... but this doesn't affect my opinion of the PS3 at all. It will be late and wayyyy overpriced. I guess it's nice that Sony is doing this, but anyone can do the same thing without spending $500+ on a gaming console.
Leveling from level 1 to level 10 takes about 2 hours. Level from level 1 to level 60 can take anywhere from a month or six months, depending on the player. It's the old bait and switch routine, played out virtually. When I started playing WoW, I thought, "I'll be 60 in no time!" But then I slowly realized that it would take a significant amount of time. I think that's one of the reasons WoW is so popular. It draws you in by allowing you to level quickly, and then you're trapped. Drug dealers do something similar, but I won't go into that.
I'll be watching a "Lost in Space" rerun and I'll see a Google "targetted" commercial saying "Lost? Need directions? Try MapQuest.com! Ads by Goooooooogle."
Seriously, at least with the text ads you don't notice how absurd they are sometimes, but with TV ads people will just shake their heads at Google.
DeepFreeze is quite effective, and I have seen in used in several university computer labs with great success. The only way I found to "crack" it was to guess the password the IT department had set. It allows you to change anything on the computer, but when you reboot it's all clean.
My original post was actually inaccurately written. The irritability is caused by the sore feet, which is caused by standing. Thanks for the shoe link though;-)
In a retail environment, standing all day just results in sore feet and irritability while working. Maybe the IT field is different, but in retail, standing all day sucks. Oh course, most things in retail suck, so why should standing be any different.
At the retail store I work at part-time, we sometimes have DVDs for "free" after a rebate. I'll miss that, because the store is definitely not going to just hand 50 packs of DVD-Rs out to customers for free in the store. I think people may end up regretting the end of rebates, because prices are going to increase. Black Friday sales will be a thing of the past. You won't be able to get that $20 printer anymore, or that "free after rebate" universal remote control. If you make copies of your rebate information and sales slip, you are unlikely to have any problems. Most people run into trouble when this happens:
Customer: I'm telling you, I swear I sent in the rebate form with the barcode!
CSR: Do you have a copy of it you could fax to me?
Customer: No.
CSR: Goodbye.
I don't know why Office Max was having so much trouble with rebates, but at the retail store I work at, we might have one customer per month who complains about rebates in the actual retail store. If anything, customers point out to employees how easy it was to send in their last rebate. The vast majority of our rebates are handled online, which makes things smoother. No mailing, no paperwork, no messy handwriting getting in the way... just fill out a form and track your rebate online.
And then there are people who just don't take the time to send in the rebates... you're throwing money away. Don't make me pay for your laziness by complaining rebates are too difficult.
I think you hit the nail on the head. This story belongs with the Million Dollar Home Page and other stupid ideas that people went along with because it was getting a lot of publicity. This story doesn't prove that bartering is still alive. It doesn't prove that you can start with nothing and end up with something. All it proves is that people are willing to jump on just about any bandwagon. I mean come on, some town no one has ever heard of just happens to give the guy a house for a small movie roll? Hooray for bartering.
File systems... pick one, they ALL exist for Linux. HCI... XGL anyone? Application development... there are more IDEs and toolkits on Linux than one could learn in a lifetime. Programming languages... all there. APIs... broad question... but anything that's not MS (and even some that are... WINEAPI) are there. Virutal machines... Bochs, VMWare, Win4LinPro, etc. Virutalization... KML and XEN.... The fact is, if you want to be on the cutting edge, drop the past and use Linux. If you want to play games... stay on Windows, it's DESIGNED for people who want something familiar, doesn't obselete any software compiled 15 years ago, and isn't so revolutionary as to scare grandma or the receptionist.
I think the variety offered by Linux is actually one of its biggest problems. There's something to be said for a single, standard API (the Win32 API is generally pretty consistent), IDE (MS Visual Studio), Desktop Manager (Windows Explorer), Filesystem (NTFS), etc. Businesses, as well as the vast majority of consumers, don't live on the cutting edge. I know, it's hard to believe, but most people want something that they can get their work done on, surf the web with, and look at their digital photos with. They don't give a shit about having a choice between 4 different window managers every time they login. They don't care about the hundreds of different widgets, toolkits, IDEs and APIs that are available. They don't care what filesystem they are using, if they even know what a filesystem is. They don't care that that can use 10 different bundled text editors to look at their documents. The list goes on.
I think that calling Windows users scared grandmas and receptionists is completely missing the point. Most people fall into the same category as "scared grandmas and receptionists", whether they'd like to admit it or not. Hell, I think *I* fall into that category. I like things that are consistent, even if they offer me a little less in terms of customization. Every Linux distribution is different. They all have different default window managers. Different single/double-click behavior for a variety of tasks. Different file managers. Different help systems. Different installation procedures. Different methods for managing administrative tasks. Different bundled libraries. Different bundled applications. Different ways to change the desktop resolution. Different support for different hardware. I could go on, but I think you get my point.
