The last thing I want is my child's views to be formed based on someones money motivated opinion. What is next? Are my children going to be "Treated" to school bags with the drug company logos on them? I beleive that it is not far off, if it is not happening already.
I do not encourage pirating software or infringing on copyrights, however, I do encourage schools to do what they are meant to do--Teach! This teaching involves basic things like math, english, history, science and so on, save the copyright law for college when he/she can make the choice.
I think they should take their ridiculous capaign and keep it the hell away from my kids! Please, leave the morality issues to me. It's one thing that I constantly receive propaganda from this sanctimonious orginization, please, stay away from my children.
Well, from my standpoint, it is Evil, on the other hand, we must realize that we a reaping what we have sowed. This shouldn't be looked at in a bad way, however, we are, where we are today, due to technology!
It's funny to read, the reason we connect to this site... technology, this is the reason we are at this pinnacle. Face it, when the great IT bubble burst, the bottom fell out from underneath alot of people/companies. It was a struggle and some survived, for those that survived, it was a matter of swallowing up the market.
Once the companies had their captive audience and the reality of the situation set in, it was a matter of meeting the expectations of the share-holders, which means, increase the bottom line.
Technology made the global economy a reality, big companies began to get really big and they began to look at the world as one giant workforce. Well, the biggest liability besides the unsold inventory, was the money going out the door on wages, insurance, taxes, etc..
After the wave of consultants flew around the globe making all of the companies streamlined (exagerated a bit) there was nowhere else to go but to start re-locating, or shifting the workfore to cheaper territory.
All this rambling on and have I reached any point? How did technology cause all of this? How did we (the... Technologists) cause this?
We marched from job to job, answering to the highest bidder, setting up infrastructure, complex business systems to run the companies lean, programmed the software, closed the gaps of communication, now were in maintenance mode with 1000's of engineers who were previously in high demand implementing and changing and creating this machine, but you do not need all these people in maintenance mode companies don't want to throw any more money at IT.
For a company like microsoft, coding is their production line, it makes sense to sell out to the highest bidder, Gates never made any money by spending...
I liken patents to innovation and microsoft would like it's customers to view them as innovative. I have participated in many surveys for them and this is important to their identity as a corporation.
Is Microsoft innovative? at one time, not too much now. I would like to see a site completely dedicated to mapping out the timeline and the "features" that make up their software in an effort to demonstrate where their "innovations" actually come from (other innovative people), the answer is simple, they are masters at swallowing up innovation by others and integrating it into their flagship packages.
Now, let's take a look at other packages where the y have simply bought the product, ie: Visio, Frontpage, etc..
Microsoft will indeed continue to flourish, however, I think their innovation will flounder.
Why in the world would you not test for all platforms?
It really appears that MS is simply re-active to the situations, coming out with fixes to known vulnerabilities months after discovery does little to protect your customers. Microsoft, to me, is looking more and more like Novell did 7 years ago.
The innovation is out the window, they are riding on the popularity of their flagship packages, their software is bloated and riddled with holes.
I agreee, once more, I didn't even have to read the article to realize by the name that it would be a proprietary format.
For the amount of money that one has to shell out on something like this, it is just not worth it, there will not be enough content available to the reader to make it worth while.
When will Sony learn? When will they learn that while they are innovative, they ALWAYS have to re-invent the wheel
The ideal reader would be a simple embedded linux device with the ability to read any of todays formats giving the user some value! I, for one, chose the Progear.
We all know that there is a market out there willing to buy, I know that I am not the only one with 100's or more PDFs and other documents that I would like to have available. I understand the problem which is DRM. the technology is here that would enable a manufacturer to develop a product at a reasonable price with useful functionality.
The solution to this is not delivering a product in which their are immediate limitations with alternate/proprietary formats, or software that is necessary in order to convert documents, please!
...who are too stupid to use "The V Chip" that congress mandated be included in all new TV sets.
Can I puke now? It's always about money or power. In addition, when are we going to learn that we are incapable of making decisions on our own about our own lives, they must be made for us through legislation. If they were not made for us, how would they justify their existance. There are enough laws right now for us to be on auto-pilot for the next 50 years, I suspect we would avoid anarchy during that time, wouldn't you?
The problem is that there are way too many politicians with way too much time on their hands generating noithing but worthless legislation and mandates. If you think this statement is far-fetched, please turn on CSPAN for about 8 hours (if you can take it), I garauntee you will be fighting to keep your eyes open and holding your mouth in order to fight back the vomit.
I can't think of anything worse than a fat, disconnected (from reality), slick talking politician mandating how I should live my life because I am incapable of making my own decisions, however, my intellect appears to be fully in tact when I am filling out 10,000 tax forms each year and making out the check to pay their salaries (that they more than likely voted to increase).
Just shut up and keep paying, just keep paying, after all bubba needs a new yacht and house in kennebunkport.
Here! Here! This is what I was trying to say and couldn't find the exact words. The simple fact is that is this, reiterating your point, PayPal claims to be a simple go-between for buyer and seller, they want nothing else to do with the transaction, other than the cut.
When real problems occur, they arbitrarily without further investigation or without any facts as to what the problem actually is freeze the accounts of all parties involved without any real answer as to when they will be reactivated. This does solve the problem, for them and only them.
