Last time I bought a car, it came with a stereo already in it, yet, this wasn't an antitrust or monopoly concern.
No, but it is an antitrust or monopoly concern if the automaker puts in XM over Sirius? I don't believe the customer has a choice in the matter. If you want satellite radio, it's either XM or nothing. Standard broadcast FM is still included either way, and you could always buy an external tuner, but if you want the nice clean integrated radio, you don't have a choice.
Or what about Mercedes building an iPod dock into their newer vehicles? What if I have a Creative HD MP3 player? I can buy an iPod, or go without a neatly integrated portable music player.
I guess in any case, my choices are the same. Use the neat integrated feature, don't use it at all, or use something else. I believe the same applies with Media Player (and IE). I can use their neatly integrated player, or I can choose to use something else.
I heard a segment (I believe on NPR) about radio advertisements, and it applies to TV as well. Many radio stations are proudly announcing "shorter commercial breaks to get you back to your music faster." The person speaking on NPR stated that this trend may be doing more harm than good. The radio stations are portraying their own advertisements as a negative or bad thing - yet they need these very ads to survive! Radio stations (or advertisers) should focus on the quality of their ads. Nothing bothers me more than annoying voices or sounds. The silly commercials that are loaded with annoying people and sound effects are more likely to make me NOT buy a particular product or use a service they're offering.
I've said this before on Slashdot - I can tolerate 'ads' on NPR that are spoken in a normal voice (like "this show brought to you in part by HP" or whatever company). There are often ads during Howard Stern that are spoken by him, and these aren't annoying at all. I can even live with product placement in TV, film, and video games. These types of ads do not interfere with the experience in any way and they're very non-intrusive.
I always wondered why anyone would pay for satellite radio receivers and subscriptions, however after listening to a friend's I realized ther a ton of excellent channels with music I like that are commercial free. I'm in the market for a tuner now.
What a wonderful theft deterrent! My father always gave my mother grief about not locking her doors, and my mothers response was the same as yours - why risk getting a broken window if there's nothing valuable in your car to take.
When I was in Hawaii on my Honeymoon, our Rental Mustang Convertible was broken into. The thieves certainly knew what they were doing, and I would guess they frequently targeted stupid tourists. It was obviously a rental car - red mustang convertible with the obvious little Budget barcodes on the side windows. I know better than to leave anything valuable in a car, especially one with a paper thin vinyl roof.
I would have LOVED to see the look on the thieves' faces when all they found in my car was a BAG OF BBQ CHICKEN! They wasted their precious time breaking into my car to find a bag of cooked chicken! They didn't even take it, but I was afraid to eat it not knowing what they may have done to it.
Fortunately for me, the thieves jammed a flat screwdriver or blade into the lock mechanism and twisted it. The inside of the lock was messed up - the cylinder didn't turn too well with the key, but the lock mechanism still worked (and the car had keyless entry so there was no real need for the key). There was no obvious damage either, so no problems from Budget rent-a-car.
Re:No matter how careful you are, you aren't enoug
on
ID Theft Made Easy
·
· Score: 3, Informative
BULL$HIT
In California, when you move you must update your records with the DMV, which I did a day after I moved. Instead of wasting ink and plastic by printing a new license, they give you a little sticker to put on the back of your license that contains the updated info. The DMV knows my current updated address and any policeman or other official knows enough to flip my license over and check the back for updates.
The Marlboro chicks (and mostly anyone else who looks at your ID) don't bother to check the back.
I was at a bar with a friend a few months ago, and he had given the bartender his card to start a tab. When he closed out the tab, the bartender came back with our correct receipt, and a credit card from another person with the SAME EXACT NAME! Being an honest person, he informed the bartender of the mix up, however the bartender couldn't find his original card! We ended up getting a free full meal each from this upscale bar/restaurant, and some additional complimentary drinks.
Now, in this situation the other guy with the same name probably left first with the wrong credit card. If he was aware of this (which he probably wasn't) he could have immediately reported his card as lost, then could have gone on a shopping spree with my friend's card (which has his name on it!).
This is why you should sign the back of your card, however this still isn't perfect. Most clerks that check IDs only verify the name and not the signature. Even if they wanted to, it may still be difficult to match signatures. The credit card system is not perfect. Fortunately my CC companies are easy to work with and have resolved my two instances of unauthorized charges.
