I used to love the transfers from India.... Customers saying "Why should I reformat when its my printer thats not working" A lot the "Techs" in India would start the call with asking the customer to format the drive and restore the Dell partition. (I use the term tech loosely...)
Invariably I would fix the issue with out reformatting and the customer would thank me.
The biggest problem I spotted was lack of team effort and management just plain not being available and escalation of issues was like trying to push a car uphill underwater with a life vest on...
I agree support from companies is horrid. The thing that still amazes me is that during my training with Dell they consistently used Walmart as an example of how to treat customers to bring in more customers. (I agree with this philosophy)
but once out on the production floor wow what difference....
One call I had got written up for... A customer called me to complain the system did not come with the CD keys to install the software that came with the system, I can send replacement disks but those do not come with CD keys. So I transfered to the department that handles returns and told the customer to return the system for a different one. The customer was retransfered back to tech support and a different "tech" sent out replacement disks.... They said I should have done the same thing and when I said that the customer had the disks and this wouldn't solve the issue they looked at me like I was growing a second head.... So I am sure that customer was really happy to know that in the end not only would they be stuck with a system and no way to return it (you have 14 days to return a system) but also that it was missing software that they purchased lol Makes for super happy customers!!!
Remember "Be the reason people choose Dell!!!" lol I tried really really hard to help people there and 99% of the time I was able to do that in spite of working working there, but those 1% are killers...
Oh BTW I handled the phone call that essentially caused Raytheon to Cancel its Dell contract... That call still makes me sick to this day.
One of the higher up in Raytheon called for his home system he had purchased a system with one of those upgrade coupons for Vista, well at the time the online ordering system was a wreck and he called in asking for help with it. No problem just send the guy a copy of Vista. (I googled his name while on the phone and checked it against his account and the guy was telling the truth) So I talked to several managers double checked everything talked to this man on the phone for almost 2 hours. After doing everything in my power to try and get the man what he was supposed to get he was very kind and said "I knew you have tried everything and I don't blame you, I can tell your a good employee but if this is how Dell supports its customers I don't think we will be doing business again" He thanked me for trying...
He even told me at one point that he didn't make the decisions about company purchases for PC's but he did have the ability "to whisper in his ear" I kid you not a few weeks after that it was in the news that Dell had lost a multi million dollar Raytheon contract. Over a $400 copy of Vista Ultimate.... Thats how you lose customers.
I worked as Dell telephone tech support, I can honestly say they DO know about the issues. Nice big red screen pops up when you call them that says "Do not read this to the customer" it contains a full description of the issue your having 99% of the time. (The E6400's where funny as hell.... and no your not crazy and yes Dell knows about the issue.) Oh did I mention this screen pops up right after we ask "Can I have your service tag number".
I know in my house, our Wii hardly ever gets a chance to rest. Too many great games for this system.
Any real "harcore gamer" owns a Wii and at least one other system. I have a Wii and a PS3, while I love them both if I was forced to choose between the two right now the Wii would be what I would keep. I also own what I would term a gaming PC and it can play all the latest and greatest. (I think I may have wasted my money on my last few upgrades since 90% of the time I am playing WoW... Bioshock 2 was the last FPS type game I played)
Not quite sure to be honest, it seems like they would be the first ones to want the slime off the force.
I mean if you can't trust the guy to be honest and fair out on the streets, do I really want this dude "serving and protecting" my community where I live?
If your product is something like Starforce (a DRM scheme) then sure every time a game comes installed with it thats a sale.
All joking aside, every time there is no DRM on something it not only causes loss of sales but can literally take out a company. If you would like a recent example take a look at the Dreamcast it was trivial to download a CD image burn it and boot it up on any Dreamcast made. As soon as that became well known sales plummeted.
If it had not been for that flaw in its DRM, it would have been in a much better position to compete with the PS2. Developers stopped making games for it since they knew that it was going to be a money pit after that. The Amiga god rest its soul was so well pirated that developers swore it off.
As for providing proof that DRM increases sales, no one has that much access to the needed information.
DRM is a placebo as I stated in the post you semi quoted.
Placebo = snake oil, its there just to make the developers feel safer that they might make a profit.
Well when talking about DRM the user is not the person playing the game. The user in this case is the person who wants the most money they can squeeze out of product X.
