practices.

Lets just say that Microsoft looks like an angel next to them.
Re:Did they mention... by rabs · 2004-01-30 18:11 · Score: 1

Wow. That is disgusting. Thank you, ziggy_zero -- I guess I know what stations *I'll* be boycotting!

- hbz
Re:Did they mention... by Malcontent · 2004-01-30 18:50 · Score: 1

"Stop listening then. Chicago has a lot of radio stations. Obviously there are a lot of people who don't agree with you or Clear Channel wouldn't still be in business."

I'd think that most republicans would be listening to clear channel just on principle regardless of the format or the quality of the station.

--
War is necrophilia.
Re:Did they mention... by jafuser · 2004-02-02 04:21 · Score: 1

We need a blog of stuff like this, so we know what companies need a good smacking.

--
Please consider making an automatic monthly recurring donation to the EFF

Strong Mutual Funds by mhesseltine · 2004-01-30 08:42 · Score: 4, Funny

I don't know if I trust my finances to a guy who, when you look him up in the phone book is listed as Strong, Dick.

The guy's probably pretty good at "screwing" his investors.

</juvenile_humor>

--
Overrated / Underrated : Moderation :: Anonymous Coward : Posting

Re:Strong Mutual Funds by zzyzx · 2004-01-30 09:42 · Score: 1

You think that's bad? Check out this lawyer's name that I saw in NJ.

Memory by Sean80 · 2004-01-30 08:42 · Score: 4, Interesting

What bothers me is that there's no community memory about these sorts of things. Say I have a guy who walks into my office looking to fill a job position I have. How do I know he isn't some scum who ripped off a bunch of little old ladies last year when he was a stocktrader on the floor on the New York Stock Exchange? How do I know he's not the marketing guy who named his car 'Le Masturbation'?

Maybe that's a role played by HR consulting firms that I'm simply not aware of, but my understanding is that those guys typically search criminal records and so forth.

Who's up for a web site that catalogs this sort of behaviour, easy to search, for use during recruitment? Otherwise these guys just prey on our lack of communal memory.

Re:Memory by savagedome · 2004-01-30 08:57 · Score: 2, Informative

You might want to look at what the geek chick did ;)

--

Free XBox, PS2
Re:Memory by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 09:01 · Score: 0

Libel suit, waiting to happen.
Unless I suppose it is just newspaper articles or totally objective summaries thereof.

But you'd best be really careful adding any little bit of (con)text.
Re:Memory by Mr.+Piddle · 2004-01-30 09:44 · Score: 4, Insightful

Who's up for a web site that catalogs this sort of behaviour, easy to search, for use during recruitment?

1) It's none of your business.
2) If the government were doing it, how would you feel?
3) The "second chance" is the key to our theories that people can be reformed.
4) Your proposed system would "convict" people outside of a court of law, possibly making their lives miserable with no justification other then hearsay.
5) Isn't this what references are supposed to be for?

--
Vote in November. You won't regret it.
Re:Memory by vigilology · 2004-01-30 09:44 · Score: 1

Is it libel if it's a known fact?
Re:Memory by MarcQuadra · 2004-01-30 09:58 · Score: 1

I was thinking abou this too. I just had some folks evicted from the apartment upstairs, they were total gypsies, and they screwed the landlord for about $5000 in total, not to mention made my life a living hell for a year. Is there any sort of 'social anonymous drop-box' for this sort of thing?

I feel bad for the next victims of these human waste. People like that make me actually believe in euthanasia, some people really DON'T contribute, and the world would be better without. Call me a facist, call me heartless, but I think we could use a heartless facist for a while, or at least legal thuggery after getting a judgement, I'd love to crack that asshole's skull if he ever touches my property again.

--
"Sometimes, I think Trent just needs a cup of hot chocolate and a blankie." -Tori Amos on Nine Inch Nails
Re:Memory by cpeterso · 2004-01-30 10:05 · Score: 1

they were total gypsies, and they screwed the landlord for about $5000 in total

"total gypsies"? Were they actual gypsies? I heard that the common phrase to "gyp" someone is a derogatory reference to gypsies. Like saying someone "jewed" you. :-\ I've stopped using the phrase "gyp" since then..

--
cpeterso
Re:Memory by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 10:26 · Score: 0

I won't call you fascist or heartless, but I will call you an ignorant racist. Comments like that about gypsies? I'd compare you to Hitler if that wouldn't lose me the argument. It appears you consider "gypsy" to mean "thief"; I suggest you say that to someone of Romani ancestry and see how long you can remain outside a courtroom.

That's the "racist" part. As for "ignorant", euthanasia is the act of killing someone who wishes to die but is unable to commit suicide themselves, such as a paraplegic, or killing someone whose life involves unbearable suffering, such as the terminally ill. You're probably thinking of eugenics, which is the act of sterilising people you consider "inferior" in order to improve the genetic stock of the human race.
Re:Memory by K-Man · 2004-01-30 11:03 · Score: 1

How do I know he's not the marketing guy who named his car 'Le Masturbation'?
Car companies don't like to be too overt about their marketing psychology, but, let's face it, that may be the most accurate car name ever.

--
---- "If we have to go on with these damned quantum jumps, then I'm sorry that I ever got involved" - Erwin Schrodinger
Re:Memory by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 11:29 · Score: 0

Libel is lies in printed form, as opposed to slander which is lies in spoken form. So if a statment is factual, it is not a lie and hence not libel or slander.
Re:Memory by YukioMishima · 2004-01-30 11:29 · Score: 1

I agree with a fellow responder, who says that "that's what references are for." This is true, both the reference(s) that got the employee the job in the first place, and the references listed by that employee in the second.

As many /.ers are doubtless aware, most good jobs don't make appearances in the newspaper or on Monster's prodigy. They are networked jobs, plain and simple, and are given based on acquaintences, friendships, and loyalty. This has at least a couple consequences/built-in safeguards. If you're referring your friend, you're talking that individual up - but you still have to balance that loyalty against the loyalty you owe your hiring friend, even if it's not your company or your job riding on her hiring. If you're doing the introducing, chances are that it's within a closed industry, and those recommendations (as well as general reputations) are going to stick around for a bit.

Ending my rant, I think that it's important to remember that you're not only interviewing when you're sitting in your suit or your sweatpants, looking over the desk of the HR manager. Within an industry, you're interviewing for that better, or perhaps even golden job everytime you interact with your peers.

What? by hdparm · 2004-01-30 08:43 · Score: 1

Are they nuts? Where on this list is my executive's decision to not give me a rather large payrise?

Security holes? by Dukael_Mikakis · 2004-01-30 08:45 · Score: 2, Funny

30 On the plus side, all the applicants were buying Eclipses. "Anyone, feasibly, given enough time and enough resources, could hack into any system."--Brad Hill, CIO of Dealerskins, a Tennessee firm that hosts websites for car dealerships, confessing in September that the company had exposed 1,000 customers' car-loan applications on an unprotected website. The Dealerskins "hack"--selecting "Source" from Internet Explorer's View menu to examine the webpage's HTML code--takes about a quarter of a second.

Finally! A security hole that is exposed by IE.

See, it goes the other way sometimes, too!

New Coke? by iantri · 2004-01-30 08:45 · Score: 1

Where's New Coke? I've only looked at the top 20, but I think it would have been way up there (near number one).

And what about Divx? (not the codec)

Re:New Coke? by tuffy · 2004-01-30 08:50 · Score: 1

The article is about the 101 Dumbest Moments in Business for the year 2003. Both of those predate last year, naturally.

--
Ita erat quando hic adveni.
Re:New Coke? by iantri · 2004-01-30 08:56 · Score: 1

An anonymous reader writes "Business 2.0's fourth annual review of the most shameful, dishonest, and just plain stupid moments of the past year...."

