For that matter, if you are in the "tazer with extreme prejudice" category (for whatever reason), does this mean you're going to put up with that shit every time you board an airplane/bus/train or apply for credit/a job? (Believe me, once this database is up and running smoothly, it won't be used just at airports.)
Ever get the feeling that games like Decathlon were commissioned by the joystick industry? Before I got my Epyx 500XJ (left handed edition, mmmmmm!) I must've gone through a dozen Atari joysticks on that game.
In order to prosecute someone for possession of stolen property (their only option in this case unless there was evidence to show that the lady was the actual thief) you have to show that they knew or had reason to believe that the computer was stolen, and that's a pretty hard thing to prove in court.
So if I burn/tattoo/carve "Property of name" into the machine, is that proof enough that it's stolen property? Then when I sell it, I can include some kind of signed proof of sale.
I've read before that the Microdrive's 1500G rating is the equivalent of a "drop from a desk onto medium-soft carpet." It's not the impact, it's the deceleration.
When IBM attempted to "take over the clones" with the Micro Channel bus, they shot themselves in the foot, and it's been downhill with the desktop line since. (To this day, I see an IBM desktop and wonder, "Gee, wonder if I can actually put a real card in there.")
That's fine by me. Any dumbass with a screwdriver can build desktops. I like IBM for its innovation (Microdrive, GMR storage.)
Having your customers pay with credit cards... that way if anything happens they can dispute the charges.
I was one of the customers who paid with credit cards. When I went through PayPal's dispute process, they claimed that an investigation would take 60 days. Guess what: nearly all credit card issuers won't let you dispute something more than 60 days old.
You guessed it: PayPal came back and said that I was in the right, but the seller removed all money from their account, so they couldn't collect for me.
My suggestion: give PayPal a firm dispute deadline of 60 days from the date of the transaction or the date of the statement (whichever your bank uses) and stick to it!
The noise-cancelling headphones are a must. It's not the conversations around you that stress you out; it's the air conditioners, hard drives and fans that are the worst.
If you use a CRT, turn DOWN the resolution and move the monitor away from you. If the resolution is high enough that you have to have the monitor within 2 feet of you, it's too high! The more your eyes have to track back and forth across the screen, the faster they tire. (A larger screen can actually be detrimental to your health.) Keep the refresh at 75Hz or above. Turn the contrast down some (especially if your surrounding lighting is dim.) Better yet, get an LCD screen. Oh, and dump the white background.
Schedule your time out. If you find yourself losing track of the time, schedule a reminder every 90 minutes to get up and take a walk. *nix has a scheduler built in. Use it.
Skip the big lunch. Get yourself some snacks, and eat throughout the day. (Stick to the somewhat healthy food, if possible. Baby carrots work for me.) Keep water handy too.
Oh yeah, and if the Fire Hazard Nazis won't let you trade at least some of the overhead fluorescents for some indirect incandescents, it's probably time to find another company anyway.
Re:Interesting, the GM reaction, a little PR pleas
on
GM DNA Spreading...
·
· Score: 1
...but more importantly ppl need to be informed that these scientists are trying to improve products, not make gross odities. They are taking a random act (evolution) and trying to direct it towards a productive end.
...and here we have created a corn stalk with three asses. -Mafesto
Seller defrauded me on a non-eBay transaction. After 90 days (too late to dispute), I get word from PayPal that they found that the seller was fraudulent, but because their bank account was empty, there was nothing they would do to help. Thanks PayPal.
Nextel doesn't support data internationally--yet. But wim.aol.com from any data-capable Nextel phone in the US will get you there.
There are no connection charges for being logged into AIM from a Nextel phone. (In fact, you can stay logged in even while using other sites or talking on the phone.) But you get dinged every time you receive an AIM message, so make sure that you get the Wireless Web Unlimited plan if you plan to receive over 300 AIM messages a month.
Nextel does support GSM... kinda
on
SMS vs. E-mail?
·
· Score: 1
Nextel's i2000plus phone has GSM capabilities, and Nextel has agreements with a number of GSM countries to allow phone service there. To do SMS two-way messaging in other countries, you must have an i2000plus (the older i2000 won't do) and ask your account rep for International Two-Way Service. (Sounds kinda kinky.)
Xircom makes a nice PP Ethernet adapter perfect for that 386 laptop that doesn't have a PCMCIA slot. And it even has the cool "tank tread" for tightening the screws, and hauls at 48k/sec on a standard parallel port! (Oooooh.)
