I've been waiting for this for ages. Found it stunningly stupid that Skype had cut a deal with Verizon which meant that no generic Android based devices (think Archos) could work since Skype wifi was disabled.
At any rate... It worked great this morning, but now:
"We're sorry, but we couldn't sign you in. Please try again later."
I had a situation in which my insurance had recently lapsed. They requested this absurd amount of money from me. I said "Well, how much would this bill be under my former insurance's negotiated rates?" they quoted me an amount that was less than one third. I said "OK, I'll pay that amount right now, if you agree to waive the remainder". They agreed, and I paid.
I am not saying that this approach will work all the time, but I think that everyone should demand to receive the same "discounts" as the insurance company's are getting. The fact of the matter is that the hospitals never really expect to get the "list" price. It's really just a scam.
These ridiculous bills handed out to uninsured patients are not just high, they are fraudulent!
I, and I suspect many others, vowed to never shop at Circuit City again when they decided that besides selling electronic gear they should wade into the waters of digital content protection and forcefully impose their unwanted formats on their customers and the industry as a whole.
As retailers of entertainment gadgetry I think they would have endeared themselves to their customers by advocating on their behalves.
A company focused on its core business would have been smart enough to see that getting into bed with Hollywood and a bunch of attorneys was going to cost a ton of money and not contribute to the bottom line.
No I don't believe that the DIVX effort on its own is what killed the company but I do believe that it was symptomatic of the company's core problems which were a total cluelessness about its customer base, and a lack of focus.
Clearly you don't. The simplest definition would be that your rights end at my nose. Or to put it another way a Libertarian is very likely to support the logic of emmision controls that work because you DONT have the right to produce nox that I (a libertarian) might be forced to breath to my detriment. As a libertarian this also means that I don't care to impose my will unduly on your wallet, and I am wholly uninterested in what you do in your bedroom. Libertarianism is practically the definition of logic. It is the antidote to the Red / Blue stupidity which has consumed this country.
So if an athlete consistently tests in the high range of "normal" how does this differ from another athlete who was genetically gifted with that hormone level to begin with? All of which goes to show that athletic competition except where perhaps in team sports or where strategy is heavily involved is really rather absurd. How can you compare the peak performance of any two people who are inherently genetically different? What's the point?
By all rights we should require that athletes provide test results over a long period of time and take supplements where necessary to ensure that all of them exhibit the same level of performance enhancing hormones. Then the competition breaks down to strategy, including such factors as what they chose to eat. It is generally considered desirable for the "playing field" to be "level".
I presume that testing for gene doping is difficult because the body would never produce over the high range of normal in those cases. So why is that bad? Perhaps we should encourage gene doping since it might alleviate the prevalence of other methods of "cheating".
Of course it is moot to your average electronics consumer. Frankly DVI is still moot to the average consumer. DeCSS is definately moot to the average consumer. It is the ability to create absolutely perfect digital copies for illegal distribution that concerns the movie industry. Large scale piracy is the problem not a single clever guy. Those people would easily connect that DVI output and use it to make perfect copies.
Yes I agree with most of your points. I was looking at it more in terms of "If I personally wanted to crack this could I". The answer being yes I figured there were others in the audience who could do likewise.
On graphic cards.... All modern graphic cards have their DDC pins hooked up, so it is possible to enable HDCP in software. Anyways HDCP not being enabled would simply mean that you cannot watch the movie. That doesn't help.
I agree that current DVDs can be copied with DeCSS. I likewise have no trouble yet with a number of flat panels. No doubt the intention is for that to change.
Come on guys get a clue. The DVI signal (which contrary to other silly opinions CAN be used to make perfect little digital copies if you are clever) includes something called HDCP (High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection) which is transmitted over the I2C pins on the DVI connector. If you are not decoding this signal you get a lousy snowy picture. And yes your computer system includes those same pins and you will ultimately find yourself dealing with precisely the same problem when you play DVD's on your computer so you might as well start crying now.
Alternatively you could start working on building yourself an HDCP pass through dongle right now. Can't be all that hard.
The motion picture industry is certainly concerned about you making copies of DVD's but let's face it those have been cracked already. They are a somewhat lost cause. What they are now attempting to guard against is people making copies of High Definition video. The content that will be coming out on blue laser equiped DVD's at 720p+ resolutions. The notion is, that end to end encryption is the answer. By putting the decoder in the display you are screwed. OK not really but it does become ever so slightly harder.
BTW Samsung makes a VERY nice DVD player (DVD-HD931) with DVI out that additionaly does scaling to 720p and 3:2 pulldown using the Faroudja chip. Now at $250 that is a bargain and a half. If only the damn thing would put that signal out RGB so I could watch it on my Sony 1271 projector... I'd be a happy camper. We need the Europeans to put out 720p on SCART connectors (OK so maybe just I do). Curious that none of European market machines include the Faroudja chip.... Actually really irritating is more like it (once again possibly editorial).
