I came to Slashdot just now to see if anything was going on as we have had problems for the last few hours, websites such as channel4 and BBC keep becoming temporarily unavailable and some sites seem slow. Now I'm sure I'm not paranoid, maybe.
I'm telling you... I have seen santa clause! Really! I have a perfect memory from when I was a child of looking out the window in the back upstairs bedroom in my Gran's house, pushing the net curtains back I saw Santa fly through the sky (including reindeer!).
Of course I'm now 24 and I know there isn't a Santa (sorry to any children who may have accidentally just read that) but that is a very clear memory of mine... It's amazing that your mind can tell you that something is real - because you have seen it - even though it's impossible and insane.
Or working in a convenience store... or drinking in a bar. You'd be amazed how easy it is to get covered in blood of people you don't even know in every day situations. The medical profession is probably the least likely because they are aware of the risks, take precautions and probably have gloves on more often than the general public do when a drunk guy covered in blood assaults you at your place of work.
I'm looking to buy my boyfriend a Wii for Christmas, I'm in the UK and I've been trying to get one for a month. The Wii on it's own normally costs £179, all the stores that have got them in have bundled them with games and accessories, and the cheapest one you can get at the moment is about £400 here. He certainly isn't getting one for Christmas, so I've had to tell him my plan to get him one and that he's going to have to wait until they have come down in price after Christmas. He is 23 so he understands by now that it's not a big deal that he doesn't get it for Christmas, but so many people have said they will not pay the double price just to get it in time for Christmas, so there will be a few disappointed kids out there, or some poorer parents. Do you tell your kid they have to wait for their present or buy an alternative console to give them there big present to open on Christmas day?. At least someone is making money out of the shortage.
Chairs! You're given chairs!? In my office I have a two-step step ladder to sit on:( The mouse is placed at eye level, the keyboard comes out on a sliding shelf that doesn't slide all the way out and my desk is a piece of what I assume used to be part of a kitchen surface and attached to the wall with some hinges and chains with a piece of wood propping it up just in case. (we're a little stuck for space and the office is smaller than most toilet cubicles) Be grateful for your $100 chair!
I don't know about anywhere else, but in the UK it takes a lot to get a mobile phone. Living in temporary student accomodation far away from home, when I needed a new phone it was a lot of hassle. I had been on pay as you go with this company for six years and wanted to go onto contract (I'm not sure if the following checks are needed to get a new pay as you go these days). They asked for photo ID which i didn't have because I just don't have any. They needed two bills to prove my home address, which required my Mum sending up two bills for her address. That took a couple of days, I went in with the information they asked for, then they told me they had to be within the last 3 months. I went to a different store when I got the newer bills as the staff were rude in the first one and I didn't want them getting the commision:) Then at the next store they doubted the address as it was so far away. But I explained and they were ok with that, then because I wanted the student plan I had to wait for ages for them to check my National Union of Students card as I didn't have any other photo identification on me to prove that that was me, plus the name on the bills was that of my mothers. I did eventually get my phone, but it was way too much hassle.
End of story, I wanted to buy a 12 month contract from them and they just wouldn't sell it to me without a series of checks, so how on earth would it be possible to stroll up to a vending machine and buy one? How long would the process take if they need x y z information and how would they verify it?
But what does monitoring mean? At what point does it become stalking? I don't know the law about stalking, but can tracking someone online, by regularly reading their blog/information about them mean that I'm stalking them?
Exactly. It's just a marketing strategy. It's exactly the same as putting on sale some little pin badge for £1, and stating that 70p of it goes to charity.
Ok so you haven't got the option to buy the pin for 30p, but even if 70p of it didn't go to charity, it would still probably sell for £1 and the profit would go to the people who produced it.
If you don't want to pay $300 then don't, then you're not forced into charity. If you want the product then accept that the money goes somewhere good, they aren't just over charging for the fun of it.
I completely agree, I have only been to the doctor a couple of times in the last decade, and that was for birth control pills and when I had a really bad throat. I went to the hospital a couple of times for twisted ankles just to get them checked out. We really do have the mentality that you only bother a doctor if it's really serious.
