Is that Citibank is still saving more outsourcing jobs than this incident will cost them. $350,000 is a drop in the bucket compared to what they've probably saved by contracting these deplorable call centers.
The only way to stop this is to organize and identify competitors that do not outsource, and figure out some way to communicate that to the public!
The only way this is going to stop is for customers to demand it. Right now it's too lucrative and most customers could care less.
Does anyone know what Apple typically does for new systems? I bought my G4 Powerbook about a month ago and curious if I will have to pay the full rate for the upgrade.
I recall in the past there have been special discounts/freebies for new owners.
I'm a faithful ReplayTV owner, and reluctantly picked up Comcast's HD recorder so I could record HDTV broadcasts. Their SA8000HD is for the birds.. Awful interface, jugheaded features, and a real step down from the ReplayTV's I've been using for the last six years.
Most annoying is that it doesn't 'time shift' properly. If it's recording a show, I have to rewind all the way back to the beginning to watch it.. Even worse is if the recording ends while I'm still in the middle of watching it, it'll stop and force me to fast forward back through everything I already watched!
They've slowly updated the firmware over the last several months, but this thing is DOA.. Just a clunky piece of well intentioned hardware. It is nice to be able to record two simultaneous HD streams, but it's just so poorly implemented..
This is a good move for Comcast as the recorder they gave me really feels like it's still in beta. Good for Tivo too as they need a wider net.
That's exactly what *everyone else* is doing and see what's happened? Focusing on winning with no interest in *why* you're winning or at what cost, leaves the whole exercise pointless. The poster may as well not stand at all if they're just going to do what everyone else does.
Absolutely. If you can't answer why you're running (and be able to answer briefly) you shouldn't be running at all.
That said, our open source candidate friend here is already making a common mistake most candidates make. Right now he should be on the phone a minimum of four hours a day (if not a full 8 hours) making calls for contributions.
He needs at least a million dollars to win that race. Time spent worrying about what software his computers are running is time wasted - even if it saves him $10,000 in the end. Candidates should never run their own races:).
Could it just be that the name Atari is just a curse? I'm sure Infogrames must be wondering if the purchase of the Atari name was a smart business decision:).
NASA has always been great about getting raw images up quickly on their website. Here we discover that ESA has a few hundred images already processed and nothing on their website..
We all know Apple's been sitting on a gold mine if they could only get the cost of their computers in line with the rest of the 'commodity' PC's out in the market. If this rumor is indeed true, Apple could very well pick up some market share.
The biggest selling point is obviously security. EVERY average Joe computer user I know is compromised with spyware and viruses (especially those with kids). I tell everyone who'll listen to buy a Mac when they're looking for a new PC, because it'll actually work after two weeks of use. It's nice to see that Apple might actually have something affordable for these folks.
2.8 Million, at 32 Items per second
on
Amazon Sales Record
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· Score: 5, Funny
Once you can sync a Palm or PocketPC to this thing it'll take off big time.
The only problem I've experienced in trying to switch completely to Thunderbird is its inability to import my large (over 1 gig) Outlook PST files. This is on a P4 2.8 rig with a gig of RAM. Perhaps someone can write up an extension to read the PST files directly.
I agree with the other comments here about the 'cool' of this device. I played with Metroid the other day at an EBGame$ store. The touch screen concept, especially with FPS, makes a lot of sense.
Still, I couldn't justify purchasing it.. There's just nothing compelling software-wise that makes me want to jump and buy this thing. I'd love to see some classic PC remakes like command and conquer on there. That would be cool.
Flickr looks pretty cool, but I prefer to keep my photos to myself.
I've been a big fan of Adobe Photoshop Album since it came out a couple of years ago. Like FlickR it uses tags to organize photos, and multiple tags can be assigned to the same picture. Lookups are incredible fast, and there are customizable templates for web posting. Since I 'blog' I like to keep stuff on my site so I can earn some Google ad revenues.
Most impressive is the amount of logging data it keeps. The program keeps track of when each photo was imported (by session as well as date) into the system so you can make adjustments at a later time to a certain import run.
It integrates fairly seamlessly with photoshop and always backs up the original photograph before you start mangling it:).
Sadly it's Windows only. Not sure if it works on WINE, but I'd highly recommend it to somebody who stores a boatload of photos like me.
I miss the days of the AOL floppy disk, which I'd promptly use as blanks. It was great because you were never without a floppy when you most needed one:).
It would be great for AOL to continue the tradition and mail out their installations on CD-RWs or open session CD-R's. It would certainly cut down on the waste as we'd be able to do something useful with the cd's when they arrived.
Why do manufacturers always do jugheaded things like this? It never ceases to amaze me how people can take what should be killer app products and cripple them with 'features' or release them to market with limitations that ultimately make them undesirable. I'm glad I didn't rush out and preorder this one.
