I definitely agree. I did tech support for a while for an institution of over 50,000 and I was reminded of the Dilbert comic where he's describing the org chart.
"See that coffee stain on the carpet?"
"That's you?"
"No, that's my manager. I would be under the carpet."
"Is there any possibility of me talking with somebody who can make a decision?"
"Let me check... Wally, what's a 'decision?'"
"I don't know... sounds like something our competitors do."
Long story short, even when the higher ups would ask us for advice (e.g. communications, asking us to review a notice they were sending out) we would still be ignored. At best, we were treated like resources instead of as actual people or employees.
Lashing out at tech support definitely doesn't help. If they're good, they're probably more aggravated since they have to deal with being forcibly ineffectual all day.
I cannot claim to know how the newspaper operates, but if they are like one I'm familiar with the reporters share computers (for various reasons). It may also be the case that they don't use static IP addresses at the newspaper.
If that be the case, the logs of the government's computers wouldn't tell them conclusively who was accessing the machine. Only by grabbing the machine itself and looking through the machine's security logs will they be able to cross-reference it with the government server logs and determine who it actually was who access their systems.
Of course, this is based on an assumption, but a reasonable one I believe.
Because you can just as easily switch price tags. I'm willing to bet most people working the registers don't have the prices of every product in their store memorized.
Furthermore, scanning saves you time on line. It doesn't make a huge difference for 3 items, but if you're at the grocery and purchasing dozens of items trust me - you notice.
Of course, this doesn't address the issue of bar codes vs. RFID... I'll leave that discussion to much more qualified/.'ers.
We've heard that a million monkeys at a million keyboards could produce the complete works of Shakespeare; now, thanks to the Internet, we know that is not true.
So the nationwide trend is towards bigger and bigger home theaters and PSP movies are on a 480x272 screen. UMDs are the same price or higher than the price of regular DVDs (which actually have cross-hardware compatibility, unlike UMDs). Battery issues on the PSP may also contribute. There's also a lack of availability of good movies on UMD.
And, of course, Sony blames poor sales on piracy.
When will Sony et al realized that scapegoating piracy is not a panacea for their poor sales resulting from poor business decisions? You can't keep blaming your problems on your customers.
And Sony's idea of a PSP-to-TV adapter is like using a Band-Aid for a dismembered arm. It's a solution that doesn't really address the problem.
Overall, the average literacy of college students is significantly higher than that of adults across the nation...
Also, compared with all adults with similar levels of education, college students had superior skills in searching and using information from texts and documents.
So, actually, they aren't picking this information up at a later age.
Then, as you note, there must be some other factor involved...
I guess we've gotta give Zonk a break. He's posted an article every 40 minutes or so since 7:55am today (not including an extended lunch break). He's probably just tired and didn't give this latest article a full read-through.
As a tech guy, I take every advantage to mention this problem. If they ask me how work has gone, I tell them that I had to fix a computer today that broke because of Sony. If they are a user and I'm clearing out viruses and they ask me what this "rootkit" is that the AV software found, I use Sony's DRM as an example.
Sure, we're only two people on/. but if everybody here dropped their 2 cents about Sony whenever opportunities present themselves (and did so, mind you, in language end users can understand), this could become very effective.
Anybody here do tech support for a major news outlet?
In the writer's defense, it only states that the Israeli police told him to reformat his drive and then problems persisted. It never explicitly stated that he actually did format his hard drive. As a tech support monkey, I've had many users simply listen to my advice/instructions and then ignore it.
Of course, the writer was probably not technically knowledgable to pick up on this little omission or its significance.
The sugggestion that he actually used cats is fairly well refuted in this English-language Reuters article.
A spokesman for Bild told Reuters the story was meant to show that cat remains could "in theory" be used to make fuel with Koch's patented method.
The author of the story said Koch had never told him directly that he had used dead cats as the story implied.
It would be nice if the post was edited to reflect this important and relevant information... (hint, hint)
I worked in a major Information Technology group (supporting 80,000+ users). A new position opened up with higher pay and more benefits and they interviewed two people for the job, myself and a co-worker of mine. My co-worker got the job and I didn't.
When I spoke to a friend of mine who was on the panel that decided who got the job, he told me: "He had certifications and you didn't."
I'll never doubt the usefulness of certifications again.
While trying to watch Batman Begins I had to deal with people talking to their friends, making jokes... and not only ringing phones but these people actually answered them and had an entire conversation on their phone IN THE THEATER!
I concluded that Ra's Al Ghul would have destroyed my neighborhood.
What is the message to our children from letting violent and stupid stuff like Power Rangers free on air, while we condemn video games? I'll tell you what it is: hypocricy. The young people see that they are allowed to see a violent movie, even a gruesome one, but grownups have second thoughts for videogames.
And let's not forget the six o'clock news...
"Scientists says that video games cause violence and parents are calling for a ban on video games. Now, we bring you gruesome video footage of the war in Iraq!"
Slashdot Mirror
I definitely agree. I did tech support for a while for an institution of over 50,000 and I was reminded of the Dilbert comic where he's describing the org chart.
"See that coffee stain on the carpet?"
"That's you?"
"No, that's my manager. I would be under the carpet."
"Is there any possibility of me talking with somebody who can make a decision?"
