I'm in a similar situation, but perhaps even more ridiculous.
I received two parking tickets in one semester at a community college in northern Virginia (can you guess which one?), each at a different campus. In the interest of convenience, I paid for both tickets with one check at campus #1. The ticket issued at campus #2, while I was sitting in my car, with the parking sticker safe and secure in the glovebox (yes, I showed the sticker to the ticketing 'officer'), was never recorded as having been paid. They sent it to a collection agency in Atlanta.
I was never able to prove that I paid the ticket, and now I have a $26 default on my credit report, which has resulted in my being declined for credit on several occasions.
If you are declined for credit, the agency that provided the report continaing the information that led to the decision is required to provide you with a copy of your report as long as you make your request within 30 days. The company that declined to issue credit is also required to provide you with a letter explaining the reasons your request was declined and the name of the agency that provided the report.
Don't forget that it is possible to write an explanation for negative marks on your credit report. Agencies are also required to correct incorrect information. Usually, if it is something simple like an address you never lived at, but may have had a subscription sent to, they will remove it with no questions asked.
And, most importantly, always keep forever proof that you paid someone money, within reason. There is, of course, no need to keep Wal-Mart or grocery store receipts. Demand a receipt, and make sure that receipt has a description of what the debt was (eg. ticket number, tuition for what semester and which classes, overdue book fee, etc.) FOREVER!
Most concert tickets are now in the $50-$75 US range. When I get there, I would have to pay another $25-$30 for a t-shirt, $5 for a bumper sticker, and $20 for a baseball cap. Of course, this doubles for me when I take my lovely wife. Multiply this by 40,000 if it's a large arena, then by 30 for a multi-city tour, and it's hard for me to see how there's not any money in touring.
In addition to this, I must pay about $8-$10 per ticket to Ticketmaster in service and convenience charges, since there is no alternative source for tickets other than winning a radio station contest. The truly insulting thing is that you have to pay these charges even if you elect to pick up the tickets at the show (how the hell is that convenient?). So I'm basically paying Ticketmaster $10 to make a toll-free call. When I get to the show, I have to pony up $5-10 for parking, then walk half a mile to the arena. Once inside, a beer and soft pretzel will set me back another $10.
To summarize, if I want to see my favorite band in concert, chances are it's going to set me back $250-$300, all this after paying $15 for a CD that probably has 2 or 3 songs on it that I really like. But they aren't making any money. Yeah, right.
Some would say that the record company takes more than their fair share from record sales and touring revenues, but I would say that the band didn't sign a very good contract.
It would be nice if there was a revenue model for online distribution methods that bypassed the record companies altogether and paid the artist directly. Most, if not all bands currently under contract would be left out of this model and would probably fight it tooth and nail right along with the record companies, as Garth Brooks and company fought record stores that buy and sell used CDs and tapes. New acts must fight for clauses to be written into their contracts that allow for income from sources other than record sales sponsored by the record companies, or refuse to sign. If they need a reason not to sign, just have them take a look at all of the incredibly popular acts from the 50's and 60's that are broke and living in the gutter while the record company executives are shitting in gold-plated toilets.
Vincent didn't murder the superior
on
Planet Gattaca
·
· Score: 3
IIRC, he wandered up at the back of the crowd that had formed after the killing but he was not involved with the actual murder. Of course, after the 'gene police' swept the room for evidence and found the eyelash, they knew they had their man, because after all, what was an 'imperfect' doing there besides committing a crime?
All in all a very poignant movie about an all-too forseeable future.
The other wrist pain incident was just after Microsoft came out with their "middle-button wheel" mouse. I made heavy use of the wheel when I first got one of these things, and found that it led to wrist pain (perhaps because rapidly spinning the wheel with the middle finger is a rather unnatural motion). So I stopped rotating the wheel (back to scroll bars, alas!) and the pain went away.
I don't think anyone I know uses their middle finger for the wheel. I tried after reading your message and it is incredibly uncomfortable.
I've used a wheel mouse at work since we got in our last shipment of new PC's and I've always used my index finger for the wheel. I can't think of any time I would need to use the wheel while simultaneously clicking on the left button. Scrolling with the index finger feels much more natural, as well.
Thumb on left side, middle finger on right side, index finger moving between left button and wheel, and middle finger on right button seems to work out best for me. The tip of my pinky finger and the heel of my hand rest lightly on my mouse surface to the right of and just below, respectively, of my mouse.