Just the other day engadget featured a bluetooth wireless speaker adapter that incidently introduces a delay that causes audio to get out of sync with the video.
What the frock is going on? I can't play this game because the immersion is ruined. It pauses and stutters during scripted sequences, fight scenes, or simply turning corners to see a new area. I'm playing Prime 2 in the meantime until this is fixed. The first six chapters of Half-Life 2 have been ruined for me.
I'm not sure.. I am running a P4 3.0 ghz HT, Intel 875PBZ mainboard, ATI 9700 Pro with a gig of RAM. I do on occaision get a brief hiccup (and I mean very brief) when walking through a large area where an enemy or another object may appear. That's a rare occaision, however.
I'm sure there must be some little bug somewhere that's behaving badly with a particular combination of drivers. One of the downfalls of PC gaming are the infinite combinations of hardware and software each user has.
I still remember having to fight with boot disks and the like to get games like Wing Commander to run in the DOS days.
First, Valve knocked it out of the park on this game. It's absolutely the most incredible game I've played in years.. I'd even venture to say I'm as hooked on this one as I was on Doom way back when.
Although I didn't experience the stuttering bug others are, I have noticed how great Valve has been supporting this game. They communicate regularly (sometimes individually) and are really standing behind their product. Too bad other companies don't follow their lead.
Connecticut has offered access to some of the Pro-Quest databases to any resident with a CT library card.
They have archives for the NY Times, Hartford Courant, LA Times, Wall Street journal, Washington Post, etc. While the archives don't go back too far (twenty years for some papers, six for the NY Times) it is nice to see governments offering citizens access to this information free of charge. I use it quite frequently, and with hope they can get funding for the historical New York Times service (which is absolutely incredible).
Seriously, what's the point? They drive such a demand for the product that they pratically create a market for pirated and jumped release dates.
I think Valve's STEAM distribution system is going to revolutionize the industry much like iTunes is doing for music. It's a shame they couldn't let HL2 out quicker
Companies can release the day they go gold to pre-empt the pirates (you can pay to get it quicker), and it will ultimately allow smaller studios to regain their foothold in the industry.
I've been a PDA user for about ten years. I bought a Newton 110 right when it came out, later upgraded to a Newton 2000, and then went through a variety of WindowsCE/PocketPC devices.
I never used these devices as much as I would have liked due primarily to the lack of easy text entry. Handwriting recognition rocks when it works, but is often clumsily corrected. So despite all of the email capabilities these devices offered, I rarely used them for that purpose.
Enter my Treo 600.. I actually do email on this thing (a lot of it) because I can input text without frustration (and not worry about embarrassing misreads that I might miss).
As a result I will no longer buy a PDA that doesn't have some form of real (tactile and all) keyboard input. I know I'm probably limiting my choices, but I can't go back.. Handwriting recognition just doesn't work well enough for extensive data input.
Let's not forget the Media's role in all of this. Not only do the developers over promise and under deliver, the media does nothing to validate these claims in their previews.
It's a shame that these magazines and websites are so focused on hype and not on protecting consumer dollars from false promises. Obivously they're so dependent on industry advertising that they wouldn't dare bite off the hand that funds them.
I realize there are reasons for delaying the steam release until the physical copy is out, but I do hope that future electronic releases will be available the minute they've gone gold.
The entire promise of electronic distribution is that you don't need to wait for manufacturing and distribution to get the product available nationally (or internationally). Having to wait for 'release dates' is silly..
Although some are complaining over the seven hour length, I for one think it's great to have as much recorded as possible. Sysops around the world did some amazing things in their spare time (often with most of their spare money) decades before the Internet was available to mortal humans.
Recording the pioneers of global electronic communication is important as we'll never see a 'Google News-esque' archive of BBS systems and networks like FidoNet.
Slashdot Mirror
The only way to stop this is to organize and identify competitors that do not outsource, and figure out some way to communicate that to the public!
The only way this is going to stop is for customers to demand it. Right now it's too lucrative and most customers could care less.
Does anyone know what Apple typically does for new systems? I bought my G4 Powerbook about a month ago and curious if I will have to pay the full rate for the upgrade. I recall in the past there have been special discounts/freebies for new owners.
Most annoying is that it doesn't 'time shift' properly. If it's recording a show, I have to rewind all the way back to the beginning to watch it.. Even worse is if the recording ends while I'm still in the middle of watching it, it'll stop and force me to fast forward back through everything I already watched!
They've slowly updated the firmware over the last several months, but this thing is DOA.. Just a clunky piece of well intentioned hardware. It is nice to be able to record two simultaneous HD streams, but it's just so poorly implemented..
This is a good move for Comcast as the recorder they gave me really feels like it's still in beta. Good for Tivo too as they need a wider net.
