It is just freaking amazing that things electronics can still work after being exposed to such an environment for so long. Good job Voyager and good job old school NASA. Just don't come back home in a few hundred years with a chip on your shoulder!
Oh no, make no doubt about it. I have plenty of contempt for how the studios are handling their side of this. Netflix may be the immediate whipping boy puppet, but I think most people do know who is pulling the strings.
My point is though, because of how Netflix completely and arrogantly bumbled this situation, they will not get my money for it. Hollywood may be forcing them into some things, but it was largely up to Netflix how they implemented it. If Blockbuster pulls the same crap, I will do the same to them. Entertainment entities such as Netflix, Blockbuster, and all of Hollywood just don't seem to be able to get the idea that no one needs their product. We may want their product, but it is not like electricity, housing, or a car to get to work to feed your family. Their entire ecosystem is based around wants not needs. Until they get that through their skulls (which will likely never happen), I will always express my opinion to them with my wallet which in this case gets Netflix punished by not having my money. Yes, it may still trickle through to the Hollywood bean counters, but at least I have a choice in who get it first, and after their messup, it will not be Netflix.
We may have to get off the DVD plan, but that doesn't mean we will have to get on the streaming plan.
My two biggest problems with his streaming push are:
1. A large number of people still do not have access to eat-all-you-want broadband. He acted as if everyone under the sun has broadband galore. Not only do people not have access, but more and more of those that do are facing data caps.
2. Streaming was nothing but sprinkles on the cake. If "Thor" comes out on DVD, I would hope to see it very soon on streaming, but that is not the case. Sure streaming is great for TV series, indie films, and such, but for big name DVD releases, it was useless.
Hastings never fully addressed these issues for me and so I dropped Netflix and am currently trying out Blockbuster. Blockbuster's site sucks compared to Netflix, and their disc mailing schedule is slower, but for me to put some pain in Netflix's wallet it has been worth it to me.
Oh TY for pointing this out. I have had virtually that same damn conversation so many times in the past few years. Just because a 2TB costs $99 at Walmart does not mean that same type drive is what you want to rely on for your enterprise data. It gets very frustrating trying to explain this over and over.
Pen and paper is the best when I have to take notes quickly, but if I have more time, I like an iPad 2, long stylus, and Pentultimate. I say an iPad 2 because I have tried it on an iPad 1 and their is noticeable lag when I write. It does come in handy when you need to share those notes with others though.
Unless you are an already big name player like Blizzard, you need to look at having your MMO on at least one console to be able to keep up. If they would have had Lego Universe for a PS3 I would have been all over that.
Fed16 smells a bit too Unity-ish for me. The desktop is being further relegated to nothing more than wallpaper and not a productive space (not storage space mind you!). I feel like at this point the Gnome 2 look and feel is gone with the larger distros. The king is dead; long live the king.
I am giving Mint a try, but their 12.x plans to produce a hybrid Gnome 2 + 3 environment sounds like a clustersmack waiting to happen. Sigh. I think I miss right-clicking for Properties most of all.
So would this affect corporate users such as with Apple's Maps app on iOS? If so, I guess that could be another reason for their recent maps company acquisition.
The lack of right-clicking to alter properties, bring up additional menus, add panels, etc.. was the last nail in the coffin. And I hate that. I have really enjoyed Ubuntu over the years, and this rapid departure from a usable UI has left me very disappointed with the Ubuntu team.
I am now going back and trying other distros to see if I can find one I like again. damnit.
I say go for it. The "edu bubble" is going to be one of the next big things to pop.
I do find it odd to hear some of the Occupy members in a fervor over student loan debt. That they asked for. Not everyone should go to an expensive private college. They should be allowed to do so, if they can pay for it; but that should not be the government's concern. That is not being mean. That is just reality.
My only concern about the government leaving the student loan area would be the likely uptick in "corporate apprenticeship" type programs. You could end up with a generation indebted to a Company Store rather than Uncle Sam.
I don't think we can really trust non-profit schools either if they have a desire to grow or become nationally recognized. They can still push through those that should never have graduated just to get more student notches on their belt when they apply for federal grants.
I see it as a small bit of payback because of meth heads like him I can't buy a simple damned sudafed tablet anymore without a freaking act of congress, strip search, and a blood sample.