Once the honest, paying customer realizes that this has happened, and possibly has transactions in limbo, they attempt to contact them only to be stonewalled with a lame customer service process. When confronted by these situations, they simply say, "We are not a bank and we need to protect our system"
why?
They are the only guy on the block
Again, do they need to go away? No. Do they need to stand by their honest, paying customers? YES.
Very true, funny how this "Democracy" works sometimes. If you think at any time we(the people) are not making the decisions in this country, it is the people that are "elected".
What surprises me is that there are not more suits against Paypal, I will be surprised that my account isn't frozen for my comments!
Paypal continually uses this hands off approach to it's customers when there are problems. Stating that they are not a bank is the absolute beauty of this goldmine, it is the ultimate out, however people do have real money in some of these accounts(like a bank) and when there is a problem, it needs to be addressed immediately and resolved.(like most banks). Paypal simply says, "We are not a bank, We are a facilitator of payments"
While PayPal has indicated there are problems with it's customer support/services, it is clear that little is done to fix these problems.
It's a tough game to play, and there is a lot at stake for people, there are a number of cases where Paypal closed accounts without warning on some people who relied on this services. Their policies and processes for dealing with problems is ridiculous. (indicated in the lawsuit)
Would I like to see them go? Absolutely not. Would I like to see them take a little more responsibility? Absolutely
FACE IT There is some merit to what is being said here, we are talking about an extremely complex subject in which all of the angles need to be examined.
There is no doubt that money, long term contracts, and future business may be a driving motivator for this particular article, however, it raises a serious point, just because Linux works, doesn't mean it works for Everything.
How about advertising in your office, sort of a "now playing list", and then a kiosk where the numbed up patient can make a purchase?
Everyone wants to get a pice of the action, it sounds like someone had too much time on their hands and an idea came to them while they were with the boys at the country club.
I guess you can't blame them too much, everyone seems to be greedy these days, I guess its hard to feel sorry for dentists, they have the cash to shell out $100 a year, I understand it's a principle thing, but c'mon, it's a $100!
The truth of the matter is that this is an excellent tool for law enforcement agencies to work together, period.
The shit hits the fan when something happens and some other agency held the key evidence, or information that ultimately could have saved lives. What happens 6-9 monthes later after the person(s)/group gets caught?
The puzzle gets put together, the media gets a piece of it and the public is screaming that their tax dollars are being wasted on antiquated systems that can't talk to one-another in an age when we have the technology to over-come such situations.
In an effort to respond to the publics outcry the agencies work to come up with a solution, which includes zig-zagging through countless red-tape and legislation.
The agencies now have the know-how, the technology and the money to begin the process of piecing the system together, too bad it has been far too long and the public (mainly the media) has moved on to other things that make money("news").
Now it is time to focus on the other aspect of this system, and the entire process gets put under a microscope, the government is scrutinized for "wasting" tax dollars (remember when we were wasting money on antiquated systems?) on a system that is "invading our privacy" ( privacy is ultimately defined by some agency like the ACLU).
I say GET REAL, if the system fails because of some inane P2P like technology, which we all know that shit doesnt work, except for sharing music, at least we are taking a step in the right direction.
We need systems that talk to one-another and information needs to be disseminated to the people/agencies who need it. The govenment is working with law enforcement agencies in an effort to empower agencies and make our country safer.
Each and every state down to the smallest municpality needs to dedicate resources to things such as the Global Justice Information Sharing Initiative and begin to close the gap of lost information.
What the hell are we afraid of? hmmm, maybe the criminals will get caught? Good. oh, "but this information is going to get in the wrong hands..." is that all you got?
It is so funny how people get about their "personal" information, sorry to tell you folks, but most of the "personal" information out there is more than likely readily available through some open records law.
Unfortunately, the IT profession gets poked at about this type of attitude and it should, it's true.
I agree with this article and I would say that if you are having a problem with people and have some sort of idea that they are all wrong, you might want to take a moment and look in the mirror because the problem is you.
There is simply nothing more annoying than working with someone who has all the answers (this is simply a delusional). As an IT professional, I am always working with others to achieve solutions, and there are deinitely people out there who assist in producing these solutions, however, like the article states, they are not always easy to go to.
BAD IT professionals stifle an organizations ability to provide quality services and these "GOD Like" creatures should consider a profession that can be dealt with in complete seclusion or learn how to effectively deal with people.
Here are a couple of tips for those of you who (you know who you are), that may be suffering:
1. Explain yourself, know your audience.
anyone can rattle off a slew of acronyms, lets face it, there are millions, how about learning a little more about who you are talking to and speak at their level, I have found this to be far more effective than going on and on about some technology. Save it for someone who understands.
2. Learn to listen
If you are sitting there in a meeting just waiting to hear yourself talk, you are more than likely to not be heard, and even if what you have to say makes sense or is important, people may not want to hear it. Why? becasue I it is more than likely certain that people are on to this and realize that you do not care about what they have to say. People are more perceptive than you would think (oh thats right, this trait is reserved to you only)
3. Communicate.
Well, I realize that this encompasses nearly all of what I have said, so I will be more specific, sorry if it does not deal completely with this subject. What I means is, let your users know what is going on (in simple terms) and have a plan. I have seen way too many times people make system-wide changes without fully understanding the consequences and with little or no comunication, this is SO disasterous and must be completely avoided.
