Be nice to know where those orders for $20,000 toilet seats are coming out of.
It'd be nice to know what those $20,000 toilet seats really are- they ain't toilet seats. It's basically fraud/money laundering; the $19980 goes somewhere else, or "toilet seat" is code for "1 ton bomb guidance system to be shipped to somewhere it shouldn't be" or "rocket motor for an ejection seat for a super top secret plane".
The asshole "moved" to Tennessee to jump into a different organ transplant queue: 295 vs 1,615 people, and a wait of 48 days vs 306. Not only that, but there are no rules against entering multiple programs- so basically, you could enter every transplant program that would take you (and that you could afford), and virtually guarantee yourself an organ.
MSNBC did a nice job of putting all the facts together. In short: he had a complicating illness that normally would have ruled him out, he had the money to guarantee admittance into transplant program (whereas normal mere mortals are often denied coverage by their insurance companies, and cannot afford the 200K cost).
Oh yeah, and Apple lied to investors and the world: the man had cancer and a failing organ, and they claimed it was a "hormone imbalance." I hope the SEC is already working on this...
Not all people are journalists.
Reporters without Borders doesn't care about non-journalists being arrested (well they might care, but it isn't what they are talking about).
Most everyone that was arrested were protesters; people trying to exercise their freedom equally or moreso than the reporters. But isn't it funny how the press largely ignore the abuses against protesters? Reminds me of how by and large the black community won't stand up for civil rights for gay people.
I don't recall Reporters Without Borders getting all bullshit when Houston mounted police trampled and beat the shit out of a bunch of Central/South American janitors. In fact, their profession largely ignored it. Go on, search for "Houston janitor protests" and find me a single news story that talks about the horses trampling the protesters (which is the sole point of mounted units; they're a legal loophole, because the cops argue the horses can't be completely controlled, thus they're not responsible for someone getting trampled.)
some officials believe as a direct result of iPhone owners attempting to retrieve their stolen phones from violent thugs.
The phone was pickpocketed or found on the floor/table. It wasn't a mugging. Violent thugs aren't even the ones who mug you. Violent thugs are the ones who come up behind you, hit you on the head to knock you unconscious / disorient you, and then steal your stuff.
The safest thing to do is FIRST file a stolen property report. Then go hunting. Stay in your car while tracking the phone, then call the police and tell them you're actively tracking your phone. As soon as you cross a jurisdictional line though, call 911 and talk to the city/town you're in now- and get ready to repeat everything, because police departments suck at talking to each other.
Among other things, if the GPS signal says it's in a house and you fill out a theft report, the cops can go in with a search warrant, though good luck trying to get Joe Donut to do that much work unless they think there's a good chance they'll find drugs.
Reporters Without Borders is alarmed by the fact that no less than twenty-three journalists have been arrested in Iran in the week following the elections, making Iran one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist
23? That's it? At the RNC's and DNC's for the last decade, the cops have been putting people in holding cells by the bushels, charging them with all sorts of things like "disturbing the peace", or just simply letting them go after 24 hours.
Something that help me get out of my shell at an early age was a martial arts club. Most times you will find they have a good set of values and a nice sense of community.
A sense which is almost entirely manufactured. Almost all martial arts systems are designed to make the owner or "master" rich. If you know anything about cults, you'll be disturbed at what you see go on at the local 'dojo'. Colored belts are the martial arts version of Scientology "thetan" levels, Dahn Yoga's "training", or Magic-The-Gathering deck-buying contests.
No- find an activity that doesn't require $$ "leveling up".
If you want community, get out and be active- do things you'll enjoy, especially if they involve other people. Hell, go out to a local cafe for dinner once a week or something.
Just one tip- be really chill about approaching people in activity groups for dates. Approach with the aim of friendship.
On the other hand, it's not nastier at all than other flu cases. Just look up the number of infected vs number of dead despite that the deaths are most of the time people with previous health issues (like normal flu).
But WHO officials have insisted that a flu pandemic is defined by how fast a novel flu virus spreads, and who it affects, not necessarily how severe it is. This is partly because the same virus can be mild in some people and severe in others, and partly because it can evolve. In 1918, the last pandemic H1N1 started out mild, but its second wave was much more severe. Pandemic flu can also kill healthy young adults, not the very young and old like ordinary flu. "Approximately half the people who have died from this H1N1 infection have been previously healthy people," Keiji Fukuda, head of flu at the WHO, said on Tuesday, adding this had given the organisation "the most concern".
