I've worked at a few places who paid me like this. You got the card on the first or second day of work, activated it, and your paycheck was there Friday. You got 1-2 "free" cash withdraws per "pay period". One worked on Paypal (Visa) the other didn't (Mastercard). I don't remember which one, but one of them let you go register online and send xfers to other bank accounts that way, as an "e-check". I think you got one of those free as well. After that, it wasn't too much (.50-2.50) to withdraw more cash, I don't remember what extra fee's for bank xfers.
A side of this no one has mentioned: ATM fees. Even with one "free" withdraw, good luck finding an ATM that doesn't charge at least $1. Or $2,$2.50, $5...
So this way you get hit no matter what. Even with the "unemployment card" (EPIC), it's tied to a specific local bank. Lucky for me during those times there was one 1500 feet from me, so I could get cash there. EPIC didn't charge any fees, except (maybe) a $5 or something replacement card fee.
But don't quote me on the numbers, it was several years ago since I used either of them.
It's to the point now that any agency can pretty much get involved in any activity it wants. The CIA and NSA can investigate American citizens inside the US, the FBI can investigate foreign nationals...when "caught", all they have to do is say "national security" and quote some secret-court policy made by some committee that is so secretive it's against the law for us to even know it exists.
According to the Gospel of Judas, Jesus told Judas to betray Him, and gave him knowledge of Heaven in compensation. Of course the old-school church needed someone to blame, and they hated all that "gnostic" stuff too because it interferes with their control...
I had this problem too. I found a way around it...first, you need to have 2-3 IT friends that are on the same level as you. One of you needs to go post a few "jobs" to something like ExpertsExchange or such, with requirements like these jobs are looking for. Something along the lines of a single server or two, IIS, SQL, Exchange, OWA, AD, etc, and maybe 5-10 workstations. Have the "contract" on EE spelled out clearly, use all the PM jargon you can. Then post it, build it, and do part of it...build the server however you can (warez if you need to), get it stable and running so you actually know what your doing. Pay yourself, rate yourself. Boom, resume fodder. Your not lying, it's just a...misdirection of sorts. If you say the client is overseas, have an email address they can email to check up on...your the one answering the emails, or your buddy. Use gvoice if you have to to get an out-of-town phone number to trick the HR drones. Say you did the work as an Independent Contractor, but now you want to go corp to get insurance or something. This will work, we did it quite a bit. After the first time your done and you have real experience you can just drop this off your resume.
The replicators on startrek often couldn't replicate highly "advanced chemicals", such as trilithium and other random made up plot devices. At one point they where described as only holding certain patterns, and could go and find new ones on demand. In federation space they usually had to be regulated and inspected to try and stop whoever from making nasty things.
I don't really recall it being used on a wide-scale, federation starships notwithstanding. I'm assuming the computing power and energy requirements of Enterprise-D's replicators wasn't found outside said starships. A consumer grade could probably not make correct quantum states to make startrek-style energy sources. Good enough to just do molecular-level replication, pushing atoms into a matrix at the speed of light so it just "appears".
I can see us making this too, with meta material nano lenses, lasers passing through a medium grabbing the needed atoms out. It would probably have to be re-calibrated often, and the better the computer running it the better the device would be.
Big iron is right...if I remember through the haze of ages long ago, my tech manual said the cores in Enterprise-D are huge, and there's three of them. Three decks high, so..10x3, or whatever the deck heights exactly are. So, I imagine like 20-30 of the old school Cray mainframes stacked on top of each other.
What would be interesting is to figure how much processing power we could stuff into a similar form factor right now. How far could we push a compact data center into a 30ftx6ft tube? Power not being a problem, allowing ventilation shafts for heat control and human access.
The next feels he has to try and correct the last prez, then he sees where he can expand his own power, not caring that the next guy can use all the screwed-up laws he came up with...they will say "oh, I won't do that!" Their right, because they do way worse.
maybe we should try some hybrid of parliament and out executive branch...some system that forces more political parties, but doesn't end up in the government "collapsing" when the Prime Minster gets a speeding ticket...