4. Take Responsibility
All too many times, a mistake is made and the IT guru begins to point his/her finger, "it can't be my system" and then magically the problem goes away.... Hmmm, remember what I said about perceptive?
I could go on all day about this, the bottom line is we all need to understand our audiences and be mindful of our actions, we are dealing with a wide variety f people in the workplace, if you can't handle this, ask for a position with no human contact.
Couldn't agree with this more... What a worthless waste!
It is so tiring reading about how these people want to legislate the hell out of everything.
I am far from an anarchist, I beleive in laws and regulations, however, I am a firm beleiver that it is the people that should be running this country and not the sorry politicians whose only goal in life is to make life easier for a select group of people.
I do beleieve that laws can stifle progress. Once more, it is so tiring watching lawmakers in the US proposing methods of government on the Internet. These ridiculous laws passed in the US will do nothing to stop development of software in other countries, in addition, the Internet will continue to propogate the software around the world.
The only thing that I would have to say to my Senator if he were looking at siding with this legisation would be to get a life! There are far too many more important things to deal with that would genuinely improve the quality of life in the US.
I am sure there is a likely threat, however, since we all know that Al Gore will be there (The inventor of the Internet) we are assured that this technologically savvy group of people will over-come any security obstacle.
In any case, doing something about it now would result in the creation of a formal commitee, multiple meetings, a voting of some sort, or some introduction of a new bill. There is no doubt that this new security commitee would require additional funding, so I am sure that they would vote to increase some tax (more than likely petroleum, or tobacco) and as a rider to the bill, all members would receive additional pay increases.
This sounds so familiar, just like the post about the Motion Picture industry...
"All those pirate copies of Windows XP must be killing Microsoft. Why, I've heard that the entire company is making less than a billion dollars a month."
Would you people please stop using this as a justification to not pay for something! I can't beleive what I am reading, There are 1000's of people downloading software at no cost to them, which is normally sold for a price, how can that not hurt a company?
So, based on all this crap people are trying to unload with regards to copyright and justifications based on prices or features, blah, blah. Let's just take the example of a Newspaper, there is copyrighted information in that and for the most part, this stuff is available online, so instead of reading the Times online, step into your local news stand, grab a copy and walk out, do you think that you will be stopped?
When you are approached just explain to that you only intend to read a few articles and the rest is just unnecessary fluff, explain to them that you could just as easily go online and read the paper, then explain to them that $1.50 is just a complete rip-off and they shold not be able to charge such a ridiculous price for a news paper. Actually, just let them know that you are evalutaing the paper and if you like it, you are going to subscribe. Lastly, have you seen the balance sheet on this company? they are making billions! How can they get away with this?
I bet they will simply hear this and completely understand, shouldn't be a problem.,,, what-ever.
"buy legislation outlawing general purpose tools that might be used to infringe."
I couldn't agree with you more, our court systems/decisions are more-than-likely influenced by powerful people with money. This is not a problem with the powerful people so much as it is a problem with the people making the ultimate decisions, if these people are elected, can they be removed? If you go after Microsoft and take them down, there will just be another company on top, if you uproot the actual cause of the problem, the problem goes away...
This is yet another form of justification in ones mind that it is Ok to steal.
This does not have anything to do with supply and demand, it has to do with the ease of stealing.
If our banks removed their security systems and kept their doors, windows and vaults wide open, I think that we would have far more bank robberies. After all, why should one guy have more money than the next, I am a hard worker, I am entitled right?
Wrong, the way that you affect this little curve is to simply choose not to pay and avoid the movie, song, book, software completely.
"The mere fact that Hollywood is thriving illustrates the point that there is SOMETHING wrong"
What they hell is that? This is completely crazy, (Assuming you are from the US) is this not a for profit industry?? it sounds like they are doing something right!
Since when did we start questioning sucessful companies/Industries?
The whole point of the article smashes this theory, if the Motion Picture Industry is having record sales, it is obvious that people are willing to pay the price, hell if anything, they could just as well raise the prices and they may increase their profits...
"I really wish Hollywood would just listen to why people would jump through so many hoops to download a movie"
c'mon, I could have my Grandma downloading a movie in about 10 minutes or less, it is pathetically easy, this is the reason it is so rampant.
"but you cannot equate downloading a movie off of the internet with theft"
Come on now, please... How is this not a form of theft, first of all, if you receive this file from the Internet, it more than likely was "shot" in the theatre and now you are watching it at home otherwise your only other option is to Pay to see the movie, since you have now denied the theatre the money, you have taken something from them.
Ok, lets use your analogies:
1. Discount Cinemas - you Pay to see the movie, when you download the movie, you do not pay
2. Borrow books from Library - The book has been purchased specifically for this use, the book has been purchased with the intent to "lend".
4. Taping songs off the radio - you kind of got me there, however, Advertisers pay money to place Ads on stations that direct to their Market, Artists release certain hit tracks to be mainstreamed in hopes that it will spark album sales. In the artists minds, they are advertising, Radio is not really free, you are being paying the price of being bombarded with Ads. This is not the same as downloading the entire album off of some P2P.