So.... this is all FULLY above the Radar and be prepared to grab your ankles because you know what is coming...
I've seen many posts here on the merits or not of being able to backup your registry vs. backing up configuration files. That's all fine and well but the biggest admin tedium I encounter on an ongoing basis is upgrading my servers' from a hardware standpoint. The ability to replace a motherboard and processor in a server... and bring up the server minutes later with the old hard drive and everything operating as it had is one of the most compelling arguments I have ever seen for Linux. Try that with an MS server, or better yet, switch now and save yourself a bunch of pain in the future.
PaceBlade Pivot(tm) by Portrait Displays
on
Pacebook Tablet PC
·
· Score: 1
Just for the record - The pivoting to Portrait/Landscape function is provided by Portrait Displays, Inc. The Anandtech review incorrectly claims that the pivoting function is provided by the Lynx hardware. And yes, I should know.
Right electronic noise. Pixel luminosity varies. Not sure why but I have seen it on every OLED. Maybe it's just a function of the extremely high contrast?
This is one of a new breed of smart displays as exemplified by Microsoft's Mira concept. So basically rather than the 17 - 21 inch flat panel display you would like to have... Instead you get a 12 inch display with a digitizer glued to the surface thus making the contrast suck. Geuss what wonderful protocol the display uses to communicate with your desktop? How about RDP! Can you say slow. Some displays have an additional DVI or VGA connector for direct connection. The original concept was that this would replace your primary desktop display. Then the braniacs realized that no one would want a 12" primary display. DUH! So now they are trying to sell it as a secondary display with a bit more utility.
Save your money... Buy a laptop with 802.11 It'll be faster. The display will look better. You'll have a keyboard and, someone else in your family will still be able to use your desktop machine at the same time!
Actually there is a company producing a flat screen with lets call them nearly real color pixels. Rather than using filters in the panel they use extremely bright Red, Blue, and Green color LED's in the backlight. The image is then represented in a field seqntial fashion. The beauty is that each individual pixel is representing the full color, so you dont need silly and stupid gimmicks like cleartype.
Since you don't care about the customers my amusement was at no ones expense. So whats the proble? Not sticking to the script does not constitute "giving shit". I am not obligated to give the answers either she or AT&T expected.
I had no expectation that I wouldn't get what I wanted so wasn't mad, just amused. I neither pissed nor moaned. She should have seen it as an opportunity for a diversion from and otherwise boring day.
As a customer who has paid a considerable sum of money for the service I've received I deserve better than that. I don't blame her. But, given what you've said I would have been just as well off messaging with a computer.
If I don't tell her that she's being treated like a machine who will? At some point her dignity will be worth more to her than that job. If I am going to talk with a person I want to feel like I am making some sort of contact. I mean otherwise what's the point? Why is it wrong of me to find it both amusing and dismaying that a company I've paid a great deal of money to feels its apropriate to trick me into speaking with a manikin who's every word they dictate? Why don't they just hook wires to her brain and leave it in a vat of nutrient fluid? It would be more honest. But how would she have answered my question then? Would she have still claimed to be human?
It's odd. I've had some responses from people who are under the misimpression that I was attacking her. I think a more accurate description is that these people are upset that I did not act like a computer! I have news for them; dream on. The real problem here is that I did not provide the expected conventional responses right? So basically I am supposed to behave according to the script also. That is the real problem. Interestingly many Americans have already accepted that propaganda. I certainly will not apologize for displaying my humanity and attempting (and partially succeeding) in eliciting hers. It may have been a brief moment, but, for that brief instant she was not reading from her script! Hallelujah!
Here's a message then for AT&T:
Don't force your valued employees and customers into the humiliation of acting like computers. In fact its worse that that, into the servants of computers insofar as their responses are preprogrammed by you and must be typed into computers. It isn't being an asshole to expect to talk to a god damned person when that is what I am told I am doing! Now there is something worth being mad about and you should make no mistake about it my anger is directed towards AT&T (not Angela who I hope will find a better job)
Again you fail to understand exactly how little grace was involved on her part. Each of her questions and or replies took minutes. I had made my wishes clear. Given how long it was taking for her to respond to each of my queries it was very reasonable that I had no patience left to play 20 questions.
Presumably the reason for the questions is so that they can be passed on to her managers. I mean are you telling me that she personally cares about why I want to be disconnected? Obviously not, so in fact I was speaking to those I intended to receive the message. You pretty much missed the whole point. I really wasn't particularly angry, as is evidenced by what I had to say. Anyone taking offense would have had to have very thin skin indeed and should probably consider another career.
So are you a shill for AT&T support?