My wife bought some stupid garbage from an infomercial. Now, my mailbox is flooded with junk catalogs from all sorts of womens products. The best part is that they gave NO indication that they would sell your name and address to third parties, with no option to opt-out. I don't even know how to get my name off their mega-list.
Re:No matter how careful you are, you aren't enoug
on
ID Theft Made Easy
·
· Score: 5, Interesting
How about the gas station that writes down your license plate information when you purchase gas w/o paying at the pump.
The last few times I've used short-term parking at the LAX airport, I've been asked to pull forward so their camera can get my license plate in view, and I notice they record it in a log. Every time this happens, I question why they do it and their response is "for security." I don't understand how their recording of my license plate increases security. Nowadays, any question you ask at an airport is answered with "it's for security purposes" or "increased security."
I understand that you can write down any license plate number in a parking lot or on the road and you can easily track people that way. I just didn't like the way they told me my plate number was logged for security. One time when I asked and pressed for a better answer I was given something more realistic. I was told that people frequently try to cheat the parking garage by getting a new ticket just before they leave. (park for a week, get a new ticket 10 minutes before you exit and pay $2.00). They occasionally run audits and record license plates during the night to track who is parked in their lot. Upon exiting, if your plate is logged in the system as "parked" and you have a 10 minute old ticket, it raises a red flag.
Of course, I'm sure there are ways that an electronic log of me being parked at the airport for a week could possibly be used against me.
While out drinking with friends (drunk actually) I was approached by an attractive female working for Marlboro. She would give me cheap cigarette coupons and a free Zippo lighter if I let them give me a survey. Drunk, distracted, and clueless, I swiped my license and took the survey.
I've done the same thing before. I wanted the free Zippo to give to my brother. They were walking around with a portable device that scanned the license and accepted the signature electronically. If you read the line where you sign, it says "I CERTIFY THAT I AM A SMOKER 21 YEARS OF AGE OR OLDER". I'm not a smoker, but I signed anyway to get the freebie. I always wonder if insurance companies could get their hands on that info and use it against people. Fortunately for me, the address on my license is incorrect, so no junk mail for me.
I thought the wireless companies make enough profit by passing on their fees and surcharges directly to the customer. Imagine buying something at Target and having them charge you an electricy surcharge, security surcharge, paper surcharge (to cover the cost of the paper your receipt was printed on), etc.
Ok, maybe it's not exactly the same, but wireless companies seem pretty greedy and I read an article somewhere that said they make a hefty chunk of change by passing telecom fees directly to the consumer. Even if my bill was the same amount that I pay now, I would feel more comfortable if they didn't itemize those fees and make it seem that the government requires them to directly bill the consumer.
What did people do before there was a 911 system? For the longest time in my hometown there was no 911 system. I believe it was first implemented in 1998 or 1999. I clearly remember in elementary school emergency training we were told NOT to dial 911 during an emergency, despite the instructions in the books and pamphlets.
The solution was simple - memorize the local police/fire/ambulance phone numbers. They didn't have any location function then either. All you need to do is provide them with your location.
I actually experimented with that a bit. I started with 12oz bottles, then got my hands on a bunch of 22oz bottles. Eventually I got to a point where I was filling my own kegs (5 gallon soda kegs) and having my friends test the final product. The kegs were much easier to work with but the problem with that is it was diffuclt to make the beer last long.
After primary fermentation, I would transfer the uncarbonated beer to a 5 gallon keg, let it settle there a bit, then use CO2 to transfer it through a filter to another keg. This produced a clear beer, but there was no more yeast left for carbonation so I had to force carbonate the final product in the kegs.
For some reason I prefer the taste of bottle conditioned beers. Bottled beers (as opposed to homebrew kets) are also a lot easier for long-term storage, and you're not stuck with one or two types of beer.
Ok, way off topic but I'm replying to your comment (besides it's so late in the day how likely is someone else going to be reading these comments?)
Not necessarily. The mass marketed beer does suck - avoid anything made by Budweiser, Coors, Miller, etc. I don't understand why people drink that junk. I guess it's the same reason people at Pizza Hut and Dominos Pizza - MARKETING!