I feel laws need to be written in machine-understandable language, so we could have apps to tell us if some action we're doing is breaking even case law. Eventually this could lead to expert systems examining current laws, examining current societal attitudes, and suggesting reforms and changes to the human lawmakers. These expert systems could be incorporated into company policy compliance as well, so employees could be warned in real-time when something their doing might violate either corporate policy and/or the law. Of course no corp is going to want this, because then they couldn't bend the law and do "creative accounting"
doing t1 support for five different clients at the same time. Right now they are implementing the LEAN methodology, but so far haven't told us what exactly this means. Well, we where told no more overtime. The only info I've been given is this ridiculas print out comparing our new policy to "lean meats, such as chick, turkey, pork, and fish." Luckily for me, there IS a question on it "What is the LEAN process?", however the answer is describing how an employee will come around to my desk "wearing squeaky clown shoes" to bring me meat.
We're all hoping that this is just a joke, but these days one never knows. Maybe the meat comes from the former employees downsized via LEAN.
My Jetta has one, and we got it for around $6k from Enterprise...probably one of the best investments ever concerning a car. It was very clean, well maintained, all shop visits well documented...
And it's way fast. Popping up from 1st-2nd-3rd etc at the exact right moment, knowing when to hit the gas and shift at the exact right RPM...then once your in 6th switch to sport mode...getting up to 100 on a somewhat busy highway is no problem, especially when I'm late for work. Once I get out ahead of the traffic, back down to normal drive to save on the gas.
I love the car, it's very powerful and smooth. And blowing by some stupid looking "tricked out" neon-light wanna-be drifter is quite fun, especially when you can hear they are giving it all they have and I'm barely hitting 4-5K rpm before I shift up and leave them behind. Of course, sometimes they try to chase me down the highway...spoiled rich kids in their fancy BMW lol.
There are a few reasons...one, the system does notify you at least three times via text that it is going to happen, and to call 611. Most people ignore that. Another reason is that if you don't have a data plan, then you are going to be charged at the $2 per MB "pay per use" charge...so instead of $30 for 3gb, you could easily end up with $6000 data bill. Also, buried somewhere in your contract is a clause that we can change your plan if your usage will negatively impact the network...of course there isn't really a straight-forward reason is to how a smartphone without the right data plan does this, but that's the way it's written. Right here (http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-phone-service/legal/index.jsp?q_termsKey=wirelessCustomerAgreement&q_termsName=AT%26T+Wireless+Customer+Agreement§ion=termCommitChargesBillingPayment&q_subTitle=TERM%20COMMITMENT,%20CHARGES,%20BILLING%20AND%20PAYMENT#canAttChangeMyTermsRates) you agreed that AT&T "We may change any terms, conditions, rates, fees, expenses, or charges regarding your Services at any time. " If you have an LTE smartphone without an LTE plan you will probably only connect at 2G speeds.
That contract also states that specific data plans are made for each class of phone. And the very first clause states "Your Agreement begins on the day we activate your Services and continues through the Term of Service specified on your Customer Service Summary ("Service Commitment"). AT THE END OF YOUR SERVICE COMMITMENT, THIS AGREEMENT WILL AUTOMATICALLY RENEW ON A MONTH-TO-MONTH BASIS."
There is a huge difference between this agreement and the contract time of the phone itself...your "contract" with the phone may be up, but the agreement never expires. Think of it like renting a house...once your lease is up, you still have to pay the rent if you want to stay there. It's the same with AT&T...the phone's contract is up, but your agreement with AT&T is still valid until you quit using the services.
No, because our system detects the IMIE is a smartphone, and automatically adds the plan. In fact, I get alot of calls where someone's kid put their SIM in a friends smartphone just to test their card (or whatever reason), and then the parents call because their bill went up by $30...luckily we can check to see what phone is currently being used and see exactly how long that IMIE was used with that SIM...I often have to remove data plans and charges, using the "feature not compatible with device" reason.
