Network Solutions used to do that (maybe they still do). Not to bid up the cost of the domain, per se; but to force you to use their registration services.
As a consumer, it always cheesed me off if I bought a BluRay and found it had an UltraViolet code in it, as the experience was uniformly terrible. I've always had a much easier time with iTunes codes -- they work, are well supported, Apple always has the content, I can stream in HD even a year or two after entering the code, and the experience is always uniformly positive.
Which was why - at least on Amazon - I found that lots of discs which included UV codes were "accidentally" mis-advertised as including iTunes codes instead. Companies like Funimation repeatedly made this same "mistake" - I'm not sure if they ever corrected it, even after getting called on it.
I don't like DRM; but at least Apple has made it reasonably transparent to the end user.
But I am sure as hell not letting anyone adjust my thermostat over the internet, or watch me (WHATEVER) either.
That's quite some slog from the couch all the way to the control unit on the wall, though. Who wants to walk 10-15 feet just to adjust the temperature? What is this, the Middle Ages? You might miss out on a funny cat video that's gone viral!
So hidden in that note is a comment that Google+ will apparently be continuing for G Suite customers - and "new features are coming".
I was really hoping that Google+ was really going away and that we could get our department's YouTube channel disconnected from the damn Google+ account we were basically coerced by Google into creating in the first place. But no... we're apparently stuck with this pointless account which almost no one actually wants. AND we've seen just how much attention Google pays to Google+ security!
"Apart from being musically unremarkable, they generally have a few things in common: short songs with few or no lyrics, illustrated with generic cover art, and short, non-descriptive song titles," said the Beeb of these acts -- some of whom had managed to rack up tens of thousands of plays.
- I think this attitude that everything must be "made in America" is ridiculously outdated. Economies are global now; deal with it. But when a country competes unfairly - which China apparently does, on a regular basis - come down hard on that.
- I don't like the explanation that "Chinese workers will work for little money and extremely long hours". We shouldn't be willing to accept horrible work conditions just because we want our toys and it isn't our children (or adults) who are basically slaves in all but name. If the stuff we want requires that other people suffer, that's a problem that needs to be handled at OUR end.
I mean, I might be willing to pay "Greater than iDevice prices" if they used the right packaging.
Samsung is a huge company which also makes things like washers, dryers, and refrigerators. From what I've seen (and we've been looking at refrigerators lately), their pricing in these other product categories is already well above the median.
Like Apple, Samsung can probably afford to put money into more eco-friendly packaging options without too significantly hurting their bottom line.
The reason they can attract so many great employees despite being a huge company is because of a culture of taking care of their employees better than most big companies.
I realize this is just a very-small-size anecdote, but - back six or seven years ago, it seemed like we were losing one or two faculty members (or people we were trying to recruit as new faculty) to Google. It also seemed like our best and brightest grad students were largely going to Google after graduation. But nowadays, the faculty I know who went there have all left, save one... and it doesn’t seem like our students regard it nearly as highly as before.
What I remember most was the screen, which could horizontally display only 6 inches of the 7 inches-per-line (or was it 6.5”) of text my friend was typing - he’d gotten one of these Macs specifically to write his thesis on. To me, that just seemed like a ludicrous design decision... not being able to simply read one entire line without scrolling.
I was not a Mac fan at all until they made the switch to Unix; although I do have fond memories of staying late after work sometimes to play Scarab of Ra and Glider.
Nowadays, though, I do most of my work on a Mac. I just hope someone at Apple comes to their senses and starts offering decent hardware again before my 2015 MacBook Pro bites the dust.
* They are gathering data to improve their voice tech (that everyone thought was creepy and nobody wanted) that is intended to interact with shops.
Speaking of creepy voice tech... I recently called a doctor’s office - a specialist I’d just recently seen for the first time - to reschedule an appointment. A woman answered. Every time I’d make a statement (e.g. “I need to reschedule an appointment”) there’s be a pause of a couple seconds, then I’d get a response that was accurate but seemed stilted and a little off. The reschedule was successful, but the whole thing just came across as weird.
It sure seemed to me like I was interacting with a bot, but I haven’t heard about this tech actually being deployed before.
Slashdot Mirror
Network Solutions used to do that (maybe they still do). Not to bid up the cost of the domain, per se; but to force you to use their registration services.
Sounds like a good time to jump on that four-syllable, eight-letter "cocacola.com" name I've been meaning to register!
I'm not a gamer, so I'm not the target demographic - but I thought this was very clever and funny.
”Is there rampant domain speculation, or do I just think of the same names as everyone else?”
Yes and yes.
So these are scientists living in Bogota? Those Columbian researchers are pretty amazing. Must be all that coffee.
