No kidding. I had an auction for some items my company asked me to sell, so I placed a large Dutch Auction. Unfortunately, the company took just over half the items out of the auction (*sigh*). Bidding was starting to pick up and I didn't know what to do -- I had enough product to cover the existing bids but didn't have the quantity stated in the auction any longer. I checked with eBay and realised I needed to cancel the auction. My first cancellation.
A number of people contacted me and inquired what had happened. Most asked if they could still get the item. I told them I would honor the opening bid price (which was realistically what the winners would have paid, anyway, due to the large number of items in the Dutch Auction). Almost all of these people bought the item.
Then there was one guy who wrote to me and said: "This is bullshit! I will have you banned from eBay." I wrote back and explained what had happened and that I was not B.S.'ing but rather trying to be honest by cancelling the auction in accordance with eBay policies. I also told him that every other inquiry I received showed decorum and respect and I had worked out a way to get the product at the low price that was bid to those who asked. He responded, "Sorry, I didn't know the policy. new to ebay." I wrote back and told him to check his bleeping attitude and, no, I would not be working out a way to help him.
People are behind the "screen names." Learn it, live it.
Tax -- An individual can't sue to raise taxes. But, should eBay be forced to play along with tax regulations? That's a different matter. Why an individual is suing for this is beyond me (except for inflicting pain upon eBay; which, come to think of it, damages the reputation of this schmuck more than any one negative feedback someone might have on eBay).
However, the idea of registering eBay user names ("screen names" just proves the author of the article or the lawsuit is an AOL-weenie) is interesting. Still, it's obtuse, for online-life requires a unique identifier for users (a username or somesuch; how long until its a encrypted key fingerprint?) while real life has no such requirement. When in real life a person operates a business under a pseudonym we general require registration. But an account name IS the identity of the online persona. This is why feedback works --other's opinions about you stick with you (thanks to the marvel of relational databases).
An aside (I like those): I don't know when it was that I started making parenthetical statements in mid-stream, but it matches the way I think and talk (much to the chagrin of my collegues, no doubt). I hope its not too annoying (but, since I'm hoping, I must know it is!).
Speaking of eBay: check out my auction for NamathNose.com: a homonym parody domain name (ragging on NamathKnows.com, which is advertised on radio without spelling out "K-N-O-W-S" -- and anyone who knows Namath knows his nose). It's up to a really big price (125,000 thousanths of a penny).
I think most normal people thought of printing out pr0n pics. Only helpless hacks *cough*Hemos*cough* would think about "watermarking" to say nothing of condering it as funny . . .
Oh yes. Opera 6 is much better: preferences, multiple windows, ability to use SSL on site with expired certs (you must know what I mean), a real zoom tool, real bookmarks. ..flash works (maybe not a feature). Compared to Konq (the version I used in November, anyway) on the Z I like Opera 6 better. But, you can't get it yet. Only developer previews available. (Maybe this has changed, I don't know).
I use a Socket 802.11b CF card and don't care about USB or other connectivity.
I also don't care about the handwriting recognition -- and too bad you learned Graffitti, 'cause it's gone from Palm as of a week or so ago.
I have never used a PIM, and don't use the Zaurus for that. Yesterday a relative of one of my employees asked if he should buy a Zaurus. Considering what he wanted it for (PIM stuff) I told him to get a PocketPC. He loves it.
But nothing competes with it as a WiFi-enabled vertical application unit. Nothing I've seen.
I like the reference spec but still prefer my Zaurus 5500 and really prefer the (Intel-delayed) 5600. The case ergonomics are one reason (the built-in thumbboard is awesome on the Zaurus).
Don't think, though, these are PDAs. These are not really Palm competitors. These are true development platforms for handheld computing solutions. Also, the killer app on these is the web browser. Opera 5 (and I'm playing with a beta of 6) is incredibly fast and feature rich, especially compared to PokeyIE on PokeyPC or anything on the Palm (though I haven't seen OS 5.0 to be honest).
I love taking my Zaurus to a HotSpot (like T-Mobile's at the ubiquitous Starbucks) surfing, SSH'ing, web serving (from the unit), and...well...playing Scrabble ("Word Game").
Does it matter if NamathNose.com is really NamathNose.com? I mean, if it's IBM.COM I can see a justification for entity authentication, because IBM has a reputation that people may trust beyond some unknown eCommerce site. But most places on the web are only their domain name. No, most places are only the server you're visiting. That's the only ID you know or care about.
