I know. I wanted to express my displeasure in a way that the employee might remember. He asked if I found everything I needed, and I said, "Yes, including the hassle at the door." He said, "I'm just doing my job." So, he missed my point...but maybe, maybe if the manager hears about it (both from him and from my e-mail) and enough other complaints, they'll stop the practice...
My biggest annoyance was that I couldn't find help when I wanted it, but that they (of course) had help stationed at the door to check my purchase - I felt their priorities were a little off.
I love how you didn't quote the second part of my statement - it wasn't that I minded being ignored, it was that I couldn't find help when I wanted it and that they had no problem with having people on hand to annoy me at the door.
I have never once (up until Friday) gotten out of Best Buy without being asked if I needed help. Moreover, I couldn't find anyone in that department to ask.
On an unrelated note, my original post isn't "insightful", it's "off-topic"...
I sent a nasty e-mail to Best Buy Friday after I visited a store. They completely ignored me for the half hour I spent walking around the audio department (and they were NOT busy - it was Friday morning right after they opened), but when I finally bought something they had no problem stopping me at the door to check my receipt. As I summed it up in the e-mail, "Before the sale: totally ignore me; After the sale: treat me like a criminal".
The response I got said they'd share my comments with that store's management.
When I looked, all I could find was Apple and Fujitsu, but I think the Apple didn't burn DVDs and only had 802.11b...and it was nearly $1000 more. (Yeah, I know I don't really *need*.11g and could've gotten by with.11b, but I didn't want to get into a situation where a year down the road I wished I'd had an.11g laptop.)
My previous laptop is a Fujitsu, and every Fujitsu laptop I've seen has worked extremely well with few (if any) problems. The previous laptop is a Pentium 133 machine that just won't die, despite 6 years of use. I have it in my kitchen now as an internet terminal! So, I was definitely leaning toward Fujitsu, but I was checking out all the major brands I knew of, and I just couldn't find anything that had the same features as the Fujitsu.
Of course, I could do without the floppy drive it has... *sigh*
I'd rather have a slim, sexy lightweight laptop, but instead I have a 7 lb monster that I bought earlier this year. The problem was that I wanted the kitchen sink (802.11g built in, DVD writer, touchpad, etc) and only a few laptops had all of those options at the time. To get one that had all that and was relatively light meant I would've spent at least $800 more.
Yeah, it's a big laptop, but I don't travel *that* much, and it's more for use at my destination rather than on the way.
What's really sad is just how old that comic you're quoting is. It's from the mid 80's, I think. Sad that it would still apply (and a testament to Breathed's understanding of the world).
How about you keep your precious servers in another room and let us PC users actually be comfortable?
The lab I used in graduate school was kept at about 60 degrees F for this reason (it didn't help that the room was small and the A/C was blowing on you wherever you were). We hated it - it was difficult to concentrate. I distinctly remember shivering uncontrollably several times when I had classes in there and had forgotten to bring my winter coat.
Yeah, I completely understand - I live on the 15th floor of my building, and I occasionally hear cars going by out front (and I'm NOT close to the road) with bass thumping or nasty exhausts. It's amazing.
It's a thin line - I consider myself an auto enthusiast, and many of my friends put a lot of modifications on their cars. Most of them are NOT doing it to be loud; they do it because they want more power and a different sound (not necessarily louder, just different). Some people put huge "coffee can" mufflers on their cars that do nothing for performance but change the sound - I, and most of my friends, absolutely hate those. Personally, I'd rather my exhaust be totally silent so that I could better hear my music. I like listening to the engine run, too (not the exhaust, the engine).
Technically, it is illegal to play the radio so loud that you can't hear sirens - if nothing else, it's disturbing the peace, but some areas have "noise pollution" laws that cover it more specifically. I doubt you'd get stopped for having headphones on, though, just like I've never seen someone stopped for playing loud music.
I'm kind of torn on this. I know exactly who you're talking about - and they annoy me as well. But I recently got a 12" subwoofer installed in my car. I'm careful to keep it turned down in town, but there are times when I wonder if they can hear/feel the thump from it even though it isn't that loud (and I have a slight hearing loss, unrelated to listening to music, which means I have the volume slightly higher than an average person would).