There are many microbreweries in the USA that produce some excellent brews. Stone Brewing Company http://www.stonebrew.com/ in San Marcos, CA has a wonderful beer called Arrogant Bastard Ale http://www.arrogantbastard.com/. They frown upon 'tasteless fizzy yellow beer'.
I don't think brews like Sierra Nevada and Sam Adams can be considered microbrews because they have large nationwide distribution channels, but they're still decent beers.
My favorite beers happen to be from the UK: Newcastle and just about anything by Samuel Smith (Oatmeal Stout, Pale Ale, Nut Brown Ale). I'm assuming there are many microbrews in the UK that produce even better beers than those, but I don't know of any in the USA.
I've been to stores that explicitly state the card must be signed. They even have a little sign that says "Card must be signed - 'SEE ID' is not acceptable"
I don't understand how a signature would be more valid than an ID.
Everyone complains about how cell phones may cause brain cancer or tumors. I wonder if this device would be any different? Do regular cell phones have a 30 mile range from the tower? If not, then I can see this device transmitting a lot more power than a standard digital cell phone.
I just wanted to say "actually" one more time to make it a hat trick.
Yes, Pizza Outlet was horrible. The only time I ever ate it was when an organization or corporate recruiter was giving it away for free (or if an acquaintance bought it using someone else's account).
Hahah... I actually knew the guy who did that quite well. The only reason I found out about it is when the police came to his door. I didn't know it actually made headlines.
While I was in College, it was possible to have pizza delivered from one of the local joints and charge the amount to your student account (money you put into your account each semester that can be used in the bookstore and restaurants on and off campus). You would simply call in your order, give them your account number, and when they delivered the pizza they didn't bother to check any ID.
Unfortunately the account numbers were Social Security Numbers. In one particular class, the professor distributed midterm grades on a spreadsheet and used SSNs to identify each student. Some genius decided to take adavntage of the fact that he had a list of about 200 social security numbers. For about a semester, he was making a lot of new friends by ordering a few hundred dollars worth of pizza each week!
The student got caught and had to pay back all the money he stole (over $1000 dollars), and the school revamped their ID and account number policy.
When you call a Sprint customer service representative, you are required to give them your phone number and account password over the telephone. Unfortunately, this account password is the same that is used to access your account information online.
I always question the CSR's need for my password and they tell me it's for security purposes, however every other company I deal with always has other ways of determining your identity (address, birthdate, last 4 numbers of SSN). I guess any method of verifying identity over the phone can reveal too much personal information.
The real problem I have is trusting a Customer Service Representative. When they make $10 an hour to talk with angry customers all day long, what's to stop them from using someone else's SSN, DOB, Address, or account numbers to their personal advantage?
Is it possible for the Plaintiff (the spammers in this case) to be ordered to pay the Defendant's legal bills when they (the plaintiffs) lose the case?
Google's public perception is one of integrity, and that it one big reason people like them.
I like Google because their homepage isn't littered with ads and other junk. I was initially attracted to them becasue of their simplicity - a nearly blank webpage with one single graphic and a few links to other features. I like how MSN copied their style.
In addition, many of my friends and family prefer Google over anything else because on a dial up connection, you don't need to wait 10 minutes for a whole page of graphics and banner ads to appear.
I am more likely to click on Google's text ads in the search results because they're usually not obnoxious.
This makes me think of why I like NPR over other radio stations - their 'ads' are usually spoken in a normal tone. It's one person saying "This show paid for in part by Chrysler" or whatever company, as opposed to some silly script with obnoxious voices. I can even tolerate some of the ads on the Howard Stern show - those that are read by Mr. Stern himself.
Slashdot Mirror
No, but it is an antitrust or monopoly concern if the automaker puts in XM over Sirius? I don't believe the customer has a choice in the matter. If you want satellite radio, it's either XM or nothing. Standard broadcast FM is still included either way, and you could always buy an external tuner, but if you want the nice clean integrated radio, you don't have a choice.
Or what about Mercedes building an iPod dock into their newer vehicles? What if I have a Creative HD MP3 player? I can buy an iPod, or go without a neatly integrated portable music player.
I guess in any case, my choices are the same. Use the neat integrated feature, don't use it at all, or use something else. I believe the same applies with Media Player (and IE). I can use their neatly integrated player, or I can choose to use something else.
