If you are in the market for an ereader, I implore you to search for kobo horror stories, my favorite is over on getsatisfaction.com.
Typically, a user has a problem with their kobo (very common). They contact customer support, who are friendly and completely worthless. Customer support tells the customer they are escalating their ticket to level 2 support. Wait. Wait more. Complain. Wait more. Complain more. Repeat until fed up.
Stay away from Kobo. I am waiting for the day they oust their worthless CEO or go out of business.
My wife and I were discussing cord blood banking with our third (and presumably last) child. The up front cost was a stumbling block, but we were blessed (luck?) to run into the CBB rep at the doctors office. She talked to us, and gave us a 'family & friends' coupon that brought the up front cost down to $500. We did it, and now pay somewhere around $300/year for ongoing costs, but you can reduce that through referrals. For us, in our situation, at that time, we feel like it was a good decision. Maybe it will never be used. Maybe all diseases will be cured. Maybe one of the other kids will never need it. But maybe some day it will help someone, be it our child, me, my wife, or a total stranger. We had the funds, the information, and the wherewithal do it, so we did. I have never woken up at night and thought "gee I wish I hadn't done that". For us, it was the right decision. Look into discounts, payment plans, or other sources if you really want to do it. If not, I hope it works out also.
Um, I need some help here. How does someone reading or singing a couple of lines out of a religious text delay a game? Are we stumbling into some weird copyright here?
...feature to get around this. I haven't poked about too much, but is there a way to 'hard code' that into the bookmark? That is, just specify in that Hotmail bookmark it should always open in an IE tab?
Funny, the day after I noticed this problem, we got an intern at work who will be designing a web page for our department. When I was asked if I had any preferences for the web site, I replied "Don't force me to use IE to view it." Several other internal websites at our company do this, to my consternation.
This is one of the reasons I finally left IBM. While I worked in RTP, at an IBM campus, I loved it. Surrounded by IBMer's, there were lots of activities and clubs for us to use. Once I moved to a customer site, all that disappeared. Left in a supply closet, reviled by the customer and IBM alike, we festered. Job satisfaction dropped, and so did that feeling of belonging to IBM. Add into that the drastic cost cutting IBM has implemented, and things generally sucked. We all stopped going into the office because of gas prices, and roving bands of irate customers. IBM made no effort to get the local people together. Now that they are trying to breathe "new life into an old tradition: IBM Club" I predict the same old same old. This "club" in unfunded, ignored, and generally cast aside. IBM needs to start investing again in people, not gimmicks and cheerleading.
Those two pieces of information will have to be your starting point. My iRiver and Ipodder work just fine together. YMMV.
As for podcasts, look for things that interest you. I am a newly converted catholic, and one of my favorite podcasts is from Father Roderick:
( http://www.catholicinsider.com/ )
I enjoy his information, style, and POV. You may not.
On the other hand, I enjoy a big breasted potty mouthed chick by the name of
Soccergirl (TM). Fun, and the voice/quality is usually pretty good. Also, she has boobies, always a plus.:)
( http://soccergirl.podshow.com/ )
Good luck, there is a lot of stuff out there that *I* find interesting.
You are completely correct. At first, I was thrilled to be working for "The IBM", but now, as my skills, and confidence have grown, my pay has not. I have myself to blame for staying too long, as I do have a large family to support, and liked the relative stability. It has gotten to the point though that I am no longer able to support my family (in the means to which they are accustomed) AND stay with IBM.
Caveat: I do know this is whining when I have so much more than so many others in the world, and even in my community. I am grateful for all I have, but I am also American, and I want what others doing the same job are getting.
End of thread (for me)
...they still haven't learned how to hang onto top performers
I have two "1" reviews and seven "2" reviews, plus numerous peer and management awards, so I am implying that *I* am a top performer, but they hired me on with a low salary, and have given 5% raises 80% of the time. Also, each year the cost of our health care has risen significantly more than the raises. Granted, part of that is my fault, as my wife and I continue to have children:)
As to surfing Slashdot and posting during working hours....well, I am doing that now, but the original post was made at 6 something this morning....more than one timezone exists, you know. Maybe I am wrong, but I feel a certain sense of entitlement to keep up with geek news during work hours, especially when work hours comprise sooo much of my day.
