I once received a call from Qworst offering to sell me DSL. Since it had not been available in my area when I first moved in, I was interested to hear that it was available. To their credit, it was, in fact, newly available. To their discredit, the person I was speaking with wanted to bundle MSN with it.
I asked whether MSN would give me a static IP address (knowing full well where this conversation was going to lead). Her response: "It says here that you get 9 email addresses."
I explained, politely, that there was a difference between IP addresses and email addresses. She insisted that there was not, and that I would recieve 9 email addresses if I signed up with them.
I asked her if she knew what I was talking about, at which point she became indignant. She began to expound upon how *much* she knew about it all, and that I should trust her, she knows what she's talking about, and that I would receive 9 email addresses.
After a bit more back and forth, I decided to change tack - I said that this was all very fine and well, but that I would much rather use a 3rd party ISP. After explaining to her what an ISP was, and how this was different than MSN in this context, she said that such a thing was impossible to do. I was unable to suppress the cough of surprise.
"Excuse me? I had a different provider the last time that I had DSL at a previous address. I know for a fact that you can do this."
She was insistent that it was impossible, and became belligerent. At this point, it was all fun and games for me (I mean, more so than originally), so I played along and said that the real reason that I wanted a 3rd party ISP was so that I could be sure to get a static IP address, and that I was pretty sure that this was not a part of MSN's service.
She reminded me, again, of exactly how many email addresses I would receive. I told her she didn't know what she was talking about, and she said some very rude things and put me on hold while she talked to a supervisor.
I waited for a couple of minutes, and when she returned, she was very sheepish and apologetic. You see, it turns out that you *can* order DSL with a 3rd party ISP, but that she was only a part of the sales team doing this particular promotion, so if I wanted to order DSL that way, I'd need to call their DSL sales line. (The irony of this exchange was, of course, lost on her.)
I politely thanked her for her help, and recommended that she read the Qwest DSL website and learn about the difference between IP addresses and email addresses before talking to more customers. She thanked me, and I hung up.
All Things Considered did a piece on this very topic on October 20, 1999. It took a little hunting to find it, but I'm grateful that NPR archives all its broadcasts, even going back that far.:D
The short version is that an anecdotal story written in an internal newsletter at an Indonesian Shell branch office that alleged the possibility of risk of fire was misinterpreted and eventually mistranslated as real news by an English Taiwanese newspaper. This, in turn, eventually wound up on the desk of a BP exec, who ordered the signs to be placed at the pumps.
If you can stand the.rm format, I recommend listening to the whole story. Every time I see one of those little "no cell phones" signs at gas pumps, I have to laugh since they were placed there based purely on heresay with no scientific backing or even basic testing whatsoever.
I love that the article you mention indicates that 2.5Gib/s is "blazing", but regular PCI's 128MiB/s is "paltry". Especially when the new stuff is only ~2.5x the speed, if the numbers are to be believed.
Don't even bother with the flashing ones - those things are fools' gold, I tell you! Go straight for the blue, red, and green ones. If you work hard, maybe one day you'll be able to buy a giant shield that will be eaten by a giant ring-like squid monster of some sort, and you can begin again!
Ahh... the circle of life.
--Link
Obligatory "Futurama" reference...
on
SimChurch
·
· Score: 1
This message was brought to you by... THE SPACE POPE!
You can extract all that stored kinetic energy from the earth's gravitational field by simply attaching a rope to the middle of one of these crackpots, tying the other end to a small generator, and throwing the "inventor" down a large pit.
"It's obvious that databases provide enormous benefits to modern life," said Marc Rotenberg, president of the Electronic Privacy Information Center. "We could no more operate without computer databases than we could without electricity."
Well, duh... You're the Electronic Privacy Information Center.:P
Not at $700-$800. I can buy a smallish laptop that does the same thing for less. Heck - I could go hit eBay for a Toshiba Libretto and probably fare better than that.
While the economics probably aren't in their favor on this, if they wanted to make it an "iPod killer", the price would have to be significantly less than the iPod just to make up the difference from Apple's name recognition, and the size of this beast.
Sell the exact same piece of hardware for $150, and we'll talk about iPod slaying.
The more games that end up on Apples and on FreeBSD (by way of Linux binary compatability), the closer they are to dying. Obviously the game companies should have thought about that before allowing games to be ported.
Ooh! And this should be modded to +5 funny first, *then* get the Flamebait mod, then an underrated, so it can be properly rated at +5 Flamebait.
to mourn the loss of time and brain cells for all those who were forced (tricked?) into reading this book, whether in a required computer science course, or not.
If you haven't had occasion to read this, ahem, "literature", consider yourself lucky.
Ok, so it ended up connected to a PC, but I took one of these and turned it into a StepMania machine.