SSL/TLS was in use for more than 5 years before it was pointed out that a properly signed certificate could be used to sign a bogus cert and most browsers would accept the dubiously signed cert as valid from the CA. Did anyone (user-wise, not anal-retentiv-Geek-wise) complain or care?
Besides, if your data is stolen--mainly your credit card--there are protections for that: most cards now have ZERO online liability for fraud. It's more dangerous handing your credit card to your waiter than using it online.
I've been noticing that Apache doesn't make news anymore--at least on Slashdot, but to be fair I think it's because Apache is so stable (in the 1.3.x series, especially) people don't even think about it anymore. Good job, Apache Foundation!
Sorry, but most people don't use SSL for establishing the legitimacy of a ecommerce site, but rather to encrypt the communication with an ecommerce (or other SSL-using site, like a whistle-blowing) site. No one cares that NamathNose.com is really NamathNose.com--they want to be sure some/.'er managing the ISP's pipe between their computer and the ecommerce computer isn't trivially reading the bits travelling said pipe.
We need to divest SSL from CAs. Encryption should be CA-less. If a user and site want to require identification securely, then there should be a separate way (or optional way within SSL) to accomodate that.
My thought was "Top Gun? How about watching Total Recall, a movie with picture-frame high-definition screens, on a picture-frame high-definition screen?"
Yep, professors should leave the hip references to us (although TR was a 1990 flick...)
Beyond the irony of the.NET ad on the page, do any developers care to comment on.NET toolkit in a cross-platform development environment?
I keep hearing about how.NET speeds up development work--how exactly? (Sorry, I'm a perl/c/db/vi programmer and haven't touched.NET's GUI toolkit, yet).
depends on the SUV regarding rollovers and if your worried about SUV to compact crash severity perhaps we should ban the crappy tuna can cars (like my Civic) ; afterall, SUVs are not new and aren't going away. Lastly, how the Hell can you claim SuVs cause accidents?
No its just that you live in a BWM-rich area. Statistically, its still small.
But, if that voice recognition is as "smart" as Office XP's I wouldn't be surprised if more people don't end up personally fulfilling the slogan: "The Ultimate Driving Machine"
The reason no one would make or care about a compact car ranch is that the idea of seeing a smashed up exploded small car is anti-climactic. While seeing a large SUV smashed up is "novel" because they usually aren't.
That is the reason my wife drives a Honda Odyessey (some would call it an SUV, emphasis on the U rather than S) and I drive the Honda Civic 5-Speed and I have the life insurance policy.
My next car may be an SUV or a luxury sedan. In making my decision not once will the concerns of the Greens, environmentalists, WhatWouldJesusDrivers or other issue-oriented activists enter the equation.
Question: how about making public libraries hot spots? Most libraries already have multiple computers attached to the Internet for public use. Why not allow people to bring their own computers/handhelds and access the Internet through a public hot spot? This would benefit the library (as it would not have to MAINTAIN computers brought in by others, for one thing) and could even be used to promote a "rediscovery" of libraries themselves.
It would seem to require very little hardware and planning. ..perhaps this could be a grassroots phenomenon--wire your libraries!
For a long while I've day-dreamed of a workstation with an integrated recubant exercise bike. Not for serious cross-training necessarily, but enough to keep active and burn a few calories while sitting endless hours in front of the computer. It would have to be sturdy enough not to shake with mild exertion. I'm sure it's doable and I'm sure there's more than just me that could benefit from such a device!
We're glad you don't live here either. Do you actually think this will become a law? You're an idiot.
I drive through from CA to WA. I can't go fast enough. On my first trip up I thought I would enjoy Oregon. Ha! It's far more backward and redneck than Texas (which I escaped in the mid-90s).
As to "stupid," why won't Oregon allow its citizens to pump their own gas? Or is the gas-pumping law in place to protect the core job skill of indigenous Oregonians?
During the Y2K retrofit Oregon discovered that its databases could handle 2 character IQ numbers for state census information. The extraneous character was retained for yet-undetermined future use.
To protect the driver's privacy, it would be illegal to track the driver in real-time.
Good thing no one breaks laws. Good thing that people can't change laws once written. Good thing there is no privacy challenge related to non-real-time data collection.
It would be much easier to have them prepackaged at the manufacturer, so the pharmacist simply reaches in the shelf and grabs the prepackaged box of whatever the doctor prescribed.
