"Recently I had to replace some hard disk drives from the same batch which had failed, while still under warranty. Because the drives were no longer recognized by the SCSI controller, it was not possible to erase the data on them. In view of the sensitivity of the data contained upon them, and the chance this was still forensically recoverable, our company decided to buy new drives rather than risk the disclosure of their contents by returning then to the supplier. How would you non-destructively (physically) destroy data on a hard disk without access to a bulk eraser? Obviously in this case it's a bit late to be thinking of using encryption."
So these were working drives, got pulled due to a recall, but somehow can't be accessed? And if you aren't RMAing, why not physically destroy? Or at least get a car battery electromagnet, a couple temps (you just flush 'em when you're done) and a weekend? Or would that still be "forensically recoverable"? If so, then just bury them. (In whichever largest body of water is closest...)
The PS2 was seen as expensive when it came out, and thanks to ebaytards and the like, the average cost of one was well above the actual list price.
Everyone except the wal-mart crowd decried the inclusion of a dvd player, they said it wasn't necessary, and was slowing development.
Developers said it was hard to code for, way too exotic of hardware designs.
My point is, I keep hearing all the same arguments I did in 2000, and while Sony definitely is screwing up (not even the wal-mart crowd wants blu-ray), I think they'll surprise everybody in the end.
Now we have something to point to when people ask "What's wrong with software licenses?".
I almost wish he had gotten off due to this agreement; that would have really driven the point home. Licenses are just another way to illustrate the core of capitalism: Try to get away with whatever you can, however you can.
It's because they believe the hype, that they've paid extra for some sort of luxry laptop. And that would be why instead of returning it as they should, they come up with all sorts of hacks and beliefs ("the strip above my keyboard is supposed to burn my fingerprints off"); so that they don't have to admit that macs are just as high quality as Dell or anybody else. They just happen to come in white and cost twice as much. But at least they're not some old stick in the mud that represents fun with a pie chart...
I still have the very first CD I ever bought. 13 years ago. The case has been replaced several times, but the cd itself is still perfect. Sure it's a little scratched, but it's never failed me.
Now as for tapes being reliable? Maybe in some other universe, but in my experience of restoring from tapes (Windows and *nix, different tapes, different drives), getting even one usable tape out of seven daily tapes is uncommon. Now if these tapes were only used once, then hermetically sealed or something, then we might get something off them, maybe.
And isn't it just awesome to wait four, five hours to find out one bad block fscked it all up? I usually get all giddy... No, wait, Homicidal was the word I was looking for.
"Vincent was a little unreasonable- 4 minutes isn't so terrible either. Vincent needed to be more patient, but has a right to cancel the account."
So you think theres no problem with waiting on hold 15 minutes just to be badgered by some jackass for 4 full minutes? If you don't think 4 minutes is a long time, go get a brick, and tap yourself in the head with it for 4 minutes straight. For a process that should be accessible online, but probably isn't for "security purposes"?
I don't think this is front page news, but to say it's unreasonable to expect halfway decent customer service? I listened to the call, and the AOL guy sounds just like every other call center lifer out there. From his attitude (you can hear the slight smirk) to the sound of his voice, he's a csr/tech support/whatever to a T. He probably got fired and had a new job with another call center inside 24 hours. And AOL (or more accurately, the company AOL outsources to) hired his exact clone in the same amount of time. And people wonder why India gets the csr jobs now...
"Still, in many areas services like Speakeasy [speakeasy.net] are available as alternatives in the DSL market."
You may pay Speakeasy, but never forget who owns the actual lines. Where I live, there are tons of people who will sell you DSL, but in the end, they all get screwed by the service and support side of Qwest. I know why they didn't participate in the phone records scandal, they were already over their "Customer Cornholing" limit for the decade...
"I immediately contacted the AOL name: Sashacristal8905 and requested that the Sidekick be returned. I was immediately told that my "white ass" didn't deserve it back. That she was not a "white bitch" (my friend who is a blonde white girl had pics on the phone this person had obviously seen) stupid enough to return a phone she found. After lots of threats, she said she and her boy would wait for me at:"
As the first contact with these people results in a "ha ha I found your phone, what you gonna do about it" message from the girl, I can't really feel sorry for any embarrassment that may come of this...
"Lastly, I'm unsure how he got a shortcut on his desktop that he doesn't own."