I know you're talking about the sociopaths that think they're proving some point or whatever. But I worry that I might be doing the same thing (not as badly, but still audible) without realizing it... it's really hard to judge how loud the music really is.
When I got the subwoofer, I turned the volume up to about as loud as I'd want to listen to it at a traffic light with the windows up, then I got out of the car and walked around it to see how it sounded. It wasn't bad at all: no one more than a foot or two from the car would be able to hear it, so I made a note of that volume setting and keep it below that in town. But, not all CDs are recorded the same - some are quiet, some are loud, and some have much stronger bass, and I might not always be compensating well for the variance.
On the other hand, my workplace rolled out Cisco IP phones about 2 years ago, and they work absolutely perfectly. I can remember only one time that the phones went down (so we had no way to call in a ticket - I used my cell phone to do it), and that was only for an hour or so, early in the morning when it wasn't a big deal.
The sound quality and reliability are excellent, and the phones themselves are very nice to use.
I was under the impression RFIDs could only hold a few bytes of data at most, but I guess they've gotten better while I wasn't looking and can now hold a kilobyte or more...
It might be a more attractive target, sure. But, I think most of the security holes found lately have been the result of someone looking for security holes in an effort to get them fixed (or just bash IE, I dunno) rather than because an exploit was in the wild...
In other words, it seems like many of the exploits we've been hearing about lately came out only after the security hole was publicized, not before.
Slashdot Mirror
...and GnuCash is about 2 gnome versions behind. Very frustrating to install on Slackware (see my website).
--RJ
I know. I wanted to express my displeasure in a way that the employee might remember. He asked if I found everything I needed, and I said, "Yes, including the hassle at the door." He said, "I'm just doing my job." So, he missed my point...but maybe, maybe if the manager hears about it (both from him and from my e-mail) and enough other complaints, they'll stop the practice...
My biggest annoyance was that I couldn't find help when I wanted it, but that they (of course) had help stationed at the door to check my purchase - I felt their priorities were a little off.
--RJ
I love how you didn't quote the second part of my statement - it wasn't that I minded being ignored, it was that I couldn't find help when I wanted it and that they had no problem with having people on hand to annoy me at the door.
--RJ
I have never once (up until Friday) gotten out of Best Buy without being asked if I needed help. Moreover, I couldn't find anyone in that department to ask.
On an unrelated note, my original post isn't "insightful", it's "off-topic"...
--RJ
I sent a nasty e-mail to Best Buy Friday after I visited a store. They completely ignored me for the half hour I spent walking around the audio department (and they were NOT busy - it was Friday morning right after they opened), but when I finally bought something they had no problem stopping me at the door to check my receipt. As I summed it up in the e-mail, "Before the sale: totally ignore me; After the sale: treat me like a criminal".
The response I got said they'd share my comments with that store's management.
--RJ
When I looked, all I could find was Apple and Fujitsu, but I think the Apple didn't burn DVDs and only had 802.11b...and it was nearly $1000 more. (Yeah, I know I don't really *need* .11g and could've gotten by with .11b, but I didn't want to get into a situation where a year down the road I wished I'd had an .11g laptop.)
My previous laptop is a Fujitsu, and every Fujitsu laptop I've seen has worked extremely well with few (if any) problems. The previous laptop is a Pentium 133 machine that just won't die, despite 6 years of use. I have it in my kitchen now as an internet terminal! So, I was definitely leaning toward Fujitsu, but I was checking out all the major brands I knew of, and I just couldn't find anything that had the same features as the Fujitsu.
Of course, I could do without the floppy drive it has... *sigh*
--RJ
Yes, you found one *now*. You didn't find it back in January when I was looking.
Besides, who the heck is Averatec?
--RJ
When it comes to buying laptops, there's a rule:
Fast, Light, Cheap. Pick any two.
I'd rather have a slim, sexy lightweight laptop, but instead I have a 7 lb monster that I bought earlier this year. The problem was that I wanted the kitchen sink (802.11g built in, DVD writer, touchpad, etc) and only a few laptops had all of those options at the time. To get one that had all that and was relatively light meant I would've spent at least $800 more.
Yeah, it's a big laptop, but I don't travel *that* much, and it's more for use at my destination rather than on the way.
