The fundamental issue seems to be that Amazon is very poorly managed.
Amazon has junky web pages that try to sell me other things before I've finished reading about the item that interests me. There are many offers on Amazon, by other vendors, that try to take advantage of the customer.
Should Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos be talking about going into space when he isn't managing Amazon well?
It seems to me that Bezos is tired and overloaded and should be replaced.
"Apple, Microsoft Tout Their Privacy Policies To Get Positive PR"
Translation: Lie to get positive PR. ???
When the day comes that companies and other customers don't need any more versions of operating systems, or a new cell phone, or new office software, Apple's and Microsoft's income will begin diminishing.
Their answer? It seems they want to sell information about users to advertisers, as does Google. So, it appears that they are trying to imitate Google. To imitate Google, it will be necessary to eliminate privacy as much as they are able. Apple and Microsoft seem to be working toward that goal.
What Apple and Microsoft say now about privacy may not be an indication of what they will actually do after they have convinced non-technical customers that they observe privacy restrictions. It is common that technically-knowledgeable people are given some way of reducing their own concerns, and technically-knowledgeable people don't worry about people who don't know how to protect themselves.
Again, Google's tracking is extremely widespread because people use numerous Google services rather than software that they own. Google tracks Slashdot users. The Slashdot home page allows Google to track users 3 ways:
1) google-analytics.com
2) googleadservices.com
3) googletagservices.com
Companies are not required to disclose what URLs belong to them, or their purpose. We need government regulation. At present, it seems the U.S. government often merely helps the rich get richer. I love the United States, and want the best for everyone. It's healthy to care. Not caring is self-destructive.
More ideas about a realistic assessment.
on
LibreOffice Turns Five
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
Mod parent up. That, it seems to me, is the beginning of a realistic assessment of the difficulties.
These ideas may be useful in seeing more of the long, difficult story:
1) Governments are spending billions. There is money for doing the job correctly.
2) Libre Office could have an option to make the user interface whatever is familiar to the user.
3) The MariaDB CEO seems sensible to me. He seems like the kind of person who could coordinate moving away from what I understand are the many, many problems of SharePoint. (But, of course, I haven't investigated that in detail. I had only a short conversation with him.)
4) The "transitional process" could be carefully designed to take one step at a time.
5) The Excel transition seems difficult to me. I have ideas about that too complicated to mention here.
6) Microsoft has, apparently, been slowly killing Mozilla Thunderbird. Most of Mozilla Foundation's money comes from Microsoft through Yahoo for making "Yahoo Search", which is actually Microsoft Bing search, the default in Firefox. Somehow the Thunderbird user interface is being damaged. The damage looks deliberate to me. So, the world needs a comprehensive open source email client.
7) I've noticed that technically-knowledgeable people usually don't deal very well with conflicts or abuse. That is, however, what we need.
8) Microsoft's business is deflating. Sooner or later people won't need another version of an operating system, or another version of office software. So, Microsoft is trying to get more control of Windows customers by making Windows 10 even more dependent on Microsoft. It is easy to guess that the unhealthy dependence that exists now will become far worse in the future.
9) Governments can say that they will buy no more new versions, only additional copies if needed.
10) I wrote an example of ideas about living with older software: Microsoft Windows XP "end of life":
Conflict of interest. Many people who do routine things every day don't want new software, with what they view as the
annoying necessity of learning new methods of doing the things they already know how to do robotically.
11) There is comflict of interest. If Microsoft delivers very few needed improvements in each version, Microsoft can sell more versions.
12) Unfortunately, the world doesn't have very many people who are both technically knowledgable and socially sophisticated enough to coordinate that work.
Those are 12 more ideas. I'd love to see 100 more. Humans found a way to cure polio. We can find a way to cure unhealthy dependence on flawed software.
Governments: Make LibreOffice the standard!
on
LibreOffice Turns Five
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
Governments don't understand how important LibreOffice is. They should support LibreOffice for all government work. The would be FAR cheaper than being abused by Microsoft.