...they still haven't learned how to hang onto top performers, make their employees happy to work there, or make money on an account without slashing headcount. Don't even get me started on the low pay.
** Warning; comments above are from a bitter, underpayed, overworked employee. They have not been filtered through management or spun through PR, so they may contain the truth. Please treat accordingly. **
Owned one of these for about two months now...
on
Review of iRiver iFP-899
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
I think the majority of the whiners are missing the point. No, it isn't an ipod. Yes, ipod has more storage. Yes ipod seems to engender a greater love for it's user interface (never touched one). But for what I bought it for, it has worked out great.
I use it for several things, but my favorite is making it into a BASIC tivo device for the radio. I like to listen to several shows on the weekends on NPR. I am never in my car or by a radio when they come on. Solution: iriver FM Tuner + Timer + Record. Now I have my weekend shows on tap for my weekday commutes. Works just fine for this. A bonus is the line in recorder, which I am using to rip my vinyl to MP3. Please don't respond back complaining about the 1.21gigawatt vs. 296mhz encoding/playback/whatchamacallit that your player can do that this one can't. I honestly don't care. It's V I N Y L. Scratchs. Pops. Hisses. And they all sound just fine to my ears.
I also listen to books on tape, and it does have a resume function that works just fine, contrary to what someone else posted.
So, if you are looking for some time-shifted radio, maybe some encoding, and an MP3 player, take a look. If you are looking for an ipod, cover your face and walk into an apple store.
Easter, OUT!
They tell us how they put the devices in place?
1) They put them in place, and hope the surveillance tape is overwritten before anyone knows to look.
2) They obscure or cover the camera long enough to put the devices in place.
The second seems more likely, but I also assume maybe all those atm's don't have camera's. Seems like when the reports started coming in of this, you could go back and see when the new "parts" got added? Naive? Missing something? probably, but I want to hear YOU say it.
Unfortunately, I can't put the specific percentages to the page to prove what I said is true.....those emails were eliminated when the expiration policy for email was put in. I have been with said company for 6.5 years, and the percentages have gone down each year. The first year I started, a 2 got 12.5xxx percent. The next year it went to 11.6xxx, then 11, then 10.xxx. There is a gradual, but steady decline. These are facts, not opinions. I am searching for the exact info now, but the Man makes historical data on those numbers hard to find.:)
I work for a rather large unicolor octo-barred-logo company. Our salary reviews come once a year, in April, with little chance of a raise in between them. This year they handed down a new policy.
Part 1: All employee's below a certain band, err, salary range, and who are performing at at least the "I have no reason to fire you" performance rating, get a raise. A 3% raise, but a raise none the less.
Part 2: The "variable" bonus which is counted as part of our salary, is now cut in half. This "variable" bonus by the way, has gone down each and every year I have been with this company. Now instead of top performers getting somewhere between 12.5% and 16%, I believe 6.5% is going to be the best you can do.
Part 3: To save money this year, all pay increases, which normally take effect May 1, will not take effect until July.
I was one of the 'lucky' ones. I got a Band, err, salary range increase, which usually guarantees a better raise. Not this time. All told, if I am a top performer (not handed out too often) with my variable bonus, I will be making slightly less than the bottom figure on my new pay scale. Great. Makes the frequent 80 hour weeks (no overtime pay) Sooooooo worth it.
I do however, understand that I am in fact lucky to have a job to bitch about. I am lucky I am not one of my contracter coworkers whose pay has been cut multiple times over the last year, and get two weeks off, without pay. I also understand that what makes some of this possible is also the same reason I can't spell the name of any internal help desk agent I have to call, or understand half of what they are saying.
I truly dread seeing this Salary Survey.....I am afraid once I see the numbers, my Red Swingline(tm) and I will have to take action.
Good Luck to us all, thanks for the forum to get this out.
J.
I have a suggestion for a new URL:
How about whineybutt.slashdot.org ?
80% of the posts(Please, don't check the exact percentage and post it...I know you people) are complaints about how the color sucks (hard to defend) or how half the other stories should have thier own pages, as they should *never* have been posted on/.
Congrats/.! Best of luck with your expansion.
