What comes to mind for me is just how obsessed many people are with the Google favicon.
I'm always amazed at the sheer number of people that are obssessed, period. It seems to be a mark of distinction nowadays if you're just completely gaga about some particular product or brand (Apple owners come to mind, for some reason.) Well, unreason seems to be a defining characteristic of modern civilization, so I guess this should come as no surprise. Too bad psychiatrists are so expensive: there are a lot of folks that could use a little therapy.
To whom it may concern: some of you are misusing your mod points. If you don't agree with me, fine, post a rebuttal. Otherwise cut it out and go review the moderator guidelines again.
You forgot to mention the HP Memristor (tm) driver software, which despite being about 335 bytes in size, will come bundled in an installed package that is 37MB, just so HP software can show pointless splash screens and randomly create services and daemons that appear to serve no purpose whatsoever, while STILL not being able to cancel the printing of a document without cycling the power.
And which will periodically send copies of your memory to a remote HP server in order to "improve the customer experience."
HP is not what it once was. Thanks for that, Carla.
Who cares about laws? I mean, the criminals don't, the government doesn't care, is anyone still clinging to this outdated model of a coexistance standard?
If I'm calling a support line, pretty much by definition I care, because I've run into something I can't handle.
The real issue here has nothing to do with Indians, or Scotsmen, or anyone else with a particular accent or unfamiliarity with English. It has to do with American outfits wanting to squeeze every penny out of their operating expenses, and see overseas call centers as another way to do that. Take my cellular provider, for instance. They shipped all their phone support to India, have made matters so difficult that I can't even get an erroneous charge removed from my bill... and then have the sublime guts to advertise "World Class Customer Service" on a billboard I pass on the way to work. I guess "World Class" means hiring people from other parts of the wold with whom your customers cannot effectively communicate.
Cheapass bastards. Matter of fact, I'm switching cellular carriers because of billing practices that either utterly incompetent or outright fraudulent. I don't much care which, but I'm tired of trying explain that "I did not, repeat NOT order your GPS locator service. Take it off the bill, please. Yes, off the bill. No, I don't want to order the service, I want it removed! What? Yes I know I already have the service, that's why I want it taken off my bill. Now, once you've done that you can reimburse me for the charges, and furthermore you billed me for a dozen movie downloads. WHAT?! I don't care if your computer says I ordered them because my phone doesn't do video! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
Now, is it the fault of the poor Indian guy (you know, "Bob" or "Bill" or "Ted") on the other end? No... it's the fault of the people who hired Bob and his friends. I mean, it's not as if the cell phone business is unprofitable, one assumes these outfits could afford to hire quality CS reps... it's just that they choose not to.
So I'm switching providers. I hope the next one does better. I'd tell the rep why I'm cancelling my account... but I doubt he'd understand me.
Not to mention a fully functional ER, gym, press cabin, offices for WH Sr. Staff, a kitchen and enough food to last weeks without landing.
I believe you meant "weeks without leaving the plane." Jet aircraft don't fly for weeks: it's not like they're atomic-powered or something. That would be cool though: I remember the Air Force was experimenting with that back in the fifties, I think.
A quick look at the every war in the 20th century begs to differ. Germany and Japan before WWII were both poor and suffering. So where are your examples of two rich countries fighting? You'd have to be pretty dense to not see the correlation between poverty and war.
I'd go a step further and say that pretty much all wars are economic at the core. Somebody has something that somebody else wants... and that somebody else decides to take it. Really, it's not much more complex than that. The converse is generally not true: rich countries (i.e., people who have something to lose) generally don't go after poor countries, because they don't have anything worth taking.
There's also the security angle. If you assume that the CEO is actually important to the survival of a corporation (I know, that's not necessarily a given) you certainly don't want him flying coach, or driving somewhere by himself. He's a target, for ransoming if not worse.
Are you suggesting that POTUS's time is worth 8.7 TRILLION dollars a year?
Having basic amenities taken care of is not the same thing as hedonistic perks like a bowling alley in your basement.
_AC
Perhaps... but then again, no President (or ex-President) will likely ever be allowed to go to a regular bowling alley. Too risky, they know too much. Being the most powerful man in the world does not mean you are the most free. In fact, it's quite the opposite. That applies to all people who have achieved a certain level of wealth, a certain degree of power. They become targets, have no choice but to isolate themselves. Why do you think so many of the rich and powerful (take Bill Gates, for example) have HUGE estates and gigantic homes? It's not just because they have money and like big things... it's to provide an illusion of freedom.
The Aeolipile was a primitive steam turbine, not what we usually mean when we say "steam engine." The reciprocating steam engine was indeed invented in the UK (by Newcomen, and then improved/automated by Watt.)
While your post has enough buzzwords to garner the Insightful tag from clueless mods, your use of the term POTUS and the link with the 'in town' reference only earns you the Douche tag.