I wrote this in another post, but refers to what you're talking about:
People in the UK don't necessarily go to the doctors that often, even if they are ill. I think we still have the culture of dealing with it, or as one poster already mentioned about our drinking culture, my Gran would have told you to have a brandy and you'll be fine. This also goes for stress/depression, it's not something you would go to a doctor for, at least not until recently.
Ok I agree that access to healthcare is a lot better in the UK, despite our waiting lists for serious problems. If I had the flu I could get a doctors appointment and medication by the end of today for £6.30. If I have something slightly more serious like an ankle injury, there's no problem to pop down to the hospital (taxi/bus maximum £4), maybe wait a couple of hours (longest I've ever had to wait to be seen when I twisted my ankle was 4 hours) to be seen and get treatment. NHS direct is also a good service, if you think there might be something wrong with you, you can call a number and get information within a few minutes.
However, I think one point is that people in the UK don't necessarily go to the doctors that often, even if they are ill. I think we still have the culture of dealing with it, or as one poster already mentioned about our drinking culture, my Gran would have told you to have a brandy and you'll be fine. This also goes for stress/depression, it's not something you would go to a doctor for, at least not until recently.
I live in the UK, I work bank holidays, I work Christmas day when I can, I take few days off (probably about 1 week of the 4 weeks we're entitled to). I get good rates of pay for these special days, I get favoured by my bosses and I enjoy working those days. If we don't take off those days that we are entitled to, we get holiday pay in our wages at the end of the year.
Where I live it is difficult to find a job which gives a decent amount of hours, which is why I currently have 3 jobs. Most of my friends (ex-students in Wolverhampton) will not take holiday from work. The fact that their health is in danger is usually not even a factor, even for me, I need the money and I wouldn't really know what to do with myself if I took a holiday. In some countries there are maximum working hours, a couple of years back I was doing a 73 hour week every week for 3 months in a factory doing manual labour. In the UK there is no law against working those kind of hours (although I think maybe there is now, but I still work 50+ hour weeks with no one stopping me). Personally, I think it is my choice to work as much as I want, it's the same as drinking and smoking, I'm addicted to work, I love working and I need the money to live on. Ok my health will probably suffer, but that's a risk I'm willing to take and it's my choice to take it.
Although you might be entitled to those holidays in the UK, it doesn't necessarily mean that they are taken, people usually just take the money instead.
Has someone got any information on actual holiday taken instead of holiday that is entitled to? Does the American system work the same way where you can just take the money?
"In our tests, we found downloads on this site that some people consider adware, spyware, or other unwanted programs."
From the "View site report" link below the screenshot after you've taken the quiz. Ok, so who are "some people" and how much are they getting paid to go which way?
But... you might get hundreds of designers sending in their submissions... they are all working for the *potential* of earning something valued at $4500. They will not all get $4500, which is why the incentive to do the work must be higher, because the chances of winning are so slim. It's like when more people play the lottery when the prize is higher. It's not about paying the exact cost of what the work is "worth". It's about getting lots of people to put in some effort so they have a decent set of submissions to pick from.
As for the worth of it on your CV, that really depends what your line of work is. Maybe you design as a hobby, want to keep it as a hobby, but you enjoy your job as a lap dancer, then it really makes no difference if this is on your CV.
In all fairness, a $4500 laptop isn't much of an incentive. Most people will think it isn't worth it and not bother to enter, especilly when their chances are so very low. A package of incentives, such as the ones mentioned like a 3 digit ID. You could add a free lifetime subscription, a gadget or two, hell even some sort of nifty slashdot crown.
Also, maybe it would be a good idea to let people vote on the entries, even without the decision based on this, keep the results closed, just see for yourselves which design is most popular.
Personally I think the look and feel of the site is pretty much ok (maybe I'm the only one), what's really needed is fun/interesting new features and a re-think of a few of the current features, or even a place to discuss it without it getting modded off-topic.
Slashdot Mirror
I came to Slashdot just now to see if anything was going on as we have had problems for the last few hours, websites such as channel4 and BBC keep becoming temporarily unavailable and some sites seem slow. Now I'm sure I'm not paranoid, maybe.
More money in your pocket = less money in profits in gas/electric companies' pockets.
Same here in Wolves! I should really go to sleep now. But it was all too exciting!