... Ooops. That's kind of embarrasing :(. RTFA, and all that.
Re:New Coke? by ron_ivi · 2004-01-30 08:59 · Score: 1

New Coke wasn't a mistake.
The
[Real] Coke --> New Coke --> Coke classic
changes allowed them to change the sweetener (sugar -> sugar and/or corn stuff) without people noticing as much.
Re:New Coke? by iantri · 2004-01-30 09:03 · Score: 1

Sorry, nope. They had made the switch completely BEFORE New Coke.
Snopes to the rescue, again..
In 1980, five years before the introduction of New Coke, half the cane sugar in Coca-Cola had been replaced with high fructose corn syrup. By six months prior to New Coke's knocking the original Coca-Cola off the shelves, there was no cane sugar in American Coca-Cola. Whether they knew it or not, what consumers were drinking then was 100% sweetened by high fructose corn syrup.
Re:New Coke? by cens0r · 2004-01-30 09:44 · Score: 1

And it tastes like crap... I thought coke classic actually used beet sugar? The think I miss most about dallas (now that I live in seattle) is that I can't get cane sugar dr. pepper here.

--
Jack Valenti and Orrin Hatch will be first up against the wall when the revolution comes.
Re:New Coke? by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 11:27 · Score: 0

I just wish they'd go back to the original formula. Delicious! No one would ever buy Pepsi again!
Re:New Coke? by Lobo_Louie · 2004-01-30 14:22 · Score: 1

Jeez, no offense, but just because snopes lists something as true/false/indifferent doesn't prove shit. Yes, I'm sure they've verified things, but they're not the end all.

Comment removed by account_deleted · 2004-01-30 08:47 · Score: 2, Informative

Comment removed based on user account deletion

I actually witnessed the QVC incident... by gillbates · 2004-01-30 08:49 · Score: 5, Funny

My wife was watching QVC, and I wasn't really paying attention until I saw the guy fall off the ladder. At first, I thought it was a part of the show until I heard someone saying, "It's OK, he's moving..."

Then it occurred to me that perhaps they would have a hard time selling this ladder when their own demonstrator fell off the thing on national tv!

And the best part: The host continued to plug the ladder as safe and convenient, in spite of what had just happened!

--
The society for a thought-free internet welcomes you.

Re:I actually witnessed the QVC incident... by cethiesus · 2004-01-30 09:09 · Score: 2, Informative

Snopes has a better picture, along with links to video here.

--

"Ford," he said, "you're turning into a penguin. Stop it."
Re:I actually witnessed the QVC incident... by BoneFlower · 2004-01-30 09:53 · Score: 1

I think she did a good job- she got thrown a curveball and just rolled with it.
Re:I actually witnessed the QVC incident... by Lazyhound · 2004-01-30 10:20 · Score: 3, Funny

I liked this one better. The guy is hawking a stainless-steel "katana", and decides it would be wise to bang it backwards on a table:
http://www.nihonto.ca/Knives.mpeg
Re:I actually witnessed the QVC incident... by jgoemat · 2004-01-30 15:46 · Score: 1

That is good... Although the katana broke, at least they can still claim it was sharp :)
Re:I actually witnessed the QVC incident... by shadowbearer · 2004-01-30 16:58 · Score: 1

That's priceless.

"The nice thing about this Katana.....is that it breaks when you try to slice your tomatoes with it....so we *know* you won't be using it to try to kill anyone"

Heee hee! Good lord, he just got pinked a bit. I wonder what would have happened if it'd hit him a little harder? Might have been more than a couple stitches :)

Boy, what a sword :-)))) I really, really want one. Really.

Thanks for the link. I'm going to put that on VHS and show that at my next MA class. They'll get some amusement out of it, I think.

SB

--
It's old. The more humans I meet, the more I like my cats. At least they are honest.
Re:I actually witnessed the QVC incident... by shadowbearer · 2004-01-30 17:04 · Score: 1

Lifetime Warranty Heeee heee heheheheheheheheheee

Whose lifetime, I wonder?

Thanks again, I just showed that to my GF, and she's rolling on the floor LMOL.

Damn, that was hilarious.

SB

--
It's old. The more humans I meet, the more I like my cats. At least they are honest.

#1 -- two greedy dicks by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 08:49 · Score: 5, Funny

from the article:

#1 (TIE) Two greedy Richards.
Richard the First ... Dick Grasso ... Richard the Second ... Dick Strong...

come on!! they had a PERFECT headline for the #1 dumbest moment, they could have had:

#1 (TIE) Two greedy Dicks.

damn the political correctness!

Re:#1 -- two greedy dicks by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 09:24 · Score: 1, Insightful

In their defense, you know that's what the line was until the editors got hold of it. But we know what it really is...
Re:#1 -- two greedy dicks by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 10:28 · Score: 0

They forgot to add greedy Richard Scrushy for an MMM trio.
Re:#1 -- two greedy dicks by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 12:17 · Score: 0, Troll

That is what is known as a JOKE.

You know, one of those things that are ruined when you explain them.

Like you have just done.

In true /. spirit.... by kutuz_off · 2004-01-30 08:51 · Score: 0, Offtopic

Posting an article about your online business on slashdot should definitely qualify.

"Starting a business venture with CowboyNeal" should be there too.

Slashdot Troll dead at 7 by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 08:52 · Score: 0

I just heard some sad news on talk radio. The generic "Slashdot Troll" died today from complications during surgery. The Slashdot Troll had previously entertained those reading at -1 on the Slashdot website for almost a decade. Unfortunately, lessening pride in tolling practices along with a decrease in creativity/productivity (that, and goatse is down forever) forced the Slashdot Troll to enter a rejuvenation clinic for work to be done on his funny bone. Something went terribly wrong, there weren't anymore details. Even if you weren't a fan of his work, the Slashdot Troll's contributions to popular culture truly label him as an American icon.

Number 60 is everywhere!!! by swordgeek · 2004-01-30 08:52 · Score: 2, Informative

"At an investment conference in January, Goldman Sachs CEO Henry Paulson explains his company's recent layoffs: "There are 15 to 20 percent of the people that really add 80 percent of the value. Although we have a lot of good people, you can cut a fair amount ... and still be well positioned for the upturn." Paulson later apologizes in a voice-mail message sent to every Goldman employee."

Y'know, this is no different than just about any CEO speech I've heard in any of a dozen companies in the last five years. How STUPID do you need to get a job that pays millions like this?

--

"People who do stupid things with hazardous materials often die." -- Jim Davidson on alt.folklore.urban

dumbest != shameful/dishonest by flint · 2004-01-30 08:52 · Score: 3, Informative

Interesting to note re: SCO the dumb moment is the quote. I can agree with that. Using terrorism or war related analogies just doesn't fly. Ask Kellen "I'm a soldier" Winslow Jr.

But, how many replies to this article will rave about SCO being dumb and that they should be rated higher? Probably too many due to a little myopia. What does SCO care if they piss of linux advocates? It's not like they have to worry about the opinions of most techies. They can't lose market share they didn't have. And what do they care if people are driven away from Linux to truly other systems if they succeed in forcing companies to pony up licensing fees? If they win they make money they wouldn't have. If they lose they die but they've survived longer than if they'd never tried.

Their moves may be detestable to /.'rs but aren't necessarily dumb. They've been on life-support for awhile and if you were a good CEO you'd probably take a stab at IBM's deep pockets too. Their moves appear to have already extended their life.

A corporation's chief mission is to survive. That comes long before societal and ethical concerns.

my favorite: www.powergenitalia.com by Bender+Unit+22 · 2004-01-30 08:52 · Score: 1, Funny

http://www.powergenitalia.com/

What were they thinking? :D

Re:my favorite: www.powergenitalia.com by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 09:57 · Score: 0

"What were they thinking? :D"
In Italian, I think...

chevy by gordlea · 2004-01-30 08:57 · Score: 2, Funny

And chevy used to wonder why their Nova car didn't sell very well in mexico...

--

Choose yer poison: Prophets or Profits

Re:chevy by stratjakt · 2004-01-30 09:02 · Score: 3, Informative

Thats an urban legend.