If they avoided detection by the offending scanner, then how were they detected to be scanner cheaters?
Well, given that they infected other people, and eventually epidemiologists tracked them down via the people they infected...
To all those defending those who traveled while sick: I'm sorry, but if there is a travel ban because of a well publicized disease that is killing people, and you don't feel well, sit your selfish ass down in bed where it belongs. My parents raised me to stay home if I was sick, because it's beyond rude to make those around you sick. The regular flu kills kids and the elderly all the time. This one is much nastier.
Let me put it this way: if people had laptops that were infected, were booted off the network because of security software, and then defeated that security software to get online (and infected machines around them, destroying some of them)...what would you say then?
They're cheap to build, but they require a lot more maintenance that people think.
Generally, they need occasional grading and maybe "oiling". Both are jobs that can be done by Bubba and his grader/truck, without shutting the road down, and pretty much in 1-2 passes tops.
Compare and contrast to most paved roads, which, at least here in New England, seem to have a lifespan of about 4-5 years thanks to frost heaves, plows, etc...or in the city, from idiot contractors digging up strips of the roads every few months and doing shitty-ass jobs of putting the stuff back.
What does that require? Dozens of guys on dozens of big machines, shutting down entire lanes for hours. Same with emergency repairs. Washed out dirt road? Backhoe and roller. Washed out pavement? A week plus of work.
Another great example as to how Tesla has shaped our future. Truly ahead of his time by leaps and bounds.
I know Tesla is a posterboy for the Slashdot community, but I think you mean http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinrich_Hertz. Hertz was responsible for the discovery that you could generate and detect radio waves.
That lead to the use of radio for communications, which is why such a modern device as the article describes. Tesla envisioned pumping energy into the air via dedicated stations. I don't think he envisioned a situation where we would be pumping so much energy into the air for communications, that there would be usable power as a byproduct.
I find it frightening, not "cool", that such a device is possible, given that my body relies on faint electrical signals.
Do you know why it's illegal to collect rainwater in a barrel in Utah and Colorado? If there is only a gallon of water in the air over an acre of land, removing a quart does in fact change the balance of things.
That's a load of pseudoscience, backing up a law that exists only for revenue, cronyism, and political control. If you store water off your roof or that falls from the sky, and then use it in your home or for irrigation, you're returning that water right back into the water table...in fact, use in the home returns it more effectively, because it is reintroduced a few feet under the soil by your septic system. You're not 'stealing' water- it doesn't go anywhere.
If you want to know the real reason laws like that exist, read The Milagro Beanfield War (annoyingly, that link is about the movie, not the book.) I read it in middle school, and it gave me great insight into how big business pushes citizens around.
Also, you can take a look at what the Israelis are doing to all of the rivers that feed into or border Palestine for a great example of how water is controlled for racial oppression and political power.
With the sheer volume of ads on craigslist, how can anybody expect them to moderate everything on there.
This isn't moderation. CL has a specific section dedicated to "erotic services", an illegal activity in the United States and much of the world. That's a)recognition of an illegal activity and b)catering one's services to it.
For those of you who think we should regulate prostitution, go read the Wikipedia article about Amsterdam and prostitution. It's a cesspool of human trafficking from 2nd/3rd world countries- tantamount to slavery.
Where I work, everyone in the entire BUILDING is required to take safety training. Everyone that actually works regularly in the lab space are required to take more training. If you don't, the school shuts off your access card.
The school makes your supervisor fill out a form each year that specifically inquires as to what you will be working with (gross simplification: animals, radioactive materials, hazardous chemicals.) Training is based off that.
Just because safety protocols at one school sucks (example: Texas A&M) doesn't mean it does everywhere.
Germany is the first one that comes to mind) that lasted virtually forever -- old cars or weapons systems
As the owner of a rare, older Audi, I find this concept hilarious. A number of components last just about the warranty period- a number of solenoid valves, for example. Numerous hoses break (turbocharged engine- the hoses split and leak.) The radiator end-caps (and thus all the fittings) were of a plastic that broke after a couple of years. Alternators last a few years tops because of their location and cooling design (they are fed air straight through the bumper, so lots of water and crap.) BMW and Mercedes largely had the same issues as they were all being fed the same shit by Bosch and others. Don't be fooled: automotive companies contract out or shop off the shelf at major supplies like Bosch. The climate control and seat controls in my car are straight out of the AC/Delco parts bin, amusingly enough...despite it being an Audi.
