When I used to do hardware repairs, I used to get at least one computer a month where I had to dismantle the floppy drive to remove foreign objects, usually coins that children had put in the 'piggy bank'. Just like toast in the VCR slot.
Alternately, I had a client trim their 5.25" discs with scissors so they'd fit in their new 3.5" drive, then complained the drive was faulty.
I also had a client who would back up religiously to 5.25" discs, then put a label on the discs and put the discs in her typewriter to type the label... and was upset when her backups failed.
At which point I'll wonder: "Who was this person, who recommended that everybody hide their identity, in order to fool employers? Is this somebody that I really want to hire?"
Can you honestly say that in your youth (or later) you never said or did anything that you now regret. How would you feel years later to realise that it was a matter of public record for anyone to see.
Re:That was actually surprisingly good article
on
The Cost of the iPod
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· Score: 1
Point and counterpoint
I work for Fuji Xerox. I have a Fuji camera which I bought through work (I use is both personally an for work). On my Mac at home I didn't need to install any software at all. The bundled installer work fine on the XP laptop I use for work.
I would suggest that based on the reviews I saw when choosing which camera to buy, that your 'out of box' experience was atypical. If it was the norm the reviews would have screamed not to buy the cameras as you couldn't install the software to get the images off the camera.
I know numerous people who have either been reprimanded at work or in fact dismissed over things they had posted in what they felt was a personal forum (blogs, generally LJ) about people they work with. Over the course of sevral years there was enough bits of information to identify who they were and who they were referring to in specific.
I know personally I posted hundreds, if not thousands, of times to usenet over the years with varying degrees of pseudonimity. Most posts were from a position of naiveity as to what impact it might possibly have at a later date. I am certain man teens are posting to public forums things they will wish in years to come they had never put in writing. Unfortunately for them, once it's out there it can never be considered gone.
I expect that it will take a generation or two before people learn how this new medium 'works' in a social context. In year to come, having multiple psuedonyms will be the norm - one for friends, one for interest groups broader than people you know in RL, one for family, one for work. Until then, people will continue to be surprised when something they said in what they mistakenly though was a private forum will come back to haunt them.
I work as a consultant and frequently visit client sites where the use of photographic equipment is restricted/banned. Why can't I buy a decent phone handset which doesn't have a camera?
Having purposely avoided phone cameras for the last two handset upgrades, I needed bluetooth this time around and could not find a handset that had bluetooth but no camera.
Surely there is a market for professional phones that don't get confiscated when entering sercure facilties.
I would assume that most of the 'farming' accounts send mats and cash to a central clearing house that then does all the AH brokering - a bit like how I have a mule character which does most of the AH traffic for each of my groups of toons for each server I play on. The mule has the cash and assets of greatest value across all characters, not including the Soulbound raiding kit of my main toon. The average across all accounts might be 1,000gm but that might not be the distribution pattern - doesn't mean the accounts aren't linked.
1. Full screen games are exactly the reason why you still need a clock next to your computer.
2. While RSI may be dodgy science at times, the effects are real. Damn you Tetris.
3. Blue Elf needs food. Badly.
4. American's don't know when they have it good regarding network ping times.
5. Collectible Card Games aren't really as addictive as crack, but pre-painted minis are.
6. Beware of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup. (How did that ancient gold dragon get into that 10'x10' room anyway?)
7. Despite the laws of probability, some dice really are lucky or unlucky.
8. There really is such a thing as too many expansion packs, especially if you are trying to finish a game of Talisman before going back to work on Monday morning.
9. The best strategy games come out of Germany.
10. There is a strong correlation between geeks and gaming.
I have a similar problem, and seem to have narrowed it down to the Lauryl Sulphate used as a foaming agent in most commercial soaps, conditioners, shapoos, detergents, etc...
Oddly enough, about the same time that the skin irritations lared up, I developed an intolerance to most red wines, it wasn't until someone pointed out that sulphur is used as a preservative in most red wines that I made the connection.
I also find that I have less problems wearing natural fibres rather than synthetics - especially in humid weather.
When doing the sceptor quest to open the AQ gates, my guild did a full BWL clear, including one wipe on Nef, in under 3 hours.