Why hire someone you cannot trust? There are initial trust patterns that must be held in certain IT positions. Not blind trust, but still, you have to go with some things. I present it to clients in this way... If I do something unethical with your data, the fallout from that could ruin my business for years if not finish it off altogether. Your data is not worth that price to me. So far, I have not seen any client data worth that price even at the CEO level. Trust, but verify.
Congrats on making it 1.5yrs before feeling that way! Many times it can go downhill much quicker than that.
Most users are blissfully ignorant when it comes to the computer systems they use every day. One of the hardest parts to the job is to find a way to get them to properly report a problem. Do not tell me in the hall while I am in the middle of a conversation on another issue. Do not tell someone else to tell me. Do not ignore the problem until it gets to the point it requires a complete reinstall. If you can get them to let you know about a problem and accurately describe what they are running into (not just "it doesn't work"), then they can begin to understand there are rational steps to go through with getting a problem fixed and hopefully they will know you are not just ignoring them (hopefully).
I run into a similar instance with users calling anything made by Adobe, Inc. the term "Adobe".
User -- My Adobe isn't working right.
Me -- Adobe?.... Dreamweaver right? Photoshop? No, no, I know, InDesign? Still not it? OH the software that reads PDF files?!? You mean "Acrobat".
Normally, I am not a smartass IT stereotype, but that always irritates me to no end.
Eventually, some do learn. Most do not. I try to explain it to them by relating it to Microsoft. If you have a problem with Word they don't call in and say "My Microsoft is broken". Once they see it that way, some tend to remember it better.
I work in an IT department that works with a university. Not so much for the university as much as handle IT issues from outside university clients (foundations, privatizing research groups, etc...). We are housed at a university, but not part of any faculty or teaching program. In other words, we are not academic in any sense of the word except that we are housed on university land.
For years certifications from Novell or Microsoft were shoved down our throat as the only way to get a promotion. When one of our "certified" employees failed to solve fairly simple issue for the VP, certifications were dropped as a mandate for promotion and emphasis was placed on real world learning. This was a good thing.
Now several years later, new administration has turned over that policy and is requiring Masters degrees for promotion. Admin does not care what type of Masters, just as long as you get one. As it works out, this is also right before many of us would be eligible for a promotion. Because it happens during a bad budget time, this is seen as being done for a few reasons:
1. More Masters requirements equals more student enrollment (yes it is from within, but they do not care.. a student is a student as far as rolls go).
2. More money going back into the university. Getting 4 hours of classtime free a semester is a drop in the bucket when you consider your time and money that you will spend to meet your Masters requirement.
3. The Masters requirement is used as a tool to keep the salaries down of those who would normally be eligible for promotion based on time, effort, and accomplishment.
Because the rules of the game changed mid-stream, this has really ticked a lot in the IT groups off, but given the economy, many of us are stuck. Most are in their 30's and 40's and have a family (myself included). Leaving at 5:00 (more like 6:30!) from work to then go home and work on a Masters "requirement" considering how much effort is already put in, is just not sitting well. One of the guys looked into a 12 month program from another university. He was willing to pay out of his own pocket to get it done quicker, but our university said they would not honor it EVEN THOUGH they honor the same degree from that same school for other programs. This furthers the idea that the Masters requirement is being placed on us to make money for the school and not as part of a realistic plan for employee advancement.
I have found the benefits of trying to do power saving are quickly outweighed by the hassle the first time you get a call from the VP about why "his damned computer will not come on". After gently explaining it was due to the new hibernation settings that administration had requested be put on ALL PC's, I then asked it if would "be ok" for me to switch his back to a compromise of 20 min display sleep, and 90 min computer sleep. "Most" of the time, hibernation would be "ok", but he finally had it bite him one too many times on recovery. Everyone else had to grin and bear the hibernation oddities that would pop up, but when it happened to one of the main guys pushing for knee-jerk "power savings", it became "an issue".
We have not had any complaints since. Admin gets the bragging rights of saying they "implemented power savings measures" and we get to avoid most of the hassles of stricter measures. It is still requested that people power off their displays at the end of the day, but the less strict policies appease admin and still offer some power savings without causing us issues.
Hibernation (or deep sleep) is just junk when it comes to older hardware; or god help you... notebooks AND docks. The newer the notebook/dock combo, the better it works. Your mileage may vary, but older tech and hibernation/deep sleep just is a bad mix.
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It is just freaking amazing that things electronics can still work after being exposed to such an environment for so long. Good job Voyager and good job old school NASA. Just don't come back home in a few hundred years with a chip on your shoulder!