It's not our policy, it's Apple's. If it was up to us it would follow the same policy as everything else...Apple has many iPhone-specifc policies...like they won't let us waive Iphone activation fees, and they get to actually audit our adjustment logs to see if we have!
It actually involves us submitting a ticket to Apple, because Apple won't actually give us access to the IMIE unlock database...same case with many Nokia phones, when I go to get the code it shows "eligible" but the code is "not found", so I have to submit a case for us to request the codes.
Yes, quite often...I get many calls a week about international roaming. About half are putting an international feature on their phone, the other half are arguing that they "never used their phone" when they get their bill with international charges. In my whole two years I've only once seen a system error that charged someone...all their calls where in the US, except one that came from the middle of Mexico - but he had made a call from the US just minutes before and afterwards...so I removed the charges since it was physically impossible.
With our phones you'll know it's roaming internationally when it says something else than AT&T at the top.
And yes, international data is very expensive...I often instruct customers on how to disable their data, and educate them to only use wi-fi when overseas.
I work for AT&T as a CSR, this was in our team meeting last Friday...yes, it is potentially eligible. It has to meet the following criteria:
1. Completed a two year contract OR be able to prove it was purchased at non-commitment pricing. If you bought it from us at the no-commitment pricing, then we usually have the records so you don't have to prove it...you only need to prove it if you bought it from a 3rd party.
2. Not on an line that has had the phone listed as stolen, as in the original customer has called us and reported it stolen.
3. If your a current customer, your account has to be "in good standing", which usually means no past due, and no recent disconnects or late payments. It wasn't specific in how far back we will check...but I haven't yet read the actual policy.
Slashdot Mirror
I've worked at a few places who paid me like this. You got the card on the first or second day of work, activated it, and your paycheck was there Friday. You got 1-2 "free" cash withdraws per "pay period". One worked on Paypal (Visa) the other didn't (Mastercard). I don't remember which one, but one of them let you go register online and send xfers to other bank accounts that way, as an "e-check". I think you got one of those free as well. After that, it wasn't too much (.50-2.50) to withdraw more cash, I don't remember what extra fee's for bank xfers. A side of this no one has mentioned: ATM fees. Even with one "free" withdraw, good luck finding an ATM that doesn't charge at least $1. Or $2,$2.50, $5... So this way you get hit no matter what. Even with the "unemployment card" (EPIC), it's tied to a specific local bank. Lucky for me during those times there was one 1500 feet from me, so I could get cash there. EPIC didn't charge any fees, except (maybe) a $5 or something replacement card fee. But don't quote me on the numbers, it was several years ago since I used either of them.
It's to the point now that any agency can pretty much get involved in any activity it wants. The CIA and NSA can investigate American citizens inside the US, the FBI can investigate foreign nationals...when "caught", all they have to do is say "national security" and quote some secret-court policy made by some committee that is so secretive it's against the law for us to even know it exists.
According to the Gospel of Judas, Jesus told Judas to betray Him, and gave him knowledge of Heaven in compensation. Of course the old-school church needed someone to blame, and they hated all that "gnostic" stuff too because it interferes with their control...
PKD beat you to that...the 1953 short-story Imposter, and the 2001 movie of the same name! They where from Alpha Centauri, but still...
1.21 gw is a reference to Back to The Future...the amount it took to use the Flux Capacitor! You loose some nerd cred for not knowing that.
