I believe that will not work, eBay requires sellers to provide a reimbursement method and if it isn't paypal or there are insufficient funds then they reimburse the buyer and then the seller owes eBay. I'd guess at this point eBay is more likely to use any lawful means to obtain the money. Either redirecting payments into the account by giving it a negative balance or lawyers, leg breakers, goons.. you get the idea.
I agree eBay/Paypal need to be more fair and take some responsibility but there are ways for sellers to protect themselves by always mailing items with the right kind of insurance/proof of posting. At the very least, the seller can then claim on the insurance for a reimbursement. It won't prevent ebay being dicks and blocking accounts sadly, thats where they need to improve their processes. If they want to get more auctions back they'll need to do something about the automated bidding software that essentially snipes auctions. It's great up to a point for some buyers but sellers won't see any benefits if all buyers are using the software. I hope they put captchas in at the point of confirming bids so at least it is a human bidding at the last second.
It's not always stupid, sometimes we are not given a choice. I still have IE6. Not because I want to but because my companies customers want to. Plenty of call centres still use IE6 and see updating as an expensive and unecessary task. They usually are running on severely locked down machines with no access to the internet or even the intranet in some cases. So the risk to them not upgrading is pretty low versus the cost of regression testing what might be quite a large number of different applications and not to forget the additional cost of fixing the issues found from testing. So for my development environment I just put my IE6 in a readonly VM, I also have one for IE7 and IE8. The appserver and databases live elsewhere. It reduces the risk of infection and allows me to disable unecessary features as I *only* need the browser for one task.
There were some with ps2 connections as I have two still. A USB version would be very nice, add on a scrollwheel and it would be perfect. Until then, the Kensington expert mouse will have to do.
This link has far more detailed information including glitches and which games will work in different regions and whether they support PAL 60Hz. The latter is a deciding factor if, like me, you live in a PAL region and use the VGA cable. Microsoft seems reluctant to provide that information themselves.
That's strange, it may be differing corporate policies but I had the opposite when I cancelled with AOL UK 6 or 7 years ago with my 1p a minute dial up account. After 10 minutes or so waiting on the phone, the operator asked why I wanted to cancel my account. I told her to look at the previous bills and she said 'oh wow!' and that was it. Account cancelled without a fight. So all you need to do is run up a huge bill right before you want to cancel and they will be happy;)
What country do you live in where the money that parents pay for public schools, are refunded to let the parents pay for private schools? If you are forced to pay for a public education, even if you choose to go to a private school, it makes it cost prohibitive to all the but wealthy who can afford to pay for an education twice. In nearly all countries, you are required to purchase an education from the government, no matter if you decide to use it or not.
It's a bit better than that. A refund wouldn't be possible in the UK as local education is in part payed by the council tax. Parents aren't paying for their own children, every household is paying for every child. Besides, if refunds were possible with the way it is currently funded everyone else would need to pay more. I would rather every child was given a chance with education than have a system where only those with enough money get anything like it used to be not that long ago. Before there were plenty of traditional industries such as ship building and coal mining to ensure that jobs were available for those that didn't get an education but now those are all but gone and we'll need to make sure the kids get something otherwise they will not be employable and the taxpayer will pay even more. If you're looking for a country where you only have to pay once for education, try one of the third world countries where a child is extremely lucky if it learns to read and write.
It sounds like the simplest solution to the problem of services not backing up user data is to allow the user to perform periodic backups. If they want a business model, charge for backing up data on the server or allowing more frequent than once a fortnight downloads of the backed up data.
They solved this problem way back when tapes were common. In other words, bring back Invadeload. I quick 2 - 3 minute game of space invaders whilst loading was fun.
The whole "ass kicked by foul mouthed 12 year old" factor discourages wide enthusiasm for online gaming
xbox live has a system that is supposed to handle that though I've not played online enough to see it in use. There are two parts to it, reputation and abuse reporting. The latter being obvious. The idea for the former is that each gamer has a reputation that can be influenced by those they play with. The quick match system matches up people of a similar reputation, and I suspect other factors from their profile. So even if the said 12 year is playing online they are unlikely to be matched up against a newb if they've been foul mouthed.