Government employees would soon learn to use LibreOffice.
But: The user interface of LibreOffice needs to be improved. There are many, many hassles, at present.
Also, it seems that Microsoft Word has problems that even people at Microsoft don't understand. I've gotten the impression that the code and underlying design is a mess.
"The PC has stopped being the primary computing device of most people meaning that if they don't make it big on the mobile front they'll be irrelevant in the long run."
Agreed. But I think Microsoft will not "make it big" with mobile software.
Products that face low sales because of abuse and foolishness:
Windows: If you have Windows 7, why get a new version? At some point the version you have is enough. Apparently there aren't any new features in Windows 10 that are attractive to customers. Apparently the new features in Windows 10 are all anti-customer.
Apple iPhones: What will the future iPhone 7 have that the iPhone 6 doesn't have? Digital Turnip Twaddling? At some point people will stop rushing to buy new iPhones.
Apple watches? Now that Steve Jobs is dead, Apple no longer releases easy-to-use products. Apple now does the Microsoft thing and releases buggy products that it slowly fixes. Articles:
Verdict:"... there's a learning curve you have to overcome..."
One cost of Windows 10 is that it will become whatever Microsoft wants it to be in the future; most users will have no ownership. Windows 10 is designed to allow Microsoft complete control over a user's computer whenever it is turned on and connected to the internet.
Maybe Microsoft wants to imitate Google. Microsoft can use the information collected by Windows 10, apparently, to sell to advertisers. Perhaps Microsoft is also paid by secret U.S. government agencies.
Google's tracking is extremely widespread because people use numerous Google services rather than software that they own. Google tracks Slashdot users. The Slashdot home page allows Google to track users 3 ways:
1) google-analytics.com
2) googleadservices.com
3) googletagservices.com
Maybe Microsoft wants to be even more complete about tracking users, to try to take business from Google.
Windows 10 is not "free" to owners of Windows 7 and 8. Installing Windows 10 means that, after 1 month, owners lose what they bought. If someone offers you a "free" car, but then takes away the car you have now, that is not free. Those who switch to Windows 10 pay a high price for something they cannot evaluate fully in 1 month.
Microsoft management thinks it is okay to remove features from Windows. For example, those who switch to Windows 10 from Windows 7 and 8 will lose Windows Media Center. Removing features allows Microsoft to ask users to pay for them again in the future.
Maybe, in the future, Microsoft intends to imitate Adobe Systems. Maybe Windows will eventually become "cloud" software, and users will be expected to pay monthly. Others on Slashdot have suggested that.
Also, it seems to me that Microsoft is extremely badly managed. I'm not the only one who thinks that. Others called former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer Monkey Boy and said"Without a doubt, Mr. Ballmer is the worst CEO of a large publicly traded American company today."
It seems to me that Satya Nadella, Microsoft's new CEO, is incapable of managing a large corporation. He apparently was picked because of his ability to avoid being involved in conflicts, rather than because he has an ability to resolve conflicts. It seems to me that Nadella does not have the social sophistication necessary to coordinating the company.
What is important is not what we think. What is important is what arrives in the minds of the average person, or even 5% of the average. Here is 32GB of storage, twice as much, for $14 delivered. That's retail, not the wholesale price Apple would pay, and includes shipping.
"Only by people who wouldn't buy one anyway. The 16GB model is probably not intended for you. It is intended for people like my Dad..."
That is not the point. People "like your Dad" wouldn't know if the 16GB model is correct for them. Some would buy a 16GB iPhone and discover later it isn't adequate. That would be a VERY painful discovery. People who have painful experiences with Apple products will be intense at selling the negatives and become a POWERFUL negative advertising force.
Apple CEO Tim Cook is not competent to represent Apple. That's my opinion. Yes, I think I could do better.