Never happened.

--
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!

Re:They missed one... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 09:00 · Score: 0

haha yea, It wouldn't have been funnier if you said windows instead, because we all know Linux is just a big fad, one day Gates will rule the world.

Cornell number 40! by Kaliken · 2004-01-30 09:01 · Score: 0

I love how my Alma mater is sitting pretty at number 40! Take that SCO! You gotta love the administration

My favorite: by shystershep · 2004-01-30 09:03 · Score: 4, Funny

39 They thought about changing their name, but, sadly, Whizzinator was already taken.
U.K. energy company Powergen finds itself so often confused with a similarly named Italian battery maker that it issues a statement disavowing any connection between the two enterprises. It's not so much the Italian company that the Brits want to distance themselves from as its Web address: Powergenitalia.com.

The humor . . . it is too much . . .

--
The bigotry of the nonbeliever is for me nearly as funny as the bigotry of the believer. - Albert Einstein

Theory X by aynrandfan · 2004-01-30 09:05 · Score: 1

Any large company trying to apply this outdated management philosopy to today's work environment, particulary in the IT industry.

I cringe waiting for the inevitable "Off topic" mod . . .

--

----

"Ours was a free culture. It is becoming much less so."-Lawrence Lessig

Re:Why doesn't Slashdot... by trix_e · 2004-01-30 09:08 · Score: 1

They already do, it's here

--
No man is an island, but Gary is a city in Indiana.

$21 billion by ad0gg · 2004-01-30 09:11 · Score: 4, Funny

In October, three and a half years after buying Network Solutions for $21 billion, VeriSign sells its dotcom-registration business for $100 million.

Coulda bought $21 billion worth of beer and returned the bottles and still would a made $900 million more money.

--

Have you ever been to a turkish prison?

Next Year: Java on Mars by Tablizer · 2004-01-30 09:12 · Score: 0, Offtopic

Sun starts bragging about Java on Spirit right before it has a major crippling computer bug. (Whether Spirit itself actually runs some Java or not is disputed.)

--
Table-ized A.I.

Gotta call shenanigans on Powergenitalia by broberds · 2004-01-30 09:12 · Score: 1

It like totally never happened. There is a Powergenitalia.com website, but it has nothing to do with the UK company Powergen.

--
-- To Err is human, to Ignignokt divine.

Re:Gotta call shenanigans on Powergenitalia by gral · 2004-01-30 09:38 · Score: 1

U.K. energy company Powergen finds itself so often confused with a similarly named Italian battery maker that it issues a statement disavowing any connection between the two enterprises. It's not so much the Italian company that the Brits want to distance themselves from as its Web address: Powergenitalia.com.

Nowhere does it state that powergenitalia.com is the UK PowerGen's website. It states it is confused with the Italian Battery makers web site, and that is the reason they want change their name.

--
Scott Carr
Re:Gotta call shenanigans on Powergenitalia by powera · 2004-01-30 09:38 · Score: 1

That's the point. Powergen isssued a release saying that the companies were not related. RTFA, dumbass.

Re:frist psot by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 09:12 · Score: 0

YOU FAIL IT!
Now go IM your mom upstairs in the kitchen, and see what's for dinner. If it's Mac and Cheese I'm coming over.

Purain? Eeeeeeewwwwww! by Scrameustache · 2004-01-30 09:13 · Score: 3, Funny

31 Yes, it does. But your bottled rainwater idea still bites.
In February, inventor J. Hutton Pulitzer files a trademark application for Purain, which he proposes as the name for a line of processed rainwater. When the Dallas Observer mocks Pulitzer's audacity--he was the man behind the CueCat scanner flop--he transforms the Purain website into a lecture about media schadenfreude: "Sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, fighting, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. Sounds like today's media--doesn't it?"

Purain is a french word for "liquid manure".

I hope they're planning to compete against Naya and Perrier on their home turf! That'll be an entertaining press release.

--

You can't take the sky from me...

Re:Purain? Eeeeeeewwwwww! by drew · 2004-01-30 09:45 · Score: 1

I've seens afew billboards recently in Michigan and Ohio advertising a bottled water called "Outhose Springs" with the tagline "It's number 1, not number 2".

--
If I don't put anything here, will anyone recognize me anymore?
Re:Purain? Eeeeeeewwwwww! by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 09:49 · Score: 1

Purain is a french word for "liquid manure" The correct French word for that lovely thing you're describing is "purin", without the "a". The pronunciation is the same though.
Re:Purain? Eeeeeeewwwwww! by Scrameustache · 2004-01-30 09:53 · Score: 1

The correct French word for that lovely thing you're describing is "purin", without the "a". The pronunciation is the same though.

I stand corrected.

--
You can't take the sky from me...
Re:Purain? Eeeeeeewwwwww! by eap · 2004-01-30 11:41 · Score: 1

In February, inventor J. Hutton Pulitzer files a trademark [snip] --he was the man behind the CueCat scanner flop ...
He couldn't even come up with a good made up name for himself. Next time, I would recommend "Max Power" or "Hercules Q. Rockefeller".

Re:frizzy pizzy by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 09:15 · Score: 0

Whack. Definitely whack.

"Terrorists do things. . . by kfg · 2004-01-30 09:17 · Score: 3, Funny

. . . designed to intimidate people" -Darl McBride

You're absolutely right Mr. McBride. Now, about this letter you sent me about a license fee for something you don't have any known rights to, complete with a threat to raise said fee if I don't comply in a timely manner?

Keep talking, maybe next year you can break into the top 50.

KFG

HAHAHA by (54)T-Dub · 2004-01-30 09:18 · Score: 1

U.K. energy company Powergen finds itself so often confused with a similarly named Italian battery maker that it issues a statement disavowing any connection between the two enterprises. It's not so much the Italian company that the Brits want to distance themselves from as its Web address: Powergenitalia.com.

--

"I can not bring myself to believe that if knowledge presents danger, the solution is ignorance" - Isaac Asimov

Anyone else find this hard to read? by Aelfy · 2004-01-30 09:21 · Score: 1

From the article:
72 Gov. Schwarzenegger quickly unveils a new plan to fix the state's budget woes by selling herbal supplements and prepaid phone cards.
Animal-rights group PETA sues the California Milk Advisory Board for false advertising in a campaign that claims that "happy cows come from California," contending that California's cows actually live on dung- and urine-soaked lots. A judge dismisses the case on a technicality, ruling, in essence, that as a state entity, the CMAB is free to deceive customers as much as it likes.

Those little tag-lines have nothing to do with each point, just being the writers idea of a quick joke about the previous item. It makes it impossible to scan for interesting ones, and just confuses the reader. Maybe its just me, but I couldn't read more than the first few pages. Its like coding and putting the comments on the function after the one in question. Frustrating. Maybe that can be point 102.

Re:Anyone else find this hard to read? by Doug-W · 2004-01-30 11:42 · Score: 1

Not really... That one is making fun of the current article, state entities are aloud to deceive customers. Gov. Schwarzenegger is therefore allowed to deceive people by selling 'herbal supplements' presumably with outragous claims as to their effeects...

Re:frizzy pizzy by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 09:22 · Score: 0

Good. Definitely good.

# 97 Boss being a complete jerkwad. by ShadowBlasko · 2004-01-30 09:23 · Score: 1

Quoting this one..

"I expect my computers to be used for work only. I expect my phones to be used for work only. Should you receive a personal call, keep it short. Should you receive a personal e-mail, I expect the e-mail either not answered, or a brief note telling whoever is sending you e-mails at work to stop immediately. Should I go through machines, which I assure you, I will be doing, and I find anything to the contrary, you will be terminated immediately. For those who think I am kidding, and do not get with this program, I will promise you that by Christmas eve 8:00 you will be gone."

Aside from the Christmas Eve thing, which admittedly is a little harsh, does anyone else *not* have a problem with this memo?