Don't forget, you can click the wheel like a button and then move the mouse forward and backward to control vertical scroll direction and speed in most (Windows) applications.
Why not start a channel called #linux_distro_holy_war so all of the my-distribution-is-better-than-your-distribution chest thumpers don't have to clutter up #linux with their useless bickering?
Macmillan has taken Mandrake (they used to take RedHat), cloned it, charged an arm and a leg for it, and flooded the shelves of companies like CompUSA with misleading packaging. I know many people who bought Macmillan's RedHat 5.2 thinking they were buying the "New version of Red Hat" (6.0 at the time). Their business practices border on fraud, they don't do anything creative, and they sour people to the Linux community. Why should we respect them?
You forgot about not making it clear who provides the support. I bought what I thought was Red Hat 6.0 and paid about what I would have paid had I ordered it directly from Red Hat, only when I got it home I found out it was published by Macmillan. It had a copy of the Red Hat CD (free to reproduce and resell), and a copy of the Red Hat Installation Guide (also freely redistributable according to the copyright). But Red Hat won't support it (not that I blame them).
Macmillan has admitted that they are not a technical company. Who do they have on staff to answer installation (and setup - egads!)questions from users who may have never used Unix before but have heard about this really cool free (as in freedom) operating system called Linux.
Thank you for your kind offer of help. Your question has made me think quite a bit about what exactly I want to do with my computer. I must say I don't really know.
I like to browse the web. I'd like to be able to send e-mail and read some newsgroups. I'd like to learn a programming language. I have bits and pieces of several, but I'm not proficient at any of them. I'd like to put up a web page (as soon as I figure out what it is I need to share with the world). I enjoy feeling like I'm part of (barely) the Slashdot community, and I'd like to extend that to IRC. I'd like to not have to do everything 5 times before I get it right even though I have 3 HOW-TOs, a couple of web pages, the Red Hat Users Guide, and Red Hat Linux Unleashed in front of me. I'd like to not have to run my print jobs through 4 filters before I can send them to the printer (and still not get color). I'd like to know that if I go out and buy a piece of hardware that's compatible with Intel systems I don't have to worry about getting it to work under Linux (ARE YOU LISTENING, HARDWARE MANUFACTURERS?)
I'm not exactly computer illiterate. I train and support users in Windows and Office in a large law firm. I have worked in a Sun environment. In fact I managed the office when in a Sun environment. I guess I just haven't had that Zen moment when Linux clicks and I get it. I hope I don't become so frustrated with the whole experience that I give it up before that moment arrives.
SPA is Secure Password Authentication. My ISP (MSN) requires this in order to use e-mail or usenet. I am led to believe that no Linux mail (or news) clients support this method of connection. Hell, I can't even get non-MS mail and news clients to talk to their servers from Windows. I have tried several different clients to no avail. If anyone knows differently, please let me know.
I was using the MSRP for the items in question to emphasize the inflated values placed on them by their manufacturers. Years of shopping at stores that discount products have proven to me that manufacturers are more concerned about price points more than getting the product to market at a fair price related to what it actually cost them to MAKE the thing.
I am a moron. Moderators, please pulverize the first post. Thank you. (goodbye karma)
I must be the only Geek who thinks $450 is waaay too much to spend for a digital address book (and really, who has 8MB worth of friends). Call me when that price includes the ability to recieve pages and use it as a phone dialer.
The Visor is looking very good, but even $180 makes me wince.
Disclaimer: I am not cheap- my wife is!;-) (I love you, honey)
Cool Palm/compatible idea: Software that has the capability of using the IR port to allow me to use it to control my entertainment center. I currently have to juggle 3 remotes to use all of the functions of all my equipment. I have seen receivers that include backlit LCD remote controls in the $1000+ range. Very cool.
As a former contract worker and former temp, I can identify with the lack of health insurance, time off and sick days, but I never blamed the company where I worked.
When I was a contract worker for a defense contractor I found out what the agency's billing rate for my time was. At the time I was making $7/hr with no benefits. The rate the agency was charging was $19/hr. Had the agency cared about keeping its people, they could have found a way to set aside some of the $12/hr they were taking off the top to pay for health care. The agency offered health care, but they didn't contribute, and the monthly premium for me and my wife was close to $500. Hmm, $6000 insurance from a $14,000 salary or $3,300 from a $60,000 salary. It doesn't require the services of a financial analyst to figure out which I'd pick (but I'm not bitter).