Manual transmissions and differentials? Absolutely. The engine block/valvetrain/internals/exhaust, you got it. The (hot-dipped-galvanized) body? Yes. Most of the interior electrics? Yup. All relatively bulletproof and will last longer than you want to keep the car.
Ask B5 A4/S4 owners about their driver information display or ABS modules. Or front suspension links on the original A4...
If you want to do something like this for commercial vehicles
They already are. For decades, diesel trucks have had mechanical governors that can be adjusted (not in the cockpit.) For at least a decade, there have been dataloggers for fleets, some live...some memory-card based or short-distance radio (ie when you pull into the yard.) They record things like the driver bouncing off the engine rev limiter, engine speed, road speed, throttle, fuel consumption, etc.
A friend bought a new cargo truck a couple of states over, and the PO neglected to mention that the governor had been set for 53mph. One of his drivers drove the truck back while he followed in his car, and they did 53mph for 6 hours straight on a highway where the limit was 65.
85% of Chinese reportedly desire it [slashdot.org].
%100 of North Korea thinks the United States of America should be wiped off the face of the earth.
Now, for the mindfuck: how much of the United States population, if surveyed, do you think would say that North Korean leadership needs to be removed from power?
Print that shit out and nail it to the wall, Martin Luther style.
...which got him assassinated.
Also, MLK is grossly over-credited in the civil rights movement; he was largely a figurehead. Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters were the major force; they were the ones who bailed out Rosa Parks, they were the ones who bankrolled MLK (they needed someone who wasn't a Porter and thus on the road all the time. King had the time, and a large congregation.)
Fun fact: Lincoln's son, Robert Lincoln, was the biggest union-buster the country has ever seen. There was a common saying in the BoSCP union: "Lincoln freed the slaves and his son re-enslaved them".
I've learned the hard way when setting up a couple of clusters: You MUST use custom-made, cut to length cables to prevent a huge rats nets in the server room. Buying precut cables is a disaster. I had to rip out and completely rewire one cluster because I made that mistake.
And I wired three racks worth of systems by buying an assortment of cables in 1-2 foot increments. Dozens of vendors offer cables pre-made in those intervals.
If you were doing that and had a "rats nest", then you fail at cable management.
Since 1973 they've been a state sponsored monopoly rather than an actual branch of the government.
"The United States Post Office (U.S.P.O.) was created in Philadelphia under Benjamin Franklin on July 26, 1775 by decree of the Second Continental Congress. Based on the Postal Clause in Article One of the United States Constitution, empowering Congress "To establish post offices and post roads," it became the Post Office Department (U.S.P.O.D.) in 1792. It was part of the Presidential cabinet and the Postmaster General was the last person in the United States presidential line of succession. In 1971, the department was reorganized as a quasi-independent agency of the federal government and acquired its present name. The Postmaster General is no longer in the presidential line of succession.[14]"
Wikipedia, fun for the whole family. PS: they're not 'sponsored'; they don't get any money from the feds. They're given the postal equivalent of common carrier status, but only to a mailbox marked "US Mail". If you want to make your own postal service, you can go right ahead- you just can't deliver to a US Mail mailbox. Given that almost nobody's mailbox is actually marked "US Mail", practically, you CAN run a competitive service.
I don't see it being too much longer that they're allowed sole right to transfer first class mail with both UPS and FedEx waiting in the wings to offer better more reliable service.
USPS has never, in my entire life, lost or damaged a package or letter of mine. UPS and Fedex have done one or both, repeatedly.
I once had a USPS delivery guy (working the holiday season) bang on the doorbells of the entire complex until someone let him in. I was in the shower and when I stuck my head out the window, he demanded to be let in. His response to "I'm in the shower" was a string of profanity demanding I let him in.
I called the USPS customer service number and spoke to a rep who was meticulous in taking down the particulars, and apologized profusely. I figured I'd never hear back from them about it, except then I received a phone call a week later saying the guy had been disciplined and re-trained on USPS practices for delivery to apartment buildings. A week or so after that, a customer survey card appeared in the mail, asking if my complaint had been handled to my satisfaction.
Go read the Journal of Improbable Research's article about shipping weird shit through the mail. It's astounding what they got through the mail, and they said that it is a miracle that they can do stuff like ship a balloon when in most countries, you can't even get reliable letter service.
