I ran the tests included on the Dell recovery CD before I called the first time. It said the drive was bad, gave me an error code, and instructed me to call Dell's tech support. They still insisted that Win98 be on the machine.
Seriously now. I had a call with a Dell tech go as following:
DT: Thank you for calling Dell's tech support, what can I do for you? Me: Hi, I have a Dell computer with a dead hard drive. DT: Ok sir, what is the support number for the computer? Me: [recites support number] DT: And what Operating System is on that computer? Me: Windows NT 4.0. DT: I'm sorry sir, that computer was preloaded with Windows 98. Me: Yeah, so? The hard drive is dead. DT: I'm sorry sir, you first have to install Windows 98 and call back. Me: What part of "the hard drive is dead" do you not understand? DT: I'm sorry but we cannot support that computer without Windows 98 on it. Me: Do you hear what I am saying? The hard drive is dead. How does the Operating System matter when THE HARD DRIVE IS DEAD??? DT: I'm sorry but if Windows 98 is not installed on that computer I cannot help you. ... goes on for another 15 minutes before I give up and call back.
DT: Thank you for calling Dell's tech support, what can I do for you? Me: Hi, I have a Dell computer with a dead hard drive. DT: What is the support number for the computer? Me: [recites support number] DT: And what Operating System is on that computer? Me: Windows 98. DT: Thank you let me get you a RMA number right away.
You could just enter the IP address of the bnetd server you want to play on in your hosts file. Map it to "useast.battle.net" (or whatever the DNS name they use is) and you're good to go. Even those who are twisted enough to call a registry change a "hack" would have a hard time attacking the host file change.
Kindof odd if you ask me. I'd much rather them verify me by some valid picture ID than my signature. I have never signed my cards, and instead clearly write "See ID," for the simple reason of if I lose them then the person who gets ahold of them will not have a copy of my signature to try and forge. If, on the other hand, the person tries and use it and the store does not bother to check the person's ID, then that is the store's fault and they should be held accountable.
How do you know they explicitly refused the purchase? Because they say they did? There are people out there who claim they didn't make certain purchases on their credit cards as well. This is a problem in the adult industry.
My point was that if you simplify purchases too much, you have very little as proof that you did or did not make a purchase. If you are required to enter a 16 digit number along with a username and password, then chances are, you did make the purchase. If you were presented with the two options, "Yes, close this Window" and "No, I'd like more spam" where the question was, "Would you like to purchase this wizzbang new widget?" then there is much less involved in screwing up the purchase.
Once the purchases involve only one single "Yes/No" button with no further verification, you will have problems.
Why can't it be both consious and easy? If the burden of typing in a number can be done away with securely then fantastic! I can buy what I want with less trouble and that's good for everyone.
True that. I didn't sign the back of my credit cards and instead wrote "See ID". Only half of the people who swipe my card even look at the back, and of those, only half ever ask for my ID.
Agreed. Subtitles are fine for the second or third time I see a movie, but I vastly prefer dubs for the first showing. I want to be able to see what is going on, and the subtitles take that away.
I disagree with you about Mononoke. I thought the dub for that was fine. There were some rough spots, but there were some rough spots in Final Fantasy too, and it was made for English.
I had no problem banning cheaters by WON ID and by IP, if they really were cheating. I ran two different cheater detection systems (TSC and PunkBuster, when it worked). The problem was that any player who had been on the server more then a month was constantly being accused of cheating by the new players. People who had played with each other for a while would form teams and use stratagy (gasp!) would whomp on the new people. The classic run and shoot didn't work, so rather than learn and get better, people would shout "[insert player who killed you] is cheating!"
I'd venture to say that less than one out of twenty players accused of cheating actually was. And I know from personal experience that being called a cheater every time you play, when you know you are not cheating, makes the game less fun in a hurry.
When the filter was installed, a lot of the accusations disappeared. The game became more pleasant as those who thought they had skill, but didn't, left when they realized their cries only brought them more grief. The average skill on the server kept rising, and it became more fun for everyone.
I used to run my own Counter-Strike server, and I couldn't agree with your post more. It got so bad that I eventually wrote a program that punishes people when they would complain about laggers, campers, cheaters, etc. The punishment was 50% of your health. Do it three times, you're gagged and can only talk to your team. Three more, you're kicked. Three more, you're banned for an hour.
I'm usually one who is strongly against filters, but I have to admit, this one did wonders. People learned to either be civil towards each other, or they learned to be quiet.
Alcohol under 21 is another good example. Here in Ohio, we have a law that says as soon as the Fed Gov stops linking the highway funds to the drinking age limit, the age limit automatically reverts back to 18. No vote needed.
That doesn't make much sense. You have to recoup more than your R&D costs so that you can support failed projects. Many projects fail and those costs have to be passed onto the successful ones.
That only worked sometimes. Many manufactures found that it was actually cheaper to make only one type of disk, and sell it at two different prices depending on demand. Those are the types that the hole punch worked for. Some companies, though, really did make two types of disks and the hole punch trick wouldn't work on them.