I've said this before on Slashdot - I can tolerate 'ads' on NPR that are spoken in a normal voice (like "this show brought to you in part by HP" or whatever company). There are often ads during Howard Stern that are spoken by him, and these aren't annoying at all. I can even live with product placement in TV, film, and video games. These types of ads do not interfere with the experience in any way and they're very non-intrusive.
I always wondered why anyone would pay for satellite radio receivers and subscriptions, however after listening to a friend's I realized ther a ton of excellent channels with music I like that are commercial free. I'm in the market for a tuner now.
When I was in Hawaii on my Honeymoon, our Rental Mustang Convertible was broken into. The thieves certainly knew what they were doing, and I would guess they frequently targeted stupid tourists. It was obviously a rental car - red mustang convertible with the obvious little Budget barcodes on the side windows. I know better than to leave anything valuable in a car, especially one with a paper thin vinyl roof.
I would have LOVED to see the look on the thieves' faces when all they found in my car was a BAG OF BBQ CHICKEN! They wasted their precious time breaking into my car to find a bag of cooked chicken! They didn't even take it, but I was afraid to eat it not knowing what they may have done to it.
Fortunately for me, the thieves jammed a flat screwdriver or blade into the lock mechanism and twisted it. The inside of the lock was messed up - the cylinder didn't turn too well with the key, but the lock mechanism still worked (and the car had keyless entry so there was no real need for the key). There was no obvious damage either, so no problems from Budget rent-a-car.
In California, when you move you must update your records with the DMV, which I did a day after I moved. Instead of wasting ink and plastic by printing a new license, they give you a little sticker to put on the back of your license that contains the updated info. The DMV knows my current updated address and any policeman or other official knows enough to flip my license over and check the back for updates.
The Marlboro chicks (and mostly anyone else who looks at your ID) don't bother to check the back.
Now, in this situation the other guy with the same name probably left first with the wrong credit card. If he was aware of this (which he probably wasn't) he could have immediately reported his card as lost, then could have gone on a shopping spree with my friend's card (which has his name on it!).
This is why you should sign the back of your card, however this still isn't perfect. Most clerks that check IDs only verify the name and not the signature. Even if they wanted to, it may still be difficult to match signatures. The credit card system is not perfect. Fortunately my CC companies are easy to work with and have resolved my two instances of unauthorized charges.
My wife bought some stupid garbage from an infomercial. Now, my mailbox is flooded with junk catalogs from all sorts of womens products. The best part is that they gave NO indication that they would sell your name and address to third parties, with no option to opt-out. I don't even know how to get my name off their mega-list.
The last few times I've used short-term parking at the LAX airport, I've been asked to pull forward so their camera can get my license plate in view, and I notice they record it in a log. Every time this happens, I question why they do it and their response is "for security." I don't understand how their recording of my license plate increases security. Nowadays, any question you ask at an airport is answered with "it's for security purposes" or "increased security."
I understand that you can write down any license plate number in a parking lot or on the road and you can easily track people that way. I just didn't like the way they told me my plate number was logged for security. One time when I asked and pressed for a better answer I was given something more realistic. I was told that people frequently try to cheat the parking garage by getting a new ticket just before they leave. (park for a week, get a new ticket 10 minutes before you exit and pay $2.00). They occasionally run audits and record license plates during the night to track who is parked in their lot. Upon exiting, if your plate is logged in the system as "parked" and you have a 10 minute old ticket, it raises a red flag.
Of course, I'm sure there are ways that an electronic log of me being parked at the airport for a week could possibly be used against me.
While out drinking with friends (drunk actually) I was approached by an attractive female working for Marlboro. She would give me cheap cigarette coupons and a free Zippo lighter if I let them give me a survey. Drunk, distracted, and clueless, I swiped my license and took the survey.
I've done the same thing before. I wanted the free Zippo to give to my brother. They were walking around with a portable device that scanned the license and accepted the signature electronically. If you read the line where you sign, it says "I CERTIFY THAT I AM A SMOKER 21 YEARS OF AGE OR OLDER". I'm not a smoker, but I signed anyway to get the freebie. I always wonder if insurance companies could get their hands on that info and use it against people. Fortunately for me, the address on my license is incorrect, so no junk mail for me.