Basically, it was just a matter of getting a 50-pin scsi cable and hacking it apart, connecting it to the already-present centronix connector for the pads, and sitting with a multimeter to figure out which wire went with which sensor (9 pads x 4 sensors x 2 players = a buttload of wires to test). Then, taking the wires, attaching them to a terminal strip, where the other end got soldered to torn-apart playstation controllers.
Then, run the PS controllers through your basic Boom PS->USB converter to the PC, and voila! Actual, real arcade dance pads for SM. Luckily, the monitor was a standard VGA and the sound just two stereo 1/8" jacks, so that was all that needed doing. The rumor is that SM is going to add a lights driver, so it's possible I'll even be able to get the stage and machine lights to work at some point, too.
The PC behind the scenes is a Shuttle XPC with an Athlon XP 2600+ in it. When running SM, you'd be hard pressed to know it's not a regular DDR machine, except for the over 1k songs that it has on it. Oh, and that it's a Korean knockoff version's cabinet, but that's minor, really.
Though, I do have to giggle every time I see the arcade machine boot up a Windows XP screen.;)
I was going to mention the similarity to the word(?) 'RoboSexual', but in a different context:
Fry: Wait you're the only friend I have... Bender: You really want a robot for a friend? Fry: Yeah ever since I was six. Bender: Well, ok but I don't want people thinking we're robosexuals, so if anyone asks you're my debugger.
Oh, come on now. I'll reference you to "Lecherous Limericks", by Isaac Asimov, (c) 1976, "More Lecherous Limericks" (c) 1976, and "Still More Lecherous Limericks" (c) 1977. And that doesn't even mention the compilations.,)
Amazon has a few copies of each of these, in case you really wanted them.
Slashdot Mirror
Mine goes to 11!
Take that!
I always figured that "Hardcore" Java would mean Java interfacing in some sort of really dirty way.
Like with COM.
I once received a call from Qworst offering to sell me DSL. Since it had not been available in my area when I first moved in, I was interested to hear that it was available. To their credit, it was, in fact, newly available. To their discredit, the person I was speaking with wanted to bundle MSN with it.
I asked whether MSN would give me a static IP address (knowing full well where this conversation was going to lead). Her response: "It says here that you get 9 email addresses."
I explained, politely, that there was a difference between IP addresses and email addresses. She insisted that there was not, and that I would recieve 9 email addresses if I signed up with them.
I asked her if she knew what I was talking about, at which point she became indignant. She began to expound upon how *much* she knew about it all, and that I should trust her, she knows what she's talking about, and that I would receive 9 email addresses.
After a bit more back and forth, I decided to change tack - I said that this was all very fine and well, but that I would much rather use a 3rd party ISP. After explaining to her what an ISP was, and how this was different than MSN in this context, she said that such a thing was impossible to do. I was unable to suppress the cough of surprise.
"Excuse me? I had a different provider the last time that I had DSL at a previous address. I know for a fact that you can do this."
She was insistent that it was impossible, and became belligerent. At this point, it was all fun and games for me (I mean, more so than originally), so I played along and said that the real reason that I wanted a 3rd party ISP was so that I could be sure to get a static IP address, and that I was pretty sure that this was not a part of MSN's service.
She reminded me, again, of exactly how many email addresses I would receive. I told her she didn't know what she was talking about, and she said some very rude things and put me on hold while she talked to a supervisor.
I waited for a couple of minutes, and when she returned, she was very sheepish and apologetic. You see, it turns out that you *can* order DSL with a 3rd party ISP, but that she was only a part of the sales team doing this particular promotion, so if I wanted to order DSL that way, I'd need to call their DSL sales line. (The irony of this exchange was, of course, lost on her.)
I politely thanked her for her help, and recommended that she read the Qwest DSL website and learn about the difference between IP addresses and email addresses before talking to more customers. She thanked me, and I hung up.
All Things Considered did a piece on this very topic on October 20, 1999. It took a little hunting to find it, but I'm grateful that NPR archives all its broadcasts, even going back that far. :D
.rm format, I recommend listening to the whole story. Every time I see one of those little "no cell phones" signs at gas pumps, I have to laugh since they were placed there based purely on heresay with no scientific backing or even basic testing whatsoever.
The short version is that an anecdotal story written in an internal newsletter at an Indonesian Shell branch office that alleged the possibility of risk of fire was misinterpreted and eventually mistranslated as real news by an English Taiwanese newspaper. This, in turn, eventually wound up on the desk of a BP exec, who ordered the signs to be placed at the pumps.
If you can stand the
I love that the article you mention indicates that 2.5Gib/s is "blazing", but regular PCI's 128MiB/s is "paltry". Especially when the new stuff is only ~2.5x the speed, if the numbers are to be believed.
