The report says the shop that performed the repair was not an authorized Apple repair shop, and shows the device as having the old, dangerous standard Philips screws. Now we know why Apple has been so adamant about switching from regular Philips screws to five-sided screws--with the five sided, tamper-resistant screws, there is no chance that an unauthorized repair facility would be able to create an explosive condition by leaving a screw inside the iPhone.
"There was something on Slashdot a few years ago about people buying a service, then having to pay more to disable advertising."
Kind of like the new Garmin GPS I got for Christmas with free lifetime maps and traffic. The free traffic service has ads that appear when you reach your destination. You can disable the traffic function and remove the ads, but is it only a matter of time until the free map updates include ads? This limitation was not well disclosed.
I've had an AT&T iPhone since the beginning, and have lived through their dicking around with their data plans. I was fine with the 200 MB plan and switching to the 2 GB plan when I go on vacation and consume a lot of data. With their latest data plan revisions, I will be locked out of my current 200 MB plan if I ever try to temporarily switch to a plan with increased capacity, and would have to switch back to the 300 MB plan which is $5 per month higher.
I live in a rural area that is slowly being upgraded to 3G. I propose the following: AT&T's data limits should only apply to 3G service. Anything downloaded over EDGE should be free. If you run out of your limited data plan, you should be able to switch to EDGE and download as much as you want. Texts should be free or something reasonable like $5 per month for 1,000 messages, not $20 per month for an unlimited plan. I'm tired of paying $80 per month for a phone I seldom talk on in order to get a limited data plan and texting capabilities.
Since I know they won't do this, I'm planning to switch to one of the MVNOs once my contract is up. Either Republic Wireless if they open their beta again, or TracFone's "bring your own phone" program which recently launched (yes, it uses AT&T's network, but at a lower cost to the consumer).
^-- Raises hand. I pay close to $100 per month for my iPhone, and rarely talk on it. I use it for web surfing, but sometimes am not near reliable wifi. I would be very interested in Republic Wireless if they offered the iPhone.
The no-ip.com client has worked well for me for remote access purposes (haven't tried it for hosting), and the premium service is reasonably priced (about $10-15 per year).
"Data is not like water or gas where you can save it by not using it."
Exactly, they are creating an artificial scarcity just like the cell phone providers who charge exorbitant rates for data and especially text messaging.
"...I had assumed that Netflix would slowly raised prices on the DVD-by-mail service before finally killing it."
Me too, but he's laid down the gauntlet that they're "done" with price increases, which will only make people more outraged when the next price hike comes, whether it's across the board or they begin offering "premium" streaming with new releases at a higher cost.
My Canon multifunction printer/fax/copier/scanner has an auto sheet feeder, and it cost me $120. Unlike inexpensive multifunction machines of yore, this one is good at printing, scanning, and copying (I've used it for scanning photos and it's far superior to the standalone scanner it replaced). So I'm not sure how a sheetfed scanner is ridiculously expensive.
Of the 1/3 who say they are quitting, I wonder what proportion will actually quit, and whether they're representative of the subscriber base as a whole. I would gladly pay $10 or more per month for streaming only, if they offered all of their DVDs on the streaming service. There are content providers such as HBO who swear up and down that they will never, ever make their series available via streaming, so this is a pipe dream.
I have about 30 DVDs in my queue (none of which are available via streaming), but I plan to switch to streaming only once I've watched them. If there are several DVDs I want to rent, I'll start the DVD rental plan for a month at a time.
Re:Google maps / mouse scroll wheel annoyance
on
Google's New Design
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· Score: 1
Have you ever used a program called Mozilla Firefox? In that program, control + wheel increases or decreases the size of the text, which is analogous to zooming a map.
Re:Google maps / mouse scroll wheel annoyance
on
Google's New Design
·
· Score: 1
Control + wheel is the standard convention for zooming. Most newer mice have left/right tilt on the scroll wheel, which would move the map left or right.
Google maps / mouse scroll wheel annoyance
on
Google's New Design
·
· Score: 1, Interesting
Dear Google, please stop using the scroll wheel to zoom in/out in Google Maps. It drives me nuts every time I use it. Better yet, give us an option to use the wheel to pan (which would be the logical mapping of that function) instead of zoom.
IT'S ALSO WORLD CAPSLOCK DAY
on
Happy Tau Day
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· Score: 2
(Which apparently triggers the lameness filter...)
