My car salesman plays as much of a role in me listening to CDs in my car as Microsoft plays a role in me streaming Netflix on my Xbox.
Not true. Microsoft has an ongoing commitment to spend money developing and patching that Netflix app.
And don't sell yourself short. Your analogy actually perfectly proved my point!. If you've got the physical media to place in the player then there's no need for an intermediary like Microsoft/Car salesman. If want to to stream media from one service provider over another service providers network, then you will probably have to pay both parties...
...or not use the service. That's always an option too.
Yeah our brains are pretty good at adapting to physical changes in our body dimensions. Our bodies are almost always growing or changing, so our brains have to be equipped to cope with that.
No, but I'd call him evil if he wanted me to pay him a monthly fee to use my CD player.
Ah! But that's not the same thing. You don't need an Xbox live gold subscription to play Netflix DVD's. You only need it to use the Netflix instant streaming application.
Of one half, of one third of the federal system. Doesn't sound like much of a majority to me.
They have the majority of a full half of the legislative body (the part that actually has the constitutional authority to make law). The three branches are intended to check and balance each other sure, but the legislative is definitely the part that controls where our money is spent.
Other countries benefit from US tech, why not turn the tables?
Because then we will be doomed to playing catch up with Russia/India/China. As they develop cutting edge materials science and propulsion technologies to further their own space programs we will be stuck licensing or reverse engineering their toys.
You keep using this word. I don't think it means what you think it means.
You think wrong.
Nuh-uh!
Seriously, if your definition of evil includes "asking me to pay for something that I think I shouldn't have to" then you need to recalibrate your definition of evil. Would you call a car salesman evil for not throwing in streaming Netflix service on a car? Why don't you consider Netflix to be evil for asking to pay for the service at all? It's not like they made the content after all, they just distribute it. What about your ISP. They all sound pretty evil to me.
Maintaining the XBox live service costs money. Developing, supporting, and distributing the Netflix app over XBox live also costs money. Thus MS charges for access to the service via the XBox live Gold subscription. Sony (in a great bit of misdirection) advertises the PSN as "free". The service is of course not free, but it's costs are spread around in console, software, and content sales.
At least MS gives you the option not to pay for the Gold subscription. Because Sony covers their PSN costs through console and game sales, every PS3 owner pays that costs regardless of whether they use it. Which one of those options sounds more evil?
But I think most noise comes from the other widgets that are required as a result of the ICE power plant. On nicer well maintained cars you definitely hear more of the tire noise, but you probably have your fans, belts, and muffler in fairly good condition. Older or poorly maintained ICE vehicles are going to produce more knocking, grinding, and squealing by nature. Electric power plants really help that.
But it's not a free app. That app costs money for MS and Sony to develop for the platform, maintain, and distribute. Sony delivers it for "free" by hiding that cost elsewhere in their business model. MS is more overt that, surprise, their online service costs money.
At least with Microsoft you have the option of not buying the service. Sony's PSN costs are included in their console/game sales. Everyone has to pay for it whether they use it or not.
a base cost per mile, with a modifier based on class of vehicle.
I like that. For a moment there I thought you were driving at having each vehicle model carry it's own weighted tax rate (double meaning intended).
Plus that might make governments take a more performance based approach to vehicle class distinctions, rather than simple the size and body shape of the vehicle.
If (and it's a very if) the thinking behind this tax is to better recoup costs from people using public roads, it makes sense.
I haven't seen anything indicating that the energy efficient vehicles cause less wear & tear on roadways than gas guzzlers (though it logically makes sense with their lighter weight).
If the people are wasting a common resource then by all means tax the resource. If that resource is gas then tax gas. If that resource is the condition of the roadway itself, then we should be taxing the use of the roadway.
I think with regards to the Xbox, MS decided that since the vast majority of their callers are idiot teenagers pissed off about their XBLive suspensions, they don't need to provide a high quality customer service experience.
There is nothing inherently poor quality about Indian call centers. If MS's Xbox call center was located in the US you would get the same dimwitted scripted "technicians" you get when you call overseas. Their particular customer service brand is intentionally ineffective to push people towards just buying a new Xbox rather than dealing with an RMA. It has nothing to do with the nationality of the people that staff it.