If you go to McDonalds and order a burger and after several minutes of fiddling you are told that the "needful thing will be provided" wouldn't you be sort of curious as to what you might actually get and when? I asked for a simple thing "disconnect me". I found the resulting conversation with what I was really beginning to think was an Eliza like program amusing. Really Turing would have been challenged. Also given the repetetive nature of some of the things she said I dont believe that she was "speaking" at all. She was merely selecting preprogrammed phrases (poorly done). In fact, when I questioned whether I was actualy just talking to a computer is when I finally received a direct response from her! Amazing!
One possible explanation for why it took her so damn long to answer me each time is that she was answering (certainly not conversing with) several people at once, and consequently paying very little attention to each. Well that strikes me as rude as hell!
Frankly given that I believe that she was speaking to several people and mostly just pushing buttons to select boiler plate text I think that for most of the 'chat', speaking to a computer would have been more satisfieing. Really she should be angry that her managers have structured her job such that she has become virtually indistinguishable from a machine.
Let me make one thing completely clear. There was no tantrum involved. At no point was I anything other than amused and a bit impatient. Mad sounds completely different. In your case I am also amused but not impatient largely because I get the definate impression that you are human. So while you may not be as blessed in certain areas as some I find myself with less of an inclination towards derision.
You obviously didn't read it. Besides, we're talking minutes between replies with me waiting. And, why the hell would she take it personal? If she doesn't like it I'd be more than happy to talk to her managers. Besides if you read the heading you would see it was not intended for you dorkus.
Welcome manders1...
Connecting to server. Please wait...
Connected to athchat02.broadband.att.com
Sat, December 01 2001 12:11PM Mountain Standard Time
https://help.broadband.att.com/index.jsp?pushedf ro m=chat
Hello! Welcome to AT&T @Home's Online Customer Support Center. Your session ID # is 1479181.
We apologize for the delay and appreciate your patience. A message from a customer care specialist should appear in the chat window shortly.
To quickly find answers to questions you may have about your AT&T@Home service, check out our Fast Answers to Questions section above.
To view any possible service interruptions in your area and to access other timesaving tools, click on the Service Tools section on the left navigation panel above.
In-Angela Stone has joined this session!
You say: Hello
In-Angela Stone says: Thank you for contacting AT&TBroadband Internet.My name is Angela; I understand you are having issue with connectivity.I would be glad to assist you with the same.
You say: I'd like to discontinue my service
In-Angela Stone says: In order to assist you with this, may I please have your first and last name, telephone number, complete home address, primary login,
and personal access code?
You say: Michael Anderson
You say: (xxx) xxx-xxxx
You say: 123 somewhere Circle, San Ramon ca 94583
You say: I dont "log in" to @Home
You say: I believe my user name is manders1
In-Angela Stone says: Thank you for the information.Please stand by for a moment.
You say: I use my own mail server etc so i've never needed my @home log in
In-Angela Stone says: May I know if you are sure you want to disconnect the services?
You say: I dont know, may you?
You say: whats your question?
In-Angela Stone says: Michael, may I know why do you want to discontinue the services?
You say: I've paid you guys probably $1500 dollars or more over the last three years or so....
You say: Now I am disconnected
You say: YES I want to discontinue my service DUH!
In-Angela Stone says: I am sincerely sorry for all the trouble this .
You say: fortunately my Telocity back up DSL service is functioning fine so that I
can 'chat' with you about being disconnected
You say: can we get on with it?
In-Angela Stone says: Due to Excite@Home's bankruptcy filing, we are transitioning your service to an AT&T network.
You say: Please disontinue my account NOW!
In-Angela Stone says: During this transition, your service will be temporarily unavailable.
You say: what am I talking to eliza here?
You say: The humor is probably lost on you
You say: please disconnect me
You say: (from the @home network)
You say: quit billing me
You say: stop my service
In-Angela Stone says: Okay Michael, kindly standby.
You say: Today is Saturday, December 01, 2001
You say: The day on which I discontinue my @Home/ATT Broadband service
You say: The day on which I quit paying $58.79 a month
You say: Thats an extrea $705.00 dollar per year for ME
In-Angela Stone says: I am sincerely sorry for all the trouble this has caused you.
You say: Boy for $705 per year you'd expect REALLY good service
You say: You don't need to apologize. It has caused me no trouble because I have a backup service
You say: I dont trust you guys
You say: It amuses me thats all
You say: ATT loses $705 not me why should I be upset?
You say: I still have service as you can see
You say: I've already told you what I want
You say: I assume you are handling it
You say: what reason is there for me to need to
You say: "hang on"
In-Angela Stone says: Michael, I have forwarded your issue to the required department.They will do the needful for you.
You say: OK fine so are we done or what?
In-Angela Stone says: I have forwarded your request , now they will do the needful Michael.
You say: also there is nothing 'needful' other than to quit billing me which will happen in any event once I inform my card company of my desires
You say: What more do you need of me?