What? It's a legitimate acronym. Here, let me toss another your way... SCOTUS. You figure it out.
That's fine, but you didn't answer my question. In any event, they're welcome to use the term any way they see fit, and so are we. Honestly, I know few Americans (that is, United States citizens) that are bothered by anyone from a country in one of the Americas that calls himself an American. They're entitled to do so, just as we are. If that bothers them so much, there's little I can do about it. I'm not going to lose much sleep over it. And if my fellow Americans are pricks, that's their problem. When I'm in another country, I do my best not to offend anyone... that's just reasonable. However, I have known many foreign nationals that don't offer us the same consideration when they visit our country, so your dislike for your fellow Americans is unjustified. There are pricks everywhere, and many of them are far more obnoxious than we are.
I have news for you, not all people of other countries treat outsiders which any great courtesy. I've known a few Europeans who consider ALL Americans to be gauche and uncivilized. Doesn't matter who you are: if you're from the U.S. you're a boor who doesn't deserve the time of day. How's that for being an arrogant prick. I've also known many who were quite the opposite. So this crap of claiming that all Americans treat foreigners like shit is starting to get old. Some of us do, sure, but not all of us. Not even the majority.
The reason that some people in the world "hate us" is not because all Americans are pricks when they go to visit (after all, they have no problem taking our tourist's money.) It's because our government has made choices in our name that have pissed them off. If you hate someone because of their race or nationality, and only for that reason, then you're a mental defective and frankly I don't care what you think.
As I understand it, many natives of South America like those in Chile or Argentina do call themselves Americans and do get pissed that the US thinks it's the only country in one of the Americas
Slashdot Mirror
What comes to mind for me is just how obsessed many people are with the Google favicon.
I'm always amazed at the sheer number of people that are obssessed, period. It seems to be a mark of distinction nowadays if you're just completely gaga about some particular product or brand (Apple owners come to mind, for some reason.) Well, unreason seems to be a defining characteristic of modern civilization, so I guess this should come as no surprise. Too bad psychiatrists are so expensive: there are a lot of folks that could use a little therapy.
To whom it may concern: some of you are misusing your mod points. If you don't agree with me, fine, post a rebuttal. Otherwise cut it out and go review the moderator guidelines again.
unless it could be shown that their power use is somehow disproportinate compared with the benefit they provide when compared with other businesses.
Considering how many businesses worldwide depend upon Google for their very existence, that would be damned hard to do.
You know... it's always disturbing to me when my jokes get modded insightful, or when my serious posts get modded funny.
"Sometimes I worry about being a success in a mediocre world." -- Lily Tomlin
Which one?
All of them. It's just that some are better at it than others.
Given that their electricity costs directly hit their cost of doing business, I suspect they agree with this goal.
Google locates a lot of datacenter capacity in areas served by hydroelectric power.
Murphy's.
I was thinking Cole's Law.
You forgot to mention the HP Memristor (tm) driver software, which despite being about 335 bytes in size, will come bundled in an installed package that is 37MB, just so HP software can show pointless splash screens and randomly create services and daemons that appear to serve no purpose whatsoever, while STILL not being able to cancel the printing of a document without cycling the power.
And which will periodically send copies of your memory to a remote HP server in order to "improve the customer experience."
HP is not what it once was. Thanks for that, Carla.
Who cares about laws? I mean, the criminals don't, the government doesn't care, is anyone still clinging to this outdated model of a coexistance standard?
Yes. Governments.
However it seems in practice the elimination process would fall foul of the law.
Whose law?
I think Cisco has every right to give oral to their testees.
Yes, and the ones that don't make it become testee culls.
Try Louisiana.
No thanks. I've been there.
In some instances I don't care
If I'm calling a support line, pretty much by definition I care, because I've run into something I can't handle.
... and then have the sublime guts to advertise "World Class Customer Service" on a billboard I pass on the way to work. I guess "World Class" means hiring people from other parts of the wold with whom your customers cannot effectively communicate.
... it's the fault of the people who hired Bob and his friends. I mean, it's not as if the cell phone business is unprofitable, one assumes these outfits could afford to hire quality CS reps ... it's just that they choose not to.
... but I doubt he'd understand me.
The real issue here has nothing to do with Indians, or Scotsmen, or anyone else with a particular accent or unfamiliarity with English. It has to do with American outfits wanting to squeeze every penny out of their operating expenses, and see overseas call centers as another way to do that. Take my cellular provider, for instance. They shipped all their phone support to India, have made matters so difficult that I can't even get an erroneous charge removed from my bill
Cheapass bastards. Matter of fact, I'm switching cellular carriers because of billing practices that either utterly incompetent or outright fraudulent. I don't much care which, but I'm tired of trying explain that "I did not, repeat NOT order your GPS locator service. Take it off the bill, please. Yes, off the bill. No, I don't want to order the service, I want it removed! What? Yes I know I already have the service, that's why I want it taken off my bill. Now, once you've done that you can reimburse me for the charges, and furthermore you billed me for a dozen movie downloads. WHAT?! I don't care if your computer says I ordered them because my phone doesn't do video! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
Now, is it the fault of the poor Indian guy (you know, "Bob" or "Bill" or "Ted") on the other end? No
So I'm switching providers. I hope the next one does better. I'd tell the rep why I'm cancelling my account
Was this the best way to handle things? Nope.