Ok, maybe it's not exactly the same, but wireless companies seem pretty greedy and I read an article somewhere that said they make a hefty chunk of change by passing telecom fees directly to the consumer. Even if my bill was the same amount that I pay now, I would feel more comfortable if they didn't itemize those fees and make it seem that the government requires them to directly bill the consumer.
You can die more than once?
The solution was simple - memorize the local police/fire/ambulance phone numbers. They didn't have any location function then either. All you need to do is provide them with your location.
__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Small Business - Try our new resources site!
http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/resources/
or some variation of that.
What exactly is the problem here? As long as they're linking to Asian pr0n, all is good.
After primary fermentation, I would transfer the uncarbonated beer to a 5 gallon keg, let it settle there a bit, then use CO2 to transfer it through a filter to another keg. This produced a clear beer, but there was no more yeast left for carbonation so I had to force carbonate the final product in the kegs.
For some reason I prefer the taste of bottle conditioned beers. Bottled beers (as opposed to homebrew kets) are also a lot easier for long-term storage, and you're not stuck with one or two types of beer.
Ok, way off topic but I'm replying to your comment (besides it's so late in the day how likely is someone else going to be reading these comments?)
There are many microbreweries in the USA that produce some excellent brews. Stone Brewing Company http://www.stonebrew.com/ in San Marcos, CA has a wonderful beer called Arrogant Bastard Ale http://www.arrogantbastard.com/. They frown upon 'tasteless fizzy yellow beer'.
I don't think brews like Sierra Nevada and Sam Adams can be considered microbrews because they have large nationwide distribution channels, but they're still decent beers.
My favorite beers happen to be from the UK: Newcastle and just about anything by Samuel Smith (Oatmeal Stout, Pale Ale, Nut Brown Ale). I'm assuming there are many microbrews in the UK that produce even better beers than those, but I don't know of any in the USA.
I don't understand how a signature would be more valid than an ID.
Everyone complains about how cell phones may cause brain cancer or tumors. I wonder if this device would be any different? Do regular cell phones have a 30 mile range from the tower? If not, then I can see this device transmitting a lot more power than a standard digital cell phone.
http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/index.cfm?newsid=83 09
Yes, Pizza Outlet was horrible. The only time I ever ate it was when an organization or corporate recruiter was giving it away for free (or if an acquaintance bought it using someone else's account).
Hahah... I actually knew the guy who did that quite well. The only reason I found out about it is when the police came to his door. I didn't know it actually made headlines.
Unfortunately the account numbers were Social Security Numbers. In one particular class, the professor distributed midterm grades on a spreadsheet and used SSNs to identify each student. Some genius decided to take adavntage of the fact that he had a list of about 200 social security numbers. For about a semester, he was making a lot of new friends by ordering a few hundred dollars worth of pizza each week!
The student got caught and had to pay back all the money he stole (over $1000 dollars), and the school revamped their ID and account number policy.
I always question the CSR's need for my password and they tell me it's for security purposes, however every other company I deal with always has other ways of determining your identity (address, birthdate, last 4 numbers of SSN). I guess any method of verifying identity over the phone can reveal too much personal information.
The real problem I have is trusting a Customer Service Representative. When they make $10 an hour to talk with angry customers all day long, what's to stop them from using someone else's SSN, DOB, Address, or account numbers to their personal advantage?
Forget about cruise.com: http://www.atlantisevents.com/
IANAFL
I play emacs tetris all day at work, and probably get more work done than anyone else in my entire group.
Google's public perception is one of integrity, and that it one big reason people like them.
I like Google because their homepage isn't littered with ads and other junk. I was initially attracted to them becasue of their simplicity - a nearly blank webpage with one single graphic and a few links to other features. I like how MSN copied their style.In addition, many of my friends and family prefer Google over anything else because on a dial up connection, you don't need to wait 10 minutes for a whole page of graphics and banner ads to appear. I am more likely to click on Google's text ads in the search results because they're usually not obnoxious.
This makes me think of why I like NPR over other radio stations - their 'ads' are usually spoken in a normal tone. It's one person saying "This show paid for in part by Chrysler" or whatever company, as opposed to some silly script with obnoxious voices. I can even tolerate some of the ads on the Howard Stern show - those that are read by Mr. Stern himself.