Actually, very few readers will prevent you from using non-DRM text. Buy what you want, strip the DRM, and you're set. Or buy what you want and pirate a copy that's had the DRM stripped. My reader can handle PDF, TXT, RTF, ePUB, and BBeB natively and the only titles I have that are still "protected" by DRM are the freebies that cost me nothing and weren't worth spending the few minutes to unlock.
That's part of the stupidity of DRM. All it takes is one kid anywhere on the planet to figure out how to overcome a particular implementation and that entire implementation becomes utterly worthless.
And, if a title is popular, even refusing to publish in any electronic format is pointless as fans will quickly produce their own versions. Look at the Harry Potter series. Did any book after the first volume make it to release date without having an electronic version leaked first? (Even if it was just unprocessed scans of the book's pages.) Some of the best ebook layouts I've seen were done by fans who wanted electronic copies of books that are not available in ebook form.
This horse is pretty dead but I'll give it a couple more kicks. Outside of new releases, ebooks should be priced the same as paperbacks minus the costs of production and distribution associated with physical paper. Once a new title moves from hardcover to paperback, drop the "new release" premium on the ebook version.
Honestly, does any avid reader think twice about spending a couple hundred bucks on a quality bookshelf? Okay, I cheaped out on my most recent bookshelf because I had to fit a weird-size space but I do have a couple Kindle's worth of money invested in bookshelves.
As in the value of a quality product. When your Tivo is set up, it Just Fucking Works. There's a lot of value in that. I've had a Tivo since the first generation with lifetime service that cost me around $250. I tried the cable company's box for a while before buying a new Tivo. $800 for the Tivo and a transfer of my lifetime service agreement or $15/month for the rental. You'd think the rental unit would be a no-brainer. But it's not. The cable company's box sucked ass. It regularly lost all guide data so I'd turn on the TV to find out that it hadn't recorded anything in days. It could hold a whopping 12 hours of HD content so 2 football games and a movie would max it out. And it stuttered if I tried to record 2 HD programs while playing back another program.
So, yeah, I could get a rental from the cable company for $15/month but I'd do just as well to toss $15 in the trash every month for all of the value I got out of the deal.
I decided to update my Tivo solution at significant expense ($600 for the Tivo, $200 for the lifetime service transfer, $400 for a 1tb drive) and don't regret it for a second. Because it Just Fucking Worked. And still does, over 3 years later. Heck, it works even better with the second 1tb drive added. The fact that it would take 8 years to "break even" is irrelevant because it wouldn't be "even". Comparing the cable company's DVR to an HD Tivo is like comparing a bicycle to a BMW.
First of all, I find it hard to believe that it isn't already illegal to surreptitiously install software on someone's computer. And even more illegal to install software that steals data.
Second, if that's not already illegal, why are they making a law that only targets one specific type of software?
Either the entire plan is utterly ignorant or this is a "foot in the door" to outlaw P2P. Either way, I think our government has more important issues to deal with right now.
I still have the "utils" directory from my '286 even though the programs have been obsolete for a 'coon's age. (A 'coon in captivity, that is.) Every company I've worked at has had a "data refresh" plan of some sort where we move old archived data to new media. And only one of those companies ever mined that data for a useful purpose. The rest kept it "just in case".
I have a feeling the problem isn't going to be that we retain very little important information but that, of the vast mountain of crap we retain, a shocking small percentage will have any real value. 2 tons of chaff for every grain of wheat.
This may come as a shock to you but not all public school systems are funded equally. The higher the property values, the greater the amount of tax money. Some people try to sneak their kids into these over-funded districts by claiming that they live in the district. So while the povs go to overcrowded, nearly asbestos-free schools with leaky pipes, kids in rich districts get free MacBooks.
As with most things in life, the Simpsons did it. My Tivo even picked up that episode recently.