Charming Scottish village repels the attack of a giant corporate robot intent on sucking their brains (and Oil). Well, kind of.:)
Check it out, a real winner
Someone help me out here. The article states:
"If I witness a felony but refuse to call 911 because the victim hasn't paid me money to do so, I'm technically an accessory to that crime, not to mention a really rotten citizen."
I don't believe this to be true. I have been advised, by poilice officers and law professors, that if I happen upon someone drowning in a pond and screaming for help, that I am well within my rights to pull up a chair, take out a bag of popcorn and a coke and watch. Our laws do not provide for forced intervention in crime by the citizens. Sure, it would make me a rotton person, but it does not make me an accessory. Can anyone site law differently?
Let me preface this by saying I run a VERY small side business out of my home. I live in an area of Arizona that is mostly retirement communities, and I advertise in thier papers for "Computer Help" Repair, installation, instruction. I have no certifications whatsoever, and some here would argue not enough knowledge to bring my services to the public. What I do have is a good BASIC understanding of what it is the retirees want, and how to make thier computers do that. If I have a problem I can't fix, I refer them to someone else. It comes down to the honesty of the tech, and the market. How many computers could I destroy before word got around? Not many, I would wager. Government is not needed to regulate this industry, just common sense.
Reading this story and these posts remind me of a book I read a few months ago:
Uncle Tungsten.
Excellent autobiography of a chemist, and an in depth introduction to chemistry. I do not have more than a passing knowledge of chemistry, but this was just a fun, and interesting book. It basically deals with every piece of the periodic table, and the chemists and elements that built it and helped fill it in. Go to your library and take a look!
I am a huge fan of this show.....my wife became worried when I picked up the loudest Hawaiian shirt I could find so I could wear it to Alton's cooking demo locally:)
What I would like to know is, what are your favorite tech gadgets, and how do you use them for the kitchen? Follow up to that, Where do you see new gadgets popping up in the kitchen, or what would you like to see....Internet enabled Fridge? DVD player/Oven? Grill/Hot Air Balloon launcher?
Thanks, Jeff
Slashdot Mirror
This would be a great article to read 3 days ago
If you are in the market for an ereader, I implore you to search for kobo horror stories, my favorite is over on getsatisfaction.com. Typically, a user has a problem with their kobo (very common). They contact customer support, who are friendly and completely worthless. Customer support tells the customer they are escalating their ticket to level 2 support. Wait. Wait more. Complain. Wait more. Complain more. Repeat until fed up. Stay away from Kobo. I am waiting for the day they oust their worthless CEO or go out of business.
Happy birthday, and fuck you IBM. I hope your execs end up in jail, or India.
My wife and I were discussing cord blood banking with our third (and presumably last) child. The up front cost was a stumbling block, but we were blessed (luck?) to run into the CBB rep at the doctors office. She talked to us, and gave us a 'family & friends' coupon that brought the up front cost down to $500. We did it, and now pay somewhere around $300/year for ongoing costs, but you can reduce that through referrals. For us, in our situation, at that time, we feel like it was a good decision. Maybe it will never be used. Maybe all diseases will be cured. Maybe one of the other kids will never need it. But maybe some day it will help someone, be it our child, me, my wife, or a total stranger. We had the funds, the information, and the wherewithal do it, so we did. I have never woken up at night and thought "gee I wish I hadn't done that". For us, it was the right decision. Look into discounts, payment plans, or other sources if you really want to do it. If not, I hope it works out also.
Um, I need some help here. How does someone reading or singing a couple of lines out of a religious text delay a game? Are we stumbling into some weird copyright here?
...feature to get around this. I haven't poked about too much, but is there a way to 'hard code' that into the bookmark? That is, just specify in that Hotmail bookmark it should always open in an IE tab? Funny, the day after I noticed this problem, we got an intern at work who will be designing a web page for our department. When I was asked if I had any preferences for the web site, I replied "Don't force me to use IE to view it." Several other internal websites at our company do this, to my consternation.