I'm telling you... I have seen santa clause! Really! I have a perfect memory from when I was a child of looking out the window in the back upstairs bedroom in my Gran's house, pushing the net curtains back I saw Santa fly through the sky (including reindeer!).
Of course I'm now 24 and I know there isn't a Santa (sorry to any children who may have accidentally just read that) but that is a very clear memory of mine... It's amazing that your mind can tell you that something is real - because you have seen it - even though it's impossible and insane.
Or working in a convenience store... or drinking in a bar. You'd be amazed how easy it is to get covered in blood of people you don't even know in every day situations. The medical profession is probably the least likely because they are aware of the risks, take precautions and probably have gloves on more often than the general public do when a drunk guy covered in blood assaults you at your place of work.
I'm looking to buy my boyfriend a Wii for Christmas, I'm in the UK and I've been trying to get one for a month. The Wii on it's own normally costs £179, all the stores that have got them in have bundled them with games and accessories, and the cheapest one you can get at the moment is about £400 here. He certainly isn't getting one for Christmas, so I've had to tell him my plan to get him one and that he's going to have to wait until they have come down in price after Christmas. He is 23 so he understands by now that it's not a big deal that he doesn't get it for Christmas, but so many people have said they will not pay the double price just to get it in time for Christmas, so there will be a few disappointed kids out there, or some poorer parents. Do you tell your kid they have to wait for their present or buy an alternative console to give them there big present to open on Christmas day?. At least someone is making money out of the shortage.
Chairs! You're given chairs!? In my office I have a two-step step ladder to sit on :( The mouse is placed at eye level, the keyboard comes out on a sliding shelf that doesn't slide all the way out and my desk is a piece of what I assume used to be part of a kitchen surface and attached to the wall with some hinges and chains with a piece of wood propping it up just in case. (we're a little stuck for space and the office is smaller than most toilet cubicles) Be grateful for your $100 chair!
Doroteya?
I don't know about anywhere else, but in the UK it takes a lot to get a mobile phone. Living in temporary student accomodation far away from home, when I needed a new phone it was a lot of hassle. I had been on pay as you go with this company for six years and wanted to go onto contract (I'm not sure if the following checks are needed to get a new pay as you go these days). They asked for photo ID which i didn't have because I just don't have any. They needed two bills to prove my home address, which required my Mum sending up two bills for her address. That took a couple of days, I went in with the information they asked for, then they told me they had to be within the last 3 months. I went to a different store when I got the newer bills as the staff were rude in the first one and I didn't want them getting the commision :) Then at the next store they doubted the address as it was so far away. But I explained and they were ok with that, then because I wanted the student plan I had to wait for ages for them to check my National Union of Students card as I didn't have any other photo identification on me to prove that that was me, plus the name on the bills was that of my mothers. I did eventually get my phone, but it was way too much hassle.
End of story, I wanted to buy a 12 month contract from them and they just wouldn't sell it to me without a series of checks, so how on earth would it be possible to stroll up to a vending machine and buy one? How long would the process take if they need x y z information and how would they verify it?
But what does monitoring mean? At what point does it become stalking? I don't know the law about stalking, but can tracking someone online, by regularly reading their blog/information about them mean that I'm stalking them?
eh? I was making comment bout Wesley, Star Trek, cus he can help, if it went like it did in the TNG ep, how did I offend someone!? *confused*
That's ok, we're safe, we can get Wesley to help us.
Exactly. It's just a marketing strategy. It's exactly the same as putting on sale some little pin badge for £1, and stating that 70p of it goes to charity.
Ok so you haven't got the option to buy the pin for 30p, but even if 70p of it didn't go to charity, it would still probably sell for £1 and the profit would go to the people who produced it.
If you don't want to pay $300 then don't, then you're not forced into charity. If you want the product then accept that the money goes somewhere good, they aren't just over charging for the fun of it.
No, no, check the catalogue. Hope is in there. It's item number 47.
Now there's a true Trekkie, making reference to the number 47 in their post.
"Innocent until proven guilty" remember?
Nope.
But you could strangle people with 0's.