It's consise, it's clear, and it sets a very easy to follow policy, and is very clear on the consequences for failing to adhere to that policy.

I wish more companies had people like this in a position to make these kinds of mandates.

Perhaps I have worked at too many tech places where the internet/e-mail usage policies were too vaugue, and usually ended up being stated by the senior techs with something sounding like "Just... don't do it too much, and don't be flagrant about it, and you'll be fine".

I hated sitting there slogging through call after call watching someone else while they were checking their e-mail or chatting to a friend.

Perhaps I've gotten past the novelty of "getting paid to surf the net", but I see no problem with this kind of policy.

The phones belong to the companies, and local calls are usually more expensive than what you pay at home.

The machines belong to them, and as the latest barrage of worms have shown, keeping out viruses and malware and the like takes up way to much of the IT departments time. Check your email on your own machine, not mine.

On that note, if the machine belongs to me, I fully expect to not hear you bitch if I happen to check the contents of the e-mail account set up for you to do your *work*. Also I should be able to check whats on *my* hard drive you happen to be getting paid to use.

It's my server, it's my bandwidth, and the messages are on my machines. You want privacy? Get your own network, or use your own machines.

Or I am totally missing something here?

--
There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order- Ed Howdershelt Via Tass

Re:# 97 Boss being a complete jerkwad. by daveo0331 · 2004-01-30 09:40 · Score: 1

by ShadowBlasko (597519) on Friday January 30, @01:23PM (#8138733)

Well, unless you work second shift or live in Europe or something, it looks like you're posting comments to Slashdot in the middle of the work day. Perhaps a better approach would be to simply set the example you want others to follow.

--
Remember the days when Republicans were the party of fiscal responsibility?
Re:# 97 Boss being a complete jerkwad. by EricWright · 2004-01-30 09:41 · Score: 1

Or I am totally missing something here?
You're missing the point that most people don't want to work for a megalomaniac. You sound a lot like my wife's former manager. He would often stand outside the restroom and chastise people for taking too long, explosive diarrhea or not... accuse them of stealing from the company by taking extended potty breaks on company time.
No one wants to work for a boss like that... except maybe you.
Re:# 97 Boss being a complete jerkwad. by EricWright · 2004-01-30 09:46 · Score: 1

Digging through his home page, it looks like he lives in or near Ohio. Sounds like the middle of a work day to me! Or maybe he's just taking a vacation day today...
Re:# 97 Boss being a complete jerkwad. by ShadowBlasko · 2004-01-30 09:50 · Score: 1

Actually, its the day after my birthday, and I'm off. Don't y'all go flaming on me here.

I'm sitting at home writing this.

--
There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order- Ed Howdershelt Via Tass
Re:# 97 Boss being a complete jerkwad. by EricWright · 2004-01-30 10:00 · Score: 1

Ok... we'll let you slide this time... ;-)
Re:# 97 Boss being a complete jerkwad. by cubicledrone · 2004-01-30 10:03 · Score: 1

"I expect my computers to be used for work only. I expect my phones to be used for work only. Should you receive a personal call, keep it short. Should you receive a personal e-mail, I expect the e-mail either not answered, or a brief note telling whoever is sending you e-mails at work to stop immediately. Should I go through machines, which I assure you, I will be doing, and I find anything to the contrary, you will be terminated immediately. For those who think I am kidding, and do not get with this program, I will promise you that by Christmas eve 8:00 you will be gone."

Sure thing, Admiral. Tell you what, you can take your job, your computers, your phones and your bullshit policy and park 'em, up left and sideways.

If I worked where a policy like this was issued, I would quit instantly.

Suppose one of my kids gets hurt at school? Suppose my wife wants to meet for lunch? What if I have to talk with the bank, real estate agent, phone company, gardener, car mechanic? Guess what? I'm talking the call, and if you don't like it, TOUGH SHIT.

Or I am totally missing something here?

People don't like being shoved up against a wall.

--
Business isn't willing to pay for products, innovation and careers, so we get brands, mortgage commercials and layoffs.
Re:# 97 Boss being a complete jerkwad. by bogie · 2004-01-30 10:19 · Score: 1

Yes you are missing something. People aren't robots and don't want to be treated as such. Come down hard on everyone and take all of their enjoyment out of life and you'll have high employee turnover and bunch of workers who hate you. There does need to be clear policies on what is acceptable but your idea of what a workplace should look like is Way over the line.

--
If you wanna get rich, you know that payback is a bitch
Re:# 97 Boss being a complete jerkwad. by Samrobb · 2004-01-30 10:20 · Score: 4, Insightful

Or I am totally missing something here?

The problem I have with this - as I expect most people do - is that it's a double standard. If my wife wants to contact me at work, that's verbotten. If there's an emergency at work after hours, the company expects to be able to count on my personal resources (phone, computer, time, etc.) because, well, because...

"Don't you have any loyalty to the company"?
"What's the matter, aren't you a team player?"

If the company has no loyalty to me, if they refuse to take my side, then I'll refuse to take theirs. On the other hand, if they have the common decency to allow reasonable use of company resources for personal reasons, then I'll be more than happy to allow them to make reasonable use of my personal resources for company reasons.

I'd say the key word here is reasonable. If the company is willing to be reasonable with me, I'm willing to be reasonable with them - and vice versa. The company often gets to define what's reasonable; in the above case, based on the company's attitude towards employee use of company resources, I think that a reasonable response to your boss calling you at home would be to slap them with a cease-and-desist order for harassment.

In any case, while I think the above was a good example of a pretty unreasonable policy (at least for a salaried employee), you're right - at least it was it writing.

--
"Great men are not always wise: neither do the aged understand judgement." Job 32:9
Re:# 97 Boss being a complete jerkwad. by schon · 2004-01-30 10:36 · Score: 1

It's consise, it's clear, and it sets a very easy to follow policy, and is very clear on the consequences for failing to adhere to that policy.

It's also insulting, degrading, demoralizing, and makes it known that the manager considers employees to be personal slaves who are not allowed to have personal emergencies during work.

Perhaps I have worked at too many tech places where the internet/e-mail usage policies were too vaugue

Or perhaps you're an idiot who has no idea that, generally speaking, fear is the worst way to motivate employees to do a good job.

You don't have to intimidate and make threats to be concise and clear, or to set a policy.

The phones belong to the companies, and local calls are usually more expensive than what you pay at home.

All of which is completely irrelevant. The issue is not that the policy is wrong, but how notification of that policy is delivered.

I am totally missing something here?

Yes, it's called a personality.
Re:# 97 Boss being a complete jerkwad. by ShadowBlasko · 2004-01-30 10:47 · Score: 1

This memo says nothing about "bathroom breaks" or anything like that. (I know that was not you, I'm just kinda lumping it in) I'm taking it at face value. Nothing more, nothing less.

In regards to the boss calling you at home, I would have a problem with that too, depending on the nature of my contract. But thats not the issue here.

If there was a medical emergency, or an emergency with the kids and my wife called me at work, and the boss bitched about it, then yes, I would agree with the previous poster about walking out the door.

However, in a previous call center job I had, I could *not* recieve incoming personal calls regardless of how much of an emergency it was. If there was an emergency, the person would have to call the control desk, who would come and get me. And there were emergencies, and the control desk came and got me. The policy worked. No problems.

It might be more about outgoing personal calls, but I can't read that into this memo. This memo seems to me to be written by a manager who is at his wits end with abuses of company property and resources, and has had enough. "Here is the new policy, I expect you to follow it, or find work elsewhere". I have no problem with that. I really don't.

--
There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order- Ed Howdershelt Via Tass
Re:# 97 Boss being a complete jerkwad. by ShadowBlasko · 2004-01-30 11:26 · Score: 3, Insightful

It's also insulting, degrading, demoralizing, and makes it known that the manager considers employees to be personal slaves who are not allowed to have personal emergencies during work.