I had this problem too. I found a way around it...first, you need to have 2-3 IT friends that are on the same level as you. One of you needs to go post a few "jobs" to something like ExpertsExchange or such, with requirements like these jobs are looking for. Something along the lines of a single server or two, IIS, SQL, Exchange, OWA, AD, etc, and maybe 5-10 workstations. Have the "contract" on EE spelled out clearly, use all the PM jargon you can. Then post it, build it, and do part of it...build the server however you can (warez if you need to), get it stable and running so you actually know what your doing. Pay yourself, rate yourself. Boom, resume fodder. Your not lying, it's just a...misdirection of sorts. If you say the client is overseas, have an email address they can email to check up on...your the one answering the emails, or your buddy. Use gvoice if you have to to get an out-of-town phone number to trick the HR drones. Say you did the work as an Independent Contractor, but now you want to go corp to get insurance or something. This will work, we did it quite a bit. After the first time your done and you have real experience you can just drop this off your resume.
The replicators on startrek often couldn't replicate highly "advanced chemicals", such as trilithium and other random made up plot devices. At one point they where described as only holding certain patterns, and could go and find new ones on demand. In federation space they usually had to be regulated and inspected to try and stop whoever from making nasty things. I don't really recall it being used on a wide-scale, federation starships notwithstanding. I'm assuming the computing power and energy requirements of Enterprise-D's replicators wasn't found outside said starships. A consumer grade could probably not make correct quantum states to make startrek-style energy sources. Good enough to just do molecular-level replication, pushing atoms into a matrix at the speed of light so it just "appears". I can see us making this too, with meta material nano lenses, lasers passing through a medium grabbing the needed atoms out. It would probably have to be re-calibrated often, and the better the computer running it the better the device would be.
Big iron is right...if I remember through the haze of ages long ago, my tech manual said the cores in Enterprise-D are huge, and there's three of them. Three decks high, so..10x3, or whatever the deck heights exactly are. So, I imagine like 20-30 of the old school Cray mainframes stacked on top of each other. What would be interesting is to figure how much processing power we could stuff into a similar form factor right now. How far could we push a compact data center into a 30ftx6ft tube? Power not being a problem, allowing ventilation shafts for heat control and human access.
The next feels he has to try and correct the last prez, then he sees where he can expand his own power, not caring that the next guy can use all the screwed-up laws he came up with...they will say "oh, I won't do that!" Their right, because they do way worse.
maybe we should try some hybrid of parliament and out executive branch...some system that forces more political parties, but doesn't end up in the government "collapsing" when the Prime Minster gets a speeding ticket...
Never give up, never surrender!
i do! Or at least leave out the shock therapy, and let me choose what to watch.
I feel laws need to be written in machine-understandable language, so we could have apps to tell us if some action we're doing is breaking even case law. Eventually this could lead to expert systems examining current laws, examining current societal attitudes, and suggesting reforms and changes to the human lawmakers. These expert systems could be incorporated into company policy compliance as well, so employees could be warned in real-time when something their doing might violate either corporate policy and/or the law. Of course no corp is going to want this, because then they couldn't bend the law and do "creative accounting"
and with laser quantum encryption only one other party would ever hear it.
doing t1 support for five different clients at the same time. Right now they are implementing the LEAN methodology, but so far haven't told us what exactly this means. Well, we where told no more overtime. The only info I've been given is this ridiculas print out comparing our new policy to "lean meats, such as chick, turkey, pork, and fish." Luckily for me, there IS a question on it "What is the LEAN process?", however the answer is describing how an employee will come around to my desk "wearing squeaky clown shoes" to bring me meat. We're all hoping that this is just a joke, but these days one never knows. Maybe the meat comes from the former employees downsized via LEAN.
My Jetta has one, and we got it for around $6k from Enterprise...probably one of the best investments ever concerning a car. It was very clean, well maintained, all shop visits well documented... And it's way fast. Popping up from 1st-2nd-3rd etc at the exact right moment, knowing when to hit the gas and shift at the exact right RPM...then once your in 6th switch to sport mode...getting up to 100 on a somewhat busy highway is no problem, especially when I'm late for work. Once I get out ahead of the traffic, back down to normal drive to save on the gas. I love the car, it's very powerful and smooth. And blowing by some stupid looking "tricked out" neon-light wanna-be drifter is quite fun, especially when you can hear they are giving it all they have and I'm barely hitting 4-5K rpm before I shift up and leave them behind. Of course, sometimes they try to chase me down the highway...spoiled rich kids in their fancy BMW lol.