You say: Hello?
In-Angela Stone says: Michael, as I have forwarded your request.
You say: Yes?
In-Angela Stone says: They will do the needful.
You say: Youill discontinue my service?
You say: yes?
You say: is that it?
You say: are we done?
You say: Is this a computer?
You say: I am talkin to eliza aren't I
You say: how humiliating
In-Angela Stone says: Micheal you are chatting with a humann being.
You say: prove it
You say: You still sound like eliza
In-Angela Stone says: Michael, yes they will discontinue your services.
You say: Thanks, so are we done?
You say: Come on I need 'closure'
In-Angela Stone says: Yes Michael.
In-Angela Stone says: Thank you for contacting AT&TBroadband Internet, goodbye.
You say: excellent, bye
The session has en
Yeah well you didnt have to wait 3 minutes between responses for "her" to not answer the question. I asked for a simple thing; "discontinue my service". All she had to do was say fine Mr. Anderson you service will be disconnected as of this date. She was not helpful AT ALL! Quite the contrary.
Welcome manders1...
Connecting to server. Please wait...
Connected to athchat02.broadband.att.com
Sat, December 01 2001 12:11PM Mountain Standard Time
https://help.broadband.att.com/index.jsp?pushedf ro m=chat
Hello! Welcome to AT&T @Home's Online Customer Support Center. Your session ID # is 1479181.
We apologize for the delay and appreciate your patience. A message from a customer care specialist should appear in the chat window shortly.
To quickly find answers to questions you may have about your AT&T@Home service, check out our Fast Answers to Questions section above.
To view any possible service interruptions in your area and to access other timesaving tools, click on the Service Tools section on the left navigation panel above.
In-Angela Stone has joined this session!
You say: Hello
In-Angela Stone says: Thank you for contacting AT&TBroadband Internet.My name is Angela; I understand you are having issue with connectivity.I would be glad to assist you with the same.
You say: I'd like to discontinue my service
In-Angela Stone says: In order to assist you with this, may I please have your first and last name, telephone number, complete home address, primary login,
and personal access code?
You say: Michael Anderson
You say: (xxx) xxx-xxxx
You say: 123 somewhere Circle, San Ramon ca 94583
You say: I dont "log in" to @Home
You say: I believe my user name is manders1
In-Angela Stone says: Thank you for the information.Please stand by for a moment.
You say: I use my own mail server etc so i've never needed my @home log in
In-Angela Stone says: May I know if you are sure you want to disconnect the services?
You say: I dont know, may you?
You say: whats your question?
In-Angela Stone says: Michael, may I know why do you want to discontinue the services?
You say: I've paid you guys probably $1500 dollars or more over the last three years or so....
You say: Now I am disconnected
You say: YES I want to discontinue my service DUH!
In-Angela Stone says: I am sincerely sorry for all the trouble this .
You say: fortunately my Telocity back up DSL service is functioning fine so that I
can 'chat' with you about being disconnected
You say: can we get on with it?
In-Angela Stone says: Due to Excite@Home's bankruptcy filing, we are transitioning your service to an AT&T network.
You say: Please disontinue my account NOW!
In-Angela Stone says: During this transition, your service will be temporarily unavailable.
You say: what am I talking to eliza here?
You say: The humor is probably lost on you
You say: please disconnect me
You say: (from the @home network)
You say: quit billing me
You say: stop my service
In-Angela Stone says: Okay Michael, kindly standby.
You say: Today is Saturday, December 01, 2001
You say: The day on which I discontinue my @Home/ATT Broadband service
You say: The day on which I quit paying $58.79 a month
You say: Thats an extrea $705.00 dollar per year for ME
In-Angela Stone says: I am sincerely sorry for all the trouble this has caused you.
You say: Boy for $705 per year you'd expect REALLY good service
You say: You don't need to apologize. It has caused me no trouble because I have a backup service
You say: I dont trust you guys
You say: It amuses me thats all
You say: ATT loses $705 not me why should I be upset?
You say: I still have service as you can see
You say: I've already told you what I want
You say: I assume you are handling it
You say: what reason is there for me to need to
You say: "hang on"
In-Angela Stone says: Michael, I have forwarded your issue to the required department.They will do the needful for you.
You say: OK fine so are we done or what?
In-Angela Stone says: I have forwarded your request , now they will do the needful Michael.
You say: also there is nothing 'needful' other than to quit billing me which will happen in any event once I inform my card company of my desires
You say: What more do you need of me?
You say: Hello?
In-Angela Stone says: Michael, as I have forwarded your request.
You say: Yes?
In-Angela Stone says: They will do the needful.
You say: Youill discontinue my service?
You say: yes?
You say: is that it?
You say: are we done?
You say: Is this a computer?
You say: I am talkin to eliza aren't I
You say: how humiliating
In-Angela Stone says: Micheal you are chatting with a humann being.