Bingo. Carriers go to great lengths to make it a pain in the ass to tether phones and only grudgingly allow it in limited cases for extra money as long as you use their proprietary "dialer". They want the process to be annoying enough that people only do it when they have absolutely no other choice. There are plenty of smartphones with built-in WiFi but I can't think of a single branded phone (in the US) that has the necessary software installed. If carriers wanted to facilitate this type of thing, they'd already be doing it. Instead, we have to rely on third party software and, occasionally, "hacking" the device to restore functionality that's been removed.
Why would I buy a 'doze system without an OS license. Yes, the license is included in that price. Bluetooth dongles are $15-20 and not necessary. Nor is Wireless N. I much prefer to have desktops plugged into gigabit ethernet.
And, even if I gave you all of your points at your prices, that's $500+130+30+60=$720 for the fully equipped PC. (Remember, the OS is actually included in the price so I'm spotting you $130 that would not be spent.)
Let's round out the Mac with a monitor, keyboard, and mouse so everything's equal. 20" monitor = $130. Keyboard = $10. Mouse = $10. That's $700+130+10+10=$850. Still a very significant difference. And the actual gap would be $130 larger.
So 850-720+130 = $260 per unit. If I'm buying 20 units, that's a premium of over $5,000. That'll cover someone's salary and benefits for a month.
Don't be stupid. I was making a point about Apple's comparatively high pricing. Apple's $200 higher even without the necessary components to make a true comparison. If I add a generic $130 20" monitor, $10 keyboard, and $10 mouse, that makes the Apple price $850. (Don't forget I'm bumping the RAM up to 4 gigs for the comparison.) Are you more comfortable with that number?
I didn't think finishing off the comparison was really necessary as there's really no point in going beyond seeing "complete PC = $500" vs. "headless mac = $700". It doesn't matter how much more it will cost to round out the Mac package because the price differential is only going to get worse. If the Apple components were included in the price, it wouldn't make the total package any more attractive.
The second, I need to define better. Apple generally limits new hardware to the version of the OS that was in production when the machine was built. So I can't work out all of the kinks in 10.4.11 relevant to my environment and load up all new systems with an image of that same OS. The most recent PowerMacs I've bought won't run 10.4. I had 10.4 locked tight and all of our software runs great on it. 10.5 gives me font cache problems similar to the ones I'd already ironed out of our 10.4 systems long ago. To me, that's not an upgrade. I don't want bleeding-edge in production. I want stable and reliable.
OTOH, every PC I've bought since Vista came out has been able to run XP just fine. In fact, I just got some new systems last week pre-loaded with XP. (Win7 license with XP downgrade.) This means the environment my company's been grooming and tweaking for years can be applied to brand new installations and I don't have to deal with, "I've never seen THAT before."
And getting back to the cost, I can get a decent C2D windows machine with 4 gigs and a 20" flat panel, keyboard, and mouse for about $500. A mini with 4 gigs, no monitor, and no mouse starts at $700. Apple wants another $50 each for a mouse and keyboard. Each. Don't even ask what they want for monitors.
Those are the two main reasons Apple won't be making it beyond the Creative departments in my company. And I'm actually a bit annoyed that we're still purchasing Macs for those departments since they're running Adobe suites that are available on the PC. If one of my hats wasn't "the only mac tech in the company", I'd consider making strong arguments against the continued waste of money.:)
I just installed 3.2 over 3.0.0 on my windows machine with no problem at all (except it left an empty 3.0 folder in my programs menu). I don't know what you could be doing wrong but...
Critical updates are supposed to fix critical security and stability issues. WGA/OGA do nothing of the kind. In fact, the only noticeable effect they can have is to REDUCE functionality.
The people who intentionally pirate Windows won't care. They'll just dig up the latest workaround and roll their eyes. The people who thought they had a legitimate installation are going to be inconvenienced and will have to spend more money to buy something that, in their minds, they've already paid for. They're going to feel they got ripped off twice. Once by the person who sold them their computer and again by Microsoft. (Not saying the perception is right, just that it's the way a lot of people will feel.) Then there are the totally false hits that waste the time of people who have legitimate licenses which have been flagged due to the inadequate design of WGA/OGA.