As I said, it amazes me how many people who read Slashdot justify abuse and general bad management.
I notice that Slashdot commenters often find ways to justify abuse.
One problem is not Apple offering a 16GB iPhone, it is that those who want more must pay 20 times Apple's cost.
Although Tim Cook tries to imitate Steve Jobs, he clearly does not understand how to do that. Steve Jobs did everything necessary to positioning Apple products at the top. Offering a new model of iPhone with only 16GB is a sure way to get negative comments, and it did.
Steve Jobs was extremely abusive, biographical books say, but he was aware of the effect of every aspect of advertising and how even minor items might be received in people's minds.
See page 84 of this book: iCon Steve Jobs: The Greatest Second Act in the History of Business. Quote: "Steve was not only very rich but pulling a quarter of a million dollars a year out of the company in salary, yet he refused to let any of his engineers receive more than $30,000 a year, the lowest salaries of any engineers at Apple. He considered anyone working less than 80 hours a week to be wimping out."
"Windows 10 is just completely, hilariously broken, to the point that Windows 8 seems amazing by comparison."
I agree, except that I wouldn't use the word "hilariously". My own characterization:
Microsoft is shockingly poorly managed. My Slashdot comment explains Microsoft's control over Firefox and Mozilla Foundation. That control may explain why the user interfaces of Thunderbird and SeaMonkey have been damaged in recent versions.
Yahoo is badly managed. From that story "Marissa Mayer's second-in-command 'leaves with $109m' on being fired from Yahoo after just 15 months". An incompetent executive got $109,000,000 for leaving a short job.
As I said earlier, Microsoft has a LONG history of being badly managed. Quotes: Steve Ballmer is "Monkey Boy" and, from a May 12, 2012 story, "Without a doubt, Mr. Ballmer is the worst CEO of a large publicly traded American company today."
The link you provided is interesting. The discussion gives an extremely good impression of the thinking behind Pale Moon.
Here is a quote:
'What Firefox does is a rather crude "try, try again" with lower reported maximum supported TLS settings in this situation where secure renegotiation is not supported. This (unsafe) fallback allows Firefox to "connect at all costs" (the cost measured in terms of security, in this case) although it's not part of normal protocol negotiation or any standard.'
Firefox is becoming less and less stable. It's so unstable that it often doesn't report crashes, so the crash reports aren't reliable, they show far fewer crashes than actually occurred. Mozilla Foundation needs better management.
"Yahoo search" is Microsoft Bing. Microsoft has hidden its apparent takeover of Mozilla Foundation by pretending that there is a "Yahoo search". Why else would Mozilla Foundation damage the UI of its own product?
Yahoo is badly managed. From that story "Marissa Mayer's second-in-command 'leaves with $109m' on being fired from Yahoo after just 15 months". An incompetent executive got $109,000,000 for leaving a short job.
Microsoft has a history of being amazingly badly managed. Quotes: Steve Ballmer is "Monkey Boy" and, from a May 12, 2012 story"Without a doubt, Mr. Ballmer is the worst CEO of a large publicly traded American company today."
Pros
Quad core processor
Fast mobile data support (4G)
Cons
Low pixel density screen (218 ppi)
Too little RAM memory (1024 MB RAM)
Battery is not user replaceable
Low-resolution camera (5 megapixels)
The camera lacks autofocus
GSM phone, works only on AT&T and T-Mobile. Other countries are mostly GSM.
Battery is not user replaceable: Throw away the phone if the battery is defective or at end of life? I would not buy a phone that won't allow a new battery.
If it is possible to carry extra batteries, fully charged, there are circumstances where that is convenient. For example, when hitchhiking through Europe, and staying a week or two in a city, it is possible to get a local SIM so that people you meet have a local number they can call.
It's not necessary to read all the articles above to know that Amazon is an abusive or incompetent company. There is abuse on many Amazon web pages. For example, see the web page for this book: Against Football: One Fan's Reluctant Manifesto.
