A note on just what a pain this unwanted software upgrade is...
At our house, we do subscribe to Tivo service. When the 2.0 upgrade happened (automatically), the Tivo stopped responding to remote control commands from anything - the tivo remote, our programmed remote, etc. Unfortunately, since Tivo's got no buttons on the console, this generally renders it useless. Power cycling proved fruitless.
Eventually we sent it back to Sony, and the problem was attributed to "hard drive failure". This seemed both odd and unlikely, as the unit had continued to go about its recording business.
When we received the unit back with the new hard drive (old software), we checked it out - everything seemed to function. Plugged it back in, the software auto-updated, and guess what ? Stopped responding again. Thanks, guys.
My Tivo is still sick !
Maybe part of the reason this surveillance is so wildly popular is that parents think it may help prevent further school shooting-type situations, as they figure an added degree of control would catch potential 'snappers'. But, really, doesn't it just feed the paranoia that can lead to such an occurrence? Kid X, who feels like he's being watched and ostracized all the time, gets home from school and is greeted by his dad - "You had French Fries and 4 bottles of Pepsi for Lunch at 12:37:22 PM Today ! WHAT DID I TELL YOU ??"
Somehow I don't think that will help.
Thought I'd share with the community a harrowing tale of Comcast @Home's tech support. I'll try to be brief, like my internet connection.
I've probably made upwards of 40 calls over the past 6 months - it's not that I have any faith in them solving a problem, I just needed to know if there was a service outage in my area. Recent calls go something like this:
Me: Can you check if there's a service outage in my area ?
Tech: Yes||No
Phone: <click>
Calls to tech support are invariably useless other than to find out which states are out of service today. Upon one of my calls I was greeted by an automated message that went something like this:
Comcast @home customers in Delaware, Maryland, Virgina, West Virgina, Pennsylvania, Washington DC, Maine, Rhode Island, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Massachussetts, Vermont, Ohio, Nebraska, New Jersey, and New Hampshire may be experiencing slow to no connection.
Gee, why not just list the few states that DO have service ?
The initial problem I had was eventually narrowed down to the local area wiring being faulty, although tech support insisted (and still does every time I call to bitch) that it's my computer name which causes an intermittent connection. Yes, the netbios name, which although the same for 8 months is apparently the root of all internet connectivity problems. Some of my more memorable quotes from @H Tech support...
It's like a cd, or a cassette tape. After a while the parts just get worn out.
-- Some chick, on why my connection is intermittent
I would suggest manually rebuilding your Tee-Cee-Pee-eye-Pee(said very slowly) stack.
I thought it was kinda funny when I posted it, maybe not side-splitting... but geez, cut me a break - Bad Comments are flamebait. Bad comments have nothing to do with the article they are attached to. They call someone names.
They ridicule someone for having a different opinion without backing it up with anything more tangible than strong words... etc. That's from the moderator faq. I don't think my post qualifies...
If you have multiple Tivos in your household, you can configure them to resolve conflicts with each other. This enables you to record twice as many shows, including two shows which happen to be on at the same time. Why not have a network of Tivos connected by broadband, or whatever ? Every tv show of the past month, year indexed by a central server, in much the same way Napster indexes music. No more missing those episodes of Iron Chef because Futurama is on.
I recently graduated from a fairly large University in the Philadelphia area, and can honestly say that the entire IT department exemplified the "just for a living" approach to their jobs. They were there to collect their miniscule salaries, and it reflected in the quality of campus technology; we clocked our average internet speed during the day at.128 kbps... The computer labs opened and closed on whims, much to the chagrin of students without connections in their dorms. The network server would crash regularly (BDC ? Didn't have one. When I asked why not, I got a big shoulder shrug.)
From what I understand, the situation has only gotten worse.
When there's no pride in your job, no desire to excel, it becomes very apparent in your productivity. It's too bad these individuals' lack of pride affects so many students.
Just to let you guys know...
I've patented the term "select *", the . in Perl, interference minors in hockey, and the phrase "upside your head". Please make a note of it.
Actually, don't... because I've patented that too.
Slashdot Mirror
The Pennsylvania State speed limit is still 55 Mph. Are we cool or what ?
Ya know, come to think of it, there are some hotties in marketing. mmmmmmmmmmmmmBA.