Nothing about the Genuine Advantage program directly benefits the end user and Microsoft has no business implying that it is necessary to ensure the security or stability of their software. Especially when the most positive effect that can come from installing it is no change at all.
If she's a freelancer, she needs to have the basic tools of her trade. If I hire a gardener, I expect them to have a lawnmower, edger, clippers, rake, etc. If I hire a writer, I expect them to own a word processing program capable of saving documents in industry standard formats (.doc,.rtf,.txt). If I hire a web designer for a project, I expect them to have their own web design suite. Now this is all talking about freelancers who are hired as contractors for particular projects who also have other clients in the same industry. That's different than a company employee with no other employers who happens to work from home.
Oh, upgrade deactivation anecdotes! Last time I installed XP on my home system, I scrapped my old computer and built a brand new one. I installed XP, crossed my fingers and toes, and activated. It worked! I'd been worried that activating my old key on a totally new configuration would fail. So I shut down, installed the rest of my hard drives, and rebooted. Deactivated for making significant changes to my hardware configuration. Honestly, all I'd done between activating on the new configuration and getting cut off was add 3 hard drives.
So I did the call and talked to some guy in India for about 10 minutes arguing with him that I most certainly CAN transfer a standalone license to a new machine. He finally got tired of dealing with me and gave me a code. Since then, I've swapped out the CPU, changed video cards, added a second video card, and doubled the RAM all without any activation problems.
There was no reason to continue. Faking a reset would require an additional 10 minutes or so of faking waiting for the process to finish. Then he'd want me to take the battery out for 5 minutes. Then reactivate (prompting yet another restart). Probably another 20 minutes in addition to the 20 I'd been on the phone. And there's no guarantee that he'd open a ticket even if I jumped through the hoops. I'd already wasted too much time on the call.
I knew what the problem was before I called. My goal with the call was to see how Verizon was handling calls and let them know I was pissed. The bullshit the guy was peddling told me how they're handling the calls and his attitude told me any complaints I asked him to forward would never get past him. So I hung up and sent an email to customer service. If I don't get a response from that email, I'll dig up an Executive Carpetbomb list and compose a proper letter of complaint.
It's not that they've pissed of 4chan. They've pissed off ME. And I don't know what 4chan is beyond a reputation that it's supposedly more childish than fark and slashdot combined. All I know is Verizon's decided I'm not allowed to view a site that doesn't appear to be breaking any laws.
And if that wasn't bad enough, customer service is pushing it under the rug. I just spent 20 of the stupidest minutes on the phone with Verizon listening to some smarmy shit apologize that I mistakenly perceived that I was being blocked. This is clearly a device issue as he can access boards dot 4chan dot org on two devices with no trouble at all. But he wouldn't even consider opening a ticket until I'd gone through every troubleshooting step in the book. Including a HARD RESET. (For those who aren't familiar with the lingo, that's the one where you reset the device to factory fresh.) Only then would he have opened a ticket. And the whole time, he's insisting that Verizon isn't blocking the site, saying I shouldn't trust blogs. Nevermind the fact that Verizon has admitted that they're blocking traffic and plan to lift the block tonight. After playing along with his bullshit for 20 minutes, I just couldn't stay on the phone any longer without calling him a lying sack of shit so I hung up.
Which, of course, is exactly what Verizon wants. They didn't have to open a ticket documenting a problem. My call just got logged as an uncooperative customer who refused to complete the troubleshooting process.
The worst part is they could have had the same effect if they'd just said, "We apologize for the inconvenience. Some of 4chan's affiliates were staging network attacks and we chose to block traffic from that site until the problem was resolved. There have been no attacks coming from that network today so we're going to restore access this evening." That's it. A simple statement that tells the customer what is going on, doesn't require opening a ticket, and ends with a happy customer. Perhaps even grateful. Or at least one who isn't pissed off.
