so there you were, thinking yourself really tough, making fun of some poor sod in an out-source callcenter who never quite got the training from the not-to-be-named company to really do the job well, who can do absolutely nothing but follow a couple of silly script lines and who gets paid shit to swallow yours? bravo!
Bravo yourself! Not in the sarcastic context either. I am so glad that someone brought this up. Call centers are crap. Tech support is hard work, espicially over the phone, and espicially considering these are entry level tech jobs. How many people have worked a Tier 1 phone support job and had a fair-good understanding of correct T-shooting techniques of computers.
Now, I am a unix admin. At one time not too many years ago, I was that asshole on Tier-1 support that knew enough about customer service to keep you from hating the company, but not nearly enough about your computer to keep you hating me. Please people, these are just people that need to keep a job, just like anyone else. Yes, you know more than them, big fucking deal. There are plenty of people out there that know more than you. That and there are plenty of people that could turn your body into pulpy mass, but hopefully they don't. There are laws against physically abusing someone, but none to protect from mental abuse. This job is hard enough, let them and thier shoddy training be, ask to be esecalated, chances are you can and will be.
Put an old red-hat system up and see how long it takes before you're r00t3d!
BAH! To this I say use an old slackware CD. Yes, you are still vulernable, but too much more unique and directed attacks.
If you are using a common distro, XP, Redhat, Suse, of course an outdated version will leave you open. If you want to prove your security take a leap in relative obscurity of a less than common distro. There are plenty out there.
That is where the line is draw in my opinion. Windows you have one Flavor, Microsoft, Unix/Linux, you have many, many flavors to choose from. You can install a lesser used one, grab all your patches in relative saftey.
That and slack is far better distro in my opinion as well. Use slack and never look back.
At work here, the previous admin installed a number of machines with EXT3 FS on the drives. These machines (RH 8.0 - EL3) crash sporadically often giving indications the FS was at fault.
While I personally believe Redhat is known to push "unstable" releases, I was suprized that from 8.0 - EL3 the EXT3 fs was still crashing and Redhat was still offering this as default on an install.
Anyone else had better expierences with EXT3? I am curious if anyone has more information on why this FS seems so damn unstable.
For test purposes we run "out of the box" installs, so there should be no kernel tweaking or any other "anamolous" things going on with the install's or the boxes.
Does that mean that you outlaw knifes because they not only cut meat, but they can kill?
Yes and no, knives are certianly legal in most places. However, walk down the street brandishing a very large hunting knife and see if you get stopped by the police.
In essence, its like making illegal copies of any other media, technically its illegal. The chances of ever getting busted making a copy of a friends CD are pretty slim, the chances of getting busted selling that CD on ebay is very different. It really depends on what your motives in the possesion of the item.
Not to say I agree with this decision. Just saying lets all take a breath, realize that as average citizens we have no rights and continue being flogged by the tolaterian overlords.
Not one person mentioned 'find'. The end all be all tool, you can do so much with find. I am little sad about this, perhaps this webmin thing has made you all weak.;)
That is definably KIY (Kill It Yourself). A white doo-hickey? Alright, I am not going to say that I have never done stupid, irrational and down right non-sensical things while working on hardware, however if I knock something off the mobo, "a doo-hickey" if you will, I will not be suprised when it doesn't boot.
Wow, next time perhaps this guy should just pay someone to do his work for him. That or practice on old 286/386's till you know better what you are doing. Expensive lesson, I hope he learned from it.
I have been reading the dead tree version of this magazine for years on and off. I find that they really have good articles and good reviews. So with the fan-boy base of/.ers I can not believe that not one of you read the Linux Journal, hmmm.
No one is ever going to believe this, but! Many moons ago, before I could afford a computer. I did read Playboy for the articles. Honestly I don't get into that air-brushed, too much make-up, plastic girl crap. However the articles were the best source of news I could find on a regular basis. Then I finally stepped up to the real world, got a computer and a connection, I never looked back, but when you have the choice of TV/Newspapers or playboy, playboy servers as a better information source hands down.
These are different problem domains, but separating out the one from the other and re-solving the problem correctly is never easy.
Bringing up the one question I have always pondered. What about a modular word processor. Would that be just too hard?
Even OOo could speed things up significantly (assuming of course), if it didn't have to pack EVERYTHING into one program. If you want your word processor to generate Christmas lists for every orphnage in town, whilst doing your laundry and making your coffee, than you can be patient while it loads. To me however, something like Abiword is all I really ever need.
So how far off am I in asking for this? Even at compile/install time you can choose the features that you need, I know word does this to some degree, but really, more modular, less monolithic.
Christ, you people. You are exactly the reason why working in a call center is so soul deadening and why people with perfectly reasonable requests get crappy service. If you think that the only reason to call a support line is BECAUSE YOUR SERVICE IS NOT PROVIDING WHAT YOUR CLIENT PAID FOR then you are a moron.