5.Drinking at home rather than at a bar or restaurant....what?? one has completely nothing to do with the other. ignored. The price you pay is for atmosphere, unless you are taking the knick-knacks off the wall of you r local Fridays, there is nothing illegal going on here.
The moment you take money from someones pocket you are stealing from them, the moment you go outside of the designed medium and circumvent the process of payment, you are stealing.
Any gray area in there is a figment of your imagination and a means of somehow justifying in ones own mind that it is ok to steal.
There is absolutely No justification for stealing, regardless of the quality of the product. I am certainly not siding with the MPAA or any of their affiliates, the movie industry is just a big fat cash machine. Who didn't know that?
Is the problem with the MPAA? I don't know about that, if we(consumers) were simply not willing to pay $9 a ticket to see a movie, they would have to lower prices, however, they keep charging and we keep coming.simple econmics, and don't come back with that crap that volume(more people will come if you lower prices) speaks louder, becasue that is clearly not always the case and may not be as profitable.
What you need to do is take a look at the entire system, everyone gets a piece of the action and they demand very large pieces. Actors and Actresses command huge paychecks, agents, publicists, movie crews, designers, the list goes on..they all have to maintain that hollywood lifestyle.
There is a positive light though, if a movie costs $50 Million, you pay a mere $10 dollars to see it, that really is amazing to think that someone shelled out that kind of cash just to entertain you/us.
Either way, there is no justification for theft, furthermore, while I did not even remotely consider seeing Gigli, I am sure that there are movies out there that you would deem garbage,and I may enjoy so, lets not change the whole process just to fit your tastes? What the hell is that, I might not care for Harry Potter, I wouldn't drop a dime to see Michael Moore propoganda and dodgeball is just another cookie cutter money maker for Ben Stiller, would you put this on your "Blockbuster" List?
Watch the movies, or don't, but please stop crying about it, rent a classic, read a book, take a walk, there are other options... Hollywood will roll with the punches and continue to make huge money.
I have spent some time in retail, and I can easily say that there are "special" customers. The reality is very simple, without customers (demons and not), there would be NO Best Buy.
It is all too often I get into the conversation of "Where has the customer service ethic gone?" Well, it certainly was thrown out of the handbook at Best Buy (and many other establishements). These Stepford type sales people are absolutely the WORST, they will do/say anything to make a sale, it is no wonder they have "Demon Customers"
One major problem is the completely convoluted marketing practices. It is no wonder you have "gun shy" customers, because they (many retailers) are always working some angle on you. Everyone wants you to be a part of their "club", or sell you some Extended Warranty plan thats got so many gaps for them to wiggle out its like swiss cheese.
"No, I don't want a $10 extended warranty on my $2.99 ethernet cable, I'll take the risk"
Sales Person: "You do realize that if you are a member of our buyers club, you would receive an additional $2.00 off the price of this $5000 LCD, just fill out this form...by the way, have I talked to you about that warranty?"
Customer: "No thank you. I bought the warranty, remember?"
Sales Person: "Well now that you decided to take the warranty, how about the super duper deluxe warranty for just $100 dollars more?
Customer: "What is that?
Sales Person: "Thats the In-Store warranty that we actually honor, the other one is for tech support only, in India."
Customer: "I'll just take the standard warranty, thank you."
Sales Person: "Would you like to buy a $100 pre-paid calling card? It's a great rate! You can put it with your warranty information in the event you need to call tech support, it's in India you know"
Customer: "uhhh...Sure, thanks for the tip"
Sales Person: "I see you got the standard $29.99 installation kit, so you'll be needing a power cord since it doesn't come with one, but I'll cut you a discount on that. Should I put that on the warranty too, it's only an extra $5.00?
Customer: "uhh...sure"
Sales Person: "Do you have an Internet connection now, or do you need an installation CD?"
Customer: "I have DSL, why?"
Sales Person: "Great! you'll be able to download the new version of AOL dial-up service quick! It's a great service, and think about it, you'll be getting it FREE for 1 year and then it will only cost you $14.99 per month for the next 3 years and it's saving you $100 on this great TV!"
Customer: "Oh..Yeah, thats right.... Hey, this thing does do HD, right? How come it doesn't say so here on the box?"
Sales Person: "Oh, yeah baby, this thing has everything and if you have any problems, just give me a call, and I will help you out myself.
Customer: "Great, thanks again".
Later that day...
Customer(On the phone with Mgr):"Listen, could you help me out for a second, I am trying to find the HD connections on th---"
Mgr: "Sir,like our sales person informed you and our AD says, the sale model is not HD , I don't have time for this, but luckily you bought the warranty, just give our tech support a call!"
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I will teach my childen morality, thank you.
The last thing I want is my child's views to be formed based on someones money motivated opinion. What is next? Are my children going to be "Treated" to school bags with the drug company logos on them? I beleive that it is not far off, if it is not happening already.
I do not encourage pirating software or infringing on copyrights, however, I do encourage schools to do what they are meant to do--Teach! This teaching involves basic things like math, english, history, science and so on, save the copyright law for college when he/she can make the choice.
I think they should take their ridiculous capaign and keep it the hell away from my kids! Please, leave the morality issues to me. It's one thing that I constantly receive propaganda from this sanctimonious orginization, please, stay away from my children.