This is one of the reasons I finally left IBM. While I worked in RTP, at an IBM campus, I loved it. Surrounded by IBMer's, there were lots of activities and clubs for us to use. Once I moved to a customer site, all that disappeared. Left in a supply closet, reviled by the customer and IBM alike, we festered. Job satisfaction dropped, and so did that feeling of belonging to IBM. Add into that the drastic cost cutting IBM has implemented, and things generally sucked. We all stopped going into the office because of gas prices, and roving bands of irate customers. IBM made no effort to get the local people together. Now that they are trying to breathe "new life into an old tradition: IBM Club" I predict the same old same old. This "club" in unfunded, ignored, and generally cast aside. IBM needs to start investing again in people, not gimmicks and cheerleading.
Those two pieces of information will have to be your starting point. My iRiver and Ipodder work just fine together. YMMV. As for podcasts, look for things that interest you. I am a newly converted catholic, and one of my favorite podcasts is from Father Roderick: ( http://www.catholicinsider.com/ ) I enjoy his information, style, and POV. You may not. On the other hand, I enjoy a big breasted potty mouthed chick by the name of Soccergirl (TM). Fun, and the voice/quality is usually pretty good. Also, she has boobies, always a plus. :)
( http://soccergirl.podshow.com/ )
Good luck, there is a lot of stuff out there that *I* find interesting.
You are completely correct. At first, I was thrilled to be working for "The IBM", but now, as my skills, and confidence have grown, my pay has not. I have myself to blame for staying too long, as I do have a large family to support, and liked the relative stability. It has gotten to the point though that I am no longer able to support my family (in the means to which they are accustomed) AND stay with IBM. Caveat: I do know this is whining when I have so much more than so many others in the world, and even in my community. I am grateful for all I have, but I am also American, and I want what others doing the same job are getting. End of thread (for me)
...they still haven't learned how to hang onto top performers I have two "1" reviews and seven "2" reviews, plus numerous peer and management awards, so I am implying that *I* am a top performer, but they hired me on with a low salary, and have given 5% raises 80% of the time. Also, each year the cost of our health care has risen significantly more than the raises. Granted, part of that is my fault, as my wife and I continue to have children :)
As to surfing Slashdot and posting during working hours....well, I am doing that now, but the original post was made at 6 something this morning....more than one timezone exists, you know. Maybe I am wrong, but I feel a certain sense of entitlement to keep up with geek news during work hours, especially when work hours comprise sooo much of my day.
...they still haven't learned how to hang onto top performers, make their employees happy to work there, or make money on an account without slashing headcount. Don't even get me started on the low pay. ** Warning; comments above are from a bitter, underpayed, overworked employee. They have not been filtered through management or spun through PR, so they may contain the truth. Please treat accordingly. **
Yes, and stop calling me shirley!
I think the majority of the whiners are missing the point. No, it isn't an ipod. Yes, ipod has more storage. Yes ipod seems to engender a greater love for it's user interface (never touched one). But for what I bought it for, it has worked out great. I use it for several things, but my favorite is making it into a BASIC tivo device for the radio. I like to listen to several shows on the weekends on NPR. I am never in my car or by a radio when they come on. Solution: iriver FM Tuner + Timer + Record. Now I have my weekend shows on tap for my weekday commutes. Works just fine for this. A bonus is the line in recorder, which I am using to rip my vinyl to MP3. Please don't respond back complaining about the 1.21gigawatt vs. 296mhz encoding/playback/whatchamacallit that your player can do that this one can't. I honestly don't care. It's V I N Y L. Scratchs. Pops. Hisses. And they all sound just fine to my ears. I also listen to books on tape, and it does have a resume function that works just fine, contrary to what someone else posted. So, if you are looking for some time-shifted radio, maybe some encoding, and an MP3 player, take a look. If you are looking for an ipod, cover your face and walk into an apple store. Easter, OUT!
I recommend The Mutant Chronicles. Easily available on EBay, and lots of fun with groups of 4 or so. Give it a look.
They tell us how they put the devices in place? 1) They put them in place, and hope the surveillance tape is overwritten before anyone knows to look. 2) They obscure or cover the camera long enough to put the devices in place. The second seems more likely, but I also assume maybe all those atm's don't have camera's. Seems like when the reports started coming in of this, you could go back and see when the new "parts" got added? Naive? Missing something? probably, but I want to hear YOU say it.
Could it be its your *special* time of the month?
I just couldn't resist. Bye Bye Karma.