I don't know what the fuck your personal beef is with the USPS, but the fact that they're a monopoly and run both efficiently and extremely competently is pretty amazing to me.
Problem is Telstra tries to "lay down the law" when it comes to personal use on your own time at home!
I know it's a bit much to ask you to RTFA, but please, can you at least read the summary? Emphasis mine:
"Under the guidelines, which are backed up with the threat of disciplinary action, employees using sites on official Telstra business should disclose who they are, ensure they do not give away confidential information and treat other users with respect.
There's this bit:
If the employee refers to Telstra, they are expected to identify themselves as an employee of the company and ensure they do not imply they are authorised to speak on Telstra's behalf.
...which I'm reasonably sure was intended to apply mostly in cases where an employee refers to Telstra AND in doing so mentions they're employed by Telsra. It's pretty standard/common for corporations to require that- and I know a couple of friends who do it anyway just to cover their asses. Sucks, but...even if you're 100% in the clear, all it takes is one complete idiot who THINKS you're somehow speaking on behalf of the company, and you're in the unemployment line.
Honestly, this is more enlightened than most companies, which haven't addressed these issues and thus employees have no idea what is expected of them. If they don't like it, they can either unionize or find some other way to earn a living.
First off, if I'm handling 25k+ SSL TPS, point blank, I pay the money for an F5. A home built solution will only get you fired when something goes seriously wrong.
An old boss has spent the last FOUR WEEKS with F5 and Cisco trying to figure out why their F5 load balancer starts dropping ACKS on the floor...at connection rates well under advertised capacity of the particular model in question, which has been in production use for months/year+. How the fuck about that- a load balancer that craps out...under load. How useful. The bug is triggered daily when this particular unnamed CA major internet company hits peak usage in the day.
At least with the open source community, you can hire someone to look at the code, or report the bug and try and get it fixed by the community. F5 has been completely useless, reportedly.
Slashdot Mirror
Be nice to know where those orders for $20,000 toilet seats are coming out of.
It'd be nice to know what those $20,000 toilet seats really are- they ain't toilet seats. It's basically fraud/money laundering; the $19980 goes somewhere else, or "toilet seat" is code for "1 ton bomb guidance system to be shipped to somewhere it shouldn't be" or "rocket motor for an ejection seat for a super top secret plane".
The asshole "moved" to Tennessee to jump into a different organ transplant queue: 295 vs 1,615 people, and a wait of 48 days vs 306. Not only that, but there are no rules against entering multiple programs- so basically, you could enter every transplant program that would take you (and that you could afford), and virtually guarantee yourself an organ.
MSNBC did a nice job of putting all the facts together. In short: he had a complicating illness that normally would have ruled him out, he had the money to guarantee admittance into transplant program (whereas normal mere mortals are often denied coverage by their insurance companies, and cannot afford the 200K cost).
Oh yeah, and Apple lied to investors and the world: the man had cancer and a failing organ, and they claimed it was a "hormone imbalance." I hope the SEC is already working on this...
Not all people are journalists. Reporters without Borders doesn't care about non-journalists being arrested (well they might care, but it isn't what they are talking about).
Most everyone that was arrested were protesters; people trying to exercise their freedom equally or moreso than the reporters. But isn't it funny how the press largely ignore the abuses against protesters? Reminds me of how by and large the black community won't stand up for civil rights for gay people.
I don't recall Reporters Without Borders getting all bullshit when Houston mounted police trampled and beat the shit out of a bunch of Central/South American janitors. In fact, their profession largely ignored it. Go on, search for "Houston janitor protests" and find me a single news story that talks about the horses trampling the protesters (which is the sole point of mounted units; they're a legal loophole, because the cops argue the horses can't be completely controlled, thus they're not responsible for someone getting trampled.)
some officials believe as a direct result of iPhone owners attempting to retrieve their stolen phones from violent thugs.
The phone was pickpocketed or found on the floor/table. It wasn't a mugging. Violent thugs aren't even the ones who mug you. Violent thugs are the ones who come up behind you, hit you on the head to knock you unconscious / disorient you, and then steal your stuff.
The safest thing to do is FIRST file a stolen property report. Then go hunting. Stay in your car while tracking the phone, then call the police and tell them you're actively tracking your phone. As soon as you cross a jurisdictional line though, call 911 and talk to the city/town you're in now- and get ready to repeat everything, because police departments suck at talking to each other.