So maybe you could try reducing your dependency on IDEs. Open a terminal and stick with it. Symlink eclipse to vi.
That is perhaps the worst bit of advise I have seen so far. If they have a job to do, then they should not switch away from what gets the job done quickest for them. A far better bit of advise is to use vi for when the IDE does not help. Such as quick edits, shell script editing or config file changing. That way they still can get their job done in a reasonable amount of time but still get to use vi on a regular basis.
With RFID chips embedded maybe we won't have to peel three seperate stickers off the DVD case.
There probably is an RFID sticker inside the case already:D Thankfully this absurd practice doesn't happen too often in the UK (sometimes we have one sticker). But I find it strange that when I mail order R1 discs (I'm in a R2 country), they come with three stickers. Exactly what is the purpose of these things?
Re:But does it have a useable file-save dialogue?
on
GNOME 2.16 Released
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Probably because Apple do not change it very often whereas GNOME do. The GNOME directory chooser was my personal hell for a while until it was fixed. Selecting a sibling directory from the currently selected one didn't work. It's fixed now so my hair is growing back:)
You may be able to do a great number of things but how quickly? The GUI has it's place as does the CLI. In my opinion the GUI should be kept simple. Not as simple as possible but keep it clean. One of the greatest features of a CLI is that it can come with a horde of utilities that can be strung together to do a task. It might be a one off task so writing a program to do it is wasteful of time and energy. This is near impossible with a GUI so what ends up happening is some muppet comes along and writes a program to do each specific task. And to add insult to injury the said muppet will do each with a slightly different interface, use garish colours and unecessary animations, eat more memory than is possible and attempt to charge the user for it. If you don't believe me, look at the sheer number of crap zip programs out there.
There will always be some tasks that a GUI cannot do easily without someone actually writing a specific program to do that. Before anyone gets too argumentative about this post, I'm not mentioning any specific GUI or CLI as they all have different benefits and disadvantages. And I'm aware that windows does have some level of GUI scripting for tools but to be honest it's crap as it's not easily invoked or documented.
Lastly, why the hell would we want the OS to morph and change. Just keep it managing resources as it's meant to and leave that complex destabalising (and probably bug ridden) crap up to some other program. I mean, does anyone really want a program to learn their habits? I'm sure it'd work on a small scale but not always. What if it learned that we continously mistype a word and so remapped some of the keys on the keyboard. That would suck.
Perhaps, but there is a massive flaw. This assumes that the people doing this can be caught and prosecuted. Chances are they aren't even on the same continent as the computer. Until the planet is under some kind of single law then this sort of thing will not work. I think it'd be easier and better to isolate and control network traffic. Have a safe known configuration of OS, programs, firewalls etc in a read only format that can quickly be ghosted back onto the hardware if an infection is detected. Sort of like a live CD but personalised. Of course, this would require an overhaul of the way things are done. But it needs to be done. Now, if we could get offensive firewalls as in Ghost in the Shell we could have some fun:D
The lesson I learned from this is to not get up, keep at it and the pain will not be noticed:) Though I have to admit usually at the end of the day I'm so pissed off I have a desire to throttle someone...
Even if they shipped everyone's luggage is separate planes, allowed no carry-ons, and made everyone wear paper clothes on the plane given to us on the tarmac
Personally I like the idea of knocking out all the passengers as in the Fifth Element. Not only does it do away with the tedious flight time, but we won't need all the things that were banned anyway. They could even cram more people on the plane that way.
I'll be sure to tell recommend that to 75-year-old grandmas who are being threatened by a rapist. "Don't be a wuss! Put up your dukes, granny!"
Firearms and less-than-lethal weapons like pepper spray (also outlawed or heavily regulated in gestapo rape-encouraging states like NY and NJ) are the only equalizer for the weak or elderly.