Oh, and the best part of the call came a couple minutes after I hung up. "FREE VZW MSG-DO NOT REPLY:Start > Settings > All Settings > System tab > Memory > Clear Storage tab Enter 1234, tap OK in upper right of screen Display: Confirm"
Yep, that text message popped up on my phone shortly after I hung up on the tech. WinMo folks should recognize the Hard Reset instructions. I don't suggest you follow those instructions as it will wipe your WinMo phone clean. No explanation or warning came with that message. I assume he sent it for the lolz, hoping I'd follow the instructions blindly.
BTW, if you call Verizon's Network Repair Bureau at (866) 298-5373 as advised by 4chan, they won't do anything for you unless you have a ticket which you must get by calling Customer Care at 800-922-0204. Of course, it'll take you a good half hour of bullshit (and hard-resetting your phone!) to get a ticket assigned. But I suggest every Verizon customer who gives a shit about censorship should call anyway and let them know how you feel about censorship.
Use offshore VPN for everything. Because what you're doing today may be frowned upon tomorrow. Or maybe you like reading extremist blogs for the lolz and you apply for a job that needs an FBI background check. Wow, this guy sure likes militias.
Reminds me of when my old ibook decided its battery was dead. Nevermind the fact that I still got nearly 4 hours of use from a charge. The PMU refused to charge the battery and that was that. And it happened the day before I left on a two week vacation. Since the laptop was 4 years old, no brick-n-mortar stores had batteries in stock.
Exactly! $10 is a ridiculously high price for regular books that sell for $6-7 in paperback form. $15 is just insulting. What kind of morons are running that industry?
Slashdot Mirror
Actually, very few readers will prevent you from using non-DRM text. Buy what you want, strip the DRM, and you're set. Or buy what you want and pirate a copy that's had the DRM stripped. My reader can handle PDF, TXT, RTF, ePUB, and BBeB natively and the only titles I have that are still "protected" by DRM are the freebies that cost me nothing and weren't worth spending the few minutes to unlock.
That's part of the stupidity of DRM. All it takes is one kid anywhere on the planet to figure out how to overcome a particular implementation and that entire implementation becomes utterly worthless.
And, if a title is popular, even refusing to publish in any electronic format is pointless as fans will quickly produce their own versions. Look at the Harry Potter series. Did any book after the first volume make it to release date without having an electronic version leaked first? (Even if it was just unprocessed scans of the book's pages.) Some of the best ebook layouts I've seen were done by fans who wanted electronic copies of books that are not available in ebook form.
This horse is pretty dead but I'll give it a couple more kicks. Outside of new releases, ebooks should be priced the same as paperbacks minus the costs of production and distribution associated with physical paper. Once a new title moves from hardcover to paperback, drop the "new release" premium on the ebook version.
Honestly, does any avid reader think twice about spending a couple hundred bucks on a quality bookshelf? Okay, I cheaped out on my most recent bookshelf because I had to fit a weird-size space but I do have a couple Kindle's worth of money invested in bookshelves.
Screw the assholes who are modding my post as "troll".
As in the value of a quality product. When your Tivo is set up, it Just Fucking Works. There's a lot of value in that. I've had a Tivo since the first generation with lifetime service that cost me around $250. I tried the cable company's box for a while before buying a new Tivo. $800 for the Tivo and a transfer of my lifetime service agreement or $15/month for the rental. You'd think the rental unit would be a no-brainer. But it's not. The cable company's box sucked ass. It regularly lost all guide data so I'd turn on the TV to find out that it hadn't recorded anything in days. It could hold a whopping 12 hours of HD content so 2 football games and a movie would max it out. And it stuttered if I tried to record 2 HD programs while playing back another program.
So, yeah, I could get a rental from the cable company for $15/month but I'd do just as well to toss $15 in the trash every month for all of the value I got out of the deal.