Ultimately I think this DRM scheme will go horribly wrong. The pirates will get the version everyone should be playing and the paying customers will get the poopy end of the stick...
I agree save games on remote servers = crap, the only advantage is avoiding cheating and that should only be for multi player games. Single player should be local and that way if some one wants to cheat then so be it (I am a fan of "Have it your way")
I guess I would say DRM is needed not so much to prevent piracy, but to comfort the developers enough into actually producing a product for the platform. DRM is a placebo but as long as it works to get them to make PC games I am all for it (I buy the game then crack it myself so I do not have to deal with all these nasty issues) If I can't crack it or there are not good anti DRM cracks then I do not buy.
Also once again the pirates will enjoy the better copy of the game as this will greatly reduce any sort of lag induced from logging onto a remote server. Another thing is that pirates will enjoy the ability to hack there own save file have the save file backed up in case of emergency... DRM is a needed evil but at some points when the pirates are getting the better product.... It gets teeth grindingly annoying.
It all seems such a moot point to me... Honestly no matter what humans do to save or destroy the earth, in 4-5 billion years the sun is going to engulf the earth.
Save the whales, save the tree's, save yourself.... Death is the inevitable outcome of life.
On a more cheerful note I am going back to playing the Wii and enjoy my time here!
For some reason slashdot posted this for me as AC, I was only half joking... if China owns the IP then there will be more profits for them since they already control all the manufacturing. the next step is to buy out the brand and cut out the middle man. I guess people could be thankful it goes that way VS China just shutting down company X and rebranding the product, at least other countries will get some money out of the deal.
Of course this also solves that nasty issue of product awareness and branding (a lot of people only buy things based on the label....)
If they did buy Google they would have immediate access to all those nasty old human rights Gmail accounts and I imagine Google keeps good records so tracking these evil people should be no problem!
Of course if they did buy Google then would all my searches for political subjects lead to results of how great communism is? Human rights searches could lead to results for right handed people!
I would have known something was up since very rarely are mp3 files like 4Kb (I forget the exact size but it was truely tiny)
I agree everyone should change viewing to show all extensions it just makes things much safer. Especialy if your downloading stuff... first rule of the open sea's a pirate should learn "Trust nothing and no one"
Its not security by itself but I find it combined with some other stuff really helps (I install this little thing on almost every machine I get my hands on, even an out dated version is better then nothing)
A cool side benefit of this hosts file is that it blocks a lot of ads (I guess by extension a lot of ads possibly loaded by compromised web pages?)
I ran into a machine about two weeks back. The only obvious symptom was that when I tried to run Spybot the program would just close. This machine was stable and fast too.... really scary stuff some of the new crap. Then I took a peek at the AVG they where running, all up to date on version 8 point something (I use AVG too and knew that version 9 had already come out so this was messed up too the spyware or what ever it was had even taken over AVG lol)
I finally used an old trick of renaming the.exe for Spybot and it ran fine then and even recognized the infection although it could not clean it at least it gave me a name to google and removal instructions.
This infection came from Limewire so I can't blame XP or IE for this one, it was all user ignorance (not stupidity just not aware of file sizes and how bad something.mp3.exe can be lol)
So I guess the moral of the story on this one is that with the new stuff you might be infected and not even know it, and user security is even more vital then any other type.
Slashdot Mirror
I used to love the transfers from India.... Customers saying "Why should I reformat when its my printer thats not working" A lot the "Techs" in India would start the call with asking the customer to format the drive and restore the Dell partition. (I use the term tech loosely...)
Invariably I would fix the issue with out reformatting and the customer would thank me.
The biggest problem I spotted was lack of team effort and management just plain not being available and escalation of issues was like trying to push a car uphill underwater with a life vest on...
I agree support from companies is horrid. The thing that still amazes me is that during my training with Dell they consistently used Walmart as an example of how to treat customers to bring in more customers. (I agree with this philosophy)
but once out on the production floor wow what difference....
