Ditto with my students in 100 introductory computer informations systems class I teach.
I deliver the same message about Works documents ("don't send 'em") and OpenOffice ("don't spend $ on Office until you really need to...and then use the school's academic pricing to get a full suite for less than $100").
Invariably a handful will deliver the.wps format. Even after the joys of.rtf and OpenOffice have been illustrated (along with the evils of OEM bloatware).
Invariably, during the second or third week of class, somebody will announce they've purchased the discounted "student version" at their favorite big box store (Word, Excel and PowerPoint only) for $140; had they paid attention and used the school's license, for $50 less they could have had the full Professional version. Even if they didn't need the Outlook, Access and Publisher apps, they certainly could have used the extra $50 back in their pocket.
I also give them the option to review the OpenOffice user experience and compare its functionality with Office as a term paper equivalent; there are few takers for this...
The US Navy's P-3 Orion (in many variants) is a 4-engine maritime patrol airplane. The engines are Pratt and Whitney T-56 turboprops, a powerplant shared with the C-130, the E-2 and the C-2.
In the flight station, in the top center of the instrument panel are four big yellow handles that you pull when you need to shut the engines off in an emergency. Because they are used for emergencies, the are cleverly called "e-handles". Underneath each e-handle is a red button. This is the the button that releases the contents of the high-rate-of discharge (HRD) fire extinguisher in the corresponding engine compartment. You can see a picture of this configuration here: http://www.namsa.nato.int/gallery/systems/p3orion6 .jpg
I was in the navy flying with a P-3 crew in the mid 1980s. We were at Kadena Air Base on Okinawa, trying to take off and get to the same place in the ocean where some foreign naval unit was exercising its right to free navigation in international waters during the Cold War. Even though there are other P-3s on the ramp that day, *our* P-3 was special, since it had some sensors that that other kids didn't have yet..which is why we got to hang around the airplane during this maintenance delay...
During our engine starts, there was a problem with the number two engine (inboard on the port side). It was fixable in an our two, but the mechs would have to pull the plane into the hangar to do the work.
It's late spring, a mild sunny day, and I curl up by the port overwing exit in the tube; this part of the crew cabin it has enough space to stretch out and get a decent. The overwing hatch is open, cool breezes are flowing off the East China Sea. Others are lounging in their seats, on the bunks in the back, in the flight station, listening to the radio on the ADF receiver. We're just chillin', waiting for the mechanic on the ladder under the number 2 engine compartment to work his magic so we can go flying.
I can hear the sound of his tools banging around in the engine compartment, and just as I'm about to go asleep, I hear him call to the flight station (whose side window was also open): "Hey, somebody pull the number 2 e-handle"...
The e-handle does a number of things, including severing some mechanical connections between the propeller and engine turbine, cutting fuel flow, and generally making sure that the the motor you shut down during an inflight emergency won't be further damaged.
That's the 'splaining. Here's what happened next....
The guy in the flight station who responded to this request was neither an aviation mechanic nor an aviation electrician, nor an aviation hydraulics technician. Regrettably, he was an aviation electronics technician, and this particular one was not, shall we say, the sharpeset tool in our shed that day.
Here's what he didn't know: He didn't know that the red button under the e-handle was *not* the push-to-release-button for the e-handle. So, before he pulled the e-handle, he pressed the red button underneath it, believing it *was* the push-to-release button.
When he pushed the button, the contents of the HRD fire extinguisher emptied --immediately-- into the number 2 engine compartment...where our helpless mechanic was still working.
The good new was that nobody got hurt (including the poor bastard who pushed the button, who was spared physical harm by the mechanic). The mechanic was none too pleased, because now cleaning the engine compartment just got added to his list of things to do...we didn't get to go fly that day because it takes many more hours to clean up the engine compartment after the fire extinguisher is emptied out in there.
Big red buttons ang big yellow handles...equal sources of entertainment.
What? The OP is being asked to install unlicensed software, not commit war crimes.