This would be the result of an application installing icons on the "All users" desktop. I haven't experianced this in Vista yet, but in XP it is quite common when I say, install firefox as a limited user using the "run as" option on the installer (or by logging in as admin and installing). Result? My limited account can run firefox, but cannot delete the shortcut placed on the desktop.
"driver support for Vista may be lacking, so you might have trouble"
Let me rephrase that for you, "Driver support for a beta version of any OS may be lacking, so you might have trouble."
Personally the only issue I had was Vista (build 5381) didn't install a driver for my sblive card. of course when I updated the driver, it connected to windows update and pulled the right driver right away. I expect that kind of behaviour from a beta version. The only way this would indicate a "Major Problem" would be if we were at RC1 or so.
"Not only does this new, Windows XP-only software"
As well as Vista...
"promote Urge to the exclusion of other retailers,"
Yes, setting a default music store, that is optional during the install, is excluding all others. And you can still add whatever music store you want. iTunes lets you choose from all of one music store and one mp3 player...
"you can't shop at this store-- or even just play your Urge downloads -- in any earlier version of Windows Media Player.'"
So if that really bothers you, don't use it...
"The Microsoft/Urge subscription model contains a new twist as well: 'Urge also lets you rent songs: $9.95 a month (or $99 a year) lets you download all the tracks you want to a computer, while $14.95 ($149 a year) lets you transfer those downloads to most newer Windows Media-compatible players. These rented songs can't be burned to CD and go silent if you stop paying the fees.'"
Because this is the first time anyone has ever done this... Damn Microsoft. Damn them all to hell.
"I worked in Austin's AppleCare center for four and a half years as a desperation move"
Uh, four and a half months is a desperation move. Anything over a year, and you've given up. And as someone who has a bit of call center experience (I gave up for a while too), I've seen my share of these guys. The ones who will use every possible acronym and technical name for stuff as possible (and usually get it completely wrong) when dealing with the customer. And if you're one of those people, and can't understand why the customers never seem to rate their call with you "Very Satisfied", imagine this:
You take your car into the mechanic. Now what is the first thing that comes into your head when he starts talking about this joint, that gasket, and wing nuts and what not. You may happen to know exactly what he's talking about, but most of us don't, and our first thought it, "This guy's trying to screw me".
Now imagine a guy trying to explain the windows NT TCP/IP stack to grandma... Wonder what she'll rate him when the survey monkey comes a calling...
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You got that backwards, it's 6 down, 3 to go.
So these were working drives, got pulled due to a recall, but somehow can't be accessed? And if you aren't RMAing, why not physically destroy? Or at least get a car battery electromagnet, a couple temps (you just flush 'em when you're done) and a weekend? Or would that still be "forensically recoverable"? If so, then just bury them. (In whichever largest body of water is closest...)
The PS2 was seen as expensive when it came out, and thanks to ebaytards and the like, the average cost of one was well above the actual list price.
Everyone except the wal-mart crowd decried the inclusion of a dvd player, they said it wasn't necessary, and was slowing development.
Developers said it was hard to code for, way too exotic of hardware designs.
My point is, I keep hearing all the same arguments I did in 2000, and while Sony definitely is screwing up (not even the wal-mart crowd wants blu-ray), I think they'll surprise everybody in the end.
You're right, they aren't a serious solution for intercontinental travel.
Or change the constitution so that 11 year olds can be president...
Now we have something to point to when people ask "What's wrong with software licenses?".
I almost wish he had gotten off due to this agreement; that would have really driven the point home. Licenses are just another way to illustrate the core of capitalism: Try to get away with whatever you can, however you can.
That sentence is un-possible... Is there unrest over Sony Not using it in the PS3?
It must do something since Apple's at it again...
Aaaannnnnndddddd.......?
Or, you could have just bought this game over a year ago...
I know the feeling. A little part of me dies every time I push the little "skip forward" button on my mce remote and nothing happens...
You do have to keep in mind that outsourced phone techs are bestowed the title "Technical Support Engineer"...
It's because they believe the hype, that they've paid extra for some sort of luxry laptop. And that would be why instead of returning it as they should, they come up with all sorts of hacks and beliefs ("the strip above my keyboard is supposed to burn my fingerprints off"); so that they don't have to admit that macs are just as high quality as Dell or anybody else. They just happen to come in white and cost twice as much. But at least they're not some old stick in the mud that represents fun with a pie chart...
http://www.litepc.com/xplite.html
Now as for tapes being reliable? Maybe in some other universe, but in my experience of restoring from tapes (Windows and *nix, different tapes, different drives), getting even one usable tape out of seven daily tapes is uncommon. Now if these tapes were only used once, then hermetically sealed or something, then we might get something off them, maybe.