You say: prove it
You say: You still sound like eliza
In-Angela Stone says: Michael, yes they will discontinue your services.
You say: Thanks, so are we done?
You say: Come on I need 'closure'
In-Angela Stone says: Yes Michael.
In-Angela Stone says: Thank you for contacting AT&TBroadband Internet, goodbye.
You say: excellent, bye
The session has en
You mean, you don't do any work when you are "working at home". Why impose your work ethic on everybody else. Many people (most engineers) work in production oriented environments. Your work output is quantifiable. Did you complete the project on time? If so fine. If not then you have a problem unrelated to where you are actually doing the work. Typical software engineering involves stressful releases followed by periods of navel contemplation. An activity best done at home.
Slashdot Mirror
I've been waiting for this for ages. Found it stunningly stupid that Skype had cut a deal with Verizon which meant that no generic Android based devices (think Archos) could work since Skype wifi was disabled.
At any rate... It worked great this morning, but now:
"We're sorry, but we couldn't sign you in. Please try again later."
WTF?
Can't you just run OS/X in a VM on your Windows 7 Netbook? Or is the school policing licenses also??
Right On! You have hit the nail on the head.
I had a situation in which my insurance had recently lapsed. They requested this absurd amount of money from me. I said "Well, how much would this bill be under my former insurance's negotiated rates?" they quoted me an amount that was less than one third. I said "OK, I'll pay that amount right now, if you agree to waive the remainder". They agreed, and I paid.
I am not saying that this approach will work all the time, but I think that everyone should demand to receive the same "discounts" as the insurance company's are getting. The fact of the matter is that the hospitals never really expect to get the "list" price. It's really just a scam.
These ridiculous bills handed out to uninsured patients are not just high, they are fraudulent!
At half resolution (1024 x 768) it'll look great. Sure its a little less desktop but you're accommodating their handicap.
I, and I suspect many others, vowed to never shop at Circuit City again when they decided that besides selling electronic gear they should wade into the waters of digital content protection and forcefully impose their unwanted formats on their customers and the industry as a whole.
As retailers of entertainment gadgetry I think they would have endeared themselves to their customers by advocating on their behalves.
A company focused on its core business would have been smart enough to see that getting into bed with Hollywood and a bunch of attorneys was going to cost a ton of money and not contribute to the bottom line.
No I don't believe that the DIVX effort on its own is what killed the company but I do believe that it was symptomatic of the company's core problems which were a total cluelessness about its customer base, and a lack of focus.
Clearly you don't. The simplest definition would be that your rights end at my nose. Or to put it another way a Libertarian is very likely to support the logic of emmision controls that work because you DONT have the right to produce nox that I (a libertarian) might be forced to breath to my detriment. As a libertarian this also means that I don't care to impose my will unduly on your wallet, and I am wholly uninterested in what you do in your bedroom. Libertarianism is practically the definition of logic. It is the antidote to the Red / Blue stupidity which has consumed this country.
By all rights we should require that athletes provide test results over a long period of time and take supplements where necessary to ensure that all of them exhibit the same level of performance enhancing hormones. Then the competition breaks down to strategy, including such factors as what they chose to eat. It is generally considered desirable for the "playing field" to be "level".
I presume that testing for gene doping is difficult because the body would never produce over the high range of normal in those cases. So why is that bad? Perhaps we should encourage gene doping since it might alleviate the prevalence of other methods of "cheating".
Of course it is moot to your average electronics consumer. Frankly DVI is still moot to the average consumer. DeCSS is definately moot to the average consumer. It is the ability to create absolutely perfect digital copies for illegal distribution that concerns the movie industry. Large scale piracy is the problem not a single clever guy. Those people would easily connect that DVI output and use it to make perfect copies.
On graphic cards.... All modern graphic cards have their DDC pins hooked up, so it is possible to enable HDCP in software. Anyways HDCP not being enabled would simply mean that you cannot watch the movie. That doesn't help.
I agree that current DVDs can be copied with DeCSS. I likewise have no trouble yet with a number of flat panels. No doubt the intention is for that to change.
Where all think alike, no one thinks very much
Alternatively you could start working on building yourself an HDCP pass through dongle right now. Can't be all that hard.
The motion picture industry is certainly concerned about you making copies of DVD's but let's face it those have been cracked already. They are a somewhat lost cause. What they are now attempting to guard against is people making copies of High Definition video. The content that will be coming out on blue laser equiped DVD's at 720p+ resolutions. The notion is, that end to end encryption is the answer. By putting the decoder in the display you are screwed. OK not really but it does become ever so slightly harder.