Unfortunately, I can't put the specific percentages to the page to prove what I said is true.....those emails were eliminated when the expiration policy for email was put in. I have been with said company for 6.5 years, and the percentages have gone down each year. The first year I started, a 2 got 12.5xxx percent. The next year it went to 11.6xxx, then 11, then 10.xxx. There is a gradual, but steady decline. These are facts, not opinions. I am searching for the exact info now, but the Man makes historical data on those numbers hard to find. :)
I work for a rather large unicolor octo-barred-logo company. Our salary reviews come once a year, in April, with little chance of a raise in between them. This year they handed down a new policy. Part 1: All employee's below a certain band, err, salary range, and who are performing at at least the "I have no reason to fire you" performance rating, get a raise. A 3% raise, but a raise none the less. Part 2: The "variable" bonus which is counted as part of our salary, is now cut in half. This "variable" bonus by the way, has gone down each and every year I have been with this company. Now instead of top performers getting somewhere between 12.5% and 16%, I believe 6.5% is going to be the best you can do. Part 3: To save money this year, all pay increases, which normally take effect May 1, will not take effect until July. I was one of the 'lucky' ones. I got a Band, err, salary range increase, which usually guarantees a better raise. Not this time. All told, if I am a top performer (not handed out too often) with my variable bonus, I will be making slightly less than the bottom figure on my new pay scale. Great. Makes the frequent 80 hour weeks (no overtime pay) Sooooooo worth it. I do however, understand that I am in fact lucky to have a job to bitch about. I am lucky I am not one of my contracter coworkers whose pay has been cut multiple times over the last year, and get two weeks off, without pay. I also understand that what makes some of this possible is also the same reason I can't spell the name of any internal help desk agent I have to call, or understand half of what they are saying. I truly dread seeing this Salary Survey.....I am afraid once I see the numbers, my Red Swingline(tm) and I will have to take action. Good Luck to us all, thanks for the forum to get this out. J.
I have a suggestion for a new URL: How about whineybutt.slashdot.org ? 80% of the posts(Please, don't check the exact percentage and post it...I know you people) are complaints about how the color sucks (hard to defend) or how half the other stories should have thier own pages, as they should *never* have been posted on /.
Congrats /.! Best of luck with your expansion.
Charming Scottish village repels the attack of a giant corporate robot intent on sucking their brains (and Oil). Well, kind of. :)
Check it out, a real winner
...Why is anyone still reading this one? ;)
Someone help me out here. The article states: "If I witness a felony but refuse to call 911 because the victim hasn't paid me money to do so, I'm technically an accessory to that crime, not to mention a really rotten citizen." I don't believe this to be true. I have been advised, by poilice officers and law professors, that if I happen upon someone drowning in a pond and screaming for help, that I am well within my rights to pull up a chair, take out a bag of popcorn and a coke and watch. Our laws do not provide for forced intervention in crime by the citizens. Sure, it would make me a rotton person, but it does not make me an accessory. Can anyone site law differently?
Let me preface this by saying I run a VERY small side business out of my home. I live in an area of Arizona that is mostly retirement communities, and I advertise in thier papers for "Computer Help" Repair, installation, instruction. I have no certifications whatsoever, and some here would argue not enough knowledge to bring my services to the public. What I do have is a good BASIC understanding of what it is the retirees want, and how to make thier computers do that. If I have a problem I can't fix, I refer them to someone else. It comes down to the honesty of the tech, and the market. How many computers could I destroy before word got around? Not many, I would wager. Government is not needed to regulate this industry, just common sense.
Reading this story and these posts remind me of a book I read a few months ago:
Uncle Tungsten.
Excellent autobiography of a chemist, and an in depth introduction to chemistry. I do not have more than a passing knowledge of chemistry, but this was just a fun, and interesting book. It basically deals with every piece of the periodic table, and the chemists and elements that built it and helped fill it in. Go to your library and take a look!
I am a huge fan of this show.....my wife became worried when I picked up the loudest Hawaiian shirt I could find so I could wear it to Alton's cooking demo locally :)
What I would like to know is, what are your favorite tech gadgets, and how do you use them for the kitchen? Follow up to that, Where do you see new gadgets popping up in the kitchen, or what would you like to see....Internet enabled Fridge? DVD player/Oven? Grill/Hot Air Balloon launcher?
Thanks, Jeff