Among other things, if the GPS signal says it's in a house and you fill out a theft report, the cops can go in with a search warrant, though good luck trying to get Joe Donut to do that much work unless they think there's a good chance they'll find drugs.
Reporters Without Borders is alarmed by the fact that no less than twenty-three journalists have been arrested in Iran in the week following the elections, making Iran one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist
23? That's it? At the RNC's and DNC's for the last decade, the cops have been putting people in holding cells by the bushels, charging them with all sorts of things like "disturbing the peace", or just simply letting them go after 24 hours.
Something that help me get out of my shell at an early age was a martial arts club. Most times you will find they have a good set of values and a nice sense of community.
A sense which is almost entirely manufactured. Almost all martial arts systems are designed to make the owner or "master" rich. If you know anything about cults, you'll be disturbed at what you see go on at the local 'dojo'. Colored belts are the martial arts version of Scientology "thetan" levels, Dahn Yoga's "training", or Magic-The-Gathering deck-buying contests.
No- find an activity that doesn't require $$ "leveling up".
If you want community, get out and be active- do things you'll enjoy, especially if they involve other people. Hell, go out to a local cafe for dinner once a week or something.
Just one tip- be really chill about approaching people in activity groups for dates. Approach with the aim of friendship.
[Citation needed]
http://www.google.com/search?q=WHO+declares+pandemic
On the other hand, it's not nastier at all than other flu cases. Just look up the number of infected vs number of dead despite that the deaths are most of the time people with previous health issues (like normal flu).
If they avoided detection by the offending scanner, then how were they detected to be scanner cheaters?
Well, given that they infected other people, and eventually epidemiologists tracked them down via the people they infected...
To all those defending those who traveled while sick: I'm sorry, but if there is a travel ban because of a well publicized disease that is killing people, and you don't feel well, sit your selfish ass down in bed where it belongs. My parents raised me to stay home if I was sick, because it's beyond rude to make those around you sick. The regular flu kills kids and the elderly all the time. This one is much nastier.
Let me put it this way: if people had laptops that were infected, were booted off the network because of security software, and then defeated that security software to get online (and infected machines around them, destroying some of them)...what would you say then?
They're cheap to build, but they require a lot more maintenance that people think.
Generally, they need occasional grading and maybe "oiling". Both are jobs that can be done by Bubba and his grader/truck, without shutting the road down, and pretty much in 1-2 passes tops.
Compare and contrast to most paved roads, which, at least here in New England, seem to have a lifespan of about 4-5 years thanks to frost heaves, plows, etc...or in the city, from idiot contractors digging up strips of the roads every few months and doing shitty-ass jobs of putting the stuff back.
What does that require? Dozens of guys on dozens of big machines, shutting down entire lanes for hours. Same with emergency repairs. Washed out dirt road? Backhoe and roller. Washed out pavement? A week plus of work.
Another great example as to how Tesla has shaped our future. Truly ahead of his time by leaps and bounds.
I know Tesla is a posterboy for the Slashdot community, but I think you mean http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinrich_Hertz. Hertz was responsible for the discovery that you could generate and detect radio waves.
That lead to the use of radio for communications, which is why such a modern device as the article describes. Tesla envisioned pumping energy into the air via dedicated stations. I don't think he envisioned a situation where we would be pumping so much energy into the air for communications, that there would be usable power as a byproduct.
I find it frightening, not "cool", that such a device is possible, given that my body relies on faint electrical signals.
Do you know why it's illegal to collect rainwater in a barrel in Utah and Colorado? If there is only a gallon of water in the air over an acre of land, removing a quart does in fact change the balance of things.
That's a load of pseudoscience, backing up a law that exists only for revenue, cronyism, and political control. If you store water off your roof or that falls from the sky, and then use it in your home or for irrigation, you're returning that water right back into the water table...in fact, use in the home returns it more effectively, because it is reintroduced a few feet under the soil by your septic system. You're not 'stealing' water- it doesn't go anywhere.
If you want to know the real reason laws like that exist, read The Milagro Beanfield War (annoyingly, that link is about the movie, not the book.) I read it in middle school, and it gave me great insight into how big business pushes citizens around.
Also, you can take a look at what the Israelis are doing to all of the rivers that feed into or border Palestine for a great example of how water is controlled for racial oppression and political power.
It gets better: they've got classes and retreats that cost $$$$, and they've even got a bodycount, though nothing compared to Scientology.
