It's not hard for Canada to spent less and serve more people than the US health care system. But the most obvious impact of this is that high cost services get targeted to those who truly need them. Recently, Herceptin was put on the approved drug list while other less effective treatments were removed. Same amount of money, more people helped. If it isn't you that benefits, you may well feel that you were cheated.
There are still countries that do it better (i.e. more services, less money) and partner with private health care without having to kill and eat any sacred cows (e.g. France). But this place has worked well for the people I know who needed services. And that included an MRI within a week. Granted, it was at 10PM, but when each unit costs so much they tend to buy fewer and run then closer to 24/7.
And I've heard people told by their doctor that they would NOT receive some diagnostic test because it did not aid in differential diagnosis (i.e. it wouldn't tell them anything they didn't already know). Since I'm paying for part of that test, I applaud the doctor for being to straight up and not blaming someone else (long waiting lines, low funding) for the choise.
Often, blaming government is a way to avoid hard feelings. Eveyone wants to help and to be liked. Sick people are not always the best to judge what is reasonable and effective in the circumstance. That said, the internet doesn't hurt either.
A couple of years ago when anthrax was floating in the US mail system, Canada contracted with Apotex (a local generic manufacturer) for production of ciprofloxacin rather than purchase it from the patent holder Bayer. If I remember correctly, they did not even hold more than cursory discussions with the patent holder.
Contrast this with third-world countries (incl. Brazil) who produce AIDS drugs in breach of patents held by drug companies. They have a real and present public health problem and many continue to argue that they should not be able to breach these patents. Let your AIDs infected die if they don't have the money, but even threaten a first-world country and they are running all over the patents.
The sad problem is that there is evidence that Tamiflu does not protect against H5N1, which is the bird flu strain that Taiwan is most worried about.
We know that the printers are sold at a loss and the consumables are more expensive than Dom Perignon. But the reasons for this are not only due to the choices of the manufacturer.
Printer consumables (e.g. ink & paper) generate a lot of revenue for the retail outlets as well as the manufacturer. Companies that sell cheaper ink and more expensive printers will have difficulty placing their printers in retail outlets. The cost per page of large photocopiers is very low, but you don't see them sold at big-box stores.
While retails outlets were the primary source of printers this was a stable situation. What has changed recently is that companies like Dell have enetered the direct sales market and so cut out the retail vendor. Retail can still make some money on consumables since there is some compatibility (e.g. Dell OEMs Lexmark).
But manufacturer's have no forced commitment to retail stores and if the Internet allows them to bypass the middleman and do direct sales, they will attempt to do so. In fact they must in order to compete with companies like Dell. At the same time Dell can't completely undercut the existing price regime because Lexmark still needs to see positive economics for their own printers even though they also build printers for Dell. Cut price ink would cannibalize their own sales more than the benefit of the increased hardware sales.
In order to make up for the loss of retail sales - and the loss of retails sales information - both Dell and Lexmark have created software that tracks usage and directs the user to the manufacturer's website *before* they run out. Otherwise, people will tend to impulse buy from retail rather than wait a week for delivery.
So the manufacturer's want the information, they need it in advance of ink exhaustion to bypass retail, and they can collect all sorts of information that they probably don't need but might find useful.
It's the 'might find useful' category that causes the greatest privacy concerns, and are probably not necessary for the immediate purposes, but it's easy to collect and few people complain. So far.
This testing is NOT the same as random drug testing.
The problem is at least two fold:
1) The testing company keeps the submitted essay and then uses it to test further submissions. They are now using the submitted essay for their own profit, and the student is effectively forced to allow this.
The equivalent drug test would be where the blood/urine sample has a value on a secondary market and the original owner loses the right to dictate how this sample is used.
2) Also, there are many procedural issues that relate to plagiarism that make the issue worse. It has been defacto at McGill that if you submit group work and one contributor has plagairised - intentionally or not - then all members of the group are held accountable. Teams often divide work for efficiency. To then require that every team member vet every other member's work is simply impossible in theory and impractical in general.
The equivalent drug test would be to ban everyone on any team that has had any member fail a drug test. For people caught in this net, the heavy-handed practise feels unfair and indefensible.
