I used to work for Best Buy Geek Squad (about 3 years ago, and for almost 5 years before that), starting when I was a sophomore in high school. And, I do hear this a lot, but not every "kid" that worked for a big box electronic store was terrible at their job. Geek Squad, yes, I know, I know. But that was a different time for me, so don't hate on it too much.
Anyway, I can personally tell you that we saw at least 1 DOA laptop for every 20 we sold (a certain brand or two I won't name that sold for cheap accounted for most of them). That being said, customers, especially the grumpy I'm-entitled-to-everything suburban kind, do not like getting home, opening their new laptop, and seeing either a blue screen or nothing at all. It pissed off the customer, and then usually the store ends up losing more money because of people who demand to be compensated for the time they spent bring the computer back to the store. Remember, computers don't have a high profit margin, so giving away anything more than 5-10% on a computer which usually end up in a loss for the store. You may have your qualms with this practice, but it keeps their average customer satisfaction up.
Now, in addition to that, I would also like to point out that when I was working for Geek Squad, we weren't installing trial versions of anything on there. In fact, back in the day, we used to do a free performance upgrade (registry fixes, bloatware startup-item removal, etc). I'm not sure why this particular part of the process has changed, but I'm sure there's a marketing reason for it.
Besides, the only people this would really irk is the extreme power user crowd (us), and most of us are wise enough (hopefully) to buy our electronics elsewhere, anyway.
How exactly do you define "nothing to show for it," exactly? How about, for starters, just being able to do it? In order to get from point A to point B, there are going to be hiccups, but you're going to learn from them. The shuttle was a hiccup, in the sense that there may have been a cheaper way to do it, but with all the requirements the shuttle had, it's kind of hard to keep costs down.
When I first read the summary, I was surprised they even dignified the UK government with a response, much less an actual representative.
But then, I thought to myself, if they didn't, the government would have likely used that alone as an excuse. It really does seem the UK is fucked, either way.
Personally, though, I blame my government for the UK's attitude here. The United States government has pretty much shown the world that a powerful governmental body can get away with anything to a certain degree, unless the people do something about it. Hell, I doubt anything but a freaking revolution, either civil or congressional, could change government views of the effect of internet communication platforms on keeping the peace.
They may be able to force domain owners to take down content that is in violation of trademarks/copyrights owned by Atari, but I'll be damned if they can take a domain name from its owner.
The augmented sensitivity of hearing doesn't immediately happen when you go blind, it's something that improves over time, as an individual's senses are forced to compensate. I can see this being very useful for somebody who just lost their sight, or a blind individual who doesn't feel like attending a class.
It's another option on the table, and that's exactly what I believe it was intended to be.
Keep reading for more information, build notes, parts list, schematics, and code....
Important Note #2: The circuit and software is released under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA license, which I think of as a "Don't be a jerk" license. In short: Make it, learn from it, teach it, improve it, modify it. Just share what you do, give credit, and don't sell any without contacting me first.
PARTS LIST?!? CIRCUIT INFO?!? WOOOT! Now this looks like a damn fun toy.
45,000 employees going on strike.. for two weeks..
I don't feel like doing any math right now, but Verizon lost a bunch of money here, so it's not exactly surprising that this didn't stretch out any longer.
Personally, I was expecting it to be over much sooner, but Verizon was stubborn.
The problem with R&D is that many company executives that make these investment decisions typically have trouble seeing the chain of innovation that heavy R&D investment brings to the table. Most companies right now (or at least a majority, in any case) expect instant-gratification on every damn investment, forcing every R&D department to constantly justify its existence through operational and productive changes, which almost always involve cutting costs somewhere.. and that's just not the way the fucking world works. If you want to rake in revenue, you're going to have to invest in R&D, and people may eventually figure that out.. hopefully.
Bizarre IBM age keyboard layouts are finally becoming a thing of the past, UIs are becoming more task focused and the need for abstraction whilst using a 'Post-PC Device' is demising quickly. Even the mouse and the file-system is quickly fading into a specialist tool.
Hey, now, some of us like our "bizarre IBM-age" keyboards. If you've never used an IBM Model M, you don't know what you're missing.
And if you order now, you'll receive not one, but TWO, free bath robes, and a children's bible for junior. Call now, because this offer won't last long.
Yeah, I was wondering about that. Kind of hard to imagine a helium balloon going any farther than that.
Let's face it: besides a propulsion technology revolution, or some spacelift or loop, rockets are going to be required at some stage to get "near" space.
Of course, being downgraded by the ratings agency that famously whiffed on highly questionable real estate bonds might be considered a badge of honor in some circles.
That agency. Too bad they've got the entire financial industry by the balls, or their words might carry less weight.
Slashdot Mirror
Lack of evidence does not necessarily imply lack of connection.
It's been a long day, and I probably should have spent more time in the preview dialogue.
I used to work for Best Buy Geek Squad (about 3 years ago, and for almost 5 years before that), starting when I was a sophomore in high school. And, I do hear this a lot, but not every "kid" that worked for a big box electronic store was terrible at their job. Geek Squad, yes, I know, I know. But that was a different time for me, so don't hate on it too much.