But: if this is the management's approach to a no-brainer legal/ethical issue, it should send up many red flags about how they are acting in other areas. Document your objects, do the install, and start your new job search immediately, because my confidence in how they are managing finances and plan to treat their employees over the long term would be absolutely zero.
...after years of being a Unix user at work(albeit a well supported one), I tried Linux at home. I tried Suse, I tried Mandrake. I've tried Ubuntu. Never got my wireless network working. Never got a printer working. Never got a decent dual monitor display. Never got my 5.1 sound card working. Access to multiple local UGs hasn't mitigated these things
I got work to do...even if I need to reboot it twice a day, Windows runs my hardware just fine.
I'd love to use Unix...but it has to make my hardware work. Until then, it's a hobbyists diversion.
...but have some non-negotiable user needs. I need to to connect to the Internet with wireless adpaters. I need it to work with my existing printers and scanners. I'd like it drive the dual monitors on my primary machin (and would settle for just one at it's native resolution....but the display looks nasty). I need it to drive my old sound card that powers my relatively new 5.1 speakers. I get bits and pieces depending on which of set of hardware I use. I haven't even got to the point where I've wanted to do any digitial image processing yet.
I'm geekier than most home users. I've worked in a supported Unix environment for years, and have built my own (Wintel) machines. I've tried Mandrake, Suse and Ubuntu and one other distro that I can't remember now...but simply can't get to the same level of out-of-the box system functionality that I get in a Windows hardware environment. I've got a full time job, a part-time job and go to school part-time too. My Windows OS environment is stable enough to allow me to to the things above.
Thanks...maybe if I get some down time I'll try Gentoo....I've already been through SuSe and Mandrake (just before it became Mandriva). Having used Unix at work over the years, felt I was well prepared for the home Linux experience. I wasn't:-)
What distro? What USB wifi adapter? Because after a long battle trying to get a Linux box to network wirelessly with no sucess, I went back to Windows. In the end, the wireless connectivity was more important the the OS....since my wife won't let me string CAT 5 cable at will:-)
...early in 2005 to migrate to unix on a five-year old PC sitting in our guest room. I got two distros up and running successfully (Suse 9.x and Mandrake 9.x), and had a perfectly functioning machine....to a point.
No matter what I tried, this machine would not connect to the Internet wirelessly. I tried my local Unix UG, I bartered with Unix geeks at work, I even paid a nominal fee for a driver from an online source...all no joy. I ran a CAT 5 cable from my router to the room, and both distros were online immediately. Not surprisingly, my S/O was opposed to the idea of a an Ethernet cord running through the middle of the house.
No matter what I tried, this machine would not drive the scanner/printer sitting next to it.
If it won't connect to the Internet and won't PRINT, it's utility drops rapidly.
Finally: with both distros, I never had any actual success adding software that wasn't part of the initial bundle. And I won't discuss the distro that eventually had a corrupted boot loader and the three days that took to unscrew.
I'm probably slightly above average ordinary Windows user: I've got several home built machines and have worked in Unix enviroments (in a highly supported, very locked down sort of way) at work for years.
If either of these distros had run an 802.11g wireless adapter and a $100 HP printer/scanner, they'd still be running on that machine today.
There were no components of my own competence in play here, but when all was said and done...it was too hard for this Windows user.
Please please please come to an interview prepared with the standard questions you *will* be asked (maybe not all in the same interview, but over time..it's a sure thing):
-What was your biggest challenge when leading (or working as part of) a team, and how did you overcome it?
-What is your biggest fault?
-What is your biggest strength?
-Discuss your organizational skills/ability to multitask/handle short deadlines...
-Why do you want to work at this company (hint: ain't for the salary and benefits, even if it is)?
What do you like to read (it really doesn't matter what....but be prepared with something!...I always ask this question).
You will hear these questions. You'll look better than the closest equally qualified candidate if you answer them articulately (truthful is good too, but articulate probably trumps it!)
I received Patty Loveless "Dreamin' My Dreams as a gift. As part of the SONY BMG exchange program, I'm in receipt of notonly a new non-DRM CD, but a link to download MP3 versions of the album three times. I got the one time I needed. The other two download opportunites remain. The link contains options for both a zip file of the entire album and individual tracks.