A note on just what a pain this unwanted software upgrade is...
At our house, we do subscribe to Tivo service. When the 2.0 upgrade happened (automatically), the Tivo stopped responding to remote control commands from anything - the tivo remote, our programmed remote, etc. Unfortunately, since Tivo's got no buttons on the console, this generally renders it useless. Power cycling proved fruitless.
Eventually we sent it back to Sony, and the problem was attributed to "hard drive failure". This seemed both odd and unlikely, as the unit had continued to go about its recording business.
When we received the unit back with the new hard drive (old software), we checked it out - everything seemed to function. Plugged it back in, the software auto-updated, and guess what ? Stopped responding again. Thanks, guys.
My Tivo is still sick !
Maybe part of the reason this surveillance is so wildly popular is that parents think it may help prevent further school shooting-type situations, as they figure an added degree of control would catch potential 'snappers'. But, really, doesn't it just feed the paranoia that can lead to such an occurrence? Kid X, who feels like he's being watched and ostracized all the time, gets home from school and is greeted by his dad - "You had French Fries and 4 bottles of Pepsi for Lunch at 12:37:22 PM Today ! WHAT DID I TELL YOU ??" Somehow I don't think that will help.
More important than Jennicam !? What kind of crazy, 13-year old jail threatening talk is that ?!
Thought I'd share with the community a harrowing tale of Comcast @Home's tech support. I'll try to be brief, like my internet connection. :
:
I've probably made upwards of 40 calls over the past 6 months - it's not that I have any faith in them solving a problem, I just needed to know if there was a service outage in my area. Recent calls go something like this
Me: Can you check if there's a service outage in my area ?
Tech: Yes||No
Phone: <click>
Calls to tech support are invariably useless other than to find out which states are out of service today. Upon one of my calls I was greeted by an automated message that went something like this
Comcast @home customers in Delaware, Maryland, Virgina, West Virgina, Pennsylvania, Washington DC, Maine, Rhode Island, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Massachussetts, Vermont, Ohio, Nebraska, New Jersey, and New Hampshire may be experiencing slow to no connection.
Gee, why not just list the few states that DO have service ?
The initial problem I had was eventually narrowed down to the local area wiring being faulty, although tech support insisted (and still does every time I call to bitch) that it's my computer name which causes an intermittent connection. Yes, the netbios name, which although the same for 8 months is apparently the root of all internet connectivity problems. Some of my more memorable quotes from @H Tech support...
It's like a cd, or a cassette tape. After a while the parts just get worn out.
-- Some chick, on why my connection is intermittent
I would suggest manually rebuilding your Tee-Cee-Pee-eye-Pee(said very slowly) stack.
Ehhhh... Lemme get my hammer.
I thought it was kinda funny when I posted it, maybe not side-splitting... but geez, cut me a break - Bad Comments are flamebait. Bad comments have nothing to do with the article they are attached to. They call someone names. They ridicule someone for having a different opinion without backing it up with anything more tangible than strong words... etc. That's from the moderator faq. I don't think my post qualifies...
Now all you need is to strap Taco's Borg Box onto the helmet, and presto, instant self-entertainment system. Might be a little heavy...
If you have multiple Tivos in your household, you can configure them to resolve conflicts with each other. This enables you to record twice as many shows, including two shows which happen to be on at the same time. Why not have a network of Tivos connected by broadband, or whatever ? Every tv show of the past month, year indexed by a central server, in much the same way Napster indexes music. No more missing those episodes of Iron Chef because Futurama is on.
I recently graduated from a fairly large University in the Philadelphia area, and can honestly say that the entire IT department exemplified the "just for a living" approach to their jobs. They were there to collect their miniscule salaries, and it reflected in the quality of campus technology; we clocked our average internet speed during the day at .128 kbps... The computer labs opened and closed on whims, much to the chagrin of students without connections in their dorms. The network server would crash regularly (BDC ? Didn't have one. When I asked why not, I got a big shoulder shrug.)
From what I understand, the situation has only gotten worse.
When there's no pride in your job, no desire to excel, it becomes very apparent in your productivity. It's too bad these individuals' lack of pride affects so many students.
Just to let you guys know... I've patented the term "select *", the . in Perl, interference minors in hockey, and the phrase "upside your head". Please make a note of it. Actually, don't... because I've patented that too.