Anyway, I can personally tell you that we saw at least 1 DOA laptop for every 20 we sold (a certain brand or two I won't name that sold for cheap accounted for most of them). That being said, customers, especially the grumpy I'm-entitled-to-everything suburban kind, do not like getting home, opening their new laptop, and seeing either a blue screen or nothing at all. It pissed off the customer, and then usually the store ends up losing more money because of people who demand to be compensated for the time they spent bring the computer back to the store. Remember, computers don't have a high profit margin, so giving away anything more than 5-10% on a computer which usually end up in a loss for the store. You may have your qualms with this practice, but it keeps their average customer satisfaction up.
Now, in addition to that, I would also like to point out that when I was working for Geek Squad, we weren't installing trial versions of anything on there. In fact, back in the day, we used to do a free performance upgrade (registry fixes, bloatware startup-item removal, etc). I'm not sure why this particular part of the process has changed, but I'm sure there's a marketing reason for it.
Besides, the only people this would really irk is the extreme power user crowd (us), and most of us are wise enough (hopefully) to buy our electronics elsewhere, anyway.
Apparently, carbon footprint calculations are a selective thing to them.
Checkmade
Indeed. I think he's got us.
The spectators are actually allowed to clap.
Golf?
"Prefire! Prefire! Hacker!"
"Dude, you're on TV. I'm watching your perspective right now on Channel 342"
How exactly do you define "nothing to show for it," exactly? How about, for starters, just being able to do it? In order to get from point A to point B, there are going to be hiccups, but you're going to learn from them. The shuttle was a hiccup, in the sense that there may have been a cheaper way to do it, but with all the requirements the shuttle had, it's kind of hard to keep costs down.
When I first read the summary, I was surprised they even dignified the UK government with a response, much less an actual representative.
But then, I thought to myself, if they didn't, the government would have likely used that alone as an excuse. It really does seem the UK is fucked, either way.
Personally, though, I blame my government for the UK's attitude here. The United States government has pretty much shown the world that a powerful governmental body can get away with anything to a certain degree, unless the people do something about it. Hell, I doubt anything but a freaking revolution, either civil or congressional, could change government views of the effect of internet communication platforms on keeping the peace.
They may be able to force domain owners to take down content that is in violation of trademarks/copyrights owned by Atari, but I'll be damned if they can take a domain name from its owner.
And the winner is...
The augmented sensitivity of hearing doesn't immediately happen when you go blind, it's something that improves over time, as an individual's senses are forced to compensate. I can see this being very useful for somebody who just lost their sight, or a blind individual who doesn't feel like attending a class.
It's another option on the table, and that's exactly what I believe it was intended to be.
And it should've, damnit.
Keep reading for more information, build notes, parts list, schematics, and code. ...
Important Note #2: The circuit and software is released under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA license, which I think of as a "Don't be a jerk" license. In short: Make it, learn from it, teach it, improve it, modify it. Just share what you do, give credit, and don't sell any without contacting me first.
PARTS LIST?!? CIRCUIT INFO?!? WOOOT! Now this looks like a damn fun toy.
Really? If that's the case, well, wow.. that's nuts.
45,000 employees going on strike.. for two weeks..
I don't feel like doing any math right now, but Verizon lost a bunch of money here, so it's not exactly surprising that this didn't stretch out any longer.
Personally, I was expecting it to be over much sooner, but Verizon was stubborn.
Those modern corporations may end up burying themselves alive, and they probably won't see it until they're gasping for air.
And, those developers that never refactor, should be shot. I totally agree with you on almost all points, and especially so on Technical Debt.
The problem with R&D is that many company executives that make these investment decisions typically have trouble seeing the chain of innovation that heavy R&D investment brings to the table. Most companies right now (or at least a majority, in any case) expect instant-gratification on every damn investment, forcing every R&D department to constantly justify its existence through operational and productive changes, which almost always involve cutting costs somewhere.. and that's just not the way the fucking world works. If you want to rake in revenue, you're going to have to invest in R&D, and people may eventually figure that out.. hopefully.
Bizarre IBM age keyboard layouts are finally becoming a thing of the past, UIs are becoming more task focused and the need for abstraction whilst using a 'Post-PC Device' is demising quickly. Even the mouse and the file-system is quickly fading into a specialist tool.
Hey, now, some of us like our "bizarre IBM-age" keyboards. If you've never used an IBM Model M, you don't know what you're missing.
And if you order now, you'll receive not one, but TWO, free bath robes, and a children's bible for junior. Call now, because this offer won't last long.
Yeah, I was wondering about that. Kind of hard to imagine a helium balloon going any farther than that.
Let's face it: besides a propulsion technology revolution, or some spacelift or loop, rockets are going to be required at some stage to get "near" space.
Cum shot residue?
Of course, being downgraded by the ratings agency that famously whiffed on highly questionable real estate bonds might be considered a badge of honor in some circles.
That agency. Too bad they've got the entire financial industry by the balls, or their words might carry less weight.
It's nice to see police working within the rules for once instead of bending them until they break.
Not entirely true:
http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=3067