Well, from my standpoint, it is Evil, on the other hand, we must realize that we a reaping what we have sowed. This shouldn't be looked at in a bad way, however, we are, where we are today, due to technology!
... Technologists) cause this?
It's funny to read, the reason we connect to this site... technology, this is the reason we are at this pinnacle. Face it, when the great IT bubble burst, the bottom fell out from underneath alot of people/companies. It was a struggle and some survived, for those that survived, it was a matter of swallowing up the market.
Once the companies had their captive audience and the reality of the situation set in, it was a matter of meeting the expectations of the share-holders, which means, increase the bottom line.
Technology made the global economy a reality, big companies began to get really big and they began to look at the world as one giant workforce. Well, the biggest liability besides the unsold inventory, was the money going out the door on wages, insurance, taxes, etc..
After the wave of consultants flew around the globe making all of the companies streamlined (exagerated a bit) there was nowhere else to go but to start re-locating, or shifting the workfore to cheaper territory.
All this rambling on and have I reached any point? How did technology cause all of this? How did we (the
We marched from job to job, answering to the highest bidder, setting up infrastructure, complex business systems to run the companies lean, programmed the software, closed the gaps of communication, now were in maintenance mode with 1000's of engineers who were previously in high demand implementing and changing and creating this machine, but you do not need all these people in maintenance mode companies don't want to throw any more money at IT.
For a company like microsoft, coding is their production line, it makes sense to sell out to the highest bidder, Gates never made any money by spending...
I liken patents to innovation and microsoft would like it's customers to view them as innovative. I have participated in many surveys for them and this is important to their identity as a corporation.
Is Microsoft innovative? at one time, not too much now. I would like to see a site completely dedicated to mapping out the timeline and the "features" that make up their software in an effort to demonstrate where their "innovations" actually come from (other innovative people), the answer is simple, they are masters at swallowing up innovation by others and integrating it into their flagship packages.
Now, let's take a look at other packages where the y have simply bought the product, ie: Visio, Frontpage, etc..
Microsoft will indeed continue to flourish, however, I think their innovation will flounder.
Why in the world would you not test for all platforms?
It really appears that MS is simply re-active to the situations, coming out with fixes to known vulnerabilities months after discovery does little to protect your customers. Microsoft, to me, is looking more and more like Novell did 7 years ago.
The innovation is out the window, they are riding on the popularity of their flagship packages, their software is bloated and riddled with holes.
I agreee, once more, I didn't even have to read the article to realize by the name that it would be a proprietary format.
For the amount of money that one has to shell out on something like this, it is just not worth it, there will not be enough content available to the reader to make it worth while.
When will Sony learn? When will they learn that while they are innovative, they ALWAYS have to re-invent the wheel
The ideal reader would be a simple embedded linux device with the ability to read any of todays formats giving the user some value! I, for one, chose the Progear.
We all know that there is a market out there willing to buy, I know that I am not the only one with 100's or more PDFs and other documents that I would like to have available. I understand the problem which is DRM. the technology is here that would enable a manufacturer to develop a product at a reasonable price with useful functionality.
The solution to this is not delivering a product in which their are immediate limitations with alternate/proprietary formats, or software that is necessary in order to convert documents, please!
The problem is that there are way too many politicians with way too much time on their hands generating noithing but worthless legislation and mandates. If you think this statement is far-fetched, please turn on CSPAN for about 8 hours (if you can take it), I garauntee you will be fighting to keep your eyes open and holding your mouth in order to fight back the vomit.
I can't think of anything worse than a fat, disconnected (from reality), slick talking politician mandating how I should live my life because I am incapable of making my own decisions, however, my intellect appears to be fully in tact when I am filling out 10,000 tax forms each year and making out the check to pay their salaries (that they more than likely voted to increase).
Just shut up and keep paying, just keep paying, after all bubba needs a new yacht and house in kennebunkport.
Here! Here! This is what I was trying to say and couldn't find the exact words. The simple fact is that is this, reiterating your point, PayPal claims to be a simple go-between for buyer and seller, they want nothing else to do with the transaction, other than the cut.
When real problems occur, they arbitrarily without further investigation or without any facts as to what the problem actually is freeze the accounts of all parties involved without any real answer as to when they will be reactivated. This does solve the problem, for them and only them.
Once the honest, paying customer realizes that this has happened, and possibly has transactions in limbo, they attempt to contact them only to be stonewalled with a lame customer service process. When confronted by these situations, they simply say, "We are not a bank and we need to protect our system"
why?
They are the only guy on the block
Again, do they need to go away? No. Do they need to stand by their honest, paying customers? YES.
remember the "hanging chad"?
Please, don't let the people be involved, as it is I can't seem to wipe that goofy guy examining the ballot out of my memory.
Can't we just put these two guys into a ring and let them slug it out?
I will give up my vote for it.
Very true, funny how this "Democracy" works sometimes. If you think at any time we(the people) are not making the decisions in this country, it is the people that are "elected".
What surprises me is that there are not more suits against Paypal, I will be surprised that my account isn't frozen for my comments!