One call I had got written up for... A customer called me to complain the system did not come with the CD keys to install the software that came with the system, I can send replacement disks but those do not come with CD keys. So I transfered to the department that handles returns and told the customer to return the system for a different one. The customer was retransfered back to tech support and a different "tech" sent out replacement disks.... They said I should have done the same thing and when I said that the customer had the disks and this wouldn't solve the issue they looked at me like I was growing a second head.... So I am sure that customer was really happy to know that in the end not only would they be stuck with a system and no way to return it (you have 14 days to return a system) but also that it was missing software that they purchased lol Makes for super happy customers!!!
Remember "Be the reason people choose Dell!!!" lol I tried really really hard to help people there and 99% of the time I was able to do that in spite of working working there, but those 1% are killers...
Oh BTW I handled the phone call that essentially caused Raytheon to Cancel its Dell contract... That call still makes me sick to this day.
One of the higher up in Raytheon called for his home system he had purchased a system with one of those upgrade coupons for Vista, well at the time the online ordering system was a wreck and he called in asking for help with it. No problem just send the guy a copy of Vista. (I googled his name while on the phone and checked it against his account and the guy was telling the truth) So I talked to several managers double checked everything talked to this man on the phone for almost 2 hours. After doing everything in my power to try and get the man what he was supposed to get he was very kind and said "I knew you have tried everything and I don't blame you, I can tell your a good employee but if this is how Dell supports its customers I don't think we will be doing business again" He thanked me for trying...
He even told me at one point that he didn't make the decisions about company purchases for PC's but he did have the ability "to whisper in his ear" I kid you not a few weeks after that it was in the news that Dell had lost a multi million dollar Raytheon contract. Over a $400 copy of Vista Ultimate.... Thats how you lose customers.
Only if your one of the lucky ones, or unlucky depending on how you look at it....
I worked as Dell telephone tech support, I can honestly say they DO know about the issues. Nice big red screen pops up when you call them that says "Do not read this to the customer" it contains a full description of the issue your having 99% of the time. (The E6400's where funny as hell.... and no your not crazy and yes Dell knows about the issue.) Oh did I mention this screen pops up right after we ask "Can I have your service tag number".
I know in my house, our Wii hardly ever gets a chance to rest. Too many great games for this system.
Any real "harcore gamer" owns a Wii and at least one other system. I have a Wii and a PS3, while I love them both if I was forced to choose between the two right now the Wii would be what I would keep. I also own what I would term a gaming PC and it can play all the latest and greatest. (I think I may have wasted my money on my last few upgrades since 90% of the time I am playing WoW... Bioshock 2 was the last FPS type game I played)
Love the games, not the systems.
Well maybe he is from the future come to warn us of the coming WoW hacking apocalypse !!!
I hear the expansion has a new level cap of 85 lol
Well you cant garden with out water and I think we all know about the waters of mars!!!
Not quite sure to be honest, it seems like they would be the first ones to want the slime off the force.
I mean if you can't trust the guy to be honest and fair out on the streets, do I really want this dude "serving and protecting" my community where I live?
It's already cracked.
http://www.infoaddict.com/ubisofts-new-drm-cracked-in-under-25-hours
If your product is something like Starforce (a DRM scheme) then sure every time a game comes installed with it thats a sale.
All joking aside, every time there is no DRM on something it not only causes loss of sales but can literally take out a company. If you would like a recent example take a look at the Dreamcast it was trivial to download a CD image burn it and boot it up on any Dreamcast made. As soon as that became well known sales plummeted.
If it had not been for that flaw in its DRM, it would have been in a much better position to compete with the PS2. Developers stopped making games for it since they knew that it was going to be a money pit after that. The Amiga god rest its soul was so well pirated that developers swore it off.
As for providing proof that DRM increases sales, no one has that much access to the needed information.
DRM is a placebo as I stated in the post you semi quoted.
Placebo = snake oil, its there just to make the developers feel safer that they might make a profit.
You might try ITR WoW... its free and according to you seems to be magical.(Well it is if you like to play World of Warcraft)
Or have you ever tried emulation for NES,SNES,Genesis,N64 and so on....
Emulation its kind of a known thing and there is very little magic involved if only you have searched Google you might have known this.
They are even emulating full servers these days with no access to the original software... I wonder if they use Voodoo or Wiccan magic?
Well when talking about DRM the user is not the person playing the game. The user in this case is the person who wants the most money they can squeeze out of product X.
Ultimately I think this DRM scheme will go horribly wrong. The pirates will get the version everyone should be playing and the paying customers will get the poopy end of the stick...