Oh no, make no doubt about it. I have plenty of contempt for how the studios are handling their side of this. Netflix may be the immediate whipping boy puppet, but I think most people do know who is pulling the strings. My point is though, because of how Netflix completely and arrogantly bumbled this situation, they will not get my money for it. Hollywood may be forcing them into some things, but it was largely up to Netflix how they implemented it. If Blockbuster pulls the same crap, I will do the same to them. Entertainment entities such as Netflix, Blockbuster, and all of Hollywood just don't seem to be able to get the idea that no one needs their product. We may want their product, but it is not like electricity, housing, or a car to get to work to feed your family. Their entire ecosystem is based around wants not needs. Until they get that through their skulls (which will likely never happen), I will always express my opinion to them with my wallet which in this case gets Netflix punished by not having my money. Yes, it may still trickle through to the Hollywood bean counters, but at least I have a choice in who get it first, and after their messup, it will not be Netflix.
We may have to get off the DVD plan, but that doesn't mean we will have to get on the streaming plan. My two biggest problems with his streaming push are: 1. A large number of people still do not have access to eat-all-you-want broadband. He acted as if everyone under the sun has broadband galore. Not only do people not have access, but more and more of those that do are facing data caps. 2. Streaming was nothing but sprinkles on the cake. If "Thor" comes out on DVD, I would hope to see it very soon on streaming, but that is not the case. Sure streaming is great for TV series, indie films, and such, but for big name DVD releases, it was useless. Hastings never fully addressed these issues for me and so I dropped Netflix and am currently trying out Blockbuster. Blockbuster's site sucks compared to Netflix, and their disc mailing schedule is slower, but for me to put some pain in Netflix's wallet it has been worth it to me.
Oh TY for pointing this out. I have had virtually that same damn conversation so many times in the past few years. Just because a 2TB costs $99 at Walmart does not mean that same type drive is what you want to rely on for your enterprise data. It gets very frustrating trying to explain this over and over.
Pen and paper is the best when I have to take notes quickly, but if I have more time, I like an iPad 2, long stylus, and Pentultimate. I say an iPad 2 because I have tried it on an iPad 1 and their is noticeable lag when I write. It does come in handy when you need to share those notes with others though.
Unless you are an already big name player like Blizzard, you need to look at having your MMO on at least one console to be able to keep up. If they would have had Lego Universe for a PS3 I would have been all over that.
I think you are right. Netflix and the Olympics were the only two reasons that anyone I know ever installed it.
I want to see Asimo riding atop an Alpha Dog. Just preferably, not towards me with a "kill all humans" sign.
Fed16 smells a bit too Unity-ish for me. The desktop is being further relegated to nothing more than wallpaper and not a productive space (not storage space mind you!). I feel like at this point the Gnome 2 look and feel is gone with the larger distros. The king is dead; long live the king. I am giving Mint a try, but their 12.x plans to produce a hybrid Gnome 2 + 3 environment sounds like a clustersmack waiting to happen. Sigh. I think I miss right-clicking for Properties most of all.
So would this affect corporate users such as with Apple's Maps app on iOS? If so, I guess that could be another reason for their recent maps company acquisition.
The lack of right-clicking to alter properties, bring up additional menus, add panels, etc.. was the last nail in the coffin. And I hate that. I have really enjoyed Ubuntu over the years, and this rapid departure from a usable UI has left me very disappointed with the Ubuntu team. I am now going back and trying other distros to see if I can find one I like again. damnit.
I say go for it. The "edu bubble" is going to be one of the next big things to pop. I do find it odd to hear some of the Occupy members in a fervor over student loan debt. That they asked for. Not everyone should go to an expensive private college. They should be allowed to do so, if they can pay for it; but that should not be the government's concern. That is not being mean. That is just reality. My only concern about the government leaving the student loan area would be the likely uptick in "corporate apprenticeship" type programs. You could end up with a generation indebted to a Company Store rather than Uncle Sam.
I don't think we can really trust non-profit schools either if they have a desire to grow or become nationally recognized. They can still push through those that should never have graduated just to get more student notches on their belt when they apply for federal grants.
I see it as a small bit of payback because of meth heads like him I can't buy a simple damned sudafed tablet anymore without a freaking act of congress, strip search, and a blood sample.
The Major is just around the corner.
Even with those security issues, I would still put money on Firefox being much better at keeping problems off a user's system than IE (for now).