Where does it say that? You apparently can read things I that I can't. If you can read into this that employees are not allowed to have emergencies, then I can read into it that emergencies are a different situation, and leeway is usually given. Then again, our definition of emergency may differ.
Or perhaps you're an idiot who has no idea that, generally speaking, fear is the worst way to motivate employees to do a good job.

Letting the personal bit go, have you ever had employees?. I have. I agree that fear, while it can be an excellent motivator, is not the way to motivate your employees.
This is not about fear. In fact, I would say that this is just the opposite. The greatest human fear is the unknown. This policy eliminates that fear. Here are the rules. Follow them, or be terminated. There is no inferred fear there. If this was the *only* policy that the company had, then yeah, it's a pretty piss poor motivator, and no one in their right mind would work there.
This is not about motivation. It's about expecting employees to follow the rules. Have you read what the latest virus/worms costs companies in lost time and other costs. Get your damned email at home. It's not your computer or network to play with. It's mine. It is there so you can do your job.
If I let you surf the net between calls, be happy I do. Maybe I will even let you check your hotmail account.
But don't think for a MINUTE I am going to let you use your work email account (which is what this memo is about) for personal reasons. I don't need the company mailboxes/servers full of spam and viruses and Nieman Marcus cookie recipies. It cost me money to run these servers and administer them. The more money it costs me, the less profitable our business is, and the less you are gonna wanna work here. Deal with it.
In regards to the phones, how is it irrelevant? If I am running a call center, I get and keep clients based upon my service levels. One of the first things a client looks at when choosing a customer for tech support is average speed of answer. (Been there, done that, trust me... its a big issue) If you are on the phone, not doing something work related, what am I paying you for? Use the phone in the break room when you are on your break. Asking employees not to use the phones for personal calls (when on the clock) is not the practice of some totalitarian regime. It's a good business descision.
Look at it this way. You work for XYZ technical services. You have computers in the break rooms, you have a great benefits package, you have phones in the break rooms. You get a full hour for lunch. We have a great cafeteria and good restaraunts nearby. You are allowed to surf the web between calls. You get excellent training, tuition reimbursement, and *real* certifications by company trainers that you can take with you when you leave. There are emergency contact numbers that your loved ones, or your childrens school administration can call to get ahold of you. You can even have your cell phone with you at your desk, you can get your text messages, but I ask that you not make or recieve calls while you are "logged in" to the phones to take calls from clients.
Suddenly, you get the above memo. Do you have a problem with it now?
We don't know what the conditions are like at the company that this memo was issued at. They could be like I just decribed.
I described it that way because that is very much like a company I used to work for. If I had any brains back in the mid 90's I would still be working for them. But I was stupid and followed a promise of better money, and faster certifications. I didn't realize how good I had it. That company had a policy very much like what this memo states. Not quite so harshly stated certainly, but it reads very much like the memo people recieved after being caught violating the personal use policy the *first* time
Oh, BTW, ask anyone who knows me. I have more personality than I know what to do with.

--
There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order- Ed Howdershelt Via Tass
Re:# 97 Boss being a complete jerkwad. by Bourbonium · 2004-01-30 12:16 · Score: 3, Insightful

As others pointed out, you are free to work for this jerkwad if you enjoy having these kinds of policies in place. But if you did, you sure as hell wouldn't be posting to /. during working hours, or you'd be out on your ass come 8:00 Christmas eve. Enjoy the unemployment queue.

There is a benefit to having clear, concise computer, telephone and security policies in place, but there are diplomatic ways to phrase such policies in an employee manual, not by way of a blunt (if not outright rude) email from a boss who sounds like Josef Stalin. If the boss addresses his clients/customers the same way he communicates with his employees, he won't be in business for very long.
Re:# 97 Boss being a complete jerkwad. by Samrobb · 2004-01-30 15:04 · Score: 1

Actually, I think you make a good point - there's no context as to what kind of job you're talking about. The call center job you mentioned is a good example; I can think of a number of other jobs where an incoming call would *have* to go to a central location, either as a matter of policy or neccesity. As you say, no problem, because it comes with the territory.

OTOH, my experience - and point of view - is that of a salaried technology worker. I'm in my 10th year of working almost exclusively for small, start-up type companies, in a position where I *expect* the company to be flexible... I mean, I'm writing this taking a break from trying to get RPM to cross-compile on a freakin' friday night! They pay me for this kind of dedication to getting the job done, and the payment isn't always money. It's in the ability to be flexible with my time, work at home when needed, personal phone calls from work so my family can plan around a sometimes chaotic work-driven schedule, etc.

If I were in another situation entirely, though, yah, I could see these sorts of rules being in place and enforced. I still think I'd take exception with the tone of the memo, though. It's uneccesarily rude, overly personal and unprofessional. The same information could have been communicated without the "It's mine, you greedy thieving little beggars! Touch it and I'll fire you on Christmas Eve! I'll be watchin' you! Go ahead, I dare you to test me!" ranting.

--
"Great men are not always wise: neither do the aged understand judgement." Job 32:9
Re:# 97 Boss being a complete jerkwad. by shadowbearer · 2004-01-30 17:30 · Score: 1

Yeah. Shit like this is what prompted me to live on next to nothing for years while I built my own business; and after I moved 850 miles west, to search for work where there was loyalty both ways. I found it - not at the wage I was making before while independently employed, but at least when I go home now, my time is my own :)

I can think of 3 people/companies I've worked for who returned what they were given - out of over 13 in 20 years. *Three*

Back in '90 or so, I quit considering the kind of crap you are talking about as "unreasonable" and began to think of it as serfdom. It's no more and no less (probably a lot more).

Dangit, I'm so mad now I can't think straight. Not for me, for all the people with obvious talent I see trapped underneath people who have no fucking idea how to accomplish the duties they were given without resorting to dictatorial tactics (most of the time, the first sign of cluelessness)

If the company has no loyalty to me, if they refuse to take my side, then I'll refuse to take theirs.

Yes, exactly. If the idiots at a company can't consider their employees their MOST VALUABLE RESOURCE; then they are bloody clueless. They can bribe, cajole, bitch, or threaten; but when it comes down to the grit, the most valuable employees for *any* company are the ones *who want to be there because they feel like they are accomplishing something*.

I fail to understand this "personnel management" thing. You *work* *with* your people, you don't *manage* them. They're not robots.

Sigh.

Sorry for the rant :) It's Friday and I'm trying to get drunk :)

SB

--
It's old. The more humans I meet, the more I like my cats. At least they are honest.

So where's the true evil? by swordgeek · 2004-01-30 09:24 · Score: 4, Insightful

Articles like this are cute and give us a chance to snicker at idiotic behaviour, but the worst business decisions of (pick a year) should really be looking at and even emphasising the deeply amoral and criminal behaviour of some companies. Consider Coca-Cola, in India: They're draining ground water, bottling and reselling it, and dumping the purification byproducts onto the desert they've created where fertile farmland once stood. A few years ago, Nike (and then everyone else) ran into issues with sweatshop labour, but we don't hear about these things anymore, and they're still going on!

Bottom line, I'd like to see a magazine doing an article on the REAL abuses of businesses, and not just their silly little dumb decisions.

--

"People who do stupid things with hazardous materials often die." -- Jim Davidson on alt.folklore.urban

Re:So where's the true evil? by RatBastard · 2004-01-30 10:48 · Score: 1

My mother lived in Puerto Rico the year that Coca Cola moved in. She tells of the immidiate rise in tooth decay and obiecity that ran through the local populace.

Corporations only care about theiir bottom lines. They don't care what they do to their customers.

--
Boobies never hurt anyone. - Sherry Glaser.

verisign by happyfrogcow · 2004-01-30 09:26 · Score: 1

glad to see that VeriSign didn't miss out on the honors. #67 i think it was.

Re:WTF? (easier way) by gosand · 2004-01-30 09:27 · Score: 1

Are they hiring?