--RJ
I'd rather have people in debt if the alternative is them going hungry.
--RJ
I'd throw out that ridiculous assumption.
--RJ
Thank you. I've been saying the exact same things (I'm a statistician), but few people listen...
--RJ
I was thinking of a response to the letter:
"Frankly, my dear lawyers, I don't give a damn."
--RJ
It might be fun to back everything up before you try that, since Internet Explorer is an integral part of the OS... :)
--RJ
Where did I say that I was surprised?
Just pointing out the sadness of the situation.
--RJ
What's really sad is just how old that comic you're quoting is. It's from the mid 80's, I think. Sad that it would still apply (and a testament to Breathed's understanding of the world).
RJ
They're also only including undergrad students. Check out Dartmouth's ratio: 300 computers to 100 students!
Bad statistic!
--RJ
How about you keep your precious servers in another room and let us PC users actually be comfortable?
The lab I used in graduate school was kept at about 60 degrees F for this reason (it didn't help that the room was small and the A/C was blowing on you wherever you were). We hated it - it was difficult to concentrate. I distinctly remember shivering uncontrollably several times when I had classes in there and had forgotten to bring my winter coat.
--RJ
Yeah, I completely understand - I live on the 15th floor of my building, and I occasionally hear cars going by out front (and I'm NOT close to the road) with bass thumping or nasty exhausts. It's amazing.
It's a thin line - I consider myself an auto enthusiast, and many of my friends put a lot of modifications on their cars. Most of them are NOT doing it to be loud; they do it because they want more power and a different sound (not necessarily louder, just different). Some people put huge "coffee can" mufflers on their cars that do nothing for performance but change the sound - I, and most of my friends, absolutely hate those. Personally, I'd rather my exhaust be totally silent so that I could better hear my music. I like listening to the engine run, too (not the exhaust, the engine).
Technically, it is illegal to play the radio so loud that you can't hear sirens - if nothing else, it's disturbing the peace, but some areas have "noise pollution" laws that cover it more specifically. I doubt you'd get stopped for having headphones on, though, just like I've never seen someone stopped for playing loud music.
--RJ
My experience with airports is that the TVs are enclosed and the IR receivers aren't visible anyway, making this device useless for even that purpose.
--RJ
I'm kind of torn on this. I know exactly who you're talking about - and they annoy me as well. But I recently got a 12" subwoofer installed in my car. I'm careful to keep it turned down in town, but there are times when I wonder if they can hear/feel the thump from it even though it isn't that loud (and I have a slight hearing loss, unrelated to listening to music, which means I have the volume slightly higher than an average person would).
I know you're talking about the sociopaths that think they're proving some point or whatever. But I worry that I might be doing the same thing (not as badly, but still audible) without realizing it... it's really hard to judge how loud the music really is.
When I got the subwoofer, I turned the volume up to about as loud as I'd want to listen to it at a traffic light with the windows up, then I got out of the car and walked around it to see how it sounded. It wasn't bad at all: no one more than a foot or two from the car would be able to hear it, so I made a note of that volume setting and keep it below that in town. But, not all CDs are recorded the same - some are quiet, some are loud, and some have much stronger bass, and I might not always be compensating well for the variance.
--RJ
Because they're CMM level 5! They must be good!
--RJ
Actually, the parent misspelled "misspelled", not "misspell". :)
--RJ
On the other hand, my workplace rolled out Cisco IP phones about 2 years ago, and they work absolutely perfectly. I can remember only one time that the phones went down (so we had no way to call in a ticket - I used my cell phone to do it), and that was only for an hour or so, early in the morning when it wasn't a big deal.
The sound quality and reliability are excellent, and the phones themselves are very nice to use.
--RJ
Thanks for clarifying that!
I was under the impression RFIDs could only hold a few bytes of data at most, but I guess they've gotten better while I wasn't looking and can now hold a kilobyte or more...
--RJ
It might be a more attractive target, sure. But, I think most of the security holes found lately have been the result of someone looking for security holes in an effort to get them fixed (or just bash IE, I dunno) rather than because an exploit was in the wild...
In other words, it seems like many of the exploits we've been hearing about lately came out only after the security hole was publicized, not before.
--RJ