If I remember correctly, GWBjr lost the popular vote and only won the electoral college vote by a narrow margin. Though, according to the latest recount by the media, even that is in debate.:)
Ironically, Russia (then the USSR) introduced Flouride into their water at about the same time as the US did. Over there the fringe groups were screaming that it was a capitalistic conspiracy to pacify them. Funny how crazed minds think alike.:)
Sounds like mine. I have my main server as a PPro200 w/96mb of RAM. It does my routing, acts as my firewall, makes a good development database server, a good webserver (with JServ), and acts as a damn fine samba server. It has 3 network cards, and no video card. Whenever I need do access it, I use ssh and X.
It would be better if it was more like Asimov's rule and read: Never harm, or through inaction allow harm to come to, a human. That keeps the robot from watching a person drown and doing nothing.
And our local phone company (Qwest) says it provides a similar service which, according to their TV ads, identifies telemarketers and recites a message along the lines of, "This number does not accept messages from solicitors. Please hang up now."
Man it must be great being a phone company. First, they sell your number to the telemarketers. Second, they sell you a caller id service so you can filter telemarketers. Third, they sell the telemarketers a device that blocks caller id. Fourth, they sell you a device that blocks blocked caller id calls. Fifth, they sell the telemarketer a device that puts garbage in the caller id field so it doesn't get blocked. Finally, they sell you a service that blocks the telemarketer. I'll bet it isn't too long before they sell the telemarketer some sorted of "trusted status" device that gets them through the new block.
I wish that your theory was true. I don't make any long distance calls. None. I don't even have a long distance provider. I *still* get calls from long distance companies.
"We can offer you x minutes for only $y per month."
"Yeah, that's great, but I don't make any long distance calls."
"But sir, you get x minutes for only $y per month, and then only $z per minute after that."
"I don't make any long distance calls. I don't even spend $y per month. Why would I want to no?"
I saw one that had a directional antenna, was able to fit on an A/V cart, and was able to stall a car from 20 feet. Pretty cool, but kinda scary considering he built it using consumer parts and for less than 10k. There was some report about it on ABC News a year or two ago.
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I ran the tests included on the Dell recovery CD before I called the first time. It said the drive was bad, gave me an error code, and instructed me to call Dell's tech support. They still insisted that Win98 be on the machine.
Seriously now. I had a call with a Dell tech go as following:
DT: Thank you for calling Dell's tech support, what can I do for you?
Me: Hi, I have a Dell computer with a dead hard drive.
DT: Ok sir, what is the support number for the computer?
Me: [recites support number]
DT: And what Operating System is on that computer?
Me: Windows NT 4.0.
DT: I'm sorry sir, that computer was preloaded with Windows 98.
Me: Yeah, so? The hard drive is dead.
DT: I'm sorry sir, you first have to install Windows 98 and call back.
Me: What part of "the hard drive is dead" do you not understand?
DT: I'm sorry but we cannot support that computer without Windows 98 on it.
Me: Do you hear what I am saying? The hard drive is dead. How does the Operating System matter when THE HARD DRIVE IS DEAD???
DT: I'm sorry but if Windows 98 is not installed on that computer I cannot help you.
... goes on for another 15 minutes before I give up and call back.
DT: Thank you for calling Dell's tech support, what can I do for you?
Me: Hi, I have a Dell computer with a dead hard drive.
DT: What is the support number for the computer?
Me: [recites support number]
DT: And what Operating System is on that computer?
Me: Windows 98.
DT: Thank you let me get you a RMA number right away.
You could just enter the IP address of the bnetd server you want to play on in your hosts file. Map it to "useast.battle.net" (or whatever the DNS name they use is) and you're good to go. Even those who are twisted enough to call a registry change a "hack" would have a hard time attacking the host file change.
Kindof odd if you ask me. I'd much rather them verify me by some valid picture ID than my signature. I have never signed my cards, and instead clearly write "See ID," for the simple reason of if I lose them then the person who gets ahold of them will not have a copy of my signature to try and forge. If, on the other hand, the person tries and use it and the store does not bother to check the person's ID, then that is the store's fault and they should be held accountable.
How do you know they explicitly refused the purchase? Because they say they did? There are people out there who claim they didn't make certain purchases on their credit cards as well. This is a problem in the adult industry.
My point was that if you simplify purchases too much, you have very little as proof that you did or did not make a purchase. If you are required to enter a 16 digit number along with a username and password, then chances are, you did make the purchase. If you were presented with the two options, "Yes, close this Window" and "No, I'd like more spam" where the question was, "Would you like to purchase this wizzbang new widget?" then there is much less involved in screwing up the purchase.
Once the purchases involve only one single "Yes/No" button with no further verification, you will have problems.
Why can't it be both consious and easy? If the burden of typing in a number can be done away with securely then fantastic! I can buy what I want with less trouble and that's good for everyone.
You mean like this?