Thank you for this post, you saved me the effort. Very well said.
You don't get things for nothing people... you're starting to see that maybe MS isn't quite as stupid and incompetant as you've always believed... that maybe it's not quite as bloated as you first believed... Hell, you've had the open source community slugging away at this for... how many years now? and they haven't really done any better... so give them a break and rather than trying to convince everyone that Windows really is shit, create something that comparable.
yes and no, when my GUI crashes, it *generally* does not take the WHOLE system down with it. More than that when my browser crashes or freezes I can not think of a single time its brought my linux box down. In windows its almost always been this issue, IE froze due to bad code site/browswer and my whole system needs to be rebooted.
I don't think the problem is bloat, I think the real problem in the monolithic style which windows is designed. Granted the linux kernel is monolithic in style, but the kernel does not try to encompass every program you run.
I've looked at several of the smaller window managers, and they seem way too spartan. They're barely better than a straight Xserver. Can't you get wallpaper, desktop icons, a Start menu, and taskbar without the thing sucking resources like a sponge? That right click program menu is a waste of time because you have to minimize the apps you're running to right click for that menu.
I have been using fluxbox/blackbox for years on slackware. I am not a hardware geek by any means of the word and hence forth am usually about 4 years behind the "standard" cpu speed. I have never had any issues with either of these desktops. If you have a scroll mouse you can scroll between desktops, hence the minimizing issue is irrelevant. There is a task bar, not a start bar per say. The right click menu and the middle click menu are wonderful.
Desktop images are no issue, the menu is fully customizable by text. Perhaps I would fall into the category of a CLI snob, but really, I think that you perhaps did not give the variety of desktops at hand a fair shake.
Yes there is a slight learning curve, as with any new piece of software, espicially one as emcompassing as a desktop GUI. However, I load my my xwindows session, I have aterm, xmms and whatever else I want, already loaded, right there in no time flat.
I do not think it is the case here...at least for Sprint PCS. Sprint surely has domestic support, but it is run by a lazy bunch of people that would rather mumble than speak articulately, rather make up answers than find out the truth, and generally don't give a shit since they are in a dead-end job. Sorry to be harsh, but its just my 2 cents.
Have you ever worked a customer service job? In particular one that supports people over the phone??? I have done tech support, telemarketing, and support for a cell phone company. Telemarketing was terrible, tech support was frustrating, but cell phone support was a living, breathing hell. Consider first off the way the company is treating the employees, like utter and complete crap. The employees are worked mercilessly, the pay is shit and the benefits are null. Almost any call center is a haven for drugs and sex, you end up with an enviroment close to high school. Strangely enough, in thier own twisted way the employers actually support this kind of behavior. Until you have sat down, answered a call of a screaming customer, getting paid next to nothing and having to drown out shouting, ill comments and what have you from other employees.
I am not saying that you are altogether wrong, I am just saying consider the enviroment these people are made to work with. I once lived by the motto, "if you don't like your job quit". After the past two years of rampant unemployment, my attitude has changed. If you need a job, a place to live and food, a call center is the meal ticket. With that, comes the enviroment described above.
Before you yell at the person on the other line, consider these facts. Training is a joke, supervisors will do little or nothing unless they ABSOULTELY have too!
Please, yes your bill maybe wrong, you may not be getting the service you expect, what have you. However, the people on the other line are people, they are not the cause of the issue, they are fodder. Simply fodder to keep you from dealing with the people that are responsible for the real issue. Be nice to them, your chances of a solid resolution are much higher. That and finding a company that treats thier employees well, could very well end up with much better support.
This annoyed the hell out of me too, until I realized that ctrl-L will highlight the current url *without* overwriting your other highlighted text. Then hit delete or backspace to clear the url bar, and middle-click to paste in the new url.
At least, Mozilla on FreeBSD in X with WindowMaker does this. I can't claim it works on any other combo, which in itself is a discussion for another day
Just for sake of flogging dead horses and stating the obvious, yes this works on Linux too. (Config:slack,X,mozilla,fluxbox)
Slashdot Mirror
so there you were, thinking yourself really tough, making fun of some poor sod in an out-source callcenter who never quite got the training from the not-to-be-named company to really do the job well, who can do absolutely nothing but follow a couple of silly script lines and who gets paid shit to swallow yours? bravo!
Bravo yourself! Not in the sarcastic context either. I am so glad that someone brought this up. Call centers are crap. Tech support is hard work, espicially over the phone, and espicially considering these are entry level tech jobs. How many people have worked a Tier 1 phone support job and had a fair-good understanding of correct T-shooting techniques of computers.