15 hours per week is not a realistic figure here. Even when we were starting out we didn't spend that long in this dungeon each week. Though we did spend several months wiping to Razergore before starting to make progress in here.
They should get the guys from Myndflame to do it. Everytime I here the MC Raiders theme song I feel the urge to sing along while banging my head on the desk... (We got a thunderstrike drop last time we ran MC - free nexus crystals ftw)
Most of the graduates I see coming through our company these days onlyknow who to write powerpoint slide bullet points. I'd like them to understand sentance structure, how to plan a report with real paragraphs; an introduction, body and conclusion, spelling and grammar.
Start by handing out copies of Strunk and White, then make them read it. You could also ask them to proof-read and mark up each other's work. Potentially an even better exercise would to have them present based on someone else's written material with no verbal briefing. The main point to written work is to effectively communicate an idea. If they can't pass on a concept in writing, they are not communicating.
Where I work now does Behavioural Interviews for all new hires, or for internal promotions. The logic goes: we can teach the the technical skills, but unless you are capable of the right behaviours, this isn't going to work out. We work in a team environment, the way people interact with each other and our customers is crucial.
some of my favourite - it really happened to me - IT customer service stories.
I spent a year or so working in a retail computer outlet in a large discout chain (I blame Apple for this, it was during their flirtation with selling Apples through non-reseller chains). It was during the same period that IBM compatibles changed from 5.25" to 3.5" floppy drives. I had a customer come in and buy a new 3.5" drive one afternoon. The following day they came back with the drive asking for a replacement, as it was clearly faulty. They complained that they had installed in into thier computer and tried to use their exisiting disks in it and none had worked. After further enquiy, it turned out that they had found their 5.25" disks had not fitted in the drive, so they had cut them down with a pair of scissors to make them fit, having done so, they found the new drive incapable to read them.
Same place, different customer. Came in wanting a warranty replacement on their new keyboard, it was giving erratic multi-keystroke responses. The keyboard was bent with a tire track across it.
Same place, yet another customer. Sold them a new PC with a fax modem as one of the items on the component list. The following weekend they came back into the store to find me. They had a question, could I perhaps show them on the floor demonstration unit where to load the fax paper.
Same place (I hated the place with a vengence), different customer. Came in with their brand new Apple Powerbook demanading a warranty replacement. It was a PB 180 (I think) with the grey rectangular power brick adaptor. The computer had shorted out and they demended that Apple replace it. The AC adaptor no longer had the block transformer on the end of the cable, instread it had a standard 3 pin plug on the end. When asked why this was the case, they said that the block had not fitted to the powerpoint on thier skirting board, so they had cut it off (the transformer) and installed the new plug on the end of the cable. They could now understand why I refused to process the claim as a warranty issue.
Different place, different customer. Was asked to do an insurance assessment on repairing a computer which had been sprayed with a chemical fire extinguisher some weeks earlier, it had not been cleaned in the interim...
I've got dozens more, but they're my favourites. So glad I don't do retail any more.
Anyone who spent any time trying to debug extension conflicts did not shed a tear for OS 9.
Depends on whether you were being paid an hourly rate to do so.. In all seriousness, unless the fault was intermittant, basic diagnostic techniques and testing routings would fairly easily identify extension conflicts. It just required being methodical.
This is just another example of a politican which no technical understanding making declarations on policy because they think it would be popular when they have absolutely no comprehension of the technical requirements to enforce such a policy.
Real architects design buildings for clients, not as an exercise in ego-gratification. If anyone's ego gets gratified, its the person with the checkbook. Also, they're usually aware that actual people have to live and work in their designs. A friend of mine who is an architect likes to boast that no matter how far out his ideas are, you can always find the bathroom easily.
Tell that to Harry Seidler.
As someone who went to Architecture school, I can tell you that isn't always the way it is taught. Egos are cultivated and rewarded far more than practicality.
Slashdot Mirror
Our service receptionist had a customer trown a laser printer at her once, fortunately they missed.
We declined the opportunity to repair the device for them.
When I used to do hardware repairs, I used to get at least one computer a month where I had to dismantle the floppy drive to remove foreign objects, usually coins that children had put in the 'piggy bank'. Just like toast in the VCR slot.
Alternately, I had a client trim their 5.25" discs with scissors so they'd fit in their new 3.5" drive, then complained the drive was faulty.