I decided to update my Tivo solution at significant expense ($600 for the Tivo, $200 for the lifetime service transfer, $400 for a 1tb drive) and don't regret it for a second. Because it Just Fucking Worked. And still does, over 3 years later. Heck, it works even better with the second 1tb drive added. The fact that it would take 8 years to "break even" is irrelevant because it wouldn't be "even". Comparing the cable company's DVR to an HD Tivo is like comparing a bicycle to a BMW.
First of all, I find it hard to believe that it isn't already illegal to surreptitiously install software on someone's computer. And even more illegal to install software that steals data.
Second, if that's not already illegal, why are they making a law that only targets one specific type of software?
Either the entire plan is utterly ignorant or this is a "foot in the door" to outlaw P2P. Either way, I think our government has more important issues to deal with right now.
Where ya gonna get the energy for this [dr_evil_quotes]"laser"[/dr_evil_quotes]?
/raises hand.
I still have the "utils" directory from my '286 even though the programs have been obsolete for a 'coon's age. (A 'coon in captivity, that is.) Every company I've worked at has had a "data refresh" plan of some sort where we move old archived data to new media. And only one of those companies ever mined that data for a useful purpose. The rest kept it "just in case".
I have a feeling the problem isn't going to be that we retain very little important information but that, of the vast mountain of crap we retain, a shocking small percentage will have any real value. 2 tons of chaff for every grain of wheat.
This may come as a shock to you but not all public school systems are funded equally. The higher the property values, the greater the amount of tax money. Some people try to sneak their kids into these over-funded districts by claiming that they live in the district. So while the povs go to overcrowded, nearly asbestos-free schools with leaky pipes, kids in rich districts get free MacBooks.
As with most things in life, the Simpsons did it. My Tivo even picked up that episode recently.
Bingo. Carriers go to great lengths to make it a pain in the ass to tether phones and only grudgingly allow it in limited cases for extra money as long as you use their proprietary "dialer". They want the process to be annoying enough that people only do it when they have absolutely no other choice. There are plenty of smartphones with built-in WiFi but I can't think of a single branded phone (in the US) that has the necessary software installed. If carriers wanted to facilitate this type of thing, they'd already be doing it. Instead, we have to rely on third party software and, occasionally, "hacking" the device to restore functionality that's been removed.
Why would I buy a 'doze system without an OS license. Yes, the license is included in that price. Bluetooth dongles are $15-20 and not necessary. Nor is Wireless N. I much prefer to have desktops plugged into gigabit ethernet.
And, even if I gave you all of your points at your prices, that's $500+130+30+60=$720 for the fully equipped PC. (Remember, the OS is actually included in the price so I'm spotting you $130 that would not be spent.)
Let's round out the Mac with a monitor, keyboard, and mouse so everything's equal. 20" monitor = $130. Keyboard = $10. Mouse = $10. That's $700+130+10+10=$850. Still a very significant difference. And the actual gap would be $130 larger.
So 850-720+130 = $260 per unit. If I'm buying 20 units, that's a premium of over $5,000. That'll cover someone's salary and benefits for a month.
Don't be stupid. I was making a point about Apple's comparatively high pricing. Apple's $200 higher even without the necessary components to make a true comparison. If I add a generic $130 20" monitor, $10 keyboard, and $10 mouse, that makes the Apple price $850. (Don't forget I'm bumping the RAM up to 4 gigs for the comparison.) Are you more comfortable with that number?
I didn't think finishing off the comparison was really necessary as there's really no point in going beyond seeing "complete PC = $500" vs. "headless mac = $700". It doesn't matter how much more it will cost to round out the Mac package because the price differential is only going to get worse. If the Apple components were included in the price, it wouldn't make the total package any more attractive.
Just off the top of my head:
1) Price.
2) Legacy (OS/applications).
The first one is pretty obvious.