No kidding. Now everybody knows what Norberg had to say. "Big mistake, Indy, big mistake!"
Not to mention a fully functional ER, gym, press cabin, offices for WH Sr. Staff, a kitchen and enough food to last weeks without landing.
I believe you meant "weeks without leaving the plane." Jet aircraft don't fly for weeks: it's not like they're atomic-powered or something. That would be cool though: I remember the Air Force was experimenting with that back in the fifties, I think.
Please. I know from extended studies of Dr Who that the British don't even notice when their prime minister is abducted by blubbery, farting aliens.
Yes, and they also fire beam weapons derived from alien technology at departing alien spacecraft.
Untrue. Poor people can't do anything,
A quick look at the every war in the 20th century begs to differ. Germany and Japan before WWII were both poor and suffering. So where are your examples of two rich countries fighting? You'd have to be pretty dense to not see the correlation between poverty and war.
I'd go a step further and say that pretty much all wars are economic at the core. Somebody has something that somebody else wants ... and that somebody else decides to take it. Really, it's not much more complex than that. The converse is generally not true: rich countries (i.e., people who have something to lose) generally don't go after poor countries, because they don't have anything worth taking.
There's also the security angle. If you assume that the CEO is actually important to the survival of a corporation (I know, that's not necessarily a given) you certainly don't want him flying coach, or driving somewhere by himself. He's a target, for ransoming if not worse.
Are you suggesting that POTUS's time is worth 8.7 TRILLION dollars a year?
Having basic amenities taken care of is not the same thing as hedonistic perks like a bowling alley in your basement.
_AC
Perhaps ... but then again, no President (or ex-President) will likely ever be allowed to go to a regular bowling alley. Too risky, they know too much. Being the most powerful man in the world does not mean you are the most free. In fact, it's quite the opposite. That applies to all people who have achieved a certain level of wealth, a certain degree of power. They become targets, have no choice but to isolate themselves. Why do you think so many of the rich and powerful (take Bill Gates, for example) have HUGE estates and gigantic homes? It's not just because they have money and like big things ... it's to provide an illusion of freedom.
The Aeolipile was a primitive steam turbine, not what we usually mean when we say "steam engine." The reciprocating steam engine was indeed invented in the UK (by Newcomen, and then improved/automated by Watt.)
While your post has enough buzzwords to garner the Insightful tag from clueless mods, your use of the term POTUS and the link with the 'in town' reference only earns you the Douche tag.
What? It's a legitimate acronym. Here, let me toss another your way ... SCOTUS. You figure it out.
But America still isn't the name of your country
Yes it is. We can call ourselves any thing we wish and there isn't anything you can do about it. Why does this bother you so?
That was a joke, silly. The word is pedantic, not pedantical.
Damn, I been pedanticalized!
That's fine, but you didn't answer my question. In any event, they're welcome to use the term any way they see fit, and so are we. Honestly, I know few Americans (that is, United States citizens) that are bothered by anyone from a country in one of the Americas that calls himself an American. They're entitled to do so, just as we are. If that bothers them so much, there's little I can do about it. I'm not going to lose much sleep over it. And if my fellow Americans are pricks, that's their problem. When I'm in another country, I do my best not to offend anyone ... that's just reasonable. However, I have known many foreign nationals that don't offer us the same consideration when they visit our country, so your dislike for your fellow Americans is unjustified. There are pricks everywhere, and many of them are far more obnoxious than we are.
I have news for you, not all people of other countries treat outsiders which any great courtesy. I've known a few Europeans who consider ALL Americans to be gauche and uncivilized. Doesn't matter who you are: if you're from the U.S. you're a boor who doesn't deserve the time of day. How's that for being an arrogant prick. I've also known many who were quite the opposite. So this crap of claiming that all Americans treat foreigners like shit is starting to get old. Some of us do, sure, but not all of us. Not even the majority.
The reason that some people in the world "hate us" is not because all Americans are pricks when they go to visit (after all, they have no problem taking our tourist's money.) It's because our government has made choices in our name that have pissed them off. If you hate someone because of their race or nationality, and only for that reason, then you're a mental defective and frankly I don't care what you think.
As I understand it, many natives of South America like those in Chile or Argentina do call themselves Americans and do get pissed that the US thinks it's the only country in one of the Americas
Um ... so?