Americans are very worried about their income and at the same time prices are going up everywhere. It isn't the time to stick it to your customers with another fee and not risk losing them.
Add Verizon to the list of "Corporate Miscalculations of 2011"
There Verizon will join GoDaddy, Netflix and Bank Of America.
To all of the people who pull the dodge of saying people can't do anything remember these companies. They were all read to dick Americans over, without lube, until ordinary people stood up for themselves and forced them to backpedal.
Hey Corporate America: In case you haven't figured it out yet Americans are feeling squeezed. On one side everyone is asking for more of their money and on the other side they are unsure about their income. A quick way to piss your customers off is to try to gouge more out of them.
because the Obama administration is indistinguishable from that of GWB
This is the kind of irresponsible and unsubstantiated exaggeration that was responsible for people voting for Nader in 2000 with the result of Bush getting into office.
Can you list 10 policies that are identical between the Obama and Bush administrations? If you can't, all you have is an unsubstantiated opinion written with an air of authority.
In the mean time check out this web site for President Obama's record. With each item ask yourself if Bush or any Republican would have done the same:
Politically, China has the advantage that it's not involved in a dick-waving contest with some Soviet boogeyman, and instead of racing toward a symbolic goal that serves no tangible purpose, they're slowly and steadily building up a knowledge base to make the space program a sustainable benefit for their society.
I think the U.S. has been in a cold war - lite with China. Seeing them land someone on the moon will be a big shock that will either motivate the U.S. to make manned flights again ( regardless of how practical it is ) or demoralize Americans into believing our time has past.
Given the way our corporations have sold our country out I think the later is more likely.
Good deal. Diaspora hasn't gotten off the ground yet. The only viable social network sites out there are built on a business model of exploiting their users by discretely spying on them and selling information about them for marketing.
I gave up on Google+ and this article makes me glad I did.
Their real name policy turned me off by seeming draconian. Google's reason for it, to get more money selling my information.....made me feel victimized.
I used a fake name, with a brand new Google account anyway, but I found it to be a pain in the ass to log out of my primary gmail account just so I could check Google+.
On top of all of that 99% of my FB friends didn't want to get on.....or regularly use G+ on top of FB.
So, I just post to FB less, don't use G+ at all and am waiting for diaspora to eventually get its act together.
You are better off not paying the fee and paying by check, because that check will be a receipt, which you can use when Verizon eventually screws up your account. I left them years ago because every two months I had to straighten out some mess with them.
Your best bet is to vote with your feet and let Verizon know why.
People doing the same stopped Bank Of American from charging ATM fees.
Ever try to pay a parking ticket or some other municipal fee online? They will charge you a "convenience fee". My guess is because they have to pay the credit card companies something.
My guess is that will eventually change when an older generation dies off or gets online. An efficiency expert will notice that they are employing staff to handle paper based payments........for very few payments. At that point they will encourage people to pay electronically. Probably by charging a fee for paper based payments.......the way my car insurance company does.
Interestingly, earlier this week, my car insurance company, GEICO, emailed me to tell me that I could log into their site to pay my bill electronically and print out my insurance card.
I emailed them back asking that would be my motivation? I would be doing them a favor, since doing payments the old fashioned way is more of an expense for them. If they want me to do them a favor, they should sweeten the deal.
They told me that since I always pay my bill in full, instead of using an installment plan, that I hadn't noticed that people who pay by paper pay a processing fee whereas installment payers who go by electronic means do not.
IMO, that makes sense for everyone. The organizations that charge people a fee to do things electronically over paper have it backwards.
I don't understand why your post was modded down. Your point of view was politely expressed and it was legitimate.
I got the impression that the people hostile to the OP were in a support position with *relatively* steady, salaried hours. They viewed the OP as goofing off on his paid down time when he could have used that paid time to write the efficiency boosting programs. They saw the OP as stealing that paid time and then trying to charge them on top of that for a program he could have written on the clock.
That view shocked me, as I saw down time on a salary as the bosses problem and doing something on your own time as taking a positive initiative.
This thread has worried me as different people really do see the same deed in different ways......ways of viewing it that could get you punished for doing a good deed.....with little way of predicting what will happen.
Going forward my policy is going to be to use paid downtime to make things to make everyone's work life easier....or......to learn new stuff. My off time will be used to learn new stuff or for my own personal satisfaction.
Seriously, I have found this thread to be an eye opener. I didn't see the OP as anything except someone showing initiative and having a motivation to improve his workplace with a win-win solution.