Do you know many 75 year old grandmas that carry a gun on them or have one within easy reach 24/7? How fast is that person, how quickly are they going to react. It's not like its turned based out in the real world where you get a chance to go get your gun. Do you also point a gun at the head of the mailman, meter reader, neighbour till they prove who they are? What if someone looks the wrong way at you walking down the street.. better be ready and get your gun out. I bet you don't. Paranoia like that is dangerous for everyone. If it wasn't for the stupid ass way of making so many guns available in the first place the problem would be much much smaller. Do you prefer a large number of criminals with guns or a small number of criminals with guns? Take your pick.
And as it is, I agree, you can't go asking people to defend themselves in circumstances where it would be stupid. Give a gun to someone and just how much higher is the likelihood that they will be shot with it or it gets out and causes more problems? To me this thing with the encrypted bullets is to help with the last idea, that certain guns cannot be used to cause more harm. ie, the wearer has something on/in them that means the gun will only fire if they're holding it. If the gun is stolen no-one can use it nor use the bullets within it. Unlike guns there is a certain amount of movement in bullets, once you use them you need to get more and if the government were to change the laws so that only these encrypted bullets can be purchased for handguns you can believe that will change things significantly. Think to the scenes in Judge Dredd where the ammunition is coded to his DNA and can only be fired by a judge. It will not prevent gun crime but it will help to reduce it.
As an aside, why is it possible for calls from the same number to be going on simultaneously? Wouldn't there be something to prevent that, unless you were using a three-way calling option?
I've done that before, my phone has (or had) a second line. Can be a bit expensive though unless they're incoming. I do wonder if this feature was available and bluetooth was enabled that a second call could be made.
I'm not sure how useful this is, common sense covers most of what the article says and the final numbers being quoted as the cost of electricity aren't actually scary. Yes, you could save some money and power by making sure they're turned off but I bet you could save more money by not turning on the bathroom light when you go to pee in the middle of the night.
A more interesting comparison would be to compare total cost of ownership. That is, purchase price, necessary accessories, games, power for console, the HD tv and surround sound system. Don't forget the pizza and cola consumed too. Then compare it to other household items, try the light on the microwave for a good laugh.
oh my, that was almost.. nah, i'll bite though. You've obviously never had to rely on deliveries and this is slashdot where most stories get knocked completely off tilt anyway into a USA vs world debate. It was mildly related and the first half was sarcasm which was related though you may need to think about. Something you appear to have little experience of.
err no, and besides my rant about couriers it is known to many as sarcasm. I'm sure there are many managers that would agree, it is better to have your workforce near you so you can ensure they are doing what you are paying them to do than somewhere else. Hell, I worked one place that I would never see a customer yet the management forced a uniform to be worn because I must remember at all times that I am working for a business.
I'm a workaholic and have been so for several years. I'll throw myself into my work to the point where it's costing me money and my health. I get edgy if I'm not working at the weekend. I feel guilty if I leave and something is not finished and a customer is waiting. It's so bad, in my office people know I'm still working during my personal holidays or if I'm ill. Still, there are days when I want to go off and do my own thing for a while. It's called burning out.
I've always wanted to be able to telecommute. Some days I just can't be bothered to get dressed. I want to watch TV during the day, listen to music, sleep in without anyone noticing and in general not have to talk to my coworkers unless I need to. oh and the most important thing.. be around to receive my freakin mail. Too many mail order companies bow down to the pressure of the delivery companies to the point that I can't get an item I have paid for delivered to where I work (even if I am going to be there and have photographic ID) or even get a phone call 5 minutes before it is delivered so I can leave work and be there to receive it. If the company offers selective delivery it's usualy 5 or 6 times the normal delivery price. I was even once posted a delivery card with the wrong reference number on it only to find out after the item had been returned. This was after quoting the number 5 times in different phone calls. This madness has to stop!