Now, I am a unix admin. At one time not too many years ago, I was that asshole on Tier-1 support that knew enough about customer service to keep you from hating the company, but not nearly enough about your computer to keep you hating me. Please people, these are just people that need to keep a job, just like anyone else. Yes, you know more than them, big fucking deal. There are plenty of people out there that know more than you. That and there are plenty of people that could turn your body into pulpy mass, but hopefully they don't. There are laws against physically abusing someone, but none to protect from mental abuse. This job is hard enough, let them and thier shoddy training be, ask to be esecalated, chances are you can and will be.
just my $.02
Why should they know where Canada is? All tucked away down there like that....
By the who ever moded the parent.
/. disease is spreading....
The
From the article
haven't finished reading the memorandum myself
Laugh, its supposed to be funny. Jerk.
The last line was directed at you. Mod me a troll me now dumbass. This time at least I have it coming.
The /. disease is spreading....
From the article
haven't finished reading the memorandum myself
Laugh, its supposed to be funny. Jerk.
Put an old red-hat system up and see how long it takes before you're r00t3d!
BAH! To this I say use an old slackware CD. Yes, you are still vulernable, but too much more unique and directed attacks.
If you are using a common distro, XP, Redhat, Suse, of course an outdated version will leave you open. If you want to prove your security take a leap in relative obscurity of a less than common distro. There are plenty out there.
That is where the line is draw in my opinion. Windows you have one Flavor, Microsoft, Unix/Linux, you have many, many flavors to choose from. You can install a lesser used one, grab all your patches in relative saftey.
That and slack is far better distro in my opinion as well. Use slack and never look back.
At work here, the previous admin installed a number of machines with EXT3 FS on the drives. These machines (RH 8.0 - EL3) crash sporadically often giving indications the FS was at fault.
While I personally believe Redhat is known to push "unstable" releases, I was suprized that from 8.0 - EL3 the EXT3 fs was still crashing and Redhat was still offering this as default on an install.
Anyone else had better expierences with EXT3? I am curious if anyone has more information on why this FS seems so damn unstable.
For test purposes we run "out of the box" installs, so there should be no kernel tweaking or any other "anamolous" things going on with the install's or the boxes.
The pringles can antennas work really well.
I have heard that these emit a very strong amount of radiation. Is there any truth to this? Anyone have any idea?
I give up. I'm heading over to my Preferences page to filter out whatever category patent stories end up in.
Incredible. The voice of logic final finds its way on to slashdot. Best grab your umbrella's for that rain of frogs soon to follow.
Does that mean that you outlaw knifes because they not only cut meat, but they can kill?
Yes and no, knives are certianly legal in most places. However, walk down the street brandishing a very large hunting knife and see if you get stopped by the police.
In essence, its like making illegal copies of any other media, technically its illegal. The chances of ever getting busted making a copy of a friends CD are pretty slim, the chances of getting busted selling that CD on ebay is very different. It really depends on what your motives in the possesion of the item.
Not to say I agree with this decision. Just saying lets all take a breath, realize that as average citizens we have no rights and continue being flogged by the tolaterian overlords.
sigh.
I saw this on ST:TNG, the dopamine effect on the mind. Very scary. I want no part of it. ;)
Not one person mentioned 'find'. The end all be all tool, you can do so much with find. I am little sad about this, perhaps this webmin thing has made you all weak. ;)
That is definably KIY (Kill It Yourself). A white doo-hickey? Alright, I am not going to say that I have never done stupid, irrational and down right non-sensical things while working on hardware, however if I knock something off the mobo, "a doo-hickey" if you will, I will not be suprised when it doesn't boot.
Wow, next time perhaps this guy should just pay someone to do his work for him. That or practice on old 286/386's till you know better what you are doing. Expensive lesson, I hope he learned from it.
Patience is indeed a virtue!
I have been reading the dead tree version of this magazine for years on and off. I find that they really have good articles and good reviews. So with the fan-boy base of /.ers I can not believe that not one of you read the Linux Journal, hmmm.
No one is ever going to believe this, but! Many moons ago, before I could afford a computer. I did read Playboy for the articles. Honestly I don't get into that air-brushed, too much make-up, plastic girl crap. However the articles were the best source of news I could find on a regular basis. Then I finally stepped up to the real world, got a computer and a connection, I never looked back, but when you have the choice of TV/Newspapers or playboy, playboy servers as a better information source hands down.
These are different problem domains, but separating out the one from the other and re-solving the problem correctly is never easy.
Bringing up the one question I have always pondered. What about a modular word processor. Would that be just too hard?
Even OOo could speed things up significantly (assuming of course), if it didn't have to pack EVERYTHING into one program. If you want your word processor to generate Christmas lists for every orphnage in town, whilst doing your laundry and making your coffee, than you can be patient while it loads. To me however, something like Abiword is all I really ever need.
So how far off am I in asking for this? Even at compile/install time you can choose the features that you need, I know word does this to some degree, but really, more modular, less monolithic.