Yet, other people saw him as being a non-team player trying to game his boss & org.....even project hostility about it.
Wow, different people really can see things completely differently without any malevolent intent.
Good lesson.
Another good lesson: the thing to do with down time at work is to do your best to find a way to put it to good use. A boss will think that is when the OP should have gone "above and beyond" for the company.
I also agree with the people who expressed the sentiment that you should go "above and beyond" when you can. Those are the people who get more when more becomes available. Even if you don't get financial compensation, you can take the skills you developed elsewhere. You also have a lot more fun being innovative than just sitting back and turning the wheel at your job.
I think your comment is one of the best. Adopting your view will lead to the most career happiness.
Other slashdotters will truthfully point out that there are job situations where going "above and beyond" go unrewarded, but I've been in organizations where it looked like that for long stretches of time, but a time did come for someone to get something extra and those extra things went to the people who went "above and beyond".
If that doesn't happen eventually, then you just leave for a job where it will. You just have to apply your own judgement of when to leave.
If you guess wrong, you don't get shafted. You get to take the skills you learned and practiced with you.
Like I wrote in my other post, your opinion and the opinion of the post your replied shocked me as it wouldn't have occurred to me to see the OP as having nasty motivations.
The OP wrote that he didn't believe that people "should get something for nothing". Your post makes the intriguing point that works both ways. If he has downtime on the job, he should try to put it to good use so that he doesn't get something ( his salary ) for nothing ( downtime on the job ).
I've worked for bosses who had cranky dispositions and hair trigger tempers, instantly assuming the worst. I hope you and bosses like you will have the forethought to see that people like the OP simply didn't see the situation like you do and will explain that rather than going hostile.
Initiative should be encouraged, not punished if the vision is misguided. The vision should just be corrected.
I would like to thank you and the person you replied to since you both wrote posts that intrigued me.
I saw the original poster as having admirable motivations and I am genuinely surprised that there are some people who would see him ( correctly or not ) as having a lousy attitude.
Thinking about it, I see your side of the story. He has down time, paid, on the job and instead of putting it to use he doesn't. Then, he tries to charge you for something he could have done on time you paid him for.
That kind of thinking wouldn't have occurred to me if I hadn't read your post and that will be a useful perspective for me in the future for avoiding trouble. Thank you.
I do think you and the parent poster have the wrong attitude in looking upon such a person punitively. He didn't see it like you see it. He likely sees being a salaried worker as a situation where you are paid to be there........whether or not there is work to do every single minute. I got the sense he also tried to avoid pissing people off by doing it on his OWN TIME, off premises.
I sure hope you and people like you, if you are management will think twice in the future before getting pissed at such a person. Slow down to consider if they see things the way you do before getting mad that they are trying to game you. Give them the benefit of the doubt, tell them "no thanks" and explain to them how you see their role ( i.e. if they have downtime they are expected to do their best in finding a way to put it to good use ).
I think the smart people have a foot on each ledge.
Inspiring people to do work for nothing does sound like a classic management scam.
Not doing anything "above and beyond" unless you get something concrete and right away for it is the mark of someone stuck in a dead end position.
The facts are that you never get "just nothing" from taking personal initiative. You learn and sharpen skills you can take elsewhere.......to get paid and get satisfaction. Rewards are not always going to be immediate. However, a smart person will know that they can have personal initiative and rewards. They will keep an eye out and notice if the rewards don't seem to be coming and go someplace where they will get it when the time is right.
Ask them. The worst they can do is say "no" and you aren't out any money you weren't going to get anyway.
You wrote they don't HAVE a budget for buying anything.
However, if you can put something together for them showing them how much money your software will save them you might inspire someone to fight for you to eventually get compensated.
At the very least you WILL get SOMETHING by deploying the software rather than letting it sit unused if you do a good job of "selling it".
You will generate good will among your superiors which will count in your favor when it comes time for them to do something they can do for you.
You will get a resume stuffer.
Last and most importantly, you will make your own work life easier.
Try and sell it. If that doesn't work benefit from your work by deploying it anyway. That and your satisfaction/fun in doing is worth it alone.
Slashdot Mirror
Seriously.
Americans are very worried about their income and at the same time prices are going up everywhere. It isn't the time to stick it to your customers with another fee and not risk losing them.
Add Verizon to the list of "Corporate Miscalculations of 2011"
There Verizon will join GoDaddy, Netflix and Bank Of America.
To all of the people who pull the dodge of saying people can't do anything remember these companies. They were all read to dick Americans over, without lube, until ordinary people stood up for themselves and forced them to backpedal.