True that. I didn't sign the back of my credit cards and instead wrote "See ID". Only half of the people who swipe my card even look at the back, and of those, only half ever ask for my ID.
Agreed. Subtitles are fine for the second or third time I see a movie, but I vastly prefer dubs for the first showing. I want to be able to see what is going on, and the subtitles take that away.
I disagree with you about Mononoke. I thought the dub for that was fine. There were some rough spots, but there were some rough spots in Final Fantasy too, and it was made for English.
I had no problem banning cheaters by WON ID and by IP, if they really were cheating. I ran two different cheater detection systems (TSC and PunkBuster, when it worked). The problem was that any player who had been on the server more then a month was constantly being accused of cheating by the new players. People who had played with each other for a while would form teams and use stratagy (gasp!) would whomp on the new people. The classic run and shoot didn't work, so rather than learn and get better, people would shout "[insert player who killed you] is cheating!"
I'd venture to say that less than one out of twenty players accused of cheating actually was. And I know from personal experience that being called a cheater every time you play, when you know you are not cheating, makes the game less fun in a hurry.
When the filter was installed, a lot of the accusations disappeared. The game became more pleasant as those who thought they had skill, but didn't, left when they realized their cries only brought them more grief. The average skill on the server kept rising, and it became more fun for everyone.
I used to run my own Counter-Strike server, and I couldn't agree with your post more. It got so bad that I eventually wrote a program that punishes people when they would complain about laggers, campers, cheaters, etc. The punishment was 50% of your health. Do it three times, you're gagged and can only talk to your team. Three more, you're kicked. Three more, you're banned for an hour.
I'm usually one who is strongly against filters, but I have to admit, this one did wonders. People learned to either be civil towards each other, or they learned to be quiet.
I always thought the ice at the caps was determined to be frozen CO2, also known as dry ice.
Alcohol under 21 is another good example. Here in Ohio, we have a law that says as soon as the Fed Gov stops linking the highway funds to the drinking age limit, the age limit automatically reverts back to 18. No vote needed.
That doesn't make much sense. You have to recoup more than your R&D costs so that you can support failed projects. Many projects fail and those costs have to be passed onto the successful ones.
That only worked sometimes. Many manufactures found that it was actually cheaper to make only one type of disk, and sell it at two different prices depending on demand. Those are the types that the hole punch worked for. Some companies, though, really did make two types of disks and the hole punch trick wouldn't work on them.
The toll roads are created and maintained by private companies. The public freeway system is free to everyone to use.
I've driven from Columbus, OH to New Orleans, LA and from Columbus, OH to Orlando, FL many times and have never encountered a toll booth.
If I remember correctly, GWBjr lost the popular vote and only won the electoral college vote by a narrow margin. Though, according to the latest recount by the media, even that is in debate. :)
Ironically, Russia (then the USSR) introduced Flouride into their water at about the same time as the US did. Over there the fringe groups were screaming that it was a capitalistic conspiracy to pacify them. Funny how crazed minds think alike. :)
Sounds like mine. I have my main server as a PPro200 w/96mb of RAM. It does my routing, acts as my firewall, makes a good development database server, a good webserver (with JServ), and acts as a damn fine samba server. It has 3 network cards, and no video card. Whenever I need do access it, I use ssh and X.
1) Never harm or endanger a human.
It would be better if it was more like Asimov's rule and read: Never harm, or through inaction allow harm to come to, a human. That keeps the robot from watching a person drown and doing nothing.
And our local phone company (Qwest) says it provides a similar service which, according to their TV ads, identifies telemarketers and recites a message along the lines of, "This number does not accept messages from solicitors. Please hang up now."
Man it must be great being a phone company. First, they sell your number to the telemarketers. Second, they sell you a caller id service so you can filter telemarketers. Third, they sell the telemarketers a device that blocks caller id. Fourth, they sell you a device that blocks blocked caller id calls. Fifth, they sell the telemarketer a device that puts garbage in the caller id field so it doesn't get blocked. Finally, they sell you a service that blocks the telemarketer. I'll bet it isn't too long before they sell the telemarketer some sorted of "trusted status" device that gets them through the new block.
I wish that your theory was true. I don't make any long distance calls. None. I don't even have a long distance provider. I *still* get calls from long distance companies.
"We can offer you x minutes for only $y per month."
"Yeah, that's great, but I don't make any long distance calls."
"But sir, you get x minutes for only $y per month, and then only $z per minute after that."
"I don't make any long distance calls. I don't even spend $y per month. Why would I want to no?"
"I understand sir, but for only $y per month..."
"ARGH!!!!" *click*
Yep, you're right, my bad. Still makes electronic stuff have a very bad day.
I saw one that had a directional antenna, was able to fit on an A/V cart, and was able to stall a car from 20 feet. Pretty cool, but kinda scary considering he built it using consumer parts and for less than 10k. There was some report about it on ABC News a year or two ago.
No no no... Pauley Shore should be on Carrot Top's team. :)