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I believe that will not work, eBay requires sellers to provide a reimbursement method and if it isn't paypal or there are insufficient funds then they reimburse the buyer and then the seller owes eBay. I'd guess at this point eBay is more likely to use any lawful means to obtain the money. Either redirecting payments into the account by giving it a negative balance or lawyers, leg breakers, goons.. you get the idea.
I agree eBay/Paypal need to be more fair and take some responsibility but there are ways for sellers to protect themselves by always mailing items with the right kind of insurance/proof of posting. At the very least, the seller can then claim on the insurance for a reimbursement. It won't prevent ebay being dicks and blocking accounts sadly, thats where they need to improve their processes. If they want to get more auctions back they'll need to do something about the automated bidding software that essentially snipes auctions. It's great up to a point for some buyers but sellers won't see any benefits if all buyers are using the software. I hope they put captchas in at the point of confirming bids so at least it is a human bidding at the last second.
It's not always stupid, sometimes we are not given a choice. I still have IE6. Not because I want to but because my companies customers want to. Plenty of call centres still use IE6 and see updating as an expensive and unecessary task. They usually are running on severely locked down machines with no access to the internet or even the intranet in some cases. So the risk to them not upgrading is pretty low versus the cost of regression testing what might be quite a large number of different applications and not to forget the additional cost of fixing the issues found from testing. So for my development environment I just put my IE6 in a readonly VM, I also have one for IE7 and IE8. The appserver and databases live elsewhere. It reduces the risk of infection and allows me to disable unecessary features as I *only* need the browser for one task.
I personally think if someone can come up with a decent name that results in the acronym death-ray we're on to a winner :D
There were some with ps2 connections as I have two still. A USB version would be very nice, add on a scrollwheel and it would be perfect. Until then, the Kensington expert mouse will have to do.
This link has far more detailed information including glitches and which games will work in different regions and whether they support PAL 60Hz. The latter is a deciding factor if, like me, you live in a PAL region and use the VGA cable. Microsoft seems reluctant to provide that information themselves.
That's strange, it may be differing corporate policies but I had the opposite when I cancelled with AOL UK 6 or 7 years ago with my 1p a minute dial up account. After 10 minutes or so waiting on the phone, the operator asked why I wanted to cancel my account. I told her to look at the previous bills and she said 'oh wow!' and that was it. Account cancelled without a fight. So all you need to do is run up a huge bill right before you want to cancel and they will be happy ;)
What country do you live in where the money that parents pay for public schools, are refunded to let the parents pay for private schools? If you are forced to pay for a public education, even if you choose to go to a private school, it makes it cost prohibitive to all the but wealthy who can afford to pay for an education twice. In nearly all countries, you are required to purchase an education from the government, no matter if you decide to use it or not.
It's a bit better than that. A refund wouldn't be possible in the UK as local education is in part payed by the council tax. Parents aren't paying for their own children, every household is paying for every child. Besides, if refunds were possible with the way it is currently funded everyone else would need to pay more. I would rather every child was given a chance with education than have a system where only those with enough money get anything like it used to be not that long ago. Before there were plenty of traditional industries such as ship building and coal mining to ensure that jobs were available for those that didn't get an education but now those are all but gone and we'll need to make sure the kids get something otherwise they will not be employable and the taxpayer will pay even more. If you're looking for a country where you only have to pay once for education, try one of the third world countries where a child is extremely lucky if it learns to read and write.
It sounds like the simplest solution to the problem of services not backing up user data is to allow the user to perform periodic backups. If they want a business model, charge for backing up data on the server or allowing more frequent than once a fortnight downloads of the backed up data.
They solved this problem way back when tapes were common. In other words, bring back Invadeload. I quick 2 - 3 minute game of space invaders whilst loading was fun.
The whole "ass kicked by foul mouthed 12 year old" factor discourages wide enthusiasm for online gaming
xbox live has a system that is supposed to handle that though I've not played online enough to see it in use. There are two parts to it, reputation and abuse reporting. The latter being obvious. The idea for the former is that each gamer has a reputation that can be influenced by those they play with. The quick match system matches up people of a similar reputation, and I suspect other factors from their profile. So even if the said 12 year is playing online they are unlikely to be matched up against a newb if they've been foul mouthed.