And isn't it just awesome to wait four, five hours to find out one bad block fscked it all up? I usually get all giddy... No, wait, Homicidal was the word I was looking for.
So you think theres no problem with waiting on hold 15 minutes just to be badgered by some jackass for 4 full minutes? If you don't think 4 minutes is a long time, go get a brick, and tap yourself in the head with it for 4 minutes straight. For a process that should be accessible online, but probably isn't for "security purposes"?
I don't think this is front page news, but to say it's unreasonable to expect halfway decent customer service? I listened to the call, and the AOL guy sounds just like every other call center lifer out there. From his attitude (you can hear the slight smirk) to the sound of his voice, he's a csr/tech support/whatever to a T. He probably got fired and had a new job with another call center inside 24 hours. And AOL (or more accurately, the company AOL outsources to) hired his exact clone in the same amount of time. And people wonder why India gets the csr jobs now...
You may pay Speakeasy, but never forget who owns the actual lines. Where I live, there are tons of people who will sell you DSL, but in the end, they all get screwed by the service and support side of Qwest. I know why they didn't participate in the phone records scandal, they were already over their "Customer Cornholing" limit for the decade...
"I immediately contacted the AOL name: Sashacristal8905 and requested that the Sidekick be returned. I was immediately told that my "white ass" didn't deserve it back. That she was not a "white bitch" (my friend who is a blonde white girl had pics on the phone this person had obviously seen) stupid enough to return a phone she found. After lots of threats, she said she and her boy would wait for me at:"
As the first contact with these people results in a "ha ha I found your phone, what you gonna do about it" message from the girl, I can't really feel sorry for any embarrassment that may come of this...
I don't see the Swedish Police knocking down my door anytime soon, but I can see an "Information Exchange" between them and the **AA coming...
This would be the result of an application installing icons on the "All users" desktop. I haven't experianced this in Vista yet, but in XP it is quite common when I say, install firefox as a limited user using the "run as" option on the installer (or by logging in as admin and installing). Result? My limited account can run firefox, but cannot delete the shortcut placed on the desktop.
Let me rephrase that for you, "Driver support for a beta version of any OS may be lacking, so you might have trouble."
Personally the only issue I had was Vista (build 5381) didn't install a driver for my sblive card. of course when I updated the driver, it connected to windows update and pulled the right driver right away. I expect that kind of behaviour from a beta version. The only way this would indicate a "Major Problem" would be if we were at RC1 or so.
As well as Vista...
"promote Urge to the exclusion of other retailers,"
Yes, setting a default music store, that is optional during the install, is excluding all others. And you can still add whatever music store you want. iTunes lets you choose from all of one music store and one mp3 player...
"you can't shop at this store-- or even just play your Urge downloads -- in any earlier version of Windows Media Player.'"
So if that really bothers you, don't use it...
"The Microsoft/Urge subscription model contains a new twist as well: 'Urge also lets you rent songs: $9.95 a month (or $99 a year) lets you download all the tracks you want to a computer, while $14.95 ($149 a year) lets you transfer those downloads to most newer Windows Media-compatible players. These rented songs can't be burned to CD and go silent if you stop paying the fees.'"
Because this is the first time anyone has ever done this... Damn Microsoft. Damn them all to hell.
"I worked in Austin's AppleCare center for four and a half years as a desperation move"
Uh, four and a half months is a desperation move. Anything over a year, and you've given up. And as someone who has a bit of call center experience (I gave up for a while too), I've seen my share of these guys. The ones who will use every possible acronym and technical name for stuff as possible (and usually get it completely wrong) when dealing with the customer. And if you're one of those people, and can't understand why the customers never seem to rate their call with you "Very Satisfied", imagine this:
You take your car into the mechanic. Now what is the first thing that comes into your head when he starts talking about this joint, that gasket, and wing nuts and what not. You may happen to know exactly what he's talking about, but most of us don't, and our first thought it, "This guy's trying to screw me".
Now imagine a guy trying to explain the windows NT TCP/IP stack to grandma... Wonder what she'll rate him when the survey monkey comes a calling...