Dude, I am sure if you want to get bitten on the breast by a guy, you don't have to go to work at DQ. Just look on the internet, I am sure there is a website out there that will hook you up.

--

My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.

There are popups? [ by rs79 · 2004-01-30 09:28 · Score: 1

I keep hearing about these damnable popups, but dude, really, ever since halfway decent browsers have let you block them in one mouseclick forever* why is anybody still complaining about them?

*In the version of Opera I'm using this to type with mouse over to File at the top of the page, click to pull down a menu, while holding the mouse button down select Quick Preferences then Refuse Pop Ups. Let go of the mouse. Popups are now blocked. You may have to follow different steps if you're using a different version or brand of browser. Maybe you can't do it at all, in which case either use a browser that does or stop complaining about an easily fixed problem.
Email spam is a big deal. This isn't even enough of a problem to rate a "minor annoyance" rating

--
Need Mercedes parts ?

Re:There are popups? [ by Vlad_the_Inhaler · 2004-01-30 23:49 · Score: 1
Infuriatingly, a few of the sites I use rely on them.
- If I want to reconfigure any of my ISP's settings, the menus come up as pop-ups
- At least two of the sites I use to book airline tickets also require this (one - the one offering the best deals - did not work at all with Mozilla or Konq until recently, forcing me to use Netscape 4.7x)
- My local airport's site also delivers some information via pop-up's.
X11's demise has meant that I can normally leave pop-ups activated, the business2.com site just forced me to deactivate them again.

Obviously Mozilla allows me to specify which sites are allowed to use pop-ups. For some reason, the airport and one of the airline-ticket sites do not work that way - even after restarting the browser.
--
Mielipiteet omiani - Opinions personal, facts suspect.
Re:There are popups? [ by Tukla · 2004-01-31 08:47 · Score: 1

It might be the way you're specifying the site. For example, my banking site uses popups, but if I put "http://www.usbank.com" in the exceptions list, it doesn't work. Turns out I had to use "https://www4.usbank.com" instead, since that's where the secure session takes place.
Just a thought.
Re:There are popups? [ by Vlad_the_Inhaler · 2004-01-31 23:29 · Score: 1

thanks, I'll bear that in mind next time.

The Airport should not be using a secure-protocol because the data is public, but the Airline may very well be. The other problem is: the url does not get displayed so something like www4 instead of www will be a problem to detect. Maybe I should view the page-source of the referring page and look for the offending java script.

--
Mielipiteet omiani - Opinions personal, facts suspect.

When EA bought Westwood by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 09:29 · Score: 0

I think one of the stupidest moments was when Westwood allowed Electronic Arts to buy them. After that, EA killed (or at least severely FUBARed) many of their projects. For example, C&C Renegade was much cooler (with a better engine) than the current version that EA made them make.

I loved the Quiznos wolf ad.. by dougnaka · 2004-01-30 09:33 · Score: 1

To quote "11 Mommy, can I have something to drink with my cheesesteak? Fast-food sandwich chain Quiznos launches its new Philly cheesesteak with a TV commercial featuring two businessmen eating lunch alfresco. One's a smart Quiznos customer; the other, a non-Q loser. "Were you raised by wolves?" asks appalled Guy No. 1. Yes, indeed--and he still calls the wolf den home. Cut to a shot of Guy No. 2 lying on the ground and suckling a mama wolf's teat. "

I remember seeing that commercial and falling violently to the floor in a spat of uncontrolled laughter.

--
My Linux Command of the Day site : LCOD

Re:I loved the Quiznos wolf ad.. by SoSueMe · 2004-01-30 11:12 · Score: 1

sig -- My HP Laptop runs...
I wish I could say that!

Re:frizzy pizzy by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 09:34 · Score: 0

Or. Definitely or.

Can you be condescending to yourself? by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 09:34 · Score: 0

I wonder if he ever annoys himself when he picks on his employees.

Re:Can you be condescending to yourself? by stor · 2004-01-30 12:34 · Score: 1

I wonder if he ever annoys himself when he picks on his employees.

Heh, I do. I'm constantly self-deprecating:

"Stor, you _knew_ that thing had to be done by _this time_ and it _had_ to be correct. But it's 11.07am and it's still spewing out errors under certain conditions. What's the fucking story?"

Then I get resentful towards my harsher self: "Shuddup and let me work on this thing! You're really not helping!"

Then I beat my head against the monitor until the voices go away. It's all good.

Wierd thing I've noticed is colleages at work are not whinging to me about technical problems as often.

Cheers
Stor

--
"Yeah well there's a lot of stuff that should be, but isn't"

RTFA by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 09:52 · Score: 0

It like totally never happened.

What never happened? Your link shows that there is no relation between Powergen UK and the website Powergenitalia.com - which is what the article said.

There is a Powergenitalia.com website, but it has nothing to do with the UK company Powergen.

RTFA - that's pretty much what the article said:

U.K. energy company Powergen finds itself so often confused with a similarly named Italian battery maker that it issues a statement disavowing any connection between the two enterprises.

So how does the snopes article (which says that the two companies are not related) give any proof that one of the companies did not issue a statement saying the companies are not related?

You need to brush up on your reading comprehension skills.

Our accounting file clerk by eric76 · 2004-01-30 10:15 · Score: 1

I sometimes can't find copies of ivoices when I need them. I have some equipment to send back for warranty repairs, but the seller requires a copy of the original invoice be included in the box with the shipment.

Yesterday, I handed her an invoice we received for $3,600 worth of equipment.

She didn't want the invoice. It was my responsiblity to keep up with it, not hers.

When I asked her if that was why she couldn't find the invoices I needed to return the equipment, she replied that I never give her the invoices for her to file.

Candid, to a fault by Grrr · 2004-01-30 10:16 · Score: 1

...A judge dismisses the case on a technicality, ruling, in essence, that as a state entity, the [California Milk Advisory Board] is free to deceive customers as much as it likes.

:\

<grrr>

My dumbest moment, EVER... by SmurfButcher+Bob · 2004-01-30 10:20 · Score: 1

...Clicking "I accept" on the NTS4 Eula.

--

help me i've cloned myself and can't remember which one I am

Hmmmmm.... by gmby · 2004-01-30 10:20 · Score: 1

I think it's called, Google?

--
I don't want a pickle; I just want a Motor-Cycle! A four foot cop arrived with a five foot gun!

Re: You can do better (or, uh, worse) by Grrr · 2004-01-30 10:24 · Score: 1

... Or maybe the author has another agenda. With such a freakin' wealth of really awful commercials to choose from, it's almost suspect that the Quizno's ad is cited here.

I appreciate the depressing difference between a good commercial and a memorable one... but can any of you ad pros share a hyperlink to more definitive all-time lists or surveys of commercials that should never have seen the light of day?

TiA

<grrr>

I don't even know how to title this. by MarcQuadra · 2004-01-30 10:33 · Score: 1

ugh. No, they weren't actual ethnic Gypsies. They were tightly-family-knit travelling debt generators.

It might not be Politically Correct, but they were gypsie motherfsckers, and they hardcore jewed my landlord. On top of that, their 'remodeling' was a serious case of nigger engineering. They mick'd up the drains, polocked the dryer, and went fisheye/gook on the paint job.

But you shouldn't take me seriously, because I'm of Armo-Limey goat-herding heritage, want any feta?

--
"Sometimes, I think Trent just needs a cup of hot chocolate and a blankie." -Tori Amos on Nine Inch Nails

Re:LaCrosse Check #9 by Graemee · 2004-01-30 10:40 · Score: 1

So, In Le Crosse WI it seems they can't have a good german fuck, so they have to jerk off.

Maybe a name change is order.

inane collections of stupid business mistakes by epine · 2004-01-30 10:46 · Score: 1

I've read collections much better researched that this rat bag. I could pull 100 stupider things out of my own sock drawer.

The one I remember from a book I read was an airline that offered a promotion to frequent business flyers allowing them to take a companion for free.