Absolutely. If you can't answer why you're running (and be able to answer briefly) you shouldn't be running at all. That said, our open source candidate friend here is already making a common mistake most candidates make. Right now he should be on the phone a minimum of four hours a day (if not a full 8 hours) making calls for contributions. He needs at least a million dollars to win that race. Time spent worrying about what software his computers are running is time wasted - even if it saves him $10,000 in the end. Candidates should never run their own races :).
Could it just be that the name Atari is just a curse? I'm sure Infogrames must be wondering if the purchase of the Atari name was a smart business decision :).
NASA has always been great about getting raw images up quickly on their website. Here we discover that ESA has a few hundred images already processed and nothing on their website..
The biggest selling point is obviously security. EVERY average Joe computer user I know is compromised with spyware and viruses (especially those with kids). I tell everyone who'll listen to buy a Mac when they're looking for a new PC, because it'll actually work after two weeks of use. It's nice to see that Apple might actually have something affordable for these folks.
And not a dime of profit :).
The only problem I've experienced in trying to switch completely to Thunderbird is its inability to import my large (over 1 gig) Outlook PST files. This is on a P4 2.8 rig with a gig of RAM. Perhaps someone can write up an extension to read the PST files directly.
Is this a common feature of modern expendable rockets or something unique to the Delta series?
Yeah until they get car sick from playing it :).
Still, I couldn't justify purchasing it.. There's just nothing compelling software-wise that makes me want to jump and buy this thing. I'd love to see some classic PC remakes like command and conquer on there. That would be cool.
I've been a big fan of Adobe Photoshop Album since it came out a couple of years ago. Like FlickR it uses tags to organize photos, and multiple tags can be assigned to the same picture. Lookups are incredible fast, and there are customizable templates for web posting. Since I 'blog' I like to keep stuff on my site so I can earn some Google ad revenues.
Most impressive is the amount of logging data it keeps. The program keeps track of when each photo was imported (by session as well as date) into the system so you can make adjustments at a later time to a certain import run.
It integrates fairly seamlessly with photoshop and always backs up the original photograph before you start mangling it :).
Sadly it's Windows only. Not sure if it works on WINE, but I'd highly recommend it to somebody who stores a boatload of photos like me.
It would be great for AOL to continue the tradition and mail out their installations on CD-RWs or open session CD-R's. It would certainly cut down on the waste as we'd be able to do something useful with the cd's when they arrived.
Just the other day engadget featured a bluetooth wireless speaker adapter that incidently introduces a delay that causes audio to get out of sync with the video.
I'm not sure.. I am running a P4 3.0 ghz HT, Intel 875PBZ mainboard, ATI 9700 Pro with a gig of RAM. I do on occaision get a brief hiccup (and I mean very brief) when walking through a large area where an enemy or another object may appear. That's a rare occaision, however.
I'm sure there must be some little bug somewhere that's behaving badly with a particular combination of drivers. One of the downfalls of PC gaming are the infinite combinations of hardware and software each user has.
I still remember having to fight with boot disks and the like to get games like Wing Commander to run in the DOS days.
Although I didn't experience the stuttering bug others are, I have noticed how great Valve has been supporting this game. They communicate regularly (sometimes individually) and are really standing behind their product. Too bad other companies don't follow their lead.
They have archives for the NY Times, Hartford Courant, LA Times, Wall Street journal, Washington Post, etc. While the archives don't go back too far (twenty years for some papers, six for the NY Times) it is nice to see governments offering citizens access to this information free of charge. I use it quite frequently, and with hope they can get funding for the historical New York Times service (which is absolutely incredible).
I think Valve's STEAM distribution system is going to revolutionize the industry much like iTunes is doing for music. It's a shame they couldn't let HL2 out quicker
Companies can release the day they go gold to pre-empt the pirates (you can pay to get it quicker), and it will ultimately allow smaller studios to regain their foothold in the industry.
I never used these devices as much as I would have liked due primarily to the lack of easy text entry. Handwriting recognition rocks when it works, but is often clumsily corrected. So despite all of the email capabilities these devices offered, I rarely used them for that purpose.
Enter my Treo 600.. I actually do email on this thing (a lot of it) because I can input text without frustration (and not worry about embarrassing misreads that I might miss).
As a result I will no longer buy a PDA that doesn't have some form of real (tactile and all) keyboard input. I know I'm probably limiting my choices, but I can't go back.. Handwriting recognition just doesn't work well enough for extensive data input.
It's a shame that these magazines and websites are so focused on hype and not on protecting consumer dollars from false promises. Obivously they're so dependent on industry advertising that they wouldn't dare bite off the hand that funds them.
The entire promise of electronic distribution is that you don't need to wait for manufacturing and distribution to get the product available nationally (or internationally). Having to wait for 'release dates' is silly..
Recording the pioneers of global electronic communication is important as we'll never see a 'Google News-esque' archive of BBS systems and networks like FidoNet.