For people with professional standing (e.g. accountants) this has long reaching impact far beyond some elective where a team member missed citations.
In practise, it can seem like the guilt by association with a death penalty.
Here is a related article from the Globe and Mail and a response that suggests it is the same as random drug tests.
It is NOT the same as random drug tests.
http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TP Story/LAC/20040116/ESSAYS16//?query=McGill
http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TP Story/LAC/20040117/LETTERS17-5//?query=McGill
Dell, like any other company that employs hundred of people, has both good and bad. Also, their home technical support is worse than their business technical support partly due to the quality of people, but also due to the fact that most home callers don't know squat, and the tech people get used to clueless newbies who gave them a little more respect than any/.er is likely to.
So, if you get someone who is unhelpful, take their name, hang up, and call back. I've had conversations with subsequent tech people who apologized for the previous tech behaviour and ensured that my opinion was escalated.
How else do you expect to improve tech support without constructive feedback.
Once I get a knowledgeable tech person - and some groups like their server support seem uniformly good - I've had excellent experiences with Dell.
I once had a problem where a hard drive was slow. It worked, but it was slow. All diagnostics passed but some benchmarks indicated a performance problem. Dell replaced the drive. The new drive worked for a week and then exhibited the same problem. So they replaced the motherboard, but the problem continued. Finally, a tech realized that it was heat buildup related and the power supply fan was probably spinning too slowly to vent the heat and so the drive was going into failsafe mode. They replaced the power supply and the drive again and everything worked.
At this point, I can call and simply state that I need a certain part and why I think it's the problem and I can usually get a replacement without further diagnostics because I know what they expect and so pre-empt the 'make a floppy' routine. Why have you still got a floppy drive on your system anyway?
But realize that the techs have a script to follow and often must satisfy certain steps in order to replace expensive parts. Help them to satisfy these steps and don't waste both your time arguing about each step. If you are sure of exactly what will happen, just tell them it did. But you'd better be sure since any company that ships tens of thousands of systems a week may have a little more insight into what could happen than you, in spite of your wider knowledge.
Dell tech support may frequently suck, but they suck less!
The names appear to be slightly different around here, but the Pilot Hi-Tecpoint V5 and V7 are my preference for detailed writing. The only problem - shared y fountain pens - is that air travel will cause severe leakage if the pen is stored with the point down. http://www.pilotpen.us/detail.asp?PenID=43
I also have a Stypen (that used Lamy ink) for sketching and day-to-day use and have no trouble getting Lamy ink in Montreal. You might want to try an art materials store.
And Pilot has a nice disposable fountain pen (V-Pen) that works well. I got the Stypen/Lamy because I was using up the ink in the V-Pens too quickly.
"TIAs are often warning signs that a person is at risk for a more serious and debilitating stroke. About one-third of those who have a TIA will have an acute stroke some time in the future. Many strokes can be prevented by heeding the warning signs of TIAs and treating underlying risk factors."
Portable scanner allows targeted robbery/marketing
on
NYT on RFID Tags
·
· Score: 1
Two of the advantages of RFID tags is that they are 1) standardized and 2) preinstalled in the product. As they are powered by the reader, they also do not deactivate when they leave the store. They simply remain passive until activated by a reader. Also, since they are preinstalled, they are not necessarily easy to locate and remove - to create a theft deterrent. Washing should eventually damage RFID tags sufficiently to render them inoperative, as long as the product is washable.
Until then, they can be activated by any reader, including the reader at the store next door. You walk in to the Gap and they note that you just purchased something at a competitor. All the better to target you for cross/up sales.
But it's not just the store that can target you. Anyone with access to a scanner can walk around and find who has the expensive electronic item that is easy to fence, even if it's well hidden. And do you ever leave your laptop in your trunk. With RFID tags, they can target the item easily.
So it's a privacy issue. Just not the way that you might at first expect.
Though the pictures might be unavailable, the means of destruction are still available on this link from johnnyguru's site: http://www.fiftythree.org/etherkiller/
"You can seriously screw the crap out of some hardware by running 110V through ordinary computer component connectors.....