Yes and no. First, note that my company, Dispensing Solutions, Inc., is a repackaging company specializing in point-of-care dispensing (meaning the physician or other prescribing healthcare provider hands the patient a bottle of the medication s/he prescribes instead of a prescription). I am not a pharmacist nor a healthcare professional; I'm the CTO and developer of the Internet-based point-of-care dispensing application (basically a real-time inventory control system with a procedurally controlled dispensing component), which is used in physician practices and community health clinics.
The problem with the mfg making pre-packed bottles of drugs for instant dispensing is that doctors (more properly called "providers" since not only MD's can dispense drugs legally) don't prescribe the same number of pills and of the same strength for the same diagnosis. For example, Amoxicillin may come in 250 MG caplets or 500 MG caplets. A provider may prescribe 30 caps of Amoxicillin 250 MG,with one cap to be taken 4 times a day. Another may prescribe 28 caps. If the Rx says "28 caps" you can't dispense 30 caps just because that's the only bottle size you have on hand. Each provider has his/her own way, so mfg cannot pre-determine the dosing without practicing medication themselves.
This then is where repackaging companies such as the one I work for come in. We work directly with the providers to determine the top 20% of prescriptions and work to standardize their prescribing habits, according to their direction. This way we can provide high-quality prepacked drugs for point-of-care dispensing.
What's the benefit? One is quality control. With ever-increasing workloads and shrinking numbers of pharmacists the number of Rx fills per day is increasing, as is the number of errors and related injuries and deaths. In the same line, we are regulated by the FDA and licensed as a drug manufacturer. A pharmacist is regulated in each state by the Board of Pharmacy. The rules on cross-contamination are much more severe on us than on your local pharmacist. For example, penicillin is processed in the same area as all other drugs in a pharmacy, but we are forced to use a negative-air flow clean room for filling penicillin-type products and are not allowed to have any cross-contamination. It is unfortunately not uncommon for people allergic to penicillin to suffer anaphylactic shock from a cross-contaminated non-penicillin drug filled at a pharmacy.
Another benefit is financial to the provider. Providers, by law, cannot receive money from prescriptions written to be filled by a pharmacist. But, as long as the service is provided to the provider's own patients in their own practice/clinic, they can make money dispensing drugs they would otherwise send out to be filled. Some providers make an extra one or two hundred thousand dollars a year just dispensing their most commonly prescribed drugs.
There is a benefit to the insurer, or, more accurately, the pharmaceutical benefit manager (PBM). Each plan has a preferred formulary (say chosing Allegra over Clarinex for allergies). By having the preferred drug available in house the PBM could "give away" the preferred drug and save money over paying for the higher drug even with a higher co-pay.
Another therapeutical benefit is in therapy compliance. Usually, a provider has no way of knowing if a prescription written has been filled. However, if the provider hands the patient the drug directly it has been shown that there is a higher probability of that patient completing the therapy prescribed.
Lastly ('cause this is too long), there is a benefit for pharmacists, too. Precisely because the best use of a pharmacist's time is counselling not filling, we work with pharmacists to pre-pack common movers in their pharmacies. Thus the pharmacist needs only grab the right bottle matching the drug, strength, and count for the prescription. No counting (but they still collect the "fill fee"). This way the pharmacists can fill more prescriptions--safely.
The filling machines are neat. We have several in our facility, including one that has the capacity to fill 200,000 bottles a day. While these machines are slick, they're expense is hard to swallow, especially when companies like DSI are able to fill the need. Neat article. Good to see it on Slashdot.
Slashdot Mirror
My ebay id is my hotmail email address. Which, come to think of it, makes me d*mn hard to trace (esp with HTTP).
A number of people contacted me and inquired what had happened. Most asked if they could still get the item. I told them I would honor the opening bid price (which was realistically what the winners would have paid, anyway, due to the large number of items in the Dutch Auction). Almost all of these people bought the item.
Then there was one guy who wrote to me and said: "This is bullshit! I will have you banned from eBay." I wrote back and explained what had happened and that I was not B.S.'ing but rather trying to be honest by cancelling the auction in accordance with eBay policies. I also told him that every other inquiry I received showed decorum and respect and I had worked out a way to get the product at the low price that was bid to those who asked. He responded, "Sorry, I didn't know the policy. new to ebay." I wrote back and told him to check his bleeping attitude and, no, I would not be working out a way to help him.
People are behind the "screen names." Learn it, live it.
However, the idea of registering eBay user names ("screen names" just proves the author of the article or the lawsuit is an AOL-weenie) is interesting. Still, it's obtuse, for online-life requires a unique identifier for users (a username or somesuch; how long until its a encrypted key fingerprint?) while real life has no such requirement. When in real life a person operates a business under a pseudonym we general require registration. But an account name IS the identity of the online persona. This is why feedback works --other's opinions about you stick with you (thanks to the marvel of relational databases).