The second, I need to define better. Apple generally limits new hardware to the version of the OS that was in production when the machine was built. So I can't work out all of the kinks in 10.4.11 relevant to my environment and load up all new systems with an image of that same OS. The most recent PowerMacs I've bought won't run 10.4. I had 10.4 locked tight and all of our software runs great on it. 10.5 gives me font cache problems similar to the ones I'd already ironed out of our 10.4 systems long ago. To me, that's not an upgrade. I don't want bleeding-edge in production. I want stable and reliable.
OTOH, every PC I've bought since Vista came out has been able to run XP just fine. In fact, I just got some new systems last week pre-loaded with XP. (Win7 license with XP downgrade.) This means the environment my company's been grooming and tweaking for years can be applied to brand new installations and I don't have to deal with, "I've never seen THAT before."
And getting back to the cost, I can get a decent C2D windows machine with 4 gigs and a 20" flat panel, keyboard, and mouse for about $500. A mini with 4 gigs, no monitor, and no mouse starts at $700. Apple wants another $50 each for a mouse and keyboard. Each. Don't even ask what they want for monitors.
Those are the two main reasons Apple won't be making it beyond the Creative departments in my company. And I'm actually a bit annoyed that we're still purchasing Macs for those departments since they're running Adobe suites that are available on the PC. If one of my hats wasn't "the only mac tech in the company", I'd consider making strong arguments against the continued waste of money. :)
I just installed 3.2 over 3.0.0 on my windows machine with no problem at all (except it left an empty 3.0 folder in my programs menu). I don't know what you could be doing wrong but...
I'm behind seven proxies!!!
Oh, and I'm not in Italy.
Or am I?
Critical updates are supposed to fix critical security and stability issues. WGA/OGA do nothing of the kind. In fact, the only noticeable effect they can have is to REDUCE functionality.
The people who intentionally pirate Windows won't care. They'll just dig up the latest workaround and roll their eyes. The people who thought they had a legitimate installation are going to be inconvenienced and will have to spend more money to buy something that, in their minds, they've already paid for. They're going to feel they got ripped off twice. Once by the person who sold them their computer and again by Microsoft. (Not saying the perception is right, just that it's the way a lot of people will feel.) Then there are the totally false hits that waste the time of people who have legitimate licenses which have been flagged due to the inadequate design of WGA/OGA.
Nothing about the Genuine Advantage program directly benefits the end user and Microsoft has no business implying that it is necessary to ensure the security or stability of their software. Especially when the most positive effect that can come from installing it is no change at all.
If she's a freelancer, she needs to have the basic tools of her trade. If I hire a gardener, I expect them to have a lawnmower, edger, clippers, rake, etc. If I hire a writer, I expect them to own a word processing program capable of saving documents in industry standard formats (.doc, .rtf, .txt). If I hire a web designer for a project, I expect them to have their own web design suite. Now this is all talking about freelancers who are hired as contractors for particular projects who also have other clients in the same industry. That's different than a company employee with no other employers who happens to work from home.
Oh, upgrade deactivation anecdotes! Last time I installed XP on my home system, I scrapped my old computer and built a brand new one. I installed XP, crossed my fingers and toes, and activated. It worked! I'd been worried that activating my old key on a totally new configuration would fail. So I shut down, installed the rest of my hard drives, and rebooted. Deactivated for making significant changes to my hardware configuration. Honestly, all I'd done between activating on the new configuration and getting cut off was add 3 hard drives.
So I did the call and talked to some guy in India for about 10 minutes arguing with him that I most certainly CAN transfer a standalone license to a new machine. He finally got tired of dealing with me and gave me a code. Since then, I've swapped out the CPU, changed video cards, added a second video card, and doubled the RAM all without any activation problems.
Microsoft is just so incredibly inconsistent.
When I saw TPM, the first thing I thought of was the CP/M variant that came with the Epson QX-10.
There was no reason to continue. Faking a reset would require an additional 10 minutes or so of faking waiting for the process to finish. Then he'd want me to take the battery out for 5 minutes. Then reactivate (prompting yet another restart). Probably another 20 minutes in addition to the 20 I'd been on the phone. And there's no guarantee that he'd open a ticket even if I jumped through the hoops. I'd already wasted too much time on the call.