The site's /.'ed, and probably not listed in plain sight anyway. How much are we talking for one of these babies?
...continue brushing teeth? You must be new around here.
10 POKE RND(9999),RND(9999)
20 GOTO 10
You never knew what it would do! Sometimes nothing, sometimes it'd play music, sometimes it'd draw pictures! It was great!
A couple of minor bits that you can do to improve this:
1) Y! News doesn't use asp. Keen observers will notice this. Don't know what can (easily) be done about that one, though.
2) A more obvious bit is that Y! says "Welcome, Guest" instead of "Welcome, Anonymous" when a user is not logged in.
Otherwise, it's fantastic!
I like that 'lase' is now the term to 'use a LASER'. Hooray for the verbing of America (and elsewhere)!
MOMMY!!!
Er... wait. Something's not quite right there.
...but it'll probably be paid in rupees.
Don't even bother with the flashing ones - those things are fools' gold, I tell you! Go straight for the blue, red, and green ones. If you work hard, maybe one day you'll be able to buy a giant shield that will be eaten by a giant ring-like squid monster of some sort, and you can begin again!
Ahh... the circle of life.
--Link
This message was brought to you by... THE SPACE POPE!
No, no, no.
You can extract all that stored kinetic energy from the earth's gravitational field by simply attaching a rope to the middle of one of these crackpots, tying the other end to a small generator, and throwing the "inventor" down a large pit.
Problem solved from all ends!
"It's obvious that databases provide enormous benefits to modern life," said Marc Rotenberg, president of the Electronic Privacy Information Center. "We could no more operate without computer databases than we could without electricity."
:P
Well, duh... You're the Electronic Privacy Information Center.
What about punchcards with little pictures drawn on them?!
Not at $700-$800. I can buy a smallish laptop that does the same thing for less. Heck - I could go hit eBay for a Toshiba Libretto and probably fare better than that.
While the economics probably aren't in their favor on this, if they wanted to make it an "iPod killer", the price would have to be significantly less than the iPod just to make up the difference from Apple's name recognition, and the size of this beast.
Sell the exact same piece of hardware for $150, and we'll talk about iPod slaying.
Ask, and you shall receive!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3528757.stm
The more games that end up on Apples and on FreeBSD (by way of Linux binary compatability), the closer they are to dying. Obviously the game companies should have thought about that before allowing games to be ported.
Ooh! And this should be modded to +5 funny first, *then* get the Flamebait mod, then an underrated, so it can be properly rated at +5 Flamebait.
to mourn the loss of time and brain cells for all those who were forced (tricked?) into reading this book, whether in a required computer science course, or not.
If you haven't had occasion to read this, ahem, "literature", consider yourself lucky.
I don't know... sounds like a long weigh to go for a little robot.
*dodges hurled objects*
Ok, so it ended up connected to a PC, but I took one of these and turned it into a StepMania machine.
;)
Basically, it was just a matter of getting a 50-pin scsi cable and hacking it apart, connecting it to the already-present centronix connector for the pads, and sitting with a multimeter to figure out which wire went with which sensor (9 pads x 4 sensors x 2 players = a buttload of wires to test). Then, taking the wires, attaching them to a terminal strip, where the other end got soldered to torn-apart playstation controllers.
Then, run the PS controllers through your basic Boom PS->USB converter to the PC, and voila! Actual, real arcade dance pads for SM. Luckily, the monitor was a standard VGA and the sound just two stereo 1/8" jacks, so that was all that needed doing. The rumor is that SM is going to add a lights driver, so it's possible I'll even be able to get the stage and machine lights to work at some point, too.
The PC behind the scenes is a Shuttle XPC with an Athlon XP 2600+ in it. When running SM, you'd be hard pressed to know it's not a regular DDR machine, except for the over 1k songs that it has on it. Oh, and that it's a Korean knockoff version's cabinet, but that's minor, really.
Though, I do have to giggle every time I see the arcade machine boot up a Windows XP screen.
And the Number 1 reason Chia Earth is better than Real Earth......
FREE T-SHIRT!
I was going to mention the similarity to the word(?) 'RoboSexual', but in a different context:
Fry: Wait you're the only friend I have...
Bender: You really want a robot for a friend?
Fry: Yeah ever since I was six.
Bender: Well, ok but I don't want people thinking we're robosexuals, so if anyone asks you're my debugger.
Oh, come on now. I'll reference you to "Lecherous Limericks", by Isaac Asimov, (c) 1976, "More Lecherous Limericks" (c) 1976, and "Still More Lecherous Limericks" (c) 1977. And that doesn't even mention the compilations. ,)
Amazon has a few copies of each of these, in case you really wanted them.