Christ, you people. You are exactly the reason why working in a call center is so soul deadening and why people with perfectly reasonable requests get crappy service. If you think that the only reason to call a support line is BECAUSE YOUR SERVICE IS NOT PROVIDING WHAT YOUR CLIENT PAID FOR then you are a moron.
Thank you for this post, you saved me the effort. Very well said.
You don't get things for nothing people... you're starting to see that maybe MS isn't quite as stupid and incompetant as you've always believed... that maybe it's not quite as bloated as you first believed... Hell, you've had the open source community slugging away at this for... how many years now? and they haven't really done any better... so give them a break and rather than trying to convince everyone that Windows really is shit, create something that comparable.
yes and no, when my GUI crashes, it *generally* does not take the WHOLE system down with it. More than that when my browser crashes or freezes I can not think of a single time its brought my linux box down. In windows its almost always been this issue, IE froze due to bad code site/browswer and my whole system needs to be rebooted.
I don't think the problem is bloat, I think the real problem in the monolithic style which windows is designed. Granted the linux kernel is monolithic in style, but the kernel does not try to encompass every program you run.
I've looked at several of the smaller window managers, and they seem way too spartan. They're barely better than a straight Xserver. Can't you get wallpaper, desktop icons, a Start menu, and taskbar without the thing sucking resources like a sponge? That right click program menu is a waste of time because you have to minimize the apps you're running to right click for that menu.
I have been using fluxbox/blackbox for years on slackware. I am not a hardware geek by any means of the word and hence forth am usually about 4 years behind the "standard" cpu speed. I have never had any issues with either of these desktops. If you have a scroll mouse you can scroll between desktops, hence the minimizing issue is irrelevant. There is a task bar, not a start bar per say. The right click menu and the middle click menu are wonderful.
Desktop images are no issue, the menu is fully customizable by text. Perhaps I would fall into the category of a CLI snob, but really, I think that you perhaps did not give the variety of desktops at hand a fair shake.
Yes there is a slight learning curve, as with any new piece of software, espicially one as emcompassing as a desktop GUI. However, I load my my xwindows session, I have aterm, xmms and whatever else I want, already loaded, right there in no time flat.
I do not think it is the case here...at least for Sprint PCS. Sprint surely has domestic support, but it is run by a lazy bunch of people that would rather mumble than speak articulately, rather make up answers than find out the truth, and generally don't give a shit since they are in a dead-end job. Sorry to be harsh, but its just my 2 cents.
Have you ever worked a customer service job? In particular one that supports people over the phone??? I have done tech support, telemarketing, and support for a cell phone company. Telemarketing was terrible, tech support was frustrating, but cell phone support was a living, breathing hell. Consider first off the way the company is treating the employees, like utter and complete crap. The employees are worked mercilessly, the pay is shit and the benefits are null. Almost any call center is a haven for drugs and sex, you end up with an enviroment close to high school. Strangely enough, in thier own twisted way the employers actually support this kind of behavior. Until you have sat down, answered a call of a screaming customer, getting paid next to nothing and having to drown out shouting, ill comments and what have you from other employees.
I am not saying that you are altogether wrong, I am just saying consider the enviroment these people are made to work with. I once lived by the motto, "if you don't like your job quit". After the past two years of rampant unemployment, my attitude has changed. If you need a job, a place to live and food, a call center is the meal ticket. With that, comes the enviroment described above.
Before you yell at the person on the other line, consider these facts. Training is a joke, supervisors will do little or nothing unless they ABSOULTELY have too!
Please, yes your bill maybe wrong, you may not be getting the service you expect, what have you. However, the people on the other line are people, they are not the cause of the issue, they are fodder. Simply fodder to keep you from dealing with the people that are responsible for the real issue. Be nice to them, your chances of a solid resolution are much higher. That and finding a company that treats thier employees well, could very well end up with much better support.
"I-Need-Some-Capability-But-I-Would-Have-To-Pay-Ex tra-For-It"
Yeah, like ANYONE pays for windows software. haha.
JJ Ramsey == Bill Gates. Duuummm. Duumm. Dum.
Naw, libertarians are republicans who smoke pot.
AND eat children, we also eat small children. I wanted to make sure that was noted.
This annoyed the hell out of me too, until I realized that ctrl-L will highlight the current url *without* overwriting your other highlighted text. Then hit delete or backspace to clear the url bar, and middle-click to paste in the new url.
At least, Mozilla on FreeBSD in X with WindowMaker does this. I can't claim it works on any other combo, which in itself is a discussion for another day
Just for sake of flogging dead horses and stating the obvious, yes this works on Linux too. (Config:slack,X,mozilla,fluxbox)
The Onion already did it, years ago. (Sorry I couldn't find the actual onion link. Same article though.)
it seems to me that redhat has a bad habit of releasing early, at least in my limited expierence over the years.