I knew what the problem was before I called. My goal with the call was to see how Verizon was handling calls and let them know I was pissed. The bullshit the guy was peddling told me how they're handling the calls and his attitude told me any complaints I asked him to forward would never get past him. So I hung up and sent an email to customer service. If I don't get a response from that email, I'll dig up an Executive Carpetbomb list and compose a proper letter of complaint.
"To protect both, we eliminated connectivity to the IP address. At no time was 4Chan itself blocked."
Oh, I get it. They didn't 'block' 4chan. They simply 'eliminated connectivity'.
It's not that they've pissed of 4chan. They've pissed off ME. And I don't know what 4chan is beyond a reputation that it's supposedly more childish than fark and slashdot combined. All I know is Verizon's decided I'm not allowed to view a site that doesn't appear to be breaking any laws.
And if that wasn't bad enough, customer service is pushing it under the rug. I just spent 20 of the stupidest minutes on the phone with Verizon listening to some smarmy shit apologize that I mistakenly perceived that I was being blocked. This is clearly a device issue as he can access boards dot 4chan dot org on two devices with no trouble at all. But he wouldn't even consider opening a ticket until I'd gone through every troubleshooting step in the book. Including a HARD RESET. (For those who aren't familiar with the lingo, that's the one where you reset the device to factory fresh.) Only then would he have opened a ticket. And the whole time, he's insisting that Verizon isn't blocking the site, saying I shouldn't trust blogs. Nevermind the fact that Verizon has admitted that they're blocking traffic and plan to lift the block tonight. After playing along with his bullshit for 20 minutes, I just couldn't stay on the phone any longer without calling him a lying sack of shit so I hung up.
Which, of course, is exactly what Verizon wants. They didn't have to open a ticket documenting a problem. My call just got logged as an uncooperative customer who refused to complete the troubleshooting process.
The worst part is they could have had the same effect if they'd just said, "We apologize for the inconvenience. Some of 4chan's affiliates were staging network attacks and we chose to block traffic from that site until the problem was resolved. There have been no attacks coming from that network today so we're going to restore access this evening." That's it. A simple statement that tells the customer what is going on, doesn't require opening a ticket, and ends with a happy customer. Perhaps even grateful. Or at least one who isn't pissed off.
Oh, and the best part of the call came a couple minutes after I hung up. "FREE VZW MSG-DO NOT REPLY:Start > Settings > All Settings > System tab > Memory > Clear Storage tab Enter 1234, tap OK in upper right of screen Display: Confirm"
Yep, that text message popped up on my phone shortly after I hung up on the tech. WinMo folks should recognize the Hard Reset instructions. I don't suggest you follow those instructions as it will wipe your WinMo phone clean. No explanation or warning came with that message. I assume he sent it for the lolz, hoping I'd follow the instructions blindly.
BTW, if you call Verizon's Network Repair Bureau at (866) 298-5373 as advised by 4chan, they won't do anything for you unless you have a ticket which you must get by calling Customer Care at 800-922-0204. Of course, it'll take you a good half hour of bullshit (and hard-resetting your phone!) to get a ticket assigned. But I suggest every Verizon customer who gives a shit about censorship should call anyway and let them know how you feel about censorship.
It's called dumbening.
ipredator
Use offshore VPN for everything. Because what you're doing today may be frowned upon tomorrow. Or maybe you like reading extremist blogs for the lolz and you apply for a job that needs an FBI background check. Wow, this guy sure likes militias.
Reminds me of when my old ibook decided its battery was dead. Nevermind the fact that I still got nearly 4 hours of use from a charge. The PMU refused to charge the battery and that was that. And it happened the day before I left on a two week vacation. Since the laptop was 4 years old, no brick-n-mortar stores had batteries in stock.
Exactly! $10 is a ridiculously high price for regular books that sell for $6-7 in paperback form. $15 is just insulting. What kind of morons are running that industry?