That page shows a little information and then pushes visitors to buy other books. My opinion: Either Amazon is extremely abusive, or extremely incompetent.
There are plenty of other examples. Amazon allows sellers to abuse customers. Some items list low prices that attract visitors, but the shipping charge is extremely high.
Is Amazon an unpleasant place to work? Quote: "Based on my experience, I agree with what everyone has said about the company being a horrible place to work."
Slashdot Mirror
Ghostery is an excellent add-on for Firefox.
Google selling targeted Gmail ads that look like emails
Google violating Russian antitrust regulations by bundling its services with Android
Many web pages load something from Google, so Google is tracking us wherever we go.
The Slashdot home page loads these from Google:
1) google-analytics.com
2) googleadservices.com
3) googletagservices.com
The fundamental issue seems to be that Amazon is very poorly managed.
Amazon has junky web pages that try to sell me other things before I've finished reading about the item that interests me. There are many offers on Amazon, by other vendors, that try to take advantage of the customer.
Should Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos be talking about going into space when he isn't managing Amazon well?
It seems to me that Bezos is tired and overloaded and should be replaced.
"Apple, Microsoft Tout Their Privacy Policies To Get Positive PR"
Translation: Lie to get positive PR. ???
When the day comes that companies and other customers don't need any more versions of operating systems, or a new cell phone, or new office software, Apple's and Microsoft's income will begin diminishing.
Their answer? It seems they want to sell information about users to advertisers, as does Google. So, it appears that they are trying to imitate Google. To imitate Google, it will be necessary to eliminate privacy as much as they are able. Apple and Microsoft seem to be working toward that goal.
What Apple and Microsoft say now about privacy may not be an indication of what they will actually do after they have convinced non-technical customers that they observe privacy restrictions. It is common that technically-knowledgeable people are given some way of reducing their own concerns, and technically-knowledgeable people don't worry about people who don't know how to protect themselves.
Again, Google's tracking is extremely widespread because people use numerous Google services rather than software that they own. Google tracks Slashdot users. The Slashdot home page allows Google to track users 3 ways:
1) google-analytics.com
2) googleadservices.com
3) googletagservices.com
Google owns DoubleClick.net.
Companies are not required to disclose what URLs belong to them, or their purpose. We need government regulation. At present, it seems the U.S. government often merely helps the rich get richer. I love the United States, and want the best for everyone. It's healthy to care. Not caring is self-destructive.
Mod parent up. That, it seems to me, is the beginning of a realistic assessment of the difficulties.
These ideas may be useful in seeing more of the long, difficult story:
1) Governments are spending billions. There is money for doing the job correctly.
2) Libre Office could have an option to make the user interface whatever is familiar to the user.
3) The MariaDB CEO seems sensible to me. He seems like the kind of person who could coordinate moving away from what I understand are the many, many problems of SharePoint. (But, of course, I haven't investigated that in detail. I had only a short conversation with him.)
4) The "transitional process" could be carefully designed to take one step at a time.
5) The Excel transition seems difficult to me. I have ideas about that too complicated to mention here.
6) Microsoft has, apparently, been slowly killing Mozilla Thunderbird. Most of Mozilla Foundation's money comes from Microsoft through Yahoo for making "Yahoo Search", which is actually Microsoft Bing search, the default in Firefox. Somehow the Thunderbird user interface is being damaged. The damage looks deliberate to me. So, the world needs a comprehensive open source email client.
7) I've noticed that technically-knowledgeable people usually don't deal very well with conflicts or abuse. That is, however, what we need.
8) Microsoft's business is deflating. Sooner or later people won't need another version of an operating system, or another version of office software. So, Microsoft is trying to get more control of Windows customers by making Windows 10 even more dependent on Microsoft. It is easy to guess that the unhealthy dependence that exists now will become far worse in the future.
9) Governments can say that they will buy no more new versions, only additional copies if needed.