IN MEMORY OF BILLY MAYS! DON'T JUST CLEAN IT, SCREAM AT IT!
Why does the lameness filter think Billy Mays is lame?
Beyond that, if they're personal e-mails, I usually reply and tell them they have the wrong address. If someone sets up online billing, it's their responsibility to ensure that they're receiving the e-mails. It's no different than if you failed to get a bank statement or credit card bill via snail mail--you know you owe the money, and need to call in to find out how much.
This is part and parcel of the opt-out society that our corporate overlords have created. Don't want to receive promotional e-mails? Too bad, you didn't opt out. Don't want your personal information shared? Too bad, you didn't opt out. Don't want crapware foisted upon your gadgets? Too bad, you didn't opt out. Don't want to be drugged and kidnapped? Too bad, you didn't opt out. Don't want your organs harvested? Too bad, you didn't opt out.
It certainly takes it a step further than "your system is infected." Ironically, the system actually does appear to have a bad hard drive (bad blocks marked by CHKDSK). Customer had paid someone else to replace the hard disk a little over a month ago and showed me the receipt, but the hard disk in the machine was the same capacity as the OEM disk and had a date code indicating that it was likely not a new drive, but the one that was factory installed.
They're just going to replace the machine since the "infected" one has Vista and, for that reason, will run badly even after it's fixed properly (and honestly). The linked article provides a location where the malware hides the user data.
After completing the job even though I had explained my rates up front she started complaining about how much higher my rates were than the guy that messed up her computer before.
I explain it like this: The last guy who worked on the machine was incompetent or dishonest and that caused or contributed to the present problem. I now have to discover and undo everything he did before I can even get started actually fixing your current problem, so yes, it's going to take much longer the first time I work on your machine, compared to a machine from a repeat customer that I've worked on in the past.
The corollary to this, which should be obvious, is that if they have the incompetent guy come for something after I've worked on the machine, and he screws everything up again, I will explain that the incompetent guy and I have very different approaches to our trade, and that it's simply not cost effective for them to be using more that one IT person. I let the incompetent guy have these customers--they deserve each other.
Slashdot Mirror
I always wanted a rectal antenna.
The report says the shop that performed the repair was not an authorized Apple repair shop, and shows the device as having the old, dangerous standard Philips screws. Now we know why Apple has been so adamant about switching from regular Philips screws to five-sided screws--with the five sided, tamper-resistant screws, there is no chance that an unauthorized repair facility would be able to create an explosive condition by leaving a screw inside the iPhone.
"There was something on Slashdot a few years ago about people buying a service, then having to pay more to disable advertising."
Kind of like the new Garmin GPS I got for Christmas with free lifetime maps and traffic. The free traffic service has ads that appear when you reach your destination. You can disable the traffic function and remove the ads, but is it only a matter of time until the free map updates include ads? This limitation was not well disclosed.
I've had an AT&T iPhone since the beginning, and have lived through their dicking around with their data plans. I was fine with the 200 MB plan and switching to the 2 GB plan when I go on vacation and consume a lot of data. With their latest data plan revisions, I will be locked out of my current 200 MB plan if I ever try to temporarily switch to a plan with increased capacity, and would have to switch back to the 300 MB plan which is $5 per month higher.
I live in a rural area that is slowly being upgraded to 3G. I propose the following: AT&T's data limits should only apply to 3G service. Anything downloaded over EDGE should be free. If you run out of your limited data plan, you should be able to switch to EDGE and download as much as you want. Texts should be free or something reasonable like $5 per month for 1,000 messages, not $20 per month for an unlimited plan. I'm tired of paying $80 per month for a phone I seldom talk on in order to get a limited data plan and texting capabilities.
Since I know they won't do this, I'm planning to switch to one of the MVNOs once my contract is up. Either Republic Wireless if they open their beta again, or TracFone's "bring your own phone" program which recently launched (yes, it uses AT&T's network, but at a lower cost to the consumer).
^-- Raises hand. I pay close to $100 per month for my iPhone, and rarely talk on it. I use it for web surfing, but sometimes am not near reliable wifi. I would be very interested in Republic Wireless if they offered the iPhone.
The no-ip.com client has worked well for me for remote access purposes (haven't tried it for hosting), and the premium service is reasonably priced (about $10-15 per year).