...that I sometimes use (because it's closest to my house), he's lucky he didn't get a full blown ass-whipping!
That particular store sets new records for Best Buy customer disrespect. Many Best Buys have large populations of non subject matter experts populating their aisles...the Security Square store compounds it by having easily the surliest sales staff I've ever seen anywhere.
To their credit, when I needed a game console and Dance Dance Revolution game at Christmas for my kid, I did find an unusually clueful geek in the gaming section. He understoon my desperate plea about NOT wanting any Christmas Day surprises, and to make sure I had everything I needed for out of the box DDR fun. He got it right.
But in 10 years of going to that story, this is sole exception. So I wouldn't be surprised to hear this was the story that sent a customer to jail for using legal tender.... It's an amazing place!
In case you haven't figured this out already, I hope one of your less than 10-year old at phones is corded. Otherswise, during the next power outage, you won't be talking with anybody...and if the outage is extended, you won't be recharging your cellphone either. I own a number of modern, wireless 900 MHZ and 5.8 GHZ wirless phones with caller id, memory dial, adjustable rings, etc. And in the basement, right next to my Grundig emergency radio that needs only cranking to work is a 1930s era Bakelite western electric phone. It's power supply is low voltage DC delivered directly by the cord that connects it to the network, and it's the only one in the house that still works when the power is gone.
No, you don't need an antique or rotary dial phone...but you should consider backing off enough technology to let you be able to talk when the lights are out.
I'm no Luddite, and have a fine selection of curent technology in my house...and when Hurricane Isabel took the power out for 5 days, I was able to talk on the phone still....
...is all I need them to last. That will be the point at which my most recent "lifetime" (of the product) service activation will have cost less than the continuing $12/month monthly rate. Presumably I can scavange the hard drives of they go completely toes up:-)
If you've made it this far, then the following may interest you if you are pondering LASIK. I've probably had more patient experiences than most. The bottom line is that it is indeed transformational and life changing...but it is not risk free. So here we go: (1) Get evlatuations from at least three different surgeons/centers. Most do it for free, some have a nominal charge. Because I'm in central Maryland, one of my pre-surgery stops was Johns Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute. The $100 they charged was worth it for what I felt was the most thorough and most objective assessment of my chances for success. (2) DO NOT --I REPEAT-- DO NOT-- use price as a consideration in your decision on who is going to operate on your eyes. The financial margins in these practices are relatively thin, and those that are working on the the thin-ice region of ethics will sometimes pressure a person with marginal chances for success. Make your decision on the center/surgeon combination that inspires the most confidence in you. Then do your homework and seek references before finalizing that decision. Most of the volume driven providers have been weeded out...but don't stick with one that pressures you in any way for a decision to commit! (3) Prepare for complications. During my initial surgery, the fist eye (my right) went flawlesslessy. The procedure on my left eye was interrupted due to problem while making the incision in the cornea (needed to expose the lens to the laser). This particular complication is by far the most common for LASIK. If the cut does not proceed uninterrupted, they will stop and you will come back later (about 90 days) after the cornea has healed. I therefore spent 90 days in 20/20 - 20/400 funhouse. Your brain is an amazing thing and adapts wonderfully. Yes, you can drive like this (in Maryland you can drive with 20/100 vision in just one eye...a scary thought). Mostly this was annoying and frustrating, but it was a big letdown after expecting to walk in myopic and astingmatic and expecting to walk out like Chuck Yeager. MANAGE YOUR EXPECTATIONS. BTW, the second time around on the left eye was entirely nominal. They even did a third to enhance the correction..they undercorrected deliberately on the second attempt. Also, there are new all-laser alternatives (discussed elsewhere) to the microkeratotomy for the corneal insicsion. It's too late for me. Given what I know know..sounds like a superb advance! (4) If they offer you a pre-op sedative...take it. If they don't...ask for it. If you think having your eyes touched etc is normal....go find your dog and try to touch theirs! (5) Consider PRK also. It's got a little longer recovery time, but generally is less likely to result in complications, and there is a sense that it is more