Speaking of eBay: check out my auction for NamathNose.com : a homonym parody domain name (ragging on NamathKnows.com, which is advertised on radio without spelling out "K-N-O-W-S" -- and anyone who knows Namath knows his nose). It's up to a really big price (125,000 thousanths of a penny).
I think most normal people thought of printing out pr0n pics. Only helpless hacks *cough* Hemos *cough* would think about "watermarking" to say nothing of condering it as funny . . .
So that explains it: Duplicate articles are the editor's way of debugging Slashdot. Cool!
Maybe Dr Laura got to her and she wants to be her kids' Mom.
Oh yes. Opera 6 is much better: preferences, multiple windows, ability to use SSL on site with expired certs (you must know what I mean), a real zoom tool, real bookmarks. . .flash works (maybe not a feature). Compared to Konq (the version I used in November, anyway) on the Z I like Opera 6 better. But, you can't get it yet. Only developer previews available. (Maybe this has changed, I don't know).
I also don't care about the handwriting recognition -- and too bad you learned Graffitti, 'cause it's gone from Palm as of a week or so ago.
I have never used a PIM, and don't use the Zaurus for that. Yesterday a relative of one of my employees asked if he should buy a Zaurus. Considering what he wanted it for (PIM stuff) I told him to get a PocketPC. He loves it.
But nothing competes with it as a WiFi-enabled vertical application unit. Nothing I've seen.
Don't think, though, these are PDAs. These are not really Palm competitors. These are true development platforms for handheld computing solutions. Also, the killer app on these is the web browser. Opera 5 (and I'm playing with a beta of 6) is incredibly fast and feature rich, especially compared to PokeyIE on PokeyPC or anything on the Palm (though I haven't seen OS 5.0 to be honest).
I love taking my Zaurus to a HotSpot (like T-Mobile's at the ubiquitous Starbucks) surfing, SSH'ing, web serving (from the unit), and...well...playing Scrabble ("Word Game").
Maybe Scrabble is the killer app...Anyway...
SSL/TLS was in use for more than 5 years before it was pointed out that a properly signed certificate could be used to sign a bogus cert and most browsers would accept the dubiously signed cert as valid from the CA. Did anyone (user-wise, not anal-retentiv-Geek-wise) complain or care?
Besides, if your data is stolen--mainly your credit card--there are protections for that: most cards now have ZERO online liability for fraud. It's more dangerous handing your credit card to your waiter than using it online.
I've been noticing that Apache doesn't make news anymore--at least on Slashdot, but to be fair I think it's because Apache is so stable (in the 1.3.x series, especially) people don't even think about it anymore. Good job, Apache Foundation!
We need to divest SSL from CAs. Encryption should be CA-less. If a user and site want to require identification securely, then there should be a separate way (or optional way within SSL) to accomodate that.
Yep, professors should leave the hip references to us (although TR was a 1990 flick...)
I keep hearing about how .NET speeds up development work--how exactly? (Sorry, I'm a perl/c/db/vi programmer and haven't touched .NET's GUI toolkit, yet).
depends on the SUV regarding rollovers and if your worried about SUV to compact crash severity perhaps we should ban the crappy tuna can cars (like my Civic) ; afterall, SUVs are not new and aren't going away. Lastly, how the Hell can you claim SuVs cause accidents?
But, if that voice recognition is as "smart" as Office XP's I wouldn't be surprised if more people don't end up personally fulfilling the slogan: "The Ultimate Driving Machine"
And if so, how did you get away from Bill Handel?
That is the reason my wife drives a Honda Odyessey (some would call it an SUV, emphasis on the U rather than S) and I drive the Honda Civic 5-Speed and I have the life insurance policy.
My next car may be an SUV or a luxury sedan. In making my decision not once will the concerns of the Greens, environmentalists, WhatWouldJesusDrivers or other issue-oriented activists enter the equation.
:P
It would seem to require very little hardware and planning. . .perhaps this could be a grassroots phenomenon--wire your libraries!
For a long while I've day-dreamed of a workstation with an integrated recubant exercise bike. Not for serious cross-training necessarily, but enough to keep active and burn a few calories while sitting endless hours in front of the computer. It would have to be sturdy enough not to shake with mild exertion. I'm sure it's doable and I'm sure there's more than just me that could benefit from such a device!