BTW Samsung makes a VERY nice DVD player (DVD-HD931) with DVI out that additionaly does scaling to 720p and 3:2 pulldown using the Faroudja chip. Now at $250 that is a bargain and a half. If only the damn thing would put that signal out RGB so I could watch it on my Sony 1271 projector... I'd be a happy camper. We need the Europeans to put out 720p on SCART connectors (OK so maybe just I do). Curious that none of European market machines include the Faroudja chip.... Actually really irritating is more like it (once again possibly editorial).
So.... this is all FULLY above the Radar and be prepared to grab your ankles because you know what is coming...
Where all think alike, no one thinks very much
I've seen many posts here on the merits or not of being able to backup your registry vs. backing up configuration files. That's all fine and well but the biggest admin tedium I encounter on an ongoing basis is upgrading my servers' from a hardware standpoint. The ability to replace a motherboard and processor in a server... and bring up the server minutes later with the old hard drive and everything operating as it had is one of the most compelling arguments I have ever seen for Linux. Try that with an MS server, or better yet, switch now and save yourself a bunch of pain in the future.
Just for the record - The pivoting to Portrait/Landscape function is provided by Portrait Displays, Inc. The Anandtech review incorrectly claims that the pivoting function is provided by the Lynx hardware. And yes, I should know.
Right electronic noise. Pixel luminosity varies. Not sure why but I have seen it on every OLED. Maybe it's just a function of the extremely high contrast?
... But the contrast and saturation are nice. Dont hold your breath.
Save your money... Buy a laptop with 802.11 It'll be faster. The display will look better. You'll have a keyboard and, someone else in your family will still be able to use your desktop machine at the same time!
Actually there is a company producing a flat screen with lets call them nearly real color pixels. Rather than using filters in the panel they use extremely bright Red, Blue, and Green color LED's in the backlight. The image is then represented in a field seqntial fashion. The beauty is that each individual pixel is representing the full color, so you dont need silly and stupid gimmicks like cleartype.
Here's the link if anyone is interested:
LumiLeds
I had no expectation that I wouldn't get what I wanted so wasn't mad, just amused. I neither pissed nor moaned. She should have seen it as an opportunity for a diversion from and otherwise boring day.
As a customer who has paid a considerable sum of money for the service I've received I deserve better than that. I don't blame her. But, given what you've said I would have been just as well off messaging with a computer.
If I don't tell her that she's being treated like a machine who will? At some point her dignity will be worth more to her than that job. If I am going to talk with a person I want to feel like I am making some sort of contact. I mean otherwise what's the point? Why is it wrong of me to find it both amusing and dismaying that a company I've paid a great deal of money to feels its apropriate to trick me into speaking with a manikin who's every word they dictate? Why don't they just hook wires to her brain and leave it in a vat of nutrient fluid? It would be more honest. But how would she have answered my question then? Would she have still claimed to be human?
It's odd. I've had some responses from people who are under the misimpression that I was attacking her. I think a more accurate description is that these people are upset that I did not act like a computer! I have news for them; dream on. The real problem here is that I did not provide the expected conventional responses right? So basically I am supposed to behave according to the script also. That is the real problem. Interestingly many Americans have already accepted that propaganda. I certainly will not apologize for displaying my humanity and attempting (and partially succeeding) in eliciting hers. It may have been a brief moment, but, for that brief instant she was not reading from her script! Hallelujah!
Here's a message then for AT&T:
Don't force your valued employees and customers into the humiliation of acting like computers. In fact its worse that that, into the servants of computers insofar as their responses are preprogrammed by you and must be typed into computers. It isn't being an asshole to expect to talk to a god damned person when that is what I am told I am doing! Now there is something worth being mad about and you should make no mistake about it my anger is directed towards AT&T (not Angela who I hope will find a better job)
Presumably the reason for the questions is so that they can be passed on to her managers. I mean are you telling me that she personally cares about why I want to be disconnected? Obviously not, so in fact I was speaking to those I intended to receive the message. You pretty much missed the whole point. I really wasn't particularly angry, as is evidenced by what I had to say. Anyone taking offense would have had to have very thin skin indeed and should probably consider another career.
So are you a shill for AT&T support?
If you go to McDonalds and order a burger and after several minutes of fiddling you are told that the "needful thing will be provided" wouldn't you be sort of curious as to what you might actually get and when? I asked for a simple thing "disconnect me". I found the resulting conversation with what I was really beginning to think was an Eliza like program amusing. Really Turing would have been challenged. Also given the repetetive nature of some of the things she said I dont believe that she was "speaking" at all. She was merely selecting preprogrammed phrases (poorly done). In fact, when I questioned whether I was actualy just talking to a computer is when I finally received a direct response from her! Amazing!
One possible explanation for why it took her so damn long to answer me each time is that she was answering (certainly not conversing with) several people at once, and consequently paying very little attention to each. Well that strikes me as rude as hell!
Frankly given that I believe that she was speaking to several people and mostly just pushing buttons to select boiler plate text I think that for most of the 'chat', speaking to a computer would have been more satisfieing. Really she should be angry that her managers have structured her job such that she has become virtually indistinguishable from a machine.