In some areas, like Central New York, the job market is very weak, especially for people with technical skills who don't care to assemble transfer cases or bottle beer (and you can't get into those jobs anyway because the unions have closed them out by allowing the employees to put their children **as young as 9** on the waiting list for jobs). It seems to me that the "MS Temps" live in an area where their skills would be at a premium.
Yes, I understand that you enjoy your job and like your managers, but it's not exactly a closed job market. If benefits are so important to you, go somewhere that offers them.
Slashdot Mirror
I'm in a similar situation, but perhaps even more ridiculous.
I received two parking tickets in one semester at a community college in northern Virginia (can you guess which one?), each at a different campus. In the interest of convenience, I paid for both tickets with one check at campus #1. The ticket issued at campus #2, while I was sitting in my car, with the parking sticker safe and secure in the glovebox (yes, I showed the sticker to the ticketing 'officer'), was never recorded as having been paid. They sent it to a collection agency in Atlanta.
I was never able to prove that I paid the ticket, and now I have a $26 default on my credit report, which has resulted in my being declined for credit on several occasions.
If you are declined for credit, the agency that provided the report continaing the information that led to the decision is required to provide you with a copy of your report as long as you make your request within 30 days. The company that declined to issue credit is also required to provide you with a letter explaining the reasons your request was declined and the name of the agency that provided the report.
Don't forget that it is possible to write an explanation for negative marks on your credit report. Agencies are also required to correct incorrect information. Usually, if it is something simple like an address you never lived at, but may have had a subscription sent to, they will remove it with no questions asked.
And, most importantly, always keep forever proof that you paid someone money, within reason. There is, of course, no need to keep Wal-Mart or grocery store receipts. Demand a receipt, and make sure that receipt has a description of what the debt was (eg. ticket number, tuition for what semester and which classes, overdue book fee, etc.) FOREVER!
Good luck
Check out news.motorcycle.com (warning: page is extremely slow) for a blatant ripoff of our beloved /., even down to this statement at the bottom of the page, "All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective companies. Comments are owned by the Poster. The Rest ©2000 Motorcycle.Com, Inc.."
I don't know if Taco was aware of this one, but they make no reference to /. or Slashcode anywhere on the page that I've been able to find.
Most concert tickets are now in the $50-$75 US range. When I get there, I would have to pay another $25-$30 for a t-shirt, $5 for a bumper sticker, and $20 for a baseball cap. Of course, this doubles for me when I take my lovely wife. Multiply this by 40,000 if it's a large arena, then by 30 for a multi-city tour, and it's hard for me to see how there's not any money in touring.
In addition to this, I must pay about $8-$10 per ticket to Ticketmaster in service and convenience charges, since there is no alternative source for tickets other than winning a radio station contest. The truly insulting thing is that you have to pay these charges even if you elect to pick up the tickets at the show (how the hell is that convenient?). So I'm basically paying Ticketmaster $10 to make a toll-free call. When I get to the show, I have to pony up $5-10 for parking, then walk half a mile to the arena. Once inside, a beer and soft pretzel will set me back another $10.
To summarize, if I want to see my favorite band in concert, chances are it's going to set me back $250-$300, all this after paying $15 for a CD that probably has 2 or 3 songs on it that I really like. But they aren't making any money. Yeah, right.
Some would say that the record company takes more than their fair share from record sales and touring revenues, but I would say that the band didn't sign a very good contract.
It would be nice if there was a revenue model for online distribution methods that bypassed the record companies altogether and paid the artist directly. Most, if not all bands currently under contract would be left out of this model and would probably fight it tooth and nail right along with the record companies, as Garth Brooks and company fought record stores that buy and sell used CDs and tapes. New acts must fight for clauses to be written into their contracts that allow for income from sources other than record sales sponsored by the record companies, or refuse to sign. If they need a reason not to sign, just have them take a look at all of the incredibly popular acts from the 50's and 60's that are broke and living in the gutter while the record company executives are shitting in gold-plated toilets.
All in all a very poignant movie about an all-too forseeable future.
I don't think anyone I know uses their middle finger for the wheel. I tried after reading your message and it is incredibly uncomfortable.