10) I wrote an example of ideas about living with older software: Microsoft Windows XP "end of life": Conflict of interest. Many people who do routine things every day don't want new software, with what they view as the annoying necessity of learning new methods of doing the things they already know how to do robotically.
11) There is comflict of interest. If Microsoft delivers very few needed improvements in each version, Microsoft can sell more versions.
12) Unfortunately, the world doesn't have very many people who are both technically knowledgable and socially sophisticated enough to coordinate that work.
Those are 12 more ideas. I'd love to see 100 more. Humans found a way to cure polio. We can find a way to cure unhealthy dependence on flawed software.
Governments don't understand how important LibreOffice is. They should support LibreOffice for all government work. The would be FAR cheaper than being abused by Microsoft.
Government employees would soon learn to use LibreOffice.
But: The user interface of LibreOffice needs to be improved. There are many, many hassles, at present.
Also, it seems that Microsoft Word has problems that even people at Microsoft don't understand. I've gotten the impression that the code and underlying design is a mess.
"... regular joes don't seem to care much..."
That's Microsoft's method of abuse: Designing abuses that the majority of people can't understand and must accept.
"The PC has stopped being the primary computing device of most people meaning that if they don't make it big on the mobile front they'll be irrelevant in the long run."
Agreed. But I think Microsoft will not "make it big" with mobile software.
Products that face low sales because of abuse and foolishness:
Windows: If you have Windows 7, why get a new version? At some point the version you have is enough. Apparently there aren't any new features in Windows 10 that are attractive to customers. Apparently the new features in Windows 10 are all anti-customer.
Google is becoming more and more abusive: F.T.C. Is Said to Investigate Claims That Google Used Android to Promote Its Products.
Apple iPhones: What will the future iPhone 7 have that the iPhone 6 doesn't have? Digital Turnip Twaddling? At some point people will stop rushing to buy new iPhones.
Apple watches? Now that Steve Jobs is dead, Apple no longer releases easy-to-use products. Apple now does the Microsoft thing and releases buggy products that it slowly fixes. Articles:
Verdict: "... there's a learning curve you have to overcome..."
Seven problems facing the Apple Watch
Apple Watch: Issues We Know Of And Possible Fixes.
Opinion: One month later, fixing 15 early Apple Watch problems seems straightforward
These 8 problems with the Apple Watch are 'infuriating'
9 of the biggest complaints about the Apple Watch so far
8 Infuriating Problems With The Apple Watch
One cost of Windows 10 is that it will become whatever Microsoft wants it to be in the future; most users will have no ownership. Windows 10 is designed to allow Microsoft complete control over a user's computer whenever it is turned on and connected to the internet.
Maybe Microsoft wants to imitate Google. Microsoft can use the information collected by Windows 10, apparently, to sell to advertisers. Perhaps Microsoft is also paid by secret U.S. government agencies.
Google's tracking is extremely widespread because people use numerous Google services rather than software that they own. Google tracks Slashdot users. The Slashdot home page allows Google to track users 3 ways:
1) google-analytics.com
2) googleadservices.com
3) googletagservices.com
Maybe Microsoft wants to be even more complete about tracking users, to try to take business from Google.
Windows 10 is not "free" to owners of Windows 7 and 8. Installing Windows 10 means that, after 1 month, owners lose what they bought. If someone offers you a "free" car, but then takes away the car you have now, that is not free. Those who switch to Windows 10 pay a high price for something they cannot evaluate fully in 1 month.
Microsoft management thinks it is okay to remove features from Windows. For example, those who switch to Windows 10 from Windows 7 and 8 will lose Windows Media Center. Removing features allows Microsoft to ask users to pay for them again in the future.
Maybe, in the future, Microsoft intends to imitate Adobe Systems. Maybe Windows will eventually become "cloud" software, and users will be expected to pay monthly. Others on Slashdot have suggested that.