Indian Incompetent [with heavily garbled Indian-Engrish Accent]:
Understand that Indians speak English. Many of them speak English much better than Americans. They speak it with a different regional accent obviously, but no worse than the difference between Yankees and Southerners.
And I'll tell you this as someone who used to run CS rep training courses, that "So I am hearing that the problem is (whatever)" line significantly decreases time to resolution and reduces call times. The reason CS reps need to do that is to avoid confusion when cranky "know it alls" call in having completely misdiagnosed the problem. You certainly sound technically competent enough to understand the inner workings of devices, but many people don't. Rather than having CS reps make a judgement call on how knowledgeable each caller is it is much easier for them to run through a script designed to easily identify common failures.
They're just people doing their jobs. Their jobs go much more smoothly when people are polite and cooperative.
In most countries flashing your lights is a signal to oncoming motorists that they are approaching a hazard. It almost doesn't matter to me whether that hazard is a fallen utility pole or a bored traffic cop, I would want to have some signal it's coming.
I've worked with a bunch of Cops. Almost all of them have been stand up guys, and good people. But like any other organization of (mostly) well meaning people, bureaucracies get in the way.
Mistakes happen, and sometimes the interests of the public aren't fully served. But for the most part anyone that goes into a service career like law enforcement usually has the best interests of the public at heart.
A criticism of that approach would be the inherent difficulty of getting a single "standard" that all the big players will agree on. To use America as an example, you will need to create standard that every State Government will agree to with no exceptions. US States can't even agree on consistent guidelines for motor vehicle insurance and regular safety inspections, it will be a tough battle to get them to agree on a standardized battery technology.
Plus, I barely trust the swap process for my BBQ's propane tank. I'm going to have a really hard time accepting that the battery I pick up at Hank's Charge 'n Go in the middle of nowhere has been properly evaluated and is not nearing failure. Most ICE cars will run on bad gas, but a battery failure could straight up destroy my car.
Honestly, if you don't mind relinquishing some control over the media (and risk that Netflix chooses not to carry some obscure cult classics) using those cloud based "delivery on demand" options makes a lot of sense. They're certainly attractive to non-techie types that have no interest in managing media servers or migrating storage mediums every decade.
I'm a T-Mobile subscriber as well, and I love them for their customer service. But you should know that Verizon local phone service and Verizon Wireless are completely separate entities. I used to be on VZW and I found their customer service to be quite good (I left because for what I was paying at the time for a rate plan with texting on VZW I could get a sweet voice/texting/data plan on T-Mobile).
But if AT&T tries to make any changes to the existing T-Mobile contracts then you have the ability to walk away. No termination fee required.
The question is then, where do you go? I use T-Mobile because they offer an affordable truly unlimited data plan with tethering available right out of the box. I really really doubt AT&T will allow subscribers to re-up those agreements.
I live in a fairly well protected urban area in the northeast US. The biggest threat I face is a blizzard locking down the city. Therefore I'm really only concerned with sheltering in place. If I ever need to evacuate I'll need to do it by vehicle anyway, so I'm not too worried about backpack survival.
Though if I live in an area that is face with earthquakes and/or wildfires I expect I would want to have a go bag ready.
What exactly would you expect the executive level management to do in this case?
You wouldn't want to send a team of soft elderly businessmen into the facility to fix the broken bits. You'd want to be sending the workers and technicians that operate the facility in the first place. Surely they are the most qualified people to be doing emergency repair.
Non-essential personnel were evacuated. Are you mad at the managers for having high level jobs that make them non-essential to facility operations?
Sure you can! Just head to any US embassy in the world and renounce your citizenship. There are lots of people all over the world that don't pay taxes to the US.
Slashdot Mirror
My car salesman plays as much of a role in me listening to CDs in my car as Microsoft plays a role in me streaming Netflix on my Xbox.
Not true. Microsoft has an ongoing commitment to spend money developing and patching that Netflix app.
And don't sell yourself short. Your analogy actually perfectly proved my point!. If you've got the physical media to place in the player then there's no need for an intermediary like Microsoft/Car salesman. If want to to stream media from one service provider over another service providers network, then you will probably have to pay both parties...