With the sheer volume of ads on craigslist, how can anybody expect them to moderate everything on there.
This isn't moderation. CL has a specific section dedicated to "erotic services", an illegal activity in the United States and much of the world. That's a)recognition of an illegal activity and b)catering one's services to it.
For those of you who think we should regulate prostitution, go read the Wikipedia article about Amsterdam and prostitution. It's a cesspool of human trafficking from 2nd/3rd world countries- tantamount to slavery.
Where I work, everyone in the entire BUILDING is required to take safety training. Everyone that actually works regularly in the lab space are required to take more training. If you don't, the school shuts off your access card.
The school makes your supervisor fill out a form each year that specifically inquires as to what you will be working with (gross simplification: animals, radioactive materials, hazardous chemicals.) Training is based off that.
Just because safety protocols at one school sucks (example: Texas A&M) doesn't mean it does everywhere.
Germany is the first one that comes to mind) that lasted virtually forever -- old cars or weapons systems
As the owner of a rare, older Audi, I find this concept hilarious. A number of components last just about the warranty period- a number of solenoid valves, for example. Numerous hoses break (turbocharged engine- the hoses split and leak.) The radiator end-caps (and thus all the fittings) were of a plastic that broke after a couple of years. Alternators last a few years tops because of their location and cooling design (they are fed air straight through the bumper, so lots of water and crap.) BMW and Mercedes largely had the same issues as they were all being fed the same shit by Bosch and others. Don't be fooled: automotive companies contract out or shop off the shelf at major supplies like Bosch. The climate control and seat controls in my car are straight out of the AC/Delco parts bin, amusingly enough...despite it being an Audi.
Manual transmissions and differentials? Absolutely. The engine block/valvetrain/internals/exhaust, you got it. The (hot-dipped-galvanized) body? Yes. Most of the interior electrics? Yup. All relatively bulletproof and will last longer than you want to keep the car.
Ask B5 A4/S4 owners about their driver information display or ABS modules. Or front suspension links on the original A4...
If you want to do something like this for commercial vehicles
They already are. For decades, diesel trucks have had mechanical governors that can be adjusted (not in the cockpit.) For at least a decade, there have been dataloggers for fleets, some live...some memory-card based or short-distance radio (ie when you pull into the yard.) They record things like the driver bouncing off the engine rev limiter, engine speed, road speed, throttle, fuel consumption, etc.
A friend bought a new cargo truck a couple of states over, and the PO neglected to mention that the governor had been set for 53mph. One of his drivers drove the truck back while he followed in his car, and they did 53mph for 6 hours straight on a highway where the limit was 65.
85% of Chinese reportedly desire it [slashdot.org].
%100 of North Korea thinks the United States of America should be wiped off the face of the earth.
Now, for the mindfuck: how much of the United States population, if surveyed, do you think would say that North Korean leadership needs to be removed from power?
Interesting, eh?
Print that shit out and nail it to the wall, Martin Luther style.
...which got him assassinated.
Also, MLK is grossly over-credited in the civil rights movement; he was largely a figurehead. Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters were the major force; they were the ones who bailed out Rosa Parks, they were the ones who bankrolled MLK (they needed someone who wasn't a Porter and thus on the road all the time. King had the time, and a large congregation.)
Fun fact: Lincoln's son, Robert Lincoln, was the biggest union-buster the country has ever seen. There was a common saying in the BoSCP union: "Lincoln freed the slaves and his son re-enslaved them".
I've learned the hard way when setting up a couple of clusters: You MUST use custom-made, cut to length cables to prevent a huge rats nets in the server room. Buying precut cables is a disaster. I had to rip out and completely rewire one cluster because I made that mistake.
And I wired three racks worth of systems by buying an assortment of cables in 1-2 foot increments. Dozens of vendors offer cables pre-made in those intervals.
If you were doing that and had a "rats nest", then you fail at cable management.
Since 1973 they've been a state sponsored monopoly rather than an actual branch of the government.