durable than LASIK because of the above corneal flap issue. (6) When all was said and done (more than a year in my case) I went from 20/400 astigmatic to bettet than 20/20 in both eyes. There are some slight "starburst" effects at night, but my night vision always sucked anyway, but these are noticable only if I stop to identify them. 4+ years later I'm still glasses free (although my calendar age may dictate reading glasses soon). I can walk/run in rain, snow, fog and see! I can fall asleep on the couch and not worry about trashing a $500 pair of glasses. I can wear cool shades. I can wake up and see the clock, or simply the contents of the room I'm in. I can go from cold to heated spaces without fogged lenses. I started wearing glasses when I was 7 years old. At the time of my surgery, I was paying nearly $500 for glasses that were comfortable and were not coke bottles. Double it for a pair of shades, and a little extra for the spare for the car: corrective surgery winds hands down in the total life cycle cost caluclus! I'm glad I grew up in time when they were available to correct my shitty vision, I never adapted to any form of contact lenses and so I'm similarly glad that the additional options of LASIK/PRK came along to improve on that technology. -- Bottom line: Choose your surgeon carefully, understand the risks, manage your expecations...and then enjoy your new life without glasses.
One of my guilty pleasures is Best Buy. Doesn't matter that for the most part the staff is woefully uninformed about the stuff they are selling, it's still great fun to roam around from department to department and see what they are selling...especially at sale prices. I'm also a rebate junkie, because I've had consistently good luck with them being returned (althought some do require the phone call). I have twice submittted rebate materials (I do it right away) and then returned and item. Not on purpose, but because the thing didn't work. One was an Epson scanner and the other was a ?Dazzle? A-D external video capture device. These both quit working (or never did) within 48 hours of unpacking, and I have zero guilt about replacing them with non-identical products and accepting the rebate.
Since I sometimes hang in Best Buy while my wife is killing an our (and the checkbook) in an adjacent Bed Bath and Beyond, I'm fascinated by the "advice" the sales staff sometimes offers the non-technically proficient customers.
....since none of these sites are in my online wheelhouse......I'll simply go elsehwere. Obviously if you have invested in their personalized content and are too busy or lazy to find other sources, then the issue looms large. If hit counts are still a bellweather of a site's popularitt, the full motion/full length ads will have a short life. Dial-up users will be driven simply based on the time thet would have to spenp, and broadband users will simply stay away. It's a concept that won't develop any new business, and therefore has limited if any potential to give its proponents any marketplace traction. After it fails, it will be fun to see the heads rolling from the offices of the firms that claimed that this was how to make a web presence "pay for itself"
Well then: Anybody who gets one speeding ticket based on an EZ pass readout was probably speeding. Anybody who gets a second is probably utterly unconcerned about their own privacy anyway (I'm trying to avoid the 'clueless' label, but it does come to mind!).
Don't count on it (at least in NJ). The NJ Turnpike has been time-stamping their entry/exit toll tickets for as long as I've been driving (long enough to have waited in gas lines during the 1st OPEC oil embargo), and they haven't done this simple math exercise yet. Why would they start just because there's a new layer of technology??
If bad guys are stupid enough to use an EZ Pass, I'm glad the cops are smart enough to figure out how where there were on their way to/from the crime scene.
As for the non-bad guys: you simply have to assess your own level of tolerance in the calculus of convenience vs. privacy.
Slashdot Mirror
Ditto with my students in 100 introductory computer informations systems class I teach.
.wps format. Even after the joys of .rtf and OpenOffice have been illustrated (along with the evils of OEM bloatware).
I deliver the same message about Works documents ("don't send 'em") and OpenOffice ("don't spend $ on Office until you really need to...and then use the school's academic pricing to get a full suite for less than $100").
Invariably a handful will deliver the
Invariably, during the second or third week of class, somebody will announce they've purchased the discounted "student version" at their favorite big box store (Word, Excel and PowerPoint only) for $140; had they paid attention and used the school's license, for $50 less they could have had the full Professional version. Even if they didn't need the Outlook, Access and Publisher apps, they certainly could have used the extra $50 back in their pocket.