...or not use the service. That's always an option too.
Yeah our brains are pretty good at adapting to physical changes in our body dimensions. Our bodies are almost always growing or changing, so our brains have to be equipped to cope with that.
No, but I'd call him evil if he wanted me to pay him a monthly fee to use my CD player.
Ah! But that's not the same thing. You don't need an Xbox live gold subscription to play Netflix DVD's. You only need it to use the Netflix instant streaming application.
The DVD player still works just fine.
/sargasm
Well that sounds like fun.
The Republicans have the majority.
Of one half, of one third of the federal system. Doesn't sound like much of a majority to me.
They have the majority of a full half of the legislative body (the part that actually has the constitutional authority to make law). The three branches are intended to check and balance each other sure, but the legislative is definitely the part that controls where our money is spent.
Other countries benefit from US tech, why not turn the tables?
Because then we will be doomed to playing catch up with Russia/India/China. As they develop cutting edge materials science and propulsion technologies to further their own space programs we will be stuck licensing or reverse engineering their toys.
You keep using this word. I don't think it means what you think it means. You think wrong.
Nuh-uh!
Seriously, if your definition of evil includes "asking me to pay for something that I think I shouldn't have to" then you need to recalibrate your definition of evil. Would you call a car salesman evil for not throwing in streaming Netflix service on a car? Why don't you consider Netflix to be evil for asking to pay for the service at all? It's not like they made the content after all, they just distribute it. What about your ISP. They all sound pretty evil to me.
Maintaining the XBox live service costs money. Developing, supporting, and distributing the Netflix app over XBox live also costs money. Thus MS charges for access to the service via the XBox live Gold subscription. Sony (in a great bit of misdirection) advertises the PSN as "free". The service is of course not free, but it's costs are spread around in console, software, and content sales.
At least MS gives you the option not to pay for the Gold subscription. Because Sony covers their PSN costs through console and game sales, every PS3 owner pays that costs regardless of whether they use it. Which one of those options sounds more evil?
Most car sounds do not come from the engine.
But I think most noise comes from the other widgets that are required as a result of the ICE power plant. On nicer well maintained cars you definitely hear more of the tire noise, but you probably have your fans, belts, and muffler in fairly good condition. Older or poorly maintained ICE vehicles are going to produce more knocking, grinding, and squealing by nature. Electric power plants really help that.
...a free app.
But it's not a free app. That app costs money for MS and Sony to develop for the platform, maintain, and distribute. Sony delivers it for "free" by hiding that cost elsewhere in their business model. MS is more overt that, surprise, their online service costs money.
At least with Microsoft you have the option of not buying the service. Sony's PSN costs are included in their console/game sales. Everyone has to pay for it whether they use it or not.
...evil...
You keep using this word. I don't think it means what you think it means.
The fact that they aren't forcing me at gunpoint to buy something doesn't make it any less evil.
Yes it does. Yes it most certainly does.
a base cost per mile, with a modifier based on class of vehicle.
I like that. For a moment there I thought you were driving at having each vehicle model carry it's own weighted tax rate (double meaning intended).
Plus that might make governments take a more performance based approach to vehicle class distinctions, rather than simple the size and body shape of the vehicle.
If (and it's a very if) the thinking behind this tax is to better recoup costs from people using public roads, it makes sense.
I haven't seen anything indicating that the energy efficient vehicles cause less wear & tear on roadways than gas guzzlers (though it logically makes sense with their lighter weight).
If the people are wasting a common resource then by all means tax the resource. If that resource is gas then tax gas. If that resource is the condition of the roadway itself, then we should be taxing the use of the roadway.
Another way to look at it is it will tax the vehicles that use the public roadways, not just the vehicles that consume gas.
The gas taxes would remain though. So don't worry, fuel efficient cars will still enjoy a tax benefit..
I think with regards to the Xbox, MS decided that since the vast majority of their callers are idiot teenagers pissed off about their XBLive suspensions, they don't need to provide a high quality customer service experience.