"The United States Post Office (U.S.P.O.) was created in Philadelphia under Benjamin Franklin on July 26, 1775 by decree of the Second Continental Congress. Based on the Postal Clause in Article One of the United States Constitution, empowering Congress "To establish post offices and post roads," it became the Post Office Department (U.S.P.O.D.) in 1792. It was part of the Presidential cabinet and the Postmaster General was the last person in the United States presidential line of succession. In 1971, the department was reorganized as a quasi-independent agency of the federal government and acquired its present name. The Postmaster General is no longer in the presidential line of succession.[14]"
Wikipedia, fun for the whole family. PS: they're not 'sponsored'; they don't get any money from the feds. They're given the postal equivalent of common carrier status, but only to a mailbox marked "US Mail". If you want to make your own postal service, you can go right ahead- you just can't deliver to a US Mail mailbox. Given that almost nobody's mailbox is actually marked "US Mail", practically, you CAN run a competitive service.
I don't see it being too much longer that they're allowed sole right to transfer first class mail with both UPS and FedEx waiting in the wings to offer better more reliable service.
USPS has never, in my entire life, lost or damaged a package or letter of mine. UPS and Fedex have done one or both, repeatedly.
I once had a USPS delivery guy (working the holiday season) bang on the doorbells of the entire complex until someone let him in. I was in the shower and when I stuck my head out the window, he demanded to be let in. His response to "I'm in the shower" was a string of profanity demanding I let him in.
I called the USPS customer service number and spoke to a rep who was meticulous in taking down the particulars, and apologized profusely. I figured I'd never hear back from them about it, except then I received a phone call a week later saying the guy had been disciplined and re-trained on USPS practices for delivery to apartment buildings. A week or so after that, a customer survey card appeared in the mail, asking if my complaint had been handled to my satisfaction.
Go read the Journal of Improbable Research's article about shipping weird shit through the mail. It's astounding what they got through the mail, and they said that it is a miracle that they can do stuff like ship a balloon when in most countries, you can't even get reliable letter service.
I don't know what the fuck your personal beef is with the USPS, but the fact that they're a monopoly and run both efficiently and extremely competently is pretty amazing to me.
Problem is Telstra tries to "lay down the law" when it comes to personal use on your own time at home!
I know it's a bit much to ask you to RTFA, but please, can you at least read the summary? Emphasis mine:
"Under the guidelines, which are backed up with the threat of disciplinary action, employees using sites on official Telstra business should disclose who they are, ensure they do not give away confidential information and treat other users with respect.
There's this bit:
If the employee refers to Telstra, they are expected to identify themselves as an employee of the company and ensure they do not imply they are authorised to speak on Telstra's behalf.
...which I'm reasonably sure was intended to apply mostly in cases where an employee refers to Telstra AND in doing so mentions they're employed by Telsra. It's pretty standard/common for corporations to require that- and I know a couple of friends who do it anyway just to cover their asses. Sucks, but...even if you're 100% in the clear, all it takes is one complete idiot who THINKS you're somehow speaking on behalf of the company, and you're in the unemployment line.
Honestly, this is more enlightened than most companies, which haven't addressed these issues and thus employees have no idea what is expected of them. If they don't like it, they can either unionize or find some other way to earn a living.
Turnaround time for serious bugs is *incredibly* fast.
Uh huh. After being given pcap files/traffic graphs/response time graphs, F5 said it was a known bug and fixed in a certain release.
So they did an upgrade through change control, rolled it out. Absolutely no difference. That's when F5 started claiming that it wasn't their fault.
The interesting bit is that the bug very closely resembles a 1-2 year old FreeBSD bug...how about that, huh?
First off, if I'm handling 25k+ SSL TPS, point blank, I pay the money for an F5. A home built solution will only get you fired when something goes seriously wrong.
An old boss has spent the last FOUR WEEKS with F5 and Cisco trying to figure out why their F5 load balancer starts dropping ACKS on the floor...at connection rates well under advertised capacity of the particular model in question, which has been in production use for months/year+. How the fuck about that- a load balancer that craps out...under load. How useful. The bug is triggered daily when this particular unnamed CA major internet company hits peak usage in the day.
At least with the open source community, you can hire someone to look at the code, or report the bug and try and get it fixed by the community. F5 has been completely useless, reportedly.
Remember Amtrack anyone? The giant government boondoggle that loses money every year?
I suppose the Federal highway system makes money? No. It costs us several hundred billion dollars a year.
How about the airline industry, which has been a bailout baby for decades?
Keep in mind that Amtrak now gets $2.6 BILLION [latimes.com] annually.
Keep in mind that federal highway spending is around 100 times that.
The US spends 1-3% of its transportation budget on rail. In countries like France, UK, Germany, Japan, etc- it is more like 20%.