"Let me check... Wally, what's a 'decision?'"
"I don't know... sounds like something our competitors do."
Long story short, even when the higher ups would ask us for advice (e.g. communications, asking us to review a notice they were sending out) we would still be ignored. At best, we were treated like resources instead of as actual people or employees.
Lashing out at tech support definitely doesn't help. If they're good, they're probably more aggravated since they have to deal with being forcibly ineffectual all day.
I cannot claim to know how the newspaper operates, but if they are like one I'm familiar with the reporters share computers (for various reasons). It may also be the case that they don't use static IP addresses at the newspaper.
If that be the case, the logs of the government's computers wouldn't tell them conclusively who was accessing the machine. Only by grabbing the machine itself and looking through the machine's security logs will they be able to cross-reference it with the government server logs and determine who it actually was who access their systems.
Of course, this is based on an assumption, but a reasonable one I believe.
Because you can just as easily switch price tags. I'm willing to bet most people working the registers don't have the prices of every product in their store memorized.
/.'ers.
Furthermore, scanning saves you time on line. It doesn't make a huge difference for 3 items, but if you're at the grocery and purchasing dozens of items trust me - you notice.
Of course, this doesn't address the issue of bar codes vs. RFID... I'll leave that discussion to much more qualified
2) Get girlfriend
Does not compute...
I just had to give some props. It's been a while since I've heard someone use the phrase "jump the shark."
We've heard that a million monkeys at a million keyboards could produce the complete works of Shakespeare; now, thanks to the Internet, we know that is not true.
Robert Wilensky, speech at a 1996 conference
...for being insightful, intelligent, and well-reasoned.
So the nationwide trend is towards bigger and bigger home theaters and PSP movies are on a 480x272 screen. UMDs are the same price or higher than the price of regular DVDs (which actually have cross-hardware compatibility, unlike UMDs). Battery issues on the PSP may also contribute. There's also a lack of availability of good movies on UMD.
And, of course, Sony blames poor sales on piracy.
When will Sony et al realized that scapegoating piracy is not a panacea for their poor sales resulting from poor business decisions? You can't keep blaming your problems on your customers.
And Sony's idea of a PSP-to-TV adapter is like using a Band-Aid for a dismembered arm. It's a solution that doesn't really address the problem.
Of course, the internet makes it clear that stupidity is NOT a power source...
Absolutely, but YMMV.
Then, as you note, there must be some other factor involved...
I guess we've gotta give Zonk a break. He's posted an article every 40 minutes or so since 7:55am today (not including an extended lunch break). He's probably just tired and didn't give this latest article a full read-through.
But we tolorate that here at Slashdot.
As a tech guy, I take every advantage to mention this problem. If they ask me how work has gone, I tell them that I had to fix a computer today that broke because of Sony. If they are a user and I'm clearing out viruses and they ask me what this "rootkit" is that the AV software found, I use Sony's DRM as an example.
/. but if everybody here dropped their 2 cents about Sony whenever opportunities present themselves (and did so, mind you, in language end users can understand), this could become very effective.
Sure, we're only two people on
Anybody here do tech support for a major news outlet?
In the writer's defense, it only states that the Israeli police told him to reformat his drive and then problems persisted. It never explicitly stated that he actually did format his hard drive. As a tech support monkey, I've had many users simply listen to my advice/instructions and then ignore it.
Of course, the writer was probably not technically knowledgable to pick up on this little omission or its significance.
Can I mod this up +1, Scary ?
Scully: Homer, we're going to ask you a few simple yes or no questions. Do you understand?
Homer: Yes. (lie dectector blows up)
Let's all be good little Asimov robots and obey the leader, er, Slashdot. I, for one, welcome our new moderator overlords...
Dr. Peter Venkman: Yes it's true. This man has no dick.
it'll be 200 pages and it'll cost you $15
But it'll be $30 for the hardcover and we'll have to wait 3 months for the $15 paperback, right?
I worked in a major Information Technology group (supporting 80,000+ users). A new position opened up with higher pay and more benefits and they interviewed two people for the job, myself and a co-worker of mine. My co-worker got the job and I didn't.
When I spoke to a friend of mine who was on the panel that decided who got the job, he told me: "He had certifications and you didn't."
I'll never doubt the usefulness of certifications again.
While trying to watch Batman Begins I had to deal with people talking to their friends, making jokes... and not only ringing phones but these people actually answered them and had an entire conversation on their phone IN THE THEATER!
I concluded that Ra's Al Ghul would have destroyed my neighborhood.
What is the message to our children from letting violent and stupid stuff like Power Rangers free on air, while we condemn video games? I'll tell you what it is: hypocricy. The young people see that they are allowed to see a violent movie, even a gruesome one, but grownups have second thoughts for videogames.
And let's not forget the six o'clock news...
"Scientists says that video games cause violence and parents are calling for a ban on video games. Now, we bring you gruesome video footage of the war in Iraq!"
there is nothing in Doom III worse than the violence of Tom and Jerry or Roadrunner
I don't remember Wile E. Coyote using a sawed-off shotgun on the RoadRunner, whose entrails would smear across the walls with each successive shot...
But yeah, video games are just this genetation's rock and or roll / rap / etc.
Teachers, please go back to teaching kids, not cirriculum!
Especially English teachers. =P