I also give them the option to review the OpenOffice user experience and compare its functionality with Office as a term paper equivalent; there are few takers for this...
or...according to a certain Washington DC resident:
"half-glass empty guy or half-glass full guy"
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/03/20080328-3.html
...but certainly qualifies..
6 .jpg
The US Navy's P-3 Orion (in many variants) is a 4-engine maritime patrol airplane. The engines are Pratt and Whitney T-56 turboprops, a powerplant shared with the C-130, the E-2 and the C-2.
In the flight station, in the top center of the instrument panel are four big yellow handles that you pull when you need to shut the engines off in an emergency. Because they are used for emergencies, the are cleverly called "e-handles". Underneath each e-handle is a red button. This is the the button that releases the contents of the high-rate-of discharge (HRD) fire extinguisher in the corresponding engine compartment. You can see a picture of this configuration here:
http://www.namsa.nato.int/gallery/systems/p3orion
I was in the navy flying with a P-3 crew in the mid 1980s. We were at Kadena Air Base on Okinawa, trying to take off and get to the same place in the ocean where some foreign naval unit was exercising its right to free navigation in international waters during the Cold War. Even though there are other P-3s on the ramp that day, *our* P-3 was special, since it had some sensors that that other kids didn't have yet..which is why we got to hang around the airplane during this maintenance delay...
During our engine starts, there was a problem with the number two engine (inboard on the port side). It was fixable in an our two, but the mechs would have to pull the plane into the hangar to do the work.
It's late spring, a mild sunny day, and I curl up by the port overwing exit in the tube; this part of the crew cabin it has enough space to stretch out and get a decent. The overwing hatch is open, cool breezes are flowing off the East China Sea. Others are lounging in their seats, on the bunks in the back, in the flight station, listening to the radio on the ADF receiver. We're just chillin', waiting for the mechanic on the ladder under the number 2 engine compartment to work his magic so we can go flying.
I can hear the sound of his tools banging around in the engine compartment, and just as I'm about to go asleep, I hear him call to the flight station (whose side window was also open): "Hey, somebody pull the number 2 e-handle"...
The e-handle does a number of things, including severing some mechanical connections between the propeller and engine turbine, cutting fuel flow, and generally making sure that the the motor you shut down during an inflight emergency won't be further damaged.
That's the 'splaining. Here's what happened next....
The guy in the flight station who responded to this request was neither an aviation mechanic nor an aviation electrician, nor an aviation hydraulics technician. Regrettably, he was an aviation electronics technician, and this particular one was not, shall we say, the sharpeset tool in our shed that day.
Here's what he didn't know:
He didn't know that the red button under the e-handle was *not* the push-to-release-button for the e-handle. So, before he pulled the e-handle, he pressed the red button underneath it, believing it *was* the push-to-release button.
When he pushed the button, the contents of the HRD fire extinguisher emptied --immediately-- into the number 2 engine compartment...where our helpless mechanic was still working.
The good new was that nobody got hurt (including the poor bastard who pushed the button, who was spared physical harm by the mechanic). The mechanic was none too pleased, because now cleaning the engine compartment just got added to his list of things to do...we didn't get to go fly that day because it takes many more hours to clean up the engine compartment after the fire extinguisher is emptied out in there.
Big red buttons ang big yellow handles...equal sources of entertainment.
What? The OP is being asked to install unlicensed software, not commit war crimes.
But: if this is the management's approach to a no-brainer legal/ethical issue, it should send up many red flags about how they are acting in other areas. Document your objects, do the install, and start your new job search immediately, because my confidence in how they are managing finances and plan to treat their employees over the long term would be absolutely zero.
The OP never indicated he (or she) worked for the government, did he (she) ??
...after years of being a Unix user at work(albeit a well supported one), I tried Linux at home. I tried Suse, I tried Mandrake. I've tried Ubuntu.
Never got my wireless network working.
Never got a printer working.
Never got a decent dual monitor display.