Slashdot Mirror
It's not hard for Canada to spent less and serve more people than the US health care system. But the most obvious impact of this is that high cost services get targeted to those who truly need them. Recently, Herceptin was put on the approved drug list while other less effective treatments were removed. Same amount of money, more people helped. If it isn't you that benefits, you may well feel that you were cheated.
There are still countries that do it better (i.e. more services, less money) and partner with private health care without having to kill and eat any sacred cows (e.g. France). But this place has worked well for the people I know who needed services. And that included an MRI within a week. Granted, it was at 10PM, but when each unit costs so much they tend to buy fewer and run then closer to 24/7.
And I've heard people told by their doctor that they would NOT receive some diagnostic test because it did not aid in differential diagnosis (i.e. it wouldn't tell them anything they didn't already know). Since I'm paying for part of that test, I applaud the doctor for being to straight up and not blaming someone else (long waiting lines, low funding) for the choise.
Often, blaming government is a way to avoid hard feelings. Eveyone wants to help and to be liked. Sick people are not always the best to judge what is reasonable and effective in the circumstance. That said, the internet doesn't hurt either.
A couple of years ago when anthrax was floating in the US mail system, Canada contracted with Apotex (a local generic manufacturer) for production of ciprofloxacin rather than purchase it from the patent holder Bayer. If I remember correctly, they did not even hold more than cursory discussions with the patent holder. Contrast this with third-world countries (incl. Brazil) who produce AIDS drugs in breach of patents held by drug companies. They have a real and present public health problem and many continue to argue that they should not be able to breach these patents. Let your AIDs infected die if they don't have the money, but even threaten a first-world country and they are running all over the patents. The sad problem is that there is evidence that Tamiflu does not protect against H5N1, which is the bird flu strain that Taiwan is most worried about.
Printer consumables (e.g. ink & paper) generate a lot of revenue for the retail outlets as well as the manufacturer. Companies that sell cheaper ink and more expensive printers will have difficulty placing their printers in retail outlets. The cost per page of large photocopiers is very low, but you don't see them sold at big-box stores.
While retails outlets were the primary source of printers this was a stable situation. What has changed recently is that companies like Dell have enetered the direct sales market and so cut out the retail vendor. Retail can still make some money on consumables since there is some compatibility (e.g. Dell OEMs Lexmark).
But manufacturer's have no forced commitment to retail stores and if the Internet allows them to bypass the middleman and do direct sales, they will attempt to do so. In fact they must in order to compete with companies like Dell. At the same time Dell can't completely undercut the existing price regime because Lexmark still needs to see positive economics for their own printers even though they also build printers for Dell. Cut price ink would cannibalize their own sales more than the benefit of the increased hardware sales.
In order to make up for the loss of retail sales - and the loss of retails sales information - both Dell and Lexmark have created software that tracks usage and directs the user to the manufacturer's website *before* they run out. Otherwise, people will tend to impulse buy from retail rather than wait a week for delivery.
So the manufacturer's want the information, they need it in advance of ink exhaustion to bypass retail, and they can collect all sorts of information that they probably don't need but might find useful.
It's the 'might find useful' category that causes the greatest privacy concerns, and are probably not necessary for the immediate purposes, but it's easy to collect and few people complain. So far.
The problem is at least two fold:
1) The testing company keeps the submitted essay and then uses it to test further submissions. They are now using the submitted essay for their own profit, and the student is effectively forced to allow this.
The equivalent drug test would be where the blood/urine sample has a value on a secondary market and the original owner loses the right to dictate how this sample is used.
2) Also, there are many procedural issues that relate to plagiarism that make the issue worse. It has been defacto at McGill that if you submit group work and one contributor has plagairised - intentionally or not - then all members of the group are held accountable. Teams often divide work for efficiency. To then require that every team member vet every other member's work is simply impossible in theory and impractical in general.
The equivalent drug test would be to ban everyone on any team that has had any member fail a drug test. For people caught in this net, the heavy-handed practise feels unfair and indefensible.
For people with professional standing (e.g. accountants) this has long reaching impact far beyond some elective where a team member missed citations.