I also had a client who would back up religiously to 5.25" discs, then put a label on the discs and put the discs in her typewriter to type the label... and was upset when her backups failed.
At which point I'll wonder: "Who was this person, who recommended that everybody hide their identity, in order to fool employers? Is this somebody that I really want to hire?"
Can you honestly say that in your youth (or later) you never said or did anything that you now regret. How would you feel years later to realise that it was a matter of public record for anyone to see.
Point and counterpoint
I work for Fuji Xerox. I have a Fuji camera which I bought through work (I use is both personally an for work). On my Mac at home I didn't need to install any software at all. The bundled installer work fine on the XP laptop I use for work.
I would suggest that based on the reviews I saw when choosing which camera to buy, that your 'out of box' experience was atypical. If it was the norm the reviews would have screamed not to buy the cameras as you couldn't install the software to get the images off the camera.
I know numerous people who have either been reprimanded at work or in fact dismissed over things they had posted in what they felt was a personal forum (blogs, generally LJ) about people they work with. Over the course of sevral years there was enough bits of information to identify who they were and who they were referring to in specific.
I know personally I posted hundreds, if not thousands, of times to usenet over the years with varying degrees of pseudonimity. Most posts were from a position of naiveity as to what impact it might possibly have at a later date. I am certain man teens are posting to public forums things they will wish in years to come they had never put in writing. Unfortunately for them, once it's out there it can never be considered gone.
I expect that it will take a generation or two before people learn how this new medium 'works' in a social context. In year to come, having multiple psuedonyms will be the norm - one for friends, one for interest groups broader than people you know in RL, one for family, one for work. Until then, people will continue to be surprised when something they said in what they mistakenly though was a private forum will come back to haunt them.
You forgot Rabbits, Foxes and Boneseed...
Everybody knows the best way to kill a CaneToad is to drive over it to hear it POP...
No Australian natives were harmed in the making of this comment
I work as a consultant and frequently visit client sites where the use of photographic equipment is restricted/banned. Why can't I buy a decent phone handset which doesn't have a camera?
Having purposely avoided phone cameras for the last two handset upgrades, I needed bluetooth this time around and could not find a handset that had bluetooth but no camera.
Surely there is a market for professional phones that don't get confiscated when entering sercure facilties.
I would assume that most of the 'farming' accounts send mats and cash to a central clearing house that then does all the AH brokering - a bit like how I have a mule character which does most of the AH traffic for each of my groups of toons for each server I play on. The mule has the cash and assets of greatest value across all characters, not including the Soulbound raiding kit of my main toon. The average across all accounts might be 1,000gm but that might not be the distribution pattern - doesn't mean the accounts aren't linked .
1. Full screen games are exactly the reason why you still need a clock next to your computer.
2. While RSI may be dodgy science at times, the effects are real. Damn you Tetris.
3. Blue Elf needs food. Badly.
4. American's don't know when they have it good regarding network ping times.
5. Collectible Card Games aren't really as addictive as crack, but pre-painted minis are.
6. Beware of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup. (How did that ancient gold dragon get into that 10'x10' room anyway?)
7. Despite the laws of probability, some dice really are lucky or unlucky.
8. There really is such a thing as too many expansion packs, especially if you are trying to finish a game of Talisman before going back to work on Monday morning.
9. The best strategy games come out of Germany.
10. There is a strong correlation between geeks and gaming.
So...are Hardcore gamers people who still have RSI from too much Tetris in greyscale on a MacSE?...
I have a similar problem, and seem to have narrowed it down to the Lauryl Sulphate used as a foaming agent in most commercial soaps, conditioners, shapoos, detergents, etc...
Oddly enough, about the same time that the skin irritations lared up, I developed an intolerance to most red wines, it wasn't until someone pointed out that sulphur is used as a preservative in most red wines that I made the connection.
I also find that I have less problems wearing natural fibres rather than synthetics - especially in humid weather.
The only stereotype in the game of Horde vs Alliance is that more mature people play Horde.
How do you explain Barens chat?
When doing the sceptor quest to open the AQ gates, my guild did a full BWL clear, including one wipe on Nef, in under 3 hours.