Hey Corporate America:
In case you haven't figured it out yet Americans are feeling squeezed. On one side everyone is asking for more of their money and on the other side they are unsure about their income. A quick way to piss your customers off is to try to gouge more out of them.
but I got there quickly and safely before the TSA and W Bush
because the Obama administration is indistinguishable from that of GWB
This is the kind of irresponsible and unsubstantiated exaggeration that was responsible for people voting for Nader in 2000 with the result of Bush getting into office.
Can you list 10 policies that are identical between the Obama and Bush administrations? If you can't, all you have is an unsubstantiated opinion written with an air of authority.
In the mean time check out this web site for President Obama's record. With each item ask yourself if Bush or any Republican would have done the same:
http://whatthefuckhasobamadonesofar.com/
Now that they have safety nailed down, maybe in 2012 they can do something about forcing passengers to choose between getting groped or irradiated.
I am one of the people "who admire the stars".
My dreams are of a world like Star Trek, not like the stories Robert Heinlein wrote of strip mining and slave labor being exported to other worlds.
Politically, China has the advantage that it's not involved in a dick-waving contest with some Soviet boogeyman, and instead of racing toward a symbolic goal that serves no tangible purpose, they're slowly and steadily building up a knowledge base to make the space program a sustainable benefit for their society.
I think the U.S. has been in a cold war - lite with China. Seeing them land someone on the moon will be a big shock that will either motivate the U.S. to make manned flights again ( regardless of how practical it is ) or demoralize Americans into believing our time has past.
Given the way our corporations have sold our country out I think the later is more likely.
I thought your tone was a bit curmudgeonly and made you seem like a crank, but I have to agree with your points 100%.
Good deal. Diaspora hasn't gotten off the ground yet. The only viable social network sites out there are built on a business model of exploiting their users by discretely spying on them and selling information about them for marketing.
I gave up on Google+ and this article makes me glad I did.
Their real name policy turned me off by seeming draconian. Google's reason for it, to get more money selling my information.....made me feel victimized.
I used a fake name, with a brand new Google account anyway, but I found it to be a pain in the ass to log out of my primary gmail account just so I could check Google+.
On top of all of that 99% of my FB friends didn't want to get on.....or regularly use G+ on top of FB.
So, I just post to FB less, don't use G+ at all and am waiting for diaspora to eventually get its act together.
You are better off not paying the fee and paying by check, because that check will be a receipt, which you can use when Verizon eventually screws up your account. I left them years ago because every two months I had to straighten out some mess with them.
Your best bet is to vote with your feet and let Verizon know why.
People doing the same stopped Bank Of American from charging ATM fees.
Ever try to pay a parking ticket or some other municipal fee online? They will charge you a "convenience fee". My guess is because they have to pay the credit card companies something.
My guess is that will eventually change when an older generation dies off or gets online. An efficiency expert will notice that they are employing staff to handle paper based payments........for very few payments. At that point they will encourage people to pay electronically. Probably by charging a fee for paper based payments.......the way my car insurance company does.
Interestingly, earlier this week, my car insurance company, GEICO, emailed me to tell me that I could log into their site to pay my bill electronically and print out my insurance card.
I emailed them back asking that would be my motivation? I would be doing them a favor, since doing payments the old fashioned way is more of an expense for them. If they want me to do them a favor, they should sweeten the deal.
They told me that since I always pay my bill in full, instead of using an installment plan, that I hadn't noticed that people who pay by paper pay a processing fee whereas installment payers who go by electronic means do not.
IMO, that makes sense for everyone. The organizations that charge people a fee to do things electronically over paper have it backwards.
I don't understand why your post was modded down. Your point of view was politely expressed and it was legitimate.
I got the impression that the people hostile to the OP were in a support position with *relatively* steady, salaried hours. They viewed the OP as goofing off on his paid down time when he could have used that paid time to write the efficiency boosting programs. They saw the OP as stealing that paid time and then trying to charge them on top of that for a program he could have written on the clock.
That view shocked me, as I saw down time on a salary as the bosses problem and doing something on your own time as taking a positive initiative.
This thread has worried me as different people really do see the same deed in different ways......ways of viewing it that could get you punished for doing a good deed.....with little way of predicting what will happen.
Going forward my policy is going to be to use paid downtime to make things to make everyone's work life easier....or ......to learn new stuff. My off time will be used to learn new stuff or for my own personal satisfaction.
Seriously, I have found this thread to be an eye opener. I didn't see the OP as anything except someone showing initiative and having a motivation to improve his workplace with a win-win solution.