"Data is not like water or gas where you can save it by not using it."
Exactly, they are creating an artificial scarcity just like the cell phone providers who charge exorbitant rates for data and especially text messaging.
I'd install it if they had named it "Octopussy Grid Delivery Enhancement to Flash."
"...I had assumed that Netflix would slowly raised prices on the DVD-by-mail service before finally killing it."
Me too, but he's laid down the gauntlet that they're "done" with price increases, which will only make people more outraged when the next price hike comes, whether it's across the board or they begin offering "premium" streaming with new releases at a higher cost.
My Canon multifunction printer/fax/copier/scanner has an auto sheet feeder, and it cost me $120. Unlike inexpensive multifunction machines of yore, this one is good at printing, scanning, and copying (I've used it for scanning photos and it's far superior to the standalone scanner it replaced). So I'm not sure how a sheetfed scanner is ridiculously expensive.
CmdrPorno and 3 others like this.
Yes, and she was covered in hot grits.
Which raises the question, why are they still in business? And why aren't some of them behind bars?
Of the 1/3 who say they are quitting, I wonder what proportion will actually quit, and whether they're representative of the subscriber base as a whole. I would gladly pay $10 or more per month for streaming only, if they offered all of their DVDs on the streaming service. There are content providers such as HBO who swear up and down that they will never, ever make their series available via streaming, so this is a pipe dream.
I have about 30 DVDs in my queue (none of which are available via streaming), but I plan to switch to streaming only once I've watched them. If there are several DVDs I want to rent, I'll start the DVD rental plan for a month at a time.
Have you ever used a program called Mozilla Firefox? In that program, control + wheel increases or decreases the size of the text, which is analogous to zooming a map.
Control + wheel is the standard convention for zooming.
Most newer mice have left/right tilt on the scroll wheel, which would move the map left or right.
Dear Google, please stop using the scroll wheel to zoom in/out in Google Maps. It drives me nuts every time I use it. Better yet, give us an option to use the wheel to pan (which would be the logical mapping of that function) instead of zoom.
(Which apparently triggers the lameness filter...)
IN MEMORY OF BILLY MAYS! DON'T JUST CLEAN IT, SCREAM AT IT!
Why does the lameness filter think Billy Mays is lame?
Beyond that, if they're personal e-mails, I usually reply and tell them they have the wrong address. If someone sets up online billing, it's their responsibility to ensure that they're receiving the e-mails. It's no different than if you failed to get a bank statement or credit card bill via snail mail--you know you owe the money, and need to call in to find out how much.
I can't help but wonder why there appears to be preference pane for this malware program and its update process?
I'm just waiting for Apple to come out with Apple Security Essentials.
This is part and parcel of the opt-out society that our corporate overlords have created.
Don't want to receive promotional e-mails? Too bad, you didn't opt out.
Don't want your personal information shared? Too bad, you didn't opt out.
Don't want crapware foisted upon your gadgets? Too bad, you didn't opt out.
Don't want to be drugged and kidnapped? Too bad, you didn't opt out.
Don't want your organs harvested? Too bad, you didn't opt out.
It certainly takes it a step further than "your system is infected." Ironically, the system actually does appear to have a bad hard drive (bad blocks marked by CHKDSK). Customer had paid someone else to replace the hard disk a little over a month ago and showed me the receipt, but the hard disk in the machine was the same capacity as the OEM disk and had a date code indicating that it was likely not a new drive, but the one that was factory installed.
They're just going to replace the machine since the "infected" one has Vista and, for that reason, will run badly even after it's fixed properly (and honestly). The linked article provides a location where the malware hides the user data.
Unfortunately, not all Netflix streams are in HD.
After completing the job even though I had explained my rates up front she started complaining about how much higher my rates were than the guy that messed up her computer before.
I explain it like this: The last guy who worked on the machine was incompetent or dishonest and that caused or contributed to the present problem. I now have to discover and undo everything he did before I can even get started actually fixing your current problem, so yes, it's going to take much longer the first time I work on your machine, compared to a machine from a repeat customer that I've worked on in the past.
The corollary to this, which should be obvious, is that if they have the incompetent guy come for something after I've worked on the machine, and he screws everything up again, I will explain that the incompetent guy and I have very different approaches to our trade, and that it's simply not cost effective for them to be using more that one IT person. I let the incompetent guy have these customers--they deserve each other.