15 hours per week is not a realistic figure here. Even when we were starting out we didn't spend that long in this dungeon each week. Though we did spend several months wiping to Razergore before starting to make progress in here.
They should get the guys from Myndflame to do it. Everytime I here the MC Raiders theme song I feel the urge to sing along while banging my head on the desk... (We got a thunderstrike drop last time we ran MC - free nexus crystals ftw)
I like to moonfire bunnies and other level 1 critters. It's even funnier when they resist.
Who else hoped they could keep the orphan as a pet this year...
Most of the graduates I see coming through our company these days onlyknow who to write powerpoint slide bullet points. I'd like them to understand sentance structure, how to plan a report with real paragraphs; an introduction, body and conclusion, spelling and grammar.
Start by handing out copies of Strunk and White, then make them read it. You could also ask them to proof-read and mark up each other's work. Potentially an even better exercise would to have them present based on someone else's written material with no verbal briefing. The main point to written work is to effectively communicate an idea. If they can't pass on a concept in writing, they are not communicating.
Where I work now does Behavioural Interviews for all new hires, or for internal promotions. The logic goes: we can teach the the technical skills, but unless you are capable of the right behaviours, this isn't going to work out. We work in a team environment, the way people interact with each other and our customers is crucial.
some of my favourite - it really happened to me - IT customer service stories.
I spent a year or so working in a retail computer outlet in a large discout chain (I blame Apple for this, it was during their flirtation with selling Apples through non-reseller chains). It was during the same period that IBM compatibles changed from 5.25" to 3.5" floppy drives. I had a customer come in and buy a new 3.5" drive one afternoon. The following day they came back with the drive asking for a replacement, as it was clearly faulty. They complained that they had installed in into thier computer and tried to use their exisiting disks in it and none had worked. After further enquiy, it turned out that they had found their 5.25" disks had not fitted in the drive, so they had cut them down with a pair of scissors to make them fit, having done so, they found the new drive incapable to read them.
Same place, different customer. Came in wanting a warranty replacement on their new keyboard, it was giving erratic multi-keystroke responses. The keyboard was bent with a tire track across it.
Same place, yet another customer. Sold them a new PC with a fax modem as one of the items on the component list. The following weekend they came back into the store to find me. They had a question, could I perhaps show them on the floor demonstration unit where to load the fax paper.
Same place (I hated the place with a vengence), different customer. Came in with their brand new Apple Powerbook demanading a warranty replacement. It was a PB 180 (I think) with the grey rectangular power brick adaptor. The computer had shorted out and they demended that Apple replace it. The AC adaptor no longer had the block transformer on the end of the cable, instread it had a standard 3 pin plug on the end. When asked why this was the case, they said that the block had not fitted to the powerpoint on thier skirting board, so they had cut it off (the transformer) and installed the new plug on the end of the cable. They could now understand why I refused to process the claim as a warranty issue.
Different place, different customer. Was asked to do an insurance assessment on repairing a computer which had been sprayed with a chemical fire extinguisher some weeks earlier, it had not been cleaned in the interim...
I've got dozens more, but they're my favourites. So glad I don't do retail any more.
As someone who does not reside in the USA and works for a global company I communicate online with people from other countries on a daily basis.
I also have numerous friends who travel and communicate via email or blogs or other web based technologies.
Anyone who spent any time trying to debug extension conflicts did not shed a tear for OS 9.
Depends on whether you were being paid an hourly rate to do so.. In all seriousness, unless the fault was intermittant, basic diagnostic techniques and testing routings would fairly easily identify extension conflicts. It just required being methodical.
This is just another example of a politican which no technical understanding making declarations on policy because they think it would be popular when they have absolutely no comprehension of the technical requirements to enforce such a policy.
Unfortunately, it's likely to be the OFLC, who have extremely conservative views on what a reasonable adult should be allowed to see.
Real architects design buildings for clients, not as an exercise in ego-gratification. If anyone's ego gets gratified, its the person with the checkbook. Also, they're usually aware that actual people have to live and work in their designs. A friend of mine who is an architect likes to boast that no matter how far out his ideas are, you can always find the bathroom easily.
Tell that to Harry Seidler.
As someone who went to Architecture school, I can tell you that isn't always the way it is taught. Egos are cultivated and rewarded far more than practicality.