Paypal continually uses this hands off approach to it's customers when there are problems. Stating that they are not a bank is the absolute beauty of this goldmine, it is the ultimate out, however people do have real money in some of these accounts(like a bank) and when there is a problem, it needs to be addressed immediately and resolved.(like most banks). Paypal simply says, "We are not a bank, We are a facilitator of payments"
While PayPal has indicated there are problems with it's customer support/services, it is clear that little is done to fix these problems.
It's a tough game to play, and there is a lot at stake for people, there are a number of cases where Paypal closed accounts without warning on some people who relied on this services. Their policies and processes for dealing with problems is ridiculous. (indicated in the lawsuit)
Would I like to see them go? Absolutely not. Would I like to see them take a little more responsibility? Absolutely
They have no problems taking the money...
It's really very simple, let the public decide, and then demonstrate exactly how the revenue generated will be spent.
I would recommend that the itemized revenue be available online at any time.
no big deal.
Ok, some people have too much time on their hands.
FACE IT There is some merit to what is being said here, we are talking about an extremely complex subject in which all of the angles need to be examined.
There is no doubt that money, long term contracts, and future business may be a driving motivator for this particular article, however, it raises a serious point, just because Linux works, doesn't mean it works for Everything.
Linux is not the ultimate answer to everything. We all know thats 42.
How about advertising in your office, sort of a "now playing list", and then a kiosk where the numbed up patient can make a purchase?
Everyone wants to get a pice of the action, it sounds like someone had too much time on their hands and an idea came to them while they were with the boys at the country club.
I guess you can't blame them too much, everyone seems to be greedy these days, I guess its hard to feel sorry for dentists, they have the cash to shell out $100 a year, I understand it's a principle thing, but c'mon, it's a $100!
don't get me wrong, I'm not an anti-dentite but give me a break if it is only $100 you'll only "feel a slight pinch"
What about the 749 Jano CDs? C'mon, this is defintely going to affect the bottom line.
I am hoping for some Osmond revival, or Tiffany, what the hell are you people complaining about?
This is free music! this stuff would cost you at least $.97 at Walmart....
The truth of the matter is that this is an excellent tool for law enforcement agencies to work together, period.
The shit hits the fan when something happens and some other agency held the key evidence, or information that ultimately could have saved lives. What happens 6-9 monthes later after the person(s)/group gets caught?
The puzzle gets put together, the media gets a piece of it and the public is screaming that their tax dollars are being wasted on antiquated systems that can't talk to one-another in an age when we have the technology to over-come such situations.
In an effort to respond to the publics outcry the agencies work to come up with a solution, which includes zig-zagging through countless red-tape and legislation.
The agencies now have the know-how, the technology and the money to begin the process of piecing the system together, too bad it has been far too long and the public (mainly the media) has moved on to other things that make money("news").
Now it is time to focus on the other aspect of this system, and the entire process gets put under a microscope, the government is scrutinized for "wasting" tax dollars (remember when we were wasting money on antiquated systems?) on a system that is "invading our privacy" ( privacy is ultimately defined by some agency like the ACLU).
I say GET REAL, if the system fails because of some inane P2P like technology, which we all know that shit doesnt work, except for sharing music, at least we are taking a step in the right direction.
We need systems that talk to one-another and information needs to be disseminated to the people/agencies who need it. The govenment is working with law enforcement agencies in an effort to empower agencies and make our country safer.
Each and every state down to the smallest municpality needs to dedicate resources to things such as the Global Justice Information Sharing Initiative and begin to close the gap of lost information. What the hell are we afraid of? hmmm, maybe the criminals will get caught? Good. oh, "but this information is going to get in the wrong hands..." is that all you got?
It is so funny how people get about their "personal" information, sorry to tell you folks, but most of the "personal" information out there is more than likely readily available through some open records law.
What the hell are you afraid of? getting caught?
"I see dumb people, they are all around me.." Yes, it is true, they are all around is, it is impossible to not run into one on a daily basis.
Unfortunately, the IT profession gets poked at about this type of attitude and it should, it's true.
I agree with this article and I would say that if you are having a problem with people and have some sort of idea that they are all wrong, you might want to take a moment and look in the mirror because the problem is you.
There is simply nothing more annoying than working with someone who has all the answers (this is simply a delusional). As an IT professional, I am always working with others to achieve solutions, and there are deinitely people out there who assist in producing these solutions, however, like the article states, they are not always easy to go to.
BAD IT professionals stifle an organizations ability to provide quality services and these "GOD Like" creatures should consider a profession that can be dealt with in complete seclusion or learn how to effectively deal with people.
Here are a couple of tips for those of you who (you know who you are), that may be suffering:
1. Explain yourself, know your audience.
anyone can rattle off a slew of acronyms, lets face it, there are millions, how about learning a little more about who you are talking to and speak at their level, I have found this to be far more effective than going on and on about some technology. Save it for someone who understands.
2. Learn to listen
If you are sitting there in a meeting just waiting to hear yourself talk, you are more than likely to not be heard, and even if what you have to say makes sense or is important, people may not want to hear it. Why? becasue I it is more than likely certain that people are on to this and realize that you do not care about what they have to say. People are more perceptive than you would think (oh thats right, this trait is reserved to you only)
3. Communicate.
Well, I realize that this encompasses nearly all of what I have said, so I will be more specific, sorry if it does not deal completely with this subject. What I means is, let your users know what is going on (in simple terms) and have a plan. I have seen way too many times people make system-wide changes without fully understanding the consequences and with little or no comunication, this is SO disasterous and must be completely avoided.