Let me make one thing completely clear. There was no tantrum involved. At no point was I anything other than amused and a bit impatient. Mad sounds completely different. In your case I am also amused but not impatient largely because I get the definate impression that you are human. So while you may not be as blessed in certain areas as some I find myself with less of an inclination towards derision.
You obviously didn't read it. Besides, we're talking minutes between replies with me waiting. And, why the hell would she take it personal? If she doesn't like it I'd be more than happy to talk to her managers. Besides if you read the heading you would see it was not intended for you dorkus.
Welcome manders1 ...
f ro m=chat
Connecting to server. Please wait...
Connected to athchat02.broadband.att.com
Sat, December 01 2001 12:11PM Mountain Standard Time
https://help.broadband.att.com/index.jsp?pushed
Hello! Welcome to AT&T @Home's Online Customer Support Center. Your session ID # is 1479181.
We apologize for the delay and appreciate your patience. A message from a customer care specialist should appear in the chat window shortly.
To quickly find answers to questions you may have about your AT&T@Home service, check out our Fast Answers to Questions section above.
To view any possible service interruptions in your area and to access other timesaving tools, click on the Service Tools section on the left navigation panel above.
In-Angela Stone has joined this session!
You say: Hello
In-Angela Stone says: Thank you for contacting AT&TBroadband Internet.My name is Angela; I understand you are having issue with connectivity.I would be glad to assist you with the same.
You say: I'd like to discontinue my service
In-Angela Stone says: In order to assist you with this, may I please have your first and last name, telephone number, complete home address, primary login,
and personal access code?
You say: Michael Anderson
You say: (xxx) xxx-xxxx
You say: 123 somewhere Circle, San Ramon ca 94583
You say: I dont "log in" to @Home
You say: I believe my user name is manders1
In-Angela Stone says: Thank you for the information.Please stand by for a moment.
You say: I use my own mail server etc so i've never needed my @home log in
In-Angela Stone says: May I know if you are sure you want to disconnect the services?
You say: I dont know, may you?
You say: whats your question?
In-Angela Stone says: Michael, may I know why do you want to discontinue the services?
You say: I've paid you guys probably $1500 dollars or more over the last three years or so....
You say: Now I am disconnected
You say: YES I want to discontinue my service DUH!
In-Angela Stone says: I am sincerely sorry for all the trouble this .
You say: fortunately my Telocity back up DSL service is functioning fine so that I
can 'chat' with you about being disconnected
You say: can we get on with it?
In-Angela Stone says: Due to Excite@Home's bankruptcy filing, we are transitioning your service to an AT&T network.
You say: Please disontinue my account NOW!
In-Angela Stone says: During this transition, your service will be temporarily unavailable.
You say: what am I talking to eliza here?
You say: The humor is probably lost on you
You say: please disconnect me
You say: (from the @home network)
You say: quit billing me
You say: stop my service
In-Angela Stone says: Okay Michael, kindly standby.
You say: Today is Saturday, December 01, 2001
You say: The day on which I discontinue my @Home/ATT Broadband service
You say: The day on which I quit paying $58.79 a month
You say: Thats an extrea $705.00 dollar per year for ME
In-Angela Stone says: I am sincerely sorry for all the trouble this has caused you.
You say: Boy for $705 per year you'd expect REALLY good service
You say: You don't need to apologize. It has caused me no trouble because I have a backup service
You say: I dont trust you guys
You say: It amuses me thats all
You say: ATT loses $705 not me why should I be upset?
You say: I still have service as you can see
You say: I've already told you what I want
You say: I assume you are handling it
You say: what reason is there for me to need to
You say: "hang on"
In-Angela Stone says: Michael, I have forwarded your issue to the required department.They will do the needful for you.
You say: OK fine so are we done or what?
In-Angela Stone says: I have forwarded your request , now they will do the needful Michael.
You say: also there is nothing 'needful' other than to quit billing me which will happen in any event once I inform my card company of my desires
You say: What more do you need of me?
You say: Hello?
In-Angela Stone says: Michael, as I have forwarded your request.
You say: Yes?
In-Angela Stone says: They will do the needful.
You say: Youill discontinue my service?
You say: yes?
You say: is that it?
You say: are we done?
You say: Is this a computer?
You say: I am talkin to eliza aren't I
You say: how humiliating
In-Angela Stone says: Micheal you are chatting with a humann being.
You say: prove it
You say: You still sound like eliza
In-Angela Stone says: Michael, yes they will discontinue your services.
You say: Thanks, so are we done?
You say: Come on I need 'closure'
In-Angela Stone says: Yes Michael.
In-Angela Stone says: Thank you for contacting AT&TBroadband Internet, goodbye.