Also, it seems to me that Microsoft is extremely badly managed. I'm not the only one who thinks that. Others called former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer Monkey Boy and said "Without a doubt, Mr. Ballmer is the worst CEO of a large publicly traded American company today."
It seems to me that Satya Nadella, Microsoft's new CEO, is incapable of managing a large corporation. He apparently was picked because of his ability to avoid being involved in conflicts, rather than because he has an ability to resolve conflicts. It seems to me that Nadella does not have the social sophistication necessary to coordinating the company.
Alternative viewpoint: Microsoft Windows XP "end of life": Conflict of interest
"April 8, 2014: Microsoft began charging millions for support of its Windows XP product. "
Wow! Google search initial web page: 177,128 bytes.
I just switched to DuckDuckGo. Initial web page: 5,255 bytes.
Google has become an extremely abusive company. Many web pages load something from Google, so Google is tracking us wherever we go.
The Slashdot home page loads these from Google:
1) google-analytics.com
2) googleadservices.com
3) googletagservices.com
"Your cost analysis isn't a useful one..."
What is important is not what we think. What is important is what arrives in the minds of the average person, or even 5% of the average. Here is 32GB of storage, twice as much, for $14 delivered. That's retail, not the wholesale price Apple would pay, and includes shipping.
"Only by people who wouldn't buy one anyway. The 16GB model is probably not intended for you. It is intended for people like my Dad..."
That is not the point. People "like your Dad" wouldn't know if the 16GB model is correct for them. Some would buy a 16GB iPhone and discover later it isn't adequate. That would be a VERY painful discovery. People who have painful experiences with Apple products will be intense at selling the negatives and become a POWERFUL negative advertising force.
Apple CEO Tim Cook is not competent to represent Apple. That's my opinion. Yes, I think I could do better.
As I said, it amazes me how many people who read Slashdot justify abuse and general bad management.
I notice that Slashdot commenters often find ways to justify abuse.
One problem is not Apple offering a 16GB iPhone, it is that those who want more must pay 20 times Apple's cost.
Although Tim Cook tries to imitate Steve Jobs, he clearly does not understand how to do that. Steve Jobs did everything necessary to positioning Apple products at the top. Offering a new model of iPhone with only 16GB is a sure way to get negative comments, and it did.
Steve Jobs was extremely abusive, biographical books say, but he was aware of the effect of every aspect of advertising and how even minor items might be received in people's minds.
Books: The Little Kingdom: The Private Story of Apple Computer published in 1984, gives the early history.
See page 84 of this book: iCon Steve Jobs: The Greatest Second Act in the History of Business. Quote: "Steve was not only very rich but pulling a quarter of a million dollars a year out of the company in salary, yet he refused to let any of his engineers receive more than $30,000 a year, the lowest salaries of any engineers at Apple. He considered anyone working less than 80 hours a week to be wimping out."
The watch is called "smart", but those who wear them are dumb?
"Windows 10 is just completely, hilariously broken, to the point that Windows 8 seems amazing by comparison."
I agree, except that I wouldn't use the word "hilariously". My own characterization:
Microsoft is shockingly poorly managed. My Slashdot comment explains Microsoft's control over Firefox and Mozilla Foundation. That control may explain why the user interfaces of Thunderbird and SeaMonkey have been damaged in recent versions.
Yahoo is badly managed. From that story "Marissa Mayer's second-in-command 'leaves with $109m' on being fired from Yahoo after just 15 months". An incompetent executive got $109,000,000 for leaving a short job.
As I said earlier, Microsoft has a LONG history of being badly managed. Quotes: Steve Ballmer is "Monkey Boy" and, from a May 12, 2012 story, "Without a doubt, Mr. Ballmer is the worst CEO of a large publicly traded American company today."
The link you provided is interesting. The discussion gives an extremely good impression of the thinking behind Pale Moon.