I've used a wheel mouse at work since we got in our last shipment of new PC's and I've always used my index finger for the wheel. I can't think of any time I would need to use the wheel while simultaneously clicking on the left button. Scrolling with the index finger feels much more natural, as well.
Thumb on left side, middle finger on right side, index finger moving between left button and wheel, and middle finger on right button seems to work out best for me. The tip of my pinky finger and the heel of my hand rest lightly on my mouse surface to the right of and just below, respectively, of my mouse.
Don't forget, you can click the wheel like a button and then move the mouse forward and backward to control vertical scroll direction and speed in most (Windows) applications.
You forgot about not making it clear who provides the support. I bought what I thought was Red Hat 6.0 and paid about what I would have paid had I ordered it directly from Red Hat, only when I got it home I found out it was published by Macmillan. It had a copy of the Red Hat CD (free to reproduce and resell), and a copy of the Red Hat Installation Guide (also freely redistributable according to the copyright). But Red Hat won't support it (not that I blame them).
Macmillan has admitted that they are not a technical company. Who do they have on staff to answer installation (and setup - egads!)questions from users who may have never used Unix before but have heard about this really cool free (as in freedom) operating system called Linux.
I like to browse the web. I'd like to be able to send e-mail and read some newsgroups. I'd like to learn a programming language. I have bits and pieces of several, but I'm not proficient at any of them. I'd like to put up a web page (as soon as I figure out what it is I need to share with the world). I enjoy feeling like I'm part of (barely) the Slashdot community, and I'd like to extend that to IRC. I'd like to not have to do everything 5 times before I get it right even though I have 3 HOW-TOs, a couple of web pages, the Red Hat Users Guide, and Red Hat Linux Unleashed in front of me. I'd like to not have to run my print jobs through 4 filters before I can send them to the printer (and still not get color). I'd like to know that if I go out and buy a piece of hardware that's compatible with Intel systems I don't have to worry about getting it to work under Linux (ARE YOU LISTENING, HARDWARE MANUFACTURERS?)
I'm not exactly computer illiterate. I train and support users in Windows and Office in a large law firm. I have worked in a Sun environment. In fact I managed the office when in a Sun environment. I guess I just haven't had that Zen moment when Linux clicks and I get it. I hope I don't become so frustrated with the whole experience that I give it up before that moment arrives.
Thank you.
You don't need Perl - just use Pricewatch.
I was using the MSRP for the items in question to emphasize the inflated values placed on them by their manufacturers. Years of shopping at stores that discount products have proven to me that manufacturers are more concerned about price points more than getting the product to market at a fair price related to what it actually cost them to MAKE the thing.
I am a moron. Moderators, please pulverize the first post. Thank you. (goodbye karma)
;-) (I love you, honey)
I must be the only Geek who thinks $450 is waaay too much to spend for a digital address book (and really, who has 8MB worth of friends). Call me when that price includes the ability to recieve pages and use it as a phone dialer.
The Visor is looking very good, but even $180 makes me wince.
Disclaimer: I am not cheap- my wife is!
Cool Palm/compatible idea: Software that has the capability of using the IR port to allow me to use it to control my entertainment center. I currently have to juggle 3 remotes to use all of the functions of all my equipment. I have seen receivers that include backlit LCD remote controls in the $1000+ range. Very cool.
As a former contract worker and former temp, I can identify with the lack of health insurance, time off and sick days, but I never blamed the company where I worked.
When I was a contract worker for a defense contractor I found out what the agency's billing rate for my time was. At the time I was making $7/hr with no benefits. The rate the agency was charging was $19/hr. Had the agency cared about keeping its people, they could have found a way to set aside some of the $12/hr they were taking off the top to pay for health care. The agency offered health care, but they didn't contribute, and the monthly premium for me and my wife was close to $500. Hmm, $6000 insurance from a $14,000 salary or $3,300 from a $60,000 salary. It doesn't require the services of a financial analyst to figure out which I'd pick (but I'm not bitter).
In some areas, like Central New York, the job market is very weak, especially for people with technical skills who don't care to assemble transfer cases or bottle beer (and you can't get into those jobs anyway because the unions have closed them out by allowing the employees to put their children **as young as 9** on the waiting list for jobs). It seems to me that the "MS Temps" live in an area where their skills would be at a premium.
Yes, I understand that you enjoy your job and like your managers, but it's not exactly a closed job market. If benefits are so important to you, go somewhere that offers them.