Don't tempt me babe
I completely agree, I have only been to the doctor a couple of times in the last decade, and that was for birth control pills and when I had a really bad throat. I went to the hospital a couple of times for twisted ankles just to get them checked out. We really do have the mentality that you only bother a doctor if it's really serious.
I wrote this in another post, but refers to what you're talking about:
People in the UK don't necessarily go to the doctors that often, even if they are ill. I think we still have the culture of dealing with it, or as one poster already mentioned about our drinking culture, my Gran would have told you to have a brandy and you'll be fine. This also goes for stress/depression, it's not something you would go to a doctor for, at least not until recently.
Ok I agree that access to healthcare is a lot better in the UK, despite our waiting lists for serious problems. If I had the flu I could get a doctors appointment and medication by the end of today for £6.30. If I have something slightly more serious like an ankle injury, there's no problem to pop down to the hospital (taxi/bus maximum £4), maybe wait a couple of hours (longest I've ever had to wait to be seen when I twisted my ankle was 4 hours) to be seen and get treatment. NHS direct is also a good service, if you think there might be something wrong with you, you can call a number and get information within a few minutes.
However, I think one point is that people in the UK don't necessarily go to the doctors that often, even if they are ill. I think we still have the culture of dealing with it, or as one poster already mentioned about our drinking culture, my Gran would have told you to have a brandy and you'll be fine. This also goes for stress/depression, it's not something you would go to a doctor for, at least not until recently.
I live in the UK, I work bank holidays, I work Christmas day when I can, I take few days off (probably about 1 week of the 4 weeks we're entitled to). I get good rates of pay for these special days, I get favoured by my bosses and I enjoy working those days. If we don't take off those days that we are entitled to, we get holiday pay in our wages at the end of the year.
Where I live it is difficult to find a job which gives a decent amount of hours, which is why I currently have 3 jobs. Most of my friends (ex-students in Wolverhampton) will not take holiday from work. The fact that their health is in danger is usually not even a factor, even for me, I need the money and I wouldn't really know what to do with myself if I took a holiday. In some countries there are maximum working hours, a couple of years back I was doing a 73 hour week every week for 3 months in a factory doing manual labour. In the UK there is no law against working those kind of hours (although I think maybe there is now, but I still work 50+ hour weeks with no one stopping me). Personally, I think it is my choice to work as much as I want, it's the same as drinking and smoking, I'm addicted to work, I love working and I need the money to live on. Ok my health will probably suffer, but that's a risk I'm willing to take and it's my choice to take it.
Although you might be entitled to those holidays in the UK, it doesn't necessarily mean that they are taken, people usually just take the money instead.
Has someone got any information on actual holiday taken instead of holiday that is entitled to? Does the American system work the same way where you can just take the money?
"In our tests, we found downloads on this site that some people consider adware, spyware, or other unwanted programs."
From the "View site report" link below the screenshot after you've taken the quiz. Ok, so who are "some people" and how much are they getting paid to go which way?
But... you might get hundreds of designers sending in their submissions... they are all working for the *potential* of earning something valued at $4500. They will not all get $4500, which is why the incentive to do the work must be higher, because the chances of winning are so slim. It's like when more people play the lottery when the prize is higher. It's not about paying the exact cost of what the work is "worth". It's about getting lots of people to put in some effort so they have a decent set of submissions to pick from.
As for the worth of it on your CV, that really depends what your line of work is. Maybe you design as a hobby, want to keep it as a hobby, but you enjoy your job as a lap dancer, then it really makes no difference if this is on your CV.
In all fairness, a $4500 laptop isn't much of an incentive. Most people will think it isn't worth it and not bother to enter, especilly when their chances are so very low. A package of incentives, such as the ones mentioned like a 3 digit ID. You could add a free lifetime subscription, a gadget or two, hell even some sort of nifty slashdot crown.
Also, maybe it would be a good idea to let people vote on the entries, even without the decision based on this, keep the results closed, just see for yourselves which design is most popular.
Personally I think the look and feel of the site is pretty much ok (maybe I'm the only one), what's really needed is fun/interesting new features and a re-think of a few of the current features, or even a place to discuss it without it getting modded off-topic.
I love purple, believe me, I love it. But the games section colours are just a little too painful. How bout a nice purple?
No! I like purple.