Web sites... allow third parties to place Web bugs on their sites... and share with corporate 'affiliates.'... Bank of America... has more than 2,300 affiliates â" and users cannot learn their identities.
So quit using their web site and go back to paper bill-paying.
Remember the reason you started paying bills via the web? It was fast and easy. Is it still?
I think a lot of things in those days were built without a really good understanding of engineering, so things were typically over-engineered.
You are assuming a continually accelerating technology curve. But, once a given technology matures to a state of small incremental improvements (for example, your hammer), then it becomes more economical to buy products designed for durability.
We're some ways off from that with microelectronic devices, but this sector maturity is not as far off as you might think...
Tracking starts early, unfortunately. Those who can resist it and go their own way will be successful.
Long ago, as a senior in high school, I took physics, calculus, wood shop, and crafts classes. All together, those classes gave me a firm foundation to be a leader in my particular field of the physical sciences. Straddling the gap was discouraged, but I did it anyway.
Thanks to this broad basic education, I am now a PhD scientist with a very strong physical intuition. This would not have happened if I had not taken shop.
Verizon has made money for years played the middle man in the arms race against invasive calls. They sell my name/number, then try to sell me *69, then sell them blocking, then try to sell me....
It also depends on what the parody song is about. Is it parodying the song itself, as Weird Al does, or is it using the melody of the song to create a parody of something else.
That's it, precisely.
There was a guy in the late 90's that just replaced the lyrics of popular songs with scatological (and unfunny) lyrics. He was eventually forced to quit selling CDs, because his songs were very clearly not parodies.
There is no... legit gun dealers in the US who are selling fully automatic rifles and RPGs etc in mass quantities to be smuggled to Mexico. That is just so ludicrous as to be mega laughable. It's a stupid...
Voicemail can be extremely useful, but it has been trying to kill itself for the last 10 years. It has come to suck even more over the that time, even though it's been around for 35 years! Why?!?
Proliferating Prompts. Prompts used to be minimal, with an "I know what I'm doing" mode for expert users. But recently, providers have injected more and more instructive prompts, slower prompt talking, have actively avoided using any sort of standard as to what keys mean, and have removed any method for avoiding these "first-time-user" type of prompts. (Try # on Sprint, though.)
The Novice User Paradigm. Voicemail systems have added in numerous new prompts and extras, just in case you, the user who has owned a cell phone for 7 years, have forgotten how to work the voicemail.
Old technology. It's hard to get any development done on an "old" technology. Human usability of voicemail could be made much more efficient, but because it is perceived as "yesterday's" technology, that is unlikely to materialize.
My guess is that marketing wants to "differentiate our product," and legal is afraid of someone "losing an important message because they couldn't use the system." The result is a system that succeeds on these goals, making it fail general usability. The result is, unfortunately, a pain in the ass to use.
VOICEMIAL DESIGNERS, PLEASE!
Standardize the buttons.
Give me a prompt-less mode!!!
Hire a human-computer interface person to fix your system.
I've recently received collection-agency calls, for a guy who used to own the place I bought (foreclosed), but never had my phone number.
Apparently, someone sells a database with second-order correlations. They match the address of the debt to all phone numbers associated with it. Stupid, horribly inaccurate use of the Equifax data mining idea. But I can't make them stop calling me for this unknown guys debt.
"Starting to"? MSR is one of the biggest single contributors to CS research out there, and has been for a long time.
This is called "sucking the air out of the room," and is one of Microsoft's main strategies. They keep as many CS profs on their dole as possible, so that there are fewer who dare criticize MS.
This is what they did for their US antitrust case - they hired tons of law firms for little bits of work, especially any with antitrust experience, so that conflict-of-interest rules prevented them from working for the government on the antitrust case.
This is what they did with shelf-space -they bought up (or rented) all of the prime shelf space in main computer retailers, so that there was no "good" shelf space left for competitors' products. People assume retailers put their best stuff on the most prominent displays, so competitors were shut out.
It is the same with CS research sponsorship. They want to have a club to threaten errant profs/universities with, in case they criticize.
Slashdot Mirror
Search something like "bill gates evil" in google and bing. Compare. Discuss.
Maybe after your condition necessitates back or heart surgery you'll re-think how much you value this job.
I did for mine.
I can save money day one by buying...
Ah yes, the good-old "save money by spending it." Always works like a charm.
Web sites ... allow third parties to place Web bugs on their sites ... and share with corporate 'affiliates.' ... Bank of America ... has more than 2,300 affiliates â" and users cannot learn their identities.
So quit using their web site and go back to paper bill-paying.
Remember the reason you started paying bills via the web? It was fast and easy. Is it still?
I think a lot of things in those days were built without a really good understanding of engineering, so things were typically over-engineered.
You are assuming a continually accelerating technology curve. But, once a given technology matures to a state of small incremental improvements (for example, your hammer), then it becomes more economical to buy products designed for durability.