As a consumer, it always cheesed me off if I bought a BluRay and found it had an UltraViolet code in it, as the experience was uniformly terrible. I've always had a much easier time with iTunes codes -- they work, are well supported, Apple always has the content, I can stream in HD even a year or two after entering the code, and the experience is always uniformly positive.
Which was why - at least on Amazon - I found that lots of discs which included UV codes were "accidentally" mis-advertised as including iTunes codes instead. Companies like Funimation repeatedly made this same "mistake" - I'm not sure if they ever corrected it, even after getting called on it.
I don't like DRM; but at least Apple has made it reasonably transparent to the end user.
But I am sure as hell not letting anyone adjust my thermostat over the internet, or watch me (WHATEVER) either.
That's quite some slog from the couch all the way to the control unit on the wall, though. Who wants to walk 10-15 feet just to adjust the temperature? What is this, the Middle Ages? You might miss out on a funny cat video that's gone viral!
Skynet was supposed to become self-aware August 29th, 1997.
It did. But in this reboot it's just quietly biding its time...
Fair enough.
So hidden in that note is a comment that Google+ will apparently be continuing for G Suite customers - and "new features are coming".
I was really hoping that Google+ was really going away and that we could get our department's YouTube channel disconnected from the damn Google+ account we were basically coerced by Google into creating in the first place. But no... we're apparently stuck with this pointless account which almost no one actually wants. AND we've seen just how much attention Google pays to Google+ security!
Thanks Google!
Oh no, he’s outside... looking in.
If we knew about it ahead of time, we’d probably be able to prevent - or at least ameliorate - it.
All that software, with dozens of different EULAs... it's surprising he can legally even say "good morning" to anyone.
Sadly, he'll have no one to leave this collection to when he passes on... since he's obviously going to die a virgin.
It seems at least one Microsoft manager hasn’t learned anything from the company’s past. Hope he’s not in charge of anything important.
Snapchat is considering making their private, permanent archives of everyone's old snaps public and official.
I want to say one word to you... just one word. Are you listening?
Mycotecture.
"Apart from being musically unremarkable, they generally have a few things in common: short songs with few or no lyrics, illustrated with generic cover art, and short, non-descriptive song titles," said the Beeb of these acts -- some of whom had managed to rack up tens of thousands of plays.
Are they quoting Justin Bieber here?
- I think this attitude that everything must be "made in America" is ridiculously outdated. Economies are global now; deal with it. But when a country competes unfairly - which China apparently does, on a regular basis - come down hard on that.
- I don't like the explanation that "Chinese workers will work for little money and extremely long hours". We shouldn't be willing to accept horrible work conditions just because we want our toys and it isn't our children (or adults) who are basically slaves in all but name. If the stuff we want requires that other people suffer, that's a problem that needs to be handled at OUR end.
I mean, I might be willing to pay "Greater than iDevice prices" if they used the right packaging.
Samsung is a huge company which also makes things like washers, dryers, and refrigerators. From what I've seen (and we've been looking at refrigerators lately), their pricing in these other product categories is already well above the median.
Like Apple, Samsung can probably afford to put money into more eco-friendly packaging options without too significantly hurting their bottom line.
The reason they can attract so many great employees despite being a huge company is because of a culture of taking care of their employees better than most big companies.
I realize this is just a very-small-size anecdote, but - back six or seven years ago, it seemed like we were losing one or two faculty members (or people we were trying to recruit as new faculty) to Google. It also seemed like our best and brightest grad students were largely going to Google after graduation. But nowadays, the faculty I know who went there have all left, save one... and it doesn’t seem like our students regard it nearly as highly as before.
What I remember most was the screen, which could horizontally display only 6 inches of the 7 inches-per-line (or was it 6.5”) of text my friend was typing - he’d gotten one of these Macs specifically to write his thesis on. To me, that just seemed like a ludicrous design decision... not being able to simply read one entire line without scrolling.
I was not a Mac fan at all until they made the switch to Unix; although I do have fond memories of staying late after work sometimes to play Scarab of Ra and Glider.
Nowadays, though, I do most of my work on a Mac. I just hope someone at Apple comes to their senses and starts offering decent hardware again before my 2015 MacBook Pro bites the dust.
The best “backup phone” is the one you shoved into a drawer right after you purchased your current phone.
* They are gathering data to improve their voice tech (that everyone thought was creepy and nobody wanted) that is intended to interact with shops.
Speaking of creepy voice tech... I recently called a doctor’s office - a specialist I’d just recently seen for the first time - to reschedule an appointment. A woman answered. Every time I’d make a statement (e.g. “I need to reschedule an appointment”) there’s be a pause of a couple seconds, then I’d get a response that was accurate but seemed stilted and a little off. The reschedule was successful, but the whole thing just came across as weird.
It sure seemed to me like I was interacting with a bot, but I haven’t heard about this tech actually being deployed before.
We all know Canada is like Narnia, except without lions.