In practise, it can seem like the guilt by association with a death penalty.
Here is a related article from the Globe and Mail and a response that suggests it is the same as random drug tests. It is NOT the same as random drug tests. http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TP Story/LAC/20040116/ESSAYS16//?query=McGill
http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TP Story/LAC/20040117/LETTERS17-5//?query=McGill
So, if you get someone who is unhelpful, take their name, hang up, and call back. I've had conversations with subsequent tech people who apologized for the previous tech behaviour and ensured that my opinion was escalated. How else do you expect to improve tech support without constructive feedback.
Once I get a knowledgeable tech person - and some groups like their server support seem uniformly good - I've had excellent experiences with Dell.
I once had a problem where a hard drive was slow. It worked, but it was slow. All diagnostics passed but some benchmarks indicated a performance problem. Dell replaced the drive. The new drive worked for a week and then exhibited the same problem. So they replaced the motherboard, but the problem continued. Finally, a tech realized that it was heat buildup related and the power supply fan was probably spinning too slowly to vent the heat and so the drive was going into failsafe mode. They replaced the power supply and the drive again and everything worked.
At this point, I can call and simply state that I need a certain part and why I think it's the problem and I can usually get a replacement without further diagnostics because I know what they expect and so pre-empt the 'make a floppy' routine. Why have you still got a floppy drive on your system anyway?
But realize that the techs have a script to follow and often must satisfy certain steps in order to replace expensive parts. Help them to satisfy these steps and don't waste both your time arguing about each step. If you are sure of exactly what will happen, just tell them it did. But you'd better be sure since any company that ships tens of thousands of systems a week may have a little more insight into what could happen than you, in spite of your wider knowledge.
Dell tech support may frequently suck, but they suck less !
The names appear to be slightly different around here, but the Pilot Hi-Tecpoint V5 and V7 are my preference for detailed writing. The only problem - shared y fountain pens - is that air travel will cause severe leakage if the pen is stored with the point down.
n .h tml
http://www.pilotpen.us/detail.asp?PenID=43
I also have a Stypen (that used Lamy ink) for sketching and day-to-day use and have no trouble getting Lamy ink in Montreal. You might want to try an art materials store.
And Pilot has a nice disposable fountain pen (V-Pen) that works well. I got the Stypen/Lamy because I was using up the ink in the V-Pens too quickly.
http://www.pilot.co.jp/line_up/product/vpen/vpe
Well, some of us might have seen the 'unbelievably insane' rise in SCO's stock and decided to short it instead. ;-)
I hope they get help to reduce the risk factors and avoid future TIAs. Lifestyle changes may be required.
o rd ers/tia_doc.htm
More information about Transient Ischemic Attacks (TIA) is availabe from the National Institutes of Health.
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/health_and_medical/dis
"TIAs are often warning signs that a person is at risk for a more serious and debilitating stroke. About one-third of those who have a TIA will have an acute stroke some time in the future. Many strokes can be prevented by heeding the warning signs of TIAs and treating underlying risk factors."
Two of the advantages of RFID tags is that they are 1) standardized and 2) preinstalled in the product. As they are powered by the reader, they also do not deactivate when they leave the store. They simply remain passive until activated by a reader. Also, since they are preinstalled, they are not necessarily easy to locate and remove - to create a theft deterrent. Washing should eventually damage RFID tags sufficiently to render them inoperative, as long as the product is washable. Until then, they can be activated by any reader, including the reader at the store next door. You walk in to the Gap and they note that you just purchased something at a competitor. All the better to target you for cross/up sales. But it's not just the store that can target you. Anyone with access to a scanner can walk around and find who has the expensive electronic item that is easy to fence, even if it's well hidden. And do you ever leave your laptop in your trunk. With RFID tags, they can target the item easily. So it's a privacy issue. Just not the way that you might at first expect.
Though the pictures might be unavailable, the means of destruction are still available on this link from johnnyguru's site: http://www.fiftythree.org/etherkiller/
"You can seriously screw the crap out of some hardware by running 110V through ordinary computer component connectors.....
The burn markes make much more sense now.