We're some ways off from that with microelectronic devices, but this sector maturity is not as far off as you might think...
Tracking starts early, unfortunately. Those who can resist it and go their own way will be successful.
Long ago, as a senior in high school, I took physics, calculus, wood shop, and crafts classes. All together, those classes gave me a firm foundation to be a leader in my particular field of the physical sciences. Straddling the gap was discouraged, but I did it anyway.
Thanks to this broad basic education, I am now a PhD scientist with a very strong physical intuition. This would not have happened if I had not taken shop.
Tracking is for the mediocre.
This is why I just cancelled my land line.
Verizon has made money for years played the middle man in the arms race against invasive calls. They sell my name/number, then try to sell me *69, then sell them blocking, then try to sell me....
Nuts to them.
It also depends on what the parody song is about. Is it parodying the song itself, as Weird Al does, or is it using the melody of the song to create a parody of something else.
That's it, precisely.
There was a guy in the late 90's that just replaced the lyrics of popular songs with scatological (and unfunny) lyrics. He was eventually forced to quit selling CDs, because his songs were very clearly not parodies.
There is no ... legit gun dealers in the US who are selling fully automatic rifles and RPGs etc in mass quantities to be smuggled to Mexico. That is just so ludicrous as to be mega laughable. It's a stupid...
Actually, many guns sold in the US are turning up involved in crimes in Mexico.
Proliferating Prompts. Prompts used to be minimal, with an "I know what I'm doing" mode for expert users. But recently, providers have injected more and more instructive prompts, slower prompt talking, have actively avoided using any sort of standard as to what keys mean, and have removed any method for avoiding these "first-time-user" type of prompts. (Try # on Sprint, though.)
The Novice User Paradigm. Voicemail systems have added in numerous new prompts and extras, just in case you, the user who has owned a cell phone for 7 years, have forgotten how to work the voicemail.
Old technology. It's hard to get any development done on an "old" technology. Human usability of voicemail could be made much more efficient, but because it is perceived as "yesterday's" technology, that is unlikely to materialize.
My guess is that marketing wants to "differentiate our product," and legal is afraid of someone "losing an important message because they couldn't use the system." The result is a system that succeeds on these goals, making it fail general usability. The result is, unfortunately, a pain in the ass to use.
VOICEMIAL DESIGNERS, PLEASE!
So don't buy their products.
So, can Domino's email you your dinner instead?
I think that's what many of them are paying for.
Ah well.
This will be a real money-saver, because paper is becoming very expensive.
Hey! I just realized that my office is only using 30% of our electrical outlets. What a waste!
...until we need to rearrange the office.
...what makes you think they're going to act faithfully with an opt-out request?!
I've recently begun to receive spam emails from supply companies in my field, usually disguised as a "newsletter" that I can opt out of.
Mainstream companies are beginning to lose their fear of spamming (technical equipment) customers.
Symantec is just trying to drum up more sales.
The more people fear their computers might be "infected," the more antivirus software they sell.
I've recently received collection-agency calls, for a guy who used to own the place I bought (foreclosed), but never had my phone number.
Apparently, someone sells a database with second-order correlations. They match the address of the debt to all phone numbers associated with it. Stupid, horribly inaccurate use of the Equifax data mining idea. But I can't make them stop calling me for this unknown guys debt.
"Starting to"? MSR is one of the biggest single contributors to CS research out there, and has been for a long time.
This is called "sucking the air out of the room," and is one of Microsoft's main strategies. They keep as many CS profs on their dole as possible, so that there are fewer who dare criticize MS.
This is what they did for their US antitrust case - they hired tons of law firms for little bits of work, especially any with antitrust experience, so that conflict-of-interest rules prevented them from working for the government on the antitrust case.
This is what they did with shelf-space -they bought up (or rented) all of the prime shelf space in main computer retailers, so that there was no "good" shelf space left for competitors' products. People assume retailers put their best stuff on the most prominent displays, so competitors were shut out.
It is the same with CS research sponsorship. They want to have a club to threaten errant profs/universities with, in case they criticize.
* Buy 100 W incandescents
* Replace your wall switches with dimmers
* Set them at 20%, adjust as needed.
You will find you end up using less power, thoughtfuly using just as much light as you want at a time.
The power savings can rival those of switching to CFLs. Plus the light is nicer.
Good solo-inventor NDAs are available here and also here.
Nolo also has lots of other good stuff for solo inventors, like Patent it Yourself.
Good luck.
There are growing fears that these practices could trigger a major international incident
Just wait until the print newspapers are gone. When the only source of news is via the internet...
Sure, we could build a camera that captured video instead of stills
In Los Angeles, they do have video. They provide a web link with the violation for you to watch the video.
Keep that in mind the next time you visit a drug or grocery store with 30 people in line being served by only 2 cashiers.
Making people stand in line increases sales of impulse items. The line is there by design.
Isn't Cory's brilliant insight coming about 10 years late?