Why hire someone you cannot trust? There are initial trust patterns that must be held in certain IT positions. Not blind trust, but still, you have to go with some things. I present it to clients in this way... If I do something unethical with your data, the fallout from that could ruin my business for years if not finish it off altogether. Your data is not worth that price to me. So far, I have not seen any client data worth that price even at the CEO level. Trust, but verify.
Congrats on making it 1.5yrs before feeling that way! Many times it can go downhill much quicker than that. Most users are blissfully ignorant when it comes to the computer systems they use every day. One of the hardest parts to the job is to find a way to get them to properly report a problem. Do not tell me in the hall while I am in the middle of a conversation on another issue. Do not tell someone else to tell me. Do not ignore the problem until it gets to the point it requires a complete reinstall. If you can get them to let you know about a problem and accurately describe what they are running into (not just "it doesn't work"), then they can begin to understand there are rational steps to go through with getting a problem fixed and hopefully they will know you are not just ignoring them (hopefully).
Somewhere, far down below, there was an MPAA exec cackling menacingly. Muuu-hah-hah-haaaaaaa!
I run into a similar instance with users calling anything made by Adobe, Inc. the term "Adobe". User -- My Adobe isn't working right. Me -- Adobe?.... Dreamweaver right? Photoshop? No, no, I know, InDesign? Still not it? OH the software that reads PDF files?!? You mean "Acrobat". Normally, I am not a smartass IT stereotype, but that always irritates me to no end. Eventually, some do learn. Most do not. I try to explain it to them by relating it to Microsoft. If you have a problem with Word they don't call in and say "My Microsoft is broken". Once they see it that way, some tend to remember it better.
I work in an IT department that works with a university. Not so much for the university as much as handle IT issues from outside university clients (foundations, privatizing research groups, etc...). We are housed at a university, but not part of any faculty or teaching program. In other words, we are not academic in any sense of the word except that we are housed on university land. For years certifications from Novell or Microsoft were shoved down our throat as the only way to get a promotion. When one of our "certified" employees failed to solve fairly simple issue for the VP, certifications were dropped as a mandate for promotion and emphasis was placed on real world learning. This was a good thing. Now several years later, new administration has turned over that policy and is requiring Masters degrees for promotion. Admin does not care what type of Masters, just as long as you get one. As it works out, this is also right before many of us would be eligible for a promotion. Because it happens during a bad budget time, this is seen as being done for a few reasons: 1. More Masters requirements equals more student enrollment (yes it is from within, but they do not care.. a student is a student as far as rolls go). 2. More money going back into the university. Getting 4 hours of classtime free a semester is a drop in the bucket when you consider your time and money that you will spend to meet your Masters requirement. 3. The Masters requirement is used as a tool to keep the salaries down of those who would normally be eligible for promotion based on time, effort, and accomplishment. Because the rules of the game changed mid-stream, this has really ticked a lot in the IT groups off, but given the economy, many of us are stuck. Most are in their 30's and 40's and have a family (myself included). Leaving at 5:00 (more like 6:30!) from work to then go home and work on a Masters "requirement" considering how much effort is already put in, is just not sitting well. One of the guys looked into a 12 month program from another university. He was willing to pay out of his own pocket to get it done quicker, but our university said they would not honor it EVEN THOUGH they honor the same degree from that same school for other programs. This furthers the idea that the Masters requirement is being placed on us to make money for the school and not as part of a realistic plan for employee advancement.
I have found the benefits of trying to do power saving are quickly outweighed by the hassle the first time you get a call from the VP about why "his damned computer will not come on". After gently explaining it was due to the new hibernation settings that administration had requested be put on ALL PC's, I then asked it if would "be ok" for me to switch his back to a compromise of 20 min display sleep, and 90 min computer sleep. "Most" of the time, hibernation would be "ok", but he finally had it bite him one too many times on recovery. Everyone else had to grin and bear the hibernation oddities that would pop up, but when it happened to one of the main guys pushing for knee-jerk "power savings", it became "an issue". We have not had any complaints since. Admin gets the bragging rights of saying they "implemented power savings measures" and we get to avoid most of the hassles of stricter measures. It is still requested that people power off their displays at the end of the day, but the less strict policies appease admin and still offer some power savings without causing us issues. Hibernation (or deep sleep) is just junk when it comes to older hardware; or god help you... notebooks AND docks. The newer the notebook/dock combo, the better it works. Your mileage may vary, but older tech and hibernation/deep sleep just is a bad mix.