Never got my 5.1 sound card working.
Access to multiple local UGs hasn't mitigated these things
I got work to do...even if I need to reboot it twice a day, Windows runs my hardware just fine.
I'd love to use Unix...but it has to make my hardware work. Until then, it's a hobbyists diversion.
Watch an episode of the prime time news offering from ABC (or NBC and CBS)...and find one damned commercial that's not for prescription meds......
...but have some non-negotiable user needs. I need to to connect to the Internet with wireless adpaters. I need it to work with my existing printers and scanners. I'd like it drive the dual monitors on my primary machin (and would settle for just one at it's native resolution....but the display looks nasty). I need it to drive my old sound card that powers my relatively new 5.1 speakers. I get bits and pieces depending on which of set of hardware I use. I haven't even got to the point where I've wanted to do any digitial image processing yet.
I'm geekier than most home users. I've worked in a supported Unix environment for years, and have built my own (Wintel) machines. I've tried Mandrake, Suse and Ubuntu and one other distro that I can't remember now...but simply can't get to the same level of out-of-the box system functionality that I get in a Windows hardware environment. I've got a full time job, a part-time job and go to school part-time too. My Windows OS environment is stable enough to allow me to to the things above.
I love open source. I love freeware. I love stability. But crawling through this for every hardware device just isn't worth the time:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=84338
Mayne I'll just go the Mac OS X route for my next hardware purchase...
Thanks...maybe if I get some down time I'll try Gentoo....I've already been through SuSe and Mandrake (just before it became Mandriva). Having used Unix at work over the years, felt I was well prepared for the home Linux experience. I wasn't:-)
What distro? What USB wifi adapter? Because after a long battle trying to get a Linux box to network wirelessly with no sucess, I went back to Windows. In the end, the wireless connectivity was more important the the OS....since my wife won't let me string CAT 5 cable at will:-)
And of course, I meant to tyoe: "Linux" in the first sentence...
and in the last sentence
"There were components of my own compentence..."
Can't type...how can I swich to Linux:-)
...early in 2005 to migrate to unix on a five-year old PC sitting in our guest room. I got two distros up and running successfully (Suse 9.x and Mandrake 9.x), and had a perfectly functioning machine....to a point.
No matter what I tried, this machine would not connect to the Internet wirelessly. I tried my local Unix UG, I bartered with Unix geeks at work, I even paid a nominal fee for a driver from an online source...all no joy. I ran a CAT 5 cable from my router to the room, and both distros were online immediately. Not surprisingly, my S/O was opposed to the idea of a an Ethernet cord running through the middle of the house.
No matter what I tried, this machine would not drive the scanner/printer sitting next to it.
If it won't connect to the Internet and won't PRINT, it's utility drops rapidly.
Finally: with both distros, I never had any actual success adding software that wasn't part of the initial bundle. And I won't discuss the distro that eventually had a corrupted boot loader and the three days that took to unscrew.
I'm probably slightly above average ordinary Windows user: I've got several home built machines and have worked in Unix enviroments (in a highly supported, very locked down sort of way) at work for years.
If either of these distros had run an 802.11g wireless adapter and a $100 HP printer/scanner, they'd still be running on that machine today.
There were no components of my own competence in play here, but when all was said and done...it was too hard for this Windows user.
Please please please come to an interview prepared with the standard questions you *will* be asked (maybe not all in the same interview, but over time..it's a sure thing):
-What was your biggest challenge when leading (or working as part of) a team, and how did you overcome it?
-What is your biggest fault?
-What is your biggest strength?
-Discuss your organizational skills/ability to multitask/handle short deadlines...
-Why do you want to work at this company (hint: ain't for the salary and benefits, even if it is)?
What do you like to read (it really doesn't matter what....but be prepared with something!...I always ask this question).
You will hear these questions. You'll look better than the closest equally qualified candidate if you answer them articulately (truthful is good too, but articulate probably trumps it!)