Here is a quote:
'What Firefox does is a rather crude "try, try again" with lower reported maximum supported TLS settings in this situation where secure renegotiation is not supported. This (unsafe) fallback allows Firefox to "connect at all costs" (the cost measured in terms of security, in this case) although it's not part of normal protocol negotiation or any standard.'
So, you are saying you cannot purchase items on eBay using Pale Moon?
Pale Moon x64 is Firefox with adult supervision. With Pale Moon, use Pale Moon's own ad blocker, AdBlock Latitude.
Firefox is becoming less and less stable. It's so unstable that it often doesn't report crashes, so the crash reports aren't reliable, they show far fewer crashes than actually occurred. Mozilla Foundation needs better management.
"... MSFT didn't ... do ... the Yahoo/Moz deal"
"Yahoo search" is Microsoft Bing. Microsoft has hidden its apparent takeover of Mozilla Foundation by pretending that there is a "Yahoo search". Why else would Mozilla Foundation damage the UI of its own product?
" those services will be shutting down on October 30... not all the features of the canceled services will appear in the new OS."
Another of the many, many times when Microsoft believes it can do anything, and customers don't matter.
This Slashdot comment explains Microsoft's control over Firefox and Mozilla Foundation. That control may explain why the user interfaces of Thunderbird and SeaMonkey have been damaged in recent versions.
Yahoo is badly managed. From that story "Marissa Mayer's second-in-command 'leaves with $109m' on being fired from Yahoo after just 15 months". An incompetent executive got $109,000,000 for leaving a short job.
Microsoft has a history of being amazingly badly managed. Quotes: Steve Ballmer is "Monkey Boy" and, from a May 12, 2012 story"Without a doubt, Mr. Ballmer is the worst CEO of a large publicly traded American company today."
ZTE Maven
Pros
Quad core processor
Fast mobile data support (4G)
Cons
Low pixel density screen (218 ppi)
Too little RAM memory (1024 MB RAM)
Battery is not user replaceable
Low-resolution camera (5 megapixels)
The camera lacks autofocus
GSM phone, works only on AT&T and T-Mobile. Other countries are mostly GSM.
Battery is not user replaceable: Throw away the phone if the battery is defective or at end of life? I would not buy a phone that won't allow a new battery.
If it is possible to carry extra batteries, fully charged, there are circumstances where that is convenient. For example, when hitchhiking through Europe, and staying a week or two in a city, it is possible to get a local SIM so that people you meet have a local number they can call.
Basically, no photos will be allowed in a German restaurant because food might be in the photos.
If I owned a restaurant in Germany, I would post a sign, "Photos Allowed."
I'm the OP, and I agree with your point. You knew more about Gawker than I.
It's not necessary to read all the articles above to know that Amazon is an abusive or incompetent company. There is abuse on many Amazon web pages. For example, see the web page for this book: Against Football: One Fan's Reluctant Manifesto.
That page shows a little information and then pushes visitors to buy other books. My opinion: Either Amazon is extremely abusive, or extremely incompetent.
There are plenty of other examples. Amazon allows sellers to abuse customers. Some items list low prices that attract visitors, but the shipping charge is extremely high.
There are more than 5,000 comments on the New York Times article: Inside Amazon: Wrestling Big Ideas in a Bruising Workplace
Dear Amazon interns, some advice from an old man who has been at Amazon way too long. Quote: "Amazon's work-life balance is awful."
Working for Amazon Sounds Utterly Soul Crushing.
Life in an Amazon Warehouse: Fear and Efficiency at 35 Orders Per Second
Inside Amazon's Kafkaesque performance-improvement plan
Inside Amazon's Bizarre Corporate Culture
Amazon Is a Time Thief, by an Amazon Employee.
Is Amazon an unpleasant place to work? Quote: "Based on my experience, I agree with what everyone has said about the company being a horrible place to work."
Inside Amazon: Wrestling Big Ideas in a Bruising Workplace
Glassdoor Reviews of Amazon