Then to follow up on this spiff, the decided to send letters to the residences of the business men who had taken advantage of the offer. It was a reminder many never forgot. These letters were mostly opened up by spouses(PC) who had never gone anywhere.

Marketrons just don't know how to quit, nor do they recognize the vices they facilitate.

Re:inane collections of stupid business mistakes by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 11:39 · Score: 0

While I agree you that the list of 100 corporate jackasses list was lame and that marketing folks are usually officious morons, I don't think there was anything heinous about follow up email to those flyers who utilized their frequent flier miles.

Outside of keeping terrorists and bombs off the planes, its not the airlines' job to tell its customers where to go and who to go with.
Re:inane collections of stupid business mistakes by Blondie-Wan · 2004-01-30 12:42 · Score: 1

I've read collections much better researched that this rat bag. I could pull 100 stupider things out of my own sock drawer.
The one I remember from a book I read was an airline that offered a promotion to frequent business flyers allowing them to take a companion for free.

Ok, but did that (or any of the other stupider things you could pull out) happen last year?

MTV by mabu · 2004-01-30 10:48 · Score: 1

In January, British radio station BRMB is fined 15,000 for holding a contest in which entrants are challenged to see who can sit on a block of ice the longest, with the winner getting free concert tickets. The station got the idea from a New Zealand website, but unlike the Kiwis, the Brits use dry ice, which, at -109 degrees Fahrenheit, is unkind to human flesh. Three participants are hospitalized.

I saw an episode of MTV's "Real World/Road Rules challenge" where they had the contestants do the same thing.

Speaking of dumbass moments, has anyone noticed that the "Real World" just gets worse and worse? They make a tv show now where they toss a bunch of (some underage) kids in a house and stock it with alcohol and watch them get sick and act stupid. It's almost criminal. But I guess that's the trend on TV now.

Re:MTV by mabu · 2004-01-30 12:03 · Score: 1

Oops let me qualify that I don't think the MTV show used dry ice, not that regular ice was any less stupid IMO.

So what's the moral here? by Schwartzboy · 2004-01-30 10:49 · Score: 1

a) "In order to stick it to da man, you must eventually become da man yourself"?

b) "Strike me down, and I will become more powerful than you can ever imagine"?

c) "If you really want to succeed, drop out of college. Just look what happened to little Billy from that nice house down the street"?

Maybe we need to see a "Butterfly Effect"-style film that explores the possibilities of different paths the computing world could have taken. (no, Bill, you should make that screen pink, then people will really know that something's wrong with their computer. what should we call it, then? Pink screen...of death? hm...)

--
"Linux doesn't exist. Everyone knows Linux is an unlicensed version of Unix"- Kieren O'Shaughnessy

Reading is hard by catbutt · 2004-01-30 10:55 · Score: 1

The employee was the one doing the biting.

Sunset Direct got a grand prise! by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 11:02 · Score: 0

#97 is an insane memo from Doug Monahan. Funny, I got e-mail from Doug Monahan and Sunset Direct. Spam e-mail. It was over five years ago, but I remember it well, since they were in the office next door. I'm proud to say I never did anything to got back at them, but I was tempted. Pepper spray in the cabin air intake for his fancy car was my favorate fantasy.

Thanks. by Yoda2 · 2004-01-30 11:05 · Score: 1

We have just under 20 people (contrary to what was stated above). When I have to get involved in kitchen-level disputes, I try to have a good time with it. Plus I had a hell of a headache at the time and writing that memo was easier than doing real work.

Russian Roulette For Kids by durtbag · 2004-01-30 11:24 · Score: 1

How about this little beauty: Russian Roulette for Kids

--
itadakimasu

Yom Kippur as a reason to party! by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 11:40 · Score: 0

Evite: "In August, online "social planning destination" Evite sends an apology to its users for having cited Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of atonement, as a "reason to party" in an earlier e-mail newsletter. "

I personally know the Evite general manager who sent out the e-mail. The ironic thing is... she is Jewish.

-- posting as AC

Pixar by bonch · 2004-01-30 11:42 · Score: 2, Funny

Disney losing Pixar, anyone? Thanks for fucking them over on Toy Story 2, Disney.

Re:Pixar by Blondie-Wan · 2004-01-30 11:59 · Score: 1

I have a feeling that'll show up somewhere on next year's list.

Points here by phorm · 2004-01-30 11:46 · Score: 2, Interesting

Indeed, of all the commercial in the last while this is probably the one most mentioned by my friends. Maybe I just hang around with a bunch of sickos (well, probably), but still it obviously proves that the commercial is getting high visibility.

You might want to remember, if 10% of people ignore a commercial, 45% of people remember it because they like it, and 45% of people remember it but it bothered them... 90% still remember the commercial and have a company name quite possibly stuck in their head. How many of those will say "I'd never eat there after that aweful commercial?"

Mindshare works, just look at the SCO fud... even negetive publicity is publicity, though personally I found it somewhat amusing as well.

Wired Magazine Kissing Thier Customers Goodbye by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 11:51 · Score: 0

With thier latest blunder of callously reporting on the economic and cultural disaster called Offshoaring IT.

Regardless of what your perspective is, telling the heart and soul of your readership to kiss thier livelihoods goodbye... is just plain stupid.

Parmalat by jabuzz · 2004-01-30 11:56 · Score: 1

You some how manage to think you have four billion Euro's in an account, and then find that it's a forgery and someone has done a runner with the money, makin Enron and Worldcom look like the good guy's and you don't even get mentioned!!!

Sorry but none of the listed things come anywhere near the business dealings of Parmalat for shameful, dishonest and dumb business moments of 2003.

Reminds me of the Toyota thing... by fiannaFailMan · 2004-01-30 12:00 · Score: 1

You know the Toyota MR2? They had to rename it in France IIRC. Apparently 'emerdeux' translates as 'shitty.'

--
Drill baby drill - on Mars

Sports and slang words by fiannaFailMan · 2004-01-30 12:04 · Score: 1

The first thing that came to my mind was the game Lacrose. Reminds me of when I came to the states and discovered, to my horror, that the Americans have a slang word for vomitting that is the exact same as my national game. Hurling.

--
Drill baby drill - on Mars

Could Have Been Worse! Re:From the article... by StefanJ · 2004-01-30 12:06 · Score: 2, Informative

What if they showed Raised by Wolves guy remembering his first date?

* * *

There's an SUV commercial featuring a suburban dad Raised By Wolves. He's shown chasing deer, fetching sticks, and cavorting with timber wolves.

My question: Which came first, the car commercial or Quiznos's?

Stefan

weirdo by Doc+Ruby · 2004-01-30 12:23 · Score: 1

Nonsequitur lies about Kerry, a weird homophobic .sig about Cowboy Neal... what are you really afraid of?

--

--
make install -not war

Be nice now... by Orion442 · 2004-01-30 12:35 · Score: 0

Darl is one of the most retarded/redneck names I've ever heard, so cut the guy some slack. He probably has so much pent-up aggression from getting beat up as a child on a daily basis, his shit's the circumference of spaghetti.

Unfortunate related link... by writermike · 2004-01-30 13:03 · Score: 1

Note in Number 3 -- the entry for Ghettopoly -- that one of the related links is for "The Best Gifts at the Right Price".

Odd.

--
If Nalgene water bottles are outlawed, only outlaws will have Nalgene water bottles.

Swastikas by amplt1337 · 2004-01-30 13:14 · Score: 1

Just a quick note about #s 84-85 -- this isn't as much of an obvious bad idea as it might seem. In most of Asia, the swastika is more closely associated with Buddhists than with Nazis -- the Chinese Buddhists got it from the Indian ones, who used it in accord with a long tradition by which the swastika is an Indo-Aryan symbol for the sun, particularly in the context of religious worship.

So they probably weren't making light of the Holocaust so much as offering products that were received in a slightly different way than intended...

--
Freedom isn't free; its price is the well-being of others.