4. Take Responsibility
All too many times, a mistake is made and the IT guru begins to point his/her finger, "it can't be my system" and then magically the problem goes away.... Hmmm, remember what I said about perceptive?
I could go on all day about this, the bottom line is we all need to understand our audiences and be mindful of our actions, we are dealing with a wide variety f people in the workplace, if you can't handle this, ask for a position with no human contact.
Too funny! This one is worth it though; I can get hell bent out of shape another day.
There is simply nothing more aggravating than an ignorant politician, oh wait...
Isn't ignorant politician a Yoggi-berraism?
Forget it, I can't do this again. Speaking of a Yogi-berraism:
"Anyone who shoots his own nuts off should be castrated"
Couldn't agree with this more... What a worthless waste!
It is so tiring reading about how these people want to legislate the hell out of everything.
I am far from an anarchist, I beleive in laws and regulations, however, I am a firm beleiver that it is the people that should be running this country and not the sorry politicians whose only goal in life is to make life easier for a select group of people.
I do beleieve that laws can stifle progress. Once more, it is so tiring watching lawmakers in the US proposing methods of government on the Internet. These ridiculous laws passed in the US will do nothing to stop development of software in other countries, in addition, the Internet will continue to propogate the software around the world.
The only thing that I would have to say to my Senator if he were looking at siding with this legisation would be to get a life! There are far too many more important things to deal with that would genuinely improve the quality of life in the US.
I am sure there is a likely threat, however, since we all know that Al Gore will be there (The inventor of the Internet) we are assured that this technologically savvy group of people will over-come any security obstacle.
In any case, doing something about it now would result in the creation of a formal commitee, multiple meetings, a voting of some sort, or some introduction of a new bill. There is no doubt that this new security commitee would require additional funding, so I am sure that they would vote to increase some tax (more than likely petroleum, or tobacco) and as a rider to the bill, all members would receive additional pay increases.
you know, the usual...
This sounds so familiar, just like the post about the Motion Picture industry...
"All those pirate copies of Windows XP must be killing Microsoft. Why, I've heard that the entire company is making less than a billion dollars a month."
Would you people please stop using this as a justification to not pay for something! I can't beleive what I am reading, There are 1000's of people downloading software at no cost to them, which is normally sold for a price, how can that not hurt a company?
So, based on all this crap people are trying to unload with regards to copyright and justifications based on prices or features, blah, blah. Let's just take the example of a Newspaper, there is copyrighted information in that and for the most part, this stuff is available online, so instead of reading the Times online, step into your local news stand, grab a copy and walk out, do you think that you will be stopped?
When you are approached just explain to that you only intend to read a few articles and the rest is just unnecessary fluff, explain to them that you could just as easily go online and read the paper, then explain to them that $1.50 is just a complete rip-off and they shold not be able to charge such a ridiculous price for a news paper. Actually, just let them know that you are evalutaing the paper and if you like it, you are going to subscribe. Lastly, have you seen the balance sheet on this company? they are making billions! How can they get away with this?
I bet they will simply hear this and completely understand, shouldn't be a problem.,,, what-ever.
"buy legislation outlawing general purpose tools that might be used to infringe."
I couldn't agree with you more, our court systems/decisions are more-than-likely influenced by powerful people with money. This is not a problem with the powerful people so much as it is a problem with the people making the ultimate decisions, if these people are elected, can they be removed? If you go after Microsoft and take them down, there will just be another company on top, if you uproot the actual cause of the problem, the problem goes away...
ok, so this is a Supply,Demand thing eh?
This is yet another form of justification in ones mind that it is Ok to steal.
This does not have anything to do with supply and demand, it has to do with the ease of stealing.
If our banks removed their security systems and kept their doors, windows and vaults wide open, I think that we would have far more bank robberies. After all, why should one guy have more money than the next, I am a hard worker, I am entitled right?
Wrong, the way that you affect this little curve is to simply choose not to pay and avoid the movie, song, book, software completely.
"The mere fact that Hollywood is thriving illustrates the point that there is SOMETHING wrong"
What they hell is that? This is completely crazy, (Assuming you are from the US) is this not a for profit industry?? it sounds like they are doing something right!
Since when did we start questioning sucessful companies/Industries? The whole point of the article smashes this theory, if the Motion Picture Industry is having record sales, it is obvious that people are willing to pay the price, hell if anything, they could just as well raise the prices and they may increase their profits...
"I really wish Hollywood would just listen to why people would jump through so many hoops to download a movie"
c'mon, I could have my Grandma downloading a movie in about 10 minutes or less, it is pathetically easy, this is the reason it is so rampant.
"but you cannot equate downloading a movie off of the internet with theft"
Come on now, please... How is this not a form of theft, first of all, if you receive this file from the Internet, it more than likely was "shot" in the theatre and now you are watching it at home otherwise your only other option is to Pay to see the movie, since you have now denied the theatre the money, you have taken something from them.