There are a few reasons...one, the system does notify you at least three times via text that it is going to happen, and to call 611. Most people ignore that. Another reason is that if you don't have a data plan, then you are going to be charged at the $2 per MB "pay per use" charge...so instead of $30 for 3gb, you could easily end up with $6000 data bill. Also, buried somewhere in your contract is a clause that we can change your plan if your usage will negatively impact the network...of course there isn't really a straight-forward reason is to how a smartphone without the right data plan does this, but that's the way it's written. Right here (http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-phone-service/legal/index.jsp?q_termsKey=wirelessCustomerAgreement&q_termsName=AT%26T+Wireless+Customer+Agreement§ion=termCommitChargesBillingPayment&q_subTitle=TERM%20COMMITMENT,%20CHARGES,%20BILLING%20AND%20PAYMENT#canAttChangeMyTermsRates) you agreed that AT&T "We may change any terms, conditions, rates, fees, expenses, or charges regarding your Services at any time. " If you have an LTE smartphone without an LTE plan you will probably only connect at 2G speeds. That contract also states that specific data plans are made for each class of phone. And the very first clause states "Your Agreement begins on the day we activate your Services and continues through the Term of Service specified on your Customer Service Summary ("Service Commitment"). AT THE END OF YOUR SERVICE COMMITMENT, THIS AGREEMENT WILL AUTOMATICALLY RENEW ON A MONTH-TO-MONTH BASIS." There is a huge difference between this agreement and the contract time of the phone itself...your "contract" with the phone may be up, but the agreement never expires. Think of it like renting a house...once your lease is up, you still have to pay the rent if you want to stay there. It's the same with AT&T...the phone's contract is up, but your agreement with AT&T is still valid until you quit using the services.
No, because our system detects the IMIE is a smartphone, and automatically adds the plan. In fact, I get alot of calls where someone's kid put their SIM in a friends smartphone just to test their card (or whatever reason), and then the parents call because their bill went up by $30...luckily we can check to see what phone is currently being used and see exactly how long that IMIE was used with that SIM...I often have to remove data plans and charges, using the "feature not compatible with device" reason.
It's not our policy, it's Apple's. If it was up to us it would follow the same policy as everything else...Apple has many iPhone-specifc policies...like they won't let us waive Iphone activation fees, and they get to actually audit our adjustment logs to see if we have!
It actually involves us submitting a ticket to Apple, because Apple won't actually give us access to the IMIE unlock database...same case with many Nokia phones, when I go to get the code it shows "eligible" but the code is "not found", so I have to submit a case for us to request the codes.
Yes, quite often...I get many calls a week about international roaming. About half are putting an international feature on their phone, the other half are arguing that they "never used their phone" when they get their bill with international charges. In my whole two years I've only once seen a system error that charged someone...all their calls where in the US, except one that came from the middle of Mexico - but he had made a call from the US just minutes before and afterwards...so I removed the charges since it was physically impossible. With our phones you'll know it's roaming internationally when it says something else than AT&T at the top. And yes, international data is very expensive...I often instruct customers on how to disable their data, and educate them to only use wi-fi when overseas.
I work for AT&T as a CSR, this was in our team meeting last Friday...yes, it is potentially eligible. It has to meet the following criteria: 1. Completed a two year contract OR be able to prove it was purchased at non-commitment pricing. If you bought it from us at the no-commitment pricing, then we usually have the records so you don't have to prove it...you only need to prove it if you bought it from a 3rd party. 2. Not on an line that has had the phone listed as stolen, as in the original customer has called us and reported it stolen. 3. If your a current customer, your account has to be "in good standing", which usually means no past due, and no recent disconnects or late payments. It wasn't specific in how far back we will check...but I haven't yet read the actual policy.