- We're glad you don't live here either. Do you actually think this will become a law? You're an idiot.
I drive through from CA to WA. I can't go fast enough. On my first trip up I thought I would enjoy Oregon. Ha! It's far more backward and redneck than Texas (which I escaped in the mid-90s).As to "stupid," why won't Oregon allow its citizens to pump their own gas? Or is the gas-pumping law in place to protect the core job skill of indigenous Oregonians?
During the Y2K retrofit Oregon discovered that its databases could handle 2 character IQ numbers for state census information. The extraneous character was retained for yet-undetermined future use.
Especially since he never got the backspace to work! (True; read the last page of his detail recounting)
Good thing no one breaks laws. Good thing that people can't change laws once written. Good thing there is no privacy challenge related to non-real-time data collection.
Good thing I DON'T LIVE IN OREGON.
- It would be much easier to have them prepackaged at the manufacturer, so the pharmacist simply reaches in the shelf and grabs the prepackaged box of whatever the doctor prescribed.
Yes and no. First, note that my company, Dispensing Solutions, Inc., is a repackaging company specializing in point-of-care dispensing (meaning the physician or other prescribing healthcare provider hands the patient a bottle of the medication s/he prescribes instead of a prescription). I am not a pharmacist nor a healthcare professional; I'm the CTO and developer of the Internet-based point-of-care dispensing application (basically a real-time inventory control system with a procedurally controlled dispensing component), which is used in physician practices and community health clinics.The problem with the mfg making pre-packed bottles of drugs for instant dispensing is that doctors (more properly called "providers" since not only MD's can dispense drugs legally) don't prescribe the same number of pills and of the same strength for the same diagnosis. For example, Amoxicillin may come in 250 MG caplets or 500 MG caplets. A provider may prescribe 30 caps of Amoxicillin 250 MG,with one cap to be taken 4 times a day. Another may prescribe 28 caps. If the Rx says "28 caps" you can't dispense 30 caps just because that's the only bottle size you have on hand. Each provider has his/her own way, so mfg cannot pre-determine the dosing without practicing medication themselves.
This then is where repackaging companies such as the one I work for come in. We work directly with the providers to determine the top 20% of prescriptions and work to standardize their prescribing habits, according to their direction. This way we can provide high-quality prepacked drugs for point-of-care dispensing.
What's the benefit? One is quality control. With ever-increasing workloads and shrinking numbers of pharmacists the number of Rx fills per day is increasing, as is the number of errors and related injuries and deaths. In the same line, we are regulated by the FDA and licensed as a drug manufacturer. A pharmacist is regulated in each state by the Board of Pharmacy. The rules on cross-contamination are much more severe on us than on your local pharmacist. For example, penicillin is processed in the same area as all other drugs in a pharmacy, but we are forced to use a negative-air flow clean room for filling penicillin-type products and are not allowed to have any cross-contamination. It is unfortunately not uncommon for people allergic to penicillin to suffer anaphylactic shock from a cross-contaminated non-penicillin drug filled at a pharmacy.
Another benefit is financial to the provider. Providers, by law, cannot receive money from prescriptions written to be filled by a pharmacist. But, as long as the service is provided to the provider's own patients in their own practice/clinic, they can make money dispensing drugs they would otherwise send out to be filled. Some providers make an extra one or two hundred thousand dollars a year just dispensing their most commonly prescribed drugs.
There is a benefit to the insurer, or, more accurately, the pharmaceutical benefit manager (PBM). Each plan has a preferred formulary (say chosing Allegra over Clarinex for allergies). By having the preferred drug available in house the PBM could "give away" the preferred drug and save money over paying for the higher drug even with a higher co-pay.
Another therapeutical benefit is in therapy compliance. Usually, a provider has no way of knowing if a prescription written has been filled. However, if the provider hands the patient the drug directly it has been shown that there is a higher probability of that patient completing the therapy prescribed.
Lastly ('cause this is too long), there is a benefit for pharmacists, too. Precisely because the best use of a pharmacist's time is counselling not filling, we work with pharmacists to pre-pack common movers in their pharmacies. Thus the pharmacist needs only grab the right bottle matching the drug, strength, and count for the prescription. No counting (but they still collect the "fill fee"). This way the pharmacists can fill more prescriptions--safely.
The filling machines are neat. We have several in our facility, including one that has the capacity to fill 200,000 bottles a day. While these machines are slick, they're expense is hard to swallow, especially when companies like DSI are able to fill the need. Neat article. Good to see it on Slashdot.