On the n. 5 by curious.corn · 2004-01-30 13:26 · Score: 1

some time ago a TV commercial portrayed some kind of bicyclist (mind you... over here in it-IT these are despised because 1. they slow drivers down like anything that doesn't do 0...100Km/h in 6s 2. they usually stand in the way and do so ostensively just to get on your damn nerves 3. often they cycle in herds that are difficult to overtake and make for a dangerous quarrel at the next stoplight... you guessed it... I'm a rabid roman driver... but back on topic...) so in this commercial this idiot in a pink stretch cycling outfit with all the bells 'n whistles rests his arm or hand on some other dude's car engine hood whenever the two stop at crossroars, stop signs or lights. In the last scene the driver backs off in reverse at the last second and the other moron falls off his bike...
I loved it but it stirred quite an emotion across the cycle aficionados... they pulled it... what a shame ;-)

--
Mi domando chi Ã il mandante di tutte le cazzate che faccio - Altan

What about MS & IBM? by rffmna · 2004-01-30 13:30 · Score: 1

What about IBM team that decided to buy software from Bill Gates? the software which he didnt have or own..

--
-------
FM Clan

#82 RIAA and 'legal methods' by OzPhIsH · 2004-01-30 13:41 · Score: 1

82 How to win friends and influence record sales. "We won't win any popularity contests. We don't really care what people think."--Recording Industry Association of America spokeswoman Amy Weiss, on the group's decision to file lawsuits against customers accused of Internet file sharing, including a 12-year-old New York girl and a 65-year-old Massachusetts grandmother. U.S. record sales remain stagnant after the RIAA launches its campaign in the courts, and an appeals court bans the RIAA's legal methods in December.

Am I missing something? Wasn't the point that these methods are illegal? It needs to be drilled into more people's heads that the RIAA is a group of thieves conducting illegal business practices (price fixing for one.) They need to be identified as the #1 law breakers and absolute WORST enemy to music industry.

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"To lead the people, you must walk behind them"

Re:#82 RIAA and 'legal methods' by forkboy · 2004-01-30 19:47 · Score: 1

I really hope you're kidding. If not, read it again and think about what definition of 'legal' they're using.

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Style over substance (Re:# 97 Boss being a) by skwang · 2004-01-30 13:46 · Score: 1

I think many people, including myself, had no context in which this internal memo was sent. We don't know the boss who sent it. We don't know the employees s/he was sending it too. As a result we all imagined ourselves receiving this memo at our own place of work.

Where I work, we have a very lax enviornment. We use our computers and our phone system for personal use all the time. It is tolerated as long as it is not egregous. If you could imagine such a memo being sent in this situation, it would cause many unintended ripples.

Back to the point... On face value this memo is too harsh. It is written from a person who looks down on his/her employees. The phrase "I expect" reinforces this point. You're right, I don't know the context of this memo, but there are more diplomatic ways of saying the same thing without coming off a jerkwad (using your word). As I said, style over substance. It was not what was said but how it was said that most people are taking issue with.

Re:Style over substance (Re:# 97 Boss being a) by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 15:16 · Score: 0

You can see a photo of the guy that wrote the memo here. Reminds me of that inept dude from The Office.

GM couldn't sell "Novas" in Hispanic areas by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 13:53 · Score: 0

Hmm, my Spanish sucks but "no va" is awfully close to "doesn't go"...

Comment removed by account_deleted · 2004-01-30 14:17 · Score: 1

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Even Darl doesn't have one of these... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-30 14:30 · Score: 0

Genuine SCO instructors Shirt

Get yours now!

IKEA by frozenray · 2004-01-30 15:14 · Score: 0, Redundant

"In April, Swedish furniture giant Ikea explains that a children's bunk bed called the Gutvik is named for "a tiny town in Sweden." Announcing that bit of etymology becomes necessary when Germans point out that, in their neck of the woods, the word sounds like a phrase that means "good f***." Ikea yanks the Gutvik from its catalogs in Germany."

While they were at it, they apparently also yanked the "Rekdal" bed frame from their product line for obvious reasons (I'm not making this up).

I bet those two beds sold like hotcakes in the small Austrian town of Fucking, though...

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"There are already a million monkeys on a million typewriters, and Usenet is NOTHING like Shakespeare." - Blair Houghton

Depends on who they're marketing to by rsilvergun · 2004-01-30 17:55 · Score: 1

consumers or Coke shareholders?

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Favorite Jack commercial by lpret · 2004-01-30 18:49 · Score: 1

You want me to be happy too right?

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This is my digital signature. 10011011001

Re:Join the Jihad by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-31 00:29 · Score: 0

I'm all over this idea. I've been thinking about it for the past three days. We could troll the trolls!

MOD PARENT UP!!! by Junior+J.+Junior+III · 2004-01-31 02:28 · Score: 1

MOD PARENT UP, I have ALWAYS thought this!

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You see? You see? Your stupid minds! Stupid! Stupid!

Here's what you're missing by TimTheFoolMan · 2004-01-31 05:40 · Score: 1

Rule #1: Treat people like adults, and they will generally act like adults and behave responsibly. When they don't (and it significantly impacts the business), see Rule #2.

Rule #2: Instead of managing for the 2% that are going to take advantage of you as an employer, manage according to the needs and behavior of the 98%. However, when you find the 2%, fire them immediately (assuming that you have defined the rules clearly).

People like knowing that there are rules, and that people who cross the line will be punished. In addition, this creates a sense of peer-influence ("Hey, moron... do you see the rest of us surfing for sports scores when we've got a deadline looming?") that is much stronger than anything you can push down from the top.

Tim

Yeah, but now they have by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-31 06:05 · Score: 0

An in-house slayer.

Jokes Aside... Why it sucks. by temojen · 2004-01-31 06:36 · Score: 1

I'm pretty sure that most of the people who were serious in the thread about slashdot personals were serious because they wanted to find someone who's got compatible interests to them.

Instead, we got Match.com, which, being a general singles site, has the same selection of people as your local singles bar.

It would have been much better to build something closer to sciconnect.com, but with a geek slant, rather than a science slant.

Re:Taking the Fun out of...-=+RACISM+=- by severoon · 2004-01-31 08:29 · Score: 1

No, sir! Not even if there's a remote possibility that someone might interpret some aspect of that joke as an oblique, sideways reference that denigrates, or even has a little fun at the expense of, someone else's race, creed, ethnicity, religious beliefs, gender, hair color, or toenail length. Funny doesn't matter. What matters is that we deal with these social problems by stamping out any joke or sarcasm that might throw some light onto that corner of society.

Sort of the political equivalent of: if a tree falls in the forest and no one's there, nothing happened. Likewise, I feel that pulling Ghettopoly off the shelves was a huge stride forward in eradicating poorness. Can't you see that?

Oops, I have to go now, my heart just bled out and I'm starting to feel a little light-headed.

sev

Your honor, it was supposed to be tongue-in-cheek--sure, it was my tongue in someone else's cheek...

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but have you considered the following argument: shut up.

The best web browser by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-31 16:06 · Score: 0

The best web browser is Opera. Try it out, you won't be disappointed.

Come chat with us at the Opera forums and hang out at the lounge.

Re:Taking the Fun out of...-=+RACISM+=- by John+Seminal · 2004-01-31 19:42 · Score: 1

What matters is that we deal with these social problems by stamping out any joke or sarcasm that might throw some light onto that corner of society.

I could not agree more. But not only throwing light on those elements in society, but some soapy water too.

Seriously, people need to realize some words can cause an immediate and unavoidable encounter with violence. The trick is to leave the person confounded, not violent. Should not be too hard cause they have little punny weak minds.

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Rosco: "If brains were gunpowder, Enos couldn't blow his nose."

Re:Join the Jihad by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-31 23:55 · Score: 0

we already do dumbass, we just don't have a huge banners proclaiming our goals.

just because you don't notice it doesn't mean it's not there.

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