I agree save games on remote servers = crap, the only advantage is avoiding cheating and that should only be for multi player games. Single player should be local and that way if some one wants to cheat then so be it (I am a fan of "Have it your way")
I guess I would say DRM is needed not so much to prevent piracy, but to comfort the developers enough into actually producing a product for the platform. DRM is a placebo but as long as it works to get them to make PC games I am all for it (I buy the game then crack it myself so I do not have to deal with all these nasty issues) If I can't crack it or there are not good anti DRM cracks then I do not buy.
Also once again the pirates will enjoy the better copy of the game as this will greatly reduce any sort of lag induced from logging onto a remote server. Another thing is that pirates will enjoy the ability to hack there own save file have the save file backed up in case of emergency... DRM is a needed evil but at some points when the pirates are getting the better product.... It gets teeth grindingly annoying.
Might I suggest that server address be 127.0.0.1 with some sort of application that emulates all the functions...
Given enough time if the damage is not too horrid, the brain may do this on its own.
My mom had a stroke and lost pretty much everything on her left side. To my amazement she pretty much completely recovered and lived another 20 years.
It all seems such a moot point to me... Honestly no matter what humans do to save or destroy the earth, in 4-5 billion years the sun is going to engulf the earth.
Save the whales, save the tree's, save yourself.... Death is the inevitable outcome of life.
On a more cheerful note I am going back to playing the Wii and enjoy my time here!
Well they could but no company has the balls to build a notebook with a 20 pound battery!!! (not to mention the fire hazard...)
Probably this.
http://tdworld.com/projects_in_progress/business_in_tech/superconducting_cable/
Where do I sign up?
Its not 3D and its for windows but I always liked this program.
http://w3.win.tue.nl/nl/onderzoek/onderzoek_informatica/visualization/sequoiaview//
I wonder if it will run under Windows 7...
No no no he was only frozen for 500 years... wait your not talking about Buck Rogers are you.... lol
For some reason slashdot posted this for me as AC, I was only half joking... if China owns the IP then there will be more profits for them since they already control all the manufacturing. the next step is to buy out the brand and cut out the middle man. I guess people could be thankful it goes that way VS China just shutting down company X and rebranding the product, at least other countries will get some money out of the deal.
Of course this also solves that nasty issue of product awareness and branding (a lot of people only buy things based on the label....)
If they did buy Google they would have immediate access to all those nasty old human rights Gmail accounts and I imagine Google keeps good records so tracking these evil people should be no problem!
Of course if they did buy Google then would all my searches for political subjects lead to results of how great communism is? Human rights searches could lead to results for right handed people!
I could beat After Burner II on 2 quarters :P lol
But that was probably the game I was best at... Every other machine ate my quarters as if there was an endless supply!!! Sadly there was not...
I would have known something was up since very rarely are mp3 files like 4Kb (I forget the exact size but it was truely tiny)
I agree everyone should change viewing to show all extensions it just makes things much safer. Especialy if your downloading stuff... first rule of the open sea's a pirate should learn "Trust nothing and no one"
Opera and a good hosts file can go a long way in keeping the riff raff off your system.
http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm
Its not security by itself but I find it combined with some other stuff really helps (I install this little thing on almost every machine I get my hands on, even an out dated version is better then nothing)
A cool side benefit of this hosts file is that it blocks a lot of ads (I guess by extension a lot of ads possibly loaded by compromised web pages?)
I ran into a machine about two weeks back. The only obvious symptom was that when I tried to run Spybot the program would just close. This machine was stable and fast too.... really scary stuff some of the new crap. Then I took a peek at the AVG they where running, all up to date on version 8 point something (I use AVG too and knew that version 9 had already come out so this was messed up too the spyware or what ever it was had even taken over AVG lol)
I finally used an old trick of renaming the .exe for Spybot and it ran fine then and even recognized the infection although it could not clean it at least it gave me a name to google and removal instructions.
This infection came from Limewire so I can't blame XP or IE for this one, it was all user ignorance (not stupidity just not aware of file sizes and how bad something.mp3.exe can be lol)
So I guess the moral of the story on this one is that with the new stuff you might be infected and not even know it, and user security is even more vital then any other type.