Ok, lets use your analogies:
1. Discount Cinemas - you Pay to see the movie, when you download the movie, you do not pay
2. Borrow books from Library - The book has been purchased specifically for this use, the book has been purchased with the intent to "lend".
4. Taping songs off the radio - you kind of got me there, however, Advertisers pay money to place Ads on stations that direct to their Market, Artists release certain hit tracks to be mainstreamed in hopes that it will spark album sales. In the artists minds, they are advertising, Radio is not really free, you are being paying the price of being bombarded with Ads. This is not the same as downloading the entire album off of some P2P.
5.Drinking at home rather than at a bar or restaurant....what?? one has completely nothing to do with the other. ignored. The price you pay is for atmosphere, unless you are taking the knick-knacks off the wall of you r local Fridays, there is nothing illegal going on here.
The moment you take money from someones pocket you are stealing from them, the moment you go outside of the designed medium and circumvent the process of payment, you are stealing.
Any gray area in there is a figment of your imagination and a means of somehow justifying in ones own mind that it is ok to steal.
Are you Kidding me?
There is absolutely No justification for stealing, regardless of the quality of the product. I am certainly not siding with the MPAA or any of their affiliates, the movie industry is just a big fat cash machine. Who didn't know that?
Is the problem with the MPAA? I don't know about that, if we(consumers) were simply not willing to pay $9 a ticket to see a movie, they would have to lower prices, however, they keep charging and we keep coming.simple econmics, and don't come back with that crap that volume(more people will come if you lower prices) speaks louder, becasue that is clearly not always the case and may not be as profitable.
What you need to do is take a look at the entire system, everyone gets a piece of the action and they demand very large pieces. Actors and Actresses command huge paychecks, agents, publicists, movie crews, designers, the list goes on..they all have to maintain that hollywood lifestyle.
There is a positive light though, if a movie costs $50 Million, you pay a mere $10 dollars to see it, that really is amazing to think that someone shelled out that kind of cash just to entertain you/us.
Either way, there is no justification for theft, furthermore, while I did not even remotely consider seeing Gigli, I am sure that there are movies out there that you would deem garbage,and I may enjoy so, lets not change the whole process just to fit your tastes? What the hell is that, I might not care for Harry Potter, I wouldn't drop a dime to see Michael Moore propoganda and dodgeball is just another cookie cutter money maker for Ben Stiller, would you put this on your "Blockbuster" List?
Watch the movies, or don't, but please stop crying about it, rent a classic, read a book, take a walk, there are other options... Hollywood will roll with the punches and continue to make huge money.
What a load!
I have spent some time in retail, and I can easily say that there are "special" customers. The reality is very simple, without customers (demons and not), there would be NO Best Buy.
It is all too often I get into the conversation of "Where has the customer service ethic gone?" Well, it certainly was thrown out of the handbook at Best Buy (and many other establishements). These Stepford type sales people are absolutely the WORST, they will do/say anything to make a sale, it is no wonder they have "Demon Customers"
One major problem is the completely convoluted marketing practices. It is no wonder you have "gun shy" customers, because they (many retailers) are always working some angle on you. Everyone wants you to be a part of their "club", or sell you some Extended Warranty plan thats got so many gaps for them to wiggle out its like swiss cheese.
"No, I don't want a $10 extended warranty on my $2.99 ethernet cable, I'll take the risk"
Sales Person: "You do realize that if you are a member of our buyers club, you would receive an additional $2.00 off the price of this $5000 LCD, just fill out this form...by the way, have I talked to you about that warranty?"
Customer: "No thank you. I bought the warranty, remember?"
Sales Person: "Well now that you decided to take the warranty, how about the super duper deluxe warranty for just $100 dollars more?
Customer: "What is that?
Sales Person: "Thats the In-Store warranty that we actually honor, the other one is for tech support only, in India."
Customer: "I'll just take the standard warranty, thank you."
Sales Person: "Would you like to buy a $100 pre-paid calling card? It's a great rate! You can put it with your warranty information in the event you need to call tech support, it's in India you know"
Customer: "uhhh...Sure, thanks for the tip"
Sales Person: "I see you got the standard $29.99 installation kit, so you'll be needing a power cord since it doesn't come with one, but I'll cut you a discount on that. Should I put that on the warranty too, it's only an extra $5.00?
Customer: "uhh...sure"
Sales Person: "Do you have an Internet connection now, or do you need an installation CD?"
Customer: "I have DSL, why?"
Sales Person: "Great! you'll be able to download the new version of AOL dial-up service quick! It's a great service, and think about it, you'll be getting it FREE for 1 year and then it will only cost you $14.99 per month for the next 3 years and it's saving you $100 on this great TV!"
Customer: "Oh..Yeah, thats right.... Hey, this thing does do HD, right? How come it doesn't say so here on the box?"
Sales Person: "Oh, yeah baby, this thing has everything and if you have any problems, just give me a call, and I will help you out myself.
Customer: "Great, thanks again".
Later that day...
Customer(On the phone with Mgr):"Listen, could you help me out for a second, I am trying to find the HD connections on th---"
Mgr: "Sir,like our sales person informed you and our AD says, the sale model is not HD , I don't have time for this, but luckily you bought the warranty, just give our tech support a call!"
CLICK!
Manager: "Damn Demon Customers!"