> One small problem - that would be the government interfering in business, which is wrong. > Unless it's Bell. Or Microsoft. Or a bank that needs bailing out.
Um, perhaps you might want to actually visit donotcall.gov?
"Predictive calling" is a bit more sophisticated than that. The system tries to predict based on past performance of each clerk and the how long each busy clerk's current call has lasted when each one will become available and starts calls timed so that there will be something for each one to do when she finishes her current call. Of course it errs on the side of caution: better that the machine hang up on you because all clerks are busy than that one clerk experience a few seconds of dead time.
> Hmmm... there goes my automated video game reservation messages, my Blockbuster overdue > messages, automated messages from companies telling us our product has shipped, and any > other ligitimate and useful automated phone message you might receive for appointments, > etc.
"Press 1 to speak to Fuzzyuw or press 2 to leave a message". Record whatever they say (even if they don't press anything) unless they press 1 in which case you ring the phone. The telemarketing clerks will have been told to hang up immediately when they get a machine.
> The real truth is all the other inner planets suck as terraforming cannidates.
Earth seems like a fairly promising candidate. Just get rid of the humans...
>...rings like in Ringworld are superior since spinning them can reproduce the effects of > gravity. Make one the diameter of the Earth and add a wall the height of our atmosphere > and spin it and you effectively have a planet.
> All I can say is that this is pretty disheartening and it sets a very bad precedent. > What next, my ISP loaning out my e-mail to spammers for a cut?
How much are you paying each month for your Facebook account?
> After reading this & some rumour that I won't be able to delete my facebook account...
Do you know of a site anywhere on the Web where one can delete an account? It it were possible how could these outfits brag about having 750 million users?
Bill Gates would have no difficulty at all using the Net, nor would other users of licensed copies of government-certified closed-source operating systems. It's just users of unregulated Free Software OSs that would be locked out.
> The APM program, which seeks brilliant kids and slots them directly into important jobs > with no experience necessary, was formed after Google's attempts to hire veterans from > firms like Microsoft had awful results. 'Google is so different that it was almost > impossible to reprogram them into this culture,' says Google CEO Eric Schmidt of the > experienced hires.
> Actually, this is a good example of something that would not be helped by the open source > development model. How many hobbyists do you think have a multi-million dollar vehicle > outfitted with all the necessary sensors and computers?
So "Open Source" == "hobbyist"? Sun, NSA, IBM, Google, etc. are "hobbyists"?
> Back to my example of bad and dangerous drivers... yes, there's a "collective right" to > "control" bad behavior, but you wouldn't blockade the interstates in the interest of > "control".
My property is not a highway. I can blockade my driveway if I wish.
From what I remember learning in physics class, light travelling perpendicularly through
a magnetic field gets "twisted" (either CW or CCW, depending on the direction of the
field and the direction light is coming from), changing polarity but not direction.
Slashdot Mirror
> What alternatives are there besides Hushmail?
GPG works fine.
> One small problem - that would be the government interfering in business, which is wrong.
> Unless it's Bell. Or Microsoft. Or a bank that needs bailing out.
Um, perhaps you might want to actually visit donotcall.gov?
"Predictive calling" is a bit more sophisticated than that. The system tries to predict based on past performance of each clerk and the how long each busy clerk's current call has lasted when each one will become available and starts calls timed so that there will be something for each one to do when she finishes her current call. Of course it errs on the side of caution: better that the machine hang up on you because all clerks are busy than that one clerk experience a few seconds of dead time.
> Hmmm... there goes my automated video game reservation messages, my Blockbuster overdue
> messages, automated messages from companies telling us our product has shipped, and any
> other ligitimate and useful automated phone message you might receive for appointments,
> etc.
"Press 1 to speak to Fuzzyuw or press 2 to leave a message". Record whatever they say (even if they don't press anything) unless they press 1 in which case you ring the phone. The telemarketing clerks will have been told to hang up immediately when they get a machine.
> Apparently NASA doesn't trust tin so they still use lead.
They use an alloy of tin and lead, and for good reason. Google "tin whiskers".
> The real truth is all the other inner planets suck as terraforming cannidates.
...rings like in Ringworld are superior since spinning them can reproduce the effects of
Earth seems like a fairly promising candidate. Just get rid of the humans...
>
> gravity. Make one the diameter of the Earth and add a wall the height of our atmosphere
> and spin it and you effectively have a planet.
Bit of a materials problem there.
> I wonder how much Venus would cool if we simply dropped a couple hundred nukes on the
> surface. It would surely cool it by a few degrees...
More likely a few hundredths of a degree, but why do you think that would cool it at all?
Because the people who most need hardware RNGs don't trust Intel and AMD.
> The random number generator for XP and 2K3 server was substantially improved over that
> of Win 2000.
You know this, of course, because you have reviewed the source code.
> So why dont they use it to gather data ?
They do.
Most of the cost of the current machines is in the high-field magnet.
> All I can say is that this is pretty disheartening and it sets a very bad precedent.
> What next, my ISP loaning out my e-mail to spammers for a cut?
How much are you paying each month for your Facebook account?
> After reading this & some rumour that I won't be able to delete my facebook account...
Do you know of a site anywhere on the Web where one can delete an account? It it were possible how could these outfits brag about having 750 million users?
> Netgear was very helpful. Tier1 tech support said securing the router was my
> responsibility.
Easily done. Place the router in a trashcan and secure the lid. Then scrounge up an old pc or laptop and put a Linux router on it.
Bill Gates would have no difficulty at all using the Net, nor would other users of licensed copies of government-certified closed-source operating systems. It's just users of unregulated Free Software OSs that would be locked out.
> ...what kind of person has so much time on their hands that they would ever want to watch
> a baseball game from previous seasons?
What kind of person has so much time on their hands that they would ever want to watch a major-league baseball game, full stop?
...to me.
> The APM program, which seeks brilliant kids and slots them directly into important jobs
> with no experience necessary, was formed after Google's attempts to hire veterans from
> firms like Microsoft had awful results. 'Google is so different that it was almost
> impossible to reprogram them into this culture,' says Google CEO Eric Schmidt of the
> experienced hires.
This will come to a bad end.
This is Slashdot. Does the sports section of your daily paper tell you what baseball is when they report on the World Series?
> Actually, this is a good example of something that would not be helped by the open source
> development model. How many hobbyists do you think have a multi-million dollar vehicle
> outfitted with all the necessary sensors and computers?
So "Open Source" == "hobbyist"? Sun, NSA, IBM, Google, etc. are "hobbyists"?
> Back to my example of bad and dangerous drivers... yes, there's a "collective right" to
> "control" bad behavior, but you wouldn't blockade the interstates in the interest of
> "control".
My property is not a highway. I can blockade my driveway if I wish.
> But of course, they want to make those STIX Fonts fonts free (as in free speech).
They haven't. Read the license.
Under the Deccan traps?
> Therefore Google has the name...
Which you gave them. Why did you do that?