So maybe you could try reducing your dependency on IDEs.
Open a terminal and stick with it.
Symlink eclipse to vi.
That is perhaps the worst bit of advise I have seen so far. If they have a job to do, then they should not switch away from what gets the job done quickest for them. A far better bit of advise is to use vi for when the IDE does not help. Such as quick edits, shell script editing or config file changing. That way they still can get their job done in a reasonable amount of time but still get to use vi on a regular basis.
With RFID chips embedded maybe we won't have to peel three seperate stickers off the DVD case.
:D Thankfully this absurd practice doesn't happen too often in the UK (sometimes we have one sticker). But I find it strange that when I mail order R1 discs (I'm in a R2 country), they come with three stickers. Exactly what is the purpose of these things?
There probably is an RFID sticker inside the case already
Probably because Apple do not change it very often whereas GNOME do. The GNOME directory chooser was my personal hell for a while until it was fixed. Selecting a sibling directory from the currently selected one didn't work. It's fixed now so my hair is growing back :)
You may be able to do a great number of things but how quickly? The GUI has it's place as does the CLI. In my opinion the GUI should be kept simple. Not as simple as possible but keep it clean. One of the greatest features of a CLI is that it can come with a horde of utilities that can be strung together to do a task. It might be a one off task so writing a program to do it is wasteful of time and energy. This is near impossible with a GUI so what ends up happening is some muppet comes along and writes a program to do each specific task. And to add insult to injury the said muppet will do each with a slightly different interface, use garish colours and unecessary animations, eat more memory than is possible and attempt to charge the user for it. If you don't believe me, look at the sheer number of crap zip programs out there.
There will always be some tasks that a GUI cannot do easily without someone actually writing a specific program to do that. Before anyone gets too argumentative about this post, I'm not mentioning any specific GUI or CLI as they all have different benefits and disadvantages. And I'm aware that windows does have some level of GUI scripting for tools but to be honest it's crap as it's not easily invoked or documented.
Lastly, why the hell would we want the OS to morph and change. Just keep it managing resources as it's meant to and leave that complex destabalising (and probably bug ridden) crap up to some other program. I mean, does anyone really want a program to learn their habits? I'm sure it'd work on a small scale but not always. What if it learned that we continously mistype a word and so remapped some of the keys on the keyboard. That would suck.
I think I ranted.
Perhaps, but there is a massive flaw. This assumes that the people doing this can be caught and prosecuted. Chances are they aren't even on the same continent as the computer. Until the planet is under some kind of single law then this sort of thing will not work. I think it'd be easier and better to isolate and control network traffic. Have a safe known configuration of OS, programs, firewalls etc in a read only format that can quickly be ghosted back onto the hardware if an infection is detected. Sort of like a live CD but personalised. Of course, this would require an overhaul of the way things are done. But it needs to be done. Now, if we could get offensive firewalls as in Ghost in the Shell we could have some fun :D
The lesson I learned from this is to not get up, keep at it and the pain will not be noticed :) Though I have to admit usually at the end of the day I'm so pissed off I have a desire to throttle someone...
Even if they shipped everyone's luggage is separate planes, allowed no carry-ons, and made everyone wear paper clothes on the plane given to us on the tarmac
Personally I like the idea of knocking out all the passengers as in the Fifth Element. Not only does it do away with the tedious flight time, but we won't need all the things that were banned anyway. They could even cram more people on the plane that way.
Well, OK. Maybe some people would shop there more, depending on who was doing the searching. But that is another subject entirely.
Or for other reasons, like a game of gross out ala Calvin and Hobbes.
I'll be sure to tell recommend that to 75-year-old grandmas who are being threatened by a rapist. "Don't be a wuss! Put up your dukes, granny!"
Firearms and less-than-lethal weapons like pepper spray (also outlawed or heavily regulated in gestapo rape-encouraging states like NY and NJ) are the only equalizer for the weak or elderly.