Yet, other people saw him as being a non-team player trying to game his boss & org.....even project hostility about it.
Wow, different people really can see things completely differently without any malevolent intent.
Good lesson.
Another good lesson: the thing to do with down time at work is to do your best to find a way to put it to good use. A boss will think that is when the OP should have gone "above and beyond" for the company.
I also agree with the people who expressed the sentiment that you should go "above and beyond" when you can. Those are the people who get more when more becomes available. Even if you don't get financial compensation, you can take the skills you developed elsewhere. You also have a lot more fun being innovative than just sitting back and turning the wheel at your job.
I think your comment is one of the best. Adopting your view will lead to the most career happiness.
Other slashdotters will truthfully point out that there are job situations where going "above and beyond" go unrewarded, but I've been in organizations where it looked like that for long stretches of time, but a time did come for someone to get something extra and those extra things went to the people who went "above and beyond".
If that doesn't happen eventually, then you just leave for a job where it will. You just have to apply your own judgement of when to leave.
If you guess wrong, you don't get shafted. You get to take the skills you learned and practiced with you.
Like I wrote in my other post, your opinion and the opinion of the post your replied shocked me as it wouldn't have occurred to me to see the OP as having nasty motivations.
The OP wrote that he didn't believe that people "should get something for nothing". Your post makes the intriguing point that works both ways. If he has downtime on the job, he should try to put it to good use so that he doesn't get something ( his salary ) for nothing ( downtime on the job ).
I've worked for bosses who had cranky dispositions and hair trigger tempers, instantly assuming the worst. I hope you and bosses like you will have the forethought to see that people like the OP simply didn't see the situation like you do and will explain that rather than going hostile.
Initiative should be encouraged, not punished if the vision is misguided. The vision should just be corrected.
I would like to thank you and the person you replied to since you both wrote posts that intrigued me.
I saw the original poster as having admirable motivations and I am genuinely surprised that there are some people who would see him ( correctly or not ) as having a lousy attitude.
Thinking about it, I see your side of the story. He has down time, paid, on the job and instead of putting it to use he doesn't. Then, he tries to charge you for something he could have done on time you paid him for.
That kind of thinking wouldn't have occurred to me if I hadn't read your post and that will be a useful perspective for me in the future for avoiding trouble. Thank you.
I do think you and the parent poster have the wrong attitude in looking upon such a person punitively. He didn't see it like you see it. He likely sees being a salaried worker as a situation where you are paid to be there........whether or not there is work to do every single minute. I got the sense he also tried to avoid pissing people off by doing it on his OWN TIME, off premises.
I sure hope you and people like you, if you are management will think twice in the future before getting pissed at such a person. Slow down to consider if they see things the way you do before getting mad that they are trying to game you. Give them the benefit of the doubt, tell them "no thanks" and explain to them how you see their role ( i.e. if they have downtime they are expected to do their best in finding a way to put it to good use ).
I think the smart people have a foot on each ledge.
Inspiring people to do work for nothing does sound like a classic management scam.
Not doing anything "above and beyond" unless you get something concrete and right away for it is the mark of someone stuck in a dead end position.
The facts are that you never get "just nothing" from taking personal initiative. You learn and sharpen skills you can take elsewhere.......to get paid and get satisfaction. Rewards are not always going to be immediate. However, a smart person will know that they can have personal initiative and rewards. They will keep an eye out and notice if the rewards don't seem to be coming and go someplace where they will get it when the time is right.
Ask them. The worst they can do is say "no" and you aren't out any money you weren't going to get anyway.
You wrote they don't HAVE a budget for buying anything.
However, if you can put something together for them showing them how much money your software will save them you might inspire someone to fight for you to eventually get compensated.
At the very least you WILL get SOMETHING by deploying the software rather than letting it sit unused if you do a good job of "selling it".
You will generate good will among your superiors which will count in your favor when it comes time for them to do something they can do for you.
You will get a resume stuffer.
Last and most importantly, you will make your own work life easier.
Try and sell it. If that doesn't work benefit from your work by deploying it anyway. That and your satisfaction/fun in doing is worth it alone.
That does sound familiar. Thanks.
I seem to have a vague memory of there being another mass exodus from godaddy a few years ago. Does anyone remember what the issue was?
is do hackers need to? The Republican candidates themselves seem to be disrupting the whole affair by being a clown show.
I wish I could mod this post up.
When/if you have kids, they will have the Sea Shepherd society and not you to thank for whales still existing in the world.