You say: excellent, bye
The session has en
Yeah well you didnt have to wait 3 minutes between responses for "her" to not answer the question. I asked for a simple thing; "discontinue my service". All she had to do was say fine Mr. Anderson you service will be disconnected as of this date. She was not helpful AT ALL! Quite the contrary.
Welcome manders1 ...
f ro m=chat
Connecting to server. Please wait...
Connected to athchat02.broadband.att.com
Sat, December 01 2001 12:11PM Mountain Standard Time
https://help.broadband.att.com/index.jsp?pushed
Hello! Welcome to AT&T @Home's Online Customer Support Center. Your session ID # is 1479181.
We apologize for the delay and appreciate your patience. A message from a customer care specialist should appear in the chat window shortly.
To quickly find answers to questions you may have about your AT&T@Home service, check out our Fast Answers to Questions section above.
To view any possible service interruptions in your area and to access other timesaving tools, click on the Service Tools section on the left navigation panel above.
In-Angela Stone has joined this session!
You say: Hello
In-Angela Stone says: Thank you for contacting AT&TBroadband Internet.My name is Angela; I understand you are having issue with connectivity.I would be glad to assist you with the same.
You say: I'd like to discontinue my service
In-Angela Stone says: In order to assist you with this, may I please have your first and last name, telephone number, complete home address, primary login,
and personal access code?
You say: Michael Anderson
You say: (xxx) xxx-xxxx
You say: 123 somewhere Circle, San Ramon ca 94583
You say: I dont "log in" to @Home
You say: I believe my user name is manders1
In-Angela Stone says: Thank you for the information.Please stand by for a moment.
You say: I use my own mail server etc so i've never needed my @home log in
In-Angela Stone says: May I know if you are sure you want to disconnect the services?
You say: I dont know, may you?
You say: whats your question?
In-Angela Stone says: Michael, may I know why do you want to discontinue the services?
You say: I've paid you guys probably $1500 dollars or more over the last three years or so....
You say: Now I am disconnected
You say: YES I want to discontinue my service DUH!
In-Angela Stone says: I am sincerely sorry for all the trouble this .
You say: fortunately my Telocity back up DSL service is functioning fine so that I
can 'chat' with you about being disconnected
You say: can we get on with it?
In-Angela Stone says: Due to Excite@Home's bankruptcy filing, we are transitioning your service to an AT&T network.
You say: Please disontinue my account NOW!
In-Angela Stone says: During this transition, your service will be temporarily unavailable.
You say: what am I talking to eliza here?
You say: The humor is probably lost on you
You say: please disconnect me
You say: (from the @home network)
You say: quit billing me
You say: stop my service
In-Angela Stone says: Okay Michael, kindly standby.
You say: Today is Saturday, December 01, 2001
You say: The day on which I discontinue my @Home/ATT Broadband service
You say: The day on which I quit paying $58.79 a month
You say: Thats an extrea $705.00 dollar per year for ME
In-Angela Stone says: I am sincerely sorry for all the trouble this has caused you.
You say: Boy for $705 per year you'd expect REALLY good service
You say: You don't need to apologize. It has caused me no trouble because I have a backup service
You say: I dont trust you guys
You say: It amuses me thats all
You say: ATT loses $705 not me why should I be upset?
You say: I still have service as you can see
You say: I've already told you what I want
You say: I assume you are handling it
You say: what reason is there for me to need to
You say: "hang on"
In-Angela Stone says: Michael, I have forwarded your issue to the required department.They will do the needful for you.
You say: OK fine so are we done or what?
In-Angela Stone says: I have forwarded your request , now they will do the needful Michael.
You say: also there is nothing 'needful' other than to quit billing me which will happen in any event once I inform my card company of my desires
You say: What more do you need of me?
You say: Hello?
In-Angela Stone says: Michael, as I have forwarded your request.
You say: Yes?
In-Angela Stone says: They will do the needful.
You say: Youill discontinue my service?
You say: yes?
You say: is that it?
You say: are we done?
You say: Is this a computer?
You say: I am talkin to eliza aren't I
You say: how humiliating
In-Angela Stone says: Micheal you are chatting with a humann being.
You say: prove it
You say: You still sound like eliza
In-Angela Stone says: Michael, yes they will discontinue your services.
You say: Thanks, so are we done?
You say: Come on I need 'closure'
In-Angela Stone says: Yes Michael.
In-Angela Stone says: Thank you for contacting AT&TBroadband Internet, goodbye.
You say: excellent, bye
The session has en
Code should always be self commenting
You mean, you don't do any work when you are "working at home". Why impose your work ethic on everybody else. Many people (most engineers) work in production oriented environments. Your work output is quantifiable. Did you complete the project on time? If so fine. If not then you have a problem unrelated to where you are actually doing the work. Typical software engineering involves stressful releases followed by periods of navel contemplation. An activity best done at home.