Do you know many 75 year old grandmas that carry a gun on them or have one within easy reach 24/7? How fast is that person, how quickly are they going to react. It's not like its turned based out in the real world where you get a chance to go get your gun. Do you also point a gun at the head of the mailman, meter reader, neighbour till they prove who they are? What if someone looks the wrong way at you walking down the street.. better be ready and get your gun out. I bet you don't. Paranoia like that is dangerous for everyone. If it wasn't for the stupid ass way of making so many guns available in the first place the problem would be much much smaller. Do you prefer a large number of criminals with guns or a small number of criminals with guns? Take your pick.
And as it is, I agree, you can't go asking people to defend themselves in circumstances where it would be stupid. Give a gun to someone and just how much higher is the likelihood that they will be shot with it or it gets out and causes more problems? To me this thing with the encrypted bullets is to help with the last idea, that certain guns cannot be used to cause more harm. ie, the wearer has something on/in them that means the gun will only fire if they're holding it. If the gun is stolen no-one can use it nor use the bullets within it. Unlike guns there is a certain amount of movement in bullets, once you use them you need to get more and if the government were to change the laws so that only these encrypted bullets can be purchased for handguns you can believe that will change things significantly. Think to the scenes in Judge Dredd where the ammunition is coded to his DNA and can only be fired by a judge. It will not prevent gun crime but it will help to reduce it.
bah!
Maybe they ran over someones old collection of Amstrad 3" floppies?
As an aside, why is it possible for calls from the same number to be going on simultaneously? Wouldn't there be something to prevent that, unless you were using a three-way calling option?
I've done that before, my phone has (or had) a second line. Can be a bit expensive though unless they're incoming. I do wonder if this feature was available and bluetooth was enabled that a second call could be made.
I'm not sure how useful this is, common sense covers most of what the article says and the final numbers being quoted as the cost of electricity aren't actually scary. Yes, you could save some money and power by making sure they're turned off but I bet you could save more money by not turning on the bathroom light when you go to pee in the middle of the night.
A more interesting comparison would be to compare total cost of ownership. That is, purchase price, necessary accessories, games, power for console, the HD tv and surround sound system. Don't forget the pizza and cola consumed too. Then compare it to other household items, try the light on the microwave for a good laugh.
oh my, that was almost.. nah, i'll bite though. You've obviously never had to rely on deliveries and this is slashdot where most stories get knocked completely off tilt anyway into a USA vs world debate. It was mildly related and the first half was sarcasm which was related though you may need to think about. Something you appear to have little experience of.
err no, and besides my rant about couriers it is known to many as sarcasm. I'm sure there are many managers that would agree, it is better to have your workforce near you so you can ensure they are doing what you are paying them to do than somewhere else. Hell, I worked one place that I would never see a customer yet the management forced a uniform to be worn because I must remember at all times that I am working for a business.
I'm a workaholic and have been so for several years. I'll throw myself into my work to the point where it's costing me money and my health. I get edgy if I'm not working at the weekend. I feel guilty if I leave and something is not finished and a customer is waiting. It's so bad, in my office people know I'm still working during my personal holidays or if I'm ill. Still, there are days when I want to go off and do my own thing for a while. It's called burning out.
I've always wanted to be able to telecommute. Some days I just can't be bothered to get dressed. I want to watch TV during the day, listen to music, sleep in without anyone noticing and in general not have to talk to my coworkers unless I need to. oh and the most important thing.. be around to receive my freakin mail. Too many mail order companies bow down to the pressure of the delivery companies to the point that I can't get an item I have paid for delivered to where I work (even if I am going to be there and have photographic ID) or even get a phone call 5 minutes before it is delivered so I can leave work and be there to receive it. If the company offers selective delivery it's usualy 5 or 6 times the normal delivery price. I was even once posted a delivery card with the wrong reference number on it only to find out after the item had been returned. This was after quoting the number 5 times in different phone calls. This madness has to stop!