I received Patty Loveless "Dreamin' My Dreams as a gift. As part of the SONY BMG exchange program, I'm in receipt of notonly a new non-DRM CD, but a link to download MP3 versions of the album three times. I got the one time I needed. The other two download opportunites remain. The link contains options for both a zip file of the entire album and individual tracks.
C LedN9hVzEOxw**/
Anyway, it's here for the first two lucky readers who may be interested...
http://xcpexchange.sonybmg.com/fs/GI/xr/18RwRLuyf
..it's clearly "Hello Kitty" inspired.
For 95 euros, I'm tempted to shoot one just to watch it die...
I am the only one who is amazed by this domain name:
http://www.brainfreeze.com/
...that I sometimes use (because it's closest to my house), he's lucky he didn't get a full blown ass-whipping!
That particular store sets new records for Best Buy customer disrespect. Many Best Buys have large populations of non subject matter experts populating their aisles...the Security Square store compounds it by having easily the surliest sales staff I've ever seen anywhere.
To their credit, when I needed a game console and Dance Dance Revolution game at Christmas for my kid, I did find an unusually clueful geek in the gaming section. He understoon my desperate plea about NOT wanting any Christmas Day surprises, and to make sure I had everything I needed for out of the box DDR fun. He got it right.
But in 10 years of going to that story, this is sole exception. So I wouldn't be surprised to hear this was the story that sent a customer to jail for using legal tender....
It's an amazing place!
In case you haven't figured this out already, I hope one of your less than 10-year old at phones is corded. Otherswise, during the next power outage, you won't be talking with anybody...and if the outage is extended, you won't be recharging your cellphone either. I own a number of modern, wireless 900 MHZ and 5.8 GHZ wirless phones with caller id, memory dial, adjustable rings, etc. And in the basement, right next to my Grundig emergency radio that needs only cranking to work is a 1930s era Bakelite western electric phone. It's power supply is low voltage DC delivered directly by the cord that connects it to the network, and it's the only one in the house that still works when the power is gone.
No, you don't need an antique or rotary dial phone...but you should consider backing off enough technology to let you be able to talk when the lights are out.
I'm no Luddite, and have a fine selection of curent technology in my house...and when Hurricane Isabel took the power out for 5 days, I was able to talk on the phone still....
...is all I need them to last. That will be the point at which my most recent "lifetime" (of the product) service activation will have cost less than the continuing $12/month monthly rate. Presumably I can scavange the hard drives of they go completely toes up:-)
If you've made it this far, then the following may interest you if you are pondering LASIK. I've probably had more patient experiences than most. The bottom line is that it is indeed transformational and life changing...but it is not risk free. So here we go:
(1) Get evlatuations from at least three different surgeons/centers. Most do it for free, some have a nominal charge. Because I'm in central Maryland, one of my pre-surgery stops was Johns Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute. The $100 they charged was worth it for what I felt was the most thorough and most objective assessment of my chances for success.
(2) DO NOT --I REPEAT-- DO NOT-- use price as a consideration in your decision on who is going to operate on your eyes. The financial margins in these practices are relatively thin, and those that are working on the the thin-ice region of ethics will sometimes pressure a person with marginal chances for success. Make your decision on the center/surgeon combination that inspires the most confidence in you. Then do your homework and seek references before finalizing that decision. Most of the volume driven providers have been weeded out...but don't stick with one that pressures you in any way for a decision to commit!
(3) Prepare for complications. During my initial surgery, the fist eye (my right) went flawlesslessy. The procedure on my left eye was interrupted due to problem while making the incision in the cornea (needed to expose the lens to the laser). This particular complication is by far the most common for LASIK. If the cut does not proceed uninterrupted, they will stop and you will come back later (about 90 days) after the cornea has healed. I therefore spent 90 days in 20/20 - 20/400 funhouse. Your brain is an amazing thing and adapts wonderfully. Yes, you can drive like this (in Maryland you can drive with 20/100 vision in just one eye...a scary thought). Mostly this was annoying and frustrating, but it was a big letdown after expecting to walk in myopic and astingmatic and expecting to walk out like Chuck Yeager. MANAGE YOUR EXPECTATIONS. BTW, the second time around on the left eye was entirely nominal. They even did a third to enhance the correction..they undercorrected deliberately on the second attempt. Also, there are new all-laser alternatives (discussed elsewhere) to the microkeratotomy for the corneal insicsion. It's too late for me. Given what I know know..sounds like a superb advance!