There is nothing inherently poor quality about Indian call centers. If MS's Xbox call center was located in the US you would get the same dimwitted scripted "technicians" you get when you call overseas. Their particular customer service brand is intentionally ineffective to push people towards just buying a new Xbox rather than dealing with an RMA. It has nothing to do with the nationality of the people that staff it.
Indian Incompetent [with heavily garbled Indian-Engrish Accent]:
Understand that Indians speak English. Many of them speak English much better than Americans. They speak it with a different regional accent obviously, but no worse than the difference between Yankees and Southerners.
And I'll tell you this as someone who used to run CS rep training courses, that "So I am hearing that the problem is (whatever)" line significantly decreases time to resolution and reduces call times. The reason CS reps need to do that is to avoid confusion when cranky "know it alls" call in having completely misdiagnosed the problem. You certainly sound technically competent enough to understand the inner workings of devices, but many people don't. Rather than having CS reps make a judgement call on how knowledgeable each caller is it is much easier for them to run through a script designed to easily identify common failures.
They're just people doing their jobs. Their jobs go much more smoothly when people are polite and cooperative.
I would really, really hope that the illiterate would not have been able to pass their states drivers exam in the first place.
In most countries flashing your lights is a signal to oncoming motorists that they are approaching a hazard. It almost doesn't matter to me whether that hazard is a fallen utility pole or a bored traffic cop, I would want to have some signal it's coming.
I've worked with a bunch of Cops. Almost all of them have been stand up guys, and good people. But like any other organization of (mostly) well meaning people, bureaucracies get in the way.
Mistakes happen, and sometimes the interests of the public aren't fully served. But for the most part anyone that goes into a service career like law enforcement usually has the best interests of the public at heart.
A criticism of that approach would be the inherent difficulty of getting a single "standard" that all the big players will agree on. To use America as an example, you will need to create standard that every State Government will agree to with no exceptions. US States can't even agree on consistent guidelines for motor vehicle insurance and regular safety inspections, it will be a tough battle to get them to agree on a standardized battery technology.
Plus, I barely trust the swap process for my BBQ's propane tank. I'm going to have a really hard time accepting that the battery I pick up at Hank's Charge 'n Go in the middle of nowhere has been properly evaluated and is not nearing failure. Most ICE cars will run on bad gas, but a battery failure could straight up destroy my car.
Honestly, if you don't mind relinquishing some control over the media (and risk that Netflix chooses not to carry some obscure cult classics) using those cloud based "delivery on demand" options makes a lot of sense. They're certainly attractive to non-techie types that have no interest in managing media servers or migrating storage mediums every decade.
I'm a T-Mobile subscriber as well, and I love them for their customer service. But you should know that Verizon local phone service and Verizon Wireless are completely separate entities. I used to be on VZW and I found their customer service to be quite good (I left because for what I was paying at the time for a rate plan with texting on VZW I could get a sweet voice/texting/data plan on T-Mobile).
But if AT&T tries to make any changes to the existing T-Mobile contracts then you have the ability to walk away. No termination fee required.
The question is then, where do you go? I use T-Mobile because they offer an affordable truly unlimited data plan with tethering available right out of the box. I really really doubt AT&T will allow subscribers to re-up those agreements.
This is hugely insightful.
I live in a fairly well protected urban area in the northeast US. The biggest threat I face is a blizzard locking down the city. Therefore I'm really only concerned with sheltering in place. If I ever need to evacuate I'll need to do it by vehicle anyway, so I'm not too worried about backpack survival.
Though if I live in an area that is face with earthquakes and/or wildfires I expect I would want to have a go bag ready.
.I'll reserve the right to slap the shit out of anyone that asks the question "what does it do?"
Be careful. The kind of idiot that needs a gadget to tell him he's been shot might very well take you up on that.
What exactly would you expect the executive level management to do in this case?
You wouldn't want to send a team of soft elderly businessmen into the facility to fix the broken bits. You'd want to be sending the workers and technicians that operate the facility in the first place. Surely they are the most qualified people to be doing emergency repair.
Non-essential personnel were evacuated. Are you mad at the managers for having high level jobs that make them non-essential to facility operations?
Sure you can! Just head to any US embassy in the world and renounce your citizenship. There are lots of people all over the world that don't pay taxes to the US.