"People struggle to assemble products, to install software, to access the Net and the Web, to locate passwords, codes and IDs they belatedly discover they need (or have just misplaced). No other business would survive a month operating this way."
That's funny--looks to me like almost every business survives this way. Take some examples:
A well-known automaker (rhymes with "gourd") refuses to redesign an ignition module found on nearly every fuel injected vehicle they've ever made, even though it has left hundreds of thousands of customers stranded by the roadside at one time or another.
California Department of Motor Vehicles has a website with common forms in PDF format, but you still have to print them out, fill them in and mail them. If you take them to the local DMV for faster processing (har!), they just stuff them in an envelope and send them to Sacramento anyway. In my area, the wait on hold for the DMV is never less than 15 minutes, and the line for registration at the two local offices is never less than 90 minutes.
A well-known airline continues to overbook flights into and out of Ontario CA, well aware that the flight is going to be late or possibly cancelled. When you complain, they will look you square in the eye and blame it on weather in Phoenix.
A very well-known electronics store in SoCal (rhymes with "dries") will send you through two long lines to turn in a warranted monitor and pick up a loaner. Your credit card number will be recorded on a menacing piece of paper threatening to charge you four figures if you don't return it. When your monitor is ready (+1 week), you will be sent back through two more lines to turn in the loaner and get your monitor back. The whole process will be over an hour each way. Oh, and your original problem won't be fixed, but you'll be too discouraged to go back through that line again.
You don't have to buy a "Wingtek" motherboard that has no phone numbers or addresses on the box or manual (other than just "Taiwan, ROC".) There _are_ companies that offer quality goods and support--you just have to be willing to pay more.
Guess I'll do what I did when I pulled the 5 1/4" drive: Grab all the old 5 1/4" diskettes and move the data to the hard drive, burn a CD and away we go. So, right before you get rid of your CD drive forever, pull all your CD's and copy the data to whatever the new great media-of-the-year is.
Slashdot Mirror
For that matter, if you are in the "tazer with extreme prejudice" category (for whatever reason), does this mean you're going to put up with that shit every time you board an airplane/bus/train or apply for credit/a job? (Believe me, once this database is up and running smoothly, it won't be used just at airports.)
Ever get the feeling that games like Decathlon were commissioned by the joystick industry? Before I got my Epyx 500XJ (left handed edition, mmmmmm!) I must've gone through a dozen Atari joysticks on that game.
I wonder how long before the SEC realizes that 99% of it's "duped" investors were referred from Slashdot. CmdrTaco may be getting a little visit... :-)
If you're somewhat mechanically inclined and enjoy a good project, you can roll your own. Check out some existing conversions:
http://evalbum.com
Slashdotting a poor defenseless Commodore 64...
Have you no shame?
Kinda like sandblasting a soup cracker, isn't it?
In order to prosecute someone for possession of stolen property (their only option in this case unless there was evidence to show that the lady was the actual thief) you have to show that they knew or had reason to believe that the computer was stolen, and that's a pretty hard thing to prove in court.
So if I burn/tattoo/carve "Property of name" into the machine, is that proof enough that it's stolen property? Then when I sell it, I can include some kind of signed proof of sale.
Yeah, every time Catherine turns on the microwave I piss my pants and forget who I am for an hour or so.
I've read before that the Microdrive's 1500G rating is the equivalent of a "drop from a desk onto medium-soft carpet." It's not the impact, it's the deceleration.
Tim
When IBM attempted to "take over the clones" with the Micro Channel bus, they shot themselves in the foot, and it's been downhill with the desktop line since. (To this day, I see an IBM desktop and wonder, "Gee, wonder if I can actually put a real card in there.")
That's fine by me. Any dumbass with a screwdriver can build desktops. I like IBM for its innovation (Microdrive, GMR storage.)
I was one of the customers who paid with credit cards. When I went through PayPal's dispute process, they claimed that an investigation would take 60 days. Guess what: nearly all credit card issuers won't let you dispute something more than 60 days old.
You guessed it: PayPal came back and said that I was in the right, but the seller removed all money from their account, so they couldn't collect for me.
My suggestion: give PayPal a firm dispute deadline of 60 days from the date of the transaction or the date of the statement (whichever your bank uses) and stick to it!
The noise-cancelling headphones are a must. It's not the conversations around you that stress you out; it's the air conditioners, hard drives and fans that are the worst.