I will be switching off Windows when XP becomes obsolete enough to be a hassle. Perhaps by then Linux will be in better shape as a whole. For now, I will just keep using Linux for my file servers since I think that's the only role it fills well right now.
There are some woefully underqualified technology teachers out there, but to say that "teachers are the limiting factor" is inaccurate and demonstrates a misunderstanding of the problems involved. In many communities, there are very specific technology education requirements. In other words, students are expected to know X amount of information about application X. Now, given the school system (in the U.S. anyway), there is really only time to cover the most popular software in use in the business world today: Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office. You can't fault teachers for not having the time they would need to teach multiple platforms. Add to that the fact that many teachers are simply given a curriculum and told to follow it, and you set you're setting them up for failure. The problem is especially bad here in Massachusetts public schools.
Teacher: "You want to learn to use Linux and OpenOffice? Great! We'll just replace your 2.5 month summer vacation with new Linux/OO.org curriculum.
Student: "Oh... I'll just take Microsoft Windows and Office please."
Furthermore, parents would be pissed if their children came home one day and said that for the past few months they had been learning to use some piece of software the parents had never even heard of in their professional careers. "That's what you're using my tax money to teach them?!" There are loads of barriers to the adoption of Linux/FOSS in the school environment, but I don't think "teachers are the limiting factor."
I agree with you. Being forced--or at least "strongly encouraged"--to consistently mislead or outright lie to customers gets to you after a while. Instead of working in a position where I might have to do that again, I just stock shelves. I get paid the same amount of money (due to the company's payroll system) and have a clear conscience at night. I think many large retailers are missing the big picture (to borrow their terminology). People are more than willing to pay to have their computers fixed. What they don't like is being lied to, "upselling", and other forms of manipulation. There comes a point where people become smart enough to recognize these tactics and spread the word about that company. Selling extended warranties to customers has become a living hell where I work, since so many people have seen those documentaries about how retailers trick you into buying them, and how they aren't worth it. Thank God I don't have to do that anymore! If customers don't immediately realize you are ripping them off when they end up spending $150 on a $50 printer (cables, ink, paper, warranty, etc), they will realize it eventually... and when they do, watch out!
Slashdot Mirror
... but this doesn't affect my opinion of the PS3 at all. It will be late and wayyyy overpriced. I guess it's nice that Sony is doing this, but anyone can do the same thing without spending $500+ on a gaming console.
Leveling from level 1 to level 10 takes about 2 hours. Level from level 1 to level 60 can take anywhere from a month or six months, depending on the player. It's the old bait and switch routine, played out virtually. When I started playing WoW, I thought, "I'll be 60 in no time!" But then I slowly realized that it would take a significant amount of time. I think that's one of the reasons WoW is so popular. It draws you in by allowing you to level quickly, and then you're trapped. Drug dealers do something similar, but I won't go into that.
You know, usually when a story's links are slashdotted to death, I can at least make up something half intelligent based on the description.
Not this time.
I think it will be something like this:
8 8077134461
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-77072640
The original submission was about IVR systems that require (or request) you to speak to the computer in order to get anything done.
I'll be watching a "Lost in Space" rerun and I'll see a Google "targetted" commercial saying "Lost? Need directions? Try MapQuest.com! Ads by Goooooooogle."
Seriously, at least with the text ads you don't notice how absurd they are sometimes, but with TV ads people will just shake their heads at Google.
DeepFreeze is quite effective, and I have seen in used in several university computer labs with great success. The only way I found to "crack" it was to guess the password the IT department had set. It allows you to change anything on the computer, but when you reboot it's all clean.
What?
My original post was actually inaccurately written. The irritability is caused by the sore feet, which is caused by standing. Thanks for the shoe link though ;-)
In a retail environment, standing all day just results in sore feet and irritability while working. Maybe the IT field is different, but in retail, standing all day sucks. Oh course, most things in retail suck, so why should standing be any different.
At the retail store I work at part-time, we sometimes have DVDs for "free" after a rebate. I'll miss that, because the store is definitely not going to just hand 50 packs of DVD-Rs out to customers for free in the store. I think people may end up regretting the end of rebates, because prices are going to increase. Black Friday sales will be a thing of the past. You won't be able to get that $20 printer anymore, or that "free after rebate" universal remote control. If you make copies of your rebate information and sales slip, you are unlikely to have any problems. Most people run into trouble when this happens:
Customer: I'm telling you, I swear I sent in the rebate form with the barcode!
CSR: Do you have a copy of it you could fax to me?
Customer: No.
CSR: Goodbye.