(4) If they offer you a pre-op sedative...take it. If they don't...ask for it. If you think having your eyes touched etc is normal....go find your dog and try to touch theirs!
(5) Consider PRK also. It's got a little longer recovery time, but generally is less likely to result in complications, and there is a sense that it is more durable than LASIK because of the above corneal flap issue.
(6) When all was said and done (more than a year in my case) I went from 20/400 astigmatic to bettet than 20/20 in both eyes. There are some slight "starburst" effects at night, but my night vision always sucked anyway, but these are noticable only if I stop to identify them. 4+ years later I'm still glasses free (although my calendar age may dictate reading glasses soon). I can walk/run in rain, snow, fog and see! I can fall asleep on the couch and not worry about trashing a $500 pair of glasses. I can wear cool shades. I can wake up and see the clock, or simply the contents of the room I'm in. I can go from cold to heated spaces without fogged lenses. I started wearing glasses when I was 7 years old. At the time of my surgery, I was paying nearly $500 for glasses that were comfortable and were not coke bottles. Double it for a pair of shades, and a little extra for the spare for the car: corrective surgery winds hands down in the total life cycle cost caluclus! I'm glad I grew up in time when they were available to correct my shitty vision, I never adapted to any form of contact lenses and so I'm similarly glad that the additional options of LASIK/PRK came along to improve on that technology.
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Bottom line: Choose your surgeon carefully, understand the risks, manage your expecations...and then enjoy your new life without glasses.
One of my guilty pleasures is Best Buy. Doesn't matter that for the most part the staff is woefully uninformed about the stuff they are selling, it's still great fun to roam around from department to department and see what they are selling...especially at sale prices. I'm also a rebate junkie, because I've had consistently good luck with them being returned (althought some do require the phone call). I have twice submittted rebate materials (I do it right away) and then returned and item. Not on purpose, but because the thing didn't work. One was an Epson scanner and the other was a ?Dazzle? A-D external video capture device. These both quit working (or never did) within 48 hours of unpacking, and I have zero guilt about replacing them with non-identical products and accepting the rebate.
Since I sometimes hang in Best Buy while my wife is killing an our (and the checkbook) in an adjacent Bed Bath and Beyond, I'm fascinated by the "advice" the sales staff sometimes offers the non-technically proficient customers.
Evil customers my ass.
....since none of these sites are in my online wheelhouse......I'll simply go elsehwere. Obviously if you have invested in their personalized content and are too busy or lazy to find other sources, then the issue looms large. If hit counts are still a bellweather of a site's popularitt, the full motion/full length ads will have a short life. Dial-up users will be driven simply based on the time thet would have to spenp, and broadband users will simply stay away. It's a concept that won't develop any new business, and therefore has limited if any potential to give its proponents any marketplace traction. After it fails, it will be fun to see the heads rolling from the offices of the firms that claimed that this was how to make a web presence "pay for itself"
Well then:
Anybody who gets one speeding ticket based on an EZ pass readout was probably speeding. Anybody who gets a second is probably utterly unconcerned about their own privacy anyway (I'm trying to avoid the 'clueless' label, but it does come to mind!).
And, as somebody else has already asked:
Once EZ Pass becomes "EZ Speeding Fine", usage will drop to near zero....
Don't count on it (at least in NJ). The NJ Turnpike has been time-stamping their entry/exit toll tickets for as long as I've been driving (long enough to have waited in gas lines during the 1st OPEC oil embargo), and they haven't done this simple math exercise yet. Why would they start just because there's a new layer of technology??
If bad guys are stupid enough to use an EZ Pass, I'm glad the cops are smart enough to figure out how where there were on their way to/from the crime scene.
As for the non-bad guys: you simply have to assess your own level of tolerance in the calculus of convenience vs. privacy.