If you use a CRT, turn DOWN the resolution and move the monitor away from you. If the resolution is high enough that you have to have the monitor within 2 feet of you, it's too high! The more your eyes have to track back and forth across the screen, the faster they tire. (A larger screen can actually be detrimental to your health.) Keep the refresh at 75Hz or above. Turn the contrast down some (especially if your surrounding lighting is dim.) Better yet, get an LCD screen. Oh, and dump the white background.
Schedule your time out. If you find yourself losing track of the time, schedule a reminder every 90 minutes to get up and take a walk. *nix has a scheduler built in. Use it.
Skip the big lunch. Get yourself some snacks, and eat throughout the day. (Stick to the somewhat healthy food, if possible. Baby carrots work for me.) Keep water handy too.
Oh yeah, and if the Fire Hazard Nazis won't let you trade at least some of the overhead fluorescents for some indirect incandescents, it's probably time to find another company anyway.
Seller defrauded me on a non-eBay transaction. After 90 days (too late to dispute), I get word from PayPal that they found that the seller was fraudulent, but because their bank account was empty, there was nothing they would do to help. Thanks PayPal.
So in other words, don't drop it anywhere you wouldn't normally drop a regular hard drive.
Nextel doesn't support data internationally--yet. But wim.aol.com from any data-capable Nextel phone in the US will get you there.
There are no connection charges for being logged into AIM from a Nextel phone. (In fact, you can stay logged in even while using other sites or talking on the phone.) But you get dinged every time you receive an AIM message, so make sure that you get the Wireless Web Unlimited plan if you plan to receive over 300 AIM messages a month.
Nextel's i2000plus phone has GSM capabilities, and Nextel has agreements with a number of GSM countries to allow phone service there. To do SMS two-way messaging in other countries, you must have an i2000plus (the older i2000 won't do) and ask your account rep for International Two-Way Service. (Sounds kinda kinky.)
Nope, but thanks for playing!
Okay, our company is moving to Windows 2000 servers. Is it because...
1. The consulting company brought in by our PHSM uses IDC demand-side research (for PURCHASERS by PURCHASERS)?
2. We (the IT group) and our users are getting tired of our Novell file servers and *nix web servers never crashing?
3. Microsoft invested $600 million in our company a year ago when we really, really needed it?
And the bonus question: is it still called demand-side when it's being shoved down our throats?
(BTW, Deloitte Consulting believes in Microsoft software and IT outsourcing.)
Xircom makes a nice PP Ethernet adapter perfect for that 386 laptop that doesn't have a PCMCIA slot. And it even has the cool "tank tread" for tightening the screws, and hauls at 48k/sec on a standard parallel port! (Oooooh.)
That's funny--looks to me like almost every business survives this way. Take some examples:
A well-known automaker (rhymes with "gourd") refuses to redesign an ignition module found on nearly every fuel injected vehicle they've ever made, even though it has left hundreds of thousands of customers stranded by the roadside at one time or another.
California Department of Motor Vehicles has a website with common forms in PDF format, but you still have to print them out, fill them in and mail them. If you take them to the local DMV for faster processing (har!), they just stuff them in an envelope and send them to Sacramento anyway. In my area, the wait on hold for the DMV is never less than 15 minutes, and the line for registration at the two local offices is never less than 90 minutes.
A well-known airline continues to overbook flights into and out of Ontario CA, well aware that the flight is going to be late or possibly cancelled. When you complain, they will look you square in the eye and blame it on weather in Phoenix.
A very well-known electronics store in SoCal (rhymes with "dries") will send you through two long lines to turn in a warranted monitor and pick up a loaner. Your credit card number will be recorded on a menacing piece of paper threatening to charge you four figures if you don't return it. When your monitor is ready (+1 week), you will be sent back through two more lines to turn in the loaner and get your monitor back. The whole process will be over an hour each way. Oh, and your original problem won't be fixed, but you'll be too discouraged to go back through that line again.
You don't have to buy a "Wingtek" motherboard that has no phone numbers or addresses on the box or manual (other than just "Taiwan, ROC".) There _are_ companies that offer quality goods and support--you just have to be willing to pay more.
Guess I'll do what I did when I pulled the 5 1/4" drive: Grab all the old 5 1/4" diskettes and move the data to the hard drive, burn a CD and away we go. So, right before you get rid of your CD drive forever, pull all your CD's and copy the data to whatever the new great media-of-the-year is.
Oh, and avoid the "no-copy" media.