I don't know why Office Max was having so much trouble with rebates, but at the retail store I work at, we might have one customer per month who complains about rebates in the actual retail store. If anything, customers point out to employees how easy it was to send in their last rebate. The vast majority of our rebates are handled online, which makes things smoother. No mailing, no paperwork, no messy handwriting getting in the way... just fill out a form and track your rebate online.
And then there are people who just don't take the time to send in the rebates... you're throwing money away. Don't make me pay for your laziness by complaining rebates are too difficult.
I think you hit the nail on the head. This story belongs with the Million Dollar Home Page and other stupid ideas that people went along with because it was getting a lot of publicity. This story doesn't prove that bartering is still alive. It doesn't prove that you can start with nothing and end up with something. All it proves is that people are willing to jump on just about any bandwagon. I mean come on, some town no one has ever heard of just happens to give the guy a house for a small movie roll? Hooray for bartering.
I think that calling Windows users scared grandmas and receptionists is completely missing the point. Most people fall into the same category as "scared grandmas and receptionists", whether they'd like to admit it or not. Hell, I think *I* fall into that category. I like things that are consistent, even if they offer me a little less in terms of customization. Every Linux distribution is different. They all have different default window managers. Different single/double-click behavior for a variety of tasks. Different file managers. Different help systems. Different installation procedures. Different methods for managing administrative tasks. Different bundled libraries. Different bundled applications. Different ways to change the desktop resolution. Different support for different hardware. I could go on, but I think you get my point.
I will be switching off Windows when XP becomes obsolete enough to be a hassle. Perhaps by then Linux will be in better shape as a whole. For now, I will just keep using Linux for my file servers since I think that's the only role it fills well right now.
Traffic to this URL surges as hundreds of thousands of slashdotters scratch their heads simultaneously.
Oh shit! This guy made a joke with the word AIDS in it! Quick! Mod him to hell!
He was just making a point/joke, give him a break.
There are some woefully underqualified technology teachers out there, but to say that "teachers are the limiting factor" is inaccurate and demonstrates a misunderstanding of the problems involved. In many communities, there are very specific technology education requirements. In other words, students are expected to know X amount of information about application X. Now, given the school system (in the U.S. anyway), there is really only time to cover the most popular software in use in the business world today: Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office. You can't fault teachers for not having the time they would need to teach multiple platforms. Add to that the fact that many teachers are simply given a curriculum and told to follow it, and you set you're setting them up for failure. The problem is especially bad here in Massachusetts public schools.
Teacher: "You want to learn to use Linux and OpenOffice? Great! We'll just replace your 2.5 month summer vacation with new Linux/OO.org curriculum.
Student: "Oh... I'll just take Microsoft Windows and Office please."
Furthermore, parents would be pissed if their children came home one day and said that for the past few months they had been learning to use some piece of software the parents had never even heard of in their professional careers. "That's what you're using my tax money to teach them?!" There are loads of barriers to the adoption of Linux/FOSS in the school environment, but I don't think "teachers are the limiting factor."
Here's another portrait of what I imagine an identity thief would look like.
The real question is: will Google be in a position to hire people in a year? Or will this bubble burst before then?
Wait... so he's selling money?
- The default settings of P2P applications share all documents and media files on your machine. Which P2P apps are they talking about?
- P2P file exchanges generally violate international copyright laws. - Stop lumping P2P with piracy, DoD!
- Enable Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) on all laptops, PDAsand wireless access points. - WPA anyone?
- THE INTERNET IS ALWAYS WATCHING - But the DoD is always watching the Internet, so don't worry!
- CLASSIFIED CPU's should be at least 3 feet from UNCLASSIFIED CPU's - Cooties?
- Traveling with a government computer? Keep track of it! - Good thing you told me! I never take the time to keep track of my laptop when I travel.
Also check out page 37 for the most hilarious picture ever included in a PDF (labeled 38 in the actual PDF).I agree with you. Being forced--or at least "strongly encouraged"--to consistently mislead or outright lie to customers gets to you after a while. Instead of working in a position where I might have to do that again, I just stock shelves. I get paid the same amount of money (due to the company's payroll system) and have a clear conscience at night. I think many large retailers are missing the big picture (to borrow their terminology). People are more than willing to pay to have their computers fixed. What they don't like is being lied to, "upselling", and other forms of manipulation. There comes a point where people become smart enough to recognize these tactics and spread the word about that company. Selling extended warranties to customers has become a living hell where I work, since so many people have seen those documentaries about how retailers trick you into buying them, and how they aren't worth it. Thank God I don't have to do that anymore! If customers don't immediately realize you are ripping them off when they end up spending $150 on a $50 printer (cables, ink, paper, warranty, etc), they will realize it eventually... and when they do, watch out!